Inside the Asylum

Matt meditates:

The other day, Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury stated that the “era of complaint politics has ended” just prior to his trip to Beijing to discuss monetary policy with the Chinese government. Last week, I saw Nancy Pelosi’s jet on the ground in Beijing where she had remarkably cordial meetings with Chinese leadership and mentioned nary a word on human rights or trade. Welcome to the new paradigm. In a few short days, the new administration managed to a – blame Bush, b-succumb on human rights, and c – kow tow to Chinese economic sensitivities

It's good to remember that the Democrats are the party of human rights, not like those evil Republicans.

Who the heck writes these headlines? AP's story leads:

'Thank God it is over': a town full of corpses begins to come back to life

It's actually a story about Mingora, a city in the Swat region in Pakistan, and has nothing to do with zombies. Still, I only skim read the rest of the article. Maybe I missed something?

The Telegraph reports:
The veteran:

Charles Payne, 84, was among the American infantrymen who liberated Ohrdruf, a subdivision of the Buchenwald camp, in April 1945.

The fake:

Mr Obama will next week attend a memorial ceremony at the former camp with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.

Oh yeah, and the veteran is Obama's great uncle (the one he wrongly claimed liberated Auschwitz.)

Great Uncle Payne must be proud that his nephew is going to Buchenwald, right?

Asked if his great nephew was following in his footsteps, which the White House has suggested as a reason for the trip, Mr Payne told the German magazine Der Spiegel: "I don't buy that. This is a trip that he chose, not because of me I'm sure, but for political reasons."

It's just as well Obama remembers those who helped him win power.

[Payne] appeared at the 2008 Democratic national convention, when Mr Obama was formally nominated as the party's candidate, and attended the inauguration in January. He has not however been invited on the trip to Europe.

It's hard to disagree with this:

Ed Royce, the top Republican congressman on the house foreign affairs committee, said: "It's more important what countries do than what they say, and the Obama administration has overestimated the importance of being liked."

CNN's website has this headline, re-produced with their line break

Doctor who performed abortions
shot to death

I never realized that Dr Who, the British sc-fi icon, was involved with this kind of work. I guess the series never really did explain why he was called "the Doctor" ... so now we know. Is this the end of the Doctor? Or will he regenerate as a plastic surgeon?
Image source here.

I've just invented a new word... you heard it here first. Carter and Obama are cut from the same cloth. Maybe they're clones? A Cartobama clone. If it's true, then the United States is truly cursed by the gods.

Comparing Carter and Obama has been been a running theme of mine, so I thought I should put them all together... I'm adding a new topic to the categories bar called "Cartobama". Check them out.

Well, someone else seems to have used the term before, but it doesn't seem to have been used in the way I'm using it.

Don't tell your wife about this one.

Calling one's wife ugly may soon be considered an offence under a Malaysian law that seeks to protect a woman both physically and emotionally. One of the clauses proposed to be amended in the Domestic Violence Act 1994 pertains to emotional violence against women who are currently only protected against physical abuse, the Star newspaper said on Thursday. Women's Development Department director-general Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur said... "It could be a case when a husband tells his wife she is ugly or humiliates her until she feels emotionally pressured," she told media at the end of a seminar on how to curb violence against women. The government is in the process of bringing the proposed amendment to parliament.

Hey you! Yeah you Prat! Yes, I'm talking to you, you Gay. That's right, Alfonso Prat Gay is running strong in his election bid in Buenos Aires.

Another district in the current political limelight is Buenos Aires City, where the opposition's Gabriela Michetti heads the polls with a percentage between 22.3 and 33.2 of the total votes. Second after Michetti is Alfonso Prat Gay, the candidate for the Civic Coalition, with numbers ranging from 18.4 and 22.5 percent.

North Korean News has a suggestion for the Democrats.

The U.S. is keen on using a catchphrase "Carrot and stick." It would be better for the "Donkey" of the U.S. Democratic Party to lick the carrot.

I'm sure the Democrats will get right on with that, just as soon as they figure out what it means. Could it be something to do with toothscum? Or tiger moths?

Terrible news. Hugo Chavez's 4 day marathon talk-fest has been canceled!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had promised a four-day marathon edition of his widely watched weekly television talkshow, but unspecified technical problems threw the plans awry this weekend. In a three-line statement, the information ministry said Sunday's Alo Presidente programme had been canceled for technical reasons. Saturday's show was called off without explanation.

It's a great disappointment to us all. I was soooo looking forward to the show.

Down under in New Zealand, winter is just getting under way.

An antarctic blast of snow, hail and sleet ushered in the first day of winter, bringing snow to sea levels and the first flurries in downtown Wellington for 14 years... MetService forecaster Chris Noble said it was rare to have snow to such low levels in May a day before the official start of winter.

In another report, police ask motorists

"There is snow and ice on the road please drive to the conditions."

It's great news if you're into skiing, and can't wait for the Northern Hemisphere winter. Ski fields across New Zealand have had excellent snow fall.

More fresh snow on Queenstown’s premier ski areas, on top of consistent snowfall throughout May, is delivering spectacular pre-season conditions.

I blame global warming.