Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Hilton Head: Best Eats
We've been at our southern command post since the beginning of July and our blessed island is just as lush and sunny and kissed by the sun as we've always remembered it.
And there are great places to eat here on Hilton Head as well.
Here are a few of them:
Southern Coney: This is a new breakfast and lunch place in the Bi-Lo shopping center off of Pope Avenue near Coligny.
Great hot dogs and Coney Island treats in a bright, super-clean environment. Plus, they serve southern breakfast. The owners are very friendly and the service is excellent.
Il Carpaccio - Best popularly priced Italian food on the island. Northern Italian dishes with plenty of wonderful pasta specialties and great, authentic, thin-crusted Italian pizza. In Pinelands Plaza shopping center.
British Open Pub - In Wexford Village shopping plaza. Wonderful fish n chips, chicken pot pie, steak and kidney pie and other British specialties in a cozy. golf-themed atmosphere. Also: crab cakes, ribs, chicken, and other selections. Plenty for every taste, and the price is right, too!
Truffles - The original (at Sea Pines Center) is still the best but the new site (on Pope Avenue) is good as well. Steaks, chops, fish, salads -- all great American fare is a delightful, convivial environment.
Crane's - An early-American tavern and steakhouse with Philadelphia roots. Also, sandwiches, soups, salads, famous French dip, burgers, meatloaf and more. Now serving breakfast as well. Lovely atmosphere.
San Miguel's - At Shelter Cove harbor. Far and away the best Mexican restaurant on the island. Great margaritas, too. Consistently good!
Old Fort Pub - Upscale dining on Skull Creek in Hilton Head Plantation. An island favorite for decades. This is one of the few places where the food and the service match the spectacular views.
Plantation Cafe - On Pope Avenue near Coligny. This is where you'll find the island's best southern breakfast. Also, great sandwiches and other lunch fare. Not fancy. Just real good food at great prices.
Michael Anthony's - On New Orleans Road. Best upscale Italian on the island. Classic fine dining Italian cuisine prepared with a creative touch, presented with a contemporary flair and served in casual and comfortable warm surroundings. A superb treat!
Giuseppi's - The island's best pizza. We prefer the original outlet in Shelter Cove on William Hilton Parkway. It's busy. Prepare to wait.
Commercial Construction Slides
From Bloomberg and Smart Brief:
Commercial construction spending in the U.S. will decline 16% in 2009, according to the American Institute of Architects. That's a greater decline than the 11% drop predicted earlier this year. The group revised its previous forecast after evaluating rising unemployment and business spending cuts. It now expects commercial construction spending to decline 12% in 2010. It previously predicted a 5% decline for 2010.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Arlen Specter, Cornpone Version
From Paul Mirengoff at PowerLine:
For the first time in the memory of most, we have a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a Supreme Court nominee in which Sen. Arlen Specter is not participating as a Republican.
Unfortunately, the Republican committee membership still includes Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Arlen Specter of the South. And in his opening statement, Graham served up a cornpone rendition of Specter.
Graham opined that, barring a meltdown, Judge Sotomayor wil be confirmed. That may be true, but shouldn't Graham's role be to provide analysis about whether she should be confirmed, not predictions about whether she will be?
By serving up his prediction, Graham achieved two purposes. First (and this is always a critical element for him), he got noticed by the press (as in this report which mentions his remarks before those of all the other Senators), which naturally jumped on his prediction and gave him credit for livening up the proceedings.
Second, he laid the groundwork for voting to confirm Sotomayor, if that's what he decides to do. The more Graham can reinforce the notion that opposing Sotomayor is a lost cause, the less heat he may take if he votes in favor of confirmation.
Graham stated that he does not yet know how he intends to vote, and I take him at his word. You can tell, though, that he is itching to vote in favor of Sotomayor in the name of restoring the days when the president's Supreme Court nominees received great deference in the Senate. (With Graham, the well-intentioned gesture is always a big deal, especially if, as in this case, he has reason to believe the gesture will be well-received by the MSM and in the salons of Washington, DC).
Coffee Grounds Make Shirts
From Flash News:
Environmentalists can now wear their coffee on their sleeves.
Textile manufacturer Singtex Industrial is turning people’s morning cup of joe into a cool piece of clothing with their S.Cafe fabrics made entirely out of coffee grounds.
One medium cup of coffee is enough to make two shirts out of the fabric, which means the grounds left in coffeemakers won’t end up in landfills.
Not only are the fabrics environmentally-friendly, they also offer UV protection and odor control, and won’t leave people smelling like a warm cup of coffee, but rather keep B.O. at bay.
Spokesperson Mike Costa says, “We did impart the coffee smell originally, but we thought it was a bit much to smell like coffee all day.”
Though wearing the coffee cloth won’t give users a continuous java jolt throughout the day because most of the caffeine is lost during brewing, the fabric has a cooling agent that helps keep active folks fresh.
Toomey Fundraising Sets Records
In the 11 weeks since Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey announced his candidacy on April 15, 2009, Toomey has raised $1.6 million dollars from over 15,000 contributors across the country with $1.1 million cash-on-hand remaining.
Toomey’s strong first campaign quarter fundraising compares favorably with those of successful U.S. Senate challengers in the last election. In fact, he has raised more than every successful 2008 challenger. In his first quarter as a Senate candidate, Toomey has raised more than candidates Al Franken (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kay Hagen (D-NC), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Mark Begich (D-AK), all of whom went on to defeat incumbent U.S. senators (see chart below).
With over 15,000 contributors, Toomey has also surpassed the total number of contributors he had in the entirety of his 2004 Senate race.
It seems clear that Pat Toomey’s Senate campaign is off to a fantastic start and his message of fiscal responsibility and bringing balance to Washington is resonating with individuals across the state and country.
“I am honored by all the people who have contributed to my campaign since my announcement,” Toomey said. “These contributions come from folks across all of Pennsylvania and the country who know that America has a better future than the runaway spending and endless bailouts that are coming from Washington today. Together, I believe we can bring fiscal responsibility, political balance, and economic growth back to our country.”
'Warriors" Spar With Cardboard
From Flash News:
When engaging in a cardboard war, always be on the lookout for surprise attackers.
That’s the advice from Robert Easley, founder of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League, which puts together massive duels between fighters armed with cardboard tubes and homemade cardboard armor.
The CTFL’s next tournament will be in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on July 19, and Easley is prepared for any “bizarre situation” since in past years the tourneys have been invaded by droves of cardboard robots and fierce pirates looking for a fight.
One time, a group of scallywags descended in a makeshift ship wearing little paper hats, ready to charge.
Easley recalls the invasion fondly and adds, “It was beautiful.”
Though he’s not sure if the event will be attacked this year, Easley is ready for anything, especially since he declared war on a tough rival cardboard dueling league some time ago.
He says, “They’re more hardcore. They’re okay with getting and giving a bloody nose.”
Obamacare: 'Soak The Rich!'
From Warner Todd Huton at Red State:
Soak the “rich.” That’s the plan. In fact, that is always the plan with tax and spend Democrats. This time it is a new “surtax” on Americans making over $250,000 a year (or $350,000 per couple) to pay for Obamacare.
Ominously, the plan has a hike mechanism right at the outset as Charlie Rangel (D, NY), head of the House Ways and Means Committee, has inserted language that will raise the tax higher if they don’t get as much money as they want with this first dip into the rich folk’s wallets. If anyone thinks Democrats will imagine they’ve gotten enough the first time and that the hike trigger doesn’t need to be pulled… well, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
So, who will this hit? Can anyone doubt that it will be doctors themselves? After such a raid into American’s paychecks, it will be doctors that will find that they are being taxed in order to pay themselves further reduced rates by government reimbursements through this new healthcare system.
Media Obsessed With Palin
From Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters:
We're in the middle of the worst recession in decades.
Congress is currently debating sweeping changes to healthcare and energy policy that could cost trillions of dollars in new taxes in the foreseeable future.
We've got soldiers risking their lives on two fronts in the Middle East, and despots in North Korea and Iran developing nuclear weapons.
Yet, when one of the most powerful men in Washington visited "Meet the Press" Sunday, host David Gregory spent almost 30 percent of the time allotted grilling him about -- wait for it! -- Sarah Palin.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, of the 19 1/2 minutes Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spent Sunday morning chatting with Gregory, he was questioned for 5 3/4 minutes about Palin's resignation and her future in politics.
'Kill al Qaeda' Move Nixed
From Siobahn Gorman at the Wall Street Journal:
A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein said CIA Director Panetta told lawmakers Vice President Cheney ordered information be withheld from Congress.
The precise nature of the highly classified effort isn't clear, and the CIA won't comment on its substance.
According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn't become fully operational at the time Mr. Panetta ended it.
In 2001, the CIA also examined the subject of targeted assassinations of al Qaeda leaders, according to three former intelligence officials. It appears that those discussions tapered off within six months. It isn't clear whether they were an early part of the CIA initiative that Mr. Panetta stopped.
Parents Tell Obama 'Shame!'
From Isabel Vincent at the New York Post:
The Secret Service might want to put a new threat on its watch list: the mad-as-hell mama of the 17-year-old Brazilian beauty ogled by President Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy at the G8 summit last week.
"If I were there, I would have boxed their ears," said Lucia Rodrigues, 37. "They should be ashamed of themselves."
Patriarch Eduardo Tavares, after finally getting around to seeing the famous photo of his daughter from behind, quickly changed his tune from proud papa to furious father.
"My daughter is not a model and she is not a sex symbol," he told The Post. "That photograph has ruined my whole family."
At the Italy summit last week, daughter Mayara Rodrigues Tavares, her long locks flowing over her curvaceous frame, became the momentary focus of the leering leaders as she took her place for an official group photo.
Her father, a night watchman in their home city of Rio de Janeiro has been swamped with interview requests since the photo of his daughter in a little red dress was beamed around the world.
"She is dedicated to helping the poor, not to seducing world leaders," he ranted. "This is the wrong image of my daughter."
Her mom added, "She is really skinny and only ever wears pants. Mayara is timid and ashamed of her body. This was the first time in her life that she wore a dress, and it was borrowed from a friend in the shantytown because she doesn't own one."
The high school sophomore, who hails from one of Rio de Janeiro's slums known as favelas, had been picked by UNICEF to join the counterpart Junior 8 forum of teenagers because she stood out as a community volunteer. She shares a single room with her parents and two younger brothers and can't afford the bus fare to attend a good high school.
"Why are they looking at her like that? This is a girl who is articulate and intelligent and just wants to do the right thing," the father said. "Instead, they are forcing her into a negative light."
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Does Ginsburg Favor Eugenics?
From Damian Thompson in Britain's Telegraph:
The mainstream media have been incredibly slow to pick up on a creepy comment by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a New York Times interview published today but flagged last week. In it, Ginsburg talks about on Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalised abortion:
Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion.
What? You can find the full context of the remark here, in the Times interview, but it doesn’t settle matters. And the (pro-choice) media haven’t exactly jumped on the story. Bloggers are incredulous.
This is what Creative Minority Report had to say yesterday:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s comments about using abortion as population control raised a lot of eyebrows in the blogosphere. Over 9,236 to be precise, according to Google blog search.
Huge sites too like Hot Air featured the story prominently. Even Drudge ran with the story yesterday.
But as of this morning the mainstream media have completely ignored the story about one of the most powerful people in the country essentially endorsing eugenics on populations “we
don’t want to have too many of”.
What the heck is going on here? What are we to make of the media’s complete silence on this issue? They don’t see a little
eugenics between friends as a big deal? They thought it was taken out of context?
As the large metropolitan newspapers die, they’re wondering why.
This is why.
Fair point. You might think the New York Times might want to trumpet its exclusive. But the mindset of that pompous, prickly, boring, self-regarding publication is so overwhelmingly liberal that it didn’t even realise it had a story on its hands.
Economy Will Get Worse
In a revealing interview with Chrystia Freeland of the Financial Times, presidential economic advisor Larry Summers says the president will press ahead on all fronts and will not make the rapidly sinking economy a priority.
AND the droll Summers also says the economy will continue to slide. Here are some excerpts:
“The president made two things clear to us early on,” recalls Summers, who answers my questions in full, idea-packed paragraphs, rocking gently back and forth in his seat as he gets into the flow of an argument. “He would do what he had to to fix the banking system, to get the economy out of the rut in which he was inheriting it. But he had run for president to do long-run, fundamental things, like fixing healthcare, like having real energy policy, like reforming education. And we weren’t going to be distracted from those things.”
Obama’s most important political calculation has been this decision to press ahead on all these fronts at once – and the success or failure of his administration will rest largely on whether that was the right call. . . .
Obama’s most important political calculation has been this decision to press ahead on all these fronts at once – and the success or failure of his administration will rest largely on whether that was the right call. . . .
Onward, then, to the toughest economic challenge Summers faces today: the recession. Here, Summers turns sombre: “I don’t think the worst is over ... It’s very likely that more jobs will be lost. It would not be surprising if GDP has not yet reached its low.
Sphere: Related Content
Milk Carton Boats Race
From Flash News:
Milk is what floats Seattle residents’ boats.
The Allstate Milk Carton Derby takes place in the Emerald City tomorrow (Jul. 11), where participants will race homemade boats made completely out of milk cartons on Seattle’s Green Lake.
Spokesperson Dan Wartelle says racers spend three to six months before the big contest drinking as much milk as possible to collect cartons to use for their boat.
They end up drinking a whole lot of cow juice to make a boat strong enough to withstand them, since 100 cartons are needed to hold 50 pounds of weight.
Those who get sick of drinking so much milk often hit up their local restaurants and coffee shops to score free cartons.
However, all their hard work and milk consumption doesn’t guarantee their boat will float.
Wartelle says most of the boats fall apart during the race, but no one gets upset since it’s the “funnest part of the day.”
Kennedy Appeals To Pope
From Michael Paulson at the Boston Globe:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the ailing scion of the nation’s most famous Catholic family, drafted a personal letter to Pope Benedict XVI that was hand-delivered to the Vatican yesterday by President Obama.
Although neither the Vatican nor Kennedy’s office released details of the letter and the White House said the president had not read it, the missive immediately captured the imagination of Catholics, reinforcing the sense of the senator as someone reaching out for help and reminding the nation of the special place the Kennedys have held in American Catholic lore.
The president, who has become a close ally of Kennedy since the Massachusetts Democrat endorsed his presidential campaign, asked the pope to pray for the senator during a meeting at the Vatican. After the meeting ended, Obama phoned the senator and talked with him for 10 minutes to fill him in on the conversation.
“I find it quite moving,’’ said the Rev. Robert P. Imbelli, a Catholic theologian at Boston College. “Clearly, when one Catholic asks another to pray for him, this is a sign both of vulnerability and of trust. To have the opportunity to ask that of the pope is, in addition, a sign of devotion and respect for the one Catholics hold to be the successor of St. Peter with a special role in maintaining the unity and apostolic tradition of the church.’’
Catholicism runs deep in the Kennedy clan, “as a cultural and ethnic identity,’’ said R. Scott Appleby, a historian at the University of Notre Dame, said, “Among individual members, the depth of commitment to the church itself varies, as with many Catholic families. It seems clear, and it is poignant and instructive, that Senator Kennedy seeks peace and reconciliation with ‘Holy Mother Church’ as he nears the end of his earthly life.’’
Kennedy’s office declined to release the letter or discuss its contents. His spokeswoman, Melissa Wagoner, said by e-mail: “It’s a personal letter. End of story.’’
But the act of reaching out to the pope, while the senator is struggling with brain cancer, is in many ways a traditional act of a religious person reaching out to a spiritual leader, particularly when struggling with illness or other trouble.
“Catholics and so many others reach out for prayers in their time of need, as Senator Kennedy does so now,’’ said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The entire Catholic community prays at Sunday Mass for the sick and for government leaders during the Prayer of the Faithful, and their prayers are with him. Senator Kennedy recognizes the prayerfulness of the Holy Father, and his reaching out to the head of the Catholic Church is a very understandable human and Catholic action.’’
Does Resveratrol Really Work?
From Melissa Healy at the Los Angeles Times:
The business of selling the supplement touted as an "anti-aging miracle" rests on a foundation of science that is as unstable and incomplete as it is promising.
In fact, the marketing frenzy surrounding resveratrol is a prime example of how science can be distorted when it is mingled with hope, amplified for buzz and spun for profit."I am surprised at the interest, if you consider that the long-term effects in humans are not known," says David Sinclair, the Harvard Medical School pathology professor who has pioneered research on resveratrol and the family of genetic pathways on which the plant compound acts.
"The short-term effects are fine. But we don't know what happens if you take this for two decades. There are thousands of people performing a massive experiment."It's nice for miceThe research on resveratrol is still in its infancy. To date, its most exciting possibilities have been demonstrated only in experiments conducted in petri dishes, on organisms such as yeast and roundworms and in mice.
A single study on rhesus monkeys is almost a year from completion. A dozen human trials on resveratrol (or on drugs derived from it) are currently underway or have recently been completed. But only two are in the third and final phase of testing, in which an agent's effectiveness in treating or preventing a specific disease is measured.
Meanwhile, only two small studies -- neither of which has been published in a scientific journal -- have pointed to the possibility that resveratrol might improve exercise endurance and regulate blood sugar in diabetics. And scientists are likely years away from establishing the safety of using large quantities of resveratrol for long periods of time.
The drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, having paid $720 million last year for the commercial rights to some of the earliest research on resveratrol, is seeking ways to mimic its broad spectrum of effects in a compound created in the lab rather than grown on a vine.
Sinclair, who heads the company's efforts, calls resveratrol "an interesting proof-of-concept molecule" -- a crude but useful vehicle to activate a class of enzymes called sirtuins, which influence the cellular aging process in organisms ranging from yeast to humans. But Sinclair says his research now focuses on some 4,000 synthetic versions of resveratrol that may more powerfully engage the sirtuins, blunting inflammation, blocking tumor growth and boosting the removal of toxins and cellular debris.
"The drugs in trials now will hopefully make resveratrol look like ancient history," he says.
But science is slow. Sinclair said in an interview that it could be five to seven years before a drug based on resveratrol could get a nod from the Food and Drug Administration.
For the purveyors of vitamins, minerals and herbal remedies, that is a five- to seven-year opportunity not to be missed. Consumers' dreams of forestalling the ravages of age have been engaged, and they will buy and swallow anything that gleams with the luster of science.
While they wait for science to flesh out resveratrol's promise, consumers' demands for the stuff can be built, tapped and satisfied with products that offer plenty of promise but tread lightly around the preliminary state of the scientific evidence.
Sphere: Related Content
This Fall On Broadway
It's not too early to take a peek at the new fall season on Broadway.
Here's a list of confirmed upcoming productions as compiled by David Sheward at Backstage:
The Addams Family, a musical based on the cartoons of Charles Addams, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and score by Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party). Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter) will direct and design. Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane star. A pre-Broadway run is scheduled for Chicago this fall. Broadway performances are tentatively scheduled to begin March 5, 2010, at a theater TBA. Opens April 8, 2010.
After Miss Julie, a new play by Patrick Marber based on August Strindberg's Miss Julie, produced by Roundabout Theatre Company. Rehearsals begin Aug. 18. Runs Sept. 18-Dec. 22 at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., NYC.
Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, revivals of Neil Simon's autobiographical plays, to be performed in repertory. Rehearsals begin Aug. 24 for the principal cast and Sept. 21 for understudies. Performances begin Oct. 2 (Brighton Beach Memoirs) and Nov. 18 (Broadway Bound) at the Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41st St., NYC. Opens Oct. 25 (Brighton Beach Memoirs) and Dec. 10 (Broadway Bound).
Bye Bye Birdie, a revival of the 1960 musical about an Elvis-like rock star facing the military draft. Robert Longbottom will direct for Roundabout Theatre Company. Opens Oct. 15 for a limited run through Jan. 10, 2010.
Catch Me If You Can, a musical based on the 2002 film about a real-life con man, with book by Terrence McNally, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Directed by Jack O'Brien, with choreography by Jerry Mitchell. Tom Wopat, Norbert Leo Butz, and Aaron Tveit head the cast. Kerry Butler has been mentioned for the female lead. A pre-Broadway production is planned for Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, July 23–Aug. 14.
Collected Stories, a revival of Donald Margulies' 1996 play about the relationship between an established writer and her protégé. Manhattan Theatre Club will produce, with Linda Lavin starring. Performances begin April 29, 2010, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., NYC. Opens May 18, 2010.
Fela!, a musical about the Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, produced Off-Broadway in 2008 and directed, choreographed, and co-written by Bill T. Jones. A developmental project runs June 15–July 3. Performances begin Oct. 19 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 230 W. 47th St., NYC. Opens Nov. 23.
Finian's Rainbow, a revival of the 1947 musical by Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg, and Fred Saidy about Irish immigrants in the Deep South and a leprechaun searching for his stolen pot of gold. Based on the Encores! concert presentation, which ran March 26–29 at City Center. Casting: Performances begin at the St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., NYC, on a date TBA.
Hamlet, a revival of Shakespeare's classic. Jude Law stars in this Donmar Warehouse production directed by Michael Grandage. Previews begin Sept. 12 at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 45th St., NYC, for a run of 12 weeks. Opens Oct. 6.
In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, a new play by Sarah Ruhl. Produced by Lincoln Center Theater. Performances begin Oct. 22 at a Broadway theater TBA. Opens Nov. 19.
A Little Night Music, a revival of the 1973 Stephen Sondheim–Hugh Wheeler musical, based on the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night. Trevor Nunn directs. Rehearsals begin in October. Opens in December. Dates are tentative.
Love Never Dies, a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, set in New York in 1907. Andrew Lloyd Webber will compose the music, and Glenn Slater will write the lyrics. Jack O'Brien directs. Target opening in London: March 2010, with a Broadway opening the same season. Memphis, a musical based on the life of Huey Calhoun, a white disc jockey in the segregated South of the 1950s who caused controversy by promoting African-American music. David Bryan of Bon Jovi wrote the music; the book and lyrics are by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change). A production played Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre through Feb. 15. Previews September 23 at the Shubert Theatre, 225 W. 44th St., NYC. Opens Oct. 19.
Oleanna, a revival of David Mamet's two-character play about sexual harassment. This production, starring Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman, is playing the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles through July 12. Previews begin Sept. 29 at the Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St., NYC. Opens Oct. 11.
Race, a new play by David Mamet. Richard Thomas, James Spader, and Kerry Washington will star. The playwright will direct. Rehearsals begin Oct. 26. Previews begin Nov. 17 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St., NYC. Opens Dec. 6.
Ragtime, a revival of the 1998 musical by Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty, based on E.L. Doctorow's novel. This production played the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Previews begin Oct. 23 at the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St., NYC. Opens Nov. 15.
The Royal Family, a revival of the 1927 comedy by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber about a family of actors. Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club; to star Rosemary Harris, John Glover, Jan Maxwell, Reg Rogers, Tony Roberts, and Stephen Collins. Doug Hughes directs. Rehearsals begin Aug. 11. Previews begin Sept. 15 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., NYC. Opens Oct. 8 for a limited run. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, a musical about the comic book superhero. Julie Taymor will direct and collaborate on the book with Glen Berger. The score is by Bono and the Edge of U2. A reading was held in Manhattan on July 12 and 13, 2007. Previews begin Jan. 16, 2010, at the Hilton Theatre, 213 W. 42nd St., NYC. Opens Feb. 18, 2010.
Superior Donuts, a new play by Tracy Letts about a Chicago doughnut shop. Produced at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company during the summer of 2008. Tina Landau directs. Previews begin Sept. 16 at the Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., NYC. Opens Oct. 1.
Time Stands Still, a new play by Donald Margulies about a photographer and a journalist returning from covering wars to lead a more conventional life. Laura Linney stars in this Manhattan Theatre Club production. Previews begin at Jan. 5, 2010 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., NYC. Opens Jan. 28.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Two Presidents In One
From James Taranto in the Wall Street Journal:
- "If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe."--President Obama on his soon-to-be-passed stimulus proposal, Feb. 5
- "I never believe anything is do or die."--President Obama on his legislatively imperiled health-care proposal, July 10
Sotomayor Backers Target Firefighter
From Michael Doyle and David Lightman at McClatchy Newspapers:
Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling.
On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing, her advocates have been urging journalists to scrutinize what one called the "troubled and litigious work history" of firefighter Frank Ricci.
This is opposition research: a constant shadow on Capitol Hill.
"The whole business of getting Supreme Court nominees through the process has become bloodsport," said Gary Rose, a government and politics professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.
On Friday, citing in an e-mail "Frank Ricci's troubled and litigious work history," the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way drew reporters' attention to Ricci's past. Other advocates for Sotomayor have discreetly urged journalists to pursue similar story lines.
Specifically, the advocates have zeroed in on an earlier 1995 lawsuit Ricci filed claiming the city of New Haven discriminated against him because he's dyslexic. The advocates cite other Hartford Courant stories from the same era recounting how Ricci was fired by a fire department in Middletown, Conn., allegedly, Ricci said at the time, because of safety concerns he raised.
The Middletown-area fire department was subsequently fined for safety violations, but the Connecticut Department of Labor dismissed Ricci's retaliation complaint.
No People for the American Way officials could be reached Friday to speak on the record about the press campaign.
"To go after so sympathetic a plaintiff as Frank Ricci . . . is a new low in the politics of personal destruction," said Roger Pilon, the director of the libertarian Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies. "If they were smart, they'd keep a low profile."
Ricci, though, has his own advocates, including conservative commentators such as CNN's Lou Dobbs and Fox's Sean Hannity.
Dog Leaps For Life
A dog leaps over another pup as he srtives to escape Danube flood waters during a recent flood in Budapest, Hungary.
Heavy rains have caused flooding this summer throughout Hungary (AP photo).
Six Words Or Less
From John Baldoni at the Harvard Business Review:
Reducing one's life to a handful of words is a mighty challenge.
Creating a six-word memoir, a concept inspired by a project conducted by Smith College's magazine, can be a useful exercise in self-analysis, particularly if you apply the process to reflecting upon your goals and your results. Did we achieve what we set out to achieve? Did I help them and the team to succeed? Did our results stand the test of time?
The million dollar question for any leader is this: did you leave the organization in a better place than when you found it? Sadly we have discovered that the great recession we are enduring was in part due to senior executives who did not leave their companies better off, even though they themselves exited with pockets full of cash.
For leaders, this six-word exercise works well as a form of aspiration, that is, how do I want to be remembered? So if you are early or mid career, you have time to make changes so that you can become the leader you are capable of becoming. Consider the following three questions to help you consider how you would sum up your work life in six words or less.
What gets me up in the morning? A very basic question! What do you do and why do you do it? For some, the answer is the opportunity to work with others on a project that has real meaning, that is, improves the quality of life for others. If this question throws you, then you need to consider what you don't like about what you do. Is it possible to change something, or must you change careers?
How can I help? We humans are motivated to work for goals greater than ourselves. Leaders achieve through the efforts of others. It is imperative that they create conditions for others to succeed. They help others achieve intentions that enable the team, and by extension the organization, to succeed.
What is my influence? Line authority over someone on your team is a point of leverage but its effect may be limited. For organizations, particularly in challenging times with dwindling resources, leaders need to exert their influence. Such influence is built upon good example but transmitted through effective persuasion rooted in trust.
You can adapt the six-word memoir exercise to fit other needs. For example, how might you describe a challenge facing your team using just six words? "Tough job. Committed people. Keep working." Or "Need ideas. Sooner than later. Help." You can even make a game of it at your next staff meeting. Encourage your people to contribute their six words as a means of getting to think about the issues, the challenges, and the opportunities you face.
Summing up your career in six words may not produce a eureka moment of sudden clarity, but the exercise challenges you to think about what work means to you and how you influence the way others work. "Big idea. Profound thoughts. Truthful moment."
[For more information on six-word memoirs, read Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure .
Sexy, Sexy Car Babes!
From Flash News:
The U.S. auto industry may be in ruins, but let’s not forget one of its greatest contributions to the world: The car babe.
Those sexy models who sprawl across the hood of new cars at auto shows are an American staple, and Buck Wolf of About.com’s Weird News Central is taking a look at the most legendary auto gals.
He says, “Even in the 1920s, Henry Ford knew that the best way to sell a new car was with plenty of sex.”
With vintage photos, you’ll see Eleanor Thornton, the woman who inspired the popular Rolls Royce hood ornament.
By the 1950s, GM was selling trucks by having car babes in skimpy bikinis swim in the back of pickup trucks filled with water.
Then there are the sad stories, like Nell Theobald – Miss BMW 1966 – who posed at the New York Auto Show with a lion that sunk its teeth into her thigh. She recovered but was never heard from again.
Tense, Neurotic Public Enemies
Public Enemies, one of this summer's most eagerly-awaited movies has now opened and we recently saw one of the first showings of this tale of John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.
Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cottilard, Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum and Steven Dorff, the film is directed by Michael Mann.
Both literally and figuratively, this is a very dark film and it is clearly influenced by The Untouchables, Road to Perdition and, above all The Godfather, Parts I, II and III.
Johnny Depp's performance as Dillinger is s0 mumbled and consciously delivered that you feel he's channeling Brando. In fact, everyone in this film seems to be mumbling, whispering and/or speaking with a mild southern accent and it gets so bad you have to strain to figure out what the actors are saying.
Also, the film is episodic and seems choppy at times, almost as if it's unfinished.
One longs for a greater cultural context to Public Enemies. I found myself longing for more signposts of the 1930s depression and a greater sense of the fads, music, architecture, manners and styles of this distinctive era. I kept wanting to open the film up and free it from its constraints.
But this is a tense, neurotic gangster flim and it's very violent.
Lots of people get killed. And sometimes it's hard to tell the gangsters from the law enforcement agents.
But the film remains compelling. The story moves along at a nice pace and even though we all know how it ends, it's hard to turn away from Mann, Depp & Co.
In the end, somehow they make it work.
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Friday, July 10, 2009
Justice Binsburg's Shocking Admission
From Christopher Neefus at CNS News:
In an interview to be published in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she thought the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion was predicated on the Supreme Court majority's desire to diminish “populations that we don’t want to have too many of.”
In the 90-minute interview in Ginsburg’s temporary chambers, Ginsburg gave the Times her perspective on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s first high court nomination. She also discussed her views on abortion.
Her comment about her belief that the court had wanted to limit certain populations through abortion came after the interviewer asked Ginsburg: “If you were a lawyer again, what would you want to accomplish as a future feminist agenda?” “Reproductive choice has to be straightened out,” Ginsburg said. “There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that changed their abortion laws before Roe (to make abortion legal) are not going to change back.
So we have a policy that only affects poor women, and it can never be otherwise, and I don’t know why this hasn’t been said more often.”
Ginsburg discussed her surprise at the outcome of Harris v. McRae, a 1980 decision that upheld the Hyde Amendment, which prohibited the use of Medicaid and other federal funds for abortions.
Here’s a transcript of that portion of the
Times' interview:
Q. Are you talking about the distances women have to
travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?
Justice Ginsburg:
Yes, the ruling about that surprised me.Frankly, I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into abortions when they didn’t really want them.
But when the Court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.”
The comment suggested Ginsburg eventually changed her mind and concluded that Roe was not decided with the idea that abortion could be used to limit "growth in populations we don't want to have too many of." But she did not qualify her position that the policy enacted under the case put an unacceptable burden on poor women.
Classist? Racist? What do yon think of Justice Ginsburg's comments? Can you imagine how the media would react if these words had been uttered by one of the Court's more conservative justices?
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Christie In S. Jersey Monday
New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie will make three South Jersey campaign stops in Pitman, Vineland, and Ocean City on Monday, June 13th.
Republican National Committee NC Chair Michael Steele and New Jersey Republican State Committee Chair Jay Webber will also attend the stops in Pitman and Vineland.
Be sure to come out and meet Chris Christie. Here is the schedule:
Monday, July 13th
PITMAN
WHO: Chris Christie
RNC Chairman Michael Steele
NJGOP Chairman Jay Webber
WHAT: Meet and Greet
WHEN: Monday, July 13, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Main Street Financial Group
130 North Woodbury Road
Pitman
VINELAND
WHO: Chris Christie
RNC Chairman Michael Steele
NJGOP Chairman Jay Webber
WHAT: Meet and Greet
WHEN: Monday, July 13, 2009 at 2:45 p.m.
WHERE: Larry's II Restaurant and Diner
907 North Main Road
Vineland
OCEAN CITY
WHO: Chris Christie
WHAT: McCann-Donohue Campaign Headquarters Grand Opening
WHEN: Monday, July 13, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: McCann-Donohue Campaign Headquarters
The Stanton Building
810 Asbury Avenue
Ocean City
Corzine Legacy: Jobless NJ!
Today, Christie for Governor Campaign Manager Bill Stepien released the following statement regarding the latest jobless claims numbers from the United States Department of Labor showing New Jersey with the largest increase in the country for unemployment insurance claims:
"While the rest of the country's jobless claims hit the lowest levels since January, New Jersey learns that thanks to the failed polices of Jon Corzine our state once again is at the bottom of the list when it comes to retaining jobs and growing our economy.
While over 11,000 New Jerseyans in the last two weeks of June filled their claims to collect unemployment insurance Jon Corzine was busy putting together a budget that raises taxes by $1.2 billion and taxes away needed property tax relief for 1.2 million hard-working, middle-class families."
Regardless of the statistics, Jon Corzine claims that "New Jersey is faring better than other states by any standards." (Jon S. Corzine, State of the State Address 2009, 01/13/09)
For the week ending on June 27th, New Jersey had the largest increase in initial claims adding an addition 7,876 in just one week. "The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 27 were in New Jersey (+7,876), Massachusetts (+4,730), Kansas (+4,469), Kentucky (+3,614), and New York (+3,019), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-12,493), Illinois (-5,321), Pennsylvania (-3,949), California (-2,919), and Tennessee (-2,743)." (Press Release, "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report," United State Department of Labor, 07/09/09)
For the week ending on June 20th, New Jersey was second in the country with 3, 170 jobless claims filled. "The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 20 were in California (+14,570), New Jersey (+3,170), Oregon (+3,062), Maryland (+2,342), and Michigan (+2,032), while the largest decreases were in Missouri (-5,753), Pennsylvania (-3,037), Texas (-2,759), Alabama (-1,926), and Florida (-1,894)." (Press Release, "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report," United State Department of Labor, 07/02/09)
Media Hide Dem Misdeeds
To watch the major networks you would think the Republican Party was full of scoundrels while the Democrats drank from the pristine fountain of virtue.
Don't be fooled. Pay attention to the facts.
Gateway Pundit has given us a list of misdeeds by prominent Democrats -- misdeeds that the mainstream media have hidden or simply failed to report.
It's quite a list (all documented) and it deserves your attention:
- Rep. John Conyers' (D-MI) wife Monica was convicted on bribery charges. An associate also implicated Rep. Conyers and Senator Stabenow (D-MI) in the crimes. The state-run media hasn't touched this.** The jury in Rep. Jefferson's (D-LA)criminal case saw tape this week of him accepting bribes and were handed photos of his frozen cold cash this week.
- Mr. John Harris pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud this week. He pledged to cooporate with prosecutors in the investigation of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) in exchange for the lenient sentence.
- Criminal accusations against Senator Dodd (D-Conn.)continue. Dodd has not been straightforward about the value of his 10-acre waterfront home in Ireland. Since 2002 he listed the value of the home at $250,000. In February his office changed that to $127,000. In March, Dodd told The Hartford Current he paid $177,000 for the home. In May he told Newsweek he paid $207,000. Acording to the senator's most recent financial disclosure form, the cottage is actually worth $658,000.
- Rep. John Murtha (D-PA, pictured) has come under scrutiny as more defense contractors associated with him are being investigated. This time the names include Mountaintop Technologies which received $10 million in earmarks and Kuchera Industries which got $9 million in earmarks in 2008. The Pennsylvania representative allegedly used his seniority and position on the U.S. House Appropriations committee to secure the earmarks that he passed on to companies with whom he had relationships. Donations from executives of Mountaintop to Murtha's campaigns amounted to $40,200 while employees of Kuchera kicked in $89,000.
- Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus (Dems) are under investigation for taking an illegal trip to Cuba where these members sucked up to Fidel Castro.
- The House ethics committee opened an inquiry into whether Caribbean trips taken by Representative Charles Rangel violated House gift rules.
- Sen. Inouye (D-Hawaii) acts on behalf of a constituent, who turns out to be in large part himself (a troubled bank in which his ownership share makes up ‘the bulk of his personal wealth’), via Instapundit. The media are silent.
- The House so far has ignored Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. of Illinois over his reported effort to persuade ousted Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich to appoint him to fill President Obama's former Senate seat.
- And, there's also Speaker Pelosi who lied about her knowlege of waterboarding and then charged the CIA with lying.
These are just a few of the stories you may have missed.
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Sally Quinn Lambasts Palin
From Gateway Pundit: Appearing on MSNBC Thursday afternoon, Washington Post writer and founder of the paper’s On Faith blog, Sally Quinn, exclaimed of Sarah Palin: "Well, clearly, she has not put her family first...And these children have, it seems publicly, Even anchor David Shuster, who on Wednesday declared that Palin had "no future" politically, questioned Quinn’s accusation: "Sally, the use of the word ‘exploited’ is pretty strong. Give us some specific examples that you think qualifies for that?" Quinn was happy to elaborate: "Well, you know, she brings them all to the convention, including Trig, the baby. She brings the pregnant daughter with the boyfriend who clearly didn't want to be there. She then travels around with the children, using them as sort of photo ops...she brings the children up when she needs them to shore up her own image."
Sick. Washington Post writer Sally Quinn blamed Sarah Palin for David Letterman's sexual attacks on her children. NewsBusters reported, via Free Republic:
Quinn even seemed to blame Palin for defending her family against David Letterman’s attacks: "It just seemed to me that the David Letterman situation where she whipped that up into a huge scene, bringing in her other daughter Willow and making a big – a big to-do about it when she could have just let it go."
to have been exploited by her in a, I think, really unfortunate way."
Sally Quinn already was forced to apologize for previous attacks on Sarah Palin.
Gannett: More Jersey Layoffs
From Philly.com
Gannett Co. has begun eliminating 106 full-time and 19 part-time positions at its six New Jersey newspapers because of the economic recession.
The company said it began notifying the affected employees late Wednesday and continued Thursday.
Thomas M. Donovan, publisher of the Asbury Park Press and vice president of Gannett's East Newspaper Group, said Thursday the company had hoped to avoid further layoffs. But he said advertising revenues have not rebounded sufficiently and forecasts for the second half of the year were not promising.
Gannett eliminated more than 200 positions at its New Jersey newspapers in December.
McLean, Va.-based Gannett publishes 84 daily newspapers, including USA Today.
Stimulus Helps 'Blue' States
An editorial from Investor's Business Daily:
The $787 billion "stimulus" was supposed to stimulate all of America equally, right? As it turns out, as in George Orwell's "Animal Farm," all areas may be equal, but some are politically more equal than others.
A report in USA Today says that "billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election."
Got that? Money that's supposed to "stimulate" our economy is in fact lining the pockets of Democratic Party supporters.
In 2008, 872 counties supported Obama during the election. Each received roughly $69 in stimulus per person. Of the 2,234 counties that voted for John McCain, the average was $34.
"There's no politics at work when it comes to spending for the recovery," insisted White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
Of course, he's right. No one actually sits down and directs the money to Obama supporters and away from McCain supporters.
They don't have to. It's baked in the cake. That's the way our national laws are written. They benefit supporters of Democrats, who tend to support big government, and disadvantage supporters of the GOP, who tend not to support big government.
No wonder polls show people losing faith in the stimulus.
To date, most of the $158 billion that has been made available has gone to state governments. And the bulk has gone to places like California, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey — blue states all.
How are they doing with the taxpayers' largesse?
According to a Government Accountability Office audit released Wednesday, the stimulus money has been used to "cushion" state budgets, retain teachers, boost Medicaid payments and deal with a host of other short-term state "emergencies."
In short, almost everything but economic stimulus.
Obamacare: Dems At Odds
Yes, Democrats are at odds.
But, as you might expect, they're not arguing over whether to tax you more. They've already agreed on that. Instead, they're arguing about how and where to raise taxes.
From David M. Herszenhorn at the New York Times:
House and Senate Democrats appeared on Thursday to be on a collision course over how to pay for a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system, with the House planning to propose an income tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, an idea that Senate negotiators have all but dismissed as unworkable.
Paying for the roughly $1 trillion, 10-year cost of the health care legislation is arguably the biggest hurdle confronting lawmakers and the White House as they pursue President Obama’s top policy goal of extending health coverage to all Americans and curtailing the steep rise in the cost of medical care.
Senate negotiators had been eyeing a tax on some employer-provided health benefits but shifted course this week after the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and other top Democrats voiced opposition. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, said Thursday that the House bill would not tax those benefits.
Instead, the House Ways and Means Committee was said to be nearing agreement on an income tax surcharge of 2 percent or more on Americans with the highest incomes — those earning more than $250,000. The surtax would rise for those earning $500,000 and rise again for those earning more than $1 million.
At the same time, aides said that the House was moving away from other ideas, including a proposed sales tax on sodas and other sugary drinks and a new payroll tax of 0.3 percent to be paid by employees and employers.
The White House has not expressed a position on the surtax, but lawmakers said they had heard no objections so far.
The chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who visited the Capitol twice this week to discuss health care proposals with House Democrats, has said Mr. Obama would prefer that money to pay for the legislation come from within the health care system.
Idependents Deserting Obama
From Ben Smith at Politico:
In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest. . . .
A source of the shift appears to be independent voters, who seem to be responding to Republican complaints of excessive spending and government control.
“This is a huge sea change that is playing itself out in American politics,” said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen. “Independents who had become effectively operational Democrats in 2006 and 2008 are now up for grabs and are trending Republican. . . .
Obama dropped 6 percentage points last week from the week before in Gallup’s tracking poll, and Quinnipiac University
found a 5-percentage-point drop in approval from independents between early June and early July. Recent state polling shows drops over longer periods.
A Quinnipiac University poll of voters in economically troubled Ohio, released Tuesday, showed Obama’s approval rating slipping 8 points, to below 50 percent, from a poll two months earlier, with a plurality of 48 percent of independent voters disapproving of his job performance. A Public Policy Polling survey in Virginia found Obama’s approval and disapproval numbers effectively tied, with independents disapproving of the president’s job performance, 52 percent to 38 percent.
“That is fairly consistent with all our polling around the country . . . he’s starting to lose a majority of the independents,” said Public Policy’s Dean Debnam. Democrats have “had long enough in some voters’ minds that they’re getting blame for nothing happening, and Republicans are scaring them around health care and tax increases.”
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Obama's No-Bid Dem Deal
From James Richardson at Red State:
ABC News reported last night the Obama Administration awarded a 5 year $18 million contract to Smartronix, a Maryland-based IT firm with connections to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, for the redesign of Recovery.gov.
Launched in February to track the expenditures of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Recovery.gov was to be the pinnacle of web-enabled transparency, according to President Barack Obama.
“The site is the tip of the iceberg for the effort that will go into taking spending tracking and accountability to the next level,” one administration official said of their intended level of transparency.
But now, it seem, the administration has failed to deliver on two pledges central to the Obama campaign’s rhetoric: fiscal responsibility and unrivaled transparency.
An acerbic Ed Morrissey asks, “Since when does it cost $18 million for a website, even one with a database requiring updates on a quarterly basis?”
Not often.
Bashing Palin Is Sexist
From Marielena Zuniga in the Christian Science Monitor:
Let's call it what it is: sexism in the media. No matter your political stripe, pundits are skewering Sarah Palin. Again. Back in the media spotlight for announcing her resignation as governor July 3, she's become easy fodder for misogynistic bashing.
During the presidential campaign, the press bombarded her with stereotypes that already plague us as a gender – airhead, stupid, not qualified. And no, the media weren't picking on her just because she was a former beauty contestant. If Governor Palin was crucified, Hillary Rodham Clinton was slaughtered. Here, a woman of substance, education, and strength was portrayed as weepy, dowdy, and shrewish.
In a commentary this past week on the Huffington Post, Peter Daou qualifies the reasons for such bashing: "Unlike Clinton, Palin didn't have time to develop the layers of thick skin required to handle the withering glare of the national celeb/politico spotlight, a glare that for some reason shines much more harshly on women like Palin and Clinton."
Some reason? Please. Read the word "women" above and know the truth of it. While it may be true that Palin wasn't "seasoned" enough to bear the spotlight, that "withering glare" shines on all women, no matter who they are. Even the venerable New York Times stooped to this superficial level when Condoleezza Rice was chosen by President Bush as national security adviser. A front-page story featured her clothing selection – that she preferred comfortable pumps and conservative jewelry.
My point is that women, no matter their political leanings, can't seem to get a fair – or balanced – shake from the press. It's the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't scenario, especially for female politicians. This treatment of women in politics, however, is representative of a greater problem: the rampant sexist portrayal of women and girls in general. Whether it's the derisive terms and demeaning depictions in rap and hip-hop music and videos, or the barely dressed women adorning the stages of game shows, sexist ideas and imagery abound in the mass media.
In research for an article on "Gender and the media" that I wrote for Soroptimist's Best for Women magazine, I found that sexualization of women is an even bigger problem. Last year, a Dolce & Gabbana magazine ad portrayed a scantily clad woman pinned down by one man while four others looked on. After a global outcry, the ad was pulled. In films, The Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media based in California found that females are more than five times as likely as males to be shown in alluring apparel. The institute is concerned not only about how these messages affect women and young girls, but young males as well.
Some men complain they aren't represented fairly, either. They protest commercials or sitcoms that portray them as inept, bumbling, or overly-aggressive. True. In the overall scheme of media representation, however, women continue to bear the harsher wallop. In movies, magazine ads, and on television, we are valued first for our appearance and second for our inner character and intelligence.
The discussion about gender portrayal in the media is not new, yet little changes. Why is that? Numbers. We have more men than women calling the media shots. Today, women have little access to authority and ownership levels in the media, with women owning only 6 percent of commercial broadcast television stations and 6 percent of all full-power radio stations.
While we can complain about gender misrepresentation – or no representation at all – we have to shift our focus. We can write e-mails and letters voicing our concerns, but we also must ensure that more women move into decisionmaking positions in the media. We can foster media change by backing the initiatives of organizations that work to promote portrayals of both genders in film and TV as valid and important. We can also become better informed about how the media system operates and how public policy shapes the industry.
But it's up to us to make that happen. It's up to us to let the powers-that-be know that we want to be valued for our character and strengths and not our outfits or bodies. Until that day, we'll continue to witness media portrayals of women that are rooted in something much deeper than political partisanship. We'll continue to see Palin bashing. You may like her. Or dislike her. But calling her "wacky" or "caribou Barbie" is not called for. It's sexist.
Fledgling Guitarist Makes Waves
From Anthony Scoles for the the Mongomery (PA) News:
If all else fails and you immediately lose your $50 worth of complimentary chips at the “Even Money — Jazz and Casino Night” being held at the LuLu Shriners’ Temple in Plymouth Meeting, at least the music will keep you on your feet.
Mike Onufrak, leader of the Mike Onufrak Jazz Quartet, is nothing if not dedicated to that end.
At just 23, the humble Temple University jazz guitar student is gearing up to release a four track EP before the end of the summer - just in time to send out to record company execs before he spends a semester studying his craft abroad in Amsterdam.
A lot of 23 year-olds release EPs. Onufrak, however, with the exception of the drums, which will be handled by his friend and frequent collaborator Matt Scarano, will be playing nearly every instrument on the record.“I picked up guitar around the time I was 10,” he says, matter-of-factly, as if finding one’s life calling naturally goes hand-in-hand with piecing together your first Lego pirate ship.
And ever since that young age, music has been a dominant force in the Springfield native’s life. At 18, he packed up and moved to New York City. From 19 to 22, a time when many people are still struggling with the concept of asking a member of the opposite sex out to a movie, Onufrak was touring throughout the country.
In between playing shows, he even managed to find time to operate as a tour manager for a couple of groups — Australian band Architecture in Helsinki and local Philadelphia act, Dr. Dog.
So, even if gambling isn’t your thing, the July 11 event promises at the very least an evening of professional jazz from a seasoned local musician.
“Even Money —Jazz & Casino Night” will be hostedat the LuLu Shriners Temple, 5140 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, Saturday, July 11,6 p.m. - midnight.
Tickets: $25 in advance, $35 if bought at the door.
Must be 21 to drink.
ID required.
Info: 800-594-8499 or www.suburbanconcerts.com/EvenMoney.html.
Michelle's $6,000.00 Purse
According to the NY Daily News, "Back in April she [Michelle] wore a pair of $540 Lanvin sneakers at a Washington food bank.
Earlier this week (while strolling the wooded landscape outside of Moscow), she carried a sexy black clutch, which Italian luxury
house VBH boasts is their shiny black alligator manila bag - with a retail sticker price of $5,950."
house VBH boasts is their shiny black alligator manila bag - with a retail sticker price of $5,950."
The White House denies this report but the company that makes the purse knows its product when it sees it. Told that Obama's office denied the bag was the high-end VBH clutch, Kelly Vitko, a rep for the company replied, "It’s definitely ours [manila bag]."
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Obama Poll Slide Continues
Things don't look good for Dear Leader.
While America struggles through a persistent recession with rapidly increasing unemployment and new inflation fears Obama & Family travel the world on another apology tour seemingly oblivious to the nation's plight. And the family ain't helping.
In Rome, Malia sports a peace sign tee and short shorts while Michelle shows off a $6,000.00 designer purse.
And people are starting to notice.
The President's slow slide continues in the Rasmussen daily tracking poll. Day by day his positives erode while his negatives climb. His approval rating is now at a dismal minus 8%.
Here are the details from Rasmussen:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 30% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –8.
The President’s Approval Index rating has fallen six points since release of a disappointing jobs report last week (see trends).
Thirty-nine percent (39%) now give the President good or excellent marks for handling the economy while 43% say he is doing a poor job. Those are by far his lowest ratings yet on the economy . . .
Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters nationwide say the U.S. is heading in the right direction, the lowest level of optimism since mid-March. The Rasmussen Index shows consumer and investor confidence are down again today reaching the lowest level in three months. The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor fell for the first time in three months. A Rasmussen video report notes that 46% want the government to stay out of the housing market.
Havard, Yale Can't Spell
From Flash News:
Believe it or not, some of the most prestigious universities can’t even spell their own name right.
According to a recent survey by website spell checking platform spellr.us, 14.2 percent of webpages belonging to the world’s best universities contain at least one spelling error.
While some are tiny slip-ups, other blunders are much more embarrassing.
For instance, the word “university” is misspelled by 13 of the world’s top 20 institutions.
The website for Harvard Law School misspells the word “professor” on a main menu, and Yale University – despite being an Ivy League school – misspells “Yale University.”
The top misspelled words on school websites are “accommodation,” “technology,” “university,” “harassment,” and “research.”
Duke University has the most spelling errors of all with a whopping 300, while McGill University has the fewest with 34.
All universities with spelling issues can contact spellr.us for a helpful list of their spelling errors and broken links.
Malia Sports Peace Symbol
From Charlotte Spratt at London's Daily Mail:
Barack Obama's eldest daughter has a clear message for her father - it's time to get rid of the world's nuclear weapons.
Just 48 hours after the U.S. President shook hands with Vladimir Putin over an agreement to reduce their stockpile of nuclear weapons, Malia spotted out wearing not one, but two anti-nuclear T-shirts.
The 11-year-old wore tops bearing the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's famous symbol as her father prepared for three days of G8 talks in Italy.
Just 48 hours after the U.S. President shook hands with Vladimir Putin over an agreement to reduce their stockpile of nuclear weapons, Malia spotted out wearing not one, but two anti-nuclear T-shirts.
The 11-year-old wore tops bearing the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's famous symbol as her father prepared for three days of G8 talks in Italy.
She wore a grey T-shirt to visit the Colosseum in Rome with mother Michelle and sister Sasha, seven, and then appeared to have whipped it off to reveal a mottled white and grey top also bearing the CND logo.
The symbol, designed for the CND in 1958, is now widely used as to signify peace and is also an international sign for anti-war protesters.
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The symbol, designed for the CND in 1958, is now widely used as to signify peace and is also an international sign for anti-war protesters.
Rasmussen: Obama Poll Slide
From Rasmussen Reports:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –5.
The number who strongly disapprove inched up another point to the highest level measured to date and the overall Approval Index is at the lowest level yet for Obama (see trends).
In the wake of last week’s disappointing report on job loss, consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in two months. The Rasmussen Investor Index shows investor confidence falling to the lowest level in three months. The number of investors who say the economy is getting worse jumped from 43% before the jobs report to 51% today. . . .
The number who strongly disapprove inched up another point to the highest level measured to date and the overall Approval Index is at the lowest level yet for Obama (see trends).
In the wake of last week’s disappointing report on job loss, consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in two months. The Rasmussen Investor Index shows investor confidence falling to the lowest level in three months. The number of investors who say the economy is getting worse jumped from 43% before the jobs report to 51% today. . . .
An early look at the 2012 race for the Republican nomination shows Mitt Romney at 25%, Sarah Palin at 24%, and Mike Huckabee at 22%. Forty percent (40%) of GOP voters say that Palin hurt her chances of winning the nomination by resigning as Alaska’s Governor last week. Among all voters, Republicans now have a three-point edge on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
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Was Jackson A 'Lowlife?'
From Bridget Johnson at The Hill:
Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) — the official non-sponsor of Sheila Jackson Lee's Michael Jackson resolution — stands by his comments calling the singer a "pervert," "low-life," "pedophile," etc.
Let's just cut to the King quotes:
ON THE ACCUSATIONS THAT HE IS 'A RACIST':
"That is absolute nonsense. I stand by everything I said and there's absolutely nothing racist or racial in any of the words I used."
"I just think that people are raising this issue are absolutely phony… it's wrong."
ON WHETHER. IN HINDSIGHT, HE 'MAY HAVE WAITED A WEEK' BEFORE SPEAKING ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON:
"No…what put me over the edge was I spent the whole Fourth of July with veterans and cops, firefighters…there was such a resentment building up."
"OK, he's a good singer, he's a good dancer. But why — why is he getting all this coverage? Why has the nation stopped for Michael Jackson?"
"That's why I said strip aside the psycho-babble. This man was a child molester."
ON WHETHER TO SAY IT IS FAIR TO SAY JACKSON WAS A CHILD MOLESTER IF HE WAS NOT CONVICTED IN A COURTROOM:
"I would say an adult male who sleeps with young boys is a child molester…if nothing else, he's molesting and abusing their psyche."
"[I]t was a real reflection on the culture of our country…It can't be much more down than what Michael Jackson did with young boys and yet we exulted that over the last 10 days in two weeks. It was wrong."
Letterman Attacks Palin Again
David Letterman's got Sarah Palin in his sights again.
This from his Tuesday night monologue:
Now how about this, ladies and gentlemen? The Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has announced she is stepping down. She will no longer be the Governor of Alaska. First thing, she woke up and went out on her porch and waved good-bye to Russia. Obama was waving to her.
And people are puzzled by this. They say, “Well Governor, Sarah, what are you going to do? What’s going to happen?” And insiders believe that she hopes to be the next “Octomom.” But I don’t know.
But she’s going to take the summer off, and then will come back next fall in the 10 o’clock slot.
She said that before she decided to quit, she called Dick Cheney. Do you remember Dick “Ka-boom” Cheney? And I thought, well, this is great because when you want some advice on strategic maneuvers, I mean, you go to the architect of the Iraqi war. I mean, isn’t that where you go? That’s where you want to be.
But friends of Governor Palin are saying that she is resigning because she is tired of attacks from the media. Thank God I didn’t say anything.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Peeing In Ocean OK
From Flash News:
Peeing in the pool is looked down upon, but peeing in the ocean is just fine.
TripAdvisor has just conducted a pool and beach etiquette survey and as it turns out, 53 percent of travelers say it’s acceptable to pee in the ocean if other swimmers aren’t near.
Still, 16 percent of folks think whizzing in the water is the most annoying beach and pool etiquette violation.
Other waterside no-nos include...
84 percent of travelers agree that people shouldn’t be allowed to save beachside or poolside chairs by leaving their stuff on them unattended for hours.
82 percent believe smoking should be prohibited from the pool, and 62 percent want to see it banned on the beach.
31 percent think it’s rude not to shower before entering the water.
24 percent think it violates etiquette when women wear skimpy bikinis, while 35 percent feel that way about guys in Speedos.
Top Five Blog Posts
Have you checked these out?
Here are the top five recent posts on this blog:
1) Who's world's greatest entertainer?
2) Elizabeth Taylor health crisis.
3) Michelle's private Paris shopping spree.
4) Sasha, Malia sell dresses
5) World's largest skinny dip.
Corzine-Xanadu-Expo Deal Stinks
New Jersey State Senator Kevin O’Toole issued this statement after reading reports that the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority is “effectively operating at a deficit” and that the long-delayed Xanadu project will not open until at least next year.
“The Sports & Exposition Authority, once a source of pride and generator of revenue for the state of New Jersey, now sounds as if it’s overleveraged, losing money and at risk of bankruptcy,” Senator O’Toole said. “One can’t help but wonder how much of this fiscal crisis is due to eight years of shameless political wheeling and dealing over bungled arena, stadium and Meadowlands development projects.
“Governor Corzine has asked the public to trust him as he poured ever-more public money into projects to prop up the teetering Xanadu development,” Senator O’Toole said. “Yet he has never provided all the details about the significant conflicts of interest that he and his adviser, Gary Rose, have had involving Xanadu’s developers and Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, where Corzine was once the chairman and chief executive.
“Just last year, when Xanadu was scheduled to open, the governor toured Xanadu, said he was impressed and liked ‘the revenue projections’ for the 4.8 million square-foot retail and entertainment project. The governor should say if he still likes the revenue projections now that Xanadu’s opening has been delayed again until at least next year.”
According to published accounts, Goldman, the Manhattan-based investment bank where both Rose and Corzine were partners, loaned Xanadu developer Mills Corp. more than $1.1 billion. Investors feared the money could be lost as an accounting scandal sent Mills veering near bankruptcy in 2006. At Corzines behest, Rose engineered a Xanadu bailout that included Dune Real Estate, a hedge fund. Rose owned an equity interest in Dune. Corzine later also disclosed that he had close ties to Daniel Neidich, Dune’s CEO and a former Goldman partner.
Did Palin Murder Jackson?
From Brian Maloney at The Radio Equalizer:
Did Sarah Palin step down as governor of Alaska because she was about to be exposed as having "done something" to Michael Jackson?
At a time when many on the left are using Jackson's death for political purposes, especially to smear conservatives (or anyone suggesting Jacko was not a saint), this one deserves to win first prize for sheer creativity. At the time of his passing, your Radio Equalizer warned of this inevitable trend.
While that kind of kooky theory might sound preposterously funny to the mentally well-adjusted among us, a caller to Al Sharpton's radio show yesterday appeared absolutely serious in suggesting a Palin-led plot to get Michael Jackson.
It's probably the wackiest Sharpton moment since The Reverend called Somali pirates a "voluntary coast guard".
Hey, there are always nutty callers out there, right? And occasionally, they sneak past call-screeners and reach the airwaves.
What's different here, however, is Sharpton's willingness to entertain the possibility, rather than dismiss it outright.
Sure, why not? No theory is too bizarre for the king of conspiracies.
Here's the transcript and clip:FEMALE CALLER (31:50): He (Michael Jackson) is truly the soundtrack of
my life. I also have a theory about Sarah Palin as well and I’m going to put it
out there on radio, hopefully someone can investigate.But, I think maybe she did
something to Michael Jackson. Maybe there’s a scandal there. Maybe she’s
stepping down because something’s about to come out. I don’t know, but I’m gonna
just put it out there on your show so we’ll see.
SHARPTON: All right, thank you for your call, Ashley. That’s
interesting. I’ll put it out, we’ll see.
I don’t know.Is it really interesting, Al, or certifiably nutty? Sharpton has cooked up so many conspiracies over the years that it's no wonder his listeners feel comfortable sharing them on his program.
MJ Farewell Not Admirable
From Steve Lopez at the Los Angeles Times:
I got to Staples Center some time after the parade of Ringling Bros. elephants and just before a bikini-clad woman who held aloft a sign that said, "Go Vegetarian for the Man in the Mirror."
I suppose it goes without saying that not all memorial services draw the same crowd.
Speaking of crowds, this one was way smaller than the city had planned for. There were hundreds of people on the street rather than hundreds of thousands, which means that a few million tax dollars were spent to have police officers stand around with their arms folded. At 11:30 a.m., at Ralphs on 9th Street, I saw two of the 3,200 deployed cops taking a coffee break. They said they'd been on duty since 2 a.m., all of it overtime. By my count, the vendors, the media and the men in blue far outnumbered fans.
So what was I doing there?
I was hoping to bump into the Rev. Al Sharpton to see if he's made any progress in getting Michael Jackson on a stamp. Sharpton, who was on the scene roughly 10 minutes after Jackson was rushed to the hospital June 25, has also criticized the "disgraceful" media for trying to "destroy the legacy" of Jackson, so I was hoping for a chance to ask him what in God's name he was talking about.I can't remember the last time I saw so much media fluff, hype and hoopla. News organizations that have pulled out of Iraq arrived by the convoy to pay homage to the King of Pop.
Jackson had some great years as a groundbreaking and barrier-crashing, once-in-a-lifetime talent with a message of peace and harmony. But that was followed by a decade or two of extremely disturbing weirdness -- not that you'd know that from the recent news coverage.
You had to wade through acres of shallow water to find media references to Jackson's reported $20-million settlement of a case involving a boy he was accused of molesting. And then there were his comments about seeing nothing wrong with sharing his bed with children, which tells me that if the scheduled comeback hadn't panned out, Jackson could have had a second career as an Irish priest.
As an example of what I mean about the TV coverage, I'd like to share a "bulletin" sent out Tuesday by CNN:"Michael Jackson's daughter Paris says he was the best father you could ever imagine."Thanks for digging that up, CNN. But you should have also told me when I could tune in to watch a "news" anchor read e-mailed reactions from across the nation.
I must confess that despite my best efforts, I couldn't get anywhere near Sharpton on Tuesday morning to share my observations. All I had was a blue wristband, and that kept me across the street from Brooke Shields, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, the Kardashians, the Incredible Hulk and all the others who paid tribute to the man in the gilded casket, who presumably had no say in the family decision to turn his passing into a public spectacle in a sports arena.
I was out there with Heidi Golledge and her daughter Lauren, 12, who drove up from Orange County to watch the memorial. They were wearing "King of Pop" cowboy hats, and Heidi told me Jackson, born in Indiana, was practically a homegrown Californian.
"He's our prince, or king, and this is a major event," she said, adding that a 10-year-old daughter was left home in tears because there wasn't a ticket for her.
And what about Jackson's history with kids?
"We know a lot of people in the industry and felt he was set up," Golledge said. "He did some unconventional things with children, but not what he was accused of."
Jiaoyu Duan came all the way from China to stand a block from Staples Center with a sign that said: "We have a dream to heal the world before it's too late. All Chinese fans thank you for always."
Nearby, Mark and Tonya Sandis were selling their new brand of soda: King of Pop.
"We were drinking some champagne after he died and said we need to do something," said Mark Sandis, and they decided on marketing a new line of soft drinks, at $5 a pop, to pay tribute, Jackson may be gone, but he continues to inspire.
Are there a few opportunists out there, you ask?
More than a few.
A lot of scrappy vendors trying to sell a piece of the man, the media hordes cashing in on the celebrity culture it helps manufacture, the cops collecting overtime, the international telecast selling merchandise to benefit the estate, the owner of Staples Center working a marketing angle or two.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tried his best to get in on the action as well, asking Jackson fans worldwide to help defray the high price of the city's massive preparation for crowds that never showed.
"Donations will help the city of Angels provide the extraordinary public safety resources required to give Michael the safe, orderly and respectful memorial he deserves," said the mayor in an appropriately strange announcement on a strange day even by L.A. standards, and he added that donations would be tax deductible.
Maybe the rest of the world would be more inclined to pony up if it could feel the love firsthand, with an international memorial tour.
Better yet, as my pal Jim Rainey suggested, maybe the only proper tribute is to launch that casket into space. Then, no matter where you are in the world, he'll be in the heavens above, moonwalking into eternity.
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Five Living Presidents Together
From the Associated Press:
All five living presidents will appear in a video shown before next week's All-Star game.Major League Baseball said Tuesday it's the first time every living president will participate in a ceremony at a sports event. President Barack Obama will then throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game in St. Louis on July 14.George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter will recognize citizens being honored by baseball for their community service in the approximately seven-minute video.
Obama:Catholicism Molded Me
From Fox News:
President Obama said the Catholic Church's long tradition of social justice has had a "profound influence" on him -- just days before he is to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on his first trip to Italy.
Obama told FOX News that he looks forward to reading the encyclical, a "circular letter" titled "Charity in Truth," published by the Vatican.
The encyclical -- set to be published on the eve of the G8 summit -- has been seen as a message from the pope to leaders of advanced nations who will convene in L'Aquila, Italy,on Wednesday.
"Specifically, I think that social justice derives from individuals having the freedom to pursue their own ideas of happiness and pursue prosperity using their blood, sweat, and tears," Obama told FOX News on Tuesday. "I also think that opportunities are provided to individuals through civic institutions like religious organizations. And I also (think) the government plays an important role."
The president said Catholicism impacted his life in the beginning of his political career when he was doing organizing work in Chicago.
"I've spoken in the past of my admiration for Cardinal Bernardin, who was somebody who was steeped in that tradition," he said. "I think the Holy Father has consistently spoken out on these issues. I'm sure he will again."
Joseph Bernardin served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996.
Pope Benedict has been working on the encyclical since 2007, but has delayed issuing it. It has since been updated to reflect current issues like the economic crisis, according to the Vatican.
This is the third encyclical for the pope. He wrote "God is Love" in 2006 and "Saved by Hope" in 2007.
Obama's praise for and declaration that he has been influenced by the "social justice" of the Catholic Church is nothing more than a page from the classic Obama playbook: divide and conquer.
"Social justice" is a code phrase for Catholic revisionism and the erosion of Catholic doctrine and teaching. When cafeteria Catholics talk about "social justice" they are talking about a new-style "touchy feely" Catholicism that let's us discard traditional church teachings while embracing liberal causes under the guise of church teaching. "Social justice" is just another route to collectivism and wealth redistribution.
In other words, it's a plot -- a plot to divide the church along veiled economic and ideological lines.
Obama's real religion is big government and the tipoff here is when Obama talks about Catholic "social justice" and then says that "government plays an important role" in all this.
Pope Benedict would do well to stay clear of Obama's flagrant attempt at manipulation.
Jackson Tribute Haunts Democrats
From Glenn Thrush at Politico:
At about 3 p.m. Tuesday, civil rights hero John Lewis (D-Ga.) rose in a nearly empty House chamber to express his support for a resolution recognizing the slaves who toiled and died while building the Capitol.
At almost the same moment, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) took the stage at the sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles, where she vowed to bestow a similar honor on the King of Pop.
Jackson-Lee’s 1,500-word resolution honoring Michael Jackson as a “global humanitarian” may be symbolic and heartfelt, but it’s causing some nonsymbolic heartburn for the Democratic House leadership.
Between high-stakes fights over climate change and health care reform, Democrats will now have to moonwalk through the minefield of Jackson’s oddball behavior, drug abuse and relationships with young children — all in the politically perilous geography of race relations in America.
“There’s no appetite for this,” one House Democrat told POLITICO. “We have too many other things to deal with right now.”
But it’s not as easy as that.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) needs to stay in the good graces of the Congressional Black Caucus. And while CBC members were reportedly lukewarm on Jackson-Lee’s resolution initially, they now may have little choice but to rally around it.
Staffers say CBC members don’t want to be seen as caving in to Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who called Jackson a “lowlife” and a “pervert” in a widely viewed YouTube video. And it will be hard for caucus members not to back Jackson-Lee’s resolution after she held a framed copy aloft during the late pop star’s nationally televised memorial service.
Still, Democrats from conservative districts are almost visibly queasy about the prospect of honoring Jackson further. When CBC members called for a moment of silence for Jackson on the House floor last month, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) walked out. He said he was “nauseated” by the tribute — and that he was hardly the only Democratic member who felt that way.
“The cloakroom was pretty well packed,” Yarmuth told a Los Angeles radio station. “I think there were a lot of people who were disgusted by it.”
Democratic aides said privately Tuesday that it’s unlikely the House will pass Jackson-Lee’s resolution, which includes a recitation of nearly every charitable contribution Jackson made in the past quarter-century. And King vows to make the process as painful as possible by demanding a roll call vote.
Why Famous People Die Together
Why do famous people die at around the same time?
Look at this list:
Princess Diana (Aug. 31, 1997) and Mother Teresa (Sept. 5, 1997).
Authors Aldous Huxley and C. S. Lewis (Nov. 22, 1963), who were joined by President John F. Kennedy (also an author).
James Brown (Dec. 25, 2006) and former President Gerald Ford (Dec. 26, 2006).
Pope John Paul II, head of the smallest kingdom in the world, the Vatican (April 2, 2005), and Prince Rainier, head of the second smallest kingdom in the world, Monaco (April 6, 2005).
Milton Berle, Dudley Moore and Billy Wilder (March 27, 2002).
Hunter S. Thompson and Sandra Dee (Feb. 20, 2005).
And, most recently Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.
Author Marilyn Johnson, has a new book about obituary writing called "The Dead Beat," and Johnson claims that "mystical forces" are needed to explain why different famous people die on the same day.
Johnson says these cluster deaths are "supernatural."
She has no other way to explain them.
She seems to feel they are part of some larger plan.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
30 Days On Airplanes
From Flash News:
One man got over his fear of flying by living in an airplane for an entire month.
For Mark Malkoff, a few hours on a flight is nothing now after spending the entire month of June living on airplanes.
Malkoff teamed up with AirTran airlines to get over his fear of flying and blogged about his experience on markonairtran.com.
The comedian and filmmaker took a total of 135 flights around America, sleeping on seats, eating his weight in pretzels, and bathing with baby wipes in airplane bathrooms.
He reveals that spending every waking moment on planes successfully cured him of his phobia and that he avoided boredom by playing Bingo and Twister with passengers.
Though he’s finally on land, Malkoff is still reaping the benefits of his lengthy flight.
He scored a Guinness World Record for most flights taken in 30 days and uses the trip as his go-to excuse to get out of trouble.
Who's World's Greatest Entertainer?
During the Michael Jackson memorial today numerous speakers described MJ as "the world's greatest entertainer."
It's quite an accolade.
But so many others have also been exalted as "the greatest."
As long as there have been entertainers people have been trying to identify "the greatest." This has been an especially popular pastime in the modern media age.
Indeed, the 20th century has been replete with "greatest entertainers."
Today, at Jackson's memorial someone sang the song "Smile." You know this song ("although a tear may be ever so near . . . "). But how many people know that the song was written by Charlie Chaplin? Chaplin was not only a great movie actor but also a comedian, musician, writer, director, mime and acrobat. He started as a music hall performer in England. He surely must be considered one of the greatest entertainers ever and his work has certainly endured. His legacy is secure.
Many people felt that Al Jolson was the greatest entertainer ever in his time. Jolson was a superstar before there were superstars. He electrified audiences with his live performances.
There is no doubt that Jolson inspired people like Sammy Davis, Jr. Like Jackson, Davis was a child star. Davis sang, danced, acted and became an accomplished impersonator as well. He conquered the stage, screen, television and the movies long, long before African Americans were accepted in such roles. And, of course he charted new paths for black entertainers. Sadly, Davis dies in relative obscurity and virtually broke. He did not receive the sendoff that Michael Jackson received.
One of the people who helped Davis gain a foothold was Frank Sinatra. For longevity alone Sinatra must be considered one of the greatest entertainers ever. The "Chairman of the Board" was an entertainment empire all to himself. He produced, directed, sang, danced, acted. Let's not forget that "Ole Blue Eyes won an Academy Award for his acting and that he starred in numerous movies.
Sinatra, Jolson, Chaplin, Davis -- they mostly created themselves.
Elvis Presley was largely created by Col. Tom Parker, his domineering manger. Parker molded an entertainment sensation - The King of Rock and Roll. Presley's career was well-managed but the control was stifling and many feel it held Elvis back. Certainly, Elvis starred in a string of forgettable flicks and he was tormented by the endless typecasting imposed on him by Parker.
Have we mentioned the great Noel Coward?
The Master, as he was known, was a playwrite, director, actor, writer, singer, comedian. There seemed to be nothing he could not do.
So many other great entertainers come to mind: Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minelli are two of the most sensational live performers ever to grace the stage. Liza eventually won the Oscar that her mother should have won. In fact, Liza achieved the rare distinction of winning the Grammy, Emmy, Oscar and Tony awards.
Those who saw Judy Garland in person never, ever forgot her. And she certainly dominated the movies as one of MGM's most popular stars ever.
Besides Liza, another to achieve the quadruple awards crown was Barbra Streisand. Stresand's talent (especially in her early recordings and performances) can only be described as dazzling.
She defined the word "superstar."
World's greatest entertainer?
Where do you begin?
Who would you pick?
I'm sure I left out more than a few greats.
We could argue over this for ages.
Just remember: This title should not be tossed about indiscriminately.
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Greenwald Slammed On 'Pain'
New Jersey State Senator Marcia Karrow, R-Warren and Hunterdon Counties, said this in response to insensitive comments made by Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Lou Greenwald on New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio.
Greenwald reportedly said that if the economic crisis “is solved too quickly, people believe the pain was not real, and I think it will be very easy for elected officials to fall into old habits and bad habits. We need true reform."
“As gratifying as it is to see Corzine, Greenwald and other Democrats giving lip service to reform of their own job-killing economic development and fiscal policies, I have to differ with Assemblyman Greenwald on one point,” Senator Karrow said.
“My constituents do not need prolonged economic hardship to understand that Trenton desperately needs reform. They’ve been demanding it for the last eight years! They saw this economic crisis coming because of Democrat policies discouraging job creation and economic growth in our state. The question is why didn’t Governor Corzine and Chairman Greenwald?
“Just a few years ago, Greenwald and other Corzine Democrats were talking about ‘having the courage to spend’ as they raised every possible tax and fee on the businesses and individuals that create jobs and economic growth. They let state economic development efforts languish to near irrelevancy as jobs fled the state. They ignored desperate pleas from Republicans and every member of the business community for sensible and responsible regulation.
“Only now, when New Jersey has far higher unemployment than any neighboring state, are they belatedly calling for reform of job-killing policies. Only now – as we are on track in this decade to lose more private sector jobs than we’ve gained for the first time in our modern history – are they jumping on the job-creation bandwagon.
“Assemblyman Greenwald, it’s far too late for you to see the light and advocate for reform. The only ‘true reform’ that will work in Trenton is a change in leadership so that we can repeal job-killing policies.”
Michael Jackson TV Schedule
Following is a rundown on Michael Jackson TV coverage from the LA Times.
Please note that all of these times are west coast times. Add three hours (10 am becomes 1 pm) for east coast times.
* MSNBC will begin its coverage at 8 a.m., with Chris Jansing anchoring. Fox News' Shepard Smith will anchor the day, beginning at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, CNN will start at 9 a.m. with Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon as anchors. (CNN will carry the service on sister networks HLN, CNN International and CNN en Espanol as well.)
* On ABC, "Good Morning America" will air a special edition from Los Angeles and Charlie Gibson will anchor "Remembering Michael Jackson" with "Nightline" anchor Martin Bashir when the service begins. At 9 p.m., Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters will co-anchor a special edition of " 20/20," reporting on the highlights of the service. " Primetime: Family Secrets" at 10 p.m. will focus on Jackson's children.
* CBS' "The Early Show" will broadcast live from Staples, with Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith anchoring. Katie Couric will anchor the "CBS Evening News" at 6:30 p.m. and "48 Hours" at 10 p.m., both from Staples.* NBC's "Today" will air a "split edition," with host Meredith Vieira in Los Angeles.
Live coverage of the services, anchored by Brian Williams, will begin at 10 a.m. Williams also will anchor "Nightly News" from Staples Center.
At 10 p.m., Lester Holt will anchor a special edition of "Dateline."
The event's ratings are expected to be record-breaking, according to television analysts.
More than 1.6 million people registered over the weekend for a chance at one of 17,500 free tickets to the service and Jackson's death has dominated social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
The service will also be seen in 88 movie theaters across 31 states, including Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood.
'Yappy Hour' For Dogs
How lushable is your lovable pup?
You can find out at Yappy Hour.
Yes, now you can take your pup to Yappy Hour every Tuesday evening at Tail Waggers Gourmet Pet Bakery and Boutique on Hilton Head Island, SC. Tail Waggers sponsors Yappy Hour from 6 to 7 PM at its Coligny Plaza boutique.
Tail Waggers features all natural treats and goodies for dogs, pet toys, designer beds, doggie t-shirts and apparel, collars, leashes, even artwork.
So, while you're gettin happy, your canine can get yappy.
Bow-wow-WOW!
Elizabeth Taylor Health Crisis
No, Dame Elizabeth Taylor did not collapse when she heard the news of Michael Jackson's death.
But yes, Taylor is distraught over the passing of the "purest, most loving, most giving" friend she has ever known.
Still, Elizabeth was not suicidal over Jackson's death as some have reported.
But Elizabeth Taylor is not in good health. She's 77 years old and is confined to a wheelchair. She's not ambulatory and has recently undergone extensive tests.
Someone who saw her at the test site reports that she is barely
recognizable. In fact, this person who chatted with the Last Great Hollywood Star did not even realize who she was chatting with until her brief conversation with Dame Elizabeth was almost over.
Taylor was reportedly accompanied by her beloved Maltese dog, Daisy. Taylor adopted Daisy when Daisy's predecessor, Sugar died in 2005.
At this point in her life Dame Elizabeth is completely focused on dogs and connected with dog lovers.
BTW: We understand that Elizabeth will have to undergo more medical tests. In fact she will be back in the hospital on Wednesday or Thursday to complete tests she had already begun.
Don't count Elizabeth Taylor out, however. She remains the ultimate survivor!
Sasha, Malia Sell Dresses
From Carol E. Lee at Politico:
J.Crew is using Sasha and Malia Obama to market some of its spring and summer styles, in a press release sent to reporters Monday afternoon titled "The Obama Girls Bring Some American Style to Moscow."
"Malia & Sasha wore J.Crew and crewcuts as they exited Air Fore One in Moscow — stylish in their trenches, they also accessorized with ballet flat shoes," the release says.
The notice includes two photographs of Sasha and Malia deplaning Air Force One with their parents and an image of the J.Crew logo.
It also offers details about the specific items each of the Obama daughters wore on the way to Moscow and after their arrival, including the prices and style numbers for each piece.
Malia, for instance, was sporting the Silk Taffeta Trench ($298) and black satin ballet flats with contrast trim ($98), the e-mail notes. Whereas Sasha, 8, was wearing the girls’ crushed twill trench ($169.99) and girls’ minna printed ballet flats in classic navy ($108).
In the past, first lady Michelle Obama has publicly credited J.Crew a number of times for designing her duds, including the yellow sweater-set and skirt she famously wore on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” during the campaign.
And the company took credit for creating the coats and gloves the first daughters wore during the Inauguration. The press release marks one of the few times the Obama girls, whose public appearances the president and first lady keep tightly controlled, have been highlighted in a marketing campaign to sell specific products or labels.
Earlier this year, the first lady smacked down the company that makes Beanie Babies for modeling two new dolls after her daughters: Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia. "We believe it is inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes," Michelle Obama's spokeswoman said in a statement at the time, and the company pulled them from the shelves.
The first lady's office did not immediately respond to an e-mail asking if Michelle Obama had approved the marketing materials. Heather Lynch McAuliffe, the vice president of J.Crew public relations, said the White House did not approve the release before she sent it.
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Americans Becoming More Conservative
From Gallup:
Despite the results of the 2008 presidential election, Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, say their political views in recent years have become more conservative rather than more liberal, 39% to 18%, with 42% saying they have not changed. While independents and Democrats most often say their views haven't changed, more members of all three major partisan groups indicate that their views have shifted to the right rather than to the left.
These findings, from a June 14-17 Gallup Poll, somewhat conform to Gallup's annual trends on Americans' self-defined political ideology. Thus far in 2009 (from January through May), 40% of Americans call themselves conservative, up from 37% in 2007 and 2008, and the highest level since 2004. . . .
Conservatives currently outnumber liberals in the population, and thus, conservatism has a natural advantage on any question asking the public to choose between these standard ideological labels. . . .
Indeed, in the latest survey, 38% of Americans describe their political views as conservative, and among this group 58% say their views have grown more conservative in recent years.
Although a large segment of liberals (42%) say they have become more liberal, far fewer Americans in the poll (18%) describe themselves as liberal -- thus providing little counterweight to the rightward movement of conservatives. At the same time, political moderates are twice as likely to say they have grown more conservative as opposed to more liberal (33% vs. 18%), thus further tipping the scales in favor of conservatism.
Jackson Memorial Performers Set
From People magazine:
Everyone from Mariah Carey to the surviving Jackson brothers are expected to perform in honor of the late King of Pop at the his memorial Tuesday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.
The Jackson family's publicists released a "preliminary and subject to change" list of participants, which included Carey and confirmed an earlier report from CNN that Jennifer Hudson would take the stage. Other stars set to appear include:
• Brooke Shields
• Usher
• Stevie Wonder
• Magic Johnson
• Kobe Bryant
• Andrae Crouch Choir
• Berry Gordy
• Family friends Ron Boyd and Pastor Lucious Smith
• Shaheen Jafargholi of Britain's Got Talent
• Martin Luther King III
• Bernice A. King
• John Mayer
• Lionel Richie
• Smokey Robinson
• Rev. Al Sharpton
Sources confirm that the dancers who were set to take the stage with Jackson on his London tour will also perform at the memorial.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Is Sarah Palin Pregnant?
From Flash News:
The reason why Sarah Palin is jumping ship as governor of Alaska is because there’s a baby on board.
According to New York-based Biblical scholar Pastor Harry, Palin is resigning because she’s pregnant, and the proof is in the Bible.
Pastor Harry claims to have found a secret code in the Scripture riddled with the words “Sarah Palin, pregnant, resign, July.”
He says the code explains her sudden departure from office and looks as legit as other codes he’s discovered this year.
So far, “the most encoded year ever” has seen Bible predictions come true like Barack Obama winning the presidency, Kris Allen winning American Idol, and the swine flu epidemic.
But before Sexy Sarah sports a baby bump, maybe she should come clean about her pregnancy.
By being “cagey” about her resignation, Pastor Harry thinks bailin’ Palin is destroying her career.
Instead of being the open and honest American she claims to be, she’s acting like a sneaky politician.
Sphere: Related Content
According to New York-based Biblical scholar Pastor Harry, Palin is resigning because she’s pregnant, and the proof is in the Bible.
Pastor Harry claims to have found a secret code in the Scripture riddled with the words “Sarah Palin, pregnant, resign, July.”
He says the code explains her sudden departure from office and looks as legit as other codes he’s discovered this year.
So far, “the most encoded year ever” has seen Bible predictions come true like Barack Obama winning the presidency, Kris Allen winning American Idol, and the swine flu epidemic.
But before Sexy Sarah sports a baby bump, maybe she should come clean about her pregnancy.
By being “cagey” about her resignation, Pastor Harry thinks bailin’ Palin is destroying her career.
Instead of being the open and honest American she claims to be, she’s acting like a sneaky politician.
Michael Jackson's Brain Removed
From The Economic Times:
Michael Jackson, who died of a suspected cardiac arrest at his Beverly Hills mansion on June 25, is going to be buried - without his brain.
As the late King of Pop's family prepares for the singer's funeral on Tuesday, they have been told his brain would be held back for tests.
The family was given the choice of either waiting up to three weeks for Jackson's brain to be returned to them or go ahead and bury him without it - which they have decided to do.
Los Angeles Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey said that neuropathology tests are going to be conducted to see if it holds any clues to the exact cause of his death. However, the examination cannot start until at least two weeks after the death when the brain has hardened sufficiently to slice it open.
Sources at the coroner's office revealed that his brain was removed before his body was released to relatives the next day. Jackson's death is believed to have stemmed from a suspected overdose of painkillers.
Jackson's brain will be tested by a forensic neuropathologist for past drug use and whether he has suffered overdoses in the past. The brain can also show any past abuse of alcohol or if the singer had suffered from any one of a number of diseases.
According to the source, removing the brain is the "only way to carry out the tests". "The tissue has to be examined. I can't tell you how long that is going to take," the Mirror quoted the source as saying.
Liz Won't Attend Memorial
From Mike Fleeman at People magazine:
Pouring out her grief on her Twitter page, Elizabeth Taylor says she's going to skip Michael Jackson's memorial – and she feels the pop star would have approved of her decision.
"I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event," she writes. Taylor, 77, one of Jackson's closest friends, says she was asked to speak at the Tuesday event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
"I cannot be part of the public whoopla," she writes. "And I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word." Instead, she's expressing herself in writing.
"I will always love Michael from the depth of my being and nothing can separate us." And, she adds, "My love goes out to Katherine and Michael's beloved children."
Beatles Win Entertainer Poll
One hundred and thirty seven people voted in our poll which asked: Who among these five is (are) the world's greatest entertainer(s)?
That was a record number for this site.
You were only allowed to vote for one.
And, you picked The Beatles, followed by Elvis Presley, then Sinatra, then Michael Jackson with Judy Garland a distant fifth.
Here are the raw votes:
The Beatles - 38 votes.
Elvis - 35 votes
Sinatra - 28 votes
Michael Jackson - 27 votes
Judy Garland - 9 votes. Of course, The Beatles had four members whereas each of the others were single acts. So, among the single performers, Elvis is still tops. And The Beatles and Elvis easily garnered more than half the votes.
Thanks for participating.
We'll have more polls soon!
Dorky Dresing Is 'In!'
From Flash News:
Dressing dorky is no longer lame.
NerdBoyfriend.com features images of famous nerds like Rick Moranis, Neil Diamond, and Bob Dylan and provides links to where their dorky duds can be bought.
Creator Roxana Altamirano says her site helps fashion- challenged dweebs embrace their nerdiness because dressing dorky is actually cool. She says, “I don’t want nerds to change their closets. I want them to know they can be nerdy and chic. The website says, ‘You’re okay. Keep you’re nerdy style.’”
In fact, the sexy bookworm look is so in right now, wannabe nerds are trying desperately to perfect it.
A fan of the site recently spent $800 on nerdy clothes and emailed Altamirano to thank her for the style help, but not for the dent in his wallet.
She’s been tapped by many dudes to be their personal stylist and shopper, which Altamirano finds funny since she has no fashion training.
Open Letter To Palin
Here's an open letter to Sarah Palin from columnist Jonah Goldberg at National Review:
Dear Governor Palin,
You’re blowing it.We haven’t met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCain’s running mate. I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him. I’m also assuming you want to run for president some day.
There’s a reason why the Left and much of the media establishment hated you from day one. Some hated you out of the fear that you might stop Barack Obama’s unfolding coronation. Others because you seemed to expose the snobbery, arrogance, and ideological pieties of elite feminism. Your beauty, your status as a working mom, your blue-collar husband, your bravery in taking on the political establishment in Alaska, your proud status as a pro-lifer and mother of a special-needs child: All of these things were — and are — deeply threatening to a secular left-wing cultural elite.All of this was an incredible compliment. Powerful people don’t fear the powerless. Remember how Mike Huckabee borrowed that Air Force maxim when he got grief during the primaries? “If you’re not taking flak, you’re not over the target.” Well, you were over the target.
But not anymore. Oh, you’re still taking flak, but not because you strike fear in the hearts of Democrats. You’re taking flak because you’re striking fear in the hearts of Republicans. For Democrats, fairly or not, you’ve become a laughingstock. And for some of McCain’s campaign managers, you’ve become a convenient excuse for their failures.
But while McCain’s strategists do not cover themselves in glory for scapegoating you, you are not without blame either. You do seem to think the best advice is for you to stay just the way you are. Leaders listen to the advice they don’t necessarily want to hear.For starters, every time I see you on TV, you’re whining about unfair press coverage. Don’t get me wrong: Much of it is unfair, and some of it deserves a response. But it’s not presidential. It’s not even gubernatorial. You are constantly taking the bait, taking up the fights your biggest fans want you to take up.
But here’s the thing: Don’t listen to your biggest fans. Don’t alienate them either, but don’t think that because the Palin4Pres crowd cheers, you’re making progress. Politics is ultimately about persuasion, and you seem entirely uninterested in that, preferring instead to play the victim. Well, victims don’t get elected president. Ronald Reagan was a laughingstock for liberals and despised by the press. But he didn’t whine or take the bait.
Second, peddling a few platitudes and truisms about free markets and limited government is no substitute for really knowing what you’re talking about. Yes, you can talk well about the stuff you know — oil drilling, energy, etc. — but beyond your comfort zone, you fall back on bumper-sticker language that sounds fine to the people who already agree with you but is useless in winning over skeptics.
President Bush had the same problem you do, which is why there’s a hunger for Republicans who can effectively articulate and sell our policies and philosophy. That’s why the wonks have the upper hand. Mitt Romney, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and other hands-on types are what the party wants and, frankly, needs.
Here’s the good news: You have time. Here’s the better news: You have something no one else in the party has — charisma. And I don’t mean you have the most charisma like it’s a consolation prize for not being elected prom queen. If money could buy what you have, Romney would have bought it all by now. Good politicians can learn how to win over audiences, but the great ones are born with the ability. Reagan had it. Clinton had it. Obama has it. You have it. You are the “It Girl” of the GOP.
What you lack, you can learn. If knowing how to describe the situation in Pakistan or explain the “doughnut hole” in health-care coverage was all you needed to get elected, an intern with a subscription to The Economist could be president. So here’s my advice. Stay home and do your job and your homework. You’ll still be a national figure come the primaries.
But if you can’t surprise your detractors with your grasp of policy when you re-emerge on the national stage, you won’t win the nomination. More important, you won’t deserve to.
'Real Housewife,' Phils Party
From Dan Gross' Philly Gossip in the Philadelphia Daily News:
Danielle Staub, the "Real Housewife of New Jersey," whose involvement with prostitution and drug dealing in the 1980s became a point of major drama on the Bravo series, chatted it up with Phillies slugger Ryan Howard at the new Dusk club at Caesars in Atlantic City Saturday night. Rittenhouse Square raised DJ AM, aka Adam Goldstein, is a partner in the new club and kept the crowd going while spinning the July 4 opening-night party where Shane Victorino accompanied Howard to A.C. after the Phillies pounded the Mets for the second time in a three game weekend sweep.
Obama Economy: Sinking Fast
How's the Obama economy doing?
Here are some startling figures from Gateway Pundit:
Unemployment:
The US lost over 2.5 million jobs in the first four months of this year under the Obama Administration.The US unemployment rate rose from 7.6% to 9.5% under Obama... the highest rate in 26 years.
Bureau of Labor Statistics- via Sweetness and Light
The US has lost 16,000 jobs each day since Democrats passed their non-Stimulus bill, the largest redistribution of wealth from the private sector to government officials in US history.
National Deficit:
Obama will more than quadruple the US budget deficit his first year in office. Gross Domestic Product Growth:By any measurement, GDP growth is far below what it was last year. Gross Domestic Product fell at a 5.5 per cent annual rate in 2009's first financial quarter.
Palin May Sue Media
From Jonathan Martin at Politico:
Ratcheting up her offensive against the news media, Gov. Sarah Palin’s attorney threatened to sue mainstream news organizations if they publish “defamatory” stories relating to whether Palin is under federal investigation.
In an extraordinary four-page letter, Alaska-based attorney Thomas Van Flein warns of severe consequences should speculation that until now has largely been confined to blogs about whether Palin embezzled funds in the construction of a Wasilla, Alaska, sports arena find its way into print.
“This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law,” Van Flein warned, citing Alaska liberal blogger Shannyn Moore.
Much like Palin did in her Facebook statement Saturday, Van Flein savages the news media in his letter.
“Just as power abhors a vacuum, modern journalism apparently abhors any type of due diligence and fact checking before scurrilous allegations are repeated as fact,” the Anchorage attorney wrote.
Neither the Times or the Post made any mention of the embezzlement rumors in their Saturday editions, but sources close to Palin consider the letter a warning shot to stay away from the topic.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Soccer Star Kills Fan
From the Latin American Herald Tribune:
Colombian midfielder for Atletico Junior Javier Florez on Sunday killed a young man who, apparently – along with a group of other people – blamed him for losing the title in the Apertura tournament against Once Caldas.
“The young men shouted at him ‘weak, weak’ and he (Florez) turned around, took a gun and shot,” said a witness to the incident, which occurred in a southern neighborhood in the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla.
Atletico Junior played the final match of the Apertura tourney against Once Caldas and lost both the away game 2-1, as well as the home game 1-3, which occurred last Sunday.
Florez fired two shots at electrician Israel Campillo, 27, said authorities.
The player fled the scene on foot and the furious crowd pelted his automobile with stones and other objects, destroying it.
Florez is being sought by police across a large section of Barranquilla
Psychic: Michael Was Alien!
From Flash News:
Michael Jackson didn’t look like anyone else on Earth because he wasn’t an Earthling.
According to psychic Judy Hevenly, Jackson was really a “walk-in extraterrestrial” from a far away planet.
The signs were always there.
Take, for instance, his gravity-defying moonwalk. Hevenly says the dance originated in Jacko’s alien planet and he brought it to Earth to make others happy.
Then there are his unusual facial features derived from his alien race, not necessarily cosmetic surgery.
Hevenly says Jackson’s progressively whiter skin could also be attributed to being an E.T. because as some aliens age, their skin lightens.
The frailness of his body in recent years meant Michael was getting ready to depart from Earth.
Hevenly believes he was in constant contact with other aliens preparing for his death, especially while climbing trees in Neverland.
She says his youngest son, Blanket, is also an E.T. and will take over his father’s legacy in due time.
'Thunderous Applause' For Bush
From Murray Evans at the Houston Chronicle:
Former President George W. Bush was greeted by thunderous applause on the Fourth of July as he told thousands of spectators in a rural Oklahoma rodeo arena that the U.S. was "the greatest nation on the face of the earth."
Bush was given six standing ovations as he spoke on a warm, humid evening in GOP-friendly Woodward, a town of about 12,000 residents in northwest Oklahoma and the latest in a handful of out-of-the-way places Bush has visited since leaving office.
During a 30-minute speech mostly devoid of political references — he mentioned his successor, Barack Obama, just once in passing — Bush thanked members of the military, spoke about the bravery of injured soldiers he'd met and told stories of people in difficult situations helping others.
"Patriotism comes in all different kinds of forms," he said. "Freedom is beautiful, freedom is precious, freedom must always be defended."
He also joked with the crowd, telling them it was "nice of you to give a retired guy something to do." The former Texas governor even briefly talked football, saying "all I ask is you take it easy on the Longhorns next year," referring to the heated rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.
Woodward Mayor Bill Fanning estimated about 6,500 people attended Bush's speech. The former president surprised city leaders by accepting their invitation to speak at festivities celebrating the $25 million renovation of a local park. . . .
After the speech, Bush waded into the crowd for a few minutes, giving hugs, signing autographs and shaking hands. "I didn't think he'd do that," Fanning said. "I told him he's welcome back any time." . . .
In 2004, Bush won 80.9 percent of the vote in Woodward County as he defeated Democratic challenger John Kerry.
"I came because George Bush was coming down here and I wanted to see him," said 48-year-old Douglas Stewart of nearby Freedom, who had a U.S. flag attached to his ballcap. "I helped put him in office twice. I'm proud to say I did." . . .
The town welcomed Bush with banners on restaurants, hotels and a highway entering Woodward. Three protesters standing outside the arena with anti-Bush signs left by mid-afternoon. No protests were seen inside the arena.
City Manager Alan Riffel said it was the first presidential visit to Woodward since the late 1950s, when Dwight Eisenhower landed at the airport outside town en route to view drought damage in the area.
Who's World's Greatest Entertainer?
Vote in our poll from among these top five (Beatles, Garland, Jackson, Presley, Sinatra) for the world's greatest entertainer.
More than 130 people have already voted.
Have you?
There are only seven hours left to vote.
Vote at the top right corner of this page.
Hurry!
The fireworks were absolutely magnificent last night in beautiful Sea Pines Plantation on dreamy Hilton Head Island here in South Carolina's beguiling low country.
The sky was clear with a full moon and whole families came to Harbour Town in droves for
this great Fourth of July classic.
The show lasted at least half-an-hour by our count and ended, as expected with a spectacular finale.
Children were everywhere, all excited and delighted as a perfect Independence Day came to a close. The little girl in front of me reported tha there would be 89 fireworks in all and she said that with such authority that I wasn't about to argue with her.
Did I count them? Naahh . . . I was having too much fun!
After the fireworks we walked back to Sea Pines Center (about a mile) through the pines and the darkness under a glorious full moon with the bullfrogs croaking and the crickets cricketting.
We ended the evening at Coligny Plaza where we enjoyed hot fudge sundaes! A perfect Fourth!
Sean Pines fireworks photo by Mark Tarasiewicz
Oh, That Edwards Sex Tape!
Writing in the Hartford Courant, columnist Jim Shea is looking forward to seeing the John Edwards sex tape for two reasons:
1) The tape adds a bit of balance to the Mark Sanford love/infatuation story; and
2) Shea wants to see if during the romp, John Edward's soft, fluffy "Breck Girl" hair remains in place. "I'm betting it does," Shea says.
In case you're not caught up in this Edwards sex tape story, She reports:
A disgruntled top aid to Edwards, who is writing a tell-all book, revealed he has seen a sex tape the former presidential candidate made with Rielle Hunter, who may or may not be the mother of his love child.
Thank goodness, Edwards is pretty much out of the national political picture. And Sanford should be as well.
Message to Mark Sanford: Please resign and save the good people of South Carolina any further embarrassment. We've heard quite enough about you and your mistress.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Jackson Memorial TV Coverage
Moments ago, from Entertainment Weekly:
Broadcast and cable networks are beginning to sort out their plans for the July 7 public memorial for Michael Jackson, according to the Associated Press.
Although all the video will come via the same pool feed from the Los Angeles Staples Center, ABC, CNN, HLN (formally Headline News), MSNBC, E!, CNN en Espanol and CNN International all plan to broadcast the memorial live, starting at 10 a.m. (PDT).
Several networks are sending their top anchors for the event, including Charles Gibson for ABC and Anderson Cooper for CNN. Katie Couric will cover the event from the Staples Center for CBS, but the network hasn't released how it intends to broadcast the memorial.
NBC, meanwhile, is not planning live coverage, instead choosing to air a one-hour highlight special in prime-time.
Fox News has not announced its plans
Jackson Had Powerful Drug
From tomorrow's Shanghai Daily:
The powerful sedative Diprivan was found in Michael Jackson's home, a law enforcement official said, as Los Angeles planned for a massive crowd at the singer's memorial service.Diprivan is an anesthetic widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. Also known as Propofol, it's given intravenously and is very unusual to have in a private home.The law enforcement official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about the matter.
A Los Angeles Police spokesman, Lieutenant John Romero, declined to discuss the case. "It's an ongoing investigation," he said on Friday.The cause of Jackson's death has not been determined. Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks.At the downtown Staples Center, where Jackson's memorial will be held on Tuesday morning, Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger said anywhere from 250,000 to 700,000 people could try to reach the arena, even though only 17,500 tickets will be available.City Councilwoman Jan Perry urged people to watch the memorial on TV.
America's Gassy Founding Fathers
From Flash News:
With all the gas-inducing food floating around at Fourth of July barbecues like cole slaw, baked beans, and beer, it’s only natural that Americans will have to fart.
Luckily, no one needs to feel ashamed since the fathers of America were most likely farting machines, according to gastroenterologist Dr. Patricia Raymond.
She says, “They were probably very gassy individuals since they ate a lot of vegetables and fruit. They were probably farting when they were signing the Declaration of Independence.”
Benjamin Franklin even wrote a book called Fart Proudly, and was all for letting them rip freely.
But though the great men who built America cut the cheese, Dr. Raymond says blasting butt bombs is no way to honor our nation.
Instead, she encourages gassy folks to pass gas quietly or to take activated charcoal caps like CharcoCaps to ease their bowels.
The Essence Of America
What is America to me?
A name, a map, or a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me?
A name, a map, or a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me?
The house I live in
A plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher
Or the people that I meet
The children in the playground
The faces that I see
All races and religions
Thats America to me
The place I work in
The worker by my side
The little town, the city
Where my people lived and died
The howdy and the handshake
The air a feeling free
And the right to speak your mind out
Thats America to me
The things I see about me
The big things and the small
That little corner newsstand
Or the house a mile tall
The wedding and the churchyard
The laughter and the tears
And the dream that's been a growing
For more than two hundred years
The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city
Or the garden all in bloom
The church the school the clubhouse
The millions lights I see
But especially the people- yes especially the people
Thats America to me
Lyrics by Abel Meerpoll, aka Lewis Allen.
Sphere: Related Content
Jackson's Most Thrilling Hotspots
From Flash News:
Fans can honor Michael Jackson by taking a thrilling road trip to the sites of his most famous music videos.
Fandango.com – the nation’s leading movie-ticketing destination – has mapped out a special “Vacation On Location” road trip following in the dancesteps of Jacko.
Stops include the 1880 Union Hotel seen in Jackson’s video “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney located near Neverland Ranch, the Vasquez Rocks in LA where he danced in “Black or White,” and the Brooklyn subway station from “Bad.”
Then there’s the stretch of East Union Pacific Avenue in downtown LA, home of the legendary zombie dance sequence in “Thriller.”
Harry Medved of Fandango suggests folks do a little dance at each stop to pay homage to the King of Pop, and proposes fans recreate the “Thriller” moves at the very spot where MJ made music history.
Identifying Palin's Real Agenda
From Andrew Malcolm at the Los Angeles Times:
First, a few political givens:
These are different, changing times in U.S. politics.
The last three presidents each emerged from nowhere and achieved the White House on their first bid, though Bill Clinton and George W. Bush each had governor’s terms and reelections under their belts.
But what had Barack Obama ever accomplished as a freshman senator before announcing and achieving his desire for promotion? (And not finishing his first term either.)
The emergence of social media and online networking have created a whole new political environment beneath traditional media radar with untapped and unknown opportunities for unconventional politicians.
Sarah Palin is just such an unconventional politician, with surprising upsets in her past, a down-to-earth manner so different from the tired old suits you’ll see jabbering on morning TV this Sunday. And she has an astounding approval rate among her conservative base.
Most expected Palin not to run next year for reelection, like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who now has the time and option to gear up for a 2012 presidential run.
Hardly anyone expected her to quit the governor’s office and turn it over to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell on July 26, despite Palin’s slipped popularity at home. (Full Palin text here.)
Professionals watching a withdrawal like this conventionally and immediately wonder, what bad news don't we know about her that's about to come out? Is there some scandal, indictment or personal revelation that would cause her to step down even before its announcement? Friday, especially a pre-holiday Friday, is usually a time to announce what you don't want heard much.
But here’s why friends say she’s really doing it:
Palin is genuinely sick of, as she calls it, “the crap” that comes with national politics, especially the effect on her family, which is more important than many have realized until now. The recent Vanity Fair article with alleged John McCain advisers mercilessly, and anonymously, criticizing her was only one element. As was a recent Alaskan cartoon mocking her Down syndrome son. And the pornographic ones before, etc.
Few in American public life have generated such heat as Palin, both for and against. It’s a fascinating phenomenon to watch. She connects electrically in person with crowds like few others in recent years. Her name in a mere headline brought thousands to this blog a few hours ago. And TV knows her audience appeal. Curiosity too.
What she’s decided to do, as a former championship basketball player who sees the bipartisan opposition has gained momentum, is take a timeout, get out of the line of fire awhile, write her lucrative book, take care of her children, blog and travel a lot without the responsibilities of elective office. Free her family from scrutiny. And avoid any criticism for ignoring an official job in Anchorage and Juneau.
And see what happens.
Her new SARAHPac remains intact, however, and is still accepting donations to fund her travels. In doing so, she can refine her political style, learn more about more issues, become less naive, hopefully find savvier political advisors more loyal to her than themselves for a change, people accustomed to a larger national stage that she’s willing to trust.
And rebuild her image over the next few years. That’s the thinking. Unlikely perhaps, but not outrageous if a previous elected official can survive a scandal over oral sex in the Oval Office and lying about it.
Her departure now also gives her successor 16 months to be seen as an incumbent for the 2010 gubernatorial election he says he'll seek to win.
In one sense, in the world of national American politics this is all incredibly naive. For whatever reason -- including incalculable unfair criticism and stereotyped media coverage that would never ever be tolerated for a male officeholder – she’s in a huge hole, partly of her own making.
She’s made numerous mistakes, partly from inexperience, partly from poor strategic advice. While Mitt Romney goes quietly about the business of building up political owe-sies by campaigning tirelessly for others all over the country, building his contacts and allegiances out of sight and using his long experience to appear statesmanlike, Palin is publicly squabbling with the likes of a grumpy, fading late-night TV celebrity who made a rape joke about her daughter.
It’s so soap-operey. Those awful slings about looking like trailer trash wouldn’t be aimed at a male Gomer Pyle. But it comes with the turf. Hillary Clinton’s long experience with that thickened her skin.
Also, strategically, what has Palin done since the election? Gone home, worked hard, but been drawn into more soapy fights with the media over mis-portrayals, which can all be true, but few but the most devoted care. It seems to say more about her than her intended targets. . . .
Conventional political wisdom in the U.S. big leagues is that the job of president doesn’t come looking for you. Which doesn’t mean she can’t go looking later. But right now the bright star of Sarah Palin has flown behind a nearby planet to perhaps learn more, generate grass-roots enthusiasm and rebrand herself out of office.
A bold move. Naive? Long odds based on recent history. What can she claim in 2011—I served 2.5 years as governor of Alaska and then quit?
On the other hand, in this political age, 60 months ago who’d have predicted a little-known state senator out of the Chicago political machine with a proclivity to vote “Present” would be a U.S. senator, let alone the White House occupant?
Vote In Our Poll
It's a neck-and-neck race in our poll to identify the greatest entertainer.
So far more than 120 people have voted and The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra are bunched near the top.
Poor Judy Garland is a distant fifth.
Have you voted yet?
There are only a couple of days left to votes.
Vote today.
Make your choice at the top right of this page.
Hurry!
Children And The Fourth
If the Fourth of July is about anything it's about children.
For America is still a relatively young nation. We are young both in terms of the age of our nation and the age of our people.
And we are a nation that has always looked forward - forward to that shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan envisioned.
This is a day to look ahead to greater aspirations.
This is not a day for policy and politics. That's why it's unfortunate that President Obama used his radio address today to push his policy agenda ad his own political positions.
So, on the Fourth of July I look at our large, rich national family and I like to spend the day with children. The children give me hope for the future.
I like to watch them t parades and Fourth of July ceremonies. I like to see them with their decorated bicycles and watch hem waving flags along the parade routes.
I like to watch the fireworks with the kids.
This is their day.
It's their future to dream.
It's their country to mold.
After Obama is long gone and after his collectivist ideas are but a faint memory, these children and their children will determine what America's really all about.
May they be inspired by and guiding by America's great boundless spirit -- a spirit of adventure and discovery; a spirit of innovation and triumph; a spirit of free enterprise and unencumbered rugged individualism.
Avanti!
Have A Glorious Fourth!
From the mountainsTo the praries
To the oceans
White with foam
God Bless America
My home sweet home!
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Economy: Obama Plan Failing
From Larry Kudlow at Real Clear Politics:
Obama's temporary tax credits and social spending offer no growth effects. At the same time, the government's fiscal nymphomania has scared everyone into thinking the U.S. is going bankrupt. The president himself has said there's no money left. It's scary enough to keep your savings under the mattress.
And if you add all the talk of nationalizing health care and energy (cap-and-trade) to the rest of Bailout Nation, it's not hard to understand why people are shying from risk.
Stocks are the single-best barometer of our nation's future economic health, and the stock market began to rise in early March. But over the past month, with all these new big-government tax-and-regulatory threats, the stock rally has stalled. And the June jobs report caused an immediate 2 percent sell-off for equities.
I do the best I can to be optimistic about our nation's future. But realistically, the current picture is not particularly good.
Obama: Powell Backs Away
From Jon Ward at the Washington Times:
Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.
"I'm concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them," Mr. Powell said in an excerpt of an interview with CNN's John King, released by the network Friday morning.
Mr. Powell, a retired U.S. army general who rose to political prominence after a long and accomplished military career, said that health care reform and many of Mr. Obama's other initiatives are "important" to Americans.
But, he said, "one of the cautions that has to be given to the president -- and I've talked to some of his people about this -- is that you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."
"And we can't pay for it all," said Mr. Powell, who was the first African-American to serve as secretary of state, under former President George W. Bush. He was also national security adviser to President Reagan, and was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Palin Surprises; Moves Foward
Sarah Palin's impending resignation as Governor of Alaska seems to indcate that she is positioning herself for a presidential run.
She wats to focus on her future, open up her options and move forward.
Paln has huge spport and grea potntial.
She doesn't play by traditional rules. She has a nimble mind, great spirit and a competitve nature that naturally propels her forward. Sh like toget in there with the Big Boys and mix things up.
Palin is a quick learner.
All of this makes Palin remarkably refreshing.
Big media senses that this woman cannot be tamed, cannot be intimidated and is not threatened by their antics. Members o the mainstream media dn't like this. They aren't used to it.
But Palin doesn't care.
She listens to her own drmmer.
Apparently, lots of people hear th same drummer.
Wach out, America.
Things are aout to get a helluva lot more intersting!
Capital Grille Cherry Hill
Capital Grille Cherry Hill.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Well, the new Capital Grille is up and running at the Cherry Hill Mall so we recently decided to give it a try.
This new restaurant is located on the Haddonfield Road side of the Mall in front of the great new Nordstrom store. The Capital Grille is a free-standing building with valet parking and a small but nicely landscaped outdoor dining area. Once you step inside you will be greeted by the dark hues, large oil paintings, distinctive lighting fixtures and woodsy atmosphere that define The Capital Grille.
The speciality here is steaks and the approach is Big Deal dining.
A bar area runs across the front of the property just to the left as you enter. Then, a huge glass-walled wine preserve separates the bar from the dining room which is open but hushed, plush and subdued. The open grill lies beyond the dining area.
We've been to the Capital Grille in Philadelphia many times and we knew what to expect. And, our expectation were high.
The martinis were cold and crisp and the signature breads were fresh and delicious as usual.
We shared a Caesar salad which also lived up to expectations.
Regrettably, we ordered a fried calamari appetizer which never arrived.
After several apologies from the server, we noted that the entrees were ready and felt we should move along with the dinner.
Steak entrees were presented along with sides for the table. Service is a la carte so side dishes must be ordered separately. When ordering steaks here, rare, rare means rare (mostly pink and served warm) and well done means well done (no pink, and just this side of burnt on the outside). Each steak was cooked to order and sides (huge, crispy fried onion rings and seasoned fries) were presented in cone-shaped nests.
Because our calamari was MIA, our party of five was invited to select three complementary desserts. We chose a brownie cookie ice cream sandwich (more cookie than brownie and not enough ice cream) a slice of key lime pie (legendary and delicious) and creme brulee (dreamy).
You can enjoy a lush, leisurely evening here and know that you are dining at one of the finest restaurants between Atlantic City and Philadelphia. This is surely a cut above.
I expect that for most people dinner at The Capital Grille Cherry Hill will be a special occasion or expense account event. Plan to spend between $80 - $150 per person, including tax, tip and an adult beverage.
Of course, lunch will be more affordable and we will report on that later.
Our best wishes to Cherry Hill Capital Grill General Manager Philip Holcombe and his staff.
Stossel Angry At ABC-TV
From Amanda Melillo at the New York Post:
John Stossel is telling his own network "Give me a break!" after it pulled his health-case insurance segment off the air to give more time to the death of Michael Jackson.
"I am sick of the Michael Jackson coverage," the "20/20" co-host wrote on his blog page at abc.com. "I hate it that ABC didn't run my piece."
He was apparently upset after the network decided to hold his piece on Canada's health-care system -- set to air last Friday night, the day after Jackson died -- in favor of a memorial to the King of Pop.
"Free markets sometimes encourage pandering to the masses," Stossel wrote on his blog. But "I still say, bless the market. The good outweighs the bad."
Using the network's own Web site to complain about its news decisions is pretty unusual.
According to senior vice president of ABC News, Jeffrey Schneider, the piece in question was a five-minute segment that contained some new reporting, but was mainly a compilation of clips from previous specials.
"Of course, maybe my bosses made the wrong choice," the anchor wrote. "Maybe more viewers would have tuned in for my health care report. But the beauty of the market is that if they regularly choose wrong, they will go bankrupt."
"It's a very big moment in the culture," said Schnieder. "And it's a story that continues to develop hour by hour and day by day. There's enormous interest in it."
He stated that Stossel's health care piece will air sometime later this month.
"I am sick of the Michael Jackson coverage," the "20/20" co-host wrote on his blog page at abc.com. "I hate it that ABC didn't run my piece."
He was apparently upset after the network decided to hold his piece on Canada's health-care system -- set to air last Friday night, the day after Jackson died -- in favor of a memorial to the King of Pop.
"Free markets sometimes encourage pandering to the masses," Stossel wrote on his blog. But "I still say, bless the market. The good outweighs the bad."
Using the network's own Web site to complain about its news decisions is pretty unusual.
According to senior vice president of ABC News, Jeffrey Schneider, the piece in question was a five-minute segment that contained some new reporting, but was mainly a compilation of clips from previous specials.
"Of course, maybe my bosses made the wrong choice," the anchor wrote. "Maybe more viewers would have tuned in for my health care report. But the beauty of the market is that if they regularly choose wrong, they will go bankrupt."
"It's a very big moment in the culture," said Schnieder. "And it's a story that continues to develop hour by hour and day by day. There's enormous interest in it."
He stated that Stossel's health care piece will air sometime later this month.
We met (and chatted with) John Stossel at the 2004 GOP Convention.
There is no truer believer than a convert and John Stossel is a True Believer and a nice guy.
His health care special (whenever its finally shown) will ad some badly-needed balance to the ABC coverage of this important issue.
We like John Stossel. And we especially like it when he gets angry. You go, John!
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Gwyneth Paltrow Hates America
From Scott Ross at NBC Los Angeles:
A trip across Spain has Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow focusing her general contempt for the United States on New York City.
"(Spain) is so different from the United States. It seemed to have a history, and the buildings are years and years and years old. Here in the United States an old building is about 17 (years old), and over there it's from 500 B.C., it's incredible," said Paltrow.
"Also, the way people live over there. They seem to enjoy life a little bit more. They aren't running around as much as in New York. They enjoy time with the family. They don't always have their BlackBerries on."
Paltrow has been visiting Spain regularly since she was 15, but recently spent time touring the country and its cuisine with NYC celebrity chef Mario Batali, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols filming "Spain ... on the Road Again" for PBS.
Someone -- her publicist, maybe -- should explain to Gwyneth that when you eat your way across a country with a camera crew in tow, the people you dine with are probably going to be more at ease and not burying their heads in their Blackberries.
This isn't the fist time the Paltrow has turned on her homeland, In fact, the actress has a long history of America bashing.
"I love the English lifestyle, it's not as capitalistic as America. People don't talk about work and money, they talk about interesting things at dinner," Paltrow said in a 2006 interview with NS, the weekend magazine supplement of daily Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias. "I like living here because I don't fit into the bad side of American psychology. The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans."
Obama's 'Ego Porn'
By James Lewis at The American Thinker:
The President of these United States recently expressed his love for "the Urdu poets," a piece of inspired BS that nobody in their right minds believed for a second. But then the P was narrowcasting to Pakistan, he thought, and Americans weren't supposed to be listening. Yet character is revealed in those little snippets of Obama's mind -- his glorious fantasy life, his everlasting hope that somebody will fall for another piece of schtick, and his essential fraudulence as a human being.
Obama's biggest audience is himself, and no doubt he preened and pranced in his mind's eye when he told the nation of Pakistan about his deep love and understanding of Urdu. Love ya, baby! all those sixty million Pakis were shouting, marveling at our polyglot president. Waddaguy! At least in Obi's fantasy life, that is. Because that Zeppelin-sized ego of his needs to be pumped up a little bit more every single day.
Would you like to ride/
on my beautiful balloon?
Well, yes. For his next showboating performance our P will parade his beautiful ballooning ego in front of Vladimir Putin, whose own hands are dripping with the blood of Chechen Muslims, not to mention those brave (and now dead) Moscow journalists who dared to criticize the new Czar in the media.
When it comes to czars Vladimir Putin is almost the real thing, whipping and murdering the peasants and the boyars -- not those phony styrofoam Red Commissars Obama keeps in the White House, to lord it over Federal cabinet departments. For the privilege of parading his beautiful ego in Moscow, Obama has no doubt paid a steep price: Say, stopping US anti-missile defense construction for Poland and the Czech Republic.
They've got his number, all the political con artists around the world. For a little balloon-pumping flattery Obama will sell out American national security interests -- not to mention those of our allies. Obama's "historic" Epistle to the Muslims, delivered last month at Cairo's Al Azhar University (an international center for Islamist propaganda) was not really intended to make a billion Muslims fall down at his feet. No, the main goal of all those grand gestures is to make Obama feel better about himself. That's the key to his character.
You could call it ego porn.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Our Flag Deserves Better!
Summer is America's season. And it's also the season of Old Glory. It's the time of year when our flag seems more visible than ever. It flies proudly at Fourth of July celebrations, leads parades and community observances, decorates monuments and gravesites, flutters above tall buildings and city streets.
This is the season of the red, white and blue. But I'm worried about our flag because too often I see it displayed with everything from indifference to disrespect or dishonor.
I know that lots of people displayed the flag right after Sept. 11, and that was understandable. Old Glory naturally appears when we want to come together as a nation and demonstrate our strength, unity and pride. But some of the flags that were flown after 9/11 seem to still be on display nearly eight years later. And what's left of them is not a pretty sight.
And it's not just the original Sept. 11 flags that leave me with an unsettled feeling. I see too many other tattered flags, faded flags, worn-out flags.
To read the rest of my column in today's Philadelphia Daily News click here.
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Toilet Paper Wedding Gowns
From Flash News:
The economic crisis is really causing the wedding gown industry to go down the toilet.
Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com, a site that helps brides plan nuptials on a budget, just held their 5th Annual Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest inspired by the popular bridal shower game.
After flushing out more than 700 entries, site co-creator Susan Bain helped crown the winner: An elaborate gown made only from TP, glue, and tape in the likeness of a couture Oscar de la Renta piece.
The winning gown and runners-up will be displayed in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museums worldwide, giving brides cheap and crafty ideas.
In this economy, Bain says brides could really benefit from wearing toilet paper gowns since they can be made for around $50.
A TP wedding gown can double as Kleenex during a teary ceremony, can be used to decorate a married couple’s farewell car, and can come in handy during a bride’s mid- reception bathroom break.
Utah Ends Liquor Restrictions
From Brock Vergakis in the Houston Chronicle:
Bartenders in Utah threw open their doors Wednesday as the state ditched a 40-year-old requirement that customers fill out an application, pay a fee and become a member of a private club before setting foot in a bar.
“It’s 40 years of oppression come to an end,” said Dave Morris, owner of the bar Piper Down in Salt Lake City. “There’s this national perception that we don’t have bars here, so hopefully this gets out there that we’re open for business.”
The new rules are an effort to boost the state’s $7 billion-a-year tourism industry and make the state appear a little less quirky to outsiders.
In the posh ski resort town of Park City, Steve Liebroder, owner of Lindzee O’Michaels, said bar owners in town celebrated the switch at midnight.
“Tourists will actually know that you can get a drink here now. Maybe all of our business will quit going to Colorado,” he said.
Meanwhile, many locals in the tourist town took the change in stride. The area has long been known for bending state rules to accomodate tourists and many locals never bought a club membership.
“I don’t think it’ll change too much. It’s kind of open here,” said Bruce Morrison, while downing a beer at No Name Saloon on Park City’s historic Main Street. Morrison said he didn’t remember the last time he paid for a membership in Park City.
In Salt Lake City, home to the Mormon church, it’s always been different.
To celebrate, Morris organized a 16-bar pub crawl to celebrate the novelty of being allowed into a bar without having to pay first. One crawl is set for Wednesday, another with a different lineup of bars was scheduled for Friday.
About 35 miles north, in Ogden, bartender Rich Miros at Brewskis happily scraped off lettering on the door that said the bar was a private club. The bar gets plenty of tourists from a nearby downtown hotel and skiers coming back from a day at the slopes at nearby Snowbasin.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he said of the change to becoming a public bar. “It needed to be changed a long time ago.”
Utah has long had a host of liquor laws that befuddled newcomers, but none was as maddening as the state’s private club system, created primarily to shield Mormons from alcohol while allowing drinkers to imbibe heavily taxed booze.
About 60 percent of the state’s population and more than 80 percent of state lawmakers belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which tells its members to abstain from alcohol.
The Mormon church has always helped shape alcohol policy here, and the change to the law this year was no different. Only after consultation with church leaders and an agreement that DUI penalties would be stiffened, did lawmakers make progress on the changes.
As part of the agreement, Utah also became the only state in the country to require bars to scan the ID of anyone who appears to be 35 or younger to ensure their ID is valid. Bars store the information for a week so law enforcement can inspect it.
Anyone who has an ID that doesn’t properly scan is required to fill out a form logging their presence at the bar.
Helen Thomas Blasts Obama
From Penny Starr and Fred Lucas at CNS News:
Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.
“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said.
“They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”
Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama’s press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran.
“When you call the reporter the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said.
“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”
Romney: Let's Challenge Obama
From Fox News:
Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney called on Republicans to "stand up" to President Obama and his policies on the economy, health care and energy, in a wide-ranging interview with FOX News.
At a time when Republicans desperately are searching for a unifying leader and message, and Democrats add to their ranks in Congress, the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 presidential candidate took a no-excuses attitude toward his party.
"I think Republicans have to stand up and make it very, very clear that we run the risk as a nation of having the entire world lose confidence in the currency of the United States and that would lead to something worse than a recession -- that would lead to an extraordinary slowdown globally that would hurt us more than any other," Romney told FOX News Tuesday evening.
He said the GOP has a responsibility, however thin their numbers, to stand up to stimulus spending and excessive government intervention in health care.
"When the stimulus bill is wrong, when it wastes money and threatens the viability of our currency long-term, you have to stand up and say 'no.' When a health care plan says we're going to have the government take over health care which is roughly a fifth of our economy, Republicans are going to have to say 'no' to that," he said.
Romney was at the Massachusetts State House Tuesday night for the unveiling of his portrait as the 70th governor of the commonwealth. It was a reunion for Romney backers from his days in the capital as well as his campaign for president, which some say hasn't really ended.
With the ranks of GOP rising stars thinning as a result of recent scandals and missteps, Romney is frequently talked about as a 2012 contender. Though not playing it up, Romney isn't ruling out another run at American politics' biggest prize.
"At this stage it's too early to try to see what's going to happen down the road," he said. "I haven't closed the door on my future, but I'm not walking through it either."
Photos: Naked Man On Plane
From WCNC (NBC) and CBS News: A US Airways flight made an emergency landing in Albuquerque, N.M. on Tuesday after a passenger decided to strip naked, CBS station WCBS-TV reported.Passengers said it was a sight to see.
Cell phone pictures taken from inside the plane showed a passenger, identified as Keith Wright from the Bronx, sitting naked in his seat near the rear of the plane.
Flight 705, bound from Charlotte to Los Angeles, was forced to make an emergency stop in Albuquerque when flight attendants failed to get the man under control.
"I fell asleep and the ladies fell asleep and I woke up and I turned and she was gone and I was like oh my gosh, this guy is naked!" passenger Lynette Naude said.
"One of the flight attendants tried to get the guy to respond, but she got nothing. But then when they tried to cover the guy up, get his clothes back on he started getting physically aggressive," one passenger said.
Passengers said the naked man started to flip out. "We actually had to physically hold him down on the floor and um, handcuff his ankles, his wrists," said Matt McGinnis, who, along with a Los Angeles Police officer and an L.A. sheriff's deputy, helped restrain the man. Airport Police Chief Marshall Katz had a theory as to why the man behaved as he did.
"He had some alcohol at the origin airport and was on medication but didn't take it and perhaps a combination of not taking medication and perhaps the alcohol and the altitude have impacted his usual behavior," Katz said.
Wright is now in federal custody. The flight was delayed about an hour.
No Dem Super Majority?
From Fox News:
Like an oasis in the desert, the 60-vote Democratic supermajority is a mirage.
Yes, former comedian Al Franken is now Minnesota's senator-elect -- thanks to the state Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday -- giving Democrats enough members in the Senate to hit a filibuster-proof majority. This is no laughing matter.
But that's on a really, really good day. For all intents and purposes, Democrats don't truly have 60 votes in the Senate.
With the addition of Franken, they technically have 58. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., caucus with Democrats but don't define themselves that way.
Sanders, a socialist, is arguably the most liberal member of the Senate, so he's more than willing to buck the Democratic leadership when he doesn't feel the liberal wing gets a fair shake. Lieberman, by contrast, is a moderate who's plenty willing to challenge the Democratic leadership when he believes it veers too far to the left.
But the Democrats aren't even at 58 votes on most days.
Two of the most revered members of the chamber suffer from poor health. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has rarely visited the Senate for more than a year because of a struggle with brain cancer. Sen. Robert Byrd, 91, of West Virginia who has been slowing down in the past few years, recently suffered a staph infection and spent several weeks in the hospital before his release Tuesday. Depending on the day, the Democratic "supermajority" could be as scant as 56.
And then there are the moderate-to-conservative lawmakers who populate the Senate Democratic Caucus: Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; Ben Nelson D-Neb.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Jon Tester, D-Mont.; and Arlen Specter, D-Pa.
This crowd is known to oppose the Democratic leadership on critical issues and often requires special courting. With them, the big Democratic majority could work against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., since it gives these moderates the perceived opening to bolt the party on key votes and freelance -- or act as holdouts that Democratic leaders must woo.
There's a reason why former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., titled his book "Herding Cats."
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Blog Achieves 50,000 Hits!
Just a few moments ago this blog logged its 50,00th visitor and the numbers are climbing at a record rate.
Today alone, we will exceed 2,000 visits and 4,000 page views.
This a one-day record for this blog.
It's gratifying. It's inspiring. It's thrilling. Honest!
And we owe it to you, our loyal visitors -- old and new, young and old -- ALL of you!
Tell your friends. Link to the blog. E-mail the link to others. Talk about it. Comment on it. Pass the word on Facebook and Twitter and via other social media.
And Thank You!
Thank you for makes us a genuine phenomenon.
Jackson's Signature: Inner Demons
From Flash News:
To get insight into the demons haunting Michael Jackson before his death, just take a look at his signature.
Handwriting expert Rose Matousek says Jackson had serious issues, evident by his “erratic, immature” handwriting.
First off, Matousek says the capital letters in the King of Pop’s signature were always big, and seemed to get larger everytime he left his John Hancock on any document.
This reveals that Jackson wanted to draw as much attention to himself as possible and craved the focus to be constantly on him.
Jacko also had a tendency to drag along his pen strokes and leave a small space on the left margins when writing, which to the expert means that he was holding on to painful memories from his past.
However, the wide margins he’d leave on the right means he wanted to move forward and forget the negativity of his upbringing.
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Handwriting expert Rose Matousek says Jackson had serious issues, evident by his “erratic, immature” handwriting.
First off, Matousek says the capital letters in the King of Pop’s signature were always big, and seemed to get larger everytime he left his John Hancock on any document.
This reveals that Jackson wanted to draw as much attention to himself as possible and craved the focus to be constantly on him.
Jacko also had a tendency to drag along his pen strokes and leave a small space on the left margins when writing, which to the expert means that he was holding on to painful memories from his past.
However, the wide margins he’d leave on the right means he wanted to move forward and forget the negativity of his upbringing.
Hurry! Vote In Poll!
We're asking you to vote for the greatest entertainer among five of the acknowledged legends of the entertainment world: The Beatles, Judy Garland, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
Remember: You can only pick one!
Vote in our poll at the top right corner of this blog.
Vote now!
Why's Greenwald So 'Proud?'
Scot DeCristofaro and Brian Greenberg, candidates for the Assembly in New Jersey's Sixth Legislative District, called on incumbent Assemblyman Lou Greenwald to explain why he is so proud of the budget Governor Jon Corzine signed this week.
“This Greenwald-Corzine budget is terrible,” Scot DeCristofaro said. “Lou Greenwald pushed it through his committee, helped guide it through the Assembly and then watched Jon Corzine sign it. He might as well have driven a stake through the hearts of the taxpayers. This Greenwald-Corzine budget is going to chase my parents out of the state.”
Brian Greenberg said, “This budget is a job killer. No self respecting businessman in their right mind would come to Jersey where the highest state income tax - 10.75% - and the highest property taxes in the nation reside. Moreover, given the mixed stew of deception, sleight of hand, and the cynical theft of designated reserves, one should call this the Bernie Madoff budget."
"California is facing imminent bankruptcy and the Greenwald-Corzine budget has set up New Jersey for a similar fate next summer." Greenberg stated.
Michelle's Private Paris Shopping
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (C) waves as she leaves a clothing store after she and her daughters went shopping in Paris June 7, 2009.
While Americans continue to slog through the recession (and with unemployment up by another half-million in just one month) Michelle Obama went on a private shopping spree in Paris with her daughters Sasha and Malia reportedly purchased children's dresses priced in excess of $200. each.
Here's the story from Liunda Hervieux in the New York Daily News:
Michelle Obama and her girls enjoyed a special Sunday shopping trip in Paris this month thanks to friends in high places who bent France's Sunday store-closing rules.
President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that calls were made to open a swanky children's boutique, usually closed by law on Sundays, where the First Lady and her two daughters perused racks of $200 summer dresses and $100 sweaters.
"Is it normal that on a Sunday when Madame Obama wants to go to the Paris shops with her daughters, that I have to make phone calls to have them open?" said Sarkozy, who is pushing to change the law. . . .
It was actually the U.S. Embassy that arranged for opening of the shop, Bonpoint, a store spokeswoman said.
But presumably the boutique won't have to worry about paying hefty fines for shops that buck a 1906 law banning most Sunday shopping.
There was no immediate comment from the First Lady's White House office or the State Department.
After a private lunch on June 7 with Sarkozy and his wife, Carla, the First Lady's entourage headed to the upscale St.-Germain-des-Près neighborhood so Obama and her daughters could enjoy a private trip to Bonpoint, a branch of the upscale French chain.
The Obamas arrived in a small group and stayed for about an hour, a store spokeswoman said.
She wouldn't confirm what the party bought, but a hot-pink linen dress, ideal for 8-year-old Sasha, goes for $212. A simple white cotton version, perfect for 10-year-old Malia, costs $255. Add $102 for a coordinating navy cardigan.
President Obama, in France for the June 6 D-Day anniversary, brought along his family - and a 30-car motorcade -- for a whirlwind weekend visit that shut down parts of Paris.
Even the French finance minister was forced off her bike while the First Family navigated the capital's famous boulevards.
The President left at midday Sunday, leaving his wife and daughters to enjoy another day in Paris before they moved on to London.
Please note the following:
1. While the private Paris shopping visit occurred on June 7, we're just hearing about it now, and only because President Sarkozy let it slip.
2. The White House will still not confirm or comment on the story.
3. As seen from the photo, Michelle shopped with the usual entourage, with all its attendant costs.
4. "Upscale" Bonpoint sure as hell ain't The Gap.
5. On the eve of the Fourth of July, dare we ask: "What's wrong with American brands and American merchants?
Expert: Farrah Now An Angel
From Flash News:
Not only was actress Farrah Fawcett an “angel” on Earth, she’s now an angel in heaven.
Though the Charlie’s Angels star died last week, fans can rest assured that she’s actively training to become a real life angel in heaven.
Angel expert Glennyce Eckersley says all humans go on to be angels once they die and undergo rigorous training by other members of God’s army to turn them into the best celestial beings possible.
So as of now, Fawcett is well on her way to angelhood.
Eckersley says, “She has as much chance as anybody else to become an angel. I’m sure she will be looked after.”
However, just because Fawcett spent time as an angel on TV, it doesn’t mean she’ll move up in the heavenly rankings without putting in some work first.
Says Eckersley: “There’s no such thing as celebrity in heaven. She’ll be just like everyone else.”
Target The Real Hyopocrites
From Glenn Cook at the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
The word "hypocrite" has been hurled at Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford with such force and frequency, you'd swear it was their new party affiliation.
And hoo, baby, do these Christian-conservative Republicans deserve the label. That they were in bed with the religious right and women who weren't their wives at the same time was bad enough.
But Ensign slept with a subordinate who happened to be friends with his wife and married to one of his most trusted staff members. Sanford, meanwhile, went AWOL on his office and constituents and lied about traveling all the way to Argentina to hook up with his mistress -- over Father's Day weekend, no less. Multiply the betrayal times a factor of eight or nine and you're getting close to understanding the degree of unfaithfulness involved.
So the pundits, bloggers and operatives on the left line up with their bats to hammer home the obvious: Ensign and Sanford are colossal hypocrites for declaring themselves family guys to the electorate, then poisoning their marriages. And liberals keep beating that horse, long after rigor mortis sets in.
But there's a funny thing about the sudden emergence of so many principled lefties: Conservative hypocrites are called out, shouted down and beaten up, but liberal hypocrites get high fives.
When social conservatives are exposed as hypocrites, somber news conferences and public apologies are scheduled and leadership positions are resigned. Liberal hypocrisy, on the other hand, is simply accepted as the foundation of the Democratic Party's platform. In fact, hypocrisy tends to move Democrats up the leadership ladder.
Show me any issue dear to the hearts of liberals, and I'll show you a busload of elitist Washington hypocrites saying one thing and doing another.
Taxes? That so many of Barack Obama's Cabinet choices couldn't be troubled to pay their share of the taxes that they impose on the rest of us was just the tip of the iceberg. Take the death tax -- please.
Obama and his charges in Congress need lots of spending money for their social engineering experiments, so they desperately want to revive the federal estate tax, which is scheduled to die next year. They'd like to continue confiscating up to 45 percent of the wealth of people fortunate enough to have saved something for their heirs before dying.
Meanwhile, most of the wealthy patriarchs sitting in Congress have established family trusts to avoid paying estate taxes upon their own deaths. The Kennedy family is the most notorious of these, having dodged death taxes for generations by creating a web of trust funds to shield its nine-figure estate.
Remember that the late Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, championed both his state's and the federal government's estate tax during his years in Washington. But before he died, he moved to Florida -- which has no estate tax.
Is anyone naive enough to believe that multimillionaire Democrats such as Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Jay Rockefeller, Dianne Feinstein and Herb Kohl are eager to transfer half of their wealth to the unwashed masses through the estate tax? If the federal death tax is unearthed from its grave, they won't pay -- but they'll keep voting to make sure you might have to.
Education? Democrats consider themselves champions of this country's public school systems. Yet there's a mile-long line of Democrats who put their kids in private schools, then work feverishly to water down or drown legislation that would let Americans who can't afford private schools make that same choice. Charter school and voucher legislation is dead on arrival, per Democrats' masters in the teachers unions.
Energy? Democrats ride around in gas-guzzling limos and SUVs and fly around the world on private and military jets, and many live in mansions you and I could never dream of owning. But they sanctimoniously demand that we reduce our "carbon footprints" and pay higher energy prices through cap-and-trade schemes and new taxes on the natural resources that drive our economy.
When it was discovered that Al Gore, the world's foremost global warming alarmist, was burning through more power and fuel in a year than most people use in a lifetime, the greens defended their prophet by explaining that he buys some electricity from green sources and leads a "carbon-neutral" lifestyle. Whatever the rationalization, Gore remains an energy hog while arguing that we need to ditch our cars and shiver in the dark to save the planet.
Health care? Democrats have long said that health care is too expensive and that reforms must bring costs under control. Yet they continually vote to impose mandates on insurers and new costs on hospitals and doctors, and today they want to "reduce" costs by spending $1 trillion on a new government program.
Hypocrisy is a bipartisan endeavor in Washington and in state capitals across the country. It's a byproduct of the sense of privilege and entitlement that comes with serving in the country's highest offices. The same arrogance and self-righteousness that made Ensign and Sanford think they could pursue presidential ambitions and extramarital affairs at the same time drives Democrats to consider themselves immune from the big-government power grabs they adore.
None of them will be driving the hybrid tin cans they've ordered American automakers to mass produce. None of them will have to wait in line for rationed health care when Democrats are done with their medical "reforms." And none of them -- even so-called fiscal conservatives -- will ever pay down a dime of the national debt and stop deficit spending, no matter how many assurances of frugality we get.
Neither side of the aisle should be excused for living their lives or voting in ways that directly contradict their stated values and policy positions.
But it's also worth noting, as Peter Schweizer observed in his 2005 book "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)," that when social conservatives such as Ensign and Sanford take the wrong path, it causes great harm to themselves, their reputations, their families and their party. But when liberals play the part of hypocrite, they benefit personally while hurting the public through higher costs and reduced opportunity.
Now you tell me -- which form of hypocrisy is more worthy of our scorn?
All Hail Billy Mays!
From Robert A. Hahn at Red State:
There will be no tribute to Billy Mays today at the American Enterprise Institute. He won’t be on the cover of Newsweek with a halo on his head. The Wall Street Journal gave him barely a mention.
We need to do better. If we who celebrate free enterprise, capitalism, and The American Dream will not pay attention to his passing, why should we expect anyone to admire his achievements? Why would any young person want to emulate him?
Billy Mays started out hawking a washer-in-a-bucket on the Atlantic City boardwalk. He was a shameless pitchman, became an entrepreneur and a capitalist, and died a multimillionaire… all on the back of his skill as a salesman. Is there anything more quintessentially capitalist than that? Does anyone’s life better represent the promise of free enterprise? Does Billy Mays not belong in the American Dream Hall of Fame?
We’re told daily that “the free market has failed.” Instead of having people like Billy Mays on its cover, Newsweek tells the public “We’re All Socialists Now.” To read the newspapers in this country, virtue resides in government; the private sector is composed entirely of thieves and bandits. On Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham — the new John McCain — explained that young people today are just not listening to Republicans. Why should they? Does anything good ever come of Republican principles? And if so, when are we going to hear about it?
I’m hoping that when Billy got to the Pearly Gates, Saint Peter told him, “But wait! There’s more!”
Palin: I'll Beat Obama
From Mary Pemberton of the Associated Press:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she'd come out ahead if she went one-on-one with fellow jogger President Barack Obama in a long run, according to an interview published online Tuesday.
"I betcha I'd have more endurance," she told Runner's World magazine. "My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. What I lacked in physical strength or skill, I made up for in determination and endurance."
Palin, a 45-year-old former beauty queen who became the first woman and youngest person to be elected Alaska's governor, is featured in the August issue of the magazine for jogging aficionados. She was dubbed the country's "hottest" governor when she stole the show as U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential running mate in 2008.
In the interview, she talks about her fondness for running, which is perhaps why the mother of five who gave birth to a baby boy last year is able to keep trim. The magazine on Tuesday published an extended version on its Web site.
Palin said running wasn't just a body thing and that it helps keep her emotionally and mentally in shape.
"I feel so crappy if I go more than a few days without running. No matter how rotten I feel before or during a run, it's always worth it to me afterward. Sweat is my sanity," Palin tells the magazine.
She said one of her biggest frustrations while campaigning with McCain was that the senator's staff didn't carve out time for Palin to get in a run. But she recounted one memorable run at McCain's ranch in which she fell coming down a hill. The incident happened a few days before the debate with now Vice President Joe Biden.
"I was so stinkin' embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me. My hands just got torn up, and I was dripping blood. In the debate, you could see a big ugly Band-Aid on my right hand," Palin said.
The governor also pointed out an advantage to running: When she's out, she's just another hockey mom in running shoes.
Sphere: Related Content
"I betcha I'd have more endurance," she told Runner's World magazine. "My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. What I lacked in physical strength or skill, I made up for in determination and endurance."
Palin, a 45-year-old former beauty queen who became the first woman and youngest person to be elected Alaska's governor, is featured in the August issue of the magazine for jogging aficionados. She was dubbed the country's "hottest" governor when she stole the show as U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential running mate in 2008.
In the interview, she talks about her fondness for running, which is perhaps why the mother of five who gave birth to a baby boy last year is able to keep trim. The magazine on Tuesday published an extended version on its Web site.
Palin said running wasn't just a body thing and that it helps keep her emotionally and mentally in shape.
"I feel so crappy if I go more than a few days without running. No matter how rotten I feel before or during a run, it's always worth it to me afterward. Sweat is my sanity," Palin tells the magazine.
She said one of her biggest frustrations while campaigning with McCain was that the senator's staff didn't carve out time for Palin to get in a run. But she recounted one memorable run at McCain's ranch in which she fell coming down a hill. The incident happened a few days before the debate with now Vice President Joe Biden.
"I was so stinkin' embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me. My hands just got torn up, and I was dripping blood. In the debate, you could see a big ugly Band-Aid on my right hand," Palin said.
The governor also pointed out an advantage to running: When she's out, she's just another hockey mom in running shoes.
Fox News 10 for 10
From Michael Calderone at Politico:
As MSNBC and CNN battle for second place, second-quarter Nielsen numbers show the network's programs now rank one through 10 in total viewers on cable news. Since Obama came into office, Fox has continued not only winning, but doing so at unprecedented levels.
As the Hollywood Reporter noted last week, the network is having its"best year yet," with the competition in the ratings shifting from not only the news networks but all of basic cable. Indeed, Fox came in 3rd this quarter, behind only USA and TNT. Across the board, already top-rated shows are up by percentages in the 30s and 40s.
But Glenn Beck, who takes aim at the administration repeatedly, is proving an even bigger draw since coming over from HLN: His 5 p.m. slot is up 110 percent from last year. Such a trend shows commentators like Beck can thrive in the opposition.
From TVNewser:
8pm - O'Reilly Factor — 3,188,000
9pm - Hannity — 2,341,000
5pm - Glenn Beck — 2,053,000
10pm - On the Record — 1,950,000
6pm - Special Report — 1,889,000
7pm - Fox Report — 1,757,000
11pm - O'Reilly Factor — 1,579,000
9am - America's Newsroom — 1,399,000
4pm - Your World — 1,389,000
3pm - Studio B — 1,169,000
Consumer Confidence Takes Dive
From Emily Kaiser at Reuters:
U.S. consumer confidence took an unexpectedly steep slide in June, figures released on Tuesday showed, suggesting the 18-month-long recession had yet to loosen its grip on the economy. . . .
Another crop of economic data showed business activity in New York City and the Midwest remained weak, while retail chains slogged through a rough June. . . .
Major stock market indexes fell after the Conference Board's consumer confidence index showed households felt gloomier about their current situation and less optimistic about what the coming months might bring.
Kevin Kruszenski, head of listed trading at Keybanc Capital Markets in Cleveland, said the confidence data "kind of took the wind out of things a little bit."
Investors had been in a somewhat better mood since an early March trough as economic data suggested the pace of the recession was slackening. But with no clear sign that growth is about to resume, sentiment has begun to fade in recent weeks.
The consumer confidence index fell to 49.3 in June from 54.8 in May. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a healthier reading of 55.0 for the month.
Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed prices of single-family homes declined in April from the prior month, but the pace of the slide moderated.
Mark Sanford Should Resign
From James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal:
The Associated Press brings us the latest on the saga of Gov. Mark Sanford:
Sanford said Tuesday that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other thanHis mistress is his soul mate and he's trying to fall back in love with his wife? Does he not realize that he is humiliating Mrs. Sanford by saying such things? Or is he saying them precisely for that reason--so as to end the marriage without directly taking responsibility for dumping her?
his mistress--but never had sex with them. The governor said he "never crossed
the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the
center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political
career.
"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love
story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the
end of the day."
During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with
The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he's
trying to fall back in love with his wife.
Mark Sanford has now succeeded in making a complete fool of himself.
He should resign.Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Dems Seen As 'Too Liberal'
From Gallup:
A Gallup Poll finds a statistically significant increase since last year in the percentage of Americans who describe the Democratic Party's views as being "too liberal," from 39% to 46%. This is the largest percentage saying so since November 1994, after the party's losses in that year's midterm elections.
Most major demographic and attitudinal subgroups show at least a slight uptick since 2008 in perceptions that the Democratic Party is too liberal. The increasing perception of the Democrats as too far left comes as President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have expanded the government's role in the economy to address the economic problems facing the country. Additionally, the government is working toward major healthcare reform legislation and strengthening environmental regulations.Notably, there has been no change over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say the Republican Party is "too conservative."
Sphere: Related Content
Most major demographic and attitudinal subgroups show at least a slight uptick since 2008 in perceptions that the Democratic Party is too liberal. The increasing perception of the Democrats as too far left comes as President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have expanded the government's role in the economy to address the economic problems facing the country. Additionally, the government is working toward major healthcare reform legislation and strengthening environmental regulations.Notably, there has been no change over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say the Republican Party is "too conservative."
Weiner Stuffing Gloat Fest
From Flash News:
Shoving as many wieners down your throat is a feat one Chicago man is ready for.
Gravy Brown has been training and preparing for the 94th Annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, which will bring the best of the best competitive eaters out to Coney Island, New York, on Saturday (Jul. 4).
Though Brown dishes that training at home is “frowned upon” by organizers of the contest since there are no EMTs present in case the eaters choke, he’s still been practicing like crazy to make sure he places high in the legendary event.
He says, “I’m pretty much ready. It’s ridiculous to think people get to where they’re at without training.”
Brown does simulated runs at home by cooking up hot dogs and scarfing as many down in the allotted time, and that’s about it as far as strategizing.
He says, “A lot of people talk about techniques, but really it’s just shoving food down your throat.”
Counting Jerks In Minnesota
Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman has accepted the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling which seats comedian Al (Stuart Smalley) Franken in the United States Senate.
Even for Minnesota (which elected Jesse "The Body" Ventura as Governor) this is a new low.
Coleman is a total class act. But Minnesota (loaded with "nice" people) seems to have enough classless jerks to embarrass itself time and time again.
And they joke about Joisey?
Here's the statement from Senator Coleman:
The news has arrived from the Minnesota Supreme Court and the conclusion to the 2008 United States Senate election has been reached.
I want you to be among the first to know of my decision to congratulate our newest Senator, Al Franken, for his victory. And, I ask you and all Minnesotans to join with me in giving our prayers and support to our state's new Senator and his family.
You have been my hope and my strength and my courage for these past many, many months. Your prayers, your comfort and your wisdom have guided me through the most difficult times over the past 8 months.
There are not enough words to express my gratitude and that of my family for your commitment to this effort. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done to make my life an incredible adventure.
God Bless You and Minnesota!
To which I would add: Minnesota (and all of the rest of us) will certainly needs God's blessings in abundance now.
