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George Bush Potty Note Makes a Spash in the MSM
U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s vision of freedom from want, persecution and war. REUTERS/Rick WilkingReuters Explains Photo Of Bush Bathroom Note here.
Online, some accused Reuters, and the media in general, of being insulting or juvenile. A letter writer to Editor & Publisher wrote, “You ought to all be ashamed of yourselves for this stupid trivia and childish focus.”
It’s unclear how widely the picture was published; Hershorn says The (Toronto) Globe and Mail published it but he wasn’t sure of any other outlets. Hershorn says he decided to transmit the picture because it was interesting.
“There was no malicious intent,” he says. “That’s not what we do.”
These guys in the MSM are just morons.
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George Galloway Watch: Coming to Los Angeles – REMINDER
UPDATE and REMINDER:
If you are interested in this peaceful protest please e-mail Flap or Patterico.
Patterico has Galloway on Tour.
Saddam supporter George Galloway is going on tour, and will be making a stop in Los Angeles on September 22. (Here is some background on Galloway generally, and here is some background information from Clint Taylor on some of Galloway’s apparent lies to Congress.) I am considering going — to heckle, hand out leaflets, ask embarrassing questions, and/or generally make a stink. Anyone else interested?
P.S. Armed Liberal is interested in handing out leaflets. He says the crowd will be thick with Hollywood types. Jane Fonda might speak, and so might Sean Penn — fresh off his heroic rescue efforts with his personal photographer and his tiny, leaking boat.
This guy is a real MORON.
Flap will be there to protest this SCUM.
If anyone else wants to go…….e-mail Flap or Patterico.
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, September 22, 7pm
George Galloway, MP, speaking with
Michel Shehadeh, LA 8, National Council of Arab Americans
Pablo Paredes, US Navy petty officer who refused to ship out to Iraq, served 3 months hard-labor for his anti-war stand
Immanuel Presbyterian Church
3300 Wilshire Blvd.
Contact GallowayTourLA@yahoo.com, nca-la@arab-american.net, or 310-404-1739 for more info
Co-Sponsored locally by: KPFK 90.7, US Labor Against War (LA); Mexican-American Political Association (MAPA); Addicted to War-Frank Dorrell; ANSWER LA; Coalition Against Militarism in our Schools (CAMS)
Tickets are $12, available througn:- Online from www.ticketweb.com
- Via phone: 1-866-468-3399
- At the door
Technorati Tags: George Galloway, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn
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NHS Dentistry Watch: Do It Yourself Extraction
The United Kingdon’s socialized National Health Service gets the Dental Moron of the Day award.
Prestontoday.net has An unpleasant tooth.
A desperate grandfather tore a rotten tooth out of his own mouth with a pair of pliers after failing to get an appointment at his dental surgery.
Peter Atkinson was in so much agony he drank half a bottle of whisky to numb the pain before wrenching out the molar in his garden shed.
The 62-year-old businessman had tried repeatedly to get an appointment at his dentist with no luck … and when he asked for the emergency dentist’s number he was told it would not be given out until the surgery closed.
But he says his toothache was intolerable. He could not take the pain and in desperation dug out his toolbox. Today he criticised the chronic shortage of NHS dental appointments.
He said: “I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t eat, so I rang up my local dentist. He is a good guy, but he is snowed under and said I would have to wait until September 20 to be seen. I couldn’t manage with paracetamols.
“When I rang again the receptionist and she said she couldn’t do anything for me and that I would have to wait. I was in agony and told my wife Barbara I couldn’t cope with it. She was horrified when I told her my intentions. She begged me not to tear it out and said she would ring the emergency dentist.”
But the couple, who live on Lavender Way, Preesall, were told the staff were not allowed to give out the emergency dentist’s number until they had closed, because it is an out-of-hours service.
Peter, who runs a toy shop in Knott End, said: “I drank half a bottle of whisky and went down to my shed. I felt no pain at all and it barely bled. The tooth had worn away so much it was like a shark’s tooth.”What a bureaucratic nightmare.
Couldn’t the local dentist make room for an emergency appointment or was it that the patient was on the National Health Service (NHS) and he would be paid whether he sees him or not or paid less?
There seem to be a good number of these type of horror stories about the NHS coming out of Britain lately.
Technorati Tags: dentist, dentistry, dental, tooth, NHS, National Health Service
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George Galloway Watch: Coming to Los Angeles
Patterico has Galloway on Tour.
Saddam supporter George Galloway is going on tour, and will be making a stop in Los Angeles on September 22. (Here is some background on Galloway generally, and here is some background information from Clint Taylor on some of Galloway’s apparent lies to Congress.) I am considering going — to heckle, hand out leaflets, ask embarrassing questions, and/or generally make a stink. Anyone else interested?
P.S. Armed Liberal is interested in handing out leaflets. He says the crowd will be thick with Hollywood types. Jane Fonda might speak, and so might Sean Penn — fresh off his heroic rescue efforts with his personal photographer and his tiny, leaking boat.
This guy is a real MORON.
Flap will be there to protest this SCUM.
If anyone else wants to go…….e-mail Flap or Patterico.
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, September 22, 7pm
George Galloway, MP, speaking with
Michel Shehadeh, LA 8, National Council of Arab Americans
Pablo Paredes, US Navy petty officer who refused to ship out to Iraq, served 3 months hard-labor for his anti-war stand
Immanuel Presbyterian Church
3300 Wilshire Blvd.
Contact GallowayTourLA@yahoo.com, nca-la@arab-american.net, or 310-404-1739 for more info
Co-Sponsored locally by: KPFK 90.7, US Labor Against War (LA); Mexican-American Political Association (MAPA); Addicted to War-Frank Dorrell; ANSWER LA; Coalition Against Militarism in our Schools (CAMS)
Tickets are $12, available througn:- Online from www.ticketweb.com
- Via phone: 1-866-468-3399
- At the door
Technorati Tags: George Galloway, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn
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Cindy Sheehan Watch: Criticises California Senator Feinstein on War
raq war protester Cindy Sheehan (R) speaks to the media outside the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein in San Francisco, California, September 9, 2005. Sheehan, who says her focus now will be Congress, met with staff of Senator Feinstein to discuss the war in Iraq.The ASSociated Press has Sheehan criticizes Feinstein on war.
Cindy Sheehan, who led anti-war protests at President Bush’s Texas ranch last month, criticized Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s refusal to support an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.
The Vacaville mother, whose 24-year-old soldier son was killed last year in Iraq, brought her anti-war campaign to San Francisco, where she met with the California senator’s state director before speaking to supporters and reporters Friday.
”If she is a strong leader, and if she’s strong about bringing the troops home, we will support her,” Sheehan said. ”If she is not, we will withdraw our support from her.”
She said Feinstein’s reasons for supporting the occupation in Iraq were ”very bogus.”
Ok and Senator Feinstein what are your policy disagreements with President Bush and the Bush Administration?
The Democratic senator was in Washington, D.C., on Friday, but would be willing to meet with Sheehan if asked, said Feinstein spokesman Howard Gantman.
Feinstein ”has had major disagreements with the way the war has been carried out” but believes immediate withdrawal ”would lead to civil war,” Gantman said.
And DiFi what are your SPECIFIC major policy disagreements? Would you please articulate these for the voters of California.
Remember, when Sheehan was in Crawford, Texas, not one mainstream Democrat politician supported her.
Even Howard Dean, Democrat National Chairman, who ran as an anti-Iraq War presidential candidate last year did not come to her support – in any way.
Is it because Sheehan is exposing the Emperor Wearing NO Clothes?
Or is it the Democrats have no policy disagreements with the President……just moronic noise to help win elections?
Technorati Tags: Cindy Sheehan, Dianne Feinstein, President Bush, Howard Dean
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Guilty Pleas in Wendy’s Finger in Chili Case
The ASSociated Press has Couple Plead Guilty in Wendy’s Finger Case.
A Nevada couple pleaded guilty Friday to all charges related to planting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili in a scheme to extort money from the fast food restaurant chain.
Anna Ayala, 39, and Jaime Placencia, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to file a false claim and attempted grand theft in a scheme that the Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s International Inc. claimed cost it $2.5 million in lost sales because of bad publicity.
What a Moron!
Ayala faces up to nearly 10 years in state prison when sentenced Nov. 2. Her husband faces up to 13 years behind bars.
Anna Ayala smiles at her daughter and sister in a San Jose, Calif., courtroom, Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 before she pleaded guilty of all charges related to planting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili. Ayala and her husband, Jaime Placencia, both pleaded guilty on Friday to conspire to file a false claim and attempting grand theft from the fast food restaurant chain.Related:
What Wendy’s Learned in Finger Flap
Police Say They Know Source of Finger Found in Chili
Woman in Wendy’s finger case eager to face charges
Line at San Jose Wendy’s is Now Out the Door
San Jose Wendy’s Fans Not Knuckling Under to Finger Fiasco
Police Finger Woman and Say Wendy’s Finger a HOAX
Wendy’s Finger Finder Pinched
Technorati Tags: Wendy’s, Wendy’s Chili, Anna Ayala, moron
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Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Gets Hammered by the Feds
After rejecting a plea deal earlier this year, original “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch was named today in a 10-count indictment charging him with tax evasion and fraudulently using charitable donations to cover personal expenses. According to the indictment, a copy of which you’ll find below, Hatch never bothered to report his 2000-01 haul for winning the initial installment of the CBS reality series–a $1 million check and a $27,000 Pontiac.
From the CBS Survivor website:
I’m speechless. It’s life changing, it’s literally life changing for me. Mentally I’m beyond exhausted, but I’m beyond elated as well right now, so much so I’m shaken. There will be more emotion when I have my wits about me and I realize what really just happened.
I really feel that I earned where I am. The first hour on the island I stepped into my strategy and thought, “I’m going to focus on how to establish an alliance with four people early on.” I spend a lot of time thinking about who people are and why they interact the way they do, and I didn’t want to just hurt people’s feelings or do this and toss that one out. I wanted this to be planned and I wanted it to be based on what I needed to do to win the game.
I don’t feel I was diabolical. There were ethics in this game. There was morality and I think that is a big part of why I won. I don’t regret anything I’ve done or said to them and I wouldn’t change a thing.
What a MORON!
Technorati Tags: Richard Hatch, Survivor
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Sandy Berger Fined for Illegaly Taking Classified Documents
USA Today has Berger to pay $50,000 for taking classified material.
A judge on Thursday ordered Sandy Berger, President Clinton’s national security adviser, to pay a $50,000 fine for illegally taking classified documents from the National Archives.
The punishment handed down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson exceeded the $10,000 fine recommended by government lawyers. Under the deal, Berger avoids prison time but he must surrender access to classified government materials for three years.
“The court finds the fine is inadequate because it doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the offense,” Robinson said, as a grim-faced Berger stood silently.
Earlier in the hearing, Berger expressed remorse for his crime, which he described as a lapse of judgment that came while he was preparing to testify before the Sept. 11 commission.
“I let considerations of personal convenience override clear rules of handling classified material,” Berger said. “I believe this lapse, serious as it is, does not reflect the character of myself.”
“In this case, I failed. I will not again,” he said.
The sentencing capped a bizarre sequence of events in which Berger admitted to sneaking classified documents out of the Archives in his suit, later destroying some of them in his office and then lying about it.
After initially saying it was an “honest mistake,” Berger pleaded guilty in April to a misdemeanor of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, which contained information relating to terror threats in the United States during the 2000 millennium celebration.
Moron of the Week.
And this guy was National Security Advisor under Clinton?
Baldilocks has Chump Change
and previous links:
What the Burglar’s Up To
Berger Begs
Asking the Experts?
More on BergerTechnorati Tags: Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton, moron, liberal moron
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Air America Radio Scandal: Gloria Wise Receives Their Money BACK
The New York Sun has Air America Wires $825,000 To Club in Bronx.
Air America Radio, the liberal network that in 2003-04 received $875,000 in transfers from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, announced last night that it had wired $825,000 into an attorney-controlled escrow account for the Bronx nonprofit group. It had previously sent $50,000 to the club.
The transfers to Air America, which a former official of Gloria Wise described as interest-free loans, is part of a probe by the city’s Department of Investigation and the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, into what officials termed “inappropriate transactions” by Gloria Wise. In a statement issued yesterday, Air America said the network would release the account to Gloria Wise when the city agency “completes its work and authorizes payment.”
Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club Beacon 113 of Bronx, New York, kicked off their inaugural Jr. NBA/Jr.WNBA basketball seasonThe New York Post Online Edition has AIR AMERICA ADJUSTS $TATIC
Air America has agreed to put the entire $875,000 it received from a Bronx-based Boys & Girls Club into an escrow account while the controversial loan is investigated by the city, the network’s bosses announced yesterday.
The owner of the left-leaning radio network had previously agreed to repay the money in installments.
Last month it made the first down payment into an escrow account controlled by the station’s lawyer, rather than directly to the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, a nonprofit social-services organization.
The city’s Depart of Investigation, which is scrutinizing the bizarre loan, wanted all the money in escrow until it end its probe and authorizes payment.
Yesterday Danny Goldberg, CEO of Air America, announced that the board of directors of the network’s owner had accelerated its payment schedule and deposited the full $875,000 into the escrow account.
The city yanked $9.7 million in government contracts from the club earlier this year as it launched an investigation of its finances and whether club officials falsified documents.
State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is also investigating the Air America-Gloria Wise connection.
The escrow move comes as it was disclosed yesterday that Air America’s star, Al Franken, signed an agreement last year to repay the entire loan.
The comedian and liberal commentator said last month he didn’t know of the loan until late July, adding Air America’s decision to repay it was a “moral obligation.”
But it was reported yesterday that Franken and Air America’s former chairman, Evan Montvel Cohen, were among the signers of a confidential agreement in November 2004 in which Air America agreed to repay the Gloria Wise loan.
Cohen said no one at the network knew of the money transfers from Gloria Wise when they happened, apparently between October 2003 and March 2004.
So. it is revealed that Al Franken has been complicit in this scandal, is a LIAR about his participation and all of a sudden the poor kids in the Bronx get their money back.
WOW! What a coincidence!
Michelle Malkin who has owned this story from the beginning has AIR AMERICA SCRAMBLES.
The New York Times has had no coverage of the liberal financial scandal in their backyard since its botched August 12 article, which misquoted Al Franken and attributed the quote to a city Department of Investigation transcript that the department says does not exist. The New York Daily News has not mentioned the controversy since August 11. Still no WaPo.
The Sun’s Lombino, who continues to make headway in the MSM, includes a quote from Air America’s CEO, Danny Goldberg regarding Al Franken’s signature on the Settlement Agreement featured in our and Lombino’s reports:
Yesterday, Air America’s CEO, Danny Goldberg, defended Mr. Franken. He said Mr. Franken’s role in the agreement “was simply to waive his own claims in order to facilitate the transaction and allow the network to survive under new ownership.”
Mr. Goldberg said the portion of the agreement that listed the Gloria Wise claim of $875,000 did not apply to Mr. Franken, who was not an investor.
“Al Franken does not have and never had any responsibility for this loan,” Mr. Goldberg said in a written statement. “His role at Air America was then and remains today as on-air talent.”
The “just the talent” line doesn’t wash. Franken was and is the public face of Air America, and by November 2004, he was well aware that previous owners Evan Cohen and Rex Sorensen had been involved in financial shenanigans that deserved nothing less than eagle-eyed scrutiny.
In case Franken needs reminding, he was the subject of a June 2004 page 1 Wall Street Journal article detailing the mess–an article that ends with Franken expressing “some gratitude” to Cohen for getting him and the network on the air despite Cohen’s exaggerations.
In case Franken needs reminding, HBO broadcast a full-length documentary on said troubles.
Some Franken defenders say it’s unfair to expect him to have read the November 2004 settlement agreement and paid attention to the copious debts and liabilities racked up under Cohen and Sorensen.
If Franken wants to continue arguing he was a fool who passed the buck to his lawyer, Minnesota Republicans won’t stop him. And neither will we.
Flap wonders if the federal and state authorities will be as forgiving as the New York Times and the MSM on Franken et. al.?
Will indictments be forthcoming for this blatant theft of public monies or will the entire scandal be swept under the rug since Gloria Wise received their money back?
Michelle Malkin suggests additional restitution be paid to Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club:
Neither Goldberg nor Franken addressed the unsubstantiated insinuations and misstatements Franken made on the air about Evan Cohen and Gloria Wise, which we documented here yesterday.
Several lawyers raise a question about whether the settlement agreement included a direct or indirect obligation to pay back the Gloria Wise loan. This is a focus of the ongoing legal dispute between Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. and Air America. (See here and here.)
As for Franken, since he has expressed a “moral obligation” to do right by Gloria Wise, may we suggest perhaps a donation of some of the proceeds from his next book, The Truth (With Jokes), sure to be a New York Times best-seller, to the inner city charity and its underprivileged clients?
How about it Al?
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Cindy Sheehan Watch: Still Unfavorable in the Polls
Rasmussen Reports has Cindy Sheehan: 31% Favorable 39% Unfavorable
September 6, 2005–Americans today have a slightly less favorable opinion of Cindy Sheehan than they did a few weeks ago. Today, the grieving mother who maintained an anti-War protest outside of President Bush’s ranch, is viewed favorably by 31% of Americans. That’s down from 35% in mid-August.
Thirty-nine percent (39%) now have an unfavorable view, little changed from 38% in the earlier survey.
Sheehan’s numbers are a bit more positive than Michael Moore’s ratings (23% favorable) and roughly comparable to Senator Ted Kennedy (32% favorable). However, as an elected official with very high name recognition, more people have an unfavorable opinion of Kennedy than Sheehan.
Survey of 1,000 Adults
August 31- Sept 1, 2005
Cindy Sheehan
Favorable 31% Unfavorable 39%
Following Sheehan Story
Very Closely 22% Somewhat Closely 32% Not Very Closely 28% Not At All 16% Indeed.
Technorati Tags: Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy
