Bollywood Bond girl Aishwarya Rai Bachchan furious over Elle magazine cover 'skin-whitening' scandal

Leave it to those elitist mag honchos that think white is the template of beauty for the entire world. How little do they know women of color are the most beautiful.

The Daily Mail reports that fans of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were left stunned last week after the actress's skin appeared to have been digitally lightened on the cover of a new issue of Elle magazine.

Now the 37-year-old Bollywood star, who is widely believed to be the world's most beautiful woman, is said to be considering suing the Indian version of the title over what has been deemed 'racist airbrushing'.

The actress herself has not commented on the situation, but friends
'Aishwarya's first reaction was disbelief,' said one.

'She believed that these things don't happen anymore. Not in this day and age when women are recognised for their merit, and not for the colour of their skin.

'She is currently verifying this skin-whitening allegation. If there is any proof of this, she might even take action.'

More details here

Page 3 gal Peta Todd’s sexy military outfits

Now stand at attention fellas!

The Sun reports that Page 3 beauty Peta Todd delights her army of fans - by going on parade in sexy military-style outfits.

Our little belter, 23 - who has raised funds for Help For Heroes - is a major attraction in khaki kecks for her calendar

And when it comes to naval gazing, we'd rank her top of the ratings in shipshape white.

As for her black outfit... we uniformly agree: she can only be described as a force of nature.
Peta's 2011 calendar is available from

New Mexico gov Bill Richardson says he won’t pardon Billy the Kid

Wow, I didn’t know this was even an issued in the 21st century. The only thing I know about Billy the Kid is how he was portrayed by Emilio Estevez in Young Guns.

Yahoo News reports that the rehabilitation of Billy the Kid lies dead in the dust.

In one of his last official acts — or non-acts — before leaving office, New Mexico's governor refused to pardon the Old West outlaw Friday for one of the many murders he committed before he was gunned down in 1881.
Gov. Bill Richardson cited ambiguity surrounding the pledge of a pardon 130 years ago as the reason.

"I felt I could not rewrite history," Richardson told The Associated Press, hours after announcing his decision on ABC's "Good Morning America" on his last day in office.

The prospect of a pardon for the notorious frontier figure drew international attention to New Mexico, centering on whether New Mexico territorial governor Lew Wallace promised Billy the Kid a pardon in return for testifying about killings he witnessed.
Richardson concluded Wallace did make a deal, "but it's uncertain why he did not keep his promise," said the former U.N. ambassador and Democratic presidential candidate.

He said he could not pardon Billy the Kid given that ambiguity and the fact he killed two deputies when he escaped in April 1881 from the Lincoln County jail, where he was awaiting hanging for the 1878 killing of Sheriff William Brady.

A pardon document was even drafted, "but in the end, I didn't use it," said Richardson, adding that he didn't decide until Thursday night.
The proposed pardon covered only the killing of Brady, and not the deaths of the deputies or any other killings. According to legend, Billy the Kid killed 21 people, although the New Mexico Tourism Department puts the total closer to nine.

He was shot to death by Sheriff Pat Garrett in July 1881.
Albuquerque attorney Randi McGinn, who petitioned for a pardon after studying the issue, said she won the battle in proving there was a promise but lost the war over the pardon. She said, however, she didn't regret "one iota being Billy the Kid's lawyer."
Garrett's grandson, J.P. Garrett, of Albuquerque, sent an e-mail to The Associated Press: "Yea!!! No pardon! Looks like it will be a great new year!!!!"

Wallace's great-grandson, William Wallace, of Westport, Conn., said Richardson "followed the correct, rational track in forgoing a pardon for a convicted murderer."

Both men had expressed outrage Richardson would even consider a pardon, arguing there was no proof one was ever offered.
The historical record is unclear, Richardson said. His staff told him in August there are no written documents "pertaining in any way" to a pardon in the papers of the territorial governor, who served from 1878 to 1881.

Richardson's successor, Gov. Susana Martinez, who takes office Saturday, has said she won't even consider a pardon because state issues were more pressing.

"There's an awful lot of work to be taken care of for us to be wasting so much time on such a consideration," the Republican said Tuesday.
Richardson's office set up a website in mid-December for public comments following McGinn's petition. The survey that ended Sunday brought in 809 e-mails and letters from all over the world — 430 favoring a pardon and 379 opposed.

McGinn argued Lew Wallace promised to pardon the Kid, also known as William Bonney. She said the Kid kept his end of the bargain, but the territorial governor did not.

McGinn said Friday she was disappointed by Richardson's decision but thrilled the pardon question sparked interest. She said she hoped people would come to New Mexico, see letters Billy the Kid wrote to Wallace, walk Lincoln's single street and decide for themselves whether Billy the Kid was "the Robin Hood of the West or a notorious killer."

More details here

Memeorandum

Happy New Year to my UK readers!

Thanks for visiting TLT. You've helped make 2010 a great leap forward in traffic for this blog.

Please leave commnets or feedback on how 2011 can be better year.

The National Enquirer Exposes Lesbian life of Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King

Do you remember this Seinfeld classic episode?


Well, apparently Oprah thinks there’s something wrong with being a lesbian and refuses to come clean.

The National Enquirer reports that a teary Oprah Winfrey insisted to Barbara Walters that she and best friend Gayle King are not gay - but an in-depth ENQUIRER investigation has uncovered the REAL truth about their shocking secret life.

Inside sources reveal that behind closed doors the two women live a lesbian lifestyle - sleeping together in the same bed and vowing to love each other unconditionally for the rest of their lives.

Both washed their hands of men years ago, insiders say, with Oprah callously betraying her former fiance Stedman Graham to nurture her relationship with Gayle.What's more, sources say the wealthy and powerful talk-show queen has used payoffs, bribes and outright lies to keep America from learning her secrets.

"Oprah and Gayle genuinely love each other," an Oprah family member told The ENQUIRER.

"But they don't think the rest of the world could ever understand their feelings, so they keep their private life quiet."Oprah, 56, opened up about her sexuality and her relationship with BFF Gayle, 56, during an interview on ABC's "A Barbara Walters Special: Oprah, The Next Chapter."

Oprah told Barbara: "I am not a lesbian…I'm not even kind of a lesbian."But when she tried to explain her feelings for Gayle, Oprah became overwhelmed by emotion, breaking down in tears."She is the mother I never had. She is the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves. I don't know a better person. I don't know a better person," Oprah said.

More details here



Do you really think Oprah is straight?

"Top 10 Politician Promises Gone Wrong" -John Stossel

I found this vid at Proof Postive. It’s 42 min long but well worth your time to see how the promises politicos make never pan out.

How dumb is Ezra Klein of the Washington Post? Answer: Extremely dumb when it comes to the U.S. Constitution and he’s not alone (Video)

The following video is an excellent teachable moment of how Liberals view the constitution.



Liberals are ignorant of the constitution because they’ve never read it or if they have they utterly ignore it as is the case with Ezra Klein.

He’s is not alone!

President Barack Obama views the constitution as a document of “negative rights’. Basically, Liberals, who by the way feel the need to call themselves Progressives to fool the public, have a disdain for our founding document because it is a hindrance to them and their “big government” is the answer to everything ways.

Because of Liberals, 50 million abortions have been performed in this country since 1973.

Because of Liberals there are more pot shops than Starbucks on street corners of California.

Because of Liberals we no longer have prayer in the public schools and look how much the education has declined.

Because of Liberals there are more Planned Parenthood centers in African American neighborhoods than any other group. Do you think that’s really a coincidence?

This is only a snippet of the ills of Liberalism that doesn’t believe in the values that has founded this nation. They do much more harm than good and are never held to account for the damage they inflict because it’s always done under the banner of “fairness” and “social justice”.
Break out the box and think for yourself!

World’s Longest Bridge is in China

The Sun reports that it links Qingdao city in eastern China's Shandong province with the Huangdao district and is a staggering 26.4 miles long – 174 TIMES the length of London's Tower Bridge over the Thames.

Two separate teams have been building the different ends of the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge since 2006.

The crossing links three coastal towns in Shandong province.

One engineer said of the bridge's completion: "The computer models and calculations are all very well but you can't really relax until the two sides are bolted together.

"Even a few centimetres out would have been a disaster."

The previous holder of the world's longest bridge title was the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in southern Louisiana in the US.

It features two bridges running side by side and is 23.87 miles (38.42km) long.

Michele Bachmann and our inalienable rights (Video)

The following video is of Michele Bachman, congresswoman from Minnesota, giving a speech to Michigan Republicans. In it she gives a nice synopsis of what our “inalienable rights” rights actually mean. I venture to guess that 4 of 10 people in this country have no clue what she’s talking about.



Bachmann was originally a Democrat and even worked for the election of



Jimmy Carter before she say the light.



Video courtesy to TPM.

The Last Tradition’s Dumbest Politician of 2010: Democrat Hank Johnson (D-Ga)

The dumb mainstream media of course made nothing of this congressman’s assessment that the island of Guam could “cap size” due to too many people living on it.

What’s hilarious about this video is how the Navy admiral keeps a straight face through out Rep Johnson’s questioning. I bet he was saying to himself, “Is this guy a freaking idiot or what?”


Congressman Johnson was re-elected to the House this past mid term. That doesn't say much for some of the people in Georgia.

NYC Sanitation Union Fires Back At Accusations Of Slow-Down

I suspected yesterday, Bloomberg, the cheap son-of-a-bitch, held back on the salt.



NY Fox.com reports that the chairman of the Municipal Labor Committee, Local 831, which represents men and women of the New York City Sanitation Department says there is no truth behind a rumor that his members worked slower during the blizzard of 2010.

Sanitation Union Fires Back At Accusations Of Slow-Down: MyFoxNY.com

Speaking with Good Day New York on Wednesday, four days after the first snow fell in a 20+ downfall across the tristate, Harry Nespoli said his workers don't "mess around with the snow."



Local politicians and residents where streets have not been cleared from the snow are angry. From all accounts, the response to the blizzard was inadequate.

This is how dedicated Dept of Sanitation is

Strippers Gone Lawsuit Wild: Judge OKs suit against corporate owner of Rick's Cabaret

Strippers are people too and they have the right to sue their employer just like anyone else according to a Fed judge.

The New York Post reporta that more than 50 strippers suing Rick's Cabaret can try to dig into the deep pockets of the jiggle joint's publicly-traded corporate owner.

Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl said the gals "have met their burden" in alleging that Rick's Cabaret International "was their employer under the 'economic reality' test."

In a decision made public today, Koeltl noted that the $5 million-plus suit charges that Rick's Cabaret International "directly employs regional managers, who are responsible for overseeing the operations of the subsidiary clubs," including

the one on West 33rd Street.

The suit also alleges that both the regional managers and the various clubs' general managers report to Eric Langan, who is CEO of the corporation and president of each of its 20 skin palaces, the judge ruled.

Koeltl further rejected "concerns" raised by Rick's about the "credibility" of lead plaintiffs Sabrina Hart and Reka Furedi, who were accused of lacking "sufficient moral character" to spearhead the suit.

"No plaintiff evinces a credibility problem sufficient to require her exclusion as a class representative," the judge wrote.

The case centers on Rick's sale of "dance dollars" to patrons who want to buy lap dances.

Each funny-money bill costs $24, but the strippers only get $18 when they redeem them at the end of their shifts, the suit says.

"We look forward to a full resolution of this issue on the merits, at which time we are confident the Court will agree with our position, and the position of the vast majority of the entertainers who perform at Rick's NY, that they are independent contractors and not employees," said Jeffrey Kimmel, a lawyer for Rick's.

Top Ten TV Show Hosts of 2010

Yesterday I had the pleasure to work with Fast Top Ten, a new social networking website that allows you to create Top Ten Lists. All you have to do is think about 10 good candidates for your favorite subject! Of course, I experienced the thrill to create a list under one of my favorite subjects: Entertainment! My nominees for Top Ten TV Show Hosts of 2010 are: Ellen Degeneres, Wendy Williams, George Lopez, Mario Lopez,  Giuliana Rancic, Conan O'Brien, Chelsea Handler, Ryan Seacrest, Oprah Winfrey, and Joy Behar. Rate them today!

What ever happened to guilt and shame?

Have you noticed guilt and shame is dead? People don’t seem to care about pride much either.

Everybody is out to get noticed.

It doesn’t matter for what.

Just get the attention for the 15 minutes, don’t worry about looking like fool, or hurting others, or bringing shame to your family name.

Honor is out the window too.

Who even understands what honor is anymore when we have parents who are selfish and prefer to be friends with their children instead of parents.

Guilt and shame were very useful emotions.

It kept you in check from acting stupid a minimum number of times.

But without guilt and shame, we’re nothing but animals acting in self-interest for the spotlight, and everybody else be dammed.

New Yorkers direct ire at Mayor Bloomberg for poor handling of Blizzard 2010

Hey Bloomy!

“If you can’t handle a snow storm, you can forget you’re presidential aspirations!” irate New Yorker.

I lived in New York 47 years. I’ve seen 20 inch blizzards before in this city. But, the response to this one that started on Sunday has been abysmal. I still haven’t seen a snow plow go down my block yet. Where the hell are the salt spreaders that used to blanket the streets hours before the arrival of snow?

This time around there were no salt spreaders to be seen. I think Bloomberg decided to hold the salt the same way he wants food manufactures to reduce sodium in their products.

Bloomberg, one of the most arrogant mayors this city has ever known has really stepped in it this time!

Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise because the blowback from this bugling of snow removal has only just begun. And before it’s all over, Bloomberg will rue the day he forced a third term down our throats.

Just 4 more days until Oprah's "Own" launches!

There's no question Oprah Winfrey is one of the most powerful  and admired women in this world. Her never ending efforts, generosity, and outstanding dedication, have taken Oprah to where she is at today: on every single corner of this world. And now, the world is eagerly and anxiously anticipating Own, the new Oprah Winfrey network that launches on January 1st, 2011. In my opinion, this date was perfectly picked for many  inspiring reasons. To me, Oprah is a woman that symbolizes hope, encouragement, a fresh beginning to something fruitful, and ever lasting love. She has proven to the world that it is possible to dream and to achieve. She has taught a lot of us that your dreams can transition into facts when you work hard for them. During a recent interview with Barbara Walters, Oprah discusses with Barbara several delicate topics. However, the moment I turned my tv's volume up was when Barbara introduced the subject of "having children". In summary, Oprah added that she wouldn't have done everything that she has accomplished in her life if she had any children during those years of her career development For some people, this might be sound odd. Nevertheless, to my understanding, some professionals are just very passionate and dedicated at what they do, and they just want to put their focus on their careers. Every person has their own way of being. Oprah is a very independent woman (evidently) and she just really wants to be her and help others, as we already know. She has definitely changed the world in numerous ways and we're all looking forward to see much more of what she does!

The Last Tradition’s Best Bikini Spread of 2010: Nicole “Coco’ Austin

The competition was tough, but I’m partial to the cruvy bod.

Radar Online: Wearing a barely-there orange string bikini, Nicole "Coco" Austin splashed and frolicked in the ocean while Ice-T settled for the shade of a beach umbrella.

When she tired of the waves, the buxom beauty worked on her tan under the hot Miami sun.




>

Boyz 'N The Hood, good parenting works

This 1991 landmark film, directed by John Singleton, is a classic in the urban inner city genre.

But, more than its gritty portrayal of life in tough streets of south central Los Angeles in the 1980s, was the depiction of a man teaching his only son about life, responsibility, and how to be a man.

The pivotal scene in my opinion, which unfortunately you won’t find in these clips, is when the character played by Cuba Godding Jr, asks to get out of the car carrying his friends who are looking to exact street revenge for the killing of his best friend.

In that one scene, all the teaching he received over his formative years from his father on how to do right instead of wrong, kicks in, and he refuses to participate in the circle of violence.

This is a powerful film and an excellent example on how to be a good parent in difficult circumstances.

BREAKING: Somali Islamist Group: We Will Attack America

Oh, this is just great.



Now we have a different group that wants to kill us. I hope the White House takes these guys seriously.



CBS News reports a leader of Somalia's Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a speech broadcast Monday.



"We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country," said Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf.



Al-Shabab has not yet launched an attack outside Africa but Western intelligence has long been worried because the group targeted young Somali-Americans for recruitment. About 20 have traveled to Somalia for training and at least three were used as suicide bombers inside Somalia. Al-Shabab holds most of southern and central Somalia and has the support of hundreds of foreign fighters, mostly radicalized East Africans.



It seeks to overthrow the weak U.N.-backed government, which is protected by 8,000 Ugandan and Burundian African Union peacekeepers. The al-Shabab militia launched coordinated suicide attacks in Uganda in July that killed 76 people.



It has also announced its allegiance to al Qaeda and is believed to be harboring a mastermind of the twin 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. The radio message was recorded in the town of Afgoye, near the Somali capital, during a meeting of Shongole and Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, formerly the leader of insurgent group Hizbul Islam.



The two insurgent groups had clashed several times previously but announced a merger last week. Aweys said his group will fight under al-Shabab's command. "We have united for the sake of our ideology and we are going to redouble our efforts to remove the government and the African Union from the country," said Aweys on Monday.



In an unrelated development, the Somali information minister said the new Cabinet had approved the use of a private security contractor to train forces in the capital of Mogadishu and the program would start "soon." Saracen International would train forces for VIP protection, said Abdulkareem Jama. He said he did not know exactly when training would start, what the men's duties would include or how many men would be trained but he said the program included the renovation of a hospital and government buildings. Somali officials are frequently killed by insurgents, both in single assassinations and en masse in suicide bombings and attacks.



The Somali ambassador in Kenya previously said that up to 1,000 men could be trained in the capital for an anti-piracy force and 300 for a presidential guard. Saracen is already training 1,000 men for an anti-piracy force in the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland.



The program has been criticized by U.S. officials who say it is unclear who is funding it, what its objectives are and whether it breaks a U.N. arms embargo. Jama said the Somali cabinet had discussed those issues and were satisfied the embargo was not being broken but he did not say who was funding the program. "There is a need for training," he said. "There was an effort to slow down the project (in Mogadishu) because of those concerns."



More details here

James Shackelford, 73, blind, and a hero in house fire in Queens New York

In a crazy world of self interest it’s good to know we still have some genuine heroes among us.

What’s incredible about James Sheckelford is that he’s blind! But, his blindness didn’t stop him from risking his own life to help a person in need.

The New York Post reports that an elderly blind man heard his neighbor's screams for help yesterday and did not hesitate, rushing into her burning Queens building to try to save her.

James Shackelford, 73, a retired JFK Airport cook blind from diabetes for a dozen years, then became engulfed in flames himself.

Fortunately, he wasn't the only good Samaritan on hand. Two others, driving down 194th Street in St. Albans on their way back from church just after noon, saw Shackelford stumble out with his clothing on fire and rushed to his assistance.

"It was good he was able to make it out of his house," said Thomas Brannon Jr., who, with Douglas Davis, rolled Shackelford on the ground to put out the flames.

Shackelford was taken to Nassau University Hospital with burns over 50 percent of his body, and remains in critical condition.

A resident of the block for more than three decades, Shackelford heard a friend and neighbor calling for help, and did not hesitate, his wife, Anna, said.

"He was always the first one to try to help," she said.

"Anyone in the neighborhood who needed something -- he would always be there. He'd give up his last penny for someone."

More details here

Black residents snowed in Queens New York

It was rough going this morning indeed!

After getting up 4:00 in the morning to shovel out the front of my house and digging out my wife’s car from what seemed like Mount Kilimanjaro, I ended up waiting an hour and a half for a bus that never came.

Hempstead Avenue was a mess of cars slipping and sliding away, empty busses lined up because the intersection of Hempstead and Springfield wasn’t plowed, and people cussing and wandering about unable to find a bus just to stay warm even though they’d be stuck in the snow with nowhere to go in a sea of white.

So, there it is.

I gave it a good try to get to work, but city employees let me down.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

deserves some hits here because I’ve seen worse blizzards than this. But, us residents of south eastern Queens which is mostly Black usually get the short end of the stick. And as anyone knows me as a conservative, I rarely pull the race card.

But, I’m pulling that bad boy today!

Peace and stay warm America.

R & B Singer Teena Marie Dead at 54

I had a big crush on Teena Marie coming up in the late 70s amd early 80s, and I wasn’t the only teenage boy of my generation that felt that way.

Teena was flat out sexy and could hold her own in the R&B world. She was the white girl with soul that made it possible for other white performers to cross over into the genre and be accepted for the talent they obviously brought to the table.

Teena was the one who blazed the trail for the Justin Tiberlakes and the Eminems.

CNN reports Teena Marie, an award-winning R&B singer-songwriter, was found dead Sunday at her California home, her manager said.

Born Mary Christine Brockert in Santa Monica, California, the 54-year-old artist famously paired with late funk legend Rick James and was nominated four times for a Grammy Award, according to her official website.

Marie was found dead by her daughter after apparently dying in her sleep, manager Mike Gardner said.

While no cause of death has been released, the singer's publicist Lynn Jeter said that Marie suffered a grand mal seizure -- a neurological event, marked by loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions, according to the Mayo Clinic -- a month ago.

"Luckily, someone was there," Jeter said of that seizure. "The ambulance took her to the hospital, and on the way she had another seizure."

More details here


RIP Teena Marie, you left us way too soon.

Rep. Steve King: Jesus Had Right to Life from Moment of Conception

There have been 50 million abortions performed in the United States since 1973. But, Liberals are okay with this American Holocaust because the rights of women to feel “empowered” to kill a baby trumps the rights of the unborn child. Liberals are more willing to extend non existing rights to an illegal immigrant that than are to the unborn.

Something is very wrong with this picture. And something is very wrong with Liberalism.

CNS News reports that Rep. Steve King (R.-Iowa) told CNSnews.com in a videotaped interview that Jesus Christ had a right to life from the moment of conception as do all human beings.

“He got the right to life when God conceived Him in the womb of Mary, and it’s that simple and that plain and it’s that profound,” said King. “Each one of us got the right to life at the instant of conception and we have that right to life until natural death.”

King also likened someone who supports legal abortion because they profess not to know when life begins to someone supporting the act of a gunman who fires blindly into a crowded room and never looks to see if he actually killed someone.

More details here

State Sen. Eric Adams involved in another “NON-PROFIT” scandal

As you may know, I’ve reported extensively on Rep Gregory Meeks who is currently under instigation for the whereabouts of missing money he raised through a non-profit group he started that was supposed to aide Hurricane Katrina victims.



The 30K that was collected never made it to Louisiana and the U.S. Attorney has been looking into what happened to the dough for the past 6 months.



The scandal should have made national news and Gregory Meeks a household word. Had Meeks been a white Republican from the south instead of an African American from New York , the updates on the news would be coming every 24 hours.



However, more important than the double standard of news coverage, is the fact that politicians rob the taxpayers blind through phony “non-profits” they create and money always seems to be unaccounted for.



If you see any politico involved with a non-profit, there’s some stealing going on and they’re hardly ever brought to justice, especially if they’re of the Democrat persuasion.



The New York Post reports that State Sen. Eric Adams funneled $30,000 in taxpayer money to a nonprofit he founded, 100 Blacks Who Care, but doesn't know how, or if, the money was spent.



The Brooklyn group, which got $15,000 in 2008, didn't record the money, as required on its federal tax returns, or document any expenses.



"Once the money is turned over to an organization, we, as elected officials, can't get involved in how they use it. I don't know how it's used," Adams told The Post last week.



The Brooklyn Democrat said he couldn't remember, without checking his records, why he gave the organization the "member item" grants in the first place.



Noel Leader, the group's treasurer, who, like Adams, is a former cop and co-founder of 100 Blacks, told The Post that the organization hadn't received any funding in years and that he did not recall receiving the state funds.



He later said a $5,000 allocation from the state Education Department was probably used for supplies.



"I vaguely remember the $5,000 being used for the workshops, to buy equipment we utilize during the workshops. We have a lot of props, sound equipment, things of that nature," he said.



Adams, Leader and Vernon Wells founded 100 Blacks in the mid-1990s as a nonprofit to give grants of $1,000 a month "to a worthy cause in the African-American community."



They also started 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, a for-profit advocacy group.



Several state lawmakers have gotten in trouble for running nonprofits, including state Sen. Pedro Espada, who was charged this month with embezzling money from his Bronx health-care centers, and State Sen. Vincent Leibell of Putnam County, who pleaded guilty in a kickback scheme involving a nonprofit he created.



Earlier this year, the US attorney opened an investigation into state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Rep. Gregory Meeks after The Post revealed the questionable spending practices of the nonprofit they helped to form, the New Direction Local Development Corp.



State Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, a Westchester Democrat, said she has drafted legislation that would prohibit lawmakers from giving member-item cash to nonprofits over which they have control.



"That's not what state dollars are to be used for," she said.



More details here

Kin Novak Rule #5 Sunday

I'm starting a new feature of presenting starlets of the 40s and 50s. What better woman to start with than,



Kim Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American actress. She is best known for her performance in the classic 1958 film Vertigo. Novak retired from acting in 1991 and has since become an accomplished artist of oil paintings.[1]

Christmas requiem for Iraq's Christian community

I wish President Obama, who seems to go out of his way to extol the virtues of Islam, would use his bully pulpit as president and speak out against the mistreatment of Christians living in Muslim dominated countries. This is a serious issue that needs more condemnation by the world of nations.

But, the world remains silent at the plight of Christians. Why is that he case? If the situation were reversed and Muslims were being massacred, rape, and beheaded at the hands of Christians, wouldn’t you think that CNN would be Johnny on the spot with video footage and Christiane Amanpour would be holding one hour specials to examine the story?

I think the answer is clear.


Haaretz.com reports that after Al-Qaida's October 31 massacre at a central Baghdad church, thousands of Christians have decided that their homeland is no longer safe.

In order to meet Iraq's Christians this year, Santa Claus will have to steer his sleigh to Jordan, Syria, Kurdistan or Europe. After Al-Qaida's October 31 massacre at a central Baghdad church, thousands of Christians have decided that their homeland is no longer safe.

This is not the first time Muslim terror has hit Christian sites, nor is it the first time Christians have fled Iraq. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there were approximately 1 million Christians in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion in 2003, and only half a million now - and that number is shrinking.

This week the Iraqi legislature discussed the Christians' situation and passed a resolution in principle to help families who fled. However, the parliament does not know where the Christians are, how many are still in Iraq, in their homes, and how many have found asylum in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Reports from Iraq show some Christians are even afraid to report they have received threatening phone calls or e-mails telling them to leave the country.

"Contacting the authorities forces us to identify ourselves, and we aren't certain that some of the people threatening us aren't the people in the government offices that are supposed to be protecting us," one Christian Iraqi told the newspaper Sawt al-Iraq. Others have reported masked men coming to their homes at night and demanding that they "convert to Islam, leave or die."

More details here

Memeorandum

Living Water for a thirsty man, Merry Christmas

This scene is from Ben Hur.

Hur, falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit is chained with other prisoners in the hot sun.

On a water break, Hur is denied any water by orders of a Roman centurion.

Near delirious from thirst and in agony, Hur cries out a prayer for relief to God and his petition is immediately answered by Jesus who gives Hur living water.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a prosperous New Year.

2010 Mugshots of the Year: Snooki

From US Magazine

Snooki
The drunken Jersey Shore star was taken into custody in July while filming Season 3 of the hit MTV series. Charged with disorderly conduct, she was released later that day. "I'm too pretty to be in jail," she later said.

This is not a pretty sight to wake to in the morning. Make up really does wonders.

Mideast Christians under siege

More Islamic hypocrisy, the so-called religion of peace and tolerance. My ass!

Crucifying the copts
Mideast Christians under siege
by



Benny Avni


It's shaping up to be a bad Christmas for one of the oldest Christian sects in the Middle East, where Christianity was born -- and an even bleaker future for Egyptian Copts.

Police fired live ammunition last month at Copts protesting the government-halted construction of a house of worship, the Church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Michael Archangel, supposedly for failure to acquire the proper permits. At least 100 emonstrators were arrested, 60 injured -- and a 19-year-old Christian student died from a gunshot wound.

The anger quickly spilled to émigré Coptic communities from Australia to Europe to midtown Manhattan.

The attack on Egypt's Christians go far beyond denial of church permits, said Magda Gendy, who articipated in the peaceful East Side demonstration along with thousands of other Egyptian-American Copts last week. Increasingly, Christian girls aged 12 to 16 are being kidnapped, forced to marry Muslim men and convert to the religion of their "husbands," she told me.

But while Copts -- 10 percent of Egypt's mostly Muslim population of 80 million -- have always suffered discrimination, this incident presents a new and dangerous turn.

"Before, it used to be just the Muslims" who attacked their Christian neighbors, Gendy said. "Now it's the government." Copts blame the district's governor, Sayyed Abdel Aziz, a former army general.

Like most officials in the government of the aging President Hosni Mubarak, Aziz simply denies permits for any Christian symbol of worship -- from churches to cemeteries.

Aziz "wanted to burn the church," said Sam, who only gave his first name for fear of retaliation against his family back in Cairo.

The only political opposition allowed in today's Egypt is that centered on a mosque. By turning a blind eye to attacks on Christians -- or worse, joining them -- the government helps to deflect public anger caused by the fast-deteriorating economy.

As things get worse, the memory of days when Copts held high government positions fast fades. "Hillary Clinton needs to speak out more often," one demonstrator after another told me last week.

Yes, a State Department report last month noted that Egypt's "government failed to prosecute perpetrators of violence against Coptic Christians in a number of cases," and concluded that the country's Christians "face personal and collective discrimination." But Mubarak's government shrugged off the report, saying that it would only listen to "internationally recognized" authorities, such as the United Nations.

Clinton certainly can do a lot of good this holiday season by highlighting the plight of Christian minorities in Egypt and the rest of the Arab Middle East.

Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups (Shiite as well as Sunni) increasingly attack Christians from Iraq to the Palestinian territories. In Lebanon, the once influential Maronite community is split up and quickly losing political power as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah is taking over. Why?

According to a major Vatican report issued last spring, bishops from across the Middle East blamed the decline of Christianity in the region on political "instability" -- as in the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. Speaking in Cyprus, Pope Benedict XVI made an appeal for "international efforts" to resolve the region's conflicts, "especially in the Holy Land."

Praying for Palestinian-Israeli peace may be appropriate, but the pope surely knows that Israel (despite increasing harassment by Muslims in the country's Arab towns) is practically the only place in the region where a Christian minority thrives.

The report elsewhere fingers "political Islam," which -- along with those who let it flourish, such as Egyptian government officials -- tolerates no other religious or secular beliefs.

In fact, one of the top regional emissaries cited in the Vatican report, Turkey's top bishop, Luigi Padovese, was assassinated as the report was issued in June. According to the Turkish press, the man who stabbed him to death yelled "Allahu Akbar!"

John Wayne in Big Jake

It’s very hard for me to pick a favorite John Wayne film.

But Big Jake is one that I find watching more times than others. It’s not as good as The Searchers, Stagecoach or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, it doesn’t have to be.

Wayne is such a bigger than life presence that he makes an average western film memorable. Richard Boone is also very good in this 1971 film about a grandfather, Wayne, on a quest to recover his kidnapped grand son.

Worth picking up.

Thanks to repeal of DADT, soldiers can’t use phony “I’m Gay” declarations to get out of military service with honorable discharges

The Left and the Homosexual lobby have sold the American people a bill of goods by portraying the plight of homosexuals surviving in the United Sates armed forces under conditions that prohibit them from being their true selves.



What a crock!



The Left never needs to worry about facts to sell their ideas. It’s always about a template that suits a particular agenda, namely homosexuals not being able to shout, “We’re here we’re queer, so why can’t I tell the world?”



But, facts are stubborn things and the facts are that a whopping majority of homosexual discharges under DADT were made by men just wanting to get our of the military without even being homosexuals at all.



AFA.net reports that according to National Review Online, there may be a whole lot of homosexuals who just got an unpleasant surprise. With the repeal of the law prohibiting homosexual service in the United States military, they just lost their “get out of jail free” card.



The hyperventilating out-of-the-mainstream media has been full of supposed stories of horrific discrimination against homosexuals in the military which they say resulted in many of the best and brightest getting ash-canned from the military through invidious witch-hunts.



However, the facts tell a much different story. And while facts have never troubled the left, let alone played a significant role in any single part of their worldview, these facts actually should be sobering for our pretty-in-pink wannabe soldiers.



It turns out - get this - that 85% of all homosexuals who got discharged on the basis of the law that prohibits open homosexual service in the armed services threw themselves out of the military.



This little factoid is not the fanciful production of AFA or FRC. It comes straight from the Pentagon itself.



In other words, these gay soldiers didn’t get outed by some snitch. They outed themselves. They went to their commanding officer and said, I’m gay, get me out of here.



According to the Pentagon, “approximately 85% of discharges for homosexual conduct have been made on the basis of statements by the Service member.”



And even more distressing for our would-be limp-wristed enlistees, the Pentagon adds helpfully that “approximately 25% of these discharges have occurred in the first four months of a Service member’s service.”



In other words, homosexuals - or people who suddenly discovered latent homosexual tendencies when they could use it to parachute out of the military - signed up for the all-volunteer army, got a few weeks into basic and said, forget this noise. I’m outtahere.



All they had to do was admit they were gay - whether they were or not - and they got their walking papers along with an honorable discharge.



And don’t think for a moment that straight soldiers didn’t perjure themselves - claiming they were gay when they weren’t - just to go back home to Momma.



According to NRO:

As one Col. Om Prakash put it in a 2009 report for the U.S. War College, one possible explanation for the rise of discharges for homosexuality observed after DADT was that “given the recent reduction in stigma associated with homosexuality in society at large, simply declaring one is homosexual, whether true or not, is the fastest way to avoid further military commitment and receive an honorable discharge.”



Well, all that’s gone now, both for gays and straights willing to tell odious lies about themselves. If a homosexual signs up now, he’s stuck with the whole magilla. Go to your superior officer now and say, hey, I’m a flaming homosexual, I hate the army, let me out of here, the superior officer will say, tough darts, those days are gone. You’re stuck with us now, Nancy-boy.



So, who’s sorry now?



More details here



Memeorandum

On President Obama's Hawaiian Reading List: Book on President Reagan

I knew Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan was a great president. Sorry Barack, you’re no Ronald Reagan.

The Drudge Report says the White House says that President Obama plans on spending some of his Hawaiian vacation reading, and among the books on his list is one about President Reagan.
Obama will be digging into Lou Cannon's biography, "President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime."

The president has been reading up on books about other presidents in the past few months. Most recently before the midterm elections, he was reading "The Clinton TAPES" by Taylor Branch, among others.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a briefing Wednesday that reading will be part of Obama's vacation plans, "He'll read a good amount of stuff. He'll have, obviously, his daily intelligence briefing, as well as probably a novel or two."

More details here


Everything Reagan says about Jimmy Carter can be easily transferred to Barack Obama since their policies exactly the same. There's nothing new about Obama. He implementing the same Liberal/Progressive policies these people have been wanting to foist on the American people since Roosevelt.


Do you really think any of the things that Reagan preached like government being the problem instead of the solutioin is going to sink into Obala’s Leftist brain?

Mememorandum

meorandumDon’t hold your breath!

NY gov David Patterson commutes sentence of wrongly convicted John White in racially charged case

Gov David Patterson did a tremendous thing by commuting the sentence of John White, an African Americad dad, who was defending his home and his family aginast a White mob of teenages out to get his son. White shoud have neve been convicted in the shooting of white teen who had no business terroringm the White’s home in the dead of night. See prior post here




ABC Local News reports that New York Governor David Paterson on Thursday commuted the sentence of a Long Island man convicted in a racially-charged shooting.

John White was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2006 shooting of 17-year-old Daniel Cicciaro, who was killed outside White's home in Miller Place.

He claimed Cicciaro threatened to attack his son.
A judge sentenced White to two to four years in prison, a fraction of the maximum. He finally went to prison in July this year after his appeals were rejected.

Paterson did not issue a pardon, but commuted White's sentence to time served.

"Our society strives to
be just, but the pursuit of justice is a difficult and arduous endeavor," Paterson said. "While the incident and Mr. White's trial engendered much controversy and comment, and varying assessments of justice were perceived, its most common feature was heartbreak. My decision today may be an affront to some and a joy to others, but my objective is only to seek to ameliorate the profound suffering that occurred as a result of this tragic event."

The commutation is conditioned upon White not engaging in subsequent violation of law.

The case began in 2006, when White's son Aaron woke him to say that Cicciaro and a gang of friends were heading to their home for a fight.

John White admitted to taking a gun and shooting Cicciaro in the face, but he said he did it out of fear it was a lynch mob attack.

More details here

Justice has been served!