‘A straight-talking English teacher at Wellesley High School set out to take students down a notch in his speech to the class of 2012, by telling them they’re nothing special.
“You are not special. You are not exceptional,” David McCullough Jr. told graduating seniors from the affluent Massachusetts town last weekend.
….”Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped,” McCullough said in his speech. “Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. … But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not.”..’
Damn straight!

‘A police officer who was shot at yesterday is receiving counselling.’

via James Delingpole:
1) Only in America could the President talk 
about the greed of the rich at a $35,000 a plate campaign fund-raising  event.
2) Only in America could people claim that  the government still 
discriminates against black Americans when we have a black President, a 
black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal work force  is black
 while 12% of the population is black. Continue reading →

‘President Barack Obama, defending his economic record after unemployment rose to 8.2 per cent last month, has told Americans that ‘the private sector is doing just fine‘.
Speaking at a White House press conference, Obama sought to blame troubles in the European economy, the legacy of President George W. Bush and inaction by Congress for poor economic numbers in the United States.
But then he offered what Republicans immediately seized on as a political gift. ‘We’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months,’ he said. ‘The private sector is doing fine…’
The self-parodying boy-king: ‘”It’s absolutely clear the economy is not doing fine,” President Obama said at the White House shortly after declaring “the private sector is doing fine” at a press conference Friday morning…’ source

Coldest day in 130 years of records

‘Australian Olympic swimmers Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk have sparked outrage after they posed with high-powered weapons in a US gun shop.
The pair are pictured smiling smugly, holding automatic pistols and pump-action shotguns similar to those used in the Virginia Tech and Port Arthur massacres….’
In other news, a well-known actress was seen posing-and smiling smugly- with a bottle of hair bleach, similar to that used by terrorists to bring down airliners….
UPDATE: Tim Blair says it best.

‘Worrying takes its toll on women’s brains (because they have to work harder than men to perform simple tasks)’                    source

‘German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for countries to give up more powers to Europe “step by step” as the continent tries to claw its way out of the debt crisis and says a “political union” is needed as leaders prepare for a closely watched summit later this month.
…..”We need not just a currency union; we also need a so-called fiscal union, more common budget policies. And we need above all a political union,” she added. “That means that we must, step by step as things go forward, give up powers to Europe as well.”….’
What she means, of course, is give up national sovereignty to a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels and to bankers….with Germany calling the shots.

How to import illegal immigrants “asylum seekers” against the wishes of the majority of Australians:
‘But of the almost two-thirds of asylum-seekers whose claims for protection were rejected last year by the government, 74 per cent had that decision overturned in a merits review and were later found to be refugees.
…..The two members of the Rudd Government’s Refugee Review Tribunal say they operate under a “culture of fear”, with their jobs under threat if they reject too many claims.
They believe two members have already lost their jobs for being too tough, and more could follow when the next round of appointments (and dumpings) are announced next month…

‘Obama Longs for GOP Rival Like McCain
President Barack Obama seems to think that the world of politics would be better if someone like John McCain were running for the White House.
The Democratic incumbent and his re-election advisers are waxing nostalgic about the Republican senator from Arizona who lost to Obama in the 2008 presidential race. They’re embracing McCain as a reasonable voice on climate change and immigration, someone who took on extremism in his own party….’