Tuesday, March 31, 2009

April Fool

Franken Wins Ruling in Minnesota Senate Race

NYT

WASHINGTON — Al Franken, the comedian turned politician, won a potentially decisive court ruling on Tuesday in his bid to replace Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican trying to hold on to his Senate seat.

A three-judge panel ruled that only 400 absentee ballots — far fewer than Mr. Coleman had sought — should be examined for possible counting. If the ruling stands, it could be devastating for Mr. Coleman, who trailed his Democratic challenger by 225 votes out of some 2.9 million cast and had hoped that nearly 1,400 absentee ballots might be recounted.

Even if the results put Mr. Coleman further in the hole, as expected, he could fight on, before the Minnesota Supreme Court or perhaps in the federal courts. His lawyer said Mr. Coleman had not given up.

After seven weeks of deliberations, the court said it would decide which of the 400 ballots would be counted in open court by next Tuesday.

The panel said it based its decision on “a complete and thorough review of the 1,717 exhibits and transcripts of testimony.”

“To be clear, not every absentee ballot identified in this order will ultimately be opened and counted,” the panel wrote.

Nonetheless, the political terrain as well as the mathematics appeared to give Mr. Franken a big advantage, and the lawyers for both sides recognized that.........

Media Matters Daily Summary 03-31-09

LA Times, Dobbs uncritically forward McCain's false claim that Wagoner's departure was "unprecedented"
The L.A. Times and Lou Dobbs uncritically repeated Sen. John McCain's false claim that the government's decision to ask for Rick Wagoner's resignation is "unprecedented." In fact, similar actions occurred at AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac in September 2008.
Read More

Fox & Friends graphic falsely claims, "Bill lets government set your salary"
Fox & Friends aired a graphic that falsely claimed of the Pay for Performance Act: "Bill lets government set your salary." In fact, the bill would regulate compensation only for employees of financial institutions that have received federal assistance. Read More

Fox Nation says "yes" to "biased media" -- calls Frank and Dodd a "[d]angerous duo"
After Fox News aired promotions for The Fox Nation telling viewers, "It's time to say 'no' to biased media and 'yes' to fair play and free speech," The Fox Nation labeled Chris Dodd and Barney Frank a "[d]angerous duo," linking to an article that did not in any way characterize them as "[d]angerous." Read More

Fox News' La Jeunesse ignores effective tax rate to claim U.S. corporate tax "second highest in the world"
Fox News' William La Jeunesse asserted that "our corporate tax rate is second highest in the world," ignoring the effective tax rate, which is lower for corporations in the U.S. than for corporations in several other countries. Read More

Ignoring AIG, Fannie, and Freddie, Wash. Times editorial labeled Wagoner's departure "unprecedented"
A Washington Times editorial labeled Rick Wagoner's departure from GM as "unprecedented." At no point did the editorial mention that the government has required AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac to replace their CEOs as a condition of receiving government funds. Read More

Conservative media attack health-care reform in budget without addressing admin. response
Numerous media outlets and personalities have claimed or suggested that given the size of the current and projected U.S. federal debt, the Obama administration's health-care reform proposal is untenable, but did not address the administration's argument that health-care reform is essential to the long-term economic health of the country. Read More

American public doesn't buy media's characterization of "Obama recession"
Despite attempts by media figures to pin the blame for the current economic situation on President Obama, a recent ABC poll found that "[e]ight in 10 Americans blame the situation on banks and other financial institutions. ... Just 26 percent, though, blame the Obama administration." Read More

Monday, March 30, 2009

Media Matters Daily Summary 03-30-09

Fox News' Henneberg falsely claimed "[r]econciliation was last used in 2001"
Molly Henneberg falsely claimed, "Reconciliation was last used in 2001 by Republicans to pass the first Bush tax cuts." In fact, Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to pass several Bush initiatives after 2001, and it was used as recently as 2007. Read More

Question for Bill Shine: Is Fox News "the voice of opposition" or "not ideological"?
According to The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, "Fox executives maintain that the channel's reporting is ... not ideological," and "Senior Vice President Bill Shine says that 'our reporters, people like Major Garrett, have been asking tougher questions' than their rivals." But Fox News has said that it is going further with the Obama administration than merely "asking tougher questions" than their rivals; Shine has recently characterized the network as "the voice of opposition on some issues." Read More

Fox Business' Varney mischaracterizes Wagoner's departure
On America's Newsroom, Stuart Varney asserted that Rick Wagoner's departure is "the first time in modern history that the government has fired the chief executive of a private corporation." In fact, the government did not "fire[]" Wagoner, but made his departure a condition of further government aid for the company. Read More

USA Today uncritically reported GOP charge that stimulus advocates supported "provision that allowed the [AIG] bonuses to be paid"
Reporting on a New York special congressional election, USA Today uncritically cited a claim by Republican candidate James Tedisco that Democratic candidate Scott Murphy, by supporting the stimulus bill, supported "a provision that allowed the [AIG] bonuses to be paid." In fact, the AIG bonuses would have been paid even without the stimulus bill, which restricts the bonuses AIG and other companies receiving aid can award in the future. Read More

Hannity falsely claimed NI director plans to "release ... enemy combatants on American soil"
Sean Hannity falsely claimed DNI Dennis Blair plans to "release ... enemy combatants on American soil." In fact, Blair has outlined a "process" to determine whether and how to release detainees who are not "too dangerous to let out" and have not "committed offenses that merit punishment." Read More

Fox News invokes Canadian health care bogeyman in talking about Richardson's death
In talking about Natasha Richardson's death, Betsy McCaughey and Martha MacCallum misrepresented a health-care provision in the recovery act and baselessly suggested the United States might be headed "down the same path" as Canada with regard to health care. Read More

Media promote claims of global cooling despite overwhelming consensus to the contrary
Despite the scientific consensus that human-caused global warming is real and is negatively affecting the planet, the media have repeatedly provided a platform for critics who argue that the Earth is in a period of "cooling" or that the issue of global warming does not need to be addressed. Read More

Special Report allowed Fiorina to attack Obama without noting her role with McCain campaign
Wendell Goler aired a clip of Carly Fiorina criticizing President Obama, but identified her only as a "[f]ormer Hewlett-Packard CEO." Goler did not note that she was a senior economic adviser for John McCain's presidential campaign. Read More

Fox News' Henneberg falsely claimed "[r]econciliation was last used in 2001"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200903300003

During the March 27 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier, correspondent Molly Henneberg falsely claimed that "[r]econciliation was last used in 2001 by Republicans to pass the first Bush tax cuts." In fact, Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to pass several major Bush initiatives after 2001, as the blog Think Progress recently noted. These initiatives include the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. Reconciliation was used as recently as 2007, when the Democratic Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

During her report, Henneberg described reconciliation as a "maneuver" that congressional Democrats may use "to achieve some of President Obama's more controversial budget priorities, including health-care reform and a cap-and-trade energy policy."

As Media Matters for America documented, Fox News host Sean Hannity recently made the false claim that reconciliation would allow the Obama administration to pass legislation "without any Republicans even having an opportunity to vote."

From the March 27 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:

BRET BAIER (anchor): While several Democratic lawmakers have taken steps to trim the president's budget, others are trying to use parliamentary shortcuts to preserve some of his most ambitious initiatives. Correspondent Molly Henneberg reports.

[begin video clip]

HENNEBERG: House and Senate Democrats are holding out the possibility of using a maneuver called reconciliation to achieve some of President Obama's more controversial budget priorities, including health-care reform and a cap-and-trade energy policy. Political analysts say reconciliation makes it easier for the majority to get bills, which are attached to the budget through Congress, especially through the Senate.

J.D. FOSTER (Heritage Foundation senior fellow): Because of the reconciliation instructions, you don't have a right to filibuster. You can raise some -- offer amendments and raise objections, but, ultimately, it's going to take 51 votes to move the legislation forward, not 60.

HENNEBERG: The 60 votes that are usually needed in the Senate to stop a filibuster and pass a bill. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid [NV] has said nothing is off the table when it comes to reconciliation. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has watched many House-passed bills die in the Senate, says the future of health-care reform may depend on it.

PELOSI: I think the best prospect for that to happen is to do it under reconciliation.

HENNEBERG: Reconciliation was last used in 2001 by Republicans to pass the first Bush tax cuts, but now the GOP is furious the Democrats may use it to pass potentially sweeping energy and health-care reform.

REP. PETE HOEKSTRA (R-MI): They're going to have a major impact on the country, and to put them through a process that will not allow for a full debate is absolutely outrageous.


Contact Fox News Channel:

FOX News Channel
1-888-369-4762
Comments@foxnews.com
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Sunday, March 29, 2009

SKorea opposes military reaction to NKorean launch

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - President Lee Myung-bak said South Korea opposes any military response to North Korea's planned launch of a rocket, while Washington's defense chief said the U.S. won't try to shoot it down.

The remarks by Lee and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates appear to reflect concerns that any tough reaction could send tensions spiking out of control at a time when the communist regime is warning that even U.N. sanctions would prompt it to quit nuclear disarmament talks.

North Korea says it will launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8 as part of its space development program. Regional powers, however, suspect the North is using the launch to test long-range missile technology.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have warned the North that if it goes ahead with the launch it could face international sanctions under a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution prohibiting ballistic activity by Pyongyang.

Pyongyang has said sanctions would violate the spirit of agreements in nuclear disarmament talks, and said it would treat the pacts as null and void if punished for exercising its right to send a satellite into space.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Monday, Lee said all countries, including China and Russia, oppose the North's plans. But Lee stressed that he is against using military means as punishment.

"What I do oppose is to militarily respond to these kind of actions," Lee said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the presidential office.

Lee also ruled out shuttering a joint industrial complex in North Korea—widely seen as a source of hard currency for the impoverished nation—as punishment. He said he does not believe "taking a harder stance" would be helpful in achieving Seoul's ultimate objective of ridding the North of nuclear programs..........

The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 361



March 30, 2009 - The Republican Road To Nowhere Edition

I was starting to get a little nervous this week. The conservative idiots have been quiet - almost too quiet. But I needn't have worried. It turns out they were just saving up for one great big burst of idiocy before the weekend. House Republicans (1) have got a surefire plan for success, along with Michael Steele (2) and Bobby Jindal (3). Elsewhere, John McCain (5) was apparently just joking about his vice-presidential pick last year, and George W. Bush (9) is a big hit with the WWE.

Q: Is Obama planning a Gestapo-like "civilian national security force"?

www.factcheck.org

Q: Is Obama planning a Gestapo-like "civilian national security force"?
I read a quote from Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia which stated that Obama wants to set up a civilian national security force that was similar to the "Gestapo" or the Nazi Brownshirts.

What is the truth behind Obama's statements that he wants to create a "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded [as the military]"?

A:
This false claim is a badly distorted version of Obama's call for doubling the Peace Corps, creating volunteer networks and increasing the size of the Foreign Service.
This question stems from an interview that Republican Rep. Broun of Georgia gave to The Associated Press Nov. 10. The story carried a headline, "Georgia congressman warns of Obama dictatorship." It said that Broun "fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship." And it quoted him this way:
Rep. Paul Broun, Nov. 10: It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's [Obama's] the one who proposed this national security force. ... That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did.
Similar claims have been circulating in right-leaning blogs and conservative Web sites ever since July, when Obama made a single reference to a "civilian national security force" in a campaign speech in Colorado. Obama's detractors make much of his expansive (and exaggerated) description of such a force as being "just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the U.S. military. They also ignore the context.

Obama was not talking about a "security force" with guns or police powers. He was talking specifically about expanding AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps and the USA Freedom Corps, which is the volunteer initiative launched by the Bush administration after the attacks of 9/11, and about increasing the number of trained Foreign Service officers who populate U.S. embassies overseas.

Here is the relevant portion of what Obama actually said, with the sentences quoted selectively by Broun and others in bold.
Obama, July 2, Colorado Springs, CO: [As] president I will expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots [from 75,000] and make that increased service a vehicle to meet national goals, like providing health care and education, saving our planet and restoring our standing in the world, so that citizens see their effort connected to a common purpose.

People of all ages, stations and skills will be asked to serve. Because when it comes to the challenges we face, the American people are not the problem – they are the answer. So we are going to send more college graduates to teach and mentor our young people. We'll call on Americans to join an energy corps, to conduct renewable energy and environmental clean-up projects in their neighborhoods all across the country.


We will enlist our veterans to find jobs and support for other vets, and to be there for our military families.
And we're going to grow our Foreign Service, open consulates that have been shuttered and double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011 to renew our diplomacy. We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set.

We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded. We need to use technology to connect people to service. We'll expand USA Freedom Corps to create online networks where American can browse opportunities to volunteer. You'll be able to search by category, time commitment and skill sets. You'll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities.

This will empower more Americans to craft their own service agenda and make their own change from the bottom up.
Does that sound like a force that could kick down your door in the middle of the night and haul you off to a Gulag or concentration camp? You decide.

-Brooks Jackson
Sources
Evans, Ben. “Georgia congressman warns of Obama dictatorship.” The Associated Press, 10 Nov. 2008.

“Sen. Barack Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event, Colorado Springs, CO.” CQ Transcriptions, 2 July 2008.

Today's Winner of the Golden Douche Award

Rules for conservative radicals - Moonie Times, Andrew Breitbart

A digital war has broken out, and the conservative movement is losing. Read the comment sections of right-leaning blogs, news sites and social forums, and the evidence is there in ugly abundance. Internet hooligans are spewing their talking points to thwart the dissent of the newly-out-of-power.

We must not let that go unanswered.

Uninvited Democratic activists are on a mission to demoralize the enemy - us. They want to ensure that President Obama is not subject to the same coordinated, facts-be-damned, multimedia takedown they employed over eight long years to destroy the presidency - and the humanity - of George W. Bush.

Political leftists play for keeps. They are willing to lie, perform deceptive acts in a coordinated fashion and do so in a wicked way - all in the pursuit of victory. Moral relativism is alive and well in the land of Hope and Change and its Web-savvy youth brigade expresses its "idealism" in a most cynical fashion.

The ends justify the means for them - now more than ever.

Much of Mr. Obama's vaunted online strategy involved utilizing "Internet trolls" to invade enemy lines under false names and trying to derail discussion. In the real world, that's called "vandalism." But in a political movement that embraces "graffiti" as avant-garde art , that's business as usual. It relishes the ability to destroy other people's property in pursuit of electoral victory.

Hugh Hewitt's popular site shut off its comments section because of the success of these obnoxious invaders. Breitbart.com polices nonpartisan newswire stories for such obviously coordinated attacks. Other right-leaning sites such as Instapundit and National Review Online refuse to allow comments, knowing better than to flirt with the online activist left.

During the Clinton impeachment scandal, a new group out of California called MoveOn.org employed a plan to get its members to dial into right-leaning talk radio shows with scripted talking points falsely claiming that they were Republicans. They said they would never vote for the GOP again if the case against Bill Clinton was pursued.

Rush Limbaugh was the first to isolate these "seminar callers," whose mission during the Lewinsky mess was to fool the listening audience into believing they were outraged conservatives willing to cut their ties to the Republican Party if the GOP-led Congress continued down the impeachment path.

Eleven years later, "seminar callers" abound and call screeners are trained in the art of weeding them out. But the filtering does not always work.

"This is nothing more than the Internet version of Soviet disinformation," Human Events editor Jed Babbin told me. "MoveOn.org and the little boys from 'Lord of the Flies' who run Media Matters want to make it appear that there's huge dissension within conservative ranks on issues on which we're most united."

The left also uses disinformation to inundate the advertisers of conservative-leaning talk shows to intimidate them from financially supporting popular mainstream shows.

Media Matters even offered its services to an autism support group in its attempt to bring down talk-show host Michael Savage. It had nothing to do with Mr. Savage's underlying offense. Would Media Matters go after Keith Olbermann if he made a tirade against the afflicted? David Brock and company certainly didn't raise a peep when President Obama made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics.

So now that the right is vanquished and thoroughly out of power, why doesn't it learn from its conquerors and employ similar tactics?

The answer is obvious. The right, for the most part, embraces basic Judeo-Christian ideals and would not promote nor defend the propaganda techniques that were perfected in godless communist and socialist regimes. The current political and media environment crafted by supposedly idealistic Mr. Obama resembles Hugo Chavez's Venezuela more than John F. Kennedy's America.

The Huffington Post, Daily Kos and other left-leaning sites benefit from the right's belief that there are rules and decorum in political debate and civic engagement. Of course, every now and then, a curious right-winger will go in and engage in discussion at a left-wing site, but rarely under purely disingenuous and mass coordinated means.

David Brock, John Podesta, am I missing something?

As a prolific consumer of online content, I value nothing more than the sincere expression of opinion that differs from mine. Sometimes I am even moved or swayed from my dogma. But that was not the type of communication that got Mr. Obama elected.

The American right is in a heap of trouble in a media age that doesn't shun the goons and liars that have poisoned the political process and won the American presidency by breaking the rules of fair play. It is time to fight back, but it won't be easy. The enemy is willing to do and say anything in order to win.

c Andrew Breitbart is the founder of the news Web site www.breitbart.com and is co-author of "Hollywood Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon - the Case Against Celebrity."

Limbaugh challenged: In LA Times op-ed, Klavan claimed he's "never heard" Limbaugh "utter a single racist, hateful or stupid word"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200903290009

On March 29, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by Andrew Klavan, a contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute's quarterly magazine, City Journal, in which Klavan claimed of Rush Limbaugh: "I listen to Limbaugh every chance I get, and I have never heard the man utter a single racist, hateful or stupid word." Klavan then issued to "liberals" what he referred to as "the Limbaugh Challenge," writing: "Listen to the show. Not for five minutes but for several hours: an hour a day for several days. Consider what he has to say -- the real policy material under the jokes and teasing bluster. Do what your intellectual keepers do not want you to do and keep an open mind." Media Matters for America, however, listens to the entire Rush Limbaugh Show everyday and has documented numerous examples of Limbaugh spewing offensive commentary and basic misstatements of fact. Media Matters recently launched the Limbaugh Wire, providing hour-by-hour coverage of and commentary on Limbaugh's program.

Below are some examples of offensive commentary and falsehoods by Limbaugh that Media Matters has documented in just the last month, complete with audio:

A Media Matters compilation of some of Limbaugh's most outrageous remarks prior to March can be found here.

From Klavan's March 29 Los Angeles Times op-ed, "Take the Limbaugh Challenge":

If you are reading this newspaper, the likelihood is that you agree with the Obama administration's recent attacks on conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh. That's the likelihood; here's the certainty: You've never listened to Rush Limbaugh.

[...]

You're not a moderate or you wouldn't be reading this newspaper. You're not tolerant of a wide range of views; you are tolerant of a narrow spectrum of variations on your views. And, whatever you claim, you still haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh.

Which leads to a question: Why not? I mean, come on, the guy's one of the figures of the age. Aren't you even curious? I listen to all your guys: NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, The Times, the New York Times, the New Yorker -- I check out the whole left-wing hallelujah chorus. Why are you afraid to spend a couple of hours listening to Limbaugh's show and seriously considering if and why you disagree with him?

Let me guess at your answer. You don't need to listen to him. You've heard enough to know he's a) racist, b) hateful, c) stupid, d) merely an outrageous entertainer not to be taken seriously or e) all of the above.

Now let me tell you the real answer: You're a lowdown, yellow-bellied, lily-livered intellectual coward. You're terrified of finding out he makes more sense than you do.

I listen to Limbaugh every chance I get, and I have never heard the man utter a single racist, hateful or stupid word. Do I always agree with him? Of course not. I'm a conservative; I think for myself. But Limbaugh, by turns insightful, satiric, raucously funny and wise, is one of the best voices talking about first principles and policy in the country today.

Therefore, I am throwing down my gauntlet at your quivering liberal feet. I hereby issue my challenge -- the Limbaugh Challenge: Listen to the show. Not for five minutes but for several hours: an hour a day for several days. Consider what he has to say -- the real policy material under the jokes and teasing bluster. Do what your intellectual keepers do not want you to do and keep an open mind. Ask yourself: What's he getting at? Why does he say the things he says? Why do so many people of goodwill -- like that nice Mr. Klavan -- agree with him?

The mainstream media (a.k.a. the Matrix) don't want you to listen to Limbaugh because they're afraid he'll wake you up and set you free of their worldview. You don't want to listen to him because you're afraid of the same thing.

Don't believe me? Well, then, gird your loins. Gather your courage. Accept the Limbaugh Challenge. See what happens.

I dare you.

Contact LA TIMES:

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 237-5000

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pictures




Study: It Takes Just 8.2 Seconds for Men to Fall in Love

FOX NEWS

How long does it take a man to fall in love?

Apparently less than 10 seconds, according to a report in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Scientists claim it takes men just 8.2 seconds to fall head over heels. They say the longer a man gazes at a woman – the more interested he is, the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

For the study, scientists used hidden cameras to secretly track the eye movements of 115 students as they spoke to actors and actresses.

They found men looked into the eyes of actresses they considered beautiful for an average of 8.2 seconds, but that dropped to 4.5 seconds when they were looking at someone they were not attracted to. The researchers believe that men use eye contact to seek out fit and fertile partners.

However, it’s not the same story when it comes to women. Scientists said they let their eyes linger on men for the same length of time whether they found them attractive or not.............


Flying RC Penis Attack - Caught On Tape


Flying RC Penis Attack - Caught On Tape - Awesome video clips here

Friday, March 27, 2009

Media Matters Daily Summary 03-27-09

LA Times touts McCain as a "key Republican" in immigration debate, but ignores campaign flip-flop
The Los Angeles Times dubbed Sen. John McCain a "key Republican[]" in the immigration debate, but ignored his flip-flop on immigration during the 2008 presidential campaign. Read More

Hannity falsely claimed Obama has proposed UK-style nationalized health care
Sean Hannity claimed that President Obama has proposed "nationalized health care," similar to programs in Great Britain and Canada. In fact, earlier that day, Obama explicitly rejected scrapping the U.S. health-care system in favor of the British or Canadian model. Read More

AP ignores GOP contradiction in criticizing Dem plan similar to its own
The AP reported on Republican opposition to Tim Geithner's proposal to allow the government to take over failing nonbank financial institutions, without noting that House Republicans themselves proposed giving the federal government authority to take over financial institutions. Read More

Michael Reagan falsely claimed Dems' law told AIG to "pay the bonuses"
Michael Reagan falsely claimed that in paying retention bonuses, AIG was following a law "that was written by the Democrats" that said "pay the bonuses." In fact, the stimulus bill did not create the right for AIG -- or any company -- to pay bonuses, much less require them to do so. Read More

CNN ignores GOP contradiction in criticizing Geithner's proposal as "power grab"
In reports on the budget blueprint offered by House Republicans, CNN did not note that the plan includes a proposal to give the federal government authority to take over failing nonbank financial institutions -- a proposal similar to one presented by Tim Geithner, for which he was sharply criticized by those same House Republicans. Read More

Media use announcement of new Afghanistan strategy to revive "Obama's war" label
Since President Obama's announcement of a new strategy in Afghanistan, the media have revived the label "Obama's war," despite Obama's having inherited the 7-year-old conflict. Read More

Wash. Post, LA Times reported Boehner criticism of Geithner plan, but not his support for similar GOP plan
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times both reported House Minority Leader John Boehner's criticism of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's proposal for Congress to pass legislation allowing the federal government to take over failing non-bank financial institutions while failing to report that House Republicans -- including Boehner -- have proposed a similar plan. Read More

Ignoring ATF data, Fox's Bream advanced "gun advocates" claim that "vast majority" of Mexican cartel weapons not from US
Fox News' Trace Gallagher and Shannon Bream advanced the claim, touted by "gun advocates," that the "vast majority" of weapons used in Mexican drug cartels "are not coming from the United States." In fact, according to ATF's National Tracing Center, 90 percent of these weapons that could be traced originated from within the U.S. Read More

Hill piece, touted by Drudge, advanced Gregg's false comparison between "debt levels" of U.S., EU members
A blog post at The Hill -- linked to by the Drudge Report -- reported that Sen. Judd Gregg argued President Obama's budget would lead to a higher national debt and annual deficits than the EU allows its member states. But The Hill did not mention that the U.S. national debt had already exceeded the EU threshold before Obama even took office, that some EU member states currently have deficits or national debts that exceed EU threshold levels, or that EU rules governing deficits include exemptions for circumstances such as "a severe economic downturn." Read More

CNN's Keilar, caption falsely claimed Geithner's financial takeover request was "unprecedented"
CNN correspondent Brianna Keilar, along with several other CNN correspondents and hosts and instances of CNN on-screen text, described Timothy Geithner's proposal for Congress to pass legislation allowing the federal government to take over failing nonbank financial institutions as "unprecedented." In fact, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and FDIC chairman Sheila Bair -- both Bush appointees -- stated in 2008 that the federal government needed and should have such power. Read More

VIDEO: "ShamWow" and "Slap Chop" Pitchman Arrested For Battering Hooker

My Friends in Oregon

Click Picts to Enlarge ...







*******



This is the Jump my Nephew made then crashed on. Where the Dogs are is where he took off from and the other jump is where he landed too Short 8-)

The Top 10 Weirdest Sex Laws

Posted by Brian Fairbanks

The Top 10 Weirdest Sex Laws:

10. No one is allowed to have sex in a parked car. Unless the car has (drawn) curtains... in Carlsbad, New Mexico)

9. It's illegal for a woman to take off her clothes while in front of a man's photo in Oxford, Ohio.

8. It is against the law for husbands to to talk dirty ("curse at his wife") during intercourse in Willowdale, Oregon.

7. The missionary position is the only sexual position allowed by law in Washington, DC.

6. Women, married or not, husbands about to die or not, are not allowed to have sex with while riding in an ambulance. "In addition to normal charges, the woman's name will be published in the local newspaper. The man does not receive any punishment," courtesy of Tremonton, Utah.

5. Giving or receiving head is against the law in 18 states, including Arizona and Utah.

4. For reasons we don't want to know, it's against the law to get it on with a truck driver inside a toll booth in Harrisonburg, PA.

3. Sticking your dick in a porcupine is illegal in Florida. (We'd like to think this law is unnecessary, but we're talking about Florida here...)

2. It is against the law for a man to fire a gun while his female partner is having an orgasm in Connorsville, Wisconsin. (Wait, is he firing a gun to blow her mind? To kill her for coming before him? Because he's been finished for ten minutes and was trying to clean his rifle? What?)

1. And having bestiality with animals is legal for men, "as long as the animal weighs less than 40 pounds," in the great state of Washington.

Honorable Mentions:

It is illegal in Utah to marry your first cousin before the age of 65.

In Kingsville, Texas there is a law against two pigs having sex on the city's airport property.

And "a law in Fairbanks, Alaska does not allow moose to have sex on city streets."

Via Bert C and College Times.

Touting Her Currency Conspiracy, Bachmann Insists: ‘This Is Not Michele Bachmann Being A Kook’

THINK PROGRESS

Earlier this week, right-wing fanatic Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) started peddling false conspiracy theories that the world was moving toward a unified global currency — and that the U.S. might join in as early as next week’s G-20 conference. The myth was started when China’s central bank governor suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Though the suggestion has nothing to do with a unified global currency, Fox News’ Major Garrett decided to ask President Obama whether he supported the fictional prospect of such a move. (Obama, for the record, does not.)

Today on Glenn Beck’s radio show, Bachmann declared that the U.S. will soon be moving to “give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency.” Such action, she warned, would mean the U.S. as a country would be “no more”:

BACHMANN: As you know, Russia, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, many nations have lined up now and have called for an international global currency, a One World currency and they want to get off of the dollar as the reserve currency.

BECK: Most people don’t understand, Michele, what that means.

BACHMANN: What that means is all of the countries in the world would have a single currency. We would give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency. … If we give up the dollar as our standard, and co-mingle the value of the dollar with the value of coinage in Zimbabwe, that dilutes our money supply. We lose control over our economy. And economic liberty is inextricably entwined with political liberty. Once you lose your economic freedom, you lose your political freedom. And then we are no more, as an exceptional nation, as we always have been. So this is imperative.

Bachmann claimed that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he was “open” to the One World currency. (In reality, he only said he was open to changes in the IMF special drawing rights, and reaffirmed his commitment to the dollar.) Beck warned that speaking out about the global currency gets one labeled a “kook,” but Bachmann brushed off such concerns, saying she’s been called that “throughout [her] political career”:

BACHMANN: Well, Glenn, I have experienced that throughout my political career, being labeled a kook. It just happened again in a big story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. But all we have to do is point to the treasury secretary on tape, on camera. This is not Michele Bachmann being a kook. This is our treasury secretary on tape and on camera.

Listen to it:

Transcript:

BACHMANN: But let me tell you, there’s something that’s happening this week in congress that could be the eventual unraveling for our freedom and it was this. I have also asked the treasury secretary and Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chair, if they would categorically denounce taking the United States off of the dollar and putting us on an international global currency because as you know, Russia, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, many nations have lined up now and have called for an international global currency, a one world currency and they want to get off of the dollar as the reserve currency.

BECK: Most people don’t understand, Michele, what that means.

BACHMANN: What that means is all of the countries in the world would have a single currency. We would give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a one world currency and now for the first time we’re seeing major countries like China, India, Russia, countries like that calling for a one world currency and they want this discussion to occur at the G20. So I asked both the treasury secretary and the Federal Reserve chair if they would categorically denounce this. The reason why is because if we give up the dollar as our standard and commingle the value of a dollar with the value of coinage in Zimbabwe, that dilutes our money supply. We lose control over our economy and economic liberty is inextricably entwined with political liberty. Once you lose your economic freedom, you’ve lost your political freedom and then we are no more as an exceptional nation as we always have been. So this is imperative. Well, what happened, the day after I asked that question for the treasury secretary, secretary Geithner went before the council on foreign relations and the same subject came up. After that meeting after he categorically denounced it to me, he said to the council on foreign relations he would be open to this proposal of a single currency, of expanding the international monetary funds’ special drawing down rates. That’s what they’re called. And this created a huge firestorm which the value of the dollar literally tumbled upon his words when he said that.

BECK: Right. And then somebody said, “I think you want to revisit that again.” And he did and he said, “Well, no, I don’t mean…”

[…]

BECK: And what’s going to happen is if you start to talk about a global currency which I’m telling you there’s no way out of what we’re doing now besides devaluing the dollar to pay off our debt and then have a new currency. There’s just no other way.

BACHMANN: But we can stop that.

BECK: Wait a minute. Congresswoman, what happens is when you stand up and when you say those things, then you’re deemed a kook. Then you’re deemed a militia member. And there are too many people in America that will still listen to the mainstream media. They will still listen to, you know, to those in Washington on both sides of the aisle that say, “Oh, no, well, that’s never going to happen.” And so they sit there and do nothing. And those who do want to do something are afraid because they don’t want to be deemed a kook. And they also are tired of being played by politicians in Washington.

BACHMANN: Well, Glenn, I have experienced that throughout my political career being labeled a kook. It just happened again in a big story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. But all we have to do is point to the treasury secretary on tape, on camera. This is not Michele Bachmann being a kook. This is our treasury secretary on tape and on camera. And also we now have countries across the world asking for this. That’s why I went to my fellow colleagues and I dropped a bill day before yesterday that would bind the president’s hands, that wouldn’t allow him to enter into a treaty or an international agreement to take us off the dollar and put us on an international currency.

Update - Bachmann has introduced legislation to prevent the hypothetical adaptation of a fictional global currency.

Update - "This falsehoods here are coming so fast and loose that it’s hard to know where to start," Matthew Yglesias writes, beginning a thorough debunk of the conspiracy theory:
Keep in mind that these aren’t just two weirdos hiding out in a cabin somewhere. Beck has a show on a major cable news network and Bachmann has a seat in Congress.
Update - Today on Glenn Beck's radio show, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) fearmongered as well, saying, "China and maybe Geithner [are] even agreeing some new world currency."
UpdateKarl Rove, appearing on the Sean Hannity radio show, also discussed an "international currency" that the Chinese would have a "significant role in organizing."

Friday's Sex News 03-27-09





The Rude Pundit: Why Michelle Malkin Ought to Be Caged Like a Rabid Shih-Tzu

Proudly lowering the level of political discourse

So let's just get this straight: back in 2006, Michelle Malkin, blogger, syndicated columnist, and an attention whore with appetites so huge that, if she were a sex-selling whore (and the Rude Pundit has no direct knowledge that she is not), she'd be in front of an audience of cheering old drunks, giving handjobs to hobos while getting fucked in the ass by the bartender's pit bull, which is pretty much what happens when you appear on Fox "news," posts to her blog the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of three UC Santa Cruz students who led a protest against military recruiters on their campus. When the students get pounded by threats of violence, Malkin washes her hands of it, saying that it's up to individuals how they respond to the information she has made public.

And in 2007, Michelle Malkin, who, if she were a sex-selling whore (and, while the Rude Pundit cannot confirm anything, he's pretty sure she's swapping blow jobs for appearances on Glenn Beck's nightly crazoidfest), she'd be the type of hooker who tells you all the crazy shit she could do to your dick if she hadn't sprained her back, but if you double the price, she'll work through the pain, stalked the family of a twelve year-old boy who almost died in a car wreck. even going to their home. Her point? That they owned things and thus didn't need SCHIP.

So this is the Michelle Malkin we're talking about. She's the same one who in her latest "column" (if by "column," you mean, "the sound of a bag of drowning cats") is outraged, nay, megaoutraged at the idea that people would be angry enough to threaten violence or suggest punishments for AIG executives. Scrawls Malkin, "[T]he radical ACORN mob and its corporate shakedown allies chartered a bus — with twice as many outrage-stoking MSM photographers in tow — to menace AIG executives in their homes." Imagine. Going to harass people you think are evil at their homes. Malkin also cites "the families who received [death] threats through AIG’s website." It must give her the vapors.

The point here is not about AIG's employees or mob rule. The point is that if you yourself have whipped the mob into a frenzy and been lead torch carrier when it suits your purposes, then you've probably lost the moral high ground on the issue. Or maybe it's just that if you're a whore with three cocks in various orifices, you really can't preach abstinence.

Palin: Nobody In McCain Campaign Would Pray With Me (Video)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Media Matters Daily Summary 03-26-09

Hannity, Gingrich spread falsehoods to bolster Gingrich's claim that Dems are moving U.S. toward "dictatorship"
Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich spewed falsehoods concerning Democratic economic proposals and policies to bolster Gingrich's claim that Democrats are moving the country "towards a political dictatorship." Read More

Fox & Friends hosts former mobster to compare Dems to crime family
Fox & Friends hosts featured a segment in which they asked a former member of the Colombo crime family to compare Tim Geithner, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and George Soros to members of the mob. Read More

Denouncing death threats to AIG execs, Fox's Kelly ignored colleagues' violent rhetoric
In criticizing death threats to AIG executives, Fox News' Megyn Kelly did not address Charles Krauthammer's recent comments advocating for the "hanging" of AIG executives who received bonuses or Mort Kondracke's recommendation that they be "boil[ed] in oil." Read More

CNBC allows Gregg to forward small-business tax falsehood
CNBC's Joe Kernen allowed Sen. Judd Gregg to advance the false Republican talking point that President Obama's income tax proposals would increase taxes on a large percentage of small businesses. Read More

Return to (poor) form: MSNBC again drops the ball on disclosing McCaffrey's DynCorp ties
On MSNBC Live, Barry R. McCaffrey discussed "build[ing] Afghan security forces," but at no point during the discussion did either McCaffrey or anchor Andrea Mitchell disclose McCaffrey's ties to DynCorp International -- a company under contract to train part of the Afghan National Security Force. Read More

After devoting extensive coverage to Geithner hearing on AIG, cable networks all but ignore live testimony on Treasury powers
CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News aired virtually no live coverage of Timothy Geithner's testimony before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on regulatory reform in the financial industry. By contrast, CNN and MSNBC each aired live more than an hour, and Fox News approximately 14 minutes, of Geithner and Ben Bernanke's testimony at a committee hearing on AIG two days earlier. Read More

NY Times mag profile of global warming skeptic uncritically repeats false comparison with '70s global cooling theory
A New York Times Magazine profile of global warming skeptic Freeman Dyson quotes without challenge his false suggestion that there was a scientific consensus in the 1970s that the earth was cooling. Unlike the current consensus that global warming exists, there was no consensus in the 1970s that the earth was cooling. Read More

Will media note House GOP has proposed a plan that its own leader called a power grab?
Rep. John Boehner has called Timothy Geithner's proposal to allow the government to take over nonbank financial institutions "an unprecedented grab of power," but a budget blueprint by House Republicans proposes steps similar to Geithner's plan, raising the question of whether the media, which have reported extensively on the conservative charge of a "power grab," will note the similarities. Read More

NY Times mag sends a sports and music writer to do a science writer's job
The New York Times Magazine is slated to publish a story on March 29 -- promoting the controversial global warming views of physicist Freeman Dyson -- that was written, not by a scientist or science writer, but by Nicholas Dawidoff, whose previous work for the Times has focused largely on sports and music. Read More

2009 Steelers Men's Fantasy Camp presented by Rolling Rock with special guest Hines Ward


Attention Steelers Fans! If you ever wanted to fulfill a dream of experiencing Steelers Training Camp for an entire weekend – this is now your chance. You can stay in the same dorm rooms as the players, eat in the team cafeteria and practice on the same field as the Six-Time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers have done for the past 42 years at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.

Registration is now open for the seventh annual Steelers Men’s Fantasy Camp presented by Rolling Rock with special guest Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver # 86 Hines Ward!

The Pittsburgh Steelers invite you to join us at Steelers Training Camp from Friday June 5 - Sunday June 7. This dream weekend begins with a tour of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon at either 12:00 or 2:00 pm. Your weekend at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe will begin with registration at 5:00 pm Friday. You will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to have your own photo professionally taken with the Super Bowl XLIII Lombardi Trophy on Friday evening.

In addition to the Friday evening activities, your entire weekend includes:

  • Dorm housing, meals and a special Steelers gift bag.
  • Steelers Alumni Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley will be present all weekend as your hosts
  • Two on-field practices Saturday afternoon conducted by current Steelers players and Alumni such as #9 Dan Sepulveda, #60 Greg Warren, Dermontti Dawson, Frank Pollard, Louis Lipps, Edmund Nelson, Jerry Olsavsky and Delton Hall.
  • A Saturday afternoon Team Meeting conducted by a current Steelers coach
  • A Saturday evening banquet featuring Steelers Wide Receiver #86 Hines Ward as the guest speaker
  • Tickets to all 2009 Steelers home games will be raffled off on Saturday evening.
  • A Skills Competition divided by age groups on Sunday with great prizes for the winners.
  • On Sunday, the Dinner and the awards ceremony will conclude by 1:30 pm.
  • Your cost for this all inclusive weekend is $599 per person.

TO REGISTER: Please go to http://news.steelers.com/article/103818 to fill out the entry form and physical form. Please mail those forms along with a check or money order for $599 made payable to the Pittsburgh Steelers to the following address:

2009 Men’s Fantasy Camp
Pittsburgh Steelers
100 Art Rooney Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at 412-697-7713. Thank you and we hope to see you in Latrobe!

Marketing Department
Pittsburgh Steelers

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Wet Spots - Unsexy Moments

The Wet Spots - I'd Like to Come

Media Matters Daily Summary 03-25-09

NBC Nightly News ignores Goolsbee rebuttal in reporting GOP "power grab" attack
Reporting that Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke appeared before a House committee hearing "with a request for more authority that some critics are already calling a power grab," NBC's Kelly O'Donnell did not note White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee's response that had "we had resolution authority now, we could have dealt with the issue of bonuses." Read More

Media find Obama news conference insufficiently entertaining
Several media outlets echoed the assertion of a Drudge Report headline that President Obama's March 24 press conference was "boring." Read More

Fox's Carlson repeated executive pay claim that Gibbs told her was false the day before
Fox & Friends' Gretchen Carlson falsely claimed that the Obama administration advocates regulating "executive pay at any financial institution." In fact, restrictions on employee compensation would be placed only on "financial institutions that are receiving government assistance." Read More

Suggesting inconsistency on Obama's part, Todd expands on his flawed "sacrifice" analogy
Referring to a question he asked at President Obama's press conference, on Morning Joe, Chuck Todd suggested Obama was being inconsistent in not asking the American people for sacrifice -- during a recession, with millions recently unemployed -- after having criticized President Bush for failing to ask for sacrifice following 9-11. Read More

Fox's Cavuto, Baier repeat falsehood that Employee Free Choice Act would eliminate secret ballot
Neil Cavuto and Bret Baier falsely claimed that the Employee Free Choice Act would, in Baier's words, "do away with the secret ballot in votes to unionize." In fact, as The Christian Science Monitor noted, EFCA would give "workers a choice of forming a union through majority sign-up ... or an election by secret ballot." Read More

LA Times erased word "torture" in describing Obama nominee's criticism of Bush administration

The Los Angeles Times reported that State Department general counsel nominee Harold Koh "call[ed] a 2002 [Bush administration] memo justifying harsh interrogation methods a 'stain on our national reputation.' " But Koh has repeatedly referred to the conduct sanctioned in the memo as "torture" -- a word the Times did not use. Read More

Conservative media run with dubious SkyNews claim of Obama "teleprompt blunder"
Conservative media figures uncritically highlighted a SkyNews.com report that a "teleprompt blunder has led to Barack Obama thanking himself in a speech at the White House in a St Patrick's Day celebration." In fact, a pool report of the event released at the time indicates Obama was, in the words of the Telegraph's Toby Harnden, making "a good-natured and well-received joke" at the expense of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who earlier in the event had mistakenly read from the teleprompter displaying Obama's speech. Read More