Remember This One?

oldie but goodie

Thank You Lord

“I would tell members of my family – and I have – I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show..

Good. So it doesn't apply to me. That's like the third time this month I've said a little thank-you prayer for not being part of Joe Biden's family.

Reminds Me

I need to cut back on the ice cream if I want to get down to swim suit weight by summer.

(of 2011)

Another Attitude Adjustment

Every little thing gonna be alright.

Who didn't know that?

How Smart Are You?

Smart people belong to MENSA. Smarter people realize that paying $59 a year just to claim you belong to a smart club, is stupid.

Anyway, here's a very short IQ test that seems pretty accurate. (I will admit that I took it twice because I accidentally closed the window after the test had started, but the above results seem about right) Go on take the test. What have you got to lose?

Younger Days

Movits

In the North

Yes, technically it is just colored clay, but we find the
children don't fight so much over candy if it has no flavor.

Calvin Woodward, Endangered Species

Yikes, two days in a row now, the AP's Calvin Woodward (any relation to Woodward and Bernstein? or Calvin and Hobbs?) has come out with articles questioning Democratic dogma. First he puts the blame for the deficit where it belongs. Then he questions Obama's "jobs created" claims. (course, now the administration is claiming they are jobs "created or saved" -- much harder to dispute)

Soooo, good news! The system can't go too far wrong as long as we've got feedback.Talk of semi-secret breakfasts for the faithful media should send chills up your spine, but having even a fraction of herd in revolt is a good sign. The danger was that the entire mainstream media could be co-opted: this would have been a blank check for the administration, and probable disaster for the country.

Course, Calvin Woodward is just one guy. And efforts to marginalize him are certainly in the works. But with Fox News beating the pants off the competition, and this little inroad into AP; I'd say it's looking like a good day.

Waterboarding Sean Hannity

Have you heard about Keith Olbermann pressing for Sean Hannity to get waterboarded for charity? It all stems from an offer that Hannity made, either in serious mode or in jest, to be waterboarded for charity.

OK, so maybe it was a serious offer, or maybe it was not. But reset here a second: If Olberman wants Hannity waterboarded, and Hannity wants government interrogators to be able to waterboard terrorists, doesn't that make them pretty much in agreement? They only differ on who gets waterboarded.

Re: Swine Flu

Really, it's probably prudent to practice flu avoiding measures, but it's way too early to let the constant drum of the doom and gloom media get you down. Relax. Don't worry. Be Happy.


Unembedable official version here.

Brave New World

Remember how computers were going to eliminate paper in the workplace? Doesn't seem to have happened does it? It seems like they should have at least cut down on paper, but that hasn't happened either.

So, with computerized medical records the bold candidate told you how it would streamline care, and save money. And the people went "Ahhhh," and shielded their eyes against the brilliant glow. "Yes, of course it will work. It seems like that would work, no?"

Well, maybe no. Electronic medical information systems are already out there, and one of them almost killed Joe Bugajski:

Medical personnel at urgent care and the hospital who interacted with me all used a version of the same electronic health information system (the “system”). It became clear that everyone was fighting that system. Indeed, they wasted between 40% and 60% of their time making the system do something useful for them. The system kept everyone from fulfilling their duties - the health information system did not help medical professionals perform their duties.

Since my hospital stay, I confirmed that electronic health information systems are mostly broken. I interviewed medical professionals, healthcare IT experts, and my allergist. They confirmed my sickbed analysis. Indeed, several experts said that they longed for handwritten charts once more hanging from the foot of every patient’s bed.

He links to this op-ed from a pediatrician:

In short, the computer depersonalizes medicine. It ignores nuances that we do not measure but clearly influence care. In the past, I could pick up a chart and flip through it easily. Looking at a note, I could picture the visit and recall the story. Now a chart is a generic outline, screens filled with clicked boxes. Room is provided for text, but in the computer’s font, important points often get lost. I have half-joked with residents that they could type “child has no head” in the middle of a computer record — and it might be missed.

A box clicked unintentionally is as detrimental as an order written illegibly — maybe worse because it looks official. It takes more effort and thought to write a prescription than to pull up a menu of medications and click a box. I have seen how choosing the wrong box can lead to the wrong drug being prescribed.

So before we embrace the inevitable, there should be more discussion and study of electronic records, or at a minimum acknowledgment of the downside. A hybrid may be the answer — perhaps electronic records should be kept only on tablet computers, allowing the provider to write or draw, and to face the patient.

I hate to think that these billions and billions of dollars are building a system that is worse than what we've got now.

I feel the need, the need for speed

Viper: Good morning, gentlemen, the temperature is 110 degrees.
Wolfman: Holy crap, it's Viper!
Goose: Viper's up here, great...oh crap...
Maverick: Great, he's probably saying, "Holy crap, it's Maverick and Goose."
Goose: Yeah, I'm sure he's saying that.

and goose:

Government Intervention

Oofta, it goes on and on:

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - The spread of a possible flu pandemic could see an increase in already heightened levels of government intervention in economies and financial markets as a result of the global financial crisis.

In the short term, it might serve to give governments an easy justification to impose protectionist measures that could further stifle slumping trade flows.....

What's next?

Intimate photos of Carla Bruni stolen from Paris flat... Obama says this may force reform of Securities Industry

Air Force One

MM noted: it would have been much cheaper to Photoshop Air Force One in front of the Statue of Liberty.

Heck you could put it anywhere: in front of the pyramids, flying over the Great Wall of China, landing on the surface of Mars for meetings with Glak-bok, president of the interplanetary council. (How can it hurt to just talk to him for goodness sake?) And of course, my favorite: you could photoshop-harass polar bears.









***Update: time and space? not a problem


.... nah, let them eat panic:

Evelien Lohbeck's Noteboek

Go ahead, hit play. You won't want the four minutes back, I promise.

Swine Flu

N. O'really sent me this:

JERUSALEM (AP) — The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

OK sensitivities noted, but you're too late. And besides, we didn't name it after a literal swine. Call it an homage to the documentary filmmaker:

Pandemic Averted

Yeah, like a virus could stand up to an Obama frown. Game over, Swine Flu.

Contrast

This is a found image. Artsy, contrasty, like a beautiful woman reclining on the abandoned, decaying, factory room floor. The contrast makes the picture interesting. That is, unless you know about what sometimes happens to couples accused of adultery in Islamic countries. (and the definition of adultery is often very flexible)

But this was probably taken in a country where they knew there would be no punishment for Westerners showing affection in public. Probably the only fallout from this picture was that peaceable Muslims were offended. Was the picture was worth it? I'm thinking not so much.

At the Ballpark

Dwain waited, and cursed Youtube under his breath.

The Raptor

The falconer readied his bird of prey. The hunt would
soon begin, and no french fry on the beach was safe.

Shenanigans Planned

This has to be fraud, right?

In exchange for votes to pass a controversial global warming package, Democratic leaders are offering some lawmakers generous emission “allowances” to protect their districts from the economic pain of pollution restrictions.

Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, represents a district with several oil refineries, a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions. He also serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which must approve the global warming plan backed by President Barack Obama.

Green says Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who heads the panel, is trying to entice him into voting for the bill by giving some refineries favorable treatment in the administration’s “cap and trade” system, which is expected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years. Under the plan, companies would pay for the right to emit carbon dioxide, but Green and other lawmakers are angling to get a free pass for refineries in their districts.

“We’ve been talking,” Green said, referring to a meeting he had with Waxman on Tuesday night. “To put together a bill that passes, they have to get our votes, and I’m not going to vote for a bill without refinery allowances.”

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the top Republican on the energy panel, said Waxman and others are also dangling allowances for steel and coal-fired power plants to give political cover to Democrats whose districts rely on these companies.

Democrats so far have been unable to get enough support from their own members to pass the bill out of a small global warming subcommittee because most Republicans and many Democrats say the plan will raise energy rates, destroy jobs and increase prices on manufactured goods.

Since when do we have federal laws for some parts of the country and not others?

But never mind that. The bill will "raise energy rates, destroy jobs and increase prices on manufactured goods." Of course it will. That's why even some staunch Democrats won't vote for it. But how would you feel about your representative voting that kind of burden on the rest of the country, even if he had cut a deal to exempt your particular power plant?

Endangered Tundra

If you're going to say stupid things, you can at least make it entertaining by making them spectacularly stupid things. Henry Waxman from an interview on NPR as relayed by Tavis Smiley:

“We’re seeing the reality of a lot of the North Pole starting to evaporate, and we could get to a tipping point. Because if it evaporates to a certain point - they have lanes now where ships can go that couldn’t ever sail through before. And if it gets to a point where it evaporates too much, there’s a lot of tundra that’s being held down by that ice cap..”

Henry, the next step is obvious. Recommend holding down the tundra with goats like they do in Africa. Nobody has ever reported tundra floating away in Africa.



This is what Waxman works on in Congress:

Committee on Energy and Commerce (Chairman)

* Subcommittee on Health
* Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
* Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Write or call your US representatives now.
quote via Watts Up With That?

Please Step Over Here for Further Screening

found

I'm Off

I still insist on being a chaperon at any concerts the lumberkid goes to. And I think I have everything...... book -check , heart medicine -check, ear plugs....etc.

I'm off.
But you knew that. (btw- that's not really me)

***Update:
Went there. Survived. That's steps one and two of going to a concert at my age.

And, besides being a good outing with the kid (and a friend) it had it's own highlights and challenges. On the plus side: the wrist band that allowed us pavilion seating. They're given out on a first come, first served, basis and we got them despite being way back in line and passing up an offer to cheat with a line cut. Also big plus, the girls passed up the offer to cheat. They didn't even ask if we could do it.

Another situation, was plus/minus. Got to see 50 Cent, which isn't really my kind of music, so I liked maybe 25%. Plus, getting a drink and making a bathroom run, I missed about half his set. So, 25% of half of 50 Cent .... call it a little over a nickel.

Big minus is an $8.50 cheeseburger. You don't mind paying extra when there's some fancy blue cheese - mushroom - truffle sauce or something, but this was just bread and meat. Yikes. Anyway the cheeseburger wrapper should have been imaged and saved like the memento wrist band, but when you pay that much for a cheeseburger, you're sort of obligated to eat the wrapper too, just to extract value from the transaction.

And the biggest plus there could be at a concert: we got out of the parking lot without the usual hour and a half crawl. This good fortune was due to a series of factors: a car held up the line and created my opening, a fence post had been removed, and a farmer's field just happened to be in the right place. (and don't judge me - I understand the corn crop wasn't expected to be that great this year -- and that chicken was probably ready to become a Sunday dinner anyway)

Stimuluspalooza

Boggling:

150 Million for an airport that carried 20 passengers a day last year? That's stimulus!

Actually I have a fondness for the little airport. Back when I traveled a lot, my favorite airport was in Abilene, Texas. There was something like three flights in and three flights out each day. There were probably a total of three employees in the building at any one time and you got the sense that they'd like you to hurry through so that they could go home. Often my rental car keys were left out on the counter waiting for me.

But the airport was not nearly as pretentious as this Murtha monstrosity. I say that if you don't have more than 20 passengers a day, it's ok to have a terminal with a screen door.

NOBODY Expects the Spanish Inquisition

Brouhaha happens.
But sometimes you can get a good IQ test out of it -
John McCain said the following:

Following World War II war crime trials were convened. The Japanese were tried and convicted and hung for war crimes committed against American POWs. Among those charges for which they were convicted was waterboarding.

So, does that mean anybody was executed for waterboarding?
Paul Begala says that the quote means that the U.S. executed Japanese war criminals for waterboarding. Begala claimed:

Our country executed Japanese soldiers who waterboarded American POWs. We executed them for the same for the same crime we are now committing ourselves.

I sure hope Begala is being dishonest because it's scary to think he's that dumb.

Anyway, and more important, the new administration has come up with more effective ways to get information. (h/t nimos) So hopefully we'll be able to move past all this once we've executed everyone in the prior administration and done this frog-marching (whatever that is) that the left seems so intent on:



Afterthought: Assuming we can find out what it is; could frog-marching possibly be a war crime?

Urine Jar Art

Any one else notice the crown of thorns in this painting? It's 'The Truth' by Painter Michael D'Antuono. And the arms out to the side and up?

D'Antuono insists that this piece "is a mirror; reflecting the personal opinions and emotions of the viewer; that "The Truth" like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." What a weaselly cop-out. The imagery is clear. And I expect even Obama is embarrassed by this. He should be. And my particular mirror is offended. Which I suspect was the point.

It's All Happening at the Zoo

Trouble at the Bronx zoo:

Cash-strapped zoo officials told a New York City Council committee Thursday that they need to send away deer, bats, foxes, antelopes and other creatures to zoos around the country.

Officials say they're also closing four exhibits to close a $15 million budget shortfall.

and BTW - "More antics, less poo flinging" was my company's first Mission Statement.

Zzzzzzzz

mine



found

Priorities

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get to that but first I want to get this windmill order straight."

Contemplate

Call it: Obama Contemplates Obama Contemplating Obama
Contemplating That Guy Who Abandoned the Cubans at the Bay of Pigs

You know, when you've got an IQ that's been measured at "way up there", you can multitask contemplate. Multiplate, it's called.

Free Pass

I'm sure you've seen it:

President Barack Obama burned roughly 9,000 of jet fuel yesterday, Earth Day, and that only to deliver one speech in Iowa, reports CBS News's Mark Knoller in an April 22 Political Hotsheet blog post.

As if that weren't amusing enough, Knoller notes that the Air Force and the White House wouldn't disclose to Knoller how much fuel the president's plane burns on an average flight, so he had to consult with the manufacturer of the 747, Boeing.

But lets give him a pass this time. Because:
1) It does no good, witness Al Gore's continued hypocracy.
2) If we were successful in making him feel bad about it, he'd atone by buying "carbon credits". With what? With more of our money.

George Warned You It Was a Tough Job

Remember when George Bush took office? The Clinton team had sabotaged office equipment and taken all the "W"s from the keyboards. Some people were upset but George Bush didn't give it a second thought. It said more about the Clinton folks than anything else.

That's why I'm proud of the Bush people. You know that the Bush transition team really did try to make it a smooth transfer - not for Obama's sake, but for the good of the country. And you know they didn't steal the "O"s from the keyboards, or leave behind any other childish practical jokes. Except for the lion. And that one, well, sometimes you get an idea that is just so funny, you have to go with it.

Thanks So Much, Operation Migration

"Copy tower. Climbing to thirty-two thou....... d'oh! Not again..."

Just Can't Bear to Watch

(from the Time OMG He Made It to 100 Days series) original:


I understand they plan more shots of Biden and Obama together in the upcoming Oh My Sweet Savior, He Made It to 105 Days series.

Liberal Student Infiltrates Liberty University

Found this at Newsbusters:

This is just too funny! A liberal Ivy League student decides to enroll at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Virgina and write a book exposé (The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University) supposedly showing the intolerance that must be there, or so he thought. The liberal student, however, was surprised to find little of the expected intolerance but is now finding plenty of it from the left because his book was not an outright condemnation of Liberty University nor of Jerry Falwell whom he met during his semester there.

So the young man did what he set out to do: he investigated, then reported what he found. But the commenters at the HufPo knew what he should have found; without even having to investigate:

Wow, that must be a pretty good brainwashing program they've got there. That or this guy is weak sauce. You wouldn't catch me praying to some magic sky daddy if I spent a THOUSAND years at Liberty "University."

He should have gone to a deprogrammer to complete the experience.

I wish he'd done an MRI before and after. It appears he's been brainwashed. Long periods of time with cults will do that.

I'm a little worried about Kevin's soul now that he's been programmed. He seems strong and intelligent though, so there's still hope for him. I'll be praying for his salvation from the radical right.

I hope he's been debriefed and re-socialized into the real world. Never visit the darkside.

Reminds me of something I read a few months back about a guy going undercover at Wal-Mart. Seems he didn't find an evil empire at all. That didn't sway some of his commenters though; see when you know you've found the evil Center of All That is Wrong With the Universe, well, you just know it. No more input needed.

And they call themselves open-minded.

We've All Got Gifts

and another because I just can't stop myself:

Number of Pirates Killed by Each President

via

Learn Something New Every Day

First, learned it's harder to add a blemish in photoshop than it is to take one away.

But it's harder still to make Perez Hilton look worse than he already does. Without resorting to horse teeth, that is.

(and as for him running up on that stage to snatch the crown from Miss California's head.... beyotch-puuuuhhleeese, she could whip his butt and send him home crying)

Janet Napolitano

First let me apologize to all Canadians, more than usual this time:

Can someone please tell us how U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job? She appears to be about as knowledgeable about border issues as a late-night radio call-in yahoo.

In an interview broadcast Monday on the CBC, Ms. Napolitano attempted to justify her call for stricter border security on the premise that "suspected or known terrorists" have entered the U. S. across the Canadian border, including the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack.

All the 9/11 terrorists, of course, entered the United States directly from overseas. The notion that some arrived via Canada is a myth that briefly popped up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and was then quickly debunked.

Informed of her error, Ms. Napolitano blustered: "I can't talk to that. I can talk about the future. And here's the future. The future is we have borders."

"I can't talk to that." "The future is we have borders." Lord, I'm so proud to live in this great country. Sorry, can't type now, eyes tearing up with pride.

'I can clone a human being'

Often, it seems, cloning boasts turn out to be hoaxes. I can only hope this is another one of those 'all sizzle and no steak' deals:

A controversial fertility doctor claimed yesterday to have cloned 14 human embryos and transferred 11 of them into the wombs of four women who had been prepared to give birth to cloned babies.

The cloning was recorded by an independent documentary film-maker who has testified to The Independent that the cloning had taken place and that the women were genuinely hoping to become pregnant with the first cloned embryos specifically created for the purposes of human reproduction.

Panayiotis Zavos has broken the ultimate taboo of transferring cloned embryos into the human womb, a procedure that is a criminal offence in Britain and illegal in many other countries. He carried out the work at a secret lab-oratory, probably located in the Middle East where there is no cloning ban.....

Hope it's false, but oh well.

Anyway, who wants to guess which way Chris Matthews will come down on this issue?

Washingtonian Cover

26 Reasons To Love Living Here

Reason #2: Our New Neighbor Is Hot

Well, I fixed that. And gave him a receding hairline to boot. How is it though, that people are still obsessing on how pretty he is, and aren't concerned that he's engineered a deficit that our children won't be able to pay off, save by selling their kidneys to the Chinese?

It's Like a Drum Beat

For awhile there I thought I'd gone deaf - almost a day went past without the constant bleat of "the-planet's-on-fire, the-planet's-on-fire." Thank goodness though, it was just a freak news cycle accident:

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago -- Caribbean nations face "very, very scary" rises in sea level and intensifying hurricanes, and Florida, Louisiana and even northern California could be overrun with rising water levels due to global warming triggered by carbon-based greenhouse gases, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Saturday.

Here's the article, but you've heard it all before. The usual doom and gloom, except for that extra bit about California going under. I imagine they don't always emphasize that, for fear it will cause some of us to cheer global warming on. I know, I know, there's a lot of good people in California. But they'll survive, and as for the fringe; well, I envision a great aluminum foil harvest from all the floating hats:


Meanwhile though, sun activity is at a record low. So the carbon nazis are scrambling to enact legislation in time to claim that they are responsible for putting us in a new ice age.

Then and Now

Janeane Garofalo on dissent.

Watch List

(clickabiggen)

I'm entering this when those stimulus dollars start getting directed towards poster contests for various government agencies. (and how could they not? my calculations show that even if the government buys absolutely everything in the US, there will still be buckets of money looking for something to be spent on)

Been There, Done That

"No dear, I said it was awesome. Really, awesome, not awful."

True Diplomat

Anyone who says that this president is undiplomatic can just
kiss Janeane Garofalo's well worn rear end. The president
was nothing but gracious when Hugo Chavez gave him
this book, even though he already owns several copies.

imagine the "LJ", I forgot to sign it, oh, and clickabiggen

Drunk Driving Test

Extreme Fail.

Susie the Dog

Rest in peace, Susie.

Must Resist

Got this from Drudge:



Tell you what. I had to close photoshop and walk away from the computer.

Hold Tight Your Wallets

More than I usually excerpt:

The Earth's climate is driven by the receipt and redistribution of solar energy. Despite this crucial relationship, the sun tends to be brushed aside as the most important driver of climate. Calculations on supercomputers are primitive compared with the complex dynamism of the Earth's climate and ignore the crucial relationship between climate and solar energy.

"To reduce modern climate change to one variable, CO2, or a small proportion of one variable - human-induced CO2 - is not science. To try to predict the future based on just one variable (CO2) in extraordinarily complex natural systems is folly. Yet when astronomers have the temerity to show that climate is driven by solar activities rather than CO2 emissions, they are dismissed as dinosaurs undertaking the methods of old-fashioned science."

Over time, the history of CO2 content in the atmosphere has been far higher than at present for most of time. Atmospheric CO2 follows temperature rise. It does not create a temperature rise. CO2 is not a pollutant. Global warming and a high CO2 content bring prosperity and longer life.

The hypothesis that human activity can create global warming is extraordinary because it is contrary to validated knowledge from solar physics, astronomy, history, archaeology and geology. "But evidence no longer matters. And any contrary work published in peer-reviewed journals is just ignored. We are told that the science on human-induced global warming is settled. Yet the claim by some scientists that the threat of human-induced global warming is 90 per cent certain (or even 99 per cent) is a figure of speech. It has no mathematical or evidential basis."

Observations in nature differ markedly from the results generated by nearly two dozen computer-generated climate models. These climate models exaggerate the effects of human CO2 emissions into the atmosphere because few of the natural variables are considered. Natural systems are far more complex than computer models.

The setting up by the UN of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988 gave an opportunity to make global warming the main theme of environmental groups. "The IPCC process is related to environmental activism, politics and opportunism. It is unrelated to science. Current zeal around human-induced climate change is comparable to the certainty professed by Creationists or religious fundamentalists."

Ian Plimer is not some isolated gadfly. He is a prize-winning scientist and professor. The back cover of Heaven And Earth carries a glowing endorsement from the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, who now holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Numerous rigorous scientists have joined Plimer in dissenting from the prevailing orthodoxy.

This is important today because the EPA is taking the first step towards regulating carbon. Cap-and-trade will be the wild card in the upcoming tax increases. We have to pay off ten trillion dollars -- did anyone really think that would only involve the "rich"?

The folly is, they think this will be a huge cash cow. Hey, just take the money from the stupendous amount of energy consumed by industry; and as much as you can get from the general population's energy use. But this raid on our wealth ultimately has to be paid by us, the people. Our pockets will be empty whether Uncle Sam empties them directly, or indirectly, through an industrial intermediary. They're going to bleed the cash cow to death.

Excerpt from a review of Heaven And Earth: Global Warming - The Missing Science

Self-Help Book

Catch On Everywhere

The World!

Miscellany

A life long supporter of the labour party was lying on his death bed when he suddenly decided to join the Tory party.
“But why?” asked his puzzled friend, “You’re labour through and through… Why change now?”
The man learned forward and explained, “Well, I’d rather it was one of them that died and not one of us.”

Package Tossed Over White House Fence

The bomb handling robot sits idle while Secret Service agents
search frantically for a mug of hot water and a slice of lemon.

(clickabiggen)

A Drunk Anderson Cooper

(ran across this while looking for the video below this)

Tea-um-bagging, Not

I'd like to say that I've been busy checking out the local tea party but I never came close to having the time. For the last two days I've been taking care of our chubby pug, who has been having a diabetic crisis of some kind. Which crisis escalated to the point where all of last night was spent throwing up - her, not me, though several times I came close. Anyway, good news is that the vet is "much more optimistic" this afternoon than he was upon seeing her this morning. She'll be staying in the doggy hospital for a few days so I suppose I better think seriously about getting a second job, or robbing a bank.

Anyway, re the tea party thing, Newsbusters has a video of some particularly nasty liberal jibes from CNN:

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper followed his colleague David Shuster into the gutter on his Anderson Cooper 360 program on Tuesday in making a vulgar “tea-bagging” joke about Republicans/conservatives. After CNN’s senior political analyst David Gergen remarked that Republicans were “searching for their voice” after two electoral losses, Cooper quipped, “It’s hard to talk when you’re tea-bagging.”

(for those who don't know, you probably don't want to know what tea-bagging is - I would have been clueless if it hadn't been for a John Waters film, long ago)

Well, so it's good news I guess -- the "tea parties" have got them scared. They haven't yet found a way to spin it, so they're throwing everything in the book at the "problem".

One Obama spin: (roughly) "What are they talking about? I promised 95% of the country wouldn't pay higher taxes and I delivered on that promise."
But no, Mr. O, You delivered $13 (or $8) per week but on the back of that check is an IOU, that you signed our name to, for much much much more than the lousy face of the check.

I hope the liberals keep asking what the tea parties are about. Raise that question often enough and you run the risk of the general population getting curious, and finding the answer. I'll be ready to explain it to whoever asks.

Not now though. I need sleep.

Pirate Solution

Another: all you need is the headline:

Ron Paul's plan to fend off pirates

No, of course I didn't read the article. Because I don't think zombies and dragons will ever get along well enough to form an army.

Newton's First Law

found, found, and found

Well What Were You Doing There?

Atheist

Via Reddit, Proof that God-hater Sam Harris is a vampire:

Tic, Tic, Boom

Way to go America. We finally found a celebrity too weird for the free-murder rule to apply. Extra points Phil, for the "Barack Obama Rocks" button, but it was too little, too late. Also, you should have listened to your attorney and set up a reward for anyone finding "information concerning the murder of that chick I shot."

Quiz

Mental floss Quiz: Can you guess which are Ben & Jerry’s flavors, and which are Pottery Barn paint colors?

via

Can't Be Said Too Often

Meth changes things.

found

Baby Goes All Jean-Claude Van Damme

Remember Mortal Kombat?

My Work Here Is Done

"I'll just park it here."

Baconquest

Spring Ritual

What do football cleats, Peter Angelos, and a box full of Easter peeps have in common? I'd rather not go into it, beyond noting that Mr Angelos's sick spring voodoo hasn't ever helped the Orioles even the tiniest bit.

How can you sleep at night sir?

Distractions

Mark Steyn on Obama's rocky road to Utopia, well, not rocky, littered with "distractions", via NRO:

The Reuters headline put it this way: “Pirates Pose Annoying Distraction For Obama.”

So many distractions, aren’t there? Only a week ago, the North Korean missile test was an “annoying distraction” from Barack Obama’s call for a world without nuclear weapons and his pledge that America would lead the way in disarming. And only a couple of days earlier the president insisted Iraq was a “distraction” — from what, I forget: The cooing press coverage of Michelle’s wardrobe? No doubt when the Iranians nuke Israel, that, too, will be an unwelcome distraction from the administration’s plans for federally subsidized daycare, just as Pearl Harbor was an annoying distraction from the New Deal, and the First World War was an annoying distraction from the Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s dinner plans.....

Er, okay. So the North Korean test is a “distraction,” the Iranian nuclear program is a “distraction,” and the seizure of a U.S.-flagged vessel in international waters is a “distraction.” Maybe it would be easier just to have the official State Department maps reprinted with the Rest of the World relabeled “Distractions.” Oh, to be sure, you could still have occasional oases of presidential photo-opportunities — Buckingham Palace, that square in Prague — but with the land beyond the edge of the Queen’s gardens ominously marked “Here be distractions . . . ”

Me, I'm thinking this is just how the new president works. He's noted the pirates, put them on the list of things to bring up at the UN, and moved on to the important stuff, like how to make Americans use more alternative energy.


I probably should have made it: "There is no enemy so so mighty that he cannot be brought to his knees by a powerfully worded UN resolution. Now get out of my office."

***Update:
Which you've no doubt heard by now:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama twice authorized the military to rescue a U.S. captain held by Somali pirates and whose life appeared to be at risk.

Officials say Obama gave the OK on Friday and Saturday to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast. Officials say both times the Pentagon believed Phillips' life was at risk.

No word on why he had to give the order twice, nor did the article say if he added, "And I mean it this time." to Saturday's order. Still good news that he was able to make this decision.

Course, then he got it wrong, right after that:

Obama praised the captain for his bravery and courage. The president also said the United States needs help from other countries to deal with the threat of piracy and to hold pirates accountable.

No. The United States doesn't need help from other countries. Other countries need to do their share in solving this problem. The problem requires their efforts, not the United States.

So, good outcome all around. The Captain is free, the president acted unilaterally, and there was enough pow-pow to make other potential pirates think twice about getting into that line of work. (And with Obama at the helm, not Bush, the reporters don't have to spend the rest of the weekend trying to prove that the three dead pirates were just three guys who happened to be on the boat)

Classifieds

Funny/fake ads. You have to clickabiggen to read them,
but that's good, because they're (mildly) not all sfw.

via (often nsfw)

What Do They Eat?

Easter Eggs of course, but we've run out of those.
(photoshop- because I was getting bored)

Mindless Diversion

Mindless diversion is sometimes the way to go. Keeps me from worrying about my president flying off the handle and unilaterally requesting that the UN consider writing a strong-urging of some kind.



h/t: neatorama

Re: Taxes

found

Well This is Just Dandy

This settles it. Half of us are stupid:

Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

OK, even given that way too many of our teachers are closet socialists, those numbers are too high. I mean, look how well socialism worked in the USSR, Cuba, North Korea, and China. Heck, just look at Korea. Divide a country in half; make half of it communist, and half capitalist. See what you get? South Koreans enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world. Their economy is the fourth largest in Asia and 13th largest in the world. And in North Korea, people are starving.

Sure capitalism is hard. It's scary to think that you're on your own, that you have to use your brain and back to earn a living, and if something goes wrong, well you could end up homeless. Well duh. Yeah, life is hard. But since you're responsible for your own well being, you're 100% committed to doing well. You're 100% in favor of eating, and owning a nice TV, or a nice car. And that is infinitely better than living in a situation where everyone is responsible for your well being, and 0% are committed to it.

These poll results have to be due to ignorance. Let's hope our education doesn't ruin us.

***Related: Peter Kirsanow remarks on the antics of our elected useful idiots:

The awestruck members of the Congressional Black Caucus who lavished praise and gratitude upon Fidel Castro after meeting with the former dictator are either profoundly ignorant or indifferent to evil — perhaps both.

Soccer Showing Off

h/t Pat R, via

Last Words

Here's an interesting list of (geeky) famous last words. Favorite from the list:

Go away. I'm all right.
—H. G. Wells

But my favorite (not on the list) last words were those of Union General John Sedgewick, before being shot through the left eye and killed in a battle in Spotsylvania:

"What! what! men, dodging this way for single bullets! What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dis---"

There may be some question as to whether he finished that last word, but no matter; it should have been left unfinished. Like Al Gore, I'm not going to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Howdy Mam

found

Two Important Pictures

This one important because it illustrates that our women put far too much faith in us. Listen ladies; if your man says it's ok, he just wants a picture of you in front of the tornado, it'll be ok, just stand over there and smile -- get a second opinion.


And this picture is important because it helps push that image of a naked butt a little further down the page. Sheesh, I underestimated its impact; but when it's the first thing you see when opening the page, well, boom. (though a black censor-bar would have been a little over prudish)


Rock-out Spidey.


found

G20 Protest

A naked protester makes his point near the Bank of England in
London, on April 1, 2009, as photographers gather and an AFP
reporter laments that this was the largest magnifying glass she
could get on such short notice.

Cat Strikes Again

I was lucky enough to find the cat I used to mock the Iranian photoshop missile launch. Why? Well to mock Kim Jong-il's effort, of course:


I know, I know, Kim Jong-kook didn't photoshop his launch. But he is pretending that the rocket got its satellite into orbit; which doesn't appear to be the case. How do I know? Here's a clue:



Note: the technology is officially designated: "Mega-feline Boost Phase Missile Defense". And yes, the Obama administration has decided Central Europe can't have it.

Please Photojournalize My Anguish

also, the freelance dog dentist:


and



source photo

Hope and Progress and Vision and Hope

Yes we can:

BAGHDAD, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama, visiting U.S. troops in Iraq, told them on Tuesday that the next 18 months would be critical for their mission in the country.

"This is going to be a critical period, these next 18 months," Obama said, referring to the Aug 2010 deadline for the withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

"You will be critical in terms of us being able to make sure Iraq is stable, that it is not a safe haven for terrorists, and we can start bringing our folks home," Obama told troops at Camp Victory, the sprawling U.S. military base on the outskirts of Baghdad.

You see the change? You see it? Bush wanted to stay until Iraq was stable and not a haven for terrorists. But Obama knows it's more than that; he knows we must make sure Iraq is stable, and that it is not a safe haven for terrorists.

Change!

My Kind of Girl

Eat More Cow

fun

We're Doomed (again)

Again innumeracy:

I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr.President,
Patriotic retirement:
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force; pay them $1 million a piece severance with stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage- Housing Crisis fixed.

All this and it’s still cheaper than the “bailout”.

Thanks Bill H

No, all this and it's only four times the bailout. It's not surprising this got published in the business section of St. Petersburg Times Newspaper. What's bad, is that 9 out of 10 people skim the article and accept the math.

Unrelated, I lost track of where I found this one, but it seems like good advice:

Inventor Dentist

Happily Ever After

via

MacGyver

I think we all know: replace the roll utilizing the over-and-out method.

via

The Ultimate Rejection Letter

The Ultimate Rejection Letter

Herbert A. Millington
Chair - Search Committee
412A Clarkson Hall, Whitson University
College Hill, MA 34109

Dear Professor Millington,

Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I
regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me
an assistant professor position in your department.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually
large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field
of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite Whitson's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in
rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at
this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor
in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely,
Chris L. Jensen

via

What a Great Idea

Or, until the fire burns through the wrist.

I post this not because it's weird, and it is; but because I remember seeing this picture when I was just a kid. Odd, it took me no time at all to imagine the horror of rushing to the alarm box, saving the day, then burning to death because of it.

***Update: Forgot to credit it to Modern Mechanix. (where you also can find this article on global warming from..... 1953) The culprit? Why, the A bomb, of course. But this climatologist sets the record straight. Seems in 1953 scientists knew we were coming out of an ice age. Somehow that knowledge was lost.

What's old is new again:

Our winters are milder and we are apt to overlook a comfortably warm winter season. But let there be a “day of the great blizzard” and everybody will remember it. Unpleasant weather leaves the greatest impression. Let winds and floods and storms increase and we immediately ask for a Congressional investigation to probe the possible effects of atomic radiation on weather.

If you are still upset, however, and feel you must worry about the distant future of mankind, forget the weather effects of atomic bombs and wonder what would happen if the ice reservoirs of Greenland and all the polar regions let go in one fast melting spree. The level of our oceans would rise about 200 feet. All our coastal cities would be wiped out and civilization would have to retreat to the highlands. As a matter of fact the polar icecaps are already receding at the rate of some 500 feet a year, causing climatic changes and raising the level of the sea about an inch during the last century. This is a sign of things to come.

Also Fun

also fun is the completely unnecessary, "per se"

xkcd

Their Mothers Must be So Proud

Arson is stupid. Making videos of your arson, and putting them on Youtube is a special kind of stupid:

WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Police in Maine say seven teens and young adults have been arrested after a video was posted on YouTube that showed them setting off Molotov cocktails inside a vacated building and then rolled credits naming those involved.

We're Adrift

Yesterday, Barack Obama made his first trip as president to England.

Here is my question: if the President is in England, who’s running General Motors?
- Jay Leno

Awe

some

via

Cop Fail

In a small town in Texas, the local madam operated a telephone service. The police finally arrested her and seized her big black book in which her talent was listed. Each officer on the force was assigned a group of the names in it and told to check them out. After a week, the Chief called a meeting to get their reports.

When it became the turn of Constable Ralph to tell what he had found, he said, "I'm sorry, Chief, but I think I should disqualify myself. One of the ladies on whom I called is an eighty-four-year-old woman. She is so charming that I have to tell you that I have fallen in love with her."

"Holy cow!" exclaimed the Chief. "I'm sure surprised at you, Ralph. You've been a policeman almost all your life -- and here you are, falling for the oldest trick in the book!"

I Called Them

Well, I tried to call them. I got a butcher shop in New Jersey.

found

Michelle Obama Meeting the Queen

I, for one, am glad to see the first lady making new friends.

Cat Head From Outer Space

Knock It Off Obama Bashers

The buzz is all over the interwebs about our president bowing down to King Abdullah. Well you guys just knock off the criticism, mm-kay? Our president was just using the power of the backsheesh ipod to buy us some sweet sweet oil. Do you have any idea what an ipod full of Obama speeches is worth? Well alright then.

Smoker's Regret

I guess tobacco smokers who voted for Obama could come to regret it. First a huge tax hike on tobacco products; now this:

The House today approved a bill that would for the first time give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), passed by a 298-112 vote, culminating a nearly decade-long battle by anti-smoking advocates to grant the FDA regulatory power over the industry.

They'll start out with small demands, sure: no fruit flavors, no advertising on t-shirts, etc. But, face it, you may as well just quit now because the screws will be turned until you do. Rob Reiner will most likely be dead within the week, due to celebratory cupcakes.

found photo

Fish Oil Could Curb Cow Flatulence

From Live Science:

Specifically, including 2 percent fish oil in the diet of cattle reduces flatulence, apparently due to the omega 3 fatty acids in the oil. The study was a small one, however. The technique cut methane output of three cows by 21 percent, said Lorraine Lillis of the University College Dublin.

"The fish oil affects the methane-producing bacteria in the rumen part of the cow's gut, leading to reduced emissions," Lillis said. "Understanding which microbial species are particularly influenced by changes in diet and relating them to methane production could bring about a more targeted approach to reducing methane emissions in animals."

Come on people. A 21% reduction? That's not nearly enough. The only way you're going to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of cows is to reduce the number of cows. And the only way to reduce the number of cows is to eat more of them. Now get off your butts and get down to that grocery store.

Images

via

Protest

I'll bet most of the Anarchists in the streets of London right now have flat screen TV's at home. But be that as it may, guys, hey, don't go straight from grimace to snivel when you get tapped with a police baton. I can stomach the raised fist, but why do you all go all poor-me when the police push back?

I gave this one earrings; just because I could. (and to reinforce proper toilet roll installation)

Press Conference

Cop sets woman on fire, arrests her for being on fire.

Candidate for Obama's civilian security force? possibly:

“I saw someone breaking the law so I arrested them.”

That’s the way Green County Sheriff’s deputy Marcus Horna describes it. The incident he refers to happened last wednesday on highway 311 near the Ghor rd. intersection. Janice Behr was pulled on the shoulder because her tire blew out. Behr called 911 for assistance and Deputy Horna responded to the call.

As he approached the vehicle, Deputy Horna was caught on dashcam footage violating a department policy. Footage shows him walk out of his car with a cigarette clearly dangling from his left hand. Behr, who works for a BP station, had just delivered some plastic cans of gasoline to a local hardware store because of a special trade arrangement the two businesses share. Unknown to Behr, some gas had splashed out onto her back seat. Dashcam footage then shows Deputy Horna, with total disregard for Behr’s vehicle, flick his cigarette into the back seat of her car.

“It seemed managable and this is my only car,” is the excuse Behr offers for trying to put the fire out instead of leaving the car. Footage shows her lean into the back seat and begin smacking at the flames while Deputy Horna looks on. After some seconds, flames can be seen moving to the front seat, where Behr’s right arm catches fire. She then runs out of the vehicle in a panic, waving her arm around like something out of a movie.

But what happens next is the most surprising. Footage shows Deputy Horna rush over to Behr, where he grabs her by the neck and throws her to the ground. Behr believed that Horna was trying to put her out, which he did, but only because he was handcuffing her. Incredibly, Behr can be heard on camera wailing in agonizing pain while Horna drags her up by the very arm that was burning and pulls her back to his patrol car.

When asked to defend his actions Deputy Horna repeated his earlier statement, “I saw someone breaking the law so I arrested them.” When pressed for further comment he added, “The woman leaped out the car with her arm on fire and was whirling about like a maniac so I cuffed her and charged her. It is against the law to do that, you can’t run around with your arm in flames, so I charged her.”

And what was the charge?

“Illegal use of a firearm,” Horna says.

Deputy Horna is currently on paid administrative leave, but is expected to return this month because he is the only person with a key to the garage.

Whoops

Blind Date Gone Wrong

"Obviously I didn't anticipate what you'd be wearing. But if
you're going to complain all evening, I'll go home and change."