Friday Funny
Why? Because I laughed my ass off.
If you're interested, here is a compilation of Brainiac's Things but Very Slowly.
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June 27, 2008
June 26, 2008
Second Amendment Upheld
Today the SCOTUS ruled 5-4 that Americans have a right to own guns for self defense and hunting. This strikes down DC's ban on handguns.
Here is a brief commentary/ summary from SCOTUS Blog.
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Individuals have a constitutional right to possess a basic firearm (the line drawn is unclear, but is basically those weapons in general lawful use and does not extend to automatic weapons) and to use that firearm in self-defense. The government can prohibit possession of firearms by, for example, felons and the mentally ill. And it can also regulate the sale of firearms, presumably through background checks. The Court leaves open the constitutionality of a licensing requirement. |
The Reuters article, linked above, is obviously against this ruling. To mention a shooting in Kentucky within a story reporting on the facts of the ruling, is clear attempt to trick the reader into believing shootings will increase as a result. Par for the course.
Though a closer vote than I would have likes, I'm still very pleased that the Second Amendment has prevailed. However, I've been hearing that future laws will target ammunition thus rendering the weapons useless. I'm not sure to what extent there will be bans on ammunition but I'll post more when I find it.
For me, the bottom line is each American has the right to protect themselves and their families from those who wish to do them harm, be it criminals or government. Some in government would have you rely solely on them for protection, and that's how they like it, but for now, we have an option.
June 25, 2008
Oil Solution and a Curious Problem
Eric Bolling, host on Fox Business Network and contributor to TheStreet.com, lays out a logical and completely reachable solution to our current "oil crisis". I put that in quotes because, as Bolling points out, this is not a matter of the world running out of oil. In fact, there are billion of barrels there for the taking. And as he says, "Certain people in Congress would have us believe that those barrels are 10-plus years away from our refiners' cracking towers. That's just not true".
Drilling the Outer Continental Shelf, protected areas of the US, and adding nuclear power are all outlined. However, there is an aspect that he touched on toward the end of his piece that really grabbed me.
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After many discussions with these drillers, I am convinced that there is great reason to believe that Cuba has not only discussed the possibility of allowing China and Venezuela to drill on her sovereign leases, but has already begun seismic studies. This may seem innocuous, but it is not. You may say, "so what ... let Cuba ruin its coastline ... we are going to protect ours." There is a very important fact that no one has addressed. They all agree that these oil finds are immense. The scary scenario plays out like this: Cuba, China and Venezuela develop some of these oil fields. They sit on Cuban land, which is adjacent to U.S land. The majority of the oil may actually sit underneath our land. If they get a jump on us and develop those fields, they may be pulling oil right out from under our feet. |
If this is even a possibility, we have too take action to make sure this never happens. To ignore our own fields may be naive on our part, but to allow other countries to steal oil from our own fields under Unites States land would be criminal.
Rubber Chicken Alert: Will Smith
It is a textbook example of a Rubber Chicken; Will Smith, while promoting his latest movie I won't see, let this quote loose:
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You know I just, I just came back from Moscow, Berlin, London and Paris and it's the first, I've been there quite a few times in the past five to 10 years. And it just hasn't been a good thing to be American. And this is the first time, since Barack has gotten the nomination, that it, it was a good thing. |
So Will, for the first time in 10 years it is good to be American?
Forbes has Will ranked #11 in its list of top 100 celebrities for 2008 earning an estimated $80 million for the year. In 2007 he was ranked #57 earning $31 million, in 2006 ranked #49 with $25 million and in 2005 he was ranked #13 earning $35 million.
Pulling in $171 million over the past four years, I'd say American life has been pretty good to Mr. Smith. Maybe that little dip between 2005 and 2006 is what he's talking about? Oh the humanity!
June 21, 2008
Random Thoughts on Writing
Writing is like a sickness. Some people, its genetic, terminal, they're taking it to the grave and most likely it'll be the death of them. Poor sons of bitches, they never saw it coming.
Then there's the ones who get it like a cold. And even then you can get it real bad. Tears you up inside and kicks your guts in. But one day, you wake up and it is gone. They knew that was coming, thought it never would, but they knew it.
Lastly, there are the ones who get a cold and it splits, but like hypochondriacs, they refuse to admit it. They think they're sick all the time. They're inventing illnesses. But everyone else knows it just ain't so. Ninety-nine percent of the people who put words on paper are like this. God knows they think they got it, but baby, they don't.
June 19, 2008
UN Official: Investigate 9/11 for Controlled Explosion
I've written before about the scam that is called the UN Human Rights Council. Their transparent bias and utter failure to accomplish anything is well documented. And now a UN official would like to spend resources on investigating if September 11 was an inside job.
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Richard Falk, the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, investigates alleged Israeli violations of human rights law for the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. But the former Princeton professor would also like to investigate whether “some sort of controlled explosion from within” destroyed the Twin Towers, he told FOXNews.com. “I do think there are questions that haven’t been answered, questions about the way the buildings collapsed and the failure to heed a variety of signals that there was danger coming,” Falk said. |
John Bolton calls Falk's beliefs "fruitcake city" and rightfully so. A member of a UN watch group thinks he should be fired. That too is a good idea. But will it really change anything? I think not. As Bolton continued he said, "among many delegations to the U.N. it’s probably the conventional wisdom".
New York City Waterfalls
It isn't a very good picture but after months of staring at the metal scaffold the water has finally turned on.
It is part of an art exhibit simply called New York City Waterfalls, which consists of four man-made waterfalls located around the city. They are the creation of Danish artist Olafur Eliasson.
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The Waterfalls are deliberately located so that all four are visible from one location - the South Street Seaport. By standing at the end of the Seaport's Pier 17, it's possible to get a good glimpse of the installations. The effect of seeing all four waterfalls rising from New York Harbor is sure to be impressive, but from this vantage point none of the falls are close enough to really get a feel for their scale. |
June 18, 2008
Obama Photo-Op Gone Bad
Ok, sometimes people do stupid things. Maybe volunteers are the best people to be organizing photo shoots.
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Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate |
The Obama campaign quickly apologized and said this wasn't "the policy of the campaign". But the thought comes from somewhere? It may not be the policy, but certainly it is the culture of the campaign to distance him from anything remotely resembling a relation to Islam. And this is the man who claims to deal in a different type of politics.
Only the Myth Matters
I read this Newsbusters piece on Monday and wanted to share it. It details an article by James Kirchick, assistant editor of The New Republic, where in his editorial to the LA Times, he discusses and dismissed the myth that President Bush lied in order to go to war with Iraq.
The article, Bush never lied to us about Iraq, shows us (as a Newsbusters commenter pointed out) only the myth matters for the liberal mindset. The amazing thing however is, if you know The New Republic, it is a Liberal magazine. To have one of their own turn is sure to ruffle some feathers. It may just get the Kirchick family off some "Seasons Greetings" card lists.
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In 2003, top Senate Democrats -- not just Rockefeller but also Carl Levin, Clinton, Kerry and others -- sounded just as alarmist. Conveniently, this month's report, titled "Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U.S. Government Officials Were Substantiated by Intelligence Information," includes only statements by the executive branch. Had it scrutinized public statements of Democrats on the Intelligence, Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees -- who have access to the same intelligence information as the president and his chief advisors -- many senators would be unable to distinguish their own words from what they today characterize as warmongering. |
The above excerpt from Kirchick illustrates the importance an accomplice in myth building. When the MSM willfully ignores that both sides used the same language the myth of lies is substantiated. Well done.
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In the end, Kirchick finds no shred of proof that Bush "lied" about anything. In fact, he scolds every Democrat and partisan leftist for saying that he did and that the claim that Bush lied us into war is an "unsubstantiated allegation" that is "cowardly and dishonest." |
A good summary from Newsbusters' Warner Todd Huston, but read both pieces, well worth the time.
While it makes a good bumper sticker, the Bush Lied People Died mantra is itself a lie. So next time you hear that belch out of a liberal's mouth when discussing Iraq, direct them to Kirchick's article. At the very least, they'll be annoyed a fellow lefty is going against the grain.
June 13, 2008
Tim Russert Dead at 58
June 04, 2008
Haven't We Heard This Before?
More of the same from Obama. Hot Air shows a clip of Obama's speech last night and the striking similarities to a speech Mario Cuomo gave in 1984.
Everything that's old is new again. And amazingly, the people just love it.
For a moment I was trying to figure out why people eat this stuff up. Why doesn't it bother them that this man hasn't an original thought in his head? But then I realized, look at what is around us. Look at our culture and how things are recycled over and over. Our theatres are filled with remakes, where a studio plops the hot face of the moment into an old script to make a buck.
It makes sense that a candidate would be the same. He could wear leg warmers and his minions would swoon at his fashion originality.