Science Gap? Maybe It's an Opportunity Gap

Miller-McCune ran an article, "The Real Science Gap," that is sure to stir up a hornet's nest of controversy.

It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career....

Obama Receives Transparency Award in Secret Meeting

Life is full of ironies, and here's one more example: Politico reports that President Obama finally and quietly accepted his “transparency” award from the open government community this week — in a closed, undisclosed meeting at the White House on Monday.

“This president has demonstrated a commitment to transparency and openness that is greater than any administration has shown in the past, and he’s been committed to that since he ran for President and he’s taken a significant number of measures to demonstrate that,” presidential shill Jay Carney said in a testy exchange with Fox News reporter Wendell Goler on March 16.

Washington Post Publisher Hauls Off the Bread; Employees Get Crumbs

For a paper that faithfully covers corporate excess in other organizations, it comes as a SHOCK to us that the venerable Washington Post should pay its publisher $2 million in pay and benefits while its workers are forced to make sacrifices. Read more about it in Accuracy in Media.

Almost 2,600 Years Behind the Times

Roger Kimball of Pajamas Media provides us with this food for thought:

Calling things by their right names: a lesson from Confucius
March 27th, 2011

Writing yesterday about what Obama’s minions are calling our “kinetic military activity” in Libya, I noted that the folks presiding over Orwell’s Newspeak would have liked the phrase “kinetic military activity.” As a mendacious and evasive euphemism for “war” it is hard to beat. But Orwell is not the only important thinker the Obama administration’s assault on the English language brings to mind. There is also Confucius.

I read Confucius a zillion years ago in a comparative religion class. I remember almost nothing of the Analects, however, so I am grateful to a reader for supplying this bit from Book 13, Chapter 3.

Asked by a disciple how to rule a state properly, Confucius replies that it begins with rectifying the names:

“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be conducted successfully. When affairs cannot be conducted successfully, propriety will not flourish. When propriety does not flourish, punishments will not be properly meted out. When punishments are not properly meted out, the people will not know how to conduct themselves.”

That was written about 475 B.C. When will we catch up with its wisdom?

Seventy Small Books, Inscribed on Lead Plates, Found in Jordanian Cave

The Daily Mail (U.K.) reports that five years ago a Jordanian Bedouin found these tiny books, whose pages are about the size of a credit card. Scientists believe that the corrosion occurred naturally and was not chemically induced to make the plates look older than they actually are. They are believed to have been left by Christian refugees who fled from Jerusalem after the revolt of 70 A.D. was ruthlessly crushed by the Romans. The books are in Israeli hands at this time, although the government of Jordan wants them back.

There's More Than One Way to Give Someone the Finger

A USA Today article, "Foreign Etiquette for Americans: A Guide to Do's and Dont's Abroad," says, "Inexperienced North American business travelers commit etiquette blunders more than 70% of the time when doing business abroad, says Ann Marie Sabath, author of Business Etiquette: 101 Ways to Conduct Business with Charm and Savvy."

Here's a list of gestures that are considered offensive in other countries:

1. In Brazil you do not make an okay gesture with your thumb and index finger — it's a gesture akin to extending a middle finger in the USA.

2. In the United Kingdom, don't stick up an index finger and a middle finger with the palm of your hand facing you. "It's the equivalent of giving someone the finger," Lonely Planet says.

3. In Greece, don't wave to anyone with an open palm — even when greeting a friend. And don't show your palm, though you might think to do so when gesturing for someone to wait or hold on, or showing the number five. "It is essentially the way one flips someone the bird in Greece, but more than that, it states, 'I reject you,'" according to Lonely Planet.

4. In Asia, It's bad etiquette to point at objects or people with your feet, and don't prop your feet on chairs or tables while sitting. Never touch any part of someone's body with your foot, "which is considered the lowest part of the body," the guidebook publisher says. "If you accidentally do this, apologize by touching your hand to the person's arm and then touching your own head." [An additional note: in some Asian cultures it's considered extremely rude to cross your legs and expose the soles of your feet to the person facing you.]

This is just a small sample of the rules of etiquette that one must be aware of when traveling abroad.

Man Who Served in Marine Corps Walks Barefoot Across USA to Raise Awareness of PTSD

Ron Zaleski, according to a FOX News video, has started a cross-country walk/petition drive in behalf of veterans who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). In addition to being barefoot, he is wearing a sandwich sign that reads: "18 vets a day commit suicide! thelongwalkhome.org" According to his Web site, Ron is winding up his long walk in Santa Monica, CA. WARNING: You may have to endure a tasteless commercial for Priceline.com with William Shatner.

What If You Build It and They Don't Come?

Glenn Beck's The Blaze reports a strange phenomenon: the Chinese have been building cities that appear to be deserted. The one above, of Dantu, has no cars anywhere except around the government center building. This seems to be a curious use of resources for a country that needs to catch up to the advanced industrial nations by building more highways, housing units, and other infrastructure.

Not Bad for a 94-Year-Old Man

Bob Brewin describes an occasion for camaraderie and for honoring the Americans who suffered and died during the Bataan Death March:

White Sands Missile Range, N.M. -- Benjamin Skardon, a Charleston, S.C., native and a 94-year-old survivor of the April, 1942, forced march of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, showed up here yesterday for the 22nd annual Bataan Memorial Death March. He walked nine of the route's 26.2 miles.

Skardon joined 15 other survivors of that epic struggle through the jungle, shaking the hands of the 6,050 participants at the finish line - an electric touch that spanned generations.

Participants included 90-year-old Harold Bergbower of Phoenix, who shook my hand, and 87-year-old Bataan survivor Glenn Frazier.

This year's Memorial March attracted individual and team participants from all 50 states and Canada, France, Denmark, Germany and the Philippines.

The winning team in the military heavy route -- 26.2 miles with a 35 pound pack -- was (naturally) an Army Ranger team from Ft. Benning, Ga., with a time of 5:08:17. John Felker, a West Point Cadet, won the military heavy individual title with a blistering time of 4:05:18....

Founder of Burt's Bees Cosmetics Donates Land to National Park Service

A Yahoo/AP article describes how Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees cosmetics (now owned by Clorox), is offering 70,000 acres to be made into a new national park in Maine, and an additional 30,000 acres to be managed as a state park. She had the foresight to buy the land cheap, before developers could get their hands on it.

"Come With Me to the Dark Side of the Force"

The Hill reports this incredible news item:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ditch members of the Tea Party and cut a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.

Reid insisted it is those GOP internal divisions that are threatening to shut down the government after April 8, in less than two weeks.

“For the sake of our economy, it’s time for mainstream Republicans to stand up to the Tea Party and rejoin Democrats at the table to negotiate a responsible solution that cuts spending while protecting jobs," he said....

Rebels Advancing to Muammar Gaddafi's Hometown

Latest reports from FOX News indicate that rebel forces are approaching Gaddafi's hometown, Sirte (Surt), located about halfway between Benghazi and Tripoli, while multi-national air strikes have been directed at this city. It appears likely that the forces under Gaddafi's command will make a stand there.

UPDATE: A Reuters article says that the better-trained and organized troops defending the Gaddafi regime have started pushing back the rebel forces.

Now It's Official: The Left at War with FOX News

Ben Smith's blog on Politico.com announced:

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.

The group, launched as a more traditional media critic, is narrowing its focus to Fox and a handful of conservative websites, which its leaders view as political organizations and the “nerve center” of the conservative movement. The shift reflects the centrality of the cable channel to the contemporary conservative movement, as well as the loathing it inspires among liberals — not least among the donors who fund Media Matters’ staff of about 90, who are arrayed in neat rows in a giant war room above Massachusetts Avenue.

“The strategy that we had had toward Fox was basically a strategy of containment,” said Brock, Media Matters’ chairman and founder and a former conservative journalist, adding that the group’s main aim had been to challenge the factual claims of the channel and to attempt to prevent them from reaching the mainstream media.

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

In an interview and a 2010 planning memo shared with POLITICO, Brock listed the fronts on which Media Matters — which he said is operating on a $10 million-plus annual budget — is working to chip away at Fox and its parent company, News Corp. They include its bread-and-butter distribution of embarrassing clips and attempts to rebut Fox points, as well as a series of under-the-radar tactics.

Obama Even Fails at Picking Basketball Teams

Free Republic is having a field day with the fact that Obama's brackets went down in flames.

In what can be called the greatest political risk of his brief career, President Obama went way out on a limb of a very weak tree and picked all Number 1 seeds to reach the Final 4. Well, a very tenacious VCU Rams team, representing the hopes and dreams of Middle America, knocked off Obama's last hope, the Kansas Jayhawks, to reach the Final 4, rendering Obama's bracket as worthless as Hope and Change itself.

When reached for a comment, the President's spokesman, Jay Karney, blamed former President Bush for swapping the seeding numbers, and that the ESPN bracketologist acted "studidly" in recording and broadcasting the President's picks.

Geraldine Ferraro, Former Vice Presidential Candidate, Dead at 75

Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman vice presidential candidate from a major party, died after a long struggle with cancer, according to an AFP/Breitbart article. She was paired up with Sen. Walter Mondale, in his ill-fated attempt to challenge Ronald Reagan in 1984. She may go down in history as paving the way for other women, such as Sarah Palin, to run for Vice President in 2008 and be considered a major contender for their party's nomination next year.

Aren't You Glad that a Just God, Not Sen. Lautenberg, Gave Us Our Constitutional Rights?

John Hawkins of Right Wing News delivered this hot item:

One of the Left’s favorite tricks is to completely sidestep arguments that are made by attacking motivations.... It’s no different with the budget. On the one hand, Democrats will agree that the size of the deficit is unsustainable. But, when it’s time to do something, we hear nonsense like this from Frank Lautenberg instead:

… The Republicans in Congress claim they’re concerned about the budget balance, but it’s a disguise! It’s not true! It’s a lie! That’s not what they want. They want — they want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. They don’t deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution! But we’ll give it to them anyway.

Fleming Health Care Repeal Update

The New Health Care Reform Law One Year Later and Getting Worse by the Day

Today, on the one year anniversary since government-approved health care was signed into law, a look at the implementation of the new health care reform reveals how the legislation has failed to deliver on costs, premiums, spending, and preserving Americans’ existing coverage:

19 — States where parents can no longer buy child-only insurance policies as a result of the law

30 — States suing to block the law from taking effect, or requesting waivers from its requirements

51 — Percentage of American workers who will lose their current health coverage by 2013, according to the Administration’s own estimates

1,270 — New bureaucrats requested by the Internal Revenue Service to implement the law this year

$2,100 — Increase in individual insurance premiums due to Obamacare, according to the Congressional Budget Office

$2,500 — Premium reduction promised by candidate Obama “by the end of my first term as President”

6,578 — Pages of new regulations issued implementing Obamacare through March 14, 2011

800,000 — Reduction in the American labor force due to Obamacare provisions that “will effectively increase marginal tax rates, which will also discourage work,” according to the CBO

2,624,720 — Total individuals in 1,040 plans granted waivers thus far exempting them from the law’s insurance mandates; nearly half of whom participate in union plans

7,400,000 — Reduction in Medicare Advantage enrollment as a result of Obamacare, resulting in a loss of choice for seniors and millions of beneficiaries losing their current health plan

40,000,000 — Firms subject to the health law’s new 1099 reporting requirements, which the National Federation of Independent Business called a “tremendous new paperwork compliance burden”

$118,000,000,000 — New costs imposed on states to implement Obamacare—budgetary costs that will lead to reduced services for other state programs like education or to higher state taxes

$310,800,000,000 — Projected increase in health costs due to Obamacare, according to the independent Medicare actuary, who called its promise of lower costs “false, more so than true”

$552,200,000,000 — Amount of higher taxes Americans will pay if Obamacare remains in place

$1,390,000,000,000 — Federal spending on new entitlements during fiscal years 2012-2021 according to the CBO, a 48 percent increase from an earlier estimate

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU: Even though we have seen only a few of the law’s initial provisions take effect, American families and businesses are already facing higher costs, economic uncertainty, and loss of their current coverage.

THE DOCTOR'S DIAGNOSIS: The new health care reform law is the prime example of how the Democrats’ tax hikes, spending spree, and heavy-handed government policies are hurting our economy and making it harder for small businesses to create jobs. Removing these barriers will provide the businesses that create new jobs with the certainty they need to hire new employees and get our economy back on track.

I remain committed to reducing healthcare costs by provihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifding access and choices for every American, protecting the patient-doctor relationship, and keeping the government out of thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhe exam room. I will work aggressively in Congress to repeal what I firmly believe to be an onerous and unconstitutional hehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifalth care reform law and support market-based solutions to our health care needs.

Sincerely,

JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress

P.S. If you’d like more information, please take a minute to visit my website at www.fleming.house.gov or follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/repjohnfleming or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/repfleming

Caterpillar Gets Restless After Illinois Raises Taxes

Gateway Pundit spotlights a hot story that the MSM will not:

The chairman and CEO of Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. is raising the specter of moving the heavy equipment maker out of Illinois.

In a letter sent March 21 to Gov. Pat Quinn, Caterpillar chief executive officer Doug Oberhelman said officials in at least four other states have approached the company about relocating since Illinois raised its income tax in January.

“I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what’s right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest,” Oberhelman wrote in the letter obtained Friday by the Lee Enterprises Springfield bureau. “The direction that this state is headed in is not favorable to business and I’d like to work with you to change that....”

Telltale Sign of a Spending Junkie, or a Way to Pay for an Unfunded Mandate?

Is nothing sacred? Omaha.com reports that their mayor proposed a 10-cent-per-roll toilet paper tax to help pay for federally mandated sewer improvements.

Welfare for the Poor? Small Potatoes!!

John Stossel at Human Events declares that the true welfare junkies are big corporations such as General Electric. Here's a snippet from the article:

The problem is that government has no wealth of its own. All it can do is move wealth from where the market would have channeled it to where politicians want it. Who knows what would have happened if free people had the money that goes to high-speed rail? Maybe cancer would have been cured.

"The private sector isn't going to cure cancer by itself," Draut says.

Greedy drug companies aren't going to cure cancer? I asked.

"They would have by now, if they could."

People with a central planner's mentality have what F.A. Hayek called "the fatal conceit."

More Than Just Another Conspiracy Theory

Glenn Beck managed to obtain a video of former SEIU official Stephen Lerner, detailing his plans to sabotage the U.S. economy in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save unions.

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.

What the Heck Is a "Kinetic Cluster?"

Erick Erickson has a few choice words at Redstate.com about how President Obama got us into war in Libya. This military operation has been launched with several handicaps: no congressional approval, no unity of command, and the absence of a clear plan for victory. Wars are usually far easier to get into than out of, so if you must fight at all, you might as well fight to win.

Elizabeth Taylor Dies in L.A. Hospital

"I am a very committed wife," Elizabeth Taylor once said. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif"And I should be committed too -- for being married so many times."

Elizabeth Taylor, 79, died "peacefully today in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles," said a statement from her publicist. She was hospitalized six weeks ago with congestive heart failure, "a condition with which she had struggled for many years. Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home. Sadly, this was not to be."

Source: CNN

UPDATE: Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor was laid to rest today [Thursday, 24 March] at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA, according to MSNBC.

"We Didn't Have The Green Thing"

It’s All About the Green Thing

By Jim Knowles

Source: Castro Valley Forum, 6 January 2011

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But that old lady is right. They didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Public Divided Over Obama's Intervention in Libya

Andrew McCarthy in National Review discusses the divergent views that conservatives have taken on coalition military operations in Libya.

Conservative infighting over whether the United States should intervene militarily in Libya is sign of good health. To remain vital, an ideological movement needs to have its basic assumptions challenged occasionally. We need to correct our wayward courses rather than allow mistakes based on faulty strategy to serve as precedents for the next missteps.

Many conservatives (particularly neoconservatives) are strong supporters of intervention, out of a deep conviction that the global advance of freedom promotes American security. I happen to disagree, at least insofar as the “freedom agenda” relies on the U.S. military as its agent. Regardless of where one comes out on the policy, though, we all ought to agree on at least one thing: The Constitution must control the implementation of whatever policy wins the day....

Expect a swirl of controversy from both the left and the right when Obama returns from his taxpayer-funded junket to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador.

Following the Money

Why has the dinosaur media been neglecting one of the few items of substantive business that Obama has on his latest junket? The Patriot Action Network is not afraid to make the connection between Obama's boss, George Soros, and the favoritism the President has shown towards Petrobras, the Brazilian oil firm that Soros has invested heavily in.

95-Year-Old Navy Vet Speaks for Many

This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of.
You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
" We're no longer a Christian nation"
" America is arrogant" - (Your wife even
announced to the world," America is mean-
spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching
that nonsense to 23 generations of our
war dead buried all over the globe who
died for no other reason than to free a
whole lot of strangers from tyranny and
hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellows I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.
You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.
And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle...

Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes

Snopes confirms as true:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp

"Political Truth and Fact" Blog to Be Discontinued

The late Norman "Buddy" Bishop (1935-2011), a charter member of the "Network of Patriots," maintained the Political Truth and Fact blog. Now that he is no longer with us, his son has decided to end same, so we will cease linking to it.

UPDATE: After removing one item from our Blogroll, we will add another: "Professor Toilet."

When in Doubt, Travel

FOX News reports that President Obama is going ahead with his planned trip to three Latin American countries: Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador. Regardless of where he may be in the world, the duties and responsibilities of the presidency follow him wherever he goes, and from that there is no escape.

UPDATE1: Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi announced a cease-fire after the U.N. Security Council authorized military action against his regime, but he cannot be taken seriously as long as his mercenaries keep killing the rebels. Meanwhile, President Obama is going full speed ahead with his travel plans.

UPDATE2: The Washington Post provides us with a powerful motive for Obama's eagerness to visit Brazil. He can look forward to a warm welcome and rock-star treatment by a populace thrilled by the prospect of seeing the first African-American President of the United States.

UPDATE3: Glenn Beck's The Blaze has run a story that not everyone in Brazil is ready to roll out the red carpet for Obama. Perhaps in reaction to the riots, the planned public speech in a Rio de Janeiro square is being moved to another location. Even the liberal-friendly Politico site questions the wisdom of going to Latin America at this time.

One of Obama's Top Priorities

Michelle Malkin Still Anxious Waiting for Word of Her Missing Cousin

Michelle Malkin has been doing everything in her power to find out what happened to Marizela Perez, 18, a University of Washington college student who disappeared nearly two weeks ago after leaving a grocery store in Seattle. We recommend maximum dissemination of this news story.

...And Then There Were Seven

This is an update to the blog posting of 22 February, where we covered the nine candidates for mayor of Colorado Springs. Since then, two men - Phil McDonald and Mitch Christiansen - have withdrawn from the race and endorsed Steve Bach.


KRDO-TV News anchor Eric Singer getting ready to moderate the forum

Mayoral candidates Mitch Christiansen (left) who announced his withdrawal, and Steve Bach

Mayoral candidates (left to right) Kenneth Duncan, Dave Munger, and Buddy Gilmore

At-large City Council candidates Sean Paige and Dan "R12" Reifschneider

A Radiation Scare Closer to Home

TSA is back in the news again - they admit to bungling body-scanner radiation readings so that they were 10 times higher than expected, according to a Wired article. Critics charge in that article and one in USA Today that TSA has a serious credibility problem.

More Stories and Photos from Japanese Multi-Disaster

Source of photo: Seattle DogSpot

The Life.com Web site has some touching photos of families united and reunited.

Like vultures feasting after a battle, scammers are exploiting the mass destruction in Japan to line their own pockets, warns Computer Weekly.

An editorial in Investor's Business Daily cautions us to avoid taking counsel of our fears.

The heroism of 50 Japanese nuclear power workers fighting to keep the meltdown at bay is recognized in this Yahoo.com article.

More Signs of the End Times

Cover of Al-Shamikha (also known as "Jihad Cosmo") magazine (right)

In our continuing coverage of incredibly evil events, we have the following snippets:

Reuters has a story about one or more Palestinian Arabs stabbing 5 members of a Jewish family in Itamar, Israel. This was bad enough, but in Gaza residents celebrated by passing out candy to children.

The "Anonymous" hacker group released a collection of e-mails they claimed to have obtained from a former employee, and posted it on a Web site known as http://bankofamericasuck.com/. You may have trouble accessing it, if the server is overloaded or if the bank succeeds in shutting down the site.

Glenn Beck's The Blaze describes how the 14 Fleebagger state senators joined protesters in Madison, Wisconsin and were welcomed as heroes. Now they are working to have eight of their REPUBLICAN colleagues removed from office in recall elections.

The Daily Mail (U.K.) says that al-Qaeda has started publishing a women's magazine ("Jihad Cosmo") that combines beauty and fashion tips with advice on how to execute a suicide bombing.

Sometimes the most unlikely sources blurt out the truth. On the "Chris Matthews Show," the liberal host, who once said that Obama gave him a tingle up the leg, inadvertently called him "President Carter."

Pajamas Media ran a story about the Department of Justice setting up a Web site, www.servicemembers.gov
...to rehabilitate its damaged reputation among uniformed servicemembers. Good luck, because servicemembers have figured out that this administration is not their friend, particularly in protecting their right to vote. It is an effort to put more “lipstick on the military voting pig.”

If you serve in the military, don’t waste your time looking for help through the website. The DOJ doesn’t want to hear from you....

With Promises Like These, Who Needs to Work?

(click to enlarge)

Wisconsin Fleebaggers Start Returning, Republicans Get Death Threats

WTMJ-AM, a Wisconsin radio station, reported that the Democratic state senators who fled to Illinois to frustrate an attempt on the part of Governor Walker and the Republicans in the legislature to strip teachers of their collective bargaining privilege are coming back and preparing to appear in a public rally on Saturday in Madison.

Meanwhile, in this new age of civility, Republican legislators have become the target of death threats, according to Glenn Beck's The Blaze, The Moderate Voice, and other news sources.

8.9-Magnitude Earthquake/Tsunami Strikes Japan - Hawaii, California Issued Tsunami Warnings

Source of map: BBC News

FOX News and many other sources have been covering this major natural disaster, which has caused death and devastation north of Tokyo and paralyzed the Japanese capital.

Breitbart.com has a video on the Japanese earthquake, one of the largest ever recorded.

Sen. Rand Paul Slams Dept. of Energy Over Toilets, Light Bulbs

USA Today reports:

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., lambasted the Energy Department today, saying the agency forces Americans to buy toilets that don't flush properly and light bulbs they don't want in the name of energy efficiency.

During a hearing of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Paul told Energy Department official Kathleen Hogan "my toilets don't work in my house. And I blame you and people like you who want to tell me what I can install in my house...."

In a related development, SFGate.com ran a story about an unintended consequence of low-flow toilets:

Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission. That has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park and elsewhere, especially during the dry summer months.

The city has already spent $100 million over the past five years to upgrade its sewer system and sewage plants, in part to combat the odor problem....

Wall Street Journal Scoops Other News Sources by Giving Gov. Walker a Chance to Be Heard

Timely reading: "Why I'm Fighting in Wisconsin."

In 2010, Megan Sampson was named an Outstanding First Year Teacher in Wisconsin. A week later, she got a layoff notice from the Milwaukee Public Schools. Why would one of the best new teachers in the state be one of the first let go? Because her collective-bargaining contract requires staffing decisions to be made based on seniority.

Ms. Sampson got a layoff notice because the union leadership would not accept reasonable changes to their contract. Instead, they hid behind a collective-bargaining agreement that costs the taxpayers $101,091 per year for each teacher, protects a 0% contribution for health-insurance premiums, and forces schools to hire and fire based on seniority and union rules.... [We recommend you read the whole article.]

Another Report from La-La Land

Gateway Pundit quotes this incredible statement by President Obama:

Barack Obama praised Nancy Pelosi last night as one of the greatest Speakers in our nation’s history.
Roll Call reported:

Obama welcomed the California Democrat at the gathering of 152 Democratic donors as “someone who’s going to go down as one of the greatest Speakers in our history,” according to a pool report. Pelosi was Speaker from 2007 through 2010.

“Not only were we able to get this economy going again … but under Nancy’s leadership we were able to achieve historic health care legislation that over the last 15, 20 years will end up benefiting millions of families across the country, [and] we were able to get ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repealed,” Obama said, adding that Congress under Pelosi expanded investments in clean energy, infrastructure and education.

“We didn’t just rescue the economy, we put it on the strongest footing for the future,” he said....

Yes, this is the same Nancy Pelosi who edited an honorary resolution from the Democratic National Committee because it wasn't laudatory enough, according to Politico.com.

D.C. Commuters Are "Slugging" to Save Time and Money

The Miller-McCune site describes how commuters in the Washington DC area have developed an informal people's mass transit system known as "slugging" to take advantage of the HOV-3 lanes leading out of the city.

Their culture exists almost nowhere else. San Francisco has a similar casual-carpooling system, and there’s a small one in Houston. But that’s it. Even in D.C., slugging exists along only one of the city’s many arteries, I-95 and 395, where the nation’s first HOV lanes were completed in 1975.

Every morning, these commuters meet in park-and-ride lots along the interstate in northern Virginia. They then ride, often in silence, without exchanging so much as first names, obeying rules of etiquette but having no formal organization. No money changes hands, although the motive is hardly altruistic. Each person benefits in pursuit of a selfish goal: For the passenger, it’s a free ride; for the driver, a pass to the HOV lane, and both get a faster trip than they would otherwise. Even society reaps rewards, as thousands of cars come off the highway.

"Tiger Blood" Now a New Energy Drink

Source: FOX News

Harcos Laboratories, a maker of novelty products such as a "Zombie Blood" energy drink and a "Nuclear Energy Powder," began selling an energy drink Tuesday inspired by Charlie Sheen's proclamations that he has "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA."
"Tiger Blood Energy Potion," the company's website says, is "made from 100% passion specifically to make your brain fire in a way that's not from this particular terrestrial realm." The drink is packaged in a pouch resembling blood bags used by medical facilities and contains 80mg of caffeine.

And now, for no logical reason, we throw in the following cartoon for free:

My Kind of People

When cornered, Attorney General Eric Holder made a reference to "my people" (i.e., African-Americans) before a congressional subcommittee. Fortunately, Michelle Malkin is too sharp to let that Freudian slip pass unnoticed. Although her site was hacked recently, this important statement appears in several other places. Here's an excerpt:

"Herman Cain [former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza] is my people. He's my brother-in-arms. I've never met him. But we are family. We are kin because we are unhyphenated Americans who are comfortable in the black, brown and yellow skin we are in. We are growing in numbers -- on college campuses, in elected office, on the Internet, on public airwaves, everywhere. And that drives liberals mouth-frothing crazy...."

I'd Rather Trust in the Justice of God

Newsmax.com has this sweeping statement from an attorney for the Westboro Baptist "Church":

Westboro Attorney: Obama Going to Hell
Sunday, 06 Mar 2011 11:47 AM

By Hiram Reisner

The attorney who won the Supreme Court case last week affirming the Westboro Baptist Church’s right to stage anti-gay protests outside military funerals says she does not see a single U.S. leader that can be redeemed, Politico reports.

“I have no objective indicator otherwise. The default for mankind is hell unless you bring forth fruit meet for repentance. The assumption is that you will end up in hell when you quit your life on this Earth,” attorney Margie Phelps said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” “There is a duty of every human to bring forth fruit meet for repentance. I have seen no evidence of that in a single leader in that nation.”

Fox host Chris Wallace asked Phelps if she was saying the president is going to hell.

“Absolutely on the president,” Phelps replied. “The president is going to be king of the world before this is all said and done, and he is most likely the beast spoken of in the [biblical book of] Revelation.”

Margie Phelps also told FOX News that the U.S. military is "worse than al-Qaeda."

EDITORIAL COMMENT: This may come as a shock to you, but "Bloodthirsty Warmonger," despite our many disagreements with the current administration, does not equate President Obama with the Antichrist because of his limited political skills, his inability to maintain a deception indefinitely, and the fact that he is just another Chicago politician rather than one who is slick enough to "deceive the very elect."

Restroom Thief Steals $238,000 During Flight

FOX News reports that an Air Antilles plane traveling from the French island of Guadeloupe to the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin was carrying 3 bags of cash containing $1.6 million. A passenger, aware of the money in the cargo hold, pretended to be airsick and spent most of the flight in the lavatory, tearing the wall panel and helping himself to some of the money. He asked for an ambulance, later said that he felt well enough to walk out of the airport, and disappeared.

Latest Generation of Japanese Bullet Trains

While the USA is still trying to reinvent the wheel and iron out the bugs in its early-model bullet train, the Japanese, who have been building high-speed trains for about 50 years, unveiled the Hayabusa [peregrine falcon], capable of going 300 km/hour (186 mph), according to this AFP/Yahoo article.

Heart Attack Grill Loses Its Spokesman

USA Today reports:

River, who stood 6-foot-8 and weighed about 575 pounds, gained a measure of fame in the past year as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill, a Chandler, Ariz., restaurant that specializes in thick hamburgers and fries. He died on Tuesday at the age of 29.

The cause of death is currently unknown, but friends are speculating that it was the result of his contracting pneumonia after a bout with the flu.

"Cynical people might think this (River's death) is funny," Basso [founder of the Heart Attack Grill] said. "But people who knew him are crying their eyes out. There is a lot of mourning going on around here. You couldn't have found a better person...."

Patriots Help Out Father of Fallen Marine

Albert Snyder, father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist "Church," lost his case in the Supreme Court, and will have to pay for legal costs, according to an article in ydr.com.

At the moment, Snyder owes $16,510.80 for the costs of appealing the case to the Fourth Circuit court of appeals. Attorneys for Westboro have filed for additional costs from the 2007 trial in U.S. District Court in Maryland. Those costs are about $100,000, Snyder's attorney, Sean Summers, said during a news conference Wednesday.

And Snyder could owe a tab for the Supreme Court filing, though that hasn't been levied yet, his attorney Craig Trebilcock said.

Supporters are lining up to help pay.

True friends coming out of the woodwork include people who donated to the defense fund via the Web site http://www.matthewsnyder.org/, Dr. Donald Gilliland, the country band Big and Rich, and Bill O'Reilly.

Wisconsin Union Protesters' Slime Trail Has Lead in It!

RadioViceOnline says that union protesters caused $7.5 million worth of damage to the Wisconsin state capitol.

Authorities found dozens of rounds of live ammunition outside the state Capitol building in Madison, Wis., where protesters have gathered to rally against the governor’s budget repair bill.

Dane County Sheriff’s deputies discovered 11 rounds near the State Street entrance to the building early Thursday, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Officials also found 29 rounds near the King Street entrance and one round near the North Hamilton Street entrance.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling said the bullets were 22-caliber long rifle hollow points.

Officers conducted a sweep the grassy areas and bushes outside the Capitol, and Department of Administration lawyer Steven Means asked that the Capitol be cleared for a security check, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

As Chris Matthews asks nearly every night on “Hardball”, what is it with the right and their guns? Oh wait, it wasn’t the right. Hey maybe this is some kinda of plot by the left to call for further gun control? Maybe this is how they will say how dangerous it is for people to own guns? Maybe it was as I stated, a calling card. I shudder to think these rounds were intended for Republicans. But then … after listening to the rhetoric (You’re F***ing dead), who knows.

UPDATE1: WisPolitics.com reports that the $7.5 million damage estimate may be higher than the actual amount needed to restore the state capitol building. The same source mentions that union volunteers are offering to clean up the damage. What about the slime trail? We don't have an answer to that yet.

UPDATE2: Glenn Beck's The Blaze reports that Wisconsin Tea Party supporters are organizing a cleanup "flash mob" on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Cenk Uygur Channels Unborn "Non-Persons!"

This NewsBusters snippet pays a visit to the Twilight Zone:

Wouldn't blame you for doubting this, so fantastical is the proposition. But Cenk Uygur has claimed that given the chance, unborn babies would oppose restrictions on their mothers' right to abort them.

CENK UYGUR: By all accounts, the fetus will be the youngest ever to testify. That's because he or she is not really testifying, because he or she is not really a person yet. In fact, at that point, we don't even know whether he or she is a he or she. You know what else hasn't formed at that point? Their mouth. Making it a little hard to testify. But goofball Republicans have wheeled in a woman, done an ultrasound, and listened to the heartbeat of the fetus in the womb.

If the bill is enacted, it would be the first, I'm sorry, it would be the most restrictive abortion law in the country. Now, we reached out to the fetus to see if he or she wanted to come on the show, but it did not say anything, because it does not have a mouth. But if it could talk, I'm pretty sure it would say, could you please get out of my mother's uterus.

Thought for the Day

[click cartoon to enlarge]

Find more choice editorial cartoons at "Al Poxalips" and "Republican Attack Machine."

To the Shores of Tripoli (Part 2)

FOX News reports that the U.S. Navy is sending 2 ships and 1200 Marines "to perform evacuations and humanitarian relief" in Libya. Ever since the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi began, over 140,000 foreign workers and others have fled the country, paralyzing the oil industry. For some unaccountable reason, the article shows one Iranian warship sailing through the Suez Canal on the way to Syria.

When Confronted, Attorney General Holder Asserts His Right to Be Offended

Glenn Beck's The Blaze describes what Eric Holder told a House Appropriations subcommittee:

Continuing to face down questions as to why the U.S. Justice Department went easy on prosecuting members of the New Black Panther Party who stood armed with nightsticks outside a Philadelphia polling location during the 2008 presidential election, Attorney General Eric Holder expressed his personal frustration over the criticism that race played a role.

During a hearing of a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, accused Holder’s DOJ of failing to cooperate with a Civil Rights Commission investigation into the decision to dismiss the case. Holder seemed to take personal offense when Culberson read comments from former Democratic activist Bartle Bull condemning the decision as the most serious act of voter intimidation he had witnessed during his career.

“Think about that,” Holder fired back. “When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, to compare what people subjected to that with what happened in Philadelphia, which was inappropriate….to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line for my people,” said Holder, an African American....

He Who Was Demonized Speaks Out

Charles G. Koch answers his critics on the Wall Street Journal:

"...For many years, I, my family and our company have contributed to a variety of intellectual and political causes working to solve these problems. Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges seriously.

"Both Democrats and Republicans have done a poor job of managing our finances. They've raised debt ceilings, floated bond issues, and delayed tough decisions...."