From On High

Dogs Are Smarter Than Human Beings

2012-02-06T07:24:00.000-05:00

The latest news item to prove the point:

Train strikes Christiansburg woman
By Courtney Cutright, Roanoke Times

A Christiansburg woman walking her dog on railroad tracks was struck by a train Sunday evening, according to a town spokeswoman.

The incident, which happened near Railroad Street shortly before 6 p.m., is being investigated by Norfolk Southern Corp., Becky Wilburn said Sunday. The Christiansburg Rescue Squad and Christiansburg police responded.

The victim is a 38-year-old woman from Christiansburg, but officials have not released her name. She was taken to LewisGale Hospital Montgomery, but Wilburn did not know the extent of the victim's injuries.

The dog was uninjured.

The dog was uninjured because it was smart enough to get off the railroad tracks when the freaking 9000 ton train came thundering down the rails.

The human?You decide.

Right Out of the PETA Playbook

2012-02-06T05:55:00.000-05:00

I understand the dictatorship part.

And I understand the protest part.

It's the topless thing that has me baffled.

Does protesting against tyranny bare-breasted make the protest more strident? Or just more fun to watch.

Or more distracting?

Nice boobs. But what are they upset about again?

The Party's Over

2012-02-06T05:49:00.000-05:00

Some leftist Democrat, writing for Politico, makes a claim that many conservatives here in the USA will - reflexively - want to try and refute. But I'd be careful if I were they.

Liberal Delaware Governor Jack Markell:

Ronald Reagan’s legacy of constructive bipartisanship

The Republican presidential candidates are eagerly claiming the mantle of President Ronald Reagan. But as we mark Reagan’s birthday Monday, it’s fitting to consider the accuracy of their claims.

Reagan, originally a Democrat, famously remarked that he did not leave the Democratic Party — rather, that the party left him. Similarly, the tea party platform embraced by the Republican presidential candidates leaves behind the best of what Reagan accomplished.

Reagan was, in many ways, similar to President Bill Clinton — though partisans in both parties would hesitate to admit that. Both were former governors who defied political stereotypes. Both worked with political opponents to confront the challenges facing the nation and craft bipartisan solutions. Reagan worked with a Democratic Congress to pass comprehensive immigration and tax reforms. Clinton worked with a Republican Congress to reform welfare and keep moving toward federal surpluses.

The current debate among former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others could not stand in greater contrast with this shared legacy of constructive bipartisanship. [link]

Reagan worked with liberal Democrats in a sort of constructive bipartisanship? Say it ain't so!

It's so.

Well, we'll talk about how "constructive" it was in a moment.

But the painful truth is - despite the rhetoric that came out of the Reagan White House in the 80's (and despite the invective that was hurled at The Gipper for his dastardly starving of the poor and his blind eye toward the sufferers among us ... blah ... blah ... blah) - liberalism flourished.

That "constructive bipartisanship"? Here's the truth of the matter: Reagan wanted a robust build-up of our military (you may remember that thingie called the USSR) and the Democrat-controlled Congress wanted billions for social programs (to be heaped upon existing social programs).

Both got what they wanted.

A bipartisanship that produced this (click on the image to enlarge it):

A national debt obligation that still remains unpaid to this day.

So here's where Governor Markell gets it right, and wrong. He's right that there came about a bipartisan working relationship between Ronald Reagan and the Democratic Congress in his day. But it was, in fact, a ~~constructive~~ destructive bipartisanship. Like at no peacetime in American history, our government began writing checks that it couldn't cash, on a scale that was unprecedented.

Today's Republicans - to their credit - in lockstep with the wishes of the American people, refuse to go down that road any longer.

The bases for negotiation (thanks in no small way to the Tea Party) have changed, Jack. We still look for constructive bipartisanship, but on our terms. We're going to reduce the size of government, the size of the annual deficit, and the scope of the national debt; we'll negotiate with you on how deep those cuts will be.

Reagan indeed negotiated with the Democratic Party the rate of acceleration of the expansion of the government. He sat down with his liberal counterparts and said, "here's how much I need, how much do you need?" And they went from there.

Reagan's day is done. We're broke. Beyond broke. And the government is so massive that it is unwieldy, out of touch, and so costly that it is breaking our country's back and crushing any opportunity for American entrepreneurs to thrive in a very competitive global marketplace.

We're willing to sit down with you Democrats and discuss - in harmonious fashion or otherwise - the means by which we put that monster back in its cave. We're not willing to keep writing checks that our children and grandchildren will be forced to cash.

Constructive bipartisanship? We're all for it. But here's where the discussion starts.

Super!

2012-02-06T05:25:00.000-05:00

OK. Here's my take on Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show: It was the best I've ever seen. Which isn't saying much since most football halftime shows are godawful. But hers was superb.

That having been said, Madonna showed herself to be every bit of 53 years old. Where once, long ago, she danced, last night she ... sorta bounced. Or strutted. At times she staggered. The plain truth? Her days of raunch are over. (At one point, I swear it looked like she was having trouble getting up off the stage floor.)

Yeah, we all get old.

But we don't all pretend to be 20 years old and ... like a virgin ... either.

Here's to her performance. Now get thee to the nightclub before you pull something.

Not So Super

2012-02-06T05:15:00.000-05:00

My daughter called last night to tell me how much she loved the Clint Eastwood commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. That would be this one:

My take? I told her I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what the point was.

Clint Eastwood: "It's halftime, America. And the second half is about to begin."

Fine.

But the ad was about Detroit (actually, though you'd never know it, it was about Chrysler Corporation).

Detroit?

Detroit of all places?

This Detroit?

Nowhere to run: The motor city flirts with fiscal disaster.

I like a good flag-wavin' rah rah commercial as much as anyone. (Who can forget this one from Budweiser? Or this one? They still bring tears to my eyes.)

No. Even Dirty Hairy can't make a success story out of that cesspool known as Detroit.

Nice effort. Stupid idea.

When Environmentalists Become $5 Hookers

2012-02-06T05:12:00.003-05:00

Always remember - it's not about the environment.

It's about power.

Which, on this planet, flows from m-o-n-e-y.

Which goes a long way toward explaining the Washington Examiner's "Dim Bulb" award:

Dim Bulb: Sierra Club

What: Accepted $26 million in donations from Chesapeake Energy to aid its anti-coal campaign.

Why it's dim: As Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds notes, "Next they'll be taking Arab money to oppose Canadian oil sands development."

Cure: How about a little honesty for starters?

The Sierra Club took $26 million from a power company? Why?

I told you why. It's all about ... power.

Environmentalists Aren't Even Serious

2012-02-06T05:10:00.000-05:00

You read stuff like this every day and wonder who's buying the snake oil?

Professor slammed after flying 20,000 miles to Tahiti for climate change lecture

Hey, who wouldn't hold a global warming conference on the beach in sunny Tahiti?

Thing is, this soothsayer with an advanced degree will do it again tomorrow.

And get rich doing it.

And morons out there will continue buying his bullshit.

Amazing.

When it comes to environmentalists, P.T. Barnum certainly had it right.

Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Obama

2012-02-06T05:02:00.001-05:00

Newt Gingrich on the president's effort to control the freedoms of America's religious institutions:

"The fact is what you're saying is there cannot be a genuinely Catholic university, there cannot be a genuinely Catholic hospital, that in fact it will have to be subordinated to the rules of a secular government.

"You're saying basically, 'Oh, you can have the name on it, but you can't actually be a Catholic institution. You can't actually be an evangelical Christian institution. You can't actually be an orthodox Jewish institution because we the secular government are going to impose on you.'"

Frightening.

- - -
Here you have it:

Pelosi Vows to Stand With Obama Against Catholic Church; Says Decision Forcing Catholics to Act Against Faith Was ‘Very Courageous’

Obama against the church. That sums it up.

Exit question: Name another American president - in all our history - who has been so blatantly in opposition to organized religion?

I Too Was Amused

2012-02-06T04:19:00.000-05:00

I read the op/ed column in yesterday's Washington Post and chuckled. And was mildly bemused. There surely was an ulterior motive. But darned if I could figure out what it was.

I ain't alone:

Harvard Professor Attacks Mitt Romney As "Stealth Tea Party Candidate"

She's a statist academic who's an activist member of the Democrat party. Professor Theda Skocpol takes to the pages of the Washington Post to warn America that Mitt Romney is a "stealth Tea Party candidate":

"Romney has become the stealth tea party candidate, endorsing the essence of the movement while remaining unburdened by its public label. This makes him the ideal tea party candidate for the general-election battle against President Obama."

That's right, Mitt Romney of Blue Massachusetts is secretly some fan of Mises and Hayek!

Right.

Wrong.

Romney is to the Tea Party what Obama is to the truth.

Key words on which to focus:

"Harvard professor."

"Activist member of the Democrat party."

"Romney/Tea Party."

Think this Theda character is being straight with us?

Hard Times In Local Community

2012-02-05T07:36:00.002-05:00

If it weren't bad enough that the economies of Bluefield, Virginia and Bluefield, West Virginia (just up the road from where I live) have taken a terrible hit as the coal industry in the area has slowly eroded over the years, their other major employers have struggled for survival as well.

How bad is it?

This bad: From The Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce's website, we get this promotional publicity blurb:

Diversity of the area's economy is seen in such companies as Flower's Bakery, Bluefield Beverage and Bluefield Gear & Machine/Industrial Plating Manufacturing. Retail and services, banking and the communications industries are proof of a financially successful Bluefield economy.

What's bad about that? Sadly, two of the three manufacturers listed as being "proof of a financially successful Bluefield economy" are - or will soon be - shuttered forever.

Bluefield Beverage.

Flowers Baking Company.

Mercer County - on the West Virginia side of the line - as of the 2010 census, has a population smaller than it did before World War II. And, with the closures of these two manufacturers (along with the recently announced closing of its only Kroger store), it will probably, by the next census in 2020, be smaller than it was in the 1930's.

Meanwhile, the president is focused on contraceptives.

And the news media are in a frenzy over abortion.

And a lot of people in the Bluefields are looking for work.

Where no work is to be found.

Where will it all end? Where will it end?

So Far They Suck

2012-02-05T07:16:00.000-05:00

With great fanfare and much hope the Republican majority in both houses of the state legislature began its work a few short weeks ago. And now? What do they have to show for it? What do they have to put before those of us who got them there?

Squat.

"The people who voted for Republicans thinking something would happen will be quite disappointed," said Del. Bob Marshall ..."

There are those in the Commonwealth who wear the Republican tag on their chests. Proudly, when the time is right. And, in opportune moments, they even call themselves conservatives.

But when the rubber meets the road, they're no different from all the damn Democrats in Richmond.

So what good are they?

And what's up with Sen. Harry Blevins abstention in that critical hour?

When Scientists Become Crusaders ...

2012-02-05T06:28:00.002-05:00

... they cross the line.

In fact, they cross a lot of lines.

See "This is blatant scientific fraud." And gain a better understanding of the mindset that drives the now-discredited global warming movement. And a better understanding as to why its leaders felt the need to manipulate data.

The fictional Elmer Gantry, in his day, let on like he was a crusader for Christ. He, like Dr. James Hansen, had a huge following of true-believers. Until he was exposed for being the fraud that he was.

In the case of Hansen, because he's inflicted so much damage, the demise of his credibility - if not his lucrative gig - couldn't have come soon enough.

'Journalists' Bring Shame To Their Profession

2012-02-05T05:50:00.001-05:00

(Actually I paused when I used the word "profession" in the title. Because, in the case of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure controversy, most national "journalists," in reality, were seen, to their shame, professing their loyalty to the abortion industry rather than furthering the profession that brings them their riches.)

Ross Douthat, writing in the New York Times (see "The Media's Abortion Blinders") outlines the problem:

Conservative complaints about media bias are sometimes overdrawn. But on the abortion issue, the press's prejudices are often absolute, its biases blatant and its blinders impenetrable. In many newsrooms and television studios across the country, Planned Parenthood is regarded as the equivalent of, well, the Komen foundation: an apolitical, high-minded and humanitarian institution whose work no rational person — and certainly no self-respecting woman — could possibly question or oppose.

But of course millions of Americans — including, yes, millions of American women — do oppose Planned Parenthood. They oppose the 300,000-plus abortions it performs every year (making it the largest abortion provider in the country), and they oppose its tireless opposition to even modest limits on abortion.

Even if some forms of partiality are inevitable, journalists betray their calling when they simply ignore self-evident truths about a story.

Three truths, in particular, should be obvious to everyone reporting on the Komen-Planned Parenthood controversy. First, that the fight against breast cancer is unifying and completely uncontroversial, while the provision of abortion may be the most polarizing issue in the United States today. Second, that it's no more "political" to disassociate oneself from the nation’s largest abortion provider than it is to associate with it in the first place. Third, that for every American who greeted Komen's shift with "anger and outrage" (as Andrea Mitchell put it), there was probably an American who was relieved and gratified.

Indeed, that sense of relief was quantifiable: the day after the controversy broke, Komen reported that its daily donations had risen dramatically.

But of course, you wouldn't know that from most of the media coverage. After all, the people making those donations don't exist.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell, "journalist," mentioned above, in particular, from the days of the Clarence Thomas hearings two decades ago, has worn her radical feminism on her sleeve on air for all the world to witness. And abhor. Yet she remains. In her circle of friends her advocacy is no doubt appreciated and admired. But in the real world she's seen as being just another boneheaded radical feminist who brings shame to her profession.

People like Andrea Mitchell, along with all the other "journalists" who make no bones about which side of the Planned Parenthood controversy they are on, look down upon us bloggers as being a bunch of partisan, no-account boobs. But from up here, looking down on the shit their kind call journalism, the air is mighty refined by comparison.

Obama Declares War on Christianity

2012-02-05T05:45:00.000-05:00

Peggy Noonan: "The Catholic Church was told this week that its institutions can't be Catholic anymore."

Who told them?

Barack Obama.

Noonan:

The president signed off on a Health and Human Services ruling that says under ObamaCare Catholic Institutions—including its charities, hospitals and schools—will be required by law, for the first time ever, to provide and pay for insurance coverage that includes contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization procedures. If they do not, they will face ruinous fines in the millions of dollars. Or they can always go out of business.

I invite you to imagine the moment we are living in without the church's charities, hospitals and schools. And if you know anything about those organizations, you know it is a fantasy that they can afford millions in fines.

There was no reason to make this ruling—none. Except ideology.

The conscience clause, which keeps the church itself from having to bow to such decisions, has always been assumed to cover the church's institutions.

Now the church is fighting back. Priests in an estimated 70% of parishes last Sunday came forward to read strongly worded protests from the church's bishops. The ruling asks the church to abandon Catholic principles and beliefs; it is an abridgement of the First Amendment; it is not acceptable. They say they will not bow to it. They should never bow to it, not only because they are Catholic and cannot be told to take actions that deny their faith, but because they are citizens of the United States.

If they stay strong and fight, they will win. This is in fact a potentially unifying moment for American Catholics, long split left, right and center. Catholic conservatives will immediately and fully oppose the administration's decision. But Catholic liberals, who feel embarrassed and undercut, have also come out in opposition.

The church is split on many things. But do Catholics in the pews want the government telling their church to contravene its beliefs? A president affronting the leadership of the church, and blithely threatening its great institutions? No, they don't want that. They will unite against that.

The smallest part of this story is political. There are 77.7 million Catholics in the United States. In 2008 they made up 27% of the electorate, about 35 million people. Mr. Obama carried the Catholic vote, 54% to 45%. They helped him win.

They won't this year. And guess where a lot of Catholics live? In the battleground states.

There was no reason to pick this fight. It reflects political incompetence on a scale so great as to make Mitt Romney's gaffes a little bitty thing.

There was nothing for the president to gain, except, perhaps, the pleasure of making a great church bow to him.

Enjoy it while you can. You have awakened a sleeping giant.

The president vowed - early on - to transform this country. He's making good on that pledge by attacking it at its foundation. When the church is forced to bend to the will of the central government - when people of faith are prohibited from exercising their once-sacred freedom of worship - and freedom of conscience - Obama's effort to make us all subservient to him and his kind will be complete.

He's declared war on people of faith.

To arms!

- - -

I call your attention to The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience. Sign the declaration. Join the fight. Engage the enemy. America is in peril.

Image Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

2012-02-05T05:24:00.001-05:00

Really.

Planned Parenthood gets image boost on Komen win

What, they're not slaughtering babies anymore?

Same abortion mill. Same image, dude.

Someone at Politico is guilty of wishful thinking, I do believe.

It All Becomes Clear

2012-02-04T06:16:00.001-05:00

Now I understand why the publisher of the Roanoke Times sits (or sat) on the board of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge.

As Nancy Brinker has found out - the hard way - it's best to be on the right side of those who can pinch your head off no matter how much good you do for the less fortunate.

Exit question regarding this shameful Susan G. Komen for the Cure scandal: If Brinker's organization actually provided assistance over the years to millions of women, and Planned Parenthood can denounce her at the drop of a hat, how pro-woman is Planned Parenthood exactly?

Debbie Meade will try and tell you the nation's leading abortion provider is exactly that. Pro-woman.

Protecting her own ass is what she's doing.

Can you blame her?

Mixed-Up Kids

2012-02-04T05:54:00.004-05:00

It degenerates into this:

Occupy activists to protest right-to-work at Super Bowl

Marching for that "99%"? Hardly. Fronting for the 11.9% is more like it.

Abandoning Ship

2012-02-04T05:42:00.003-05:00

Obama enjoys excoriating the rich. Telling them that they "aren't doing their fair share" and will, by God, be doing more.

The rich? They shake their heads in dismay. And in ever-increasing numbers, leave.

Number of U.S. Expatriates Continues to Soar

It starts at a trickle. And will grow.

As California and other blue states are finding out - the hard way - you can tax the crap out of those with money, but those with money also have the means - to pack their bags and move to the Caymens. A crushing tax on someone who ain't there no more is going to get you squat in the end.

Just ask the controller for the state of California.

Who, by the way, is John Galt?

Cooking The Books

2012-02-04T05:23:00.002-05:00

The ability of government (our government, all governments) to provide statistical analysis - and to provide confidence in the statistical analysis provided - has taken a beating in recent years, what with the whole "global warming/"climate change" debacle having been exposed for the world to see.

But it's not just government scientists who have given up their credibility. Government statisticians are well on their way to being exposed as being the same kind of frauds as well.

Take a look at this chart showing what the author terms "Reported and Implied Unemployment Rate and Difference." You'll want to click on it to enlarge it:

Tyler Durden, the author, provides the details over at Zero Hedge:

Implied Unemployment Rate Rises To 11.5%, Spread To Propaganda Number Surges To 30 Year High

Sick of the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] propaganda? Then do the following calculation with us: using BLS data, the US civilian non-institutional population was 242,269 [sic] in January, an increase of 1.7 million month over month: apply the long-term average labor force participation rate of 65.8% to this number (because as chart 2 below shows, people are not retiring as the popular propaganda goes: in fact labor participation in those aged 55 and over has been soaring as more and more old people have to work overtime, forget retiring), and you get 159.4 million: that is what the real labor force should be. The BLS reported one? 154.4 million: a tiny 5 million difference. Then add these people who the BLS is purposefully ignoring yet who most certainly are in dire need of labor and/or a job to the 12.758 million reported unemployed by the BLS and you get 17.776 million in real unemployed workers. What does this mean? That using just the BLS denominator in calculating the unemployed rate of 154.4 million, the real unemployment rate actually rose in January to 11.5%. Compare that with the BLS reported decline from 8.5% to 8.3%. It also means that the spread between the reported and implied unemployment rate just soared to a fresh 30 year high of 3.2%. And that is how with a calculator and just one minute of math, one strips away countless hours of BLS propaganda. [link]

There are those out there - Obama sycophants all - who poo poo the notion that 1.2 million Americans were summarily dropped from the rolls of "the employable" yesterday, wanting us to believe that it didn't happen, that it was simply a correction on the part of the BLS.

So, what, that's a good thing? That's supposed to boost confidence in the numbers the government provides? Oops, sorry, we over-counted the number of employable Americans by 1,200,000 and so the real unemployment rate went down - in one day? Media Matters for America - never known to be too attached to facts - dismisses the argument saying, "as economic experts have explained, that number reflected an increase in population from 2010 Census figures and is not the result of how many people 'dropped out' of the labor force last month."

A drop in the number of employable Americans is a reflection of an increase in population? What does that even mean?

No matter how you try to dress up that pig, the Labor Department does itself no favors by making such dramatic alterations to its statistics (let alone analysis). If the government's numbers can't be trusted, the government can't be trusted. Bottom line.

- - -

* As I've stated before, by following the path set forth by the BLS, all Americans could be unemployed and the unemployment rate would be zero. Which makes the stat less than worthless. Look at the number of employed and decide how America is doing economically. For that info, see "Labor force participation rate at 30-year low." And be very concerned.

- - -

On that note, the same BLS reported that we grew 243,000 jobs last month. If the numbers are to be trusted, that's a good thing.

- - -

Questions worth asking. Questions needing answers.

Headline Of The Day

2012-02-03T20:07:00.001-05:00

Steyn rips Obama’s ‘Brother’s keeper’ remark: ‘His brother is back in Kenya living on $12 a year’

How Proud Arlington County Must Be

2012-02-03T20:04:00.000-05:00

Jim Moran, racist pig

Well, That Didn't Take Long

2012-02-03T19:43:00.001-05:00

This morning I heaped praise on Susan G. Komen for the Cure when I read that its founder vowed to never bow down to abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

This evening I have only contempt for Susan G. Komen for the Cure now that its founder has bowed down to abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

Cowards.

Sure didn't take long.

- - -

By the way, it's good to know who your enemies are, and of that which they're capable. From today's Wall Street Journal:

"Planned Parenthood is not about to let anyone escape without exacting retribution. With the help of allies in politics, the media and other advocacy groups, this week it undertook a vicious campaign against Komen that explicitly urged corporate donors to cut off the charity if it didn't relent. Individual Komen board members have been publicly attacked, as if trying to stay neutral in abortion politics is a crime against women.

"Yesterday Komen responded by seeming to back down."

Where Liberals Fear To Tread

2012-02-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

I think I'd fit right in here:

I'm going to take a wild guess and say this guy is not an Obama supporter.

Where In The Bible, Barry ...

2012-02-03T05:32:00.000-05:00

... does Jesus say government should seize the earnings of one individual and hand them over to another?

Perhaps Obama was telling the truth a few years ago when he told us that he never, in all those decades, paid attention on Sunday after Sunday in Jeremiah Wright's church.

That would explain this:

Obama: Jesus would tax the rich

No. Jesus wouldn't.

Barry, see Luke 10:30-37. And pay attention this time.

Hold Obama To His Word

2012-02-03T05:16:00.000-05:00

The Republican nominee should play this ad in every state every day leading up to November 6:

Obama gave himself three years to fix things.

Well, time's up, pal.

The Battle Is Joined

2012-02-03T04:40:00.000-05:00

On one side you have a charitable organization striving to save women's lives.

On the other you have an operation centered around death and destruction.

I stand with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, whose founder has vowed to never bow down to Planned Parenthood and the filth who support it.

Here's to you, Nancy Brinker.

I Never Thought I'd See The Day ...

2012-02-03T04:21:00.000-05:00

Ann Coulter whoring herself out in order to push the election chances of her man. This is so unbecoming:

Ann Coulter has now written an unqualified defense of Romneycare. What she doesn't appear to realize is how useful her column will be to defenders of Obamacare.

She's smarter than this. I just don't get it.

Jim Moran's an Idiot, Part XVIII

2012-02-02T07:37:00.000-05:00

Look, I don't ever presume to speak for Republicans. (They have enough trouble speaking for themselves.) Or for African-Americans. (Though I can proudly claim to be half as black as Obama is.)

But some lowlife mind-reader of a left-wing, northern Virginia Democrat blowhard harbors no such indisposition?

As usual.

Non-Republican non-black Congressman James Moran knows - knows! - what members of both groups think.

What a guy. I hope, when I grow up, I can be just as omniscient (or was he just drunk again?) as Jim Moran is.

How proud you people in Fairfax must be of this towering sage.

Quote of the Day

2012-02-02T07:29:00.000-05:00

From Floyd County resident J.C. Holden on a proposed wind farm on Wills Ridge:

"If a man owns property and wants to build a wind mill on it, that's his business. As long as that wind mill’s not bothering mine, as long as it's not throwing bird guts over on my property, let him have it."

I think that's a direct quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes. Can't seem to find it though ...

Huh

2012-02-02T07:26:00.000-05:00

I thought Dave Albo was one of us.

Guess not.

When Gov't Tries To Influence The Marketplace

2012-02-02T07:24:00.002-05:00

"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig."

-- Barack Obama --

After $3,000,000,000 in government subsidies intended to put lipstick on this squealer, consumers still see it as one big, fat pig:

Chevy Volt sales fall in January to just 603

It's still extremely expensive.

It's impractical.

It's inefficient.

It's uncomfortable.

And it may be dangerous.

Bottom line? Unless Obama - by executive order - forces consumers to buy the thing, it is going to sit and collect dust.

Three billion dollars worth of market influence. 603 sold.

All to make environmentalists feel good about themselves.

For the love of God.

She Asks. I Answer.

2012-02-02T07:06:00.000-05:00

Journalist Jamie Stiehm, asks the question in this morning's New York Times:

What's a Republican Feminist To Do?

I know. Check yourself into the American Museum of Natural History, sweetheart. Researchers there are putting together an exhibit of fossil invertebrates. You as a feminist - a rare species these days - would fit right in.

Hey, It's Been Great For Her

2012-02-02T07:02:00.001-05:00

She's ridin' high and livin' large:

First lady Michelle Obama cites 'remarkable progress' on the economy

You eighteen million unemployed and underemployed out there?

Eat cake.

Martinsville Is In The News

2012-02-02T06:40:00.001-05:00

It was sixty-one years ago today ...

Crime History: Martinsville Seven sent to electric chair
By Scott McCabe, Washington Examiner

On this day, Feb. 2, in 1951, in Virginia, four of seven black men sentenced to death for raping a 32-year-old white woman were executed.

The remaining three men were executed on Feb. 5.

The execution of the "Martinsville Seven" -- condemned to death by all-white, all male juries -- caused a national outcry.

The appeals of the seven men marked the first time in the United States that civil rights lawyers used statistical evidence to argue that blacks are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system.

Of the 45 men who had been executed in Virginia for the crime of rape, all of were black and all the victims were white.

The courts were unswayed. The executions remains one of the largest for a crime against a single victim in American history. [link]

We report. You decide.

Romney Says What Every Conservative Thinks

2012-02-02T06:16:00.001-05:00

I have tremendous admiration for the work that columnist Jonah Goldberg does. But even he is, on occasion, wrong. This is one of those occasions.

See his "What Is Wrong With This Guy?". In it you'll find Goldberg savaging Mitt Romney for the latter's having said yesterday, "I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich…. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling." Goldberg was aghast, writing, "[G]reat politicians on the morning after a big win, don’t force their supporters to go around defending the candidate from the charge that he doesn’t care about the poor. They just don’t."

Well, they do if their message is the right one. A solid one. One that we as conservatives yearn to defend.

News flash: America is awash in "poor" people, Mr. Goldberg. And awash in programs to lift them out of poverty (though it's arguable whether the intention is to lift or to simply sustain) (might there be a direct correlation between the number of poor people and the number of programs to eliminate poverty?). The more programs the government has come up with to assist those "less fortunate" among us, the more "less fortunate" we have. If there is a segment in society, Jonah, that doesn't have to worry about its future, it's the poor. They're taken care of. By us. Cradle to grave. To the tune of four trillion dollars in transfer payments since it was decided years ago that they needed our help.

They're now drowning in help.

It's US that needs attention, pal.

If for no other reason than the fact that there are fewer and fewer of us as each year goes by. And because we are under assault from those who choose to help the poor with our hard-earned money. And because of people like Jonah Goldberg who don't have the balls to stand up and say, "Enough is enough. The poor are getting all they are going to get"

What Mitt is communicating to this tortured land is the message that we - the backbone of this country - need government off our backs and out of our wallets. And he's right. The middle class in this country is shrinking like never before. And Mitt says he's going to help.

And Goldberg can't deal with it.

Pander being his order of the day.

My question is this: Will Mitt Romney be up to the challenge? He stirred this up. Will he rise to the occasion, as Ronald Reagan did, make his case in unequivocal terms, and not back down in the face of withering criticism from Democrats and the media that he knows is coming? Or will he apologize and "clarify"?

I have lingering doubts.

But it's a teachable moment. And his is a position worth defending. One that I am more than ready to defend.

Let the Democrats dream up new programs aimed at "helping" the poor. As they've done for the last eighty years. And let them defend those programs in an age when those programs are proving to be abject failures - we have four times as many poor Americans as we did when anti-poverty programs were first instituted - and when Middle America is pleading for relief.

You go, Mitt. Take that message to the people. Shout it from the rooftops. We got your back.

A Democrat Pushing Tax Hikes?

2012-02-02T05:48:00.001-05:00

I'm shocked.

The Washington Post - a paper world-renowned for never confronting a tax scheme that it couldn't warm to - is favorably impressed:

WashPost Hails 'Ambitious' Md. Governor's Call for 'Tough Choices': Tax Hikes, Same-Sex Marriage

Tax hikes and homosexuals.

"Tough choices"? How about "broken record"?

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

2012-02-01T07:37:00.000-05:00

Wisdom comes in small packages:

Story From a Minnesota State Trooper:

I made a traffic stop on an elderly woman the other day for speeding on MN State Highway 210 at Mile Marker 197 just East of McGregor, MN.
I asked for her driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance.
The lady took out the required information and handed it to me. In with the cards I was somewhat surprised (due to her advanced age)
to see she had a Concealed Carry permit. I looked at her and ask [sic] if she had a weapon in her possession at this time.

She responded that she did indeed have a .45 automatic in her glove box.
Something --- body language or the way she said it --- made me want
to ask if she had any other firearms. She did admit to having a 9mm Glock in her center console. Now I had to ask if that was all. She responded once again that she did have just one more, a .38 special in her purse. I then asked her what she was afraid of.

She looked me right in the eye and said, “Not a f---king thing!”

She reminds me of my dear, departed Mom.Lock and load, Granny.

* Click on the image to enlarge it.

Four More Years! Four More Years!

2012-02-01T07:30:00.000-05:00

The man wants you to know that things are getting better.

You can believe the man or you can believe the experts who are NOT lying weasels:

CBO projects $1.08 trillion deficit, 8.9 percent jobless rate in 2012
By Erik Wasson, The Hill

The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday predicted the deficit will rise to $1.08 trillion in 2012.

The office also projected the jobless rate would rise to 8.9 percent by the end of 2012, and to 9.2 percent in 2013.

These are much dimmer forecasts than in CBO's last report in August, when the office projected a $973 billion deficit. The report reflects weaker corporate tax revenue and the extension for two months of the payroll tax holiday.

A rising deficit and unemployment rate would hamper President Obama's reelection effort, which in recent weeks has seemed to be on stronger footing. If the CBO estimate is correct, it would mean that the United States recorded a deficit of more than $1 trillion for every year of Obama’s first term.

The deficit was $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.3 trillion in 2010 and $1.3 trillion in 2011. The largest deficit recorded before that was $458 billion in 2008.

CBO had forecast an 8.5 percent unemployment rate for the end of 2012 in its August report. It now expects the jobless rate to be higher and to still be at 7 percent in 2015.

The higher unemployment numbers are due to lower economic growth than previously estimated. Gross domestic product for 2011 is now estimated to have grown 1.6 percent in 2011, down from the 2.3 percent forecast in August. CBO a year ago had predicted 3.1 percent growth for 2011.

The outlook for 2012 has also worsened. GDP is forecast to grow only 2 percent this year, compared to a previous estimate of 2.7 percent. [link]

That's about as bad as it could be.

Obama, of course, along with his enablers in the press, will blame Congress. And Bush. And the tsunami. And the oil spill. And us racist gun-toters/Bible-clingers.

But who was it not long ago who promised America that he would fix everything, including the rising tides?

Four more years? Four more years of Obama and we might as well close this sumbitch up.

Virginia Democrats Are Clowns

2012-02-01T07:22:00.003-05:00

For those on the outside looking in, there's a reason why Democrats are becoming a rare commodity here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It's because, when it comes to the critical issues of our day, they would rather act like six-year-olds and play games.

Exhibit 1: Janet Howell, Democrat, senator, feminist, loon, Fairfax (see her photo to the right, on her best day).

Howell Seeks Gender Equity in Ultrasound Bill
Reston Patch

To protest a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston) on Monday attached an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication.

"We need some gender equity here," she told HuffPost. "The Virginia senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we're going to do that to women, why not do that to men?"

The Senate will formally vote on the mandatory ultrasound bill on Tuesday. [link]

A rectal exam. Boy, I'll bet Howell and the three remaining feminists in America got a big chuckle out of that one.

I don't want to give this goof's idea too much attention, but was there supposed to be some kind of legislative equivalence to her amendment? Or was this the equivalent of her fellow feminists' bra-burning escapades of last century (that resulted in a lot of breasts now sagging around a lot of wrinkled feminist knees this century)?

I am bra-less; hear me roar.

This Howell woman thinks she's being cute. We think otherwise. As Virginia looks to legislators to help us in these troubled times, she's playing games.

Speaks volumes about who these Democrats are.

And about why we reject them in ever growing numbers.

Obama, The Great Orator

2012-02-01T07:03:00.000-05:00

Take the script away from him and he's not even up to being a clerk at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

This is embarrassing.

As were musings like this, from not so long ago:

"Years from now speech instructors will be playing tapes of his speeches for their students; in fact; it’s probably happening already on many college campuses. Years from now books will be written compiling many of his speeches; some given even before he became one of the most historic of all our presidents. From here on in Barack Obama will be the standard by which great speakers are measured. He is undoubtedly one of the best public speakers ever (especially from a prepared script)."

Then he had to open his mouth without a teleprompter nearby.

Poof. The thrill is gone.

Who Would Have Ever Guessed?

2012-02-01T06:49:00.001-05:00

California, the least business-friendly, the most tax-and-regulation-friendly, state in the Union, finds itself short on tax revenue.

How could that be with all the taxes it's levying on its citizens and corporations?

I'll let them figure it out. I'll not waste my time on them.

But I will provide this:

Controller: [California] to run out of cash in March without action

I'm thinking it's time to raise more taxes ...

Majoring In The Minors

2012-02-01T06:29:00.001-05:00

The world economy teeters on the brink.

What to do about it?

The Obama administration has the answer:

State Dep’t Official Discusses Promotion of ‘Human Rights for LGBT People’ Around the World

Hey, you know how I said "jobs" would be my Number One priority? Just kidding! Let's focus on gays and lesbians and whatever the B's and T's are!

Meanwhile there are 14 million Americans who can't find work and Europe is one step away from implosion.

But, hey.

For the love of God. We deserve better than this.

Ah, Yes, The 99%

2012-02-01T06:16:00.002-05:00

Two points to consider:

1) It's this bunch that the national Democratic Party wants to align itself with.

2) What does a retired college professor make, by the way?

From "Oakland police, Occupy protesters clash - 100 held":

Speakers at the rally exhorted the crowd to fight economic inequality. The first speaker, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, took perhaps the most pointed stance, urging the crowd to fight the rich.

"Passionate, organized hatred is the element missing in all that we do to try to change the world," said Ortiz, a retired professor from Cal State East Bay. "Now is the time to spread hate, hatred for the rich."

I'm going to take a wild guess and say this retired professor is herself rich. Which makes her either senile or a badass instigator wannabe. Or maybe she's just spending all her free time playing Gears of War and she's let her savage battles against the alien menace go to her muddled head.

Bigger picture though, these are the lowlifes that the Democratic Party leadership in this country wants to align itself with.

May they do so in spades.

"Now is the time to spread hate ..."

Remember that next time they accuse the Tea Party of being made up of really mean people.

Well, That Didn't Work Out Well

2012-02-01T04:37:00.000-05:00

I have to believe that when Newt Gingrich announced in Florida last week that he - as president - will be colonizing the moon, I like others, thought he was trying to woo the Cape Canaveral crowd to his campaign. I don't know if that strategy worked or not, but while wooing that bunch he apparently forgot this bunch:

Women abandon Gingrich, drive Romney victory in FL

52 percent to 28 percent to be exact.

Oops.

I Knew This Was Coming

2012-01-31T06:12:00.002-05:00

When I read on the New York Times editorial page the other day a call for the end of the filibuster of judges and "high-ranking executive branch officials," I knew someone was going to go back and check on the paper's consistency on the issue. And they did. And just as I suspected, the really expansive-thinking editorialists there are about as serious in their convictions as I'd imagined.

Turns out, according to the incomparable James Taranto, not only did the Times change its position to fit Obama's needs, it was actually against the filibuster before it was for it before it was against it. Turns out?

Yet amid its zigging and zagging, the Times has been consistent, in that its view on the filibuster has always been in line with the immediate interests of the Democratic Party.

The New York Times is against the filibuster if a Democrat is being stymied but in favor of it if a Republican's (nefarious!) intentions are blocked.

Now that's conviction!

We Carry The Load

2012-01-31T05:54:00.003-05:00

The Racialists Just Won't Go Away

2012-01-31T05:44:00.003-05:00

Now it's Juan Williams who's decided that the most plain-spoken, the most blunt, the most straightforward politician in America today - Newt Gingrich - speaks in code.

For the love of God:

The language of GOP racial politics is heavy on euphemisms that allow the speaker to deny any responsibility for the racial content of his message. The code words in this game are “entitlement society” — as used by Mitt Romney — and “poor work ethic” and “food stamp president” — as used by Newt Gingrich. References to a lack of respect for the “Founding Fathers” and the “Constitution” also make certain ears perk up by demonizing anyone supposedly threatening core “old-fashioned American values.”

Meanwhile, out here in the real world, where such nonsense is viewed as the work of small minds with large amounts of time on their hands ...

T-Shirts Don't Lie

2012-01-31T05:36:00.004-05:00

I received this via email this morning. Thought it was interesting:

Barack Obama has finally overtaken Ron Paul on CafePress.com.

As you may know, CafePress.com is an e-commerce platform that powers user-designed merchandise. CafePress has been tracking 2012 election presidential candidate support via the 2012 Meter graph. With an average of over 137,000 new designs uploaded every week, it’s no surprise many of them are political in nature. As a result, CafePress is often seen as a Cultural Barometer®, making their political product sales relevant and interesting. The Meter graphs track merchandise sales trends for each presidential candidate, and through such trends, successfully predicted Barack Obama’s victory in 2008.

Since The Meter poll launched in November, Ron Paul has held the top spot in product sales (e.g., t-shirts, etc.) each week in a commanding fashion—a testament to his loyal supporters, as they’ve been able to counter surges from the rest of the Republican field, as well as the incumbent, President Barack Obama. However, following Obama’s SOTU speech, Paul has finally fallen to 2nd place, demonstrating a sudden and significant surge in Obama support.

Obama-tagged items lead Paul-tagged items, 46% to 33%. A week prior, Obama was in 3rd place, with 12%, behind Paul’s 66% and Mitt Romney’s 13%. This is a stunning shift in sales, and could represent a rebound for the embattled Obama. It seems like the State of the Union really rallied his supporters.

To further this point, pro-Obama sales have witnessed a massive uptick. After seeing anti-Obama-tagged items outpace pro a week ago, 74% to 26%, pro-Obama items have rallied to put up a 45% mark, compared to 55% anti. That’s a huge jump in just one week. Talk about a bounce back in support and sales!

Other interesting election-related tidbits from The Meter include:

● With the Florida primary a day away, Newt Gingrich-tagged items have surged in sales. Gingrich-tagged items edged out Romney-tagged items this past week—10% to 9%.

● The week prior, Romney led Gingrich 13% to 6%. While Romney seems to lead in Florida, the uptick in Gingrich’s sales showcases the rise in support he has encountered following his big win in South Carolina.

We know the polls. They've told us that Obama's State of the Union speech did nothing for his approval rating. T-shirt sales say otherwise.

Who to believe? Who to believe?

Blockheads

2012-01-30T07:26:00.000-05:00

Are the people who suck up oxygen each day in the Roanoke Times editorial boardroom really this stupid?

From its offering this morning - "Playing politics with children's health":

As their daughters prepare to enter middle school, parents are informed about a three-dose vaccine that has the power to keep them from contracting a virus known to cause cervical cancer. Virginia's immunization schedule requires, with their parents' permission, for 11-year-old girls to undergo the regimen so that someday when they eventually become sexually active their bodies will be able to fight off common strains of HPV.

It's a good requirement, and one that ought to be extended to boys, now that research shows the vaccine is just as effective in preventing certain types of cancer in them as well.

But the Virginia House of Delegates is having none of that good science. As predicted, delegates approved a bill, HB 1112, that would strike the requirement that girls have the vaccine. Apparently, they subscribe to the bizarre notion that it's a license to have adolescent sex. [emphasis mine]

No, it couldn't be the obvious reason. It couldn't be their stated reason. It's the bizarre reason.

Rather than the Republicans in the House of Delegates simply wanting government out of our shorts (and out of our wallets; this mandated vaccine costs a lot of money if one is not insured), rather than leaving the decision-making to the parents and advising them to know the possible dangers of this virus under certain circumstances (and not dangerous at all under most) and the GOP members wanting parents to act accordingly, the Times editorialists have their knickers twisted because government doesn't use its heavy hand to control our lives and the decisions we make. Because they know better how to run our lives because we're ignorant fools who don't know how to take care of our own children.

Think I'm exaggerating? From "Bill to repeal HPV vaccination law approved by House":

"Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, voiced concern that children from low-income families would have more difficulty getting the vaccine if the state repeals the mandate."

Since low-income families are eligible to receive the HPV vaccination for free under federally funded programs, Delegate Ward's comment can mean only one thing: She's a bigot, thinking her poor constituents are too dumb to be able to take their children down to the doctor's office for the FREE vaccine if left to their own devices - or lack thereof. How else to explain the condescension?

Another thing: The jury is still out on just how safe the HPV vaccine itself is: "According to the CDC, Center for Disease Control, as of December 31, 2008 more than 23 million doses of Gardasil were distributed in the U.S. Of those doses, the CDC received 11,916 reports of adverse affects that were linked to Gardasil vaccinations."). Might that not be a consideration?

Or are the small-minded editorialists at the Roanoke Times - blind ideologues all - unable to get beyond the fact that the despised Bob Marshall sponsored the legislation?

Obama Dividing The Country ...

2012-01-30T07:14:00.000-05:00

... along class lines, will have this effect:

Obama: The most polarizing president. Ever.

That was then:

I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

This is now:

Obama's class warfare rhetoric divides the nation

He went, in three short years, from calling on Americans to pull together behind him and work to solve our shared problems, to provoking certain segments of our society into turning on others. A sad and troubling turn in outlook and message.

So which is the real Barack Obama?

Does it matter?

Nevada, Here We Come!

2012-01-30T07:02:00.000-05:00

Californians' pain is Carson City's gain:

California breaks rank again, demands over 15% of cars sold be non-polluting by 2025

I wonder - what's 15% of zero?

So everyone living in Los Angeles drives to Las Vegas (think of the pollution generated!) to buy a new car because California dealerships are locked into meeting a government quota and will have to try and steer them into an overpriced, inefficient, inconvenient, uncomfortable electric car (that won't even get them to Las Vegas before it runs out of juice).

This has to be a conspiracy foisted upon the people of California by the Dealers Association in Nevada or Arizona. Has to be.

What Now For The Global Warmists?

2012-01-30T06:23:00.001-05:00

How much longer can they go on denying this inconvenient truth?

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.

I know. I know. They quit talking about "global warming" a long time ago (about that point in time when the planet quit warming; go figure). And now focus their apocalyptic predictions on "climate change."

But more and more, as time goes on, their prognostications have less to do with climate than weather.

Expect, any day now, for them to change the emphasis.

We're all going to die from ... weather change!

Modern-Day Slave Traders

2012-01-30T06:14:00.000-05:00

When your only claim to fame flows from your bringing any discussion around to a talk about skin color, you're going to see skin color motives (wrap your brain around that concept) in any discussion.

Thus we have, according to our modern-day slave traders (those who earn a tidy living off the racism issue), "code words" abounding. Racial code words - words or phrases that have absolutely nothing to do with race, but are all about race anyway, because they say so.

(Hey, it's how they earn a living; cut 'em some slack.)

Speaking of whom ...

Al Sharpton and Sheila Jackson Lee Translate Racial Code
By Jeannie DeAngelis

This whole "Differ with Barack Obama and You're a Racist" thing is getting old. Take for example Texas Democrat congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Sheila has already made it known that disagreeing with the first black president instantly makes you a racist. Besides being at odds with Barack, more recently Jackson Lee has also declared racist any mention -- by a white candidate, that is -- of blue-collar work or, for that matter, any-color food stamps.

according to the congresswoman, Newt Gingrich daring to mention the words "food stamps" was inappropriate code whose intent was merely to "generate and signify race."Now, Sheila Jackson Lee's official racially offended male counterpart, Reverend Al Sharpton, has decided that, if it seems rude and involves Obama and a Republican, it should immediately be exposed for what it is -- racial antagonism.

The latest Republican to be installed in the Racist Hall of Shame is Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona. After meeting and greeting President Obama on the tarmac of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and despite being sued by his administration, Governor Brewer invited him to have lunch and join her for a tour of the border.

Speaking directly into the camera, Al Sharpton passionately addressed Jan Brewer directly, saying, "Thin-skinned? You felt threatened? What does that mean, you felt threatened? By the president of the United States? This is yet another example of disrespect and delegitimatizing this president." [link]

It should be mentioned that the only reason Al Sharpton got his gig on MSNBC is his ability to hawk his slave trade so well. He's certainly not that bright. Nor telegenic. Nor articulate. But there he is.

As for these two aggrieved souls, more power to them. Everyone has to earn a living. And they are so good at what they do.

Now, as for all you racist bastards out there ...

Had Me Some Starbucks The Other Day

2012-01-30T05:53:00.000-05:00

Probably will again today:

Anti-Gun Group to Launch Nationwide Boycott of Starbucks

And tomorrow. And ...

I Love NewsBusters

2012-01-30T05:41:00.002-05:00

They are on their game.

The latest: NBC News's paragon of virtue Brian Williams the other night criticized - on air - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer for pointing her finger at President Obama as the two of them got into it over a book she had written in the past (of all things to get into an argument over ...), with Williams asking, "Who have you ever seen talking to the president like this ...?"

Oh, the outrage.

Well, as it turns out, Brian Williams has talked to the president just like that. And NewsBusters has the photo to prove it.

I love these guys.

As for the apostle Brian, maybe he needs to get away from that teleprompter on occasion and join the real world.

Do You People At The Roanoke Times Even Read ...

2012-01-29T07:37:00.000-05:00

... the horse shit you write?

How the good people of the Star City who subscribe to the Roanoke Times must long for someone at the city's only major newspaper to some day hire smart people to populate its editorial board. (I don't subscribe so I don't lose out; I just laugh and click through to the funnies.)

This morning? A two-star double-chuckle.

Why?

The Roanoke Times editorial page comes out (see "ICLEI alarmists get iced, for now") four-square in favor of Roanoke County's decision to continue shelling out $1,200 a year to some United Nations-backed organization (no, I'm not making that up; Roanoke County sees benefit in donating your hard-earned income to some far-removed bureaucracy in some faraway monastery) that goes by the acronym ICLEI (which stands for "The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives").

Return On Investment aside (though it would be worth some reporter's asking about, ahem), why are the boys and girls on the Times editorial staff so orgasmic about the decision?

Because "a small, vocal and persistent group of 'Agenda 21' true-believers" opposed it. And that's all the reason they need to laud the county's decision to pay for crap county supervisors could easily pick up for free off the internet.

The question remains: Is the 1,200 bucks worth it?

To the small minds at the Times, apparently, you betcha! $1,200 to see those small, vocal, and persistent true-believers put in their place? Priceless!

Here's my thinking: How about someone living in Roanoke County propose to those supervisors who thought it wise to flush $1,200 down the drain if they could pass an ordinance calling for that sum to be garnisheed from the wages of the members of the Roanoke Times editorial board to pay for their silly expenditure

Let's find out how enthusiastic they are then about ICLEI.

So Who Do I Support?

2012-01-29T07:24:00.000-05:00

My son asked me that question last night. "Who do you support for president?"

I sat in dumb silence.

I had no answer.

Because, at this point, I see my "support" falling on ... the last man standing.

Whoo. Pee.

Hear me roar.

I'm going to go all-out for ... Whomever The Republican Party Decides Is Least Objectionable To That Independent Voter Out There Who Pays Scant Attention To Affairs Of State And Won't Pay Attention Until The End Of Our Republic Is Nigh And He/She Sees The End Possibly Preempting His/Her Daily TV Viewing.

Christ Almighty.

So who would I support?

Well, my mood and outlook make me lean toward Attila the Hun. But I hear he's dead. And I'm not sure he'd be willing to take the gig (putting the western world to the torch was one thing, tackling federal entitlements is a whole 'nuther matter) anyway.

Ditto Paul Ryan (sans the deceased part).

I guess, right now, I'm holding out hope that Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville comes back to life and knocks some sense into the heads of the collective American body politic.

Short of that? I just don't know.

For what it's worth, columnist Mark Steyn and I are pretty much in the same place these days. We just want to get in that escape pod and get beyond the Death Star before it implodes.

Or, as Steyn puts it

Newt, meanwhile, has committed himself to a lunar colony by the end of his second term, and, while pandering to an audience on Florida’s “Space Coast,” added that, as soon as there were 13,000 American settlers on the moon, they could apply for statehood. Ah, the old frontier spirit: I hear Laura Ingalls Wilder is already working on Little House in the Crater.

Maybe Newt’s on to something. Except for the statehood part. One day, when America gets the old foreclosure notice in the mail, wouldn’t it be nice to close up the entire joint, put the keys in an envelope, slide it under the door of the First National Bank of Shanghai, and jet off on Newt’s Starship Government-Sponsored Enterprise?

There are times for dreaming big dreams, and there are times to wake up. This country will not be going to the moon, any more than the British or French do. Because, in decline, the horizons shrivel. The only thing that’s going to be on the moon is the debt ceiling. Before we can make any more giant leaps for mankind, we have to make one small, dull, prosaic, earthbound step here at home — and stop. Stop the massive expansion of micro-regulatory government, and then reverse it. Obama has vowed to press on. If Romney and Gingrich can’t get serious about it, he’ll get his way.

As that famous American once said, "Beam me up, Scotty. This place is going up in flames."

Global Warmists Are Twisting Themselves in Knots

2012-01-29T07:21:00.000-05:00

This, from an assistant professor in the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder, writing in this morning's Washington Post, speaks volumes about the pickle global warming enthusiasts have created for themselves. Not to mention the fact that it sounds the death knell for the movement that, a few short years ago, was held in such high regard by the scientific community.

From "A dangerous shift in Obama’s ‘climate change’ rhetoric":

When the president moves away from talking about climate change and talks more generally about energy, as he did in the State of the Union, calling for “an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy,” the impact is more than just political.

Calling climate change by another name creates limits of its own. The way we talk about the problem affects how we deal with it. And though some new wording may deflect political heat, it can’t alter the fact that, “climate change” or not, the climate is changing.

The problem? This clown, not that long ago, would have written the same thing about the term "global warming." But it was his pals who abandoned that expression, in favor of the more nebulous "climate change," in order to better fit realities to the end-of-the-world predictions they had then been making to that point in time. When the globe stopped warming - as it did in 1996 - they made the political decision to start calling the "problem" "climate change." Now he's worried that the term may lose some of its meaning.

As it was surely to do, genius.

Earth to assistant professor in the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder: When the science lives or dies by the rhetoric that proponents associate with it, you lose.

You lost.

Find gainful employment, why don't you?

YouTube Changes The World

2012-01-29T07:19:00.000-05:00

How many of you remember this from the the last century?

Schoolhouse Rock.

Sadly, it was the only civics education that most of our youth of that era ever got, what with public schools being more concerned about self-esteem than about education.

Sadder still, Schoolhouse Rock died off in 1999.

Sadder still, our public schools are still ladling out self-esteem by the bucketloads, and still ignoring education.

But wait.

Where once Schoolhouse Rock filled a void, so YouTube does today.

Today's civics lesson from that remarkable venue: "Can the Government Make Entrepreneurs Do Useless Things For No Reason?":

Short answer: Only if We the People let it.

Here's to YouTube. Let freedom ring.

They Made Us Proud

2012-01-29T06:07:00.002-05:00

They are indeed our best and brightest.

To those who chose to risk everything for their country, this is for you:

St. Louis hosts big parade for Iraq War vets

Stand tall.

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.

-- Ancient proverb --

In Iraq, you guys and gals were excellent.

You Democrats Own This

2012-01-29T05:58:00.001-05:00

You decided to align yourselves with this bunch (and you know who you are). So live with your decision:

Riot police fought running skirmishes with anti-Wall street protesters in Oakland on Saturday, firing tear gas and bean bag projectiles and arresting more than 200 people in clashes that injured three officers and at least one demonstrator.

You - and those to whom you provided support and encouragement - disgrace this country.

All's Fair In Politics. Unfortunately.

2012-01-29T04:41:00.000-05:00

It's only fair that if I make mention of the size of Michelle Obama's butt that leftists can get away with things like this:

Maher Mocks Gingrich's Wife as a Martian

The difference?

I'm good-looking. Bill Maher?

What's that saying about people in glass houses?

And She Didn't Make a Dime From It

2012-01-29T04:25:00.000-05:00

At least hookers have something to show for it.

I've slept with 1,000 men so far - I don't care if people judge me!

I'm going to take a wild guess and suggest that those thousand guys remember as much about each encounter as she does.

Whatever humps your camel, sweetheart.

Politico Sees What It Wants To See

2012-01-28T05:22:00.002-05:00

You've all seen the AP photo by now:

That's Arizona Governor Jan Brewer giving President Obama an earful after she met him at the airport, welcomed him to Arizona, only to have him go off on a tangent into some problem he had with a book she had written in the past, and about the way he was portrayed in it.

A book. On the airport tarmac.

Thin skin?

Anyway, if you're like most of us, you see in this photo a woman letting the guy have it with both barrels.

But not the Obamabots at Politico. Here's how they see the interaction taking place (in "Obama's tarmac tiff with Jan Brewer: The president fights back"):

President Barack Obama’s three-day trip won’t be remembered for his talk here on rising college tuition costs. Or for his flogging of clean energy proposals in Nevada and manufacturing tax breaks in Iowa.

No, the enduring image of his tour through five key states this week will be Obama confronting Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer over months-old insults from her book, his dismissive mien facing down her French-manicured fingertip.

It was a tarmac tiff that lasted no more than a minute but encapsulated the president’s mood of the moment: fed up with the GOP.

Are you seeing a president "fed up with the GOP" in that photo? Or are you seeing a small woman doing a little in-your-face to a guy who should have kept his hurt feelings to himself?

No sane person can view the altercation the way this "reporter" does. But then the people who write for Politico aren't particularly sane. Blindly loyal to their man, but not sane.Jan Brewer does not back down when the president attempts to intimidate her. End of story.

You people at Politico really should be ashamed of yourselves.

Headline of the Day

2012-01-28T05:00:00.002-05:00

Christie to the 1%: Please Occupy New Jersey

* Hey, we'd love to have ya down here in Appalachia too, fellas. New York sure don't want ya.

Money Down The Rat Hole

2012-01-28T04:57:00.002-05:00

How much longer are we the taxpayers going to continue to pour money down this drain? Apparently a lot longer than those in Britain are prepared to do.

Revealed: There are more charging points than electric cars in UK as sales slump
London Daily Mail

Sales of electric cars have slumped so badly that there are now more charging points than vehicles on the road.

Just 2,149 electric cars have been sold since 2006, despite a government scheme last year offering customers up to £5,000 towards the cost of a vehicle.

The Department for Transport says that around 2,500 charging points have been installed, although their precise location is not known.

The high cost of electric cars has put many off. The Nissan Leaf still costs £25,990 even after the £5,000 grant has been deducted.

Electric cars are also only suitable for short journeys, with a maximum range of around 100 miles on a full charge.

It's a similar story in the U.S., with Nissan selling 10,000 Leaf cars last year - compared to almost 13million new vehicles every year, The Sunday Times reported. [link]

You can't really blame Nissan or GM or the other car makers for this. As long as government is throwing them free money, they're going to provide that which the free money gets them more free money.

But there'll come a day when the fools who run government are told by taxpayers - in no uncertain terms - Stop the madness.

For madness it is.

It's Almost Sad

2012-01-28T04:39:00.001-05:00

What does an aged race warrior do when he can no longer find any overt racist acts to assail?

APNewsBreak: Jackson enters fray over Grammy cuts

The Recording Academy decided to cut back on the categories for which it would give out Grammy Awards. And Jesse Jackson is on the case.

For the love of God. Can't someone give the old dude something to do?

Unlawful Detention of American Citizens?

2012-01-27T18:41:00.001-05:00

I can't believe we're even debating the issue. This being the United States of America. But there it is. Efforts continue in Congress to give the president the authority to indefinitely detain American citizens accused - or suspected - of being enemies of the state. Detained without trial. Habeas corpus be damned.

(Most everyone cheered when Obama killed those two American citizens in Yemen back in September because the president and his buddies in the news media told us both needed to die for their transgressions - the details of which we were never provided. Revisions to the National Defense Authorization Act are but an extension of that policy.)

Well, here in Virginia an effort is moving forward to exempt the Commonwealth and its citizens from engaging in such an unconstitutional activity:

HB 1160: Will Virginia Lead the Way Against Indefinite Detention of her Citizens?
Abingdon/Bristol, SW Virginia Tea Party

It’s short, sweet and one paragraph long. And it asserts that US citizens stand safe under the protection of Article 1 of the US and Virginia Constitutions. Safe from our government.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, no agency of the Commonwealth as defined in 8.01-385 of the Code of Virginia, political subdivision of the Commonwealth as defined in 8.01-385 of the Code of Virginia, employee of either acting in his official capacity, or any member of the Virginia National Guard or Virginia Defense Force, when such a member is serving in the Virginia National Guard or the Virginia Defense Force on official state duty, may engage in any activity that aids an agency of or the armed forces of the United States in the execution of 50 U.S.C. 1541 as provided by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (P.L. 112-18, 1021) in the investigation, prosecution, or detainment of any citizen of the United States in violation of Article I, Section 8 or 11 of the Constitution of Virginia.

Delegate Bob Marshall’s bill (R, Mannasas) simply reinstates what we as a free people are guaranteed twice, under both the US and Virginia Constitutions.

On Wednesday, January 25th, a House Courts of Justice Sub-Committee voted 6-3 in favor of passage.

SWVA Republican Greg Habeeb voted in favor (8th District /Counties of Craig, Montgomery (part), and Roanoke (part); City of Salem). So did Joe Johnson, Democrat (Counties of Dickenson, Russell (part), Washington (part), and Wise (part).

The committee vote:

YEAS–Iaquinto, Kilgore, Habeeb, Farrell, Minchew, Johnson–6.
NAYS–Loupassi, Toscano, McClellan–3.

Here's to Delegates Bob Marshall (as sponsor) and Southwest Virginia's Joe Johnson and Greg Habeeb for being there for us. And for protecting that Constitution that so many politicians in Washington - Republican and Democrat alike - have limited regard for.

The fight for freedom is far from won. But we continue to pursue that greater good.

When Prediction Gets Out Ahead Of Science

2012-01-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

As contrarians like me have been asking for years: We're going to alter our way of life on this planet - in a breathtakingly sweeping way - because of results obtained in computer models and on (educated or otherwise) prognostications?

Scientists - scientists - have - to their shame - said YES.

Well, some anyway.

But not all.

There is now - finally - a growing number who say NO:

No Need to Panic About Global Warming
There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the world's economy.
Wall Street Journal

A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming." Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact, a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed.

In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?"

In spite of a multidecade international campaign to enforce the message that increasing amounts of the "pollutant" carbon dioxide will destroy civilization, large numbers of scientists, many very prominent, share the opinions of Dr. Giaever. And the number of scientific "heretics" is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts. [link]

It would do everyone well to read that "collection of stubborn facts." The most prominent of which is this: The planet is no longer warming.

Make no mistake, science will some day overtake the wild, unsubstantiated conjecture that passes for global warming theory. It won't be soon. But eventually. Inevitably.

It was a mistake by many, a hoax perpetrated - and perpetuated - by others.

Global warming will die. And science will be the better for it when it does.

The Ends Justify The Means

2012-01-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

It's the message that's the important thing. Not the fact that we had to make stuff up in order to make the point:

A fear-inducing advertisement, posted around New York City, warning that too much sugary soda will give you diabetes and cause you to lose limbs has come under scrutiny because the amputee in the poster lost his leg due to Photoshop, not diabetes.

For the love of God.

* As you might guess, Michael "Goebbels" Bloomberg is behind this.

With Shades of Al Gore

2012-01-27T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hilarious:

Perfect… Obama Leaves Event Promoting Clean Energy in Motorcade of 22 Gas Hogs

Despicable.

But hilarious.

You Can Believe Obama Or ...

2012-01-27T17:26:00.000-05:00

... you can accept the truth.

He wanted you to believe the other night in his State of the Union address that his administration was making great strides in pioneering new technologies that will eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels.

In truth? He's flushing our hard-earned income down the rat hole. And enriching hios donor friends in the process.

Two headlines in today's news say it all:

Electric-Car Firm That Received Biden Visit and $118M in Stimulus Funds Files for Bankruptcy

Stimulus-Backed ‘Green’ Bankruptcy of the Week: Ener1

Millions wasted. Hundreds of millions more yet to be announced.

And Obama wants you to believe his giving your money to his "green" pals is a resounding success.

Decide for yourself. Before November.

HB 291, What's Up With That?

2012-01-26T07:45:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you go along, in a good mood, reading the news of the day, everything looking like roses, and then you halt in mid-coffee-gulp.

What caused the gulp?

Tyler Blount of Wytheville brought to my attention in an email a seemingly - on first read - innocuous piece of legislation that has been introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates by Washington County Democrat (and generally okay guy) Joe Johnson.

Here's a (.pdf) copy of the bill:

You might want to enlarge it (by clicking on it) in order to read it.

The legislation addresses - through a change in the existing Code of Virginia - the very real problem of poachers stealing timber from landowners. Which is fine.

That's Section 1a.

But what's up with 1b?

"B. Any owner of property on which timber is to be cut shall send written notice, via certified mail, to all owners of property adjoining the property on which the timber is to be cut at least 60 days prior to the cutting of any timber. The owner shall send written certification to the State Forester, via certified mail at least 45 days prior to the cutting of any timber, that such notice was sent to the adjoining property owners."

Protecting property owners is one thing. But what's this written notification of neighbors and the government nonsense?

Wytheville's Tyler Blount smells a rat. Here's a portion of the email he sent me, which references the email he sent to Delegate Johnson:

I am particularly worked up about yet another Democrat, perhaps the most conservative Democrat left in the House of Delegates, and a man who is a very kind and reasonable person being willing to offer legislation that restricts free enterprise and needlessly regulates one of the larger industries in his district- the forest products industry.

I sell timber for private landowners throughout southwest Virginia every year for whom the timber sale income helps hold on to their farm, finance college educations, purchase more land, a tractor or car/truck and kick-start their retirement. The logging companies, sawmills, heavy equipment machinery (dozers, skidders, knuckleboom, log loaders) and parts dealers, fuel distributors.... and various other attendant businesses that benefit from the private wealth redistribution initiated by a timber sale would all be negatively affected by this bill. A neighbor with an axe to grind could send a registered letter to a landowner who intends to sell timber and dispute a long-established property line and threaten to use the Timber Trespass law this proposed bill would amend to effectively block a timber sale for an indeterminate time.

This bill appears to be a pernicious, incremental, back-door attempt to halt timber sale on private land just like they have been halted on public lands. The environmental wackos are ever vigilant to cripple free enterprise and seemingly always able to find a Democratic politician to carry their socialist water.

The impact this bill would have on timber marketability, administrative costs and its just plain inconvenience merits our opposition. Perhaps most importantly the "foot in the door" that passage of such a requirement would give to those opposed to timber harvesting is significant. If this bill passes It is not hard to imagine that a future amendment would require that adjoining landowners approve the sale of your timber.

Here is the body of the email I sent to Delegate Johnson and excerpts from other emails with relevant comments:

Dear Delegate Johnson:

I am writing to inquire into your motivation for offering house bill 291 requiring sixty days written notice before cutting timber.

As a private consulting forester I support my family and contribute to my church and community from the commissions I earn from professionally marketing timber for my private landowner clients. One of the most important considerations is managing timber is deciding when to sell. And one of the best times to sell timber (and to cut it) is during the winter months. Snow, rain, freezing and thawing and generally inclement weather makes harvesting timber in the mountains very challenging during winter months or periods of prolonged wet weather. The resulting decline in log supplies at area sawmills and wood using plants can lead to sharp spikes in demand for timber that can be logged in winter. When an informed or professionally assisted landowner offers timber for sale that can be logged during bad weather he/she will very often receive premium price for the timber. However, if the logger cannot begin immediately to harvest trees and pulpwood and transport logs to sawmills and other wood processing plants the winter logging premium evaporates. Requiring 60 days notice before beginning harvesting is the same as taking money from the landowner's pocket.

Why do you in this economy or even in a booming economy want to sponsor legislation that hamstrings a significant source of income for so many southwest Virginia landowners?

This bill would have a very deleterious effect on the value of standing timber and is a significant encroachment on private property rights. Values of standing timber fluctuate widely over a period as small as a few weeks. Requiring 60 days written notice before cutting timber is taking money out of the pocket of the private timberland owner and empowering disgruntled or contentious neighbors to hinder ones benefits from owning timberland. Whatever happened to the self-evident truths that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights... the right to pursuit of happiness was originally to own property and was expanded to include all private business. What business has the state in interfering in private business of privatelandowners?

Please help me understand why you wish to hamstring my business and eclipse the private property rights fo so many of your consituents?

Sincerely,

Tyler Blount, Consulting Forester

I'm guessing Delegate Johnson has a legitimate reason for having introduced this change to existing law. Darned if I know what it is though.

Mr. Johnson?

Why You Can't Debate Liberals

2012-01-26T07:39:00.000-05:00

They are, in a word, blockheads.

Take Roanoke Times columnist Dan Casey for instance (please).

In his latest exercise in byte-waste (see "There's no good future in unsustainable practices"), he goes after the Roanoke Tea Party.

Why?

Because the Roanoke Tea Party - as a collective - sees no good in Roanoke County's participation (at an annual cost of $1200?) in a bosomy international kumbaya society that goes by the acronym ICLEI.

So why is the Tea Party wrong for opposing ICLEI?

Here's Casey's reasoning:

ICLEI is for "sustainability." ► ► ► The Tea Party opposes ICLEI. ► ► ► Therefore the Tea Party opposes sustainability. ► ► ► Therefore the Tea Party stands for "unsustainability." ► ► ► And who is for unsustainability?

What?

How do you even argue that?

Who would even want to?

You'd be better off arguing with a potted plant.

Bill Carrico Makes Us Proud

2012-01-26T07:30:00.000-05:00

That silly one-handgun-a-month law is one step closer to repeal, with Republican Senator Bill Carrico out in front leading the effort:

Va. Senate panel votes to scrap one-gun-a-month rule
By Jim Nolan, Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee today approved a measure that would eliminate Virginia's one-gun-a-month restriction on the purchase of handguns.

Approval of the one-gun-a-month repeal (Senate Bill 323), sponsored by Sen. William Carrico, R-Grayson, signaled what is likely to be the most significant change to Virginia's gun laws this year.

The vote was 8-6 on the GOP-controlled committee, with Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke, voting for passage with seven Republicans and Sen. Thomas K. Norment, Jr., R-James City, who was not present at the time of the vote, being recorded as abstaining.

The measure has strong support in the Republican-dominated House of Delegates, and Gov. Bob McDonnell has previously indicated he is inclined to sign the repeal bill into law.

The one-gun-a-month law -- adocated by then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder -- was first implemented in 1993 to address interstate trafficking of firearms in Virginia. Opponents of Carrico's bill said repeal of the law would hamper efforts to stem the flow of weapons. [link]

As you might expect, the gun ban crowd is all apoplectic over this legislation having passed the Senate committee. Guns will start flowing out of Virginia and into the hands of bad guys ... blah, blah, blah. Which would be news to New York Mayor Bloomberg, who's been telling us that that has been happening all along.

Oddly, those who are wetting their beds over Carrico's legislation don't seem to care about our 2nd Amendment rights being rationed by government.

To them I provide a quote from a great American, Charlton Heston:

"You know, the Bill of Rights guarantees every citizen the right to own and bear firearms. It doesn't say anything about how many or how much you can pay for them. That's in the Bill of Rights. That's a sacred document in our country. There's no other country in the world that has such a document."

In my weaker moments, I want to tell those who would pick and choose the freedoms that I'm allowed to have: You ration my rights and I'll ration yours.

Is that really where we as Americans want to go?

Well, Ya Live Long Enough And ...

2012-01-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

... you just know that everything the "experts" tell you will prove to be hogwash.

The latest undeniable health "facts" to be denied:

Fried food heart risk 'a myth'

Nutrition: No Obesity Link to Junk Food in Schools

When it comes to the foods that have graced my table over the years, my motto has been, "Screw the experts; I choose to live la vida loca."

To those who've endured those same years with a diet regimen that amounted to the equivalent of tree bark I say:

Suckas!

Is that Colonel Sanders I hear calling my name? Can you squirt some chocolate on that Extra Crispy?

Why I'm Uncomfortable About Romney

2012-01-26T06:47:00.002-05:00

Can we cut through the bull plop? I read the other day a piece written by someone who tried to make the argument that Ronald Reagan was a great pro-life president. The meat of it was that he said all the right things about the issue when he was president.

Big deal.

In my world, it comes down to this: What did Reagan do about ending the heinous practice of abortion?

The answer, if we're honest with ourselves, is, in a word, SQUAT.

So, when a politician tells me he's in favor of doing something, I shrug. Words are cheap. Especially coming from a politician. Especially at election time.

Mitt Romney is going to repeal the most hated piece of legislation to come out of Washington since Prohibition. Or so he says.

Those around him? His close advisors? We get a completely different story:

With Friends Like Romney's . . .: Norm Coleman tells voters the GOP won't repeal ObamaCare.

Who to believe?

Remember this: We're not required to believe either of them.

Which is where I'm at today.

I can't get past this bad feeling ...

And This Guy Scares Me Too

2012-01-26T06:44:00.000-05:00

Say what?

Gingrich pledges moon colony during presidency

Earth to Newt ... Earth to Newt ...

The Greatest Commercial Ever Made

2012-01-26T06:22:00.002-05:00

I suppose it's a good moment in time, what with Eastman Kodak having filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, with liquidation of assets a real possibility in its future, to look back on Kodak's glory days and on the best TV commercial ever aired.

Where are you going, my little one, little one,
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you're two,
Turn around and you're four,
Turn around, there's Fuji knocking at your door.

* That's Ed Ames's voice, in case you're wondering.
** Actual lyrics.

Too Funny

2012-01-26T06:09:00.000-05:00

That secretary who earns slave wages working for gazilionaire Warren Buffett? The one who pays a higher tax rate than he does?

Turns out, she's quite likely to be in the top 1% of American taxpayers in this country too.

It don't get better than this.

Why I Support Our Nuclear Weapons Program

2012-01-26T05:48:00.001-05:00

You'll want to enlarge the photo. It's priceless.

Hillary and her buddy in the White House worry about our image in the Muslim world.

That image? It should be cut from this asshole's cold, dead, bloody carcass.

Dumb & Dumber

2012-01-26T05:29:00.000-05:00

What do you want to bet there are people who actually tune into this nonsense?

[MSNBC host Ed] Schultz Guest [mentally challenged Alan] Grayson: Gingrich Running Most 'Overtly Racist' Campaign Since George Wallace

Clowns. Circus. Amusement.

As a Public Service ...

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Grassfire Nation has a petition drive going that calls for the ouster of the most contemptible United States attorney general since ... well, since the last Democrat in the White House had an attorney general (look it up).

Petition to Congress:
Holder Must Go!

Attorney General, Eric Holder’s tenure has been pockmarked by deception, lies and inconsistencies, culminating in the botched “Fast and Furious” firearms sting that ran from September 2009, until December 2010 and saw U.S. officials “walk” more than 2,500 assault weapons into drug-infested corridors of Mexico, only to lose track of the guns. Tragically, those weapons have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans and U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry.

Dissatisfied with Holder’s lack of honesty, accountability over the “Fast and Furious” scandal as well as increasing public demand for answers, 40 Republicans sent a letter urging President Obama to ask for Holder’s resignation.

Obama discounted the letter and in fact, publicly endorsed Holder in hopes the issue would fade away. That hasn’t happened. Public pressure has continued to intensify, and now the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has summoned Holder to testify on February 2.

Just prior to this hearing, Grassfire Nation will be hand-delivering tens of thousands of grassroots petitions to the White House, key members of Congress and the Committee demanding Eric Holder’s resignation.

Read our petition and add your name today so that you will be included in these important deliveries prior to the Holder hearing.

Holder is an incompetent political hack who should be held in contempt by all Americans because of the way he's turned the Department of Justice into a Department of Justice For Some but Not For Others.

And then there's the Fast and Furious tragedy, about which we still have too few answers, for which Holder refuses to apologize.

Sign the petition. Let your voice be heard.

Why Am I Busting My Hump Again?

2012-01-26T04:43:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking I should chuck the fifty hour weeks and kick back and enjoy the fruits of other people's labor.

VA Democrats Pull a Wisconsin

2012-01-25T07:44:00.000-05:00

The only thing "Dick" Saslaw and his bed-wetting Democrats in the Virginia Senate didn't do yesterday was take their toys and flee to Illinois. But, like their brethren in the Cheesehead State, they decided the charge given them by their constituents - rather than make for a more perfect Commonwealth - was to sit down, do nothing, and whine:

Democratic Temper Tantrum Grinds Senate to a Halt
RPV

Senate Democrats on Tuesday made good on whispered threats of obstructionism, and used what was normally a routine Senate vote on judicial elections to grind the entire chamber - including committee meetings - to a halt.

"Democrats have been warning quietly for weeks that they would block all new judicial appointments and the state budget in an effort to overturn the will of the voters at the ballot box," [RPV Chairman Pat Mullins] said. "The irony is thick - Democrats move to block judicial appointments just as they clog the court system with frivolous lawsuits."

"Just like their counterparts in Wisconsin and Indiana, Senate Democrats have decided that if they can't win at the ballot box and don't have the votes to prevail on the floor, they'll simply blow up the process," he said. "But elections have consequences, even if Democrats don't like them." [link]

The only saving grace in this despicable saga is in the fact that Saslaw and his buddies - as long as they refuse to do the job they were sent to Richmond to do - can't raise all those different taxes they say they want to raise.

In that sense Saslaw's petulance serves Virginia well.

Otherwise, he and they are - again - an embarrassment.

Memo To Roanoke Times:

2012-01-25T07:31:00.000-05:00

I'll believe you're sincere when you get consistent on this (or any other) subject:

"There's something repugnant in suspecting our neighbors of drug use simply because they're out of work. The idea of drug testing the unemployed builds on an effort to test those turning to public assistance. What makes the unemployed more unclean?"

Really.

Let me speak for everyone on the planet. They're not unclean. But they're no better than the rest of us either.

Truckers are required to be tested for drugs.

Ain't seen that denunciatory editorial yet.

Pilots are required to be tested for drugs.

Ain't seen that denunciatory editorial yet.

I'm required (by my employer) to be randomly drug-tested. (Am I unclean?)

Ain't seen that denunciatory editorial yet.

What makes those who want us to pay them to stay at home and do nothing so special?

How Fake Is This?

2012-01-25T07:21:00.003-05:00

There's a YouTube video making the rounds that's supposed to make us all scared of really badass Chinese soldiers. Watch "Chinese Soldiers Pass Around LIVE GRENADE In Military Training Exercise."

Upon viewing the piece the first time one is indeed impressed. If not frightened.

Six warriors (faces blackened for that Jean-Claude Van Damm effect) handing a smoking grenade to one another as it's about to explode? Those guys have nerves of steel!

Only two problems: Watch closely and you immediately notice that (1) that grenade isn't the kind of grenade any of us (civilians anyway) has ever seen before (it looks more like a harmless smoke bomb), and (2) when the "grenade" is passed around the second time, the last Ironman wannabe drops it at his feet - about two yards from where the "resulting" explosion takes place. Which means the explosion didn't result from the "grenade" going off; ignition was controlled by someone elsewhere to take place after the the little wieners leaped out of the way.

Nice matching outfits though.

Yeah, color me scared, Wang.

On the Oscar Nominees

2012-01-25T07:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm no authority. I haven't seen most of the flicks that were nominated for Academy Awards and don't recognize half the names put forward for Academy honors. In fact, based on what I've read, I'll probably never watch most of the movies that Hollywood considers its best of 2011 (a foreign silent film and not in color? Are they kidding?).

But I will say this: Regarding the movie, "Bridesmaids," which I watched on DVD, I found it boring to the point of suicidal inclinations, except for one redeeming quality. Someone had the good sense to cast Melissa McCarthy. She was fabulous. In an otherwise unequivocally abominable pile of poop.

No, I won't be paying to see the movies and I won't be watching the Oscar self-love fest.

Speaking of which, did you catch Obama's speech last night?

Well, I chose to not watch that smelly pile of poop either.

- - -

I should mention this also: Demián Bichir deserves recognition in his work in "A Better Life," another great flick.

Fact Checking Obama's Ass

2012-01-25T07:19:00.000-05:00

There was a day when snakes-for-presidents could do it with impunity.

Not no mo'.

With weblogs proliferating these days, there's no way a lying Head of State is going to make the outlandish claims Obama is making and get away with it.

Obama Claim: “Since President Obama took office, oil imports have been reduced by an average of 1.1 million barrels per day.”

Reality: A reduction of imports has happened in spite of President Obama, not because of him. More than half of the reduction is because the ongoing recession and much higher price have made fuel so expensive that consumers are using less of it.

In January 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated, the U.S. produced 5,154,000 barrels of oil a day. By November 2011, the last month for which we have data, the U.S. was producing 5,874,000 barrels of oil a day. This 700,000 barrel a day increase isn’t happening on federal lands, for which President Obama would justifiably claim some credit, but on private and state lands.

The reality is that oil production on federal lands is falling, while production on private and state lands is rising. There is a long term trend of decreasing oil production on federal lands. In fact, oil production on federal lands has fallen by 43 percent over the past 9 years according to the Obama administration’s Energy Information Administration. And it has dropped rapidly on President Obama’s watch.

Here's Obama, in his first reelection campaign ad, telling us how great a job he's done on the energy front.

You can see from the facts provided above that he's lying through his teeth.

Obama's record on energy has been a nightmare. And four more years of Obama will make it that much worse.

You have the power to stop him. Remember November.

- - -

Then there are Obama's lies relating to our national debt. Does he think he's dealing with a bunch of fools and Democrats out here?

The Quintessential Act of Feminism

2012-01-25T07:14:00.000-05:00

Arming oneself against predation.

* I love this line:

"My first thought is, I can’t believe how loud that was.
"My next thought is, I want to do that again!"

Quote of the Day

2012-01-25T07:04:00.000-05:00

From Glenn Reynolds:

"Is it sexist to tell [Democratic New York Senator Kirsten Gilibrand] to grow a pair?"

It's fair to say, Glenn, that she needn't as long as the press is there holding theirs out for her.

Why America Rejects Obama's Socialist Ideal

2012-01-25T06:56:00.001-05:00

“'As Republicans, our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume the climb up life’s ladder,' [Indiana Governor Mitch] Daniels said. 'We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have-nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves.'”

In Obama's world, we should all be have-nots alike.

Americans believe, traditionally, that we should - through "blood, tears, toil, and sweat" - all be comfortable beyond our wildest aspirations, and that we should be able to do for our children more than was done for us.

It's called The American Dream.

A dream Obama and his ilk consider a nightmare.

One thing is for certain, if Obama wins, none of us will have the opportunity to bring it to reality.

It Was Either The 'State of the Union' ...

2012-01-25T06:17:00.000-05:00

... or a movie I'd already seen twice ("The King's Speech"; wonderful).

I chose to watch the movie and skip Obama's speech last night.

Why?

Hey, who’s up for an hour-long lecture on “fairness”?

Sorry, Barry. I've seen your flick too. Over and over again. Starting with "The Battleship Potemkin" that came out in 1925 (for God's sake). And a hundred other left-wing films since.

"The rich aren't doing enough" in a land where the poor are expected to do less than nothing.

Take it somewhere else. That rerun of yours got tiresome long ago..

Headline of the Day

2012-01-25T05:59:00.003-05:00

Obama: "My Fellow Americans, the State of the Union Is Not My Fault."

My Thought Exactly

2012-01-25T05:54:00.000-05:00

"Yes, [Massachusetts Senator Scott] Brown is a Republican running in a very liberal state, and yes, today's 'liberals' are not very liberal when it comes to free speech. Politicians sometimes have to compromise on matters of principle. But to our mind this goes so far that the Massachusetts Senate race reminds us of the Iran-Iraq war. As Henry Kissinger is supposed to have said, it's a pity they can't both lose."

James Taranto, "Conspiracy of Silence," January 24, 2012

Sign of the Times

2012-01-25T05:24:00.000-05:00

Get Over It

2012-01-24T06:04:00.002-05:00

I committed no crimes against humanity. I owned no one. I put no one in chains. I never used a whip on a human being in my entire life.

I know no one who did.

So I'll be damned if I'll feel sorry for some breathtakingly well-paid columnist in New York City because someone I don't know owned and abused someone he doesn't know.

It's over, dude. Deal with it.

Or, as James Taranto puts it:

One cannot go backward. White supremacy is as good as dead, and white guilt is dying along with guilty whites of older generations. Both these developments constitute progress toward racial equality. The election of a black president was the most compelling dramatization this country has seen of the death of white supremacy. In our view, it is also hastening the demise of white guilt.

That is why we characterized Gingrich's standing ovation as the 21st century's second most compelling dramatization of racial progress. Here again is what Gingrich said to provoke the applause: "I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their Creator with the right to pursue happiness, and if that makes liberals unhappy, I'm going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn someday to own the job."

If a politician had said those words in 1964 (minus the swipe at "liberals," which wouldn't have made sense back then), his statement would have constituted a rejection of white supremacy. Today it is a rejection of white guilt. The words are as true today as they would have been then.

Some of those who stood and cheered last week surely had ancestors who believed in white supremacy and would have bristled (or worse) at the suggestion that "every American of every background" is equal. By enthusiastically applauding instead, they gave the lie to the liberal left's genetic fallacy.

It's worth noting - again - the fact that liberals in this country thought well of white America when it voted Barack Obama into the highest office in the land. Now that Obama has proven himself to be a failure, and many Americans (white and black) have soured on the man, we're seen as being white again.

However stupid that may sound, it really, in the end, doesn't matter. We ain't going back. We have moved beyond race. They don't like it but it's a fact.

Liberals in this country are going to have to join us - some day - here in the 21st century.

Showdown

2012-01-24T05:42:00.000-05:00

It's good government vs. the unions. And the outcome is in doubt.

But, as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will tell you, it's a fight that needs to be fought:

Big Labor's Wisconsin Vendetta
Walker's reforms are saving money, which unions cannot forgive.
Wall Street Journal

They swore revenge for his offenses, and last week Wisconsin Democrats delivered what they say are a million signatures for the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker. If they do make the ballot and cause a recall vote as early as this spring, they'll have to campaign against reforms that have already saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and rescued the state from a budget crisis. Game on.

Since last summer, unions have fired every weapon in their arsenal at Mr. Walker and state senators who voted for his collective-bargaining reforms for government workers. Union members must now contribute a very reasonable 5.8% of salary toward pensions and 12.6% toward health insurance, and unions must collect dues from members, rather than having it done by the government. In their pique, Big Labor waged and lost a bitter fight over the election of a state Supreme Court Justice and spent millions trying to recall Republican state senators.

Those efforts mostly failed and the GOP retained its majority, but the unions feel about Mr. Walker the way Cato the Elder felt about Carthage: Walker delenda est, Scott Walker must be destroyed. Last year state senator Spencer Coggs called Mr. Walker's plan "legalized slavery" while others predicted disaster for school districts and public services.

It's not turning out that way: The Apocalypse has not arrived for services, and Mr. Walker was able to balance the state budget without new taxes or looming deficits.

Some of the most significant results have come in local school districts, where school boards and governments have been able to use the public-union reforms to reduce budget shortfalls. In districts like Wauwatosa, Racine, LaCrosse and Eau Claire, the changes in health and pension contributions prevented layoffs that were expected to be widespread and in some cases allowed the boards not to fire a single teacher. [link]

Scott Walker represents good government. Something about which union bosses couldn't care less. They want their cash. The people be damned.Here's to Mr. Walker for looking out for the little guy.

Democrat Moron:

2012-01-24T05:31:00.003-05:00

"Newt is the face of the politics of resentment and racism and angry white male rage ..."

Someone's angry all right. And it ain't Newt.

This gal needs to take her meds.

Tim Kaine Tied At The Hip To Obama

2012-01-24T05:25:00.003-05:00

I get the impression, as I watch the Senate race here in Virginia play out, that former Governor Tim Kaine really doesn't care all that much about the gig. Obama asked him to run, so he's running. If he loses ... oh well.

Until he loses, though, he has a lot of explaining to do. To us. About his buddy in the White House. Who is inflicting such harm on our country. The one Tim Kaine is "an unabashed supporter" of.

Here, in a video released by his opponent, George Allen, is what Mr. Kaine unabashedly supports:

The damage being done couldn't be worse. Yet Tim Kaine is loyal, not to us, but ... to Barack Obama.

Come November ...