It’s so surreal, so discordant with what the president has told the American people, so fantastically contrary to everything he campaigned on. . . . I simply cannot believe it.

◼ On The Latest From Libya - The Daily Dish
◼ Obama Sends CIA Into Libya Ground Operations; Andrew Sullivan Stunned

No boots on the ground?

So don’t be shocked that the Obama team piled out of its clown car and scurried to dish national security secrets to the press with the hope of trying to alter the growing public view that Obama is a ball-less, spine-less wimp who has touched off a new war and is afraid to call it what it is.

◼ Obama Team Hits Panic Button on Libya - NO Quarter

◼ ‘The Exasperated Anti-War Movement will never be the Same’ - Ed Driscoll
◼ Obama thought that in a matter of days liberal Facebookers would storm Tripoli. He would get credit this time for being “there for them.” - Victor Davis Hanson

So the omissions pose the question: how did Obama, the archetype war critic, find himself bombing—in optional and preemptive fashion, and without congressional authority — an Arab Muslim oil-exporting country, and one that posed no immediate threat to American national security, despite being governed by a monster who, nevertheless, had been recently courted by Western intellectuals, academics, universities, and diplomats?

Unfortunately, Obama has no principled or strategically logical foreign policy. So it is mostly loud declarations that he is not George Bush and making things up ad hoc as he goes along.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Search Amazon.com for mr. popper's penguins the book

get out the hankies

h/t:kirly

With just a hammer, anvil and furnace, artist Yaron Bob melts, moulds and sculpts Kassam rocket metal into gorgeous flowers.

◼ 'Rockets into Roses' products are unique, hand-sculpted works of art, fashioned by metal sculptor Yaron Bob, from actual rockets that landed in Israel. Each piece is a one-of-a-kind, custom, hand-made, very limited edition collector's item.

Most roses take at least three to four hours of turning and twisting the rocket metal, and hand-sculpting intricate petals and leaves onto the rose. The larger, more detailed roses and bouquets can take significantly longer to create.

The rose sculpture's base is shaped as the map of Israel. The stem is attached to the base in the town of Sderot, so that the rose literally "grows" from the place of destruction - where most of the rockets have landed. Beauty from Ashes h/t: kirly

It's not Friday, but...

H/t: blue

Obama’s Inner Bracket

◼ Obama’s Inner Bracket Zombie's call

"Is this really the best Obama can do? Good Christ!!"

◼ Barack Obama, Community Organizer? BULLSHIT! No Quarter has had it up to eyeballs with the lies...

It is full on belly laugh territory watching Barack Obama strut peacock like on TV taking credit for organizing the international coalition to impose a no fly zone over Libya (but keep Qaddafi in place) when the United States played only a bit part. The lion’s share of the work behind the scenes was carried out by France. The USA was MIA and Barky was busy trying to get his Samba groove going in preparation for his excellent Brazilian adventure.

Watching Obama pathetic speech tonight it is clear he still does not understand military force, strategies or tactics....

◼ Cato’s David Boaz on the Missing Anti-War Movement in the Obama Era - flopping aces



I have to admit, I am at the end of my patience with the hypocrites. Don't even try to defend this.

Who's using who?

The Blaze is suggesting that maybe we ought to be feeling sorry for Soros, the poor dupe, the progressives' cash cow.

◼ There’s a whole cottage industry of progressive organizations lining up to scam cash from Soros. Groups that have duped him include but are not limited to: The Center for Community Change, The Ruckus Society, Color of Change, Democracy for America, Democracy Alliance, Green for All, People for the American Way, The Ella Baker Center, Project Vote, Free Press, Alliance for Justice, Sojourners, Human Rights Watch, Global Exchange, Tides, Center for American Progress, EarthJustice, Friends of the Earth, Media Matters for America, Alternet, MoveOn.org, America Votes, Media Fund, Bill of Rights Defense Committee (lol), Institute for America’s Future and many, many more. There aren’t enough trees on planet Earth to make enough paper to list all of them.

Why do they need so many different groups to do essentially the same thing? Simple: they’ve figured out George Soros is a sucker for stupid progressive groups. They view him as their personal ATM machine.

On the other hand, look what he got for his money - the American Presidency, complete with cushy deals for foreign oil companies he has invested in.

FOX is a pesky little problem though, he's gotta fix that, his guys keep getting exposed by the real journalists who bother to look up the records that haven't yet been flushed down the memory hole.

“If there was no Beck, George Soros would come down and demand we make it up,” the “interviewee” continued. “I would watch the “Flintstones” and transcribe Fred Flintstone’s words and attribute them to Beck. It was the only way to get Soros to stop hitting me.”

◼ Media Matters' war against Fox - Page 2

“It’s horrible. All we do is sit and watch Fox News and make up stuff about Fox News. It is the saddest place I have ever seen in my life. I think about it, and I want to throw up,” the mock employee said. “I get to work and I take off my clothes, and they strap me into a chair in front of a TV with [Fox News Channel] on. They keep my eyelids propped open like in “Clockwork Orange,” and I sit and type all day.

“If there was no Beck, George Soros would come down and demand we make it up,” the “interviewee” continued. “I would watch the “Flintstones” and transcribe Fred Flintstone’s words and attribute them to Beck. It was the only way to get Soros to stop hitting me.”

It's safe to say this is the WAR that Obama really cares about.

The new strategy, he said, is a “war on Fox.”

◼ The new strategy, he said, is a “war on Fox.”

The liberal group Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” aimed at the Fox News Channel.

I wonder if they'll get Michael Moore to launch this one.

Or will it be "The Working Families Party" with busloads of goons?

Or will they abandon all pretense and use a Presidential executive Order?

You can bet it won't be limited to: Brock said Media Matters also plans to run a broad campaign against Fox’s parent company, News Corp., an effort which most likely will involve opening a United Kingdom arm in London to attack the company’s interests there. The group hired an executive from MoveOn.org to work on developing campaigns among News Corp. shareholders and also is looking for ways to turn regulators in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere against the network.

The group will “focus on [News Corp. CEO Rupert] Murdoch and trying to disrupt his commercial interests

The Year of Living Dangerously

◼ The Year of Living Dangerously
◼ Libyan woman is brutally silenced after accusing Gaddafi's forces of rape - Journalists try to intervene as Benghazi woman fleeing sexual assault is taken away by government officials - guardian

◼ "I think she probably was raped, otherwise I can't see her having the courage..."

◼ --
At Althouse: The Drill SGT said...
She probably was raped, but by press designated bad guys (e.g. Gadafi), so her victimhood will be in the news.

The rape of the US Journalist in the middle of Cairo's largest public square was covered up by that same press because her attackers were designated good guys.

And the press is muzzled today. ""I am on a short leash because they really objected to my questioning whether the coffins we saw contained civilians," Simpson said. "All I said was that it was impossible to verify, but they took that as a great insult."

Other journalists have received anonymous threats. "I have read your stories and the penalty for carelessness is death," one American correspondent was warned by email."

You think this is unique to Libya? No. And where - again - are the Women in Black? NOW?

"Do you want to be a pariah? Do you really want to end up in the international criminal court?"

Yeah. LIke THAT'S the thing the people with Qaddaffi are worried about.

◼ ...Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in appearances on the Sunday talk shows....

Asked about Yemen, where the embattled U.S. ally Ali Abdullah Saleh was just barely holding on to his 33-year-old grip on power, (Defense Secretary Robert) Gates cited grave concerns.
"The most aggressive branch of al-Qaida ... operates out of Yemen," he said.

And? So we're allied with them now in Libya...

It's madness.

On top of that - ◼ Defense Secretary: Libya Did Not Pose Threat to U.S., Was Not 'Vital National Interest' to Intervene

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that Libya did not pose a threat to the United States before the U.S. began its military campaign against the North African country.

On “This Week,” ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper asked Gates, “Do you think Libya posed an actual or imminent threat to the United States?”

“No, no,” Gates said in a joint appearance with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “It was not -- it was not a vital national interest to the United States, but it was an interest and it was an interest for all of the reasons Secretary Clinton talked about. The engagement of the Arabs, the engagement of the Europeans, the general humanitarian question that was at stake,” he said.

ERIC LIPTON RESPONDS, AND THE VERDICT IS IN

◼ ERIC LIPTON RESPONDS, AND THE VERDICT IS IN
I think Lipton stands convicted of exactly the conduct Phillips suggested. He wanted to write a story about how an organization supported by the Koch brothers was secretly fomenting a "showdown" with Wisconsin's unions. Phillips wouldn't tell him that because it wasn't true, but Lipton wrote the story that way anyway, because without it he had nothing newsworthy.

Eric Lipton and the New York Times owe Tim Phillips, Americans For Prosperity and Charles and David Koch an apology, and they owe their readers a correction.

"Obama is Awesome"

Why are we fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan and giving them air support in Libya?

◼ A question in the comments at Flopping Aces Krauthammer: Obama’s “Working On Language That Will Disguise A Failure”

Stephen Lerner's Butt Boy

If you listened to the tape in the post below - where Stephen Lerner brags about an unfolding campaign to be launched to take down JP Morgan Chase and destroy the financial industry - you heard the plan: "The goal would be that we will roll out of New York the first week of May. We will connect three ideas:

--- that we are not broke there is plenty of money
--- they have the money - we need to get it back
--- and that they are using Bloomberg and other people in government as the vehicle to try and destroy us
--- And so we need to take on those folks at the same time. And that we will start here we are going to look at a week of civil disobedience - direct action all over the city."

Then he says it can't look like the Labor Unions are doing it. It's gotta be the "community organizers" that are doing it...



Moore says:

--- we're not broke.

--- This country is not broke; state of Wisconsin is not broke.

---There's a ton of cash in this country, trillions of dollars of it....What's happened is that we've allowed a vast majority of that cash to be concentrated in the hands of just a few people... We've allowed them to take that.

--- That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours."

It's already in play - and you never even saw it coming.

"They play on your fears." And more.

They hate Glenn Beck because he shows, IN THEIR OWN WORDS, what they are up to

Every single time. There's not much standing between us and the memory hole. Certainly not CNN/MSNBC and the rest of the so-called mainstream media. The list of things they refuse to look at, mention, investigate and cover is now astronomical.

FOX, and Glenn Beck in particular, is doing the investigative journalism that we have a right to expect from all reporting media. Preserving the institutional memory is a vital part of that. Tying the men to their words and putting the pieces together is what we depend on media to do.

The MSM largely ignored the death threats against Republican legislators in Wisconsin, the murder of the Fogel family, the bombing in Jerusalem, the ACORN study, the NPR anti-semitism, the involvement of Obama's campaign apparatus in attacking Wall St. Execs, banks and legislators in Wisconsin. they ignore the ugliness of Chicago politics, and its spread into Washington DC.

And they will ignore this too, passing it off as 'that crazy Glenn Beck' - but he has exposed the left for what it is, and may have stopped a planned campaign of economic terrorism. IN THEIR OWN WORDS once again.

LISTEN TO THE TAPE



They'll go deeper underground next time, they'll do more than forbid recording devices, they will undoubtedly pat participants down from now on rather than be exposed like this again, but for now, FOX and Glenn Beck are holding the line. And making sure the world gets a taste of true investigative journalism. FOX, Glenn Beck, Talk Radio and the right-wing blogosphere are all that stands between us and a Soros/Media Matters created socialist state.

◼ Just Who Is The SEIU Threatening These Days?
◼ CAUGHT ON TAPE: Former SEIU Official Reveals Secret Plan To Destroy JP Morgan, Crash The Stock Market, And Redistribute Wealth In America - Business Insider
rner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore--the redistribution of wealth and the return of "$17 trillion" stolen from the middle class by Wall Street--is to "destabilize the country."
Lerner's plan is to organize a mass, coordinated "strike" on mortgage, student loan, and local government debt payments--thus bringing the banks to the edge of insolvency and forcing them to renegotiate the terms of the loans. This destabilization and turmoil, Lerner hopes, will also crash the stock market, isolating the banking class and allowing for a transfer of power.
Lerner's plan starts by attacking JP Morgan Chase in early May, with demonstrations on Wall Street, protests at the annual shareholder meeting, and then calls for a coordinated mortgage strike.
Lerner also says explicitly that, although the attack will benefit labor unions, it cannot be seen as being organized by them. It must therefore be run by community organizations.

Think about this. Here is one of his key statements:

The goal would be that we will roll out of New York the first week of May. We will connect three ideas:

-- that we are not broke there is plenty of money
-- they have the money - we need to get it back
-- and that they are using Bloomberg and other people in government as the vehicle to try and destroy us

You have HEARD THESE WORDS IN RECENT DAYS. Who was leading the charge? Michael Moore "We are not broke." Look back and you will see others, you will know who is furthering the meme.

◼ REVEALED — THE LEFT’S ECONOMIC TERRORISM PLAYBOOK: THE CHASE CAMPAIGN BY A COALITION OF UNIONS, COMMUNITY GROUPS, LAWMAKERS AND STUDENTS TO TAKE DOWN US CAPITALISM AND REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH & POWER

The full version of the discussion"

Maybe Barack Obama, having now embraced the George W. Bush caricature the left created as his own image, will take some advice from a real George W. Bush advisor.

“The mission must determine the coalition; the coalition ought not determine the mission.”
◼ A Rumsfeld Rule Barack Obama Should Take to Heart

Speaking in Chile to defend his decision to launch Operation Odyssey Dawn, President Obama couldn’t resist taking a swipe at George Bush, in a clumsy attempt to make himself look superior

◼ link

As reported by Fox News, the President declared: "In the past there have been times when the United States acted unilaterally or did not have full international support, and as a consequence typically it was the United States military that ended up bearing the entire burden."

As the folks at Fox quickly pointed out, Bush actually had twice as many international allies for the invasion of Iraq as Obama has put together for his adventure in Libya. They even put together a list.

The thinking behind this latest Bush smear is extremely troubling. You might view Obama reflexively blaming or denigrating Bush as a dog-bites-man story, but consider the context.

Odyssey Dawn is only four days old. Unlike Bush, Obama made no effort to prepare the American people for the operation, and now that the initial surprise has worn off, significant questions are being asked about his authority to launch these attacks. The concept of taking executive action to counter an imminent threat was arguable in Bush’s case – and people have been arguing about it for years – but utterly risible with respect to Libya. Indeed, the Administration hasn’t even tried to advance such an argument.

Serious questions are being asked about the long-term objectives of Odyssey Dawn, how much of it we’ll be expected to pay for, and whether promises to avoid the commitment of ground forces will be kept.

Against this backdrop, Obama decided to throw out an offhanded smear of his predecessor… a slander so transparently false that it was debunked within minutes?

Lerner also says explicitly that, although the attack will benefit labor unions, it cannot be seen as being organized by them. It must therefore be run by community organizations.

In their own words

◼ Led by Steven Lerner, a former leader in the country's most-powerful union, SEIU, the plan seeks to destroy JP Morgan, nuke the stock market, and weaken Wall Street's grip on power, thus creating the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government. - Yid With Lid
◼ CAUGHT ON TAPE: Former SEIU Official Reveals Secret Plan To Destroy JP Morgan, Crash The Stock Market, And Redistribute Wealth In America - businessinsider.com
...Lerner was ousted from SEIU last November, reportedly for spending millions of the union's dollars trying to pursue a plan like the one he details here....

h/t: Fenway

Israeli Navy Uncovers Weaponry Intended for Terrorist Organization in the Gaza Strip

IDF Summary of the incident in which the IDF Navy uncovered on-board the cargo ship "Victoria" weaponry intended for the use of terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The ship had come from Lattakia, Syria and made a quick stop in Turkey before its final destination to Egypt. According to assessments, the weapons were intended to be smuggled through Egypt into the Gaza Strip....

Barack Obama once boasted of being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. In contrast to his vehement condemnation of Israel's apartment-building, he has offered only official disapproval of the murders of children

◼ Obama's Selective Anger
...On March 11, Palestinian terrorists entered the home of Udi and Ruth Fogel in the town of Itamar on the West Bank. It was the Sabbath, and most of the family was sleeping. The terrorists first slit the throats of Udi and his 3-month-old daughter, Hadas. Ruth was in the bathroom but was attacked and killed as she emerged. Two more sons -- Yoav, 11; and Elad, 4 -- were also killed by knives to the heart. Their throats were slit as well. There were three more Fogel children. Two other boys, ages 8 and 2, asleep on the sofa, were apparently missed by the murderers. Twelve-year-old Tamar, who had been spending Shabbat with friends, returned home to discover 2-year-old Yishai standing over the bodies of his parents and begging them to wake up.

In Rafah, Palestinians celebrated the news of the massacre by dancing, singing, and handing around sweets.

The Obama administration issued a pro-forma condemnation. "There is no possible justification for the killing of parents and children in their home," it read. Secretary Clinton called the murders "inhuman" and reportedly coaxed a more robust denunciation of the atrocity from Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas than he had at first offered.

But there has been little else -- no ongoing campaign to shame or humiliate the Palestinians, no list of actions they must undertake to show their good faith -- not even a particularly strong expression of revulsion....

The world's attention has been distracted by Japan's catastrophe and Libya's torment. But Barack Obama once boasted of being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. In contrast to his vehement condemnation of Israel's apartment-building, he has offered only official disapproval of the murders of children -- and has had nothing to say about the culture that encourages and, in fact, celebrates such savagery.

Know Your Zone -- how to find out if you are at risk of a tsunami

◼ Know Your Zone -- how to find out if you are at risk of a tsunami - Lori Dengler, professor and chair of the HSU Geology Department/For the Times-Standard

...The California Geological Survey has taken the lead for mapping tsunami hazards in California.... The state maps are posted online at
◼ www.quake.ca.gov/gmaps/tsunami/tsunami_maps.htm...
You can download fliers at
◼ www.humboldt.edu/rctwg/
(select the download Tsunami Maps and Flyers on the right)...
...Find out if you are in a tsunami zone at
◼ http://myhazards.calema.ca.gov/.
Just enter your address, and you can learn not only about tsunamis but earthquake and flood hazards as well. read the rest

Bet they're sorry they sued to get those emails

◼ E-mailers Strongly Support Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

He wasn't lying.

Of all e-mails, the split was 62-32 in support. While JSOnline correctly characterized the support of Wisconsin e-mailers as "closer," the support still was quite strongly in favor of the Governor:

"When the Center looked only at emails from Wisconsin, the margin was much slimmer, with 55 percent favoring his bill and 42 percent opposed."

So whether you look nationally or only in Wisconsin, there is a very sizable majority in favor of the Governor.

Judge Maryann Sumi should have recused herself entirely from the Wisconsin battle due to her inability to be neutral in this case. You see, Maryann Sumi has a clear conflict of interest. Her son is a political operative

who also happens to be a former lead field manager with the AFL-CIO and data manager for the SEIU State Council. Both the SEIU and the AFL-CIO have members who are public-sector employees in Wisconsin. In fact, as a federation, the AFL-CIO can boast of several member-unions that represent public-sector employees. Maryann Sumi is hardly an unbiased judge in the matter....

Unbelievable.

◼ "Having taken a closer look at the text of Judge Sumi's decision in Ozanne v. Fitzgerald, I am quite frankly astonished." - Althosue

we are to understand that its former components—tribunals, renditions, preventative detention, Guantanamo, predator assassinations, Iraq, the Patriot Act, wiretapping, and intercepts—were as subversive to the Constitution under Bush as they are essential to our security under Obama.

◼ America Through the Looking Glass - Victor Davis Hanson

Obama Attacks Libya, and Where's Congress?

◼ Obama Attacks Libya, and Where's Congress? - americanthinker
◼ EDITORIAL: Obama’s illegal war - Congress, not the U.N., should authorize force against Libya - washingtontimes
◼ Lawmakers concerned about U.S. role in Libya - washingtontimes
◼ U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., joined the protesters, saying he was angry that Congress was not consulted before the military strikes. - stltoday
◼ Liberal Democrats in uproar over Libya action - politico
◼ Libya and the Left's Sickening Hypocrisy on the Use of Military Force - americanthinker

After years of being harassed by the purple people beaters, one company has finally said ENOUGH.

◼ In a press release issued Thursday, Sodexo USA announced that the company has filed a civil lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act., accusing the union of engaging in an “illegal campaign of extortion.” The lawsuit representing Sodexo is Hunton & Williams – the same firm SEIU and its allies have accused of launching a “dirty tricks” campaign against them in retaliation for their anti-Chamber of Commerce campaigns. Read the rest at BigGovernment

“The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

◼ — Senator Barack Hussein Obama, December 20, 2007 - more on the hypocrisy at weaselzippers via ◼ Althouse ◼ via marginalrevolution, who thanks Radley Balko. ◼ Barack Obama's Q&A at Boston.com

Today's version of the telephone tree, spreading the word, and keeping truth alive in the face of a mass media blackout.

What I Like About Obama

◼ Wow. I recommend putting ice on that.

Ignoring the story of these threats is deeply, fundamentally wrong. It’s bad, biased journalism that will lead to no possible good outcome and progressives should be leading the charge against it.

◼ Whoa! Did The Earth Just Tilt? iowntheworld
◼ HuffPo’s Lee Stranahan Fed Up With Media Ignoring Wisconsin Death Threats rightwingnews
◼ Shame: Ignoring Death Threats to Wisconsin Politicians Is Media Bias huffingtonpost

Thank you, Lee Stranahan. I hope you don't lose your job.

Bad Moon Rising

I sensed he was searching for a word that wasn’t too utterly cruel or unseemly but he somehow had to find a word that told the truth.

◼ Obama’s “Tower of Babble” * Open Thread [Video Update] at NoQuarter
...The experts bemoaned Obama’s failure to get off the dime and get going on Libya. One of the guests kept referring to Obama’s “tower of babble,”...

There was also a great interview last night on Eliot Spitzer’s CNN show, In The Arena, with James Woolsey, Bill Clinton’s CIA director.

I mean, I got to say that in the standards of behavior of American presidents on something like this, this has been extremely — I think the word is ineffective.

(From “In the Arena,” CNN, March 18, 2011...)

I wish you could have heard the pause as Woolsey struggled to find the right word to describe Obama. I sensed he was searching for a word that wasn’t too utterly cruel or unseemly but he somehow had to find a word that told the truth. Finally, he stopped pausing, and said softly, “Ineffective.” It worked. We understood.

Brother Quadaffi

◼ Farrakhan Blasts Obama For Calling For Qaddafi to Step Down (Video) - HotAirPundit
To Obama: "who the hell do you think you are?"
◼ The Obama, Rev. Wright, Farrakhan and Kadafi Connection
This definitely adds perspective to why Obama was so willing to throw Mubarak under the bus and far more reluctant to come out against Moammar Kadafi with anything truly strong as one would expect from a National Leader
Is he right?
◼ Flashback: Farrakhan on Obama: “The Messiah is absolutely speaking”

First Annual World Leader March Madness tournament bracket.

◼ March Madness: Democrats vs. Dictators - foreignpolicy.com

Check these brackets!

Tiger's blood, Adonis DNA and "lightning in a bottle"

◼ Obama tells big Democratic donors to hang onto ‘lightning in a bottle’ from his first campaign - Washington Post
◼ How can he say this with a straight face? - GCP
◼ After standing idly by for three weeks waiting for the world to step up, Obama launches Tomahawk attacks, stating that he "cannot stand idly by" - Doug Ross
Obama also repeated that he will not use ground troops in what has been dubbed "Operation Waffle Ditherer".

◼ Top 25 #ObamaMissionNames
@NotChrisRock Operation Brazilian Wax
@AmishFlyers66 Operation Nine Months In The Senate Didn't Prepare Me For This Sh**
@krmullins1964 Operation One Term President!
@TRMirCat Operation FINE! I'll do something
@Hanif_Ali Operation so that's what the red button does

◼ America Through the Looking Glass - Victor Davis Hanson

One ironic footnote: The rule was written in 1983 by two of the Democratic senators who left Wisconsin last month to avoid voting on the bill

Wisconsin Republicans will use a law written by two fleebaggers to defeat the ruling on Monday.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported:

Senate Rule 93 says that when the Legislature is in special session, “A notice of a committee meeting is not required other than posting on the legislative bulletin board.”

That’s the rule Republican leaders are citing in their contention that one of the votes leading up to passage of Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial anti-union bill was legal.

One ironic footnote: The rule was written in 1983 by two of the Democratic senators who left Wisconsin last month to avoid voting on the bill, Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, and Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison.

The two were among 14 senators who fled to Illinois to slow down the bill, which Walker and Republican leaders were fast-tracking through the Legislature.

◼ Irony Alert… 2 Fleebaggers Wrote Law That WI GOP Will Use to Defeat Activist Judge’s Ruling

They're really going to cry when the Republicans employ "DEEM IT PAASED" and shoving it through when no one has had any time to review and debate - not that the Dems need any time to review and debate now that they've discovered the voters will let them get away with vacationing out of state instead.

The radio doc - UPDATE FOUND A PODCAST

This morning's discussion on iodine pills - essentially, Dr. Ronald Hoffman expressed his disgust with Americans wanting pills for themselves when there is virtually no risk here, and said we should instead be sending pills to Japan where they may be needed.

Talked about what the iodine pills to (fill the thyroid to help prevent it from uptaking radioactive iodine to help prevent cancer of the thyroid) but that there are many other cancers that it will not help with anyway... the real danger comes from eating contaminated food and that is where the focus should be...

I tried to take notes, and thought he had a podcast - but can't find it, so my notes are not as good as they should be.

He went on to talk about studies on radiation, and various vitamins that have been found to have mitigating effects - as many patients DO get substantial doses of radiation with all the various tests they undergo, from mammograms to radiation therapy, to CAT scans...

Among these studies:
◼ Vitamin D has been found to be helpful...
◼ Resveratrol chemicals/molecule may help protect DNA from damage, may help against radiation exposure, has protective effects - so he said, when the Russians told the people around Chernobyl to drink more, they may b=have been more right than they knew.
◼ Green Tea, and
◼ something called IP6 saving healthy cells and helping kill bad cells...

They find that these things help kill cancer cells more effectively and mitigate the negative effects of radiation treatments...

◼ UPDATE FOUND A PODCAST
March 19, 2011 - Hour 2 (has some info, need Hour 1)

Dr. Hoffman discusses the courageous Japanese workers who are currently in the faltering nuclear plants trying to keep down radiation levels. Listen in to hear what supplements and vitamins the Doctor thinks they and you should be taking if you will be exposed...

Vit D
Resveratrol red wine molecule
inositol IP6
NAC (N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine) - looked at rats exposed to radiation - pretreatment against gamma radiation induced cellular damage

...don't want people dosing with iodine - has it's own problems, not recommended that they do it without medical supervision, alot of stuff will be conterfeit, dosing without knowing what you are doing - can cause health problems...

It is bad luck to close a pocket knife unless you were the one who opened it.

◼ and other rules to live by...

Discussion at the coffee shop this morning - bad form if someone hands you an open knife, and you close it before handing it back - some people will throw that knife away, or tell you it is now yours, bad luck for the owner to take it back.

A knife as a gift from a lover means that the love will soon end.
A knife placed under the bed during childbirth will ease the pain of labor.
If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.
It will cause a quarrel if knives are crossed at the table.
It is bad luck to close a pocket knife unless you were the one who opened it.

The Los Angeles Times reports the tragic, but not unexpected, news of another union "negotiation" gone south.

◼ Thank a union boss: city workers 'shell-shocked' after half of Costa Mesa employees are laid off and one then apparently commits suicide - Doug Ross
◼ Nearly half of Costa Mesa city employees get layoff notices LA Times

Costa Mesa has sent layoff notices to nearly half of its employees in a dramatic austerity program being closely watched by other cities struggling with ballooning pension obligations. ...Costa Mesa is among hundreds of local governments around the country facing massive future shortfalls in what they owe retirees. This year's tab — $15 million out of the city's $93-million budget — is estimated to grow to more than $25 million within five years... Faced with an unprecedented pension and retiree healthcare crisis, "cities are being forced to look at things that would've been unthinkable before," he said....

"Clearly they are trying a new model," said Stuart Drown, executive director of the Little Hoover Commission, a bipartisan state public policy oversight agency. "A city that lays off half its staff — by any standard that's got to be considered a big move."

Costa Mesa "appears to have gone with the nuclear option," said Joe Nation, a professor of public policy at Stanford University who is studying the issue of underfunded public pensions.

Faced with an unprecedented pension and retiree healthcare crisis, "cities are being forced to look at things that would've been unthinkable before," he said.

◼ Not just Costa Mesa: San Francisco's Pension Gap Is Truly Terrifying Business Insider

San Francisco's public pension crisis is way worse than many thought, according a new study from Stanford professor Joe Nation.... The report concludes that the only way San Francisco could even begin to dig itself out of its pension hole is through serious pension reform - namely, increased employee contributions. The city's labor unions, however, have made it clear that any changes will meet stiff resistance.

Banners reading “Obama, go home” and “Imperialism no!...”

WHO IS REPORTING THIS?

◼ Leftists Protest, Firebomb US Consulate in Brazil Ahead of Obama Visit verumserum h/t: jewels
◼ Protest in Rio against Obama visit has Molotov cocktail - Police used percussion bomb and tear gas to disperse protesters ULTIMA SEGUNDO
◼ AFP: Brazil police use tear gas to end anti-US protest
Bad enough that...?
◼ Obama cancels public speech in Rio square: embassy

A better choice for President for 2012

Obama: Oh, by the way, we’re going to war in Libya

◼ Obama: Oh, by the way, we’re going to war in Libya

Just a quick heads up to the country about our third war in the Middle East before he flies off to South America. Here’s the transcript. Highlights: No ground troops; no acknowledgment of Qaddafi’s “ceasefire” (which is just as well, since it’s a pathetic and utter fraud); and no word on whether he’ll ask Congress to authorize the mission, as his friend Dick Lugar is urging him to do. Instead, he laid down conditions for Qaddafi to accept. Take ‘em or leave ‘em:

The resolution that passed lays out very clear conditions that must be met.

The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Arab states agree that a cease-fire must be implemented immediately. That means all attacks against civilians must stop.

Qadhafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Adjabiyah, Misurata (ph) and Zawiyah (ph), and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all area.

Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya.

Let me be clear: These terms are not negotiable.

Conspicuously missing from that list is any demand for regime change, which Obama was pushing just days ago.

Swallow hard.

Emblematic

◼ Barack H. Obama Elementary to close - Yahoo

The Bangs Avenue School elected in 2010 to change its name to Barack H. Obama Elementary.

At the time that the school acquired its new name, administrators took a lot of flak for ostensibly focusing on the name change instead of the plight of its students. But the city resident behind the movement, Myra Campbell, believed it would "send a subliminal message" to the students.

Update from Nuclear Energy Institute

UPDATE AS OF 1:30 P.M. EDT, THURSDAY, MARCH 17:

Radiation readings at the Fukushima Daiichi site boundary were measured today at a lower level, between 2 and 3 millirem per hour.

UPDATE AS OF 11:35 A.M. EDT, THURSDAY, MARCH 17:

Fukushima Daiichi
The reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are in stable condition and are being cooled with seawater, but workers at the plant continue efforts to add cooling water to fuel pools at reactors 3 and 4.

The status of the reactors at the site is as follows:

Reactor 1’s primary containment is believed to be intact and the reactor is in a stable condition. Seawater injection into the reactor is continuing.

Reactor 2 is in stable condition with seawater injection continuing. The reactor’s primary containment may not have been breached, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and World Association of Nuclear Operators officials said on Thursday.

Access problems at the site have delayed connection of a temporary cable to restore off-site electricity. The connection will provide power to the control rod drive pump, instrumentation, batteries and the control room. Power has not been available at the site since the earthquake on March 11.

Reactor 3 is in stable condition with seawater injection continuing. The primary containment is believed to be intact. Pressure in the containment has fluctuated due to venting of the reactor containment structure.

TEPCO officials say that although one side of the concrete wall of the reactor 4 fuel pool structure has collapsed, the steel liner of the pool remains intact, based on aerial photos of the reactor taken on March 17. The pool still has water providing some cooling for the fuel; however, helicopters dropped water on the reactor four times during the morning (Japan time) on March 17. Water also was sprayed at reactor 4 using high-pressure water cannons.

Reactors 5 and 6 were both shut down before the quake occurred. Primary and secondary containments are intact at both reactors. Temperature instruments in the spent fuel pools at reactors 5 and 6 are operational, and temperatures are being maintained at about 62 degrees Celsius. TEPCO is continuing efforts to restore power at reactor 5.

Fukushima Daini
All four reactors at the Fukushima Daini plant have reached cold shutdown conditions with normal cooling being maintained using residual heat removal systems.

◼ Nuclear Energy Institute

As the insider described Obama’s foreign policy shop: “It’s amateur night.”

◼ Obama's indecision on Libya has pushed Clinton over the edge

“Obviously, she’s not happy with dealing with a president who can’t decide if today is Tuesday or Wednesday, who can’t make his mind up,” a Clinton insider told The Daily. “She’s exhausted, tired.”

He went on, “If you take a look at what’s on her plate as compared with what’s on the plates of previous Secretary of States — there’s more going on now at this particular moment, and it’s like playing sports with a bunch of amateurs. And she doesn’t have any power. She’s trying to do what she can to keep things from imploding.”

◼ DAY 31: White House Asks U.N. to Approve Strikes on Libya...
Libya Threatens Retaliation as U.S. Seeks UN Resolution Authorizing Strikes

GOOD v EVIL - it's never been more clear.

Last week, on one side of the street they were passing out candy,

They passed out candy, celebrating this butchery: ◼ **GRAPHIC** MUSLIM MASSACRE JEWISH FAMILY OF FIVE, THREE YEAR OLD STABBED IN THE HEART, BABY'S THROAT SLASHED

That is what evil does.

This week, on the other side, in the midst of devastating grief as a result of that barbaric murder  - in spite of that, ◼ IDF, settlers save Arab baby

IDF Corporal Levin and Palestinian baby, Jude

...Just as IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz arrived in Neve Tzuf to offer his condolences, a Palestinian cab raced towards the community's entrance. In it, soldiers and paramedics discovered a Palestinian woman in her 20s in advanced stages of labor and facing a life-threatening situation: The umbilical cord was wrapped around the young baby girl's neck, endangering both her and her mother.

The quick action of settler paramedics and IDF troops deployed in the area saved the mother's and baby's life, prompting great excitement and emotions at the site where residents are still mourning the brutal death of five local family members...

WITHOUT QUESTION; That is what GOODNESS is.

◼ Israelis Sitting Shiva For Fogel Family Help Save Palestinian Baby - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Don't forget it.

Senate's Cowboy Poet Suddenly Concerned With Bipartisanship and Compromise

◼ Senate's Cowboy Poet Suddenly Concerned With Bipartisanship and Compromise Director Blue
◼ U.S. Debt Jumped $72 Billion Same Day U.S. House Voted to Cut Spending $6 Billion

The national debt jumped by $72 billion on Tuesday even as the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to fund the government for just three weeks that will cut $6 billion from government spending.

#obamasbracket if you Twitter

◼ link

Facebook has the latest and greatest

◼ U.S. stunned by latest undercover sting

The nation was left reeling yesterday by the revelation that the presidential election of 2008 was a hoax. The shocking announcement came when White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Barack Obama has been working in secret with conservative provocateur James O'Keefe since 2007.

The long-running hoax is the most elaborate yet in a series of recent sting operations by primarily right-of-center gadflies that have embarrassed organizations including ACORN, Planned Parenthood and National Public Radio. h/t: rwn

"-- what is specifically going on?"

CARNEY, WH Press Secretary: "Well, it is clearly a crisis. There is clearly --"

TAPPER: "-- what is specifically going on?"

CARNEY: "Again, I am standing here at the White House, I think you have reporters in Japan, you have reporters including ones here that could get the technical detailed information on what we know from the NRC, from the Department of Energy --"

◼ "It's up to the media, not the government?" Tapper asked in response to Carney dismissing his question.

If that doesn't say it all...

The. Important. Things.

As he does every year, the President filled out his brackets predicting the winners of the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments, but discussing it with Doris Burke of ESPN, he began with a call to stand with the people of Japan:

One of the things I wanted to do on the show was, as people are filling out their brackets -- this is obviously a national pastime; we all have a great time, it’s a great diversion. But I know a lot of people are thinking how can they help the Japanese people during this time of need....

So, the PRESIDENT is chatting with ESPN. About Basketball scores.

Why? Exactly?

And it is important enough to be chittered about on ◼ whitehouse.gov/blog Tee hee. Isn't he cool? So dreamy.

A Meltdown Of Fearmongers

◼ Editorial: A Meltdown Of Fearmongers - IBD h/t: Guy

When Navy crewmen returned from disaster-relief missions in Japan to the deck of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, it was breathlessly reported that they'd been contaminated with radioactive particles from the damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima.

A scene from the end-of-the-world epic "On The Beach" this was not. They were treated with good old-fashioned soap and water, and their clothes were discarded. According to the Navy, the exposure received "was less than the radiation exposure received from about one month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil and the sun."

The seesaw continues unabated, however - reports of explosions, catastrophe vary from minute to minute, contained, not contained, exploded, exposed, cooling, levels up levels down...

Like this report from ABCnews:
◼ Nuclear Crisis: Rising Radiation Levels Halt Work at Fukushima Plant
..."We have cracks now, cracks in the containment vessels...and if those cracks grow or if there's an explosion, we're talking a full blown Chernobyl, something beyond Chernobyl," Kaku said....

The trouble is - no one trusts the media or the government anymore - not to give credible information, not to overreact, or even to underreact.

◼ The Obama family will take in the sights in Rio. - Forbes
◼ Obama the invisible - Anti-leadership amid world crises - New York Post

Libyan forces bombard east and west...
Rebel Commander: World 'Has Failed Us'...
Gaddafi threatens to crush 'Mad Max' army...
Radiation Monitoring Equipment In Overwhelming Demand...
Sudden U.S. run on iodide pills...
Young Leaders of Egypt's Revolt Snub Clinton in Cairo...
Bahrain sweeps into protest camp; 6 dead...
Syrian forces break up Damascus protest...
Obama admin calls for copyright law crackdown; Make 'illegal streaming' of audio/video felony...
Allow FBI agents to wiretap suspected infringers...
Food panic...
Thousands missing, millions short of water – and fear everywhere...
MILLIONS SUFFER FREEZING TEMPS WITHOUT POWER...
'THERE IS NOTHING LEFT'...
FOOD PRICES JUMP MOST SINCE 1974
Mandatory Spending to Exceed all Federal Revenues -- 50 Years Ahead of Schedule...

◼ Obama Surrenders America - NoQuarter

Barack Obama no longer deserves to be called President. A President is someone with a vision who makes decisions. Obama? A spectator who is more worried about picking his bracket for the NCAA Basketball Final Four then he is in bringing stability to the Middle East. This kid makes Jimmy Carter look like a tower of strength.

Obama during the course of the last six weeks has turned out to be a one-man wrecking crew. He abandoned an ally of over thirty years, Hosni Mubarak, and then proceeded to encourage a democratic uprising only then to stand on the sidelines, doing nothing as Muammar Qaddaffi slaughters the rebels who thought, foolishly, that Obama was serious.

When you send the President out in front of the television cameras to say, “Qaddafi must go,” then don’t be surprised when the rest of the world expects the United States to back up its words. In the real world the United States is, or at least was, viewed as a Super Power. That role comes with some expectations

◼ Obama’s Presidency Hangs by a Thread - CommentaryMagazine

It’s hard to overstate how poorly Barack Obama is doing in the face of these crises — and I don’t even mean how he’s doing substantively, which is a scandal in itself. I mean how he’s doing politically. Recall how much hay Michael Moore made of the fact that George W. Bush read My Pet Goat for nine minutes in that Florida classroom on 9/11 after being informed that the first plane had struck.

We’re going on four weeks now, or more, that Barack Obama has been reading My Pet Goat.

He is largely notable by his absence, which is itself the result not only of not knowing what to do but also apparently believing it is better for the world if he remains a minor player as a bloodbath approaches in the Middle East and something more ominous seems to be approaching in Japan. When he talks, as he did in Friday’s press conference, he only makes matters more confusing; there is little reassurance that there is a hand anywhere near the tiller.

information from the Nuclear Energy Institute that provides updates without the hysterics of the news media

◼ NEI, Nuclear Energy Institute

An explosion at Unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant earlier today has damaged the suppression chamber, which holds water and steam released from the reactor core. Personnel not directly supporting recovery efforts have been evacuated from the plant, with about 50 employees remaining, principally to restore cooling water in the reactors.

Later in the day, water level inside the Unit 2 reactor was measured at 1.7 meters below the top of the fuel rods, but it was rising as workers pumped sea water into the reactor, reports said. more at the link

◼ Fact Sheet - Used Nuclear Fuel Storage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - (Last updated 3/15/11)

This site also includes links to select news articles on the Japanese earthquake and reactors in the region. These links are being regularly updated, with the newest links on top.

And you can subscribe to ◼ NEI's Twitter Feed for up-to-date information.

This morning, as Japan’s nuclear crisis enters a potentially catastrophic phase, we are told that Obama is videotaping his NCAA tournament picks and that we’ll be able to tune into ESPN Wednesday to find out who he likes.

◼ President Obama’s Trivial Pursuits

The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.

The newly installed tandem of White House Chief of Staff William Daley and Senior Adviser David Plouffe were supposed to impart a new sense of discipline and purpose to the White House. Instead, they are permitting him to showcase himself as a poorly focused leader who has his priorities backward.

This morning, as Japan’s nuclear crisis enters a potentially catastrophic phase, we are told that Obama is videotaping his NCAA tournament picks and that we’ll be able to tune into ESPN Wednesday to find out who he likes.

Saturday, he made his 61st outing to the golf course as president, and got back to the White House with just enough time for a quick shower before heading out to party with Washington’s elite journalists at the annual Gridiron Dinner.

With various urgencies swirling about him, Saturday’s weekly videotaped presidential address focusing on “Women’s History Month” seemed bizarrely out of touch.....

Survivors and Miracles

A Japan Self-Defense Forces officer smiles as he holds a four-month-old baby girl who was rescued along with her family members from their home in Ishimaki City, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan, after an earthquake and tsunami struck the area, March 14, 2011.  REUTERS/Yomiuri Shimbun

◼ Miracles in Japan: Four-Month Old Baby, 70-Year Old Woman Found Alive - TIME

'Jihad Cosmo' combines beauty tips with suicide bombing advice

◼ BOMBS AND BEAUTY: APPLY LIPSTICK TO LIPS BEFORE REMOVING THEM - Atlas

I'd like all of you to embrace this information calmly...

◼ NHK Live, in English - giving people evacuation instructions, and telling others to stay indoors, not use air conditioners, close doors and windows... also a weather report - it is winter in Japan, and very cold.

◼ Blasts escalate Japan's nuclear crisis
Radiation levels around the Fukushima No 1 plant on the eastern coast had "risen considerably", Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, and his chief spokesman announced it had reached the point where it endangered human health.

Headlines

ANOTHER PLANT EXPLOSION...
Firefighters battle blaze at reactor...
Rods fully exposed for 2.5 hours...
Spewing radiation...
Higher radiation recorded north of Tokyo...
RACE TO SAVE THE REACTORS...
Japan Asks USA To Help...
WRAP...
BBC LIVE... REUTERS LIVE... KYODO WIRE...
QUAKE MAPS, DETAILS...
PM Kan asks public to act calmly...
TOKYO WIND: Radiation From Latest Blast Could Reach Capital by Nightfall...
Third explosion raises spectre of nuclear nightmare...
USA West Coast in Path of 'Fallout'?
Winds Should Send Radiation Out to Sea...
Run on iodine tablets -- in Finland...
German airline scans Japan flights for radioactivity...
17 U.S. Navy crew members contaminated...

practically street level cam - in Japan/tsunami footage

◼ CAN'T EMBED - it is on facebook
He says: I want to show everyone the news media we are being presented with here in Japan. I think it's quite different from what you see on CNN and other Western news outlets. - James MacWhyte

Spring is coming

◼ Dream accordingly: outdoorrooms.com

90 Different PACs to Circumvent Campaign Contribution Limits

◼ Harry Reid’s Son Under Investigation for Creating 90 Different PACs to Circumvent Campaign Contribution Limits… details at weasel zippers

no looting in Japan

◼ Why do some cultures react to disaster by reverting to everyone for himself, but others – especially the Japanese – display altruism even in adversity? - Telegraph
◼ Why The Japanese Aren't Looting - American Thinker

Unrelated events, interesting nonetheless...

The fish were so tightly packed they looked like an oil slick from above

◼ March 14 - Incredible swarms of fish form off coast of Acapulco: But was surge caused by tsunami thousands of miles away? - dailymail.co.uk

The shores of Acapulco's beaches were this weekend teeming with masses of fish packed so tightly they looked like an oil slick from above.

Thousands of sardines, anchovies, stripped bass and mackerel surged along the coast of the Mexican resort in an event believed to be linked to the devastating Japanese tsunami.

◼ March 8 - Millions of dead anchovies swamp L.A.-area marina - reuters.com

"We're having millions of anchovies die off in our harbor," Redondo Beach police Sergeant Phil Keenan told Reuters in a telephone interview. "At this point it's an unknown reason."

He said one possible explanation was that too many of the fish had congregated into a relatively small area, exhausting the water's oxygen supply, "but that's still to be determined."

Best available information regarding the reactors in Japan:

Right now, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami is clearly a catastrophe; the situation at impacted nuclear reactors is, in the words of IAEA, an "Accident with Local Consequences."

Recognizing that information is still not complete due to the destruction of the communication
infrastructure, producing reports that are conflicting, the following is the best understanding of the sequence of events at the Fukushima I‐1 power station:

◼ The plant was immediately shut down (scrammed) when the earthquake first hit. The automatic power system worked.
◼ All external power to the station was lost when the sea water swept away the power lines.
◼ Diesel generators started to provide backup electrical power to the plant’s backup cooling system. The backup worked.
◼ The diesel generators ceased functioning after approximately one hour due to tsunami induced damage, reportedly to their fuel supply.
◼ An Isolation condenser was used to remove the decay heat from the shutdown reactor.
◼ Apparently the plant then experienced a small loss of coolant from the reactor.
◼ Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) pumps, which operate on steam from the reactor, were used to replace reactor core water inventory, however, the battery‐supplied control valves lost DC power after the prolonged use.
◼ DC power from batteries was consumed after approximately 8 hours.
◼ At that point, the plant experienced a complete blackout (no electric power at all).
◼ Hours passed as primary water inventory was lost and core degradation occurred (through some combination of zirconium oxidation and clad failure).
◼ Portable diesel generators were delivered to the plant site.
◼ AC power was restored allowing for a different backup pumping system to replace inventory in reactor pressure vessel (RPV).
◼ Pressure in the containment drywell rose as wetwell became hotter.
◼ The Drywell containment was vented to outside reactor building which surrounds the
containment.
◼ Hydrogen produced from zirconium oxidation was vented from the containment into the reactor building.
◼ Hydrogen in reactor building exploded causing it to collapse around the containment.
◼ The containment around the reactor and RPV were reported to be intact.
◼ The decision was made to inject seawater into the RPV to continue to the cooling process, another backup system that was designed into the plant from inception.
◼ Radioactivity releases from operator initiated venting appear to be decreasing.

Is a nuclear reactor "meltdown" a catastrophic event?
◼ Not necessarily. Nuclear reactors are built with redundant safety systems. Even if the fuel in the reactor melts, the reactor's containment systems are designed to prevent the spread of radioactivity into the environment. Should an event like this occur, containing the radioactive materials could actually be considered a "success" given the scale of this natural disaster that had not been considered in the original design. The nuclear power industry will learn from this event, and redesign our facilities as needed to make them safer in the future.
(Thanks for sending this, much appreciated)

Note that this was as of last night and the situation is still changing.

Dana Perino: It’s Interesting How Obama Says Things That Are So Quickly Proven False

◼ Dana Perino: It’s Interesting How Obama Says Things That Are So Quickly Proven False - gatewaypundit

Reports of another explosion...

◼ Japan Races to Prevent Multiple Reactor Meltdowns; 180,000 Flee
Headlines at Drudge tell a story:
Japan battles nuclear meltdown...
Biggest Crisis Since WWII...
Races to avert multiple reactor failures...
Injecting seawater at Fukushima...
Another hydrogen explosion possible...
Evacuation zones widened -- again...
NUKE DESIGNER: Gov't suppressing info...
BBC LIVE... REUTERS LIVE... KYODO WIRE...
QUAKE MAPS, DETAILS...
USA West Coast in Path of 'Fallout'?
US aircraft carrier passes through radiation cloud...
Crew receives month's worth of radiation in an hour...
190 EXPOSED TO RADIATION IN MELTDOWN OF REACTOR NO. 1...
Thousands scanned...
200,000 Evacuated...
US EXPERTS: Pumping seawater into reactors 'act of desperation'...
'May foreshadow Chernobyl-like disaster'...
'We're told not to breathe the air -- it's scary'...
HUGE EXPLOSION AT FUKUSHIMA REACTOR NO. 3...
Shocking new footage of moment tsunami hit...
Survivor found clinging to ripped-off rooftop 10 miles out to sea...
24,000 stranded waiting for help...
400,000 homeless bed down without electricity...
Volcano erupts, sends ash two miles into sky...
SEISMOLOGISTS: Monster aftershock could strike within days...
MASSIVE BLACKOUTS WARNED...
PM calls to build 'New Japan'...
Deploys 100,000 troops...
US WARSHIPS OFF JAPAN COAST...
Relief Effort Snarled by Devastated Infrastructure...
QUAKE SHORTENED EARTH'S DAY...
Nikkei Stock Market opens down 5%...
Bank of Japan pumps in 15 trillion yen...
Massive selloff of Tokyo Electric Power Co. stock...
TOYOTA to halt all production...
Next Few Days Critical...
Race to prevent humanitarian disaster...
Survivors face dwindling supplies...
Bank Readies 'Massive' Liquidity...
GE-designed reactors in Fukushima have 23 sisters in USA...

What we're talking about now

◼ nukalert.com
◼ ki4u.com - Potassium Iodide Pills
◼ When An ill Wind Blows From Afar! (Info & Preps for Radiation Here from Japan!) Potassium Iodide Pills will be all the rage then!
◼ Shelters

Interactive Before and After Shots show the extent of devastation

◼ Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami - Move the slider to compare satellite images, taken by GeoEye, from before and after the disaster.

As if things weren't bad enough already...

Smoke rises from Shinmoedake peak, a mountain in the Kirishima volcanic range between Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures.
Photograph by: KYODO
Credit: REUTERS

◼ Japanese volcano erupts

Help links

◼ links at FOX
◼ The American Red Cross International Relief Fund is stationed in the affected areas. Text REDCROSS to 90999 from your cell phone to donate $10.00 to the Red Cross. Click here to donate.

◼ The Salvation Army has been in Japan since 1895 and is currently providing emergency assistance to those in need. To contribute, text 'JAPAN' or 'QUAKE' to 80888 to make a $10 donation. Click here to donate.

◼ Global Giving is taking donations that go toward several charities that have sent emergency relief workers to the pacific area. You can go to www.globalgiving.org and click on 'Japan Earthquake' and Tsunami Relief Fund. Choose from an amount of $25, $50 or $75 dollars and click "give now. " Click here to donate.

◼ The International Medical Corps are putting together relief teams that will bring supplies to those most in need. You can text MED to 80888 from any mobile phone to give $10 or go to their website. Click here to donate.

◼ You can access other organizations and charities that are providing assistance through Network for Good. Click here to go to the Networkforgood.org site.

the suspect subsequently admitted to authoring and sending two e-mails threatening to kill the Governor and members of the Senate

◼ Wisconsin Dept. of Justice Identifies Sender of Death Threats - maciverinstitute
◼ DOJ Identifies Sender of Threatening E-mails - doj.state.wi.us

Last evening, the DCI identified and located a subject suspected of sending at least two of those threats....

This investigation is still ongoing and no further information will be released pending presentation to the District Attorney in the jurisdiction of the threat origination.

The text of two of the threats is at the site, language that would make Bill Ayres tear up with pride.... "I and the group of people that are working with me have decided that we've had enough. We feel that you and your republican dictators have to die. This is how it's going to happen: I as well as many others know where you and your family live, it's a matter of public records. We have all planned to assult you by arriving at your house and putting a nice little bullet in your head. However, this isn't enough. We also have decided that this may not be enough to send the message. So we have built several bombs that we have placed in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent. This includes, your house, your car, the state capitol, and well I won't tell you all of them because that's just no fun."

So the suspect is "Identified" - but not identified, if you know what I mean. Which only raises more questions about the double standard in play these days.

It's obviously NOT a conservative - and in light of the writhing disgusting treatise on "civility" that we were treated to just a few weeks ago, this is inexcusable.

The other question that will soon be answered is whether or not this will be swept under the rug, excused away - because left-wing violence hides under the "grassroots" cloak and enjoys Sacred Cow status.

There's also the letters threatening business owners - what will be done there? Who will investigate that one? And will anything be done? Because it is a left-wing threat after all, and therefore is only well-intentioned, don't we know?

Althouse has asked if there will be any investigation into who used handcuffs to lock doors in the Capital during the storming of the building. And again, the question arises.

Related links:
◼ Wisconsin GOP Senators Receive Death Threat E-mails - nbc15
◼ ABC, CBS, MSNBC, NBC and NPR Ignore Death Threats to Wisconsin Republicans - newsbusters

IF you had to - where would you even get iodine tablets?

◼ U.S. West Coast in Path of Fallout - “If There Were a Reactor Meltdown or Major Leak at Fukushima, the Radioactive Cloud Would Likely be Blown Out … Towards the US West Coast” - Alex Jones (yeah, I know)

All official reports say “At present there is no danger to California." but this is all everyone is talking about, from the Foggy Bottoms Milk Run where guys were talking about iodine tablets and kelp products that help just in case to the grocery store... a lot of speculation, misinformation, fear, and reasoned consideration thrown into the mix. Basically, there's no trust of the reporting sources.

We're told to be ready to survive a storm, an earthquake, but no one has thought about this prospect since the days of the Cold War. Except for right after 9/11.

◼ Nuclear War Survival Skills

website presents the book Nuclear War Survival Skills in an online version. Published by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine this book present expedient survival skills that can be accomplished without special skills by ordinary people.

The online version is unique in that it presents a special foreword by Dr. Edward Teller for the electronic version. There is also a special Letter to the American People from Cresson Kearny, the author, updating the use of the book in terms of the new threat of nuclear terrorism.No Such Thing As Doomsday : How to Prepare for Earth Changes, Power Outages, Wars & Other Threats

This kind of bogus, deceitful, biased-to-the-point-of-outright-dishonest reporting actually causes racism.

◼ Stuff the NY Times Doesn’t Mention - The Other McCain

I'm not going to summarize, or even excerpt, you need to read the whole thing.

And then let's talk about the bias, and the bizarre distortion of political correctness. NPR's attitude, revealed in O'Keefe's video, is not unique to NPR.

And it's relevant on so many levels - why has it taken so long after 9/11 to get around to talking about Radical Islam? Why did the media run with the ludicrous assertion that talk radio led to a shooting in Arizona? Why has there been no national (media) outcry on the extreme and brutal violence on the Mexican border, creeping into our own country?

Why do the reporters and the media refuse to deal with the real dangers, and the real facts?

Washington state

◼ Health officials say nuclear event in Japan poses no health risk in Washington

The Washington State Department of Health says they are conducting ongoing air monitoring for radiation to see if the nuclear plant incident in Japan has affected radiation levels in Washington and have found no elevated readings.

The agency's Radiation Protection staff expects no health risk in Washington, and the monitoring is precautionary, according to a press release.

The Department of Health said air sample readings in the state remain normal.

Even in the event of a significant release from the reactor, radiation would be diluted before reaching our state and levels would be so low no protective action would be necessary, officials say. h/t: Lysol

As the world burns

◼ For the second week in a row, the most powerful man in the world stepped away from the White House to hit the golf course. - weasel zippers

The Obama Doctrine

◼ The Obama Doctrine - Libya is what a world without U.S. leadership looks like. - Wall Street Journal
◼ Darkness Falls - The New Republic
In sum, the situation is ominous. Darkness is descending on the Libyan struggle for freedom, and we are helping to lower it. While the various secretaries were articulating their abdications, Qaddafi was committing a slaughter in Zawiyah and employing his monopoly of the skies to drive the rebels out of Ras Lanuf. An eastern offensive is clearly imminent. (This is not a civil war. This is a war by a dictator upon his people. There is no other half of the Libyan population fighting for Qaddafi.) All this, of course, affects the sensitivities of the Libyan freedom fighters. “We’re waiting for the Americans to follow,” a rebel spokesman bitterly told Anthony Shadid and David Kirkpatrick of The New York Times about Sarkozy’s splendid decision to recognize the Libyan provisional government. (Morally America now lags behind France!) Shadid and Kirkpatrick also reported that “as NATO member nations met in Brussels to discuss options for Libya, the rebels cursed the United States and its allies for failing to impose a no-flight zone.” Why is the White House content to foment this variety of anti-Americanism? The answer is that it is so haunted by past Arab anger at American action in the Middle East that it cannot recognize present Arab anger at American inaction in the Middle East.

And the president? He declares that Qaddafi must go and that we will stand with the Libyan people, and then he does nothing. No, that’s not right. He consults and consults...