Put the bloody morons on E-Bay...

Mr. Holder said that of the 241 inmates still held in Guantánamo Bay, 30 could now be released. In the coming weeks, he said, specific countries in Europe would be asked to take specific detainees. The U.S. authorities will share “sufficient information” with any receiving countries “about why the inmates had been held in Guantánamo and how they conducted themselves during that time.”

During WW II, German POW's used to work the apple orchards in Pennsylvania (among other places). Of course, they weren't considered victims back then. They were enemy combatants.

I find it amusing that our Attorney General is in Europe literally begging for the EU to take over the care, custody and control of these Jihadist cretins while piling on a heaping helping of "righting a wrong." It shows the country in a weakening state while portraying our current Administration as the "white knight of justice." Of course, to be able to accept the former and the latter, you would have to be a mouth breathing idiot...and we have plenty of those.

This has been a message from the NYC Office of Tourism and Gambling...

Hey, everyone...come to New York City and ride the subways. It's GREAT!!!!

Please go with him...I'm begging you

The alleged percipience of Olympia Snowe:

It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party.

Senator Specter indicated that his decision was based on the political situation in Pennsylvania, where he faced a tough primary battle. In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide.

I have said that, without question, we cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates.

Please oh please go with him, Senator Snowe. Moderates are merely indecisive pantywastes who have little conviction or consistency. They stand not for principle, but revel in appeasement, fairytale "getting along", and act only on which way the wind is blowing. They will jump parties to secure their job (refusing to see how much THEY have strayed from those they claimed to represent).

They will stick up for the opportunists not on principle, but based on the fear that the negativity surrounding a similar waivering colleague will resonate with their own constituency.

GO...GO NOW! Join Arlen "single bullet" Specter in the arms of the Democrats. It is a good fit, whether you are willing to admit it or not. You're waiting to see how the overnights reflect on Specter's move...because we know you are not capable of deciding on your own.

Grand Central goes dimmer...

On Tuesday, those wiremen — their official title — unscrewed the last remaining incandescent bulbs in the building, replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs and completing the greening of the lighting system at the bustling station.

While the wiremen worked, photographers snapped pictures, and officials applauded the efforts, reminiscing about the days when both station and light bulb were young.

The bulbs were on one of the 10 huge Beaux-Arts chandeliers in the main lobby. Adorned with gold detail and banded with 110 bulbs, the 96-year-old globe-shaped chandeliers hang above the main concourse balconies like luminescent Fabergé eggs.

Fluorescent bulbs last longer and use less energy, saving money and helping advance the city’s environmental goals.

They also contain mercury and are a health hazard. Additionally, they provide a lesser quality of light. But, I only posted this story so that I can use my favorite Kennedy family joke. Ready?

Question: How many Kennedys does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Two. One to hold the bulb, and one to drink enough to make the room spin.

*rimshot*

Just a suggestion...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Muslim calligrapher Yasser Abu Saymeh has dedicated the past two months to Christian art, writing the Gospel of Luke in ornate Arabic script to be presented to Pope Benedict XVI when the Roman Catholic leader visits the Holy Land next month.

As the Gospel of Luke deals significantly with social ethics, the poor, women, and other oppressed groups, I would suggest a proof reader.

Zodiac Killer press release...

Zodiac Killer to Be Revealed at Press Conference

FAMILY MEMBER Of KILLER WILL DELIVER STATEMENT Of EVIDENCE

Supporting Forensic Experts, Law Enforcement/Government Personalities, and Legal Representatives organized by members of the original Law Offices of Melvin Belli will be in Attendance

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 40 years have passed since the first ZODIAC murder. He may have killed 36 people. There has never been conclusive evidence implicating a single individual and no one has ever come forward to identify the real killer. This has remained one of the world's greatest unsolved crime sprees...until now. For the first time in four decades, there is new, never before seen or heard evidence of the identity of the Zodiac Killer. Through the efforts of many world renowned forensic experts under the direction of original partners of famed Zodiac Killer confidant/attorney Melvin Belli, a press conference will be held this Wednesday at the San Francisco Chronicle. At the press conference, a proven immediate family member of the Zodiac Killer will make a statement identifying the killer. Attending with her will be leading forensic experts, a Melvin Belli former partner, family lawyers and others who have helped solve this case that has been open for many years. Information of the forensic evidence - including cryptology, handwriting analysis, current law enforcement investigations, and most startling, the murder accomplice evidence - will be distributed. This historical revelation upsets the theories of the murder investigations in the past. Many cold case crimes have recently been solved because of 21st century forensic technology. This is one of the bigger breakthroughs.

Recently, there has been misinformation distributed to some media outlets from a source in Sacramento which fast tracked this press conference. Over two years have been spent in forensic investigations by the nation's best so there could be no question unanswered about the evidence to be distributed this Wednesday.


WHAT: Press Conference: ZODIAC KILLER Identified - Family Member, forensic experts, crime investigators and lawyers

WHEN: Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 12 Noon

WHERE: In front of the San Francisco Chronicle Building 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

WHO: Family member of Zodiac Killer, former associates of Law Firm of Melvin M. Belli, forensic experts, investigators

Obviously, Dick Cheney did it...

Seriously...this could be a very interesting PC.

________________________
UPDATE: To the individual who tried to lecture me on copyright because I reposted the entire press release from PR Newswire...read the Fair Use Doctrine. Then study up on transformative Fair Use (you can comment publicly below the post). But, most importantly, explain to me how my posting of this press release (in its entirety) damages PR Newswire financially. Actually, it expands their reach and enhances their services (arguably by the few readers who frequent this blog). Additionally, the litmus test on Fair Use also requires that the repost is not a commercial venture. See any advertisements on this blog? No? I have never asked for donations from readers, nor will I...ever.
Shut up!
Cheers,
The Worm

______________________

UPDATE II: Wow...I didn't see that coming:

A California woman has come forward to claim that her late father was the elusive Zodiac Killer and that she accompanied him on many of his shooting sprees in the late 1960s when she was only 7-years-old, KTVU.com reported.

Kevin Mclean, a California-based attorney, has led a 2-year long investigation into claims made by Deborah Perez that her father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, was the Zodiac Killer and urged her to come forward when he heard that another investigator was planning on presenting another theory to police.

It's one thing to say that you suspect a relative did it, but to admit to being along for the ride as a seven year old girl is...well...unexpected. I wonder how this will pan out.

Korea's turn to sweat...

Local scientists have created a genetically modified pig whose organs can be used for transplanting into human patients.

The cloned piglet was born by a surrogate mother on April 3 and remains healthy at a lab at the National Institution of Animal Science in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

Ok...let's not just pick on China (as I did in the previous post). Let's pick on South Koreans...since they seem to be the most aggressive in the pursuit of cloning exercises for xenotransplantation.

Pigs are born with a retrovirus that is capable of infecting humans.

As interest in using animals as a source of donor organs rises, some researchers warn that this strategy, known as xenotransplantation, may introduce dangerous new viruses into the human population (SN: 11/4/95, p. 298). Those fears received some support in the March Nature Medicine, where Robin A. Weiss of the Institute of Cancer Research in London and his colleagues report the first discovery of a pig retrovirus that can infect human cells.

And, it's not just pigs, mind you.

In 1999, a 35-year-old American HIV patient received a baboon liver, but died just two months after the transplantation after contracting a virus that is known to only affect the animal.

I've always been a proponent of cautious advancement. Scientists and researchers, however, seem to be motivated these days by securing credit and being the first to do something without spending one hell of a lot of time determining the ramifications.

I am reminded of Jurassic Park (Movie).

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Yeah...I know...I'm floating out conspiracy theory crap. I'm doing it on purpose, because up until this point the WHO (a political entity, by the way) has been mum. The more theories thrown out there...the sooner they are going to have to step up and actually make a substantive statement.

Puzzles are cool...and made in China...

Tinfoil connect the dots:

In this respect, the swine flu pandemic might be the one surprise event of 2009 that could engender a quick run into gold for the duration of the panic phase.

Then there is this:

Now the IMF is attempting an end-run around the U.S. Congress, as it quietly moves toward selling gold, most likely to China. Why does the IMF need the money? Just three years ago, the bloated organization (half of its 2,600 staff are economists) was nearly defunct; headquartered in Washington, D.C., the IMF was desperate to create an endowment fund to provide for its continued existence.

And this:

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- China boosted its gold reserves by 76 percent since 2003 and has the world’s fifth-biggest holding by country, said Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Then this:

Analysis and Commentary on the Phylogenic Tree of Current U.S. Swine Flu Cases

Researchers are puzzled over the origins and spread of the current H1N1 human borne influenza and that has health officials around the world worried.

The current virus mixes an existing triple combination of human, avian and swine influenza identified in 1998 with two new swine virus genes from Asia and Europe, both of human origin.

...

The H1 protein (hemagglutinin) shows evidence from past cases from Korea, China and Turkey as well as Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Kansas.

The N1 protein (neuraminidase) shows evidence of having come from China, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Hokkaido, Japan, Chonburi and Chachoengsao (Thailand) and Italy.

Added to our little game of tic-tac-toe, played a few days ago.

Habitantes de la comunidad de La Gloria, ubicada en el municipio de Perote, pidieron la intervención del Gobierno de Veracruz para que gestione ante autoridades federales la inspección de las instalaciones de Granjas Carroll de México, a quienes atribuyen el foco de infección que afectó al 30 por ciento de su población.

A town in Mexico (in which a significant number of residents spend their week in Mexico City) claims that 30 percent of their residents have flu symptoms and respiratory problems. The town houses a very huge hog farm owned by Smithfield Foods. Which...by the way:

CHICAGO, April 22 (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods Inc's (SFD.N) shares rose as much as 9 percent on Wednesday amid rumors that the company may be the target of a takeover by Chinese agriculture company COFCO.

You can't make up plots this rich...but, I'm sure it's all just...you know...coincidence.

Nature finds a way...

Each of these was featured last year in a snapshot of murder in New York City, where authorities have long been battling illegal firearms — and seeing a degree of success. But these people were killed by knives, contributing to a troubling statistic in homicides.

In 2008, even as gun killings fell, the number of killings committed with knives or other “cutting instruments” rose 50 percent in New York City, the Police Department said: to 125 from 83. Some other large cities saw no such increase last year, and police officials and experts are at a loss to explain what is either a new trend or a spike.

"Experts" refuse to see the reason, because these same "experts" believe guns to be sapient, animate objects that indiscriminately kill. They refuse to acknowledge that a gun cannot commit murder. The person pulling the trigger does that.

Similarly, the person holding the knife does the stabbing. The person wielding the lead pipe in the library does the bashing. The person gripping the knitting needles standing behind the old woman in the rocking chair....uh...ummm...forget that last one. I just saw a movie on cable where...well...the dear old woman looked like she had antenna after the deed. I think it was one of those old Agatha Christie stories...

You get the drift.

Brain "Steroids"...

CHICAGO — Children on medicine for attention deficit disorder scored higher on academic tests than their unmedicated peers in the first large, long-term study suggesting this kind of benefit from the widely used drugs.

The nationally representative study involved nearly 600 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder followed from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Children's scores on several standardized math and reading tests taken during those years were examined. Compared with unmedicated kids, average scores for medicated children were almost three points higher in math and more than five points higher in reading. The difference amounts to about three months ahead in reading and two months in math, the researchers said.

How long until a Congressional Committee has ten year olds providing testimony on how they never would have gotten the "two trains" question right had they not been juiced?

Ah...but wait...

The researchers agreed that other treatment ADHD children often receive — including behavior therapy and tutoring — can help, but the study didn't look at those measures.

Perhaps the "Federal Grant" study is totally worthless (as most are).

What exposure to lead paint can do...

Tancredo was invited by a new right-wing, racist organization, Youth for Western Civilization (YWC). Who is YWC? Their mission statement says they work “to create a culture that will promote the survival of Western Civilization and pride in Western heritage.” Compare that to the Ku Klux Klan, who say they are a “white rights political organization working to promote western Christian civilization.”

Do you see a substantive difference? I don’t.

Well, the destinction would require an intelligence beyond that of a common house plant. So, Kosta Harlan, I suppose you are out of luck.

Take a look at the mission statement for Fight Back Newspaper. They started the game...let's complete it.

We are opposed to exploitation, discrimination, and oppression.

Ah...worthy goals. But, you missed the caveate..."unless we can make our point by direct application of all or some of what we claim to oppose.."

Harlan, of course, supports censorship and allowing only viewpoints with which she agrees. That is a problem since she is not exactly the sharpest pencil in the box.

Admiring what's in the bowl...

La Follette founded "La Follette's Weekly," publishing his own speeches and writings by others. After he died in 1925 his family continued publishing the magazine. They renamed it "The Progressive" in 1929 under a joint operating agreement with the Capital Times newspaper and its prominent editor, William T. Evjue.

The La Follettes retook control in 1940, angry over Evjue editorials supporting U.S. military intervention to stop Adolf Hitler. Rothschild said he squirmed when he recently read the ensuing pacifist coverage of World War II, including the headline "No War with Japan" the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Their position didn't look too good, especially when all the brutality of the Nazis came to light," he said.

The publication shut down in October 1947 because of skyrocketing production costs but readers came to the rescue with donations. It resumed publishing months later under the headline, "Resurrection," and has continued since as a monthly.

Rothschild said finances remain a challenge. More than half the roughly $2.5 million budget comes from subscriptions. Donations and advertising make up the rest. The magazine has 15 full-time employees plus contributing writers and freelancers.

An article written by freelancer Howard Morland in 1979 put The Progressive in the national spotlight. Attempting to end the secrecy surrounding the production of nuclear weapons, Morland used public records to write "The H-Bomb Secret: How We Got It, Why We're Telling It." The piece included drawings showing how a nuclear bomb works.

Tipped off about the pending article, the U.S. Department of Energy sought to stop its publication. A federal judge took the extraordinary step of issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the article from being published, citing the potential of "nuclear annihilation."

Yay!!! Let's all celebrate the 100 year old birthday of a treason rag that gave away nuclear secrets thirty years after trying to advocate appeasement with Japan (the day before Pearl Harbor) and anger of the United States stepping in to stop Hitler.

So, what's The Progressive printing these days? Oh, just the usual puff pieces about admitted terrorists (Bill Ayers). He's a victim, you know.

Ask the NY Times...

Sewell Chan and the staff of City Room, the New York City news blog, are answering questions from readers this week. Questions may be e-mailed to askthetimes@nytimes.com.

Mr. Chan is the bureau chief of the blog, which began publication in June 2007 and is a forum for breaking news updates, feature articles and reader conversations. Among the many topics that the blog has covered are the emergency landing of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River; the recent M.T.A. fare increase and service cuts; popular baby names; bicycle racks; the history of Jewish delis; the city's dog-scooping law, among many other topics. City Room was also part of The Times's coverage of the scandal that prompted Eliot Spitzer to resign as governor of New York, for which the newspaper was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news last week.

Dear Mr. Chan:

Next year when the New York Times finally craps out and Pinch decides to unload the cement block to the highest bidder (which will likely be a weekly offering)...what do you hope to do in your second career?

Sincerely,
The Worm

"The Producers"...lands in Germany...

Speigel also noted that the question of how to advertise the show presented some obvious problems, not least of which is that the Nazi swastika is “banned in Germany as an unconstitutional symbol.” That led the producers of this version of the play, officially known as “The Producers — Frühling für Hitler,” to replace the swastika with a less-than-sinister pretzel in viral ads and on the large red banners hanging outside the theater in Berlin. The swastika, though, will be used on stage.

I'm not sure how they came up with pretzels to replace the verboten swastika...

I've seen "The Producers" on stage and at the movies (twice...including the 1968 version with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder). The point being that you can't take Mel Brooks seriously. He's nutty...and sometimes hilarious in his offerings. In context, however, the holocaust was the very depth of evil and by association so was the Nazi Party. The question being asked shouldn't be whether ticket sales will be sustained. The question should be whether this showing is actually ethically in good taste. It's not...but then again, Mel Brooks has made a career out of something very opposite of good taste...and that's the point. He's Jewish, and at the very least, the presentation of "The Producers" in Germany does not forgive anyone, but is offers an olive branch of acceptance and acknowledgment.

That being said...the production will tank.

Let's play a game...

TIC 4/15/09

TAC 4/22/09

TOE 4/26/09

What do you know?

I've got a shot at this...

Win $20,000 to Put Your Green Idea Into Action

SunChips and National Geographic have joined forces to create the Green Effect, an initiative to inspire individuals to spark a green movement in their communities.

YOU could be the one to make a difference in your community—for the planet! Submit a description of your Green Effect idea by June 8, 2009. Ten finalists will be announced July 7, 2009. Online viewers and a distinguished panel of judges will review these inspiring ideas.

We'll award $20,000 each to five people or groups that have the best ideas for green change. The five winners will also be profiled in National Geographic, and the winners will travel to Washington, D.C., to share their projects with environmental leaders.

I propose an alternate day "breath holding" effort. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that we need to regulate Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to combat this thing called "Global Warming." In fact, Carbon Dioxide is supposed to be the number one cause of "Global Warming." And, as we all emit these poisons on a daily basis when we breathe, let's cut the head off the serpent.

Considering the average human takes about 18 breaths per minute, and there are 6.8 Billion people inhabiting the Earth, that would be 122.4 Billion breaths per minute. That's 176,256,000,000,000 breaths per day.

Now...I'm not crazy. I think we need to do this incrementally...not all at once. So, we should hold our breath on alternate days. Half the world's population will do it the first day, and the other half the next day. Of course, this is not going to be coordinated perfectly until it is shown to have an effect. The United States needs to set the example such that other countries will have the opportunity to observe the wonderful Earth saving effects.

My proposal suggests that the easiest way to assign non-breathing days on a 50%/50% alternating basis would just be to divide the US population by political proclivities. We are about split down the middle in that regard. Also, "Global Warming" tends to be an ideological issue more accepted by the Left. Therefore, in the theme of earned honors, let's let the Left have their day in the sun...and they can go first. We on the Right will wait a day to join you...we promise!! *snort*

Good luck!!!!

Heard on Gliese 581d: "Mohammad?...Nah...we never heard of him..."

It probably wouldn't feel exactly like home. But the planet known as Gliese 581d has a lot more in common with Earth than astronomers first thought.

New measurements of the planet's orbit place it firmly in a region where conditions would be right for liquid water, and thus life as we know it, astronomer Michel Mayor, from Geneva University in Switzerland, announced today.

"It lies in the [life-supporting] habitable zone, and it could have an ocean at its surface," Mayor said during the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science conference, being held this week at the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K.

First discovered in 2007, Gliese 581d was originally calculated to be too far away from its host star—and therefore too cold—to support an ocean.

But Mayor and colleagues now show that the extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, orbits its host in 66.8 days, putting it just inside the cool star's habitable zone.

You know...should a planet ever be found with "human-like" entities dwelling there in any capacity...it's really going to mess up a number of religions on this planet. Personally, I'm sort of looking forward to that scenario.

Inept even in their own pursuits...

Here's the Headline:

Indonesia’s Voters Retreat From Radical Islam

This is a New York Times article that deals with the Indonesian elections, and how the most strict of the Muslim parties did not make the intended gains everyone expected.

But...THAT'S NOT THE REAL STORY.

The real story is that the New York Times has labeled the most strict of Muslim parties ( Prosperous Justice Party) in Indonesia....R A D I C A L. I doubt that was their intention...but it fits.

He's so very nice...

“Anyone that has had any actual contact with him will have nothing but positive things to say about him, from his behavior issues to his progress in treatment,” said Mr. Weigel, who added that Mr. Schmidt’s seven-person treatment team would testify on his behalf Monday. “They’ve worked very hard with Don.”

Oh...how nice...

The detail is his age: Mr. Schmidt is 37, the oldest defendant ever in California’s juvenile justice system. Just 16 when he molested and drowned a 3-year-old girl while high on methamphetamine, he has been in juvenile facilities for two decades, sometimes alongside teenagers who were not yet born when he was convicted.

Not so nice...let him rot (preferably while standing on his head in a vat of decaying fish).

Perspectives of convenience...

BAGHDAD (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says this week's deadly suicide bombings in Iraq are a sign that extremists are afraid the Iraqi government is succeeding.

Making her first trip to Iraq as America's top diplomat, Clinton said the country has made great strides despite the recent violence that killed at least 148 people in Baghdad and outside on Thursday and Friday.

"I think that these suicide bombings ... are unfortunately, in a tragic way, a signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction," Clinton told reporters traveling aboard her plane ahead of her unannounced Saturday visit to Baghdad.

Killer comments from the Left. While Bush was in office, when suicide bombings like these occurred, Democrat politicians tripped over each other to get to a microphone so that they could regurgitate with glee that 'Iraq was lost'...and the "freedom fighters" were succeeding.

Now, with Obama in office, suddenly these suicide bombings are..."a signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction."

Type these keywords into Google if you want to know how dishonest Clinton and the rest of her ilk happen to be:

"Iraq is lost"

Swing a dead cat, hit a hypocritical jackass...they are all over Washington D.C. Rich Lowery at NRO pegged them exactly two years ago on the issue.

____________

UPDATE: I missed the new term. "Rejectionist" is the new "Freedom Fighter." This is not to be confused with "Projectionist" who would run the equipment at the local theater...or "Injectionist" which will likely be the new term for a Heroin addict. I am, also, reminded of those great kickball games of elementary school where the two most celebrated participants (usually due to flunking a grade along the way) would pick the various teams right down most inept (think Tom Daschel in shorts with a crew cut)...those picking the teams were, of course, "Selectionists."

Got your back, Mr. Geraghty...

From Jim Geraghty at the NRO Campaign Spot (via Instapundit)

My congressman, Jim Moran of Virginia, has introduced "the Plastic Bag Reduction Act of 2009 which would place a 5 cent fee on grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, take-out food bags, retail bags and service station bags, starting January 1. Under the proposal, that fee would escalate to 25 cents starting January 1, 2015."

No plastic bags for takeout? He deserves to be pelted with last week's Chinese.

Well, worry not, Jimbo. We here at "the Worm" are all over this nonsense. Back in December 2008, Toronto was playing around with the idea of calling plastic a dirty word as a precursor to a tax. I've got a plan should the festering scab of an idea invade my state...

I will refuse to give the Environmental Fundamentalists the satisfaction should this baloney ever reach my neck of the woods. Toronto is just the latest to levy a bag tax (and that’s what it is). Ireland charges the equivalent of 15 cents per bag and gives the money to environmental boondoggle projects. England charges 10 pence per plastic bag.

In the United States, Seattle charges 20 cents for a plastic bag at grocery, drug and convenience stores. Not to be outdone, San Francisco banned plastic bags altogether. As of January 22, there was a push to tax plastic bags across the entire state of California.

FINE…knock yourself out…

Me? I’ll be purchasing 1,000 volume crates of standard plastic grocery bags (MB-T-24TK) at a whopping cost of 3 cents per unit over the internet (unless I decide to get real nasty and form a coalition to purchase them bulk at a lesser cost). Yeah, I'll be paying 3 cents a bag…but the money goes into a private corporation and not in the pocket of some benevolent do-gooder bullsh*t artist.

I'm the kind of guy who would hand them out free to other shoppers just to piss off the whackjobs supporting this vapidity.

This isn't going to end well...

There is nothing typical about Jorge Pabon. He may be a hip-hop D.J. and dancer from the mean streets of Spanish Harlem, but he keeps the lyrics clean and women dancers at arm's length.

As a teenager he emerged on the scene as PopMaster Fabel. But today he prefers to be called Shukriy, "the thankful one" — the name he took 20 years ago when he converted to Islam.

Now he is part of an "Islam and Hip-Hop" movement in the United States that is reaching out to Muslim young people via the hip-hop beat.

At a recent "Islam and Hip-Hop" concert in Harlem, young men in wide trousers and women in head scarves made waves in the air, trying to simulate Shukriy's robotic movements. They did not touch each other unless they were a married couple.

Shukriy, 43, has come under fire from conservative Muslims who accuse him of sinning by dancing on stage with women or acting as D.J. for a mixed audience. Some argue that even listening to music is a taboo in Islam.

The Hip Hop side seems to be the reasonable one...Bizarro World.

Light reading...

But for now, said Helen Nayak, 29, she and her husband are using compact fluorescents in their hallways only. They are saving “regular” bulbs for “rooms where we really want to see things,” she said.

This is hilarious! Face it folks, the enviro-lights just suck.

Clarification time...(I'm a hater)

Clarification Statement to Follow:

"I have no problem with these "Fraternity Prank" torture techniques applied to terrorists." (The Worm- 4/24/09)

Here's the simple truth. These cretins want to kill me. I consider myself more important and...yes...ethical than they are. Therefore, if making them suffer keeps me safe, I'm fine with that philosophy. The scenario would never be reversed on principle because I have no ambition to kill them and take down the Cult of Islam. I'd like to see it end in a voluminous "train wreck," but I wouldn't try and kill Muslims to see it occur. They, on the other hand, have no such obstacles in their thinking.

The thing is, a significant number of Muslims would torture and kill me for no particular reason other than that is what they were conditioned to do via the Koran.

Don't believe me?

…which means that 305,000 Muslims living in the United States support suicide bombings.

…which means that AT LEAST 117,500 Muslims in the United States support Al Qaeda’s objectives, which are to destroy western civilization while converting all people to Muslim at the point of a sword, or kill us if we refuse.

…which means that 1,105,000 Muslims living in the United States are more loyal to Islam than to the country.

…which means that 1,410,000 Muslims in the United States think that “the Jews did it” or that 911 was some other conspiracy.

-25% of all younger Muslims in the United States support suicide bombings to defend religious beliefs.

Yeah...I support water boarding, sleep deprivation, crawly insects...and lots of things that my fraternity never thought of using during "Hell Week." I support them strongly...

I see a trend...

Question: What do all these names have in common?

Baldeman Gutierrez Jr.
Derrick Hernandez
Gilmer Hernandez
Oscar Antonio Ortiz
Raul Villarreal
Margarita Crispin
Eric Raymond Macias
Reynaldo Zuñiga
Jose Olivas
Jesus Huizar

Answer: These are the names of 10 United States Border Patrol Agents arrested for various reasons (most due to smuggling illegals across the southern border of the United States).

A rising number of U.S. border enforcement officers are being arrested on corruption charges as Mexican drug cartels look to bribes as a way to get around tougher enforcement, border officials say.

Investigators arrested 21 U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on corruption charges in the fiscal year that ended last September, up from eight in the previous 12 months, according to CBP. This year, 14 have been arrested.

Since 2004, 84 officers have been arrested and 62 were convicted, says James Tomsheck, assistant commissioner for internal affairs at CBP, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. That number represents a small fraction of the more than 52,000 people employed by the agency, which enforces U.S. law along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

The ten names you see above resulted from a five minute Google search using the keywords "arrested, border, agent."

I'm not a genius, but I see a trend here. It would seem that the point of origin of each of these names holds a similar quality. Perhaps that's not the smartest way to run the agency. Well, at least it is confined to the Border Patrol...right?

The Muslim-outreach coordinator to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama has resigned amid questions about his involvement in an Islamic investment fund and various Islamic groups.

Chicago lawyer Mazen Asbahi, who was appointed volunteer national coordinator for Muslim American affairs by the Obama campaign on July 26, stepped down Monday after an Internet newsletter wrote about his brief stint on the fund's board, which also included a fundamentalist imam.

Oh...crap...

I Refuse to be seen (stuck) in one of these...

These clown cars annoy me. Hell, this one even has a smile on the grill. It's called the "Peapod," lists at over $12 Grand and has a top speed of only 25 mph. I can run faster than that.

This is Chrysler's attempt at appeasing the Environwacks. Me? I smell a lawsuit. Chrysler seems to be discriminating in my opinion. I'm 6'6". Failure to produce an "environmentally friendly" goober vehicle that I can fit into seems to be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. I'm....uh...outraged.

Trust me...this is not a parody site...

I've been missing out. I never looked at the United Nations website before. It's hilarious. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting an article in their News Centre that isn't loaded down with good old fashioned horse manure. Check out this quote.

“Combating climate change represents perhaps the biggest stimulus package of the first decade of the 21st century – one that can assist in delivering a resource-efficient, innovation-savvy, employment-generating global Green Economy,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.

What's left out of the equation is all the industries and businesses (trickle economics at work) that get zapped like bugs at a picnic to make room for heavily subsidized half-assed replacements.

Tired of the whole "we are going to burn up in the Global Warming storm" mentality. Well, mosey over to the Human Rights side of the site...

In a related development, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in her capacity as Secretary-General of the conference, took steps to banish three NGOs as a result of unacceptable behaviour inside UN premises “in clear violation of the rules laid down regarding the conduct of NGOs during the conference,” according to a press release.

The ousted Union des Etudiants Juifs de France (UEJF) participants were “extremely prominent” during disruptions that took place on the opening day of the Conference.

“There has, in the view of the organizers of the Conference, been a clearly orchestrated effort by members of this NGO, possibly in league with others, to disrupt the conference,” the release sad.

Two delegates from the Neda Institute for Political and Scientific Research were intercepted with inciting materials, possibly in coordination with other organizations, and the distribution of any materials, especially offensive ones, outside designated areas is clearly prohibited.

The third group to be kicked out of the conference was COEXIST for similar behaviour as UEJF, during several of the same incidents.

On the Conference’s opening day, delegates of several nations walked out of the room during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said were intended to “accuse, divide and even incite” and are a roadblock to tackling the scourge of racism.

You have to love the effectiveness of the biggest criminal and anti-Semitic enterprise on the face of the planet kicking out participants from their anti-racism conference in Geneva for being...racist...intollerant...assholes.

Hey...Look!!! Here's a wonderful collection of photographs of women voting in Iraq...and the United Nations taking credit for it occurring.

Oscar gets around...

It's Earth Day in Serbia...or Oscar the Grouch has prodigy...not sure.


Earth Day in Washington D.C....Even bubble boys participated (Bonus: "It's the Moops").


Earth Day in Manila doubled as an opportunity to make fun of short people.

(Actually...these three photos and more are available at the Boston Globe site. They never disappoint me when they select their batch. It always shows the nitwit side of the do-gooders.)

Four months ahead of the curve...

President Obama's unilateral thawing of relations with Cuba including an easing of travel and monetary restrictions is a grave mistake that could result in another missed opportunity to bring enemies of America to justice and send a message to the world that this country never relents in its pursuit of terrorists.

As a precondition for any discussions with Cuba, Obama must demand the extradition to America of fugitives receiving safe haven in Cuba, including Armed Forces for National Liberation bombmaker William Morales, Wells Fargo armored-car robber Victor Manuel Gerena and the killer of a New Jersey state trooper, Joanne Chesimard. These violent fugitives have all been provided safe haven in Cuba since the 1980s.

Yeah...the New York Post has a point...which was made here by "The Worm" three days before President Obama stepped inside the White House. The writing was already on the wall back then. The current Administration was going to bend over and spread'em for as many enemies of the State as humanly and inhumanly possible. That included Cuba.

Water Carrier alert...

WASHINGTON — Even the most exacting truth commission may have a hard time determining for certain whether brutal interrogations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency helped keep the country safe.

Last week’s release of long-secret Justice Department interrogation memorandums has given rise to starkly opposing narratives about what, if anything, was gained by the C.I.A.’s use of waterboarding, wall-slamming and other physical pressure to shock and intimidate Qaeda operatives.

The author of this NY Times pieces is Scott Shane. Scott's expertise, it would appear, is the promotion of the Leftist talking points (sometimes before the Democrats make a move, most of the time after an act took place). He is consequently one of the Democrat Party's goto guys when they need to move something to the public. Some of his history in that regard is right HERE.

This particular mess is a bit more difficult to clean up, but it is obvious what the talking points and strategy will be (is). To refresh your memory, Axelrod came right out and said that the country is as safe as it ever was while his boss was releasing cherry picked CIA memos divulging the process and protocol on securing information from TERRORISTS. Vice President Cheney stated that if Obama is going to sell us down the river, he should release all the memos so that the American public could see how these "Fraternity prank" techniques produced results, and kept us safe.

Scott Shane is trying to lay the groundwork that these techniques provided nothing of importance... However, Obama had gone too far and stated this:

“high value information came from interrogations in which these methods were used,”

Republicans need to jump on this issue and force it all into the open, as the portion released to date by the current Administration already compromises the process. Nothing more could be damaged.

And then...a spine develops in the Republican party (via Gateway Pundit):

Today Rep. Peter Hoekstra at The Wall Street Journal called for a complete investigation of damage done to national security by President Obama by leaking these CIA memos:

The simple fact of the matter is, that should there be an attack on US soil in the near future, before the Democrats can use their water carriers in the press to neutralize the damage done by releasing these memos and leaving us bare...they have big problems. There is no way around the fact that President Obama is way out of his league.

Lenin and Earth Day...perfect together...

Not many folks are aware that Vladimer Lenin started his public career as one of the Munchkins in the original stage production of "The Wizard of Oz."

He was born this day, April 22, 1870. But, at my house, we don't celebrate his birth. We celebrate his death of January 24, 1924.

To clarify, we celebrate the day that he was firmly planted in the ground to satisfy worms not beholden to a sophisticated palet. His birth, however, serves as Earth Day to the fellow denizen. Plant a tree for Lenin...or just toss a little excrement around Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square. It will save the world...you know.

A wall goes up in Camden (Australia)

AN Islamic school in Camden would be "a breeding ground for terrorists", says a resident who gave evidence in support of Camden Council at an appeal against its decision to block the school.

Judith Bond said the school would teach war and how to kill.

"Values of violence will be emphasised. It will be a breeding ground for terrorists … There will be a surge of gang rapes, looting and attacking infidels," Ms Bond said.

Camden residents presented evidence via DVD at the second day of a hearing to decide whether the $19 million Islamic school should be built on the outskirts of the town south-west of Sydney.

Camdem residents don't seem to be in the "diversity" frame of mind. I admire their conviction, because there will be a concerted outcry labeling them as racist xenophobes. My personal opinion on Islam is that it is based on a fairytale involving a "prophet" who by today's standards would be labeled a pedophile. The religion, on fundamental basis alone, disallows confirmity and peaceful coexistence. Remarkably, the people of Camden (just outside of Sydney, Australia) seem to realize what "perks" come with appeasement. They aren't interested. And, whether or not you think that "teach war and how to kill" is over the top, I think it is immaterial. The religion, itself, teaches racisim, opression of women, and classification based on belief (infidels...blah blah blah). It's a cult.

But on the opening day of the appeal to the Land and Environment Court on Tuesday, council's barrister, Craig Leggat, SC, opened his evidence with a letter signed by a group of the region's Christian leaders, who said Islam was an ideology with a plan for world domination.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this one plays out.

Say it with me... "Ahmadinejad...I'm A Nut Job"

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday criticised US President Barack Obama's boycott of a United Nations racism conference, dubbing it "unhelpful."

On Monday the international racism conference in Geneva, which the United States boycotted, fell into disarray after Ahmadinejad's verbal onslaught against Israel triggered a mass walkout and furious rebukes from Western capitals.

"I should give you, the new US administration, this advice. Mr Obama came to power with the slogan of 'change', meaning the American people like the rest of the world want a change in the colonialism policy," Ahmdinejad told crowds in a speech broadcast live from Varamin, a city south of Tehran.

"Therefore it would have been imperative for him to take part in the world's most important conference of racism and denounce racism, (confirming) that the US is pursuing a changed policy in confronting racism," he added.

"But to sit at his place and condemn my remarks is not helpful in solving the issues," he added, amid the habitual slogans of "death to America and death to Israel."

I have to agree with the current administration for avoiding this freak show in Geneva. However, if President Obama thinks that not participating in the anti-Semiticpolooza is how you control Israel...he's about to get an education. Iran, on the other hand is about to get something else entirely.

You can't do that!!!! It makes too much sense!!!!

The state is trying to shut down a New York City doctor's ambitious plan to treat uninsured patients for around $1,000 a year.

Dr. John Muney offers his patients everything from mammograms to mole removal at his AMG Medical Group clinics, which operate in all five boroughs.

"I'm trying to help uninsured people here," he said.

His patients agree to pay $79 a month for a year in return for unlimited office visits with a $10 co-pay.

But his plan landed him in the crosshairs of the state Insurance Department, which ordered him to drop his fixed-rate plan - which it claims is equivalent to an insurance policy.

Muney insists it is not insurance because it doesn't cover anything that he can't do in his offices, like complicated surgery. He points out his offices do not operate 24/7 so they can't function like emergency rooms.

"I'm not doing an insurance business," he said. "I'm just providing my services at my place during certain hours."

He says he can afford to charge such a small amount because he doesn't have to process mountains of paperwork and spend hours on billing.

"If they leave me alone, I can serve thousands of patients," he said.

This doctor recognized an untapped market. He created a service that had significant demand. It was working. Then, the "government" noticed that it infringed on a law used to entice insurance companies to stay in the cesspool known as NY State. Costs are so out of control in the State (as well as injury embellishment and fraud) that insurance companies would do well to leave. However, with fixed rate costs, they were lured to the table.

If Doctors, like this one, all of a sudden start providing fixed rate treatment, it negates the enticement to the insurance companies, somewhat. The true fix is to cease all the over regulation and taxing within the state. Tort reform and a revamping of the Workers' Compensation laws wouldn't hurt either. Then, insurance companies would want to stay on their own accord, and Dr. Muney could continue with his practice without some bureaucratic hack making noise from Albany.

The mentality of today's scientist...

Q. Your critics say you have a nice theory, but no proof. They say that there’s no evidence of fireplaces 1.8 million years ago. How do you answer them?

A. Yes, there are those who say we need archaeological proof that we made fires 1.8 million years ago. And yes, thus far, none have been found. There is evidence from Israel showing the control of fire at about 800,000 years ago. I’d love to see older archaeological signals. At some point, we’ll get them.

This is a microcosm or where our scientific community now rests. If they don't have the proof, they remain headstrong to their theory and facts be damned.

Global Warming, anyone?

Distraction alert...

WASHINGTON — A government watchdog has launched "almost 20" criminal investigations related to the $700 billion financial bailout program, according to a report to Congress to be released Tuesday.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the rescue program, says in the report that the probes involve possible public corruption; corporate, stock and tax fraud; insider trading; and mortgage fraud. Barofsky provided no information on who is being investigated or why, saying details will not be released "until public action is taken."

How about a legitimate probe to determine the actual cause of the perceived necessity to initiated a bail out in the first place.

We would prefer a probe that doesn't include Jamie Gorelick on the panel. We would, also, prefer a probe that doesn't include any of the officials who propogated the sub-prime toxic tort fiasco in the second place. That leaves out the Barney Frank's, Harry Reid's, Nancy Pelosi's and the entire Clinton Administration. It also leaves out the current President of the United States.

Even Dr. Seuss would want to make a buck...

Call it the economics of hope, the very opposite of the sub-slime greedsters who pocket millions and leave only toxic debt.

In the economics of hope, people take little for themselves and generate actual value for others.

In the economics of hope, every dollar invested by the government generates between $1.50 and $3.90 in direct, measurable benefits.

In the economics of hope, the taxpayer comes out more than $150 billion ahead in a year.

That is without counting all the pluses that are difficult to measure with money, including the deep satisfaction that comes with giving.

To be part of it, to counter the subprime with the sublime, you need only volunteer for public service.

And there will be 175,000 new opportunities to do so thanks to the public service bill President Obama is to sign today.

I really don't think these people understand what they are advocating. It is like they are living in some children's book where all the gardens spout forth lollipops and Skittles®. They choose to ignore what acts initiated banks to secure revenue based on toxic debt. They avoid any thought on how those banks did so based on tax incentives set up by the very person this "volunteer nonsense" is being named after.

My question stands.... "Who ties this journalist's shoes in the morning?"

Story time...(Robin Hood)

Producer (Brian Grazer) of yet another remake of Robin Hood (sorry, you'll never top "The Adventures of Robin Hood"-1938- Flynn, de Havilland, Rathbone, Raines...)-

"Oddly, it's a metaphor for today," Grazer says. "He's trying to create equality in a world where there are a lot of injustices. He's a crusader for the people, trying to reclaim some of the ill-gotten gains of the wealthy. That's a universal theme."

Uhhh...no, Brian. Robin Hood was a crusader for the people against the out of control government (Prince John) and his runaway taxes to support his luxurious lifestyle, and those of this politically connected cronies.

So, yes, you could make the argument that it is a metaphor for today. Although, the term "metaphor" likely does not apply. It is more an irony or a coincidence. Whatever the term, the fact remains that President Obama serves well as "Prince John" in that the common unwashed will pay the bill for the wanton spending of a "bail out" he imposed at the behest of his cronies within the Congress (the Nobles). Eric Holder (the Sheriff of Nottingham) thinks us cowards. We shall see.

I do recall how Robin Hood ends. King Richard (arguably a Conservative) returns from kicking ass and taking hyphenated names in the Middle East.

Remember this quote...

''We are absolutely confident that we have the tools necessary to get the information we need to keep this country safe,'' senior presidential adviser David Axelrod said Sunday. ''And we don't believe and the president of the United States does not believe that this is a contest between our values and our security. He thinks we can honor both and execute both. And that's what he's going to do.''

As the Obama Administration dismantles our defense here and abroad, I would suggest that we all remember this quote delivered on April 20th, 2009. Since 9/11/01 there have been no significant terrorist attacks on US soil. If that continues...I will be elated. If it does not, the quote above provides sufficient cause as to where to lay the blame.

_________________________

UPDATE:

"One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort," Cheney said.

Cheney said he's asked that the documents be declassified because he has remained silent on the confidential information, but he knows how successful the interrogation process was and wants the rest of the country to understand.

"I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw, that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country," Cheney said. "I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was."

I am afraid that this dangerous path taken by President Obama will have repercussions. While I would like to see him fail in his Socialistic tendencies, and other far Left applications to our country, I would never wish a failure here. However, were I to classify the various errors he has made since in office, this one far out-weighs all the others put together.

Yeah...what she said...(Janet Albrechtsen)

And when we use laws to prohibit people from expressing their offensive views, the unintended consequences are far more offensive. Suppressing even the most offensive opinions won’t make them go away. They are driven underground where they avoid the blowtorch of robust public debate and often become more powerful as they fester.

When we shut down offensive speech we lose the best possible method of demolishing bad ideas, namely demonstrating in a public forum why they are wrong. Free and full debate only kills bad ideas. It sustains and invigorates the good ones.

Nothing to add...carry on.

The Boston Globe can't be bothered with reality...

The problem with mud season is not just that it exists, but that there is more of it.

New England winters have warmed on average more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 40 years, allowing spring melt to begin earlier and the ground to freeze later in the fall. Add to that an increase in winter thaws, mini-mud seasons that are a preview for the main spring event. It all adds up to more muddy days per year.

The trend presents bigger problems than buying rubber boots. New England's logging industry depends on winter for work. Most roads into the North Woods are unpaved and need to be frozen or very dry to support the weight of logging trucks. Timber companies also need frozen ground to get to low-lying trees.

Got that? The Winters in New England are warmer, so there is more mud in the Spring. I'm admittedly not the sharpest pencil in the box, but I would think that winter thaws allow quicker evaporation. I would, also, think that it wouldn't matter when the first ground freeze occurred or when the first spring thaw occurred. I would think that the mud would be the same whenever each of these items occurred. I would, also, think that the amount of precipitation over the period would play a roll. I believe the calling card of the zealots is that global warming causes drought...right? Then again, I'm not the one trying to justify this global warming garbage.

Incidentally, New England's Winter was not warmer this year:



As you can see, the temperatures in New England down through the Northeast were not above average. Keep in mind that the entity that sets the temperatures also likes to play fast and loose with the figures if they don't support their position. I'm not sure the NOAA is a good source for determining much of anything that isn't politically motivated.

Hugo Chavez & Rico Suave

It's springtime -- and Hugo Chavez says love is in the air between himself and President Obama.

Left-wing wacko Chavez gave Obama his personal stamp of approval yesterday, along with one of his favorite reads -- a detailed look at Latin American politics through 500 years of what it says was US exploitation.

Chavez, a strident critic of George W. Bush's administration, said his meeting with Obama yesterday at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago was "extraordinary."

"I feel great optimism and the best of good will to advance. We have started off on the right foot," Chavez said in a statement.

He said it was time for "a true start of a new history, for there to be balance, that there's an end to the mechanisms of domination."

Just like having your film endorsed by Andy Dick...

Harold Koh watches too much Star Trek...

RedState comments on Newsweek's evaluation of the Harold Koh nomination to be lead legal advisor to the US State Department:

Conservatives pundits and media have been sounding alarm bells about President Obama’s nomination of transnationalism-touting Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh to be the State Department’s top legal adviser. But even Newsweek’s balanced piece on the Koh nomination (April 27 issue), which concludes that he should be confirmed, enumerates plenty of reasons to be alarmed.

Personally, I think RedState left out the most grimace worthy possibility that could result from such a placement. I touched on it previously. Newsweek only bumps into the topic:

Would Koh argue that the United States should submit to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, even if it means extraditing American officials to be tried as war criminals?

This approach would literally "hogtie" our military. And, you will recall that they are already consorting with lawyers before acting in a lot of matters. Think about the recruiting problems that would result if a soldier would have to rely on a foreigner's opinion as to whether they deserved to sit in front of an Anti-American Judge over in Hague in order to determine whether a crime had been committed on the battlefield.

Further, consider the most recent horse manure that just passed in the United Nations making it a crime and a human rights violation to apply "blasphemy" towards religion (Muslims...actually).

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s top human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations Thursday urging passage of laws around the world to protect religion from criticism.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries — with the backing of Belarus and Venezuela — had drawn strong criticism from free-speech campaigners and liberal democracies.

Newsweek may think that Harold Koh is a fine candidate to advise Foggy Bottom on legality and appropriate application of international law. Fortunately, Newsweek has not been right on much in the last decade, and their atrocious circulation figures reflect that very item. Koh, should he be consistent with his teachings and comments of the past would categorically hand over the sovereignty of this nation. Nothing of the current Administration indicates that there would be any opposition to this philosophy. In fact, it would seem that this has been the plan all along.

Priorities of the simpleminded...

Education officials leery of a murderous rash of violence in Mexico have nixed a Brooklyn school's class trip to Cancun, leaving seething parents on the hook for hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees.

The excursion, set for May 4, went south for 18 kids at Boerum Hill's MS 447 last month after Department of Education officials got spooked by a recent spate of drug cartel-related killings along the US-Mexican border and pulled the plug, even though Cancun is hundreds of miles away from problem spots.

That's a shame...it's a shame that a cash strapped city, and by association...a cash strapped public school in Brooklyn would even entertain the thought of taking students to Mexico.

Granted, the parents were footing the bill for the students. But, the teachers and chaperones were likely getting the trip on the house (taxpayer). If the parents have $1,400 to throw away on a trip to a Mexican tourist mecca...why not ask them to shell out $1,400 for school equipment and textbooks. You can read about mexico from the classroom's brand new atlas.

Advice from the town half-wit...

WASHINGTON -- Steve Schmidt, the Republican strategist who managed John McCain's presidential campaign, called upon his party today to move to Barack Obama's left by fully supporting gay marriage.

Such a position would not only fit conservative principles, he argued, but could help Republicans navigate a political situation he said "could get worse before it gets better." Most prominent Democrats, including Obama, support civil unions for gay couples but not marriage, while most elected Republicans, including McCain, are opposed to both.

"I'm confident American public opinion will continue to move on the question toward majority support, and sooner or later the Republican Party will catch up to it," Schmidt told a Washington gathering of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group fighting for influence within the party.

First...the obvious...Steve Schmidt ran the absolute WORST campaign in recent history (perhaps all of history). With that preface, I am glad to see the Republican party embrace the Equal Opportunity mantle and allow dim-witted, window lickers like him a place in the party. He should be on display inside a clear cubic box of plexiglass...where he can make his recommendations, and we Conservatives can take the complete opposite direction. He shall serve as barometer of the asinine.

Ahhhhh...but don't hit the 'Enter' button quite yet to send your hate mail. I have no problem with gay marriage, and I am a full blooded Conservative. The fact of the matter is that, to me, it is barely an issue, and certainly one that wouldn't serve to secure swing votes. Instead, the position that the Conservative representatives, and potential representatives should be swinging should the be "Hypocrisy" ax.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

"We just want the same opportunities as everyone else."

"We just want equality."

"We want to be treated like everyone else."

The same folks spouting out those comments on a regular basis as their calling card, then proceed to organize "Gay Pride Parades" and events, lobby for special Civil Rights consideration, and spend a lot of time and energy doing their best to be perceived as something very much different from the rest of us.

Guess what? The same philosophy applies to minorities, illegal immigrants, the National Organization of Women and so on...

My point is that Steve Schimdt is a mouth breathing troglodyte with no credibility and an essence of dull vapidity. He'd do better managing a Jiffy Lube provided the regional director didn't care too much about the monthly financials.

Missing a puzzle piece...

More than 2,000 ten to 17-year-olds are convicted of attacking an officer every year after the problem increased by almost half in five years.

The statistics were unearthed from Ministry of Justice documents by the Conservatives and are a blow to the Government's reputation on law and order.

Figures show some 2,186 ten to 17 year-olds were guilty of assaulting a police officer in 2007 - the most recent data - and 272 of those were committed by children aged 14 or under.

The total was a 44 per cent increase on the 1,518 youngsters guilty of police assault in 2002.

However, only 54 were given a detention order while 1,163 were handed a community order.

Gosh...I'd sure like to know the family lineage percentages of these underage United Kingdom offenders. At first, I had no such interest. But, then I saw that only 54 of 1,217 offenders received detention. You know..."kid gloves so as not to offend" seemed to be the remedy here. That implies...

Full Court Press...

Everyone and their uncle has posted the latest nonsense to pop up from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is in the hands of climate alarmists, and they've declared the end to any substantive debate as to whether manmade carbon emissions actually have any significant effect on the temperatures of the Earth. They've declared it fact, and have acted in that regard:

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal today finding greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a determination that could trigger a series of sweeping regulations affecting everything from vehicles to coal-fired power plants.

In a statement issued at noon, EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson said, "This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations."

She added, "This pollution problem has a solution -- one that will create millions of green jobs and end our country's dependence on foreign oil."

Wonderful...when someone gets a chance, could they amble over to Mr. Ocean and ask him to stop with all the evaporation already?

Here's the thing. There is a full court press in operation here. Everyone knows that the Federal Goverment operates sluggishly. So, as the EPA is gathering their data on the "carbon offenders" and summing up the penalties or determining how they can hog tie the economy (particularly the energy industry) further...the Department of the Interior will just wave their magic wand and decimate any business that doesn't go along with the program. They will be able to shut down a company in a heartbeat by claiming that the operation challenges and hurts an animal species.

The spending bill allows Interior to skip the usual public notice and comment period and other regulatory requirements, and stipulates that Interior can withdraw or reissue the rules within 60 days "without regard to any provision of statute or regulation."

We're almost surrounded. However, on a bright note, the next true conservative to get into office is going to look like a savior...and give Ronald Maximus Reagan a run for his money as far as icons go.

Just a harmless purchase...to kill the infidel...

A Toronto man has been charged with attempting to ship devices to Iran to that can be used to make enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

The suspect was identified as Mahmoud Yadegari, 38, of Toronto, a Canadian citizen who came to Canada from Iran in 1998, according to the RCMP.

Yedegari was arrested at his north Toronto home on Thursday without incident and was being held for a bail hearing at Old City Hall courthouse in Toronto.

He is charged with attempting to procure and export 10 items known as pressure transducers under the Customs Act and Export Import Permits Act and under the United Nations Act, Iran Regulations, RCMP Inspector Greg Johnson said, adding that more charges are pending.

It must be some mistake. Why would a nice Irish lad require a pressure transducer (or ten of them)?

More importantly...how does an Iranian born Canadian acquire such an item in the United States? They are under strict export requirements. But, apparently, you only have to show where they are going, and what they would be used for.

He was transporting ten of these things from Boston to Toronto...with the hopes of passing them onto Dubai...then ultimately, Iran. This occurs as Obama is considering dropping preconditions prior to talks with this terrorist nation.

"I wanna name her Dottie after my wife. She's a vicious life-sucking bitch from which there is no escape..."

Kerry Knudsen, a curator at the UC Riverside Herbarium, names a new species of tough, orange-colored lichen, Caloplaca obamae, after the 44th president.

Oh Ho...it fits...

Lichens:

1. One of the few classifications on the planet that can grow in very hostile conditions...hence, they are EXTREMIST.

2. A significant number of lichen species can be considered purely parasitic...you know...like those individuals who signed a legal document to pay a mortgage knowing that there was no chance in hell of them fulfilling the contract...thus requiring the Obama Administration the opportunity to promote a parasitic relationship where these same individuals can live off the resources of the rest of us. Parasitism with a capital "P."

3. Most lichens reproduce via meiosis. The spores of the fungus (lets call Obama and his Socialistic tendencies a fungus...shall we?) meet up with the algal partner (why not refer to the zombietype Obama supporters and the appeasing Democrat heavy Congress as the algae...OK?) and *PRESTO*...more useless crevace cracking monument damaging lichens.

I like it...President Obama is, indeed, a lichen.

More obtuse reasoning...(NYC)

The maximum fine for leaving your vehicle unattended and idling in New York City is only $5 — even if the car eventually kills people because it loses control or is stolen.

A Queens city councilwoman, Elizabeth Crowley, wants to increase the fine to $250, spurred in large part by two high-profile fatal accidents involving unattended idling vehicles in Queens and Chinatown. In early February, a drunken driver stole an idling car and fatally struck Alex Paul of Brooklyn and Robert Ogle in Middle Village, Queens. The car had been left running while the owner had gone into a neighborhood deli. The driver was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter, assault, leaving the scene of an accident, grand larceny and driving without a license.

“People need to realize there could have been situations that have been avoidable,” said Ms. Crowley, who represents the district where the Queens accident took place.

In clarification...if you leave your car running, you are breaking the law because someone might really break the law, steal your car, and do something bad with it. So...let's apply this philosophy to another arena:

I think the freezer manufacturer which produced the unit in which Congressman William J. Jefferson (Louisiana-D) hid his illicit money should be fined for providing a place to hide the ill gotten gains. The individual who planted this tree should be fined and locked up. Let's fine and confiscate the White Horse Tavern, because Dylan Thomas drank there incessantly, and died an alcoholic.

Once again...people are inherently stupid, and this Democrat councilwoman leads the charge to the land of vapidity...

Alas poor Yorick...another victim of climate change...

KOHLUA, India — “It’s hard to believe that this is what’s melting the glaciers,” said Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, as he weaved through a warren of mud brick huts, each containing a mud cookstove pouring soot into the atmosphere.

As women in ragged saris of a thousand hues bake bread and stew lentils in the early evening over fires fueled by twigs and dung, children cough from the dense smoke that fills their homes. Black grime coats the undersides of thatched roofs. At dawn, a brown cloud stretches over the landscape like a diaphanous dirty blanket.

In Kohlua, in central India, with no cars and little electricity, emissions of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming, are near zero. But soot — also known as black carbon — from tens of thousands of villages like this one in developing countries is emerging as a major and previously unappreciated source of global climate change.

Shameless!!!!

Follow the logic:

The world temperatures have not interacted and been associative to the increase of carbon dioxide. Therefore, in a sane world, the scientists of the world would capitulate and say..."Ok, yeah...we were wrong."

BUT, NO!!!

Instead, they have gone to "Plan B." We know that the whole basis for this outlandish accusation is to propogate a redistribution of wealth. The "Haves" of the world aren't buying the propoganda. So, the target now is third world residents who create "black soot" in order to cook their food, heat their dwellings... Of course, they aren't going to be able to change their living habits, because that's what keeps them alive.

Keep your eyes open for agenda driven nonsense about how we must provide these third world countries with the very same technology that they have been trying to limit in our own countries.

This is the tragic comedy of all tragic comedies. Shakespeare would applaud with vigor.

Hello, I am C-3PO, human cyborg relations. How might I serve you?

HELP could soon be at hand for anyone struggling to assemble their flatpack furniture.

Scottish scientists yesterday claimed we are only five years away from a generation of robots capable of putting together wardrobes, beds and chairs.

Professor Jon Oberlander, a computer expert at Edinburgh University's School of Informatics, said researchers were already close to developing such robots in the laboratory and it would only be a matter of time before such machines were available in the home.

Scots are concentrating on functional robots for domestic service. The Japanese, on the other hand, seem to be upgrading the blow up doll. Those things give me the creeps.

It's all fun and games until some knucklehead spills the beaker of nano-bytes on one of them, and the next thing you know, the Governor of Cal-E-forn-ya is ripping around the state blasting away at some poor sap named John Connor.

Terrorists are Combatants...not criminals.

WASHINGTON—A federal judge said he would approve a 25-year sentence agreed to as part of a plea deal with Wesam al-Delaema, who videotaped himself and others showing off roadside bombs they said they would use to kill Americans.

But District Judge Paul Friedman acknowledged the actual time the defendant will receive in a Dutch court is beyond U.S. control. On Wednesday, he encouraged the Netherlands to impose the 25-year sentence on the Iraq war insurgent.

Here we go with the "treating terrorists as law breakers" nonsense.

The Netherlands allowed the extradition of this creep to the US on the condition that he be tried in the Courts, and not a Military Tribunal. Well, he was...and he saw the "life in prison" light blinking, so he cut a deal that awarded a 25 year sentence.

Ok...I can live with that.

But, that isn't likely to happen. Instead, the Dutch Courts will take the plea deal under advisement, and then capitulate to the screaming masses of Muslim immigrants who will throw out a few threats, shut down traffic in the major cities...and force the spineless officials in the Netherlands to commute the suggested sentence to something pervertedly short.

Al-Delaema's attorney, Robert Tucker, told Friedman that his client only agreed to the plea deal because they are confident he'll serve less than 25 years in the Netherlands. Tucker said the United States has the most punitive sentencing laws in the world.

There are a voluminous collection of actual videos of this guy taken in Fallujah showing bombs buried in the sand and his scum sucking buddies and he yukking it up over the US soldiers they would kill.

On a side note...here's another bit for "America's Most Stupid Criminals"...

$35 Million = Several dozen jobs...*har*

NEW BEDFORD - Millions of dollars in federal stimulus money will be invested in a massive cleanup of polluted New Bedford Harbor, home of one of New England's oldest and largest Superfund sites, federal officials announced yesterday.

US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson came to the Whaling City to unveil the award of at least $25 million, and perhaps as much as $35 million - the single largest portion of the $600 million in stimulus money designated for Superfund cleanups nationwide. Four other New England properties, in Mans field, Lowell, Kingston, N.H., and Strafford, Vt., also received millions in funding.

Stimulating...right?

Let's think about this for a moment. The single largest application of Massachusetts stimulus funds is being applied to the clean-up of a harbour that is one of the oldest Superfund sites in the country. In short, it is a more resilient "Big Dig." Of the $600 Million given to the state...$35 Million is going into a big dark sucking money well. Hmmmm...at least it will create a whole mess of new jobs...right?

Mayor Scott Lang of New Bedford said the money would extend work for locals and probably create "several dozen jobs." But more important, he said, the cleanup will allow "tremendous economic opportunities" for the revitalization of the New Bedford waterfront. It will "take away the stigma" of the filthy water, he said, and with that rejuvenation will come even more jobs.

Several DOZEN jobs (shaking my head with a smirk). I love the optimism, too. This project will never be completed. The fact that it is one of the oldest Superfund sites around ought to tell you that. There will NEVER be a rejuvenation of business in the area simply because the Massachusetts legislature taxes the life out of every community.

This causes a mass exodus to New Hampshire...causing that state to turn Democrat...and the decay begins anew.

There's nothing stimulating here...just the same old waste and political favor system in action...

NYTimes...Dishonest to the core...

As part of that investigation, a senior F.B.I. agent recently came forward with what the inspector general’s office described as accusations of “significant misconduct” in the surveillance program, people with knowledge of the investigation said. Those accusations are said to involve whether the N.S.A. made Americans targets in eavesdropping operations based on insufficient evidence tying them to terrorism.

And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

I lost count of the number of times that the New York Times referred to non-disclosed sources to write this tripe.

Also, the very last sentence clarifies that the Bush Administration blocked the effort. Sure, they included the language, but if this "journalist" is truly going to use the "inverted pyramid" format to write a story (important and clarifying information up front)...it should have been in the first paragraph...or the by-line. But, that would not serve their agenda.

On a side note...wasn't it National Intelligence Director Blair who said that the economic turmoil outpaced terrorism as the world's #1 concern. Why yes it was:

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.

Hell, the entire Congressional body should be under surveillance in that regard. They caused it with their forced sub-prime fiasco. And, they continue to subsidize it by throwing money at the root problem instead of allowing the most egregious window licking businesses to fail.

Back to the original NY Times article. There isn't sufficient source back-up to even give this article a glance of consideration. However, assuming that there is a Congress"person" who had contact with a known Islamic extremist during a "fact finding mission"...I wonder who it would be. The sad point being that I could think of at least ten such folks off the top of my head that would fit the bill. One, I consider an extremist on their own accord...and likes to ride on pleasure yachts that challenge the Israeli navy.

The New York Times' stock can't bottom out fast enough...

A "journalist" said this...

Matthew Hoy (Hoystory) has a post today that refers to "angryjournalist.com." The best I can tell, angryjournalist.com is a community whine fest where alleged journalists post their gripes and moans. That, in an of itself is no big deal, I suppose. Everyone deserves a little space now and then to vent. However, Hoystory refers to a very specific post that reflects a telltale mirror of today's "big" media. The bias displayed indicates that some journalists (perhaps most) are not even aware of their own bias. They are THAT obtuse.

Here's my favorite part of the post:

I blame the public schools, frankly. They are not doing enough to teach about the UN, NGOs, and other international forums. They are not training the kids to become citizens of the world first and of the country they were randomly born in second. They are doing a disservice to the world community by over-emphasis on “American” things, Americentrism. It makes me sick. It makes me angry.

I'm quite sure this fellow doesn't even bother mouthing the words of the National Anthem at a ball game. He's too busy wondering why the team chose to fly a pennant flag instead of the United Nations rag.

Hoystory has the whole post, and some other good stuff...so check it out.

USA TODAY/ GALLUP POLL

Do you think that President Obama's economic proposals call for too much Government spending, right amount, or not enough?

55% of Americans think the Government is spending too much.
33% of Americans think the Government is spending the right amount.
9% of Americans think the Governmnent is not spending enough.

Do you think President Obama's economic proposals call for too big an expansion of Government power, not big enough, right amount?

46% of Americans think the Government's power is the right amount
40% of Americans think the Government's power is too much.
10% of Americans think the Government's power is not enough.

BONUS QUESTION:

Who ties your shoes in the morning if you think the Government is spending too much, but they have the right amount of power?

People are inherently stupid...

Dominos that teeter...

After nearly two decades of independence, Moldova’s citizens are still at odds over the basic question of who they are. That division boiled over last week, when a huge anti-Communist demonstration turned violent. Its participants, in their teens and 20s, say they are desperate to escape a Soviet time warp and enter Europe. But many of their elders feel more affinity with Russia, and see the protests as a plot by their western neighbor Romania to snatch away Moldova’s sovereignty.

This will, likely, be a growing issue throughout the entire "Eastern Bloc" that will be exploited by Dimitry Medvedev and the puppetmaster, Putin. Right now, 76% of that country defines itself as Moldovan. Watch that number go down over the next few years. Then consider how Reagan would address the matter.

President Obama, on the other hand will ignore it completely...and the repercussions will fester, grow, and magnify.

Any takers on that scenario? Keep in mind that when Russia invaded Georgia, Obama refused to take a side even though Georgia was considered a hard and fast ally. He only came out with a statement in their "partial" support after McCain called him on it and it reflected negatively in the General Election polls.