CNN focus group results show pretty conclusively that the mere mention of the word “hope” triggered an immediate negative response from Republicans and independents. And Obama’s discussion of “health care” caused independents to turn on the him like cornered wolverines.
Fascinating research from CNN that should scare the hell out of President Obama and his team.
The also-ran news network conducted a focus group during the State of the Union Address. They hooked participants up to devices that allowed them to register their reactions in real time to everything the President said.
The results show pretty conclusively that the mere mention of the word “hope” triggered an immediate negative response from Republicans and independents. And Obama’s discussion of “health care” caused independents to turn on the him like cornered wolverines.
It’s fun to watch. Professionally speaking, that is.
Just when you think the federal government can’t get any dumber, they top themselves. As they did in this story about the latest green scam in Portland, Oregon.
We predict that this green building will bleed red ink
Just when you think the federal government can’t get any dumber, they top themselves. As they did in this story about the latest green scam in Portland, Oregon.
The New York Times has the green details:
… the federal government plans to plant its own bold garden directly above a downtown plaza. As part of a $133 million renovation, the General Services Administration is planning to cultivate “vegetated fins” that will grow more than 200 feet high on the western facade of the main federal building here, a vertical garden that changes with the seasons and nurtures plants that yield energy savings.
“They will bloom in the spring and summer when you want the shade, and then they will go away in the winter when you want to let the light in,” said Bob Peck, commissioner of public buildings for the G.S.A. “Don’t ask me how you get them irrigated.”
And we’d say irrigation is the least of the problems. Who prunes the growth and harvests the crops?
… Maybe the same folks who wash skyscraper windows, the architects say. Perhaps the exterior concrete panels removed in the renovation could be reused as salmon habitat in a nearby river.
The G.S.A. says the building will use 60 percent to 65 percent less energy than comparable buildings and estimates a savings of $280,000 annually in energy costs. Solar panels could provide up to 15 percent of the building’s power needs. The use of rainwater and low-flow plumbing fixtures will reduce potable water consumption by 68 percent. And energy for lighting will be halved.
Yes, perhaps the building will be pruned by the same folks who wash skyscraper windows. Perhaps.
Or since our agricultural products are all harvested by illegal aliens because that’s a job Americans supposedly won’t do, perhaps the government will have to bring in illegal Sherpa aliens to scale the sides of the building.
And what are the odds that the entire $280,000 in energy savings will be completely eaten up by the cost of harvesting. Not to mention the cost of legal settlements paid out to pedestrians who are injured by falling musk melons.
Your government in action, your tax dollars at work.
New Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown showed up on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Sort of. Actor Jon Hamm of AMC’s Mad Men portrayed Brown as a sexy, gyrating, and stripping senator who comes to life in Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Robert Byrd, Barbara Boxer, and Barney Frank’s sexual fantasies.
New Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown showed up on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Sort of.
Actor Jon Hamm of AMC’s Mad Men portrayed Brown as a sexy, gyrating, and stripping senator who comes to life in Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Robert Byrd, Barbara Boxer, and Barney Frank’s sexual fantasies.
“Thank goodness I like a good laugh,” the new senator told National Review Online. “That was pretty funny. I wish I could host SNL some day. I’ve been watching it since I was young. Jon Hamm is great.”
ObamaCare is a disaster. Cash-for-Clunkers has become an embarrassing boondoggle. Cap-and-Trade is flailing in the wind. Amnesty is a pipedream. Obama is plummeting in the polls. And even the lovesick media is starting to figure out that this guy is an empty suit.
The thrill is gone, baby. The thrill is gone.
Here’s B.B. King and Gary Moore doing King’s blues classic.
Ouch. MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer and Melissa Francis get smacked up the side of the head by Judd Gregg. But the funny thing is, we don’t think they even suspect how bad they looked.
Ouch. MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer and Melissa Francis get smacked up the side of the head by Judd Gregg. But the funny thing is, we don’t think they even suspect how bad they looked.
Nancy Pelosi’s alcohol tab reads like a dream order for some wild frat party: Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey’s Irish Crème, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey … and Corona beer.
Princess Pelosi demands that you spend more on her booze than you spend on your house
Bill Clinton may have felt your pain, but it appears that Nancy Pelosi’s feeling no pain. She couldn’t be if she’s consuming al the alcohol she demands for her weekly cross-country flights on the taxpayer’s dime.
World Net Daily offers up the remarkable details:
It reads like a dream order for some wild frat party: Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey’s Irish Crème, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey … and Corona beer.
But that single receipt makes up just part of the more than $101,000 taxpayers paid for “in-flight services” – including food and liquor, for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trips on Air Force jets over the last two years. That’s almost $1,000 per week.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch, which investigates and prosecutes government corruption, show that the Pelosi incurred expenses of some $2.1 million for her use of Air Force jets for travel over that time.
Combine this with the fleet of luxurious jets that sit at Congress’ disposal and you have the makings of a really fun weekend for American royalty members of Pelosi’s retinue.
Nancy Pelosi puts the party in the Democratic party. As usual, they’re drinking the alcohol, but the American taxpayers are left with the hangover.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the UN’s climate change chief, is doing something other climate scientists are not: writing smutty novels. In the midst of the Climategate scandal Pachauri has found time to write a romance novel. A novel that features sex. A lot of sex. And breasts. A lot of breasts.
Rajendra Pachauri, U.N. climate guru and budding romance novelist. Is there no end to the man's talent?
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the UN’s climate change chief, is doing something other climate scientists are not: writing smutty novels.
In the midst of the Climategate scandal Pachauri has found time to write a romance novel. A novel that features sex. A lot of sex. And breasts. A lot of breasts.
The Telegraph reports:
In breathless prose that risks making Dr Pachauri, who will be 70 this year, a laughing stock among the serious, high-minded scientists and world leaders with whom he mixes, he details sexual encounter after sexual encounter.
A smutty novel’s going to make him a laughing stock among serious scientists? Hell, if ClimateGate hasn’t already done that, nothing will.
Of course, Pachauri is known around the world for his series of IPCC reports. So this is not his first work of fiction.
But putting that aside, if most characters reflect the writers themselves, what do passages like this say about the 2007 Nobel Price winner wiener?
“Sanjay saw a shapely dark-skinned girl lying on Vinay’s bed. He was overcome by a lust that he had never known before … He removed his clothes and began to feel Sajni’s body, caressing her voluptuous breasts.”
“He enjoyed the sensation of gently pushing Susan’s shoulders back a few inches, an action that served to lift her breasts even higher. He was excited by the sight of her heaving breasts, as she breathed in and out deeply.”
“Afterwards she held him close. ‘Sandy, I’ve learned something for the first time today. You are absolutely superb after meditation. Why don’t we make love every time immediately after you have meditated?’”
Whew! Is it getting hot in here? Or is it just global warming?
Arthur Laffer, President Reagan’s favorite economist and creator of the famous Laffer Curve, believes the economy is headed for a “train wreck” in 2011. And he thinks it will be so bad that the current recession look like the good ol’ days by comparison.
Coincidentally, the Laffer Curve also shows the relationship between taxes and President Obama's approval rating
Arthur Laffer, President Reagan’s favorite economist and creator of the famous Laffer Curve, believes the economy is headed for a “train wreck” in 2011. And he thinks it will be so bad that the current recession look like the good ol’ days by comparison.
Human Events reports the details:
In a wide-ranging discussion about where the economy is headed, and the fiscal, tax and monetary reasons why, Laffer gives a bleak forecast of where President Obama and his administration are taking the country in the next three years — which he predicts will end with Obama’s defeat in 2012.
“Obama is a fine, very impressive person. He really is. Unfortunately, everything that he is doing in economics is exactly wrong. He is a crappy president,” Laffer said.
“Whenever a country is in the throes of spending too much and raising taxes, it’s a fiscal catastrophe in the making and this is what is happening now,” he said.
“Crappy,” of course, is a highly-technical economic term that means “socialism doesn’t work.”
President Obama, often noted as a former professor of constitutional law, got a little confused during Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. Uh-oh. He confused the Constitution with the Declaration of Independence.
President Obama, often noted as a former professor of constitutional law, got a little confused during Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. He said:
We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal….
Uh-oh. Wrong document, President Obama. It’s actually the Declaration of Independence that says:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
It is almost zenlike, young grasshopper, that one should attempt to teach that which one has not yet mastered.
What kind of grade would the ol’ professor give a student who made such a basic error?
Now that all the polls say Harry Reid’s political career is dead, his spirit has apparently moved into the White House. Don’t know about you, but it would scare the bejeebers out of us to find that cadaverous ghost lurking in our houses.
Now that all the polls say Harry Reid’s political career is dead, his spirit has apparently moved into the White House. Don’t know about you, but it would scare the bejeebers out of us to find that cadaverous ghost lurking in our houses.
All this time we thought Chris Matthews said those crazy things just because he’s a liberal. But maybe Jon Stewart is right. Maybe Matthews is a drinking liberal, always a dangerous combination (see Kennedy, Ted).
All this time we thought Chris Matthews said those crazy things just because he’s a liberal. But maybe Jon Stewart is right. Maybe Matthews is a drinking liberal, always a dangerous combination (see Kennedy, Ted).
The numbers are in. Fox News absolutely destroyed the competition the night of Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts. Gloat, O’Reilly, gloat. You deserve it. Fox News deserves it. And most of all, MSNBC deserves it.
The numbers are in. Fox News absolutely destroyed the competition the night of Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts.
Gloat, O’Reilly, gloat. You deserve it. Fox News deserves it. And most of all, MSNBC deserves it.
Toyota, the world leader in fuel-efficient hybrid cars, admits that plug-in hybrids don’t have much of a future. In fact, Koei Saga, Toyota’s guy in charge of advanced technology and battery development, sounds particularly grim.
This is not good news. Not good news at all.
Toyota, the world leader in fuel-efficient hybrid cars, admits that plug-in hybrids don’t have much of a future. In fact, Koei Saga, Toyota’s guy in charge of advanced technology and battery development, sounds particularly grim.
The New York Times reports the devastating details:
He said that limited range means that E.V.’s work best as “very small commuter-type vehicles” for use in major metropolitan areas (he used Europe and Japan as examples). Asked if longer-range E.V.’s were possible with current technology, he said that could happen only “if we forget about battery life and if we forget about the cost incurred for replacement of those batteries.”
Battery cars capable of extended highway travel are relatively far in the future, Mr. Saga said. He envisioned such electric cars working best if they could obtain electricity not from batteries, but from an interaction with the highway itself. Just such a system has been tested by the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology of Korea, which uses induction strips and inverters embedded in the road to recharge batteries when cars drive over them.
Asked if the world’s vehicles would ever be exclusively electric, Mr. Saga said, “In my personal view, I think we will never abandon the internal-combustion engine.” He did envision a possible future for fuel-cell vehicles and internal-combustion cars that burn hydrogen, however.
Our advice: Keep actor Ed Begley, Jr. away from the harakiri ceremonial swords.
Is Scott Brown going to pose for another nude centerfold? This and other important questions asked by Jay Leno and answered by America’s newest senator.
This and other important questions asked by Jay Leno and answered by America’s newest senator.
“Amid controversy surrounding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on melting glaciers, Xie Zhenhua, Vice-Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, today urged the UN panel to make the fifth assessment report comprehensive by also citing contrarian views.”
Call this one another nail in the coffin of global warming. The Chinese government, never known for endorsing open communication, has called on the UN’s IPCC to show more tolerance for dissent.
Business Standard reports the duplicitious details:
“Amid controversy surrounding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on melting glaciers, Xie Zhenhua, Vice-Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, today urged the UN panel to make the fifth assessment report comprehensive by also citing contrarian views.”
Alright, class, what does it tell us when an authoritarian dictatorship known for denying its citizens the right to open communications is appalled by the censorship of the IPCC?
Indonesian authorities, who just one month ago erected a bronze statue of President Obama as a boy, are now considering a petition to tear it down.
The Indonesian statue of "Little Barry" Obama is coming down even faster than "Big Barack" Obama's approval numbers
Indonesian authorities, who just one month ago erected a bronze statue of President Obama as a boy, are now considering a petition to tear it down.
The statue of “Little Barry” stands in Jakarta’s Menteng Park.
AFP reports the dismantling details:
Critics say the site should have been used to honour an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a page on social networking website Facebook calling for the statue to be removed.
“We’ve been discussing for the past two weeks what to do with the statue… whether to take it down, move it elsewhere or retain it. We’re finding the best solution,” Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said.
The story continues:
“The statue is of Obama as a child, not as the US president. His relatives and friends who erected it said it’s meant to motivate children to study hard and dream big,” Bintarto said.
Members of the “Take Down the Barack Obama Statue in Menteng Park” group on Facebook say Obama has done nothing for Indonesia.
“Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution to the Indonesian nation. We could say Obama only ate and s (expletive) in Menteng. He spent his subsequent days living as an American,” the web page says.
“For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama’s monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately.”
The Indonesians need to relax. Based on Obama’s experience as President, the statue will undoubtedly do something to bring itself down after about a year.
Little Barry, indeed. And getting littler every day.
Obama does stand-up: crowd laughs when he talks about “overwhelming scientific evidence of climate change.” And as he left the stage, he said, “Thank you. Thank you very much. I’ll be here all week. Two shows on Friday and Saturday nights.”
And as he left the stage, he said, “Thank you. Thank you very much. I’ll be here all week. Two shows on Friday and Saturday nights.”
Argentina’s president hot Cristina Fernandez just told her nation’s people that barbecued pork is a good alternative to Viagra.
Argentina President Christina Fernandez, the world's hottest leader, apparently loves her pork
Any time you start thinking America’s elected officials are wacky, someone from overseas steps up to demonstrate what wacky really means.
For example, Argentina’s president just told her nation’s people that barbecued pork is a good alternative to Viagra.
Reuters reports that randy details:
“I’ve just been told something I didn’t know; that eating pork improves your sex life … I’d say it’s a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra,” President Cristina Fernandez said to leaders of the pig farming industry.
She said she recently ate pork and “things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true.”
Could we get an order of ribs to go? And maybe a couple extra Handi-Wipes, too.
McClintock didn’t take kindly to MSNBC blowhard Ed Schultz’ suggestion that he would stuff the ballot box to defeat Scott Brown in the recent Massachusetts election. The California Republican took to the floor of the House of Representatives to rip Schultz a new one.
We love Congressman Tom McClintock. The state of California would have been a lot better off if he had been elected Governor instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Radio Equalizer notes that McClintock didn’t take kindly to MSNBC blowhard Ed Schultz’ suggestion that he would stuff the ballot box to defeat Scott Brown in the recent Massachusetts election. The California Republican took to the floor of the House of Representatives to rip Schultz a new one.
In response, Schultz blasted McClintock for having the temerity to suggest that he had advocated anything improper, such as, you know, voting twenty times.
Sadly for Schultz, the people watching McClintock’s speech on C-SPAN probably outnumbered those listening to his radio show.
First, here’s McClintock on the floor of the House.
And now here’s Schultz pathetic, bombastic response.
One final comment:
Ed says, “You can’t even say anything in ‘gist’ anymore.” The word is “jest”, Ed.
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has recovered from his election night depression and is now attacking anyone who continues to be as blind as he once was. That includes delusional Congressman Alan Grayson
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has recovered from his election night depression and is now attacking anyone who continues to be as blind as he once was.
That includes delusional Congressman Alan Grayson (D-NeverNeverLand), who says Democrats can still pass ObamaCare via the reconciliation maneuver.
“You know you can’t do it,” Matthews responds. “You’re pandering to the netroots right now. I know what you’re doing.”
Matthews is hilarious. He’s like a jilted lover who now hates everything about the woman he used to worship.
Fox News was the top cable network in primetime last week, averaging the most total viewers between January 18th-24th. The last time FNC topped USA and came in first was during the week of the 2008 presidential election.
In a week dominated by coverage of the earthquake in Haiti and the U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, FNC drew an average of 3.2 million total viewers in primetime (Mon-Sun).
Fox News' Rupert Murdoch has a lot to smile about
Scott Brown wasn’t the only winner in the Massachusetts senate election. Fox News came out on top, too.
MediaBistro.com reports on the network’s remarkable ratings:
Fox News was the top cable network in primetime last week, averaging the most total viewers between January 18th-24th. The last time FNC topped USA and came in first was during the week of the 2008 presidential election.
In a week dominated by coverage of the earthquake in Haiti and the U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, FNC drew an average of 3.2 million total viewers in primetime (Mon-Sun).
Fox was ranked 3rd in total day. CNN was 22nd in primetime and 19th in total day, and MSNBC was 25th in primetime and 31st in total day.
Fox News probably won’t be able to hang on to the top spot now that the election is over, but the thought of Keith Olbermann grinding his teeth over last week’s ratings is probably enough to keep Rupert Murdoch smiling for years.
Calls for the resignation of IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri have been made. But Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, the IPCC’s Vice Chairman is looking for some sympathy instead, falling back on the frequently-used excuse that their mistakes were “only human.”
IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri is only human
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) has gone into full damage control mode after it was revealed that the Himalayan glaciers will not, in fact, be melting by 2035 and that the IPCC knew its prediction that they would was a complete fabrication.
Calls for the resignation of IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri have been made. But Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, the IPCC’s Vice Chairman is looking for some sympathy instead, falling back on the frequently-used excuse that their mistakes were “only human.”
Golfer Tiger Woods cheated on his wife repeatedly, but he's only human
The UK Telegraph reports:
“Aren’t mistakes human? Even the IPCC is a human institution and I do not know of any human institution that does not make mistakes, so of course it is a regrettable incident that we published that wrong description of the Himalayan glacier,” van Ypersele said.”We are trying to do our best, we are going to reinforce the review procedures so the probability in the next report of such incidents happening is even lower. But to guarantee a zero fault product is probably not possible for any human enterprise,” he said.
Of course, it’s understandable, Mr. van Ypersele. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s just appreciated that you’re trying your best on these life-changing issues. You get an “A” for effort, buddy. But just so you don’t feel like you’re alone in this situation, rest assured that some other prominent people also made the news recently for being human:
Singer Chris Brown savagely beat his girlfriend, but he's only human
According to TheIndian.com, Tiger Woods said, “I’m human, and I’m not perfect.”
And according to TheCount.com, girlfriend-beating singer Chris Brown said, “I’m human and I make mistakes.”
Jean-Pascal, we know it’s a tough time for humans right now. But remember, you’re in good company.
We hope this news has turned your frown upside down.
Media Matters lamented the fact that the rest of the media supposedly ignored all Obama’s significant achievements just so they could claim he has “little to show for ’09.”
Average American contemplating President Obama's significant achievements
Time limitations prevent us from searching every word uttered by Media Matters for hidden meaning. You know, kind of like they do with Fox News?
But a recent article by the left wing media watchdog lamented the fact that the rest of the media supposedly ignored all Obama’s significant achievements just so they could claim he has “little to show for ’09.” Media Matters attempted to “correct” this dastardly misinformation, but some of the things they chose to highlight as President Obama’s signficant achievements are downright hilarious.
For example:
“In the third quarter of calendar year 2009, an additional 600,000 to 1.6 million people were employed in the United States…According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, CBO has increased its estimate to 800,000 to 2.4 million additional employed through the fourth quarter of that year. Moreover, a November 20, 2009, New York Times article reported that the ‘consensus’ among ‘dispassionate analysts’ is that “the stimulus package, messy as it is, is working.” (Apparently the passionate analysts were not as supportive.)
And let’s not forget transparency. The article says, “The Washington Post reported that moves by the Obama administration to improve government transparency ‘included a ban on lobbyist gifts; restrictions on the hiring of lobbyists; publication of White House visitor logs and other records; and a move to bar lobbyists from serving on advisory boards.'” (No mention is made of all the lobbyists actually employed by the White House nor the transparency promised again and again and again regarding healthcare negotiations being broadcast on C-SPAN.)
Finally, the article trumpets the fact that Obama bravely signed the Tobacco Control Acts. (And he signed it, we assume, just before he ducked out to the Rose Garden to light up another Marlborough.)
C’mon, Media Matters, if these minor frivolous footnotes in history are now considered “significant achievements”, we can only conclude that it’s not tobacco that needs to be controlled in your office.
This is not good news. Not good news at all.
