Monday, August 31, 2009

Precautions Taken


Workers clear the ducks from a nearby reflection pool in preparation
for the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCC) conference in Copenhagen. "We can scare them off with
noise makers, but we find that using the floating giant heads keeps
them from coming back."


Fisking the Deceptive Nonsense




h/t Iain Murray, NRO

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Awwww...




have a shot of insulin standing by

Health care reform used as NY crime ploy


Silly criminals. If they'd waited for Obamacare, and gotten government ID's first, they would have been paid for this:

NEW YORK — Police say attackers used health care reform as a ruse to approach their victims and then shot two and pistol-whipped another in a Long Island home...

...Police say the three told the home's residents they were selling insurance, referring to President Barack Obama's push to overhaul America's health care system. Police say the suspects then forced their way in, demanded money and attacked the victims.


The Andy Rooney Game


The Andy Rooney Game: You remove everything except the first and last sentences of Andy's 60-Minutes segments:





(many more at the link)

Wrath of a Child


(clickabiggen)


found

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Injustice



The temptation was to just have Eric Holder stabbing Liberty in the back. But really, we know who decided to go after our own interrogators, don't we? And we know who decided that threatening voters with clubs was ok. Change!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Google Autocomplete



The Lumberkid found this one. Amazing, and I have to suspect that if there's a book called How to Predict the Decline of Civilizations Using Google Autocomplete, this is in there somewhere.

Please Help



found

Step Away From the Shirt, Sir



(enhuginate with clickation)

Mugshots, via the Smoking Gun

Do Any Democrats Even Notice the Hypocrisy?


Andy McCarthy writes:

Here's the bottom line: If you're a CIA interrogator who used harsh interrogation techniques authorized by the Bush administration to obtain life-saving intelligence from terrorists, and professional line prosecutors — after laboriously scrutinizing your conduct — decided there was no criminality, Attorney General Eric will unleash a new prosecutor to investigate the case yet again, seven years after the fact.

But if you're a high-profile Democrat pol who helped Barack Obama get elected, the Holder Justice Department's political appointees will reach out from Washington to kill a corruption investigation begun only last year by professional line prosecutors and a grand jury in New Mexico.

He didn't mention the other Justice Department protected group: Black Panther thugs who brandish clubs outside polling places. So far, criticizing this deeply flawed, partisan, Justice Department isn't a prosecutable offense. So far.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

What It's Like at My House




NEA Fresh Out of Crucifixes


Know what was creepy about the old CCCP posters? It wasn't the design, some of them were quite good, it was the fact that the government sanctioned them. I've often wondered, when finding one I really like: what did the artist feel about his work? Were these artists comitted communists? Or were they workmen, just putting food on the table? It's probably too late to find out.



No matter, soon we'll have our own State Artists to ask.

On Thursday August 6th, [Patrick Courrielche ] was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to attend a conference call scheduled for Monday August 10th hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The call would include “a group of artists, producers, promoters, organizers, influencers, marketers, taste-makers, leaders or just plain cool people to join together and work together to promote a more civically engaged America and celebrate how the arts can be used for a positive change!”

Never mind that artists who had stocked up on urine, mason jars, and crucifixes now have to change their medium in order to participate in NEA grants. What tics me off is the fact that I'm now going to be "persuaded" with my own tax dollars.
We were encouraged to bring the same sense of enthusiasm to these “focus areas” as we had brought to Obama’s presidential campaign, and we were encouraged to create art and art initiatives that brought awareness to these issues. Throughout the conversation, we were reminded of our ability as artists and art professionals to “shape the lives” of those around us. The now famous Obama “Hope” poster, created by artist Shepard Fairey and promoted by many of those on the phone call, and will.i.am’s “Yes We Can” song and music video were presented as shining examples of our group’s clear role in the election.

I'd say, "Just shoot me now," but I'm not sure our current Overlords wouldn't oblige. They could call it performance art. See? We shot him, get it?

Schooldays Again


WAVE105:



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Forty Seven Million


The Forty Seven Million uninsured:



Distraction


The magician wants you to focus on waterboarding now so he can load the healthcare into the hat with his other hand.


Andy McCarthy:

Investigations are about satisfying daunting legal standards, not mollifying an administration’s political base. Here, there is not just reasonable doubt that the interrogators engaged in imminent threats, intended to commit psychological torture, and caused prolonged, severe mental damage to the terrorist detainees. There is virtual certainty that they did not. Clearly, that is why the professional prosecutors who probed these cases over the last several years opted not to bring charges.

When Al Gore clearly violated the law, Eric Holder found no controlling legal authority and shut down the case. Now, when the controlling legal authority clearly shows no violation of law, Holder has unleashed the prosecutors to go after the nation’s most crucial line of defense against terror. That is shameful.


Best Death Scene Ever





Blame the Victim


Well, blame the victim when you catch him doing self-hammerfication anyway.


This seems to be a recurring theme:

One of two people suspected of shattering 11 windows Tuesday morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters has an arrest record and a history of helping a Democratic political candidate, public records show.

Police said that about 2:20 a.m., 24-year-old Maurice Schwenkler, now in custody, and an at-large accomplice took a hammer to the picture windows displaying posters touting President Barack Obama and his health care reform efforts.

Early Tuesday, Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak said the damage to her building in Denver's art district was a consequence of "an effort on the other side to stir up hate." She tempered her statement after Schwenkler's political history was revealed.

"What I've been saying is there is a lot of rhetoric out there from both sides of the spectrum," Waak said. "That's what's been disturbing to me. People are saying a lot of things not appropriate for civil discourse."

For weeks, people on both sides of the health care debate have rallied across the country.

I'm not surprised that liberal kids with hammers expected to be able to blame Republicans for their carnage. We've recently had Lyndon LaRouche-ians lumped in with Tea Party activists, even though Lyndon LaRouche ran for the Democrat presidential nomination seven times. And we've seen black men with guns described as angry armed white people. Of course the liberal kid with a hammer thought he could blame Newt Gingrich for his crime.

Cash for Cars



I heard today that the cash part of the cash for clunkers program may be taxable. (man, does it never end?) Anyway, I was in the parts store when I heard this and the guy behind the counter said his son had used the program. Out of five or six hammer slingers standing around, all of us muttered under our breath about how stupid the program was, and all of us congratulated the parts-man on his son's good fortune.

See, here's the thing about wasteful government attempts to shape our behavior -- it's wasteful, and unfair because not everyone can participate in it, but if you can take advantage of it, shoot, by all means do. It's going to be your money financing the program, you may as well take advantage when you can.

I don't know how the program will affect the used car market or repair shops. I just know that it's not right to intentionally destroy perfectly good machinery. Really, I cringe.

and completely unrelated...

I apologize for the flashing Amazon ad that has been on the sidebar for the last couple of months. It was down far enough that I never much noticed it. But today, while looking at the Shaq picture, there it was.... irritating as could be.

So I stuck a printer ad in there instead. Not so exciting, but the model I've had for the last 4 or 5 years has been great. It only prints black and white but it's laser so I don't go broke buying ink and it's kept up with both my business and a high school student. Buy two.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Fidel, Still Pretending Not to be Dead Yet



Daylife had the photo I was looking for illustrating Disney Animatronics' continued cooperation with the Cuban government. Here "Fidel Castro" shakes hands with a Venezuelan student.

But while I was looking I came across another photo that sums up the regime perfectly. Answer me this Michael Moore: If the Cuban system is so sweet, why do the people have to make do with the same cars that were in the country when Castro and the murderer Ché took over? Why haven't these years and years of socialism led to prosperity?



Ducks Are Infiltrating



h/t: OMMAG

Monday, August 24, 2009

And They Want to Run It All


It'd be easy to turn this story into a condemnation of the VA:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - At least 1,200 veterans across the country have been mistakenly told by the Veterans Administration that they suffer from a fatal neurological disease.

One of the leaders of a Gulf War veterans group says panicked veterans from Alabama, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming have contacted the group about the error.

Denise Nichols, the vice president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, says the VA is blaming a coding error for the mistake.

Letters dated Aug. 12 were intended to notify veterans who have Lou Gehrig's disease of disability benefits available to them.

Calls to the VA were not immediately returned Monday.

Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS, is a rapidly progressive disease that attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles.

Easy to condemn, but probably not accurate. The VA is mostly made up of dedicated professionals who give 100% to their job. It's the bureaucracy within the VA that is the problem. The bureaucracy, and a "coding error" caused this problem. And these people want more computerization of records. Without first seeing if computerization of medical records improves, or hurts, the delivery of care.

Now what I have to wonder: Was the computer system at the VA on the ball enough to get copies of the official government how-to-die book out to all these veterans before the error was caught? And has every single man been contacted and informed of the error?

Giant Panda


Technically, it's Ailuropoda melanoleuca, (literally meaning
"cat-foot black-and-white") but Shaq calls his "lunch".


Another Wrong Answer Plus Headache Pending





Emperor Tamarin


Yahoo tries its hand at cute overload:



So I search out Emperor Tamarin Monkeys and find... you can't lose the cute game with these guys. Even looking at the old ones requires a hefty dose of insulin:



Sunday, August 23, 2009

Friday, August 21, 2009

Friends for Now



But just wait till the owl gets a little peckish.

All wee-weed up


Michelle Malkin asks: whaaaat?

“There’s something about August going into September where everyone in Washington gets all ‘wee-weed’ up,” the president said.

I've got a hunch what it means, though I could be wrong:

(clickabiggen)


Thursday, August 20, 2009

I Forget


Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) CEO Bruce
Marks (L)
talks to Yadira Villasmil in Atlanta, Georgia, August 11, 2009.
Asked afterward,
he confessed to not being entirely sure what they were
talking about, "I think we
talked about mortgages, but to tell you the
truth, I'm not sure. She may have
sold me a car for all I know."


The Power of the Pan Flute


By the second jazz riff, he knew he had them. Once again, the
Pan flute had turned a hostile crowd into fervent supporters.


Crazy, but thats how it goes


The Sun goes all:

JAILED music legend Phil Spector has told of his terror at being held in a "snake pit" prison with crazed killers...

...In rambling letters to a pal, Spector, serving life for murdering a B-list actress, moaned: "Imagine sending me to the same prison - shows how low they can go.

And I'm all: Well duh. You're a crazed killer; who else they going to lock you up with?

I mean really. How do we know Charles Manson isn't writing someone: "Man, you wouldn't believe who they've got me locked up with -- Phil Spector! That dude's a crazed killer."

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Death Counselors


If anyone had any real doubt about the purpose of the (now dropped) end-of-life counselors in the Democrats' health care proposal, all you have to do is look at what the government has already done in a pamphlet prepared for VA patients:

....There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as "I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family."

This is just sad; promoting the active or passive ending of life for financial reasons. Using guilt to do it is just the icing.

h/t:NRO

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Splitter II




Starts easy, gets addicting.

Bandwagon




jumped upon

but it gets worse



Joker squirrel and his dog




'n Joker and his squirrel



and am I mistaken, or does Arlen Specter look just a tad better as a Joker?
(btw -- I did Nancy Pelosi but somehow I lost track and can't tell which is the original and which is the Joker-Nancy)


What, Nick? You thought I'd forget?

by request:



actually, it was requested this one not be done:



and Rhambo is just too easy:


"No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die."


Turbo Power




via

What Are We Doing Here?


"What do you mean? I thought this was your idea."


Panels of Death


Mark Steyn points out a problem with panels, death, or other named:

...But I'm also with Mrs Palin on the substance. NR's editorial defines "death panel" too narrowly. What matters is the concept of a government "panel". Right now, if I want a hip replacement, it's between me and my doctor; the government does not have a seat at the table. The minute it does, my hip's needs are subordinate to national hip policy, which in turn is subordinate to macro budgetary considerations. For example:
Health trusts in Suffolk were among the first to announce that obese people would be denied hip and knee replacements on the NHS.

The ruling was part of an attempt to save money locally.

The operative word here is "ruling". You know, like judges. You're accepting that the state has jurisdiction over your hip, and your knee, and your prostate and everything else. And once you accept that proposition the fellows who get to make the "ruling" are, ultimately, a death panel. Usually, they call it something nicer - literally, like Britain's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

And when the government rules, who you going to sue for coverage? As it stands now, private insurers can be sued if they deny a treatment that should be covered. You think you'll be able to fight Uncle Sam if he decides that there isn't enough money to cover treatment for your smoking related disease?

Monday, August 17, 2009

XKCD har


(clickabiggen)


xkcd

And the Answer Is


Funny answers found on exams. Some of these I hadn't seen before:






Funds Needed




via

White Flag


Is the administration abandoning public option? Oh I hope so. Michelle Malkin isn't so sure.

Even if they have abandoned the idea for now, I think extreme vigilance is called for.

Course, I advise extreme vigilance concerning almost everything, even changes to the breakfast menu at McDonalds

Saturday, August 15, 2009

OPG - Other People's Grandmas


Who would have thought -- the President's, typical white woman, grandma has become a prop for his government health care plan:

"I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it's like to watch somebody you love, who's aging, deteriorate and have to struggle with that," an impassioned Obama told a crowd as he spoke of Madelyn Payne Dunham. He took issue with "the notion that somehow I ran for public office or members of Congress are in this so they can go around pulling the plug on grandma."

See how he does that? "I lost the woman who raised me, my loving grandma, you think I want government to pull the plug on grandmas?" But losing your grandma last year, you should know: Did you feel the need of a government sponsored adviser? Did your grandma's doctors refuse to answer your questions? Was there an information vacuum?

The, now dropped, end of life counseling program was supposed to save money. There was no way to even pay for itself if it didn't talk a fair number of old people into foregoing pacemakers in favor of the (not quite as effective) pain pill option.

Anyway Barrack, think back. Where were you when your grandma died? If I remember correctly, it was the end of the campaign and you couldn't come to her when she was dying. But if you were involved with the decisions in those last days, you know that the information was there, options were discussed, choices were made. The same way it happens all across this country when our parents and grandparents die. We make our terribly tough choices just fine without government advisers or the papers they coerced grandma into signing.

Not That It Warms Anything



I know, you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. Perhaps I should have made it "Where from comes that CO2". Perhaps not. (clickabiggen)

Neat Freaks


Imagine growing up and never even knowing what a crumb looks like.

via

Man Enough to Admit When I'm Wrong



OK, it seems I was wrong. Swastikas and Nazi symbolism have been spotted at protests.

Friday, August 14, 2009

AP Apologists


Many of the captions on the Manson Family Slide Show have this appended:

"Forty years ago, Manson 'family' members were kids. Vulnerable, alienated, running away from a world wracked by war and rebellion. They turned to a cult leader for love and wound up tied to a web of unimaginable evil, and now, on the brink of old age, they are the haunted."

What? Give me a break. What saved the other people who knew Charles Manson and his followers? Normal people looked at Manson and decided to keep their distance. The ones who embraced him weren't victims; the people they killed were victims. The followers were evil.

This is a victim.


Presidential Frustration



Rahm Emanuel's greatest fear was realized when the president returned to his old Chicago habit of strangling Native Americans to vent his frustration.

via

Tax Code


Taxes are complicated…

So, tell them in terms they might understand, like beer drinking.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ’Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine
sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may
not show up anymore.

In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

via

May as Well Ask for the Important Stuff




found

Blurt of Honesty


Jonathan Capehart of the WaPo in an unguarded moment:



At least Chris Matthews is up front about his oh-when-will-he-kiss-me adulation.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Amputations Aren't Cheap


Some will cost you an arm and a leg. But the doctor doesn't usually get over $1600.00.



If this is his grasp of the situation, is he the guy we want in charge?

I'm a Doctor.... Not!


You see it on the internet all the time. In the middle of some heated debate you'll get: "Well, I just happen to be a zoo nutritionist and I can assure you that Crazysam1972 is right about panda droppings.." Course, often you find that the "nutritionist" and Crazysam1972 are one and the same.

But it's less common to catch impostors in real life. Cool then, that some industrious people dug a little and got the truth about this "doctor":



Turns out "Dr." Roxana Mayer isn't a doctor. But she is an Obama campaign worker. And she was sitting with Maria Isabel, the famous (around here) Ché flag lady.


So when this pair tells you that Crazysam1972 can run your health care, consider the source.

Saints Preserve Us


From Henry Payne's Sketchbook:

..in an interview with the Detroit News Monday, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) - recently appointed to the Senate Energy Committee - made clear that fighting the climate crisis is her top priority.

"Climate change is very real," she confessed as she embraced cap and trade's massive tax increase on Michigan industry - at the same time claiming, against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in manufacturing costs or energy prices. "Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes."

And there are sea monsters in Lake Michigan. I can feel them when I'm boating.

With Senate Energy Committee Members this uninformed, do we really stand a chance? Even if it's not your imagination, Debbie, even if you are flying through 20% or 80% or 100% more storms, that is weather. And if you don't understand the difference between weather and climate, you're out of your depth on the Energy Committee.

Be thankful for this huge wall of debt that is falling on us. It may save us from the next, and the next, monstrous expenditure. Obviously, if left unchecked, our insect overlords will keep piling on the solutions until we've been saved to death.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Correcting the SecGen


Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Incheon goes all:

"We have just four months. Four months to secure the future of our planet."

But me, I'm:
Don't you mean?: "We have just four months, again. Four months to secure the future of our planet, again."


More than a Hint of Shenanigan


There's no doubt a swastika was painted. There's a picture of it with the story. But who painted it?

WASHINGTON – A swastika was found Tuesday painted on a sign outside Rep. David Scott's district office, an act the Georgia Democrat said reflects an increasingly hateful and racist debate over health care and should serve as a reminder for people to tone down their rhetoric.

I guess you'd have to ask: who'd benefit from it?
"We have got to make sure that the symbol of the swastika does not win, that the racial hatred that's bubbling up does not win this debate," Scott said in a telephone interview. "There's so much hatred out there for President (Barack) Obama."

Yeah, what we've got to do is pass Obamacare, just to show those haters they can't get away with this.

Could it possibly be a Aryan Nation type? Sure, possibly, but I suspect it was a leftist, trying to add substance to Nancy Pelosi's fantasy that she's seen swastikas at town hall meetings. Does anyone know where Nancy and her staff were Monday night?

And Deliver Us from Evil




Not much to add:

bio-accessories by australian designers ben landau and brittany veitch are a series of wearable couture pieces which mask the unpleasant sights, sounds and scents of a city in an attempt to bring some of the natural world back into civil living.

each piece of bio-accessories incorporates a living organism to accompany the wearer throughout their day, creating a symbiotic relationship.

See? You see what drug use gets you? Step away from the glue gun, hippies.



fighting101s.jpg