Philippine Trip pics...

(TOP)Philippine politics at it's best. The government spent billions of pesos to build a bridge that will save five minutes. The sad thing is that only about 1% of the population of Leyte will actually drive over the bridge. (ABOVE)This pictures was taken on the island of Mindanao. The motorcycle is called a "skycab". I'd like to take our fearless leader Mr Obama for a ride on one of these "skycab's".

(TOP)Part of my parents land in Dagami. (ABOVE)My brother's relative in Caragara. He raises roosters. The unofficial past time of the Philippines is "cock fighting" or "sabong".

(TOP)My mother in law is building a very BIG house in Cabadbaran. (ABOVE)My son PJ and Auntie Ansing.

(TOP)The fiesta at my parents house in Dagami. (ABOVE)We visited the MacArthur statue in Tacloban.

Back from vacation!!!

I got back from a vacation from the Philippines. It was my parents turn to host a fiesta in their baranguay(barrio). I had a blast and was entirely happy, because I didn't see the Supreme Leaders face everyday, the Obama. He sure has grabbed a lot more power for the federal government in the 3 weeks I was gone. Now gas is up to $3 a gallon in California and for some reason the MSM is silent. I wonder why??? They've just drank the Obama kool-aid and like to pretend that everything is honkidori. I'll be sharing some photos pretty soon and next I'm going to vent like crazy. Small kids and older persons should leave the room if they don't like cussing.

Isn't she lovely???

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Wanda Sykes sees the humor of 9/11; White House not

Everybody's a comedian until they have to actually be funny. And that is an awful lot harder.

As The Ticket noted here with a full transcript, President Barack Obama pulled off his written jokes Saturday night at the White House Correspondents dinner with near-perfect timing. Some with real barbs.

Wanda Sykes was the hired jokester for the evening of topical humor and as often happens when such personalities venture out of nightclubs and into hotel ballrooms, many watching in tuxedos or on TV thought she might have gone too far with a couple of her lines.

(UPDATE: Sykes in an interview with Extra says she was warned not to use any F-bombs or the N-word and she was insulted by the suggestion she might.)

But she did take on a favorite Democratic target, the conservative Rush Limbaugh, and his previous substance abuse as the most listened-to and talked-about radio talk show host. Fair enough perhaps. He's taken on the president.

But to top it off, Sykes then tied Limbaugh to the tragedy and mass murders of 9/11.

"I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was so strung out on Oxycontin that he missed his flight ... I hope his kidneys fail. How about that?"

Limbaugh said he had no comment.

But today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, as he knew he would, was asked about the reaction of the president, who also spoke at the annual banquet, but as another invited guest of the correspondents association.

To protect the president, no doubt no fan of Limbaugh, Gibbs said he had not talked to Obama specifically about the "joke." And the White House had nothing to do with booking such celebrities, risky or not.

But Gibbs put the White House down firmly on the side of Sykes' critics, saying some things should be subjects of serious reflection and not comedy and he felt the president would list 9/11 as one of them. See exactly how Gibbs puts it in this brief C-SPAN video from the daily White House press briefing.

Watch the president in this video; see if you think he disagrees with Sykes at that moment. So, hoping Obama fails is outrageous, but hoping someone dies from kidney failure is funny.

Why are liberals so angry? You'd think they were out of power. They own the legislative, executive branches and are in position to tip the judicial branch in their favor for a LONG TIME. The Republicans are basically speed bumps in Mr Obama's mission to change this republic to a SOCIALIST DEMOCRACY. Wanda Sykes is an idiot. I saw her stand up routine many years ago. She portrayed herself as some important mucky-muck in the CIA. It turns out she was a "procurement specialist" at the NSA, WTF is that? A glorified secretary??? No disrespect to secretaries. I can't believe we good taxpayer money in supporting her ass. Thank God she's out or my respect for our intelligence agencies would have fallen a notch.

This is why McCain lost...

McCain: Cheney Wrong, Don't Declassify Memos

Sunday, April 26, 2009 10:40 PM Article Font Size

WASHINGTON – Releasing classified memos showing whether harsh Bush-era interrogation methods yielded useful information from terrorism suspects is not necessary, Republican Senator John McCain said on Sunday in a public disagreement with former Vice President Dick Cheney. After President Barack Obama released four memos this month revealing the Bush administration's legal justification for methods such as waterboarding -- a form of simulated drowning -- Cheney called for declassifying any memos showing that these techniques succeeded in producing valuable information. "No, I don't think it's necessary, to be honest with you," McCain told the CBS program "Face the Nation." Many experts say harsh interrogations lead to unreliable information because a person will say anything to stop them. But the New York Times reported last week that Dennis Blair, Obama's national intelligence director, told colleagues in a private memo that the harsh Bush-era techniques yielded "high-value information" that "provided a deeper understanding" of the al Qaeda organization. McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, also opposed prosecuting officials who worked on interrogation policy in former President George W. Bush's administration. "We need a united nation, not a divided one," McCain said. "Are you going to prosecute people for giving bad legal advice? ... Maybe there's an element of settling old political scores here," added McCain, who was tortured during more than five years as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. 'A NATION OF LAWS' White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett reiterated that Obama is letting Attorney General Eric Holder decide on moving ahead with any prosecutions. "I think the president has been very clear, and what he said is, 'We need to be a nation of laws, we need to be consistent,' and he leaves it to the attorney general to figure out who should be prosecuted for what," Jarrett told CNN. Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said a special commission is needed to get to the bottom of the Bush-era interrogation policies. "It is not from some idea of vengeance in doing this. But we know that there were a number of people that made the decision to violate the law, a number of people who said that we don't have to follow our Constitution, others who wrote memos basically saying the president and the vice president are above the law," Leahy said on the CBS show. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama opposes such a commission, saying the Senate intelligence committee's ongoing inquiry is the proper place for such fact finding. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who heads the intelligence panel, told CNN on Sunday the investigation "will take six to eight months." McCain cited President Gerald Ford's decision in 1974 to give his predecessor Richard Nixon a full pardon to any crimes to move the nation past the Watergate corruption scandal that prompted Nixon to resign. "Most people in retrospect believe that Ford's pardon was right, because we moved on. We have got to move on," McCain said. McCain also said the Bush administration officials responsible for authorizing harsh interrogation methods in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks have been "held accountable in the court of public opinion." © 2009 Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. I respect Senator McCain's service to our country, but his moderate tendencies are what lost him the election. From illegal immigration, global warming and so-called torture, Senator McCain was wrong on many issues. If Mr Obama is going to go public with the our past interogation techniques, he should also release the information we gained from those techniques. Mr Obama has made our country's defenses weaker by stopping waterboarding and releasing what was authorized. Our intelligence operative were able to stop an attack in Los Angeles. Now what are they supposed to do with the "non-enemy combatants combatants" talk sternly to them. This is crazy. When our country is hit again, I know exactly who to blame.

Hey, bro!!!!

It is great the Messi-uh is making friends around the world. I'm so touched that Mr Obama had a "bro" moment with his new friend Hugo Chavez. I think we should rename the White House, Circus Maximus.

Really??? This is sad...

This picture makes me want to barf. It pretty much sums up Mr Obama's trip to the G20, where he apologized to the world for America being the country it is. We knew that the majority of the American public was being fooled by this Manchurian candidate. I'm sure if the his empty suit wasn't so starchy he might have kissed the Kings feet. I have to say that I'm impressed that he could bend down that far, since he doesn't have a spine. What's the difference anyway, Mr Obama's roll back of all the new oil leases President Bush authorized is tantamount to kissing Saudi Arabia's butt.

This man has no clue...

Iran's response to US sign of theocracy's mind-set

By BRIAN MURPHY – 1 day ago

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Iranian leader's rebuff on Saturday to President Barack Obama's offer for dialogue was swift and sweeping: Words from Washington ring hollow without deep policy changes.

But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's response was more than just a dismissive slap at the outreach. It was a broad lesson in the mind-set of Iran's all-powerful theocracy and how it will dictate the pace and tone of any new steps by Obama to chip away at their nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze.

"It's the first stage of the bargaining in classic Iranian style: Be tough and play up your toughness," said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of regional politics at United Arab Emirates University. "The Iranian leaders are not about concessions at this stage. It's still all about ideology from the Iranian side."

For Khamenei and his inner circle, that means appearing to stay true to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the political narrative of rejecting the United States. Any quick gestures by the ruling clerics to mend ties with Washington could be perceived by hard-liners as a betrayal of the revolution.

Iran's non-elected leaders also are carefully weighing how any openings — even small ones — could affect the June 12 presidential race between their apparent choice, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and reformists led by a former prime minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

"This is why this will be a very slow, very complicated process between Iran and the United States," said Abdulla. "Even the theocracy can be pragmatic. When they feel it's in the national interest to reach out to America, they will find a way."

There are no signs of a spring thaw.

Khamenei set the bar impossibly high — demanding an overhaul of U.S. foreign policy, including giving up "unconditional support" for Israel and halting claims that Iran is seeking nuclear arms. Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful energy purposes.

"Have you released Iranian assets? Have you lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its officials?" Khamenei said in a speech in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The crowd chanted "Death to America."

Despite Obama's offer, the State Department still lists Iran as a sponsor of terrorism for its backing of militant groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah. In Iraq, U.S. officials accuse Iran of aiding Shiite militias whose targets have included American soldiers.

"He (Obama) insulted the Islamic Republic of Iran from the first day. If you are right that change has come, where is that change? What is the sign of that change? Make it clear for us what has changed."

Still, Khamenei left the door open to better ties with America, saying "should you change, our behavior will change, too."

Khamenei's response carried a particular bite following Obama's important shift in U.S. tactics in his video released Friday, offering to speak directly to Iran's theocrats rather than encouraging only pro-democracy reformists inside the country.

The move appears to recognize two key realities for U.S. policy makers: Iran's establishment is firmly entrenched and it holds all the cards in all important decisions.

"There's a thinking that they will do what the U.S. did with Libya: engagement and incentives in return for moderated policies," said Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Iran, however, is a vastly more complicated place that has influence in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the region."

The Obama administration hasn't outlined details of its next steps, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Friday that "many more" initiatives are expected.

Last week, U.S. officials raised the possibility of regular diplomatic contacts between U.S. and Iranian diplomats around the world. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Iranian envoys will have an opportunity for informal talks on the sidelines of a U.N.-led conference on Afghanistan at The Hague, Netherlands.

In Iran, any contacts or messages will undoubtedly be viewed through the prism of the country's presidential elections.

Some experts believe that Ahmadinejad could benefit from Obama's overtures by claiming that his tough stance toward the West brought Washington to the table. Reformers, meanwhile, could struggle with an identity crisis.

"These are people who considered the U.S. an honest broker and committed to regime change," said Ilan Berman, an Iranian affairs specialist at the American Foreign Policy Council. "Now the reformers are going to feel left out in the cold."

Saeed Leylaz, a prominent Tehran-based political analyst, saw Khamenei's tough language as just an opening flurry in what could be a gradual easing of tensions — similar to the decades of slow rapprochement with Britain despite a history of troubles dating back to disputes over oil fields more than a century ago.

"The U.S. is the sole country in the world capable of destabilizing Iran. Khamenei is concerned about this," he said. "If Iran's concerns are eased, it will be willing to have relations with the U.S. in the same way it has relations with the U.K."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

America's enemies are certainly emboldened right now. I don't give a crap what people say, barring a huge natural disaster the economy will come back. Now it can be argued how strong it will come back and judging by the ineptitude of Obama's administration it won't be as strong because of the Porkulous package. It makes the foreign side all that more important. Mr Obama's message was the wrong one to send at this time. In the Muslim belief system you send out a peace offering only when you know you're about to win. The mullahs now think America is weak, with a weak leader. I'm surprised they didn't add that we all had to convert to Islam just start negotiations.