The John Edwards scandal and cover-up

The mainstream media did not report the John Edwards scandal until this week.

The National Enquirer has been on the story for months but the liberal media ignored a story that is an embarrassment to the Democrats in Washington and the Democratic Party in general since Edwards was a candidate for Vice-President and, more recently, for President.

One of the National Enquirer articles can be found here. The photo above shows Edwards and Rielle Hunter, his alleged mistress. Hunter was a resident of Chapel Hill, North Carolina during the affair confessed to by Edwards.

It has been well documented that aides of Edwards spirited Rielle Hunter off to California where she and a former Edwards aide have been living is separate million dollar homes presumably paid for by Edwards. The aide in California is trying to take blame away from Edwards by saying he is the father of Hunter's baby.

The report at the link below wonders what is the bigger scandal: what Edwards did or the media’s long cover-up?

In February, the New York Times ran a shockingly thin story insinuating that John McCain might have had an affair with someone he was chummy with.

By the standards The New York Times used in its McCain piece, the John Edwards scandal should have been front-page news several days running.

Instead, no one followed up -- until Edwards partially confessed after the Enquirer published damning photos and after a home-state newspaper chronicled Edwards' denials and compared them with the evidence on hand.

Link

Father of US Olympic coach murdered in Beijing

Shock on first day of Olympics.

The murder of the father of a former Olympian at a Beijing landmark cast a sad shadow over the first full day of Olympic competition today, just hours after China’s jubilant opening of the Summer Games.

Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minn. — parents of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman and in-laws of U.S. men’s volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon — were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower (pictured).

The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed Bachman died from knife wounds and that Barbara Bachman suffered life-threatening injuries. She and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured in the attack, were being treated in a Beijing hospital.

Todd Bachman was chief executive officer for Bachman’s, Inc., a home-and-garden center based in Minneapolis.

The assailant, Tang Yongming, 47, leapt to his death from a 130-foot (40-meter) -high balcony on the Drum Tower, just five miles (eight kilometers) from the main Olympics site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Link

Humiliating book flop for Nancy Pelosi

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (pictured) has sold only 2,737 of her book.

The most powerful woman in the history of American politics is suffering a humiliating defeat at the nation's bookstores, sales figures show.

In her first week at market, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sold just 2,737 copies of her book KNOW YOUR POWER, according to Nielsen Bookscan here.

The DOUBLEDAY release was launched with a full media push, featuring high profile interviews on TODAYTHEVIEWTHISWEEK here.

Pelosi's sales debacle [#41 on the Non-Fiction Chart] is dramatically overshadowed by the first high profile anti-Obama book, OBAMA NATION, which debuts at #1 on both the BOOKSCAN and the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller List, with 21,466 copies moved.

So there you have it: the Pelosi book lays an egg and the anti-Obama book soars to #1.

Not a great time for Washington Democrats.

Dollar and stocks surge as oil prices plunge

Friday was a good day for the U.S. economy as stocks soared, the dollar saw its biggest one-day jump against the euro in eight years and oil prices plunged.

“This is the watershed week for the US dollar,” said Marc Chandler, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. “The magnitude of the dollar’s moves and the breaking of key technical levels suggest that a major shift in the outlook towards the dollar is occurring as massive positions are adjusted.” Other analysts described the widespread buying of dollars as “capitulation”.

The dollar hit a five-month high of $1.5055 against the euro and climbed 1.3 per cent to $1.9189 against the pound – its strongest since November 2006.

Link

“Fly” JetBlue on free trip to nowhere

You could “fly” JetBlue for free on August 23.

The catch? You won’t be going anywhere. JetBlue will furnish you luggage to test their baggage system at their new terminal at JFK, and you won’t be boarding a plane.

New York-based JetBlue is looking for 1,000 of its frequent flyers to show up at JFK on August 23 to check bags given to them by the airline, go through security and wait at the assigned gate for their imaginary "flight".

The U.S. No. 7 carrier is taking no chances with the systems at its new Terminal 5, following the chaotic opening of British Airways' Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport in March, as baggage systems failed and staff didn't know their way around the new building (see photo).

Link

26 teen cheerleaders stuck in elevator

First the campus prank was swallowing goldfish. Then it was cramming into a phone booth. Now it’s how many can fit in an elevator.

How many cheerleaders can cram into an elevator? Apparently not 26. A group of teenage girls attending a cheerleading camp on the University of Texas got stuck and had to be rescued after trying to squeeze into an elevator at a residence hall

The elevator doors were stuck and so were the 26 girls.

Responding to a few panicked cell phone calls from the group, police and firefighters summoned an elevator repairman, who spent about 25 minutes extricating them.

Campus officials weren't amused.

Link

Call to build 45 new nuclear power plants

While campaigning on the energy theme, John McCain said that the only time his Democratic rival Barack Obama voted for a tax cut was for a "break for the oil companies."

Continuing he energy theme, McCain called for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds "to make clean coal a reality," measures designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating around the country produce about 20 percent of the nation's annual electricity needs.

How long before environmental activists follow him wearing skeleton suits in protest? They are perennial over-reactors to nuclear reactors as shown in the cartoon in the posting below.

Link

Over reacting to power plant reactors

(click on picture to enlarge)

About that McCain celebrity ad

There has been a lot of buzz about the celebrity ad by the McCain campaign showing Paris Hilton.

(click on picture to see video)

Hmm … Paris Hilton, eh?

The ad of course points out that Mr. Obama is a celebrity like Paris Hilton rather than a serious candidate.

Maybe we should be allowed to vote for a celebrity like Paris Hilton. After all, she’d sure look a lot better on a ten dollar bill than either of the candidates!

= = = = = = U P D A T E = = = = = =

Now Paris Hilton has come out with her own clever ad. She makes better political ads than either McCain or Obama.

Maybe she should quit the entertainment industry and go into politics.

Beware of swimming pool parasites

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about on these hot summer days. Now it’s cryptosporidium.

It’s a word difficult to pronounce and harder to spell but it needs our attention.

An unwanted, creepy visitor may be lurking in the cool pool you are using for relief from the summertime heat.



Cryptosporidium, commonly known as crypto, is a chlorine-resistant parasite and its infection rates are on the rise, as Jenni Broomhead learned last summer after throwing a party at a public pool where 40 people ended up getting ill.

She and other parents paid thousands of dollars in medical bills for children who had to be treated at the hospital.

Pools, ponds and other bodies of water can host crypto, which when ingested can cause an illness for up to two weeks. Symptoms can include bouts of diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fevers.

Click here for more information as well as tips for avoiding crypto.

Brett Favre traded to New York Jets

The unretirement of former Packer star is over with Brett Favre (pictured) moving on to the New York Jets.

The Packers had been talking with the Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers since deciding earlier this week that the team and the three-time MVP couldn't co-exist.

The Packers decided to move forward with Aaron Rodgers as their starter after Favre announced his retirement in March.

Why can’t the great players just stay retired?

Link

Not all California beachgoers are fun to watch

A not-so- svelte Jack Nicholson slogging on a beach near Malibu.

Proof that southern California beachgoers are tolerant of almost anything.

Aides lose Obama’s Birthday present

Barack Obama may be out a 47th Birthday present.

Obama was celebrating his birthday by unveiling a new energy plan in Michigan and holding a fundraising event in Boston.

But his communications director Robert Gibbs said plans by his campaign team to mark the boss's special day in style had gone awry.

"We got him a present that he really needs. And one of our guys was bringing it back and left it in the trunk of the cab last night," Gibbs told MSNBC.

Are these the same aides that will be showing Obama how to use the red phone in the White House?

Link

Smog returns to Beijing skies

After three days of blue skies, the smog returns to Beijing. They only have four days until the opening ceremonies.

Smog returned to Beijing's skies on Monday, despite claims by Chinese officials that drastic anti-pollution measures had slashed the chances of Olympic events having to be rescheduled.



The familiar murky air seen in the capital reduced visibility to a few hundred yards just four days before the Olympic opening ceremony.

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge warned last year that poor air during the Games could result in the suspension of some events, particularly endurance races such as the marathon.

Should environmental departments foresee serious air pollution during the Olympics, Beijing and neighboring areas will temporarily close more factories and pull more cars off the road.

Link

McCain at Sturgis motorcycle rally

John McCain spoke to a cheering crowd at the Sturgis motorcycle rally. The Associated Press reported:

Thousands of motorcyclists greeted Republican presidential candidate John McCain with an approving roar Monday as he sought blue-collar and heartland support by visiting a giant motorcycle rally.

(click on picture to enlarge)

"As you may know, not long ago a couple hundred thousand Berliners made a lot of noise for my opponent.
I'll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day," McCain said, referring to Democrat Barack Obama's recent visit to the German capital.

More of the story here.

You just can’t trust anyone these days

A man in Salinas, California stole a Chevy Silverado pickup.

During a stop at a 7-Eleven store he lost his newly swiped pickup to an armed carjacker.

A 33-year-old man told police he stole the pickup Saturday then, while sitting outside a convenience store, a man with a gun hopped in and ordered him to start driving.

The pickup ran out of gas and the gunman ordered him to get out and push, but the man managed to run away and call police.

You can’t make up stories like this!

Link

Tire gauges handed out at Obama Michigan energy speech

McCain supporters in Michigan will distribute tire gauges at Obama’s energy speech in Lansing.

The gauges are marked, Obama’s energy plan.

This is in response to Obama’s call last week for motorists to check the air in their tires and keep their cars tuned up.

I want one. It would be a more interesting ’08 election year souvenir than just another pin-back button.

Link

History may be repeating itself

Will Obama be the new Wendell Wilkie?

We've seen this before: a young, attractive, and politically inexperienced candidate comes out of nowhere to claim a presidential nomination. Is history repeating itself?

In 1940, one of the most unlikely political ascensions in history occurred when Wendell Wilkie came out of nowhere to claim the Republican nomination and challenge Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the Presidency.

There are major contextual and personal differences, to be sure. But the personality, experience and choices of Wilkie seem eerily reminiscent of Obama.

Others have seen this, such as Alexander Heffner of TIME magazine.

Wilkie was an anti-war candidate like Obama.

Also, like Obama, he came out of nowhere to capture the imagination of the country.

At 48, just two years older than Obama today, he broke upon the national consciousness with an ‘electrifying' appearance on the "Town Hall" radio program.

In 1940, Wilkie (pictured) stumped furiously around the country and caught fire in the popular imagination.

"Wilkie clubs" began to spring up everywhere. Millions signed petitions for him. It was a true phenomenon.

So, what happened to Wilkie, the 1940 boy wonder?

During the campaign Wilkie's inexperience began to show.

He chose as a main theme the lack of preparedness of the military by the administration, perhaps to offset his isolationist reputation as it became more apparent that war was inevitable.

Roosevelt easily outflanked this by expanding contracts and instituting a draft.

Wilkie then tried to capitalize on backlash to the draft, by changing the support he had announced for it to opposition.

The inexperienced Wilkie lost in an electoral landslide!

Why did Wilkie lose when the enthusiasm for him had been so great?

His lack of experience began to dawn on a lot of people. How could he claim he could run things much better than a solid veteran at administering the government?

A footnote:

Wendell Wilkie died of heart failure in 1944 - just four years after his loss to FDR.

Link

About that McCain celebrity ad

There has been a lot of buzz about the celebrity ad by the McCain campaign showing Paris Hilton.

(click on picture to see video)

Hmm … Paris Hilton, eh?

The ad of course points out that Mr. Obama is a celebrity like Paris Hilton rather than a serious candidate.

Maybe we should be allowed to vote for a celebrity like Paris Hilton. After all, she’d sure look a lot better on a ten dollar bill than either of the candidates!

note: this is placed in the Humor category.

Braves announcer Skip Caray dead at age 68

Veteran sports announcer Skip Caray, son of the late Harry Caray, died in his sleep Sunday leaving Chip as the only surviving member of the three-generation family of broadcasters.



The photo above shows Chip Caray on the lift, Harry Caray center and Skip Caray on the right.

Skip’s father Harry Caray was known for his declarations of "Holy Cow." With Skip Caray it was a loud staccato "Braves Win! Braves Win!" whenever the Braves were victorious.

Skip joined the St. Louis Hawks NBA broadcasting team and followed them to Atlanta in 1968. He was added to the Braves broadcast team in 1976.

The first time I saw Skip on TV, he was doing an Atlanta Hawks game. The Hawks were 30 or so points behind late in the game and a frustrated Skip Caray stopped for a moment and said, I’m not having any fun, are you? That’s the way Skip was and that’s why sports fans identified with him.

Link

Del Rio, Texas faces smelly problem

The residents of this border town are facing a stinky and growing problem these days: skunks.

There's one bright side to the unusually high number of the smelly creatures running around these days -- they keep rodents in check.

The health service center is offering cages for residents to catch skunks. A worker will move them elsewhere.

Link

Democrats: no drilling even if gas hits $10

How high will Democrats let the price of gas get before considering the option of drilling for more oil?

Ken Salazar (upper picture), a Democrat from Colorado, set the bar in Thursday’s action in the Senate.

Gas can hit $10 per gallon and the Democrats still won’t act!

(click on picture to see video)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (lower picture) will not allow a vote on drilling in the House of Representatives.

The Democrats are aware that if they vote against drilling, it will damage them in the November elections.

That is why they refuse to even allow a vote on this.

Why? The Democrats want more environmentally friendly energy such as solar, wind and geo-thermal. Bio-fuels could help. However, to have a significant effect, we would need to use most or our heartland for growing bio-fuel compatible crops. This would raise the price of food as well as the cost of bio-fuel at the pump.

It will take twice as long to develop enough solar, wind and geo-thermal energy than it will to drill for new oil.

In the meanwhile gas will keep going higher and we will send billions more each year to the Middle-East for oil. And that’s not even counting the damage to the environment by shipping oil to us from half way around the world.

Gallup poll: presidential race a tie

The race for the presidency has moved back into a tie in the latest Gallup Daily tracking poll of national registered voters.

What makes this rather surprising is that conventional wisdom would suggest that Barack Obama should be at least 15 points ahead after his world tour reported around the globe in glowing terms by an adoring media. Two popular rock stars even performed just prior to his big speech in Germany.

Compare this to McCain who seems like cold oatmeal next to the oratory skills of Obama

A tie with Senator McCain after the overly publicized world tour must be very troubling for the Obama campaign.

Does this mean voters can see through the media hype surrounding Mr. Obama?

Maybe it’s time for George Soros to dig up another hundred million or so to prop up the junior Senator from Illinois.

Link

Granite counter tops pose a radiation risk

You checked the house you just purchased for mold. Everything checked out fine - or so you thought.

Then you read the report, at the link below, called: What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?

A further check with a Geiger counter showed evidence of radiation in the kitchen and bathrooms.

It turned out to be the granite counter tops.

Granite can contain high levels of uranium, which is not only radioactive but releases radon gas as it decays.

There are different types of granite and some emit very low levels of radon.

Health physicists and radiation experts agree that most granite countertops emit radiation and radon at extremely low levels.

They say these emissions are insignificant compared with so-called background radiation that is constantly raining down from outer space or seeping up from the earth’s crust, not to mention emanating from manmade sources like X-rays, luminous watches and smoke detectors.

But with increasing regularity in recent months, the Environmental Protection Agency has been receiving calls from radon inspectors as well as from concerned homeowners about granite countertops with radiation measurements several times above background levels.

More of the story here.

Rock climbing near Chattanooga Tennessee

Nick Peterson rock climbing near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Flag removal from the Obama campaign jet: the FULL story

Did you receive a host of e-mails about the flag removal from the tail of Obama’s campaign jet? Me too.

Is the story true? Well, yes and no. The flag removal story is half-true. The huge American flag was replaced by his own logo but a very small flag was put back on the plane

Most of the “big name” web sites didn’t get to the bottom of the story and only showed the large American flag replaced by Obama’s personal logo.

What they didn’t show is the American flag placed on the side of the plane

As shown below the Boeing 757 chartered from North American Airlines originally had a huge American Flag on the tail of the plane.



The huge American flag on the tail was replaced by Obama's personal logo. A new tiny flag was placed on the side of the fuselage, near the back of the plane next to the registration number as shown in the photo below:



Does that mean I have changed my mind about the arrogant Barack Hussein Obama? Not at all! By replacing a huge American flag with his own logo, he has proved just how much he loves himself. He loves himself more than the country he wants to govern.

By the way, John McCain does not have an American flag on the campaign plane he is chartering. The plane didn’t come with a flag and he didn’t add one.



Even the usually reliable Snopes didn’t get the entire story the first time.