Maxine going to trial? I'm still not holding my breath

Maxine (I'll Socialize your industry!) Waters has joined Charlie (Tax Evader) Rangel in the penalty box as she is charged with ethics violations connected to her communication with banks involved in the bailout.
Her husband owned stock in the bank most believe involved in the charges.

Of course a Democrat would want to protect her own investments after screwing so many bond investors out of their money by cutting them out of the GM bailout.

3 inmates on the loose in Arizona

Law enforcement in Arizona is on the lookout for Tracy Province, Daniel Renwick, and John McClusky.
All three escaped from a State Penitentiary in Golden Valley and no details of how they managed to escape have been provided.

All they have to do to catch these guys is put their pictures on TV and claim they wrote the anti-illegals bill.
The Protesting union thugs from LA will beat them up and leave them for the cops.

More Sherrod facts you won't get from the MSM

While the media, NAALCP, and the White House moan and cry about how Andrew Breitbart snookered them into a knee jerk reaction, the rest of the Sherrod story is being ignored.
The Sherrod's worked the system to get the government to pay their corporate farming entity and themselves more money than their land was worth.
Beyond that, they were part of a scam that had our tax money paying more than 80 thousand "black" farmers for discrimination when there were at most 40 thousand actual black farmers at the time in question.

First Opie sold out, now Andy has too

I was disappointed to find that Ron Howard had gone over to the (dark) Liberal side and started saying and producing leftist propaganda.
Now I find out that Andy Griffith is going to be the pitch man for Obamacare!

Disgusting and disappointing to the extreme.

I think Bush should take back his medal.

Gaza wealth shows Liberal hypocrisy

When a truly objective "journalist" looks at Gaza, he sees that the "Elite" live in luxury and even pay lower prices for some goods than their neighbors in Egypt.
We only get to see the "mean streets" of Gaza and the poor (but not starving) "have nots" going about their lives or taking cover during gun battles.
What we don't see on the evening news is the spas, the luxury stores, the resorts and restaurants enjoyed by people working for "aid" organizations or Hamas and Hezbollah, or the people who own the smuggling tunnels used to bring in non-humanitarian supplies.(like rockets).

If people like Obama were true to their ideals of redistributing wealth they would be officially appalled at the disparity of wealth in Gaza.

Bad news for the left: The oil spill disaster that wasn't

Even though the Gulf spill is a disaster, it is looking more and more like it is not nearly as dire as the newsies and the anti-oil folks would like us to think.
Many fewer birds, reptiles, and mammals have been found dead along the coast than were found after the Exxon Valdez spill and most of them are not "oiled".
Marshes along the coast have stopped oil from penetrating more than a few feet into the marsh.
River flows have pushed oil out to sea, warmer weather and lighter oil have led to greater dispersal and earlier breakup.
Bacteria have been more successful due to better conditions and oil is really getting hard to find.

So, if this turns out to be a tempest in a teapot, will the doomsayers apologize and clamor for more drilling?
Don't hold your breath.

Music Police or Hate Crime?

A 22 year old white man was repeatedly punched in the face by a 14 year old black teen after insisting upon his right to listen to whatever he wants.
The 14 year old and other black teens had approached the man on a sidewalk and the teen told the man to shut off his music because white people shouldn't listen to Rap music.
When he refused, the teen attacked and the victim quickly vacated the scene to avoid further pummeling.
The attack is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Ya think?

FBI cheating on tests?

I used to have a lot of respect for the FBI.
They were the Boy Scouts of law enforcement.
They have to have a 4 year degree (for agent positions).

Later I saw them more as hidebound bureaucrats that stepped on local law enforcement's toes while throwing their weight around.

Now they are accused of widespread cheating.
FBI agents had utilized computer based training for years, but it was not graded or pass/fail.
Now that the results actually count, there are accusations of group testing, open book testing, and (my favorite) agents finishing "unusually" fast.

Zoo Panda gassed

Chinese zookeepers are in full apology mode after accidentally gassing a giant panda named Quan Quan with a mix of carbon dioxide and chlorine gas.
They were "disinfecting" a nearby bomb shelter that had air vents connected to the panda enclosure and the gases led to the panda's death.
It sounds like they were recycling (good) but have a lack of understanding when it comes to their infrastructure (bad).

iPad owners are "selfish elites"

According to a consumer research study involving 20K respondents, iPad owners tend to be 30-50, well educated, unusually focussed on business and finance, and non altruistic.
In other words, selfish elites.
On the other hand, those criticizing the "mePad" tend to be individualistic technogeeks.

Mexicans to patrol Staten Island to protect Mexicans?

A construction worker in Staten Island was attacked and robbed in what is being described as a "bias attack".
His attackers allegedly made statements about his ethnic appearance as they attacked him and stole his backpack (how do you know someone's ethnicity in a city as diverse as Staten Island?).
Mexican consular officials have sated that they will have consular employees patrolling the area in order to protect the "Mexican residents" in the area.

Why weren't we told the ethnicity of his attackers?
Could the untold story be that a few people are taking advantage of current ethnic tensions to excuse their criminal behavior?

Hey!
I Have an idea!
Let's have American government officials patrol the streets of Mexican cities anytime we believe that an American has been a victim of "bias attacks".
I'm sure Mexico's citizens and government will have no "problemo" with that.

SEC now immune to public scrutiny

One reason many objected to the Finance Reform and the Health care bills was that the people who voted for it had not read it and therefore, there could be things in it that are highly objectionable if not downright unconstitutional.
We are still finding poison pills in the Healthcare measure and now we find out that the SEC is now no longer legally required to make public any of it's activities, decisions, or records.
For all of its flaws and abuses, the Freedom of Information Act has made our government more accountable by allowing ordinary citizens to access government information that may uncover illegal activities or objectionable actions.
The current administration has already shown a willingness to stonewall and delay legal requests for information (without much complaint from the press).
Now they are shutting the door and keeping us in the dark.

Rangel case just gets more disgusting

Some of us were cheering (quietly) when we heard that Charlie Rangel was being charged with ethics violations (again).
Now it comes out that lobbyists and unions are spending big bucks to defend him.
Rangel's legal fees were $2.16M in 2009 and savvy contributers to his campaign coffers know they are funding his legal defense.
In the first two quarter, 35% of Rangel's campaign reciepts were spent on legal defense.
If he were a Republican and large corporations and lobbyists were funding his legal defense, it would be the daily headline for weeks!

No family loyalty in this election

Everyone knows that running for office can be about as much fun as a full on lower intestine examination.
Most people running for office can depend on their family and professional associates to at least stay mum until after the people have made their decision at the ballot box.
That isn't the case in Oklahoma City where John Mantooth was running for Judge.
His daughter took out a quarter page ad claiming that Mantooth was a bad Dad, a bad lawyer, and likely would be a bad judge as well.
Mantooth blames the attack ad on his contentious 1981 divorce from his daughter's mother.

AZ immigration law protesters caravan from Los Angeles

Union members and activists are caravaning to Arizona to protest the new immigration law as it is set to take effect.
As usual, their comments and stance betray their own racist, narrow-minded view of the situation:
"Rob Robbins, 71, a home care worker in Long Beach, said he grew up black in segregated Alabama in the 1940s and '50s and sees parallels between the racism of that time and now.
"Anytime I see signs of that coming alive in our country, it rises my indignation," he said. "SB 1070 basically says you are guilty because of how you look. That, to me, is not American." "
"I look at things in a historical context," said Carlos Leon, 47, a detention officer with the Los Angeles County Probation Department who decided that he needed to speak up for the oppressed.
Leon said he believes the law is unjust and will result in people being questioned about their status based on their looks."

Mr. Robbins has no clue. If there is "segregation" it is self imposed and the law goes to great lengths to not use "appearance" for cause.
Mr. Leon has no clue about history or he would acknowledge the looks based discrimination of the Spanish masters when they controlled Mexico and admit that his "belief" that the law will be abused is based on his own personal bias.

I guess Arizonans should just look at these obliviots as unruly tourists and encourage them to spend, spend, spend.

Iranian test run?

A Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf experienced an "explosion" and crewmen claim to have seen a flash on the horizon before the explosion.
It isn't a stretch to believe that this is a test run by the Iranians.

Anti-Illegals group calls on government to make it easy for illegals to leave

Because of the economic woes we are suffering and the new law in Arizona, illegal immigrants are showing how shallow their roots are by immigrating back to Mexico.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC is using the same type of argument that the defenders of these criminals use to pressure the government to help them leave our country.
They say that it is the responsibility of the government to provide places on the border with safe, easy passage for illegals to leave.
The response of their opponents is telling.
They can only say that they are suspicious and believe that this is part of an organized effort to make things "horrible" for immigrants to rid us of them by attrition.

"We" didn't make things horrible; the Democrats did (with some help from Republicans).

New gel helps teeth grow back decayed areas

A new gel, derived from a treatment used for regrowing bone, is being tested for regrowing teeth to eliminate the need for fillings.
Early tests show that it works and there is talk of having it on the market within 5 years.

Can I enlarge my canines?

Families find out dead and live girls identities switched

Two families are still reeling from the shock of first thinking their loved one was dead (or alive) then finding she was actually alive (or dead)!
Imagine setting up a funeral, only to find out your daughter was the one in the hospital, or visiting the hospital for more than a week, only to be told that your daughter is dead and the girl in the hospital bed is not yours.

I am shocked that no one tried to confirm their identities considering the fact that this happened as recently as 2008 to two other families.

Your tax money at work

We like to know where our tax money ends up and who benefits, but rarely do we get satisfaction.
When government money is spent overseas, there are procedures to follow that help track the funds.
In Iraq, reconstruction funds of more than $9B were doled out and the government cannot account for $8.7B of it.
The required tracking accounts were never set up by the vast majority of organizations disbursing the money, so no one officially knows where the money went.

I knew I should have set up that reconstruction company in Iraq.

Oliver Stone apologizes for remarks seen as anti-Semitic

Oliver Stone has rarely met a dictator he didn't like (and he has met a few).
In fact, the more they hate America, the more likely they will feel the love from Ollie.
Stone recently made remarks claiming that Russians suffered more than Jews from Hitler's aggression and that Jews ran the US media.
After responses from many, including the Jewish ant-defamation folks, Stone apologized for making a "clumsy" association.
He even went so far as to admit they do not control the media.

Now, will he apologize for his dictator worship?
Don't hold your breath..

Hispanics flee as AZ law deadline nears

It'll never work!
The AZ illegal immigrant law won't lead to anything but racist harassment!
Or it might lead to an exodus of illegal and legal residents.
Yard sales are said to be up and families are taking off for friendlier climes (look out California).
I hope they all move to those wonderful, caring sanctuary cities.

This migration tells me that these people do not have the roots so many insist they have.
It also tells me that the mere impression of effective enforcement cuts down on the number of illegals.
This is what the activists feared the most; if the law works, it will prove them wrong and spread like wildfire.
They will lose the power they never should have had.

Lay off first responders and install expensive art

Ann Arbor Michigan is laying off firefighters.
No big surprise there; it is happening all over (partly as a political) tactic.
The ugly surprise is that they are funding an $850K piece of water sculpture at the same time.
One reason things like this happen is the rigid way government funding is controlled.
If money is allocated for pink flamingos, you can't spend it on paving roads unless you go through a difficult process.
Lack of flexibility is exactly why we don't want government health care.
This is the kind of thinking you get when the government caters to an elite, rather than the people.
They are more than willing to guilt us into raising our taxes by threatening first responders and teachers (the teachers thing doesn't work as well these days).

Google links to White House would be bad news if Bush were Prez

Google's close ties to the White House are apparently at a level that not only clearly breaks ethics rules, but would be front page headline news for weeks if Bush were the president.
White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin is supposed to be barred from even being in his position since he is a former Google lobbyist.
Add to that his communications with current Google lobbyists and avoidance of official email channels in an apparent attempt to avoid federal record keeping regulations and you have a huge scandal (if they president was not a Democrat).


Halliburton anyone?

John "effing" Kerry, tax dodger

John Kerry bought a yacht for ~$7M and docked it in Rhode Island instead of his home state of Massachusetts.
Why?
Well Rhode Island doesn't charge the taxes that Mass. does, so Kerry avoided $473K of taxes.
Having the boat built in New Zealand instead of the US is a slap in the face to US boat builders and one wonders what taxes may have been avoided there.

None of us is holding our breath waiting for Kerry to be hurt by all of this.
Massachusetts voters have consumed way too much cool aid.

Luke, give me all the money!

Darth Vader robbed a New York bank.
Apparently everyone thought it was a joke until he pulled out a rather conventional weapon (a semi-auto pistol) and demanded money.
I guess we still have a way to go before we catch up to European bank security where many banks won't even let you in the door with a mask on.

Congress eats, and drinks, and you pay

There is a story breaking down what congress spends on food and drink to support their continued attempts to suck us dry of every last dime we earn.
It apparently takes a lot of calories to keep hosing the taxpayer.
And the first item makes me wonder where the ecofreaks are.
$604K for bottled water.
I know, they can't be wondering off to the water fountain in the middle of debate, but they could use bottled water and reusable (insulated) bottles to save the planet they claim to care so much for.
It looks like getting set up as a caterer to the legislators is a great gig too as almost $400K is spent there.
Read the whole report to really get steamed.

More fuel for your anti-government anger

If you weren't already mad or mad enough, here is a breakdown of spending that will just make your day.

I'll drink to that!

We have had all of human history to study the effects of alcohol on human health.
Researchers claim that people that drink two alcoholic beverages a day are more likely to live longer, have less coronary artery disease, fewer strokes, and slower cognitive decline.
As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, there will be another study saying this is wrong.
Until that happens, bottoms up!

More "Stark" raving madness

I wonder what George Soros thinks of Pete Stark's latest proposal.
Pete Stark (who has consistently shown nothing but contempt for the voters) has proposed a tax on currency trades (which was how George Soros got rich).
Stark claims the tax won't even be noticed by the average person or business.
He also claims the money will be used for "the children, global health, and climate change mitigation" only.

Hey Pete!
You are a lying sack of excrement and the voters are waking up to it.
We are dying a death of a million cuts because of wastes of space like you that keep tacking on that next tax that we "won't notice".

Palestinian Arab convicted of Rape after consensual sex

Forget the old story of the man "hooking up" with a woman after insisting he was single. only to reveal later that he is married.
An Arab Palestinian has been convicted in Israel of rape for telling his "victim" he was a Jew.
Yep! That's right!
It's no longer consensual if you lie about your religion.

See how far we have come?
I suppose it could be worse.
If it happened in Saudi Arabia, the woman would have been stoned or lashed and the man might suffer a similar but lesser fate.

Better than sniffing paint

There is a new addiction for teens out there and it is apparently all in their heads.
They call it I-Dosing, which will likely (not) thrill the folks at Apple.
According to UK Mail, the new high is derived from listening to audio files designed to make the brain produce it's own drugs.
Scientists claim it is likely a placebo effect and do not consider it a threat any more than any other self induced delusion of youth.
On the bright side, it is cheaper and healthier than drugs, alcohol, or "huffing" solvents.

More claims against Al Gore

I am flashing back to Men in Black where Agent J explains that the tabloids actually print the truth.
The National Inquirer has released new information alleging that at least two more women, one in LA and one in Tokyo, have alleged abuse at the hands of former "Vice" President and current hoaxer Al Gore.
I wonder if the MSM will be forced to cover this too.

One more reason to hate the healthcare law

I doubt Obama and his cronies specifically targeted gold dealers, even though Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are fronting for gold sellers, but the new regulations mandating IRS form 1099s for any transaction over $600 are really going to impact this industry.
Not only will dealers have to fill out a 1099 for almost any transaction they perform, customers that are selling don't want the government to know they are selling and all customers have a reason to fear the information required can be used for identity theft.

Personally, I find the TV pitchmen for gold to be annoying, but that doesn't make me glad that Big Brother is heaping more paperwork on small and medium businesses.

Unions lose, Illinois wins

Illinois has finally felt enough pain from losing conventions to other states (like Nevada, despite Obama's warning) to change the law to let exhibitors plug their own computers in or hire someone to set up their booth without having to pay them union wages.
The unsurprising response from the carpenter's union?: "The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters responded with a lawsuit saying they've been singled out and pushed to unemployment."
The change has already brought conventions back to Chicago.
Who would've thought allowing people to not have to pay punitive union prices to do things they are perfectly capable of doing themselves would increase business.

Big Chinese oil spill not news

Once again, our media prove to be enemies of truth and extremely unbalanced.
The Chinese have suffered an explosion and big oil spill and our media sees nothing.
More than 70 square miles of coastal waters have been covered in oil.
This is worse than the gulf spill because it started on the shoreline with no time to prepare.

Update: China's spill still grows and officials claim they are not equipped to handle the devastation. The size of the spill has doubled to 165 square miles and at least one worker was killed as a wave washed him from the boat he was working on.

NAACP Racist resigns

Shirley Sherrod was the administration's appointee to the Georgia USDA.
She gave a speech to an NAACP group at their 20th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet where she admitted to treating a white farmer with less respect purely because of his race.
One telling remark by Ms Sherrod was her assertion that the farmer was attempting to establish his "superiority" over her during their conversation.
Somehow that makes me believe that Sherrod was the one with superiority issues.
After the NAACP essentially called the Tea Party racist, Andrew Breitbart posted the video of Sherrod's speech, leading to her resignation and the NAACP's acceptance of the assertion that she was overtly racist in her speech.
It is nice to see the left painting itself into a corner and forced to throw their own under the bus, but the real wrong committed here is that the NAACP knew this woman made this speech and did nothing until they were forced to.


Update: More video of the speech has been released revealing that Sherrod may have pointed out later in her speech that the incident woke her up to the reality that her job was about who needed help, not what skin color they possessed.
She claims the speech was about making people realize that all of the poor need the NAACP's help.
If this is true, she is owed an apology by all.

Arrests for videotaping police on the rise

I thought that the whole Rodney King fiasco was an example of why people's videos can be taken out of context or blown out of proportion (was all the mayhem and additional death a "proportional response"?)
Still, if the cops can video us without our permission, we should be able to reciprocate.
Law enforcement insists that conversations with people stopped by police are considered "private" even in public and therefore protected.
Sorry but in my book that only works if a third party does the recording without yours or the cop's permission..
Who hasn't heard of a case where a judge sided with a cop over a civilian where there wasn't clear evidence of the cop being wrong (or lying)?
More and more police are utilizing video to protect themselves from false claims and to prosecute people that otherwise may lie their way out of a fine or jail.
We "the people" should be able to show our side of it too but, as Anthony Graber found in Maryland found, you can be arrested in some states for recording people without permission.
Graber was speeding and doing wheelies on his motorcycle and was then cut off and accosted by a gun wielding plainclothes cop.
Like any self respecting narcissist, Graber had his helmet cam running so he could thrill people with his daring-do.
He posted the video on You Tube a week later and the cops hauled him off for illegal taping.
The usually odious ACLU gets it right when they defend folks like this.

Now they are worried about Google?

Many of us became worried when we learned of Google's "street view" intrusions into private property.
More worry developed when we learned that they were surveying wi-fi spots as well.
There were a lot of folks not that concerned because Google is left leaning, therefore benevolent by default.

Then came the discovery that Google had links to Government intelligence and that "secret" meetings had been held between Google and Government folks concerning the data take from their surveillance.
Another interesting and unsettling find was that, despite Google's insistence that wi-fi spying was an inadvertent bit of code, Google sought to patent the software.
Now a group calling itself Consumer Watchdog is up in arms and wants to know who is involved, who met whom, where and when.

When they came for the wi-fi, I said nothing...
Maybe they should spy on Google.

Obama's Chicago cook has been promoted to Czar?

We have all heard about Comrade Obama's many, many Czars.
Some have proven to be too controversial to allow them to continue to serve.
The latest Czar is all about food and can actually be considered an expert in the field.
Even though Sam Kass is only in his twenties, he is a professional cook (not even a chef?) and a favorite of the Obama family.
Unlike other Obama appointments, this one seems to be generating more snickers than anything else (so far).
The amusement will likely subside when we see the bill for Sam's plans for all of us.

The Black Box is watching you

We were warned years ago that increasingly sophisticated vehicles would be able to tattle on us because they record information and sometimes save the seconds preceding an impact for later review.
Drivers of Toyotas that thought they had a malfunction are learning that their black boxes show they were stepping on the gas and no the brakes when they accelerated "out of control".
This doesn't let Toyota off the hook for sticky pedals and other problems, but seems to absolve them of one claim.

You might want to get your story straight or find a way to erase the data in future collisions.

Obama to give trial lawyers a $1.6B tax break

A proposed administrative change to IRS regulations by the Obama administration will allow trial lawyers to avoid taxes on the practice of funding client's cases with "loans".
The change will allow them to deduct such "expenses" before the case is settled.
Too bad the lawyers didn't do a good job of keeping this under their hats as requested by the Treasury Department.

The crime statistics that you won't hear from the left

Statistics from the justice department show which side of the racial divide is in denial and make one wonder what  (un)amusing excuses the MSM has for not telling us the truth.
When Malik Shabazz of the New Black Panthers claims that white men are raping black women, he is not only lying; he is ignoring the appalling statistics of black on white crime.

Gaza "flotilla" turns back, MSM silent

From our friends at American Thinker, we learn that Libya tried running the Israeli blockade of Gaza and was turned back before they even came close.
This was an embarrassment for the left, the MSM, Hamas, Libya, and other bad actors in the region.
Which is why it will receive little or no coverage by the leftist press.

More animal hoarding

A woman living in a 3 story Philadelphia home was hoarding more than 100 animals and authorities discovered 2 feet of feces in some areas of the home.
In another story, a Providence woman only had 50 dogs and her house was actually clean.
Her real crime was that most of her dogs were LRDs (Little Rat Dogs).

9 states file brief in favor of AZ immigration bill

In less than a week, 9 states attorney generals joined with Michigan's Mike Cox to file a brief in favor of the Arizona immigration law.
Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands joined in defending the law against the Obama administration's attack on states rights.
Cox is running for governor in Michigan, so his support is already being dismissed as political theater in an election year.

Posting bail with counterfeit bills?

A man owed $400 for bail and paid with twenties that looked "bad" before they were even touched or held up to the light.
Nonetheless, police did allow him to bail out and only later were the counterfeits discovered.
Rather than having to search for Ron White (not the comedian), they just grabbed him when he returned to ask for a refund of overpayment.
When re-arrested, White had two more fake $20s on him.
"Smart" and "Criminal" are not often found in the same sentence.

Smokers and Shooters help keep Govt. solvent

The US government collected billions in revenue from smokers, drinkers, and shooters in FY09.
$20.6 billion dollars were collected by the treasury for alcohol, tobacco, and firearms sales.
Collections were up by $6 billion and this was mostly attributed to increase taxes on cigarettes, but another portion of the spike was due to a rush to buy guns and ammunition as people who believed Obama would restrict or ban sales of guns and ammo.

So why isn't Obama taking credit for this?
Why isn't the press tanking us for "clinging" to our guns and keeping the revenue flowing?
We know they will never thank us; they never thank the smokers or drinkers, but they would criticize them if they all stopped and "hurt the children".

Imagine more giveaways to Obama's pals in finance bill

Imagine activists and unions stacking corporate boards with people more interested in "social justice" and the environment than profit.
Imagine businesses victimized by the financial crisis being the ones punished by increased scrutiny and costs.
Imagine the return of gender and race quotas.
Imagine more money flowing to organizations like ACORN.
Imagine a bureaucracy that can choose to loan money to anyone it's directer desires, no matter how risky the loan with no internal checks on the director's decisions.
Imagine a "Consumer Protection" bureaucracy with the power (and unstated mission) to punish ANY company that has a financial relationship with consumers.
No imagination required. It is all in the new finance legislation.

Be afraid.

Say it ain't so! Bristol and Levi engaged again?

Just when you thought the drama was over in the Palin family, news comes out that Bristol Palin and Levi "Judas" Johnston are engaged.
For anyone that wondered why Levi recently apologized to the family, (for being a scumbag) this may be the answer.

Utah and fed officials scramble after illegals list released

An unknown group in Utah has released a list of 1300 names with social security numbers and personal information including children's names and pregnant women's due dates.
A letter accompanying the list demanded that the government take action on the information.
Hispanic groups have wailed about how "immigrants" feel "terrorized" by the potential release of personal information and exposure to authorities.
Some in the government believe the information may have been leaked by a government employee.

If the government had this information and didn't act, heads need to roll.
If the "immigrants" feel terrorized, welcome to the club!

Budding boat designer rescued at sea

A Cuban man was rescued at sea after 25 days adrift and is being held on a Coast Guard boat while the government decides whether to return him to Cuba or bring him to shore for medical treatment.
If they allow him on American soil, the government's policy is to allow him the option of applying for a green card after a year's stay.
His boat was constructed mainly of large Styrofoam blocks with a wooden frame and what appears to be oarlocks.
The contrasts and similarities between Cuban and Mexican conditions and immigrants is a story in itself.
There are very few Cuban "Coyotes" and not many people outside of Florida lobbying for Cuban immigrants.
Of course the Cubans don't have to worry about drug gangs as much (the government is a bigger problem).

Steinbrenner Family sticks it to the man

When George Steinbrenner died of a massive heart attack this week in Florida, he managed to save his family about $500M and stiff the government on the estate tax that had expired in January and will likely return in 2011.
The savings will allow the family to retain their interest in the Yankee's parent company.
The turmoil of selling their stake would undoubtedly cost some folks their jobs and prevented the family from retaining or adding employees outside of the sports business.

Way to go George!

Spy swap avoids probe of Hillary fundraiser

When the Russian spies were swapped (for non-Americans) at light speed, people wondered why.
I suspected it had something to do with Democrats not wanting the press or the courts taking too close a look at who these folks dealt with and it appears that was the case.
A Hillary Clinton fundraiser was apparently involved with these guys and that may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Illinois story ignored by the press

A minority woman who is an immigrant should be just the kind of person the press and the left would get behind if she was blowing the whistle on a corrupt organization led by a person of questionable mental stability.
Well, not if many millions of dollars and multiple well known Liberals are connected to the story and may not want it to see the light of day.
Some of those people are connected to the Obama administration.
She is being prosecuted for "eavesdropping".
You know, the kind of thing that is praised if it catches Conservatives with their pants down.

Hezbollah cell uncovered...in Tijuana

While the Obama administration sues Arizona for trying to do the job the feds refuse to do, our neighbors in Mexico have rolled up a terrorist network being set up right across the border from California.
So we have Liberal druggies (yes, conservatives too) financing the narcos, who are chummy with Hugo Chavez, who is chummy with the terrorists, who are set on infiltrating us to wreak havoc so they can dance in the streets of the middle east while our economy sinks to greater depths.
I "hope" things "change" before they succeed.

Iranian merchants can teach us much

When the Iranian government decided to jack taxes by 70%, merchants went on strike and closed their shops and stalls in protest.
I wonder how many American business people will shut their doors in protest when Obama lets the tax cuts expire and even increases them (as well as imposing the 1099 requirement for anything over $600).

King Arthur's "round table" found, cubicles doubtless nearby

An archeological site in the UK is being labeled as King Arthur's legendary "Round Table".
The site is actually more of an amphitheater left by the Romans and "re-purposed".
Seating is estimated at more than 1000.
An execution chair was also located at the site and there is no mention of whether it was original or added by later users.
Maybe they had "round-table discussions" or "coffee talks" here as they do in today's business world.
When they will find the cubicles and corner offices?

Another racist science study

Belly Buttons determine whether you are good at a particular sport.
Not the type, but the location.
Furthermore, most blacks have higher Belly Buttons and whites have lower BBs.
Lower BBs are better for swimming and higher BBs for running.
Who knew?

Oakland Dad throws baby into traffic - No protests planned

A father in Oakland, CA shook, then threw his 18 month old daughter into traffic.
Onlookers were horrified and one woman quickly pulled the infant out from under a car.
The child survived with scrapes and the father was arrested after running away, pounding and kicking cars while people tried to stop him.

Even had the baby died, I doubt there would be even a small protest demanding "justice".

We have to shut off the A/C because of Global Warming?

Climate change is all our fault and now we have to pay for it by shutting off the air conditioning.
So says Stan Cox at the Washington Post.
He doesn't recommend more efficient use or acknowledge the increased efficiencies in new units, he just wants to go back to fans and open windows.
He must not have learned the history of the high rise in America.
The only reason we have skyscrapers is that we discovered how to cool them.
There is no way to circulate enough air in modern high rise offices and apartments without an integrated HVAC system.
Then there are the elderly, sick, and babies that cannot handle too much heat or cold.
The whole premise is excrement.
Leave it to the Washington Post to have a ridiculous story like this.

Ouch! Vegetable plants poisoned in Australia

Authorities are still trying to determine if the poisoning of millions of seedlings at a nursery in Northern Queensland is vandalism, a grudge, or cut-throat competition.
This is the time in 8 years that such an act has been accomplished.
The price of vegetables (especially tomatoes) is expected to climb as the supplier provided plants to ~ 30 growers and ships plants to other countries in the area.
Many seedlings had already been planted, adding to the cost.
Damage is estimated to be about $20M so far.
I wonder if this has happened in the US and the authorities were smart enough to keep it quiet to avoid copycats.

Limbaugh makes millions leaving NYC

Rush Limbaugh just sold his New York City apartment for more than $12M after purchasing it in 1994 for under $5M.
The apartment, complete with maid quarters, takes up an entire floor and overlooks Central Park.
Transfer taxes on the sale alone are more than my house was worth before the crash.
Rush made a profit and thumbed his nose at a short sighted state while helping Florida by making it his state of residence and work.
Rush was right when he predicted New York's increased taxes on the rich would lead to an exodus of the "rich" including himself and they have not been able to come close to solving their fiscal problems by taxing people more.
They have helped surrounding states by sending people and businesses across the border.

BTW, Rush also predicted that LeBron James would likely pick a state like Florida (he did) to avoid high taxes.

The Swiss won't send Polanski back

The Swiss government claims there is a problem with the American extradition request and they have refused to send Roman Polanski to the US to stand trial for the rape of a 13 year old girl.
Here is what they said: ""Considering all the aspects of this case – and in particular the extradition request which is not satisfying as far as the presentation of the facts of the case is concerned and the principles of state action deriving from international public order – the extradition request has to be rejected."
I hope you can make sense of it, I can't.

No riots over this murder

Chicago police officer Thor Soderberg had just finished his shift at the police facility at 61st street and Racine Ave. when Bryant Brewer snuck up behind him and grabbed for the officer's sidearm.

In the ensuing struggle, Brewer managed to gain control of the weapon and kill the officer.

He then proceeded to cross the street and shoot another man before being shot when officers responded to the initial shot.

In Oakland, California we just had riots because an officer that killed a suspect was only found guilty of manslaughter.

There were riots (where many stores were looted) before a trail even happened in the Oakland case because the residents were "outraged" at the wanton act (despite the officer's claim that he thought he had grabbed his Taser).

So, will there be protests in Chicago over this wanton act of murder and attempted murder?

Don't hold your breath.

The reward for doing a good job?

Wahab Sultany, a Lt. Col. in the Afghan military was sent to the US in January to help stem a growing AWOL problem with Afghan soldiers sent to the states for training.
I seems that the students who knew they were going to fail would slip away before being sent home rather than suffer the humiliation of failure (and also not go back to a war torn country).
The hardest and most important part of their training was learning English and that is what they were failing.
Col. Sultany managed to take an AWOL situation where 7 soldiers disappeared in December alone to only one going AWOL so far this year and even that soldier was in the program before Sultany arrived.
Everyone involved in the program thinks Sultan has done a great job, including paying for much of the costs for his activities out of pocket.
So what have his leaders in Afghanistan decided to do?
They are sending him home and his replacement isn't due for months.

I can't shake the idea that the Obama administration had something to do with this.
They are trying to screw up anything that works.

Utah strikes back against feds with imminent domain

The federal government has shut down use and access to land in the 50 states for generations, but it has accelerated in recent decades.
The feds control almost 70% of the land in Utah and the state representatives are set to vote on a law allowing them to use imminent domain to take land from the feds in order to develop or use resources.
This is a backlash for seizures like those that took place under the Clinton administration when land holding caol reserves were locked up in order to aid corporations like the Lippo Group which happened to be able to supply coal to US power plants now that American coal was unavailable.
It just happens that some "really good" coal is located in an area that was "Protected" by the Clinton administration and environmentalists are going ballistic at the idea of even exploring there.
I don't know how much of the 1.9 million acres of land has coal and how much of that is the "pristine" landscape people gush about, but the stated opposition is that mining would "ruin" things there.

I hope Utah prevails in the inevitable court battle and other states follow.
It is high time we "Take Our Country Back" as the leftists put it.

Netanyahu's bodyguard's guns missing

Chalk up another one for our trusty TSA employees and baggage handlers.
Benjamen Netanyahu and his entourage made the mistake of flying commercial and their baggage first went to the wrong airport, then ended up missing several of the bodyguards guns.
I guess they didn't use a diplomatic seal or it means nothing to airport employees.

Edwards tape battle illustrates the problem

The problem with lawyers like John Edwards is that they will drag people to court for the dumbest things, merely to harass them enough to extract money.
It's never about the stated purpose of "making people whole".
It's about enriching the lawyers and plaintiffs at someone else's expense.
So it is no surprise that the Edwards sex tape is caught in a struggle between the Edwards campaign and his ex-mistress.
I love the Judge's comment "What possible purpose would a campaign want - or desire for - a sex tape of a candidate involved in a sex act?"

Russian Bombers nothing to worry about?

The Russians are sending bombers near our airspace and our government claims that it is only an attempt to maintain an "illusion of power".
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr. claims that "we" aren't really worried and don't intercept every flight as that would "feed into their propaganda".
I guess the Admiral has no understanding of propaganda.
If we ignore the incursions, they will claim we are afraid or cannot afford to defend ourselves.
Protection is more important than propaganda.

I am sure that the Admiral's assurances will be a great comfort to the survivors if the "illusion" of actual attack occurs.

Babs Boxer falls to near dead heat with Fiorina

The latest polls show that Barbara Boxer has fallen to within 3 points of Carly Fiorina.
I hope Barbara Boxer gets a lot more face time on the TV and I hope she gets asked questions she feels she does not have to answer.
The more people see what an absolute b*tch and elitist she is, the better.
Carly is a b*tch in her own right, but at least she knows business and finance from the point of view that counts.

Terrorists win in UK

The UK had a stop and search right under what they call article 44 that allowed them to check people out merely because they felt they needed closer inspection.
The claim of "rights violation" was used to cause the suspension of article 44, requiring a reasonable suspicion of terrorist activity prior to stopping someone.
Well, now they are as handcuffed as we are and they have more militant Muslims in their population than we do.

Psst! Hey kid; wanna buy a hamster?

San Francisco wants to ban the sale of all pets (particularly rodents) except for fish due to the irresponsible actions of many people that purchase, then discard pets because they had no clue how they really behave and how much maintenance is required. Once again, they are legislating away basic rights rather than educating citizens to be responsible.
This is bound to fail if they implement it and they will lose tax revenue from the disappearing pets shops.
Lets set up a mega pet store just outside their jurisdiction!

So, what do they have against fish?
I mean, if that is all you can buy then that is all that will be flushed when people get bored or frustrated.

I feel so much safer now

Our government is going to set up a new system to protect our utilities from computer hacking.
The "Perfect Citizen" program intends to set sensors within the network of utility and other companies that would identify suspicious activity, collecting data, and warning appropriate parties.
They claim that the sensors will not "persistently" monitor the network but the Big Brother aspect is not being ignored.
Maybe NSA and Raytheon know what they are doing, but it is hard to shake the picture of government bumbling when it comes to technology.
It's either that or they are just setting up a way to spy on, and control our infrastructure networks.

Professor's hand and arm cut off by Muslims

A Catholic professor in Kerala, India was attacked on his way home from church by Muslim extremists who were "insulted" by questions he had used in a test for his students. He had been removed from the school where he taught and had apologized for his "unintentional mistake", but that was obviously not enough for these members of the "religion of peace".
They broke out the window of his car, dragged him out and attacked him with knives and swords.
After stabbing him and hacking off his hand and arm, the assailants took off and dropped the body parts 200m down the road.
One offending question made no reference to the Muslim religion, but a man mentioned in the question was named Mohammed.
People who have reviewed the test claim their is nothing that could be construed as insulting to the Muslim religion in it.

His assailants are too ignorant to live, feed them to the pigs!

Great question

Russ Vaughn at The American Thinker asks "Why aren't the media addressing the paramilitary aspect of the New Black Panthers?"
I think that is a question that the media needs to be asked repeatedly and publically.
Even that right-wing Fox News channel isn't bringing this aspect up.

Federal employees fired for personal finances?

Yep. Some federal employees at DFAS (Defense Finance & Accounting Service) lost their jobs because they have access to too much financial information to be allowed to serve while being in financial straights.
I'm thinking that Senators and Congressmen have access to sensitive information and need to be fired if they aren't paying their taxes.

CNN warns Obama to stop the blame game

It may be a sign of the apocalypse, but I think not.
The Clinton News Network (CNN) is warning Obama to stop blaming Bush.
In true form, they blunt the message by quoting their own polls that claim 41% still blame Bush and only 28% blame the Democrats.
I'm guessing that their poll would be unrecognizable by reputable pollsters like Rasmussen.

Morning people Rule?

I didn't realize my desire and ability to get up early and be ready to go when others are just dragging themselves in to work was an advantage.

Even Harry Potter actors aren't safe from Muslim stupidity

Afshan Azad, who played Padma Patil in several of the Potter films was recently attacked by her father and brother.
She was attacked in her own home and no reasons where supplied in the original article, although it is easy to assume the reason had something to do with males believing they are empowered by Allah to control females.

Based on the few photos of her that I have seen, she should have no trouble finding some English bloke to gladly pound her father and brother into the ground.

Amnesty not working for Spain

Spain has an illegal immigrant problem.
One of their "solutions" is to grant amnesty to the illegals.
Now the foreigners represent about 10% of the population and the Spanish natives are unhappy with the newcomers.
The rest of Europe is less than happy with the possibility of these new citizens freely moving to their part of the EU.
Add to this the "pull effect" of amnesty encouraging more illegals and it is no wonder that Spain is in such big trouble.

Is it just me or do you enjoy hearing about Spain having an illegal immigration problem?
After all, our illegal immigration problem is mostly caused by Spain's exports to the Americas.

Woman impaled by beach umbrella

A gust of wind picked up a beach umbrella and carried it far enough to have it impale a woman's leg, sending her to the hospital in Maryland.
The paramedics had to saw off part of the offending object in order to move her.

Will the Obama administration ban beach umbrellas now?

Welcome to Camp Obama

There is a huge homeless camp in Hawaii and it will likely only grow with Obama in office.
On the island of Oahu, this camp is right next to the athletic field of a school and the homeless have reportedly been using the facilities to wash clothes and dishes.

You know what I am going to say...
If Bush were in office, this would be headline news and linked to his policies.

Google pays gays and lesbians more; I see lawsuits

On the surface this sounds worse than it is, but it is still bad because it shows an obvious prejudice and preference.
Google has decided to pay (retroactively) it's gay and lesbian workers who have "partners" extra money to cover taxes on benefits that cover the partners.
They are not doing the same for heterosexual couples, claiming that they can marry if they want the tax break.
This discriminates against the straights for their "lifestyle" choice and they can sue for it.
They can also claim that marriage has been devalued by the continued attempts to allow people who insist on labeling themselves with terms that differentiate themselves from the rest of society, yet demand to share the word that has always represented a union between a man and a woman.

Gore sex case reopened

Police have reopened the Gore vs the Masseuse case in Portland.
Gore's people claim this will only help Gore prove his innocence.
I am beginning to think that this may end up like Al Capone's case.
Gore's real crime is his Global Warming scam and the billions he has cost innocent people over a lie, but he may end up getting in trouble for something completely different because it is the only thing that will stick to his oily carcass..