Sarah Palin being run out of politics.

Via Instapundit and NR's Geraghty.

JIM GERAGHTY: “The lesson that the ruthless corners of the political world will take from the rise, fall, and departure of Sarah Palin that if you attack a politician’s children nastily enough and relentlessly enough, you can get anybody to quit.” And I don’t want to hear any of that dishonest have-you-no-decency posturing from the usual moral poseurs if that happens to somebody they like. They have sown the wind. Posted at 10:14 am by Glenn Reynolds

Blame also goes to GOP "leaders" and her detractors within the party. Even if you disliked her or jealous of her support. When her children get attacked by the MSM and liberals who hate her because she embodies everything a woman should not be in their world(pro choice, family and successful) The least you can do is fight back against this sort of gutter politics which now seen as successful will be used against any GOP politician they deem as a threat since no one was called on it.

Remember, if those people come after you, its because you are a threat.

Obama can't get Arabs to commit to normal Israel ties

Ya think? My question is Obama really this naive that he thought with a few kind suck up words in Cairo that anything would change towards Israel from Arab countries?

They have used Israel as a foil and enemy for decades in part to distract from their own problems, they are not going to give that up anytime soon.

The U.S. administration has not been successful in securing commitments from Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, a senior source in Jerusalem said Wednesday. The source said U.S. President Barack Obama's recent meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia did not produce a commitment to encourage the other Arab states to begin normalization. "In such a situation, the Americans can't continue demanding gestures only from Israel, such as the demand that Israel freeze settlement construction," the source said. In response, a senior White House source said talks with the Arab states are continuing with the aim of obtaining a commitment to make gestures toward Israel, and there is still hope for progress.

Obama to block G8 sanctions against Iran.

The smart power on display here will get more people killed while boosting Iran power in the region.

The United States is opposed to enacting a new set of financial sanctions against Iran that are due to be discussed in the G8 summit next week, diplomatic officials in New York reported Friday. According to officials, sanctions against Iran are expected to top the G8's agenda. Sources are also predicting a pointed debate between the heads of the industrialized nations over an appropriate response to Iranian authorities' suppression of reformist demonstrations in Iran led by Mir Hossein Mousavi and other Iranian opposition leaders. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hinted in a newspaper interview earlier in the week that the G8 is due to decide on new financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Berlusconi disclosed that he had spoken with the heads of the G8 nations and has discussed such steps with them. According to the Italian prime minister, "the general leaning [among G8 leaders] is toward sanctions." However, diplomatic sources in New York reported that American officials are working behind the scenes to prevent new sanctions from being imposed against Iran. U.S. officials claimed that a tough stance toward Iran could backfire, bringing about an opposite outcome to that desired by those who support such measures. ....In addition to U.S. reluctance to enact fresh sanctions, G8 members Russia and China have been known to oppose any punitive steps against Tehran.

Some UK Muslims are 7/7 truthers now

What started out as an inquiry by family members of the victims of 7/7 to reconcile official report mistakes and what law enforcement knew about the 7/7 bombers has turned into UK version of the truthers here. But slightly more disturbing.

This week, a television documentary on BBC2 called Conspiracy Files 7/7 revealed the existence of a conspiracy theorist's 56-minute video called Ripple Effect. It accuses Tony Blair, the Government, the police, and the British and Israeli Secret Services of murdering the innocent people who died that day to stir up anti-Islamic fervour and create public support for the 'war on terror'. It alleges that the four British Muslims were tricked by the authorities into taking part in what they were told would be a mock anti-terror training exercise. What they weren't told, the video alleges, was that the Government was going to blow them up, along with other passengers, then pretend the four were suicide bombers. Without any evidence, the Ripple Effect video accuses government agents of setting off pre-planted explosives under the three Tube trains and on the bus. .....Even some senior Islamists believe the events of 7/7 were fabricated. As Dr Mohammad Naseem, the chairman of Birmingham's Central Mosque, says in the BBC2 documentary: 'We do not accept the government version of July 7, 2005. The Ripple Effect video is more convincing than the official statements.' Mr Naseem, a well-educated man, had made 2,000 copies of Ripple Effect for members of his mosque. Research has revealed that even before the contentious video came out, one in four British Muslims thought the Government or the Secret Services were responsible for the 7/7 atrocities. Now the number of doubters is growing. At Friday prayers recently, Dr Naseem asked the congregation to raise their hands if they did not accept the government version of events. Nearly the entire gathering of 150 men and boys did so. He then urged his audience to collect free copies of Ripple Effect at the back of the mosque. ....Fact or fiction, it does not matter. The impact of the video is swaying Muslim feeling. The BBC2 documentary shows worshippers in the Birmingham mosque commenting on 7/7 after seeing Ripple Effect. One elderly man states: 'There can be little doubt that the Government did this themselves to these four young men.' Another adds: 'We have been deceived by the British authorities, and Muslims have been framed for these attacks. They are lying from A to Z.'

Now Colin Powell expresses concern about Obama's agenda.

This is hilarious.

In a wide-ranging interview set to air Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, one of President Barack Obama's most prominent Republican supporters says he is 'concerned' about the new president's ambitious agenda and the high price tags accompanying many of Obama's initiatives. "I'm a little concerned," former Secretary of State Colin Powell says. "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." Powell also seems to sound a note of warning to the young president. "I think 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." Even as he raises concerns about the new Democratic president's agenda, Powell also seems to back away from some of his own conservative views. "I don't like slogans anymore like 'limited government.' That's not the right answer. The right answer is, give me a government that works." "The people want their problems solved," Powell also says in the interview. "And very often, it's government that has to do that. So let's have good government, effective government, whether you call it limited or not."

If Powell is in anyway surprised at the size of the programs that Obama advocates then he was truly blind when he threw his support to him. Everyone saw and heard what Obama was promising which is the nanny state that Powell then goes ahead as his vision of government.

We are in good hands.

North Korea launching beer ads now.

Extremely weird.

Amsterdam becoming a no fun zone.

Who or what is in the political offices in Amsterdam where they are cracking down on stupid stuff like this that is a part of the cafe charm in the city?

Hospitality businesses in Amsterdam are complaining that the city council is making their live a misery. They are faced with wildfire growth of regulations and strict compliance, De Telegraaf reports. Drinking a beer standing up on Amsterdam terraces is not allowed any more. "The cafe owner is responsible. After five warnings, the cafe has to close. Additionally, the local council maintains strict demarcation of the terrace space. Ten centimetres outside the lines and a fine of hundreds of euros will follow. The same thing happens if customers move a table," the newspaper reports. Lawyer Raoul Meester, who defends the interests of hundreds of Amsterdam hospitality businesses, says the checkups are rigorous. "Terraces are sneakily photographed from a car by the environmental police. They never get out. They take a photo from behind the dashboard. They did that in East Germany as well." Rene van Veen, owner of the P96 cafe, says it is impossible to keep the rules. "The minute I tell a guest that he has to sit down, someone else stands up. Tourists think you are making a joke." Another cafe owner says business people who go to the press to complain are extra severely penalised. "If your name is in the paper, you get two extra checkups."

Nigaz in Nigeria causes white bloggers to be offended!

So is it mostly white bloggers being offended for Nigerians?

Russian energy giant Gazprom has inadvertently walked into an online racism debate with the announcement of its new joint venture in Nigeria -- Nigaz. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Nigerian counterpart last week agreed the $2.5 billion venture to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Africa's most populous nation. The name is meant to be an amalgamation of "Nigeria" and "Gazprom", pronounced "nye-gaz", but can be read phonetically as an offensive term for people of black African origin. "How more derogatory can it be ... let's join forces in making our government rename this JV," said the creator of "Nigerians No Nigaz", a group set up on social networking website Facebook. Other bloggers took a more mocking approach. One African-American blogger recommended a playlist of songs from U.S. hip-hop artists including 50 Cent and Tupac Shakur for the Nigaz launch party. But many comments about the branding blunder on the Twitter and other social networking sites were from white bloggers. "White people are making too much of this. As long as the Russians pay us, they can call it what they like," said one Nigerian in the commercial hub, Lagos, asking not to be named.

Sotomayor worked for Puerto Rican "rights group"

One of those professional race/ethnic groups that pushed for affirmative action at the expense of everyone else when it came to jobs.

Sotomayor, a judge on the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, was nominated by President Obama in May to fill the vacancy of retiring Justice David Souter. Her confirmation hearings are set to begin July 13. She served as a board member of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1980-92, leaving when she became a federal judge. During her years on the PRLDEF board, the group opposed President Reagan's 1987 nomination of the conservative Bork -- then a federal appeals judge -- "because of the threat he poses to the civil rights of the Latino community," according to the documents. The group's attorneys prepared press releases and "worked on numerous efforts to build coalitions against the nominee," according to the documents. Bork was ultimately rejected by the Senate. The Fund also met in 1987 with staff at the New York Daily News to address what it called "negative images of Puerto Ricans presented by the News' staff," including well-known columnist Jimmy Breslin. ....However, they reflect the Fund's strong push to establish a precedent of cases that would establish legal authority to uphold workplace quotas for minorities. One case dealt with promotions in the New York City Police Department. A May 1992 memo on "litigation highlights" noted, "We obtained quota promotions for Latinos and African Americans to the rank of sergeant." A PRLDEF class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of minority applicants claimed advancement exams were "discriminatory and not job related." The city settled, agreeing to promotions that reflected the percentage of Hispanic test-takers. Backpay and retroactive seniority were also provided.

But she will be an impartial judge who will never based her opinions on race just legal precedents or something.

Obama's Strategy on Illicit Work by Immigrants slap on the wrist.

Civil fines and a stern UN like letter warning to employers who hire illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, American Apparel is the worst example to use for this because the owner is pushing for Amnesty and so far the fines may amount to nothing on his bottom line.

Immigration authorities had bad news this week for American Apparel, the T-shirt maker based in downtown Los Angeles: About 1,800 of its employees appeared to be illegal immigrants not authorized to work in the United States. But in contrast to the high-profile raids that marked the enforcement approach of the Bush administration, no federal agents with criminal warrants stormed the company’s factories and rounded up employees. Instead, the federal immigration agency sent American Apparel a written notice that it faced civil fines and would have to fire any workers confirmed to be unauthorized. The treatment of American Apparel, which has more than 5,600 factory employees in Los Angeles alone, is the most prominent demonstration of a new strategy by the Obama administration to curb the employment of illegal immigrants by focusing on employers who hire them — and doing so in a less confrontational manner than in years past. Unlike the approach of the Bush administration, which brought criminal charges in its final two years against many illegal immigrant workers, the new effort makes broader use of fines and other civil sanctions, federal officials said Thursday. Federal agents will concentrate on businesses employing large numbers of workers suspected of being illegal immigrants, the officials said, and will reserve tough criminal charges mostly for employers who serially hire illegal immigrants and engage in wage and labor violations.

How much are the fines and jail time for business owners? The owner of American Apparel is a huge amnesty supporter and will the Obama admin let ICE have means to go after the guy when they find him in violation again? These are just some of the questions that need to be answered. The fact they won't go after illegals and deport is typical as it would upset one of the Dems voting group.

Obama: Court leaves room for affirmative action

You can tell he really doesn't understand the reaction against AA.

Obama was critical of the process that New Haven, Conn., used to administer promotion exams and then toss them aside because of the racially skewed results. The president said the city might have prevailed if it "had thought through how it was going to approach the issue ahead of time and said, 'We think merit and highly qualified firefighters are absolutely important. That doesn't contradict our desire to make sure that there is diversity in a city that's 60 percent black and Hispanic. Let's design promotion approaches that reconcile those two things.'" Instead, Obama said, "I think what people instinctively, probably, reacted to on that particular case had more to do with the fact that the people that studied for those tests already had a set of expectations that were thwarted."

There is no logical common sense way to design promotions that reconciles merit vs a person's color. In the New Haven case they would have had to lower standards to make the black firefighters pass which is unacceptable. BTW, to date I have yet to see the test or even read about the black firefighters objections to it.

Small business lending crashes despite Obama's recovery act

Robert Gibbs says Obama owns the economy now and this was one of his first acts.

Despite emergency stimulus measures, small business lending continues to fall. In the just-ended quarter, the Small Business Administration's flagship program backed 30% fewer loans than it did a year ago, and 55% fewer loans than it did in 2007, before the recession set in. The numbers bear out the grim reports from business owners who say that credit is dangerously scarce for small firms. The SBA's 7(a) program approved 11,580 loans in the quarter ended June 30, valued at $2.5 billion. That's down from 16,490 loans, worth $3.4 billion, in the same quarter last year. For the full year to date, the situation is even darker. In the first nine months of its 2009 fiscal year, the SBA has approved roughly half as many loans as it did last year.

California Pays With I.O.U.’s. Some more equal than others.

Anyone shocked that public workers getting paid on the taxpayer's dime will get cash no matter what? I didn't think so.

People who get California IOUs	People California pays in cash
Grants to aged, blind or disabled persons	University of California
People needing temporary assistance for basic family needs	Public Employees’ Retirement System
People in drug prevention, treatment, and recovery services	Legislators, legislative employees, and appointees
Persons with developmental disablities	Judges
People in mental health treatment	Department of Corrections
Small Business Vendors	Health Care Services payments to Institutional Providers

Gen Y'ers using slur words as terms of affection.

Typical story of idiot young people thinking you can reclaim a word by using it in a nice way. My view is if you are under 18 and using slur words, you are just young and stupid.

If you are pass high school and running around calling people MY NIGGA! You are just guttertrash and no hope for being a productive member of civilized society.

"....I use the word beaner on my show a lot. I started to say Hispanic, and people were saying things, like, 'I'm not Hispanic. Hispanic is a word created by the Nixon administration.' Chicano? 'Well, I'm from El Salvador and Chicano means Mexican, but a Mexican that was born here.' How about I use Latino? 'I don't speak Latin. I speak Spanish, and I don't even speak Spanish that well.' Um, what about beaner? Nobody? Fine. That is comedian Carlos Mencia explaining on National Public Radio why he uses an ethnic slur in much the same way Chris Rock uses the N-word in stand-up routines. South Florida teens, like these comedians, are doing what linguists call "melioration"-- reclaiming a word meant to sting by removing its barb. "It's a generational thing," said Robin Lakoff, professor of linguistics at University of California/Berkeley. "Younger people don't feel or experience the same barriers between people that older people have been brought up to assume. And that, of course, would be reflected in language." While students "like to present themselves as a so-called post-racial generation," tensions still exist, said Jean Muteba Rahier, director of African and African-Diaspora Studies at Florida International University. "All racial slurs are not equal.'' Daniel Forbes, 20, a black Jamaican-American who grew up in Delray Beach and attends Lynn University in Boca Raton, says he doesn't have a problem with the N-word but draws the line at being called Haitian. He equates the Haitian community with poverty and the N-word with mainstream music and kinship, no different than the saying "hey, that's my dawg." Jordon Wilson, a black 17-year-old senior at Coral Glades High School in Coral Springs, says the use of the N-word is not all that black and white. He says his white friends can use it only at parties, yet words such as chico, ese and mami are always acceptable in his crowd. Alexander Adams has his limits, too. The 17-year-old senior at Deerfield Beach High School says he'll walk up one of his female friends and say: "Hey, bitch." But he said he would never call a gay friend a fag, which "is more offensive than racial slurs."

New Dem Health Plan only $ 600 billion over 10 years.

That is just to make it easier in political speak to shove down everyone's throats since employers in the end will pay a price to cover the uninsured.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats on a key Senate Committee outlined a revised and far less costly health care plan Wednesday night that includes a government-run insurance option and an annual fee on employers who do not offer coverage to their workers. The plan carries a 10-year price tag of slightly over $600 billion, and would lead toward an estimated 97 percent of all Americans having coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Chris Dodd said in a letter to other members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The AP obtained a copy. By contrast, an earlier, incomplete proposal carried a price tag of roughly $1 trillion and would have left millions uninsured, CBO analysts said in mid-June. The letter indicated the cost and coverage improvements resulted from two changes. The first calls for a government-run health insurance option to compete with private coverage plans, an option that has drawn intense opposition from Republicans. "We must not settle for legislation that merely gestures at reform," the two Democrats wrote. "We must deliver on the promise of true change." Additionally, the revised proposal calls for a $750 annual fee on employers for each full-time worker not offered coverage through their job. The fee would be set at $375 for part-time workers. Companies with fewer than 25 employees would be exempt. The fee was forecast to generate $52 billion over 10 years, money the government would use to help provide subsidies to those who cannot afford insurance. The same provision is also estimated to greatly reduce the number of workers whose employers would drop coverage, thus addressing a major concern noted by CBO when it reviewed the earlier proposals.

Government run plan costs as pointed out before will skyrocket as employers encourage and employees move to the artificially lower public plan. Then you add on a fee that will be paid by employers which is paid by their customers to allegedly cover those who can't afford it. All this for 600 billion over 10 years? Bogus.

Federal agencies on a hiring spree.

At this rate, someone should take a clue from the UK's Daily Mail and make a chart with a public vs private job numbers.

Though the number of unemployed people is rising in the Washington area, Kimberly A. Holder of the Food and Drug Administration has an opposite problem: She's looking for people to fill hundreds of positions slated to open soon. "We're expanding," said Holder, the FDA's assistant commissioner for management, who is among representatives from numerous federal agencies trying to figure out how the government can fill an estimated 600,000 positions over the next few years. After falling for two consecutive months, the unemployment rate in the metropolitan region rose to 6.2 percent in May from 5.7 percent in April. The figure, which is not seasonally adjusted, is the highest rate for May since recordkeeping began in 1990. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the April figure from 5.6 percent.) More than 30,000 regional jobs were lost in the past 12 months. Most sectors -- construction, retail, hospitality, information and transportation -- either continued their job slide or slowed the pace of losses. The federal government and the contracting industry are among the few sectors in the area creating jobs. For instance, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, the Defense Department is looking for 50,000 contracting and acquisition officers as part of President Obama's plan to reduce outsourcing. The Department of Veterans Affairs is hiring 17,000 doctors, nurses and others to work in VA hospitals as Obama seeks to improve services for veterans. The Social Security Administration, which already has hired 5,800 people this year, is planning to fill 5,500 more positions next year. And the FDA is seeking to fill up to 600 positions, including inspectors and contract officers to staff the new Center for Tobacco Products. About one-fifth, or about 120,000, of the positions would be in the region, experts said.

Iran hangs 6 opposition backers

If the report is true by the Jerusalem Post, but full steam ahead on those talks with Iran.

Woman takes too long in the bathroom and hubby leaves.

He was looking to get out of it and any old excuse will do at this point.

They were preparing to fly home after an idyllic honeymoon in Malaysia. But after only a week of married life, one couple's romance came to a dramatic end after the bridegroom decided his wife simply spent too long in the bathroom. His solution was simple. Get on the plane without her. The woman in question, a teacher, had gone to use the facilities at the airport before boarding a flight back in Saudi Arabia. Quite how long she stayed in the toilet remains unclear. What is certain is she emerged to discover her husband had vanished without trace. The woman, who had paid for the holiday, began a desperate search of the airport and grew increasingly concerned that something terrible had happened to him. It eventually emerged that he had in fact boarded a plane, according to the Saudi Gazette. When he arrived at his destination, he calmly told relatives his new wife was still in Malaysia. His bride was not so calm about his behaviour. She has demanded an immediate divorce.

Muslim groups warn Bloomberg to pass Muslim holidays.

There will be election consequences if he doesn't do as they say or something.

Spurred by a broad coalition of religious, labor and immigrant groups, the City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Tuesday to add two of the most important Muslim holy days to the public schools’ holiday calendar. But the vote, which was nonbinding, put the Council in conflict with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has the final say to designate the days off and has said he is resolutely opposed to the idea. The mayor told reporters before the vote that not all religions could be accommodated on the holiday schedule, only those with “a very large number of kids who practice.” “If you close the schools for every single holiday, there won’t be any school,” he said. “Educating our kids requires time in the classroom, and that’s the most important thing to us.” The current school calendar recognizes major Christian and Jewish holy days like Christmas and Yom Kippur, but no Muslim holy days. Mr. Bloomberg’s stance has irritated advocates of the measure, and some said he risked alienating many in New York’s fast-growing Muslim population as he seeks re-election in the fall. Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, a leader of the campaign to add the holidays, said that if the mayor continued to oppose the move, the results for him at the voting booth could be “catastrophic” among the city’s roughly 600,000 Muslims.

Newspapers find mug shots to be sure fire hit.

Something kinda troubling in this piece if you are an advertiser.

Newspapers, particularly those in Florida, have discovered that the public has a huge appetite for jail mug shots. In May, the booking blotter generated about 52 percent of the 45.2 million page views to The Palm Beach Post's websites. For some sites, those hits can translate into ad sales. That motivation bothers Bob Steele, a member of the ethics faculty at the Poynter Institute, which owns the St. Petersburg Times and is a national center for journalism training. ''This tactic is not one that's driven by a meaningful journalism purpose. It is driven by financial incentives,'' he said. Newspaper editors point out that publishing information about crime is a primary mission. ''Newspapers have always run police blotters,'' said Tim Burke, executive editor of The Palm Beach Post. ``The obvious difference with the online blotter is the sheer number of mug shots. But we're still telling readers (and now users) who broke the law. We still think arrests are of significant interest to the public.''

Not really a great sign for the rest of the paper if one section of pics is getting more than half your views.

Obama: Iraqi celebrations a testament to U.S. commitment

Which he had nothing to do with considering he against the surge and was willing to allow genocide to happen in Iraq among his anti-war stance. That out of the way, nice of him to acknowledge.

Obama now Hugo Chavez's lapdog.

So hellbent is Obama to be the new type of American President in his mind where everyone is equal especially leaders who hate our guts that he is willing to overlook the fact Zelaya wanted to be Chavez Jr.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has urged Zelaya to try to speak with Obama while in D.C., saying the American president’s support would “deliver a major blow” to Honduras’ interim government.

Allahpundit:

So not only will this turd get a legitimizing photo op with the State Department, he might get one with The One himself. No wonder he feels emboldened enough to try to fly back to Honduras on Thursday and force a confrontation with the new president and the military. Presumably he’ll be arrested — and Obama will once again be forced to declare the action illegal, notwithstanding the minor point that the Honduran supreme court disagrees. The one piece you should really read on this is Alvaro Vargas Llosa’s op-ed in today’s NYT about how shrewdly Chavez gamed out Zelaya’s bogus-referendum maneuver, knowing that if the Honduran government moved to stop it, it would let him and Zelaya play the role of the poor misunderstood democratic populists who are just trying to let the people’s voice be heard. He counted on the fact that Obama, ever eager to prove his un-ugly American-ness, wouldn’t oppose him, especially now that relations between Washington and Caracas have been restored. And sure enough, Obama didn’t. Good work, Barry. You got played.

Greg Pollowitz] points out the Cairo speech which makes Obama's actions and words seem stupid.

Here's an excerpt from President Obama's big speech in Cairo: This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they are out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. No matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who hold power: you must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy. Isn't this exactly what's happening in Honduras, where now former president Manuel Zelaya was moving to trample on his country's democratic principles? I guess those were "just words" in Cairo.

Its been pointed out here and elsewhere why this new way of Obama not taking care of events in his backyard and allowing anti-Americanism leaders to have their way while he wants to be buddy buddy will bite him in the ass. He tried this new way with Iran and it was a failure in getting anything done positively while showing the Iranian authorities they still have room to push before Obama reacts in the same way as France or Germany did over the election violence.

The same thing is happening with Honduras, Chavez is playing Obama like a fiddle while he and his lapdog friends realize that Obama won't do anything that will hamper their aspirations for Latin America and South America. The Jimmy Carter method will come back on us with a vengeance.

Update: Honduras Under the Bus

Rep. John Conners caught up in wife's bribe schemes?

Via Detroit Free Press.

Before U.S. Rep. John Conyers was for it, he joined with a colleague who was against it. In 2003, the influential husband of Monica Conyers appeared at a public hearing in Romulus, standing with fellow Michigan Democratic Rep. John Dingell, who was dead set against a planned hazardous waste injection well in that city. “We’re trying to keep the God-given resources that this area is blessed with as healthy and as clean as possible,” Conyers told an audience on April 21, 2003. On Monday, John Conyers wasn’t talking about why he sent a letter several years later — on July 17, 2007 — to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of Greektown businessman Dimitrios (Jim) Papas’ efforts to transfer permits that would restart the controversial, leak-prone well. What accounts for John Conyers’ apparent shift on the well project? His office did not offer an immediate comment Monday. But Sam Riddle, the one-time political consultant and aide to Monica Conyers, has told the Free Press that Monica Conyers had indirectly benefitted from Papas in 2007, before the EPA letter. It’s unclear whether John Conyers then knew of any financial ties between his wife and Papas. The Free Press also has learned that Papas was a political supporter of Monica Conyers. He contributed $1,500 in 2005 to her successful run for City Council. He also cohosted a fund-raiser that brought $12,250 to her campaign, records show. Riddle, who spoke exclusively to the Free Press for Monday editions, said the 2007 EPA letter from John Conyers was generated by Monica Conyers after she arranged a $20,000 consulting contract for Riddle with Papas. One of Papas’ companies — Environmental Geo-Technologies — had contracted with the Detroit Police and Firemen’s Retirement System to operate the deep-injection well, in which the system had invested millions. Riddle said Monica Conyers demanded $10,000 from Riddle as a finder’s fee.

About Obama siding with Chavez and Castro

and throwing his lot with Zelaya who tried to ignore the Honduras's institutions(court, congress, his own party) for his own personal political gain. The question is why?

With the defiant support of other Central American nations and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Zelaya steadfastly maintains that he is the only president of Honduras -- and President Barack Obama agrees. ''We don't want to go back to a dark past,'' Obama said Monday. ``The United States has not always stood as it should with some of these fledgling democracies. But over the last several years, I think both Republicans and Democrats in the United States have recognized that we always want to stand with democracy, even if the results don't always mean that the leaders of those countries are favorable toward the United States.'' He added: ``We believe that the coup was not legal, and that president Zelaya remains the president of Honduras.''

Fine, stand with democracy but overlooking Zelaya role in this complicated event is naive and makes Obama look desperate to prove what a differnt American President he is from the rest. Say a short terse statement not agreeing with the overthrow but at least be fair to both sides instead of taking the side of a Chavez lapdog. As AP on HotAir points out what the hell is the end game? There is little if anything to gain acting like Jimmy Carter.

Cristina Fernandez defiant and generally delusional.

The dynasty is over but the beautiful idiot still insists that she is large and in charge.

rgentina's president expressed defiance Monday after voters took away the ruling party's edge in Congress. Sunday's midterm elections have severely weakened President Cristina Fernandez and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, who had warned that "chaos" would ensue if the government lost its legislative majorities. Instead, markets reacted with relief, and political opponents were invigorated by the reality that the autocratic Kirchners will have to reach compromises to get laws passed once the new senators and deputies take office Dec. 10. ....Kirchner was widely popular for lifting Argentina's battered economy from the depths of economic crisis to more than 8 percent yearly growth. But his wife hasn't had the same touch. Her approval rating dropped to around 29 percent after she insisted on an export tax hike that stagnated the farm sector. And she came off as unbending when she extended price caps and subsidies, nationalized $23 billion in pension funds and took over Argentina's top airline as part of a larger effort to impose more state control over the economy.

How pissed is Nestor Kirchner about these events? He gave up power and handed it over to his wife with the plan of running again in 2011. But Cristina screwed it up with her socialist policies and now both could be future ex politicians.

Bridgeport firefighters case worse than Ricci v. deStefano?

You can't find an angle to justify this test cheating the city did in this case.

"Municipalities should be dancing in the streets," said Richard Albrecht, a lawyer representing 12 white Bridgeport firefighters in a similar reverse-discrimination case. "What the Supreme Court is saying is, get back to firefighting and policing and stop trying to solve societal problems in the context of municipal employment." ....What could happen next is settlement discussion in the Bridgeport 12 case, which is pending in two parts -- reinstatement of the original scores and determination of damages -- before two different federal judges. In that case, Bridgeport rescored a 2007 fire lieutenant's exam because no blacks would have been promoted. They sharply reduced the percentage given to the written test and doubled the weight of the oral portion. Then, while appeals were pending before the Civil Service Commission, the city made promotions based on the revised scores. "Our case was much stronger than New Haven's to begin with," said Albrecht. "Then the city violated its own civil service rules and practices by promoting while the appeals were pending." Of the 12 plaintiffs, only two were promoted. Three others were demoted from provisional lieutenant appointments back to firefighter. "I suspect Bridgeport will want to settle," Albrecht said. City Attorney Mark Anastasi did not return calls for comment Monday.

Plus your dumb NAACP quote for the day.

"The ruling further erodes Title VII," added Michael Koskoff, a Bridgeport lawyer who in the 1970s brought several successful federal lawsuits under that anti-discrimination law and forced cities like Bridgeport and New Haven to hire minorities in what were almost exclusive white police and fire departments. "It appears that where we are heading is back to promoting those who score highest on exams without regard to diversity."

I would hope in important jobs like firefighting they would be promoting the ones who does best on passing the necessary requirements.

Diversity without merit is patronizing the people too stupid to realize it and ends up hurting everyone.

Labour vows to put Britons in front of social housing queue.

I could have sworn over the years denial after denial that Britons were being passed over. One of the downside is you give yet another angle for the racist BNP to beat labour over the head with in the next election.

British-born families will jump ahead of immigrants and asylum seekers in the queue for council housing under far-reaching plans unveiled today. Gordon Brown will tear up the rules in a bid to win back Labour's working class heartlands, where support has grown for the far-Right British National Party. The 'British homes for British workers' plan, if it succeeds, will force councils to end the unfairness which sees immigrants with large families vault to the top of the council house list.

Areas of UK where dependence on state money rivals Cuba.

Never a good thing when you are compared to Cuba and even worse when you beat Cuba.

Some parts of Britain are becoming more dependent on state spending than Cuba, figures showed yesterday. Around two out of every three pounds spent in the North East and Wales will come from the taxpayer next year. And only the southern half of England will rely on private business and enterprise for most of its spending. The report by the City think-tank Centre for Economics and Business Research showed that taxpayers' money will account for the majority of the economy in eight out of the 12 UK regions by next year. State spending has leaped upwards as Gordon Brown has pumped money into the economy and used devices such as 'quantitative easing' to provide more cash, while the recession has pared back private commerce and industry across the country. The scale of the state economy in regions already heavily dependent on taxpayer subsidies has now grown to pro-unmatched elsewhere in the Western world. Two will be close to a 70 per cent state share next year. Wales and Northern Ireland - together with the North East of England - are on their way to overtaking Cuba, the last communist country in the Western hemisphere, where next year around 60 per cent of the economy is expected to be state-funded.

The image is shameful unless you like being a welfare parasite.

BET awards = garbage.

Jamie Foxx was annoying and self promoting as usual, production values were below what you would expect on any big time award show, the older R&B, soul acts showed what talent really is compared to the newer "hotter" acts of today. As for the Michael Jackson tribute, I will await an actual tribute show instead of whatever the hell they thought was a tribute to MJ.

One image to sum it up?

Kirchners lose election for Argentine congress. Ha Ha.

As I call her the beautiful idiot Cristina Kirchner got power handed to her on a silver platter by her husband and a couple of years later because she pushed her leftist policies too much among other things she has ruined their legacy as a power couple.

The ruling coalition of Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was dealt a blow in mid-term elections, losing control of the country's Congress and suffering defeat in five key provinces. Even the president's husband Nestor Kirchner, himself a former head of state, lost his race in Buenos Aires province, where he was seeking a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. "Argentine society has sent the government a message," commented political analyst Rosendo Fraga after the release of official results from Sunday's balloting. "It has to change course." With 75% to 95% of the ballots counted, a coalition supported by the president and her husband lost four seats in the Senate and with them control of the 72-member upper house of Parliament. With the 36 Senate seats still under their control, the pro-government Front for Victory is one short of a controlling majority. "We have now become the main opposition force," boasted opposition leader Ricardo Alfoncin, who won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, which also went to the opposition.

UK girls young as 12 having abortions.

Break down the numbers, it doesn't seem as bad though you question the moral and value base of society that you have repeat abortions before 18 years of age.

Dozens of girls as young as 12 or 13 are regularly having abortions, Government figures show. More than 450 youngsters below the age of 14 ended unwanted pregnancies between 2005 and 2008 - including 23 girls aged just 12, the Department of Health statistics reveal. Over the same period, 52 teenagers terminated four or more pregnancies before they reached their 18th birthday, helping the number of repeat abortions hit record levels. Across all age groups, 64,715 repeat abortions were carried out last year. This is the biggest figure on record and includes 46 women who had terminated at least eight pregnancies. Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said the statistics were evidence of the failure of Labour's teenage pregnancy policies. He said: 'When you look at the cases of young girls having abortions repeatedly, this is not just tragic and disturbing, but totally unnecessary.'

Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue

If you are looking to create a theory on why NBC, CNBC and MSNBC are so latched on to Obama, the mothership benefits greatly from the taxpayers.

General Electric, the world's largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government's key rescue programs for banks. At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government. The company did not initially qualify for the program, under which the government sought to unfreeze credit markets by guaranteeing debt sold by banking firms. But regulators soon loosened the eligibility requirements, in part because of behind-the-scenes appeals from GE. As a result, GE has joined major banks collectively saving billions of dollars by raising money for their operations at lower interest rates. Public records show that GE Capital, the company's massive financing arm, has issued nearly a quarter of the $340 billion in debt backed by the program, which is known as the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, or TLGP. The government's actions have been "powerful and helpful" to the company, GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt acknowledged in December. GE's finance arm is not classified as a bank. Rather, it worked its way into the rescue program by owning two relatively small Utah banking institutions, illustrating how the loopholes in the U.S. regulatory system are manifest in the government's historic intervention in the financial crisis. The Obama administration now wants to close such loopholes as it works to overhaul the financial system. The plan would reaffirm and strengthen the wall between banking and commerce, forcing companies like GE to essentially choose one or the other. "We'd like to regulate companies according to what they do, rather than what they call themselves or how they charter themselves," said Andrew Williams, a Treasury spokesman.

If you go with the theory, the butt kissing in the coming months will be going into hyperdrive.

Uribe to meet Obama, the hypocrisy will be thick.

I wonder how badly is Obama going to treat him considering he is a former strong ally of President Bush and since the unions own Obama if he will throw Urbine to the wolves.

This is an interesting way of how they look at Uribe who does have problems of his own but it seems to me because he is not the typical leftist leader they are looking for excuses.

Obama administration officials declined interview requests to discuss policy toward Colombia, a country that has received nearly $6 billion in mostly military aid since Uribe took office in 2002. But four people who have met with policymakers in the Obama administration say the United States is concerned about the wiretapping and surveillance of Uribe's critics by an intelligence agency controlled by the presidency and reports that as many as 1,700 civilians have been killed by Colombian army units in what a preliminary United Nations investigation characterized as "cold-blooded, premeditated murder." Administration officials also believe that democratic institutions are at risk as the Uribe government lobbies for a constitutional amendment to permit him to run for an unprecedented third term next year, said those who have met with aides to President Obama. "I believe the Obama administration will question President Uribe on his human rights record and democracy," said one of the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "And I don't think they will either mince words or hold back too much."

They just got thru berating Honduras's institutions for stopping a Chavez lapdog for trying to screw with their consititution terms but have a problem with Uribe who so far is lobbying for a third term? As for human rights violations and undemocratic practices you could start in Mexico and drive all the way down the South American continent stepping on unjust killings and human rights violations. Why pick only on Colombia unless you have an agenda.

US still wants talks with Iran while dismissing US downplays Ahmadinejad.

The new approach as the White House sends it team out with the message they want talks with Iran which really shows the lack of concern or planning for the Iranian protestors who were beaten down by authorities. If any Iranian dissenters are looking for a bigger American presence, just forget it. I got the feeling Obama is willing to sell them out if he gets anything he can spin as a positive from the Mullahs.

The United States on Sunday reiterated its intent to continue discussions with Tehran over its nuclear program but downplayed any role that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would have in formulating policy. "Whatever Mr Ahmadinejad says, everyone understands that in Iran, he is not the person who makes decisions on foreign policy, on defense policy," senior White House adviser David Axelrod told the ABC show "This Week."

US helps deposed Honduran leader

The quick gist of what is happening in Honduras.

The President of Honduras was ousted in a military coup yesterday when troops arrested him in his pyjamas and sent him into exile in neighbouring Costa Rica. The military action against President Zelaya, the country’s most popular President in recent history, raised fears of widespread violence as supporters took to the streets, throwing stones at army lorries and shouting: “Traitors! Traitors!” .....The military move came after Mr Zelaya vowed to push ahead with a controversial referendum that was due to take place yesterday, and refused to reinstate the military chief he had dismissed for opposing it. The left-wing leader was seeking to change the constitution to allow him to stand for re-election — a path trodden by a string of regional allies such as President Chávez and President Morales of Bolivia. The military, the judiciary and even much of Mr Zelaya’s party were deeply critical of the planned vote, branding it illegal. The Supreme Court said that it had ordered the removal of the President to defend the rule of law. The Honduran Congress later swore in its leader, Roberto Micheletti, as the new head of state after voting to remove Mr Zelaya for “manifest irregular conduct” and “putting in present danger the state of the law”. It had earlier accepted what it said was a letter of resignation from the President, though Mr Zelaya denied having written it.

So Zelaya who is another of the small Chavez lapdogs that are in Latin/South America tried to usurp the rule of law and got thrown out on his butt. Why is Obama so eager to jump in to demand his return and interfering in another country's affairs. I thought he hated that sort of behavior as it was a part of "Bush's America."

U.S. diplomats are working to ensure the safety of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and his family as they press for restoration of constitutional law and his presidency. President Barack Obama called Sunday for "all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter" as the Central American crisis unfolded. Knowing trouble was brewing in Honduras over several weeks, the Obama administration warned power players there, including the armed forces, that the United States and other nations in the Americas would not support or abide a coup, officials said. They said Honduran military leaders stopped taking their calls. Two senior administration officials briefed reporters by phone on condition of anonymity, under ground rules set by the State Department. One predicted a consensus will quickly fall into place across the Americas, via the Organization of American States, that the coup was an "illegal and illegitimate act that cannot stand." The U.S. has been in touch with Zelaya since he was brought to Costa Rica by the forces that unseated him, and has been trying to communicate with members of the Honduran Congress to insist that the new power structure step down, the official said. As well, officials in Washington and in the Honduran capital have been seeking ways to make sure Zelaya's family is unharmed.

Looks like a great example of not to get involved beyond statements of outrage and disapproval. If this is Obama's way of showing how different America is now under his leadership and thinking it will earn him brownie points from everyone else, he is in for a rude awakening.

Obama ready to hold terrorism suspects indefinitely

This is what happens when you run your mouth without thinking it all the way to the end. Anyone make a chart about the campaign/policy promises he has made against Bush that he is now going to endorse?

Faced with a gloomy outlook for new congressional authority to detain terror suspects, the Obama administration appears to be considering issuing an executive order to govern the indefinite imprisonment of alleged Al Qaeda operatives, analysts said. The focus on a unilateral action by President Barack Obama reflects a political dynamic on Capitol Hill that may render legislation on long-term detention unattainable. On Friday, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt denied a published report that a possible executive order had been drafted. However, he and other officials did not dispute that such an order was one of the options being considered by a task force Obama created to review detention policy. Its recommendations are due next month. "There is no draft executive order," said LaBolt. "The task force has not finished its work on these issues." In a joint report published Friday, The Washington Post and a nonprofit investigative journalism group, ProPublica, said three unnamed senior government officials confirmed to them that such an order is being drafted (a step back from when the report was first published, at which point it said the order had already been drafted). The outlets also said some officials were now concerned that Obama would not meet the deadline he set to close Guantanamo by next January.