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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Separated at Birth: Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" and...?

An Inside View of Amazon...

Reddit had these Amazon photographs.  This is where your stuff is just before you purchase it from Amazon.  So go support a blogger and buy something from Zilla of the Resistance, The Other McCain, Instapundit, or some other Amazon affiliate conservative or libertarian blogger!   It costs you nothing and they get a commission.  Win win.  






Slow Motion Running Cheetah


A White House and Congressional budget deal emerging?

Los Rockin Devil's: Diablo Con Vestido Azul


Frankie Laine: Do not forsake me, my darling...


Monday, November 26, 2012

Not even the Pharaohs has such power...

Pharaoh Morsi
Mohammed ElBaradei is not very optimistic about the Muslim Brotherhood power grab.

While the Muslim Brotherhood is going to have to answer to the Egyptian people when the economy fails to recover, I am not as optimistic as Jackson Diehl.  Islamists go not care about any rule of law other than Sharia (although they can be just as kleptocratic as any secular leader).  They just have to make sure the economy does not get worse under their watch.  

Not a good night for Greenbay...

Not a good night for Greenbay...

Trooper York is happy.  

Catalonia votes to separate from Spain!

The Commodores: Nightshift


Sunday, November 25, 2012

A father's message to his adult children: You suck

Sometimes the truth hurts!  And you wonder why some adult voters are rather indifferent about the debt we are leaving to our children!
I can now tell you that I for one, and I sense Mum feels the same, have had enough of being forced to live through the never-ending bad dream of our children's underachievement and domestic ineptitudes. I want to hear no more from any of you until, if you feel inclined, you have a success or an achievement or a REALISTIC plan for the support and happiness of your children to tell me about. I don't want to see your mother burdened any more with your miserable woes — it's not as if any of the advice she strives to give you has ever been listened to with good grace — far less acted upon. So I ask you to spare her further unhappiness. If you think I have been unfair in what I have said, by all means try to persuade me to change my mind. But you won't do it by simply whingeing and saying you don't like it. You'll have to come up with meaty reasons to demolish my points and build a case for yourself. If that isn't possible, or you simply can't be bothered, then I rest my case.I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed.Dad
Of course it really sucks for the grandkids (assuming what dad is saying is true).  Not surprisingly two of the kids are not talking to dad, but one of them is (so here's to that).

Update:  Follow up, with photos...

h/t: Instapundit

Tabasco is good on everything...


Argo: Go see it...




I finally got to see this movie.  It is excellent.  It is well paced, acted and directed.  It manages to satirize Hollywood while being a real thriller (even though you know the ending).

It is not history.  The movie was fake, The mission was real is true for both their cover story in Iran and this film.  Affleck and the writers took some artistic license with the material.  It is (in my opinion) too generous to Jimmy Carter. Nevertheless, the basic story is true and Affleck does a great job capturing the era.

Here is the Wired story about the real rescue.

Dead Kennedys: California Über Alles


Saturday, November 24, 2012

Check out this lovely holiday carving set...


Isn't it nice?  I have seen this on lighting deals and I am sure Zilla, The Other McCain, or Instapundit would love it if you purchased through their Amazon widget (they get a small commission that does not cost you anything).

But if you do get the carving set, just don't stab a sibling or other family member in the neck with it.  Because you could end up spending your holidays in jail.

Here is another gift story.  A wife hinted that she wanted a new pair of shoes for Christmas, but her husband did not get them.  That evening, when they were lying in bed, he rolled over and placed his hand on her thigh in anticipation of something more.  She softly replied, "I am sorry, if you are not willing to shoe the horse, you do not get to ride her."  Let that be a holiday warning gentlemen!

And for the ladies, if you are on a tight budget this year I do have an alternative way to make your significant other happy for the entire year.  Just promise to call him Master.  It does not cost anything and, trust me, he will love it.

Looking for Opportunity: Go West (or East) Young Man...

The "go west" part still works, but unfortunately not the rest of it.

You may have to go farther than you think...
In the past, Americans often took foreign jobs for the adventure or because their career field demanded overseas work. Today, these young people are leaving because they can’t find jobs in the United States. They’re leaving because the jobs they do find often don’t offer benefits such as health insurance. They’re leaving because the gloomy atmosphere of the American economy makes it hard to break through with a new innovative idea or business model. “This is a huge movement,” says Bob Adams, president and chief executive of America Wave, an organization that studies overseas relocation.
I am all for working overseas, but that comment about breaking through with innovative ideas or business models is depressing.

As an expatriate you do get the first $95,100 tax free (at least from the IRS).  

What Mitt Romney lacked...

Instead of  Mitt Romney being like this...
Mitt Romney came off like this.














And I am (I hope obviously) not suggesting Mitt Romney needed to become Deanna Troi in appearance or (God forbid) décolleté.  Mitt needed to convey some of Deanna Troi's empathy.  There was not enough of this stuff shown.  This is really too bad because the truth is Mitt Romney is probably more empathetic to people than Barack Obama in real life. But in messaging, Mitt Romney failed to convey that and also let the Democrats define him as uncaring and cold.  So that messaging of Shamus the Dog on the roof of the car, Bain Capital, the 47%, was all about killing Romney's chances with those voters who ultimately went overwhelmingly with Barack Obama.  
Haidt’s research further elucidates the particular importance of care as a moral foundation. His study of anthropology and evolutionary theory led him to the conclusion that humanity possesses six moral foundations: care, fairness, liberty, authority, sanctity, and loyalty. In over 130,000 individual interviews on how relevant each of these moral foundations are to determining right and wrong, Haidt found that conservatives respond to each of them whereas the center and the left appreciate essentially only two: care and fairness.
With the shrinkage of the Republican base by 9 percent over the last few years increasing the importance of attracting voters beyond the base, it is critical that Republicans frame the discussion of their policies in the context of these two moral foundations that resonate with the entire country. That, or they can slip into permanent minority status. 
Rick Perry did not do well in the GOP Primaries.  But Governor Perry is promoting policies that are conservative, pragmatic and also convey that he gets what voters are facing out there.  That is very important.  I am not saying Gov. Perry should be our next nominee (that is not my point).  What I am saying is who ever we run in 2016 needs to recognize how important reaching out to all voters is.    

I know Spiderman is a patriot...

but you do not have to do that to Uncle Sam to prove it.


RIP Larry Hagman

The Blaze has Hagman Highlights

Update:
Moe Lane:  How Dallas Changed Romania...
More from Twitchy

Louis Prima: I wanna be like you

Friday, November 23, 2012

For a guy who did poorly during the primaries, Rick Perry is looking pretty smart now...


This is an excellent idea.  With on line classes, there is no reason why a basic liberal arts degree need to cost the equivalent of a home mortgage.  We do students no favors by getting them sometimes hundreds of thousand of dollars in debt to get a college education (especially in the Obama job market desert).  For most students, they would be far better off financially by not getting saddled with massive undergraduate school debt.

And this also puts pressure on universities to start lowering tuition over all, which has been growing much faster than inflation.

Update:
I knew Instapundit would be on this issue soon enough...

Life of Pi




I saw the film last night.  Ang Lee does a very decent job using technology to bring that novel to the screen (the story drives the computer animation, rather than the other way around).  The cinematography is outstanding.  My criticism is it is hard to fit that novel into a two hour movie.  I do not want to give it away if you haven't read the book, but in the movie's the first half never fully reconciles with the second half.  But if you liked the novel, go see the film.

Update:
Open Blogger at AoSHQ has a post on the film. The film did not sway me that way, but he has a point.  

What is old is new again...





The Muslim Brotherhood manages to strengthen its grip on Egypt. The U.S. agrees to increase troop presence in Sinai?

President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood grant themselves sweeping dictatorial powers in Egypt
Did this ceasefire really help the Unites States or Israel?  I have to agree with Debka on this:  I do not see how Israel benefitted.

Egyptian Christians and liberals are protesting but it seems like they lost any chance to control their destinies going forward with this power move by the Muslim Brotherhood.  And while the United States could influence things in Egypt (since that country is so dependent on U.S. aid), the Obama regime seems intent on strengthening Morsi's position.

Debka is also reporting that President Barack Obama just agreed to increase U.S. troop presence in Sinai as part of this deal (I do not recall U.S. media reporting on that part of the settlement)?

Betting too heavily on Morsi.

Update:
Meet your new Pharaoh, same as the old Pharaoh!

Actually not the old kleptocracy Pharaoh, now an Islamic Sharia kleptocracy Pharaoh!  

Lou Monte: Pepino The Italian Mouse


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Vintage Macy Thanksgiving Parade

Most of these photographs are from the 1930s and 40s.  I love the old balloons.  The parade did not run during the peak of World War II.  The balloons have also not been allowed when winds are high.   A few of the photographs may be before the 1930s and 40s and some are obviously after that.
Mayor Bloomberg?


Eddie Cantor
That is just awesome...is it evolving with those arm fins?
Or is it deflating, making fins seem like arms?


This is supposed to be a dragon, but it is fabulous cat or anything you want...




I can see how clowns freak some people out...




No hitchhiking!







Turkeys can fly!