Michelle Obama Rouses NAACP Before Vote Condemning 'Racist' Elements of Tea Party

First Lady Michelle Obama brought renewed energy to the NAACP today, delivering the keynote speech at the annual convention one day before the nation's largest civil rights group is expected to condemn what it calls racist elements in the Tea Party movement.

The nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization will vote on the resolution Tuesday during its annual convention in Kansas City, Mo.

In her speech, the first lady focused on the issue of childhood obesity and her "Let's Move" initiative, but outside of her remarks, anti-Tea Party activism has been a key focus of the gathering, which conservative leaders say is driven solely by a political agenda.

The NAACP and their liberal allies are desperate to portray the Tea Party people as racists, even though there hasn't been a single shred of evidence to support it. And thanks to whathisname and his "crashers" website, the scant amount of stuff they do have is highly questionable.

Have you ever asked yourself why the left never addresses the Tea Party message, and instead focuses on tryin

Deepwater-Drilling Ban Renewed by U.S.'s Salazar in Wake of BP Oil Spill

Salazar said a pause is needed to ensure that oil and gas companies implement adequate safety measures to reduce the risks associated with deepwater drilling operations and are prepared for blowouts and oil spills.

This is absolutely pointless and designed to inflict as much damage as possible to the oil industry while this spill continues. If they want to inspect or whatever, they can do it while the rigs operate. There's no reason to destroy livelihoods and local economies.

Devon is one of three companies that has cited the deep-water drilling ban in trying to ease out of contracts to lease Diamond rigs. Diamond, a drilling company, said it expects to make about $100 million from the deal, including a $31 million early termination fee it recovered from Devon.

Larry Dickerson, CEO of Houston-based Diamond, signaled that other of his company's rigs could be relocated, too.

"As a result of the uncertainties surrounding the offshore drilling moratorium, we are actively seeking international opportunities to keep our rigs fully employed," Dickerson said. "We greatly regret the loss of U.S. jobs that will result from this rig relocation."

It was unclear how many U.S. jobs could leave with the Ocean Endeavor, but typically more than 100 workers are on the rig at any given time, doing everything from drilling to cooking meals. Onshore, a network of businesses supplies the rigs with groceries, equipment, uniforms and drilling materials.

"It's not unusual for an energy service company to have 1,000 vendors that they buy from or purchase services from," noted Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands. As a result, Brady said, the economic damage from the moratorium stretches far and wide.

I hope the liberal/enviro movement is satisfied with itself. Nothing has really changed, the platforms will still operate, the oil will still be drilled, pollution, globa

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B_xBWsDpz0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B_xBWsDpz0</a>

California (Reuters) - A white former transit police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a videotaped shooting death of an unarmed black man last year in Oakland, California, sparking a wave of looting and destruction in the city on Thursday.

The verdict prompted a peaceful protest by up to 1,000 people in downtown Oakland, which gave way after nightfall to some people looting stores, smashing car windows, throwing powerful fireworks at police and lighting fires in trash cans.

I demand justice! And a new TV too! These fools are stealing from themselves. They're destroying and looting from the economic engine in their own freaking community.

<a href="http://www.liveleak.com/e/e04_1278446488" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.liveleak.com/e/e04_1278446488</a>

Brilliant.

'Tan tax' discussions include allegations of reverse racism

Mention the new "tan tax" in a major news outlet and cries of discrimination and reverse racism often follow.

The complaint surfaced on reader comment boards to blogs and news Web sites back in December, when it became clear that the levy -- a 10 percent surcharge on the use of ultraviolet tanning beds -- was likely to be included in the new health-care overhaul bill. Since then, it's been repeated by conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Doc Thompson, a fill-in host for Glenn Beck who intoned in March, "I now know the pain of racism."

When an article about the fallout from the tax -- which took effect last week -- appeared on the Washington Post's Web site Wednesday, dozens of commenters questioned the tax's legality.

The case can seem deceptively simple: Since patrons of tanning salons are almost exclusively white, the tax will be almost entirely paid by white people and, therefore, violates their constitutional right to equal protection under the law.

If this law isn't racist, then every claim for the need for "affirmative action" is bullshit. According to whatshisface, there has to be a intent to disadvantage a particular race. Hiring someone based on his abilities or

Gibbs Evades Question of Whether Obama Agrees With His Medicare Director That Health-Care System Must Redistribute Wealth

Though Neil Peart paraphrased it in the Rush classic, “Limelight”, it was William Shakespeare that famously wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players…” Looking at Tuesday’s White House meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it appears that what was true in the day of the Bard remains so today.

If this is the case, though, the question must be asked if Obama and Netanyahu are merely players on the world stage, who is the audience? While some may consider it glib or sarcastic, it is one that serious observers of the international arena are ever mindful of. Indeed, it is one I teach my International Relations students to diligently look for.

What are the forces driving the headlines? What messages are hidden in open sight between the lines of a story? If a picture is worth a thousand words, exactly what is it saying?

As I tell my students, actions on the world stage are often directed at both domestic as well as foreign audiences. Tuesday’s meeting is a case in point.

Domestically, both leaders had significant audiences they had to play to, but for distinctly different reasons. For Netanyahu, the objective was two fold.

First, there was the need to clearly demonstrate that the “special relationship” between Washington and Jerusalem endured.

After a Spring that saw Netanyahu denied a White House audience while visi

NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.

I thought NASA's foremost mission was going to be to "prove" global warming? Can't Obama make up his mind on what political role he wants his scientific organization to play? Personally, I prefer the "prove global warming" option. At least there it's somewhat scientific, and if they're sloppy about it, we can see how they cooked the numbers to get the results they need.