2,974 reasons to remember

(click on picture to enlarge)

Betraying those who died on 9-11-01

From a report at the link below:

Eight years ago today our homeland was attacked by fanatical Muslims inspired by Saudi Arabian bigotry. Three thousand American citizens and residents died.

We resolved that we, the People, would never forget. Then we forgot.

We've learned nothing.

Instead of cracking down on Islamist extremism, we've excused it.

Instead of relentlessly hunting Islamist madmen, we seek to appease them.

(click on photo to enlarge)
Instead of acknowledging that radical Islam is the problem, we elected a president who blames America, whose idea of freedom is the right for women to suffer in silence behind a veil -- and who counts among his mentors and friends those who damn our country or believe that our own government staged the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

Instead of requiring new immigrants to integrate into our society and conform to its public values, we encourage and subsidize anti-American, woman-hating, freedom-denying bigotry in the name of toleration.

Instead of pursuing our enemies to the ends of the earth, we help them sue us.

We've dishonored our dead and whitewashed our enemies. A distinctly unholy alliance between fanatical Islamists abroad and a politically correct "elite" in the US has reduced 9/11 to the status of a non-event, a day for politicians to preen about how little they've done.

We have betrayed the memory of our dead. In doing so, we betrayed ourselves and our country. Our troops continue to fight -- when they're allowed to do so -- but our politicians have surrendered.

Link

Remembering 9/11

This is the 8th anniversary of the attacks that killed 2,974 of our fellow Americans.









A time to remember the heroes as well as the victims and their families.

Speech after speech ... it’s all Obama ... all the time ...

First it was the schoolroom speech that was heavily edited after accusations of a possible indoctrination message.

Then it was the ObamaCare speech before congress.

Next is an appearance on 60 Minutes on Sunday night.

On Monday night he will give yet another speech. This one will be on the financial crisis.

Enough already!

Link here and here.

The Congressional Budget Office agrees with Joe Wilson

Dismantling the Denver Bronco football team

How to dismantle the Denver Bronco football team in three easy lessons:

1. Fire the head coach of the last 13 seasons - Mike Shanahan (top photo). The head coach that gave Denver back-to-back Super Bowl wins. The head coach that posted the most wins in pro football history during a three-year period - 46 wins in1996–98.

2. Hire Josh McDaniels, a cocky rookie, (center photo) to take over the head coaching duties.

3. Allow the rookie head coach to alienate Jay Cutler (lower photo), the Broncos pro-bowl “franchise quarterback.”

There, see how easy that was? Nothing to it.

Now Cutler is the Chicago Bears starting quarterback. The Broncos got Kyle Orton in exchange. It’s like trading off a Cadillac Escilade for a Ford Focus.

(click on cartoon to enlarge)
Funny thing is - many of the fans and a couple of local TV sportscasters blame Jay Cutler. They even called Cutler a “cry baby” for wanting to be traded after the rookie coach tried to bring in quarterback Matt Cassel from the Patriots. Cassel said no to the Broncos and is now the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The fans and sportscasters have a short memory. They called John Elway a “cry baby” in the 1980’s and look how he turned out.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
So how far have the Bronco’s fallen?

The two teams with the lowest pre-season ratings, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos, will play each other on Sunday. The Bengals are favored by 4 points.

Click here for a list of 9 wrong decisions made by the Denver Broncos during the off-season.

Bronco owner Pat Bowlen could not be reached for comment.

It’s the teleprompter’s fault

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Where is the birth certificate?

It’s the question that just won’t go away.

Recent national polling shows 24 percent of Americans - 1 in 4 - believe Obama was not born in the United States and another 14 percent are unsure.

That means a staggering 38 percent of Americans - almost 2 out of every 5 - are unconvinced Obama is legally eligible to be president of the United States!

All three of the major outdoor advertising companies refused the billboard campaign without explanation.


Smaller, independent billboard companies have been hired to post the "Where's the birth certificate?" billboards seen by millions of drivers across the country.

Three times the White House press secretary publicly denounced and ridiculed those even asking the question, "Where's the birth certificate?"

Those asking the question have been demonized as "birthers," crazies and even racists.

Obama has spent more than $1 million fighting lawsuits attempting to force him to release his birth certificate.

Although Obama's defenders claim the digital document posted on his campaign website, a short-form "certification of live birth," is sufficient to establish his qualifications, such forms – which omit fundamental information like the name of the birth hospital and attending physician – are known to be subject to widespread fraud and abuse.

More here.

Is it my turn yet?

A Standard Poodle waits backstage after being groomed prior to competing in the Mexico World Dog Show 2007 in Mexico City.

Hundreds of dogs from different countries were entered.

CNN poll after Obama’s speech

CNN announced that there was a double-digit post-speech jump for the Obama plan.

What CNN didn’t tell you is that it was a “push poll” with more than twice as many Democrats in the sample as Republicans.

The “double digit jump” announcement is here.

The poll sampling data is here.

18% of the respondents who participated in tonight's survey identified themselves as Republicans.

45% identified themselves as Democrats.

37% identified themselves as Independents.

Hard to brainwash kids

Right is now wrong on Samoan roads

Samoa officially changed from driving on the right side of the road to the left.

From a New York Times report:

If you thought it was tough going back to work this morning, imagine having the added mental burden of suddenly learning to drive on the opposite side of the road.

That’s what happened Wednesday when the citizens of Samoa return to work after a two-day holiday, imposed for the sole purpose of helping the country switch from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the left.

Samoa is the first country in 40 years to switch driving sides.

The photo above shows mass traffic confusion when Sweden changed driving sides 42 years ago.

One reason is that Australia and New Zealand drive on the left, and it is cheaper to import cars from those countries than from the United States and Europe.

Have they solved the matter of bus passengers now needing to get on and off busses in the middle of the street instead of at the curb?

Link

Explaining how government can fix healthcare

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

ObamaCare will have the Union Label

What few realize is that ObamaCare carries the Union Label.

In the heated debates on health-care reform, not enough attention is being paid to the huge financial windfalls ObamaCare will dole out to unions—or to the provisions in the various bills in Congress that will help bring about the forced unionization of the health-care industry.

How many politicians actually know for sure what all is in this 1,018 page bill (pictured) that is turning out to be a Trojan Horse?

From the report at the link below:

The Senate version opens the door to implement forced unionization schemes pursued by former Govs. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois in 2005 and Gray Davis of California in 1999.

Both men repaid tremendous political debts to Andy Stern and his Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by reclassifying state-reimbursed in-home health-care (and child-care) contractors as state employees—and forcing them to pay union dues.

Following this playbook, the Senate bill creates a "personal care attendants workforce advisory panel" that will likely impose union affiliation to qualify for a newly created "community living assistance services and support (class)" reimbursement plan.

The closer one looks the worse it gets such as the provisions that cover diversity in the healthcare workforce, as well as diversity of medical education programs.

This diversity can only be measured by quotas - counting racial and ethnic numbers.

Congressman who challenge these quotas will be labeled racist.

More on this story here.

From the classroom...

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

No common ground on ObamaCare

Earlier this year, GOP leaders sent a letter to the president in May stating that they would like to work with the administration to find "common ground" on healthcare reform.

That didn’t happen. House GOP Leader John Boehner said this morning that Republican leaders haven't met Obama for health talks since April.

The letter sent to Obama in May was responded to by the administration with a tersely worded letter indicating that they had healthcare reform under control.

It appears ObamaCare will be a Democrat bill all the way.

Link

Nines in a date bad? Nein, nein, 9-9-09 is just fine

Some people feared massive computer problems on 9/9/99. Didn’t happen.

Then they were especially apprehensive on New Years Day 2000 when the so-called Y2K bug was supposed to shut down computers all over the world. Didn’t happen.


Nobody seems to be concerned about the nine’s in today’s date.

In fact, many say today is a good day to get married with triple nine’s working for them.

“There are a limited number of days like this in your entire lifetime, so why not pick one for your special day,” gushed Cheryl Yung of Swampscott, a senior vice-president for Lee Hecht Harrison in Boston. “We thought it would be exciting to do something on 9/9/09. It will be our lucky number now.”

Today is probably not as significant at 7/7/07, but for some it will be an extra special day.

Link

ObamaCare disapproval rises to 52 percent

An AP article reports:

An Associated Press-GfK poll says that public disapproval of President Barack Obama's handling of health care has jumped to 52 percent.

Everything about Mr. Obama (pictured) seems to be tanking.

The same survey shows that 49 percent now disapprove of his overall performance as president. In July, just 42 percent disapproved of how he was handling his job.

The grade people give Obama on health care has also worsened since July, when just 43 percent disapproved of his work on the issue.

The survey, conducted Sept. 3-8, underscores how the political climate shifted against Obama during the summer.

Link

Rockettes at 2009 Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Santa Claus and New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes join the Rockettes on 6th Avenue in front of Radio City Music Hall in New York. The street show was organized to launch the 2009 Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

Support for Labor Unions plunges to all-time low

An article at the link below reports:

This Labor Day brings word of a new Gallup poll showing that American public support for labor unions has taken a sharp dive in the last year and is at its lowest point since Gallup began polling in 1936.

Before this year, American support for unions had remained remarkably stable for nearly four decades.

The new poll also shows that many Americans believe the future is bleak for unions.

In response to the question, "Thinking about the future, do you think labor unions in this country will become stronger than they are today, the same as today, or weaker than they are today?" 48 percent said unions will become weaker, versus just 24 percent who said unions will become stronger.

Broken down by political party, Gallup found support for unions has fallen the most among critically-important independent voters.

Last year, 63 percent of independents said they approved of unions. Now, just 44 percent say the same thing.

Among Republicans, 29 percent support unions, versus 38 percent last year.

Only among Democrats does union support remain strong, although it, too, has fallen: 66 percent support today, versus 72 percent support a year ago.

Link

Who is likely to be brainwashed by Obama school speech?

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

When Bush spoke to students Democrats investigated and held hearings

Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, wrote this about the Obama speech to schoolchildren:

The controversy over Pesident Obama’s speech to the nation’s schoolchildren will likely be over shortly after Obama speaks today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.

But when President George H.W. Bush (pictured) delivered a similar speech on October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC, the controversy was just beginning.

Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush's speech -- they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue.

Most of the 1991 controversy came after the Bush speech.

The day after the Bush school speech, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit.

"The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," the Post reported.

Emboldened by the Post article the Democrats pounced.

"The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students," said Richard Gephardt, then the House Majority Leader. "And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'"

The General Accounting Office was ordered to investigate the cost and legality of Bush's appearance.

Education Secretary Lamar Alexander and other top Bush administration officials were ordered to testify at a hearing devoted to the speech.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, the General Accounting Office concluded that the Bush administration had not acted improperly.

As it turned out the 1991 accusations and hearings by Democrats amounted to no more than a tempest in a teapot.

More of the story here.

Photos of schoolchildren eagerly waiting for Obama’s speech

Can’t parents and teachers tell the kids to wash their hands and study hard without bothering the president?


Schoolchildren are all fired up and ready for the Obama classroom speech. The first release of the speech contained the word “I” 56 times.


Another question - how much of the original speech was changed after the firestorm of accusations that the speech would contain political indoctrination?

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Keep off the grass

A worker rakes out the green of the Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Course in Coober Pedy, Australia.

Taking divots on the fairway must be hard on clubs.

Crushing a clunker

A crushed Ford van in the "cash for clunkers" program is ready to be lifted to a shredder.

Van Jones - just another name on White House casualty list

When Van Jones, Mr. Obama's controversial green jobs adviser, submitted his resignation he was the first casualty of the Obama administration not to go quietly.

Where other departing officials have given explanations about process or used predictable lines about spending more time with their families, Jones released a statement accusing his critics of using "lies and distortions" about him.

Van Jones claimed a “vicious smear campaign” containing “lies and distortions.”

Breaking with the custom of this White House, the administration offered no reason for Jones's resignation.

To give a reason for the Van Jones resignation would have required details of Mr. Jones racial rants, radical background, calling Republicans X-rated names and his membership in a 9/11 "truther" group that believes the destruction of the twin towers was an inside job.

Names on the casualty list:

1. Van Jones was forced to resign for reasons outlined above.

2. Louis Caldera (upper photo) resigned after the New York City flyover incident.

3. Ellen Moran was removed from the West Wing.

4. Steve Rattner (lower photo). Timothy Geithner quietly announced that Rattner’s job “was done.”

5. The president pulled Gen. David McKiernan from the field.

Link here for more on the story above. Link here for more on the Van Jones story.

Labor Day past and present

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Upsy-daisy

Photo taken at the Cheyenne Frontier Days outdoor rodeo and western celebration last July in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

From a report by Andrew Breitbart in the Washington Times:

Now that White House "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones (pictured) has resigned, what's next?

Inevitably, the American mainstream media - ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, et al - must be held to account for sitting on the sidelines as this major story kept building without them, went viral on YouTube, and then became so large that a key appointee of President Obama was forced to step down.

Breitbart is right - the Van Jones story barely made the third page beyond the obits in most papers - if it appeared at all.

When it comes to political stories, the main stream media seems to think, “if we don’t cover a story, the story's absence proves it didn't happen.”

The media decision to ignore the Jones story may have actually done Mr. Obama more harm than good:

Who vetted this guy? How did he get past the FBI? What did he say, and how did he answer the infamous seven-page questionnaire that all Obama appointees were required to fill out? Inquiring Freedom of Information Act minds want to know.

For most people in this country, the resignation was the first they had heard of Van Jones.

For this sin of journalistic omission, there's institutional media blame. Bias is too tame a word for the utter shamelessness on display: Only Republican scandals - real and imagined - matter.

It’s more than just those called "mobs" or "tea baggers" by the media that are taking notice.

Diminishing audience and evaporating subscriptions reflect widespread consumer dissatisfaction. Eventually, the money will run out.

But until then, the growing alternative media of Internet and talk radio and a burgeoning mass of justifiably angry Americans will make every effort to expose the sham that is mainstream journalism.

As if Van Jones racial rants, radical background and calling Republicans X-rated names weren’t enough - he was a signed member of a 9/11 "truther" group that believed the Bush administration brought down the twin towers. And, by the way, he has also stated that he is a communist.

Compounding the problem, the Jones narrative hurts Mr. Obama because it underlines how the mainstream media helped elect the president by glorifying him instead of vetting him.

Just as Mr. Obama was not even cursorily investigated, Van Jones, a fellow "community organizer," was not given the slightest media attention when named as an unaccountable "czar" selected to oversee billions in taxpayer money for the ambiguous purpose of "green energy." And that despite having a body of damning evidence that could be found with a single Google search by an ADHD-addled high-school journalism student.

More of the story here.

Bill to ban stinky bus riders fails in Hawaii

The proposal to bar smelly people from Honolulu buses failed.

The Honolulu City Council had considered making it illegal to have "odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system." Anyone convicted of being too smelly could have been fined up to $500 and/or given a six-month jail term.

Smelly people can continue to ride busses in Hawaii with impunity.

Link

Obama speech to schoolchildren seen as indoctrination

Many see Obama’s speech and study lesson in schools as indoctrination.

Story here.

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

A day at the beach in South Korea

Many of these beach photos have made the rounds via e-mail labeled as “China Beach Photos.” The photos, however, do not show beaches in China.


The photos were taken at Haeundae Beach in Busan more commonly known as Pusan, a port city in southern Korea.


Hordes of swimmers but not a single toilet in sight - only tents and umbrellas. I suggest you avoid swimming there.

All the Kings Men...er...Czars

At the link below, Politico lists all of the Kings Men ... that is, all of the presidents Czars:

Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke

AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley

Auto recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery

Border Czar: Alan Bersin

California Water Czar: David J. Hayes

Car Czar: Ron Bloom

Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross

Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal

Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske

Economic Czar: Paul Volcker

Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Brower

Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois

Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis

Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones (oops, he’s been booted)

Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried

Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle

Information Czar: Vivek Kundra

International Climate Czar: Todd Stern

Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair

Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell

Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg

Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein

Science Czar: John Holdren

Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney

Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration

TARP Czar: Herb Allison

Terrorism Czar: John Brennan

Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra

Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr.

Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter

WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore

One Lucianne commenter wondered if Obama also has a Shoe Tying Czar, and a Chew Gum While Walking Czar.

It’s easy to appoint Czars. Unlike cabinet members and other high officials, Obama’s so-called Czars do not need Senate confirmation or security background checks. He simply appoints them and they form his “executive committee” much like the Politburo of the Communist Party which had real control of the country.

During past administrations the president would have a daily meeting with Cabinet Secretaries, who have been duly confirmed by the Senate. After listening to their recommendations the president would make policy decisions. No need for 31 Czars.

Link

Obama czar advocated organ harvest without consent

Cass Sunstein (pictured) is Barack Obama’s choice to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

What few people know is that Sunstein has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.

Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done.

The major obstacle to increasing organ donations is the need to get the consent of surviving family members.

This “problem” would be remedied if governments changed the laws for organ donation.

If the government turned the law around and assumed that, unless people explicitly choose not to, then they want to donate their organs – a doctrine they call “presumed consent.”

One critic said, “apply this logic to criminal law and citizens would be presumed guilty until proven otherwise.”

Link

9-11 denier quits as Obama green jobs advisor

The White House announced this morning that Van Jones (pictured) has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements.

Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.

This reinforces claims by critics that the administration is spending little time vetting the multitude of czar’s appointed to surround an increasingly controversial president who is sinking in popularity.

The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones' name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur.

Link

Anticipation

Olympic Stadium workers in London outlined a giant number three to signify that three years remain until the 2012 Games.

Woman arrested 3 times in one day

A 29-year-old Connecticut woman has a court date next week to face charges stemming from her three arrests last week.

Police charged Leytza Martinez with assault after an altercation with a manager at the hair salon where she worked.

She was arrested again later Saturday and charged with coming back to the salon and stealing more than $900 in supplies.

Police also stopped her car later the same day and charged her with driving without insurance, and failure to have a front license plate.

Link

As White House press briefings get hotter...

A report at the link below says:

If the president's mouthpiece is a human piñata, as one former press secretary put it, then Robert Gibbs (pictured) is a papier mâché tiger.

And the White House press secretary is feeling the hits more and more, as the daily briefings get more contentious and he faces an increasingly prying press corps.

Piñata may not be a role Gibbs is comfortable playing.

But in response to rising pressure, analysts say Gibbs is showing a thin skin, quick to punch back and take a dig at a reporter rather than absorb it and move on.

More of the “piñata in the WH press room” story here.

White House may draft its own healthcare bill

Frustrated with the inability of the Democrat controlled House and Senate to pass a bill, Barack Obama may draft his own healthcare bill.

CNN reports:

Multiple sources close to the process told CNN on Friday that while the plan is uncertain, the administration is preparing for the possibility of delivering its own legislation to Capitol Hill sometime after President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

A source close to the White House said the administration is leaning toward dropping the public option.

Some are surprised the public option hasn’t already been dropped. It would be very easy to add it later after the main ObamaCare bill is being implemented.

Critic have said, “if members of congress can’t cram healthcare down voter’s throats, Obama will do it for them.

More of the story here.