Eleven ways Obama could make news at his presser today

Mark Halperin has a somewhat tongue-in-cheek list of ways Obama (pictured) could make news at his Wednesday press conference in today’s “Halperin’s Take” in Time Magazine.

He lists “10 (Plus 1) ways that Obama can make news at his Wednesday press conference.”

Evidently Halperin is getting as bored with the overexposure of Barack Obama as the rest of us.

1. He could explicitly relax or tweak his deadline for congressional action.

2. He could explicitly reaffirm his deadline.

3. He could come out in favor of taxing Cadillac benefit plans with some specificity.

4. He could take a very specific position on his preference for an overall revenue package.

5. He could draw a line in the sand on overall cost.

6. He could issue a veto threat.

7. He could throw a major bone to the House Blue Dog Democrats on cost control.

8. He could lose his temper.

9. He could try to make congressional Republicans scapegoats using Gibbsian rhetoric.

10. He could take a series of positions that showed he was more in line with the Senate direction than the House.

11. He could say nothing new -- and make the news that he didn't make news.

Actually, Halperin left out the most important one, which would be number twelve on my list:

12. He could not turn on his teleprompter and say nothing at all.

Personally, I am hoping for number 12.

Link

Sandman

In the Bulgarian town of Burgas, east of the capital city of Sofia, this sand sculpture is on display as one of many created during the international sand sculptures festival.

This year marks the town's second year hosting the special event.

Social Security number code cracked

An AP story at the link below reports that:

For all the concern about identity theft, researchers say there's a surprisingly easy way for the technology-savvy to figure out the precious nine digits of Americans' Social Security numbers.

Illustration from ABC News
"It's good that we found it before the bad guys," Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh said of the method for predicting the numbers.

The researchers were able to make the predictions using data available in public records as well as information such as birthdates cheerfully provided on social networks such as Facebook.

For people born after 1988 — when the government began issuing numbers at birth — the researchers were able to identify, in a single attempt, the first five Social Security digits for 44 percent of individuals. And they got all nine digits for 8.5 percent of those people in fewer than 1,000 attempts.

For smaller states their accuracy was considerably higher than in larger ones.

More of the story here.

Obama advisor: advocate of forced abortions and mass sterilization!

Even the most ardent backers of Barack Hussein Obama should step back and take a good long look at John Holdren (pictured), a recently appointed White House advisor.

From the article:

Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A "Planetary Regime" with the power of life and death over American citizens

The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- informally known as the United States' Science Czar.

In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not.

• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food.

• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise.

• People who "contribute to social deterioration" (i.e. undesirables) "can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility" -- in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.

• A transnational "Planetary Regime" should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans' lives -- using an armed international police force.

Impossible, you say? That must be an exaggeration or a hoax. No one in their right mind would say such things.

The article goes on:

Well, I hate to break the news to you, but it is no hoax, no exaggeration. John Holdren really did say those things, and this report contains the proof. You will find photographs, scans, and transcriptions of pages in the book Ecoscience, co-authored in 1977 by John Holdren and his close colleagues Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich. The scans and photos are provided (in the article) to supply conclusive evidence that the words attributed to Holdren are unaltered and accurately transcribed.

Was Mr. Obama aware of Holdren’s radical views? Did Obama select Holdren because of his radical views?

Link

Will summer vacation turn into summer school?

One of the joys of summer for kids is re-packing the backpack. Out with schoolbooks and supplies and in with swimsuits, water wings and roller blades.

Well, maybe not.

Illustration from Time Magazine
There is a Time Magazine report that says:

Sorry, kids. A vacation-crushing theory on how to improve student performance is gaining traction: more time in class. Longer days, longer year. Goodbye, summer.

This strategy supported by Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan with cities and states experimenting with various approaches.

Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, in June started giving students in the city's 13 most persistently failing public schools the option of an extra month (a "fifth quarter") of classes. And Ohio Governor Ted Strickland hopes to phase in a similar 20-day extension at all schools statewide.

More of the story here.

Wienermobile crashes into Wisconsin home

An Oscar Meyer Wienermobile crashed into the home and outdoor deck of a house near Racine, Wisconsin on Friday.

The 22-year-old driver thought she was moving in reverse, but actually went forward and crashed into the home. No one was home and neither the driver nor a passenger was injured.

Both the home and vehicle suffered moderate damage and no citations were immediately issued.

Oscar Mayer spokeswoman Sydney Lindner apologized for any inconvenience to the homeowner and said insurance would cover the damage. The company has six Wienermobiles nationwide, she said.

"We expect to be back on the hot dog highways spreading miles of smiles in no time," she said.

Link

Hershel McGriff back to racing at age 81

Hershel McGriff drove the Oldsmobile 88 ‘City of Portland’ (shown above) to victory at the inaugural 2,178 mile Mexican Road Race from Ciudad Juarez to El Ocotal.

I was a teenager living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at that time. Since I was an ardent auto-racing fan and McGriff had grown up in Sioux Falls he was my favorite racecar driver.

McGriff (shown at right and below) also participated in NASCAR races in the southeast including Daytona when they raced on the sandy beach. The old Daytona Beach race was a hit with fans but was hard on drivers and cars.

In McGriff’s early years of racing he often drove his racecar on regular roads from race to race. Sometimes race drivers would haul their racecars on flatbed trucks in those early years of stock car racing.


McGriff is a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame. His racing career has spanned six decades. He won four NASCAR Cup races, and 37 races on the West series.

The first link below shows a delightful video of a Hershel McGriff interview.

Link here and here.

White House advisor cites Google search as progress

Top White House economic adviser Larry Summers (pictured) gave a less than brilliant reason for his prediction that the economic free-fall has ended.

The number of people searching for the term “economic depression” on Google is down to normal levels, Summers said.

Searches for the term were up four-fold when the recession deepened in the earlier part of the year, and the recent shift goes to show consumer confidence is higher, Summers told the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Actually, the main reason hits for "economic depression" are down is because people have found out what they needed to know. No need to go back and do another search once they get the info they need.

The Summers statement is so shallow -- well, OK -- moronic, that even the least informed citizen would have to shake their head and say, “duh?”

Link

Results of AOL News visitor invitation poll

Interim results of an AOL News visitor invitation poll:

Do you approve or disapprove of Obama's handling of health care?
Strongly disapprove 74%
Strongly approve 12%
Somewhat approve 7%
Somewhat disapprove 7%
Total Votes: 158,963

Do you approve or disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy?
Strongly disapprove 75%
Strongly approve 10%
Somewhat disapprove 8%
Somewhat approve 7%
Total Votes: 143,205

Do you approve or disapprove of Obama's handling of unemployment?
Strongly disapprove 74%
Somewhat disapprove 11%
Strongly approve 8%
Somewhat approve 7%
Total Votes: 122,591

Do you approve or disapprove of Obama's handling of the federal budget deficit?
Strongly disapprove 84%
Strongly approve 7%
Somewhat approve 5%
Somewhat disapprove 4%
Total Votes: 121,604

Which of these issues do you consider most important?
The economy 56%
Federal budget deficit 23%
Unemployment 13%
Health care 8%
Total Votes: 122,360

Do you approve or disapprove of Obama's overall handling of his job as president?
Strongly disapprove 71%
Strongly approve 12%
Somewhat disapprove 11%
Somewhat approve 6%
Total Votes: 138,647

White House delays budget and unemployment update

The White House has delayed the budget update. The administration is reluctant to show the bad news on budget deficits and unemployment.

The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today's bleak landscape.

The administration's annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and unemployment and slower growth than projected in President Barack Obama's budget in February and update in May, and that could complicate his efforts to get his signature health care and global-warming proposals through.

Link

Spending like here is no tomorrow

Listed below are just two small examples of why the federal budget is in a shambles:

Paid AFCO Technologies $1,444,100 to repair a door in building 5112 at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas. Link

Paid C & C Electrical Contractor, Inc. $541,119 to install a traffic signal at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Link

Housewife smuggles contraband into Spokane

The Los Angeles Times reports the story of a contraband smuggling housewife.

By day, Patti Marcotte is a working mom -- dealing with the balancing act created by a 5-year-old daughter, a demanding job, a split-level house and a willful boxer puppy.

Come the post-dinner hour, however, Marcotte begins operating in the shadowy world of smuggled soap.

It’s Spokane County Washington’s dirty little secret -- contraband smuggling housewives.

Spokane County adopted a near total ban on sales of water-softening phosphates in dishwasher detergent -- the first in the nation -- in an attempt to slow the flood of pollutants that is sucking oxygen out of the endangered Spokane River, smothering its fish.

The problem, Marcotte and many of her neighbors say, is that most low-phosphate detergents are wimps when it comes to fighting greasy pots and spaghetti-crusted plates.

This has turned Marcotte and some of her neighbors into detergent outlaws, driving 45 minutes across the Idaho state line to pick up secret stashes of the old, bad dish cleanser: the brutish, outlawed Cascade.

Surely they have changed this law in Spokane County Washington by now. If not, County residents are probably breaking the law if the dishwashing soap they use actually gets their dishes clean.

It’s just a matter of time before pictures of Cascade boxes covered with big red X’s show up on TreeHugger’s website.

Link

Larry King: still blathering about Michael Jackson

A Chicago Tribune article at the link below is titled, Larry King’s addiction: Michael Jackson.

Three weeks after the King of Pop's death, other media outlets have largely moved on, while the CNN host has devoted much of his programming to Jackson. Even guest Mark Geragos seems exasperated.

The King of Talk can't stop blathering about the King of Pop. It's been building for three weeks now, getting more and more absurd.

Night after night, the CNN host tosses out sentence-fragment questions ("Brain not returned to the family . . . right, Carlos?") that seem like they should have been written for Jimmy Kimmel.

Night after night, the "experts" lob back speculation, piled on theory, heaped on postulation.

It has been three weeks since Michael Jackson’s death and the media has mostly gone silent on the subject - with two notable exceptions: the checkout counter gossip pulps such as National Enquirer and Larry King (pictured) on CNN.

From the article:

The gravel-voiced, ever-game host acknowledged in one of his occasional moments of clarity this week: "We don't know any facts yet. . . . All of these are assumptions."

That was just before King's panel of judges and lawyers launched into yet another round of speculation, King urging: "What do we know? What do we know now?"

Is King that desperate for material? Is King’s Jackson adulation that strong? Is Larry King getting a bit senile? Maybe the answer is all of the above.

Link

World War II bombers returned to northern Colorado for July 4 weekend

The 67-year-old War Birds returned to the Loveland - Fort Collins Municipal Airport during the July 4 weekend.

For $12 enthusiasts were allowed to take self guided tours of the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-25 Liberator.

Click on any of the pictures below for a larger view:

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

B-17 waist gunners position showing a 50 caliber machine gun on each side

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Looking forward from the B-24 flight-engineer compartment into the cockpit

Inside the cockpit of the B-17

The B-24 pilot exiting the cockpit after a test run-up of the number 4 engine

One B-24 Liberator crew member said the noise level inside the plane during takeoff was so high “you couldn’t hear someone yelling even if he was right next to you!”

I took the cockpit photos this year. The other photos were taken when these planes were here two years ago. We hope they return again year.

9 month wait for arthritis treatment in UK

This is just one example of socialized medicine at work and a prelude to ObamaCare in America.

The report at the first link below says that thousands of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in Britain face a lifetime of agony because they are not being treated quickly enough.

Guidelines state that patients should receive treatment within three months of the first symptoms appearing.

But the average wait is nine months - and GPs are not trained well enough to know what help to offer.

It will be no different in the United States with ObamaCare.

We will have fewer young people entering medical school after ObamaCare has been fully implemented. Few will be inclined to incur several hundred thousand dollars in student loans only to have the federal government look over their shoulder telling them what they can and can’t do for ailing patients.

The GPs (general medical practitioners) are not trained well enough to know what help to offer - mentioned in the DailyMail article above - will be commonplace.

If we follow the British socialized medicine example, there will be a few expertly staffed private medical clinics but only the rich will be able to afford them.

It’s not only arthritis sufferers who wait for months for treatment in the UK.

Cancer survival rates in Britain are among the lowest (worst) in Europe because of delayed medical care and the general inefficiency of NHS (National Health Services) as reported at the second link below.

Link here and here.

Polar ice global warming scare report - revisited

A scientist who tracks levels of ice and snow in the Arctic Ocean told CNSNews.com Monday that there is a “correlation” between the receding ice in the Arctic Sea and man-made global warming caused by the greenhouse effect. However his group’s own research shows otherwise.

Dr. Walter Meier, a cryosphere scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colo., admits he can’t prove that the link is cause-and-effect.

He is like so many other scientists who expect us to believe their global warming claims when they can’t back up the science.

It’s a lot like the Dan Rather logic: fake but accurate.

Link

Elephants painted as panda bears

Elephants painted as panda bears in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Man fights off mountain lion with chain saw

Dustin Britton, an ex-Marine from Windsor, Colorado, fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping in the Shoshone National Forest 27 miles west of Cody. Wyoming.

When the lion pounced, the ex-Marine raised the chainsaw he’d been using to cut brush and inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the 100 pound lion’s shoulder.

Britton received a small puncture wound on his forearm.

Link

John Daly dazzles ‘em at the British Open

John Daly waits to tee off during the second round of the British Open Golf Championship at the Turnberry Golf Club in Scotland.


Daly, never one to wear ordinary duds while playing his favorite sport, is shown below at other golf courses.

Coldest July day since 1900 predicted for Wisconsin

The Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times reports:

Record low high temperatures are forecast for southern Wisconsin on Friday as a very cool Canadian air mass covers the region.

The high on Friday is only expected to be in the low 60s, which would be under the record coldest high temperature in Madison for July 17 of 67 degrees, set in 1900.

Saturday's high is expected to be in the upper 60s, which could challenge the record coldest high temperature for July 18 of 68, set in 1924.

Al Gore will probably say the cause is global warming.

Link

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Suspected swine flu outbreaks close camps

From a report by AP datelined Loveland, Colorado:

Swine flu isn't taking a vacation.

Summer camps are contending with more than bug bites and poison ivy this year: They're on the lookout for swine flu.

While regular flu all but disappears in the summer, swine flu is spreading, and more than 50 summer camps in 20 states have sent kids home early or canceled sessions after suspected outbreaks.

The swine flu outbreaks are not limited to summer camps. Cases have been reported at office buildings, jails and on church choir trips. Schools have been hit, too, including the Air Force Academy, where at least 68 students have confirmed cases of swine flu.

More here.

Swine flu by any other name...

OK you guys, for the last time, it’s not Swine Flu. Didn’t ya hear Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack say it’s the H1N1 flu?

Do I hafta come out from behind this fence and ...

Dakota farmer gives invite to Al Gore

Orlan Dreyer, a Willow City, North Dakota Farmer says:

“I think Al Gore and his group should be out here and tell us about this global warming stuff. I think he might have a change of mind. We’ve had a cool July.

Link

ObamaCare will be poison pill in New York

The New York Post reports that the Democrat health care plan would impose a “terrifying tax” on highest wage earners in the state of New York.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Congressional plans to fund a massive health-care overhaul could have a job-killing effect on New York, creating a tax rate of nearly 60 percent for the state's top earners and possibly pressuring small-business owners to shed workers.

In order to pay for the massive health coverage proposed by House Democrats this week, New York's top income bracket could reach as high as 57 percent!

The top rate in New York City, home to many of the state's wealthiest people, would be 58.68 percent, the Washington-based Tax Foundation said in a report yesterday.

That means New York's top earners, small-business owners and most dynamic entrepreneurs will be facing new fees and penalties.

It’s the small business owners and “dynamic entrepreneurs” that hire a large percent of the work force in most areas.

This will force many to lay off workers as they scale back their businesses.

Without huge new taxes the government could not possibly give uninsured Americans cheap or free healthcare.

A large number of the uninsured are illegal aliens. Another large group without health insurance are those age 20 to 40 who choose to buy expensive cars, plasma TV’s, boats and other toys rather than pay for health insurance.

And, lets not forget the tens of thousands of gang members in all but the smallest towns in America who would also be covered by ObamaCare.

Link

Darth Vader Lives!

A man dressed as Darth Vader arrives for the launch of an exhibition in Melbourne recently that showcased an array of costumes and props from the Star Wars movies.

Hillary back to foreign policy center stage?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (pictured) is back at work after she was sidelined with a broken arm.

Excerpts from the article at the link below:

Her role so far has been more in the field of public relations than in policy formation.

It is not at all clear that she has an in-depth influence on foreign policy.

And this insult:

She needs to decide if she wants to be the administration's mascot or have an impact on actual policy.

The administration's mascot indeed.

That may sound like a low blow, but there may be more truth than poetry to that statement because the sad part (for her) is that is what she has probably become.

Wasn’t she warned that she'd have little power and influence as a member of the Obama administration?

Up until now Hillary’s cabinet post has been made largely irrelevant by Obama’s world tours and the appointment of three special envoys - Richard Holbrooke, George Mitchell and Dennis Ross - who have been given large portfolios that some believe have detracted from Clinton's clout.

Link

Hillary Clinton back in action

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Sotomayer: muddled confusing backtracking

Byron York wrote a brief report for the Washington Examiner based on Senator Jeff Sessions appraisal of Tuesday mornings Sotomayor confirmation hearings. A portion follows:

During a break in the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings, Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was asked whether Sotomayor has been "forthcoming" in her testimony, particularly in her explanations of several controversial speeches she has given.

"How forthcoming is she being," a reporter asked, "and is it any different from what Justices Roberts and Alito did during their hearings?"

"I don't think her testimony is close to the clarity and consistency of Judges Roberts and Alito," Sessions answered. "I just don't think it is. It's muddled, confusing, backtracking on issue after issue -- and these are things that many of us have spoken of on the floor over the past several weeks, so it's not as if they are surprise issues. So I frankly am a bit disappointed in the lack of clarity and consistency in her answers."

The good news (for left-wing Democrats): the “wise Latina woman” will probably be confirmed.

The bad news (for America): the “wise Latina woman” will probably be confirmed.

Link

Dog day afternoon

Fans dressed as cartoon dogs wait as a rain delay stops the first cricket Test match between England and Australia, which was in its third day in Cardiff, Wales. (AP Photo / July 10, 2009)

Bernie Madoff sent to country club prison

Notorious Ponzi scammer Bernie Madoff arrived yesterday at his new home in North Carolina - Butner prison (shown below).


An ABC report says Madoff “hit the inmate lottery” when he was sent to Butner prison to serve out his sentence. Butner's medium security lockup is said to be "one of the crown jewels of the federal prison system."

"It looks and feels like a college campus," said federal sentencing attorney Alan Ellis, who has clients currently serving time there and says it's a popular assignment request for many white collar criminals.

Madoff's former life of luxury will quickly turn into a life of routine at Butner.

Inmates start their day at 6 a.m. and are required to work 7.5 hours a day, as long as they're found medically fit, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Madoff will make between 12 cents and 40 cents an hour to be a groundskeeper, a food service employee or a commissary worker.

Dinner is at 5 p.m., with free time afterwards until 9 p.m., during which time he can partake in recreational, religious or educational programs.

Link

Madoff reveals his secret

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Yogi Berra: no it wasn’t and error!

An interviewer started to ask Yogi Berra (pictured) about his two hits from the previous night when Berra corrected him and said he had three hits.

The interviewer apologized. "I checked the paper and the box score said you had two hits. The third must have been a typographical error."

"Heck no," Berra replied. "It was clean single to left field."

Stimulus waste: $3.4 million turtle crossing

Before approving a second stimulus plan, Mr. Obama needs to make sure the first $787 billion has been spent responsibly - not on a $3.4 million turtle crossing.

"I don't think we need to have another stimulus bill. I think we need to change this one so that we spend the money right now," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who has been critical of the plan.”

Then there are the questionable projects:

For instance, the Florida Department of Transportation wants to spend $3.4 million in stimulus money for a turtle tunnel. That's right, $3.4 million to help turtles cross under a highway. Each year, 1,035 turtles are killed on a half-mile stretch of highway north of Tallahassee, according to The Lake Jackson Ecopassage Alliance, a group advocating for the tunnel. They are hoping to use the stimulus dough to save the turtles.

Another example:

Across the country in Montana, a border crossing that averages fewer than two passenger cars a day and two to three trucks a month is slated to get $15 million in stimulus funds for upgrades.

And then there is the Utah sheriff asking for $25,000 in stimulus money for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

It gets worse. A report at the link below says:

To keep track of all the spending, the government has created a Web site. But nothing in life is free.
The independent General Services Administration quietly put out a release Wednesday night saying the site would be redesigned -- for $9.5 million and, perhaps, as much as $18 million in the next five years!

Link

So sayeth a Wise Latina woman

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

Famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign vandalized

The world famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip has been defaced by graffiti vandals.

The graffiti, which appeared to be written with a marker rather than spray paint, was spotted Monday.

Several letters were written on the sign, but no profanities.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (shown standing in front of the sign above) issued a statement saying, “off with their head!”

Even in permissive Las Vegas we doubt the punishment will be anywhere near that severe.

Built in 1959, the Las Vegas sign has become a symbol of the city, appearing in ad campaigns, films and even board games.

In May, the sign was officially welcomed onto the National Register of Historic Places.

Link

Bad hair day at Wimbledon

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus serves to Sorana Cirstea of Romania during their third round singles match on center court at Wimbledon.

Hearings day one: Sotomayor called prejudiced

Republicans took the gloves off Monday morning during confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor (pictured).

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, accused Sotomayor of being prejudiced.

Citing a controversial racial bias case in which a fire department discarded the results of a qualifying test when black firefighters scored too low, Sessions said Sotomayor was biased in favor of the minority employees.

"It seems to me that in [Ricci v. DeStefano], Judge Sotomayor's empathy for one group of firefighters turned out to be prejudice against the others," Sessions said.

Ricci v. DeStefano was just one of Judge Sotomayor's cases to be overturned by a higher court - in this case the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sotomayor's controversial attitudes towards race were first aired when it became clear that her comments about "wise Latinas" were a common refrain in her public speeches:

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

Link here and here.

Hearings to begin second day for the ‘wise Latina’

Barack Obama’s candidate for the Supreme Court is shown Monday prior to her confirmation hearing.

The self proclaimed 'wise Latina' appears to be showing us her best side.

Nancy Pelosi’s $16 million mouse fund

A tiny mouse has became a hotly disputed symbol of wasteful spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill.

The Obama administration revealed last week that as much as $16.1 million from the stimulus program is going to save the San Francisco Bay Area habitat of, among other things, the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse.

The salt marsh harvest mouse in question happens to be in the San Francisco Bay Area backyard of House Speakers Nancy Pelosi (pictured).

That has revived Republican criticism that the pet project was an "invisible earmark" in the massive spending bill for Mrs. Pelosi, whose San Francisco district abuts the Bay, and epitomizes what Republicans say is the failure of stimulus spending so far to help an economy still shedding jobs.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner said, “Lo and behold, the government has announced that the mouse is getting its money after all,” standing beside a poster of the furry varmint adding, “Pelosi must be so proud.”

Link

Going in for the kill.

Spanish bullfighter David Fandila going after his bull with a pair of banderillas during a bullfight in Madrid.

Total ban on smoking for soldiers recommended

CNN reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs recommends a complete ban on tobacco, which would end tobacco sales on military bases and prohibit smoking by anyone in uniform.


That would force everyone in the military to either quit smoking or smoke on the sly like their commander in chief does.

More on the possible military smoking ban here.