Scarborough: Jihadist played CIA like a fool

The more info that comes out the more outrageous it gets that the CIA got so blinkered by the double agents that careers need to be shut down. Basically it plays out that the jihadist gave up some of his people to get to our people. The fact that it didn't seem to play into the CIA agents that could be a plausible scenario is stunning.

Which brings us to Scarborough. According to his sources, the bomber detonated within seconds of stepping out of the car. How can that be, though? Wouldn’t the agents have been waiting for him in some sort of room? The only explanation I can come up with is that he told them he had info on Zawahiri that was extremely time-sensitive — so much so that they shouldn’t spare a second and should rush out to meet him when he pulled up. Is that what happened? Like I say, mind-numbing. Exit quotation: “I have no idea how a potential hostile ends up standing next to at least 13 CIA personnel… I have never heard of anything as unprofessional.”

Easterbrook: Avatar insulting to the military men and women.

But this is the type of movie that gets the Hollywood liberals happy where the Amerian military gets beat up by native people, it is the ultimate Hollywood Happy Ending that could make it good enough for a Best Picture nomination.

Then there's director James Cameron's view of military personnel. If I were a military man or woman, I would find "Avatar" insulting. With one exception, the helicopter pilot played by Michelle Rodriguez -- her character is twice referred to as a Marine, suggesting the military personnel are regular military, not mercenaries -- all the people in fatigues are brainless sadists. They want to kill, kill, kill the innocent.

They can't wait to begin the next atrocity. It's true that the U.S. military has conducted atrocities, in Vietnam and during the Plains Indians wars. But slaughter of the innocent is rare in U.S. military annals.

In "Avatar," it's the norm. The bloodthirsty military personnel readily comply with the colonel's orders to gun down natives. No one questions him -- though in martial law, a soldier not only may but must refuse an illegal order. Plus the military personnel are depicted as such utter morons -- not a brain in any of their heads -- that none notice the TOTALLY OBVIOUS detail that Pandora's unusual biology will be worth more than its minerals.

Yes, movies traffic in absurd super-simplifications. But we're supposed to accept that of the deployment of several hundred, every soldier save one is a low-IQ cold-blooded murderer.

What does "Avatar" build up to? Watching the invading soldiers -- most of whom happen to be former American military personnel -- die is the big cathartic ending of the flick. Extended sequences show Americans being graphically slaughtered in the natives' counterattack. The deaths of aliens are depicted as heartbreaking tragedies, while the deaths of American security forces are depicted as a whooping good time.

In Cameron's "Aliens," "The Abyss" and his television show "Dark Angel," U.S. military personnel are either the bad guys or complete idiots, often shown graphically slaughtered. Cameron is hardly the only commercial-film director to present watching evil U.S. soldiers slaughtered as popcorn-chomping suburban shopping mall fun: in the second "X-Men" flick, U.S. soldiers are the bad guys and graphically killed off. Films that criticize the military for its faults are one thing: When did watching depictions of U.S. soldiers dying become a form of fun?

But the defense is that James Cameron brother is a Marine so it all okay or something.

While the “Avatar” story sets up military might vs. an indigenous people - the blue-skinned 10-foot-tall Na’vi - Cameron is not anti-war.

“It’s not meant to be that. I have a great deal of respect for the U.S. fighting men and women. My brother is a Marine. I celebrate the Marines in the movie; Jake (his ex-Marine hero) has the can-do indomitable spirit.”

If anything, “Avatar” is “a cautionary note for people to look at what their government is doing.”

Baltimore mayor resigns under plea deal

It was only a matter of time after her conviction and plea deal on a perjury charge. But the deal is about as favorable as you can get for a public official and don't think she couldn't win back the job in a couple of years. People are that blind.

Mayor Sheila Dixon fought back tears as she announced her resignation and thanked her staff for its loyalty and hard work. She acknowledged that she made poor choices and that she "disappointed" herself and her constituents.

What she didn't do was apologize or explain the actions that led to her downfall — her guilty plea on a perjury charge and her earlier conviction on a misdemeanor embezzlement charge.

Dixon's resignation Wednesday ended a three-year tenure that began with promise but unraveled amid embarrassing allegations that she stole from the poor.

Her attorney characterized the plea deal as favorable — she will receive probation before judgment at her sentencing Feb. 4, the same day her resignation takes effect.

After she satisfies the terms of her probation — including a $45,000 charitable contribution and 500 hours of community service — the convictions will be wiped off her record and she'll be free to run for public office again. The probation will last a minimum of two years, meaning she will be barred from running in the next citywide election in 2011.

Obama OKs taxing high-end health plans

Either Obama has grown a spine to take on the unions who are against this plan since it would tax their members plans or as I suspect he is lying. I can't see Obama or any member of the Dem party standing up to the unions on this part of Obamacare.

President Barack Obama signaled to House Democratic leaders Wednesday that they'll have to drop their opposition to taxing high-end health insurance plans to pay for health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans.

In a meeting at the White House, Obama expressed his preference for the insurance tax contained in the Senate's health overhaul bill, but largely opposed by House Democrats and organized labor, Democratic aides said. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

House Democrats want to raise income taxes on high-income individuals instead and are reluctant to abandon that approach, while recognizing that they will have to bend on that and other issues so that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., can maintain his fragile 60-vote majority support for the bill.

Parents arrested for not registering kids for home schooling.

COnsidering the charge is they didn't register with the school district for seven years, why did they now arrest parents for not getting approval from the state because they didn't approve your home schooling plans? Did they warn them for six years and said alright this time we are going to get you? This is the sort of nonsense I expect from Germany.

Richard Cressy, 47, and Margie Cressy, 41, were charged with four misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child, deputies said. The couple is accused of violating a state law that requires parents who are home schooling their children to register their curriculum with the local school district.

The superintendent of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District told authorities that curriculum for the four children, who range in age from 8 to 14 years old, had not been approved. The arrests came after a joint investigation by the Montgomery County Child Protective Services and the sheriff's office.

The Cressys were issued appearance tickets and the case has been turned over to the Montgomery County district attorney's office.

Unless there is some other reason to put this family thru this hell, there better be a backlash.

US government to Toughen U.S. Drilling Rules

So much for being energy independent as Obama and company just keep making it more difficult for America to use its own resources. If you wanted to stop economic growth, this is one good way of doing it.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce Wednesday that his agency will require oil and natural-gas companies to clear more regulatory hurdles before they are allowed to drill on federal lands. Mr. Salazar's action is likely to make it more difficult for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to fast-track the permitting of oil and gas projects on federal land. BLM field staffers would be required to seek additional approvals from their supervisors and to undertake more visits to areas where energy companies are seeking access, according to people familiar with the matter. The Obama administration is already locked in a bitter fight with the oil and gas industry over proposals to raise billions of dollars in additional taxes from energy companies, and to cap the emissions of gases caused by burning fossil fuels, which have been linked to global warming.

House Democrats to Pursue Obamacare Changes

This is pretty much theater for the masses since the Dems want a bill for Obama to sign before the State of the Union and that means any bill will do for now. Later on the Dems will go on once Obamacare comes alive and change whatever they want with the numbers they have in Congress. That fact is at this point with the Dems doing all the dealings behind closed doors with the White House, something is going to be signed.

House Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they would insist on changes to the Senate health care legislation to make coverage more affordable for middle-class Americans and to tighten control over the insurance industry. But it remains unclear how much leverage the House will have in negotiations given that Senate Democrats cannot spare a single vote without jeopardizing the bill’s chances. The White House will also have a big role in the final product. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, met Tuesday with her top lieutenants and the three committee chairmen directly responsible for the health care bill, as they prepared for negotiations to begin in earnest this week. Ms. Pelosi and the majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, also met at the White House with President Obama. The top Senate Democrats, Harry Reid of Nevada and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, joined the meeting by telephone. Aides said that the White House would convene meetings of House and Senate staff perhaps as early as Wednesday to begin clearing away some of the easier differences between the bills, with Congressional leaders to meet face-to-face next week. After the meeting at the Capitol, House Democrats said they would push the Senate to provide more generous subsidies to help moderate-income Americans buy insurance, but expressed willingness to drop the idea of a government-run health plan. The House bill includes a government-run health insurance plan, or public option, to compete with private insurers. The public option was dropped from the Senate bill after centrist Democrats said they would oppose any measure that included it. House Democrats said they could live without the public option provided that they had sufficient guarantees that other steps would be taken to increase options for consumers and to tighten the clamp on any abuses by private insurance companies. Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland and a member of the House leadership, said some of his colleagues would press to end the insurance industry’s exemption from federal antitrust laws, a step strongly opposed by Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, who has said he would oppose the bill if the House made any changes that he did not like.

School sets Texas scoring record in 170-35 win

I am not one to say call off the dogs but you can in this sort of situation put them on a leash when the game got out of hand.

The Yates High School boys basketball team set a state record and set itself up for controversy Tuesday night at Butler Fieldhouse. The Lions beat Lee High School 170-35, setting the single-game state scoring record. Hardin-Jefferson had owned the record of 166 points since 1992. But the Lions' brush with history was marred by a second-half scuffle and questions of sportsmanship. In the third quarter, a fight erupted after an intentional foul was called on a Lee player. After breaking up the fight, the referees told both coaches they would have to play just five players the remainder of the game. The other players for both teams spent the rest of the second half sitting in the stands. “I feel very disrespected right now,” Lee coach Jacques Armant said. “I don't understand why Yates just kept scoring and pressing when they were up so much. These are kids. It isn't good to do that to other young men.” Yates, which led 100-12 at halftime, is 14-0 this season and has won 39 consecutive games. The 100 points in the first half is also a state record and the second-most ever in a boys high school basketball game.

You don't tell the kids to quit but put in plays they can at least practice in real time they are not good at running on the floor and use up the shot clock. This was bad sport all around.

Dearborn students meet over Twin Towers Shirt.

The students knew what they were doing and got called on it. At least it was stupid and insensitive and at worst these students were flipping the middle finger at people.

A group of Arab-American students who are members of the class of 2011 at Dearborn’s Edsel Ford High School told school officials they were showing pride in their class with their choice of sweatshirts on Monday. But school officials disagreed, confiscating the sweatshirts and scheduling meetings with the students and their parents because the images on the sweatshirts referenced the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center Towers. Along with the words, “You can’t bring us down,” the sweatshirts featured an image of the number 11 as the twin towers with windows included on each digit. The school’s mascot, a thunderbird, was flying nearby. “The whole design gave prominence to the 9-11 tragedy, and of course was very upsetting to staff and students,” according to an e-mail message sent Monday and today from the district to prominent community groups and individuals. A similar e-mail message explaining the situation was sent to parents and staff on Monday. School officials said the students didn’t realize the sweatshirts would be perceived negatively and would not be punished.

Mike Shanahan to coach the Redskins.

If Shanahan can put up with a meddling busybody like Dan Snyder then good luck to him in what has become a bit of a joke team because of Snyder.

The Denver Post and ESPN are reporting Mike Shanahan has agreed to become the Washington Redskins' next coach. The newspaper reported on its Web site on Tuesday night that Shanahan will receive a five-year deal from the Redskins, who fired Jim Zorn following a 4-12 season. Shanahan won two Super Bowls in 14 seasons with Denver but was fired a year ago after the Broncos missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

Asia Gains a Tech Edge by Backing Start-Ups

If America loses its tech edge it will be because they were not paying attention to what everyone was seeing coming from the Asian market who have been pushing the edge for a while now. It was Asus who came out with the netbook and created an entire new category of affordable computing power. American companies must stop being so lazy or they will be passed up.

The investment arms of large Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers have created an investment network in Silicon Valley operating under the radar that pumps money into a variety of chip, software and services companies to gain the latest technology. As a result, some Asian manufacturers have proved more willing than entrenched Silicon Valley venture capitalists to back some risky endeavors. “In the past, the manufacturers would sneak around and get inside information on technology by investing in these companies,” said K. Bobby Chao, the managing partner at DFJ DragonFund China, a business that invests in technology companies in China and the United States. “Now, they’re more involved, more visible and charging after more complex maneuvers.” As manufacturing of electronics in the United States began moving offshore decades ago, some feared the American economy would suffer. But the American companies, as well as economists and policy makers, said that as long as the high-value jobs like research and design remained in the United States, there was little danger. Asian investments in Silicon Valley present some risks for America’s top technology companies, which could lose their connection to top innovations. Asian manufacturers like Foxconn or Quanta, as a result, could wrestle away the edge in research and design. “The manufacturers have gotten more competitive as it relates to innovation, and in some instances they’re already competing directly with their customers,” said Patrick Moorhead, a vice president at Advance Micro Devices, a major PC chip maker.

Australian KFC ad racist? NO, stop being so paranoid.

This ad points out where the Australian cricket fan is stuck in the middle of West Indian cricket fans and passes out KFC's crowd pleaser to get along better. The history between the fans couldn't be more awesome unless something has happened in recent years I am not aware of considering I haven't followed cricket that closely in a while.

But no its not racist given the context and history.

Top military intelligence officer: US spies in Afghanistan are clueless

A damning indicment of the spy agencies efforts over the last how many years in Afghanistan.

America's deputy chief of military intelligence in Afghanistan has issued a damning indictment of the work of US spy agencies, calling them clueless and out of touch with the Afghan people.

Major General Michael Flynn described US spies as “ignorant of local economics and landowners, hazy about who the powerbrokers are and how they might be influenced... and disengaged from people in the best position to find answers”.

The bleak assessment of the intelligence community’s role in the eight-year-old war came in a report issued by the Center for New American Security, a US think tank. It comes less than a week after the CIA suffered one of the most damaging blows in its history, when a suicide bomber killed seven of its operatives at Camp Chapman, a high security CIA base near Khost in eastern Afghanistan.

Major General Flynn's report blames what he calls America's "vast intelligence apparatus" for focusing too much on gathering information on insurgent groups, while remaining “unable to answer fundamental questions about the environment in which US and allied forces operate and the people they seek to persuade”.

It quotes one operations officer saying that the US was unable to make informed decisions about what to do in Afghanistan because of a lack of much-needed intelligence about the country.

“I don’t want to say we’re clueless, but we are. We’re no more than fingernail deep in our understanding of the environment,” the officer said.

CAIR criticizes TSA plan as profiling

Yes it is and its about time certain countries are put under higher scrutiny. If this is the only thing that TSA is going to correct then its a stupid plan, there also has to be behavioral profiling as well.

Enhanced screening procedures for U.S.-bound air passengers traveling through "state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest" such as Pakistan, Yemen and Nigeria amount to religious profiling of Muslims, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday.

The Transportation Security Administration announced the strengthened security steps Sunday, saying that "effective aviation security must begin beyond our borders."

A senior government official, not authorized to speak on the record, provided CNN with the list of 14 countries subject to the enhanced screening for travelers heading to the United States: Cuba, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

The new guidelines target 13 Muslim-majority nations and will "disproportionately target American Muslims who have family or spiritual ties to the Islamic world," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said, adding that the tougher measures "amount to religious and ethnic profiling."

"Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Mecca will automatically be singled out for special security checks -- that's profiling," said Nihad Awad, the council's national executive director. "While singling out travelers based on religion and national origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline security."

It is not everyone elses fault that the mass majority of terrorist activities are happening because of a segment that follows Islam and in Muslim majority countries. Until that radically changes this is going to be the new norm.

White House promises illegals to health care coverage

Nothing you haven't figured out just realize that Joe Wilson was 100% correct.

A source familiar with the negotiations between Congress and the White House told TPMDC the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will demand an agreement from Obama that health care coverage for illegals who earn a path to citizenship will be addressed in an immigration bill.

The Senate's health care bill bars illegals from any sort of coverage, a provision embraced after Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) shouted "You lie!" during Obama's address to Congress when the president said that illegals would not be able to get health care under the legislation.

Those familiar with the talks say any immigration legislation will include various amnesty provisions to allow for health care coverage.

Pentagon pushing back against Obama's nuke cuts

Good. Obama naive approach thinking other countries will cheer and follow if he cuts down American weapons is ridiculous.

President Obama's ambitious plan to begin phasing out nuclear weapons has run up against powerful resistance from officials in the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies, posing a threat to one of his most important foreign policy initiatives.

Obama laid out his vision of a nuclear-free world in a speech in Prague, Czech Republic, last April, pledging that the U.S. would take dramatic steps to lead the way. Nine months later, the administration is locked in internal debate over a top-secret policy blueprint for shrinking the U.S. nuclear arsenal and reducing the role of such weapons in America's military strategy and foreign policy.

Officials in the Pentagon and elsewhere have pushed back against Obama administration proposals to cut the number of weapons and narrow their mission, according to U.S. officials and outsiders who have been briefed on the process.

In turn, White House officials, unhappy with early Pentagon-led drafts of the blueprint known as the Nuclear Posture Review, have stepped up their involvement in the deliberations and ordered that the document reflect Obama's preference for sweeping change, according to the U.S. officials and others, who described discussions on condition of anonymity because of their sensitivity and secrecy.

The Pentagon has stressed the importance of continued U.S. deterrence, an objective Obama has said he agrees with. But a senior Defense official acknowledged in an interview that some officials are concerned that the administration may be going too far. He described the debate as "spirited. . . . I think we have every possible point of view in the world represented."

Radio DJ hoping Rush Limbaugh's heart would fail.

Young Ron from South Florida's popular Paul and Young Ron radio show with a death wish for Rush Limbaugh that everyone else around him can't believe he said it.

Totally shocking trailer of the day: “Kick-Ass" with Hit Girl!

Meh, Mediaite and Hot Air is all over it but two things stand out which is the lines said by Hit Girl sound extremely forced and makes it seem unnatural as you can get with an 11 year old cursing and being violent. Second it stars Nicolas Cage, a sure sign of movie poison regardless of anything else.

NSFW!!!

For Some of Japan's Jobless, Home Is a Tiny Plastic Bunk

Story on jobless people making a home in Tokyo's capsule hotels.

For Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas, home is a cubicle barely bigger than a coffin — one of dozens of berths stacked two units high in one of central Tokyo’s decrepit “capsule” hotels. “It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep,” he said, rolling his neck and stroking his black suit — one of just two he owns after discarding the rest of his wardrobe for lack of space. “You get used to it.” When Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 opened nearly two decades ago, Japan was just beginning to pull back from its bubble economy, and the hotel’s tiny plastic cubicles offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home. Now, Hotel Shinjuku 510’s capsules, no larger than 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide, and not tall enough to stand up in, have become an affordable option for some people with nowhere else to go as Japan endures its worst recession since World War II. Once-booming exporters laid off workers en masse in 2009 as the global economic crisis pushed down demand. Many of the newly unemployed, forced from their company-sponsored housing or unable to make rent, have become homeless.

Take a look at the slideshow as they follow Nakanishi on a typical day, depressing yet I feel for the guy and hope he does make it as a lawyer which is the first time I have ever cheered for someone to make it as lawyer.

Obama's Admin Loan Effort seen adding to the housing woes.

Really? Most of these people who were going to lose their houses cannot be saved, so all this intervention did was prop up a market that needed to be cleaned out from the beginning. Instead thanks to Obama smart idea it just screwed up the housing market even worse for years to come.

The Obama administration’s $75 billion program to protect homeowners from foreclosure has been widely pronounced a disappointment, and some economists and real estate experts now contend it has done more harm than good. Since President Obama announced the program in February, it has lowered mortgage payments on a trial basis for hundreds of thousands of people but has largely failed to provide permanent relief. Critics increasingly argue that the program, Making Home Affordable, has raised false hopes among people who simply cannot afford their homes. As a result, desperate homeowners have sent payments to banks in often-futile efforts to keep their homes, which some see as wasting dollars they could have saved in preparation for moving to cheaper rental residences. Some borrowers have seen their credit tarnished while falsely assuming that loan modifications involved no negative reports to credit agencies. Some experts argue the program has impeded economic recovery by delaying a wrenching yet cleansing process through which borrowers give up unaffordable homes and banks fully reckon with their disastrous bets on real estate, enabling money to flow more freely through the financial system. “The choice we appear to be making is trying to modify our way out of this, which has the effect of lengthening the crisis,” said Kevin Katari, managing member of Watershed Asset Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund. “We have simply slowed the foreclosure pipeline, with people staying in houses they are ultimately not going to be able to afford anyway.” Mr. Katari contends that banks have been using temporary loan modifications under the Obama plan as justification to avoid an honest accounting of the mortgage losses still on their books. Only after banks are forced to acknowledge losses and the real estate market absorbs a now pent-up surge of foreclosed properties will housing prices drop to levels at which enough Americans can afford to buy, he argues. “Then the carpenters can go back to work,” Mr. Katari said. “The roofers can go back to work, and we start building housing again. If this drips out over the next few years, that whole sector of the economy isn’t going to recover.”

U.S. growth prospects deemed bleak

Happy New Year!

A dismal job market, a crippled real estate sector and hobbled banks will keep a lid on U.S. economic growth over the coming decade, some of the nation's leading economists said on Sunday. U.S. Speaking at American Economic Association's mammoth yearly gathering, experts from a range of political leanings were in surprising agreement when it came to the chances for a robust and sustained expansion: They are slim. Many predicted U.S. gross domestic product would expand less than 2 percent per year over the next 10 years. That stands in sharp contrast to the immediate aftermath of other steep economic downturns, which have usually elicited a growth surge in their wake. "It will be difficult to have a robust recovery while housing and commercial real estate are depressed," said Martin Feldstein, a Harvard University professor and former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Obama's Official White House Pictures Not Helping.

Via Instapundit and Big Government. Keeping up the image of the President is something that must be done at all times especially when you are black jesus who popularity is built upon being Joe Cool. Problem is when the official White House pic site includes these photos




or the now infamous cleaning lady vacuums the Oval Office it does look bad for Obama. You have an image to protect and you are screwing it up not with big mistakes but little ones that add up over time.

Here he is golfing getting caught in poses that if this were Bush would be great fodder for the media but now pointing out these photos are somehow..wait for it... RACIST!

Andrew Sullivan: And then I realized why this photo immediately strikes some people are damning. Obama is a black man who looks as if he is condescending to a white man. That's political gold

The white liberal(yeah yeah I know) projecting once again what he thinks is the real reason for the "outrage." Not the fact Obama just looks like an arrogant prick and the photo should not have been published if they wanted to take care of his image. But in defense of Obama I would be sharing the same look if I had to put up with Joe Biden every day.

GOP cash woes threaten House bids

The GOP leadership can take the blame for years of acting stupid and losing trust with supporters.

With the Republican Party on the cusp of major gains in the House next year — and with the dream of retaking the House appearing to be a real, if improbable, possibility — one major obstacle remains: tightfisted Republican incumbents. The National Republican Congressional Committee, the key cog in helping to finance GOP campaigns, has banked less than a third as much money as its Democratic counterpart and is ending the year with barely enough money to fully finance a single House race — no less the dozens that will be in play come 2010. A big part of the problem, according to Republican strategists, is that GOP members themselves — the ones who stand the most to gain from large-scale House gains — haven’t chipped in accordingly, despite evidence of solid opportunities in at least 40 districts next year and with as many as 80 seats in play, according to the Cook Political Report’s estimates. In the past three months, only 75 of 177 Republicans — most of whom represent safe districts — transferred money into the committee, netting it $2.1 million. The average donation was just $28,000, with only 11 members donating $50,000 or more during that time period.

Most likely people are going to give cash directly to the candidate since the NRCC has been a waste of time for years when running anything looking like a coherent plan in winning races. The fate of the NRCC as being a major power player is at stake if they do not deliver. As for the members who refuse to chip in to help the party, it is in your best interest to help out or you will be challenged in local primairies if you tick off enough people.

US offering plea deal to terror suspect.... Really?

This is why you don't treat terrorists like some common criminal because of BS like this under this administration. He needs to be interrogated until he breaks.

The U.S. Government is offering the suspect charged with attempting to bomb an aircraft on Christmas Day, Omar Abdulmutallab, some kind of incentives to share what he knows about Al Qaeda, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said Sunday. Asked why Abdulmutallab should cooperate given his right, as criminal defendant, to remain silent, Brennan replied: "He doesn't have to but he knows there are certain things that are on the table... if he wants to engage with us in a productive manner, there are ways he can do that." Asked if Abdulmutallab's willingness to talk changed once he had an attorney, Brennan declined to answer. "I'm not going to address what he did before or after he talked with a lawyer," the adviser said.

Time for the show. U.S. tightens international air security

This sounds like you are doing something but considering underwear bomber came from Amsterdam, this looks like more a dog and pony show for the public.

All travelers flying into the U.S. from foreign countries will receive tightened random screening, and 100 percent of passengers from 14 terrorism-prone countries will be patted down and have their carry-ons searched, the Obama administration was notifying airlines on Sunday. The more stringent Transportation Security Administration rules, to take effect at midnight, follow the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner headed into Detroit from Amsterdam. “These are changes that weren’t widely in place for all carriers or countries on 12/24,” a senior administration official told POLITICO. “These are sustainable measures that are a significant enhancement of our security posture. TSA will continuously review these measures with our global aviation partners to ensure the highest levels of security." All passengers from countries on the State Department’s “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list – plus all passengers from other "countries of interest" such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen — will receive “full body pat-down and physical inspection of property,” the official said. The countries on the State Department list are Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Other countries covered by the TSA directive are Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. A much higher percentage of all travelers from all foreign countries will receive such screening than is currently the case, the official said. "The screening “could also include explosive detection technology or advanced imaging technology where it’s available,” the official said.

There needs to be three areas of profiling including racial, religious and most importantly behavior profiling. Then figure how to consolidate and make the various agencies like the CIA and FBI and the TSA to work together. So when a concerned father tells you flat out he is worried about his son becoming a terrorist and the son pops up at the airport paying cash for a one way ticket and no luggage, you pay attention.

The Guardian puts down God, respects Mohammed

Its usually a sign of respect, sincere or not that when you speak about God, you cap the "G" unless you are the London Guardian, then in some cases you do not. But you search for the Prophet Mohammed or any of its spellings and so far, the "M" is capped.

Other than that this is an interesting article.

According to newly translated instructions inscribed in ancient Babylonian on a clay tablet telling the story of the ark, the vessel that saved one virtuous man, his family and the animals from god's watery wrath was not the pointy-prowed craft of popular imagination but rather a giant circular reed raft. ...In his translation, the god who has decided to spare one just man speaks to Atram-Hasis, a Sumerian king who lived before the flood and who is the Noah figure in earlier versions of the ark story.

Not that it couldn't be an honest mistake because I know if I did a search here I would find the same sort of disrespect but I am simple blogger ;)

New Doctor Who preview and best moment from End of Time.

Here is the new preview from the 11th Doctor played by Matt Smith.



This is what I consider the best part of the End of Time and best of the whole Tennant run of the Doctor Series where he revists everyone he cares about before he regenerates.

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton have a nigga moment.

Seriously, how stupid are these two multimillionaires?

NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and his Washing ton Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the team's locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt, The Post has learned.

League sources say the pistol-packing point guards had heat ers at the ready inside the Verizon Center, the Washington, DC, home of the Wizards -- whose name was changed from the Bullets over gun- violence concerns.

It was the three- time all-star Arenas, 27, who went for his gun first, sources said, draw ing on the 22-year-old Crit tenton, who quickly brandished a firearm as well.

$400 billion taxpayer loss for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Happy New Year, Taxpayers!

Taxpayer losses from supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will top $400 billion, according to Peter Wallison, a former general counsel at the Treasury who is now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

“The situation is they are losing gobs of money, up to $400 billion in mortgages,” Wallison said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The Treasury Department recognized last week that losses will be more than $400 billion when it raised its limit on federal support for the two government-sponsored enterprises, he said.

The Treasury said on Dec. 24 it would provide an unlimited amount of assistance to the companies as needed for the next three years to alleviate market concern that the government lifeline for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest source of money for U.S. home loans, could lapse or be exhausted.

But there is an upside!

The continued government support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac makes buying their debt a good investment, Wallison said.

“It was always safe to buy these notes,” he said. The U.S. government was always going to stand behind them. They’re as good as Treasury notes.”

Obama ready for amnesty bill for illegals this spring.

Why now in the midst of a recession and high unemployment? Pretty simple politics, it gets Hispanics who want amnesty for illegals excited for the 2010 mid-terms and if he gets it passed you have a ready supply of Obama voters for 2012 general election. As soon as he acknowledges it in public, watch for a bigger surge of illegals crossing the border.

The punishing battle over healthcare is still unresolved, but the Obama administration is quietly laying plans to take up another issue that could generate even more controversy and political division--a major overhaul of the nation's immigration system.

Already, senior White House aides have privately assured Latino activists that the president will back legislation in 2010 to provide a road to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented workers now living in the United States.

In a conference call with proponents, White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, political director Patrick Gaspard and others recently delivered the message that the White House is committed to seeing a substantial immigration bill pass and wants to make sure allies are prepared for the fight.

Leach Sounds Off On James, Firing - ESPN Video

TSA nominee Southers lied to congress about accessing confidential records

This is the guy the Dems want to fast track as the head of the TSA, good timing.

The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show.

The disclosure comes as pressure builds from Democrats on Capitol Hill for quick January confirmation of Erroll Southers, whose nomination has been held up by GOP opponents. In the aftermath of an attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, calls have intensified for lawmakers to install permanent leadership at the TSA, a critical agency in enforcing airline security.

Southers, a former FBI agent, has described inconsistencies in his accounts to Congress as "inadvertent" and the result of poor memory of an incident that dates back 20 years. He said in a Nov. 20 letter to key senators obtained by The Post that he had accepted full responsibility long ago for a "grave error in judgment" in accessing confidential criminal records about his then-estranged wife's new boyfriend.

His letter to Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate homeland security committee, and Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican on the panel, attempts to correct statements about the episode that were made in a sworn affidavit on Oct. 22 and have been reported.

Southers did not respond to a request for an interview.

Put it this way, if this was a regular guy/gal trying to get a federal job in a key department or agency, this would red flag us from it.