Subtly not being one of the MSM’s strong points…

President Barack Obama gestures during a news conference on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci/Day Life)

Unacceptable persecution…

Bethlehem (AsiaNews) – This Christmas in Bethlehem, the cross has been banned from souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land. Some textile workshops in Jerusalem and Hebron have begun to print and sell T-shirts depicting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem without the cross.

Because of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in the Palestinian territories, the cross was also removed from t-shirts of football teams. Interviewed by AsiaNews, Samir Qumsieh, journalist and director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, said: “I want to launch a campaign to urge people not to buy these products – he says – because the removal of the cross is an intimidation against Christians, it is like saying that Jesus was never crucified. ”

Like every year, thousands including authorities, faithful and tourists from all over the world crowd, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem for midnight mass on the night of 24 December. It will be celebrated by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and will be attended by the highest offices of the Palestinian Authority

Parcel bombs, how progressive…

(Telegraph)- Anarchists are suspected of having launched parcel bomb attacks on the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome.

The first explosion, which occurred at midday (11amGMT) seriously injured a caretaker at the Swiss embassy.

The second, which occurred at around 3pm (2pm GMT), was at the Chilean embassy, also injuring one person.

The Rome prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation on suspicion of “an attack with terrorist aims,” ANSA news agency reported

One of the investigators said that one of the main lines of inquiry was on “anarchist circles of the eco-terrorist movement.”

Another possibility mentioned by investigators is that “the attack was organised by insurgent anarchist groups.”

Note: This was bumped from the Zip Wire

She’s one of the original Obama Disciples, what do you expect her to say? Certainly nothing intelligent…

PARADE’s December 26 cover story is a one-on-one sit-down with Oprah Winfrey. The queen of talk discusses everything from her new venture to supporting Obama, and, maybe, becoming an ambassador.

In these exclusive extras from PARADE’s cover story, Oprah reveals what made her relax about taking a risk with her new network. Plus, her thoughts on Sarah Palin and starring in her own reality show.

On Sarah Palin:

“I don’t know her so I can’t speak to [whether or not she'll be a candidate]. But I would say that America’s going to fall in love with her from [her reality series, Sarah Palin's Alaska]. When I saw that first episode, I went, ‘Whoa! She is charming and very likable.’”

Asked whether the thought of Palin’s running for office scares her, Oprah said:

“It does not scare me because I believe in the intelligence of the American public.”

Rest here>>>

AL SHARPTON:Well, first of all, we’re not talking about censorship. We’re talking about standards. [R-i-i-i-g-h-t.] And there are already standards in place. We’re saying those standards ought to include those that in an explicit or even an implicit way practice racism or sexism or homophobia on the airwaves. And can you imagine the arrogance of saying federally-regulated airwaves should not be subjected to federal public hearings, so they should just grant licenses, allow people to say what they want?

If Sharpton is so worried about homophobia on the airwaves maybe he should have refrained from challenging a “punk faggot” to fight on national TV?…

(Yahoo News) — In his final news conference of the year, President Obama heralded the accomplishments of the lame-duck Congress, calling the last six weeks a “season of progress” that proves Washington can rise above political partisanship.

“If there’s any lesson to draw from these past few weeks, it’s that we’re not doomed to endless gridlock,” Obama said. However, the president also voiced his “disappointment” over Congress’s failure to move an immigration measure the White House had flagged as a first-term priority.

In the weeks since his party took a “shellacking” in the midterm elections, Obama has signed a bipartisan bill extending both the so-called Bush tax cuts and jobless aid for Americans who are out of work. On Wednesday, he signed into law a measure repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military. And just before his press conference, the Senate voted to ratify the START nuclear-arms treaty with Russia, one of the president’s top foreign policy goals this year — while reaching an accord on the bill to extend health benefits to 9/11 first responders who have taken ill.

Still, Obama didn’t get everything he wanted.

He admitted his “biggest disappointment” was that Congress failed to pass the so-called DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents.

He said that it’s “heartbreaking” that the current system forces some children to live in “the shadow of fear” — while also touting his own administration’s record of tough border enforcement and deportation.

If Tingles was in attendance (most likely under the podium) there would have been actual fellatio…

(NB)- “There weren’t a lot of hard questions in this news conference,” FNC’s Bret Baier observed on Special Report in the understatement of the night. Indeed, in the first question posed at the late afternoon session, Caren Bohan of Reuters reflected the collective glow of the White House press corp basking in Barack Obama’s glory:

You racked up a lot of wins in the last few weeks that a lot of people thought would be difficult to come by. Are you ready to call yourself the “comeback kid”?

Keep reading for more MSM fawning…

Sick and twisted little maggot…

Via the incomparable Patrick Poole:

A Penn State student that has previously posted audio clips of songs praising Osama bin Laden has now published a tune in tribute to the Swedish suicide bomber, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly. Emerson Begolly, who operates online under his nom de jihad, Asadullah Alshishani and is listed on the Penn State directory as an undergrad in the Letters, Arts and Sciences department, posted his nasheed (Islamic chant) on the infamous Ansar AlJihad forum last week – just two days after al-Abdaly’s attempted terror attack. Begolly’s song vows to “blow their heads right off their shoulders” and that “martyrdom is what I wanted best”.

Keep reading…

Epic tree hugger heart-ache…

(Politico)- The Obama administration is sticking with a George W. Bush-era decision to deny polar bears endangered species status.

In a court filing Wednesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service defended the previous administration’s decision to give the polar bear the less-protective “threatened” species designation, a move that will frustrate environmentalists who hoped for stronger protections under the Endangered Species Act.

FWS Director Rowan Gould said the 2008 “threatened” listing was made “following careful analysis of the best scientific information, as required by the ESA.”

At the time, the service determined the bears weren’t danger of extinction, so did not warrant the “endangered” status. The bears were listed as “threatened” because they face serious threats from projected decline in its sea ice habitat due to global warming would result in them likely being in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future.

FWS is “confident it was and is the appropriate status,” Gould said.

Listing the polar bear as “endangered” as a result of global warming could open the door to using the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gases, an outcome the Obama administration has opposed.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan sent the controversial listing decision back to the Obama administration in October, asking officials to clarify the language the agency used when it determined that polar bears aren’t “endangered” under federal law.

Heh…

If only he was this witty on the campaign trail…

Do gays possess some kind of magical fighting power I’ve been unaware of?…

Washington (CNSNews.com) –With shades of the 2008 campaign, and sounding patriotic themes, President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the military as a large auditorium of supporters chanted at different times “Yes we can!” and “USA!”

In signing HR 6520, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010,” Obama reversed the 1993 law (10, USC 654) that prohibited homosexuals from serving in the military and the 1993 Defense Department policy “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT). The latter prohibited military recruiters from asking about a soldier’s sexual preference and prohibited the soldier (or enlistee) from saying whether he is gay.

“This is a good day. This is a very good day,” a grinning Obama told the crowd.

“I am proud to sign a law that will bring an end to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” Obama said. “This law I’m about to sign will strengthen our national security and uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend.”

Ending the ban on homosexuals in the military was a campaign promise Obama made and is possibly the most significant legislation he has signed since the $1-trillion health care overhaul in March 2010.

Rest here>>>

Feel good story of the day…

(AKI) — Notorious as the ”Butcher of Swat” in the Pakistani military circles for his merciless nature, Al-Qaeda commander Bin Yameen (also known as Ibn-e-Amin) was ready to strike a ceasefire deal with the Pakistani security forces to divert fighting to neighbouring Afghanistan when he was killed last week in an attack by US drone aircraft.

Yameen, the chief of operations in northwest Pakistan’s Awat Valley and the chief of the Tora Bora Brigade, one of the six brigades in Al-Qaeda’s Shadow Army called a meeting of other insurgent commanders but his movement was tracked by American intelligence.

His aim was to broaden operations in the Khyber district as well as in the Afghan province of Nangarhar to close down the NATO supply route.

Bin Yameen’s death has indicated a strange dimension in the South Asian war on terror theatre where American drones have successfully eliminated the big number of the vertical command of Al-Qaeda and its affiliated group leaders, but has developed a new situation in which thousands of freshly trained men have split in to small cliques, after the killings of their commanders. This is the most little known aspect behind the much boasted American drone strike successes in the AfPak war theatre.

A recently trained group of the surviving total 400 Swat militants under Bin Yameen in the Khyber Agency are likely to face the similar fate. They are oblivious of their commanders intention to strike a ceasefire deal with Pakistan, which would have diversified strategies in the region making it difficult to figure out by the international intelligence cartel operating in the region.

HT: Watcher

You can’t rebrand evil. . .

(WaPo) — Midway through Philip Rucker and Paul Kane’s story about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s transition to minority leader comes an interesting bit of news. The California Democrat, vilified by Republicans in the last election, has turned to director Steven Spielberg for help rebranding House Democrats.

Lawmakers say she is consulting marketing experts about building a stronger brand. The most prominent of her new whisperers is Steven Spielberg, the Hollywood director whose films have been works of branding genius. Lawmakers said Spielberg has not reported to Pelosi with a recommendation.

Spielberg has been a power player in Democratic politics for years, working on everything from President Bill Clinton’s millennial celebrations to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He endorsed Hillary Clinton in the last presidential race, but since then he’s helped fundraise for President Obama.

But, the news that he is advising the leading Democrat in the House on building a strong party brand would seem to be a different — and more expansive — role than Spielberg has played in the past.

U.S. President Barack Obama kisses Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi before signing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law at the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, December 22, 2010. Obama on Wednesday signed a landmark law to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military for the first time, but it could be many months before a move some top officers warn may endanger troops will finally take effect. (REUTERS)

#1

“Calm down, Nancy”

“Sorry, my face always looks like this”

#2

“Shhh, don’t tell Michelle, but I have a fetish for older woman whose faces are deformed from too much Botox”

The school nurse called today and said I needed to pick up my son because he claimed to be sick (almost certainly faking it), one of the first things I saw walking though the doors of the main office was a large “Happy Kwanzaa” banner. I asked the woman at the desk how many kids at the school actually celebrate Kwanzaa, her answer:  None that we know of….

Same guy who throws temper tantrums on a near daily basis…

Here’s the video in case you missed it:

Safe to say this Administration is absolutely clueless when it comes to national security…

(The Blaze)- After initially blaming Diane Sawyer and an “ambiguous” question for National Intelligence Director James Clapper’s inability to answer a question on recent UK terror arrests, the White House has now admitted that Clapper was not briefed on the issue prior to the interview.

The arrests had taken place the morning of the interview, and had been popular news on all the major networks. Still, Clapper had no idea about them when Sawyer asked him about their implications for the U.S.

“Director Clapper had not yet been briefed on the arrests in the United Kingdom at the time of this interview taping,” said ODNI spokeswoman Jamie Smith in a statement.

She explained that Clapper had been “working throughout the day on important intelligence matters, including monitoring military and political developments on the Korean Peninsula, providing answers to questions concerning the ratification of the START nuclear treaty, and other classified issues.  He wasn‘t immediately briefed on London because it didn’t appear to have a homeland nexus and there was no immediate action by the DNI required. Nevertheless, he should have been briefed on the arrests, and steps have been taken to ensure that he is in the future.  The intelligence community as a whole was fully aware of this development and tracking it closely.”

Keep reading…

The 7th century Wahhabi version of a scandal…

(Telegraph)- Private Saudi girls’ high schools are being investigated by the education ministry for holding an “illegal” sports tournament.

The Dec 8 event involving 200 females from six Jeddah private high schools broke ministry rules against girls’ sports in schools, a ministry official said.

“We don’t have any regulations that say that it’s OK for girls’ schools to hold sports classes or training,” said Ahmed Al-Zahrani, director of girls’ education in Jeddah.
“This tournament was held by these schools, something that has now led us to know about their illegal activities,” he said.

Women’s access to sports overall is tightly constricted in Saudi Arabia, which is governed according to an ultra-strict version of Islam. Women cannot participate in the Saudi Olympics team, and are not allowed to attend public football matches.

While a few women-only private clubs and private women’s universities offer sporting possibilities, sports are prohibited at primary and secondary schools for girls.

Your daily dose of assploding hypocrisy…

Via Newsbusters:

On Tuesday’s Morning Edition, actor Ben Affleck was selling his new movie about corporate layoffs, Company Men, and anchorman Steve Inskeep carefully led the left-wing actor onto a soapbox to lecture about the immorality of American capitalism and financiers who do nothing but “move money back and forth”:

INSKEEP: There’s a line in Company Men that’s staying with me. Tommy Lee Jones is at a corporate conference table. Someone else at the conference table is discussing their plans to lay off a bunch of workers. And nearly all the workers being laid off are older, which could be construed as being wrong or illegal. Someone at the table says: “Oh, no. This is going to pass legal scrutiny.” And Jones responds: “I always thought we aimed for a little higher standard than that.”

AFFLECK: That speaks so perfectly to people’s feelings about our country. It’s like it’s just about getting by, or people can like let people go if they can get away with it, that there’s no deeper sense of right or wrong. The banks shouldn’t — people shouldn’t make such a giant profit off just moving money back and forth. And CEOs’ pay shouldn’t be 200 times the average worker. It used to be nine times.

Rest here>>>