Category: News 2

news from around the globe

We’re all screwed, government to buy condoms from China

Outsourced Chinese condom. Mao Tse-Dong brand, we assume.
Outsourced Chinese condom. Mao Tse-Dong brand, we assume.

So much for American jobs. So much for stimulus. Well, wait a minute, maybe we shouldn’t refer to “stimulus” in this story.

McClatchy reports:

In a move expected to cost 300 American jobs, the government is switching to cheaper off-shore condoms, including some made in China.

The switch comes despite implied assurances over the years that the agency would continue to buy American whenever possible.

“Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move,” said a USAID official who spoke on the condition that he would not be named. But he said the reasons for the change included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped “buy American language” in a recent appropriations bill.

So the Obama administration is doing exactly what they condemn American business for doing – outsourcing to cheaper foreign companies.

First they import cheap condoms, then they increase spending on abortions. Now it all makes sense.

Source: McClatchy

Steve Kroft asks Obama if he’s punch drunk, but avoids question he should have asked.

President Obama appeared on “60 Minutes” last night and giggled like an inebriated schoolgirl throughout a discussion of the perilous condition of the world’s economy.

It was so odd, so distracting, so bizarre, that Steve Kroft finally asked what may be the the most unusual question ever asked a sitting President.

“You’re sitting here,” Kroft said, “and you’re, you’re laughing. You’re laughing about some of these problems. Are people going to look at this and say, ‘I mean, he’s sitting there just making jokes about money.’ How do you deal with — I mean, explain. Are you punch drunk?”

That’s what Kroft asked. But we suspect that what he really wondered was, “How many days were you in office before you realized you were way in over your head?”

Source: 60 Minutes

Welcome back, McCotter: Our favorite congressman tells “How to speak Democrat”

Here’s Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-Michigan) translating Democrat-speak into clear, concise English.

We love this guy. You’ll love this guy. If only there were about 300 more just like him in Washington, DC.

Update: We are so impressed with this guy that we’ve made an entire page devoted to him here at IHTM (link in left sidebar): America’s Conservative: Thaddeus McCotter.

Stewardess porn: Please make sure you’re strapped in for take off

Last week we reported on a helicopter pilot whose license was suspended when the FAA discovered he had participated in a porn production while flying his copter over San Diego. This week we report on Edita Schindlerova, a flight attendent for Irish discount airline Ryanair. She’s been busted for moonlighting as an online porn star.

Forecasters anticipate steamy conditions in July. (click to enlarge)
Forecasters anticipate steamy conditions in July. (click to enlarge)

Last week we reported on a helicopter pilot whose license was suspended when the FAA discovered he had participated in a porn production while flying his copter over San Diego.

This week we report on Edita Schindlerova, a flight attendent for Irish discount airline Ryanair. She’s been busted for moonlighting as an online porn star.

Ryanair doesn’t care. “What people do before or after they work for us is their business,” a spokesperson noted.

Uh-oh. We’re not sure if this is a PR nightmare or blessing. The airline puts out (you’ll pardon the expression) a yearly calendar (photos) featuring attractive employees. The 2009 edition features their own personal porn star wearing a shiny bikini with this caption, “Sexy Edita was a total natural in front of the camera, and didn’t mind getting her hands dirty at the fuelling station. What a star!”

It gives a whole new meaning to the term “landing strip.” (Hey, it could have been worse. We almost said, “It gives a whole new meaning to the term “cockpit.”)

Source: Independent.ie

Latest diplomatic gaffe: Obama doesn’t know who the French president is

Napoleon Sarkozy. Or Nicholas Bonaparte. Or some French leader. (Photo credit: azrainman)
Napoleon Sarkozy. Or Nicholas Bonaparte. Or some French leader. (Photo credit: azrainman)
Imagine the outrage in the media if George Bush had mistakenly written a diplomatic letter to the former leader of an ally instead of its current leader. Sadly, but not so surprisingly, that’s exactly what President Obama just did.

The online version of leading French newspaper Le Figaro says President Obama sent a letter to French Jacques Chirac saying that he wants to “work with him” over the next four years.

Oops! Chirac isn’t president of France anymore. Nicolas Sarkozy was elected to that office in May 2007.

Obama’s letter said, “I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world.”

Coming just a few days after Obama insulted British Prime Minster Gordon Brown, this is apparently part of a undisclosed plan by Obama to alienate NATO members one-by-one.

In other diplomatic news, President Obama has also sent letters to Russian Czar Nicholas II, English Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck.

Source: Le Figaro

Ronald Reagan speaks to the ’64 Republican convention

Thanks to the folks at MofoPolitics.com for reminding us of that moment in history when Ronald Reagan was thrust upon the national stage.

“It occurs to me having just watched this,” Mofo said, “that Barack Obama isn’t regarded as so charismatic and articulate because he is so charismatic and so articulate, but because he is so charismatic and so articulate in comparison to those politicians he has had the good fortune to run against.”

No fancy production values. No special effects. No overpaid speech writers. Just Ronald Reagan being Ronald Reagan.

Source: MofoPolitics.com

Iran’s supreme leader wants change he can believe in, hasn’t seen it from Obama

ayatollah ali khamenei“They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven’t seen any change.”

With those words, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected President Obama’s YouTube diplomacy, saying nothing would change between the two nations until America changes its policy. He was responding to a video message Obama had sent to Iran’s leaders.

“He (Obama) insulted the Islamic Republic of Iran from the first day. If you are right that change has come, where is that change? What is the sign of that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.”

“Should you change, our behavior will change too,” Khamenei said.

We don’t understand the problem here. The Iranians have huge rallies where they chant “Death to America.” And the Democrats seem to be doing everything they can to bring that about as quickly as possible.

What more do the Iranians want?

Source: Earthlink/Associated Press

Obama resolution causes racial dispute in Georgia

Georgia House Republicans?
Georgia House Republicans?

Black lawmakers pitched a hissy fit and stormed out of the Georgia House on Friday claiming that white Republicans’ decision to delay a resolution honoring President Barack Obama had racist overtones. (Gasp)

They say it’s an intentional snub to the nation’s first black president. “It drips with racism,” Democrat Representative Al Williams said. “I call it just like it is.”

Republicans simply objected to the over-the-top wording that declared Obama to be a man of “unimpeachable reputation for integrity.”

“All we’ve requested is minor changes to the language,” Representative Austin Scott. But Democrats are resisting the revisions.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen asked to “get this language recrafted.”

“Two or three words can be changed and this matter can be voted on,” another Republican said.

Please. Can’t we all just get along? We’d like to offer our services as peacemakers and wordsmiths in this dispute.

We suggest they simply re-word the resolution to declare that “President Obama is a man with an unimpeachable reputation for integrity except for that Tony Rezko thing and that socialist thing and maybe a few other insignificant items too minor to really get into here.”

That would satisfy everyone, wouldn’t it?

Source: NewsMax, Associated Press

Mmmmmm. Indians to sell cow urine as soft drink.

cow urineHoly crap. Or to be urologically correct, holy pee.

An Indian organization is launching a soft drink made of cow urine. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the story from the U.K. Times of London:

Does your Pepsi lack pep? Is your Coke not the real thing? India’s Hindu nationalist movement apparently has the answer: a new soft drink made from cow urine.

The bovine brew is in the final stages of development by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, according to the man who makes it.

Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink – called “gau jal”, or “cow water” – in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched “very soon, maybe by the end of this year”.

“Don’t worry, it won’t smell like urine and will be tasty too,” he told The Times from his headquarters in Hardwar, one of four holy cities on the River Ganges. “Its USP will be that it’s going to be very healthy. It won’t be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins.”

If this product is successful, the same company intends to launch a delicious line of cow pies in four fabulous flavors — Holstein, Brahma, Guernsey and Jersey.

Not really. We made that up. But we’re just sayin’…

Source: Times UK

Geithner admits AIG bonus plan was his baby, DeMint wants him fired

Just a few short weeks ago, we were told that Timothy Geithner was “the only man who understands how the TARP works.” His nomination was just toooooooo important to fail. The fate of the world rested in his capable hands.

Uh-oh. Now we find out he was the Einstein behind the AIG bonuses. It was his baby, baby.

Keep in mind, the number of Republicans who voted for this fiasco could meet in a phone booth.

Republican Senator Jim DeMint has had enough. He’s had it up to here. He’s calling on President Obama to cut his losses and send Geithner off on an early retirement before he does any more damage.

The first video shows Geithner ‘fessing up. The second video shows DeMint freaking out.

Irate Republican congressman rips Democrats over bail-out. You’ve never heard anything like it.

This is the most honest, remarkable, refreshing speech you’ve ever heard on the floor of the House of Representatives.

We’ve never heard of Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican from Michigan, until now. But we have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.

Here’s how McCotter ends his speech:

“Here’s the sad reality of where we are today. In a time of crisis they passed the Wall Street bailout, the nightmarish prognostications of myself and others have been exceeded. Now what we find is an attempt to cover ones tracks with another bill in a time of crisis that will leave no one–no one–safe from the hand of the taxman when the politicians come to cover their tracks at your expense. The public deserves better. The public deserves transparency. We cannot fail them again.”

Anyone seen our checkbook? We’re thinking of sending a McCotter a campaign contribution. This is the kind of guy we need to keep in Washington, DC.

Source: Breitbart

Vladimir Putin spied on Reagan, Chris Noth and Karl Malden spied on Putin

Malden and Noth watching Putin watch Reagan.
Malden and Noth watching Putin watch Reagan.

By now you may have seen the 20-year old photo that surfaced this week. It shows a young Vladimir Putin posing as an innocent tourist, just casually running into President Reagan on the streets of Moscow. You know, back in the days when Vlad was an eager young KGB agent.

Pete Souza, who is now President Obama’s official photographer, snapped the photo in 1988 while working for the Reagan White House.

Who knows? Maybe it’s Putin, maybe it’s not. But what we find amazing is that we are the first to identify two other people in the photo.

We’ve labeled Putin as #1 in this photo. The man we’ve labeled as #2 appears to be actor Chris Noth of “Sex and the City” and “Law & Order.” The man we’ve labeled as #3 is definitely actor Karl Malden of “The Streets of San Francisco” and “Patton.” (Click image for larger photo.)

It’s well-known that the KGB often planted agents and had them portray ordinary Soviet citizens. But we now have photographic evidence that the Reagan White House played a tense game of diplomatic oneupsmanship and had actors portray agents.

Take that, Vladimir Putin.

Source: Sky News

Top 10 gaffes by Barack Obama and Joe Biden. All on video.

No matter what the American press keeps telling us, the foreign press is growing less enchanted with Camelot every day. Especially the British press. And even more especially the Telegraph.

This administration is setting a torrid pace for screw-ups and misstatements and just plain dumb comments. It’s only been 60 days. Of course, we expected that when we got Joe Biden, but no one expected the greatest orator in history to foul up so often.

The Telegraph has compiled a list of the Top 10 gaffes by Obama and Biden.

Far as we can tell, the tough part must have been limiting the list to ten.

Above is the Telegraph’s choice as Number 10. To see the rest of the list, click here. Prepare to laugh.

Al Gore flunks physics at UC Berkeley

al goreAccording to the latest issue of Forbes, Professor Richard Muller tools around uber liberal Berkeley in a Toyota Pirus.

Nothing out of place here, right? Wrong.

“It doesn’t save me money,” he explains. “It doesn’t help slow global warming. I just love the technology.” Muller, named a MacArthur genius in 1982, goes even further. He scoffs at the greens’ favorite energy theories and says people like Al Gore and Thomas Friedman are exaggerators of global warming, pure and simple.

Here at IHateTheMedia.com we wonder just what former future President Gore must think when he hears such blasphemy coming from an august professor.

The answer, obviously, is that Gore doesn’t think much (that sentence has two meanings and both of them are true).

Gore lives in a world of massive denial. To him, Professor Muller is just a dumb blond, Bill Clinton really didn’t have sex with that woman, and when Credence Clearwater sings ”Fortunate Son” the lyrics really say “I am a senator’s son.”

Source: Forbes

The truth about Scientology revealed in cartoon show, not by the news media

What does it say about the media when we get more truth from cartoons than from the news?

The sickness that is called moral relativism keeps the politically correct media from coming out and saying what’s pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain: Scientology is a crock.

It’s a wacky religion concocted by a science fiction writer with too much time on his hands. It’s one of the biggest scams in history. Right up there with the “stimulus” package.

Here’s a great mash-up of L. Ron Hubbard and a South Park episode. It combines the denials of a Scientology spokesman with South Park’s animated version of L. Ron Hubbard’s actual spoken words.

We don’t know which is funnier – Hubbard’s words, South Park’s animation or John Travolta’s pilot uniform. But that’s another story.

We have to go now. We have a call from Xenu on line two.

Source: YidWithLid, Wikipedia, Xenu the evil Galactic Supreme Ruler

Madonna sees Angelina’s bet, raises her one, wants to adopt another Malawi child

Madonna: A shoo in for mother of the year
Madonna and Britney Spears: the battle for Mother of the Year honors is neck and neck. And necking.

Take that, Miss Smartypants Angelina Jolie. Madonna says she might just adopt another poor child from Malawi. And if she’s in a good mood, she might even get the permission of the child’s family first this time.

Some cold-hearted critics accused the Malawian government of playing fast and loose with the nation’s adoption laws when it allowed Madonna to adopt David Banda.

Reuters reported Madonna’s reaction:

“Many people — especially our Malawian friends — say that David should have a Malawian brother or sister,” she said in response to emailed questions from Malawi’s the Nation newspaper.

“It’s something I have been considering, but would only do, if I had the support of the Malawian people and the Government.”

“Or if I can sneak the kid out in my purse,” she said under her breath.

Source: Reuters

Media sleeps through Porkopolis Tea Party

Cincinnati has long been nicknamed “Porkopolis” because of its long association with the pork industry. So it’s a particularly poetic twist of fate that Porkopolis should be the scene of a huge Tea Party tax protest this Sunday.

Thousands of latter day tax rebels showed up in the city’s Fountain Square for the Cincinnati Tea Party, a grass-roots effort protesting Washington’s recent record setting spend-a-thon. But did the mainstream media notice?

“Unless you frequent conservative websites,” NewsBusters noted, “you’d have no idea that such events were being staged.”

In fact, over 150 Tea Parties have been brewing across the country, despite being virtually ignored by major news outlets (with the notable exception of Fox News and CNN).

Instapundit reader Ed Steiner attended the Cincinnati rally and provided a firsthand account of media bias in action:

One of the local TV stations—WCPO—did a hatchet job on the Tea Party…The station did a 30-second scan of the Square and then did its own internal Fairness Doctrine by highlighting the few Obama supporter signs and doing an interview with the local Dem Party chief.

Here’s a philosophical question: If an event occurs but the news media don’t cover it, does it make an impact? Or put another way, if the news media report something but no one listens (Air America anyone?), does it have an influence?

Don’t touch that browser! Stay tuned for more Tea Parties come April 15.

Source: NewsBusters, Pajamas Media

We can track your cell phone. We just can’t talk about it.

All that cell phone location-tracking technology you see on “24” really exists.

jack bauer

The law says we can’t use it to track terror suspects or kidnappers domestically, but can use it in foreign countries. But we can’t talk about that. At least not on the record. Or attributed. (So this is off the record. And anonymous.)

Here’s how Fox News explains it:

“Technology that tracks millions of 911 calls from cell phones in the United States every month is being deployed in Middle Eastern and Asian-Pacific countries to track terror suspects — but legal obstacles prevent widespread usage in the U.S.”

Let’s skip ahead to the last two paragraphs, which is always the best part:

U.S. military officials in Iraq and Afghanistan did not reply to requests for comment on the use of cell phone tracking there, but a source close to the matter told FOXNews.com that the practice is widely used.

“In Iraq and Afghanistan, I see [cell phone tracking technology] used all the time,” according to the source who requested anonymity due to not being authorized to speak on the matter. “I see it being used as often as a helicopter. But [military officials] don’t talk about electronic warfare, even if it’s widely used.”

Notice how the ones authorized to speak on the matter don’t comment. But you didn’t hear it from us.

Source: Fox News

Brazilian leader’s name too hard to spell. No proofreader in the White House?

Enough already with the mistakes Mr. Obama, enough!
Enough already with the mistakes Mr. Obama, enough!

Britain’s Prime Minister got a set of DVDs and the bum’s rush. The Russian Foreign Minister got a button that said, “Reset” or “Overcharged” or something. And now to complete the diplomatic trifecta, the President of Brazil got his meeting bumped and his name misspelled.

According to an AP report, aides to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the Obama administration pushed his trip forward from Tuesday because of St. Patrick’s Day. (Apparently, the Commander-In-Chief is actually Irish and his name was originally spelled O’Bama.)

Then the printed White House announcement misspelled his name as “Luis Ignacio” instead of “Luis Inacio” and put Lula – a nickname that became a legal part of the Brazilian leader’s name decades ago – in quotes.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may represent the world’s fifth most populous nation and ninth largest economy, but his name is just too long for the Obama administration’s short attention span:

But it’s not all bad news. There is job opening for a proofreader at the White House (as long as your taxes are paid up).

Source: Associated Press

Geithner suffering from plague? Another nominee avoids him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0NrPTMDfPA Senators chastise Timothy Geithner like an unruly schoolboy. Wall Street laughs at him. And potential assistants avoid him like the plague. It’s quite a comedown for the guy who was called “the smartest man in Washington” just two months ago.

Now prominent New York attorney H. Rodgin Cohen has become the latest Tim Geithner nominee to withdraw from consideration for the No. 2 job at the Treasury Department.

Fact is, the Obama administration is having big trouble filling posts at the Treasury Department. Geithner is the only nomination that’s cleared the Senate confirmation process.

A story earlier this week said:

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is practically alone on the job, working night and day to cope with the worst economic downturn in decades.

Of the 15 key Treasury Department positions that require Senate confirmation, only one has been filled. Stuart Levey, a leftover from the previous administration, who as under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, is not central to the crisis management however.

Unemployment figures which revealed Friday that 651,000 jobs were lost in February, showed the recession is running ever deeper, but Geithner, who started work in late January, has no deputy secretary, no under secretaries for international affairs and no deputy under secretaries.

With that in mind, that image of Tim Geithner toiling away at an isolated desk in the middle of a warehouse-sized office, dining on a cold pizza and a warm beer, we dedicate this song to the overworked and under-appreciated Secretary of the Treasury.

Source: Associated Press

Blind governor smells taxes up the wazoo

david patersonIt is apparently true that those who lose one sense find their remaining senses enhanced. Blind New York Governor David Patterson, for example, can sniff out a new taxes like a sow rooting up a truffle.

Just read these brief news stories about two new taxes recently proposed by wily New York Democrats:

Stripper Tax Is Hard to ‘Bare’

A Brooklyn assemblyman introduced a bill yesterday that would require patrons to pay the state $10 every time they visit a strip club or topless joint.

Felix Ortiz, a Democrat, said the flesh fee could raise as much as $500 million for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual abuse and child prostitution.

Source: New York Post

Now combine the story above with the one below and you begin to see how invasive the Democrats’ tax plans can be.

Governor To Bury Plan That Would Mandate Taxes On Dozens Of Recreational Items

With his approval rating plummeting by the day and thousands of angry New Yorkers urging him to find other ways to raise state revenue, Gov. David Paterson has decided to put a cork in his plan to impose dozens of “nuisance” taxes on recreational items…

Paterson had planned to mandate a sales tax on numerous items…Paterson was also going to eliminate the no-tax rule on clothing under $110, but will nix that idea, too.

Source: WCBSTV.com

So there you have it. On one hand, New York Democrats want to tax strippers. On the other hand, they want to tax clothes. Which means they will tax the shirt right off your back. And the shirt right on your back.

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