Environmentalist Green is the New Red

Daniel J. Kelley

For the fashion conscious, the latest wardrobe colors to gain momentarypopularity are oftentimes referred to as being “the new black.” In light of theabsurd new regulations proposed by the Obama administration to curry favorwith the hardcore environmental leftists, I am prepared to announce that “greenis the new red.”

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Cartoonists draw blank on Obama

David Mark

Bush's emotive facial expressions, easy-to-caricature physical features and, most of, all his deeply unpopular political decisions were fodder for liberal-leaning cartoonists. But the cool and detached Obama enters the White House at a time of considerable economic anxiety, bolstered by wishes of goodwill even from some political opponents.

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Salazar says limits needed on offshore drilling

By DINA CAPPIELLO and H. JOSEF HEBERT

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday the expansion of offshore oil drilling should be worked out with Congress as part of a broad energy blueprint and not independent action by his department.

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Congressional Republicans and energy lobbyists have argued against even a partial reimposition by Congress of an offshore drilling ban.

ITS GOOD TA BE DA PREZ!

An episode of intolerance at Elon

Charles Davenport Jr

Gross and Simmons surveyed 1,417 full-time professors at 927 institutions and confirmed what most objective observers already knew: that the university campus is a bastion of left-wing thought. According to the study, 62 percent of professors are liberal, and only 19 percent are conservative. In 2004, 78 percent voted for John Kerry, only 20 percent for Bush.

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PBS: 'Obama Is Our First Truly American President'

By Noel Sheppard

Did you know that Barack Obama is our first truly American president?
You didn't?
Well, according to Emmy Award winning commentator John Ridley he is.
The following insulting segment was aired January 22 on Los Angeles's PBS station KCET (video embedded below the fold, h/t Hot Air via NB reader Thomas Stewart):

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Federal Government Spending Report

by Michael W. Hodges

FY 2006 Federal Govt. Spending of $2.8 Trillion Consumed 26% of the Economy, or $9,223 per man, woman and child,or 36% of the economy counting regulatory compliance
The Social Spending portion consumed 56% of total spending, and has increased 14 Times Faster Than The Economy and - individual incomes pay 82% of all federal revenue compared to a 51% share in 1950.

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‘Soviet’ Britain swells amid the recession

Abul Taher

PARTS of the United Kingdom have become so heavily dependent on government spending that the private sector is generating less than a third of the regional economy, a new analysis has found.
The study of “Soviet Britain” has found the government’s share of output and expenditure has now surged to more than 60% in some areas of England and over 70% elsewhere.

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Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

By Matt Sanchez

It’s been one week since Barack Obama was sworn in as commander-in-chief and the new president has not hesitated to push his agenda–the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Although “the primary purpose of the armed forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise”, forcing the military to legitimize same-sex relationships will be a Trojan Horse for imposing gay marriage nationwide and all in the name of “change.”

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Less time for penmanship

By Meranda Watling

Third-graders in Michelle Webb's Burnett Creek Elementary classroom were practicing how to form a lowercase f in cursive on Friday.
Determined faces sprinkled the room as the children wrote again and again -- f, f, f -- perfecting the "loop the loop" on top and bottom. Student teacher Allison Touloukian demonstrated the correct slant and curve on screen for the class as students practiced forming words.

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Tax Rate Reductions Are More Stimulative

Brian M. Riedl

With slower economic growth raising fears of a
recession, Washington is abuzz with economic
stimulus proposals centered on tax rebates. Tax
rebates, however, don’t stimulate the economy.
Lawmakers currently examining economic stimulus
proposals should reject rebates in favor of tax
rate reductions.

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Firsthand Look at the Real Guantanamo

Posted By Gabe Ledeen

I recently visited the detention facilities at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was dismayed at what I saw. The place was nothing like what I expected, and I was struck by how little we Americans actually know about these facilities and the conduct of our personnel there. With every new interview and every new area walk-through I hoped to find some validation of the certainties I brought with me from the hundreds of articles, documentaries, and speeches presented to the American people by our intellectual superiors.

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Teacher proclaims Twain, Lee and Steinbeck irrelevant in Obama age

Alison Flood

An American English teacher has called for novels which use the word "nigger" to be removed from the high school curriculum now that Barack Obama has been elected president.
John Foley, who teaches at Ridgefield High School in southern Washington, believes classics of American literature such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men should no longer be required reading for students. "The time has arrived to update the literature we use in high school classrooms.

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Short life expectancy for RAK snowman

Anna Zacharias

Snow covered the Jebel Jais area for only the second time in recorded history yesterday.So rare was the event that one lifelong resident said the local dialect had no word for it.According to the RAK Government, temperatures on Jebel Jais dropped to -3°C on Friday night. On Saturday, the area had reached 1°C.
Major Saeed Rashid al Yamahi, a helicopter pilot and the manager of the Air Wing of RAK Police, said the snow covered an area of five kilometres and was 10cm deep.

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Pocket Obama's $49.50

Printed in a size that easily fits into pocket or purse, this book is an anthology of quotations borrowed from Barack Obama's speeches and writings. POCKET OBAMA serves as a reminder of the amazing power of oratory and the remarkable ability of this man to move people with his words.

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Contents 'may contain eggs'

By Helen Dowd

In these health-conscious times food companies are increasingly keen to warn consumers if ingredients may cause allergic reactions.
But one firm has gone a step further by advising shoppers that its boxes of eggs contain...egg.

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BARACK'S BANK BET

By MICHAEL GRAY

The heat is on the Obama Administration.
Congressional leaders are pressing the White House to come up with a plan as soon as this week to save the banks and jumpstart the economy.

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How Modern Law Makes Us Powerless

By PHILIP K. HOWARD
Calling for a "new era of responsibility" in his inaugural address, President Barack Obama reminded us that there are no limits to "what free men and women can achieve." Indeed. America achieved greatness as the can-do society. This is, after all, the country of Thomas Paine and barn raisings, of Grange halls and Google. Other countries shared, at least in part, our political freedoms, but America had something different.......

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Atom takes a quantum leap

Geoff Brumfiel

Researchers have teleported a single ion of the element ytterbium over a metre in distance, shattering previous records. Photons have gone further but teleportation of matter has only occurred between ions in the same trap over a few micrometers.

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Far-right Obama critics get a reply

By LEONARD PITTS JR.

''I hope he fails.'' -- Limbaugh
It is, of course, a calculated outrage.
Meaning, it was spewed by a clown in the media circus to kick a familiar sequence into motion: angry denunciation by bloggers, pundits and supporters of President Barack Obama (the ''he'' whose failure is hoped), followed by Rush Limbaugh refusing to retract a word, a courageous truth teller who will not be moved. And, trailing behind, like the folks with brooms trail the elephants in the circus parade, Limbaugh's devotees, complaining that their hero has been misquoted, misunderstood or otherwise mistreated. ``What Rush meant was . . . yadda yadda yadda.''

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US may ditch twice-yearly talks China

By James Quinn in New York and Malcolm Moore in Shanghai

The meetings – known as the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) – are unlikely to continue in their current form under the Obama administration, which is understood to favour more proactive and honest communication, rather than what it perceives to be twice-yearly "talking shops".

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All The Oil In The World

Bob Parks

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable… at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

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Imagine the hostile oil-producing nations we could give the finger to….

New Congress to sneak in amnesty for illegals

Senator Harry Reid has written and introduced for action, Senate Bill 9. It allegedly purports to solve the illegal immigrant problem in the U.S., but in reality, it opens the door for granting undeserved citizenship to millions of people who have broken our laws, and are here illegally.

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Obama plan to negotiate buys Iran time to complete nuclear program

By Yossi Melman

Barack Obama's arrival in the White House substantially reduces the likelihood of Israel using military force to thwart Iran's nuclear program and accelerates the possibility that within a year the regime of ayatollahs will possess atomic bombs, according to the assessment of experts in Israel and the United States.

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Abortion is the slavery issue of our time.

By Jean Torkelson

"God is the one who calls you to the battle," Metaxas said to the crowd, an eclectic mix that included families with baby strollers and protesters waving signs and abortion- photo posters.
They came to mourn the 36th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion, and to be inspired to fight for the idea that the unborn are persons with an inalienable right to life.

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Handful of brokers linked to glut of local foreclosures

By ZACH FOX

A North County Times investigation into thousands of foreclosure records, along with interviews with buyers, reveals a pattern that suggests some real estate agents specialized in clients ---- chiefly Latinos ---- who couldn't afford to buy homes, and helped them buy as many as possible.Some of their customers say the agents posted fliers in low-income apartment buildings and held seminars that encouraged people to get rich by buying and selling multiple properties, usually with low or no down payments.

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Honeymoon end before it even begins

It is sad that those in washington continue to turn a deaf ear to mainstreet America. I suppose it will reach a point when those at the street level will have to take matters into their own hands. It is also somewhat eerie that even our friends to the North can see the utter fiasco unfolding right before our eyes, but those in power in the US cannot. This nation is headed for a severe train wreck. Those who don't see it coming and get out of the way, will simply be ground up under the wheels of the train.

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Republicans for Obama

by Nicolle Wallace

Obama deserves our thanks for letting Republicans root for him, as well. He has created a space within his wide net of support for those of us who fought for John McCain’s candidacy by honoring the McCains at a dinner the night before his inauguration and by listening to McCain’s ideas on national security, climate change, and government reform.

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moment of silence in public schools ruled unconstitutional

By Michael Peabody

CHICAGO - Today, Judge Robert W. Gettleman of the federal U.S. District Court in Chicago ruled that a state law mandating a moment of silence in Illinois public schools is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. He had previously put the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act on hold while he considered the case filed by an atheist parent on behalf of his daughter.

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The Twins from Brazil

By Caroline Grant

A notorious Nazi doctor known as the 'Angel of Death' is behind an alarming number of twins born in a small Brazilian town, a historian has claimed.
Josef Mengele was an SS physician in Auschwitz concentration camp where in a bid to create a master race for Adolf Hitler he carried out genetic experiments to find the key to producing twins.

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Obama White House Calls for Repealing Defense of Marriage Act

By Matt Cover

Unveiling his agenda Tuesday on the newly refurbished version of the White House Web site, Obama called for the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), as well as the extension of more than 1,000 federal marriage benefits and of adoption rights to homosexual couples.

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Teach the pleasure of gay sex to children as young as five

By Steve Doughty

Children as young as five should be taught to understand the pleasures of gay sex, according to leaders of a taxpayer-funded education project.
Heads of the project have set themselves a goal of 'creating primary classrooms where queer sexualities are affirmed and celebrated'.

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President Barack Obama's Agenda

China warns of "grim" fight against deadly bird flu

Source: Reuters
BEIJING, Jan 21 (Reuters) - China faces a "grim" situation in preventing and controlling human cases of bird flu, the health minister said, after announcing four human infections in the last two weeks and three deaths.
Health Minister Chen Zhu called for hospitals to spare more resources in diagnosing and treating bird flu and more cooperation between agriculture authorities and his ministry,

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How the Presidents Stack Up

Lincoln's First Principle

Over the weekend, Barack Obama embarked on a train trip from Philadelphia to Washington reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln's train journey from Springfield prior to his inauguration. As the New York Times says, Obama's pre-inaugural journey "is another nod to history, kicking off a week when the parallels between the 16th and 44th presidents will be plentiful." While Obama's train slowed down to accommodate throngs of cheering supporters along the way, the Philadelphia to Washington leg of Lincoln's journey was conducted under the cover of darkness because of a potential assassination plot.

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Obamamania hasn't reached Wyoming

By Jim Spellman

Mueller and a handful of other Republicans sit in the coffee shop of the historic Plains Hotel on this windy January morning, chatting about the incoming administration and their mixed feelings.

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"I wish President Obama well, but I do not wish him success in the things he is proposing,"

Remember Bush Well

By MARC A. THIESSEN

Today, President George W. Bush leaves office with approval ratings only slightly higher than Truman's. And I will make this prediction: The verdict of history on the Bush presidency will not be the same as the verdict of contemporary critics.
While Mr. Bush made mistakes during his time in office, like Truman he racked up a record of unparalleled success that will be increasingly appreciated in the years to come.

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Fifty heavy lifters

Washington changes whenever the White House gains a new occupant. When that involves a 47-year-old African-American from Chicago replacing a 62-year-old white Texan, the effect is likely to seem unusually pronounced.
Perhaps the most visible alterations will be in the lower average age of the Barack Obama people, the greater ethnic and gender diversity of the new president’s administration and the fact that it is made up of a more metropolitan and technologically savvy crowd than those they replace.

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PENN WHINES

JUST because Sean Penn likes to visit Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and then writes nice things about them, doesn't mean he's "a stooge for left-wing dictatorships," as we called him on Sunday, his publicist, Mara Buxbaum, says. "Sean does not endorse dictators. Like him or not, Hugo Chavez is a democratically elected official." So was Hitler.

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Battered Wall St tops Obama inaugural donors

By Kevin Drawbaugh

The Center for Responsive Politics said executives of finance, insurance and real estate companies and their family members gave $7.1 million to Obama's inaugural committee.
Top donors from the world of high finance included George Soros, Ronald Perelman and David Shaw, the center said.
Bankers and hedge fund managers will mingle with Hollywood stars and Silicon Valley high-technology titans at the swearing-in ceremony for the 44th president, the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and the balls and parties that follow.

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Largest Inauguration Security Force Ever

By Stephen Clark

The U.S. Secret Service is overseeing a security force of more than 40,000 people, including 7,500 active duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers.
That surpasses the 31,000 troops serving in Afghanistan.

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President 'has four years to save Earth'

Robin McKie

Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama's first administration, he added.

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Over 8 in 10 corporations have tax havens

By KEN THOMAS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Eighty-three of the nation's 100 largest corporations, including Citigroup, Bank of America and News Corp. (NWSA), had subsidiaries in offshore tax havens in 2007, and some of the companies received federal bailout funding, a government watchdog said Friday.

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Federal Judge Tosses out Newdow’s Challenge

By Pete Winn

Washington (CNSNews.com) - Atheist Michael Newdow and 30 other "nontheistic" plaintiffs say they will decide Friday whether to appeal Thursday's decision by a federal judge dismissing their demand that President-elect Barack Obama be barred from saying “So help me God” when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

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Zimbabwe rolls out Z$100tr note

Zimbabwe is introducing a Z$100 trillion note, currently worth about US$30 (£20), state media reports.
Other notes in trillion-dollar denominations of 10, 20 and 50 are also being released to help Zimbabweans cope with hyperinflation.

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We no longer need to kill Bin Laden, claims Barack Obama

Barack Obama has claimed it is no longer necessary to kill Osama Bin Laden to win the war against al-Qaeda.
In an unprecedented departure from the current wanted 'dead or alive policy,' the U.S. President-Elect said that simply keeping bin Laden holed up in a cave was enough to keep America safe.
'My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him,' he said.

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Geithner Accepted IMF Reimbursement

By Byron York

Although it has been dismissed by some observers as a “hiccup” in an otherwise smooth confirmation process, treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner’s failure to pay self-employment taxes during the years he worked at the International Monetary Fund is causing some Republicans on Capitol Hill to ask serious questions about his actions. First among those questions is why he accepted payment from the IMF as restitution for taxes that he had not, in fact, paid.

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