Cut and Paste Post

Gravely Wicked [Robert P. George]

Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished. By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller's life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our "weapons" in the fight to defend the lives of abortion's tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the spirit.

Now Even Less Graphic

Wackiness in one eye has me wearing an eye-patch until at least Monday.

Good news: It's a black one so I'm going around saying "Arrrr!" with a green parrot on my shoulder. Plus, if I have to keep the patch for any length of time, transitioning to a pirate blog should be relatively easy; after all, lumberjacks are just pirates who wandered into the forest.

Bad news: Photoshops are much harder with only one eye, which is why you never hear about cyclops photoshopists. Also, just walking around like this gives me a huge headache. Solution: stop walking around.

I'm sure the orb will be fine, but if there's less posting around here for the next few days, that's why.

Community Organizers

Stanley Kurtz looks into ACORN and the Bamulator:

What if Barack Obama’s most important radical connection has been hiding in plain sight all along? Obama has had an intimate and long-term association with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), the largest radical group in America. If I told you Obama had close ties with MoveOn.org or Code Pink, you’d know what I was talking about. Acorn is at least as radical as these better-known groups, arguably more so. Yet because Acorn works locally, in carefully selected urban areas, its national profile is lower. Acorn likes it that way. And so, I’d wager, does Barack Obama.

I'm not so concerned that such groups exist. What concerns me is that Obama wants to give them four to eight billion dollars in stimulus money. (yes, that's billion with a "b") And as Michelle Malkin points out, ACORN and Obama seem to be one big happy (corrupt) family. How much more damaging to our political system will they be with that kind of money?

Wait, This is Still America, Right?

Wait a sec. If we changed the rules, let's get it straight before the next election:

Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews.

The incident - which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube - had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms....

....A Justice Department spokesman on Thursday confirmed that the agency had dropped the case, dismissing two of the men from the lawsuit with no penalty and winning an order against the third man that simply prohibits him from bringing a weapon to a polling place in future elections.

And this is the same Justice Department that is still questioning Rove about possible politicization regarding politically appointed US attorneys? Mirrors! I call for Mirrors!

I Want the Rewording

I've got two quibbles to quib on the President's Supreme Court nominee. Today he addressed the lesser of the two:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday personally sought to deflect criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who finds herself under intensifying scrutiny for saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge. "I'm sure she would have restated it," Obama flatly told NBC News, without indicating how he knew that.

Obama also defended his nominee, saying her message was on target even if her exact wording was not.

OK, I'm game. How would you restate that to make it acceptable? A female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white Bichon Frise judge? A female Hispanic judge would often make a better Curanto en Hoyo than a white male judge? Switch the words around and tell me what point she was trying to make with those words. What was this "on target" message? Put it in the exact wording that would make it right.

Yeah, I didn't think you could.

Anyway, that's not the biggest problem I have with her. My problem is with the idea that legislation is done in the courts.



She's knows she shouldn't say it on tape, and she doesn't advocate it, and she knows it's wrong, but well never mind all that, court of appeals is where policy is made. Though she knows that it's wrong, wink-wink. No, judge Sotomayor, you're wrong, wink-wink.

In other whoops-picked-the-wrong-word news, Phil Spector's lawyer insists that "well if she didn't want to die in the driveway, she shouldn't have ticked me off" can be taken two ways. (btw- 19 to life? I don't think we're looking at a guy who can make it till Christmas)

Found Pictures

***Update: you really have to embiggen the second one.

Up Put

Mike Sargent via Newsbusters:

Guilt by association, one would presume, is nonsense up with which Democrats would not put.

The article is about Coulter and Carville on Good Morning America, but that was my favorite line. Now all day I'll be fighting the urge to adapt it to my current circumstances.... What? No Cherry Slurpee? Why, that is a shortage up with which I cannot put!

That Poor Reporter

(clickabiggen and hum a Motown tune)

(clickabiggen and think of Sparta)

(clickabiggen and think global cooling)

(clickabiggen and suspend your sense of perspective)

Yes We Can

Hope and Change

Hope they don't drop her.

LOL Godzilla

nom indeed

Reporter Kills Time

Waiting for the President to arrive at the airport.

Secret Service Ejects Reporter

(clickabiggen)

The headline:

President Obama Orders Reporter Thrown in Front of Burning Locomotive.

Sub-head:

Chris Matthews: "He's already forgiven"

Reporter Ejected

Noooooo!

Paint Everything White

But first:

Let's put the blame where it belongs

The we're-all-about-science guys strike:

LONDON (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday the Obama administration wanted to paint roofs an energy-reflecting white, as he took part in a climate change symposium in London.

OK, if they're all about science, they'd know that any effect would be immediate, and we can wait until we actually want to be a little cooler before expending that kind of effort.

Corruption Continues

Why are we so gullible? I actually believed Senator (now) Burris when he said he wasn't a part of Blago's pay-to-play scandal. Now we hear:

After a tour at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Burris reiterated his denial that he'd been involved in any type of pay-to-play scheme regarding his Senate seat.

SEN. BURRIS: 'I did not give him money'

His comments came a day after the release of a transcript of a conversation with Robert Blagojevich in which Burris offers to "personally do something" for Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund.

Burris says he didn't try to buy the Senate seat once held by President Obama and never committed perjury. He's been scrutinized since his appointment by the now-ousted governor in December and for changing his story about whether he promised anything in exchange for it.

When Burris denied it, it made sense that someone involved wasn't dirty. Well fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you, you s.o.b.

You know who else I don't believe anymore? Did you hear Al Gore deny any personal gain from his various green enterprises? He said that any profit goes back into environmental causes. In other words, he is using profits to grow his business. It was his over-the-top earnestness that gave it away.

2009 National Spelling Bee

"I'm sorry but I feel that any endeavor that doesn't glorify
our enlightened president is a waste of our time. Plus, I
don't think "parabulia" was on the list."

Actually, I posted the picture because it brought back memories of what it was like to be an adolescent on stage: the hunched shoulders, not knowing what to do with your hands...

Oh, you didn't know I was on stage as a youth? Well I was; that's how I know just what this young man is feeling. I'm sure it would have been worse had I not been wearing a giant radish costume.

The Case for Working With Your Hands

If I didn't have a fear of the printed word, I'd get Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work:

When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use,” which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real.” Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.

I work with my hands, so this is familiar territory for me. Though in my experience, there isn't that much envy. Which is a shame, because there should be. I get huge satisfaction from a job gone right. Jobs gone wrong are another story, but there are few things more satisfying than working your way through a complex mechanical or electronic problem and defeating it... through thinkin', usually.

The trades suffer from low prestige, and I believe this is based on a simple mistake. Because the work is dirty, many people assume it is also stupid. This is not my experience. I have a small business as a motorcycle mechanic in Richmond, Va., which I started in 2002. I work on Japanese and European motorcycles, mostly older bikes with some “vintage” cachet that makes people willing to spend money on them. I have found the satisfactions of the work to be very much bound up with the intellectual challenges it presents. And yet my decision to go into this line of work is a choice that seems to perplex many people.

Well, um ditto. I get that too. I've got a choice though, when meeting someone new, I can identify myself as a mechanic or as a small business owner. If it's at a fancy dress-up party, I'll sometimes identify as the latter; if only to keep the conversation from dropping down to single-syllable mode. But it feels dishonest. What I am is a fixer. I enjoy it too much to pretend that it's not my core. Many people won't get that, but so what? I don't get lots of stuff. (unless it's explained to me slowly, in simple terms)(har)

Oh, third option -- I'll sometimes identify myself with: "Oh, I work down to the abattoir." Try it sometime. It will ensure your winning any political arguments that might come up, and get you right through that crowd around the buffet table.

Hee-hee-hee

via NRO

Training Day

OK, steady, steady.....

"That's ok, but you're still giving it a little too much muscle. Let's try again."

(it's photoshop)

Fundamental Tax Reform

OK, they've got us headed towards an Empathocracy in the courts, now to reform our overly complicated tax code. Which will end up being: Same old tax code, plus a VAT. Remember, it won't be a tax hike. It will only affect people who buy things. (most of us will be moving out of that category as this presidency unfolds, I think)

With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax.

Common around the world, including in Europe, such a tax -- called a value-added tax, or VAT -- has not been seriously considered in the United States. But advocates say few other options can generate the kind of money the nation will need to avert fiscal calamity.

At a White House conference earlier this year on the government's budget problems, a roomful of tax experts pleaded with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to consider a VAT. A recent flurry of books and papers on the subject is attracting genuine, if furtive, interest in Congress. And last month, after wrestling with the White House over the massive deficits projected under Obama's policies, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee declared that a VAT should be part of the debate.

"There is a growing awareness of the need for fundamental tax reform," Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said in an interview. "I think a VAT and a high-end income tax have got to be on the table."

In the Oval Office

President Obama prepares to meet with representatives from
North Korea and Iran regarding those countries increasing
unwillingness to curb their nuclear ambitions. "They have not
yet yielded to our tone of reasonable persuasion. It's obvious
that we'll have to ratchet up our reasonableness, and keep
ratcheting it up, until they submit to reason."

Customize Google

Sotomayor Nomination

I won't pretend to know who she is or what she stands for but the above video (via Drudge) doesn't bode well. Policy is made through legislation, not through the courts, or so goes the blueprint. Also, the selling point from the Obama Administration seems to be "empathy, empathy, empathy," which is fine, though it's a trait more desirable in a school nurse than in a Supreme Court justice.

Building on a Theme

found this on the web... great idea but it was compressed like crazy, and was maybe taken with a camera. So I cleaned it up a little, but it's not my picture.

via

Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day. I hope you took time to reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

I watched Taking Chance on HBO, whew, what a powerful reminder of those who give their lives for our security, even today.

And remember: if you didn't grill hamburgers or hot dogs, the terrorists have won.

Stupid Criminals

Just Like JFK

Obama spoke at the Naval Accademy:

Obama made special mention today of the rescue operation last month carried out by Navy SEALs. Snipers killed three Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean while rescuing the captain of an American cargo ship.

"I will not recount the full story of those five days in April," Obama said. "Much of it is already known. Some of it will never be known. And that is how it should be.

I heard this today and immediately was reminded of JFK's "seven days in May". Think the O was trying to swipe a little JFK-aura? Or am I making too much of the similarity?

Because the two events weren't really much alike. JFK faced down the Soviets; Obama shot some alleged pirate teenagers. (after lining someone else up to take the fall should it all go t's up)

Oh, the other good part: "Some of it will never be known. And that is how it should be." Well yeah, now. Now we don't need to know every operational detail of our nation's military. One hundred days ago your people were demanding an accounting of how many nose hair trimmers were in Iraq.

Times change I guess.

Signs

via

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

It's God, pointing out the gay drivers.

Because Photoshop Was Open

And I couldn't leave it alone.

(clickabiggen)

Real Men

H1N1 Flu

So Reuters says:

GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of the new Influenza A (H1N1) flu has risen to 10,243 and the death toll has edged up to 80, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Ummmm, so this panic is about a flu that has less than a one percent fatality rate? Or, 0.78%, to be exact. So, when you hear Global Warming - puppy-dogs under water! - think Y2K, and Swine Flu.

That's not to say that any deaths are insignificant. H1N1 is a 100% horror for those who have lost a loved one to it. But it doesn't seem to be the plague they were hyping.

Socialism 101

From Newsbusters:

MSNBC host Contessa Brewer derided Republicans for using the word socialist in reference to Barack Obama's economic policies on Wednesday, complaining, "Well, maybe they think Americans are a bunch of idiots." Speaking of an upcoming vote by the Republican National Committee over whether or not to label the current Democratic leadership as socialist-leaning, the "MSNBC News Live Host" worried, "Have we reverted to a bunch of junior high schoolers, 12-year-olds with the name calling?"

Of course, this is the same network that repeatedly, and gleefully, used the juvenile "teabag" bag humor to describe Republican protests over taxes. So, the argument is somewhat hollow.

From Merriam Webster:
Main Entry:
so·cial·ism
Pronunciation:
\ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function:
noun
Date:
1837

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

From Reuters:

NEW YORK: If General Motors Corp files for bankruptcy, as widely expected, plans include a quick sale of the automaker's healthy assets to a new company owned by the US government, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Me:
If Contessa Brewer tells you it's going to be a beautiful day, take your umbrella.

You Are The Weakest Link

You probably have to clickabiggen to read... BTW -- I came that
close to captioning it: "I'll take Paul Lynde to block."

Auto Repair 101

"Yup, just as I thought, you've flooded it."

Common Ground

I can't even imagine this 'common ground' Obama is looking for on abortion. I guess I could go so far as, "generally in agreement up until that part where you kill the baby."

Bicycle With an Organic Bumper

Via Izismile a convertible stroller/bicycle. (with photoshop editorializing on that last one)

Gifts Again

Via Haaretz:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be presenting U.S. President Barack Obama with a copy of "Pleasure Excursion to the Holy Land," from Mark Twain's book "The Innocents Abroad," when they meet in Washington today. Netanyahu received the book, along with a newly published version in Hebrew (translated by Oded Peled), from the Kinneret Zmora-Bitan publishing house.

In his travel memoir, Twain describes a 1867 trip to the Land of Israel, which he finds a backward and desolate place devoid of culture or law. "Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village," he states, calling it a country where prosperity had died out, a place of lost splendor and beauty where joy has turned to sorrow, and where silence and death prevail in its holy places.

So now the question is... Will our international savior respond with Juno - Music From The Motion Picture, or with the always popular Snuggies?

If We Would Just Talk to the Pirates

via

Oxygen

Oxygen from Christopher Hendryx on Vimeo.

pretty cool

No Photoshop Needed

via

Space Monkey

Is he still there? I feel something. Please tell me he's not still there.

Polar Bear Carnage

Not this cuddly little fella. The carnage is in the photoshop that comes up if you click the picture. It's not terrible carnage, but I figured I'd give you a choice. (even though I know you'll click it -- go ahead, think about it for a minute, ok, now click it. Click it, click it, click it)

News that Won't Be Much Covered

What a difference a radical, in your face, abortion-promoting president makes.

Now Learn From This

Troy's celebrated solar house left in dark
Facility touted as next big thing still shut
Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News

Troy -- It was supposed to be a shining example of the green movement -- a completely independent solar-powered house with no gas or electrical hookups.

Seven months ago, officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the $900,000 house owned by the city of Troy that was to be used as an educational tool and meeting spot.

But it never opened to the public. And it remains closed.

Frozen pipes during the winter caused $16,000 in damage to floors, and city officials aren't sure when the house at the Troy Community Center will open.

"It's not safe right now, and there's no estimated opening time because it depends on when we can get funding," said Carol Anderson, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department.....

..... Jeff Biegler, superintendent of parks for the city, said the flooding occurred from a glitch in the heater.

"The system was designed to kick a heater on to keep water from freezing," Biegler said. "The heater drew all reserve power out of the battery causing the system to back down and the pipes froze."

There was nothing wrong with building the house. I think it's great to see how tech works in the real world. But you have to do an honest analysis of your demonstration projects or you run the risk of remaining a starry-eyed goofball forever.

Analysis starting with: who can afford to pay this kind of money for a house? Especially when it requires constant maintenance, and it's ability to self-power is limited. And if the economics of doing this on a single-house scale don't make sense, it won't make sense if you multiply the project by a million. Sure, the cost of components may go down, but not enough to make an Obamatopia possible.

So here's your assignment greenheads: add any component you like to your own home. Put in solar panels, or a windmill. And add the converters and batteries, and maintain them, and get rid of the toxic old batteries, and clean the panels, and pick up the chopped birds... And then see if your zealotry remains burning bright.

I'm not down on technology. I love technology. But it is stupid to waste resources on a magical vision that just because you can imagine it. Fossil fuels are a part of your life, and will remain so for some time to come.

In the forest of the night

(clickabiggen) This one is both found and photoshopped -- it just seemed right that the book he was reading be about lions, so I shopped the picture a little.

Inspiration in an Image

A bit of inspiration from a found photo, with the quote:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain

What a quote, eh? And those must be the domes of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, if I'm not mistaken. So the photographer is practicing what he preaches. Tell you what, I was so inspired by the photo that I immediately printed it out and took it to the dining room:


Really, we don't use the dining room that much any more so this was really catching the trade winds in my sails, so to speak. Expect more images like this in the coming months. I might take it to new restaurants, or maybe that new Cineplex -- hey, I'm just exploring outside the safe harbor. Don't try to hold me back. I'm out there man; footloose and free to dream.

Just Being a Mother

OK, so he's not mine. I'll just look after him until his mother gets back.

Shane Becker Update

No word yet on a possible corporate sponsorship of any lawsuits that might result from the inhuman treatment of poorshane. My advice: try to get the Massengill and Summers Eve folks into a bidding war. This could turn into a gold mine; though I understand that poorshane will probably have to spend most of his upcoming fortune on treatment for the debilitating PTSD that surely will result from this unfortunate incident.

Guarding the Bricks in the FSU

"I will leave the bricks to your protection, corporal. Guard them with your life."