Wednesday, July 30, 2008

FW: Extra Tickets


Sean E. forwarded this email to me.

I have a friend that has 4 extra tickets for the Robbie Knievel event at
the Joe Louis Arena next weekend if anybody wants them.

He's going to try to jump 5000 Obama supporters with a bulldozer.
Let me know.

Flo

Enquirer: Edwards paying Hunter $15K/mo. in "hush money"


The Enquirer has another scoop regarding one-time Democratic presidential wannabe John Edwards:

John Edwards’ mistress, Rielle Hunter – the mother of his “love child” – has been secretly receiv­ing $15,000 a month as part of an elaborate cover-up orchestrated by the former presidential contender.

The money is being funneled to Hunter by a wealthy colleague who was closely tied to the Edwards’ campaign. This same man is also shoveling cash to Edwards’ pal and former aide Andrew Young – who tried to take the heat off the ex-Senator by claiming he is the father of Rielle’s baby.

Radar Online names names:

Her name is Frances Quinn Hunter, and she was born at Santa Barbara Cottage hospital. Edwards' good friend and former aide Andrew Young stepped forward last December by claiming to be the father of the child (he's married with kids himself), but the Enquirer reports that he too is receiving cash from the same guy who is paying off Hunter. A few weeks after the story first broke at the end of last year, the Enquirer noted that Hunter was "living in Chapel Hill, N.C. in a gated community, just a few streets away from Andrew Young," and that she had been spotted around town driving a BMW registered in his name. Young hasn't been heard from since. (Maybe the house in question belonged to Edwards backer, Tar Heel, and former NBA center Eric Montross?


...Whether the money is enough to keep Hunter quiet remains to be seen—she's supposedly in the process of securing an interview with a major network. Edwards has yet to address the latest crop of rumors directly, and he won't have to until a mainstream outlet asks him to do so. Which may not happen for a few weeks because the Enquirer says it won't release the photos from the Beverly Hilton ambush, and the MSM seems to have unilaterally decided not to do anything until they are released.

A commenter on Radar uses the handle RielleHunter to further develop the story.

The moneyman was Celtics player Eric Montross who also has been paying $8500 a month to ex-Edwards campaign manager Andrew Young, who coincidentally acknowleged untested paternity of female baby Frances Quinn Hunter-Edwards on her birth certificate.

All told, Edwards is paying $23,500 a month ($282k per year) payments to keep this baby quiet.

Stick a fork in John, he's done.

Posted by: RielleHunter on July 30, 2008 4:41 PM


Sorry, Edwards is paying Andrew Young $18,500 a month, not $8,500 a month, making his total outlay $33,500 a month, or $402k per year.

By the time the baby turns 18, that will be more than SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS!

Posted by: RielleHunter on July 30, 2008 5:04 PM

Seven million? That's more than Don Surber makes in blog ads over an entire month's time!

Update: DBKP, on the story from the get-go, quotes National Enquirer editor David Perels:

“We drew ‘em a road map to the story. All they had to do was follow it and do a little basic reporting. We did it. Fox did it. They can, too–if they want to.”

Update II: HuffPo's Rachel Sklar weighs in:

Fox News went with it Friday, confirming it with an independent witness, and media-watching sites began writing about it by writing about how no one was writing about it.

Usually a story like this moves as media outlets swarm in to investigate, but today over a week after the Enquirer revived the story — the mainstream media is still mum...

Kaus postulates that the blogosphere is operating as a "minor league" for the MSM, where stories "try out" and sometimes break through. That's probably not a bad analogy.

Update III: Deceiver's Simon offers an excellent insight:

One problem with the "minor league" analogy: When a player goes to the show, they don't have any problem mentioning where he came from.

Update IV: Larwyn points me to Don, who points me to Ann, who is responsible for a mouthful of ice tea on my keyboard.

For those few Americans without an Internet connection and to whom I have not faxed the National Enquirer stories: Evidence is accumulating that John Edwards is right -- there really are "two Americas." There's one where men cheat on their cancer-stricken wives and one where men do not cheat on their cancer-stricken wives.

To put it another way, it would appear that ambulances aren't the only things John Edwards has been chasing lately...

...Which brings up a fascinating legal question: Would it be admissible for Edwards to channel the very love child at issue during such a [paternity] proceeding? Reminiscent of his performances in medical malpractice cases, he could say: She speaks to you through me and I have to tell you right now -- I didn't plan to talk about this -- right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you, she's saying: "John Edwards ain't my daddy!"

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Audi A5: Baddest Headlights in North America


Early one morning last month a car followed me into work at very high speed. Its running lights were bizarre.

Bright, angry blue slashes that stuck out even in the early morning summer sun. Usually able to figure out a car instantly by its shape or headlight configuration, I simply couldn't identify the make or model.

A bit of searching led me to the Audi A5. And I found an excellent explanation of the headlight technology in AudiWorld:

Daytime running lights make an impression

The xenon plus headlights on the Audi A5 with the optional adaptive light system include a raft of innovations that were previously unavailable in this vehicle segment. The most striking feature of the stylishly designed light modules is the revolutionary strip of daytime running lights comprising eight light-emitting diodes on each side. From a safety point of view, they provide an important enhancement by making the Audi A5 easier to see, especially in critical visibility conditions, for instance, when the sun is low in the sky. Moreover, the LED strip on the lower edge of the headlight is also a clear distinguishing feature for the Audi A5.

Separate daytime running lights are expected to become legally obligatory for all new cars in the EU from September 2010. Audi is already offering the maximum safety advantage of this feature today with an extraordinary design and low energy draw. The power consumption per headlight is only 12 watts. That ultimately saves fuel...

The A5 headlights use a new mercury-free xenon system. Conventional xenon bulbs contain small quantities of mercury, which can now be eliminated thanks to new bulb and control unit technology. At speeds of 120 km/h or higher, the dynamic headlight range control raises the light cone slightly to illuminate a longer stretch of road ahead for motorway driving.

The adaptive light is an additional feature of the xenon headlights. At speeds between 10 and 110 km/h, this dynamic cornering light system turns the ellipsoidal module for the dipped and main beams to follow the line of the road and bends. This greatly improves illumination in front of the vehicle and to the sides, making it easier for the driver to anticipate the course of the road ahead.

Once you see 'em in person, you'll know what the fuss is about.

Linked by: Dan Riehl. Thanks! Hat tips: AudiWorld

Dumb and Dumbercrat


A Democrat named Ray Torres Sanchez is running for Congress in Florida's 23rd District. The incumbent, Alcee Hastings, is also a Democrat and was impeached in 1988 for bribery and perjury. He subsequently made his way back into power after his conviction was overturned on a technicality.

Sanchez has made some outlandish claims on his website. Among them, that incumbent Hastings is controlled by a political operative named Art Kennedy. During a debate, a GOP candidate for the office (Marion Thorpe) debated Kennedy rather than Hastings. Kennedy claimed he was serving as a "representative of Hastings".

When someone complained that beating a non-candidate (Kennedy) in the debate wasn't nearly as compelling as beating Hastings himself, the GOP candidate offered an extremely bizarre response.

"Mr. Kennedy is the puppet-master who controls Hastings' strings. In many ways, winning a debate against Mr. Kennedy is more politically significant than winning a debate against Hastings."

"If you will allow me to describe their working relationship in medical terms, my opponent is the mouth and Mr. Kennedy is the brain."

Are you aware of Mr. Kennedy's political affiliation? "Though he calls the shots for...Democrat...Hastings, Kennedy is a long-time Republican... the plot thickens."

Take care, my friend.

Marion D. Thorpe, Jr., MD MPH
U.S. Congressional Candidate

Sanchez' view is obvious: Hastings can't speak for himself and, as an added bonus, is actually controlled by a puppet-master who happens to be Republican!

Let's do a little homework on this, shall we?

Using an incredible new tool called an Internet Search Engine, we first find a list of campaign donations made by one Art Kennedy of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Art Kennedy's occuption? Alcee Hastings' Congressional Staff Member. As was also the case in 2000. Interesting. In 2000, Kennedy donated only to Republicans including George W. Bush.

The Broward Times (September 2002) adds an interesting tidbit:

...The first thing blacks have got to ask themselves is how our democrat congressman Alcee Hastings allowed his Republican Chief of Staff, Art Kennedy to become a part of the plot to undermine Broward's first black Elections Supervisor, Miriam Oliphant -- by concocting along with the white boys a bull -- community task force and setting-up Oliphant to strip her of her elected office...

So Kennedy really is a Republican? The Broward-Palm Beach New Times says so.

Hastings' chief of staff... is a GOP operative named Art Kennedy. As the Sun-Sentinel put it in an October 24 story about leading black Republicans, Kennedy has "direct connections to the governor's mansion and the White House."

In 2005 Onyx Magazine featured a profile of Kennedy.

In 1992, former Judge Alcee Hastings (then attorney) ran for congress with redistricting. In November 1992 I resigned from the school system to become a part of his staff. In doing that, the last staff for a Democrat. That goes back to when he was on trial for allegedly lying under oath in a trial where he was found "not guilty". In Miami, the House of Representatives found him guilty. The Senate conducted a trial. Each of one hundred senators had to vote as to whether to impeach him or not.

Senator Specter of Pennsylvania suggested very strongly to us one evening that some member of our team should become Republican.

The reason? Kennedy explains:

Most people don't understand the significance of the congressman and I being able to have some lines of communication open with regardless of who is in the White House or in the Governor's Mansion––whether that person is Democrat or Republican, one of us has the opportunity to try to get the ear of that person... Now that Jeb's governor, I am the point of contact.

So, has Democrat candidate Ray Torrez Sanchez discovered some insidious scheme in which the secret hands of Rove and the Republicans control Alcee Hastings?

Apparently not. Using this amazing new "SEARCH" "ENGINE" technology, I discovered the real reason behind Kennedy's ostensible affiliation with the GOP. Elapsed time: four minutes and eight seconds.

If Sanchez is the best the Democratic Party can muster against a disgraced laughingstock like Hastings, I don't think the GOP has much to worry about in any battle of wits.

Hat tip: Vin.

The Jihadis are making a list and checking it twice


Today the Ottawa Citizen published an ominous report of a recent message discovered on a terrorist discussion board. The message in the password-protected forum, reportedly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, was posted on July 7, the third anniversary of the London transit bombings.

"The website is a notorious and favoured site of hardcore jihadists... Most unsettling, perhaps, is the instructional nature of the posting, which epitomizes the burgeoning tactical weapon the Internet has become for teaching operational knowledge about political assassinations, kidnappings and other crimes to young, amateur homegrown jihadists.

...[it] warns jihadis not to attack religious figures because it harms the jihadi cause. Instead, urban jihad cells should seek economic targets, such as Jewish investments in Muslim countries, international companies, international economic experts, exports from "Crusader countries" and raw materials being "stolen from Muslim countries by the enemies," with Mr. al-Moqrin calling for attacks on oil wells, pipelines and oil tankers.

The human target list... should be prioritized as follows:

1. Jews: Jews from Israel and the United States have priority over Jews from Britain and France.

2. Christians, especially those from Canada, the United States, Britain, Spain, Australia and Italy.

3. Apostates, particularly Muslim leaders who keep close ties with Jewish and "Christian governments," such as Egyptian President Husni Mubarak and the leaders of the Gulf States.

4. Secular individuals, including "spies and security officials" who "protect Jews and Christians."

...The latest message, [the director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies...] should be viewed with real concern... for three reasons: al-ekhlass.net is a legitimate militant Islamist website; the call to target oil and energy infrastructure and individuals is specific; and the message may be a formal warning required by Shariah law before jihadists can attack.

I have a hunch Karl Rove is behind the whole thing: it's just more of the same old Politics of Fear*.

* Snark added specifically for Liberal Gary, who believes all references to terrorism are "The Politics of Fear"

Rick Moran's feeling creepy about the Democratic candidate


Rick Moran has the complete list of things about Obama that have him feeling a tad creepy. Here's an excerpt.

3. I find it very creepy that Obama removed the American flag at the back of his plane and replaced it with a great big “O?” Tell me that doesn’t creep you out. The flag and the “O” would be just fine. But why remove the flag?

Judging by the way he has flip flopped all over the place on the flag pin mess (which I believe is a non-issue whether or not he wears it but the flip flopping is of legitimate concern) it should call into question just what this guy believes. Again, warning bells should be going off in everyone’s head and either the press is too cowed to ask him questions about it or they just don’t care.

2. I can’t believe every American wasn’t creeped out by Obama’s fake presidential seal that he featured for exactly one day at a conference of governors. This story actually gave me a slight feeling of panic wondering if this guy is a megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur or…what? I couldn’t think of another reason any candidate would have the audacity of overweening pride and destructive ambition to create, approve, and then display such an artifact. Did someone bother to ask the candidate what he was thinking when he approved the use of that seal?

I thought not. The press may not have liked the answer.

Who's making these decisions for the Obama campaign? Obama himself?

If this guy gets any more personalized symbology, we'll have to start calling him Ernst Stavro Obama.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Even the non-mainstream media is in the bag for Obama!


Paranoia Magazine features Senator Obama and his spirtual mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.


Hat tips: Campaign Spot and Larwyn.

Exclusive Photos: Iranian Revolutionary Guards' terrifying new weapons


Undercover operative Deep Spackle emails us these pictures from an unknown location in Iran.

His Mullah's Ship (HMS) Jihad of Love, Iran's first nuclear aircraft carrier, embarks on a test voyage in the Strait of Hormuz.

HMS Martyred Teddy Bear, a guided missile cruiser, docks in a special slip at the military port of Bander-e Lengeh.

A squadron of Mahdi-15 Fighter-Bombers flies over Tehran.

High-powered Nuclear Suicide-belt cargo planes carry advanced weapons to a secret location.

A top secret photograph of the much-feared, experimental Ayatollah of Rockenrollah battle tank.

Revolutionary Guards Special Operations Commando Ranger demonstrates the Donkey of Doom Personal Killing Tank.

Terrifying!

Linked by: Grouchy Old Cripple and Fausta. Thanks! Hat tips: Task Force 72, MSW, Gizmology, Brickshelf, TrekEarth.

Line o' the Day: Spray some Bactin on that, Sen. Obama!


John McCain on the opponents of victory:

We rejected the audacity of hopelessness.

Fausta adds:

In spite of Obama’s grand tour efforts, 300 foreign advisors, and hundreds of reporters in tow, there’s no Europe Effect in the polls.

Deafeatism may sell in Europe, but it doesn’t sell in America.

Someone hand Obama an ice-pack. That's gonna leave a bruise.

Why I don't read the newspaper much any more


Finally! Justice is served!

And John Stossel says government can't do things better than free enterprise!

I won't hold my breath awaiting the results of this hunt.

That's a damn good paint job!

Followed by the meeting on new lighting that's held in the dark.

I'm more upset about NEPA's EIS on BNFL's RAPPI before DRUADs.

Go figure.

That's a brother for you.

It's a partisan issue, I'm sure.

I'll try to remember. I guess it was a slow day at the Poison Control Center.

Please call immediately if you've seen this... man... woman... insect...

Right after finding corpses in the mausoleum.

This is taking the principle of "More Guns, Less Crime" a bit too far.

I'd wager these guys took federal grant money to come up with this conclusion.

Ouch!

Hat tip: Sean E

Olympic Officials: Beijing smog is 'mist' akin to Atlanta or LA


International Olympic Committee officials are trying to prepare athletes for the brutal Beijing smog with their own brand of psyops.

...Schamasch said the IOC was monitoring Beijing's air. He said particulate matter on Sunday "was a little bit higher than what's expected but nothing dramatic."

He said readings for ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide fell within 2005 guidelines set by the World Health Organization... He did not disclose the exact levels, saying it was not the IOC's practice.

"Today there is nothing critical preventing an athlete from running, except the visibility," he said. "I can tell you it's mist more than smog."

Schamasch said conditions were "not worse" than in other cities that hosted the games, mentioning Los Angeles, Atlanta and Athens.

Just 12 days before the games open, the AP reported that China's capital city was "shrouded in thick gray smog".

Despite traffic restrictions put in place to reduce pollution, the city's air combined with warm temperatures and high humidity could create "a soupy mix of harmful chemicals, particulate matter and water vapor."

The following are some recent pictures taken in and around Beijing. Judge for yourself whether they look like Atlanta or Los Angeles.




















Before we start eviscerating the U.S. economy with carbon trading, perhaps we could get China on board some sort of cleanup program since it has 16 of the top 20 polluted cities in the world.

Hat tips: Marramark, Pompous Vegan, LA Times, TreeHugger and EarthFirst.