From Closet Conservative.

Hertz employees in Canada are suing to be granted the same breaks as Muslim employees receive to pray, etc. G-d Bless them. Some suing from our side.

Diversity

The previous post was horrifying. This one is hilarious. From Israeli TV, the sound is off as the language is Hebrew.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHM0Av5-EKc

EU President Document on "Dividing" Jerusalem.

READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1131988.html

If you are a Sarah Palin supporter and want to understand the Classist opposition to her, it is necessary to read what the "Rockefeller Republicans" said about Barry Goldwater and his supporters in the run up the the 1964 election. If you can find a copy, read William Scranton's speech to the Convention and remember that Goldwater had the nomination sewed up on the first ballot. These people would rather lose an election than see the "wrong" people win and, therefore, challenge their control of the party. I live in western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh-Allegheny county where a fascist clique composed of rich Republicans and left wing Democrats control the area regardless of the wishes of the people. Just ask abouT building the new stadia after the people voted the bill to build them down.

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And for their trouble, three of the SEALs, members of the Navy's elite commando unit, are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.


whiskey, tango, foxtrot= WTF

One never needs a reason to publish a photo of Mrs. Pitt, but:
“She’s into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts. She thinks Obama is really a socialist in disguise,”

from Tammy Bruce's blog

Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.

I am feeling very depressed and Churchill helps.

Never have so many owed so much to so few.

Winston Churchill of the RAF after the Battle of Britain, but said of any soldiers who fight in any war to protect their country.

We need more Congressmen like this:

Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today released the following statement regarding his vote against H.Res.784, a bill “honoring the 2560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius and recognizing his invaluable contributions to philosophy and social and political thought.”

“He who spends time passing trivial legislation may find himself out of time to read healthcare bill,” said Flake.

susie says:
October 27, 2009 at 12:24 pm
rachel maddow wanted to go ice fishing. she’d seen many books on the subject, and finally, after getting all the necessary items together, she made for the nearest frozen spot.

After positioning her footstool, she started to make a circular cut in the ice. Suddenly, from the sky, a voice boomed, “There are no fish under the ice!”

Startled, rachel maddow moved further down the ice and began to cut yet another hole. Again, from the heavens, the voice bellowed, “There are no fish under the ice!”

rachel maddow, now quite worried, moved way down to the opposite end of the ice, set up her stool, and tried again to cut a hole. The voice came once more, “There are no fish under the ice!”

rachel maddow stopped, looked skyward, and asked, “Is that you, Lord?”

The voice replied, “No, rachel I’m the manager of this ice rink!”

I am old so I remember history. During the fifties, Republicans told the electorate, "We will give you everything the Democrats will, only we will do it cheaper." The electorate gave control of the House and Senate to the Democrats. Now we see this same attitude in the RINOs, who used to be Rockefeller Republicans. They trashed Goldwater and Reagan so they could keep control of the party. They hate conservatives more than the radical lefties if that is possible. Blessings on Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes. Ironic that an Aussie may save us from the RINOS.
Just in passing, O'Reilly gets my goat. He is NOT a conservative. He is a populist who believes in government as the solution to all problems. He also believes that opponents must offer positive solutions not just say "No". Well I believe in criminalizing murder. Must I offer an alternative? Must I say we ought to allow severe beatings if they stop before death?
Sorry I am just angrier than usual this morning.

Sent this to Fox:

Mr. O'Reilly:
On this evening's show in regard to legalizing drugs you said that intoxication is the greatest cause of child abuse. If that is true, then should we not make the manufacture and consumption of the single most abused drug in the United States illegal? That is, of course, alcohol. Yes we should certainly outlaw booze to protect the children under your standard. Oh, that's right; I forgot. We tried that, and it didn't work. I have read reputable historians who hold that more people started to drink under Prohibition than had ever drunk before. Perhaps Prohibition is not the answer.

All of these are courtesy of RightBias.com

A Pennsylvania Civil War buff faces a felony charge for accidentally firing a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home. Oops.

A Canadian man performed an amateur circumcision on his four-year-old son on the floor of the family kitchen. He has been found guilty of criminal negligence.

California, here I come:


A 75-year-old dead man sat decomposing on his Marina del Rey balcony for days because neighbors thought the body was part of a Halloween display.

Charles Darwin call your office:

A Michigan woman called Saginaw County sheriff's deputies to report the theft of her marijuana plants. She was was booked on charges of manufacturing and delivering marijuana. Duh.

Jon-Erik Hexum died in an accident on the set twenty five years ago today 10-19-1984.

Need I say more:

Anyone who signed the Pro Polanski Petition should be tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. That is what used to be done with scoundrels who have no shame:


Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson,
Jonathan Demme, Stephen Frears, Costa Gavras,
Terry Gilliam, Buck Henry, John Landis, Claude Lelouch,
David Lynch, Michael Mann, Jerry Schatzberg, Julian Schnabel,
Martin Scorsese,Wim Wenders.

Isabelle Adjani
Taylor Hackford
Isabelle Huppert
Milan Kundera
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Mike Nichols
Salman Rushdie
Steven Soderbergh
Diane von Furstenberg

From RWR:


“I’m convinced that today the majority of Americans want what those first Americans wanted: A better life for themselves and their children; a minimum of government authority. Very simply, they want to be left alone in peace and safety to take care of the family by earning an honest dollar and putting away some savings. This may not sound too exciting, but there is something magnificent about it.”

I did not include the tables, just the summary from TIME:

As you can see, every show in the top ten is from Fox News, as are 13 out of the top 15. In fact, only one of Fox News' fourteen programs is ranked below #15 in the ratings. That show is Red Eye, which airs from 3-4am - and it still pulls in more viewers than MSNBC's Morning Joe.

The personal battle between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann is no contest. Even O'Reilly's repeat show at 11pm pulls in 52% more viewers than Olberman's prime time show.

The war among morning shows - though not as high profile as it is on the Big Three - is also a joke. If you combine the household audience numbers from CNN's American Morning and MSNBC's Morning Joe, they still fall 23% below the number of households tuning in to watch Fox and Friends.

Overall, Fox News generates nearly twice as many viewers each day as CNN and MSNBC put together. If this were in fact a war, the white flag would be running up the pole as we speak.

I watched FlashForward tonight. It will be repeated tomorrow. It seems like a really great SF show, but it has overtones of the kind of thinking that sent BattleStar Galactica and Lost off track into mysticism and mumbo jumbo plus having a dig at the Pope.

Fun facts from the Center for Responsive Politics:

Team Total Democrats Republicans Dem % Repub %
San Diego Chargers
$2,455,200
$40,773
$2,414,427
2%
98%
Houston Texans
$623,456
$4,000
$615,256
1%
99%
Arizona Cardinals
$337,096
$85,950
$251,146
25%
75%
Washington Redskins
$323,000
$8,550
$314,450
3%
97%
National Football League
$322,373
$224,798
$97,075
70%
30%
New York Jets
$261,403
$26,011
$235,392
10%
90%
New Orleans Saints
$257,913
$18,150
$239,763
7%
93%
St Louis Rams
$234,800
$230,050
$4,750
98%
2%
Pittsburgh Steelers
$229,307
$128,892
$100,415
56%
44%
Jacksonville Jaguars
$201,066
$36,564
$164,502
18%
82%
Philadelphia Eagles
$183,500
$156,400
$27,100
85%
15%
Dallas Cowboys
$164,467
$29,600
$134,867
18%
82%
Minnesota Vikings
$131,175
$14,600
$116,575
11%
89%
Kansas City Chiefs
$130,300
$20,950
$109,350
16%
84%
Cincinnati Bengals
$126,200
$1,750
$124,450
1%
99%
Cleveland Browns
$125,526
$41,126
$84,400
33%
67%
New England Patriots
$122,400
$88,200
$24,200
72%
20%
Indianapolis Colts
$117,150
$56,150
$61,000
48%
52%
San Francisco 49ers
$111,121
$93,015
$18,106
84%
16%
Denver Broncos
$110,413
$36,850
$73,563
33%
67%
Miami Dolphins
$108,001
$92,000
$15,751
85%
15%
Baltimore Ravens
$92,471
$34,871
$57,600
38%
62%
Carolina Panthers
$89,018
$34,500
$54,518
39%
61%
Atlanta Falcons
$77,350
$25,950
$51,400
34%
66%
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
$71,883
$34,600
$36,583
48%
51%
Los Angeles Rams
$52,250
$47,250
$5,000
90%
10%
United Football League
$41,100
$41,100
$0
100%
0%
Buffalo Bills
$38,506
$25,006
$13,500
65%
35%
Tennessee Titans
$36,050
$4,450
$31,600
12%
88%
Detroit Lions
$32,751
$20,750
$12,001
63%
37%
New York Giants
$31,000
$8,700
$22,300
28%
72%
Chicago Bears
$28,100
$13,050
$15,050
46%
54%
Seattle Seahawks
$24,402
$13,000
$11,402
53%
47%
Green Bay Packers
$8,750
$2,550
$6,200
29%
71%
Oakland Raiders
$6,800
$4,050
$2,750
60%
40%
Pro Football Hall of Fame
$6,400
$2,650
$3,750
41%
59%
NFL Network
$6,000
$1,900
$4,100
32%
68%
NFL Properties
$3,000
$3,000
$0
100%
0%
Arena Football League
$3,000
$1,000
$2,000
33%
67%
Pro Arena Football
$2,300
$2,300
$0
100%
0%
Los Angeles Raiders
$2,000
$2,000
$0
100%
0%
Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Cmte
$250
$250
$0
100%
0%

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. ... Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives."
—John Adams

Just two neat photos!

Thank G-d
Patrick Swayze is NOT DEAD. Some radio station made it up!

I am back from the hospital, still have my wristbands on. So I am still a bit crotchety, and I have to look at Jimmy Carter on TV. Could a merciful Lord not have struck me down before that. Patrick Swayze is dead. A gallant death to a gallant life.Oh, on the bright side, the archbishop who believes that Catholic politicians who support abortion shuld not receive the Sacraments has been appointed to run the Vatican version of the Supreme Court by Pope Benedict.

Jimmy Carter is a snake. He is saved from being the worst president of the twentieth century only because Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson -the worst- served during the same century.

The Pittsburgh Opera has done something astounding. Because of the economic hard times, it has lowered the price of its cheapest tickets by 37.5%. The price is now 10.00 USD instead of $16.00. Wow, lowering the price to increase demand. Too bad the Port Authority of Allegheny County or the USPS hasn't made that connection.

As the end of the month and the anniversary of my natal day approach, I thought I would review my reading for this month.

Ann Bridge(MARY ANN O'MALLEY)

The Lighhearted Quest
The Dangerous Islands
The Portugese Escape
Emergency in the Pyrennes
The Incident at Toledo
The Malady in Madeira
by her husband, Owen O'Malley
The Phantom Caravan-Autobiography

Alistair Horne

Napoleon: Master of Europe 1805-1807
How Far to Austerlitz
The Fall of Paris: the Siege and Commune
Verdun 1916: The Price of Glory
To Lose a Battle: France 1940
A Savage War of Peace
A Small Earthquake in Chile

Rick Shelley: Spec Ops Squad

Noel Barber: The War of the Running Dogs

Sax Rohmer: President Fu_Manchu

A Eulogy for Edward Moore Kennedy

from NRO

I don't know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, "have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?" That is just the most amazing thing. It's not that he didn't feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too.

from Luciannes blog

from Dry Bones Blog

She would have been sixty nine last July, but alas she went for a ride with EMK and died. Rest in Peace Miss Kopechne.

Can you identify this girl?

If anybody comes here from Facebook, HI!

from iOwntheworld.com via Lucianne Goldbergs blog

From cree tees blog:
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

The AMA On Health Care Reform
The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new Universal Health Plan.
Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.
The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.
The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.
Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.
Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, Grow up!"
The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.
Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.
The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."
The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.
The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say "no".
In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

A way to deal with tension

Just in case you are having a rough day, here is a stress management technique used traditionally in Sicily.


The funny thing is that it really does work.

1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.

2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.

3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.

4. No one knows your secret place.


5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.


6. The soothing sound of a gentle water fall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.


7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of Nancy Pelosi, the person you are holding underwater.


There!! See? It really does work. You're smiling already!


Maybe you know others who might benefit from this technique?

'Nuff said?

25 Most Admired Conservative personalities of 2009:


23) John Stossel 4
23) Mitt Romney 4
23) Daniel Hannan 4
23) John Bolton 4
16) Fred Thompson 5
16) Antonin Scalia 5
16) Glenn Reynolds 5
16) Bobby Jindal 5
16) George W. Bush 5
16) Sean Hannity 5
16) Tom Coburn 5
14) Victor Davis Hanson 6
14) Dick Cheney 6
12) Ed Morrissey 7
12) Ann Coulter 7
10) Jonah Goldberg 8
10) Newt Gingrich 8
9) Jim DeMint 9
7) Mark Levin 10
7) Glenn Beck 10
6) Charles Krauthammer 11
5) Mark Steyn 14
4) Michelle Malkin 15
3) Thomas Sowell 17
2) Sarah Palin 20
1) Rush Limbaugh 24

THE NUMBER 1 THOUGHT FOR 2009:
We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of cows in America, but we haven't got a clue as to where thousands of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration.

Just a reminder that even Zeus nods from time to time. As if SW Episode One wasn't enough, the 1977 Star Wars Christmas Special!!!

Sgt. Jared Monti, killed in Afghanistan while rescuing fellow soldiers under fire. The 30-year-old Sgt. from Raynham, Massachusetts, will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for bravery. He is only the second person fighting in Afghanistan to get the medal; the sixth since 9/11.

Spc. Ross A. McGinnis who won the Medal Of Honor for falling on a grenade to save his squadmates in Iraq.

President RWR's conclusion to his fortieth anniversary of DDay speech:Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their value [valor], and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

American swimmer Ricky Berens has an accident and still wins a silver medal at FINAs in Italy. Michael Phelps wins gold and goes under fifty seconds in the 100 meter butterfly for the first time and sets a world record.

From joshuapundit:
One thing the Obama Administration has done with it's anti-Israel policies that it probably didn't intend is to unite the Israeli public behind Netanyahu. According to most polls, Israeli approval of Obama is around the 6% mark and over 80% of Israelis approve of Netanyahu's handling of the Obama Administration's demands thus far.

Jews in America may very well be a different story. But in the very near future, those who haven't already woken up will have to make a choice between supporting Israel's right to live in freedom and dignity or being loyal adherents of the Obama Administration. They won't be able to do both.

In case anyone has forgotten Charles Manson.

I remember that when then President Nixon said that he thought that Charles Manson was guilty, the entire press corps and TV news jumped all over him for prejudicing the verdict. President Obama makes derogatory comments about policemen in what may turn into a lawsuit and no noise at all. Can you say,"Double Standard".

Ever notice ow you can hate people in a movie, but still love the movie? I do not like many of the actors in "Must Love Dogs" but it is one of my favorite movies. I will not watch any TV show or film in which Jeanine Garofolo appears as it makes me ill to watch her. There are actors whose work I will not pay to see although I might watch it on TV.
BTW watch "Night People" starring Gregory Peck if you get a chance. It is a thriller set in Berlin under the quadrapartite occupation. "One, Two, Three" is a Billy Wilder film starring James Cagney set in Berlin before the Wall. If you are over fifty watch it with a teenager and explain the jokes. James Cagney was still in good health when he made this.

The gov will tax the rich. Ya know people making more than 380,000, er 350,000, er 320,000-oh well some people making thousands of dollars right?

Just click your heels together and say, "Fund Healthcare. Fund Healthcare. Fund Healthcare. Gee Biden, I don't think we are in OZ anymore."


Check tonight to see if Michelle Obama is wearing ruby slippers or silver shoes.

My Motto!!

The 2008 Total Solar Eclipse ove the Great Wall of China. We won't see the 22 July TSE Either. It will begin in India and will not reach us.
This is taken from APOD. Check there for credits.

TOMORROW IS THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LUNAR LANDING. COLLINS PICKS UP ARMSTRONG AND ALDRIN IN THE LEM.

from APOD, Anne Riou, Luna in conjunction with Jupiter, in the lower right hand cornr. If you expand the photo, you can see clearly the Galilean moons.

I, however, prefer, "Even a man who who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the Autumn moon is bright."
Maleeva-the old Gypsy Woman

Just a fun pic copywright Marco Fulle, Krakatoa erupting as it has been since 2008. Global Warming my buttocks. The last time this went up in a major way, we had nuclear winter-remember that? Nuclear Winter, I mean,not Krakatoa blowing up.

Does anyone have pictures of Thera? Its eruption destroyed Minoan Civilization.

I have always maintained an ambivalent relationship with WQEDTV, our local public TV station. True its programming was relentlessly Democrat/Liberal, but its local programming-Chris Fenimore's and Nancy Polinski's cooking shows and Rick Sebak's programs about PA reminded me of NJ Public TV which also did local shows geared to the wishes of its listeners.
WQED has, however, revealed itself to be one of those political entities who fire cleaning ladies making minimum wage while keeping on six figure execs who have perqs such as Dusquesne Club memberships. Those outside of PGH will have to imagine how expensive those are. Worse yet, they were not even personally fired by an organization that tries to get us to contribute by stressing that "we" are a family.
In a skit on Laugh In many years ago, Guy Lombardo said, "When I go, I am taking New Years Eve with me."
I guess when Mr. Rogers died, he took the WQED family with him.

Arcturus in the lower left, the Big Dipper in the center above Mount Rushmore. Happy Fourth of July.

On the sixtieth anniversary of the Publication of 1984, his greatest novel only because Animal Farm is not a novel, this conclusion from his essay on "The Common Toad".

"The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it."

She may be an uberbitcher but the tummy tuck worked wonders. Kate Gosselin.

M51 on the left and NGC5194 on the right-interpenetrating galaxies just to the south and west, that is down and to the right, of the brightest star in the Big Dipper's tail.

A blast from the past. Bill Clinton gropes Fran Drescher.

BE SURE TO READ THIS:


At RedState.com
Vichy Republicans
The quislings have formed a fire brigade to shoot at Cheney, Limbaugh, and others for burning down the quislings' potemkin village.
Posted by Erick Erickson

Just read that NEW YORK magazine is losing money, so they will trim the subscription list and raise the price. In PGH this is known as PATCO economics. Lower demand and raise the price. Am I the only one who sees something weird in this strategy?

From Randall Hoven at AMERICAN THINKER:

If you think a Republican with published SAT scores that imply an IQ of 125-130, or smarter than 95% of the population and in the range of Lincoln, Rousseau and Thackeray, and who graduated from Yale and then earned an MBA from Harvard is stupid, but a Democrat who has not released any of his education records is the smartest President ever, you might not be a Republican.

As Rush said on Beck's TV show today, "Remember Obama puts his pants one leg at a time. Just like Hilary."

Kris's son ready to cheer on the Pens. Go Pens!!

The rightward drift of the GOP: Bush 1, Dole, Bush 2, McCain. WOW some rightward drift.

While Bibi is visiting the Pres., a photo of the Iranian Shahab 3 Missile at launch.

Wow am I busy this morning. Piper Palin, 8, the daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, and Natalie Cosgrove, 8, sell lemonade to Andrea Watts and her mother, Pam, in front of the Governor's Mansion on Sunday. Other items for sale included diet ice tea and banana bread. Small boxes of raisins were free.

from AP

And to make things better-from Egotastic's magnificent blog, the luscious Salma Hayek.

Just a comment on Wanda Sykes's Rush Limbaugh remarks at last night's Correspondent's Dinner.

Another great wake up-Kelly Ripa from The Conservative Grape Vine.

And for any of my female readers if there are any, Jonathan Schaech in a Macintosh.

What a way to start the day. The lovely Kelly Ripa in a bikini.

Another, clearer, view of Titan also taken by the Cassini Spacecraft.

Titan seen through Saturn's rings. The moon Epimetheus, which orbits outside the F Ring, is seen above Titan. Titan is the largest moon in the System and the only one to have an atmosphere. The photo was taken in April by the Cassini Spacecraft.

A crescent moon with the Pleiades above and Mercury below. Photo from APOD taken last Sunday.

Tomorrow is World Malaria Day. People die in the millions because the USA prohibits the use of DDT.

““The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”—Margaret Thatcher.”

From TMZ via Blonde Sagacity's blog:


Pap: "You're a wrestler ... so, do you think you have better abs than Barack Obama?"
Chris Jericho: "As of right now I have better abs ... but pretty soon he's gonna take 65% of my abs away from me and give 'em to somebody else."

Another great shot from the soon to be gone Hubble Space Telescope: a Transit of Saturn by its four largest moons. From left to right Enceladus and her shadow, Dione and her shadow, Titan,by far the largest moon in the Solar system. It is even large than Luna, and over just at the edge of the planet Mimas. We can see these because of the angle of the rings. Taken from APOD.

From Egotastic's blog:
Jennifer Love Hewitt with new bf-JAMIE KENNEDY. Bad taste Ms. Hewitt; bad taste.

Oh frabjous day, caloo callay-a senate group equivalent to the Blue Dog Democrats in the House:


Joining Bayh as co-leaders are Sens. Tom Carper of Delaware and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucuses with the Democrats, also joined the group. The other Senate Democrats signing on were Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado, Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Mark Warner of Virginia.

From The Sunday Telegraph London on the joys of national health care:


Baby 'OT' dies after court rules his life-saving ventilator must be switched off
A nine-month-old boy known as OT has died after his parents lost a legal bid to overturn a ruling giving hospital staff the power to stop medical treatment keeping him alive, the parents' solicitor said.

Hospital scandal: missed warnings
The shocking extent of the failures at an NHS hospital where hundreds of patients died unnecessarily can be disclosed today.

Senior managers at Stafford Hospital were told repeatedly that the standard of care they were delivering was not good enough but each time the warnings were ignored.
The disclosures follow the publication last week of a damning report by the NHS regulator, the Healthcare Commission, that found that hundreds of patients died at the hospital because of the “appalling” treatment they received.
 

Today, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose that executives at Stafford Hospital were warned as early as 2002 by the commission’s predecessor that it had problems with the standard of its emergency care services and that it was not adequately staffed. However, they failed to act on the warnings.
In 2006, a former government adviser warned the hospital about the standards of hygiene in A&E. Again, the warning was ignored.

From Patriot Post:

Ron Silver, R.I.P
Ron Silver, a rare Hollywood liberal-turned-conservative, died Sunday of cancer. He was 62. Silver was perhaps best known for his role as a political consultant on the television series "The West Wing," but he also won a Tony Award in 1988 for his role in "Speed-the-Plow," written by another former liberal, David Mamet. Like Mamet, 9/11 changed Silver's opinions about politics -- he called himself a "9/11 Republican." After his change of views, he spoke at the Republican convention in 2004, saying, "This is a war we did not seek. This is a war waged against us. This is a war to which we had to respond." Silver's career suffered for his "traitorous" patriotism. After his RNC speech, he said, "It's affected me very badly. I can't point to a person or a job I've lost, but this community is not very pluralistic. I haven't worked for 10 months." One job he did find was narrating "Fahrenhype 9/11," which deconstructed Michael Moore's Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11." The Wall Street Journal wrote, "His brother, Mitchell Silver, [said] that Silver's politics 'were not shared by anyone he knew.' His politics, in other words, were born of conviction, not convenience, which is one way to describe an honest patriot."

BTW "The Unit" on CBS Sundays is Mamet's series about a US Army anti-terroism, well, unit. It really rocks. Denis Haysbert stars with Scot Foley and Regina Taylor as Molly Blaine, Haysbert's wife.

I just learned through Ann Coulter's column in Human Events that Ron Silver died. Please pray for him and his family.

An old picture of me.

Thor's Helmet-appropriate for an Asgard even has a WR star at its center.

Wendy Richard died of cancer. She was one of the stars, possibly the last remaining alive, of BBC's "Are You Being Served"? She also starred for years in the soap opera "East Enders". She made many laugh. She will be missed.
On the other hand, BBC has made a film about former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The actress who plays her says that she loathes Thatcher. The movie, however, is "not a hatchet job." Of course not. The BBC is not known for its anti-Jewish, left wing bias.

I have heard a rumor that while Nancy Pelosi is in Italy, she is going to get an award from the Pope. Will somebody call the Vatican and warn them about her views on Partial-Birth Abortion if nothing else.

I have discovered the universally effective sleeping aid. I begin to reread John Rawls "A Theory of Justice". I have never made it more than five pages before nodding off.

Here she is world; here she is folks; here's Theres`e!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow, Collins and Specter-mark those names well. They are the RINOs who voted fir the stimulus package. I tried to email Specter yesterday, but all of his email accounts gave an error message. Guess he didn't want any input from the serfs. The barons just went ahead and did what the King pleased. Two more years until the serfs can change some of the nobles. BUT remember 1789 and 1871-well the first part of 1871 anyway.

If you didn't know, you won't care, but today is the anniversary of "the gipper's" birth. We are better for your life.

Just thought that I would post this photo of Audie Murphy the most decorated soldier in US History and a good actor as well.

From a column by Dick Morris:

According to the Federal Reserve Board of St. Louis, the Fed is now holding upwards of $1.7 trillion for American banks, more than twice what it had in its vaults at the start of 2008. How did the Fed get the money? Congress voted the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) package of bailout funds. The Fed purchased bank assets to get liquidity onto their balance sheets. What did the banks do with the money? They gave it right back to the Fed to hold in its vaults. They didn't lend it out. They didn't use it to stimulate the economy. They are using it for a nest egg to tap when times improve. Just like the theory of rational expectations says they would.

Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the 'apex predator', can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and 'survival of the pack mentality' bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.



Not for the squeamish!
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WARNING: THE POST WHICH FOLLOWS MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR SOME VIEWERS AND MAY NOT BE WSF

An example of total rejection of reality:

Defense Minister and Labor leader Ehud Barak said that despite the continued rocket fire, Hamas was still interested in maintaining a state of calm in Gaza.

"We hit Hamas very hard, and it is picking up the pieces right now," Barak said during a tour of the North. "It is really interested in quiet, but the rocket fire is a fact, and we cannot ignore facts."

Barak also warned that continued rocket fire would be met with a harsh response, "harsher even" than Operation Cast Lead.

From a column by Charles Platt of Wired Magazine:

If you haven’t heard of Adam Shepard, his remarkable book Scratch Beginnings, now being promoted through www.scratchbeginnings.com, describes how he went through an experience far more gruelling than my brief flirtation with low-paying work. He placed himself in a homeless shelter with $25 in his pocket, found a job as a day laborer, then worked for a moving company, and after 10 months had a pickup truck, an apartment, and $2,500 in savings. His conclusion: People can still make it in the United States if they are willing to live carefully on a budget and work hard.

I was watching a Science Channel special on galaxies, and they were kvelling that we, presumably the human race, would be in big trouble because the Andromeda galaxy, M31, is heading toward the Milky Way. The authors then explained all of the horrific things that would happen when this collision happened. It was about twenty five minutes into the special that they pointed out that this event would happen beginning in about 2 billion years or so. The fact that the Sun would have probably gone nova and expanded to the orbit of Mars was not mentioned until the end of the program. Here are two photos of the Death Star Galaxy, 3C321. The second is from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory unenhanced. The first is also from the Chandra, enhanced.

I am not making any comments about the Super Bowl.
Why would MTV advertise on SpikeTV? If you don't know what SPIKETV is, suffice it to say, that they run Steven Seagal [BTW Google his name and look at the puffery there] movie marathons on Saturdays and have a show called Manswers, which once ran an answer to the burning question whether or not large bosoms were more buoyant than smaller bosoms. Only they didn't day bosoms.-"nuff said?

I am so pissed at David Wold-Law and Order et.al.-I am still doing the research but so far, more abortion doctors and those aiding and abetting abortions and stem cell researchers have been killed on his shows than have been murdered during the years the show has been on.

Just in case you haven't seen this.