Pot, meet kettle: Jon Huntsman calls Ron Paul "unelectable"

Perhaps Jon Huntsman has a wry sense of humor or something.

Via CBS News:

A day after new polling that shows Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul with a clear lead over Jon Huntsman in the critical primary state of New Hampshire, the Huntsman campaign has released an aggressive new web ad attacking Paul for publishing racist and homophobic essays.


In the video, titled "Unelectable," the Huntsman campaign focuses on the newsletters published under Paul's name in the 1980s and 1990s, which included controversial comments about African-Americans. Paul has disavowed the newsletters, insisting that he did not write the controversial comments, nor did they represent his beliefs.

White House reduces time Americans spend filling out federal paperwork to only 8.8 billion hours a year

They did it by changing the way federal agencies estimate how long it takes to complete their paperwork.

Via Chicago Tribune:

The article reported that the time needed to comply with federal paperwork — that is, the amount of time all of us spend filling out government forms — totaled 8.8 billion hours in fiscal 2010. As The Wall Street Journal's account then offered:

The good news? That's lower than the 9.8 billion hours logged the previous year.

The bad news? The drop is mostly due to a change in how federal agencies estimate how long it takes to complete their paperwork.

Do you see what's happening here? It's as if your dentist breezily declares that on the next visit you'll have less discomfort in her chair — because she now estimates that on the next visit you'll have less discomfort in her chair. Regardless of how much discomfort you in fact will have, isn't that reassuring prediction convenient for the dentist?

 Keep on reading...

New laws update from the Peoples Republic of California

California is broke. Taxpayers are fleeing the state in droves. Unemployment is at 11.3%. If you think the legislator is working hard to address these catastrophic problems, you would be wrong. Here are some of California's new laws.

• Effective January 1, there will be new curricula in our schools. K-12 children will learn about all the positive accomplishments contributed by lesbians, homosexuals, bisexual, transgender, and disabled individuals in Social Science classes up and down the State.  The law bans teaching materials that reflect poorly on the above noted individuals. Never mind, teaching the truth; it is better to inculcate students with political dogma.  What ever happened to teaching the Revolutionary, Civil, and World Wars I and II? 
• California’s growing food stamp program will renamed Cal-Fresh. I am not certain if a new bureaucracy will be created adding to the list of 571 California State agencies and commissions many of which are duplicative.
• Beer with added caffeine will be banded from California stores, effective the New Year.
• A minor who is 12 years of age will able to consent to medical care related to a sexually transmitted disease. No parental consent and knowledge required. Let’s remove the parents from the picture. The State will have ultimate jurisdiction over the child’s sexual behavior.
• California continues to push the envelope and welcomes illegal aliens to the Golden State. Effective January 1, unlicensed and uninsured drivers who are snagged in sobriety check points will no longer have their vehicles impounded. Last year, thousands of illegally licensed drivers who also happen to be illegal aliens, lost their vehicles to impound. Law enforcement will be prohibited from impounding vehicles of drivers who operate vehicles without a license, if that is their only offense. The double standard is alive and well in California. 
• While Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia will implement the highly successful E-Verify program to ascertain one’s social security number to verify employment eligibility, California bucks the tide, thumbs its nose at the law, and, effective January 1, prohibits private employers in the State from utilizing the E-Verify system. This side stepping of the law impacts California workers who follow the rules and is a major reason the State’s unemployment rate is the one of the highest in the nation, exceeding 12%. 
• Minors are not permitted to use tanning booths without parents’ permission. Interestingly, a minor as young as 12 in California can have an abortion without knowledge or consent of the parent but the child needs a note from the parent to use a tanning booth. Doesn’t it make you ponder who sits up at night and makes these laws? Do these lawmakers have children?

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus explains why voter ID laws are common sense

The problem with Democrats isn't their lack of common sense. They know vote fraud is usually in their favor and don't want to do anything about it.

(CNN) -- In an outrageous recent fundraising letter the Democratic National Committee solicited funds from the party faithful on the grounds that the DNC was the last remaining bulwark against a series of anti-election-fraud initiatives "in more than 40 states."
That's right, the DNC appears to be standing up for potential fraud — presumably because ending it would disenfranchise at least two of its core constituencies: the deceased and double-voters.

Across America, Republican and Democratic legislatures have put forth voter identification laws this year to protect the constitutional values of equal protection and one person one vote, and for good reason. Election fraud is a real and persistent threat to our electoral system, with allegations cropping up in every election cycle. Just in December, for example, a prosecutor in Indiana launched an investigation into allegations that some fraudulent signatures on petitions may have allowed President Obama to get on the ballot in that state's 2008 primary.

Reince Priebus

Unsurprisingly, 69% of 1,000 likely voters, according to a recent Rasmussen poll, believe voters should be required to show photo identification before being allowed to vote.

But Democrats in Washington disagree. And in their fundraising letter they even went so far as to reference the despicable Jim Crow laws of the segregated South. Will Crossley, the DNC's counsel and voter protection director, wrote, "Republicans are introducing and passing laws that make voting more difficult." He went on, "If that infuriates you...there's something you can do right now. Help us keep up the fight by donating to support Democrats."

Please read the whole opinion piece.

Is the media helping Obama avoid the tough issues?

Richard Benedetto makes a good case.

Via RCP:

...Yet, during all that time, the man they hope to defeat next November has rarely been asked by news reporters about many of these issues. Since August, President Obama has held only one formal White House news conference. That came on Oct. 6, nearly three months ago. It lasted 74 minutes, shorter than any single Republican debate, and the president was asked 17 questions, most of them softballs on the economy and his latest legislative proposals to create jobs.

No questions on immigration, no questions on Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan or Israel or North Korea -- global trouble spots the GOP candidates have been queried about repeatedly. Moreover, he was not asked about what spending cuts he would make to reduce the deficit, nothing about Medicare and Social Security reform or his health care law, all familiar questions for the Republicans seeking his job.

Obama’s ability to avoid tough questions, skate above the fray and look presidential while his potential successors appear to be futilely flailing is not by accident. It is by White House design, abetted by a press corps that seems content with being shut out by the president and being spoon-fed the message of the day, rather than clamoring for more chances to ask him questions during this critical time... Keep on reading...

Change: Newt Yanks Climate Change Chapter From New Book

Is this the kind of change you can believe in? Gingrich is solid on many issues, but global warming isn't one of them.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Newt Gingrich says he has killed a chapter on climate change in a post-election book of essays about the environment. But the intended author of the chapter, who supports the scientific consensus that humans contribute to climate change, says that’s news to her.

Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech, confirmed in an e-mail interview that she had been asked to write a chapter on climate change for the former House speaker’s book. She said she was approached by former Palm Beach Zoo CEO Terry Maple, Gingrich’s coeditor, at an annual meeting of Republicans for Environmental Protection. Asked to confirm her chapter was dropped, she replied, “I had not heard that.”

The climate-change issue arose on Thursday night at a Gingrich campaign stop in Carroll, when a woman expressed concern about the chapter. She said she had heard about it on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program. As she began to tell Gingrich who the author of the piece would be, Gingrich interrupted. “That’s not going to be in the book,” he told her. “We didn’t know that they were doing that, and we told them to kill it.”

Comedy Gold: Olbermann being left out of Current TV election coverage

It couldn't happen to a more deserving douchebag.

Via Business Insider

Keith Olbermann, who began his much-publicized tenure at Al Gore’s Current TV this summer is apparently already on the outs with management there.

So much so, he is reportedly being left out of upcoming election coverage specials.

Brian Stelter at the New York Times writes that Olbermann will be notably absent from Current’s upcoming two hours specials on the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Instead they will be hosted by Cenk Uygur and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm with appearances by Al Gore, who the NYT notes, usually stays behind the scenes at Current.

Read more here…

Obamanomics: Only 55.3 percent of Americans between 16 and 29 have jobs

Unemployment wasn't the change young people were hoping for.

(CNN) — In 2008, the youth vote helped sweep Barack Obama into office. Americans 18-29 spread the word on social media, energized fundraising and went to the polls.

In 2012, the youth vote is moving on and throwing those omnipresent “Hope” bumper stickers and t-shirts in garbage bins.

Not because of apathy. Not because another candidate generates more enthusiasm. Not because of his character. Not because they think voting is pointless. The 18-29 vote is up for grabs in 2012 because youth can’t afford cars to put bumper stickers on and those t-shirts are worn out from too many days sitting on the couch unemployed.

The sobering reality: just 55.3 percent of Americans between 16 and 29 have jobs. And earlier this year, Americans’ student loan debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time ever.

Read more here…

Video: Girl Scout goes on FOX and exposes liberal bias in Girl Scout organization

Fox & Friends speak to the Girl Scout Media Matters whistle blower.

Ron Paul gets the coveted former KKK Grand Wizard and Louisiana Congressman David Duke endorsement

Apparently, former KKK Grand Wizard and Louisiana Congressman David Duke used to be a fan of Ron Paul's controversial newsletters. The only thing worse than this that could happen to Paul is if Nancy Pelosi endorses him next.

Via PolitickerNY:

Ron Paul was a hot topic this week on the talk radio show hosted by prominent white supremacist Don Black and his son Derek. Mr. Black said he received Mr. Paul’s controversial newsletters when they were first published about two decades ago and described how the publications were perceived by members of the white supremacist movement. Former KKK Grand Wizard and Louisiana Congressman David Duke also phoned in to explain why he’s voting for Mr. Paul.

“Everybody, all of us back in the 80s and 90s, felt Ron Paul was, you know, unusual in that he had actually been a Congressman, that he was one of us and now, of course, that he has this broad demographic — broad base of support,” Mr. Black said on his broadcast yesterday.

Report: Obama administration considering release of alleged mass murderer in attempt to jump start talks with Taliban

You can't negotiate with Islamist terror groups. They think it is moral to lie to infidels.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a long-shot bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan, Reuters has learned.

The potential hand-over of Mohammed Fazl, a ‘high-risk detainee’ held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison since early 2002, has set off alarms on Capitol Hill and among some U.S. intelligence officials.

As a senior commander of the Taliban army, Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001.

According to U.S. military documents made public by WikiLeaks, he was also on the scene of a November 2001 prison riot that killed CIA operative Johnny Micheal Spann, the first American who died in combat in the Afghan war. There is no evidence, however, that Fazl played any direct role in Spann’s death.

Jon Huntsman: “They pick corn in Iowa. They actually pick presidents here in New Hampshire.’’

They won't be picking Huntsman at either location.

Via Boston.com:

Former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman is defending his refusal to compete in the leadoff Iowa Republican precinct caucuses, focusing instead on New Hampshire.

Huntsman tells CBS’s “The Early Show’’ the formula, so far as he is concerned, is quite elementary. Says Huntsman: “They pick corn in Iowa. They actually pick presidents here in New Hampshire.’’

Rasmussen Poll Shocker: Romney 45%, Obama 39%

I am not a Romney supporter, but I really like this poll result.

Via Rasmussen:

Mitt Romney has now jumped to his biggest lead ever over President Obama in a hypothetical Election 2012 matchup. It’s also the biggest lead a named Republican candidate has held over the incumbent in Rasmussen Reports surveying to date.

The latest national telephone survey finds that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters favor the former Massachusetts governor, while 39% prefer the president. Ten percent (10%) like some other candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

Gallop: Obama approval underwater again

Via Gallop

Obama's early week surge in popularity seems to be short-lived.

Via The Hill:

President Obama enjoyed a surge in popularity this week — but the bounce proved to be remarkably short-lived.

A Gallup tracking poll released Thursday showed that Obama is once again underwater, plummeting to 41 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval, a sharp drop from earlier in the week.

A survey released Monday showed the president had a sudden uptick in the opinion poll, with 47 percent of respondents approving of the way he was handling his job and 45 percent disapproving. It was the first time since July that more people viewed him favorably than unfavorably.

Rasmussen Poll: Santorum climbing in Iowa

The latest Rasmussen IA poll has Romney at 23%, Paul at 22% and Santorum in 3rd at 16%.

After months of volatility, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul remain the front-runners in Iowa for the third week in a row with the state’s Republican caucus just five days away.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP caucus participants finds Romney with 23% support to Paul’s 22%. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum has moved into third place with 16%, his best showing to date, closely followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry who earn 13% of the vote each.

Obama's approval among Latinos drops below 50%

Time for Team Obama to panic and roll out some kind of illegal immigrant amnesty program.

From The National Journal:

President Obama’s support among Latino voters has declined over the past year, but he still carries more support from them when matched up against potential Republican opponents ahead of the 2012 election, according to a survey of Latino adults released on Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

While 58 percent of Latinos approved of Obama’s performance as president in 2010, 49 percent of them now approve, according to the poll. Meanwhile, 59 percent of Latinos disapprove of how the Obama administration is managing the deportation of illegal immigrants, while only 27 percent approve.

Read more here…

Ouch: Bachmann’s Iowa Chairman Endorses Ron Paul

Personally, I thing Michelle Bachmann is a good conservative, but her campaign is effectively over. It is unlikely she will receive a top three finish in Iowa and that is her home state.

From Allahpundit:

The fact is, there is a clear top tier in the race for the Republican nomination for President, both here in Iowa and nationally. Ron Paul is easily the most conservative of this group...

He’s also consistently spoken out against government spending, assaults on individual liberties, and unnecessary trillion-dollar military adventurism for over 30 years. Polls show he is the Republican candidate that can take on and defeat President Obama in November 2012.

With the entire Republican establishment intent on smearing Ron Paul and his dedicated supporters, I understand this decision could impact the way people see me and my entire political career. But this is the right decision, and one in which I proudly stand behind.

Read more here…

Personally, I think Kent Sorenson made a mistake. Even though it doesn't look like Bachmann has a chance in Iowa, you dance with the one you come with.

Obama being photographed at PetSmart: Good, Obama being photographed at $260 a head dinner: Bad

The hypocrisy of the 1% is showing.

Via White House Dossier:

President Obama and Michelle had dinner last night at Honolulu’s famed foodie paradise...

I realize the Obamas are wealthy people, and that wealthy people have the right to drop $260 of their disposable income on chow. But if you’re going to invite Associated Press photographers along to capture your trip to Target and stage photo ops at PetSmart and Best Buy, then I’m going to write about your unpublicized excursion to Alan Wong’s.

Diners have been trying to takes pictures of POTUS, only to be chased off by advance staffers.

Since when are people not allowed to take pictures?

Read more here…

The PetSmart picture above is from a White House blog. I wonder is they will post pictures and blog about Obama and Michelle's expensive taste in food?

Hypocrisy: IP addresses assigned to House of Representatives engaged in illegal downloading

Congress wants to pass the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which would hamstring bloggers, social networking sites and even YouTube. They claim they are protecting against copyright infringement. Strangely, they seem to en engaged in copyright infringement while they are trying to stop it. Oh well, they never thought the rules applied to them anyway. Learn why SOPA is very bad here.

Via BoingBoing:

The House, of course, has been mired in Internet controversy since Rep Lamar Smith introduced his Stop Online Piracy Act, which establishes a regime of national censorship in the name of fighting copyright infringement. So it is with some amusement that TorrentFreak points out that more than 800 of the IP addresses assigned to the House of Reps were involved in copyright infringement over BitTorrent, according to the YHD database. There's a big trove of self-help books in there, with titles like "Crucial Conversations- Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High," and who knows, maybe that's what Mr Smith was reading when he decided to sell out America to Hollywood?

Something that immediately caught our eye are the self-help books that are downloaded in the House. “Crucial Conversations- Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High,” for example, may indeed be of interest to the political elite in the United States. And “How to Answer Hard Interview Questions And Everything Else You Need to Know to Get the Job You Want” may be helpful for those who aspire to higher positions.

Obama plans to ignore Congress and precedent to use taxpayer money to advocate gun control (video)

Obama plans to ignore Congress and precedent to use taxpayer money to advocate gun control (video).


NRA News: Obama Released Statement Saying He Can Use Taxpayer Money For Gun Control Ads

Ron Paul accused of flirting with "9-11 Truther" beliefs

After polls showing Ron Paul could win the Iowa GOP Caucus, the attacks are coming hot and heavy.

Via Daily Caller:

In a statement released on Monday, a 16-year former aide to Texas Rep. Ron Paul writes that the presidential candidate “was opposed to the war in Afghanistan, and to any military reaction to the attacks of 9/11,” but ultimately voted “Yay” [sic] in the face of a threatened staff rebellion and near-certain political suicide. [...]

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Paul “engaged in conspiracy theories including, perhaps, [that] the attacks were coordinated with the CIA, and that the Bush administration might have known about the attacks ahead of time,” Dondero wrote. “He expressed no sympathies whatsoever for those who died on 9/11, and pretty much forbade us staffers from engaging in any sort of memorial expressions, or openly asserting pro-military statements in support of the Bush administration.”

“On the eve of the vote,” the former Paul staffer continued, “Ron Paul was still telling us staffers that he was planning to vote ‘No’ on the resolution, and to be prepared for a seriously negative reaction in [his Texas] district. [Current District Case Director] Jackie Gloor and I, along with quiet nods of agreement from the other staffers in the district, declared our intentions to Tom Lizardo, our chief of staff, and to each other, that if Ron voted ‘No,’ we would immediately resign.”

Lizardo became Paul’s chief of staff in 1997 and resigned in 2008.

Read more here…

Is Big Sis and DHS tracking your Twitter and Facebook account?

They could be if you use words such as words such as ‘illegal immigrant’, ‘outbreak’, ‘drill’, ‘strain’, ‘virus’and ‘recovery.’

(Daily Mail) — The Department of Homeland Security makes fake Twitter and Facebook profiles for the specific purpose of scanning the networks for ‘sensitive’ words – and tracking people who use them.

Simply using a word or phrase from the DHS’s ‘watch’ list could mean that spies from the government read your posts, investigate your account, and attempt to identify you from it, acccording to an online privacy group.

The words which attract attention range from ones seemingly related to diseases or bioweapons such as ‘human to animal’ and ‘outbreak’ to other, more obscure words such as ‘drill’ and ‘strain’.
The DHS also watches for words such as ‘illegal immigrant’.

The DHS outlined plans to scans blogs, Twitter and Facebook for words such as ‘illegal immigrant’, ‘outbreak’, ‘drill’, ‘strain’, ‘virus’, ‘recovery’, ‘deaths’, ‘collapse’, ‘human to animal’ and ‘trojan’, according to an ‘impact asssessment’ document filed by the agency.

Read more here…

The only thing President Obama has truly improved is gun sales

Many things have increased under President Obama. Unemployment, national debt, food stamps and partisan bickering are just a few. Of course, those are not positive things. The only positive thing to increase under President Obama is gun sales. I wonder if he will use that in a campaign ad?

The record for a single year was set just last year, when the FBI reported that 14,409,616 background checks were requested. In 2011 that figure will top 16 million. FBI spokesman Steve Fischer said just 1.3% of background checks result in denial of a weapon.

With a week left in December, the FBI said the monthly record has already been broken, and that was only set last month when 1,534,414 background checks were requested from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

CNN writes:

Two days before Christmas, NICS ran 102,222 background checks, which was the second-busiest day in history. The one-day record was set this year on Black Friday, the big shopping day following Thanksgiving, with 129,166 searches. By comparison, the previous one-day high was set November 28, 2008, when gun dealers made slightly less than 98,000 requests for background searches.

The NRA said more people are flocking to guns for self defense.

Shameful: Taxpayers are still paying to exercise shrimp

Can we end all discussion of tax increases until stupid wastes of tax dollars end?

(CNSNews.com) — Reports of $500,000 of taxpayer funds to study a project that has shrimp running on a treadmill hit the headlines early in 2011. A recent report now shows that $682,570 in grants has been awarded to the research effort.

According to the National Science Foundation (NSF) website, the money has been granted to the “Taking the Pulse of Marine Life in Stressed Seas” research conducted by biology professors Louis and Karen Burnett at the College of Charleston. The research page describes the professor’s “big question” as “How are human-made marine stresses affecting the marine life that we need?”

British Company doing centenary Titanic cruise

What could possibly go wrong?


Via The Independent: 

For some, it might sound too much like tempting fate – and for others, it smacks of "disaster voyeurism". But for more than 2,000 Titanic enthusiasts, the chance to mark the centenary of the maritime disaster by sailing on a large cruise ship to commemorate the sinking on the very spot of the tragedy is proving difficult to resist.

A British company has almost sold out two cruises for people to mark the anniversary on 15 April by following the route of the Titanic to where it struck an iceberg. The booming demand for Titanic-related travel has led to another travel company offering the chance to explore the wreckage of the ill-fated vessel in a Russian-built submarine next summer at a cost of $59,000 (£37,000) per person. Places for that voyage are already "very limited".

Breaking: Rick Perry Sues to Get on Virgina Primary Ballot

Breaking: Rick Perry Sues to Get on Virgina Primary Ballot

(BI)- Texas Gov. Rick Perry has filed suit in federal court against the Virginia Republican Party and the Virginia Board of Elections in order to gain a spot on the Commonwealth's primary ballot.

Perry was excluded after the party found he had not submitted enough valid signatures by the deadline last Thursday. His campaign submitted 6,000 of the required 10,000, according to the suit.

The lawsuit alleges that Perry's 1st and 14th Amendment rights were violated by the requirement that those circulating the petitions also be eligible or registered voters of Virginia. Keep on reading...

Hero: Store Clerk Delivers Knock-Out Punch to Robber (video)

This story made me feel good. Is that wrong?

'Cornhusker kickback' Ben Nelson will not seek re-election

Senator Ben Nelson who delivered a crucial vote for Obamacare in exchange for special treatment for his state, will not seek re-election.

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska has told supporters he will not seek re-election. His decision was first reported by Politico.

In his statement, Nelson said: "Simply put: It is time to move on."

Nelson, 70, was facing a tough fight for a third term. His retirement improves the GOP's chances of picking up the Nebraska Senate seat the Democrat has held since 2000, and it enhances the odds of a Republican takeover of the Senate in 2012.

"It looks like he didn't have the stomach for the fight, and it was going to be one," said Jennifer Duffy, a non-partisan election analyst for the Cook Political Report. "Keeping the majority just got a little harder for (Democrats)."

Obama's FBI removes Taliban leader Mullah Omar from 'Most Wanted Terrorist' list

President Obama will probably present Mullah Omar with a medal before it is over.

(Express Tribune) — The Unites States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has removed the name of Afghan Taliban supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar from its list of “most wanted terrorists”.

Earlier, reports about the US establishing contacts with Omar had surfaced. The reports said that the US wanted to bring the Taliban to negotiation table in order to end the conflict in Afghanistan.

So far, several claims have been made by the US about negotiations with the Taliban, but Islamabad and Kabul have never been taken into confidence over the much speculated-about talks.

According to reports, the US had offered Taliban control over the south of Afghanistan, while leaving the north for the other political forces under American influence. However, this was rejected by the Taliban.

After 10 months of secret dialogue with Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents, senior US officials said the talks have reached a “critical juncture” and they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible, leading to peace talks whose ultimate goal is to end the Afghan war.

According to this government website, we are still offering a $10 million reward.

Obama sets new personal record for golf outing

32 this year and counting...

(USA Today) — President Obama Monday set a new personal one-year golfing record while serving as president.

And, as he vacations in Hawaii, the First Golfer still has time to add to that record.
After golfing at a Marine Corps base Monday, Obama has so far totaled 32 golf outings this year, topping the totals in each of the first two years of his presidency.

Video: Japan Tsunami debris begins to arrive on U.S. coasts

Via AFP:

As much as 20 million tons of debris is estimated to have washed out to sea when the tsunami struck Japan in March. Now the first traces are appearing on the other side of Pacific ocean, on US and Canadian shores.

Nancy Pelosi is spending Christmas in $10,000 a night Hawaiian resort

No word if Pelosi and Obama will take time off from their 1% Hawaiian vacations to meet and plan the final destruction of the American dream.

(Hawaii Reporter) — News that President Barack Obama arrived in Hawaii this weekend to join his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha in time for a Christmas holiday has been covered by news media worldwide.

But another powerful politician is here for the holidays as well, albeit on another island and with less media attention.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, who served as Speaker of the House and is now head of the House minority, is once again spending her Christmas at the exotic Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu in Kona on the island of Hawaii.

Pelosi reportedly plans to spend her Christmas Eve at midnight mass in St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Kailua-Kona.

Pelosi spent the last two Christmas holidays in Kona at the same hotel in an elaborate suite that rents for $10,000 a night.

Obama’s trip to the island of Oahu has proved much pricier to state and federal taxpayers.

In a Hawaii Reporter story published last week, the total cost (based on what is known) for a 17-day round trip vacation to Hawaii for the President and his family and staff and security is an estimated $4,113,038.

Barack and Michelle Obama may be the only two Americans who remember what Kwanzaa is

In case you don't know what Kwanzaa is, it isn't a native African celebration. It is a holiday made up by black nationalists.

Statement by the President and First Lady on Kwanzaa  via WhiteHouse.gov

Michelle and I send our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Kwanzaa this holiday season. Today marks the beginning of the week-long celebration honoring African American heritage and culture through the seven principles of Kwanzaa — unity, self determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

We celebrate Kwanzaa at a time when many African Americans and all Americans reflect on our many blessings and memories over the past year and our aspirations for the year to come. And even as there is much to be thankful for, we know that there are still too many Americans going through enormous challenges and trying to make ends meet. But we also know that in the spirit of unity, or Umoja, we can overcome those challenges together.

As families across America and around the world light the red, black, and green candles of the Kinara this week, our family sends our well wishes and blessings for a happy and healthy new year.

New Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich Video Ads

Rick Perry: Part-Time Congress



Newt Gingrich: Christmas Day 1776 - "Victory or Death"



Which is best? You decide.

Insanity: TSA agent confiscates a red velvet cupcake at the LV International Airport

Apparently, the frosting looked dangerous or something.

Change: Nour Salafist party wants to cover the great pyramids in wax or something

Arab spring shows it's downside.

(Daily Mail) — The pyramids at Giza are the most stunning sight I have ever seen.
True, their lonely eminence is threatened by Cairo’s unlicensed building sprawl, with half completed houses inching their way towards them.

Surveying them at night as the calls to prayer multiplied into a thunder of sound from central Cairo already told me a few years back what was coming.

For now members of the Nour (The Light) Salafist party, which won 20 per cent of the vote in recent elections, are talking about putting an end to the ‘idolatry’ represented by the pyramids.


This means destruction — along the lines essayed by the Afghan Taliban who blew up the Banyam Buddhas — or ‘concealment’ by covering them with wax. Tourists would presumably see great blobs rather than the perfectly carved steps.

This last suggestion was made by Abdel Moneim Al-Shahat, a Nour candidate for parliament. Apart from wanting to do away with this ‘rotten culture’, this gentleman also wants to ban the Nobel prize winning novels of Naguib Mahfouz, one of many great Egyptian writers. Read more here...

Priceless: LA Times claims Gov. Jerry Brown's biggest achievement is he didn't screw things up worse

Sadly, the same thing can not be said of President Obama.

Via LA Times:

...Grading Brown is a tough call.

What did he actually accomplish?

His biggest achievement is essentially overlooked: He didn't screw things up worse.

That is a monumental feat, especially given some past governors in their freshman years. This governor, of course, is no freshman. He long ago learned to recognize pitfalls.

Brown heeded the admonishment of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates: "First … do no harm."...

Strange: 80-year-old stone unearthed in Scotland looks like Homer Simpson

Many people think this 800-year-old stone found in a Scottish garden is an ancestor of Homer Simpson or something. You decide.

Classy: Occupy Nashville Gals Duke It Out On Christmas Day (Video)

What was the number of pregnant women in brawls at Tea Party events?

Flashback Video: President Ronald Reagan's Christmas Address,12/23/1981

Remember when our leaders still understood the real meaning of Christmas? Remember when America had a real leader?

Politically Correct: Pelosi Christmas greeting email fails to mention Christmas

Would it kill liberals to say Merry Christmas?

From: Nancy Pelosi
Subject: Happy Holidays
Date: December 25, 2011 9:55:33 AM EST
To: Drew
Reply-To: Nancy Pelosi
Drew —
At this time of year when we gather with family and friends, I want to send you and your family warm wishes for a joyous and peaceful holiday season.
Thank you for your unwavering support of the Democratic Party and your determination to make real change that has improved the lives of millions of your fellow Americans.
Have a happy and healthy holiday season with your family and friends. And thank you again for your continuing commitment to the Democratic Party and to our country.
Best Wishes,
Nancy Pelosi

Christmas comes early for al Qaeda and Taliban

The CIA has suspended drone attacks in Pakistan.

(LA Times) — In an effort to mend badly frayed relations with Pakistan, the CIA has suspended drone missile strikes on gatherings of low-ranking militants believed to be involved in cross-border attacks on U.S. troops or facilities in Afghanistan, current and former U.S. officials say.

The undeclared halt in CIA attacks, now in its sixth week, is aimed at reversing a sharp erosion of trust after a series of deadly incidents, including the mistaken attack by U.S. gunships that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last month.

The pause also comes amid an intensifying debate in the Obama administration over the future of the CIA’s covert drone war in Pakistan. The agency has killed dozens of Al Qaeda operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters there since the first Predator strike in 2004, but the program has infuriated many Pakistanis.

Some officials in the State Department and the National Security Council say many of the airstrikes are counterproductive. They argue that rank-and-file militants are easy to replace, and that Pakistani claims of civilian casualties, which the U.S. disputes, have destabilized the government of President Asif Ali Zardari, a U.S. ally.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Merry Christmas to all my readers.

Video: The Amazing Grace Christmas House - Holdman Christmas

 I hope all of you and your families have a wonderful Christmas Eve. The video is great in full screen mode.

Congratulations: Your government spent $592,000 in your tax dollars to study why monkeys throw their feces

The following gems were complied by VOODOO WARRIOR from the Coburn 2011 Wastebook.

- $740,000 given to Montana State University tostudy how wild sheep can be used to control weeds.

- $132,000 granted to redesign a show website for PBS, Jonathan Bird's Blue World.

- $499,000 given to the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Society for no reason anyone can identify.

- $80,000 to upgrade a street median in Washington DC.

- $339,000 awarded by the National Science Foundation to study weaving in Iceland.

- $5,180,000 to fund the construction of a Steamboat Overlook Interpretive Center in Louisiana.

- $923,000 awarded by the National Science Foudnation to study how robots can be used to help pre-schholers learn to read.

- $592,000 from the National Institute of Health to study why monkeys throw their sh*t.

There are more here if you can stand it.

Arithmetic Fail: Team Obama Can't Add

The correct number is $480.

Tweet:

Strange Video: ‘Gay Robot’ Heckles Bachmann At Iowa Event

 File this one under: Liberals are weird.

RoboProf v. Bachmann

Scary: Congress Funding Massive TSA Checkpoint Expansion

Groping and nude scanning coming soon to a highway near you.

Congress is set to give the green light on funding for a massive expansion of TSA checkpoints, with the federal agency already responsible for over 9,000 such checkpoints in the last year amidst increased fears America is turning into a police state following the passage of the ‘indefinite detention’ bill.

The increase in funding has nothing to do with the TSA’s role in airports – this is about creating 12 more VIPR teams to add the federal agency’s 25 units that are already scattered across the country and responsible for manning checkpoints on highways, in bus and train terminals, at sports events and even high school prom nights.

Our National Nightmare Ends: Obama Finally Starts His Christmas Hawaiian Vacation

Creating jobs at golf courses everywhere...

King Obama to ignore 20 policy riders in the 2012 omnibus funding bill

President King Obama is abusing signing statements again.

Via The Hill:

President Obama said Friday he will not be bound by at least 20 policy riders in the 2012 omnibus funding the government, including provisions pertaining to Guantanamo Bay and gun control.

After he signed the omnibus into law Friday, the White House released a concurrent signing statement saying Obama will object to portions of the legislation on constitutional grounds.

Signing statements are highly controversial, and their legality is disputed.

"I have advised the Congress that I will not construe these provisions as preventing me from fulfilling my constitutional responsibility to recommend to the Congress's consideration such measures as I shall judge necessary and expedient," Obama said in a statement as he signed the bill into law.

Video: The Obama Christmas Song for Liberals

Via Americans for Prosperity California:


Merry Christmas liberals!

Comedy Gold: Occupiers react to Time naming them "Person of the Year" (video)

Tears shortly after 42 second mark. (language warning in last half of video)



These people really need to get a life.

Big Weiner now has a little Weiner

Disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner is now a daddy. Let's congratulate him and hope his son turns out better than he did.

Don’t expect to see the baby photos on Twitter.

Disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned his Congressional seat in disgrace amid an online sex scandal, became a Dad Wednesday night, according to sources.

Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, gave birth to Jordan Zain Weiner, who weighed in at 7 lbs., 5 oz.
The child, who arrived ten days before his due date, enters a household forever changed by Weiner’s stunning fall from grace.

21-year-old emerges from coma as doctors prepare to part him out

File this under: Do not always trust your doctors.

Via Yahoo News:

Sam Schmid, an Arizona college student believed to be brain dead and poised to be an organ donor, miraculously recovered just hours before doctors were considering taking him off life support. 

Schmid, a junior and business major at the University of Arizona, was critically wounded in an Oct. 19 five-car accident in Tucson.

 

The 21-year-old's brain injuries were so severe that the local hospital could not treat him. He was airlifted to the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Phoenix, where specialists performed surgery for a life-threatening aneurysm. 

As hospital officials began palliative care and broached the subject of organ donation with his family, Schmid began to respond, holding up two fingers on command. Today he is walking with the aid of a walker, and his speech, although slow, has improved. 

Doctors say he will likely have a complete recovery. He even hopes to get a day pass from the hospital to celebrate the holidays with his large extended family.

Mitt Romney: No you can not see my tax returns

The 1% has spoken.

(The Hill) — Mitt Romney said he will not release his tax returns if he wins the Republican nomination for president, a rare move for a candidate.

When asked if he would, Romney, in an unaired segment of an interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, said that he doesn’t “intend to” release the returns.

“I doubt it. I will provide all the financial info, which is an extraordinary pile of documents which show investments and so forth,” he said, according to video provided by NBC.

When Todd pointed out that Romney had asked Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to release his returns during their 1994 race, Romney reiterated his remarks.

“Never say never but I don’t intend to do so,” he said.

President Obama’s campaign blasted Romney’s statement.

“By declaring that, if nominated, he would not release his income tax returns, Mitt Romney is defying a practice to which every party nominee, Republican and Democrat, has adhered for decades,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. “Even his father, George Romney, disclosed his tax returns when he ran for president in 1968. Why does Gov. Romney feel like he can play by a different set of rules? What is it that he doesn’t want the American people to see?”  Read more here...

Obama administration plans to let Chinese steal more of our nuclear secrets?

The last nuclear scientist exchange we did with the Chinese ended in an espionage disaster. For some unknown reason, the Obama administration wants to give it another try.

(Washington Times) — Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman is working on a major Obama administration initiative that would renew scientist exchanges between U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories and Chinese nuclear facilities.

The idea is aimed at promoting openness and transparency by China’s military about its secret, large-scale buildup of nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials.

Critics say the plan is similar to an exchange program in the 1990s that sent U.S. nuclear scientists to China and produced one of the worst cases of nuclear espionage. Secrets about every deployed warhead in the U.S. arsenal were compromised, including the W-88 small nuclear warhead deployed on submarine-launched missiles.

“We’ve seen this movie before, and it has a bad ending,” one official said. Keep on reading...

Gallop: 17% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S.

These 17% must be filthy rich or on welfare. The working class isn't happy at all.

PRINCETON, NJ — Throughout 2011, an average of 17% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. That is the second-lowest annual average in the more than 30-year history of the question, after the 15% from 2008. Satisfaction has averaged as high as 60% in 1986, 1998, and 2000.

The 2011 average includes 15% satisfaction from a Dec. 15–18 Gallup poll, which is a slight improvement from readings of 11% as recently as September. During the year, satisfaction ranged from lows of 11% in August and September to a high of 26% in May, recorded after the United States military found and killed Osama bin Laden.

Sad: U.N. Holds Minute of Silence For Mass Murderer Kim Jong Il

A party would have been more appropriate.

UNITED NATIONS  – The UN General Assembly granted a request from North Korea and held a few moments of silence Thursday for Kim Jong-il, the country’s former leader who died Saturday, though Western delegations boycotted it.

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the 193-nation assembly, called for a “minute of silence” before the start of a routine meeting at 3:00 p.m. EST in the half-empty UN General Assembly hall.

“It is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Kim Jong-il, Secretary-General of the Workers Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission of theDemocratic People’s Republic of Korea and Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, who passed away on Saturday, Dec. 17,” he said.

Read more here…

New Rick Perry Video AD: Newsreel

The pro-Rick-Perry Super PAC “Make Us Great Again” manages an amazing number of shots at Gingrich and Romney in this 30 second ad.

U.S. joins triple digit “debt to GDP” club

This is an ignoble Christmas present for America.

Via Zero Hedge:

With precisely one year left for the world and all of its inhabitants, at least according to the Mayans, not to mention on the day of the Winter Solstice, it is only fitting that US debt, net of all settlements for all already completed bond auctions, is now at precisely $15,182,756,264,288.80. Why is this relevant? Because the latest annualized US GDP, according to the BEA, was $15,180,900,000.00. Which means that, as of today, total US debt to GDP is 100.012%.

Congratulations America: you are now in the triple digit “debt to GDP” club!

I. Total debt as of December 20: $15,131,979,264,288,80 (source)

II. Net cash settlement of all completed auctions: $50,777,000,000 (source)

III. Total GDP: $15,180,900,000,000 (source)

=> Total Debt/GDP= $15,182,756,264,288.80/$15,180,900,000,000 = 100.012%

Read more here…

Flashback Video: Jon Kyl tells of Obama holding US border security hostage

Jon Kyl tells of Obama holding US security hostage


Via YouTube:

On June 18, 2010, Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl told the audience at a North Phoenix Tea Party town hall meeting that during a private, one-on-one meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office, the President told him, regarding securing the southern border with Mexico, "The problem is, . . . if we secure the border, then you all won't have any reason to support 'comprehensive immigration reform.'"

The White House denied this was true, but it appears Obama is carrying through with his implied threat. DHS is reducing the 1000 National Guard on the border to 300.

For the person who has everything, Occupy Wall Street: the Lego Set (video)

 Introducing the special-edition Lego Occupy Wall Street: Civil Unrest Edition.

Via Slate:

Comedy Gold: Cantankerous GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner on Michelle Obama: “she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

Ouch! Cantankerous GOP Rep.Jim Sensenbrenner on Michelle Obama:

“she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

(Fishbowl DC) — Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), known for his cantankerous ways and for not speaking to media unless it’s his idea, was overheard at the Delta Crown lounge at Reagan National Airport today talking on his cellphone about an incident he said occurred three weeks ago while at an Episcopal church auction. Please note, a church auction.

Our source, a Democratic operative who heard the whole thing, said he was “very loud”. Sensenbrenner was overheard saying that after buying all their “crap” (his word) a woman approached him and praised first lady Michelle Obama. He told the woman that Michelle should practice what she preaches — “she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

read more here. . .

Video: Rep. Steny Hoyer Gets His Panties in a Bunch

A reporter call Congressional gridlock a "dog and pony show." Steny Hoyer doesn't take it well.

Image of the Day: Obama’s Change – Had Enough?

This has been circulating by email. I am unsure what is the location of this anti-Obama billboard.

anti-Obama, billboard

Rasmussen: Only 29% of likely voters now think we can win in Afghanistan

What America needs is a new Commander-in-Chief.

(Rasmussen)- Confidence that the United States can win the war in Afghanistan has fallen to an all-time low. Most voters also are more worried that the United States will remain in Afghanistan too long but trust the military commanders on timing more than President Obama.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% of Likely U.S. Voters now think it is still possible for the United States to win the war in Afghanistan, down from 34% a year ago at this time and down from 51% in December 2009.

Nancy Pelosi Has a Rick Perry Moment (video)

Nancy Pelosi becomes so confused we have to wonder if she suffered a mini stroke while speaking on the House floor. Will the mainstream media eviscerate her like they did Rick Perry or yawn and move on.


Nancy Pelosi Telling Yogi Berra Stories

Sad: U.N. Ad Depicts Santa Claus As Villainous Character Favoring The Rich

Santa in the video ad:

 “I Don’t Do Poor Countries”…

I don't do Unicef.

Priceless: Hugo Chávez calls Obama a “clown” and an “embarrassment”

Hugo Chávez should know.

Via The Guardian:

On the eve of his first official overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer, Hugo Chávez has launched a blistering attack on Barack Obama, describing the US president as a “clown” and an “embarrassment”.

“Focus on governing your country, which you’ve turned into a disaster,” the Venezuelan president told state TV on Monday. Chávez touched down in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, on Tuesday for a summit of Mercosur, South America’s leading trade bloc.

Chávez’s comments followed a rare and strongly worded interview with Obama published by the Caracas-based El Universal newspaper. The American president criticised Venezuela’s business and political links with Iran and Cuba, and raised concerns at what he called threats to the country’s democracy.

Read more here…

Good News: MoveOn.org sends E-Mail suggesting that the activist group could go belly-up without more donations

Via Washington Whispers:

“Imagine if MoveOn disappeared?” That’s the warning in a shocking new E-mail from the left-leaning organizing group that has done so much since 1998 to elect Democratic candidates like President Obama.

Executive Director Justin Ruben suggests that the activist group could go belly-up if supporters don’t raise $400,000, and fast.

“Imagine if MoveOn disappeared and the work so many people do through MoveOn stopped happening altogether. Not to get technical, but it would be bad. To avoid that — to keep MoveOn going and growing — costs money, even though we keep our staff small and work from home to keep overhead low. Right now, to make ends meet, we need to raise $400,000 by the end of the year,” writes Ruben.

Even a shrunken MoveOn would be a blow to Democrats in the upcoming 2012 elections.

Read more here…

PolitiFact Lie of the Year 2011: 'Republicans voted to end Medicare'

Liberal heads are now exploding in Washington DC.

(PolitiFact)- Republicans muscled a budget through the House of Representatives in April that they said would take an important step toward reducing the federal deficit. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the plan kept Medicare intact for people 55 or older, but dramatically changed the program for everyone else by privatizing it and providing government subsidies.

Democrats pounced. Just four days after the party-line vote, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a Web ad that said seniors will have to pay $12,500 more for health care "because Republicans voted to end Medicare."[...]

PolitiFact debunked the Medicare charge in nine separate fact-checks rated False or Pants on Fire, most often in attacks leveled against Republican House members.

Now, PolitiFact has chosen the Democrats’ claim as the 2011 Lie of the Year.

President Obama has coffee at White House with his re-election team

President Obama invited all the liberal stars of the mainstream media over to the White House for coffee. Undoubtedly, he wanted to than them for their hard work on his re-election campaign.

(ABC News) — An all-star list of progressive and liberal media folks came to the White House today to chat with President Obama over coffee in the Roosevelt Room.

The group chatted with the president about economic messaging, his agenda for 2012, the various campaign arguments against different GOP candidates, the desire among some Democrats for him to highlight his foreign policy accomplishments, fighting corporate influence and the “crappiness” of the Senate filibuster, as one attendee put it.

Those there included the Washington Post‘s Ezra Klein and Greg Sargent, MSNBC anchors Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Hayes, the Nation’s editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, the New York Times’ Frank Bruni, and stars of the interwebs Arianna Huffington, Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, Faiz Shakir of ThinkProgress and Joy Reid of The Reid Report.

Gallop: Congress ends year on new approval low

STD's are more popular than Congress.