Sunday, January 06, 2008

Your very own 'Ticked-Off Hillary' Gallery

 
Some vidcaps from the point in last night's debate that everyone's talking about: Hillary showing rage, fear and oh-so-shrill whininess. My life flashed before my eyes and I felt an impending sense of doom. Thankfully it passed after I took some Tums.

Here's a rush transcript. It may not be 100% accurate because I was nauseous during the segment.

Now wait a minute! Wait a minute!!

Making change is not about what you believe!

It's about making change!

Change!

Change!

Change!

I have 35 years of experience changing things! That's why things are the way they are!

What we need is someone who can deliver change! And electing the same people, over and over again, means change in my book.

I been changing like a chameleon for 35 years now! B***ches!


* * *

Like I said, it may not be completely accurate.

Also see: Hillary advisers fear N.H. loss

Free Mark Steyn!

 
Mark Steyn and Macleans Magazine stand accused of offending the human rights of Osgood Hall law students and the Canadian Islamic Congress for publishing excerpts of the book America Alone.

According to the Ottawa Citizen's John Robson, complaints have been filed with the first three Canadian Human Rights commissions. The first two have agreed to "launch inquiries" and the third is reportedly undecided.

1) Canadian Human Rights Commission
344 Slater Street, 8th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1E1, Canada
Telephone: (613) 995-1151  
Feedback: Contact form
Commissioners: Jennifer Lynch, Q.C. - Chief Commissioner, David Langtry - Deputy Commissioner, Aimable Ndejuru, Carol McDonald, Harish Chand Jain

2) British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
1170 - 605 Robson Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5J3, Canada
Telephone: (604) 775-2000
Feedback: Contact form
Email: BCHumanRightsTribunal@gov.bc.ca
Tribunal members: Chair Heather MacNaughton, Tonie Beharrell, Barbara Humphreys, Barbara Junker, Lindsay Lyster, Diane MacLean, Ana Mohammed, Kurt Neuenfeldt, Abraham Okazaki, Judith Parrack, Marlene Tyshynski

3) Ontario Human Rights Commissions
180 Dundas Street W. 7th Floor, Toronto ON M7A 2R9
Telephone: (416) 326-9511 (Human Rights Office)
Telephone: (416) 314-4500 (Head Office)
Email: info@ohrc.on.ca
Commissioners: Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall, Patrick Case, Pierre Charron, Ruth Goba, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Alana Klein, Raja Khouri, Fernand Lalonde, Christiane Rabier, Ghulam Abbas Sajan, Bhagat Taggar, Richard Théberge, Maggie Wente, Albert Wiggan

Let them know -- politely -- where you stand.

Let them have nukes!

 
Headline from Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency:

Supreme Leader: Martyrs are source of pride for Iran, mankind

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said here Thursday that martyrs are source of pride both for Iranian nation and today's generation worldwide.

In a meeting with a group of bereaved families of martyrs, Ayatollah Khamenei called the martyrs' families roots of the tall and strong tree of Iran's Islamic establishment and said Islam has been revived in three decades after triumph of Iran's Islamic Revolution thanks to the country's popular movement and devotion of martyrs' families...

"The immense and historical event of Islam's renaissance and awakening of Muslim ummah are due to blessed movement of Iranian people and devotion of martyrs' families. Its (Islam's) progress in the three decades (after triumph of Iran's Islamic evolution) is equal to (revival of Islam) in 100 years," said Ayatollah Khamenei...

Supporting homicide bombers... funding and promoting worldwide terrorism... providing the material, intelligence and personnel to kill American troops... promising to destroy the U.S., the U.K., and Israel... chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel"... acquiring nuclear weapons...

Go back to sleep, li'l Democrats. Nothing to see here.

Line o' the day: Keep your head on a swivel, Nancy Benac

 
Gateway Pundit wins our oh-so-prestigious Line o' the Day award.

Nancy Benac of the Associated Press may want to sleep over at a friend's house tonight after this pieceon the Clintons...

In a presidential race where the Democratic candidates are competing as agents of change, Hillary Rodham Clinton's most reliable campaign prop is something of a political relic — her husband.

The former president was at her side to help put the best face on her third-place finish Thursday in Iowa, and he was beside her again when dawn broke the next day on the final push to Tuesday's New Hampshire primary... "I was never more proud of Hillary in all the days we've been together and all the days of this campaign than when she gave that speech in Iowa," the ex-president told New Hampshire voters.

No loyal spouse would say any less.

..."Senator Clinton needs to make this campaign about her vision, her plans and her strengths," says Brazile... The candidate's husband, meanwhile, tends to ramble on about himself.

[and] since when did Bill Clinton become a "loyal spouse"?

Apparently, Nancy's never heard the term 'Arkancide' before.

In 1992, the LA Times reported:

[Clinton friend and state medical examiner Dr. Fahmy] Malak's controversial rulings include:

* ...On June 28, 1985, Raymond P. Allbright, 50, of Mountain Home was found in his yard dead of gunshot wounds. Allbright had been arrested the night before on charges of theft. Malak ruled his death a suicide.

But Allbright had been shot five times; all five shots were in the chest. The weapon was a high-powered pistol. "We think," says Maggie Hall, Allbright's ex-wife, "he was murdered..."

* ...On Aug. 23, 1987, Kevin Ives, 17, and Don Henry, 16, were run over by a train near the town of Alexander. They had been lying squarely on the tracks. Malak ruled that they had been smoking marijuana and dozed off and had slept as the onrushing freight train bore down.

But a second autopsy indicated that Henry had been stabbed in the back, that Ives had been struck on the skull and that both boys probably had been placed on the tracks unconscious, maybe already dead.

A grand jury overruled Malak: The boys had been murdered...

Keep your head on a swivel, Nancy.

Illustration: Lil' Freeper

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Create your own letter to the New York Times!

 
Matthew Sheffield, writing at Newsbusters, introduces us to the New York Times' favorite letter writer: faux Republican Henry Lowenstein.

..."lifelong Republican" Henry A. Lowenstein, ...has managed to get 20 different letters published in the New York Times since 2003, a remarkable feat when you consider that the Times (by its own admission) receives around 1,000 letters a day and prints only 15 on its letters page. That means the odds of the average liberal person (the paper freely admits it favors left-wing letter writers) getting his or her letter printed are about 1.5 percent.

It's worse when you think of the numbers on a yearly scale. In the past five years, the Times has received approximately 1.8 million letters. It's printed 20 of Lowenstein's...

To help our readers get their letters printed in the Times, we offer the following easy-to-use template. Just follow the instructions, make your choices, send your letter in, and wait for the calls from friends and neighbors.

To the Editors:

As a lifelong Republican until the presidency of George W. Bush, I am:

(a) shocked and saddened
(b) ashamed and disgusted
(c) embarrassed and horrified
(d) nauseous and flatulent

by the loss of:

(a) civil rights
(b) personal liberty
(c) societal values
(d) Celine Dion

and the:

(a) general apathy
(b) stultifying morass
(c) decrepit morals
(d) fiscal leprosy

that this country has sunk into. As I travel around the world and speak to peoples of all races, religions and social standing, it is painfully obvious that we have become a:

(a) global pariah.
(b) murderous imperialistic regime.
(c) 21st century version of the Deathstar.
(d) thuggish gang of Crusaders and Jews.

We have allowed this administration to:

(a) lie, cheat, break the law, and to break its sacred oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.
(b) send "disloyal" journalists to concentration camps and execute scores of Hollywood celebrities
(c) serve rubbery fried calimari and stale weiner-dogs at White House receptions.
(d) fondle interns in the White House, sell missile secrets to the Chinese, pardon terrorists, and fail to defend America.

As we go forward into 2008 I remain confident that America will elect a president who will return us to

(a) our precious values and help us take back the moral high ground
(b) the Internet boom, Y2K, the USS Cole, the first World Trade Center explosion and the Khobar Towers
(c) the days of the Andrews Sisters, the '57 Cadillac, and the Brooklyn Dodgers
(d) legal bikini Jello wrestling on free TV

from which we can lead the world. The true greatness of America is that we will probably survive eight years and two so-called election victories by G. W. Bush.

Henry A. Loweinstein, New York

Hat tip: LGF's cool new feature -- 'Spinoff Links'

Don't hate the playa. Hate the game, baby!

 
Over the holidays I dropped our family's old cellphone service and signed a new contract with T-Mobile. The fam had been complaining about coverage in our local area and with one off at college -- who was complaining, too -- it was time to switch. I visited several nearby phone stores including Verizon and T-Mobile.

T-Mo had a plan for four lines, 2000 minutes, unlimited text messaging, and unlimited Internet for my phone for about $150 (before taxes). The equivalent plan from Verizon was quoted at around $220. Seriously. Roughly a 50% premium for -- drum roll, please -- "the network." And with a previous, painful Verizon experience still stuck in my craw, I decided to punt on VZ and try T-Mo.

My kids picked out a couple of cool phones (the collegiate selected a Motorola W490 and the high-schooler chose a Nokia 5300. They both picked out a pink Moto RAZR for my wife (color appeared to be more important for all of them than functionality).

I selected a Blackberry 8320, upgrading from an 8700 and a prior 7290.

Couple of things I'll mention. First of all, T-Mo's customer service has been stellar thus far -- in stark contrast to prior cellphone providers. I can get a human on the line in seconds and, shockingly, it's a knowledgeable human. Chalk one up for T-Mo.

Second, prepare to spring for a MicroSD card for each phone that needs to play music. A MicroSD is similar to the SD card you use in a digital camera, but much smaller and usually cheaper as well. I ordered several 2GB models for $19 apiece from Amazon.

Regarding the Blackberry: if you liked the 8700 model, you'll love the 8320. Granted, the network is still the mediocre 2G EDGE, capable of maybe 150Kbps on a good day. However, there's a bonus feature that the other carriers seem to have disabled or ignored: 802.11 wi-fi connectivity. And, unlike the iPhone, you can actually use the wi-fi for voice (though T-Mo dings you for the minutes connected using UMA unless you have an unlimited UMA plan for $19.95 a month).

I didn't spring for UMA, but the wi-fi comes in real handy for surfing the 'net. Many of the buildings that have a steel roof or other barriers to good cell coverage also happen to have free wireless hotspots (like my health club, for instance). So I get blazing data speeds -- far better than the 300Kbps that I typically get on my Verizon EV-DO aircard, for instance. Yes, I know Verizon says that EV-DO Rev. A will do "speed bursts of up to 2.0Mbps." After numerous speed checks using several performance testing sites, I can safely report I've never seen faster than 330Kbps.

The only major hassle with the 8320: RIM didn't bother to include a holster with it. What crackhead in Marketing came up with that brilliant decision? I've never seen a Blackberry that didn't arrive with a useful holster... until now. So be prepared to fumble around with your device until buy one.

Here's the only troubleshooting I did. I happened to install Google Mobile Maps (only about three trillion times better than any freaking service provided by anyone else). After the installation, it asked if I would allow the connection to google.com. My finger slipped and I accidentally hit "Deny" rather than "Allow."

Trouble. Real trouble. Every time I clicked on Google Maps, nothing happened. No error message, no prompt, nothing. I uninstalled, rebooted the device, reinstalled, changed application permissions to allow everything, you name it. After plenty of web surfing, I finally discovered the solution to the problem. Basically, you need to reset your firewall prompts. Anytime those prompts come up when you load a new application always be careful to allow the connection, otherwise the app won't work. Ever again.

So for those Google surfers who are looking for a solution (one which I found extremely difficult to find), here are the directions:

* Options >> Advanced Options >> Applications >> highlight Google Maps, hit menu, select Edit Permissions >> hit menu again, select "Reset Firewall Prompts"

* Do a hard reboot (pull the battery after shutting down, then re-insert after 15 seconds)

Now run Google Maps again and select allow access -- carefully, this time! Special thanks to John Clark of Blackberry Forums for this solution, by the way. Just a note for RIM, this appears to be a relatively serious bug in the Blackberry firmware: when you uninstall an application, all of its permissions should be removed as well.

As an aside, Google Maps is about the coolest freaking cellphone app you can imagine. Not only can you get satellite views, real-time traffic illustrations, and turn-by-turn directions, GOOG recently added "My Location." Even though the carriers have disabled GPS on most of their phones (they want to charge you a monthly fee for the service), Google uses your cell tower locations to estimate your location. Yes. It's just that cool.

Blackberry 8320 Review: after a couple of weeks with the 8320, I've got to give it two thumbs up. It's a jewel. So don't hate the playa, baby! Hate the game!

Today's Dear Hillary...

 
Dear Hillary, My husband is a very wealthy criminal philanthropist who had to flee the country due to some misunderstandings about certain "illegal" contracts with various foreign governments. I desperately want to see my husband again. What should I do?

Sincerely, Denise

Hillary answers: Dear Denise, If I'm elected President, I pledge to fight injustices like this one, even if it takes issuing a pardon for your husband. My recommendation is a $500,000 contribution to the DNC and a $1 million contribution to my husband's Presidential Library and Disco Lounge. Not that there's any sort of quid pro quo, of course. Because that would be illegal.

Kisses, Hillary

* * *

Dear Hillary, My husband went to prison when he was wrongly convicted of being one of three men who violently assaulted two females. He is an innocent man and was sentenced to 130 years! Now, we think there is new DNA evidence that will prove he was not one of the three men involved in the crime. We don't have any money, but are wondering if you can help?

Sincerely, Theresa

Hillary answers: Sounds like your husband is S.O.L. Tough break, kid!

L.O.L., Hillary

* * *

Dear Hillary, If you become President, I would like to become good friends with you. I have no ulterior motives whatsoever other than promoting a lasting friendship between the citizens of the United States and China. And if our peaceful peoople can get access to sensitive missile technologies along the way, so much the better! As you know, we have access to vast amounts of money and resources. We look forward to building our relationship with you!

Sincerely, General Zhu Chenghu

Hillary answers: Dear General Zhu, so lovely to hear from you! My personal take is that for a friendship to flourish, it requires a commitment by both parties involved. In your case, nothing says commitment like a $1 million check made out to the Democratic National Committee, through whatever appropriate cutouts make that sort of thing legal, of course. As for my commitment to you, look forward to an invitation to the White House after I take office. We can discuss deepening our countries' relationship and those missile thingies.

Cheerio! Hillary

Barack Obama backs a Taliban Supporter in Kenya

 
Sarah Hussein Obama of Kenya, Barack Obama’s stepgrandmother, is a lifelong Muslim. “I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,” she says.

So noted an April 2007 New York Times profile of Barack Obama. Kenya is in the news again and, like much of Africa, the reports are horrifying.

This past weekend, women and children -- entire families -- were burned alive as a crowd of Kenyans torched a church where they had gathered to protect themselves.

The violence broke out after a disputed election in which populist challenger Raila Odinga was defeated. Odinga had even hired Dick Morris as a consultant. Jack Wheeler writes:

When Raila Odinga lost the presidential election last week (12/27) to Mwai Kibaki, he claimed the vote was rigged, whereupon his tribal followers went on murderous rampages such as in the town of Eldoret, where on New Years Day dozens of people were burned to death in a church set on fire... Throughout Kenya, hundreds of people have been politically murdered in the last few days.

...Raila has now made a deal for support from the Soviets' successors as world-champion enemies of the West and democratic freedoms: Muslim fundamentalists... The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya has posted on its website a photograph copy of a Memorandum of Understanding, dated and signed on August 29, 2007, between Raila Odinga and Shiekh Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya...

It pledges the support of Kenyan Moslems for Raila's election. In return, as President of Kenya, Raila agrees to 14 actions, listed a) through n) on page two. Read them all, and be sure you're sitting down. Here's a sample:

b) Within 6 months re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shariah as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions.

g) Within one year facilitate the establishment of a Shariah court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters. [Note: everywhere in Kenya, not just in "Muslim declared regions."]

...And here is the biggest non-surprise: Raila Odinga has, in his own words, a "close personal friendship" with Barrack Hussein Obama Junior. When Obama went to Kenya in August of 2006, he was hosted by Raila and spoke in praise of him at rallies in Nairobi... Obama’s bias for his fellow Luo was so blatant that a Kenya government spokesman denounced Obama during his visit as Raila’s “stooge.”

It gets worse. If you read through the agreement that Obama's friend signed with the National Muslim Leaders Forum, you'll find that Kenya is destined to turn into an African version of Talibanistan.

* "Popularize Islam, the only true religion... by ordering every primary school in Kenya in the regions to conduct daily Madrassa classes."
* "Impose a total ban on open-air gospel crusades by worshippers of the cross..."
* "Outlaw gospel programs... on KBC, the National Broadcaster."
* "Impose a total ban on the public consumption of alcoholic beverages..."
* "Impose an immediate ban on women's public dressing styles that are considered immoral and offensive to the Muslim faith..."

Obama's friend, in other words, is setting the stage for a transformation of Kenya into a Muslim state, similar to that which governed Afghanistan during the days of the Taliban.

Note that the mainstream media hasn't reported a single word regarding the true nature of Kenya's unrest -- nor Obama's involvement with Odinga and the onset of a Taliban-style Sharia law in Kenya.

Linked by: Atlas and Jammie Wearing Fool. Thanks!
Hat tips: Atlas and Larwyn. Also see: All Africa: Churches And Muslim Leaders Urge Rejection of Contentious Mou, Dr. Bulldog and Ronin: Kenya Turmoil a Test for Obama, Muslim Tensions Rise and Churches Burn; Kenya: Muslims Push for Sharia. Sarah Hussein Obama photo: New York Times

Friday, January 04, 2008

Hillary's pulling out all of the stops in New Hampshire!

 
Just saw this ad in the Pansuckett (NH) Herald-Gazette Leader Dispatch.


Also see: American Thinker, Don Surber and Gateway Pundit.

More proof that the Lancet "Study" is birdcage liner

 
Remember the "Lancet Study"?

This was the controversial report, released in 2006, that claimed over 4 kazillion jillion Iraqi civilians had died at the hands of American troops. Or something like that.

As the London Times noted in 2007, Lancet refused to release the data used to fuel the study. So there was absolutely no way to validate or refute their assertions.

Gateway Pundit spotlights the latest Lancet-debunking news:

The powerful and revered Iraqi spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani issued a statement in September blasting the foreign press for, "Exaggerating about the reports of deaths and explosions and depicting them in a way as if tribal war is underway in Iraq." It was the first time that the Ayatollah attacked the foreign press.

But it probably won't be the last time.

Today, The National Journal dismantles this bogus study further:

Three weeks before the 2006 midterm elections gave Democrats control of Congress, a shocking study reported on the number of Iraqis who had died in the ongoing war. It bolstered criticism of President Bush and heightened the waves of dread -- here and around the world -- about the U.S. occupation of Iraq...

...Over the past several months, National Journal has examined the 2006 Lancet article... probed the problems of estimating wartime mortality rates; and interviewed the authors and their critics... NJ has identified potential problems with the research that fall under three broad headings: 1) possible flaws in the design and execution of the study; 2) a lack of transparency in the data, which has raised suspicions of fraud; and 3) political preferences held by the authors and the funders, which include George Soros's Open Society Institute.

George Soros? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Update: LGF: it's the final nail in the coffin for the Lancet pile of manure "study".

Andrew Olmsted, Rest In Peace

 
Milblogger Andrew Olmsted was killed yesterday during an ambush in Iraq. He had a blog post prepared for just such an event.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war." --Plato

"And maybe now it's your turn... To die kicking some ass." --Freedom Isn't Free, Team America

What I don't want this to be is a chance for me, or anyone else, to be maudlin. I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.) I had a pretty good life, as I noted above. Sure, all things being equal I would have preferred to have more time, but I have no business complaining with all the good fortune I've enjoyed in my life. So if you're up for that, put on a little 80s music (preferably vintage 1980-1984), grab a Coke and have a drink with me. If you have it, throw 'Freedom Isn't Free' from the Team America soundtrack in; if you can't laugh at that song, I think you need to lighten up a little. I'm dead, but if you're reading this, you're not, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact...

Please read it all.

Dan Riehl and the Weekly Standard have more.

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by. That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

One of Hillary's favorite "Hillraisers" gets three years in prison

 
Just in time for the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton's key donation bundler -- Norman Hsu -- is in the news again.

A judge on Friday sentenced disgraced political donor Norman Hsu to three years in state prison... Hsu also faces federal fraud charges in New York...


His troubles began dogging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other big-name Democrats last summer when news reports revealed he was a fugitive who fled the state before he was sentenced for the 1992 fraud conviction. He turned himself in on Aug. 31 -- then fled again...

It looks like Hillary's adding to her already formidable record book. And just what is it with the Clintons, China and satellites, anyhow?

Hat tips: Jammie Wearing Fool and Michelle Malkin

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Kay Bailey Hutchison tells America to go f itself

 
The Bulletin calls our attention to an outrageous amendment tacked on to the recent omnibus spending bill. The amendment guts the requirements of the 2006 Secure Fence Act that had authorized hundreds of miles of border fence.

In a quiet act of defiance, the Senate approved a $555 billion omnibus spending bill that removed legal requirements mandating the federal government fund 854 miles of a double layer border fence spanning America’s southwestern border... When the spending bill, which combines appropriations for a number of federal agencies, reached the Senate, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) attached S.Amdt. 2466 to the measure in order to silently gut the SFA’s spending requirement.

The Hutchison amendment reads, “Nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location.” Thus, critics argue the amendment results in a de facto repeal of the SFA.

“The Hutchison amendment gives DHS virtually total discretion over how and where the fence is built,” commented Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire.org. “In fact, DHS would not be required to build fencing in any particular location -- and the double-layer mandate is totally gone.”

A recent Time Magazine poll found that:

...most Americans, 56 to 40 percent, want a border wall built along Mexico and America... all the way across. 62 percent of Americans want the military to guard the border. 51 percent want all illegals deported, and the border sealed...

And the desire for better border control transcends party: both Democrats and Republicans are united on this issue.

Beltway hacks like Kay Bailey Hutchison are more interested in pleasuring big business than listening to what the vast majority of Americans want. It's just one more nail in the coffin of so-called "representative government."

Hat tip: Oscar Poppa

The 'Anybody-but-Hillary' Poll

 
Tom Maquire at Just One Minute takes note of the feverish "Anybody but Hillary" activities of sensible Democrats in Iowa.

I have long believed that Hilary could only win if the "Anybody But Hillary" Democrats (who I suspect are a majority of her party) failed to unite around a single alternative... it now appears that both Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson are asking their supporters to flock to the Obama banner as a second choice in the arcane Iowa Democratic caucusing procedure. ...If that support materializes, Obama will perform above his latest polls, which are already good.

Well - whether Obama wins by a little or a lot, Hillary will be the Terminator candidate. She can't be bargained with. She can't be reasoned with. She doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And she absolutely will not stop, ever... But that doesn't mean she can't be defeated. It'll just take a while, thereby compounding our angst and her ultimate humiliation...

A recent Rasmusen poll asked Americans to choose between Hillary and various other theoretical candidates. The results?

Hillary vs. Barry Bonds: Hillary wins by 6 points

Hillary vs. Josef Stalin: Hillary wins by 3 points

Hillary vs. Tipper Gore: Hillary loses by 12 points

Hillary vs. Johnny Quest: Hillary loses by 18 points

Hillary vs. Gumby: Hillary loses by 19 points

I hear Gumby is a fiscal conservative and is a very flexible thinker.

A sickening punchline

 
GM Roper provides some frightening health care news and commentary.

England's NHS (National Health Service) is considering the rationing of health care. This is nothing new and has been talked about numerous times as the Democrats and their leftish friends push for a National Health Care policy in these United States.

Tom Smith writing at The Right Coast notes that "There's something very strange going on in the UK. It's getting to the point where it's not even funny anymore." How right you are Tom, and it is only a peek at what will happen in the US if we impose NHC on ourselves.

As a health care provider I offer mental health services to all and sundry. I choose not to accept commercial insurance, but I am willing to complete the paperwork for a patient to send to his insurance company and receive reimbursement. The insurance is a contract between the patient and the company, not me. The only health insurance that I am willing to accept is Medicaid because I believe that the poorest among us also deserve quality care...

Seventy-five years ago, this issue wasn't even on the horizon. Most folk paid their medical bills via payments, barter or per visit on the spot. Then came the unions insisting that health insurance be a part of the negotiations and bingo, employer provided health insurance became the norm.

As time went on, more and more employers gave in to the idea, and as tort lawyers lobbed onto suing health care providers as a way to get rich quick (does John Edwards come to mind? Hmmmm?) a number of docs and other health care providers began ordering every imaginable test so that no one could say they weren't being zealous in their care of the patient. This of course has driven medical care costs through the roof, and subsequently health insurors began rationing care based on sometimes nothing more than a whim. For example, I once had an insurance company authorize only 3 sessions for a depressed patient and that was the limit, despite the patient's history of suicidal thinking. I was able to get that decision overturned, but only after many, many hours of negotiations and documentation. And people wonder why I don't take insurance anymore. Hah, I'd rather take 1/2 of my regular fee in cash than get the full fee after several hours of insurance required stuff...

What's the punchline?

Comptroller General of the United States David Walker recently gave a speech [stating]:

"...The Medicare program alone represents about $34 trillion of our current $53 trillion fiscal gap. If there is one thing in particular that could bankrupt America, it’s runaway health care costs. And don’t forget, the first "baby boomers" will begin to draw their early retirement benefits under Social Security in a couple of weeks! And, just three years later, they will be eligible for Medicare. When "baby boomers" begin to retire in big numbers, it will bring a tsunami of spending that, unlike most tsunamis, will never recede..."

Read the whole thing. And try not to get sick.

Email received by our screener

 
Enterprising Cub Reporter Biff Spackle screened this email and gave it a thumbs-up.

A very loud, unattractive, mean-acting woman walked into Wal-Mart with her two kids, yelling obscenities at them all the way through the entrance.

The Wal-Mart Greeter said pleasantly "Good morning, and welcome to Wal-Mart. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?"

The ugly woman stopped yelling long enough to say, "Hell no they ain't! The oldest one's nine and the other one's seven! Why the hell would you think they're twins? Are you blind? Or just stupid?"

"I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am," replied the greeter. "I just find it difficult to believe that someone engaged in carnal relations with you twice. Have a good day and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart."

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Excerpt from the Today Show's interview with Hillary Clinton

 
Here's an excerpt from the Today Show's softball interview with Hillary Clinton. Actually, the questions weren't softballs, they were whiffle-balls. Made of cardboard. Wet cardboard.

"Up close, the Senator and First Lady is natural, confident and warm."

Question: "Who are you, Hillary?..."

Question: "...At your core. At your very core."

Question: "Who are you and why do you believe you would be a good President..."

Question: "...and why do you even want to be President?

Answer: "I want to be President, because ---"

Answer: "-- at my core, I am a... a... ar r a.. a.. a... uhrg..."

Answer: "YOU DARE QUESTION MY MOTIVES, MORTAL? ALL THAT YOU KNOW, ALL THAT YOU DREAM, VERILY, ALL OF HUMANITY NEARS ITS END. FOR THE RIVER COCYTUS HAS BEGUN TO BOIL AND THE ACHERON HAS FLOODED ITS BANKS. THESE ARE THE SIGNS OUR MASTER'S RETURN IS NIGH.

THE LAMENTATIONS AND WOE OF MANKIND WILL SOON REACH A BLOODY CRESCENDO!

BOW YOUR HEAD, MORTAL, BOW YOUR HEAD FOR BEELZEBUB!!
"

Question: "Hillary? Hillary? Are you okay?"

Answer: "...uhm... urp... be- because I am an American, through and through..."


Answer: "...and I am so grateful for the opportunity, for all of the opportunities and blessings that I've had."

Hat tips: Dan Riehl and Larwyn

"Check your oil, ma'am?" "Yes, please, Congressman Hobson!"

 
Don Surber has a unique story of an rmark. It's too tiny to be a full-blown earmark, so I call it an rmark. Don says that in the world of pork barrels, this is "bacon bits." Even with its tiny scale, it's typical of the contempt in which Congress holds American taxpayers. That much is certain.

A gas station.

Not a refinery. Not a tanker terminal. A gas station.

...Welcome to the midget world of Republican Congressman Dave Hobson of Ohio. Nearly 25 years ago he almost — almost — ran out of gas in Wilberforce, Ohio... But on Dec. 27, old Hobson was finally able to fill 'er up at the brand new Speedway SuperAmerica at the Tawawa/Dave Hobson Plaza at the intersection of U.S. Route 42 and Brush Row Road.

Hobson was honored because he got an $800,000 federal grant so that Speedway would build a gas station there... Oh and the plaza also will have a little pizza shop.

Nice touch... Not only should Hobson be kicked out of Congress, but he should be kicked out of the Republican Party for being such a tiny tiny thinker.

Hobson recently announced his retirement effective January, 2009. I've got an idea where he could work for a while to pay off the debt for the Speedway station.

"Check your oil, ma'am?"

Nine Inches of Global Warming

 
In the brutal, snowy commute to work this morning, I passed a car that was struggling along in the slow lane. It was a sight I'd never seen before, over many years of harsh winter driving.

It was a new Maserati Quattroporte (MSRP approximately $120,000.00) slogging along on an slick, unplowed Interstate.

Here's my guess: this dude is a believer in global warming and, rather than buying a second vehicle (say, a Jeep Wrangler), he decided to buy carbon offsets instead.

Suggested reading: U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007 - Senate Report Debunks "Consensus"

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Border Stories

 
A study by the Mexican government reports that nearly 70% of its citizens who migrate to the Unites States do so illegally (i.e., without documents). Of that number, 55% hire smugglers to gain entry to the U.S.

According to Mexico's National Population Council, the majority of Mexicans now living in the U.S. -- 6.2 million -- entered the country illegally. The Mexican-born population living in the U.S. has swollen from 800,000 in 1970 to more than 11 million in 2006.

What about the fence that was authorized in 2006?


At this juncture, it's worth recalling the 2006 "Secure Fence Act," signed into law just before the midterm elections. It called for 700 miles of reinforced double fencing, additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras and sensors.

More than a year later, citizen watchdog group Grassfire reports that only five -- that's five -- miles of compliant fencing has been constructed. As for the other 99.3%, well?

As part of the omnibus spending package passed [in mid-December], House Democrats incorporated Senate Republicans' provisions to remove the two-layer fencing requirements and the specific target list of fencing locations...

Next time you hear a leading presidential candidate try to woo you with his nine-point immigration enforcement plan or his secure ID plan or his Secure Borders platform, point to the Incredible Disappearing Border Fence. ...That [disappearing act] is what happens to election-season homeland security promises. Why would theirs be any different?

What's worse is that this endemic, official disregard for border security has morphed into other malignancies.

On campus


During the November Democratic debate in Las Vegas, CNN was alleged to have portrayed Democratic Party operatives as "ordinary, undecided voters." One of the operatives was George Ambriz. Various blog and discussion board posts tied Ambriz to the Democratic Party and a group called MEChA.

...my name is George R. Ambriz, former student of Western New Mexico University, more importantly, a former M.E.Ch.A. President... we worked in sync... with the local and state Democratic Party to inform many people about the importance of voting...

What is MECHa?

MEChA chapters first took root on California college campuses and then expanded to high schools and schools in other states. It soon became one of the primary Mexican-American organizations, hosting functions, developing community leaders, and politically pressuring educational institutions. MEChA was fundamental in the adoption of Chicano Studies programs and departments in academia...

Much of the criticism of MEChA concerns its intent to "reclaim Aztlán" (i.e., the Southwestern portion of the United States).

...we are a Chicana and Chicano student movement directly linked to Aztlán. As Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán, we are a nationalist movement of Indigenous Gente that lay claim to the land that is ours by birthright. As a nationalist movement we seek to free our people from the exploitation of an oppressive society that occupies our land...

Put simply, MEChA's mission appears straightforward: overthrow the United States Government and establish a new form of government.

Summary


Let's sum up the wonderful state of border security.
  • Using the Mexican government's official count, over 6.2 million of its nationals entered the U.S. illegally, the majority utilizing smugglers to facilitate their entry.
  • During the runup to the '06 elections, 700 miles of a secure border fence were authorized. A year later, exactly five (5) miles have been completed.
  • And, from all appearances, it's perfectly acceptable for college campuses to sanction radical groups that intend the violent overthrow of the U.S. Government.
Remember this when voting in 2008.

Hat tip: Mike in Iraq. Also see:
* Hot Air: MS-13 vandalizes New Haven veterans' memorial?
* Hot Air: John McCain claims he's learned we need to enforce the borders
* Moonbattery: Aztlan