Monday, August 31, 2009

Hmmm...Looks Like Someone is Bonig Up

Sarah Palin is traveling to Hong Kong to speak at a conference with global investment managers. Interesting.

The former Alaska governor will visit Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a well-known annual conference of global investment managers, the host announced Monday.

Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Alan Greenspan have spoken at the event, hosted by brokerage and investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

“Our keynote speakers are notable luminaries who often address topics that go beyond traditional finance such as geopolitics,” company spokeswoman Simone Wheeler said in a statement.

“We just felt it would be a fabulous opportunity for CLSA clients to hear from Mrs. Palin,” Wheeler said, adding that CLSA approached Palin with the offer.

She said the conference aimed to present investors “a diversity of views that potentially influence decision-makers who help shape the markets.”

Obama White House Being Sued

The White House is being sued over "fishy" emails....as they should.
The two groups have formed together to stand up to the outrageous ‘fishy’ email program that Obama installed at the White House to ‘turn in your neighbor’ with emails that you felt were giving false information about the healthcare plan in the House (H.R. 3200).

people have no idea exactly what the Obama Administration is going to do with emails they receive regarding misinformation. The message that Obama is sending to Americans is that you shouldn’t send any emails regarding healthcare because someone may disagree and ‘turn you in’ to the White House. This represses free speech as people will be afraid that their email address could indeed find their way into some White House database. We already saw what happened when the Obama Administration hired a third party organization to send unwarranted emails to people. People were outraged that the White House even got a hold of their personal and private email addresses.

Jenna Bush Hager Joins the Today Show

Jenna Bush Hager joins the Today Show as a coorespondent. The article says she will be reporting on education issues and not politics. Should be interesting.
NEW YORK NBC's "Today" show has hired someone with White House experience as a new correspondent former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager.

Hager, a 27-year-old teacher in Baltimore, will contribute stories about once a month on issues like education to television's top-rated morning news show, said Jim Bell, its executive producer.

The daughter of former President George W. Bush said she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into television when Bell contacted her.

"It wasn't something I'd always dreamed to do," she said. "But I think one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change."

I Weep For My Country

This has to be just the saddest thing I have seen in a long time. There is nothing cute or adorable about this. It is just sad.
Would you buy a shirt for your baby that had nipple tassels on it? One company is hoping you will. ParentDish interviewed the designer behind TwistedTwee, which is selling t-shirts for babies and preschoolers that include nipple tassels, among other items.

h/t GatwayPundit

Friday, August 28, 2009

"This is America"

"It ain't no more"

Bill Would Give the President Authority to Control the Internet

Bill Would Give the President Authority to Control the Internet.
Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs--from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records," Rockefeller said.

Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)

Sen. Kennedy likes a good joke

Apparently, Sen. Kennedy was always on the look-out for a good Chappaquiddick jokes.
I don't know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, "have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?" That is just the most amazing thing. It's not that he didn't feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too.

That's such an amazing thing.

Ace has a good post about this.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Bob & Valerie & Ted & Mary Jo

Karl at Hot Air did a comparison on the obits for Ted Kennedy and Robert Novack and when Mary Jo was mentioned and when Valerie Plame was mentioned. Interesting stuff.

No Tort Reform in Health Care Bill

Howard Dean explains the reason there is no tort reform in the health care bill is because they, "didn't want to take on the trial lawyers". Nice

Pentagon is Profiling Reporters

The Pentagon has been rating the reporting of journalist on their coverage of the war efforts in the Middle East.
Contrary to the insistence of Pentagon officials this week that they are not rating the work of reporters covering U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stars and Stripes has obtained documents that prove that reporters’ coverage is being graded as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.”

Moreover, the documents — recent confidential profiles of the work of individual reporters prepared by a Pentagon contractor — indicate that the ratings are intended to help Pentagon image-makers manipulate the types of stories that reporters produce while they are embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

I especially like this part....

Several professional journalists’ groups as well as media ethicists criticized the Pentagon’s attempts to rate and manipulate reporters.

First of all, the media has ethicists? Who knew? Second, how do they feel when the President manipulates them?

Right-winged Nutcase Responsible for Vandalisim of Democrat Office

Oh wait...it wasn't a right-winged nutcase, it was a left-winged nutcase. My bad.

One of two people suspected of shattering 11 windows Tuesday morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters has an arrest record and a history of helping a Democratic political candidate, public records show.

Police said that about 2:20 a.m., 24-year-old Maurice Schwenkler, now in custody, and an at-large accomplice took a hammer to the picture windows displaying posters touting President Barack Obama and his health care reform efforts.

Early Tuesday, Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak said the damage to her building in Denver's art district was a consequence of "an effort on the other side to stir up hate." She tempered her statement after Schwenkler's political history was revealed.

Pat Waak probably put the little punk up to it. This sure does happen a lot with progressives.

12 Words That Will Make You Look Old in the Office

Businessweek has a list of 12 words they claim you shouldn't use because they will make you look old:

1. Intranet
2. Extranet
3. Web Surfing
4. Push Technology
5. Application Service Provider (ASP)
6. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
7. Internet Telephony
8. Weblog
9. Thin Client
10. Rboc
11. Long-Distance Call
12. World Wide Web

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I Have A Date!!!

I found my man....

Frustrated Video Dater Loses His Cool - Watch more Funny Videos

Phun with Photoshop

Some funny Photoshop pictures where black people were either Photoshopped in or out of the picture.
Photoshopped diversity at at University of Texas, Arlington. I'm not sure what makes it clearer that the black girl was Photoshopped in at the last second -- the completely incorrect light and shadow on her face... or the fact that the person doing the Photoshop failed to get rid of the black background on her right arm and left shoulder AND some of the tan background behind her hair.

Either way, they picked an awful photo to insert her into. The other girls look like best friends, and she's not their Lisa Turtle. At best she's portrayed as their Lando Calrissian.



You can see more of them here. Pretty funny....

Credit Were Credit is Due

For once, politicians put principle before politics. The Los Angeles Unified School District has voted to allow 250 of their worst schools to be run by private organizations.
In a startling acknowledgment that the Los Angeles school system cannot improve enough schools on its own, the city Board of Education approved a plan Tuesday that could turn over 250 campuses -- including 50 new multimillion-dollar facilities -- to charter groups and other outside operators.

The plan, approved on a 6-1 vote, gives Supt. Ramon C. Cortines the power to recommend the best option to run some of the worst-performing schools in the city as well as the newest campuses. Board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte dissented.

The action signals a historic turning point for the Los Angeles Unified School District, which has struggled for decades to boost student achievement. District officials and others have said their ability to achieve more than incremental progress is hindered by the powerful teachers union, whose contract makes it nearly impossible to fire ineffective tenured teachers. Union leaders blame a district bureaucracy that they say fails to include teachers in "top-down reforms."

"The premise of the resolution is first and foremost to create choice and competition," said board member Yolie Flores Aguilar, who brought the resolution, "and to really force and pressure the district to put forth a better educational plan."

For several board members, particularly those with strong union ties, the debate was heated and often agonizing. Steve Zimmer, for one, sought to require that teachers, other union members and parents approve any school's reform plan through separate majority votes. At high schools students would also vote.

Lacking support from his colleagues, he settled for a watered-down process that includes only advisory ballots.

This will probably get ugly, with the Teacher's Union threatening to sue the school district. However, the mayor had this to say:

"We're not going to be held hostage by a small group of people," Villaraigosa said, referring to the teachers union and other opponents. "I'll let you infer who I'm talking about."

Panetta rumored to have resigned CIA Director

This makes things interesting, if true.
Panetta is said to be extremely angry about the possible prosecution of CIA officers doing their job and has decided to resign in protest.

The rumor is unconfirmed, but given the sourcing I think it is safe to treat it credibly.

Interesting Kennedy story

This kinda puts the whole man into perspective....

Perhaps this seems unfair. From all available evidence, God created our elected officials to drink and screw around. Arrogance, too, is common. So is sexual recklessness (witness Gary Hart, Robert Bauman and Barney Frank); power dements as well as corrupts. But Kennedy’s behavior stands out. The two most infamous Terrible Teddy stories make the point. Both take place at Washington’s La Brasserie, where Kennedy is a favorite customer.

Brasserie I: In December 1985, just before he announced he would run for president in 1988, Kennedy allegedly manhandled a pretty young woman employed as a Brasserie waitress.

Brasserie II: On September 25, 1987, Kennedy and a young blonde woman—identified by several sources as a congressional lobbyist—allegedly got carried away at a wine-fueled lunch in a private room upstairs and succumbed to the temptations of the carpet, where they were surprised in a state of semi-undress and wholehearted passion by waitress Frauke Morgan.

Chris Matthews never disappoints

Chris Matthews says, "Barack is the last Kennedy brother". Video is here.

I almost feel sorry for the guy...he so desperately wants Obama to be his hero.

Jon and Kate's '8' revolt

It seems the kids of Jon and Kate are smarter than their parents.
Jon and Kate Gosselin’s 5-year-old sextuplets and 8-year-old twins are starting to rebel against the constant taping of their lives.

“The kids staged a sit-in — a revolt,” Jon Gosselin told Life & Style on Aug. 13. “They didn’t want to work today.”

I guess these kids don't understand they need to continue to "work" so they can pay for all the rehab and therapy they will need later in life.

Kennedy and Chappaquiddick

ABC News has an article up saying, "Chappaquiddick's Indiscretions Forever Tarnished Kennedy".
It goes on to talk about how Sen. Kennedy was "always haunted by the ghost of 1969, despite his accomplishments".

Am I the only one who thinks driving a car into a lake, leaving the scene without providing help or assistance to the passenger in the car, and then waiting 10 hours to report the incident SHOULD 'haunt' you? A woman died and he did nothing to assist her. He was more concerned with himself. That should be part of his legacy. I realize the man finally straightened up after 60 years and yeah for that, but another human being died because of him. And let not forget...he really wasn't held accountable to society for the incident.

Microsoft is the KKK

Microsoft edited a black man out of an advertisement photo and replaced it with a white guy.
The advertisement was for Poland. Are there black people in Poland? Seriously, I don't know but that might explain the change.

Naw, lets stick with "Microsoft is racist".

Sen. Byrd wants to rename Health Care bill after Kennedy

The Democrats new marketing strategy to pass health care legislation is to name the thing after Sen. Kennedy:

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the only senator to have served longer than the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), mourned his friend Wednesday, saying his "heart and soul weeps."

Byrd said he hoped healthcare reform legislation in the Senate would be renamed in memoriam of Kennedy.

"In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American," Byrd said.

I'm glad to see the Dems are staying classy with the death of Kennedy. It would be so unlike them to turn his funeral into a campaign rally.

Sen. Ted Kennedy has died

Sen. Kennedy passed away after battling brain cancer. He was 77.

Thoughts and prayers for his family.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Guiliani Hates the Black Man

Rudy is looking to make a possible run for the Governor's seat in NY.

I'm pretty sure it's because he is a racist who doesn't like black people.

The risk of a double-dip recession is rising

Economist Nouriel Roubini says the US economy is at risk of a double-dip recession. It's looking like jobs won't be back until 2011. That is just slap-you-on-the-back-fantastically great news!

There are also now two reasons why there is a rising risk of a double-dip W-shaped recession. For a start, there are risks associated with exit strategies from the massive monetary and fiscal easing: policymakers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If they take large fiscal deficits seriously and raise taxes, cut spending and mop up excess liquidity soon, they would undermine recovery and tip the economy back into stag-deflation (recession and deflation).

But if they maintain large budget deficits, bond market vigilantes will punish policymakers. Then, inflationary expectations will increase, long-term government bond yields would rise and borrowing rates will go up sharply, leading to stagflation.

Another reason to fear a double-dip recession is that oil, energy and food prices are now rising faster than economic fundamentals warrant, and could be driven higher by excessive liquidity chasing assets and by speculative demand. Last year, oil at $145 a barrel was a tipping point for the global economy, as it created negative terms of trade and a disposable income shock for oil importing economies. The global economy could not withstand another contractionary shock if similar speculation drives oil rapidly towards $100 a barrel.

In summary, the recovery is likely to be anaemic and below trend in advanced economies and there is a big risk of a double-dip recession.

US borrowing $5B a Day Just To Stay Afloat

Estimated interest to China for the month of June is $1.2B. That's just the interest.

Ummm...yeah, You're Not Welcome Here

Gadhafi is scheduled to give a speech at the UN and is planning on pumping a tent in suburbia NJ. Apparently, he travels with an air conditioned tent. Yeah - I don't know? Anyway, the people of NJ are none too happy about this and would like him to set up tent elsewhere - like not in the US.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will set foot on U.S. soil for the first time next month when he comes to address the U.N. General Assembly. Now he wants to put down stakes in the middle of American suburbia.

Plans to set up a tent and allow him to stay at a Libyan-owned estate in this upscale community 12 miles north of Manhattan, were attacked Monday by neighborhood residents and public officials, particularly after the hero's welcome extended by Libya last week to the lone man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan American Flight 103.

"Gadhafi is a dangerous dictator whose hands are covered with the blood of Americans and our allies," said U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, whose district includes Englewood. He promised there would be "hell to pay" if the U.S. State Department violates a long-standing deal barring the dictator from staying at the Libyan estate.

State department officials said no decision had been made on the issue.

Rothman was mayor of Englewood 26 years ago when the city learned the Libyan Mission to the United Nations had purchased the Palisade Avenue estate. He said local officials worked out a deal with the U.S. State Department limiting its use to the recreational activities by the ambassador and his family. The Libyans don't pay taxes on the estate, he said.



Monday, August 24, 2009

Pay Attention to Me!!! PUUULEASE!

Please, please, please pay attention to Meghan McCain.

Michael Jackson's Death is Ruled a Homicide

MJ's death is being ruled a homicide with the report saying he died from a fatal combination of drugs. Propofol acted together with two other powerful sedatives to provide the deadly cocktail which killed him. The doctor who was with him when he died is expected to be charged with homicide.

Murray told investigators he administered a 25 mg dose of propofol around 10:40 a.m. after spending the night injecting Jackson with two sedatives in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to sleep.

The warrant, dated July 23, states that lethal levels of propofol were found in Jackson's system. Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner's toxicology report found other substances in Jackson's system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer's death, the official said.

Because the Cash for Clunkers program worked out so great...

The latest in the "Stimulus Plan" is Cash for Refrigerator's!
Beginning late this fall, the program authorizes rebates of $50 to $200 for purchases of high-efficiency household appliances. The money is part of the broader economic stimulus bill passed earlier this year. Program details will vary by state, and the Energy Dept. has set a deadline of Oct. 15 for states to file formal applications. The Energy Dept. expects the bulk of the $300 million to be awarded by the end of November.

The money can't come soon enough for the home appliance industry, which is mired in an unprecedented sales slump that began when the housing market cooled in 2006. Since then that slump has worsened considerably. Shipments of washers, dryers, refrigerators, and ovens dropped 10% in 2008 and are down 15% through July, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. "It's brutal," says Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - News) analyst Sam Darkatsh.

What's next? Cash for Vacation - take a trip to a "green locale"? Cash for Sneakers - buy only reusable rubber shoes? Cash for Lipstick - buy only lipstick made with biofuels?

This is getting ridiculous.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin wants cash for Wii games.

Grandma's Got Something Else to be Pissed About

Social Security checks are expected to be smaller starting next year.
Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise.

The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly.

Social Security is also facing long-term financial problems. The retirement program is projected to start paying out more money than it receives in 2016. Without changes, the retirement fund will be depleted in 2037, according to the Social Security trustees' annual report this year.

Murder Suspect Found Dead

If you have been following this reality tv, wife murdering story....the guy was found dead in Canada. He allegedly committed suicide. I wonder if he was guilty?
Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a reality TV contestant suspected in his wife's slaying, was found hanging from a coat rack in a motel room in an apparent suicide, according to Canadian officials.
Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a reality TV contestant suspected in his wife's slaying, was found hanging from a coat rack in a motel room in an apparent suicide, according to Canadian officials.

The nude body of Jenkins' wife, former swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore, was found last weekend in Orange County, California. CNN has not confirmed reports that the marriage was annulled.

Fiore's body was found last Saturday in a Dumpster behind an apartment complex in Buena Park, just outside Anaheim, California. Her teeth had been extracted and fingers removed in what police said was an apparent attempt to conceal her identity.

Law enforcement sources have told CNN that Fiore was identified through the serial numbers on her breast implants.

President wants to decide when to use the race card

President Obama apparently is not happy with Gov. Paterson's use of the race card.

President Obama's aides were so furious that Gov. Paterson dragged him into a rant about racism that they sent a message sharply criticizing the governor's comments just hours after he made them, The Post has learned.

Aides to Obama were angered by Paterson's tirade on liberal talk-radio station WWRL on Friday, sources said.

Paterson blamed his political woes on racially slanted coverage and predicted the president would be the next "victim" of biased media.


That's right. The President wants to decide when to play the race card. He doesn't want it played for him.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

It's sad to get old

I think it is time George Stephanopoulos updates his photo. This is what he currently has on his website:
This is a screenshot from his latest interview:
Is it me....or does he look old here? He looks kinda like Dukakis.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Stupid at its finest

This is one of the more stupid things I have read in awhile...parents want to ban the ice cream man:
One woman describes the ice cream men as "predatory" because they loiter inside the playground's gates. My favorite passage from the article is a quote from a woman who says that learning how to deal with your children wanting treats from the ice cream man is as difficult as potty training. "The ice cream truck, nobody ever mentions that” as a potential sore spot, the lady laments.

What is wrong with these parents? If they don't want their little angel having ice cream, this would be an excellent opportunity to teach Little Johnny how to resist temptation.
Stupid people are funny.

Pesky Palin is back

Palin has posted on her Facebook account again. This time she is talking about how there should be no health care reform without tort reform. She even quotes President Clinton.
So what can we do? First, we cannot have health care reform without tort reform. The two are intertwined. For example, one supposed justification for socialized medicine is the high cost of health care. As Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently noted, “If Mr. Obama is serious about lowering costs, he'll need to reform the economic structures in medicine—especially programs like Medicare.” [1] Two examples of these “economic structures” are high malpractice insurance premiums foisted on physicians (and ultimately passed on to consumers as “high health care costs”) and the billions wasted on defensive medicine.

For iPhone Users

Now have all the applications needed to be a true Patriot at your fingertips:

Is The United States In a “Low Grade” Civil War?

Bruce, at GayPatriot, has an interesting article up discussing the possiblity that we are headed towards a civil war. Interesting read...
No Americans in 1773 knew there would be a Revolution; no Americans in 1857 knew there would be a bloody Civil War; no Americans in 1928 knew there would be a global Depression and a 2nd global war.

Good Economic News

The economy is heading towards recovery, says Bernanke:

Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be "leveling out," and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said in a speech at an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The upbeat assessment was consistent with the Fed's observations earlier this month. The central bank has taken small steps toward pulling back some emergency programs to revive the economy.

Justice Dept. Looking Into Whether Attorneys Broke Law at Guantanamo

Attorney's for the terrorist being held at Gitmo showed their clients photo's of CIA agents. How is this legal? And where is the outrage that a CIA agent was outed?
The Justice Department recently questioned military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay about whether photographs of CIA personnel, including covert officers, were unlawfully provided to detainees charged with organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Investigators are looking into allegations that laws protecting classified information were breached when three lawyers showed their clients the photographs, the sources said. The lawyers were apparently attempting to identify CIA officers and contractors involved in the agency's interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects in facilities outside the United States, where the agency employed harsh techniques.

It is unclear whether the military lawyers under investigation identified the CIA personnel in the photographs to the al-Qaeda suspects or simply asked the detainees whether they had ever seen them. It is also unclear whether the inquiry involves violations of federal statutes prohibiting the identification of covert CIA officers or violations of military commission rules governing the disclosure of classified information, including to the defendants.


Again I ask...where is the outrage? I thought outing a CIA agent constituted "treason". And I want to know when these agents will showing up on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Obama still whining

I seriously don't understand why this man is whining about not being able to pass his legislation. He has a super majority in the House and the Senate. He doesn't need to Republican's to pass the bill. So why don't they just do that?

Ummm...could it be that Republican's aren't his problem?

Obama's counter-punch, delivered at a meeting of his Organizing for America network of supporters, follows a run of town-hall appearances and speeches, which have seen him mount a stern defense of his health care reform plan, which is facing stiff Republican attacks.

He told backers not to get obsessed with polls, pundits and "cable chatter" but to take aim at what he described as fabrications drummed up by opponents to doom his top domestic priority.

"We are going to have to cut through a lot of nonsense out there," he said.


Obama has no one but himself to blame for this mess. The guy who told us he was going to have the most transparent administration EVAH! has been sneaking and underhanded with this whole deal. There are video's that show him saying, on multiple occassions, how he wants a single payer system to friendly groups...but now says we get to keep our insurance if we want. He still hasn't reconciled those contridictions. Or how about his senior advisor making money off the push for this health care? Or how are we going to pay for this new legislation? I don't believe Obama wants to snuff out grandma, but how is he going to add millions more people onto the dole and keep cost down?

None of these questions have been answered. Obama needs to stop blaming everyone else and start governing.

American's losing confidence in Obama

I'm not big on polls because they change with the wind and you can make a poll say whatever you want. However, all polls are pointing to a loss in confidence in the President.
A new poll says that Americans, concerned over the future of health care reform and anxious about the growing federal budget deficit, are losing faith in President Barack Obama.

The Washington Post-ABC News survey found that less that half of Americans — 49 percent — say they believe the president will make the right decisions for the country. That's down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark of the Obama presidency.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Death Book for Veterans

It's looking more and more like Palin was right.
Last year, bureaucrats at the VA's National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, "Your Life, Your Choices." It was first published in 1997 and later promoted as the VA's preferred living will throughout its vast network of hospitals and nursing homes. After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated "Your Life, Your Choices."

"Your Life, Your Choices" presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions, much like a political "push poll." For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be "not worth living."

The circumstances listed include ones common among the elderly and disabled: living in a nursing home, being in a wheelchair and not being able to "shake the blues." There is a section which provocatively asks, "Have you ever heard anyone say, 'If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug'?" There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as "I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family."

When the government can steer vulnerable individuals to conclude for themselves that life is not worth living, who needs a death panel?

Doctors ARE the Villians!

WP has an article from a physician who seems a little upset that doctors are being used as pawns in the game of health care.
Physicians have been cast as the villains in the drama that our national health-care debate has become. We stand accused of raising charges to private insurers to compensate for low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements as well as care of the uninsured or illegal immigrants; doing more to get paid more; seeing patients more often than necessary to increase revenue; and providing inefficient and ineffective care to patients in the hospital. Our motives are impugned. The care we render is being disparaged and our professionalism disregarded -- yet somehow it is assumed that doctors are merely passive pawns to be moved around the chessboard of health care.

Sarah Palin is leader of the God Squad

Palin is at it again...talking about God and invoking religion into every government policy debate. Her latest wingnut comment? "We are God's partners in matters of life and death". Creepy..huh?

Wait. What? Palin didn't say that? Who did?

Clunkers for Cash Working as Smooth as the Post Office

The Clunkers for Cash program is a government clusterfark and working about as well as you would think.

Some New Mexico auto dealers have backed out of the cash-for-clunkers program and more may do so as the federal government takes its time providing cash reimbursements.

Dealers across the state are owed more than $3.6 million, according to a dealers' group which says that so far Uncle Sam has only written three checks totaling about $14,000.

I am definitely all for the government to run health care.

Meghan McCain to Co-Host The View

While Elizabeth is on maternity leave, Meghan McCain will co-host The View. So who will be defending the conservative view point?

Broken Health Care System Produces Increase in Life Expectancy

U.S. life expectancy reached nearly 78 years (77.9), and the age-adjusted death rate dropped to 760.3 deaths per 100,000 population, both records, according to the latest mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I don't know how this happened with the disastrous health care system we have.

It's the day of list - 12 Most Annoying Type of Facebookers

Are you one of these Facebookers?

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore.
The Self-Promoter
The Friend-Padder
The Town Crier
The TMIer
The Bad Grammarian
The Sympathy-Baiter
The Lurker
The Crank
The Paparazzo
The Maddening Obscurist
The Chronic Inviter

10 Ways to Be Liked in Your Job Interview

Maybe this can help some of you out in your job interview....

1. Don't be a "smiley face."
2. Don't be a small-talker.
3. Don't sweat.
4. Don't be a road block.
5. Don't be petty.
6. Don't be a liar.
7. Don't be a bad comedian.
8. Don't be high-maintenance.
9. Don't be a time-waster.
10. Don't be a switchblade.

John Edwards Moving His Baby Mama to NC

The National Enquirer has been correct about this John Edwards story so far...don't see why they would get this one wrong.
John Edwards is moving the mother of his love child into his North Carolina neighborhood and will help raise their baby, The ENQUIRER reports exclusively.

In a stunning change of heart, the disgraced 2 time presidential candidate loser - who's denied being the child's father for more than a year - has embraced fatherhood and wants to be intimately involved in the life of daughter Frances.

The ENQUIRER also learned that his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth exploded in a rage when he told her of his parenting plans and that he's moving his mistress and baby to Wilmington, near his plush $2.6 million waterfront mansion.

Romantic Candlelit Dinners Could Cause Cancer

Nice:

In a study presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C., researchers found fumes from paraffin wax candles — the most popular and cheapest kind of candles — can be poisonous and even cause cancer.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

White People Want to Shoot Black President

Only MSNBC can't find any white people to illustrate their point, so they block out the actual person who showed up at an Obama townhall meeting with a semi-automatic strapped over his shoulder...because he was black.

Ace and Hot Air both have this on their site...and this isn't even bias, this is a form of fraud that NBC is committing.

Ace says:
These bastards are screaming about racial tensions and they're deliberately falsifying video in order to create more racial tension for partisan gain and ratings?

Allahpundit says:
Never will you see a starker example of MSNBC getting away with the sort of deception for which Fox News would be pilloried, especially in the context of race.

Here is the video in question:


Here is a photo of the guy who had the gun:
Does he look white to you?

Michael Jackson's Doctor to Be Charged With Manslaughter

We still don't know how MJ died.

The source initially said Dr. Conrad Murray could be arrested as soon as next Wednesday — but investigators have decided to execute one more search warrant, likely at a Los Angeles pharmacy, next week in an attempt to gather more evidence against him. The arrest is now expected the following week.

Murray isn’t the only doctor who faces criminal charges in connection with Jackson's death on June 25. A law enforcement source told FOXNews.com that Jackson’s longtime dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, will be hit with charges related to medical malpractice. Investigators are still building their case against Klein, and he will not be arrested for at least another two weeks, the source said.

Swiss to hand over bank details to U.S. in UBS deal

The Obama administration is wanting access to US citizen bank accounts in Switzerland to....I'm not sure what, maybe to make sure they pay taxes. My issue with this is the government has no proof these account holders have done anything wrong. How is this different from the government walking into your house, looking in your closet because you look like someone who might do drugs.
The Swiss government will hand over details of about 4,450 bank accounts to U.S. authorities as part of a deal struck with Washington over UBS, it said on Wednesday.

The client accounts to be disclosed will likely belong to people suspected of committing tax fraud under the terms of a double taxation agreement that obliges Switzerland to provide help if Washington seeks it in a criminal investigation.

Seriously...people screamed for 8 years about Bush and civil liberties being violated but this is ok?

That Sarah Palin...She Just Won't Go Away!

She's baaaaaack! This time it's about funding Brazilian Oil Development.
For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have been begging Washington, DC politicians for the right to develop their own natural resources on federal lands and off shore. Such development would mean good paying jobs here in the United States (with health benefits) and the resulting royalties and taxes would provide money for federal coffers that would potentially off-set the need for higher income taxes, reduce the federal debt and deficits, or even help fund a trillion dollar health care plan if one were so inclined to support such a plan.

So why is it that during these tough times, when we have great needs at home, the Obama White House is prepared to send more than two billion of your hard-earned tax dollars to Brazil so that the nation's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, can drill off shore and create jobs developing its own resources? That's all Americans want; but such rational energy development has been continually thwarted by rabid environmentalists, faceless bureaucrats and a seemingly endless parade of lawsuits aimed at shutting down new energy projects.

Buy American is a wonderful slogan, but you can't say in one breath that you want to strengthen our economy and stimulate it, and then in another ship our much-needed dollars to a nation desperate to drill while depriving us of the same opportunity.

Can I get an Amen?

Brad Pitt is the latest to spout off anti-christian beliefs that "in the long run, just don't work for him"...
The plague of closed-mindedness permeates every corner of Hollywood… Brad Pitt just happens to be the one who’s most recently crystallized it so perfectly. Much like the time Megan Fox tipped Tinseltown’s hand when she said that if given the chance, she’d urge Megatron to only murder the “white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America,” Brad Pitt had a tongue-slip with his anti-Christian comment this weekend. However, I must give credit where credit’s due folks: he made the comment on the Bill Maher show. It takes guts to take such a stance on that program. Doesn’t at least a part of you admire his moral fortitude?

To start with, Brad Pitt said that he was thinking of running for mayor of New Orleans, on an “Anti-religion, pro-legalization of marijuana and pro-gay marriage” platform.

Brad then went on to say, “I never wanted to step on anyone’s religion” (don’t worry, that doesn’t stop him from doing so immediately afterward), “Until I started to see it define policy.”

Ooooh okay Brad, I get it. You don’t mind people having a strong worldview… Until it begins to manifest itself through their actions… Unless of course their world-view is “pro-marijuana” such as your own as displayed by your subsequent trip down memory lane where you fondly recalled your joint-rolling escapades.

Hollywood Bottom-line: If someone’s “religion” is nothing more than moral relativism, it should absolutely determine policy. If it actually adheres to an established code of conduct/ethics, you better keep it to yourself you, jerk!

Opps! My bad...sorry!

Woman gets kicked out of her home when the bank accidentally sells her house at auction.

You know times are tough when people are getting kicked out of their house when it’s not even for sale.

That’s what happened to Anna Ramirez after she found all of her stuff out on the front lawn of her Homestead home last week and a strange man demanding she get out of his newly purchased house.

The eviction came after Ramirez’s home was mistakenly auctioned off to the highest bidder by her bank, Washington Mutual. Usually, you get a warning before you get the boot. A foreclosure letter. Maybe a sign saying your house is up for sale. Not Ramirez, who found her belongings bashed and battered in the street.

I smell a lawsuit!

Man dies and another family mourns...

This is a story of a mix up at the funeral home where the man in the casket is not who he is supposed to be. I understand the family being upset, but the reaction when they found out is a little over the top.

Horrified relatives burst into tears in the conference room. One of Roberts' daughters yelled, "Go get my father!" A grandchild screamed, "Where's Pop Pop?"

"They were crying and running around in circles," said Lois Bundy, 73, a sister-in-law. "It was terrible, it was just chaos, it really was."

Distraught, hysterical mourners poured out of the church onto the sidewalk, while others tried to calm them down.

"It traumatized all of us," Wearing said.

Keith Harris, 19, had a seizure and was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. An unidentified woman had an asthma attack and was also taken to a hospital, Wearing said.

But this is a little unnerving:

Meantime, the funeral home found Roberts' remains, and rushed them back to the church. When an assistant opened the door of the hearse, mortified relatives screamed at the sight.

"The casket had tilted and his leg was hanging out," said Wearing, who believed they drove so fast, hitting bumps, that the casket opened.

What a comedy of errors.

Just saying

I don't know about any of you, but I have been super impressed so far with Obama's bipartisanship, transparency, and most of all... change!

Shocka!! David Axelrod tied to those cashing in on health care debate

Follow the money:

Critics of President Obama’s health-care overhaul are zeroing in on his senior adviser David Axelrod, whose former partners at a Chicago-based firm are the beneficiaries of huge ad buys—now at $24 million and counting—by White House allies in the reform fight.

The unwelcome scrutiny, largely from Republicans, comes at an inopportune time as Obama seeks to shore up support for health care reform. It revolves around two separate $12 million ad campaigns advocating Obama’s health care plan that were produced and placed partly by AKPD Message and Media, a firm founded by Axelrod that employs his son and still owes Axelrod $2 million.

A separate firm, GMMB, is also handling the campaigns. Both AKPD and GMMB did millions of dollars of work on Obama’s presidential campaign, continue to tout their connections to the campaign and still maintain close ties to his inner circle.

The two firms were hired to make the health-care ads by a pair of linked coalitions supporting Obama’s health-care overhaul proposal—Healthy Economy Now and a newer offshoot unveiled last week called Americans for Stable Quality Care.

Didn't we hear about Halliburton for 8 years? I'm sure this will get as much play.

Rep Barney Frank vs Constituents

Barney Frank confronts his "vile, contempt" constituents:

Obama Administration Looks To Heal Rift in the Party

President Obama's advisers acknowledged Tuesday that they were unprepared for the intraparty rift that occurred over the fate of a proposed public health insurance program, a firestorm that has left the White House searching for a way to reclaim the initiative on the president's top legislative priority.

Administration officials insisted that they have not shied away from their support for a public option to compete with private insurance companies, an idea they said Obama still prefers to see in a final bill.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Dear Prudence

This is a gem:
Albuquerque, N.M.: I manage an accounting department. Recently, my boss showed me an e-mail from a worker who reports to me. The e-mail indicated that the writer believed my boss was of the same opinion and would enjoy a rant by Ben Stein against the president of the United States. She was sufficiently savvy as to NOT send me a copy. My boss, a very kind and gentle man who does not like conflict, was appalled, as was I. How could this employee be so misguided as to think my boss would enjoy that e-mail? Not to mention that any kind of religious or political opinions are inappropriate for sharing. I now think very differently about this reliable worker. I hesitate to clue her in that sending this type of e-mail is, well, just plain stupid, because I have been protecting her against layoff. Knowing her true political opinions, I am no longer inclined to protect her. I would not want her to suspect the true reason for being part of the next layoff. Am I being reasonable?

I think s/he is being totally reasonable. What do you think?

Woman gives birth on pavement after being refused ambulance

How can we get some of that good stuff over here?

Robert Novak RIP

Robart Novak has died of brain cancer.

Thousands Quit AARP Over Health Care

Members are leaving AARP in droves over the health care debate:
CBS News has learned that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP memberships since July 1, angered over the group's position on health care.

Elaine Guardiani has been with AARP for 14 years, and said, "I'm extremely disappointed in AARP."

Retired nurse Dale Anderson has 12 years with AARP and said, "I don't wanna be connected with AARP."

Many are switching to the American Seniors Association.

Top 10 Greatest Game show Moments

The funniest, strangest, saddest and most maddeningly lucrative game show highlights.

Joker Poster Artist

The creator of the Joker poster has been identified....

Was it an ultra-conservative grassroots group or a disgruntled street artist going against the grain?

Nope, it turns out, just a 20-year-old college student from Chicago.

Bored during his winter school break, Firas Alkhateeb, a senior history major at the University of Illinois, crafted the picture of Obama with the recognizable clown makeup using Adobe's Photoshop software.

Is it still racist if the poster was created by a minority?


Monday, August 17, 2009

What is a Republic?

Webster's definition of a Republic:

1 a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government c : a usually specified republican government of a political unit

Someone should tell Rep. Eric Massa.

Stimulus Money for School Supplies

Remember the FREE MONEY!!!!! for New Yorkers to buy school supplies for their kids. Well, you will be as shocked as I to find out the money is not being used for school supplies.
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks said the state school supply grants handed out to New York State food stamp and welfare recipients are not being used as intended by many families. She said the program has “widespread, rampant abuse.”

“There were better ways--You don't have to support families to buy school supplies by giving them cash,” she said.

Brooks said the county has been overwhelmed by reports, some of them from store owners, of people using the money to buy TVs and other luxury items.

“We actually received a telephone call from WalMart on Hudson Avenue suggesting that there was welfare fraud, and indicating they were going to call the FBI because people were going in and buying X-boxes, Wii systems, flat-screen television sets,” said Kelly reed, the county’s commissioner of social services. “Wegmans has indicated people are buying tickets to Darien Lake.”

Canadian Health Care in need of reform

Canadian Health Care system is in need of major reform....and our President wants to do this to our health care system:
The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.

Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she adds that physicians from across the country - who will gather in Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting - recognize that changes must be made.

"We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doing said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"We know that there must be change," she said. "We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands."

Dancing With a Politician

According to Jake Tapper, Tom Delay will be on Dancing With the Stars.

Faux News and their Faux Journalist

An example of Faux News and their super conservative "Brooks Brother, violent protester..thug stealing" narrative:

President Backs Away From Public Option

It looks like Obama is willing to compromise on the public option part of the health care legislation.
President Barack Obama and his top aides are signaling that they’re prepared to drop a government insurance option from a final health-reform deal if that’s what’s needed to strike a compromise on Obama’s top legislative priority.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that the public option was “not the essential element” of the overhaul. A day earlier, Obama downplayed the public option during a Colorado town hall meeting, saying it was “just one sliver” of the debate.


This could change and we could be getting a "let me clarify what Kathleen Sebelius said" statement from the WH.

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long. Just as I suspected with this incompetent WH, they are now saying Sebelius "misspoke".

An administration official said tonight that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "misspoke" when she told CNN this morning that a government run health insurance option "is not an essential part" of reform. This official asked not to be identified in exchange for providing clarity about the intentions of the President. The official said that the White House did not intend to change its messaging and that Sebelius simply meant to echo the president, who has acknowledged that the public option is a tough sell in the Senate and is, at the same time, a must-pass for House Democrats, and is not, in the president's view, the most important element of the reform package.

A second official, Linda Douglass, director of health reform communications for the administration, said that President Obama believed that a public option was the best way to reduce costs and promote competition among insurance companies, that he had not backed away from that belief, and that he still wanted to see a public option in the final bill.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Jesse Griffin Continued...

Remember this guy, Jesse Griffin? The one that started the rumor about Sarah Palin getting a divorce? The one who has dedicated his blog to taking her and her family down?

Well, it seems he has some interesting family dynamics of his own. You will want to read this. Glass houses and all.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Who's Paying?

Who paid for these school buses and why are they being allowed to be used by a political party?

Pelosi 2006 vs Pelosi 2009

If Congress can't bother to meet with their constituents..

then the constituents shouldn't be bothered with voting for them. I seriously don't understand how these members of Congress think ignoring the people who elected them is a good thing.

Senator Sherrod Brown will not be meeting with his constituents.

Rep. Paul Hodes will not be meeting with his constituents.

Rep. Shea-Porter will not be meeting with her constituents.

Sen. Harry Reid will only be doing townhall's by telephone.

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick will not be meeting with her constituents.

Rep. Tim Bishop will not be meeting with his constituents.

And on, and on, and on. I guess they have forgotten who they work for.