Only seasoned veterans actually drink the stuff - and they prefer it straight from the tap.
Breast milk is sickly sweet and stays on the back of your throat for hours. I am aware of this knowledge because I just drank some.
I’ll get to the why in a moment, but first, the results: It smelled like nothing. Taking a whiff of it was like taking a whiff of air. So far, so good. Then I took a healthy gulp. It had the consistency of thick-ish sugar water, with maybe a hint of vanilla, something almost caramel-like. It was, in a word, good.
But like many rich foods, a little bit is sometimes even too much. My palate rejected it within moments, and I couldn’t get the taste and sensation of it out of my gullet.
Never mind the fact that Obamacare's individual mandate was ruled unconstitutional several weeks ago by not one but two federal district court judges. That hasn't stopped the administration from proceeding apace with implementing the law, in clear contempt of court. Appeals are for suckers, anyway. Why bother, right?
But wait! King Obama is now generously considering allowing states to have the 'flexibility' to opt out of Obamacare's bipartisanly loathed individual mandate. The only catch: They must hop on the fast track to single-payer, the Socialist Holy Grail that Obama wanted all along but never had the votes in Congress to pass, despite huge Democrat supermajorities in both Houses.
Seeking to appease disgruntled governors, President Obama announced Monday that he supported amending the 2010 health care law to allow states to opt out of its most burdensome requirements three years earlier than currently permitted.
In remarks to the National Governors Association, Mr. Obama said he backed legislation that would enable states to request federal permission to withdraw from the law’s mandates in 2014 rather than in 2017 as long as they could prove that they could find other ways to cover as many people as the original law would and at the same cost. The earlier date is when many of the act’s central provisions take effect, including requirements that most individuals obtain health insurance and that employers of a certain size offer coverage to workers or pay a penalty.
“I think that’s a reasonable proposal; I support it,” Mr. Obama told the governors, who were gathered in the State Dining Room of the White House.
“It will give you flexibility more quickly while still guaranteeing the American people reform.”
The announcement is the first time Mr. Obama has called for changing a central component of his signature health care law, although he has backed removing a specific tax provision that both parties regard as onerous on business. The shift comes as the law is under fierce attack in the courts and from Republicans on Capitol Hill and in statehouses around the country.
The bipartisan amendment that Mr. Obama is now embracing was first proposed in November, eight months after enactment of the Affordable Care Act, by Senators Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, a Democrat, is now a co-sponsor.
Quick side note to Scott Brown: I'd like my stinkin' twenty bucks back now, Senator. With interest.
Continuing...
The legislation would allow states to opt out earlier from various requirements if they could demonstrate that other methods would allow them to cover as many people, with insurance that is as comprehensive and affordable, as provided by the new law. The changes also must not increase the federal deficit.
Well, of course - Obama is a real stickler when it comes to the deficit.
That is what is called a retweet from the official White House Twitter account in which they cite Fox News. I am not sure if that is supposed to be something the TOTUS said today or an attempt by Fox at humor, but I think most clear thinking people by now can recognize satire when they see it. I double checked to be sure that this wasn't something from the fine folks at The Onion News Network.
"If your state can create a plan that can cover as many people as affordably and comprehensively as the Affordable Care Act does, without increasing the deficit, you can implement that plan and we'll work with you to do it," Obama said.
That's a mighty big if, since not even his plan will reduce the deficit but rather increases it exponentially.
GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) reportedly directed a few profane insults toward President Obama's healthcare law in a speech late last week.
During at an appearance at an event sponsored by the Utah State University College Republicans, Hatch was asked if he thought the nation's healthcare system needs serious reforms. He acknowledged that states have different problems when it comes to healthcare, but called the federal law Democrats passed last year a "dumb-ass program" that will not solve them. "Every state has different demographics, every state has different problems," Hatch said, according to a Utah Statesman report published Monday. "It's good to allow them to work out their own problems rather than a one-size-fits-all federal government dumb-ass program. It really is an awful piece of crap."
Hatch apologized for swearing, according to the Statesman. Hatch explained that "he does not swear often. He said he is passionate about the health care debate and would repent for using the words that he did," the Statesman wrote.
I suspect Sen. Hatch wouldn't be quite as blunt if he didn't face a possible primary challenge from Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
Last Friday.... after the Assembly voted to engross the Budget Repair Bill, Hintz turned to a female colleague, Rep. Michelle Litjens and said: "You are F***king dead!"
New tone, indeed. Will he be held accountable?
Doubtful. He's a Democrat and they aren't accountable for a damn thing.
Appleton police say a municipal citation they issued to state Rep. Gordon Hintz earlier this month is connected to a prostitution investigation involving an Appleton massage parlor.
The 37-year-old Oshkosh Democrat was arrested Feb. 10 and cited the next day under a city sexual misconduct ordinance. He is scheduled to appear April 27 in front of an Outagamie County court commissioner.
We're from the government and we're here to help scam you.
I'd feel sorry for these people if they weren't such suckers for the green hoax.
It isn't easy going green, and it might also prove costly.
Dozens of District residents who installed solar panels on their homes under a government grant program promoting renewable energy have been told they will not be reimbursed thousands of dollars as promised because the funds were diverted to help close a city budget gap.
In all, the city has reneged on a commitment of about $700,000 to 51 residents, according to the D.C. Department of the Environment. The agency has pledged to try to find money in next year's budget, its director, Christophe Tulou, said.
"It just doesn't seem fair to go through a process with them and have them make investments in solar panels under the assumption they would be reimbursed," Tulou acknowledged. "It's really sad we are having these economic woes when we are."
The abrupt suspension of the city's Renewable Energy Incentive Plan, an annual $2 million fund that was supposed to last through fiscal 2012, threatens to dampen budding enthusiasm for clean energy among homeowners. The program has helped 315 people install solar panels, with another 417 on a waiting list that has been closed by city officials.
D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who is leading the push for a sustainable energy utility to encourage green energy in the District, said officials are scouring the environmental agency's budget in hopes of finding reimbursement money for the 51 homeowners this year.
But, she said, "I would think people would take a cautious approach" to future installations.
People should take a cautious approach to believing any of the nonsense coming from these Democrats.
That came as a shock to Brian Levy, 35, who received a letter from Tulou on Jan. 25 informing him that the city would be unable to pay him the $12,200 it had promised last September. In October, Levy had hired a contractor, Green Brilliance, to install a $27,500 solar energy system on the roof of his rowhouse on Florida Avenue in Northwest. The work was completed in December.
"I'm not ready to throw a molotov cocktail at the D.C. government, but I'm very disappointed," Levy said. That money "is my backup fund I use in case of sickness, my safety fund."
Some day in the not-too-distant future there will be multi-billion class action lawsuits against the hucksters who've pulled these green scams. By then they'll have moved on to some new scaremongering, no doubt.
Her nicknames may include 'wolf girl' and 'monkey face'.
But 11-year-old Thai girl Supatra Sasuphan today insisted that she was after being officially recognised as the world's hairiest girl.
Although the schoolgirl from Bangkok has faced merciless teasing at school, Supatra says being given a Guinness World Record for her hair has helped her become extremely popular.
'I'm very happy to be in the Guinness World Records! A lot of people have to do a lot to get in,' she said. 'All I did was answer a few questions and then they gave it to me.'
Supatra is one of just 50 known sufferers of Ambras Syndrome - caused by a faulty chromosome - to be documented since the Middle Ages. Before the disease was understood, sufferers were branded 'werewolves.'
She has thick hair growing over her face, ears, arms, legs and back. Even laser treatment has failed to stop the hair growth.
But while most sufferers have been shunned, Supatra has gradually been embraced by her community, and became a popular and outgoing child.
I realize the bar for media standards is set pretty low, but this is just ridiculous. We greeted this tale yesterday with a healthy dose of skepticism, and for good reason.
On Sunday morning, the economics analyst and TV commentator Barry Ritholtz dropped a bombshell on his blog: Roger Ailes, the powerful president of Fox News, will be indicted in connection with allegedly telling a News Corp. executive to lie to federal investigators, according to Ritholtz's blog post.
The story, which was based on what an unnamed source told Ritholtz, quickly boomeranged around the Web and Twitter. Several well-read web sites, including Business Insider and Political Wire, picked up the report.
As it turns out, Ritholtz's source for the post was a man he happened to meet and strike up a conversation with at a Barbados airport over the weekend, he told me in an interview this afternoon.
Here's what happened, according to Ritholtz, who just got back from a vacation on the tropical island: He was sitting in the Barbados airport waiting for a plane to arrive and he struck up a conversation with an older man sitting next to him.
"We started chatting and next thing I know, we're waiting to leave the gate, his phone rings and he tells his wife, 'yeah Ailes just canceled the event,' Ritholtz says, describing the man as "obviously annoyed and frustrated."
The man runs an annual event in March at which Ailes was scheduled to speak, according to Ritholtz, who declined to specify the event. When he asked the man why Ailes canceled, the man said Ailes was about to be indicted. He describes the man, who he would not name, as an "Upper East Side Democrat."
So some obscure blogger can claim to meet a stranger in an airport who supposedly peddles uncorroborated speculation and all of a sudden he unequivocally declares a man will be indicted today?
This isn't even a thin gruel. There's nothing there but wishful thinking. But hey, it got the guy plenty of traffic, I'm sure, so he no doubt thinks making things up is worthwhile.
I have no idea how he'll blame Bush for any of this, but rest assured, he'll try. They says his is a historic presidency. By the time his term is up he'll have presided over the loss of at least 10 million jobs. Indeed, that's historic. Making matters worse, he doesn't even care.
Industry officials say with confidence that 7.3 million jobs will disappear if the Obama administration goes through with tighter rules to reduce smog. The industry-sponsored researcher who came up with that number isn't so sure.
"There's uncertainty around that," economist Don Norman said of the "shockingly high" job loss number he extrapolated using a study sponsored by the oil and natural gas industry's American Petroleum Institute and covering just 11 states.
"Even if the numbers are half of that, the number is huge," he said.
I'd have probably thrown up if I'd bothered to watch this dreck.
President Obama made a cameo at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, broadcast on Sunday.
The president appeared in a montage of man-on-the-street interviews, during which participants were asked to name some of their most memorable songs from movies.
Obama appeared in the montage to say that his favorite was "As Time Goes By," the song sung by actor Dooley Wilson in the classic "Casablanca."
Of course Obama's the first person I think of whenever I hear that song.
Memo to Hollywood: America doesn't care to see Obama when they go to the movies. If anything, they're trying to get away from seeing his face.
Frank Buckles, who lied about his age to get into uniform during World War I and lived to be the last surviving U.S. veteran of that war, has died. He was 110.
Buckles, who also survived being a civilian POW in the Philippines in World War II, died peacefully of natural causes early Sunday at his home in Charles Town, biographer and family spokesman David DeJonge said in a statement. Buckles turned 110 on Feb. 1 and had been advocating for a national memorial honoring veterans of the Great War in Washington, D.C.
When asked in February 2008 how it felt to be the last of his kind, he said simply, ``I realized that somebody had to be, and it was me.'' And he told The Associated Press he would have done it all over again, ``without a doubt.''
Before there was "The Greatest Generation", there was his generation. This serves as a reminder that this country is constantly blessed to have such fine men and women who are willing to step up and be members of the latest greatest generation. That is not meant to be a slight on those who served in WWII, it is meant to be praise for all who serve. As long as such people exist America will somehow manage to weather the bad times as well as enjoy the good times.
At this point in our history, I think a majority of Americans would cheer a government shutdown. Just think of the billions we'd save if we shut things down for a few days.
Whatever the case, Democrats want a shutdown. They're still living in 1995, thinking they can bamboozle the public into believing Republicans want to throw grandma out in the street and make her eat dog food. Demagoguery is all they've got left in the outdated playbook.
Twenty-nine percent of likely voters would blame Democrats for a government shutdown, compared to 23 percent who would hold Republicans responsible, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill.
The results are surprising because most people blamed the GOP for the last government shutdown, which occurred during President Clinton’s first term. A week before the 1995 shuttering, polls showed the public blamed Republicans by a two-to-one-margin.
The Hill’s survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, comes as lawmakers are heading into high-stakes spending negotiations that will seek to avert a shutdown.
Republicans have a substantial edge among independents: Thirty-four percent would blame Democrats, while only 19 percent would blame the GOP.
Fleebagger Democrats have already done their best to shut down government in Wisconsin and Indiana and I don't see any groundswell of support for their infantile tactics.
Well, they're pretty much already here. It's called union thuggery, and it's all being orchestrated by the Obama White House.
Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan predicted on Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings that mirror those in the Middle East.
“What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt … Libya, in Bahrain … what you see happening there … you’d better prepare because it will be coming to your door,” Farrakhan said in a booming voice, thousands of followers cheering in his wake.
Farrakhan also called on President Barack Obama to allow protesters to march, urging the president not to attack innocent people when they do.
Not sure if this maniac is aware of something called the Second Amendment. When it comes to our doors, we'll be prepared.
Just saying.
As to his warnings to Obama, that's falling on deaf ears. His union thugs are already attacking people.
Poor Bernie Madoff. Now he's the victim. The guy was just an innocent bystander as he scammed billions.
Bernie Madoff, the reviled Ponzi schemer who ruined so many people, thinks he's the one you should feel sorry for.
Turns out, keeping the whole billion-dollar scheme secret from his family was a major burden.
"It was a nightmare for me," he said. "Even the regulators felt sorry for me...They said, 'How did you live with this? Not being able to tell anybody?'"
In a series of phone interviews with New York magazine, Madoff repeatedly said he wasn't trying to justify what he did - and then he repeatedly tried to justify what he did.
"These people probably would've lost all that money in the market," he said from prison in Butner, N.C., where he just wrapped up the first year of his 150-year sentence.
He blamed his clients - the fat cats and charities and foundations who lost billions in his bogus investment fund - for failing to question how he kept making steady profits even in down years.
"These banks and these funds had to know there were problems," Madoff said.
He noted that he never explained his strategies or methods.
"I absolutely refused to do it. I said, 'You don't like it, take your money out,' which of course they never did," he said.
He says he told all of his investors not to risk any money they couldn't afford to lose. But, he said, "everyone was greedy."
When they begged him to invest their money, "I just went along," Madoff said.
He just went along. One day he woke up and realized what he'd done, but just went along.
His surviving son, Andrew, won't speak to either of his parents. The New York magazine writer said he suspected Madoff granted the interview as a way of speaking to Andrew.
Madoff said he cried for two weeks over his son's suicide.
"Not a day goes by that I don't suffer," he said.
Madoff pal Chuckie Schumer was unavailable for comment. He's busy with more pressing concerns, like WiFi.
Their ranks swollen after the last election, Republican governors from Florida to Alaska are undermining President Barack Obama's agenda at every turn ahead of the Democrat's 2012 re-election campaign.
Some are rejecting federal money for high-speed rail. Many are fighting the president's health care law. And several are going after the Democratic Party's bedrock constituency, pushing laws that would weaken the power of unions.
Not that any Republican governor will acknowledge that this is politics at play - even if it is.
Gee, ya think?
Now that's some piercing insight from the National Political Editor. Imagine the chutzpah of these Republicans to try and thwart the radical agenda of the opposition party. What's gotten into them?
But left unsaid in interviews with governors attending this weekend's National Governors Association meeting was this: Republicans, particularly in places with many electoral votes, like the Midwest, are fully aware that stymieing Obama's plans in the states could weaken him just as he tries to make the case to the country that he should get a second term.
Poor Obama. It's almost as if he doesn't have a bully pulpit from which his Teleprompter can give daily speeches. How will he ever counter the ill effects of these evil men trying to ruin him?
Sure, this will probably happen. Right after Karl Rove is frogmarched from the White House.
Here’s what I learned recently: Someone I spoke with claimed that Ailes was scheduled to speak at their event in March, but canceled. It appears that Roger’s people, ostensibly using a clause in his contract, said he “cannot appear for legal reasons.”
I asked “What, precisely, does that mean?”
The response: “Roger Ailes will be indicted — probably this week, maybe even Monday.”
Isn't sending his chief thug Richard Trumka on his behalf enough for these people? Do they really believe the Coward-in-Chief is going to show up and walk a picket line like he promised to? Apparently they don't realize how gutless he is? I hope he does as it will guarantee his defeat in 2012.
Liberals on Capitol Hill are upping the pressure on President Obama to amplify his support for public workers in Wisconsin and beyond.
Although Obama sided with Wisconsin's public employees in their protest against a GOP plan to dissolve collective bargaining rights, a growing number of Democrats say he shouldn't stop there. Some want him to visit Madison as a show of solidarity with the protesters.
"He's made some statements, he should get credit for that," Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus told MSNBC Wednesday. "[But] we'd like to hear him make some more statements. I think President Obama should come to Wisconsin and stand with the workers."
Perhaps encouraged by such comments, other members of the Progressive Caucus are also prodding the president to use the bully pulpit more forcefully amid the labor battle.
"I appreciate the fact that President Obama came out in support of workers in Wisconsin," Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said in an email, "but I would like to see him do more to stand by the public employees and what they're fighting for."
Another member of the Progressive Caucus, Rep. Judy Chu, agreed. The California Democrat urged Obama to take "as strong a stance" as possible to protect workers' rights nationwide.
"Collective bargaining helped create the middle class in this country by raising worker wages, increasing benefits and promoting work-life balance through the 5 day and 40 hour work week," Chu said in an email. "I hope President Obama will be as visible as possible on this issue."
Snap out of it. He'll throw these folks under the bus if it means it'll get him one more vote. These poor idiots just don't realize how useful they are to Obama.
During Barack Obama's 837th White House party the other night, musician John Legend decided it was time to play politics by claiming he didn't want a tax cut. Of course he was incorrect with the facts, but let's cut him some slack. Nobody's ever confused him with a rocket scientist.
Singer John Legend was in Washington to sing at the White House on Thursday but he had a few choice words for the politicians in town, too.
Legend told reporters before an evening concert celebrating Motown's music that too often the arts are the first thing to go when budgets need to be cut. "People fought to give me — a millionaire — a tax cut this year," he said. "I didn't need it. And all the other millionaires didn't need it either."
Actually, nobody's been given tax cuts this year. He's confused the extension of the Bush tax cuts for a new tax cut, apparently. Although he's had 10 years to speak out, he mysteriously waited until this week to say something. Maybe someone could remind Legend he can always opt to voluntarily pay at a higher rate. That's what amuses me with these folks. They always say they don't need a tax cut, yet they never willingly pay more.
Anyway, while Legend claims he doesn't want his taxes to be any lower, oddly enough he's taking advantage of a little-known tax abatement in New York City. Funny how that is.
John Legend decries his federal income-tax cut -- but he's OK with the massive tax break New York City is giving him.
The singer told the White House press corps Thursday night that he and other millionaires don't need tax breaks.
But the "Ordinary People" singer saved over $50,000 last year in property taxes on his swank Bowery condo, thanks to a little-known city abatement program.
The "421-a program" -- created in the 1970s to aid a stalled housing market while also generating new affordable housing -- allows Legend and other rich and famous denizens to save hundreds of thousands of dollars over as long as 25 years.
Obviously once Legend gets wind he's taking advantage of the system he'll be stepping right up to cut a check for $50,000, right?
Obviously since he's such a man of the people, Legend will not only give back all the money he's saved over these generous tax abatements, he'll voluntarily open up his tax filings for all to see so we can admire his generosity.
One thing he's generous with: Contributions to the DNC, Democrats and various leftwing political causes, under his real name John Stephens.
Here we have yet another hyper-enlightened union protestor who we can rest assured won't be getting much face time on the cables.
If only he was a tea partier.
So confident is this lunatic that Republicans are white supremacists!!!1! that he proclaims it on a Big Fancy Sign and is even prepared to fork over a million dollars* to anyone who dares to prove him wrong.
A jury heard evidence Tuesday in a divorce case involving Rockdale County sheriff candidate Donald Ferguson, including allegations that he conned a woman into marrying him for political gain and strategy.
Hold on now, how can I make the assertion that this man is a Democrat? Easy, this is how.
Democrats are like the sharks of the political world. There is nothing they won't politicize. From the food we eat to the air we breathe to how colleges crown a national champion in football. Single minded and single purpose. It is all about manipulation and control. I guess anybody who votes Democrat could quite rightly cite in their defense the battered wife syndrome or Stockholm syndrome.
Jammie posted the video earlier of the union loving folks using a war memorial as a post-it notes bulletin board as part of a larger post and I just couldn't let it rest there, so forgive me putting down my thoughts on the matter.
First off I actually saw the video after Instapundit linked to Ann Althouse's blog about the matter. I wish to commend the people who confronted the folks manning the booth for remaining so civil, but something inside of me just went dead while watching that. I don't know if is because of the cumulative effect of having to wage verbal and written jujitsu with so many liberals of all stripes for the last ten years or if it was the introspection I underwent in wondering what my 20 years of service meant and how things haven't changed in this country with respect to our military and an appreciation of their sacrifices.
I remember back to when I enlisted, I was working full time for a printing company doing photographic screening and setup for the guys working the printing presses. Upon hearing I had enlisted in the Army, much to my surprise they weren't like other folks who went about tsk-tsking, instead they chided me for not going into the Marines. It was then I found out that a good many of them had prior military service and I had been working there over a year. They hid their service either out of shame or fear or because maybe to them it wasn't any big deal. They had done their time and moved on.
Flash forward about six months and it was me walking through the Atlanta airport with my parents headed to catch a plane for the first 3 year tour in Germany. A young man, my age, maybe a little older veers over in our direction, calls me a baby killer and attempts to spit on me. Discipline instilled by drill instructors took hold and my normal personality of being a smart ass took over and I quipped something about how he must have me confused with an abortion doctor and we continued on our way. I can't forget the look of hurt on my parents face however while I was reassuring them that it was alright and to forget about it. That was 1978.
In the ensuing decades the military went through periods of ups and downs. Shame while Carter was president to chest bursting pride when Reagan was, and just a gallows humor sort of mentality while Clinton held the office. The one constant however was a downplaying of being a member of military, just as our young men and women today do. Just like those guys I worked with, it was a sense of just doing your job.
Now here we are in 2011 and while some of the more blatant personal attacks on service members seem to have waned, the general atmosphere concerning the military seems to have not changed much. Hollywood still portrays military members as some sort of redneck buffoon with a propensity for violence, living on a mental razor's edge with some sort of substance abuse or dependency problem just one step away from flying into some sort of PTSD fueled rage. Think of every television show, movie, or special and try to recall when the military member or veteran was ever depicted as normal, even in shows which are willing to show the military in a positive light.
Let me apologize for the rambling but I can't muster the emotion to rant. That video, for me encapsulated for me how little progress we really have made to show just the least little bit of respect for those who have worn the uniform. I kept waiting for someone from the group to apologize and make a move to remove the notes and stickers, but no one did. They didn't even flinch in that direction. Ponytail guy was living out his vision of what life must have been like in the heyday of the hippies in the 60's and the young woman merely seemed clueless as to why someone would be upset over using that memorial as anything other then a display stand.
I am tired of fighting but beyond that I am just tired. Maybe I am getting old. Maybe it is just finally giving in to the inevitable. Maybe it is because what somebody who is much better with words then me said once. Something like freedom has a taste that those which have fought for it is so sweet and the protected will never know.
Final random thought for you to chew on. You know how on those reality shows they every so often reunite the contestants with their loved ones after 15 or 30 days of separation and there is all the tears and hugging. Yeah, me and the wife have a good laugh over those. You see 23 days after we got married I shipped off to Korea for a year by myself. I have spent more time on little field exercises then these shows actually last. And now today the wife says she misses those separations. You see for her the biggest adjustment to civilian life has been having me around all the time.
They think they're so clever. Obviously the moron who posted this conveniently ignores PATCO. They also speak nostalgically of the Solidarity movement in Eastern Europe.
Just one problem with this penetrating analysis. The left was vehemently opposed to Reagan while he was president and they were on the side of the Soviet Union opposing freedom for Eastern Europe.
Hardly. Gas can probably hit $15 a gallon before he'd do anything. He's too beholden to the environmental lunatics.
Though The White House lifted the official moratorium on drilling last October, no new permits have so far been awarded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, part of the US Interior Department. Officials are insisting that the industry must be able to clearly show that it has the capacity to contain an offshore spill before it grants any permits.
On Friday, Ken Salazar, the Interior Secretary, met in Houston with Marine Well Containment, a consortium from the oil and gas industry working on containment plans.
The rapidly unfolding events in North Africa and the Middle East have given greater voice to those who want to see permits granted immediately for drilling in waters deeper than 500 metres. The calls will only grow louder if there's any evidence of the sweeping political changes reaching Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait, the three biggest oil producers in the region.
Until he has polling numbers that say it'll threaten his re-election, he won't lift a finger to help the American people. If he was on our side, we'd be drilling already.
BP Plc agreed to bring Pride International Inc.’s drilling rig from the Gulf of Mexico to explore off Libya next year after delaying the plans because of limited rig availability in the Mediterranean.
The company also needed to analyze the outcome of the Macondo oil spill in the Gulf before going ahead with the move as originally planned for this year, said Toby Odone, a London- based spokesman at BP.
“We’ve hoped to drill as soon as we can and we’d hoped to drill this year,” Odone said by phone today. Libya’s state oil company approved the use of the Deep Ocean Ascension rig in November, he said.
Obama still has media cover. Whenever gas prices spiked during the Bush year the lamestream media basically camped out at the pumps for live remotes. Now they could care less.
Thanks to union greed and enabled by the Democrats, Barack Obama and the media, we've now got families and friends now hating on each other in Wisconsin. Mission accomplished, Barack!
Milwaukee Public Schools psychologist Jessica Coyle was in tears after reading a cousin's Facebook post calling public employees "whores and a bunch of other nasty things," according to her husband, David, an MPS history teacher. "What made matters worse was that her godmother 'liked' the comment," Coyle told a reporter.
"My wife sent a message to say, 'Hey, remember me, your family member, I am a public employee and I am not a whore.' Her intention was for the cousin to say, 'Oops, sorry, I forgot,' or something along those lines. He didn't. He only said, 'That is how I feel, you can defriend me if you want.' "
The couple couldn't believe how the governor's proposed budget-repair bill was playing out in the virtual community of Facebook, David Coyle said. "We thought that blood was thicker than water. Guess not."
Intensely personal, divisive debates have taken over Facebook in recent weeks, with paychecks, pensions and union rights on the line. The social graces and filtering of opinions that normally temper face-to-face conversations don't necessarily apply to Facebook, where comments can be deleted and friends can be "unfriended" or "hidden" if they cross the line of civility.
Friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers linger in cyber communities at all hours of the day and night, sharing links to opinion pieces, videos, newspaper articles and their own blogs to inform the conversation and persuade others to agree with them.
When Democratic senators fled Wisconsin to stall the vote on Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill a week ago, Daryle Wooley of Elkhorn posted on Facebook that the senators should either return or be fired. "Democracy is 24-7; not just when it's something you're in favor of," he wrote.
Within hours, responses came flooding in from Facebook friends around the country, "including some people who were very close to me," Wooley recalled. "I couldn't believe the tone."
He responded to critics, explaining that he had to cash in his IRA and take out a second mortgage on his house just to keep his cast limestone manufacturing business afloat. He told them: "This is the real world. You don't understand pain. If my wife wouldn't have gotten a new job, my health insurance would have gone away. I'm down from 33 employees to three."
Several private e-mail conversations defused the conflict with Facebook friends, but he won't forget it, he said.
"Three weeks ago, we were all one happy family with the Packers," Wooley said. "And now we're all at each other's throats. This is ripping us apart. It's sad."
Indeed, it is sad. So much for Barack Obama, The Great Uniter.
"Facebook is scary," said Lobacz, who works in the health care industry. "I don't think I've ever seen anything as polarizing as this on Facebook, and it's gotten ugly. . . . I completely feel everyone should have a right to voice an opinion, but when you stoop to calling people 'stupid' and question their education level, that crosses the line," she said.
"This is such a hot-button issue, people have lost all civility," said Lobacz, of Waukesha. "They've forgotten how to be nice. The protesters in Madison have been more polite than my Facebook friends."
The left lost all civility decades ago. After pretending they wanted civility following the Arizona shootings in early January, we've seen and endless orgy of hate coming from their side. Had the right and tea party members been one-hundredth as uncivil we'd be seeing video running 24/7 on the networks. Instead, the violence and uncivil behavior of union thugs around the nation is largely ignored. That merely feeds the beast. That's what they want. And as we now enter an 18-month presidential campaign cycle, it'll only becomes worse.
A controversial Queens statue, featured as an "Eyesore Next Door" in the Daily News, should be sold through an online classifieds site, according to a group of elected officials.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner said the city should ditch the statue, "Triumph of Civic Virtue," because it is "sexist."
Some community leaders have tried for years to get the city to pay for the restoration of the decaying statue.
Weiner and City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-Jackson Heights) - who want to sell the statue on craigslist to raise funds - said it is offensive because it depicts a nude man stepping on two women.
The statue, crafted more than 100 years ago, is supposed to depict civic virtue, triumphant over the twin sirens of vice and corruption.
Those who erected the statue way back when would probably find Weiner offensive.
In front of a crowd of thousands of protestors, the president of the state’s largest teachers union accused Gov. Chris Christie of trying to foment a civil war within the middle-class.
“All of New Jersey’s middle-class is hurting, but this governor and his right-wing supporters are trying to start a middle-class civil war,” said New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian.
Trying to balance a state budget is now fomenting civil war. Good grief.
This is the same NJEA who refused to fire one of their own for wishing Christie dead.
The White House says the U.S. is moving forward with plans to impose unilateral sanctions on Libya in response to violence there.
Obama spokesman Jay Carney says the U.S. is finalizing that process Friday. He says the U.S. is also working with European partners on additional sanctions and other multilateral actions that could be taken.
The announcement comes as hundreds of Americans are evacuated from Libya following days of violence. Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have been firing on protesters demanding the Libyan leader's ouster.
This is the leadership we've all waited for, the transformative and fearless change. Waiving meaningless pieces of paper around and pretending you're doing something.
Interesting the gems one can unearth with this here Internet thing. Thanks, Algore!
In June, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a public speech praising Obama, claiming foreign nationals were donating to his campaign. “All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man,” the Libyan leader said. “They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency…”
[O]n July 31 that donors from the Gaza strip had contributed $33,000 to the Obama campaign through bulk purchases of T-shirts they had shipped to Gaza…. A pair of Palestinian brothers named Hosam and Monir Edwan contributed more than $31,300 to the Obama campaign in October and November 2007, FEC records show. Their largesse attracted the attention of the FEC almost immediately. In an April 15, 2008, report that examined the Obama campaign’s year-end figures for 2007, the FEC asked that some of these contributions be reassigned. The Obama camp complied sluggishly, prompting a more detailed admonishment form the FEC on July 30. The Edwan brothers listed their address as “GA,” as in Georgia, although they entered “Gaza” or “Rafah Refugee camp” as their city of residence on most of the online contribution forms…. The latest Obama campaign filing shows that $891.11 still has not been refunded to the Edwan brothers, despite repeated FEC warnings and campaign claims that all the money was refunded in December.
But hey, let's look at the upside. At least none of this funny money came from those evil Koch Brothers.
Hundreds of Americans trapped aboard a rescue ship that was too small to sail in rough weather have finally left Libya this morning.
The 167 stranded U.S. citizens have been holed up on the Maria Dolores since Wednesday, as rough weather has prevented the ship from leaving.
The Dolores left Tripoli at 6:37 am EST and is expected to reach its destination port of Valetta, Malta at around 3:00 pm EST.
'The ferry carrying American and international citizens from Libya to Malta is finally underway,' U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted.
According to the State Department there are 285 passengers on board the Dolores, including 167 U.S. citizens and 118 people of other nationalities.
President Obama has been under intense criticism for his muted response to the bloodshed in Libya, with speculation that Colonel Gaddafi had intimidated the White House into silence by blocking the evacuation of U.S. citizens.
And last night, while the Dolores remained stranded, the president enjoyed a White House pop concert in celebration of Black History month.
Could you imagine the media firestorm is President Bush parties the night away while Americans were in danger?
There is no question about it, they [U.S.] should have been out of there long ago - why haven't they chartered a bigger boat like the Greeks or Turkish.
'At the very least, the government should have had a larger back up vessel on the way.'
Obama's been too busy helping organize protests in Wisconsin to even notice, apparently.
I've been wondering why these union thugs around the country seems to always have so much free time on their hands. For all the nonsense from the Democrats about "the workers," I never see any of them actually working. They're always too busy whining, demanding more and more and roughing up women.
So it's curios to see how they're managing to drum up protesters in Trenton today as they continue to whine and snivel.
There appears to be efforts from unions to get more members to beat the drum today in Trenton. According to an e-mail obtained by The Star-Ledger, CWA Local 1038 is preparing for the rally with boxed lunches, leaflets and ponchos because of the expected rain.
The union is also offering to reimburse wages for anyone who takes a half-day off to participate in the rally.
"You must use your own time, either vacation or AL (administrative leave), and give the local a photocopy of your paystub. Please note that the payment for lost-time wages will be mailed to you; it will not be paid tomorrow," the e-mail states.
"What the union does internally is an internal union matter," Local 1038 President Paul Alexander said. "We’re not paying thousands of people to attend the rally."
Really, Paul? Reimbursing wages and free lunch isn't paying someone?
The rank-and-file at least seemed buoyed by the spirit of Wisconsin on Wednesday. Some 100 toll collectors protested outside the Turnpike Authority offices in Woodbridge to oppose Christie’s efforts to privatize toll collections in the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.
"We gotta get this guy Christie out of office, he’s killing us," said John Dunphy of Kearny, a 25-year member of Local 194. "It seems like they’re picking on the little guy more than the big guys."
Privatizing toll collections has been going on nationwide for years, long before Christie showed up. If there was ever a job that can easily be eliminated, it's getting rid of these belligerent fat-asses at the toll booths. I wonder if this leech Dunphy even knows when the next gubernatorial election is?
Obviously a major talent like Eliot Spitzer realizes there'd be no ceiling for him if it weren't for this faux conservative woman holding him back. That and the fact he works for low-rated CNN. And in that true gentlemanly fashion of his, he sneakily throws her under the steamroller.
Stay classy, Client No. 9
Eliot Spitzer is telling friends his CNN co-host Kathleen Parker "will be gone within a week." Relations between the ex-gov, who once called himself a "[bleep]ing steamroller," and his conservative co-host are at an all-time low. A source said, "Spitzer thinks she's holding him back. The ratings surged when she was out sick, and he anchored alone during the turmoil in Egypt. Only very few anchors have the power to wipe out a co-host, and Spitzer thinks he has it. CNN bosses are high on Spitzer, and he might get his own show. Kathleen has been weighing her options. There's this sense of dread among middle management." We've reported that Parker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, could be dumped due to lack of chemistry with Spitzer. But our source said, "She's putting up a fight."
Kathleen Parker, the co-host of "Parker Spitzer," CNN's four-month-old, ratings-challenged primetime show, is being dropped from the program, according to sources inside the CNN newsroom. Eliot Spitzer, her co-host, will remain.
I can't be the only one mortified reading about this selfish woman who decides it's in her own self-interest to support spoiled union members over her own family. But for her, abandoning two young children at home while you're already six months pregnant is a teachable moment or something.
Of all the Wisconsin Democrats on the run for the last week, one is moving a little more slowly than the others.
State Sen. Julie Lassa is six months pregnant.
Instead of spending her days near her doctor and family, Lassa, 40, is counting down to her due date on the lam in Illinois.
Lassa is one of 14 senators who skipped the state to block a vote on a controversial budget-reduction bill that would strip municipal unions of most of their collective-bargaining powers.
Besides the baby on the way, Lassa has a husband and two small daughters at home.
Now most people would sit bank and weigh their decision. What do I do here? Care for my little children or sell my soul for pampered, angry union goons?
It's clear where Lassa's loyalties lie.
"I am teaching my daughters who are 6 and 3 that it is very important to do what you can to help your neighbors when people need help," Lassa told a reporter recently.
Must be some comfort when the kids go to bed at night and wake up every morning wondering where mommy is. But hey, they'll cherish this moment when they grow up, I'm sure.
Lassa was defeated by Sean Duffy in the race for David Obeys's old congressional seat last fall. Duffy noted during the campaign that Lassa gave herself a pay raise two years ago while the state was already hemorrhaging money.
Maybe she told her kiddies a story about helping themselves at the expense of their neighbors.
The White House’s theme for this week — and the week before, and the one before that — has been all about “winning the future.” President Obama has mentioned his new favorite catch phrase so often in the last month that you’d think he was being paid for each reference.
In fact, when Obama now makes a speech, he’ll do so in front of a small backdrop with the words “winning the future” streaming across it. Talk about message discipline:
At Penn State, on Feb. 3: “These are places where the future will be won.”
In Cleveland, on Tuesday: “Winning the future involves out-educating, out-innovating, out-building, out-hustling everybody else.”
At a Baltimore middle school, on Valentine’s Day: “Over the last few weeks, I’ve traveled the country, talking about what we need to do to win the future.”
By our count, Obama has sung his battle cry — or some variation of it — nearly 40 times since his State of the Union address on Jan. 25. (By the way, in that speech, he mentioned in 10 times.)
But is the message getting through? We decided to ask the prominent linguist and neuroscience expert George Lakoff, a liberal by any measure, whether he thought the ad nauseam repetition has proven effective in a month’s time. His diagnosis: Not so much.
The problem, Lakoff determined, is that while a repetition of ideas can work — like the notion of “change” in the 2008 campaign to tap into voters’ emotional desires, or Republicans’ consistent message on less intrusive government — simply saying a slogan over and over is less tangible, and therefore more difficult for voters to recognize as meaningful.
“Nobody cares about winning the future,” he said. “It doesn’t mean much to anybody.”
The folks at the Daily Mail may be the last on earth to find out this photo is bogus.
Idiots.
They breathlessly report gossip, and run a Photoshopped image that was quickly exposed as a fake in 2008. Hard-hitting stuff, folks. If they can't get something so basic right, why should anyone buy the gossip they're pushing?
Just an average kid pursuing the American dream, of course. Being the son of a powerful Democrat senator sure doesn't hurt, either.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden’s son has started a hedge fund in the basement of the former family home. That doesn’t mean his father is getting in on the ground floor.
Adam Wyden, 26, started the fund under the name ADW Capital Partners LP and runs it from the Washington house that now belongs to his mother, according to a private placement notice filed last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund is modeled after the investment partnership billionaire Warren Buffett ran in the 1950s and 1960s before acquiring Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Adam Wyden said in an interview.
Quite an ambitious young man. And it's nice to see that stereotype where only Republicans are known as the party of the rich imploded.
“Right now it’s just me,” Adam Wyden, 26, said when reached at his home in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington, from where he’s been running his $3 million fund since September. “I am the CEO, I am the secretary, and I am the chief marketing officer.”
Three million dollars? Nice to have connections.
In 2005, he landed a paid summer internship at D.E. Shaw & Co., working as an analyst on what he described as a $700 million long-short fund that bet on and against media, technology and telecommunications stocks.
“Not many college kids get to intern on a D.E. Shaw portfolio for the summer,” Brian Marshall, who ran the D.E. Shaw fund and now works as a senior analyst in the San Francisco office of investment bank Gleacher & Co., said in an interview.
Sure, not many college kids get those opportunities. I'm sure daddy's job in the Senate had nothing to do with it. Or the donations that then followed from Shaw.
David Shaw, who is no longer active in day-to-day operations, lent $100,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee for Bill Clinton in 1993, the Center for Public Integrity reported in 2000. He and other D.E. Shaw employees ranked third among hedge-fund donors last year with $569,049 in campaign contributions, 97 percent going to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org and the Center for Responsive Politics.
Ron Wyden received contributions totaling $9,600 from Shaw and his wife, Beth, during 2009, with each giving the maximum $4,800 that individuals are allowed to donate for any election cycle, OpenSecrets.org said. Shaw gave $5,000 last year to Holding Onto Oregon’s Priorities, a political action committee set up by Wyden to help other Democratic candidates, and $33,500 to the party’s senatorial and congressional campaign committees.
Nothing illegal here, I suppose. Just a good thing nobody is named Koch, or we'd really have some hot news.
We obviously never have any hope of getting our fiscal house in order when you have these people calling paltry budgets cuts an un-American atrocity.
Describing the House spending bill as an un-American atrocity, the heads of the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors announced Thursday they are launching a major lobbying effort against its cuts.
The effort, going on behind the scenes this week, could culminate in a march on the Capitol in mid-March if the mayors don't get what they are seeking, said conference President Elisabeth Kautz, the mayor of Burnsville, Minn.
“We are going to have a major march and meeting in halls of Congress,” Bill Gluba, the mayor of Davenport, Iowa, said. He said the conference has decided to take the lead in organizing local and civic organizations to come to Washington to protest the cuts in the GOP spending bill.
“The impacts are devastating. … As we stand here knowing what happened in the House, our only hope is in the Senate,” Kautz said.
The group is focusing above all on stopping a 62.5 percent cut to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which House Republicans have included in the spending bill funding the government after March 4. The cut is intended to save $4 billion.
President Obama in his 2012 budget request released last week also called for cuts to the program, which the administration has said is flawed because results are difficult to measure. Obama called only for a 7.5 percent cut that would save $300 million, however.
The mayors said the 2012 fight with Obama will have to wait until another day.
“When you have a bazooka pointed at your head, it is hard to think about what you will have for breakfast tomorrow,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter explained.
He described the House bill as “un-American” and said it is aimed at hurting the poor, elderly and children.
“You cannot run a country while attacking its own people,” he said.
Really? Obama has spent two-plus years attacking Americans. We finally have a slight pushback and any efforts are called un-American. Isn't that considered an attack on anyone?
A Saudi Arabian citizen going to college in Texas has been arrested by the FBI on charges that he was planning a violent attack.
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late Wednesday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential US targets.
Aldawsari is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Lubbock at 9am Friday. Aldawsari, who was lawfully admitted into the United States in 2008 on a student visa and is enrolled at South Plains College near Lubbock, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
According to court documents, Aldawsari has been researching online how to construct an IED using several chemicals as ingredients. He has also acquired or taken a substantial step toward acquiring most of the ingredients and equipment necessary to construct an IED and he has conducted online research of several potential US targets, the affidavit alleges. In addition, he has allegedly described his desire for violent jihad and martyrdom in blog postings and a personal journal.
"As alleged in the complaint, Aldawsari purchased ingredients to construct an explosive device and was actively researching potential targets in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of many agents, analysts and prosecutors, this plot was thwarted before it could advance further," said Assistant Attorney General Kris.
The affidavit alleges that on Feb. 1, 2011, a chemical supplier reported to the FBI a suspicious attempted purchase of concentrated phenol by a man identifying himself as Khalid Aldawsari. According to the affidavit, phenol is a toxic chemical with legitimate uses, but can also be used to make the explosive trinitrophenol, also known as T.N.P., or picric acid. The affidavit alleges that other ingredients typically used with phenol to make picric acid, or T.N.P., are concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids.
Think that sounds insane? Just as nutty as blaming them for everything else under the sun, as has become the left's latest obsession. But considering hos nutty madman Moammar has sounded of late, it can't be far off.
LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi said protesters should return to their homes, as he made an audio address on state TV today.
Gaddafi claimed rebels of drug-taking and links to Usama bin Laden.
He accused protesters of being under the influence of al Qaeda and taking drugs as he made the statement, apparently from the town of Zawiyah, which has been the scene of heavy fighting throughout the day.
He said, "Teenagers feel trigger happy, they shoot especially when they get stoned with drugs."
Meanwhile, a little flashback from the Libyan nutcase.
He said, "Now, ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined – that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama."
Gaddafi stressed that Obama's presidency is "a major historical gain" and said, "He is someone I consider a friend. He knows he is a son of Africa. Regardless of his African belonging, he is of Arab Sudanese descent, or of Muslim descent. He is a man whose policy should be supported, and he should be assisted in implementing it in any way possible, since he is now leaning towards peace."
No wonder Obama is joined at the hip with the teacher's unions. They like to waste as much money on parties as he does.
It's for the children or something.
As nearly 5,000 city teachers face the ax, their union shells out millions of dollars on feasting, boozing and partying, the Daily News has learned.
Free-spending United Federation of Teachers brass last year spent nearly $1.4 million for the UFT's 50th anniversary gala at the Hilton - complete with a movie, a book and a paperweight.
Records show they:
* Ponied up $514,000 to 16 separate caterers. * Dropped $278,417 on the annual Teachers Union Day ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria. * Bought $6,100 in gift baskets from a lower East Side candy store - and plowed $179,000 into training retreats at a Connecticut resort boasting golf, scuba diving and aqua aerobics.
In one amazing feat of spending, they shelled out $114,870 for annual "coffee supplies" at their five offices across the city - paying the Coffee Distributing Corp. on Long Island $324,000 over three years, records show.
And while most New Yorkers spend hours trying to find a parking space, the UFT rents 25 slots in Brooklyn's Renaissance Plaza Garage for members at an average annual cost of $75,000 over three years.
"I'm not going to apologize for spending money to service our members," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.
"These people are heroes dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our children. They never get the respect they deserve. A cup of coffee, a bottle of water and a few parking spots is the least we can do for them."
A cup of coffee, a bottle of water, a lavish $1.4 million bash. Hey, they work hard for 200 days a year. Let's cut them some slack.
The spending orgy comes to light a week after after The News disclosed that cops bounced 24 rowdy UFT reps from an Albany eatery after they caused a ruckus over an $1,800 tab - and the modest size of a $40 gourmet quail.
Turns out over-the-top spending and a party-hearty culture is a union trademark.
No wonder they're so terrified that the public has caught on to their scam. When the free parties stop it's time to mobilize and demand even more from the taxpayers.
Stop paying attention for five minutes and you miss all these trendy new terms.
Ever since Madonna planted that wet kiss on Britney Spears in front of millions of television viewers at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, women have been loosening up sexually with other women.
These so-called flexisexuals say that although they are not gay or even bisexual, they enjoy flirting and kissing girls -- but they still enjoy having sex with men.
One female senior at Hofstra University in New York said she is apt to turn to women when she's had too much to drink.
"I just kiss girls because it's funny and entertaining to do when under the influence," she said. "When you just kiss a guy, you deal with the pressures of feeling like you have to go further, and with girls that is never an issue."
If you're not comfortable with flexisexual, there are other terms you may use. One can only imagine who sits around dreaming this stuff up.
Flexisexual is also known as heteroflexible, pansexual or queer, all subtle variations that mean they are not closing any doors.
Nah, actually the headline says Army used psyops against legislatures, but the headline is catchy but hardly what I would call psyops.
Soon, though, Caldwell ordered the unit to gather profiles of visiting dignitaries, including their likes and dislikes and "hot-button issues," the magazine reported.
Shock I know. Why I can't think of single time where this has ever been attempted before. This is earthshaking and sure to send shockwaves all through the civilized world. Well except for everyone older then 5 years old who learned the art whether trying to manipulate their parents or get their friends to go along with their latest scheme to get back at Suzy.
I know, I know, right now anybody who is involved in sales is scratching their heads and mouthing the open ended question of "so what".
Folks, throughout my military career I hosted more then one congressional delegation and I am here to tell you, you had better know their likes, dislikes, and hot button issues or they would be sure to inform you, normally in a very stern manner. Ain't that right former congresswoman Schroder? Sorry you had to wear that helmet and flak vest while observing the live fire demonstration of grenades being thrown. She was worried about the photos doncha know with mussed up hair or something.
The shocking part of this story is that commanders are having to go begging to these people for the resources necessary to prosecute our war on terrorists.
"How do we get these guys to give us more people?" Caldwell asked, according to the magazine. "What do I have to plant inside their heads?"
So Rolling Stone, which has been receiving awards and having praise heaped upon them since forcing Gen McChrystal to retire writes yet another sensational headline trying to parlay their bringing down and ending the career of Gen McChrystal to apparently try and repeat the coup again.
We have met the enemy, and it is us.
Now you want to talk about psyops let's talk abut Saddamm and his broadcasting messages prior to Desert Storm about Bart Simpson carrying on an affair with our wives and girlfriends. 100 hours later and I am sure he was regretting that.
Need another sign sign this White House is completely tone deaf? After ignoring the Libya crisis for a week until yesterday, and then merely offering a perfunctory statement, it's back to party time in DC. Let's just hope Michelle has jetted back from her lavish ski vacation in Vail so she doesn't miss anything. Can't wait to see what's on the menu.
President Barack Obama is celebrating classic rhythm and blues on Thursday, spotlighting the music of Motown in a White House concert.
Stars invited to tonight's event include Motown icon Smokey Robinson as well as contemporary singers Sheryl Crow and John Legend, who will perform Motown hits. It's the latest musical tribute hosted by the president and first lady, and will be broadcast March 1 on PBS.
It wouldn't surprise me if he went golfing beforehand.
Yes, folks, you read that correctly: New Yorkers. These aren't some wild-eyed "teabagging" radicals beholden to the evil Koch Brothers cartel. These are the same folks who give Andrew Cuomo overwhelming approval, for now. Now that you've digested the fact there's been a huge shift in public sentiment towards the unions, an even greater amount of the public is for allowing administrators to use merit over tenure when deciding where to apply layoffs and firings.
A staggering 85 percent of New Yorkers favor empowering school administrators to choose merit over tenure when firing teachers, bolstering Mayor Bloomberg's dogged fight to ditch the union-backed "last in, first out" protections, according to a new poll.
The statewide Quinnipiac University survey, released today, found voters prefer performance over seniority -- 85 percent to 12 percent -- as the principle measure to determine which teachers to lay off during budget cuts.
The margin was the same across gender, geographical and party lines.
"By a huge majority, voters from every group oppose LIFO," said Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll.
"Voters, especially voters with kids in public school, want to keep the best teachers on the job -- and to heck with seniority."
Surprisingly, the poll found 75 percent of voters in households with union members support using merit and performance in determining layoffs of teachers rather than seniority. Only 20 percent of those voters questioned favored the seniority-based protections.
In general, New York state residents believe that it should be easier to fire public-school teachers, 62 percent to 33 percent.
At the same time, the support for rewarding "outstanding" educators with pay hikes is backed 64 percent to 33 percent.
The poll found widely divergent views on individual teachers and the powerful unions that represent their interests in the halls of government and across the bargaining table.
Some 50 percent of New Yorkers report favorable opinions about the state's public-school teachers, compared to 22 percent who had unfavorable views.
However, 51 percent say teachers unions, like the city's 164,000-member United Federation of Teachers, play a "negative" role in the state's education system. Some 39 percent believe the unions have a positive impact.
That's a dramatic shift from the last time Quinnipiac asked that question in 2004. At that time, New Yorkers said teachers unions had a positive role, 48 percent to 35 percent.
Gee, now what could have possibly caused this dramatic shift in public opinion. Could it be the increasing belligerence and militancy of the unions? Could it be the public sees they're basically an arm of the Democratic Party? Could it be we see billions poured into education with increasingly poor results? All of the above?
I've got my differences with Michael Bloomberg. This sure isn't one of them.
Meanwhile, a state senator introduced a bill Wednesday night designed to end, or at least modify, LIFO.
It'll be curious to see whether the White House unleashes their union shock troops on Michael Bloomburg any time soon. I realize they're now tied up on several fronts in the midwest and it may take time to ship the goons back east.
Rather than wage war on the public in this time of fiscal crisis, the sooner the Democrats and the union partners realize they're fighting a losing battle against public sentiment. Maybe then we can begin addressing why confiscating money from union members to support the Democratic Party is now just unfair, but downright contemptible. They'll fight this one to their last drop of blood. Once the union spigot is cut off, their party withers on the vine.
Is it any wonder why Obama has poured more effort into the Wisconsin temper tantrum than he has into monitoring developments in Libya? Or is it Lybia?
Just now he's becoming an embarrassment? What, all his erratic behavior before now was OK just because he has a "D" after his name?
Seven-term Democratic Rep. David Wu faced increasing pressure Wednesday to step down amid a series of bizarre revelations in recent days about his mental health, including a photo he sent to staffers during his re-election bid showing him wearing a tiger costume.
The state Republican chair and one of Oregon's largest newspapers said Wu should resign, but Wu says he has no intention of quitting.
"He has a really important job, and the citizens of Oregon and the citizens of the congressional district deserve to have a congressman who's completely focused on serving them and being a great congressman," Oregon Republican Party Chairman Allen Alley said Wednesday.
Wu said Tuesday that it was "unprofessional and inappropriate" to send pictures of himself wearing a tiger costume to staff members while he was in the middle of a heated campaign last year. He also acknowledged taking two tablets of a pain killer that were given to him by an unnamed campaign donor.
Really clear judgment there, taking pills given to you by some stranger.
The Eugene Register Guard, Oregon's second-largest newspaper by circulation, published an editorial Wednesday calling for Wu's resignation "for lack of candor, not because of treatment."
"Wu should have been forthcoming about his medical treatment when it began," said the paper, which publishes outside Wu's district.
Another paper, the Daily Astorian from Clatsop County in Wu's district, planned to publish an editorial Thursday also suggesting that Wu should step down, saying the congressman has served the region well but "certainly Wu is becoming an embarrassment."
Wu's spokesman said the congressman has no plans to resign and will seek re-election in 2012.
That photo of him dressed as a tiger should make great campaign fodder.
