Snapped Shot

Reuters Publishes Global Style Guide

2009-07-09T17:39:43Z

The Reuters news agency, in an effort to improve its transparency in front of the news-consuming public, has released its full ethics and style guide online for all to read.

Again, this is a very good move by the agency, for even if they don't always live up to their own standards, at least we can identify what they are.

(belated h/t to the ever-excellent Doug Fisher)

Now They Tell Us!

2009-07-09T04:25:00Z

From the editorial desk over at Reuters, a revelation of immense proportions:

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. A general view shows Tehran's Milad telecommunication tower (L) as the city is covered in dust July 6, 2009. The government closed private educational centres, state offices, industrial units and military bases for two days and raised its pollution alert status due to the dust, which an official from Tehran's environment office attributed the source to dust from dried marshland in Iraq blown towards Iran, according to the Iranian Mahr News Agency on Monday. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN)

While it is refreshing to see Reuters admit that they're dealing with an external editorial force, I am somewhat confused about how this differs from their normal operations. Reporting from behind dictatorial governments (Syria, Iran, and North Korea) has always been tightly controlled, and as we've shown in the past, Western news agencies haven't exactly been forthright about how this affects their news.

But hey, editorial notes like this are a good start, if nothing else.

NYTimes Pulls Photoshopped Photos

2009-07-08T20:26:00Z

Half a house? I'd expect it to be half-price, then.

I just found out from Rhonda Shearer from Art Science Research Laboratories (and saw it earlier at A Photo Editor's pad) that the New York Times has quietly removed some photos from one of their online features that many online are calling fake.

I dunno about you, but it certainly looks questionable to me. I don't think modern builders would know what symmetry looked like if it hit them on the head.

I don't have anything to add here, so be sure to hop on over to ASRL and APE for the details.

Update: Just got this in the inbox from Rhonda:

UPDATE: 07/08/09 3:55pm EST: Just got a comment from the NY Times Magazine's office: (Re fakery? ) "We are going to run an editor's note in an upcoming issue."

Excellent work, as always!

Obama: I Just Love Dictators

2009-07-08T15:08:00Z

Obama, The One, The Obamassiah, always looking to build bridges, or seemingly a new family, with the world's dictators.

He has cozied up with Hamas. He has sought conciliatory negotiations with Achmed the living terrorist, has received brotherly love from Venezuela's despot, and now seeks to have Honduras' would-be dictator reinstated. Could this be for personal gain? His reasoning in this matter make me think so.

In a speech to Moscow graduates on Tuesday, the president said that's evidence that the U.S. does not dictate another country's leaders.

Ok, so Obama is going to take a hands off approach, eh? And yet this is expected of him. Why else meet with Sec Clinton?

Diplomatic efforts to restore Manuel Zelaya to Honduras' presidency shifted back to Washington on Tuesday, as supporters of the ousted leader threatened to escalate protests and disrupt business across the poor Central American nation.

A day after failing to land in Honduras to confront the interim government that ousted him in a coup, Zelaya boarded a plane bound for Washington, where U.S. officials said he would meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Zelaya told a news conference Monday night that he hopes to ensure U.S. support for diplomatic efforts to see him restored to power.

And then Obama switches tune again and says this...

"We respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not," Obama said.

How can you take a hands off approach while actively working with the wanna-be despot who flaunts his country's constitution? How can you claim to not meddle in a people's choice of leaders, while at the same time actively seeking to allow a dictator to regain his ill-gotten seat of power?

If we were to truly keep away from this quagmire in Honduras, we would remain silent and stay out of the whole mess. But, The One just can't seem to stay away from dictators and despots. He seems to have a need to appease and smooze with them. How else can you explain his recent trip to USSR?

Is it clear now that our government has lost all sense of normality?

How To Run For Office (as a Conservative)

2009-07-08T14:02:00Z

Based on the lack of a true conservative voice over the last few elections, one starts to think how one would rate if they were to run for office. So, let me throw my virtual hat in to the virtual ring to see where it would land. Also, this is to detail what I believe would be the traits and character of the proper conservative view of my desired politician that I would gleefully vote for.

So, click on to find out what views that I would espouse and vote for. Consider this a rant if you will. Consider this a demand.

You have your opportunity also, in the comments section, to tell me your views or how you would run for office.
Continue reading "How To Run For Office (as a Conservative)"

The Nork's Answer To USA: Forced Starvation Of His Own People

2009-07-08T00:51:00Z

In a battle of wills, the small fat dictator of North Korea has determined that the USA's ultimate punishment for meddling in North Korean affairs is......

... to starve his own people even more.

With North Korea's ever increasing demand for energy from their peaceful nuclear energy program, the imperialistic United States has decreased its meddling upon the mighty tiny nation. Thus, to impose Lil' Kim's will upon the US, he has decreed thusly...

North Korea's bellicose dictatorship is continuing to put new restrictions on United Nations relief organizations operating in the country, which are the main lifeline for its starving population — a fact that apparently leaves the Kim Jong Il regime unmoved.

A spokesman for the World Food program has confirmed to FOX News that on July 3, the emergency relief organization was ordered to limit food deliveries to 57 of the 131 North Korean counties it previously served.
...
Additional constraints were also slapped on the child relief organization UNICEF in June, according to a spokesman, Chris de Bono. He told FOX News that the regime banned UNICEF from operating in its northerly Ryanggan province, which borders China, and is one of the impoverished country's poorest areas. UNICEF still operates in 56 other counties across North Korea.

Why give food to the traitorous pro-US food pirates in those areas? ~~Heaven~~ Kim forbid that those kids fill their capitalist bellies on the greed and anti-"green" produced food that Kim allows to be brought in.

Having those filthy animals starve in the Nork" national plan" that covers them from "birth to the grave" will show the evil USA that their meddling will no longer be not tolerated like it wasn't before. If the US thinks that it can ignore North Korea, they have another thing coming. Lord Kim will show 'em. If the US wishes to continue to do nothing even though North Korea shoots its missiles and rattles its clean-energy-produced nuclear rocket delivery systems, then His Majesty Kim will continue to starve more of his people. That will show 'em.

This is what needs to be stopped. It's these kinds of programs that are what freaking his highness Kim out right now.

UNICEF has ten international staff and 20 local staffers in North Korea. None of the international staff speak Korean. The agency is budgeted to spend $13 million a year on North Korean operations, principally on food for infants, children and pregnant women, along with emergency vaccination programs, essential medicines and clean water supplies.

Talk about imperial capitalist brain-washing. This must end!
Continue reading "The Nork's Answer To USA: Forced Starvation Of His Own People"

Hillary Clinton's Website Photoshopped Obama Picture?

2009-07-07T19:38:09Z

It appears IMAO has discovered yet another photoshopped image of Barack Hussein Obama posted at Hillary Clinton's Official Website. The image appears to have been altered to make B. Hussein look 'blacker' than he really is.

From IMAO:

He looks noticeably blacker to me. I contacted the Hillary campaign for an explanation, and they said any differences in the images is the result of normal photo adjustments such as desaturation. I guess that seems plausible to me. Any photography experts out there want to comment?

The original image:

The alleged photoshopped version:

Continue reading "Hillary Clinton's Website Photoshopped Obama Picture?"

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night...

2009-07-07T17:51:53Z

Many people will recognize these famous opening lines (see if you can guess the novel and/or author - answers below the fold):

"Call me Ishmael."

"The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten."

"The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us."

"Since Aramis's singular transformation into a confessor of the order, Baisemeaux was no longer the same man."

But how many of these can you identify (or rather, endure)?

"No man is an island, so they say, although the small crustaceans and the bird which sat impassively on Dirk Manhope's chest as he floated lazily in the pool would probably disagree."

"Harvey placed the muzzle of the .45 against his head, and as the cold steel touched his temple a sudden shiver raced along his spine, and the hair-trigger took on the frisson, his brains missing Marlene's photo, where he wanted it to go, and splattered across his burgundy nightgown, so he got the color combination right."

"She had whispered wantonly, "Come to bed, Yul," but was now staring in utter disgust because the green lava lamp was too revealingly bright as he fumbled to adjust his new Merken, a $300 pubic toupee that had looked like a steal on eBay, but now looked just like a wet Tribble that had inexplicably crawled up his crack from an old "Star Trek" episode. "

Find out who actually wrote these lines, and read others as nauseatingly horrible, HERE. Think you can do ~~better~~ worse? Submit your opening line in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

Continue reading "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night..."

Spreading Happiness and Cheer The World Over

2009-07-06T19:10:29Z

Recall from my previous post how we, the most loved nation on this earth now that Obama has ascended, have started shipping some of the most notorious terrorists in the world to countries and islands all around the globe in the hopes of appeasing the liberals when we shut down Guantanamo.

Well, how about learning a bit more about these terrorists, and where they come from, that we have been giving free vacations and passports to?

Violent street battles killed at least 156 people and injured 828 others in the deadliest ethnic unrest to hit China's western Xinjiang region in decades, and the Chinese government blamed Uighur exiles for stoking the unrest.

Security forces have clamped down on the city of Urumqi and set up checkpoints to catch any fleeing rioters, state media reported, after tensions between ethnic Muslim Uighur people and China's Han majority erupted into riots.
...
Tensions between Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese are never far from the surface in Xinjiang, China's vast Central Asian buffer province, where militant Uighurs have waged a sporadic, violent separatist campaign.

Uighurs make up the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, but not in the capital of Urumqi, which has attracted large numbers of Han Chinese migrants. The city of 2.3 million is now about overwhelmingly Chinese — a source of frustration for native Uighurs.

Why can't we all just get along?

True Cost of Saving Energy

2009-07-06T14:42:16Z

So, you think you are a good steward of the Earth? You think you do your best to save energy and you think you will be rewarded for it? I bet some of you think that if you cut back on your energy you can save money.

You are sadly mistaken. Problem is, you do not control the politicians. And it is the politicians that control how much you are charged for your energy usage.

When gas rose to over $4.00 a gallon (avg) recently, everyone cut back on their gasoline purchases. That in turn led to a decrease in tax revenues entering the coffers of the Treasury. So, guess what the politicians did to thank you for using less petroleum? They raised your taxes.

You may be able to do with less gas for a while, but the new Socialist government form of government we have been blessed with could never be expected to do the same.

You think you can save money right now during tight times by cutting back on your home energy usage?

Don't count on it! Read and learn as the same insane policies that ruined our gasoline industry are now applied to your home's energy bill:
Continue reading "True Cost of Saving Energy"

Obama Mouthpiece: Sanctions Working Against North Korea

2009-07-05T21:40:13Z

In one of the biggest WTF?!?! statement eva... comes this diatribe from Robert Gibbs, The One Pres Obamassiah (pbuh) spokesperson, regarding North Korea's launching of missiles.

Continue reading "Obama Mouthpiece: Sanctions Working Against North Korea"

Obama and Congress: We Are Concerned

2009-07-05T19:45:27Z

I don't know if you caught it, but Drudge had an interesting front page the other day (07/01/09). Drudge made an emphasis to highlight how The One Pres Obamassiah's (pbuh) makes people bend to his will. He has an "EeeeeVil Eye!!!"

That eye makes people cower like simpering chihuahas. It causes liberal women to swoon like he was a famous celebrity. It leads once-pretending-to-be Republican politicians to turn to liberalism in order to prevent from being under the eye of lord obama. That eye causes otherwise independently thinking Americans to fall under his gile, else lose their stimulus funding.

And, we here at SnappedShot.com, have discovered how that eye also allows him to emote an aura of compassion and empathy upon the common masses of the world.

Take a look at these headlines that I found with a simple search...

Obama "Deeply Concerned" with Unemployment ...
Obama 'Deeply Concerned' About Hurricane Gustav ...
Obama says 'Deeply Concerned' about detention, expulsion of Honduras dictator ...
Obama 'concerned' for jailed reporters ...
Obama 'deeply concerned' over Gaza ...
Obama: "Deeply Concerned" Over Kidnapping of Honduran President ...
Obama concerned at sentence of journalists in NKorea ...
Obama: Too Many Jobs Lost, 'Deeply Concerned' ...
Obama deeply concerned' over Sri Lankan team attack ...
Obama says 'deeply concerned' about auto industry ...
Obama 'Deeply Concerned' About Iranian Election ...
Obama 'Deeply Concerned' by Reports of Violence in Iran ...

One might start to think that the only emotion that he has one of 'deep concern'. You can not run a country, let alone an ice cream sthop, with the only emotion of 'deep concern'. One wonders if South Korea should get nuked if he would only express deep concern over that too?

Continue reading "Obama and Congress: We Are Concerned"

Thomas Paine Of The 21st Century

2009-07-02T04:57:07Z

"The biggest traitors among you, hold elective office."

Watch the video and get ready to get fired up like it was 1776 all over again.

Time for a Second American Revolution? Time to bring back democracy, capitalism and freedom back to this republic?

Fighting Fire By Putting Out The Smoke

2009-07-01T14:47:42Z

That seems to be the way we are doing things around here lately. I mean, how else would you explain this...

In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?

The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun.

“I’ll do the talking on this one,” agent Tim Sloan, of South Carolina, told partner Brian Tumiel, of New York.

Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — sent here from around the country — are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a “massive number of investigative leads.”

All told, Mexican officials in 2008 asked federal agents to trace the origins of more than 7,500 firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. Most of them were traced back to Texas, California and Arizona.

Instead of creating a defensible wall and stopping the illicit drug, gun and human trafficking, our government seems content at only swatting the smoke from the erupting flames.

Zionist Conspiracy #56,451

2009-07-01T03:23:28Z

With a big tip of my former hat (had to sell it to pay for lunch today) to Elder at EOZ......

You know, I blame the Jews on this one. Who else would demand a expiration date on bottled water, forcing people (especially their enemies) to buy replacement bottles of water?

But then, Arabs have issues with ANYTHING Jewish anyway. Even it selling Jewish products make Arabs money. That's bad.

Meanwhile, during the high US unemployment, housing losses and increasing downturns in our economy, ....

US President Barack Obama has signed a supplemental appropriations bill, which includes $150 million in additional economic assistance to Jordan for the 2009 fiscal year, a senior official said on Sunday.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali said the supplemental assistance is in addition to the $363 million in regular US economic assistance to Jordan for 2009, bringing the total to $513 million.

The One Pres Obammasiah (pbuh) feels the need to INCREASE funding to nations that are not necessarily our friends and have not been friendly to our ally in the region.

Is there ever going to be an end to this free-for-all tax-grab by this administration as it throws money to everyone and all over the world except to where it matters the most. The people of the US.

One would think, voting in a Socialist member of the liberal party that has promised tax relief and gas in every car, that all of this stimulus and bailout monies would actually be given to the people. One would think that the people might start to question why THEY are not seeing any of that money. Wasn't it he that promised them all of that money if he were elected? (Bribe?)

And yet, here he is hosting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of parties each week at the White House and throwing money down MidEast drains like Jordan. All the while people here in the US are still suffering under high unemployment and a crippling "illegal" invasion. ????

He doesn't care about you, people! He just DOESN'T!!! Very few people in Congress, White House, or the Judiciary do.

I tell you what people. If you and I don't vote all of these Socialists and Liberal Republicans out of office and replace them with sound, sane and conservative thinking people, our nation will be asking for handouts from Jordan.

Real soon.

When Global Warmists Finally Went Nuts: Part 2

2009-06-29T19:45:25Z

Now, it is the USA's turn to go insane.

It's bad enough that the People's Congress has passed one of the largest tax increasing, anti-business bill in the history of mankind, but are at the same time claiming that without it our planet will be consumed in the heat of man's exhalations. But now, The One Pres Obamassiah (pbuh) has come out to claim that he will save the world once again.

Except... this time he will save the future.
Continue reading "When Global Warmists Finally Went Nuts: Part 2"

The Welfare State, Illustrated

2009-06-29T16:31:41Z

Britain is going broke. Which, coincidentally, is what happens to every other nation that dared to try Karl Marx's tired old ideas.

As many times as this history has been repeated, you'd think somebody in power would've figured it out by now.

The stark evidence of the growing imbalance between what the Government raises and what it spends is likely to intensify the political row over the public finances and may strengthen calls for cuts in spending.

Treasury figures show that welfare payments will exceed income tax receipts by almost £25 billion. Normally, income tax receipts comfortably cover the benefits bill.

In 2009/10, the Treasury is expecting to take in £140.5 billion in gross income tax receipts. Social security benefits are projected to be £164.7 billion.

The disparity between tax revenue and welfare costs was identified by Andrew Brough, a fund manager at Schroder Investment Management, who suggested that the amount of money spent on social protection could soon exceed that raised from both income tax and national insurance.

I bolded that last part to make sure that all of you who trust Barack Obama with your "national" insurance understand what's coming our way.

When Global Warmists Finally Went Nuts

2009-06-28T22:39:31Z

When the "save the planet" types started their campaigns, it was all about recycling and planting trees. These plans and concerns were normal and acceptable to all. If you wanted to participate you were appreciated. If not, then that was your choice.

Recently, you can now be thrown in jail for refusing to recycle or plant a tree on your newly purchased property. Or worse, cutting trees down to heat your home when its cold. That might lead to the death penalty soon. A life for a life, according to these tree-huggers.

But, even changing laws and forcing mandatory behaviors upon the general population is not enough. They have now begun claiming alarming announcements meant to scare the illiterate and young. As most of this world falls within those two descriptions, they are hoping to format the minds of a large voting block.

And as we know, with votes comes power.

But sometimes, their level of alarmist rhetoric reaches to the heights of fancy and idiocy. And the media dutifully falls in line.

Now comes a British MP's office to add to the uber-hyperbole.

Thanks to Christopher Booker on this latest revelation. Fortunately, Mr Booker is here to help inform us of what the MSM refuses to do.

Last Wednesday, two days before our Climate Change Secretary[ED: a what?? ], Ed Miliband, told us that motorists could help save the planet by changing more quickly to a lower gear [ED: who needs a transmission? ], his underling Lord Hunt made one of the most absurd claims that can ever have been uttered by a British minister. Solemnly reported by the media, he said that by 2020 he hopes to see thousands more wind turbines round Britain's coasts, capable of producing '25 gigawatts (GW)" of electricity, enough to meet "more than a quarter of the UK's electricity needs".

In three ways this was remarkable.

Click on his link to red the three reasons why he reasons that this blowhard is completely wrong and... been toking too much of England's tainted beef.

For me, I have a fourth reason. A very good reason why this man and his goals are absurd. And, its demise will come from the global warmists and their cousins in the greenies. Those tens of thousands of windmills would block the coastal views of those liberals who live along the coastlines.

I just now thought of a fifth reason. People are not going to pay the over-inflated price that is always associated with "green" energy while at the same time paying the taxes associated with the government-funding of these pork projects.

And I agree whole-heartedly with all of Mr Booker's reasons and suggestions. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions to increase cheap energy production?

Honduras Constitution Wins: Obama And EU Cries

2009-06-28T18:39:36Z

When the current president of Honduras sought to push for his re-election, he sough help from the military. When some of the military leaders refused, he fired them. He then went to the courts to have the constitution changed so that he could run as president again. The Honduras Constitution limits the presidency to one term of 4 years. President Manuel Zelaya wanted to remain as president of his socialist nation. He had grown to love and expect the power. Like many in our own People's Socialist Congress.

The courts ruled that the constitution just cannot be ignored and ruled against the president. They even told him to re-instate the fired military leaders. The president thinking the was above all of that went ahead with the election. That way he could face the rest of the world and claim that it was a "democratic election". Just like in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's reign, just like under Hamas' heavy thumb, and countless other tyrannical and socialist nations. They claim justification because it was an election despite the sheer sham, fraud, and brutality involved.

Well the pro-constitutional army was having none of that. They ousted the tyrant and forced him out of the country. The Honduras constitution wins another day. (Here are some daylife pics of Honduras)

But alas, nowhere in this article do we hear from pro-constitution fighters? We only hear from those who support dictatorship. Course, they are happy to have the whole story to themselves. As usual.

However, not everyone is happy. The Socialist tyrant's best friend the world over, Pres Obama, has come out in "deep concern" against the coup. Now, Honduras' President Zelaya is a friend and ally of another socialist dictator in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Chavez is a friend of Obama. You see the connection?

No wonder Obama is concerned. Deeply concerned. He is always "deeply concerned" when the rule of law and the dreams of freedom and independence seek to overthrow Socialism, Despotism and Totalitarianism. Some of his best friends are socialists and tyrants. His whole world is built around propping up and building on socialism and tyranny. If socialism and tyranny are failing in some of the most recognizable countries around the world, then he must be getting "deeply concerned" about his own future. Will he be able to count on the military in this country?

And let us not forget the EU. The EU, along with Socialist Pres Obama, "EU condemned the coup" and "called for calm". I wonder if Pres Obama would have used that same words during the Boston Tea Party, or during the Battle of Bunker Hill? Or when the Marines were storming Montezuma.

"Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference," Obama said.

What the?!?!?! A Dispute?!?!? And who is interfering? Hugo Chavez says that American is behind the coup. Well it's definitely not America.

Who would expect the last bastion of true freedom to come to the rescue of those seeking to come out from under tyranny? If we can stand by and do nothing while Iran cracks down on those seeking reform, if we can stand by while Mogadishu, Somalia, and almost the entire continent of Africa gets hacked to pieces by tyrants and marauders, then who would expect that we would get involved with a former alley in Honduras.

Definitely not this president.

Government Collapses in Honduras!

2009-06-28T18:28:00Z

Fausta has the whole scoop. From what I can gather, the incredibly pro-Chavez president of Honduras has been overthrown by the Honduran military. He was recently trying to push a referendum through the country which was in flagrant violation of their Constitution, and after clashing with military leaders over getting the illegal ballot out to the citizenry, it would seem that they had finally had enough of his chicanery.

Currently, President Zelaya is deposed to Costa Rica, where he is loudly denouncing the military's actions.

Other world leaders are speaking up in President "Constitution-violation" Zelaya's defense, including the European Union, Hugo Chavez, the Cuban Communist government, and our own President "Captain Un-America" Obama.

To think that the White House is now siding with Latin American communists truly makes one aware that we've entered a frightening new age.

The DMV of Health Care

2009-06-27T19:32:40Z

What if the Congress ran health care. A video by the fine folks at reason.

(H/T to Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters)

PS: By the way.... The ONE President Obamassiah (pbuh) has rightly come out and said that we filthy humans are contaminating this planet. And, only he and the Clean Energy Stimulus Welfare Taxation Act can save us from our living, breathing, dying that is ruining this planet. Isn't all life on this planet carbon-based? Do we not exhale and excrete carbon?