For only $159 you can buy a bathroom scale from France that will rat you out.
Later he moved to a more central position politically. He has now moved to a position a little to the left of Chuck Schumer. Sullivan’s political pendulum has swung from conservative to far left.
The justices let stand a lower court’s rejection of the group’s challenge to the National Football League team’s federal trademarks on its name.The case had more symbolic importance than practical. A victory by the Indians in their challenge wouldn’t have forced the Redskins to change the nickname, though the team could have lost its exclusive rights.
Federal law bars trademarks that “may disparage” people. The issue in the appeal turned on a legal doctrine known as laches, which in some contexts bars lawsuits by people who weren’t vigilant in asserting their rights.
The Indians contend that laches doesn’t apply to efforts to cancel a federal trademark. A federal appeals court in Washington disagreed and threw out the lawsuit.
Other professional sports teams with Native American names
and imagery include the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves baseball teams and the Kansas City Chiefs football team. College sports teams include the Florida State Seminoles and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
Link
The American Farm Bureau says that because prices have come down on certain foods, including turkey and milk, Thanksgiving dinner should be 4% cheaper than last year.
In 2009, the average cost for a Thanksgiving dinner that feeds ten is $42.91, or about $4.29 a person. Last year, the average meal for ten was $44.61, $1.70 more expensive.
Detail for the most recent poll is here.
The $300 million Medicaid fix that Sen. Mary Landrieu got inserted into the Senate healthcare bill wasn’t the first “Louisiana Purchase” of the healthcare debate.
Before Rep. Joseph Cao (La.) cast the lone Republican vote for the healthcare bill in the House, he secured assurances from President Barack Obama to work on Medicaid funding, loan forgiveness and issues related to two of his local hospitals.
The best-known deal involved Reps. Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa, two Blue Dog Democrats from the Golden State who secured funding for a medical school for California’s Central Valley.
The report mentions other last-second trade-offs and promises. Wavering legislators, fearful that a vote could cost them back home, hold out until leadership promises them a little sweetener.
But aren’t these “side deals” really bribes? Of course they are but probably none bigger than the Mary Landrieu $300 million deal.
Polls show only 38% of Americans favor ObamaCare but many politicians don’t care. Bribery must turn the ears of politicians deaf.
Link
Bill Moyers, former White House Press Secretary for Lyndon Johnson, has become well known for his many one-sided political stories that appeared on his program on Public Television.
The Democrats' polling must be showing something similar. Otherwise, House members wouldn't have competed for permission to vote against it, Senators wouldn't have demanded nine-figure payoffs to vote for it, and Harry Reid wouldn't have held the vote on a Saturday night (as Nancy Pelosi did with the House vote).
The recent suggestions of more limited mammograms and pap smears will further reduce the number of voters in favor of ObamaCare and further push Senate Democrat leaders to cram this bill through by any means possible.
Reducing the number of these critical tests will save money and will be a major step to health care rationing.
Poll data is here.
For nearly 20 years, from Al Gore to President Obama, they have been intoning to us that 'the science is settled'. But as ever more scientists from outside the IPCC's self- selected 'magic circle' now maintain, it has never been more obvious that this simply isn't true.
No one has put this better than Professor Lindzen, one of the world's leading climatologists, when he wrote: 'Future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early 21st-century's developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally average temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer projections contemplated a roll-back of the industrial age.'
The climate controversy was never about stopping nature. It was about taxing and control.
Many scientists in the U.S. have been going along with the climate change theory in order to keep their grant money flowing. By going against the ‘warmists’ their grand money would suddenly dry up.
Ask a global warming believer why Al Gore will not debate the so-called ‘warming science’ in his books and movie. Gore won’t. He can’t.
Link
As experts debate the potential speed of the US recovery, one figure looms large but is often overlooked: nearly 1 in 5 Americans is either out of work or under-employed.
According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5 percent are either without a job entirely or underemployed. The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.
So much for the stimulus creating jobs.
Link
The eBay Announcement Board had this message:Due to errors in some of our backend systems, members may be seeing different errors in Search. This could be that "We were unable to run the search results you entered. Please try again in a few minutes" or a blank page, or simply the browser being unable to display the page. Please note that we are working as quickly as possible to get this resolved. Thank you for your patience as we continue to work to resolve this.
The auction giant said it would compensate sellers for their losses. In the past eBay has compensated sellers by extending their auction listings at no additional cost - there is never a cash compensation to sellers as a result of a glitch on eBay.
By the way, in case you wondered why you or your friends are having a more difficult time getting bids on your eBay auctions, it may be because eBay has 200,000,000 live listings which is 33 percent more than at this time one year ago.
Also, over the past year, eBay has rolled out a special ‘on-ramp’ for large retailers, manufacturers and liquidators called Large Merchant Services APIs flooding eBay with new auctions.
More here.
Rhode Island's top Roman Catholic leader has asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy (pictured) to stop taking Communion over his support for abortion rights.
Kennedy, a Democrat, is the son of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and a scion of the most prominent Catholic family in modern U.S. politics.
What about other Catholic lawmakers who support abortion rights?
Does the abortion question very from one diocese to another? If not, was Patrick Kennedy’s father, Sen. Ted Kennedy also asked to refrain from taking communion?
Ted Kennedy also supported abortion rights as do most Democrats in Washington, so what about John Kerry, Chris Dodd and other pro-abortion lawmakers in Washington?
Another question: why did Patrick Kennedy wait for nearly three years before criticizing his Bishop about the Communion ban?
It is interesting that this exchange was comes on the 46th anniversary of the assassination of Patrick Kennedy's uncle, John F. Kennedy, the nation's first Catholic president
Link
This was a winner in a recent cartoon caption contest by Indianapolis Star cartoonist Gary Varvel.
Mr. Alumnus M.L. "Red" Cashion (upper photo) is the current NFL Trainer of Referees.
It wasn’t long until Red’s “First Dowwwnnn!” call became well-known to fans and players alike.
A police officer testified that the 15-year-old girl accused of killing her 9-year-old neighbor confessed to the crime, saying that she did it so she would "know what it felt like to kill someone."
There's big news for climate change students.
A hacker has gotten into the computers at Hadley CRU, Britain's largest climate research institute and a proponent of global warming, and seems to have uncovered evidence of substantial fraud in reporting the "evidence" on global warming; the unlawful destruction of records to cover up this fraud, conspiracy, and deceit in the entire operation.
While hacking into the institute's records is inappropriate if not illegal, the activities disclosed appear illegal and damaging to science and the economies of the world.
Link here and here.
...from Matt Drudge
Once again Fox News stands head and shoulders above the others with Anderson Cooper barely edging our Chris Matthews for last place.
We wonder if CNN regrets dumping Aaron Brown (pictured) for Anderson “cold oatmeal” Cooper. Brown wasn’t the most exciting newsman around but at least he could talk at the camera without stammering.
Slim and sleek as it is, the iPhone is really the Hummer of cellphones.
It’s a data guzzler. Owners use them like minicomputers, which they are, and use them a lot.Not only do iPhone owners download applications, stream music and videos and browse the Web at higher rates than the average smartphone user, but the average iPhone owner can also use 10 times the network capacity used by the average smartphone user.
The result is dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds as AT&T’s cellular network strains to meet the demand.
Another result is outraged customers.
Somali pirates attacked the container ship Maersk Alabama (pictured) for the second time in seven months. Private guards on board the US-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.
Pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama last April and took ship captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days. Navy Seal sharpshooters freed Phillips while killing three pirates in a night-time attack.
Information about the first Maersk Alabama hijacking can be found here.
Click here for more information about the second Maersk Alabama hijacking.
What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?
Here’s a case study.
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”
The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify. Guess what, only one state qualifies - Louisiana.
Louisiana is the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.
Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.
How much will this cost to get Landrieu’s vote?
According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.
More here including the incredibly complicated language of that section of the bill.
"We didn't even have to advertise in the paper this year," Captain Thomas Fenton with the Salvation Army said. "We're getting a lot of applications this year and a lot of first-time applicants."
Captain Fenton said applications are up 100 percent this year when compared with last.
"We're seeing people from all walks of life now," Fenton said. "I think the economy has frightened people. It's frightened them no matter what they earn."
It's something a spokesperson for the regional Salvation Army said he is seeing statewide.
We thought Salvation Army red kettle bell ringers were all volunteers. Most of them in Colorado are paid somewhere in the $8.50 to $9 an hour range.
Link
Two fingers to technology!
Their missing thumb and index fingertips give you the freedom to touch, tap, stroke, slide and pinch your devices' controls in any way you desire.
The cost is a little over $33 a pair plus shipping from the UK.
More information here.
Chicago politics, where voting is such a revered civic duty that people do it even after they're dead, cold, stiff, stuffed, boxed and buried beneath the permafrost for years, has now come to D.C. with the Obama administration.
This afternoon comes the most encouraging economic news, courtesy of our keen-eyed buddy Rick Klein over at ABC, that the Obama administration's $787-billion economic stimulus has, for example, thankfully created 30 new jobs in a little-known rural corner of Arizona at a cost to American taxpayers of only $761,420 ($25,380.67 per job).
So the people of that 15th Congressional District in staunchly Republican Arizona should be pretty happy about this.
Trouble is, there is no 15th Congressional District in Arizona. None. Nada. Zip. Zero. Doesn't exist. Not in Arizona. Not even on paper at the Democratic National Committee. There are only eight. Period.
The administration's recovery.gov website reported these jobs as being created there.
The report goes on:
But then the trouble is that just months after grandly unveiling the recovery.gov website to showcase its economic prowess and tech-savvy, the Obama administration just spent 18 million additional taxpayer dollars to redesign the still new website.
And that site proudly also reported nonexistent new stimulus spending not just in Arizona but other states across the country.
How many other stimulus jobs have been reported as saved in fictional congressional districts?
Link
Regardless of how lively an election season might be, a new study shows that more 3.3 million voters on current registration rolls across the country are dead.
Another 12.9 million remain on voter registration lists in an area where they are no longer alive.
We wonder if there is anything to the rumor about the George Soros-funded SOS Project? It’s a liberal strategy to install a liberal Secretary of States in every state to aid and abet Democrat voter fraud perpetrated by ACORN and the SEIU and UAW labor unions.
This is not your fathers Democratic party!
Link
Just who is Guy Fieri anyway? He is the popular host of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and two other TV shows on Food Network.
It seems like something written into a television program. A burgeoning star in the NBA, whose fame is dependent upon the name he's made for himself, decides to switch for no apparent reason at all.
According to the Denver Post J.R. Smith announced on Tuesday before the Nuggets game in Chicago that “from now on, he wanted to be called by his given name, Earl.”
Now he wants sports writers and announcers to go back to calling him J.R.
The name it is ‘a changin.’
Link
News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the US leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.
Obama is in China today but the report says:
Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the US president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.
William Kristol said, “it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one.” Bill Bennett said, “It's ugly. I don't want to see it.”
"I'll bet if you look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow," Kristol said.
Some said the gesture was particularly grating coming after Obama's bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a G20 meeting in April (shown in photo below).
A breakdown of noteworthy expenses:Interment costs in the Great Mausoleum of Forest Lawn-Glendale: $590,000
Lieberman goes on to say that, while reform is needed, the public option would be harmful to America’s future and that he would use his right as a senator to try "to stop it."
Confused Palm Beach County voters helped thwart Al Gore's 2000 bid to become president of the United States, but he was introduced as "president of the planet" when he returned here Saturday night to deliver an environmental lecture.
Former vice president Al Gore spoke on climate change at the Mizner Park Amphitheater to a crowd of about 800. However, more than 200 protesters gathered across the street from the event, and their boos and chants could be heard inside the amphitheater as Gore began his presentation.
Link
The photo at right shows 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at the time of his capture in March 2003. The photo below shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed taken recently at Guantánamo Bay detention camp.Obama's decision opened him to risks -- should the prosecutions fail, or if it prompts further attacks, it could anger the victims' families and prompt a public backlash.
A report at the second link below says this may be worst decision ever by a US President.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder expressed confidence that the cases were strong and said the trials would not be impaired by the harsh interrogations of Mohammed and others.
Others are not so sure. They point to the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Police found blood on Simpson. They found bloody clothes in Simpson’s house as well as other damning evidence against Simpson.
With O.J.’s “dream team” of lawyers, his murder trial ended in an acquittal.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be provided with a “dream team” of defense lawyers with the full ability to use jury selection experts, etc.
Jury selection experts alone have been instrumental in acquittal rulings in many high profile cases involving the ‘rich and famous.’ Now it appears terrorists will receive the same luxury.
Link here and here.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 66% of Americans oppose a law that would effectively ban the sale of big-screen televisions to save energy. Sixteen percent (16%) favor the idea, and 18% are not sure.
California may ban big-screen TVs? When they do prices drop drastically and lots of them will be sold. Sold to people leaving California for less restrictive and less taxed states.
Greenies, who still think man has the ability to change the climate, will eventually see to it there is a federal ban on big-screen TV’s.
They got their foot in the door with twisted light bulbs and they won’t stop until we all drive cars with lawn mower engines.
Link
Speaking of liberal indoctrination by edutainment programs, Michelle Obama's efforts to turn us all into communist vegans is not stopping at Sesame Street.
Food Network announced that Iron Chef America will be airing a special two-hour episode Jan. 3, taped at the White House, featuring the First Lady and her much-publicized kitchen garden.Host Alton Brown will bring chefs Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to battle with White House Chef Cristeta Comerford (pictured). The four chefs, divided into teams, will have to devise a five-course "American meal," using ingredients plucked from the garden.
The Time report ends with:
And really, what American will not be moved by the ending of the episode, in which the President will ascend a podium in Kitchen Stadium, where a choir of a thousand schoolchildren will honor him by singing specially commissioned songs of praise and loyalty?
Although the last comment from the Time Magazine blog was intended to be in jest, it probably contains more ‘truth than poetry.’
Link
Registered voters prefer Republicans for the House, 48% to 44%.
In this same poll, Republicans trailed by six points in July and by two points last month.
If the trend continues, the Democrats will be in deeper trouble in 2010 than was at first feared.
Is the most recent swing because of:
1. The heavy-handed way Pelosi has pushed the healthcare bill in the House?
2. Locking out Republicans while drafting the bill eliminating even the pretense of a bi-partisan effort.
3. The huge amount of pork in the bill.
4. Not allowing the final bill to be read more than a few hours before final vote.
5. The crafty way of forcing a Saturday vote hoping that Congressmen would vote ‘yes’ in order to go home for the rest of the weekend.
6. All of the above.
Number 6 would probably be the most accurate.
The Gallup poll report is here.
Hasan (upper photo) may be charged with a 14th count of murder related to the death of the unborn child of a pregnant shooting victim.John Galligan (lower photo), Hasan's civilian attorney, said his military co-counsel told him that charges were being read to Hasan in the hospital without his lawyers present.
"I don't like it. I feel like I'm being left out of the loop," Galligan said. "I guess it's 13 charges, but I don't like to have to guess in this situation."Meanwhile, President Barack Obama ordered a review of all intelligence related to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and whether the information was properly shared and acted upon within government agencies.
Is Mr. Obama interceding on Maj. Hasan’s behalf? If not, why would the president of the United States become personally involved in a criminal case?
A hint of possible White House involvement in the case came the day of the shootings when Barack Obama cautioned Americans not to rush to judgement after the Fort Hood shootings. In fact, he gave the rush to judgement speech even before he offered words of sympathy to the families of the massacre victims.
The report at the link below gives a glimpse into Maj. Hasan’s world as a soldier and a military psychiatrist:
Hasan had complained privately to colleagues that he was harassed for his religion and that he wanted to get out of the Army. But there is no record of Hasan filing a complaint with his chain of command regarding any harassment he may have suffered for being Muslim or any record of him formally seeking release from the military, the officials told the AP.
Months before last week's shootings, doctors and staff overseeing Hasan's training reported viewing him at times as belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith.
Hasan was characterized in meetings as a mediocre student and lazy worker, a matter of concern among the doctors and staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
More here.
The parents of Fort Collins Balloon Boy Falcon Heene will enter guilty pleas in court Friday as part of a deal to avoid deportation to Japan for Mayumi Heene (shown on right) .
In a statement released early this morning, Heene attorney David Lane said Mayumi will plead guilty to false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor, with a stipulated sentence to probation.
Attorney David Lane said authorities insisted that Richard Heene "fall on his sword" and take a felony plea.
The Heene family drew international attention Oct. 15 when Richard and Mayumi called 911 to report Falcon had floated away from their home in a UFO-shaped helium balloon.
Millions watched as the balloon's flight was televised live, but Falcon wasn't aboard when it landed near Denver International Airport.
Later in the day the boy appeared at the family home. Under questioning, Falcon Heene spilled the beans and admitted he had been hiding in a garage attic all the time.
In the photo above Falcon Heene shows how he climbed into the garage attic.
Link
"The entire incident was very confusing and chaotic," Munley said. "There was many people outside pointing to the direction that this individual was apparently located, and as soon as I got out of my vehicle and ran up the hill was when things got pretty bad."
Once inside, Munley, who has been trained in active-response tactics, began exchanging fire with the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a military psychiatrist, authorities said. They said her shots disabled Hasan and halted the attacks.
Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration views have made him a TV lightning rod, said Wednesday that he is leaving the cable news channel effective immediately.
Sitting before an image of an American flag on his television set, he said “some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day.”
Last summer the President of CNN said the Obama citizenship issue was ‘dead,’ but Lou Dobbs revived it as reported in the second link below.
Will Dobbs’ exit leave anyone left at CNN with a conservative viewpoint?
Link here and here.
The plane's departure to Chicago was "imminent", with 124 passengers and 11 crew members on board, when the arrest took place, a Heathrow spokesman said.
Passengers were put on to other planes after the flight was cancelled.
A United Airlines spokeswoman said: "Safety is our highest priority and the pilot has been removed from service while we are cooperating with authorities and conducting a full investigation.
The pilot was reported to police by United Airlines staff who suspected him of being drunk.
Link here and here.
There will be no charges against the Larimer County sheriff for his 'balloon boy' disclosure.The Boulder District Attorney has declined to file charges against Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden (shown on right) regarding his disclosure that county social service workers were investigating the family of 'balloon boy' Falcon Heene.
The Heenes (shown above) are under investigation for reporting that their 6-year-old son had drifted away on a homemade balloon that broke loose from its tethers Oct. 16 in Fort Collins. The flight of the balloon captivated people around the world concerned for the boy's welfare.
The boy was found safe at home hiding in an attic above the family garage. 
Sheriff Alderden has accused the Heenes of lying and staging a publicity stunt. The Larimer County district attorney is considering whether to file charges.
Alderden said he wasn't surprised by the Boulder District Attorney’s decision, and said that the Heene’s complaint was typical of their attorney's tactics of "attack, distract and discredit."
The Heene family attorney David Lane said it's just a matter of time before the Heenes are charged.
More of the story here.
The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.
The single most common swap — which occurred more than 8,200 times — involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford F150s.
They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius.
The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers.New data, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, include details of 677,081 clunker trade-ins processed by the government through Oct. 16. More than 95,000 of the new vehicles purchased under the program — or about 1 in 7 — got less than 20 mpg, according to the data.
The report at the link below lists some deals that raised eyebrows:
• In at least 145 cases, mostly involving trucks, the government reported consumers traded old vehicles that got better than or the same mileage as the new vehicle they purchased. The government said it was continuing to investigate. "It's possible some quirky deal slipped through the cracks," Anwyl said.
• In at least 15 deals in nine states, owners of large pickups cashed in old trucks for between $3,500 and $4,500 toward new Hummer H3 SUVs that got only 16 mpg.
• In at least 32 deals, drivers traded older vehicles for new large trucks — including versions of Toyota Tundras, GMC Sierras, Chevrolet Silverados, Dodge Rams and Ford F150 pickups — that got only 14 mpg.
More of the surprising clunker aftermath story here.
A 68-year-old woman in South Korea finally passed the written test for her driving license after 950 attempts."I still have to pass the real driving test but I think it will be easier for me to pass than the paper test," she said, adding that she needed a driver's license for her vegetable-selling business.
Intelligence agencies intercepted communications last year and this year between the military psychiatrist accused of shooting to death 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., and a radical cleric in Yemen known for his incendiary anti-American teachings.
Federal authorities dropped an inquiry into the matter after deciding that the messages from the psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, did not suggest any threat of violence and concluding that no further action was warranted.
Maj. Hasan was communicating with a radical cleric. Did federal authorities think they were exchanging falafel recipes?
Major Hasan’s 10 to 20 messages to Anwar al-Awlaki, once a spiritual leader at a mosque in suburban Virginia where Major Hasan worshiped, indicate that the troubled military psychiatrist came to the attention of the authorities long before last Thursday’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood, but that the authorities left him in his post.
Did political correctness prevent federal authorities from digging deeper or acting on information they found on Major Hasan?
We came across this definition of political correctness recently:
''Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by a complicit mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a pile of feces without soiling ones hands.''
That definition may well be correct because, in the case of Major Hasan, federal authorities were determined not to soil their hands and as a result 13 innocent soldiers died and dozens more were wounded.
Link
Update:
The radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, in the report above, has praised Major Hasan for the shootings at Fort Hood.
Taylor, 50, was booked into jail at 9:57 p.m. and released a short time later on $500 bond.
The crash happened about 6:30 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway at Northwest 103rd Street, authorities said.
The crash tore off the front right tire on Taylor's 2009 Cadillac Escalade, and he drove about two miles on the axle before pulling off the road, authorities said.
“There was significant damage to his car,” said Lt. James Durden of the Florida Highway Patrol.
Does this mean Nutri-System will drop him from their TV commercials? We can always hope...
Nutri-System ads with Dan Marino and others were tolerable. But when they added Lawrence Taylor, it made us glad to have a TV remote clicker handy.
Link
With internet chatter, tons of websites and a new Hollywood film, interest in a time still two years away is at an all-time high.
The cause of the myth and confusion is the ancient Mayan calendar created two thousand years ago. It ends on December 21, 2012.
The Mayans apparently found December 21st of 2012 interesting because of a very rare astronomical alignment is culminating around the years 2012.
The December sun slowly gets in alignment with the band of the Milky Way. That event is what has caused the speculation.
Is that a good enough reason for the December 2012 end of the world prediction?
Dr. Doug Duncan, Professor at CU Boulder, isn’t so sure. He says that argument is invalid because the alignment is actually not that rare and has been taking place since last year.
The internet and a new Hollywood big budget film are fueling the speculation and media attention.
Colorado author, John Major Jenkins has written numerous books on the subject.
"I have visited sites (in Mexico) and there is a particular site that is really critical for understanding the 2012 question, because it's the place where the long count calendar was invented" he says.
Jenkins says the entire debate is ironic because there is no evidence at all that the Maya predicted an Apocalypse or catastrophic doomsday in 2012.
As popular as the 2012 myth is - that’s just what it is - a myth!
Link here and here for this and other end of world myths.
Owens indicated in a press release that he was now in favor of the bill in direct contrast to his earlier position during his campaign.
According to Politico.com, Mr. Owens assured voters that he felt the public option had no place in the health care reform bill. Contrary to that position, Mr. Owens now indicates that he intends to vote in favor of the bill even though it now contains a public option.
Bill Owens also said during his campaign that he was opposed to cutting Medicare benefits, taxing health care benefits, and increased taxes on the middle class in any way.
The House Health reform bill contains sections that cut Medicare benefits, tax existing health care benefits, and increases taxes on the middle class, yet Mr. Owens stated that he will now vote in favor of those things contrary to what he had promised the voters of NY's 23rd Congressional District that he would vote against.
More on the broken promises by the newest Democrat in the House of Representatives here.
According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Levon Tebelekian allegedly charged immigrants $150 to give them medical clearance papers without giving them medical exams. Such exams are required by the federal government to make sure immigrants don't have any diseases.
Tebelekian was arrested by the agency, which handled the investigation in conjunction with the California Medical Board.
Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, (pictured) visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.
The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night.
Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."
As reported above, it was a private visit. No photo op. No fuss. Just a genuine concern for the wounded soldiers.
The White House has announced that Mr. Obama will attend a memorial service for the Fort Hood casualties.
Link
In times of national tragedy, Americans expect their president to capture the mood and moment with the right blend of emotion, empathy, and urgency.
It’s a delicate act of timing and tone. And President Obama, despite his eloquence and dignity, has yet to master it, as illustrated by his awkward response to the deadly shootings at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas.
The shooting by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (pictured) happened at about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday (Washington time). Obama’s first comments didn’t come until after 5 p.m.
The stage was set for the president to quickly and somberly address the tragedy.
Instead, a serene-looking Obama offered light introductory comments, keyed to those attending a Tribal Nations Conference that was hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. His introduction included a convivial “shout-out’’ to one of the conference attendees.
Several minutes in, Obama finally called the Fort Hood shootings “a horrific outburst of violence.’’ The words he spoke next were respectful and appropriate. But it took him too long to get to the point of delivering them.
When a gunman fired those shots at Fort Hood, the country immediately felt the pain. Obama missed the first moment to show he understood just how much it hurt.
Would Mr. Obama have reacted differently if the shooter was not a Muslim? Some say it was because the Fort Hood killer was a Muslim that Obama cautioned against a ‘rush to judgement.’
Link
Ninety-seven percent support the prohibition of texting while driving, an unusual level of agreement for any topic. Eighty percent also support a ban on talking on a hand-held cellphone while driving.
President Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.
After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed.
The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance.
The cable station cameras went to Barack Obama for the presidents comments -- but he did not appear until 5 p.m.
The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective. We saw neither.
But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks.
At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner."
Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?
The report goes on to say, “Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should occur.”
Link
A 20-year-old man in a breathalyzer costume found himself blowing into a breathalyzer after police in southwest Ohio stopped him on Halloween night. He was driving the wrong way on a one-way street with no headlights.
In its latest attempt to portray the Democrats' reform package as an unwieldy expansion of federal government in the health care sector, the House Republican Conference circulated what it called a list of "new boards, bureaucracies, commissions and programs" created in the House health care bill.
With 111 new bureaucracies and agencies one can understand why many are saying the Pelosi health care bill is a bill we just can’t afford to pay.
More of the basic story here.
A list of the 111 new agencies can be found here.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio told the crowd gathered on the lawn near the West Front of the Capitol, “This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen.”The demonstrators came to Washington by plane, bus and other means to send a message to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as they press ahead with health care legislation.
Link
It's accurate to say that there aren't a whole lot of players around the league who like Hines Ward. When he's not going over the middle to catch passes, he's always looking to lay a hit on an unsuspecting defender.
The NFL even passed a new rule after Ward broke linebacker Keith Rivers’ jaw last year.
So it's no surprise to learn that Ward has been voted as the NFL’s dirtiest player in a survey by Sports Illustrated.
Clark County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jim Backus said Monday that Strey's call on Oct. 24 led deputies to cite her for misdemeanor drunken driving with a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit to drive. She makes her first court appearance Dec. 10.
Backus said drunken drivers reporting themselves is rare.
After a weekend of heated words about the perceived U.S. tilt toward Israel on the issue of settlements on the occupied West Bank, Clinton said it was important for all sides to "be careful about what we say" and avoid angry rhetoric.More here.
Jon Corzine has been a terrible governor even by the undemanding standards of terribly governed New Jersey.
Creigh Deeds, though he looked good to Democratic Party recruiters not long ago, turned out to be an undistinguished campaigner, more driven by the concerns of Washington Post editorialists than of Virginia voters.
The elections underscored Obama’s political weakness just one year after his triumphant victory over Republican moderate John McCain.
One Lucianne commenter compared Mr. Obama’s popularity to the Furby craze of a few years ago.
Furby was that the fuzzy little chatting best-friend toy that nearly everyone wanted. People would stand in line at 3 a.m. or pay any price to get one.
Then, after finally getting what they wanted, they found out the "mindless chattering" of their beloved toy was driving them crazy, and they put the coveted trophy at the bottom of a dark closet so they didn't have to listen to its constant babble.
That's what happens when smart people get caught up in a short-lived craze!
In New Jersey and Virginia, where Obama won handily one year ago, you could take his 2008 mandate along with a buck-fifty and get a cup of coffee most anywhere in Richmond or Trenton.
Link to the Harlan Reynolds report here.
Republicans swept to victory in the New Jersey and Virginia governor's races Tuesday, scoring a pair of decisive wins in states that voted for President Obama a year ago.
In New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie (lower photo) beat out Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, even though Obama campaigned heavily for the incumbent in the closing days of the race and the state has not elected a Republican governor since 1993.
A report at the link below says:By defeating Corzine, former U.S. Attorney deals big blow to President Obama, who carried the state easily in 2008.
In the end, all the stumping in the world from the President of the United States wasn't going to stop regime change in New Jersey's highest office.
The report says 38 percent of Corzine voters said their vote for Gov. Corzine was to express support for Obama, while 59 percent said Obama was not a factor.
The three visits to New Jersey by Obama didn’t really seem help that much. The photo above shows Barack Obama with defeated New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine.
Link
Prince Charles has described the trip as a chance to meet as "many Canadians as possible" but a recent opinion poll showed that a large majority of Canadians are apathetic about the visit.
Just one in five people said they would make an effort to see Prince Charles "if he was nearby."
So why the 11-day trip to a country that is lukewarm to the visit?
Perhaps it’s because Charles need something to do while waiting for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to die so he can begin his life’s work.
The photo above shows Charles and Camilla in Scotland a couple of years ago. She seems to be telling him, “Oh Charles you’ve got ever such lovely knees.”
Link
A year on from a historic election, the spirit of popular goodwill that yielded America's first black president has retreated to tepid support for Barack Obama as he presses his change agenda.
Since then, Obama's visage has been everywhere, conspicuously on the streets of the nation's capital where millions of foreign and domestic tourists have visited over the past year, many of them snatching up poignant souvenirs.
What a difference a year makes.
A quick look around downtown Washington confirms that the Obama trinkets are still for sale, but more than one strategically placed street hawker have found little point in displaying the T-shirts, posters, and "Yes We Can" buttons bearing the new president's image.
"They stay in the truck," grumbled a vendor who identified himself as "Dick," as he pointed to a rusty vehicle behind him. "They don't sell anymore."
Indeed, Obama's honeymoon with the American people lasted less than six months.
After his inauguration in January, Obama's approval rating soared to 70 percent.
He very quickly charged into controversial programs to rescue the economy, including the manhandling of US auto manufacturers and pushing through a 787-billion-dollar stimulus plan.
In late April, at the end of the first 100 days in office, Obama still enjoyed more positive reviews than his predecessors in the previous 20 years.
His fall was soon to come as questions started simmering about the Mr. Obama’s ability to pull the US economy out of a nosedive.
In July, his popularity dipped even below that of predecessor George W. Bush in the same period of his presidency.
Since mid-October, it has hovered just above 50 percent, a "significant drop" from his earlier numbers, according to Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll.
"In general, this puts Obama's current ratings slightly below average for all US presidents since World War II," Newport told AFP.
A monthly approval index by Rasmussen Reports showed 29 percent of those polled strongly approve of Obama's performance, compared to 39 percent who strongly disapprove giving him an approval index of -10.
Mr. Obama had the worst poll rating drop in 50 years as reported here.
More here.
The Guinness record rubber band ball is on its way to a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum.
Mikhail Gorbachev George bush Helmut Kohl are shown above at the anniversary ceremony. 
Berlin Wall did “fall” on November 9 of 1989 allowing free passage through all border crossings although it wasn’t officially demolished until the summer of 1990.
A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, but only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.
The Clunkers program gave car buyers rebates of up to $4,500 if they traded in less fuel-efficient vehicles for new vehicles that met certain fuel economy requirements. A total of $3 billion was allotted for those rebates.
The average rebate was $4,000. But the overwhelming majority of sales would have taken place anyway at some time in the last half of 2009, according to Edmunds.com.
That means the government ended up spending about $24,000 each for those 125,000 additional vehicle sales.
Further, the clunker program only helped those who could already afford a new car and destroyed untold thousands of perfectly serviceable used cars that could have been used by folks who couldn't afford new-car prices.
That amounts to destroyed wealth. Add the cost to taxpayers of $24,000 per car and the taxpayers are really getting robbed.
Link
The storm has left almost 4 feet of snow in the foothills and close to two feet in the Denver metro area. The heaviest snow is now shifting to the eastern plains Thursday night.
The world's largest retailer wants to keep its customers even after they die.
Wal-Mart has started selling caskets on its website at prices that undercut many funeral homes, long the major seller of caskets.
The move follows a similar one by discount rival Costco, which also sells caskets on its site.
Prices range from $999 for models like "Dad Remembered" and "Mom Remembered" steel caskets to the mid-level $1,699 "Executive Privilege." All are less than $2,000, except for the Sienna Bronze Casket, which sells for $3,199.
The move gives more power to consumers and helps them avoid high mark-ups on caskets, which can often be several hundred percent, said R. Brian Burkhardt, a funeral director who blogs as "Your Funeral Guy."
Federal law requires funeral homes to accept third-party caskets.
Link
...thanks to Twila for the link
More than half of the customers of conman Bernie Madoff (pictured) have had their claims for restitution denied by the securities industry fund meant to insure them.
The Madoff ‘losers’ will get $534 Million but the ‘winners’ won’t get a dime.
The bankruptcy trustee, Irving Picard, said today that more customers made money than lost money in the decades long scam.
Records show that 2,568 customers took out more than they initially deposited and will receive no restitution.
Not only that, lawyers for the bankruptcy trustee plan to seek a return of the profits of those that received more than they initially invested.
Bankruptcy trustee, Irving Picard, did say, "We're not going to be suing people who have no money or might lose their homes."
Picard said only 2,335 of Madoff's customers had net losses. Of those, 1,368 have had their claims approved and the Securities Investor Protector Corporation fund has committed $534 million in payments for them.
The maximum amount the fund pays is $500,000 and, in effect, the fund will only be reimbursing Madoff's victims for about one of every eight dollars they lost, given total losses calculated by Picard at $21.26 billion.
More here.
When “I’m busy and (House Speaker) Nancy (Pelosi) busy with our mop cleaning up somebody else’s mess -- we don't want somebody sitting back saying, you're not holding the mop the right way,” Obama had said last week. “Why don't you grab a mop, why don't you help clean up... You're not mopping fast enough... That’s a socialist mop he told the crowd: Grab a mop -- let's get to work.”
A picture of my cave
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