Portland Police Re-Open Crazed Sex Poodle Case

Start sweating, fatboy

Amazing what results those National Enquirer stories get. The media formerly known as mainstream ignored the John Edwards love child story for what, two years, before actually reporting it and he's now off in no-man's land staring at indictment.

Now while police originally dismissed the allegations against the Wooden Indian and the local media buried the story, now all of a sudden it's time to re-open the case?

Hmmm. Why do I get the sneaking suspicion Gore won't be giving any of his discredited lectures in Oregon any time soon?

Portland, Oregon, police have decided to reopen the investigation into a 54-year-old masseuse's allegations that former Vice President Al Gore sexually assaulted her in his hotel room in 2006.

"The Portland Police Bureau has made the decision to re-open the case regarding the allegations brought forward against Mr. Al Gore," a statement posted on the Portland Police Bureau's website this evening said.

"Consistent with our policy regarding open investigations, the Police Bureau will not be commenting on any additional specifics regarding this case at this time," it said.

This of course sends the Gore spin machine into overdrive.

A family spokeswoman said today that the Gores welcomed the new investigation.

"Further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore," Kalee Kreider said. "The Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading, and inaccurate story generated by tabloids. Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial."

BP Chairman Busy Plugging Another Hole

Some headlines just write themselves.

Talk about getting himself into another slimy mess.

BP boss Carl-Henric Svanberg isn't feeling the heat just because of the massive oil spill threatening the Gulf of Mexico -- he's reportedly also the bad guy behind the breakup of another couple's marriage.

In legal documents obtained by The National Enquirer, Louise Julian and her hubby of 18 years filed for divorce on May 24 after Svanberg had been wooing the 51-year-old mother of three since last year.

The couple originally separated in July 2009 due to "serious and irreconcilable differences."

The National Enquirer reported the bombshell love triangle in this week's edition.

Svanberg the slimeball even vacationed with Julian on his private luxury yacht in Thailand just days after BP's Deepwater oil rig exploded April 20, killing 11 people and causing a massive disaster off the coast of Louisiana, the tabloid reported.

The 58-year-old Svanberg, who hails from Sweden, divorced his wife of 26 years in November 2009. They have three children.

According to the court papers, Louise Julian will keep the couple's home in Brookline, Mass., in addition to two homes in Stockholm. Her husband, Gary Julian, will keep the family's condo in Colorado.

Two weeks ago, Svanberg apologized after calling those affected by the oil spill as "the small people."

Pitiful: Over 100 Errors on School District's Final Exams

Naturally they try and foist it off on the publisher, who probably should be doing a better job although they're not contracted to proofread the exams. So what we've got here is a case where teachers were simply too lazy to bother proofreading these tests or are just too stupid to notice they're chock full of errors. It's not like we're talking about a couple of stray typos, either.

It's over 100 mistakes.

Superintendent of Schools Alan J. Ingram has decided to continue to do business with the New York-based company that provided error-filled exams last month, but said precautions will be taken to avoid another embarrassing final exam period next year.

"I can assure you this will not happen again," Ingram said Monday at a School Committee subcommittee meeting, responding to questions by member Antonette E. Pepe.

The exams were made public this month by Pepe, who noted that they were riddled with spelling, grammar and factual errors.

The gaffes ranged from misspellings of words such as "truning around" and "For God's skae," to confusing instructions, to a page that read "This is the end of the Test" when there were actually two more pages.

Pepe said she was alerted to the sloppy tests by teachers, and has since received a strong response from parents who wanted to know how the mistakes could have happened.

"This is about accountability," Pepe said, after Ingram had taken the blame for the incident during the meeting. "The superintendent didn't make these mistakes, but we still don't know who did."

The test provider, CTB/McGraw-Hill of New York City, was hired in January under a $374,000 contract to help develop and help implement final exams for the school system, Ingram said.

While numerous errors occurred in tests for high school students, none were reported for the lower grades, school officials said.

Ingram said the blame - which he described as a failure to proofread the final version of the exams - belonged more with local school officials than the New York company.

He said last-minute changes in formatting resulted in changes to texts that were not double checked by English and Language Arts administrators. To complicate matters, the tests were not shown to teachers in advance, eliminating the opportunity for errors to be spotted before reaching the students, Ingram said.

Since they've all got cushy union protection nothing will happen to anyone and besides, they're now all just starting a 10-week vacation.

Democrats Block Republicans From Checking on Obama's Gulf Mess

Just pathetic. Imagine the outrageously outrageous outrage that would have hit the fan if the GOP pulled a stunt like this during the Katrina aftermath.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP’s gigantic oil spill first hand.

House Democrats said no.

Scalise’s trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons, but it has also opened a new vein of partisan squabbling over who should be allowed to arrange a trip to view the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Republicans want to be able to take trips using their office spending allowance. But Democrats have heard from the Department of Homeland Security, which has asked that Congress organize trips through committees of jurisdiction, to avoid having to cater to a ton of individual lawmakers in a disaster zone, Democratic aides say. GOP leaders say they’ve heard nothing of this.

The squabbling over who gets to travel to the Gulf on whose dime is the latest sign that congressional oversight of the oil spill oversight from Capitol Hill has been bogged down by partisanship. Congress has held upwards of 20 hearings on the disaster, often duplicative ones each week, as lawmakers struggle to grasp and fully realize the scope of BP’s giant oil spill.

Scalise, who has already been to the Gulf on another codel, wants to organize a trip so lawmakers can fully grasp the impact before they vote on oil drilling regulations. And he doesn't want to do it through a committee, because the members don't fit neatly into specific panels — they stretch across committee, and even partisan, lines.

About two weeks ago, Scalise requested to be able to use his Members Representational Allowance – a fund typically reserved for office expenses and travel back to the district – to go to the Gulf with a group of about 10 other lawmakers.

He sought permission from the House Administration committee, which regulates office account spending and would have to approve the trip. After a few weeks, Scalise was ping-ponged between several committees. Eventually, John Lawrence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) chief of staff, told Scalise’s chief that “it was unlikely that the request would be granted” by the House Administration Committee.

Republicans, however, say Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.), who chairs the committee, has approved at least a dozen such trips in 2009 alone – something Democrats don’t deny.

“Unless there is some extraordinary reason to prohibit this trip – which has yet to be communicated to us – this is an unacceptable departure from past practices,” said Rep, Dan Lungren of California, the top Republican on the administration committee. “This is an educational trip for members using their own representational budgets to see, first-hand, the devastating impact of the Gulf spill. Our travel regulations permit this type of travel in support of our official representational duties, and unfortunately, this disaster is already having environmental and economical implications for the entire country – not just those districts represented by Members sitting on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.”

Ka-Ching! Tiger's Wife Gets $750 Million Payday

She's now free to pursue, guys.

Tiger Woods is banned from letting girlfriends near his kids in a divorce deal netting his ex a record $750 million settlement, The Sun reported Wednesday.

The golfer agreed to keep single women away from daughter Sam, three, and son Charlie, one.

He can bring a new flame into their lives only if he marries her. In return, former wife Elin Nordegren, 30, gets the biggest payout ever seen in a celebrity divorce.

But she can never publicly speak out over his alleged flings with socialite Rachel Uchitel, reality star Jaimee Grubbs, porn queen Joslyn James and up to 17 others.

A pal said: "Elin is desperate to protect the children from the womanizing side of their father.

"Tiger's main fear is her telling her story after he's rebuilt his reputation, sending him back to the gutter."

Swedish ex model Nordegren ended up with double the sum she originally sought, after her lawyers proved Woods, 34, was worth much more than the $1billion she thought.

Her friend explained: "Elin's legal team have done a great job digging up all sorts of assets.

"The price of the huge sum is her silence: no interviews, tell-all books, or TV appearances about this for the rest of her life -- even if Tiger dies first -- or she'll lose the lot."

Greedy Construction Unions Set to Strike in Chicago

What have they got to fear? They've got Obama in their back pocket, the Mayor of Chicago is more interested in abolishing the Second Amendment and if they don't get their way they'll just strong-arm businesses to get what they want.

It's the Chicago Way on full display.

Construction workers are preparing to strike as soon as Thursday, which would bring road-building projects such as the repaving of the Eisenhower Expressway to a standstill.

Contracts covering 15,000 Chicago-area heavy equipment operators and laborers expired June 1, but the two sides kept working in hopes of reaching a new agreement.

Talks broke down Monday, according to Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, the heavy-equipment operators’ union.

Negotiations are playing out during one of the worst recessions ever in the construction industry, with unemployment topping 20% and construction companies reeling financially.

Construction already is behind this season as funding from the state’s five-year capital bill dribbles out.

A strike would delay projects further, forcing crews to race to complete jobs before winter hits.

Employers are seeking to corral their costs, while workers are trying to maintain benefit levels, particularly health care.

Companies have offered a 1% increase in overall wages and benefits over the next three years, and workers are seeking 5%, a source familiar with negotiations said.

“We’re not seeking to unrealistically increase wages in this difficult economic climate,” says James Connolly, business manager for the Laborers’ District Council of Chicago. “But what they have come to the table with represents a significant cut to our members and jeopardizes the stability of our fringe benefit funds. And we will not settle for that.”

Tom Nordeen, chairman of the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Assn., which is representing the companies, said, "Despite the economic conditions, the locals of the Chicagoland region are asking for significant raises well in excess of cost-of-living and a continuation of their traditional rich health and retirement plans."

While unemployment in some parts of Chicago is 20% or more, these spoiled children what what they've got and more and damn if they're going to pay a nickel more for their lavish health care plans. The private sector is paying through the nose and these ingrates laugh and make threats.

They wonder why people hold these thugs in such contempt.

H/T Organized Exploitation.

Oprah's Ratings Crumble

Another Obama success story. Everything he comes near goes to mush. Let this be a lesson to celebutards and entertainers that there's a price to pay for being overtly political.

Of course the story doesn't mention the obvious connection.

Oprah is not going to go out on top.

Last week was the lowest rated in the 24-year history of her show according to Nielsen.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has been in reruns for several weeks but compared to the same week last year -- which was all reruns, too -- the ratings were down an eye-watering 23 percent, according to tvbythenumbers.com, a ratings Web site.

The audience for Oprah was just over 4 million viewers -- the lowest it has ever been since the show first went on the air in 1986.

This hasn't necessarily affected her pocketbook so she probably doesn't give a damn her audience is abandoning her.

The bottomed-out ratings have had little practical effect on the daytime talk show against which all the others are measured. Her ads remain the highest-priced on afternoon TV and getting big-name guests is still no problem.

That's based on her reputation and legacy. It cannot be disputed every since she cast her lot with Obama she was turning off a large segment of her audience, especially the Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin supporters and others who may lean right. Most Americans tend to overlook an entertainer's political leanings if they're not obnoxious about it. Winfrey went overboard and has been paying the price ever since, sliding in a downward trajectory, much like Obama's approval ratings.

'Al Gore is a Pervert and Sexual Predator'

Molly Hagerty is a brave woman for revealing her identity. Any moment now she should expect a broadside assault from the tolerant left who will do anything to destory her for accusing their hero of being a crazed sex poodle.

AL GORE SEX SCANDAL ACCUSER reveals shocking NEW EVIDENCE -- ONLY to the NATIONAL ENQUIRER in a bombshell world exclusive interview!

"AL GORE is a pervert and sexual predator," declares MOLLY HAGERTY, 54, the massage therapist who told Portland, Ore. police that the ex-VICE President sexually assaulted her.

"He's not what people think he is - he's a sick man!"

When the ENQUIRER first broke the world-exclusive story last week her name was withheld as the victim of a possible sex crime.

NOW, Hagerty has bravely gone public - AND on the record- only to The ENQUIRER - to demand police launch a full investigation.

"I want justice served," Hagerty said as she reveals the key witness who could blow the case wide open, the secret hotel video surveillance and the DNA evidence!

Bring it on.

Meanwhile, the lovely Andrea Tantaros, along with Susan Estrich, discussed the maniacal Gore last night on Hannity.

Heh: Russian Pols Claim Spy Arrests are Right-Wing Plot to Embarrass Obama

As if the "right-wingers" in this country could conspire to meet privately for lunch, let alone clandestinely operate a spy trap for over a decade knowing that years later they could use the arrests to make an inept president look even weaker than he already is.

And here we thought such delusions were only left to liberal Democrats.

So it was that the most rabid anti-American Kremlin stooges on state TV were muzzled and state TV portrayed President Medvedev’s trip to the United States last week as a sign that Russia is once again, if not exactly an equal partner, a great power whose opinion matters. Backed by generally high oil prices, the third largest international reserves in the world, and an economy that appears to be coming out of the global recession faster than Western rivals, the Kremlin is once again feeling confident.

Yet the spy row has left it in a bind. President Medvedev has invested too much political capital and too much propaganda in better relations with the United States to suddenly perform a U-turn now. The only way is forward. Russian politicians are therefore already punting a convenient conspiracy theory. The spies are not spies and the “plot” was announced just after President Medvedev’s trip to the US by American Right-wingers intent on embarrassing President Obama and killing of better relations between the two countries.

It is a theory that allows the Russians to publicly save face: it is not our new friends that have stabbed us in the back but the enemies of our new friends. Yet the real victim of the dispute may not be Mr Obama but Mr Medvedev or, more accurately, the policy vector he represents. He is the one who has publicly gambled on embracing the West, while Vladimir Putin, the prime minister and former president, has kept notably quiet on the subject and is known for his tough anti-Western rhetoric.

It shouldn't be long until some in our own media run with this theory. I figure the crack staff at MSNBC is feverishly pursuing this insane line of logic.

Putie, meanwhile, claims Russia is the real victim.

Russia is the real victim of the spy scandal, Moscow angrily said yesterday -- while the Obama administration acted embarrassed at carrying off the biggest counterespionage coup in years.

Kremlin officials acknowledged that at least 10 of the 11 suspects caught in the US spy dragnet were Russian citizens. But in a bizarre role reversal, they said this showed America was acting irresponsibly.

"Back at your home, the police went out of control," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a visiting Bill Clinton in Moscow. "Throwing people in jail."

Clinton appeared to chuckle but made no comment.

Other Kremlin leaders demanded an explanation for reviving what the Foreign Ministry labeled "Cold War-era spy stories" and making "groundless" accusations.

In contrast, President Obama dodged the issue.

While talking to reporters about the economy, Obama was asked about the arrests. "Thank you," he replied. He declined comment when asked a second time.

Speaking of Clinton, it appears an ally of his wife was a target of one of the alleged spies.

A close political ally of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton believes he was the target of one of the ten alleged Russian spies arrested in the U.S.

Alan Patricof, the former finance chairman of Clinton’s Senate campaign, confirmed that the woman known as Cynthia Murphy had worked on his account at a New York finance firm.

According to the FBI complaint filed in New York on the arrests, which were the result of a ten-year investigation, Murphy had been told to get close to a New York-based financier described as a fundraiser “for a major political party” who is “a personal friend” of a Cabinet member.

Seems the one spy receiving much of the attention isn't exactly the brightest bulb.

Those who knew Chapman from the social and club scenes described her as "sweet," "flirtatious" and "friendly" -- sometimes too friendly.

At parties, she "would be very flirtatious," said one moneyman, who encountered her at a couple of Wall Street cocktail soirees. "She was very sexually aggressive [and] wore revealing clothing . . . I thought she was a call girl because she dressed that way," said the man, who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity.

She also had problems keeping her cover stories straight.

"She made up a different story every time," he said.

"The first time, she said she ran a real-estate Web site. Then the next time, she was working on an oil deal."

"[Then] she told me she was a derivatives trader. I asked her one thing any derivatives trader would know and she didn't know what I was talking about," he said. "She was just dumb, quite frankly."

That, of course, may well be an act by the woman whose real name is Kuschenko.

If it is proven she is a spy, Chapman is one of a new breed of young attractive female agents trained in the era of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, himself a former Soviet agent, for a new age of espionage to undermine the West.

Documents in Russia reveal that Chapman’s real surname is Kuschenko. She was born in Ukraine and raised in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, southern Russia. As a teenager she studied at the Economics Department of the University of People’s Friendship in Moscow – an institution with long-standing links to the old feared KGB.

But this could all be a decoy by Russian intelligence to mask her real identity. She is widely travelled, fun-loving and a fashionably dressed Russian entrepreneur who sends her photographs to friends about her glittering, cosmopolitan lifestyle in New York, London and Moscow.

Her CV also suggests she is involved in a dizzying array of businesses, including interests in London up to 2006. In the UK she is listed as the marketing manager of a company called Navigator and also worked in the City as an investment banker. In the US she runs an online real estate business.

It was also reported last night that it was in London that she acquired her English surname after she married an Englishman and moved with him to America. But it is unclear when she married. An online friend said: “Anna loves to exchange experiences with successful entrepreneurs around the world.”

Looking at her it's easy to see how she could lure the men in.

Obama Whines: 'I Don't Have a Crystal Ball'

He doesn't have a crystal ball, he can't suck up the oil spill with a straw, he's totally in over his head, he hasn't got a clue and could we all just leave the poor baby alone so he can relax and work in a few rounds of golf?

He's frustrated!

President Barack Obama has referred to the 'obsession' with the withdrawal date for US troops from Afghanistan and reiterated his focus on making sure the mission is successful.

Mr Obama's show of frustration about when he will end the unpopular war in Afghanistan came in his closing press conference at the G-20 summit in Toronto, where industrialised countries committed to slash their budget deficits in half by 2013.

The president said the United States shares that commitment.

At the end of a week in which he dismissed his top commander in Afghanistan, Mr Obama defended his war strategy and said the United States would assist the Afghans 'for a long time to come.'

'I don't have a crystal ball,' the president said when asked about a five-year Afghanistan exit strategy endorsed on Saturday by the Group of Eight major industrial democracies.

'I think that right now the debate surrounding Afghanistan is presented as either we get up and leave immediately because there's no chance at a positive outcome, or we stay basically indefinitely and do quote unquote whatever it takes for as long as it takes.'

Of course he's the one who set the date to start withdrawal, but don't anyone bring that up right now, OK?

Meanwhile, after 70 days, The Most Incompetent President Ever has finally relented and accepted help to plug the damn hole his kid has been pestering him about.

What a sport.

This probably did the trick.

Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.

You Can Relax Now: Global Warming 'Tipping Point' Postponed Until 2200

So many tipping points, so little time. Well, actually, we've all got plenty of time and I now plan on increasing my carbon footprint to absurd levels.

Well, at least these self-proclaimed experts can now rest in eternal peace knowing none of them will still be around when they're all proven wrong.

The 14 scientists, all experts in their fields of climate research, were asked about the probability of a tipping point being reached some time before 2200 if global warming continued on the course of the worst-case scenarios predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Nine of the fourteen scientists said that the chances of a tipping point for the high scenario were greater than 90 per cent, with only one saying that the chances were less than 50:50. At current rates of CO2 emissions, the world is on course for following the higher trajectory on global warming suggested by the IPCC.

Via this hot tip.

Scott Brown Slams Sneaky Dodd and Frank Over Financial Bill

Scott Brown took a beating when he supported this financial overhaul scam, but now it sure looks like he's come to his senses.

I am writing you to express my strong opposition to the $19 billion bank tax that was included in the financial reform bill during the conference committee. This tax was not in the Senate version of the bill, which I supported. If the final version of this bill contains these higher taxes, I will not support it.

It is especially troubling that this provision was inserted in the conference report in the dead of night without hearings or economic analysis. While some will try to argue this isn’t a tax, this new provision takes real money away from the economy, making it unavailable for lending on Main Street, and gives it to Washington. That sounds like a tax to me.

Read the rest.

It's not just Brown balking at this, but the Maine twins are also having second thoughts. This bill may be deader than Sheets Byrd.

Ex-KGB Agent: There Could Be 60 Russian Spy Couples

My question is how many of them are employed by the federal government and/or the Obama administration?

One of the Cold War's most famous defectors says Russia probably has about 50 deep-cover couples — and maybe even up to 60 of them — spying inside the United States.

Oleg Gordievsky, a former deputy head of the KGB in London who defected in 1985, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would know the number of illegal operatives in each target country.

The 71-year-old ex-double agent told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday that, based on his experience in Russian intelligence, "there's usually 40 to 50 couples, all illegal."

"The president will know the number, and in each country how many — but not their names," said Gordievsky, who said he spent nine years working in the KGB directorate in charge of illegal spy teams.

The FBI announced Monday the arrests of 10 alleged deep-cover Russian agents after tracking the suspects for years. They are accused of attempting to infiltrate U.S. policymaking circles while posing as ordinary citizens. All 10 are charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general — an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

An 11th person allegedly involved in the Russian spy ring was arrested Tuesday in Cyprus.

Countries often have a number of intelligence officials whose identities are declared to their host nation, usually working in embassies, trade delegations and other official posts.

Gordievsky said he estimates there are 400 declared Russian intelligence officers in the U.S., as well as up to 50 couples charged with covertly cultivating military and diplomat officials as sources of information. He said the complexity involved in training and running undercover teams means Russia is unlikely to have significantly more operatives now than during his career.

"I understand the resources they have, and how many people they can train and send to other countries," Gordievsky said. "It is possible there may be more now, but not many more, and no more than 60 (couples)."

Chris Christie on Morning Joe; Update: Squawk Box Segment Added

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

The Baddest Governor on the Planet this morning passed his first budget and talks about it with Joe Scarborough and White House media aide Mika Brzezinski.

Christie has also called for a special session of the state legislature.

Update: An interview from CNBC's Squawk Box.





Partial transcript from Part 2:

CHRISTIE: We need to bring the public sector into the real world of what’s going on in the private sector, because the people who are paying the bills for that public sector are the folks who are losing their jobs in the private sector. We can’t have that anymore.

JOE: I saw that there was a total of 55,000 teachers that lost their jobs. That will be a number that’s thrown out, and it sounds like a lot. No one likes to see teachers lose their jobs. But there’s been literally millions and millions and millions and millions of people in the private sector that are out of work.

CHRISTIE: Joe, there’s no doubt about it. And let me give you New Jersey as an example. Last year we lost 121,000 private sector jobs in the State of New Jersey in 2009. At the same time, we added 11,300 jobs at the municipal and school board level. This is insanity and we can’t do it anymore. And I don’t want any teacher to lose their job any more than I want somebody in the private sector to lose their job, but we simply cannot print money like the federal government. We can’t afford it any longer, and everyone has to share in this sacrifice. And to this point, the public sector unions have been exempted from the sacrifice. And the people who are paying the bills, our constituents in New Jersey who are not in the public sector, and even some that are, they are tired of it. They can no longer do it. They’re losing their jobs, they’re losing their homes, they’re losing their life savings. And we have to stand up and say “no”, and that’s what we’re doing in New Jersey.

BECCA: Governor Christie, I hear your point about how the state can’t print money; the federal government can. Is the federal government, in your opinion, doing the right thing by trying to provide stimulus right now, and some of that unemployment insurance, along those lines. Do you think that because they’re in that different position, it’s the right time for them to be using those printing presses.

CHRISTIE: Becky, I have to tell you something. We’ve been using the printing presses now for almost the entire Obama administration. And we have not seen the results from that that we’re promised when we started running the printing presses.

'Definitely the First Few Times We Had Our Heave Bucket Close By'

Somehow Sarah Palin will get the blame for this.

Prepare your palate for carnivorous cocktails.

The Alaska Distillery in Wasilla just recently launched its Smoked Salmon Flavored Vodka, about a year after the Seattle-based Black Rock Spirits introduced a bacon-flavored vodka.

Both savory spirits were intended to complement Bloody Marys, but are finding wider uses among mixologists.

"I think there was some madness and some drunkenness involved, honestly," said Toby Foster, an Alaska Distillery partner and the one charged with coming up with new flavors with Alaska themes.

Foster's intent was to market a local vodka which would stand out among the numerous other bottles on the liquor store shelves.

"I was trying to think of something Alaskan. What's more Alaskan than smoked salmon? It was one of those epiphanies, I suppose," he said.

The idea turned out to be the easy part. Finding the right formula was a little more challenging.

Foster and Scotti MacDonald, another partner, said the current formula took 48 tries, and some of the first 47 attempts were downright disgusting.

"Definitely the first few times we had our heave bucket close by," MacDonald said. "It was pretty bad, and you know, greasy."

"But once we got it down and honed in on where the real secret was in making this, it was fun and games after that," she said.

Crazed Sex Poodle Ducks Media in San Diego

If Al Gore were a Republican he'd have an army of media tailing his every move. But since he's a hero to the left he gets to avoid even having to respond to allegations he's an out of control crazed sex poodle.

The San Diego Convention Center was packed with more than 11,000 human resource professionals as former Vice President Al Gore made a rare public appearance Monday.

Little has been seen of Gore in the past several weeks since confirmed reports of a split with his wife, Tipper, and after allegations surfaced that a 54-year-old masseuse in Oregon reported Gore made unwanted sexual advances toward her in 2006 and accused him of being "a crazed sex poodle."

While 10News cameras were ushered out of the Convention Center by members of Gore's camp prior to his speech, some in attendance spoke about the former vice president's appearance at the annual convention for the Society of Human Resources Management.

Pat Baker, of Arlington, Va., said, "I thought the speech was awesome. It was over my head a little bit when he talked about global warming and some of the other issues, but as an HR professional, I think it's key that we stay enlightened with all of the subjects."

What on earth mythical global warming has to do with HR professionals is anyone's guess.

Seems easy for Gore to avoid the media since hardly any outlets are even covering his appearances.

Update: Byron York says Gore's accuser is credible.

The accuser said Gore maneuvered her into the bedroom. His iPod docking station was there, he told her, and he wanted her to listen to "Dear Mr. President," a lachrymose attack on George W. Bush by the singer Pink.

"As soon as he had it playing, he turned to me and immediately flipped me flat on my back and threw his whole body face down over atop of me," she said. "I was just shocked at his craziness."

"He pleaded, grabbed me, engulfed me in embrace, tongue kissed me, massaged me, groped by breasts and painfully squeezed my nipples through my clothing, pressed his pelvis against mine, rubbed my buttocks with his hands and fingers and rubbed himself against my crotch, saying, 'You know you want to do it.'"

Finally she got away. Later, she talked to friends, liberals like herself, who advised against telling police. One asked her "to just suck it up; otherwise, the world's going to be destroyed from global warming."

Yeah, who cares is some guy just attacked you? We've got bigger issues to worry about, like saving the planet.

Thanks to Instapundit for the link.

Temptations of Technology: Monk Caught Filming Nude Women With Mobile Phone

Deep humiliation and shame in Cambodia.

A Cambodian court has questioned a defrocked monk accused of filming women who were bathing naked in sacred water at a Buddhist temple, national media reported Tuesday.

Net Khai, 37, was dismissed from the pagoda in Phnom Penh on Saturday after accusations he secretly videoed a dozen women pouring holy water over themselves in a pagoda bathroom, said municipal police chief Touch Naruth.

"This monk's act of filming naked women seriously affects our Cambodian society and Cambodian women's dignity," Touch Naruth told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.

Four women have filed complaints against the former monk, including one who claimed Net Khai had filmed her using his mobile phone and then shared the clip with others.

A court official said Net Khai would likely face charges related to the production and distribution of pornography, which carries a maximum sentence of one year and a 480-dollar-fine.

The head of the country's Mohanikaya Budhhist sect condemned the former monk's actions, but said it ought not to reflect on other monks.

"It is not connected to our monks' discipline at all, and now Net Khai is defrocked so the law can sentence him," said Supreme Patriarch Non Nget. "Yet we are sorry that this man was formerly a monk and did something repulsive to Cambodian society."

'Russian Spy' Actually a Progressive New York Journalist

Rather interesting to note one of the alleged Russian spies rounded up yesterday happens to include a journalist for New York's Spanish language paper El Diario.

Pelaez is a Peruvian-born reporter and editor and worked for several years for El Diario/La Prensa, one of the country’s best-known Spanish-language newspapers. She is best known for her opinion columns, which often criticize the U.S. government.

In January 2000, Pelaez was videotaped meeting with a Russian government official at a public park in the South American nation, where she received a bag from the official, according to one complaint.

Pelaez was born in Cusco, southeast of Lima, and worked as a journalist for the defunct daily La Prensa de Lima and later for a television station, where she gained notoriety among local journalists. On Dec 8, 1984, Pelaez, who worked for Frecuencia Latina, was kidnapped for a day and interviewed a leader of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. The interview wasn’t broadcast on television, but the following year it appeared in Marka, a newspaper with leftist leanings.

Lazaro and Pelaez discussed plans to pass covert messages with invisible ink to Russian officials during another trip Pelaez took to South America, a complaint said.
The complaint alleges authorities overheard an unguarded Lazaro once saying in his home, “We moved to Siberia ... as soon as the war started.”

Here's an article by the "progressive" journalist railing about the U.S. prison system, calling it a new form of slavery.

"The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners' work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself," says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being "an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps."

I wonder if Pelaez was a JournoList member?

A further look at the source of that piece tells you more than enough. Also worth noting about Pelaez is this.

Until now, the 10 under arrest have not been accused of espionage, but of having “conspired to act as foreign agents without being registered under the FARA law.” Among those detained is a journalist in New York, of Peruvian origin. Vicky Peláez wrote for El Diario/La Prensa, the most widely read Spanish language newspaper in the Big Apple. She was one of the few Hispanic journalists to criticize Washington’s policies toward Latin America, and who sought balance in her reports on Venezuela and other countries of the region that are normally extremely criticized in the U.S. press.

Until today, no international organization that defends journalists and freedom of expression, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA – English/SIP – Spanish), or Reporters Without Borders (RSF – French/Spanish) has made a statement about her arrest.

Their silence is telling.

Finding out more about Lazaro is interesting as well.

That name is mentioned here.

Juan Lazaro is a journalist and anthropologist, trained at the New School for Social Research, who has done extensive fieldwork in Peru.

Here it says Lazaro told people he was a professor of finance.

Meanwhile, here's a look at the couple picked up in Montclair, NJ. Love this comment.

These folks were almost certainly communists, which, of course, made it effortless for them to pass themselves off as typical residents of Montclair.

One of the spies picked up in New York looks like a real social butterfly, and looks pretty damn good.

More on her here.

Shocker! Obama Political Director 'Forgot' He Was on SEIU Payroll Last Year

Just imagine the buzz and hubbub surrounding this scandal if the JournoList were still alive.

A former top official for a huge New York union who is now the White House political director failed to disclose more than $37,000 in income from the union last year, it was reported yesterday.

As the former public-affairs executive for Service Employees International Union Local 1199, Patrick Gaspard earned $37,191 in carried-over pay while on the White House payroll.

He failed to disclose the income on financial-disclosure forms, Politico reported. Where arrangements for payment by a former employer must be listed on the form, he checked a box indicating he had nothing to report.

The discrepancy was caught by California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In a letter to the White House, he told Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina of the unstated income.

"As I am sure you are aware, there are very specific limitations on the outside earned income of presidential appointees," Issa wrote.

The administration downplayed Gaspard's failure to include the income on this and last year's disclosure forms. White House spokesman Bill Burton told Politico that the political director was in the process of correcting the forms to reflect that he did have an agreement for severance.

"We have made the small administrative change to this year's and last year's forms to indicate that part of the final payout to Patrick reflected in their typical severance of one week of pay for each of his nine years of service at Local 1199," Burton said.

Gaspard is a key player in the Obama White House, which maintains deep ties to labor unions, especially the service-industries' union. He worked for nearly a decade for SEIU 1199 before joining Obama's campaign.

According to his disclosure forms, Gaspard earned $11,550 working on Obama's transition team and made $172,200 last year as director of the Office of Political Affairs.

It was from that post that he met last September with Gov. Paterson and urged him not to seek re-election.

Is there anyone mulling a run for office Team Obama hasn't leaned on?

You may recall Gaspard's name from this story from an item we noted last fall.

Critics also accuse the Working Families Party of having a long association with the troubled activist group, ACORN. Bertha Lewis, ACORN's CEO, is one of the party's co-founders. The New York Times reported this month that "Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director, worked with ACORN in New York to set up the Working Families political party and sat on the party's board with Ms. Lewis."

ACORN and Obama, perfect together.

Speaking of the late unlamented JournoList, I wonder how tight Gaspard is with this fellow? Worth also noting is where this pimple-faced puke just landed.

Much more here on the deep ties between Obama, Gaspard, Lewis, SEIU and ACORN.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Catwoman Wanted for Armed Robbery

Cue the cheesy Batman references.

Cat Woman is on the prowl.

A serial stickup artist with a penchant for disguises -- including a cat mask -- has sunk her claws into shoe and beauty stores in Manhattan and Queens, The Post has learned.

The last two hits by the sleek, amber-eyed thief took place last week -- targeting the high-end Arche shoe store on Astor Place in the East Village on Thursday and The Body Shop in Forest Hills, Queens, the next day.

In the strike at Arche, which was caught on video, the slick thief donned a cat mask, the source said.

According to the source, the lithe 5-foot-6, 115 pound thief, described in a wanted poster as possibly Middle Eastern, strode into the store at around 1:30 p.m. She prowled for about 45 minutes before donning her disguise and pouncing on a sales clerk.

"Give me the money. I have a gun," read a note Cat Woman passed to the worker, according to the source.

She got her paws on $86 in cash and scampered off, the source said.

A day later, Cat Woman turned into the Burqa Bandit, wrapping a black scarf over her head.

Well, this sketch doesn't tell me much, so I need to see some video of the lithe 115-pounder.

Annoying 'Too Hot to Work' Babe Ruins It All By Opening Her Mouth

Look, Gloria Allred is involved so I realize this twit is going to turn on the water works and look as pathetic as possible. But let's face it, she garnered more sympathy when she left it to posing for hot photos that ran with news articles. Now we get to listen to her and she comes off as a semi-literate Fran Drescher. Yeah, I realize some guys are into that dumb girl from Brooklyn bit, though think about it, guys (and employers, too): Have the foresight to realize as smoking hot as she is, there comes a day when on her next visit she's accompanied by hatchet-face Allred.

Now that's a sobering reality no amount of Cialis will help you overcome.

I notice now she's got a nickname. For the last month she's simply been Debrahlee. Now they've added the eye-catching Debbie. This is what a high-powered attorney you. Teary-eyed presser, public humiliation and a name upgrade.

A tearful Debrahlee "Debbie" Lorenzana read a prepared statement Monday morning explaining why she is a victim of sex discrimination.

Lorenzana and her attorney, Gloria Allred, are asking for a human rights investigation. She claims she was fired from her job as a business banker job at Citibank after complaining that male colleagues called good looks distracting.

In the complaint, Lorenzana claims that she was not properly trained and, "I was a target to them."

Citibank lays the smackdown.

Natalie Riper with Citi issued a statement Monday saying:

"Unlike Ms. Lorenzana, Citibank does not intend to try this case in the media and we reiterate that her termination was based on poor performance. Although we can't speak to her previous attention-seeking activities, her current attempts to gain personal publicity are as transparent as her legal claims. We remain confident that when all of the facts and documentation are presented, the claim will be dismissed."

Important News: Shorter Skirts Signal Economic Prosperity or Something

I figure this is why I'm not an economist. Silly me just thought more women wearing miniskirts meant it was hot out.

Want to shorten the recession? Try wearing a shorter skirt.

Rising hemlines – along with upbeat songs on the radio – are signs of national optimism and can result in a happy outcome on both the economic and political scenes, according to a new research reported by the Daily Express.

When women start wearing mini skirts and happy tunes rise high on the charts, this means the nation is feeling content, according to John L. Casti, author of “Mood Matters: From Rising Skirt Lengths to the Collapse of World Powers.”

“All social events ranging from trends in pop music and art to the outcome of elections and even the rise and fall of great civilizations are biased by the attitudes a society holds to the future,” he said in the Daily Express.

When the mood is positive, he explains, events “of an entirely different character tend to occur” than when people are feeling pessimistic. “Most people think the outcome of elections causes the mood of the country to change,” Casti said. “The opposite is true.”

Casti’s not the first to believe skirt lengths can function almost like a crystal ball. The e-tailer eBay recently claimed that “miniskirt meteorology” actually forecasts the weather based on the lengths of the skirts its customers purchase, according to the Daily Mail, as reported on Stylelist.com. Sales analysts for eBay said that hemlines of skirts bought before a heat wave rise, and then drop down before the cold rolls in.

This is groundbreaking stuff. Next thing you know they'll be predicting cold weather when women start purchasing more sweaters and slacks.

Linked at Hot Air. Thanks!

'She Made Obama!'

If you need a reason why Rod Blagojevich should be locked up in a mental institution rather than prison, look no further.

As if she weren't powerful enough, Rod Blagojevich seriously considered asking Chicago heavyweight Oprah Winfrey to take over the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

"Nobody would assail this pick," he says in tapes recorded on Nov. 21, 2008. "It's huge!"

Winfrey undoubtedly looked like an attractive candidate for senate, despite her lack of political experience. She's perhaps the most recognizable figure from Chicago, she's black -- a trait Blagojevich highly favored -- and she has clout among legislators.

"She's a kingmaker!" Blagojevich says. "She made Obama!"

And she's been watching her audience abandon her since.

But even Blagojevich understood that she might not be willing to serve.

"Oprah is not far-fetched," Blagojevich contends. Then he concedes, "The odds of her f----ing taking it are slim to none."

'Men Have Better Things To Do Than Sit Around and Gawk at Women All Day Long'

These women really don't understand us at all, do they?

Asbury Park, the Jersey Shore town made famous by Bruce Springsteen, may soon get another claim to fame - its very own topless beach.

"Baring your chest is really no big deal these days," said Reggie Flimlin, who asked the Asbury Park City Council to allow women to doff their bikini tops on a stretch of city beach.

"Why are women's rights still at the bottom of the totem pole in regards to female toplessness?" asked Flimlin, 48, who runs a yoga studio in the freewheeling town.

She said she and other women occasionally go topless on a secluded part of the beach, and aren't worried about what men think.

"Men have better things to do than sit around and gawk at women all day long," Flimlin said.

She's right in one respect. Some of us are subtle enough to peek from behind the shades.

But we do look, if only because we're always in search of that perfect pair.

Asbury Park officials are considering the idea - and a city council vote is set for July 7, Deputy Mayor John Loffredo said.

"Women in other parts of the world go to the beach topless," he said. "We think New Jersey women are just as beautiful as any women anywhere in the world."

True that. But let's just hope this little piggy isn't seen topless.

'We Are a Group of Professionals'

Well, I figure it'd be a little difficult getting it on what with the weightlessness and all.

There is no room for romance on board the cosy confines of the International Space Station, a NASA space shuttle commander said Monday when asked what would happen if astronauts had sex in space.

"We are a group of professionals," said Space Shuttle Discovery commander Alan Poindexter during a visit to Tokyo, after a reporter asked about the consequences if astronauts boldly went where probably no others have been.

"We treat each other with respect and we have a great working relationship. Personal relationships are not ... an issue," said a serious-faced Poindexter. "We don't have them and we won't."

Poindexter and his six crew members, including the first Japanese mother in space Naoko Yamazaki, were in Tokyo to talk about their two-week resupply mission to the International Space Station.

The April voyage broke new ground by putting four women in orbit for the first time, with three female crew joining one woman already on the station.

Most Popular Pol in Massachusetts? Why, Scott Brown, of Course

John "Liveshot" Kerry hardest hit.

US Senator Scott Brown, who only months ago was a little-known figure even within the tiny band of Republicans in the state Senate, not only catapulted to national stature with his upset US Senate victory, but is today the most popular officeholder in Massachusetts, according to a Boston Globe poll.

After less than five months in Washington, Brown outpolls such Democratic stalwarts as President Obama and US Senator John F. Kerry in popularity, the poll indicates. He gets high marks not only from Republicans, but even a plurality of Democrats views him favorably.

The support for Brown, whose victory became a symbol of voter anger, is consistent with widespread sentiment that incumbents in Massachusetts and Washington “need to be replaced with a new crop of leaders.’’ That statement was supported by 50 percent of those polled, while 28 percent said they trust the incumbents.

Yet there’s one surprising consolation for Bay State Democrats who hope to defuse the voter backlash. When asked whether they will vote for a Democrat or Republican in their own congressional district in November, 42 percent of likely voters say they will vote for the Democrat and 27 percent will vote Republican.

While those polled tend to favor the nine Democratic incumbents running to keep their US House seats in November, Republicans can take hope in the state’s only contest for an open seat, being vacated by Democrat William Delahunt. Voters in the Southeastern and Cape and Islands communities that make up the district are evenly divided on whether they will vote for a Republican or Democrat.

The survey of 558 adults in Massachusetts, including 497 likely voters, was taken June 17-23 by the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center.

Brown’s backers can be heartened by the depth of his support.

Asked their opinion of Brown, 55 percent of those polled said they view him favorably, only 18 percent unfavorably. His rating among Republicans is 79 percent favorable, 3 percent unfavorable. And 55 percent of independents — the majority of the state’s voters — say they like him, while only 11 percent have an unfavorable opinion. The poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percent.

Despite the fact that his election in January was a crushing blow to both the state and national Democratic party, 41 percent of Democrats say they view Brown favorably, and 32 percent, unfavorably.

In contrast, Kerry was viewed favorably by 52 percent of those polled and unfavorably by 37 percent of the respondents. And in a sign that Obama is a polarizing figure even in Massachusetts, 54 percent of the respondents view him favorably and 41 percent unfavorably, according to the polling data.

If Obama is only polling at 54% in Massachusetts, he's in deep trouble come re-election time.

As to the notion there's anything "surprising" that Massachusetts will likely vote Democrat in Congressional elections there should be nothing new there considering their entire Congressional delegation is already Democrat.

H/T Spitfire Murphy.

Chris Christie Makes Pact With the Devil: 'I'm a Cowboys Fan'

Say it isn't so, Governor!

But the avid sports fan did drop one bombshell on his constituents recently.

"I'm a Cowboys fan," Christie admitted. "I'm not going to be like Hillary Clinton and wear a Cubs hat one day and a Yankees the next. I am who I am."

I'll give him points for honesty, but dude, a New Jersey native rooting for Satan's Team?

'Respected' Former Klansman Dies

One wonders whether the New York Times would call a Republican a "respected voice of the Senate" if he were a former Klansman.

I doubt it.

Robert C. Byrd, who used his record tenure as a United States senator to fight for the primacy of the legislative branch of government and to build a modern West Virginia with vast amounts of federal money, died early on Monday. He was 92.

He had been in failing health for several years.

To be fair, they at least mentioned his membership in the KKK.

Mr. Byrd’s political life could be traced to his early involvement with the Ku Klux Klan, an association that almost thwarted his career and clouded it intermittently for years afterward.

In the early 1940s, he organized a 150-member klavern, or chapter, of the Klan in Sophia, W.Va., and was chosen its leader at a meeting. After the meeting, Joel L. Baskin, the Klan’s grand dragon for the region, suggested that Mr. Byrd use his “talents for leadership” by going into politics.

“Suddenly, lights flashed in my mind!” Mr. Byrd later wrote. “Someone important had recognized my abilities.”

Mr. Byrd insisted that his klavern had never conducted white-supremacist marches or engaged in racial violence. He said in his autobiography that he had joined the Klan because he shared its anti-Communist creed and wanted to be associated with the leading people in his part of West Virginia. He conceded, however, that he also “reflected the fears and prejudices” of the time.

When Strom Thurmond passed away in 2003, he wasn't noted as a "respected" member of the Senate, rather a foe of integration.

Ex-Klansman is "respected" while a man who never was one was a "foe of integration."

Byrd's death could scuttle the current financial "reform" legislation.

Silver linings, folks.

Worth noting is the current West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin is a Democrat, so forget about a Republican assuming Byrd's seat for now, although a special election would be held in November to fill out the final two years of Byrd's term.

Yo, Markos!

Yep, the little fellow himself.

Scientists say test could predict menopause
MARIA CHENG (AP)

LONDON — Doctors could one day use a blood test to predict decades in advance when women will go into menopause, scientists say. In research to be presented on Monday at a European fertility conference in Rome, Iranian experts say their preliminary study could be a first step toward developing a tool to help women decide when they want to have children.

The test does not predict when women will lose their fertility — which typically occurs about a decade before menopause — but if doctors know when women will go into menopause, they can calculate roughly when they will run out of eggs. Scientists say the test could be especially helpful in identifying women who might go into menopause early — in their late 40s or earlier instead of their mid-50s.

At the moment, there are few clues for doctors to tell which young women may be headed for early menopause. Blood tests and ovary scans only give women a few years' advance notice.

Iranian scientists took blood samples from 266 women aged 20 to 40 and measured the amount of anti-Mullerian Hormone, or AMH, in their bodies. Testing the amount of AMH in women tells doctors how many eggs there are left in the ovaries. Two more blood samples were taken in the following six years and physical exams were also performed.

Based on the amount of AMH women had, scientists used a mathematical model to estimate when women would go into menopause. Of the 63 women in the study who have hit menopause, the researchers' prediction of the event was accurate to within four months. The study began in 1998 and is ongoing.

Read the rest

Crackpot Chavez: Israel Will Be 'Put In Its Place'

More wisdom like this and Sean Penn's good buddy will be a shoo-in for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez described Israel on Saturday as a genocidal state that acted as an assassin for the United States, predicting the Middle East nation would one day be "put in its place."

The socialist Chavez is a harsh critic of both Israel and the United States and cut relations with Israel after accusing it of "holocaust" for its 2009 offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"It has become the assassin arm of the United States, no one can doubt it. It is a threat to all of us," Chavez said, during a visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Chavez said he supported a peaceful struggle for the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967.

"The territory will one day return to the Syrian hands," Chavez said. "Of course we want it to be peaceful because we don't want more war."

"But one day the genocidal state of Israel will be put into its place, and let's hope that a really democratic state emerges there, with which we can share a path and ideas."

Chavez did not offer further details of what putting Israel "in its place" would entail.

Doesn't seem he's thought it out much. But hey, why worry about details when you have a grander vision.

"Arab civilization and our civilization, the Latin American one, are being summoned in this new century to play the fundamental role of liberating the world, saving the world from the imperialism and capitalist hegemony that threaten the human species," Chavez said. "Syria and Venezuela are at the vanguard of this struggle."

Hundreds of Raging Tea Party Rioters Arrested

Having sack and pillaged their way across the fruited plain, raucous and angry so-called "Tea Partiers" have now spread their mayhem across the border into Canada. They should consider taking a cue from their peaceful, non-violent friends on the left as to how to properly demonstrate with dignity and civility.

Police said they were preparing for more disruptions Sunday after groups of protesters burned cars, hurled bricks and smashed windows as they tried to penetrate the fence surrounding the G-20 summit.

"I do not believe that the individuals bent on vandalism and violence in our city have finished with their intent, so we will remain vigilant," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said Saturday night.

More than 300 people were arrested Saturday, and 412 have been arrested since June 18, said Jillian Van Acker, spokeswoman for the Integrated Security Unit. There were no reports of serious injuries to either protesters or police, she said.

Blair told reporters that packs of disruptive demonstrators infiltrated peaceful protests in order to cause chaos and distract police.

"These criminals rely on the anonymity of hiding in a larger group of the curious and the naive," he said.

At least four police cars went up in flames and smoke during hours of confrontation.

Protesters left behind broken windows and graffiti. Blair said police used tear gas after warning a group of protesters "engaged in acts of destruction" Saturday.

Security estimates hover around $1 billion in Canada.

So what does the media fret about there? Why civil liberties, of course.

'Everybody’s in Charge, So No One’s in Charge'

So how's that Gulf oil spill cleanup coming along? Uh, well, nothing seems to be happening. One can imagine 24/7 coverage of the lack of action had this happened during the Bush administration, but it seems as if much of the media has taken a pass at noting the lack of progress. Maybe if the movers and shakers on the late unlamented JournoList suggested Obama take action things would have been cleaned up by now.

A morning flight over the Mississippi Sound showed long, wide ribbons of orange-colored oil for as far as the eye could see and acres of both heavy and light sheen moving into the Sound between the barrier islands. What was missing was any sign of skimming operations from Horn Island to Pass Christian.

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor got off the flight angry.

"It’s criminal what’s going on out there," Taylor said minutes later. "This doesn’t have to happen.”

A scientist onboard, Mike Carron with the Northern Gulf Institute, said with this scenario, there will be oil on the beaches of the mainland.

“There’s oil in the Sound and there was no skimming,” Carron said. “No coordinated effort.”

Taylor said it was a good thing he didn’t have a mic in the helicopter, because he might have said some things he didn’t want his children to hear.

“They’re paying all these boats to run around like headless chickens,” Taylor said, as reporters gathered to hear his assessment of the Sound.

There has been hope among state officials the islands would stop a lot of the oil and skimmers could take care of the passes or breaks between the islands.

Horn Island was doing its part Saturday, observers pointed out. The wiggly lines of sheen were coming straight at it from the south, headed for the island’s southern beaches. The island had boom in place to protect the inlets and sensitive wetlands along its northern shore, the side that faces the mainland.

Even the Pascagoula River was doing its part.

Carron pointed out the line where the river’s fresh water met the Sound’s salt water near Horn Island. All along the line was the orange oil caught between the two types of water and held at bay.

But where the failure came was in the human effort.

There were dozens of boats of all sizes running around, some leaving trails through the sheen. Two boats among a group near Ship Island were pulling boom in a line, but not using it to round up oil. That was at 10 a.m.

Taylor slipped a note to a fellow passenger.

It said: “I’m having a Katrina flashback. I haven’t seen this much stupidity, wasted effort, money and wasted resources, since then.”

Back on land in Gulfport, Taylor let loose.

“A lot of people are getting paid to say, ‘Look! There’s oil’ and not doing anything about it,” Taylor said. “There shouldn’t be a drop of oil in the Sound. There are enough boats running around.

“Nobody’s in charge,” Taylor said. “Everybody’s in charge, so no one’s in charge.


“If the president can’t find anyone who can do this job,” he said, “let me do it.”

Obama's Favorite Racist Reverend: 'White Folk Done Took This Country'

Admit it, you've kind of missed the raging racist reverend the past couple of years, haven't you? Especially when you're in need of a good chuckle and a heaping helping of ridiculous statements from an angry, semi-literate tool who just so happens to be the guy who indoctrinated the President of the United States with his bilge for 20 years.

Well, he's back and still as crazy as ever.

He's been keeping such a low profile since nearly derailing Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008 -- is it possible that the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright has mellowed?

Hardly.

During a five-day seminar Wright taught last week at the University of Chicago, he was back at it, claiming that whites and Jews are controlling the flow of worldwide information and oppressing blacks in Israel and America.

"White folk done took this country," Wright said. "You're in their home, and they're gonna let you know it."


The course, advertised as focusing on politics and public policy in South Africa and America, was taught in a small, ground-floor room at the Chicago Theological Seminary on the university campus, where Wright's voice echoed out an open window. The class was composed of about 15 to 20 students, mainly older African-American women who would arrive early and giddily linger during lunch breaks and after class, looking for the reverend's attention. (The course cost a little over $1,000 if taken for college credit and $300 if taken without.)

People actually pay money to hear this garbage? Heck, just go to the video archive from a couple of years ago. Sounds like the same stale nonsense we saw when first blessed with his presence.

"You are not now, nor have you ever been, nor will you ever be a brother to white folk," he said. "And if you do not realize that, you are in serious trouble."

He cited the writings of Bill Jones -- author of the book "Is God a White Racist?" -- as proof that white people cannot be trusted. "Bill said, 'They just killed four of their own at Kent State. They'll step on you like a cockroach and keep on movin', cause you not a brother to them.' "

Wright referred to Italians as "Mamma Luigi" and "pizzeria." He said the educational system in America is designed by whites to miseducate blacks "not by benign neglect but by malignant intent."

He said Ethiopian Jews are despised by white Jews: "And now the Knesset [Israeli parliament] is meeting with European Jews, voting on whether or not these African Jews can get into [Israel]."

The civil-rights movement, Wright said, was never about racial equality: "It was always about becoming white . . . to master what [they] do." Martin Luther King, he said, was misguided for advocating nonviolence among his people, "born in the oven of America."

"We probably have more African-Americans who've been brainwashed than we have South Africans who've been brainwashed," he said, and seemed to allude to President Obama twice: "Unfortunately, I got in trouble with a fella for saying this . . . All your commentaries are written by oppressors." At the mention of Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan -- whom Obama disavowed during the campaign -- black leaders "go cuttin' and duckin'," he said.

In March, Wright told The Washington Post that he expects to speak to Obama again, when "he is out of the White House." Last June, he told a Virginia newspaper that the only reason he and the president were not speaking at the moment is that "them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me."

Ah, good times.

Speaking of Wright, it's been over two years now and Obama still hasn't found another house of worship to attend on Sundays. Imagine if he spent as much time searching for one as he spends playing golf.

Obama Ditches His Media Admirers Again

Seems to be a recurring pattern here. Though I'm figuring Obama had himself a secret golf engagement to scurry to or something.

Holed up with seven other global leaders in the woods of Muskoka, Canada, President Barack Obama gave the White House press corps the slip last night.

The president is attending the G-8 and G-20 summits with his global counterparts this weekend. The G-8 began yesterday in Muskoka in Huntsville, Ont., and ends today. The G-20 is in Toronto, about 150 miles away, and starts this afternoon.

Last night, the White House sent the press corps — which by agreement stays close to the president in order to report on any incident — back to Toronto, leaving the president 150 miles behind.

Perhaps he need a little more burger time with his Russian comrade. Whatever the case, his stenographers are upset.

It is highly unusual for the president to shun his permanent media detail that way, particularly at a high-profile event in a remote location. One White House aide speculated that it was due to scarce accommodations in Muskoka — which is a resort area. But Mr. Obama, who’s been quite vocal in his disdain for the press at times, has blown off his press corps in the past. The White House Correspondents’ Association complained to press secretary Robert Gibbs recently when the president left the White House on a Saturday, avoided the waiting press corps, and attended his daughter’s soccer game in Northwest D.C. This is a far more significant offense than that one, and is likely to draw another complaint.

And you'll just get the back of the hand from these goons.

'Let Us Sing a Song About the Wonderfulness of Nancy Pelosi'

With one sentence Gail Collins of the New York Times forfeits her and her newspaper's credibility for all time.

What is this, North Korea? We don't sing song to our leaders, unless you're some captive schoolkids signing to our own Dear Leader, which is bad enough as it is.

Yet here we have a alleged journalist gushing like a grade-schooler, urging us to sing songs in homage to a hack with an 11% approval rating when last polled.

Just pathetic.

Let us sing a song about the wonderfulness of Nancy Pelosi.

What a run she’s been on. This week — with the big financial reform package edging toward completion, and the House approving a major campaign finance reform bill — was a reminder of what an incredibly productive speaker she’s become.

Last winter, when Washington was backing away from the whole health care deal after the Republicans won Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, Pelosi was uncowed. “We’ll go through the gate. If the gate’s closed, we’ll go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll pole vault in,” she said. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re going to get health care reform passed for the American people.”

I sort of like the image of Nancy Pelosi parachuting in. Would she wear her high heels? Probably not, but her hair would still look as if it had been blow-dried by a stylist on the way out of the airplane.

She’s a 70-year-old perpetual motion machine who seems, in her public appearances, both ultra-programmed and ultra-intense. Many Americans were first introduced to her when the new speaker sat behind President Bush at his State of the Union speech in 2007, blinking so ferociously that she seemed to be sending out Morse code distress calls from the back of the podium.

In conversation, she’s a runaway train. Talking about global warming in an interview last week, she warned: “You don’t want me to go into the melting of the polar cap and the glaciers and the great rivers of Southeast Asia and the water supply in Tibet and the encroachment of the Gobi Desert and the sandstorms in Beijing and the rise of sea level in all of our maritime areas in the world and. ... I would just recommend you go to Alaska to see what is happening.”

The Republicans have turned Pelosi into the Demon Grandmother — in ads, a satanic figure in the flames of deficit spending, or a 50-foot monster smashing houses with her big-government feet. (She seems utterly indifferent to the endless public pummeling — although she did express some dismay, in an interview with The Times’s Mark Leibovich, that people had been speculating that she might have had a face-lift.)

Where would anyone get the impression Pelosi's had a facelift?

Collins, meanwhile, tosses in this howler:

Pelosi has actually been very good on ethics. Under her watch in the House, earmarks are fewer and more transparent. Travel rules are tighter. She fought for the creation of a new in-house watchdog, the Office of Congressional Ethics, pushing it over the wire by one vote. Since then, the aggressive ethics office has won the rancor of investigated members of Congress and the hearts of good-government groups.

Two words for that idiocy: Charlie Rangel.

She's been transparent? Huh?

Does anyone at the Times ever bother to check Coliins' drivel before it's printed or is this intended to be self-parody?

She has been around a long time and must have known that from the start. But she pushed anyway. Pelosi is an idealist working in the practical now. She genuinely sees her party as a vehicle for good and her pragmatism is not the least bit cynical. She is the most powerful woman in the country, the most fearless person on Capitol Hill and on track to be one of the most productive speakers in history.

I don’t know about you, but that kind of knocks me out.

I think it was the overdose of hallucinogens that knocked Collins out.