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Sal Ballarino, an appointee to the Staten Island the Education Department, sent out a popular liberal email containing photos of John McCain and Barack Obama at a debate with cartoon balloons above their heads where McCain says horrible racist things. At about the point that the NAACP got involved ol’ Sal seemed to lose his party affiliation. Since the cartoon paints the Republican candidate as a bitter racist crank I assume Ballarino is a Democrat.

'Gullibility' author says Madoff cost him money Associated Press - March 3, 2009 11:54 AM ET LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) - A University of Colorado psychiatry professor who wrote a book on gullibility has turned his financial losses in the Bernard Madoff scandal into professional gain.News of the scandal involving Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme broke just as Professor Stephen Greenspan's book the "Annals of Gullibility" was released in December.The book deals with gullibility in literature and folklore and how to prevent it. Rather than hide his $250,000 investment with Madoff, Greenspan wrote a lengthy essay about gullibility in...

In response to Attorney General Eric Holder's comments about reinstating the ban on so-called "assault weapons," the National Shooting Sports Foundation issued a press release reminding Congress and all Americans that such a ban would result in a loss of jobs, have no effect on reducing crime and would deprive millions of law-abiding sportsmen and gun owners of their Constitutional right to own the firearm of their choice...

Some years back, then-President Bush said that Rush Limbaugh is a "national treasure." Congressional Republicans seem to think it's A-okay for political officials to praise Mr. Limbaugh. It's just not okay for officials to even hint at criticizing anything said by the raucous radio entertainer who has spent years trying to disguise himself as a competent and truthful political analyst. Last weekend, during a speech at the so-called Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr. Limbaugh admitted that he hopes that President Obama's economic stimulus plans fail. Reportedly, a bunch of self-styled "conservatives" in the audience actually applauded. Yes, that is rather...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act targets investments towards key areas that will save or create good jobs immediately, while also laying the groundwork for long-term economic growth. The charts and numbers below give you an idea of where the money is going. Over the upcoming months, we will provide more information on the distribution of funding by Federal agencies. In order to give small businesses and Americans across the country a chance to apply for recovery dollars to create and save jobs, some funding may not be distributed until this summer. New information on the allocation of funds will...

U.S. stocks mostly edged higher on Tuesday after President Barack Obama said share prices are potentially a good deal at current levels, offsetting persistent U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration will evaluate potential costs to stabilize banks as more information becomes available, in testimony before a congressional panel. "Obama is trying to cheerlead, which is OK. I'd like to see what he bases his view on. It shows that at least he recognizes that something is going on," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.

A conservative radio host in cold Buffalo NY wrote this. Posted on his Web page. Love it.

The sheer hubris of Liberals is sometimes astonishing even to me and I have been talking about it for some considerable time folks. Yesterday White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs actually made the following statement in responding to Rush Limbaugh's expanded explanation of why he hopes Obama's plan for the economy fails: "I can only imagine what might have been said a few years ago if somebody might have said that on the other side relating to what was going on in this country or our endeavors overseas." Is this idiot trying to be funny? I can only imagine what...

The large mass that Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate during his May visit to Israel will be held in Nazareth, and not in Haifa, as had been proposed. Haaretz has learned that the Vatican made the decision last weekend following a visit by a Vatican delegation that met here with representatives of the two cities. The Christian historical associations with Nazareth tipped the scales in its favor despite some Vatican preference for Haifa. Israel was notified Sunday about the plans for the mass, which is expected to attract tens of thousands of worshipers, although a formal announcement of the pope's...

U.S. President Barack Obama waves alongside U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (C) and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood following Obama's remarks at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, March 3, 2009.

JERUSALEM (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised Tuesday to work with the incoming Israeli government, but delivered a clear message that could put her at odds with the country's next leader: Movement toward the establishment of a Palestinian state is "inescapable." Clinton also said the U.S. would soon send two envoys to Syria. It was the most significant sign yet that the Obama administration is ready to mend relations with the Damascus regime. The U.S. withdrew its ambassador in 2005, accusing Syria of supporting terrorism.

WASHINGTON — A 300-million-year-old fossilized brain has been discovered by researchers studying a type of fish that once lived in what is now Kansas and Oklahoma. "Fossilized brains are unusual, and this is by far the oldest known example," said John Maisey, curator in the division of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "Soft tissue has fossilized in the past, but it is usually muscle and organs like kidneys," Maisey said in a statement.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Society of St. Pius X, has told Der Spiegel that he would exclude Bishop Williamson from the Society if he denies the Holocaust again. “It is probably better for everyone if he stays quiet and stays in a corner somewhere. I want him to disappear from the public eye for a good while.” Bishop Fellay nonetheless called Bishop Williamson’s apology last week for the scandal caused by his words “definitely a first plea for forgiveness and, therefore, an important step in the right direction. One can always hope for better phrasing. At least the...

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh rejected reports that he is rooting for the failure of President Obama on his syndicated radio program Tuesday. Instead, he suggested that President Obama stands to gain from an economic failure. “I am an average citizen…I have a microphone,” Mr. Limbaugh said. He argued that he has been financially fortuitous in his life and asked why he would want to see the economy fail and his capital shrink. Mr. Limbaugh also responded to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s comment on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday that Limbaugh “is the voice and the intellectual...

March 3, 2009Confused by Obama's planned obliteration of USA?By Sher Zieve Fearless Leader Obama is on a purposeful and unapologetic mission to destroy the United States of America. I have written myriad articles on this subject — both before and after the election of Barack Hussein Obama to POTUS (a position for which he still appears to be Constitutionally unqualified) — which are backed up by almost voluminous references. Prior to the 2008 general election, I even asked "Is the USA Ready for an American Stalin?" Chillingly, the answer appears to be 'yes.' Since Obama and his followers seized the...

WASHINGTON - Two days after calling conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh a mere "entertainer" with an "incendiary" talk show, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele apologized and acknowledged him as a "national conservative leader." "To the extent that my remarks helped the Democrats in Washington to take the focus, even for one minute, off of their irresponsible expansion of government, I truly apologize," Steele said late Monday. Steele's statement capped a remarkable weekend of awkward sparring between Republican officials and Limbaugh, who has repeatedly voiced his desire that President Barack Obama's economic policies fail.

Republicans search for path out of wilderness Tue Mar 3, 2009 1:56pm EST By Steve Holland - Analysis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans who have long dominated American politics find themselves fighting with each other for a way out of the wilderness after losing the last two elections to Barack Obama's Democrats. A feud between conservative talk radio king Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans' new national party chairman, Michael Steele, is emblematic of the distance the party has to go to achieve dominance once again. Laughing from the sidelines are President Obama's White House and the Democratic Party, eager to...

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to preserve thousands of earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill, brushing aside Sen. John McCain's claim that President Barack Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship. McCain's attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator's proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and would have kept spending at last year's levels in several federal agencies. Last year's Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama said during the campaign to "stop...

Last week, what the Washington Post characterized as a “terse posting on a federal Web site” set the stage for a debate on just how seriously our society takes freedom of conscience. The posting announced that the Obama administration was planning to rescind “job protections for health workers who refuse to provide care they find objectionable.” These explicit protections were issued in the last few months of the Bush administration. Under the current provisions, health care providers can lose federal funds if they don’t accommodate health-care workers “who refuse to participate in care they feel violates their . . ....

A keynote speaker at the upcoming International Conference on Climate Change says carbon dioxide would have to be a miracle compound in order to have any significant global climate impact. John Coleman has more than 50 years' experience forecasting the weather. He is also one of the 70+ featured scientists who will be attending the 2009 International Conference on Climate Change in New York City March 8-10. As the Obama administration mulls carbon cap-and-trade, Coleman had this to say about CO2. "CO2? It's a great positive," he states. "Without carbon dioxide in the atmosphere we'd all die because everything we...