Unconscionable

When Barack Obama took his oath of office as President, he swore to protect the American people “from all enemies both foreign and domestic.”  So, once more our Mr. Wimple has wimped out of this primary pledge for clearly political reasons.  He has allowed (probably encouraged) his former head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano to release tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who also are criminals of another sort back into our society to commit their crimes of choice once more. See: A Sad Breitbart Story 

His “so there” attitude (I can think of a stronger term) is meant to both display his autocratic mien and punish those who won’t support his push for illegal-alien amnesty.  I think that this heinous act on his part constitutes an unconscionable abandonment of his sacred oath of office. He is clearly not now protecting us from our domestic enemies. I only wish that Americans could be made to appreciate this indictment.

As people who can tie their shoes can clearly see, if the Obama administration won’t enforce existing statues and deport 68,000 foreign criminals, how could we possibly depend upon it to uphold any other immigration reforms … particularly those that that villainous Cheshire cat, Chuck Schumer, is trying to peddle with all of his amnesty hand-wringing?

reddit Gallery CXLVII

Another excursion into the world of  reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Painted Lady

Chimney Moon

Mercury

Curious

Grand Canyon Strike

Fart Tax

Methane Sources

Will the religious zeal to counter global warming have no limit? Now the Obama administration wants to stop cows from emitting methane gas via belching and flatulence … see: Daily Caller Story. The methane gas produced by bovines as they digest their plant foods is a “green-house gas” and is 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in its warming effect. Of course other plant eaters (elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, termites, old men, etc.) also produce copious quantities of methane gas … but somehow may escape this intrusion of big government.

The cited article doesn’t specifically say how the government is going to get cows to stop emitting methane … but, living under these bozos for over five years, I have a pretty good idea of what they have in mind. No, it isn’t feeding them massive amounts of Gas-X … or hooking up their south ends to gas-capturing devices. I’m pretty sure that our heavy hand of government will impose a levy on farm animals. Yes, PETA and the vegetarian lobby in Washington will, if they have their way, go in the back door (so to speak) to reduce the American consumption of meat and dairy products. This will make it more expensive to so consume and therefore, as per Economics 101, curb this disgusting habit … and at the same time save our planet … a win-win.

Yes, dear readers brace yourselves … its coming … a fart tax?

Who’s the Liar?

President Obama and Pope Francis met at the Vatican yesterday. Not surprisingly, each of their accounts of what transpired in the private portion of this confab differ … see: Washington Times Story. 

Personally I believe that Obama told the Pope that if he liked his God, he could keep his God ...

reddit Gallery CXLVI -- History

Another excursion into the world of  reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Iron Horse

D-Day

New York City Tour Buses

Grand Canyon Viewing

Old Water Mill

Gaffe-a-rama

Gaffs

It seems that not only is our fearless leader not well versed in U.S. foreign policy, but his close advisers (the ones who fill his Teleprompter with lots of “let me be clear”s and “you folks”s) are also clueless.  President Obama’s bull-in-a-china shop approach to delicate diplomacy once again displays his naive misunderstanding of recent European history. On his current G7 sojourn, besides his two bone-head boners that I have already pointed out (see: Unfiltered), he has made two other major public gaffes that will force our State Department into explaining away the inexplicable.

Firstly he said that Georgia was not on a path toward NATO membership when it indeed has been petitioning for such protection since 2008. And secondly, our child-President indicated that Kosovo had held a public referendum to break away from Serbia under the aegis of the U.N. … not even close to being true.  For the details of these two additional gaffes see: Breitbart Story.

And these are just his public miscues, God knows how many more he has made in private? I wonder if yesterday he sotto voce told the Pope that he would like to meet his wife?

A Photo Negative

Seigfried Osgood, Senior Editor for White Magazine, Reader’s Disgust became the latest conservative attacker on white [D]emocrats through the social medium Twitter by calling DNC Debbie Smarmy a “Black Dude” and talking down to her as if [she] were beneath him. I didn’t know that Reader’s Disgust tolerated this racist tone from their management team. As you will see in the exchange below, Osgood throws out the racist language to shut down the conversation. Contact Reader’s Disgust offices and let them know you would expect more from their management staff. (212) 555-1234.

Smarmy is the Deputy Press Secretary for the Democrat National Committee and takes her job seriously.  Here is a little of the Twitter back and forth:

Siegfried Osgood – I 100% don’t want to know more. I wish I knew less!

Debbie Smarmy – wish you knew less? Hoped you would encourage diversity of thought.

Siegfried Osgood – Oh great, Here comes a Black dude telling me how to do this White thing. Pass.

Debbie Smarmy – Who are you referring to as black?  Reid and Pilosi are white.

Siegfried Osgood – YOU. Now leave I have no interest in this conversation.

Debbie Smarmy – You are questioning someone’s whiteness. I do not fit your stereotypes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you haven’t figured it out by now, the above is a satire on what an Ebony magazine's black editor, Jamilah Lemieux, tweeted out to Raffi Williams, the RNC’s black Deputy Press Secretary … only black is now white, white is black, and most names have been changed to protect the innocent. Virtually everything in the above is the photo negative of what was said in the following article ... see: News Ninja Write-up.

Juxtaposition L

More holes in the "Affordable Care Act" than Emmenthaler cheese ... see: Another Obamacare Delay.

Unfiltered

War Drums

One must pause to consider seriously what might transpire if Russia decides to go beyond even the Ukraine and invade a member of NATO … such as the Czech Republic, Poland, or perhaps Estonia.  The United States and the rest of the European NATO members (see: NATO Membership) are obliged by Article 5 of the NATO Alliance Treaty to respond in kind … see: NATO Article 5.  The question is would they or we? 

The combined standing European troops of the NATO countries number some five million … and including the United States, over six million.  This would be pitted against a well-trained, well equipped and brutal Russian Army of some 1.5 million.  Of course there is a major difference … these European NATO troops are composed of numerous social and gender experiments ill-equipped and ill-trained to shed blood for any cause let alone a serious tangle with the Russian bear … particularly if such a tussle is over a former SSR.

We have seen the reluctance of even the Ukrainian troops to respond to the recent Russian belligerency in the Crimea. Therefore I am just a bit dubious as to how these same Ukrainian troops might react to a full-scale Russian invasion of Western Ukraine.  And this zeitgeist may well be duplicated in other Eastern European countries which in fact are NATO members ... but which are not that far removed in time from the subservience they were forced to experience under the Soviet Union’s domination.  I hope I am wrong if such a situation transpires, but somehow I would not stake a lot of credence in the stalwartiness of such forces opposing such a Russian invasion.

Of course, I also do not have a lot of faith that President Barack “Another Red Line” Obama would also not go wobbly in such a situation. Let us not forget that, during the height of the Cold War, America’s major deterrent was atomic weaponry which we forswore to use to counteract a much more massive Soviet army if they were to invade Western Europe.  I am reasonably certain that this “mutually assured destruction” option is no longer an arrow in Obama’s quiver. If it were, I think he might have brought it up by now.

The consequences of a Russian invasion of one or more NATO members which were former SSRs and an inconsequential NATO response would not only begin to reassemble the Soviet Union …  it would also effectively kill NATO. This would be a disastrous legacy for Obama … not that I think he would take such a failing too much to heart.

This then is a dangerous game of chicken that Russian President Putin seems to be contemplating. But, if he is using his Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton/John Kerry interactions over the last five years as his measure of the resoluteness of the United States, I am afraid we may be in for some very bad times.

reddit Gallery CXLV

Another excursion into the world of  reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

A Shephard

Ammolite

Green Goblin

Bigar Falls, Romania

Imperial British State Crown

High Flyers

You might be curious as to why the stock market is taking a hit today .... particularly among the high flyers. My best guess: it is because there are 16 initial public offerings (IPOs) coming out this week and I think this selling among the high-beta stocks (Tesla, Facebook, etc.) is nothing more than the raising of capital to buy into these new stock offerings.  If these new IPOs start off with a bang ... which most suspect ... then this will do nothing more than inflate the total capital base of the U.S. stock market.

Unless of course, Russia invades the Ukraine and/or other former SSRs.

Pantomime

A cub reporter in Arizona recently spilled the beans … relating a off-the-record comment from that common streetwalker and White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, that his daily press briefing is virtually rehearsed … questions being submitted ahead of time and answers returned in writing for the reporters convenience … see: Weekly Standard Story.  After a salvo of arm-waving denials, this poor reporter was given a variety of tasty condiments in order to eat her words … which she promptly did.

Now Sharyl Attkisson, that courageous veteran CBS reporter, who just resigned for being continuously squelched by her network, has verified at least parts of this original revelation … see: Breitbart Story.  Reporters do, from time to time, engage in this kind of pantomime with Jay Carney … making them little more than stenographers (Rush Limbaugh’s term) for the administration’s message.

This all goes to show how closely this and other administrations understandably try to manage the news.  However, what seems to be different today is how milk-toasty the media reporters now appear to be.  Think back to George Bush’s press briefings … was David Gregory reluctant to go after a story hammer and tongs?  Much as I dislike David Gregory’s politics, he was then a good reporter … and was doing his job. Now, reporters who attempt equivalent vigor are either denied access to the White House or are squelched by their bosses … witness Ms. Attkisson.

Perhaps the American public would realize what a farce these daily White House press briefings were if Jay Carney was in white-face and pretended to be blocked by an imaginary piece of glass?

Black Magic

John Hinderaker (my favorite) of the Powerline blog  has taken the time to document the many deficiencies of the climate modelers. If you have drunk the global-warming Kool Aid please take the time to read his thoughtful piece: Why the Alarmists' Climate Models Are Worthless.

Embarrassed and worried that all their lush funding and accolades will disappear, we now are told, "OK," say these chicken-little scientists, "we've had 15 years of no global warming ... the 'hiatus' if you will ... so there is some other variable that is countering the effect of increased CO2 ... and when this variable goes away or reverses, boy are we really going to be in for it!" See: Wunderground Article

This is the new global warming ruse. Fortunately, it is easily countered with this simple logic -- If we don't know what this unknown variable is, why wasn't it the culprit that was causing "global warming" to begin with ... and it has already disappeared causing the hiatus?

So now, dear reader, we see how easily we have slipped ... in this debate about "climate change" ... from true science into a  form of occult black magic.

An Expensive Equalizer

Something I already suspected (see: Michelle Ma Belle) was just confirmed in a UK Telegraph article … Michelle Obama’s lavish trip to China this week was a convenient ... if somewhat self-serving way to make amends for her snubbing the Chinese First Lady, Mrs. Ping, last year in California … see: UK Telegraph Article.

To quote from this article:

[This trip] was a slightly stiff apology for the snub last year when Mrs. Obama failed to show up for a meeting at Sunnylands, California, between [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, Mrs. Peng and her husband.

Although, our First Lady thankfully seems to be winning Chinese friends on this junket, her host country is still a little aghast at the extravagance expended therein by we Americans … the Obama family is staying in a $8,400 per night suite in a luxury Chinese hotel … see: Yahoo Story.

Apparently the price of penance runs high.

Afterward: see also: Daily Mail Story.

reddit Gallery CXLIV

Another excursion into the world of  reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Spokeless Bicycle

'shrooms

Old British Class Divide

Skull and Spring Snowdrops

Pi in the Sky

A House Divided

There are more than a few political commentators who are mewing that, since the majority of Crimeans (but not the 96% as the recent voting indicated) believe that this part of Ukraine should be reunited with Russia, who are we or others to object? Interesting point … but then one must also ask why were not the Confederate States allowed to secede from the United States back in the early 1860’s? Why cannot all or part of Montreal split from Canada whenever it chooses? If Scotland soon votes to depart the United Kingdom should this be opposed or even penalized in some way?  Venice, from Italy?

As long as we are exploring the notion of national self-determination, why cannot Chechnya or other predominately Muslim republics secede unopposed from the Russian Federation? Isn’t what is good for the sow bear also good for the boar bear?  Why are not Tibet or other western Chinese provinces allowed to go their own way independent of Bejing’s tight control?

And how about the real poser … what if large portions of the American southwest, including California, now that they are predominately Hispanic, vote to rejoin Mexico?  Should this be permitted … or even encouraged? One could argue that this might significantly shift the United States’political balance rightward … and also relieve much fiscal stress on other neighboring American states.

President Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided cannot stand.” But as that other U.S. President, slick Willy Clinton, might have added, “It all depends on what your definition of ‘house’ is.”

Kiss Ass

Kobe Bryant claims that President Obama could play basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers … see: National Review Story. Really? Apparently Kobe doesn’t recall b-baller Barack throwing up 20 bricks out of 22 tries at a photo-op at the White House about a year ago … see: YouTube Video. And as we have recently seen, Obama can't play defense worth a lick. Perhaps Mr. Bryant is thinking about starting a “green” company of some flavor (with a few hundred million dollars of our government’s crony capital of course) ... since his career is clearly now  in the toilet?

Actually, considering how badly the Lakers are playing, Obama could possibly be used as a substitute equipment go-fer ... as long as he didn't have any real responsibilities..

reddit Gallery CXLIII

Another excursion into the world of  reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Mother's Love

Spanish Fallan Festival

1938 Phantom Corsair

Australian Crocodile

Shanghai -- 1987 vs. 2013

China Blossom

President Obama’s peripatetic wife, Michelle Obama, is off on a seven day cultural-exchange trip to China with her two children and mother … see: New York Times Story. This is just a few short days after returning from a long-weekend family vacation in Key Largo, Florida (this time with Barack) and two months after an extended five weeks of sun and fun in Hawaii … two weeks of it by her lonesome.

This is, of course, is just another plutocratic expense that these many family junkets are costing the American taxpayer. But then she did just suffer through the trauma of losing the White House pastry chef … who refused to omit butter, sugar, milk and flour from his postprandial creations. So a few extra million federal dollars is clearly justifiable solace.

I think that, rather than report when our First Lady is gone from the White House, it would be a lot simpler if our national media just told us when, on those rare occasion, she was so ensconced.

Afterward: Its been pointed out that I forgot that Michelle, et alia spent the long  Presidents' Day weekend on the slopes in Aspen.  Oops, it does seem like almost two months in Washington between Hawaii and Key Largo was too large a burden for our ever-entitled First Lady to endure.

The World Map

I've just coined a new word, "neo-iso." Neo-iso stands for neo-isolationism (or ist) … apparently this is the Obama administration’s new and evolving foreign policy.  Ever since he drew and then erased the red line in Syria, President Obama has become less interested in insinuating the United States into foreign adventures. This inward-turning policy toward world conflicts could perhaps reflect our country’s legacy distaste for our role in resolving international disputes. But I am somewhat doubtful that, in the majority, the American people have become dyed-in-the-wool neo-isos.

Clearly President Obama’s previous more belligerent stances in Afghanistan and Libya may have been … as former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates suggested in his recent book … merely for political purposes.  But realizing that these blunted excursions onto the world’s battlefields brought him little leadership purchase or respect from those world political A-listers whose adoration he craves, I believe that our "leader of the free world" has now opted for the new pre-qualifier -- “former.”

Into this vacuum created by this floundering disinterest on the United States’ part has stepped the wanna-be despots of the world … Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.  They see their opportunity and are seizing it … and we have, I am afraid, just begun to see the mischief that they can create for the free-world. This expansionist muscle-flexing on their parts is likely to last for decades.

If free Europe and Japan do not step up to counter this power eschewing on the United States’ part, I’m afraid that the map of the world may need considerable revisions before our fearless leader leaves office in 2017.  Then, the rebuilding of American hegemony will not occur overnight … if our next President can accomplish it  … or even if he/she so chooses.

For the strategic high ground, once surrendered, is very costly to retake. And it is very doubtful whether China or others would front us the funds for such an effort ... or, if not, whether our welfare state could be pared back enough in order to pay for our return to a position of military dominance.

Yes, Obama has clearly fulfilled his campaign promise “to fundamentally change America.”  However, I believe that our voters might have been better off to have asked for a few more specifics.

St. Patrick's Day

This post was originally placed on this blog site seven years ago.  However, it originally appeared even earlier on my Purple Prose blog site. It really is about St.Patrick's day here in Massachusetts and how this day is honored. Enjoy (and please don;t take the slightest offense as none is intended.)  Have a happy day!

Evacuation Day

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts they celebrate one obscure holiday which is conveniently concurrent with St. Patrick’s Day. It is called “Evacuation Day.” On this day, the state government closes down ... allowing its many pols and solons to gather at their favorite watering holes to celebrate the banishing of snakes from the ole sod. Once there, they donate a parcel of liquor taxes back to the treasury from which they draw their sustenance. Incidentally, the reason Massachusetts is called a “commonwealth” is that the Pilgrims believed “from each according to his ability and to each according to his need” ... a tradition that lives on in this state unto this day.

Evacuation Day was named to honor the purging that supposedly saved the life of Paul Revere’s mother when she had come down with the croup the night before her son’s famous ride. Her doctor, Elias DeBakey, gave her a double dose of ipecac and prune juice. Then he bled her with leaches; sweated her in a log-cabin sauna; gave her a soapy water enema; and finally, had her down a triple dose of bromide expectorant. She was “evacuated” so completely that she dropped nearly a third of her body weight. But, despite all this bad medicine, she survived ... and the people of the Bay State chose to honor this miracle by declaring this day an annual holiday.

The Irish, when they are not blowing each other up, spend a good deal of their time writing blue-ribbon prose; and, as already noted, have an affinity for amber liquids. On Evacuation Day this tropism becomes an obsession. Brass-railed bars with names like “Galway Bay” and “Glacamora” fill with corpulent-visaged Celts downing tuns of Harp lager and Guinness stout. And, at the tables, sit hoards of green-tie trenchermen devouring nitrided corned beef, bilious cabbage, boiled Bliss potatoes, and Irish soda bread. In the more radical of these establishments, Erse is spoken to cover the intrigues and cabals being planned, abetted by the bravado of booze.

These Sons of Erin, having sated and slaked themselves, finish the day with some sort of melee. On this day, a bloody nose or a broken tooth is a badge of honor. But the belligerents know it’s time to go home when they start seeing leprechauns prancing among the pots of shamrocks on the bar top. Then, after everyone has left, the leprechauns really do emerge, belt down the bar spitsies ... and, invariably, start their own brouhaha. But when in turn, these elves start seeing even littler people hidden among the mosses and detritus of the clover pots, even the leprechauns call it a day.

reddit Gallery CXLII

Another excursion into the world of  reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

1895 Train Wreck

A Leaf

Belfast Pub

Amsterdam Hotel

Italian Morning

Barack’s Brackets

With all the unnerving turmoil in the world … the Crimea, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, Flight 370, etc. … it is comforting to know that our President Obama has not forgotten his job one ... his picks for the Sweet 16 brackets in the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament … see: Breitbart Sports Story.  Leaders of the free world must feel assured that the hegemony of the United States remains intact and that neighboring despots will not overrun them anytime soon … at least not before the Final Four.

Under President Obama leadership … from behind … the United States has gone from being the world’s policeman to the world’s climate carper.  Good job Barack ol’ buddy!  ... but won’t you be sorry when China annexes Hawaii? But, then again, maybe not ...

When They Were Young #6

The following early-life pictures come to you courtesy of reddit/Pics. Enjoy!

Jim Henson and George Lucas

, Weird Al Yankovich

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro

Larry David

Telly Savalas