The Water Cooler is written by Washington Times staffers.
By Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
In the midst of heavy snow fall all over the United States and a recent admission from global warming advocate Phil Jones that there has been no warming since 1995, former Vice-President Al Gore is sticking to his guns. In a February 12 statement, he writes on his website that the "[climate crisis] is worse than we thought." More evidence of the climate crisis is unfolding before our eyes. The situation in the Arctic is worse than data from satellite pictures have told us: "For scientists studying the health of Arctic sea ice, satellite observations are absolutely essential for providing the big picture. It was satellites that revealed in September 2007 a record minimum ice coverage in the region -- the result of a massive summer melt. And it was satellites that showed in 2008 and 2009 the modest recovery of late-summer Arctic ice that suggested to some that the specter of a totally ice-free ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
Democrat Senator from Indiana Evan Bayh is announcing his retirement from the U.S. Senate today which leaves his party scrambling for a new candidate to run in the centrist's seat. Mr. Bayh has never lost an election and was facing Indiana GOP'er, and former U.S. Senator, Dan Coats in the upcoming senate race. Cook's Political Report had the race in his favor, so his retirement comes as a shock to some. In the meantime, Mr. Bayh has raised up to $13 million, which is the third largest campaign war chest of all the Senators up for re-election this year, says USA Today. The mystery now is, where that money goes next.
by Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: Did The Family Guy really just make fun of Trig Palin?, Dem candidate says 'whites don't want to work in factories', and Barack Obama statue removed from Jakarta park. Mediaite: Did The Family Guy really just make fun of Trig Palin? Last night’s episode featured a “unique” story line where character Chris Griffin was dating a girl with Down’s Syndrome. WFAA: Dem candidate says 'whites don't want to work in factories' Farouk Shami, the millionaire hair care products maker who's running, said he doesn't find many white people willing to work, so he says he hires Hispanics and blacks instead. AP: Barack Obama statue removed from Jakarta park uthorities removed a statue of Barack Obama from a park in the Indonesian capital due to a public backlash and moved it Monday to a nearby elementary school that the U.S. president attended as ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
A fresh new card game called Obama Nation from the seller Twisted Entertainment has hit the online marketplace. Obama Nation, described as a cross between Go Fish and Old Maid, calls itself the "trillion dollar bailout" game. The object of the game is to spend the U.S. government into bankruptcy. Players try to spend as much U.S. taxpayer money as possible by passing pork-spending legislation through Congress. The player with the most pork spent at the end of the game is the winner. Of course, the final jab is that the U.S. government is bankrupt at that point. According to the rules of the game there are 54 cards: 46 "Pork" cards and eight "Politics" cards. The suits and sectors are financial, transportation, private sector, housing, and arts & entertainment. Politics cards apparently supersede the regular rules of the game: "There are two copies of each Pork card. Pork cards represent government bailout programs. ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 14, 2010 Comments
On ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, former Vice President Dick Cheney discussed his thoughts with host Jonathan Karl about the Obama administration's handling of terror suspects and the war in Iraq. He was also asked whether or not the military policy commonly known as "don't ask, don't tell," which keeps homosexual members in the military from serving openly, should be repealed. His answer seemed to favor the repeal of the Clinton-era military policy. President Obama recently reiterated his call to repeal the ban on openly gay members in the military at the State of the Union in January (video and transcript below). HOST JONATHAN KARL: OK, "Don't ask, Don't tell" -- You're a former defense secretary. Should this policy be repealed? FORMER VP DICK CHENEY: Twenty years ago the military were strong advocates of "don't ask, don't tell" when I was Secretary of Defense. I think things have changed significantly ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 12, 2010 Comments
Steve Ertelt at Life News is reporting that the successful MTV show "16 and Pregnant" is returning for a second season. The show follows 10 pregnant teens in different life circumstances. A pro-choice blogger is not pleased that the program does not depict a teenage girl who chooses abortion: Blogger Jessica Valenti shows just how pro-abortion the pro-choice movement is because she's upset the show isn't promoting teen abortions and, instead, profiles girls who keep their baby. "Where are the pregnant teens who choose not to stay pregnant? Where are the abortions?" she complains. "If MTV really wanted to prove themselves as responsible programmers, they would also feature pregnant teens who have abortions. "I realize that it’s controversial to document a teenager who decides to end their pregnancy, but the fact is that nearly a third of all teen pregnancies end in abortion," Valenti says. "But if you were to watch MTV, ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 12, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: The 'green jobs' scam unmasked, Palin Channels Feinstein is this any different?, and TRush Limbaugh's voice tested to kill beetle. Townhall: The 'green jobs' scam unmasked According to a series of new reports, billions of dollars in “stimulus” money that was supposed to go toward creating “Green Jobs” here in America instead went to foreign-owned companies – who “created or saved” the vast majority of their jobs overseas. Obviously there is nothing wrong with America investing in foreign businesses, as protectionism is a recipe for disaster. SodaHead: Palin Channels Feinstein is this any different? California political scribes recalled, however, that now-senior Senator Dianne Feinstein pulled the same stunt during a crucial debate when she unsuccessfully ran for governor against Pete Wilson. NewsBusters: Rush Limbaugh's voice tested to kill beetle To combat such infestations, scientists thought up the "nastiest, most offensive sounds" they ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 12, 2010 Comments
After calling Republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's candidacy "a joke" and facing tough re-election odds in his home state of Rhode Island, Democratic Congressman Patrick "Patches" Kennedy tells his constituents he will not seek re-election for a ninth term. Perhaps the kitchen was getting too hot for Mr. Kennedy to handle, but do not expect such an admission in the video below.
by Kerry Picket — Published February 11, 2010 Comments
In the midst of weak polls numbers, the Obama administration is grabbing on to anything that will boost the image of a flailing presidency. Everyone from President Obama to Vice President Joe Biden to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs are more than willing to say the successes in Iraq are due to Obama administration policies without crediting the President Bush's foundational groundwork, like the surge (which Obama and Biden opposed) and setting up the military drawdown in Iraq with Prime Minister Maliki before he left the White House. The Fox News Channel details further the Obama administration's attempt to call any success in Iraq their own, while trashing the Bush administration in the process. It remains amusing that the White House will continue to repeat they "inherited" the Bush economy, when Obama's economic policies continue to fail, while embracing any victory in Iraq that rightfully belongs to the prior ...
by Anath Hartmann — Published February 11, 2010 Comments
*Updated To add to the list of outrageous earmarks in Obama's fiscal 2011 budget, it appears left-wing activist groups including ACORN, the embezzlement-prone, voter-registration-fraud-plagued community organizing group, are eligible to receive up to $3.99 billion in taxpayer-backed slush money. The funds would come indirectly from the Community Development Block Grant, one of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's longest-running programs. The grant money goes to state and local governments. ACORN and other groups can apply for part of it directly from a local municipality in which an arm of their group is active. "In that sense, ACORN gets lots of money from the CDBG program--but it is nearly impossible to track it because HUD doesn't track all the money" after it has gone to local and state governments, said Matthew Vadum, a senior editor at Capital Research Center. "Nobody knows how much ACORN, which has hundreds of different affiliates, has actually received over the years in CDBG funding." In the ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 11, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: ACORN asks for $$$$ to 'Help us keep the pressure on O'Keefe', Voters want Democrats to toss Obamacare bills and start all over, and Tunnel assault on girl sparks security debate. Patterico's Pontifications: ACORN asks for $$$$ to 'Help us keep the pressure on O'Keefe' How is giving money to ACORN going to help “keep the pressure on O’Keefe”? Is there a connection between ACORN and his criminal case that we should know about? Yid with Lid: Voters want Democrats to toss Obamacare bills and start all over 61% of U.S. voters say Congress should scrap that plan and start all over again only, 28% who think it is better to start with health care plan that has been working its way through the House and/or Senate. Seattle PI: Tunnel assault on girl sparks security debate King County Metro Transit will change ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 10, 2010 Comments
*Updated It looks like Marvel Comics' Captain America is throwing his mighty shield at the Tea Party Movement. Warner Todd Huston wrote on his Publius forum blog that the super-powered soldier who fought the Nazis in WWII observes with disdain Americans who are seemingly compared to Tea Party Movement protesters of today: In issue number 602 of Captain America, a new story line has begun called “Two Americas.” In it the current Captain (there have been a few of them, apparently) is on the trail of a faux Captain America that is mentally deranged and getting chummy with some white supremacist, anti-government, survivalists types going by the name of “the Watchdogs.” While investigating this subversive group, Captain America and his partner The Falcon — a black super hero — have decided to try and infiltrate the secretive organization. In preparation for the infiltration, Marvel Comics depicts the two super heroes out of costume ...
by Anath Hartmann — Published February 10, 2010 Comments
*Updated 2/12/10 To add to the list of outrageous earmarks in Obama's fiscal 2011 budget, it appears left-wing activist groups including ACORN, the embezzlement-prone, voter-registration-fraud-plagued community organizing group, are eligible to receive up to $3.99 billion in taxpayer-backed slush money. The funds would come indirectly from the Community Development Block Grant, one of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's longest-running programs. The grant money goes to state and local governments. ACORN and other groups can apply for part of it directly from a local municipality in which an arm of their group is active. "In that sense, ACORN gets lots of money from the CDBG program--but it is nearly impossible to track it because HUD doesn't track all the money" after it has gone to local and state governments, said Matthew Vadum, a senior editor at Capital Research Center. "Nobody knows how much ACORN, which has hundreds of different affiliates, has actually received over the years in CDBG funding." In ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 10, 2010 Comments
Here is something for the flat Earth global warming alarmists to ponder over. The Environmental Public Works Committee have cancelled a hearing on global warming due to the fact that Washington is experiencing blizzard number 2: EPW HEARINGS POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER UPDATE: The following Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearings have been postponed due to inclement weather this week: - The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife, will hold a hearing entitled, "Collaborative Solutions to Wildlife and Habitat Management." - The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing entitled, "Global Warming Impacts, Including Public Health, in the United States." Once the hearings are rescheduled, information will be posted at www.epw.senate.gov
by Kerry Picket — Published February 10, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: Specter admits it was a mistake to read X-Mas Day bomber his 'Miranda Rights', Green police aren't just in Super Bowl ads, and 63% Say better for country if most of Congress not reelected. Freedom's Lighthouse: Specter admits it was a mistake to read X-Mas Day bomber his 'Miranda Rights' Here is video of Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter admitting that Terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab shoud NOT have been read his "Miranda Rights" following his attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. American Thinker: Green police aren't just in Super Bowl ads Behavior modification will not be limited to busybody neighbors; the Climate Emergency Congress is an official government body that includes the mayor and the entire city council, with the support of seven former mayors. Its Proposal #1 is to create a Climate Emergency Response Board (CERB), a ...
