The Hollywood Liberal

Happy Meals Don’t Decay
New York photographer Sally Davies — a decades-long vegetarian — took a McDonald’s Happy Meal home six months ago to see if it was true that it wouldn’t decay. A friend insisted the food would mold or rot within 2-3 days. The result? No visible decay at all. “The burger shrank as it dried out, but nothing much else,” she observes.

Late Late Night FDL: Carve-O-Matic Birthday
Carve-O-Matic featuring Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, from Muppet Studios. The Swedish Chef provides the Birthday Cake. Hippo birdies two me — let’s party!

Carve-O-Matic featuring Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, from Muppet Studios.

The Swedish Chef provides the Birthday Cake.  Hippo birdies two me — let’s party!

What’s on your mind?

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U.N.-Backed Congolese Troops Accused of Rape
Rebel militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo carried out mass rapes in the eastern part of the country in July and August. Now U.N.-backed Congolese “peacekeeping” troops are being accused of murdering and raping villagers in the same area. So … who are the good guys, again? The Guardian: UN-backed Congolese troops have been accused of murdering and raping villagers and looting homes in the area in which rebel militias carried out mass rapes two months ago. Margot Wallstrom, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict, told the security council yesterday that UN peacekeepers had received reports of serious abuses by Congolese government soldiers. In August, details emerged of the mass rape of more than 300 women, several men and children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN – which had a base 20 miles from the scene of the attacks – admitted failing to protect the victims. Read more

Rebel militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo carried out mass rapes in the eastern part of the country in July and August. Now U.N.-backed Congolese “peacekeeping” troops are being accused of murdering and raping villagers in the same area. So … who are the good guys, again?

The Guardian:

UN-backed Congolese troops have been accused of murdering and raping villagers and looting homes in the area in which rebel militias carried out mass rapes two months ago.

Margot Wallstrom, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict, told the security council yesterday that UN peacekeepers had received reports of serious abuses by Congolese government soldiers.

In August, details emerged of the mass rape of more than 300 women, several men and children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN – which had a base 20 miles from the scene of the attacks – admitted failing to protect the victims.

Read more

Haitians Protest U.N. ‘Occupation’
A crowd of about 100 protesters has blocked the entrance to the U.N. military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, spraying anti-U.N. slogans on vehicles and carrying banners saying “Down with the occupation!” while news comes that U.N. peacekeeping forces will remain in the beleaguered country for an additional year. Protesters loudly criticized the U.N. peacekeeping operation, as well as the administration of Haitian President Rene Preval, for failure to protect ordinary people. Additionally, critics have been egged on by an Associated Press investigation that determined that none of the $1.2 billion in reconstruction funding promised by the U.S. has arrived. —JCL Al-Jazeera English: Demonstrators have blocked the entrance to the UN military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, spraying anti-UN slogans on vehicles trying to enter. A crowd of roughly 100 protesters carrying banners saying “Down with the occupation” were forced back by UN soldiers, Sebastian Walker, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Port-au-Prince, said on Friday. “Security personnel traded blows with demonstrators, and troops started firing in the air, with helicopters hovering above.” Read more

A crowd of about 100 protesters has blocked the entrance to the U.N. military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, spraying anti-U.N. slogans on vehicles and carrying banners saying “Down with the occupation!” while news comes that U.N. peacekeeping forces will remain in the beleaguered country for an additional year.

Protesters loudly criticized the U.N. peacekeeping operation, as well as the administration of Haitian President Rene Preval, for failure to protect ordinary people.

Additionally, critics have been egged on by an Associated Press investigation that determined that none of the $1.2 billion in reconstruction funding promised by the U.S. has arrived. —JCL

Al-Jazeera English:

Demonstrators have blocked the entrance to the UN military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, spraying anti-UN slogans on vehicles trying to enter.

A crowd of roughly 100 protesters carrying banners saying “Down with the occupation” were forced back by UN soldiers, Sebastian Walker, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Port-au-Prince, said on Friday.

“Security personnel traded blows with demonstrators, and troops started firing in the air, with helicopters hovering above.”

Read more

Afghanistan Not On Americans’ Radar As 2010 Midterm Elections Approach
It has been going on there for nine years and counting. Nearly 100,000 American troops are currently deployed there. More than 1,300 American service members…

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Valerie Jarrett Owes Gay Groups no Apology for her “lifestyle choice” Remark
White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett said and did the right thing to the mother of 14 year old Justin Aaberg whose suicide after…

Alvin McEwen: Rand Paul attacks same-sex families during Senate debate
During a debate Thursday between Kentucky Senate candidates Rand Paul and Jack Conway, Paul gave an interesting reason as to why he feels the Department…

HuffPost TV: Arianna Slams Wall Street On CNN’s ‘Parker Spitzer’: They’re Not Making Things, They’re Making Things Up (VIDEO)
Arianna appeared on CNN’s “Parker Spitzer” tonight together with Stephen Moore, senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal to debate the government’s role in…

U.S. Knew Of Mumbai Attacker David Coleman Headley’s Terrorist Ties Years Before
Three years before Pakistani terrorists struck Mumbai in 2008, federal agents in New York City investigated a tip that an American businessman was training in…

Fox takes care of its own: the full-court defense of O’Reilly’s 9-11 remarks

Since Bill O’Reilly appeared on the ABC’s The View and said “Muslims killed us on 9-11,” Fox News hosts and commentators have predictably defended the Fox News host. O’Reilly has also used his Fox News platform to defend his comments.

O’Reilly on The View: “Muslims killed us on 9-11”

Comments prompted walkoff by Goldberg, Behar. During an appearance on the October 14 edition of ABC’s The View, O’Reilly discussed the planned Islamic cultural center near the site of Ground Zero in New York. Asked by co-host Whoopi Goldberg why building the center there was “inappropriate,” O’Reilly responded, “Because Muslims killed us on 9-11.” The remark prompted Goldberg and co-host Joy Behar to walk off the set. O’Reilly later said, “If anybody felt I was demeaning all Muslims, I apologize.”

Fox hosts, commentators rush to O’Reilly’s defense

Kilmeade: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.” On the October 15 edition of Fox & Friends, host Brian Kilmeade said of the hosts on The View: “That was our debate seven weeks ago, and they can’t handle the give and take of a debate.” Kilmeade added, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.”

Rove defends O’Reilly: “There is an insensitivity on the left and an attitude toward civil discussion where you can’t have it toward a conservative.” On Fox & Friends, guest Karl Rove said, “There’s an insensitivity on the left, and there’s an attitude toward civil discussion that you can’t have it with a conservative. You have a conservative viewpoint, it has to be dismissed, it has to be discredited.” Later in the segment, Rove said, “Bill had won the debate the moment Joy Behar got up and walked off.”

Carlson decries “not that friendly” body language, claims media double standard. Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson introduced the O’Reilly segment by saying that “the body language with the ladies the minute he sat down was not that friendly.” Later in the segment, Carlson asked phone guest O’Reilly, “She didn’t leave, but let’s turn the tables here for a minute. What if President Obama had been on that show, or any other high-level Democrat, and he had gotten into a screaming match with [View co-host] Elizabeth Hasselbeck and she had gotten up and left. She would have been fired probably, right?”

O’Reilly on Fox & Friends: “[T]he left wing in America will not come to grips with the fact that there is a problem in the Muslim world.” O’Reilly talked to Fox & Friends via phone to discuss his experience on The View. He began by criticizing an appearance by Fox News host Geraldo Rivera earlier on Fox & Friends, in which he likened terrorists to abortion clinic bombers, as representative of “the liberal point of view.” From the show:

O’REILLY: I guess, you know, I’m a little discouraged with the liberal point of view as espoused by Geraldo just a few minutes ago on Fox & Friends. I mean, you know, I’m a little bit tired of this, that somehow the left wing in America will not come to grips with the fact that there is a problem in the Muslim world.

CARLSON: Yep.

O’REILLY: It’s a problem. All right? We’re fighting them in Afghanistan, fighting them in Iraq. We might fight them in Iran. They cause trouble, they being Muslim extremists all over the world. But after 10 years, I think any intelligent person knew what I was talking about in that mosque debate. But they wanted — they want, all right, they being the far left, I would say — but even Geraldo, they want you to be politically correct in defining a life-death struggle, and I’m just not going to do it anymore.

O’Reilly on Beck: “I just told the truth that Muslims attacked us on 9-11.” O’Reilly appeared on the October 14 edition of Fox News’ Glenn Beck to defend his comments:

BECK: Bill, while I disagree with your reasoning on the mosque, on why you don’t think it should be built there, what happened?

O’REILLY: I don’t know. I mean, I just told the truth that Muslims attacked us on 9-11, and I guess I wasn’t sensitive enough for Miss Behar or Miss Goldberg, and I apologize for not being sensitive enough. But I think after almost 10 years we all got that it was Muslim extremists. As I say on the Factor tonight, when we’re talking about World War II, do we say we were attacked by Japanese extremists? No, we talk about the Japanese attacked us. Not every Japanese, but that was the group. And so the group that attacked us were Muslims.

O’Reilly also said, “The Muslims who attacked us on 9-11 are part of the jihad, which is a movement, and the movement has not been confronted by the so-called ‘moderate’ Muslims, good Muslims. They haven’t confronted the jihad,” and added, “If all of the moderate Muslims throughout the world would confront the jihad, the jihad couldn’t exist. The jihad exists because governments let the jihad exist.”

O’Reilly: Polls show “most Muslims don’t believe 9/11 was even committed by al-Qaeda.” O’Reilly later said on Glenn Beck, “The truth that many liberal Americans don’t want to acknowledge is if you look at every opinion poll in the Muslim world, most Muslims don’t believe 9-11 was even committed by Al Qaeda, OK? They have a very low favorability of America, even with Barack Obama in charge. There is a tension between the Muslim world and America.”

Beck says View walk-off teaches “so much about the left and their willingness to have a conversation and tolerate other people’s opinion.” During the appearance, Beck suggested that a guest calling tea-party members racist would not prompt a similar walk-off:

BECK: Do you think if they would have had, let’s say, Michael Moore on — and not to compare you to Michael Moore, and I apologize to you. But if you would have had Michael Moore on and he said, “These tea party people, they are all terrorists,” do you think any of them would have gotten up or even gotten heated at that?

O’REILLY: No, I don’t believe anybody would have walked off if Michael Moore said that tea party people are racist. But look, the big issue that I want your audience, in case they didn’t see the program today, was that I was saying there is a gulf between the president and many Americans and that’s hurting him in the polls about the economy. And the gulf is that when he was asked about the wisdom of the 9-11 mosque, he wouldn’t answer the question. And most Americans, according to the CNN poll, which I cited, agree with me, that it’s inappropriate place to put a mosque because of what happened on 9-11.

BECK: I agree with you.

At the end of the interview, Beck said, “You watch the whole – I mean, it’s amazing. You will learn so much about the left and their willingness to have a conversation and tolerate other people’s opinion.”

O’Reilly guest Ingraham: “They’re treating you like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the U.N. … This is an attempt to shut down political speech.” Discussing the incident on the October 14 edition of The O’Reilly Factor. Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham called The View walk-off “an attempt to intimidate others” and a “sideshow”:

INGRAHAM: But what they’re doing — I just want to be very clear so people listening understand what’s going on. What they did today was an attempt to intimidate others. They know they’re not going to intimidate you, but it’s really — it’s very disturbing to me because people who say that they’re for free speech, and Barbara Walters usually does a pretty good job of moderating that — I mean, to come back and say that you are the pinhead after they embarrassed themselves walking off their own set, that was embarrassing. They’re treating you like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the U.N., and you’re a lot taller than Mahmoud, Bill. So, I mean, it’s ridiculous. This is an attempt to shut down political speech.

O’REILLY: But I didn’t take offense at Ms. Walters. I have to say I didn’t take offense at Barbara’s —

INGRAHAM: Well, you should have. You are not a pinhead. Well, sometimes you are a pinhead, but not this time.

O’REILLY: She sees it — sincerely sees it that if you say Muslims attacked America on 9-11 —

INGRAHAM: That’s ridiculous.

O’REILLY: — you are somehow denigrating an entire people. I don’t see it that way. It’s as simple as that. I will give you the last word.

INGRAHAM: Bill — Bill, here’s what’s — here’s what’s really happening is that I think a lot of the gals on The View, they’re kind of freaking out, right? Because the hope-and-change thing and Obama and insignia and the star power and all the celebrities and all the Hollywood people who loved him, all of that has resulted in anemic approval numbers and Republican conservative Tea Party resurgence.

O’REILLY: All right.

INGRAHAM: And they don’t know what to do. So they’re trying to, you know, create these sideshows, and I think you did just fine.

Tantaros: View walk-off was liberal “schtick.” In an appearance on the October 14 edition of America Live, Fox News contributor Andrea Tantaros said:

TANTAROS: Well, if they were trying to convince anybody of their point, I think that they failed. And the message was, the show is called The View for one reason and not The Views. They tolerate only one point of view, and that’s their point of view. And look, O’Reilly came on the show armed with facts. He was arguing from a position of strength, he had numbers to back it up, and he was stating his point of view, and they just did not have the facts to back it up. And so they stormed off the set — I mean, this is their schtick, this is what liberals do: “We don’t agree with you, we’re getting off the set. And Megyn, they’re not used to having anybody challenge them. To have O’Reilly come on the show and actually challenge them, I mean, wow, they just couldn’t take it anymore.

Lawyers Group With Close Ties To RNC Features Parade Of Vote Fraud Fearmongers
The list of speakers who have appeared at seminars of the Republican National Lawyers Association, a group with close ties to the RNC that has been “very dominant” in ginning up voter fraud fears in the past several elections, reads like a who’s who of voter fraud fearmongers.

Presented By:

Report: Fiorina Oversaw Unstable Deals While Leading ’90s Telecom
Fortune is out with a story today on California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina (R), reporting that she orchestrated unstable deals in an effort to grow the telecom company she lead in the 1990s as quickly as possible — and make headlines.

The Tattlesnake – More Toast and Coast Edition
Because once was not enough… Given their deep concern over budget deficits, someone in the Noose Media should ask one of these Tea Party candidates if they are willing, once in office, to save the taxpayers a little money by taking no more than $50K per year in salary, buy their health insurance the same way […]

How to Earn $900,000 an Hour While Unemployment Soars
The top 10 hedge fund honchos each averaged $1.87 billion in 2009 — wouldn’t you like to know their secrets? Here are a few.

The top 10 hedge fund honchos each averaged $1.87 billion in 2009 — wouldn't you like to know their secrets? Here are a few.

Could You Live a Year Without Money?
Mark Boyle experimented with money-free living for a year and now, hooked on the idea, he’s starting a money-free community.

Mark Boyle experimented with money-free living for a year and now, hooked on the idea, he's starting a money-free community.

Michael Pollan: What Do Marijuana and Catnip Have in Common?
In a wide-ranging interview from a new book on pot, Pollan says, ‘The idea that the government can tell you what you can grow in your garden strikes me in a visceral way as wrong.’

In a wide-ranging interview from a new book on pot, Pollan says, 'The idea that the government can tell you what you can grow in your garden strikes me in a visceral way as wrong.'

Rand Paul thinks the Dept. of Education forces children to learn about same-sex families

During a debate Thursday between Kentucky Senate candidates Rand Paul and Jack Conway, Paul gave an interesting reason as to why he feels the Department of Education should be abolished. According to Think Progress: I would rather the local schools decide things. I don’t like the idea of somebody in Washington deciding that Susie has two mommies […]

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Tom Donilon: The Last Best Hope to Help Obama Make Vital Strategic Leaps
Recently I met with David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy blogger and one of Washington’s premier chroniclers of American national security personalities and architecture, for lunch and discussed with him who President Obama’s next National Security Advisor should be. Our list was…

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Toomey Blames Country?s Economic Woes On Progressive Legislation That Hasn?t Even Passed Yet
GOP U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey (PA) attended a rally at the Middletown Grange Fairgrounds Wednesday, joining Republicans running for many other local offices to speak about his views on a wide range of issues. At one point, Toomey explained what he thinks ails the economy. He claims his Democratic Party opponents have done “serious […]

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey (PA) attended a rally at the Middletown Grange Fairgrounds Wednesday, joining Republicans running for many other local offices to speak about his views on a wide range of issues.

At one point, Toomey explained what he thinks ails the economy. He claims his Democratic Party opponents have done “serious damage” to the U.S. economy, and then asks the audience to “think of what we’ve witnessed in the last 18 months or so.” Toomey then listed off a series of legislative actions, including “serial bailouts of failing companies” and “spending money on a scale we’ve never seen before.” At the end of his list, he concluded, “You add in cap and trade, card check, government-run health care, is it any wonder we haven’t had an economic recovery? Is it any wonder we haven’t had growth? How hard is this to figure out?”:

TOOMEY: But they’re doing some serious damage. If you think of what we’ve witnessed in just the last 18 months or so, serial bailouts of failing companies, nationalizing whole industries, spending money on a scale we’ve never seen before, deficits and debts that are completely unsustainable, you add in cap and trade, card check, government-run health care, is it any wonder we haven’t had an economic recovery? Is it any wonder we don’t have job growth? How hard is this to figure out?

Watch it:

The problem with Toomey’s list is that it includes bills that haven’t even been legisated into law yet. “Government-run health care” presumably refers to the health law passed this past spring by Congress, but the legislation that Toomey is referring to as “cap and trade” and “card check” haven’t even gotten close to getting the votes they need to be made into law. “Cap and trade” refers to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which, while narrowly passing the House of Representatives in 2009, is widely considered to be dead in the U.S. Senate. “Card check” refers to a provision in the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that would allow workers to form a union if they could get half the workers to sign a card stating their intention to organize. Despite being a top priority of the country’s labor movement, EFCA has been in limbo for years, and the card check provision is widely considered to be unable to garner enough votes to pass, and is likely dead.

If Toomey is resorting to blaming the lack of job growth on legislation that hasn’t even passed yet, economics and basic political facts must indeed by very “hard” for him to “figure out.”