Fletcher's Castoria

Thursday, October 17, 2013

reddit Gallery XLIV

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

Saturn

Magnified Snow Flake

Abandoned Observatory

Antelopes

New Mexico Sunset

That it is paid to report. Here is a very disturbing story about how far some “news” outlets are in the satchel for a few pieces of silver. Apparently, according to one of its Emmy-winning former investigative reporters, Amber Lyon, the cable channel CNN accepts money from the U.S. and foreign governments to include or exclude information in their “news” stories. To see the details of this how deep this fourth-estate corruption goes, please read: Red Flag News.

Unlike this story, I do not accuse the Obama administration as the exclusive corrupter of the media. As I recall, George W. Bush’s press people also engaged in such malfeasance. What can be drawn from this revolting revelation? I think someone once rightly said, “Don’t believe anything you read and only half of what you see.” Perhaps this shibboleth can now be updated to say, "Don't believe anything you see and only half of what you personally experience."

reddit Gallery XLIII

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

Neuschwanstein Castle

At McSorley's Old Ale House

Labradorite

Forest in British Columbia

Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs

Rotting from Within

Government is inherently corrupt. The fact that anything gets done ostensibly to benefit the governed that also doesn’t diminish individual freedom and line the pockets of those governing is most often just an oversight. Our founding fathers knew this and did their level best to construct a mechanism of governance which would minimize this genetic flaw … at the expense of substantial legislative, executive and judicial efficiency.

However, almost 240 years later, the devilishly devious minds of our elected snollygosters have managed to circumvent most of these Constitutional barriers … the latest being the legislation that became law last night in Washington. From Politico we read about the law that broke our latest fiscal impasses:

The legislation also includes a McConnell-written proposal that would allow Congress to disapprove of the debt-ceiling increase. Lawmakers will formally vote on rejecting the bump of the borrowing limit - if it passed, it could be vetoed by Obama.

The deal would also deliver back pay to furloughed federal workers, require a study of income verification for people seeking health-insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and also allows the Treasury Department to use extraordinary measures to pay the nation’s bills if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling in a timely fashion.

Other than a little window dressing that means nothing to our power-lusting President, this is a rollover. Basically, the power of the purse, as granted to the legislature in the Constitution, has been greatly usurped by corrupt politicians of both stripes in Washington ... much of this prerogative is now the President's ... a very dangerous thing. For what? So that many in Congress might get a puff-piece in the New York Times or help insure their re-election … read and weep: The Conversation.

Oh yes, and Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, also gets a $3 billion piece of pork for his state, Kentucky … see: The WFPL News. I suspect there are surely some other bits of bacon also included in this legislative travesty.

QED

Afterward: I was right about the additional bacon, see: The Hill Story.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

reddit Gallery XLII

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

Bush Viper

Dining Car

Pure Solitude

Raw Titanium

South African Sunset

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Difference

Delta -- the Mathematical Symbol for Difference

Because of the tremendous polarity that is now prevalent in Washington, I’ve lately got to thinking about what are the fundamental differences between Democrats and Republicans … some are quite obvious and some are a little less blatant. Here are my assessments:

Republicans Democrats

Guided by their heads Guided by their hearts

Put their country first Put their party first

Clustered in the heartland Clustered on both coasts

Are for less regulation Are for more regulation

Male dominated Female dominated

Driven by policy Driven by politics

Support Israel Support the Arab world

Wish a strong military (hawks) Wish a weak military (doves)

Want less social welfare Want more social welfare

Anti-federalists Federalists

Driven by morality Driven by mammon

Realistic foreign policy Naive foreign policy

Regulate for less taxes Regulate for more taxes

Pro life Pro abortion

Listen to talk radio Listed to network news

Very much non-ethnic Very much ethnic

Are mostly conservative Are mostly liberal

More humble More hubristic

Effective administrators Sloppy administrators

Middle class Upper and lower class

Respect religion Disrespect religion

Patriotic Often unpatriotic

More passive More active

Believe in the Constitution Suspect the Constitution
Don't use Botox/plastic surgery Use Botox/plastic surgery

And so kind reader, if you want to decide with which party you should identify, print out this list and put a check mark next to your prime tenets. Then count up the marks and see in what party you may really belong.

reddit Gallery XLI

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

Beautiful Tree

On its Way to Outer Space

Rice Paddies

World's Largest Ship

Flying Fox

A Good Read

Click on to enlarge to the full op-ed. For more about this very sensible thinker, Thomas Sowell, see his CV at: Wikipedia. Entry. (And if you believe the latest polls on the shutdown and debt ceiling extension, you need to fathom how desperately the liberal press is trying to hold onto its sinecure ... see: Breitbart Story)

Thursday, October 10, 2013

reddit Gallery XL

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

Blue Lionfish

Horseshoe River Bend

Rainbow Mineral

Rim Fire

NC State

reddit Gallery XXXIX

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

Aesop Trio

Machu Picchu

Texas Oak Trees

1938 Phantom Corsair

Pineapple Farm

Our National Debt

Here is a picture of $40 million in brand new $100 bills. A billion dollars would occupy a space 25 times as large. A trillion dollars would be 25,000 times as large. Our current national debt, at $17 trillion dollars, would be approximately 425,000 times as large. Assuming that this block of money is one square yard (it appears slightly larger to me), our national debt in $100 bills would take up 425,000 cubic yards ... or almost 11.5 million cubic feet.

This volume is then roughly equal to the displacement of about eleven Washington Monuments (if this national tourist mecca is ever reopened by the powers that spent this money to begin with.)

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Jerry Brown ...

the Governor of California ... just signed a new law that now allows non-doctors in his state to perform abortions ... see: Breitbart Story ...

... in the back alley ... with a coat hanger.

Afterward: This really deserves some more commentary. How is this not a step backwards from the intent of Roe vs. Wade? Is this maybe just a move by Planned Parenthood to increase its pool of abortionists and thus the number of abortions it performs anually ... and therefore the number of taxpayer dollars it collects? I guess, in the end, it all comes down to mammon. See: The Coat Hanger for more of my thoughts on this same subject.

Sadist-in-Chief

Anyone with a pulse should understand our Administration’s strategy regarding the government shutdown and the consequences of not increasing the government’s debit-limit. That is to inflict maximum visible pain on the American public … generally on those people who have the least ability to fight back … and to where our Snidley-Whiplash President (now at a 37% approval rating) and a cooperative media can shine a tsk-tsk spotlight.

Thus, veterans are excluded from an open-air World War II memorial and those violating this ban are arrested, National Institute of Health monies to treat children with cancer are eliminated, death benefits are denied for soldiers killed in Afghanistan, money generally available for fuel-oil assistance is cut, motorists are forbidden from stopping at roadside pull-offs to view Mt. Rushmore, dire warnings are given by our Treasury Secretary as to how the world will end on October 17^th unless the debt limit is raised, etc. (For many more instances, see: Breitbart Story)

The fact that Republicans in the House of Representatives have daily been passing bills to eliminate most of these petulant public punishments (only to be killed by Harry Reid in the Senate) doesn’t seem to make it into the nightly network news. Meanwhile, illegal immigrants are given free-access to the National Mall, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting just got a $445 million grant, Obama-phones are still being given away en masse, etc. … see: Daily Caller Story

It seems that President Obama and his minions want the American public and the Republicans to cry “uncle” rather than to have them chant “Uncle Sam.”