The Fox network is turning down the president’s request to show his prime-time news conference on Wednesday. The news conference marks Obama’s 100th day in office. Instead of the president, Fox viewers will see an episode of the Tim Roth drama “Lie to Me.”
It’s the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama’s request. This will be the third prime-time news conference in Obama’s presidency. ABC, CBS and NBC are airing it.
Fox Broadcasting Company issued a statement on their motives:
“The Fox Broadcasting Company will not air the Presidential News Conference,” Fox said in a statement. “Fox’s sister networks, Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network, will air the press conference in its entirety. Fox will be alerting viewers with an onscreen graphic at the top of the 8:00 PM (ET) hour that the press conference is available on Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network.
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Radical Right drives Arlen Specter out of ‘Far to the Right’ Republican Party.
Today, Sen. Arlen Specter announced that he is switching parties to become a Democrat. In a statement released to the press, Specter explained that the GOP has left moderates behind and “has moved far to the right.” (Indeed, today’s Progress Report discusses how radical elements of the conservative movement are in the ascendancy within the Republican Party.)
Republican leaders have been swift in their condemnation of Specter’s move, dismissing it as an act of “political survival.” But Specter’s departure from the Republican Party was motivated more by the actions of radical leaders from within the right-wing establishment than by party registration numbers in Pennsylvania. RNC Chairman Michael Steele had called for punishing Specter for straying from strict party discipline, and a chorus of hard-right conservatives have been viciously trashing the Senator for months:

- RUSH LIMBAUGH: “Snowe, Collins, Specter […] you’re going to have a number of RINO Republicans. I said earlier today it’s great to flush them out, get them out of there. Let it be known that they are not Republicans.” [CNN, 2/13/09]
- At an anti-Obama “tea party” protest in Scanton, the “loudest boos” were “reserved for Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, while the event emcee discussed the Pennsylvania senator’s support for the federal stimulus.” [Scranton Times, 4/15/09]
- Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) told a conservative blogger Specter “cut our knees from under us.” He added that conservatives in the Senate need to aggressively “go after” Specter and other GOP moderates Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). [The Hill, 2/27/09]
- Fox News’ Dick Morris: “Specter, Collins and Snowe are Benedict Arnolds.” [Townhall, 2/11/09]
- Radio show host Melanie Morgan, along with writers from the right-wing website FreeRepublic.com, “stormed” Specter’s office and “yelled” at his staff in order to “embarrass” the Senator over his “pro-stimulus vote.” [Washington Times, 2/11/09]

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toont neerslag geen wolken

ballinrobe, ierland, een oud boertje moet er aan te pas komen

Reageren op ikjes…
Hier kunt u reageren op het ‘ikje’ dat vandaag is gepubliceerd op de Achterpagina van het NRC Handelsblad. Op de nrc-site kan niet meer worden gereageerd op het ikje, een stukje dat door nrc-lezers zelf is ingezonden.
Het meest recente ikje: Verrassing
Eerdere ikjes: hier. Reageren kan op elk ikje, reacties worden direct geplaatst, mits ze binnen de regels van fatsoen en respect zijn. Uitleg van het fenomeen ‘ikje’: hier.
Ikje niet geplaatst…
Is uw ikje niet geplaatst door het NRC Handelsblad, een maand nadat u hem hebt ingestuurd, maar bent u er toch trots op, dan kunt u het aan de vergetelheid ontrukken door het te publiceren op drasties in de categorie Trots Op Ikje. Op de Vrijplaats voor Verstoten , Verdwaalde en Verboden Ikjes gingen velen u voor. Opsturen gaat eenvoudig via ‘contact us’, zie links boven op drasties.

Don’t clog up our feng shui, property giant says.
One of Hong Kong’s biggest property companies has given a Dutch consulate’s exhibition of clogs the boot - because it says the wooden footwear is bad for feng or fung shui….
The Cheung Kong Center said the wooden shoes show would cause bad luck, because the Cantonese word for shoes — hai — sounds similar to a sigh of exasperation, the English-language paper said.
“Cheung Kong Center rejected the exhibition because of the Chinese meaning of wooden shoes. I don’t understand. It is difficult to explain as I don’t know how to say shoes in Chinese,” an unnamed member of the consulate told the South China Morning Post.
The exhibition, part of an effort to promote Dutch culture, which will raise money for Chinese children, is now being held at another tower in Hong Kong, the paper said.

What is Feng Shui?
Read how American Feng Shui expert Candace Czarny explanes what Feng Shui can do for you if you follow Candace’ certainly not free advice: wealth, financial freedom, totally happy, sleeping well, full of energy, vibrant, active, exited, exuberant, get applauded, recognition, romantic love, soul mate, peacefulness.
Drasties concludes: Candace Czarny is an expert swindler.
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In dit artikel in de New York Times over een bezoek aan Amsterdam kost een goedkope trip 250 dollar per dag - dit is budget dus! - en een duur bezoek 1000 dollar per dag.
Het goedkope bezoek gaat als volgt: hotel Linda, chinees Nam Kee, winkelen Albert Cuyp, uitgaan café De Pels, vervoer huur een fiets.
Het dure bezoek: hotel Grand Hotel Amrâth, restaurant de Kas, winkelen Destination Shop, uitgaan The Mansion, vervoer VIP Watertaxi.
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Save of splurge in Amsterdam: On $250 a Day - On $1,000 a Day.

SAVE: On $250 a Day.

SLEEP Assuming that Amsterdam’s rollicking hostel scene isn’t for you, the best bets for cheap accommodation are mostly found outside the old city center. Hotel Linda (Stadhouderskade 130; 31-20-673-8739; www.hotellinda.nl) is a pleasant spot in the charming Pijp neighborhood. It’s convenient (a number of tram lines are a short walk away) and most of the hotel’s 40 rooms are more spacious than you’d expect. (As with most buildings on Amsterdam’s canals, the stairs are comically steep.) Cost: Prices for a double room start at 150 euros on weekends, but on weekdays are as low as 75 euros.
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Fox News manipulates video to attack president Obama.
Media Matters has caught another Fox fabrication.
This time, Fox News ‘reporter’ Wendell Goler repeatedly aired a video clip in which President Obama seems to declare his support for imposing a “European-style” universal health care system on the United States. Goler used the clip to support Republican attacks on the President’s spending policies and his supposedly “European” priorities.
The problem is, President Obama never said any such thing. The clip Goler used was from a March 26 online town hall event, and President Obama was paraphrasing a written question submitted by the audience. In his answer, the President said that while he does support universal health care, he doesn’t support imposing a European or Canadian system on the United States.
Despite the plain meaning of President Obama’s words, Fox and Goler took them completely out of context to support the President’s Republican critics.

Hij is zo goed, Glenn Greenwald. Nog altijd gaat het over de houding van de Amerikaanse media - die de extreme politiek van de Bush-men mogelijk hebben gemaakt - ten opzichte van een eventuele vervolging van de Bush-regering vanwege overtredingen van de Amerikaanse wet en het internationale recht. Volgens deze gerenommeerde Newsweek journalist staan presidenten en de vice-presidenten echt niet altijd boven de wet. Ze kunnen wel vervolgd worden, maar niet voor zoiets als martelen. Glenn Greenwald gaat in op wat dat betekent.
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Newsweek’s subservient defense of monarchical power

One of the few impressive abilities of establishment journalists is their aptitude at so rapidly embracing and so loyally reciting the standard Beltway script of conventional wisdom. Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham today has a new column on torture and prosecutions that is an almost exact replica of David Broder’s and virtually every other column written by his fellow media stars [on the “torture debate,” the Left and Right are the extremes; I’m above all of that and reside in the Serious middle; those who advocate prosecutions are leftists motivated by ugly vengeance; any investigations (like all important government proceedings) should occur only in secret and be devoted only to asking if torture works, etc. etc.]. But Meacham did manage unintentionally to express a thought that so perfectly reflects how they think that it’s worth noting (h/t Retired Military Patriot; emphasis added):

And to pursue criminal charges against officials at the highest levels—including the former president and the former vice president—would set a terrible precedent. . . . That is not to say presidents and vice presidents are always above the law; there could be instances in which such a prosecution is appropriate, but based on what we know, this is not such a case.

Presidents and Vice Presidents aren’t “always above the law” — just most of the time.
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Wat vindt het American Enterprise Institute, de neoconservatieve denktank waar Ayaan Hirsi Ali met zoveel plezier werkt, van president Obama’s eerste honderd dagen? Ze worden vooral gekenmerkt door woede bijvoorbeeld omdat president Obama heeft gezegd dat de Verenigde Staten van Amerika niet perfect is.
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Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute.
Grade - C: “Some will be tempted to inflate their grade, as Obama has fashioned himself the anti-Bush. But ‘I’m not him’ is not a foreign policy, nor is an almost pathological proclivity to apologize for American power and leadership. […] Obama looks increasingly desperate.

De Amerikanen hebben Japanse soldaten geëxecuteerd in WW II voor het gebruik van waterboarding. Fox News Sean Hannity is desondanks een groot voorstander van deze martelmethode. En het is helemaal niet erg, zei hij vorige week woensdag. Sterker nog, hij zegde toe het zelf te ondergaan. Voor een goed doel. Wanneer gaat dat gebeuren vraagt heel Amerika zich nu af. Wanneer Sean?
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When Will Hannity Allow Himself To Be Waterboarded For Charity?

Fox News’ Sean Hannity has long been a torture enthusiast. “I want to torture them to the limit,” he once said of terrorists suspects. President Obama’s recent decision to release Bush administration memos outlining how torture was approved at the highest levels has spurred Hannity to promote torture even more wildly. “People are going to die because of what Barack Obama is doing right now. People are going to die,” he said last week, before slamming a football into his desk and declaring, “Imagine this is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s head. Dunk it in water so we can save American lives! You bet.”
Last Wednesday, Hannity took his torture enthusiasm to a new level. After promoting torture during his entire program, he agreed to guest Charles Grodin’s challenge to subject himself to waterboarding, volunteering to do it for charity:

GRODIN: You’re for torture.
HANNITY: I am for enhanced interrogation.
GRODIN: You don’t believe it’s torture. Have you ever been waterboarded?
HANNITY: No, but Ollie North has and talked to me about it.
GRODIN: Would you consent to be waterboarded so we can get the truth out of you? We can waterboard you?
HANNITY: Sure. … I’ll do it for charity. I’ll let you do it. … I’ll do it for the troops’ families.

The next night, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann declared that he would give $1,000 to charity for every second Hannity withstood waterboarding. Watch it:
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toont neerslag geen wolken

Reageren op ikjes…
Hier kunt u reageren op het ‘ikje’ dat vandaag is gepubliceerd op de Achterpagina van het NRC Handelsblad. Op de nrc-site kan niet meer worden gereageerd op het ikje, een stukje dat door nrc-lezers zelf is ingezonden.
Het meest recente ikje: Drei Groschen
Eerdere ikjes: hier. Reageren kan op elk ikje, reacties worden direct geplaatst, mits ze binnen de regels van fatsoen en respect zijn. Uitleg van het fenomeen ‘ikje’: hier.
Ikje niet geplaatst…
Is uw ikje niet geplaatst door het NRC Handelsblad, een maand nadat u hem hebt ingestuurd, maar bent u er toch trots op, dan kunt u het aan de vergetelheid ontrukken door het te publiceren op drasties in de categorie Trots Op Ikje. Op de Vrijplaats voor Verstoten , Verdwaalde en Verboden Ikjes gingen velen u voor. Opsturen gaat eenvoudig via ‘contact us’, zie links boven op drasties.

Trots ben ik op mijn nieuwe notebook. Het is zo’n fraaie blinkende dunne zwarte. Eigenlijk voor gevorderden, waartoe ik zeker niet behoor.
Nu kan ik draadloos overal internetteren. Zo ook op de voor de Paasbrunch gereedgemaakte tafel. Ja, mijn vrouw houdt van gezelligheid.
Ik klap de Siemens Fu open. Even wat mail bekijken. Plotsklaps verschijnt een zwart gat midden op het scherm. Langzaam komt er een rode gloed in. Verbaasd loop ik met de laptop naar m’n vrouw.
“Dat kreng is nu al kapot!” Ik loop terug naar de tafel en zie dat m’n vrouw de waxinelichtjes maar vast heeft aangestoken. En dat ik hem boven een vlammetje heb opengeklapt. Oh nee toch!
De Siemens doet het nog steeds, met in midden van het scherm een donkeromrande vlek van 7 cm doorsnee. Aan de buitenzijde een fors rafelig zwart gat.
Dus: “Al staat uw Siemens in brand, doe ‘m nooit van de hand.”

Mario de Kort

how to make a baby - wie macht man ein baby - hoe maakt een belg een baby

Loopt het toeristenparadijsje Cuba werkelijk ten einde?
Wordt het binnenkort einde Cuba Libre en welkom Mac Cuba?

zie deze video

De Cubaanse leider Fidel Castro heeft zijn broer Raul Castro teruggefloten. Raul had de Amerikaanse president Barack Obama laten weten dat Cuba bereid is elk onderwerp met de VS te bespreken, inclusief de vrijlating van gedetineerde dissidenten. Volgens Fidel heeft Obama de woorden van Raul verkeerd geïnterpreteerd. Hillary Clinton stelt dat het Cubaanse regime door spanningen tussen de broers onder druk staat. “Ik denk dat het regime ten einde loopt”, zei ze.

Iets dat hoog tijd wordt in Nederland. Het afschaffen van alle straffen voor het bezit van drugs als marihuana, cocaine, heroine en methamphetamine. Portugal deed het al, en daar werkt het goed. Het kost niet alleen minder maar het levert ook geld op want dan kunnen we nog veel meer cellen verhuren aan België.
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Pop quiz: Which European country has the most liberal drug laws?
(Hint: It’s not the Netherlands.)

Although its capital is notorious among stoners and college kids for marijuana haze–filled “coffee shops,” Holland has never actually legalized cannabis — the Dutch simply don’t enforce their laws against the shops. The correct answer is Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
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An ABC News poll released this morning shows that a vast majority — 69 percent — of Americans approve of President Obama and 72 percent view him favorably, “the best job approval rating at this point in 20 years, [and] the broadest personal popularity since Ronald Reagan.” Fifty percent now say the United States is headed in the right direction, up 31 points since the end of the Bush administration, when only 19 percent thought the country was on the right track. Other figures from the poll:

- “Fifty-eight percent approve of Obama’s work on the economy.”
- “Obama leads the Republicans in Congress in trust to handle the economy by a garish 61-24 percent.”
- “A remarkable 90 percent say Obama is ‘willing to listen to different points of view’; fewer than half said that about George W. Bush.”
- Seventy-seven “percent call Obama a strong leader, nearly matching Bush’s best a few months after 9/11.”

A majority supported Obama’s decision to release the torture memos, but only 49 percent support his blanket ban on torture. That said, a majority still favors holding investigations into the Bush administration’s use of torture.

Pandemic map worldwide: infected, dead, quarantined.

Swine flu news continues to catch people’s attention. There are suspect cases in Israel, NZ (confirmed), Spain and France that were airline travelers from Mexico (KS and NYC has similar cases, both now confirmed.) The news hounds at Flu Wiki have all the up-to-date news. Official information from CDC is here (20 confirmed cases in 5 states - CA, TX, OH, NY, KS.) There will be a CDC media briefing today preceded by a just-concluded WH briefing with the “team” (DHS and CDC).
A routine step: public health emergency in the US: has been taken. That frees up meds from the Strategic National Stockpile to be pre-positioned in states like Texas (where there are confirmed cases, and a request for meds from the Governor.) This is exactly what they should be doing. Kudos to CDC for doing what’s needed, acting aggressively, and communicating with the public (and not waiting for the slowpokes at WHO.) And for those who wish to review the steps taken in a disaster or emergency, see the previous posts on National Response Framework.
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Dezelfde journalisten die de misdaden van de Bush-regering hebben verborgen, toegestaan en uiteindelijk verdedigd, zijn de journalisten die nu oproepen om de overtredingen niet te onderzoeken en de daders niet te vervolgen. Het credo van mensen als de totaal corrupte huichelaar David Broder is: Als de kleine man iets fout doet, vervolg hem naar de letter van de wet, als mijn vrienden in Washington de wet overtreden, laat ze.
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David Broder and media culpability for Bush crimes

I read David Broder’s truly wretched screed yesterday — in which he demands immunity for Bush officials from investigation and prosecution and attacks those who advocate accountability — and decided that I wouldn’t write about it until today because I didn’t want it to infect my Saturday. For purposes of catharsis, I did immediately note on Twitter that Broder’s article was “a tour de force of Beltway sickness - even for him” and that “the Washington press corps has exactly the ‘dean’ it deserves.” Fortunately, Hilzoy, Scott Lemieux and Roger Ailes — among others — have now made most of the points quite conclusively that need to be made about the morally depraved joke that David Broder is, leaving just a couple of observations worth noting.
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