Deadbeat Sharpton Owes Over $2 Million in Taxes, Still Collects Fat Paycheck

Guess it helps having friends in high places. Like his thug friend Charlie Rangel, it sure looks like this punk is above the law. Why is this man not in prison like any other tax cheat?

The Rev. Al Sharpton paid himself a six-figure salary for the first time last year - even as his civil rights group drowns in red ink and his tax bill hit nearly $1 million.

After back-to-back years in which he took no compensation from the National Action Network, Sharpton pulled down $250,000 last year, the organization's federal tax filings show.

The payday comes even as his group, a Harlem-based nonprofit organization, lists $1.1 million in unpaid city, state and federal payroll taxes as of Jan. 1, the group's auditor told the Internal Revenue Service.

At the same time, the reverend has three outstanding warrants totaling $988,000 in unpaid personal income taxes from 2002 to 2007, the state Department of Taxation and Finance says.

So his group (read: him) owes $1.1 million and he himself owes $998,000. And he's not in prison why exactly?

Reached in Georgia, Sharpton told the Daily News he and his organization have been in advanced settlement talks with the state and the feds.

He says he has worked out a repayment plan and has been paying down his debt in agreed-upon installments, with a portion of income from his nationally syndicated radio talk show earmarked to pay his personal tax liabilities.

Meanwhile, the National Action Network has been negotiating a compromise offer with the IRS since February, and in March, it paid off its debt to the city and state, its auditor says in tax documents.

"The liability will be completely wiped out by the end of 2010 or the first quarter of 2011," Sharpton said. "It depends on how the negotiations go, but it will disappear."

He sounds awfully sure of himself. And why not? He's been flouting the law for decades and he's laughing at the American people while gorging himself on shakedown money.

Another Victim of Hopenchange

Remember this woman who a couple of months ago told Obama she was sick and tired of defending him but still defended him? Well, Velma Hart is now out of a job, but is still defending Obama.

Sad.

The Obama supporter who told the president during a televised town-hall meeting that she was "deeply disappointed" in him has lost her job.

Velma Hart, who graced the front page of The Post in September after her direct questioning of the president, said yesterday that she's trying "focus on the positive and be optimistic."

Hart -- who told the president she feared her family would have to go back to the "hot dogs-and-beans era" -- was laid off late last week as chief financial officer for AMVETS, a Maryland-based charity that aids veterans.

"They called me in on a Friday afternoon and said they had made a decision . . . [they] should make that cut," she told CNBC.

The unwelcome news has made the married mother of two daughters even more aware of the dire state of the economy.

"Even more than I did before, I appreciate what millions of people who are in my condition now have been experiencing for the last two, three, four years," she told the business network from her suburban Maryland home.

Despite being dumped right before Thanksgiving, she'll always have Barry.

She told CNBC yesterday that she is still an Obama supporter and she may now look into his administration's program to help homeowners adjust the terms of their mortgages.

Despite the discouraging turn of events, Hart said that she's trying to find reasons to stay hopeful "and assume that somehow things will work out."

"I'm a data-driven person. The data says the economy's getting better," she said.

Putting her on the government payroll seems like a no-brainer to me. Even Obama's people couldn't be so stupid as to screw up this opportunity. Could they?

How Bad Was the Election for Democrats? This Guy Just Won His Race

What can I say? I've got a soft spot for guys in the jammies. Oh, and hot blonds in lingerie.

Anyway, this guy is now an official member of Congress.

Dem Rep Ortiz concedes in Texas 27 after recount - House GOP now up to 62 pick ups in midterms

In case you were wondering about that photo...

Update: From Roll Call:

Rep. Solomon Ortiz conceded to his Republican challenger Monday night, according to a regional representative of the National Republican Congressional Committee who is in Texas’ 27th district.

The Texas Democrat called challenger Blake Farenthold, a former radio talk-show host, as the last county in his district worked toward wrapping up its recount.

The Farenthold victory brings the net Republican House pickups this cycle to 62 seats, with four House races still outstanding from the midterm elections. The Republican was on Capitol Hill last week for freshman orientation.

Google Satellite Spots Junk in the Trunk

I remember the days when it was reasonable to assume you could walk out onto your own driveway buck-naked, hop into the trunk of your car, and not have to worry much that the endeavor would be captured on the internet for posterity.

Ah, those were innocent times.

A GERMAN man has become the butt of internet jokes after a Google Street View camera snapped him climbing into the boot of a car — while completely naked.

The baffling picture shows a nude man manoeuvring himself into the boot of a Mercedes which is parked on the driveway of a house in Mannheim, south-west Germany.

A dog can be seen lying on the driveway surrounded by the contents of the sports car's boot.

It is unknown whether the man is sporting a pair of tight, skin-coloured shorts but a number of theories have been raised about the bizarre situation.

One internet user told technology website CNET he thought it was just "an illusion" with the man wearing shorts and fixing the brake light on the Mercedes while the dog was just basking in the sun.

The story behind the surreal situation is unknown and Google has removed the image from its Street View website, which only went live in Germany at the beginning of the month.

h/t: Erika Andersen. Cross-posted here.

Christie on Lautenberg: 'All He Knows How To Do is Blow Hot Air'

Frank Lautenberg would probably be upset if still had all his faculties.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is not particularly fond of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), saying in a recent interview that he is full of "hot air."

The new governor said he did not appreciate Lautenberg's criticism of his decision to cancel an $8.7. billion rail tunnel project that has been planned for more than a decade.

“All he knows how to do is blow hot air," Christie said in a profile published in New York Magazine. "So I don’t really care what Frank Lautenberg has to say about much of anything."

Christie has become a nationally popular political figure in part due to his willingness to bluntly take on his political opponents, though he has mainly taken aim at state legislators, not members of Congress.

Lautenberg opened the conflict with Christie last month by calling his decision, "One of the biggest public policy blunders in New Jersey’s history."

The state was forced to return nearly $300 million it had received for the project to the federal government out of a $3 billion commitment.

Some believe Christie could run for president in 2012 because his popularity is at a high and he has demonstrated his national appeal by campaigning and fundraising for political candidates around the country.

But the governor recently tamped down rumors, saying, "Short of suicide, I don’t really know what I’d have to do to convince you people that I’m not running."

Aw: Son is Reunited With Long Lost Bearded Hermaphrodite Mother

For a minute there I thought his mother was that terror-loving lawyer Lynne Stewart. Who knows, maybe they're related.

For a 33-year-old man who was looking for his biological mother, it was the last thing he expected to find.

Following a series of back problems Kansas-based Richard Lorenc decided to find out more about his family tree.

And six weeks after asking the authorities in Kansas, he had his answer: His mother was a 62-year-old bearded hermaphrodite who performed at circuses.

Vivian Wheeler and Richard's maternal grandmother, he was informed, both suffered from hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome - meaning they had facial hair, even as children.

This intrigued Richard, and he was determined to find out more - and meet his long-lost mother.

And, having searched on the Internet, discovered pictures of a woman with the same name working at sideshows and circuses.

'I knew it was her as soon as I saw the picture online,' he said. 'We have a resemblance.'

He had no way to contact her, though, and he pestered a number of people who knew her in the trade, including George 'The Giant' McArthur, who at 7ft 3ins is the world's tallest sword-swallower.

They'll be appearing on the Maury Povich show, which comes as a surprise since I didn't even realize Maury Povich was still on television.

TSA: Official Laughingstock of the World

"Send in the Clowns" ought to be the theme song of the DHS and TSA.

Sharia Schools Teaching Hand-Hacking, Jew Hatred

You figure this is going on in Saudi Arabia or Iran, perhaps, right? You'd be figuring wrong.

Children in Britain are being taught brutal Sharia law punishments, including how to hack off a criminal’s hand or foot.

So-called ‘weekend schools’ for Muslim pupils as young as six also teach that the penalty for gay sex is execution and that ‘Zionists’ are plotting to take over the world for the Jews.

One set textbook challenges youngsters to list the ‘reprehensible’ qualities of Jews.

Another for six-year-olds asks them to answer what happens to someone who dies who is not a believer in Islam. The answer being looked for is ‘hellfire’.

A BBC Panorama investigation, to be screened tonight, identified a network of more than 40 weekend schools teaching around 5,000 children, from age six to 18.

The schools – which offer the hardline Saudi National Curriculum – are run under the umbrella of ‘Saudi Students Clubs and Schools in the UK and Ireland’.

They are not state-funded, and do not use Government buildings. They are able to exploit a loophole which means weekend schools are not inspected by Ofsted.

Last night, experts at the Policy Exchange think-tank warned that similar extremists could seek to exploit the Government’s policy of giving greater freedoms from state control to free schools and academies.

They call for the establishment of a due diligence unit to check whether those applying to open the schools have an extremist background.

Current checks are largely limited to fraud, criminal convictions and funding.

Education Secretary Michael Gove, who is believed to be supportive of the idea, said he would not tolerate anti-Semitism and homophobia in English schools.

The Panorama investigation identified a book for 15-year-olds being used in the classes which teaches about Sharia law and its punishments.

It says: ‘For thieves their hands will be cut off for a first offence, and their foot for a subsequent offence.’

There are diagrams showing children where cuts must be made. One passage says: ‘The specified punishment of the thief is cutting off his right hand at the wrist. Then it is cauterised to prevent him from bleeding to death.’

For acts of ‘sodomy’, children are told that the penalty is death and it states a difference of opinion whether this should be done by stoning, or burning with fire, or throwing over a cliff.

Panorama alleges that a building used for one of the schools, in Ealing, West London, is owned by the Saudi government.

The Death of Private Health Insurance

Well, Nancy said they would have to sign it to find out what is in it and now the various newly-minted government administrative agencies are spewing forth their rules and regulations. The bottom line is unless something drastic happens soon you will be witness to the collapse of the private health insurance industry.

New rules have come out dictating how much insurance companies can spend on administrative costs; you know, things like payroll, utilities, and leasing costs.

The healthcare law requires large group health plans to allocate at least 85 cents per premium dollar to medical care, not administrative costs or profit. Plans for individuals or small groups must spend 80 cents per dollar.

If plans do not spend at least that much on care, policy holders get a rebate. HHS said Monday up to 9 million Americans could be eligible for up to $1.4 billion in rebates starting in 2012.

Sounds reasonable and high-minded, doesn't it? Would it surprise you to learn that most charities have administrative costs that are in the 30% range?

This will give you the percentage the charity spends on administration and fund raising. The Better Business Bureau suggests that this percentage should be under 35%. The federal government's charity drive (the Combined Federal Campaign) wants it to be under 25% (though it will allow charities to participate in the CFC with higher expenses as long as they submit a plan for lowering these expenses).

Wait, it gets better. Insurance companies by federal law must have money set aside in the event of a catastrophic event. This money is referred to as a cash reserve. The purpose of this is to ensure that an insurance company has the necessary funds on hand to pay out to all members in the event of some crisis like hurricane Katrina or the recent Gulf Oil spill. Care to guess how much money must be in this reserve?

Generally speaking, life insurance companies must keep reserves in stable investments, for example in cash, or in government bonds (or bond-like investments). This ensures that the reserves are sufficiently protected from loss. While there are usually no specific investment recommendations, insurance companies are generally encouraged to invest in very conservative investments for their cash reserves.

State Requirements

States have individual requirements. For example, in New York, life insurance companies must separate their general account from their sub-account and treat each one differently. The general account is used for fixed investments for life and annuity contracts. The variable sub-account is used for variable life and annuity products.

Mathematical Formula

States will also use a mathematical formula to calculate the reserve requirements of life insurance companies based on the assets that they hold, and a state defined reserve minimum. Any life insurance company that does not meet the state minimum must then sell assets or raise capital to meet the reserve minimum.

The current percentage is 15% of premiums. Now anybody with a 6th grade education can add 85 and 15 and come up with the correct answer. Doesn't leave anything for the company, does it?

I am sure some financial bean counters can set me straight, but from the inside looking out all I can say is I know what type of business model the company I work for is shifting to.

It is no wonder Nancy can gloat. She won, and unless this monstrosity is repealed the rest of us have lost. Of course, with all of the freshly unemployed who formerly used to work for health insurance companies that will be flooding on to the rolls, I'm sure this will work out just great for them.

Lupica: If That Dummy Bush Can Become President, So Can Palin

According to the miniature sportswriter, Palin's road to the White House is littered with potholes, mostly because she's really, really stupid, unlike a guy with a glaring factual error in his column.

Maybe nothing should surprise us at a time in America when Bush's popularity is as high it has been since he was starting wars under false pretenses. And when the only person who can knock him off the top of the best seller lists is Palin, whose new book comes out Wednesday.

Bush was the one-term governor of Texas who became President because his last name was Bush, because he was the affable son of a great American, because people liked him. Palin didn't even last a full term as governor of Alaska, quitting to become rich and famous and a darling of the media on the right the way Obama was the darling of the media from the other side in the last presidential election.

For a guy so busy telling us how dumb Bush and Palin are he might want to check his facts. Bush was elected governor of Texas twice.

But he and Palin are the idiots, not some little jocksniffer.

It is why you nearly fall down laughing when you hear Palin portraying herself as some victim of the media, even though the author of "America By Heart" - bless her heart - isn't trying to be funny. She certainly can't be talking about all the big, loud media guys in this country who get so tongue-tied and star-struck around her it's as if they're trying to ask her to the prom.

Her book will go to No. 1 and beat Bush. She has her own television show, produced by Mark Burnett, huge reality TV guy. Her fans try to fix "Dancing with the Stars" for her kid. She is Rupert Murdoch's current queen of all media. And her own best dance moves - about whether or not to run for President - are analyzed constantly.

Palin hates the media? It would be like Derek Jeter announcing he hates baseball.

It is unlikely that she can be elected President, mostly because she doesn't have an original thought in her head. But is it impossible, especially in the country we've got now? Are you kidding? Just look at how the current No. 1 on the best-seller lists, Barbara Bush's son George, is doing. All he had to do to make eight train-wreck years as President go away was go on a two-week book tour. Dick Cheney must be waiting for his own publication date like kids wait for Christmas.

All Bush had to do was be funny and self-deprecating, talk about how people were surprised he could "write a book, much less read one," and his approval ratings were right back where they used to be.

It had nothing to do with the book, by the way. Bush merely had to present himself as the good ol' boy people thought they were electing when he came out of Texas. Just like that, he found out he didn't even need to rewrite history. Everybody else was doing it for him.

Suddenly the dead and wounded of Iraq weren't supposed to matter. Or imaginary weapons of mass destruction. Or Katrina, or torture, or the economy holding as well on his watch as the levees of New Orleans.

No need to rewrite history when you have clowns like Lupica doing it for you.

Ironically, Palin actually has a journalism degree, unlike Lupica.

Great News: Ground Zero Mosque Applies for Federal Grant Money ... From 9/11 Redevelopment Fund

They better fork it over. Otherwise they'll be racist Islamophobes.

The so-called "Ground Zero mosque" recently applied for a $5 million federal grant from a fund designed to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11, reports The Daily Beast’s John Avlon.

Developers of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center and mosque located one tenth of a mile from Ground Zero earlier this month applied for roughly $5 million in federal grant money set aside for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11th, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The audacious move stands to reignite the embers of a divisive debate that dominated headlines surrounding the 9th anniversary of the attacks this fall, say people vested in the issue.

The application was submitted under a “community and cultural enhancement” grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC), which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development. The redevelopment board declined to comment on the application (as did officials from Park51), citing the still ongoing and confidential process of determining the grant winners.

While news of the application has not previously been made public, developer Sharif El-Gamal outlined it in closed-door meetings, according to two individuals he spoke with directly. The thirtysomething, Brooklyn-born El-Gamal is motivated more by real estate ambition—one of these sources describes him as aspiring to be the next Donald Trump—than Islamic theology or ideology.

Park51’s developers clearly had a legal right to apply for the grant. A list of Frequently Asked Questions that accompanied the application specifically states that religious organizations can make funding requests for capital projects “as long as the request is for a facility or portion of a facility that is dedicated to non-religious activities or uses.” According to an individual familiar with the Park51 application, it requests funds to cover a number of cultural, educational and community development aspects of the proposed 13-story building—but the prayer room is excluded from the grant application.

But the question on whether they could have is trumped by the question of whether they should have. The stated aim of the Park51 developers is to provide a community center for lower Manhattan’s 4,000 Muslim residents. Their own website explained that they understood the need to “appeal to the undecided, and change the conversation about Muslims in America.” It’s pretty clear that this play for federal dollars will generate none of that, starting with the lack of disclosure or community consultation before developers submitted their application, which was due November 5th.

"If Imam Feisal and his retinue want know why they're not trusted, here's yet another reason,” says Irshad Manji, author of The Trouble with Islam and Director of the Moral Courage Project at NYU, when I asked her about the grant proposal. “The New Yorkers I speak with have questions about Park51. Requesting money from public coffers without engaging the public shows a staggering lack of empathy—especially from a man who says he's all about dialogue."

H/T Spitfire Murphy.

Suspected War Criminal Lands Cushy Job at the UN

He must be a hit on the Manhattan cocktail circuit.

A suspected war criminal who allegedly played a key role in the slaughter of 40,000 civilians in Sri Lanka has landed a cushy job at the United Nations -- with full diplomatic immunity.

Human-rights groups are outraged that Shavendra Silva, 46, a top ex-military commander, was named Sri Lanka's deputy permanent UN representative in August, after which he moved to New York.

His arrival came a year after his troops defied international pleas and shelled a no-fire zone packed with women, children and elderly refugees, according to observers.

Silva also stands accused of mowing down a group of separatist political leaders who agreed to surrender and were waving white flags when they were shot.

"It's a slap in the face," said an investigator familiar with Silva, who last year oversaw the final months of a brutal 26-year civil war against Tamil separatists on the island nation off India's southeastern tip.

The war started in 1983 after the Tamils, a Hindu ethnic minority, were denied power by the ruling Sinhalese, Buddhists, and formed a violent resistance group, the Tamil Tigers.

"Thousands were killed or starved. There were massive human-rights violations and he's the No. 1 suspect," said the investigator, a human-rights group expert who asked not to be identified.

"And they send this guy here? There's no one other than him in the mission who was involved in this."

Wonderful: Jihadi-Loving Website Back in Business

Such a charming bunch.

A militant New York website tied to terror plotters - and shut down for promoting violence - has resurfaced under a new name.

Revolution Muslim has been linked to at least a third of almost two dozen homegrown terror schemes exposed during the past year, investigators said.

The site was taken down Nov. 5, after an uproar over a user posting that called for the assassination of members of the British Parliament who voted for the Iraq war.

The posting, which gave tips on how to meet with the pols, went up after a 21-year-old woman radicalized through the site was sentenced to life for trying to stab an MP.

Website co-founder Younus Abdullah Muhammad, 31, disavowed the posting and others urging violence.

"It was ill-advised and not a platform that I or Revolution Muslim ever held," said the Columbia University graduate. "I did not say, 'Bomb them, kill them,' I don't have those opinions. You cannot be responsible for what people do with your message."

Sources said Google pulled the plug on Revolution Muslim on Nov. 5 at the prompting of the U.S. and U.K. government officials. Eleven days later, a notice went up that its new home was IslamPolicy.com.

No doubt they're strong supporters of the Ground Zero Mosque.

"Revolution Muslim, in its various forms, provided an ideology that could be used to justify violence," said Mitch Silber, head of the NYPD's intellegence analysis division.

Investigators uncovered ties to a roster of terror suspects:

* Samir Khan, a former Queens resident, is allegedly behind the new English-language online magazine "Inspire," produced by Al Qaeda's Yemen branch, which tried to bomb two U.S.-bound airplanes. Officials say Khan was a regular in Revolution Muslim chatrooms. Muhammad said while he knew Khan, he didn't recall him posting.

* The website's spiritual adviser was Abdullah al-Faisal, a radical Jamaican cleric who intel experts say was a motivator of would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.

* Former Staten Islander Abdel Shehadeh, who was busted for lying about trying to join the Taliban. Shehadeh allegedly advertised his own jihadist website on Revolution Muslim.

* Mohamed Alessa of North Bergen, N.J., and Carlos Almonte of Elmwood, N.J., are accused of trying to travel to Somalia to join an Al Qaeda spinoff. Prosecutors say they drew inspiration from Revolution Muslim.

Speaking of "Inspire," they're out with a new edition.

In a new issue of a magazine released Saturday by a branch of Al Qaeda in Yemen, the terror group provided a detailed breakdown of its attempt to blow up cargo planes last month, bragged about the plot's simple execution and said the plan signaled a new focus toward smaller, inexpensive attacks.

The group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, boasted in the English-language online magazine "Inspire" that the plan to blow two United States-bound cargo planes out of the sky last month using computer printer cartridges stuffed with explosives – known as "Operation Hemorrhage" -- cost only $4,200 and was organized by "less than six brothers."

Unarmed and Dangerous

Truly inspiring.

Here's a man who hasn't let his disability get in the way of his favourite hobby.

Michael has no arms, but is still a crack shot. He uses his feet to fire a pistol.

The bandanna-wearing marksman can be seen in an astonishing video clip sweeping the internet lying on the bonnet of a car, firing round after round of shots.

Michael rolls up his jeans, rests his feet on some cushions and, having re-loaded the gun unaided, let's rip with another volley.

Squeezing the trigger of the pistol with the toes on his left foot and aiming with his steadying right foot, he warns: 'Tell them: "If they want to come and screw with the U.S., come on!"'

Your Tax Dollars at Work: The Bus to Nowhere

Another case study in brilliant strategic thinking. All on your dime, of course.

A new shuttle bus service began last month that runs a 21-mile route from Vernon to Hardyston for Manhattan-bound commuters — and it only costs $1. Unfortunately, it hasn’t had any passengers yet.

The non-profit commuter group that arranged for the shuttles hasn’t given up hope yet, but soon, it may have to.

Good thing they're a non-profit group. At the current rate they may make a profit somewhere around 2165, if only they can find some riders.

"At some point we may have to consider" abandoning the idea, said Don Watt, vice president of TransOptions, a Cedar Knolls-based group whose mission is to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in northern New Jersey.

Don Watt's a quick learner, obviously. Even a man of his stature--hey, he's a vice president already--can actually realize a bus line with zero riders probably isn't worth the effort. But he means well.

Watt, who designed the Vernon Area Shuttle for TransOptions, also said the new bus service only started on Nov. 1 and people are sometimes slow to change their daily commuting habits.

"All bus services start virtually with no ridership," said Watt, who made a presentation Monday to the Vernon Township Council and has sent electronic notices to area employers in an effort to drum up ridership.

But Don, do any bus services survive with no ridership? Watt laments that lack of awareness. Well, they have some now.

Although the route wouldn’t work for Dan Kadish because he lives near the New York state border and takes an NJ Transit bus from Warwick, N.Y., to his job in Manhattan, Kadish said the new shuttle service may have not been sufficiently advertised before it was launched.

"I’m not really aware of it. The problem is in the advertising. I’ve seen it (the shuttle) around but didn’t know what it was about," said Kadish, who is a teacher at a technical school in Manhattan.

But Watt said the three-year, $371,000 federal grant that’s used to fund the Vernon Area Shuttle doesn’t permit extensive paid advertising. The current route with one bus will cost $80,000 annually with the remainder of the grant money set aside for future expansion.

So they're sinking $451,000 total into a bus route with zero riders and also planning for expansion? Huh? What would that be, one rider daily? But Watt's not discouraged.

"We don’t have a self-imposed deadline" to abandon the line, said Watt. "It’ll be several months at least. We’re hoping to see some momentum. Maybe one week we’ll get three riders and 10 the next week, and we can build on that."

Oh sure, we should all expect ridership to increase now with the treacherous winter driving months ahead.

SHOCKER: It's Been a While Since Gloria Allred Has Felt a Man's Loving Touch

Ah, but don't take my word for it.



h/t: RealClearPolitics. Cross-posted here.

Canine Diplomacy With Bo the Portuguese Water Dog

It's a sad state of affairs when the White House pooch contributes more to our nation's foreign relations than our buffoonish Vice President.

By the way, did we ever resolve that little flap with the Armenian President?

LISBON (AFP) – President Barack Obama won a rare laugh at the NATO summit on Friday by hailing hosts Portugal as the homeland of the US first family's newest member, his daughters' dog.

Obama was speaking after very serious talks with Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates on the financial crisis, European missile defence and the future course of the NATO's brutal war in Afghanistan.

He thanked Portugal for its support, and added: "And I understand that there's been a fair amount of interest here about how my family has been enriched by Portugal as well, specifically Bo, our dog.

"He is the most popular member of the White House," he said to laughter.

No argument there.

h/t: ExJon. Cross-posted here.

'Insiders' on Rangel Censure: 'They're Definitely Raising the Bar'

Geez, the way these people talk about a possible wrist slap for Charles Rangel, you'd think the guy is facing some waterboarding.

A humiliating censure for Rep. Charles Rangel will raise the bar on House ethical standards - and set a new precedent for misbehaving members.

The Harlem Democrat, who would be the first congressman censured in 27 years, was hit with 11 ethical charges for not paying taxes on rental income, improperly raising money for a City College center bearing his name and misusing rent-stablized apartments.

The House ethics panel deemed that none of his misdeeds benefited him directly - or lined his pockets - but still meted out a tougher-than-expected penalty.

How on earth is it possible to not benefit him when he "saved" money on taxes?

Until now, censured members had either faced criminal investigations for financial wrongdoing or committed sexual shenanigans.

So until now these thieves and tax cheats would face criminal prosecution, but now they're in for far rougher treatment.

"It does mark a new standard in terms of judging members," one insider said.

"They're definitely raising the bar," added a source.

Raising the bar. Marking a new standard. Surely this must mean some really harsh time, forfeiture of assets, and substantial financial penalties, right?

Uh, no.

Censured lawmakers are subjected to an embarrassing public dressing-down by the House speaker.

Gee, that ought to really terrify poor Charlie. We hope a man so shameless can somehow avoid the horrible humiliation that awaits him.

The TSA Burlesque Show Continues Unabated: Cancer Survivor Ordered to Remove Prosthetic Breast During Pat-Down

Feeling safer yet?

A longtime Charlotte, N.C., flight attendant and cancer survivor told a local television station that she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down.

Cathy Bossi, who works for U.S. Airways, said she received the pat-down after declining to do the full-body scan because of radiation concerns.

The TSA screener "put her full hand on my breast and said, 'What is this?' " Bossi told the station. "And I said, 'It's my prosthesis because I've had breast cancer.' And she said, 'Well, you'll need to show me that.' "

Bossi said she removed the prosthetic from her bra. She did not take the name of the agent, she said, "because it was just so horrific of an experience, I couldn't believe someone had done that to me. I'm a flight attendant. I was just trying to get to work."

Unbelievable.

And here's a shocker: This wasn't a one-time occurrence.

Marlene McCarthy of Rhode Island said she went through the body scanner and was told by a TSA agent to step aside. In "full view of everyone," McCarthy said in an e-mail, the agent "immediately put the back of her hand on my right side chest and I explained I wore a prosthesis.

"Then, she put her full hands ... one on top and one on the bottom of my 'breast' and moved the prosthesis left, right, up, down and said 'OK.' I was so humiliated.

"I went to the desk area and complained," McCarthy wrote. "The woman there was very nice and I asked her if the training included an understanding of how prosthetics are captured on the scanner and told her the pat-down is embarrassing. She said, 'We have never even had that discussion and I do the training for the TSA employees here, following the standard manual provided.' She said she will bring it up at their next meeting."

If she has to go through the scanner again, McCarthy said, "I am determined to put the prosthesis in the gray bucket," provided to travelers at the security check-ins for items such as jewelry.

"Let the TSA scanners be embarrassed .... not me anymore!" she wrote.

Sharon Kiss, 66, has a pacemaker, but also has to fly often for her work.

"During a recent enhanced pat-down, a screener cupped my breasts and felt my genitals," she said in an e-mail to msnbc.com "To 'clear my waistband' she put her hands down my pants and groped for the waistband of my underwear.

"I expressed humiliation and was told 'You have the choice not to fly.' "

Those anal cavity searches Ann Coulter predicted can't be far off now.

Cross-posted here.

Good News: Bloomberg Now Counting Calories at Rikers Island

Forget three hots and a cot. These suckers are now having the bread intake (whole wheat, of course) and calorie-count reduced in a budget-conscious effort. It's what New York needs more of: leaner, faster criminals when they're let loose. Look at the upside. It's one less story about Mike Bloomberg mulling a presidential run.

Mayor Bloomberg's budget bloodbath has at least one major benefit: Slimmer inmates at Rikers Island.

Hizzoner wants to slash prisoner rations from eight whole-wheat slices of bread a day to six as part of the $1.6 billion budget modification proposed this week.

The lower carb diet will save the city some $350,000 a year and knock 160 calories off the daily diet of our incarcerated crooks, the Correction Department says.

Nutritionists say that's probably a good thing - for everybody.

"They should be properly fed, but the majority of them don't need those extra calories," said Manhattan-based nutritionist Keri Glassman.

The average diet for male inmates is close to 3,000 calories, slightly more than recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The city is also looking to cut costs by removing chocolate and vanilla pudding from the Rikers Island menu - and putting the kibosh on black pepper.

No more black pepper? Isn't his War on Salt enough? Now he's after pepper?