Animatronic Barack Obama – Magic Kingdom

A remarkably lifelike Audio-Animatronics figure of President Barack Obama enters the spotlight in a revised and refreshed Hall of Presidents show when it reopens July 4 in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney.

This is amazing.  I’d love to see it up close wouldn’t you?  So life like, all of them.

I’m So Sick of Lies!

The liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last year seeking records related to Cheney’s FBI interview.

In a court filing Wednesday, Acting Assistant Attorney General David Barron (Pres Obama’s admin) argued that parts of Cheney’s interview should be kept secret because they involve confidential deliberations among White House officials. Barron said their disclosure could limit frank and open discussion about matters of national importance in the White House in the future.

He said Cheney’s recollection of discussions with Libby, the White House communications director and chief of staff about media inquiries into the Plame leak were among those portions that should be protected. He also included Cheney’s discussions with the CIA director about Wilson’s trip and his role in resolving disputes about declassifying “certain information” in that category.

I’m sorry but any conversation relating to politics, that may have been criminal, should be given to the American people.  The White House is ‘our’ house.

Every thing about the “Plame leak” was POLITICAL in nature.  The leak was to STOP any harm or harsh criticism of President George W. Bush’s administration, when it came to discussing Bush’s reasons for going to war in Iraq.

Any discussion as to the original request to find any ‘link’ to Saddam with respects to gaining nuclear material can be blacked out.  That is about national security.

Discussions however, on how to stop the resulting ‘facts’  (was there yellow cake involved or not) from that report getting out should NOT be stopped in this case, because LIES were told about that report, to convince the American people into going to War.  Americans were lied to.

I realize the President is trying to protect any future conversations HIS administration might have; but he is wrong about this in my opinion.

Political conversations that may or may not involve illegal actions or used to deceive the American people — should NOT be protected.

A CEO does not have the right to hide the fact that the company is going bankrupt or has more money than is being reported to the Board of Directors of that company.

We the American people are the Board of Directors.  STOP THE LIES and COVERUP — NOW!

Democrats -Change of Plans: Health Care

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats on a key Senate Committee outlined a revised and far less costly health care plan Wednesday night that includes a government-run insurance option and an annual fee on employers who do not offer coverage to their workers.

The plan carries a 10-year price tag of slightly over $600 billion, and would lead toward an estimated 97 percent of all Americans having coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Chris Dodd said in a letter to other members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The AP obtained a copy.

By contrast, an earlier, incomplete proposal carried a price tag of roughly $1 trillion and would have left millions uninsured, CBO analysts said in mid-June…

Additionally, the revised proposal calls for a $750 annual fee on employers for each full-time worker not offered coverage through their job. The fee would be set at $375 for part-time workers. Companies with fewer than 25 employees would be exempt. The fee was forecast to generate $52 billion over 10 years, money the government would use to help provide subsidies to those who cannot afford insurance.

The same provision is also estimated to greatly reduce the number of workers whose employers would drop coverage, thus addressing a major concern noted by CBO when it reviewed the earlier proposals.

While this still doesn’t answer all my questions, it does help answer how they plan on stopping employers from dropping employee’s current health plans — by charging FEES.

I’m not sure I agree with this idea; but again, I’m only getting a third of the story too.

If any of you see more ‘details’ –pass them on please.

Iraqi’s Celebrate Sovereignty?

“The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security,” said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty.”

This is a bit of a stretch isn’t it?  Oh sure the troops (but not all) have left the cities of Iraq; but they are just outside the borders of those cities and able to come right back in.  So what is this claim to “Sovereignty”?

Fireworks, not bombings, colored the Baghdad skyline late Monday, and thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs. Loudspeakers at police stations and military checkpoints played recordings of similar tunes throughout the day, as Iraqi military vehicles decorated with flowers and national flags patrolled the capital.

“All of us are happy _ Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds on this day,” Waleed al-Bahadili said as he celebrated at the park. “The Americans harmed and insulted us too much.”

Al-Maliki declared a public holiday and proclaimed June 30 as “National Sovereignty Day.”

Americans HARMED and INSULTED us too much?  Say what!? We’ve lost 4321 precious men and women lives (not counting the 31,000 wounded, some with life long injuries) to FREE them and this is the THANKS we get? With that sort of attitude we should just GET OUT NOW!

The withdrawal, required under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010.

Despite Tuesday’s formal pullback, some U.S. troops will remain in the cities to train and advise Iraqi forces. U.S. troops will return to the cities only if asked. The U.S. military will continue combat operations in rural areas and near the border, but only with the Iraqi government’s permission.

The U.S. has not said how many troops will be in the cities in advisory roles, but the vast majority of the more than 130,000 U.S. forces remaining in the country will be in large bases scattered outside cities.

As usual the whole story is not in the headlines, just the sensationalism part.

What this celebration is all about is, an attempt by both the U.S. and Iraqi leadership to convince the enemy that the U.S. is GONE, so you can quit the fighting and killing now.

Jackson Kids Not His!

MICHAEL Jackson’s two eldest kids face a tug-of-love battle after their mum Debbie Rowe confessed he was not their father.

In an astonishing interview Debbie – mother of Prince, 12, and Paris, 11 – said she was artificially inseminated by an anonymous donor…

Debbie (who lives on a farm surrounded by animals) said, ““I was just the vessel. It wasn’t Michael’s sperm. Just like I stick the sperm up my horse, this is what they did to me. I was his thoroughbred.”….

I had a feeling they weren’t his when the announcements came out about the pregnancies.  It’s sad because these kids will forever be in limbo now especially since Jackson’s estate is in such deep dept.

Unfortunately, their only chance is the money ‘his name’ will most likely draw — now that he is dead.

Soldier and Dog Save One Another

FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) — Army Specialist Cameron Briggs washes down a cocktail of prescription drugs every day for post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury he suffered when four roadside bombs rocked his Humvee in Iraq.

Tramadol for pain. Midrin for debilitating headaches. Minipress to suppress nightmares. Klonopin to control anger and anxiety.

His next dose of treatment will come from an unlikely source: a purebred Golden Retriever.

A new Veterans Administration program adopts dogs from animal shelters, trains them and matches them with wounded warriors home from Iraq and Afghanistan to help with their recovery.

For Briggs, his dog will be trained to help him find his wallet, cell phone and keys, which he habitually loses because of cognitive memory loss. The dog also will brace Briggs, who has an ankle injury, so he doesn’t have to use a cane or walker in public.

“I call him my little battle buddy,” the 24-year-old Briggs said as he strapped his old camouflage assault vest onto Harper. It’s modified to store biscuits and toys instead of ammunition. “I most definitely think he’ll help me transfer back to civilian life.”

This is such a benefit for all involved.  Not only does the soldier gain some support and love when they need it most from having a dog that can ‘help’ them live a normal life; the dog gets saved from what most likely would have been a certain death at the local animal shelter.

Kudos to the Veterans Administration and the Freedom Service Dogs in Denver!

I’m curious however, is this one of those social service programs that a Republican would demand be cut from the budget?

Bush Signed the Agreement – Not Obama

Our troops are pulling out of Iraqi cities as of tomorrow and leaving their security up to the Iraqi troops.  This is what former Vice President Cheney had to say about it:

Mr. Cheney told The Washington Times’ America’s Morning News radio show that he is a strong believer in Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and that the general is doing what needs to be done.

“But what he says concerns me: That there is still a continuing problem. One might speculate that insurgents are waiting as soon as they get an opportunity to launch more attacks.

“I hope Iraqis can deal with it. At some point they have to stand on their own. But I would not want to see the U.S. waste all the tremendous sacrifice that has gotten us to this point.”

Need I remind you Mr Cheney, that is was ‘your‘ administration that signed the agreement to do this?

The troops aren’t leaving ‘IRAQ’ they are pulling out of the cities, which means if need be, they ‘could’ return for specific missions to assist the Iraqi troops.

Hopefully however, Gen. Ray Odierno is correct — the Iraqi’s are finally ready to STAND UP for themselves– after 6 and a half years of training.

He’s A Bit Slow But Intelligent..

This robot is interesting to watch if you don’t fall asleep first…LOL

But just imagine having one of these help you put together those toys after opening birthday or Christmas presents.

The EU Joint-Action Science and Technology project (JAST) is developing robots that can engage in joint activities with humans or other robots, to complete tasks through teamwork. Their latest demonstration (see video above) shows their progress with a robot that observes and predicts a human working on a project. The robot identifies the components the human is using and the likely result of assembling the components. The robot then assists the human with the work, locating parts as they are needed, and providing them to the human. The idea is to give robot the capacity for “observation and mirroring (resonance)”.

If you’ve ever written a computer program, then you know just how much code goes into moving just the arm of this robot, let alone the fingers, voice, head, etc…  It’s brain boggling.

Take a peak at this little guy (ASIMO) – Amazing

Michael Jackson’s Death

Michael Jackson’s death is a bit of a shock.  I have to admit that when I first heard he was taken to the hospital, I thought it was just another stunt to get back into the limelight again with his fans.  I’d heard previously that he planned another comeback musical tour, so I figured, here we go again.

However, when they reported it was from a cardiac arrest, I knew then that he wasn’t ‘playing around’.  Then my thoughts surrounded his whole life, when he started singing, how far he’d gone and the many songs and dances that I’ve heard or watched him sing.

The very first song that I ever really ‘loved’ (don’t ask why, haven’t a clue) was “My Girl“.  I fell in love with the words and Michael when that song came out.

There were many songs like “Ben” and others that I fell in love with.  Michael’s moonwalk was amazing.  I don’t thing anybody has been able to do quite like Jackson.

While I honestly believe the man was guilty of child molestation, I feel the need to still, thank Michael and his family, for all their music and dance and the joy that they brought me over the years.