Obama -Reclaiming the American Dream?

Vintage Babe of the Week

Tonight's Vintage Babe* is Valerie Perrine!
(*a.k.a. Rule Five Thursday)










Like fine wines, the ladies improve with age!

Huma Takes a Break from Weiner

Doesn’t sound like Huma will be A-bedin’ Weiner any time soon!

Anthony Weiner's wife is taking time off from her senior job with the State Department -- as well as time off from the randy former representative, The Post has learned.

While Weiner, 46, heads to an "intensive" rehab program to recover from the sexting scandal that cost him his congressional career, his 35-year-old spouse, Huma Abedin, will be relaxing at an undisclosed location.

"She is definitely taking time off away from her husband and chilling," a source said. "And he's going some place for at least a couple of weeks."

H/T Weasel Zippers

More at Memeorandum

(PHOTO) Irony: 'To Catch a Predator' host Chris Hansen a Predator Himself, Caught Cheating on Wife with 30-year-old Blonde Kristyn Caddell

By the Left Coast Rebel

The host of 'To Catch a Predator' seems to be inspired by his own show (not in good way).

What Chris Hansen did was legal because the blonde reporter Kristyn Caddell that he was cheating on his wife (pictured at the left of this post) and family with is 30 years old -- but it doesn't mean it's not sultry, bizarre and deliciously ironic.

Hansen is in his 50s.

From the Mail Online:

He's made his name with a controversial show that catches would-be internet sex perverts in televised stings.

But now Chris Hansen has found himself on the receiving end of his own hidden camera tactics, after the married NBC anchor was secretly filmed on an illicit date with a blonde television reporter 20 years his junior.

Hansen, 51, has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old Florida journalist, for the last four months.

I wonder if Chris Hansen will himself be featured as a predator in a new season of 'To Catch a Predator'?

Via Memeorandum and cross-posted to LCR.

Quote du jour

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.

-Pablo Picasso

Email From an Amazon

No, not that Amazon! The retailer!

I got this email this AM, in part:

For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of California residents. Unfortunately, a potential new law that may be signed by Governor Brown compels us to terminate this program for California-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers - including but not limited to those referred by California-based marketing affiliates like you - even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It is supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside California, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that we must take this action.

Good to know that in tough economic times, small Internet retailers in California may lose at least one source, if not their sole source of income. Wonder if the added sales tax will make up for any losses of income taxes?

As a result, we will terminate contracts with all California residents that are participants in the Amazon Associates Program as of the date (if any) that the California law becomes effective. We will send a follow-up notice to you confirming the termination date if the California law is enacted. In the event that the California law does not become effective before September 30, 2011, we withdraw this notice. As of the termination date, California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned on or before the termination date will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

...We have enjoyed working with you and other California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to California residents. We are also working on alternative ways to help California residents monetize their websites and we will be sure to contact you when these become available.

Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

Not going to really affect me, but if thousands of Californians got the same email I did, Governor Brown might be hearing from more than a few of them tomorrow.

Update:

Unfortunately, Governor Brown has signed into law the bill that we emailed you about earlier today. As a result of this, contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program are terminated effective today, June 29, 2011.

UpdateII:More at Amazon ends deal with 25,000 California websites, Memeorandum

The Least Serious President in the History of the Republic™ Holds a Press Conference

Sometimes you hear hypocrisy so thick you can cut it with a knife. Think Bill Clinton telling us he did not have sex with Monica Lewinsky, John Kerry throwing someone else's medals over the White House fence (his are hanging on his senate office wall), think Joe Biden plagiarizing Neil Kinnock's campaign speech, or John Edwards... saying anything at all! This president may have set the new gold standard in hypocrisy today.

THE PRESIDENT: I think people should think of — look, I’m the President of the United States* and I want to make sure that I am not engaging in scare tactics. And I’ve tried to be responsible and somewhat restrained so that folks don’t get spooked.

August 2nd is a very important date. And there’s no reason why we can’t get this done now. We know what the options are out there. This is not a technical problem any longer. This is a matter of Congress going ahead and biting the bullet and making some tough decisions. Because we know what the decisions are. We’ve identified what spending cuts are possible. We’ve identified what defense cuts are possible. We’ve identified what health care cuts are possible. We’ve identified what loopholes in the tax code can be closed that would also raise revenue. We’ve identified what the options are. And the question now is are we going to step up and get this done.

So far, so good. It's the smarmy, condescending hypocrisy of the next few sentences that make Barry stand out from other Democrats:

And, you know, Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. Malia is 13** , Sasha is 10.

Q Impressive.

THE PRESIDENT: It is impressive. They don’t wait until the night before. They’re not pulling all-nighters. (Laughter.) They’re 13 and 10. Congress can do the same thing. If you know you’ve got to do something, just do it.

"Congress can do the same thing. If you know you’ve got to do something, just do it." Where was President Smarmy Condescending Obama last year, when Democrats controlled the Senate and Democrats controlled the House and Democrats controlled the White House, and they needed and were Constitutionally required to submit a federal budget and didn't? Why wasn't President Smarmy Condescending telling Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and the rest of Congress last year, that his daughters "Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. Malia is 11 , Sasha is 9"? Were Malia and Sasha pulling "all-nighters" in 2010? Couldn't he get a teleprompter on the golf course long enough to tell Congress that "if you know you’ve got to do something, just do it" ?

And I’ve got to say, I’m very amused when I start hearing comments about, well, the President needs to show more leadership on this. Let me tell you something. Right after we finished dealing with the government shutdown, averting a government shutdown***, I called the leaders here together. I said we’ve got to get done — get this done. I put Vice President Biden in charge of a process**** — that, by the way, has made real progress — but these guys have met, worked through all of these issues. I met with every single caucus for an hour to an hour and a half each *****— Republican senators, Democratic senators; Republican House, Democratic House. I’ve met with the leaders multiple times. At a certain point, they need to do their job.

Anyone want to do a tally on just how many times Barry says "they need to do their job" or "it’s got to be done"? I count seven got to be done's, and get it done's, at least one "do something" and two "they need to do their job's".

Tell you what, Barry. Just say that something needs to be done and say it over and over and over. And over. And over. In fact, say it once for every round of golf you'd played since becoming Present, er, President, (73 and counting) and I'm sure it will be exactly the same as if you'd exercised actual leadership!

And so, this thing, which is just not on the level, where we have meetings and discussions, and we’re working through process, and when they decide they’re not happy with the fact that at some point you’ve got to make a choice, they just all step back and say, well, you know, the President needs to get this done — they need to do their job.

Now is the time to go ahead and make the tough choices. That’s why they’re called leaders. And I’ve already shown that I’m willing to make some decisions that are very tough and will give my base of voters further reason to give me a hard time. But it’s got to be done.

And so there’s no point in procrastinating. There’s no point in putting it off. We’ve got to get this done. And if by the end of this week, we have not seen substantial progress, then I think members of Congress need to understand we are going to start having to cancel things and stay here until we get it done.

President Full of Himself sprains an arm patting himself on the back here:

They’re in one week, they’re out one week. And then they’re saying, Obama has got to step in. You need to be here. I’ve been here. I’ve been doing Afghanistan and bin Laden and the Greek crisis. You stay here. Let’s get it done.

"I've been doing Afghanistan" Other than not listening to his generals, what exactly has he done while he was "doing Afghanistan"? And "I've been doing the Greek crisis". Really? Has he actually done to mitigate the crisis? Or just vote "present"?

Add to that the gratuitous mention of bin Laden, as if he lead the raid himself. How much you want to bet he bought one of those Obama Seal Team Six action figures for himself? And don't get me started on whatever role playing he and Michelle are doing behind closed doors! How long is he going to try to milk the "I was busy getting bin Laden and that's why the economy went to Hell"?


*Captain Obvious moment

**"Malia is 13". Malia is 12. She hasn't had her thirteenth birthday yet. So much for Barry's "steel trap mind".

***Averting a government shutdown. By finally backing down on his and his party's insistence on ending the Bush tax cuts...in a recession, in effect, raising everyone's taxes.

****Joe Biden in charge of anything. There's a recipe for taking charge!

***** "I met with every single caucus for an hour to an hour and a half each" Anyone want to make book on how this compares to golf time, not to mention the myriad of vacations? And if his meeting with them was key to getting anything done, why didn't he meet with them last year and get a budget done before the Constitutional deadline? (Maybe they should have pulled an "all-nighter"?)

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Medal of Honor

Captain James P. Fleming

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Fleming (then 1st Lt.) distinguished himself as the Aircraft Commander of a UH-1F transport Helicopter. Capt. Fleming went to the aid of a 6-man special forces long range reconnaissance patrol that was in danger of being overrun by a large, heavily armed hostile force. Despite the knowledge that 1 helicopter had been downed by intense hostile fire, Capt. Fleming descended, and balanced his helicopter on a river bank with the tail boom hanging over open water. The patrol could not penetrate to the landing site and he was forced to withdraw. Dangerously low on fuel, Capt. Fleming repeated his original landing maneuver. Disregarding his own safety, he remained in this exposed position. Hostile fire crashed through his windscreen as the patrol boarded his helicopter. Capt. Fleming made a successful takeoff through a barrage of hostile fire and recovered safely at a forward base. Capt. Fleming's profound concern for his fellowmen, and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

Captain Fleming: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.



Hat tip Home of Heroes

There are fewer than a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice. In the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

"What's curious about the left's current obsession with Timothy McVeigh is that it proves that -- despite a frantic search for 15 years -- liberals have come across no better evidence of burgeoning "right-wing extremist" violence than a drug-taking, self-described "agnostic" who was thrown out of the Michigan Militia and who proclaimed, "Science is my religion." That sounds more like Bill Maher than Rush Limbaugh."

- Ann Coulter

Katy Perry Poses for Cover of Rolling Stone -video

And how can you think "Cover of Rolling Stone" without thinking of Dr. Hook?



H/T American Power

How Many Limos Does the Government Need?

I don't know. How many have they got?


According to General Services Administration data, the number of limousines in the federal fleet increased by 73 percent, up from 238 in 2008 to 412 in 2010

In tough economic times, it's good to know that the federal government is making do with only 73% more limos than they had in 2008!

And what makes it worse, is the GSA is either not competent enough or honest enough to admit how many. The GSA "cannot say that its report accurately reflects the number of limousines" because "the categories in the Fleet Report are overly broad, and the term 'limousine' is not defined." What a relief! I thought these people were responsible for taking care of public property! Turns out, they can't even identify it!

Is it a limo? All depends on what you definition of "is" is.

And who is it who needs all these extra limos? Hillary's State Department scored the most new limos.

The State Department's 259 limos surpassed every other agency's limo stash in 2010, and the department has gained 194 limos since fiscal year 2008. Of the new 194, 98 were defined as "law enforcement".

And you can see how visiting dignitaries might need to be chauffeured around. But 259? And, law enforcement? 98 limos for "law enforcement"? Boy, that sure sounds like the best use of government funds!

The VA, which once owned 21 limos under George W. Bush in 2008, now sports only one. Similarly, the Government Printing Office went from six to none between 2009 and 2010.

I can see the VA doing with fewer than 21 limos. I can certainly see the Government Printing Office not needing any limos at all. But while these two departments were slimming down, too much of the rest of the government was bulking up.

Unless the GAO wants to be seen as the Keystone Kops of property management, they should be able to accurately identify anything in the government's inventory.

In a time of crushing government debt and lip service to lighter, more energy efficient cars for all of us, the government should be taking the lead in fiscal responsibility and setting an example for the rest of us to follow. And, maybe see if bacon can be harvested from all those flying pigs?

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Quote du jour

"If you believe in unicorns and Barack Obama, reality is always unexpected."

-Proof, on the MSM's frequent, trite and inaccurate overuse of the word "unexpected".

No Class Bum Busted for 'Pretending' to be Soldier For First-Class Upgrade

Long Island man busted for 'pretending' to be soldier to get first-class upgrade

There is a stolen valor aspect to this story. Here's a clown who wants people to treat him as if he had the courage to enlist and put his life on the line for his country, when in reality he is a cowardly piece of opportunistic slime that may just be a waste of carbon.

This GI Joe wannabe got a hero's welcome just by dressing the part.

A Long Island man was arrested for donning an Army uniform and brazenly posing as a soldier so he'd get bumped up to first class on a flight to JFK from the Dominican Republic, Port Authority cops have charged.

Rock Diaz, 22, of Freeport, has a history of pretending to be a military man to get VIP treatment, cops said -- he once even smooth-talked his way into a jetliner's cockpit, where he was photographed sitting at the controls wearing a goofy grin.

The mile-high huckster was finally brought to earth Friday afternoon when a sharp-eyed customs official at JFK asked him his rank -- and he gave an answer that didn't match the insignia on the uniform he was wearing.

So, a buzz cut and an army surplus uniform and this jerk feels free to be treated like a real man. Without going into this clown's self esteem issues, (He probably was punished as a child for sawing his dog in half*),

"If you knew anything about the military and you looked at him, you could tell he wasn't really a soldier," a cop said.

But Diaz -- in camouflage fatigues and sporting a military-style buzz cut -- allegedly insisted he was the real thing when questioned after getting off an American Airlines flight.

Asked his rank, he said "E-5," referring to a pay grade. But Diaz was wearing the insignia of a staff sergeant, the source said, which is "E-6," a higher pay grade. He also couldn't say where he was stationed, sources said.

Although he was wearing a standard-issue "Army Combat Uniform" and cap, he could not produce a military ID.

So, we have a cop implying that this slob did not exactly present himself as a squared away member of the military. But, here's the kicker for me: "he could not produce a military ID".

What does this say about the TSA? They're checking Granny's Depends for whatever she might be smuggling on board, but someone shows up in a military uniform but doesn't have a military ID, this raises no flags?

The faux soldier allegedly admitted he had pulled the scam at least once before -- when the cockpit photo was taken in December 2009. Other photos obtained by The Post show him wearing the uniform in Haiti and elsewhere.

Interviewed yesterday, the Spanish-speaking Diaz claimed he did nothing wrong and blamed any confusion on a language barrier.

Is this clown's name really "Rock"? A guy who'd fake his military service would lie about other things too! He's wandering around, telling people he's an E-5, but there was confusion "because of a language barrier"? Maybe "Rock" translates as "Pebbles"? (Dang that language barrier!)

Personally, I'd put Pebble's name on a no-fly list and let him take the train wherever he wants to go. Then, I'd post his picture in every USO and American Legion Post. And the Army Times. And Stars and Stripes, etc.

Maybe he'd get introduced to someone who would understand him perfectly, without a language barrier? One could only hope.





*Old joke



H/T Memeorandum

Quote du jour

"Sometimes it seems he's president of the AFL-CIO, not the USA."

-Michael Barone, on Barack Obama

The Poetry Corner - A.A. Milne

Alexander Beetle

I found a little beetle, so that beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a matchbox, and I kept him all the day...
And Nanny let my beetle out
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out
She went and let my beetle out-
And beetle ran away.

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches, and she just took off the lid
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid-
And we'd get another matchbox, and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"

It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it might be ME,
And he had a kind of look as if he thought he ought to say:
"I'm very, very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry too, for you know what she did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and me are friends, because it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.

Themes Like Old Times

Greatest American Hero

"Do My Tighty Whiteys Look Gray in This Photo?"

Picture via Verum Serum

Michael Barone: "Obama is Chauncey Gardiner"

Chance? Or maybe Change?

Poor Barry can't catch a break today! Michael Barone:

Conservative critics have taken to comparing him, as you might imagine, with Jimmy Carter. The more cruel among them, like the Weekly Standard's Jay Cost, say the comparison is not to Obama's advantage.

But there is another comparison I think more appropriate for a president who, according to one of his foreign-policy staffers, prefers to "lead from behind." The man I have in mind is Chauncey Gardiner, the character played by Peter Sellers in the 1979 movie "Being There."

As you may remember, Gardiner is a clueless gardener who is mistaken for a Washington eminence and becomes a presidential adviser.

Mr. Barone goes on to detail the general cluelessness of the Gardener-in-Chief:

"...while Chauncey Gardiner, in his befuddlement, tried to answer questions squarely, Obama has seemed less interested in the substance of public policy than in framing issues for the next presidential campaign.

That was plainly the case in the decisions on Afghanistan he announced Wednesday night. Regardless of conditions on the ground, the president promised that the last of the surge troops will be removed by September 2012, the month Democrats hold their national convention.

As for Libya, Obama pretends we're not involved in "hostilities" and has been content to "lead from behind." Another sop to the antiwar left.

Sometimes it seems he's president of the AFL-CIO, not the USA. The man who said he wanted to double exports in five years has nothing to say about his National Labor Relations Board appointee's attempt to shut down a $1 billion plant being built by the nation's No. 1 exporter.

And don't forget the enviro types. Obama is releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but his appointees are barring drilling in the Gulf and Alaska and refusing approval for a natural gas pipeline from Canada.

On all these issues Obama seems oddly disengaged, aloof from the hard work of government, hesitant about making choices."

It seems that more an more people are catching onto the generally cluelessness of the Commander-in-Chief. His policies have taken the nation in exactly the wrong direction at a time when leadership was crucial. Those on both the Left and the Right are coming to realize that Barack Obama is an empty suit and that the "Hope and Change" he was peddling in 2008 was just a campaign slogan designed so that he could come down on both sides of every issue.

But, governing is a lot harder than campaigning. Which is why Obama is taking time off from his busy golf game to start campaigning again. Obama may be right in blaming Bush for all the ills of the country today, since Barry seems to have left the White House on "autopilot" ever since "W" moved out.

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Maureen Dowd: "Obama is Bi"

Maureen Dowd doesn't think he's bi-polar. Not sure I'd want to take that bet! But her NYT piece seems to be similar to the theme I noted a little while ago, about Obama being firmly on both sides of the automation issue! Ms. Dowd:

Our president likes to be on both sides at once.

In Afghanistan, he wants to go but he wants to stay. He’s surging and withdrawing simultaneously. He’s leaving fewer troops than are needed for a counterinsurgency strategy and more troops than are needed for a counterterrorism strategy — and he seems to want both strategies at the same time. Our work is done but we have to still be there. Our work isn’t done but we can go.

On Libya, President Obama wants to lead from behind. He’s engaging in hostilities against Qaddafi while telling Congress he’s not engaging in hostilities against Qaddafi.

On the budget, he wants to cut spending and increase spending. On the environment, he wants to increase energy production but is reluctant to drill. On health care, he wants to get everybody covered but will not press for a universal system. On Wall Street, he assails fat cats, but at cocktail parties, he wants to collect some of their fat for his campaign.

On politics, he likes to be friends with the other side but bash ’em at the same time. For others, bipartisanship means transcending their own prior political identities. For President Obama, it means that he participates in all political identities. He does not seem deeply affiliated with any side except his own.

Maureen, we are in rare agreement. But you may not have come out and pinpointed the exact reason that Obama is on both sides of every issue.

On some of the most important issues facing this nation, it is time for the president to come out of the closet.

As just an ordinary, scum sucking, tell the people whatever it is they want to hear, politician.
I'm with you, Maureen!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Global Smurf Day - Did You Miss it Too?

Yesterday was Global Smurf Day, and no one told me about it! On the news today, I saw pictures of crowds of people in Mexico, who had painted themselves blue.



Katy Perry has a vested interest in Smurfs, having provided the voice of Smurfette in their upcoming movie.

First Elmo, now the Smurfs. This girl has "role model" written all over her. (Well, not literally! That's just a tattoo!)

Obama Vs. The Machine

Remember when Obama appeared to be blaming unemployment of ATM machines and automated kiosks?

"A lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. If you see it when you go to a bank you use the ATM, you don't go to a bank teller. Or you go to the airport and you use a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate. What we have to do now...is identifying where the jobs for the future are going to be. That there's a match between what people are being trained for."

Businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers, so there are a lot fewer jobs, right? Read the White House blog and see what Obama thinks is the remedy for this:

The President’s plan, which leverages existing programs and proposals, will invest more than $500 million to jumpstart this effort. The President believes that even as we live within our means, we must invest to win the future. Investments will be made in the following key areas:... establishing U.S. leadership in next-generation robotics...and developing new technologies that will dramatically reduce the time required to design, build, and test manufactured goods. Leading universities and companies will compliment these federal efforts helping to invent, deploy and scale these cutting-edge technologies.

"New technologies that will dramatically reduce the time required to design, build, and test manufactured goods" New technologies? Gee, what reduces the time you stand in line at a bank or an airport check in? If you reduce the time required to design, build, and test manufactured goods, do you think you'll need as many people to do it?

Obama seems to be saying that automation eliminates jobs, so the federal government should subsidize it. What could account for his affinity for technology in light of what he believes are its job killing qualities?



Is it 2012 yet?



H/T The Daley Gator

Quote du jour

If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.

-Kingsley Amis

A Little Saturday Night Music

Zombies- She's Not There

Border Security, Anyone?

COPENHAGEN — Ten years ago, as Denmark joined the European Union’s visa-free open travel zone, the outraged Danish People’s Party bought a decommissioned border guardhouse, vowing that one day it would be in use again. Back then, most Danes dismissed the move as a colorful publicity stunt by the newly formed right-wing party.

But last month, the Danish People’s Party was doing a victory dance, offering to donate its picturesque brick guardhouse at the German border to the government. The party had achieved its goal: Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had agreed to restore 24-hour customs control in exchange for support on a difficult budget package.

I wonder if maybe the Republican party ought not to purchase some real estate along our southern border? Not only could they fence it and defend it as they choose, but it could give them standing in suing the government to do something about our lax southern border policies.

Hillary on Patriotic Dissent, In Her Own Words

Then and now:



Hillary:

But the bottom line is, whose side are you on? Are you on Qadhafi's side or are you on the side of the aspirations of the Libyan people and the international coalition that has been created to support them? For the Obama Administration, the answer to that question is very easy.

Saturday Linkaround

Cartoon of the Day – NRO

Islam for Pols: a Primer

Don't Know Much About History

The Justice Department Misleads the Ninth Circuit

Can This Presidency Be Saved?

Swing state Missouri Governor vetoes voter ID requirement

La Raza Federal Funding Skyrockets After Obama Hires Its VP

45 percent of net U.S. job creation in the last two years comes from Texas

NBC Apologizes for Omitting ‘a Portion’ of the Pledge of Allegiance

Reserve Released, Larger Oil Sources Untapped

Republicans Flicker On Light Bulb Ban Repeal

A 'Fast and Furious' border fiasco

Jon Stewart says those who watch Fox News are the "most consistently misinformed media viewers" –False

OBAMA Tells Jewish Donors His Administration Has Done More Than Any in 25 Years to Support Israel Security

President Obama no-show miffs Hispanics

Eric Holder: Our Most Effective Terror-Fighting Weapon Is…

Blue State Schools: The Shame of a Nation

White House Edits Drudge-mocked transcript

Hypocrisy: FDA To Require Graphic Cigarette Warnings, Won't Post Pics Of Aborted Fetuses At Planned Parenthood That Kills More People

CAIR Loses Its IRS Tax Exempt Status, Website Still Touts Donations As Tax Deductible…

Under Obama, U.S. Casualty Rate In Afghanistan Increased 5-Fold

Run, Rick, Run! –Deroy Murdock

Jon Stewart Makes Fun Of Gun Walker, Darrell Issa Not Laughing

Donor meeting at White House draws fire

Obama "safe schools czar" Kevin Jennings - supporter of NAMBLA - OUT

Quote of the Day

Line of the day

NYT: Afghan Plan Worries Military Experts

Republicans Likely to Win Senate Majority in 2012

ABC’s of Barack Obama’s Complete and Utter Stupidity

Obama Apologizes to Family of Fallen Medal of Honor Recipient He Mistakenly Claimed Was Still Alive…

GOP Rep. McCarthy to Obama: 'Get off the golf course' and 'get engaged'

Too hot for the HuffPo

Big Three Networks Ignore Obama's Medal of Honor Screw-Up

Desecration of Our Flag in AZ




Rule Five Roundup*:
American Perspective- Bar Refaeli

American Power- Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Video

Camp of the Saints - Rule Five Saturday, Hump Day Rule Five, Rule Five News

Classic Liberal – Rule 5 Brittany Daniel

Alexis Stodden And remember, you can't spell "Stodden" without "dd"

The Daley Gator – Daley Babes: Angie Harmon, Alyssa Campanella

Dustbury – Petra Němcová

Eye of Polyphemus – Natalie Portman, Denise Milani

Friday Night Babe – Kelli Hutcherson

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Friday Pin up

No Sheeples Here: Is here no more

The Observatorium – Eliza Dushku

Pirates Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup, If All You See Is An Evil Truck, If All You See…, If All you see...

Randy’s Roundtable –Thursday Nite Tart, Midweek break

Soylent Green – Corset Friday

Support your local Gunfighter- Bachelorette

Teresamerica – Rule 5 - Lena Horne

The Last Tradition- Maria Sharapova, Kim Kardashian, Candice Swanepoel

Theo Spark –Bathtime Toddy

The Other McCain- Rule 5 Sunday


Three Beers Later – Gretchen Wilson

Vintage Babe of the Week – Valerie Leon

Rule 5 Woodsterman Style - Bikinis and Machine guns

Padma Lakshmi





*By no means comprehensive.

Use the comments as an open thread on any of these topics.
Cross posted at Say Anything

New York's Gay Marriage Vote Glosses Over the Fact that Obama Punted the Issue

By the Left Coast Rebel

On Friday, New York legalized gay marriage. Frankly, my only question on this news is why did it take so long? One would figure that a state dominated by the metropolis New York City would have taken this stand years ago. Is upstate really that commanding of New York politics? Judging by how liberal-Democrat-dominated the state's politics are, I didn't think so.

As historic a moment in New York as it is, the issue has made everyone -- including the left -- forget that Obama can't even stand by the gay constituency:



Obama seeing the light on states' rights for the first time? Yah, that's called punting an issue and throwing a key constituency under the bus, this certainly won't help him in 2012, either.

Also read: At American Power, "Obama Heckled at LGBT Democrat Fundraiser in Manhattan!"

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

AlGore Inc.: Bad for the Green Agenda?

By the Left Coast Rebel

I don't have a problem with Al Gore being a problem for the quest-for-global-domination greenie-weenie agenda.

Frankly, if Gore is ineffective, if he is hypocritical and off-putting, if he has discredited the green agenda; setting it back due to his caustic-alarmist personality and AlGore Inc. billionaire-esque lavish, carbon-chomping lifestyle then I'm all for it.

No movement today poses a bigger threat to take away our quality of life and liberty like the "watermelon: green on the outside, red on the inside" environmental movement. I stand by anyone that discredits it, intentionally or not.

Why am I mentioning this? Walter Russel Meade got me thinking this morning writing an outstanding barn-burner piece up at The American Interest today:

Once out of office, he assumed the leadership of the global green movement, steering that movement into a tsunami of defeat that, when the debris is finally cleared away, will loom as one of the greatest failures of civil society in all time.

Gore has the Midas touch in reverse; objects of great value (Nobel prizes, Oscars) turn dull and leaden at his touch. Few celebrity cause leaders have had more or better publicity than Gore has had for his climate advocacy. Hailed by the world press, lionized by the entertainment community and the Global Assemblage of the Great and the Good as incarnated in the Nobel Peace Prize committee, he has nevertheless seen the movement he led flounder from one inglorious defeat to the next.

(....)

You can be a leading environmentalist and fail to pay all of your taxes. You can be a leading environmentalist and be unkind to your aged mother. You can be a leading environmentalist and squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle, park in the handicapped spots at the mall or scribble angry marginal notes in library books.

But you cannot be a leading environmentalist who hopes to lead the general public into a long and difficult struggle for sacrifice and fundamental change if your own conduct is so flagrantly inconsistent with the green gospel you profess.

There's lots more at the link so READ THE REST. Discussion via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR, graphic via Saberpoint.

Milli and Vanilli

Just phoning it in.
(A portrait of two poseurs.)

Quote du jour

Consider nature. Not the placid nature that Constable painted, but nature as Tennyson saw it, "red in tooth and claw." To glimpse a state of nature as Hobbes imagined it, where human life is "nasty, brutish and short," visit the Whole Foods store on River Road in Bethesda, Md. There... you will see proof of this social equation: Four Priuses plus three parking spaces equal angry anarchy.

-George Will

Captain Ego, Present-in-Chief - video

"Because, after all, it's all about me."

You may have seen this, Barack Obama has presented the Medal of Honor twice* by my recollection, once to a grieving family, once to a living recipient, who was, in fact, the first living MoH recipient in the post Vietnam era. Only two names for the Commander-in-Chief to keep straight. Obama is a man, whom his wife described as having a mind like a "steel trap".

“Your President is a special person, because when it comes to the people he meets, Barack has a memory like a steel trap,”

Unless it was someone special, who received the nation's highest military honor. Those guys just aren't that memorable. I remember when he presented the Medal to Salvatore Giunta, for his actions in Afghanistan, that the president's recital of Staff Sergeant Giunta's bravery sounded flat and lifeless, as though he was reading a laundry list, or the Philadelphia phone directory. Note, too, the ubiquitous person pronoun: "I awarded". A recitation of all the "hot spots" he's been too. Captain Courageous.

Forgive the comparison, but I could see former President Bush weeping with the family of Jared Monti. I can see Obama penciling them in to his busy schedule. Maybe giving them an ipod loaded with his speeches.

I think maybe it's Mr. Teleprompter who has the mind of a steel trap. Although I'd be willing to bet that Barry could tell you the name of every celebrity, movie star and rock star he's met since becoming president. The "little people" whose "stories he carries around with him." Yeah. Right.

Is it 2012 yet?

Update: Video of Obama and Note the invocation and the passion of the speaker. Contrast with Barack What's-His-Name. But, he reads well.





When he goes "off script", are you impressed by his command of the language or just another chance to use the personal pronoun again. "I like this guy". (It's all about me!)

*Four times

Cross posted at LCR.

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Kelli Hutcherson!

(*a.k.a. Rule Five Friday)

"One More Thing..." Peter Falk is Dead

Peter Falk, who won four Emmys for his portrayal of the rumpled TV detective Columbo, as well as Oscar nominations for his first two films, Murder, Inc. and Frank Capra's last film A Pocketful of Miracles, died Thursday in Beverly Hills, reports CBS News. He was 83.

Columbo's M.O. was to lull the criminal into a false sense of security and then ask him "one more thing" to trip him up. No more "one more thing"!

Rest in peace, Mr. Falk.

Transitions: No Sheeples Here Any More Either

It is with regret that we heard from our friend Carol over at "No Sheeples Here", that she is pulling the plug on her very fine blog. It was a "must read" for many of us. We will miss her wit and her enthusiasm and the wonderful photoshops she graced us with, like the one above, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. And sometimes just poking fun at the stuffed shirts in Washington.

I won't go into her reasons for, what we hope is only a hiatus from blogging. But, if you're a fan of No Sheeples Here, show the love and I'll let Carol know so she can come by and see what some of her fans had to say.

We'll miss you. Come back when there is once again balance in The Force.

Quote du jour

“Gambling and Washington don’t seem to go together at all. One’s full of whores and seedy, soulless bastards and the other’s the gambling industry.”

–Craig Ferguson

Jon Stewart Mocks Obama DOJ for "Fast and Furious" Scheme

A plan to let dangerous weapons into the hands of violent gun runners. What could possibly go wrong?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Fast and the Furious - Mexico Grift
www.thedailyshow.com
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Stewart's humor aside, this program ended up putting an automatic weapon in the hands of a criminal, who used it to kill a border patrol agent. Here's hoping that even as some mock the stupidity of the program, enough people will be aware of and outraged by the incompetence of the Obama Justice Department* to demand that something be done about it.

*oxymoron

H/T John Lott

PETA Builds Campaign Around Microwave Baby Death

"Everybody's Somebody's Baby"

Most sensible people were horrified by the story of the Sacramento mother who murdered her baby using a microwave oven.

Now, seeking to capitalize on the horrific and sensational story, PETA is proposing a billboard comparing microwaving a child alive with cooking a pork chop.

Now I have been sympathetic to PETA in the past. I don't agree with them, but I could sympathize with their sentiments. Not here. I hesitated even writing about this, as I did the original story, simply because this is sickening to many people, and if they are only seeking cheap publicity, I hesitated to give it to them. And, IMHO, the PETA ad was supposedly designed by sane people, who evidently do not care the amount of pain they might inflict on the family of this murdered child.

Shame on you, PETA.

PETA Builds Campaign Around Microwave Baby Death

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

"Why Sex With Creatures from the Future Is a Bad Idea"

On the other hand, "time-traveling brine shrimp" would be a great name for a rock band!


ménage à trawler

When time travel finally becomes possible, we might want to think twice about getting it on. According to a new study on tiny shrimp (Artemia franciscana), sex with partners from a different time could kill you.
Researchers at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE) in Montpellier, France, collected preserved brine shrimp eggs from various generations, and then reanimated them with water. Nicolas Rode and colleagues mated pairs of brine shrimp that had been reanimated from eggs preserved since 1985, 1996 and 2007, a period representing roughly 160 generations. They found that females that mated with males from the past or future died off sooner than those that mated with their own generation. The longer the time-shift, the earlier they died: The 22-year time difference shortened female lifetimes by 12 percent; the effect was 3 percent for the 11-year time-shift.

This research was done in France? If they want to experiment with sex, how about "dinner and a movie"?

...females that mated with males from the past or future died off sooner than those that mated with their own generation.

Sounds like the punchline to an old joke. Zebadiah was 96 and about to marry a 16 year old girl. "Aren't you worried about that kind of exertion might bring about death?" asked his friends.

"Nah," said Zebadiah. "If she dies, she dies."

H/T Memeorandum

Vintage Babe of the Week

Tonight's Vintage Babe* is Valerie Leon!
(*a.k.a. Rule Five Thursday)












Like fine wines, the ladies improve with age!

Ramirez on the Afghanistan Drawdown

The inimitable Michael Ramirez:

World's End Prophet Harold Camping's "Open Forum" to End

Doomsday preacher Harold Camping, who is recovering from a mild stroke, will stop airing his Open Forum show at the end of this month.

Camping took questions live from listeners every weeknight on Family Radio's Open Forum program. Ever since the 89-year-old broadcaster suffered a stroke on June 9, Family Radio has been airing re-runs of his 90-minute program. Family Radio will air pre-recorded segments of the Open Forum program from Camping's May 23 to June 9 broadcasts to fill up the schedule until the end of June then wrap up the show, according to the Oakland Tribune.

"When those are completed, we will have other programming that is scheduled to run in that time slot," -Family Radio's program department secretary Judi Rathbone

Not sure how much of the program change is due to the stroke and how much to his discredited proclamation of the end of the world, or both. (It was discredited, right? Are we still here? Is this thing on?? *thumps microphone* )

When his prophecy for the May 21 rapture failed, Camping held a press conference to insist that his predictions were overall correct. He said he made a mistake in forecasting that Judgment Day for May 21 would be physical but clarified that the judgment did occur in a “spiritual” sense.

In the days following his public statement, Camping continued to assert his prediction that the End of the World is still on for October 21, 2011, but acknowledged that he moved the rapture date from May 21 to Oct. 21.

Up until his stroke, angry listeners have used the Open Forum segment as a time to directly chide Camping for shamelessly standing by his false teachings. The callers to the program also included followers of Camping, some who said they still believe in his predictions and others who told the preacher that they lost their faith.

Family Radio programs are broadcast on over 100 stations throughout the U.S. and reach listeners as far away as sub-Saharan Africa.

I've known some good people over at Family Radio. Hopefully, the stroke will limit Camping's influence (and doctrine) on the organization and they can go back to what they were doing best. Only time will tell.

As the Official Blog of the End of the World™, we'll keep you posted on October 21st.

Electric Car: Short Run, Then Goes Dead

The company, that is! They Think, Therefore They Are No More*, Think Global AS is filing for bankruptcy.

The electric car maker that launched its North American operations in northern Indiana has filed for bankruptcy protection in Norway, a major creditor said Wednesday morning.

Think Global AS plans to liquidate its assets, according to a statement from its exclusive battery supplier, Ener1 Inc.

Ener1, which engineers and makes its batteries in the Indianapolis area at its EnerDel subsidiary, notified investors Wednesday that the company would take a charge of more than $32 million on unpaid loans and accounts receivable from Think Global.

Wonder if anyone sold "short"?

*More properly, "They Think Globally, Therefore They Are No More".

H/T Gateway Pundit

"A Highly Politicized 'Mission Accomplished' Speech”

“One of The Things You Saw Tonight Was a Highly Politicized Mission Accomplished Speech”

Well, to his credit, Obama only mentioned bin Laden 6 times!

H/T Flopping Aces

Ladies: Rotate Your Breast Implants Every 50,000 Miles

WASHINGTON – Women who get silicone breast implants are likely to need additional surgery within 10 years to address complications such as rupturing of the device, U.S. health regulators said on Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration will work to revise safety labels for silicone breast implants after reviewing data from several long-term studies, which also showed that the products had a small link to a rare form of cancer.

Need any help determining exactly where to place those warning stickers? 'Cause I'm available!

“The key point is that breast implants are not lifetime devices,” said Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The longer you have the implant, the more likely you are to have complications.”

Gives a whole new meaning to "high maintenance", doesn't it?

H/T Pat Dollard

Quote du jour

Knowing...that when tax rates were reduced, government revenue actually increased due to private-sector economic growth — I knew that the projected revenue loss from tax cuts was a mere accounting fiction.

-Robert Stacy McCain

Green Police: Punishing the Innocent Since 1967

Before we get into today's story, a little background. I've lived most my life in the Central Valley of California. When California started more stringent smog testing and smog controls, they started in the Central Valley, because our air was dirtier. The SF Bay area, for example, was exempted for years more, because their air was cleaner.

Any idea why their air was cleaner? Was it because the good liberals in the Bay Area were environmentally conscious and all drove Smart Cars? No. Mostly it was because strong ocean breezes would blow all the crud from the Bay Area into the Central Valley. Businesses and individuals in the Central Valley were hit with penalties and the expense of cleaning up someone else's dirty air for years. Eventually, Bay Areans were required to perform the same smog checks as the rest of the state.

Fast forward to the Clinton years. Remember the Kyoto treaty? The US was supposed to cut back their carbon emissions and curtail manufacturing and energy production, while countries like India and China would be exempted.

That brings us to today. Study will track Valley air pollution coming from Asia

From a wind-blasted ridge high above the Pacific Ocean, scientists will begin learning how much of the San Joaquin Valley's air pollution can be blamed on coal power plants and ferocious dust storms in rapidly developing Asian nations.

As United States air quality standards get even stricter, the amount of pollution blowing in from overseas becomes a more significant hindrance to meeting those standards. And failure to meet them endangers our health and costs us money.

Because the Green Police will be more than willing to fine us more and more for pollution we did not cause.

Not only have Valley businesses already spent billions reducing air pollution, but motorists from Stockton to Bakersfield will now pay $29 million in new yearly vehicle registration fees because the Valley failed to meet standards for harmful ozone, or smog, last summer.

To be fair, we create a lot of that smog ourselves with our belching vehicle tailpipes. And some of it blows into the Valley from the Bay Area or Southern California. This is the first time officials have attempted to quantify how much ozone is crossing over from Asia.

Inexpensive consumer goods, massive volumes of credit, the flu and now smog. Is there anything we can't get from China?

The Asian problem is complicated. Dirty coal power plants are part of it; they spew pollutants that ultimately cook in the sun and form ozone in the atmosphere. Dust storms in western China are a major source of tiny particles that can also be dangerous to your health. Those storms may be exacerbated by land-management practices in that region, said Anthony Wexler, director of the Air Quality Research Center at the University of California, Davis, and the lead scientist on the new San Joaquin Valley study.

Some progress has been made in Asia, Wexler said. "They're cleaning things up, but they're building power plants like nuts, too," he said. "This is a very, very difficult situation."

The pollution takes about a week to blow across the ocean. It stays high above the marine layer, several thousand feet above sea level, which helps scientists differentiate it from pollution coming from nearby cities.

So, bad land management practices and new coal fired plants in China effect the air quality in California, and businesses and individuals here are fined and regulated and their activities are curtailed, and yet the Greenies want to exempt India and China from cleaning up their own pollution as part of the price of membership in the League of Modern Civilized Nations?

Please!