more global warming hypocrisy...the case of Molten Metal Technologies and their ties to Algore

just ran across this at The American Thinker...it's a blog post which goes back and digs up an old CNN story from 1997 which shows pretty strong evidence of a quid pro quo between Molten Metal Technologies receiving government subsidies (huge contracts from the DOE which were funded year after year over the objections of gov't scientists), and contributions from entrepreneur Bill Haney and the rest of the company's executives to Clinton-Gore and the Democratic Party. it's a finger-lickin' good account of good old-school Washington corruption...money, lobbyists, fancy dinners, buying influence, taking care of your cronies...you know, all the stuff that Democrats like Algore accuse their opponents of! from the CNN article:

The Haney-Gore Connection:

The Massachusetts businessman gave often to the Veep and his party and snagged a string of federal contracts from the Energy Department. Examples:

What he gave
$15,000 from his firm to the Democratic Party on March 24, 1994

What he got
A $9 million extension of his federal contract on March 24, 1994

What he gave
$10,000 from his executives to the Clinton-Gore team on June 14, 1995

What he got
A $10 million extension of his contract on June 14, 1995

What he gave
$10,000 from his firm to the Democratic Party on May 7, 1996

What he got
An $8 million extension of his contract on May 10, 1996

What he gave
Nothing directly, but partner Lockheed Martin donated $100,000 to the Democratic Party on June 27, 1996

What he got
A $27 million contract on Sept. 25, 1996, to the partnership he formed with Lockheed Martin to develop a cleanup plan for a site in Richland, Wash.

what does this have to do with global warming?

specifically speaking, the issues aren't related. or are they? it turns out Haney's chief lobbyist was a guy named Peter Knight, who, conveniently, had been in Algore's inner political circle from his days of being in the House and the Senate...which means he was there from the beginning of the insufferable windbag Algore's obsession with this global menace, and since politics and money tend to go hand-in-hand, isn't it possible that they could've dreamed up ways to make a quick buck over it?

fast forward to a few weeks back...a report was issued from the US Senate which provided a list of over 400 scientists who had spoken out in the year 2007 criticizing the "conventional wisdom" in regards to the so-called "scientific consensus" related to man-made global warming (which i blogged about here). the Gore gang responded...according to an article in the washington times:

After a quick review of the report, Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said 25 or 30 of the scientists may have received funding from Exxon Mobil Corp.

"quick review"..."may have received funding"...this is so typical of the global-warming crowd--they won't debate...discrediting their critics is always good enough. not that it matters, but there was a response:

Exxon Mobil spokesman Gantt H. Walton dismissed the accusation, saying the company is concerned about climate-change issues and does not pay scientists to bash global-warming theories.

i'm not sure that's completely true, but i will trust a corporation's word at least equally to a politician or a government employee's word anyday. to me this is so obviously a power struggle between the government hacks of the world who tax their citizens in order to prop up their money-making machine, i.e. "government", and corporate interests who have to fight off these parasites.

it's hard to take the global-warming crowd seriously when they don't lead by example, for instance flying hundreds of private jets to the conference in Bali...couldn't they at least have attempted to do this via satellite or something?...show us how technology can be used to make us smarter guardians of our environment? i guess that misses the point. then there's the issue of Gore's huge Tennessee mansion whose energy usage is estimated at 20 times the national average...like they say, "do as i say, not as i do"...and then there's the ridiculous carbon credit scam, where heavy polluters can buy absolution by preventing others from polluting...and which Algore himself has a financial stake in, as he is the founder and chairman of the Generation Investment Management LLP, who he purchases his own carbon offset credits from!! genius!!

"Global Warming" ain't all THAT bad...

because, according to writer Dave Lindorff, it "...will save America from the right....eventually"

apparently this stuff passes for intelligence at the Baltimore Chronicle. Lindorff's argument is that if you look at the map of the US, you'll see that the vast amount of the area which is low-lying (and, thus, will end up underwater) tends to be in the southern states, which tend to be the most conservative. anticipating anyone wondering about "liberal" areas that would be lost to the rising ocean, Lindorff simply waves off that silly question:

Sure, Boston, New York and Philadelphia will be threatened, but these are geographically confined areas that could lend themselves to protection by Dutch-style dikes.

whew! THAT problem solved. i guess the people in the south will be too stupid or blinded by their own conservatism to figure out how to build sea walls, canals, or any other way that humans will come up with to adapt to changing environments. they'll just drown like the pharaoh's army, while smug liberals will assume the gene hackman posture from "the Posiedon Adventure" and topple the christmas tree which was the only way out, according to "the believers", leaving the doubters to die, albeit with party favors...

the conservative midwest will also face the wrath of the angry global warming gods. the farmland will be worthless, the reservoirs will dry up. they, too, will apparently be too stupid to see this coming and will just die instead of moving. then, Lindorff theorizes that the stifling heat will spell doom for conservative-leaning retirement communities in the American Southwest! NO conservative will be spared! all will be smitten! "so let it be written, so let it be done"...

There is a poetic justice to this of course. It is conservatives who are giving us the candidates who steadfastly refuse to have the nation take steps that could slow the pace of climate change, so it is appropriate that they should bear the brunt of its impact.

The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.

hey, Lindorff, does your pea-brain ever consider the possibility that all of these transplants will no doubt just move into your "turf", and possibly change it's political character? without the farm belt, aren't millions going to starve, anyway? what if the conservatives, who, unlike the liberal "blue-staters" don't sit around and wait for the nanny state to come bail them out of any crisis, prove to be more hardy in this tougher world? how exactly do you plan to feed your new liberal majority? food for thought...

nice parenting, dumbass...

"My daddy died this year in Iraq."

that was the first line of an essay written by a 6-year old texas girl which won her tickets to a Hannah Montana concert.

the problem is, it was a lie. according to the mother:

"We did the essay and that's what we did to win. We did whatever we could do to win."

i'll bet this lady pays big-time in the future for teaching her kid this. forget the moral quagmire of the completely tasteless and disgusting lie she & her kid perpetrated--SHE ENDED UP CAPITULATING TO SOME COMPANY SPOKESWOMAN who must've smelled a rat and asked her if the story was true...

bad morals + lost the tickets = you're daughter'ss gonna hate you forever...

Strip clubs in Texas hit with new $5 "Pole" Tax

will hurt the poor more than the rich, per usual...

the tax is being collected to help rape victims. it will amount to $5 per customer. though most admit that it's a worthy cause,

Some customers and clubs say it is not the extra five bucks; they resent the implication that strip clubs lead men to commit sex crimes.

i couldn't agree more. some strippers have problems with it, too:

But Elle, a 28-year-old former Dallas dancer, said she worries the tax will hurt women like herself who work their way through college by stripping. She earned a degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and said she now runs a computer-servicing business with her husband.

Elle said she averaged $200 a day at the Lodge — "on good days, a hell of a lot more."

that's hot stuff.

this is just another example of government weilding their power to pick winners and losers, depending on which way the political wind blows. is there no respect for tradition any more?

Strip clubs occupy a mythic place in Texas lore as a spot where young women can work their way through college and small-town girls with dreams of Hollywood stardom get their start on the lowest rung of show biz.

for instance...

folks, we've got to stand up for AMERICA and SAVE these strip clubs.

Naomi Wolf comes clean

over at the huffington post, they've apparently got this bi-weekly series called "My Favorite Mistake". the latest in the series featured writer Naomi Wolf, famous for her feminism, but probably MOST famous for being paid $15K/month during the 2000 presidential election to advise Algore on what to wear (earth-tones) and how to act--she advised him on how to become more ALPHA-male.

it doesn't matter, really. her "favorite mistake" was losing her independence as a writer and taking this job as a advisor, which disarmed her completely:

...I wasn't in a position, contractually, to hit back against the evil Republican National Committee when they started to circulate pernicious things about what I was doing on the campaign. The whole "Alpha Male" flap, the whole "earth tone" (wardrobe) flap was completely invented out of whole cloth - the stuff of urban legends, but they were such good urban legends they quickly got picked up by the mainstream media because no one was fact-checking it, and my hands were tied.

no, sweetie, they were checking it. since Algore's campaign was in disarray, and Bill Bradley was coming on strong, you were brought in to teach him how to fight back. this was reported ALL OVER the more "liberal" outlets in the media...why, exactly, would they succumb to a Republican dirty trick? to help George W. Bush win???

naomi, your biggest mistake WAS taking that job, but your bigger mistake was your advice...not the fact that you couldn't respond...
she IS a hottie, though...what a waste!

bullsh*t "sting" operation nabs "pervert" in Ohio...

so, this FIREMAN in Columbus, OH, goes by a certain park every day and keeps noticing a female sunbathing topless (which is apparently legal there--cool). on his day off, he strolls by and strikes up a conversation with her. all the while she is writhing about on the ground and, at one point, even throws her leg over his shoulder. eventually, she asks him to show her his penis. he complies, and immediately, some overweight police officers wearing shorts come over and arrest him.

he's just been convicted of public indecency.

ABC did a story on it, and it's on their website under the title, "Topless Woman Lured Perverts in Police Sting". video of the entire incident is in the story, but, it's grainy and there's no sound. but, it seems clear to me that this guy was no "pervert", just a guy who did something stupid and got caught. if i was looking at a woman's breasts and she asked me to whip it out, i would have to say my, um,
defenses may be slightly impaired.

this angers me no end. i also believe that "johns" busted by undercover cops posing as streetwalkers are getting a raw deal. if the opportunity were not there, no crime would've been committed. aren't "real" crimes feeding our legal system enough? according to recent government reports,

By midyear 2002, America's jails held 1 in every 142 U.S. residents. Males were incarcerated at the rate of 1,309 inmates per 100,000 U.S. men, while the female incarceration rate was 113 per 100,000 women residents.

clearly, we're jailing plenty of people. and that's just the numbers who are actually in jail! what about all of the people who are arrested for misdemeanors and don't do jail time? we're really talking numbers, here...

isn't it weird...these guys can set up this sting and bust this unfortunate fireman. meanwhile, i'm sure there are illegal aliens abound in their neck of the woods...that are needed because we don't have enough "americans" who will do the jobs, y'know, like construction... well, why not just stop targeting people for doing stupid, but basically harmless things? let's focus this imaginative energy on stings for businesses that hire illegals! leave AMERICANS alone! whatever happened to our FREE country?

you would think that ACLU lawyers would put an end to this kind of crap, pronto. but, if you think about it, the ACLU is only a subset of a much greater set...THE LEGAL PROFESSION. you know, the ones who benefit from crime and the expansion of what is "criminal", from the writing of the laws to the interpretation of the laws to the enforcement of them...it's the power grab that never ends. and, to think, many americans want to give them the power over their health care...sheesh...

David Byrne explains the future of the music biz...

tons of excellent points here. the basic premise is that the era of the "record label" is pretty much pushing up daisies. good riddance, i say...

couldn't have said it better than this!

story here.

in 2007, over 400 Global Warming critics in the scientific community spoke out...new Senate report names names

one interesting thing i found from reading this report is that several of them were co-recipients of the Nobel prize which Algore recently recieved.

and, they all seemed to be affiliated with governments and universities around the world, and not BP, ExxonMobil, etc...

from early on in the report:

Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution. Atmospheric scientist Dr. Nathan Paldor, Professor of Dynamical Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of almost 70 peer-reviewed studies, explains how many of his fellow scientists have been intimidated.

“Many of my colleagues with whom I spoke share these views and report on their inability to publish their skepticism in the scientific or public media,” Paldor wrote.

this is because of the "consensus" which has built up behind the politically correct Algore/UN IPCC view on the issue. scientists not toeing this "ideological" find themselves in danger of losing grant money, or in other words, being able to make a living, unless they sound the alarms.

most of them would not disagree with the notion that the planet is "warming" to whatever tiny degree, but they disagree in various degrees with the zeal in which the CO2-emissions theory is thrown out there, expected to be accepted by all without question (remember...there's a consensus). many point to other factors like variations in the sun's temperature, distribution of water, natural earth cycles, and many others. their consensus seems to be, let's not thrown the baby out with the bathwater, just yet...

John Edward's "love child" -- is there a Hillary! connection?

the wild and wacky world of american presidential primary politics took another crazy turn when the NATIONAL ENQUIRER unleashed a "world exclusive" yesterday that Rielle Hunter, who formerly worked on the Edwards' campaign and had been romantically linked to Edwards just a few months back, is PREGNANT--and, according to what friends of hers have told the Enquirer, the baby is Edwards', regardless of the cover story that she has concocted. denials, denials all around.

but, who really cares about "the facts" about the baby? much more intriguing is the timing of this.

here we are a couple weeks from the Iowa caucus. Hillary's commanding lead has evaporated, and she's more or less in a dead heat with Obama and Edwards. from the past few weeks, we now know that Obama is a muslim, was a muslim, or for all we know might be some kind of muslim manchurian candidate--at least, according to former Sen. Bob Kerrey (as he announced his endorsement of Clinton..). and, let's not forget that Obama may have been a COKE dealer!

but, what about the "squeaky-clean" Edwards?

luckily for Hillary, a lot of people who might vote for her read the NATIONAL ENQUIRER...or at least i *suppose* they do. lucky for her, one of the key owners of the Enquirer is a guy by the name of Roger Altman, a former Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Bill Clinton administration. interestingly, as this Business Week interview shows, Altman identifies himself as an advisor to Hillary's campaign, which makes the tabloid Enquirer's story that much more juicy and compelling. as the Politico article sez:

What the tabloid's readers, in politics and out, may not know is that a key owner of the Enquirer is a prominent New York investment banker and one of Hillary Clinton's key backers, Roger Altman. Altman was an official in the first Clinton administration, and his name is often mentioned as a possible Clinton Treasury Secretary.

"key backer"? possible Treasury Secretary?

to be this STUPID is a clear sign that all is not well in hillaryland...

Ken Burns endorses Obama

he wanted to stay neutral through the primaries, but the nastiness of the Clinton campaign forced him to come out publicly for B. Hussein...

Hanoi Jane turns 70...still sucks.

this past week saw Atlanta roll out the red carpet for a huge 70th birthday gala for Jane Fonda. in attendence were lovely people like Ted Turner, Eve Ensler, and Rosie O'Donnell (who dragged along that poor woman she's partnered up with...shudder...

among the adoring remarks made on Fonda's behalf were these by a drunk (as usual) Turner:

"One of the things that attracted Jane to me...[audience laughter]...Sorry, i didn't write anything down...I've had a glass of wine. What I meant was, what attracted me to her is her incredible courage. Jane has more courage than just about anybody i've ever met. During the Vietnam War, i kept my mouth shut. I learned early on that you don't get in trouble if you keep your mouth shut. Jane never learned that."

i'm sorry...but wasn't Turner formerly known as "THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH"??

not everyone, of course, considered her actions during the Vietnam war "courageous". one vet took issue in a guest column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Media glow on Fonda ignores her treason"...

i like his take...he's more pissed at the media for fawning over Fonda all of these year than he his at Fonda herself. but, since he accuses the media of "looking the other way", he reminds the people of Fonda's stated embracing of the enemy through her speeches (she wasn't just an "anti-war" activist...she literally was pulling for the other side!) and the historical facts of her trip to Vietnam:

What she actually did matters far more, of course, than what she thought or said as a young woman long ago. When Fonda took a camera crew to North Vietnam late in the war, her actions easily crossed the line of "aid and comfort to the enemy."

While in Hanoi, Fonda delighted our enemy by cavorting for cameras on an anti-aircraft gun, pretending to shoot at U.S. aircraft. Under pressure in recent years, Fonda said that was bad judgment, but her other actions were far worse.

She made speeches and recorded propaganda radio broadcasts in Hanoi expressing solidarity against " . . . our common enemy - U.S. imperialism." She called our troops, our POWs and our president war criminals and begged U.S. troops to disobey orders from their officers.

Fonda returned to the U.S. and reported our POWs were well treated. When the POWs later came home to tell stories of their sustained starvation diet, maltreatment and torture - real torture, not the kindergarten variety we now debate - she called them liars.

this story would make one helluva movie.

clinton campaign pushing the "obama is a muslim" line...media matters ignores it...

poor Barack Hussein Obama...he just can't catch a break from this "madrassa" thing. even after the Hillary! campaign fires one of it's county coordinators in Iowa for passing along an "obama is the muslim 'manchurian candidate'" email, which generated apologies from the Clinton campaign and insistence that this type of behavior would not be tolerated...only to have Clinton strategist Mark Penn repeat the "rumor" or whatever on Hardball (along with the cocaine rumors & Obama wanting to be prez since he was in kindergarten "slam"...):



the other day former Sen. Bob Kerrey endorsed Hillary!, and in an interview with the Washington Post complimented Obama using his entire name--Barack HUSSEIN Obama:

"It's probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims and I think that experience is a big deal."

so, Sen. Kerrey, is he or isn't he??? c'mon, mr. "9/11 commission" dude!!

not just the right-wing blogs are hot on this Kerrey/Obama thing...the blog over at ABC News is wondering why Kerrey would use Obama's middle name, and points out the obvious:

A clear attempt to raise an issue while pretending not to raise it.

these Clintonistas are something else. of course, they've used their George Soros-funded, David Brock-run "media watchdog" website mediamatters.org keep tabs on all the
smears from the right on the Obama/madrassa rumor, but are strangely quiet when the source of the smear comes from Team Hillary...

then get a load of the "expose'" they've done over at the other Clinton-run media watchdog site Think Progress, where they really call Kerrey to the carpet:

This evening on CNN’s The Situation Room, former Sen. Bob Kerrey asserted that Barack Obama had spent time “in a secular madrassa” and argued this was a “tremendous strength” for Obama...

...Note to Kerrey: Barack Obama never attended a “secular madrassa” — an inherently contradictory term because a madrassa is, by definition, a religiously-based school.

i don't know any way you can interpret that last sentence besides to suggest that Obama must've received some hardcore Islamic schooling as a child...

Random Thoughts: could americans really be this shallow?

i was listening to limbaugh today and he made the most astounding observation about the presidential campaign:

Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman?

when i heard it, i was like "oh, man, this is sooooo wrong! but, it's really not...

"...but for the rest of you, I want you to understand that I am talking about the evolution of American culture here, and not so much Mrs. Clinton. It could be anybody, and it is really not very complicated. Americans are addicted to physical perfection, thanks to Hollywood and thanks to television. We know it because we see it. We see everybody and their uncle in gyms. We see people starving themselves. We see people taking every miracle fad drug there is to lose weight. We see guys trying to get six-pack abs. We have women starving themselves trying to get into size zero and size one clothes; makeovers, facials, plastic surgery, everybody in the world does Botox, and this affects men, too..."

i was thinking about this, and thinking about how pervasive the advertising is for stuff like viagra, and i think he may be onto something. Americans are becoming obsessed with physical appearance and sexual virility. obesity is being featured all the time on the network news/MSM as 'america's problem'...all the while being fully conscious of young girls looking like they are wasting away...

no surprise here--Dems accepted, even "encouraged" waterboarding in 2002...

it's come to be known as an example of the "excesses of the Bush Administration", but, as this Washington Post story explains, there was nothing secret about waterboarding, or the rendition program either. the congress' intelligence committees were briefed on them by CIA officials, as per US law.

secrecy concerns, typical of intelligence dealing with national security, kept these briefings from being made public. among those that were present were now speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi, ex-senator Bob Graham (D-FL), Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL, eventually CIA director for awhile). Harman is the only one to have raised objections. Graham insists he never heard of the procedure.

big "free speech" stinkies afloat here at the Univ. of Florida

it all started with some groups on campus wanting to show the movie "Obsession--Radical Islam's War Against the West", back on November 13. Fliers were hung around campus, featuring the slogan "RADICAL ISLAM WANTS YOU DEAD". terror filled the hearts and minds of left-wing pantywaists...that's not very tolerant!

muslim students, and i'm sure some "thoughtful" professors and student activists at UF complained to the administration, so the following email was sent out to the entire student body:

November 26, 2007

To: All University Students
From: Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin
Vice President for Student Affairs

Re: Official Response to a recent advertisement for the movie "Obsession"

Throughout our country, we have witnessed a rise in offensive behavior and actions taken against others, which has created greater divisiveness and misunderstandings among the various ethnic groups residing in our communities. One of these events occurred on our campus recently with the promotion of an event.

Advertisements for the movie "Obsession" sponsored by several student organizations appeared during the past several weeks on campus bulletin boards and they illustrate the importance of balancing freedom of speech with responsibility.

The ads, which promoted a showing of the movie on Nov. 13 and a panel discussion afterward, entitled "Radical Islam Wants You Dead," offended many Muslim students on campus. Regardless of its original intent, the language reinforced a negative stereotype, created unnecessary divisiveness and contributed to a generalization that only furthers the misunderstanding of the religion of Islam.

We cannot speak of rights without also addressing the responsibility associated with our actions or statements, including understanding the potential consequences. One of our roles as a learning institution is to teach our students to express themselves freely, and also in a fair and conscientious manner. In an academic setting, differences of opinions are strongly encouraged, yet such opinions must be based on accurate information when describing other members of the community.

Unfortunately, in the case of the "Obsession" ads, that did not happen. I believe the groups that posted them owe the campus, and particularly campus members of the Islamic faith, an apology and a clarification.

At the University of Florida we have embraced a set of values, one of which is diversity. Diversity is not just about having representation from various cultures on campus, it also is having each member contribute to an inclusive and safe environment and collectively enhancing our understanding and appreciation of the richness brought by such differences. The University of Florida is committed to being an institution of excellence, where all members are valued and feel safe on our campus. Our role as an institution is to create opportunities for students to learn in an open and accepting environment; one that emphasizes respect for all. Let's remember that part of our mission is to prepare each other to be effective members of a global community. With that in mind, I encourage each member of our campus community as a start to learn more about the religion of Islam and some of its tenets of peace, hard work, charity and compassion.

There is little room for divisiveness in our world if we are to find peace and understanding among us. We all can win if we focus on greater inclusion and understanding as well as the delicate balance between our rights and responsibilities.

in response to this email, UF junior Ashley Emans re-directs:

Now the university administration is demanding an apology from the five hosting student organizations: College Republicans, Law School Republicans, the Jewish Law Students Association, the Jewish Student Union, and Gators For Israel.

in response, UF's College Republicans and Law School Republicans answered publicly in the Alligator (more or less the "official" student paper...to paraphrase--"no apology will be forthcoming". good for them, high fives all around...

Florida's attorney general, Bill McCollum, jumped into the fray, with this letter to UF president Bernie Machen:

Dear Dr. Machen:

It has come to my attention that Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin, the University of Florida Vice President for Student Affairs, sent a letter November 26 to all university students entitled “official response” highly critical of an ad for the showing of the movie “Obsession” which was posted around the campus. A copy of this letter is attached for your reference.

Dr. Telles-Irvin’s letter may have violated the free speech rights of the students and organizations who posted this ad and sponsored the movie. At the very least it has created a chilling effect on the free speech rights of students enrolled at the University of Florida. As the Attorney General of Florida, it is my duty to protect the constitutional rights of all Floridians including civil rights and free speech rights. Consequently, I have asked attorneys in my office to review this matter and advise me what if any action this office should pursue. I am writing to request that you review this matter with your staff, legal counsel and the University of Florida Board of Trustees and, if they concur with my concerns, formulate and take some appropriate remedial action.

No doubt Dr. Telles-Irvin was responding in her letter to the sensitivities of the Muslim students on campus. While the Muslin faith should be honored and respected and most practicing Muslims are not radical and not terrorists, the United States has been at war with radical Islamic terrorists since September 11, 2001. The movie “Obsession,” which I have seen, describes the nature of our enemy and this war. The headline on the ad for the movie reading “RADICAL ISLAM WANTS YOU DEAD” is one of the messages in this movie and is a true statement of the intent of these radical Islamic terrorists. In her letter Dr. Telles-Irvin says, “regardless of its original intent, the language reinforced a negative stereotype, created unnecessary divisiveness and contributed to a generalization that only furthers the misunderstanding of the religion of Islam.” This may be the view of Dr. Telles-Irvin, but a great many Americans would disagree and argue that it is essential to the discussion and understanding of this war that the terrorists be properly and correctly labeled as radical Islamists who by their very actions clearly want us dead. Students and student organizations who hold this latter view should not be stifled in their free expression of it.

By not only criticizing the ad, but also calling on the groups that posted the ad to apologize, Dr. Telles-Irvin, intentionally or not, has chilled free speech on the UF campus. It may be that her intent with this letter was simply to encourage students when speaking of radical Islamists to put them in context by also making a statement that most practitioners of the Islamic faith are not terrorists and not radical Islamists. But that is not the effect of her letter. And I would submit that when one posts an ad for a movie it isn’t practical to expect a “clarification,” as perhaps Dr. Telles-Irvin thinks is needed when speaking of radical Islamists.

It has also come to my attention that students and/or faculty tore down most of the posted flyers advertising this movie and that some of those doing so wore hoods. It seems to me that the university should investigate this behavior and prosecute or discipline those who engaged in such conduct. To permit this kind of conduct without an appropriate response has an even more chilling effect on free speech on the campus than Dr. Telles-Irvin’s letter.

Your early attention to this matter is most appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bill McCollum

Dr. Telles-Irvin must've realized she was in WAY over her head, because she sent out this email, "clarifying" the first one:

To: All UF students

From: Patricia Telles-Irvin, Vice President for Student Affairs
Subject: My e-mail last week

There has been much discussion about an e-mail I sent Nov. 26 regarding the posters advertising the movie "Obsession."

Since that time, some important dialogue has been exchanged between members of the student groups involved. But over the last week, there has been some misunderstanding on the university's position on certain points.

Please allow me to clarify.

* The university supports the rights of students to freely express themselves on any issue.

* The university condemns terrorists acts and those who perpetrate them, regardless of who they are. And we clearly recognize there are people who use Islam to support violence.

* The university has no intention of taking disciplinary action against anyone involved in creating or distributing the posters. That was never a consideration.

* The university has heard allegations that the posters were removed by people who opposed their message. Efforts by the University Police Department and Student Affairs to confirm this or identify offenders were unsuccessful. Removal of posters from proper venues is prohibited by the university's policies and will not be tolerated.

The original intent of my e-mail was to foster greater understanding and communication among groups. As we all surely know, free speech is a cherished right not only in this country but also on this campus. We
should always feel comfortable expressing our diverse opinions.

to sum up, i can't really express it better than Ashley Emams:

UF does so much hand-wringing over racial/ethnic/class/gender/religious diversity, yet it shuns the most important type of diversity a college could ever give: diversity of thought. Conservative impulses are swiftly suppressed, in and out of class, just as the Obsession kerfluffle has proved. Dr. Telles-Irvin and the rest of the administration apparently believe students who feel threatened by radical Islam have forfeited their rights of expression by not falling in line with what is the acceptable opinion according to them, namely that you are not allowed to fear radical Islam.

more from UF student's perspective at collegeotr.com. go gators!

my band's playing friday night!

that's right--my band
BIG OIL is playing THIS friday night, DEC 7, 2007, at the ATLANTIC in gainesville, FL...the atlantic is located pretty much at the corner of University Ave and Main Street in beautiful downtown gainesville. also on the bill are killer rockers and good pals BLACKSNAKE!

THIS IS A SHOW NOT TO MISS.

aide to Sen. Cantwell (D-WA) busted for soliciting sex from 13 year old

28-year old James McHaney was caught in a sting operation Friday where he tried to arrange a sexual encounter with a 13 year old boy while on his lunch break.

The CW (cooperating witness) and McHaney were conversing online Friday afternoon when the CW asked whether McHaney was interested in engaging in anal sex with a 13-year-old boy. "I'll be there," McHaney allegedly replied. He later asked for a photo of the child with whom he and the CW would have sex and whether the boy had "any pubes." When told no, McHaney allegedly replied, "That's hot."

yeah, it's no Larry Craig "gay sex" story by any stretch of the imagination, so this will get neatly swept under the rug by the MSM.

McHaney's an "ex"-aide now, btw...congratulations to Cantwell's office for doing the right thing and getting rid of somebody who has an unhealthy fixation on children. now, if only someone could reign in the hillary! campaign:

In third grade, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want To Be a President.' His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga "asked her class to write an essay titled 'My dream: What I want to be in the future.' Senator Obama wrote 'I want to be a President,' she said." [The Los Angeles Times, 3/15/07]

In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want to Become President.' "Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama's kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, 'I Want To Become President,' the teacher said." [AP, 1/25/07 ]

Dutch authorities to conduct a study to find out "why" Morroccan men are beating up gays in Amsterdam

UPI story here.

i can save them some money. these "morroccan men" are MUSLIM. homosexuality is AGAINST ISLAM. what's the mystery?

UPDATE: national review is reporting that one working theory is that these young men are struggling with their own sexual identity. yeah, way to throw gas on the fire!!

more lies from the anti-war press

why is this family smiling and waving at the camera? um...could it be because they're not dead, after all?

iraqi journalist Dia al-Kawwaz claimed that they were murdered in a killing spree in his Baghdad home:

"Four gunmen entered my family house in Shab area. Two of my sisters, their husbands and seven children between five and 10 years old were killed yesterday (Sunday) morning," Kawwaz told AFP on Monday by telephone from Amman.

days later, after a little bit of scrutiny...Kawwaz changes his tune:

"I am sorry if this information was not true from the beginning, but I was misled by trustworthy sources from my family," Kawazz said in a phone interview. He published a new account of the story on his Web site that blames Sadiq for misleading him and alleges that Sadiq had a hand in his other brother-in-law's death. "I accuse the Maliki government of conspiracy for misleading me through members of my family," he said.

why would he lie about this?

Kawazz, who's lived outside Iraq for 20 years, runs a Web site that's critical of what he calls the Iranian and American "occupations"...

Reporters Without Borders initially condemned the killings, now they're "shocked" to learn the truth.

The New Republic throws "the Baghdad Diarist" under the bus

14-page story starts here.

they never really call Scott Beauchamp an outright *liar*, but they do retract the story, on page 14:

In retrospect, we never should have put Beauchamp in this situation. He was a young soldier in a war zone, an untried writer without journalistic training. We published his accounts of sensitive events while granting him the shield of anonymity--which, in the wrong hands, can become license to exaggerate, if not fabricate.

When I last spoke with Beauchamp in early November, he continued to stand by his stories. Unfortunately, the standards of this magazine require more than that. And, in light of the evidence available to us, after months of intensive re-reporting, we cannot be confident that the events in his pieces occurred in exactly the manner that he described them. Without that essential confidence, we cannot stand by these stories.

well, they won't "stand by" them, whatever...the article strongly hints that the army is covering this up. TNR, in a classic leftist technique, throws a weird sexual curveball of an ad hominem attack:

On August 1, six days after the "skulls on their head in sector" meeting, the Army concluded its investigation. Two days later, a public affairs officer announced that Beauchamp's piece had been "refuted by members of his platoon and proven to be false." The Army didn't announce this to The New York Times or even The Weekly Standard, let alone in a public report. It first gave the story of Beauchamp's supposed fraudulence to a former porn actor turned blogger named Matt Sanchez. (emphasis mine, from page 10 of the TNR piece)

h/t to Reihl World View for pointing this out...i googled "matt sanchez iraq porn", and i see that somebody has set up a bio-page on Sanchez, pointing out that he's not only an ex-porn actor...he's also GAY. the old "hypocrisy card" strikes again...i guess the hope of TNR is that this revelation will make the bad conservatives go away...

MSNBC business reporter calls Bush a "monkey"...

nah...no bias here...

five days later...

Harvard study finds Americans don't trust the MSM's campaign '08 coverage...

i wonder why?...

Debate plants--ROLL CALL

Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr--works for hillary, worked with Kerry in '04. question--"I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians". here is a press release from the hillary campaign announcing the formation of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Americans for Hillary steering committee. Kerr's name is on the list, among others like Billie Jean King. gay moderator Anderson Cooper claimed he had no clue. right.

Adam Florzak--works for Sen. Dick Durbin. question, paraphrased--"what will you do to repay the money congress has stolen from the social security trust fund?" distrusts wall street and hates real work. is obsessed with the social security issue.

Mark Strauss--self-described Bill Richardson supporter, took part in the Democratic YouTube debate. asked the democrats what they were going to do about alzheimer's. for the republican debate, he begged Ron Paul to run as an independent.

Ted Faturos--asked the question about corn subsidies. former intern for congresswoman Jane Harman (D).

David McMillan--question, paraphrased--"blacks agree with the republicans on a lot of issues...why do you think they vote democratic?" lefty blogger, big edwards supporter.

David Cercone, from Pompano Beach. asked the candidates if they would accept the support of the Log Cabin Republicans, and why should the Log Cabin Republicans support them...so, he's a Log Cabin Republican? Nah...obama supporter.

LeeAnn Anderson--asked the question about lead-covered chinese toys. this is a subject she has been championing, using her position in the United Steelworkers Union, who are backing John Edwards...USW YouTube page, prominently features "Edwards '08" sign...

there are probably more...i'm ignoring stuff like "Journey from Texas"...

**UPDATE**"Yasmin from Huntsville" is a former intern for CAIR, and she wanted to know what the candidates would do to repair our image in the Muslim world.

CNN/YouTube Republican debate--nuts and plants

CNN's agenda was on full display last night.

out of over 3000 videos submitted, CNN saw fit to pick videos like the kid in his bedroom with a confederate flag on his wall asking a question about the flag...some texas kook waving his bible to the camera and asking the candidates if they believed "EVERY SINGLE WORD"...a question about the trilateral commission...some guy with a shotgun in the desert threateningly asking the candidates about their thoughts on gun rights...etc, etc, etc....

basically, CNN picked videos which showed a bunch of weird, unhinged types who CNN then presented to the american people as "typical" republican voters. "typical" republican voters who asked questions which sounded suspiciously liberal in their orientation. hardly any questions at all reflecting the issues which concern most conservatives...no, CNN picked questions which reflected their own belief that conservatism is like some strange disease and is something to be quarantined.

oh yeah, and the democrats managed to crash the party...the hillary! camp sent in a gay general to ask the candidates about "don't ask, don't tell"...that topic was big like about 15 years ago or so, right??? anyway, this guy not only gets his video played, but he also was present in the audience! and, coincidentally, anderson cooper found him in the audience, where the gay general had conveniently remembered to wear his microphone, which made it easy to ask a follow-up question after anderson asked him if he felt the candidates had "answered" his question!

in a post-debate panel discussion, william bennett caused anderson to stammer and backpedal when he told cooper that he had been getting a ton of email about the gay general, who reportedly was on some sort of steering committee for the hillary! campaign...see video below...at the end anderson apologizes for CNN not identifying the gay general as a hillary! plant...



bennett was referring to this. the gay general is affiliated with hillary! and worked for Kerry in '04! surprise, surprise!

CNN video of hillary! plant Gen. Keith Kerr insisting that he's not a hillary! plant...Kerr tells FOX News that CNN paid for his trip from California to Florida...

michelle malkin's digging into the background of some of the other questioners, and she's coming up with some good stuff.

CNN debate chicanery from a few weeks ago...can we trust anything this network does???

more at the politico.

debate transcript pt. 1
debate transcript pt. 2

Hillary and Huma...?

though it's been casually tossed around the underground, such as here in the Village Voice (courteousy of Michael Musto), i guess it's officially on, now...the Times of London has taken the much-whispered-about relationship between Hillary! and her beautiful assistant, Huma Abedin, out of the internet rumor mill and into the "old media"...

according to the Drudge Report..

The splash stunned British readers and angered campaign insiders.

"This does not even qualify as tabloid trash... it's ridiculous and reckless," a Hillary confidante explained over the weekend.

i'm not even really sure i buy into this at all...since it was reported a month ago or so that the hillary campaign was wooing the drudge report, to use what had formerly been an "enemy" and turn it into a campaign asset as place to float strategic "leaks"...drudge (who himself is rumored to be gay..."outed" by David Brock in "Blinded by the Right") seems to have been getting a lot of exclusives from there lately...

but, come on...the hillary camp was "angered" by this "latest" revelation? are you telling me that none of them read the Village Voice??? this is what Musto said in the piece i linked to above--

As I recently said on MONICA CROWLEY's radio show, whisper campaigns are claiming that HILLARY CLINTON is GAYLE KING–ing her aide de camp, the glamorous HUMA ABEDIN, an Indian/Pakistani goddess from Kalamazoo, Michigan. In other words, Hillary may be putting Huma out there in the press and purposely making her more visible as a pre-emptive strike that amounts to her hiding in plain sight. This way, no Republican can later say, "Who is this gorgeous babe who spends so much intimate time with Hillary that the Observer called her Hill's 'body person'? Was GENNIFER FLOWERS's book right about Hillary's sexual taste?" And does either of this couple have the balls to bottom?

Of course that whole scenario can't possibly be true, since Bill and Hill have been so lovey-dovey lately for the cameras, and besides, whenever he's been serviced by an intern—or by anyone—he's clearly been thinking of his wife. (They're that close.) But suddenly, Huma—a sort of Muslim SALMA HAYEK—has that spread in Vogue and the accompanying write-up notes that she "oversees every minute of Senator Clinton's day." Every single minute? Even Gayle King takes a break now and then! (PS: If I called for comment, Hillary's camp would surely say, "Just because two powerful women are closer than sardines doesn't make them dykes." And that's so true. Look at MATT and BEN. But now that Crowley has dubbed me the head of Huma Resources, I'm going to pursue this story with every cojone I've got.)

A straight Democrat—sorry, that's a segue—DNC head HOWARD DEAN, guest-starred at a "Democrats and Donuts with Dean" event in Fire Island, where there was no worry that he might outscream the screaming queens. But I was told that press attendees couldn't write up the event, so I'll shut up here and only say that at another point in the weekend, I told one Pines Democrat the Hillary/Huma scenario and he deadpanned, "That's a step up from DONNA SHALALA."
-by Michael Musto
August 7th, 2007 7:58 PM

hillary...you may not like her, but she sure makes politics fun!

"green" building at Emory University is bird slaughterhouse

back in the 1970's my family had some good friends in Birmingham, AL, who we would usually get together with once or twice a year. they had a beautiful house on a forested mountainside, with a towering A-frame front entrance with 2 panes of triangular glass which stretched to the ceiling, and this A-frame extended to the back of the house, which was a complete glass wall. you could see all the way through this house, and the view was lovely...trees, rocks, leaves...

from time to time while visiting we would hear a massive "WHOOOOMP!", and we would walk out the front door to see what kind of bird had flown into the windows this time and killed itself. i would estimate that between 1972-1976 i must've witnessed this between 10-15 times (which includes one case where two popped the glass at the same time).

flash forward to today...

Emory University's Math & Science Center is a "green-friendly" building, with soaring glass panels which aid in lighting and whatever else the environmentalists get out of it. it's a hallmark of the Atlanta school's effort to "go green"...it's also the "wall of death", as Emory Professor of Environmental Studies John Wegner charmingly put it in an atlanta journal-constitution story. he estimates that the building, whose windows reflect the forest in front of them, killed at least 60 birds in it's first year (2002) alone. he made a stink about it from the beginning, but, according to the story, it wasn't until he rammed some dead birds into his pockets and whipped them out in a meeting with his boss that he finally got some attention.

it's interesting that "green buildings" all share this glassy template. this bird deal is not isolated to Emory. in addition to my anecdote above (from 30 years ago, mind you...), just a casual coupling of "birds + buildings" in Google found this letter to the editor in a University of Saskatchewan campus newspaper, admonishing the school administration to take care of the same problem.

in the AJC story, they interviewed ornithologist David Klem, a professor who has "studied the problem for decades", and says that between 100 million and 1 billion birds die every year in the US by flying into glass windows. he seems to blame ARCHITECTS for the problem, because of the glass which has become such an integral part of "green" construction. by the way, according to the story, "buildings that earn LEED certification, the brass ring of environmentally sustainable construction, are often largely made of glass". the "brass ring", huh? i was thinking that the LEED certification was mainly an industry thing, but apparently environmental organizations such as the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) have endorsed this certification.

this whole thing begs so many questions for me...this all has to do with universities and public buildings efforts at environmental "sustainability", which i just blogged about. universities are filled with professors and scientists, right? my roommate, who works in a chemistry lab at the University of Florida, constantly lectures me about the sanctity of research which comes out of universities (as opposed to business-sponsored, which is defiled by $money$) because it is subject to "peer review".

somewhere, when it comes to this "sustainability" movement, this "peer review" seems to overlook the most obvious things--birds run into glass...you might want to mention this to architects--that even a stupid kid from alabama that i was could see as plain as day...

algore celebrates a touchdown! UF/FSU game to go "green"...

this is surreal.

they want to highlight the "fact" that football games produce a ton of greenhouse gasses. to help combat this problem,

...UF and its partners, the Florida Forestry Association and Environmental Defense, are arranging for approximately 18 acres of rural North Florida land to be set aside and managed as a pine plantation forest for 10 years. UF calculates that this is an acreage and period of time sufficient to absorb all the carbon emissions from the game.

according to Deedee Delongpre', director of UF's "Office of Sustainability",

At 18 acres for one game, some quick calculations reveal that we would need 126 acres to be managed for 10 years just to offset our football program for one year,” she said.

in a statement released from his office, Governor Crist approves, and will attend the game.

this is being hyped as the "first" carbon-neutral game ever. with 3 losses, i guess it's nice to be "first" in something...

go gators.


3 A.M. update--i can't sleep, this stuff is really bugging me. the more i read of this "office of sustainability" at UF, the more i want to puke. what a commie front. i'm going to this game tomorrow, and these whiners want to make me feel bad about it? i think a good old-fashioned protest could be in order...

now you see them, now you don't--tits disappearing...

...because of climate change.

"Most may well be able to bounce back next year"--Mark Grantham

astronomers observe dark energy, move universe closer to death

...so says a couple of american cosmologists. makes sense to me...you look at stuff, it changes. butterfly wings' flapping leads to tsunamis and yada yada...

stop looking at the sky, you morons!

somebody should just ask surfer dude--he's got the "theory of everything"...

"My brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing," he tells New Scientist. "I thought: 'Holy crap, that's it!'"

Ron Paul picks up endorsement from the owner of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch

brothel owner Dennis Hof of Nevada has decided to endorse Ron Paul for president, after being pointed in his direction by friend and MSNBC host Tucker Carlson.

one of the elements of Hof's support is a vow to put up a collection box outside the door of the Bunny Ranch~

"I'll do it today," he said. "I'll get all the Bunnies together and we can raise him some money. I'll put up a collection box outside the door. They can drop in $1 dollar, $5 dollar contributions. What a great way for the working girls to support Ron Paul. It's just the right thing to do."

awesome.

...Hof said Paul's anti-establishment, libertarian platform of "live and let live" resonates in a state that permits legalized prostitution.

While Paul professes a limited-government philosophy, he's also hews to a deep Christian faith, is pro-life and reportedly is so traditional that he doesn't travel alone with women.

Campaign spokesman Jeff Greenspan said he doesn't think Paul will have any problem accepting the brothel's money.

"On a personal basis, he doesn't condone those things," Greenspan said. "At the same time, from his campaign perspective, it's not the role of federal government and it's not in the constitution for federal government to regulate these thing. The Nevada voters and Legislature have decided it is a legal activity in this state."

high fives all around!

hat tip to the huffington post.

superbly played by senate Democrats!

in order to prevent Pres. Bush from making any recess appointments (judges, ambassadors, cabinet members, etc..) which would have to be approved if the senate were in session, Dingy Harry (i.e. Senate Majority Leader Reid) and the gang are engaged in a brilliant strategy of keeping the Senate officially "open for business", while most of the members (except for Sen. Jim Webb, apparently...) are at home enjoying the break.

video here. all 46 seconds.

anti-war mommy drops human shield, i mean "her baby" on sidewalk

michelle's got the whole story, per usual.

it's all about how some loons were blocking a military convoy in Olympia, WA, and in order to prevent the cops from interfering, they were using their children as human shields...how brave.

there are several interesting pictures on her post.

an eyewitness account, from michelle's blog-

I work at the port, and have observed some truly mind boggling events unfold, but the most astonishing was the use of children as human shields. The attached pictures were taken on 11/9/07; the night military equipment was first blocked from leaving the port. The Olympia Police Department essentially abandoned any effort to remove the protesters out of fear that a child would be harmed in their efforts to enforce the law. The mother of these children apparently had no such concern.

After the military convoy was forced to retreat, a victory celebration ensued, with chanting dancing, etc. I was horrified to watch as the woman in the attached photograph, distracted by events, allowed her infant to fall from her lap and land, face first on the pavement. The second photo shows her retrieving the crying baby as her other two children, dressed as terrorists look on.

This situation, and another two days later, when dozens of college aged girls were arrayed in rows with arms linked to block the road, showed a deliberate effort to use the same tactics as the terrorist savages who manipulate us, knowing that decent people cannot abide putting innocents in harm’s way. And, while the police were dragging the females away, under the glare of the media’s cameras, the males were establishing rolling blockades; throwing rocks at police and military vehicles; breaking windows, etc.

another Democratic debate "average voter" plant?

LaShannon Spencer, in a photo from 2003, identified in
this New York Times story as "director of political affairs for the Democratic Party of Arkansas".


LaShannon Spencer, "undecided voter" in Nevada who got to ask a question.

BLITZER: Welcome back to the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. We're at the Democratic presidential debate. Suzanne Malveaux's got another undecided voter with a question.

MALVEAUX: LaShannon Spencer, please stand up for a moment. What is your question?

LASHANNON SPENCER: We constantly hear health care questions and questions pertaining to the war. But we don't hear questions pertaining to the Supreme Court justice or education. (Applause.)

My question is, if you are elected president, what qualities must the appointee possess?

Malveaux redirects the question...

MALVEAUX: ...And in answering that question, also tell us whether or not you would require your nominees to support abortion rights.

(Laughter, cross talk.)

then all the candidates were given an opportunity to voice their support for the "right to privacy".

Ms. Spencer's connection to the state of Arkansas wouldn't be telling, would it?

previous post about debate plants

meet David Theiss, TOAD-LICKER

according to KMBC news in Kansas City...

A 21-year-old man has been accused of using a toad to get high.

Clay County sheriff's deputies said David Theiss, of Kansas City, possessed a Colorado River toad with the intention of using it as a hallucinogenic.

Experts said it's possible to lick the toad's venom glands to achieve psychedelic effects.

there's video at the link. more details here...it looks like this toad-licker wasn't being singled out, he was caught up in a sting operation called "Operation Bad Candy"...it's just that most of the other people were just busted for regular stuff like weed or coke. (hat tip to some poster named "veggie" at shroomery.org)

i love the end of the KMBC story...

Theiss was released on bond.

The toad is in custody at a police crime lab.

did stone-age feminists cause the extinction of neanderthals?

Catherine Price at Salon doesn't think so...

but, recent studies cited in this Boston Globe story say otherwise...

The Neanderthal extinction some 30,000 years ago remains one of the great riddles of evolution, with rival theories blaming everything from genocide committed by "real" humans to prehistoric climate change.

But a recent study introduces another explanation: Stone Age feminism. Among Neanderthals, hunting big beasts was women's work as well as men's, so it's a safe bet that female hunters got stomped, gored, and worse with appalling frequency. And a high casualty rate among fertile women - the vital "reproductive core" of a tiny population - could well have meant demographic disaster for a species already struggling to survive among monster bears, yellow-fanged hyenas, and cunning Homo sapien newcomers.

back in the kitchen, woman!

was last thursday's Democratic debate COMPLETELY phony?

for reference, here is the CNN transcript.

a few weeks back, the Hillary campaign slammed Tim Russert of NBC for being too tough on Nurse Ratchet. then, last week rumor had it that Wolf Blitzer of CNN was warned by the Hillary camp to not repeat the Russert performance.

then you watch the debate last thursday and it was more or less a Hillary pep rally, with the audience cheering wildly for her and laughing at the answers given by her opponents, notably Obama's. was all of this staged?

i just read one of the most amazing pieces of investigative journalism i've ever seen..."CNN goes green, by watering plants", written by "Jenny Bea" over at the The War Against Political Correctness blog. she has taken the trouble to investigate the backgrounds of each and every "average voter" who got to ask questions of the candidates, and provides proof of their not-so-average backgrounds. she finds that these people were all political activists, congressional interns, the head of the Islamic Society of Nevada, etc, etc...

the fakeness of the whole thing, and the crushing blow to the notion that these questioners were anything but plants by the Democratic Party in concert with CNN was best illustrated in this exchange--

BLITZER: All right. Thank you, senator.

Let's go back to Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: We have Judy Bagley here with us. If you would stand for a moment.

You have been working in the casino business for some 27 years now, a cashier?

BAGLEY: That's right.

MALVEAUX: You've seen a lot of people come and go, obviously.

BAGLEY: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: What is your concern?

BAGLEY: I'm a booth cashier and we moved here over 30 years ago. And I have three children, and as of yesterday, 8 grandchildren.

(APPLAUSE)

MALVEAUX: And what is your -- congratulations. That's amazing.

BAGLEY: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: And what is your question to the candidates?

...

okay, so we've established that this woman, Judy Bagley, has worked in the casino business for 27 years, currently at a cashier position. okay. now--Obama responds to her question, which is basically about how will the candidates deal with the coming crisis in social security...

MALVEAUX: Thank you very much. Very important issue.

(APPLAUSE)

Senator Obama? OBAMA: Well, first of all, Judy, thank you for the question, and thanks for the great work you do on behalf of the culinary workers, a great union here.

we have to assume now that Obama has previously met Ms. Bagley, the "cashier", or was at least provided this information. either way, it stinks of staging.

not to mention the girl that asked Hillary the really tough question which came near the end...

MARIA PARRA SANDOVAL (ph): Maria Parra Sandoval (ph), and I'm a UNLV student. And my question is for Senator Clinton.

This is a fun question for you. Do you prefer diamonds or pearls?

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: Now, I know I'm sometimes accused of not being able to make a choice. I want both.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

MALVEAUX: Do we get to ask any of the other candidates or I supposed just Senator Clinton?

BIDEN: I'm for diamonds. Diamonds.

SANDOVAL (ph): It's the only thing -- it's the only thing shiny up there.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you so much.

"Maria Parra Sandoval", the "UNLV student", was/is an intern for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as well as being an activist on many other fronts. Maria was miffed about being forced to ask such a frilly question by CNN, which she expressed on a blog at her myspace page. she wanted to ask about Yucca Mountain.

none of this is earth-shattering, because anyone with half a brain knows that politics is pure theater, but you would think that the Democratic party and their media accomplices at CNN would be a tad more careful about it.

UPDATE-
here's some wrestler dude covering the same ground here on YouTube...



the huffington post weighs in...
my live blog of the debate, volume 1
my live blog of the debate, volume 2

yesterday's live blog on heismanpundit.com...

i was playing around on my blog yesterday hitting links to stories about tebow's heisman chances and i ran across a link to a site called heisman pundit, which, according to Sports Illustrated, is "the Heisman's foremost authority". intrigued, i read his blogs and read "The Ten Heismandents", and noticed that he was going to live blog a set of games which included UF/FAU.

him being the "foremost authority" and someone who has a set of actual heisman voters who conduct weekly straw polls, i decided that he needed influence beyond the "TEBOW ROX!! ALL THE REST SUX!!" variety...i plotted my entry into his live blog early, before he started...

my first question/comment was going to be about tebow becoming the first 20/20 college player EVER (20 rush TDs, 20 pass TDs)...

1:24 Do you guys know what Tebow was for Halloween?

1:24 [Comment From J.R. Deluxe]
doesn't this make tebow the first 20-20 player ever?
1:24 Clark Kent

1:25 Good question Deluxe

1:25 I think so

1:25 Amazing

okay, this guy is the "foremost authority" on the Heisman and i had to inform HIM of this fact? i detected a strong urge from "the establishment" to hurry up and find a frontrunner to replace the injured Dennis Dixon QUICK, with someone besides SuperTim...i wasn't having it.

so, i'm not going to take credit if Tebow eventually wins this thing, but i will say that i might have influenced an "influential player" in the game...

UPDATE--i don't mean to brag, but i think my pointing out the 20/20 angle seems to have become the talking point nationally. i think i re-framed this debate...

"i'm sorry i answered the question"...dem debate vol. 2

...'because from what i've heard on this stage we're not supposed to'...this is paraphrasing Joe Biden, after he gave a detailed answer about his plan for Pakistan. interesting.

Richardson also gets detailed, kinda, and the he name-drops "Halliburton". pathetic. i take back anything nice i've said about him.

Edwards--will get rid of nukes world-wide. O-K.

Obama wants more international cooperation. O-K.

Dodd talks tough to Pakistan, Hillary agrees. both blame Bush for Pakistani problems. solution elusive.

IRAQ/SURGE/TROOP LEVELS

"One American death is too much"--Richardson. One. money should be used for programs in US.

TRADE

hillary got NAILED on NAFTA. NAILED. tried to joke her way out of it, in response to "was ross perot right?". criticizes bush on poison chinese products...

ENERGY

john roberts asks obama whose backyard nuclear waste should go. no answer given in a long monologue. "...we CAN do it", was his answer. "do WHAT?" is my question...

HILLARY--ARE THEY PICKING ON YOU?

hillary gives parts of her stump speech..."glass ceiling", etc... no answer to "who are the 'boy's club'".

"this pantsuit is asbestos tonight", dem debate vol. 1

hillary did not shake hands or even acknowledge the other candidates during introductions. wow. is it HATE, ego, script, low self-esteem, gender????

it was weird...in the pre-debate, Wolf Blitzer made a comment to the effect of "hopefully the internet can inspire these young people to vote"...y'know, i always really thought the candidates should inspire them...

1st question--from campbell brown, about clinton "parsing" answers, generally, and specifically about her answer to illegal aliens getting drivers' licenses.

"this pantsuit is asbestos tonight"--hillary

obama reiterates "drivers licenses".

hillary changes topic to health care, slams obama.

it's obama vs. hillary, TOTALLY. they're waving Wolf off, hillary supporters are trying to shout down obama from the rafters...

wolf brings edwards into the debate, edwards opens with 'none of us is perfect, even me'...powerful stuff, senator....

YOU CAN'T HIT A GIRL...

hillary arguing that pointing out policy differences amounts to "mudslinging", singles out edwards. doesn't rebut the charges, just attacks the messenger...

biden up...sounded good for a second...

edwards makes an effective speech, pandering to the victims of society...dismisses the picking on hillary charge...

dodd...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

richardson--"give peace a chance"...my god. pathetic. i like the guy, but ugh.....

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

obama says he understands immigrants "frustration". that was his first point. he went on to sound "tough" on the subject, but... he says he supports licenses for illegals, for "public safety". hold on, he DOESN'T support it now, gets boos...

edwards doesn't support it without "comprehensive immigration reform"

dodd strongly supports "comprehensive immigration reform", no to licenses

obama says the american people "desperately" want "comprehensive immigration reform", licenses are "not the issue"

kucinich wants to be overrun.

biden--"no"

TEACHERS, SCHOOLS

"merit pay?"...*crickets* from every candidate.

TIM TEBOW FOR HEISMAN

it looks like bias against underclassmen is going to rule the day, since Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon holds a commanding lead in first-place votes in all the sections of the country (even holding a sizeable advantage in the southern region). lame.

let's compare stats.

RUSHING...TEBOW 170-718 yds, 19 TDs, 4.22 avg, 71.80 ypg, ranked 71st in NCAA. let's not forget that on a lot of his TDs, he could've run a lot further... DIXON 103-549 yds, 8 TDs, 5.33 avg, 61 ypg. advantage--TEBOW.

PASSING EFFICIENCY...TEBOW is second in the NCAA with a 177.1 rating, with 23 TDs and 5 interceptions. DIXON is 4th in the NCAA with a 163.1 rating, with 20 TDs and 3 interceptions. TEBOW is averaging 1.5 yards more per attempt (9.93-8.43). advantage--EVEN (even if Tebow slightly leads).

so, it's either that UF's record is hurting Tebow (3 losses to 1 loss for Oregon), or Darren McFadden is siphoning off southern votes which would normally go to Tebow. by contrast, Dixon has virtually no competition in the west for votes, and there's probably a Florida Gator fatigue factor when it comes to the media types and whoever else votes for this thing, due to the incredible recent success of the UF football and basketball programs.

it looks like, per usual, the Heisman won't go to the best player. anybody that's seen Tebow play knows the real deal.

finally...a political ad worth watching....

uber-anti-illegal alien crusader and republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo has just released a WHOPPER of an ad (probably the best since Goldwater's "daisy" ad in the '64 campaign), and the only way you'll probably ever see it is to click here, because they've yanked it off of YouTube for content...the same YouTube who routinely lets jihadi videos remain on their site no matter how much people complain.

his campaign will never make enough money to actually put this thing on TV anywhere.

i've heard comments to the effect of "it looks like he's claiming the Mexicans are terrorists", but i don't see it.

if you don't believe the islamo-fascists are infiltrating this country, due to our porous borders and weak enforcement, how about a story from YESTERDAY about how an illegal alien woman who worked for the CIA and the FBI pled guilty to conspiracy, unauthorized computer access, and naturalization fraud in a US district court. she had links to hezbollah. she's not allowed to leave the country now, due to the sensitivity of the information she accessed. and, of course, we can't forget the 9/11 hijackers, who all overstayed their visas.

another reason i'm endorsing hillary

until i saw the preceding video, i had no idea that she was such a renaissance "person"...that aside from being a public policy genius and someone who could run our lives from cradle to grave exactly how we need them run...she's apparently also heavy into physics. just look at how quickly she measured the problem and provided the solution...get on it, boys...

my favorite lesbian feminist writer Camille Paglia is not as enthusiastic towards Hillary as I am. she thinks the media is not doing her a favor by allowing her to skip through life not having to answer tough questions. but...why should she? most of the time these stupid people on the campaign trail already KNOW the answer that THEY want to hear...they just want to see if Hillary agrees with THEM. keep playing it coy, girl! HILLARY! '08


my original endorsement of hillary here.