Biden's halo is slipping...

Now, who at the OfficeofThePresidentElect/change.gov allowed a sloppy photo like that to get out?

Update - a cure for Biden's gaffes - ◼ Riehl: Biden to Get His Own Teleprompter

Who can take a rainbow...

2004 - CDC to mix avian, human flu viruses in pandemic study

◼ image source: mirror.co.ukSwine flu fashion: People decorate their face masks in a bid to stay positive

◼ CDC to mix avian, human flu viruses in pandemic study
Robert Roos News Editor
Jan 14, 2004 (CIDRAP News) – One of the worst fears of infectious disease experts is that the H5N1 avian influenza virus now circulating in parts of Asia will combine with a human-adapted flu virus to create a deadly new flu virus that could spread around the world.

That could happen, scientists predict, if someone who is already infected with an ordinary flu virus contracts the avian virus at the same time. The avian virus has already caused at least 48 confirmed human illness cases in Asia, of which 35 have been fatal. The virus has shown little ability to spread from person to person, but the fear is that a hybrid could combine the killing power of the avian virus with the transmissibility of human flu viruses.

Now, rather than waiting to see if nature spawns such a hybrid, US scientists are planning to try to breed one themselves—in the name of preparedness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will soon launch experiments designed to combine the H5N1 virus and human flu viruses and then see how the resulting hybrids affect animals. The goal is to assess the chances that such a "reassortant" virus will emerge and how dangerous it might be.

CDC officials confirmed the plans for the research as described recently in media reports, particularly in a Canadian Press (CP) story....

...Two ways to make hybrids...

...Safety precautions...

Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy
Academic Health Center -- University of Minnesota
Copyright © 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota
(The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), founded in 2001, is a global leader in addressing public health preparedness and emerging infectious disease response. Part of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota, CIDRAP is led by Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director and professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, an adjunct professor in the Medical School, and an internationally renowned expert in public health. The center reduces illness and death from infectious diseases by effecting change through public policy refinement, fostering the adoption of science-based best practices in public health among professionals and the public, and conducting original interdisciplinary research.) ◼ http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/center/mission/index.html

◼ The 1, 2, 3's of Biosafety Levels
◼ http://naturalnews.com/
h/t: zin

Cap and Trade - the coming TAX on the poor

◼ Michelle Malkin Eco-fuzzy math: Debunking a cap-and-trade debunking

◼ Weekly Standard Fuzzy Math
According to an MIT study, cap and trade could cost the average household more than $3,900 per year.

It's just another inconvenient truth: If Americans want any of the government remedies that would supposedly save a planet allegedly imperiled by global warming, it's going to cost them....

Whether they want it or not - more accurately, because this debacle is going to be fast-tracked and people are going to be saddled with this horror - the costs of which will skyrocket above these estimates.

And it isn't just the money. It is the control factor.

If you have any good informative links on this topic, let me know - I'll add them to the post.

◼ Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation Annual Garden Tour

Specter/Spectre - What's the difference? He voted with the Dems anyway.

◼ Specter says he's switching from GOP to Dems

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, "Let's be honest: Senator Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Senator Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first."

Remember, this is the man who voted to spend Trillions on bills he hadn't even read. When he could have chosen to stand on principle, he chose not to.

You do have to wonder what they promised him... a big war chest? Pulling out any democratic opponents? Glory? 24 virgins?

Offending logos

Starbucks coffee in hot water in the middle east.
Starbucks Coffee is in hot water in the middle east according to one Imam who declares the Starbucks coffee symbol a Jewish Symbol of Queen Esther the Persian Queen.

He wants Starbucks Coffee Shut down. (read the rest at Hearth Tablets)
***

We had a similar controversy here when the LOST COAST BREWERY WAS SUED:

Eureka's Lost Coast Brewery has been sued by a Bay Area man who claims that the label for the brewer's Indica India Pale Ale -- which features the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh quaffing a mug of the product -- offends his religious sensibilities. According to the Contra Costa Times, Brentwood resident Brij Dhir, a law student at Golden Gate University, is asking for $25,000 in damages in the lawsuit he filed in Contra Costa Superior Court. Lost Coast co-owner Barbara Groom said Monday that even though she has received positive reviews of the label -- designed by local artist Duane Flatmo -- from other Hindus in the past, and even though her attorneys are confident that they would prevail if the case went to trial, the brewery is in the process of designing a new label. "What is that saying -- the squeaky wheel gets the grease?" she said.

Read about it at the North Coast ]ournal

The Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam RALLY

When
Sunday May 3, 12 Noon.
Where
Times Square. 7th Ave & 42nd St.
***
Sponsored by: ACT! Manhattan, AFSI, AMCHA, Americans for Peace and Tolerance, Chinese Community Relations Council (CCRC), The David Project, Foundation Nepalese, Gathering of Eagles-NY, Hindu Human Rights Watch, Indian American Intellectual Forum, International Foundation of Bangladeshi Hindus, Jewish Action Alliance, Mothers Against Terrorism, Namdhari Sikh Foundation, R.E.A.L. Courage, Snapped Shot, Sudan Freedom Walk and Zionist Organization of America.
info at http://hrcari.org/

OH. MY. GOD.

That's what you hear people screaming in the background in response to what turns out to be a Photo Op - Commander-in-Chief, Barack Obama allowed the U.S. Air Force to fly two F-16 jets into the Manhattan skyline and over New York City air space, accompanying a Boeing 747 airplane. The scene caused many scared New Yorkers to call 911, worrying that another terrorist attack was happening.



◼ ABC News Air Force One Photo Op Triggers Panic in Manhattan - NYC Mayor Bloomberg Blasts Flyover as "Insensitive" and "Ill-Conceived" OH, you're gonna love the comments thread on that one!
◼ Schlussel VIDEO: Barack Obama Scares Half of New York for "Photo Op"
◼ Malkin ‘I feel the need, the need to freak out New Yorkers!’
◼ ABC News Plane 'photo op' causes downtown scare Still photos here. Unreal.
◼ NY Post OBAMA PLANE PHOTO OP STARTLES NEW YORKERS Startles?
◼ Low-Flying Plane Over Manhattan Was a 'Photo Op' - NYPD Says It Was Told Not to Disclose Flight Information Buildings evacuated!

Police were forbidden to warn anyone.

What does he need another photo-op for? To use in his 100-days Prime Times show? To give as an autographed gift to the next big wig? Or for a fund raiser at his kid's school?

Are the ACORN rich-hunters parked outside Al Gore's house?

They should be! ◼ Cateway Pundit reports that It Pays to Go Green! Al Gore's Net Worth Jumps From $2 Million in 2000 to $100 Million in 2008
According to public disclosure information, Gore was worth somewhere between $1 million and $2 million in 2000. Not quite eight years later, Gore is estimated to be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million. While I ordinarily would applaud such financial gains from such a short period of time, I can’t help but to question just how it happened. When you look out at what Al Gore has done, it’s evident that he figured out on a way to capitalize on the creation of Big Green while becoming the official doomsday prophet that has helped to build Big Green into the monetary powerhouse that it has become.

In any other industry this would be considered a severe conflict of interest. In essence, Al Gore has helped to create a fictitious catastrophe, then told everybody what the solutions have to be, and then put himself in a position to capitalize on the hype. It’s not only seriously dishonest, but many people and industries are going to suffer in the wake of this hype while Gore and Big Green bring in millions (and in some cases, billions) of dollars in green money.

For all the left's talk about hating the 'rich' there's never any mention of hating George Soros, Al Gore, John Kerry, or even Pelosi.

Safety Goggles and Bad Apples

Safety Goggles

Bad Apples

Roy D. Mercer

Just interesting... Ancient ecosystem found under glacier

◼ The Guardian UK - An ancient ecosystem that has thrived in isolation for millions of years has been discovered in a pool of dark, salty water beneath half a kilometre of ice in Antarctica.

Microorganisms in the pool evolved to live without light or oxygen after being covered by the Taylor glacier on the East Antarctic ice sheet up to two million years ago. Scientists estimate the pool's temperature to be around -10C, but the water does not freeze because it contains so much salt – around four times as much as seawater....

The discovery of simple organisms in the unmapped reservoir provides further evidence of the extreme conditions that life might be able to endure on other planets.

"This briny pond is a unique time capsule from a period in Earth's history," said Jill Mikucki, who led the research at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, US. "I don't know of any other environment quite like this on Earth."

Scientists made the discovery while analysing water samples from Blood Falls, a curious blood-red stain on the face of the Taylor glacier. Explorers in the early 20th century thought the stain was caused by red algae, but subsequent investigations have revealed that the colour comes from rust in the water....

Flu Situation

CDC
◼ http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
◼ This is an official CDC Health Advisory

◼ Travelers' Health

Lots of links there for monitoring the situation

◼ HOW TO: Track Swine Flu Online

Stay Calm, Stay Informed
While there’s likely to be much concern on social networking sites about public health incidents, it’s important to keep things in proportion, and go direct to the sources of news rather than spreading panic.
◼ World Health Organization - Disease Outbreak News
◼ healthmap.org

◼ Swine flu H1N1: evolution of a virus

Two drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said it was prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective....

◼ sciencebase.com

Headlines on DRUDGE:

JANET: EVENTS DO NOT WARRANT TESTING OF PLANE PASSENGERS FROM MEXICO...

◼ Napolitano - US says not testing travelers from Mexico for flu (Unless they are Republicans, I guess.)

'NO EVIDENCE' OF BIO-TERROR...

◼ Administration declares flu 'emergency'

CALDERON TELLS MEXICANS TO STAY CALM, COOPERATE WITH AUTHORITIES...

◼ U.S. declares swine flu public health emergency - 20 cases have been confirmed so far in the U.S.; up to 86 killed in Mexico

CDC RECOMMENDS PLANNING FOR SCHOOL CLOSURES...
Positive: NYC students...

◼ CONFIRMED: Swine Flu Outbreak At Queens School
He said that the virus likely came from Mexico, although that has not officially been determined. "We do know that some of the students from the school had a spring break in Mexico," Bloomberg said, surrounded by top city officials and members of Congress. "It is most likely to be brought back from Mexico, but nobody knows."

WHO: Swine flu could mutate to 'more dangerous' strain...
◼ link
Flu fears prompt quarantine plans...
Mexico City residents staying at home...
◼ link
CLOSE TO 1,300 SUSPECTED CASES...
◼ link
Russia Suspends Imports of Meat From Mexico, Some U.S. States...
◼ link
New swine flu likely widespread...
◼ link
Asia on alert...
◼ link
10 New Zealand students in scare...
◼ link
Mideast First: Israeli man hospitalized on suspicions...
◼ link
6 CASES CONFIRMED IN CANADA...
◼ link
Spain announces 3 suspected cases...
◼ link

Happy Debt Day

◼ Government to 'Run Out' of Cash Sunday, Earliest Ever

Debt Day comes early this year. Unfortunately, it's nothing to celebrate.

The symbolic "holiday," which falls on Sunday, marks the point in the fiscal year when government spending exceeds revenue.

In other words, the government will stop making money and start borrowing on Sunday.

And it's coming earlier than ever, according to House Minority Leader John Boehner, who's pointing to Debt Day as yet another symptom of a government he says is spending too much, borrowing too much and taxing too much. Last year's Debt Day fell more than three months later, on Aug. 5.

"All the revenue for this fiscal year will be spent as of Sunday," Boehner, R-Ohio, said. With the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, he said, "everything that happens after Sunday through ... the balance of this fiscal year is going to have to be borrowed from our kids and grandkids."...

...the deficit-driven Debt Day has fallen between July and September every year since 2002, so April 26 is strikingly early....

◼ Boehner Op-Ed Debt Day: A Symbol of Washington’s Arrogant Culture of Borrowing and Spending
h/t: JJ

THE FIRST 100 DAYS: (w/updates)

◼ UPDATE! Fox sticking with schedule instead of Obama

It's the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama's request. This will be the third prime-time news conference in Obama's presidency. ABC, CBS and NBC are airing it.

◼ PETER ROFF — An Administration Filled With Far-Left Extremists

...Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama presented himself to the American people as a change-oriented centrist, slightly to the left of the middle of the road. The way he has governed over his first 100 days, however, shows him to be anything but the image he projected, particularly where many of his appointments are concerned. And it is these appointments that will determine the direction of policy in his administration over the next four years....

h/t: gg

◼ NY Post 100 DAYS, 100 MISTAKES

◼ Malkin 100th Daygasm: Obama ‘asks’ networks for hour of primetime during sweeps

◼ Rassmussen 53% Say Next President Likely To Be A Republican
h/t: sunj

Exploding? Escalating. Exponentially.

the photo in question
the alleged original
◼ Atlas Shrugs EVIL MELTDOWN: CHARLES JOHNSON THREATENS MICHELLE MALKIN
◼ Gates Of Vienna Lies, Damned Lies, and LGF
◼ Jihad Watch Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs falls for fauxtography!
and
◼ Little Green Footballs How do you say Liar in German?
◼ Little Green Footballs Classic Misdirection from Spencer and Geller
The Post that started this plume in the flamewar
◼ Little Green Footballs Robert Spencer Confirmed to Attend Eurofascist Conference
***

LGF Anonymous.
Banned or blocked at Little Green Footballs?
You're not alone. Learn more:
◼ Add your name to the list of the banned
◼ read up on the history of some of the bannings
◼ Head over to LGF 2 (yes two), find old friends on a great blog...
◼ ... and LGFwatch
◼ and meet old friends in the new Lounge.

Emailed jokes and commentary

And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America, having lost their morals, their initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as “The One”.

He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people telling them, "I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. For I shall save you with Hope and Change Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed.."

And the people rejoiced, for even though they knew not what “The One” would do, he had promised that it was good; and they believed. And “The One” said "We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!"

And the people said, "Hallelujah!! Change is good!" Then He said, "We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,"---- And the people said "Sock it to them!"

"---- and redistribute their wealth." And the people said, "Show us the money!"

And then He said, "Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody" And Joe the plumber asked, "Are you kidding me? You're going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??"

And “The One” ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized.

One lone reporter asked, "Isn't that Marxist policy?"

And she was banished from the kingdom!

Then a citizen asked, "With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?"

And “The One” said, "Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!"

And the people said, "Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!"

Then “The One” said, "I shall give 95% of you lower taxes."

And one, lone voice said, "But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes."

So “The One” said, "Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!"

And the people said, "Hallelujah!! Show us the money!"

Then “The One” said, "I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!"

And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed. And He said, "I shall mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person unlimited healthcare and medicine and transportation to the clinics."

And the people said, "Give me some of that!"

Then he said, "I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas."

And the people said, "Where's my rebate check?"

Then “The One” said, "I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!"

And the people said, "Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates."

So “The One” said, "Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!"

Then He said, "Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing..."

And the people said, "Hallelujah!!" And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.

Then “The One” said, "I am the “The One” - The Messiah - and I'm here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!"

But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, "Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more..."

And the people said, "Wait a minute. That is unfair!!"

And the world said, "Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!"

And the people cried out, "Alas, alas!! What have we done?"

But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon “The One” and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change “The One” had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, "Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!"

But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

h/t: bh

Massive FlameWar Leads to Enemies List

Absolutely hysterically unreal!
LGF Civil War Makes Media Outlet
Thursday Afternoon Open
Some pretty funny shit!
Charles Johnson is right: why I stand in support of Charles Johnson and Little Green Footballs
...making a list of any and all bloggers in the conservative blogosphere that have either allowed their commenters to assault Charles, or done it themselves....
Conservatism Today's 24 Best Conservative Blogs
(RAPH image)
***
LGF Anonymous.
Banned or blocked at Little Green Footballs?
You're not alone. Learn more:
◼ Add your name to the list of the banned
◼ read up on the history of some of the bannings
◼ Head over to LGF 2 (yes two), find old friends on a great blog...
◼ ... and LGFwatch
◼ and meet old friends in the new Lounge.

◼ "...Tony Blair: "It is time to wrench ourselves out of a state of denial. There is one major factor in common. In each conflict there are those...who argue that they are fighting in the true name of Islam."..."

With all the problems with Britain right now, it is amazing that their leaders keep coming up with these deadly accurate statements.

h/t: jihadwatch

had to happen...

◼ IBotnet Virus: Apple's First Worm
...The IBotnet virus is a Mac-specific Trojan Horse program that infects a machine only by downloading a pirated copy of iWork, the Apple productivity suite or Adobe Photoshop CS4. It does not spread from peer-to-peer on its own....
h/t: Shark

Meet TED...

This demo -- from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry -- was the buzz of TED. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Imagine "Minority Report" and then some.

Pranav Mistry is the genius behind Sixth Sense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.

Freddie Mac CFO suicide

◼ Breitbart Police investigating death of Freddie Mac official
◼ Michelle Malkin A few words about the Freddie Mac CFO suicide
◼ Just One Minute Freddie Mac Exec An Apparent Suicide
◼ Sweetness and Light Freddie Mac CFO Dead In Apparent Suicide

Sad.

“Conceited, Superficial”

◼ Fidel Castro says Obama misinterpreted his brother's remarks

I'm sure this'll be glossed over too, but it seems the debase and prostrate yourself approach to world diplomacy isn't having the desired effect.

Phone Line Saboteurs Sought; $250,000 Reward Offered

◼ SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Forget, for a moment, computer viruses and sophisticated cybercrimes. A hacksaw and a few other tools were probably all it took for someone to sever eight fiber-optic cables in Silicon Valley this week, knocking out cell phone, landline and Internet service.

AT&T Inc., which owns six of the severed cables, posted a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, then raised that to $250,000 on Friday "as the full scope of the vandalism became more clear."

Anyone with information is encouraged to call (408) 947-STOP. h/t: Adam

"food production is a major contributor to global warming. "

◼ Scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's department of epidemiology and population health say food production is a major contributor to global warming.

Who is the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine?

This is a strange take on that story.... ◼ Salman Goes Jogging

And here: ◼ “We need to do a lot more to reverse the global trend towards fatness. It is a key factor in the battle to reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change..."

Ever think that it is all this BS that is contributing to "Global Warming."

VOTE!

◼ At CNBS - Give Obama a GRADE.

It's about to be heavily astroturfed by the Left - This email is circulating:
---- Send this e-mail to all those that you can. Our President needs our help. His 100 day mark is approaching fast.

MSNBC has a poll up about the President's job so far for the first 100 days. Republicans are flooding it with "F" votes.
(SO FAR 60% OF THOSE VOTING RATE HIM 'POOR' OR ONLY 'FAIR'

Pass this address on and go to it to vote:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29493093/

Trillions of dollars in spending? Saddling future generations with debt? Yucking it up with Chavez? Telling the world what a crappy country he has?

Big fat well earned "F"

WALKOUT! Iran president calls Israel 'racist'

◼ Walkout at UN conference after Iran president calls Israel 'racist'

British delegates joined a dramatic diplomatic walkout today when President Ahmadinejad of Iran told a major UN conference against racism that the state of Israel had been founded "on the pretext of Jewish suffering" during the Second World War.

Around 20 delegates, including envoys from the UK, France, and Finland stood up and left the room at what was considered an anti-Semitic remark by the Iranian leader, who has repeatedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map....

The conference opened as Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day - which falls this year on the 120th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth. This morning the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told his Cabinet that while Israel commemorates the six million Jews slaughtered by the Nazis, "in Switzerland, the guest of honour is a racist and a Holocaust-denier who doesn’t conceal his intention to wipe Israel off the face of this earth"....

The Obama administration announced at the weekend that it would boycott the meeting because its draft declaration makes reference to the text agreed in 2001 at the UN's first anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa. That document was agreed after the United States and Israel walked out over attempts to liken Zionism - the movement to establish a Jewish state in the Holy Land - to racism....

The American decision to boycott the meeting has been given extra weight by the fact that it was taken by the country's first black president.

Speaking in Trinidad yesterday after attending the Summit of the Americas, Mr Obama said that he would love to be "involved in a useful conference that addressed continuing issues of racism and discrimination around the globe" but wanted to avoid a reprise of the Durban conference during which "folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were oftentimes completely hypocritical and counterproductive".

◼ Iran's president slams Israel, sparking Western walkout, clown protest at UN racism conference

Ahmadinejad was the first government official to take the floor at a U.N. racism conference opening on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day. Two protesters in clown costumes tossed soft red objects at Ahmadinejad as he recited a Muslim prayer to begin his speech.

A Jewish student group from France later took credit for causing the disturbance, saying members threw clown noses to "symbolize the mascarade that this conference represents."

Let's see if this gets as much press as the guy who threw the shoe at Bush.

Looks like more than 20 people left - looking forward to seeing a list of which countries left and which stayed.
***
Ahh, UPDATE - Looks like it was about 20 COUNTRIES, countries not people... or, more accurately, 20 DELEGATIONS, not Delegates...

Morocco, France, 18 other countries walk out on Ahmadinejad's obstructionist speech

"Upon hearing his opening barbs against Israel, the French delegation stood up and walked out. Some 40 diplomats from more than 20 countries, including Morocco, followed suit.

"At a press conference in Geneva, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, slammed his manipulation of the conference to sew incitement.

"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian president to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve. This makes it significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism," Ban's statement read.

Interesting side story there -

In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned "an intolerable call to racist hate" and urged a firm reaction by the European Union.

Before Ahmadinejad's speech, Iranian dissident Ahmad Batebi told a side panel at the conference that the president did not represent the Iranian people. Unlike Ahmadinejad, the Iranian people do not want to wipe Israel off the map, he said....

◼ (Ahmad Batebi) Dissident's Tale of Epic Escape From Iran's Vise

Y'er KIDDING, Right?

◼ (David) Axelrod suggests 'Tea Party' movement is 'unhealthy'

And Cindy Sheehan was....?

FRONT PAGE NEWS - all 20 of her little cheerleaders.

Story behind the story? Fact or Fiction?

◼ President Obama Restricted Navy SEALs From Rescuing Ship Captain With Force
◼ Subject: The real story of Obama's Decision Making with the hostages.
◼ Real Story Behind Obama's Somali Pirate Rescue Plan
◼ ENEMY IN THE WHITE HOUSE; BHO BLOCKED NAVY FROM RESCUING CAPTAIN

Exploding heads

Can you say overkill? If you can stand to read them - here are the threads at Little Green Footballs.
It may seem like it would be interesting, watching the train wreck, but actually it quickly gets boring. It would seem the man made a major mistake in showing his followers what others are saying about him. But, here ya go...

◼ LGF Heads Exploding Everywhere
◼ LGF Heads Explode at Gawker.com

◼ Gawker.com Glenn Beck Admits He Lives in Crazytown

◼ LGF Heads Explode at Fox News

◼ FOX Missing the Mark - Glenn Beck.

◼ LGF James Wolcott's Head Explodes

◼ Vanity Fair Finally, Little Green Footballs and I Are in Accord!

◼ LGF Heads Explode at Media Matters

◼ Media Matters It might already be too late for the right-wing blogs

◼ LGF Heads Explode at Ace of Spades

◼ Ace Of Spades Glenn Beck vs. Charles Johnson

◼ LGF Heads Explode at Washington Monthly

◼ Washington Monthly April 17, 2009

◼ LGF Heads Explode at Daily Kos

◼ Daily KOS Glenn Beck Is TOO CRAZY For Little Green Footballs

◼ LGF Heads Explode at Reddit.com

◼ Reddit Reddit

Come to think of it - except for Ace Of Spades, he only linked to the ones that mostly see it his way, that's pretty funny.

◼ LGF2 When lizard heads implode.
◼ American Power Charles Johnson "Explodes"
◼ The Black Republican Civil War Blogroll Alert: LGF
and, of course, others listed in a post below.

Political Cartoons of Michael Ramirez - Editorial Cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily

◼ Mark Steyn Live Tea or Die!
Takes a minute to get to the good stuff, but good stuff it is!
...in America, tea is not a soothing beverage to be served with McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits. It’s a raging stimulant. It’s rabies in an Earl Grey bag. At America’s tea parties, there’s no McVitie’s, just McVeighs — as in Timothy of that ilk, as in angry white men twitching to go nuts. To Paul Krugman of the New York Times, the tea party is a movement of “crazy people” manipulated by sinister “rightwing billionaires.” To the briefly famous Susan Roesgen of CNN, the parties are not safe for “family viewing.” ...

The American media, having run their own business into the ground, are certainly qualified to run everybody else’s into the same abyss. Which is why they’ve decided that hundreds of thousands of citizens protesting taxes and out-of-control spending and government vaporization of Americans’ wealth and their children’s future is no story. Nothing to see here. As Nancy Pelosi says, it’s AstroTurf — fake grassroots, not the real thing.

Besides, what are these whiners so uptight about? CNN’s Susan Roesgen interviewed a guy in the crowd and asked why he was here: “Because,” said the Tea Partier, “I hear a president say that he believed in what Lincoln stood for. Lincoln’s primary thing was he believed that people had the right to liberty, and had the right . . . ”

But Susan Roesgen had heard enough: “What does this have to do with your taxes . . . ? Do you realize that you’re eligible for a $400 credit?”

Had the Tea Party animal been as angry as these Angry White Men are supposed to be, he’d have said, “Oh, push off, you condescending tick. Taxes are a liberty issue. I don’t want a $400 ‘credit’ for agreeing to live my life in government-approved ways.” Had he been of a more literary bent, he might have adapted Sir Thomas More’s line from A Man for All Seasons: “Why, Susan, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world . . . but for a $400 tax credit?”

But Susan Roesgen wasn’t done with her “You may already have won!” commercial: “Did you know,” she sneered, “that the state of Lincoln gets $50 billion dollars out of this stimulus? That’s $50 billion dollars for this state, sir.”

Really? Who knew it was that easy? $50 billion dollars! Did those Navy SEALs find it just off the Somali coast in the wreckage of a pirate skiff in a half-submerged treasure chest, all in convertible pieces of eight or Zanzibari doubloons?

Or is it perhaps the case that that $50 billion dollars has to be raised from the same limited pool of 300 million Americans and their as-yet-unborn descendants? And, if so, is giving it to “the state of Lincoln” — latterly, the state of Blagojevich — likely to be of much benefit to the citizens?....

Gravitational Pull

What can you say? Giving Chavez the secret handshake treatment gives the impression that he has found his buddies on the world stage. And they're not our allies. His interactions with our allies have appeared tepid at best.

You wonder about Obama's psychological make-up. Pleasing people who already like him isn't what he is about. But Chavez has insulted him, said publicly that he should "wash his ass." The result appears to be that of a moth drawn to a flame.

You wonder if Obama understands what he is doing, and you have this weird sense that like attracts like. He is going where he is comfortable, with the biggest thugs on the planet.

For all his talk of reforms HERE, he doesn't seem at all interested in bringing freedom to the people of Venezuela. More likely to embrace the Socialism that Chavez has imposed.

And you just have to HOPE that this man, who came out of the Chicago sewer on top of the heap, will in the end, play dirtier than Chavez. I guess it depends on how active Obama has been in his own rise - was he involved with the Jack Ryan scandal personally? Or was it all done for him? Either way, Obama knows how to fight dirty. Question is, whose side he will come down on? Ours? Or Chavez's? Castro's?

◼ Reuter's Obama, Venezuela's Chavez shake hands at summit
◼ Chavez Says U.S. Empire Will Soon Fall, Calls Bush 'Devil' Thursday, September 21, 2006
◼ At summit, Obama gets friendly with Chavez
◼ http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/chavez-gifts-ob.html h/t: Drudge
At President Obama's meeting with the heads of South American countries this morning, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stood, walked over to him, and presented him with a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano.

Obama politely posed for a photograph with Chavez, shook his hand, and accepted the gift.

Funny. it sounds so benign when put that way. But the picture says more than the reporters do.

And this is a man who knows the power of images. He is all about image - even to the point of asking Georgetown to cover up any words that might keep him from being the center of attention - so he has to know the significance of this secret handshake making its way around the world. It is a chilling message if you care about this country.

Chinese spies may have put chips in US planes

◼ the Times Of India You don’t sneak counterfeit chips into another nation’s aircraft to steal data. When it’s done intentionally, it’s done to degrade systems, or to have the ability to do so at a time of one’s choosing.”

Yes, while Andersen Cooper smirks, there are serious stories to be had

WASHINGTON: The Chinese cyber spies have penetrated so deep into the US system — ranging from its secure defence network, banking system, electricity grid to putting spy chips into its defence planes — that it can cause serious damage to the US any time, a top US official on counter-intelligence has said.

“Chinese penetrations of unclassified DoD networks have also been widely reported. Those are more sophisticated, though hardly state of the art,” said National Counterintelligence Executive, Joel Brenner, at the Austin University Texas last week, according to a transcript made available on Wednesday.

Listing out some of the examples of Chinese cyber spy penetration, he said: “We’re also seeing counterfeit routers and chips, and some of those chips have made their way into US military fighter aircraft.. You don’t sneak counterfeit chips into another nation’s aircraft to steal data. When it’s done intentionally, it’s done to degrade systems, or to have the ability to do so at a time of one’s choosing.”

Referring to the Chinese networks penetrating the cyber grids, he said: “Do I worry about those grids, and about air traffic control systems, water supply systems, and so on? You bet I do. America’s networks are being mapped. There has also been experience of both Chinese and criminal network operations in the networks of some of the banks”.

Even crude sex jokes can't save CNN's ratings

and THAT is justice.

◼ Cable Anchors, Guests Use Tea Parties as Platform for Frat House Humor

FOX RATINGS SURGE ON PROTEST COVERAGE
8-11 PM ET

FOXNEWS 3,390,000
MSNBC 1,210,000
CNN 1,070,000
CNN HEADLINE 909,000


FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,980,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 3,239,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,947,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,740,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,401,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 2,185,000
COMEDY DAILY SHOW 1,777,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,499,000
COMEDY COLBERT 1,446,000
CNNHN GRACE 1,336,000
CNN KING 1,292,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,149,000
CNN COOPER 1,021,000

h/t: Drudge

◼ deathby1000papercuts MSM Journalism and the Tea Bag Protest: MSM Mockery of Middle Class America and Arrogance of Fools

Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request

There shall be no symbols but mine.

◼ “In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage,” Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, told CNSNews.com...."

It's all image, image, image. Nothing must get in the way of Obama's image. Not a big step to tearing down the Buddhas.

Now remember the b-i-i-i-g deal made out of covering the breasts on a statue... wonder if we will hear anything about this?

Glenn Beck April 16 2009 part 2

The Blog wars heat up
◼ Atlas Shrugs GLENN BECK on L-G-F
◼ LGF2 Glenn Beck on Charles Johnson
◼ Protein wisdom Glenn Beck? Charles Johnson? [Dan Collins]
◼ Stop The ACLU ( Video) Glenn Beck Vs. Charles Johnson
◼ MoonbatMonitor LGF? What the hell?
◼ Ace of Spades Glenn Beck vs. Charles Johnson
◼ Tennesseefree Glenn Beck gives Charles Johnson (Little Green Footballs) his comeuppance (or, how Queeg suddenly became inconsequential)
◼ choosethehero Glenn Beck Vs Little Green Football’s Charles Johnson
◼ macsmind Glenn Beck Drop Kicks Charles Johnson - Who’s the Punk Now?
◼ Gates of Vienna Glenn Beck vs. Little Green Footballs
◼ Tundra Tabloids Glenn Beck is Now an Official Member of the 'Under the Bus' Gang......
◼ Daily KOS Glenn Beck Is TOO CRAZY For Little Green Footballs
◼ Daily Pundit little green snotballs


Go to minute 7
***
Previous Post: ◼ Blog Wars I and II
***
LGF Anonymous.
Banned or blocked at Little Green Footballs?
You're not alone. Learn more:
◼ Add your name to the list of the banned
◼ read up on the history of some of the bannings
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◼ ... and LGFwatch
◼ and meet old friends in the new Lounge.

How long are the reporters going to continue to kowtow?

◼ Today the (Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano) Secretary went on Morning Joe but they were only allowed to ask one question.

"Apparently, when the Democrats promise an open administration, they really only mean open as long as you ask the questions they want asked and no follow-ups on controversial topics that everyone is reporting on,"

...MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough: “I want to have a discussion afterwards about that interview.”

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski: “Now, we should be clear, they only wanted one question.”

Scarborough: “Yeah. So this morning, I got a call that she [Janet Napolitano] was going to be on the show and they said we could only ask one question …”

Brzezinski: “That was the agreement.”...

Bankruptcy

◼ General Growth Files Biggest U.S. Property Bankruptcy

Not unexpected, but still sad.

CNN's Bias not just on display - BUSTED! UPDATED

◼ CNN Reporter at Chicago Tea Party: It's "Anti-CNN Since This is Highly Promoted By the Right-Wing, Conservative Network Fox"

Over shouts of, "You're not a reporter," Roesgen quickly wrapped up an interview with an attendee

◼ Malkin - CNN beclowns itself
◼ Newsbusters catches Susan Roesgen
◼ Snotty reporter Susan Roesgen - BUSTED - a whole different attitude when it is an anti-Bush rally.

Couple that with Andersen Cooper pimping the "TeaBagging" meme, and David Gergen smirking about it, you'd have to say the Tea Parties were a wild success. ◼ Daily Gut: ‘Teabagging’ (Urban Dictionary: Haven't heard that term before? Click here

When you reduce the LEFT to sputtering rage and their fallback filthy derogatory sexual denigration, you know that they know they are wrong.
***
What happened AFTER Roesger's badgering - the cameras kept rolling.

Who is the problem?

Not Osama Bin laden. Not Terrorists. Not Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Not Bill Ayers. Obama's war against his own people takes another step forward. But Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is having to back down. For now.

◼ US govt faces veteran anger at extremism report

The US Homeland Security Department, under fire for saying US forces returning from the Iraq and Afghan wars were potential right-wing extremist recruits, said Wednesday it honors US veterans.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to douse anger among conservatives and veterans groups like the American Legion over a report from her department warning of a rising threat of right-wing extremism.

"We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not -- nor will we ever -- monitor ideology or political beliefs," Napolitano said in a statement amid charges that the department had done just that.

American Legion chief David Rehbein on Tuesday blasted the report as "incomplete, and, I fear, politically-biased" and took special aim at its warning that returning veterans having difficulties reintegrating society could be recruited by right-wing groups for possible terrorist attacks....

◼ American Legion to Napolitano: Apologize

Of all the smears listed in the new DHS warning about “right-wing extremism,” none are more dastardly and despicable than the insinuation that returning military veterans represent a security threat to the nation they willingly served. The Commander of the American Legion has sent the following letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano explaining to her that military veterans are not the enemy:...

***
Returning Military a threat to Obama? Not in the way it is being portrayed. But when they come back home there will be a sea change. They will vote. And it won't be for "community organizers" who might get them killed in a foreign land. These are men who know what they are fighting for over there, and they don't like seeing it being taken away here. It's no surprise they have to be marginalized.

They will vote. And it will be a sea change.

Some gaffes are better than others...

Freudian slip?
h/t: Kirly

World Agenda: Nicolas Sarkozy puts Barack Obama in the doghouse

◼ "It was rhetoric – not a speech on American security policy but an export model aimed at improving the image of the United States,"

The American President's call "to free the world of the menace of a nuclear nightmare" was hot air, Mr Sarkozy's diplomatic staff told him in a report. "It was rhetoric – not a speech on American security policy but an export model aimed at improving the image of the United States," they said. Most of Mr Obama's proposals had already been made by the Bush administration and Washington was dragging its feet on disarmament and treaties against nuclear proliferation, the leaked report said...

...Mr Sarkozy has put out a version of the proceedings at the London G20 economic summit which casts him as hero, in the classic French role of intransigent defender of principle in the face of the American steamroller. This is to counter last week's reports of Mr Obama saving the day by persuading President Hu of China to accept Mr Sarkozy's demands for naming tax havens.

According to the leaks, Mr Sarkozy shamed Mr Obama into intervening: "You were elected to build a new world. Tax havens are the embodiment of the old world," he is quoted as saying. He also reprimanded Mr Obama for setting US goals for climate change that were inferior to Europe's, according to his staff.

Again, according to the Sarkozy version, at the Nato summit in Strasbourg, Mr Obama was meekly yielding to Turkey's refusal to endorse Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the alliance's new Secretary-General. It took pressure from Mr Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel of Germany to stiffen him up and change his mind, say the French....
h/t: Drudge

We'll do anything

TEA PARTY IN EUREKA w/UPDATE

City: Eureka
When: April 15, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Where: County Courthouse
Website: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=79221726356
Sponsored by: Group of local Concerned citizens.
www.taxdayteaparty.com

◼ Roger L. Simon No Tea Party sightings at CNN online and other curiosities of the mainstream media

◼ Michelle Malkin A Tax Day Tea Party cheat sheet: How it all started

◼ Afrocity The “Black Tea Parties”
***
EUREKA
◼ OLD GLORY RADIO Tea Party Eureka Ca April 15 2009 Video and pics...

Tea Party Eureka Ca. (Humboldt Co) - April 15th 2009. Crowd estimate
1,200 - 1,500 people. There was a hard head count at the highpoint and the crowd covered the entire block and down the street. Everyone anticipated the undercount by those on the left and care was taken to accurately measure the crowd....

◼ TS Tea party brings hundreds to courthouse Hundreds? An understatement.
◼ JN Mad As Heck
***
◼ Hillbuzz in Chicago Video from Chicago Tax Day Tea Party

Interesting - Florida Blogger in David-and-Goliath Battle with Goldman Sachs

◼ On Saturday, April 11, The Daily Telegraph reported that investment giant Goldman Sachs has retained Chadbourne & Parke, a Wall Street law firm, to shut down the website of Mike Morgan, a Florida blogger and registered investment advisor.

Morgan, who just set up his blog in late March, is currently gathering volunteers to help him research the bank’s influence on the U.S. Government and the stock market. Morgan’s website is here. He has scheduled a conference call and “webinar” for tomorrow night, April 15 at 6PM for volunteers who want to help him research Goldman Sachs, their role the the financial meltdown, and their possible manipulation of the stock market through their dealings with AIG. He also wants to call attention to Goldman Sachs’ influence on the government through their large donations to politicians such as President Barack Obama and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd. Morgan discloses that he did lose money from his investments with Goldman Sachs....

Being Republican is the new Earth First!

Because not being a Democrat is bad.
ACORN is good.
Military is bad.
Churchgoers are bad.
Hunters are bad.
Because questioning the spending of Trillions of dollars on who knows what is bad.

◼ Homeland Security on guard for 'right-wing extremists'

...The report warned law enforcement agencies to watch for suspicious individuals who may have bumper stickers for third-party political candidates such as Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin.

It further warned law enforcement to watch out for individuals with "radical" ideologies based on Christian views, such as opposing illegal immigration, abortion and federal taxes....
Returning U.S. military veterans singled out as particular threats

◼ Federal Agency warns of Radicals on the Right
◼ link
◼ American Legion responds to DHS

Blog wars Part I and II

◼ Lizard Lounge!
◼ The Lizard Lounge Part Deux… The Fallout
◼ BEHIND THE SCENES: THE LIZARD LOUNGE
◼ THE LIZARD LOUNGE: THE SEQUEL
◼ CJ of Little Green Footballs
◼ "Lizard Lounge" - Very funny parody
◼ In The LGF Lounge: Upfront and Close With the Grand Lizard.......
***
LGF Anonymous.
Banned or blocked at Little Green Footballs?
You're not alone. Learn more:
◼ Add your name to the list of the banned
◼ read up on the history of some of the bannings
◼ Head over to LGF 2 (yes two), find old friends on a great blog...
◼ ... and LGFwatch
◼ and meet old friends in the new Lounge.

Beauty

They appear to have disabled the embedding - here's a link

Serious concerns

◼ A more fatuous presidential call to arms is hard to conceive....

...Our president came bearing a basketful of mea culpas. With varying degrees of directness or obliqueness, Obama indicted his own people for arrogance, for dismissiveness and derisiveness, for genocide, for torture, for Hiroshima, for Guantanamo and for insufficient respect for the Muslim world.

And what did he get for this obsessive denigration of his own country?...

◼ Column One: Surviving in a post-American world

...Somewhere between apologizing for American history - both distant and recent; genuflecting before the unelected, bigoted king of Saudi Arabia; announcing that he will slash the US's nuclear arsenal, scrap much of America's missile defense programs and emasculate the US Navy; leaving Japan to face North Korea and China alone; telling the Czechs, Poles and their fellow former Soviet colonies, "Don't worry, be happy," as he leaves them to Moscow's tender mercies; humiliating Iraq's leaders while kowtowing to Iran; preparing for an open confrontation with Israel; and thanking Islam for its great contribution to American history, President Obama made clear to the world's aggressors that America will not be confronting them for the foreseeable future....

The pro-Obama US and European media are so pleased with America's abdication of power that they took the rare step of applauding Obama at his press conference in London. Indeed, the media's enthusiasm for Obama appeared to grow with each presidential statement of contrition for America's past uses of force, each savage attack he leveled against his predecessor George W. Bush, each swipe he took at Israel, and each statement of gratitude for the blessings of Islam he uttered.

But while the media couldn't get enough of the new US leader, America's most stable allies worldwide began a desperate search for a reset button that would cause the administration to take back its abandonment of America's role as the protector of the free world....

AMERICA'S BETRAYAL of its democratic allies makes each of them more vulnerable to aggression at the hands of their enemies - enemies the Obama administration is now actively attempting to appease. And as the US strengthens their adversaries at their expense, these spurned democracies must consider their options for surviving as free societies in this new, threatening, post-American environment....

But to survive the current period of American strategic madness, Israel and the US's other unwanted allies must build alliances with one another - covertly if need be - to contain their adversaries in the absence of America. If they do so successfully, then the damage to global security induced by Obama's emasculation of his country will be limited. If on the other hand, they fail, then America's eventual return to its senses will likely come too late for its allies - if not for America itself....

A sobering does of reality.

h/t keefe

Something to try

◼ General Tso’s Chicken Recipe from blogchef

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 green onions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)
Sauce-
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken bits and coat thoroughly.

Step 2: To make the sauce- in a small bowl combine rice vinegar, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.

Step 3: Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 degrees and deep fried chicken bits in batches. Drain on paper towels.

Step 4: Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken bits to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.

Step 5: Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Garnish with green onions and serve. (Makes about 2 servings) h/t kirlz

Interesting point

◼ Flopping Aces Obama’s Potemkin Military Reception

FIBER OPTIC line cut w/UPDATE: Affects Silicon Valley

◼ AT&T - get Twitter updates on outage
We anticipate some service restoration will begin in next few hours, with repair and rerouting efforts continuing this afternoon.... about 2 hours ago from web
In addition to repairing impacted cables, we are pursuing options to reroute traffic to other network connections where possible.... about 2 hours ago from web

◼ Parachat - Our data center provider is announcing that the current outage is being caused by a fiber optics line that was cut early Thursday morning in San Jose, California, USA. More information is linked below:

"Massive Phone Outage Strikes The South Bay".
Posted: 7:14 am PDT April 9, 2009 Updated: 8:00 am PDT April 9, 2009

◼ lKTVU - Massive Phone Outage Strikes The South Bay
◼ Mercury News - Widespread phone outage in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties
◼ SF Chronicle - Thousands cut off from phone service
**
UPDATE:
Vandalism Suspected in South Bay Phone Outage

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- San Jose police are investigating the cutting of four underground fiber optic cables that disrupted phone service to southern Santa Clara County and parts of Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.
The cables were located ten feet down a manhole at southbound Monterey Highway at Blossom Hill in South San Jose. The location of the cables indicate vandalism, and San Jose police are treating the area as a crime scene.

AT&T crews are making repairs, and estimates are that it will be at least 6 p.m. tonight before service is restored. The outage which began about 2 a.m. Thursday affects both land lines and cellular phones.

◼ KCBS - Vandalism Suspected in South Bay Phone Outage
◼ PC Magazine - AT&T Cable Cut Knocks Parts of Silicon Valley Offline
◼ ZDNet - Fiber optic line damaged in Silicon Valley; impact is far-reaching
◼ MSNBC - Telephone, Internet outage hits Silicon Valley

...AT&T is in the midst of labor negotiations with the Communication Workers of America, but the CWA denies any connection to the incident and issued a statement saying the union "condemns vandalism."...

◼ eweek - Cable Cuts Trigger Major Phone, Internet Outage in Silicon Valley

The 'America Is Weak and Apologetic Tour' pays dividends

Comedienne Rita Rudner's comedy routine includes a line about the requirement that you consult with your physician before undertaking an exercise routine. She mimics the phone call, "Hello, I'm thinking of bending at the waist."



Why would you LIE about something like this. Don't say you didn't bow when you are clearly bending at the waist. It is on videotape for crying out loud.

In the overall course of things, this ain't nuthin'. But it sure is part of a pattern.

In the meantime, Obama's 'America Is Weak and Apologetic Tour' is paying immediate dividends - North Korea launching missiles, pirates taking our ships, China and Russia and Iran licking their chops as Obama cuts the military.

It's amazing how fast it can all turn, like someone turned the bucket upside down.

Was this on CNN?

◼ Voices From Around The World The Media Missed

Barney Frank is disgusting

When a politician is invited to speak at a college, and the students ask him questions, should he not answer respectfully? Is he so colored by his warped prism of life that he cannot answer without getting defensive and argumentative?

It shouldn't take courage for two kids to stand up and ask questions, and they shouldn't have to defend a classmate against his vitriol!

◼ JammieWearingFool Waaah! Bawney Fwank Melts Down at Harvard