Saturday - January 15, 2011

Flight Lieutenant Tom Hughes, RAF, RIP

In spite of Obama’s apparent lack of respect (I perceive) for this messed up island, today brings another one of those obits honoring a Battling Brit from the last war.  And how appropriate is should concern the RAF.

This is the obit of the only RAF pilot to bail out of a Bf-109.  Read on.

Flight Lieutenant Tom Hughes (RIP)

Flight Lieutenant Tom Hughes, who has died aged 89, was almost certainly the only member of the wartime RAF to bail out of an enemy fighter – in his case a Messerschmitt Bf 109; later in the conflict (back in his Spitfire) he was shot down during the battle of Monte Cassino.

Hughes had flown to Gibraltar in late 1942 to test Spitfires that had been shipped to the airfield in crates. He then joined No 72 Squadron ahead of Operation Torch – the invasion of north-west Africa.

From January 1943 he was constantly in action, flying from desert airstrips in support of the British First Army as it advanced towards Tunisia. On March 2 the engine of his Spitfire failed and he had to crash-land. The next day a search party found him walking back to his lines and he was flying two days later.

After victory in the desert, No 72 moved to Malta in June in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. On July 5 his formation was escorting USAAF bombers when they encountered a large force of Axis fighters. In the ensuing melee Hughes thought he damaged a Messerschmitt Bf 109, though postwar analysis suggests that it probably crashed.

On July 12, two days after the Sicily landings, No 72 encountered another large mixed force of enemy fighters and bombers. Squadron pilots accounted for a number and Hughes was credited with destroying an Italian fighter-bomber.

When the squadron moved to the Sicilian airfield of Comiso, RAF pilots discovered a number of flyable Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Hughes flew one against a Spitfire to compare their respective capabilities, but on another flight the German aircraft suffered an engine failure and he had to bail out. He ended up parachuting into a vineyard and, after convincing the locals that he was not a German, enjoyed their hospitality. Hughes thus had the unique distinction of qualifying for the Caterpillar Club having bailed out of an enemy aircraft.

Returning from a dive-bombing sortie supporting the troops attacking Monte Cassino, Hughes’s aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and he crash-landed, suffering severe burns to his legs.

He was made a PoW and transported to Germany, where he was put into a hospital. Hughes later related that the patients on his ward were used by German staff as guinea pigs for drugs testing, and that some of them died.

He managed to escape, he said, after a visit from a German general whom he managed to annoy by claiming: “I have flown both the Me 109 and the Spitfire and can confirm that the Spitfire is the better aircraft.” His insolence saw him transferred to solitary confinement, but he always said that his quip had saved his life by getting him removed from the hospital.

read more

Posted by peiper     on 01/15/2011 at 11:08 AM   
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   Friday - January 14, 2011

crickey!

Pity the poor land down under. Australia and Tasmania have been inundated by heavy rains for weeks now. Flooding across huge parts of the nation, especially in Queensland. And the rains aren’t over yet.

In several places the flood waters have been 25 - 30 feet deep. It’s going to cost them billions to clean up when this is all over. Still, no worries. The Aussies will pitch in and get the job done. No whinging.

But here’s a wild little bit of flood news that sounds like one of their famous tall tales ...

Two bull sharks have been spotted swimming past the McDonald’s restaurant in Goodna. Goodna butcher Steve Bateman saw one of the sharks swimming through the flooded waters of Williams Street near his bucher’s shop in the St Ives shopping centre yesterday. There were several reports of another shark spotted in Queen Street, the main street through Goodna.

Bull sharks have been spotted in the Goodna sections of the Bremer BRISBANE River previously, with fishermen regularly catching them from the Goodna boat ramp.

Ipswich councillor for the Goodna region Paul Tully said while it may sound almost too bizarre to be real, the shark sighting was valid.

“It would have swam several kilometres in from the river, across Evan Marginson Park and the motorway,” Cr Tully said.

“It’s definitely a first for Goodna, to have a shark in the main street.

Goodna was awash with water eight metres deep during the past 48 hours. The water receded dramatically overnight.

Goodna is about 20 miles southwest of Brisbane, though about 40 miles up the meandering river from that city. Brisbane is on the east coast of Australia, right above the middle of the eastward bulge of the continent.

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Floods left parts of Australia’s third-biggest city on Thursday looking like a war zone in need of years of reconstruction, the state premier said, while fresh threats loomed with a cyclone forecast offshore.

The floods across the state of Queensland have killed at least 19 people, 12 of whom died in the Toowoomba area inland, and 61 were missing, the state government said.

Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley region, west of state capital Brisbane, were devastated by tsunami-like flash flooding on Monday.

Large parts of Brisbane have become muddy lakes, with an entire waterfront cafe among the debris washing down the Brisbane River, a torrent that has flooded 12,000 homes in the city of 2 million and left 118,000 buildings without power.

Aerial views of Brisbane showed a sea of brown water with rooftops poking through the surface.

“What I’m seeing looks more like a war zone in some places,” Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters after surveying the disaster from the air. “All I could see was their rooftops ... underneath every single one of those rooftops is a horror story.”

Floodwaters in 35 suburbs, which on Thursday peaked below disastrous levels predicted a day earlier, forced residents to take to boats to move about the streets, where traffic signs peeped above the water.

Rescue teams and victims of the flooding have already had to deal with crocodiles and snakes, with Australia’s northeast [Queensland]-- which has been battered by weeks of flooding—home to some of the world’s most dangerous species.

A series of recent ultra-high resolution photographs, in scalable map format, are available here.

And, just because, here’s a picture of Charisma Carpenter from a few years ago. And one of Karina Lombard, who still brings that exotic ferocity, even though she’s positively “ancient” (41) by Hollywood standards. I think she’s just getting warmed up.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 11:58 PM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • Eye-Candy • International •  
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sic semper tyrannis?

A few hours ago:

Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali fired his government and called an early parliamentary election on Friday in an increasingly frantic effort to quell the worst unrest in his two decades in power.

Authorities declared a state of emergency and an overnight curfew. Gatherings of more than three people were banned and state television warned that “arms will be used” if the orders of the security forces are not obeyed.

The announcements came as police fired teargas and gunshots rang out to disperse crowds in central Tunis demanding the veteran ruler’s immediate resignation despite his promise on Thursday to step down in 2014.

Medical sources and a witness said 12 more people were killed in overnight clashes in the capital and the northeastern town of Ras Jebel.

Before the latest deaths emerged, the official death toll in almost a month of violence was 23, while the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights said it had a list of at least 66 people killed.

The 74-year-old president announced in a television address on Thursday evening that he would not seek a sixth term as expected in 2014, following a month of violent protests against unemployment, repression and corruption.

While Tunisia’s problems are shared by other countries in the region, the latest unrest was sparked when police prevented an unemployed graduate from selling fruit without a license and he set fire to himself, dying shortly afterwards of his burns.

In power since 1987, Ben Ali made sweeping concessions, saying security forces would no longer use live ammunition against protesters and promising freedom of the press and an end to Internet censorship. He also said the prices of sugar, milk and bread would be cut.

On Friday, state television flashed the announcement: “The president has decided to dismiss the government and to hold legislative elections within six months.” It gave no details.

But protests continued in the capital and other cities on Friday. Around 8,000 people rallied outside the interior ministry in central Tunis, chanting “Ben Ali, leave!” and “Ben Ali, assassin!”

After police fired teargas and wielded their truncheons, crowds of youths retreated a little way from the building and started throwing stones at the police, who responded with more tear gas grenades. Reporters also heard gunfire nearby.

Minutes ago:

Tunisian president flees; PM announces he’s taking over

After declaring state of emergency and dismissing entire government, Ben Ali reportedly in France; military closes Tunisian airspace.

Speaking at a press conference Friday, Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said that the country’s president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, had fled the country, reportedly to France. The prime minister added that he was taking over the government.

Following the president’s departure, the Tunisian army seized the airport and closed Tunisian airspace to all traffic.

Tunisia is where Carthage was. It is a small country on the north shore of Africa, west of Libya, east of Algeria, due south of Sardinia, and south west of Sicily. According to Wikipedia:

Today Tunisia has an authoritarian regime. It is an export-oriented country, in the process of liberalizing and privatizing its economy but has rife corruption benefiting the president’s family. The country operates as a nominal republic under the leadership of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who has governed since 1987. The Tunisian economy has averaged 5% GDP growth since the early 1990s. A popular revolution is currently underway.

So let’s see if this revolution gets as far as democracy and capitalism, or if this is another more example of one tinpot dictator replacing another. Tunisia has been an ally in the GWOT so far. No word on whether the insurrection / popular revolution is a call for another islamic republic.

Tunisia is an oil exporting nation, along with fertilizer and some manufacturing. They are one of the most productive nations in Africa, eclipsing Greece, Italy, and Portugal in terms of economic competitiveness, and a 2009 per capita GDP of over $8250.

Liveblog of the situation in Tunisia can be found here, and Al Jazeera is covering this fully. Oh, if only Fox News had an African American subdivision!

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 01:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa • FREEDOM • Politics •  
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The World Still Exists, Part I

The crew of a Danish weapons ship have been kidnapped by pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Oman, but in an unusual departure from normal practice, the vessel was not seized, a report said Thursday.

Sources told the TradeWinds shipping publication that the 2,000-tonne ship, The Leopard, was carrying “sensitive” cargo, believed to include weapons.

Vessels operated by the Leopard’s Danish operator, Shipcraft, routinely carried nuclear items, although none were believed to have been on board this vessel, it said.

The six crew—two Danes including the captain, and four Filipinos—had been taken to a seized Taiwanese fishing vessel being operated as a mothership, the report added.

The ship had meanwhile been located and searched by the Turkish navy and no trace of any pirates or pirate skiffs had been found.

Nato sailors searched the abandoned vessel. Its cargo is said to be intact.

The Nato sailors from a Turkish warship, the Gaziantep, boarded the M/V Leopard on Thursday, when it was found to be drifting.

It is not clear why the ship was immobilised, said a spokesman for the EU’s Navfor anti-piracy mission.

“We believe the ship was carrying arms, ammunition and explosives, and we believe the cargo is still intact,” said the spokesman, Wing Commander Paddy O’Kennedy.

One single shipload of weapons would be enough for any Somali warlord to arm enough followers to take over the entire country. At the very least it would keep his pirates armed to the teeth for years to come. Like I said, d’oh!!

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 12:20 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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The World Still Exists, Part II

School officials in Raynham, Mass., are struggling to prevent students from hitting the slopes behind the local middle school, a hill that proves more adventuresome than children are bargaining for—and even the police are getting involved.

Beyond the scrapes and bruises commonly associated with sporting events, the trails behind Raynham Middle School lead right to a parking lot at the bottom, noted CBS-affiliate WBZ-TV.

“It proceeds directly into an area where there are vehicles,” said school committee member Gordon Luciano.

School officials even sent an e-mail notifying residents that sledding has been banned in the popular spot, and the police chief has officers patrolling. That didn’t stop a crowd from gathering there during a snow day Thursday, WBZ-TV said.

The school has ordered “no trespassing” signs, but crews have to wait until the ground thaws before they can install them.

Oh shut up. Half the fun of sledding is taking a bit of risk. And besides, you call this a hill?

That’s a friggin’ joke. That’s no hill. When I was a kid the whole town would go over to the Blue Hill golf course, and ride sleds down the 10 story tall slope. Right towards the road. Which in truth was a fair distance past the bottom of the hill. But there was a part of that slope, called “suicide hill” by the kids of course, that only the big kids in high school dared to ride. It was very steep, and they’d have to dodge a few trees along the way. And when they got bounced off their sleds, they’d go down the rest of the hill face first. So a good time was had by all, even if once in a while a few teeth were lost or a leg or arm was broken. And nobody sued anybody.

Fear of litigation is killing the American spirit. The thing about risky behavior is that there is RISK involved. Which means sometimes some folks are going to lose. Suck it up, or go home.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 11:58 AM   
Filed Under: • Nanny State •  
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The World Still Exists, Part III

When thinking of traveling to the Dominican Republic, many things come to mind – a tropical drink, sandy beaches, upscale, all-inclusive resorts.

And whales?

An often overlooked fact about the island of Hispaniola is the seasonal prominence of humpback whales off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Between the months of January and March, a portion of the humpback whale population migrates to the warm waters of the Caribbean to find their ideal mate, or give birth to the next generation of humpbacks.

The appropriately named animals play an interesting mating game in the waters of the Samana Bay. The male whales remain on the outskirts of the perimeter, aggressively pursuing the females with posturing and flashy aquatic moves. The available females stay on the inside of this show, waiting for their chosen mate and keeping the inner bay safe for the newly born calves.

Apart from the odd visual of nursing mothers huddling in the center, this particular mating ritual may be similar to what often occurs on land in typical tourist hotspots. Ecologically speaking, winter in the Caribbean sea is like Spring Break for the humpbacks.

But ... SAY WHAT??? I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Fox News LATINO. WTF?? What the hell is with these damn minorities? You don’t get to have no more Separate But Equal bullshit. It isn’t, so we don’t. None of us, you included. We don’t lay it down on you, and you don’t push it up on us. Fox News Latino? The mere existence of such a sub category of news is RAAAAAACIST. And pretty stupid too, since more than half the stories are written in English. Nothing wrong at all with categorizing news events by where they happen: the Far East, Africa, Down Under, South America, North of the Border, South of the Border. Whatever. And if you want to make a Spanish or French or Portuguese language edition of your news that’s fine. Those are the main languages spoken in the Western Hemisphere. I’m cool with that too. But don’t you DARE go and create a special sub branch of the news. Especially when specific “latino” stories include “New dinosaur species found in Argentina”. News is news, and of interest to all. If this sub genre thing is legitimate, then I demand Fox News Whitey, a code word access only venue that the blacks, browns, yellows, and rainbows can’t get at. That’s only fair. Except, gosh, it would be 90% of the news, wouldn’t it? TOO BAD. 

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 11:34 AM   
Filed Under: • Animals • News-Briefs • Racism and race relations •  
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Can We Just Lay This To Rest Now Please?

Merciful God in Heaven I am so unbelievably sick and tired of the never ending 24-7 claptrap over the politicization of the murderous rampage in Tucson. But it is still going on, even after Fearless Reader told everyone to stop it - his remarks coming at a rather disgusting memorial service that was as much a pep rally for the Left and a campaign kick-off point for him. Yes, he called out for a halt to all the crap, but only after his minions played the game for a week and then found that they were getting their asses kicked. But it’s still going on. I can’t take it anymore. But if you can, if you really thrive on this merde, here are several more links:

Michelle Malkin points out that this is the N^th time that this kind of false attribution has been made against Conservatives. Because none of us have cottoned to the fact that the “Blame Bush” meme is total crap.

David Harsanyi gets to print many column inches on the “blood libel” garbage because he is Jewish. I agree with him, but I hate to see the “Cindy Sheehan High Moral Authority” Card played by anyone, Right or Left. The comments there are full-tilt insane, showing that the lunatic Left has not given one inch on this one, no matter how many times it has been shown that they don’t have a leg to stand on. This is not going away. We are a nation of crazy people.

Diana West tries to find common ground by castigating both sides. Nice try, D, but you’re wrong. But you are right to fight the Big Lie.

In the end, though, what’s worse than the Big Lie itself is the failure to reject and expose it—the failure, in this case, to identity the lie as a naked influence operation to mute conservative political expression. This failure is the crime Republicans are guilty of each time they stoop to defend themselves within the phony terms of the lie itself.

When House Speaker John Boehner canceled all House votes this week, including the all-important first round on repealing Obamacare, the message was: Yes, maybe there is a bona fide link between congressional debate in Washington and the internal monologue that drove a man to kill in Tuscon. Sarah Palin, too, protested way too much in her response to the Left’s “blood libel” against her. It’s not a civics lesson that’s required to bring the Left to “reason.” Where there are no facts, there is no reason, and any painstakingly logical arguments against disreputable falsehoods only further extend the charade.

A great unmasking is what’s needed here. Having twisted an unspeakable crime into a gag for their opposition, the Left must be called out, and it’s the job of the Right to do it. Otherwise, as with every Big Lie, silence turns everyone into a Big Liar.

Armstrong Williams notes that the media’s Fear Machine amped up this entire situation. No kidding. They don’t report news; they only feed the Machine. Yeah, the blogosphere did too, but let’s face the fact that the blog world is a small fringe group at best. MSM reaches billions.

And these are the voices of reason. My advice is to just turn it off. Watch the weather, get your local traffic reports, and that’s it. If you have to keep abreast of world events - because, believe it or not, there is a whole planet out there, doing stuff every hour of every day!! - then watch some international news program like BBC World News.

Let the dead lie in peace. Pray for the wounded to recover. And that’s it. No, it isn’t. I wish that it was. The truth is that the New Conservative Movement will NOT turn the other cheek. We will fight back against every false claim and fraudulent maneuver played against us. And keep fighting until victory is won. To do anything else is to let the Big Lie live. The days of “ignore them and they’ll go away” are over.

But I am so tired of this.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 11:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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   Thursday - January 13, 2011

liberals highly critical and offended by Palin remarks. good. it means she’s done something right.

I started working on this early today, but got called away so many times, here I am at the end of the day and just posting.
Glad to see Drew back and full of fire, his usual state of being.  He also covered the very subject which my rant goes over again. So I guess at this point although I should perhaps dump the subject, I can’t. I think I need a more public outlet for my angst.

I was so aggravated this morning over the criticism of Sarah Palin, I was spitting nails.
I think the calmer and reasoned approach is better, so I’ll censor some of the language I was driven to.
Doesn’t mean I’m less angry tho.

The wife is really frustrated and who can blame her, with my spewing four letter words in even more frustration, when I read the things I do about Sarah Palin in the aftermath of Tucson. 

Some idiot bitch who writes for the Telegraph named Allison Pearson, has suggested that while the shooting might not have been triggered (no pun intended) by her politics, her “bang-bang rhetoric” brings out the worst in the people who make comments on her blog and the net (right wing I guess) in general.
Her headline reads, PALIN BRINGS OUT THE WORST IN HER ON LINE SUPPORTERS.  To which I say … #!  You Miss Pearson. You are so full of it you float!  There. You bring out the worst in me. And so does the freekin !#~*^n press and that isn’t even the ones on the left. 

What Pearson was referring to was a posting on Sarah Palin’s blog in which some idiot, writing about that poor little girl who was shot, said it didn’t matter since the kid would probably grow up to be a hand wringing liberal.  What a god awful thing to say. 

Both of this morning’s papers have articles explaining to people how Sarah has put her foot in it again with her comment quoting “Blood Libel.” The BBC aired her comments several times, and I could find nothing in what she said that should have brought the house down on her again. If I’m angry and frustrated I can just imagine how Mrs. Palin feels. 

Until last night or maybe the day before, in spite of all my reading of history over many years, I had never come across the written words, “Blood Libel.” Of course, perhaps the more religious among you and the better read re. the bible may have.  Maybe it’s there. (?)

The term was explained plainly enough on the radio last night, and it’s now my understanding that originally, pagans used it against Christians and Jews and finally, the Christians took it and used it against the Jews. So,so long ago. But lets give Mrs. Palin credit.  The term as used by her is correct. It is NOT a slur nor was it meant to be or imply that Sarah Plain might be anti-Semitic.  And that’s another thing that has me angered today.  Wife says get over it since I can’t do anything about it. True I can’t, but I’ll be damned if I can find a way to get over it that easily.

The people making that scurrilous charge against her don’t believe it either. Which makes it even worse.  The bastards are simply looking for yet another false and unproved charge to levy against her.  I see nothing at all anti anything by her proper use of that term. In fact, the disingenuous lying SOBs are making a connection in that the congresswoman who was shot, is herself Jewish and so, proof positive that Palin is a Jew hater or she’d have found another more politically correct way of expressing herself.  A fellow named Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic “consultant” and I suspect a professional Jew, I think I know the type as a much disliked cousin not seen for years and totally unmissed, is one. Anyway, Mr. S. say that “Jews and rational people will find her use of those words objectional.” Say what?  Why? He doesn’t say in any detail. 
Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post claims she missed an incredible opportunity. He asks, “Did she provide solace, or did she only inflame the situation?”

By the way, in a small column in The Daily Beast, it’s reported that Jews have rallied round Sarah Palin in support.  Speaking of the Beast.

In an article by Kirsten Powers under the title , Obama Missed An Opportunity,
(seems to be going around), she writes. 

Sure, the president provided his usual inspiration, but he failed to shut down the ridiculous media meme that right-wing talk radio was responsible for the Arizona shootings. And how are ordinary Americans to blame?
President Obama’s speech in Arizona was a huge missed opportunity.
True, as always, he delivered as “Healer-in-Chief” and provided inspiration. This was Job 1 for the speech.

But there was another job: shutting down the nonsense about how Sarah Palin or right-wing talkers caused the shooting. This matters not only because it’s important to tell the truth, but also because it would set the stage to move on to really examining the true causes of this nightmare massacre.

Obama mostly chose to be vague on this point, “For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind.”
When the president did lay blame, it was on Americans in general. Among the many odd assertions he made: suggesting that “what a tragedy like this requires” is that “we align our values with our actions.” We were told to “expand our moral imaginations.”
Huh?
A mentally ill gunman opened fire at a Safeway. A lack of “aligning” or “imagination” really wasn’t the problem.

But another idjit, Howard Kurtz by name, has attacked again her use of target maps … and being Jewish himself, of course Mr. Kurtz just had to be offended by the Blood Libel term. He says, among other things;

She could have said that all of us, including her, needed to avoid excessively harsh or military-style language, without retreating one inch from her strongly held beliefs.
Instead she went the blood libel route.

There’s your 2012 election issue people.  Not ours, theirs. And they will use we know.

BEAST

Posted by peiper     on 01/13/2011 at 12:16 PM   
Filed Under: • Sarah Palin •  
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Schrödinger’s Penguin

The Daily Bayonet slides a foot of cold steel between the ribs of Climate Change scientists, by reporting on yet another bit of flawed science.

For the past decade or so, these “highly educated” folks have been studying penguins in Antarctica as a way of gathering climate change impact data. Problem is, they’ve been banding the birds with flipper tags instead of the ankle bands almost all other bird research folks use. And the tags themselves have caused the penguins to swim slower, catch less food, mate less, and generally suffer and die much more than regular penguins. So an entire decade’s worth of data is considerably skewed. And thus useless. Total waste of time and money, and half a career down the drain for the scientists involved. Not to mention harmful and abusive to the penguins themselves.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/13/2011 at 11:00 AM   
Filed Under: • Animals • Climate-Weather • Science-Technology • Stoopid-People •  
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Just Shut Up and Go Away

Letting no crisis go to waste, the Deranged Left has spent nearly a week attacking the Right over the tragedy in Tuscon. And to no one’s surprise, it isn’t working. Even polls run by far left news outlets like MSNBC show that Americans aren’t buying it. Not only is it the case that Jared Loughner is a crazy person far removed from any standard left/right political leanings, the reaction of most of the country to the immediate frantic use of the old Tar Brush by the Huff-Po/Kos crowd has raised the hackles of ire and the disgust of many. In other words, it’s backfiring. After several days of being blamed by millions for murder, in every communications channel known to mankind, Sarah Palin spoke out. She made a statement about grieving and healing, reminded people to resist knee-jerk legislative reactions, and then she spoke out against the actions of the Krazy Krowd:

Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.

...

America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united in our desire to peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to respectfully embrace our differences in a positive manner, and to unite in the knowledge that, though our ideas may be different, we must all strive for a better future for our country. May God bless America.

This is the speech a real president would have made. This is the theme that an honest media would have furthered. It is the reaction that most of us had to the insane and instantaneous mud slinging. Words of excellence from the most publicly abused private citizen in the nation.

So naturally this was only fresh ammunition for the lunatic left. “OMG, she said ‘blood libel’!!!! That’s RAAAACIST!! She’s a Jew hating redneck snowbilly anti-semite!!!” So here we go again. Blather, rinse, repeat. That’s the process for this sham-poo.

Please read the top 2 posts over at Motivation Truth, or the top 4 if you haven’t yet seen or read Palin’s speech. Or stop by at Atlas Shrugged, or at any of the thousands of blogs that are even slightly conservative and run by Jewish folks. There are loads of them. Or just use your own brain: “blood libel” is not a term that can only be applied to lies made up about the Jews. It is generic. Sarah Palin was 100% correct in her use of the term. And that leads me to conclude that either the far left is certifiably, institutionalizably, batshit insane, and/or they have the reasoning powers of a well-salted garden slug. You can not get there from here. Period. And yet they do, and then get offended by it. And the media repeats their message ad nauseum. 

Posted by Drew458     on 01/13/2011 at 10:18 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists •  
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Eye Roll

SAN FRANCISCO – The nation’s first gay museum opening in San Francisco’s Castro district showcases a variety of items ranging from Harvey Milk’s pink-framed sunglasses to manuscripts and sex toys.

The 1,600-square-foot museum, opening Wednesday, chronicles the evolution of what organizers call the liberation of the gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Milk’s sunglasses displayed in the GLBT History Museum are a tribute to the late San Francisco supervisor, who was the first elected openly gay politician in California.

GLBT Historical Society executive director Paul Boneberg told the San Francisco Chronicle the society has a five-year lease for a formerly empty storefront.

Rumor has it that this place has no front door.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/13/2011 at 09:56 AM   
Filed Under: • Gay Gay Gay! •  
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Change In Plans

I got up this morning and found a puddle of water on the kitchen floor. Looks like there is some sort of leak going on under the kitchen sink. So whatever I had planned for today is on hold, and I’ll be getting out the old towels and the tools and trying to fix things. Lucky for me I’ve got my new lightsaber wonder flashlight and extra batteries. And all the proper tools of course. Ach, crivens, it’s going to be such a “fun” day.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/13/2011 at 09:32 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life •  
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   Wednesday - January 12, 2011

2011 Freedom Update: Legislating Common Courtesy

Yes, I can’t stand those lazy bastards either. Getting behind a driver who has barely cleared a porthole in the snow on his windshield can be both frustrating and dangerous. Frustrating, because all the crap blows off his SUV - it’s usually a minivan or a damn Jeep Cherokee - leaving a wake of blown off snow on everyone else as they blast down the highway. And dangerous, especially with the bigger SUVs and trucks, when a great chunk of ice comes flying off the roof and heads right at you at 75mph. So now NJ has passed a law. For your own good. Another one of those laws, like their “move over” law, that legislates common sense and common courtesy. I hate laws like that, and I think they are unconstitutional. But this one twists my soul, because it makes sense, and it really is necessary. I hate that in an unconstitutional law, don’t you?

Judging from the last snowfall, I guess not everyone got the memo — the one from Trenton after years of debate.

That would be the law making New Jersey the first state to impose fines on drivers who don’t clear snow or ice from their vehicles before it flies off and inflicts damage or injury.

Statute 39:4-77.1 finally took effect just in time for the post-Christmas blizzard as well as Friday’s snowfall, but that didn’t stop drivers from carrying several inches of snow on roofs and hoods. As you can see from reader photos taken in such places as Fair Lawn and Woodland Park, drivers and their employers must think this new law is only advisory.

It isn’t. The fine is $25 for the first offense. Subsequent offenses can cost $75 each. They’re higher if your snow causes injury or damage — $200 to $1,500.

Commercial big rig trucks are NOT exempt. Somebody better get up on top of the trailer and brush it off:

… other New Jersey drivers favor the snow ban by a 2-1 ratio, according to a AAA poll. But if truckers, or anyone else, can’t bear to clean up, here’s the best motivation:

“We don’t issue warnings for this violation,” said state police Capt. Frank Davis. “Drivers are expected to comply.”

BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

9 1. Section 1 of P.L.1997, c.124 (C.39:4-77.1) is amended to read as follows:

11 1. a.
(1) Each driver of a motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this State shall have an affirmative duty to make all reasonable efforts to remove accumulated ice or snow from
exposed surfaces of3 the motor vehicle prior to operation [; this] ,which surfaces shall include, but not be limited to, the hood, trunk, windshield, windows, and roof of the motor vehicle, the
cab of a truck, the top of a trailer or semitrailer being drawn by a motor vehicle, and the top of an intermodal freight container being carried by an intermodal chassis. A person who violates the
provisions of this subsection may be stopped on a street or highway by a law enforcement officer who believes the accumulated ice or snow may pose a threat to persons or property and shall be subject to a fine of not less than $25 or more than $75 for each offense regardless of whether any snow or ice is dislodged from the motor vehicle. No motor vehicle points or automobile insurance eligibility points pursuant to section 26 of P.L.1990, c.8 (C.17:33B-14) shall be assessed for [this offense] a violation of this paragraph.

Did you get that? You don’t even have to be driving around such that any snow is falling off your vehicle. If a cop thinks your vehicle is a danger, you get fined. No ifs, ands, or buts. But at least you can only be fined once per day, and they can’t nail you until it stops snowing:

Every day upon which a violation occurs shall be considered a separate violation, but no person shall be subject to more than one fine for a violation of this paragraph in a period of consecutive hours.

(2) This subsection shall not apply to any driver of a motor vehicle operated during a snow or ice storm that began and continued for the duration of the motor vehicle’s operation or to any operator of a motor vehicle while it is parked.

(3) No fine shall be imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection on the driver of a commercial motor vehicle, as the term is defined in R.S.39:1-1, that is traveling to a location where
equipment or technology that is used to remove snow and ice from commercial motor vehicles is available, provided that the driver has not already passed a location with snow and ice removal equipment or technology after snow or ice shall have accumulated on the exposed surfaces of the commercial motor vehicle.

blah blah blah. This law went into effect in the fall, and it looks like commercial vehicles will have one year to comply. So all the truck stops and weigh stations are going to be getting roof scrubbers I guess. And part of the fine money will go towards grants to provide such things to the truck stops. Read the whole thing if you have the inclination.

Now I think I’ll start pushing Trenton to pass my Mud Flap bill. It would require all vehicles, SUVs and tractor trailer trucks included, to have fenders that extend at least 1.5” out further than the sidewall of their tires (that part already is law, although I think it’s limited to the tread groove area) and mudflaps in the back that are at least 2” wider than the tires AND hang down at least 3” below the center of the wheel, or to within 4” of the pavement, whichever is closer. And they have to be stiff enough or heavy enough to stay in place at 90mph on dry pavement. I utterly HATE getting behind some assmunch oblivion bastard driving his fatpig SUV down the highway, with such aggressive off road tires on it that you can hear them screaming from half a mile away, blasting up thousands of gallons of spew on rainy days.  Get some street tires numbnuts, and cover your damn treads. Jeep drivers are the worst offenders, especially those dimwits in Cherokees (which NEVER go off-road even as far as a gravel driveway in NJ). Every single car in this state has chips in the hood and in the windshield from gravel kicked up by your inconsideration, and I for one am sick of being blinded by the fog you jerk offs leave behind you when you cut me off in wet weather. Cut the spew, or we’ll cut you. Legally that is, via nasty fines and points on your license. And I’ll get the law written like this snow law, so that all a cop has to do is put a ruler up against your car in the parking lot. It won’t even have to be raining. And you’ll get a $200 fine in the mail.

PS - next time you’re out on the highway during a rain storm, pay attention to the trailers on the UPS trucks. They all have this brush arrangement above the wheels, and it does a better job of catching the water and stopping the spew than anything I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure how it works, but it does work quite well. As far as I’ve seen, they are the only ones using this design.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/12/2011 at 10:34 PM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • FREEDOM • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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This Will Surely Twist Their Knickers

One-day sales of handguns in Arizona jumped 60 percent on January 10, Bloomberg said, compared with the corresponding Monday a year ago, the second-biggest increase of any state in the country, according to the FBI.

From a year earlier, handgun sales rose yesterday by 65 percent in Ohio, 16 percent in California, 38 percent in Illinois and 33 percent in New York, the FBI data revealed, and rose nationally about 5 percent.

And in Arizona, Glock sales are through the roof. Stock price for Sturm, Ruger, & Company is up, but Smith & Wesson stock is flat. We know what that is. I bet Colt stock is flat too, for very much the same reason. It’s called breaking the faith.

As for the paranoia angle? Sit back and watch the market: this bit of news that shows how the government and their running dogs in the media track gun sales on a state by state daily basis will probably push sales even higher.

PS - hey limeys, check this: Since Obama was elected, Americans have purchased more than 30 million firearms! That’s right, in just more than 26 months, the citizens of this country have spent their money - in the midst of a huge recession no less - to amass a nationwide cache of small arms greater than that of every army on the planet combined. And that has nothing to do at all with the nearly half billion firearms already owned here. 30 million guns in 2 years: one new firearm for every ten people, in a nation that already has more weapons than there are citizens. And these are only the reported sales. Who knows how many unreported sales there were, both legal and illegal? Those number will never be known, but I’d bet the real total number of sales is at least 15% higher than the FBI’s numbers. Either way, you’re looking at sales numbers as large as half the population of the whole United Kingdom. HALF THE POPULATION. And that’s only newly purchased guns. How can it be that we aren’t all dead yet?

Posted by Drew458     on 01/12/2011 at 04:56 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
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