Archive for January, 2009
Rush Limbaugh: “I Hope Obama Fails” (Video)
Rush Limbaugh says he hopes President Barack Obama fails. CNN’s Rick Sanchez takes a closer look.
Embedded video from CNN Video
Cleaner Air = Longer Life
Steps to curb air pollution in the United States are paying off, helping to dramatically increase average life spans, a new study says.
Researchers at Brigham Young University and the Harvard School of Public Health report in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that the average life expectancy in 51 U.S. cities increased nearly three years over recent decades.
“Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable,” says C. Arden Pope III, PhD, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author of the study. “We find that we’re getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality.”
North Wales Police Use Taser on 89-Year-Old Pensioner
Confused old man Tasered for his own safety!
The case of an 89-year-old man, who was shot with a Taser gun by officers, has been referred to a police watchdog. Police said they used the device as the pensioner was threatening to cut his throat with a piece of glass in a street in Llandudno, Conwy.
His family have now made an official complaint, which was referred by North Wales Police to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The force said afterwards officers made a judgement to protect his life.
Just out of interest: North Wales police are known as the “Traffic Police Taliban” due to them fining 74,400 motorists in 12 months, not bad considering the area has a population of just 681,000.
Israel ‘Admits’ Using White Phosphorus Munitions
The Israeli military came close to acknowledging for the first time yesterday its use of white phosphorus munitions during the war in Gaza, but continued to insist that it did not breach international law.
As fresh evidence emerged of Gazan civilians being burned by phosphorus, Avital Leibovich, the army spokeswoman, said its use was “legal according to international law…All the munitions we were using were legal, like the French, American and British armies. We used munitions according to international law.
“They [Hamas] were committing war crimes by putting the civilians in the front line,” she said. “If Hamas chooses to locate training camps, command centres…in the middle of the [civilian population]…look how populated it is…naturally they are endangering the lives of civilians. Hamas is accountable for the loss of the civilians.”
Major-General Amir Eshel, the army’s head of strategic planning, said that firing shells to provide a smoke screen was legal. “It is…
Israel ‘admits’ using white phosphorus munitions
The Israeli military came close to acknowledging for the first time yesterday its use of white phosphorus munitions during the war in Gaza, but continued to insist that it did not breach international law.
As fresh evidence emerged of Gazan civilians being burned by phosphorus, Avital Leibovich, the army spokeswoman, said its use was “legal according to international law…All the munitions we were using were legal, like the French, American and British armies. We used munitions according to international law.
“They [Hamas] were committing war crimes by putting the civilians in the front line,” she said. “If Hamas chooses to locate training camps, command centres…in the middle of the [civilian population]…look how populated it is…naturally they are endangering the lives of civilians. Hamas is accountable for the loss of the civilians.”
Major-General Amir Eshel, the army’s head of strategic planning, said that firing shells to provide a smoke screen was legal. “It is…
Dick Cheney ‘94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire
In this interview from April 15th, 1994, Dick Cheney reveals the reasons why invading Baghdad and toppling Saddam Hussein wouldn’t be a great idea. He also stipulates that “not very many” American soldiers’ lives were worth losing to take out Saddam during the Gulf War:
Doh! President Obama Retakes His Oath
Chris Ayres, Times Online: Barack Obama ended his first day as U.S. president yesterday by retaking his oath of office, after a flubbed line during Tuesday’s $170 million inauguration ceremony led to speculation that the wrong man might have been accidentally sworn-in as Commander in Chief.
Some constitutional scholars had voiced fears earlier in the day that the botched oath meant that Mr. Obama might still be a junior Senator from Illinois, with the real President of the United States being Joe Biden, his running mate.
“We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday,” said Greg Craig, the White House Counsel.
“But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice [John] Roberts administered the oath a second time,” said White House Counsel Greg Craig in a…
10 Wildest Reactions to Bush’s Last Day
Lou Cabron, 10 Zen Monkeys: Here’s 10 funny (and angry) ways America reacted to Bush’s last day!
* Jenna Bush’s last joke!
* The “Arrest Bush” protest
* A “Bye Bye Bush” event staged by a sex writer’s group.
* Americans remembering prophetic predictions in 2001 from both The Onion and Saturday Night Live
Is Pepsi Cashing In on the Obama Presidency? Yes We Can Steal This Logo!
Back in August, James Ledbetter on Slate noticed the striking similarities between the Obama ‘08 campaign logo and the Pepsi logo:
It is oddly fitting that the convention that will give Barack Obama the Democratic nomination for president will take place in Denver’s Pepsi Center. During the primaries, some bloggers argued that Obama’s insurgent campaign made him Pepsi to Hillary’s establishment Coke. An eagle-eyed observer (who happens to work for Pepsi’s PR firm) noticed that during the primary debates, Obama could be seen refreshing himself with Aquafina water — a Pepsi brand — while Hillary Clinton drank Coke’s Dasani.
Since then Pepsi has redesigned their logo to look even more like Obama’s (reportedly to the tune of a million bucks) and launced a new ad called “Yes We Can” (get it, [drink a Pepsi] can?), an obvious play on the famous Obama campaign slogan.
So how many more cans of Pepsi can Obama…
World Media on Obama Inauguration
BBC News: Following Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th US president, commentary in the international media focussed on his ability to carry out a mandate for change. Many expected any such change to be gradual.
Newspapers in Iran, Russia and the Middle East welcomed George W Bush’s departure from the White House and hoped that the Obama presidency would usher in a new era of US foreign policy.
Voices in the Chinese and Israeli media, in contrast, expressed hope that President Obama would continue to develop the bilateral ties strengthened by his predecessor.
CHINA: Chinese state-controlled media censored parts of Barack Obama’s inauguration speech. The state-run news channel CCTV broadcast the speech live from Washington, but faded out pictures as references to communism were translated.
Another part of the inauguration speech criticising governments that “cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent” was also removed from the speech translated into Chinese,…
Why Horror Sequels Wear Out Their Welcome
Horror sequels are rotten. They’ve zoomed way past horror remakes on my scary movie hate-list.
In fact, thanks to stuff like the shocking and surprisingly awesome “Dawn of the Dead” remake and the new 3D version of “My Bloody Valentine” (a film with no agenda except to throw lots of blood and guts at your face, provided your glasses are on), I can’t even say I hate the concept of the remake on principle anymore. Those two, all by themselves, can help me forget that I paid money to see the reboots of “When a Stranger Calls,” “Black Christmas” and “Prom Night.”
But popular franchises that don’t know when to lay down the chainsaw — sequels that are energetic as strippers on the breakfast shift — are bilking horror fans of money that could be spent buying vintage “Mark of the Devil” barf bags on eBay. Here’s where they go wrong:
An Arctic Wave of Teenage Suicide
Right now, more people are killing themselves in Greenland than anywhere else. Relative to the size of its population, the suicide rate here is the highest on earth. And the most disturbing part of the stats? It is children and teenagers who are driving the numbers up. The authorities in Greenland are officially referring to the situation as an epidemic. And even though there are lots of theories, so far no one has been able to pinpoint why these children can’t stand the thought of staying alive.
Beware of Obama’s Groundhog Day
Having campaigned with “Change you can believe in”, President-elect Barack Obama has named his A-team. They include Hillary Clinton, who voted to attack Iraq without reading the intelligence assessment and has since threatened to “totally obliterate” Iran on behalf of a foreign power, Israel.
During his primary campaign, Obama referred repeatedly to Clinton’s lies about her political record. When he appointed her secretary of state, he called her “my dear friend”.
Henry Kissinger: An Open Call For A New World Order
By Henry Kissinger
As the new US administration prepares to take office amid grave financial and international crises, it may seem counterintuitive to argue that the very unsettled nature of the international system generates a unique opportunity for creative diplomacy.
That opportunity involves a seeming contradiction. On one level, the financial collapse represents a major blow to the standing of the United States. While American political judgments have often proved controversial, the American prescription for a world financial order has generally been unchallenged. Now disillusionment with the United States’ management of it is widespread.
At the same time, the magnitude of the debacle makes it impossible for the rest of the world to shelter any longer behind American predominance or American failings. Every country will have to reassess its own contribution to the prevailing crisis. Each will seek to make itself independent, to the greatest possible degree, of the conditions that produced the…
Obama To Close Guantanamo Bay In First Week
An Obama adviser has told Reuters that the president elect will keep a campaign pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility; he will be issuing an executive order doing so during his first week in office.
“We are going to close Guantánamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our constitution,” Obama himself said two weeks ago. “We will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values.”
Hundreds of people are still being held at the island torture-prison; most have never been charged with a crime. It’s nice that Obama isn’t dragging his feet on something so shameful.
Spectacular Meteor Crashes Into The Baltic Sea
Over the weekend, the skies were lit up in Denmark and southern Sweden by an incredibly bright object hurtling through the sky. The meteor [or UFO?] landed somewhere in the Baltic Sea, and its descent was captured on video by surveillance camera. Scandinavian law enforcement and emergency services were deluged with calls from frightened residents who witnessed the gigantic ball of light; the curator of the Danish Geological Museum’s meteor collection has told papers that the event was “very unusual.” Watch the video and make up your own mind as to what the fiery “meteor” might really be.
Fox News Won’t Give Up Love Affair With George W. Bush
Former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials sometimes let it be known that they stuck with Fox News for their informational needs. And on Tuesday, Fox News returned the favor, even as the rest of Washington remained gripped by Obama fever.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Fox News was the only major national TV outlet that carried a live telecast of former President Bush’s homecoming speech to cheering supporters in Midland, Texas.
“Sometimes what I did wasn’t popular,” a smiling Bush told the crowd. “But that’s OK. I always did what I thought was right.”
Is All Well In 2012-Land? Sony Delays Roland Emmerich’s ‘2012′
Is all well in 2012-land? As the producers of the film 2012: Science or Superstition, we’ve been keeping close tabs on the Roland Emmerich Disaster pic 2012.
Sony says its moving the release from July to November. Maybe they want to lead up to the winter solstice…?
Sony is pushing back the release of Roland Emmerich’s actioner “2012″ from July 10 to Nov. 13, the same date the studio used to launch the previous two James Bond pics.
Sony prexy of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer said the studio has a very strong summer slate — including tentpole “Angels and Demons” (May 15) and Denzel Washington-John Travolta actioner “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (June 12) — and it made sense to move “2012″ to November.
Also, Sony has international distribution rights to McG’s “Terminator: Salvation,” which opens day-and-date on May 22. Warners is releasing domestically.
Sony said “2012″ would have been ready in time…
