Archive for the 'Interesting News Bits' Category

Yesterday, President Obama and leaders of both parties had a “health care summit”. Reaction from the right includes the following: According to ARRA, the GOP had a good day at the summit. Jonah Goldberg at National Review pretty much agrees, but also says that the summit was incredibly boring. My Auburn instead focuses on Obama, claiming that for him it was a failure.

From CNS News, Obama’s four appointees to the “Debt Panel” include Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union.

According to Hugh Hewitt, Democrats say that Obama’s problem is gridlock, not his policies.

From Okie Campaigns, a board member of CAIR has been deported for supporting Hamas.

From Gateway Pundit, Van Jones isn’t just a truther and a communist, but was also a supporter of Saddam Hussein.

From CNN, a magnitude 7 earthquake has struck east of Okinawa.

From Infinite Unknown, New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg thinks that the U.S. will undergo an economic meltdown in 5 to 7 years.

Speaking of economic meltdowns, billionaire financier Jim Rogers predicts that the British Pound will collapse.

Some Brits are taking a cue from us Yanks, and have launched a Tea Party movement.

Meanwhile, HotAir reports that back on our side of the pond, lefties who disagree with the Tea Party have launched the Coffee Party.

Happy Valentine’s Day and (for tomorrow) President’s Day. As I listen to the icicles fall from my house, here’s what’s going on at home and abroad.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducts a humanitarian mission at an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

A song to teach your children geography: Fifty Nifty United States. (What, not 57? )

The snows of February have collapsed the Blacksburg (VA) High School gym. Blacksburg is also the location of my alma mater, Virginia Tech.

Thank A Soldier’s Blog launches The Gratitude Project.

Road rage in Texas leads to a police chase – and a bomb investigation.

From The Long War Journal, U.S. unmanned strike aircraft attack a Taliban training camp in North Waziristan.

As U.S. troops fight their way into the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, some say the fighting is as intense as in Falluhah, Iraq. I certainly have respect for anyone who fought in both of those battles. More on the fighting in Marjah from Holger Awakens.

Some climate scientists, including former IPCC author John Christy, have doubts about global warming because of problems with the underlying data collection.

Why does the Tea Party movement exist? Glenn Reynolds explains. (H/T Blogs For Victory)

From The American Thinker, Adam Shaw faults Secretary of State Clinton for generalizing about “organized religion”.

At a surfing event in Half Moon Bay, California, two huge waves sweep away spectators standing on a seawall.

D’OH! A “tagger” tries to put graphiti on a door in an aquatic center in Commerce, California. On the other side of said door are 100 Los Angeles County cops.

This past weekend’s snowstorm produced some mischief in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where two students at James Madison University have landed in deep trouble for throwing snowballs. Felony charges might sound excessive, until you learn what they were throwing at.

Felony snowball throwing charges have been leveled against two Virginia college students for allegedly pelting a city plow and an undercover police car during Saturday’s blizzard. Charles Gill and Ryan Knight, both 21, were nabbed by cops in Harrisonburg, where they attend James Madison University.

As these two learned the hard way, throwing something at an occupied vehicle is a felony in Virginia.

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.

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.

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.

With the Holiday season, things have been pretty slow around here. This is certainly understandable, since we all have our familial duties this time of year. But someone has to get in the first post of 2010.

For me, Christmas means visiting with my parents and seeing the extended clan down in Virginia. This year, it also meant getting rid of snow on the side of the street in front of their house, and from on top of dad’s car. Various siblings had already shoveled their driveway. Meanwhile, I had cleared about 20 inches of snow from my sidewalk and car back in Maryland, and thus brought some recent experience to the task. Fortunately, the day was sunny, with temperatures above freezing, allowing me to leave some of the snow to melt away.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Picture feature at Boston.com has 120 photos looking back at the events (so far) of 2009: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Meanwhile, in other news, opinion and humor:

The Fort Hood shooting suspect’s condition has improved, enough for him to be moved from intensive care into a private hospital room.

Andrew McCarthy at National Review explains why Gitmo, contrary to what the Obama administration and Sen. Dick Durbin might think, does not cause terrorism.

A nine-ton temple pylon from the palace complex of Cleopatra has been pulled out of the Mediterrean Sea near Alexandria, Egypt.

Communists and (other) socialists protest near the climate change conference in Copenhagen, proudly carrying red flags and even a bust of Karl Marx. I wonder if they stayed around for the snow storm.

Speaking of Copenhagen and socialists, the Obama administration appears ready to offer $100 billion to a fund that would help developing nations deal with climate change.

Closer to home, Obama might be asked to testify in defense of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of scheming to sell or trade Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, campaign fundraising abuses and other offenses.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. A family in Fort Belvoir, VA sends 1550 gift bags to Iraq.

Cops in Arizona apprehend 130 drug dealers and seize $7 million in contraband.

From ARRA News Service, Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) claims that Congress can force Americans to buy health insurance.

Political cartoon – What if Rudolph the red-nose reindeer were to meet Al Gore?

The massive spending bill known as “TARP” didn’t prevent the economy from going into the toilet. The massive spending bill known as the “stimulus” didn’t pull the economy out of the toilet. What, then, is Obama now proposing for the economy? Another massive spending bill.

Meanwhile, Obama has decided to cut short his trip to Norway to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize, to the consternation of some Norwegians.

The upcoming visit from Obama is not the only strange thing that Norway has had to put up with.

Back at the White House, cookies served at the Christmas party were shaped like acorns.

Over at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Congress has decided not to re-authorize the Washington Scholarship Fund.

On the other hand, a House subcommittee has approved legislation that could force the NCAA to determine its football champion, in Division 1-Bowl Subdivision, via a playoff system. As if there aren’t more important matters.

Possible Darwin Award nominee. A 25-year-old Ukrainian man blows his head off – with exploding chewing gum.

Cue Van Halen. I remember Hot For Teacher, but not quite like this.

Global warming/climate change has been blamed quite a few unpleasant things, such as polar bears drowning as the Arctic ice melts under them. But now, it’s being blamed for polar bear cannibalism.

In Scott County, Virginia, a church has its own zoo.

Some families of fallen troops will get an early Christmas present – a ride on the Snowball Express.

Pretty soon I’ll be running down to Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. As usual, this will involve lots of eating and watching football, the latter featuring the annual Commonwealth Cup between my alma mater Virginia Tech and Thomas Jefferson’s creation, the University of Virginia. Thanksgiving was first proclaimed by George Washington in 1789. But more recently, here’s what’s been happening:

Navy SEALS have captured the alleged terrorist mastermind behind the murder of four Blackwater security guards – but are being court-martialed for allegedly punching him.

Now that Teh One^TM has scuttled plans for a missile defense installation in Poland, how has Russia responded? By staging a simulated attack on Poland. How’s that reset button working these days?

From The Other McCain, the death of census worker Bill Sparkman has been ruled a suicide, and not “Southern populist terrorism”.

The government of Venezuela has accused Israeli president Shimon Peres of threatening Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

I actually saw a few of these people during the 9/12 Tea Party, a possible rightwing answer to ACORN – Workers Against Lazy Non-producers United Together.

Speaking of the Tea Party movement, it now has its own documentary movie, to be premiered in Washington, DC on 12/2/2009. (H/T to the Pink Elephant Pundit)

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes near the Pacific island nation of Tonga.

From Right Wing News, Melissa Clouthier notes now conservatives are starting to give liberals a taste of their own medicine, when it comes to sexism.

From National Review, Stephen Spruiell has some things to say about those erroneously reported “stimulus” jobs.

As I look forward to Virginia Tech’s last regular-season football game, here’s my favorite play of last week’s game against NC State, from VTPhreak4evr. VT tailback Ryan Williams (#34) is caught by NC State defender Earll Wolff (#27), who grabs his jersey at around the 10-yard line. Williams still scores a touchdown as he drags Wolff all the way to the goal line.