Photo Op

The perpetually tone-deaf administration of King Barack of KenyaHawaii, Lord of Savior of Big Media (the BM for short), has done it again.

A jumbo jet being chased by F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings.

It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post.

President Obama was in Washington at the time, but the low-flying 747 circling the Statue of Liberty was one of the planes used as Air Force One, sources said.

The NYPD and the city were notified of the planned flight, but did not share that information with Mayor Bloomberg and other New Yorkers, many of whom said they were terrified.

Gee, King Barack. It didn't occur to any of the rocket scientists in your administration that a 747 being pursued by an F-16 fighter jet near ground-effing-zero might cause just a WEE bit of panic?

Naturally, a low-level functionary in the administration fell on his sword to take blame for the debacle.

A White House official is taking responsibility for a Boeing 747's flying photo op over New York City that sent some workers in lower Manhattan into a panic. The plane is a version of the 747 that's called Air Force One when the president is aboard.

White House military office director Louis Caldera says federal officials notified local and state authorities in New York and New Jersey, but he also apologized in a statement on Monday for the confusion and disruption.

And, just as naturally, King Barack was as clueless as Sgt. Shultz.

Obama said he wasn’t informed in advance of yesterday’s low-altitude flight over New York Harbor, which rattled windows in New York’s financial district and prompted some office workers to flee buildings in fear it was a terrorist attack.

The FAA knew about the photo op. But, in typical bureaucratic arrogance, insisted on secrecy.

Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration's James Johnston said the agency was aware of "the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes" in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out.

Okay, let's take King Barack at his word. He didn't know about this travesty of a sham of a mockery - a traveshamockery! - and dopes within his Administration were to blame. The fact he has so many dopes in his administration isn't cause for concern, is it? Nah! Not. At. All.

Today mighty King O celebrates 100 days in office. A special Vulture Droppings will follow, devoted to the 100 days anniversary but also delving into the sycophantic press coverage that is sure to accompany said anniversary.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hurl.

Damn Niners!

Uh, Toes...you may want to skip this one. It's (a) about the 49ers, (b) about the NFL, and (c) loaded with semi-censored profanity.

I have officially reached the limits of my patience with the 49ers and their asshat owners, the Yorks. Everything the 49ers did this past weekend either pissed me off or made me want to bang my head through the wall.

Let's start with the "new" uniforms. To paraphrase Willie "Too Big" Hall -- "At least we got a change of clothes. You're wearing the same shit you had on four decades ago". * Yes, that's right. 1960's style, to the max. The 49ers have exchanged what was EASILY the best uniform in the entire league for "the same shit they had on" in 1969!

Ooooh! But it's been modernized! The dopey 1960's-style stripes are thinner now! And they kept the updated helmet logo!

BFD! Those uniforms look like shit! The Niners now officially have the second-blandest uniform in the entire league (No one - let me repeat, NO ONE - will EVER overtake the quintessentially bland and awful uniforms of the Cleveland Browns).

Wide red-white-red helmet stripe. John Brodie and Charlie Krueger just called - they loved it....IN 1970!!!!!!! And the gray facemasks. Ugh. Talk about totally washing out the entire helmet. The jersey is fine. Boring, but fine. The pants are the same boring shit they wore for 30 years before the coolest uniform ever was unveiled between 1996 and 1998.

Now the coolest uniform ever is a thing of the past. I. Could. Just. Effing. Scream.

But if I thought the uniforms were bad, they were positively AWESOME compared to the goat-screw that was the Niners performance in the draft.

The Niners went into the draft with the stated goal of establishing Mike Singletary's kind of team -- smashmouth, imposing it's will on its opponents. No flash, just mash.

In order to accomplish this, they needed to bring in some big, strong, ugly dudes on both sides of the line of scrimmage. OL depth. A dominating nose tackle. A pass rusher.

They then proceeded to produce this abortion of a draft!

Round 1 - Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech.
Round 3 - Glen Coffee, RB, Alabama
Round 5 - Scott McKillop, ILB, Pittsburgh
Round 5 - Nate Davis, QB, Ball State
Round 6 - Bear Pascoe, TE, Fresno State
Round 7 - Curtis Taylor, S, LSU
Round 8 - Ricky Jean-Francois, DT, LSU

ARE. YOU. EFFING. KIDDING. ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!

Vulture's First Law of the NFL draft: Unless the player in question is a Jerry Rice, a Randy Moss, or a Larry Fitzgerald - that is to say, a once-in-a-decade or once-in-a-lifetime kind of player - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, N-E-V-E-R draft a Wide Receiver in the first round. Michael Oher was still on the board, a huge OL with a penchant for destroying defensive linemen!!!!! There were two decent OLB/DE prototype linemen still on the board.

But Vulture, he could end up being that once-in-a-decade guy! Yeah, and I could start shooting fire from my ass! C'mon! Texas Tech?!?!?! For crying out loud!

But that wasn't the worst. After trading the #2 pick to Carolina - the one smart thing they did all frigging weekend! - they proceeded to draft a Running Back. The 49ers have two superstar players: Frank Gore and Patrick Willis. Last time I looked, Frank Gore plays RUNNING BACK! Yes, depth is good. But that was a second round pick that could have gone towards defensive help! Or OL depth!

Based on the theme of the previous pick, guess what the next pick was? Yeah, AN MF-ING INSIDE LINEBACKER! Gee. Doesn't Patrick Willis play........INSIDE LINEBACKER?!?!??!

Oh, but they weren't done tearing my heart out! Now they proceeded to waste the next pick on A QUARTERBACK!!!! NOW I'm PISSED!!!!!!! They just renegotiated Alex Smith's contract - he's supposed to be the QB of the future. They've got my boy Shaun Hill, who has done nothing but win 70% of his starts on a team that hasn't sniffed .500 since 2002; a QB they insist on treating like a red-headed stepchild because there's no sizzle with his steak. Yeah, we needed another quarterback...

A blocking tight end (like there aren't 500 of THOSE available as free agents AFTER the draft!). A safety known for trying for SportsCenter big hits rather than for technically sound tackling. And then, to rub my nose in it like a dog who's pooped on the floor, they FINALLY draft a Defensive Lineman.

Yesterday evening I was threatening divorce. You know, I divorced a team I thought I would love for the rest of my life before. I divorced the Oakland A's in 1997 for the mortal sin of preferring to be cheap and finish 2nd every year rather than to re-sign the premier home run hitter of his generation, Mark McGwire.

But I can't do it. This team has brought me so much joy over the past 40 years. 5 championships. Two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. The greatest wide receiver EVER. The greatest Free Safety EVER. The Catch. The Catch II. Montana to John Taylor for the win in SB XXIII. Garrison Hearst's 96 yard TD run to beat the Jets in OT in '97.

49ers, I wish I knew how to quit you.

* from The Blues Brothers, one of my all-time favorite movies

Death Knell: Part II - The Propaganda Machine

Climate change – a term which makes "global warming" indisputable because if it cools in some places and heats in others, or gets dryer in one place and wetter in another (supposedly), then IT MUST BE BECAUSE OF HUMAN CO2 EMMISIONS! from The Urban Dictionary.

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This installment and the next few following it address the never ending propaganda stream we're subjected to in an effort to convince a credulous populous that we're all doomed unless we take drastic measures to stop AGW.

There is more than the usual kind of boilerplate propaganda being employed to further the AGW agenda. There are the Hysterical Predictions. There is the Persecution of Non-believers. There are the Data Anomalies, Questionable Practices, and Bad Models (read: fraud). And lastly, there is the Governmental Full-court Press to force the issue.

I'm addressing each of these techniques separately, as their employment is crucial to the whole house of cards that is AGW propaganda. Today's technique: Hysterical Predictions.

Hysterical Predictions

In light of recent evidence that the planet is actually cooling, the True Believers have changed their focus and now refer to the "crisis" as Climate Change. Thus armed, ANY weather anomaly can be attributed to AGW!

Here are examples of hysterical predictions and, in some cases, an open mocking of those predictions that have come up short.

You'll be able to kayak to the North Pole!

Via the Canadian Free Press comes this little gem:

"You could potentially sail, kayak or even swim to the North Pole by the end of the summer. Climate scientists say that the Arctic ice . . . is currently on track to melt sometime in 2008." Ted Alvarez, Backpacker Magazine Blogs, June, 2008.

Soon after this prediction, a huge Russian icebreaker got trapped in the thick ice of the Northwest Passage for a full week.

The Russian icebreaker? Now THAT'S funny, I don't care who you are.

2009 will be the warmest year on record!

Next year is set to be one of the top-five warmest on record, British climate scientists said on Tuesday.

The average global temperature for 2009 is expected to be more than 0.4 degrees celsius above the long-term average, despite the continued cooling of huge areas of the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as La Nina.

Yeah, about that. It's a pity all of these record low temperatures had to go and spoil that for you.

The E. coli outbreak was caused by global warming!

Hmmm. That's odd. Discover Magazine removed the article and comments from their site. Maybe it's because Mexican peppers were discovered to have caused the outbreak.

AGW is causing rampant disasters!

Global warming is destroying species, raising sea levels and threatening millions of poor people, the United Nations' top scientific panel will say today in a report that U.N. officials hope will help mobilize the world into taking tougher actions on climate change.

Funny thing. They don't bother to provide a single shred of evidence. Funny.

Obama only has 4 years to save the planet!

Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama's first administration, he added.

Soaring carbon emissions are already causing ice-cap melting and threaten to trigger global flooding.

This one is more than a little bit laughable, given the "kayak to the North Pole" item and the fact that ice around the poles hasn't changed in the past 30 years.

But there's one thing about this item that isn't funny in the least. Check the name of the "scientist". Jim Hansen is the numero uno NASA propagandist in chief. His agenda? He believes that climate change should be used as a vehicle for wealth distribution.

Excess carbon may result in an ice age!

Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that 630 million years ago the earth had a warm atmosphere full of carbon dioxide but was completely covered with ice.

The scientists studied limestone rocks and found evidence that large amounts of greenhouse gas coincided with a prolonged period of freezing temperatures.

Such glaciation could happen again if global warming is not curbed, the university's school of geography, earth and environmental sciences warned.

Pardon me for a second here - I'm going to wet myself laughing!

I mean, COME ON! Even at "high" levels of CO2, there is a gas that is much more plentiful and has a much bigger influence on planetary temperatures than CO2. You want to know that that dangerous gas is? It's effing WATER VAPOR!

Global warming causes extreme cold weather!

The recent cold wave sweeping across Mumbai and other parts of India could be attributed to global warming, experts said on Tuesday here at an environmental conference.

Yeah. They actually said it.

And, now...the coup de grace.

The top 10 dud predictions of 2008:

1. OUR CITIES WILL DIE OF THIRST
2. OUR [Great Barrier] REEF WILL DIE
3. GOODBYE, NORTH POLE
4. BEWARE HUGE WINDS
5. GIANT HAILSTONES WILL SMASH THROUGH YOUR ROOF
6. NO MORE SKIING
7. PERTH WILL BAKE DRY
8. ISLANDS WILL DROWN
9. BRITAIN WILL SWELTER
10. WE'LL BE HOTTER

Hysterical predictions may work short-term to generate public support for the fight to "beat" AGW. But as the public starts to wake up and see that these predictions are total crap, this could ultimately be the straw that breaks this straw man's back.

We can only hope.

Vulture Droppings - Spring cleaning

Vulture Droppings is a semi-regular feature of this blog. It's a kind of "Random Thoughts" post in which I try to quickly summarize a particularly large event or series of events. Think of it being sort of like what a vulture leaves behind after devouring a horse. You don't get the whole horse, just highly processed leftovers.

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Over the course of time, as I wade through various news items on TV and on the web, I accumulate a "to do" list of items on which I wish to comment. The only problem with that approach is that new stuff is happening all the time, so only the most pressing (or personally appealing) items actually make it into the blog.

This issue of Vulture Droppings is my attempt at Spring cleaning -- to clear out the "to do" list and start afresh.

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I had an epiphany this week.

Have you ever noticed that Earth Day falls on the day after 4/20 (or 4:20 for you stoners)? NOW Earth Day finally makes sense to me.

Hippy 1 (taking drag on joint): Dude, we should totally, like, do something, like, big.
Hippy 2 (irritated that Hippy 1 is Bogarting the joint): Like, what, man?
Hippy 1 (finally passing the joint): Like, I dunno. Maybe, like, save the Earth or something.
Hippy 2 (talking while trying to hold his breath to keep the smoke in): Dude! Like, totally!
Hippy 1 (irritated that Hippy 2 is Bogarting the joint): Dude! Let's make a special day for, like, demonstrations and action to save the Earth.
Hippy 2 (finally passing the joint): We can call it Earth Day! Let's do it! We could start today.
Hippy 1 (reaching for the Doritos): Nah, let's do it tomorrow...

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Anyone who has read this blog for more than 5 minutes knows that I L-O-V-E the 49ers. But, if this rumor is true, I'm about to be mad as hell.

Following in the path of the Detroit Lions (which is always a good idea), the 49ers are scheduled to unveil some helmet and uniform tweaks this weekend.

Tweaks? According to the rumor, the Niners are going back to the old red-white-red helmet stripe and gray facemask. Gaack! Don't get me wrong, I love the old throwback uniforms. But the bland 1960's style stripes? And the gray facemask - something I ALWAYS disliked because it made a bland helmet look even blander? Please don't be true! Please!

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Schadenfreude, sweet schadenfreude. Congressman Peter DeFazio got to experience his Frankenstein's monster first-hand.

The Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, reported that DeFazio "lost his temper" and denounced the security as "stupid" and complained to screeners that he was a member of Congress who had helped found the Transportation Security Administration. The paper said DeFazio swore and "caused a ruckus that drew extra security officers."

DeFazio told The Oregonian that he did not try to hinder the screening. He was screened at Eugene Airport, flew to Portland and then was pulled out of a passenger line boarding a flight to Washington, D.C.

And the Vulture smiled the kind of smile one associates with a vampire locked in a blood bank.

Wassumatta, DeFazio? You too good to be subjected to what the rest of us routinely experience? Your monster wasn't intended to harass the "important people", just us serfs?

I only wish they'd have done to you what they've done to other passengers who've raised a fuss. A picture of you getting tazed would have been...priceless.

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A new criminal class has emerged in Washington State.

The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law-abiding people in Spokane into dishwater-detergent smugglers. They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don't work as well. Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation's strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.

But it's not easy to get sparkling dishes when you go green.

Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe's left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap.

As a result, there has been a quiet rush of Spokane-area shoppers heading east on Interstate 90 into Idaho in search of old-school suds.

Smugglers! Contraband! Cascade?!?!?

Two thoughts. First, Washington is experiencing the Law of Unintended Consequences. The quest to "save the Earth", itself a hubris-induced product of the Chris Berman Generation (the 60's Baby Boomers), keeps resulting in more and more regulations that do little to change pollution levels due to the fact that one form of pollution (in this case, phosphates) is replaced by another (the energy cost of re-washing the dirty dishes that didn't get cleaned by the "green" products).

Second, little-by-little Leviathan is making criminals of us all. People who wouldn't DREAM of committing any sort of crime that harms another person or their community are now SMUGGLERS guilty of violating Washington State law.

Criminals. Because they want clean dishes. Priceless.

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Caput Penitus Culus has been oddly silent for the past week. Maybe I wore him out...

I get the impression he's not well-liked outside of the sycophants, law fetishists, and judge-felators who frequent his site. I happened upon a post at The Plural Life where a commenter going by the name duaneh1 posted this:

In the ligher side of the news, Coram has a new friend:
http://thelurkingvulture.blogspot.com/2009/04/wiener-of-week_18.html

“Caput Penitus Culus” (latin for “head in a@@”) is Blueseys new nickname fondly given by Vulture.

He does having a winning personality, that Culus.

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Okay, the "to do" list is officially cleaned up. Whew! A Vulture's work is never done!

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Wiener of the Week

Blowback (blow-back): an unforeseen and unwanted effect, result, or set of repercussions (from Merriam-Webster Online).

I think that General Electric now understands the concept of blowback. And it's earned them a WotW.

Attendees who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter said shareholders asked about 10 politically charged questions concerning MSNBC as well as one about CNBC.

First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which CEO Jeff Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.

Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not to say about politics.

During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone was apparently cut off. A short time later, Watters asked a question and his mic was cut, too.

"The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt," one attendee said. "Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it."

When he got the floor, Watters focused his question about MSNBC on Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger."

"He (Watters) was complaining that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," another GE shareholder said.

Wait...you mean that MSNBC is.......biased?!?!? No way! [/sarcasm]

Here is the thing. MSNBC reinvented itself as the counterweight to Fox News Network not too terribly long ago. It was intended to lean as far to the Left as Fox leans to the Right. But the reality is that Fox is Neo-Conservative, which is a Center-Right political viewpoint. So...the fact that MSNBC is somewhere to the Left of Frederick Engels but is viewed by its corporate overlords as a counterweight to a Center-Right news channel just goes to show you how out of touch Big Media (the BM for short) really is.

I thought it was a nice touch that questions that made the corporate overlords squirm were met by a dead microphone. Their news network has been practicing that very same technique with stories that don't toe the "official narrative" for quite some time.

General Electric and its official organ of Communist propaganda, MSNBC: you're the Wiener of the Week!

Attention sychophants! Here are your instructions.

We are fast approaching the 100 days milestone of the presidency of His Royal Highness, King Barack Obey-me, Lord and Savior of Big Media (the BM for short). The administration is gearing up for the "event".

April 29 will be the 100th day of Barack Obama’s presidency.

The “100 days” concept has had mythical status since the days of the New Deal, when Franklin D. Roosevelt made history with a blizzard of bold federal actions. And reporters have been addicted to stories around this milestone in every administration since.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod calls the 100th day a “Hallmark holiday,” an essentially artificial event with no genuine significance. But he and his colleagues also know the reality: The early-verdict stories are going to be written, creating both a challenge and opportunity for the new president.

So senior White House aides are playing the game with relish, doling out made-to-order anecdotes and what-it-means analytical insights to help reporters write their 100 days pieces. You can already see the results in a spate of stories that — thanks to competitive pressures — editors are deciding to publish before the actual 100th day.

[...]

Here are seven things the White House wants reporters to write:

Wha-wha-WHAT?!?!?! Here are seven things the White House wants reporters to write?!?!? Did I read that correctly?

I mean, c'mon! I know the BM worships the carbon dioxide this guy exhales, but to actually put forward talking points to the media telling them what to write?!?!? Now THAT's some chutzpah! A real media, neutral and suspicious of those in power, would be SCREAMING about an administration that TELLS them what to write. So why do I hear nothing but the sounds of crickets chirping?

I know you're curious about the 7 things His Royal Holiness wants the media to say about him. They are:

• Obama is a promise-keeper.
• Obama is a game-changer.
• Obama is the decider.
• Obama’s not in the bubble.
• Obama is not FDR.
• Obama is FDR.
• Obama is one cool cucumber.
  

Read the Politico story I provided a link to above to see what each of those bullet points is meant to portray. There actually isn't a contradiction between the 4th and 5th items, believe it or not.

Truthfully, Obey-me needn't have bothered with the talking points. The BM does a plenty good job of serving as the administration's cheerleaders on their own.

PLEASE GOD LET IT BE SO!!!!!

Normally I'm the last person to favor any expansion of civil law suit limitations. All law suits do is create more ambulance chasers like Caput Penitus Culus. Believe me, the LAST thing we need is more of HIM.

But in this case, I'm foursquare behind the plaintiffs and PRAYING that they are successful in their quest.

The Supreme Court will consider whether prosecutors have to face a lawsuit from two men whose convictions for killing a retired police officer were set aside.

The justices said Monday they'll hear an appeal in the fall from former Pottawattamie County, Iowa, prosecutors.

They are being sued by Curtis W. McGhee Jr., and Terry Harrington, who were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1978 for the death of retired police officer John Schweer.

The men were released from prison after 25 years. Evidence showed police and prosecutors had failed to share evidence that pointed to another man as a possible suspect in Schweer's slaying. Some witnesses also recanted their testimony.

Let me be clear: the prosecutors in this case deliberately hid exculpatory evidence that might have cleared the defendants. They prosecuted two innocent men. Why would prosecutors do such a thing? That's an easy question with a horrifying answer -because, to many career prosecutors, the WIN is more important than justice. Think I'm kidding? Remember 2007 Wiener of the Year Mike Nifong?

I hope these men win the right to sue those bastard prosecutors. In fact, I hope that the floodgates are opened wide and that oxygen parasite Nifong can be sued for every last cent he has to his name. I wouldn't shed any tears if "Judge" Barbara Walther were to be sued into the poor house as well.

Perhaps if there were PERSONAL consequences to prosecutorial and judicial malfeasance, there would be less of it.

Where have I seen that before?

Take a good look at the picture to your left. It is ostensibly a simple picture of King Obey-me and Venezuelan Dictator-for-Life Chavez shaking hands. Oh, but it is so very much more! Look closely. This is NOT the standard handshake between adult men as executed for the past several centuries in Western civilizations. No, this is a more casual handshake. It's something entirely different.

I wracked my brain for hours trying to figure out where I had seen this handshake before. Suddenly, it occurred to me. It was here.

Undercover Brother

Here is a still of the pertinent portion of the trailer that shows the handshake in question.

Okay, before I have people coming out of the woodwork accusing me of being a racist or a bigot, the preceding was all tongue-in-cheek. Don't get your panties in a ball. I'm just having some fun at President Obey-me's expense.

One part excellent logical rebuttal, two parts ROFLMAO beat down

The Tizona Group is one of my go-to destinations. Their blog is equal parts irreverence, spot-on analysis, and thoughtful commentary. However, this post is more. MUCH, MUCH, more. I'll tease it to you this way: never before has an argument against death taxes been so much fun.

I haven't laughed my ass off this much in quite some time. Ladies and gentlemen, I present: a rant by thefrolickingmole.

Warning: this is NOT for the faint-hearted nor those easily offended by profanity or references to necrophilia, scatology, or smegma.

My favorite line was this.

[T]he best part of you trickled down your mother's leg after the fleet left town.

OMGs. Now THAT'S funny, I don't care who you are.

Go Tizona! You rock!

Death Knell: Part I - Follow the Money

Global Swarming -- The clustering of GangGreed around a money/power hive.
from The Urban Dictionary.

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Finally, after 4 months of promises and teasing, I'm starting my serious of posts on Global Warming, entitled "Death Knell". This first installment, "Follow the Money", intends to show who benefits on both the "pro" and the "con" side of the equation from their side coming out ahead in this debate.

We've been hearing for years how 'the science is settled', 'there is a scientific consensus', or 'people who reject global warming are like people who believe in a flat Earth or who deny the Holocaust'. Then there's my favorite: 'the only scientists denying global warming are those working for Big Energy'. Never mind that ALL of the scientists working for alternate energy companies, for the government, or on projects that are government-funded are part of the 'consensus'.

Never mind? Let me take that back. It DOES matter that the 'consensus' emanates from those sources. Why? Like they say in all of the detective shows: follow the money.

There once was a time when the only contrarian data on global warming DID come from those with much to lose from proposed efforts at curbing warming. Not anymore.

Nor is the public as easily duped now: over 40% believe that AGW is mostly hype.

Here is a breakdown of who has a dog in the fight, both Pro Warming as well as those of us who are "skeptics".

PRO:
Presidents:
George W. Bush
Barack Obama

Politicians:
Nancy Pelosi, who stands to profit handsomely from investments in "green" technology
Harry Reid
John McCommie
John Kerry
Team Donkey
Team Elephant Elite
Carol Browner, Nominated as Obama's Climate Czar

Governmental organizations:
The UN, who views warming as a vehicle for the formation of a new World economy
The World Health Organization
The European Union
NASA (Read this carefully - there are a number of outright lies in this "factbook")
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an organization that would have zero importance were AGW to disappear as a "threat".

Scientists:
Dr. James Hansen of NASA, who believes that warming should be used as a tool for wealth distribution (and who contradicts his pro-warming stance here)

Monetary beneficiaries of AGW hype:
Big Media - via propaganda (see here and here)
Multinational corporations
Al Gorebells, who has made millions from his fraud and stands to make millions more via cap-and-trade
Richard Branson, who stands to make billions from his "green" technologies
T. Boone Pickens, who stands to make billions from his "green" "solutions"
General Electric/NBC Universal, who stand to make billions from selling "green" technologies
British Banks, who seek to jump on the warming gravy train

In the interest of fairness, here is a list of those who will benefit if AGW is not addressed.

CON:
Pro-Business Groups (and other monetary beneficiaries):
Richard Mellon Scaife
Heartland Institute
The Science & Environmental Policy Project
The Cato Institute
World Climate Report
ExxonMobil
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Politicians:
Senator James Inhofe
Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic
Sammy Wilson, Environmental Minister, UK
Andrei Illarionov, Chief Economic Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation

Scientists/Meteorologists:
Joseph D'Aleo, meteorologist/Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS)
Fred Singer, Scientist/Professor
John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel
JunkScience.com
ICECAP (International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project)
International Geological Conference
Doctors for Disaster Preparedness
International Climate Science Coalition
The International Climate Science Center

Media:
John Stossel
Andrew Bolt (Herald Sun/Melbourne)

So I leave it to you, the reader, to discern which of these groups has the most to lose or gain based on the public's belief in AGW. You know which side I'm on; I have been an AGW denier since Kyoto, when this "emergency" was deemed to require the West to resort to draconian measures to "save the Earth" while completely exempting the Third World from action. A true "emergency" would require action by the entire globe. Am I right, or am I right?

Wiener of the Week

What a week this has been! Since I started poking a stick into the cage full of law-fetishists at Caput Penitus Culus, I've experienced a level of childish name calling, attempts to intimidate, and baseless accusations that would certainly intimidate a lesser bird. As such, we have a repeat winner for WotW.

In the past week, I've been accused by the CPC fetishists of:

• Being pro-polygamy and pro-pedophilia
• Being a misogynist
• Being intollerant of non-Protestants
• Being guilty of "muddled thinking"
• Being menopausal

In addition, I've been called:

• A computer geek
• A lawyer wannabee
• A computer geek who couldn't make it as a lawyer (AS IF! It's not rocket science!)

Additionally, my opinions have been summarily dismissed and my questions regarding bad case law (such as Dred Scott) ignored because:

• I'm not from Texas
• I'm not a lawyer

Oh, and let's not forget attempted intimidation! Old Caput thought I could be intimidated by showing my real name in one of his retorts! Hey Caput a palus! I don't intimidate! There's a reason I have my real name and real picture on my blog. It's because I'm not afraid to have my controversial opinions attributed to ME, a real person, a husband and father of two.

I almost forgot - I was accused of being uncivil. No merda! The whole point in me citing this asshat as WotW last week was in response to the incivility shown by the law-fetishists towards Toes. I fight fire with fire. Apparently, that hurt their feelings. Eff 'em if they can't take a joke! Besides, it's hard to take the accusation of incivility seriously when they're slinging insults while signed on as ANONYMOUS! Effing cowards!

In their eyes, I'm one of THEM. I'm FLDS. I'm pro-pedophia. I'm pro-polygamy. My consistent stance as a defender of Constitutional principles throughout the history of this blog is meaningless -- it's a beard to mask my FLDS connections. Could these people be any stupider?

So, Caput Penitus Culus and your fellow law-fetishists - you're the Wiener of the Week!

Domestic terrorists...us?

DHSS (not a misspelling - you can't spell Schutzstaffel without the double 'S') has determined that there is a grave threat of internal terrorism in this country. This threat isn't from active, organized groups like ALF (Animal Liberation Front) or ELF (Environmental Liberation Front), groups who have an actual history of terroristic acts. No, this threat is from Right-Wing Extremists. You know, like....well, apparently, anyone to the right of Mao Tse Tung.

The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.

A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.

Yep, that's right. As someone who 'reject[s] government authority in favor of state or local authority', yours truly is, according to der Staat, a domestic terrorist. Never mind that this Vulture has neither engaged in nor advocated any act of violence against the US government (or, for that matter, acts of violence against anything at all with the exception of computer keyboards). Never mind that this Vulture is a hard-working taxpayer living what's left of the American dream and whose only 'crime' is a wish to return to the founding principles of Life, Liberty, and Freedom. I oppose collectivism; I am, therefore, a thought criminal.

And it isn't just me! If you're ex-military, you're a likely terrorist! Why is that? Why, Tim McVeigh was ex-military. Ergo, all ex-miltary are suspect, according to chief DHSS asshat Janet Napolitano.

"I was briefed on the general topic, which is one that struck a nerve as someone personally involved in the Timothy McVeigh prosecution," Ms. Napolitano said.

Quod erat demonstrandum. NOT!

The White House has distanced itself from this inflamatory report (WHY does that seem to be a running theme with the Obey-me administration? One of the organs of der Staat issues a controversial 'ruling', and the White House runs for cover).

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, a Democrat, was extremely unhappy with the report and wants answers - now!

"This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans -- including war veterans," Mr. Thompson said in the letter sent Tuesday.

"As I am certain you agree, freedom of association and freedom of speech are guaranteed to all Americans -- whether a person's beliefs, whatever their political orientation, are 'extremist' or not," Mr. Thompson said.

The report "blurred the line," and Mr. Thompson said he is "disappointed and surprised that the department would allow this report to be disseminated" to law enforcement officials nationwide.

The American Legion has slammed the report as well.

American Legion chief David Rehbein on Tuesday blasted the report as "incomplete, and, I fear, politically-biased" and took special aim at its warning that returning veterans having difficulties reintegrating society could be recruited by right-wing groups for possible terrorist attacks.

In a letter to Napolitano, Rehbein underlined the document's mention of Oklahoma City bombing author Timothy McVeigh's US Army background and called it "as unfair as using Osama bin Laden as the sole example of Islam."

"The American Legion is well aware and horrified at the pain inflicted during the Oklahoma City bombing, but Timothy McVeigh was only one of more than 42 million veterans who have worn this nation's uniform during wartime," said Rehbein, who group comprises some 2.6 million members.

So what's my take on it? It's simple, really. When King Obey-me took office, he appointed former Clinton administration cronies to head key federal agencies and cabinet positions. Hearken back with me to those halcyon days of yesteryear, when Clinton administration paranoia about Right-Wing Extremists ran amok. For the nostalgic among you, this is just like going back to 1993 all over again...except without the dreadful Mariah Carey soundtrack.

This is DoublePlusGoodHopeChange. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Update: William Norman Grigg hits it out of the park. Seriously, if you haven't checked him out, do so! He's positively brilliant.

Caput Penitus Culus - the final word

An open letter to Caput Penitus Culus.

I spent the better part of yesterday trying to reason with you about how the actions against the FLDS represent a further erosion of the 4th Amendment and, as such, a threat to all of us. You, for your part, couldn't let go of your precious case law. Rather than address my questions, you evaded, disparaged me, and kept floating back to your original justification: case law says it's okay, so it's okay.

Well, Mr. Lawyer. Let me ask you this. What about Dred Scott? THAT was case law. Was it right? Was it good? Did it appropriately protect the rights of Americans as directed by the Constitution? Would you cite it today if it were still case law?

Just because some cross-dresser with a wooden mallet says so doesn't make it so.

Likewise, the erosion of the 4th Amendment continues unabated because the cross-dressers continue heaping more bad case law on previously established bad case law until the 4th Amendment is nothing more than hollow words, signifying nothing.

You're awfully adept at gratuitous personal attacks when you can't make your point. But I'm adept at personal attacks that BOLSTER my point.

You, sir, are an intellectual lightweight hiding behind a law degree. The next original thought you have will be your first. You are no better than Adolph Eichmann. "There's no case law prohibiting the gassing of Jews...", I can hear you saying, were you around in the 1930's and 1940's.

It is people like you -- useful idiots -- who are contributing to the enslavement of the citizens of the United States of America.

May you have the pleasure of experiencing first-hand the horror of being unjustly arrested because "case law says it's okay".

Coram Non Judice - an update

The proprietor of Coram Non Judice and I have been going round-and-round all day today (click here to see the exchange; it starts a little more than half way down the page (search on 'Vulture' to see where it starts).

Mr. Non Judice is a real piece of work. Every time I make a point, he veers in a different direction. First it was "the FLDS act more like Nazis than the Texas Police supporting the raid" in answer to my point about the government slowly getting us used to paramilitary raids on weirdos so that they can branch out in suppression of any group deemed to be outside the mainstream.

Then he objected to my use of the word 'blitzkrieg' as a description of the raid when I was pointing out how grossly over-the-top the militarized police presence, in full combat regalia, was.

Then, when I pointed out the legal fallacy of a warrant naming one person being used as justification for the search of the ENTIRE COMMUNITY he fell back on "no one was deprived of their rights...there was a warrant".

Then, to counter my next volley, where I asserted that nowhere in the Constitution does the armed invasion of an entire community even BEGIN to be authorized by a mere warrant, he accused me of being a supporter of PPSG (Pedophile Polygamist Support Group)! To further add insult to insult, he called my thinking "muddled and unclear". My response:

Which part of "I don't support the FLDS, their beliefs, or their alleged pedophilia" don't you understand? Doing wrong in an attempt to "do right" is STILL WRONG. Yes, there may be child abuse and pedophilia going in at El Dorado. But does that make illegal search and seizure okay?

Think through the consequences. The Law of Unintended Consequences is a bitch.

I have no idea what is "muddled" and "unclear" about not wanting the Constitutional protections of the 4th Amendment to be violated notwithstanding the righteous cause being paraded about as the justification for doing so.

This earned me this rebuke.

It is clear that you don't understand the Constitution nor the law.

And your opinion still doesn't matter...

Now it was time for that winning Vulture charm to show through.

Okay, Mr. Constitutional Expert - show me where it says that ONE (or two - if you insist) F'ING WARRANT is sufficient to justify setting up a military-style perimeter around a village for purposes of searching ALL RESIDENCES IN THE VILLAGE w/o respect to whether the individuals dwelling therein ARE EVEN NAMED IN THE F'ING WARRANT, and then I'll shut up.

My opinions may not matter to you, Mr. High-and-Mighty-Legal-Expert, but my 'couldn't care less' quotient remains unaffected.

You and your chums here are nothing but bombastic authoritarians who think that any generic warrant is sufficient justification for any little thing der Staat wishes to do to its citizens.

Enjoy Amerika. It seems to fit you.

So...do I think Mr. Caput Penitus Culus (that's Latin for 'Head Inside Ass') will ever come around to my way of thinking? Not a chance in hell! This assclown is so steeped in his self-perceived superiority because......wait for it.....HE'S A LAWYER...that he'll never accept the error of his thinking, particularly when his foil is a computer programmer who doesn't even have a college degree (*GASP!!!!*)

I'm probably done arguing with old Culus. He's WAAAAAAAAAY too smart for me. Probably better looking, too. And more popular.

Tool.

Wiener of the Week - Updated

Normally the WotW is simply the Vulture poking at some governmental asshat through the bars of their bureaucratic cage with the pointed and barbed stick of vitriolic language. But today, it's personal.

This assclown seems to think that people like Toes and me who are appalled at the actions of Texas CPS and the militarized goon squad that supported it in the raid on the FLDS are, at best, stupid, at worst, supporters of pedophilia.

Let me set the stage for you. Sore Toes and a Broken Heart is an excellent blog that serves to document the invasion of the FLDS "compound" by Texas Stoßtruppen and the subsequent legal machinations engineered by Judge Barbara Walther, who, rather than sitting on a judicial bench, should be in jail for her contributions to this abortion of justice.

Mr. Coram Non Judice (ooooooooh! He MUST be smart! He knows Latin! I'm so effing impressed!) took umbrage to a recent post by Toes in which she called into question the legality the both the search warrant used to justify the invasion as well as the legality of expanding the scope of that warrant from a single individual to the ENTIRE community.

Mr. I'm-smart-'cause-I-know-Latin savaged Toes, accusing her of being a "lawyer wannabee" and implying that she's pro-pedophilia.

When Toes brought this up on her blog, I made a comment in her defense that Mr. Self-Important found offense with. But rather than blast me, the commenter, he blasted Toes, for not censoring me!

Her argument would be stronger if one of her last commentators didn't use the term "strumtruppen," which she then moderated and approved.

I followed up at his blog with the following comment (entered verbatim)

SOOOOOOOOOO....you have a problem with my characterization of the amassed SWAT forces that invaded the FLDS "compound" as sturmtruppen. Boo-fricken hoo! Do you have a better word for militarized troops in body armor armed with automatic weapons and backed by armored vehicles?

Don't be disingenuous! Pull your head out of your dogma and look a little deeper at what has been a decades-long trend. Right now they only persecute "oddball" religious groups like the Branch Davidians and the FLDS. But, mark my words, they're working their way up to the point where ANY group of citizens whose views are outside the mainstream can be targets. People like you are "useful idiots" -- putting forth the government line ("this case says 'blah blah blah' so it's okay") and making future atrocities more likely.

Yeah, let's round up the weirdos who MIGHT be engaging in pedophilia! Let's round up all the weirdos, period! One day you'll be saying, "Hey, wait! I'm not a weirdo - I'm mainstream! Get away from me!" as you're led away for being a Mormon, or a blogger, or simply for belonging to DAR. Then maybe you'll understand the viewpoint of people like Toes and me.

Note: this comment still hasn't appeared on Mr. Genius' site yet. Maybe he'll censor me, since Toes wouldn't.

Congratulations, self-important assclown! You're the Wiener of the Week!

UPDATE: My comment finally did get posted 13 hours after I originally posted it. Now let's see what kind of response I get. I'm not nice like Toes, so it should be interesting.

Happy ending

The Navy Seals proved once again why they are among the most elite fighting units ever assembled.

Navy snipers on the fantail of a destroyer cut down three Somali pirates in a lifeboat and rescued an American sea captain in a surprise nighttime assault in choppy seas Easter Sunday, ending a five-day standoff between a team of rogue gunmen and the world's most powerful military.

Naturally, King Obama, Savior of Big Media (the BM for short) took full credit for the decision to take out the scumbags. I suppose it comes with the job; you try to deflect blame when things go wrong and you take full credit when things go right.

Of course the US action was met with threats from the Somalis.

Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan, said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."

Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told the AP from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."

"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.

Oooh. We're quaking in our boots. What is it with people in that part of the world? These so-called pirates are just like the current Al Queda leadership -- all threats, no action.

It's nice to have something positive to say on a Monday for a change. Go Navy!

He is risen!

He Who on the cross a ransom
For the world’s salvation bled,
Jesus Christ the King of glory
Now is risen from the dead.
-- Christ­o­pher Words­worth

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

May each of you have a glorious Easter Sunday as we remember He who is our hope and our salvation: the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

Senseless Tragedy

It's a story as old as, well, stories. A promising young men with his whole life ahead of him, who seemingly has the world by the tail, is struck down, his promise and potential left hanging in the void.

Adenhart was among three people killed Thursday in a crash in Fullerton, Calif., when a minivan driven by an alleged drunken driver broadsided their car after running a red light, authorities said.

The crash occurred hours after Adenhart, 22, pitched six scoreless innings Wednesday night against the Oakland Athletics. Police arrested Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of San Bernardino, Calif., on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter, said Lt. Kevin Hamilton of the Fullerton Police Department.

Nick Adenhart was from Hagerstown, MD. Hagerstown is a mere 20 minute drive from the Vulture's nest, so when I say that Western Maryland is taking this hard, I'm not exaggerating.

Everyone is left to wonder what this reportedly outstanding young man could have accomplished had he not been so tragically and senselessly killed.

Tomorrow is promised to no one. I have a son Adenhart's age. I would be devastated to lose him. My heart really goes out to the family. May God's tender mercies be with them.

How to undermine your own argument

Joe Klein writes for Time Magazine. I suppose he's a pretty good writer. But in this article, he demonstrates the quintessential way to undermine your own argument. His choice of poisons? Boomer self-importance.

Here's a sampling.

For the past several years, I've been harboring a fantasy, a last political crusade for the baby-boom generation. We, who started on the path of righteousness, marching for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, need to find an appropriately high-minded approach to life's exit ramp. In this case, I mean the high-minded part literally. And so, a deal: give us drugs, after a certain age — say, 80 — all drugs, any drugs we want. In return, we will give you our driver's licenses. (I mean, can you imagine how terrifying a nation of decrepit, solipsistic 90-year-old boomers behind the wheel would be?) We'll let you proceed with your lives — much of which will be spent paying for our retirement, in any case — without having to hear us complain about our every ache and reflux. We'll be too busy exploring altered states of consciousness. I even have a slogan for the campaign: "Tune in, turn on, drop dead."

He goes on to present a very detailed and convincing case for the legalization of marijuana. But, by the time he gets there, he's already used 3 column inches waxing self-important on just how wonderful his "generation" is. Were it not for my personal belief that the War on Drugs is an immoral and wasteful exercise in futility, I wouldn't have continued reading to see what his take was. As it was, it took every fiber of my being to suppress the urge to throw up in my mouth.

Boomers, please. STFU about how "wonderful" and "enlightened" and "special" you are in your own eyes. Everybody who isn't you hates you! You're the Chris Berman of generations: all bombast and self-congratulations all the time. Please just stop.

This guy could have been our President!

That Frankenstein-looking moron John Kerry is still trying to attain relevance. It's a pity.

Kerry had this to say during hearings on the escalating violence on the Mexico-US border.

At Monday's hearing, committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he had been shocked to see killings and beheadings "just a stone's throw across the Rio Grande from where we're sitting this morning."

Across the border, thousands of Mexican soldiers patrol Ciudad Juarez, which saw about 2,000 murders in 14 months.

Kerry called for a ban on the imports of assault rifles, such as the AK-47, into the United States. (emphasis mine)

Let me break this down for you.

1. The violence is occurring between rival drug cartels in Mexico.
2. The AK-47 is illegal in Mexico
   
3. The AK-47 is manufactured primarily in China and Russia.
4. The primary smugglers of AK-47's into Mexico are the Chinese.
   
5. What violence has spilled over the border has originated from Mexico.
6. Full-auto AK-47s are already illegal in the US.

So...given these facts, what do YOU think of Senator Lurch's proposal?

The fact is that "make guns illegal" is the default liberal answer to every crime question. The asshats at the SF Chronicle try in vain to support the Senator's claim by citing testimony of an official from the BATF (a patently unconstitutional agency largely responsible for putting the match to the Waco powder keg back in '93). William McMahon is quoted as saying, "Assault rifles bought in the United States are favorites among cartel gunmen, who find them effective for the urban warfare." Yet the best "evidence" to support this that the Chronic could roust to support their claim was the seizure of 60 weapons used in an April 2008 shootout that were traced back to the US. I don't want to burst your bubble, Chronic, but there are certainly a lot more than 60 guns in use by the various cartels.

The fact that the weapons utilized by the drug cartels are (a) already illegal in Mexico, (b) most likely from China, (c) already illegal in the US in full-auto mode (which, one would assume, is the preferred mode of the cartel "warriors"), and (d) illegally smuggled into Mexico, not legally imported (a not-too-subtle distinction lost on the dim-witted Senator), should be cause to make a thinking man reconsider requesting a total ban on a reliable weapon that "looks menacing".

It's a pity he's not a thinking man.

And to think he could have been our President! *shudder*

Wiener of the Month - March

I hate to pick on poor Ben Cardin (the Junior Senator from Maryland) again. He really is a stand-up kind of guy. But this is too much!

With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

That's it? You give newspapers -- some owned by Fortune 500 companies -- the same special status as, say, the United Way............why? Because they can't survive in today's marketplace? That's weak!

Mr. Cardin, they'd have a much better chance of surviving in today's marketplace if they didn't talk down to their customers and present such a one-sided view of the world. When you deliberately demean and insult 50% of your target audience on a regular basis, you're going to take your lumps. There are WAY too many other options available now for getting your news, and the vast majority of them don't treat people who reject lock-step liberal orthodoxy like they're neanderthals or morons.

This is a case of the BM reaping what they have sown. And it couldn't happen to a more haughty, self-absorbed, dogmatic, and outright ignorant bunch of people.

Senator Cardin, you're a good guy. But you're on the wrong side of this one. And you're the Wiener of the Month for March.

Wiener of the Week

This is yet another example of the unbridled arrogance of the self-important ass-clowns who run Big Media (the BM for short). Ladies and gentlemen, your WotW.

Commenting on the keep-the-Times alive movement, Keller said: "Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause."

The "Keller" mentioned in the quote would be Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of the New York Times.

Notice the unabashed hubris of equating a situation in which thousands of real human beings are being enslaved, tortured, and killed with the survival of a second-rate leftist newspaper! You wanna talk self-important? This guy's the poster child!

Bill Keller, you're a most-deserving Wiener of the Week.

Is this guy an egomaniac, or what?

ABC News' website has reported that King Obama presented a gift of an iPod to Queen Elizabeth, who, for her part, presented Obama with a signed picture of herself and Prince Whats-his-name (her husband) in a silver frame.

One would say, on first glance, that Obama gave the better gift, particularly since in addition to the pre-loaded iPod, with all the accessories, he also gave her a rare musical songbook signed by Richard Rodgers.

So...with what content was the iPod pre-loaded? In addition to show tunes, it included:

* Photos from the Queen's 2007 White House State Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown, Va., Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Richmond, Va., Visit
* Video from the Queen's 1957 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Richmond Visit
* Photos from President Obama's Inauguration
* Audio of then-state senator Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and
* Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration Address

Let me get this straight. King Egomaniac presents an iPod to the Queen that includes, among more appropriate content, pictures of him along with his dopey speeches? What a tool!

I thought Bill Clinton was the consummate egomaniac. He's SOOOOOOOOO minor league compared to ObEGO.

I can hardly wait for his next trick.