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Obama 'meddles' in Honduras -- and chooses the wrong side

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:15:29 GMT

clipped by: Newzworth
clipper's remarks: Its surely tough to make decisions about the diplomatic posture America should take when defending (or supporting) liberty and democracy around the world. Especially when you hardly believe in in yourself. Its gonna be a tough 3.5 years for Obama at this rate.

Clip Source: www.nydailynews.com

Obama 'meddles' in Honduras -- and chooses the wrong side

Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 4:46 PM

Like his chief backer, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Zelaya was intent on rewriting his country's constitution to abolish term limits.

When the country's Supreme Court declared his actions unconstitutional and the country's top military officer informed Zelaya that he would not carry out his orders to oversee a sham election, Zelaya fired him. Zelaya then led a mob of supporters - including armed thugs supplied by Chavez and Nicaraguan Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega - to try to steal the ballots.

Clip Source: www.nydailynews.com

Nevertheless, the Pentagon has cut off all cooperation with the Honduran military and Obama administration officials told The New York Times of their intention to give the poverty-stricken Central American nation "a taste of isolation" (would they threaten such consequences for the mullahs in Iran?).

Washington, which has been so reluctant to support democracy in far away Persia

Tags: honduras, zelaya, supreme court, central america, democracy

Friday Potpourri

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:34:35 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: And now the latest money-making scheme from the left-wing press: The Washington Post is selling access to administration officials and reporters for $25,000 to $250,000. At one time, this sort of thing would be considered unethical, but under Obama-Pelosi-Reid, selling access to government officials is just more deep-dish Chicago Style government.

Life imitates South Park: A woman in Florida is attacked by a woodland critter. We could have warned her, woodland critters are dangerous…

"I never expected a woodland creature"

Clip Source: tehresistance.wordpress.com

Alec Baldwin is considering a run for governor of Ohio. As Jonah Goldberg has noted, “Alec Baldwin is too dumb to be a spell-checker at an M&M factory.”

The ACORN Census is already underway in Detroit, where the city’s population count has been adjusted upward by 81,000 imaginary residents.

Speaking of community organizers, M’Chel Obama enjoys the rare privilege of Sunday shopping in France.

France, by the way, is cutting taxes to encourage economic growth, which is possible because France is led by a free-market capitalist, not a neo-Marxist community organizer.

Michael Jackson’s scumbag father is charging admission to the Gloved One’s funeral.

And from the land of fruits and nuts, Moonbat gets burned walking into a fire at the ‘Burning Man’ festival, sues, loses. Note, he wasn’t burned incidentally, he walked into a freakin’ bonfire! Maybe he should have just poured McDonald’s coffee on himself and sued for that. Those lawsuits usually turn out better for the dimwit plaintiff.

Tags: 'burning man', acorn census detroit, florida woman attacked, france cutting taxes, wapo selling access

Colin Powell "Concerned" About Obama’s Spending Blitz:

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:24:45 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: "We Can’t Pay For It All”
COLIN POWELL: “One of the cautions that has to be given to the president " and I’ve talked to some of his people about this " is that you can’t have so many things on the table that you can’t absorb it all. And we can’t pay for it all.”

Clip Source: polijamblog.polijam.com

[Video]

VISIT OUR HOMESITE www.polijam.com FOR ALL THE LATEST HEADLINES AND NEWS

Tags: cnn, colin powell, john king, obama's spending blitz

Terrifying view from skyscraper's 103rd floor

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:52:03 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: Architect Ross Wimer said: 'We did studies that showed a four-foot-deep (1.2 metres) enclosure makes you feel like you're floating since there's only room for one row of people, not two.'

The Skydeck attracts 25,000 visitors on clear days. They each pay $15 to take an elevator ride up to the 103rd floor of the 110-story office building that opened in 1973.

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

If you're scared of heights, it may be time to look away now.

Not content with having the tallest building in America, the owners of Sears Tower in Chicago have installed four glass box viewing platforms which stick out of the building 103 floors up.

The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building's Skydeck.

Designers say the platforms - collectively dubbed The Ledge - have been purposely designed to make visitors feel as they are floating above the city.

The reward is unobstructed views of Chicago from the building's west side and a heart-stopping vista of the street and Chicago River below - for those brave enough to look straight down.

The balconies are 10ft high and 10ft wide, can hold five tons, and have glass which is 1.5 inch thick.

Long way up: Even the floor of the platforms are glass - few were brave enough to look straight down

Tags: architecture, science, urban, thrillsville

Left in Dark Times, Bernard-Henri Lévy

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:13:42 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: Maybe the most important book of our time! I think I will move this to the top of my list

MORE:

The neoprogressives believe "liberalism is the source all the planet's evils," Lévy writes (p. 90), so they must declare innocent those Third World despots who "meddle with their citizens and treat them like cattle," because in the neoprogressive dogma "the System, and the System alone, bears full responsibility." They reject that the great revolutions, including the British and the American, were explicitly liberal, and used liberal thought in their struggle against absolutism (p. 92). The liberal market-based republics can more easily be portrayed as Evil, when liberty, which might be thought their finest aspect, disappears from view.

Clip Source: www.telospress.com

Bernard-Henri Lévy, Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism. Trans. Benjamin Moser. New York: Random House, 2008. Pp. xviii + 233.

Bernard-Henri Lévy's new book is annoying as a memoir but, when carefully read and pieced together, devastating as an indictment. Getting there will require the reader's determination. Take the time to get past stylistic self-indulgence, forgive some hyperbole, patch up a few logical gaps, and what's left is still essential reading. It uncloaks the most disturbing political trend of our time: the rise of a new absolutist ideology, one that is global, anti-liberal, anti-American, anti-Semitic, and pro-Islamofascist, and despite being irreligious is also—and this will require explanation—anti-secular.

Oxymoronic Left, new barbarism, neoprogressivism, red fascism—Lévy does not keep to a single name for it. What he does make clear is that it is emerging from the cadaverous Left, the "backward falling corpse"

One photo is worth one thousand words (38 pics)

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:14:39 GMT

clipped by: perellicippo

Clip Source: izismile.com

One photo is worth one thousand words (38 pics)

These photography masterpieces can easily catch your eye. Each photo can be stared at for hours, because each one has a thousand stories to tell.
I recommend you to look these photos. I myself stared at them with a big pleasure. A great way to relax!

[via humorearth.com]

Lt. Gov. Respoonse to Palin's Announcement

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:12:01 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: Gee....I wish our Gov. had these goals. Instead we have a wimpy GOP game-player who took Washington's money & it's strings.

Clip Source: www.ltgov.state.ak.us

Lt. Gov. Response to Palin’s Announcement

Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell has released his prepared remarks in response to Governor Palin’s announcement.

I want to take a moment to assure Alaskans of the good team in place to move Alaska forward

My top priority is to get a gasline. I will continue the course set by the governor that has produced such forward progress these past two years. I will continue to support and promote responsible resource development and energy development of all kinds for Alaskans.

State government will live within its means and we will provide a stable investment climate for job creation. We remain committed to education, safe homes, and transportation. We proudly and resolutely support our military, veterans, and their families, and we will protect second amendment rights. Perhaps most importantly, we cherish life and liberty.

Palin will not seek re-election

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:30:55 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: Oh my. She must be tougher than nails if she plans to run for President. The Left is relentless now. I can not imagine what they would do to her then.

Clip Source: www.politico.com

Sarah Palin will not seek re-election

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has told associates that she will not seek re-election next year, freeing her to pursue a White House bid in 2012, according to two GOP sources.

By not running for re-election, Palin liberates herself from the political constraints that come with running for president while still in elected office.

Leaving office at the end of next year, the former vice presidential hopeful will be able to travel the country more freely without facing the sort of repeated ethics inquiries she’s been fending off since returning to Alaska earlier this year.

Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs. Part 1

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:10:28 GMT

clipped by: perellicippo

Clip Source: amolife.com

Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs. Part 1

"The best and shortest road towards knowledge of truth is Nature."

~ Ancient Egyptian Proverb

Pyramids of Giza (Photography by Richard Nowitz)

Sphinx

Caravan at the Pyramids of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Abu Simbel

Cairo (10 Interesting Places to Visit Before You Die)

Cairo Mosques

Nile River from Cairo Tower

Montaza Beacon

Countryside

Cairo (10 Interesting Places to Visit Before You Die)

Spicy

Girl with Red Scarf

ILE ELEPHANTINE

Through the Palms (Taken in the town of Mut, Dakhla Oasis, Egypt)

Dune Patterns (Natures artwork on the sand dunes in Bahariya, Egypt)

Colossi of Memnon

Hatshepsut (Queen Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple, which is built into the cliffs on the westbank of the Nile near Luxor)

Harvest Scene (This is a small portion of a harvest scene from the tomb of Menna, scribe to Tuthmosis IV)

Roofs of Cairo

The Store (The variety is the real spice of life that gives it its flavor.)

Side View of River Nile (Cairo)

Philae

When Do Dreams Begin?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:12:10 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501
clipper's remarks: Recent research from the American Institute of Physics has found that the our dreaming sleep begins much earlier than previously thought.

Clip Source: www.scientificamerican.com

Why we dream continues to elude us. Scientists have proven we need to dream. When robbed of their dreams, rats die within four weeks.

We also know that at seven months a fetus is dreaming, its muscles and eye movements giving the tell-tale signs of REM (or rapid eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. But what happens before seven months? When do our dreams begin?

Research published in Chaos, a journal of The American Institute of Physics, provides the first attempt at an answer.

Mathematicians analyzed the brainwaves of a fetal sheep in utero, at 15-weeks.

But using sophisticated mathematics, scientists discerned a pattern of cortical activation and deactivation, cycling every five to ten minutes — this, the scientists note, is a crude precursor to the longer cycles of REM and non-REM sleep.

the study shows that dreamlike sleep develops before rapid eye movements. And the discovery may give researchers new insight into the purpose of sleep and dreams.

Tags: science, biology, brain, neuroscience, development, dreams, dreaming, rem, fetus, non-rem

The Suppressed Fact: Deaths by U.S. Torture

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:33:51 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: The record could not be clearer regarding the fact that we caused numerous detainee deaths, many of which have gone completely uninvestigated and thus unpunished. Instead, the media and political class have misleadingly caused the debate to consist of the myth that these tactics were limited and confined. We should never, as a policy, maltreat people under our control, detainees. We tortured people unmercifully. We probably murdered dozens of them during the course of that, both the armed forces and the C.I.A.

Clip Source: archive.salon.com

The suppressed fact: Deaths by U.S. torture

Tuesday June 30, 2009 12:31 EDT

After numerous delays sought by the Obama administration, it is expected that a 2004 CIA Inspector General's Report -- aggressively questioning both the efficacy and legality of Bush's interrogation tactics -- will be released tomorrow.

So often, the premise of media discussions of torture is that "torture" is something that was confined to a single tactic (waterboarding) and used only on three "high-value" detainees accused of being high-level Al Qaeda operatives. The reality is completely different.

The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody -- at least.

authorized at the highest levels of the Bush White House,

we've always considered those tactics to be "torture" when used by others

Those arguing against investigations and prosecutions

are thus literally advocating that numerous people get away with murder.

Healthcare industry outspends opponents 200 to 1

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:50:40 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: And that's your premiums they're spending on lobbying rather than healthcare

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

In the first three months of 2009, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has spent more money on lobbying since 1998 than any other company, trade association, or advocacy group, and the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhARMA)--the No. 6 all-time spender--paid lobbyists a combined $22.5 million to promote their interests.

Meanwhile, prominent champions of the public insurance option spend very little on lobbying or campaign contributions

Families USA, a self-described consumer watchdog dedicated to health care issues, for example, has spent a mere $10,000

Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a national network that unites doctors' associations, consumer groups and other activists, spent $80,000 last year

Yowza. All that money spent to keep us getting

insurance and prescription medications

It's us, the consumer, the people who are having to shell out all this money for health "care" vs. the people taking all of our money

and pouring it into lobbying

Tags: healthcare

Obama Killed Michael Jackson!

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:23:54 GMT

clipped by: Jorjor
clipper's remarks: The first paragraph is from the cigar-sucker's own web page. The rest, and below, is from politicsusa.com. Rush’s comparison does not work. It doesn’t make sense. Partisan politics can’t be applied to something as random as a celebrity death. Ronald Reagan had as little to do with Jackson’s success, as Obama did with his death. Jackson’s talent made him the world’s biggest star in the 80s, not Ronald Reagan, and Obama did not cause Jackson’s heart trouble. The wingnut pundits are doing everything they can to cast Obama in a bad light. He's a tyrant and a dictator, but they descend to trivialities like his choice of mustard or his reaction to a reporter's intrusive ringtone. The cognitive dissonance it takes to agree with these people is becoming more conflicted every day. What's next - blame Obama for the Teapot Dome Scandal?

Clip Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

Jackson's success paralleled the rebound of the United States under Ronaldus Magnus. Michael Jackson's biggest successes, and as it turns out his final successes, real successes took place in the eighties. That was Billie Jean, Thriller and all this. I mean he was as weird as he could be but he was profoundly, because of his weirdness, an individual. He wasn't a group member. He reached a level of success that may never be equaled. He flourished under Reagan; he languished under Clinton-Bush; and died under Obama. Let's hope the parallel does not continue.

Clip Source: www.politicususa.com

Limbaugh later asked what about his statements were not true. Well, we can start with the idea that Michael Jackson was not a group member. It can be argued that the foundation for his entire successful solo career was his membership in the Jackson 5. Secondly, Jackson’s success or failure after the 1980s had nothing to do with the party of the president, and everything to do with a bizarre, scandal riddled, personal life

Tags: michael jackson, rush limbaugh, obama, politics, wingnut, conspiracy theories, unbelievable

Pics: Recent Scenes from the ISS

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:22:41 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Best seen at source

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Earlier this week, NASA released an amazing photograph of an eruption of Sarychev Peak Volcano, taken by astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space Station (ISS). Seeing that great photo prompted me to dig into the archives and see what other imagery I could find from recent NASA archives. Collected here are a handful of photographs of Sarychev Peak Volcano, and more, taken by astronauts aboard the ISS over the past few months. (35 photos total)

High above Russia's Kuril Islands, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) look down on erupting Sarychev Peak Volcano (plume in center, left) on Matua Island and its brownish ash mixing with cloud cover downwind on June 12, 2009. Part of the ISS, a Soyuz module, is visible in the foreground. (NASA/JSC) [Google map]

Circular Contrails are visible, east of Lake Nipigon, Canada. (NASA/JSC) # [Google map]

A few clouds in the sky above Arizona and its Barringer Impact Crater, at right. (NASA/JSC) # [Google map]

Why is India 30 minutes out of step with everybody else?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:59:37 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501
clipper's remarks: After the standardization conference, most countries "rounded off" their local time, as it were, so that it differed by a whole hour(s) from GMT and from adjoining time zones. But some, for reasons of geography or politics, rounded off to the half-hour.

Clip Source: www.straightdope.com

Bombay, and India generally, isn't the only place chronometrically out of step with the rest of the world. Lots of countries, particularly in Asia, are a half-hour out of sync, including Burma, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

Nepal is 40 minutes off the mark. Saudi Arabia, ever the trailblazer, has some bizarre system in which clocks are supposedly reset to midnight every day at sunset.

All of this traces back to the haphazard system of timekeeping prevalent before the 1884 Washington conference that established Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the international reference point.

Prior to this, people made use of "local mean time," i.e., they figured out approximately when the sun was directly overhead, called that noon, and went from there.

India, as it happens straddles two time zones, but for obvious reasons preferred to have one uniform time throughout the country. Rather than choose between GMT+5 and GMT+6

the government apparently decided to split the difference

Tags: science, physics, time, countries, standardization, international, mean-time, india, time-zones