So this guy ....

“

Canadian Health Care Canadian Health Care Who said that the health care in Canada was not up to par? An Arab immigrant in Toronto goes to the doctor and says "I feel terrible." The doctor examines him and then says, "You need to pee and put yourbowel movements in a bucket for a week, then throw in a dead fish andsome rotten cabbage. Put a towel over your head and inhale the vapors for  three days." The Arab does this and goes back to the doctor 3 days later and says, "I feel wonderful! what was wrong with me?" The doctor replied, "You were homesick."     Merrily

”

Proud Partners—CPUSA and the Democratic Party

"If you're trying to change minds and influence people it's probably not a good idea to say that virtually all elected Democrats are liars, but what the hell." TRKOF

“ Top Communist Admits: Communist Party ‘Utilizes’ the Democratic Party – a Lesson for Constitutionalists Our tactics also occur within the framework of our strategic policy of building a broad coalition to defeat the extreme right, which we see as the main danger to democracy and social progress, embodied within today’s Republican Party. New national chair of the Communist Party USA, Chicago man John Bachtell, has admitted that his Party “utilizes” the Democratic Party “to advance its agenda.” Writing on the People’s World website, Bachtell explains that much of the left wants to abandon the Democratic Party (as much of the “right” wants to abandon the GOP) to form a radical third party. In an article entitled A radical third party? I agree! Bachtell explains .... To the the surprise of absolutely nobody that isn't sleep-walking through life.  ”

Bans Pigs From Children's Books

Oxford University Press bans pigs from children’s books

“ In a world where Barry Soetoro is President of the United States, is this really that bizarre? The Oxford University Press guidelines emerge after a radio discussion on free speech in the wake of the Paris attacks. Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. The Telegraph reports: The Oxford University Press has warned its writers not to mention pigs, sausages or pork-related words in children’s books, in an apparent bid to avoid offending Jews and Muslims. Jews? I’m Jewish, and I have neither been offended, nor heard of any Jew claiming to be offended, by pigs being mentioned in literature. On the contrary, I grew up with this stuff, and I love it. (More- Dan From Squirrel Hill) This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.  Please, please— don't hurt us. ”

"Progressives" are an Assault Weapon

Tails of the Gun (Hot Linked)

“ Another 'Assault Weapon' Ban Case HOW  (Is it really) ODD THAT MASSACRES MOSTLY HAPPEN IN "GUN-FREE ZONES"! IL: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear 'Assault Weapon' Ban Case The city of Highland Park, notorious for its anti-second amendment laws, passed an ordinance that requires residents to turn in, modify or remove the banned items from the city.   Ordinance 136(pdf) deals with "Assault Weapons".  The ordinance includes very broad boilerplate language.   Some claim that the ordinance was lifted from the City of Chicago. The 7th Circuit federal court of appeals will hear a case against a local ban on some common rifles, handguns, shotguns, and magazines. The city of Highland Park, notorious for its anti-second amendment laws, passed an ordinance that requires residents to turn in, modify or remove the banned items from the city. Ordinance 136(pdf) deals with "Assault Weapons". The ordinance includes very broad boilerplate language. Some claim that the ordinance was lifted from the City of Chicago. The definitions are broad and cover most semi-automatic rifles, and a fair number of pistols and shotguns.   Highland Park, Michigan has a very low crime rate, so it is hard to justify the ban as having any practical effect, except to anger second amendment supporters and to make a symbolic statement.  I found particularly amusing the fact that the ban seems to include nearly all airsoft guns.  The ordinance includes a ban on all "Large Capacity Magazines" and has a very broad definition of what a firearm is.   From the ordinance: (F) "Firearm" means any device, by whatever name known, which is designed to expel a projectile or projectiles by the action of an explosion, expansion of gas or escape of gas, excluding however: (1) Any pneumatic gun, spring gun or B-B gun which expels a single globular projectile not exceeding .18 inches in diameter; As most airsoft guns use expansion of gas, or escape of gas to propel projectiles  of greater than .18 inches in diameter, and have magazine capacities of more than 10 rounds, they seem to be included.   No one seems to have been prosecuted under the ordinance to date. [Full] Comment: Sounds like Michigan needs to pass state pre-emption, like we have in Pennsylvania, which stops local communities from having firearm laws different than the state laws.  ”

USA UAS USA

Horry Clap!

The upshot is ...

nostalgia

Unplugged

Nice Rack

Oh My Metzger

Culture “Debate” Not Possible

Liberal Culture                    Culture “Debate” Not Possible in America

“ “Is There a Culture War?”  Duh. I have been in the trenches of fighting against assisted suicide, health care rationing, radical animal rights, anti-human environmentalism, etc. ad nauseam, for more than 20 years. About five years ago it hit me like a punch: We can no longer debate these issues. Why?  True debate requires a common frame of reference. But we have none. Not only do we no longer agree on ends, but differ markedly–almost diametrically–on values and basic morality.  How can one “debate” in such a milieu? [NRO] That's NRO's Wesley J. Smith coming to the same conclusion most of us here have been talking about for the past 8 years (at least). My first warning sign came when I picked my son up at the airport after his first semester at UNLV.  Knowing how much I liked the subject, he told me about his incredible history class!  When we got home he immediately unpacked and gave me his text book.  “A People’s History” (A People’s History of the United States, 1492-Present) by Howard Zinn.  Hadn't heard of him, but assumed he was picking up where my favorite college (The Oxford History of the American Peopleby by Samuel Eliot Morison) history left off in 1965. NO. It took me less than 5 minutes to have that  notion shattered all to hell. Which y'all by now are aware (Zinn site:http://curmudgeonlyskeptical.blogspot.com/).  A history book where radical bomb thrower H. Rap. Brown received more (and laudable) mention than Robert. E. Lee (and that defamed Lee for quelling  John Brown's  Harper's Ferry revolt).  History ala carte.  Written by an active  Communist, and embraced by  increasingly leftist universities establishment. It made Clinton's presidency possible. For starters. ”

People who don't love Boehnor

Otherwise, everyone loves him

“ JOHN BOEHNER ATTACKS TEA PARTY: LEADERS OPPOSE ME TO GET RICH Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is blaming conservative groups in Washington for turning him into a human pinata to raise money. In an interview to air on Sunday’s “60 Minutes” on CBS, Boehner said he doesn’t disagree that much with conservatives on policy, but that the groups beat “the dickens out of me” in order to line their own pockets. “The issue with the Tea Party isn’t one of strategy. It’s not one of different vision,” Boehner said, according to excerpts released by CBS. “It’s a disagreement over tactics, from time to time. [Full] No, it's about principles.  What would you call a man who campaigns on issues he knows matter to core Republicans, and post election does the opposite “A month after its incredible victory, the GOP squandered its mandate, surrendering to the Democrats,” he wrote. “The GOP-led House of Representatives did not proclaim its mandate and hold off on major decisions until the Republican majority in the Senate was sworn in. No, they went to the GOP position of preemptive surrender and gave President Obama and the Democrats almost everything they wanted. GOP did nothing to stop Mr. Obama’s executive amnesty. “Mr. Boehner made the obligatory statements about cutting spending and reducing Obamacare. Yet time after time, when the occasion called for him to stand and fight, he chose surrender,” Budget cave-ins galore He's a liar. ”

Scorsese/ Bill Clinton Impasse

Truth they'd expect ... Martin Scorsese's Bill Clinton Documentary Shelved Over Creative Control Legendary director and 42nd President postpone HBO project after wrestling over interview questions and final cut What your grandparents expected would follow According to New York Times, Scorsese and Clinton are butting heads over their interviews Frost/Nixon style, with the Goodfellas director unwilling to relinquish control of the questions and their content. Considering the strong possibility that Hillary Clinton is planning her own presidential run in 2016, Bill also reportedly wants input over the documentary's final cut to ensure nothing that can harm her campaign is aired. Scorsese, for his part, is cognizant of the fact that in their push to get Obama elected in 2008, the media ended it's embargo on Hillary Clinton's sordid past that would have left almost anyone else with several decades of federal prison time left to serve. The truth is then, "already out there."

Some Salon guy ....

TEXT

“ Tea Party spawns GOP nightmare: How it’s already ruining the party’s ’16 strategy GOP elites want Americans to think the party's boring and safe again. Maybe someone should notify the Tea Party Salon article.  The author Elias Isquithrevels in the discomfiture the Tea Party are causing the Democrat Party wing of the GOP.  He makes some good points, but his bias is obvious as this Algorish "scientific consensus" blather shows.  [...] Or if you’d rather look at the Senate, where the aforementioned McConnell is nominally in control, think about Wednesday’s vote on climate change — namely, whether it exists and, if so, to what degree it’s humanity’s fault. While it’s true that only one senator, Mississippi’s Roger Wicker, felt compelled to disagree with the contention that the Earth’s climate is warming, most Republicans voted against a provision that would credit human mankind with “significantly” contributing to the problem. That is, needless to say, wildly at odds with scientific consensus across the globe (Ahem); and dismissing the conclusions of essentially all of the world’s qualified scientists is yet another thing your nice neighbor-accountant would be unlikely to do. To be fair, the Senate vote on climate change wasn’t something Republicans in the Senate forced on McConnell. Instead, it was an example of the kind of thumb-in-the-eye procedural move that the Senate’s now-minority Democrats will be able to pull off every once in a while that has no legislative significance but can, at its best, make the difference between the parties crystal clear. All the same, whatever short-term damage Democrats were able to inflict on the GOP paled in comparison to that which it brought on itself, in the form of Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe’s contention that those who think anthropogenic climate change is a reality are disrespecting God. Which is, again, not the kind of talk the GOP establishment wants to hear during this current, boring-is-best rebrand. ”

Inverted Soufflés

art is everywhere

Grand Prize - “The Independence Day” by Marko Korošec While on stormchasing expeditions in the Tornado Alley in the USA, I have encountered many photogenic supercell storms. This photograph was taken while we were approaching the storm near Julesburg, Colorado, on May 28, 2013. The storm was tornado-warned for more than one hour, but stayed an LP [low precipitation] storm through all its cycles and never produced a tornado, just occasional brief funnels, large hail, and some rain.” –Marko Korošec Marko Korošec / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest / Via travel.nationalgeographic.com Cuzzin ricky links us to Photos That Won Awards In 2014.  They are taken by amateurs.  The cloud formation above is technically called "Inverted Soufflé"  and is caused when thermal wind clouds are jiggled suddenly by Arctic winds blowing in from a cold place.  I am of course also amateurish.  My second favorite is “First Time,” a rare and touching picture of an actual virgin on her wedding day.  And the groom's "do" is priceless. Rehearsal Party is I think a cruel farce, and wasn't included.

GOP EUNICHS

Free Speech

WHAT THIS GUMMINT DOES

“ "....but I will defend to the death your right to say it"  . Rev. Rob Schenck has driven a wedge between pro-life and pro-Constitution conservatives and libertarians. He gave a speech for gun control at the big demonstration in Washington. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/22/pro-life-leader-supporting-gun-control-part-of-being-pro-life/ I support the Second Amendment. If I have to stop supporting the Second Amendment to be against abortion, well then, I won't be against abortion. # posted by  Skoonj : 1/22/15, 4:24 PM Do church signs clutter the right-of-way more than political signs do? As the oral arguments progressed last Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Ariz., the justices focused on the questions which, once answered, will clarify the First Amendment issues that this case presents. The case involves a temporary sign ordinance in Gilbert that treats signs differently depending on what they talk about. Political signs get the best treatment — they can be as large as 32 square feet, unlimited in number in the right-of-way, and can stay in place up to five months before an election. In contrast, directional signs, like those of Pastor Clyde Reed’s church, can only be a smallish six square feet (two by three, for example) and can only be up 12 hours before the event to which the sign pertains. This means, for Pastor Reed’s 10 a.m. church service, the signs cannot go up until 10 p.m. the night before. Obviously, darkness does not enhance the ability of people to see the signs inviting them to the church service. [Full] Student journalist Daniel Mael on free speech and the campus culture war “the fact that black people have not burned this country down is beyond me” - November 25, 2014 “i have no sympathy for the nypd officers who were murdered today” - December 20, 2014 “lmao, all i just really dont have sympathy for the cops who were shot. i hate this racist f***ing country” - December 21, 2014 - Brandeis junior Khadija Lynch’s tweets, as reported by fellow student Daniel Mael on Truth Revolt Daniel Mael, a 22-year-old student journalist at Brandeis University, first reported on fellow student Khadija Lynch’s tweets in the aftermath of the death of NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. Lynch, a junior, had served as an undergraduate department representative in the university’s African and Afro-American Studies Department — until Mael’s reporting led the department to ask Lynch to step down. [Full] Skoonj provided a valuable reminder about our First Amendment guarantee of free speech.  Just this morning I ran across those two  examples.  In the first, the Supremes will evidently decide whether towns can allow or disallow road signs based on their content.  Justice Scalia said during oral arguments, “Treat all signs the same.” Simple. In the second, Khadija Lynch—a Liberal twathead (what else?) attending Brandeis U—was turned in for what amounts to perceived hate speech by another student. Hey, people have to endure knowing that Nancy Pelosi is allowed to speak in public.  Tough.  Democracy is messy.   I always like to find the nexus between  political power and threats to freedom, and in this instance will point the finger at Clinton's  Secretary of Health and Human Services,  Donna E. Shalala. As Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison she imposed a broad speech code subjecting students to disciplinary action for communications that were perceived as hate speech.  Things have gone to hell since.  Maybe we should hang Shalala after a proper trial.   Whoops. Did I say that out loud?  Free speech.  ”

ISIS and the GOP

The Friend of My Enemy is My Enemy.

“ This Really is My Last RedState Post By: Thomas Crown (Diary) I will never vote Republican again. Not for any reason. Today, the Republican Party stands for dragooning children into an inferior educational system designed to make them good little worker bees; for sending taxpayer dollars to its own clients; for funding Obamacare but promising to undo it Tuesday if you’ll give them a hamburger today; for blessing Executive overreach because hey, President Bush III may want to do some cool stuff, too; for brutally crushing its base at every opportunity; and for helping grow a larger and larger government behemoth that must topple of its own weight some day, so long as its elected members can get a piece of the lobbying pie first. But most of all, today the Party stands for indifference in the face of a man-made cataclysm of flesh and blood, and for apathy toward good and cooperation with evil. Read More We're just about copacetic on this issue, me and Thomas Crown.  My caveat is that I will never vote for a Republican just because he's a Republican. If Sarah Palin ran as a Democrat, I'd vote for her. ”

MADDOW the MADCOW

MSNBC ALL-STARS with Rachel Maddow ... is worth 1000 words

“ MORE SMARTER THEN EVEN ROSIE O'DONNEL! Transgender Comix MSNBC'S MADDOW NOW REWRITING INSTANT REPLAYS That MSNBC routinely, almost compulsively, mischaracterizes what conservatives say is nothing new. It's what makes the network so adorable. But in a recent trend, anchor Rachel Maddow has been upping the ante, altering quotes we just heard her play on tape. On Monday night, for example, Rachel ran a news clip from President Reagan's 1983 Martin Luther King Day signing ceremony: "Chris Wallace, NBC Reporter (by miraculous coincidence, currently a Fox News anchor): 'There was an air of celebration in the Rose Garden and an underlying tension. White House officials wrestled for days how to usher in a holiday the president opposed. They finally decided to embrace it. ... Maybe that's what today was about, that blacks have the power to make politicians do things.'" End tape, cut to Rachel, taking notes, muttering with disgust: "The blacks now have the power ..." Except Wallace didn't say "the blacks." Refer to the tape. By adding the simple article "the," Rachel turned Chris Wallace from a garden-variety 1980s news reporter into Archie Bunker. It takes a special kind of zealotry to play a tape of someone and then immediately lie about what viewers just heard him say. Rachel's rewrite of Wallace (again, a Fox News host) was astonishingly similar to her misquote of Republican Senate candidate -- now senator -- Joni Ernst just before the November elections. Maddow inserted the word "the" into Ernst's statement, entirely changing her meaning.  [coulter continued] Rachel Maddow is Crazy, Too (Powerline) Rachel Maddow is a nightmare! (Daily Howler) And, oh what the hell—here—Wade through it. ”

Next, The New York Times, and CBS

Hollywood's Mission to Moscow The most defined and most spectacular incident regarding the film industry politics, however, involved Hollywood’s New-Deal-era infiltration by the Communist Party USA, a subsequent House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) probe, and the  industry-wide blacklist of unrepentant Stalinists that followed. Conveying that story to modern readers is Human Events Editor-at Large Allan H. Ryskind’s Hollywood Traitors: Blacklisted Screenwriters – Agents of Stalin, Allies of Hitler (Regnery History, $29.99), a powerful indictment of such Communist Party loyalists as the "Hollywood Ten," individuals that popular history (and such films as Woody Allen's "The Front," Jim Carrey's "The Majestic," and the documentary "Trumbo") now paint as heroes. [...] Of 1943’s "Mission to Moscow," Ryskind notes, “No more pro-Soviet film has ever been produced or promoted by a major Hollywood studio—or possibly even by a Soviet studio.” Ryskind, son of former Hollywood screenwriter Morrie Ryskind, might be on to something. The film features not only a defense of the indefensible Moscow Show Trials of the late 1930s, but also such deathless dialog as this from FDR’s Soviet Ambassador Joseph E. Davies (portrayed by Walter Huston): "I am amazed at the boldness and imagination behind such a vast industrial development. I can think of no other period in history where so much has been done in so short a time." To Stalin, Davies/Huston even gushes, "I’ve been deeply impressed by what I’ve seen, your industrial plants, the development of your natural resources, and the work being done to improve living conditions everywhere in your country. I believe history will record you as a great builder for the benefit of mankind." The going was truly good for Hollywood's Communist Party screenwriters. [FULL] The early days (90's) of Free Republic, Amazon, and C-SPAN Books made it easy, for the first time, to learn about these books, and purchase them with a keystroke.  Books I otherwise would have never heard about.  My first serious look into  Hollywood's role in advancing communism in the U.S.  came in 1998 when I read America's Thirty Years War: Who Is Winning? by Balint Vazsonyi.  Opened a Pandora's box, bang bang, bang! The Black Book of Communism : Crimes, Terror, Repression; The Haunted Wood : Soviet Espionage in America-The Stalin Era by Allen Weinstein (my college history prof. and e-mail correspondent); Joseph McCarthy : Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator (Arthur Herman); The Twilight of the Intellectuals : Culture and Politics in the Era of the Cold War (Hilton Kramer). Looking back today at Balint Vazsonyi's question about who's winning, I must answer; THEM. Which is why I despise what Hollywood have done to our culture. Gives me an idea for another book though.  I'll call it, "Quit crying like little girls and jump, or instead of a vat of acid it'll be heads first down a Mississippi prison shit hole.  Sean Penn and  Nick Nolte go first.  For their dad's complicity, and their whining. ”

Piece, Bro

Sangfroid

Bad Puppy

art is everywhere

California.  Ahem.

Su Casa Mi Casa (Dems)

Today's Metaphor