Colo. billboard links Obama with jihadists

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 41 mins ago

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – A billboard showing President Barack Obama wearing a turban has sparked a lot of attention at the suburban Denver used car dealership that put it up.

The sign, completed Friday by artist David Lee, shows a grinning, cartoonish Obama and bears the words "PRESIDENT or JIHAD?"

Underneath the president's image is a big yellow square with the phrase, "BIRTH CERTIFICATE, PROVE IT!"

The words "WAKE UP AMERICA! REMEMBER FT. HOOD" appear at the bottom of the billboard at Wolf Interstate Leasing and Sales, about seven miles west of Denver. The sign is visible from Interstate 70.

Lee said there were plenty of honks as he painted it.

"One lady came by and gave me the 'shame, shame' look," said Lee, of Arvada, another suburb of Denver.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_jihad_...


Maintenance man David Lee of Arvada, Colo., puts the finishing touches on a sign featuring President Barack Obama for a sales lot for pre-owned vehicles along Interstate 70 in the northwest Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge, Colo., on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. The billboard, completed by an artist Thursday, shows a grinning cartoonish Obama wearing a turban. The billboard says, 'PRESIDENT or JIHAD?' Underneath the picture is a yellow square with the phrase, 'BIRTH CERTIFICATE PROVE IT.'
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)


Maintenance man David Lee of Arvada, Colo., puts the finishing touches on a sign featuring drawings of President Barack Obama for a sales lot for pre-owned vehicles along Interstate 70 in the northwest Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge, Colo., on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. The billboard, completed by an artist Thursday, shows a grinning cartoonish Obama wearing a turban. The billboard says, 'PRESIDENT or JIHAD?' Underneath the picture is a yellow square with the phrase, 'BIRTH CERTIFICATE PROVE IT.'
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Nov 20, 2009 5:13 pm US/Pacific
Attempt To Recall Lawmaker Over Tax Hikes Fails

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― A recall effort against a Republican state lawmaker who voted to raise taxes earlier this year has failed.

The secretary of state's office said Friday that opponents of Assemblyman Anthony Adams of Hesperia did not gather enough valid signatures. A random check found they fell more than 11,000 short of the nearly 36,000 signatures they needed.

In February, Adams was one of six Republicans who joined Democrats in voting for temporary increases to the vehicle license fee and the sales and income taxes.


http://cbs13.com/local/Attempt.To.Recall.2...

She doesn't look very happy.


Sarah Palin looks at a cover of Newsweek handed to her as she arrives for a book signing of her new book 'Going Rogue' in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 18, 2009.


Sarah Palin signs copies of her new book 'Going Rogue' at her book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 18, 2009.


Sarah Palin signs copies of her new book 'Going Rogue' at her book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 18, 2009.

Nov 18, 2009 12:40 pm US/Pacific
Big Bear Causing Major Problems In Tahoe Community

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) ― A really big bear is causing big problems at the Lake Tahoe community of Incline Village, Nevada wildlife officials said.

The black bear, estimated by some to be around 700 pounds, may be responsible for as much as $70,000 in damage this year, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife. It has evaded traps and special night patrols sent to look for it.

Even two bullets fired by a homeowner did little but slow him down for a couple of weeks.

"The deputies up there all say he's the biggest bear they've ever seen," Carl Lackey, a biologist and bear expert with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said Tuesday.

"He'll walk right by a trap, he won't go in them. He's really random in where he goes. He's made it real tough to catch up with him."

Lackey said that this summer, a homeowner armed with .44 magnum handgun confronted the bear after it broke into an Incline Village home that it had already broken into several times before.

"He shot it right between the eyes and the bullet bounced off his skull. We know that because we found it," Lackey said. "He shot it again and hit it. We know that because there was a lot of blood, but it wasn't a mortal wound."

more...
http://cbs13.com/pets/big.bear.problems.2....

Andrea Lewis - KPFA journalist - dies
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 18, 2009


Andrea Lewis had the kind of rich, deep voice that was made for radio, her vocation for the last decade of her life, or for singing, her lifelong passion.


Ms. Lewis, a program host and news anchor at KPFA-FM in Berkeley and a contributor to the Progressive magazine and other publications on the political left, died of a heart attack Sunday at her home in San Francisco. She was 52.

Ms. Lewis, a native of Detroit, came to KPFA in 1999 without radio experience, having worked as an editor for Mother Jones magazine, Pacific News Service and other Bay Area media organizations for 16 years. She was hired as co-host of the station's main public affairs program, a two-hour weekday morning show.

"She was a natural fit for radio, calm and thoughtful," said Lisa Rothman, the show's executive producer. "If someone said something she disagreed with, she would reflect and figure out how to talk about it. And she had that amazing deep, warm, compassionate voice."

Ms. Lewis took a year off in 2007-08 for a Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford, then returned as evening news co-anchor and host of a two-hour Sunday morning interview and call-in program, which she called "Sunday Sedition."

"If there were some difficult issues on race and gender that needed to be talked about, on the air or off the air, she was the one who was going to bring them up, always in a very pleasant way," said KPFA's co-news director, Aileen Alfandary.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...

Unlikely animal friends: the orangutan and the hound

When Surya the orangutan meets a lonely hound dog out by the river, the two greet each other like long lost pals. Now, Surya and Roscoe like doing anything they can together, even if it's just lounging around and sharing a hug.

WARNING: the video below packs a wallop in the warm-fuzzies department.

watch video at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/d...







more photos here...

http://amazingphotos4all.blogspot.com/2009...

Nov 17, 2009 10:37 am US/Pacific
Palin Advisor: Campaign 'Dysfunctional, Surreal'


MIAMI (CBS) ―

snip...
"There were so many distractions around Sarah Palin. She often had her children on the plane, the baby on the nook of her arm, her 6-year-old running up and down the aisle, the pregnant teenager," said Navarro. "There were a lot of things going on in her life as she was studying speech for each next event where she would land in two hours and speak in front of 30 thousand people."

It was so crazy that Navarro didn't get to brief Palin until the night before the interview while Palin and her 6-year-old daughter were getting pedicures.

"Sarah needed a 101 on so many issues. So you really had to start from step one explaining the differences between Latino and Hispanic," said Navarro. "She was very good at learning, though she was far from being an expert. She could dance around the subjects and could learn the catch phrases."

snip...
"Her book is titled "Going Rogue", and she had gone rogue. She was the spaceship gone off course and flying in its own orbit," described Navarro. "She would change speeches headquarters sent her. Change the schedule, not stick to schedule."

snip...
"She really trusted very few people by then and she clearly trusted him. She had a very close relationship with her children, with her daughters and she spent a lot of time with her baby. She would spend a lot of time holding him, talking to him, caressing him."

snip...
"She really wasn't into reading papers. I never saw her reading papers or clips."

more...
http://cbs13.com/national/Sarah.Palin.Goin...


re McCain...

snip...
"I've never heard him say anything bad. I haven't heard him say anything good, but never say anything bad," said Navarro.

Chinese hairdresser Huang Xin works on his latest creation, a replica of U.S. President Barack Obama made from human hair, at his barbershop in Beijing November 14, 2009. Obama will visit China from November 15-18.
REUTERS/Jason Lee(CHINA POLITICS SOCIETY ODDLY)


Chinese hairdresser Huang Xin works on his latest creation, a replica of U.S. President Barack Obama made from human hair, at his barbershop in Beijing November 14, 2009. Obama will visit China from November 15-18.
REUTERS/Jason Lee(CHINA POLITICS ODDLY SOCIETY)


Chinese hairdresser Huang Xin works on his latest creation, a replica of U.S. President Barack Obama made from human hair, at his barbershop in Beijing November 14, 2009. Obama will visit China from November 15-18.
REUTERS/Jason Lee(CHINA POLITICS SOCIETY ODDLY)


Chinese hairdresser Huang Xin works on his latest creation, a replica of U.S. President Barack Obama made from human hair, at his barbershop in Beijing November 14, 2009. Obama will visit China from November 15-18.
REUTERS/Jason Lee(CHINA POLITICS ODDLY IMAGES OF THE DAY SOCIETY)

SF activists to send coat-hangers to Dems who supported abortion restrictions in health bill


It's a good thing the activists at SF-based Credo Mobile have never been the shy retiring types, because they know they'll get some serious blowback on this one: They just launched a campaign to send coat-hangers to 20 House Democrats who supported the Stupak Amendment, which expands an existing ban on public funding for abortion. Comrade Lochhead has been telling you about this here and here.

An email blast sent Friday -- and signed by CREDO Mobile CEO Laura Scher, President Michael Kieschnick and political director Becky Bond -- says: "Sign our petition and we'll send a coat hanger to the 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats who voted to take away women's rights. If the Stupak amendment is allowed to stand, it would ban private insurers who participate in the insurance exchange created by the health care bill from covering abortion as a part of women's reproductive health care. Tens of millions of women would be affected."

"These 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats need to hear that it is NOT ok to throw women under the bus when it comes to passing health care."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05e...



http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/send_a... /

US President Barack Obama speaks during a rally with US troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, November 12, 2009. The stopover marks Obama's first ever visit to Alaska, the first stop on an 8-day trip to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.


US President Barack Obama speaks during a rally with US troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, November 12, 2009. The stopover marks Obama's first ever visit to Alaska, the first stop on an 8-day trip to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.


President Barack Obama greets members of the U.S. military during a rally with troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009.


US President Barack Obama greets US troops during a rally at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, November 12, 2009. The stopover marks Obama's first ever visit to Alaska, the first stop on an 8-day trip to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.


Military service personnel take pictures of U.S. President Barack Obama at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska November 12, 2009. Obama is en route to Tokyo to begin his first trip to Asia as President.


U.S. President Barack Obama greets U.S. military service members and their families at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, November 12, 2009. Obama is en route to Tokyo to begin his first trip to Asia as president. Obama said on Thursday he planned to discuss a strategy with Asia Pacific leaders calling on their countries to import more U.S. goods and the world to rely less on exporting to the United States.


U.S. President Barack Obama (R) fist bumps with a member of the audience after he addressed military personnel and their families at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska November 12, 2009. Obama is en route to Tokyo to begin his first trip to Asia as President.


U.S. President Barack Obama high-fives with a boy in the crowd at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska November 12, 2009. Obama is en route to Tokyo to begin his first trip to Asia as President.

Learn to Speak Tea Bag
Flash Animation by Mark Fiore

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, left, and Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. , wheel a copy of the house health care bill HB-3962 up the steps into the House after a rally against the health care reform bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.


A copy of the house health care bill HB-3962 is seen going up the steps to the House after a rally against the health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.


Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. , picks up a copy of HB-3962 after he wheeled it up the steps to the House after a rally against the health care overhaul bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.


Rep. Steve King. , R-Iowa, looks a copy of the health care bill with Corrogan R. Vaughn after a rally against the health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.


Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. , left, and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, pick up a copy of the house health care bill HB-3962 after they took it up the steps to the House after a rally against the health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.


Rep. Steve King. , R-Iowa, holds a copy of the health care bill over his head after a rally against the health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.

Now if they could just put that effort into something productive...


House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, refers to a large poster as he speaks at a news conference on pending health care legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.

Yes, I am talking to you,


House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, points to a poster as he speaks at a news conference on pending health care legislation as Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. , left, listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.

and you too.


House Minority Whip, Eric Cantor, R-Va. , refers to a large poster as he speaks at a news conference on pending health care legislation as other members listen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.

Alabama county celebrates official Obama holiday

By BOB JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Bob Johnson, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago

MARION, Ala. – The sign going on the front door at the Perry County courthouse reads: "Closed for the Obama Holiday."

The rural, mostly black county has proclaimed Monday as an official holiday celebrating the election of the nation's first black president, Barack Obama. It's one of Alabama's poorest counties, but it's sparing little during five days of festivities.

County employees, as well as city workers in Marion and Uniontown, will get a paid holiday Monday as government offices close, culminating a series of events including an old-fashioned civil rights rally and march, a golf tournament, a weekend carnival and a parade Monday through Marion.

"I feel great about the holiday," said county maintenance worker Leon Brown. "It's history. It's the first time ever we've had a black president. I hope it's not the last time ever."

snip...
The Obama holiday was proposed by Commissioner Albert Turner Jr., whose father was one of the marchers beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" voting rights march in Selma. Many of the marchers were voting rights activists from Marion upset about the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson during an earlier demonstration in the town.

snip...
"We hold holidays for Columbus and for Lincoln. There's been no event more historic in my lifetime than the election of Barack Obama," Turner said.

snip...
"It's not that we're celebrating Obama. We're celebrating America living up to it's creed that all men are created equal," Turner said.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_holida... ;_ylt=ApV_icHbcZAOHzpVML291jVsaMYA

WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 05: Anti-abortion demonstrators, including Fr. Norman Weslin (R) of Omaha, Nebraska, refuse to leave Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office while tearing up copies of the health care reform bill at the Cannon House Office Building November 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. The protesters were voicing their opposition to Congress' health care reform legislation, saying it supports government funding of abortion.


Father Norman Weslin, a Catholic priest from Omaha, Nebraska, lies prostrate outside Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office on Capitol Hill during a "House Call" rally against proposed healthcare reform legislation in Washington November 5, 2009. Weslin was forcibly removed by Capitol Hill police shortly after.


WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 05: Fr. Norman Weslin (R) of Omaha, Nebraska, is dragged by U.S. Capitol Police after refusing to leave Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office while demonstrating against the health care reform bill at the Cannon House Office Building November 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. The protesters were voicing their opposition to Congress' health care reform legislation, saying it supports government funding of abortion.


WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 05: Anti-abortion demonstrators are arrested by U.S. Capitol Police after refusing to leave Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office inside the Cannon House Office Building November 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. The protesters were voicing their opposition to Congress' health care reform legislation, saying it supports government funding of abortion.


WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 05: Anti-abortion demonstrators are arrested by U.S. Capitol Police after refusing to leave Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office inside the Cannon House Office Building November 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. The protesters were voicing their opposition to Congress' health care reform legislation, saying it supports government funding of abortion.


A shredded copy of the proposed healthcare reform legislation lies in the hallway outside Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office on Captiol Hill during a "House call" protest against in Washington November 5, 2009.