25 July 2011, Mon, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Where We Stand: What Speaker Boehner Told Me This Morning
Obama cracks up as Boehner simply refuses to fold.

--The Boehner Plan Explained
The Speaker's plan is the only one that's left, folks.

--What's Happening Now Isn't Funny
Four more years of Obama ends country as we know it.

--They Lie! Almost No Temperature Records Were Broken Last Week
The "record-breaking" heat wave was a media myth.
NB: Only 0.4% of Heat Records Broken

--The Grand Emasculation
The president is the odd man out of the debt talks.

--Phony Polls Can't Change Facts: Obama and Democrats are Losing
Journalists misrepresent, misreport their own polls.

--Did Dingy Harry Stand Up to Bam?
Caller credits Sen. Reid with stopping the Prez.

--Sorry, Mr. President, Americans Don't Believe in "Shared Sacrifice"
Obama's ranting and raving out there -- and he's wrong.

--Democrats Lose White Voters
Once you've gone Barack, can you ever go back
The Hill: GOP Gains Big with White Voters

--Carl, a Brainwashed 24 Year Old
Caller spouts the mantras he's been taught by the left.

--See, I Told You So: NFL Will Play
There was never any way they would miss a season.

--Your Social Security Check Will Go Out Unless Obama Orders It Not To
A scared seasoned citizens is deputized to spread truth.

____________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

25 July 2011, Mon, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2011/07/169024.htm
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:
Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel in Hong Kong and China. She is accompanied by Under Secretary Hormats, Assistant Secretary Campbell, Assistant Secretary Shapiro and Director Sullivan.

9:30 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, in Hong Kong.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY)

10:30 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Hong Kong Legislative Council leaders, in Hong Kong.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY)

11:05 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with the staff and families of Consulate Hong Kong, in Hong Kong.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton delivers remarks on “Principles for Prosperity in the Asia Pacific” to Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, in China.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY)

DEPUTY SECRETARY THOMAS NIDES:
10:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Israeli Ambassador Oren, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides officiates the swearing-in ceremony for Ambassador-designate to the UAE Michael Corbin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WILLIAM J. BURNS:
9:30 a.m. Under Secretary Burns meets with Mexican Under Secretary Maria Lourdes Aranda, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Under Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

4:00 p.m. Under Secretary Burns officiates the swearing in ceremony for Ambassador-designate Michael Corbin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AMBASSADOR CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL:
2:00 p.m. Ambassador Marshall hosts a farewell reception in honor of the Ambassador of the Republic of Angola, Josefina Pitra Diakite.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE:
10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Blake delivers remarks at the U.S.-India Consular Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Blake briefs the think tank community on the outcomes from the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake co-hosts lunch for the U.S.-India Consular Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD:
2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brownfield meets with Defense Deputy Assistant Secretary William Wechsler, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brownfield meets with Ambassador Michael McKinley, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL:
Assistant Secretary Campbell accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel. Click here for more information.

AS FOR ECONOMIC, ENERGY AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ:
3:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with Czech Ambassador Petr Gandalovic, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR CONSULAR AFFAIRS JANICE L. JACOBS:
Assistant Secretary Jacobs meets with Indian Ambassador Basant Kumar Gupta, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS ANDREW SHAPIRO:
Assistant Secretary Shapiro is on foreign travel in Hong Kong to discuss counter-piracy efforts with government officials and industry representatives.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER:
10:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with finalists of the National History Day competition, a group of middle school girls recognized for their documentary work on child marriage in India, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JACOB SULLIVAN:
Director Sullivan accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel. Click here for more information.

PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE:
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing.

___________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

25 July 2011, Mon, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:30 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:00 am The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:50 pm The President delivers remarks at the National Council of La Raza at their annual conference luncheon
Marriot Wardman Park Hotel
Travel Pool Coverage

4:00 pm The President welcomes the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants to honor the team and their 2010 World Series victory
East Room
Open Press
Pre-Set 3:00PM—Final Gather 3:30PM—North Doors of the Palm Room

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
7:15 pm The Vice President attends a DNC event
DC, St. Regis Hotel in Washington

______
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Media demonizes airline industry

There's a news article at Yahoo Finance today... federal taxes on airline tickets - averaging $25 per ticket, have expired, because Congress didn't pass a measure to keep the FAA running.

This is what the author of the piece had to say:

DALLAS (AP) -- Airlines are tossing consumers aside and grabbing the benefit of lower federal taxes on travel tickets.

By Saturday night, nearly all the major U.S. airlines had raised fares to offset taxes that expired the night before.

That means instead of passing along the savings, the airlines are pocketing the money while customers pay the same amount as before.

American, United, Continental, Delta, US Airways, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue all raised fares, although details sometimes differed. Most of the increases were around 7.5 percent.

For consumers who wanted to shop around, only a few airlines were still passing the tax break on to passengers Saturday night, including Virgin America, Frontier Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

The expiring taxes can total $25 or more on a typical $300 round-trip ticket. They died after midnight Friday night when Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running.

That gave airlines a choice: They could do nothing -- and pass the savings to customers -- or grab some of the money themselves.

"We adjusted prices so the bottom-line price of a ticket remains the same as it was before ... expiration of federal excise taxes," said American spokesman Tim Smith. US Airways spokesman John McDonald said much the same thing -- passengers will pay the same amount for a ticket as they did before the taxes expired.

Are airlines greedy bastards, or are they desperately trying to maximize their revenue. The cost of aviation fuel is exorbitant - you think gas prices for cars are out of site, avgas prices are much higher.

So they're trying to take advantage of a windfall which, properly managed, may give them breathing space without having to declare bankruptcy in the near future because htey already have their ticket costs pared to the bone.

There's another factor... well, I don't know if this is a factor or not, but how do the airline companies know that, when the guvmint gets its girdle in gear and gets those taxes reinstated, they aren't going to make them retroactive, so that the few airlines that dropped their prices won't immediately have to pony up the money that they didn't bother to collect in taxes?

I would still collect that money, and put it in the tax payment fund, just to be on the safe side.

_______________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Daily poll: Do you believe 'real-feel' temperature index is a government plot to promulgate global warming?

Rush in the News: an op ed piece rather than news, seems like

From New Jersey.com: Daily poll: Do you believe 'real-feel' temperature index is a government plot to promulgate global warming?

Although he's not a noted meteorologist, Rush Limbaugh weighed in one the "heat versus 'real-feel' heat index" argument the other day. As one might expected, the conservative broadcaster called the heat index a bunch of malarkey.

In fact, he said, it's a plot by President Obama to promote the theory that there is such as thing as global warming and we need to do something about it.

While many people disagree with Limbaugh on plenty of topics, we have to agree that he knows plenty about hot air.

From his radio show:

"I figure, well, if it's gonna hit 116 degrees in Washington they certainly will have the news. And, lo and behold, they did. Here's the headline: "Shock Forecast: NOAA Predicts Heat Index of 116 in Washington Friday." Not temperature. So the arbitrary, "You're gonna feel like it's 116," but let me ask you, how many of you were anywhere where it was 116 in the last few years, months, to know what 116 feels like?"

While most would agree that humidity and other factors, such as wind conditions, play a role in how hot it feels, Limbaugh does have a point. As for a government conspiracy, that seems a little far-fetched. But then again, don't all conspiracies?

__________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Rush in the news: Limbaugh Defends West in Feud With Wasserman Schultz

NewsMax.com: Limbaugh Defends West in Feud With Wasserman Schultz

Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh berated Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., for her accusations of sexism in the feud between her and her Republican counterpart in a neighboring Florida district, Rep. Allen West.

“Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz is deranged, folks,” Limbaugh said. “She is typical of today’s American left. They are deranged. We face a delusional enemy.”

Limbaugh said Wasserman Schultz defied House floor decorum during a legislative debate when she called out West for his proposed Medicare cuts. West responded with a fiery email to the lawmaker that called her “vile, unprofessional and despicable,” told her to “shut the heck up,” and said she was “not a lady.” The email has been widely circulated, and both sides are using the volleys to raise money.

“So what did [Wasserman Schultz] do? She ran like a little crybaby to all these other left wing women of the Democrat party to help her out, and they start returning fire that West is the racist and West is the sexist and so forth,” Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh discounted the accusations of Wasserman Schultz and her supporters that West’s comments were sexist, and even went so far as to define feminism as a singular liberal cause that exists solely to defend legal abortion.

“I don’t think they’re to be taken seriously,” he said. “They are liberals. Their concern for womenhood is really a concern for liberalism. We all know that. Feminism is not really about women’s rights. It’s about the sacrament to the religion of liberalism, which is abortion.”

______
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Latest Report: Oslo Assassin was Right Wing Extremist

Anders Behring Breivik from his Facebook Page

From The New York Times: At Least 80 Are Dead in Norway Shooting

OSLO —Norway suffered a pair of devastating attacks on Friday when powerful explosions shook the government center here, killing seven people, and shortly after a gunman stalked youths at an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party, killing at least 80.

The police arrested a Norwegian man in connection with both attacks, the deadliest on Norwegian soil since World War II.

The explosions in Oslo, from one or more bombs, turned the tidy Scandinavian capital into a scene reminiscent of terrorist attacks in Baghdad or Oklahoma City, panicking people and blowing out windows of several government buildings, including one housing the office of the Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who was unharmed.

The state television broadcaster, citing the police, said seven people had been killed and at least 15 wounded in the explosions, which they said appeared to be an act of domestic terrorism.

Even as the police locked down a large area of the city after the blasts, a man dressed as a police officer entered the youth camp on the island of Utoya, about 19 miles northwest of Oslo, a Norwegian security official said, and opened fire. “He said it was a routine check in connection with the terror attack in Oslo,” one witness told VG Nett, the Web site of a national newspaper.

Of the at least 80 people killed on the island, some were as young as 16, the police said on national television early Saturday.

Terrified youths jumped into the water to escape. “Kids have started to swim in a panic, and Utoya is far from the mainland,” said Bjorn Jarle Roberg-Larsen, a Labor Party member who spoke by phone with teenagers on the island, which has no bridge to the mainland. “Others are hiding. Those I spoke with don’t want to talk more. They’re scared to death.”

Many could not flee in time.

“He first shot people on the island,” a 15-year-old camper named Elise told The Associated Press. “Afterward he started shooting people in the water.”

After the shooting the police seized a 32-year-old Norwegian man on the island, according to the police and Justice Minister Knut Storberget. He was later identified as Anders Behring Breivik and characterized by officials as a right-wing extremist, citing previous writings including on his Facebook page.

The acting chief of police, Sveinung Sponheim, said Mr. Breivik, who is not known to have any ties to Islamic extremists, had also been seen in Oslo before the explosions. The police and other authorities declined to say what the suspect’s motivations might have been, but many speculated that the target was Mr. Stoltenberg’s liberal government.

“The police have every reason to believe there is a connection between the explosions and what happened at Utoya,” the police said. They said they later recovered explosives on the island.

Mr. Breivik had registered a farm-related business in Rena, in eastern Norway, which the authorities said allowed him to order a large quantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an ingredient that can be used to make explosives. Authorities were investigating whether the chemical may have been used in the bombing.

A Facebook page matching his name and the photo given out by the police was set up just a few days ago. It listed his religion as Christian, politics as conservative. It said he enjoys hunting, the video games World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare 2, and books including Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and George Orwell’s “1984.”

As the investigations continued, the police asked people to leave the center of Oslo, stay indoors and limit their cellphone use. They also said they would initiate border checks.

The attacks bewildered a nation better known for its active diplomacy and peacekeeping missions than as a target for extremists.

In Oslo, office workers and civil servants said that at least two blasts, which ripped through the cluster of modern office buildings around the central Einar Gerhardsen plaza, echoed across the city in quick succession around 3:20 p.m. local time. Giant clouds of light-colored smoke rose hundreds of feet as a fire burned in one of the damaged structures, a six-story office building that houses the Oil Ministry.

The force of the explosions blew out nearly every window in the 17-story office building across the street from the Oil Ministry, and the streets on each side were strewn with glass and debris. The police combed through the debris in search of clues.

Mr. Stoltenberg’s office is on the 16th floor in a towering rectangular block whose facade and lower floors were damaged. The Justice Ministry also has its offices in the building.

Norwegian authorities said they believed that a number of tourists were in the central district at the time of the explosion, and that the toll would surely have been higher if not for the fact that many Norwegians were on vacation and many more had left their offices early for the weekend.

“Luckily, it’s very empty,” said Stale Sandberg, who works in a government agency a few blocks down the street from the prime minister’s office.

After the explosions, the city filled with an unfamiliar sense of vulnerability. “We heard two loud bangs and then we saw this yellow smoke coming from the government buildings,” said Jeppe Bucher, 18, who works on a ferry boat less than a mile from the bomb site. “There was construction around there, so we thought it was a building being torn down.”

He added, “Of course I’m scared, because Norway is such a neutral country.”

American counterterrorism officials cautioned that Norway’s own homegrown extremists, with unknown grievances, could be responsible for the attacks.

Initial reports focused on the possibility of Islamic militants, in particular Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or Helpers of the Global Jihad, cited by some analysts as claiming responsibility for the attacks. American officials said the group was previously unknown and might not even exist.

There was ample reason for concern that terrorists might be responsible. In 2004 and again in 2008, the No. 2 leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over after the death of Osama bin Laden, threatened Norway because of its support of the American-led NATO military operation in Afghanistan.

Norway has about 550 soldiers and three medevac helicopters in northern Afghanistan, a Norwegian defense official said. The government has indicated that it will continue to support the operations as long as the alliance needs partners on the ground.

Terrorism specialists said that even if the authorities ultimately ruled out Islamic terrorism as the cause of Friday’s assaults, other kinds of groups or individuals were mimicking Al Qaeda’s brutality and multiple attacks.

“If it does turn out to be someone with more political motivations, it shows these groups are learning from what they see from Al Qaeda,” said Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism researcher at the New America Foundation in Washington. “One lesson I take away from this is that attacks, especially in the West, are going to move to automatic weapons.”

Muslim leaders in Norway swiftly condemned the attacks. “This is our homeland, this is my homeland,” said Mehtab Afsar, secretary general of the Islamic Council of Norway. “I condemn these attacks, and the Islamic Council of Norway condemns these attacks, whoever is behind them.”

_____________________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.