No Justice, No Peace

Here.

‘When our 16 year old son was murdered ten months ago together with seven of his friends, the TV screens of the world were filled with scenes of the yeshiva library filled with blood, together with scenes of the residents of Gaza dancing in celebration and flashing “V” signs to one another for victory, handing out candies and firing into the air in celebration.

‘I do not deny that the current scenes in Gaza bypass my human intellect and instead find their way to the basic primitive yearning for revenge. But even more so they satisfy the fundamental yearning for justice. And anyone living in this land knows that there will yet come more pictures of innocent Jewish blood and more pictures of Gaza Arabs celebrating.

‘Everyone knows that there lives amongst us a large community of citizens, and it includes members of the Knesset. They - in spite of occasional clicking of the tongue and even a condemnation here or there of the atrocities - clearly desire more mass murders of (Israeli) civilians and bloodshed to prove that there is no choice but to negotiate with the Hamas, not to defeat it, but to capitulate to its demands.

‘The media commentators will go back to explaining to us that the strong is the weak and that the weak is the strong and about how the victims and casualties on our side make it necessary to negotiate with the Hamas. Governments around the world pour out advice for us about how to calm things down and negotiate, while everyone on earth knows that in our place they would undertake the most destructive and violent retaliations without a shed of moderation or mercy for any poor women and children.

‘Yet everyone is speaking about peace and no one is speaking about justice. It is time to stop the jabbering about peace and to address the question of justice. I met a grandmother with healthy common sense who used to say: “That which is evil is evil, and that which is good is good.”

‘Firing dozens of bullets at children studying in a yeshiva library is evil. Firing missiles for the purpose of killing civilians is evil. Causing agony to the families of the kidnapped is evil. And dancing for joy when innocent civilians are murdered by terrorists is evil. On the other hand, taking measures to kill the murderer before he is able to kill civilians again is good. To demolish the home of a terrorist in order to deter is good. And expelling people who identify with the Gaza murderers to go live in Gaza is VERY good.

‘And good things need to be done immediately, with no delay or ponderings and the darkness must be vanquished immediately.’

Burned bodies of US servicemen in Fallujah to cheers, candy and firing. And as the blackened torsos were dragged through the streets and hung to be laughed at, children danced alongside, catching the thrown candy, following the impromptu parade in sheer delight, while the adults flashed V signs and burned American flags. The same scenes after 9/11, in various countries. Thousands of people ululating and jumping around like chimps on coke everytime they commit some gross act of mass murder. The more blood, the more greusome, the more bizarre excitement.

Meanwhile, Hamas just approved crucifixion for Christians and Jews in the strip. The Hamas isn't too careful to hide why so many women and children are being killed - they're being used as human shields.

The inhuman acts of beheadings, stoning of a 17 year old Kurdish girl, the full footage of which I can't find anymore - just some of the lesser moments as seen on CNN. No footage of rocks hitting her head, of her clothes being stripped while she tried to cover herself but couldn't move.

The difference? Israelis don't do these things. They don't blow themselves up on Gaza buses, schools and libraries, then run through the streets jumping and screaming like chimps on crack out of sheer joy. They don't hide behind their mothers, sons, daughters, or the sick afterwards and then scream about how the evil Gazans killed innocents. They shoot at legitimate targets and do not do the chicken dance when people are killed. They do what they have to do to stop from being constantly shot at and threatened, to protect the lives of their children.

"Arab Other"? Yes, they're other. Neither Israel nor the US engages in those atrocities with bizarre displays of uncontainable and out of control JOY and GLEE. They respond with military strikes in order to STOP the killing from happening to their innocents any longer. The MEasterners who do, are "other" from me, and from any civilized, decent human being who does not rejoice in the loss of life, but does know that self-protection, protection of your land, and protection of your family/people is a necessary evil and they do not flinch from what must be done.

If they're like you, by all means join them. Do it over there, willya ffs? We're all stocked up with crazy here.

As to The Dignity - the comfy yacht peopled with Palestinian supporter activist protestors knowingly, illegally carrying who knows what - maybe food, maybe guns - in order to aid and abet the terrorists in Hamas against one of our actual allies, decided to confront and then outmaneuver a military blockade and despite warnings they lost. They also denied offers of help. They were protestors and activists who claim they did it to show that "Obviously no one can stop us." Oops. They did it to make the news and then pretend they were innocent bystanders just trying to help. To help terrorists. Good going. And one would hope this (if nothing else has accomplished the feat before) would discourage another McKinney run for president since she is either a media whore, a terrorist sympathizer, a friend to our enemies and our allies' enemies, and certainly a huge fruitcake. It's time to stop the nonsense where Israel keeps getting shot at and bearing mass murders of their children and bus passengers but the minute they try to make a strike and get such activities STOPPED suddenly the world calls out "Please, *stop the violence on both sides*!" or "Omg those poor Palestinians; they couldn't even AIM with those things (suicide bombers? What're those?) so it isn't fair to strike back with weapons you can actually aim at noncivilian targets!" and "Cease fire already! You've killed enough poor innocent Palestinians!"

Enough of this bullshit. I know they don't want to take back the strip (though it would be nice if they never gave it away wrongfully in the first place) but they have to by all means subdue it. And it's time to stop blaming the suicide bombers on those who are trying to STOP the massacres by giving the perpetrators of same a beatdown that will discourage such activity in the future. But I still wish they'd have the strip back; it isn't like Palestinians even existed when Israel was formed and took its rightful land.

Important reading on the subject.

Halfwits Quiz!

George Orwell said, "There are some ideas so preposterous only an intellectual could believe them." That goes for Hollywood Halfwits too. Let's have some fun with Halfwit quotes. The answers are hidden; you have to highlight the text to read them.

Susan Sarandon said, "The United States is a land that has raped every area of the world. In what year did she say this?

May 1991.

John Cusack said, "George Bush goes around massacring Iraqis and it's called collateral damage. I saw a country so bloodthirsty it began to refer to a war in which real people were dying in football terms...The worst part is that the American people were 100 percent behind it because they have nothing else to believe in When did he say it?

May 1991

Sean Penn said, "I don't think it scratches the surface of the rage that is felt, if not acted upon, by most of the people in the country where I live. I was brought up in a country that relished fear-based religion, corrupt government, and an entire white population living on stolen property that they murdered for and that is passed on from generation to generation." When did he say this?

May 1991

Oliver Stone said, "We have become the enemy - with a security state now second to none. Today we have come to live in total hatred, fear, and the desire to destroy. Bravo. Fear and conformity have triumphed." He also said, "I think America has to bleed. I think the corpses have to pile up. I think American boys have to die again. let the mothers weep and mourn." When did he say these?

1987

Slight change of direction, but a movie quote in a scene acted by Joan Allen, "Larry has a friend that was in Vietnam and he killed a whole family of people in a hut. A mother, a father, three children, some uncles and aunts and a grandmother. Killed every one of them..." "Did Daddy kill like that?" "I don't know, but it wouldn't be unusual if he did. That's what they were sent over there to do.

This infantile, ludicrous, cartoon assessment of what the military's purpose is has never failed to stun me, but is it surprising that a young new president with absolutely no experience whatsoever believes that's exactly what they do? He was raised on that shit, same as all the people who voted for him. Of course his claim is that we're carpet-bombing villages and killing civilians in Afghanistan, and the movie quote above was from "In Country" about Vietnam in 1989. Same lie, different day. And the little spooners just lap it up with their spoons and spew it out time after time after time, but each time with a little more rage, each time a little more fevered, each time with a little extra stamp of the foot. It still isn't true, but their faces turn blue anyway. How disturbing is it to you that an entire generation and more has been literally raised on these lies, the same exact ones, half the time with the same names? I don't want to take away hope at this time of year, but that's pretty grim. And it needs to be fought on every level. More on this later; but I wanted to get the basics out immediately.

2008: The Year Man-Made Global Warming Was Disproved. Hehe.

Best Christmas Potion Ever

It's all here. Of course look at the home page, the faq, et. al. but the demonstration is really good. This stuff hasn't been legal in the US for nigh about a hundred years; get while the gettin's good. I wish I'd seen the demo before I tried the stuff, because then I'd have known that only lunatics drink it straight. Live and learn. If I could afford to drink expensive hooch, I'd drink this anytime I was ever going to drink. It's like liquid magic mushrooms or something. Except you get drunk. Happily. And then go sleepy. And dream of hundreds of little creatures like these:

Enjoy!

Yes, Virginia, There IS Media Bias!

It's time to play Name! That! Party! The wild-n-wacky game that's sweeping the nation. Pick a newspaper article from the Associated (with evil) Press about a corrupt politician - any corrupt politician who is now in a buttload of butthurt. Scan the article for references to his party affiliation - you know, that D or R next to his or her name. Keep going - you can do this all day. Notice something? If you really looked, you see it.

There are no Ds! Oh you can find Rs galore - a single piece might contain eight or ten Rs, usually in 18pt blood red font, but then there are these puzzling pieces that contain no reference to the crook's party. I am going to tell you how to win this game every single time. I am going to tell you the secret of the champions.

WHEN THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE PARTY, THE PARTY IS DIMOCRAT. It is when a Dim is in trouble that party suddenly ceases to exist - even if the AP has to literally SCRUB mention of it from local articles that felt it was necessary to include! This is against their policy and it is quite clearly deliberate, but Name! That! Party! is the proof for even the dumbest among us (usually "journalists" fresh out of college) that Yes, Virginia, there IS a Media Bias! Have a looksee over here and you will know for your very own self. And pay attention from now on, dipshits - next time one of you leftist "journalists" tells me there is no media bias, I'm going to spit in your face, and then laugh uproariously. What a bunch of phony shits.

Speaking of which, there is an important piece up at Protein Wisdom about the fact that president Bush has consistently allowed the press and the public to spew the vilest, most insane accusations about him and with never a word of protest or correction. The vision many people have of him is of a mental retardate who nonetheless has gumped his way into ripping apart millions of people with his bear hands and feasting on their viscera, while shooting women in the uterus in the off hours, just for fun. It's the most ridiculous caricature I've ever seen of any president in my lifetime, but he's pretty much said nothing, waiting instead for the record to bear him out in the long run. And damn the consequences in the now. Naturally most of their most hysterical ravings are just moonbat guano and of course in the end that may all come right; but that isn't going to set people right, any more than people who remember Waco and who believed the press at the time. Sure we now know that it was a mass murder by the government, but how many people who are old enough to remember it really know that? How many still say "Those people were crazy killing themselves like that" or use Koresh as some sort of boogeyman figure? The damage is done regardless. Just as the damage Bush has allowed to be done by never SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT when in fact he should have been doing so. So this is mandatory reading, and an object lesson for WHAT NOT TO F*$&ING DO NEXT TIME.

UPDATE: Bush's hundreds of private hours spent personally comforting grieving families and wounded soldiers. Stands a stark contrast not only to Obama, who simply refused to visit them at all when he found out no cameras were allowed, but also to the monstrous image of Bush created by the left.

Anyone Here Seen My Old Friend Fred?

Can you tell me where he's gone? More important, can you tell me why this genius ended up on the scrapheap while we got saddled with fucking MCCAIN???!!! The one primary candidate who had an economic clue - the only ONE - and who had the ability to explain CLEARLY, SUCCINCTLY and in LAYMAN'S terms (entertaining terms as well) just exactly what it all meant, and we got MCCAIN instead?

It's a thought to slit your wrists by, it really is. But enjoy watching Fred. God grant we can put this guy in the driver's seat where he actually BELONGS next time.

While you're thinking about the economic situation, take a look at this. He links to the original lunatic screed he's eviscerating, so you can look at that too, if you must. I think the excerpts are sufficient for that bigoted, mentally retarded, hate-riddled nonsense; yet the nonsensical hate screed is published in Salon - what the hell is wrong with you media people? If people don't get chills down their spine by the constant calls for **MASSIVE FEDERAL EXPANSION OF POWER** in order to - IN ORDER TO - squash Southern businesses because they are actually succeeding, then the blatant and vicious bigotry ought to make them furious anyway. The premise would be funny if the hatred weren't so visceral and if it weren't being published in a major publication. At any rate, this guy puts that nonsense right in its proper place quite handily, and I highly recommend reading it. Since what we are facing right now IS a massive expansion of federal power, and since it is actually genuinely possible to face a coming civil war if power grabs continue and expand. Good times.

Blago's X-Box

Ok, this actually had me laughing out loud - really laughing hard. I think you'll agree; just be sure to watch to the last line - one final belly laugh. However, I still think Hitler's X-Box is the champ. Enjoy.

Kids these days are so violent. Just ask Daisy Owl - a very funny new webcomic.

Job Loss - From the Horse's Mouth

H/T to the Emperor

When the jobs report for November came out last week, many so-called "experts" were shocked at the massive loss of an estimated 533 thousand jobs. Even a Time /CNN organization called "The Curious Capitalists" were at a loss to explain it.

Let me attempt to help out these "curious capitalists" (though I am still skeptical that anyone working for CNN or Time is either curious or a capitalist). I caused part of this job loss and I know precisely why; the election. The results portend big trouble for small business.

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.

It's pathetic how 180 degrees wrong the left is when they see these reports. It seems so patently obvious to anyone with a shred of economic understanding (and seriously, I do mean a shred - you do not need advanced knowledge here to understand the obvious) and yet they get it 100% wrong, time after time after time. That's what you get substituting indoctrination for knowledge. No commentary on the article required; you likely knew all this anyway, but it's always good to get a first-person perspective.

Rush To Judgment - UPDATED

We mustn't rush to judgment as to why Sarah Palin's church in Wasilla was burned down in an arson incident.

We mustn't rush to judgment as to whether Obama is involved (say, up to his f$%^ing eyeballs) in the sale of his senate seat.

Bullshit. I'm hopping in a rocket car and burning tracks to judgment so quick that the smoke of the fumes will burn your nostrils before the light from the flames reaches your retinas. If any of it turns out not to be true, I will not for a moment acknowledge the possibility, and will cling tenaciously to my judgment, because in the end it really doesn't matter anyway. Did proof matter to the "Truthers"? In this case it's far more justified, anyway. Obama's a filthy crook, a Chicago street thug, and the left hates Christian churches and has been fomenting that hatred among their minions for so long that it takes form in fires and hate crimes (such as the old woman having her cross stomped to the ground by angry Prop 8 protestors.) You think I'm crazy? The left has already seriously suggested that Palin HERSELF (or the ladies inside) set the fire for political reasons. So you dare not cast aspersions, you fucking lunatics. This is just the start of getting back what you've dished out, and dished out, and shoved down our throats ceaselessly until good and tolerant people are SICK TO THE TEETH of it. Too many of us have zero - that is ZERO - tolerance left for you and your ilk.

It isn't going to be pretty.

UPDATE: There was accelerant poured around the building, particularly the entrances. Take a look at the comments there, and shudder and weep. Not my countrymen. I seem to remember a church bombing that killed 4 little girls that caused the whole country to reel. This one contained two women and two little girls. I don't see a whole lot of media attention; comments give you an idea why. Countrymen? Not even human.

Out of Egypt

He made a politically incorrect mistake - he seems to think the fight is between *Islam* and the US/allies. Gonna be embarassing when someone points that out to him.

The religion of peace.

Palin Snubs Oprah

Oprah's feeling hurt. I'm not sure how this constitutes news, but leave it to Yahoo, right? Not a site I visit voluntarily, but it's the homepage at work, whaddayagonnado?

I think this is very simple - Sarah Palin has been just absolutely flooded, inundated with offers to speak all over the world. Great - more power to her. Looks like some foreign countries can appreciate people that the left in this country would rather just stomp on.

Apparently, one of these offers to speak came from none other than the blowhard herself, Oprah Winfrey. After she said during the campaign, in her sheer terror of the Thrilla from Wasilla, that she absolutely would NOT be having Sarah Palin on her show. Not that I think Palin necessarily would have gone on anyway - she has some class. But Oprah seems to think everyone is standing around slavering and drooling and panting for a seat on her couch. Maybe some people are, but not anyone I want or need to listen to. Palin's got offers all over the globe; I don't think she needs Oprah anyway.

For the record I used to watch Oprah in the very beginning when she went on television. In those days it was mostly a "freak" show - you'd see people like Michael Alig and company, a lot of transsexuals and transvestites, anything that you just didn't see in the course of your everyday life very much but could be made sensationalistic. She went on the liquid diet and one day came out skinny (I knew that one was a bad, bad idea.) When that failed to stick, she did start doing somewhat more serious topics, but by the time 1990 or so rolled around and I was 23 with two babies, I was already sick of her crap. When she started getting heavy on the new-age, mystical nonsense, that was the absolute end of it for me. Anyway, there were lots of others to choose from. There was Mo Gaffney, Gordon Elliot, Sally Jessy, and a bunch of court shows that were a lot better than talk shows. I never watched Oprah again, until I accidentally caught an episode in 2006. My write-up from the time is below. I bet you were dying to know about my television-watching habits!

But the point is, Oprah is not only puzzled, she's hurt and pissed that Sarah Palin hasn't answered her request.

"I said I would be happy to talk to Sarah Palin when the election was over,” Winfrey tells Extra. “I went and tried to talk to Sarah Palin and instead she talked to Greta [Van Susteren]. She talked to Matt [Lauer]. She talked to Larry [King]. But she didn't talk to me."

Awwww. Oprah? Take the hint. The lady is just too nice to say "Fuck you." But just as she was thinking it really hard at Katie Couric, so hard she stopped giving answers (because it wasn't a real interview), she's thinking it at you. Be glad she's too nice to tell you what she's thinking, or she might scorch you into silence forever. For that matter, Couric ought to be glad of that too.

Yahoo's take on it?

Do you think Palin is avoiding Oprah because she’s intimidated and knows the host is a staunch Obama supporter?

Yeah, that's it, Yahoo - she's intimidated. What the hell is wrong with these people?

For fun, I figured I'd include my reaction to Oprah's stupid show, the one I've actually watched in the last 16 years or so. Since it's still good, I figured I'd share it with you all.

OPRAH - 2006

She hasn't changed. At all. She's still an idiot with a trash TV show. But now she's an idiot with a trash TV show and a great deal of money, power and clout. Not a good thing.

Anyway it caught my interest because Bill and Melinda Gates were going to be on, and it was a two-parter on the "Crisis in Education." Hey guys! We're the government and we f&^%ed up. These things we call schools aren't educating, the city schools are overcrowded and a cesspool of criminal activity that we use to warehouse future inmates as long as possible. This system doesn't work. (Duh.) SO give us more power and more money. (Wtf?) Let us have the children all year and for longer days. (Wtf?) The Gates were touting their experimental school (calling the current system obsolete, which is true) where they are busy training future MS drones. Yes, I said it. There are no books. Yes, that's what I said. NO BOOKS, no lectures in HTH (High Tech High.) It's all hands-on hive training. It's still better than what the government is dishing up, at least MS produces something that people want. They aren't stealing our hard-earned money to finance their indoctrination.

There are some charter schools called KIPP now, the Knowledge is Power Project. They teach their lessons to grade schoolers in Rap. All the lessons are in rap. Yep. Don't ask me. They keep the kids until like 6 PM every day, mandatory summer school, mandatory weekends, 3 hours of homework a night (more rap?) and teachers on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's Oprah's idea of the next Great Thing. Apparently more is better. If only *everyone* would graduate and go on to college, the World Will Be a Better Place. Again, don't ask me. (As though the colleges teaching what SHOULD have been taught in grammar and middle school are doing the world a favor - hey, they keep 'em off the streets, and that isn't even my words, it's the proponents' own words.)

They interviewed some of the KIPP kids, about ten years old, to ask what their future goals were. "COLLIDGE" they all loudly proclaimed. The guy asked "Why are you thinking about that now? You're all of ten." One boy answered honestly, "That's what they teach us!" Hey, you can't write this stuff. One HTH girl explained that when Gates was trying to divide the larger school into two smaller ones (one his experimental school) she and her friends were active in protests against it. Once again, do NOT ask me. (I'll ask you - pretty stupid to protest against smaller class sizes when you have 38 desks for 45 students right? Right? But they didn't want it anyway.) But now - oh now, oh glory, she WILL go to college to pursue her lifelong *dream*...wait for it...of being a teacher.

If you can drill it into them long enough how wonderful this thing called "education" is (that isn't what it is, just what it's called) many of them really believe it. Enough of them to think that the longer they stay in it the better. And what's better than, after having spent 16 or more years being drilled as such (and knowing less than any high schooler of a century ago) to "Give Something Back"? How do you do that? Why, by entering the school system yourself, this time on the other side of the desk. I've seen this too many times to count - people hailed as successes because after having spent nearly two decades in school (yet somehow still sounding like unintelligent, poorly taught kids) they have now become administrators in the very same system that kept them off the streets. No real desire to go on to learn something beyond this, nothing to actually DO or pursue - just keep more kids off the streets and in the system, so they can perpetuate it later. On confiscatory tax dollars. Yes, it's a better life than a street life, you get an inflated wage from confiscated money dished out in poorly managed systems under charge of the government, and get to keep others in the government system too. Win-win. Right? Right? Or could it just be that this system is in large part responsible for the poor conditions that lead to "dropouts comprising 84% of those incarcerated in penal institutions"? Has anyone considered that one major result is being mistaken for one major cause? (The poor bastards they talked to in jail were just POSITIVE that had they merely graduated from high school - not learned anything, but graduated mind you) they would not now be in jail. Somehow magically they would have had a good job handed to them, one that paid enough to live on and keep them honest. Boy is that an unrealistic dream - but that's what they were taught; they were all in school long enough to learn that lie. Of course maybe some of them would have gone on to be teachers.

Problem is it's so ingrained into the entire population and so huge, I really can't give an answer. The system has to go, but it's not going to. And it's going to perpetuate itself into a worse one than it is now, just as it has been doing for a long time.

Daily groan: Illinois governor - hehe, lovable little scamp! but Bush/Cheney/Rove? ADOLPH HITLER INDICT HIM AND LOCK HIM UP FOREVER!

LOL YOUR HYPOCRITES!

Free Trade and The Burqua

I meet Muslim women fairly regularly. I met hundreds when I went to Great Adventure on Muslim Youth day some years ago. Most times they wear just a veil; but occasionally they have the whole deal as I pictured above. From a distance, when you catch the first glimpse it is always a slight shock and a double-take. If you've never seen one of those outfits in person, don't ask me to explain that - and if you have and did not feel any startle, great. I do, and the people I know do. When you get closer to her, though, at least all the times I've met them, they have the beautiful eye makeup. Since that's all you can see, and you can only see it up close, it's very striking. The last two women I met, one was wearing a black one, and one a white - the accompanying eye makeup colors in each case was chosen well, to make her eyes stand out to the greatest effect in contrast to the color. Well, you can see above - they really know what they're doing, and they all look like they have the most beautiful eyes. But this is beside the point. What I have never seen in person is a full Burqua.

The above, I've never seen. I have always been disturbed by the Ninja-type getups, but it's always nice to see that the women in them are expressing themselves in some way, even if you do have to get up close to appreciate it. The full Burqua allows nothing like that. It's like The Man In the Iron Mask except they presumably get to take it off at home and it doesn't weigh as much.

That's partly why this story gave me something of a thrill.

After 9/11, Betsy Beamon went to Afghanistan to help the women who had been badly abused by the Taliban system for over 7 years. Naturally, all people had been abused by it, including children, boys, and men; but the stories of the women whose visages had been erased from sight and who would be beaten if they didn't wear these hideous things or tried to get work, understandably captured the attention of much of the free world. Beamon started the Women of Hope Project, and now works with over a thousand Afghani women to help make themselves and their families a better life. With the Taliban deposed by the U.S. Military and Afghanis themselves, the suffocating garments are now used in something they hadn't been able to do since 1994 - trade.

The women can take one of her old burquas and make 35 mini-burquas, which are the size to fit over wine bottles. Yeah, it's weird. When you're shopping in Kabul, as is the woman in the above picture, and you see something so different and you know the money is going to a woman who suffered under such an evil regime, you might just want to buy one. I would certainly buy something created by one of these people - there is nothing like finally being able to trade, to work, to make things, to exercise your talents, and earn something of your own to throw off the misery of the shackles that bound you. Doubly so when you can take the shitting symbol of that misery - in this case the burqua - combine it with your talent, and make something of value for yourself and your family. There are 1000 women working with the project; 100 that work with Beamon directly and who employ helpers of their own. Currently they are selling handmade and hand-embroidered Christmas ornaments, table runners of red and green, pillows, dolls, things with crosses on them, etc. It IS illegal to spread Christianity there, but if you mention this to them, they just shrug and say, "It's Christmas."

They don't know why foreigners like the wine bottle burquas, but they rather nonchalantly figure it must be interesting to them. If you want to buy something pretty and assist these people in making a new life for themselves, go to the Women of Hope Project link above and see what you can find. Personally I wouldn't go for the wine bottle burqua, but there are lots of other things going on. One woman is such a talented embroiderer that she can make any picture she sees - her next project is going to be a Michael Jackson pillow heh. Once the practice of free trade takes root and people get a taste of better things, it's that much harder for an oppressive regime to take over again. You have to wait until they're so prosperous that guilt sets in and someone can convince them they need to spread the wealth - I'll be as glad as anyone to see them get towards that point.

Humor alert! IMAO has a new "In My World" feature up. If you've never pictured Bush in a hat with a huge feather plume, I suggest reading it. These guys are hilarious!

Unhinged. No, seriously - LOOK at that. Exponentially unhinged.

Guinea Piggin'

What guinea pigs would sing, if they could.

They're smart.

And cute.

Youthy! Hopey! Changey!

If this is the future of the Republican Party, they've REALLY been missing the point. I hope they have drawn from the message that McCain was dead in the water until he brought out Palin, as opposed to listening to the exact opposite message and going off on wild tangents, like they do in this piece. Then again it's the Washington Post - credibility? Zero. Credibility with the GOP? Unknown.

Already, a fierce fight is looming between him and other Republicans -- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who arrived in Iowa a couple of days before him, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is said to be coming at some point -- for the hearts of social conservatives.

"The Republicans really have no choice except to look at some people more youthful if they want to have a better chance of winning," said Betty E. Johnson, an independent and the wife of a Cedar Rapids pastor, who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 but who went for Obama over 72-year-old John McCain. "I liked Obama's energy and hope. I don't know, but maybe a younger person would give Republicans a feeling of more energy, openness."

Ok first of all, Betty? STFU. No one is listening to you except the latte-sipping entrenched elite GOP dinosaurs who haven't been genuine liberals for a long time. You know, the people who gave us MCCAIN as an option to begin with, who swore that if only the so-called "right" would swing far enough "left" they would be so much more palatable to...assholes like you. I'm not surprised that someone who would say something this stupid was one of those "swing votes" that supposedly decide every race - those people who can't make a simple decision and don't stand on any sort of principles whatsoever, who don't actually BELIEVE in anything so they would vote based on shallow bullshit like you just acknowledged you do. You know, things that don't matter in the slightest, like "youthy" and "hopey" and "changey" and, even better, a "feeling" of "energy". What in hell do any of those things have to do with a candidate's stance on the role of government in individual lives? With his understanding of free market economics? With his understanding of the Constitution? On the other hand, I'm not surprised that someone with no understanding of any of the above, with no actual core beliefs or stances of her own, would have voted for Bush and then Obama. Bush was slightly to the right of McCain on several things (which isn't saying much, or anything) but not very far and not very many. You vote on a whim, on a feeling, on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Real wise there, Betty.

And no wonder!! Ooooooh look! They put all that pretty glowy stuff around him! They called it "A New Hope" - that sounds so hopey, and it makes reference to Star Wars! I liked Star Wars!!!!! Out with the old, in with the new, I'm convinced!

Hey, I have the perfect candidate for you, Betty - try the Black Vulcan of DC comic superhero fame. He wasn't there to DO anything; he basically mouthed empty platitudes occasionally. Which is exactly what you like!

Then again, I guess that's exactly what you already got. But maybe the Republicans can come up with that guy for the next election; they won't have to shop in the lightning effects; he comes with his own. You saucy independent, you!

Jindal is, above all else, a political meteor, sharing Obama's precocious skills for reaching the firmament in a hurry.

You say that like it's a good thing. I guess being a Chicago street thug politician, having opponents from your own party wiped off the ballot via back room stilettos, and not fulfilling your senate duties but instead lying ("I'm not going to seek the presidency; I'd have to start campaigning right now" then turning around and doing exactly that), building a months-long record of voting "present" and then spending the lion's share of your Senate time campaigning on the people's dimes (and billions) is pretty impressive, if you like that sort of thing. But most people don't. If that's what Jindal has to offer, I'll pass.

Jindal is his own invention, in the mold of an Obama.

Again, you say that like it's a good thing.

The Louisiana governor at the time, Murphy J. "Mike" Foster Jr., turned to a 25-year-old Jindal to shore up Louisiana's Medicaid program, which had fallen badly into debt. By the time Jindal finished, he had shut down some state hospitals and had the program running a surplus. "He had to close a hospital in my district, but he didn't hesitate doing what he had to do,"

Promising. Keep going.

The record is still evolving, like the rest of him. But social conservatives like what they have heard about the public and private Jindal: his steadfast opposition to abortion without exceptions

Hmm.

his disapproval of embryonic stem cell research

What role should a president play in this exactly? Does anyone ever address the PROPER, the CONSTITUTIONAL role of the Federal Government anymore? Can we MAYBE leave that up to the states? Oh whatever.

his and his wife Supriya's decision in 1997 to enter into a Louisiana covenant marriage that prohibits no-fault divorce in the state

Ok this one I like. Covenant marriage is a voluntary, optional marriage contract which exists in addition to the regular marriage option. It involves premarital counseling and generally is of more interest to people who want to have children. For people who wanted the kinds of protections it offers, it serves a purpose that a pre-nup could not. I don't know why more states haven't opted to offer this option, but it would be nice.

and his decision in June to sign into law the Louisiana Science Education Act, a bill heartily supported by creationists that permits public school teachers to educate students about both the theory of "scientific design" and criticisms of Darwinian evolutionary concepts.

Well...better to offer meaningful school choice, or to perhaps actually TEACH the scientific method and what purpose it serves. Because then the valid criticisms of Darwinism (and there are many) would make more sense. Trying to improve education in this fashion is like trying to unsink the Titanic by rearranging deck chairs. That's the first time I actually understood that analogy; because it is completely accurate in this case. Trying to save a system that is irretrievably lost and was wrong in concept to begin with, and still missing the larger point. But I will say that at least if they do acknowledge that there *are* competing theories in science; that while the overarching consensus (which does not mean law, but can often serve well) may be for the basic theory or model X, there are valid and important criticisms which leave the door open for further scientific inquiry. Considering what we're learning about "non-renewable fossil fuels", the alleged medical science behind anti-obesity and dieting initiatives, and the "global warming" scam, this is not a bad thing - it takes a small step away from full-out indoctrination of children, which is what most mandatory government schooling consists of. Witness the youth who voted in the current superhero superstar and their inconceivable ignorance on the actual issues. I rest my case.

Jindal: "Look, I think the American people are tired of campaigns and politics. We need to get behind our new president and our new Congress, support them, and stop being Democrats and Republicans. We need to work together to make sure our government is successful."

BZZZZZT! Wrong answer. You are the weakest link, goodbye. I actually have never understood this. Why would I "get behind" (what does that mean anyway?) someone and help them to violate the constitution of the country when they're sworn to uphold it? Why would I support this person's initiatives that can only serve to deny our constitutional liberties, destroy the basis of the free market economy which is the only possible economic system under our constitution, and keep his promise to severely curtail our national defense, which is the ONE thing the constitution says is in the legitimate scope of his duties to do? If by "get behind" you mean "fight to the death to stop him doing the things he promised to do" then yeah...I take your meaning. I'm sorry if that's mean-spirited Mr. Jindal, but fighting for the constitution is obviously NOT "politics as usual" because not a single freaking candidate has shown up to DO it since 1984 for crying out loud.

This won him appreciative laughs, which grew into loud applause as he told about a rough-talking, no-nonsense Louisiana sheriff who had exhibited even less patience with bureaucrats. "You don't succeed by waiting for FEMA to tell you what to do," he declared. "You tell them what you need."

Yeah, I know, the day Bush called down a hurricane from the heavens because he hates black people and wants to kill them. I don't know why he didn't call it down on Washington Heights. The day that the Mayor of New Orleans got punked because he had hundreds and hundreds of buses at his disposal (below) but didn't have an evacuation plan and didn't enact one to any effective degree, so he cried that it was all Bush's fault. It is a genuine travesty that the mayor was so incompetent and corrupt that despite that he KNEW all this was a distinct and immediate danger (you're living below sea level - might want to have an evacuation plan in place, complete with drivers for that sea of buses that you didn't bother to deploy), that people had to suffer and die. It really is.

When Ike threatened Galveston, they ORDERED people to get the hell out. It hadn't been under such a threat since 1900, but they STILL managed to get most of the people OUT of Dodge. They warned them in no uncertain terms that if they did not get out they faced certain death. They conducted an evacuation and did not fail to warn the people. That is what the Mayor's job IS. It is not the president's job or his responsibility to get people out so they don't die. Mayors are not supposed to live it up on the taxpayer's dime and then skate when they let their own city drown. In Galveston, they couldn't have been more clear. The people who stayed cost the coming rescuers serious danger and money. It was not their fault; if you refuse to leave when they tell you you face certain death, it's you responsibility to take the proffered ride out of town. I'm sorry the NO mayor didn't take this responsibility seriously; it cost many people their lives.

It was a speech devoted in large part to a skewering of federal bureaucracies, which was red meat for the breakfast attendees who showed their appreciation for his praise of the private sector and of faith-based organizations that he said had aided Louisiana. "If you ever get cynical, come down to Louisiana," he said, and then lauded those gathered for their "generous response" during his state's crises. "Know this: We will rebuild. Our people are strong and resilient. Thank y'all very much."

The Thomsons pressed forward to shake his hand and have their picture taken alongside him. "He's a great speaker," whispered Rosemary Thomson. "He's enthusiastic. He has a background of success . . . with those hurricanes, where others failed. But it's too early to support anyone. There's a long ways to go."

Rose? You sound like Betty. I'm not surprised that a speech that makes you feely goody is enough to give you a tingle down your leg. There's a long way to go. Maybe by 2011 they really can get the Black Vulcan to run and you'll really be excited. He'll dazzle you with empty rhetoric and make you dizzy with lightning effects, and that'll be your guy. If we can convince him to pick Spiderman as his VP, all the better. Batman's a little dark; maybe he can get a cabinet post. I really hope the GOP doesn't take this direction; I hope they can get a clue and run a real candidate for the RIGHT reasons. Try the constitution; it often works. If no one tries it soon, then all I can hope for is that the AIP really does get their vote and secede, because there will be nothing left here worth allegiance to.

My dream ticket for the time being? In no particular order, Fred Thompson/Sarah Palin. I hear stirrings of others out there who might serve well also. I pray someone hears the cry of the true liberals among us, the true supporters of the Constitution, those who still love this country despite all that's gone by, and stops all this ridiculous nonsense of hopey/changey/youthy/feely-goody. It's way overdue. You've already TRIED the leftists who allegedly could win these idiots and it's WRONG as well as unsuccessful. Stop it.

The Funny of the Year

Oh, it's so freeing not to be terminally offended and find so many things funny - even when you're a bit down about the state of the union. Still, I think this has got to be the funniest thing I've read all year. Why I can't come up with stuff like this I'll never know, but at least I can share it with you! Sample and link below.

“Is my seal big enough?” Obama asked the press as he pointed to the big seal on the front of his podium. “Can you all tell I’m going to be the president?”

“We get it, Obama,” one of the press answered.

“Anyway, Biden and I are here to introduce our new national security team.”

“Hi, everybody. Good be here,” Biden said.

“I’m limiting him to five words per statement to try and limiting him saying anything embarrassing,” Obama explained.

Biden put his hand on Obama’s shoulder. “Clean and articulate, though black.”

“Are we supposed to know who that old white guy is?” one reporter whisper to another.

“I think he’s who Obama ran against.”

Read the rest of it here. If you can come back with your sides splitting, do let me know how hard and how long you laughed - I'm still going. Hehe.

Now if SNL had any balls at all? They would use the bit about the five words and the clean and articulate bit on SNL exactly as written. That would beat Tina Fey all to hell and it would be HILARIOUS! Lorne Michaels, I'm talking to you! Capitalize on this, because Biden is FUNNY!