Obama Date Night: May 30, 2009

UPDATE: Obama Date Night: Paris, June 6, 2009
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UPDATE: Gibbs: Obama Date Night Cost
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The Obamas last had a date night that included full coverage by the press on May 2, 2009.

They had dinner at Citronelle, a posh Georgetown restaurant. Afterward, they went for a private, romantic stroll on the White House South Lawn. The "stroll" was taped and packaged and circulated by the lib media for the public's consumption.

Isn't it romantic?

It's the last weekend in May. Time for another Obama date night!

This date involved air travel -- the helicopter, Marine One, and three planes. Not your average date.


US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama board a small jet serving as Air Force One for a personal visit to New York City from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, May 30, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES POLITICS)

Jake Tapper has the details, as reported by ABC's Vija Udenans.

Today Pres. Obama and the First Lady are taking their 'date night' to New York, dinner and a Broadway show. Mid-afternoon the President, tie-less in a stunning black suit escorted the first lady to Marine One on South Lawn, while Sasha, the youngest daughter watched and waved from the upper balcony.

Michelle Obama wore a sleeveless, body-fitting, knee length, black cocktail dress and black heels that almost stuck in the South lawn sod. The President took her hand as they continued to the waiting chopper.

A White House press spokesperson tells us the President had explained the visit, "I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished."

The couple did not take the large 747 to New York, but flew a much smaller C-20 (G3). The press pool flew in a separate plane, identified by the military as a G5, followed by a staff in a third plane (G3). White House staff said the smaller planes were more fuel efficient.

AF-1 landed at Kennedy Airport. Marine One flew them over the Brooklyn Bridge to Lower Manhattan.

The smaller planes are more fuel efficient. How green of the Obamas!

Great. They didn't take the 747. But the "date entourage" still took three freaking planes to New York.

This is obviously just a lame attempt to quell criticism about them blowing through jet fuel and making the taxpayers foot the enormous bill.

Even with the "fuel efficient" planes, I wonder what the carbon footprint of the Obamas' date night was.

Earlier in the week, Obama dictated how many miles per gallon our cars must get. Has anyone suggested to him that even the small planes don't cut it in terms of being environmentally friendly?

I don't get this date night stuff. It looks really bad. The Obamas don't seem to be sacrificing much in these tough economic times. They keep telling us to sacrifice but they aren't. It's so hypocritical.

As I've said before, these aren't dates. They're circuses. They're weird. And the media eats them up.

The motorcade made its way over to West Street, banged a right on a cobblestone Clarkson, then on to Carmine. They ended up at 6th and Washington place.

The first couple dined at Bluehill Restaurant where reservations are reportedly hard to get. The restaurant features "locally grown fare" and
has it's own farm in upstate new York.

The first couple arrived at the Belasco theater on West 44th Street, where they will see "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

...They are expected to return to the White House tonight.

Here's how the New York Times reports on this very important story:

The Obamas escaped Washington on Saturday in search of a quintessential New York evening — dinner and a Broadway show.

They found it at Blue Hill, a low-key Greenwich Village restaurant, and at the Belasco Theater near Times Square for a performance of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” the Tony-nominated August Wilson play.

It was the Obamas’ first joint visit to the city as the first couple. And even cooler-than-thou New York allowed itself a bit of excitement over their arrival.

...Along Avenue of the Americas, pedestrians stopped to wave, snap pictures and press against metal barricades as the Obamas’ motorcade zipped by.

...They landed at Kennedy International Airport at 4:45 p.m. and after taking a quick helicopter ride to Lower Manhattan, the presidential motorcade snaked its way up to Blue Hill, a restaurant off Washington Square Park that specializes in cuisine from the Hudson Valley. (It sounded like the choice of Mrs. Obama, who favors local food.)

Hours before the show began, the Secret Service cordoned off the entire block of 44th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Broadway, where the Belasco is located. Outside the theater, as the actors in the play began to trickle in, one of them, Chad L. Coleman, signed autographs and spoke with reporters, wearing a broad smile and an Obama cap.

...The Obamas arrived at the theater in a black stretch limousine just before 8 p.m., but lines at the metal detectors delayed the show more than 45 minutes.

When the Obamas walked down the aisle to take their seats, “it was utter pandemonium,” said Tim Johnson, who was in the audience, and described a scene of shouting, clapping and a long standing ovation.

This is not a date, in my opinion.

It's a public appearance. It's like an official visit, not private time as a couple. It's verging on a campaign appearance.

Although the Times does not report that people were annoyed that the show started 45 minutes late, I think it was an incredible disruption. Obama date night certainly caused an inconvenience in terms of traffic for hours.

The online headline of the story in the Times: "Politics Can Wait: The President Has a Date."

That should be "The Public Can Wait: Obama Has a Date."

Make way for King Obama, the Imperial President, and his Queen!

But hey, during the campaign Obama promised to take Michelle to a Broadway show. That's one campaign promise Obama kept.

So the Obamas' date night in New York is big news, documented by the fawning press.

These date nights are cheesy photo ops.

What's next?

Will the press hang around after the first couple return to the White House?

Will they wait for a "Mission Accomplished" banner to be hung outside the Obamas' private living quarters to signal the end of date night?

WI State Budget: Drag Me to Hell

On May 29, Drag Me to Hell was released.

No, I'm not talking about the new horror film. I'm talking about the Wisconsin state budget.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Facing a record $6.6 billion deficit, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Friday passed a budget crafted late at night and largely behind closed doors that included tax increases, trims in state aid and millions of dollars in pork-barrel projects in Democratic districts.

Working overnight Thursday until 5:30 a.m. Friday, lawmakers included provisions that would impose a tax on oil companies, increase the cigarette tax, release prison inmates early and reduce funding for local governments and school districts.

The committee wrapped up its work after a 12-hour session with a 12-4, party-line vote to close the shortfall over two years.

Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, are expected to pass the package of tax and fee increases and spending cuts, with few changes. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle praised the deal, suggesting he would use his vast veto powers sparingly.

...Democrats said the two-year plan would cut state spending while keeping down taxes for average Wisconsin families. Doyle and his aides said they were pleased the committee largely went along with his proposals.

"They made some hard decisions," Doyle said Friday after a workforce summit in Kenosha. "They protected the middle class. I think they've done a good job."

Republicans ridiculed the process of crafting the budget behind closed doors, voting in the middle of the night and having Senate Democrats hold a Lake Geneva fund-raiser four hours after approving the budget.

"These changes will have a dire impact on our state," Senate Republican leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau said in a statement. "The budget's tax and fee increases will worsen Wisconsin's already poor business climate rating and increase the burden on taxpayers. It will serve as a disincentive for families and employers to live here while prolonging our state's recession."

Overall spending would rise 7% because of federal economic stimulus dollars, but spending of state tax dollars would decline as much as 3.4%. There are no general or sales tax increases in the budget, but it does include targeted tax and fee increases on such things as phone lines, cigarettes and hospital revenues. State agencies and workers, aid to local government and schools all saw major budget cuts.

This is a disaster.

Doyle's claim that the budget protects the middle class is total BS, just another Doyle lie.

Middle class families are affected by the targeted tax and fee increases. It's crazy to suggest otherwise. I believe they have phone lines. They have cell phones. The cigarette tax hits lower income people much harder than the rich. There are too many specific tax hikes to mention, but there's no question that middle class families will be hit hard.

In addition to all the tax increases, the budget pushes through measures that will increase crime and welfare dependence.

The Democrats have crafted a budget that is a repellent to business owners and a magnet for criminals, illegal aliens, and welfare dependents. The budget guarantees to step up the pace of the state's brain drain and wealth drain.

It's suicidal.

What are the Democrats and Jim Doyle thinking?

More, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The budget includes an array of fiscal and non-fiscal items:

Early release: Doyle first proposed allowing nonviolent offenders to shave up to a third off their prison sentences if they obeyed prison rules. Officials could release the elderly, the disabled and those with debilitating illnesses. Doyle has said 500 to 1,000 inmates would be released over two years.

Republicans said releasing inmates would endanger the public. But Democrats said the measure was part of a broad effort to reform the state's 22,500 inmates so they would get jobs, pay taxes and stay out of trouble when they're released.

...Lawmakers also went along with Doyle on a plan to change how child sex offenders are monitored with global positioning systems. The most dangerous offenders would be monitored continuously, but lower-risk offenders would wear tracking devices that reported once a day on where they had been the last 24 hours.

Cigarette tax: The committee voted to raise the cigarette tax by 75 cents a pack, to $2.52, starting around Sept. 1.

Oil tax: Democrats agreed to impose a new tax on oil companies to help pay for roads. Oil companies would be barred from passing on the tax at the pump, but critics say that measure won't withstand a court challenge and drivers will end up paying the tax.

Income tax: The panel voted to raise the income tax rate to 7.75% for the richest 1% of Wisconsinites.

Driver's licenses: The committee adopted a provision that would allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses. The licenses could be used for driving, but not for other purposes.

...But Republicans said they thought the provision would make it easier for illegal immigrants to get government services and commit voter fraud.

License plates: The committee decided to keep in place a requirement that vehicles display two license plates and that drivers get registration stickers to put on their plates every year. Doyle wanted to eliminate the stickers and allow one plate to save money.

W-2: The committee agreed to overhaul Wisconsin Works, the state's welfare-to-work program. Among other changes, the committee approved eliminating a program that reduces parents' benefits if their children aren't attending school.

Debt: The state would delay $285 million in payments, helping the budget immediately but increasing long-term interest costs, under the committee's plan.

Tax credits: Democrats put off scheduled tax breaks for health insurance premiums and child care, having them take effect in 2011 instead of this year.

QEO: The committee voted to eliminate, in July 2010, the qualified economic offer used to settle labor contracts and restrict teacher compensation. Teachers have long argued the policy has kept their salaries lower than their counterparts in other states, while others say the QEO helps keep local property taxes in check....

Auto insurance: The committee recommended increasing the minimum amount of car insurance people would have to buy. People would have the option to drive without insurance, but if they did buy it, they would have to purchase more coverage than they do now.

I don't know where to begin.

Drag me to hell.

Jay Leno's Last "Tonight Show," May 29

On NBC Friday night, we witnessed what makes America great.

We saw the peaceful transition of power.

Jay Leno handed over the reins of the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien.

Here's a sampling of reviews of Leno's last night as host.

From the New York Times:

Jay Leno ended his final “Tonight Show” on Friday not with a surprise guest or a selection of his vintage comedy bits, but with what he called “the greatest thing we’ve ever done.” What followed was an onstage parade of the children — 68 in all — who had been born to people who had met because they worked on the program.

...After 17 years as the host of “The Tonight Show,” Mr. Leno’s final show on Friday night, his 3,775th, was much like many of the others, filled with monologue jokes and some of his signature comedy pieces. He presented highlights of many of those pieces during his last week, but saved perhaps the most popular, “Jaywalking,” for the finale. The segment consists of Mr. Leno asking basic questions of people in the street, who come up with mind-boggling answers.

From the Los Angeles Times:

With a touch of emotion in his voice and a bit of dampness in his eyes, Jay Leno on Friday said his final farewell to "The Tonight Show," NBC's top-rated late-night franchise that he hosted for 17 years.

Leno, who will return to the network this fall in a nightly 10 p.m. comedy series, combined his characteristic casual lightness with thanks to viewers, staffers, supporters and his wife, Mavis, who was in the audience.

...Relating how he had been asked numerous times in the last several weeks about leaving, Leno said: "I'm thrilled. When I took this from Johnny, the show was the No. 1 show on late-night television. . . . It's No. 1, which means I get back my security deposit." He also implored viewers to show his successor, Conan O'Brien, who takes over Monday, "as much support as you've shown me the last 17 years."

As had been announced, O'Brien was a guest on Friday's show, along with James Taylor, who sang "Sweet Baby James," a request by Leno.

In the final moments, Leno introduced the 68 children that had been born to "The Tonight Show" crew and staffers in the last 17 years. He called those children "the true legacy" of the show.

From the Associated Press:

Jay Leno wrapped up 17 years as "Tonight" host Friday with jabs at favorite targets, including politicians and his own network, and with an unusual touch of sentiment.

"Now comes the hard part," Leno said as the NBC show drew to a close.

After reminiscing briefly about his time as host, Leno said he had an answer to those who asked him about his "Tonight" legacy.

He invited the audience to "take a look" at the children born to show staffers during his tenure—all 68 of them, babies to teenagers, who filled the studio stage.

"That's what I'd like my legacy to be," Leno said, his voice thickened by emotion. "When these kids grow up and they go, `Hey, mom and dad, where did you guys meet?', they're going to say they met on the stage of `The Tonight Show.'"

It was a self-effacing, homespun ending that suited Leno, who's often said he wants to appeal to the American mainstream and doesn't fret about his appeal to critics or other arbiters of what's cool.

But he noted proudly that he took over the top-rated late-night show from Johnny Carson and was passing it on with the same No. 1 ranking to Conan O'Brien, who begins as host Monday.

"Which means I get my security deposit back," quipped Leno.

The stage filled with the 68 children was a very sweet way to end the show.

Before all the kids were revealed, the first Leno Tonight Show baby was introduced, the now 17-year-old daughter of the trombone player in the band. She was born just three days after Leno took over the show from Johnny Carson.

Seeing the young woman was kind of startling, thinking of the time that's passed.



Leno isn't retiring. He'll be back on NBC, five nights a week, in September. Still, it's the end of an era.

When Leno signed off for the final time, I had that sharp and all too familiar jolt that I get when something comes to an end forever.

Here's video from Leno's last Tonight Show, including a clip of O'Brien on the show, from April 1993:



Wow.

Bay View July 4th Music Street Festival

Rather than responding positively to the announcement that there will be a FREE music street festival in Bay View on the 4th of July, my first reaction was concern.

Given the trouble at the 2009 Dan Jansen Family Fest, as well as past incidents at RiverSplash and Juneteenth Day celebrations, the thought of a FREE festival based on music combined with beer makes me nervous.

Hopefully, my concerns are unwarranted. I'm reacting emotionally rather than rationally. There's no reason to assume that thugs will rule and violence will reign at the Red, White & Blue Ribbon festival.

I hope it turns out to be a wonderful neighborhood event that all can enjoy this 4th of July. I hope the festival will be a peaceful, happy gathering.

I also hope there will be plenty of security to maintain order and provide people with confidence that they'll be safe.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks will headline a free - that's right, free - street festival in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood on July 4.

The festival, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at S. Kinnickinnic Ave. and E. Potter St., is sponsored by the Pabst Theater and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, which explains its name: Red, White & Blue Ribbon.

Malkmus, who made his mark in indie rock fronting the band Pavement, has taken his strong following along with him on his solo career. A full lineup for the festival is expected to be announced soon, according to the Pabst Theater.

Obama: Sotomayor "Would Have Restated It"

Obama is doing damage control for his Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor.

He's backing off what some have considered Sotomayor's racist comment:

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."

Those considering it a racist statement are correct. Those excusing it are treating her with kid gloves. She's a big girl. She's responsible for her words. She should be able to defend herself.

Obama is putting words in her mouth. No word on whether Sotomayor appreciates that.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Friday personally sought to deflect criticism about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who finds herself under intensifying scrutiny for saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge.

"I'm sure she would have restated it," Obama flatly told NBC News, without indicating how he knew that.

Obama's comment is so typical of a rich, partly white male.

He didn't indicate how he knew that this wise Latina woman, Sotomayor, would like to restate her comment.

...After three days of suggesting that reporters and critics should not dwell on one sentence from a speech, the White House had a different message Friday.

"I think if she had the speech to do all over again, I think she'd change that word," presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

Gibbs said he did not hear that from Sotomayor directly, but rather from people who had talked to her, and he did not identify who those people were. Sotomayor herself has made no public comments about the matter and was not available for comment.

Typical powerful, white male.

Let Sotomayor speak for herself and draw on the richness of her experiences as a Latina woman.

I want to hear her say that she chose her words poorly. I don't want it to come from rich, white males.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama Motors

Sotomayor: Wealthy Member of Power Elite

We keep hearing about Sonia Sotomayor's upbringing, that compelling story.

When Obama introduced her on Tuesday, he said, "Born in the South Bronx, she was raised in a housing project."

I guess that depends on what the meaning of "raised" is.

Obama misled Americans about Sotomayor in that he gave an incomplete picture of her life.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- There are two sides to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor: a Latina from a blue-collar family and a wealthy member of America's power elite.

The White House portrays Sotomayor as a living image of the American dream, though its telling of the rags-to-riches story emphasizes the rags, a more politically appealing narrative, and plays down the riches.

...In speeches, Sotomayor has harkened back to her and her brother's beginnings in a poor Bronx neighborhood, roots that President Barack Obama highlighted in introducing her this week.

...Yet Sotomayor did not live her entire childhood in a housing project in the South Bronx—she spent most of her teenage years in a middle-class neighborhood, attending private school and winning scholarships to Princeton and then Yale.

And Sotomayor's life and lifestyle after law school largely resemble the background of many lawyers who rise to powerful positions in Washington.

She climbed her way up through New York's Democratic power structure boosted by its ultimate brokers over those years—Gov. Mario Cuomo, Mayor Ed Koch, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. That's the access of a partner in a corporate law firm, not a kid from the South Bronx.

She now earns more than $200,000 a year and owns a condominium in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood of million-dollar-plus homes. Her brother, Dr. Juan Sotomayor, is a physician in North Syracuse, N.Y., whose practice doesn't accept Medicaid or Medicare—programs for the poor and elderly—according to its Web site.

Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."

As it turns out, most of Sotomayor's experiences mirror those of rich, powerful, white males.

She has spent the majority of her life as a wealthy member of America's power elite.

Her physician brother, Dr. Juan Sotomayor, doesn't accept Medicare or Medicaid, government programs to provide health care to the elderly and the poor. Why would he reject those people? Why would he not treat them?

Obama described Sonia Sotomayor, "And even as she has accomplished so much in her life, she has never forgotten where she began, never lost touch with the community that supported her."

She may not have completely lost touch with the community that supported her, but she certainly doesn't live there anymore. She's lost touch at least a little bit.

I think it's a mistake for the White House and the Obama mouthpieces in the lib media to only emphasize the rags of her rags-to-riches story. It's dishonest.

Obama and the Cyber Czar

Obama is adding to his army of czars and creating a new office.

He's such a busy guy!

From the Wall Street Journal:

President Barack Obama will announce on Friday the creation of a "cyber czar" position, stepping up his administration's efforts to better protect the nation's computer networks.

The White House appointment will be followed in coming days by the formal creation of a new military cyber command that will coordinate the defense of Pentagon computer networks and improve U.S. offensive capabilities in cyberwarfare.

The cybersecurity chief will report to both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council, a compromise resulting from a fierce White House turf battle over the responsibilities and powers of the new office.

Mr. Obama won't announce on Friday the person who will fill the new job. That isn't expected for at least a few more days.

...The moves come amid growing evidence that sophisticated overseas hackers are waging a widening assault on important U.S. networks. The Defense Department detected 360 million attempts to penetrate its networks last year, up from six million in 2006. The Pentagon alone has spent $100 million in the past six months repairing damage from cyberattacks.

U.S. officials acknowledge that the hackers, believed to be mainly from Russia and China, are having some success. The Wall Street Journal reported this spring that cyberspies breached both the nation's electricity grid and the Pentagon's biggest weapons program, the $300 billion Joint Strike Fighters.

"I'd like to say that our networks are secure, but that would not be correct," Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, who runs the National Security Agency, told lawmakers this month. "We have vulnerabilities."

I'm not suggesting that protecting our nation's computer networks isn't important, but is a cyber czar necessary?

Robert Byrd considers Obama's addiction to czars to be dangerous.

Robert Byrd, the longest serving senator in history, criticized President Obama's appointment of numerous White House advisors, also called "czars," saying the presence of the czars gives the president too much power.

These czars report directly to Mr. Obama and have the power to shape national policy on their subject area. So far, Mr. Obama has recruited czars on health reform, urban affairs policy, and energy and climate change. Unlike Cabinet secretaries, they do not have to be approved by Congress.

In a letter to Obama on Wednesday, Byrd, a Democrat, said that the czar system "can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances," Politico reported. Byrd added that oversight of federal agencies is the responsibility of officials approved by the Senate.

"As presidential assistants and advisers, these White House staffers are not accountable for their actions to the Congress, to cabinet officials, or to virtually anyone but the president," Byrd wrote. "They rarely testify before congressional committees, and often shield the information and decision-making process behind the assertion of executive privilege. In too many instances, White House staff have been allowed to inhibit openness and transparency, and reduce accountability."

Byrd has been a longtime critic of policies that concentrate power in the executive branch.

So we hear that Obama is announcing a "cyber czar" position.

Many supporters say, "Isn't that great? Obama is taking action."

I don't see anything great about Obama's czar strategy.

Czars are one of Obama's favorite loopholes. He names czars to avoid accountability and circumvent Congress.

But even fellow Dem, Byrd, warns of Obama's czar force.

It bothers me that President Bush was mercilessly bashed for grabbing power and expanding the power of the presidency, yet Obama is openly threatening our Constitutional system of checks and balances with little opposition.

When he was in Hollywood on DNC fundraising business, Obama bragged to donors, "I would put these first four months up against any prior administration since FDR."

He said, "[I'm] not satisfied. I'm confident in the future, but I'm not yet content."

That's right. Obama is not content. He wants even MORE power, and he's getting MORE almost every day.

As Byrd warns, what Obama is doing is destructive. He's chipping away at the very foundations of our government, our freedom, our country.

I don't know why Americans are allowing him to get away with this unprecedented power grab.

Obama has taken the Imperial Presidency to staggering heights.

Obama has gone beyond acting like he's the king. He's more powerful than a dictator. I believe Obama thinks he is a god, not bound by any earthly constraints, like the Constitution of the United States.

Jay Leno: Mother Teresa

On Wednesday's Tonight Show, when Jay Leno was chatting with Wanda Sykes about her controversial White House Correspondents' Dinner performance, Leno told about his experience doing the event.

Leno said the first time he did it, President Reagan was in office.

JAY LENO: I remember my opening joke was that, uh, 'I want to congratulate Nancy Reagan for winning the Humanitarian of the Year award. I'm glad she beat out that conniving little bitch Mother Teresa.' That was the joke. And it got a laugh.

WANDA SYKES: Wow! Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're calling Mother Teresa a bitch and they're giving me crap?

JAY LENO: Yeah, but I only got two days left. I don't care.

Ellen Gabler: Courtny Gerrish Wannabe

Is there so little happening in southeastern Wisconsin that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has taken to copying TMJ4's Thursday "Dirty Dining" segment by Courtny Gerrish?

Again, Ellen Gabler runs down a list of restaurants and even cafeterias in hospitals and schools that have been cited for health violations.

She also points out a very few clean places.

Gabler writes:

About 57% of establishments in Milwaukee passed the Health Department’s inspection without any critical violations. That’s a slightly lower percentage of establishments that had no violations compared with last month.

A critical violation is one that is serious enough to increase a patron’s risk of getting sick from a food-borne illness.

...From mid-April to mid-May, the Milwaukee Health Department inspected about 530 restaurants, bars, cafeterias and other places where food is served.

Public Investigator found that about 18% of establishments had three or more critical violations.

What's the point?

Only "57% of establishments in Milwaukee passed the Health Department’s inspection without any CRITICAL violations."

That's not good.

Conclusion: Don't eat out in Milwaukee. There's an over 40 percent chance that you'll be eating at a place with a CRITICAL violation.

Very unappetizing.

I hear you loud and clear, Journal Sentinel. Message received.

Don't eat out in Milwaukee.

That is the point, isn't it?

Craig T. Nelson and Glenn Beck

Craig T. Nelson, star of the '90s TV series Coach, is ready for a revolution.

On Glenn Beck's show, Nelson joked around a bit but then became very serious. He's fed up because the government has let him down. He doesn't want to pay income taxes anymore.

Transcript

GLENN BECK: You're from California.

CRAIG T. NELSON: It's no longer a state. It's a hedge fund, you know?

BECK: Yeah. It's crazy.

NELSON: Well, I do have a solution. There's only one way. We've got to make them, you know, we've got to make people stand up for their responsibilities. They were accountable, and they haven't been. No one is accountable anymore for anything. No one did anything wrong. No one's, everyone's 'Well, you're to blame. That's to blame. This is to blame.'

As an investor, as someone who gets taxed an awful lot, I just say I'm not gonna pay, till you guys can show me that you're fiscally responsible. Until then... listen, the first they went after -- education. We're gonna cut education...

BECK: Why would they do that?

NELSON: Why? That's the most important thing in the world.

BECK: And then cops and prisons.

NELSON: And firefighters. We don't have any fires in California.

BECK: (Laughs)

NELSON: They were within half a mile of my house three times.

BECK: When you saw Jay Leno and Arnold Schwarzenegger...

NELSON: Is my voice really high?

BECK: No, it's the head cold. Um, it's the beginning of the swine flu.

NELSON: I gotta remember to breathe.

BECK: When you saw Arnold Schwarzenegger on Leno the other day... Did you?

NELSON: No, I didn't.

BECK: Well basically he said, 'I get the message now. I got the message now and we're supposed to'... Now you get the message?

NELSON: No, no, no. It's... Look at, we've had legislators... We are no longer represented. OK? We just aren't. And there's been a political fight. There's been a pluralism in our California government, and you certainly see it reflected in the national government, don't you? I mean, people are, people are blaming each other. Nobody's taking responsibility for what they said or what they did. And those people are responsible to us. They were elected. This is a democracy. It's a republic. My God!

BECK: Thank you for saying we're a republic.

NELSON: No, we are a republic, and that means that we need to be represented. So we're not being...Listen, I'm not gonna pay... I'm not gonna pay anymore money. What these people are asking me to do...

BECK: You're seriously saying I'm not gonna, you're not gonna...

NELSON: No, I'm asking Glenn Beck to promote this. I'm saying it personally. But I'm asking you...

BECK: No, I know. Are you saying you personally won't pay income tax anymore?

NELSON: I'm really thinking about it, Glenn, because as a fiscally responsible grandfather, there are programs that they're asking me to fund that I refuse to fund. If the veterans coming back are not getting what they deserve, those people that have served, they've put themselves in harm's way. If my children, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchild who's about to be here -- thank you, grandson -- is not going to be educated properly then I'm through with it. You know, I'm not gonna spend money on these things that your asking me to spend...

They should be allowed to go bankrupt. What happened...? We are a capitalistic society. OK. I go into business. I don't make it. I go bankrupt. They're not gonna bail me out.

I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No. No. They gave me hope and they gave me encouragement and they gave me a vision. And that came from my education. So, to me, you know, going back to California, and the hedge fund, 'cause we're no longer a state, I just feel like going after our kids, our education, and the most valuable people we have on the planet, teachers... I just gotta tell you I'm so sick and tired of it. I'm just sick and tired of it. And I'm old enough now to have been in the business 45 years. They can't fire me.

Coach is pissed.

I can relate.

Video.

Dirty Dining: Blue Ribbon Awards, May 28

It's been weeks since TMJ4's Courtny Gerrish bestowed Blue Ribbon Awards on area restaurants. The station recognizes clean establishments with awards, a framed certificate.

I think that's sort of weird. Shouldn't cleanliness and no health violations be the norm and not worthy of an award?

I don't know that special praise should be dished out for meeting expectations.

Anyway...

And the Blue Ribbon Awards go to: Zaffiro's on Farwell and Mr. B's Steakhouse on Capitol Drive in Brookfield.

I don't think the Perkins in Brookfield, past TMJ4 "Dirty Dining" featured restaurant, ever got a Blue Ribbon Award. Maybe someday.

Joseph C. Niebler Sr., The Shire, and a Defamation Lawsuit

Cindy Kilkenny, former Brookfield alderman and blog author of Fairly Conservative, is being sued by a subdivision developer for defamation.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A subdivision developer filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against a Brookfield resident contending that she defamed the builder and his venture "The Shire," both in her role as a city alderman and in her Internet blog.

Joseph C. Niebler Sr., as president of NFI Properties LLC, contends that Cynthia Kilkenny continually made untrue and malicious statements about the Shire development, a name drawn from J.R.R. Tolkien's' "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Kilkenny, Niebler says, called him "the Dark Lord," and described the development as "icky," "a flop" and contaminated by an adjacent, closed landfill, the lawsuit says.

Kilkenny, who is no longer a Brookfield alderman, said Wednesday that she had not yet seen the lawsuit.

"I'm not terribly worried about it," she said.

Niebler contends that Kilkenny made statements about him and the development that she knew were untrue and with malice while she was an alderman, during her tenure as a blogger for BrookfieldNow.com, and in her most recent blog, fairlyconservative.com, the lawsuit says.

Apparently, Niebler, partner at Niebler, Pyzyk, Roth & Carrig, LLP, is a mind reader. He claims to know that Kilkenny made statements about him and the development that "she knew were untrue and with malice." He claims to be quite certain that she maliciously made intentionally false statements criticizing him and The Shire.

In my opinion, it doesn't seem like Niebler is developing on very firm ground here.

...The subdivision is adjacent to a closed landfill owned by Waste Management of Wisconsin, Inc. Niebler contends that none of the lots in The Shire have been or are contaminated by any leeching from the closed landfill.

Niebler received approval in 2004 from the Brookfield Common Council for the development of 25 single family residences southwest of Brookfield and Gebhardt Roads. Kilkenny voted against the development.

All 25 lots have been sold, though there is a moratorium in effect until Sept. 1 on the rest of the 60-acre development, the lawsuit says. Lots sold for about $300,000, and the homes have value more than $1 million each, the lawsuit says.

I don't know what the lawsuit says, other than what is printed in this article; but it seems to me that Niebler is just throwing his weight around to silence Kilkenny.

I'm surprised he finds her comments so threatening and damaging that he feels the need to sue her. It seems like an overreaction to me.

What losses has he suffered because of her remarks? What damages has he sustained because she called him "the Dark Lord" and his development "icky"?

If The Shire lots aren't contaminated by the adjacent landfill, that's extremely easy to prove with some simple tests.

So what's the big deal?

Is a lawsuit really necessary?

I highly doubt that Niebler's future earnings will be affected by Kilkenny's comments.

Niebler must know that this lawsuit will never go to trial. It will be settled out of court. It appears that lawyer and developer Niebler is out to settle a score and punish Kilkenny.

Question: Is "the Dark Lord" a fitting moniker for Niebler?

Obama's Fundraising Costs Taxpayers

Taxpayers got stuck paying for Obama to travel to Hollywood on a fundraising campaign.

From FOX News:

President Obama has the star power to raise millions of dollars for the candidates and organizations he graces with his stump speech.

But when the president hit the road Tuesday for a two-day fundraising tour to pack the party coffers, he also was racking up a $265,000 partisan bill for just one leg of the trip, according to a watchdog group -- part of which taxpayers, regardless of party affiliation, will have to pay.

Obama started out in Las Vegas, where he stumped that night for state Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On Wednesday night he was to attend a two-tiered donor dinner for the Democratic Party in Los Angeles.

But sandwiched between political appearances, Obama squeezed in some quick public remarks on energy, ironically before burning fuel to Los Angeles, at Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base. It was a key stop, because it gives the entire trip an air of official legitimacy and allows the White House to write off part of the trip under rules governing travel, said Pete Sepp, vice president for policy and communications at the National Taxpayers Union.

"You've got to have some official (business) in the trip somewhere. It becomes almost a game to find some official function to hang the trip on," Sepp said.

The rest, though, is all politics. And, if history is any gauge, the American taxpayer will pick up a large portion of the tab.

Sepp estimated that the purely political part of the trip -- the distance from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and back, with no public events -- would cost at least $265,000, just for air travel expenses.

He said the minimum domestic travel package for the president consists of one Boeing 747, which serves as Air Force One, one back-up dummy plane and one C17 cargo plane. The cost estimate is based on past hourly operational costs for the three aircraft, adjusted for inflation.

White House travel rules, which were developed under the Reagan administration, state that the Air Force pays all costs for the use of the aircraft, but that the government must be reimbursed for airfare, food, lodging and other expenses incurred during whatever portion of the trip is political.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the Democratic National Committee is paying its share for this trip.

"The DNC is paying 100 percent of the legally mandated costs for the trip from Nevada to California, and we are complying fully with all legal requirements," Vietor wrote in an e-mail to FOXNews.com.

But reimbursement for political activities involves a tricky formula, and actual reimbursements typically come nowhere close to compensating the government for the cost of such trips. Secret Service costs, for one, are always footed by the government.

..."The president and vice president can legally participate in campaign and fundraising events for candidates," the report said. "But when they do so, the taxpayer bears most of the cost."

...Watchdog groups don't suggest that the president shouldn't travel, or even that the president should not travel to political events. Rather, they say the White House should be more forthcoming with its travel expenses and details and establish a more equitable reimbursement program.

"You can't keep the president from traveling. That's what he does. ... No one would suggest he not travel," said Leslie Paige, media director for Citizens Against Government Waste. "What is most important for taxpayers is how much is it costing for this stuff."

"Having more realistic reimbursement rules for political legs of these trips would be quite helpful," Sepp said.

Paige said more transparency is needed, noting it's "very hard" to pry the full costs of these trips from any administration.

The DNC did not respond to a request for comment; Sepp said any DNC reimbursement for Obama's trip this week would be minimal.

Obama promised transparency.

He promised that we would be able to monitor how our tax dollars, our money confiscated by the government, is being spent.

Obama promised that how things are done in Washington was going to change.

Another broken promise.

Obama: Health Care Now or Never

Obama is playing the politics of fear again.

If America wants health care reform, it's now or never.

That, of course, is ridiculous.

He claims that if his plan to overhaul the American health care system isn't passed within the year, it won't get done.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn't deliver health care legislation by the end of the year the opportunity will be lost, a plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act.

"If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," Obama told supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast fundraising trip.

Obama's political organization, Organizing for America, invited campaign volunteers to a midday conference call to describe a nationwide June 6 kickoff for its health care campaign. The president's message to his re-election campaign-in-waiting was simple: If volunteers don't pressure lawmakers to support the White House's goal on health care, Washington would drag its feet and nothing would change.

"The election in November, it didn't bring about change. It gave us an opportunity for change," Obama said.

The president's conversation with his supporters was part pep talk and part reality. Obama is looking to use his network of supporters to deliver a campaign promise, and if Obama seeks a second term in 2012—an almost certainty—he hopes to keep many of those volunteers engaged in person and online.

I am praying to God Obama fails.

Health care reform doesn't have to mean socialized medicine.

We can't let Washington take over our health care.

I'm heartened by Americans organizing to stop this train wreck in the making.

Example: Patients United Now to host rally Friday at Women’s Park

There will be a rally in Helena Friday sponsored by a group opposed to the national health care reform being debated this summer.

Patients United Now, a project of Americans for Prosperity Foundation, is a coalition of patients, doctors and families who organizers say recognize the health care crisis and want to expand and preserve private health insurance options for Americans.

The rally will be in Women’s Park from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. Speakers will include state Sen. Dave Lewis, vice chairman of the state Joint Appropriation Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Steve Daines, vice president of RightNow Technologies; physical therapist Lorena Pettet; and attorney Tim Fox.

The rally is free and barbecue will be served.

For more about Patients United Now, visit www.patientsunitednow.org.

Watch an interview with Shona Holmes. Canadian health care almost killed her.



Obama has to fail at socializing our health care system.

Obama in Hollywood: Gay Marriage Demonstrators

Obama went to Hollywood on a fund-raising mission for the DNC. The two events were sold out. Mission accomplished.

The Hollywood heavyweights turned out for Obama, but so did demonstrators.


Activists in support of gay marriage rally outside the Beverly Hilton hotel, where U.S. President Barack Obama was attending a Democratic party fundraiser, in Beverly Hills, California May 27, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES POLITICS CONFLICT)

From Variety:

President Obama returned to Los Angeles fund-raising circles for the first time since taking office, appearing at a duo of Hollywood-centric events for the Democratic National Committee that sold out despite donor fatigue and a faltering economy.

Obama's visit to the Beverly Hilton was met with a series of demonstrations outside, the largest of which urged the president to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and to support same-sex marriage rights.

The lib media haven't seemed to take notice, but Obama hasn't exactly been gay-friendly.

Other than giving a special invite to some token gay and lesbian families to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll, what has Obama done to advance gay rights?

Obama and the demonized Miss California Carrie Prejean are on the exact same page when it comes to same-sex marriage.

Obama is keeping the same "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy used by the Bush administration.

In short, Obama has been no savior to the gay and lesbian community so far.

But the protesters created little if any disturbance at the event itself, where a heavy entertainment industry presence including Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ari Emanuel and Casey Wasserman were expected to help bring in more than $3 million to the DNC, which is trying to erase a fund-raising gap with the Republican National Committee this year.

The more exclusive of the events was a late-afternoon dinner, where couples ponied up $30,400 each at smaller gathering that allowed for photo ops and some face time. Among the 250 or so who attended were stars like Seth Rogen, Ron Howard, Kiefer Sutherland and Tyler Perry and politically active industry types like Chris Albrecht, Bruce Cohen, Bryan Lourd. Peter and Megan Chernin, Ron and Kelly Meyer, Skip Paul and Alan and Cindy Horn. Also present were Nicole Avant and Charles Rivkin, the Obama campaign's Southern California finance co-chairs, along with John Emerson, chairman of the Los Angeles Music Center.

Hundreds of other donors paid far less for a general reception, where Jennifer Hudson and Earth, Wind & Fire and the Crenshaw High School Choir were among the performers before a crowd that included Ryan Phillippe and Abbie Cornish, Zachary Quinto and Jamie Foxx. Perhaps reflecting the need to open up the event to a wider array of donors in tight times, tickets originally set at $2,500-per-person were re-priced at $1,000 per person and $2,500 for VIP seating.

Even the less pricey event was pricey!

Tickets were lowered to $1,000 per person because of "tight times."

Give me a break. These people don't know tight.

...In speeches at both events, Obama outlined accomplishments of the administration's first four months, including his economic recovery plan and lifting the ban on stem cell research funding. He received warm applause when he talked about his nominee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor.

"I would put these first four months up against any prior administration since FDR," Obama said at his dinner speech, adding that he is "not satisfied. I'm confident in the future, but I'm not yet content."

Obama thinks quite highly of himself, doesn't he? No president since FDR can match him.

He's thinks he's accomplished great things.

What would those be?

I'm stumped.

Obama didn't directly address the nature of the demonstrators outside, other than to note that he heard what one said as his motorcade pulled into the hotel grounds.

"One of them said, 'Obama, keep your promise,' and I thought, 'That's fair.' I don't know which promise he was talking about," Obama said to some laughter, before noting that his administration has set out to do what was promised during the campaign.

Ooh. Not a good move to mock those demonstrators.

They aren't pro-life demonstrators or people in opposition to Obama's high tax socialist vision for America. They aren't the usual Obama enemies -- you know, FOX News viewers. These are gay rights activists.


Dozens of gay rights protesters demonstrate outside the Beverly Hills hotel, where U.S. President Barack Obama attended a Democratic Party fundraiser in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Wednesday, May 27, 2009. The crowd chanted and waved rainbow flags and American flags outside the hotel, a day after the California Supreme Court upheld a voter approved ban on gay marriage. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Look at that sign that says "FAIL." Must be a gay marriage supporter and a Rush Limbaugh fan.

Across the street from the hotel, at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Trenton Drive, some 300 demonstrators --- from groups including the Courage Campaign and the Stonewall Democratic Club --- chanted slogans like "Equal Rights Now!" Lt. Dan Choi, a military linguist facing expulsion after he declared his sexual orientation on "The Rachel Maddow Show," addressed the gathering as cars honked their horns in passing by. Some demonstrators cautioned that they were not opposed to Obama's administration, they hoped the visibility would help sway the president to take bolder action.

It was a sentiment reflected by some in the hotel itself. Political consultant Chad Griffin said he and Cohen had a brief conversation with the president in which they urged him to support marriage equality.

This article claims that the demonstrators still believe that Obama is their ally and he will deliver for them. They just want him to quit dragging his feet.

I don't know. I wonder how long it will be before they lose their patience with Obama. Some clearly already have.

When expectations are so high, disappointment is so much more difficult to take.
____________________

Video of Obama speaking at fund-raiser.

He doesn't sound like the president. He sounds like a slick politician on the campaign trail begging for bucks.

Pitbull Punches a Fan

Video circulating on the Internet of rapper Pitbull punching a fan in the face has been taken out of context. At least that's what Pit claims.

Watch.

Here's the story:

"They don't show the whole clip of what happened," Pit told us Wednesday (May 27) of the video. "Before the song 'Bojangles,' I play a whole set and I only get three breaks. I was going into 'Bojangles' and this mutha----a had already made it rain, like, three times. He threw a gang of money in the air and I was scooting the money, giving it to the crowd. I didn't touch the money, but I was scooting it, giving it to the crowd."

Pit said he had enough and gave the guy a verbal warning from the stage.

"I told him, 'Look, dog, you already got three strikes. Don't make it rain no more. I'm telling you. I ain't gonna talk about it no more, I'm just gonna be about it. Don't do it no more,' " he recalled. "Boom, left it alone. I started 'Bojangles,' then about a minute later, he comes to the other side of the stage and throws money again."

From there, Pit actually extended his hand and pulled the man onstage.

"I'm bringing him onstage with no intention of doing nothing to him," he explained. "I'm bringing him onstage to say, 'Look, this the clown that's gonna f--- up your show. I'm getting rid of him. I'm letting y'all know right now. Don't nobody else make it rain.' When I bring the mutha----a up on the stage, he throws a wad of money in my face. When he did that, that's when natural reaction ... natural instinct kicked in."

Pit laid the guy out with one punch.

"No way, shape or form was that my intention. It was more like a reaction, self-defense," he explained. "Mind you, I've been in shows before and I done got hit with a bottle. Any time I see anything moving onstage, I'm cautious about it. You feel me? As soon as he threw that money, it was on from there."

That's entertainment!

That's pathetic!

Eugene Kane: Jansen Fest

Eugene Kane has weighed in on the mess at this year's Dan Jansen Family Fest.

Once again, Kane does the metropolitan Milwaukee community a terrible disservice by magnifying the comments of just a few people. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, by giving Kane his soapbox, is complicit in the damage done.

Kane writes:

After hearing reports that another Milwaukee-area festival was marred by violence last weekend, I initially noticed some of the usual finger-pointers were missing in action.

Granted, it was a holiday weekend; some stories get lost in the mix. But many of my regular readers who insist on contacting me whenever black people are involved in dysfunctional behavior seemed slow on the draw.

Then again, this particular festival was held in Greenfield. Perhaps they were confused?

But when police and local officials were later quoted blaming "outsiders" with "gang connections" who were attracted by rap music for the 40 arrests for fighting at Dan Jansen Family Fest, that was all the usual suspects needed.

"So what are you going to say about the black people who ruined another festival?!!" was one of the first comments.

It was soon followed by this one: "What about all those black punks who ruined Jansen Fest??"

My faith in Milwaukee was restored.

Kane's faith in Milwaukee was restored because some of his regular readers contacted him with their usual taunts.

What a smart-ass remark!

Hey! Eugene!

Those people are not Milwaukee. I know you make your living off racial divisions. Clearly, you were disappointed when your usual "finger-pointers" were "slow on the draw." But your faith was restored. Your perspective is intentionally narrow because it suits your agenda.

I find it disgraceful.

Most years, the festival named after the Olympic gold medal-winning speedskater went off with little or no problems. But this year it apparently fell victim to the same disturbing trend that has marred other festivals in recent times.

A good time was ruined for everybody, due to the actions of a few knuckleheads. As it turns out, three-quarters of those arrested were white - many from the suburbs - and only five were black.

Again with "knuckleheads," one of Kane's favorite terms to describe the lawbreakers.

The brutal attack on Pat Kasthurirangaian at the end of the 2007 Juneteenth Day celebration wasn't done by "knuckleheads."

The shootings and mayhem at last year's RiverSplash weren't carried out by "knuckleheads."

Those involved in the fights at the Dan Jansen Family Fest aren't "knuckleheads."

Moe, Larry, and Curly are "knuckleheads."

The perpetrators of the violence at these events are thugs.

Why does Kane seem to take such pleasure in the fact that 3/4 of those arrested were white and only five were black?

The skin color of the thugs wasn't the problem. Their behavior at the festival was the problem.

That wouldn't matter to some of my readers, because when it comes to problems at Juneteenth Day, RiverSplash or even Summerfest, they usually find a way to blame young black males.

Who cares about SOME of Kane's readers? They are the minority.

My blog posts elicit comments from racist, misogynistic, twisted people. Thankfully, the creeps that leave those comments or e-mail me with sicko remarks are in the minority.

Kane should consider the source and get some perspective. Then again, if he had perspective, he'd have a lot less to write. It's a shame that Kane exploits the comments of twisted people for his personal gain. It's a shame he paints with such a broad brush. It's unfair to the many, many good people of the Milwaukee area.

I will admit that after first hearing about the problems at the Greenfield festival, it was hard to be certain exactly who to blame.

When a police official mistakenly told the Journal Sentinel that all of the people arrested were from outside Greenfield, that started to clear things up.

Then there was the reference to "an element" that shouldn't have been at a family festival. Finally, local organizers blamed the crowd drawn by rap music.

Whenever a bunch of adults insist rap music was the cause for a problem, it's usually code language for young black people.

Turns out, eight of those arrested actually were from Greenfield, 19 from Milwaukee, and others from such rap hotbeds as Lannon, Franklin and Hales Corners.

With all due respect, that comment, "Whenever a bunch of adults insist rap music was the cause for a problem, it's usually code language for young black people," doesn't hold water.

Kane can't make that claim. He can't just throw that out there without any verification. It's a ridiculous generalization.

Rap music does not equal young black people, certainly not for at least 25 years. Kane is in a time warp. He is woefully uninformed about rap artists, the audience for rap music, and where "rap hotbeds" are.

Kane's exploitation of race grew tiresome so, so long ago. It's time for him to give up.

He's a negative force in the community.

Canadians and Obama's Health Care Takeover

Canadians are warning Americans what a government-run health care system would mean for them and their loved ones.

For those with serious health problems, it would be disastrous. It could be a death sentence.



(Ed Morrissey, Hot Air)

Shona Holmes has very a compelling story. I find it far more compelling than what we've been hearing about Sonia Sotomayor because Shona's story is about life and death.

Go to Patients United Now for more information on the ramifications of Obama Care.

We need health care reform but not socialized medicine.

Steven Chu and White Roofs

No.

I don't care what Obama's green guru says. I am not painting my roof white.

From the Telegraph:

President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.

Professor Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, said the unusual proposal would mean homes in hot countries would save energy and money on air conditioning by deflecting the sun's rays.

More pale surfaces could also slow global warming by reflecting heat into space rather than allowing it to be absorbed by dark surfaces where it is trapped by greenhouse gases and increases temperatures.

In a wide-ranging discussion at the three-day Nobel laureate Symposium in London, the Professor described climate change as a "crisis situation", and called for a whole host of measures to be introduced, from promoting energy efficiency to renewable energy such as wind, wave and solar.

The Nobel Prize-winning physicist said the US was not considering any large scale "geo-engineering" projects where science is used to reverse global warming, but was in favour of "white roofs everywhere".

He said lightening roofs and roads in urban environments would offset the global warming effects of all the cars in the world for 11 years.

"If you look at all the buildings and if you make the roofs white and if you make the pavement more of a concrete type of colour rather than a black type of colour and if you do that uniformally, that would be the equivalent of... reducing the carbon emissions due to all the cars in the world by 11 years – just taking them off the road for 11 years," he said.

Where does this guy come up with this stuff?

It sounds like he's pulling it out of... thin air.

White roofs. Eleven years. All the cars in the world.

This is difficult to believe: "[L]ightening roofs and roads in urban environments would offset the global warming effects of all the cars in the world for 11 years."

How in hell can Chu make that claim?

Based on what?

Now the environmental extremists are blaming global warming on dark colors?

The spectrum of light is destroying the planet!

It's craziness. It's insane.
__________________

Energy Secretary's White-Paint Proposal Puzzles Climate-Change Experts

Kris Allen and Jimmy Fallon: Textgate

Jimmy Fallon had American Idol winner Kris Allen on his show Wednesday night.

The interview had a very different feel from others I've seen. Kris being interviewed by nearly 60-year-old Leno isn't like him being interviewed by nearly 35-year-old Fallon.

Although the interview was brief, it had a fun mood and was a lot looser than others.

They touched on the Idol scandal, Textgate.

From the National Enquirer:

Questions are being raised about whether AT&T helped Kris Allen win on the finale of American Idol.

Local AT&T representatives in Kris' home state of Arkansas allegedly helped his fans each cast 10 or more text-message votes at one time through "power texts," according to a report in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The votes in question were made over demonstration phones brought by AT&T reps to two local Kris Allen viewing parties in Arkansas on the night of the final performances, the newspaper reported.

On Wednesday, the Idol producers 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia along with Fox denied the the results were rigged via a public statement saying they were "absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified. Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol. We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the voting process. In no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition."

Kris said he didn't know what's going on with that and wasn't letting it bother him. He has nothing to do with it.

Fallon said that he would milk the scandal and title his album, Textgate.

He asked Kris if there ever came a point in the competition that he thought he would lose. Kris said there were a couple weeks, in particular the week he sang Don Henley's "All She Wants to Do Is Dance."

Fallon wondered why he chose that song. Kris explained that he had to choose a song from 1985.

Fallon joked, "Oh, there's only one song from 1985."

Fallon also asked what Kris would have done if Idol hadn't worked out for him.

Kris said that he would have finished school and found a regular job.

"I'm glad this happened because I hate college."

Apparently, Kris really didn't like school.

Fallon said, "No. I loved college. I used to go to college. I used to get the books, but 'all I want to do was dance, dance.'"

Don Henley sort of took over.

Fallon then talked about the judges. He asked if Kris had a favorite out of the three judges. Kris corrected Fallon. There were four. Fallon thought Kara DioGuardi left the show for a while. That, of course, was not the case. Kris was laughing about Fallon's confusion.

I know Fallon has been sick lately. I think the cold medicine may be affecting him. He seemed to be operating under the influence.

Kris said, "She got a bad rap, man. She really did. She was great."

Fallon commented, "She was great in the finale. Ooh, boy. She came out. She had the bikini on. She sang great, too. That's weird. Yeah, right. I read Playboy for the articles."

It was all very funny.

Fallon did an impression of Simon singing "All She Wants to Do Is Dance."

Fallon said that the turning point for Kris was when he sang Kanye, referring to Kris' version of Kanye West's "Heartless." He said, "I was just wondering if there's any way you could just give us a little taste of that."

Kris agreed. Fallon got the acoustic guitar that just happened to be waiting behind the couch. All very spontaneous, of course.

Fallon said, "I'm gonna change to a bikini and I'll be right back."

As Fallon sat down again, he asked, "Do you mind me lurking behind you? Just sing to me."



Kris was about to begin but Fallon interrupted him.

"Real quickly, I'm sorry. Are you friends with Adam Lambert?"

Kris said they were really good friends and were roommates for a while.

On why Adam didn't win, Fallon concluded that the problem was guyliner. That was a weird topic to bring up with Kris. It was like saying that Adam was the better singer but people were turned off by his appearance. Kind of awkward, but Kris was a really good sport.

Finally, Kris played guitar and sang the song.

It's hard to believe that the American Idol finale was just one week ago. It seems like forever.

Wanda Sykes and Jay Leno, May 27

It was Jay Leno's last Wednesday as host of the Tonight Show. Wanda Sykes was his first guest.

Rather than politics, Sykes began by talking babies.

She's the new mom of twins. Sykes and her partner, Alex, had a girl and a boy, Olivia and Lucas.

Sykes didn't give birth. Her wife did. Sykes said she was there in the delivery room and was very hands-on.

Leno said he enjoys being there for the conception.

Sykes said, "I wasn't even there for that, Jay."

Leno set up Sykes to do some Octomom jokes.

"Octomom is crazy."

Sykes said that caring for two babies was hard enough. Eight babies would be impossible. Sykes said that the "sheriff department should come in and seize her uterus," and tape it off.

Leno asked about Prop 8 and the California court's recent decision upholding it. Sykes said shes's "very disappointed." She and her partner were married before the measure so they're still married.

After the break, they talked about Sykes' controversial performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

She said she was a little nervous, but she knows how the Obama administration operates. She calmed herself by thinking that she could could a bailout if she didn't do well.

"If I bomb, Tim Geithner will give me some money."

Leno said, "It's hard to do joke about Obama."

That always kills me. It's not hard to joke about him at all. If he weren't destroying the country, I'd find him hilarious.

Leno said he was thankful that "we have Joe Biden."

Sykes agreed. She rattled off some Biden swine flu jokes.

Leno brought up the jokes that Sykes did about Rush Limbaugh at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

You remember the jokes, the ones about Limbaugh being the 20th hijacker and dying of kidney failure.

Leno never referred to the specifics of her jokes.

He asked, "Did you get much heat about it?"

Sykes responded, "I heard I did."

She said she didn't really know what was going on because the next day was Mother's Day. But friends were texting her, asking if she was OK.

A friend told her, "Somebody called you a black ----."

Sykes said, "I thought, 'Happy Mother's Day... What the hell?'"

That was it. They didn't talk much about the uproar her performance caused.

Sykes commented that "Michelle is so sweet." She said that both of the Obamas are "very genuine."

She acknowledged Leno's belief that it's hard to make jokes about Obama. Sykes noted that people dance around the race issue.

She said that journalists are always asking when we're going to see the "real Michelle."

Sykes said that means they're "waiting for Weezy to jump out." She said they're expecting Michelle to throw all of Barack's stuff out on the White House lawn.

She said that during the campaign they put rods in Michelle's neck so she couldn't do the neck swivel move.

Both Leno and Sykes spoke of missing President Bush being out of the limelight.

Sykes said, "He won't even visit. He won't even come back and give us a little taste of his dumbness."

Very nice.

On closing Gitmo, Sykes said that the president has a big problem.

"You can't let these guys just go. They're bitter. They're angry."

She suggests that instead of closing it, we need to give Gitmo an extreme makeover to get the detainees embrace America.

"Put a Gitmo Gap in there."

"Give 'em a Hooters."

"Send 'em some Wii-s. Let 'em play Wii. Wii is fun."

"Have parades with fireworks. Let them see that explosions can be fun."

Eventually, the likes of Leno and Sykes are going to have to start coming up with material about Obama.

Come on. The honeymoon is over.

Jay Leno: Brett Favre and Gatorade

Jay Leno's run as host of the Tonight Show is almost over, but he's still using Brett Favre as comedy fodder.

From Wednesday's show:

JAY LENO: The economy is so bad Brett Favre's considering a comeback just for the free Gatorade.

Someone on Leno's staff must be a Vikings fan or a Packers fan. Why else would Leno keep doing these lame Favre jokes?

Does anyone outside of Minnesota or Wisconsin care about Favre?

Krauthammer: Sotomayor's Nomination and Republicans

Charles Krauthammer has advice for Republicans when it comes to approaching the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.

Transcript

BRET BAIER: Charles, you listen to everyone. You read the papers and you see that Republicans just can't stand up and oppose Sonia Sotomayor, otherwise they risk the entire Hispanic vote.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: They can and they should. They should do nothing about rumors in liberal magazines about her intellectual capacity, nothing about her temperament, nothing ad hominem. It should be entirely on judicial philosophy. This ought to be a seminar. It ought to focus on two issues.

Number one: Identity politics, as we saw in that clip. She and the president believe that her background is extremely important in her ruling as a judge. She says that she has the physiological, cultural, and experiential tools as a Latina woman to be a superior judge to a white male, which is reflective perfectly of the Democratic Party's identity politics, in which free citizens are herded into groups, arranged in a hierarchy of wisdom, authority, and entitlement.

That's a Democratic idea, and I think it's her idea. And it ought to be emphasized.

Secondly is the idea that Obama has stressed, and she has, as justice as empathy -- understanding a person's position, their needs, their wants, their history, and how a ruling will affect their lives.

That is entirely contrary to the Western tradition of justice, which is blind as to the person's station in life. Republicans ought ask her, 'How do you believe in that and swear her oath?' If she is on the Court, she is going to have to swear an oath which says, 'I do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to poor and to rich.'

That's what Republicans ought to do and not attack her in a personal way, in any way.

Video.

Joe Biden Disses Obama and his Teleprompter

Joe Biden has done it again. His latest awkward moment came as he was speaking at the U.S. Air Force Academy's graduation on Wednesday. He had a teleprompter malfunction when the wind blew it over.

JOE BIDEN: What am I going to tell the president when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?

I doubt that Obama enjoyed that lame attempt at humor from Biden.

Is it just me or does Biden sound drunk most of the time?

I think this probably sums up Obama's reaction to Biden's latest foot-in-mouth sound bite.

From Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:

"More Obama Facial Expressions Revealed"



The "Was Hillary Really That Bad?"

Ashanti Hamilton Plea Agreement

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner made Ashanti Hamilton a happy man today. Relatively happy, I suppose.

The felony child abuse charges against him could be dropped after a year.

"Under state law, an alderman convicted of a felony must be removed from the Common Council upon sentencing."

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A judge on Wednesday approved a long-awaited plea agreement that will result in the dropping of felony child abuse charges against Milwaukee Ald. Ashanti Hamilton if he keeps a clean record for the next year.

The deal apparently was almost quashed after Hamilton made statements April 30 to the Journal Sentinel that prosecutor Matthew Torbenson thought indicated that Hamilton did not sincerely appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts.

"Mr. Hamilton said his statements were misconstrued," Torbenson said, adding that he had asked Hamilton to make a public statement of clarification.

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel's Daniel Bice, Hamilton said he did not believe he abused the child physically, didn't think he had done anything wrong and decided to accept the plea negotiation to for the sake of his children.

Hamilton, 36, was charged with striking his 6-year-old daughter with a plastic hanger March 22 while at his home.

At his sentencing hearing before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner, Hamilton complied with Torbenson's request.

"Responsible parenting requires discipline," Hamilton said. "I chose a form of discipline that was not wise. It was appropriately called into question."

Hamilton's ex-wife, Isis Muhammad, testified at the hearing that her four daughters miss their father and asked that his visitation rights be restored, though supervised at first.

"They are afraid of what he might say to them," Muhammad said, adding that the girls think he is being portrayed as the victim in the situation. "We need to come back together as a family."

She also said the incident and the publicity that followed had a tremendous effect on her and her daughters.

"The media has alienated my children," Muhammad said.

Speaking to her ex-husband, she said: "It was not my intent to assassinate your character. I had to protect our daughters and would expect you to do the same."

Muhammad shouldn't be blaming the media for hurting her daughters.

Hamilton physically harmed their 6-year-old daughter.

Her ex-husband is a public figure, an elected official. He was charged with child abuse, a felony.

That's a story that must be reported. The public has a right to know.

How did Muhammad expect this to play out?

Muhammad and Hamilton should care about their daughters' well-being. The girls aren't pawns to be exploited in the couple's battles with each other.

...If Hamilton violates the terms of the plea agreement, he could face a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine of $10,000. In addition to keeping a clean record for the next year, Hamilton must do 25 hours of community service and take a parenting or anger management class.

Is 25 hours of community service and taking a parenting or anger management course an appropriate punishment?

Milwaukee Ald. Ashanti Hamilton hit his 6-year-old daughter with a hanger at least eight times, leaving whip marks on her arms and legs, according to a felony child abuse complaint against him released Monday.

The girl was crying and screaming, her leg was bleeding and the hanger was broken by the time the beating ended, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

I don't think justice was served here.

I certainly don't think Hamilton should be an alderman.

Ann Coulter and James Carville: Sonia Sotomayor

Today on Good Morning America, Ann Coulter and James Carville discussed Obama's nominee, Sonia Sotomayor.

Coulter came armed with some strong points.

Carville came armed with the Dem talking points. He even managed to insert Rush Limbaugh's name into the conversation when Diane Sawyer asked if Sotomayor will be confirmed.

JAMES CARVILLE: Well, I mean, Ann and certainly Rush Limbaugh have come out very aggressively against [Sotomayor], and we'll see what Republicans follow them. They got a big following out there. They're very important spokesmen, spokespeople, in the Republican Party. And I think that Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh out aggressively... I'm gonna say the Democrats will welcome the battle and hope that they... you know, they have every right to speak out against this and we encourage them to speak out if that's the way they truly feel.

The Dems are obsessed with Limbaugh, absolutely obsessed.

They don't talk substance. They play Saul Alinsky politics, personalizing an issue by focusing on the demon du jour, in this case Limbaugh.

DIANE SAWYER: Were you moved by the Hispanic breakthrough, Ann?

ANN COULTER: Um... Why aren't Democrats... weren't they choking up over Clarence Thomas or Miguel Estrada? I mean, you know, come on. Why are we all supposed to weep only when it's a liberal Hispanic or a liberal black?

Yeah, why is that?

Obama: Lisa Jack Photos

So little is known about Obama's years at Occidental College.

Thanks to Lisa Jack, we have a glimpse of Barry Obama, the college cool guy.

From the Los Angeles Times:

A public that wants to know everything about Barack Obama can thank Lisa Jack for a glimpse of what the future president was like when he was just another college freshman trying to cut a figure in this world -- with a partly unbuttoned Oxford shirt, a big Panama hat and puffs of cigarette smoke as his props of choice for projecting that coveted aura of post-adolescent confidence and cool.

...Her life and Obama's intersected at the Cooler, a campus snack shop.

The young woman from Rye, N.Y., loved her psychology courses but cared enough about photography to find mentors on the faculty who tutored her in independent study courses. With a blanket thrown over the couch she recalls as "a plaid horrible thing," the living room of the apartment she shared in a nondescript quadruplex near the campus in Eagle Rock became Jack's makeshift photo studio. Students from her circle of friends and acquaintances would pose for portraits that she would hand in as her weekly assignments.

That day a friend was telling her about a student named Barry she ought to photograph "because he's so cute." Moments later, the man himself walked in. He agreed to the shoot.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about the session, Jack says, although it impressed her that Obama had taken the initiative to bring the big, banded hat, a leather, bomber-style jacket with a fur collar and cigarettes as grist for her lens. "He obviously thought about how he wanted to have his picture taken." Obama shared at least one characteristic with the other students who sat for her portraits: "I think the thing that everybody was trying to portray the most was how cool they were."

Jack appreciated Obama when she ran into him that summer in a Honolulu nightclub -- he a local, she a visiting summer student. "He was sitting there with a woman on each lap. They were babes, and I'm not a babe." But the president-to-be extricated himself, came over to Jack's table and chatted. That he'd show such courtesy while otherwise engaged "told me Obama was a cool dude," Jack says.

Barry, with two babes on his lap.

Barry, the cool dude.

Barry, the player.

Barry, the guy that thinks it's funny to mock Special Olympics participants.

I think what's most revealing about the photos and the session is that Barry was skilled at posing. I get the feeling he spent a lot of time in front of the mirror. Barry comes off as very self-aware, trying to project cool.

This is one of my favorites of Barry:



He's doing a Clint Eastwood squint, yet the hat and the way he's smoking give it a "Huggy Bear" vibe. It's an odd but rather intriguing combination.

Huggy Bear: Dig this. A little bird tells me there's gonna be a big coke deal in Bay City. One for the Guinness books. So they say.

"Dirty Harry" Callahan: [Y]ou've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?

This one makes me think of Barry as a thin Clarence Clemons, a gangly version of the Big Man:



Jack's photos are interesting.

We have some candid, albeit posed and contrived, images of Obama in college.

That's one of the talents that has been crucial to Barry's success -- the ability to contrive an aura of cool.

Now, I really wish Obama would release his academic records. What was that about transparency?

Too bad Jack doesn't have any photos of those.