Palestinian Propaganda 101

Lawhawk finds the latest version of “dead guy jumps back on stretcher“.

Apparently the Associated (with terrorists) Press and al Reuters still think we’re as thick-skulled, gullible and stupid as, say, this guy.

Abbott and Costello Go to Washington

I think Peter Kirsanow has it about right.

Abbott: The economy’s a wreck. People have a lot less money now then they did three months ago.

Costello: No problem. The federal government’s going to spend $1 trillion  to put more money in our pockets.

Abbott: But the government doesn’t have any money either. The federal deficit’s already  around $1 trillion. And the federal debt’s around $11 trillion.

Costello: No problem. The government will use tax money.

Abbott: But that’s our money in the first place. And we don’t have any more money.

Read the whole thing.

Today’s Exercise in the Incandescently Obvious

“I honestly don’t think women spend much time thinking about how they treat their husbands.”

Britain Death Watch, Christmas Edition

If this isn’t a marker of the complete, abject capitulation of a once-great nation I don’t know what is.

Update:

Well, that went well.

The irony of Britain’s channel 4 giving Ahmadinejad the pulpit in the name of free speech is that as he was speaking, Iranian authorities raided and closed down the BBC’s Tehran offices and, separately, in the spirit of goodwill to man, ordered Christmas trees banned from Iranian kindergartens.

The Op-ed the New York Times Wouldn’t Run

When you aren’t a terrorist, or a terrorist sympathizer, I guess it’s hard to get published in that money-bleeding fishwrapper from the Big Apple.

On December 5, the New York Times afforded former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers a chance to publish an op-ed, in which he defends himself from various charges made during the 2008 presidential campaign. That Ayers was given such an opportunity by the Times seems extraordinary; Barack Obama’s other mentors, former pastor Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger, were subjected to as much public scrutiny as Ayers for their extremist politics and multi-decade associations with the president-elect, and yet it seems only Ayers was presented editorial space in the Times to defend himself. Perhaps even more extraordinary, however, is that the Times allowed Ayers to publish obvious lies about his terrorist past and rejected a rebuttal by the former FBI informant who lived through the history Ayers tried to rewrite.

The real question is why anybody would want to be published there.

Half the work done in the world

is to make things appear what they are not.

“to get some broader based support, to capture the public’s imagination…that, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up some scary scenarios, make simplified dramatic statements and make little mention of any doubts we may have…each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective, and being honest.”

Yeah, ain’t that always the problem?

An “Unnecessary” Blog

You get the “idea“.

A Liberal’s Uncomfortable Moment of Self-Awareness

Wherein a confessed “bleeding heart” confronts the simple truth that generosity does not mean using the government to give away someone else’s money.

Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals.

On the Hunt in Baghdad

with Michael Totten. Good treatment if your heart rate is too low.

“Is he the kind of guy who might shoot at us during a raid?” I said to Captain Clint Rusch in the Tactical Operations Center.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “He’s definitely the kind of guy who will shoot at us. He’s a really bad dude.” There was even a chance he was wearing suicide vest.

I love these guys

First DARPA gives us the internet. Now it may give us an unlimited blood supply.

The DARPA award gives Arteriocyte three years to scale up to a self-contained system that could turn out 100 units of universal blood (which could be transfused into people with any blood type) a week for eight weeks. The system can measure no more than 47 cu ft and must stand up to the rigors of frontline military deployment. DARPA then wants to submit the system to the FDA for approval. In the end, if the system works, soldiers and civilian patients could have all the blood they need available on tap.

It could be the agency with the most productive use of tax dollars on research ever.

If programming languages were religions

Lisp would be Zen Buddhism.

A couple of other favorites:

Perl would be Voodoo – An incomprehensible series of arcane incantations that involve the blood of goats and permanently corrupt your soul. Often used when your boss requires you to do an urgent task at 21:00 on friday night.

APL would be Scientology – There are many people who claim to follow it, but you’ve always suspected that it’s a huge and elaborate prank that got out of control.

Green Heresy

A greenie discovers that nuclear power makes sense, and then discovers that the enviro-nuts are intolerant of heresy.

Gee, ya think?

Curiosity whetted, I searched the scientific literature for evidence to support the other great green charge levelled at nuclear power: it kills its neighbours. I sifted through piles of rigorous epidemiological studies from all over the world, searching for proof that people who live near nuclear sites are more prone to cancer and leukaemia. None of the reputable journals turned up a link.

These are just two examples of eco-myths: there are many more. If only we were allowed to discuss them without being flayed for heresy.

Get yours now!

Yes! It’s the Pelosi GTXi/SSR/T from Congressional Motors!

(Compliments of the morning show on KSFO.)

Update:

Officer Vic should have given credit. And I knew it rang a bell.

Of All the Stupid Things Bush Has Said

This one takes the cake.

“I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.”

You’d think we could have at least waited for the Annointed One to take office before becoming a Socialist State with an out of control Executive.

Gee thanks, George, for the swell legacy. I’m sorry I ever defended you, you dimwit.

Merry Christmas

We’re broke.

The United States of America is bankrupt. Don’t believe it? Consider this: Federal obligations now exceed the collective net worth of all Americans, according to the New York-based Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Washington politicians and bureaucrats have essentially mortgaged everything We the People own so they can keep spending our tax dollars like there’s no tomorrow.
The foundation’s grim calculations are based on Sept. 30 consolidated federal statements, which showed that Americans’ total household net worth, diminished by falling stock prices and home equity, is $56.5 trillion. But rising costs for unfunded social programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security increased to $56.4 trillion – and that was before the more recent stock market crash, $700 billion bank bailout, and monster federal deficits chalked up in October and November.

Plausible Denial

Are you a “denier”? Then your name belongs on a list.

With mine. (See if you can spot it.)

Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran

Wait. Wrong song.

Afghanistan will be Obama’s baby

So says Michael Yon in this interview with KLO.

LOPEZ: Can you give us any insight into what Secretary Gates is thinking as he moves from serving President Bush to President Obama?

YON: Secretary Gates gets widespread approval from our military, and this is helpful in whatever he does. But I can say that he is definitely concerned about Iran. He is concerned about solidifying our progress in Iraq, and making a turnaround in Afghanistan. Piracy is a relatively farcical threat. Secretary Gates is concerned about getting more ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] and UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] assets in the field — and we need those badly. He did not seem concerned that budget cuts would undermine the fabric of the military, but leaders will have to make some tough decisions on big new weapon systems while we ramp up our efforts in Afghanistan while our economy continues to struggle.

It’s clear that Secretary Gates is working hard to make a smooth transition, so that there is no period when we let down our guard during the interregnum; and it’s also clear that if someone decides to test President Obama, Secretary Gates is prepared to make them wish they had not.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

This is just awful. The Air Force is spending our money to turn medics into quacks.

“This is one of the fastest pain attenuators in existence – the pain can be gone in five minutes,” said Niemtzow, a physician, acupuncturist and senior adviser to the Air Force surgeon general.

That’s right. Your tax dollars are being spent to turn physicians into acupuncturists and then deploy them to Iraq to treat wounded soldiers.

Our fighting forces deserve better. So do we. As one of the commenters pointed out:

The situation may be worsening. Secretary of HHS designee, Tom Daschle, supported provision of chiropratic in VHA hospitals. It gets worse, Senator Tom Harken (D, IA), another quack-friendly guy, is taking the lead in revising healthcare legislation.

If the prospect of Socialized Medicine doesn’t scare you enough, how about the idea of Government-Enforced Quacks?

We’re doomed.

Update:

It has already gotten worse, at least in the Air Force.

Junk Science

Or, rather, teaching garbage vs. teaching science in the ignorance factories called public schools.

Worse, they’re really teaching religion.

I’ve always thought of recycling as essentially a religious sacrament –a fine activity if pursued voluntarily, but not something that should be mandated or taught in public schools.

If you really think recycling is a good idea, watch this. (Unless you object to coarse language, of which it contains plenty.)

Yet Another Reason to Use Ask.com

Still cling to the fantasy that Google’s results are objectively produced by software?

I still get better results at Ask.com. Results are generally higher quality and with less, uh, “noise”. They even have Ask for Kids.

We got into business to be independent

“We will get out for the same reason.”

The job destruction process has started. We are about 20% of the way through our ramp down process and on schedule to complete the shut down by spring 2009. Watch the financial news and you will see continued job cuts each month. We are not alone in our strategy. Far from it. Atlas has shrugged all over the country.

Like many business owners, we are no longer willing to take all of the financial and legal risks and put up with all of the aggravation of owning and running a business. Not with the prospects of even higher taxes, more regulation, more litigation and more emboldened bureaucrats on the horizon.  Like others we know, we are getting out while the getting is, well, tolerable. Many who aren’t getting out are scaling back.

A Rose by Any Other Name

Mark Krikorian, the man behind “just a governor who lived in my neighborhood” asked his readers to name the Blagojevich scandal.

Blago Affair, Blagopalooza, Blago-Rahma, Blago-Bama-Rahma, Bling4Blago, Seatwater, Grand Theft Blago, Blago-Grab (like Abu-Ghraib), Blagola (like payola), an attempt at a Blagopoly, Blag-mire, Blag-pro-quo, Blago-ditch, Blag-out, Blagobamanation, Blagobamamania, Blagobama, Grab-Blag, Dem-Blago, BlagoMart, Blagorama, Blagodrama, Blaygo (or Blago-paygo), P2PGate (Pay to Play Gate), Blagojevich 5, Senat-Ebay, E-Blago-bay gate, Blago-auction, ChiBlagoScam, Chicago’s ethical Blag Hole, Just-a-governor-from-the-neighborhood-gate, the Crackpot Dome-hair Scandal.

Or, of course, just “Chicago politics.”

Your Huddles Masses

of Pixels yearning to be free.

Enjoy the privacy of your thoughts

Knowing how quickly technology can progress, this crude ability to read minds will eventually change everything.

It’s a Pity They Can’t Both Lose

This is being reported as Rahm Emanuel ducking questions.

I hate to sound like I’m defending “Rahmbo” here but, quite frankly, I’m taking his side on this incident. He may well be corrupt and guilty as sin, and probably is, but this jerk of a reporter was hounding him while he just wanted to be a dad and listen to his kids’ concert. The way he was quoted sounds incoherent, but I’ve been interviewed in the press and reporters nearly always do that. It sounds like he wanted to say something like “Leave me alone, Bozo. This is dad time with my kids.” That’s close to what I would have told the cretin.

There have to be plenty of opportunities to question him about this without horning in on his family time. That’s just craptastic on the part of the reporter.

Rahm and the reporter can both go jump in Lake Michigan for all I care. But the kids aren’t at fault. If you didn’t like what the press did to Sarah Palin you’d better be consistent and not like what this reporter just did to Emanuel.

Racist Web Browser

Now there’s a web browser for “White Americans” which comes with pre-installed bookmarks to sites only white people would like. A racist web browser. Can you believe it? And on the eve of an Obama presidency?

Well, then, believe this.

A Christmas Carol

Merry Christmas to you and yours from Buttle's World

“He was just a governor who lived in my neighborhood”

The Annointed One hasn’t even taken office yet (at least, not an office that has the advantage of actually existing) and already it looks like the Memory Hole is going to be filled to overflowing.

FWIW, I saw the KHQA article myself earlier today before “the dog ate it”. I didn’t catch the date on the byline, but it clearly said what Charles has clipped:

CHICAGO, ILL. — Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.

That’s one of Obama’s first priorities today.

He’s meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.

Now let’s all act really shocked that a Chicago political thug would lie about it.

Update:

Now it’s bordering on comical.

It was suggested when it launched that the tool would bring uncomfortable questions to the fore, but the results so far are the opposite: Obama’s supporters appear to be using — and abusing — a tool allowing them to “flag” questions as “inappropriate” to remove all questions mentioning Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich from the main pages of Obama’s website.

Well, what good is being a demigod if you can’t have minions?

Another Update:

More digging in the Memory Hole.

Oh, and Mark Krikorian gets the credit for the title of this post.

Go Joe

I want the presidential “debates*” in 2012 to be moderated by Joe the Plumber.

“I asked him some pretty direct questions,” he continued. “Some of the answers you guys are gonna receive — they appalled me, absolutely. I was angry. In fact, I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him.”
Asked why he didn’t leave McCain’s campaign if he was “appalled” by the candidate, Wurzelbacher said, “honestly, because the thought of Barack Obama as president scares me even more.”

A man after my own heart.

* The last actual presidential debate was probably circa Reagan.