Friday, January 30, 2015

With apologies to T.S. Eliot

I will show you fear in a handful of slime.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Romney has bowed out of the 2016 presidential run, but I can’t decide whether this helps or hurts conservatives. On the one hand, it’s tempting to say, “Yay! One less RINO!”, but on the other, if Romney had stayed in he might have helped split the RINO vote in the primaries at least three ways; now we’re just talking Bush and Christie (I consider the Lindsey Graham noise to be nothing but the whickering of a unicorn). What does the comment academy think?

That's why they call it the "equalizer"

89-year-old Arthur Lewis wins another gunfight in his jewelry store.

Happy Feet Friday

Tiny Grimes + Coleman Hawkins = Some really smooth blues.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Assortment (“Smart Power” edition)

William Kristol opines on the underlying reasons for Obama’s frustration with Netanyahu; and as you can well imagine, the reasons are rooted in the vainglorious political fantasies of our own would-be monarch.

Here’s an interesting “coincidence”: Netanyahu’s political opposition is being counseled by former Obama campaign operatives (oh, and thank you, Mr. and Mrs. American Taxpayer!)

By the way, Barry’s new BFFs in Iran would like to assassinate Netanyahu’s children.

Apparently Raul Castro is more interested in humiliating Obama than in agreeing to compromises that might weaken the communist government’s grip on its own people. Of course, with Barry, you never know; he is so hungry for something - anything - to create the illusion of a foreign policy success, that he might actually be willing to choke down a super-sized shit sandwich at the Castro Bros. CafĂ© if they’ll simply give in and let him capitulate.

When is a terrorist not a terrorist, but merely an “armed insurgent”? Whenever the distinction is required in order for a White House spokesdoof to explain the inexplicable, that’s when.

Yemen was, not long ago, Obama’s Exhibit A for the validity of his foreign policy approach to tense situations in the Middle East. Guess this is yet another thing that has disappeared from the evidence room.

Two heads of state

Bibi and Barry. Compare and contrast...



Image gratefully lifted from Moonbattery.

Watch out, Danica Patrick!

A Pennsylvania woman arrested by police manages to steal one of their cruisers and lead them on a high-speed chase with her hands cuffed behind her back.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Narcissus was a self-deprecating introvert compared to this guy

Obama gives a speech in India in which he refers to himself 118 times (in 33 minutes).

He is the poster child for America’s political, economic and cultural decline. I hope we can pull out of this steep dive before we hit the ground.

How much does a mastodon skeleton cost?

One that still has some hunks of dried flesh and a few wisps of hair? ‘Cause I swear, if I lived in Seattle, and had the kind of jack that would cover the cost of such a carcass, I’d throw it in the garbage just to see how Seattle’s table-scraps police reacted.

Our own Confucius

I always enjoy reading Thomas Sowell – on any subject – and am particularly fond of his “random thoughts”. A taste:
President Obama may have gained something politically or ideologically by recognizing Cuba, but just what did the United States gain? Like so much that has been done by this administration, the diplomatic recognition of Cuba demonstrates how safe it is to be our enemy, while our policies toward Ukraine and Israel demonstrate how risky it is to be our ally.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Shrewd move, Barry

We freed five senior terrorist commanders in return for Bowe Bergdahl, who is now being charged with desertion.

So, what’s the next thing on Obama’s foreign policy agenda? Halting all military action against ISIS in return for a bag of magic beans? Maybe trading some more terrorist chiefs for a hostage to be named later? How about the 2015 James Taylor Middle East Tour (featuring John Kerry and the Winter Soldiers as a warm-up band)? That ought to be good for a t-shirt, at least.

A bitter pill

Woe and damnation! It appears that the estimable Mr. Bingley will never be able to run for President of the United States.

What am I to do now with all of the money I have raised for the Fedora Party, which was to serve as the nationwide Bingley political machine? I suppose I could repurpose the funds to support the creation of a strategic wine reserve, or purchase a thousand acres of prime tobacco farmland located within the territory of our new friend to the south, Cuba (with the aim of converting it to rainforest, of course – er, except for a hundred acres or so that might conceivably be set aside for a small profit-making venture – strictly to cover the costs of establishing a viable rainforest, you understand – manufacturing a select line of high quality cigars. Paco Estupendos has a nice ring to it).

Perhaps I’d better check the funds balance before getting too far ahead of myself. Let’s see…one, two…four…four-fifty…five…five-and-a-quarter…Hmmm. Anybody want to split a Chick-Fil-A sandwich with me?

Monday, January 26, 2015

Drone on!

Haw! A drone crashes on the White House lawn; Ed Driscoll and Stephen Green do not let this crisis go to waste.

The Republican Party should be on suicide watch

Seriously. Because getting rid of the filibuster on SCOTUS nominees would be one of the most self-destructive things the GOP could do in an era of executive overreach, with an autocratic president just itching to stack the bench with radicals.

So when a future Supreme Court decides that the Second Amendment was never really intended to acknowledge a right to civilian ownership of firearms, we can justifiably refer to the implementing legislation as the Lamar Alexander Gun Confiscation Act.

Ok, America, you can now get back to the really important issues of the day, like whether the Pats used underinflated footballs in their victory over the Colts, and what size does Kim Kardashian’s caboose have to before it can finally file for statehood.

Yes, by all means let us hear directly from Prime Minister Netanyahu on the threat from Iran

We’re not very likely to get a competent and/or honest assessment from the White House, after all, especially since Obama’s been secretly truckling to Iranian interests for some time, including, it now appears, leaning on the Argentinian government to back off of its investigation into Iran’s sponsorship of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people (85 people directly; indirectly, the event also seems to have accounted for the death of Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor who was preparing to lodge formal charges against the Argentinian government for participating in a cover-up of the terrorist action, and who wound up dead in his apartment from a gunshot wound to the head the day before he was to present evidence to Argentina’s Congress).

How is it that “smart diplomacy” seems to be characterized primarily by an elevated body count? Libya, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Nigeria…Obama’s foreign policy legacy is starting to look like a temple built out of human skulls.

Who's up for a Michael Moore film festival?

Not a real one, of course. Consider this a movie "prospectus", in which people helpfully suggest flicks they'd like to see from Moore.

Priorities

Kudos to actor Rob Lowe for drawing attention to the fact that, while Obama won't meet with the PM of Israel, he's fine with granting an interview to a woman whose main claim to fame seems to be that she ate cereal out of a bathtub.

Monday movie

Inspector Clouseau gets a workout.



Bonus! Chief Inspector Dreyfus is compelled to give the eulogy at Clouseau's funeral service.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sunday funnies

German court upholds ancient right.

Fancy footwork in Russia.

The art of the snowman. One of my favorites: Snowzilla



The above article reminds me of the classic Calvin and Hobbes snowman cartoons.

Moonshine turns out not to be the preferred hipster drink.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

John Kerry continues to, er, shine

So now what we're fighting is "anarchy", not militant Islam.

In a speech in which Kerry oratorically ran all over the handball court, he switched back and forth between denouncing violence, and insisting that we can't defeat it without understanding the root causes. And this was rich: In this twilight struggle against anarchy, "we have to also keep our heads".

Keeping our heads is precisely what the militant Muslims are trying to prevent us from doing, John, and the more time and effort we expend on attempting to understand what's going on in theirs - instead of, say, just blowing them off - the harder it gets for us to keep ours. Or haven't you heard about the latest outrage involving the Japanese hostages held by ISIS?

H/T: Robert of Ottawa

The Democrats: a criminal enterprise masquerading as a political party

I believe Michael Walsh came up with that definition, and with every passing day, the truth of that description becomes more painfully, and ominously, obvious.

The latest exhibit in evidence comes from Peter Wallison, a former member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, who argues that the Commission was part of a massive cover-up that let the Democrat leadership off the hook for the collapse of the housing market and paved the way for even more abuses of the financial system by the federal government. Investors Business Daily has the lowdown.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Happy Feet Friday

Johnny Hodges has got those Funky Blues (smooth...).

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Technology marches – or, rather, flies – on

“Worried about the honesty of your drug mule? Concerned that your smugglers will demand higher and higher minimum wage? There's a drone for that.

At least President Obama’s foreign policy seems to be working in Yemen

Oh, wait.

Elsewhere, President Petulance has already signaled his refusal to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu when the latter addresses a joint session of Congress in March (and I am stating the obvious when I say that Netanyahu’s remarks are bound to be more interesting, insightful and honest than the president’s encomium to his own worthless self that he delivered under the rubric of a State of the Union speech).

Update: Haw! “President Snit-For-Brains”.

First they came for our guns

Then they came for our free speech. Now they're coming for our meat.

A few helpful tips

A former Army sniper offers some advice on maintaining your long-range shooting skills - and also passes along a little, er, mild criticism of Michael Moore.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Us vs. them

Angelo Codevilla puts the ruling class under the microscope and sees some ugly little beasties, indeed. A sample:
Our ruling class's agenda is power for itself. While it stakes its claim through intellectual-moral pretense, it holds power by one of the oldest and most prosaic of means: patronage and promises thereof. Like left-wing parties always and everywhere, it is a "machine," that is, based on providing tangible rewards to its members. Such parties often provide rank-and-file activists with modest livelihoods and enhance mightily the upper levels' wealth. Because this is so, whatever else such parties might accomplish, they must feed the machine by transferring money or jobs or privileges -- civic as well as economic -- to the party's clients, directly or indirectly.
H/T: Robert of Ottawa

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Imaginary State of the Union

Of course I didn't watch the speech; mendacity of the scope that Obama practices is an insult to my intelligence.

If you want to know the real state of the union, Doug Ross has you covered.

Annoying fat man stops licking the inside of a donut box long enough to say something annoying

After a long, blissful absence from the news (during which time I occasionally wondered whether he hadn’t been gathered up to his ancestors), Michael Moore, in a dig at the movie American Sniper, called the film’s hero a coward. In an unconvincing partial walk-back, he claimed he wasn’t talking about Chris Kyle specifically, just snipers in general.

So, let me see if I understand. American soldiers should…what, exactly?...advance in long lines toward the enemy, as was done around the time of the American Civil War? Or perhaps face off with terrorists, one-on-one, like Old West gunmen in a dusty street, hauling out their shootin’ irons and blazing away? (Presumably while Michael Moore sits in the cafĂ© – a neutral observer, mind you - looking out of the window and stuffing his face like a stevedore loading a grain ship).

Sounds kinda stupid, Michael. Like something a grotesquely fat leftist would say.

Update: Hey, Mikey, here's a thought. Why don't you drop by Clint Eastwood's home? And don't forget your camera.

How the other half lives

Or should I say, the 1%? The $500 tax credit for two-earner families that Obama will propose in his State of the Union speech tonight wouldn’t cover his own restaurant tab at the Vintage Cave Restaurant in Hawaii.

Obama has always claimed that he wanted to strengthen the middle class

Yeah, looks like he hit that one out of the park.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Go, Canada

Canadian special forces have become the first Western troops to exchange fire with IS militants (and the Canadians quickly "neutralized" the threat).

Blast from the past

Saw this machine in the parking lot outside of Bubba's East Coast Rod and Custom shop this afternoon (a late 1940s Ford Deluxe). I wouldn't mind going green if this is what the expression meant. Click to enlarge.

That rattling noise in the engine of Western Civilization

David Solway has taken a long, unflinching look at the times in which we live, and makes some trenchant comments on the Great Unraveling. A sample:
[A] people that lives in a collective state of denial of the obvious, or of what with a little study and dispassionate research would soon become obvious, is a people without a sustainable future. As SF writer Philip K. Dick said, in a speech aptly titled “How to Build a Universe that Doesn’t Fall Apart in Two Days,” later published in his masterful I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

Be still my beating heart

Harry Reid, one of the most vicious, partisan Democrats in the U.S. Senate, may retire before the 2016 election, presumably to spend more time with his physical therapist.

Monday movie

Oddball is the king of laid back, in Kelly's Heroes.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Disarmed

Haw! After Liam Neeson spilled stupid all over himself last week by using the Paris massacre as an excuse to rail against guns in the U.S., Para USA, the manufacturer of the guns that Neeson used in his last movie, declared that the company won't be providing any firearms for future flics starring Neeson.

On another gun note: after failing to find a holster for my replica of the S&W top-break Russian revolver, I was introduced by a mutual friend at my agency to a guy in our IT department who turns out to be a man of many talents, including leather-working (he's also a theater arts expert and a goldsmith). He tells me he can make a holster, no problem. So when I get that done, I'll post a photo.

Sunday funnies

Baby gifts for the geekish. This is certainly one of the more...unusual:



So, whatever happened to the notion of hippopotamus ranching in Louisiana?

If you're going to shell out a lot of money for your children's college education, make sure they learn something they can use - like how to make crystal meth.

The stock photobomber.

Meanwhile, in Russia...


Friday, January 16, 2015

Somewhere, the wraith of Dean Acheson is saying, “I wish I had thought of that!”

He could have dragged Gertrude Lawrence with him to Moscow and let her warble “Getting to Know You” at Joseph Stalin.

Well, no point in mourning what might have been. Time to look around the world today and see what might be done in the same vein.

And here we have it! John Kerry went to Paris with ageing James Taylor in tow, and the latter sang his old stand-by, “You’ve Got a Friend”. If this doesn’t cause Al-Qaeda to immediately stack arms, withdraw from the terrorist war and disperse its men to go home and grow chickpeas or whatever, I don’t know what will.

Let’s see, might need to modify the lyrics a bit. Let’s take a look at the first verse and refrain:

When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand
and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah,
you've got a friend.


Ok, let’s now make this thing more relevant, starting with the second verse and a new refrain…

But please give us sufficient notice, so we can tape the playoff games,
And we’ll need time to get our security in gear,
So if you open your eyes and I’m not there yet, I may be golfing but I’m thinking of you.

You just call out my name, and if I’ve time, wherever I am,
I’ll send Kerry running to see you again,
Winter, spring, summer or fall, pick a time when there ain’t no pro ball, and I’ll be there, yeah, yeah,
You’ve got a nodding acquaintance.


I realize that last little bit, there, ain't very, whaddaya call, mellifluous, but "friend" just doesn't seem to really fit.

BTW, the blogosphere is all over this: Ed Driscoll ( twice), Allahpundit, and NRO among many. In fact, probably the best comment, so far, is (not surprisingly) from Iowahawk, and is included in a list of Tweets in the NRO piece: "Dear Terrorists: please accept this lovely wind chime fashioned from our testicles." -Western Civilization".

Kerry, of course, ordered up the deluxe clown car, with all the options. The James Taylor serenade was bad enough, but Kerry's introduction somehow made it even worse. He was in France, he said, to "give Paris a big hug" ("The hair! Careful with the hair!").

I have learned from sources at Paco World News Daily (PWND) that Kerry expects to repeat this, er, success in a different venue on his next trip to Egypt; he'll be bringing along Ray Stevens...

Happy Feet Friday

Etta James performs her soulful classic, At Last.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Oops! My bad.

I've criticized Obama for not attending the anti-terrorism rally in Paris, but new evidence indicates that he was, in fact, there.



Sorry about that, Barry!

(H/T: Moonbattery).

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

I guess it’s better than just standing there waiting to get shot

“An Alabama middle school principal wants to stockpile cans of corn and peas in classrooms for students to hurl at possible intruders as a last resort defense.”

No doubt we’ll be hearing complaints from manufacturers of canned lima beans, succotash and beets as to why their products are not on the approved Vegetable Defense List.

Of course, some people suggest that you might consider training qualified school officials and teachers in the proper and lawful use of firearms - but that's just crazy!

(H/T: Mrs. Paco)

Lord Emsworth, call your office

The smell of pusillanimity is in the air.

“Oxford University Press bans sausages and pigs from children’s books in effort 'to avoid offence'” [this part’s a bit, shall we say, disingenuous: “Ban is apparently aimed at avoiding offence among Jews and Muslims” (emphasis mine – P). Show of hands: how many of you think the Oxford University Press is equally afraid of offending Jews and Muslims?]

And I’ve found yet another reason to despise Duke University:
In a new initiative to promote religious pluralism Duke University will broadcast the Muslim call to prayer every Friday on campus. The call to prayer—also known as ‘adhan’—will be chanted by the Duke Muslim Student Association.

The prayer itself is set to start this Friday at 1:00 p.m. and will be broadcast and amplified from the Chapel bell tower on campus.
Book-burning and kabob roast to follow.

As do so many government-run disasters

“Deadly subway malfunction leaves many unanswered questions”.

A follow-up on the “smoke incident” in the Washington Metro reveals much about the system’s levels of management and operational competence, if not about the incident itself. For example:
Rogers said he doesn't understand why passengers weren't allowed to leave the train sooner for the one- or two-minute walk back to the platform.

"It just kind of felt like, 'Why were we trapped on that train that long?'" Rogers said. "All we did was sit there and wait. Forty minutes seems like a long time.
In a smoke-filled train? Yes. Yes it does seem like a long time. Another observation from a passenger:
"We were not given any information that police or fire were en route or nearby," he said. "All we got was, 'Stay in place. Yes, I know there's smoke. Don't leave.' And that doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you're sitting there watching over some period, watching the subway cars fill up with smoke."
Maybe I’ll start thumbing a ride to work out on Arlington Blvd. One thing I know for sure: when I do finally retire (may it please God), one of the things I’ll most enjoy is never having to set foot in the Washington Metro again.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Sorry, Frosty, looks like you’re haram

A Saudi cleric gives thumbs down to snowmen.

Islam needs a pope

And it looks like our own Barack H. Obama is arrogating to himself that role.
The White House’s continued support for traditionalist Islam is drawing new criticism. ”The Obama White House is now a propaganda center for what Earnest described as ‘peaceful’ Islam,” said a Jan. 9 statement from Newt Gingrich.

“This is either madness or cowardice,” he added. ”It could be madness because President Obama and his team are so out of touch with reality that they see themselves as the definers of a 1,500-year-old religion.”
Birds of a feather. It is no surprise that a “citizen of the world” who
(a) is begrudgingly a native of the U.S., (b) was radicalized early in life by association with Marxists, anti-colonialist radicals and the odd 60’s terrorist, and (c) carries an unearned racial chip on his shoulder should find himself, temperamentally and intellectually, drawn to people and belief systems that are at odds with the traditions and culture of his own country. That such a person should ever have become president is obviously a calamity, and it is a calamity that was easily foreseen by anyone who wasn’t blinded by all the fabulism that attended the critical stages of his political ascendancy.

Liam Neeson beclowns himself

I hadn't previously pegged Neeson as a moron, but...well, he is an actor.

Neeson looks at the recent Islamic violence in Paris and spots the problem right away: "There are too many [bleeping] guns out there, especially in America.”

Seems to me the problem is there are too few [bleeping] guns in Paris in the hands of lawful citizens.

Riding the Washington Metro is no longer just an exercise in frustration

It can be fatal: "One dead as smoke fills DC Metro station".

This is certainly reassuring:
A total of 83 people were taken to the hospital after the Metro tunnel filled with smoke, shutting down the Green and Yellow lines in the nation’s capital.

The L’Enfant Plaza station, just south of the National Mall near the Smithsonian buildings, was shut down as the DC fire department looked for a fire. No fire was found, and as of Monday evening, authorities were still unable to say what caused the event [emphasis mine - P.].

Monday, January 12, 2015

Troubling

The president’s refusal to either attend the anti-terrorist rally in Paris, or send a high-level representative of the U.S. government to attend in his stead, is almost inexplicable except in terms that are unflattering to his intelligence, his honesty and his fidelity to western principles of personal freedom.

He seems congenitally incapable of seeing the links between Islam and terrorism. To admit the existence of these links would undermine his professed belief that terrorist violence is somehow not “genuinely” Islamic. Refusing to accept that there is a strain of Islam, rooted in history, that is and has always been militant and triumphalist (and decidedly retrograde in a modern historical context) is perhaps the only way that he can mentally justify to himself that his defining view of history - to wit, the illegitimate ascendancy of western privilege - is correct.

This is the infantile view of a deeply ignorant man whose depths of alienation from his own country and civilization have made him the most temperamentally unsuitable American president, and western leader, of modern times. Indeed, one is hard pressed not to come to the uncomfortable conclusion that Obama’s presidential aspirations were driven more by a thirst for revenge than by mere personal ambition or even by an egotistical belief in his own vision and competence.

He may yet succeed in undoing the greatness of the American experiment; however, I remain of good cheer, and pray that, when his presidency is done, he will have turned out to be little more than the equivalent of some pigeon shit on a statue of George Washington. Nothing that a little vigorous elbow grease in his successor can’t remove.

Why, yes, I have occasionally been accused of being overly optimistic; why do you ask?

Stacy McCain explains

Wickedly funny tweet.

Monday movie

In honor of Anita Ekberg, who has died at age 83, here is the Trevi Fountain scene from La Dolce Vita.



Bonus clip! The late Rod Taylor mixes it up with Ernest Borgnine in Chuka.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Sunday funnies

Look up!

I'm not sure why anybody would want to fish for piranhas, but here's how you do it.

So, how cold is it?

A very literal tramp stamp:



Brevity is the soul of wit (caution: some of these are a bit over the top):



Can't be too careful when dealing with the Norks:



Saturday, January 10, 2015

Rod Taylor, RIP

Rod Taylor died this week at age 85.

Yet another actor who I didn't know was a native of Australia.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Dear Harry Reid

Jerking yourself upright from a slumped position in a chair after a bout of sleep apnea does not constitute a “sit up”.

As to Reid’s apparently somewhat severe injuries, I’m inclining more and more to commenter R-man’s theory that the Koch brothers roughed him up.



Charles: My, my, David, da senator looks like he musta had a fall – from, say, one a dem exercise contraptions [extracts handkerchief from jacket pocket and wipes the blood off his knuckles].

David: Yeh, dat’s da way it looks to me, Charles. Just like he took a long walk on a short treadmill. Good t’ing it wasn’t a long walk on a short pier - which is sometimes what happens to guys what exercise their mout’s too much [stomps an imaginary cockroach crawling across the senator’s ribcage].

Charles: Truer woids was never spoke, Dave. Ya got dat, senator? Ya fell. Off a exercise machine. All by yer lonesome.

Reid [moaning]: Uhnnn…fell…exercise machine…

David: Maybe youse would like a ride home, eh, senator?

Reid: No! Don’t…want to trouble you…will call…a cab…

Charles: Well, suit yerself, bub. Now, one more time, just ta make sure yez got it right. What happened to yez?

Reid: I…I fell off an exercise machine.

Charles: Good boy. By da way, about dat eye; ya can’t go wrong followin’ ex-President Clinton’s advice to dat broad: ya might wanna put some ice on dat. C’mon, Dave. I got dis primonotion dat Congressman Boehner is about to take a tumble down da steps out front a’ da tannin’ saloon.

David: Well, let’s hustle on over dere and see if yer primonotion pans out.

Charles: My primonotions always pan out, Dave. Sometimes ya just gotta give ‘em a little boost, ya know?

Update: Smitty over at the other McCain takes a deep dive and develops his own theory.

Happy Feet Friday

Billie Holiday performs I'm a Fool to Want You.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Barbara Boxer announces retirement

One of the more insufferable Democrat mossbacks of the U.S. Senate is handing in her playbook.

Among many illusory talents, she includes a self-professed knack for poetry. Here is a sample from the linked article [note: This blog is not responsible for any brain damage you may suffer as a result of reading this…poem.]

The Senate is the place where I've always made my case
For families for the planet and the human race
More than 20 years in the job I love
Thanks to California and the Lord above
So although I won't be working for my Senate space
And I won't be running that next tough race
As long as there are issues and challenges and strife
I will never retire because that's the meaning of my life.

Boxer, of course, was never considered one of the sharpest tacks in the box. Who will ever forget this famous quote:
Those who survived the San Francisco earthquake said, 'Thank God, I'm still alive.' But, of course, those who died, their lives will never be the same again.
What a loss, what a loss. Though doubtless California will be able to find a replacement who possesses…how shall I put this?...a replacement who possesses a thought-box of similarly economical dimensions.

Update: Dennis Miller has some choice observations about Barbara Boxer (and others).

The GOP is apparently cursed

John Boehner may be a scary threat to principled conservative Republicans, but when it comes to confronting the Obama administration, he is the teacup Yorkie of the Baskervilles.

Update: Boehner claims he's the most anti-establishment speaker evah.


I am not a squish!

Another shooting in Paris

A policewoman summoned to the scene of a traffic accident was
shot and killed by a man wearing a bullet-proof vest
.

Elsewhere, in connection with Muslim mayhem, Mark Steyn weighs the legacy media and finds it wanting (H/T: Captain Heinrichs).

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Caption opportunity of the year (and it’s only January!)

Found this over at The Daily Caller (click to enlarge – if you think you can stand it).



”I’m sorry, John, but I can never be anything but a sister to you.”

Pelosi’s husband : “Hello, dear, how many personal freedoms did you quash today? Hey…Wait a minute…What’s that big orange smear on your face?”

”Ah, my petite femme liberal fatale, let me carry you away to Five Guys, where our love musk weel be covered up by the aroma of greasy French fries, no?”

”Thank you, Nancy. The president always makes me kiss the other end.”

I wonder who on earth could be behind this act of violence

"12 people have died in an attack at the offices of a French satirical weekly, which angered some Muslims after publishing crude caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed."

God rest their souls and comfort their families and friends.

Updates:

Lots of great coverage over at Ed Driscoll's blog; just hit it and keep scrolling.

Zombie invites us all to republish some of the controversial cartoons and otherr illustrations that have raised the not inconsiderable dander of hypersensitive musselmen. Here's one of my favorites:



And how about a reminder of western opposition to Islamic expansionism: Godfrey Enters Jerusalem, by Gustave Doré.



Claire Berlinski was there and did some great impromtu reporting.

Final update: Brilliant cartoon at Sean Linnane.

Do you believe that Harry Reid injured himself on some exercise equipment?

Yeah, me neither.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Fatwas, fatwas! Can't know your sins without a fatwa! Get' em right here!

"Moderate Malaysia has so many fatwas there’s a website to keep track of them".

H/T: Blazing Cat Fur, via that indefatigable internet explorer, Captain Heinrichs.

The only time Speaker Boneless shows any real fight is when he's punishing conservative "dissidents"

I am rapidly getting to the point where I am as eager to see this guy jettisoned from the political scene as I am any Democrat.



I will drink your orange tears yet, John...

Control the language, control the narrative

Daniel Hannan provides a helpful political lexicon to start the new year.

H/T: Steven Hayward at Powerline

Monday, January 5, 2015

A man to watch

Eric Cantor’s replacement in Virginia’s 7th congressional district, David Bratt, explains why he will not be supporting John Boehner for the speakership position.

Elsewhere, the Senate’s head tribble, Mitch McConnell, believes that the biggest challenge facing Republicans is to avoid being “scary”. He is also smugly confident that the establishment will be able to swat down primary opponents. “We will win all the primaries”, he simpered, while stroking the fat Persian cat on his lap and nibbling a Metamucil wafer. “We did it in ’14. We will do it in ’16.” (Ok, I made up the bit about the cat and the Metamucil wafer, but you know that’s probably how it went down).

Thus do we oppose the anti-American revolutionary socialism of this imperial presidency: with milksops who look upon their offices as sinecures, and who view the optimal political situation as being becalmed in a sea of perpetual inutility.

Monday movie

Robert Walker outlines his plan for the perfect murder in this key scene from Strangers on a Train.

Oh, no!


"Whaddaya mean the holiday season's over?"

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Sunday funnies

Another Bigfoot sighting (hey, I'm now convinced).

Police make arrests in exotic "Got milk?" conspiracy (H/T: Captain Heinrichs).

Henri the cat passes along some observations on dogdom:



Who wouldn't want a leaf-blower converted into a flame-thrower? Watch as this obviously well-adjusted person demonstrates his invention:



The marketing division of Paco Enterprises is staffed by highly talented people who were hired based on their colossal success in the global advertising business.

Back to the drawing board.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Ingrates!

Sixty percent of Republican voters would prefer for Speaker John Boehner to be replaced (My first reaction was, “only 60%?”. Well, big tent and all that…).

That’s only voters, though, and we all know they don’t count. If they did, we’d see an energized GOP majority in both the House and the Senate gearing up to put the brakes on the designs of our imperial president, which is what voters thought they were supporting when they heaved a bunch of Republicans into Congress back in November. Guess the joke’s on them.

Boehner might be reelected Speaker with a smaller majority than usual, but reelected he will be. And then we’ll all be treated to the continuing disgusting spectacle of Boehner and his do-nothing allies in the Senate standing around outside of Fort Obama, banging their spears on their shields and occasionally yelling invective, while shrewdly keeping a lookout over their shoulders to make sure they have an unobstructed path for fleeing back into the forest as soon as Obama fires the government shut-down cannon. Because as we all know, nothing – not principle, not honor, not individual liberty, not the Constitution, not even a fair chance of success – is worth running the risk of shutting down the Washington Monument for a couple of weeks and getting unfairly blamed for it. So (we are assured), if the establishment just cruises along on auto-pilot for the next two years, the GOP will be in great shape for the next general election – by which time the RINOcracy will no doubt have some brand new reasons for doing nothing to reduce the size and scope of government, and we might legitimately begin calling it Oboehner Care.

Update: Here's one Republican congressman who will be voting against Boehner.

Happy Feet Friday

So sue me; I never heard of Australian musician Andrew Winton until yesterday. The man does play a mean slide guitar, so let's ring in the new year with Numbers Down.

Enigmatic portent or the result of too much Peri-Peri sauce in the hamburger casserole?

After 59 years, the exact moment of the new year's arrival has pretty much lost its ability to fascinate, so I turned in last night shortly before midnight. I had the most peculiar dream.

In the dream, I possessed a full mustache. I was standing in front of the mirror, studying my face, when I decided that what I really wanted was a little Hitlerian brush mustache. I commenced trimming the extreme flanks, and then suddenly, in an act of spectacular and inexplicable incompetence, with one swipe of the razor, I completely cleared the real estate located between my nose and the center of my upper lip (consisting largely of what I believe nose specialists refer to as the philtrum). The result was that I now had not one, but two Hitler mustaches, each one positioned slightly to the off side of its respective nostril.

What does it mean, Holmes?

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Time for...butterball diplomacy?

Good lord! What happened to Henry Kissinger? He looks like he just received a helium enema.