Possible Tornado Near Downtown Jacksonville, Florida

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
 CENTRAL DUVAL COUNTY IN NORTHEAST FLORIDA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 531 PM EDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR
 ORTEGA...OR NEAR DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
 RIVERSIDE...SAN MARCO...DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE AND ARLINGTON.

Obama - Germany Rift - Look at the History and You will Understand

Despite the president's claim at a joint appearance this afternoon that "I like Chancellor Merkel a lot," President Barack Obama and Germany's Angela Merkel are widely believed to have a somewhat frosty relationship. The biggest perceived rift between the two? How best to respond to the global financial crisis.

Mr. Obama, of course, has pushed through a massive stimulus package and pressed for greater government spending worldwide to end the recession. Merkel, who helms the largest economy in Europe, has resisted such spending; her government has passed only a pair of small stimulus packages in response to the economic crisis.

One reason for the two leaders' different philosophies is ideological: Merkel is a center-right politician who has argued against bank bailouts in Europe. But German history is also a factor. Under the German parliamentary governmental system known as the Weimar Republic, Germans faced hyperinflation in the 1920s that destroyed savings and drove many people into poverty. Here's one (fictionalized) account of what it was like:

The price increases began to be dizzying. Menus in cafes could not be revised quickly enough. A student at Freiburg University ordered a cup of coffee at a cafe. The price on the menu was 5,000 Marks. He had two cups. When the bill came, it was for 14,000 Marks. "If you want to save money," he was told, "and you want two cups of coffee, you should order them both at the same time."

The Weimar Republic stayed in power in Germany for another decade, but the period of hyperinflation is considered a significant factor in the emergence of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party – the Nazis.

Germans are thus particularly attuned to the dangers of inflation – and particularly wary of fiscal policy that they fear could bring it about.

"We learned from the worldwide economic crisis of the 1920s that an economic crisis can result in an incredible threat for all of society," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Der Spiegel magazine, as the Washington Post reported last year. "The consequences of that depression was Adolf Hitler and, indirectly, World War II and Auschwitz." - CBS News

ABC News Polling Numbers for Obama Too High

ABC News, also known lately as the All Barack Channel, has the highest job approval numbers of all the polls. And, not by just a little bit.

ABC News has Obama's approval at 65%, while Rasmussen, Democracy Corps, and NBC News all have them at 55-56%. That is a full 9-10% higher.

I guess now we know why ABC got the Exclusive Hour Long Infomercial with the President.

Perez Hilton In the Hot Seat Again!!!!

Perez Hilton’s coverage of Michael Jackson’s death has brought the celebrity blogger more attention -- but not because he broke any news.

The gossip hound is being slammed from all corners for dismissing the initial word on Thursday that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, calling it a publicity stunt.

“Supposedly, the singer went into cardiac arrest ...” Hilton wrote in his blog, before stating, “We are dubious!!”

Click here to see photos of Michael Jackson.

“Either he’s lying or making himself sick,” the blog continued. Then it urged those who had purchased tickets for Jackson’s series of concerts in London to “get your money back!”

The post included a picture of Jackson with the hand-scrawled headline: "Heart attack or cold feet?" - FOX News Story

This guy is a First Class Moron!!! I had never heard of him before the Pageant BS, and now I hear everyday about the Stupid stuff this Moron writes.

When is his 15 minutes going to be up?

Police Release Michael Jackson 911 Call

Police Release Michael Jackson 911 Call
Authorities release a 911 call made from Michael Jackson's home that reported
the singer wasn't breathing or responding.

MORE DETAILS: <http://www.wisn.com/tu/5HPf6Jyo6.html>

Congressman Conyers Wife Pleads guilty to Bribery

City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman John Conyers, pleaded guilty Friday to accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company.

Conyers, a fiery 44-year-old first-term council member, admitted in federal court to a single count of conspiracy to commit bribery, responding quietly to questions from Judge Avern Cohn.

She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when she's sentenced.

Conyers left court without commenting.

Her lawyer, Steve Fishman, declined to comment on the specifics of Conyers' case outside of court, saying only that all plea deals were more or less the same.

Rep. John Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who has no role in the case, didn't answer when questioned about it as he walked to the House floor for a vote Friday morning. "I have no comment whatever," he said. - FOX News Story

Makes you wonder how this isn't bigger news? If it was John McCains Wife it would be huge front page leading story news.

Climate / Energy Bill will Shift Billions to Foreign Countries

Climate legislation that House Democratic leaders will bring to the floor Friday will raise the costs of nearly every staple in American life — electricity, food, gasoline and scores of goods and services, adding drag to an already sluggish economy. The last thing Americans need right now is higher energy taxes, which will disproportionally affect the poor and middle class and ripple through all sectors of the economy.

But there are always winners and losers and, under the proposed policy, no one would win quite so much as China.

By adding a new energy tax, the bill will increase China’s manufacturing advantage, but worse, provisions of the act will actually subsidize Chinese energy by allowing for the direct transfer of hundreds of billions of dollars to China and other developing nations.

When our electricity bill jumps, when the cost of hamburgers rises, when the price at the pump soars, U.S. tax dollars will be subsidizing these same costs abroad.

President Barack Obama’s climate negotiators are already signaling that they will cave to the demands of China and other developing nations. Recent comments from key negotiators indicate that the U.S. will not demand that China make emissions cuts similar to the ones being considered by the House of Representatives this week, despite the fact that China is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide on the planet.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act, introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), puts a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, the primary byproduct of energy production from cheap, abundant fossil fuel sources like coal and natural gas. Utilities and other industries

that the bill covers will be able to buy offsets from other nations. - Politico Story by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner

Looks like things aren't always as they seem. Earlier there was an article on how this plan wasn't going to cost us anything. As a matter fact the Government might make money on it. Well, now we hear the other side of it and it doesn't sound so rosy, or such a good idea.

House & Senate Democrats vote against Obama on F-22

In spite of a possible presidential veto, lawmakers in the House and Senate continued pushing for additional F-22 Raptor fighter jets on Thursday.

The House approved its version of a bill to authorize defense spending for fiscal year 2010 that also included money for an alternative engine for the Air Force’s Joint Strike Fighter.

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a defense bill that provides $1.75 billion to buy seven F-22s. It also approved funding for an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter made by General Electric and Rolls-Royce.

The Obama administration threatened a veto over both issues Wednesday, and action in both chambers indicates lawmakers would face difficulty overriding the executive branch.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the Raptor’s biggest champion, was jubilant.

“Our debate and vote took place with full awareness of the administration’s veto threat, and the result of the vote speaks for itself,” said Chambliss. - Politico

Democrats Get in Yelling and Pushing Match in Chambers

Late last night, Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) e-mailed POLITICO and others an unrepentant 700-word explanation of the beef with Appropriations Committee David Obey that led her to shout and maybe shove the 71-year-old Wisconsin Dem.

She doesn't deny reports (including mine) that she berated and pushed Obey over his refusal to cough up $1 million to fund a Watts job training center named after Waters — of the type the chairman has dismissed as "monuments to me."

Instead, Waters portrays the incident as Maxine vs. the man.

An "angry" Obey, she says, stubbornly refused to fund a badly needed community resource in one of the country's most depressed neighborhoods — Watts has a nearly 50 percent unemployment rate.

Waters' behavior may not have looked not so good here, but the argument should add to Waters' reputation back home, even though she hasn't had a serious challenger in years. The story proves she's fighting — literally — for Watts.

She calls the center a "national model," although I couldn't find any such assessment in a quick review of five years' worth of NEXIS clips.

The big question here, of course: Does the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center actually do its job? - Politico Story

Energy Bill Won't Cost Government Anything - But Consumers?

Reducing greenhouse gases is the main aim of the sweeping energy bill currently up for debate in the House.

An 80% reduction is what most scientists say is needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

Putting the nation on track to meet this goal by 2050 will cost the average American household $175 a year by 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Under the bill, polluters would have to pay to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, something they currently do for free. Plus, the amount they can emit would decline each year.

Known as cap-and-trade, industries would either pay for cleaner technology (cap), or buy pollution permits in a secondary market (trade). Industries most affected include electric utilities, gasoline refiners, chemical makers, and steel and cement companies.

The huge costs in this system - over $100 billion a year - would normally be passed on directly to the consumer. But much of the money generated from the sale of these pollution permits is being returned to households and business as a series of tax credits and other allocations. These credits are what push down the annual household cost to a relatively low $175.

Consumers will mainly see this cost in the form of higher electric bills and gas prices. The impact on the Federal budget is minimal, with one analysis suggesting that it could actually increase revenues a bit.

Opponents of the measure say the costs will be far higher, while supporters say the average household will actually see an increase in spending power because they'll be using less energy.

If the bill passes the House it must then go before the Senate, which probably won't happen until the fall. Most observers say it stands a good chance of passing the House, but will have a more difficult time in the Senate. - CNN

This all sounds like a great plan. But Seriously, how many of you really think that a Democratic Controlled Congress and White House is planning to return any money back to us?

When was the last time that you saw the Democrats cut taxes or return money to the American People? (not counting the Stimulus)

Sounds to me like a Snatch and Grab on the part of the White House.