We will be posting tomorrow and over the weekend - year end stuff. The good news, because of some great friends in the conservative media, Midknight Review finished the month on record pace depute the fact that we did not post for two days and lost our original URL address - the past three days have been remarkable.
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News Flash : Limbaugh is dead !!!! Or, should that be, Limbaugh is well read.

Looks like the folks at Wikipedia were prepared for the worst when it came to Rush Limbaugh. Actually they were a little too well prepared.

Shortly after the news broke that the conservative political radio talk show host was hospitalized, Wikipedia updated his page – and pronounced him dead.

Folks (like us) who happened to take a look at Limbaugh’s biography, saw this:

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (pronounced /ˈlɪmbɔː/;born January 12, 1951, died December 30, 2009) is an American radio host and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Rush Limbaugh Show, the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United States. It airs throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks.

That was posted shortly after midnight, EST. [ Kind of makes one wonder if the Marxist/Libs at Wikipedia were giving each other the high five and drinking a few brewskies to celebrate, doesn't it -- jds ]

Rush, of course, was very much alive and about 15 minutes later Wikipedia pronounced him so, altering their bio by removing the information that he had died.

Limbaugh remains hospitalized Thursday.

Source: Radar On Line

Limbaugh, wikipedia,

Use of Keywords and Increased rankings.

Editor's notes: thought I would pass this along to my fellow bloggers. After reading this, I realize some weaknesses on my part. I.e., if I use a word once but think it important, I key that word. Apparently that is wrong - it does not represent 3% of my particular post in most instances. And that last sentence in point #5 - it is a killer for me. I do not do this. Good advise should be advice effectively received . . . . . I believe !!!!!

Keyword density refers to the number of times you weave your main keyword into the body copy. If done correctly, it will help the search engines figure out what your page is about and improve your rankings.

How long should any particular content page be? As long as needed to get your main point across to your visitors. Each one of your pages should have at least 200 words or the search engines may not even pick it up. Extremely long pieces of content are best broken up into several smaller content pages, with each page focusing on a unique primary keyword.

Here are five rules to help ensure you have the proper keyword density on your page.

Rule #1: Include the main keyword for the page in the opening sentence of the body copy, preferably within the first few words of the sentence.

Rule #2: The search engines will look for excessive use of a particular keyword so be careful about using it too often in your page. Target a keyword density of 3-5% for the body copy. You want your keyword to be mentioned a bit more than what is considered “normal English” but not so many times that it sounds strange when read back. Keyword density isn’t as important as it used to be with the search engines, so don’t worry about getting exactly 3% or 5% keyword density.

Rule #3: Try and find ways to weave in synonyms for your keyword as well. Most likely, you will find that this happens naturally as you write your page.

Rule #4: Some search engines place more weight on the opening and closing paragraphs to be sure you weave your keyword into these areas.

Rule #5: The entire topic of your body copy should focus on the main keyword (and its variants) for that page. Do NOT go off topic from your main keyword.

Source: SmallBiz Marketing Blog.

_______________________________________________

We include this second article, as well:

Many people do not properly understand how to use keywords and it reflects not only in the lack of any real quality regarding their sites, it also reflects poorly in the lack of return traffic it will be able to generate and ultimately in the rankings on the SERP or Search Engine Results Page. Learning how to properly use keywords in web content is imperative for anyone who wishes to even have a chance at success.

One of the most common misunderstandings is that the Search Engine Algorithms only look for one particular keyword or phrase. This is not even close to being true. The major search engines actually look for relevant keywords which are listed in the relevant section of the Meta Tags and make a comparison of those keywords to the actual text of the web page itself. While it may have been true in the past that the only part of the text the Search Engines reviewed was the first and last forty words, this is no longer the case in the world today.

It is still very important to have primary keywords and keyword phrases on the web page but they do not have to be as limited as they once were. In fact, industry standards are between one and a half to two and a half percent for the actual keyword density. Anything over four percent will raise flags with the search engines and anything over five percent will certainly drag your web page in for a review that you will not want if you are using this technique of keyword spam or spamming. Many websites have found this out the hard way once they were blacklisted by the major search engines.

Rather than concentrating on a limited number of keywords, utilize the primary keywords and phrases mainly in the beginning and the end of the content on the web page. Throughout the article, it is much better to use the primary keywords and phrases sparingly and to fill the content with alternate phrases related to the keywords which are also searched regularly on the search engines. There are many available tools for discovering what has been searched by the people using your keywords. Use these tools to select viable secondary and even tertiary alternatives so that you can still have quality content that is not redundant or difficult for the visitor to read.

Once you can establish a writing method like this for the content of your page, you will most likely be very pleasantly surprised by the results. Not only will your actual ranking on the SERP increase for your selected keywords but you will actually see an increase in the rankings for the secondary and alternate keywords and phrases which you have selected. The entire concept of SEO or Search Engine Optimization is to increase your rankings on the SERP and drive more traffic to your site. Everything after that is simply an added bonus.

Even then however, if all of the material on your web pages is specifically targeted for keywords, it can and frequently does make the actual content very difficult for most people to read. Using the alternatives throughout the page as well allows you to write in a freer form without being redundant or making the content overly choppy or broken up in order to contain a higher concentration of keywords. Remember that while proper Search Engine Optimization will drive more traffic to a web site, only quality content will keep people coming back for more.

Content should be written freely and naturally without appearing forced or strained. Try writing your materials first. After the information is down on paper so to speak, then re-read it and see where extra keywords or phrases can be inserted without breaking up the original context or intent of the written materials. That should allow you the opportunity to maximize your writing’s effectiveness, the utilization of keywords and phrases and to do all of that without creating any problems but only better results on the SERP

Source: Web Content King

keyword, primary keywords, quality content,

Private eyes are watching you -- the words of a song being played on the radio as I write/ somehow strangely appropriate !!

As you may know, the original Midknight Review was taken down by Google or someone at Google on December 26th, 3 hours following a harsh article written by this editor detailing the Christmas Eve gift to Obama from a Marxist controlled Congress giving the man, Obama, the ability to utilize the funds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without Congressional approval for the remainder of his first term in office. In so doing, he now has the unreported ability to fully fund AND grow ACORN, in preparation for the coming two election cycles. In that article I called for his impeachment - something that we have not done here at Midknight Review. As mentioned, three hours later, Midknight Review was off line and permanently shut down, using "spam" as the excuse.

While there may be disagreement as to whether this was the product of a robot review gone wild, or the end result of Google clandestined policy, the fact of the matter is that Google allows for such action and does so without offering an avenue for protest or a couse for correction.

Just this morning, I received a rather disturbing note from a blogger friend informing me that his blog was being reviewed or followed by OFA.

OFA ?? Don't know what that is? Well, it was originally called Obama for America. This is part of Obama's civilian army. It is now called Organization for America after specific concerns were made with regard to Obama and his volunteer force. In speeches on video, Obama has claimed to be intimately involved in the workings of SEIU (the 2 million member service employees union) for "all of my adult life" and owns the leadership of ACORN, having trained these people while living in Chicago prior to becoming a freshman US Senator.

There is, of course, NO REASON for an Obama organization, whether the OFA, SEIU or ACORN, to be monitoring ANY Conservative blog - at least no good reason. So, when this activity is reported, it is of great concern. The Pentagon spent a few minutes looking at the original Midknight Review, as well. Actually, we don't mind the Pentagon's review - they are looking of threats to the presidents well being. Find with us. But the OFA? They are looking for Conservatives !! So say that we are overly concerned in this regard, but we don't think so. Why? Well, if for no other reason, because of this remarkable quote made by Barack Hussein Obama:

Least You Forget: On July 2, 2008, Obama had this to say: "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." (see the video below beginning at 16:46 for these words.}

Let that soak in for just a moment. Read it again. Tell me what honest value exists in this particular wording. " . . . just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-fund." This is no conspiracy of thought on the part of conservative bloggers ------------------- it is cold hard fact. Christmas Eve, this Stranger in Our White House got his funding !!!!

We leave you with these comments from Page 4 and the video offering of the words we have highlighted.

And then there is this. One of our quotes above can be found at 16;46 into this speech - his remarks about a civilian army. But before he gets to that, In this Colorado speech, spoke of doubling the size of the Peace Corp before 2011; creating an Energy Corp, and increasing AmericCorp from 75,000 to 250,000. He failed to mention that these folks will be forbidden to attend church or participate in any activity that appears to be partisan (in other words, opposing his Administration.

In this speech, he speaks these words as to the direction and use of America's volunteers: " . . . we will direct that service to our most pressing national challenges . . . " without giving a hint as to what those challenges might be. We now know - as a result of the early 2009 elections - that he intends to use these volunteers to "get out the vote," a "bipartisan" effort that will benefit only the Democrat Party, ala ACORN's "non-partisan" get out the vote efforts over the years that has resulted, historically, in millions of Democrat voters against a few hundred Republican voters. As you listen to this speech, can you imagine that those Vets in the background, have no idea that Obama is announcing plans for a Marxist take-over of American ideals as defined in the Constitution? They clap but have no idea they are listening to one who cares nothing for them or their history - a dedicated Marxist in Black Liberation clothing.

Our country is being taken over by those who would have the American dream, as defined by history, fail.

And I want to be exceedingly clear on one point - there is no room for public rhetoric that calls from physical harm to Mr. Obama. The killings of JFK, Robert Kennedy and Marin Luther King Jr., were sadly fueled by so-called "conservative" concerns. The men responsible for these killings were not ideologues, however, nor were they lone wingnuts. We tend to forget that back in the 1960's when all these killings occurred, the Southern Attitude and the Military Mindset of the day was owned by the Democrats. I was in college back then and an idealistic supporter of change - a young Democrat who knew that evil existed within the Party and voted for Jimmy Carter [the first election of Carter] and the change upon which he campaigned. Take the KKK ------------- back in the '60's, it was lead and funded by rightwing Democrat partisans - period. Trash, pure trash. We MUST NOT go there. Obama needs to be sent to the hen house BUT via an election process. The third world riots and kills and "overthrows," we vote and that will be enough in 2010/2012. -- editor

From the Blog "Hack Wilson" we have this review of Obama Successes.

2009: The Year of Failure

Check out Hack Wilson - he's a little meaner than this review, but that may be a good thing - editor.

2009 is almost over and a full year of Obamanation is almost out of the way! One hurdle cleared. 3 to go! I have a lot of energy left in me!

I'm trying to think in my mind of something positive this administration accomplished for America. I can't think of one thing. Maybe it's my bigoted, inferior, conservative mind. Let me try viewing the first year of the Obama presidency now from a liberal standpoint....

Nada.

2009 has been one, long, drawn out failure of our government to do anything positive for our country. Nearly everything Obama has tried to do this year has been a failure.

"Stimulus" package- failure. The economy still sucks, unemployment is still through the roof, and on top of that, billions of "stimulus" tax dollars are at this very moment funding pointless Dem pet projects. Failure. [this bill was to have kept unemployment at 8% and produced 3 million jobs by the end of 2009, 90% of which were to be private sector jobs -- unemployment remains at 10% and NO private sector career jobs have been produced, none. jds]

Obama's appointees- failure. Obama has appointed so many duds to his administration, and outright liars and cheats, that I don't think he can be trusted with anything. Not to mention the close to a dozen appointees who were forced to withdraw for varying reasons. Obama's serious lack of judgement is scary. Failure. [this is the first Administration in memory that has included admitted Communists and followers of Mao Ts Tung - incredible. jds]

Cash for Clunkers- failure. Need I say anything? This failed program just goes to show you how good the government is at running things. Kinda like social security, medicare, and everything else they infect by laying their corrupt and incompetent hands on them. Failure. [Ask yourself this: what was the long term effect of this progam? There was none. The Administration thought it would cost $1 billion and last four months; it actually cost $3 billion and lasted most of 3 weeks despite reporting that seems to indicate a longer period of time. And 4/5 of the cars purchased would have been purchased ANYWAY during the following year. . . . this was not a failure, it was an economic joke - jds]

Obama's outreach to Iran- failure. I knew in 2008 when Obama campaigned on this issue that it would be a failure and it would only expose him for the big eared, naive dope he is. And whaddya know. I was right. Iran is now as bold as ever, spitting in the face of Obama's warm attempts to "reach out". Failure. [In fact, Obama has NO PLAN for dealing with the maniacs now ruling Iran. They are in his face and publicly ridicule his name and his country - jds]

The Copenhagen Olympics bid- failure. Not only did Obama's hometown of Chicago not win, they finished dead last in voting. A lot of good that "rock star" star power did! Hell, he even had the Babylonian Whore herself (that's Oprah for those of you who don't know) desperately lobbying faithfully by his side and they still couldn't do it! Now that's sad. Failure.

Afghanistan troop decision- failure. While Obama was lollygagging around in Copenhagen trying to win a prized gem for his hometown (how presidential) our troops were dying and our commander pleaded for reinforcements. Obama put his Afghanistan decision SECOND to his Chicago Olympics wet dream and his "visionary" domestic agenda. He sat around and twittled his thumbs while our troops were getting killed. There's no simpler way to put it. Failure. [In fact, 109 troops died while he was waiting to impliment a plan that was already written and in his possession - he waited more than 90 days when he had ALL the information he needed upon General McChrystal's request - jds]

Reaching out to the Muslim world- failure. Obama is such an idiot. What drastic measures he has taken to appeal to the poor Muslims. He has bent over backwards to apologize to them and how do they repay us? By doing what they have always done and will continue to do for the next 100+ years. Failure
[Think "Cairo" and that "historical" speech to the "Muslim World." When was the last time you heard this speech referenced? What was the followed to this speech? What measurable good has been accomplished? You , the reader, know the answeres to all these questions - jds]

Global Warming progress- failure. This cannot be solely placed upon Obama. But he sure didn't do anything to make progress at his glorious climate summit in Copenhagen. (must be a Copenhagen thing, hmmm) The entire summit, in fact, was one big argument. Nothing was done. A massive dose of carbon emissions were leaked into our atmosphere by all the idiots' jets and limos, the great Obama arrived and.....nothing was accomplished. So typical. Failure. [In fact, the delegates to this conference emitted as mush carbon as did a residential American community of 200,000 people for a two week period. He has been defeated at home on Cap and Trade for 2009 and expects to see the same results again, in 2010 - jds]

Defending America- failure. I won't pin the Hasan shooting on him, although measures most certainly could have been taken to prevent it. But the Christmas Day bomber is an obvious breach of security. Like everything else Obama has failed at, why should defending America be any different? I think with his precious health care bill in passage right now, homeland security is about the last thing King Barry wants to think about. He just has to act concerned and angry about it or it'll blow his cover. Same thing goes for Afghanistan. Obama is a master at rhetoric and political concealment. Failure.

Winning over the American people- FAILURE. Obama's poll numbers have steadily declined since he was sworn into office. A grassroots opposition movement has now begun. In fact, in a recent poll of potential voters more people identified themselves with the Tea Party movement than either the Republican or Democrat parties. That in itself should scare Obama. That and the fact close to one million people converged on Washington on September 12th in direct and vocal opposition to his failed policies. Failure. [Actually, Midknight Review believes there were more than 2 million folks in DC on that day. 72 million Americans now admit to being "conservative" at some level. 120 million voted in the last presidential election. Don the math. Obama loses -- jds]

This first year is marked by a pattern of failure but we still see the smug, arrogant Obama day in and day out. Yet he gives himself a B+ rating. And an A if health care would have passed! Ha!

Climate Change - its biggest story of the year comes on the last day of the year. - no CO2 increases !!!

Editor's notes: the article following our "notes" is most definitely NOT from a radical, right-wing, truth hating publication. Midknight Review names this story the single biggest Global Warming story of 2009 because it dispels the Gore-ism that we are all going to die by 2016 (the message of An Inconvenient Truth) and stands in direct challenge to the information collected for the Keeling Curve. Few references are made to the fact that CO2 made-man emissions account for only 3% of CO2 emissions, and now this story - that in the larger, global picture, the increase is negligible. In fact, in a related story, scientists have found that things are actually "growing faster than they are dying" with the scientist following that observation with this comment: "weird." (see the story and video here). While these people still believe in the harmful effects of their warming "facts," they are admitting to certain realities that do no jive with their "science," hence such exclamations as "weird." We refer the reader to a story placed on Page Seven (see Table of Contents above) titled: Climate Change is Natural: 100 Reasons Why.
______________________________

New research finds that the airborne fraction of carbon dioxide has not increased either during the past 150 years or during the most recent five decades, contrary to some recent studies. (Credit: iStockphoto)

ScienceDaily (Dec. 31, 2009) — Most of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity does not remain in the atmosphere, but is instead absorbed by the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. In fact, only about 45 percent of emitted carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere.

However, some studies have suggested that the ability of oceans and plants to absorb carbon dioxide recently may have begun to decline and that the airborne fraction of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions is therefore beginning to increase.

Many climate models also assume that the airborne fraction will increase. Because understanding of the airborne fraction of carbon dioxide is important for predicting future climate change, it is essential to have accurate knowledge of whether that fraction is changing or will change as emissions increase.

To assess whether the airborne fraction is indeed increasing, Wolfgang Knorr of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol reanalyzed available atmospheric carbon dioxide and emissions data since 1850 and considers the uncertainties in the data.

In contradiction to some recent studies, he finds that the airborne fraction of carbon dioxide has not increased either during the past 150 years or during the most recent five decades.

The research is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Email or share this story

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Goodbye To The Decade of the New Atheists and Hello to the Years of the Good and Faithful Servant

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 11:41 AM

Over the past two years I have hosted long conversations between some of the new atheists/agnostics such as Christopher Hitchens (twice), Richard Dawkins, Robert Wright, Michael Shermer and Bill Lobdell. Sometimes it has been the guest and just me --as with Dawkins and Lodbell-- and other times I have had a debating partner representing Christian belief such as Dr. Mark D. Roberts, Dr. David Allen White, Dr. John Mark Reynolds and Dinesh D'Sousa.

I had hoped to have two more such conversations and then end the series, but Sam Harris has notified me that he no longer wants to do such debates, so today will mark the last in this series. (Harris is by far the weakest link in the new atheists' chain as I learned when I debated him on Lee Strobel's show a few years ago, so the loss is not significant.)

Today's show features Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine and the author of Why Darwin Matters and Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason, whose most recent book is Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions.

Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions

Perhaps there will be an encore down the road if another new atheist arises and is applauded by an MSM eager once again to display their collective sympathy for the anti-Christian worldview that permeates most major newsrooms, but I think this spasm in the popular culture is over for the time being. Remarkably, the Church is still standing.

I hope your New Year's Resolution will be to stop debating faith and instead start figuring out what it means to live as a Christian in 2010, especially as it comes to government and politics. A number of you have adopted The Good and Faithful Servant as your core text for your small group in early 2010, and I thank you for that.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Goodbye To The Decade of the New Atheists and Hello to the Years of the Good and Faithful Servant

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 11:41 AM

I wrote the book in the hope that more and more Christians would take their responsibilities as citizens more seriously than has been evident in the past few years. It is not a "conservative" book, but a study guide for small groups of believers to use as they ask how Christians ought to respond to the issues that fully participating citizens in a democratic republic must confront and decide through the men and women they elect.

If you haven't got a New Year's resolution for 2010 yet, I hope you will consider supplying your group with The Good and Faithful Servant and letting me know how it goes via hugh@hughhewitt.com.

Absent the sort of news that no one except jihadist fanatics wants, I am signing off until 2010 begins and the Buckeyes triumph in the Rose Bowl. Have a wonderful conclusion to 2009 and a great start to the new year. Thank you for all the times you have visited or listened in 2009. 2010 should be even more riveting and hopefully far more redeeming.

Happy New Year!

I wrote the book in the hope that more and more Christians would take their responsibilities as citizens more seriously than has been evident in the past few years. It is not a "conservative" book, but a study guide for small groups of believers to use as they ask how Christians ought to respond to the issues that fully participating citizens in a democratic republic must confront and decide through the men and women they elect.

If you haven't got a New Year's resolution for 2010 yet, I hope you will consider supplying your group with The Good and Faithful Servant and letting me know how it goes via hugh@hughhewitt.com.

Absent the sort of news that no one except jihadist fanatics wants, I am signing off until 2010 begins and the Buckeyes triumph in the Rose Bowl. Have a wonderful conclusion to 2009 and a great start to the new year. Thank you for all the times you have visited or listened in 2009. 2010 should be even more riveting and hopefully far more redeeming.

Happy New Year!

this was never a good idea and doomed to failure from the beginning.

U.S. takes majority stake in GMAC, giving lender $3.8 billion more in aid

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By Binyamin Appelbaum

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 31, 2009

The federal government said Wednesday that it will take majority control of troubled auto lender GMAC and provide an additional $3.8 billion in aid to the company, which has been unable to raise from private investors the money it needs to staunch its losses.

The Treasury Department has said for months that GMAC would need more federal money, but the decision to increase the government's ownership stake came as a surprise, cutting against the grain of the Obama administration's recent efforts to wind down its bailout of large banks.

What initially appeared to be a closing act now looks more like year-end portfolio rebalancing, with companies including Citigroup and Bank of America allowed to repay aid even as the government deepens its involvement in mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- and now, GMAC.

The government now owns majority ownership stakes in those three firms, General Motors and insurance giant American International Group. It also holds large stakes in Citigroup and Chrysler.

The additional aid for GMAC underscores both its struggles and its importance to the administration's efforts to revive the auto industry. GMAC, which already has taken $12.5 billion in direct federal aid along with other forms of government support, is the largest lender to General Motors and Chrysler dealerships and to their customers.

Treasury said that it will increase its stake in GMAC to 56 percent from 35 percent. The government also will hold about $14 billion in what amounts to loans that GMAC may eventually repay. The government plans to appoint four of the company's nine directors.

Wednesday's announcement is a coda to the stress test of 19 large banks conducted earlier this year. GMAC, which was required to add $9.1 billion to its capital reserves against unexpected losses, was the only bank unable to satisfy regulators by finding private investors.

"We said, if you do not go raise capital from the private markets, if you are unable to, we will put capital into you because it is important to the stability of the system," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told the Congressional Oversight Panel earlier this month. "It was never going to be possible for GMAC. They are in a unique and difficult situation."

Congressional Republicans criticized the action Wednesday.

"The government should be releasing its grip on financial institutions, not buying more of them," said Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), chairman of the Republican study committee, a conservative House caucus.

GMAC was created to finance GM auto sales, but during the housing boom it focused on mortgage lending. The company, no longer owned by GM, lost $13 billion in the last three years as borrowers defaulted on those loans.

The federal aid will help GMAC sop up those losses and return to its roots. GMAC said Wednesday that it will take a pretax charge of $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter, largely reflecting the decline in the value of its mortgage-related investments. The company also said that it was exploring "strategic alternatives" for its mortgage business, Residential Capital, indicating that the business may be sold.

CONTINUED 1 2 Next >

Pray for Rush - Midknight Review one of the first to report the news.

He is the Conservative leader in America. The Movement will continue should he not be around but that is because he fostered the current crop of media leaders and single handily turned things around for a Conservative population living without representation. He came down with chest pains on golf course in Hawaii on Wednesday evening, and was taken to the local hospital. It is said that he is in serious condition.

Many do not understand the nature of his "instant" success. This editor remembers when his oldest daughter found Rush on the local radio station, KMJ in Fresno. She called to tell me about Limbaugh and said, "Dad, he sounds just like you."

Indeed - he followed our lead, spoke our language and extended our passion and values. He now needs prayer and [perhaps] rest. -- editor

Update: apparently he is resting "comfortably." In fact, for a period of time, he was sitting in a chair as he continued to recuperate in the Honolulu hospital. Things seem to be looking better.
12/31/09 update - improvement continues; prayers are answered as We prefer - sometimes God does that sort of thing, you know.

Adam Lambert and Elvis.

Some say Adam Lambert
looks like Elvis. He certainly
is as talented. But one was macho
and the other a twink. Still, he is
the best singer to appear on American
Idol. And that is what that show
is all about.

A common sense approach to clean oil and independence.

Get The Frackin' Gas - "frackin" is a play on a real and righteous word / keep reading - editor

Posted 12/22/2009 06:38 PM ET

Investor's Daily

Editor's notes: there is well over 100 years of oil supply within our borders, much of it clean burning natural gas. Did you know that the oil companies reported "record profits" are typically spent on new technologies and physical discovery? That their "bottom line" is between 3 and 6 percent, depending on the company? Why not set a goal of 20 years, develop current supplies for use during that time, and make a timely and common-sense move toward clean and independent crude usage? If nothing else, take time to read the highlights of the article below. Write a Congressman - stay involved.

Energy: An oil company wants to invest its profits in clean-burning American natural gas. A Hungarian billionaire and a "green" politician want to stop it. This is the real Climate-gate scandal.

While the greenies of the world united in Copenhagen to talk about the weather, emitting a Third World-country-size chunk of greenhouse gases to gather there, the world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil, was doing something about it.

On Dec. 14, Exxon agreed to buy XTO Energy, a natural gas firm, in a deal valued at $41 billion. XTO is one of the leaders in something called "fracking" technology, in which water, sand and additives are pumped into the ground to unlock trillions of feet of natural gas previously thought to be unobtainable.

This is what energy companies really do with their profits. They find more energy, then sell it to you.

While the technique is not new, the technology exploiting it is.

XTO has helped develop new technologies that let it drill a single well 9,000 feet and then bore horizontally through shale formations to unlock the natural gas trapped in the porous rock. The rock is fractured and the gas is pushed into accessible pockets whence it can be extracted with a minimal surface footprint.

Because of these new technologies, it is estimated that the U.S. sits on 83% more recoverable natural gas than was thought in 1990.

The Barnett Shale rock formations of Texas and Louisiana, the Bakken Shale formation in Montana and North Dakota, and the Marcellus Shale formation running through New York and Pennsylvania and other states may hold as much as 2,000 trillion cubic feet of this clean-burning, domestically produced fuel.

We are the Saudi Arabia of shale.

At current use, we have an estimated 90-year supply, if we are allowed to get at it.

Slam dunk? Hardly. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., one of the sponsors of the job- and economy-killing Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and no fan of domestic energy, wants to hold hearings on the alleged environmental dangers of the new technology.

There's been an organized campaign to discredit fracking as an environmental danger to the nation's water supply. Ed Lasky at American Thinker has traced a tangled web of deception that rivals the "hide the decline" campaign by the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit.

A media group called Pro Publica has done what it calls "investigative journalism" and exposed the alleged dangers of fracking in a series of stories it has provided free to cash-starved media outlets and newspapers. The first expose was an attack on energy companies developing the Marcellus Shale.

Yemen and the Next Battle Ground in the War on Terror - A comprehensive report by Midknight Review.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23 year old who is guilty of the Christmas Day failed terrorist attempt on an American bound plane holding nearly 300 passengers.

His Nigerian father reported the young man to the US Consulate and conferenced with the CIA regarding his concerns for his son's intentions.

Umar was then put on a watch list but never put on a no-fly list, in spite of the fact that the father had reportedly told the CIA that his son had been radicalized and was in Yemen training with Al-Qaeda. That terrorist organization had its birth in Yemen and has, apparently, moved back to that country, using it as a base for training and political protection. It is such a threat that Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Ca), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has asked Hussein Obama to NOT send any more GITMO prisoners to that country, as planned. One would think this to be a no brainer but when "no brainer" rules the day, no telling what will happen in this regard. John Boehner, minority leader in the House has been asking for information as to the specific plans of the Administration in its fight against Muslim terror without having received a single word in reply. Represtnative Frank Wolf (R-Va) has sent 5 letters to Mr. Obama about the his concerns, requesting information currently being withheld by Obama. Again, no response. Information is also being withheld concerning the Fort Hood Muslim killings of soldiers in that facility - Obama's first public response was to comfort and reassure the world's Muslim population. His Attorney General recently released 3 Black Muslims for further penalities after they had been convicted of crimes related to thier violent activities on election day, '08. No transparency. No conference with Congress. Favoritism shown to convicted Muslims and over-concern for the feelings of the Muslim world. Sounds like a sound basis from which to craft an aggressive response to terror ??

Umar had explosive powder known as PETN sown into the hem of his underwear. 100 grams of this powder will destroy a car and Umar had 80 grams on his person. He spent 20 minutes in the plane's restroom apparently making ready for his death plans. Had he stayed in the bathroom, perhaps he would have succeeded in his efforts but, instead, he came back to his seat, covered his legs with a blanket and set that blanket on fire. Passengers on the plane attacked the young man and ended the attempt.

The Homeland Security department head is Janet Napolitano. She was named as head of this agency in spite of the fact that she had absolutely no specific background in security training and remains grossly unqualified. On Sunday, she proclaimed the effectiveness of Homeland Security measures with regard to this incidence and Monday, had to back off that embarrassing comment. The fact is that security measures failed at all stages of this incident. Here are the facts: the man's father actually met with CIA members with his warning; an identical attempt was prevented in Somali last month (November of '09) with the man in that case being arrested in the airport; Umar purchased a $3000 plane ticket without a passport. The ticket was for a one-way flight. He had no luggage and no carry-ons . . . . and he looked like a Muslim terrorist (racial profiling? Oh, you betcha !!) and was a foreigner flying to America. Where in all this does Napolitano see success for Homeland protection? Sure, she corrected herself but what could she have been thinking in the first place !!? And if the Administration's first response is to create statements that protects itself from criticism - well, what kind of confidence does that instill?

Perhaps the most troubling of all facts related to this issue is the story reported in the TimesOnLine:

Hundreds of al-Qaeda militants are planning terror attacks from Yemen, the country’s Foreign Minister said today. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi appealed for more help from the international community to help to train and equip counter-terrorist forces. His plea came after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day airliner bomb plot. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, alleged to be behind the attempt to blow up an American-bound aircraft, spent time in Yemen with al-Qaeda and was in the country only days before the failed attack.

The article goes on to quote Yemen's Prime Minister as numbering the terrorists-in-training at between 200 and 300. They have security equipment on which they practice passing through. One technique is to place the explosives in a condom along with an ignitor of some sort and swallowing the "bomb." They have money (some financing coming from Iran) and an increasing expertise.

Senator Lieberman told the pundits on the Sunday news shows that Yemen is tomorrow's war. While the Lefties hate talk of war (and who is "for" war?) , the Right hates stupidity. Maybe sending GITMO prisoners back to Yemen is not the place to start with our new policy on fighting the terror wars . . you think?

article by editor.

Hillary most admired by a single point over Sarah. My !! How times have change with regard to the Alaskan Governor.. Michelle Obama came in 4th.

What a match-up! America's new most-admired women -- Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton

December 30, 2009 | 2:22 am

At the end of the 21st century's first decade, Americans have decided on the women they admire the most -- and their picks might surprise some. (Although probably not if they're looking at these photos.)

One is a woman who once lived in the White House -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. And the other is a woman suspected of harboring ambitions of living there someday -- Sarah Palin.

A Democrat and a Republican. A former senator and a former governor. Two polarizing politicians, both moms, both bestselling authors, both who lost their bids for one of the nation's top elected offices last year.

Are American voters dropping a hint here?

According to a new survey just released by USA Today and the Gallup Poll, the 62-year-old Clinton barely beat out the 45-year-old Palin as the most admired female -- 16% to 15% in a poll of 1,025 adult Americans.

However, because the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, it's statistically a P-C draw. The survey was ...

... open-ended, meaning men and women respondents had to provide the names by themselves.

Not that public admiration necessarily translates to votes. But the results have to set off any political spectator's eager imagination about a future presidential ballot match-up between the pair who, though politically polar opposites, are both outspoken, both often underestimated and both beloved by their respective bases.

Clinton's 17 straight years as most- or second-most-admired woman is unprecedented since Gallup began asking the question in 1948 (when presidential daughter Margaret Truman and then-Princess, now Queen Elizabeth II were in the top 10.)

Clinton first headed the list in 1993 as the new first lady in the White House.

And she remained highly admired as first lady throughout the public and private turmoils of her husband's two terms, then as a senator from New York and now as the nation's 67th secretary of State, only the third woman to hold the post.

All this despite -- or actually perhaps because of -- her brutal, toe-to-toe, sometimes bitter Democratic presidential primary contests against Barack Obama in 2008.

Palin, on the other hand, burst onto the national political scene -- and this year's list -- thanks to Sen. John McCain plucking her from the political obscurity of the Alaskan permafrost as his 2008 running mate and the first woman on a presidential ticket of the party of Lincoln.

The latest new first lady, Michelle Obama, trailed on this year's most-admired-women list.

She ended up back at No. 4. As The Ticket reported here Monday, in a separate poll, Mrs. Obama is also mirroring her husband's plunge in approval ratings. From November to December, her approval numbers dropped seven points, down to 55, still higher than the president's.

(On the other hand, the favorable ratings of the equally unemployed Palin have risen into the 40s now.)

Just ahead of Mrs. O in the poll's third place was another Illinois African American female, who helped get the Obamas into the White House: the billionaire businesswoman and TV talker Oprah Winfrey.

Predictably, among admired males, the incumbent president easily tops the list as usual. This year, he was followed by, less predictably, his immediate predecessor, Republican ex-President George W. Bush, and then by former South African leader Nelson Mandela.

Someone named Glenn Beck -- completely unknown to us here in the predictably liberal, MSNBC-watching and indubitably elite media -- is the No. 4 most-admired male, despite -- or perhaps because of -- his 1950s haircut.

Pope Benedict XVI is fifth and the Rev. Billy Graham is No. 6, putting him in the top 10 most admired males for the 54th consecutive year. The Rev. Al Sharpton did not make the top 10 cut. Neither did David Letterman.

However, just squeaking into the top 10 males most admired by Americans is Democratic ex-President Bill Clinton. Well, actually, he tied for 10th place with the notorious cellphone texter Tiger Woods.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Speaking of bestsellers (only it's free), click here to get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. And we're also over here now on Facebook.

Photo credits: Reuters, Associated Press.

And why does Europe have a higher regard for Barack than America? Because they have no clue as to what is going on in this country.

Editor's notes: in this we try to have a little fun, offer some facts and wonder if this European is serious about Obama being more influential than Christ. Our comments are in green - the text is out of Politiken.DK and is included in its entirity.

The U.S. president - the practical saviour of our times

He is provocative in insisting on an outstretched hand, where others only see animosity.

“. . . others only see animosity . . . “ like those pesky Russians invading Georgia or N Korea with a leader actually named Ill, or Chavez bringing in hundreds of missiles to Venezuela, or Castro killing his own citizens, or Iran beating to death those who yearn for freedom or the Palestinians lobbing 1600 missiles per year into Israel hoping they hit something like a school or a church or synagogue or . . .

His tangible results in the short time that he has been active – are few and far between. His greatest results have been created with words and speeches – words that remain in the consciousness of their audience and have long-term effects.

Under no circumstance does "tangible" include simply words or speeches. The author wants there to be measurable results to Obama's tenure but there really aren't any, "few and far between" is code for "zero." Oh, he tries to reverse this latter in the piece, but we all know better.The sad thing is that he does too.

He comes from humble beginnings and defends the weak and vulnerable, because he can identify himself with their conditions.

Technically, all he has done is insure that the poor remain poor, that the helpless continue to look for handouts, that the weak never learn to stand on their own two feet. We ask, where in God's green Earth does Marxism move people up the social and financial ladder? Unless you become part of the ruling class, upward movement only applies to pole vaulting.

And no we are not thinking of Jesus Christ, whose birthday has just been celebrated - - but rather the President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama.

Wow ! How come the rest of us didn’t think of this?

For some time now, comparisons between the two have been a tool of cynical opinion that quickly became fatigued of the rapture that Obama instilled prior to and after the presidential election last year.

When was the last time any of our readers remember seeing an American article celebrating Obama as Messiah? Europe has forgotten that Obama won the ’08 elections by only 7% of the popular vote and would not win reelection at the present time. The negative polling numbers include some 72 million Americans. When in full force, 120 million vote. You do the math.

From the start, Obama’s critics have claimed that his supporters have idolised him as a saviour, thus attempting to dismantle the concrete hope that Obama has represented for most Americans.

What this poor smuck does not know is that Obama made a lot of promises without having any plans for bring them to completion -- except, of course, those plans he did not share with America during the campaign. He promised the closing of GITMO and still talks as if he has closed the prison when the truth includes the fact that he still has no plan for closing the place down. He was going to hold unemployment to under 8% but had no viable plan for doing so. He was going to heal the divide with our enemies - they mock him in ways they did not with Cowboy Bush. His health care plan is not his – it is the creative work of Pelosi and Reid and the plan has been gutted of the essentials he wanted in the bill. The earth was going to begin to cool when he attended Copenhagen - but nothing happened there except for a severally cold winter storm. He was going to off-set the need for Middle Eastern oil by getting Americans to properly air up their tires. He has delivered 530 speeches -- if we allow 3 hours per speech on average for delivery, writing and review and travel to and from, he has spent 6 months of the 11 he has been in office doing nothing but giving speeches and personal appearances -- 6 months of nothing but talk, talk, talk out of 11. He wants terrorist Mirandized on the battle field and given lawyers and civil rights. He and his minions have spent more than 2 trillion dollars per month since he has been in office. Over the coming 100 years, this will cost America well over 50 trillion just in interest. (TARP's Special Inspector General tells us that they have run 23 trillion through TARP and the beat goes on for another full year with TARP funding.)

The idea was naturally that the comparison between Jesus and Obama – which is something that the critics developed themselves – would be comical, blasphemous, or both.

If such a comparison were to be made, it would, of course, inevitably be to Obama’s advantage.

Well, sure. Apparently this little munchkin doesn’t believe in God at all so, of course he believes in Obama.

Today, his historic Health Reform is being passed through the American Senate – a welfare policy breakthrough that several of his predecessors have been unable to manage.

Despite all the compromises, it has finally been possible to ensure something so fundamental, as the right of every American not to be financially shipwrecked when their health fails them. Add to that the biggest ever financial support package in America’s history, a major disarmament agreement and the quickest-ever re-establishment of American reputation.

O.K. , now lets get this right. Health care has not become law and it will leave 18 million Americans uninsured when it does. The “financial support package” is equal to twice the amount of money spent by Obama than all previous Presidents COMBINED. Call it what you will , we call it a disaster.

On the other hand, we have Jesus’ miracles that everyone still remembers, but which only benefited a few. At the same time, we have the wonderful parables about his life and deeds that we know from the New Testament, but which have been interpreted so differently over the past 2000 years that it is impossible to give an unequivocal result of his work.

Gees. 1.8 billion people living today believe in Jesus Christ. 6 million had accepted him in some way by the 100^th anniversary of the Church. And human history is dated to his life, both before and after his death. What has Obama done, again??

Obama is, of course, greater than Jesus – if we have to play that absurd Christmas game. But it is probably more meaningful to insist that with today’s domestic triumph, that he has already assured himself a place in the history books – a space he has good chances of expanding considerably in coming years.

No wonder these people need help every time they have to fight a war !!

Without, however, ever attaining the heavens....

Translated by Julian Isherwood

Let's return the favor, shall we?

CLINTON: You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about. That’s why I believe if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the senate, that’s when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing that the Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength. And you heard how the Republican members led by Mitch McConnell, the president really demeaned the confirmation process.

The Stated Nonsense from the Left now includes these Progressive goals:

July 2, 2008, Obama had this to say: "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

MICHELLE OBAMA: "Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation."

“ . . . . . . they have become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas – that people who love their country can change it.” -- Obama the Radical

On September 30, Van Jones told MSNBC "I think everybody should hold onto your seats. October is going to be the turning point when it comes to the progressive fight back."

Midknight Review -- new and revised

Top Stories of 2009