Wine Causes 'The Shakes'

From Britain's Daily Mail:
A glass of wine a day can double the risk of getting the shakes in later life, it has
been claimed.
The debilitating condition, known as essential tremor, is most often associated with alcoholism, Parkinson's disease or an overactive thyroid.
But now scientists have found that even those who drink just three units a day - equivalent to a large glass of wine or one and a half pints of beer - are putting themselves at risk.
The scientists, from Madrid and New York, looked at the drinking habits of 3,285 pensioners in Spain.
They found those who drank one or two units daily had a 30 per cent increased risk of developing the shakes compared with non-drinkers. Those drinking three or more units doubled their risk.
Prof Ian Gilmore of the Alcohol Health Alliance said the study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 'underlines how important it is to stay within recommended limits, and to adopt alcohol-free days'.
He added: 'Mental disorders account for the largest number of alcohol-related hospital admissions. Yet insufficient attention is paid to the link between alcohol misuse and neurological illness.'

Hair Is 8 Feet Long!

From Britain's Daily Mail:

As every woman knows, a bad hair day can pretty much ruin your entire mood.
But for Chenq Shiquin, they must be devastating.
Shiquin owns a beauty parlour - but somehow she has managed to avoid having a haircut for the last 16 years.
She was pictured showing off her hair - which is eight feet long - in south-west China's Chongqing municipality this week.
It takes her two hours to wash her hair and another hour to comb it.
Despite the extreme lengths Shiquin has gone to in order to achieve her long locks, she does not hold the record for the world's longest hair.
That title belongs to another Chinese woman - Xie Qiuping of Guangxi province.
Her hair is a mind-boggling ten feet longer than Shiquin's, measuring 18.5ft in 2004.
She began growing it in 1973 at the age of 13.

Obama Speech Unleashes Critics

From Philip Sherwell in Britain's The Telegraph:
President Barack Obama's unprecedented critique of past American behaviour towards Europe aroused predictable ire among his conservative foes and praise from liberals in the US.
Phone lines to Right-wing talk radio shows were buzzing with angry attacks on the commander-in-chief for alleged "treachery".
Mr Obama may be rebuilding some frayed alliances abroad but his comments are the latest blow to his erstwhile aspirations of developing a post-partisan political atmosphere at home.
His references to American "arrogance" and its "dismissive" attitude were viewed by some commentators as an unwarranted attack on his homeland while travelling abroad.
In a speech in France, a country that has been a bastion of anti-US sentiment in recent years, the President said: "In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.
"But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognising the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what is bad. On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common."
Despite the balance in the speech, Charles Krauthammer was indignant on Fox News. "When Kennedy arrived in Paris, he didn't attack Eisenhower... if you want to attack the US, you do it at home."
Mr Krauthammer was particularly critical of Mr Obama for knocking previous American policies while struggling to win support from European countries to commit extra troops to Afghanistan. "He steps all over America and gets nothing for it," he said scornfully.

Great Orator Flummoxed

From John Crace in Britain's The Guardian:
Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking ...
Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right?
And isn't the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?" Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking [THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.]
Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er ... pause [I HAVEN'T A CLUE] ... if you look at ... pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] ... the, the sources of this crisis ... pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] ... the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I'M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] ... a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system ... pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP].
I think what is also true is that ... pause [I WANT NICK ROBINSON TO DISAPPEAR] ... here in Great Britain ... pause [SHIT, GORDY'S THE HOST, DON'T LAND HIM IN IT] ... here in continental Europe ... pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] ... around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er ... pause [I'VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] ... the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged ... pause [I'M REALLY WINGING IT NOW].
So at this point, I'm less interested in ... pause [YOU] ... identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er ... pause [WHY DIDN'T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] ... drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place.
More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there.
Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think ... pause [FANTASTIC. I'VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] ... there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er ... pause [I'M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] ... I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

Tunes On Queen's I-Pod

The Obamas gave Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth an I-Pod loaded with photos and tunes.
It appears as if the Queen is a big fan of Broadway shows and showtunes. We always knew there was a reason why we liked her.
Following, from Jake Tapper at ABC and the Associated Press is the list of tunes on the I-Pod. We've highlighted our particular favorites:
"Oklahoma!" "If I Loved You," Jan Clayton, "Carousel" "You'll Never Walk Alone," Jan Clayton, "Carousel" "There's No Business Like Show Business," Ethel Merman, "Annie Get Your Gun" "Once in Love with Amy (Where's Charley?)," Ray Bolger "Some Enchanted Evening," "South Pacific" "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," Carol Channing, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" "Getting to Know You," Gertrude Lawrence, "The King and I" "Shall We Dance?" Gertrude Lawrence, "The King and I" "I Could Have Danced All Night," Julie Andrews, "My Fair Lady" "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," Rex Harrison, "My Fair Lady" "The Party's Over (Bells Are Ringing)," Judy Holliday "Maria," "West Side Story" "Tonight," "West Side Story" "Seventy Six Trombones," "The Music Man" "Everything's Coming up Roses," Ethel Merman, "Gypsy" "The Sound of Music" "Try to Remember," Jerry Orbach, "The Fantasticks" "Camelot," Richard Burton "If Ever I Would Leave You," Robert Goulet, "Camelot" "Hello, Dolly!" Carol Channing "If I Were a Rich Man," Zero Mostel, "Fiddler on the Roof" "People," Barbra Streisand, "Funny Girl" "On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)," John Cullum "The Impossible Dream," Richard Kiley, "Man of La Mancha" "Mame," Charles Braswell "Cabaret," Liza Minnelli "Aquarius, Ronald Dyson, "Hair' "Send in the Clowns," Judy Collins, "A Little Night Music" "All That Jazz," Chita Rivera, "Chicago" "One," "A Chorus Line" "Tomorrow," Andrea McArdle, "Annie" "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," Patti LuPone, "Evita" "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," Jennifer Holliday, "Dreamgirls" "Memory," Elaine Paige, "Cats" "The Best of Times," George Hearn, "La Cage Aux Folles" "I Dreamed a Dream," Aretha Franklin, "Les Miserables" "The Music of the Night," Michael Crawford, "The Phantom of the Opera" "As If We Never Said Goodbye," Elaine Paige, "Sunset Blvd." "Seasons of Love," "Rent"

Obama Travel Staff 500!

From Paul Harris and Robin McKie in Britain's The Guardian:
Britain will get its first chance to see Barack Obama this week when a White House cavalcade - complete with armoured limousines, helicopters, 200 US secret service staff and a six-doctor medical team - sweeps into the UK.
Obama will fly into London for his first visit to the UK as president of the United States on Tuesday to take part in the G20 summit in the capital's Docklands area. He will not be travelling light.
More than 500 officials and staff will accompany the president on his tour this week - along with a mass of high-tech security equipment, including the $300,000 presidential limousine, known as The Beast. Fitted with night-vision camera, reinforced steel plating, tear- gas cannon and oxygen tanks, the vehicle is the ultimate in heavy armoured transport.
In addition, a team from the White House kitchen will travel with the president to prepare his food. . . .
US security teams have already carried out three visits to prepare for Obama's first official visit to Britain. The first was a "site survey", the second a "pre-advance visit" which was carried out to pick sites that the president would visit. Finally there was the "advance trip", which took place last week. Its purpose was to set up equipment, sweep venues for electronic bugs, test food for poison and measure air quality for bacteria.
Obama will start his first presidential visit to Europe when he steps down from the US presidential jet, Air Force One, at Stansted airport on Tuesday. The Boeing 747-200B is fitted with its own gym, electronic defence units and shielding to protect its complex communication devices from radiation from nuclear blasts. . . .
Obama will then be flown to central London in a VH-3D helicopter known as Marine One. Again, high-tech security will dominate his journey. Marine One is fitted with flares that can be fired to confuse heat-seeking missiles and always flies in groups containing several identical decoy helicopters. . . .
At the same time, Obama will be constantly minded by his personal aide Reggie Love, who dials his BlackBerry, fetches his jacket and tie and supplies him with snacks. First Lady Michelle Obama will also have a coterie of assistants, including a secretary, a press officer and several bodyguards.
It is a striking presence and shows that, for the next few days, London, not Washington, will be the beating heart of American foreign policy. At the end of the week Obama and his massive retinue will head off for meetings in France, Germany and the Czech Republic, although not before he has indulged in an unprecedented whirlwind of diplomatic activity - he and his advisers will not just be involved in complex summit negotiations, but will also be camped out in London conducting a series of individual high-level mini-summits with the most powerful leaders in the world. . . .
To recap:
The entourage
The president's entourage will also include representatives of the White House Military Office, the White House Transportation Agency, the White House Medical Unit, the Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron, the State Department Presidential Travel Support Service, the US Information Agency, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service and the Customs Service.
In addition, there will be staff from the White House kitchen ready to turn out a quick burger should the president suddenly feel peckish.
Michelle Obama will have eight of her own staff, including a secretary, a press officer and bodyguards. And Obama's personal aide . . . will be at hand to provide pens, Nicorette gum, throat lozenges, tea or even aspirins.
The Beast
With its armour-plated body and doors, a raised roof, and reinforced steel and aluminium, The Beast will be Obama's official car. It boasts a titanium and ceramic superstructure and a sealed interior forming a "panic room" capable of shielding him from even a chemical weapons attack. Equipped with a night-vision camera and an armoured petrol tank filled with foam to prevent explosion should it suffer a direct hit, it also has pump-action shotguns, tear-gas cannon, oxygen tanks and bottles of the president's blood. Its tyres allow it to keep driving even if they have been punctured.

Notre Dame: Pressure Builds

From Ruth Gledhill of The Times of London:
The President of the United States is coming under growing pressure to withdraw from a public speaking event at a Roman Catholic university in an escalating row over his backing for abortion and stem cell research.
Conservative Christians are protesting against an invitation to Barack Obama to speak at a Catholic university because of the US President's enthusiasm for policies that go against Catholic belief, such as [abortion and] federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
President Obama is due to deliver an inauguration address at Indiana's Notre Dame University, one of the top 25 universities in the US, on May 17.
But senior Catholic lobbyists have launched a campaign to bar him from the ceremony in protest at his liberal views . . .
Bishops who are protesting include the Right Rev Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, who described the invitation to the President as a "public act of disobedience" and "a grave mistake".
The Right Rev John D'Arcy of the diocese which contains the university, said he will boycott the ceremony.
Bishop D'Arcy said: "President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred.
"As a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth."
A coalition of conservative student groups has also come out against the event.

Ten Biggest Gaffes!

Obama and Biden's 10 Biggest Gaffes as compiled by Toby Harnden of Britain's Telegraph:
10. Just after he's been sworn in by him, the newly-minted Vice President Joe Biden gets the name of Justice John Paul Stephens, "one of the great justices" of the Supreme Court wrong, calling him "Justice Stewart".
9. Barack Obama jokes about Nancy Reagan having séances in the White House. He later called her to apologise after the AP noted that although she had consulted astrologers, "she did not hold conversations with the dead".
8. Joe Biden forgets the "website number" for the White House internet site designed to show how TARP money is being spent.
7. Barack Obama mixes up the windows and doors at his new home.
Joe Biden jokes about Chief Justice John Roberts fluffing the inauguration oath. The president is visibly annoyed with his veep and Biden later apologises.
6. Joe Biden jokes about Chief Justice John Roberts fluffing the inauguration oath. The president is visibly annoyed with his veep and Biden later apologises.
5. A Marine One double. First, on his maiden Marine One trip Obama breaches protocol and makes life uncomfortable for an enlisted marine by shaking the the serviceman's hand as he's saluting his commander-in-chief. Then - Gerald Ford, eat your heart out. Barack Obama bangs his head as he boards his helicopter.
4. Joe Biden tells his wife that he had the choice of being either Secretary of State or vice-president - an offer that was news to Obama aides and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when Jill Biden spilled the beans on Oprah.
3. Gordon Brown presents the new President with: a pen holder carved from the timbers of HMS Gannett, a sister ship of HMS Resolute; the commissioning certificate of HMS Resolute; and a seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In return, the Prime minister gets 25 DVDS, which don't work in Britain.
2. Joe Biden tells a former Senate colleague who addresses him as "Mr Vice-President" to "give me a f---ing break.
1. The latest one takes the biscuit. Barack Obama jokes about the disabled on the Jay Leno show. Afterwards, he calls the head of the Special Olympics to apologise

Natasha Richardson Shocker

From Michael Riedel at the New York Post:
Actress Natasha Richardson is brain dead - after falling in a ski accident in Canada - and is now on sad journey home to New York, friends told The Post today.
Richardson, who was being treated at a Montreal hospital, is being transported to New York this afternoon so her mom Vanessa Redgrave, two children and other loved ones can say goodbye before she's taken off life-support, friends said.
Liam Neeson, husband of the Broadway and screen star, left shooting of his movie in Toronto to rush to Richardson's side in Montreal and now on the trip home.
The British-born Richardson, 45, fell during a private lesson at Mont Tremblant resort yesterday and allegedly told resort employees she felt fine.
But an hour later, she complained of an extreme headache and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Richardson was on a beginner's slope and reportedly not wearing a helmet when she fell - although headgear is not required.
"She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor," said a statement from the resort, which is almost 80 miles northwest of Montreal.

Brits: Obama Regime Difficult

From Nicholas Cecil at Britain's Evening Standard:
Btitain's top civil servant has revealed how hard dealing with the US has become since the handover to Barack Obama's administration, with the G20 summit a particular problem.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell said Downing Street was finding it “unbelievably difficult” to prepare with Washington for the crucial G20 summit in London on 2 April.
He said No 10 was even having trouble getting in touch with key personnel at the American treasury department. “There is nobody there,” he told a civil service conference in Gateshead. “You cannot believe how difficult it is.”
Sir Gus criticised the American system of new administrations appointing their own senior civil servants, saying it would be “absolute madness” to introduce similar rules here.
“You get to a certain point, and you can't go any further,” he said. “If there's a change of administration, you're out, and a whole new bunch of people come in who probably haven't been in government before.”

Paglia Chastises Obama

From the inimitable Camille Paglia in Salon:
Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama's first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. . . .
First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery.
Then it was the stunt of unnerving Wall Street by sending out a shrill duo of slick geeks (Timothy Geithner and Peter Orszag) as the administration's weirdly adolescent spokesmen on economics. Who could ever have confidence in that sorry pair?
And then there was the fiasco of the ham-handed White House reception for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which was evidently lacking the most basic elements of ceremony and protocol. Don't they read the "Iliad" anymore in the Ivy League? Check that out for the all-important ritual of gift giving, which has cemented alliances around the world for 5,000 years.
President Obama . . . has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency. But I continue to believe in citizen presidents, who must learn by doing, even in a perilous age of terrorism. Though every novice administration makes blunders and bloopers, its modus operandi should not be a conspiratorial reflex cynicism.
Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto.
Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.
Yes, I cringe when Rush plays his "Barack the Magic Negro" satire or when he gratuitously racializes the debate over Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is a constant subject of withering scrutiny for quite different reasons on sports shows here in Philadelphia. On the other hand, I totally agree with Rush about "feminazis," whose amoral tactics and myopic worldview I as a dissident feminist had to battle for decades. As a student of radio and a longtime listener of Rush's show, I have gotten a wealth of pleasure and insight from him over the years. To attack Rush Limbaugh is to attack his audience -- and to intensify the loyalty of his fan base. . . .
Only ignoramuses believe that Rush speaks for the Republican Party. On the contrary, Rush as a proponent of heartland conservatism has waged open warfare with the Washington party establishment for years.
And I'm sick of people impugning Rush's wealth and lifestyle, which is no different from that of another virtuoso broadcaster who hit it big -- Oprah Winfrey. Rush Limbaugh is an embodiment of the American dream: He slowly rose from obscurity to fame on the basis of his own talent and grit. Every penny Rush has earned was the result of his rapport with a vast audience who felt shut out and silenced by the liberal monopoly of major media. As a Democrat and Obama supporter, I certainly do not agree with everything Rush says or does. . . .
Nevertheless, I respect Rush for his independence of thought and his always provocative news analysis. He doesn't run with the elite -- he goes his own way.
President Obama should yank the reins and get his staff's noses out of slash-and-burn petty politics. His own dignity and prestige are on the line. If he wants a second term, he needs to project a calmer perspective about the eternal reality of vociferous opposition, which is built into our democratic system. . . .
Do those shifty, beady-eyed guys needing a shave remind you of anyone? Yes, it's bare-knuckles Chicago pugilism, transplanted to Washington.

Obama Disses Britain Again

From Benedict Brogan at Britain's Daily Mail:
Downing Street was left scrambling to avoid a diplomatic embarrassment today after the White House ruled out a formal press conference to mark Gordon Brown's first formal meeting with Barack Obama.
Officials denied the Prime Minister was being snubbed after it emerged that the new president would not make himself available for the traditional joint appearance before the White House media.
Mr Brown's aides are trying to make the best of what is a distinctly low key visit compared to the family hospitality lavished on Tony Blair by George Bush when they met for the first time. . . .
Mr Obama and Mr Brown listened intently to one another as they sat in armchairs in the Oval Office before a painting of George Washington.
Behind Mr Obama's shoulder was the bust of his hero Abraham Lincoln which replaced a bronze of Winston Churchill* presented by Tony Blair to his predecessor George Bush and removed shortly after the new president took office. . . .
Although Mr Brown's wife Sarah flew to Washington today to join her husband, there were no plans for the two couples to meet and she will instead have a brief one-to-one meeting with Michelle Obama.
After overnight protests from British diplomats, the White House agreed to allow journalists into the Oval Office later for a brief round questions with Mr Obama and Mr Brown after their talks.
Downing Street stressed the 'intimacy' of the formal setting in the President's office, but behind the scenes acknowledged that it was getting used to a new administration that does not appear to have time to spare for diplomatic gestures.
The Prime Minister touched down at a U.S air force near Washington DC this morning ready for talks with Mr Obama, which are likely to be dominated by the global economic crisis. . . .
What the White House has made plain is a 'businesslike' visit has been stripped of any kind of personal touch.
The two men will have what No10 said was a 'working lunch' today but there will be no socialising with spouses even though Mrs Brown is joining her husband to attend his speech to Congress tomorrow.
Mr Brown arrived laden with gifts, including a seven volume, first-edition Sir Martin Gilbert's biography of Winston Churchill.
His wife Sarah will follow him this afternoon for private talks at the White House with Michelle Obama, which will be the first time they meet. . . .
Apart from a separate meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, there are no other events planned.
The Obamas are not holding a dinner for the Browns, and the Prime Minister will not be hosting a reception or dinner at the British embassy. . . .
*Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington.
Is Obama allowing his personal feelings about Britain and Kenya to influence our nation's foreign policy and threaten our special alliance with out Mother Country?
I hope not!