Empty Promises

Guantánamo – open or closed?
The US Senate has denied President Obama the funding he needs to close the Guantánamo Bay prison amid fears that some detainees could be relocated to the US. This 'not in my backyard' attitude has hampered efforts to close Guantánamo, but are lawmakers right to demand more information?

Huh? Seems as though the new President can't do all that he ran on. Interesting that the American people aren't quite as supportive of the new regime as the media would like us to think.

Tom Cruise Your Ship Landed In Houston

HOUSTON — The fireball that streaked across the Texas sky and appeared to dive toward earth over the weekend remained a mystery on Monday after the military said the event had nothing to do with a collision of satellites last week and did not seem to involve an artificial satellite coming down.
“We still think it’s possible it might be a natural phenomenon, a meteor or asteroid,” said Maj. Regina Winchester, a spokeswoman for the United States Strategic Command, in Nebraska.
Whatever it was, the fireball on Sunday caused great consternation and wonder across Central Texas. Dozens of people called the police to report sonic booms and a bright fireball plunging toward the ground around 11 a.m.
In Williamson County, north of Austin, so many callers were convinced that the plummeting light was a burning aircraft that the sheriff’s office dispatched a helicopter and several patrol cars to look for debris.
“No one said they saw it crash,” said a spokesman, Detective John Foster. “But it looked like it was going down; it was approaching the earth.”
Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for the Texas State Police, said troopers were flooded with calls around the same time from McLennan County, which includes Waco, and Kaufman County, southeast of Dallas.
The Federal Aviation Administration has determined only that the object was not an aircraft.
Byron D. Tapley, the director of the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas, Austin, said it was highly unlikely that the object came from the collision of a Russian satellite and an American communications company satellite over Siberia last Tuesday. Dr. Tapley said the belt of debris, some 500 miles above Earth, was too high for pieces to come down this soon.
A more likely cause, Dr. Tapley said, would be a large meteor burning up as it entered the atmosphere. Another possibility would be a defunct satellite tumbling out of space and eluding the Air Force’s detection system.
Whether artificial or not, he said, the object was bigger than an ordinary shooting star. Smaller meteors cannot be seen during the day, and they do not have such a long tail.
One astronomer at the University of North Texas, Ron Dilulio, told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the object had to be the size of a pickup truck to remain visible, as it did, for several seconds.
Some witnesses compared the fireball’s brightness to the sun. Others swore it was a plane on fire. The ball of light flared up at least twice on its descent, which lasted five to seven seconds, according to an amateur video posted on the Internet.
“I saw a ball of fire with a fire streaming out of the back of it — I thought it was a plane crashing at first,” said Doug Schmidt, an engineer from Richardson, a suburb north of Dallas. “Just before it disappeared, I saw a little flash of light.”

Lighten Up

Los Angeles woman claims to represent one million Asian-Americans

LOS ANGELES - The uproar over the Miley Cyrus photo that some Asian groups have deemed offensive has spilled over to the courtroom.
According to court documents obtained by Access Hollywood, a Los Angeles woman is suing Miley over the photograph — for an amount that could add up to over $4 billion.
According to court documents, Lucie J. Kim, who brought the suit against the pop star, claims to represent over 1 million people of Asian Pacific Islander descent in the Los Angeles area. Kim claims that she and others are victims "of [Cyrus’] discriminatory acts.”

The photo in question, which surfaced online last week, shows Cyrus with a group of friends, including boyfriend Justin Gaston, slanting their eyes and squinting at the camera. The teen queen initially called the photo uproar “something out of nothing,” and said she was “simply making a goofy face.”
On Monday, Cyrus addressed the controversial photo again on her official fansite, saying,” I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone.”
In the suit filed in LA County Superior Court, Kim claims that each Asian Pacific Islander in L.A. County, which the suit approximates to be around 1 million, is entitled to a minimum of $4,000 for a civil-rights violation stemming from the photograph. The damages could exceed $4 billion.
Kim goes on to claim that Cyrus “knew or should have known that her image would be publicly disseminated via the media, which Cyrus knew focused on her private life.”
The suit goes on to allege that the star “had actual knowledge that her conduct was in fact a form of racism, prejudice and mockery of the physical attributes of Asian Pacific Islanders.”
Reps for Cyrus could not be reached for comment.

Ok so why aren't any of the unknown kids around her being sued? And I mean holy shit the second from the left guy is doing the most awesome Asian impersination ever. Come on people the Achey Breaky money was gone long ago and most of these pictures are taken out of context. Please lady tell me you sleep better at night knowing you are suing a 14 year old kid. Bully!

Why I'm scared of the President

"I have sworn that we're taking out the bowling alley in the White House and we're putting in a basketball court," he said, according to a pool press report of his visit this afternoon to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Ind., today.

In a time of economic struggle while he slaps the wrists of greedy CEOs for wasting tax dollars this seems a bit two faced to me.

Is Barack Obama—junior U.S. senator from Illinois, best-selling author, Harvard Law Review editor, Men's Vogue cover model, and "exploratory" presidential candidate—the second coming of our Savior and our Redeemer, Prince of Peace and King of Kings, Jesus Christ? His press coverage suggests we can't dismiss this possibility out of hand. I therefore inaugurate the Obama Messiah Watch, which will periodically highlight gratuitously adoring biographical details that appear in newspaper, television, and magazine profiles of this otherworldly presence in our midst.

The scary part of this one is he seems to like the idea that some think this way.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration promises sweeping changes in American foreign policy, and some U.S. adversaries are nibbling the bait.
Vice President Joe Biden hit most of the right notes in his Munich speech this weekend, declaring — among a long list of initiatives — Washington's readiness to push the "reset button" with Russia, talk with rather than browbeat Iran and revitalize the bruised NATO alliance.
U.S. troops are leaving Iraq. A more nuanced Afghan policy is in the works. President Barack Obama won't rest without progress on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
At the 45th Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Biden painted the global landscape in new colors, drawing stark contrasts with the Bush administration, which had alienated many American friends and deepened animosity among its enemies.
"The U.S. administration sent a very strong signal, and the signal was heard," Russian deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov said Sunday.
Over the weekend, Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani spoke of a "golden opportunity for the United States" — suggesting that if Washington was serious about conciliation, Tehran could respond in kind. Larijani said the U.S. needed to change "to a chess game instead of a boxing match."
Any changes in American strategy toward Russia, Iran or any of the other international actors now at odds with the United States could have huge political consequences. They would set off an explosion of opposition from American foreign policy traditionalists, neoconservative thinkers especially.
The Bush administration was guided by the blunt view that America was the only superpower — after the collapse of the Soviet Union — and had the economic resources and military strength to insist that Washington's will be done.
That produced the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in spite of heavy opposition from most European allies — Britain and, to a degree, Italy excepted. Iraq policy in turn has bedeviled U.S. efforts to pacify Afghanistan and hunt down Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan. The Europeans have been far from wholehearted in supporting that U.S. military effort, which has gone seriously awry.
Then there's Iran. Since the Islamic revolution and the extended crisis over the hostage-taking of American diplomats 30 years ago, the one-time ally has become an implacable foe. And it's a foe with serious ambitions, including the destruction of Israel, support of anti-Israeli organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah and construction of a nuclear arsenal.
Iran is bent on becoming a regional power in the Middle East and its chances of success have been much advanced by events in neighboring Iraq, where the U.S. ouster of Saddam Hussein removed a major brake to Tehran's ambitions.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin is fighting U.S. efforts to promote NATO membership for countries that border Russia and were former satellites or even republics of the old Soviet Union.
NATO expansion — which began in earnest under President Bill Clinton — led the Bush administration to declare plans to install a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland, compounding Kremlin anger and insecurity. While Washington insists those missiles are designed to counter any Iranian attack on Europe, even Russia, Moscow is not buying the argument.
Finally, al-Qaida remains determined to continue its campaign to knock the United States off keel. Many analysts fear bin Laden's next assault will be even deadlier than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, including biological or nuclear weapons.
But Obama is in the midst of a honeymoon with most of the rest of the Islamic world, which, for now, accepts his promises of respect and evenhandedness after nearly a decade of believing it was held in low esteem by the Bush administration. The Arab subset of that world is likewise enthralled with Obama and his energized efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Serious progress on any of these foreign policy puzzles may require:
_Backing away from NATO expansion and quietly letting the Russians know plans for missile defenses in their former sphere of influence are up for negotiation. Washington might demand a less belligerent stand on Georgia, where Russia is threatening to expand its military presence in two breakaway ethnic zones. Obama might also win a reversal on Kyrgystan's recent decision to boot the United States from an air base that is critical to supplying American forces in Afghanistan. Moscow says Kyrgystan made the decision independently, but the move coincided with the Kremlin promising a huge loan to its economically failing former republic.
_A tacit acknowledgment of Washington's readiness to accept and respect Iran as a major player in the Middle East, but only if Tehran obliterates its nuclear program, accepts Israel as a recognized member of the neighborhood and ends support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
_Successfully pressuring Israel to make peace with the Palestinians by withdrawing to pre-1967 borders and sharing Jerusalem as a capital. That would cement U.S. relations with the Arab world and could empower the United States to make further demands on isolating Islamic extremists, including al-Qaida.
Such strategic changes might convince the world Obama plans to do more than just talk about a new era in U.S. foreign policy.

Or are we opening the door for terrorism?

And a hot chick because it worked well for him on the campaign trail.

Again I hope he is the best President we have ever seen but so far I hear all words with no action. Time to get away from the TV cameras and do something.

Quit Bailing Them Out!

Obama Calls Wall Street Bonuses ‘Shameful’

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: January 29, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Obama fired a warning shot at Wall Street on Thursday, branding bankers “shameful” for giving themselves $18.4 billion in bonuses as the economy was spinning out of control and the government was spending billions to bail out many of the nation’s most prominent financial firms.
Speaking from the Oval Office with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner by his side, Mr. Obama lashed out at the industry over a report, compiled by the New York State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, which found that over all, financial executives received the same level of bonuses as they had in 2004, when times were more flush.
It was a pointed and unusual flash of anger — if a premeditated one — from the president, and it suggested that he intended to use his platform to take a hard line against excesses in executive compensation.
“That is the height of irresponsibility,” Mr. Obama said angrily. “It is shameful, and part of what we’re going to need is for folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.
“The American people understand that we’ve got a big hole that we’ve got to dig ourselves out of, but they don’t like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they’re being asked to fill it up,” Mr. Obama said, adding that “there will be time for them to make profits and there will be time for them to make bonuses. Now is not that time.”
News of the report, and Mr. Obama’s remarks, came a day after the president met privately at the White House with business leaders, including Richard D. Parsons, the new chairman of the board of Citigroup. This week, Citigroup, which received an infusion of taxpayer money last year, canceled its plans, at the administration’s urging, to buy a $50 million business jet.
Mr. Obama did not spare the company in his remarks on Thursday, although he did not mention Citi by name. “Secretary Geithner already had to pull back on one institution that had gone forward with a multimillion-dollar plane it purchased at the same time as they are receiving TARP money,” he said, using the acronym for the government’s $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, intended to rescue shaky financial firms. “We shouldn’t have to do that, because they should know better.”
Mr. DiNapoli’s report was compiled based on the annual December-January bonus season, mostly through personal income tax collections. In an interview published on Thursday, he said it was unclear if banks had used taxpayer money for bonuses.
“The issue of transparency is a significant one,” Mr. DiNapoli said in the interview, “and there needs to be an accounting about whether there was any taxpayer money used to pay bonuses or to pay for corporate jets or dividends or anything else.”
Earlier Thursday, the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said Mr. Obama had a one-word reaction to the report: “Outrageous.” He announced in advance that Mr. Obama would put forth his views in person, which he did at the end of a meeting with Mr. Geithner.

Are we supposed to be stupid here people? They get these bonuses off our backs. The bailout's and high interest rates are raping this nation! Mr. President if you want to make a difference then try them all for treason. They are destroying more familys than any amount of terrorists ever could imagine. Enough is enough! I say instead of throwing the tea in the harbour we throw executives from the tops of their buildings. The whole time they are padding their own pockets they are buying up banks in order to become a monopoly. Last I checked this practice is illegal. Want to make a difference? Close them down! Put them out of work and take their money in mass quantities. Make them live as they have made the rest of us. Hang them from the lamp posts up and down Wall Street as warning to all. Prove for once that we are all created equal and a man isn't judged by his pocket book. Oh I forgot I have very little faith in this because you Mr. Obama are one of them. Show me your not!

Proof That We Need Change

Take a wild guess where this is at. Come on people see the little Chinease made flags on sticks it isn't that hard. Giving up huh? This is the "most historic day of our generation" and it's not here in Ark City. This is at the party in D.C. and it is proof that we are the problem America. Lazy wastefull and dumb are words that all come to mind. What I've never been able to understand is people carry their food into large events like this but once they have finnished scarfing down the Mac and fries apparently the bags become too cumbersome to carry away. Shame on you Mr. Obama for not having any trash cans at your party. I'm putting it to a vote right now worst president ever! Truth is Obama has nothing to do with this. It is you people who just expect the next guy to get it for you that are to blame. The next guy, isn't that a nice idea? I don't have to do shit for myself because the magical superhero Next Guy will fly in and save the day! Duh du du Dumbasses! Everyone was so wrapped up in the history that apparently they forgot to listen to the speech. We have to start doing for ourselves America and that includes the common curtosy of cleaning up after yourself and leaving the world better than when you got here. No I'm not going to go out and chain myself to a tree and sing "We are one" with a bunch of long haired unshaven people needing showers (joking in the insults there I love hippies) (but you do stink) but at the same time if I can teach my 8 year old to put his whopper wrapper into a trash can then I'm sure you grown and evolved "people of change" can do the same right? And I don't mean to imply only litter here. In work and school and life in general we seem to have found a comlacency to let the next guy get it. We shove our problems onto him and often blame him, we do the bare minimum with hopes he will pick up the slack, we waste our money knowing our neighbors are starving but thinking it's not our problem. This is the kind of thinking that will make this country fail. Honestly we are failures right now but hey that's ok because the next guy will do better right?

If You Believe, They Put A Man On The Moon

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Bethany McLean

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Wow no more investing to get rich. Actual work for your money? What a novel idea.

This Is Racism People!

Now I know that there are about 80% of Americans that don't know why they vote the way they vote but come on this is nuts. I just wish they showed pictures. Remember that these people are saying we should continue the war. Read a paper or watch the news for God's sake. At least be able to explain why you vote for someone. Honestly I voted no to both due to the fact that they both are extremely wastefull men that will bankrupt our country.

Wow Priorities Are Straight Here

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Florida State University safety Myron Rolle is bypassing an immediate chance at a multimillion-dollar contract in the National Football League to study at Oxford University.
Rolle, a three-year starter for the Seminoles, is accepting a Rhodes scholarship to study at the school in England, said his brother McKinley Rolle, who is managing Myron’s media appearances.
Rolle, 22, started all but one game for Florida State this season, arriving late for the Nov. 22 game at Maryland after completing a Rhodes Scholar interview. He finished third on the team with 62 tackles and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference second team.
He graduated in 2 1/2 years with a degree in exercise science and is pursuing a master’s in public administration, Florida State said when it announced in November that he was among the 32 scholarship winners. He will work on a master’s degree in medical anthropology there.
“We’re expecting Mr. Rolle to join us at Oxford,” Colin Lucas, warden of the Rhodes Trust, which supports scholars selected to study at the school, said in a telephone interview. “He hasn’t given any indication he won’t.”
The New York Times said Rolle has been told he was projected to be one of the top 49 picks in the NFL draft, with the potential to go higher with a strong performance at the league’s scouting combine.
The top-picked safety in 2008, Kenny Phillips of the New York Giants, made $3.8 million this season, including bonuses. He was selected 31st overall.
Rolle, who graduated from the Hun School of Princeton, New Jersey, has said he plans on attending medical school after a career in the NFL.
Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley and ex-Maryland Congressman Tom McMillen, both basketball players, were Rhodes Scholars, as was former NFL quarterback Pat Haden.