Me? I'd like to kick the bucket at my own place of residence, thanks...

The National Audit Office (NAO) and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence advise that all patients should have access to 24-hour nursing services. But a report by the NAO in 2008 found that only just over half (53.2 per cent) of local health authorities provided such a service to all patients seven days a week.

The variation has created a postcode lottery in areas such as Dorset, where round-the-clock nursing care is funded in the east of the county but not in the west. Charles Campion-Smith, a GP in Dorchester and Macmillan adviser, said that there was no cover in his area from 10pm to 6am the next morning.

Oooooo...can we have half-assed nationalized healthcare here, too?

Read the article. The main issue is the fact that nearly 70% of all terminally ill folks in the UK wish to die at home. However, only 20% are given that comfort. The reason they tout suggests that the Physicians just don't address the issue. I would bet it has more to do with having the time to address the issue, and whether the hospital loses funds by not having a captive patient.

Only one in five deaths occurs in a person’s home, despite two thirds of people saying that that is where they would prefer to die. By contrast, about 60 per cent of people die in hospital.

Giving the people what they want is so yesterday.

More than a third of family doctors are not reviewing the needs and wishes of dying patients, while round-the-clock nursing care is not available to give patients support and pain relief at weekends and at night in many areas.

This is what Obamacare would reap...

And the 2016 Summer Olympics go to....Rio de Janeiro

That's right, folks. Chicago con Obama lost out to scoped automatic weapons on the back of motorcycles in downtown N. Rio ( Dom Helder Câmara and dos Democráticos to be precise).

To be fair...downtown Chicago is a cesspool of juvie violence as well. Perhaps not quite as brazen, however.

Taken in context...there is a reason for the inquiries...

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN complains that he is being driven crazy because so many people are betting on America’s demise. Reports of it are not just exaggerated; they are, he insists, ridiculous. Like President Obama, he will not accept “second place” for the United States. Despite the present crippling budget deficit and the crushing burden of projected debt, he denies that the country is destined to fulfill a “prophecy that we are going to be a great nation that has failed because we lost control of our economy and overextended.”

Gosh...Joe...name the last Vice President or President of the United States that had so many inquiries from everyday citizens on this issue.

Guess what, pal. You're the first...

That means something...

Congrats...Canadian Olympic Women's Hockey team...(and don't listen to the IOC)

Players came back onto the ice more than half an hour after the 2-0 victory over the United States. Still in their uniforms and with gold medals draped around their necks, they swigged from bottles of champagne and cans of beer and smoked cigars.

Excellent! You won...enjoy it. You set your lives on hold for years and worked your butts off to win the Olympic gold medal. You had a delicious rivalry with the US Olympic Women's team (even to the point of blows in the lead up to the the big dance)...and you perservered.

Then there is the droning idiocy coming out of the International Olympic Committee suggesting we all be "eunuchs" without cause:

Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said he was unaware of the incidents until informed by an Associated Press reporter.

"If that's the case, that is not good," Felli said. "It is not what we want to see. I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened."

Blow it out your politically correct nostrils, you jackass. These ladies weren't competing for certificates of participation. They played to win...and pulled it off on their home turf in front of their screaming fans. I back it...and I'd like to see the US flaunt a bit more in their victories as well.

"The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone," the statement said. "In the excitement of the moment, the celebration left the confines of our dressing room and shouldn't have. The team regrets that its gold medal celebration may have caused the IOC or COC any embarrassment.

I hate the patronizing apology approach. What they should have released was this:

"We're sorry that the IOC is a bunch of whiny, politically correct morons who think that celebration of a monumental goal is offensive to anyone. In the real world, we toast achievements with suds, bubbles and stogies. And, we plan on doing so continuously for the next few days...at least."

PS: I was rooting for the US team...and I appreciate the Canadian's actions full throttle.

Sticks and Stones may break my bones, and names will get you three years at Saint Marguerite Prison

PARIS — France’s National Assembly approved Thursday night a proposal to add “psychological violence” to a law intended to help victims of physical violence and abuse, despite doubts that the law is specific enough to have much impact.

Carefully covering both genders, the proposed law stipulates that letting a wife, husband, partner or concubine “act or repeatedly say things that could damage the victim’s life conditions, affect his/her rights and his/her dignity or damage his/her physical or mental health is subject to a three-year jail term and a 75,000 euro fine,” about $102,750.

Danielle Bousquet, a Socialist, and Guy Geoffroy, a member of the ruling center-right Union for a Popular Movement, wrote the draft law, supported by 30 other legislators. It received backing last November from the government and Prime Minister François Fillon, who called it “very significant progress.”

Ms. Bousquet...you are old. Your face is shaped like a horse, and those glasses make you look like a poor child's homemade version of Mr. Potato Head. Notice...I said "Mr." On top of that, Ms. Bousquet, your thighs cause so much friction when you walk, that people cringe everytime you stop at the petrol station. Oh...and you are a classic idiot.

Come and get me facists. I just broke your precious little "sticks and stones" law. Gosh, the French are filled with such pseudo-eruditical nonsense that is self-proclaimed as civility. It makes my teeth hurt.

Global Warming brigade really grasping now...

Although global warming could cause the number of tropical cyclones to decrease around the world by the end of the century, the storms that do form probably will be more intense, a study in the journal Nature Geoscience finds.

Just like all the other snake oil out there, I don't buy this study in the first place...but suppose it's true. How much more fierce are those lesser number tropical cyclones going to be?

Landsea says the potential increase in strong hurricanes is "pretty tiny. We're not looking at any drastic increase by 2100." For example, he says, a 150-mph hurricane might increase only to a 157-mph hurricane. "In my perspective, that's a little change, a long ways in the future."

That's hilarious. We have this big threatening article in USA Today entitled:

"Fewer, fiercer tropical cyclones are in our future, study finds"

...and we are talking about a Hurricane packing a 157 MPH punch as opposed to a 150 MPH punch...(Laughing)

Nostalgic Nastiness...

(Oh ho...I just found something I wrote on a previous blog back in 2001. I'm going to repost it, because it's nasty and fun. Plus, it is my eulogical send off for Susan Sontag):

I’m With ‘Crash’ Davis, Ms. Sontag

November 13, 2001

One often wonders who is there to assist Susan Sontag in the event of a thunderstorm. There is always that risk in the undertaking of self-righteous nose raising that she may drown in the downpour. Be comforted in the realization that drowning requires the depletion of oxygen on the intake. Sontag has long been accustomed to existing without adequate oxygen reaching the brain.

Thomas Wolfe has her pegged as “just another scribbler who spent her life signing up for protest meetings and lumbering to the podium encumbered by her prose style, which had a handicapped parking sticker valid at Partisan Review.” That’s why Wolfe makes the big bucks.

At the risk of portraying a valid point wrapped up in the fictitious Durham Bull soliloquy of “Crash” Davis, “I believe…in the soul ... the small of a woman's back, the hangin' curveball, high fiber, good Scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap...” So, in the interest of comparison, what is it, exactly, that Sontag believes? She believes in herself. That is a meritorious endeavor. However, despite that very act being the goal of any caring parent to instill upon their child, there are serious repercussions to placing one’s confidence in an irrelevant claptrap.

Face it, she is amusing. No matter the issue. No matter the importance. Sontag is the moral equivalent of Benny Hill in a nunnery. She ensconces her percipience, and in the fashion of a drunk baker twists, kneads, and manipulates her message into a preexisting expectation of where her lapdog gnomes of the cultural garden expect her to be. That is all well and good except for the fact that the very foundation of her pedestal is a bunch of hooey. The Sisters of St. Augustine would, certainly, experience trepidation in the acts of Benny Hill. A thinking populace is no more swayed by Sontag.

In fact, I invite Sontag to speak at length, on any topic and at every occasion. It’s not because she says things I want to hear, or encourages a healthy discourse. I don’t and she doesn’t. However, the very nature of her ludicrous points of view is damaging to the credibility of anyone who, somehow, mirrors that high school lesson of “guilt by association.”

When she was interviewed by the New Yorker in the days after the September 11th terrorist attack she did not disappoint. The piece’s title “Observations by Susan Sontag” would have been enough. Where most would use that encumbrance as the header in their personal diary entry. Sontag, somehow, perceives her view as something to be showered upon the great unwashed. I always wondered what entitled her to that luxury. Surely, it wasn’t something that she regurgitated in the past. I have read a number of her “works.” The most impressionable on me was not her intended message I fear.

Early in her career she wrote a number of essays dealing with art. She expounded on Antonin Artaud, proclaiming him a failure. Sontag deduced that Artaud was unable to complete a thought and that his numerous varied works “amount to a broken, self-mutilated corpus, a vast collection of fragments.“ It never occurred to Sontag to look at Artaud’s endeavors as a means to a goal. Despite his own admission of his difficulties in grasp and concentration, perhaps he enjoyed what he did. Perhaps he enjoyed the challenge that accompanied the profession. Perhaps it was the striving for improvement that drove Artaud to cover the gambit of art, cinema, poems, prose, painting, music et al. Instead, Sontag could only see her picture of another artist’s work. There lies the cornerstone of her failings. And there lies the basis of her warped assessment of the events of September 11th. Her audacity to categorize Artaud as a failure in her definition of the word shows the epitome of hypocrisy when you digest, quite forcefully, one of her most well known pieces.

In Against Interpretation and Other Essays (1966) the intuitive response, as she would call it, was the concept of avoiding the intellectual and analytical evaluation of a piece. “The 'meaning' of art lies in the experiencing both style and content together without analysis. “ That’s an interesting revelation coming from someone who, quite solidly, categorized Artaud as a failure based on the inability to stay focussed on a specific idea. I suppose, sometimes one has to twist, knead, and manipulate until the soft pretzel resembles what the public would recognize and consume.

Regardless, in the New Yorker Sontag queried, “Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a "cowardly" attack on "civilization" or "liberty" or "humanity" or "the free world" but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions?”

In her “intuitive response” Sontag failed to acknowledge the minor analytical detail that she is an American Citizen, and that the acts of the terrorists were defined by the actors to be murderous, callous acts in cold blood against all American citizens. No. Instead, we ‘intellectuals’ should ponder the all encompassing innate observations and deliberate the feelings of the rat bastards who butchered 4,537 human beings in the name of their “God.” To Sontag, that would be the reasonable response.

Sontag doesn’t think America plays fairly. “How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq? And if the word "cowardly" is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others.

What a wonderful argument for the necessity to initiate an immediate program to provide “certificates of participation” to all parties of conflict (no matter the purpose) so as not to have to go through the uncomfortable foible of having to declare a winner or recognize right from wrong, sane from insane, smart from dumb. I am reminded of the profound words of chronic law abuser Rodney King and my heart just runs with endearing warmth. “Can’t we all just get along?” The answer is “no,” and there are very valid analytical (sometimes intellectual) reasons for that disclosure. Life is not an exercise in participation. Life is not something to be pondered. It is more than that I hope. Maybe it is an ongoing mission in personal accomplishment and achievement. Life could be an effort to better yourself in all capacities. It is not an application in holding back your own potential so as to allow others achievement at your expense. The whole concept of freedom affords the opportunity to accomplish goals as an individual and as a nation. Making the battlefield one of equality is the “intuitive response” of inept logic. Show me a boxer with short arms, and I’ll show you a throw rug.

“Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together. A few shreds of historical awareness might help us understand what has just happened, and what may continue to happen. "Our country is strong," we are told again and again. I for one don't find this entirely consoling. Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be.”

By all means we grieve together. And, by all means, we shall not be stupid together. Instead, I leave that to Susan Sontag alone. Historical awareness is a conscious motivation to act in a capacity that would guarantee a desired outcome and future deterrent. History holds the souls of Beirut in 1983, Kenya in 1998, Tanzania in 1998, Somalia in 1993, Yemen in 2000, Saudi Arabia in 1996, New York in 1993, and New York, again, in 2001. We are finished with the history lesson Ms. Sontag. The class is entirely too loud. Our country is strong. We are strong in character and pride. I find that extremely consoling, because I realize that character and pride are not given, but earned. They are earned, sometimes, at the expense of those who would try to tarnish those innate qualities within us. A strength-of-purpose lives within the knowledge that our Republic has the ability to control our own destiny so that those cherished freedoms are not on loan from others.

Susan Sontag would say I didn’t understand her point. But, in the very color of her position I understood the whole encompassing view of her work. It initiated an intuitive response. I didn’t take away a single, one-sided, analytical perception as to what she was trying to express in each sentence or phrase. It was pure, unadulterated discord; all of it.

A lesson in reverse to Susan Sontag, never teach the unwashed how to juggle knives, lest they learn to throw them.

I'm hoping for half a grave twist on that...

Over six years ago this made a dent in my noggin...

I thought I would dust off one of my favorite Mark Steyn quotes that seems rather relevant today. He first leveled it in a National Post piece back in November of 2002. For some reason, the National Post didn't hold onto it for posterity and you'll stumble on their "Sorry, this article is no longer available" page. However, here's the quote. It made an impression such that I remember it to this day:

"Democrats have perfected the art of being simultaneously maudlin and vicious, and above all else ruthlessly partisan in their pious denunciations of partisanship."
--- MARK STEYN November 3, 2002

The reference was commentary by rather partisan politicians at Paul Wellstone's memorial service. You can absorb the whole thing, these days, in the Freerepublic archives. But, that quote is the one that left a mark...and applies in full to the Democrats of today.

Plea deal? The milk already expired!!!

Najibullah Zazi, the Colorado airport shuttle driver accused in an alleged plot to attack New York City with homemade bombs, is cooperating with authorities in preparation for an apparently plea deal, the Associated Press reports.

Plea Deal!!!!????

Just to make sure I have this straight. This clown is in the process of making bombs in Colorado with the specific intention of driving to New York and blowing something up. He has explosives training courtesy of an al-Qaeda terror camp in Pakistan. Hence, he is a freakin' terrorist. He is an enemy to this country...and he is human excrement.

Zazi's apparent cooperation suggests that prosecutors hope to expand the case and bring charges against other suspects in his case and possibly other terror probes, the AP says.

This dirtbag, mouthbreathing troglodyte was arrested in September 2009. What possible unpersishible information could he provide that would be of any use to anyone five months after being picked up? The Department of Justice dog and pony show is absolute fatalism and prescribed suicide. The pissant terrorist should have been bled of his possible information five months ago while the "milk" was still fresh.

Watching Liberals kick themselves in the teeth is more fun than watching curling...

Last month, Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that the city had purposely discriminated against hiring blacks when it continued to use a test that was deemed biased against minorities.

Again, I invoke the "we just want to be treated like everyone else" mantra.

So...pass the damn test. I can only imagine the idiocy applied to indicate that the written firefighter test was...ahem...bias. It's a common victim mentality that always finds the excuse explaining failure.

A group of women sued the department in 1979 after failing the physical, claiming it was discriminatory.

You know...because...they unfairly made the women lift heavy stuff...which...you know...never happens at a fire, car accident or inner city mishap.

The women who sued were allowed to take a different test. As a result, 41 females entered the department in 1982.

Okayyyyyy...instead of lifting the long hose...lift that smaller one. We only need the long hose sporadically. What's a couple lives here and there...no biggie.

In 1983, the city devised still another test for women testing speed instead of strength.

Short hose too heavy? Okayyyyyy...see how fast you can sprint down the street to that Duane Reed and get us some bandages and sauve...we're going to need them.

The next year, the judge ordered the test changed again to be less physical and increased the weight of the written exam.

What? You might get winded running down the street? Jeez...Okayyyy...ummm...well, just stand over there and try not to get in the way.

"It's a physical job. It requires physical strength," said Deputy Chief Paul Mannix, who said he wasn't speaking for the department. "People ask why there aren't more women in the Fire Department. Why aren't there more women in the NFL or Major League Baseball?"

Egggggg...zactly!!!

But, I do enjoy how the Liberal inner city enclaves keep kicking themselves in the teeth while feeling really special about their diversity. So a couple buildings burn, people die...no big deal. Liberals FEEL better about themselves...until they have a fire, of course.

Jesus, apparently, had track lighting...

Elton John's take:

"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems,” he told Parade. “On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you're as good as dead."

(shrugs)...How come I keep hearing how sexual orientation doesn't matter? Yet, those who mention it at every opportunity are always the ones to make it an issue. As a straight person...I don't see the purpose of "gay pride" parades or "gay civil rights" because it flies in the face of the other mantra "we just want to be treated like everyone else."

That being said.... "MOHAMMAD WAS A PEDOPHILE." That happens to be a fact...unless you don't think a six year old is too young to offer a marriage proposal...or nine years old is too young to consumate the marriage.

How come Al Gore's blog doesn't allow comments?

Al's Journal is HERE.

He, apparently, does not want your scrutiny, input or contributions (intellectual...not monetary). He just wants to tell how it is...and what you need to do. Gore bars the press from his speaking events. I find that interesting because of what Gore has to say about the media:

Television stations and networks, by contrast, are almost completely inaccessible to individual citizens and almost always uninterested in ideas contributed by individual citizens.

Replace a few words and you could say the exact same thing about Al Gore's alarmist brigade.

I was just curious...why doesn't Al want to chat?

Fantasy world politics (Nuclear Power)

WASHINGTON — There has been no more reliable cheerleader for President Obama’s energy and climate change policies than Daniel J. Weiss of the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

But Mr. Obama’s recent enthusiasm for nuclear power, including his budget proposal to triple federal loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors to $54 billion, was too much for Mr. Weiss.

The president’s embrace of nuclear power was disappointing, and the wrong way to go about winning Republican votes, he said, adding that Mr. Obama should not be endorsing such a costly and potentially catastrophic energy alternative “as bait just to get talks started with pro-nuke senators.”

Actually, the president's "embrace" of nuclear power is an absolute joke. Even if he does follow through and put money aside for a measley two (2) nuclear projects, the greenies out there will file lawsuit after lawsuit to make sure that nothing ever comes to fruition.

This has nothing to do with the will of the people. Any lawsuit will eventually end up in front of some judge who likes to legislate from the bench... This is a safe bet for Obama, because he knows there will be no new nuclear plants while he is in office. Greenpeace...Friends of the Earth...WWF and all the other statist idiots are already gearing up for challenge after challenge and injuction after injunction. The Ninth Circus Court of Appeals is alread clearing their schedule.

In other words...."Screw You" (Updated)

HOUSTON, Feb. 16, 2010 -- ConocoPhillips [NYSE: COP] today announced that it will not be renewing its membership in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP). This action enables the company to better focus its efforts on ensuring fair and equitable treatment of the transportation sector and its consumers and on expanding opportunities for greater near-term GHG reductions through increased use of natural gas.

In other words..."SCREW YOU."

I get the distinct impression that ConocoPhillips stuck their collective fingers up in the air, and realized that those who would chastize their company for walking away from the "cap and trade" brigade is significantly smaller than those who would cheer the reality wake-up call.

Who's next?

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long. Add BP America and equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. to the list. (via Big Government and a news piece on Breitbart)

Pork Bellies, pronto...and ditch the Carbon...

Ah...yes...I believe I can sense Spring in the air...or perhaps spring in my step...

NZX Drops By Record After Slashing Proceeds of Carbon Unit Sale

Feel the rush of the Carbon Market as it caresses the valley floor...

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon permits fell from their highest level in seven weeks as gas prices dropped.

Gas prices? Ok...whatever story makes you feel good...but there is THIS.

Investors are steering clear of energy-saving projects meant to generate carbon credits, and traders in Europe are hunkering down through a period of consolidation that is disappointing to those who had hoped carbon markets would grow quickly into a $2 trillion-a-year business.

That's a shame...

Bureaucratic promises of markets for forestry carbon offsets, claimed to be worth $150 million, would not materialize unless the US Congress passes a so-called “cap & trade” climate bill. Known as “cap & tax”, such legislation would tax energy users, producers and most emissions. A recent report says faltering congressional attempts to pass such a bill, means that a forest carbon market is unlikely soon.

If a forest carbon market falls apart and no one is there to hear it...does it make a sound?

The market for carbon trading, never popular in some circles to begin with, is starting to look rather shaky. The bungled Copenhagen summit was bad enough. Now we have the UK energy regulator suggesting the market is not working and that a floor price for carbon should be imposed.

I love the fact that these opportunistic jackasses who were looking to make a killing on the carbon market are now wondering whether it's time to cut and run before the bottom falls out. I'd like to see quite a few of them wrecked...

Which is more disconcerting?

...that there are mouth breathers out there wishing malice and violence on a kid wearing fur?

U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir says he received threats from anti-fur activists that made him fear for his safety, causing him to scrub any plans to stay at a hotel while in Vancouver for the Olympics.

Or that the best "male" figure skater from the USA dresses in public like a drag queen.

"Ask again, later" (McCain v. Hayworth)

Stumping last week at a GOP club located at a retirement community south of Phoenix, Hayworth focused much of his speech on immigration, telling a packed room that "border security is national security, border security is economic security."

It's not clear how much support Hayworth will have from Tea Party activists, the conservatives who rail against government spending. McCain has the support of Sarah Palin, his 2008 running mate and the recent keynote speaker at a national Tea Party convention. She will campaign for him next month. Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican cheered by conservatives for winning his state's special election last month, also backs McCain.

"They are a significant political force," McCain said of the activists. "How that force gets channeled ... is not yet clear to me."

I think it will become abundantly clear to McCain when momentum enters the polling process for Hayworth. However, that won't start up until the media out there begins to use the potential embarrassment of McCain to distract from the even worse embarrassments of the Democrat party...in general.

Cambridge Climate Congress (aka: moronic, meddling, simpletons)

About that Audi commercial during the Super Bowl...

Parody...yes?

Congestion pricing to reduce car travel. Elimination of curbside parking. A carbon tax "of some kind," not to mention taxes on plastic and paper bags. Advocating vegetarianism and veganism, complete with "Meatless or Vegan Mondays." Those are just some of the proposals put forth by the Cambridge Climate Congress, an entity created in May 2009 to respond to the "climate emergency" plaguing the Massachusetts city.

Going green will not be optional in Cambridge, Mass., if the Cambridge Climate Congress has its way. It will be mandatory.

There will be congestion pricing to reduce car travel. Curbside parking will be eliminated. There will be a carbon tax "of some kind," not to mention taxes on plastic and paper bags. And the Massachusetts city, home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will advocate vegetarianism and veganism, complete with "Meatless or Vegan Mondays."

Those are just some of the proposals put forth by the Congress, which was created in May 2009 to respond to the "climate emergency" plaguing Cambridge. Once the Congress settles on its recommendations, they will submitted to the City Council.

Behold the idiots and their jack-booted followers...

H1 N1 and the semantic game

ATLANTA (AP) — Swine flu cases are down, but health officials say the disease's cumulative impact has grown to 57 million U.S. illnesses, 257,000 hospitalizations and 11,690 deaths.

I'm not buying it. That is over 1/6th of the entire US population. That would mean that one in six of the people I meet daily would have had the illness. Yet, I know not one.

Then again, it all hinges on what the meaning of the word "is" is. Anyone want to take a stab at the meaning behind "cumulative inpact." I think it has something to do with pinball.

The Right to Offend...(Orchestrated Babyism)

Via Gateway Pundit...

Thousands of protesters turned out in Oslo to protest a cartoon published in a local newspaper that showed Mohammad as a pig

.

Wow! What an outrage!!! I know...let's post it again.

Holy crap....Weren't you in ZZ-Top?

AN Arab ambassador has annulled his marriage after discovering his veiled wife-to-be had a beard and was cross-eyed.

The diplomat had only met the woman a few times, during which she had hidden her face behind a niqab.

Local media reported that after the marriage contract was signed, the man tried to give his new wife a smooch only to find she had facial hair.

Heh!

I'm a bit confused by the "cross-eyed" issue though. With a niqab...the eyes are the only thing you can see. And if the niqab is so necessary as to hide the sexuality of a woman to this culture...why should it matter if she sported a beard? Eh?

Someone explain Occam's Razor to U-Cal...

Too much time in front of the television has long been linked to childhood obesity. Now, new research suggests it’s not the TV but the commercials that are making kids fat.

In a study of more than 2,000 children, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared the time the kids spent viewing television and video. They asked caregivers to track children’s media use during one weekday and one weekend day during 1997, then again in 2002.

The findings showed that the amount of television a child watched wasn’t a predictor of obesity risk. Instead, risk for being overweight increased the more television commercials a child was exposed to. There was no association with television viewing and obesity for those who watched videos or commercial-free programming.

You probably didn't want to read all that...so I'll summarize:

Kids who don't see commercials as often are usually thinner. The University of California attributes this to children being more educated as they watched educational videos or public television.

HERE'S WHAT THEIR SUMMARY SHOULD HAVE CONCLUDED: When the commercial comes on interupting the intending viewing...that's the time to make a break to the fridge. Without commercials...the option for refueling is just not there...unless the show sucks.

New York Times late to the party...

But Dr. Pachauri and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are now under intense scrutiny, facing accusations of scientific sloppiness and potential financial conflicts of interest from climate skeptics, right-leaning politicians and even some mainstream scientists. Senator John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, called for Dr. Pachauri’s resignation last week.

I love the way the NYT limits the damage by only noting two of the items that plagues Pachauri and the IPCC. Sloppiness? Bull hockey...the information and statements appearing now suggest that it wasn't sloppiness but intentional misrepresentation (significantly more egregious).

Potential financial conflicts. No...it has been proven (not only with Pachauri) that there are, indeed, financial conflicts of interest throughout the entire AGW cast and crew. But, the NYT misses out on informing on the blantant violation of the Freedom of Information Act...wild accusations over the years that never came true...the court case in Great Britian which substantively gutted Al Gore's fictional "An Inconvenient Truth..."

The simple fact of the matter is that this article by the NYT is an attempt to limit the damage (the only reason they are even touching this story)...which is so obviously bad, that even they can't shut it down entirely.

But they try.

"Do these slaves really love their chains?" (Hitchens)

Christopher Hitchens has a piece over on Slate that gives us a window into North Korea's plight (for lack of a better term):

Here are the two most shattering facts about North Korea. First, when viewed by satellite photography at night, it is an area of unrelieved darkness. Barely a scintilla of light is visible even in the capital city. (See this famous photograph.) Second, a North Korean is on average six inches shorter than a South Korean. You may care to imagine how much surplus value has been wrung out of such a slave, and for how long, in order to feed and sustain the militarized crime family that completely owns both the country and its people.

Interesting piece...give it a look. Hell, it's Hitchens. He's always interesting.

Parody fighting it out with Reality...(Never good)

Tim Blair has posted the Audi Super Bowl commercial...and it's disturbing in the fact that parody is way too close to reality. The underlying amusement, however, is that there will be a demographic of viewers out there that just don't understand the humor associated with the bit. The greenies will sit there "smileless" wondering when the humor will kick in.

Most folks will chuckle and realize that the commercial is there to sell the Audi clean diesel vehicle, and take home the indirect punchline that Audi is saying..."yeah...this whole green thing is a bit out of control, but here's our contribution to the trend...and remember us when you Green stormtroopers target major corporations...we're playing along."

HERE'S THE LINK TO BLAIR'S POST WITH THE VIDEO.

My favorite part is the music underneath...Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" is now Audi's "Green Police."

Where's Jay Currie's Blog gone to?

What happened to Jay Currie's Blog? He's a great source for Canadian Hi-jinks, but a trek to his site states that the Account is Suspended.

I, personally, hope this is temporary or that I'm just too daft to realize he has a new site somewhere. Of course, he has a tendency to slap the Canadian Human Rights Commissions around...and rightly so. But, they would never stoop to censorship...*snort*

No one tells me nutin'.

UPDATE: Back in operation after remembering to pay the piper...

Behold the "retarded"...

You know how everyone is all bent out of shape about implying that someone is "retarded?"

Well, not being a subscriber to the whole politically correct cadre of triviality I would like to point out that this guy is...RETARDED:

Which brings us to Barack Obama’s “war on terror.” Conservatives keep saying that Obama doesn’t really believe we’re at war; that he sees terrorists as mere criminals, not the epic evil-doers that they really are. But here’s the irony: It’s precisely because he doesn’t see the terrorist threat as quite so epic that al Qaeda is falling apart.

Yeah...yeah...I suppose my accusation could be considered an ad hominem argument. For those of you reading who, also, happened to be retarded...the reference is an "argument towards the person."

The author of that backwash percipience is Peter Beinart. He is the senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He's obviously educated. Apparently, he molds young minds, more than likely, to his way of "thinking" in his position as professor. Therefore, I am left with two posibilities in consideration of the absolute nonsense his above statement implies.

Either Mr Beinart is dabbling in parody...or is retarded...in which case he, likely, would not understand the concept of parody.

I'm betting on "retarded."

Just STOP with this esoteric Global Warming nonsense...

A study of beleaguered butterflies in California provides some of the best clues yet as to how other animals may react to climate change, scientists say.

Yes...yes...the butterflies are a "clue" to climate change destruction.

"Like polar bears, these high-elevation butterflies were already living in extreme environments, and now they don't have any options" for escape, Forister says. He says butterfly populations have always shifted over time, but the destruction of their habitat has occurred at an accelerated pace in recent years because of urbanization and warming temperatures.

As I type through my tears shed in sympathy for the wayward butterflies and the down-trodden polar bears...I am ashamed to ask:

HOW IN THE HELL CAN THIS STUDY SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY WHEN THE EARTH'S TEMPERATURES ARE PROVEN TO HAVE FALLEN SINCE A PEAK IN 1998....HUH?!?

The good Dr. Matthew Forister's study says in black in white "accelerated pace in recent years because of urbanization and falling temperatures." Yet, the study is hogwash because the Earth's temperatures have been falling for the last decade!!!

Well, I am pragmatic. So, let's look for a bit of motivation for such a report. How about that the report was initiated by a Federal Grant by the National Science Foundation? In other words, your tax dollars paid for this nonsense. And, since the jackassery in Washington D.C. is bent on disrupting private business by applying "cap and trade" legislation that would hogtie viable US industry, those "scientists" wishing to continue making a comfortable living have to return studies (funded publically) showing "proof" of the necessity. That way, when it comes time for another Federally funded round of grants to be approved, Dr. Forister gets first dibs.

This AGW racket has become a laughable, insufferable...joke.

It's a test...

THE TOPIA INN, a laboratory of sustainability with an artsy vibe here in the Berkshires, confirmed my reservation with a friendly e-mail reminder about its “green” guest policy:

No Smoking.

No chemical fragrances/bug repellant.

Leave your shoes at the front door or cover them with the inn’s neoprene booties, so as not to track in pesticide residue and other pollutants.

Leave all grooming products at home, so as not to interfere with the chemical-free organic mattresses and bedding. Complimentary organic bath and body products provided.

Oooooo...nice! Take that special woman in your life away for the weekend up into the Berkshires...and make sure she leaves all her grooming products at home so she doesn't interfere with the organic matresses and bedding.

If you can still look her in the eye at the end of the weekend...she's a keeper.

Bonus: When you get home...crank the climate control...take a shower and douse yourself with chemicals...order a huge non-fair trade pizza and feel good about your 48 hour tribute to Mother Earth...while sipping a nice glass of Shiraz made from grapes harvested by underage Australian Aborigines in wheelchairs.

"As they say in the glacier business, ice work if you can get it."

Mark Steyn's latest in MaCleans. It's a pisser...

Go back to that Berkeley professor mooning over the loss of that “magnificent landform” he once thought “immutable, eternal.” From his prose style, one might easily assume Orville Schell was a professor of creative writing or some such. In fact, he’s the former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism. Yet, for all the limpid fragrance of his poignant obsequies, professor Schell would seem to lack the one indispensable quality of a journalist: basic curiosity—the same curiosity that led Miss Laframboise to see just how much of the “science” in the IPCC report rested on the assertions of the panda-cuddlers. So instead, professor Schell bid a teary farewell to his beloved landform, even though the glaciers of the western Himalayas are, in fact, increasing.

Each day seems to reveal a new revelation suggesting that man-induced "climate change" is an absolute fairy tale. And, as each small glimpse of reality sprouts to the surface the big picture takes form. Each cry by the supporters of "the science is settled" shows a perceived desparation to protect that "settled science." In other words, scrutiny and time has been plucking pieces of the weigh bearing wall holding up their theories and the realization, awareness and knowledge threatened their stranglehold on what they hoped to pass out as truth and fact. Desparation and frustration had been ramped up in an effort to stave actual science from intervening.

"Jim Treacher" attacks State Department SUV...

Treacher, who rolled out a tag-along blog (Daily Trawler) to Tucker Carlson's and Neil Patel's Daily Caller online media outlet, started a fight with a black SUV.

It was unclear as to the whether Treacher was upset that the SUV was a product of "Government Motors" (GM), black in color...priced above his pay grade. Therefore, it's hard for me to speculate whether Treacher was acting out as a domestic right-wing terrorist, a racist, or trying out a little class envy. I said it was hard for me to speculate...but I will.

All three!!! Hat trick...baby!!!!

Nah...check out the ongoing story here...and learn how the security folks at the State Department operate when it comes to manning up and taking responsibility for their actions. I don't think we'll be handing out any "good samaritan" awards...but a Nobel Peace Prize has been mentioned.

What would Lenin say?

If you're living a green lifestyle, it turns out you can take it with you.

Cemeteries and funeral homes across the USA are offering environmentally friendly burials featuring formaldehyde-free fluids for embalming and biodegradable caskets made of pine, wicker or even cardboard.

Green burials are available in nearly 30 cemeteries nationwide, up from a handful at the start of 2008, says Joe Sehee, executive director and president of the Green Burial Council, a non-profit organization that encourages environmentally sustainable death care.

Nice! I always thought the funeral scene was a bit subdued. What we need is the slow slake of dry ice fog to gently caress the vistors as they say goodbye to Uncle Henry.

But...one would have to wonder what Vladimir Lenin would look like today in his Мавзоле́й Ле́нина as misguided Russians form long lines to visit with his remains every day from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, except Mondays and Fridays. Or, what about the sacred bodies of Ho Chi Minh, Chiang Kai-shek and other lefties of that ilk. In fact, lately, Osama bin Laden has been rumbling about ecological impurity in the West.

Of course...in the case of the latter, a quick cremation from a daisy cutter can prove his dedication to the cause.

Should have thrown in some dark cataract glasses...

BOSTON (AP) -- A hearing on an asylum request by President Barack Obama's African aunt has started in Boston.

Kenya native Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUH'-nee awn-YAHN'-goh) is arguing Thursday in U.S. Immigration Court that she be allowed to stay in the United States.

Onyango showed up for the hearing in a wheelchair and with a cane across her lap. Lawyer Margaret Wong says Onyango and two doctors are expected to testify. The hearing is closed to the public.

Wong says she is applying for asylum for medical and ''other'' reasons.

Keep in mind that she had a previous hearing in 2004 and was ordered to be deported. Onyango ignored the decision, and continued to remain in the US while enjoying taxpayer funded public housing all the way to the present.

I'm kind of skeptical about the medical condition. Then again...I'm kind of skeptical about everything (and everyone).

Bad magic...

Senate Democrats are preparing to release a roughly $80 billion jobs program this week, but its prospects are uncertain in a political landscape where voters are angry about unemployment yet fuming about federal spending.

I am reminded of a magician I saw in a comedy club outside of St. Louis about ten years ago. The magician, obviously drunk, wobbled around the stage nearly falling out into the audience a number of times and always fortifying his balance with another belt from the highball glass sitting on a stool.

Eventually, he holds up a sheet, covers the stool and glass with the linen and looks expectantly to the crowd. After a rather shakey count of three he whips up the sheet to reveal...that...nothing had changed. The half empty glass remained centered on the stool.

The drunk magician...not disturbed in the least points out over the audience to the bar in the back of the room and shouts..."Get me another Crown Royal."

(shrugs)

Yeah...I know, it wasn't funny. As comedic magicians go...this one sucked. But, it does parallel well with the Democrat's big reveal on a jobs bill. Nothing changes...and eventually they will ask for more...

I bet I could make the New York Times profitable...

The New York Times is a cesspool of agenda driven "reporting." More often than not, they regurgitate the liberal position and serve as the Democrat Party's mouthpiece to promote and (just as readily) hide the real story. The stubborn (and suicidal) stance has led them to the abyss financially.

So...the question remains...what do they have to do to actually succeed as a viable business?

It's not as hard as you might think:

1. No more opinion in hard news stories. Instead of handholding the reader with a by-line that leads them to a desired conclusion...stick with factual representation only. Instead of using convaluted verbs like "implied" or "alluded" or "suggested"...the journalist should rely on "stated" or "said."

2. No more "well placed anonymous sources." Simply put, the NYT does not possess the credibility to be able to allow the luxury of trust with the reader. The immediate thought of any intelligent consumer should be "I think they just made that up, or secured the information from a politically motivated individual."

3. Page 2 of every New York Times issue should remain totally blank. Page 2 is for corrections, retractions and clarification. If there is nothing printed on that page...then they are doing their job. If retractions or clarifications are required, they are out front and center for the reader providing a sense of honesty and responsibility. On those days when the page is blank for extended periods at a time, the owner of the NYT can reward his valued employees accordingly.

4. The Op-Ed section of the paper should be more transparent (as should the paper in general). NO OP-ED's are written by anyone without attribution to the writer. Op-Ed's attributed to some nonsense reference like "staff" or "Editorial department" are a license to lie and obfuscate. Writers should be held accountable, and if someone in the Op-Ed department pens something questionable, they ought to have the courage to sign their name.

5. ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS BY THE NYT. That is not the function of a "newspaper."

6. Continuing with the Op-Ed portion of the NYT. There would be a "left of the fold" section for left leaning writers. There would a be a "right of the fold" section for those leaning to the right. Each contracted Op-Ed contributor would provide a full bio reflective of their politics in that regard.

7. Also, in Op-Ed, there would be a separate section available for guest Op-Ed's reflective of the hot topics of the present. Again, contributors must provide a full bio available to the reader with their piece.

8. With each Op-Ed, the NYT would contract with a number of blogs to critique offerings in the newspaper. The NYT would provide links to at least two blogs under each Op-Ed where the discussion of the topic would be ongoing. The suggested process would be to have blogs from both ideologies addressing the offering. The writer of the NYT Op-Ed would be encouraged to participate in these discussions and compensated by the NYT for substative involvement.

9. All journalists and Op-Ed writers for the NYT (all sections) would be encouraged to participate in internet generated discussion throughout the blogosphere on pieces they produce. In addition, certain blogs (on a rotating basis) would be permitted to reproduce pieces in full (as opposed to an excerpt) to generate interest and discussion. The Fair Use Doctrine is void when a commercial venture is realized (blog collects revenue via advertising on the blog, or donations; LA Times v. Free Republic). However, with permission the reproduction of the full article will generate interest for the NYT and the blog...and a form of revenue sharing can be contracted in advance.

10. Guest writers (primarily Op-Ed) can be solicited from the blogosphere on topics in which they excell. To this point, the NYT and other newspapers have not made a real effort to co-exist with the internet. They have failed to tap into what could be a vast resource (not only of information) but also of revenue via captive readers to specific blogs.

11. For God's Sake...New York City has an absolutely wonderful collection of sports teams, individual atheletes and one of the most loyal fan bases on the planet. CREATE A PREMIER SPORTS SECTION!!!

12. New York has a great reputation for fasion, lifestyle and entertainment, but the NYT relies on self-important and self-proclaimed experts to present their views. The problem is that they fail to tap the resources available to them. How many members of the entertainment industry live in the Upper East Side? Who wouldn't want an inside story or two from actors who happen to be native New Yorker's? How about a human interest story penned by some of the fashion greats once in a while? Instead, we are stuck with ecclectic and elitist drivel from prunes and plows.

13. ENOUGH WITH THE LEAKING OF CONFIDENTIAL AND CLASSIFIED REPORTS!!!



I could go on and on and on. But, to summarize...the NYT could really be a gold mine if someone understood transparency, understood the demographics of their customers...but more importantly realized that the current ideology of the NYT voids an entire market of potential consumers (likely much larger than the current readership and circulation). When circulation increases, advertising rates increase. In addition, if the readership includes both sides of the aisle, the potential advertising base increases as well. Folks on the left do, indeed, purchase different products from those on the right.

Also, there needs to be an innovative effort made to make the blogs benefit the "big media." I provide just a scant portion of views in that regard. There are many (not yet tapped).

Above all...the NYT lost its reputation for straight informative and factual news. She traded in on liberal ideology. The first step in making her profitable is making her trustworthy. That is an earned reward...and the revenue would follow.

Motivation of the means...

The American Thinker has a piece up highlighting Li Xing's evaluation of climate change after attending the Copenhagen fiasco:

It is amazing that Chinese media examine what has recently come out revealing IPCC "mistakes" and conclude more serious examination of its work is in order. Yet the American mainstream media brush aside such concerns seeking to keep an obvious political agenda alive.

As, contributor, John McLaughlin, points out, the US Media is AWOL on the issue of "hide and decline."

The New York Times has a piece out today showing that China is surpassing everyone in "Clean Energy" production and research.

China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.

These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.

I suspect that Global Warming is not the motivation for this exploration. Rather, dominating the world economy and being able to breathe in downtown Bejing without hacking up a lung is more likely...

Curt Schilling on the AGW lemming mentality...

You lemmings that scream as loud as you can, just because. Think about this. If the evidence IS so overwhelming and the science is irrefutable, why would there EVER be a reason to fabricate ANY data? Wouldn’t the overwhelming evidence be RIGHT IN FRONT OF US? Would the data be so concrete we couldn’t debate it? Why would these ‘top scientists’ lie? Hide data? You do those things because you ARE lying and you ARE hiding the facts because both the DATA and the FACTS go against the arguments you are making, that’s why.

Curt Schilling, apparently, has taken up tennis after baseball.

That is GAME, SET, and MATCH...my friends.