President Obama's State of the Union Address

Watch a video of President Obama's speech here, regarded by some as the official start of his re-election campaign.

Republican spokespersons Paul Ryan and Michelle Bachmann are quick to respond. Blogger Stephen Green does a running commentary (which he calls "drunkblogging") of the State of the Union.

Meanwhile, in Colorado Springs, CO, columnist Michelle Malkin had the audacity to schedule a personal appearance at the same time Obama's speech was taking place, and also addressed her vision of education in "Cash for Education Clunkers."

Oh, #&*!! A Profanity Map of the USA

Someeecards.com has put together a map that shows where the most cussing goes on in our country.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura Sues TSA/DHS

StarTribune.com has a story about former Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota suing the TSA and Dept. of Homeland Security for the "right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures." His titanium hip implant sets off metal detectors at airports, so he has to be subject to groping rather than a non-invasive hand-held wand.

Think that Being a Member of the Cabinet Will Give You Access to the President? Think Again

Breitbart.tv has a startling video report by Andrea Mitchell and John Heilemann, saying that not less than 6 Cabinet members never got invited to the Oval Office or even received a phone call from President Obama.

Terrorist Attack at Moscow's Busiest Airport

An AP/Yahoo news story describes how a suicide bomber left a path of death and destruction in his wake, killing at least 35 people at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, Russia.

No Arms? No Problem!

Check out this Wimp.com video of a man playing "Drift Away" WITH HIS FEET.

But wait - there's more! Musician Tony Melendez plays and sings "Let It Be" on YouTube.

Here's a video of Chinese musician Liu Wei, who plays the piano with his toes.

Chinese Perform the Equivalent of Giving Obama the Finger - in the White House

Redstate.com columnist Moe Lane commented on an incident that was reported only in the conservative media: acclaimed Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang played a patriotic theme song from an anti-U.S. film, "Battle on Shangganling Mountain," set during the Korean War. Millions of Chinese viewing the performance on television immediately understood what was going on, but the Obama administration apparently didn't have a clue.

UPDATE: Since we welcome intellectual diversity on this blog, read the first (and so far only) comment that one of my readers wrote for a different take.

96-Year-Old Fitness Icon, Jack LaLanne, Dies at Home

The Boston Herald reports that Jack LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia this afternoon in California.

The Boomer to You Web site has this to say about "Mr. After":

"I was born in 1914 when “boomer” meant some jerk who made loud noises. I was a muscle man and fitness guru before anyone thought it was “cool.” All these baby boomer upstarts—Jane Fonda, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan—stand on my biceps. Who do you think invented modern weight machines, television exercise shows, and turned amazing feats of strength into an art form?

"I sold my 200 + health clubs to Bally back in the 1980s. Boomers flocked to them. Most guys would have retired. But, heck, I was only 70 years young. To show the world 70 is the new 20, I swam handcuffed and shackled over a mile while towing 70 boats with 70 people. People said I was poetic but crazy. You bet I am.

"Later, I became an infomercial icon. Is there a baby boomer out there that hasn’t bought one of my juicers yet? It’s not too late. Turn on the television.

"But wait. There’s more. I’ve slowed down a bit, much not much. I work out and swim every day. My incredible public displays may be over...."

MSNBC Kisses Keith Olbermann Goodbye

FOX News reports that MSNBC host Keith Olbermann is ending his "Countdown" show. According to TMZ, his firing is connected with the acquisition of NBC by Comcast, and that to take the sting out of his departure, he will be paid for the remainder of his contract ($7 million/year for 2 years, or a total of $14 million).

UPDATE1: In an effort to embarrass FOX News and make people feel sorry for him, Keith Olbermann, who isn't exactly destitute, was seen in his grubbies outside their studio. (Hat tip: Moonbattery)


UPDATE2: The Hill ran an article reporting how some of Olbermann's supporters are trying to get him to run for the Senate seat to be vacated by Joe Lieberman. Since he used to live in Connecticut, he might be able to re-establish residency - or he may run into the same problem as mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel, who lost another court challenge to his claim to being a Chicago resident.

Let's Hire the South Koreans to Cleanse the High Seas of Pirates!

USA Today reports that South Korean special forces stormed a freighter in the Arabian Sea, rescuing 21 crew members, killing 8 pirates, and capturing 5. This comes as a welcome morale boost to the Koreans, who are still reeling from an unprovoked North Korean attack on one of their islands in November and the sinking of a naval vessel a few months before that.

How Texting and Not Paying Attention Can Make Millions Laugh At You

ABC News ran a story about a YouTube video that went viral [sadly, the link has been removed]: the short but embarrassing scene where a woman in a shopping mall [Cathy Cruz Marrero] falls into a fountain while texting. Not only does she look like a fool, but now she comes across as greedy for filing a $1.5 million lawsuit because the security guards in the immediate area laughed at her instead of offering to help.

The rest of the story: ReadingEagle.com has additional information about Cathy Cruz Marrero, which leads one to wonder whether she staged the accident to get some jackpot justice. Marrero faces charges of theft-by-deception by using a co-worker's credit cards to make over $5,000 in purchases. She may have been embarrassed, but the security guard at the Berkshire Mall (in Wyomissing, near Reading, PA) who leaked the video lost his job.

John Hawkins Will Not Apologize for Using the Word "Crosshairs," and Neither Will We

(Left) T-shirt design with one use of crosshairs that the Left would welcome.

This just in from Right Wing News:
...Just for the record, we here at Right Wing News don't apologize for using the word "crosshairs." Other words we don't apologize for include job killing, kneecapping, firepower, shotgun, cut, campaign, brass knuckles, slaughter, eviscerate, obliterate, fire, snipe, carve, kill, reload, targeting, gut, bombed, terminate, axe, attack, and of course, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious murder-go-round.

We also don't apologize for calling CNN an embarrassing bunch of weenies who should man up, try to develop some testicular fortitude, and stop acting like such a bunch of little girls.

So Much for Civility: Democrat Compares Republicans to Nazis

Apparently Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) never heard of Godwin's Law:

"In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) invoked the Holocaust to attack Republicans on health care and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

“'They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels,' Cohen said. 'You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing....'" (Source: ABC News)

UPDATE1: In a related development, Glenn McCoy has come up with the following cartoon:



Recovering liberal Robin of Berkeley has written another article for American Thinker, "Why the Left Hates Sarah Palin."

UPDATE2: If someone apologizes for making rash remarks, we will give him proper credit, as in this Washington Times article.

35,000 Soldiers Entitled to Back Stop-Loss Pay

A Military.com/UPI article describes how 35,000 Soldiers and 15,000 veterans from other services still haven't filed for the "special pay" they should have received for being involuntarily extended in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Interesting Positions from Unlikely Sources

1. Normally we don't cover the "birther" controversy, but when career leftist Gov. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii says in a WorldNetDaily article that he can't find Obama's birth certificate during his effort to settle the controversy once and for all, we stand up and take notice.

2. AOL's "Politics Daily" reports: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid branded Chinese President Hu Jintao a "dictator" on a local TV talk show on Tuesday night, a remark likely to make the start of Hu's first state visit to Washington, D.C., awkward for President Obama at a moment when the U.S. is trying to ease tensions with the Asian power."

3. President Obama takes on some protective coloration:

President Obama wants America to know he is a pro-business president.

In an op-ed in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, the president promised to sign an executive order to root out “dumb” and “outdated” regulations that “stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.”

“This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth,” Obama writes. “And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It’s a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades.”

Still, he made sure to note that this doesn’t erase the need for new regulations....

The New York Times Blames Bush Again - But That's OK

James Lewis in American Thinker has this juicy tidbit:

It's called "an admission against interest" in legal circles. Example: When the New York Times says something good about George W. Bush. It was George W. Bush's fault, the NYT just confessed, that the Stuxnet computer worm ended up destroying 984 Iranian uranium centrifuges over the last year or so. Bush got the Stuxnet program started in cooperation with Israel and other countries in the last years of his presidency....

Victim of Tucson Shooting Doing Good Beyond the Grave

AZCentral.com reports that Christina-Taylor Green, the youngest person to be killed in the Tucson massacre, became an organ donor, saving the life of an unnamed child on the east coast.

UPDATE: A Yahoo.com/AP article quotes Christina-Taylor Green's father announcing that her corneas have enabled two other children to see.

I Got 10 out of 10 Correct

Glenn Beck's The Blaze asks the rhetorical question, "Are You Smarter Than an Elected Official?" Take the quiz here.

For the fifth-straight year, the ISI surveyed more than 30,000 Americans to test their knowledge of the Constitution. Elected officials who took the test scored on average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent).

Protests Drive Dictator Out of Tunisia!

Beginning of Pajamas Media article:

It started with a young unemployed man with a university degree in computer science setting himself on fire. Twenty-six-year-old Mohammad Bouazizi was one of more than ten million Tunisians suffering under the dictatorship of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. He had ruled the country for 23 years.

In Tunisia, where corruption is rampant, freedom of speech is curtailed, and, most importantly, unemployment is a staggering 13.3%, Bouazizi had little hope. After the food cart that he hauled around to support his family was forcibly removed from the streets by the police, Bouazizi couldn’t take the shame and humiliation anymore. On December 17, in front of the governor’s office in central Tunisia’s Sidi Bouzid province, he drenched himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire.

Even though Bouazizi survived, word of his suicide attempt gripped a nation tired of authoritarian rule....

UPDATE: The LA Times says: "The leadership of this troubled country changed hands for the second time in less than 24 hours Saturday as security forces and ordinary Tunisians struggled to quell mayhem that some have attributed to henchmen loyal to ousted President Zine el Abidine ben Ali. Fouad Mebazaa, president of the lower house of the parliament, was sworn in as chief of state amid fast-moving political developments and chaotic lawlessness that have transformed Tunisia into a symbol of revolution in the Arab world...."

Trunk Monkey - The World's Most Intelligent Automotive Security System

Just learned by word-of-mouth about this series of videos that have gone viral. For a free sample, click on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avOiTUcD4Y