Comments or suggestions: Gerard Van der Leun
The World-Wide Party's Over

The party's over
It's time to call it a day
They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away....

"To quote Herbert Stein, "If something cannot go on forever, it will stop."

"Yes, my loopy progressive friends, the fantasy ride is over.

"Time to collect the same-sex partners and test-tube kids; get back into the Prius, hope the battery is not dead; and head home to the stagnant economy, the mortgage, the leaky roof, the uncollected garbage, the sky-high energy bills, the unemployed and unemployable college students receiving a DOA education, and a American health care system, once the greatest in the world, now on death's door thanks to your prescriptions. Oh, and let's not forget the misunderstood thugs and terrorists with their knives out, waiting in the driveway to cut all our throats, yes, our--yours and mine." From The DiploMad 2.0: Flight MH370 and Foreign Policy in a Dangerous World

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 31, 2014 3:07 PM | Comments (3)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical Context

"So that's where we are right now (unless something has happened in the last thirty minutes.)"



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 30, 2014 7:51 AM | Comments (8)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Slow Life: This sort of thing has been going on 24/7/365 for +/- 540 million years

Daniel Stoupin : "This clip, as well as stock footage, is available in 4k resolution. Make sure you watch it on a large screen! You won't be able to appreciate this clip or see individual cells moving in a sponge on a smartphone. If you have a full-HD screen, when you enter full-screen mode, please press on "view actual size" next to the HD icon to improve sharpness.

"To make this little clip I took 150000 shots. Why so many? Because macro photography involves shallow depth of field. To extend it, I used focus stacking. Each frame of the video is actually a stack that consists of 3-12 shots where in-focus areas are merged. Just the intro and last scene are regular real-time footage. One frame required about 10 minutes of processing time (raw conversion + stacking). Unfortunately, the success rate was very low due to copious technical challenges and I spent almost 9 long months just to learn how to make these kinds of videos and understand how to work with these delicate creatures."
More videos and images are at Microworlds Photography



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 28, 2014 7:58 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Doug Ross @ Journal: My 7-Step Plan to Destroy America

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Created: Doug Ross @ Journal: My 7-Step Plan to Destroy America



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 27, 2014 9:31 PM | Comments (3)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Will Brooke for Congress: Watch him put a full clip through Obamacare

An Alabama congressional candidate uses a .40 Glock pistol, a .270 Cooper rifle and an AR-15 to destroy a copy of the Obamacare bill in a new video released by his campaign.

The message in candidate Will Brooke’s video, shared first with The Daily Caller on Wednesday, is clear: Republicans have been successful in taking shots at Obamacare, but it’s going to take “more extreme measures” to get rid of it. - - The Daily Caller



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 27, 2014 7:08 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
The Most Illegal Move in the History of Wrestling



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 27, 2014 2:45 PM | Comments (5)  | QuickLink: Permalink
That Was the Winter That Was

Satellite Time-Lapse Movie Shows U.S. East Coast Snowy Winter | NASA "The once-per-day imagery creates a stroboscopic slide show of persistent brutal winter weather," said Dennis Chesters of the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. who created the animation.
To create the video and imagery, NASA/NOAA's GOES Project takes the cloud data from NOAA's GOES-East satellite and overlays it on a true-color image of land and ocean created by data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. Together, those data created the entire picture of the storm and show its movement. After the storm system passes, the snow on the ground becomes visible.

According to NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), as of the first day of spring Washington, D.C. had received 30.3 inches of snow for the 2013-2014 winter season. Washington's average winter snowfall is 15.3 inches, so the snowfall for the Nation's Capital was almost double that, exceeding it by 15.0 inches. An early spring snow on March 25 is expected to add to that total.
Further north in Boston, Mass. snowfall totals were even higher. The NWS reported that since July 1, 2013, 58.6 inches of snow had fallen in Boston. The average snowfall is 40.8 inches, so Boston was 17.8 inches over normal snowfall.

The big snow story this winter has been across the Great Lakes region which has also seen record amounts of snowfall. According to NWS in Buffalo, the city has received 121.7 inches, or more than 10 feet of snow, as of March 24. Chicago has received 80 inches of snow which is more than double their annual snowfall amount of 34.4 inches.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 27, 2014 1:16 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Because Leningrad cowboys & Red Army Choir

In the future everyone will be Russian for fifteen minutes.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 26, 2014 12:56 PM | Comments (19)  | QuickLink: Permalink
What is the sound of none hand clapping?

Seems press folks on the Obama European Tour aren't jumping up and down, clicking lighters, waving them in the air and calling out "Encore!"



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 26, 2014 12:37 PM | Comments (12)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Campaign Poster: Hillary 2016

If you know anything about the artist, S. Weasel you know you do not want to click the "Continued" link below to see the poster. No, really, you do not want to do it. Trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong before? Horseman, stay thy clicking hand. Just keep scrolling on. Nothing to see here. No.... no.... mustn't.... mustn't....

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 26, 2014 10:09 AM | Comments (14)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Something All Too Typical: "This Is a Generic Brand Video"

Behold this homage to our modern mountain of bullshit.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 25, 2014 3:16 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
My list of Pols who need this skill used on them probably overlaps your list.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 25, 2014 12:15 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
How to be a racist: Pat Condell Explains It All



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 25, 2014 8:51 AM | Comments (9)  | QuickLink: Permalink
"Guilty.... but with an explantion."

"A Russian father and his baby daughter are having a seriously heated discussion.

The little girl most likely only understands a few of the words, and she can’t reproduce them coherently, because she’s a baby. She can, however, reproduce the cadence, emphasis, and body language to an amazing degree, which is adorable. If I understood what she was arguing about, she’d have me convinced." A Father Daughter Debate - Neatorama



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 23, 2014 7:51 PM | Comments (16)  | QuickLink: Permalink
1965 New York City | Girl on a Scooter | Photo: Joel Meyerowitz

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From Mid-Century Modern Freak



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 23, 2014 7:35 PM | Comments (17)  | QuickLink: Permalink
It May Be a Bit Overwhelmed Militarily But You Still Gotta Say, "Hey Ukraine got talent!"


"Roxanne! ....You don't have to put on the red light!"

After the studs and the flames, stick around for the Peacock gown, and the Sandra Bullock cameo in a blonde braid where she speaks in tongues.

And yes, it is entirely in Ukranian. And no, there are no subtitles.

Somehow I think it will hold your attention.

HT: Enos Sporf



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 22, 2014 9:43 PM | Comments (12)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Bringing It All Back Home: Released Today 1965

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"The session began with "Maggie's Farm": only one take was recorded, and it was the only one they'd ever need:"

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 22, 2014 2:34 PM | Comments (22)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Horseman Passing By

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I encountered the Horseman in Laguna Beach riding along the Pacific Coast Highway. He was ahead of me moving at horse speed. The traffic, hurried as always, slowed to a pause and then pulled around him. As I pulled past him, I could hear the clip-clop of the hooves of his mount and his pack horse. I glanced into the rear view mirror after I got ahead of him and saw the blinking red and blue lights and heard the short bleep of a siren tapped once. He had been pulled over by the Laguna Beach police for an interview. I pulled in around the corner, walked back, and joined a group of citizens already watching this encounter.

The Horseman was riding to Texas. He said he'd started at the Canadian border. The cop asked him why he wasn't driving. He said he didn't have a truck and a horse trailer, just a horse, a pack horse and a dog. His plan was simply to ride the coast to San Diego and turn left.

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He had what he called a "shoulder pass" which he drew from his pocket and presented to the officer. The officer, being confused, was not even sure such a document existed and examined its molecular structure.

Then the Laguna Animal Control officer showed up. That officer informed the cowpoke that he did not have his dog on a leash. Something all good little citizens of California do as willingly as they carry bags of the dog's feces around in their hands.

The Horseman replied sensibly that his dog (named, I swear, "Dog") knew how to follow along, and that if he put a leash on him from the saddle he risked strangling the dog.

"Horse goes one way, Dog goes another. Tough on Dog, officer."

At this point, having been alerted to the Horseman, another police car showed up with another, but more senior, officer. He stood to the side a bit taking in what the situation actually was.

The animal control officer, failing to see the sense of not strangling a dog on a leash tired to a horse, began a hectoring lecture on the very special ordinances of the very special town of Laguna Beach, California. The Horseman stood motionless as the scolding went on. Finally the litany of banal cop-talk was interrupted by the senior officer who evidently had less patience for the Animal Control claptrap than the Horseman. After all, if you are riding a horse from Canada to Texas in the 21st Century, you are probably not in much of a hurry.

In short order, the senior officer informed the others that, regardless of the endless petty ordinances of Laguna Beach, what they were actually going to do was let this man continue on his way. Not only that, they were going to give him a police escort out of town.

I assume the senior officer looked into the near future of any other action. And in that future he saw the issue of providing transport for two horses to some undisclosed location as well as the dog, while they were arraigning the Horseman, was going to be far too much paperwork to contemplate. That and noting about 15 citizens gathered nearby, ready for a sincere chat with the city council probably gave him pause as well.

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The Horseman had heard and seen it all before on the long road between Canada and Laguna Beach. He took "The Cowboy Way." He rolled a smoke, nodded, saddled up, whistled to Dog and was escorted out of town.

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That was all years ago and on another planet. But I still like to think of the Horseman. I like to think he's still out there making his way from Canada to Texas -- via a left turn in San Diego.

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[2009-08-11]



Posted by Vanderleun Mar 22, 2014 2:08 PM | Comments (34)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Subterranean Anagram Blues

Even Bob has his off days.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 22, 2014 11:42 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Taxes

“Taxes upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot.

Taxes upon everything which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. Taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion. Taxes on everything on earth or under the earth, on everything that comes from abroad or is grown at home. Taxes on the raw material, taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man. Taxes on the sauce which pampers man’s appetite, and the drug which restores him to health; on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal; on the poor man’s salt and the rich man’s spice; on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribbons of the bride; at bed or board; couchant or levant, we must pay. The schoolboy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road; and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, which has paid 7 per cent., into a spoon that has paid 15 per cent., flings himself back upon his chintz bed, which has paid 22 per cent., and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has paid a licence of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from 2 to 10 per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel. His virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble, and he will then be gathered to his fathers, to be taxed no more.” Rev. Sidney Smith, Edinburgh Review, 1820 Via HappyAcres



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 21, 2014 10:11 PM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Frozen City

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Most New Yorkers spent this past winter complaining about the harsh weather.

George Steinmetz took on a more ambitious project: photographing the snowbound city from the seat of a two-person piston-powered helicopter. Steinmetz and his pilot, Dennis Weaver, took multiple trips around the tri-state area, departing from Caldwell Airport, in Fairfield, New Jersey, at dawn. Over Coney Island, the Bronx, Bayonne, and Staten Island, Steinmetz photographed the subway yards, cemeteries, and athletic fields below. As Lauren Collins wrote in her Profile of Steinmetz, from 2010, “Taking aerial photographs is, in a way, like metal detecting—a hunt for treasure invisible from the earth’s surface.” - - | The New Yorker



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 21, 2014 7:52 PM | Comments (2)  | QuickLink: Permalink
A Series of Dreams

I was thinking of a series of dreams
Where nothing comes up to the top
Everything stays down where it’s wounded
And comes to a permanent stop
Wasn’t thinking of anything specific
Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams
Nothing too very scientific
Just thinking of a series of dreams

Thinking of a series of dreams
Where the time and the tempo fly
And there’s no exit in any direction
’Cept the one that you can’t see with your eyes
Wasn’t making any great connection
Wasn’t falling for any intricate scheme
Nothing that would pass inspection
Just thinking of a series of dreams

Dreams where the umbrella is folded
Into the path you are hurled
And the cards are no good that you’re holding
Unless they’re from another world

In one, numbers were burning
In another, I witnessed a crime
In one, I was running, and in another
All I seemed to be doing was climb
Wasn’t looking for any special assistance
Not going to any great extremes
I’d already gone the distance
Just thinking of a series of dreams



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 21, 2014 12:08 PM | QuickLink: Permalink
CNN Goes Full Racist on Flight 370. Blames Black Holes

CNN’s Don Lemon: ‘Is It Preposterous’ to Think a Black Hole Caused Flight 370 to Go Missing? | Mediaite Mary Schiavo, a former Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said, “A small black hole would suck in our entire universe, so we know it’s not that.” [I don't know Schiavo's personal experience with black holes but with that "observation" she takes the Gold for biggest ignoramus to date in this whole fiasco.]



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 19, 2014 11:10 PM | Comments (6)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Brands of 1964: Where Are the Foods of Yesteryear? They’re Still Here!

“The past isn’t dead.  It isn’t even past.” – William Faulkner

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A stock image of a shopping basket and check out counter from 50 years ago reveals the staying power of brands from that long ago time. It’s interesting to gaze into the “purchases” in the pre-scanner grocery store and note that even after 50 years most of the brands still survive.

Survivors: Sanka, Jello, Birds Eye, Maxwell House, Bakers, Good Seasons Italian, Tang, Kool Aid, Duncan Hines Cake Mixes, Maxwell House Instant, Log Cabin Syrup, Yuban, SOS Pads, Minute Rice, Dream Whip, Post Toasties Corn Flakes, Alpha-Bits, Prime.

Swallowed up by time: Awake, Lemonade Mix, Gaines-burgers.

The persistence of real food: Milk, Bread, Cheese, Apples, Celery, Cabbage

Listen to the sound of a Maxwell House coffee maker at work and other vintage commercials from 1964:

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 19, 2014 12:13 PM | Comments (13)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Something Wonderful: Dancing.... in 246 Movies

Film List:

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 18, 2014 5:46 PM | Comments (4)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Something Wonderful: Superman With a GoPro



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 17, 2014 5:40 PM | QuickLink: Permalink
Comcast: The Company That Doesn't....



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 17, 2014 11:50 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink

Huckberry | The Solvay Hut

A little over 14,000 feet at its summit, snow and rain fall year-round on the Matterhorn, and diving nighttime temperatures often create dicey conditions. The ascent is best attempted “in good nick,” during one of the 30 or so days a year when the weather is dry and the terrain is free of snow and ice. If you make a stab at the Matterhorn on one of the other 335, however, the unpredictable weather means that there’s a chance you’ll need to take refuge. 1,500 feet below the peak, The Solvay Hut is built right into the rock, an alpine oasis of sorts.

The Solvay Hut was built in 1915, half a century after the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. In just five days during the fall of 1915, the materials were hauled up the side of the mountain with the help of pack animals and a stopgap cable car. Following his retirement, Ernest Solvay, a Belgian chemist, inventor, and businessman who developed a fondness for climbing the Matterhorn commissioned the project.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 16, 2014 9:45 PM | QuickLink: Permalink
The Ice Caves of Alaska and Vivaldi's "Winter"

It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

-- Coleridge, "Kubla Khan"



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 16, 2014 8:19 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Smart Man

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 15, 2014 2:49 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
In-N-Out: "When you start adding things, it gets worse"

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The History of In-N-Out Burger
Harry’s son Rich had worked in the restaurants all of his life and assumed the role of company president at the young age of 24 following his father’s passing. During his tenure, the chain experienced unprecedented growth, opening over 90 restaurants through the 80s and 90s. But while business was booming, In-N-Out still remained firmly grounded in southern California, and against the franchising model. Rich believed that outsourcing the brand purely for accelerated growth was tantamount to “prostituting his parents”. “There is money to be made by doing those things” he said, “but you lose something, and I don’t want to lose what I was raised with all my life”.

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His resolution to maintain the simple menu devised by his parents was equally strong, which he made clear to Forbes in 1989, saying “it’s hard enough to sell burgers, fries and drinks right. And when you start adding things, it gets worse”. A lemon-lime soda would be the only exception during his tenure as president."

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 12, 2014 10:48 PM | Comments (18)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Steve Harvey on hosting Honey Boo Boo's family on Family Feud

It's a living.

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 12, 2014 2:24 PM | Comments (12)  | QuickLink: Permalink
'Believed to Be Russian Soldiers'

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"Less than two weeks ago, after Ukrainian protesters appeared to have ousted President Viktor Yanukovych,

thousands of soldiers bearing no insignia or identifying marks began appearing in Ukraine's pro-Russian Crimean peninsula. Russian authorities deny that these men are invading Russian soldiers, instead describing them as "local self-defense forces" wearing uniforms available from army surplus centers. - - In Focus - The Atlantic

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 12, 2014 10:21 AM | Comments (12)  | QuickLink: Permalink
First World Pizza Problems

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These are all 100% real complaints from the Domino's Pizza Australia Facebook page.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 11, 2014 11:14 PM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Flt 370: Now you see it. Now....

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 11, 2014 10:38 PM | QuickLink: Permalink
Yet More Democrat Child Abuse

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"Third-grader Jazmien Sparks, center, 9, holds her head in her hands as she listens to US Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., as he announces plans to introduce a comprehensive legislative package in Congress to help reduce violent crime on Feb. 19 at Pierce Creative Arts Elementary School in Flint, Mich." - - Daily Life

You have to wonder about a school, a teacher, and a politician who collude in exposing 9 year olds to such a tendentious spewing of half-baked blather. What possible interest would a 9 year old have in such an abstract chunk of political preening? An adult who cannot to perceive that children have no frame of reference for this sort of posturing is an adult too spiritually limited and ethically corrupt to be allowed to be around children at all. An awake and civil society would require, by statute under pain of imprisonment, that such individuals remain, at all times, at a distance of 300 feet or more from all schools, playgrounds, and other places likely to attract children.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 11, 2014 11:30 AM | Comments (22)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Hotshot Eastbound

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"One summer night in 1956 in the coal-mining hamlet of Iaeger, West Virginia, a stranger walked up to Willie Allen at the drive-in. "Excuse me, sir," he said, "how would you and your date like to watch the movie from my convertible?

"What's the catch?" Allen, then a 23-year-old Army corporal on leave from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, recalls asking.

"All they had to do, the stranger said, is sit in the car until the train passed. "I'll give you $10," he added.

"Allen and his date, Dorothy Christian, took the deal, and the stranger took their picture. Thus O. Winston Link produced one of the most elegiac railroad pictures in a series he had begun some months before....

"He took almost all his train pictures at night, when he could engineer his scenes without the sun getting in his way.

"To do that, he had to devise his own flash system. Link would mark a train's path with lanterns, and then map out where to set out flash reflectors. Each reflector, which held up to 18 flashbulbs, was wired to a portable supply of batteries and condensers. When the train hit the right spot, Link pushed a button to fire the bulbs and, 35-thousandths of a second later, released the camera shutter. The system wasn't without its quirks—since the bulbs were wired much like Christmas lights, a single broken wire or faulty bulb could knock out all the others in the circuit." -- The Big Picture @ Smithsonian

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 10, 2014 1:59 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Islands of Simple Serenity: Making the Japanese Omelette

I find this strangely soothing. "Serves six."



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 10, 2014 12:13 PM | Comments (5)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Thanks Dan!: "I May Have a Law Degree, But I Think Like a Criminal."

When you watch this, you'll swear that it's a spoof -- not a real ad televised by a licensed, practicing attorney. You'll be wrong. Dan Muessig is a criminal defense attorney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His ad shows a series of actors playing criminals that Muessig has sprung loose from the pokey. - The Best/Worst Lawyer Ad Ever - Neatorama

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 9, 2014 4:52 PM | Comments (8)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Palin Re-Writes Dr. Seuss: 'I Do Not Like This Uncle Sam, I Do Not Like His Health Care Scam

"I have five kids so reading 'Green Eggs And Ham,' over all those years to each one I totally have it memorized especially by the time Trig was born. I had to spice it up a bit. Little Trig, lucky little fella', his bedtime story now it goes something like this.

I do not like this Uncle Sam. I do not like his health-care scam

I do not like these dirty crooks. Or how they lie and cook the books.

I do not like when Congress feels. I do not like their crony deals.

I do not like this spying man. I do not like, "Oh yes we can."

I do not like this spending spree. We’re smart we know that there’s nothing free.

I do not like reporters’ smug replies; when I complain about their lies

I do not like this kind of hope. And we won't take it nope, nope, nope....



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 9, 2014 12:56 PM | Comments (11)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Darkland: "Never daylight savings time, always Earth Hour"

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Photo taken by the Expedition 38 crew aboard the international space station of the night view of the Korean Peninsula; North Korea, in the middle, is almost completely dark compared with neighboring South Korea, bottom right, and China, top left.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 8, 2014 10:06 PM | Comments (6)  | QuickLink: Permalink
A Bicycle Trip



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 7, 2014 2:36 PM | Comments (3)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Remembering The Alamo

Because it is vital to push the myths.

On February 23, 1836 Santa Anna and 1,500 troops surrounded the Alamo.

A siege began and only small skirmishes were reported with zero casualties on both sides. In that time, William Travis sent a letter to ask for reinforcements. In the truest sense of courage and honor, and in the American spirit he wrote:
“If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself for as long as possible, and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country – Victory or Death.”
It was not until the last 24 hours, after 13 days of siege, that a real battle ensued. In the battle, the Alamo defenders fought valiantly and nearly all were killed including Travis, Bowie, and Crockett. | Truth Revolt

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 6, 2014 8:53 PM | Comments (13)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Ed Ruscha, Standards, 1966 - 2009

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 6, 2014 2:41 PM | Comments (2)  | QuickLink: Permalink
The Exosuit

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What Tony Stark Would Wear Underwater: Meet the Exosuit. It's a $600,000 atmospheric diving suit capable of taking a human 1,000 feet underwater at surface pressure, and it's the first of its kind. If you have dramatic music handy, you should go ahead and play it, because this thing is insane.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 6, 2014 1:36 PM | Comments (8)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Acquainted with the White by neoneocon

The answer poem to my less-than-immortal "Acquainted with the Blight."

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I have been one acquainted with the white.
I have walked out in snow–and back in snow.
I have watched drifts climb to impressive height.

I have felt blizzard winds that rage and blow.
I have shuffled my muklukked, booted feet
And sniffled wanly, crying, “Woe, oh woe!”

I’ve slipped on ice and skidded down the street
And heard those dying voices with my fall*
Then gone inside to fix myself a treat.

“Snow is design of whiteness to appall,”**
My favorite poet would say, with keen insight.
(Just note his name; he’s called “Frost,” after all.)

I’ve heard friends call me wrong, and far, far Right.
I have been one acquainted with the white.

-- Hand crafted by neo-neocon



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 6, 2014 11:42 AM | QuickLink: Permalink
The Final Destination If Relations Between the USA and the USSR Get Too Far Off Center

Lest we forget that those morons in the White House get to play with live ammunition. One can only pray that the Secret Service has received instructions as to who and in what order should things get too enthusiastic or desperate.

“Russia said it had successfully test-fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on Tuesday,

with tensions running high over its military intervention in Ukraine’s Crimea region.” True it was a scheduled test. But in July last year the US canceled a similar ICBM test in order not to offend North Korea. America cared about the sensibilities of North Korea. Apparently Putin doesn’t give a hang about Barack Obama. Belmont Club Ivan Ilyin



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 5, 2014 12:25 PM | Comments (6)  | QuickLink: Permalink
The Outside Americans: Coulter "It's me against the universe."

Developing Nuclear Fusion in a Basement with a Reclusive Gunsmith


"We practice here what I call 'libertarian communism.' "

Doug Coulter used to build signal processing and radio gadgets for our favorite three-lettered intelligence agencies,

but for the past decade or so, Doug's chosen to explore his engineering interests in the isolated backwoods of Virginia, absent from any pesky boss or sticky bureaucracy.
After tiring of living with a meth head who had a trigger finger itchier than an Appalachian mosquito bite, Doug gave his ex-housemate the boot and confiscated his weapons, thus paving the way for his new found love for gunsmithing. Doug has since open sourced his gun and ammo making techniques on his well-trafficked engineering forum.
But Doug's most exciting creation is his guerilla-engineered nuclear fusion reactor. Doug's pursuit for a limitless source of clean and self-sufficient energy takes place in what he calls his "den of creative chaos," which is essentially a cluttered workshop in the entrance of his home, directly underneath his bedroom. Read more @ The DIY Engineer Who Built a Nuclear Reactor in His Basement | Motherboard



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 5, 2014 11:01 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
"Light up a Lucky, it's light up time. Be happy, go Lucky, it's light up time. For the taste that you like light up a Lucky Strike.... Relax. It's light up time."

Untitled (100 Cigarettes) from Wyatt Burns

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 5, 2014 10:41 AM | Comments (16)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Acquainted With the Blight (for Ray)

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Acquainted with the Blight

I have been one acquainted with the blight.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain,
(And out in rain -- and back in rain,
And out in rain -- and back in rain,
And out in rain -- and .... you get the picture.)
I have been skinsoaked under every city light.

I have looked down every moss-choked city lane.
I have passed drowned dolphins flopping on my lawn,
And splashed them with galoshes unwilling to explain.

I have stood up to my kiester in the ceaseless plop of drops
When overhead a sloshing cloud's deluge
Drenched the houses with a mound of mist,

But not to call me back, but slather me with slops;
And further still at an unearthly height
One more damned raincloud against the sky

Proclaimed Seattle was neither dry nor Right.
I have been one acquainted with the blight.

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[Apologies to Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) on the 50th Anniversary of his passing.]



Posted by Vanderleun Mar 4, 2014 11:18 PM | Comments (14)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Full Lotus

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Gorgeous Lotus C-01 bike is half retro, half Tron, full awesome The company's first foray into two-wheeled transportation is a work of art—the Lotus Motorcycle C-01.

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Created by genius designer Daniel Simon and developed by Germany's Kodewa Performance Motorcycles, this 200 HP V-Twin incorporates carbon fiber, titanium, and aerospace quality steel into its frame. What's more, the bike can be extensively customized to match your taste and riding style. But buyers beware: Only 100 units of the C-01 will be produced.

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 4, 2014 7:50 PM | Comments (15)  | QuickLink: Permalink
They Live

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 4, 2014 3:38 PM | Comments (6)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Coming Soon to a Pizza Hut Near You

"And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Pizzahutdias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 3, 2014 10:03 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Presenting the Future: From 2014 AD Until One Hundred Quintillion AD

Life is short but lunch is long ... plan ahead.: The Timeline of the far future.

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I don't know about you but I'm not keen to stick around until May 3, 7138 AD for the second Mayan endtimes. I couldn't bear having to sit through the John Cusack sequel.

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 3, 2014 9:10 PM | Comments (2)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Carnival 2014

Rio and points elsewhere: Around the World - In Focus New Orleans needs to up its game.



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 3, 2014 1:04 PM | QuickLink: Permalink
Something Wonderful: January in Japan

January in Japan from Scott Gold on Vimeo.

What you'll see:
Tsukiji Fish Market
Gion District
Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Tournament
Shibuya Crossing
Shinkansen Bullet Trains
Yudanaka Outdoor Onsen
Jigokudani Snow Monkeys
Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony
Tokyo Skytree
Fushimi Inari Shrine/Gates
Nijō Castle
Ninomaru Palace



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 3, 2014 10:59 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
The Three A.M. Phone Call

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Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 2, 2014 9:01 PM | Comments (3)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Ashes Ashes All Fall Down

"Click flash blade in ghetto night,
Rudies looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley, roll them bones.
Need that cash to feed that jones.
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
[Bridge:]
Commissars and pin-stripe bosses
Roll the dice.
Any way they fall,
Guess who gets to pay the price.
Money green or proletarian gray,
Selling guns 'stead of food today.
So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down."



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 2, 2014 1:42 PM | QuickLink: Permalink
New York -- "Hell, with good restaurants"-- Now with Muppets Too!



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 2, 2014 11:08 AM | Comments (1)  | QuickLink: Permalink
The Academy Awards Live From Kiev

Ukraine is game to you?



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 2, 2014 8:39 AM | Comments (4)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Gathering: How Russia Invaded Crimea

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From — Editor's Picks — Medium :



In the past two days, Russia has proved it’s capable of carrying out fast, coordinated military operations across its borders.

Not only have Russian troops invaded and occupied Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, but with deteriorating security in Ukraine’s eastern provinces, there’s a risk that Russia might go farther.

At first, it wasn’t clear who exactly who the armed men were who appeared at airports in Sevastopol and Simferopol overnight on Feb. 28. But on March 1, the Russian senate unanimously approved a request from Pres. Vladimir Putin to use the military “on the territory of Ukraine pending the normalization of the social and political situation in that country.”

The operation was already underway. Russian forces had launched a coordinated takeover of key sites, including airports, government offices, television stations and the two land routes connecting Crimea to the rest of Ukraine.

Someone sabotaged Ukrtelecom, which provides phone and Internet service to the peninsula.

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 1, 2014 5:01 PM | Comments (8)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Two Years Gone

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Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep -
He hath awakened from the dream of life -
'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep
With phantoms an unprofitable strife,
And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife
Invulnerable nothings. -We decay
Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief
Convulse us and consume us day by day,
And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.

Adonais by Percy Bysshe Shelley



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 1, 2014 1:07 PM | Comments (7)  | QuickLink: Permalink
Pat Boone and Post-American Bandstand to Obama: You Talk Too Much



Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 1, 2014 12:55 PM | Comments (2)  | QuickLink: Permalink
RUSSIAN INVASION OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA Movements and Forces

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Graphic from Contemporary Issues & Geography: INVASION OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA

Large version after the jump:

Continued...

Posted by gerardvanderleun Mar 1, 2014 12:18 PM | Comments (3)  | QuickLink: Permalink
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