Maher: Stop climate change, or America will be a third-world country

Last week, former Vice President Al Gore took to the pages of Rolling Stone magazine to criticize various elements in our political culture for not championing the cause of stopping anthropogenic climate change. Gore went right for the top – President Barack Obama.
On his Friday night program on HBO, “Real Time” host Bill Maher doubled down on Gore’s claim, offering anecdotal evidence that climate change (not global warming) is real. (h/t Real Clear Politics Video)
“I mean, Al Gore wrote this week in Rolling Stone, which was mostly critical of the media but also critical of Obama for not leading on climate change,” Maher said. “I don’t call it global warming anymore because that’s bad – because it is climate change. And I’m looking at what’s going on with the weather in this country. You see droughts. You see floods. You see these giant fires. I mean, cattle are dying in Texas. This is what i used to see in Ethiopia.”
Despite climate change being known as a global phenomenon and not isolated to one country, Maher had a grim warning for the commander-in-chief: Do something or the country will face the perils of a third-world nation.
“You know, I understand we’re on our way to being a third-world country, could we just stop at second-world before we get there?” Maher said. “Why doesn’t he point to this and say this is all because of climate change. He doesn’t seem to use what he has to make a case. I don’t hear the Democratic case being made. That’s my point.”
There was one problem with Obama using climate change as a campaign issue, New York Times columnist David Carr added. “It’s tough to run on the weather,” Carr said


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/25/maher-to-obama-stop-climate-change-or-were-on-our-way-to-being-a-third-world-country/#ixzz1QLbSMX3T

So we’re going to have Bill Maher lead the charge against climate change?  Could it be that maybe; we shouldn’t leave our fate in the hands of politicians?  It’s not the lawmakers we need to worry about, although they are one and the same.  The “politician” side of a legislator’s brain just isn’t wired to do-the-right thing here.  There is no money and limited power in climate change; two deficiencies that are deal breakers for most members of congress.  Somehow we need to find a way to take politics out of this equation.     

Is Clarence Thomas At The Center Of An Ethics Violation?

A quaint historical museum in Pin Point, Georgia, that is set to open this fall has become the target of an exhaustive ethics examination by the New York Times. Why would the Times devote almost 3,000 words to a community heritage museum? Pin Point, as it turns out, is also the birthplace of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and it was Thomas who introduced Pin Point residents to his friend Harlan Crow, a Dallas real-estate tycoon and major conservative donor, who would ultimately fund the museum. According to some legal analysts, Thomas's role in Crow's decision to donate may have troubling ethical implications.
Pin Point lies along the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor designated by Congress, a passage of coastal fishing towns settled by the descendants of slaves. Algernon Varn, whose father ran the fishing cannery there, long hoped to save the site from development, but it wasn't until he bumped into Thomas, who was in town promoting his memoir, that the project began to move forward. Thomas introduced Varn to Crow, a longtime friend. Through an exhaustive paper trail review, the Times confirmed that Crow is the anonymous donor behind the $1.3 million restoration of the property and forthcoming museum project. Varn was told to keep Crow's identity anonymous.
The question of ethics violations comes down to whether Thomas misused "the prestige of office" to persuade Crow to take on the project, said Raymond J. McKoski, a retired state judge in Illinois. (Supreme Court justices are not explicitly bound to the complex code of conduct for federal judges because it is enforced by lower ranking judges. That's right, they are literally above the law -- though the Times points to several justices who said they adhere to it regardless.) "Some of it depends on the conversations that took place," McKoski told the Times of the ethical quandary. "Who brought up the idea? How willing was Mr. Crow to do it? What exact questions were asked by Justice Thomas?"
This isn't the first time Crow has donated to projects directly or indirectly honoring Thomas. (According to the federal ethics code, judges are not supposed to know who makes a donation in their honor.) The Times gathers an exhaustive list of shady gifts and donations, including Mr. Crow's financing of a Savannah library dedicated to Justice Thomas and his gift of a bible that once belonged to Frederick Douglass. Thomas also received a $15,000 bust of Abraham Lincoln from a group affiliated with Crow.
So, after all this commotion, what will the museum actually look like? The modest, almost astonishingly unglamorous-sounding Pin Point Heritage Museum will be housed in the A.S. Varn & Son Factory, a former seafood cannery that was the economic backbone of Pin Point -- and where Thomas's mother worked as a crab picker -- until it closed in 1985.
Each structure on the property -- including the oyster factory, can storage building, and marshfront dock -- will be stabilized and restored. A patio area will host live demonstrations of crabbing, canning, and shrimp net making. Inside, 3,000 square feet of exhibition space -- modest by museum standards -- will house educational exhibits, live demonstrations, interactive displays, and a 30-minute documentary film, all devoted to the generations of residents in Pin Point.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/artinfo/is-clarence-thomass-humbl_b_883999.html

Why is it that this name and the word scandal keep surfacing?  Is he after the big payoff or is the press after him? Is he doing anything different than the others?  Power corrupts; did it get him?  Stay tuned; you haven’t heard the last of Clarence Thomas and scandal. 

Stephen Colbert To Take On The FEC

WASHINGTON — Comedy Central's tongue-in-cheek commentator Stephen Colbert is expected to raise serious questions at next week's meeting of the Federal Election Commission.
"The Colbert Report" star is launching a political action committee, Colbert Super Pac, which will allow him to raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and individuals so he can support causes and candidates heading toward the 2012 elections.
When the FEC meets on June 30, Colbert plans to ask whether airtime and other costs associated with his show would need to be publicly disclosed as in-kind contributions from Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom Inc., when he talks about Colbert Super PAC on the show itself.
"The Colbert Report" has lampooned campaign finance rules in the wake of a Supreme Court that paved the way for super PACs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/stephen-colbert-to-take-on-the-fec_n_883712.html

This hi-lights the stupidity of the Supreme Court decision pertaining to campaign financing. (I’m sure that’s Colbert’s intention).  You have to hand it to him for putting your money where his mouth is. 

Delta / Saudi Arabia agreement could prohibit Jews from flying into country

A U.S. lawmaker wants the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate allegations that Delta Airlines has entered into an agreement with Saudi Arabia that could prohibit American Jews from flying into the country - a charge the airline and the Saudi government vigorously dispute.

“I request your investigation into this matter to determine whether Delta Airlines violated U.S. law or regulation and to ensure no U.S. citizen is denied their right to fly solely on the basis of their religion,” Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk wrote in a letter to the head of the FAA.

The call for an investigation came as Delta responded to outrage about Saudi Arabian Airlines joining SkyTeam Alliance – of which Delta is a member. SkyTeam is a 14-member international airline alliance based in Amsterdam.

Delta strongly refuted allegations it was discriminating against Jews or Christians, explaining they are required to follow “all applicable laws governing entry into every country we serve.”

“Delta does not discriminate nor do we condone discrimination against any of our customers in regards to age, race, nationality, religion or gender,” said spokesman Trebor Barnstetter, in an email to Fox News.

But critics say Saudi Arabia does not issue visas for passengers holding Israeli passports or passports with Israeli stamps. The Religious News Service reported that religious items like Bibles can also be confiscated at Saudi Arabian airports.

“Delta’s only agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines is a standard industry interline agreement, which allows passengers to book tickets on multiple carriers, similar to the standard interline agreements American Airlines, US Airways and Alaska Airlines have with Saudi Arabian Airlines,” Barstetter wrote. “Delta does not intend to code-share or share reciprocal benefits, such as frequent flier benefits, with Saudi Arabian Airlines, which we have confirmed with SkyTeam.”

The Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington told Fox News they welcomed the investigation and called allegations that Jews are not allowed into their country “complete nonsense.”

“It will put to rest these rumors that we discriminate,” said embassy spokesman Nail Al-Jubeir. “The fact of the matter is American citizens are not being discriminated against based on their religion.

“Anybody who tells you they’ve been denied a visa because they’re Jewish, call me and we’ll look into it.”

Jay Sekulow, with the American Center for Law and Justice, said Delta has not fully addressed the issue. “The reality is, if you’ve got Israel stamped on your passport and you’re not Jewish, you’re not getting a visa. In effect, whatever Delta wants to say, they’re enforcing that policy.”

“You can’t let a U.S.-based company who has a U.S. license to benefit in an economic transaction from a group that is basically violating U.S. human rights law based on religion,” he added.

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement calling for Delta and other American airlines to make clear it would “not be a party” to discriminatory policies against Jews and Israelis.

“Delta should not be enabling that kind of discrimination,” said Michael Salberg, director of international affairs for the ADF, noting that their concern is not with Delta’s policies, but has more to do with the policies of the Saudi government.

“We are concerned about the potential that such an alliance would have for discriminating against Jews and members of other religions,” he said. “The Saudi government has a longstanding policy of religious and other forms of discrimination. Jews are effectively banned from entering the country.”

Abraham Foxman, the national director of the ADL, wrote a letter to Delta stating, “We expect Delta, and any other airline which flies to Riyadh or partners with an airline that flies there to ensure that its passengers – whatever their faith – not be discriminated against, and that no American airline in any way enable, or facilitate this discrimination, whatever the regulations of Saudi Arabia.”

Among those outraged is Jeffrey Lovitky, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney. He sent letters to Delta’s board of directors asking them to obtain assurances from the Saudi government that no passengers on any code-shared flight with Delta would be subjected to discrimination on the basis of their gender, religion or other prohibited grounds.

“This is a matter of deep principle,” Lovitky told Fox News. “This involves whether an American airline should be permitted to form an alliance with a partner which is engaged in the most blatant forms of discrimination against individuals on the basis of their religion and their gender.”

Lovitky, who is Jewish, said the partnership should be an affront to Americans of all religious backgrounds, and he won’t be a passenger on Delta until they end the partnership.

“It sends a message to Jewish Americans, Christian Americans, female Americans – it sends a message that we put our profit interests before our commitment to basic human rights and basic American values,” he said. “And that, sir, is fundamentally wrong.”

Delta released a statement from SkyTeam explaining it is trying to grow its business in the Middle East, and the partnership with the Saudis is part of that strategy.

“Visa requirements or other possible government travel restrictions to enter any country are dictated by that nation’s government, not the national airlines or foreign carriers,” the statement read. “These requirements apply to anyone entering the country either by land, air or sea.

Lovitky said he understood the economics involved, but, “they are an American airline and they should be expected to adhere to what we consider to be decent and appropriate conduct.”

Delta said SkyTeam members voted to include Saudi Arabian Airlines into the alliance. 

However, the airline would not say if any concerns were raised about the Saudis or how Delta voted.

Saudi Arabian Airlines is scheduled to officially join SkyTeam in 2012.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/24/jewish-groups-outraged-over-delta-saudi-agreement/#ixzz1QI6xiuGV

This is another example of the dollar being more important than doing the right thing.  All Delta passengers should be able fly to all the same destinations.  When are we going to learn that the Middle East does not view the world the way we do?  For the most part they do not value human beings equally, they do not value individual rights to religious beliefs, and apparently the word “discrimination” is not part of their vocabulary.  I know that I’m making very broad statements, but really; evidence of equality in this part of the world is hard to find.

Rush Limbaugh Compares Obama To Hitler

Rush Limbaugh compared President Obama to Hitler on his Thursday radio show.
Limbaugh was in the middle of lambasting Obama for his speech on Afghanistan, in which the President announced he will withdraw 33,000 troops from the country by the summer of 2012.
"What better way to fire up the Democrat base than to announce you intend to lose the war in Afghanistan?" he said. "What do General Petraeus and Gates, the Defense Secretary, what do they know? ... you know, Hitler's generals tried to argue with him too."
Limbaugh has compared Obama to Hitler before. In 2009, he said, "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, ruled by dictate."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/rush-limbaugh-obama-hitler_n_883703.html

Stop with the comparisons to Hitler.  It’s rude!  When Obama kills 6 million innocent Jews, starts a world war to expand his empire, and makes claims that blue eyed, blonde haired white people are the master race, then and only then can you compare him to Hitler.  When are your listeners going to figure out that you are as crazy as bat sh*t and stop tuning in? 

Rick Santorum: 'There Is No Such Thing As Global Warming'

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum further expressed his strong convictions on global warming in a recent interview with Fox News' Glenn Beck.
On Thursday's show, when asked about global warming, Santorum told Beck, "There is no such thing as global warming," apparently much to Beck's delight.
Earlier in the month Santorum told Rush Limbaugh that global warming was "junk science."
Questioned about oil by Beck, Santorum boldly stated, "Drill everywhere," and proceeded to declare that there is enough oil, coal and natural gas to last centuries.
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/25/rick-santorum-glenn-beck-global-warming-oil_n_884646.html

I don’t know . . . . . .  I prefer to get my science from . . . . oh; I don’t know. . . . . .a scientist!  I don’t think a presidential candidate (who will never be president) and Glenn Beck are qualified to determine whether or not global warming exists.   If it didn’t exist before this interview, I’m sure it does now.  This is what you get, when two tools collide!

Coca-Cola Raising Its Prices

It's a sad,sad day. . . . .

Woman wakes up at her own funeral, dies from shock

Imagine waking up surrounded by family and friends — as they plan to bury you alive.
That’s what happened to Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, a 49 year-old woman from Kazan, Russia. She had collapsed in her home after suffering from chest pains, and doctors told her husband, 51 year-old Fagili, that she was dead.
But she was very much alive. And she got the surprise of her life when she woke up.
Fagilyu woke up in a coffin, as mourning relatives paid their last respects. She started screaming when she realized that she was at her own funeral. And 12 minutes later, she was dead for real of a heart attack, presumably from the shock.
“Her eyes fluttered and we immediately rushed her back to the hospital but she only lived for another 12 minutes in intensive care before she died again, this time for good … I am very angry and want answers,” her husband told the Daily Mail.
“She wasn’t dead when they said she was and they could have saved her,” he continued. He plans to sue.
Meanwhile, the hospital that mistakenly pronounced Fagilyu dead the first time around would only say it was “carrying out an investigation.”
Apparently, this kind of thing isn’t so rare. The Huffington Post mentions two other instances. One where a man in Brazil came to his funeral alive, and another where a premature baby in Paraguay woke up before his funeral, only to die shortly after.


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/24/woman-wakes-up-at-her-own-funeral-dies-from-shock/#ixzz1QFddmiM4

What?  Was this the Yugo funeral home?  Chernobyl and sons?  I guess she should be happy this wasn’t a closed casket ceremony.  Is there a shortage of embalming fluid in Russia? I doubt many people have died at their own funeral; this should at least give her a place in the record books.  How could this happen? 

Winklevoss Twins Are At It Again

(Reuters) - Olympic rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are pushing ahead with another suit against Facebook, a day after they decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling upholding their $65 million settlement with Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg.
In a status report filed on Thursday with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the twins and their business partner, Divya Narendra, said they would move the court for discovery on whether Facebook "intentionally or inadvertently suppressed evidence" during settlement proceedings over claims that Zuckerberg stole their idea for a college social networking website.
The claim in the Massachusetts Court relates to documents and communications that would have thrown light on the exact relationship between the twins and Zuckerberg at the time of Facebook's founding and says that Facebook should have disclosed those documents during the original settlement discussions.
The original settlement was intended to resolve a feud over whether Zuckerberg stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from the Winklevosses, who like him had attended Harvard University. Their battle was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network.
After agreeing to the cash-and-stock accord, the Winklevosses sought to undo it, saying it was fraudulent because Facebook hid information from them, and that they deserved more money.
Tyler Meade, counsel for the Winklevoss twins and Narendra, declined to comment.

Story continues below

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/winklevoss-facebook-lawsuit-boston_n_883717.html

How much money do you need?  65 million is nothing to sneeze at.  You had a great idea, but now you’re only making your lawyers rich.  Take the money and run.  This has to be about attention.  Take the money and start your own social networking site.  I’m sure you have the skill and business knowhow to get it done.  ….. I hear that Tyler is about to sue Cameron for stealing his image and likeness.  Greed is an amazing thing!

Sarah Palin Quit Her Bus Tour

As if anything in the history of the world could come as less of a shock, reality show star Sarah Palin quit her vaguely-defined bus tour that many suspected was a prelude to a serious presidential run.
Palin had set no clear itinerary for the bus tour; however, Real Clear Politics reports that her "One Nation" bus tour was to travel through the Midwest and the Southeast sometime this month. Instead, she has reportedly taken her family back to Alaska.
The former governor and possible GOP presidential hopeful has not explained her absence from the road.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/reasons-sarah-palin-quit-bus-tour_n_882540.html#s296570

Does it really matter why she has ended her bus tour?  Can’t we all just be glad that it’s over?  The great American embarrassment has finally ended, and the Adams . . . . I mean Palin family has returned home to Alaska.  We can all rest easier now.

Glenn Beck Will Quit If 'The Onion' Gets A Pulitzer

As if the Pulitzer board needed any more reasons to recognize "The Onion," Glenn Beck has now thrown his weight behind the campaign, suggesting that if this injustice is corrected he may "settle down and raise horses somewhere."
Pulitzer board, we've never asked you for anything. But we're asking you now. Do the right thing. Glenn Beck says he could use the rest... and so could we.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/glenn-beck-onion-pulitzer_n_883986.html

Peter Falk, 'Columbo' Star, Dies At 83

LOS ANGELES – Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in "Columbo," which spanned 30 years in prime-time television and established one of the most iconic characters in movie police work, has died. He was 83.
Falk died Thursday in his Beverly Hills home, according to a statement released Friday by family friend Larry Larson.
In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk's daughter Catherine Falk said her father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
"Columbo" began its history in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series, appearing every third week. The show became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, the others being "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife."
Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series. He declined, reasoning that carrying a weekly detective series would be too great a burden.
Columbo — he never had a first name — presented a contrast to other TV detectives. "He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."
NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran.
Columbo's trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself. After 25 years on television, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.
Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his parents ran a clothing store. At 3 he had one eye removed because of cancer. "When something like that happens early," he said in a 1963 Associated Press interview, "you learn to live with it. It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/peter-falk-dead-columbo-star-dies_n_884041.html

What a shame.  I know he will be missed.  Why does the universe keep saying to me; you’re not getting any younger?

OBAMA KICKS THE CAN

NEW YORK CITY -- President Barack Obama did not reverse course and endorse the right of gay couples to marry during a high-profile LGBT fundraising event Thursday night.
He expressed support for the idea that the state of New York should have the power to codify marriage for same-sex couples. But he did not personally endorse the pending New York bill -- which is nearing passage in the statehouse -- or same-sex marriage itself.
The crowd of 600-plus attendees didn't jeer Obama's caution ... that much. Rather, cordial applause and a shared sense of accomplishment seemed to be the order of the night at the Sheraton Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
Obama is, objectively, the most influential president LGBT citizens have ever had. And while his administration has experienced no shortage of LGBT-related tensions -- whether in private meetings or from activists handcuffed to the White House gates -- Thursday night was spent discussing past accomplishments and hinting at future breakthroughs.
"Yes we have more work to do. Yes we have more progress to make. Yes I expect continued impatience with me on occasion," said the president. "With your help, if you keep up the fight, if you will devote your time and your energies to this campaign one more time, I promise you we will write another chapter in that story."
"We are going to lead a new generation to a brighter future," he concluded. "And I will be standing there right there with you."
In a 25-minute address before both grey-bearded and baby-faced donors and activists, Obama praised vocal LGBT activism and offered his ear in return. He ran through his list of achievements -- extending hospital visitation rights to gay couples, a comprehensive national AIDS strategy, the ending of Don't Ask Don't Tell, to name a few -- and pledged a commitment to a " simple American value, the notion that "we are all created equal."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/obama-punts-same-sex-marriage-at-lgbt-fundraiser_n_883615.html

I guess it’s better than kicking the bucket, or kicking the light fantastic, but really?  You can’t do more with this issue?  Why does everything have to be a debate?  Will we ever make a decision and move on.  It seems to me the people we put in office just can’t seem to make things happen.  We would not put up with this complacency from our power company, our grocer or our Doctor.  Why do we put up with it from our politicians?  Where is the quality control in Washington? 

Pippa Bringing Back Taboo Trend?

Catapulted to style stardom as a result of her sister's wedding, Pippa Middleton's clothing choices are almost as influential as her sister's. The day after the wedding, the little sis stepped out with a gray leather Modalu bag that sold out almost instantly. And we're sure she's done wonders for High Street brands such as Zara.
But earlier this month, Jezebel pointed out that Pippa committed "the ultimate pantyhose sin" while she was spotted wearing nude tights in Paris, "no less."
And somehow, the skin-toned hosiery trend is catching on! The Telegraph reports that sales of nude tights has "risen by up to 85 percent in the past year."
The shocking increase has been attributed to a hesitancy to jump from opaques in the winter months to bare legs in the spring, as nude stockings offer an in-between of sorts. A second, more health-conscious reason for the once-taboo (possibly still taboo) trend: "[It] may also be driven in part by fears over sun exposure. Malignant melanoma is Britain's second most common cancer in 15 to 34-year-olds."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/22/pippa-middleton-nude-tights_n_882395.html

So much going on in the news and we are writing about and reading about the kind of hosiery Pippa is wearing.  Really?  While I’m sure there are more frivolous stories to be told; it is clear this Pippa girl has taken the spotlight. 

John Bolton predicts nuclear Iran 'much sooner than later' - TheDC

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, sharply criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the Middle East while testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday morning.
Bolton focused on Iran and Syria, laying out steps the United States should take to prevent the two governments from acquiring nuclear weapons. He also had strong words for current  US policy toward Israel.
“And America’s disdain for Israel, its truest ally in the region, can hardly be comforting to those who have never enjoyed such close relations,” Bolton said in his testimony. “If this is how the United States now treats close friends, how will it treat mere allies of convenience when convenience disappears?”
Bolton took a characteristically hard line with the committee, stressing the need to take advantage of a narrow window of opportunity to stop the Middle East from developing nuclear weapons. According to his prepared testimony, Bolton, who is now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute,  told the committee that Iran will reach nuclear weapons capability and “much sooner than later.”
He also did not shy from taking swings at the Obama administration, saying “I fear that many in the current administration believe that, as undesirable as a nuclear Iran would be, it is a situation we can accept and live with.”
Bolton offered dire predictions of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. It won’t, he said, stop with Syria or Iran. “If Iran obtains nuclear weapons, then almost certainly Saudi Arabia will do the same, as will Egypt, Turkey and perhaps others in the region…” (TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein: Why Republicans need a foreign policy guru like John Bolton to enter the 2012 race)
He then added that in five to ten years, the Middle East “could contain half a dozen or more” nuclear weapon states.
To prevent that from happening, Bolton said, the US would need to “use force pre-emptively against Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”
“The use of force is a decidedly unattractive option,” he added, “but since the only other realistic assessment is that Iran will soon have a nuclear weapons capability, it has to be taken seriously.” He took one more stab at the Obama Administration, however, by saying that it is unlikely the president will use force, meaning the responsibility would fall to Israel.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/23/john-bolton-predicts-nuclear-iran-much-sooner-than-later/#ixzz1QCBImcbX

Is the world really going to stand by and allow Iran to get nukes?  This is; without a doubt the most dreaded scenario.  I hope there is some behind-the-scenes planning going on.  This problem doesn’t have to fall to the United States to solve, but it probably will. Funny thing about nuclear explosions; they effect the entire world. . . . .  

Bristol Palin Slams McCains In New Book

Bristol Palin has harsh words for both Meghan and Cindy McCain in her new book, Not Afraid Of Life: My Journey So Far, due out this Friday.
According to ABC, Palin writes that the first time she met Sen. John McCain's daughter she "ignored us during the entire visit." She also "had a sneaking suspicion I might need to watch my back," ABC reports.
"Every time we saw Meghan, she seemed to be constantly checking us out, comparing my family to hers and complaining," Palin writes. "Oh the complaining."
Cindy McCain doesn't get off much easier. Palin writes that the senator's wife carried herself "like a queen" and held "herself like royalty." Palin also reports that Cindy McCain offered to be the godmother of her child.
Palin also ridicules her former fiance, Levi Johnston who she describes as a "gnat ... constantly spreading false accusations against our family." She adds that he "cheated on me about as frequently as he sharpened his hockey skates."
In the book, Palin also reveals that she lost her virginity to Johnston on a camping trip after getting drunk for the first time.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/21/bristol-palin-mccain-levi-johnston-book_n_881171.html

Bristol; you’re awfully young to be burning bridges, even if they are bridges to nowhere.  Maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself until you're old enough to “get it”.  If you did “get it” you wouldn’t allow yourself to be exploited, by your mother, the media, and Levi.  Go to college, raise your child, and be happy.  There will be plenty of time to put match to pillar when you’re older. 

Reps. Frank, Paul unite -- over weed

The “strange bedfellows of the week” award might just land at the feet of Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank and Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul.
Thursday the pair plan together to unveil legislation to legalize marijuana. (NCAA drug testing shows increase in pot use)
According to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the two congressmen will introduce “bi-partisan legislation tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference.”
It will be the first bill ever introduced in Congress to end the federal ban on marijuana.
Reason reporter Mike Riggs reported Wednesday afternoon that the MPP is hopeful about the “momentum” the legislation could provide for the drug debate, but that they do not have any illusions about its feasibility.
“It’s definitely going to get a serious debate, probably more in the media than on the floor of the House,” MPP spokeswoman Morgan Fox said. “But I think it needs to be debated on the floor.”
Other co-sponsors include Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers, Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis and California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/22/barney-frank-and-ron-paul-unite-over-weed/#ixzz1Q9y0TrFD

We can’t come together on the budget, the wars or health care, but when reefer is up for debate, we’re kissin cousins.  Will our children ever be able to explain to their children what our lawmakers were doing as the world was heating up, fanatics were getting their hands on nukes and the world in general was going to hell in a hand basket. Perhaps our children will be forced to tell their young ones; “pass me the bong and I will explain that bright flash and mushroom cloud?”  Can we please get serious about the serious issues?  It’s a sad, sad state when the only time our leaders can come together pertains to the issue of cannabis and golf. 

Matt Taibbi: Bachmann Is 'Grandiose Crazy'

Minnesota Representative and Republican presidential aspirant Michele Bachmann is having a moment. But you know you've really arrived as a force in American life when reporter Matt Taibbi has drawn down on you, and today, Bachmann gets her turn over at Rolling Stone. A fusillade of metaphors ensue. According to Taibbi, "Bachmann is" the following:

• "a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions"
• "one of the scariest sights in the entire American cultural tableau"
• "the T2 skeleton posing for a passport photo"
• "grandiose crazy, late-stage Kim Jong-Il crazy"
• "frenetically pacing the hallways of a vast sand castle she's built [inside her own mind], unable to meaningfully communicate with the human beings on the other side of the moat, who are all presumed to be enemies."

And then you're past the first five paragraphs. Still, "Don't laugh," urges Taibbi.
Good advice, considering Bachmann's atop the most recent Zogby poll of GOP primary voters.
Go read the whole thing.
* * * * *I guess the optimistic way to look at this is to say that Jon Huntsman has totally locked down the votes of "Republicans who prefer their candidate's families to give Harry Reid's campaign coffers tens of thousands of dollars." [Ralston Flash]
Tim Pawlenty has released ads in Iowa, and has shrewdly steered away from his earlier strategy of groveling for minutes on end in the face of mild adversity. [Politico]

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Ron Paul on Afghanistan drawdown: "I don't want to hear that he's going to bring 5,000 troops home or 10,000 troops. We need to have a significant change in foreign policy, which means that all the troops come home and turn that country back over to the Afghans. And let them deal with it." [The Note @ ABC News]
This headline reads "Slow recovery weakens Obama." But it only has weakened his polling numbers. President Barack Obama is affluent and famous, so he'll be fine! (In reality, the slow recovery weakens ordinary Americans.) [AP]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/22/late-returns-taibbi-says-_n_882603.html

She’s like a sparkler.  She will flash and fade.  Under the harsh scrutiny of the media and challengers, she just doesn’t stand a chance.  Before this is over we will be wishing Sarah was back in the race. 

Why 'Cars 2' Has Some Conservatives Furious

Could an animated film about cars become Big Oil's next nemesis?
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, "Cars 2" director John Lasseter discussed the major overhaul to his upcoming film, a revamp that makes Big Oil the bad guys.
He told the paper:

I kept thinking about, "OK. A spy movie in the world where cars are alive. What would be a really good kind of über bad guy? Who is an über bad guy?" I kept going to big oil. This is before what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Why isn't alternative fuel more... Why isn't everybody jumping on that bandwagon? It makes so much sense: Electricity, solar, whatever. There's ethanol. There's all this stuff you could be doing. And so I thought, well, that could be really cool in that you could have big oil versus alternative fuel. That's when we kind of crafted the bad guy's story.
The greatest bad guys, you understand where they're coming from. They believe they're doing the right thing. Sometimes it's for greed, sometimes it's for other reasons, but they are what they call the center of good. They always believe they're doing the right thing.

A "Cars 2" trailer advertises, "On their next big road trip, they're not only racing across the world, they're racing to save the world."
Some conservatives are already enraged. The Lonely Conservative blog wrote, "We conservatives and believers in free markets are accused of being paranoid when we say the Hollywood industry is trying to indoctrinate our children with left wing propaganda. But now movie directors and producers are coming out and admitting what they're doing. I'm just glad I found this out before I allowed my kids to persuade me to take them to see the movie 'Cars 2.'" Indeed. Evil films can brainwash children into caring about the environmental degradation that their generation will have to pay for.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/21/cars-2-big-oil-john-lasseter_n_881251.html

 

Can’t a movie just be a movie?  It is art (depending on your definition) get over it!  Let the children enjoy their movie! 

Bret Baier, Calls Out Jon Stewart

Bret Baier defended the media's coverage of the Anthony Weiner scandal in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The press—and, in particular, cable news—has been criticized for the amount of space it devoted to the Weiner scandal. During his appearance on Fox News, Jon Stewart called the coverage an example of the media's tendency towards "sensationalism" and "laziness."
"Do you think the coverage of Anthony Weiner scandal is an example of pack journalism?" Baier's interviewer, Patricia Sheridan, asked him.
"No," Baier said. "It was an example of the media collectively saying, 'Why won't he answer a simple question with a simple answer?' The whole thing didn't add up from the beginning. So when he became combative, evasive and vague when he first started talking about it, he MADE it a story."
Speaking of Jon Stewart, Baier said that his appearance on "The Daily Show" in March went "fine," though he added that he didn't think he was going to be talking so much about Fox News. (The two wound up arguing about whether or not the network has a political slant.)
"Clearly Jon had his point of view going in," Baier said. "...The pre-interview for that interview, the producers were telling me how he was really interested in my trip to Afghanistan ... so I said during the pre-interview, 'I'm, sure there's going to be a lot of talk about Fox News Channel.' And she said, 'Oh, yeah, yeah.' It ended up being pretty much that is all he wanted to do."

Baier also spoke with Brian Kilmeade on Monday about Stewart's contentious appearance on "Fox News Sunday." He said that Stewart tends to be disingenuous in the face of criticism. "When something goes he wrong, he punts to ‘I’m a comedian,’” he said.
Baier also talked to Men's Health about Father's Day over the weekend.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/bret-baier-defends-anthon_n_880551.html

Water and oil do not mix.  Fox needs to quit putting comedians on their shows and treating them as serious pundits.  Jon Stewart needs to quit inviting Fox pundits to be on his show and than treating them like comedians.  Jon; these guys drink the Kool-Aid every day.  They will not give you a break for being a comedian.  They will not let you off the hook because you are a satirist.  Stay off each others air, you’re confusing yourselves and your respective audiences!

What to Watch This Summer

When the series picks up June 26, Bill and Sookie are kaput, but "a longing still exists between them," Stephen Moyer (Bill) tells Us. Still, says creator Alan Ball, "there's no shortage of hot supernatural men around her."

Watch it this Sunday on HBO.  The new season begins this weekend!

Premiering July 24, the final season "gets back to the roots: the guys," creator Doug Ellin tells Us. Vince is in rehab, "and we'll soon find out if he's able to pull himself together."

NBC's Bachelor/Survivor hybrid is "speed dating on adrenaline," exec producer Tom Shelly says. In Costa Rica, coed teams get physical (one task: build a raft). Then partners swap.

The exec producer of ABC's new Thursday night series, Lisa Hennessy, promises "meltdowns, injuries and laugh-out-loud 'fails' as 13 three-person teams race through Morocco. P.S.: The scenery is great too!

Bristol Palin Lost Virginity While Drunk

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bristol Palin writes in her new book of losing her virginity to boyfriend Levi Johnston on a camping trip after getting drunk for the first time on too many wine coolers.
She awoke in her tent, alone, with no memories of what had happened as Johnston "talked with his friends on the other side of the canvas." She had vowed to wait until marriage. And she had lied to her parents about where she was going.
Palin, a 20-year-old single mother and the daughter of former Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, tells a story of "deception and disappointment" in the book, "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far."
The memoir, co-written with Nancy French, is scheduled for publication by William Morrow this week. The Associated Press purchased a copy Friday.
Palin's book covers growing up with her family, which she portrays affectionately, and the excitement of her mother's political life as governor and then, in 2008, as the GOP vice presidential candidate. But the main theme is her on-and-off-again relationship with Johnston, with whom she had a child and was briefly engaged while caught in a media spotlight.
She blasts him as "the gnat named Levi Johnston constantly spreading false accusations against our family" and calls him a self-involved slacker "who cheated on me about as frequently as he sharpened his hockey skates."
But Palin, self-described as a good girl and straight-A student, had been drawn to him and his bad-boy manner from the time they met in seventh grade.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/bristol-palin-lost-virginity-levi-book_n_880242.html

Really?  You made a bad decision while you were drunk?  How many babies have been conceived I wonder; because momma was drunk and daddy was a jackass?  I think the bad decision started well before the first cap on your wine cooler was unscrewed.  Levi Johnston?  You couldn’t tell what he was about.  Your most basic gut instincts weren’t telling you to stay away from him, that he was only into you because of what he could get from you (under the covers and otherwise).  You couldn’t see that once he got everything he was after, he would discard you like a used condom.  I hope your judgment has improved.  You deserve better than this; your baby deserves better than this. 

Jon Stewart LIVE On Fox News, Tells Host 'You're Insane'

Jon Stewart entered the proverbial lion's den, appearing live on Fox News Sunday to debate "media bias" with host Chris Wallace.
Early in the interview, Wallace flashed a previous quote of Stewart's calling Fox News a "relentless agenda-driven 24 hour news opinion propaganda delivery system," and asked Stewart, "Where do you come up with this stuff?"
Stewart responded, "Uh, it's actually quite easy."
Later, when Wallace argued that a clip about Sarah Palin from the Daily Show was political commentary, Stewart told Wallace, "You're insane... Here's the difference between you and I. I'm a comedian first. My comedy is informed by an ideological background, there's no question about that. But the thing that you will never understand...is that Hollywood, yeah, they're liberal, but that's not their primary motivating force. I'm not an activist. I am a comedian."
"Do I want my voice heard?" Stewart continued later. "Absolutely, that's why I got into comedy. Am I an activist, in your mind? A partisan ideological activist?" Wallace responded, "Yeah." "Okay, then I disagree with you," Stewart said. "You can't understand, because of the world that you live in, that there is not a designed ideological agenda on my part to affect partisan change because that's the soup you swim in. And I appreciate that, I understand it. It reminds me of in ideological regimes, they can't understand that there is free media other places because they receive marching orders."
However, it was in a later exchange that Stewart got actually angry at Wallace, as he talked about what he called the misinformation that Fox News gave its viewers.
"The embarrassment is that I'm given credibility in this world because of the disappointment that the public has in what the news media does," he said.

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"I don't think our viewers are the least bit disappointed with us," Wallace said. "I think our viewers think, finally, they're getting somebody who tells the other side of the story."
"Who are the most consistently misinformed media viewers?" Stewart shot back, his voice rising. "The most consistently misinformed? Fox, Fox viewers, consistently, every poll."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/19/jon-stewart-fox-news-sunday-video_n_879964.html

If only the news organizations could figure out that comedians and political satirists are just that; comedians and political satirists.  Comedians can in some small ways effect change, public opinions and points of view, but they can never be our source for news and accurate information.  That’s the problem with Fox and the others.  They take people like Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and the others way too seriously.  They are afraid of them because through their comedy and satire these satirists point out the flaws, inconsistancies and outright misrepresentations that so-called legitimate news organizations serve up.  Where is the integrity and professionalism?  What was Chris Wallace doing when he decided to invite Jon Stewart to be on his show?  The simple fact that Wallace thought Stewart was a worthwhile and important guest shows just how out-of-touch Fox is.  Why would you legitimize a comedic satirist?  Fox; you are so deep in your own bulls**t you don’t know what the real issues are.  Someone should have stopped you from inviting Stewart; someone should have told you that he was better on late night talk shows than sitting across the desk form a legitimate newscaster. I do truly believe that you Mr. Wallace really are insane.

More than 400 people bared it all for the record books.

More than 400 people bared it all for the record books.
Sunday morning off the coast of Wales, it was a sea of skin as hundreds ran into the chilly waters. The 400 people gathered on a secluded beach on the country's southwest coast to vie for the world record.
Setting aside their clothes – and their embarrassment – attendees from all over the world gathered to take part in the 7 a.m. skinny dip. The early meeting time at the hidden Rhossili beach was chosen to make the clothes-free swimmers feel more comfortable as organizers hoped to keep away gawkers.
The massive skinny dip was more than meets the eye, though. The swimmers, laughing and splashing in the frigid water, were helping to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity. To break the record, bathers had to wade into the water up to their waists and endure for 10 minutes.
The event has yet to be verified by Guinness, but organizers believe they've broken the previous world record of 250 skinny-dippers. That's one record that's sure to bare some attention.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/19/skinny-dippers-strip-down-for-world-record-attempt/

What do ya know?  Records are broken everyday.  I think we could have lived without this one.  Is there a point?  Isn’t it shark season?  Way too many full moons in this photo.

Pakistanis Tipped Off Militants Again, Says U.S. Officials

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say Pakistan has apparently tipped off militants at two more bomb-building factories in its tribal areas, giving the terror suspects time to flee, after U.S. intelligence shared the locations with the Pakistani government.
Those officials believe Pakistan's insistence on seeking local tribal elders' permission before raiding the areas may have most directly contributed to the militants' flight, though they also suspect low-level security officials may have tipped the militants off.
U.S. officials have pushed for Pakistan to keep the location of such targets secret prior to the operations, but the Pakistanis say their troops cannot enter the lawless regions without giving the locals notice.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The latest incidents bring to a total of four bomb-making sites that the U.S. has shared with Pakistan only to have the terrorist suspects flee before the Pakistani military arrived much later. The report does not bode well for attempts by both sides to mend relations and rebuild trust after the U.S. raid on May 2 that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, a Pakistani army town only 35 miles from the capital Islamabad.
The Pakistanis believe the Americans violated their sovereignty by keeping them in the dark about the raid. American officials believe bin Laden's location proves some elements of the Pakistani army or intelligence service helped hide the al-Qaida mastermind, bolstering their argument that the raid had to be done solo.
The U.S. officials explained Saturday how they first offered the location of the third, and then the fourth site, in order to give Pakistan another chance to prove it could be trusted to go after the militants.
In the tradition of `trust but verify,' the Americans carefully monitored the area with satellite and unmanned drones, to see what would happen, after sharing the information a third and fourth time, the officials said.
In each case, they watched the militants depart within 24 hours, taking any weapons or bomb-making materials with them, just as militants had done the first two times. Only then, did they watch the Pakistani military visit each site, when the terror suspects and their wares were long gone, the officials said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/18/pakistan-tipped-off-militants-suspects_n_879836.html

Are we going to learn?  I wonder if perhaps someone should have a talk with Congress.  They send our tax dollars into Pakistan only to find that the country they are sending all this money to doesn’t much like us.  Will we ever learn?  Will we?