Saturday, October 31, 2009
AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks and candy! BOO!!!
As Halloween Night winds down, I leave you with a tale of a Halloween night at the home of a family who treat every day as if it's Halloween. They're the Addams Family, and the episode is Halloween, Addams Style.
I hope you've enjoyed C2's Halloween Liberty Pubs and After-Pubs, and thank you for watching and posting!
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2
Now, we're not going to let our Pumpkin King off easily here on Halloween. He gets a good roasting (literally) in Night Ghoulery.
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN
We've made it! This is Halloween, so I give you This Is Halloween, the opening song from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: The paranormal or unexplained
It's Halloween, so why not?
Michael Medved tells the story of camping on a Civil War battlefield as a young man, and hearing the sound of soldiers marching in the night - weapons clanging, boots hitting the ground...is he a fruitcake? Have you ever witnessed something you thought was paranormal? Or perhaps just something you could not explain? It could be something good, or something bad...something that happened to you, or someone else. Tell us about it here! Creepy, scary, or just strange stories of any kind will do. We won't even ask you if you're making them up or not. ; )
Connections: The Long Chain (Part 7 of 10)
The Long Chain is the title of this week's Connections episode. Last week, we followed a path in history from the assembly line to the development of the airplane.
What happened the last time an efficient cargo-carrier was developed? This week, James Burke starts with the Dutch Fluyt ships, which were remarkably similar in principle to the modern 747, and takes us to a long history of disease, war, famine and empires, to end at the last place you'd expect.
Following the video are links to further research on the major topics of this episode, with ones that reveal the ending, as always, purposefully left out.
Links:
Boeing 747
Fluyt
Hoorn
Dutch East India Company
Bank of England
Triangular trade
Edward Lloyd
Lloyd's of London
Mary Celeste
Shipworm
Tar
Pitch
Great Northern War
Turpentine
Revolutionary War
Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald
Coal tar
Copper
Copper sheathing
James Watt
Cotton mill
William Murdoch
Frederick Albert Winsor
Gas Light and Coke Company
Gasometer
The Great Stink
Ammonia
Naphtha
Natural rubber
Charles Macintosh
Thomas Hancock
Spice trade
Anopheles Mosquito
Malaria
Cinchona
Quinine
Gin and tonic
William Henry Perkin
Mauveine
BASF
Hoechst AG
Agfa
Bayer
Indigo-Marsch
Eugénie de Montijo
Analgesic
Combine harvester
Rye bread
Junker
Fertilizer
Fritz Haber
Nitric acid
Sodium nitrate
Haber–Bosch process
Henri Moissan
Calcium carbide
Acetylene
Adolph Frank
Heinrich Caro
Potash
Wuppertal monorail
Wilhelm II
World War I
Oxyacetylene welding
Fritz Klatte
1939 New York World's Fair
Polymer
C2 Afternoon News
HotAir: Scozzafava quits after Siena poll; Update: Hoffman campaign asking for endorsement?
Nine U.S. banks seized in largest one-day haul
U.S. authorities seized nine failed banks on Friday, the most in a single day since the financial crisis began and the latest stark sign that substantial parts of the nation's banking industry are being crippled by bad loans.
The move brought the total number of failed banks in 2009 to 115 -- their highest annual level since 1992 -- with analysts expecting more to come. Among the lenders seized Friday was Los Angeles-based California National Bank, in what was the fourth-largest U.S. bank failure this year.
Advertising firm suing Alan Grayson
Both sides agree that when Grayson hired North Woods to help promote his campaign last year, he promised them a $20,000 payment – commonly referred to as a win bonus – if he emerged victorious in Florida’s eighth congressional district.
Grayson won the campaign and was elected to his first term in Congress – but never paid North Woods the $20,000 win bonus, both sides acknowledge. More than a year later, North Woods has filed suit against Grayson to collect the bonus, and another $50,000 for breach of contract, since Grayson’s campaign hired another advertising firm late in the campaign, allegedly violating an exclusivity clause in the North Woods contract.
NYT's Zeleny Again Involved in Obama Story Scrub
After Times organ grinder -- er, reporter -- Jeff Zeleny got a hold of the story, most of the harshness went away, as did Baker's original story. All of a sudden, at the same URL, there was no reference to tarnished presidential prestige. A dismissive assertion that the embarrassment "would fade in a news cycle or two" appeared. There was also a mention of Obama's 25-minute meeting with Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal that was not in the original. The reference to falling poll numbers also disappeared.
Well, the Times has just pulled a similar stunt in its coverage of President Obama's Wednesday night/Thursday morning visit to Dover Air Force Base. Once again, Jeff Zeleny is involved.
Obama names 110 White House visitors (H/T: Running Bare - who points out that 'Malik Shabazz' appears on the list; must be a different Malik Shabazz, not this guy; Jake Tapper says there are 59 people by that name on whitepages.com, so...)
The list released at 4:30 p.m. Friday includes just about 110 names with 481 visits. Those names were among those requested by members of the public so far, for visits during the period from Inauguration Day through July. (That's why we know of visits by the wrong Bill Ayers, the wrong Angela Davis, etc., but we don't know of visits by countless unnamed lobbyists.) Members of the public who used the White House online form to check names did not receive a personal reply indicating whether or not the request was received, or whether the name appeared on the list, so the system provides no feedback. Does the absence of Bill Clinton's name on the list mean that he has not been to the White House, or that the request wasn't received by the White House online system?
A request for the complete records of all visitors from the first months of the administration, filed by msnbc.com, was rejected by the White House, and an appeal is pending. The news organization requested the names of all visitors to the Obama White House beginning with Inauguration Day. Msnbc.com has filed an administrative appeal with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
Saturday Morning OPEN
Some pretty big breaking news this morning (via HotAir): Scozzafava quits after Siena poll; Update: Hoffman campaign asking for endorsement?
Saturday Morning Bulldog Edition
If you haven't got your own copy of ....
A BILL
To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans
and reduce the growth in health care spending, and
for other purposes.
It's only 1990 page of mind boggling bureaucrateze.
(B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sentence of section 1919(h)(2)(A)(ii) of the 19
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 20
1396r(h)(2)(A)(ii)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and some portion of such funds may be used to support activities that benefit residents, including assistance to support and protect residents of afacility that closes (voluntarily or involuntarily) or is decertified (including offsetting costs of relocating residents to home and community based settings or another facility), projects that support resident and family councils and other consumer involvement in assuring quality care in facilities, and facility improvement initiatives approved by the Secretary (including joint training of facility staff and surveyors, providing technical assistance to facilities under quality assurance programs, the appointment of temporary management, and other activities approved by the Secretary)’’.
What Budget Gimmicks are Liberals Using to Pass Their Agenda?
The “doc fix” bill, was part of a sneaky liberal strategy to pass President Barack Obama’s $1 trillion-plus health care overhaul by transferring a quarter of its cost into a separate, and completely unpaid for, bill. The White House thought that if it bought off all of the business interests involved, opposition to the plan would whither. In one sense, the plan worked—Washington lobbyists for drug companies, insurance giants and hospitals have all spent millions of dollars for lobbying and television ads in support of Obamacare.
Can't Achieve Public Option Without Deception
But regardless of how much lipstick they put on this pig, it still is a government takeover of the health care system that would all but eliminate private insurance and force millions of Americans into a government-run system. Apparently the House leadership has decided that if at first you can't get the votes by being honest about your true intentions, lie, lie, again.
ObamaCare's Scary October Surprise
Stung by a rising tide of resistance and a closing window of opportunity, House Democrats have unleashed a new version of ObamaCare, weighing in at 1,990 pages and with a $1 trillion price tag. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promises to ram it through quickly, exhibiting a disdain for her countrymen that makes Marie Antoinette look like a populist.
The Democrats are going for broke, which means we'll all be broke if this is not stopped. The "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (HR 3962) is so comprehensive that it even micromanages restaurant menus and vending machines. That's a clear signal that this is not about health care. It's about whether the people of the United States will allow power-mad Washington politicians to plunge us into the kind of top-down socialism that is strangling Western Europe and has devastated economies and destroyed freedom wherever it is imposed.
President Obama promised "transparency" and that any bill would be written in public. That was a lie. This monstrosity was hatched behind closed doors. He promised that it would not "add a dime to the federal deficit," which he has already tripled since taking office. It was another lie. No one can honestly believe that a gargantuan takeover of the nation's $2.5 trillion health care industry will save taxpayers money. No government program results in savings. They grow exponentially, create dependent constituencies that lobby for yet more tax dollars, and empower bureaucrats for whom mission failure ensures more staff, more money and more power. There is simply no governing restraint such as a profit motive or anxious stockholders. The voters? Surely you jest. They are far, far away and kept in check by a compliant leftist media. At least, so far.
Social Engineering in the Guise of Health Care Reform
A few months ago we were surprised to get a number of phone calls from the media asking about the original health care bill, H.R. 3200, containing "home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children."
Today in History: October 31st
Highlights of this day in history: Martin Luther leads start of Protestant Reformation; President Lyndon B. Johnson halts U.S. bombing of North Vietnam; India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated; Magician Harry Houdini dies.
Other notable October 31st events include:
1864 – Nevada (click here for correct pronunciation) is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.
1917 – World War I: Battle of Beersheba – "last successful cavalry charge in history".
1941 – After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.
1943 – World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception.
1959 – Lee Harvey Oswald attempts to renounce his American citizenship at the US Embassy in Moscow, USSR.
1997 – 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward, convicted by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, jury of second-degree murder the day before, is sentenced to life in prison.
1999 – Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.
1999 – Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.
Friday, October 30, 2009
AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!
Tomorrow is Halloween! C2 has been celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
And now, let's turn to some classical music by Modest Mussorgsky and Franz Schubert. What does this have to do with Halloween? Very little, unless you turn to Disney's original 1940 film Fantasia, which combined Ave Maria and Night on Bald Mountain in a piece title after the latter work.
It begins with the demon Chernabog, who summons restless souls from their graves on Walpurgis night...
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2
Tomorrow is Halloween! C2 has been celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
This video is a black-and-white student film from 1982, based on an original poem by the student. Since the poem mentioned Vincent Price, and the student was working for Disney at the time, some connections and arrangements were made to get Vincent Price himself to do the narration.
Whatever happened to that film student? He's doing quite well - his name is Tim Burton. The film is called Vincent.
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN
Tomorrow is Halloween! C2 has been celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Besides being the night before Halloween, it's also the 71st anniversary of the classic 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air presentation of War of the Worlds that caused panic among thousands of Americans.
Since we're presenting scary and fun Halloween classics, here's the full original radio broadcast, as it was heard on October 30, 1938. Being a radio broadcast, the video track consists of just stationary pictures, so start this up in another browser tab or window (so you can hear it while posting and reloading without interruption), and get a feel for what it must've been like 71 years ago today.
C2 Afternoon News
US: Massachusetts can't force gay marriage benefits
States that allow gay marriage can't force the federal government to provide benefits to those couples, the Obama administration argued Friday in court papers in a lawsuit by Massachusetts.
The Justice Department is at odds with Massachusetts—the first state to allow gay marriage—over a 1996 federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Massachusetts sued in July, saying that law is discriminatory and deprives gay couples in the state of some federal spousal benefits.
US warily leans to new Iran sanctions over nukes
Frustrated by Iran's continued defiance of demands to come clean on its nuclear program, the Obama administration is leaning toward imposing new sanctions, even if it must act alone.
Senate, White House agree on reporter protections
The White House, key senators and media representatives have reached a compromise on legislation to protect reporters from being forced to disclose their confidential sources in federal court.
Senate supporters of the so-called media shield bill said Friday that the deal gives the government authority to override those rights in certain national security cases.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the agreement "strikes the right balance between national security concerns and the public's right to know." He said it would preserve a strong defense for reporters trying to protect sources while making sure the government can do its job of protecting citizens.
NAIL MEET HEAD: Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell: Dismantling America: Part II
Many years ago, at a certain academic institution, there was an experimental program that the faculty had to vote on as to whether or not it should be made permanent.
I rose at the faculty meeting to say that I knew practically nothing about whether the program was good or bad, and that the information that had been supplied to us was too vague for us to have any basis for voting, one way or the other. My suggestion was that we get more concrete information before having a vote.
[...]
After the faculty meeting was over, I told a colleague that I was stunned and baffled by the faculty's fierce response to my simply saying that we needed more information before voting.
"Tom, you don't understand," he said. "Those people need to believe in that man. They have invested so much hope and trust in him that they cannot let you stir up any doubts."
Years later, and hundreds of miles away, I learned that my worst misgivings about that program did not begin to approach the reality, which included organized criminal activity.
The memory of that long-ago episode has come back more than once while observing both the actions of the Obama administration and the fierce reactions of its supporters to any questioning or criticism.
Read the rest.
C2 Morning Brew - OPEN
Today's story to sip your coffee by:
DNC Uses Flag Desecration Video to Raise Funds
A Democratic fundraising video on President Obama's political Web site shows an American flag mural being covered in graffiti and desecrated with slogans about health care reform.
As a heart monitor beeps ominously in the background, a graffiti artist paints over the Stars and Stripes with phrases criticizing opposition to the Democratic legislation, including "profit over life" and the crossed-out words "death panel." The whole flag is eventually smeared with paint and blacked out.
The Daily Broadside - 10/30
Big Hollywood: CAIR Seeks HBO Apology for ‘Curb’ Episode Mocking Jesus
A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on HBO to apologize for an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which the main character splattered urine on a painting of Jesus.
Honduras interim government touts agreement on coup
Interim President Roberto Micheletti has ordered his negotiators to sign an agreement that could lead to the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, but that leaves the decision in the hands of the Supreme Court and Congress.
Micheletti says the agreement would create a power-sharing government and bind both sides to recognize the Nov. 29 presidential elections.
Zelaya's team is not saying whether it intends to sign the agreement, which Micheletti called a "significant concession" on his part.
So-Called 'Death Panel' Measure Survives in House Health Bill
The Medicare end-of-life planning provision that 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said was tantamount to "death panels" for seniors is staying in the latest Democratic health care bill unveiled Thursday.
The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death.
Passports Linked to 9/11 Found in Pakistan
Soldiers displayed passports seized in the operation, among them a German document belonging to a man named Said Bahaji. That matches the name of a man thought to have been a member of the Hamburg cell that conceived the 9/11 attacks. Bahaji is believed to have fled Germany shortly before the attacks in New York and Washington.
The passport included a tourist visa for Pakistan and a stamp indicating he'd arrived in the southern city of Karachi on Sept. 4, 2001.
Another passport, from Spain, bears the name of Raquel Burgos Garcia. Spanish media have reported that a woman with the same name is married to Amer Azizi, an alleged Al Qaeda member from Morocco suspected in both the 9/11 attacks and the Madrid train bombings in 2004.
(H/T: JCM)
Congressman Flake Releases Statement Regarding His Vote Against Honoring the 2560th Birthday of Confucius (H/T: Pi Guy)
Washington, D.C., Oct 28 - Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today released the following statement regarding his vote against H.Res.784, a bill “honoring the 2560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius and recognizing his invaluable contributions to philosophy and social and political thought.”
“He who spends time passing trivial legislation may find himself out of time to read healthcare bill,” said Flake.
Today in History: October 30th
Highlights of this day in history: Escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested; The Lamborghini is unveiled for the first time; Michael Jordan briefly comes out of retirement; Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds.
BONUS: Listen to the complete original October 30th, 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air presentation of War of the Worlds here.
Other notable October 30th events include:
1864 – Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch".
1905 – Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.
1922 – Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy.
1944 – Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
1945 – Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier.
1950 – Pope Pius XII witnesses "The Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican.
1974 – The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire.
1975 – The New York Daily News runs the “Ford to City: Drop Dead” headline.
1985 – Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.
2009 - The USS New York, an amphibious transport dock made with metal from the World Trade Center Towers, is officially commissioned.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Looking back over the past Halloweens, you start to realize certain things.
It's astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness takes control...
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Tonight's feature, released in 1953, is the first film ever to be rated X in Great Britain, yet it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in the US. I give you Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN, but Brandy might be late tonight.
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
This video is a special request by doppelganglander.
Tonight's ingredients for horror and fun: A nightmarish traveling carnival, the offer to live out your secret fantasies, and two innocent 13-year-old boys. From the combined efforts of Walt Disney Studios and Ray Bradbury, I give you Something Wicked This Way Comes.
POLITICO: DNC attacks Palin 'lies'
Ben Smith at Politico: DNC attacks Palin 'lies'
The Democratic National Committee, keeping up its drumbeat of harsh new-media campaigns against GOP leaders, is rallying Democrats to attack Sarah Palin where she communicates -- on Facebook.
In an email to its list (after the jump) and a web page, the committee is pushing supporters to go after Palin on the social media site for alleged "lies" that range from her claim that disabled people will have to stand before "death panels" -- widely viewed as outlandish -- to the more arguable claim (the DNC calls it a "myth") that a public option "will crowd out private insurers."
"A lot of folks use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family. For Sarah Palin, it's a great way to spread lies about health insurance reform," writes DNC executive director Jen O'Malley Dillon in the email.
C2 Afternoon News
Cash for Clunkers cost taxpayers $24,000 per real sale
The Cash for Clunkers program provided federal subsidies of up to $4500 for those car owners willing to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle in exchange for certain classes of gas guzzlers. In all, the C4C program generated over 690,000 sales in the few weeks that it ran, with an average subsidy of $4,348 per sale. How many of these, though, would have bought a new car in the near future anyway? According to a new study by Edmonds, an industry analyst, only 125,000 of these sales would have not been made without C4C — which brings the subsidy to about $24,000 per actual successful incentive (via Snapped Shot).
KAUS: Anita Dunn's Alibi - The Case of the Confusing Chinese?
Obama Communications Director Anita Dunn says she was only cribbing from Lee Atwater when she approvingly quoted from Mao Tse-Tung in a graduation speech. ... Funny thing, though. I can't find a place where Atwater cited Mao. I can find lots of places where Atwater referenced Sun Tzu, whose Art of War he supposedly carried around in dog eared form. ... Hmmm ....
Document Dump: 'Pelosicare' links here
Feds: Son of slain Michigan Islamic leader arrested
DETROIT – Authorities captured the son of the slain leader of a radical Detroit-area Islamic group in Canada on Thursday, a day after the FBI arrested several members and a raid at a suburban warehouse ended in gunfire.
The FBI asked for the public's help in catching two of the 11 suspects in the case still at large, and they emphasized that the group, a faction of the radical U.S. Sunni Islamic group Ummah, held beliefs that were not at all representative of mainstream Islam.
"Any Muslim who took a look at what these people believed would not recognize this as the Muslim faith," Andrew Arena, the head of the FBI in Detroit.
ON THE LEFT: Gore Vidal
Breathtaking, on so many levels:
Author Gore Vidal Labels Polanski Victim a ‘Young Hooker’
Plenty of celebrities issued crazy statements in their efforts to defend director and rapist Roman Polanski but none went as far as author Gore Vidal did when he labeled Polanski's victim a "young hooker."
In an Oct. 28 interview with The Atlantic's John Meroney about a variety of topics, Vidal claimed he didn't "give a f---" about the Polanski case. "Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she's been taken advantage of?"
Vidal claimed "there was a totally different story at the time that doesn't resemble anything that we're now being told," and pinned the blame for the outcry against Polanski on anti-Semitism.
"The media can't get anything straight. Plus, there's usually an anti-Semitic and anti-fag thing going on with the press - lots of crazy things," elaborated Vidal. "The idea that this girl was in her communion dress, a little angel all in white, being raped by this awful Jew, Polacko - that's what people were calling him - well, the story is totally different now from what it was then."
C2 A.M.: Michelle Malkin exposes new "Media Justice" movement
Obama’s FCC, liberal churches, and the “media justice” mob
The motto of the “So We Might See” anti-”hate speech” campaign is: “Without media justice, there will be no social justice!” The same Marx-loving “social justice” crowd is behind the “media justice” mob — including George Soros’s Open Society Institute, Media Democracy Fund, and Media Matters; the Ford Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; etc., etc., etc. Their goal: government redistribution of media wealth. As “The Media Justice Fund” put it: The movement “is grounded in the belief that social and economic justice will not be realized without the equitable redistribution and control of media and communication technologies.” And there’s that phrase “transformative change” again...
Free speech is under attack. Read the rest.
The Daily Broadside - 10/29
Stimulus jobs overstated by thousands
A Colorado company said it created 4,231 jobs with the help of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. The real number: fewer than 1,000.
A child care center in Florida said it saved 129 jobs with the help of stimulus money. Instead, it gave pay raises to its existing employees.
Elsewhere in the U.S., some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two, three, four or even more times.
Obama revives military trials at Guantanamo
President Barack Obama brought back Bush-era military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday by signing new rules into law that will give detainees stronger legal rights in court.
Obama approved the new rules—most of which he proposed in May—as part of a $680 billion defense policy bill that cut some pricey and overlapping military weapons programs.
Democrat Apologizes for Calling Woman a 'Whore', Obama Calls Him 'Outstanding'
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) has apologized for calling a top adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke a “whore.”
“I offer my sincere apology to Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke,” Grayson said in an emailed statement. “I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women.”
In the emailed statement, Grayson gave further context to the comment, saying it was made “last month in the context of the debate over whether the Federal Reserve should be independently audited, was inappropriate, and I apologize.”
1-year poll shows changed views on Obama
"There's a kind of realism that's taken over, that 'the change you can believe in' — people have woken up and seen that as kind of a talking point, and I think there's some disappointment, some deflation," says Lawrence Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. "On the other hand, when you take into account he's been president during the sharpest economic decline since the Great Depression, it's astounding that his support is not weaker."
BONUS VID: Rep. Steve King Questions Roger Goodell on Limbaugh Comments (H/T: HotAir)
Today in History: October 29th
Highlights of this day in history: 'Black Tuesday' on Wall St. as the Great Depression begins; Osama bin Laden admits ordering the Sept. 11th attacks; Suez crisis heats up; McKinley assassin executed; John Glenn returns to space.
Other notable October 29th events include:
1390 – The first trial for witchcraft in Paris begins.
1467 – Battle of Brustem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege.
1618 – English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.
1921 – The Harvard University football team loses to Centre College, ending a 25 game winning streak. This is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football.
1923 – Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
1960 – In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (who later takes the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.
1966 – National Organization For Women is founded.
1969 – The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.
1994 – Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran is later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).
2004 – In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - AN AMERICAN SASQUATCH IN LONDON
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Every year, the Simpsons do a special Halloween episode known as the “Treehouse of Horror”. Most are classics, but one of the best is Treehouse of Horror V, where they parodied The Shining, Crime and Punishment and Soylent Green.
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - NIGHTMARE ON SQUATCH STREET
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
A mysterious older man moves in next door to a boy who is a monster movie fan. Is this mysterious new neighbor a real vampire?
Courtesy of the New Twilight Zone comes the episode called MONSTERS!, starring Ralph Bellamy.
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - THE RETURN OF SQUATCH
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Yep - you've already guessed it by the screen shot, so we'll go right to the late Michael Jackon's music video, Thriller!
Around the 'Net: Some Things Never Change / Here Comes "Health"/ Truce
Democratic donors rewarded with White House Perks
During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings.
High-dollar fundraisers have been promised access to senior White House officials in exchange for pledges to donate $30,400 personally or to bundle $300,000 in contributions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, according to internal Democratic National Committee documents obtained by The Washington Times.
Pay czar: No need to take on more authority
The Obama administration's "pay czar" who reduced pay for executives at seven major corporations doesn't want broader powers over the rest of the financial sector.
"I'm perfectly comfortable, thank you, limited to these seven companies," Kenneth Feinberg told a congressional committee Wednesday.
But Feinberg, who ordered cutting top executive compensation at the seven companies in half, told lawmakers that the standards he used should guide the broader marketplace.
Woman arrested for trying to trade sex for World Series tickets
Married with children, current Penn grad student in liberal arts and onetime assistant PR director at the University of Pennsylvania, she posted an ad on Craigslist.com: "DESPERATE BLONDE NEEDS WS TIX (Philadelphia)
"Diehard Phillies fan - gorgeous tall buxom blonde - in desperate need of two World Series Tickets. Price negotiable - I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!"
House Democrats prepare to unveil health bill
House Democrats are poised to unveil health care legislation that would vastly alter America's medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and offering a new government-run plan for people without affordable coverage.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was making plans to release the bill Thursday morning, contingent on the outcome of a meeting of House leaders Wednesday afternoon, according to lawmakers and aides.
The WellPoint Revelation: Private insurance premiums could triple under ObamaCare
Washington is captivated by the Senate melodrama over the so-called public option, salivating at the ring of Harry Reid's political bell (see below). But the most important health-care questions continue to be about the policy substance—particularly those that Democrats don't want asked.
Foremost among them is: How will ObamaCare affect insurance premiums in the private health-care markets? Despite indignant Democratic denials, the near-certainty is that their plan will cause costs to rise across the board. The latest data on this score come from a series of state-level studies from the insurance company WellPoint Inc.
HotAir: White House, FNC declare truce
A senior Obama adviser says that, even though the West Wing has been roundly criticized by both adversaries and some allies for blasting Fox as an arm of the Republican Party and not a real news organization, administration insiders are pleased with how things stand.
The fuss has energized core Democrats who have wanted Obama and his advisers to get tough with Fox and other critics of the administration, the adviser says. And it has made the point that Fox is an outlier in the journalistic community, a notion that many liberals embrace…
One drawback, which even Obama aides concede, is that Fox is using the quarrel with the White House as a public-relations tool to stir up its own support among conservatives and to boost ratings. “They’re still at it,” says a senior Obama aide, who adds that White House officials don’t expect to fire another shot in the battle unless Fox strikes first.
PLANET OBAMA: FNC? Biased. MSNBC, not so much.
Obama Advisor Tells CNN Fox Is Biased, Won't Comment On MSNBC
A senior White House advisor on Tuesday told Campbell Brown that Fox News is biased, but refused to comment when the CNN host asked her, "Well, then do you also think that MSNBC is biased?"
During a taped interview at the Woman's Conference in California later broadcast on CNN's "Campbell Brown," Valerie Jarrett sidestepped this marvelous question and instead haplessly said, "I don't want to just generalize all Fox is biased or that another station is biased."
Bonus vid (H/T HotAir): Krauthammer "speaks truth to power". Of course, it's on FOX News, so take it with a grain of salt. /
C2 Morning Brew - OPEN
Something to kick around over coffee from the Who Didn't See This Coming? File:
Ex-Letterman writer claims hostile environment
A former writer for David Letterman said she quit his NBC talk show in part because of alleged sexual favoritism and a hostile work environment.
Nell Scovell, writing for Vanity Fair online Tuesday, said she had no intention of filing a lawsuit and wasn't seeking revenge.
"I wanted to shine a light on gender inequality in that particular workplace," Scovell, who went on to a successful Hollywood career, said in a telephone interview.
Read the rest.
The Daily Broadside - 10/28
Analysis: US making plans for Iran nuke strategy (H/T: Ace)
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is quietly laying the groundwork for long-range strategy that could be used to contain a nuclear-equipped Iran and deter its leaders from using atomic weapons.
U.S. officials insist they are not resigned to a nuclear Iran and are pressing negotiations to prevent it from joining the world's nuclear club. But at the same time, the administration has set in place the building blocks of policies to contend with an Iran armed with atomic weapons.
Grim Milestone: October Deadliest Month in Afghanistan… Fatalities Triple Under Obama (H/T: Pi Guy)
Report: Afghan president's brother gets CIA pay
The CIA's ties to Karzai, who is a suspected player in the country's illegal opium trade, have created deep divisions within the Obama administration, the Times said.
Allegations that Karzai is involved in the drug trade have circulated in Kabul for months. He denies them.
Critics say the ties with Karzai complicate the United States' increasingly tense relationship with his older brother, President Hamid Karzai. The CIA's practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban
A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser.
Snubbing the Dalai Lama.
Signing off on a secret deal with drug makers.
Freezing out a TV network.
Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too.
President Barack Obama has done all of those things — and more.
What’s remarkable is what hasn’t happened. These episodes haven’t become metaphors for Obama’s personal and political character — or consuming controversies that sidetracked the rest of his agenda.
Today in History: October 28th
Highlights of this day in history: Harvard University founded; President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty; Gateway Arch completed.
Other notable October 28th events include:
1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established.
1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.
1936 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1985 – Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and makes peace overtures to the United States.
Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™ - SELF-SERVE
C2ers, you'll have to grab your own fruitcup tonight; littleoldlady has an issue with her home she's currently dealing with, and she can't be here. Because we're not sure if anyone would be around to moderate the thread, we're going to close comments. (And just to be clear, it's not C2 members we'd be concerned about in that regard.) We'll open back up for the history thread at 5:00AM PST/8:00 AM EST. See you then!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Did you know Dave Seville collects masks? It's this unusual hobby that inspires Alvin and the Chipmunks to sing one of their big hits - Witch Doctor!
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Back in 1976, ABC thought it would be a good idea to produce and broadcast The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. It's scary, but in a far different way than most of these other Halloween videos.
The video features Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from the classic 1939 Wizard of Oz film), "Witchiepoo" (Billie Hayes), Tim Conway, Roz Kelly (Best known as "Pinky" Tuscadero on Happy Days), Florence Henderson, Billy Barty, Betty White, Donny & Marie Osmond and KISS.
Below it's shown as the full special, but it's one of those programs that you can jump around, and it still remains just as coherent.
The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN
This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!
Now it's time to learn your ABCs - Halloween style! This video is Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies.
C2 Afternoon OPEN - Featuring that dastardly Dick Cheney
The Tone of Left-Wing Radio: Dick Cheney Eats Jewish or Muslim Babies
Last Wednesday, former vice president Dick Cheney received the Keeper of the Flame award from the Center for Security Policy in Washington, where he denounced President Obama for dithering on Afghanistan. This sent several left-wing columnists and radio hosts into a rage. But there’s rage, and then there’s the wild ravings of host Mike Malloy, who was thinking Cheney was a baby-eater:
Cheney, by the way looks very ruddy; I couldn't get over that like he must have feasted on a Jewish baby, or a Muslim baby; he must have sent his people out to get one and bring it back so he could drink its blood, because that's what somebody like Cheney does to get that ruddy look.
It was scary to see. This was not makeup; and the weird part is there were no dribbles of blood down his tux. But it was very clear that he had been eating the blood of a Jewish or a Muslim baby. He wouldn't eat a Christian baby. If he ate the blood of a Christian baby, there's something in the old writings that said that instantly the trap door to Hell opens and you disappear into the smoke, so it's got to be a Muslim or a Jewish baby; and you drink the blood and you're healthy again if you're somebody like Dick Cheney.
And they call Glenn Beck nuts.
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Gay marriage/asylum
A gay Brazilian man has been denied asylum by the Obama administration and won't be reunited with his American husband in the U.S., the husband said Monday.
Tim Coco said Attorney General Eric Holder did not act on a Friday deadline in the case of Genesio "Junior" Oliveira, effectively denying the 30-year-old Brazilian man's request for asylum in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.
Read the rest.
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