Sunday, April 13, 2008

Line o' the day: Answer me this

 
Victor Davis Hanson:

The question is not why Pennsylvanians "cling to their religion", but why do the Obamas still cling to the Trinity Church that seems far more extreme than anything I've seen in rural America.

Hat tips: Gateway Pundit and Larwyn

Imitation is the sincerest form of audacity

 
I'd missed this January catch by Taylor Marsh.

"They're trying to bamboozle you. It's the same old okie-doke. Y'all know about okie doke, right? ... They try to bamboozle you. Hoodwink ya. Try to hoodwink ya. Alright, I'm having too much fun here. ... "
--Barack Obama


"You've been hoodwinked. You've been had. You've been took. You've been led astray, led amok. You’ve been bamboozled."  
--Malcolm X

Well, you know what they say. The dreams of my father get the worm. Or, the audacious early bird gets the hope. Or... oh, forget it.

Don't miss: Mahogany Girl has the essential video.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Painting from a Pennsylvania Church confirms Obama was right

 
Barack Obama may have been right when he said:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Why is Obama right?

Here's an exclusive snapshot of a painting I located in a small town Pennsylvania church. The artwork is entitled Jesus guards a Rio Grande border crossing.

Hat tip: Pass the Ammo. Linked by: Jules Crittenden, who has a great roundup. Thanks! Do check out: Ace, Fausta, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ("You’re all a bunch of ignorant, xenophobic, fundie hicks, but that’s okay, because you little people can’t help it"), Michelle and STACLU.

Best of the First Quarter 2008 posts


Actually, the left column has some of my favorite posts from the first quarter of 2008. The right column has some older articles that are ready for the archives.


Star Trek: The Olbermann Gambit



Ten Worst Brands of All Time



China introduces new Olympic sports



Hero of Bosnia



Hillary hits the red button



More things change, the more they stay the same



Convicts await stoning deaths in Nigeria



No country for young men



796 (Superdelegates, not Spartans)



ADAA presents: Super Tuesday Bowl 2008



Iran TV: Naval Victory over Great Satan



John Edwards love child saga and the MSM



Al Gore: Set to Profit from Eco-Suckaz... again



"I'm having a conversation. With sock-puppets."



CNN reveals a 'safe house' -- and more!



SCHIP for Dummies (and others)



Hurricane Paul threatens to swamp campaign



The Adventures of Barack Obama



A Senator faces a reporter's inquiry: 2036



Google Street Views: Beltway Edition


"I was born in a small town" as sung by the Obama family

 
Well, I'm no Don Surber, but here goes.

Well, I was born in a small town
been laid off in a small town
jobs are gone in a small town
Oh these are calamities

All my guns are so small town
My church is in the same small town
My fears are so small town
Provides little diversity

Indoctrinated in a small town
Taught to fear others in a small town
Antipathy in that small town
Another boring misogynist that's me

I been bitter in a small town
Called a quitter in a small town
Fell through the Bush economy in this small town
Chicken's come home to roost y'see

No, I cannot forget we are strugglin' and run down
I cannot forget scapin' by, my family
Yeah, we are just jammed up here in this small town
And doggone it, I'm young, just forty-four baby!

Got nothing against a big town
Except immigrants causin' low pay
No religion in the big town
Just us rednecks in a small town

Well, I was born in a small town
And taught to hate in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
Unless Obama comes to rescue me...

Linked by: Dr. Sanity's Carnival of the Insanities and Lynyrd Surber. Thanks! Major props to Just One Minute and Larwyn for the idea.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the apology

 
Gateway Pundit reveals the latest Vets for Freedom ad.


Michael Yon -- the man with the most experience reporting from Iraq -- has specific recommendations for 'The Surge'.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Child-rearing tips o' the day: Do's and don'ts with babies

 
A few choice tips from the bestselling Safe Baby Handling Tips ("Simple diagrams help you appear *confident *capable *experienced *not idiotic").











Amazon: Safe Baby Handling Tips.

Chavez pitches Africa on Nationalizing the Oil Industry

 
Venezuela's deputy foreign minister has counseled African governments to emulate Venezuela and nationalize the oil industry.

...Reinaldo Bolivar speaking in Senegal has advised African nations to nationalize their oil resources in order to fight poverty and follow the example of Venezuela.

Africa currently produces 15% of the world’s oil and according to Bolivar “Africa's oil is plundered by multinationals: they sell it very expensively even here" he suggested that by pooling resources Africa could supply its own market.

Bolivar went on to say "There are some things for (African countries) to learn: the principal of nationalization of our basic industries, our natural resources in Venezuela, is something we consider necessary for our riches to benefit the people..."

Rather than look to Chavez' failed economy -- which has nationalized the oil, steel, and cement industries, to name but a few -- Africans should closely examine Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Mugabe nationalized a far simpler enterprise than oil: land use for farming. The result was an utter disaster.

Mugabe's land reform program was supposed to redistribute among poor blacks large commercial farms owned by about 4,500 whites that covered 80 percent of Zimbabwe's best land. Instead, he used the farms to extend his patronage system, giving them to ruling party leaders, security chiefs, relatives and friends.

Zimbabwe had been a major food exporter until then, but its agricultural sector collapsed and the economy started unraveling. Today, a third of Zimbabweans depend on international food handouts, and another third have fled abroad looking for work or political asylum...

AlertNet adds:

Zimbabwe is in the grip of its worst humanitarian crisis since independence. Twenty years ago the country was hailed as an African success story and dubbed the "breadbasket" of southern Africa. Now its economy is in tatters and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates a third of the population faces food shortages...

...Zimbabwe now has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world and one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates. Just under 25 percent of people aged 15-49 are HIV-positive, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

And with the economy in shreds, unemployment is running at an estimated 70 percent. Inflation is also rampant, standing at 164.3 percent in the year to June 2005...

Yes, it's another success story for socialism!

And remember: when Democrats advocate ever greater government control -- of the oil industry or increased taxes -- they are putting America on the road to economic disaster.

How many case studies do we need before Democrats get the point?

Why women live longer than men: a photo essay

 
A man stands on a bucket supported by a ladder. Stability is assured by the other man -- also standing on a ladder -- who holds the bucket.

The odds of all these connections all being right? About the same odds that Jean-Claude Van Damme will pick up an Oscar next year.

Doesn't look like anything can go wrong here.

It's not a violation of the seatbelt laws if it's a dead body.

Yes, that's a canoe sitting unsecured in a moving flatbed truck. And the occupant isn't wearing a life preserver.

I hope this excavation was worth it. Like digging up platinum-covered diamonds for instance.

Trucks are overrated.



These must be the same guys who did the junction box.

Who needs a jack when we've got rocks?

Note the sign that says Clearance (inset). Maybe it was too high to be read.

The force of the bungee cord is strong with you, my son.

Hey, there was no warning sign on the bridge that said trucks not allowed!

Hey, there was no warning sign on the chair that said not to stick my head through it!

Here's the plan: you hold it real still while I pound it in with a sledgehammer while standing on the 'dozer.

New stackable bucket-ladder from Ronco!

And they say women are bad drivers?

Heavy Duty Chainsaws: they're not just for experienced professionals any more!

Hat tip: Sean