Recently in News Category

I'm glad I had the good sense to help this kind fellow out with his money transfer before he got caught.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - A former Nigerian state governor who serves as ranking member of the nation's ruling party was arrested for allegedly embezzling $100 million of government money meant for public projects, an anti-corruption official said Tuesday.

Agents from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested Abdullahi Adamu on Monday after a more than yearlong investigation, agency spokesman Femi Babafemi said. Agents seized Adamu's passports and have asked him for his personal financial records to try and find the money they claim he stole, Babafemi said.

You'll never find it! After we hooked up via email, GovernorOfNigeria@yahoo.com transferred all the money to my personal account. I knew that if I kept helping those poor Nigerians with their money problems it would eventually pay off!

After annihilating Harry Reid's re-election chances by mocking Las Vegas President Obama issued a "you misunderstood me" non-apology. First, the offending comments:

During the president's town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, he discussed the need to curb spending during tough economic times. "When times are tough, you tighten your belts," the president said. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college."

Despite President Bush's media-constructed reputation for ineloquence, I can't recall the former president sticking his foot in his mouth as many times in eight years as President Obama has in one. Naturally everyone in Nevada was offended by the off-hand insult of their premier city.

His statement Tuesday drew sharp criticism from Nevada lawmakers. "The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "Las Vegas is suffering through one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and we cannot afford for the President to bring us down any further," added Republican Senator John Ensign. "Nevada has one of the most distressed economies in the country, and the President has done little to focus on job creation over the past year. Discouraging people from coming to our state to make a political point adds insult to injury," said Republican Congressman Dean Heller.

So let's take a look at the non-apology letter he sent to Harry Reid (but not to the citizens of Nevada).

Dear Harry:

I hope you know that during my Town Hall today, I wasn't saying anything negative about Las Vegas. I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun. There is no better place to have fun than Vegas, one of our country's great destinations. I have always enjoyed my visits, look forward to visiting in a few weeks, and hope folks will visit in record numbers this year.

The needless proliferation of commas is a topic for another day... let's focus on the utter lack of an actual apology. The words "sorry" and "apologize" don't appear anywhere in the letter -- instead, the President uses extremely condescending language to defend his statement as-said and to belittle the offense taken by anyone who understood his plain language to mean anything different than this post hoc explanation.

The primary points of condescension are the phrases "I hope you know" and "simple point". "I hope you know" is crafted to appear to be expressing the sincere hope that you were not misunderstood, but what it really means is "I will be surprised by your stupidity if you don't believe". "Simple point" doubles down (ha! a Vegas pun!) on the implication that your preferred interpretation of the earlier statement is so obvious, clear, and easy to understand that only a fool would read it any differently. You aren't a fool, are you? Of course not! So "I'm sorry" and "I apologize" are not needed!

I don't expect this "apology" to soothe many hurt feelings, and I don't expect the President to receive a warm welcome if he actually goes to Nevada to campaign for Harry Reid's re-election. My bet is that the trip is canceled.

U.S. President Barack Obama bows to Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio at MacDill Air Force Base on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Edmund Fountain, Pool)

Just a reflex now or what?

To all America's veterans and those currently serving: thank you.

Before addressing the terrorist attack at Fort Hood Thursday, President Obama opened his remarks with a "shout out" to Dr. Joe Medicine Crow who the president apparently believed was a "Medal of Honor winner". Crow did not receive the Medal of Honor, but was awarded the Medal of Freedom by... President Obama way way back in... August. Good thing we have such a cerebral president who is able to navigate the subtleties of leadership with such nuance.

Furthermore, am I the only one offended by the use of the word "winner" in conjunction with the Congressional Medal of Honor? The Medal of Honor is not won like a prize, it is earned by extreme bravery in the service of our country. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society uses the word "recipient" for people who have been given the medal, and that seems a lot more appropriate than "winner".

It's almost as if our president knows nothing and cares nothing about the military people he leads.

I've read a lot about the Fort Hood massacre, but one question hasn't been addressed: don't soldiers carry weapons? How did one gunman with two pistols manage to shoot 45 people without being stopped? Here's how it went down, according to most reports.

The shooting spree began as some 300 soldiers had been lined up to get vaccinations and have their eyes tested at a Soldier Readiness Center, where troops who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening. Nearby, others were lining up in commencement robes for a ceremony to celebrate soldiers and families who had recently earned degrees.

Soldiers reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — before opening fire, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander. He said officials had not confirmed that Hasan made the comment.

Officials are not ruling out the possibility that some of the casualties may have been victims of "friendly fire," shot by responding military officials. ...

The gunman was struck four times by a civilian police officer who was wounded herself. Base officials said Kimberly Munley fired on the suspect just three minutes after the gunfire erupted and that her efforts ended the crisis. Munley was recovering Friday at a hospital.

"It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer," Cone said.

So maybe some casualties were the result of friendly fire, but I expect that the shooter caused the vast majority of them. With two semiautomatic pistols. While surrounded by soldiers.

Something doesn't add up.

This is completely insane. Iraqis use magic wand to detect explosives.

BAGHDAD — Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq’s security forces have been relying on a device to detect bombs and weapons that the United States military and technical experts say is useless.

The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod.

Still, the Iraqi government has purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, known as the ADE 651, at costs from $16,500 to $60,000 each. Nearly every police checkpoint, and many Iraqi military checkpoints, have one of the devices, which are now normally used in place of physical inspections of vehicles.

How do they work?

To detect materials, the operator puts an array of plastic-coated cardboard cards with bar codes into a holder connected to the wand by a cable. “It would be laughable,” Colonel Bidlack said, “except someone down the street from you is counting on this to keep bombs off the streets.”

Proponents of the wand often argue that errors stem from the human operator, who they say must be rested, with a steady pulse and body temperature, before using the device.

Then the operator must walk in place a few moments to “charge” the device, since it has no battery or other power source, and walk with the wand at right angles to the body. If there are explosives or drugs to the operator’s left, the wand is supposed to swivel to the operator’s left and point at them.

These quotes don't exactly inspire confidence:

The Iraqis, however, believe passionately in them. “Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,” said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives. ...

“I don’t care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them,” General Jabiri said. “I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world.”

No doubt. If this device weren't getting people killed I'd say that the inventors at ATSC (UK) Ltd. are geniuses.

(HT: NW.)

Cost-per-word isn't exactly a useful statistic, but hey: health care "reform" measures in at $2.24 million per word.

It runs more pages than War and Peace, has nearly five times as many words as the Torah, and its tables of contents alone run far longer than this story.

The House health care bill unveiled Thursday clocks in at 1,990 pages and about 400,000 words. With an estimated 10-year cost of $894 billion, that comes out to about $2.24 million per word. .

And for some members, that may not be enough.

I'd rather have an extremely simple bill that spends far less money... but who knows what that would do to the cost/word metric.

These are the first pictures I've seen of the balloon-boy hoax balloon, but given these it's hard to imagine how the authorities thought there could actually be a boy on board.

There's no place for the boy to fit!

Does anyone really think that President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?

A beaming President Barack Obama said Friday he was both honored and humbled to win the Nobel Peace Prize and would accept it as a "call to action" to work with other nations to solve the world's most pressing problems.

Obama told reporters in the White House Rose Garden that he wasn't sure he had done enough to earn the award, or deserved to be in the company of the "transformative figures" who had won it before him.

Even the meglomaniacal Savior himself is unsure of his worthiness. If he were at all in touch with reality he would have scored major kudos by refusing to accept the award. As it is, I expect the prize will hurt him more than it helps him by drawing attention to the hyped-up aura he exudes.

Oh, and maybe it's unconstitutional?

Article 1, Section 9:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Well Obama is the constitutional scholar, so I'm sure there's no problem.

Ted Kennedy has died, and I will say a prayer for his family that they will be comforted in their grief.

I'm sorry that Ted Kennedy is dead; I'm glad that Ted Kennedy is no longer in the Senate. He spent his life fighting to remake America into a liberal, socialist welfare state, and insofar as he accomplished his goals he was detrimental to America. One of his passions during his tenure in the Senate was the elimination of our (mostly) free market health care system, and it is supremely ironic that near the end of his life he chose private health care for himself rather than the government-run medical care that was available to him as a veteran from the Veterans' Administration.

Ted Kennedy was also a strong proponent of abortion-on-demand and received a 100% rating from NARAL. As such, he was instrumental in causing and allowing the deaths of millions of unborn children. While the nation mourns the death of Ted Kennedy after 77 years of wealth, power, and privilege, who sheds a tear for these tiny souls?

The cries of these murdered children must even now be haunting Ted Kennedy in his afterlife.

Someone painted a swastika on a sign in front of Congressman David Scott's office (D-GA). But everything may not be as it seems.

A swastika was found Tuesday painted on a sign outside Rep. David Scott's district office, an act the Georgia Democrat said reflects an increasingly hateful and racist debate over health care and should serve as a reminder for people to tone down their rhetoric.

Scott's staff arrived at his Smyrna, Ga., office Tuesday morning to find the Nazi graffiti emblazoned on a sign bearing the lawmaker's name. The vandalism occurred roughly a week after Scott was involved in a contentious argument over health care at a community meeting.

Scott, who is black, said he also has received mail in recent days that used N-word references to him, and that characterized President Barack Obama as a Marxist.

Take a closer look at that swastika: it was drawn with two S-shaped strokes that cross in the middle, using spray paint. I've seen people draw swastikas in school, and someone unfamiliar with the shape will generally use four strokes, one for each spoke. It's an awkward shape, especially when using a tool like spray paint, and those two S-curves were painted with a lot of confidence.

My inference is that this swastika was not the vandal's first; this swastika was applied by an experienced racist. And what kind of people have the most experience drawing swastikas? Left-wing loony protestors!

Who could have thought that a married man dating three mistresses could run into trouble?

After finding out that the same Casanova had been courting them all simultaneously, Michelle Belliveau, Wendy Sewell and Therese Ziemann allegedly lured the man to a local motel room to seek revenge.

Police say Ziemann kicked off the plan, convincing the man to voluntarily agree to be bound and blindfolded with the promise of a massage.

But instead, police say, she cut off his underwear and sent a text message to the other women to enter the room.

District Attorney: Women Conspired to Allegedly Attack

"This wasn't a spur of the moment type of event in that all of the participants in the complaint and in the information provided were part and parcel of this plan," said Ken Krantz, the district attorney of Calumet County, Wis.

When the women came into the room, they allegedly attacked him and applied Krazy Glue to sensitive body parts.

Reports show that they asked the victim which woman he loved more, which one he wanted to grow old with, slapped him in the face and then said, "Can you handle that?"

The man was finally released after he started screaming, and police say the women fled with his cell phone, wallet and car.

Unfortunately for me, I know at least one man who could handle that.

(HT: RD.)

If you've got $15 million burning a hole in your pocket you can pick up the remarkable Ennis House on sale now!

Known as the Ennis House, it's an architectural masterpiece designed by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright. But, like a lot of old houses, it needs some work.

Drive past the grime and glitz of Hollywood toward the hills of Griffith Park and suddenly, there it is: a Mayan temple perched above the city. Ennis House is one of Wright's most famous creations — and not only to architecture buffs.
Glass Mosaic

The house has starred in several movies, from 1950s horror flicks to thrillers like Day of the Locust in the '70s. The house featured prominently in the '80s cult film Blade Runner, which is set in 2019 Los Angeles. Ennis House was the darkly elegant residence of the head of Tokyo's "yakuza," or mob, in Black Rain, starring Michael Douglas.

More pictures here.

Sure it's purely aesthetic, but with all the trillions we're throwing around I think it would be nice to fix up the National Mall.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Crumbling sidewalks near the Jefferson Memorial are sinking into the Tidal Basin. Reflecting pools are filled with green, smelly water. And millions of visitors have trampled the soil into virtual concrete where grass can't grow.

The National Mall is in danger of becoming a national disgrace. ...

The Obama Administration recently steered $55 million in economic stimulus money toward repairs, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says that's only a down payment on the nearly $400 million needed to fix up a national park that draws more visitors than Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite combined.

An Associated Press analysis of congressional spending since 2005 found the mall has been at a disadvantage in competing for extra funds doled out by lawmakers, compared with sites that are represented by powerful members of Congress. The mall is in Washington, D.C., which has no vote in the House or Senate.

DC absolutely should not get representation in Congress, but the National Mall should be properly maintained. I've visited it dozens of times and have always enjoyed it, but yeah, it's a bit run-down.

Yes, that's right: man defeats lion with chain saw.

CODY, Wyoming — A Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off a mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming. ...

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the 100-pound lion staring at him from some bushes.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Britton said he raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced — a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.

"It batted me three or four times with its front paws, and as quick as I hit it with that saw, it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. ...

The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.

"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."

(HT: JW.)

You're just settling in to your tiny airplane seat for a relaxing flight, when BOOM! You look up and see the sky through a hole in the ceiling. Not good.

What started out as a smooth, easy trip from Nashville to Baltimore quickly turned into a frightening flight for more than 100 passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight Monday. A 1-foot-by-1-foot hole developed on the top of the plane at the base of the vertical stabilizer and exposed passengers to the evening sky.

Passenger Michael Cunningham said he heard a loud boom, and then looked up and saw the hole.

"All of the sudden, the loudest noise I ever heard came out of nowhere," he said. "There was no pop, no creak, no explosion-like noise. There was just a loud roar. It took me a couple of seconds to wake up. I got the baseball cap out of my face and I look up and there's the sun coming through the ceiling. ...I saw sky where I shouldn't be seeing it."

Pictures at the link.

The video is more ambiguous than the still picture. Decide for yourself!

Contra my earlier assumption, the girl is Brazilian not French.

I expect Michelle will be upset, especially since the President recently forgot where he met his wife. That's two strikes on one trip.

President Obama says he met his wife in class at Harvard:

Too bad the Obamas didn't overlap as students at Harvard:

Though both Barack and Michelle went to Harvard Law, they didn't overlap — she got her degree in '88 and he graduated in '91. They actually met in Chicago when he was a summer associate at a law firm in Chicago.

Tell us more about this "chicago law firm" where the Obamas met!

Actually, Barack Obama landed this amazing summer job while in school at the Sidley Austin Law Firm where terrorist Bernadine Dohrn, the wife of terrorist Bill Ayers, just happened to be working. Bill Ayers' father had pull at the firm.

Barack met his future wife Michelle at that law firm.

I.e., President Obama met his wife at a terrorist training camp. I can see why he conveniently "forgot" this factoid, but I'm still not sure his wife will be pleased.