Wednesday - February 08, 2012

Online This Morning

Bits of fluff and stuff from the ‘net

1. Santorum Takes 3 Red States. Good. At least they can spot the closest thing to an actual Conservative.


2. The future of the military? Obama’s favorite weapon system is a pneumatic marshmallow shooter.


3. California, crazy as ever. Court to decide if SeaWorld critters are slaves. After this, all the chickens will be issued Che Gueverra berets and we’ll have a poultry revolution.


4. Don’t you hate it when folks adhere to their stereotype? If only she’d been driving an Escalade and was named LaShanda it would have been 100%. Toddler with gun, Mom busted.


5. No evidence, no favoritism, no rape charges. Charges dropped against Fox News anchor who is NYPD Commissioner’s son.


6. “Halftime in America” ad controversy deepens? Gosh, I guess I have more in common with Karl Rove than just the hair style and the weight problem. Turns out the Superbowl ad was put together by Obama supporters. I didn’t see Obama’s pre-game speech, and I didn’t even know of the controversy until yesterday afternoon, but I saw the ad at halftime and said “damn, this is a push to re-elect Obama isn’t it? After all, the government owns Chrsyler, and I refuse to believe Detroit is on much of a comeback. They may have slowed their vertical descent into Hell, but that’s all.” I didn’t know that O’s minions seized the ad theme either, until this morning. And now we find out a bit about the art team behind things. OTOH, a) what artsy types aren’t Obama supporters, and b) is their work really all that good? Here’s two of their “famous” Obama creations, which I had never seen before this morning:

   

   top:
   a) Obama the Great Uniter, or a pointy headed geek who’s half this and half that?
   b) Also, the image looks too much like a famous credit card, and look at how the public debt has been run up. Priceless!

   bottom:
   a) Think this one through: the Obama sneakers say “A black man runs and nothing is behind him.” We know all about Obama’s record before his election, and no truer words were ever imprinted on our souls soles!
   b) Given that a huge part of the population thinks this guy is at least a maybe-muslim, and what we know about them and shoes, isn’t it a major insult to be slapping his face to the pavement with a sneaker at every step?

   looks like a double double backfire to me
   

Update: Looking at a larger picture of those sneakers I realize that the one says “A black man runs and a nation is behind him”. Which brings to mind images of angry villagers with torches and pitchforks, doesn’t it?

Posted by Drew458     on 02/08/2012 at 09:35 AM   
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   Thursday - February 02, 2012

An End To Ann?

I think if Mitt Romney loses the primary or loses the election, it might mean the end of Ann Coulter. She’s pulling her oar for Mittens as hard as she can, and I think that effort is letting the true colors of her petticoats peek out from underneath. And that means that she’s just as big a part of the establishment GOP machine, the Old Money Old Boys Club, as the rest of them.

It was bad enough that publicly she wrote the Birthers off as the tinfoil hat brigade when they first got going. Now, fine, she doesn’t like Newt and she likes Romney ( I always figured Ann for a new England girl. I have no idea where she is from, but I’d guess Massachussets. Vassar much, perhaps? ), and she’s a lawyer, which means she makes her living bending the facts to suit her needs. Like this whopper in her latest diatribe:

Until Obamacare, mandatory private health insurance was considered the free-market alternative to the Democrats’ piecemeal socialization of the entire medical industry.

Liar liar low-cut form-fitting black cocktail dress on fire! “Mandatory” and “free market” have NOTHING IN COMMON. Privately purchased health insurance, done at your own whim, is free market. Employer provided health insurance is also free market, because the company goes and buys it from whomever they want. Sometimes in a big company the employees can even choose which plan they want. But neither of those is MANDATORY.

We’re going through the evil and embarrassing stage of the primary campaign right now. Ann is not helping things by being evil and embarrassing herself. She’s always been good at pissing off the Left, and she gets better at pissing off the rest of us every day. But I’m sure her hero Mittens approves.

Go and read it if you really have to. To give her some credit, she does try to pull out of that a bit, but she still comes down in favor of mandated health insurance. At the state level, not the federal level. That’s actually a huge difference, but it’s still a freedom killing idea. And she uses the terrible tyranny of precedent to support it - states make you buy car insurance, wear seat belts, not talk on a cell phone while driving, and take a blood test before marriage, so mandatory health insurance is Ok. WRONG. None of those things would exist in a free society. All of them are encroachments on our freedom. Proof right there that Ann is not a Tea Party kind of girl and never was.

News flash Ann: real free people have the right to choose not to buy insurance. Yeah, and it’s tough shit on us if we get sick or injured and can’t pay for it. So, since we’re supposed to be this wonderful, caring, enlightened republic, shouldn’t we get the states together with the feds then and hack out a minimal basic coverage plan that can then be offered by the states and required by mandate? Sure, but only if you think your freedom needs to be sliced away a little at a time, for your own good.

No one is claiming that the Constitution gives each person an unalienable right not to buy insurance.

I am. Because it does, right there in the fine print of the penumbra of the 10th Amendment. The very same penumbra that said that neither the States nor the feds could make laws that limited what a woman could do with her own pregnancy.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/02/2012 at 12:17 PM   
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   Friday - January 20, 2012

Next

Ratz. I was going to post a nice bit of eye candy but Peiper beat me to it. So my photo layout of an amazingly tall red haired Canadian lingerie model will just have to wait.


And somehow I ran across this thing, which would make a really great WhatsIt. Pity that the search engines have killed this game for all of us.



So I’ll have to find something else to blog about ...



News? Let’s see ...

Sadness: jazz singer Etta James has died.

TV cook, mayonnaise and butter guru Paula Deen has diabetes. Never saw that one coming!  Surprise, she’s had it for years, and kept right on cooking that artery clogging sugar rich glop. Devil’s advocate?

Obama sings soul at the Apollo, gets rave reviews for his one line, six word riff. Hey, give him a break, it wasn’t on the teleprompter!

After teh hole dang internet got POed, the SOPA and PIPA censorship bills got shelved. Would that the world acted this way with every piece of BS legislation that comes along.

Oh no you don’t! Fed official tries to clam up to Congress over Fast & Furious! Yo MoFo, you are an employee ...

The chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona is refusing to testify before Congress regarding Operation Fast and Furious, the federal gun-running scandal that sent U.S. weapons to Mexico.

Patrick J. Cunningham informed the House Oversight Committee late Thursday through his attorney that he will use the Fifth Amendment protection.

Perhaps 20 years for Contempt will open his dirty yap.

Good news? Hmm ... I think this is ... SCOTUS throws out Texas Gerrymander plan made by judge.  Damn straight, Skippy. Drawing up gerrymandered electoral maps is what the legislature is for, not the judiciary.

Politics? Oh fug that. I’m sick of it. Newt’s ex and her gotcha video, as she swoops down on her 6 speed broom. Question the timing, much?

Humorous news? Ha, I got one ...

Mexico City police say they have arrested a would-be bandit who rode his skateboard to bank robbery attempts.

Police say Sergio Ledesma and his skateboard have been turned over to prosecutors after he allegedly attempted to rob two banks by whispering threats to tellers.

Police say the teller at the first bank simply acted as if he hadn’t heard Ledesma, who then skated off to a second bank.

The second teller told police Ledesma appeared to whisper a threat. So the teller set off a silent alarm, and counted out the money while the would-be robber waited patiently.

Police said Friday Ledesma was still waiting when they arrived and arrested him.

Thank God he didn’t take the burro. That stereotype would be ...

Posted by Drew458     on 01/20/2012 at 04:13 PM   
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Some of the people, none of the time

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Vietnam veteran who lost his eye while serving his country was violently beaten during a random attack by a group of teens on a Philadelphia street earlier this week.

The attack happened shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday in the 5000 block of N. 5th Street in the city’s Olney section.

“These animals are specializing on our elderly people out here and a gentleman who served our country,” Lt. George McClay said.

According to investigators, 64-year-old Edward Schaefer was walking to meet his wife at the bus stop when he was approached from behind by six males.

McClay said one of the suspects began the violent attack and the others joined in on the random beating.

The whole thing was captured on security cam video and can be seen at the above link.

The suspects are described as six black and Hispanic males, between the ages of 16 to 18. Authorities say all of the suspects have been identified. Once they have been apprehended, they could be charged with attempted murder.

Good news, bad news: cops rounded up the thugs, but are only going to charge two of them, and of course one of the two charged doesn’t fit the general demographic of the others, who are getting off with no charges filed at all.

PHILADELPHIA - Police have identified four of six teens seen on a videotape moments before a Vietnam vet was savagely beaten on a Philadelphia street. Police say that only 2 of the 6 teens in the video will be charged. One of them is in custody.

A 15 year old Asian boy who is the last one walking in the video is expected to be charged with aggravated assault and robbery. Police tell me he confessed. His mother turned him in.

Police told Fox 29 the attackers did it “just for fun” as they try to determine who was involved in the attack Tuesday night in the city’s Olney section.

Edward Schaeffer, 64, was simply walking to pick up his wife from the bus stop. Now, he lays in a hospital bed with a fractured skull and other broken bones.

The beating comes just days after Temple graduate Kevin Kless was beaten to death in Old City.

Kate Schaeffer and others who live in this neighborhood are stunned by these vicious beatings.

Edward Schaeffer works with the Boy Scouts and helps get veterans jobs. He never said a word to the teens, according to detectives.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/20/2012 at 09:30 AM   
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   Friday - January 13, 2012

I don’t trust him on this

... actually I don’t trust him on anything!

Obama Seeks New Powers from Congress

President Obama will reveal a new proposal to consolidate federal agencies at a White House event later this morning, an official tells Fox News. The problem is that the authority he seeks to carry out the plan will have to come from a Congress he’s had bitter battles with over the past year.

In his 2011 State of the Union address, the president complained of government overlap and red tape that clogs the federal government, promising to tackle the problem. He injected a bit of humor into his speech to illustrate the point, “The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they’re in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they’re in saltwater,” he said to laughter. “I hear it gets even more complicated once they’re smoked.”

By late that year, however, officials shied away from forecasting when the president would fulfill his promise.

Early Friday morning, the White House announced Mr. Obama will seek authority from Congress, not granted since the days of Ronald Reagan, to reorganize and consolidate portions of the federal government. His first proposal would be to reduce redundancy in the area of trade and commerce.

Should Congress grant the president this streamlining authority, each proposal he made would then receive an up-or-down vote from Congress within 90 days.

However, the president’s track record with Congress isn’t exactly favorable, following public disputes over issues like the nation’s debt ceiling and extending payroll tax cuts. In an increasingly fierce election season, the president’s move could be aimed at putting Congress on the defense.

The administration has for months highlighted a “We Can’t Wait” campaign, intended to showcase issues that the White House says Congress isn’t acting on. The president, therefore, has been unilaterally taking action; igniting controversy over whether he is overstepping his Constitutional authority.

Now, the president will lean on the very Congress that he’s been lambasting for its inaction.

The administration admits one to two thousand jobs would be lost in the consolidation process, should it be approved, but officials say the plan would fall in line with the natural course of employee departure. The White House also says the plan could save the government $3 Billion over ten years.

If this pinko has a plan to shrink part of the government by consolidation, I am certain that somewhere in the microscopic fine print the wording will double or triple the power of the remaining group, which will be lead by one of his un-vetted Marxist czars or cronies. Bad ju-ju all over this.

But it does look like he is playing to the Smaller Government crowd, doesn’t it? Something the Repubelickans promised (hey, remember Pledge To America?) and then delivered jack-squat on, even when a small army of Tea Party candidates was swept into office?

Posted by Drew458     on 01/13/2012 at 02:06 PM   
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   Monday - January 09, 2012

Off Day

Nothing from me today. Spent half the morning down at the auto shop, got a new muffler. Not exactly my idea of exciting times, but WTH, it needed to be done.

Now I’ve got to run some laundry, clean the kitchen, and maybe get to the bank and the food store.

Sometimes you just don’t have time to sit in front of the computer and blog.

I did notice this one - more than a month after the Fast & Furious money laundering BS first bubbled up, details are emerging and the DOJ CYA is going full throttle.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084190/US-agents-HELPED-Colombian-drug-lord-The-Rabbit-launder-millions-dollars.html
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/197339-issa-expands-dea-probe-to-include-money-laundering

Personally, I don’t buy it.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/09/2012 at 03:55 PM   
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   Friday - January 06, 2012

TooDaze Stoopid Newz, Part 2

Imagine coming back from an extended stay away from home only to find someone has set up shop in your house, claiming it now belongs to them. That’s just what’s happened in dozens of cases in Tarrant County, Texas, where the District Attorney says crooks are trying to use a decades old law to conduct a new scam.

Yup, sure sounds like the UK.

The problem first came to Shannon’s attention this year, when police agencies started calling about strange but similar cases. One of them involved Joe Brunner, the head of a homeowners association in Arlington, Texas.

His neighbor had been in Houston for months getting chemotherapy when the HOA’s security detail called Brunner saying someone else was in the home. When Brunner contacted the man living inside, the man claimed he now owned the home. But that wasn’t all.

“There was a large dumpster in the driveway,” says Brunner. “He filled it up with items from the house.”

Brunner called the police. When they arrived, the squatter showed them a document claiming something called “adverse possession.”

“Adverse possession is a concept that’s been around for a long time. It was created when Texas was a Republic to resolve land disputes,” Shannon explains. “So for example, if one man’s land had a river as a boundary, and the river changed course over the years, who’s entitled to that land? The adverse possession allowed a new owner to claim the land, but only after openly possessing it and using it for years.”

The law is still used to resolve rural land disputes today, but has created complications in the big city.

“There’s nothing in the statute that says you can’t, so conceivably you could set up camp for 10 years,” says Shannon, “but the chances are there’s some mortgage company or somebody that’s not getting the payments on it, so it’s not real practical in the cities.”

The Tarrant County Clerk’s office accepted about 60 of these adverse possession filings this year before it stopped taking them. Some of the more egregious cases include Brunner’s neighbor, the woman receiving chemotherapy, and a travelling nurse who had been gone for a few months because of work.

“I will say this is the most amazing situation we’ve ever dealt with,” says Tarrant County Constable Clint Burgess. “How anyone thinks they can take a home for $16 and live in it and then grief to a homeowner after that, it just amazes us.”

The squatters have even gone so far as to file mechanic’s liens against the homeowners to reclaim funds for supposed “improvements” to the house. Then they offer to settle with the homeowner, for a price.

["and then grief to a homeowner”?? WTH kind of writing is this? “grief” is a noun, not an objectless verb] Adverse possession is probably on the books just about everywhere. It’s the old “use it or lose it” law for land. The reality is that it’s use almost always comes into play after years and years. You can’t pull this one out of a hat after a couple of months. Or a couple of hours. “Yeah, I found this abandoned car in the supermarket parking lot. It had been left there a really long time; the engine was almost cool. So I’m claiming it as mine under the Adverse Possession laws. Oh, and I had to hire a locksmith to break into it, so you (the “former” owner) now owe me $200 for hiring the guy.” Oh yeah, that will fly. In Texas. Riiiight.

The part that blows me away is that the county clerk accepted any of these things at all. But to be fair, “accepted” can mean two different things here. One, the clerk received paperwork. Two, the clerk processed the claim and granted the adverse possession. If it was case two, I’d say there ought to be a nice shiny new Help Wanted ad in the local Texas paper; their clerk has a terminal case of the stoopids and needs to go.

But fear not: this is Texas after all, not the Midlands in England.

To District Attorney Shannon, these cases are criminal, pure and simple.

“A person who moves in without the consent of the owner with the intent to commit felony or theft or assault, then that’s a burglary of a habitation,” said Shannon.

So far, Shannon is prosecuting about five of these cases with more to come.

Yee ha!!

Posted by Drew458     on 01/06/2012 at 10:57 AM   
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   Sunday - January 01, 2012

Welcome To 2012

Happy New Year to everyone!

May the economy and the nation recover as quickly as your hangover.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/01/2012 at 10:44 AM   
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   Saturday - December 31, 2011

Good Luck, Jonathan

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country following attacks from the Islamist group Boko Haram.

The measure is in force is areas of the Yobe and Borno states in the north-east, Plateau state in central Nigeria and Niger state in the west.

International borders in the affected areas have been temporarily closed.

Mr Jonathan vowed to “crush” Boko Haram, which killed dozens in attacks across the country on Christmas Day.

Boko Haram is thought to be responsible for a string of major attacks across Nigeria this year.

It bombed the headquarters of the UN in August 2011, leaving at least 21 dead and has targeted police as well. It has also in the past targeted Muslim leaders.

At least 42 people died in the Christmas Day bombings of churches and other targets. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in Maiduguri in Borno State, as well as other cities.

Given the pidgin languages that are widespread across much of Africa, you might think that “Boko Haram” means “everything is forbidden/bad”, but it actually means “Western education is a sin”; ie, koranic study is all you need.

The Christmas attacks come a year after a series of Christmas Eve bombings in central city of Jos in the nation’s “middle belt,” where the country’s largely Muslim north meets its largely Christian south. Last year’s Christmas attacks claimed by the militants left at least 32 dead and 74 wounded.

“Terrorism is a war against all of us,” Jonathan said as he spoke during an address on national television on Saturday. “I call on all Nigerians to join hands with government to fight these terrorists.”

The sect, some of whose members are believed to have links to al-Qaida, wants to impose Islamic Shariah law across Nigeria.

The U.S. Embassy had warned U.S. citizens late Friday to exercise caution in Nigeria.

Any US citizens who are in Nigeria ought to have their heads examined. And that’s when the terrorists aren’t attacking.

I fully expect our Islamist-in-Chief to do absolutely nothing about this, and we’ll watch the west side of the continent go on a bloody jihad against Christians just like the east side is doing.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/31/2011 at 06:18 PM   
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   Friday - December 30, 2011

Works On Muslims Too

It might have caused a bit of a stink, but a woodland used by youths as a drug den has been transformed back into a tranquil haven thanks to a lorry load of manure.

A council has come out smelling of roses after wielding a new and cost-effective weapon in the fight against anti-social behaviour.

“Feedback from the residents indicated that although there was a slight whiff in Willowbank, they would much rather have a pong than a bong.”
Middlesbrough Council spokesman

Pig dung has been spread in a thick layer in woods in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, to deter youths from congregating and upsetting elderly people living close by.

A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council said: “Following complaints, an inspection of the area revealed it was being used to drink alcohol and take drugs, as paraphernalia known as ‘bongs’ were found.

The woodland between Willowbank and Stainton Way has been crime-free since the innovative deterrent was introduced several weeks ago.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/30/2011 at 08:49 AM   
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   Thursday - December 29, 2011

Slow Blogging, but a fast road to China

Both Peiper and I are somewhat under the weather. I don’t know how Christopher is fairing; I hope he’s doing Ok. Blogging will be light until we can summon up enough gumption to do some posts.

Meh, we flat-out got out-bowled on Tuesday. The other team was on fire and whupped us 2-5. This might drop us to 4th, I don’t know.

Hey, you like that story out of Afghanistan? Untold zillions spent there in blood and treasure, so Karzai signs his very first oil deal ... with the Red Chinese. Fargin Bastage! 

Afghanistan’s government signed a deal Wednesday with China’s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation, allowing it to become the first foreign company to exploit the country’s oil and natural gas reserves.

China will also be building a refinery there in the next year or two, when further analysis of the oil fields gives them a better idea of how big they are. The Soviets have been drilling there for years, but the Chicoms figure the oil reserves are many times larger than what the old scientiskis said it was.

The ministry listed the initial value of the project with CNPC as $700 million. But the total could be ten times greater if more reserves are found and developed, and if international oil prices remain at today’s levels, Shahrani said.

Yes, it seems like double dealing from Karzhai. And it is. But the Chinese are in there, just like they’re in every country in South America and Africa that has any resources, buying things up left and right. This is how they spend all the money we send them.

Three years ago the China Metallurgical Construction Co. signed a contract to develop the Aynak copper mine in Logar province. Beijing’s $3.5 billion stake in the mine is the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan so far.

But before you completely go monkey-poo on the Afghans, take a look at a map. Just how is the west supposed to get any oil or gas out of that hellhole without running it through enemy territory? China does have a border with Afghanistan, and while we’ve been busy keeping the world from imploding, they’ve been busy building a network of highways, rail lines, oil and gas pipes across Asia ... to the point you can now drive a truck from Shanghai to Berlin in about half the time it takes to ship something there in a boat. Pretty slick. China understands “shovel ready” in a way the rest of world hasn’t understood since Pharaoh, and they just happen to have 10 or 20 million spare young men with nothing better to do.

Here’s a bunch of links on the Asian Highway thing. It’s beyond huge, and it’s being built far faster than they planned. A huge amount of it is built already ... and all the roads lead back to China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Highway_Network
http://www.universalnewswires.com/centralasia/viewstory.aspx?id=3829
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JA23Ae01.html

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/03/09/china-promotes-its-transcontinental-ambitions-with-massive-rail-plan/

China intends to extend its high-speed rail system towards south Asia and Europe with the goal of two-day journey times between London and Beijing.

If China weren’t already halfway through the construction of the world’s largest high-speed rail network, it would be difficult to take this proposal seriously. But the most populated country on earth has shown no deficit of skill recently in undertaking massive public works projects, and its ambitions — and willingness to finance them — show no sign of slowing.

http://www.registan.net/index.php/2011/05/01/the-new-new-new-silk-road-now-with-moar-newness/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-new-silk-road/2011/04/30/AFDOQUNF_graphic.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/01/18/road-building-rage-to-leave-us-in-dust/

China’s road-building has surpassed even its own ambitious plans. The Ministry of Transport said Tuesday that construction of twelve national highways has been completed 13 years ahead of schedule. Another eight highways in western China are almost complete, as well, it said.

The massive buildup of China’s highways will soon leave the U.S., the originator of the national highway system, in the dust.  Expressways in China now total 74,000 kilometers, or 46,000 miles, the ministry says–just a thousand miles short of the U.S. interstate system, according to U.S. government data. China has said that by 2020, China hopes to have about 85,000 kilometers of national expressways–a target that it will likely reach before the date, since it has already built 90% of the total.

I gather that the China Way is to bring in your very own army of workers. Heck, they’re all happy to work for a fish head and a bowl of rice per diem and a chance to not get shot today. And they move them along as the roads grow, in their own country or in others. So it would not surprise me if they have the pipeline already built right up to the border already.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/29/2011 at 12:28 PM   
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   Wednesday - December 28, 2011

Read Between The Lines

Officials says a moving melee involving scores of juveniles at the Mall of America took police and security officers over an hour to control as shoppers packed the sprawling shopping center the day after Christmas.

Mall spokeswoman Bridget Jewell says about 50 young people were involved in a fight at a food court Monday afternoon and that dozens of them then swarmed through the Minnesota mall as bystanders ran into stores to get out of the way.

Fifteen-year-old Makenzie Shofner tells the Star Tribune (http://bit.ly/vTaYKd ) that some of the mob grabbed items from shoppers and kiosks.

“scores of juveniles” means 200 or more.

A noisy, racing crowd of more than 200 young people created a chaotic scene at the packed Mall of America Monday evening, sending frightened shoppers scrambling for safety and causing some stores to close early, eyewitnesses and officials said.
...
Several witnesses said the melee had elements of a “smash and grab” flash mob, including heavy use of cellphones. They said those creating the disturbance numbered in the hundreds and some knocked down shoppers and grabbed items from kiosks and shoppers.

Bloomington police Cmdr. Mark Stehlik verified that some groups were as large as 100 people and that more than 200 people total may have been involved, but said police received no reports of stolen merchandise.

“some groups” implies at least two, probably at least 4, perhaps as many as 10. If it was just 2 groups, they would have said that. I think we’re being managed here. How many were actually involved? Who really knows. Mall of America is beyond huge; I’m sure 50,000 people can shop there at once without feeling any kind of crowd pressure.

“I was on the third-floor railing and saw a massive group of people [on the first floor],” said Makenzie Shofner, 15, of Maple Plain. “It looked like they were trying to pull people’s stuff out of their bags.”

Then, she and friends said, the crowd of teenagers and young people moved through the mall, knocking things over and sending shoppers fleeing into stores. “My heart was racing,” Shofner said.
...
Brianna Berg, 32, of Coon Rapids, said she was going down an escalator when a large group of young people rushed up behind her. “I had to hold on tight. I was almost knocked down,” she said.

The mall did not officially go into lockdown mode, though many quick thinking stores locked their doors with many customers safely inside. Fighting continued out in the surrounding streets for quite some time afterwards.

Witnesses said the fights started after there were reports that rappers Lil’ Wayne and Drake were visiting the Mall. Police, however, did not comment on these rumors.

Read between the lines, because the above quote is all you really need to know to understand exactly what went down.

A statement from the Mall of America call this incident “unfortunate especially during the holidays.” The statement went on to say, “As with any incident we will review our security efforts and continue to work closely with Bloomington Police to see if any changes are required.”

Videos at all the links, more here at The Blaze.

This is the Not News news ... this was a race riot, plain and simple. Cell phone videos of the whole thing were being torn down from YouTube almost as fast as they were put up. Nothing to see here, move along. Want more nothing? This was just one of ... how many? riots that occurred at malls this week:

“Unfortunately, as we have witnessed at shopping sites across the country this week, large groups of individuals can come together and create bad situations,” mall officials said in a statement. “It is very unfortunate to see these incidents occurring, especially during the holiday shopping season when families are out spending time together.”

Good luck finding news reports on any of them. When the MSM is forced to report on stories that don’t fit their agenda, you really have to read between the lines (and sometimes read through the comments) to find out what really went on.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/28/2011 at 08:50 AM   
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   Sunday - December 25, 2011

For Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

No, OCM is no longer allowed to comment here. But he isn’t dead, and I am NOT completely out of touch with him. We just don’t see eye to eye sometimes. Often. Doesn’t mean he’s now an enemy.

So, since it’s Christmas and I just ran a “speaking up for those with no voices” post, here’s his reply to some comment left regarding him the other day. He gets his say, then it’s over. No flame wars forthwith.

And since it’s still Christmas, and we ARE talking about dear Old Cat Man, his words are below the fold for decency’s sake.




Now that all the relatives have gone home, and I’ve had my Christmas lunch made from the leftovers of yesterday’s feast ... we did The Italian Thing With All The Fish ... and taken a nice nap from that ...  now it’s time to fire up the fryer and deep fry some of the cod nobody had room for then.

Funny how all 3 of the cheesecakes I made are little more than crumbs, and every single last morsel of the giant sushi and sashimi platter my wife put together is gone. We still have a bit of herring, and about a third of a salmon ball, and a few weeks worth of extra beer and soda. But nearly everything else got et right up, and my scotch supply has a major dent in it. But the house is still nice and clean, whoo hoo!! All in all, a good showing on our part.

Hope your Christmas festivities went just as well as ours did.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/25/2011 at 09:00 PM   
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   Friday - December 23, 2011

sign of the politically correct times

When I was a kid there were folks of different religions and from time to time one might be critical of another but it wasn’t open warfare.
When Christmas came along, there didn’t seem to be any differences as everyone enjoyed the lights and the decorations and the carols and naturally the trees and the gifts under same.  TV was blk and white, late night TV had Jerry Lester with Dagmar and a program called Broadway Open House. Otherwise there was a test pattern.
A must see was Alastair Sim’s portrayal of Scrooge.

I guess my point is that nobody I ever knew who was Jewish for example, including myself and my family, were ever at any point offended or put out or pained in any way by the public displays of the nativity scene. Or Christmas trees. Or the Christmas season.  And Christmas in New York was a yearly treat at a time when everybody wished everyone a Merry Christmas and thought nothing of it because nobody was offended.

Now all these years later we find this pc nonsense where suddenly Christmas decorations could be seen as offensive.  Jeesh.  What a crappy, stupid world the left has forced on us all.  And not only Christians.  I like Christmas, I enjoy the season.  If I have any complaint it’s that is isn’t snowing.
But some fools just have to make things difficult and insist on turning back a thousand years of tradition, okay, less in the case of decorations, on the off chance that some minority somewhere might be displeased. 

Scrooge civil service bosses ban Christmas decorations from government office for being ‘inappropriate in a modern, diverse workplace’
By RICHARD HARTLEY-PARKINSON

Christmas decorations have been banned at a government office by Scrooge pen pushers who say they are inappropriate in a ‘diverse workplace’.

Staff at the Rural Payments Agency office in Clyst St Mary, Devon, were ordered to take down the tinsel and baubles so that the workplace would keep its professional look.

Staff, unions and the local MP have all criticised the decision, branding it as being un-Christian.

Conservative MP Hugo Swire said: ‘We live in a Christian country and Christmas is our annual Christian holiday. People quite rightly like to celebrate it.

‘I would only suggest that the person who made that decision takes a no-doubt very well earned and very, very long sabbatical.’

One member of staff said: ‘It feels like they want to ban Christmas altogether. It is outrageous.

read more

That’s my last for today. Sorry to let the side down but my throat feels really bad, so going to bed with hot drink and a book.

and again ....

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

and if some over sensitive soul finds that offensive, move to country where Christmas isn’t. 

Posted by peiper     on 12/23/2011 at 10:35 AM   
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