This childhood photo of Barack Obama and his mother seems to explain a lot. Even as a child Barack Obama was a pirate. You know, a swashbuckler whose philosophy was, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.”
Whenever Mrs Editor complains about one of the Editor’s many annoying habits, his stock response is, “Psychologists say a person’s basic personality is established by the age of five.”
Seen in that light, this childhood photo of Barack Obama and his mother Ann Dunham seems to explain a lot. Even as a child Barack Obama was a pirate.
You know, a swashbuckler whose philosophy was, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.” A scoundrel willing to sail under a flag other than his country’s. In burying treasure that will never again be found. In making his enemies walk the plank.
Yes, the analogy holds up pretty well until you get to the part about Obama bowing to kings. We can’t explain that.
Don’t run out to the garage looking for them. You only own them because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner “invested”$80 billion of your tax dollars in General Motors and Chrysler.
Forbes magazine did its annual “Worst Cars on the Road” review and you may be disturbed to learn that you own nine of the eleven on the list.
Don’t run out to the garage looking for them. You only own them because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner “invested”$80 billion of your tax dollars in General Motors and Chrysler.
Don't you find it somehow appropriate that a car named the Dodge Nitro is a bomb?
Here’s the bad news from Forbes:
… with three exceptions–the Mercedes-Benz S550, Smart Fortwo and Nissan Titan–all of the cars on this year’s list of the Worst Cars on the Road are (still) made by domestic companies. That includes the Dodge Dakota, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Chrysler Town & Country. The only American car company with zero vehicles on the list? Ford.
Ford? You mean the same Ford that declined your tax dollars? The same Ford that now has the largest share of the new car market? The same Ford that is reporting record profits?
Yes, that Ford.
Oh, by the way, just in case you were wondering, here’s the complete list of the Loser Eleven: Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Dakota, Mercedes Benz S550, Chrysler Town and Country, Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Aveo, Jeep Liberty and Nissan Titan.
Can people just butt out and let us raise our kids as we see fit without writing a bunch of idiotic nanny state regulations intended to regulate every last aspect of our lives?”
Anyone here speak Spanish? How do you say “Can you people just butt out and let me raise my child as I see fit without writing a bunch of idiotic nanny state regulations intended to regulate every last aspect of our lives?”
Child suffering severe psychological trauma at the hands of a pinata
We ran across the latest in nanny state nuttiness on Yahoo.com:
Pinatas: A bad idea for your child’s party?
Piñatas are not a good idea for your child’s party. Children should never hit anything with a stick. Even worse, kids can get piñatas in their favorite character too. Doesn’t anyone slightly cringe at the thought of their child whacking Dora the Explorer or Elmo around with a baseball bat? What is that doing for a child’s character? Getting a flower or car piñata is only slightly less worse.
The article was written by Vanessa Bartlemus, whose bio indicates that she has degrees in Journalism and Psychology.
Either one of which makes us want to whack her with a stick.
Chris hosted four British journalists this weekend and in an effort to demean George W. Bush, ended up being corrected by some Brits.
Is there anything better than seeing Chris Matthews embarrassed on national television? OK, sure, seeing Keith Olbermann pantsed by midgets might be funnier, but seeing Chris Matthews embarrassed runs a close second.
Chris hosted four British journalists this weekend and in an effort to demean George W. Bush, made the ludicrous claim that former Prime Minister Tony Blair “was much closer emotionally and politically to Bill Clinton.”
Surely, Matthews never expected them to unanimously disagree. Liberal blogger Andrew Sullivan shook his head no. Gillian Tett of the Financial Times did the same. Katty Kay of the BBC said, “No.” Matt Frei said, “Wrong.”
Kay and Frei didn’t stop there.
Watch the video clip. You’ll love Matthews’ pathetic closing line.
There’s a significant drop in Obama’s approval rating on handling Afghanistan, down 12 points from a year ago.
We doubt that President Obama’s staff is eager to show him the latest poll numbers every morning. Seems like not a day goes by in which he doesn’t hit a new low in one poll or another.
Like this new ABC News poll on his handling of the war in Afghanistan:
Obama laughs, America cries
A record 49 percent of Americans now disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan, up 8 points since January. And those who disapprove “strongly” outnumber strong approvers by nearly a 2-1 margin.
With Obama holding his monthly national security meeting on Afghanistan today, the results show a significant drop in the president’s approval rating on handling the issue, down 12 points in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll from a year ago.
The change follows an ABC/Post poll last month in which a new low, 31 percent, said the war in Afghanistan has been worth fighting. Sixty-four percent said it is not worth fighting, with 49 percent feeling that way “strongly,” both record highs in ABC/Post polls.
Conventional wisdom says President Obama is fighting three wars, but that doesn’t include the one he’s fighting against the American people.
We’re pretty sure that this is just some Zionist trickery. Some evil plot to lure innocent Palestinians into slavery. Some nefarious … what’s that? The statistics were released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics?
We’re pretty sure that this is just some Zionist trickery. Some evil plot to lure innocent Palestinians into slavery. Some nefarious … what’s that? The statistics were released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics?
Oh, crap. This doesn’t work with the media’s narrative.
The Palestinian Rock Throwers Union reports an unexpected increase in first time unemployment claims
The Jerusalem Post has the details:
The figures showed that although the Palestinian Authority has banned Palestinians from working in settlements, 14.2 percent of employed Arabs from the West Bank worked in settlements in 2010, an increase by 1 percentage point from the previous year.
According to the Statistics Bureau, the nominal daily median net wage of Palestinians who worked in the West Bank was NIS 76.9 in 2010, while those who were employed in settlements received NIS 150 per day.
The bureau’s Labor Force Survey showed that the Palestinian unemployment rate in the West Bank last year stood at more than 17%, while in the Gaza Strip it reached almost 38%.
To the Palestinians’ credit, the unemployment rate among suicide bombers remains at zero for the tenth consecutive year.
What’s a socialist President to do? He needs to raise the debt limit to keep spending, & the debt limit for his political base, but the public will punish him for doing it.
Hoo boy, what’s a socialist President to do? He needs to raise the debt limit so he can keep spending, needs to increase the debt limit to satisfy his political base, but a new poll indicates that he’d be punished in the polls for doing it.
Want more money? Just crank up the printing presses and let 'er rip!
CBS News reports Obama’s awkward situation:
Despite Obama administration warnings that failing to do so would devastate the economy, a clear majority of Americans say they oppose raising the debt limit, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.
Just 27 percent of Americans support raising the debt limit, while 63 percent oppose raising it.
Eighty-three percent of Republicans oppose raising the limit, along with 64 percent of independents and 48 percent of Democrats. Support for raising the debt limit is just 36 percent among Democrats, and only 14 percent among Republicans.
Note that 48% of Democrats oppose raising the debt limit. That means the President is appealing only to the extremists in his own party when he says, “This has worked so well that we should do it again.”
To tell the truth, we’re not actually sure they the extremists. They may actually be morons.
Prominent liberal Andrew Sullivan exposes his remarkable hypocrisy by expressing diametrically opposed points of view on advertising boycotts.
Andrew Sullivan, perhaps the most hypocritical of all liberal bloggers, a role that has made him a frequent guest on liberal broadcast and cable news shows, exposes his remarkable hypocrisy by expressing diametrically opposed points of view on advertising boycotts.
Andrew Sullivan, blurring the line between highly nuanced and highly hypocrtical
Here’s how he expressed his opinion of the advertiser boycott of Glenn Beck on Sep 30, 2010:
As you probably know, Fox host Glenn Beck has been losing lots of advertisers — about 20 so far, including Wal-Mart, CVS and GEICO — for calling Barack Obama a “racist” with a “deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” I clicked around to see what people on the right were saying about the donnybrook, and found this page from RedState.org, which appears to be organizing a counter boycott, or is at least offering the sinister warning that “there will be repercussions from our side if [these companies] are so willing to become pawns of the left.”
… And yet I cannot help but think there is a crucial difference between GEICO’s decision to drop Glenn Beck and RedState’s decision to drop GEICO. The difference is this: Wal-Mart has a good reason to boycott Beck, because Beck actually did something idiotic and indefensible.
So there you have it. If someone says something idiotic and indefensible, they deserve to be boycotted by advertisers. Unless, of course, the target of a boycott is liberal, in which case Sullivan effortlessly switches to the opposite position.
As you may be aware, the liberal website Wonkette is now experiencing its own advertiser boycott after running a remarkably offensive article last week about Sarah Palin’s handicapped son Trig. That caused Sullivan, who is obsessed with the belief that Bristol Palin is Trig’s real mother, to experience a sudden change of heart.
Here’s his reaction to an advertiser boycott of Wonkette:
I feel as queasy about this flexing of Palinite muscle as I do about the original, disgusting, asinine story. In some ways, I see a legitimate come-uppance for a tacky site that published a simply inexcusable piece of mean-spirited dreck using a child who cannot defend himself, treating him as if he were subhuman, which he most definitely isn’t. But I also recoil from mob action like this, for the impact it has on fearless free speech and the chilling effect it will have on an already cowed and defensive MSM when covering the truly tough stuff about Palin.
Please allow us to summarize Sullivan’s highly nuanced position as we understand it:
Boycotts of conservatives, good. Boycotts of liberals, bad.
In this video clip, Obama radical Cass Sunstein is testifying before the Senate and starts talking about environmental justice.
In case you don’t know who Cass Sunstein is, let us fill you in. He runs President Obama’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Think of him as the Red Tape Czar. Obama and he go way back because Sunstein has taught at the University of Chicago Law School for 27 years. He’s one of the main radicals in an administration teeming with them.
In fact, what Sunstein does for Obama domestically, his wife, Samantha Power, does internationally. She’s a member of the National Security Council and is Senior Director the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. She’s rumored to be in line to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
The bottom line: Sunstein and Power are two of the main drivers behind Obama’s radical agenda.
OK, enough background. Now let’s get to the video clip. Sunstein is testifying before the Senate and starts talking about environmental justice. (Question: Why does justice always appear to be the thing least desired by people who talk about it incessantly?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfHrT3tYxrU
Joe Lieberman treats him with complete respect and asks how costs and benefits are calculated. Sunstein throws out a lot of buzzwords and attempts to make it sound like costs and benefits are somehow scientifically determined.
Then Republican Senator Ben Johnson steps up to the plate and nails Sunstein’s complete line of bull.
“How does that create a burden of proof,” Johnson asks, “when it’s a loophole you can drive a truck through?”
In other words, Sunstein’s just making up shit up as he goes along.
Just once, just once we want to see a member of the House or Senate look one of these guys in the eyes and say, “I have no questions for you. You’re a freaking radical dedicated to destroying this country. I have no interest in wasting my time on you except to expose what you really are.”
In the IHTM tradition of never missing an opportunity to run a story about scantily-clad women, we bring you breaking news from Lead, South Dakota.
In the IHTM tradition of never missing an opportunity to run a story about scantily-clad women, we bring you breaking news from Lead, South Dakota, where voters defeated a Tuesday referendum that would have allowed nude dancing in “Historic Downtown Lead.” And nude, in our opinion, trumps scantily-clad every damn time.
It's for the children. No, wait, that argument may not work in this case.
Stripped down to its essence, the new ordinance would have allowed nude dancing at the Wild Thing Saloon, which brought in dancers for two days in December and crowds went … well, wild.
The event drew “hundreds of extra visitors into Lead,” which really, really needs extra visitors because the biggest industry in town is the abandoned Homestake Mine where scientists now run experiments testing for cosmic particles.
Not a lot of job opportunities for the average Joe in the testing-for-cosmic-particles business, ya know?
Lead City Commissioner Casey Borsch said turnout for the referendum was “considerably higher” than normal, which we’re guessing means more people, not happier people. Voters rejected the Wild Thing idea 535-303.
Unfortunately, not every naked woman story has a happy ending. (Especially when a town gets older and there’s no lead left in either its mining shafts or its miners’ shafts. If you know what we mean.)
Oh, well. While “Historic Lead, South Dakota” languishes in the economic doldrums because of their prudish sensibilities, two miles away in “Historic Deadwood, South Dakota,” where they legalized gambling in 1989, they’re into their third decade of boom times.
Saphia Khambalia is a reporter for City TV in Toronto. In fact, she’s a very attractive reporter which makes this video clip even funnier.
Saphia Khambalia is a reporter for City TV in Toronto. In fact, she’s a very attractive reporter which makes this video clip even funnier.
She was doing a story on Charlie Sheen’s appearance at Toronoto’s Massey Hall when she had an unfortunate incident occur while she was on the air.
Toronto’s Daily Mail breathlessly describes the incident:
But as visible windy conditions bluster around her, the reporter’s nose begins to run seconds into her report. She manages to clear her nose once by combining it with a quick swish of her dark hair, only for the troubling watery stream to return seconds later. The embarrassed reporter attempts to hurriedly sign off her report and hand back to a studio colleague as her runny nose threatens to spoil her on-air appearance again. But she is powerless to prevent the nasal malfunction as the stream falls from her nose onto her microphone at the split second she finishes her piece.
We are incredibly proud right now that we were mature enough not to do any snot puns in this story.
This is honestly one of the funniest video clips ever. Joanne Kloppenburg, the losing Democrat candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court…
This is honestly one of the funniest video clips ever. Joanne Kloppenburg, the losing Democrat candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, held a press conference on Wednesday to announce that she was demanding a recount.
The following hilarious question and answer ensued:
Reporter: You held a press conference to announce that you were the winner of the election. Do you still feel that you’re the winner of the election? Kloppenburg: (pause) (continue to pause) (look like a deer in the headlights) (we leave the room to make a sandwich and she’s still pausing when we got back) How I feel … I feel that I have … ummm … been a winner in any number of ways…
The election is apparently not one of them. Kloppenburg knows it, her opponent knows it and everyone in Wisconsin knows it.
We occasionally get together with a few buddies to play poker. We cordially invite Joanne Kloppenburg to our next game and pray that she brings a lot of cash.
The numbers are devastating for Chicago Jesus and his Democrat apostles in latest CBS/New York Times poll. Absolutely devastating.
The numbers are devastating for Chicago Jesus and his Democrat apostles in latest CBS/New York Times poll. Absolutely devastating.
You never know what’s going to happen in politics, and eighteen months is an eternity, but it appears that Obama’s brand of Chicago socialism has been thoroughly rejected by the American people.
The people were angry and they casteth stones, for they learned that Chicago Jesus was a false prophet
The Washington Examiner reports the ugly details:
70% of Americans feel things in this country are seriously off on the wrong track. That is the highest number since the 79% registered in 1/11/09 when President Bush was still in office.
80% rate the national economy as bad (44% fairly/36% very). Only 19% rate it as good (2% very/17% fairly).
39% think the economy is getting worse, only 23% say it is getting better. Last month those numbers were even at 26. In February they were flipped at 32% better, 22% worse.
57% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy. That is the highest disapproval measured by the CBS/NYT poll. His 38% approval is matched only once by a pre-Democractic election wipe out October poll.
59% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the federal budget. Also the highest CBS/NYT has ever measured that number.
Obama’s Libya approval numbers have completely flipped from 50/29 approve in March to 45/39 disapprove today.
46% disapprove of the way Obama is handling foreign policy. That is the highest number ever for Obama in a CBS/NYT poll. His 39% approval on FP is also his lowest score ever.
55% tell NYT/CBS they would rather have a smaller government providing fewer services. Only 33% want a bigger government with more services.
When asked “Do you think Barack Obama has the same priorities for the country as you have, or doesn’t he?” 53% said no and 43% said yes. When Obama was inaugurated those numbers were 65% and 28% no.
These numbers prove one thing: Chicago Jesus was a false prophet, but there is a God.
What could be more entertaining than watching two leftist hacks spin for Planned Parenthood? The question isn’t whether they’ll do it, but rather what lame, unsupportable argument they’ll attempt to advance.
What could be more entertaining than watching two leftist hacks spin for Planned Parenthood? The question isn’t whether they’ll do it, but rather what lame, unsupportable argument they’ll attempt to advance.
MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts and Politico’s Chris Frates didn’t disappoint.
They agree that Planned Parenthood’s problem is merely a branding issue. You know, the kind of thing that can be solved with a catchy slogan and a couple press releases.
Is it just us or does this sound remarkably similar to what the Democrats said about themselves after the November, 2010 elections.
But, of course, one should not be surprised that Planned Parenthood and the Democrat Party should present virtually the same argument since they’re virtually the same organization.
If a majority of likely American voters had their way, the maternity hospitals just this side of the Mexican border would see dramatic declines in their business.
If a majority of likely American voters had their way, the maternity hospitals just this side of the Mexican border would see dramatic declines in their business.
Rasmussen explains the results of a recent poll:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters believe that a child born in the United States to a woman who is here illegally should not automatically become a U.S. citizen. That’s up slightly from last August but is the highest level of support for a change in the existing law found in five years of Rasmussen Reports surveying.
The liberal opposition is hemorrhaging support:
Twenty-eight percent (28%) disagree and feel that children born to illegal immigrants in this country should automatically become American citizens as is currently the practice. That’s down six points from August. Another 11% are undecided.
But that’s just the beginning of the bad news for liberals. Get this:
Eighty-four percent (84%) of voters believe that before anyone receives local, state or federal government services, they should be required to prove they are legally allowed to be in the United States. Only nine percent (9%) oppose such a requirement.
Just nine percent? Nine percent is almost a rounding error. More than 9% believe Obama was born in Kenya. More than 9% believe aliens have visited earth. More than 9% probably believe Obama is one of them.
Apparently, Prince William and Kate Middleton will only allow make-believe morons to attend their wedding, which explains why Mr. Bean made the cut, but Mr. Obama didn’t.
Rumor has it that President Obama is pissed that he got dissed and didn’t make the list.
Apparently, Prince William and Kate Middleton will only allow make-believe morons to attend their wedding, which explains why Mr. Bean made the cut, but Mr. Obama didn’t.
The Associated Press reports that affirmative action can get you to the White House, but not to Westminster Abbey:
David Beckham, Elton John and Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson will mingle with dozens of royal guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, according to an official guest list released Saturday that includes one uncomfortable presence — the Bahraini crown prince accused of a brutal crackdown on protesters.
Here’s one of Mr. Bean’s most famous clips. It’s already had an incredible 58,000,000 views on YouTube. Please note that he works without a Teleprompter.
We made it about 30 seconds into this video before tears started streaming down our faces. Our advice: Get a box of Kleenex before you watch it.
The Editor made it about 30 seconds into this video before tears began rolling down his face. The Administrator lasted about ten seconds. He said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to walk my daughter down the aisle.”
Our advice: Get a box of Kleenex before you watch it.
Hope you have a great Easter with all your loved ones.
By the end of this short video clip Ellison revealed his true position: We’re not just fighting Muslim terrorists, we’re fighting Christian and Jewish terrorists, too.
We’re not big Hannity fans, but he gets our congratulations for nailing Keith Ellison, the Democrat who proudly wears the label First Muslim in Congress.
Hannity quickly put Ellison in stuttering and sputtering mode. And by the end of this short video clip Ellison revealed his true position: We’re not just fighting Muslim terrorists, we’re fighting Christian and Jewish terrorists, too.
‘Cause, you know, Christians and Jews are in the news every day for strapping on dynamite vests and blowing up innocent women and children. Oh, no, wait. That’s Muslims. Well, Christians and Jews hijacked airplanes and flew them into the Twin Towrs. No, now that we think about it, that was Muslims, too. Well … well …
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the Environmental Protection Agency is creating noise pollution, because it has produced what must be one of the worst songs in the history of rap.
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the Environmental Protection Agency is creating noise pollution, because it has produced what must be one of the worst songs in the history of rap. And that’s quite a statement because rap is a genre rife with really bad songs.
In theory, “Click It, Flip It” is supposed to inspire kids to live more sustainable lifestyles. In reality, it will inspire kids to say, “This rap is crap.”
You owe us a big one, IHTM readers. We sat through this song about fifteen times just so we could transcribe the lyrics for you accurately.
“Click It, Flip It”
Click, click, click, click
Click, click, click, click
C’mon and click it, click it
Turn off your water, turn the handle to the right
Slip on your sneakers and lace ‘em up tight
Leave the car parked, you know that that’s alright.
Public transportation is the way to go
Well, it’s one of the ways keep emissions low
Now you can ride your bike, uh huh, instead of the car
If we save on fuel, then we’ll all go far
I said click it, click it
Turn the handle to the right
Turn off the water turn the handle real tight
Slip on your sneakers and lace ‘em up tight
Leave the car parked, c’mon you know now that’s alright.
Public transportation is the way to go
Well, it’s one of the ways keep emissions low
Now you can ride your bike, uh huh, instead of the car
If we save on fuel, then we’ll all go far
Now you can pick up paper, recycle it too
And there are many other things that you can do
You can click off the Gameboy, flip off the light
While you’re brushing your teeths turn the handle to the right
Close the fridge door and keep it shut tight
No food has been added since the middle of the night
A five-minute shower is all that’s needed
To keep energy from being depleted
A long-sleeved sweater is what I know
Will keep you toasty and your fuel bills low
Planet a tree in your neighborhood
Besides giving shade you know it looks real good
C’mon and click it
Turn your handle to the right
Turn off the water turn the handle’s real tight
Slip on your sneakers and lace ‘em up tight
Leave the car parked, c’mon you know that’s alright.
Public transportation is the way to go
Well, it’s one of the ways keep emissions low
Now you can ride your bike, uh huh, instead of the car
If we save on fuel, then we’ll all go far
The USA is where we are
To kick a new trend and to raise the bar
The climate’s changing and that’s a fact
The bears don’t even know when to take a nap
On top of that it’s not cool
When the flood waters rise and mosquitoes rule
It’s time to get off the couch and start to move.
C’mon and click it
Turn your handle to the right
Turn off the water, turn the handle real tight
Slip on your sneakers, well, and lace ‘em up tight
Leave the car parked, you know that’s alright.
I said public transportation is the way to go
It’s one of the ways keep emissions low
Now you can ride your bike, uh huh, instead of the car
If we save on fuel, then we’ll all go far
C’mon and click it
Click it
Turn the handle to the right
Click it, click it
Turn the handle to the right
C’mon and click it
Turn the handle to the right
Click, click, click, click,
Click, click, click, click,
Click, click
We’ve upset a Communist with our Che Guevara story, and thought we’d share his hate mail with you.
We’ve upset a Communist, which, of course, makes doing this at 3:30 a.m. all seem worthwhile.
We did a story back in December titled “Ten Che Guevara quotes the left would rather not talk about.” You may have noticed an increasingly angry series of comments from a reader who calls himself Che’s Best Friend. (Far be it from us to nitpick, but wouldn’t Che’s Best Amigo be more appropriate?)
Perhaps "Che's Best Friend" was upset because we said, "The only good Che is a dead Che"
Well, Che’s Best Friend sent us a special email yesterday. We thought you might enjoy it as much as we did.
To: Editor
From: Che’S Best Friend
chesfriend@****.com
Message:
Whatever you say or do against Che’s image…..the U.S. made the mistake of having him murdered which is the dumbest thing an enemy can do to a leader, and made him an eternal martyr no matter what….DUMB,
JUST PLAIN DUMB!! That why you have this website …… socialists will always be socialists….When Capitalists murder for ‘the cause’ it right….I rest…..
BTW what did all the American soilders die for in Vietman, not to mention Civilians…..American security, right???
Your website is the hate not the email responses……as always it’s a travesty!!
Like all Empires before n since this one will fall too….I hope I live to see it!!
Pleasant dreams ‘I hate the Media’!!
I would never trust you…………
We checked Che’s Best Friend’s ISP and found that it’s located in Washington, DC.
The National Press Club held a lovely luncheon the other day and invited Ted Turner and T. Boone Pickens to spread their wisdom among the prostrate press.
The National Press Club held a lovely luncheon the other day and invited Ted Turner and T. Boone Pickens to spread their wisdom among the prostrate press.
In wind power really works, Ted Turner's mouth should be able to generate enough electricity to power several small cities
North American Wind Power’s website described it as a debate, but our understanding of the word “debate” is that a successful one requires opposing sides. In this case, Turner and Pickens appeared to be singing from the same hymnal.
Of course, they both called for immediate action by Congress – Pickens to protect his substantial investment in wind power and Turner to protect his substantially dwindling reputation as a forward thinker.
But let’s concentrate on Turner, because Pickens commits the double cardinal sins of (1) being in the position to profit enormously if Congress were to actually do something about wind power, and (2) being boring.
Here’s how NAWP.com tells Turner’s tale:
Turner, founder and former head of CNN, agreed with Pickens that natural gas is part of the solution to the U.S.’ energy problem, which has been dramatized lately by rising gasoline prices. But Turner sees natural gas as only a “bridge fuel.”
“In 20 years, there will be no fossil fuel,” said Turner, who asserted that cars will run on electricity in 20 years.
Despite the fact that the world has greater proven oil reserves now than at any time in history, Turner says the world’s gas tank will be on empty by 2031. But the Mouth from the South was just getting started.
“We need renewable energy for a world without pollution, so kids won’t get asthma.”
President Obama tried the same argument last week, claiming that coal-fired power plants cause asthma and was rapidly slapped down by health experts who said the cause of asthma really isn’t known.
Hard to believe that one man could pack so much misinformation into two short sentences, but let’s face it, Ted Turner is no ordinary man.
Please allow us to paraphrase what President Obama said: “I can’t wait until tomorrow, because I get more perfect every day.”
Please allow us to paraphrase what President Obama said during a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California: “I can’t wait until tomorrow, because I get more perfect every day.”
“If you had to do anything differently during your first four years,” one questioner asked, “what would it be?”
If you don't think Saint Barry of Nairobi is perfect, just ask him
After several minutes of taxing his remarkable intellect (yes, the guy will tax anything) to think of something that hasn’t gone perfectly during his first two and a half years in office, he finally gave up.
“There are all sorts of day-to-day issues where I say to myself, oh, I didn’t say that right, or I didn’t explain this clearly enough,” Obama noted, “or maybe if I had sequenced this plan first as opposed to that one, maybe it would have gotten done quicker.”
But actual mistakes? None. Not one. He referenced the contentious ObamaCare debate and said, “I’ve asked myself sometimes is there a way that we could have gotten it done more quickly and in a way that the American people wouldn’t have been so frustrated by it?”
But that wasn’t Obama’s mistake and he was quick to point that out. “I’m not sure I could have because there’s a reason why it hadn’t gotten done in a hundred years … It’s hard to fix a system as big as health care and as complicated as our health care system.”
After wracking his brain for several more minutes, the President just plain gave up on trying to think of any mistakes and began talking about anything that came to mind. He rambled into a long list of unrelated topics, like immigration reform. And the deficit. And energy. And education.
But mistakes? By this time he was hoping that the audience had forgotten he question.
The success of the celebration can only be explained by the fact that no one ever bothers to go back to check the accuracy of the eco-wackos’ past predictions.
What was once Earth Day has now morphed into Earth Hour and Earth Week. The success of the celebration can only be explained by the fact that no one ever bothers to go back to check the accuracy of the eco-wackos’ past predictions.
For example, the predictions made at the first Earth Day in 1970 were wrong. No, wrong isn’t a strong enough word. They were spectacularly wrong. Let’s cover all the tenses and say they were wrong, they are wrong, and then make our own prediction and say they will be wrong in the future.
Jim Morrison, gone. Elvis Presley, gone. Michael Jackson, gone. But none of them were killed by the environment.
Need proof? Here are some of the hilarious, remarkably wrong predictions made on Earth Day 1970.
“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”
• George Wald, Harvard Biologist
“We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.” • Barry Commoner, Washington University biologist
“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” • Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
Leisure suits are gone, but the Earth is still here
“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” • Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University
“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.” • Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day
“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” • Life Magazine, January 1970
“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” • Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” • Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
Sadly, vegans have outlived the Vega.
“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” • Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones.” • Martin Litton, Sierra Club director
“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.'” • Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” • New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day
“Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.” • Sen. Gaylord Nelson
“We have about five more years at the outside to do something.” • Kenneth Watt, ecologist
“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” • Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
Today, Earth Day, the eco-wackos will surely get their day moment in the spotlight and their soundbites on the nightly news. They’ll predict a future even grimmer than they predicted 41 years ago.
