« December 2012 | Main | February 2013 »

January 31, 2013

SkyMall Product Reviews: Home Cellulite Smoother

cellulitesmoother.jpg
"I have been waiting centuries for a sign while marooned on this godforsaken world, clinging to hope. My kind have a saying: Watch the skies, for the Empire has not forgotten you. That sign has now appeared to me in the Sky...Mall. This device is nearly identical to the one my progenitor used to convert protein cubes into a convenient vapor for storage in his viscera sacks. This cannot be a coincidence." -- Somethng Awful

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:16 PM | Your Say (0)

"We see the comforts and conveniences of modernity slipping away and we'll do anything to try to hang onto them."

So, the Fed pumps its $90 billion-a-month and the Standard & Poor's index inflates like an old tire

while ten thousand more families get added to the food stamp rolls, and the banks sit on enough foreclosed property to fill the state of Indiana, and another 25-year-old college loan debt serf ODs on vodka and Xanax because he finally understands that even bankruptcy will not save him from perpetual penury. -- The Master Meme - Clusterfuck Nation

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:16 PM | Your Say (5)

Punch Up That Vintage Blazer

aawoofling.jpg
Menswear Dog • Punch Up That Vintage Blazer Wool Herringbone Blazer: Vintage | Tie Bar: The Tie Bar | Button-Up Shirt: Ben Sherman | Knit Tie: Polo Ralph Lauren | [HT: Neatorama]
menweardoglogo.jpg
ABOUT ME Menswear Dog is a 3 year old shiba inu living in NYC with a panache for all things style. His interests include never washing his selvage denim, lurking around Soho for someone to notice his steez, and sniffing fine a$$ bitches.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:21 PM | Your Say (4)

"The lights are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our time" -- Sir Edward Grey

Lights out – France to force shops and offices to go dark overnight.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:52 AM | Your Say (4)

Silent (European) Spring

Economic crisis spells danger for songbirds as Cypriots turn to illegal trapping: "By mid-morning, the man disentangles about a half-dozen blackcaps, snaps their necks with his teeth and drops them in a bucket."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:00 AM | Your Say (6)

Thursday's Special: Liver Transplant

aahealthmessage.jpg
Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:35 AM | Your Say (4)

No names, please, we're the people responsible.

In the end the causes of the Pendleton'€™s death and the hundreds like her in Chicago will remain as abstract as a Picasso.

The reason the objects of outrage are buildings like City Hall or the White House is simple: its safe to blame a structure but nobody wants to take the risk of naming a persons inside them. That'€™s because people inside the building can reach out and punish you.... As to the nameplates outside the offices, none of them will change. Rahm Emmanuel will remain Mayor of Chicago as all the aldermen will. Nobody in Washington is going to be replaced. But the system will be changed. Some new piece of paper will be required. Some new restriction enacted. And everyone charged with enforcing these new systems will be exactly the same. Only Hadiya Pendleton will change, from living to dead. -- Belmont Club » Sine Nomine

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:26 AM | Your Say (0)

100 Wars

The fifth empire, that jumble of slave-built skyscrapers and foreigner-tended oil industries,

that mass of overpopulated cities and straggling countrysides, the clutter of minarets and billboards, palm trees and satellite dishes, is writhing in its own chaos, its own madness and violence, but surging out to colonize America and Europe. While French soldiers battle Salafists in Mali, there are Salafists in the basements of Paris who are planning to do to France what they have done to Mali. And the demographics are on their side. -- Sultan Knish: 100 Wars

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:59 AM | Your Say (0)

January 30, 2013

Subprime Loans to the Sort-of-Worthy: Because it worked so well in 2008!

New Rules Give Uncreditworthy Power To Sue For Low-Rate Mortgages New mortgage rules issued last week by the administration will have the effect of forcing lenders to approve prime loans to borrowers who would normally only qualify for subprime loans carrying higher interest rates and fees to cover the added risk of default.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:27 PM | Your Say (8)

"You know he's had his eye on Kerry's seat for years."

One person disappointed by Gov. Deval Patrick'€™s decision to name Mo Cowan as interim U.S. Senator is former Congressman Barney Frank.

Earlier this month, Frank openly lobbied for the position, saying "€œI think I'€™m better prepared than most people." -- Barney Frank Issues Terse Statement On Mo Cowan Senate Appointment « CBS Boston
Dueling Slogans -- Mo Cowan: "Fired up and ready to go!" Barney Frank: "Lubed up and ready to go!" [HT: Rob]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:50 PM | Your Say (2)

Rare Sighting of Sandra Fluke with Her Legs Together

flukewithlegs.jpg
Here we have Scott Wiener, a gay city supervisor who recently made international headlines
(and infuriated some of his constituents) when he proposed the first-ever city-wide ban on nudity. Behind him we have none other than Sandra Fluke, the wealthy 31-year-old college student who has so much sex she can't afford to pay for her own contraception. -- Zombie: Abortion showdown SF

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:36 PM | Your Say (5)

Well, if Soledad O’Brien thought she'd given her last blow-job, she was wrong. Back on your head, Soledad.

CNN’s ‘Poorly Rated’ @Soledad_OBrien Will Lose Her Show Nobody Watched : The Other McCain

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:23 PM | Your Say (0)

Earth to Wind Turbine: "Blow me."

bradworthy-endurance-wind-power-e-3120-turbine.jpg
Wind turbine collapses in high wind - Telegraph Installed by renewable energy company Dulas it was supposed to have a life expectancy of 25 years.
They noted that “wind speeds are part of our root-cause investigation”. The Bradworthy Parish Council, who opposed the turbine, expressed concern that there was “nothing exceptional” in the speed of the winds.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:46 PM | Your Say (5)

UNEXPECTED SURPRISING DISAPPOINTING PERPLEXING INCONCEIVABLE

#todayseconomicvocabularywords Breaking: U.S. GDP contracts 0.1% in fourth quarter. Small Dead Animals

100-Trillion-Zimdollar-note.jpg

Coming right up: Zimbabwe Richer Than US, Actually Has $217 In Treasury * Blur Brain

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:18 PM | Your Say (2)

The Waltons' Family Fortune is $128.1 Billion and Climbing

waltons.jpg
Not the Made-For-TV Waltons:
Alice Walton is the youngest child of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. With her two surviving siblings and the estate of her late brother, the Walton heirs control almost 49 percent of the world's largest retailer. Walton owns about 410 million shares. She gifted her collection of American art to her Arkansas museum, Crystal Bridges, which opened in 2011. Bloomberg Billionaires: Today’s ranking of the world’s richest people

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:53 AM | Your Say (7)

No Great Books Without Great Ideas

Here again are the Great Ideas:

Angel, Animal, Aristocracy, Art, Astronomy And Cosmology, Beauty, Being, Cause, Chance, Change, Citizen, Constitution, Courage, Custom And Convention, Definition, Democracy, Desire, Dialectic, Duty, Education, Element, Emotion, Equality, Eternity, Evolution, Experience, Family, Fate, Form, God, Good And Evil, Government, Habit, Happiness, History, Honor, Hypothesis, Idea, Immortality, Induction, Infinity, Judgment, Justice, Knowledge, Labor, Language, Law, Liberty, Life And Death, Logic, Love, Man, Mathematics, Matter, Mechanics, Medicine, Memory And Imagination, Metaphysics, Mind, Monarchy, Nature, Necessity And Contingency, Oligarchy, One And Many, Opinion, Opposition, Philosophy, Physics, Pleasure And Pain, Poetry, Principle, Progress, Prophecy, Prudence, Punishment, Quality, Quantity, Reasoning, Relation, Religion, Revolution, Rhetoric, Same And Other, Science, Sense, Sign And Symbol, Sin, Slavery, Soul, Space, State, Temperance, Theology, Time, Truth, Tyranny And Despotism, Universal And Particular, Virtue And Vice, War And Peace, Wealth, Will, Wisdom, World. -- Visions of Arhyalon - Wright's Writing Corner: Great Ideas Series Relaunch

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:47 AM | Your Say (3)

Breaking: Eggs not bad for you and the NYT is on it

You'€™ll be glad to know that if common sense had convinced you eating eggs was probably a-okay -- €”even the yolk! -- €” you are safe. The New York Times is allowing "€œEggs [to] Regain Their Reputation." -- « Hot Air

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:57 AM | Your Say (0)

"Why are you so scared about global warming?"

Why do you believe things are as bad as they are? Why is it you feel that the world is coming to an end unless we do something?

Unless you are an actual, God-love-you, bona fide climatologist, it is difficult to see how anybody could raise an interest in the state of the climate given the actual, direct evidence we have for dangerous man-made global warming. But it’s clear our National Nervousness Index is peaking. Why is that? Chances are, that if you are worked up, it is because you are mistaken. If you are like most people—and most people are—then you have inappropriately thought that certain evidence implied the truth of dangerous man-made global warming (or AGW, for short) whereas it actually does not. You are therefore unnecessarily worried. -- A Citizen’s Guide to Global Warming Evidence | William M. Briggs

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:27 AM | Your Say (2)

January 29, 2013

Closet Teabaggers Come Out

Today: Michael Bloomberg: Joe Biden has ‘a set of balls’ - Yesterday: ‘Look at the ass!' -- Bloomberg gets candid. Is it too early for an elopement, divorcement, gay marriagement and "Biden/Bloomberg, 2016" ?

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:33 PM | Your Say (3)

At last!

A symbol for people with lisps.

thimble.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:14 PM | Your Say (6)

Not. One. Utterly powerless. Can do nothing.

Not a single child’s life will be saved by gun control. Not. One. All such talk is pure emotionalism, bull excretion and horse manure.

The federal government is utterly powerless to stop atrocities like Sandy Hook. Utterly, utterly powerless. They can do nothing. Nothing. The culture decides things like whether parents get divorced, whether madmen get locked up, whether all grown men tend to go armed or tend to rely on others to save them, whether schools proudly advertise the fact that they are in ‘victims disarmament’ zones, whether they mind their own business or mind each other’s, and so on. The culture is not under federal government control. -- When Can We Start Shooting the Bastards? | John C. Wright's Journal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:29 PM | Your Say (1)

EVERYTHING IS TOO HOT!

46 Reasons My Three Year Old Might be Freaking Out:

He’s not allowed in the oven.

I picked out the wrong pants.

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

His hair is heavy.

[HT: Neatorama's Miss Cellania]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:57 AM | Your Say (1)

Stealth Racism

black-gun.jpg
Reminder: Sandy Hooker Shooter Did Not Use An AR-15 * Blur Brain

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:40 AM | Your Say (1)

January 28, 2013

Unemployment - The New Normal

4 straight years of 7 percent unemployment -- and those numbers are only smoke and mirrors. 

Millions have just stopped looking and dropped off of the bloated 99 week Unemployment Rolls.  There haven'€™t been this many unemployed since World War II!  Get used to it.  It'€™s the New Normal.  The Obama Standard. The Basement Dwelling Video-gamer Generation.  --- * Blur Brain

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:54 PM | Your Say (0)

"I'd like to thank you all for coming."

Public university plans event to help female students achieve orgasm [HT: Rob]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:56 PM | Your Say (13)

Solo Synchronized Swimming: The Early Years

The%20Perpendicular%20Descent.jpg

The Perpendicular Descent

"This is proper for those who leap off from any height into the water, as from a Bridge or Ship: This is performed by taking a little leap forwards, and sometimes upwards, that your descent may be more perpendicular, or swifter to the bottom, and also that your head may go perpendicularly downwards. This way is very Commodious, when you have a very deep water, and it cannot be performed after any more ready method, because of the difficulty of holding ones breath." -- BibliOdyssey: The Art of Swimming

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:50 PM | Your Say (0)

Seattle: $200 gift card for an assault weapon my ass!

g1359354691783477775.jpg
Seattle Gun BuyBack Get's JACKED! Turns Into a Damn Gun Show!
People that had arrived to trade in their weapons for $100 or $200 BuyBack gift cards($100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and $200 for assault weapons)soon realized that gun collectors were there and paying top dollar for collectible firearms. So, as the line for the chump cards got longer and longer people began to jump ship and head over to the dealers.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:22 PM | Your Say (2)

The Hunting of the Snark

Carney hasn't seen photo of Obama shooting skeet Carney said: "When he goes to Camp David he goes to spend time with family and friends, not to produce photographs." Really? You don't say?

drudge_obama_skeet_shooting_1-27-13-2.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:34 PM | Your Say (1)

Queer as Gay Folk

minervaaaaaa.jpg
Asexuality: The People's Choice for People Who Don't Want ANYONE | VICE
She calls herself "asexual," meaning she doesn't experience sexual attraction. To anyone. To the deep chagrin of some members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Minerva also uses the word "queer" to define her sexuality.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:54 PM | Your Say (13)

Liberalism: Kills and Cripples Millions

"Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die prematurely from their unhealthy habits? -- -- AP
Really? I think I'm going to start pushing death panels for liberals. Is that so wrong? I mean it is a disease that kills and cripples millions of Americans a year. If it saves one life, one child, it's worth it! And it will save a buttload of money.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:17 PM | Your Say (5)

Climate Crisis Downgrade Arriving on Schedule

Japan, announced this week that it is likely to abandon

formally its interim emissions reduction targets under Kyoto. For the last decade, Japan has held those targets sacred in part because the treaty was named for one of their major cities. Guess that doesn't even cut it any more. -- -- Power Line HT: Bird Dog

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:13 PM | Your Say (0)

The Motor City Roars Out of Washington's Shadow

From sport utes to sports cars to soccer-mom vans, every industry segment is thriving—with the notable exception of the alternative-fuel vehicles into which Washington has sunk billions of taxpayer dollars. -- Henry Payne: - WSJ.com

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:11 PM | Your Say (0)

When it comes to combat women are pussies.

Women in combat: Let’s get real - The Globe and Mail

Nowhere is the military ethos more challenged than over issues of sex, pregnancy and motherhood. The high rate of pregnancy among females in the U.S. military is a big taboo and an operational nightmare. According to a study reported this week by Reuters, more than 10 per cent of active-duty U.S. military women had an unintended pregnancy in 2008 alone – a rate that one of the study’s authors called “really shocking.” But it shouldn’t be. One study of a brigade operating in Iraq, cited by commentator Linda Chavez, found that female soldiers were evacuated at three times the rate of male soldiers – and that 74 per cent of them were evacuated for pregnancy-related issues. [HT: Don Sensing]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:36 AM | Your Say (3)

The Improbable is the New Normal

The improbable consists of more than just accidents.

The internets are also brimming with improbable feats of performance -- someone who can run up a side of a building, or slide down suburban roof tops, or stack up cups faster than you can blink. Not just humans, but pets open doors, ride scooters, and paint pictures. The improbable also includes extraordinary levels of super human achievements: people doing astonishing memory tasks, or imitating all the accents of the world. In these extreme feats we see the super in humans. -- The Technium

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:33 AM | Your Say (0)

Movin' On Up!

Chicago hits 40 homicides in January: Compared to 36 homicides in January of 2012! Chicago: On track for the 2013 WIN!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:26 AM | Your Say (1)

Surprise, surprise....

Norway Data Shows Earth’s Global Warming Less Severe Than Feared - Bloomberg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:39 AM | Your Say (0)

… AS IF NORMAL CYCLING KITS WEREN’T RIDICULOUS ENOUGH .. HOW ABOUT THIS?

LS-Skinsuit-SUPERMANFront.jpg
First Lance Armstrong and then....Superman, Spiderman and Pee-Wee Herman-inspired cycling suits

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:20 AM | Your Say (3)

Thailand: Mae Klong Railway Market

"Honey, make sure you give those veggies an extra rinse, okay?"

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:52 AM | Your Say (1)

January 27, 2013

Building Our Own Media

Rather than trying to compete with a single major outlet or with a hundred conservative political outlets all targeted at the same base,

the goal would be to expand that base and influence opinions across a wider range. It would be easiest to start with those groups that are already leaning our way, for example young white men and women, and expand an existing lean into a consensus. Similar efforts should be made with Chinese-Americans and Indian-Americans, two groups that came out big for Democrats and whose population share is growing, but whose interests lie with us. All this is feasible. It's just a matter of shifting from frustrated attacks against mainstream media to becoming the mainstream media. -- Sultan Knish: Building Our Own Media

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:58 PM | Your Say (0)

"We haven’t heard a peep about this monstrosity from any GOP legislator." [Bumped]

womansoldier.jpg
Jewel A. writes: "Here is a woman in the US Army. This tiny woman will be required to carry her body weight in gear into combat. She is typical of many women in the Army." -- The ultimate victory of feminism

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:41 PM | Your Say (30)

“Rocky Braat is a hero, but no plaster saint, in this sweet as-it-happens documentary. Braat, a listless American traveling the world, ended up in India at an orphanage for HIV-positive children -- working as a volunteer...

Translation: the film sucks,

butt it’s about a white guy doing good deeds for minority children suffering with Aids in India. -- Michelle Obama's Mirror: Sundance 2013: It’s a Wrap

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:01 PM | Your Say (0)

It was a puke fest. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. It was right out of a banana republic. [Bumped]

HillaryGetOutofBenghaziJailFreeCardPIX.jpg
Hillary said, "What difference does it make? What difference, at this point, does it make?"
Exactly right, but what difference does any of it make? What difference does it make that 50 million Americans are on food stamps? What difference does it make that the president's acceptance speech, his inaugural address, was perhaps one of the most partisan and divisive speeches in American presidential history? What difference does it make? Exactly right. After all this time, what difference it make? .... Do you realize just this week her campaign debt was paid off? Do you think there's any coincidence in the fact that her campaign debt was paid off and her appearance before the joint committee today to talk about the guy in Benghazi? -- The Cleansing of Mrs. Clinton's Record Rush Limbaugh

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:36 PM | Your Say (16)

[Arab] Springtime for Hitler!

20130126EGYPT-slide-8NWU-articleLarge.jpg
Are we having fun yet?

A botched civilization:

"By evening, fighting in the streets had left at least 30 people dead, mostly from gunfire, and injured more than 300. Residents said they were afraid to leave their homes. Doctors said the local hospital was overloaded with casualties and pleaded for help. Rioters sacked and burned a police barracks; attacked police stations, the Port Said power plant and the jail, where the convicted men were being held; and closed off all roads to the city as well as the railroad station." -- At Least 30 Die in Egyptian Riots After Soccer Verdict - NYTimes.com

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:47 AM | Your Say (3)

If I put you in room 1212 in New York City, your phone will not stop ringing with wrong numbers.

Why? Well, a surprising number of guests never seem to learn that you have to dial 9 to make an outside call.

So all day and, believe me, all night, idiots dispersed throughout the building will pick up their phones and try to straight dial a local number, starting with 1-212. Whatever they press after that matters not because they have already dialed room 1212, and 1212's guest will constantly pick up the 3:00 a.m. call and hear the loud mashing of other numbers or some drunk guest saying, "Hello? Hello? Who is this?" --Confessions of a Hotel Insider

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:32 AM | Your Say (0)

Destroying the U.S. Military

Americans are largely unaware that our air fleet is the oldest in Air Force history, worn down by two-plus decades of combat dating back to the 1991 Gulf War.

The average age of the fleet exceeds a quarter of a century. The U.S. Navy is a mere shadow of itself. Under normal operations one third of the fleet is in repair, one third is in port for the rest and relaxation of sailors, leaving approximately 90 ships to patrol the seven seas to protect American interests. There are about 800,000 civilians that provide support to our services and nearly 1.4 million in the active-duty military. -- Theo Spark:

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:13 AM | Your Say (5)

January 26, 2013

Our Forgetful Commuters

problemswithsnow.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:05 PM | Your Say (2)

Andante Dairy Nocturne

"Icelandic ponies. Japanese cats on the Internet. Yawning puppies.

Toddlers who give each other hugs. Goats climbing all over everything. Pink and green macaroons. Red pandas. Sparkly nail polish. Do you get where I’m going? Cute things. This cheese is so perfect and cute and delicious you just want to marry it. Or buy one and eat it." -- Creative Cheesemongers Pen Clever Descriptions
More evidence that the entire culture has drowned itself in liquid bullshit.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:31 PM | Your Say (4)

"Obama won’t send an army, he’ll send your neighbor, "

"the one with the IRS job. Or you’ll try to travel and a local NHS satrap will show up to investigate you,

express serious doubts about your online comments, and ask you to get in his car, quietly please, as your wife and kids look on– and your neighbors whisper, “I always thought something was strange about him.” --Are You Waiting On the First Five People To Get Crucified? | Primordial Slack

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:26 PM | Your Say (9)

PC: The Point

The point of PC is to get everyone in the subordinate population to tell the same lies together,

lies none of them believe, because it humiliates them, robs them of strength of will, and makes them mistrust each other so that the subordinates cannot rise up in rebellion. -- Battles are Ugly When Women Fight | John C. Wright's Journal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:25 PM | Your Say (0)

"Subconsciously, Liberals are racists."

Not that they hate people of other races -- quite the contrary --€“ they truly love them.

But they do think that people of other races are inferior and therefore unable to make it on their own. So they do whatever they can to help them (with other people'€™s money, of course). The War on Poverty is a perfect example. So is affirmative action. And 0bama is another. -- Snackeater @ neo-neocon's » Helping Obama

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:42 PM | Your Say (1)

Ten Below

Things don't work like they should when it gets down to ten below zero.

Two years ago, it was more than twenty-one degrees below zero here. It was astonishing. I looked out the window in the crepuscular morning light, and it didn't look like Earth anymore. There is a phenomenon called ice fog, where the air is too cold to hold any moisture whatsoever, and whatever humidity it's carrying turns to ice in the air, and looks like a snow flurry that doesn't move. -- Sippican Cottage: Do Not Be Deceived; God Is Not Mocked

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:35 PM | Your Say (2)

Pentagon Announces Plan Guaranteeing Disabled Americans, Teenagers Right To Military Service

Handicapped Americans National today filed suit against the Pentagon to let wheelchair-bound recruits serve in infantry units,

and a group named Blind But Not Broken has pressed for Braille heads-up-displays (HUD) to be installed in all F-22 fighter jets. -- - The Duffel Blog

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:25 PM | Your Say (1)

Unhappy With Your Gross Vagina? Why Not Try 'The Barbie'?

xlargebarbie.jpg
Labiaplasty — the procedure that clips off portions of a woman's labia minor (the inner lips of her vulva)
so that she looks more like a pristine porn star — is the most common "vaginal rejuvenation" surgery. One Southern California doctor says his most popular procedure is "The Barbie," which whacks out the entire labia minora so that only the outer labia are visible, as smooth as plastic. -- -- Jezabel

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:24 PM | Your Say (12)

Going for Broke

hillary%202016%20%20button%20small.jpg
Everbody wants ta get inta de act!
According to Hillary Clinton’s long-delayed Benghazigate testimony, the State Department just did not have enough money
to provide security for a mission in one of the most dangerous places in the world. It did however have 16 million dollars to spend on 2,500 kindle book readers at the drastically inflated price of $6,600 per device. -- Sultan Knish

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:41 AM | Your Say (5)

French Troops Push Further Into Mali, Desperately Try To Surrender

frenchinmali.jpg
Photo of French soldier in Mali upsets military officials
And as the sun sets on another day in Mali, Sergeant Martin looks wistfully to the future.
“It’s been my dream since I was a little boy in Nice to one day join the Army and surrender to a foreign force — like my father at Dien Bien Phu, and my grandfather to the German tank that drove into our garden.” -- | The Duffel Blog

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:26 AM | Your Say (8)

Do Not Blame Caesar [Updated]

Obama%20Caesar.jpg

"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him
and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and given him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the new wonderful good society which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean more money, more ease, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the industrious." -- Marcus Tullius Cicero

"When your fellow citizens have lost their confidence in our Constitution, and look for a Caesar, what is to be done?
First, prepare to survive (defense). Do not fear the future, for preparation brings confidence and determination. Be prepared to fight for your family and friends. Pray that when the time comes, you will have the courage and honor. Second, prepare to respond to the opportunity that comes with over-reach. For surely these mediorities will over-reach. The punch-back must be twice as hard (offense). Find your compatriots, make alliances, figure out who will stand together." -- John Fleming in the Comments

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:40 AM | Your Say (11)

The Love That Dares Strut Its Dildos [Bumped (So to Speak)]

aaagaymarriagedildo.jpg
Via Communism Kills

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:29 AM | Your Say (25)

January 25, 2013

"When the immune system of a social body is gone"

The administration, concerned that not enough women serving in the military have had the opportunity to be captured and raped by the enemy, now wish to assign women to combat roles.

Good thing this happened while the looming debt crisis is about to bankrupt us, and while unconstitutional executive orders are being issues to infringe on our gun rights, and while an antisemite is being appointed to the cabinet, and while the scandal of a slain ambassador in Libya and the surrounding cover up and scapegoating of a Coptic guy who posted a YouTube video continues to be stonewalled, and while the Catholic Church is still being required by law to violate our most deeply held belief and lose our First Amendment right to practice our faith, and while the trainwreck of fiscal madness and socialized medicine continue to topple over onto us with the slowmotion grandeur of a great natural disaster, because, otherwise, we might be able to generate some coordinated opposition to this. But when the immune system of a social body is gone, every random germ floating by causes another disease and another set of symptoms flares up. -- Battles are Ugly When Women Fight | John C. Wright's Journal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:24 PM | Your Say (4)

The pattern continues:

With our fever yet unbroken, we treat weakness and need as some kind of a commodity

to be exchanged for products and services, and strength, capability and service to others as some kind of a blight to be tolerated only churlishly, or not tolerated at all. Strength and weakness, each one treated as the other, as the opposite of what it truly is. -- House of Eratosthenes

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:04 PM | Your Say (0)

Good Question

whatdiff01.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:38 PM | Your Say (1)

The Mercedes Birthright

Every American inherits a Mercedes Benz at birth. It is the infrastructure of the American system.

However, it is up on blocks, the wheels are off, and there is no gas in the tank. You can sit behind the wheel in comfort and pretend that you are driving. You can fall asleep in the back seat, roll up the windows and ignore the world. But you have no idea about the real experience of America until you figure out how to get some wheels and mount them, get that car off the blocks and figure out how to get some gas into that engine. If you figure that out, you'll be able to drive 100 miles per hour. But if you don't bother, you walk like everyone else. -- The (Old) Guide to Cobb - Concepts & Terms - Cobb

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:18 PM | Your Say (0)

Egg Money

aaeggcooker.jpg
A statistician can reconstruct the movement of the cost of living in the sixteenth century from a few eggs
sold in Florence. Their price alone is a valid measure of the standard of living or the value of money in any given town in any given country. At one time in seventeenth-century Egypt, 'one had the choice of thirty eggs, two pigeons or one fowl for a sou'. -- Fernand Braudel: from The Structures of Everyday Life

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:42 AM | Your Say (0)

The Addition of Cheerleaders at Inauguration Fails to Boost TV Ratings

Inaugural-Cheerleaders2.jpg
Since the cheerleaders would be in close proximity to the president and other important political leaders, Janet Napalitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, personally took responsibility for patting down and frisking the girls. In deference to national security, she also deemed it necessary to perform comprehensive cavity searches. -- The Daily Rash

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:08 AM | Your Say (1)

What Phil Mickelson SHOULD have said

I earned $60 million dollars last year and not a single one of those dollars did I steal from anyone.

Not a single one of those dollars did I weasel out of a corrupt system because I bribed -- I mean, contributed to -- some politician to pass a law that favors me. Not a single one of those dollars did I simply tax away from someone because I could. Every single dollar that came my way was voluntarily given to to me. And people are not idiots. -- Milton Wolf

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:06 AM | Your Say (2)

"Guns are like parachutes."

"You may never need one, but if you do, you will need it real bad. And if you need one and don't have one, you will probably never need one again. Or anything else." --Donald Sensing @ Wrong Girl @ AMERICAN DIGEST

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:35 AM | Your Say (1)

January 24, 2013

It ain't over until the fat lady sings "Bond... James Bond"

Adele confirmed to perform ‘Skyfall’ live at the Oscars IT has been confirmed that Adele will return to the stage

when she performs ‘Skyfall’ at the 85th Academy Awards next month..... It is also rumored that all six Bonds - Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig – will appear together for the first time ever at the ceremony to mark the movie franchise’s 50 years.
A franchise desperate to rekindle its allure.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 5:31 PM | Your Say (1)

"The champion with the faked muscles."

President Obama's announcement that "a decade of war is now ending and an economic recovery has begun"€™ will cut ice with no one but his tame press.

To America'€™s enemies it must signal the exact opposite. It must sound like Obama will not be coming out at the bell. He may try to declare himself the undefeated champion of the world and hope he gets away with it, like he got away with everything else. -- Belmont Club » No mas!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:08 PM | Your Say (0)

"The opthalmologist of the Damascus is off the hook."

Obama has kept the true import of Benghazi from everyone but America's foes:

it was the moment when the Obama administration realized it had been duped into arming al-Qaeda.  The ship of Obama’s state is now beached on the shoals. It's full back and dump the ballast. He has no appetite for "forward" in international affairs, just "€œforward"€ into the taxpayer'€™s wallets. -- Belmont Club » No mas!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:03 PM | Your Say (0)

I was planning on getting a Lincoln but on second thought I'll be keeping the Mercedes

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:33 PM | Your Say (6)

Does Barack Obama Have A Mandate? A Look At The Numbers

However you slice it, Barack Obama does not come even close to a “mandate.”

He actually comes in near the bottom for percent total votes cast and percent total voters; he’s in the lower middle for percent per capita. So low is he that only an acts of hubris, historical ignorance, or prevarication would allow one to say he does have a mandate. -- | William M. Briggs, Statistician

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:00 AM | Your Say (4)

"Look at the Boston Massacre...."

recreated outside of Waco back in 1992. But we're not that well organized these days, save for the National Guard.

And maybe that's why the DHS and the other federal agencies are so paranoid about the organization of various independent 'militias' today. Especially if they've got the likes of you and me involved. I'm not sure how much a cannon cocker can contribute to such an organization. As opposed to a Ranger. But I'm sure any military type with Christian morals is on their DHS/FBI/NSA Enemies Of Obama 'watch' list. Especially if they've purchased a firearm in the last four-ten years. -- A dialogue at Sense of Events on "There will not be a rebellion."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:53 AM | Your Say (1)

"The New Yorker. Yes, The New Yorker"

aaguns_in_school.jpg

This was the cover of The New Yorker twenty years ago (September 1993). -- TYWKIWDBI

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:24 AM | Your Say (0)

Stopped (GE) Clock

lileksovenclock.jpg
The clock stopped working, and it was never fixed.
That seems unlike my mother, unless she decided it was an Expense and hence unnecessary. I couldn’t bear it. One of those signs of decay and disorder. Odd how you accept these things as kids - oh, that never worked - only to think upon them decades later and wonder hey, wait a minute. Was that the only thing that didn’t work? -- LILEKS (James) The Bleat

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:08 AM | Your Say (3)

January 23, 2013

Happy Birthday Frisbee

frisbeesuit.jpg
Flat flip flies straight.
Tilted flip curves.
Experiment!
Wham-O produces first Frisbees: 1/23/1957 The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling "Frisbie!" as they let go.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:48 PM | Your Say (1)

Dirt [Not] Cheap

dirt-risotto.jpg
Dirt Risotto
Japanese Restaurant Uses Dirt as the Main Ingredient for Its Expensive Dishes Chef Toshio Tanabe once won a cooking competition with his signature dirt sauce, and from that point on he put together an entire menu based on the unusual ingredient. Now the restaurant is offering dishes priced as high as $110 with Kanuma dirt in them.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:49 PM | Your Say (8)

Our Logophobic President

"Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts."

If that is the case, then our journey is over. And what a banal journey it was! It seems that history ends with neither bang nor whimper, just a crappy job and your children raised by strangers. But that's okay. At least every little girl can dream of some crappy job in her future. The circle of life! --One Cʘsmos

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:35 PM | Your Say (0)

"The ordinary man and woman"

"live in an asphyxiating smog of opinions foisted on them by society.

They lose all independence of judgement and all freedom of action. They see themselves increasingly as limited special functions, as parts of a machine, with neither need nor right to perform any other than their role in the economic structure of society. The civic sense becomes atrophied. It is the job of the police to prevent crimes, not yours and mine; it is the job of the town councilor to run the town, not yours and mine. Thus more and more live in cities, and yet more and more become decitizenised. What began in the suburbs reaches right to the city's heart." ( John Fowles, The Aristos, 1964)

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:14 PM | Your Say (0)

There are many varieties of fascism, but the principal elements are:

-- Faster, Please! » Where Fascism Lives

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:11 AM | Your Say (0)

The Violet Days Are Here

Winter is a full time job in Maine, E. B. White said. But he lived Downeast, where it's warm compared to here.

But he understood. You have to look it straight in the face, and deal with it. You can't go out in your socks and scrape the frost from your windshield with a credit card. I've made over 500 fires already, and I've only used one match, once, to do it. -- -- Sippican Cottage

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:51 AM | Your Say (0)

The Fountain of Funding

Limbaugh notes: U.S. Post Office cuts threaten source of black jobs "Lakesha Dortch-Hardy spoke about how much she loves her job at the U.S. Postal Service, and how much it would hurt if jobs such as hers were to disappear." Obamaphone!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:47 AM | Your Say (2)

January 22, 2013

Not with a Bang but a Simper

Top Afghanistan General Cleared in Email Ethics Probe The commander of the Afghanistan war didn’t have sex with or engage in any otherwise inappropriate behavior with a Tampa socialite, according to the Pentagon’s inspector general. This is how the bizarre downfall of ex-CIA Director David Petraeus winds to a conclusion.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:26 PM | Your Say (2)

The Days Dwindle Down

"Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Stockton .... the great experiment in civil rights failed. The streets of many major cities are controlled by extremely violent black and hispanic street gangs, who have a virtually monopoly on gun violence and murder. Yet our politicians are obsessed by elderly white men at gun shows. -- Comment by bob sykes @ MLWho Day?: Brain Fade, Denial, or "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" @ AMERICAN DIGEST

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:48 PM | Your Say (2)

"Life’s not an alternate history book."

neo-neocon: Beauty in the ear of the behearer

It puzzles me that so much of what I and many others see in Obama, those personal qualities that alarm us, are seemingly invisible to the vast majority of his admirers. It's a bit like the ability to detect PTC by its bitter taste. Some have the trait and some don't.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:38 PM | Your Say (4)

Who Says There's No Good News?

GOVERNMENTS like to cite external constraints

—such as meeting the conditions for an international bail-out—when pushing through unpopular policies. But with measures to deal with climate change, the opposite prevails. Each round of intergovernmental talks on cutting emissions and compensating victims seems to achieve less than the one before. -- The Economist

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:45 AM | Your Say (0)

Stale, Stale, Stale: Does Fox News now have an All-Amnesty lineup?

What about Fox News' viewers? Are they going to go along like sheep?

They now have no network that represents their perspective on what seems to be a key issue for Obama'€™s second term. Is it time for a new Fox? (Wouldn'€™t it be time for a new Fox anyway? That lineup has been stale for years.) -- Time for a new Fox? | The Daily Caller

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:41 AM | Your Say (0)

In other news, "Hail to the Chief" is out!

barry%20mop%20copy%5B4%5D.jpg

"God save the Queen" is in!
-- Michelle Obama's Mirror: Our First, Second (okay, fourth) Historic, Ceremonial Inauguration [To be paired with "Take My Hand, I'm a Stranger in Paradise"]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:29 AM | Your Say (2)

Knowing

aaaknownunknownknowns.jpg

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things
We know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say, we know
There are some things
We do not know.
But there are also
Unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

-- Donald Rumsfeld, 2003

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:18 AM | Your Say (0)

The Two Washingtons of Washington D.C.

One is the Washington of the professional government technocracy; the imperial Washington of ceremony and ritual,

where massive numbers of staffers and bureaucrats pack in to attend to the great grid of the nation. The other Washington is no different than Chicago or Detroit, except that its only dying industry is the great machine of government. These same two visions haunt the modern urban center and its shaky coalition between the government worker and the government welfare case. Here the white collar professional can reach the peak of his career while embedded deep in the bureaucratic trenches of the war on poverty in a city where poverty is an abiding reality. Here men and women can have full time careers pretending to solve the unsolvable problems of a nation. -- Sultan Knish: The Great Power of Washington

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:01 AM | Your Say (0)

January 21, 2013

Weightless: "Most relaxing song ever"

On October 16th 2011, Marconi Union created an eight minute track, 'Weightless' in collaboration with the British Academy of Sound Therapy.

In a scientific study commisioned by the Radox, it was labelled as the "most relaxing song ever". According to scientists at the renowned Mindlab institution it induced a 65 per cent reduction in overall anxiety and brought test subjects resting pulse rates to a level 35 per cent lower than their usual resting rates. The song features guitar, piano and manipulated field recordings. It is punctuated throughout by low tones that supposedly induce a trance-like state. -- Marconi Union - Weightless / SoundCloud

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:27 AM | Your Say (7)

People get ready, there's a train a comin'

aaunclesamgun3.jpg

We have "progressed" from "I have a dream..." to "I have a drone..." --Theo Spark

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:46 AM | Your Say (2)

Who Says There's No Good News?

Earth may be crashing through dark matter walls:

Earth is constantly crashing through huge walls of dark matter, and we already have the tools to detect them. That's the conclusion of physicists who say the universe may be filled with a patchwork quilt of force fields created shortly after the big bang.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:39 AM | Your Say (7)

Five Views of the Universe

The universe is a large and unwieldy object, and finding a proper spot from which to regard it in a good light is a problem,

considering that the spot, the spectator, and the light are all part of the spectacle to be viewed. Nonetheless, the universe is such a large, and, frankly, intrusive object that one cannot help but view it, and, since there is no such thing as a viewpoint from nowhere, one must have a viewpoint. The viewpoint will determine which aspects of the view loom large, which diminish with distance, which are hidden by obstructions in the landscape, and so on. Which viewpoint is best? Well, that depends, I suppose, on your viewpoint. -- | John C. Wright's Journal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:53 AM | Your Say (0)

" I wandered around the store, looking at things I neither wanted or needed."

This was the Best Buy flagship, the best store in the chain:
it’s close to the corporate mothership, and they experiment here, put on their best face. I walked out thinking: They really are doomed. -- LILEKS (James) The Bleat

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:44 AM | Your Say (0)

January 20, 2013

[Bumped] Cross-dressing meth priest liked sex in rectory. Bishop looking forward to public defrocking.

aaajuxtap.jpg
[Sigh.] In his post-priesthood, Wallin, 61, bought an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits. -- The Connecticut Post

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:48 PM | Your Say (13)

The Inauguration of Failure

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:00 PM | Your Say (0)

The Authenticity of Fake

romneyobamafakes.jpg
The more fake the culture is, the more of a sucker it is for fake authenticity. Politics thrives on that same fake authenticity.
Mitt Romney, a fake authentic politician of the old school, back when politicians were working with magazine covers, snapshots and a 30 second clip, couldn't compete against the truly fake Barack Obama, who in truly modern media style doesn't just fake 30 seconds or 30 minutes in front of the camera, but fakes his entire life going back decades. Obama is truly fake. He is authentically unreal. There is absolutely nothing to him. If you take away all the work that was done to make him famous, there would be nothing there. And that is exactly why he is the perfect avatar for the media age. -- Sultan Knish

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:53 AM | Your Say (0)

January 19, 2013

Christians have the right to vandalize abortion clinics, Duke law professor claims

Just kidding he is: Why don't Christians [actually] have the right to vandalize abortion clinics?

Because they do not have the might to do so (and get away with it). If they did, Christians would be on top and progressives would be on the bottom. We would live in a different country - one in which, as in most legal codes in human history around the globe, abortion was considered a serious crime. And there would be, of course, no such thing as an "abortion clinic." -- Unqualified Reservations:

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:38 PM | Your Say (2)

Not Your Grandma's Apron

satingapron.jpg
Are you looking for the perfect gift for favorite fashionista / culinary genius.
You need the uber-chic Limited Edition Strapless Black Satin Apron from the Neatoshop. This gorgeous cocktail dress inspired apron is uniquely strapless. It includes corset boning for a flattering fit. -- Limited Edition Strapless Black Satin Apron - Neatorama
[Gentlemen, start your Kraft-Ebbings Krafft-Ebings!]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:03 PM | Your Say (3)

"Ban nuclear, shut down coal fired plants, and everyone can burn coal and wood in their individual stoves. It’ll be just like 1910 – when the air was nice and clean."

Ah wilderness! It’s Spreading… Freezing Germans Join Greeks – Steal Wood to Keep Homes Heated This Winter

With energy costs escalating, more Germans are turning to wood burning stoves for heat. That, though, has also led to a rise in tree theft in the country’s forests. Woodsmen have become more watchful.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:58 PM | Your Say (9)

Awe

awwww.jpg
Via Theo Spark

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:30 PM | Your Say (3)

And so say we all: neo-neocon "I just don't care about Lance Armstrong's confession"

"Look into this guy's eyes and you will see he's one of the most competitive people in the world. So, what would people expect from him? That he also be moral, kind, honest, empathic, respectful of others? His eyes would tell you otherwise." -- neo-neocon

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:19 PM | Your Say (1)

Time to Up the Ante

wholeearthbutton.jpg
Stewart Brand, 1966
"It was February 1966 and I was twenty–eight and was sitting on a gravelly roof in San Francisco's North Beach. I had taken a mild dose of LSD...
How could I induce NASA or the Russians to finally turn the cameras backwards? We could make a button! A button with the demand "Take a photograph of the entire earth." No, it had to be made a question. Use the great American resource of paranoia. 'Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?' Ah. That was it. By the next morning, I got busy printing buttons and posters asking that question." -- Stewart Brand
why_2.jpg
Aspen Mays, 2013

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:41 PM | Your Say (2)

Beat Girl

Why Netflix is not streaming this 24/7 is beyond my comprehension. I'd have the opening credits alone on heavy rotation.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:28 PM | Your Say (6)

"One word: Plastics!"

Whenever there appears to be a hint of demand in some field or industry, we are all encouraged to stampede toward it.

It's like watching eight year olds play soccer, mindlessly (and fruitlessly) chasing the ball from one place to another. Just in my lifetime I've seen the ball bounce from business (especially MBA) programs to anything remotely related to computers to law schools to medical fields like nursing and pharmacy. -- FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL | Gin and Tacos

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:43 AM | Your Say (0)

January 18, 2013

Remington Model 1859 Revolver Manufactured By Polish Ryszard Tobys of Czempin

aaremingtonlargest-revolver-0.jpg
Concealing this in your waistband will only draw startled stares, a plethora of OMG’s and probably a date for every night of the week. -- -- Blurbrain

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:22 PM | Your Say (2)

No More DIY: Pre-Moistened Jeans

aaljagger_wrangler.jpg
Wrangler Launches Moisturising Jeans: Modelled by Lizzie Jagger, the pioneering skinny-fit style incorporates high-performance skincare ingredients to protect your legs
from the dehydrating effects of denim. The Denim Spa jeans come in three finishes - Aloe Vera, Olive Extract and Smooth Legs, which aims to prevent cellulite. Hydrating properties include of natural oils and butters, such as apricot kernel oil, passion fruit oil, rosehip oil, shea butter and monoi de Tahiti - a Polynesian ingredient made using Tiare flower buds soaked in refined coconut oil.
And the porn just writes itself!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:41 PM | Your Say (8)

"Foreign policy under Barack Obama is a simple process."

People hit America in the face and America pays them.

Then the process is repeated. This brilliant plan is called smart adhocracy. One day the New York Times will discover this is actually happening — inadvertently of course. Thank God for brilliant minds like theirs. --Belmont Club » Sheikh and You Shall Find

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:16 PM | Your Say (0)

"By their words ye will get a good inkle; By their actions ye shall know the MFCS." (Sun Yat-rodge)

Mr. Nostrils squeaks:

gunwax.jpg

“If someone is so fearful that they are going to start using their weapons to protect their rights, it makes me very nervous that these people have any weapons at all!” — Democrat Congressman Henry A. Waxman (California). [Curmudgeonly & Skeptical]
[One clean upward stroke with a Makita cordless and his critical thinking skills would be vastly improved.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:12 PM | Your Say (3)

SNL Mind Parasite Infestation Continues Unabated [Bumped]

sexiest-women-13-hillary-clinton.jpg
GQ's 100 Hottest Women of the 21st Century: Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live head writer:
"I think somebody who is getting sexier every year is Hillary Clinton. Every year she seems better at whatever she's doing. By the end of the millennium, she's gonna have it locked down."
Which reminded one of my readers of this immortal cover from Spy in 1995:
aahillsecreet.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:40 PM | Your Say (13)

Spambot Comment of the Year... So Far

This one, just in: "Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wondering your situation; many of us have created some nice procedures and we are looking to exchange strategies with others, why not shoot me an e-mail if interested."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:31 PM | Your Say (2)

Natural Born Killer: Mouse eats scorpions and howls at the moon

Even the poisonous scorpion cannot escape the savage monster's little pink paws.

It fights bravely, stinging its attacker on the nose. To no avail. The mouse ignores the painful venom and cruelly breaks the scorpion's tail by pummelling it into the ground, then bites its head and feasts on its flesh. Throwing its head back, the murderous animal howls at the moon. -- Zoologger @ New Scientist

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:06 AM | Your Say (0)

Creeping Entitlements: Figuring How To Pay For (Chimp) Retirement

hannah-marty_1_wide-e981df8b450571d36bd4dcae8c710da066250b55-s4.jpg
Hannah and Marty
"Congress set a cap of $30 million on total spending for construction and care of the animals in the sanctuary. And we are already over $29 million," Anderson says.
"We'll hit that cap in July of this year."Save the Chimps has about 50 employees to do endless chores. They hose down indoor rooms, prepare food and do the laundry — the chimp's brightly colored blankets and teddy bears hang on clotheslines to dry. Every day, workers go out on the islands to scatter treats and toys. One day's entertainment, for example, was long sheets of paper smeared with ketchup and mustard. And then there's the medical care..... -- Reported by the caring: NPR

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:01 AM | Your Say (2)

January 17, 2013

Alas: "Republicans just don’t hate Democrats the way Democrats hate Republicans."

The Other McCain opines on "The Filthy Rotten Party of Corruption, Treason, Fraud, Sodomy and Abortion": Most Republicans are born and raised Republicans,

and are spiritually attuned to the sentiments of bourgeois respectability that are core values to the decent, honest people the GOP represents. By contrast, Democrats owe their power to the vilest dregs of humanity — corrupt union goons, Marxist academics, criminals, drug addicts, sexual perverts and race hustlers -- €” who have no respect for the values of decent, honest people.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:38 PM | Your Say (1)

Declaring victory from behind bullet-proof glass, Pakistani cleric ends protests - PhotoBlog

Declaring victory from behind bullet-proof glass, Pakistani cleric ends protests

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:00 PM | Your Say (0)

Luminous

aa33nieuw3.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:12 PM | Your Say (0)

Luminous 2

aacherokeeroseinglass.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:11 PM | Your Say (2)

Luminous 3

aashiba1.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:09 PM | Your Say (3)

Luminous 4

aaburningorchid2.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:51 PM | Your Say (0)

The Fix

Since Gun Control works so well, lets "fix" drunk driving by passing laws that make it

very difficult to buy a car, set the maximum speed of all automobiles to 30mph and mandate that car keys be kept in a locked safe when not in use and the vehicles gas tank be emptied when parked. These laws will only be binding on drivers who have never had an accident or speeding ticket. -- via John the River

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:10 AM | Your Say (1)

Old Media Adjusts to the Brave New MantiTeo World

Twitter / AshlieWTAE: Couldn't find the robbery ...

mantiadjusts.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:49 AM | Your Say (0)

Another Hawaiian Works the Long Con: What an inspiration this president is to young men of color!

amantteo.jpg
She was initially confused, then horrified
"That picture," she told us over the phone,
"is a picture of me from my Facebook account."

Disgusting. First Lance, now Manti Te’o. Does everyone have lie to us now days? Yes, apparently so. In addition to Lance lying about not doping it seems that Manti hoaxed us about his dead girlfriend. Apparently she never actually existed; she was a composite. Seriously, who would do that?-- Michelle Obama's Mirror: Put down your gun or I’m calling the zoning board!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:21 AM | Your Say (1)

January 16, 2013

Hey Kids, What Time Is It?

Poster_Obama_Children_Guns_Parents.jpg
It's time to play "take the guns!"
Obama_Gun_Control.jpg
"The children-as-human-shields show:" Hinna Zeejah, 8, Taejah Goode, 10, Julia Stokes, 11, and Grant Fritz, 8, who wrote letters to President Barack Obama about the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:46 PM | Your Say (11)

Kill All the MSM. Let Darwin Sort Them Out.

Remember when the press mocked Mitt Romney for bringing up Mali in a debate? Because, you know, they had no idea anything was brewing there.

I keep saying that we have the worst political class in our history, and we do, but today's press is the very worst part of the worst political class in our history. -- Instapundit

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:37 PM | Your Say (2)

Obama's 23 Executive Gun Control Actions

24. Ask Eric Holder to stop giving out machine guns to drug cartels in Mexico. -- | Zero Hedge

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:43 AM | Your Say (0)

For Fashionistas there really is no bottom

amilanfashion.jpg
Plilipp Plein, inspired by the recent tragedies at Shady Hook, perhaps,
decides send models down his Milan Runway wearing balaclavas, flak jackets and toting machine guns and teddy bears.... According to a press release, the weapon-wielding models represented “new fashion heros”: “A troop of hot, strong, brave young men. Champions of a true ideal, fight only for real love, and ‘Regret Nothing’, which is also the groove of a new style battle.” --Hurricane Vanessa

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:42 AM | Your Say (8)

Over the Hillary

Hillary-Clinton-falling.jpg

Bill Clinton: Hillary's "Got Time To Have Three More Husbands":

"She's always been very, very healthy and she has very low blood pressure, very low standing heartbeat. I tell her that, you know, she's still got time to have three more husbands after me. So, I think she'll live to be 120. And I always know that she's thinking about that whenever I'm, you know, stubborn about something, in her constant quest at my self- improvement."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:18 AM | Your Say (12)

January 15, 2013

An Educational moment from Maggie's Farm: "Where the culture goes in before the name goes on!"

Renaissance Architecture and Alleys of Florence - Maggie's Farm

Italianstreets.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:17 PM | Your Say (12)

"And So He Became a Communist"

He was attracted by precisely those aspects of communism that would repel most decent people:

its violence and ruthlessness; its suppression of all views inimical to it; its cruel wholesale restructuring of society according to the crude and gimcrack ideas of arrogant, ambitious but profoundly mediocre intellectuals. The late Ron’s personal modesty notwithstanding – I see no reason to disbelieve his wife’s assertion that he was friendly and unassuming, as indeed Stalin, Uncle Joe, was often described as being – what he dreamed of was mass murder, deportations, suppression of people who differed from him, and complete control over the lives of everyone. Many people do dream of these things: most utopians, in fact. -- -- Theodore Dalrymple

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:02 PM | Your Say (0)

Colin Blow Hearts Obama

And since Colin Powell's so fond of our Commander in Chief, how about a few comments

from the General about how Obama is handling Afghanistan?  We're shoveling soldiers into a meat grinder over there.  Notice how we never hear the word "quagmire"€ as applied to Obama’s war.  Our troops are out there in hell with no clear mission and absurd rules of engagement.  Here's your automatic weapon, soldier, along with your allotted three bullets. -- Joytiz

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:41 PM | Your Say (8)

Okunoshima Island – Japan’s Rabbit Paradise

The rabbits of Okunoshima are wild, but well accustomed to human presence.
Sometimes they even approach tourists for snacks, especially during seasons when natural food sources are low, hopping on to laps much to the delight of visitors. Carrots, cabbage and rabbit feed (sold at the island hotel for about $1 a cup) are what they prefer the most. Rakuten, a travel company, offers a tour called ‘Let’s Play with Rabbits’, in English and Japanese. -- Oddity Central - Collecting Oddities

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:27 PM | Your Say (0)

The Million Normal Human March

March%20in%20Paris.jpg
"How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree?
What if the Great Silent Majority, in all the Western countries,
expressed itself similarly on mass immigration, on Islamization, on mandated diversity, on sexual libertarianism, on feminism, on the unearned elevation of blacks and the unearned demonization of whites, on massive transfers of wealth to aliens, illegal aliens, and professional dependents, on the Soviet-like media, on the transgressive and nihilist mass culture? -- AmNation

GalliaWatch: One million... at least!

Le Salon Beige has posted the video below, showing three and a half hours of marching at Place d'Italie compressed into four minutes. A great idea. One reader suggests the video be given to the police so they can do a recount. Note that Place d'Italie was just one of three major starting points. So to assume at least a million demonstrators is not an exaggeration.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:37 PM | Your Say (3)

Then and Now

Barack Obama, 2006 -

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit [to $8.9T] is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government can't pay its own bills. ... I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit."

Barack Obama, 2013 -
"Chuck, what I'm saying to you is that there is no simpler solution, no ready, credible solution, other than Congress either give me the authority to raise the debt ceiling [to $16.4T], or exercise the responsibility that they have kept for themselves and raise the debt ceiling. Because this is about paying your bills."

Is There Nothing That Obama Can't Do? - Small Dead Animals

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:35 PM | Your Say (2)

VICE DOs & DON'Ts | United States

I’ve always thought tribal-tattoo sleeves should count as a handicap. I’m so glad the Americans with Disabilities Act is coming around. I love this country!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:24 PM | Your Say (0)

The Miracle of the Age

arguewithstrangers.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:40 AM | Your Say (2)

Liquid Nails: The Duct Tape of Glues!

liquid-nails-ad.jpg
It is easy to apply. Unlike contact cements like Barge Cement, you don’t have to apply it to both sides, let them dry, then carefully stick them together (and get an instant that you cannot realign if you didn’t bring the pieces together perfectly.) You just spread it on one piece, jam the two pieces together and adjust, and you are done. -- Cool Tools – Construction Adhesive

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:36 AM | Your Say (0)

Compassion Control

Compassion for Depardieu, however, is but the velvet glove that hides the iron fist.

The author says ‘The accumulation of money [by those who cannot have further need of any] is a sort of madness, and a kind of injustice towards those who do not have enough even to meet the most basic needs of existence.’ She also says ‘A rational and just society must prevent the accumulation of capital by individuals above a certain level.’... Suppose that Gérard Depardieu were to undergo a conversion experience and see that his wealth was not unjust but unseemly in view of the difficulties or hardships of others, and that as a consequence he decided to give it away to those most in need (as determined by him) in exactly the same proportion as he would have been taxed. Would that be acceptable to all those who criticized him for refusing to pay his tax?
I suspect not: for in the modern world, the state claims the monopoly not only of force, but increasingly of compassion as well. -- Theodore Dalrymple, Depardieu, Heal Thyself

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:21 AM | Your Say (2)

Calling It: The Deeper Origins of the Executive Order

"One of the problems in life is that when you’re a kid, you have a certain way of working out disagreements. And those laws do not work in the adult world.

One of the main ways that kids resolve any dispute is by calling it. One of them says, “I got the front seat” “I wanted the front seat!” “I called it”. And the other kid knows he’s got nothing to say: “He called it. What can I do?” If there was a Kid Court Of Law, it holds up. “Your Honour, my client did ask for the front seat” And the judge would go, “Did he call it?” “Well no, he didn’t call-” BANG! (Jerry imitates a judge banging his gavel.) “He has to call it, case closed. Objection overruled.” -- Seinfeld -The Robbery

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:15 AM | Your Say (0)

January 14, 2013

No Banana Talks About Fight Club

nobananatalksaboutfightclub.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:29 PM | Your Say (3)

trillion dollar coin

Minted at – Knowledge is Power

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:34 PM | Your Say (0)

Travel Mugs That You Might Have To Conceal

concealedtravelmug.jpg
Concealed: Products: Zazzle.com Store

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:23 PM | Your Say (3)

Next Question

“The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, ‘Is there a meaning to music?’ My answer would be, ‘Yes.’ And ‘Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?’ My answer to that would be, ‘No.’” — Aaron Copland, What to Listen for in Music, 1939

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:18 PM | Your Say (1)

“Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive”

"isn't the certainty it's made out to be. The incompetent political elites of the world

are proving themselves quite capable of losing. They are manifesting a disturbing lack of quality which if continued indefinitely must mean disaster. The last time the West realized that it had mislaid some ineffable quality which constituted their superiority was in June 1940. --Belmont Club / Expired Guarantees

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:59 PM | Your Say (0)

"The West was lucky once. It may not be so lucky again."

Because their possessions were great, the appeasers had much to lose... so, with their eyes open,

they sought accommodation with a criminal regime, turned a blind eye to its iniquities, ignored its frequent resort to murder and torture, submitted to extortion, humiliation, and abuse until, having sold out all who had sought to stand shoulder to shoulder with Britain America and keep the bridge against the new barbarism, they led England America herself into the cold damp shadow of the gallows.... William Manchester quoted at Belmont Club サ Expired Guarantees

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:57 PM | Your Say (1)

The Game of Thrones in North Africa

“As far as liberty,” he continued, “Morocco has recently gone from zero percent to 95 percent.

But we don’t have total freedom. Once in a while somebody goes to jail. And people ask, how come during the reign of Hassan II nobody went to jail? The reason is because no one wrote about anything controversial. Those were real red lines back in that day. No one had the right to write anything about the king except what was official, the things he was doing. Now people take the initiative and write about the king.” -- Michael Totten | World Affairs Journal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:40 PM | Your Say (0)

The “Obama all the way” guy

Barack Obama is just supposed to win more arguments, is all.

Barack and Michelle should get to go on more vacations and they should look all winning & smart. Then the Obama fans live vicariously through the Obamas. Is it really that simple? Maybe so. -- House of Eratosthenes

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:38 AM | Your Say (2)

Headline of the Day

neo-neocon's "Between the cliff and the ceiling."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:36 AM | Your Say (0)

January 13, 2013

Hands Full of Gimme

Riot Breaks Out At Housing Assistance Event In Metro Detroit According to reports, only 1,000 vouchers were available for distribution. An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people were in attendance.

"When the lights went out, it went horrible. People started trampling over people, there was a disabled lady that was in a wheelchair and they was trying to knock her over to get in front of her. There was people who was physically putting their hands on people’s childs (sic) and moving them."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:18 PM | Your Say (7)

Salve Sclave: "Note that tax increases are on income, not on wealth."

The notion is to prevent anyone not already rich from having any hope of becoming rich.

If you are born rich you may be able to graduate from a major university without owing tuition debts. If you are not born rich, or your parents are on wages which might be high enough to pay your tuition were it not for the income taxes but cannot do it now, you will come out into the world with a lifetime debt. Unless you are part of the hereditary aristocracy. Many colleges allow free tuition for children of tenured faculty members. -- Chaos Manor Jerry Pournelle

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 5:54 PM | Your Say (6)

You know your fellow citizens are zombies if....

... they believe that their mere existence entitles them to economic and spiritual support by their fellows via the state, through taxes, special legislation, and protective privileges, then they are zombies. -- The Rule of Reason :Our Zombie Culture

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:26 PM | Your Say (1)

"I feel the earth move under my feet!"

aatoobigtofall.jpg
Heavyset woman falls through Upper East Side sidewalk: The 31-year-old Queens woman was huddled up against the wall of Atomic Wings at the Blue Room Grill
on the corner of East 60th Street and Second Avenue, seeking shelter from the rain while waiting for a bus, when the sidewalk below her gave way around 9:15 p.m., witnesses said. “The woman was enormous. She had to be more than 300 pounds,” said Daniel Crumity. The woman fell straight through the concrete into an area below that appeared to lead to the restaurant’s basement, witnesses added. FDNY Fire Chief Thomas Jemmott said the woman had to be pulled up in “high-angle rescue unit” resembling a crane with cargo netting.
[A high-impact low-information voter.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:44 AM | Your Say (9)

When Neutered Men Speak to Boys

The young fathers and the not-so-young granddaddies had a peculiar way of speaking to the male children.

They squatted down to be on eye level with the lads, or they leaned way over to appear less tall. And when they spoke, the mens’ voices were…feminine. I don’t mean lisping or mincing or effeminate. I mean feminine. No matter how low the voice might have been naturally pitched, the men without exception raised the pitch of their voices and lowered the volume until they sounded like spinster Sunday School teachers, whispering in calming tones, asking questions and making observations. --- The Thinking Housewife

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:19 AM | Your Say (2)

Vincent Van Gogh's Self-Portrait as a Photograph

halfvangogh.jpg
Halfway there ...
What would Van Gogh's 1889 self-portrait look like if it had been made with a camera? Tadao Cern used Photoshop to find out. -- -- - Neatorama

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:00 AM | Your Say (4)

January 12, 2013

White Servants

When talking to one’s white servants, one doesn’t really know whether to refer to blacks as blacks,

Negroes, or colored people. When talking to other . . . well, cultivated persons, one says blacks, of course. It is the only word, currently, that implicitly shows one’s awareness of the dignity of the black race. -- Tom Wolfe on Radical Chic and Leonard Bernstein's Party for the Black Panthers -- New York Magazine

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:35 PM | Your Say (1)

The Klan's Favorite Law

aaklansman_m1c.jpg
Gun control in the postwar South: As Jim Crow intensified, other Southern states enacted gun registration and handgun permit laws.
Registration came to Mississippi (1906), Georgia (1913), and North Carolina (1917). Handgun permits were passed in North Carolina (1917), Missouri (1919), and Arkansas (1923). As one Florida judge explained, the licensing laws were "passed for the purpose of disarming the negro laborers... [and] never intended to be applied to the white population." -- - Reason.com
See also: The Racist Roots of Gun Control

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:34 PM | Your Say (8)

The Civilized Savage (1)

He is a high tech back to nature fellow. He builds entire industries dedicated to harnessing the sun and the wind. He drugs himself

with legal and illegal cocktails of chemicals to get in touch with his inner emotions. Most contradictory of all, he believes that the sum of civilization lies in dismantling the military and industrial infrastructure that makes civilization possible and replacing it with a trillion dollar social organization that will reproduce some natural primitive order, as defined by the proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, a proverb that like the rest of his ersatz savagery he invented himself. -- Sultan Knish: The Civilized Savage

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:44 AM | Your Say (0)

"... from the feminist point of view"

slipper.jpg
The Irresistible Allure of the Nylon Slip - Neatorama "I’ve always had a strong interest in lingerie from the feminist point of view, when it comes to reconciling the desire to feel pretty with the concern that fashion is a way of controlling women." [Yeah. right. Oh, just shut up.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:55 AM | Your Say (4)

Question: "But why do you need an assault rifle?"

Answer: "To protect myself against you and folks who think like you." -- Liberty's Torch

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:45 AM | Your Say (7)

Playmobil Security Check Point

checkpoint.jpg
"I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited.
My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital. -- Amazon.com: : Toys & Games [1 collectible from $4,999.99]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:27 AM | Your Say (0)

Doomed! Doomed! 5 Days Left! " President 'has four years to save Earth' :" Saturday 17 January 2009

settlescience.jpg
Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen
who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama's first administration, he added. -- President Obama 'has four years to save Earth' | Environment | The Observer Saturday 17 January 2009

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:03 AM | Your Say (6)

Who Says There's No Good News?

[The slowly dying] New York Times Dismantles Its Environment Desk "Times says demise of the nine-person team, created in 2009, won't affect climate coverage." [Yeah. Right. Thus the cooling to global warming continues.]

"We shall miss you, New York Times environment desk. You saved us from ManBearPig!" -- Ricochet.com

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:49 AM | Your Say (1)

The Marching Morons

gun%20free%20home.jpg
A "Gun-Free Home" sign is seen in front of a house along the route to the Chalk Hill School where the Sandy Hook Elementary School children will begin to attend classes in Monroe, Connecticut, January 2, 2013. -- Christian Post [Well, at least they can be pretty sure that their latest homicidal maniac is dead. Even odds that this "brave" sign will be taken down within a fortnight.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:41 AM | Your Say (3)

January 11, 2013

Bracken: Stick To Your Guns!

aasposter_hand_over_weapons_600.jpg
Then: Useful Idiots

Every survivor of every genocide says the same: when they come to take your guns, shoot them.

Make them work for it, and THEIR system is overwhelmed, because they don’t have 20 million FLEAs to do armed battles all over the country .... Entire divisions of Russian troops hiked home from WW1 in 1917/18, carrying their rifles and swords and other sidearms. Very early on, Lenin decreed that public safety demanded they all be turned in, under penalty of death. And so they were disarmed, but not the Party members! Then came the purges, the Great Terror, the gulags, and tens of millions of dead. -- Resistor in the Rockies

aagun-free-home.jpg

Now: Useful Idiots

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:34 PM | Your Say (12)

Family

aafamily.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 5:58 PM | Your Say (2)

What’s important is not how things actually are, it’s how it makes you feel!

daily_picdump_1131_640_15.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:20 PM | Your Say (10)

A personal plumbing access failure

The thermometer registers 5 below zero Fahrenheit. So the kid is bundled up to the max.

Two pairs of wool socks. Underpants plus heavy-weight long-john bottoms. Turtle-neck heavy-weight long-john top. Wool trousers and wool sweater. Down vest. Down parka. Wind parka and wind pants. Two wool caps. Wool neck warmer. Snow goggles with dark lenses. Fleece-lined rubber-bottom mukluk-style arctic boots. And two pairs of Norwegian wool mittens. Alas, he has forgotten to make a prophylactic trip to the bathroom before he was all zipped up . . . When the urge hits him he will be way too far from the house . . . -- Robert Fulghum, OFFICIAL Website - Recent Entries

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:38 PM | Your Say (3)

Take Me Out to the Ball Card Game: 1865 baseball card found at US rummage sale to be sold at auction; only 2 known to exist

baseball%20card1865brooklynatlantics.jpg
It's an original photograph from 1865 of the Brooklyn Atlantics amateur baseball club mounted on a card. The card shows nine players gathered around their manager.
The Maine man bought the card by happenstance. While at a yard sale, he bought a photo album, old Coca-Cola bottles and a couple of oak chairs for less than $100, Thibodeau said. While looking through the album, the buyer came across the baseball card. He later mailed it to Saco River Auction,. Last summer, the auction house sold a rare 1888 card of Hall of Fame baseball player Michael "King" Kelly for $72,000. -- - - Times Colonist

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:17 PM | Your Say (0)

The Civilized Savage (2)

What the civilized savage lacks in useful skills, he more than makes up for in creativity.

Straddling the boundary between the immediacy of the savage and the foresight of the civilized man, he is able to blend both, combining ego and technique, emotion and rational order, to be a talented performer, a charismatic speaker, an ingenious artist, an evocative writer and a startling poet. In addition to this he is capable of starting all sorts of businesses, so long as those businesses involve finding a new way of catering to the leisure needs of the public or cashing in on government social spending. When the train grinds to a halt, then the passengers need to be fed and entertained, and so these are among the few growth areas of a society that is otherwise stuttering to a halt, bringing wealth comes his way. -- Sultan Knish: The Civilized Savage

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:07 PM | Your Say (2)

We knew Sinatra and, Jay-Z, you're no Sinatra.

"I'll be hood forever I'm the new Sinatra." Oh, yeah, punk? The Only #1 Song Recorded by a Father and Daughter - Neatorama: The #1 song on the very first singles chart published by Billboard magazine was "I'll Never Smile Again" by the Tommy Dorsey Band. The record featured a skinny, young lead vocalist named Frank Sinatra. The date was June 20, 1940. Frank's final charting hit was his cover of "The Theme from New York, New York." The record peaked at #32 in 1980. It made its last appearance on the Hot 100 chart on July 19, 1980, giving Frank an unbelievable chart span of 40 years -to the day!

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:06 PM | Your Say (0)

Same Shit Different Shape

djangoslaved.jpg
Honest Titles for 2013's Oscar Nominated Movies

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:30 AM | Your Say (2)

Obama(Crony)care

The conversion to electronic health records has failed so far to produce the hoped-for savings in health care costs and has had mixed results

, at best, in improving efficiency and patient care, according to a new analysis by the influential RAND Corporation.... RAND's 2005 report was paid for by a group of companies, including General Electric and Cerner Corporation, that have profited by developing and selling electronic records systems to hospitals and physician practices. Cerner's revenue has nearly tripled since the report was released, to a projected $3 billion in 2013, from $1 billion in 2005. -- Theory and malpractice | ROUGH TYPE

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:28 AM | Your Say (0)

The Civilized Savage (3)

He is all about keeping it real in an air conditioned studio surrounded by four kinds of flavored water.

He wants to cut loose with a designated driver, hold an orgy with protection and build an artist's colony with social security benefits. Too stupid to be civilized and too smart to be a savage, he lacks the survival skills of either group. He cannot make it in the jungle,and on the iron train his only function is contributing creativity to the leisure of a mechanistic culture. -- Sultan Knish: The Civilized Savage

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:06 AM | Your Say (0)

The Last Dinosaur: "A word of explanation."

Typewriters were mechanical devices that contained stamped metal letters on typebars,

which were mechanical arms propelled from a base by a series of levers. You struck a key and it hammered a typebar against a piece of paper pinned against a platen. By an arrangement of linkages an inked fabric called a typewriter ribbon was simultaneously raised. The typebar transferred the ink to the paper and if you did enough of this, the manuscript was "typed" --€” that is symbols were printed on paper. -- Belmont Club »

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:00 AM | Your Say (0)

January 10, 2013

And the Creep Goes On

pleasekillme.jpg
Is there a prize for the stupidest outfit this week? From plank hats to furry pants, Men's Fashion Week has seen some real clangers | Mail Online

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:44 AM | Your Say (8)

Military Drawing Up Plans for Nation-wide Gun Confiscations

The actual planning for Operation PREAKNESS was initiated in early 2009 and developed in conjunction with the United Nations, Senator Dianne Feinstein,

and several other liberal organizations such as the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, Greenpeace, the American Federation of Labor, and the National Rifle Association, which is apparently a front for all the previous groups. While there was initially some concern about the constitutionality of using the military on American soil, page 2131 of the ObamaCare Act actually amends the Posse Comitatus law to allow the military to disarm private citizens at the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security. Objections by then-CIA Director David Petraeus were quietly silenced in November. -- The Duffel Blog

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:37 AM | Your Say (8)

Amazon Offers Free Downloads from the Discs You Already Bought

Amazon AutoRip adds free MP3s of your CDs past and present

Amazon.com on Thursday announced the launch of AutoRip, a new service that gives customers free MP3 versions of audio CDs they’ve already purchased. The tracks are available for download through Amazon’s Cloud Player service. What’s more, this applies to CDs you’ve bought through Amazon as far back as 1998.
[You're welcome.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:30 AM | Your Say (0)

"The US these days rolls in passive aggression.

The country grows daily more mean-spirited, more wrapped in a miasma of diffuse anger, but you still can't just go up to a child and hit him with a ball bat, or throw acid in his face.

No. Instead you find a smugly righteous way to set him back two years in school, thus making him into a guaranteed social misfit. How very…I don't think “intelligent” is an adequate word. Perhaps “sublime” is better. Or “supernal.”
As tensions grow in America, as divisions flourish, and the nation leads up to something unseen but ugly, prissy vindictiveness and moral sadism become normal. We have become a gotcha culture, watchful for transgressions meaningless but forbidden, so that we can make the malfeasor squirm. How we enjoy the squirming, the writhing on camera, the heavy punishments inflected for nothing." --Lunatics to the Left, Lunatics to the Right, and Not a Drop to Drink by Fred Reed

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:33 AM | Your Say (2)

January 9, 2013

Stupid Is as Stupid Does: Brennen, Hagel, Kerry

They are all stupid people. Some friends said I shouldn't write this because it is a subjective judgment and sounds mean-spirited. But honest, it'strue.

Nobody would ever say that their predecessors -- Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, and David Petraeus --€” were not intelligent and accomplished. But these guys are simply not in that category. Smart people can make bad judgments; regular people with common sense often make bad judgments less often. But stupid, arrogant people with terrible ideas are a disaster. -- Rubin Reports » Noxious Nominations: The Four Horsemen of the American Foreign Policy Apocalypse

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:44 PM | Your Say (2)

Chelsea to Bill: "Daddy, are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

BIll_Clinton_Father_Of_The_Year.jpg
Bill Clinton named 'Father of the Year' - [And the basso profundo of massed projectile vomiting was heard across the land.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:12 PM | Your Say (4)

Oops!

aanarchistblastwashington1919.jpg
Detail
June 1919. "Palmer house after bomb explosion."
The shattered facade of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's house at 2132 R Street NW after the June 2 blast. The only casualty was anarchist Carlo Valdinoci, blown to bits when the dynamite-packed suitcase he was putting under the front steps exploded prematurely. A search by the police "revealed only fragments of the body of the dead man," the Washington Post reported. "A part of a shattered leg clothed in a red sock and a garter, and a mutilated head were picked up. Several spinal vertebrae were discovered in a front room on the second floor of the Swedish legation on the opposite side of the street." --Red Scare: 1919 | Shorpy Historical Photo Archive

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:14 PM | Your Say (6)

Attention Low-Information Morons!

obama-medal-set-620x495.jpg
Is your house full of collectibles that only a mentally ill person would collect?
Then drop $7,500 on the medallion set featuring gold, silver and bronze medallions of Obama and Biden looking off into the distance, perhaps the place over the horizon where all the money went. -- My Taxes Went Up And All I Got Was This $25 Obama Coffee Mug

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:01 PM | Your Say (4)

Matt Drudge: "Let's Review"

whgunsorder.jpg
@ 01/09/2013
menckenfree.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:51 PM | Your Say (2)

"These ruling classes consist of the so-called liberals,"

"in charge of our education system from the kindergarten to the universities, and of the communist-led government employees unions.

Our university professors and their students are convinced they can do better that Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Kim Il series of dictators, Mao, and the former mass killers of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania, Albania, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia – the history of these victim countries completely neglected and forgotten. Our teachers unions have succeeded in the short 45 years to “educate” three generations of illiterate nincompoops who vote their “feelings” completely unaware of history, geography, philosophy, and literature. -- The American Spectator : Happy New Year?

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:11 PM | Your Say (1)

Tell it Slant

aaemilydickinsonportrait-jpg.jpg

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies;
Too bright for mind's infirm intent,
The Truth's superb surprise.
As Lightning to the Children eased,
With explanation kind;
The Truth must dazzle gradually,
Or every man be blind.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:28 AM | Your Say (1)

"I am sick to death of vampires as portrayed as protagonists in stories."

They are properly villains and vermin, antagonists to be exterminated,

not friends afflicted with angst and waiting to be understood. I am weary of friendly werewolves, and disgusted by friendly dragons, and I wonder about friendly witches, particularly when none of them are old crones. -- The Feast of the Magicians | John C. Wright's Journal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:11 AM | Your Say (2)

Thoughts on Urban Survival

1) Those that want to harm you/steal from you don’t come with a pirate flag waving over their heads.

2) Neither do they start shooting at you 200 yards away. 3) They won’t come riding loud bikes or dressed with their orange, convict just escaped from prison jump suits, so that you can identify them the better. Nor do they all wear chains around their necks and leather jackets. -- Thoughts on Urban Survival (2005)

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:07 AM | Your Say (1)

Democratic Despotism

"The sovereign power extends its arms over the entire society;

it covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated, minute, and uniform rules, which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot break through to go beyond the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces action, but it constantly opposes your acting; it does not destroy, it prevents birth; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, it represses, it enervates, it extinguishes, it stupifies, and finally it reduces each nation to being nothing more than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd." -- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:25 AM | Your Say (0)

Not So Hidden If You Know Where to Look

On Yawning; or, The Hidden Sexuality of the Human Yawn - Neatorama

Megan-Fox-Picture-ALO-073691.jpg

Megan Fox

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:19 AM | Your Say (1)

Chubby? You're not alone. Even the kilogram has to watch its weight.

Keeping the Standard Kilogram From Gaining Weight Is a Constant Struggle

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:59 AM | Your Say (0)

Pravda: "Global Warming, er Climate Change"

And while taking hit after hit, the beast, like Al Qaida, will not die.

As a matter of fact, the beast is on a steady come back, as it is quite useful during the down times recession. The US alone spends $7 billion each year on warming "studies", which is, in truth, nothing but a huge money laundering operation, as no real science is conducted and vapid alarmist reports the only product generated. -- Global warming, the tool of the West - English pravda.ru [HT: Rodger]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:59 AM | Your Say (0)

“You Get All the Good-Looking Women”

Here’s the truth some people evidently cannot handle:

Men and women couple-up according to proximate levels of trading currency. It is a financial transaction just like any other. Seeking each other out, men and women will trade down if, and only if, there is a pressing need to trade down. If they don’t have to, then they don’t. -- House of Eratosthenes

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:42 AM | Your Say (2)

January 8, 2013

"Insurrection is an art quite as much as war or any other,

"and subject to certain rules of proceeding, which, when neglected, will produce the ruin of the party neglecting them. Those rules, logical deductions from the nature of the parties and the circumstances one has to deal with in such a case, are so plain and simple that the short experience of 1848 had made the Germans pretty well acquainted with them. Firstly, never play with insurrection unless you are fully prepared to face the consequences of your play. Insurrection is a calculus with very indefinite magnitudes, the value of which may change every day; the forces opposed to you have all the advantage of organization, discipline and habitual authority; unless you bring strong odds against them, you are defeated and ruined. Secondly, the insurrectionary career once entered upon, act with the greatest determination, and on the offensive. The defensive is the death of every armed rising; it is lost before it measures itself with its enemies. Surprise your antagonists while their forces are scattering, prepare new successes, however small, but daily; keep up the moral ascendancy which the first successful rising has given to you; rally thus those vacillating elements to your side which always follow the strongest impulse, and which always look out for the safer side; force your enemies to a retreat before they can collect their strength against you; in the words of Danton, the greatest master of revolutionary policy yet known: de l'audace, de l'audace, encore de l'audace!" -- Karl Marx / Engels -- Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:07 PM | Your Say (0)

300 million guns. 100 million owners.

Roughly. A third of the nation owns guns. And the Constitution did not admit a natural right to them for the purposes of shooting bunnies and squirrels.
It is for the more stringent task of shooting tyrants, wherever they raise their heads. That's the whole point. Does this guy think he can make 33 percent of the country criminals with a stroke of the pen? Well, he has extraconstitutional czars, signing statements, executive orders, and appointments without Senate advice and consent with no blowback. Why not? FDR drank four martinis and decided to see if he could pack the Supreme Court. Why wouldn't this guy mainline a bit of narcissism and see where it takes him? Even a failure brings no rebuke. Just a minor setback. He'll try again. Dangerous times. This bastard reeks of Huey Long, and Hugo Chavez. I smell the sulphur. -- Velociworld: The Line In The Sand

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:29 PM

Please, kids, don't rock the DC buses. Please?

Dont-Throw-Rocks-Flier.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:13 PM | Your Say (5)

Schroedinger's dictator -- "Chavez can rule for so long as he lives."

And he lives for as long as Castro says he does. Since no one is allowed to examine Chavez

without the permission of the Cuban officials no one can gainsay the continued existence of the virtual Hugo Chavez except Fidel Castro. The most ironic fate for a President-for-Life, which Chavez faces now is to exist in some formaldehyde jar, neither alive nor dead, except in a political sense. A piece of organic tissue valued not for himself or his human qualities, no longer a son or a husband, but merely a prop to provide others with the things he most coveted: a power that will now be wielded, not by his nerveless hands, but by others. -- Belmont Club サ President for Life

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:10 PM | Your Say (3)

It's all fun and games until somebody ends up as brunch

Strike a pose and hold your breath: Fashion models take part in underwater freediving photo shoot with 30-foot-long whale sharks

sharkmod3.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:53 PM | Your Say (2)

Fashion as found in Dovima, 1950

aadovima__1950.jpg
Via SimplySassy

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:50 PM | Your Say (3)

Because there just isn't enough bullshit in Unicorn Eyelash fashion today....

eye-lash-jewelry.jpg
Uber Extreme Eyelash Jewelry "This is a line of suuuuper extreme eyelash jewelry by Natalee, the same pretty lady who brought us the Unicorn Eyelash Jewelry."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:59 PM | Your Say (2)

Hide and Tweet: Your Fascist Future Foretold

Venezuelan intelligence officers have raided the home of a Twitter user suspected of spreading destabilising rumours about the health of Hugo Chavez ahead of an inauguration that the ailing president looks increasingly unlikely to attend. --World news | guardian.co.uk [In other news, Francisco Franco is still dead.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:43 AM | Your Say (1)

Ding-Dong! Not Avon Calling.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:05 AM | Your Say (0)

January 7, 2013

Gay Fashion Council's Flaming David Gandy has vowed to make London the 'menswear capital of the world'

WOODMAN.jpg

Meanwhile male models wearing planks of wood across their faces stalk the catwalk. -- Mail Online[With extra special bonus edgy points for appearing in..... BLACKFACE!]
BLACKFACE.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:01 PM | Your Say (9)

THE WHOPPER: "The planet is about to explode. "

A lie as big as a planet. A lie that was too big to fail. Gore monetized that lie,

he took it to every bank on the planet and then he took it to every cable company and convinced them to give him access to 40 million American homes so that he could tell them that the planet was about to blow up. And just as he had at the White House, Al Gore cashed out that access and sold it to an enemy nation. -- Sultan Knish: Hollow Men in a Hollow Earth

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:30 PM | Your Say (0)

"Leftists are people of stunted moral and intellectual stature"

and much of the reason they hate us is bitter, vindictive envy.

Their endlessly, loudly repeated claims of superiority are whistling in the dark. They know they're moral and intellectual weaklings. They're people who tear others down not to build themselves up, but instead of building themselves up. They hate materially successful people partly because they're unsuccessful, primarily because they've always been afraid to compete in open economic markets and see whether they, too, can succeed. They live in terror and acute, chronic resentment of both failure and success. -- Comment by Standing+Wolf on An Appeal for Dictatorship Comes Out of the Closet at the New York Times

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:05 PM | Your Say (1)

The Dust Mites Alone Would Have Choked Her

Portland man accused of choking girlfriend with his dreadlocks | kgw.com Portland

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 5:56 PM | Your Say (2)

The Strategist

All the other types would be concerned about the deleterious effect of wretched liberal policy changes, if they could only be made aware of it, but they lack this awareness.

This kind might or might not be aware, but doesn’t give a rat’s ass. He is a Trojan horse, an enfranchised liberal in centrist clothing. He has skin in the game. He is materially entangled in the liberal vision, being rewarded either out in the open or in secret, by way of cash, discounts, perks, votes or career advancement. He has a “job,” of sorts, to make himself and other liberals more powerful. He therefore cannot be dissuaded. The rift between this type, and the other ten, is the most precious asset we have. Do not engage this sort of poser in any direct way. Accentuate, for the benefit of any bystanders, the differences between his interests and everybody else’s. -- House of Eratosthenes on the art of war against liberals

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 5:51 PM | Your Say (0)

Even more images of the airport full of 15,000 flood-damaged Sandy cars

00-sandy-flood-cars-kuntz.jpg
The runways full of cars seen above are the four-wheeled remnants of Hurricane Sandy –
but they aren't all headed to the scrap heap. These vehicles are but part of the over $63 billion in damage brought by the late October storm, but insurers are hoping to recover some of their own damages by auctioning some of them off, parting others out, and scrapping the rest. The runways of Calverton Executive Airport on Long Island shown above are now home to 15,000 such vehicles – a sliver of an estimated 230,000 cars and trucks damaged or written-off by Sandy. --Autoblog

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:36 PM | Your Say (10)

On Submission: The Gentle Journey

"In a very few years, perhaps in a very few months, we shall be confronted with demands with which we shall no doubt be invited to comply.
Those demands may affect the surrender of territory or the surrender of liberty. I foresee and foretell that the policy of submission will carry with it restrictions upon the freedom of speech and debate in Parliament, on public platforms, and discussions in the Press, for it will be said - indeed, I hear it said sometimes now - that we cannot allow the Nazi system of dictatorship to be criticised by ordinary, common English politicians. Then, with a Press under control, in part direct but more potently indirect, with every organ of public opinion doped and chloroformed into acquiescence, we shall be conducted along further stages of our journey." -- Winston Churchill October 5, 1938. House of Commons The Munich Agreement

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 2:26 PM | Your Say (0)

The Work of 1000 Leeches

It is seldom, Hume pointed out, that freedom of any kind is lost all at once. The policies of the Obama administration are like a thousand leeches scattered over the skin of the body politic. Each leech extracts only a small amount of blood. But put them all together and you have the recipe for serious enervation if not collapse. -- Roger's Rules The truth about taxes

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:52 AM | Your Say (1)

The Civilized Savage

As forward progress slows, the civilized man begins to fidget aboard the iron train.

Looking out at the lush jungle, he begins entertaining thoughts of becoming a savage again. For the most part he knows that he cannot actually turn savage. The awareness that he will have to give up his comforts to turn savage is embedded too deep within him. The savage does not understand that going feral takes twenty years off his life expectancy and kills half his children. And even if you explained it to him, he would not care for the savage does not believe in the future, only the present. -- Sultan Knish:

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:08 AM | Your Say (0)

The Professional Poor, the Idle Poor and the Poverty Traders

reparations1.jpg
I still care for the truly beaten down, but I have no compassion for the Professional Poor.
I never give money anyone who comes to my church asking for money or in-kind donations. And by never I mean, "never." (What part of "never" don't you understand?) There are countless businesses I do not choose to buy from, and when the Professional Poor come to sell their edge-of-disaster poverty to me, my wallet stays put.... At least, though, the Professional Poor are working for a living. I'll credit them that even if their living in the scam, the con, fraud and deceit. -- Donald Sensing @ Sense of Events

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:20 AM | Your Say (5)

Django Rechained

In 2013, is the black gun violence Tarantino espouses really such a fascinating new phenomenon?

For generations now, American media have been encouraging blacks to take violent retribution. We’re coming up on close to a half-century of whites in the media egging on black badassery. How’s Tarantino’s macho minstrel show working out for black males, anyway? According to a 1967 government report sponsored by the Surgeon General, the black homicide rate began to rise in 1962 after a long decline. Mostly, though, whites just move out of the way and blacks kill each other. -- Tarantino Explained - Taki's Magazine

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:20 AM | Your Say (2)

China's Silent Army: The Pioneers, Traders, Fixers and Workers Who Are Remaking the World in Beijing's Image

In Egypt alone, it is estimated that 15,000 Chinese traders - possibly as many as 100,000 - make a living as door-to-door salesmen.
Many do not speak a word of Arabic. In total some 750,000 traders from China officially live in Africa. They are emigrants determined to escape poverty at home and willing to adapt to their new surroundings when they step off the plane with no more than a bundle of personal belongings. A few of those willing to brave the streets and peddle their wares eventually manage to start their own factories, often after investing their life savings. -- China's Silent Army by Juan Pablo Cardenal

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:29 AM | Your Say (0)

Hoax article detailing fake war stayed up on Wikipedia for five years

The writer of the article still hasn’t been identified. But whoever it is, he or she did an outstanding job

of fooling the online encyclopedia into believing the “research” was genuine. It was voted a “good article” by Wikipedia’s readers, and at one point was even nominated to be a “featured article” that would be prominently displayed on the site’s homepage. -- The Daily Caller
More at Daily Dot | After a half-decade, massive Wikipedia hoax finally exposed HT: Rodger, Real Klingon of France

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:17 AM | Your Say (1)

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting,

and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. -- Luke 21 And he looked up, and saw the rich men - Bible Gateway

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:13 AM | Your Say (0)

"The power of one person is meaningless in a nation of 300 million."

aaakeepoffusa.jpg
"Unless that person can teach 10 million how to kill 100 million in less than 6 months.
It is comical in many ways how people speak of fighting the Left or their policies or something else on the talking points list of various US factions. But no where do they feel the burning fire and hate required to actually do something about it. The kind of emotion that would make a person kill or die in the process, is not an emotion most peaceful, sheltered, civilians ever know of. It is inconceivable to them. But with enough government terror and repression... perhaps they will learn, in due time, what evil truly can do." -- Bookworm Room サ Armed civil disobedience? Well, maybe not armed...

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:49 AM | Your Say (2)

January 6, 2013

World Saved! Again!

Hillary Clinton back to work Monday

Last week, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Clinton was "raring" to get back to work after being treated in a New York hospital for the blood clot discovered in a vein behind her right ear.
"["Raring" to go is she? Whew! That was close. Whatever did we do without her?]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:43 PM | Your Say (0)

No Escape

"You can't avoid being charged with racism if you are white. That's because "racist" basically means "white". --Oz Conservative: One of their motives?

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:53 PM | Your Say (0)

No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

Hugo-Chavez-dead-300x199.jpg
O: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords.

C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies!'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

Is Hugo Chavez Dead? @ Blur Brain

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:30 PM | Your Say (5)

Yearning for the Mud

Nostalgie de la boue tends to be a favorite motif whenever a great many new faces and a lot of new money enter Society.

New arrivals have always had two ways of certifying their superiority over the hated “middle class.” They can take on the trappings of aristocracy, such as grand architecture, servants, parterre boxes and high protocol; and they can indulge in the gauche thrill of taking on certain styles of the lower orders. The two are by no means mutually exclusive; in fact, they are always used in combination. -- Tom Wolfe on Radical Chic and Leonard Bernstein's Party for the Black Panthers -- New York Magazine

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:43 PM | Your Say (1)

A PICKPOCKET’S TALE The spectacular thefts of Apollo Robbins.

Robbins strolled through the crowd, smiling and nodding, resting a hand on a shoulder here,

lightly touching an elbow there. From time to time, he let his fingertips graze someone’s pocket, a technique called “fanning.” “He’s got a cell phone, keys, and maybe some cash in that right front pocket,” --Adam Green The New Yorker

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:31 PM | Your Say (2)

"Feed Me" Obamacare Tax Makes It's Debut

A_oGihNCQAA9VzD.jpg
Cabela’s cash register ‘glitch’ shines spotlight on new medical device excise tax HT: Rodger

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:47 AM | Your Say (3)

The One Point Safety? Who Knew?

There are at least two known occurrences of the conversion safety in NCAA Division 1 football – a November 26, 2004 game between Texas and Texas A&M and the 2013 Fiesta Bowl. In both games the kick was blocked, recovered by the defense, and fumbled or thrown back into the end zone.-- Safety (gridiron football score) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:32 AM | Your Say (0)

And I looked and behold, a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death. And Hell followed with him.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:38 AM | Your Say (0)

January 5, 2013

Stealth Global Warming Taking Hold in China

China chills hit 28-year low, trapping ships in ice | Reuters

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:05 PM | Your Say (0)

Please Note

The First Person That Mentions “Global Warming” Is Going To Be Picking Up Their Teeth With Their Broken Arm | The Rumford Meteor

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:56 PM | Your Say (1)

The Borderline Sociopathic Boy's Guide To Rugby

Which team do you want to play with?
1) Mens' rugby = bodies smeared with mud.
2) Women's rugby = bodies smeared with hot oil.
Would you like more time to think about that? Consult this visual aid --> The Borderline Sociopathic Blog For Boys:

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:15 PM | Your Say (2)

There's No "President Hillary" in the Future

1) Her arm in a sling with physical therapy, rebuilding a joint held together with wire and pins.

2) a fall at home in December

3) that caused a concussion

4) a subsequent diagnosis of a blood clot in her head... -- Clinton’s Work Has Taken Heavy Toll - NYTimes.com

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:43 AM | Your Say (7)

"Please make sure your arms, legs, and mouth are in their full duct-taped and locked positions."

drunkguy.jpg
Awkward Moment of the Day: Drunk Passenger Gets Duct Taped Business developer Andy Ellwood snapped this photo of a fellow passenger
who had to be restrained during a flight from Iceland to New York City yesterday. Elwood noted that after the very drunk passenger attempted to choke the woman next to him and started yelling that the plane was going to crash, other around him decided to duct tape the man to the seat for the rest of the flight.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:26 AM | Your Say (0)

"If only Stalin knew!"

Further, the total unfunded liabilities (state, local and federal) of the U.S., as of 2012, exceed $238 Trillion, or 3 times the annual Gross World Product (total economic activity of all the countries on earth). The United States is, today, the most indebted and bankrupt nation in the history of mankind. -- Articles: The America of 2013

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:16 AM | Your Say (1)

"He is the photograph of everything at once."

aaajackspicerbelievethebirds.jpg
'Imaginary Elegies: IV' by Jack Spicer

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:00 AM | Your Say (0)

“Anyone who thinks he doesn’t need an AR hasn’t looked into the mind of a liberal.”

"Declare the NRA a terrorist organization and make membership illegal. Hey! We did it to the Communist Party, and the NRA has led to the deaths of more of us than American Commies ever did. ... Make ownership of unlicensed assault rifles a felony. If some people refused to give up their guns, that “prying the guns from their cold, dead hands” thing works for me. Then I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, our esteemed Republican leaders, to the back of a Chevy pickup truck and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control. -- Kaul: Nation needs a new agenda on guns

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:41 AM | Your Say (3)

January 4, 2013

Perhaps Something Is Wrong with It After All

weirdhome.jpg
"Is it homophobic to say gay people confuse the living shit out of me these days?
Cowboys and bikers I get, but how did Hasids, Mennonites, blackjack dealers, fine Persian rugs, and those inflatable guys at gas stations make it into the mix?" -- VICE DOs & DON'Ts | United States

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 7:05 PM | Your Say (12)

Handguns: Revolver or Pistol?

Pistol ALL THE WAY! Yes, I saw the video of the guy that accurately emptied his S&W in a second.

I also saw the shooting range and the crowd behind him, watching the event. Can he shoot and reload that way if he is in his car, driving with one hand and shooting with the other, while a bunch of scum bags in another car are shooting at him? Hey, maybe he can. I know I can't. Can you? -- Thoughts on Urban Survival (2005)

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:53 PM | Your Say (0)

Just in case you're still keeping score:

4 Out of 5 US Ambassadors Killed in the Line of Duty Were Slain by Muslims

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:12 PM | Your Say (6)

Crunchy: "So THAT’S what it’s like to be eaten by a polar bear! Photographer inches from animal’s jaws as he takes wildlife shots"

aaapolarbearattack.jpg
Starving polar bear attacks BBC cameraman in pod in Arctic Norway

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 5:58 PM | Your Say (6)

“Idiots without borders.”

Young American-Canadian couple went traveling by themselves in Afganistan, have been missing since October.

Middle class waifs, fed, raised and educated on a diet of unquestioning empathy for other peoples and cultures. I can almost hear them twittering in an email to their friends about how delicious and nutritious the meagre helping of spicy, local food is and how happy the family are sitting on their dirt floor sipping tea and talking about their goat herd and the upcoming wedding between two first cousins, while the children are laughing noisily as they play with sticks and rocks outside, never clueing in that if it was white people doing this they’d be derisively referred to as hillbillies.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 3:39 PM | Your Say (6)

The Arguments for Armageddon Continue to Add Up 2

petcrown.jpg
You Will Never Be as Rich as These Pets Gunther IV: Worth $373 million | This German shepherd —the world’s richest dog—
inherited his money from his father, who was left $80 million in 1991 by his owner, German countess Karlotta Liebenstein. The other $300 million came from money his trustees made in investments. Yeah, he has people who work for him. He also owns Madonna’s old Miami mansion. How many of you are wondering if you can marry a dog?

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:52 PM | Your Say (5)

AUTOMATIC FAUCETS, PAPER TOWEL DISPENSERS AND HAND DRYERS

If engineers can design a paper towel dispenser that saves consumers the exhausting motion of gently pulling down

— instead, forcing them to wildly wave their hands in front of a non-working sensor like signers for the deaf at a Louis Farrakhan speech — can’t these same design mavens figure out how much paper a normal person needs to dry his hands? Does no one notice that people are always walking out of airport bathrooms picking toilet paper off their hands? -- A list of bad inventions

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:28 PM | Your Say (2)

Because? Because Canada is Just That Boring

Skyscraper-Edge-Walk-at-CN-Tower-Toronto-03.jpg
Skyscraper Edge Walk at CN Tower Toronto The Edge Walk at the CN Tower has become Toronto's most extreme action,
allowing brave individuals the opportunity to literally walk on the edge of one of the tallest buildings in the world. Attached to a trolley like harness system railing, you lean backwards over the edge. Just how tall is the building you ask? Well the CN Tower is a 116 story building that overlooks the pavement from a heart pounding 1,168 feet.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:34 AM | Your Say (2)

Chavez was the progressive dream on steroids.

He spent on entitlements, lived off capitalism. But even this couldn't halt the process of economic collapse.

But by dying Chavez can now escape blame for an economy set to implode on his low information electoral base. Poverty may be round the corner for most Venezuelans. But when it comes they'll blame Bush, probably literally. --Belmont Club サ Matilda He Take The Money and Ruin Venezuela

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 8:08 AM | Your Say (3)

"The West has been headed out of the territory of reason for some time now.

Its truths have become ideological beliefs. Its goals have become the self-worship of its own symbols, size for the sake of size, and centralization for the sake of centralization.

There is a mingled horror and longing for the savage and the barbaric, as civilization appears to have lost its meaning. The leadership cries "Onward to a united world" on the one hand, and "Back to the caves" on the other. That confused melange boils down to a cultural intelligence which has lost the awareness of its own contradictions. High tech environmentalism, soft wars and valueless money are all symptoms of that same intellectual degeneracy." -- Sultan Knish: Outside the Territory of Reason

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:39 AM | Your Say (2)

January 3, 2013

Criminal gun owners map

Donald Sensing: "Inspired by the Journal News in New York, that recently published online maps with the names and addresses of legal pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties, I have found this useful map:"

Criminal%20gun%20owners%20map.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:58 PM | Your Say (3)

Breaking!

Gay Couples Now Considering Just Shacking Up And Having Illegitimate Kids To Prove They’re Equal With Heterosexuals | The Rumford Meteor

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:09 PM | Your Say (0)

Rumford Meteor's Top Stories of 2012

2012: That Was The Year That Wasn't What Kind Of Jerk Would Publish A Faux Newspaper With Disrespectful Lampooning Of Local News Stories?

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 4:08 PM | Your Say (0)

U.S. Military Divorcing Afghanistan For Hotter, Sexier War

“While we appreciate all the love and support Afghanistan has given us, particularly in justifying our defense budget,

after over a decade together conflicts sometimes just get boring and stale. We’re not a one-war kind of service.” The U.S. Military has also cited irreconcilable problems with Afghanistan’s in-law Pakistan. -- The Duffel Blog

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 1:21 PM | Your Say (1)

Get More Eco-friendly Cancer Bulbs

Eco-Friendly Light Bulbs Are Bad for Your Health The scientists recommend that you keep a safe distance,

about two feet, from the bulbs that are damaging your skin cells and exposing you to an increased cancer risk. But, don’t worry: you’re saving the planet.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:45 PM | Your Say (4)

The Socialist Mind Game: A Brief Manual

Don't examine the opponents' beliefs, nor answer their arguments.

Discredit any media channels that offer them a platform. Enforce the following media template: the opposition is evil, treasonous, unfathomable, and psychotic. They can't be reasoned with. They are inspired by fascism and financed by a conspiracy of shady oligarchs. Defame their donors. Whatever the mischief you're planning to pull off, accuse them of doing it first; then proceed as planned, describing your actions as a necessary intervention. And above all, ridicule, ridicule, ridicule! -- American Thinker
[Needless to say this would work for the right if they could ever haul their paralyzed minds around to it.]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:37 PM | Your Say (1)

Getting Out Alive: Hawke’s Special Forces Survival Handbook

survivalsigns.jpg
There are 3 dots and 3 dashes in the 3-letter Morse code for SOS. That’s no accident. The universal distress signal is anything in threes. -- Cool Tools –
berrryrules.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:20 PM | Your Say (0)

"Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small.

The purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate;

and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control." -- Theodore Dalrymple

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:16 PM | Your Say (0)

Right next to the vending machine with the Baby Ruths and Fritos

medboxdope.jpg
Company wants to introduce marijuana vending machines to Washington KING 5 reports the machines are already being used in some states
where medicinal marijuana is legal. The machines require patients to scan a fingerprint that then links them to an on-file prescription for medical marijuana.
[Because nothing is smarter than having your name and fingerprints on file with the government as a drug user, right? Right.]
0v5gle0hxmujbgsy9xdy.jpg

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:07 PM | Your Say (5)

"You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear"

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:54 AM | Your Say (0)

The Agonies of the Left: An Ocean of Tears

agonyleft.jpg
In which davidthompson tracks the weepy self-drool drinking loons of twitter so you don't have to.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:00 AM | Your Say (0)

The Arguments for Armageddon Continue to Add Up [Bumped]

aahefner.jpg
Projectile vomiting outbreak sweeps nation -- Hugh Hefner, 86, marries 26-year-old Playboy bunny Crystal Harris
“Crystal & I married on New Year’s Eve in the Mansion with Keith as my Best Man. Love that girl!,” Hefner tweeted New Year’s Day.
[NB: Hefner now fully set up for "death on the downstroke." Obit headline: "He Came and He Went."]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:22 AM | Your Say (12)

January 2, 2013

Washington’s Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2012 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.”
The list, in alphabetical order, includes: Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) Secretary of Energy Steven Chu Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice Attorney General Eric Holder Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) President Barack Obama Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 6:44 PM | Your Say (6)

Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2012

December ... there is much fiscal-cliff drama in Washington as Congress and the White House —

after months of engaging in cynical posturing and political gamesmanship while putting off hard decisions about a dangerous crisis that everyone knew was coming — finally get serious about working together to come up with a way to appear to take decisive action without actually solving anything.... In science news, physicists announce that they think they might have discovered a totally new tiny invisible particle, named the “Weems foomple,” which the scientists say could be even more important than the Higgs boson, although to be absolutely certain that it truly exists they say they are going to need, quote, “billions more research dollars,” as well as “a large boat.” -- - The Washington Post

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 12:27 PM | Your Say (0)

Previously Undisclosed Truth of Our Degraded Era

"Riding Mass Transit Is Like Inviting 20 Random Hitchhikers Into Your Car" @ Small Dead Animals

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:54 AM | Your Say (1)

"The US government may be broke beyond our wildest imaginings"

but it still funds Barack Obama's lavish lifestyle, which this holiday season

included an extra round-trip flight to Hawaii on Air Force One, But nothing says Christmas (to Obama) like golf. Seaside golf, that is. And if it costs the taxpayers a completely unnecessary $3.6 million, so be it. It's chump change, and I think you know who the chumps are. --Pundit & Pundette

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:47 AM | Your Say (0)

How Come Minorities Compulsively Inhabit Defunct Straight White Fantasies?

Gay Couples Now Considering Just Shacking Up And Having Illegitimate Kids To Prove They’re Equal With Heterosexuals | The Rumford Meteor

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:39 AM | Your Say (0)

Saw This Coming: "Newspaper decrying guns uses armed guard to protect itself"

Remember that New York newspaper that created controversy shortly after the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre by publishing the names and addresses of legal gun owners? It appears to be OK with guns after all. -- Local - MyNorthwest.com

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:52 AM | Your Say (0)

"An oral Internet of fences"

barbedwirephone.jpg
BLDGBLOG: Fence Phone "Across much of the west," C.F. Eckhardt explains,
"...there was already a network of wire covering most of the country, in the form of barbed-wire fences. Some unknown genius discovered that if you hooked two Sears or Monkey Ward telephone sets to the top wire on a barbed-wire fence, you could talk between the telephones as easily as between two 'town' telephones connected by slick wire through an operator's switchboard."

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:31 AM | Your Say (3)

Rapid Fire Nail Gun

dewaltgun.jpg
Just a dream, just a dream: The new nail gun, made by Dewalt can drive a 16D nail through a 2 X 4 at 200 yards.
This makes construction a breeze, you can sit in your lawn chair and build a fence. Just get the wife to hold the fence boards in place while you sit back and relax with a cold drink. When she has the board in the right place just fire away... With the hundred round magazine, you can build the fence with a minimum of reloading. After a day of fence building with the new Dewalt Rapid fire nail gun, the wife will not ask you to fix or build anything else. --Found to be false at snopes.com:
How it was done: Update: DeWalt-16 | Toolmonger [HT: R. Sterling]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:49 AM | Your Say (0)

What You'll See in the Rebellion [Bumped]

don__t_tread_on_me_by_cityofthesouth-d4jmfh8.jpg

When illusion of the government’s invincibility and infallibility is broken, the hunters will become the hunted.

Unnamed citizens and federal agents will be the first to die,

and they will die by the dozens and maybe hundreds, but famous politicians will soon join them in a spate of revenge killings, many of which will go unsolved.

Ironically, while the gun grab was intended to keep citizens from preserving their liberties with medium-powered weapons,

it completely ignored the longer-ranged rifles perfect for shooting at ranges far beyond what a security detail can protect, and suppressed .22LR weapons proven deadly in urban sniping in Europe and Asia.

behind_every_blade_of_grass.jpg

While the Secret Service will be able to protect the President in the White House,

he will not dare leave his gilded cage except in carefully controlled circumstances. Even then he will be forced to move like a criminal. He will never be seen outdoors in public again. Not in this country.

The 535 members of the House and Senate in both parties that allowed such a law to pass would largely be on their own;

the Secret Service is too small to protect all of them and their families, the Capitol Police too unskilled, and competent private security not particularly interested in working against their own best interests at any price.

The elites will be steadily whittled down, and if they can not be reached directly,

the targets will become their staffers, spouses, children, and grandchildren. Grandstanding media figures loyal to the regime would die in droves, executed as enemies of the Republic

-- Full article by Bob Owens HERE

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:02 AM | Your Say (17)

You Won't See a Rebellion Any Time Soon [Bumped]

Donald Sensing begs to differ with Side-Lines: What You'll See in the Rebellion by Bob Owen. "I posted the following comment at Bob's site: Well, nice try, Bob. But here is what will really happen. Congress passes the law, the NRA et. al. scream about it and then ... nothing happens.

Some people affected (no more than 20 percent) comply with the turn-in order. The rest don't comply. And they don't organize, they don't form insurgent groups, they don't start assassinating politicians. They just hide their guns and continue with daily life as before.
Another American revolution over such a law? Not a chance. Not for this reason nor any other. The American people decided beginning in the 1930s that we would surrender our sovereignty to the federal government and we have been doing so fervently and devotedly since then. Obama is merely running the end game. The vast majority - let me repeat, the vast majority - of Americans are fully sheepled now and will not forcefully resist any additional oppressive measure by this administration nor any other to follow.
A better bet would be for the remaining liberty lovers to start now to take over selected state legislatures and governorships, preferably of adjoining states, and lay the political groundwork for interstate unity and the revival of nullification doctrine, dead though Andrew Jackson made it.
This makes the federals the reactor rather than pro-actor and places them more publicly in the lawless role.
Remember that the Supreme Court ruled in the 1870s that the Constitutional question of secession was moot because events had shown that secession was a matter settled by force or arms, not courts. However, nullification was never tested either by the courts nor by force of arms. It was ended purely by President Jackson's threat personally to hang members of the South Carolina legislature. As S.C. was not being backed by other states, nullification soon withered away.
But what if today only four or five states united in declaring null and void certain federal enactments, based on common legislative acts passed by their legislatures and signed by their governors? What exactly can or would Obama do about it?
The most important thing to remember about beginning a revolution, whether peaceful or not, is that the King's Dominion must be, and must be seen as, the initiating actor. That's the position to put the federals in: opponents of the rule of law in which the states position themselves as its protector.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 9:01 AM | Your Say (11)

January 1, 2013

Unquote

"The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task, it has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain anymore, so it eats it. It's rather like getting tenure." -- Daniel Dennett

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:16 AM | Your Say (3)

Pravda: "Americans, never give up your guns"

gun_rights_slaves-preview1.jpg
Do not be fooled by a belief that progressives, leftists hate guns. Oh, no, they do not.
What they hate is guns in the hands of those who are not marching in lock step of their ideology. They hate guns in the hands of those who think for themselves and do not obey without question. They hate guns in those whom they have slated for a barrel to the back of the ear. -- - English pravda.ru

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 11:12 AM | Your Say (2)

Reynolds' Law

Things that can't go on forever, won't. Debt that can't be repaid, won't be. Promises that can't be kept, won't be. -- -- Glenn Reynolds

Posted by gerardvanderleun at 10:18 AM | Your Say (3)