After all, a man with good judgment would never have picked this inept imbecile to stand a heartbeat away from the presidency.

President Obama is so "distracted by his vice president's indiscipline" that he has been forced to rebuke privately Vice President Joe Biden, according to a new book by Newsweek journalist Richard Wolffe, who interviewed Obama a dozen times.

"He can't keep his mouth shut," Wolffe quotes a "senior Obama aide" as saying of the gaffe-prone Biden in "Renegade: The Making of a President," set for release June 2.

As evidence, Wolffe reports that during the presidential transition period, Biden insulted Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama's closest friends and confidantes. Jarrett had been considered Obama's top choice to fill his vacated Senate seat in Illinois, but took herself out of the running just hours after Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich allegedly told a wiretapped conference call he would not heed any Obama recommendation without a payoff.

"Soon after Jarrett pulled out of consideration for the Senate seat, the senior transition team met to discuss Cabinet picks," Wolffe writes.

"Biden tried to compliment Jarrett after one contribution. 'You should be in the Senate,' he quipped. After the meeting, as everyone returned to their offices, Obama stopped Biden to warn him not to say anything like that again. 'It's not funny,' he told him."

And God only knows that Joe Biden has made Dan Quayle look like a rocket scientist. What possessed Obama to pick the moron for the Vice Presidency s beyond ..

I just wonder – has the jockeying for the number 2 slot in 2012 already begun?

Posted by: Greg at 11:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Good grief – closing Gitmo was one of the man’s campaign planks going all the way back to the beginning of his run for president. How can the Obama Administration, through the White House press secretary, now claim that closing Gitmo was a “hasty decision”?

"I don't doubt that the President--and I think he'll say this tomorrow--that we've made some hasty decisions that are now going to take some time to unwind. And closing Guantanamo Bay obviously is one of those decisions," he added.

Oh, wait – now Robert Gibbs claims that he was referring to Bush Administration decisions being hasty. But clearly that his words referred to President Obama’s decision to set a deadline for closing the detention facility for America’s terrorist foes without any plan for replacing it or dealing with the jihadi swine detained there. The only possible conclusion? It is Ob-amateur hour in the White House.

Posted by: Greg at 11:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another planned terrorist attack on American soil, another group of Muslim perps.

Four men arrested for an alleged plot to bomb a New York synagogue and Jewish community center are expected to appear in federal court Thursday, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, said a criminal complaint filed this week in White Plains, New York.
"Four individuals were arrested for planting bombs in front of two [Jewish facilities] in the area," said Raymond Kelly, New York City police commissioner.

Three of the four were jail converts to Islam, while the fourth is highly sympathetic to the faith. And, of course, the goal was more dead Americans, and more dead Jews in particular. What other religion in this country sees its adherents plot such attacks with such frequency – especially when viewed in terms of the relative frequency to their numbers in society at large? None – just the so-called Religion of Peace. At what point do we as a nation acknowledge that this so-called faith cannot co-exist

And, of course, the Left has already begun to speak out loudly – on behalf of the terrorists and against the American government. What next? A liberal chorus of “It’s the Jews’ fault?

Posted by: Greg at 11:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This time my hero so neatly encapsulates the reason that the John Edwards scandal was not nearly so hot in press as the Mark Foley and Larry Craig scandals were.

After Obama had been nominated and Edwards was history, a few press grandees conceded that yes, maybe there was a legitimate story there, but such a sordid tale was never going to tickle the fancy of their refined sensibilities. Oddly enough, this consideration never seems to come into play with, say, Mark Foley, the Florida Republican hounded from public life after some overly tender emails to one of the more fetching Congressional pages, or Larry Craig, the Republican senator caught playing some ill-advised footsie with an undercover cop in the Minneapolis airport men’s room. Admittedly, these sex scandals are less “sordid” than Senator Edwards’: for one thing, there’s no sex in them—just some unrequited cyber-billets- doux in Foley’s case, and a bit of club-footed George Michael stall-divider semaphore in Larry Craig’s. British Tories at least have the consolation of the career-detonating sex scandal; Republicans have to make do with the career-detonating no-sex scandal.

Remember. Mark Foley wrote some weird emails to a teenager. Larry Craig may or may not have sought companionship in an airport bathroom. John Edwards trotted out his dying wife as a campaign prop at the same time he was boffing a pretty skuzzy campaign contractor and funneling campaign cash into her bank account to pay for their child.

Put differently, Foley acted creepy and Craig stupid as they inched across some moral boundaries. Edwards, on the other hand, blew across any number of moral, ethical, and legal lines like a turbocharged rocket sled. Somehow, though, the media was only interested in getting the Republicans while giving the Democrat a free pass. But maybe it wasn’t the politics, as Steyn suggests, but instead the fact that the Foley and Craig scandals were PG-12 and the Edwards scandal was NC-17 – and the latter certainly wasn’t fit for a family newspaper.

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Barack Obama speaks the truth – but somehow I don’t think he means this statement in the sense that it is actually true.

President Barack Obama plans to say in his speech Thursday that the U.S. lost its way in fighting terrorism over the last eight years by failing to trust its institutions and values, according to an administration official.

How do I think this statement is true? Simply put, too many people abandoned trust in government and the values of patriotism during a time when we were at war yet kept safe by our leaders and our military. Because the president and his senior aides concentrated on keeping America safe, those who don’t really believe in American values and institutions were able to use those values and institutions to undermine the war effort by claiming that success constituted proof there was no real threat to America – and that world opinion should matter more than American safety. The result? America became so lost and confused that we elected the most anti-American Congress in my lifetime and the most under-qualified president in our nation’s history on a platform that consisted mainly of a call to undo the policies that have kept our nation safe since 9/11.

That is, of course, what I’d like Dick Cheney to have said in his reply to Barack Obama – along with announcing his candidacy for president in 2012. But I’ll settle for accepting that Obama is right -- America is truly lost since he was elected.

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I won't say anything about who I want to win or who I think will win. I've written nothing about the show, and had planned to keep it that way.

However, the performance by Rod Stewart has broken my resolve.

Don't -- please don't -- for the love of God don't -- sing Maggie May again.

Collect your books and get on back to school? How about collect your walker and get on back to the nursing home? That is a young man's song -- and you aren't any more.

But here's the song -- a favorite from my childhood some three-and-a-half decades ago -- when you were in your prime.

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I cannot help but be struck by the case of Daniel Hauser. It is, dare I say, a heart-wrenching case.

But I'm struck by the arguments used by the courts to justify the move to force treatment.

He's not old enough to decide. This is a life and death decision beyond the years of a 13-year-old. Either his parents or the government must decide what is in his best interests, because he lacks the maturity to know.

However, if this were a pregnant 13-year-old girl (or even younger) named Danielle Hauser, and the medical decision on a matter of life and death were about abortion, we'd here about matters of "right to choose", "bodily integrity" and "not imposing anyone's morality" on her.

Why the difference?

At least in this case, the kid is deciding merely to risk his own life, not take the life of another human being.

Posted by: Greg at 12:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Mosquito magnet trap is an easy-to-install device for your yard. This handy device provides you with mosquito-free coverage for an area of around an acre. Best of all, it is a product that can be operated any time, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It uses octenol as an attractant to draw the insects to it, increasing its ability to catch all the insects that come and swarm around your yard. Here in Houston, that is something that is really needed

Mosquito magnet has something else important going for it -- it has a fully-staffed customer service and support department that is always ready to help you. They are more than willing to work with you, and even provide online troubleshooting to help with mosquito magnet repair if you have any sort of difficulty operating the device. They can also help you replace parts and will even do little things like provide replacement manuals -- and if you are like me you will lose the manual. Their site will even help you figure out where to place your mosquito magnet! It is customer service like that which can make or break a company -- and in this case certainly makes the product one that you might give serious consideration to purchaing if you are in need of insect control in your yard.

Posted by: Greg at 11:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, if non-traditional, cross-racial casting is such a good thing for the bio-pic of Frank Sinatra, why not have a white guy play the slain civil rights icon? As such, I may have to join Debbie Schlussel in her call DreamWorks to give serious consideration to casting the very white, very blond Wilson as the lead.

Are you offended by the suggestion? If so, IÂ’m sure you must be equally outraged by the suggestion of Jamie Foxx as OlÂ’ Blue Eyes. After all, there is something quite silly about such casting decisions in historical or biographical features.

This puts me in mind of a discussion I had over 20 years ago when I was doing a graduate fellowship with the Coro Foundation in St. Louis. When a couple of my colleagues argued that race shouldnÂ’t matter in casting decisions, I caused quite a stir when I made the following observation.

“Sometimes race really does matter. After all, no one is going to cast me as Chaka Zulu, and there would be an uproar if someone did. When you are dealing with historical facts, such things as race and gender can and do make a difference. And since the original historical person was a white peasant girl, no matter how talented a black actress is she just cannot play Joan of Arc.”

Friends, that isn’t racism. It is common sense. Otherwise we will see such absurd things as Ben Stiller playing Barack Obama, or Morgan Freeman as Ronald Reagan. And while a bit of gender bending by John Travolta in Hairspray might be good clean fun, do we really believe that audiences will suspend their disbelief sufficiently to allow Nathan Lane to play Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in a movie – and should they even be asked to do so?

Posted by: Greg at 11:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Do you want a job in New York? After all, it is the Big Apple, and there are a lot of industries that are headquartered tehre. And like they say, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. But how do you get that job? New York jobs are easy to get if you know where to look -- or can get the right guidance. That is where realmatch.com can help you out, because they have access to jobs in any number of fields -- and you certainly need a leg up in this time of economic difficulty. So check them out to find your job.

Posted by: Greg at 11:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My darling wife, as some of you know, makes use of a wheelchair whenever she is out in public due to a medical condition that limits her physical stamina and stability. That said, she is a very clear minded and lucid thinker whose brain is not limited even as her body is. That is why I have spend the day absolutely livid over the disgusting insult directed at talented conservative columnist and pundit Charles Krauthammer by TimeÂ’s infinitely less talented Joe Klein.

“There’s something tragic about him too,” Klein said, referring to Krauthammer’s confinement to a wheelchair, the result of a diving accident during his first year of medical school. “His work would have a lot more nuance if he were able to see the situations he’s writing about.”

Whoa!

While Krauthammer may not be able to walk, he can see perfectly well, thank you very much. His disability in no way limits his ability to see what he is writing about.

On the other hand, Joe Klein clearly suffers from some sort of mental or social defect that limits his ability to think clearly or give respect to the disabled. Bravo to the many conservatives, like John Podhoretz, who have rushed to KrauthammerÂ’s defense.

Closing question – what does Joe Klein think about the music of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Ronnie Milsap?

UPDATE: Klein apologizes -- by slamming his critics and his victim instead of expressing honest contrition. What a scumbag! I heartily endorse the sentiment expressed by Tom Maguire at JustOneMinute -- Stand Up, Joe Klein, So We Can Kick Your A**.

H/T Hot Air, Commentary Blog, Weekly Standard, Marbury, PoliGazette, TheBlogProf, Fausta, Jules Crittenden, OTB, The Corner, Betsy

Posted by: Greg at 11:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Potentially, according to this analysis.

Eric Fedewa, vice president of global powertrain forecasting for the auto consulting firm CSM Worldwide in Northville, Mich., said the changes will make pickups so much more expensive that they will be used almost exclusively for work.

In other words, Barack Obama may be incredibly pro-choice when it comes to abortion, but not when it comes to the vehicles you are able to drive. The increased CAFÉ standard will constitute a hidden federal tax on every vehicle, and price you right out of the market for what you really want.

Posted by: Greg at 11:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A couple of weeks ago, I asked the following questions after reports surfaced about the US military burning Bibles sent to Afghanistan.

I’m curious – will there be riots in the streets over this? Will there be an investigation of who gave the order, and apologies to offended Christians like happened when it was falsely reported that a Koran may have been desecrated at Gitmo? Or since Christians don't riot or issue fatwas, will the US government simply ignore the offense given? And will the liberals who expressed outrage that soldiers might share the Gospel with Muslims express their revulsion at this act of official desecration of Christian religious texts by the US government?

ABCNews reporter Jake Tapper is covering the story now, and offers this question.

On May 5, Army spokeswoman Major Jennifer Willis told Reuters that at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan "the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed."

Today, Christian Broadcasting's David Brody says "the Bibles were burned because the rules on the base say that all garbage is burned at the end of the day. But just asking here; if the U.S. Military seized a stack full of Korans, would they be burned? You think that might cause a little outrage in the Muslim world?"

Indeed, how quickly would a court martial ensue for those involved in burning a stack of Korans?

Seems to me that the time has come for us to move from the notion of turning the other cheek and instead consider that it may be time to look to the words of Christ found in Luke 22:36.

“But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.”

After all, our own government has seen fit to burn the book accepted as Scripture by the overwhelming majority of Americans in order to curry favor with the enemies of America.

And I'm opening comments on this one, so folks can respond here if they wish.

Posted by: Greg at 11:00 AM | Comments (27) | Add Comment
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Are you looking for a new web hos tfor your site? There are lots of reasons for doing so, of course, but they all add up to one thing on some level -- you are not happy with your current host and want to make a change. This is especially true with folks using free blog hosting services, since there are limitations to such sites and sites hosted on them may not be taken seriously by some folks. Well. there are a lot of things you might want to consider as you look -- and there is a great web hosting rating website full of web hosting articles that you might want to consider before making your choice. After all, they are a clearinghouse for a lot of information about web hosting. I know that I never considered a point made by one article I saw that the presence of certain "bad sites" on a hosts servers might lead to the blacklisting of my site as well. That would be a disaster for building my traffic at my site -- and would be worse for an ecommerce site. So if you are looking to make a change, drop by and do some research first. You won't be sorry.

Posted by: Greg at 06:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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But then again, some folks are simply pathetic losers. Russ Feingold proves he is one of them.

Republicans are trying to pass legislation in the next few weeks to kick off the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Ronald ReaganÂ’s birth, and the only hurdle appears to be Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who is refusing to let the Senate vote on the bill.

Seems that Feingold has a somewhat more controversial resolution creating panels to study the treatment of German and Italian Americans and Jewish refugees during World War II. That he wants passed. Knowing his proposal canÂ’t stand alone, heÂ’d prefer to insult the memory of an American president by delaying the proper commemoration of his birth.

Why, I wonder, doesnÂ’t Feingold seek to attach his resolution to the appropriation for maintaining some historical site connected to FDR, who implemented the policies that the Senator wants studied? Seems like that would be more appropriate.

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As a child he was a hero to me.

As an adult he has become an object of scorn.

But regardless, Teddy Kennedy is a human being, and I join with his friends and family in rejoicing at this news.

Sen. Edward KennedyÂ’s brain cancer is in remission, and the Massachusetts Democrat is expected back in the Senate after the Memorial Day recess, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

As much as I would love to see him out of the Senate, IÂ’d rather that neither death nor ill health were the vehicles by which that happened. May the remission be complete and extended.

UPDATE: Harry Reid is an idiot -- the story is apparently baseless. Heartbreaking, and needlessly cruel. So my prayers continue for a miracle to touch Senator Kennedy's life.

Posted by: Greg at 12:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And have no doubt – that is precisely what he is seeking. After all, if you are going to make the decision to prosecute for the reasons given by Lanny Davis, then there is no other way to view the matter than as a political show trial.

I have changed my mind about the need to indict former Vice President Dick Cheney for complicity in illegal torture.

His insistence on putting himself on multiple TV programs and conservative radio talk shows, not only defending torture but offering the defense that it worked, has changed my mind. Not only that - he went on to attack Mr. Obama as weakening the United States in the war on terrorism because Mr. Obama immediately announced that torture would no longer be allowed.

Dem's fighting words. They are also, in my view, reckless and irresponsible. They seem to be laying down a marker that in case, God forbid, there is a terrorist attack, Mr. Cheney can be the first to blame it on Mr. Obama's policies and say, "I told you so."

For all the words that follow attempting to somehow justify trying Cheney – and only Cheney – it still comes back to Cheney’s daring to dissent from the Obama orthodoxy on enhanced interrogation and how to deal with detained jihadis. Such temerity cannot be allowed to stand in the eyes of Lanny Davis, and merits the use of the full weight of the federal government to destroy one of those whose experience renders him among the best qualified to judge the policies of the new administration.

Posted by: Greg at 12:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Even if the president and his subordinates do not take most of AmericaÂ’s immigration laws seriously, at least they do seem interested in ridding the country of those illegal immigrants who break other laws.

The Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by President George W. Bush aimed at checking the immigration status of virtually every person booked into local jails. In four years, the measure could result in a tenfold increase in illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and identified for deportation, current and former U.S. officials said.

By matching inmates' fingerprints to federal immigration databases, authorities hope to pinpoint deportable illegal immigrants before they are released from custody. Inmates in federal and state prisons already are screened. But authorities generally lack the time and staff to do the same at local jails, which house up to twice as many illegal immigrants at any time and where inmates come and go more quickly.

The effort is likely to significantly reshape immigration enforcement, current and former executive branch officials said. It comes as the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress vow to crack down on illegal immigrants who commit crimes, rather than those who otherwise abide by the law.

Of course, every single illegal immigrant violates our nation’s laws by virtue of their presence on our soil. That said, I can accept the notion that it is best to get rid of the more serious lawbreakers among them. Still, it is too bad that there is a reluctance to work to remove every illegal from our soil – especially at a time that we are seeing so many leave voluntarily for economic reasons.

Posted by: Greg at 12:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So much for the strength of the Democrats.

Nearly half of Nevadans have had enough of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as the powerful Democrat heads into his re-election campaign, a new Las Vegas Review-Journal poll finds.

About a third of the state's voters would re-elect Reid if the 2010 election were held today, according to the poll, but 45 percent say they would definitely vote to replace him. Seventeen percent would consider another candidate.

The findings are echoed by another poll question about Reid's popularity that finds the four-term incumbent to be a polarizing figure in his home state.

Half of Nevada voters had an unfavorable view of Reid, while 38 percent had a favorable view and 11 percent a neutral opinion.

Imagine that – the top Democrat in the Senate is being repudiated by a plurality of voters in his home state, even without knowing for sure who his opponent(s) will be. That, my friends, betrays a serious weakness of both the man and his party.

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And no doubt it will again be rejected by the Palestinians, who are unwilling to accept IsraelÂ’s perfectly reasonable precondition for making it happen.

Netanyahu did say Palestinians should govern themselves and he is ready to start talks right away as long as Palestinians immediately recognize the Jewish state.

"We don't want to govern the Palestinians, we want to live peacefully, we want them to govern themselves absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel. And to this end there is a clear goal, the goal has to be an end to conflict," Netanyahu said.

But interestingly enough, Obama tried to make it sound like Israel, and not the two terrorist organizations that serve as the voices of the Palestinians, is the problem. In this he is merely parroting the opinion of an international community that has never really rejected anti-Semitism and therefore fails to note that Israel has been in a 60 year battle for its existence against Arab aggression. To insist that both sides begin with a recognition of the other’s fundamental right to exist and govern itself is not a burden – it is a minimum precondition for good-faith discussion of every other point.

Posted by: Greg at 11:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Remember the Clinton Administration? You know, when there was a spike in the number of audits of conservative groups and administration opponents – often at the apparent instigation of Democrat public officials both inside and outside of the executive branch. Well, President Obama has raised the specter of such shenanigans again in a thoroughly inappropriate way, as noted by ol’ Insty himself, Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds.

At his Arizona State University commencement speech last Wednesday, Mr. Obama noted that ASU had refused to grant him an honorary degree, citing his lack of experience, and the controversy this had caused. He then demonstrated ASU's point by remarking, "I really thought this was much ado about nothing, but I do think we all learned an important lesson. I learned never again to pick another team over the Sun Devils in my NCAA brackets. . . . President [Michael] Crowe and the Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS."

I’d like to believe that Barack Obama was only joking when he made this unfortunate quip. But we’ve already seen the administration turn the dogs on those who have dared to oppose Obama’s plans and policies, to the point of officially questioning the patriotism who have other views on the stimulus package or the Chrysler bailout. Is it too hard to imagine a series of tax audits of White House “enemies” – especially after the favorable treatment given to the tax scofflaws nominated to office by Obama?

Many of us questioned ObamaÂ’s readiness to be AmericaÂ’s Chief Executive during last yearÂ’s campaign. This is just the sort of move that serves to reinforce those questions.

Posted by: Greg at 11:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The last time I checked, the primary process was all about selecting the best candidate for office. It only works if those involved are free to support the candidate of their choice – provided they do, in fact, get behind the eventual nominee of the party. That’s why the tactic adopted by Brian Moran in the Democrat primary for governor in Virginia is a potentially damaging one to the entire process.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran is hammering his Democratic primary rival Terry McAuliffe for backing Hillary Clinton instead of Barack Obama throughout much of the presidential race.

The Moran campaign is hoping a new 60-second radio ad running on black radio stations in Virginia will remind African-American voters — likely to be a crucial voting block in the June 9 Democratic primary — of McAuliffe's full-throated support for Clinton.

"Terry McAuliffe may have a lot of big money for his campaign, but don't let that hide the truth," the ad's narrator says. "The truth is, Terry McAuliffe led the campaign that ran the '3 a.m.' attack ad against Barack Obama. McAuliffe worked to put up the ads that questioned Obama's ability to be president."

Frankly, I know of no one who questioned ObamaÂ’s ABILITY to be president. On the other hand, a lot of folks on the Democrat side had serious questions about his READINESS to be president based upon his relative lack of experience. It is interesting to note that McAuliffe became a strong supporter of Obama after Hillary Clinton got out of the race for the nomination. In that, he proved to be a loyal Democrat.

Of course, if Moran wants to argue that those who didn’t support Obama from the beginning are not good Democrats, that’s fine. It will serve the GOP well in the general election, when the Republicans seek to woo those who are more moderate and inclined to hear the GOP message – and those who are already becoming disaffected with Obama’s policies.

Posted by: Greg at 11:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I wonder, though, precisely what sort of Islam will be taught at this university.

A group of American Muslims, led by two prominent scholars, is moving closer to fulfilling a vision of founding the first four-year accredited Islamic college in the United States, what some are calling a "Muslim Georgetown."

Advisers to the project have scheduled a June vote to decide whether the proposed Zaytuna College can open in the fall of next year, a major step toward developing the faith in America.

Imam Zaid Shakir and Sheik Hamza Yusuf of California have spent years planning the school, which will offer a liberal arts education and training in Islamic scholarship. Shakir, a California native, sees the school in the tradition of other religious groups that formed universities to educate leaders and carve a space in the mainstream of American life.

And may I say that this last point could be the most important. Will we begin seeing the development of a Muslim leadership born, raised, and educated in an environment of American religious pluralism who are therefore open to that way of life? Or are we going to see the development of a radical elite educated in this country, who are trying to mainstream the worst that Islam has to offer (as exemplified by American Muslims convicted of jihadi terrorist activities)? I am hoping for the former, which I believe would benefit both America and Islam.

Posted by: Greg at 11:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Were it not for Alec BaldwinÂ’s threats of violence against political opponents. Instead, IÂ’m actually much more amused by this threat of violence against Baldwin by a politician.

Alec Baldwin's joke about getting a Filipino mail-order bride provoked a sharp response in the Philippines, with one senator saying Monday that the "30 Rock" star faces violence if he ever visits.

Baldwin, 51, who is divorced with a teenage daughter, said in a May 12 interview on "The Late Show" with David Letterman that he would love to have more children.

The Emmy-winning actor quipped that he was "thinking about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point ... or a Russian one."

Baldwin has been involved in a bitter dispute with his ex-wife, Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger, over custody of their 13-year-old daughter, Ireland.

Philippine Sen. Ramon Revilla said Monday that Baldwin's comment was "insensitive and uncalled for" and an insult to millions of Filipinos.

He called the actor "arrogant" and said he is apparently unaware that the Philippines has a law against mail-order brides.

"Let him try to come here in the Philippines and he'll see mayhem," Revilla said, using a local idiom that implies the speaker will personally administer a beating.

What I particularly love is that Baldwin has pissed of the Filipino version of Chuck Norris. HereÂ’s hoping that Senator Revilla administers a good ass-kicking when he gets the chance.

Posted by: Greg at 11:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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IÂ’m lifting this US Air Force story whole, after being clued into it by American Thinker. After all, some underpublicized news needs to be gotten out there to the public at large.

Most of us hear stories of Airmen saving lives in combat, but an Airman who saves the lives of more than 300 passengers is definitely a story worth hearing.

A fuel leak on a civilian aircraft caught the attention of Staff Sgt. Bartek Bachleda, 909th Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, during a flight from Chicago to Narita airport, Japan. After alerting the pilots and aircrew, the ranking pilot made the decision to divert the flight to San Francisco.

"I noticed the leak on the left side of the aircraft right behind the wing earlier during take-off," said Sergeant Bachleda.

Sergeant Bachleda continued analyzing the outflow of fuel to be 100 percent sure it was a leak while the plane was reaching cruising altitude. Almost an hour into the flight, he told a stewardess of the possible leak, but was given an unconcerned response.

Sergeant Bachleda then began to capture the possible leak on video. He then got the stewardess' attention by saying, "Ma'am it's an emergency." He identified himself to her and showed her the leak on video.

"She was completely serious and was no longer handing out drinks," he said. "I told her you need to inform your captain before we go oceanic."

The captain came from the cockpit to where Sergeant Bachleda was sitting to see the leak and view the video footage. Sergeant Bachleda said the captain and the crew were trying to figure out how the aircraft was losing 6,000 pounds of fuel an hour and then they knew exactly what was going on.

The captain made a mid-air announcement the flight would be diverted back to Chicago, but then changed it to San Francisco so passengers could catch the only existing flight to Narita airport.

Once the flight arrived in San Francisco, Sergeant Bachleda and a coworker were asked to stay back while the aircraft was deplaned. They waited for the arrival of investigators, the fire chief, and the owner of the airport to explain what went wrong.

"When we got off the airplane everyone was thanking us," said the sergeant.

While conversing with the captain, the sergeant said he was hesitant at first to inform them about the leak, but he knew it was abnormal. The captain said they would have never made it to Japan if it wasn't for him.

The two Airmen were placed in a hotel overnight and flew back to Japan the next morning. The airline company showed their appreciation by seating them first-class.

We came very close to having a major airline disaster here – but for the presence of a couple members of our all-volunteer military. For those who have heard that today’s armed forces are made up of anything less than America’s best and brightest, here is one more example of how that stereotype perpetrated by those who would devalue our military is utterly false. Men and women like Sergeant Bachleda are clearly the cream of the crop, not those with no options.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know I see one.

Why are they gathering?

On Sunday mornings, when many of their contemporaries are taking their seats in church pews, a group of young parents mingle in the living room of a suburban home while their children run around playing games.

This congregation of Triangle residents has no creed or ceremony, just a desire to get together and offer each other support for rearing children without religion. Taking their cue from a primer of the same name, they call themselves Parenting Beyond Belief, and they meet nearly every Sunday, in a city park, an indoor playground or in people's homes.

But to what end are they gathering?

[T]hey share a disdain for organized religion and a desire to rear their children with the tools to think for themselves.

Now wait – they are gathering with the goal of raising their children to believe a certain way. And yet they then claim that they want the children to “think for themselves.” Odd – when one of the children asks a question that indicates they are thinking in a manner at variance with what their parents believe, how do they respond?

For example, when 6-year-old Evan Spiering announced one day that "God created the world," his father, Todd Spiering, answered, "Grandpa believes that. Some people believe other things."

But wait – why are they undermining what young Evan apparently thinks? Don’t they want him to “think for himself”? Seems to me that they really want Evan to hold to their own beliefs, rather than formulate his own.

But then again, since when have atheists been particularly consistent. As another article points out, inconsistency is inherent in how they approach the entire issue of God.

And then there's the question of why atheists are so intent on trying to prove that God not only doesn't exist but is evil to boot. Dawkins, writing in "The God Delusion," accuses the deity of being a "petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak" as well as a "misogynistic, homophobic, racist ... bully." If there is no God -- and you'd be way beyond stupid to think differently -- why does it matter whether he's good or evil?

Not only that – if they actually believe there is no God, then arguing over the nature of God is the equivalent of debating the color of a leprechaun’s blood. What it really comes down to, then, is that most such folks actually believe in God, but want a reason to refuse to follow.

This all reminds me of one of my friends in college who claimed to be an atheist because her aunt discontinued cancer treatment after prayerfully deciding that ending a painful and fruitless treatment was “accepting God’s will”. I’ll never forget the logically inconsistent argument – “If God’s will was for my aunt to die, then I refuse to believe in God any longer!” So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by the development of what can only be described as “atheist Sunday school” for small children.

Posted by: Greg at 11:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Spam is a sad reality. Unfortunately, we Munuvians have been hit hard by it, especially here at Rhymes With Right. Until I'm ready to move to my new platform, I am closing comments on all entries. I'll then be able to get after the spam, especially the pornographic crap that I've been unable to deal with effectively.

Hopefully we will have comments back in the near future. And feel free to email me any comments you do want to make -- who knows, I may just create a post about them as a regular feature.

Posted by: Greg at 10:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Everybody has a hobby of some sort. it is a natural human outlet -- indeed, I'd argue that people couldn't stay sane without one. And over the years I've known a fair number of friends who have been into motorcycling. For them, their motorcycle is a prize possession, and they will go to great lengths to get it just the way they want. Indeed, I've seen that there is a lucrative market for supplies for such folks -- things like motorcycle saddlebags. Similarly, there is also a serious need for the right clothing and equipment for one's body.

One requirement is the Motorcycle Helmets. Want to keep your skull intact in case f a wreck? A quality helmet is a must for you. Indeed, several years ago I lost a friend to a completely survivable accident because he chose to ride without one. I therefore implore you to make sure that you always ride with one, not only for your sake, but also for the sake of those you love.You might consider visiting leatherup.com for such a helmet. They have great products, including some fine German motorcycle helmets.

But you also need to protect your body. That is why I encourage folks to wear study clothing like jackets, motorcycle vests, boots, and gloves. At leatherup.com, you will also find these products at a good price. So love your hobby, but make sure to protect yourself with the right gear.

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Accidents happen. We've all seen it -- heck, we have all experienced them. Maybe it is just that little bump from behind as someone comes a little bit to close, or perhaps it is when someone just barely brushes by us without quite making contact at a high rate of speed. But we all know that vehicular accidents are a reality of modern life. If you are lucky, you are not hurt. But the reality is that you or someone you love could be facing such a danger, so you need to make sure that you have personal safety products to prevent accidents.

But where do you get these devices? Well, if you live in Arizona, consider patronizing the folks at warningpower.com, which provides the safety products in your area. What sort of products do they have? All sorts, including many that are useful for a Construction Company, a government agency, or even a private individual. For example, they offer Traffic Control Devices and cones, sign posts, flags, banners and a host of other traffic safety equipment. You can even get things like hard hats, gloves, safety glasses, and flash lights for personal safety.

Vehicular warning lights are also a necessity, as these will help to give a clear view to travelers when there are other vehicles ahead And while they may not prevent all accidents, they certainly can help reduce their frequency.

Posted by: Greg at 08:36 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There may or may not be good reasons to drop the AP Latin literature exam – but this particular reason isn’t one of them.

As Jaded as I Am . . . [Roger Clegg]

. . . this really bothered me. The Washington Post had an op-ed today regarding the decision of the College Board to discontinue the AP exam for Latin literature, "which covers Cicero and four lyric poets." Buried in the penultimate paragraph, and stated not at all uncritically, is this sentence: "The College Board said this decision was related to the number of minority students taking the exam."

Now, I don't know if the exam should have been continued or not, but it is very sad if the reason it was discontinued was because the racial mix of students taking it was politically incorrect, and it is equally sad if this is considered an acceptable reason even by a teacher who is otherwise outraged at the College Board's action. O tempora, o mores!

What? The value of learning a particular field and the ability to earn credit in it is to be predicated upon the number of minority students? That is outrageous. After all, we would never accept the argument that there are too few white students taking an exam to justify continuing to give it – why accept the argument that the failure of a sufficient number of member of other racial/ethnic groups to take it renders it worthy of being discontinued?

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1 This is totally OT. (I'd email you but since I only use web based Email your 'email me' system doesn't work.) I saw your comment on LGF concerning Charles Johnson's outrageous standards, to wit, you are considered to be "for" any abomination you have never actively and publicly protested. I referred to it on my blog here: http://infinitemonkeyatthekeyboard.blogspot.com/2009/05/charles-johnson-farts-online-again.html Please be aware that you are indeed in likely danger of getting banned on LGF, you hater and liar, you! (Note: A 'hater and liar' is anybody who does not agree with Charles 100% of the time.)

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W3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsA">Too bad he isnÂ’t going down for a significantly longer period of time.

A protester from Texas has been sentenced to two years in prison for possessing Molotov cocktails during the Republican National Convention last September.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis on Thursday also sentenced Bradley Neal Crowder to three years of supervised release.

The 23-year-old Austin, Texas, man was part of a group from Austin that allegedly planned to disrupt the convention in St. Paul last September. He pleaded guilty in January.

Prosecutors say Crowder and a co-defendant made eight firebombs and planned to use them to retaliate against police for seizing their homemade riot shields. The co-defendant, David Guy McKay, 22, pleaded guilty in March and is due to be sentenced by Davis next Thursday.

Not nearly enough time – he and his cohorts ought to be in Gitmo getting waterboarded so that they would disclose the names of the rest of their little gang of terrorists.

And given the fact that these terrorists are prone to arson and come from Austin, I have to ask if the Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating them in relationship to the arson attack on the historic Governor’s Mansion during the state Democrat convention in Austin – an act which resulted in serious damage to the building.

Posted by: Greg at 01:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, some lyrics really are offensive enough to merit a ban at prom – and all too often it is because of the level of misogyny inherent in today’s popular music.

wenty songs that refer to women as "hos" and other derogatory names won't be played at the Arcadia High prom Saturday night.

That's because senior Madeline Conrique and fellow members of the Women's Health and Issues Club brokered a deal with school administrators limiting songs with misogynistic themes and lyrics.

"Some of the songs call women `bitches' and `hos,' or refer to them as objects and treat them like animals," Conrique said. "We find that offensive."

A petition circulated on campus since last week asked students to support banning misogynistic songs from the prom; it garnered 130 signatures. About 1,000 students are expected to attend this weekend's event.

Of course, the group had wanted to ban 300 songs – something that the administration noted would have been virtually impossible to monitor. But they did get a compromise with the administration that would eliminate the 20 worst offenders.

Sadly, many students (including a lot of girls) objected to the ban despite the degrading lyrics. I’d call that a coarsening of the culture. And I’d argue that students claiming they like dancing to such music is not sufficient to keep the songs on the playlist – after all, I cannot imagine anyone arguing that a song which was chock-full of racist or anti-Semitic lyrics would ever be deemed acceptable, no matter how great the beat. It is a matter of standards and what message the school deems acceptable and is willing to sponsor.

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Looks like my preferred candidate is going to get the job. He has a history of exemplary service in the field of space exploration, and he is superbly qualified for the job. Best of all, he isnÂ’t the hack politician who was formerly my congressman.

Former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. will meet with President Obama in the Oval Office on Monday morning and likely will be appointed the new NASA administrator, a senior administration official told NBC News on Thursday.

If he is chosen as expected, Bolden, a veteran of four spaceflights with more than 680 hours in Earth orbit, would be the first African-American appointed to NASA's top post. Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in 2003 as a major general.

My major criticism of the article is the focus on Bolden’s race. While that aspect of Bolden’s biography is interesting, it is merely a footnote to those of us who find the accomplishments of this man during his career with NASA to be the more compelling argument for making him head of NASA. Call it a “content of his character” thing. I certainly wish Bolden and the space agency well.

An interesting take on this move can be found at Bay Area Houston.

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Must we now offer every child and Beanie baby collector the opportunity to own a replica of ObamaÂ’s pooch?

CHICAGO — The presidential popularity of the Obamas' new puppy Bo is complete. The company that makes Beanie Babies has released a shaggy black and white version of the dog named "Bo" — and he's selling fast.

The company has previously run into trouble taking inspiration from the Obama family. The company released two dolls resembling the Obama children as part of its Ty Girlz collection but retired the names "Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha" after Michelle Obama said using her daughters' names was inappropriate.

The dolls were renamed "Marvelous Mariah" and "Sweet Sydney."

Less than a dozen "Bo" Beanie Babies were sent to the educational toy shop Learning Express in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles, and he sold out quickly, owner Aalap Shah said Wednesday.

"We were fortunate enough to receive a small shipment of 'Bo'," Shah said. "He sold out within a few hours. He was very popular. We can't wait to get some more in."

Oh come on!

Gag me with a squeaky toy!

Enough with the Obama overload.

Barack Obama is president.

He isnÂ’t king, and he isnÂ’t a god.

Do we really need to create little Obama idols at every opportunity? After all, I thought Barney was cute, but I didn’t feel the need for paraphernalia related to him – and my only reaction to Millie’s Book was that I was pleased the money went to charity. But this is simply one more aspect of Obama over-exposure.

Posted by: Greg at 12:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It is black letter law, dating back to the Clinton Administration -- states that give in-state tuition to illegal aliens must also give it to all American citizens, regardless of the state in which they reside.

California does the former, but has refused to do the latter.

Hence this suit.

Students from 19 states yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from California officials for charging them significantly more than illegal aliens pay to attend state-run colleges.

The 42 plaintiffs say California state lawmakers and the University of California board of regents knowingly violated a federal law enacted in 1996 that says any state that offers discounted in-state tuition to its illegal aliens must provide the same lower rates to all U.S. citizens.

California has a "unique" statute barring discrimination on the basis of geographic origin, said lead attorney Michael J. Brady.

Some students in the University of California system could be eligible for as much as $300,000 in total damages, he said.

Damages of $300K? I'm intrigued. What is the difference in tuition?

Mr. Brady said out-of-state students are paying $20,000 more than illegal aliens per year to attend schools in the University of California system. In the California state university system, the difference is $11,000 per year.

"And in the community college system in California, which has a total of 1.5 million students, the tuition differential is $6,000 a year," he said.

I don't see how we get to that figure for damages, unless the statute allows for punitive damages significanty beyond actual damages. But the really interesting issue is that the state of California really has no defense to offer due to the history of the statute in question.

Mr. Brady said California officials knew their tuition law that took effect in 2002 was unfair and illegal.

"Former Governor Gray Davis initially vetoed it, saying it violated federal law and that it would cost California $65 million [in damages]," Mr. Brady said. "He sent it back to the state Legislature with that warning, but they re-enacted the same law," which Mr. Davis eventually signed.

Mr. Brady said administrators of the University of California system also recognized that the state law was invalid, and they refused to implement it unless they were "given immunity." As a result, he said, California lawmakers enacted an "immunity statute," which says that if the state tuition law is declared illegal or unconstitutional, schools in the University of California system would not be held liable for retroactive tuition differences.

Even after it was vetoed on the grounds it was illegal, the legislature passed the bill again. And after the schools pointed out that the law put them at risk, the legislature attempted to immunize them from liability -- something that I don't see as possible given that state law is trumped by federal law in this instance. Any court would be bound to strike down the immunity statute as well, for the state cannot ban damages from federal lawsuits.

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More corruption from the camp of Jack Murtha, whose corruption has been a national scandal for decades even as he has been embraced by leading Democrats.

Rep. John Murtha's opponent in the 2008 election claims the Pennsylvania congressman's chief of staff has threatened to have him recalled to active duty and court-martialed for campaigning while in the military, which is in violation of military code.

Bill Russell, an Iraq war veteran who served with the Army, told FOXNews.com that Murtha's chief of staff, John Hugya, made the threat on two occasions -- first to his former commanding officer and then to his face in March.

"It's a terrible, terrible threat to make," said Russell, a Republican who lost to the Democratic powerhouse in November but plans to challenge him again in 2010. Asked if Murtha is trying to bully him out of a rematch, Russell said: "It was a direct intent to intimidate."

Russell was on active duty for a three-month period -- from April to July -- of his campaign for Congress last year. But he said he did not campaign during that period, as Hugya was suggesting, and so did not violate military code that prohibits doing so.

Abscam. Earmarks. Steering contracts to donors and family members. Threatening to subvert the military justice system to punish political opponents. What would Democrats do if a Republican were to engage in such a long record of misconduct? Why wonÂ’t they respond similarly to such actions by one of their own? And when will the people of his district send such a corrupt figure into a disgraced retirement?

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Speculation is that Helen Thomas served as the model for this Stone Age figure during her late teenage years. The figure is nude, explicitly revealing the womanÂ’s breasts and genitals.

Dr. Conard reported that the discovery was made beneath three feet of red-brown sediment in the floor of the Hohle Fels Cave. Six fragments of the carved ivory, including all but the left arm and shoulder, were recovered. When he brushed dirt off the torso, he said, “the importance of the discovery became apparent.”
The short, squat torso is dominated by oversize breasts and broad buttocks. The split between the two halves of the buttocks is deep and continuous without interruption to the front of the figurine. A greatly enlarged vulva emphasizes the “deliberate exaggeration” of the figurine’s sexual characteristics, Dr. Conard said.

No word yet if Keith Olbermann and other liberal commentators will call for Thomas to be removed from her role as a senior journalist with the White House press corps – or whether her politically correct liberalism renders her immune from the sort of criticism that accompanied the leaking of much less explicit photos of a topless Carrie Prejean.

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I’m all for making sure that a potential justice is in sufficiently good health to do the job. Acute medical conditions may well be a disqualifying factor for a candidate for the Supreme Court – but what about chronic conditions? Take this piece on Judge Sotomayor – and what I see as an overblown concern about a medical condition that does not seem to have hindered her career up to this point.

As President Obama approaches his first Supreme Court appointment, the question of how much scrutiny he should give to a candidate's health could rise to the surface once more.

A frontrunner for the post, Judge Sonia Sotomayor of U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, is a Type One diabetic. It is one of the more compelling aspects to an already compelling biography. And while hardly a debilitating disease -- indeed, recent medical advancements have made it quite manageable to live with -- there remain enough late-in-life health implications to have sparked debate in legal, political and medical circles. Just how relevant are medical issues to Sotomayor's or any other potential Supreme Court nomination?

"It is obligatory [to look at this]" said Jeffrey Toobin, a legal analyst for CNN and author of "The Nine: Inside The Secret World of the Supreme Court." "The issue of duration of service for a Supreme Court nominee is critical to any president, and thus health and medical issues are very much at the forefront of their considerations... It would be irresponsible for any president not to make the health of the nominee a major subject of concern, because presidents want decades of service from their nominees."

Added another political operative who has worked on judicial nominations in the past: "I don't even think it is very sensitive. I think it is just obvious.... It is part of who we are. And so I think you find that there is almost in this day and age, there is almost no area of inquiry that is out of bounds."

Now do I think that there is a place to ask questions about Sotomayor’s diabetes? Perhaps, but only to the degree that there is any evidence that she is suffering from some seriously debilitating effects of the disease. As a Type Two diabetic, I know that there are possible complications to both forms of our disease, and that these potential future complications can be serious or even life threatening. But for most of us, they are not likely to be – yesterday I sat with an 85 year old woman who has been coping quite nicely with her Type Two diabetes for a couple of decades. My Type One cousin is a successful hospital administrator in a major Midwestern city who has progressed from insulin shots as a child to a pump as an adult to a pancreas transplant several years ago – she has been told that she can expect to live a normal lifespan with no real diminution of her ability to work or otherwise lead an active life.

Am I a fan of Sonia Sotomayor as a potential nominee to the High Court? No, but do think she may be better than some of the other options on Obama’s radar. But regardless of my lack of enthusiasm for the prospect of her becoming a justice, I don’t see her diabetes as something that should disqualify her in the eyes of the President – or during any confirmation fight. Given medical advances over the last few decades, diabetes is simply not a serious enough medical condition to keep her off the bench – as her service on both the district and circuit court levels has amply proved.

Posted by: Greg at 08:18 AM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
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According to one institution of higher education, the answer is no – even if that white man was born and raised in Africa.

Born and raised in Mozambique and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, Serodio, 45, has filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey medical school, claiming he was harassed and ultimately suspended for identifying himself during a class cultural exercise as a "white African-American."

"I wouldn't wish this to my worst enemy," he said. "I'm not exaggerating. This has destroyed my life, my career."

The lawsuit, which asks for Serodio's reinstatement at the school and monetary damages, named the Newark-based University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and several doctors and university employees as defendants.

Filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the lawsuit traces a series of events that Serodio maintains led to his 2007 suspension, starting with a March 2006 cultural exercise in a clinical skills course taught by Dr. Kathy Ann Duncan, where each student was asked to define themselves for a discussion on culture and medicine.

After Serodio labeled himself as a white African-American, another student said she was offended by his comments and that, because of his white skin, was not an African-American.

According to the lawsuit, Serodio was summoned to Duncan's office where he was instructed "never to define himself as an African-American & because it was offensive to others and to people of color for him to do so."

"It's crazy," Serodio's attorney Gregg Zeff told ABCNews.com. "Because that's what he is."

Serodio, who lives in Newark, said he never meant to offend anyone and calling himself African-American doesn't detract from another person's heritage.

Now let’s consider this for a minute. If I argued that it was somehow offensive for a black person to define him or herself as “American” because I’m an American and not black, I’d justifiably be called a racist. It is equally as racist for some blacks to seek to reserve the continent of Africa to themselves, given the multi-ethnic makeup of that continent. After all, while most people of sub-Saharan Africa are black, not all of them are. And in northern Africa, the vast majority are of an entirely different ethnic stock, a mixture of Arab and Semitic peoples among others. Are those individuals to be excluded from their African heritage in order to protect the hyper-sensitive feelings of racist blacks who want to lay claim to the continent as exclusively their own?

What’s more, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is a public institution. Is it the place of a public institution to define the race of its students and limit how some students view their heritage based upon those determinations? I would argue that the answer is self-evidently “NO!” To expel an individual from a professional school based upon their ethnic self-identification is simply intolerable. And equally unacceptable was the attempt by school officials to gag the student by forbidding him to speak or write in any public forum about the issue of race, ethnicity and culture – last time I checked, the First Amendment still applied to public institutions.

Why do I defend this gentleman? Perhaps it is because for several years I taught with a young woman who was born and raised in South Africa – a woman who proudly identified herself as an African. Perhaps it is because I do not know how else to identify an individual like Teresa Heinz Kerry, also born and raised in Mozambique, other than as an individual of unambiguously African heritage. And yes, perhaps because I frequently remind my students that the entire human race has its origin on the continent of Africa, and therefore we all have some claim to the continent on which our species emerged – and in that sense we are all African Americans.

H/T Discriminations

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This sounds like it could be from the Onion, but it isn't.

Naked S.E. Houston man held in fatal shooting

Perhaps it would be a tragedy for the Houston Chronicle to fold -- if only because of the loss of headlines like that one.

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