Monthly Archives: March 2010
Caught On Camera: Man Drives Into Rock Slide On Highway – WOAI
A rock slide shut down part of a Tennessee state highway Sunday and some footage of the fallout captured by a news crew shows why.
The rock slide occurred on U.S. Highway 129 about two miles south of Chilhowie Dam.
While an NBC crew was shooting footage of the slide, a driver coming out of the nearby turn became distracted and proceeded to drive right into the debris on the roadway.
Neither the driver nor the dog traveling with him was injured.
Justice’s Wife Launches ‘Tea Party’ Group – Los Angeles Times
As Virginia Thomas tells it in her soft-spoken, Midwestern cadence, the story of her involvement in the “tea party” movement is the tale of an average citizen in action.
“I am an ordinary citizen from Omaha, Neb., who just may have the chance to preserve liberty along with you and other people like you,” she said at a recent panel discussion with tea party leaders in Washington. Thomas went on to count herself among those energized into action by President Obama’s “hard-left agenda.”
But Thomas is no ordinary activist.
She is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and she has launched a tea-party-linked group that could test the traditional notions of political impartiality for the court.
In January, Virginia Thomas created Liberty Central Inc., a nonprofit lobbying group whose website will organize activism around a set of conservative “core principles,” she said.
The group plans to issue score cards for Congress members and be involved in the November election, although Thomas would not specify how. She said it would accept donations from various sources — including corporations — as allowed under campaign finance rules recently loosened by the Supreme Court.
“I adore all the new citizen patriots who are rising up across this country,” Thomas, who goes by Ginni, said on the panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I have felt called to the front lines with you, with my fellow citizens, to preserve what made America great.”
Jim Inhofe Slams Al Gore On Climate ‘Hoax’ – Politico
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) attacked former Vice President Al Gore on the Senate floor Monday, calling climate change “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” and claiming that Gore is now “running for cover.”
In front of the backdrop of a blown up Weekly Standard cover featuring Gore, Inhofe railed on the former vice president.
“After weeks of the global warming scandal, the world’s first climate billionaire is running for cover. Yes, I’m talking about Al Gore,” Inhofe charged. “He’s under siege these days. The credibility of the IPCC is eroding. The EPA’s endangerment finding is collapsing. And belief that global warming is leading to catastrophe is evaporating. Gore seems to be drowning in a sea of his own global warming illusions nevertheless. He’s desperately trying to keep global warming alarmism alive today.”
Inhofe also floated a political conspiracy theory focused on Gore.
He cited a secret “high-level meeting with all [Gore's] global alarmists,” called a recent Gore op-ed in the New York Times a “sure-fire sign of desperation” and compared Gore to an ostrich.
World’s Biggest House Of Cards – Ananova
An American architect has set a new world record for the world’s largest house of cards.
Bryan Berg created a replica of the world’s biggest resort hotel – China’s Venetian Macau hotel and casino – inside the real thing.
His house of cards, which weighs in at 272 kilograms and measures 10 metres by three metres, was created using 218,792 cards – 4,051 decks – and took 44 days to complete.
It sits inside the Venetian at the heart of Macau’s Cotai Strip – China’s version to the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada’s gambling mecca.
No glue or tape was used in the construction of the replica, and Mr Berg is proud of his achievement.
State Department Retaliates For Israel’s Defiance On Housing Plan – ABC News
The standoff between Israel and the Obama White House over plans to expand Jewish housing in East Jerusalem escalated today with Israel insisting the construction will go ahead as scheduled and the State Department indicating that a trip by special envoy George Mitchell will be delayed.
Mitchell was scheduled to leave for the Mideast tonight with the assignment of salvaging peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. The trip has been delayed until tomorrow at the earliest. Those talks are threatened by the announcement last week that Israel planned to build another 1,600 units of housing for Jews in East Jerusalem.
The announcement, which came as Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel, was blasted as an “insult” by the Obama administration. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday to insist he rescind the announcement and make other overtures to the Palestinians.
Instead, Netanyahu made defiant comments today to the Knesset and to members of his Likud Party.
“The building in Jerusalem and in all other places will continue in the same way as has been customary over the last 42 years,” he told a Likud gathering.
In the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, he told lawmakers that expanding Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem did not harm the Palestinians.
“The building of those Jewish neighborhoods did not hurt in any way the Arabs of East Jerusalem and did not come at their expense,” he said.
Hours later, the State Department suggested Mitchell would delay his trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Injured Dog Checks Himself Into Hospital – Stuff
The patient was only slightly injured when he limped into a hospital in the northwest New Mexico city of Farmington. The only problem was, he was a dog.
When the automatic doors at San Juan Regional Medical Centre’s emergency room slid open Saturday night, the pooch walked in, blood on his nose and paw, and a puncture hole in one leg, according to The Daily Times newspaper.
Animal control officer Robin Loev responded to a call from the hospital and suspects the puncture wound was from the bite of another dog.
Loev says the German shepherd mix appeared to be intelligent and calm – and knew enough to go to the right place.
The animal was taken to the Farmington Animal Shelter and claimed by its owner.
Google Likely To Shut Down China Engine – Washington Times
Can Google survive without China? Can China survive without Google?
The world may be about to find out, as the clash between the world’s biggest search engine and the world’s biggest Internet market approaches a climax. Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, told reporters in Abu Dhabi last week that “something will happen soon,” and Chinese leaders in recent days have aggressively put the ball back in Google’s court.
China has already banned Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and now appears prepared to move on without Google.
Meanwhile, Google officials reportedly are “99.9 percent” certain to implement plans to shutter their Chinese search-engine service, carrying through on a protest over what the company calls government censorship requirements of its Chinese operations.
“It looks like Google will be gone” from the Chinese search-engine market, said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Google holds about 33 percent of the market, a sizable chunk but still significantly below the 63 percent share controlled by Baidu, the China-based, homegrown leader, according to a January survey by China iResearch Consulting.
The clash of titans is being intensely followed in the business world, as a sign of the openness and future potential of the world’s newest economic superstar. Whether Google’s departure is only the first of a trend is an open question.
“Given the size of the opportunity, foreign-based companies have to think twice about leaving China if they think they can make a profit,” said Hal Sirkin, a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group.
Stevens Weighs Summer Retirement From Supreme Court – Washington Post
Justice John Paul Stevens, the leader of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing, told the New Yorker in an interview that he will decide early next month whether he will retire when the court’s current term ends in June.
Stevens, at 89 the court’s oldest justice, told the magazine that he has his “options open.” Although he has hired only one law clerk for the nine-month term that will start in October, Stevens said three former clerks had agreed to work for him again should he decide to stay on the court.
He said he will certainly step down before President Obama’s term expires in January 2013. “I will retire within the next three years,” he said. “I’m sure of that.” Interviewed March 8, Stevens said he would make up his mind in about a month.
Police: One-Legged Man Used Pants In Theft – WFTV
A one-legged man and his alleged accomplice were caught on camera stuffing items into the man’s empty pant leg last week, according to Vermont State Police, WPTZ in Plattsburgh, Vt., reported.
Police said Craig Workman, 38, and Misty Workman, 39, both of Lyndonville, robbed the local Rite Aid on Thursday, making off with mascara, perfume and a navigation system. They have both been charged with retail theft.
The Workmans were caught by store surveillance cameras taking the products and putting them into Craig Workman’s empty pant leg, police said. Craig Workman is missing his right leg and uses a wheelchair but wears double legged pants and folds the right pant leg up, fastening it at the end, police said.
Misty Workman assisted in the theft by handing Craig Workman products to conceal, police said. The pair then left the store without paying for the products, police said.
A Rite Aid manager viewed store surveillance video the day after the theft and discovered the incident, police said. A search of the Workmans’ home turned up the stolen items and Misty Workman confessed to the crime, according to police.
Not Again! Meet Obama’s New Controversial Pastor – WorldNetDaily
Rev. Jim Wallis, a member of President Obama’s “faith council” who is described as a spiritual adviser to the president, is a socialist activist who has championed communist causes and previously labeled the U.S. “the great captor and destroyer of human life.”
Wallis was in the news last week urging Christians to stop watching Fox News host Glenn Beck’s program for Beck’s remarks against churches that preach “social justice.”
The Associated Baptist Press described Wallis as a “politically progressive evangelical and longtime advocate for the poor.” The Huffington Post identified Wallis as a “Christian author and social justice advocate.”
Wallis, however, is a long time socialist advocate and founder of a far-left magazine, Sojourners, that has championed communist causes.
He currently serves on Obama’s White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He reportedly is a spiritual adviser to Obama and has known the president for years.
Wallis began his activism as a protester and then later Michigan leader of the Students for a Democratic Society, the 1960′s antiwar group from which Bill Ayers’ Weatherman domestic terrorist organization splintered.
Is your liberty meaningless to you?
Bob Belvedere wonders, and quotes something our “leaders” have spat upon today!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Stacy McCain has been aggregating, updating, and commenting here.
The good news: They still don’t have the votes. The bad news: Obama doesn’t care:
If Obama refuses to look at public opinion polls, then how can he profess to know what the American people want? And if he doesn’t care about polls, then how come the White House is circulating polls on Capitol Hill asserting that support for health care legislation is rising?
UPDATE 6:26 p.m. ET: Nancy Pelosi reminds the national press corps that she thinks Americans are a bunch of idiots:
House speaker Nancy Pelosi held a news conference with children’s advocates at the Capitol on Monday to push for the Democrats’ sweeping health care legislation. . . .
In a brief question-and-answer session, a reporter asked Ms. Pelosi about assertions by Representative David Dreier of California, the senior Republican on the House rules committee, that Democrats were engaging in legislative gymnastics to complete the legislation.“It’s about accountability of the insurance companies; it’s about affordability for the middle class,” Ms. Pelosi said. “It’s not about gymnastics alone — except if that’s part of the wellness program that we have for our children.”
Translation: “We’re going to ignore any criticism you might have. It’s about what I say it’s about, you stupid morons.”
Michelle Malkin live-blogged today’s usurpations here
The Classic Liberal has been aggregating here and comments:
Dismiss this warning at your own peril. Believe in the Beltway pundits if you must. After all, they’ve helped you achieve freedom and liberty by limiting and reducing government over the years. Right?
In my 41 years, the government has consistently grown in size and scope as we continue to march further and further down the road of serfdom. In other words, the Beltway pundits have harmed our cause, not helped.
These are not normal times. They are historical times. Volatile times. Keep listening to the same, tired-old mumblers … at America’s peril.
Washington will no longer vote on legislation, but instead, we now have law by fiat.
…
Fight for nothing less than the liberty and freedom our founding generations bequeathed us. Compromise won’t do. “Republican” isn’t enough.
The Grim Reaper is knocking at America’s door. What are YOU going to do about it?
So, I ask again, how much IS your liberty, your Constitution worth? As we see the Democrats give not one good shit about either. They stopped believing in them some time ago. Remember this in November. And again, pray that God will turn their hearts back towards our founding principles. There is still time, but remember, liberty, once lost…………….
Cross-Posted at The DaleyGator and WWTFFD?
What would the Founders tell Blue Dog Democrats
Bluegrass Pundit has a message for the Blue Dogs, from Samuel Adams
Here is an important message for Blue Dog Democrats from Samuel Adams
“If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
My friends our liberty IS at stake here, once passed this bill will become an entitlement to dwarf all others. You and I will lose vital control of OUR health care decisions. American liberty will be dealt a blow from which it might never recover.
I ask that all of you pray, and keep as much heat on our elected representatives as we can.
Cross-posted at WWTFFD?
Donald Douglas destroys the Coffee Party phonies!
This is blogging gold! Douglas shows us that Annanbel Park and her cohorts of the Coffee Astroturf Party are nothing but left-wing activists, pushing left-wing ideals. Enjoy.
Dear Mr. President, it is the ECONOMY stupid!
It is pretty freaking pathetic when the president, who says job creation is so important, does nothing but continue pushing his health care bill that no one wants. And I have to admit, for such a bright guy, Obama just does not get it, not even when only 200 people show up to him try to sell us his health care bill AGAIN!
Matt Mayer from the Buckeye Institute reports:
President Barack Obama, joined by Ohio governor Ted Strickland, came to Ohio today to continue his permanent campaign on health-care legislation. His campaign events during the 2008 presidential race attracted crowds of thousands of Ohioans; this time, President Obama managed a crowd of about 200 people. With his negative approval numbers in Ohio (44 percent approve, 52 percent disapprove), it isn’t much of a surprise that few showed up to hear him once again talk about health care.
If you read the whole article linked above, you’ll find that Ohioans are, like most Americans, more interested in the economy and jobs. A fact reinforced by this snippet from another report.
The president’s Strongsville speech began much the same as it did in Shaker Heights — with raucous cheers and applause.
“I love you,” someone shouted — the same as in July. “I love you back,” Obama said before he was introduced by the sister of a Medina County woman who won the president’s attention in recent weeks.
But this time, hecklers called out, “What’s your plan?” and “We want jobs,” during his speech. That didn’t happen last year.
Do you get it yet Mr. President? Your country is telling you something. Can you put your narcissistic tendencies aside long enough to LISTEN? This ain’t about you. This ain’t about your love of failed Marxist ideals. This is about you listening to the American people. This is about your country you took an oath to serve. We do not want more debt, or a huge government take over of our health care, can’t you grasp that?
March Madness Sweater Puppy Rule 5 Contest
The briliant Carol of No Sheeples has called for a Rule 5 contest featuring the cheerleaders of the schools competing in the NCA tourney. And, being a big fan of rule 5, and a HUGE Gator fan, who am I to refuse. And even though my beloved Gators likely will not win this year, I can still brag, remembering the Gators’ 2006 and 2007 NCAA tourney titles, as well as the 2006, and 2008 football national titles. Yep, tis GREAT to be a GATOR!
look at all the national championships
Banished! City Forbids Bible Studies In Homes – WorldNetDaily
The city of Gilbert, Ariz., has ordered a group of seven adults to stop gathering for Bible studies in a private home because such meetings are forbidden by the city’s zoning codes.
The issue was brought to a head when city officials wrote a letter to a pastor and his wife informing them they had 10 days to quit having the meetings in their private home.
The ban, however, prompted a response from the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed an appeal with the city as the first step in its campaign to overturn a provision it describes as illegal.
“The interpretation and enforcement of the town’s code is clearly unconstitutional, ” said Daniel Blomberg, a member of the litigation team for ADF. “It bans 200,000 Gilbert residents from meeting in their private homes for organized religious purposes – an activity encouraged in the Bible, practiced for thousands of years, and protected by the First Amendment.”
The appeal was filed on behalf of the members, all seven, of the Oasis of Truth Church.
Pastor Joe Sutherland had been told in a letter from code compliance officer Steve Wallace that the people were not allowed to meet in a home for church activities under the city’s Land Development Code.
There had been no complaints about the meetings, which had been rotating among members’ homes before the officer wrote the letter and ordered the group to “terminate all religious meetings… regardless of their size, nature or frequency,” because he noticed signs about the meetings.
24 Killed In Western Mexico; 11 In One Shootout – Associated Press
A series of shootings killed 24 people Saturday in a Pacific coast state plagued by drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between soldiers and armed men.
The gunbattle erupted when attackers opened fire on soldiers patrolling the small town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, said Valentin Diaz, director of the Guerrero state investigative police. Ten gunmen and one soldier were killed, he said.
Diaz said the shootout broke out in the middle of the day in the center of the town as it was full of bystanders. He said state police were investigating and soldiers had reinforced security.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Guerrero and other drug-trafficking hotspots across Mexico in an effort to root out cartels. Gang violence has surged since the crackdown began three years ago, claiming more than 17,900 lives.
Thirteen other people were killed in Guerrero in several other incidents before dawn, according to a state police report.
Upside-Down House To Open For Tourists – Ananova
A completely upside-down house is to open as a tourist attraction in Germany.
Standing on a pointed roof and supported by steel beams in the attic, the house has an upside-down kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom.
This bizarre upside-down house was created on the grounds of a zoo in Gettorf, Germany. The roof is reinforced with steel girders, reports the Daily Mail.
Local carpenter Gerhard Mordhorst and his colleagues Gesellse Splettstober and Manfred Kolax put the unusual building together.
Gatordoug
darcprynce
Dave C
