Playing for Keeps

Related Link » Gaza Flotilla Updates
“Peaceful Flotilla Activist preparing to greet IDF soldiers” [facetious pic-caption]
— Theo Spark, 31 MAY 2010

I think the situation around Israel has become dire. I also attribute most of the blame to The Obama Himself. His antagonistic posture towards Israel and His corresponding posture-of-appeasement toward Israel's mortal enemies, including, but not limited to Iran, Syria, and Hamas, has emboldened these terrorist regimes to probe the extent of Israel's willingness to survive annihilation.

Israel will defend itself even unto its own demise as a sovereign nation. And the only thing they can do to stave off that ultimate catastrophe, for all of Western civilization in fact, is to cling to mutual assured destruction (MAD), the same strategy that prevented a nuclear exchange between America and the Soviet Union for the better part of half a century. Israel can not, however, much as it might like to be able to do, prevent Iran and the rest of that pack of jackals from committing national suicide in the process of destroying Israel. The only thing Israel can do is make sure, to the best of its ability, that its enemies understand they will be utterly demolished if they launch a war of annihilation.

The problem, of course, is that Israel's enemies glorify death, and so they just may be insane enough to accept the risk of complete destruction of their own people, in order to destroy the land of the people they despise — Jews. And most of the Europeans, who also adopt, aid, and abet Jew-hatred as a matter of course and of habit, are encouraging the psychos surrounding Israel.

Up until the last Presidential election, the only power that was convincing enough for Iran and the others, that they can not survive a doomsday exchange with Israel, was the assurance of the United States, which lent that last bit of credence to an all-out retaliation by Israel in the event. But the advent of The Obama Himself, and His godforsaken strategy of appeasement of human detritus the world over, the likes of which would have made Neville Chamberlain cringe, has given Iran and the other murderous bastards the green light to rethink the hitherto unthinkable.

---

UPDATE:

Related Link » Mossad chief: Obama's perceived military "softness" weakens Israel
“In a rare public expression of concern, Meir Dagan, head of Israel's Mossad, warned Tuesday, June 1, that the progressive decline of American strength over the past decade and the perception of the Obama administration as "soft on military options for solving disputes" have cut deep into Israel's military and diplomatic maneuverability and made it fair game for its enemies. Barack Obama has not given up on an imposed peace solution - or radically amended his attitude toward Israel.”
— DEBKAfile Special Report June 1, 2010

Post #1,298 Playing for Keeps

It's the intellectual rigor, stupid!

Related Link » Wronger Than Wrong
“As evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins observed, ‘When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly halfway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong’.” [emphasis added]
— By Michael Shermer, November 2006 (Scientific American)

Related Link » Interpolation
“In the mathematical subfield of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points.”
— From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't let the mathematical jargon put you off. There is something simple, albeit profound, within Dawkins' observation.

Interpolation between two data points is the familiar process of finding the average of the two data values. In every-day situations we sum the two values and divide the sum by two. It's trivial. This is technically linear interpolation, which implicitly assumes that both "known" data points are of equal veracity.

For example, suppose we want to compute the average value of a $1 bill and a $5 bill. This is easy because we know that both bills are of equal veracity (or trustworthiness), hence the average value of these two bills is computed by linear interpolation (or linear averaging) as $3.

Frequently, however, we can not claim that two related data points are of equal trustworthiness. For example, suppose that one datum was provided to us by Albert Einstein; and the other by Nancy Pelosi. The former was a renowned genius; the latter is an infamous idiot. Clearly, such two data points are not of equal trustworthiness. What can we do in such a situation?

The thing to do when confronted with data of unequal veracity is to compute a weighted average. Now, here is the very important part. The weights that need to be used in such a weighted average must be based on trustworthiness, and NOT on the intensity with which the datum is held or expressed. Remember, Einstein was a soft-spoken genius; Pelosi is a shrill idiot.

Hence, for the average of the Einstein-Pelosi data, we assign a veracity-weight of nearly 1.0 to Einstein's datum, and a veracity-weight of nearly 0.0 to Pelosi's datum. Let's be generous and assign the Pelosi datum a weight of 0.001, which leaves us a weight of 0.999 for Einstein's datum. Then, the weighted average of these data becomes: (0.999)Einstein+(0.001)Pelosi. In essence, we can simply ignore Pelosi, because everyone knows she is a f*cking idiot.

Post #1,297 It's the intellectual rigor, stupid!

Israel's Eleventh Commandment

Related Link » Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran
“Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline. The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers. The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels. The flotilla’s commander, identified only as "Colonel O", told an Israeli newspaper: ‘We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders’. Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile.”
— Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, May 30, 2010 (Times Online)

Any person with a functioning brain should understand that Israel can not allow its surrounding enemy states to launch a war of annihilation against it without fear of massive retaliation. This is a truism that applies to every other nation as well, albeit many nations put their faith in America's promise of retaliation on their behalf (the so-called "nuclear umbrella coverage").

Mealy-mouthed assurances by The Obama Himself notwithstanding, the only assurance Israel can trust is that of the IDF. And that is the essence of Israel's Eleventh Commandment.

Israeli Submarine Fleet


Post #1,296 Israel's Eleventh Commandment

... just not the one in the Gulf

Related Link » Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?

By now, everyone is familiar with Rahm "It Up Your Ass" Emanuel's political dictum, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste". And so The Obama Himself has obediently followed instructions, with hundreds of "clean-up" temps bussed in to accompany him for a photo-up in Louisiana.

Though nobody could realistically expect the President to do anything but offer whatever support the Federal government can give the experts who are trying to "plug that hole", it is, nevertheless, characteristic of the Poser-in-Chief to make his presence known photogenically. 'Waste not, want not', eh Rhambo?

That hole's a photo-op, Chief

Post #1,295 ... just not the one in the Gulf

Your Sunshine misses you still ...

Related Link » You Are My Sunshine

Mom and Her Sunshine (1950)
Riverside Park, Manhattan

Memorial-Day Weekend has come to be known, along with Labor-Day Weekend, as one of the two seasonal "bookends" for American students to set aside their books. It represents the traditional start of summer vacation.

But Memorial Day itself, May 30th, represents a somber occasion for all Americans. It is the day we set aside each year to pay respect to the men and women who have fallen in combat over the course of American history.

Memorial Day (1999) also corresponded to the end date for my own mother's life, which, poignantly, was bracketed by the other war-related day of remembrance, commemorated the world over as Armistice Day. That was the day the First World War ended, and the day my Mom's life began.

Your Sunshine misses you still ...

Post #1,294 Your Sunshine misses you still ...

Also Known as "Quoting"

Related Link » Biden jokes about Blumenthal's military service misstatements
“Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday took an unexpected dig at Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal for misstating his military service record. […] ‘I didn't serve in Vietnam. I don't want to make a Blumenthal mistake here’, he said according to a pool report. […] Blumenthal became the brunt of Republican criticism after The New York Times reported he misstated his service record during the Vietnam War on several occasions. […] The candidate has apologized for his comments and Democrats have stood beside him, saying the criticism against him is simply his opponents blowing matters out of proportion.”
— By Jordan Fabian, 05/26/10 (The Hill)
[emphasis added, above, to what is political jargon for "quoting" — TheBigHenry]

"My fabrication was blown out of proportion to its intended effect!"      h/t Theo

Post #1,293 Also Known as "Quoting"

Is this what you want?

First came the tyranny of the majority, and all I could do was speak out and vote against them. Alas, to no avail, for I was in the minority.

Speak Out Early — and Often

The Founding Fathers understood well the dangers of a tyrannical majority. This was why they were careful to configure the three Branches of the Federal Government with potent checks and balances. And this is also why they institutionalized the protections of a Bill of Rights as the inaugural ten Amendments to the Constitution.

And it was good for more than two centuries.

But then a smooth-talking poser came upon the scene who did not know the Founding Fathers nor much of America's history and its traditions, for it was quite possible that he was indeed a foreigner.

And the ignorant self-absorbed majority rejoiced, for He had promised them free lunch.

Then came the tyranny of the oligarchy, and all I could do was to speak out, at my considerable peril. But I could no longer vote against them, for they had abolished the right to vote.

The free-lunch majority voted-in a President, a Senate, and a House of Representatives, all of whom "knew" exactly what was good for us and, more importantly, for themselves. They knew they could bribe the self-absorbed free-lunchers with unsustainable entitlements, which, nevertheless, would not impact personally those who were in power.

And the happy morons continued to rejoice and party, for those who spoke out against such insanity were known (by them) to be racists, criminals, and "bordering on sedition".

And then the oligarchy contrived to institute an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and bailed out all the financially corrupt and bankrupt unions, thereby assuring themselves of unassailable political power in perpetuity.

Finally came the tyranny of the dictatorship. And I could no longer speak out. For they had thrown me in jail, after cutting off my tongue.

Is this what you happy morons want for your children and their descendent's in perpetuity?

Post #1,292 Is this what you want?

... and 2% don't know Shinola

Related Link » Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
“Overall, 42% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. That is the lowest level of approval yet measured for this president [The Obama Himself]. Fifty-six percent (56%) now disapprove of his performance.”
— Rasmussen Reports, May 25, 2010

In summary, 42% of voters are in denial and 2% wouldn't know Shinola if they stepped in it.



Post #1,291 ... and 2% don't know Shinola

Fiddler on the Roof of the White House

Related Link » The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
“All can agree that the rule of law is better than the rule of reciprocal revenge […] but I see these rules and institutions as evolutionary phenomena, too, emerging bottom-up in society rather than being imposed top-down by fortuitously Solomonic rulers. They come through the filter of cultural selection just as surely as do technologies. And if you look at the history of, for instance, merchant law, you find exactly this: merchants make it up as they go along, turning their innovations into customs, ostracising those who break the informal rules and only later do monarchs subsume the rules within the laws of the land. […] Indeed it is the whole point of common law. […] So while it is true that institutional innovators in the public sphere are just as vital as technological innovators in the private, I suspect that specialization is the key to both.”
— Matt Ridley, “The Rational Optimist”, p. 118.

America — on a track greased by, ... er, Greece

If Matt Ridley's thesis is rational, as I believe it is, then it clearly condemns bureaucratic social-engineering to the same dustbin, which received the detritus of the central-planning dictatorships that failed in the last century and those that are doomed to fail in the present. The more I read about history, socio-economics, evolution, and human folly, the clearer our current national malaise becomes. It is an ugly sight.

We are currently in the grip of a crowd mentality that is largely characterized by wide-spread ignorance and dispersed pockets of elitist conceit that have infested our federal government. The Obama Himself is a particularly toxic glob of overblown self-worth in a thin-shell of fabricated credentials. Together with the insanity of the Congressional Democrat majority, we have a perfect storm for socio-economic implosion. And the barking media jackals blare a cacophony of verbal sewage as gift-wrapping for the whole sorry mess.

If you require a quick update, having just returned from a trip to Pluto, we are drowning in thousands of pages of legislative suicide, costing trillions of dollars that we borrowed from China, which, in turn, is enabling serious political and security problems for us in Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria, and god only knows where else; probably in Africa, and South America. Meanwhile, our leftist dilettantes are bowing, scraping, fiddling like Nero, and shoving restart-dildos up their nether orifices.

Post #1,290 Fiddler on the Roof of the White House

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: (I've Had) The Time Of My Life

{Song #67 « Song #68 » Song #69}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

The Time Of My Life

Song #68 is (I've Had) The Time of My Life sung by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, after having been selected to be the finale song for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The film features Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes, and Jerry Orbach. The story is a coming of age drama that documents a teenaged woman's rebellion against her father by starting a relationship with a dance instructor during a family summer vacation. Almost a third of the film involves dancing scenes choreographed by Kenny Ortega (later famous for High School Musical), and the finale has been described as "the most goosebump-inducing dance scene in movie history".




Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life


Post #1,289 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: (I've Had) The Time Of My Life

Gov. Patrick Gesticulates a Rhetorical Flourish to Slander GOP

Gov. Patrick Gesticulates a Rhetorical Flourish to Slander GOP

Related Link » Patrick says Obama critics are 'almost at the level of sedition'
“‘I think that the number of people in the Grand Old Party who seem to be absolutely committed to saying "no", whenever he [The Obama Himself] says "yes", no matter what it is, even if it's an idea that they came up with, is just extraordinary’, the governor told reporters after the forum. But did the opposition [of the GOP] really border on sedition? ‘That was a rhetorical flourish’, Patrick said.” — Michael Levenson, May 24, 2010 (BostonGlobe)

Here's a rhetorical flourish
for you, Governor:

... and the horse you rode in on

Post #1,288 Gov. Patrick Gesticulates a Rhetorical Flourish to Slander GOP

It's crap!

Related Link » Teachers Seek $23b -- Lifeline or Bailout?
“Education Secretary Arne Duncan is asking lawmakers to put aside "politics and ideology" as they consider a request for $23 billion in "emergency" funding for public schools –- a measure Republicans reject as a massive federal bailout for the teachers' unions. The Obama administration is supporting the bill, formally titled the Keep Our Educators Working Act and sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) dated May 13, Duncan warned that if the bill is not enacted, "millions" of school children will be adversely affected and the ensuing damage will ‘undermine the groundbreaking reform efforts underway in states and districts all across the country’. ‘This is a bipartisan issue -- politics and ideology, around education, we have to put to the side’, Duncan said during an appearance on "Fox and Friends" on May 21. ‘I'm very worried, very worried about anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 teachers being laid off this year. We have school districts -- due to the horrendous budget times, conditions they're facing -- looking to eliminate summer school this summer, eliminating after-school and extracurricular activities, going to four-day weeks, not five-day school weeks … None of this is good for children. None of this is good for education. None of this is good for the economy. So we are urging Congress to move with a real sense of urgency to pass this legislation’.”
— James Rosen, May 24, 2010 (FOX News)

This plea from the Education Secretary is so full of ... er, crap that it requires a structured, albeit a bit stilted response, bullet by crap-filled bullet:

The Complete Response to the Crap-Sandwich
• "Duncan is asking lawmakers to put aside politics and ideology". This is crap. Just look at the political affiliation of every legislator mentioned by name — it's "D" for Democrap.
• "Duncan warned that if the bill is not enacted, 'millions' of school children will be adversely affected". This is crap. The Democraps always assert that the poor and downtrodden little people, usually millions or billions of them, will be adversely affected or worse. The operative word is "assert". I assert that the children could be well served if the sub-par teachers are weeded out.
• "This is a bipartisan issue". Crap! It's as partisan as it gets.
• "None of this is good for children". Crap! Some of it may very well be good for children.
• "None of this is good for education". Crap! Education in this country is a sorry mess. It desperately needs housecleaning, which the unions desperately want to prevent.
• "None of this is good for the economy". Crap! It may not be good for the crappy teachers and the blood-sucking unions, but it is most definitely good for the economy. What would be very bad for the economy is another massive bailout, which this legislation most definitely is!
• "So we are urging Congress to move with a real sense of urgency to pass this legislation". Crap! Crap! Crap! Notice the repetitive "urging" and "urgency". Anytime the Democraps emphasize "urgency", you can bet they are promoting a gigantic crap-sandwich that they want passed without any scrutiny. Recall Obamacare? There is nothing in the least urgent about this crap-filled legislation. It is pure unadulterated crap, just like Obamacare.

Post #1,287 It's crap!

You no look Djou ...

Charles Djou and family                  h/t TheDC

Related Link » GOP [Djou] wins House seat in Obama’s home district
“HONOLULU (AP) — A Honolulu city councilman has defeated two Democrats to give Republicans a midterm election victory in the U.S. congressional district where President Barack Obama grew up. Charles Djou’s win Saturday is the latest triumph for the GOP as it looks to take back control of Congress. And it came as a blow to Democrats who could not rally around a candidate and find a way to win a congressional race that should have been a cakewalk. The seat had been held by a Democrat for nearly 20 years and is located where Obama was [supposedly] born and spent most of his childhood. ‘This is a momentous day. We have sent a message to the United States Congress. We have sent a message to the national Democrats. We have sent a message to the machine’, Djou said. ‘The congressional seat is not owned by one political party. This congressional seat is owned by the people’.”
— By HERBERT A. SAMPLE, 05/23/10 (TheDC)

You go, Djou!

Post #1,286 You no look Djou ...

German Problem III

[click to enlarge]                   h/t Theo

Related Link » The New Old German Problem
“If it should choose, Germany could go nuclear in six months, its arsenal reflective of a country that makes Mercedes and BMWs. That is not so wild an idea in an age when unstable nations like Iran and North Korea boast of their arsenals and their aggression, while others such as Turkey and Brazil flaunt U.S. faculty-lounge sermons on non-proliferation. If Iran should go nuclear — and I think it will within a year or two — we should imagine that a Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria would too. As the European Union collapses, as third-rate nations become nuclear, and as the United States abdicates its postwar role in ensuring the safety and security of the West, why would Germany continue to subsidize southern Europe while receiving mostly blame for its efforts, while its airspace would be in theory vulnerable to the likes of a theocratic Iran? In a sane world, a financially solvent United States would now step up to the plate, reassure Germany of both its [America's] long-standing financial and military support, and seek through its friendship and alliance to deflect any natural German inclination to translate its economic power and present seething into something other than mere anger at the EU. But we don’t live in a sane world. U.S. finances are following the Greek example. President Obama either does not understand the West or does not care to. To the new America, a Germany is no different from a Pakistan or Venezuela, just another member of the international community, no better or no worse than any other. Our commitment to NATO and the U.S. defense budget will soon be redefined, as even more entitlements along the lines of the recent trillion-dollar health care plan are envisioned. In other words, in such a vacuum, very soon, if we are not careful, we are going to have a German problem — again.”
— Victor Davis Hanson, May 22nd, 2010 (Works and Days)

Victor Davis Hanson is a military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets, and was a strong supporter of the policies of US President George W. Bush. He was for many years a professor of classics at Cal State University, Fresno, and is currently the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Prof. Hanson, whose commentary on current events (in the powder keg we endearingly call earth) is indispensable only to people who hope for an ongoing future, can always be counted on to foretell the future, if any, in his inimitable measured terms. This gives those of us inclined to slightly less than polite-society reserve to recount his wise insights, with a touch of indiscretion.

WTF?! Will this administration-from-hell never terminate its trek toward that ultimate catastrophe — a third German problem? Those of us of a certain age know full well that the one problem the world must prevent at all cost, including at the cost of a World War III, is another German problem. Is The Obama Himself too young, too stupid, too arrogant, too narcissistic, ... , or all of the above? Will His closest advisers, like that son-of-a-bitch Rahm "It Up Your Ass" Emanuel, and that sneering-and-smirking bastard Robert Gibbs continue to torment all sane individuals in the entire Western civilized world?

Stay tuned, for as long as possible.

Post #1,285 German Problem III

Explains a Lot

←
A small rodent runs in front of President Barack Obama as he delivers remarks on Wall Street and Financial reform, Thursday, May 20, 2010, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
←

Related Link » Rodent scurries by as Obama lauds Wall Street vote
“WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of his battle with the titans of Wall Street, President Barack Obama was nearly upstaged by a rodent. Obama had just begun a Rose Garden statement lauding the end of a Senate filibuster on his financial overhaul when some kind of rodent dashed out of the bushes to his right, just outside the Oval Office.  […]
Washington is, after all, built along a river, on what used to be a malarial swamp.” [emphasis added]
— By MARK S. SMITH, 05/20/10 (TheDC)

Explains a lot.

Post #1,284 Explains a Lot

Let There Be Life

Related Link » Scientists create first synthetic cell
“Heralding a new era in biology, scientists for the first time have created a synthetic cell, completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions, which can survive and reproduce itself, researchers at the private J. Craig Venter Institute announced Thursday.”
— By Robert Lee Hotz, Wall Street Journal, 05/20/10

The Obama Himself poses as The Messiah. Whereas  J. Craig Venter may actually be God, Alec Baldwin's claim notwithstanding.

Alec Baldwin is GOD!


Post #1,283 Let There Be Life

The Rhetoric of National Insanity

Related Link » Veteran psychiatrist calls liberals mentally ill
Publishes extensive study on 'Psychological Causes of Political Madness'

“‘Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded’, says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness". ‘Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave’. While political activists on the other side of the spectrum have made similar observations, Rossiter boasts professional credentials and a life virtually free of activism and links to "the vast right-wing conspiracy".”
— WorldNetDaily Exclusive, May 20, 2010

Related Link » Obama hails Senate action on financial regs
“President Obama praised the prospect of a final Senate vote today on new financial regulations that he said would ‘protect consumers, protect our economy, and hold Wall Street accountable’.”
— Posted by David Jackson, May 20, 2010 (USAToday)

Yeah, that's great. But who or what will hold The Obama Himself and his liberal insane asylum accountable?

In the aftermath of 9/11, I experienced a personal aftershock when, for the first time, I was made aware that a not insignificant fraction of the population was not outraged by what had occurred on that day of infamy. Ever since then I have been tormented by that knowledge. What could possibly account for such a convoluted mind set that, for want of a better description, I had simply referred to as "insanity". Who knew?

In today's episode of "The World According to the View from Inside the Asylum", the rhetoric of The Obama Himself smoothly blended sensible-sounding BS together with gems such as equating the presumed merits of this pending financial legislation with the corresponding "merits" of the monstrously wrong-headed (and multi-headed) Obamacare law that was Rahm-ed through Congress against the better judgement of the majority of our insanity-surviving electorate.

Of course, this pending legislation might just become the silver bullet that will cure all the ills on Wall Street, where the Administration has deposited all the blame for everything from our continuing recession to the evils of athlete's foot. But, I predict, and you can quote me on this, the totality of unintended consequences emanating from this Congressional pack of mad-dog liberals, will far outweigh any possible good that can come of this, the next atrocity-in-the-making.

Post #1,282 The Rhetoric of National Insanity

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: When I Need You

{Song #66 « Song #67 » Song #68}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #67 is When I Need You sung by Leo Sayer. "When I Need You" is a popular song written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager. Produced by Richard Perry, Leo Sayer's version made number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1977 after three of his earlier singles had stalled at number 2. A massive hit worldwide, it reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week in May 1977.

I was quite taken by this heartfelt song of longing. The melody, as always, was the selling point for me, though the lyrics are clearly from the stand point of a long-distance trucker, who is hardly what one would normally visualize as a paragon for romance (no slight intended). Moreover, I have always felt, from the time I first heard this song, that its natural title is "Only a Heartbeat Away". In any case, it is a melodic favorite of mine.

Leo Sayer - When I Need You


Post #1,281 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: When I Need You

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans ... don't have maps ..."

Related Link » ‘Last of the Few’: Cartoon Round Up

h/t Theo

Related Link » Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007 (with subtitles)

At least she's easy on the eyes ...

Post #1,280 "I personally believe that U.S. Americans ... don't have maps ..."

First they came for the super rich ...

That's right. I won. You lost, America. Suck it!      h/t Townhall

Related Link » "Enough Money"
“One of the many shallow statements that sound good -- if you don't stop and think about it -- is that "at some point, you have made enough money". The key word in this statement, made by President Barack Obama recently, is "you". There is nothing wrong with my deciding how much money is enough for me or your deciding how much money is enough for you, but when politicians think that they should be deciding how much money is enough for other people, that is starting down a very slippery slope. […] The French Revolution began arbitrary executions among the hereditary aristocracy, but ended up arbitrarily executing all sorts of other people, including eventually even leaders of the Revolution itself, such as Robespierre. […] The moral bankruptcy of the notion that third parties can decide when somebody else has "enough" money is matched by its economic illiteracy. The rest of the country is not poorer by the amount of Bill Gates' fortune today and was not poorer by the amount of John D. Rockefeller's fortune a century ago. […] Politicians who take on that role [i.e., deciding how much money is enough for other people] stifle economic progress and drain away other people's money, in order to hand out goodies that will help get themselves re-elected.”
— by Thomas Sowell, May 18, 2010 (TownHall)

First they came for the super rich, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't super rich. Then they came for the very rich, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't very rich. Then they came for the rich, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't rich. Then they came for the middle class, and I was f*cked. Because by that time, if I did speak up, they would simply declare me to be a racist and cut my tongue out.

Oh, it couldn't happen here? Go ahead, keep choking that chicken. See what it gets you.

Just remember not to cry over spilled milk.

Post #1,279 First they came for the super rich ...

Science — Technology — Entrepreneurship

Related Link » Phantom Ray Rollout - Boeing Defense, Space & Security (2010)
“The rollout of Boeing BDS's "Phantom Ray" prototype unmanned airborne system and technologies demonstrator.”
— nighthawk006phoenix, May 14, 2010

*** Video courtesy of and copyright owned by Boeing Communications ***

God bless science, technology, entrepreneurship, and American ingenuity. And God bless the United States of America.

Post #1,278 Science — Technology — Entrepreneurship

Holy Cow!

Related Link » Monster black hole ejected from host galaxy
“A super-massive black hole — heavier than one billion suns — appears headed on an exit out of its home galaxy at 670,000 miles-an-hour.”
— By Dan Vergano, USA Today, 05/17/10

Question: What is the kinetic energy with which this monster was ejected?

Answer: The kinetic energy "E", of a mass "m", having a speed "v" is computed as follows:

E = (½)mv²

where

m = mass of a billion suns = 2×10³⁹ kilograms

and

v = 670,000 miles/hour = 299,517 meters/second = 0.1% of lightspeed

yielding

E = (10³⁹ kg)(3×10⁵ m/s)² = 9×10⁴⁹ joules

which is equivalent to

E = 2×10⁴⁰ Tons of TNT

Q.E.D.

Such a monstrous amount of energy, however, corresponds to a seemingly small index of earthquake-magnitude "M", which can be computed as follows (as shown in my post Energy of Earthquake in Logarithmic Nutshell):

E [Tons of TNT] = 2×10⁴⁰ = 10^{( 3⁄₂M - 3)}

Solving for M, we get

M = ²/₃(log(2×10⁴⁰) + 3) = 28.9

The corresponding value of M for the Yucatán Peninsula Impact Event was 11¹/₃ (as I previously computed in my above mentioned post).

Post #1,277 Holy Cow!

Meanwhile, back in the real world ...

Related Link » War in the Middle East 2010
“Potential Hezbollah offensive includes chemically armed SCUD missiles with a 450 km range, preemptive strikes on air fields, and a wave of tunnel attacks that cross from Lebanon into Israel, and Iranian attacks on Israel and even the continental USA.”
— Double Tapper, 17 MAY 2010

While The Obama Himself keeps dicking around with His happy-horseshit agenda, here is what's happening right now in the real world:

Recently Released on Pajamas Media TV


Post #1,276 Meanwhile, back in the real world ...

Search and Destroy

Related Link » BPK Admiral Panteleyev: Somalia
“On Tuesday evening, the large Russian anti-submarine ship (BPK) "Admiral Panteleyev" detained a pirate ship off the coast of Somalia, reported the Interfax news agency in the Ministry of Defense. […] The search of the pirate ship found seven Kalashnikov assault rifles, pistols of various brands, aluminum ladders for climbing aboard ships, navigation equipment, including satellite equipment, spare jerry cans with fuel, and a large number of spent cartridges.”
— spaspark

Russians Destroy Pirates' Motherf*cker-ship

This is the way to fight pirates and terrorists. Search and destroy.

When the Germans invaded Russia in 1941, they destroyed everything in their path. Then, in the bloodiest battle ever fought by mortal enemies, the Russians destroyed the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. There followed a protracted bloodletting that drove the rest of the Germans out of Russia.

By 1945, having lost upwards of 30 million men, women, and children (roughly 10% of their entire population), the Russian armies had surrounded Berlin. That's when, upon Marshal Zhukov's order of the day, the Russians proceeded to demolish methodically whatever was standing in the German capital. Whatever was not standing initially, they were ordered to stand it up and then to demolish it.

Russians know how to deal with those who would destroy them. Our leaders used to know how to do that too.

Post #1,275 Search and Destroy

It's. A. Scam!

"I was just keeeedding!"      h/t Theo

Related Link » Obama turns a new leaf on Israel
“After more than a year, US president Barack Obama has suddenly stepped back form his icy treatment of Israel and its prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, DEBKAfile's Washington sources report. In an effort to make amends, he sent his top advisers, including his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, with a public apology (of a kind) to leading American rabbis. […] Political and Jewish circles see the change as an attempt to win back Jewish voter support for the Democrats, eroded over the downturn in US-Israel relations, for the forthcoming midterm elections. […] Obama's new look on Israel was manifested in the words of Rahm Emanuel, when he met a carefully selected group of 15 rabbis from across the United States.” [emphasis added]
— DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 16, 2010

Maybe some political circles can see this change for the transparently cynical ploy that it is to win back Jewish voter support in the upcoming midterm elections. But I doubt a bunch of "carefully selected" American rabbis can see anything of the sort. What part of "carefully selected" don't you understand?

Rahm Emanuel is a self-loathing Jew, and he's a Chicago-bred scumbag just like his boss. These guys are in campaign mode 24/7, and their Kool-Aid dispensers are always at the ready. It is no secret that 74% of Jewish Americans are liberals, and they just can't get enough Kool-Aid no matter how much of it they guzzle. "Oh, thank you Mr. Emanuel; may we have another sip?"

"New leaf", my ass. Its expiration date is the day after the election. Stupid pieces of shit. They never learn.

It's. A. Scam! I can't say it any slower.

Post #1,273 It's. A. Scam!

The Dean from Hell State

Like Unwashed Hair                          h/t Theo

Related Link » America 101 With Dean Obama
“How does our tenure with Obama as dean end? I have no idea other than I think at some point Obama’s untruths, hypocrisies, and contradictions will, in their totality, finally remind the voter that he is a citizen and not a student. After all, America is not a campus. It has real jobs that are not lifelong sinecures. Americans work summers. There are consequences when rhetoric does not match reality. Outside of Harvard or Columbia, debt has to be paid back and is not called stimulus. We worry about jobs lost, not those in theory created or saved. We don’t blame predecessors for our own ongoing failures. Those who try to kill us are enemies, whose particular grievances we don’t care much to know about. Diversity is lived rather than professed; temporizing is not seen as reflection, but weakness. And something not true is not a mere competing narrative, but a flat-out lie.”
— Victor Davis Hanson, May 15th, 2010 (Works and Days)

He lies.

You want a second opinion? He flat-out lies.

Post #1,273 The Dean from Hell State

How NOT to Fight a War

Related Link » Modernizing Miranda: A new consensus
“It is remarkable how base-pleasing civil-libertarian rhetoric, so easily deployed when in opposition, becomes chastened when one is entrusted with the safety of the American people. The fact that the Times Square bomber did talk after he was Mirandized is blind luck. Holder is undoubtedly aware of just how much information about the Pakistani Taliban, which he now tells us funded and directed Shahzad's attack, would have been lost to us had Shahzad stopped talking -- and therefore how important it is to make sure the next guy we nab trying to blow something up is not Mirandized until a full interrogation regarding that plot and others is completed. The liberals' problem with such interrogation begins with their insistence that terrorists be treated as ordinary criminals rather than enemy combatants.”
— By Charles Krauthammer, May 14, 2010 (WaPo)

How NOT to Fight a War
• War? What war? There's no war here. Move along ...
• These terrorists disaster-causing specialists are enemy combatants just ordinary criminals.
• Prevarication is much more important than common sense. Move along ...
• Miranda is the holy grail of American justice. F*ck the innocent victims of Islamic terrorism (wo)man-caused disaster.
• They bring an anti-personnel bomb; we bring a friendship-promoting reset button.
• If you ignore it, it will slink away. Because, you know, nothing is as devastating to a homicidal maniac's ego as being ignored.
• Let's put our money where our mouth is. Instead of letting the Secretary of Defense take a leadership role, let's leave it in the capable hands of Secretary Holder. He knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. He prefers the latter.
• Religious fanatics hate the light of day. Let's put them on the world stage and shine some spotlights on them. How about New York City? Yeah — I'll take Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island, too; pretend it's just a zoo, entertaining me and you, 4q2 ... we'll turn Manhattan, into an isle of joy.

Break me a f*cking give.

"Rahm, tell Hillary to order some more reset buttons."    h/t Theo

Post #1,272 How NOT to Fight a War

The Overhauler-in-Chief

The Obama Himself has affirmed on national TV that He is "not an ideologue!" If the possibility of that affirmation were even remotely true, then I wouldn't be surprised to hear the Pope proclaim that he is not Catholic. Nor would it surprise me that a Mack truck passed through a 10'-thick wall of reinforced concrete completely unscathed. For, according to quantum mechanics, the probability of that happening is greater than zero, albeit vanishingly small.

Crap on Their Hands         h/t DBD

Be that as it may, the laws of ordinary common sense tell us that The Obama Himself is not only an ideologue, but He is also a grasping aggrandizer of power and adulation. Not for him the mere Presidential powers of Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, as well as chief executive officer of the Federal Government. After all, 43 others (counting Cleveland twice) and including Washington and Lincoln have been there, done that.

The Obama Himself must overhaul American systems, like our health-care system and our banking system, and every other system that must be overhauled to socialist standardizations, so he can become Commander-in-Chief of all humanity throughout the solar system.

Moreover, be advised that The Obama Himself is master of His bully pulpit, baiting any and all opponents within His reach. And His reach is equal to His grasping Self.


Post #1,271 The Overhauler-in-Chief

Reset that button!

Related Link » Home of Swedish Muhammad cartoonist attacked
“STOCKHOLM -- The home of a Swedish artist who once drew a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad as a dog has been hit by a suspected arson attack, police said Saturday. […] It was the latest in a week of attacks on the 53-year-old cartoonist, who was assaulted Tuesday by a man while he lectured at a university and saw his Web site apparently attacked by a hacker on Wednesday. […] Vilks has faced numerous threats over his drawing. Earlier this year, U.S. investigators said Vilks was the target of an alleged murder plot involving Colleen LaRose, an American woman who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane", and who now faces life in prison. She has pleaded not guilty.”
— By LOUISE NORDSTROM, May 15, 2010 (AP)

Whatever your position on the so-called "cartoon controversy", I believe Western democratic governments (as opposed to theocratic governments), and the Swedish government in particular, are grossly negligent in their protection of this man and many others like him against vile attacks by vile people.

Paying lip service to unalienable rights of human beings is not sufficient. Such rights and those who exercise them must be protected, nay insured, against the vile actions of those who oppose such rights and seek to injure or murder the people who are entitled to exercise them.

Only complete anarchists would oppose any role for national government. Anyone who admits our need for some governmental role will undoubtedly advocate government's undeniable duty to protect its law-abiding citizens from harm perpetrated by criminals and terrorists within and without its borders.

The Western democracies are coddling those homicidal terrorists in their failed effort to thwart that religion-based terrorist agenda. Change, hope, and reset buttons are not realistic substitutes for shock, awe, and lead.

Post #1,270 Reset that button!

Yes; yes; yes; yes; yes; …

Related Link » Are Liberals Anti-WASP?
“Do bears … ? […] But back to the title question, which made me laugh and made me read Pat Buchanan, whom I normally don’t have much time for. Are liberals anti-WASP? Is the pope Catholic? Is the Rev. Al Sharpton an opportunistic race-baiting publicity hound? Hang on, I’ve got a better one, does the President pal around with terrorists and America-hating racists? Discriminating against WASPs, like bashing America, is part of the bedrock of modern liberalism. Even liberals laugh when they see a statement like that.”
— Jules Crittenden, May 15, 2010 (forward movement)

The title that I selected for this post comprises my responses to Jules' rhetorical questions in the above excerpt from his post.

But that reminded me of what is arguably the funniest "mature" scene in American movie history. The scene is viewable in the video below, where the punchline of the joke is impeccably delivered by a patron, played by Director Rob Reiner's mother, in Katz's Delicatessen.


"I'll have what she's having."

Post #1,269 Yes; yes; yes; yes; yes; …

Where have you been all my life?

Related Link » Gov. Christie puts thin-skinned Moran in his place
“New Jersey Governor Chris Christie unloaded at a press conference on liberal columnist Tom Moran for questioning what he perceived as the ‘controversial tone’. After calling him the thinnest skinned guy in America, Christie launched into a defense of his governing philosophy.”
— THE DAILY CALLER

Chris Christie Smacks Down Reporter

Wow, a politician who speaks his mind, and his mind actually has the sorts of ideas voters have wet dreams about? I can hardly believe what I am hearing in the above video!

Quick, clone this guy a few hundred times before the mirage evaporates!

Post #1,268 Where have you been all my life?

America's Ninny

Related Link » America's Nanny: Michael Bloomberg’s public health obsession
“Two weeks ago, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg was consumed with anxiety: Had a right-wing loon attempted to blow up some of his New Yorkers as they waded through the sea of sweaty corpulence that is Times Square on a summery Sunday afternoon? Those Tea Partiers hate health care, after all, and for the last nine years, Bloomberg has done his best to make New York a health-conscious city. Turns out, the answer was no. But even with New York safe from a jihadi-made car bomb, Bloomberg still has a lot to worry about. […] These concerns keep Mayor Bloomberg, America’s most successful nanny, up at night, while irritating the hell out of his critics.”
— By Mike Riggs - The Daily Caller - 05/14/10

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Rich Boy (1926)

Ah, the super rich. They are a varied bunch. Not unlike the rest of us wannabes.

On the one hand, and indeed, you can count them on the fingers of one hand, there are Big Bill the Gatekeeper and a couple three others. They have a lot on the ball.

And then you've got the Blooming morons. Most of these specimens wash up on the shores of government, not unlike an oil spill.

Post #1,267 America's Ninny

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: To Sir, with Love

{Song #65 « Song #66 » Song #67}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #66 is To Sir, with Love sung by Lulu (with The Mindbenders, who also acted in the film) for the film of the same name, which starred Sidney Poitier. The film dealt with social and racial issues in a British inner city school.

The "Sir" of the song was the teacher (Poitier), who ultimately won the love and respect of his students, one of whom was portrayed by Lulu herself.

Lulu - To Sir, with Love


Post #1,266 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: To Sir, with Love

Lucky 13

Aside from birth, death, marriage, and parenthood, arguably the three most important dates in any person's life correspond to citizenship, graduation, and retirement. And so it is for me.

Me @ge 7

I have had the great good fortune to: become a naturalized American citizen; receive my doctorate from Columbia University; and, retire from Los Alamos National Laboratory, all three on the same date — May 13th (of course, not all in the same year). This is why I celebrate today my personal Triple Anniversary.

Happy, happy, happy anniversary to me.

Post #1,265 Lucky 13

Sanity Found in San Diego!

Related Link » Fixing San Diego: A conversation with Councilman Carl Demaio
“What Id like to do is create a city government that is as beautiful as the city of San Diego has become. And we arent going to stop until we get that, says city councilman Carl DeMaio.”
— ReasonTV — May 12, 2010

Just when you thought it was beyond hope, a sane man is found, and, what is almost unbelievable for the failed state of California, elected by a wide margin to the city government of San Diego. Go figure.

Post #1,264 Sanity Found in San Diego!

Depravity and Indifference

Related Link » David Horowitz at UCSD
A Muslim Jew-hater and supporter of genocide is flushed out by David Horowitz at a speech during "Israel Apartheid Week" at the University of California San Diego. Horowitz was hosted by Young Americans for Freedom.
— David Horowitz Freedom Center, 05-10-2010

The above video reveals a female student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) confronting David Horowitz, who was hosted at UCSD by Young Americans for Freedom. During the revolting confrontation, this Muslim female calmly acknowledged her Jew-hating support for genocide.

The University of California, comprising several campuses (including the one in San Diego) throughout this failed state, was considered, once upon a time, one of the finest Universities in the United States, if not the world. Now such Jew-hating depravity has become acceptable diversity-promoting political correctness, as viewed by University administrators and faculty.

How any decent American can abide such open depravity and, moreover, support the political leaders who encourage it by their own depraved indifference is, to me, a great source of bafflement, disillusionment, and despair.

Post #1,263 Depravity and Indifference

Understanding Before Disagreeing

Related Link » President Obama Chooses Kagan For Supreme Court
“In addition to her academic career and public service, Kagan is also respected for her temperament, said the president, adding that she approaches issues and problems by ‘understanding before disagreeing’.” [emphasis added]
— Posted by Marcia Coyle on May 10, 2010 (The BLT)

Related Link » Arizona Referendum Drives, Targeting New Law, Dropped
“The two proposed referendum drives challenging Arizona's new sweeping law targeting illegal immigration are being abandoned, organizers said Monday. […] [The law's] provisions include requiring that police enforcing another law must question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States illegally. It also makes it a state crime [i.e., in addition to a federal crime] to be in the country illegally.” [emphasis added]
— Associated Press, May 11, 2010

Legislation = Justice | Enforcement = Racism          h/t Theo

Understanding before disagreeing! What a novel, refreshing concept. Our Word-Smith-in-Chief is truly The Master of "strike while the irony's hot".

All that vocal outrage, including The Obama's and that of his barking supporters, over Arizona's new law is directed at its falsely alleged racial profiling. The Arizona law, for those who deign to understand it, however, mimics its corresponding Federal law. It explicitly demands a prerequisite act of law enforcement and the additional subsequent proviso of a priori reasonable suspicion.

But the knee-jerk barking jerks on the far left of sanity can't be bothered with such technicalities. According to their beloved illogic, Arizona's law is "trampling on" (formerly termed "shredding") the Constitutional rights of everyone concerned, most especially those who don't have many (if any) — those who are in this country illegally.

Post #1,262 Understanding Before Disagreeing

They also stole her phone?

Related Link » Russians jailed for eating teenage girl
“The two friends, both 20, drowned the girl in a bath before cutting up and cooking parts of her body, the investigative unit of the prosecutor general's office said in a statement. The pair then stole her phone, mp3 player and clothes. Florist Maxim Glavatsky has been sentenced to 19 years in prison, while his unemployed friend Yury Mozhnov has been sentenced to 18 years.”
— Posted Thu May 6, 2010 (Reuters)

If you have read this far, you are probably wondering what value-added commentary anyone could possibly offer for such grizly facts. Frankly, I was wondering the same thing myself.

A couple of things come to mind, however. First, what in the name of tarnation could persuade these two to compound their homicide, cannibalism, and ungentlemanly conduct with petty thefts of phone, mp3 player, and clothes? Were these homicidal cannibals also transvestites?

Second, how in the name of tarnation did the justice system determine Mozhnov's crime to be 1-year's worth of sentencing less abominable than Glavatsky's? Is the sentencing formula for homicide and cannibalism as precise as such a difference seems to imply?

Third, even if the sentencing for such horrific crimes is not as precise as it may seem, how is it possible that these miscreants will be out of jail before age 40?

Post #1,261 They also stole her phone?

Freedom of Feasting

Édouard Manet:  The Luncheon on the Grass

Related Link » Pagan police get right to take festivals as holiday
“Being serving police officers, they would no doubt leave their sun worshipping, mead drinking and naked dancing for their days off, not to mention the annual practice of leaving food out for the wandering dead. As of today, however, pagan police have the right to take their festivals as official holiday after their support group won formal recognition from the Home Office. The Pagan Police Association was announced by co-founder PC Andy Pardy, who, when he is not patrolling the beat in Hertfordshire, is a heathen worshipper of Norse gods including Thor and Odin.” TimesOnline

I hereby proclaim the Religion of Free Luncheon, with me as Prophet-in-Chef. All true believers in free lunch are welcome to worship at the alter of roast beef on rye and/or the alter of alternative diets. BYOB.

Our current lineup of festivals is as follows:

Ham and Cheese Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in January

Mac and Cheese Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in February

Tuna Salad Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in March

Goulash Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in April

Generic Food Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in May

Make-your-own-pie Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in June

Fill-in-the-blank Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in July

Milk and Cookies Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in August

All-you-can-eat Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in September

Fasting Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in October

Egg Salad Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in November

Mother-of-all-feasts Feast Day

3rd Tuesday in December

Post #1,260 Freedom of Feasting

The Obama Spin-Machine Breakdown

Related Link » White House says Pakistan Taliban behind NY bomb
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior White House officials said Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban were behind the failed Times Square bombing. […] ‘We know that they helped facilitate it; we know that they helped direct it’, said Attorney General Eric Holder. ‘And I suspect that we are going to come up with evidence which shows that they helped to finance it. They were intimately involved in this plot’. […] After the attack, U.S. officials said they were exploring potential links to terrorist groups overseas but said it was likely that Shahzad was acting alone and that it was an isolated incident. Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, told NBC News that ‘at this point I have no information that it’s anything other than a one-off’. Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press that Shahzad apparently operated as a ‘lone wolf’. Brennan on Sunday rejected suggestions that that the attempted bombing shows that terrorist groups overseas were gaining strength.”
— By ANNE FLAHERTY, 05/09/10 (The DC with AP contribution)

Ah ha, so Mayor Bloomberg and all the other leftists, who knee-jerked the tired "one-off", "lone wolf", "it was probably a tea-bag maniac" sound bites immediately after the failed Times Square bombing, were a bit jerky in their hasty assessments? So what else is new.

Well, the big news is that, for the first time in recent memory, the leftist spin-machine seems to have broken down in the face of explanation so obvious that even your average college kid, who doesn't give a second thought about anything other than his next opportunity to load up on drugs and/or booze, was able to surmise as soon as the smoke cleared.

A truly amazing admission of failure to misdirect the uncomfortably obvious by such stalwarts as our own Eric "Miranda Miranda Miranda" Holder and Janet "I Am Not Aware of Anything" Napolitano.

I feel sorry for Robert "Read my lips — Fox News made the whole thing up" Gibbs. How the heck is he going to lie his way out of this one?

Post #1,259 The Obama Spin-Machine Breakdown

Brazen P*ssy

Brazen Pussy                  h/t TheDC

Related Link » Judge Sends Woman To Jail For Crude T-Shirt
“Associate Judge Helen Rozenberg held Jennifer LaPenta, who was attending a hearing in a friend's case, in contempt of court for wearing a T-shirt that read: "I have the p*ssy, so I make the rules." […] "They should be out looking for people who are breaking the law, not arresting someone wearing a T-shirt," said LaPenta, 19. […] The judge told LaPenta to come forward upon seeing the T-shirt. LaPenta told the Chicago Tribune she offered to take the T-shirt off, but Judge Rozenberg refused, and ordered LaPenta jailed for 48 hours for contempt of court.” — CBS Broadcasting Inc., May 6, 2010

I think there is a lot to be learned from this incident, just the latest in a seemingly relentless breakdown of civilized behavior in our society. First, consider this young woman's defensive remark: "They should be out looking for people who are breaking the law, not arresting someone wearing a T-shirt". The "they" refers to Judge Rozenberg. Aside from the grammatical error in pronoun number, it most definitely is not a judge's role to "be out looking for people who are breaking the law". A judge is the presiding officer in her courtroom, and it is most definitely her role to judge the behavior of anyone who is present there. Moreover, Ms. LaPenta was not arrested for "wearing a T-shirt", but for the crude remark printed on it, which the judge deemed to be contemptible in her courtroom. Furthermore, Ms. LaPenta's brazen offer to remove her shirt, thereby exposing her undergarments, if any, compounded her offence.

Second, consider what are the implications for our society's state of morality that a young woman thinks nothing of flaunting in public a crude reference to her vagina. A mere 50 years ago, such references were virtually the exclusive provenance of snickering boys and older males in locker rooms. Post puberty males have always thought, and continue to think, about pussy 24/7. It is, for most intents and purposes, all they ever think about. But, and I think this is crucial, the erotic rewards are greatly diminished when the thoughts are brought forth into the light of day. Overt crudity taints eroticism with scatological associations.

What is so wonderful about the now complete obsolescence of what used to be known as lady-like behavior? How exactly have girls and women advanced their lot in life by even exceeding "manly" crudity in their own behavior? What do we as a society gain when a well-known female personality, in reference to a famous case of sexual abomination perpetrated by an adult male against an adolescent girl, opines on national television that at least his criminal act wasn't "rape rape"?

As the grandfather of 3 young granddaughters, I am saddened to think what they and all other girls have lost by the lamentable breakdown of decency through all manner of sloppy and misguided thinking, presumably in the furtherance of women's right to be as crude in public as men are reputed to be in locker rooms.

Post #1,258 Brazen P*ssy