Workers clear the ducks from a nearby reflection pool in preparation
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: You remove everything except the first and last sentences of Andy's 60-Minutes segments:
(many more at the link)
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!
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.
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.
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!”
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.
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.
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 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.
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? 
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.
Technically, it's Ailuropoda melanoleuca, (literally meaning
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:
Michelle Malkin asks: whaaaat?
“There’s something about August going into September where everyone in Washington gets all ‘wee-weed’ up,” the president said.
(clickabiggen)
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) CEO Bruce
By the second jazz riff, he knew he had them. Once again, the
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.
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."
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."
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).
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
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."
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)
OK, it seems I was wrong. Swastikas and Nazi symbolism have been spotted at protests.
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."
This is a victim.
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Incheon goes all:
"We have just four months. Four months to secure the future of our planet."
Don't you mean?: "We have just four months, again. Four months to secure the future of our planet, again."
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.
"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."
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.
