Multiple layers of painstaking editorial fact-checking.

The real issue stemmed from the fact that swimming 2,100 miles in 25 days is impossible. (Some newspapers picked up on this.) It's infinitely more impossible when somebody only spends 21 minutes swimming during one of those 25 days. Michael Phelps swimming his fastest would take about 20 days to cover that distance. And that's his fastest pace, sustained for three weeks, without ever stopping. Impossible.

Yet, somehow, the AP ran the story even though a few seconds of thought and a pocket calculator was enough to disprove it.

So, did she swim the whole 2,100 miles, even if at a slower pace?

Almost:

The Associated Press reported erroneously that she had swum across the ocean. Figge swam only a fraction of the 2,100-mile journey. The rest of the time, she rested on her crew's westward-sailing catamaran. Her spokesman, David Higdon, told The AP on Tuesday that her total swimming distance has not been calculated yet, but that due to ocean hazards including inclement weather, he estimates she swam about 250 miles.

250 miles, 2,100 miles. Potato, pohtahtoh.

Posted by: Ace at 11:47 AM | Comments (71)
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Technically, it is dissemination of child porn if you send a cellphone pic of a naked 13 year old girl.

In this case, though the pic was sent to 12-14 year olds by the girl's boyfriend (also apparently from 12-14 years old).

I dunno.

The ever-excitable Wendy Murphy is all over using child porn charges against the boys, of course, to stop this "epidemic."

Posted by: Ace at 11:41 AM | Comments (104)
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Only the second first lady to snag the cover of Vogue. I assume the other was Jackie Kennedy.

For the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of Vogue.

Nope, Not Jackie Kennedy: AZDreamer says the local news reported the other first lady managing this feat was... Hillary Clinton.

Well! You'd almost think that these magazines just really dig liberal women or somethin'.

Posted by: Ace at 11:30 AM | Comments (85)
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Watch the woman off to the left. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:11 AM | Comments (76)
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Dumbass.

...accused of sharing child porn on a social networking site...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 11:06 AM | Comments (44)
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BELFAST, Maine — James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a “dirty bomb.”

Article and more at Dan Riehl's.

The occasional white Nazi terrorist plot has one silver lining: At least it makes it suddenly safe for the Left to concede the reality of terrorism.

Update: I skimmed and didn't realize how much evidence there was for a white supremacist motivation. People who've been in his house say it's loaded with Hitler memorabilia including a big-ass swastika flag. So the "purportedly" seems to be unnecessary.

Curious... What happens to the wife who plugged him?

I assume she's technically guilty of murder, but how do you bring charges against her?

Posted by: Ace at 10:37 AM | Comments (41)
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Interesting analysis here: The problem (as far as Geithner's plan) wasn't just Geithner's plan. It was that Obama had greatly oversold it the day before as super-duper-amazing.

Expectations were riding very high that Treasury Secretary Geithner would pull a rabbit out of a hat, in a speech billed as an announcement of bold, new plans to stabilize the banks. Obama himself, the night before in his press conference, assured us in the manner of a glib salesman that GeithnerÂ’s speech would be most impressive.

You can see how impressive from a chart of the stock market....

So if ObamaÂ’s team really believe that this problem is a simple matter of building enough confidence among the worldÂ’s investors to come back out and play, theyÂ’re very wrong. And this is why I think Geithner looked and sounded so uncomfortable yesterday. He actually knows quite a bit about how banks and markets operate. And he knew heÂ’d been sent out to sell a case for recovery that was about as compelling as when President Gerald Ford told us all to fight inflation by wearing WIN buttons.

I really donÂ’t know why the Obama people chose to set up this speech as an oracular pronouncement that would bring confidence back to the markets, and I donÂ’t know why the political team (including David Axelrod) got mixed up in helping Geithner decide what to say. Geithner has the experience and the intellectual equipment to do his job. What on earth was Axelrod doing in the room?

This says a great deal about the new President. HeÂ’s evidently seeing the twin crises as a problem of confidence that he can solve by waving the right magic wands. Obama has invested a very great deal in the story that he and his people are far ahead of George Bush, Henry Paulson and the now-hated TARP rescue plan. And not only Obama but also Congress, with Barney Frank having said on multiple occasions that the Democratic version of TARP would be very different and would work much better.

That does say a great deal about Obama, and it's not good. He simultaneously underestimates the difficulty of the problem, under-understands the problem in the first place, and overestimates his ability to work magic just by speaking his awesome magic words.

Faith-based presidency, anyone? George W. Bush may have had a misplaced confidence, but at least he drew that confidence from God Himself, not from Himself Himself.

Posted by: Ace at 10:30 AM | Comments (48)
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More evidence to suggest that to President Obama and the Democrats, bipartisanship means doing the will of The One, without all that pesky interference from the other party.

Republicans have caught the Democrats in a midnight “stimulus” power play that seeks to cut Republican conferees out of the House-Senate negotiations to resolve a final version of the Obama “stimulus” package. Staff members from the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met last night to put together the “stimulus” conference report.

They intend to attempt to shove this $1.3 trillion spending bill through in the dead of the night without Republican input so floor action can take place in both chambers on Thursday.

I spoke with House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) moments ago about this latest version of Democratic “bipartisanship.” Pence told me, “I think the American people deserve to know that legislation that would comprise an amount equal to the entire discretionary budget of the United States of America is being crafted without a single House Republican in the room.”

What a great little scam they've got going here. President Obama excoriates Republicans for standing in the way, while Reid and Pelosi ensure that no icky Republican ideas make their way into the pork-o-rama. Win-Win.

Update - I agree with those who have commented that, politically, this is a good thing. However, it never hurts to point out the contrast between Obama's rhetoric and the way he and those in his party are doing business. So I guess politically, this is a win-win for conservatives, as well.

I should add, though, that having a monstrosity like this to fight against may be good political fodder, but in the end we're still left fighting a budget-bloating monstrosity.

Posted by: Slublog at 09:10 AM | Comments (111)
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I suppose we should praise Senators Specter, Snowe and Collins for their efforts to really cut out that pork, huh?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Negotiators for Congress and the White House have tentatively settled on a $790 billion price tag on President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill and are working to narrow differences on individual elements of the bill.

After unofficial talks stretching into the late evening on Tuesday, officials announced a formal meeting of negotiators for mid-afternoon in the Capitol as they try to get a bill to Obama's desk for signing by week's end.

Democratic aides said that Obama's negotiating team had prevailed in restoring some lost funding for school construction projects during talks Tuesday, and had also increased aid to state governments above the $39 billion approved in a compromise with a handful of Senate GOP moderates.

Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit would be reduced from $500 per worker to $400, with couples eligible for an $800 credit, instead of $1,000, said a Democratic aide close to the talks. This aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.

Posted by: Slublog at 07:34 AM | Comments (108)
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In 2004, a terrorist suspect claims the US tortured him by holding him down and forcing him to have sex with a female soldier. Via Hot Air's headlines, everything old is new again!

Fahim Ansari is accused of helping to plan the attacks in which 173 people were killed in November.

His lawyer, Ejaz Naqvi, has filed legal papers with Mumbai magistrate's court, claiming the "white woman" removed all his clothes and showed him pornographic films.

In the papers, he claims that three foreigners, including the woman, sexually abused him, causing him "severe itching and wounds" on his body, including his genitals.

Mr Ansari, a devout Muslim, claims this amounts to torture because it is against his religion, The Sun newspaper has reported.

Hmmmm... two men forced this poor man down, while a woman forced him to have sex with her.

This is a Penthouse Forum fantasy, not a credible f**king charge. This is the sort of fantasy concocted by a sexually-repressed Islamoretard who believes such things are possible in the decadent US

We should be so lucky.

Dear Penthouse Forum,

My name is Neisef, and I am a student at a large Middle-Eastern university. I never thought these letters were real, until something happened to me to make me believe all these stories were true.

Posted by: Slublog at 07:27 AM | Comments (66)
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