Oprah Winfrey’s mom is apparently pissed off that a store would have the audacity to give her a line of credit for which she isn’t going to paying back. In a story that sounds eerily reminiscent of the mentality that got the country into its current financial mess, Mama Winfrey racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in shopping sprees to a clothing store, bailed on paying the bills and when sued by the store had the audacity to countersue claiming they shouldn’t have extended her the credit because she’s a deadbeat.

Waukesha - Oprah Winfrey’s mother should not have to pay a high-end fashion store the more than $150,000 it says it is owed because the store extended credit despite knowing her troubles managing debt, according to a new court filing.

Valentina Inc. sued Winfrey’s mother, Vernita Lee of Milwaukee, in July, contending that she racked up a bill of $155,547.31 in purchases and interest as of July 1. She was required to make a minimum monthly payment of $2,000 to the store, the suit says.

Mediation between the two sides failed last week, prompting Lee to file a counterclaim contending she does not owe the money.

But the store isn’t necessarily an innocent bystander as they were on notice that she was a deadbeat.

It is the second time Lee and Valentina have been in conflict over her wardrobe bill.

In 2002, Lee was ordered to pay $35,000 upfront and make monthly payments of $5,000 until another past-due bill of $174,285 was paid, according to court records.

While I wouldn’t propose letting her off the hook for her debts, it’s hard to defend a store that is this stupid. (Of course, knowing who her daughter is probably helped them be a little more relaxed in extending credit)

Michelle sums this up nicely:

This is exactly the same entitlement/victim mentality that has gotten us into the bailout mess we are in. Irresponsible spender demands limitless credit. Cries “predatory lender” when the chickens come home to roost. Borrow. Spend. Whine. Repeat

And the answer to this from Congress is to offer both offending sides money confiscated from we taxpayers.

In a move sure to ease the minds of Americans who are concerned that Barack Obama lacks experience when it comes to things like foreign policy, The One has added an impressive leader to his list of advisors.

George Clooney once famously declared he could never run for public office because he’d ‘slept with too many women, done too many drugs and been to too many parties’.
…
But now the Hollywood heart-throb has entered the political arena at
the highest level – by becoming an unofficial adviser to US Presidential front-runner Barack Obama.

Oscar-winner Clooney, 47, is said to be helping the Democratic candidate to polish his image at home and abroad.

But he is also sharing with Obama his strong opinions on Iraq and the Middle East.
…
But Democratic Party insiders have revealed that Clooney and Obama regularly send texts and emails to each other and speak by phone at least twice a week.

And why not? Afterall, this tough new advisor has “experience” dealing with such important topics like the Middle East, Healthcare, the Environment, and Crime.

The star has never tried to hide his liberal views and last week announced he is making a £15million film about the lawyer who defended Osama Bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, on terror charges.

Lights… Camera… Death to America!

The star of the movie, The Rainmaker - yes, that’s a gratuitous side note - sees Barack Obama for the radical, inexperienced, Socialist that he is. Even in liberal cesspools like Hollywood, there is the occasional beacon of common sense.

We, as parents, are well aware of the importance of our teachers who teach and program our children. We also know how important it is for our children to play with good-thinking children growing up.

Sen. Barack Obama has grown up with the teaching of very angry, militant white and black people: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Rev. Michael Pfleger. We cannot say we are not affected by teachers who are militant and angry. We know too well that we become like them, and Mr. Obama will run this country in their mindset.

The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America.

The Democrats have targeted young people, knowing how easy it is to bring forth whatever is needed to program their minds. I know this process well. I was caught up in the hysteria during the Vietnam era, which was brought about through Marxist propaganda underlying the so-called peace movement. The radicals of that era were successful in giving the communists power to bring forth the killing fields and slaughter 2.5 million people in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Did they stop the war, or did they bring the war to those innocent people? In the end, they turned their backs on all the horror and suffering they helped create and walked away.

Those same leaders who were in the streets in the ’60s are very powerful today in their work to bring down the Iraq war and to attack our president, and they have found their way into our schools. William Ayers is a good example of that.

Thank God, today, we have a strong generation of young soldiers who know exactly who they are and what they must do to protect our freedom and our democracy. And we have the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus, who has brought hope and stability to Iraq and prevented the terrorists from establishing a base in that country. Our soldiers are lifting us to an example of patriotism at a time when we’ve almost forgotten who we are and what is at stake.

If Mr. Obama had his way, he would have pulled our troops from Iraq years ago and initiated an unprecedented bloodbath, turning over that country to the barbarianism of our enemies. With what he has openly stated about his plans for our military, and his lack of understanding about the true nature of our enemies, there’s not a cell in my body that can accept the idea that Mr. Obama can keep us safe from the terrorists around the world, and from Iran, which is making great strides toward getting the atomic bomb. And while a misleading portrait of Mr. Obama is being perpetrated by a media controlled by the Democrats, the Obama camp has sent out people to attack the greatness of Sen. John McCain, whose suffering and courage in a Hanoi prison camp is an American legend.

Gen. Wesley Clark, who himself has shame upon him, having been relieved of his command, has done their bidding and become a lying fool in his need to demean a fellow soldier and a true hero.

This is a perilous time, and more than ever, the world needs a united and strong America. If, God forbid, we live to see Mr. Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way.

Couldn’t have said it much better, myself.

Scientists are claiming to have successfully mixed human and animal DNA:

A team at Newcastle University announced yesterday that it had successfully generated “admixed embryos” by adding human DNA to empty cow eggs in the first experiment of its kind in Britain.

TexasRainmaker has obtained an exclusive photo of the resulting creature… and it ain’t pretty.

Aside from Susan Sarandon comparing Barack Obama to a pregnant woman at an abortion rally, take a look at her in-depth analysis of how she chooses a candidate to support:

“Well, I’m going to back Obama. But I hope - I think that he, as a symbol, has really excited people, and he’s definitely confusing to everyone who really hates America for hating Muslims because a name like Obama and a Black man, they’re probably going to go “Oh, wait a minute - what?” It’s kind of like when you’re out on the line for freedom to have an abortion and you’re incredibly pregnant. They just can’t quite figure it out.

So I think he definitely has convinced people that he stands for change and for hope, and I can’t wait to see what he stands for.”

Sheer genius.

Not to be outdone by Sheryl Crow’s “one-square” initiative, Cate Blanchett is getting pissed about global warming… literally. (hat tip: Allah)

Green before it was hip—she cites Al Gore and David de Rothschild as heroes and believes that leaf blowers “sum up everything that is wrong with the human race”—the couple are trying to make the ecological footprint of the home as small as possible, installing solar panels and even a filtration system that will allow them to drink their own wastewater.

I’d be cautious if she offers to bring brownies to the next potluck…

The Toronto Film Festival gave liberals a lesson in cause and effect this year.

Cause: Politics takes spotlight at Toronto film festival

Political and religious conflict and humanitarian crisis were portrayed in several movies at the Toronto film festival on Sunday including “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” that premieres on Sunday night.

Effect: Toronto film festival fails to excite buyers

…The festival, heavy this year with political films, saw a mass exodus of buyers beginning Tuesday, the anniversary of September 11. The events of September 11 brought Toronto to a halt six years ago, but they weren’t even mentioned this week. Instead, it was the weak sales climate that most concerned attendees.

“A lot of people wasted a lot of money coming up here,” said a studio executive who hadn’t acquired any Toronto features. “The available films were very disappointing. It was the weakest festival in my long memory.”

Not even a crockumentary from Michael Moore, darling of the liberal left, could generate interest.

The screening was held in a theater with a capacity of about 580. I arrived very early, fearing the thing might be crowded — but I’d be surprised if there were 100 people there, maybe even as few as 50. Is Moore losing some of his magic with the festival-going press, which he could always count on for a reasonable amount of support, or at least some copy? I could almost hear tumbleweeds blowing through that theater…

I guess liberal propaganda just doesn’t sell like it used to.

I have to apologize to everyone for criticizing the withdrawal plan of the Left. Apparently, it is good news for America. Now we have phase 2 of the “redeployment”:

Cindy Sheehan “resigns” now that the Democrats are done pimping her and the memory of her son for political gain.

Rosie O’Donnell quits The View when the the enlightened liberal’s idiotic conspiracy theories don’t withstand the scrutiny of the little blond token conservative.

Adios, attention whores.

First, Don Imus gets run off the air by the professional race-baiters (the result is fine with me, the reason was lame, though), then rumors of CBS possibly dumping Katie Couric, now this…

ABC has been unable to come to a contractual agreement with Rosie O’Donnell. As a result, her hosting duties on “The View” will come to an end mid-June.

The airwaves are starting to look better and better everyday.

UPDATE:
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Drudge is touting an interview Alec Baldwin did with Rosie O. for the Friday edition of The View.

He also explained how he wants out of the TV business:

“I have been in the business for over 27 years and I don’t care if I do anything else in TV ever again.”

That makes two of us, Alec.

One source is suggesting Rosie told the studio audience that Baldwin is “leaving the country”… perhaps he’s finally making good on his promise?

Global warming has obviously become the latest fashion trend for the liberal elite. Limousine liberals keep telling us how we should live, while completely ignoring said advice themselves. It’s either because they can afford the negative consequences of bad treaties like Kyoto or they just don’t buy into their own hype… or both.

Just a few examples:

Sheryl Crow preaches:

“I propose a limitation be put on how many sqares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting.”

I guess it’s a good way to keep people from approaching you autographs.

Sheryl Crow practices (from her performance contract in her nationwide tour):

“Parking as near as possible to stage (but not to be visible or obtrusive to the audience) for 3 tractor trailers, 4 buses, 6 cars.”

How many one-square trips to the can are needed to offset such touring demands?

John Travolta preaches:

“I think that everyone can do their bit, but I’m wondering if we have to start thinking about other planets and also domed cities, because I don’t know if there’s a way to repair these holes in the sky.”

John Travolta practices:

If you had residences in California, Florida and Maine, a growing family, and a collection of relatives on the East Coast, plus work that required you to travel great distances, live on location and only get back periodically, you’d probably want a fleet of private vehicles to take some home comforts along with you…

The actor owns a Gulfstream II luxury jet and has had a DC3 Dakota airliner, as well as a Lockheed Constellation. The crown jewel of his air force, however, is his 1964 Boeing 707-138B…
[…]
“And we fly in and out a lot. Last year when Johnny was in Tampa, he flew to and from work every day. Each night the kids and I would go out in the golf cart, watch the landing, then bring Johnny to the house while the plane taxied in.” - Travolta’s wife Kelly Preston

In response to criticism, he casually replies:

Despite his concerns, the 53-year-old actor - who owns and flies his own Boeing 707 - doesn’t plan to cut down on his own carbon emissions by flying less.

He said: “The thing is, I use them as a business tool. Maybe aviation will move into not contributing to those factors, but for the next 50 years, at least, that will be a fact.”

And of course, there’s the Godfather of the fashion trend, Al Gore, who preaches:

The world must embrace a “carbon-neutral lifestyle.” To do otherwise, he says, will result in a cataclysmic catastrophe. “Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb,” warns the Web site for his film, “An Inconvenient Truth.” “We have just 10 years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin.”

..and then practices.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
[…]
In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year.
[…]
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

And thus we see the flaw in Sheryl Crow’s proposal… crap like this will always require more than just one square.