Global warming? A hoax. Barack Obama? A disaster. John McCain? A winner. So says Rush Limbaugh, America’s most listened-to and influential – not to mention richest - radio personality. But will America prove him wrong in the US elections on Tuesday? Interview by Nigel Farndale.

Although Rush Limbaugh doesn’t actually work from a bunker, he does have a bunker mentality. His studio is on the third floor of a (purposefully) anonymous building 100 yards off the white sands of Palm Beach, Florida, and about a mile from his gated mansion (the one next to Chuck Norris’s). Along with the Gulfstream jet (cost: $54 million), fleet of sports cars and eight-year contract, worth $400 million, this mansion is his reward for being the most listened-to talk-radio host in America, a title he has held for 20 years.

But it is also his compensation. Professional Right-wing controversialists do tend to upset people, and Limbaugh has had his share of death threats. He has also had his quota of criticism from the media, or the liberal media, as he tends to call it. He hates interviews and has rarely given any, though he does have a soft spot for this newspaper, because it was once owned by his sometime friend and neighbour Conrad Black (currently serving a 6½-year jail sentence for fraud; Limbaugh wrote a letter to the judge attesting to Lord Black’s good character).
Continue Reading “Rush Limbaugh: The man who’s always Right” »

A fire caused $1 million worth of damage at an unmanned underground nuclear launch site last spring, but the Air Force didn’t find out about it until five days later, an Air Force official said Thursday.
Continue Reading “Air Force: Nuke missile silo fire went undetected” »

The Washington Post Co. today reported an 86 percent decline in third-quarter earnings compared with the same period last year, as a significant loss at the flagship newspaper offset gains at the company’s education and cable divisions.
Continue Reading “Washington Post Co. Earnings Plummet in Third Quarter” »

Last night’s TV coverage was dominated by poll analysis. Barack Obama also made the rounds:

MSNBC’s Maddow sat down with Obama in FL.
Continue Reading “Hotline After Dark — Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’” »

The contestants scampered down the runway, bleating at their admirers. Poets sang their praises in verse as the male-only audience appraised the competitors’ physical beauty, right down to the length of their necks.
But instead of receiving roses and a tiara, it was off to the highest bidder for many finalists in the first Saudi beauty pageant featuring locally bred sheep.

The contest, a far cry from female beauty pageants held in some Arab countries like Lebanon, offered an opportunity for breeders to do business and a rare outlet for entertainment in a country where the few recreational activities that exist are conducted under the strict glare of the religious police.

The goal of Thursday’s competition was to encourage Saudis to breed for quality. Some of those who attended the event said Saudi sheep—known as Nejdi sheep—have markedly improved over the past decade because of the attention given to breeding them.
Continue Reading “Breeders hold first pageant for Saudi-bred sheep” »

The world faces a growing risk of conflict over the next 20 to 30 years amid an unprecedented transfer of wealth and power from West to East, according to the US intelligence chief.
Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence, predicted rising demand for scarce supplies of food and fuel, strategic competition over new technologies, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

“What I’m suggesting — there’s an increased potential for conflict,” McConnell said in a speech Thursday to intelligence professionals in Nashville, Tennessee.

“During the period of this assessment, out to 2025, the probability for conflict between nations and within nation-state entities will be greater,” he said.
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The city of Duncanville is another step closer to shutting down a notorious swingers club after its owner’s guilty verdict.

Jurors deliberated for about 45 minutes Tuesday before finding Jim Trulock guilty on 10 counts of illegally operating the club known as the Cherry Pit from his home.

Mr. Trulock had challenged the 10 municipal citations, five accusing him of operating a sexually oriented business without a permit and another five accusing him of operating a sex club. He will face a $7,500 fine for the Class C misdemeanors.

“It’s indicative of a climate of intolerance in the city of Duncanville,” Cherry Pit attorney Ed Klein said after the two-day trial.
Continue Reading “Owner of Duncanville swingers club the Cherry Pit convicted” »

U.S. television news teams that sent election-night viewers to bed without a sure winner in the last two presidential races now face what many political pundits expect to be a swifter outcome next Tuesday.
Continue Reading “U.S. media ready for possible early election outcome” »