Obama Healthcare Law One Step Closer to Supreme Court

Reuters ran a story about how U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida declared the Obamacare law (particularly its individual mandate provision) unconstitutional. With a majority of states filing suit against this legislation it appears to be only a matter of time before the highest court in the land will have to lay this matter to rest. We believe that this country urgently needs healthcare reform - but not on the terms being imposed upon us by Congress and the President.

At the Risk of Providing TOO MUCH INFORMATION...

Because of our blatantly conservative bias, we don't often link to the Guardian (U.K.), but our commitment to reporting the latest in toilet technology has prompted us to do so.

Between the internet, mobile telephony and TV, it's possible to endure relatively few moments in life when you're not being actively entertained. Getting rid of those last fleeting media-free black spots is an important focus for science and Sega's most recent announcement presages the closing of one such gap. Using specially designed pressure-sensitive urinals with LCD screens, Toylets will make interactive entertainment out of peeing. Controlled by direction and flow rate, games include Mannekin Pis that benchmarks the power of your golden shower, the self explanatory Graffiti Eraser, Milk From Nose, which transposes the strength of your stream into a jet of nasal milk directed at opponents representing previous users of the urinal and The North Wind And Her, where urinary pressure is translated into a breeze, gently lifting the skirt of an anime maiden.

Second Cousin of President Obama Runs a Conservative Blog!

The Wolf Files asks this rhetorical question:

If ObamaCare is so great, why does the White House keep exempting its best friends from it?

First, I'm excited to announce that I've accepted a gracious offer from David Mastio at The Washington Times to become a regular contributor. I will primarily be covering health care politics but wherever liberty is under assault, I'll be there.

If you would like to know what the White House really thinks of Obamacare, there’s an easy way. Look past its press releases. Ignore its promises. Forget its talking points. Instead, simply witness for yourself the outrageous way the White House protects its best friends from Obamacare.

Last year, we learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had granted 111 waivers to protect a lucky few from the onerous regulations of the new national health care overhaul. That number quickly and quietly climbed to 222, and last week we learned that the number of Obamacare privileged escapes has skyrocketed to 733....

Geneticists Play the Skin Game Again

The Root, a blog of the Washington Post, reports a study that narrows down whiteness of skin to ONE LETTER of DNA code out of 3.4 billion.

"Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology's most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity's greatest sources of strife.

"The work suggests that the skin-whitening mutation occurred by chance in a single individual after the first human exodus from Africa, when all people were brown-skinned. That person's offspring apparently thrived as humans moved northward into what is now Europe, helping to give rise to the lightest of the world's races.

"Leaders of the study, at Penn State University, warned against interpreting the finding as a discovery of 'the race gene.'Race is a vaguely defined biological, social and political concept, they noted, and skin color is only part of what race is -- and is not...."

EDITORIAL NOTE: This hypothesis doesn't explain why at least once a generation, someone in our family is born with a lighter complexion than most Caucasians, whether they are full-blooded Japanese or not. The whole business of judging people by their skin color may be lucrative to some agitators and community organizers - but is quite meaningless to people like myself. But while we're on the subject, the same source has an article entitled:
"The Blackest White Folks We Know."

Good-News Item: The United States of Awesome

Deciding that "The United States of Shame" map is too depressing, I am posting instead Ilya Gerner's antidote from "Poltical Language."
(click to enlarge)

Is Obama Reading the American People Wrong?

Free Republic reminds us once again that Americans are a proud people, and many of us are scratching our heads at the number of times President Obama has compromised the dignity of his office by bowing to tyrants.

U.S. Government Had Been Toying With Regime Change in Egypt for Three Years

The Telegraph (U.K.) ran a story that indicates that Wikileaks revealed an ominous trend that all of us should have paid attention to even before Barack Obama was elected President.

...William Hague, the [British] Foreign Secretary, urged the Egyptian government to heed the “legitimate demands of protesters”. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said she was “deeply concerned about the use of force” to quell the protests.

In an interview for the American news channel CNN, to be broadcast tomorrow, David Cameron said: “I think what we need is reform in Egypt. I mean, we support reform and progress in the greater strengthening of the democracy and civil rights and the rule of law.”

The US government has previously been a supporter of Mr Mubarak’s regime. But the leaked documents show the extent to which America was offering support to pro-democracy activists in Egypt while publicly praising Mr Mubarak as an important ally in the Middle East.

In a secret diplomatic dispatch, sent on December 30 2008, Margaret Scobey, the US Ambassador to Cairo, recorded that opposition groups had allegedly drawn up secret plans for “regime change” to take place before elections, scheduled for September this year....

Oxygen Thieves More Cold-Blooded than This Bloodthirsty Warmonger

An American Thinker article by Andrew Walden reveals that the final solution to human-caused climate change is to eliminate the humans.

A study touting Genghis Khan's environmental record is being cheered by the team which produced Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Genghis Khan's great accomplishment for the green cause? Killing off 40 million humans so their un-tilled fields would be overtaken by forests.

While some may find genocide morally repugnant, environmentalists had a different concern: Would reforestation be enough to overcome the greenhouse gases released by all those decaying bodies? Julia Pongratz, who headed the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology research project from the Institution's Stanford University campus offices, provides the answer in a January 20 news release:

We found that during the short events such as the Black Death and the Ming Dynasty collapse, the forest re-growth wasn't enough to overcome the emissions from decaying material in the soil. But during the longer-lasting ones like the Mongol invasion ... there was enough time for the forests to re-grow and absorb significant amounts of carbon....

Hundreds of Chicago Voters to Be Displaced by New Runway

From the Chicago Tribune: The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review an appellate court decision affirming Chicago's acquisition of a 161-year-old cemetery that stands in the way of a future runway at O'Hare International Airport.

"It is technically not the end of the line, but it is pretty close to it,'' said Joseph Karaganis, an attorney representing St. John's United Church of Christ, which owns St. Johannes Cemetery and had sought the Supreme Court's review...

Domino Effect

First it was Tunisia, now Egypt has become a hot spot. 82-year-old Hosni Mubarak, who has been running the country with an iron hand for nearly 30 years, is feeling the heat so much that his wife and son have left the country. Other countries such as Yemen and Lebanon, are showing signs of unrest, and the shock waves have not run their course. If Mubarak were overthrown, extremist elements such as the Muslim Brotherhood could use the fact that we have propped up his regime with billions of dollars in foreign aid against us, and they are in the running as a possible replacement for him.

American Students Raise Money for Clean Drinking Water and Toilet Facilities

ABC's "Good Morning America" ran a story about H20 for Life, an organization that links schools in the U.S. with schools in Third World countries that lack adequate sources of clean drinking water or decent restrooms. So far H20 for Life has raised over a million dollars by holding bake sales and other fundraisers.

Another Diva Report on Ex-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

The Daily Mail (U.K.) had this to say:

If the U.S. Air Force did all airline food, it would be strawberries dipped in dark chocolate and grilled chicken salads all round.

Unfortunately this luxury is reserved for top US politicians alone, as new documents detailing Nancy Pelosi's travel expenses reveal.

The former House Speaker was showered with a cornucopia of gourmet food and alcohol as she traveled over 90,000 miles around the world in just nine months last year - all courtesy of the US Air Force (USAF).

The revelations were among 2,000 pages documenting Mrs Pelosi's travel expenses, obtained by Judicial Watch.

Of 103 Pelosi-led congressional delegations, 31 trips included members of the House speaker's family.

Another Pelosi-led congressional delegation traveling from Washington, DC, through Tel Aviv, to Baghdad included a shopping list that would be more at home on the fridge at a student party.

Among requests were Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Baileys Irish Cream, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Dewar’s scotch, Jack Daniel’s whiskey, and more.

Pelosi even used Air Force aircraft to travel back to her district of California at an average cost of $28,210.51 per flight.

President Obama's State of the Union Address

Watch a video of President Obama's speech here, regarded by some as the official start of his re-election campaign.

Republican spokespersons Paul Ryan and Michelle Bachmann are quick to respond. Blogger Stephen Green does a running commentary (which he calls "drunkblogging") of the State of the Union.

Meanwhile, in Colorado Springs, CO, columnist Michelle Malkin had the audacity to schedule a personal appearance at the same time Obama's speech was taking place, and also addressed her vision of education in "Cash for Education Clunkers."

Oh, #&*!! A Profanity Map of the USA

Someeecards.com has put together a map that shows where the most cussing goes on in our country.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura Sues TSA/DHS

StarTribune.com has a story about former Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota suing the TSA and Dept. of Homeland Security for the "right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures." His titanium hip implant sets off metal detectors at airports, so he has to be subject to groping rather than a non-invasive hand-held wand.

Think that Being a Member of the Cabinet Will Give You Access to the President? Think Again

Breitbart.tv has a startling video report by Andrea Mitchell and John Heilemann, saying that not less than 6 Cabinet members never got invited to the Oval Office or even received a phone call from President Obama.

Terrorist Attack at Moscow's Busiest Airport

An AP/Yahoo news story describes how a suicide bomber left a path of death and destruction in his wake, killing at least 35 people at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, Russia.

No Arms? No Problem!

Check out this Wimp.com video of a man playing "Drift Away" WITH HIS FEET.

But wait - there's more! Musician Tony Melendez plays and sings "Let It Be" on YouTube.

Here's a video of Chinese musician Liu Wei, who plays the piano with his toes.

Chinese Perform the Equivalent of Giving Obama the Finger - in the White House

Redstate.com columnist Moe Lane commented on an incident that was reported only in the conservative media: acclaimed Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang played a patriotic theme song from an anti-U.S. film, "Battle on Shangganling Mountain," set during the Korean War. Millions of Chinese viewing the performance on television immediately understood what was going on, but the Obama administration apparently didn't have a clue.

UPDATE: Since we welcome intellectual diversity on this blog, read the first (and so far only) comment that one of my readers wrote for a different take.

96-Year-Old Fitness Icon, Jack LaLanne, Dies at Home

The Boston Herald reports that Jack LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia this afternoon in California.

The Boomer to You Web site has this to say about "Mr. After":

"I was born in 1914 when “boomer” meant some jerk who made loud noises. I was a muscle man and fitness guru before anyone thought it was “cool.” All these baby boomer upstarts—Jane Fonda, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan—stand on my biceps. Who do you think invented modern weight machines, television exercise shows, and turned amazing feats of strength into an art form?

"I sold my 200 + health clubs to Bally back in the 1980s. Boomers flocked to them. Most guys would have retired. But, heck, I was only 70 years young. To show the world 70 is the new 20, I swam handcuffed and shackled over a mile while towing 70 boats with 70 people. People said I was poetic but crazy. You bet I am.

"Later, I became an infomercial icon. Is there a baby boomer out there that hasn’t bought one of my juicers yet? It’s not too late. Turn on the television.

"But wait. There’s more. I’ve slowed down a bit, much not much. I work out and swim every day. My incredible public displays may be over...."

MSNBC Kisses Keith Olbermann Goodbye

FOX News reports that MSNBC host Keith Olbermann is ending his "Countdown" show. According to TMZ, his firing is connected with the acquisition of NBC by Comcast, and that to take the sting out of his departure, he will be paid for the remainder of his contract ($7 million/year for 2 years, or a total of $14 million).

UPDATE1: In an effort to embarrass FOX News and make people feel sorry for him, Keith Olbermann, who isn't exactly destitute, was seen in his grubbies outside their studio. (Hat tip: Moonbattery)


UPDATE2: The Hill ran an article reporting how some of Olbermann's supporters are trying to get him to run for the Senate seat to be vacated by Joe Lieberman. Since he used to live in Connecticut, he might be able to re-establish residency - or he may run into the same problem as mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel, who lost another court challenge to his claim to being a Chicago resident.

Let's Hire the South Koreans to Cleanse the High Seas of Pirates!

USA Today reports that South Korean special forces stormed a freighter in the Arabian Sea, rescuing 21 crew members, killing 8 pirates, and capturing 5. This comes as a welcome morale boost to the Koreans, who are still reeling from an unprovoked North Korean attack on one of their islands in November and the sinking of a naval vessel a few months before that.

How Texting and Not Paying Attention Can Make Millions Laugh At You

ABC News ran a story about a YouTube video that went viral [sadly, the link has been removed]: the short but embarrassing scene where a woman in a shopping mall [Cathy Cruz Marrero] falls into a fountain while texting. Not only does she look like a fool, but now she comes across as greedy for filing a $1.5 million lawsuit because the security guards in the immediate area laughed at her instead of offering to help.

The rest of the story: ReadingEagle.com has additional information about Cathy Cruz Marrero, which leads one to wonder whether she staged the accident to get some jackpot justice. Marrero faces charges of theft-by-deception by using a co-worker's credit cards to make over $5,000 in purchases. She may have been embarrassed, but the security guard at the Berkshire Mall (in Wyomissing, near Reading, PA) who leaked the video lost his job.

John Hawkins Will Not Apologize for Using the Word "Crosshairs," and Neither Will We

(Left) T-shirt design with one use of crosshairs that the Left would welcome.

This just in from Right Wing News:
...Just for the record, we here at Right Wing News don't apologize for using the word "crosshairs." Other words we don't apologize for include job killing, kneecapping, firepower, shotgun, cut, campaign, brass knuckles, slaughter, eviscerate, obliterate, fire, snipe, carve, kill, reload, targeting, gut, bombed, terminate, axe, attack, and of course, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious murder-go-round.

We also don't apologize for calling CNN an embarrassing bunch of weenies who should man up, try to develop some testicular fortitude, and stop acting like such a bunch of little girls.

So Much for Civility: Democrat Compares Republicans to Nazis

Apparently Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) never heard of Godwin's Law:

"In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) invoked the Holocaust to attack Republicans on health care and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

“'They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels,' Cohen said. 'You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing....'" (Source: ABC News)

UPDATE1: In a related development, Glenn McCoy has come up with the following cartoon:



Recovering liberal Robin of Berkeley has written another article for American Thinker, "Why the Left Hates Sarah Palin."

UPDATE2: If someone apologizes for making rash remarks, we will give him proper credit, as in this Washington Times article.

35,000 Soldiers Entitled to Back Stop-Loss Pay

A Military.com/UPI article describes how 35,000 Soldiers and 15,000 veterans from other services still haven't filed for the "special pay" they should have received for being involuntarily extended in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Interesting Positions from Unlikely Sources

1. Normally we don't cover the "birther" controversy, but when career leftist Gov. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii says in a WorldNetDaily article that he can't find Obama's birth certificate during his effort to settle the controversy once and for all, we stand up and take notice.

2. AOL's "Politics Daily" reports: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid branded Chinese President Hu Jintao a "dictator" on a local TV talk show on Tuesday night, a remark likely to make the start of Hu's first state visit to Washington, D.C., awkward for President Obama at a moment when the U.S. is trying to ease tensions with the Asian power."

3. President Obama takes on some protective coloration:

President Obama wants America to know he is a pro-business president.

In an op-ed in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, the president promised to sign an executive order to root out “dumb” and “outdated” regulations that “stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.”

“This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth,” Obama writes. “And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It’s a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades.”

Still, he made sure to note that this doesn’t erase the need for new regulations....

The New York Times Blames Bush Again - But That's OK

James Lewis in American Thinker has this juicy tidbit:

It's called "an admission against interest" in legal circles. Example: When the New York Times says something good about George W. Bush. It was George W. Bush's fault, the NYT just confessed, that the Stuxnet computer worm ended up destroying 984 Iranian uranium centrifuges over the last year or so. Bush got the Stuxnet program started in cooperation with Israel and other countries in the last years of his presidency....

Victim of Tucson Shooting Doing Good Beyond the Grave

AZCentral.com reports that Christina-Taylor Green, the youngest person to be killed in the Tucson massacre, became an organ donor, saving the life of an unnamed child on the east coast.

UPDATE: A Yahoo.com/AP article quotes Christina-Taylor Green's father announcing that her corneas have enabled two other children to see.

I Got 10 out of 10 Correct

Glenn Beck's The Blaze asks the rhetorical question, "Are You Smarter Than an Elected Official?" Take the quiz here.

For the fifth-straight year, the ISI surveyed more than 30,000 Americans to test their knowledge of the Constitution. Elected officials who took the test scored on average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent).

Protests Drive Dictator Out of Tunisia!

Beginning of Pajamas Media article:

It started with a young unemployed man with a university degree in computer science setting himself on fire. Twenty-six-year-old Mohammad Bouazizi was one of more than ten million Tunisians suffering under the dictatorship of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. He had ruled the country for 23 years.

In Tunisia, where corruption is rampant, freedom of speech is curtailed, and, most importantly, unemployment is a staggering 13.3%, Bouazizi had little hope. After the food cart that he hauled around to support his family was forcibly removed from the streets by the police, Bouazizi couldn’t take the shame and humiliation anymore. On December 17, in front of the governor’s office in central Tunisia’s Sidi Bouzid province, he drenched himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire.

Even though Bouazizi survived, word of his suicide attempt gripped a nation tired of authoritarian rule....

UPDATE: The LA Times says: "The leadership of this troubled country changed hands for the second time in less than 24 hours Saturday as security forces and ordinary Tunisians struggled to quell mayhem that some have attributed to henchmen loyal to ousted President Zine el Abidine ben Ali. Fouad Mebazaa, president of the lower house of the parliament, was sworn in as chief of state amid fast-moving political developments and chaotic lawlessness that have transformed Tunisia into a symbol of revolution in the Arab world...."

Trunk Monkey - The World's Most Intelligent Automotive Security System

Just learned by word-of-mouth about this series of videos that have gone viral. For a free sample, click on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avOiTUcD4Y

Obama's Tucson Speech Warmly Received by Capacity Audience

Yahoo.com and many other news sources have reported President Obama's speech at the University of Arizona's McKale Memorial Center. We have to admit that it was the best speech he delivered in months, perhaps because he sounded as though he has already started campaigning for a second term. He even saw to it that T-shirts were distributed to the audience. The crowd cheered when he announced that Rep. Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since Saturday, and he made the following statement: "At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do -- it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds." For a video of his speech, click here.

UPDATE: Aaron Goldstein in American Thinker said that the T-shirts were printed by the University of Arizona and observed, "I watched the service on FNC last night and the most objectionable thing about it was the behavior of the audience rather than the behavior of President Obama. The worst example of which was when a segment of the audience jeered Arizona Governor Jan Brewer."

Blood Libel Leads to Death Threats - Against Tea Party Leader

Source: TPM (Talking Points Memo)

Trent Humphries, the leader of the largest tea party group in this mourning southern Arizona city, has nothing but praise for the way President Obama has led the nation through the aftermath of Saturday's mass shooting at a constituent event for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). But Humphries won't be there tonight when Obama speaks at a memorial rally intended to unify Tucson after six people were killed in the tragedy.

Humphries says he's been getting threats at his home from people who seem to hold him and his organization partially responsible for the shootings Saturday....

Happy 60th Birthday, Rush Limbaugh!

Someone must have admired Rush Limbaugh, to take the trouble to make this snow sculpture (SUV provides an excellent size comparison).

One Cartoon to Sum Up the Tucson Massacre

This cartoon came from NewsBusters.org through Facebook. At this point in history the Obama-worshipping media is trying to turn this unfortunate incident into the 2011 version of the Reichstag fire. [click to enlarge]

Sarah Palin sounds presidential in her speech on this topic. (video)

Michelle Malkin illustrates how the Left has nearly cornered the market in hateful propaganda.

Forced to Face the Reality of Mental Illness

In his commentary, "Loughner and How America Treats Its Mentally Ill," Benjamin Kerstein of Pajamas Media squarely confronts the fact that the most shameful thing about mental illness is how our society has been dealing with the problem. The Loughner case has, at least for this news cycle, brought this issue to the forefront. I wrote the following comment:

"Benjamin Kerstein should be commended for having the courage to discuss a sensitive subject that all too many Americans are ashamed or afraid to talk about. Being conservative does not automatically make one callous to the plight of the mentally ill – I have had a keen interest in mental health for over 40 years. Our fury should be reserved to our education system and the mass media, which have done a poor job of educating the public, and so many live in fear and ignorance. The Lord has commanded us to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than ourselves, or face the judgments of God! I believe in lending a hand up, not a handout, so I constantly preach independence and interdependence, working to the best of one’s capacity, self-empowerment, and continuous education as parts of the solution."

Signs of the Last Days (Cont.)

Strange shrine in Jared Loughner's yard (Source: NY Daily News)

Westboro "Baptist Church" to send protesters to funerals of Tucson massacre victims. From Glenn Beck's The Blaze.

When you apply for a passport, you will fill in the names of "Parent #1" and "Parent #2" instead of "mother" and "father." From Pajamas Media.

A male model admitted to killing and castrating gay journalist Carlos Castro, according to this New York Daily News article.

The Saudi Arabian government reports that a vulture they captured was spying for Israel's Mossad, according to this Orange News article.

Dutch schoolteacher discovers a mysterious green blob in outer space which is giving birth to new stars. It is called Hanny's Voorwerp (HAN'-nee's-FOR'-vehrp). Voorwerp is Dutch for object. This is one unusual story that's not as strange as the others. Source: CBS News.

UPDATE1: An American Thinker article reports that the alleged "spy bird" has been released. The equipment found on the buzzard is sometimes used to track rare migratory birds. Meanwhile, on "Hardball," Mark Penn, former political strategist for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, offers the opinion that Obama needs an event similar to the Oklahoma City bombing to "reconnect" with voters (YouTube video).

UPDATE2: We are heartened to read this FOX News article about Arizonans organizing a counter-protest to foil the Westboro "Baptist Church." Gov. Jan Brewer has just signed a bill, effective immediately, banning protests within 300 feet of a funeral.

Join the Cloud Voluntarily, or We Will Assimilate You!

Andrew Thomas in American Thinker has this food for thought:

Now Microsoft and other companies such as EMC and CA Technologies are touting "The Cloud" as a breakthrough that will change our lives forever (whether we like it or not). Desktop computers are obsolete. Internal data storage will no longer be needed, as all of your personal information will be accessed through a sea of hundreds of thousands of remote servers using a handheld iPad or iPhone. Data can be instantly assembled from multiple sources to develop a research project or a profile of you as an individual. How could anything go wrong?

Six Killed, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Critically Wounded in Tucson

FOX News and all other news networks have been covering the breaking story of the alleged assassin [Jared Loughner] who murdered Judge John M. Roll and at least four others at a Safeway store in Tucson, AZ. Rep. Giffords was shot in the head and is still fighting for her life. Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, rushed to Arizona to be at his wife's side.

UPDATE1: Jack Cashill in American Thinker echoes what many conservative blogs and news sites have been expressing, that this mass shooting will be used as a club to beat the Tea Party with, regardless of the facts in this case. Meanwhile, the search continues for a second suspect who may have served as an accomplice to the shooter.

UPDATE2: Erick Erickson of Redstate.com comments on the politicization of this mass shooting.

UPDATE3: The Associated Press reports that the "person of interest" is no longer considered a suspect in the assassination attempt on Rep. Giffords. He is a taxi driver who just happened to take Loughner to the shopping center and knew nothing of his intentions once he got there. Breitbart's Big Government reveals yet another instance where Democrats are anxious not to let this crisis go to waste by blaming the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, etc.

Manitou Springs Fruitcake Toss 2011

What better way is there to ring in the new year than to get rid of excess baggage from the old? This year's Fruitcake Toss was held at Manitou Springs High School in Colorado and featured competitions between catapults and pneumatic cannons (one of which fired a fruitcake over 1000 feet!).

He's Used to Being a Champion, Now He Wants to Be a "Loser"

Olympic medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner, according to this Colorado Springs Gazette story, is determined to slim down from his current 480 pounds, even if it takes being a contestant on "The Biggest Loser." A year ago his sister, a cardiologist, told him that all he could look forward to was a future with diabetes and congestive heart failure if he didn't lose weight.

A Wonderful Set of Constitutional Amendments

The "Congressional Reform Act" was forwarded to me by Harry Becker in Florida, but instead of e-mailing this excellent list to other friends, I will post it on the blog, where it will hopefully be read by more than 20 people. Readers, it's entirely up to you to share this wisdom. The version in this blog post has appeared on the "Arizona Tea Party Network" and other blogs & Web sites.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. Term Limits. 12 years only, maximum. One of the possible options below.

A. Two Six-year Senate terms

B. Six Two-year House terms

OR: One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

Any & all funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase a retirement plan, just as other Americans do.

5. Congress will repeal its automatic pay raises and no longer vote themselves pay raises. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3% after a five-year moratorium on pay increases. Any future pay raises shall be voted on in a nationwide referendum, with 60% of votes cast needed for passage.

6. Congress will eliminate its current health care system and participate in the same free market health care system as the American people do.

7. Congress must be equally subject to all laws they impose on the American people. Congress must repeal current exemptions for itself as a body and for individual Congressmen, and enact no further exemptions in future laws.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are null and void effective January 1, 2011. The American people did not make these contracts with the Senators and Congressmen. Our legislators made all of these contracts by and for themselves. This practice violates the principle of "government of the people, by the people, for the people."

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, ours should serve their term(so) honorably, go home and back to work living under the laws you passed like everyone else.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. It is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Instant Psychoanalysis, from Rep. Steny Hoyer

Picture of sour grapes (left)

Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who had just been demoted from House Majority Leader to House Minority Whip, has these choice words for Tea Party supporters, according to Allahpundit of Hot Air:

"There are a whole lot of people in the Tea Party that I see in these polls who don’t want any compromise. My presumption is they have unhappy families. All of you have been in families: single-parent, two-parents, whatever. Multiple parent and a stepfather. The fact is life is about trying to reach accommodation with one another so we can move forward. That is certainly what democracy is about. So if we are going to move forward compromise is necessary."

O Happy Day!

Maintenance workers removing sign from Rep. Nancy Pelosi's former office. Source: Drudge Report, 5 January 2011

The Butterfly Effect

Van Helsing of Right Wing News relates the story of how Weston developer Roy Rogers has been milking the Broward School District in Florida for building butterfly gardens, while teachers were being laid off. Worse yet, these gardens were not even lasting improvements, but quickly went to seed.

China Also Working on Fifth-Generation (Stealth) Fighter

Air Power Australia has an article about the Chengdu J-XX [J-20] stealth fighter prototype which the People's Liberation Army Air Force says will be put into production in 6 to 8 years. The author claims that it has design features that are superior to the F/A-18, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and the Russian/Indian T-50 PAK-FA. Comparable in size to an F-111, it has a range of 1000 nautical miles. We cannot confirm any claims unless our aviation experts obtain one of these fighter aircraft for study.


Flightglobal.com takes a more skeptical view of this prototype, and the author wonders out loud whether the Chinese aircraft industry is ready to produce a competitive stealth fighter or fighter-bomber. They have been able to reverse-engineer and produce parts for the Flanker Bs and Flanker Gs the Russians sold to them.

Letter to Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC

Finally got the author's permission to run this letter, which was written just before Christmas:

Hi Lawrence,

I was watching your show a few minutes ago and I thought it was really cool to see you describe the situation in Malawi.

I went to Haiti 30 years ago and the place is worse off now than ever.

So I was riveted to the screen thinking to myself, “Wow, that is just so awesome!”

Then it happened…

I cringed to hear it, I could not believe I heard it, and I was so let down that I really did hear it.

You said something about the big Christmas gift to the upper tax bracket from Congress.

I was crushed…

You played the class warfare card. Was that really necessary?

Now I am reminded why I never watch MSNBC.

I thought about it for a few minutes and decided to come type this letter.

My birthday started 57 minutes ago, it is now 12:57am on December 24th.

And what am I doing? Writing a letter to you.

I am not rich. I am unemployed. I am broke. I am a skilled Computer Doctor.

It does not matter, I am crushed to hear you play the class warfare card.

The very people that pay more money than anybody else in the nation, and you show disrespect.

I have never been employed by a poor person.

I only get hired by wealthy people, not poor people.

Seeing you in that nice suit, I can only believe you are a rich person.

You get to travel to Africa, buy desks, and speak on a show.

Why do you disrespect your fellow man because he makes more than you do?

On Christmas Eve no less?

You killed the buzz of your show by that one sentence.

Now you can try to woo this customer back, but it will cost more than if the customer service was good in the first place.

Maybe you will think I shouldn’t be your customer.

That’s fine.

You have lots of competition and I have many choices.

I simply wanted you to understand what killed my buzz of your show.

Maybe you won’t understand.

That’s fine too.

I also want you to know that I find it commendable to get those desks for the kids.

Good job…just keep the class warfare off the show. That was a real buzz kill.

It is now 1:20am and I have given you a half hour of my birthday.


I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,



John Mattacola

Sioux Falls, SD

"Septic Tank Economics"

This article from American Thinker combines three of our favorite subjects: toilet lore, politics, and economics:

Fiat currencies are like particles floating up and down in a septic tank. At times one currency floats higher than another. Comparing currencies against one another is a relative and not an absolute game. You really don't know whether one has strengthened or the other has weakened.

The reality is that regardless of which particle has floated higher or lower, everyone knows what is in a septic tank. That is the proper way to look at fiat currencies (and also handle them)....

Why We Avoid Making Forecasts

This is from the FOX News article, "Eight Botched Environmental Forecasts":

1. Within a few years "children just aren't going to know what snow is." Snowfall will be "a very rare and exciting event." Dr. David Viner, senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia [the same university implicated in Climategate], interviewed by the UK Independent, March 20, 2000.

2. "[By] 1995, the greenhouse effect would be desolating the heartlands of North America and Eurasia with horrific drought, causing crop failures and food riots…[By 1996] The Platte River of Nebraska would be dry, while a continent-wide black blizzard of prairie topsoil will stop traffic on interstates, strip paint from houses and shut down computers." Michael Oppenheimer, published in "Dead Heat," St. Martin's Press, 1990.

3. "Arctic specialist Bernt Balchen says a general warming trend over the North Pole is melting the polar ice cap and may produce an ice-free Arctic Ocean by the year 2000." Christian Science Monitor, June 8, 1972.

4. "Using computer models, researchers concluded that global warming would raise average annual temperatures nationwide two degrees by 2010." Associated Press, May 15, 1989.

5. "By 1985, air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half." Life magazine, January 1970.

6. "If present trends continue, the world will be ... eleven degrees colder by the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us in an ice age." Kenneth E.F. Watt, in "Earth Day," 1970.

7. "By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people ... If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000." Ehrlich, Speech at British Institute For Biology, September 1971.

8. "In ten years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish." Ehrlich, speech during Earth Day, 1970

Year to date statistics on Airport pat-down screening from the TSA

Courtesy of bikernet.com:

Terrorist Plots Discovered 0
Transvestites 133
Hernias 1,485
Hemorrhoid Cases 3,172
Incontinence 6,418
Enlarged Prostates 8,249
Breast Implants 59,350
Natural Blondes 3

–from Robin Hartfiel

New Jersey Bystanders Lift Car, Save Bicyclist

Here's a heart-warming story from PressofAtlanticCity.com about how a bicycle rider from Mays Landing, NJ (near Atlantic City) trapped under an automobile was rescued when alert bystanders stopped the car and lifted it up, saving his life.

Comic Relief

NewsBusters has a video and transcript between MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Alex Pareene of Salon magazine, who offers the wonderful explanation that George W. Bush's book has sold two million copies to date because "...the fact that he was hated by so many people actually helped fuel his book sales because people wanted to hear him actually justify himself and explain some of his decisions that he made."

Washington Post blogger and left-wing Journo-List founder Ezra Klein made a curious admission on MSNBC: He said the Constitution has no binding power on anything, and that the text is difficult to understand because it's over 100 years old!

And now, a word from a FOAF (friend of a friend), Charles Guatney in Georgia [spelling has been Americanized]:

A Georgia minute--a current example of what passes for intellectual discourse in today's higher education loony bins of the left
By Charles Guatney

Sometimes I should not get up too early.

Just when I think it is safe to start thinking about progress, educational and otherwise, some loon-of-the-left leaves campus without her medication, unattended, and offers her thoughts, filtered through the distorted lenses of the progressive left, about current events … and the illusion of progress and tranquility is destroyed.

In this sterling case of academic emotional dysfunction, the good lady professor says Michael Vick is somehow a payback for Bull Connor. And you, the reader/viewer, are paralyzed and left with a feeling of somehow having been violated. You are temporarily immobilized. You feel the walls are getting closer. Discordant noises surround you. YOU are in the twilight zone.

Provided for proof and your perusal is not only the video but also the text of this unbelievable example of what passes for reasoned debate in higher education … review this information before it is pulled.

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/jack-coleman/2010/12/30/maddow-guest-harris-perry-michael-vicks-abuse-dogs-payback-bull-connor

If this example typifies current leftist thought in the US, there is no way to reverse the slide into the swamp of collectivism … or score any points in favor of a rational way of thinking.

The left is truly deranged.

Charles in Georgia, before breakfast.
•••

One useful reference is The Liberal Mind, The Psychological Causes of Political Madness, by Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M. D.