Boeing supporters going after John McCain over failed deal.

Business: Do these politicians really want to go down this road?

Angry Boeing supporters are vowing revenge against Republican presidential candidate John McCain over Chicago-based Boeing's loss of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to the parent company of European plane maker Airbus. .....McCain said he is keeping an open mind on the contract, but in the past he has boasted about his role in blocking an earlier version of the tanker deal that gave the contract to Boeing. The deal was killed in 2004 after a former Boeing executive improperly recruited an Air Force official while she was still overseeing contracts involving prospective Boeing deals. The former Air Force official, Darleen Druyun, and a top Boeing executive both served time in prison, and the scandal led to the departure of Boeing's chief executive and several top Air Force officials. McCain has run ads touting his role in fighting "pork" such as the tanker project and cited the deal in a recent GOP debate. "I saved the taxpayers $6 billion in a bogus tanker deal," he said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., echoing the thoughts of many congressional Democrats, sees McCain's role in a less positive light. She said the earlier tanker deal was "on course for Boeing" before McCain started railing against it. "I mean, the thought was that it would be a domestic supplier for it," Pelosi told reporters. "Senator McCain intervened, and now we have a situation where the contract may be — this work may be outsourced." Even Boeing's Republican supporters are critical of McCain. "John McCain will be the nominee and I will support him, but if John McCain believes that Airbus or EADS is the company for our Air Force tanker program he's flat-out wrong — and I'll tell him that to his face," said Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Kansas Republican whose district includes a Boeing plant that could have gained hundreds of new jobs from the tanker program, said McCain's role in killing the earlier deal is likely to become an election issue. Both of the leading Democratic candidates for president, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have criticized the Air Force decision. "I think we absolutely will hear more about it," Tiahrt said. "We'll hear it mostly from the Democrats and they have every right to be concerned." McCain called such criticism off base. "In all due respect to the Washington delegation, they vigorously defended the process before — which turned out to be corrupt — which would have cost the taxpayers more than $6 billion and ended up with people in federal prison," he said. "I'm the one that fought against that ... for years and brought down a corrupt contract." Keith Ashdown, with the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, said Boeing executives who broke the law were to blame for the demise of the tanker contract — not McCain. "This was theirs from day one," he said. "This idea that any lawmaker is to blame is a joke."

Let me see if I have this correct. Boeing supporters are pissed off at John McCain because he stopped a corrupt bidding process that sent people to jail and fired from their jobs.

The same Boeing as everyone has pointed put out an inferior plan than Airbus who blew them out of the water because Boeing wanted to push on the Air Force a dead plane line.

The same Boeing who was too arrogant to think the military wouldn't dare go with a foreign supplier with a superior tanker plan who would get more planes in service faster than Boeing.

The same Boeing who can't get their new 787 line put out in service on time should get a multi-billion dollar order for planes that are needed now.

The Boeing supporters say this is all John McCain's fault. I thought the military was supposed to get the best equipment not the best equipment made by an American company that can't get the job done and wanted to give them a plane the Air Force didn't want twice(767 and 777)

Go ahead and try putting out a meme that McCain is bad because he stopped a billion dollar boondongle. All it would do is make McCain straight shooter message all the more powerful.

BBQ-smoker-turned-'Robocop' chases off drug dealers

Crime: This needs a Dalek voice mode on it to make it even more awesome.

It's midnight on the streets of Atlanta, and bar owner Rufus Terrill patrols his neighborhood with a rolling crime fighter of his own creation. Meet "Bum-bot," as Terrill describes it; others in his neighborhood call it simply, "Robocop." It's a barbecue smoker mounted on a three-wheeled scooter, and armed with an infrared camera, spotlight, loudspeaker and aluminum water cannon that shoots a stream of icy water about 20 feet. Operated by remote control, the robot spotlights trespassers on property down the street from his bar, O'Terrill's. Using a walkie-talkie, Terrill belts out through the robot's loudspeaker, "That's private property. You guys need to get out of here." Terrill is chasing out unsavory-looking characters from a street corner that resembles a drug dealer's dream at night. More than 20 suspicious people were seen huddling in the dark in the front driveway and side parking lot on this night. Some were seen openly making drug deals. But during the day, it's where young children frolic on a nearby playground at a the Beacon of Light Daycare Center in downtown Atlanta. It has become a nightmare for day care operator Lydia Meredith. "This whole square is enveloped with homeless people and drug dealers, defecating, urinating, prostituting -- the whole nine yards. And the overflow of that behavior, we get to cleanup every morning," she says. Meredith says people often toss used syringes and condoms onto the playground. Terrill, an engineer by trade, is also a board member at the day care center. Tired of cleaning up after the shady characters, he decided to take action. That's when he built his downtown Darth Vader of sorts. "He's a neighborhood vigilante," says Meredith, "and when he came up with this -- you know, I call it Robocop -- I said, 'Praise God.' "

Animal Planet to highlight radical eco group.

Media: Wonderful, whats next, Discovery to cheer on ELF?

Animal Planet said it is planning a show on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which uses radical methods to stop Japanese whaling operations in the Antarctic Ocean. On Thursday, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson claimed he was shot by someone on a Japanese whaling vessel; he was wearing a bulletproof vest. The Japanese boat denied firing gunshots, but the incident was recorded by an Animal Planet crew on Watson’s ship, the Steve Irwin. Animal Planet said the society’s battles with Japanese ships will be a part of its series “Whale Wars,” which is schedule to air in the fall. “Animal Planet is thankful that all parties to these conflicts over the last three months to date are safe and unharmed,” the network said in a statement. “The network will showcase these events with a strong journalistic lens that spotlights this global conservation issue that has several nations at odds over the practice of whaling.”

Clinton Camp has gotten into the Obama Camp's head.

Politics: Clinton machine camp arguments are starting to take hold.

Democrats in Wyoming will hold caucuses today and -- following what is now a familiar pattern -- are expected to give Sen. Barack Obama the majority of their 12 pledged delegates. The Illinois Democrat's strength in a Republican state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 is the latest example of an ingenious strategy that neatly addresses the advantage Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) enjoys in Democratic strongholds where she and her husband have long-standing ties. But Obama's losses Tuesday in Texas and Ohio -- coupled with his Feb. 5 defeats in California, New York and New Jersey -- have not only shown the strategy's downside. They have also given supporters of Clinton an opening for an argument that winning over affluent, educated white voters in small Democratic enclaves, such as Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City, and running up the score with African Americans in the Republican South exaggerate his strengths in states that will not vote Democratic in the fall. If Obama becomes the Democratic nominee but cannot win support from working-class whites and Hispanics, they argue, then Democrats will not retake the White House in November. "If you can't win in the Southwest, if you don't win Ohio, if you don't win Pennsylvania, you've got problems in November," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a Clinton supporter. Even some Obama advisers see a real problem. "Ultimately, all that matters is how the nominee stacks up against John McCain," said one adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity, referring to the senator from Arizona and presumptive GOP nominee. "Right now, Barack is not connecting with the children of the Reagan Democrats. That's a real concern." "It's now a battle between the base and the new young Democrats and Democrats who are more energized than they've been in the past," agreed Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), an Obama supporter. "I don't know how that's going to play out."

The test before Penn is if the downplaying of the small states work over the next couple of weeks with the media.

Bloomberg opposes adding Muslim holidays

Culture: You can't cater to everyone plus religious accommodations have been made for every student to get an excused absence for a religious holiday.

NEW YORK, March 7 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg argues that the city should not add two major Muslim holy days to the holiday list. Robert Jackson, a Muslim member of the city council, and other members have introduced a resolution that calls on the state Legislature to make Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha official school holidays. Jackson said parents should not have to choose between their children's education and their religious obligations, The New York Sun reported. A 2004 study by Columbia University found that about 10 percent of the children in the New York schools are Muslim. Bloomberg said schools can find ways to allow Muslim children to take the holidays off without canceling classes. "When you have a city as diverse as we do, with virtually every religion known to man practiced, if we closed school for every single day there wouldn't be any school," he said.

CAIR rep says Hamas is not a terrorist organization

Islam: Days before Hamas kills 8 in a terrorist attack in Israel.

Allow Sex in All Dutch Parks and Gay Cruising.

EU: Seriously, does decorum, respect and common decency banished from these sort of outfits that pass recommendations?

The police's National Diversity Expertise Centre (LECD) wants sex allowed in all public parks in the Netherlands. The police institute has advised the cities to follow the example of Amsterdam, De Telegraaf newspaper reported Friday. In Amsterdam's Vondelpark, owners of dogs let off the leash can be fined, but sex will shortly be permitted. "Why should we try to maintain something that is actually impossible to maintain, which also causes little bother for others and for a certain group actually signifies much pleasure?" says Paul van Grieken, the responsible Alderman in the Oud-Zuid district of Amsterdam. Van Grieken confirmed that the plan to tolerate public sex in Vondelpark is part of a draft version of new rules of conduct for the city's best-known park. The regulations are to come into force after the summer. "Of course there are strict rules attached. Thus, condoms must always be cleared away, it must never take place in the neighbourhood of children's playgrounds and the sex must be restricted to the evening and night-time." The draft memorandum says that fines will be maintained for dogs running around off the leash that, for example, cause nuisance to sunbathing or cycling users of the park. "The research showed that many people find this disturbing," according to the alderman.

Dogs off leash bad. People having public sex all over the park = good. Oh okay that makes sense. This is just an abidication of rules, legal and social wise because they want it to happen by refusing to stop it.

LECD is now calling on Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht to tolerate 'cruising' gays in all their parks. In a letter to the administrators of the three cities, the police institute says that by regulating sex in public, the safety of homosexuals from 'queer-bashers' can be better guaranteed. Thus, it says in the recommendations that "officers must not disturb the activities, as long as they do not cause any actual nuisance" and they would "only have to take corrective action if there is a question of actual offensive behaviour that is visible from the public path." Homosexuals' organisation COC is pleased that the Amsterdam Oud-Zuid district is to be the first to tolerate sex in the Vondelpark. "Cruising is something belonging to all time and banning it does not work anyway. They do it surreptitiously and mostly without others being annoyed by it. But homos at cruising spots are often attacked. By now agreeing rules of behaviour on this, safety can be increased," according to COC Amsterdam chairman Dennis Boutkan.

The term get a room does apply to all sexes and sexuality. It also doesn't help to say gay cruising and having sex in parks is a natural occurrence for gays. Even if someone is attacked, they would be charged for assault. The solution of letting anything goes in public parks is ridiculous.

Dutch station pulls an ABC over Burka wearing actress.

Media: Just like NBC and ABC they just want events to fit their biased point of view.

Amsterdam: The Burka Coverup Dutch youth channel 101TV recently published a movie in which an actress in a burka was sent out to the streets to test how Amsterdam residents reacted to her. Walking in the street she dropped a bag of oranges. In her normal, Dutch clothing she was helped by many people, but while wearing a burka nobody stopped to help. In the film the actress said that nobody helped her, but AT5 filmed the takes, and shows that what 101TV filmed was something completely different. People who passed by the burka clad actress were told by the director on film to continue walking as there was filming going on. When people started helping her collect the oranges, they were told to stop.Discrimination was hard to find, so 101TV just made it up.The AT5 report can be seen here. The filming of the burka story starts at around 1 minute into the clip.Source: AT5 (Dutch)

Anti-War Judge Marilyn Mackel denies foster teen's bid for Marines.

Nation: This piece of work will be feted by every leftist group out there as courageous and standard bearer for them.

In denying the Royal High School student delayed entry into the Marine Corps, Children's Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel reportedly told Sage and a recruiter that she didn't approve of the Iraq war, didn't trust recruiters and didn't support the military. "The judge said she didn't support the Iraq war for any reason why we're over there," said Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley USMC recruiting office. "She just said all recruiters were the same - that they `all tap dance and tell me what I want to hear.' She said she didn't want him to fight in it."

China feeling pressure to do something in Darfur.

Africa: It is about time.

Global pressure on China over its ties to Sudan has spurred the Chinese government to take a more proactive stance on ending violence in Darfur, the nation's special envoy on the issue said Friday. "Darfur is the focus of international attention and many Western nations want China to play a bigger role," Chinese diplomat Liu Guijin told journalists. "This is why I have been appointed as the special envoy of the Chinese government on the Darfur issue." Liu, fresh from a visit to the troubled region, was appointed China's envoy on Darfur in May last year, when an international campaign to pressure Beijing on Sudan ahead of the Beijing Olympics began to take on steam. Although China has long opposed linking the Olympics to Darfur and other human rights issues, growing international scrutiny of Beijing's ties with Sudan has coincided with greater diplomatic activity by the Asian giant.

101 year old man trains for London Marathon.

UK: 101 years old and he did a half marathon in 5 hours. I couldn't do that in a day. I feel humiliated reading this story...not motivated to do something though just humiliated.

Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette. Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon at the weekend in five hours 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing firm and says he has trained for the April 13th race in his spare time. "I've said I'll attempt it," he told Reuters by telephone from his workplace at Pimlico Plumbers. "I haven't said I'll complete it. If I do make it, all the better. I hadn't thought of doing it before but someone asked me and the money goes to charity so why not?" His sponsorship money will go to the Rhys Daniels Trust, which provides temporary accommodation for families of patients in specialist children's hospitals. Martin, who had 17 children and returned to work at the age of 99 saying he was bored after two years of retirement, would beat the previous record for world's oldest marathon runner by eight years. "If I finish, I'll do what I always do and have a pint and a fag," he said. "People ask what is my secret but I haven't got one. They say fags and booze are bad for you -- but I'm still here, aren't I?"

San Fran hybrid buses hit snag going thru poor section of town.

Culture: Then if the bus drivers refuse to drive thru this bad area, you get cries of discrimination and/or racism.

The Municipal Railway will not use buses from its new hybrid fleet on one line that runs through the public housing projects in San Francisco's Hunters Point neighborhood until officials can stop troublemakers there from turning off the buses' power switches. Muni drivers have reported over the last couple of weeks that people have been shutting down the power on their buses by flipping a switch that can be accessed easily through an unlocked panel on the outside of the bus. When that happens, the drivers can't accelerate, they lose radio contact with dispatchers and the interior lights on the buses go out. The power loss does not affect the brakes. The hybrids, which are powered by electricity and started up with diesel fuel, were added to the fleet last year.

Other hand it is kinda of dumb to have an unlocked panel to an important part of the bus in the first place.

News of the bus tampering comes as Muni officials are working with police to step up patrols along parts of the 44-O'Shaughnessy and 54-Felton routes, particularly in and around the public housing projects. There, witnesses reported that teenagers and young adults have thrown rocks at the buses, breaking windows and denting the bodies, officials said. A couple of drivers reported being assaulted, although nobody has been seriously injured. A plan has been mapped out by city officials to increase police patrols aboard the buses. In addition, patrol cars, when available, will escort the buses through the most troubled parts of the runs.

UK Row over military uniforms in public

UK: Very sad that multiculturalism and bureaucratic cowardice is the cause of this decision.

Plans to urge soldiers, sailors and airmen to wear their uniforms in public were in disarray last night after RAF personnel were ordered to dress in civilian clothes while off-duty because of persistent threats and abuse. The uniform ban was imposed by the station commander at RAF Wittering, near Peterborough, after a number of servicemen and women walking in the city in their military clothes were targeted because of their involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gordon Brown and Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, tried last night to overturn the ban. But the incidents in Peterborough threaten to undermine a new planned policy, favoured by the Prime Minister, that aims to draw the military and general public closer together. The Prime Minister is to be presented this month with a report that will call for the widespread wearing of military uniforms to engender respect and appreciation for the Armed Forces. In the US service personnel wear their uniforms off-duty. This was banned in Britain in recent years because of the IRA terrorist threat.

R.N.C. Snap Up Obama, Hillary Domain Names

Politics: Where the heck did this forward thinking RNC come from and can we have more of this in the future?

R.N.C. Snap Up Domain Names By Kitty Bennett Cannotrustclinton.com? clintonisbad.com? At least 25 domain names related to Hillary Rodham Clinton have links to the Republican National Committee: the names were either registered by the R.N.C. last year or showed up on servers the committee uses. Half a dozen seemed to guess at Mrs. Clinton’s eventual running mate, like clintonomalley.com, referring to Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland. The day after Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses, the R.N.C. snapped up at least 20 domains related to his candidacy. Some of them may signal the party’s future strategy: baracknotready.com and norealexperience.com. The party has also begun preemptively registering domains that could be used to attack John McCain, like mccainamigos.com, voteagainstmccain.com, flipflopmccain.com and hatemccain.com (ihatemccain.com was taken.) The Democratic Party and the campaigns have shown little of the verve and creativity of the R.N.C. The Obama campaign registered desperatehillaryattacks.com in December. The Clinton campaign registered votingpresent.com two days later, an apparent reference to Mr. Obama’s votes as a member of the Illinois legislature. The party has been focused more on the national convention, registering variations of denverdemconvention08.com in February, but so far apparently no domains related to Mr. McCain. The election has “triggered an avalanche of cybersquatter activity,” according to NetNames, a domain name management service. Speculators have registered nearly 2,000 domain names related to presidential candidates as of last week. Names related to Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy made up over half of the registrations, followed by Mr. Obama with 635 and Mr. McCain with 269.

My favorites so far is fauxbama.org and yeswecandowhat.com

Both Clinton and Obama reassured Canada on trade:

Politics: Lets get this straight, you have to be pretty damn slow to think any of the three candidates will screw with NAFTA to the point that would make the unions happy. At best some cosmetic changes to try and fool people.

US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's campaign, while rapping rival Barack Obama for telling US voters he is anti-NAFTA and saying otherwise to Canada, tried to reassure Canada too, local media said Thursday. A top aide of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meanwhile was identified as the likely source of an alleged leak that provoked a diplomatic fiasco involving both US Democratic presidential contenders. Last month, Harper's chief of staff, Ian Brodie, purportedly made impromptu remarks to journalists about Clinton's US presidential bid, said Canadian reports.

Even Mexican business people are like whatever.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican factory owners are shrugging off threats by U.S. presidential candidates to retool a major free trade deal but say they would worry if the talk continues after election day in November. As they vie for the Democratic Party nomination, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have vowed to tell Canada and Mexico that the United States will pull out of the North America Free Trade Agreement unless labor and environmental standards are renegotiated. Yet even if one of them wins the November election against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, a NAFTA supporter, few see Washington easily reopening the trade deal, the fruit of years of thorny negotiations. "I really doubt they would go through with it. They are just playing politics," said Cesar Castro, who heads Mexico's association of maquiladoras, the assembly-for-export factories that dot the border with the United States.

The border states now make too much money from NAFTA, even Ohio makes money from NAFTA deals. Its all hot air.

The new British Super Sniper Gun.

Military: Yes it is gun porn and with pics!

Obama's foreign advisor Samantha Power is a piece of work.

Politics: She is getting slammed for calling Hillary a monster which is already being apologised for tonight.

PAPER: Obama Aide Calls Hillary: 'A Monster'... *Statement from Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: Senator Obama decries such characterizations which have no place in this campaign...

But she did an interview with the Telegraph and its the same tired leftist sop about wanting to be loved by foreign public by being a lapdog.

Mr Obama would also try to heal the divisions between Europe and America, caused by the war in Iraq. "Obama can go door-to-door in Europe and say, 'Look like you I opposed the war in Iraq but what are we going to do together about Al Qaeda?'" The United States must show more respect for international institutions, she adds. "We have to show that we know we can't do it alone. It matters not just intrinsically that we close Guantanamo, it matters because we need to be credible at the UN. You can't be against genocide on a Monday and for water boarding on Tuesday, then on Wednesday show up at the UN." Miss Power is the self proclaimed "genocide chick", who won the Pullitzer Prize for her reporting from Bosnia. She plays basketball with George Clooney and is the inspiration for the latest David Hare play. This auburn haired Irish journalist is a professor at Harvard, the founder of a human rights think tank and was cited by Men's Vogue as one of the most beautiful women in the world. She is also one of Mr Obama's most trusted advisers on foreign policy. The would-be President of the United States texts her with, "It's Obama, call me" in the middle of the night. Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the British Ambassador to Washington has already called on her three times. Miss Power met the Senator in 2005, when he called her to discuss her genocide book. "I never thought of going into politics until Obama," she says. "I was bowled over by his intellectual range. He combines policy wonkery with an ability to inspire. I had never seen anything like it before."

Hillary Clinton: The bitch is back and Obama can't handle it.

Politics: Via Guardian's CIF. This is one of the few columns ever I agree with from that site. Hillary dropped the nice act and went hardcore since she doesn't have anymore debates with Obama coming up. No more comparison shots as someone said earlier today. If that gets into people's mind that yeah she is a bitch but she is our bitch who can take on the GOP, Obama has a problem.

The bitch is back US elections 2008: After being written-off and told to give up, Hillary has earned grudging respect Mark Simpson What is American voters' problem? The media, on both sides of the Atlantic, has been telling them for weeks in the clearest, most unambiguous terms that dreary Hillary was "finished" and that Tuesday's primaries were going to be her "Alamo" - and that Obama, the glamorous, smooth-talking 1960s tribute act, was unstoppable. The kindly Fourth Estate made it as clear as they possibly could which way the idiots should vote on Tuesday, practically hitting them over the heads with it, and what do they do? Only go and hand "that woman" a stunning, breathtaking comeback last Tuesday, pulling the coronation carpet from under Obama and Michelle's smartly shod feet. The cheek of it! The racism of it! Not that you'd know Clinton won big from reading the sulking liberal media. According to them (here and here), it was "really" McCain who won. So how did it happen? How did the voters of Texas, Michigan and Rhode Island pluck up the courage to defy their betters? Well, it because Hillary became the very thing that she has been called by the media and Obama supporters (for followers of a man who preaches so much about "unity" and "peace" they can be awfully unpleasant). A bitch. Yes, of course, she was always something of a bitch anyway - how could a woman who got that far in politics not be? - but in the run-up to this do-or-die primary she decided to come out about it. Rather than shedding some tears this time, she presented herself as an out-and-proud battling bitch. She started to go after that nice Mr Obama head-on, claws out, instead of pussy-footying around, or letting hubby Bill do it from behind the lines - or hoping, vainly, that the press might subject Obama to anything other than adoring scrutiny. So she clawed him on Nafta, she slapped him about over his links with slum landlords, kicked him in the nuts over his inexperience and his hot air. She became a backbiting face-scratching brawling battling bitch that you'd better not mess with. Inevitably battling bitch Hillary was portrayed as simply desperate and bankrupt by a disdainful media, but voters seem to have respected her for it. Voters, especially blue-collar Americans in places like Ohio already experiencing recession, have begun to see her as their bitch, able to fight their corner in difficult times - and, strangely, they're less concerned than limousine liberals about whether this looks "cool" or "presidential" or not.

Disney accused of politics with 'Path to 9/11'

Politics: This still hasn't been released? What business consideration? If you release it on DVD at least you can recoup some of the money.

Top brass at Disney were called on Thursday to defend their decision not to release "The Path to 9/11" on DVD and to justify CEO Robert Iger's $27.7 million pay package. "Path" was a 2006 ABC miniseries critical of President Bill Clinton's handling of terrorist threats that was so controversial it prompted leading Democrats to ask Disney not to air the program. Disney, after making some hasty edits, ran it commercial-free. At Disney's annual shareholders' meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., one mutual fund portfolio manager said it was high time Disney turn "Path" into a DVD and recoup some of the $40 million it spent on the project. The fund manager, Tom Borelli, accused Iger of protecting HIllary Clinton's presidential campaign at the expense of shareholders and pointed out that Iger has been a steady Clinton donor since before the former first lady was elected to the Senate. He claimed to have a letter from a Lionsgate representative proving that Disney has no intention of even selling the DVD rights to another company. The "Path" question came shortly after another shareholder objected to foul language and persistent sexual innuendos on such ABC shows as "Ugly Betty" and "Good Morning America," prompting Iger to cite ABC's right of free speech. Borelli demanded to know why Iger seemed more interested in protecting curse words than he was in protecting political speech. The fund manager noted Disney's reported $46 million profit on "Fahrenheit 9/11," also a politically controversial project -- though far more critical of Republicans than Democrats. Seemingly taken-aback, Iger assured the shareholder that his decision on the DVD was based purely on business considerations and not on politics. Contacted after the meeting, Lionsgate insiders said that there is no serious interest in acquiring the DVD rights to "Path." It's not the first time advocates have claimed that Disney's refusal to distribute a DVD of "Path" is motivated by politics. "Path" screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh has told reporters that a top executive at ABC Studios confided that "if Hillary weren't running for president, this wouldn't be a problem."

Denver schools changes standards on "gifted students"

Nation: Since just a whole bunch of white kids were getting in the gifted program, they changed it up so get more color and diversity. Did they do that by making programs and shoring up the system to make the minority students come up to the levels the gifted program required?

Of course not, they just changed it up in one of the most unhelpful and wicked ways possible to make minority students realize they are not up to par.

More minority and poor students in Denver are being classified as highly gifted under a new system that gives extra credit to children who are economically disadvantaged or nonnative English speakers. Denver Public Schools is trying to fix a disparity in the program that serves its smartest and most talented students — which up until now has drawn mostly white students in a district that is mostly Latino. "It's a much more holistic look at the kid," said Diana Howard, principal at Polaris at Ebert, the district's sole elementary school for the highly gifted and talented. "I wanted this system to look at much more than test scores. This is going to have a huge impact."

Poor and kids who don't speak english now get points towards being put in the program.

To determine who gets into the program, the district previously relied on oral tests that measure a student's reasoning and IQ. But some educators and social scientists believe those tests are biased against students learning English and poorer students who may not have had the same life experiences as their richer peers. "They may be bright children but may not know what plaid is," Howard said. "Or their concept may not have involved a vacation. Or they may have never been on an escalator." To make things more equitable, the district now relies on a sum of measures to determine eligibility into the highly gifted program — cognitive tests, annual assessments, reading tests and teacher nominations. Next year, the district will consider artwork and writings. Also, students get extra points toward entry into the program if English is their second language or if they receive federal meal benefits — a measure of poverty. For example, a student who scores as low as the 75th percentile on cognitive tests could be considered, Howard said. Previously, that child would not have been admitted.

If you want to know why America always shows up on the worldwide test rankings middle or bottom of the pack, this is a damn good reason. Instead of elevating the students, they lower or make up standards to be able to say we got a diverse class of kids. They may be dumb as dirt but they are "gifted."

This is outright racist and these educators are more happy to see a mixed bunch of kids instead of the brightest amount of kids in a program meant for students who are ahead of the pack. This is why so many parents are sending their kids to private schools and home schooling. Why would you send your kids to something this degrading.

NPR getting huge tax break from D.C.

Nation: Why does the taxpayer-funded and benefactor get such a huge tax break not given to anyone else?

The District has negotiated a $40 million deal with National Public Radio to keep the company's headquarters in the city, granting tax abatements over the next two decades and edging out a bid by downtown Silver Spring. Forty years after taking root in Washington, NPR will build a 10-story headquarters at 1111 N. Capitol St. NE., Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said yesterday. The site, a warehouse of the former Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co., will feature a 60,000-square-foot newsroom in the up-and-coming NoMA community, the neighborhood north of Massachusetts Avenue near Union Station. Neil O. Albert, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said that NPR will not pay property taxes on the building for 20 years, saving $40 million. The city has agreed not to raise property taxes by more than 3 percent on the station's Massachusetts Avenue building for two decades, or until NPR sells it. ....Nicholas Deoudes, who owns three buildings less than a mile from the future NPR location, said that his property taxes increased last year from $13,614 to $36,151. Deoudes, who has owned the buildings for 29 years, said the city needs to help longtime business owners who stayed when the area was a "ghost town." "That's criminal," Deoudes said about the NPR deal. "My assessments went up . . . while somebody else got it for 20 years with no property taxes. They're handing out benefits to the big guys and leaving the small-time guys like myself and my tenant out of business. We're picking up the tab for somebody else." Albert, the deputy mayor, said he understands the business owners' concerns about escalating property taxes and encouraged them to appeal the assessments. "Some taxes went up 36 percent because of proximity to NoMA," Albert said. "It's a good thing for the District that property values continue to go up, but we want to make sure people are not artificially inflating the values of property.

Translation: Screw the long term businesses because you are funding the tax break we just gave to NPR, out liberal brother from the same mother.

Ward Connerly moving in five states to abolish affirmative action

Culture: The multicultural and diversity supporters are scrambling to stop him. DiversityInc has the summary and they are so unhappy about Connerly's "scare tactics." Keep an eye on his opponents they will employ every racist scenario they can think of to guilt people into not signing the petitions to get the issue on the ballot.

Lesson 10 in life; Do not taunt the Crocodile.

Nature: This idiot shouldn't be allowed on a boat for the rest of his life because he has no common sense.

It should be an obvious rule - don't try to have your picture taken with a crocodile by waving fish bait at it. As this startled tourist discovered, it won't work. And it annoys the crocodile. The 12ft beast launched itself from the aptly named South Alligator River in Northern Territory, Australia, and tried to dine on Israeli backpacker Novon Mashiah. Mr Mashiah, 27, just managed to jump clear on his small fishing boat - as these pictures taken by a friend in another boat show - and escaped with nothing more than a case of severe embarrassment. "I saw this crocodile and thought I'd tease it a bit with a small piece of bait, just to get it in quite close to me for the picture," he said. "I was playing around, pointing at it, laughing - when it suddenly jumped up at me. I didn't realise crocs were so aggressive."

Say cheese: Novon Mashiah points towards the croc and grins for the camera

$1 now equals 25,000,000 Zimbabwe dollars

World: Finally found a place where the dollar is worth something, too bad its Zimbabwe.

Money traders in the economically depressed African country say the Zimbabwe currency has tumbled to a record low of 25 million for a single U.S. dollar. With Zimbabwe dollars mostly available in bundles of 100,000 and 200,000 notes, one $100 note bought nearly 20 kilograms (40 pounds) of local notes at the new market rate Wednesday. Currency dealers said uncertainties ahead of elections scheduled March 29 and the world's highest inflation of 100,500 percent led holders of hard currency to hang on to their money at the same time as the state central bank pumped more local cash into the market for election costs. The price of the U.S. currency was also pushed up by central bank buying on the unofficial market to pay for power, gasoline and vehicle imports ahead of the polling, said one black market dealer who could not be identified out of fear of reprisals.

Idiots... Sony happy with $299 blu ray price point.

Business: I would have thought Sony had learn a lesson from the PS3 high price point and apply it to blu ray. I guess not.

Stan Glascow, the president of Sony Electronics, held his semi-annual update today in New York, and there were a few new tidbits. He was, predictably, bullish on the fate of the Blu-ray disc format, now that Sony’s technology has won against Toshiba’s HD-DVD. He acknowledged that the company now has to convince people they need to upgrade their DVD players . He talked of a slow steady decline in the prices of Blu-ray players, which Sony now sells for $399 and up. He said that prices will fall to $299 for this Christmas and may be under $200 by the end of 2009. Sony isn’t the only one that makes Blu-ray players; Sharp, Samsung and other big electronics companies also compete with Sony. Mr. Glasgow expressed hope that price levels wouldn’t collapse the way they did for DVD players. To protect against this, he said the Blu-ray Association, the group that controls the Blu-ray standard, has not licensed it to any manufacturers in China. (Cheap players from China were a large part of the collapse of the DVD player market.) “Will there be Chinese players? Yes,” he said. “We don’t need to drive that and hand the technology over” any time soon, he said.

There should be at least a $199 blu ray player for sale. You won't have a quick adoption rate if you keep it an unfriendly prices especially when people would be content with their DVD players now.

A not so hot profile on Michelle Obama.

Politics: Campaign Spot goes over some of it from a New Yorker fluff piece that doesn't end up being fluffy.

School girls missing in 'honor violence' areas

UK: Now that UK authorities are putting more resources into this you are going to see bigger numbers in these sorts of cases popping up.

Some 23 girls are still missing from a city's schools after extensive efforts to locate them, a minister has disclosed. It is feared that the children in Bradford have been pressured into forced marriages. The Government also has concerns about 14 further areas which are suspected of having high rates of so-called "honour violence". Children's Minister Kevin Brennan said officials were inquiring into the number of under-16s missing from school rolls in those areas. He told the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, which is investigating forced marriages, that Bradford City Council had lost track of 205 youngsters last year. Further inquiries had established the whereabouts of 172 - leaving 23 unaccounted for. "It is a serious concern when any child - any single child - becomes unaccounted for," Mr Brennan said. "And what we need to try to do is seek an explanation of what has happened." Asked whether the police were looking for them, he added: "They should be."

Hillary wins, Obama looked pissed off and Tina Fey.

Politics: Obama better be ready because Hillary finally went Hillary on him and it worked out. Clinton machine will throw the entire Home Depot store at him including the kitchen sink.

Obama in his speech tonight looked pissed and way off his game. But he did deliver yet another highlighted by Hot Air about pride in being an American overseas. That is the sort of attitude the left has because they seek ultimate approval from the world, it is a pathetic inferiority complex that belittles everyone else on the basis the only way an American should have pride is if some other country approves of us.

It falls into the same pattern as Michelle Obama finally being proud or saying this is a mean country. Both of them and much of the left feel a big part of American ideal is foreign acceptance.

As a side note, anyone else realize that the Media's harder look at Obama is because of Tina Fey and SNL? What does that say about the media in general?

Norway lobby: "Eat whale and save the planet"

Enviro: I fully support this sensational idea.

OSLO (Reuters) - Eat a whale and save the planet, a Norwegian pro-whaling lobby said on Monday of a study showing that harpooning the giant mammals is less damaging to the climate than farming livestock. Environmental group Greenpeace dismissed the survey, saying almost every kind of food was more climate friendly than meat. The survey, focused on whale boats' fuel use, showed that a kilo (2.2 lbs) of whale meat represented just 1.9 kilo (4.2 lbs) of greenhouse gases against 15.8 for beef, 6.4 for pork and 4.6 for chicken. "Basically it turns out that the best thing you can do for the planet is to eat whale meat compared to other types of meat," said Rune Froevik of the High North Alliance, which represents the interests of coastal communities in the Arctic. "Greenhouse gas emissions caused by one meal of beef are the equivalent of eight meals of whale meat," the study said. The Norwegian-based Alliance said it was the first to measure the "carbon footprint" of whaling. Fish and seafood was comparable to whale meat with relatively low emissions.

Shocker: Man to get child support back

Nation: First time I have seen one of these cases reversed.

Judge David Roper said he felt badly for Kenneth Samuels when he learned the child he had fathered for 11 years wasn't his. Justice was also shortchanged, the judge said, because Mr. Samuels had been paying child support all of those years. Last month, Judge Roper ruled that Jamie Hope, the child's mother, and Oba Wallace, the child's biological father, would have to repay Mr. Samuels $14,460 in child support he had paid since 1997. Such an order is unusual, but not unique. "We have seen it happen before," said Sandra Jarrett of the state's Child Support Recovery Unit. Usually there is no intent to defraud, Ms. Jarrett said. Mothers who have had relationships with more than one man might not know who the biological father is without a DNA test. Ms. Jarrett estimated 40 percent to 45 percent of their new cases are filed by a custodial parent who never married, and a DNA test is requested to establish paternity.

N.M. town split over "immigrant's" removal

Immigration: In factual English, we are talking about an illegal alien. Same old story, she got caught and deported. The illegal supporters are mad and the others are fed up.

London's mayor aide resigns over sexy emails.

UK: The Kwame Kilpatrick of London.

Ken Livingstone's closest aide was forced to quit last night after it emerged £100,000 of taxpayers' money was channelled to projects run by a woman he bombarded with sexually-charged emails. Lee Jasper wrote that he hoped for a "torrid and passionate embrace" with the married boss of two race organisations that received public funds. Using his City Hall email, the married father of nine told her she was "gorgeous" and "sexy" two days before apparently approving a £65,000 grant to one of the projects ....In one of the barely literate messages, dated June 23 last year, Mr Jasper said: "happy birthday my gorgeous, wonderful, sexy Kazzi "...Darling I want to wisk you away to a deserted island beach, honey glase you [and] let you cook slowly before a torrid and passionate embrace...You are indeed greatly loved up, magnificently appreciated and at the moment sorely missed. "Once back its candles and dinner and a special prezzie from Jamaica." Signing off, Mr Jasper, 49, wrote: "Lots kisses, hugs and tings, Your man, General Jasper." In another message dated June 23, Mr Jasper said he loved her "in a bikini...or a flaming red sari" and professed appreciation for her "bum and belly, arms head and brain". Two days after the emails, Mr Jasper is said to have approved a £65,000 grant to the 1990 Trust. Further messages appear to show Mr Jasper offering to spend the 2006 Labour Party conference in Manchester in a hotel with Mrs Chouhan. Mr Jasper and Mrs Chouhan admit they are close but deny any sexual affair or that they have broken regulations by failing to declare their relationship.

Yeah right. If you are going to send sexy emails, use your own personal emails fools!

Harvard Muslim only hours: "majority should be willing to compromise"

Nation: More on Harvard famed open-mindness as the AP and CAIR cheers on.

In a test of Harvard's famed open-mindedness, the university has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week to accommodate Muslim women who say it offends their sense of modesty to exercise in front of the opposite sex. The policy is already unpopular with many on campus, including some women who consider it sexist. "I think that it's incorrect in a college setting to institute a policy in which half of the campus gets wronged or denied a resource that's supposed to be for everyone," said student Lucy Caldwell, who also wrote a column in The Harvard Crimson newspaper critical of the new hours. Student Ola Aljawhary, who is Muslim and works out elsewhere on campus but is not one of the women who requested the change, rejected that argument. "The majority should be willing to compromise," she said. "I think that's just basic courtesy. We must show tolerance and respect for all others." .....When student Kareem Shuman showed up to work out at the gym on Monday, he was turned away but didn't mind. "Knowing it was requested by women of my faith — it's very understandable to me," said Shuman, 21, who figured he'd just come back later for his workout. ....Harvard's policy is no different from commercial gyms that cater partially or even exclusively to women, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. "The Muslim bashers portray it as the world coming to end, but if women have a couple hours a week to work out in private, I don't see it as a major issue," he said.

So the majority should compromise, tolerate, respect others as long as the others get their own way. Neat concept.

CAIR is already in victim mode even though a commercial gym is much different than a university gym which is paid for and used by everyone.

More Mexicans to America if NAFTA is changed.

Politics: This is where Obama and Clinton learn words have meaning though they would welcome the migration if it meant more Dem voters.

Mexicans say changing NAFTA may force them to move to U.S. By Franco Ordonez, McClatchy Newspapers Mon Mar 3, 6:17 PM ET MEXICO CITY — Jesus Velasquez doesn't want to move to the United States . He fears, however, that he may have to if he loses his job selling avocados. Velasquez, 36, says he and his family have benefited from the North American Free Trade Agreement. For him, the alternative is to immigrate to the United States . "The trade act is good because we have jobs," he said Sunday, speaking loudly over the clamor of hundreds of workers hauling fruits and vegetables off rumbling trucks. "If there are no jobs, more people are going to go to the U.S. I have so many friends who can't find jobs and leave." As voters in Ohio , Texas , Rhode Island and Vermont prepare to go to the polls Tuesday, some workers and distributors at this 800-acre food market, one of the biggest in the world, are expressing concern about presidential candidates Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's threats to pull out of NAFTA unless it's renegotiated. NAFTA is unpopular in Ohio , a key battleground state for Clinton and Obama, where thousands of manufacturing workers have lost jobs. Several vendors at the Central de Abasto food market said NAFTA isn't perfect. Prices on many products have risen, and many corn farmers said they've been run out of business because of the influx of cheaper American grown corn. But overall, they say, NAFTA has been good for the country, and they worry what changes the U.S. would seek should it return to the negotiating table with Mexico and Canada . "People are worried," said Gerardo Peralta , 55, who sells rice, nuts and condiments. "If the U.S. tries to renegotiate, they are going to do what's best for them. That could be bad for Mexico ." Some Mexican leaders sought to downplay the candidates' statements as political rhetoric and "campaign talk." Sen. Ricardo Garcia Cervantes said that any renegotiation of NAFTA would be based on the issues and not on the "heated statements" made by the American political candidates in hopes of gaining their party's nomination.

I wonder if there is going to be a memo from Mexico saying the politicians are just doing a lot of barking with no intention to bite like Canada?

Black people understand why Obama denounced Farrakhan .

Politics: According to Mary Mitchell.

When Sen. Barack Obama "rejected" and "denounced" the support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan during the MSNBC debate last week, it wasn't his finest hour. Fortunately for Obama, most black people understand the game No matter how many times Farrakhan explains, defends or refutes anti-Semitic comments that have been attributed to him, his kiss is still the kiss of death.

Yeah, funny how that happens when Anti-Jew stuff starts spewing from someone.

At 74 years old, Farrakhan has paid his dues in the battle against racial oppression and hatred. Over the years, a lot of black people have disagreed with Farrakhan on his stance regarding Israel, and many of us have regretted his ongoing controversy with powerful Jewish leaders. Yet Farrakhan's appeal to masses of African Americans is that he is not a politician. And he is free to speak his mind because his organization does not depend on outside support. Obama should have found a way to escape Russert's trap without denigrating Farrakhan's legacy. But, like I said, we understand.

Yes us black folk knows the wink wink at this point, Obama can slide his way around on this because its just about fooling Da Man! Not about his personal conviction which considering he hung around Ayers means he has little of it.

Moms allegedly brawl at Chuck E. Cheese

Nation: No alleged, if its a Chuck E. Cheese there are going to be Moms brawling on a regular basis. That place is a magnet for people you wouldn't want to be around.

NATICK, Mass. - A child's birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant was cut short after a fight broke out between two mothers. Natick police said the mom of the 9-year-old birthday boy apparently became enraged because the other woman's son was "hogging" an arcade game. Sgt. Paul Thompson said Catherine Aliaga, 38, and Tarsha Williams, 33, both of Boston, would be summoned into court to answer charges of simple assault and battery stemming from the scuffle. Thompson told the MetroWest Daily News that police received a number of 911 calls about the fight Saturday night. He said what started as a birthday celebration turned into a "birthday melee."

Paulson: No taxpayer housing bailout

Nation: You tell'em Paulson.

Proposals for a taxpayer-funded government intervention in the U.S. housing market would essentially reward people for taking excessive risks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday. "Most of the proposals I've seen would do more harm than good -- bailing out investors, lenders or speculators who, instead of getting a free pass, should be accountable for the risks they took," Paulson said in remarks prepared for delivery at an economic policy conference. "Let me be clear: I oppose any bailout."

Correa: Ecuador was in talks with FARC terrorists.

South America: How convenient the talks would include the presidential candidate and the Americans after all this time of harboring FARC in your borders.

QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador's president said Monday that his government was in "very advanced" talks with Colombian rebels to free 12 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. contractors, but was thwarted by a military raid. President Rafael Correa said a Colombian strike on Ecuadorean soil Saturday that killed rebel leader Raul Reyes and 19 other rebels spoiled the plan to free the hostages held by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. "I'm sorry to inform you that the talks were rather advanced to liberate 12 hostages, among them Ingrid Betancourt, in Ecuador," Correa said. "Everything was foiled by the hands of the warmongers and authoritarians," Correa said, referring to the Colombian government. The FARC has demanded creation of a safe zone in Colombia to negotiate a swap of some 40 high-value captives, including the French-Colombian Betancourt and three U.S. defense contractors whose plane went down in rebel territory, for hundreds of imprisoned guerrillas.

Pelosi: US Congress to examine EADS air tanker deal:

Politics: Here comes the politicians.

Congress will examine the US military's decision to award a 35-billion-dollar aircraft contract to Europe's Northrop Grumman/EADS group instead of US rival Boeing, leading lawmakers said Monday. "The Air Force's decision to award the contract for a much-needed modernization of the nation's aerial tanker fleet to Northrop Grumman and Airbus raises serious questions that Congress must examine thoroughly," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "Given the ramifications of this decision for the United States, the Air Force must explain to Congress how it meets the long-term needs of our military and the American people," she said. The Defense Department announced Friday that it was awarding the deal for a fleet of in-flight refueling craft to the group that includes EADS, which makes the Airbus aircraft, instead of US aerospace giant Boeing. Pelosi, who leads the Democratic Party majority in the House of Representatives, said among the questions lawmakers should examine are the implications for US national security of choosing "an aircraft supplied by a foreign firm" and the effect on the country's employment and "technological base."

Here is a good starter for the hearings.

"This was not a close outcome in any sense of the term," defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute told Reuters, describing how Boeing failed to beat Northrop in any of the key criteria for the aerial refueling contract. "Northrop won decisively and completely," said Thompson, who has close ties to the Air Force. ....Miller did not provide many details about how the bids compared, but Air Force officials said on Friday the Northrop plane was superior and offered more for the money. In a report on Monday, Thompson wrote that Boeing matched the appeal of the Northrop bid only in the area of proposal risk. And that came only after Air Force reviewers pressed Boeing to stretch out its aggressive development schedule for a new version of its 767 jet, which added to the cost. The Boeing proposal was initially rated "high-risk" because reviewers worried that Boeing's plan to build a new version of the 767 using parts from other versions would add to the cost. Northrop proposed a tanker based on the Airbus A330 aircraft built by Europe's EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research). Northrop-EADS won in four of the five criteria set by the Air Force: mission capability, past performance, price, and an integrated fleet assessment, according to Thompson. "Although some observers expected that the Northrop team would offer a better price, nobody expected that they would be better in every significant regard," Thompson told Reuters.

I thought Boeing had gotten over its hubris but judging by this report they got slammed hard for just showing up.

Man beheads 15-Month-Old Nephew in Saudi Arabia.

Crime: I approve of any and all Saudi Justice on this monster.

Early morning shoppers at a supermarket in Jeddah were left reeling yesterday, with some falling unconscious, after a well-built Syrian man clinched a knife and decapitated his 15-month-old nephew in front of his mother in the store’s fruit and vegetable section. In a brutal murder that has shocked the city, the 25-year-old man beheaded the boy, who was out shopping with his mother — in full glare of shoppers and staff at Al-Marhaba supermarket on Sari Street around 9.30 a.m. The man, who is the boy’s maternal uncle, apparently killed the boy following a dispute with his sister and brother-in-law. Eyewitnesses said that the man picked up a knife from inside the store and severed the boy’s head. The mother and a shopper standing close by fainted, while several other stood in shock and disbelief over what had happened. A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News, “The murderer was in a dispute with the boy’s mother and her husband. He chopped off the boy’s head in front of the mother to get back at her.” He added that the mother has been left traumatized and is in hospital. The boy’s father was at work at the time of the incident.

Dutch cabinet looks to ban Wilders film, voters are pissed.

EU: The Dutch government is running scared which should seal their reputation of being cowards and the voters are not happy.

The government has taken legal advice about banning Geert Wilders' short anti-Koran film, the Telegraaf reports on Monday, quoting sources close to the cabinet. The paper says that the government's legal officials told ministers that going to court ‘need not be entirely hopeless’ because of the danger to national security and public order the film could provoke. Although the cabinet rejected the idea of trying to ban the film during Friday’s ministerial meeting, the idea has not yet been thrown out, sources told the paper. However, the cabinet is divided on the issue and Labour ministers in particular are totally opposed to a ban, the paper says.

NISNEWS:

The Christian democrats (CDA) would only win 29 seats if general elections were held now. The disfavour of the voters is the result of the party's attempts to prevent Geert Wilders's film on the Koran from being shown, pollster Maurice de Hond reported. Last week, CDA still scored 32 seats. The new result of 29 is the party's lowest score since the spring of 2006. CDA currently has 41 seats in the Lower House, which has 150 members. The three seats lost by the CDA would be divided between Wilders' anti-'Islamisation' Party for Freedom (PVV), the conservatives (VVD) and Proud of the Netherlands (TON). Each of these parties would win one more seat than last week. "The poll is clearly influenced by the commotion that has developed since Thursday concerning the imminent release of Wilders' film," De Hond concluded. "Since some CDA voters support Wilders and his film, the reactions of CDA politicians have further eroded the loyalty of the electorate to the CDA".

Sun Times: Obama hung out with a terrorist, big deal!

Media: If you want to know why the Chicago Sun Times is a failing paper this would be a great example.

Conservative talk radio hosts are in a dither over the non-news that Obama is "friendly" with a fellow named William Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Thirty-five years ago, it seems, Ayers ran with the Weather Underground, a guerrilla band of deluded "revolutionaries" who protested the Vietnam War, racial injustice and "The Man" by setting off bombs. We know the nation's press can't be entirely familiar with Ayers, who is pretty much a Chicago boy, so allow us to fill you in. Ayers was, indeed, a Weatherman. He bombed the U.S. Capitol, a bathroom in the Pentagon, and even cased out the White House. He went on the lam in the 1970s, lived under an assumed name with his radical wife, Bernardine Dohrn, and gave himself up in 1980. Since then, he has built a respectable career as an academic and an advocate for troubled children. Ayers, it is true to say, remains sadly unreflective about his Weatherman days, as revealed in his memoir Fugitive Days. "I can't quite imagine putting a bomb in a building today -- all of that seems so distinctly a part of then," he writes. "But I can't imagine entirely dismissing the possibility, either." But Ayers, it is also true to say, has since followed in the footsteps of the great Chicago social worker Jane Addams, crusading for education and juvenile justice reform. His 1997 book, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, has been praised for exposing how Cook County's juvenile justice system all but eliminates a child's chance for redemption. Is Barack Obama consorting with a radical? Hardly. Ayers is nothing more than an aging lefty with a foolish past who is doing good. And while, yes, Obama is friendly with Ayers, it appears to be only in the way of two community activists whose circles overlap.

Being a leftist means never having to say sorry or be shunned for wanting to kill fellow Americans.

Split families in the UK get more benefits.

UK: The entire welfare system in the UK is geared to being hostile to families from getting more benefit if you have kids to not working because it pays a welfare family less to just be parasites on the system.

Three out of four ordinary families would be better off living apart than sharing a home under Labour's benefits system. Tax credits and benefits are increasingly skewed towards single mothers, a study has shown. A typical couple on a low or middle income would be £69 a week better off if they lived apart.

Ecuador leader Rafael Correa linked to terrorist group.

South America: First it was Chavez going nuts now this leftist goof wanted to hook up with drug running terrorists.

Colombia has said documents found in a cross-border raid suggest links between left-wing Farc rebels and Ecuador's President Rafael Correa. Colombian troops had entered Ecuador in a raid that killed a Farc leader, Raul Reyes, and 16 other rebels. Ecuador has expelled Colombia's ambassador following the attack and is sending troops to the border. Earlier Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was sending thousands of troops and tanks to its border. A spokesman for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe told reporters the documents provided information that "Correa has a relationship and commitments with Farc". Police commander Gen Oscar Naranjo said one document showed Reyes had met Ecuador's minister of internal security and that they discussed Mr Correa's "interest in making official relations with the Farc". Earlier, Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo went on television to express regret that it had to enter Ecuador. But he said that the raid about 1.8km (one mile) inside Ecuador was "indispensable".

NPR listeners outraged over Dark Continent reference.

Culture: The NPR host is at fault here, you have to know that most NPR listeners are sensitive creatures who fall apart at anything that pierces that PC mode that is NPR. Even though the usage of Dark Continent was correct and good enough for the Economist, its just sounds racist and that is good enough.

If New Zealand's ALL BLACKS team ever did a tour of the states, NPR couldn't cover them with listeners like these in their comment section.

The fact that NPR's reporter and editors saw nothing wrong with the term "dark continent" makes me wonder about the preconceptions that color their reporting on Africa in general. Why wasn't Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, the Africa correspondent, assigned to cover the trip? She would have done a much better job. There is one thing NPR can do to prevent such mistakes: make a commitment to diversity among their reporters. I'm not just talking about race and ethnicity. I mean gender and economic diversity as well. Sent by Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs 12:35 AM ET 03-01-2008

Thank you thank you NPR listeners for protecting us negroes from such shameful terms when there was nothing wrong with it. More diversity please.

Soaring prices force US to cut food aid

Nation: See all that corn and wheat to make Ethanol is making this a twofer. High food prices and we get to starve the world's poor because people didn't think the whole thing out.

THE US will drastically reduce emergency food aid to some of the poorest countries this year due to soaring food prices, The Washington Post reports today. Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was drafting plans to cut down the number of recipient nations and the amount of food provided to them. A 41 per cent surge in prices of wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months has generated a $US120 million ($126.5 million) budget shortfall that will force the USAID to reduce emergency operations, the report said. That deficit is projected to rise to $US200 million ($211 million) by the end of the year. The USAID is reviewing all of the agency's emergency programs, which target countries like Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, Honduras and Sudan's Darfur region.

People paddle into a humpback whale family

Coolness: "Must Paddle Faster"

These extraordinary images show one couple calmly watching one of these giants of the sea as it raises its fin. But when it suddenly slaps it down - sending a wall of spray towards them - they realise how vulnerable they are and think better of their proximity. Digging in their paddles, they turn away. But the whale becomes increasingly boisterous, this time "breaching" the surface. Clearly alarmed, the holidaymakers paddle desperately towards the shore.

More pics at the link.

What? Fencing does work along the border.

Immigration: If done correctly as this piece hilariously titled, "Despite fences, immigrants still broach U.S. border." which implies its useless so just drop the idea and the people coming over are legal immigrants.

Daily, U.S. Border Patrol agents in this Arizona town faced groups of up to 200 illegal immigrants who would swarm across the border from Mexico, sprinting past the agents to a new life in the United States. That was until 18 months ago, when the single fence was bolstered by two taller, steel barriers, watched over by video cameras and lit by a blaze of stadium lighting. Now the incursions known by the agents as "Banzai Runs" have all but stopped. "It was overwhelming," said agent Andrew Patterson. "This used to be a huge trouble area, now we are almost down to zero." The troubled patch of borderlands in this speck of a town in far west Arizona is among many places along the almost 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexican border that are getting new fencing as part of a U.S. initiative to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. Washington plans to build 670 miles of barriers, including pedestrian and vehicle fences, by the end of 2008. So far, more than 300 miles have been built, and the government is pushing hard in this election year to finish them, as mandated by the U.S. Congress. While they are controversial -- some border landowners resent what they see as unwelcome government intrusion and some conservationists argue it disrupts wildlife flows -- border police say this stretch of new fencing has been highly effective. "It has been a massive success. It has allowed our agents to gain control over the area and acted as a deterrent for people thinking of crossing," said Jeremy Schappell, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Yuma sector, which includes San Luis.

But when you don't do it correctly.

A new single layer of steel mesh fence 10-13 feet tall stretches out across the rugged, high plains deserts and grasslands on either side of the small town of Naco, Arizona. The Border Patrol credits it with contributing to a fall in arrests, but some residents say it has done little to stop illegal immigrants. In two recent visits to the area, Reuters correspondents found an improvised wooden ladder and stretches of garden hose used to scale the barrier, along with dozens of pieces of clothing and rucksacks apparently tossed by illegal border crossers as they breached it. Local rancher John Ladd said some 300 to 400 illegal immigrants continue to clamber over the new steel barrier flanking the southern reach of his farm for some 10 miles (16 km) each day, as an effective combination of technologies and manpower remains elusive.

Going from steel barriers to a single mesh fence with no manpower or tech tends to become new favorite places for illegals to go. That is a shocking observation I know.

Dems trying to tear down McCain via personal insults.

Politics: Howard Dean comes out against his integrity, Gloria Steinem hits on his being a P.O.W as no big deal and Wesley Clark blasts McCain's military and political career as useless to being good enough to be President.

Lovely set of people.

Obama Tends Toward Mainstream on Foreign Policy

Politics: If you look at the mainstream as defined by the MSM anyway. Its the same liberal way he has said in the debates and in speeches.

Obama said reestablishing diplomatic relations with Iran, North Korea and Cuba is "one carrot I might consider," in addition to talking to their leaders without preconditions. But normalization, he said, "would require the countries meeting their requirements on key U.S. and international demands, which in the case of Iran, for example, would mean verifiably ending its nuclear program and its support for terrorism" -- President Bush's baseline for initiating talks.

Heady unworkable laughable conditions. All three will use him for propaganda purposes and everyone will be right back at square one. Iran is not going to stop its nuke program at this point and to stop all support of terrorism, you would have to dismantle the security force, its officers and more than half the government.

Obama has pledged to give a speech in a "major Islamic forum" to "redefine our struggle" against fundamentalism within his first 100 days in office. Aides have said the speech would take place in an unspecified Muslim-majority country. Asked what form the redefinition would take, Obama differed little from standard Bush rhetoric on the subject, saying he would "make it clear that the United States is not at war with Islam . . . [and] stands ready to support those who reject violence with closer security cooperation . . . [and] increased foreign assistance."

Useless blather. Obama will get nowhere unless he throws Israel under the bus which will get him praise but terror support financially and physically will not abate because they would consider him a wimp. What sort of punishment is he willing to dish out on the countries that do support terror? All he is doing here is giving them bribes and that has never worked.

Obama is the master of making things sound great until you actually think about it.

The World Taxidermy Championships

Weird: At least the Hyena won a prize.

The Perm is making a comeback in the UK.

UK: Crud, if this is happening only a matter of time before it leaps to America which means eventually....Gericurl comeback. Get your Soul Glo out!!!

Eighties-style perms and electric blue make-up are returning to popularity on the high street. Sales of do-it-yourself permanent wave kits have climbed 50 per cent in the past year, according to Superdrug. The chain sold more of the kits in the past week than it did during all of February 2006. The 80s revival has also prompted an upturn in sales of electric blue mascara with sales of the vibrant eye make-up in February across all brands up from a year ago. Hair crimpers also seem to be coming back into fashion and are expected to grow even more popular this summer, the chain said. Superdrug director of toiletries Peter Newbould said fans of the 80s look were generally shoppers who could not remember much about the decade. "Scarily the people buying into the 1980s now probably were born in the 1980s," he said.

Intel chooses 'Atom' name for new chips

Business: Most interesting is the netbook that intel which is the same as the Asus Eee PC.

The "Atom" moniker will be applied to a family of chips with two members that are expected to be released later this quarter. One--previously know as Silverthorne--is a low-power mobile processor destined for the next generation of mobile Internet devices. It incorporates a new low-power state, allowing it to essentially shut down in between processing tasks and limit power consumption. The other, code-named Diamondville, is a single-core processor for ultra-low-cost laptops. Intel refers to the low-cost notebook design as "netbook" and estimates the pricing for these devices will go as low as $250. Diamondville is a tiny 45-nanometer processor that employs a simpler design than standard Intel processors, Intel also rebranded its Menlow chip as the Centrino Atom--a low-power companion chip with integrated graphics, a wireless radio, as well as thinner and lighter designs.

The netbooks is perfect for blogging and web surfer anywhere you can get a connection.

Uday Marty, an Intel marketing director, said that Intel's own research turned up a number of segments for the Netbook, including education and a notebook for kids. What sets the Netbook apart from more expensive, full-featured laptops is content consumption. It is best for playing music, streaming videos over the WiFi connection, text-messaging, video-chat, surfing the Web, updating personal blogs and the like, Marty said, who declined comment on Intel's planned pricing for Diamondville.

The advertising for this screams for Atom Ant.

UC-Berkeley Negotiating Deal with Saudi University

Edumacation: Why is it the same liberal multicults, everyone is equal and has rights blah blah blah are so quick to take money from a regime that is the opposite of everything they spew out?

The University of California at Berkeley is working on a partnership deal with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Under the arrangement, which the Times says could be made final as early as Tuesday, Berkeley faculty members would collaborate on research and help the Saudi university hire professors. Some faculty members at Berkeley are upset about the pending deal, concerned that the $10-billion university will discriminate against women and others and limit academic freedom. Their worries are echoed by critics of another pending deal, between Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Saudi Arabia, to start an engineering program at Jubail University College there. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Cal Poly would receive $5.9-million over five years to create an engineering curriculum, build laboratories, and train teachers, but only men would qualify to take or teach engineering classes at the school. At Berkeley, the Times reports, a committee of the Academic Senate voted in favor of the deal with King Abdullah University.

No "suicide" label on initiative

Culture: Yeah, Another end around in making people not call a spade a spade.

In a victory for Washington's proposed Death With Dignity initiative, a judge on Friday refused to add the words "physician-assisted suicide" to the ballot or official voters pamphlet description. "It is a somewhat loaded term," said Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham. He said it conjures up images of Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan physician who claimed to have helped more than 100 people die before being convicted of murder in one of the cases. Instead of "suicide," voters will read that Initiative 1000 would allow some terminally ill patients "to request and self-administer lethal medication" prescribed by a doctor. Wickham's decision largely upheld a description written by the state attorney general's office. The ruling was a setback for critics, including a Catholic doctors group and activists for the rights of disabled people. Duane French, a quadriplegic state worker who filed the court challenge, had a sign hanging from the back of his wheelchair in the courtroom Friday. "SHAME," it read. "If people were not ashamed, they would call it what it is: assisted suicide," French said. "They're trying to hide it," he said during a court break. "They know society really hasn't changed, and people don't support it." Filed in early January by former Gov. Booth Gardner, I-1000 would allow a doctor to legally prescribe lethal drugs to a terminally ill person who had less than six months to live, so long as two doctors agree that the patient is mentally competent. Writing such a prescription is a felony in Washington. Oregon is the only state that allows it.

Video: Lufthansa A320 almost crashing due to crosswinds.

World: Translated story here in Spiegel.

Hugo Chavez sides with terrorist group FARC.

Terrorism: and even puts in an Israel insult. This will only enchance his popularity in Hollywood and leftists in the Democrat Party.

President Hugo Chavez ordered Venezuela's embassy in Colombia closed and sent thousands of troops to the countries' border Sunday after Colombia's military killed a top rebel leader. The leftist leader warned that Colombia's slaying of rebel commander Raul Reyes could spark a war in South America and the angry rhetoric sent relations between the nations to their lowest point in Chavez's nine-year presidency. Speaking on his weekly TV and radio program, Chavez told his defense minister: "move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately." He ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Bogota closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn. Chavez, a fierce critic of Washington, called the U.S.-allied government in Bogota "a terrorist state" and labeled President Alvaro Uribe "a criminal." Chavez condemned Colombia's slaying of Reyes and 16 other guerrillas on Saturday, saying they were killed while they slept in a camp across the border in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia "invaded Ecuador, flagrantly violated Ecuador's sovereignty." "It wasn't any combat. It was a cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated," Chavez said. "We pay tribute to a true revolutionary, who was Raul Reyes," Chavez said, recalling that he had met rebel in Brazil in 1995 and calling him a "good revolutionary." Chavez said he had just spoken to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and that Ecuador was also sending troops to its border with Colombia. "The Colombian government has become the Israel of Latin America," an agitated Chavez said, mentioning another country that he has criticized for its military strikes. "We aren't going to permit Colombia to become the Israel of these lands."

Wash Post Ombudsman: Yes the paper favors illegals.

Immigration: No surprise and no doubt this bias has contributed to the falling circulation of the paper.

Readers are right that some journalists tend to write sympathetically about the underdog. But you cannot ignore the human story. "It's impossible to cover this issue without the challenges faced by people who are here illegally. We have tried not to be repetitive in those stories," Halsey said. Have the views of those against illegal immigrants been fully told? My review included many stories quoting opponents -- as well as their march on the Mall last spring. Some feel they've been portrayed as racist and xenophobic. While some have been quoted expressing views that might be interpreted that way, most have not. Halsey said it has been "very challenging to write effectively about people opposed to illegal immigration, because they are very passionate and seem suspicious of our motives and are less welcoming to our attention when we try to talk to them about their motivations."

As they have every right to be when the Post style rules has this going for them.

On terminology, Chip Beck, a State Department officer and former U.S. consul, believes it's important to use "illegal alien." Beck, who said he was not speaking for the State Department, said, "Foreign nationals who come across the border without papers or who overstay their visa are deemed 'illegal aliens.' Those are the legally correct terms. . . . The correct terminology is not derogatory but carries precise meanings under law." He sent a copy of the federal law that says: "The term 'alien' means any person not a citizen or national of the United States." The Post does not use "alien" in news stories and prefers "illegal immigrant." Even if "alien" is legal terminology, to me, it sounds like someone from outer space. "Undocumented workers" is also discouraged. The Post stylebook says of "undocumented": "When used to describe immigrants, this is a euphemism that obscures an important fact -- that they are in this country illegally."

Summary: The Posts is in the tank for illegals and that is not going to change anytime soon.

Aboriginal Alcoholic parents force children to suckle dogs.

Australia: But but... Australia said we're so sorry about everything, they can't go in and actually take children away. Think of the culture and multiculturalism that binds everyone together.

Aboriginal children in Outback Australia are so neglected by their alcoholic parents that some have suckled from dogs' teats in a desperate search for food, it has been reported. The shocking revelation came from a coroner investigating the appalling rates of suicide among Aborigines living in the remote and beautiful Kimberley region of Western Australia. Earlier this month the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered a much-publicised apology to Aborigines for past injustices, but critics questioned whether his words would lead to any practical improvement in the wretched lives of indigenous people. "The plight of the little children was especially pathetic and, for many of these, the future is bleak," said coroner Alastair Hope. He was presenting a 122 page report into the deaths of 22 men and women in the region since 2000, some by suicide but all linked to alcohol and drugs. During his research, he heard evidence that malnourished children had been sucking the teats of dogs for food and that young men had attempted suicide after being refused a can of beer. Aborigines in isolated towns like Fitzroy Crossing lived in overcrowded, ramshackle houses surrounded by rubbish and with little furniture. People slept on filthy foam mattresses beside diseased dogs in temperatures which reach 40C or more in summer. "In these communities there is nothing to do for most of the inhabitants for most of the time. Alcohol and drugs provide an escape," Mr Hope said.

Forced intervention not throwing just money at them via reparations must happen.