Biggest Lush of 2009: 'The BAC is Almost Incomprehensible'

Meet Marguerite Engle, super-lush. Seems she got quite the jump on New Year's festivities by shattering Breathalyzer records earlier this month. Judging by this mugshot, she seems to hold up pretty well for blowing a staggering .708 blood-alcohol level. And by pretty well, I mean she's still conscious.

An absolutely bombed South Dakota woman - found passed out in stolen cars twice this month - had a blood alcohol level nearly nine times the legal limit, authorities said.

State troopers discovered Marguerite Engle, 45, slumped behind the wheel of a stolen delivery van Dec. 1.

The dazed drunkard recorded a mind-boggling .708 blood alcohol content - believed to be the highest in state history.

Meade County State's Attorney Jesse Sondreal said the highest blood alcohol level previously recorded was .56.

Levels of .40 percent are considered lethal.

"She was almost double that," Sondreal told the Daily News. "The BAC is almost incomprehensible."

Engle was hospitalized in Sturgis, about 200 miles west of Pierre, and freed on bail. But her problems didn't end there.

Days after missing her court date, Engle was found drunk and passed out behind the wheel of another stolen vehicle on another highway near Sturgis.

In this case, the car was in a ditch beside the road, authorities said.
Officials are still waiting for the results of blood tests from her second misadventure.

"Given my review of the investigative summary, I'm confident it'll be well beyond the .08 threshold," Sondreal said. "But I'm fairly confident it won't be setting any records."

CIA Suicide Bomber Invited on Base, Not Searched

What the heck is going on here? We've got a "secret" CIA base and then people can stroll in without being subject to search?

The Associated Press has learned that the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a remote outpost in southeastern Afghanistan had been invited onto the base and was not searched.

A former senior intelligence official says the man was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp.

The official says a senior and experienced CIA debriefer came from Kabul for the meeting, suggesting that the purpose of the meeting was to gain intelligence.

Remarkably, an Obama administration official is using the T-word.

Leon Panetta, the CIA chief, said that the deaths were “the result of a terrorist attack” and that the victims were “far from home, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism”.

Thankfully the absurd "man-caused disaster" seems to now be out of vogue now that reality has hit home twice this week.

'Not Many People Showed Up Because of the Blizzard Conditions'

You want a surefire way to bring snow? Schedule a global warming climate change "protest" during the winter. It's also known as the Al Gore Effect. Check out the latest idiocy in Utah.

A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm.

"Not many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions," said organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the University of Utah.

It didn't take long for the six friends to pack up a bullhorn and posters they'd planned to use for their "scream-in," an outlet for their frustration about the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks earlier this month to curb the pollution blamed for climate change.

Still, they chatted with a few passers-by during the commuter-hour protest near the Gateway, and explained that, blizzard aside, climate change is expected to bring chaos to the global climate, said Major.

Even these drooling morons can understand the irony.

"There is always the irony element," Major said.

Illinois Governor Shows Why Gitmo Prisoners Shouldn't Be Sent There

Just a little oops. Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL), who took over after Rod Blagojevich left office to pursue a reality show career or something, released some 1700 prisoners before they were supposed to.

Hey just a minor inconvenience to the folks of Illinois, right? I wonder what would have happened if, say, some guests of that new prison being proposed to house Gitmo detainees had been on the list?

Of course it isn't much worse then the current policy of releasing them back to the countries in which they received their advanced degrees in jihadism, but at least we had them out of the country.

The inmates were set free after an unannounced change in prison practice ... that Quinn now calls a "big mistake." He blamed his Corrections director, Michael Randle, but did not fire him.

The new policy gave prisoners 6 months of "good time" just for entering the jail. Hell I am surprised the guards even had time to close the cell doors before these guys were being released.

Corrections stopped requiring them to serve at least 61 days and gave them up to six months' good-conduct credit, or "meritorious good time," immediately upon entering the lockup, before they had a chance to display any kind of behavior.

Democrats want to treat terrorism like a law enforcement issue, but they already screw that up so bad I certainly wouldn't feel any safer, no matter how many guarantees I get from former Gitmo prisoner defense attorney and now US Attorney General Eric Holder.

Pakistan Charging U.S. Suspects, Will Seek Life Sentences

Looks like these charming young men won't be repatriated to the United States any time soon. If ever. So much for their future careers as ACORN community organizers.

Pakistani police say they plan to ask a court to charge five Americans arrested in early December with terrorism, and will seek life imprisonment sentences against them.

The young Muslim men, who are from the Washington, D.C., area, were captured in the eastern Pakistani city of Sargodha. The case spurred fears that Westerners are traveling to Pakistan to join militant groups.

Tahir Gujar, a senior police investigator in Sargodha, said Thursday that the men would appear in an anti-terrorist court on Jan. 4. He said police had almost concluded their investigation and that they were "certain that these five Americans wanted to carry out attacks in Pakistan."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whereabouts unknown the past week, was unavailable for comment.

'That He is Reviving This Hoax is a Little Bizarre'

When it comes to the hardcore kook left, perpetrating hoaxes isn't really bizarre. It's pretty much standard operating procedure. See Andrew Sullivan and his obsession with Sarah Palin's uterus for just one example. We've seen this drivel from the angry gay left for so long it's more to be pitied than anything. If it makes them feel any better to make up stories that the founding fathers were gay, then let them have at it. Few believe this crap and it's just kind of sad anyone gives notice to their delusions.

Abraham Lincoln was not gay, no matter what playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer says -- according to Harold Holzer, who's written 35 books about our 16th president and the Civil War.

The subject came up in this week's New York magazine story about Kramer -- co-founder of Gay Men's Health Crisis and ACT UP -- and his 4,000-page manuscript, "The American People," which claims that George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Lewis and Clark and Lincoln were all homosexuals.

Kramer claimed that a diary and a stash of letters were found under the floorboards of a building where Lincoln had lived with his roommate and supposed lover, Joshua Speed.

But the article by Jesse Green noted, "Kramer isn't interested in proof, or facts." And Holzer, a historian who co-chaired this year's Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, told Page Six: "I had a private conversation with him [Kramer]. He admitted to me that he made the whole thing up. He said he made it up to raise consciousness."

Kramer evidently believes that Americans will be more supportive of gay rights if they think the Founding Fathers and other heroic historical figures were homosexuals.

"That he is reviving this hoax is a little bizarre," said Holzer, whose day job is p.r. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "For half his life, Lincoln shared his bed with other guys. It was the custom. People didn't have so many beds."

Is Jim Marshall The Next Democrat Defection?

Jim Marshall represents the 8th Congressional district in Georgia. He is a Democrat, although you wouldn't know that if you visited his web site. The only hint you get is from some videos he has posted in which the banner at the bottom identifies him as a Dem.

The reason I bring this up is because he voted against both the cap and trade and health care legislation put forth by his Democrat colleagues. The other reason is because there are now five challengers to his seat, all self-identified as Republicans, and none of them came from the normal political farm system.

[Diane]Vann is the fifth Republican to announce her run, and the primary is scheduled for July 20. Ken DeLoach and Valerie Meyers, both of Houston County, and Angela Hicks and Paul Rish of Bibb County also have announced runs for the seat.

That's right, these are real average citizens, just the type that organizations like GOOOH promote and the Tea Party members wish to see.

Diane Vann is a former veteran and now a registered nurse.

Ken DeLoach is an educator and an associate pastor.

Valerie Meyers is a technical writer and information technology business analyst. She did work for the Ron Paul campaign.

Angela Hicks is a small business owner.

Paul Rish is the President and CEO of his own company Rish Telecommunications Consulting and is Chairman of the Bibb County Republican Party.

I don't have any real beef with Jim. He is a distinguished Army veteran and is more conservative then a lot of the Republicans in Congress, and from what I know and can tell, he has done a good job of representing his district.

With that said, however, given the current climate in this country where a lot of folks want to see everybody in Washington sent packing, one of these Republican challengers could very well take the seat. There is still a tough primary season ahead, and Marshall has the money and the name recognition that comes with being an incumbent, but in a year in which the American electorate is growing increasingly fed up, that may serve more as a liability then an asset.

It will be interesting to see which one of these challengers comes out on top of the heap in the primary and then to see what sort of challenge they can mount against the incumbent.

Of course, if Jim Marshall switches parties all bets are off and no doubt he will return to Congress. By the way, Marshall is in one of those districts where you have to have (D) behind your name normally to get elected, so his voting record may not matter to most of the folks in his district. That is the case in my district, where they continue to send the Dem back to Washington even though I doubt very many of the people who vote for him could tell you one thing about his voting record.

Shocka: Barry O Vetoes a Bill

Well if by veto you mean he returned a bill to Congress that wasn't going to go in to effect anyway, and was just a measure that was a contingency plan anyway.

President Barack Obama has rejected his first piece of legislation from Congress, a stopgap spending bill that never had to take effect.

The White House on Wednesday said Obama exercised his right to send back to the Congress a temporary appropriations bill that lawmakers passed in case a winter storm about two weeks ago would have prevented them from approving a final measure to fund the Defense Department next year. The Dec. 19 blizzard didn't keep them away from the Capitol and they approved the $626 billion defense spending bill before the previous budget expired.

It only took him a year to vote no and that was on a bill that he could have voted present on. Whew, this whole president thing is tough.

Now, watch this drive.

Petraeus: Iran Involved In Kidnapping of British Citizen

I noticed the story of a British IT consultant who had been kidnapped in Iraq while working there and was released yesterday and waited to see what sort of ransom had been paid to secure his release. Well now we know the answer.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office sources confirmed, however, that the transfer from US custody a few days ago of Qais al-Khazali, a cleric and commander of AAH, helped to pave the way for Mr Moore’s release. They also admitted that British diplomats had been pressing the US to hand over al-Khazali to the Iraqi administration.

The insurgent leader, who is suspected of helping to plan an attack that killed five US servicemen in Karbala in 2007, is expected to be released as part of reconciliation talks between the Iraqi Government and extremist groups.

Mr. Moore was kidnapped along with four British security personnel. Three of them have been killed, and the fourth is also suspected of being killed. This is the Muslim version of negotiating in "good faith."

When Laith al-Khazali, a brother of Qais al-Khazali, was released in June, the remains of Jason Creswell, 39, and Jason Swindlehurst, 38, were surrendered. Inquests were told that each died from a gunshot wound to the head. The body of Alec MacLachlan, 30, was handed over in September.

Probably the most shocking part of the saga however is the assertion by Gen Petreaus that Mr Moore was kidnapped by Iranian led and trained henchmen and may have indeed been held in Iran for some of his 31 months in captivity.

Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, said that at a conference in Bahrain on December 13 he had asked General Petraeus whether Mr Moore was moved to Iran.

Mr Gardner told Radio 4’s Today programme this morning: “He didn’t hesitate. He said ‘I’m absolutely certain. I’m 90 per cent certain.’

“I said: ‘Is this a personal view or have you seen hard intelligence?’, and he thought for a minute and he said ’I am pretty sure I’ve seen hard intelligence on it’ ... that they were held in Iran for some of the period of their captivity.”

So we hand over a terrorist who was already suspected of having a hand in the killing of five U.S. service members, the captors killed three, and probably four of the other people they kidnapped and we get one British hostage back in exchange.

I tell you what, if we get slapped upside the head by that Iranian unclenched fist anymore, I just might begin to think that this whole make nice policy won't work.

Asked to comment on the general's assertion, Barry O responded with "Fore!"

Oh My: Rush Limbaugh Hospitalized in Serious Condition

This sure sounds like a heart attack.

Conservative radio talk host Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a Honolulu hospital on Wednesday afternoon with chest pains, sources told KITV.

Paramedics responded to the call at 2:41 p.m. at the Kahala Hotel and Resort.

Limbaugh suffered from chest pains, sources said. Paramedics treated him and took him to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

He was seen golfing at Waialae Country Club earlier this week. The country club is next to the Kahala Hotel and Resort.

The radio show host had been in the islands during the holidays.

H/T Hot Air.

No doubt the "compassionate" left will be thrilled to hear the news.

Update: That didn't take long. Some ugly stuff in the comments here.

TSA Springs Into Action, Targets Bloggers

Government bullying, a direct result of government incompetence. Can you just imagine the howls from the left and ACLU types if this occurred under the Bush administration?

As the government reviews how an alleged terrorist was able to bring a bomb onto a U.S.-bound plane and try to blow it up on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration is going after bloggers who wrote about a directive to increase security after the incident.

TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. The government says the directive was not supposed to be disclosed to the public.

Frischling said he met with two TSA special agents Tuesday night at his Connecticut home for about three hours and again on Wednesday morning when he was forced to hand over his lap top computer. Frischling said the agents threatened to interfere with his contract to write a blog for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines if he didn't cooperate and provide the name of the person who leaked the memo.

"It literally showed up in my box," Frischling told The Associated Press. "I do not know who it came from." He said he provided the agents a signed statement to that effect.

Well, I'm not sure "it showed up in my box" is going to wash, but seriously, doesn't the TSA have more urgent matters than harassing bloggers?

WTF?

Via here via Instapundit.

Al Sharpton to Testify on NFL Head Injuries?

So I'm reading an AP story here about head injuries in the NFL and boxing and Congress apparently has decided to get involved since they obviously have nothing better to do than meddle in every aspect of American life. So they've got some retired NFL players and boxers listed, but one name stands out and for the life of me I can't figure out why this loudmouth is part of the panel.

The House Judiciary Committee says retired boxing champion Thomas Hearns, former NFL players Ted Johnson, Kyle Turley and Bernie Parrish, and the Rev. Al Sharpton are among witnesses who will appear at next week's hearing on head injuries in football.

The committee will hold a session called "Legal Issues Relating to Football Head Injuries, Part II" on Monday in Detroit. At a hearing Oct. 28 in Washington, lawmakers questioned NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about the league's approach to concussions.

To the best of my knowledge the racial arsonist Sharpton has never played a down of football nor ever been a boxer, so what on earth is the point of having him there, other than to get some facetime?

Considering the idiotic nonsense that dribbles from his piehole he may well have been dropped on his head a few times. Seriously though, what's the point of having this punk there?

Tea Party Folks Are Getting Organized

One of the writers over at Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, Warner Todd Hutson, has a post up regarding the Tea Party and their future. In it points to the assumption that they need a leader, whether figuratively or in reality, that can bring all the various groups together under one banner.

I don't subscribe to that theory, since folks who are ardent Tea Party members know that while there are national issues that they all need to be in at least 85% agreement, the purpose of the tea party folks is to bring pressure to bear on their local politicians. For that reason that nationwide leader is not a necessity.

His bigger point though is that by having a national leader they can direct resources to those races in areas that may be hard fought in an attempt to influence them.

This also doesn't sit well with many tea party folks for the simple reason that if they wish to support a candidate outside of their area they will do so voluntarily and on their own. Much of what is causing so much anger at the RNC is the fact that they decide who is worthy of supporting and who isn't, while all the time preaching the message of keeping your eye on the big picture.

Well, as most athletic coaches will tell you, you concentrate on the small things and the big things will take care of themselves.

This post is not meant to be a rebuttal to that post, but rather to act as a response.



It appears the Tea Party Supporters are planning a get together, one which will have several prominent conservative voices in attendance. Now whether they will achieve the goal of selecting nominal national head or chair person is not known, but it does show that they are trying to get more organized on a national level.

Traficant Says 'Deal Me In'

Convicted felon and former U.S. Representative Jim Traficant told a group of businessmen that he will indeed run for elected office in 2010.

“I’m going to run,” Traficant declared before some 35 members of The Biz Society assembled at the Rosetta Stone restaurant downtown to launch the group’s Youngstown chapter.

Traficant said he still isn’t sure which district he’ll throw his hat in, but he has nominating petitions circulating in three congressional districts-–the 17th, the 6th and the 16th. And, the former congressman noted he hasn’t decided on whether to run as a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, or perhaps on another party ticket.

“I’m going to run for Congress somewhere,” he said.

Let the games begin. Of course for a lot of us the only difference between Traficant and the majority of the folks who inhabit the halls of Congress is the fact that he actually got convicted.

My advice to him, however, is to run on the Democrat ticket; that way the media will ignore all past transgressions. I can't wait for the coming soundbites.

Your Faux Outraged Muslim Of The Day

Nothing like a good ol Muslim with hurt feelings to warm the cockles of your heart.

In this case a woman is suing the Atlanta Police Department for $240,000 because somebody on their honor guard dared, dared I say, to laugh at her when she said she was going to wear a hijab while performing her duties at a funeral.

In the typical western fashion of over reacting to all things Muslim, the APD has since disbanded their honor guard.

Helen Lane alleges that the head of the voluntary guard laughed at her when she told him she would wear her hijab at a September 2006 funeral. She said she felt “humiliated, hurt and was traumatized” by the laughter.

Well that is far worse then being blown up, stoned, or imprisoned for say, wearing a crucifix in an Muslim country.

Apparently the trauma was so severe that it took her 3 years to put her life together and file a lawsuit.

Oh and honey guess what? Now the rest of the America can laugh at you too.

Not For Public Distribution

Brian Williams of NBC news, speaking in a sort of hushed tone, is proud to proclaim that they have a Pentagon report that was not meant for public distribution which outlines the problems we are facing in Afghanistan in training up Afghan security forces.

I griped about this sort thing when it happened under former President Bush and I will continue to gripe about it. Most informed people, meaning folks who don't get all of their news from the old media machine, are aware of the challenges facing us in Afghanistan, but the media never miss a chance to leak reports such as this in their pursuit of a Pulitzer.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Didn't Brian get the memo? Things are going to be different now that the teleprompter reading, Tiger Woods wannabe is in charge.

Barry O Picks Another 'Empathetic' Judge

Barry O has tapped a previous Clinton appointee to the federal courts to take a seat on the US 11th Circuit Court. It seems one of her biggest qualifications is the fact that she is empathetic.

According to her close friends, Martin also has a quality Obama says he wants in his judicial nominees: empathy.

This is a case of "if you can't beat them, join them." You see, this judge has a long adversarial relationship with the 11th Circuit Court. They have overturned her on numerous occasions.

While Martin could not beat the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, two years later she may be about to join it. She is President Barack Obama’s choice to take an open seat on the court.

Sound familiar?

It seems her empathy extends to pedophiles and illegal aliens mostly.

First, Martin threw out a jury’s guilty verdict against the illegal Mexican immigrant. She found the evidence too thin to support allegations Miranda guarded a drug stash house in Smyrna.

She also granted Miranda a new trial on grounds the prosecutor made improper arguments to the jury. But both times, the appeals court reversed, sending the case back to her.

As Miranda finally faced sentencing more than two years after a jury first found him guilty, Martin said she had no choice but to give him the mandatory minimum — 15 years in prison

The person in question just happened to be in a house with a large stash of drugs and weapons, but of course he was just watching TV.

Last year, she declared unconstitutional a 30-year mandatory sentence for a Texas man who traveled to Atlanta to have sex with whom he thought was a 10-year-old girl. Instead, the man was caught in an FBI sting. Martin sentenced him to 19 years and seven months in prison.

Of course both Georgia senators, Isakson and Chambliss, are okay with her lack of consistency on her rulings, after all, it is all about the home girl and reaching across the aisle and bipartisanship.

Right guys?

A Christmas Miracle Story

"His life began in my hands," Hermanstorfer said. "That's a feeling like none other. Life actually began in the palm of my hands."

On Christmas Eve, a woman who was in labor and in the process of giving birth suddenly stopped breathing and her heart stopped. The doctors did an emergency C-section, but the child was born lifeless. The doctors and God however were not willing to give up just yet.

Inexplicably, after several minutes both the mother and child sprung to life.

"She literally stopped breathing and her heart stopped," her husband said. Pandemonium erupted as doctors and nurses tried to revive her with chest compressions and a breathing tube, but nothing worked.

"I was holding her hand when we realized she was gone," Hermanstorfer said. "My entire life just rolled out."

Doctors told him, "We're going to take your son out now. We have been unable to revive her and we're going to take your son out," he recalled.

After the Cesarean section, some of the team rushed his wife to the operating room while the others attended to Coltyn.

"They hand him to me, he's absolutely lifeless," Hermanstorfer said. The doctors went to work on Coltyn as Hermanstorfer held him, and soon he began to breath.

Both mother and son are doing fine.

Today, when good news seems to be as rare a commodity as gold on the moon, sometimes we need a little good news.

Did Holder's Law Firm Represent Christmas Bomber Mastermind?

Don't mind us, just trying to connect some dots.

At least one leader of al-Qa'ida's branch in Yemen, where the failed bomber of a US-bound Christmas flight was allegedly trained, was freed from the US prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, a Pentagon list reveals.
The list, released in May, names 27 former prisoners who resumed terrorist activities after being released from Guantanamo, including Said Ali al-Shihri, who was transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and later implicated in the bombing of the US embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, last year.

ABC television named Muhammad Attik al-Harbi, a former al-Qa'ida leader in Yemen, as another unrepentant former Guantanamo prisoner.

Hmm. That name seems familiar.

The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.

Considering he's a Saudi, that rehab program must have been hell.

Though it's not as if al-Shirhi's been keeping a low profile. In fact just this year he announced his intentions.

In the Internet statement, Al Qaeda in Yemen identified its new deputy leader as Abu Sayyaf al-Shihri, saying he returned from Guantánamo to his native Saudi Arabia and then traveled to Yemen “more than 10 months ago.” That corresponds roughly to the return of Mr. Shihri, a Saudi who was released from Guantánamo in November 2007. Abu Sayyaf is a nom de guerre, commonly used by jihadists in place of their real name or first name.

A Saudi security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Mr. Shihri had disappeared from his home in Saudi Arabia last year after finishing the rehabilitation program.

A Yemeni journalist who interviewed Al Qaeda’s leaders in Yemen last year, Abdulela Shaya, confirmed Thursday that the deputy leader was indeed Mr. Shihri, the former Guantánamo detainee. Mr. Shaya, in a phone interview, said Mr. Shihri had described to him his journey from Cuba to Yemen and supplied his Guantánamo detention number, 372. That is the correct number, Pentagon documents show.

“It seems certain from all the sources we have that this is the same individual who was released from Guantánamo in 2007,” said Gregory Johnsen, a terrorism analyst and the editor of a forthcoming book, “Islam and Insurgency in Yemen.”

Mr. Shihri, 35, trained in urban warfare tactics at a camp north of Kabul, Afghanistan, according to documents released by the Pentagon as part of his Guantánamo dossier. Two weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he traveled to Afghanistan via Bahrain and Pakistan, and he later told American investigators that his intention was to do relief work, the documents say. He was wounded in an airstrike and spent a month and a half recovering in a hospital in Pakistan.

The documents state that Mr. Shihri met with a group of “extremists” in Iran and helped them get into Afghanistan. They also say he was accused of trying to arrange the assassination of a writer, in accordance with a fatwa, or religious order, issued by an extremist cleric.

Yet our "leaders" now want to prosecute the acts of the Christmas jihadi as some sort of criminal act.

Which leads us to our Attorney General, Eric Holder, noticeably absent from the news the past few days. Since Holder plans on prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed like a common criminal, it figures the Christmas jihadi will also be treated will all due rights.

So where is Holder? Doesn't seem like he's much in the news.

Maybe this is why.

There is an additional and intriguing angle involving Yemen, creating a confluence between, that country, Ft. Hood and the Obama administration, in that U.S. AG Holder's former law firm, Covington & Burling, represented a number of Yemeni detainees who are/were being held in GITMO.

It was meddling by committed lefty attorneys which made military prosecution of the GITMO detainees so difficult. Relentless pressure applied by these advocates is what ultimately led to the Hamden decision [Hamden vs. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557, 2006] in which the military tribunal system established by the Bush administration - relying upon long historical precedent - was overturned on a 5-3 Supreme Court decision, which for the first time in American history applied principles codified in the Geneva Accords to terrorists to which Geneva was long understood not to apply.

As we noted in a February piece [Former Partner Of Eric Holder's Law Firm Represents Cole Bomber And 14 Other GITMO Detainees, http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=holder1id=2.9.09%2Ehtm] the involvement in this process by Holder's old law firm was substantial.

"On Thursday Army Col. James L. Pohl the military judge presiding over the trial of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri [suspected of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the port city of Aden, Yemen as well as being heavily implicated in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya - Mohammad Ali al-Makki a cousin of al Nashiri's was a suicide bomber in that attack] refused to go along with the Obama administration's request to postpone the prosecution for 120 days, saying that such a move would not serve justice and was as a result, "not reasonable."

Al Nashiri [born in Saudi Arabia] is part of a group of 15 Yemeni GITMO detainees who are represented by David Remes a member - until he was either booted or saw the handwriting on the wall and "resigned" on July 18, 2008 - of Attorney General Eric Holder's law firm, Covington & Burling,

"Remes, who represents 15 Yemeni detainees, announced his resignation on July 18, saying that he plans to devote himself exclusively to human rights litigation...My departure is the inevitable outcome of my human rights work at the firm in the past four years, which became a consuming passion," Remes said in a statement." [source, http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/07/16/to-protest-gitmo-punishment-covington-parnter-drops-trou-in-yemen/]

The status of many of the GITMO Yemenis is unknown at this point, despite continued demands by Congressman Frank Wolf and others for the administration to state who among them might have been released, whether there has been a threat assessment made regarding them, and if they have been released, where, when and under what conditions.

I think it's fair Eric Holder and his former law partners release all relevant documents pertaining to their representation of former Guantanamo detainees. All in the interest of transparency, of course.

By the way, has anyone in the media inquired as to to wherabouts of the Eric Holder the past few days? Doesn't seem like anyone is interested.

Report: CIA Blundered on AbdulMutallab

This wouldn't have happened if Leon Panetta was still alive.

The father of terrorism suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab talked about his son with someone from the CIA and a report was prepared, but the report was not circulated outside the agency, a reliable source told CNN's Jeanne Meserve on Tuesday.

Had that information been shared, the 23-year-old Nigerian who is alleged to have bungled an attempt to blow up a jetliner before it landed in Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day might have been denied passage on the Northwest Airlines flight, the source said.

The source's comments came shortly after President Obama blamed "a mix of human and systemic failures" for the incident and directed that preliminary findings into the matter be delivered to the White House by Thursday.

Earlier this week, a senior Obama administration official said AbdulMutallab's father warned officials at the U.S. embassy in Nigeria in November that he believed his son was under the influence of religious extremists.

Good to see CNN is judicious enough in its reporting to avoid using trhe dreaded M-word.

This just in. Panetta indeed is still with us. Not that anyone would notice.

The White House has published an internal memo to calm tension between CIA director Leon Panetta and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, who is seeking increased control over covert operations, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The classified order asserts the Central Intelligence Agency's direct authority over secret missions abroad, but also reminds the agency to work closely with Blair, who heads the US intelligence establishment, a US intelligence official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to the LA Times, Blair was seeking more control over missions that include drone strikes and paramilitary operations in Pakistan.

Blair and Panetta have also clashed over the last month over the role of the CIA in Afghanistan, which Blair reportedly believes is too focused on the hunt for Taliban insurgents and is de-emphasizing the collection of intelligence at the local level.

Show Me the Women!

I guess this was inevitable.

Jerry Maguire star Cuba Gooding Jr., 41, is being pursued by several Hollywood producers to play philandering golfer Tiger Woods in a 2010 movie, the Daily Mail reported.

“It makes a great movie because people love the drama of seeing someone really successful fall from the top and then scramble to pick up the pieces of their life,” one producer told the UK newspaper.

Woods, 34, has been in the international spotlight since a bizarre car crash in his own driveway the day after Thanksgiving set off allegations of more than a dozen extramarital affairs.

Meanwhile, here's one of the more bizarre rumors now making the rounds.

In perhaps the craziest piece of Tiger Woods gossip to date, a respected sportswriter is claiming that the world's #1 golfer underwent reconstructive surgery.

After having his face broken by a golf club-wielding wife.

Furman Bisher cites, on his personal blog, inside sources telling him Tiger suffered a broken cheekbone and almost had his two front teeth knocked out.

He writes that the injuries are the real reason Woods has gone AWOL since his fight with Elin Woods and subsequent car crash right after Thanksgiving.

Bisher says a trustworthy journalist colleague sent him this information on Tiger, which he posted online to "present the picture in its clearest form."

However, the whole thing smells a bit like a hoax to us.

Speaking of damage, Woods not only stands to lose hundreds of millions for his stupidity, but sponsors may be getting clipped into the billions.

Here's the report by Bisher. May be nonsense, but certainly plausible.

First Golfer: My Incompetence Led to Christmas Bomber Plot

Ha! Fooled you. Of course Obama would never accept the slightest bit of responsibility. It's all Bush's fault or something. But at least he's back in his comfort zone, appearing now for a second straight day on television, snapping a three-day lapse preceded by a thousand straight days in our faces on seemingly every television channel in existence.

President Obama on Tuesday strongly condemned the "mix of human and systemic failures" that let a terrorist with a bomb in his briefs slip onto a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day.

Obama said the government had information on a known extremist which was "not shared and acted upon as it should have been."

"I consider that totally unacceptable," he said.

Obama's blunt statement echoed that of many critics who said the near-disaster showed America's air security system isn't working.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa was never revoked, even though his father, a prominent Nigerian banker, warned the United States in November that his radicalized son had vanished and might be a threat.

Obama called it a "potentially catastrophic breach of security" that could have killed nearly 300 people.

"Even without this one report, there were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have and should have been pieced together," he said.

"The suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America."

The President, who is vacationing in Hawaii, has ordered two reviews: one on how Abdulmutallab didn't make it onto the terrorist watch list and another into the airport security screening flaws that allowed him to get on a plane with explosives sewn into his briefs.

He said he expects preliminary results Thursday and a fuller report in a few weeks.

I'm sure he must be back on the links by now, but the poor thing just might want to take it slow considering how exhausted he is.

After a sleepless, overnight flight to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, President Barack Obama made a not altogether surprising admission. He was tired.

Does he have the slightest clue how tired we are of him?

I had the pleasure of not witnessing his last two staged readings of his Teleprompter. Has he yet uttered either the word Muslim or terrorist? Let's hope some of his handlers help him digest this news.

Jib-Jab Presents 2009 - Good Riddance

2009, as only the guys at Jib-Jab can recap.

Ukraine May Fall Back Into Russia's Orbit

The Ukraine was once a member of the Warsaw Pact, also known as the Soviet Union, those countries over which the central government in Russia exerted control.

Since the demise of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union they have pursued a more westernized democratic form of government. With elections just three weeks away, however, the pro-Russian candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, is leading in the polls. He wishes a return to good old days where the central government exerted more control and he is very friendly with Vladimir Putin's puppet Dmitry Medvedev.

He's advocating a tighter clamp on free speech, rejection of membership in NATO and instead joining a European Security Group championed by Russia and opposed by the rest of western Europe.

His main talking point is about corruption in the government. I don't know where he was when the Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, but if you wanted a model of corruption, there it was.

"So what did this Orange Revolution give us?," Yanukovych asked in an interview with The Associated Press. "Freedom of speech? That's very good. But what price did the Ukrainian people pay for this? For the development of this democratic principle in our country, the price was too great."

The Ukraine has the main pipeline for gas flowing from Russia to the rest of Europe. Earlier conventional wisdom said that Obama's attempt to normalize relations with Russia may imperil the pipeline because Russia would take military action to ensure that it stayed under their control. Now with their candidate leading in the polls, this scenario seems to be moot.

What will it mean for Europe's gas supply if Russia does indeed get an ally in Ukraine is anybody's guess at this time.

What is disturbing is that these emerging democracies from the former Soviet Union seem to slowly be drifting back into Russia's sphere of influence, trading stability for freedom.

I would hope that for all of its warts, the people of the Ukraine would rather live free than to once again live under the iron rule of a central government, but sometimes when a way of life is all you have known, experiencing something new which does not blossom as quickly as you would like leads you to head back to your comfort zone.

I hope this isn't the case, but only time will tell.

'She's Madly in Love With Him and She Believes That He Loves Her as Well'

We haven't had Tiger Woods to kick around for awhile. Well, we do now.

Now the latest claim by well-respected American TV show Entertainment Tonight suggests Woods is still seeing Miss Uchitel, 34, who was the first mistress to be named in the cheating scandal.

Sources told the show that Woods and Miss Uchitel were holding hands and mingling with about 300 revellers at a party at a private mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday night.

Woods owns a yacht called Privacy, which is docked in Palm Beach, and Miss Uchitel has also been photographed several times during the past week at the upscale resort town.

Entertainment Tonight claims the same insider is adamant the couple are living together at a secret location.

If true, the move, coming so soon after his alleged emotional separation from his wife, will be seen as another damning blow to the golf star's chances of rehabilitating his battered image.

The programme's website is also claiming the couple were seen together at the trendy Everglades Club in Palm Beach on Saturday.

I was never under the impression ET was "well-respected" but I'm willing to play along.

Democrat Culture of Corruption: Gregory Meeks Edition

This one's got it all. Apparently corrupt Democrats, Hugo Chavez, Ponzi-schemer Allen Stanford, freebie luxury vacations, you name it.

Ah, the most ethical Congress ever!

Gregory Meeks, the U.S. Representative for much of Queens, has been accused by the Miami Herald of being a pawn in alleged Ponzi-schemer R. Allen Stanford's efforts to undermine a whistle-blower. It's been known for months that Meeks accepted donations, travel, and lodging from Stanford and his nonprofit Inter-American Economic Council. The latter has spent over $22,000 since 2003 on airfare, hotels, and meals for Meeks and his wife in places like Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Sometimes, the couple even flies on Stanford's private jet. But it was only this week that allegations were made by former Stanford workers that he'd asked Meeks, a friend of Hugo Chavez, to ask the Venezuelan president to punish a man named Gonzalo Tirado. In 2006, Tirado accused Stanford of stealing from his banking operations in Venezuela (of which Tirado was president) and questioned whether his whole enterprise was a fraud. According to workers, Stanford asked Meeks to pressure Chavez into opening a criminal probe of Tirado. According to former federal agents eavesdropping on the call, Meeks agreed to convey the message to Chavez. Now, though, the New York Representative has nothing to say about the story.

The Miami Herald report is dated Sunday and clearly flew under the radar. They were also unsuccessful at eliciting comment from the normally loquacious Meeks. Maybe he's off in the Caribbean hanging out with Charlie Rangel, that other New York City paragon of virtue.

Meeks did not return repeated phone calls and e-mails asking for more information about the trip.

The New York lawmaker's relationship with Stanford dates to at least 2003, when he joined other representatives on a trip funded by Stanford to Antigua. Meeks was an active member of the Caribbean Caucus, a group of lawmakers close to Stanford.

Over the next four years, Meeks took five more trips -- several with his wife to luxury resorts in the Caribbean -- paid for by a nonprofit funded by Stanford.

In 2008, he received $12,100 in contributions from Stanford and his employees.

Meredith McGeehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, said Meeks' ties to Stanford should be reviewed by the Office of Congressional Ethics, especially if the congressman interceded on behalf of a donor with the leader of a foreign country.

``It certainly raises questions about the motivation,'' she said.

Mark it down: Nothing will happen to Meeks. He's got double protection, if you know what I mean, and I know you do.

Unprecedented Access

You just never know which story will peak your interest or where the story will lead. Such is the case when I saw this simple wedding announcement between Peter Orszag, the president's budget director, and ABC financial reporter, Bianna Golodryga. So of course I wanted to find out a little bit about the couple. What I was most interested in was the angle that we finally had some proof of the administration literally being in bed with the media.

What I found was a little more eye opening then that. Not many people pay attention to folks who crunch numbers for a living and speak on financial and economic matters. In fact most of us turn it to the business channel when we are suffering insomnia to help put us to sleep.

Well, I am awake now.

Mr Orszag worked for former President Clinton and is now Barry O's budget director, but he is also a socialist leaning economist.

Witness this exchange from 2001, when Orszag was working at the Hoover Institute. Peter Robinson is the host of the show this interview was on.

Peter Robinson: Why don't you just soak the rich? If you're concerned that these rich are getting richer too quickly…

Peter Orszag: There is a tradeoff that one has to find a balance between…

Peter Robinson: Ahh, okay, all right.

Peter Orszag: …in--in, uh, equality versus incentives. And at some point, one--one leans too hard and the disincentive effects are too large. The question is finding a balance between the--the incentives provided to produce, supply labor, take risks, and fairness.

Peter Robinson: So this would be difficult statistically, but the rule of thumb would be, we engage in redistribution, we cream off the top quintile and put it one the bottom qui--quintile, to the extent that we can without killing the economic engine--without smothering growth. Would that be about the rule of thumb that'd you go for?

Peter Orszag: I think that's about the rule of thumb, yes.

Peter Robinson: So…

Peter Orszag: It's all a matter of degree. How much reduction in--in economic activity are you willing to…

Peter Robinson: Right, and it could be difficult to find that balance…

Peter Orszag: Right.

Peter Robinson: …but that would be the aim.

Peter Orszag: That should be the aim, yes.

Peter apparently is a big hit with the folks over at HuffNPuff.

Bianna Golodryga bio

She also is believer in redistributing the wealth, evidenced by the tone of the interviews she does with the wealthy people whose social circles she inhabits.

Well, Jim Cramer was certainly right on target with his analysis...not!

And Bianna, what do you think of the unemployment rate now that it is above 10%?

All of these wealth redistribution believers in our current administration are certainly getting very troubling.

Bristol Palin Sues for Full Custody, Andrew Sullivan Hardest Hit

Hard to imagine why Bristol Palin would want full custody of her baby, isn't it? You have a lowlife father with no visible means of support other than showing his junk for Playgirl who goes around to enabling media outlets declaring his intent to reveal "secrets" about the Palins.

So the young lady does the right thing and now the sniveling begins.

A judge's ruling has revealed a heated legal custody battle between Sarah Palin's daughter and the father of her grandson.
Bristol Palin's request to keep the proceedings closed was denied last week by a Superior Court judge. A temporary order had authorized the use of pseudonyms while the court was considering the request, which stated that no good "could result to the child by an onslaught of media."

Levi Johnston, the father of 1-year-old Tripp, has pushed for open court proceedings, saying he "just wants a simple case on the merits."

"I do not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding," Johnston said in an affidavit. "I hope that if it is open she will stay out of it. Bristol's attorney is her attorney."

Aww, the poor thing. Not talking so much trash now, are we?

Naturally, Johnston's Number One Fanboy rushes to his defense.

I'm not sure why Palin wants a knock-down drag-out fight with the father of her grandson, but she acts so often out of spite, anger and with no solid grasp of the full consequences you never know what she might do next. It sure reveals her invitation to Thanksgiving on Oprah as a total lie.

No. Solid. Grasp. Rather amusing choice of words coming from a man obsesses with Sarah Palin's uterus the past 16 months.

No. Solid. Grasp. As in, say, no solid grasp on reality?

We're pretty sure Sullivan wrote that. It does have his name on it. Although it could be one of his ghost-bloggers. We're not sure. We just have no solid grasp on the reality of it.

The document also notes that Levi's mother, Sherry Johnston, should not be allowed unsupervised visits with the baby following her drug arrest. Sherry Johnston, who is serving out most of her three-year sentence under home confinement, was sentenced last month on a guilty plea to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin.

Palin's custody petition also suggested Levi Johnston may have his own issues with substance abuse, saying he made statements about seeking "weed" on Twitter.

Clearly since Sullivan himself has such fondness for weed we can see whay he empathizes with Johnston. That and his pathetic obsession with Sarah Palin.

Was Abdulmutallab Recruited in Dubai?

Hmmmm.

Mr. Abdulmutallab enrolled in a master's degree program at the Dubai campus of the University of Wollongong of New South Wales, Australia, said the official, who is familiar with the man's immigration status. His enrollment at the school was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The school is one of many foreign universities that have set up branch campuses in Persian Gulf states to attract foreign students to their programs.

During his brief stay, Mr. Abdulmutallab didn't exhibit any signs of radicalism, according to this official.

The school, like all universities based here, offers visa support to foreign students. The Web site for the Dubai campus of Wollongong says master's degree courses range in cost from about $18,000 to $25,000 for a degree. Student visas are renewable as long as students are certifiably registered and enrollment is complete, according to the Web site.

The official familiar with the situation said that the Nigerian attended classes at the university's campus, part of a sprawling set of low-rise buildings populated by a mix of Arab, Russian- and Iranian-speaking students, and acted like "a normal student" during his stint in Dubai. It's unclear what degree he was pursuing.

The Dubai campus offers nine post-graduate programs, most of which focus on business administration, finance and management.

After about a 2 ½ month stay in Dubai, the young man "disappeared," and never returned to the U.A.E., the official said. "There was nothing at all suspicious about him. He was a normal student, going to classes, and then all of a sudden he disappeared ... and never came back" to the U.A.E., the official said.

Might be time for a few interviews with that "mix of Arab, Russian- and Iranian-speaking students" at the university.

Priorities: Obama Finally Interrupts His Golf Game Because Some Kid Got a Boo-Boo

It took three full days to get his TelePrompter ready to issue a statement on the would-be Christmas Day Panty Bomber. He probably racked up an easy 54 holes in that duration. Following that performance he quickly hit the links again only to be foiled by some crumb-cruncher taking a spill back at the luxurious estate he's staying at.

Marshall the Secret Service, put the press pool on standby. Now we've got a situation on our hands and not a moment to waste.

President Obama abruptly cut short a golf game and an ambulance sped toward his family's Hawaii vacation home after the child of a family friend suffered a minor injury.

White House aides said the quick departure from the golf course had nothing to do with national security or a threat to the president's safety.

CNN said the child of one of his golfing partners cut his chin and needed stitches.

The father was golfing with the president when it happened, and the President wanted to bring the father to the child.

He really cares. No doubt he can come out and deliver another speech on how he, as First Dad, just knew the pain and anguish the poor father was suffering through. I imagine if it were a threat to national security he'd have been kept abreast while continuing to finish his 18 holes.

Man's got his priorities in order.

Oops: The Incredible 'JFK Photo' That Wasn't

All sorts of buzz flying around earlier over this photo. Well, it's not JFK and it wasn't taken in the mid-1950s as speculated. Yeah, I know: Hard to believe a site as reputable as TMZ got one wrong. When I first saw it I thought it plausibly was RFK, not his brother.

Egg, meet face.

The photo that had people believing John F. Kennedy partied with a boatload of naked women turned out to be a Playboy shoot from 1967.

The photo was part of a nine-page spread on how to have a good party aboard a yacht, a Playboy spokeswoman told The Post.

Earlier today, TMZ.com published a photo showing a man who appeared to be Kennedy on a boat full of naked women.

The creased, black and white photo shows one naked woman jumping off the side of the boat, another climbing up a ladder back onto the boat and two others sunning themselves.

Then there is a man who looked like Kennedy lying on the deck. He is wearing swimming trunks.

The Playboy spokeswoman said a color version of the photo showed the man clearly wasn't Kennedy.

Update: The Smoking Gun has the Playboy spread and color image. The dumbasses at TMZ still have the story up.

Confidence! 79% Expect New Terror Attacks

This outreach thing to the "Muslim world" is really reaping dividends, isn't it? Maybe it's time for Obama to put down the golf clubs for five minutes and take a look at a problem that will drag him down faster than the lousy economy.

A Nigerian Muslim’s attempt to blow up an airliner landing in Detroit on Christmas Day has Americans much more concerned about the dangers of another terrorist attack.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 79% of U.S. voters now think it is likely there will be another terrorist attack in the United States in the next year. That’s a 30-point jump from the end of August when just 49% of Americans felt that way. The current level of concern is even higher than it was in the summer of 2007 when 70% considered an attack likely. In December 2008, 58% said an attack was likely.

The new number includes 42% who say another terrorist attack in America is very likely within the next year.

Considering we just recently had a terrorist attack, even though Obama likes to pretend it wasn't, these concerns are valid, I'd suggest.

Men feel more strongly than women that another terrorist attack is likely in the next year. Older voters are more concerned than those who are younger.

Republicans are more worried about another terrorist attack in the near future than are Democrats and voters not affiliated with either party. The Political Class is much less fearful than Mainstream voters.

They'll be fearful after the next attack, alright. Because they'll have blood on their hands and it'll be an election year. Instead now as they sun themselves in luxury, they're more concerned that terror suspects are properly Mirandized rather than the safety of air passengers.

By the way, from the last link is this item from five weeks ago. Go back and read it.

Thomas Jefferson Wouldn't Have Put Up With This Nonsense

The Somali pirates have their own little stimulus plan going on. They have received over $100 million in ransom over the last two years according to a report by the AP. The latest was a $4 million dollar contribution by the Chinese for the release of a ship along with 25 crew members.

I don't know about you but I think the cost of a couple of well-armed crew members and plenty of ammunition would be a little cheaper.

"We have been given the ransom money, checked it, counted it and shared it among ourselves," said the self-proclaimed pirate, who gave his name as Ahmed Afweyne.

Somali pirates have been paid more than $100 million in ransom over the last two years.

Here is a quick history lesson for you.

Paying the ransom would only lead to further demands, Jefferson argued in letters to future presidents John Adams, then America's minister to Great Britain, and James Monroe, then a member of Congress. As Jefferson wrote to Adams in a July 11, 1786, letter, "I acknolege [sic] I very early thought it would be best to effect a peace thro' the medium of war." Paying tribute will merely invite more demands, and even if a coalition proves workable, the only solution is a strong navy that can reach the pirates, Jefferson argued in an August 18, 1786, letter to James Monroe: "The states must see the rod; perhaps it must be felt by some one of them. . . . Every national citizen must wish to see an effective instrument of coercion, and should fear to see it on any other element than the water. A naval force can never endanger our liberties, nor occasion bloodshed; a land force would do both." "From what I learn from the temper of my countrymen and their tenaciousness of their money," Jefferson added in a December 26, 1786, letter to the president of Yale College, Ezra Stiles, "it will be more easy to raise ships and men to fight these pirates into reason, than money to bribe them."

Jefferson's plan for an international coalition foundered on the shoals of indifference and a belief that it was cheaper to pay the tribute than fight a war. The United States's relations with the Barbary states continued to revolve around negotiations for ransom of American ships and sailors and the payment of annual tributes or gifts. Even though Secretary of State Jefferson declared to Thomas Barclay, American consul to Morocco, in a May 13, 1791, letter of instructions for a new treaty with Morocco that it is "lastly our determination to prefer war in all cases to tribute under any form, and to any people whatever," the United States continued to negotiate for cash settlements. In 1795 alone the United States was forced to pay nearly a million dollars in cash, naval stores, and a frigate to ransom 115 sailors from the dey of Algiers. Annual gifts were settled by treaty on Algiers, Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli.

In 1801, after being elected President, that is exactly what he did.

I wonder if these new millionaires will now relocate to Minnesota?

Incompetent Homeland Hack: Uh, I Misquoted Myself or Something

Why on earth this woman still has a job is beyond me.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that the aviation security system failed when a young man on a watchlist with a U.S. visa in his pocket and a powerful explosive hidden on his body was allowed to board a fight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The Obama administration has ordered investigations into the two areas of aviation security — how travelers are placed on watch lists and how passengers are screened — as critics questioned how the 23-year-old Nigerian man charged in the airliner attack was allowed to board the Dec. 25 flight.

A day after saying the system worked, Napolitano backtracked, saying her words had been taken out of context.

Here are her exact words.

On Sunday, Napolitano said, “One thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked.”

It wasn't until widespread ridicule and condemnation someone obviously got to her. Probably Obama's boss David Axelrod.

Obama, meanwhile, continues to golf and luxuriate in Hawaii, not a concern in the world for anyone but himself, naturally. He'll have a statement maybe at some point, once his handlers can load it into his TelePrompter.

I feel so secure with this crew in charge.

In the meantime, can someone point out how exactly Napolitano is qualified for her job, outside of affirmative action?

If indeed they must have a woman on the job, maybe Sarah Palin can help bail these buffoons out.

Update: Hmmmm. Nothing to worry about I guess. The system is working. Or so we're supposed to believe.

The ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday said the Obama administration has drawn an "iron curtain" when it comes to providing information to members of Congress regarding the attempted Christmas Day terror attack.

"It's very hard, even for me being on the Homeland Security Committee and the Intelligence Committee, to get any information out of this administration. We're still trying to find out what happened at Ft. Hood, they won't give us information on that," Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told Fox News Monday morning.

King also criticized White House officials for not speaking out on last Friday's incident yet.

"We're now what, 72 hours into this? And the President has not spoken, the Vice President has not spoken, the Attorney General has not spoken and Janet Napolitano has now told two different stories in two days," he said to Fox referring to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Yeah, but he told this to Fox, so it's not real news as told to us by the Obamatons.

Ironic, isn't it, that Obama has been on television nonstop for three years but all of a sudden is camera shy. Maybe he's got a creeping sense of shame.

Great News: Waves of Suicide Bombers Training in Yemen

Don't worry, though. Janet Napolitano is on the job.

Cops fear that 25 British-born Muslims are plotting to bomb Western airliners.

The fanatics, in five groups, are now training at secret terror camps in Yemen.

It was there London-educated Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, prepared for his Christmas Day bid to blow up a US jet.

The British extremists in Yemen are in their early 20s and from Bradford, Luton and Leytonstone, East London.

They are due to return to the UK early in 2010 and will then await Internet instructions from al-Qaeda on when to strike.

More here.

Don't sweat any of this. The Muslim world loves us again. Plus the geniuses at DHS tell us this isn't part of any larger plot, so go back to sleep. It would be terrible if we offended anyone by labeling them as suspects.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Wonderful: Another Flight 253 Incident Heading to Detroit

Hmm. Let's see. Same flight, same airline, a Nigerian and he's flying without baggage.

Nah, can't be another possible man-caused disaster.

Just hope Obama isn't interrupted on the golf course for such a trivial incident.

Police have arrested a Nigerian man who reportedly became verbally disruptive and barricaded himself in the bathroom of a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight on Sunday.

Several police vehicles and a police command unit have surrounded a plane at Detroit's Metro Airport, after the pilot of a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight requested emergency help.

Two sources tell Fox News that the suspect boarded a plan in Lagos with no baggage, and said the FBI has already sent an email alert to other federal agencies notifying them of the incident.

The source said the man taken into custody at the Detroit airport was a Nigerian man in his 30s. Federal officials know who the suspect is, but won't provide any more details. He allegedly barricaded himself in the plane's bathroom for an hour.

There are some reports suggesting that the Nigerian man may have just been a sick passenger.

Detroit's Metro Airport spokesman John Witner said there was a report of suspicious activity on the Delta/Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam Sunday. That is the same flight number as the flight that Nigerian man Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was suspected of attempting to blow up over Detroit on Christmas Day.

Feds are trying to determine whether there is any connection with Abdulmutallab, who was arrested on Christmas.

Amazingly the incompetent hack running DHS actually said "the system worked" on Christmas.

86-Year-Old Indian Pol Resigns Amid Sex Scandal

Why should this guy resign? Heck, he should be given an award. He's 86 and getting busy with three women? Bill Clinton must be green with envy.

The 86-year-old governor of a southern Indian state resigned, a day after a television news channel broadcast a tape allegedly showing him in bed with three women.

Pressure mounted on Gov. Narain Dutt Tiwari to quit after the tape allegedly showing him in bed with three women was broadcast Friday, prompting the opposition and women's right groups to hold street protests in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh's state capital, demanding his resignation.

Mr. Tiwari's office denied the allegation, denouncing the tape as fabricated. Mr. Tiwari, a veteran governing Congress party leader at the national level, sent his resignation letter to the Indian president on Saturday, citing health reasons, a state official said on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

"The news channel report is fabricated, false and malicious to tarnish the image of the governor," said a statement issued by Aryendra Sharma, an aide to the governor.

I did not have sex with those three women!

The three women were brought to Hyderabad by another woman who was allegedly promised a mining lease by the governor in return for sexual favors, ABN Andhra Jyoti News reported.

The woman said she decided to expose Mr. Tiwari through a sting operation after he didn't keep his promise, the channel said.

A court stopped the channel from broadcasting the tape again later Friday after a petition filed by Mr. Sharma, who argued the video was "likely to demean and denigrate his office."

The video is out there if you know where to look. Due to our high standards and rules against showing anyone older than 60 having sex, we will not be showing it.

When is the 12/25 Commission Convening?

Seems to me it's fair to say we had more warning about the Holiday Christmas Bomber than we did about 9/11, don't you think?

US authorities have known for months that the al Qaeda-linked Nigerian who tried to blow up a passenger jet before it landed in Detroit had terrorist ties -- and his own father even alerted them to his extremist behavior, it was revealed yesterday.

Recall 36 days prior to 9/11, the alleged smoking gun memo was supposed to have tipped everyone off? For that everyone from the FBI Director to Secretary of State to the President was deemed accountable.

Well, in this case we had six months warning. Why was nothing done?

Several key details came to light yesterday:

* Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen sewed into Abdulmutallab's underwear a condom filled with three ounces of a nitroglycerin-like compound after he spent a month training with the terror organization, sources told ABC News.

"One flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, and he replied, 'Explosive device,' " according to the Justice Department.

* Abdulmutallab was added to the 550,000 suspects on a watch list kept by the US National Counterterrorism Center in November and had been on government radar for months. Yet there wasn't enough negative information about him to put him on the no-fly list.

* His father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a prominent Nigerian banker who retired recently, reportedly contacted the US Embassy there about six months ago to inform authorities about his son's increasingly extreme behavior.

* Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said he believes Abdulmutallab is linked to radical US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, a mentor to the US Army psychiatrist who gunned down 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, last month.

* Abdulmutallab -- who boarded a flight in Nigeria to Amsterdam, and then transferred to Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit -- did not go through full-body scans at either airport, and it's unclear how he was screened as a transferring passenger in Amsterdam.

Ironic how our fearless commander-in-chief spent the day after this near man-caused disaster golfing. But we're not supposed to even notice.

In his Farenheit 9/11, filmmaker Michael Moore juxtaposes images and words of a terrorist attack in Israel with President Bush's first words about the incident, spoken to a press pool on a golf course, with him leaning casually against a tree. Today, as the nation's law enforcement agencies respond to an attempted terrorist attack on U.S. soil, as the cable news channels and news websites pull in reinforcements to cover the incident from all angles, President Obama has been silent.

In fact, he's been golfing. He received a counterterrorism briefing early this morning, Hawaii time, and moments later, left for the gym. The president's vacation activities might have become the subject of a fierce partisan fight -- but really, the only carping is coming from the usual suspects on the right.

Yeah, we're just carping.

Leave poor Obama alone!

Recall the caterwauling from the left that these terrorists are led down their path only out of despair and poverty? Well, so much for that canard.

The son of a prominent Nigerian banker, who allegedly attempted to blow up a transatlantic flight over America, was barred from returning to Britain earlier this year.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, graduated from a university in London last year but his visa request was refused in May when he attempted to apply for a new course at a bogus college.

Abdulmutallab, described as a devout Muslim, was charged on Saturday with trying to destroy the plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day and placing a destructive device in the plane. He had attempted to ignite explosives after shouting about Afghanistan.Bomb materials had apparently been sewn into his underwear, an authoritative American report said.

I'm surprised they even used the "M-word" in this report.

Is it just me or would Bush have been blamed has this attack been successful? Meanwhile, repatriating all those Yemenis from Club Gitmo doesn't seem like such a good idea now, does it?

'Alleged' Christmas Day Terrorist is Charged

I added the quotes around alleged just for effect. Seriously, I believe it's safe to say this is the actual terrorist. But it's become so ingrained with the media to pretend to be objective with these acts of terror we're just supposed to play make believe. Search for alleged terrorist and you'll see what I mean. More here on the alleged terrorist.

The Justice Department charged the alleged Christmas Day terrorist with attempting to destroy an airplane.

The Justice Department said 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had a device containing a high explosive attached to his body. The government said that as the flight neared Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Friday, Abdulmutallab set off the device, but it sparked a fire instead of an explosion.

According to an affidavit filed in federal court in Detroit, a preliminary analysis of the device shows it contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol.

The same substance used by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

If at first they don't succeed, they'll keep trying. See World Trade Center, for example. We'd rather twist ourselves into knots playing nice nice with these maniacs, hoping some day they'll love us. You know, Hopenchange and all that yummy stuff.

How's that working out?

Forget Hope, Better Hang On To Your Change

Who are you going to trust? White House officials and Treasury members who constantly tell us recovery is just around the corner or business leaders down in the trenches who have to deal with reality, not rhetoric?

A recent survey of Atlanta-based companies revealed some sobering information.

During a recent Audit Committee Institute Roundtable, as many as 34 of 49 executives (69 percent) polled said they don’t expect a return to pre-recession employment, investment and productivity until 2013 or later. A full 38 percent said a return to pre-recession levels might not occur until 2015 or 2016.

Twenty-four percent said they wouldn’t predict a full rebound “for the foreseeable future,” the survey said.

A meager 4 percent of respondents were optimistic enough to say pre-recession levels would return within two years, but not a single board member or executive polled would commit to a return to pre-recession growth in 2010.

While serving in the Army we used to have a few truths. First was the LT telling you that the objective was only a click and a half away. This was interpreted to mean plan on walking all day.

The second was there are no winds on the drop zone. This meant that gale force winds were circulating at 100 meters above the ground.

The final truth was that chow was on the way, which meant start rummaging around the bottom of the ruck sack for any cracker crumbs that may have found their way to the bottom.

This is the same attitude I take whenever the folks in Washington who live in a bubble keep telling us that this economy is going to turn around. No really.

I'm not kidding this time.

I double pinky swear.

All you folks that voted for HopeNChange, you need to hold on to hope because I don't think you will have any change left in your pocket. To borrow an overused phrase from the Democrats, this is going to be a historic presidency. In a fall of the Roman Empire sort of way.

For Those About to Rock, Uh, Find Something Else To Do

Forget about having any fun at this planned AC/DC concert. The animal rights wackos are calling the shots.

AUSSIE rockers AC/DC could have to cancel a sold-out concert because their big sound poses a danger to rare birds.

Animal rights campaigners are threatening legal action if the veteran band goes ahead with a gig planned for Wels airport in Austria in May.

Hans Uhl of BirdLife said birds nesting in the area at the time would be threatened by anthems such as Highway To Hell and You Shook Me All Night Long.

The commenters are taking it well.

It's not just the birds at risk here. Think of the Carbon Emissions and Noise Pollution. I suggest we get Rudd and Wong on the case immediately. (They should have recovered from their junket to Copenhagen by now). If not for our sake, for the sake of our children, and our children's children, and their children's chldrens's next door neighbours.