Friday, February 29, 2008

Obama


I'm as tempted as anyone to use Barack Hussein Obama's middle name if it would help defeat him. But so what if his name is Barack Hussein Obama? I'm sure their are many non-insane dictator Husseins in the world. So I say Barack Hussein Obama is right to get upset when people call him Barack Hussein Obama. It probably also upsets Michelle, the lovely wife of Barack Hussein Obama.

So let's lay off using Barack Hussein Obama's middle name against him. It probably isn't effective anyway. And remember how mad we got at the Democrats for making an issue of Warren Gamaliel Harding's middle name. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Angelina Jolie Gets It


From the almost useless Washington Post:

My visit left me even more deeply convinced that we not only have a moral obligation to help displaced Iraqi families, but also a serious, long-term, national security interest in ending this crisis.

Today's humanitarian crisis in Iraq -- and the potential consequences for our national security -- are great. Can the United States afford to gamble that 4 million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of Middle East, won't explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder?

What we cannot afford, in my view, is to squander the progress that has been made.
Now, ask Sean Penn if Angelina Jolie is a war monger.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

PETA Protests

Did you see there was another PETA skin protest in Sydney? I have no clue what it was about but, hey, who cares. The important thing is that these dedicated protesters cared enough to show up and present their case. If this sort of thing happened more often, maybe we could end the barbaric practice of whatever the heck they were protesting about.

The Results Are In

Heard about the delta-T? That's nerd talk for: change in temperature. And, January 2008 capped a 12 month period of global temperature drops on all of the major well respected indicators.

So if DLGHUWD-GW* is happening, and CO2 is up, then why are global temperatures going down?


According to Al Gore, there can be only one explanation: Global Warming has broken all the thermometers. "We've really done it now," he said, "We can no longer tell how bad it is. I hope those carbon burning Republicans are happy now. You've killed us, George Bush, thanks a lot!"

*DLGHUWD-GW = Dear Lord God Help Us, We're Dead - Global Warming

Canadians Get the Real Story

At least the Senator is giving someone the real story:

Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources.

The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.

But Tuesday night in Ohio, where NAFTA is blamed for massive job losses, Obama said he would tell Canada and Mexico "that we will opt out unless we renegotiate the core labour and environmental standards."

Late Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Obama campaign said the staff member's warning to Wilson sounded implausible, but did not deny that contact had been made.

The only quarrel I have with the article was the use of "but" at the beginning of the third paragraph. "But" makes it sound like Obama's criticism went outside the lines. Seems to me that the criticism of NAFTA is in keeping with the plan. Maybe it would be easier to keep track of the candidate's lies if he gave a big theatrical wink (nudge-nudge) when he was using alternate-truths.

h/t: the amazing James Taranto.

Iran the Superpower



It's silly:

"Everybody has understood that Iran is the number one power in the world," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to families who lost loved ones in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Well, especially silly to bring it up at a remembrance of the Iran-Iraq war. That was a bloody stalemate against a country that US forces ran down in record time.

My point isn't that US forces are intimidating and powerful, although they are. It's just odd that Ahmadinejad picked this time to flex Iranian muscle - when remembering a war that was hardly a Iran's brightest moment.

Power Freak?


Keith Richards (inset) seems to be a bit miffed at Mick Jagger:

He also said: "Mick's a maniac. He can't get up in the morning without knowing immediately who he's going to call.

"Meanwhile, I just go 'Thank God I'm awake' and wait for three or four hours before I do anything. He is a power freak and there's nothing we can do about it. I don't want to do anything about it. Let him bugger about. It doesn't make any difference to what we do."


Keith, you're saying the wrong morning prayer. You should wake up and say 'Thank God I'm alive.'

NYT Approval Ratings


This is good to see. Maybe everyone is starting to catch on:

Just 24% of American voters have a favorable opinion of the New York Times. Forty-four percent (44%) have an unfavorable opinion and 31% are not sure. The paper’s ratings are much like a candidate’s and divide sharply along partisan and ideological lines....

Of those who followed the story, 66% believe it was an attempt by the paper to hurt the McCain campaign. Just 22% believe the Times was simply reporting the news. Republicans, by an 87% to 9% margin, believe the paper was trying to hurt McCain’s chances of winning the White House. Democrats are evenly divided.

Still, at 24%, that's one in four people still has a favorable opinion of the NYT. Us in the other-three group will have to keep an eye on those guys.



h/t: NewsBusters

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Finally I'll Feel Safe on the Roads



New Auto Security System Will Not Allow Car To Start If Driver Is Nick Nolte

WFB RIP



See there? You close Starbucks for three hours, and bad things happen.

Sadly, William F Buckley has passed away. He was the conservative movement for many years. Founder of National Review, and host of Firing Line, and founder of Young Americans for Freedom, he was the undisputed standard bearer of American conservatism. Plus, bonus, he was an easy guy to like. I remember as a young, liberal, college student, I would watch him debate Gore Vidal with a dictionary at my side; having to look up the bons and the mots, and usually concluding that WFB was the cleverer of the two. Odd, I really liked the guy, even though he represented everything I opposed.

Well, he'll be missed. But he had a huge life, so that's good.

Know what? I'm not even going to peek at the left-hand side of the WWW, though I know that right now Arianna Huffington has got both delete buttons out and is clicking like crazy, trying to shield her minions and thugs, who like to show the depths of their nastiness at times like these.

By Request




But I have to stress: I don't approve of judging the man based on how he chooses to dress. I think he should be judged on being a corrupt politician who uses his elected office to game the electoral process.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Obama Doesn't Play Fair


You may not hear much about it on the news but Barrack Obama is using his position as Senator to paralyze the FEC in an election year. In his election year:

The FEC dispute centers on Hans von Spakovsky, a Bush appointee whose two-year recess term ended in December and who has been renominated. Before coming to the FEC, Mr. von Spakovsky was a lawyer in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, where he supported voter-ID laws that Democrats claim will harm black voters but have been vindicated in court. Mr. von Spakovsky's nomination was approved by the Rules Committee in September, but then Mr. Obama intervened with a "hold." Other Democrats have since joined him.
Why would Obama do this? Personal gain seems to be at the heart of it:

The Illinois Senator is blocking confirmation of one of President Bush's appointees to the FEC, which administers election laws. This has left the agency two commissioners short of the quorum it needs to make decisions -- with the potential for direct harm to Mr. McCain's campaign. As we've been writing, the Arizona Senator took out a controversial $1 million loan that FEC Chairman David Mason has said might lock him into the public finance system for the primary season. Mr. McCain doesn't want to do that because he'd have to abide by spending limits that would reduce his campaigning this spring and summer. Mr. Mason says the FEC needs to rule on the matter, but without a quorum Mr. McCain is left hanging.
Nobody in the MSM is going to confront him on this; heck, most of them are turning into Obama cheerleaders. So I'll ask: Could you trust a man to be president who uses an important government agency, the FEC, for personal advancement?

Atheist Getting Testy





Pat Condell is his name, and he does something most atheists don't. He includes Islam in his disdain; or, radical Islam at least. I suppose he'll be Salman Rushdie'd soon.

That's a thought though. Why do people who get incensed at having to look at a Nativity Scene have nothing much to say about attempts to institute Sharia law in otherwise civilized countries? "I want trauma counseling, there was a manger, sob, and a baby Jesus, and, sniffle, everything! Sharia what?"

Course, I ask the question already knowing the answer. You can get away with a crucifix in a jar of urine because Christians are supposed to forgive you. A Koran in a jar of urine might get your head separated from your shoulders. Taunting Christians is like playing the ass in front those Buckingham Palace Royal Guards, you can get away with it so you do it. At least Pat Condell provokes in all directions.

All's Well That Ends Well



Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Monday, February 25, 2008

Let the Man Dress as He Pleases



I say we don't judge a man by his clothes, or by the color of his skin. I say we judge him by how he comports himself when playing Dungeons and Dragons. "Vote for me America, I'm a Fire Dwarf from the Mage class, and I'm pretty sure Hillary doesn't even play."

(I know less than nothing about Dungeons and Dragons BTW)

Obama's Clothing Flap



(√) Nothing
(√) Much ado


Tell Um Louis

It appears that there is a genocidal plan against Black people.
-Louis Farrakhan
I was never named in the early years as having anything to do with the assassination of Malcolm.
-Louis Farrakhan

They call them terrorists, I call them freedom fighters.
-Louis Farrakhan

The Jews don't like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man.
-Louis Farrakhan

"This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed........A black man with a white mother became a savior to us.... A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."
-Louis Farrakhan
I'm sure the thank-you note is in the mail.

Ouch Eye



Sorry, the image was begging for it.


Quiet Desperation





Drunken Rage



This was done quick but it was getting late and I didn't notice that I was giving him six fingers. Rage on boy.


h/t: Dallas

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Eco War


Eco-weenies battle it out in California:

Wrangling Californian neighbours have recently concluded a bitter six-year legal battle, as a judge ordered a treehugging couple's lovingly-tended redwoods cut down in order to prevent them shading solar panels installed by the man next door.

Prius driver Richard Treanor, owner of the proscribed foliage, said the decision wasn't ecologically sound. The lost redwoods, he argued, had been a carbon sink, a wildlife habitat and had served to cool the air around them. He and his wife Carolyn Bissett weren't against solar power, he said, "but we think there's a rational way to implement it."

His neighbour Mark Vargas, whose $70,000 solar panels now operate at full efficiency, said that the tree-loving duo had been selfishly snaffling his sunlight.

"I think it's unfair that a neighbor can take away this source of energy from another neighbor," he told AP. Vargas added that it would take acres of trees to match his rooftop and back-garden solar panels in terms of carbon reductions. He also considered that he had out-greened Treanor and Bissett's low-emissions Prius hybrid, having purchased a plug-in electric car.

After years of legal scuffling, a California judge ruled that Treanor and Bissett had violated the state's Solar Shade Control Act, which says residents have to keep their plants from shading more than ten per cent of a neighbour's solar panels between the hours of 10am and 2pm. The couple are the first to be convicted under the 30-year-old law.

Trees already in place when solar panels are set up don't have to be cut down, but new growth causing shading is unlawful once the panels are in place. It seems that two of Treanor and Bissett's redwoods grew in an illegal fashion and had to be chopped down.

That's priceless, the guy with the all electric car looking down on his neighbors because they drive a hybrid. That's what happens when you live a holier than thou existence; there's always someone willing to go the extra holy, with a smidgen more thou.

It would be great if NPT could do a documentary on this tiff as it slowly grows into
the inevitable Green Hatfield-McCoy feud. (I can see them battling across the hedges with their ergonomic gardening tools because of concerns over the CO2 released by gunpowder)

"Damn your eyes Treanor, I know you've been stealing from my compost pile!"
"Bullcrap Vargas! I was just checking to be sure it didn't contain any recyclable plastics!"
"And don't think you can get away with paper napkins. I've been checking your trash, and keeping a log, and I plan to bring up your wasteful habits at the next city council meeting!"
"You stinking consumer! Go to Detroit! Republican!"
"I'll have you know I have (some) Native American blood, you Rush Listener!!!"
"Native American my butt! You're so white you glow!"
"Honky!"
"Nazi!"
"Christian!"
And then the carnage.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Just Tissue


No, it's not just:

Recording a verdict of suicide, Dr Carlyon said: "It is clear that a termination can have a profound effect on a woman's life."
Well, duh.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Questions


The NYT wanted questions:

A recent New York Times article examined a number of decisions by Senator John McCain that raised questions about his judgment over potential conflicts of interest. The article included reporting on Mr. McCain’s relationship with a female lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee led by Mr. McCain. Since publication of the article, The Times has received more than 2,000 comments, many of them criticizing the handling of the article. Editors and reporters who worked on the article will be answering questions on Friday. Please send yours to askthetimes@nytimes.com.
OK so I sent my question in:
Is it true Bill Keller walked out on his wife to marry his pregnant mistress? and, as a follow-up: How's the pregnant mistress marriage working out?

Change and Hope


Hope and Change. Obama is definitely the candidate of change and hope.
"I hope they buy this story,"

You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon--supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq.

And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough Humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief.

And, "I'd like to change this story,"
After the debate Obama advisor David Axlerod told Stephen Spruiell,
That was a discussion that a captain in the military had with our staff, and he asked that that be passed along to Senator Obama.
So Obama never actually spoke with the captain, which means he can reasonably claim the tale was garbled in transmission.


***Update: ABC's Jake Tapper interviews an Obama supporter claiming to be the mysterious Captain. (and he very well could be, because he doesn't so much support what Obama said; he explains it away..... sort of like “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,”... well what I meant was...)

I look at Jake Tapper, and for the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my toaster. Wait a minute Jake, let me explain that.
Best comment:
So he wasn't a Captain, who didn't run out of ammunition in theater so he wasn't forced to use captured weapons, whose platoon may have been understrength because of normal turnover but certainly wasn't because platoons are 'split' against Army policy, so... even though the circumstances were misrepresented, and even though the anecdote was not representative of any actual circumstances reported by any other units... yeah... it "checks out".
Posted by: DANEgerus | Feb 22, 2008 3:14:39 PM


It's Fun to Stay at the YMCA



Maybe Blogger is right to not animate GIFs on the front page, the things can be maddening. If you click on it though, try to hum YMCA as it animates. This pointy-pointy thing that Democrat candidates, and megalomaniacal Middle Easterners, do is getting a bit old.

Ninja Dance!


I had forgotten about this one.
For those of you who missed it, the "Algorithm March":



hat formerly-tip: Foxifer née Sailorette

Eleven in a Row

BR>

OK, she's officially out of the headlights and onto the roof.


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Deer in the Headlights




No, it's not a wish-fulfillment Photoshop. I don't wish harm on anyone. But the Drudge headline, "Obama Makes it Nine in a Row", underneath this Hillary photo made me think of one thing: deer in the headlights.

I think I see armor chinks.

Figures




Rage Boy comes out with his endorsement.


Michelle Obama Speaking Her Mind

"For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,"

The Obama campaign is spinning now, but make no mistake, this is exactly what she meant to say. Check out the Huffington Post comments for the reaction of the Democratic base. Post after post is praising her for speaking the "truth". The most reasonable among them said roughly, "Of course she's right, but that doesn't mean she should have said it."

Bless their pointy little, tin-foil covered, heads.

Stunning News


According to the AP, Fidel Castro says he won't accept a new term. That might be a surprise to some, but not to those of us who study news photos of the old dictator. To me, it's been obvious for some time that the el Jeffe wants to devote more time to his tennis game.

Here's the funny part though:

Castro's supporters admired his ability to provide a high level of health care and education for citizens while remaining fully independent of the United States. His detractors called him a dictator whose totalitarian government systematically denied individual freedoms and civil liberties such as speech, movement and assembly.

What??? High level of health care? Then why did they fly in a surgeon from Spain when Castro faced a health crisis? And high level of education? Really?

Being from the AP you'd expect some shading of the truth, but this is a bit much. Especially since they already let el gato out of the bag with this paragraph:
The resignation opens the path for Raul Castro's succession to the presidency, and the full autonomy he has lacked in leading a caretaker government. The younger Castro has raised expectations among Cubans for modest economic and other reforms, stating last year that the country requires unspecified "structural changes" and acknowledging that government wages that average about $19 a month do not satisfy basic needs.
Ah well, who needs basic needs?

***Update:


Look in those eyes. They boldly declare, "I'm healthy, alert, and
I'm ready to shoe-box golf ball, finding water out of here."


Friday, February 15, 2008

Imad Mughniya Goes Ker-Blooie


Economist.com:

“After a life of jihad, sacrifice and achievements, and with a longing for martyrdom, Islamic Resistance [ie, Hizbullah] leader Haj Imad Mughniya was assassinated at the hands of criminal Israelis,” read Hizbullah’s statement.
So I'm wondering, with all this longing for martyrdom, doesn't it ever occur to these guys to show their appreciation? A simple "thank you" would be nice.

I Know You Are But What Am I?



I'm not so much offended by language, but most everything else about the woman offends me. I suppose I should keep it to myself though - if Obama wins, she'll probably be our next Secretary of State.

Ché-Bama




clickabiggen

Seen the kerfuffle over that Ché flag in one of Obama's campaign offices? Michelle Malkin had it days ago but, as usual, I'm late to the party. I figure I can still get a jump on the Obama people marketing the t-shirts though.

The second one is the classic Smash the State pose but I like the way the white star falls across his face in the first one. Kind of accents the rockstar thing. You just can't do that with the Norwegian flag.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Valentine's Day


So I'm in my favorite florist's... well, OK, the supermarket, but they have some pretty nice flowers these days, and I'm picking out some roses for the wife and kid. And I've got my head down, making critical decisions as to hue and freshness, when the guy next to me says, "Yup, can't forget these, or I'll be in deep 'trouble'." So just on a whim, I said, in my deepest voice, "Yeah, last year I forgot the flowers and he didn't talk to me for a week."

I think I'm going to claim a chemical imbalance makes me say those things. Anyway, I look up to see if I'm getting a laugh and I realize that I know this guy, but I don't know where from. So quickly I run through the memory register: neighbor? customer? church? no, don't let him be one of the kid's teachers.... And I still don't know where I know this guy from but he was laughing so maybe it's ok.

Lessons Needed



The plane reminded me: Lumberjack Movie Review: Vitus: Not Bad


Zionist Snowmen



Snow finally comes to the Middle East and what happens? The first snowmen in 90 years get kidnapped and fatwa-ed.

Dove Dives




Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Illiterate Teacher


One of those stories where you have to check the url to see if it's from the Onion:

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- John Corcoran graduated from college and taught high school for 17 years without being able to read, write or spell.

Corcoran's life of secrecy started at a young age. He said his teachers moved him up from grade to grade. Often placed in what he calls the "dumb row," the images of his tribulations in the classroom are still vividly clear....

OK, I have sympathy for a guy who has had to adapt to this deficiency; I'm sure it wasn't easy for him. But what does it say about our educational system that in 17 years it couldn't discover this problem? When Obama says that every child deserves a proper education, is he saying he's finally going to wrestle power away from the teachers unions, who oppose teacher testing at every turn? Or is he saying we need to pay the illiterate teachers more?

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Blond Caution


Sure, anyone can blow smoke in one ear, through the blond, and out the other.


And it's cute the way it makes them giggle. But this fad has been getting out of hand and many blonds are getting nicotine buildup behind the eyes. So be careful with your blond is all I'm saying.

Clownage Everywhere



Scientology


How many anarchists does it take to fix a bull-horn?


No, they're not really anarchists, they're protesting Scientology, which, I have to say, isn't a bad use for those very cool masks. Oh Mr. Hubbard, the internet is outside and it isn't amused.

Years and years ago a pretty girl came up to me in a parking lot and tried to give me Dianetics, the gateway book for the church of scientology. Immediately, alarm bells went off. Wait, pretty girl? Me? I checked, no, she didn't have a seeing-eye dog. No pretty girl with 20-20 vision had ever come up to me before, so I immediately went into looking-for-other-signs-of-Armageddon mode. I asked a few questions about the book and she blurted out that, well, we're sort of a cult that think ancient alien souls from a volcano live inside us, but they can be evicted if you pay enough money, so can you please join our cult, please please please please?

Luckily for me, when I explained my financial situation, she asked for her book back. Which of course convinced me that this church was for me. "No, but I want to join you, give me the book. Gimme, gimme!" She couldn't get out of there fast enough. Sitting behind the wheel, I reflected: this is more like it, scuffling with a pretty girl over a paperback in front of the drug store. This makes sense to me. That first part, the strange pretty coming on to me out of nowhere, that was crazyland.

But not everyone has been so lucky. Some people did have money, time, and gullibility when the cultists caught up with them. So I think it's good that the internet is pissed at the scientologists. Go get um, internet. Because scientology isn't either: It's not science, and it's not tology. It's a cult.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Shocking




I lost the url for this Reuters photo so I don't have an explanation for the shot, but I think it's obvious that this young Chinese girl has made a pair of earrings out of a dead playmate's legs. And I have to say, it just seems somehow wrong to me. Call me over sensitive, and point out cultural differences, I know, I know. Still, it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing children should be doing. There, I've said it.

You Big Dummy

Remember Fred G. Sanford threatening to give Lamont, "five of these, you bug dummy"? Yeah, give him all five, Fred.


Anyway, that's not Lamont, though the shirt and facial expression are very similar. Know who it is? Maybe a more recent photo:


Yeah, give ya five of these, ya big dummy.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Tend to Your Children




Could Be Trouble




Picasso Paintings Stolen

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Two Pablo Picasso oil paintings belonging to the Sprengel Museum in Germany were stolen from a lakeside town's cultural exhibit in eastern Switzerland, Swiss police said.

Police are continuing their search.



Friday, February 08, 2008

More Injustice

Don't you hate it when law enforcement clashes with your lifestyle? Bryant Purvis moved to Texas to escape the unfair criminal justice system in Jena, La.

Seems like they're out to get him in Texas as well though:

(CNN) -- A member of the group dubbed the "Jena 6" is facing misdemeanor assault charges after a fight at his Texas high school Wednesday, police said Thursday.

Bryant Purvis was arrested after a fight Wednesday at his Texas high school, police said.

Bryant Purvis, 19, was arrested after the incident at Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas. Carrollton police Sgt. John Singleton told CNN the altercation does not appear to be racially motivated.....

........Purvis, he said, approached him from behind immediately afterward, then grabbed him with one hand and began to choke him.

"Purvis continued to choke [the student] and told him, 'Don't you ever mess with my car again,'" the affidavit said. "Purvis then pushed his head into the seating area of the bench," causing the student to strike his left eye, then walked away.


Pimped Out?


It looks like some of the Clinton lap-dogs nipped at their master. Oh no you di'int!


"So I'm like, Yo, G-Mommy, the dog be
dissin'n us Yo! It's all fizzle fo shizzle."


Ready, Fire, Aim


I like it when they have to slap their heads and go 'd-oh!:

WASHINGTON - The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes, researchers concluded Thursday. The study challenges the rush to biofuels as a response to global warming.
Hey, it's math, you guys. Calculate how many acres of land have to be devoted to making ethanol, in addition to growing food to, oh, I don't know, keep people from starving, and you're soon into we're-gonna-need-a-bigger-boat territory.

Sure, it's fine to research turning waste into energy, but the price of corn took a jump to uncomfortable levels by just doing the little bit of biofueling we're doing now. We can't afford to turn this into a feel-good project, like newspaper-recycling - where no net good is being done but we get to feel like we're saving the planet.

Tune Changing



Gone are the bunnies.

from the neck down: Brian Roll of Odysseyart

Thursday, February 07, 2008

XKCD



There obviously weren't enough pixels available to include 'lumberjacking' in the chart.

Chelsea's Mother



This digital tablet is a bigger time waster than those Flash games everyone is always sending you.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Hillary and Rageboy Gothic

clickahugen

I know the hair distracts from the Hillary look but it's one of my favorite parts of the original. (that wisp escaping on the left..)

One Thing Leads to Another

In order to avoid going to work I started looking for Jesse Jackson images to photoshop. And that lead me to his speech on the anniversary of Gandhi's death, and that lead me to this little bit of Gandhi advice re the Holocaust:

He offered non-violence as a method of combating the difficulties Jews faced in Germany, stating,
If I were a Jew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest Gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment. And for doing this I should not wait for the fellow Jews to join me in civil resistance, but would have confidence that in the end the rest were bound to follow my example. If one Jew or all the Jews were to accept the prescription here offered, he or they cannot be worse off than now. And suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy [...] the calculated violence of Hitler may even result in a general massacre of the Jews by way of his first answer to the declaration of such hostilities. But if the Jewish mind could be prepared for voluntary suffering, even the massacre I have imagined could be turned into a day of thanksgiving and joy that Jehovah had wrought deliverance of the race even at the hands of the tyrant. For to the God-fearing, death has no terror.
Sort of "the Huns think they have the upper hand but just watch as they slip on our blood! That will show them!"

Amazing.

The Band is Warming Up

From the astounding James Taranto:

There was weather in January, and the Cincinnati Enquirer blames global warming. Look who the paper cites as an expert:
Last year was one of the 10 warmest on record. It was marked by deadly and costly wildfires that led to the largest evacuation in California history, spring storms that unleashed 600 tornadoes across the Great Plains and South, severe flooding in Texas and Oklahoma and extreme drought across much of the Southeast, according to a preliminary report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate center.

"It certainly seems like something ominous is going on when you experience these extremes," says Gregory Berg, an assistant professor of music at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.

Been There


From NRO, a John Derbyshire reader:

A Midwestern conservative activist "formerly of the Fred! team and now in the Romney camp" emails in to tell me something I think is likely true.
Romney lost here for two reasons that are not mutually exclusive: class warfare and envy. People don't like him because he is richer, smarter, better-looking and more successful than they are, and so much so, that it is impossible for him to camouflage the difference.

This rings true. I get that a lot myself.

Odd Couple



As soon as I hit 'publish' I realized I should have given him an Hawaiian shirt under the overalls. Maybe next time.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Following Orders




Unfair


I'm sorry, but Drudge is going too far when he blows up an image of Hillary's eye for us to celebrate her tears. And anyway, how do we know she hadn't just gotten a small bit of sand in her eye? A really sad piece of sand?



Monday, February 04, 2008

Myths


Seen the survey that shows that most Britons think Sherlock Holmes was a real person? Even odder:

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
Wha??!!?? Ask any of those behead-those-who-insult-Islam protesters who Richard the Lionheart was. In fact, a better question would be: how many of them still think he's alive? Sheesh, we're still paying for Richard's sins, and most of us didn't even know the guy.

Amer-Jibberjabber



Somehow this picture is related to the recent Iranian missile tests. No comment, except to note that this is the man who said, "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this."

Um-hummm.

24 Goes All Liberal?

From libertas:

It is over. Conservatives will no longer have even a single show on network television anymore.

Not. Even. One.

In a heartbreaking Wall Street Journal article, the death of 24 as we knew and loved it has arrived in the form of a left-wing “reinvention” which is obviously determined to remove everything which made the series special: it’s unabashed patriotism and determination to protect that which is most worth protecting, America and Americans, at any cost.


Can it be? It makes no sense.

h/t NRO, the Corner

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Global Warming Will Stop Doves From Cooing

Anyone paying attention could watch as Katrina somehow changed the 'accepted truth' about global warming and hurricanes. Before Katrina, maybe 8 years prior, the models predicted less severe hurricanes. Then Katrina came, and looky-here, the models prove that global warming caused it. Well, no:

While opposing factions wage war over global warming and what calamities it might bring upon the earth, research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on ocean temperature and land-falling hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean seems to indicate that a globally warmer ocean may actually produce fewer killer storms.

In an article published in Geophysical Research Letters, physical oceanographer and climate scientist Chunzai Wang of NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory explains that the effects of a warmer tropical oceans region have reduced the number of storms reaching the U.S. mainland.
I'm sure this story won't get much play. It's only news when it confirms what we want it to confirm, that global warming is making the bus seats harder, and giving puppies bad breath.

One odd concept I tried to get across to lumberkid recently had to do with what to do when her (high school) chem labs don't turn out as expected. That's when it's most important to report your results accurately, I told her. Because that is when new science happens, when things don't turn out as expected. Sure, most likely the unexpected result is due to old chemicals, or an error in measurement, or something you did wrong. But the science is in trying to find out what gave you the result you observed, whatever the reason.

A good chemistry teacher won't penalize you for an experiment gone wrong, so long as you show diligence in trying to find out why it went wrong. It's an old concept; it's called "scientific integrity" and when I was in school, about half of us tried to at least give it a hat-tip when necessary. Others, though, noticed that it was much easier to just change your numbers to give the expected result. Those guys went on to work for Al Gore. The rest of us fell victim to a guidance counselor who classified every single child as having an aptitude for forestry, and we've been jacking lumber ever since.


Saturday, February 02, 2008

Change


Here's one I can photoshop, and still keep the G-rating.


And this is where I think I may be more fair than the main-stream media. They've been speculating that Ted and Obie are talking about Mrs. Clinton like a couple of frat boys at a party. I suspect it's more likely that Ted was getting ready to reload the old beer helmet and was asking his compadre if he needed anything. "Can't fly on one wing, Grasshopper."

Don't Do It, Won't Do It




Who'd have thought Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton would hug after the debate? Now .........step ............away .........from .........the ..........photoshop.

Friday, February 01, 2008

fighting101s.jpg