Ted and Karen Wade

This photo of Karen Peterson Wade and Ted Wade was taken on a cold October day in Rocky Mountain National Park. We miss you Ted. Rest in peace until Jesus comes.

On the way to a quiet weekend

Masked man was too late to rob a bank

A thief intent on robbing the Guardian Credit Union in Waukesha, Wisconsin was too late. He arrived six minutes after the Credit Union closed.

Police said a man wearing a ski mask entered the first set of doors at 5:36 p.m. with a gun, apparently not realizing the bank was closed.

The robber could have planned poorly or possibly had another reason, like getting tied up in traffic.

Tied up in traffic? Wonder if he was the first masked man ever to be held up for his hold up?

On report wondered if the robber needed the money to replace a defective watch.

Link

Elf Jailed after dynamite hoax on Mall Santa

A man dressed as an elf was jailed after police in Georgia say he told a mall Santa that he was carrying dynamite.

Southlake Mall in suburban Atlanta was evacuated but no explosives were found.

Police arrested 45-year-old William C. Caldwell III (pictured), who was being held without bond.

Police say Caldwell got in line Wednesday evening to have his picture taken with Santa Claus. Police say when Caldwell reached the front of the line, he told Santa he had dynamite in his bag. Santa called mall security and Caldwell was arrested.

He was dressed as an elf but was not part of the mall's Christmas staff.

Link

Airline cashing in on Tiger Woods crash

Just days after Tiger Woods bounced his Escalade off a tree and into a fire hydrant, Spirit Airlines launched an "Eye of the Tiger Sale" offering low fares.

The Web ad features a tiger -- the animal, not the golfer -- wearing a black cap (you know, the type Tiger the golfer wears) driving an SUV into a fire hydrant.




The advertisement says, "It's a jungle out there! Make sure you avoid all the obstacles and get the lowest fares."

Link

McCain says AARP is betraying seniors

Senator John McCain is urging seniors to abandon AARP.

Citing AARP's past opposition to proposed cuts in Medicare, McCain expressed dismay Thursday that the senior group has suddenly changed its position to support $460 billion in cuts to the program proposed by Democrats to help pay for health care legislation.

Democrats throughout Thursday's Senate debate used AARP's endorsement of their bill to blunt Republican charges that they are gutting Medicare.

AARP rode to the rescue of Democrats on Wednesday, announcing its support for billions in Medicare cuts to help fund the legislation.

McCain’s anger is understandable.

We have known for a long time that one of the major planks in ObamaCare was the slashing of billions of dollars from Medicare. Now, AARP has betrayed it’s members by backing the those huge Medicare cuts.

Link

Report: NASA hiding climate data

This story is surfacing just in time to put one more cloud over the United Nations global warming extravaganza in Copenhagen next week.

The fight over global warming science is about to cross the Atlantic with a U.S. researcher poised to sue NASA, demanding release of the same kind of climate data that has landed a leading British center in hot water over charges it skewed its data.

Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said NASA has refused for two years to provide information under the Freedom of Information Act that would show how the agency has shaped its climate data and would explain why the agency has repeatedly had to correct its data going as far back as the 1930s.

Witholding the data makes NASA appear guilty of a major cover-up.

More of the story here and here.

Getting ready for Christmas in China

A smiling child poses for a photo in front of a Christmas decoration outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China.

Gore cancels lecture after 3,000 Danes bought tickets

Former U.S. vice president Al Gore (pictured) has canceled his event at the United Nations global warming extravaganza in Copenhagen.

More than 3,000 Danes have purchased tickets at DKK 5,999, which includes drinks and a light snack.

In case you’re wondering, 5,999 Danish Kroners is equivalent to $1,209. They will get their money back. What they’ll probably miss most will be the drinks and light snack.

The report at the link below says they “do not yet know the detailed reasons for the cancellation.”

Could it be that the man-made global warming controversy has become too hot after the recently released e-mails causing climate-gate? What unfortunate timing for the global warmers.

Link

Easy Christmas shopping this year

Climate fraud report on eve of Climate Summit

Al Gore and many of his followers insist that climate change science is settled. Not so fast.

From a report at the link below:

The scientific consensus that mankind has caused climate change was rocked yesterday as a leading academic called it a “load of hot air underpinned by fraud”.

Professor Plimer - author of Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, The Missing Science - says “Climates always change. They always have and they always will. They are driven by a number of factors that are random and cyclical.”

Ian Plimer condemned the climate change lobby as “climate comrades” keeping the “gravy train” going.

In a controversial talk just days before the start of a climate summit attended by world leaders in Copenhagen, Prof Plimer said Governments were treating the public like “fools” and using climate change to increase taxes.

In America it’s more than just about carbon taxes - it’s also about control.

Plimer cited periods of warming during the Roman Empire and in the Middle Ages – when Vikings grew crops on Greenland – and cooler phases such as the Dark Ages and the Little Ice Age from 1300 to 1850.

And he predicted that the next phase would cool the planet.

Link

Pedal-powered Christmas tree lights

In honor of the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, ‘global-warmers’ have decorated a 55-foot Christmas tree with LED lights.

The tree in Copenhagen's City Hall Square will be powered by people. That’s right, people. People pedaling bicycles.

City Hall Square has been equipped with 15 bicycles to light up the 700 LED bulbs on the tree.

Some will say this is an amateurish gimmick. However, it will probably be applauded by the global warming fraternity as they cheer on 15 sweaty volunteers pedaling on stationary bicycles to generate electricity to light up the tree.

Link

Energy saving light bulbs - revisited

Important information about the energy saver light bulbs that, by law, we must all use by 2014.

(click on picture to see video)

Baltimore Mayor Dixon found guilty

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (pictured) could be facing jail time after being found guilty of stealing gift cards that were meant for poor citizens of her city and using them for her own personal use.

Last January Dixon was indicted by a Maryland grand jury on 12 criminal counts, including theft and perjury, for alleged official misconduct beginning when she was a councilwoman as we reported here.

Dixon was brought to trial on 4 counts. A jury found her not guilty on all but the charge of stealing gift cards meant for needy citizens of her city.

Sheila Dixon will remain as Mayor of Baltimore until sentencing.

Dixon faces another trial in the spring on two perjury counts.

Those charges stem from an accusation that she failed to report on city ethics forms gifts from Ronald Lipscomb (Dixon’s former boyfriend), including money, travel and clothes. Mr. Lipscomb’s company received millions of dollars’ worth of city tax credits for its development projects in 2003 and 2004, the years he dated the mayor.

Link

Christmas lights at the Denver City & County building

The Christmas lights decorating the City & County building in Denver are turned on at 6 p.m. each night beginning the day after Thanksgiving until New Year’s day and then turned on again during the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo which begins in mid January.

The tradition began in 1935 and has continued annually.


The photo above was taken in 2008. The photos below were taken in 2009 when LED lights were used for the first time.



The building is illuminated by 1,000 LED spotlights and 2,000 LED rope lights.

About the West Point speech - is the Obama magic gone?

From Germany, where the media is not fully committed to Obama worship, comes the following report via Der Spiegel titled, Searching in vain for the Obama magic.

Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America's new strategy for Afghanistan.

It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric -- and left both dreamers and realists feeling distraught.

One can hardly blame the West Point leadership. The academy commanders did their best to ensure that Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama's speech would be well-received.

Before the speech the cadets were asked to respond "enthusiastically" to the speech but the reception by the cadets was cool.

It was the least truthful address that he has ever held.

He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics.

He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.

An additional 30,000 US soldiers are to march into Afghanistan -- and then they will march right back out again.

From various Lucianne commenters:

He was telling the troops: here's some more men, some bullets and new boots and I'll get back with you in 18 months.
- - - - -
He used the cadets like the Styrofoam Greek Columns at the Democratic convention to give his circle-talk speech.
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One wonders how Obama felt when real Americans, in a place he could never qualify to attend, sat in stony silence instead of cheering, chanting and fainting like the mobs at his speeches to inner-city admirers.
- - - - -
Giving our scheduled “pull out” date is very convenient for the Taliban. Even though the 18-month date was intended to be a target date, the Taliban will make good use of that information. It proved once again that Mr. Obama has little concept of what it takes to fight a war.
- - - - -
Interesting timing. The 18-month end of the war is timed just right so the pull out will be in plenty of time for him to take credit during his re-election campaign.

The pull out will not be a victory, but that doesn’t matter. Did he talk about victory in his West Point speech? No, he is not interested in victory. He wants a pull out of Afghanistan a few months before his next presidential campaign.
- - - - -
He used the word “I” over 30 times.
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The original request was for 80,000 troops. That got pared down to 30,000 after a several month wait.
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In the meanwhile, elitists in the mainstream media will be trying their best to somehow put a positive face to the Obama speech at West Point.
- - - - -

One can’t argue with the looks on most of the faces of the cadets. A couple of them were obviously sleeping. Most looked bored. Many looked down as if to study the shine on their boots.

The looks on the faces of the veteran officers must have been a combination of disbelief and bewilderment.

Is the Obama magic gone?

Link to the Der Spiegel report here.

Kudlow advice to Tiger Woods: fess up or tabloids will kill ya

CNBC financial guru Larry Kudlow has some good advice for Tiger Woods:

Fess up, Tiger. If you don’t, the tabloids are gonna kill ya.

Kudlow’s open letter to Tiger Woods reads in part:

The storyline so far is that for some reason your apparently furious wife Elin teed you up inside your Florida mansion with one of your Nike golf clubs, and that you sought escape by hot-footing it outside at two-thirty in the morning to your Cadillac Escalade in the driveway.

But Elin kept coming at you. So you tried to slam the SUV down the driveway in racecar fashion, something you’ve probably done hundreds of times before. Only this time, for some reason, you hit a fireplug and wrapped the car around a tree.

But Elin still kept coming at you, slammin’ the club into the rear windshield. She must have had a long iron in her hand.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren are shown above in less stressful times. Below is a Florida Highway Partol photo of the wrecked Cadillac Escalade.


Kudlow says a tabloid is running a story about Tiger’s $100 million car crash and that investigative reporter Gerald Posner estimates that he may take a 10 percent hit on endorsement income and a total cost of the incident could be $10 million a year.

That’s $100 million over the next decade. At risk could be contracts with Nike, Gatorade, and AT&T. There’s also Accenture and the EA video-game series.

Marital infidelity doesn’t pay. In Tiger’s cast it will cost!

About that ‘long iron’ Tiger’s wife used to smash the rear window of the Escalade: some have suggested it was a 2-iron.

By the way, if she knows how to hit a ball cleanly off a hard fairway with a 2-iron, have her give me call.

Link

Obama Afghanistan approval only 35%

The approval ratings for Barack Obama have been falling since he took office in January and most noticeably since mid-summer. However, it’s his approval on Afghanistan that has taken the most dramatic fall.

Americans are far less approving of President Obama's handling of the situation in Afghanistan than they have been in recent months, with 35% currently approving, down from 49% in September and 56% in July.

(click on picture to enlarge)

The graphic is from the Gallup report at the link below. It shows the Obama approval ratings on the basic issues.

Link

Satellite navigation cell phones challenge standalone devices

A report at the link below says that satellite navigational devices face an uncertain future amid growth of cell phones with GPS technology.

The growth of cell phones with global-positioning technology is making life uncertain for the makers of personal navigational devices that help drivers figure out where they are and where to go.

Manufacturers of standalone GPS products will have to move quickly and smartly to transform their dumb map readers into intelligent devices that can provide a host of services such as traffic avoidance.

The photo shows Verizon’s VZ Navigator on a Blackberry.

We have been using VZ Navigator for nearly three years. We don’t use it often but it has never let us down.

As a test I compared VZ Navigator to Sprint Navigation. We entered the same address in our phones. I used the voice recognition feature, which works great and is much faster than using my qwerty keypad.

Both VZ Navigator and Sprint Navigation took us to the right place. Only problem was, Sprint Navigation took us on a couple of side streets. VZ Navigator had us stay on arterial streets.

Link

UK climate scientist a climategate victim

An Associated Press article at the link below reports:

Britain's University of East Anglia says the director of its prestigious Climatic Research Unit is stepping down pending an investigation into allegations that he overstated the case for man-made climate change.

The scientist involved is Phil Jones who will relinquish his position until the completion of an independent review into allegations that he worked to alter the way in which global temperature data was presented.

The allegations were made after more than a decade of correspondence between leading British and U.S. scientists were posted to the Web following the security breach last month.

The e-mails were seized upon by some skeptics of man-made climate change as proof that scientists are manipulating the data about its extent.

Link

Mummies offer clues about the history of heart disease

A recent study of 20 Egyptian mummies has found hardened arteries, suggesting that artherosclerosis is a condition with deep roots in human history.

It turns out that artherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, isn't an entirely modern condition. In fact, evidence published in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that, as long as 3,500 years ago, well-to-do Egyptians suffered from the disease.

Twenty mummies were analyzed last February using CT scans.

Of the 16 mummies in whom the researchers could clearly identify blood vessels, and whose hearts were left in their bodies during the mummification process, nine showed clear evidence of hardened arteries.

By analyzing the skeletal structures of the mummies, researchers determined that eight mummies lived to be older than 45. Of those, seven exhibited signs of artherosclerosis. In contrast, among the eight who died younger—few Egyptians lived past 40 in those days (King Tut died at age 18, for example)—only two exhibited signs of hardened arteries.

Link

Last Obama news conference was July 22

A Washington Times article, found at the link below, is titled, 'Overexposed' Obama begins to duck the WH press corps.

After months of what some critics called overexposure, President Obama has of late avoided questions from the White House press corps at large, closing the Oval Office to traditionally informal question-and-answer sessions with reporters and pulling back from the fast pace of news conferences he established when taking office.

Mr. Obama’s teleprompter is of little or no use when answering reporters questions during a press conference.

The president, whose job-approval ratings have been on a steady slide, hasn't held a formal news conference in 19 weeks, since July 22.

That one ended badly, when Mr. Obama waded into a racial controversy by saying a white police officer "acted stupidly" when he arrested a black Harvard professor.

"It can't be a total coincidence that the last time he faced the press corps, we ended with beers in the Rose Garden with Henry Louis Gates and James Crowley, when the focus was supposed to be health care," said Julie Mason, a White House reporter for the Washington Examiner who also covered the Bush administration for the Houston Chronicle.

"It does seem like they are responding to the overexposure argument and trying to exert more control over his appearances," she said.

Link

Green tech report: electric cars will tax local power grids

A CNET Green Tech report found at the link below says:

Clusters of plug-in cars will tax local power grids.

If plug-in electric cars become popular in your neighborhood, you may face an electricity supply crunch when it comes to charging.

There have been a number of studies measuring whether the national power grid can fuel large numbers of electric vehicles. But the biggest concern regarding the impact of plug-ins is at the local level, where adding just a few vehicles could strain a local circuit.

More of the story here.

Wired Santa in Berlin

A giant Santa Clause made of illuminated wires. It is located at the city's landmark Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, Germany

White House responds to falling approval ratings

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Notre Dame fires football coach Weis

Charlie Weis roared into the football program at Notre Dame but the roar is gone after five years and leaving the Fighting Irish with its longest title drought in school history.

Charlie Weis (pictured) arrived at Notre Dame flashing Super Bowls rings and talking about outscheming opponents. He leaves one of college football’s most prestigious programs without even matching the record of the two men who were fired before him.

Assistant head coach Rob Ianello will step in for Weis until a new coach is hired.

The Irish have a 6-6 record and are eligible to play in a bowl game but will the arrogant and once proud Irish agree to “stoop” to play in a minor bowl?

What’s next for Weis? Don’t be surprised if he ends up as offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. An offensive coach in the NFL is what Charlie was good at.

Link

Golf ball Christmas tree in Bangkok Thailand

A worker dressed as Santa Claus decorates a Christmas tree made of golf balls at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand

ObamaCare bill - a pill too big to swallow?

Congressman Peter Hoekstra tries to pick up his copy of the ObamaCare bill that slipped out of his arms and fell on the Capitol steps after showing HB-3962 to protestors on Capitol Hill on November 7.

Geezer bandit robs 5th California bank

An elderly man nicknamed the “Geezer Bandit” is believed to have robbed five different banks.


Surveillance videos show a thin, gray-haird man who appears to be in his 70s wearing a hat and sunglasses.

His most recent robbery was just this past Monday, when he approached a teller at a Bank of America in La jolla, California, and showed her a gun. He handed her a note demanding cash before fleeing on foot.

Police believe he has hit four other banks since August 28th. At one heist, he was spotted carrying an oxygen tank, with tubes going up into his nose.

Officials are offering $16,000 for information that leads to his arrest. Because of his gun, they do consider him armed and dangerous, and ask citizens not to approach him if spotted.

Link

Lou Dobbs weighs Senate run in New Jersey

Former CNN host Lou Dobbs (pictured) is seriously considering running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2012.

The article at the link below goes so far as to say Dobbs would use a Senate seat as a stepping stone to a possible White House bid.

Dobbs would run against Sen. Robert Menendez the only Hispanic member of the Senate.

The report also says a possible Dobbs - Menendez race could be a pitched battle over immigration as Mr. Dobbs is strong critic of illegal immigration.

Link

Oprah and Obama in Christmas Special on ABC

The CBS Political Hotsheat says it will originate at the White House and will feature Oprah Winfrey interviewing Barack Obama.


The report at the link below says:

Winfrey backed Mr. Obama during the presidential campaign, breaking with her longtime practice of remaining neutral in elections.

Wonder if they will do a sequel for Easter. I can hardly wait.

One commenter said:

Anyone watching the program could always empty a Christmas stocking and keep it handy as a barf bag just in case.

Link

Leaked climate e-mails may help kill cap and trade

The leaked climate e-mails we have been posting about showing that the global warming scare was a fraud, may help kill or postpone Obama’s cap and trade plans.

Cap and trade would force companies large and small, especially manufacturing companies, to buy carbon offsets which will be no different than a tax on those businesses.

The Obama administration is depending on these vast new carbon revenues to fund big-government spending plans.

Liberal politicians in Washington love the idea of cap and trade because they can claim to be taxing "polluters," not workers.

In reality, workers will suffer because companies faced with a new carbon tax will hire fewer workers and many will move their operations to other countries.

Candice Swanepoel was NFL Today guest

Victoria’s Secret Model Candice Swanepoel appeared on NFL Today on Sunday.

Not sure what she added to the program - other than the dress she wore with a neckline that plunged down to her naval.

Candice Swanepoel is shown here - sans the revealing dress.

Is NFL Today that desperate to boost ratings?

Scale posts your weight on the Internet

For only $159 you can buy a bathroom scale from France that will rat you out.

It’s a Wi-Fi scale that is Twitter-equipped and tells the world how much you weigh.

If the Wi-Fi capability with Twitter connection isn't enough to get your attention, it also has an iPhone app.

Link

Spider-Man arrested

A Los Angeles Police Department officer leads a handcuffed man in a Spider-Man costume to a squad car after he allegedly assaulted a man on Hollywood Blvd.

Bowing Obama action figure for Christmas

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Andrew Sullivan’s deep hatred of Sarah Palin

Andrew Sullivan (shown at right) began writing several years ago on a blog he said was a politically conservative effort.

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.

Recently Andrew Sullivan stooped to a new low, even for him, in an entry that appeared in his Daily Dish blog November 18, 2009, showing that his hatred for Sarah Palin must be very, very deep-seated.

We dedicated a post on this blog to Andrew Sullivan (second link below). That posting dealt with a judge who was angry that Sullivan was given preferential treatment compared to other gay men who were arrested for marijuana use as they frolicked on a Cape Cod, Massachusetts beach.


The picture above was reported to have been taken at the “wedding” of Andrew Sullivan and artist Aaron Tone dated September 9th, 2007. Sullivan is shown on the left.

We think this was merely a symbolic “wedding” because same-sex marriages were probably not legal in 2007.

The third link below has another report criticizing Sullivan for his malicious attacks on Sarah Palin.

Link here, here and here.