Striking Spanish Flight Attendants Create Turbulence

Uh, Miss, I seem to be having a problem with my seat buckle

Just doing my part to help out the working girls.

AIR stewardesses grounded by a British judge have stripped off for a saucy calendar in a bid to get back missing wages.
Spanish-based budget airline Air Comet went bust last December after the High Court in London ordered the company to stop using its planes and selling tickets.

Stewardesses employed by the firm decided on their naked protest after failing to get up to eight months of unpaid salaries.

More than 1,000 calendars featuring nine women in their flight caps, gloves and high heels have gone on sale for £13.

Adriana Ricardo, who poses as Miss August on an aircraft engine in high heels and a tiny bikini, said: "I think it's a different and very elegant way of highlighting our plight.

"The rest of our colleagues are completely behind us."

My, um, seat is in the upright position.

This poor young lady must be freezing up there.

As a public service, you can see all of them here.

Aw, what the heck, have a look at Miss August. Those are some friendly skies.

'You Don't Even Know What To Say'

He's right. Something so depraved leaves me speechless.

A 7-year-old Trenton girl was sold like a prostitute to a pack of perverts and wound up being gang raped by up to seven men and boys.

And the person who pimped out the grade-schooler was her 15-year-old stepsister, police said Wednesday.

"Let the boys do what they want to do," the teenager told the younger girl as the leering lechers looked on, police said.

Then the teen stepped back and watched as the men took turns molesting the helpless girl, Trenton Police Capt. Joseph Juniak said.

"You don't even know what to say," Juniak said, struggling to find the words to describe the depravity. "It's incomprehensible."

The horror show happened Sunday when the teenager took the 7-year-old with her to a party in the Rowan Towers - a crime-infested high-rise housing project near the New Jersey statehouse.

The teenager left the younger girl unattended in the living room while she went into a bedroom and had sex with several male partygoers for money.

When she was done, she walked out, gave the 7-year-old a wad of money, and told her to let the men "touch her," said Juniak.

"It went from touching to straight out assault and rape," Juniak said. "They threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone."

Leftwing Freakazoids Plan to Crash April 15 Tea Parties: 'Find a Suit at a Thrift Store or Something, Look Real Professional Like'

I guess these drooling morons think this is some kind of secret.

On April 15th thousands of right-wingers will attend rallies in cities and towns across the United States. The organizers of this nationwide day of protest call it a tea party. This tea party movement that emerged only a year ago is a coalition of conservatives, anti-Semites, fascists, libertarians, racists, constitutionalists, militia men, gun freaks, homophobes, Ron Paul supporters, Alex Jones conspiracy types and American flag wavers. If the tea party movement continues to grow in size and strength there is a big chance they will dominate this country in the near future. If the tea party movement takes over this country they will really hurt poor people by getting rid of social programs like food stamps, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, student aid, free health care, etc. The tea party movement will say these programs must be gotten rid of because hard-working taxpayers cannot afford to pay for these things especially when the economy is in a depression. There are three options we have with the tea party movement:

1. Organize counter-protests against the tea party demonstrations, same time, same place. This is probably the best option. We need to get in the streets on April 15th and show the tea party movement that there are lots of people out there who oppose their agenda.

2. Get individual tea party protesters to leave the right-wing and move to the left politically. That would involve passing out stuff like this at the tea party demonstrations: http://www.anarchist-studies.org/node/299

3. Ignore the tea party movement. This is the worst option because without anyone opposing them they could easily gain power.

Gee, nobody is opposing them? I guess the 99% of media coverage that slantsnegative has gone unnoticed in these anarchist circles.

Stepping back for a minute, I guess maybe they are reading the Frank Rich's of the world, since they're under some deluded notion that fascists, anti-semites and racists are attending tea parties. Silly people. Those types are generally on the left, but hey, if the left didn't project they'd have to come to grips with the racists, fascists and anti-semites in their ranks.

Sadly, these neanderthals are also under some weird impression that health care will be free for them. Aren't they in for a rude awakening when they grow up and aren't on mommy and daddy's coverage any longer.

Helpfully provided are a list of links to tea party groups so you can "spy" on them. Oooh, how very clandestine.

Safe to say tea partiers have long caught on to these creeps. Some of the comments are priceless.

Someone should go to one of these rallies (maybe as a prop with a copy of "atlas shrugged" obtained from the library or more likely the trash bin) and pretend to be one of these libertarian nutters using all the talking points to slam militarism. Go on about Blackwater, Haliburtin, Caterpillar and others for being the mass recipients of corporate welfare (use the words welfare and moochers as much as possible, mention no-bid and cost-plus contracts) and US militarism as a huge drain on taxes without any practical improvement in US world standing (get ready to have to explain how US foreign policy contributed to 9/11) or benefit for taxpayers. Play the part, of a randroid-propertarian as near as possible but rail against these things and you will help wedge the nutty neo-cons away from the name-thievy "libertarians" by driving at the main (or so it would seem) conflict between the ideologies.

Find a suit at a thrift store or something, look real professional like.

They're sure to blend in.

H/T hipEchik.

FBI Sees Little Chance of Militia Outbreak, Olbermann Hardest Hit

So much for that explosive growth of militias.

There's a lot of anger out there. But the alleged plot by Midwestern militants and violent outbursts by scattered individuals don't signal any coming wave of extremist violence, federal investigators say.

There's more fizzle than fight among self-styled militias and other groups right now, they say, and little chance of a return to the organized violence that proved so deadly in the 1990s.

Militia extremist statements "primarily have served as an expression of anger after a particular event," according to an FBI intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. "The FBI assesses the likelihood of violent conflict from the remaining group members or other militia extremists as low."

Bathtub Boy won't be taking this well.

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

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Ed Koch Goes Nuclear on Obama and NY Democrats

Count former New York City Mayor Ed Koch among those who've lost all Hopenchange. Koch laces into Obama following the disgraceful treatment of Benjamin Netanwahu last week.

President Obama's abysmal attitude toward the State of Israel and his humiliating treatment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is shocking. In the Washington Post on March 24th, Jackson Diehl wrote, "Obama has added more poison to a U.S.-Israeli relationship that already was at its lowest point in two decades. Tuesday night the White House refused to allow non-official photographers record the president's meeting with Netanyahu; no statement was issued afterward. Netanyahu is being treated as if he were an unsavory Third World dictator, needed for strategic reasons but conspicuously held at arms length. That is something the rest of the world will be quick to notice and respond to."

I have not heard or read statements criticizing the president by New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand or many other supporters of Israel for his blatantly hostile attitude toward Israel and his discourtesy displayed at the White House. President Obama orchestrated the hostile statements of Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, voiced by Biden in Israel and by Clinton in a 43-minute telephone call to Bibi Netanyahu, and then invited the latter to the White House to further berate him. He then left Prime Minister Netanyahu to have dinner at the White House with his family, conveying he would only be available to meet again if Netanyahu had further information - read concessions - to impart.

It is unimaginable that the President would treat any of our NATO allies, large or small, in such a degrading fashion. That there are policy differences between the U.S. and the Netanyahu government is no excuse. Allies often disagree, but remain respectful.

Koch also wonders where the the Nw York senators are. Chuckie Schumer would plow over his mother to get in front of a camera but is now quivering in cowardly silence.

So I ask again, where are our Senators, Schumer and Gillibrand? And, where are the voices, not only of the 31 members of the House and 14 Senators who are Jewish, but the Christian members of the House and Senate who support the State of Israel? Where are the peoples' voices? Remember the words of Pastor Niemoller, so familiar that I will not recite them, except for the last line, "Then they came for me, and by that time, there was no one left to speak up."

Koch today talks with Michael Goodwin.

Ed Koch is on fire. Here are a few of the bombshells he dropped yesterday.

President Obama "wants to make Israel a pariah state."

Hillary Clinton is a "disappointment" and didn't deserve the standing ovation she got from a leading Jewish group.

Sen. Chuck Schumer has been silent on America's tilt toward the Palestinians because he is "afraid of Obama."

Anything else? Only that Clinton won't answer his letters when he asks directly whether the United States is prepared to defend Israel from Iran.

And Obama isn't neutral in the Mideast. He's pro-Arab.

As I said, bombshells.

Great News: Oliver Stone's Hugo Chavez Flick Coming to America

With any luck it'll draw less than Uma Thurman's new flick, if that's actually possible. Though we should never underestimate the stupidity of the American left, and the lemmings will likely line up to see one of their heroes on the big screen.

But now, Americans will have the chance to decide for themselves what to make of the 70-minute documentary, thanks to the efforts of Cinema Libre. On June 25, the distributor will release South of the Border in New York, followed quickly by an L.A. premiere on July 2. “Not only is it a genuine honor to work with one of the greatest American directors, but his insightful documentary shows how these leaders of Latin America are being intentionally villanized by the U.S. mass media,” Cinema Libre’s Philippe Diaz told Reuters. “This unique dialogue needed the eye and the courage of a director like Stone to convince us that these leaders are fighting for a more humane society, which means defending themselves against American corporate interests.”

Stone undertook this project with Chávez after his initial idea to document Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was turned down by the Iranian president. For South of the Border, Stone enlisted the help of British-Pakistani commentator Tariq Ali, who had already worked with Chávez to write the 2006 book Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope.

How bad is this drivel? According to Time:

South of the Border is a near sibling to the Michael Moore docu-comedy Capitalism: A Love Story, which premiered at Venice last night and which looks like a masterpiece of attitudinal moviemaking next to Stone's slapdash effort.

No doubt it'll win plenty of awards from the Chavez sycophants in Hollywood.

More Jobs 'Unexpectedly' Lost

We're on 14 months of 'unexpected' job losses now since The One took office. You'd think the state-run media would figure out we're on to them with this 'unexpected' nonsense.

Companies in the U.S. unexpectedly cut payrolls in March, according to data from a private report based on payrolls.

The 23,000 decline was the smallest in two years and followed a revised 24,000 drop the prior month, data from ADP Employer Services showed today. Over the previous six months, ADP’s initial figures have overstated the Labor Department’s first estimate of private payroll losses by as little as 2,000 in February to as much as 151,000 in November.

Companies are still hesitant to add workers until they see sustained sales gains and are convinced the economic recovery has taken hold. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News anticipate the government’s report April 2 will show payrolls increased by 184,000, in part due to temporary hiring by the federal government to conduct the 2010 census and because of better weather compared with February.

Of course last month they blamed the snow for job losses. This month they attribute betetr weather to job gains. At least the spin is consistent. As summer approaches then the job market should be booming, right?

'Cutting Off a Penis Can Be Fatal'

Breaking up is hard to do, of course. But self-mutilation after the fact? Dude took this one really hard...

A despairing young man cut off his own penis and hurled it down a well after learning that his girlfriend was going to marry another man, The Jakarta Globe reported Tuesday.

The jilted lover came perilously close to death, doctors said, after losing a massive amount of blood during the incident in Central Java's Bantasari village.

He was rushed to Cilacap General Hospital in a critical condition where doctors saved his life -- but they could not reattach the severed member, as it remained undiscovered despite the efforts of villagers.

Hospital director Sugeng Budi Susanto told The Globe: "It was a critical time. Cutting off a penis can be fatal."

A source said the 19-year-old, known only by the initials AMD, had chopped off his penis in a suicide bid -- thinking nobody would be able to save his life.

He spent several days in intensive care but is now in a standard recovery room -- with extra security because so many journalists are besieging the hospital.

I suspect this guy will be on permanent suicide watch.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Environmental Wacko Tempter Tantrum to Follow

Frankly, this seems to me to be part of a shell game to win over some "moderate" votes in order to shove an unpopular "climate change" bill down our throats. Not for a minute do I believe Obama is serious about drilling offshore. But the temper tantrum on the left will no doubt be delightful to watch.

The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.

The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.

Under the plan, the coastline from New Jersey northward would remain closed to all oil and gas activity. So would the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to the Canadian border.

The environmentally sensitive Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska would be protected and no drilling would be allowed under the plan, officials said. But large tracts in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska — nearly 130 million acres — would be eligible for exploration and drilling after extensive studies.

The proposal is to be announced by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday, but administration officials agreed to preview the details on the condition that they not be identified.

The proposal is intended to reduce dependence on oil imports, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

But while Mr. Obama has staked out middle ground on other environmental matters — supporting nuclear power, for example — the sheer breadth of the offshore drilling decision will take some of his supporters aback. And it is no sure thing that it will win support for a climate bill from undecided senators close to the oil industry, like Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, or Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana.

It will be interesting to see Sarah Palin's reaction.

GOP Outcasts Graciously Offer Advice to Tea Partiers

On one side you have backstabber Scott McClellan, a guy who endorsed Obama in 2008, letting us know how "divisive" the Tea Party is, and on the other side we have David Frum, who recently was drummed out of a conservative think tank for his relentless bashing of conservatives. So where do they show up? Why with the hapless Larry King on the rapidly deteriorating CNN.

McClellan obviously missed the news that the Tea Party is far more popular than Congress. He says they're "marginal" and have limited influence. If that's the case, why is everyone talking about them?

I have to laugh how Frum calls Larry King an important show. The dude is stuck in some 1992 time warp or something.

Enjoy your irrelevance, guys. You've earned it.

It's On! Bloomberg Slams Obama Over Gun Control

In one corner you have the grating nanny-stater, seemingly more interested is controlling your intake of salt than your ability to protect yourself against marauding thugs, although disarming the public does rank high on his list of pet peeves. He's joined by the oaf mayor of Boston, Mumbles Menino. In the other corner, weighing in at a spindly 179 pounds and wheezing heavily after a game of HORSE against Clark Kellogg washed down with a packs of smokes is Barack Obama, fresh off ramming through a bill so remarkably unpopular his party is now facing an even more epic defeat at the polls come November. He's got a lot more unpalatable legislation to shove down our by the time we fire up Waterloo on November 2 and this battle sure doesn't look like one of them.

Leaving us with, well, nobody left to root for.

President Obama is under the gun when it comes to Mayor Bloomberg and his crusade against illegal weapons.

Bloomberg, generally considered a White House ally, put Obama on notice after he fired off a letter to the White House this month where he reportedly accused the president of dragging his feet when it comes to gun control, according to a report today.

In the March 3 letter sent from Bloomberg's coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the mayor points to a separate report the group sent the Obama administration last August, which laid out 40 recommendations to "improve enforcement of existing gun laws," according to The Huffington Post.

The letter was co-signed by Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

"We appreciate the ... consideration of the report, but this is an urgent matter: further delay will almost certainly result in the needless loss of innocent lives, including many children. Mr. President, the time has come for action," the mayors wrote, according to the letter obtained by The Huffington Post.

The White House did not immediately have a comment in regards to the letter.

Bloomberg has been an ardent fighter for gun control, blaming illegal handguns smuggled into New York State for shootings that take place in the city. He has also taken on the National Rifle Association in the past.

Of course blaming the criminal for their actions is always the logical course, and in Bloomberg's case he's gone out of his way to do that, at least when the perp is a celebrity.

I have little doubt Obama would be more than happy to disarm the public (doing it for the children, of course), but outside of party gadflies like Chuckie Schumer, most Democrats are still scarred from the losing battles over gun control back in the 1990s and likely have no stomach to re-fight that battle. When you already have a testy public deeply suspicious of Obama and seething over the healthcare mess, going gun-grabbing is the last thing any sane Obama adviser would recommend.

Bloomberg can flap his gums all he wants and this is seemingly little more than a ploy to get himself some facetime. Hey, it's been nearly five months since he was last elected and he's probably looking ahead for something else to do. Maybe he can use it as a platform to run for Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand if he really thinks he can be effective on the issue. Otherwise, he may just want to dummy up and get back to the important things, like making sure proper calorie counts are visible on fast-food menus.

McAmnesty Wants The National Guard On The Border

There are quite a few stories out today, in wake of the rancher who was killed by what is believed to be an illegal alien, calling for the National Guard to be activated to secure the border.

Sounds good until you meet the harsh reality. There is a little thing called posse comitatus, we called it posing as comatose, that has to be taken into consideration.

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law 18 U.S.C. passed on June 18, 1878, after the end of Reconstruction, with the intention (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) of substantially limiting the powers of the federal government to use the military for law enforcement. The Act prohibits most members of the federal uniformed services (today the Army, Air Force, and State National Guard forces when such are called into federal service) from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police, or peace officer powers that maintain law and order on non-federal property (states and their counties and municipal divisions) within the United States.

The statute generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Coast Guard is exempt from the Act during peacetime.

I am not sure what people expect. Do they want to National Guard to shoot the border crossers? There is little more that they can do other then jot down license plate numbers or call up a Border Patrol unit and issue a report. I know. I have done these missions, called JTF (Joint Task Force), missions. If the Border Patrol gets them, then of course they are turned over to the capable hands of judicial system, and given a date to appear in court for their supposed deportation hearing. Few show up and a large percentage of those that do are allowed to remain.

There is no catch and release really. It is catch and feed, and clothe and find them a job once they have availed themselves of what used to be the best medical care available, all on the taxpayers dime.

This comes on the heels of the announcement that the Minutemen, the civilian organization that volunteered to work with the Border Patrol, is closing up shop.

It seems too many of our politicians play this game of kick the can far too much, while listening to their mp3 players to tune out the distraction that is the American people, and while walking in the fast lane of the highway. They are then left wondering how that big 'ol 18 wheeler ran them over.

As far as John 'McAmnesty' McCain trying to act tough on this issue, Bubba, that train has done left the station.

Gruesome: Discarded Babies and Fetuses Wash Up From China River

This may be both the saddest and sickest story I've seen in ages. It's bad enough they have forced abortions in China, but to just throw the babies out like trash? WTF? And not just terminated fetuses, but babies that (allegedly) died after birth, or as they might be known here, really late-term abortions.

Staffers at an eastern Chinese hospital have been disciplined after the bodies of 21 fetuses and infants were found improperly discarded near a river, according to officials and media reports.

A total of 21 bodies were found near the Guangfu River, Jining City officials said in a statement Tuesday.

"The investigation has found that the Jining Hospital Affiliated Medical College mortuary staff violated hospital management policies/regulations," the statement said.

No foul play was found in the deaths of the children. "It was determined that the babies died in normal circumstances," Li Wanmei, section chief for the Jining City Health Bureau, told the television network.

The hospital's deputy director and the deputy director of its logistics department were removed, the statement said. In addition, two staffers working in the "repose room" of the hospital were fired "and have been detained according to the law."

The dead children and fetuses were believed to have died from illness, and the two staffers, Zhu Zhenyu and Wang Zhijun, verbally agreed with relatives to dispose of the bodies and took money from them, but instead secretly transported the bodies to the river, the statement said.

The bodies, which officials said "were not fully buried," were found after media reports prompted officials to investigate, the statement said.

Shanghai, China-based Oriental Cable TV reported the initial discovery was made by area residents. "I found the bodies while I was herding the geese," a resident said. "How could I possibly sleep? I haven't eaten for two days."

CNN really doesn't go that far. Al-Jazeera English implies something more sinister.

"There is a great deal more still to come out on this story which is certainly receiving a lot of play [in the media] here in China.

"These sort of scandals ... result often in action from local government officials who want to be seen to act."
...
Interviews with residents who discovered the bodies floating near the shore over the weekend were broadcast on the website of the Shandong Broadcasting Company, IQILU.com.

The footage shows bodies, some uncovered and others in bags, lying on parts of the bank of the river, many covered in dirt.

One of the bluish-green identification tags visible in the video indicates the baby was born in April 2009.

People's Daily said all the bodies were of babies, while Xinhua said several were foetuses.

Department of Redundancy Department: CNN Continues Ratings Death Plunge

We could do this monthly or quarterly and just plug in the same text and just leave space for the new numbers. Same story, different day: Fox rises, CNN plummets, MSNBC continues to flounder.

Maybe the idiotic left who snivel and whine about Fox News Channel might step back and realize it is they who are responsible for sending so many viewers their way by constantly talking about them. But hey, who are we to give advice to these clowns?

CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewers in a year.

The trend in news ratings for the first three months of this year is all up for one network, the Fox News Channel, which enjoyed its best quarter ever in ratings, and down for both MSNBC and CNN.

CNN had a slightly worse quarter in the fourth quarter of 2009, but the last three months have included compelling news events, like the earthquake in Haiti and the battle over health care, and CNN, which emphasizes its hard news coverage, was apparently unable to benefit.

The losses at CNN continued a pattern in place for much of the last year, as the network trailed its competitors in every prime-time hour. (CNN still easily beats MSNBC in the daytime hours, but those are less lucrative in advertising money, and both networks are far behind Fox News at all hours.)

About the only break from the bad news for CNN was that March was not as bad as February, when the network had its worst single month in its recent history, finishing behind not only Fox News and MSNBC, but also its sister network HLN — and even CNBC, which had Olympics programming that month.

That's like being diagnosed with a terminal illness and being given an extra week to live.

Some solace.

You have to appreciate the NY Times reporter with this wry sense of humor.

CNN executives have steadfastly said that they will not change their approach to prime-time programs, which are led by hosts not aligned with any partisan point of view.

Yeah, except for their alignment with the Democratic Party, they're all very nonpartisan.

Even in the morning, CNN is sliding. Its “American Morning” show dropped behind “Morning Joe” on MSNBC in total viewers for the first time; it still beat the MSNBC show among 25- to 54-year-olds, though it was down 29 percent from a year earlier.

At the same time, Fox News, which had its biggest year in 2009, continues to add viewers. Greta Van Susteren’s show was up 25 percent from a year earlier. Bill O’Reilly, whose show commands the biggest audience in prime time with 3.65 million viewers, was up 28 percent, and Glenn Beck was up 50 percent from a year earlier.

MSNBC is such an afterthought their primetime hosts aren't even mentioned in the story.

Barry O Does Irony

The Campaigner in Chief, it seems he never gets off the campaign trail, but why should he it seems to be the only thing he does well, in responding to some questions posed to him for an interview for NBC's "Today" show, gave an answer that is just dripping with irony. Irony that is lost on him, and every other liberal who are all graduates of the Circular Argument School of Rationalization.

In order to make the point I sort of rearranged the paragraphs from the AP story to make the point a little more obvious.

In an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, Obama said he feels "there's still going to be a group at their core that question my legitimacy." But he said he didn't want to paint Tea Party activists "in broad brushes" and he hopes to win over members who have "mainstream, legitimate concerns."

President Barack Obama says he believes the Tea Party is built around a "core group" of people who question whether he is a U.S. citizen and believe he is a socialist.

But beyond that, Obama tells NBC he recognizes the movement involves "folks who have legitimate concerns" about the national debt and whether the government is taking on too many difficult issues simultaneously.

Yup, don't want to paint with those broad brushes like all of those failed sycophantic news organizations that continue to fall on their swords, and their bank accounts, in their blind obedience to "The One".

How does this square with his fluffy talk about toning down the rhetoric? He is still running from the former governor of Alaska. She must haunt his every sleeping moment. I wonder how many times he wakes up in cold sweat screaming her name in the middle of the night?

The Tea Party has certainly made great strides, going from a "few" discontented radicals to now occupying the majority of attention from this administration. They fear the Tea Party folks more then they do Islamic terrorists with nukes.

BTW the picture was for the benefit of the lamestream media who continue to push the racist nature of tea partiers. It was just a random picture I found. Gee you would think organizations with dozens of fact checkers might be able to do it too. Might I suggest they quit using Google for a search engine and switch to Ask.

Family of Dead Marine Ordered To Pay Westboro Blood Money

Just when I think our judicial system can not get anymore absurd they prove me wrong and delve into new depths.

A judge has ordered the father of a dead Marine to reimburse Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist legal fees associated with a court case in which the homophobic, gay-bashing, mentally-unhinged, inbreeding cult had filed an appeal to earlier case. The case is also pending before the Supreme Court, but this judge decided to issue a ruling before the Supreme Court could weigh in on the case.

Lawyers for the father of a Marine who died in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters say a court has ordered him to pay the protesters' appeal costs.

On Friday, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered that Albert Snyder of York, Pa., pay costs associated with Fred Phelps' appeal. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at the funeral of Snyder's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, in Westminster in 2006.

Lawyers for Snyder say the Court of Appeals has ordered him to pay $16,510.80 to Phelps for costs relating to the appeal, despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Court of Appeals' decision.

It wasn't bad enough that these bottom-feeding, subhuman oxygen thieves protested the funeral of this young man, but to order the father to pay for their frivolous lawsuit is just further insult to injury.

I hate the scum-sucking Westboro Church Family Cult with every fiber of my being, in case you haven't noticed, and just a suggestion: In order to make sure the payment is secure and everything, Mr, Snyder might want to look at adopting a former military working dog to deliver the extortion money to Phelps in person. I mean dogs suffer from PTSD too and, well, things happen.

Just saying.

UPDATE: (Via Gateway Pundit) I called Sean E. Summers law offices this morning and asked how we can help. They already set up this website– http://www.matthewsnyder.org/.

You can donate to the Snyder family– here.

Tolerant Obama Supporters Attack Karl Rove

I blame Frank Rich, Barack Obama and the Democrat climate of hate for egging on these psychopaths.

About 100 fans came out to hear Karl Rove at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills Monday night to discuss his book "Courage and Consequences: My Life As a Conservative In The Fight," -- but the fight wasn't contained to his book.

Anti-war protesters came out, some rushing the stage, to call Rove a "war criminal" and worse.

The fans came to get their books signed, but they never got that chance.

One woman, the co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, approached him with handcuffs and said she was there to make a citizen's arrest. Jodie Evans charged him with "outing a CIA agent...you lied to take us to war..." and "totally ruining the country."

KCAL 9's Dave Bryan was there and said Rove "was shouted down and forced to leave the stage."

Another woman screamed at Rove, "The only comfort I take is that...you're going to rot in hell."

Rove, meanwhile, charged that the people shouting him down were an example of the "totalitarianism of the left...they don't believe in dialog...they don't believe in courtesy. They don't believe in first Amendment rights for anyone but themselves."

Conveniently omitted from the story, of course, is Jodie Evans is a bigtime Obama fundraiser. You would think the president would call off the dogs at some point. It's rather unseemly his supporters have zero tolerance for free speech.

Michelle Malkin has a rundown of past acts of terrorism from the far-left radicals at Code Pink.

Stupak Crew Looking for Their Payoff

Well, well, well, look what we've got here. The Democrats who switched to yes votes on ObamaCare now have billions in earmark requests being considered.

The 11 House Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak who dropped their opposition to health care reform legislation mere hours before the final vote have requested $3.4 billion in earmarks -- and one watchdog group wants to know whether the money represents business as usual or political payoffs.

The Sunlight Foundation says it plans to track the earmark requests, which were put in one day after health care reform cleared Congress, to see whether they're approved and whether it appears lawmakers are being rewarded for their vote.

"We know that in Congress one of the ways that leadership tries to influence members is through earmarks," said Bill Allison, editorial director at the nonpartisan organization. "So this seemed to us something good to follow.

Stupak and the ten other Democrats were critical to the success of the health care bill. They were holding out over concerns about funding for abortion coverage but announced the president had assuaged their worries -- with an executive order restricting abortion funding -- the morning of the big vote.

Stupak's office said there's absolutely no link between the earmarks and the health care bill's passage.

Right. Just as there is no link between my eating habits and my being 25 pounds overweight.

"Pay to play" has long been a staple of Chicago politics and now is being taken to a new art level in Washington by the socialists. They are so open and brazen about their payoffs it's stunning. They flaunt it and then tell you that you are not seeing what you are seeing.

Stay tuned. Based on my life long experience with the Chicago Machine politics, this is just the beginning. It's like Goodfellas went to Washington. They see what they want and they just take it.

And they treat the rest of us like a schnook.

Stunner: Census Already a Total Mess, Criminal-Americans Hardest Hit

Don't worry, though. These same people who can't count heads will be doing a bang-up job with your health care. Just make sure you don't criticize them, however, or there will be a backlash coming or something. So there are a few inaccuracies. At least they're trying, right?

Information Technology (IT) problems at the U.S. Census Bureau could cause inaccuracies in this year's constitutionally mandated decennial tabulation of the U.S. population, according to government auditors.

“IT problems place the efficiency and accuracy of Non-Response Follow-Up at risk and final decennial costs remain uncertain,” testified Judith Gordon, the principal assistant inspector general for Audit and Evaluation at the Department of Commerce, which runs the Census Bureau.

The NRFU is the census’ largest operation and involves personally interviewing millions of people nationwide who did not respond to the mailed Census questionnaire.

Robert Goldenkoff, the director of strategic issues for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), told CNSNews.com that “an estimated 50 million housing units out of a mail-out universe of about 120 million” will be non-respondents that will require an in-person follow-up to count.

No doubt some census workers will not be greeted warmly, which surely will result in a spate of stories from mindless lefty bloggers about how angry people are. Play along. They can't help themselves. Frank Rich will then tell us it's just white people lashing out because Barney Frank is gay and Obama is half black.

Meanwhile, responders are finding the race question baffling, to say the least.

Question 9 on the 2010 Census form seems pretty straightforward: "What is Person 1's race?"

But it's anything but for many Hispanics like Miriam M.E. Garcia.

She's filled out her Census form, but hasn't "sent it in because I'm still debating" the race question, Garcia said recently. "I am Mexican but I'm also part Filipino and part Japanese," said Garcia, 61, executive director of Adelante of Suffolk County Inc., a local social service agency.

Even though the form allows people to check more than one race -- and she has -- she thinks the categories don't quite fit.

She isn't alone.

"My own personal opinion is it just doesn't make any sense, the way race is separated from Hispanic," said Nadia Marin-Molina.

Federal law describes Hispanics as an ethnic group, not a race. So Marin-Molina, executive director of the Hempstead-based Workplace Project, an immigrant advocacy group, said she simply checked the "some other race" box and wrote in "Latino." She is of Colombian heritage.

Roberto Ramirez, the Census Bureau's ethnicity and ancestry branch chief, said the agency is aware of the confusion many Hispanics -- as well as those with multiracial heritage -- have over the race question.

Ramirez said about 40 percent of Hispanics are foreign born, and may "come from countries that have different concepts of race and ethnicity, so they struggle with the U.S. race classification system."

Good thing we're living in the glorious post-racial era, isn't it?

Not to be overlooked are Criminal-Americans, who are upset they're being counted where they're incarcerated rather than in the locale in which they normally practice their profession. This, naturally, greatly affect gerrymandering efforts of Democrats.

The last time the census was done - in 2000 - Brooklynite Ramon Velasquez was locked up in Attica state prison for robbery.

According to the Census Bureau, Velasquez lived not in hardscrabble Bushwick, but in rural Attica Village, 264 miles away.

"Knowing that they counted me in Attica was a shock to me," said Velasquez, 50, a volunteer with the New York City AIDS Housing Network.

"It's not fair because we don't use their services. We're being counted just for a political purpose. You don't have many people up there in those counties."

Velasquez is the face of a long-running battle between the Census Bureau, which counts prisoners in the areas they are incarcerated, and big-city politicians who want them counted where they really live. It's not about money: Subtracting the 29,000 New York City inmates wouldn't cut deeply into the city's federal funding.

It's about political clout: Census figures are used to draw the state's legislative districts. Urban areas get hurt when inmates are counted as living upstate.

"It's just fundamentally unfair," state Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan, Bronx) said of the practice, called prison-based gerrymandering, which, he says, gives rural, upstate areas with prisons outsize political influence.

"The poor communities the prisoners come from ... are punished every 10 years," said Schneiderman, who has introduced a bill with Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) to change things on a state level.

Underwater Volcano Could Destroy Italy 'At Any Time'

The ironic part? They don't blame global warming.

EUROPE'S largest undersea volcano could disintegrate and unleash a tsunami that would engulf southern Italy "at any time", a prominent vulcanologist has warned.

The Marsili volcano, which is bursting with magma, has "fragile walls" that could collapse, Enzo Boschi told the leading daily Corriere della Sera.

"It could even happen tomorrow," Prof Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said

"Our latest research shows that the volcano is not structurally solid, its walls are fragile, the magma chamber is of sizeable dimensions," he said.

"All that tells us that the volcano is active and could begin erupting at any time."

Of course this could be, like hysterical "climate change" claims, complete nonsense.

"While the indications that have been collected are precise, it is impossible to make predictions.

"The risk is real but hard to evaluate."

In other words, check back in a million years.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Breaking News From 1999

As if this is a surprise. Still, I could have sworn this guy came out years ago...

Shows how up I am on pop culture, I guess.

Ricky Martin is no longer denying the rumors: He's gay.

In a statement posted via Twitter in both Spanish and English, and later confirmed with his representative, Martin said: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."

For many, Monday's announcement will come as no surprise; the "Livin' La Vida Loca" singer's sexuality has been speculated about for years. But the Puerto Rican star, who got his start as a child in the teen group Menudo, never directly addressed it and was usually seen at events with beautiful women on his arm.

Martin, 38, said he decided to reveal the truth after working on his memoirs helped him realize that he had to be free with himself, and not keep any more secrets.

"From the moment I wrote the first phrase I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside," he said. "Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And this is something worth celebrating."

Does Anyone in the Media Have a Sense of Humor?

Sarah Palin obviously enjoys tweaking the pantywaists in the media, and these morons keep falling for it every time, acting like hysterical babies. Do any of these twits have the slightest sense of humor?

Here she goofs on them with a Facebook post yesterday, referencing March Madness. I guess they forget she used to play basketball in high school.

To the teams that desire making it this far next year: Gear up! In the battle, set your sights on next season’s targets! From the shot across the bow – the first second’s tip-off – your leaders will be in the enemy’s crosshairs, so you must execute strong defensive tactics. You won’t win only playing defense, so get on offense! The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons – your Big Guns – to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win.

Focus on the goal and fight for it. If the gate is closed, go over the fence. If the fence is too high, pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, parachute in. If the other side tries to push back, your attitude should be “go for it.” Get in their faces and argue with them. (Sound familiar?!) Every possession is a battle; you’ll only win the war if you’ve picked your battles wisely. No matter how tough it gets, never retreat, instead RELOAD!

She clearly has a sense of humor coming after all the whining recently about using the word crosshairs, notably from whiny wieners like Weiner.

The reaction here is absurd, with seeming every other comment calling her a terrorist. These clowns claim she's turning Facebook and Twitter in weapons of mayhem and destruction, while repeating discredited stories of coffins on Russ Carnahan's lawn. What's more destructive? Palin goofing on the media or repeating lies?

Speaking of discredited, McClatchy uses the far left Southern Poverty Law Center as a source. They've got about as much credibility as the George Soros goonsquad over at Media Matters.

"The gun sight: It's clear what it means," Beirich said of the map on Palin's Facebook page. "It doesn't really get more violent than that. Even if it was meant in some kind of twisted jest, certainly the time to take it down has more than passed."

Oooh.

Today a Barack Obama donor was charged with threatening to kill GOP Congressman Eric Cantor. Will all these same people wetting their pants over Palin take Obama to task for telling his supporters to get in people's faces?

Irony Meter Explodes: Global Warming Activist Freezes to Death in Antarctica; Update: It's a Spoof

I really shouldn't laugh about this, but the irony is just too much.

Famed global warming activist James Schneider and a journalist friend were both found frozen to death on Saturday, about 90 miles from South Pole Station, by the pilot of a ski plane practicing emergency evacuation procedures.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing", recounted the pilot, Jimmy Dolittle. "There were two snowmobiles with cargo sleds, a tent, and a bright orange rope that had been laid out on the ice, forming the words, 'HELP-COLD'".

One friend of Prof. Schneider told ecoEnquirer that he had been planning a trip to an ice sheet to film the devastation brought on by global warming. His wife, Linda, said that she had heard him discussing the trip with his environmental activist friends, but she assumed that he was talking about the Greenland ice sheet, a much smaller ice sheet than Antarctica.

"He kept talking about when they 'get down to chili', and I thought they were talking about the order in which they would consume their food supplies", Mrs. Schneider recounted. "I had no idea they were talking about Chile, the country from which you usually fly or sail in order to reach Antarctica".

Update: Apparently this was from a spoof site. My bad. Someone in the comments mentioned there's a link over at Watts Up With That but I can't locate it over there.

Philadelphia Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Eric Cantor; (Update) Special Added Bonus: He's an Obama Donor

I blame this on the climate of hate engineered by the left.

Today, a two-count complaint and warrant was filed charging Norman Leboon with threatening to kill United States Congressman Eric Cantor and his family, and threatening to kill Congressman Eric Cantor, who is an official of the United States, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jan Fedarcyk. As set forth in the affidavit to the complaint and warrant, in or about late March, 2010, Leboon created and then transmitted a YouTube video to Google over the internet, in which he threatened to kill Congressman Cantor and his family. No harm came to the Congressman or his family as a result of Leboon's threats.

Funny how there hasn't been a single arrest resulting from any of the alleged acts of violence against Democrats of late but here we have a real incident resulting in an arrest.

Here's a video from a Norman LeBoon. If this is him he's seemingly a Muslim and a real nutcase.

Norman LeBoon Sr. is indeed a Shia Muslim that the good USA has it's locks on!Allah knows ALLLove for ALL,

More here.

I wonder how reticent the media will be to label him a Muslim considering how quick they are to label these militia wackos as Christians.

LeBoon just so happens to be a Barack Obama donor. Somehow I doubt that'll be part of any headlines.

Update: In the video link above he indeed calls himself Norman LeBoon Sr., as the Obama donor is listed as. Here's a YouTube video (via MM). Dude should've put the crackpipe down about ten years ago.



Maybe Tom Sizemore can play him in the TV movie.

According to the HuffPost data base, a Norman LeBoon of 1653 Benner St. in Philadelphia gave $815 to Obama in the third quarter of 2008. From the affadavit at Michelle Malkin's link:

Subsequently, the IP address 74.109.58.150 was subsequently provided to Verizon Internet Services. Upon being served with an “Emergency Situation Disclosure Request By Law Enforcement” form, Verizon provided the subscriber information for the user assigned IP address 74.109.58.150 between March 24, 2010, 4:48 p.m. PT, and March 26, 2010, 04:58 a.m. PT. According to Verizon’s records, the subscriber to the IP address, at the specified time was: John Hopkins, 1653 Benner Street, Philadelphia, PA 19149.

Thanks to Ace, Drew, Michelle and Jim Hoft for the links.

WaPo reports the story. No mention that he's 1) a Muslim or 2) an Obama donor. Recall after that nutjob flew a plane into the IRS building in Austin last month a WaPo columnist immediately insinuated he sounded like a Tea Partier. Now we have evidence he's a Muslim Obama donor and pfft, nothing. Same at MSNBC. Same at CNN. Same at Politico.

Just imagine if a Sarah Palin donor was arrested for threatening a Democrat. You suppose that would make it into the story?

Heavy-Duty Reading for Intellect Robert Gibbs

I hope this pop-up book didn't have lots of big words to confuse Bobby.

Of course when his boss travels he enjoys reading about his favorite subject: Himself.

Subtle Media Message of the Day

This is the image that accompanies the latest screed from jocksniffer turned political analyst Mike Lupica. A tired regurgitation of all the fabrications of the past couple of weeks, along with the requisite cheapshots against Sarah Palin and his usual harangues about "the idiots" on talk radio. Not quite as insane as Frank Rich, but still uninformed and filled with distortions.

At least here it is only vandalism about this President and the country's new health care bill, not phone threats left for some members of Congress. It is not an honorable old hero of the civil rights movement like Rep. John Lewis hearing the kind of racial insults he heard nearly 50 years ago in America. Or other congressmen being spat upon, all in the name of democracy at work.

At least here it is not Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan, being called a "baby killer," or a brick through a lawmaker's window. It is not Sarah Palin on her Twitter page - this woman who officially puts the twit in Twitter - posting the following message:

"Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD."

As always, you wonder where this patriotism and righteousness and Tea Party activism was during Bush-Cheney. You wonder if all the people who want to take to the streets - and to the television cameras now - decided they weren't needed for eight years because they thought the country was going so good. Or maybe they have just convinced themselves that the Obama who must now be stopped didn't just inherit this America, he created it.

This is no longer about political dissent. It is about storm trooper sound bites, and hate. This isn't the kind of honest debate on which our system of government has been built. It is vile, back-alley fighting, getting worse by the day, with no end in sight. People say that opposition to all Presidents, even the most unpopular white ones, sounds like this. No, it doesn't.

Apparently Lupica was too busy during the Bush years that he missed the nonstop protests du jour filling the streets. But now when the roles are reversed, well, this is just too much hate for the little guy to handle.

Really, it's amazing how much Sarah Palin frightens these media twerps. Maybe they're just used to their political heroes looking like Helen Thomas or Barbara Mikulski and just can't handle a good-looking woman who disagrees with them. Psychiatrists can probably make a killing for years analyzing these guys.

How Green Is Your Love?

It's come to this. A book about practicing environmentally safe sex. All I know is this conjures up disturbing images of sweaty, naked moonbats wearing loincloths and doing the nasty.

Leaving a smaller carbon footprint in the bedroom is easy with Eco-Sex, a green sex guide that will inspire both sexual and ecological excitement. Renew your passion for the environment while you recharge your love life—with green sex toys, low-impact lingerie, fair-trade condoms, bamboo bed linens, conflict-free diamonds, and much more. Eco-Sex will help you avoid the sins of greenwashing while you probe the deeper underpinnings of healthy, chemical-free sex. You’ll also tap into the emerging eco-sexual community while shopping for organic aphrodisiacs or logging onto green dating sites. Eco-Sex will open new avenues for the health of the planet and your body. So go ahead: stock your sexual toolbox, reinvigorate your passions, get serious about sustainability—and join the next (and best!) sexual revolution.

If they wanted to be environmentally friendly they would use paper for this nonsense and would just put it online for free.

Want to know where the author is coming from? See if you can figure out this gibberish.

Everything can be filtered through the lens of astrology. You can chart anything—the birth of a child and the birth of a building. The WTC was in its first (and final) Saturn Return when it went down on 9/11. This was an extremely startling metaphor. Also, Saturn was in Gemini at the time, the sign of twins—the Twin Towers. Freaky.

Bush is currently finishing up his second Saturn return. In 2004, almost every time someone would reveal another appalling character flaw or some egregious lapse in judgment on his part, it coincided with an exact hit of Saturn to his chart. From Richard Clark to the reemergence of those MIA years in the National Guard, it all fit nicely with his Saturn return. In fact, when he made a huge fool of himself during the second debate (the one in which he mentioned "hard work" about eleven times) Saturn was making an exact hit. Despite Saturn, however, he squeaked in. Honestly I've been way too depressed since the election to look into how he avoided a downfall that many astrologers thought inevitable. Give me some time on this one, I'm still in recovery mode.

Schmucky Chucky Talking Trash

Here we go again with one of these pipsqueak Democrats reminding us how the public tide will soon be turning against those meanies who voted against socialized medicine, forgetting, of course, that the public opposition is solidified despite the best wishes of pollsters from state-run media and Obama's approval continues to wither away, a fact reinforced by Obama's sudden desire to play commander-in-chief today after ignoring the troops in Afghanistan for 14 months. But hey, let's play along with Chucky. He says for sure the GOP will be paying a price come November, but he apparently hasn't seen the evidence that, ahem, even those evil tea partiers have more public support than does Congress these days, and it's not even close.

My only regret is the GOP is seemingly no longer operating in New York State and doesn't have a candidate ready to take this joker out.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the architect of the Democrats’ large Senate majority, predicted Sunday that healthcare reform would be an asset for Democratic candidates in November.

While Republicans have pledged to make healthcare the centerpiece of their 2010 political strategy, Schumer said the move would blow up in their faces.

“I predict that by November those who voted for healthcare will find it an asset and those who voted against it will find it a liability,” Schumer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

A Washington Post poll published Sunday showed that 50 percent of people oppose the law while 46 percent support it.

That WaPo poll, naturally, was heavily skewed toward Democrats, by ten points, made to look even more ridiculous considering the GOP now enjoys an eight-point lead in the generic Congressional ballot. Just imagine what the results would look like if they sampled more Republicans, let alone an even sample.

Again Schumer, like Pelosi and others before him, deigns to let us know that once the solons in Washington let the great unwashed know the magic contained in the bill, we'll all fall in line and flock back to the Democrats.

Schumer argued that polls have showed weak public support for the law because many people don’t understand what the legislation will do.

“It’s going to become more popular and here’s why,” Schumer said. “The lies that have been spread, they vanish because you see what’s in the bill.”

Once upon a time in America we actually got to see what was in a bill before it was debated and voted on, but those days are long gone, at least until sanity is restored and the GOP is back in power, so we've got to wait 10 months for that.

I'd say Chucky is whistling past the graveyard but that might be considered some sort of ominous threat and I'd be accused of stoking hatred.

Maybe It's Time For Another Speech to the 'Muslim World'

Seems Obama's historically unprecedented speech last year fell on deaf ears. If the rest of the world loves again they sure have a strange way of showing it.

SAUDI ARABIA is pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into Islamist groups in the Balkans, some of which spread hatred of the West and recruit fighters for jihad in Afghanistan.

According to officials in Macedonia, Islamic fundamentalism threatens to destabilise the Balkans. Strict Wahhabi and Salafi factions funded by Saudi organisations are clashing with traditionally moderate local Muslim communities.

Fundamentalists have financed the construction of scores of mosques and community centres as well as handing some followers up to £225 a month. They are expected not only to grow beards but also to persuade their wives to wear the niqab, or face veil, a custom virtually unknown in the liberal Islamic tradition of the Balkans.

Government sources in traditionally secular Macedonia (official title the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), said they were monitoring up to 50 Al-Qaeda volunteers recruited to fight in Afghanistan.

Classified documents seen by The Sunday Times reveal that Macedonian officials are also investigating a number of Islamic charities, some in Saudi Arabia, which are active throughout the Balkans and are suspected of spreading extremism and laundering money for terrorist organisations.

One of the groups under scrutiny is the International Islamic Relief Organisation from Saudi Arabia, which is on a United Nations blacklist of organisations backing terrorism. It did not respond to inquiries, but has previously denied involvement in terrorist activities, calling such claims “totally unfounded”.

According to its website, it works in 32 countries to provide relief to the victims of natural disasters and to carry out humanitarian, health and educational projects.

“Hundreds of millions have been poured into Macedonia alone in the past decade and most of it comes from Saudi Arabia,” said a government source. “The Saudis’ main export seems to be ideology, not oil.”

Sulejman Rexhepi, leader of the Islamic community in Macedonia, said a number of mosques had been forcibly taken over by radical groups. Four in central Skopje are no longer under the control of the official Islamic authorities. New imams claim they have been “spontaneously” installed by the “people”.

Obama's Kiss of Death: Final Four Comes Up Empty

Everything the guy touches turns to dust. Maybe next year ESPN can have a guy who knows something on 24/7 to talk hoops.

The president's bracket is a bust.

President Barack Obama went 0 for 2 in the NCAA tournament Saturday when Kentucky and Kansas State lost in the regional finals, knocking out his two remaining picks for the Final Four.

In his ESPN.com bracket, Obama predicted that Kansas, Villanova, Kentucky and Kansas State would reach the Final Four. Kansas and Villanova were upset in the second round, then Kentucky and Kansas State went down Saturday.

Kentucky, the top seed in the East Regional, was beaten 73-66 by second-seeded West Virginia. Kansas State, the No. 2 seed in the West Regional, lost 63-56 to No. 5 Butler.

In all fairness I haven't done much better, although I did pick West Virginia to reach the championship game.

Grim News: Majority Says Tea Party More in Touch With Reality Than Congress

No wonder there's a full-court press on by the Democrats and their lapdog media to silence and smear the Tea Partiers.

In official Washington, some consider the Tea Party movement a fringe element in society, but voters across the nation feel closer to the Tea Party movement than they do to Congress.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of U.S. voters believe the average member of the Tea Party movement has a better understanding of the issues facing America today than the average member of Congress. Only 30% believe that those in Congress have a better understanding of the key issues facing the nation.

When it comes to those issues, 47% think that their own political views are closer to those of the average Tea Party member than to the views of the average member of Congress. On this point, 26% feel closer to Congress.

Finally, 46% of voters say that the average Tea Party member is more ethical than the average member of Congress. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say that the average member of Congress is more ethical.

Frank Rich will be most upset to hear this news.

Meanwhile, despite the media's best effort at calling the implementation of socialized medicine a "victory" for Obama, he's right back where he was a week ago, meaning he's hugely unpopular.

This time last week were were treated to a media orgy of fabricated stories of "out-of-control" tea partiers in Washington, allegedly using the n-word and calling Barney Frank names, despite the slightest bit of evidence, tales that have become accepted fact.

Then why is it the media has ignored the ugly, vicious behavior of Harry Reid supporters in Neveda yesterday? Such behavior is documented with actual evidence while to this day none of the alleged incidents in DC have been shown to be anything but fabricated.

Update: I wonder now if Nancy Pelosi will recall how much she and tea partiers have in common?

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Disturbing Image of the Day

It's come to this: Michael Bloomberg as an aging hippie, hanging out with the cast of the Jersey Shore.

Mayor Bloomberg let his hair down last night.

Hizzoner hammed it up as "Berg," an aging hippie in "Mair" -- a musical spoof he performed for the annual Inner Circle charity dinner with help from the cast of Broadway's "Hair."

The Big Apple's big cheese even got a little help on stage from the Garden State's finest fist-pumpers: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from the "Jersey Shore."

"Just got done chillen with nycmayor," an ecstatic Snooki tweeted after performing with Bloomberg. "I showed my hair poof for mayor B!"

The mayor seemed taken with Polizzi, calling her "very nice and cute," after the show.

"She seemed more excited to be there then we were to have her," he quipped.

Bloomberg also joked off stage that he and the Situation, who is known for his abs, look the same shirtless.

Send in the Clown Tax

Some might say this is politicians taxing themselves. With their thirst for your money unquenchable, some states are now willing to tax, well, anything. But this just isn't funny.

A handful of states, including Delaware, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington, already tax all sorts of services. Most states tax at least some services, particularly items like utilities.

Nevertheless, few states have gone where political leaders in Michigan and Pennsylvania are now suggesting: adding scores of services to their states’ sales tax requirement and lowering the tax rate under a widened tax base.

But from coast to coast, desperate governments are looking to tap into new revenue streams.

In Nebraska, a lawmaker has introduced a bill to tax armored car services, farm equipment repairs, shoe shines, taxidermy, reflexology and scooter repairs. In Kentucky, Jim Wayne, a state representative, and some fellow Democrats are proposing taxing high-end services: golf greens fees, limousine and hot-air-balloon rides, and private landscaping.

In June, voters in Maine will decide whether to accept a state overhaul of its tax system that would newly tax services like tailor alterations, blimp rides, and entertainment provided by clowns, comedians and jugglers.

Though some say the proposed service taxes face opposition too fierce to succeed in many places, particularly in an election year, even some of the most ardent opponents predict that some of the taxes will scrape through. The current budget misery will probably “push the idea over the edge” in at least some states, said Robert D. Fowler, president and chief executive of the Small Business Association of Michigan.

“And they won’t be any better off for it, either,” said Mr. Fowler, who added that his members detested the notion. “It’s the wrong time, in the heat of just trying anything to find money, to have this discussion.

Maybe these clowns ought to just cut spending, particularly on the bloated staffs of government employees and political operatives.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Frank Rich Loses Me at Kristallnacht

I'm beginning to think Frank Rich does does this stuff for laughs. I mean, seriously, to invoke Kristallnacht to describe opponents of ObamaCare? Can you get any more obtuse? Does he even have the slightest remembrance of the Bush years and the countless times he was likened to Hitler?

THERE were times when last Sunday’s great G.O.P. health care implosion threatened to bring the thrill back to reality television. On ABC’s “This Week,” a frothing and filibustering Karl Rove all but lost it in a debate with the Obama strategist David Plouffe. A few hours later, the perennially copper-faced Republican leader John Boehner revved up his “Hell no, you can’t!” incantation in the House chamber — instant fodder for a new viral video remixing his rap with will.i.am’s “Yes, we can!” classic from the campaign. Boehner, having previously likened the health care bill to Armageddon, was now so apoplectic you had to wonder if he had just discovered one of its more obscure revenue-generating provisions, a tax on indoor tanning salons.

But the laughs evaporated soon enough. There’s nothing entertaining about watching goons hurl venomous slurs at congressmen like the civil rights hero John Lewis and the openly gay Barney Frank. And as the week dragged on, and reports of death threats and vandalism stretched from Arizona to Kansas to upstate New York, the F.B.I. and the local police had to get into the act to protect members of Congress and their families.

How curious that a mob fond of likening President Obama to Hitler knows so little about history that it doesn’t recognize its own small-scale mimicry of Kristallnacht. The weapon of choice for vigilante violence at Congressional offices has been a brick hurled through a window. So far.

Let's not remind Rich not a single arrest has been made related to any of these alleged incidents. Going so far as to invoke a pogrom against Jews is beyond intellectual dishonesty. Never mind the facts there still not the slightest shred of evidence any "goons" hurled "venomous slurs" at Lewis or Barney Frank. If there was it's would have been plastered across the media 24/7 the past week.

Beyond the odious Kristallnacht reference, it actually gets worse, if you can stomach it.

Mr. Rich, have you no decency? Or better yet, having seen a week's worth of this pants-wetting hysteria from your media comrades, have you not the slightest ability to be original?

'We Must Have Broken a New Record for Grosses'

Good grief, this is even more pathetic than that endless string of bomb anti-war flicks Hollywood kept churning out during the Bush years.

Uma Thurman's recent flick, "Motherhood," was dead on arrival at the box office -- raking in an inconceivable $131 at its London opening.

The Oscar-nominated actress slew more people in her "Kill Bill" series of flicks than bothered to show for the debut of the movie at the Apollo West End in Piccadilly Circus -- a mere dozen, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.

On Sunday, just one soul decided to fork over $13 to see the Katherine Dieckmann-directed film, the paper reported.

Here's what viewers were in store for: "Shot entirely on location in New York's West Village, this bittersweet comedy distills the dilemmas of the maternal state (marriage, work, self, and not necessarily in that order) into the trials and tribulations of one pivotal day."

"Motherhood" producers say the appallingly anemic take stemmed from the dunderheaded move to show the film in just one theater for its debut last Sunday.

According to the report, the producers were hoping that the exclusivity would generate buzz around the movie, with people lining up for blocks to see it.

The move has now set off a war of words between producer Jana Edelbaum and marketing firm Metrodrome.

Stinkier than a dirty diaper at the US box office -- raking in just $60,000 during its opening weekend last October -- Edelbaum's going to need to make up a lot of ground to recoup the film's $5 million production costs.

"You're kidding!" the incredulous filmmaker said when she was told about the film's performance across the pond. "We must have broken a new record for grosses."

Finally: Playboy Bunny Outfits for Sale

Well, this solves that always troublesome dilemma as to what I buy my wife for her birthday. Won't she be thrilled.

Here’s an outfit to hop up and down about.

Officially-sanctioned Playboy Bunny ensembles are now available for women, complete with fluffy cottontails.

Playboy honcho Hugh Hefner had steadfastly declined to market the Bunny outfits worn by waitresses at his Playboy Clubs, which opened in Chicago in 1960. But in honor of the 50th anniversary of the clubs – only one of which remains — he agreed to sell a limited edition “Bunny inspired” ensemble, according to The Sun.

The outfits are only available through UK sex toys and lingerie retailer Ann Summers. New York gals who don’t want to hop across the pond for their want rabbit ears can order the sexy ensemble for $67 through the Ann Summers web site.

The outfit includes “a flattering, sexy corset with ribbon corsetry for maximum shape, built-in padding for a full Bunny bust, and a sensual satin finish,” according to the chain’s web site.

The set, which is sold in sizes small, medium and large, comes with satin knickers, a satin bow tie collar and white cuffs with the Playboy logo. Of course it wouldn’t be complete with the Bunny ears headband and “a large, soft Bunny tail.” But the wearer will have to provide her own high heels.