I back Jim Calhoun...

We told you two days ago about how the governor of Connecticut is upset with UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun for his "Not one dime!" outburst when he was asked about taking a pay cut to help with the state's economic woes.

Now two state legislators say Calhoun should face disiplinary action.

The Hartford Courant says state Sen. Mary Ann Handley and state Rep. Roberta Willis sent a letter to UConn President Michael J. Hogan that says of the Hall of Fame coach, in part:

"Coach Calhoun needs to be reminded that he is a role model for many athletes and students and that his behavior should reflect this position ... His recent behavior was unacceptable, and we request that the university take appropriate disciplinary action to reinforce the high ethical standards we have come to expect from our flagship institution."

UConn president Hogan didn't address whether discipline will follow.

Calhoun has a valid point...it's just his delivery was a bit "undiplomatic." He's the highest paid employee on the payroll, but his basketball program produces a signficant bit of coin for UConn, and ultimately the State of Connecticut. What is facinating is that two politicians, who have a hand in creating the $8.5 Billion deficit within the state are lobbying for Calhoun, who performs his job with flying profitable colors, to take a pay cut for the good of...everyone. How about we place politicians on a commission salary reflective of their performance?

Incidentally, the reporter who asked the question...and tried to provoke a response much like received?

Although the questioner (a political activist who got to the press conference with a photo pass) didn't conduct himself in a very professional manner,...

Were I Calhoun, I would be pushing the issue by suggesting that a raise might be in order since UConn is sitting #2 in the National rankings, sells out every game, and the latest budget proposal of the Federal government will be taking a chunk out of his salary via taxes. Connecticut, in an effort to support their State budget will likely do the same.

A spot of proverbial tea...

(Via Michelle Malkin's blog)

State officials ban tea from Tea Party

From the Des Moines Register

Tea, although natural and quite tasty, is considered a pollutant that can’t go into a body of water without a permit, said Mike Wade, a senior environmental specialist at the DNR’s Manchester field office.

“Discoloration is considered a violation,” Wade said.

Ummm...really? I pulled up the Cedar Rapids Municipal Code and read through the ordinances associated with Water Service and Waste Water Facilities (Chapters 12 & 13). I found nothing that supports that position. There is, certainly, nothing in the Water Service section. The Waste Water Facilities (Chapter 13) touches on the subject of securing permits.

13.08 PERMITS.
(a) Requirements. Any person desiring to discharge the described substances, materials, waters or wastes as defined in subsection 13.07(c) shall file an Application for a Discharge Permit with the Director.

Ok...let's take a peek at Section 13.07(c)...shall we?

13.07 USE OF PUBLIC SEWERS.
(c) Discharge Prohibited Except by Permit. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged, the following described substances, materials, waters, or wastes without a permit issued pursuant to Section 13.08.
1. Any waters or wastes excluding sanitary wastes having:
A. 5-day BOD greater than 42 lbs/day or,
B. Suspended solids greater than 52 lbs/day or,
C. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen greater than lbs/day, or,
D. Average daily flow greater than 25,000 gallons/day (excluding sanitary wastes).
2. Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Centigrade).
3. Any water or wastes which contain grease, fats, wax, or oil, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 mg/l, or other substances that will solidify or become discernibly viscous at temperatures between 32 degrees and 150 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees to 65 degrees Centigrade).
4. Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of 3/4 horsepower (0.75 hp metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Director.
5. Any water or wastes containing non-edible type oil or grease such as petroleum, mineral oil or grease in amounts that could cause interference or pass-through.
6. Any water or wastes that contain more than .2 parts per million by weight of hydrogen sulfide, or more than 2 parts per million by weight of sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide.
7. Any water or wastes that contain phenols or other taste and odor producing substances, in excess of 0.5 parts per million by weight.
8. Any water or wastes, acid or alkaline in reaction, and having corrosive properties capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the city.
9. Any water or wastes containing any of the constituents listed in subsection 13.07(b)1.B, or any other objectionable or toxic substances.
10. Any water or wastes containing the discharge of strong acid iron pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solution whether neutralized or not.
11. Any noxious or malodorous gas or substances, which either singly or by interaction with other wastes, is capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life or of preventing entry into sewers for their maintenance and repair.
12. Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Director in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.
13. Materials which exert or cause:
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids such as, but not limited to, fuller’s earth, lime slurries, and lime residues or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).
Excessive discolorations such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
14. Any water or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the water pollution control processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to such a degree that the Water Pollution Control Plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving water.
15. Any water or wastes which by interaction with the other water or wastes in the public sewer system, releases obnoxious gases or develops color of undesirable intensity; or forms suspended solids in objectionable concentration; or creates any other conditions deleterious to structures and treatment processes, shall be subject to control or shall be banned from the system as determined by the Director.
16. Any wastes, which in the opinion of the Director, may harm either the public sewers, Water Pollution Control Plant, treatment process, equipment, or have an adverse effect on the receiving stream, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming his opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Director shall give consideration to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction in the sewers, nature of the treatment processes, capacity of the water pollution control facilities, degree of treatability of wastes in question, and other pertinent factors. Factors influencing this ruling and known conditions at the time of this ruling shall be recorded by the Director in the plant file at the time the ruling is made.
17. Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Department. (20-92)

Problem #1 for Cedar Rapids is that Section 13.07 deals with manmade Public Sewers, not natural waterways. And, the only subsection that would possibly appear applicable would be this one:

13. Materials which exert or cause:
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids such as, but not limited to, fuller’s earth, lime slurries, and lime residues or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).
Excessive discolorations such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.

The question is subjective in nature. What is an excessive discoloration? I believe if you take the volume of the river at the location where the tea was to be dumped and compare it to the absolute miniscule amount of tea (comparatively)...there would be no "excessive discoloration." Keep in mind, also, that tea is nothing more than dried leaves.

Guess what? The Cedar Rapids Municipality neglected to define "excessive discolorations" in the definitions portion of the Ordinance Chapter. What they did include was this section.

(g) City’s Right of Revision. The city reserves the right to establish by ordinance more stringent limitations or requirements on discharges to the wastewater disposal system if deemed necessary to comply with the objectives presented in Section 13.07(a) of this chapter.

Ah...but they would have to meet, debate and vote in order to do so.

OH MY GOD...he advocated eating a cracker!!!

Hey...all you caucasian folks...look what I posted. After I eat it, you'll have to find someone else to write the Stimulus Bill.

And, no, I am not encouraging the assassination of elves. Garden Gnomes? Yeah...you can obliterate them all you want. They keep stealing my tomatoes.

Good grief...the consumate vitimization schtick is getting really old.

Cap and trade...while getting played...

Via Small Dead Animals (Incidentally...voted 2008 Top Conservative Blog just recently)

The Post cited testimony to Congress in September by Peter Orszag, currently Obama's budget director, estimating that revenue from a cap-and-trade scheme could reach 112 billion dollars by 2012.

According to Orszag, who at the time was director of the Congressional Budget Office, the program -- which would force companies to buy permits if they exceed pollution emission limits -- could generate between 50 and 300 billion dollars a year by 2020.

Gosh!!! That sounds wonderful!!! It is also a load of horse hockey. Before you get on your high horse and lecture me on the fact that I'm out of my pay grade, and couldn't possibly know whether this cap and trade nonsense would generate revenue or not, I'll have to defer to historical references.

The European Union gave the ole "cap and trade" a good go. It didn't work. In fact:

Four years later, the carbon trading system has created a multibillion-euro windfall for some of the continent's biggest polluters, with little or no noticeable benefit to the environment so far.

That's right. The "cap and trade" project of the European Union ended up being a windfall for the "polluters" and no one else when they scrapped the "pay for the permit" by handing them out free because the purchasing of said permits put undue strain on the financials of the corporations. The US economy is in worse shape now than the EU economy four, three, two or even one year ago. The companies that were to be tempered by the cost of emitting carbon passed on imaginary expenses to their clients. It's documented.

WE ARE THEY'RE FREAKIN' CLIENTS!!!! Nice tax cut Obama...it will help cover the infinitely higher consumer costs associated with the fees of purchasing carbon permits by the corporations that produce coffee, aluminum siding, lumbar...electricity...etc Pssst...corporations pass on their expenses to their client base.

The biggest polluters are profiting from this scheme...and still passing on imaginary costs to the consumer. Why should it be different in the US? More importantly...how did "cap and trade" do in reference to its goal of reducing carbon output?

Meanwhile, the amount of CO2 emitted by plants and factories participating in the system rose 0.4 percent in 2006 and an additional 0.7 percent in 2007.

Well done...well done, indeed. The intricacy of the scam is that there is no covertness to it what-so-ever. It's like a three year old with one hand in the cookie jar shaking his head vigorously to indicate that he isn't stealing cookies.

By the way...this sentence is buried in the Breitbart article outlining President Obama's folly.

Carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gasses are the main culprits in causing global warming.

Really? I missed the debate.

What kind of 'Twee' would you be?

"No forest of any kind should be used to make toilet paper," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist and waste expert with the Natural Resource Defense Council.

These enviro-nuts are certifiable.

I'll make it simple...a tree is a crop. If you cut down a tree, you can plant one in its place. Hell, you can plant three in its place. There is nothing special about an "old growth" tree other than it being comparatively older than a non-"old growth" tree.

This may shock you...but I really don't care if I upset the habitat of the all important three-stripe hopping mouse in the process.

No soup for you...

WASHINGTON — The budget President Obama unveils Thursday sets aside $634 billion over 10 years, a big step toward extending health coverage to 46 million uninsured and subsidizing premiums for others who have insurance.

The money would come equally from tax increases on people making more than $250,000 a year and cuts in government payments to health providers, insurers, drug companies and others.

Great!!! (that's sarcasm, folks).

Let's make it a prerequisite that anyone taking advantage of this free insurance first give up all large screen TV's, flat screen TV's, unhealthy snacks, adult libations, cigarettes, video games, dvd's, CD's, ipods, designer clothes, $100 sneakers, and any other non-essential part of their lives to be sold at auction to assist the taxpayers who will get socked with the price tag (that's NOT sarcasm, folks).

It is my personal opinion that a good portion of these "uninsured" remain so because they have no idea how to set priorities. Of course, 45% of these folks shouldn't be here in the first place.

uninsured who are NOT U.S. CITIZENS IS 45% of the 47 million.

Broken down by age, 18 - 24 years old - 29.3% of the 47 million.

25 - 35 years old - 26.9% of the 47 million.

Broken down by salary, $75,000 or more per year - 8.5% of the 47 million.

Theme for this current Administration... "Rewarding the wrong people at the expense of the responsible people."

Wash Po News-weak...

The Washington Post Co.'s reeling newspaper and magazine divisions stumbled again in the fourth quarter, extending an earnings slump that would have been even more disconcerting if not for the stability of the company's education and cable TV businesses.

The publisher of The Washington Post and Newsweek magazine said Wednesday that it made $18.8 million, or $2.01 per share, during the final three months of last year. That represented a 77 percent drop from net income of $82.9 million, or $8.71 per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

They forgot to include the part about this occurring in an election year (in which Election Day fell inside this fiscal period). They, also, forgot to include the fact that their majority readership falls within the demographic of which you would expect an increased customer base in such a time frame.

Or, perhaps, the Washington Post, and Newsweek has accumulated all the fringe far Left readers available, and their continued bias, misrepresentations, and fawning over a favored candidate has moved them from all encompassing media outlet to a niche pigeon hole.

Or...just maybe...there was a sudden onslaught of disease that decimated the pet birds in this country during the last quarter. I know the fish market is hurting due to environmentalists...

Elementary, my dear Abdullah...

Oh...this is so golden (via: Ghost of a Flea)

Small investors in Gaza face losses as tunnel industry collapses.

I'll forego the rimshot...and urge you to read the article. It is comedy gold wrapped up in what can only be the most incredible lack of deductive reasoning ever.

Abdullah is one of thousands of small investors in Gaza who were tempted to put their money into the tunnel business. The Hamas government turned a blind eye to the trend since it was making good use of the income toward tunnels.

But now, at least on the surface of things, Hamas is showing much determination in tackling the trend. In recent days, rumors spread throughout the Strip that local police arrested a broker who collected an almost fictional-sounding amount of money -$480 million dollars – in investments.

Official sources in the Strip provided no details on the arrest, but unofficial reports said the amount collected by the broker in question was much lower.

Hamas sends out their "fund raisers" to sell investment shares in the creation of a vast array of "smuggling" tunnels. The investors (Gazans) somehow don't associate these "fund raisers" with the party that benefits the most from the tunnels (Hamas). Every once in a while they tempt the populace with a get rich quick scheme by paying off dividends. This bags more investors. The tunnels expand/ multiply while Hamas takes the money that their bag men ("fund raisers") collect to purchase weapons. It was a ponzi scheme to some extent.

The weapons are smuggled back into Gaza through these magic tunnels along with various contraband (that also creates a minimal profit). In short, it's an underground version of the Wal-mart sportsman department without a waiting period where the consumer finances the stock in advance.

I don't know which is more astounding...Abdullah not understanding that Hamas was using him to finance and transport guns/rockets/ ammunition...or Hamas stating that they were looking into the matter.

Associated Press breaks out the Time Machine again...

Abe Greenwald notes how the AP can gaze the future:

Here’s something interesting that leaked out from our skeptical press. An AP story by Jennifer Loven about how the president’s address went — five and a half hours before it happened:

We've witnessed this amazing fete previously...

President Bush, who spoke just before Zardari in what was likely to be his last address to the world body, echoed the call for moderation.

Echoing the future, we understand, takes devining rods and lots of Red Bull.

Filing a glowing positive report on President Obama's State of the Union address five hours in advance of the event, we understand, requires dishonesty and just plain "bull."

No word yet on whether the AP will continue to cover Iraq through Astral Projection...

The State giveth...and the State taketh away...

Hey...remember this guy?

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Huang Guangyu, one of China's wealthiest individuals, a day after reports surfaced that he was recently detained by the Beijing police for questioning over alleged financial wrongdoing.

Well, he's sort of found...sort of.

Three months later, Huang and his wife and former co- director, Lisa Du Juan, remain incommunicado, along with Zhou Yafei, Gome’s former chief financial officer, somewhere in China’s penal system, leaving Greaves and his remaining co- directors scrambling to avert the company’s collapse.

Apparently, he is under investigation for share manipulation. The details are a bit sketchy. But...relax...it's China's problem...not ours...right?

Gome’s investors -- which include Capital Research & Management, a unit of Capital Group Cos., the largest U.S. manager of stock and bond mutual funds; Warburg Pincus LLC; and clients of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley -- still can’t trade the suspended stock. All four fund managers declined to comment.

Curious...and it might not pass the smell test. How much have these US firm invested in the now nosediving Gome? I'd bet a bit more than "a little" since they're refusing to comment.

After Huang disappeared, Xinhua reported that he was suspected of having manipulated trading in shares of two other companies, Beijing Centergate Technologies (Holding) Co. and Sanlian Commercial Co.

Xinhua also reported in January that two investigators from China’s public security ministry had been detained for allegedly taking bribes during the investigation into Huang.

Other than that, Chinese authorities have released no details of the allegations against him.

Alarmed that Gome could collapse without its founders, the remaining directors set up an action committee headed by Sun. They also called in a forensic auditing team from Ernst & Young LLP to investigate any irregular transactions.

Greaves says nothing has been found so far. “When people do get taken in for questioning, they sometimes disappear for months or even years,” Greaves says. “That creates uncertainty, which is the worst thing for institutional shareholders, especially when the rest of their world is crumbling around them.”

Where's the outrage from our "Close GITMO" folks?

Crackpot Soapboxing...

GENEVA (AP) — Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday — a development that could lead to an unprecedented rise in sea levels.

A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not just the Antarctic Peninsula.

Previously most of the warming was thought to occur on the narrow stretch pointing toward South America, said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and a member of International Polar Year's steering committee.

These guys are relentless...

Here's my favorite quote from Colin Summerhayes...

"David Bellamy has been pushing his anti-global warming barrow around for some time, peddling the same old mistakes (Comment, Oct 22). He apparently understand so little about the issue that he thinks that the “hockey stick” graph that shows a marked increase in global warming since 1900 was generated by a computer (it was actually a summary of measurements and proxy measurements), and he further thinks that it is wrong — whereas it was vindicated not by a bunch of greenies, but by the US National Academy of Sciences."

In case you aren't up to speed...the "Hockey Stick" graph was shown to be a complete waste of time...and about as capable as a three legged dog burying a bone on an icy lake.

Simply put...the man squandered his credibility...so why even refer to him as an expert? Because, he carries the water. And, incidentally:

"The Antarctic wintertime ice extent increased...at a rate of 0.6% per decade" from 1979 to 2006, says Donald Cavalieri, a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

And...there is a massive vocano under the ice. Pssst...those things tend to give off massive heat...Just saying.

Je me rends!!!

PARIS: A French appeals court on Tuesday overturned terrorist conspiracy convictions of five former inmates of the Guantánamo prison camp who were tried and convicted in 2007, after they had been returned to France.

The court ruled that testimony gathered by French intelligence officials in interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, violated rules for permissible evidence and that there was no other proof of wrongdoing.

None of the men, captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, is currently in jail, having been given time off for time already served.

But the case is likely to be seen as a precedent as more inmates are released from Guantánamo Bay, which President Barack Obama has vowed to shut down. Various European countries have expressed willingness in principle to take some of the inmates, depending on their potential for dangerous behavior and whether the United States also accepts some of them. Some European countries prefer that the European Union come up with a unified position, so Washington cannot play one country against another while trying to negotiate placements.

Just wait until one of these little monkeys (not a racist reference...just one of denigration towards murderous asswipes) does something nasty and we all pay the price. Those pushing this appeasement are going to understand the concept of "repercussions" I'm afraid...

Total Loss Redundancy...

The rocket carrying NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) suffered a technical glitch early this morning that caused the satellite to crash into the ocean near Antarctica.

In development for nine years, the observatory was meant to orbit Earth and monitor global carbon dioxide emissions.

Data from the satellite would have helped researchers better understand distribution of the greenhouse gas, possibly improving climate models. (Get the facts on global warming.)

NASA officials are now calling the $270-million mission a total loss.

"Certainly for the science community, it's a huge disappointment," Michael Freilich, director of NASA's Earth Science Division in Washington, D.C., said this morning at a briefing.

$270 Million in tax dollars desinigrated over Antarctica. Massive amounts of carbon dioxide were spewed into the atmosphere and stratosphere. That's a good day's work. Actually, it's a good nine year's work...and I'm not too terribly torn up about it.

Somewhere out there...James Hansen is upping his meds...and the world's temperatures...

Fiscal?...Noooo....I said "Fist Full"

Only a month into the Obama administration we have reached the point at which words have lost their ordinary meaning and there is no shame in making the most brazenly hypocritical pronouncements. Let’s start from the top. “Reforming” heath care does not, I guarantee you, mean the government will spend less money. It might seem like that’s the case since the president is bringing it up in the context of fiscal responsibility.

Jennifer Rubin of Commentary Magazine's "Contentions" takes the Washington Post to the woodshed and reads between the lines on health care.

The unintentional hilarity is buried a number of paragraphs down in the Post’s report which acknowledges that ”with this year’s deficit projected to approach a record $1.5 trillion, Obama said he would reduce the budget gap to $533 billion by the end of his first term in office.” Let me think about this. Couldn’t we have shrunk it a lot more than that without Nancy Pelosi’s trillion dollar pork-a-thon? And imagine what we’d be able to accomplish with a much reduced omnibus spending package.

I would have bet against the Obama Administration being able to actually accomplish a "redistribution of wealth" in any significant magnitude. And yet...

Yikes...and double Yikes!!!

Like so many in this farming town, populated almost entirely by German-speaking immigrants, Grimm, 19, believes that something in the water - a mysterious mineral, perhaps - is responsible for the town's unusual concentration of twins.

"It can't all be explained by genetics," said Grimm, himself a twin.

Geneticists would like to disagree with him, but even they have no complete explanation for the 38 pairs of twins among about 80 families living with in an area of 1.5 square miles, or nearly 4 square kilometers.

The mystery has persisted for decades, attracting international attention and inspiring books and investigations by geneticists. It is one reason locals are in no hurry to try to prove their water theory.

They are too busy posing for journalists and marketing themselves to tourists as the "twins capital of the world."

Some researchers have suggested the darker possibility that Josef Mengele, the Nazi physician known as the Angel of Death, was involved.

Mengele, locals say, roamed this region of southern Brazil, posing as a veterinarian, in the 1960s, about the time the twins explosion began.

38 pairs of twins among 80 families. That sort of shoots "coincidence" out the picture...

Still waiting for their standing ovation...

Seeing that Hollywood found it necessary to provide a standing ovation (multiple times) for someone either totally selfish (suicide) or bone jarringly stupid (accidental overdose)...I quite willingly question their values...intelligence and concept of what should and should not be rewarded...Last night's cumulative circle jerk of idiocy shows just how out of touch they are...and how obtuse they are to what they are honoring.

I'm not saying that Heath Ledger's final performance as the Joker wasn't well done. It was. However, the attention it garnered (because of this death), and the reactions from the vacuous ones in attendance last night leave a lot to be desired from an purely ethical and moral point of view. I found it uncomfortable and gauche. It is Hollywood...I guess. A room filled with folks who stand on an "X" and regurgitate what other people write (a signficant number of whom never graduated from high school).

How about a nice round of applause for these folks?:

Lenny Bruce (40) - comedian, morphine overdose.
John Belushi (33) - of the Blues Brothers, actor, and comedian, heroin and cocaine overdose (speedball).
Montgomery Clift - actor, heart attack due to severe alcoholism and drug abuse.
Alexander Godunov (45) - actor, died of alcoholism.
Dorothy Dandridge (42) - actress, singer, anti-depressant overdose.
Margaux Hemingway (41) - actress, disputed suicide, overdose of phenobarbital.
Gary Holton (33) - actor, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, alcohol and morphine overdose.
Alan Ladd (50) - actor, acute overdose of alcohol and hypnotic barbiturates, probable suicide.
Bruce Lee (32) - actor, martial artist, died of acute cerebral edema due to a reaction to compounds present in the prescription pain killing drug Equagesic.
Carole Landis - actress, overdose of barbiturates (suicide).
Bela Lugosi (73) - actor, drug-related heart attack.
Jack Nance (53) - actor, alcohol addiction
Chris Penn (40) - actor (Reservoir Dogs), brother of Sean Penn, heart disease and prescription drugs.
Jack Pickford (36) - actor, syphillis & alcohol and drug abuse.
River Phoenix (23) - actor, overdose of heroin and cocaine (speedball).
Dana Plato (34) - actress, of Diff'rent Strokes, suicide - overdose of muscle relaxant Vanadom (carisoprodol)and Vicodin.
Freddie Prinze (22) - comic, actor (Chico and the Man), self-inflicted gunshot wound while under the influence of Quaaludes
Rachel Roberts (53) - actress - barbiturate overdose (suicide).
Alma Rubens - actress, flu caused by heroin addiction.
George Sanders (65) - actor, barbiturates overdose (suicide).
Natalie Wood - actress, drowned when intoxicated.

It's official...President Obama is way out of his league...

WASHINGTON - President Obama is preparing to move ahead with the most ambitious arms-control agenda in decades, calling for dramatic cuts in US and Russian arsenals, a halt to the Bush administration's plan for a more advanced nuclear warhead, and the ratification of a global treaty banning underground nuclear tests.

Obama's agenda, posted on the White House website shortly after his inauguration and outlined by several top officials, also includes a worldwide ban on the production of nuclear weapons material - leading to what the administration calls "a world without nuclear weapons."

The naiveté is astounding! How exactly are you supposed to give the benefit of the doubt to President Obama when the "administration" thinks that there is even the most remote of chances that this planet can become a "world without nuclear weapons."

These are the thoughts of children.

This is the mantra of a four year old who hasn't had the luxury of growing up to experience reality. It is the drumming mantra of the supercilious ultra-peaceniks who have no problem treating life like it is a coloring book...happy to turn the page to the next offering in the event that the one in front of them seems a bit too difficult to stay within the lines. For them...there are no repercussions...there are no outside defining factors. There is only the exponential immaturity of "having their way"...intelligence and common sense be damned.

"Trust...but verify" has been replaced by..."raw ignorance and ingenuousness ."

First of all...Russia will not comply. Instead, they will turn such a fairyland effort into a platform that extorts money out of our coffers...all the while proceeding with a more clandestine nuclear program. China will see this as an opportunity to far exceed the power and capability of the West (namely the United States)...and will gladly exploit that advantage when they have achieved their goals. Iran, Korea, even France will take this as an opening to become more relevant and powerful.

All the while, the United States...surely the most repentant and stable country in the world...will voluntarily remove themselves from their current level of relevance AND STABILITY.

This president is voluntarily making us weaker...and indirectly, he is resolute in making the world a more dangerous place. The question you have to now start considering is "whether he is doing so out of incompentence and naiveté...or whether it is the ultimate goal to do so?"

Betting that she originated from Massachusetts

The little girl in the photo smiles at the dead fish in her hands, not even considering that she drowned them, and that they could not breathe after being taken out of their habitat, a habitat increasingly being polluted and threatened by human activity rooted in the pretentious assumption that all creatures are on this earth to be culled, harvested, hunted and slaughtered for human benefit. This moral code strikes me as totally opposite of what religious teachings imply.

"Blessed are the merciful." Is that what hunting, trapping, fishing and teaching children to kill other beings is? Hardly.

One look at our nation's crime, violence, addictions, predatory acts (even to children), and a thinking person should be able to connect the dots -- our domination of those who are incapable of defense or escape comes full circle back to haunt us.

Instead of nurturing the most callous, desensitizing, merciless and violent behaviors we are capable of, wouldn't our society as a whole be much less violent and cruel if we did not teach those behaviors to children who have no idea of their far-reaching consequences?

Yesssss!!! I applaud you!!!!

Oh crap...I just killed millions of tiny one cell animals with my very own hands in the act of applauding.

Anyway...read the opinion piece (edited). It's a riot...considering that it appeared in the Manchester Union Leader up in New Hampshire. Talk about a fish out of water... The opinion article is from the April 2008 Union Leader, and the woman (bless her citified soul) is complaining about a little girl skilled and fortunate enough to have caught a couple of fish (cover of the March 2008 New Hampshire Outdoor Gazette).

Check out the cover of the New Hampshire Outdoor Gazette this month...

HEATHEN!!!!

____________

POST EDITED: Charlie Perkins III, Editor of the Union Leader correctly pointed out that this contribution was an opinion and, of course, not an editorial. In my defense...I went to public school. Thank you for the correction.

Hey, Michelle...check out the Hottie from Haiti...

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean has been invited to stay in touch with President Barack Obama on the challenging conditions facing people living in Haiti -- a conversation topic that she brought up with the U.S. leader when he visited Ottawa earlier this week.

Citibank...refuge for the slow...

A Nigerian man helped steal $27.2 million from a Citibank account belonging to the National Bank of Ethiopia in an elaborate international scheme, federal prosecutors charged yesterday.

Prosecutors said Paul Amos, 37, and his co-conspirators sent to Citibank bogus documents seeking to transfer money out of NBE's account.

The fake documents led Citibank to wire-transfer approximately $27 million to accounts held by Amos and the co-conspirators.

It's a wonder that Citibank has stayed viable this long...

On the plus side, I believe we can assume that Citibank is an equal opportunity employer. They obviously hire the retarded in bulk. 99.999% of us would never fall for the Nigerian 419 scam. Citibank, apparently, looks to hire the .001% that would. This scam looks even more transparent.
______________
CLARIFICATION (for the hopelessly and enternally offended):

Retarded:
re·tard·ed
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈtär-dəd\
Function: adjective
Date: 1895
slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress.

Did you know that "Son of Sam's" dog talked?

They are asked to summarise the reasons why they thought the bombers wanted to carry out their attacks and even suggest some more.

This would be an approved curriculum in the UK for secondary school students at the directive of the Department for Children, Schools and Families relative to the terrorist bombings there.

Let's play along...shall we?

Reasons why the terrorists wanted to carry out their attacks:

1. Dr. Who was a bloody repeat.

2. Al-Mohammad Sharaf, the blacksheep of the group, was a heretic and had recently discovered the attributes of alcohol. The night before the attack, he had nonchalantly stated..."Let's get bombed tomorrow." Arabic is, apparently, a very literal language not conduscent to nuance.

3. They tried blowing up a few cars the day before, but burned their lips on the exhaust pipes.

4. They blew up the Yemeni (Aden - Sheikh Othman) Rail Line the week before, but no one noticed any change in service.

5. These imbred, life devaluing, murderous sphincter valves had been molded, encouraged and influenced by other imbred, life devaluing, murderous sphincter valves who teach their hateful perverted views on a regular basis right there in London 'town' without hinderance. The basis of their teachings is centered in a philosophy that non-muslims are the epitome of infidelity, and therefore unworthy of consideration. In other words, they were influenced by the Quran.

EXTRA CREDIT: Explain in an essay (2,000 words or more) the defense Mohammad would have to use in today's world to secure bond release as an accused pedophile.

Rare Quail..."Medium Rare"

February 18, 2009—A rare quail from the Philippines was photographed for the first time before being sold as food at a poultry market, experts say.

Found only on the island of Luzon, Worcester's buttonquail was known solely through drawings based on dated museum specimens collected several decades ago.

Scientists had suspected the species—listed as "data deficient" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2008 Red List—was extinct.

Is it just me, or has there been a cascade of articles this year in which previously thought extinct animals (inclusive of some sizeable mammals) miracuously re-appear in our midst?

Are we seeing a repercussion from the over-zealous animal rights lobby who have been so wrapped up in their doomsayer mentality that they failed to consider that someone might actually bump into one of these creatures eventually and ruin the mantra? It's the same mentality that claims polar bears require a protected status even though they are thriving. It's the same mentality that thinks it's a great idea to introduce gray wolves into a cattle producing region.

Humans always seem to ruin everything...

Romper Room shake-up

The question, he said, is whether countries want the world to be run by small groups of economically and politically powerful nations or "by the only legitimate global institution that we have, and that is the UN."

This ought to scare the living crap out of you...for a whole host of reasons.

First, it totally discounts the concept of sovereign nations. Secondly, it is a thinly veiled initiative to remove the five permanent members with veto power; the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France (probably in favor of full rotating members without veto power so that the usual despots, tyrants, and anti-semitic cesspools can dictate the soft Jihad more efficiently). Thirdly, any time the word "legitimate" and "UN" occurs in the same sentence I go into convulsions.

On a bright note...the UN has not accomplished anything of substance and importance in a long, long time. I doubt that they will accomplish anything in reference to the Security Council. Instead, they have become the anti-Hallmark institution of "strongly worded letters of disproval."

Here's an idea...put Israel on the permanent member list with veto power...I'll get behind that.

Syria...and the rest of the weasels...

VIENNA: U.N. nuclear agency samples taken from a Syrian site suspected of being a secretly built reactor have revealed new traces of processed uranium, the agency reported Thursday.

Imagine that...then ask yourself why Syria disallows any follow-up visits by inspectors...

...and the band played on.

...since President Obama took over from Bush in January, the tide seems to be turning favorably for Syria.

Two delegations from the U.S. Congress have already visited Syria. Later this week, Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is expected in Damascus.

The U.S. is certainly sending positive messages to the country treated by the previous administration as an associate member of the “axis of evil,” along with such U.S. rivals as Iran and North Korea.

For those of you keeping score at home...


1. Financial Crisis Called Top Security Threat to U.S.

2. Appeasement of Cuba.

3. Appeasement of Iran.

4. Appeasement of North Korea.

5. Appeasement of Syria.

6. Appeasement of Burma/Myanmar.

Hey...but I think the French like us more now...that's something...right?

Looking more and more desperate...

The climate change panel's computer models show that even slight warming will reduce crop yields across the tropics. Brazil may be better equipped than most to adapt, since its scientists have spent decades developing fertilizer and soil management, infrastructure and public policies that have transformed arid tropical plains into today's thriving agricultural zones.

"We should see the real changes in 10 or 20 years" from global warming, said genetic engineering specialist Francisco Aragao. "If we want to do agricultural investigations to combat the effects, you have to start now."

Meanwhile...what are those "reliable" computer models saying about the new Wheat Fields that will inhabit the Canadian Tundra?

What?

Don't shussshhh me.

Gift that keeps on giving...

NEW YORK — Should people be paid to behave responsibly? Some cities think so.

New York wants poor people to save money, so it is offering a big incentive to encourage them to do so: a 50% match of up to $250 if they put money from their federal earned-income tax credit into a savings account and keep it there for a year.

This is beautiful....Everyone FEEL better now?

So, in summary...first we give a tax credit of about $2,000 to folks that pay little or NO income tax. Then, we encourage those folks to take the money out of circulation (much to the chagrine of New York commerce) and, the legit tax payer (you know...the guy who pays his taxes and doesn't get a credit...i.e. Free Money) gets double tapped to pay for the NYC's generous little gift to folks who already got a gift.

Ah...here comes my ride...the damn turnip truck I fell off of...

Personal Responsibility is not an issue...

A flummoxed Mayor Bloomberg yesterday said it was "incomprehensible" that a Manhattan jury awarded $2.3 million to a man who lost his leg under a subway train after falling drunk onto the tracks.

"Sometimes, juries do things that you find a little incomprehensible," said Bloomberg, responding to The Post's front-page story about 25-year-old Dustin Dibble, of Brooklyn.

"I wasn't sitting in the courtroom. I wasn't on the jury. But on the face of it, you'd think there's a personal responsibility here," said the mayor. "And I think a lot of us should be a little more responsible for our own behavior."

Hizzonor needs to get out more. This type of verdict comes out every single day (mostly in Brooklyn and Bronx Counties...which is where all the plaintiff lawyers file regardless of the location of the incident due to plaintiff friendly jurors and Judges).

The thing is...it is usually the insurance carrier that gets dinged. As a result of these outlandish "sticking it to the man" type deliberations, most carriers, and corporations holding a sizeable self-insured retention will end up settling a claim for significant money regardless of liability due to the potential for renegade (consistently pro-plaintiff) juries in these venues. That way, they save court costs, and the always present Sword of Damocles potential of some whacked out pain and suffering award that would exhaust the limits and, also, ding the excess coverage.

Here's a dirty little secret about NY filed Summons & Complaints. Rarely is one filed by a plaintiff attorney that doesn demand an award of at least seven figures regardless of the incident or the severity of the alleged injuries...most times more.

New York reformed their "Joint and Several" liability position a while back. Therefore, in order for this drunk troglodyte to have collected this $2.3 Million award, the MTA would have had to have been found over 50% liable. They were found 65% liable...while the passed out moron who fell off the platform onto the tracks (and cannot remember anything about how he got there) was only found to be 35% liable.

Even so...these cases are daily in New York. They are daily in Cook County Illinois, Metarie, LA, Philadelphia County PA, Palm Beach County FL...The list is long and indistinguished. Interestingly, there is always a correlation between the creativity of juries and the southward turn of the economy.

I would say that these juries are cutting their own throats with such verdicts since insurance carriers pass on these losses to their policy holders, and the MTA passes it onto straphangers. However, when you see statitics such as Philadelphia estimating over 70% of the vehicles on the road are uninsured (illegal by the way in PA)...these folks don't care, and rarely make the connection to their own wallets anyway. That, also, would require personal responsibility...which is sorely lacking all over the spectrum.

Holder of the cards...

"Attorney general calls for frank talk about race"-(USA Today-OnDeadline)

Eric Holder, the nation's first black U.S. attorney general, says Americans "simply do not talk enough with each other about race."

In a speech at the Justice Department Wednesday marking Black History Month, Holder tells employees that they have a special responsibility to advance racial understanding.

Well then, let's just get rid of BLACK History Month, and call it "History Month." Is that frank enough for you? Singling out historical events based purely on whether an individual involved has more melanin in their skin is RACIST HYPOCRISY when the ultimate goal to achieve is equality...no?

How about we disallow BLACK Student Unions, BLACK Caucuses, and the very necessity of calling you the first BLACK Attorney General? All these items are divisive and separative.

How about we sit down with the President and ask him to stop playing the "race card" whenever someone serves up some criticism?

From Attorney Holder's speech:

Our history has demonstrated that the vast majority of Americans are uncomfortable with, and would like to not have to deal with, racial matters and that is why those, black or white, elected or self-appointed, who promise relief in easy, quick solutions, no matter how divisive, are embraced. We are then free to retreat to our race protected cocoons where much is comfortable and where progress is not really made.

No, we are not free to retreat to our race protected cocoons. We are chastised, extorted, and denigrated by the leaders of the "BLACK" community (and our President) as racist should we offer an opinion contrary to theirs. Businesses are protested and boycotted as race hustlers weasel-out cold hard cash to "make it go away" and limit publicity.

I find Holder's comments naïve and disingenuous.

Holder seldom broaches the topic of race directly, but in a 1997 National Public Radio interview conducted soon after his appointment as the Justice Department's second in command, he shared a quote by the late Samuel Proctor, a pastor in Harlem, that he carried in his wallet.

"It says that blackness is another issue entirely apart from class in America," Holder said. "No matter how affluent, educated and mobile a black person becomes, his race defines him more particularly than anything else."

Compare that to his statement above, made today. That appears overly simplified, and the impression is that, from the new Attorney General's position, there is no solution. Equality and opportunity takes a backseat to skin tone.

Cancer is racist...

Blacks are more likely to develop cancer and die from the disease than any other group, according to a report released today. Black patients also live a shorter time after diagnosis than others.

Death rates have fallen in recent decades for all groups, and the gap between the races has fluctuated over the years. Yet the gap between blacks and whites is just as wide today as it was in 1981, report co-author Ahmedin Jemal says.

Cue up the old joke:

"EARTH KILLER ASTEROID TO HIT US TOMORROW...ALL LIFE WILL DIE...WE ARE ALL DOOMED...women and minorities hardest hit."

In a groundbreaking 2004 study, Bach showed that the doctors who treated blacks were less likely to be board-certified and often lacked crucial resources, such as access to diagnostic imaging tests and specialists.

Blacks also are more likely to live in poverty and have low educational levels, Jemal says.

Education makes a huge difference in survival for all races, the report shows. For both blacks and whites, cancer death rates among those with a high school education or less are about twice the rates of those who have gone to college. Yet blacks still have higher death rates than whites, even when they have the same level of education, the report shows.

Blacks are less likely to be screened for colorectal cancer and are more likely than whites to be overweight and sedentary, which can increase the risk of developing many kinds of cancers, the report shows.

Same ole schtick...even in Hopey McChangeland.

She lowers the IQ of each room she enters...

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio endorsed the strategy in a fiery speech on the House floor during debate on the federal bank bailout last month.

"Don't leave your home," she said. "Because you know what? When those companies say they have your mortgage, unless you have a lawyer that can put his or her finger on that mortgage, you don't have that mortgage, and you are going to find they can't find the paper up there on Wall Street."

Brilliant!!! Who ties Marcy's shoes each morning is what I want to know.

In summary, Representative Kaptur believes that those who default on their mortgage (most of whom had no business getting a mortgage in the first place) should just ignore their contractual obligations agreed to by both the lender and the borrower upon settlement. As the banks will point out, most mortgages are available electronically. It's just a clown car load of liberal judges out there refusing to recognize the inevitable.

Oh...and, Marcy...(whispering) there isn't a warehouse full of mortgages on Wall Street...just a Stock Exchange, the Trump Building, Tiffany's and a few apartment buildings.

Profiles in Garbage...

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of British Islamists plotted to cause deaths on an "almost unprecedented scale" by blowing up transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives hidden in soft drink bottles, a London court heard Tuesday.

The eight men were almost ready to execute their plan to bring down seven aircraft simultaneously in mid-air as they flew from London to the United States and Canada when they were arrested, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

This is blatant profiling. The lineage of these fine upstanding victims is Middle Eastern...That can't be right!!!

Besides, we don't have time for this...the economy is our number one foe...not terrorists. We need a train to Las Vegas....we need a mouse habitat in San Francisco, stat!

Incidentally, did you ever notice that if you turn the faces of these ingrates up-side-down...there is another face altogether?

Thanks for your input...you have already lost

GENEVA: The U.S. war on terror has done "immense damage" to international law, lacks a credible legal basis and should be repudiated by the administration of President Barack Obama, a panel of eminent judges and lawyers said Monday.

The panel, organized by the International Commission of Jurists, a nongovernmental human rights group, also criticized the culture of secrecy associated with the violation of international laws, which it said afforded impunity to those acting unlawfully.

The "nongovernmental human rights group" that organized this international circle jerk is not named. In fact, in the NY Times version of this story, they aren't even mentioned.

My knee jerk response is "HOW DARE ANYONE FROM SOUTH AFRICA EVEN MENTION THE TERM HUMAN RIGHTS!!!" My second response is not so knee jerk...as one of the participants was Mary Robinson. Ms. Robinson chaired the UN Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa a number of years ago. It turned into an anti-Semitic Jew bashing event of which she did nothing to control. That, again, brings up the question as to which "nongovernmental human rights group" organized the fiesta of fawning?

The panel recognized the threat posed by terrorism and that states have a legal duty reinforced by UN resolutions to protect their citizens. But their actions must be in accordance with the requirements of international law, Chaskalson said. "Otherwise they become lawbreakers" with serious consequences for their own societies and international order, he said.

They cut off heads of non-combatants...we make them wear women's underwear. International law seems to be biased against cross-dressing Muslims. Were I a cross dressing Muslim, I would be offended...unless I was in Iran...then I would be dead.

I shutter for the future of Skittles...

NEW YORK (AP) — End war, forever. Make the planet greener. Please help my dad find work. Make it rain candy!

Thousands of kids detailed their hopes and expectations for President Barack Obama in letters and drawings as part of a worldwide project, with 150 chosen for a free e-book being released on Presidents Day.

It occurs to me that most supporters of the Liberal way (the Hopey Changey way)...are, indeed, ten year olds.

While you can't fault kids for their naïveté, this says an awful lot about the indoctrinization that's taking place in the class room.

Asked for comment, Jessica Alba exclaimed, "OH...YESSSS...MAKE IT RAIN CANDY!!!"

THESE PEOPLE!!!

John Carroll, professor of mass communication at Boston University and senior media analyst for WBUR-FM, recalled how he was "flame-broiled on the Internet" for missing the satire in a blog he cited on television. Carroll chose not to fire back, but acknowledged he might have made a mistake. "What I decided to do - and I don't recommend this - was not to respond because I thought there is just no bottom to that well," he said. "You'll never win getting into spitting matches with these people. And they have a lot more time on their hands than I do."

I love the elitist mentality.

"You'll never win getting into spitting matches with these people."

THESE PEOPLE!!! THESE PEOPLE!!! (making my face of mock indignation) Incidentally, Mr. Professor of mass communication, These people are writers, bankers, homemakers, actors, law enforcement, students, teachers, lawyers, Indian Chiefs...

It's always a good time to watch the collegiate know-it-alls deeply invested in their self-importance try and show the internet in a negative light as they watch their entire industry (and therefore the course syllabus) sort of fade away into nothing of any consequence. Newspapers are tanking, network media is tanking...radio is tanking except for conservative talk shows...and what are we left with Professor Carroll?

That's right... THESE PEOPLE!!!

On a side note...it was the "Progressive" (read: misguided) side of the internet that had such a brush up with Professor Carroll. I'm merely addressing the undercurrent of negativity that seems to live in the brains of the Dinosaur Media participants and educators.

Brrrrr...

Via Drudge...it has been a below normal temperature year... Is this a single weather event that the AGW folks say means nothing...while continuously using single weather events to make their case?

The first 26 days...

1. Financial Crisis Called Top Security Threat to U.S.

2. Appeasement of Cuba.

3. Appeasement of Iran.

4. Appeasement of North Korea.

5. Appeasement of Syria.

Maybe if I ask nicely, Michelle Obama will let me have a little of that pride she just found in this country. My supply is starting to dwindle...

___________

UPDATE: Appeasement of Burma/Myanmar.

History rinse, wash, Repeat(s)...

Jawohl, mein Präsident!

WASHINGTON—It's another call for public service from President Barack Obama.

He says all Americans should help out in their communities. That could mean reading to children or repairing basketball courts.

The basketball-playing president taped a message for Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. The White House released excerpts ahead of the broadcast. Obama's taped message will air at halftime.

I'll get right on that, Mr. President...

Oh...wait...I do that without being told. A multitude of the ones who have to be told are, actually, the ones who introduce various inner city neighborhoods to decay and dilapidation. Sometimes they even stop in to my neighborhood for a quick "visit." Funny thing is that they either leave at a full sprint, or on a slab. My television, on the other hand, stays right where it is.

Keep up the great work, Mr. President...and when are you going to hand out the "Community Service" uniforms?

For the Romantically Inclined...

Some commonly known aphrodisiacs are: chocolate (Shama says go for dark chocolate for the healthier option), oysters, avocados, fennel, figs, garlic, ginger, raspberries, strawberries, bananas and red wine.

"There's no scientific evidence on whether these really increase someone's sex drive, but it has to do with appearance and texture -- that might stimulate romantic sides," Shama says. "A banana's phallic shape can be a bit more exciting. Figs appear like women's genitilia."

Forget everything else on the list...go with the red wine. After enough red wine...the other stuff is just in the way.

Incidentally, I held a Fig Newton up to my girlfriend, and she doesn't look anything like it.

Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you...

DETROIT (AP) — Negotiators for the United Auto Workers walked out of concession talks with General Motors Corp. Friday night in a dispute over payments to a union-administered retiree health care fund, a person briefed on the talks said Saturday. The breakdown comes at a critical time as GM races against a Tuesday deadline to submit a plan to the government showing how it can become viable.

The Detroit-based auto giant is living on $9.4 billion in government loans, and the Treasury Department must approve its viability plan for GM to get $4 billion more. Chrysler LLC, which has received $4 billion in government loans and wants an additional $3 billion, faces the same deadline.

At GM, UAW negotiators walked away because the company made demands that were "detrimental to retirees and the ability to provide health care," according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Unions...gotta love their brash inability to grasp the obvious and the inevitable. The UAW turned their back because "the company made demands that were detrimental to retirees." So, instead of offering concession for the prolonged existence of their employer, they are perfectly content to apply the "scorched Earth" approach. Surely, they don't think they have negotiating leverage. And, why is the management even entertaining a negotiation. They finally have the leverage to say "either you accept this plan...or you start sending out resumes...because we are finished..."

It's all reminiscent of the scene from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." They are wedged on the side of a cliff. The posse is closing in, and their only viable option is to jump to a precarious looking river way below.

Butch Cassidy: Then you jump first.
Sundance Kid: No, I said.
Butch Cassidy: What's the matter with you?
Sundance Kid: I can't swim.
Butch Cassidy: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.

Hey, Alanis Morrisette...pay attention...

It seems that there is this prominent Muslim who was arrested for taking a few inches off of his wife:

Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband -- an influential member of the local Muslim community -- reported her death to police Thursday.

Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder.

Tragic...and...well...ironic. You see, according to Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, the suspect and his late wife were upset by the negative perceptions of Muslims.

Muzzammil Hassan came to America from Pakistan 25 years ago. He became a successful banker in Buffalo, New York, near the famed Niagara Falls.

While he and his wife were happy to be in the United States, they were upset by the negative perceptions of Muslims, and particularly how this perception might affect their children.

That is how they came up with the idea of Bridges TV. Mr. Hassan's wife challenged him to start it.

That, Alanis, is ironic. A black fly in your Chardonnay...well...I don't know what that is. Or...meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife. That's...hmmm...the whole Sienna Miller and Balthazar Getty thing, and likely a good percentage of Hollywood as well as your profession.

Here's some irony for you:

How about a parent acting like a child? Or...how about a vegetarian enjoying some nice red meat? My personal favorite is the Illinois Legislature focusing on ethics. That irony is so thick that you can cut it with ten thousand spoons when what you need is a knife...

Got it?

Sought for comment, Alanis Morrisette exclaimed, “What are doing in my house!!! How did you get in here!!! HELP !!!”

She probably thought it ironic, being that she uses a broad definition of the term such that it doesn’t really reflect ‘irony’ at all. With each new story such as the one concerning Muzzammil Hassan above...the irony is starting to fade into Alanis Morrisette territory.

An Admission of sorts...

WASHINGTON: The new director of national intelligence told Congress that global economic turmoil and the instability it could ignite had outpaced terrorism as the most urgent threat facing the United States.

The assessment underscored concern inside America's intelligence agencies not only about the fallout from the economic crisis around the globe, but also about long-term harm to America's reputation. The crisis that began in American markets has already "increased questioning of U.S. stewardship of the global economy," the intelligence chief, Dennis Blair, said.

That's quite a statement to make.

In other words, the US "director of national intelligence" confirmed that the US Congress and the Clinton administration (which pushed the legislation and mentality that unqualified individuals should receive loans) are the most urgent threat facing the United States. They are (and have been) more dangerous than that Bin Laden fellow all along.

This would be a "told ya so" moment...

In a departure from recent years, when the heads of several intelligence agencies joined the director of national intelligence to deliver the testimony on the threats facing the nation, Blair faced the committee alone, a sign that the Obama administration plans for him to take on a more public role at the top of the intelligence pyramid.

Yeah...that would be the message if you ate lead paint chips as a child, or hit your head one too many times. The other message is that, should Chicago or London...or Paris disappear tomorrow in a big cloud of fire, the only one getting thrown under the bus is Mr. Blair, while the other intelligence agency heads are free to distance themselves from this nonsense...along with the Obama Administration.

Has anyone ever noticed that Liberal Democrats always have a contingency plan...a fallguy...a patsy...a water carrier...political cover? Judd Gregg was to be the political cover on this gluttonous balderdash called a stimulus package...You can bet that other Republicans are being considered as we speak to fill that recent void.

New to the Worm List: "Bad Hamster"

Pointed out by Matthew Hoy (Hoy Story) :

Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist and friend of Hoystory (the latter being much more important and impressive than the former) Steve Breen is working on a new photo/cartoon blog called “Bad Hamster.”

Appeasers and Apologists in control...

“This much is clear: we will be willing to talk,” Biden said at the Munich Security Conference today. Iran has “a very clear choice: to continue down the current course and there will be continued pressure and isolation. Abandon the illicit nuclear program and your support for terrorism, and there will be meaningful incentives.”

Continued "pressure and isolation" gets the same eye roll out of me that I save for the United Nations when they issue a "strongly worded statement." It means nothing to me...and even less to Iran. In fact, such rhetoric only fuels the Theocratic control.

I rather someone make an off the cuff remark like:

"You know...I'm told that sand will fuse to glass anywhere between 1,022 and 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit. How about that?" Or... "We all know how bad the housing market is right now...even in Iran. That being said, I sure wouldn't build a new house just north of the Straits of Hormuz. No sir...that would be a bad long term investment."

Simply put…offering “meaningful incentives” to a country whose mantra is “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” is akin to paying off a ransom in an overt extortion attempt. Although, I suppose that all depends on your definition of “meaningful incentives.”

My definition does not include candy and gum.

Tangled webs...and all that jazz...

ABC NEWS:

A rather pointed statement from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:

“Senator Gregg reached out to the President and offered his name for Secretary of Commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the President’s agenda. Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart.”

They offered Gregg steerage accommodations on a marvel of a ship impervious to icebergs.

Associated Press:

However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.

Looks like the conscience on his right shoulder won out...you know...the conscience not holding the pitch fork.

Don't kid yourself...the reason the Obama Administration is so peaved is that Senator Gregg was their cover for when this stimulus nonsense falls flat on its face and the Democrat Congress as well as the Democrat president can't pass this off as connected to a Republican Secretary of Commerce.

The Democrats haven't solved the problem of how they secure cover in the event (likely event) that they just pissed $1 Trillion + down a dark and musty well. I'm curious as to whether this wasn't a set-up by a crafty Republican shadow group all along. Think about it...Governor Richardson's issues pop up out of the blue before the vetting and certification process. Senator Gregg pops up offering his services (if the White House press secretary is to be believed)...when they need someone in a pinch. Then..."nah...I was just messin' wit ya...good luck."

Get ready to bend over...

Roger Cohen of the International Herald Tribune does his absolute best to make Iran look like a little fragile flower of a place where the wonderful people are just hoping and praying for a little discourse with President Obama...you know...without pre-conditions...

The Great Satan is great also in its power to exert fascination. "Death to America" has become background noise, as interesting as piped elevator music.

Who's buying it? Not me.

I see this article, and many others of the same flavor across the "main stream" media as an attempt to carry the water for the current administration as the President sets us up to accept capitulation and appeasement on one of the most unpredictable and dangerous regimes on the planet.

Tehran, Iran - Determined chants of "Death to America" rang out in city after city in Iran Tuesday, even as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a mass rally in Tehran that Iran was "ready" to talk to its arch-enemy if the US showed "real change."

Speaking as Iranians marked the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Mr. Ahmadinejad declared Iran to be "officially … a real and genuine superpower," and that the "shadow of threat has been removed forever" from the Islamic Republic.

"From now on, which power in the world can be found that has the courage to threaten the Iranian nation?" Ahmadinejad asked to cheers.

Facing tens of thousands of flag-waving Iranians at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square, Ahmadinejad offered his first response to President Barack Obama's comments Monday that he was "looking for openings" with Iran.

Guess who thinks he holds all the trump cards of the deck? Ahmadinejad (aka: I'ma Nutjob). He doesn't, but our player in the game still doesn't know the "rules" and continues to dump the face cards.

I'm Barney Frank...and I'm here to yelp...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Barney Frank challenged the banking industry Wednesday to work harder to fix a failing system, telling eight top bankers that there is "a great deal of anger" across the country.

Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told the bankers at a hearing Wednesday morning that it isn't practical for Congress "to junk" the current credit system and try to rebuild it.

He said Congress faces "a dilemma." Frank said lawmakers have little choice but to find help for — in many instances — the same people whose bad lending practices sent the economy spiraling into reverse.

Barney Frank is a window licking, anserine, tacit, duncical, opportunistic & dishonest imbecile...on a good day.

This pig-headed, lying simpleton dismissed reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2000. In 2003 he was instrumental in shooting down the Bush Administration's solid attempt at reform. Frank's direct quote at the time?

"I do not believe that we're facing any kind of crisis."

Essentially, the very person who claimed that there was no crisis in 2003 is now telling us that it isn't "pratical" for Congress to junk the current credit system (which led us to this point, and keeps us firmly held in place below the surface).

Read between the lines:

Do I want a handful of votes from the CEO's of banks? Or, do I want as many votes as humanly possible from the masses who received sub-prime loans that they had no business getting? And, can I continue to encourage such slip-shod practices in the future...(responsible lenders and borrowers be damned)? And, while I'm at it can I throw as many entitlements into the "Stimulus Package" as possible so that it appears that I care about the "victims" while the true victims end up turning over their wallets, their planned out aspirations, and their freedoms? Finally, can I get in front of the cameras and spout out such troglodytical nonsense and allow the dolt filled media to rehabilitate my reputation at the expense of my political enemies?

No problem...

Ice cubes in your hot tea...

Revised U.S. bank bailout plan gets lukewarm reception

WASHINGTON: For Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as much as for the troubled government program to bail out the financial system, Tuesday amounted to a do-over.

In his first big test as Treasury secretary, Geithner has one of the toughest sells in America: convincing lawmakers and taxpayers that they should again bail out the very banks whose mistakes contributed to the loss of more than three million jobs and caused acute financial pain around the globe.

Geithner announced a package that was far bigger than anyone had predicted and envisioned a far greater government role in markets and banks than at any time since the 1930s. Administration officials committed the government to flooding the financial system with as much as $2.5 trillion - $350 billion of that coming from the bailout fund and the rest from the Federal Reserve and private investors.

But initial reviews for the man and his plan were not good. Stock markets slid through the day, perhaps pushed downward by withering punditry on the business-news cable channels faulting Geithner for not having provided more details, particularly on stemming home foreclosures. Stocks in Asia followed suit Wednesday.

Lukewarm? Try ice cold... Lukewarm would imply an indifference...or perhaps leaning to acceptance. The markets tanked yesterday. They know this is a (for lack of a better term) crap sandwich filled with impossibilities and pipe dreams...and PORK.

Another thing...blaming the banks for the mortgage failure is dishonest. Sure, they made the sub-prime loans that had no prayer of longevity while accumulating bad debt. However, they did so at the encouragement of the government with their "diversity awards", bullied by litigation filed by special interests, and pushed by race hustling extortionists. Efforts to suggest accountability...and reel it in were met by Democrat resistance (the same group that profited from campaign contributions...Obama had the biggest take).

Quick...call the post office...I need a policeman !!!

THE HAGUE: The Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate potential war crimes committed by Israeli commanders during the recent war in Gaza.

The Palestinian minister of justice, Ali Kashan, first raised the issue during a visit to the court's chief prosecutor late last month, and he and other officials are expected back again in The Hague this week, court officials said.

I don't think this is meant as a joke. But, I could be wrong. I mean...the "International Criminal Court in The Hague" is a joke, and always will be. I was, however, referring to the Palestine Authority actually pursuing this. After all:

The court here is the world's first permanent international criminal court, created to examine war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It can prosecute any citizen from the 108 countries that are currently members of the court. The United Nations Security Council can bring cases irrespective of the nationality of the accused or the location of the crime.

Israel is not a member and the Palestinian territories, not being recognized as a sovereign nation, appear not to fulfill the requirements.

(if you could see me...I'd look confused) Put aside the outright bias and ineptitude of such a endeavor. Put aside the extrordinary lengths Israel went through in an effort to avoid civilian deaths (to the extent that they called to warn folks that a bomb was on the way). Put aside the fact that neither Israel or the Palestinian Authority qualifies to be heard in the Court. What you're left with is this:

In order to qualify to be heard in an International Court that self-proclaims authority over the 108 members states...you need to be SOVEREIGN !!!

(I still have that confused look on my face...and it's not going away)

Canadian Quandary...

If Obama screws up the American health care system, where the Hell are Canadians supposed to go?

Heh...Kate at Small Dead Animals always makes me laugh...and cry.

Liberal MP Belinda Stronach, who is battling breast cancer, travelled to California last June for an operation that was recommended as part of her treatment, says a report.

Seems a tad hypocritical...and ironic.

"I'm a born-bred Canadian, as well as my daughter and son, and I'm ashamed," Jill Irvine told FOX News. Irvine's daughter, Carri Ash, is one of at least 40 mothers or their babies who've been airlifted from British Columbia to the U.S. this year because Canadian hospitals didn't have room for the preemies in their neonatal units.

Seems a tad sad and...well...unconscionable. But...worry not, Kate.

There's always Mexico!!!

There is one significant risk, however. Malpractice insurance is one reason that US care is so expensive. In Mexico, there are no laws governing malpractice; if something goes wrong in your surgery, you do not have the right to sue your doctor in Mexico. So, the cost is less, but the risk is significantly more.

Come on....DOUBLE SIXES !!!!

Leaky Leahy...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's proposal to launch a "truth commission" to investigate the Bush administration's anti-terror programs and other matters got a lukewarm response from President Obama, who said he would rather "get it right moving forward."

Fantastic!!!

Then, let's put together a "Search Committee" charged with finding those opportunistic politicians who have no problem leaking classfied information to the press in an effort to score some political points...

Let's start with LEAKY LEAHY...

There's gonna be a collision...

America's birds are on the move -- and they're heading north, according to a new report by the Audubon Society.

The 14-page study, entitled "Birds and Climate Change: Ecological Disruption in Motion," says nearly 60 percent of the 305 species found in North America are on the move, shifting their ranges northward by about an average of 35 miles.

The report says Audubon scientists analyzed 40 years of bird count data "and their findings provide new and powerful evidence that global warming is having a serious impact on natural systems."

That's all very interesting...but I have to ask. Why would the species migration take place now, since Earth's tempatures have been on decline for more than a few years?

The logical answer is that the Audubon Society is being selective in their data to promote the agenda driven tripe...

ALBANY, NY (01/27/2009; 1208)(readMedia)-- Across New York, Snowy Owl sightings are on the rise this winter. From Buffalo to Long Island, from a grassy field in Greene County to the roof of the State Capitol in Albany, New Yorkers are spotting what appears to be an increase in the number of Snowy Owls traveling south from their Arctic breeding grounds, said John Ozard, a biologist who specializes in bird species at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Uh..Oh...now what? The southern birds are moving North...the northern birds are moving south. There is only one logical conclusion. If you live in New York, and New England...build a garage so you don't have to wash your car every other day.

A-Roid...

"I still believe the names of all the positives should be released. That the media chose to only ‘out’ him is a crime in and of itself."

Curt Schilling commenting on his blog "38 Pitches" in reference to the media hanging A-Rod out there with no company (103 other players) in reference to "roid" use.

Me? I could care less if MLB players use "roids." In fact, I'd encourage it. I want to see 900 foot dingers...and watch expectantly to see which players' heads will explode on national television.

If someone is daft enough to take drugs that push their marbles back up "under their skirt"...cause their head to puff up like a beachball...and alter their personality and ethics...fine...let them. Concerning A-Rod...yeah...the other names should be out there too. Although, I don't really feel too bad for the guy...he did it to himself.

Considering his connections (literal and figurative) to Madonna...he ought to be popping penicillin and anti-biotics...not "roids."

Do as I say...not as I do...

From February 9th, 2007:

LONDON, Feb. 9 -- British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, with former vice president Al Gore at his side, offered a $25 million prize Friday to anyone who can come up with a way to blunt global climate change by removing at least a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year from the Earth's atmosphere.

Hey...how about this numbnuts? Suppose you don't fly an empty Boeing 777 from Australia to Los Angeles just to "showcase" your new toy?

From February 5th, 2009

LOS ANGELES, CA - In preparation for the launch of non-stop services between Los Angeles and Sydney on February 27, 2009, V Australia is set to take delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) aircraft and will make a special stop-over at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to showcase the new Boeing aircraft.

Go ahead, Sir Richard...tell me that the trip was merely advertising to drum up interest in the 777 service. If I was a billionaire with toys like yours, I would be flying around annoying past bosses and managers, while lighting my carbon producing cigars with $100's.

From Today's USA Today:

Branson cavorted with cabin crew attendants in bikinis Friday amid fake palm trees before the plane took off in rainy weather for Los Angeles. Other celebrities at the ceremony were Australian actor Julian McMahon of the TV show Nip/Tuck.

Now you're talking...Incidentally, was Al Gore with you? Raining in Australia? That sounds like the "Gore Effect."

Now...where's my $25 Mil?