Archive for the 'BigFoot' Category

Representative John Murtha (D), from Pennsylvania’s 12th district, has died from complications after gall bladder surgery, as reported by Yahoo News.

Murtha was born in 1932, joined the Marines in 1952, became a drill instructor at Parris Island, joined the Marine Reserves, volunteered to go to Vietnam where he served as an intelligence officer, received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, attended the University of Pittsburgh on the GI Bill, served in the Pennsylvania House, and became the first Vietnam combat veteran to serve in the U.S. House. He was 77.

Murtha was also no stranger to controversy, often being criticized for taking a large number of earmarks. In 2006, he accused some Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians “in cold blood” at Haditha, which drew some angry reaction because the Marines had not yet been tried for their alleged actions. Of the eight Marines charged either in the original incident or with failure to investigate, seven have either been acquitted or had their charges dropped.

The Washington Post has more.

For the second time this winter, my corner of the world has been covered by a large quantity of white powdery global warming (or climate change or whatever it’s called these days). Here at the unofficial Bigfoot weather station (consisting of a yard stick and the deck immediately adjacent my back door), the amount is 27 inches. This beats December’s storm, which yielded 19 inches. I can’t even remember the last time we had two snow storms of similar size during the same winter. But I can look at the bright side. Shoveling snow is good exercise.

Among those reporting on the storm are:
Capital Weather Gang at the Washington Post,
Associated Content,
Fox Weather Channel,
KMOX News,
the Washington Examiner,
WCBS Newsradio,
and a YouTube-savvy student at Catholic University.

The first week of February includes the day when high school football players, who have previously been offered athletic scholarships and verbally announced their respective choices on which college to attend and play for, sign their letters of intent, thus sealing the recruiting process.

The recruiting process includes contact between the high school players and college coaches, according to rules and guidelines set by the NCAA. The player is also allowed have up to five expense-paid visits to college campuses. Most of the time, these players have declared their intentions during their senior year of high school, but some of them decide earlier, mostly during their junior year.

Newly hired USC head coach Lane Kiffin, who recently left the same position at Tennessee after losing the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to my Hokies, has received a verbal commitment from an athlete who has not yet finished playing high school football. In fact, he hasn’t even started. The kid’s just 13.

I have previously run across various articles stating that before the housing crisis hit, a politician such as President Bush or Senator McCain thought that something was wrong at Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and that they needed to be reined in. But other than Peter Schiff, I had not heard anyone outside of government saying that anything was wrong with the housing market, the banking industry, or the two government-sponsored enterprises. But now, I’ve learned that repeated warnings came from the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, and were never taken seriously.

As it pleaded with bank regulators to stop subprime lending abuses, the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America [MICA] pointed out the red flags in analysis from the bank regulators’ own staffers as well as the likes of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, three years before these two Wall Street giants collapsed under the weight of bad mortgage bets.

What did Federal Reserve chairman Benjamin Bernanke have to say while the warnings were coming in?

Despite mounting evidence, Bernanke went on TV in 2005 to say of a housing collapse, “it’s a pretty unlikely possibility,” adding that “fundamentals are strong.” Right before the crash in 2007 the Fed chairman said “the subprime markets seem likely to be contained.”

Bernanke also noted in February 2008: “By later this year, housing will stop being such a big drag directly on GDP” and that “among the largest banks, the capital ratios remain good and I don’t expect any serious problems.”

Didn’t work out that way, did it? Bernanke, who has been appointed to another term, was monumentally wrong, the sad thing being that the warning signs were there, but were not heeded. Read it all.

One of our neighbors to the north, who have socialized medicine, will be going to the U.S. for medical treatment.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States.

Deputy premier Kathy Dunderdale will be acting premier in Williams’ absence. At a news conference to confirm his upcoming operation, she would not reveal where in the U.S. it would take place, or even if the operation could be done in Canada.

“It was never an option offered to him to have this procedure done in this province,” said Ms. Dunderdale, refusing to answer whether the procedure could be done elsewhere in Canada.

Interesting. A Canadian government official will soon receive medical treatment in the U.S., while some American government officials are intent on making the American medical system more like Canada’s.

Some background information: In Canada, a premier is the head of a provincial government. However, unlike American state governors, he is not a chief executive, but a member the provincial legislature, usually the head of the majority party. His role is thus the provincial equivalent of the prime minister in Canada’s national government.

A few other links to this story:
Cleveland.com
Taragana Health News
Washington Examiner
Star Tribune

Another weekend come and soon to be gone. This one featured about 4 inches of powdery white stuff, a small amount by this winter’s standards. Here in Maryland, every few years or so, we seem to get what I call “Winter in December”, where December is cold and snowy, but January and February are milder. This past December certainly fit the bill, but there’s been very little let-up in January, with a long spell of below-freezing temperatures early in the month, and a snow storm to close it out. It looks like this will be a real winter, from start to finish. Just stay in your hole, Punxatawney Phil. Looking for your shadow doesn’t seem to be worth the effort this year. Meanwhile, here’s a bit of what’s been going on:

Ice Age Now reports how NASA and NOAA have been “cooking the data” on global warming, er, climate change. Such climate monitoring is now what the Obama administration wants from NASA, instead of going back to the moon.

The Washington, DC Metro had a horrible year in 2009, as 24 people were killed in the system.

From Atlas Shrugs via Newsbusters: Eleventh graders at an Ohio high school get a chance to earn school credit by becoming interns for Organizing for America. Suggested readings include Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals.

According to Michael Medved, trying to emulate Truman will not work for Obama.

Want to take a ride on a military airplane, at taxpayer expense? It helps if you’re related to Nancy Pelosi.

Obama bows again! Not to a king or emperor, but to an American mayor. (H/T Snooper Report)

From Gateway Pundit: Illinois gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski, whom Duncan noted a few posts ago, has surged to within two points of the lead among Republicans vying for their party’s nomination. (Rock-n-roll trivia: Name the female vocalist whose maiden name is Andrzejewski.)

According to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, the Obama administration is determined to have Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists tried in New York.

Oh the other hand, Bill Burck and Dana Perino, writing in National Review, claim that KSM and four others will instead be tried by military commission.

The Egyptian government has announced plans to reveal the results of DNA tests from the Pharoah Tutankhamun. I wonder if “King Tut” was anything like Steve Martin’s portrayal.

Ray Stevens has been in the music business for a long time. His work includes novelty songs such as The Streak and upbeat ballads such as Everything Is Beautiful. More recently, however, he has devoted his talents to opposing Obamacare.

While working at his office in Lorton, Virginia, Dr. Frank Ciampi found himself dealing with an unusual intruder – a half-pound meteorite, only the fourth ever reported to land in Virginia, and the first since 1924. Fox News, the Washington Post, Sott.net and Softpedia have the details.

In what might be the greatest upset victory since the New York Giants prevailed over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown (R) has won the special election to replace the late Edward “Ted” Kennedy in the U.S. Senate, over Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D), by a margin of 52% to 47%. How big is Brown’s win? As Boston’s mayor explained to the Boston Herald:

“I never thought I’d see the day when a Republican replaces Ted Kennedy,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the Herald tonight. “I think Scott Brown caught the wave of anger that’s out there, and the wave of anti-Obama.”

Before his death last year from an aggressive form of brain cancer, Kennedy had held his Senate seat since 1962. The seat had also been occupied by his brother John F. Kennedy, before he became president. As Patricia Murphy reports in Politics Daily, Brown paid tribute to the man he will succeed.

Brown also spoke of Ted Kennedy, calling him “a tireless worker and a big-hearted public servant who, for most of his lifetime, was a force like no other in this state. There’s no replacing a man like that, but tonight I honor the memory and I pledge to be the very best, worthy successor to the late Sen. Kennedy.”

Upon being sworn into office, Brown will replace temporary Senator Paul Kirk, and serve the remainder of Kennedy’s term, facing re-election in 2012.

Also reporting on Brown’s historic win are Yahoo News, Fox News and UPI.com
Read the rest of this entry »

Here in Maryland, as in much of the United States, the cold snap continues. Meanwhile, across the pond, Great Britain is covered by snow. (H/T Ice Age Now)

Next up, a look at some liberals. Well, actually two looks. The British site Telegraph will be listing the 100 most influential American liberals, and has started with numbers 100 through 81. Back here in the states, John Hawkins at Right Wing News gives us the “20 most annoying liberals of 2009″.

Let’s not forget our liberal-in-chief. In The Minority Report, Ken Taylor calls Obama’s transparency “a transparency of lies”. (H/T ARRA News)

Speaking of alleged lies, in CNS News, Alan Caruba writes about “The Lies About Green Jobs”. Hmmm, that’s “3 letters: J-O-B-S”, isn’t it, Mr. Vice President?

Please excuse me while I roll my eyes over this one. Disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich calls himself “blacker than Barack Obama”.

From Canada Free Press, Daniel Greenfield tells us about “The Secret History of the Left”.

One more reason that crude oil and thus gasoline are getting more expensive: increased Chinese demand.

How well do you know the American Revolution? Take the quiz.

Bring out the asterisk. Nearly Nobody’s News reports that former major league baseball player Mark McGwire has admitted to using steroids back during his playing days. In 1998, McGwire hit 70 home runs, breaking the single-season record of 61 by Roger Maris in 1961, itself subject to an asterisk because Maris played in a 162-game season, whereas the Babe Ruth had hit 60 in a 154-game season. McGwire’s record, steroid-aided as it may have been, lasted only three years, as Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, likely also a steroid-aided feat.

In a courtroom in East Boston, there will be no pussy-footing around with this potential juror.