Friday Follies Happy Hour 2015.12.18

Next Friday is Christmas! That means it's time for my favorite Christmas song.





As a special added bonus, here's a short video that has also become one of my Christmas favorites. It's juvenile, in poor taste, but hilarious. Swallow any liquid before viewing.

You've been warned.

Know The Enemy

The following Letter to the Editor appeared in the Dec. 17, 2015 edition of the San Antonio Express-News.

Automatic weapons have one purpose and one purpose only, and that’s to kill multiple people at one time. Therefore, no one in this country should have an automatic gun other than our trained military.

We should remember that until 2004 automatic weapons were outlawed, and there has been an uptick of mass shootings since.

The lies and rationalizations regarding automatic weapons spewed by Republicans are an affront to the sensibilities of the vast majority of Americans who cry for stricter gun controls.

I hope that during the 2016 congressional elections, frustrated Americans go to the polls and vote out every congressman who has opposed common sense gun control legislation.

Thomas Lee

It would be easier to carry on an intelligent discussion of gun control laws with people like Mr. Lee if they weren't so ignorant of basic facts. (Of course, if they were concerned with facts they might not write such uninformed letters in the first place, but one can't expect leopards to change their spots, or liberals to change their preconceived notions. Anyway...)

To clarify, since Mr. Lee seems unclear on the concept, let's first define our terms. From the font of all knowledge - Wikipedia - we have the following:

An automatic firearm continuously fires rounds as long as the trigger is pressed or held and there is ammunition in the magazine/chamber. In contrast, a semi-automatic firearm fires one round with each individual trigger-pull.

Now that we understand what we're talking about, let's take a closer look at Mr. Lee's letter.

"Automatic weapons have one purpose and one purpose only, and that’s to kill multiple people at one time."

Or to make sure that one person is well and truly dead. But I quibble. Let's continue.

 "Therefore, no one in this country should have an automatic gun other than our trained military."

What about law enforcement? They are currently allowed to posses automatic weapons. Should we disarm them?

"We should remember that until 2004 automatic weapons were outlawed, and there has been an uptick of mass shootings since."

I was unaware that automatic weapons became legal in 2004. If true, I'd love to run right out and get one. Unfortunately, after doing a little research, here's what I found.

It has been unlawful since 1934 (The National Firearms Act) for civilians to own machine guns without special permission from the U.S. Treasury Department... (Note: a fully automatic weapon is legally considered to be a machine gun (or submachine gun, if it fires a handgun cartridge) under the National Firearms Act.)

Furthermore:

Since the Firearms Owners' Protection Act of May 19, 1986, ownership of newly manufactured machine guns has been prohibited to civilians. Machine guns which were manufactured prior to the Act's passage are regulated under the National Firearms Act, but those manufactured after the ban cannot ordinarily be sold to or owned by civilians.

So it looks like ownership of automatic weapons is either tightly regulated or prohibited under two different federal gun control laws (not to mention multiple state and local laws). What on earth happened in 2004 to legalize automatic weapons?

As near as I can figure out, Mr. Lee is talking about the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (officially, the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act) which was enacted in 1994 and expired in 2004. Assault weapons, of course, are not the same as automatic weapons, but to the confused residents of Liberal Land they are one and the same. So let's give Mr. Lee the benefit of the doubt on this one and examine his claim that "...there has been an uptick of mass shootings since."

The following comes from a report compiled by the Congressional Research Service dated July 30, 2015.

From the report:

Click to embiggen.

What this tells us is that the average number of mass shootings remained relatively constant at around 20 per year over two five-year periods (1999-2003 and 2004-2008), with a slight increase to an average of 22 per year over the five year period of 2009-2013. There was no "uptick" in the five years immediately following 2004.

Furthermore, in the period between 1999 and 2013:

...out of 317 "mass shootings," offenders used firearms that could be characterized as "assault weapons" in 31 incidents (9.78%), or roughly 1 out of 10 incidents...

Back to Mr. Lee's letter:

The lies and rationalizations regarding automatic weapons spewed by Republicans are an affront to the sensibilities of the vast majority of Americans who cry for stricter gun controls.

Based on the facts presented above, I think it's pretty obvious that it's not the Republicans who are lying and rationalizing about gun controls.

One final note: back to the 'automatic weapons' point. Even on this issue the facts are unarguably against the leftists.

Since 1934, there appear to have been at least two homicides committed with legally owned automatic weapons. One was a murder committed by a law enforcement officer (as opposed to a civilian). On September 15th, 1988, a 13-year veteran of the Dayton, Ohio police department, Patrolman Roger Waller, then 32, used his fully automatic MAC-11 .380 caliber submachine gun to kill a police informant...

The other homicide ... occurred on September 14, 1992...

Yes, you read that right. In the last 81 years, legally owned automatic weapons have accounted for a grand total of TWO deaths. Yet they are feared and demonized by the left.

It's not about facts, or guns. It's about control.

Our Tax Dollars At Work

We're still a few months away from income tax season. But keep the following in the back of your mind when you write a check to the IRS. And definitely remember this come election time next November. (Courtesy of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.)

One of the few constants in Washington is tossing taxpayers’ hard-earned cash not just to special interests who hire the best lobbyists, but for misbegotten purposes that only Uncle Sam could imagine ... each outlay “represents thousands, millions or, in some cases, billions of dollars that could have been better spent on cancer research, strengthening national defense, caring for veterans, or not spent at all to reduce our debt.” So much for that dreadful austerity that congressional spendthrifts claim we are suffering through.

For instance, the National Institutes of Health spent about $10 million underwriting studies of monkeys on treadmills. Researchers said the results should be helpful to “address physiological responses of exercise in a marmoset model.”

And the benefit of understanding physiological responses of exercise in marmosets is... anyone? anyone? Bueller?

The Agency for International Development spent $2.1 million on tourism promotion for Lebanon... Last May the State Department issued a travel advisory urging Americans to avoid visiting - you guessed it - Lebanon.

Left hand, why don't you coordinate with Right Hand, so maybe we're not working at cross purposes. Just sayin'...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provided $5 million to figure out how long a “koozie” would keep a beer cold.

I'd run that study for a whole lot less than $5M. Let's see, around $40 for two cases of Shiner and ice, another $5 for a koozie, and maybe $15 for an instant thermometer. That comes to approximately $60. Toss in another $4 million for my time and expertise and I've just saved the federal government a whopping $1M (less the $60 for materials).

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will spend $104.4 million in 2016 to subsidize housing for people who make too much money to be eligible for the program...

The Department of Defense spent $43 million to build one gas station in the city of Sheberghan, Afghanistan...

NSF showed up again with nearly $1 million to subsidize wine industry programs at three colleges. The classes emphasize wine-tasting by students not otherwise old enough to drink...

NSF provided another $276,194 to figure out the impact of physical attraction on dating. Spoiler alert: physical attractiveness speeds positive results...

Gee, who woulda thunk?

The Department of Defense, with nothing else in the world to do, is spending $2 million to develop music-playing robots. Both trumpet and jazz...

NSF spent $2.6 million studying why tweets are retweeted...

When you next hear a Washington official complain about how the federal government is starved for revenue and it isn’t possible to cut even a dollar from Uncle Sam’s allowance, think about Sen. Flake’s Wastebook. For most of us, the loss of a few thousand or million dollars matters. But obviously not in the nation’s capital.

Word.

May The Force Be With You

Fair warning: if you aren't a Stars Wars fan, parts of this post won't make much sense to you.

If you have any geek friends, they are probably besides themselves waiting for the premiere of the latest Star Wars movie - Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Of course, the Hollywood elite got a special premiere for them on Monday, but the rest of us have to wait until tomorrow.

There are now about 1,000 people on the planet who have seen "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

The world premiere of the highly anticipated film took place on Monday afternoon in Los Angeles, where a half-mile section of Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic for the event.

No expense was spared.

A veritable army of security guards, publicists and event staffers. Quadruple the typical number of invited guests. A lavish after-party, replete with Stormtroopers and a roaming Chewbacca, stretching for four city blocks.

Even by the razzmatazz standards of the Walt Disney Company, the high-security, spare-no-expense world premiere for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on Monday was something to behold.

R2-D2, left, and C-3PO at the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on Monday in Los Angeles.

But while we mere mortals may have to wait to see the movie, we can immediately get our hands on something Star Wars related that we can use right away.

Yes, those are Star Wars condoms. If you look closely, you can see the message from Darth Vader: "I will not be your father."

That's pretty funny. But even funnier is the message on the Yoda condoms.

Do or do not. There is no try.

Somehow I doubt if these products are officially licensed Disney merchandise. But they do reflect a Disney-like message of true friendship.

May the Force be with you.

Connect The Dots

Hint - there's only two dots to connect.

Dot #1:

San Bernardino terrorist Tashfeen Malik openly supported violent jihad on social media yet still passed THREE background checks to gain entry into America

San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik, 29, underwent three background checks and had her K-1 fiancee visa approved even though she openly posted about committing violent jihad on social media.

Malik and husband Syed Farook killed 14 people earlier this month...

If US officials had discovered the messages Malik posted ... red flags would have gone up and she likely would not have been approved for entry.

Dot #2:

Secret US Policy Blocks Agents From Looking at Social Media of Visa Applicants

Fearing a civil liberties backlash and "bad public relations" for the Obama administration, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refused in early 2014 to end a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas...

The revelation comes as members of Congress question why U.S. officials failed to review the social media posts of San Bernardino terrorist Tashfeen Malik. She received a U.S. visa in May 2014, despite what the FBI said were extensive social media messages about jihad and martyrdom...

Just like Benghazi, the blood of the San Bernardino victims is on the hands of obama and his enablers who place a higher priority on public relations than on the lives and safety of American citizens.

Click to embiggen.

And in somewhat related news:

Obama: ISIS strategy 'moving forward with a great sense of urgency'

The U.S.-led military coalition is hitting ISIS "harder than ever," President Barack Obama said at the Pentagon on Monday, sharpening his rhetoric on the war as he comes under criticism for his strategy after a pair of ISIS-linked attacks.

"ISIL leaders cannot hide, and our next message to them is simple: You are next," Obama said...

Maybe they can't hide, but they evidently can get visas to enter the U.S. without too much trouble.

But the ramp-up in events designed to convey Obama's steadfastness against ISIS hasn't been paired with a large-scale shift in strategy...

I guess the renewed emphasis on leading conducting talking about the war on ISIS, plus the recent global warming climate change weather conference in Paris, has exhausted barry. He leaves on Friday for his eighth - and thankfully last - annual Hawaiian Christmas vacation.

President Barack Obama and the first family will return to Hawaii for their Christmas vacation next week for the eighth year running.

The White House confirmed Friday that the Obamas are due to leave Washington for the island on December 18...

Their previous trips up to 2014 have lasted between two and two-and-a-half weeks and cost taxpayers roughly $4 million.

That's a bargain if it keeps him out of the country.

(I know, I know - Hawaii is part of the U.S. But you know what I mean.)

FOD 2015.12.14

A few random observations regarding the SCOAMF wasting oxygen in the White House. First, the shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago, and the terrorist shootings in CA:

Have you watched the news about President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton loudly demanding justice in the Laquan McDonald case in Chicago?

No?

Me neither. I haven't seen word one from the mouths of Obama or Clinton about any of it. All I've seen are tepid, tapioca statements from their spokesmen.

That silence interests me. Sometimes, what politicians avoid, what they won't say, is more compelling than their dog and pony shows and photo ops.

Yes, Clinton did back a call for a Justice Department investigation of Chicago police when the mayor was still in denial. But since then, crickets. She and other national Democrats are keeping their hands off Chicago. And I'm sure you know why.

The guy who runs Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, is their guy.

Similarly:

Why is Obama, who has gone to every mass shooting site, staying away from San Bernadino?

The answer is so obvious ... Because he doesn't want people to notice the terrorist shooting. He doesn't want people to pay attention to it.

He's pretending it didn't happen, just as he pretended Kathy Steinle wasn't murdered by an ilegal he permitted to remain in this country.

In other news, obamacare is circling the bowl and about to go down like the load of crap it is.

“The labor force is projected to be about 2 million full-time-equivalent workers smaller in 2025 under the ACA than it would have been otherwise,” the CBO concludes in the latest analysis of Obamacare’s impact on the economy.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) published a study on Obamacare’s impact on costs and on reducing the numbers of uninsured — and it fails on both counts.

“all of the disruption, spending, taxation, and premium hikes in Obamacare has only reduced the percentage of U.S. residents without health insurance by 2.7 percent, from 13.9 percent to 11.1 percent..."

... the cost curve has indeed been bent, but upwards, and CMS chalks it up to Obamacare. Health care spending rose 5 percent in 2014, well above the rate of inflation, and the fastest it had grown since 2007. Medicaid spending rose 11 percent, thanks to Obamacare’s expansions, but Medicare also rose 5.5 percent and spending in private insurance plans rose 4.4 percent as well. “The return to faster growth,” CMS concluded in its report, “was largely influenced by the coverage expansions of the Affordable Care Act.”

So let’s recap. Obamacare has depressed job growth, costs are escalating at a higher rate, barely a dent has been made in the numbers of uninsured, and insurers are either exiting the markets or failing altogether.

And don't forget "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" and all the other related lies.

Finally, in a nod to diversity and the holiday season, let's take a look at how obama helped our Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah:

Leave it to Barack Obama to turn what should be a celebration of the Jewish people’s survival in the face of adversity into a politicized rant celebrating the cause of the Palestinians, who want to “drive them into the sea,” as has been promised since the birth of the modern State of Israel.

    … the White House chose Susan Talve to light the Menorah. Talve is a member of the anti-Israel group T'ruah... She's also a Ferguson activist. Her behavior was deeply insulting to the religious Jewish community and made it clear that the White House was determined to hijack even a Chanukah party to promote an anti-Jewish agenda.

    Instead of talking about Chanukah, Talve blathered on about getting, "guns off our streets" and to "clean up the fires of toxic nuclear waste".

    Talve screeched, "I stand here with my fierce family of clergy and black lives matter activists who took to the streets of Ferguson".

    Having celebrated the race riots which destroyed a community, she pivoted to Syrian Muslim migrants... she rambled on about how the "gates of this nation would stay open for all immigrants and all refugees".

    Then, not satisfied with having made a disgrace of the Chanukah ceremony, Susan Talve declared, "I stand here to light these lights to say no the darkness of Islamophobia and Homophobia and Transphobia."

    Talve babbled about insuring "justice for Palestinians" and began gleefully chanting, "Ins'Allah, Ins'Allah". Or "Allah Willing".

What better way to celebrate a Jewish holiday than to go on a pro-islam rant. Way to go, barry.

January 2017 can't get here fast enough...

Sunday Funnies 2015.12.13

There are only 11 shopping days left until Christmas...

Christmas is in my heart twelve months a year. Thanks to credit cards, it’s also on my Visa statement twelve months a year.

Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, and Batteries not Included.

Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money.

This year I plan to start putting off my Christmas shopping extra early.

When you stop believing in Santa Claus is when you start getting clothes for Christmas!

Dear Santa, what I want for Christmas this year is your list with names of naughty girls.

I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.

You know you're from Arkansas when you go Christmas shopping for your mom, sister, and girlfriend and only come back with one gift.

A customer walked into our store looking for Christmas lights. I showed her our top brand, but, wanting to make sure each bulb worked, she asked me to take them out of the box and plug them in. I did, and each one lit up.

"Great," she said.

I carefully placed the string of lights back in the box. But as I handed them to her, she looked alarmed.

"I don't want this box," she said abruptly. "It's been opened."

A couple was Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. The mall was filled with shoppers who were making last minute purchases. The woman suddenly looked around and discovered that her husband was no longer by her side.

Astounded and upset, because she still had much shopping to do, she pulled out her cell phone and angrily called him. "Where are you?" she demanded.

Her husband calmly replied, "Honey, do you remember that jewelry store we passed by five years ago and you totally fell in love with that diamond necklace that we unfortunately couldn't afford?"

"Yes," she said.

"And do you remember how I promised that one day I would scrimp and save enough money to get it for you?"

The eyes of the woman filled with tears, she began to cry softly and as she tried to suppress a sob she whispered: "Yes, that jewelry store ... I definitely remember it."

"Well," he says, "I"m in the bar next to that store."

Tis The Season

Tis the season to be jolly - and for many of us, that means having an occasional bottle glass of wine. Well, not to worry. It turns out that a little fruit of the vine is a good thing.

All the Ways Red Wine Makes You Healthier

It makes you happier

But apart from the pure joy you get while drinking it, red wine may actually fight depression. Moderate alcohol consumption generally helps ward off depression, but researchers found that wine had the strongest effect...

It crushes colds

Drink red wine and never catch a cold! Kind of! Resveratrol -- a polyphenol that's found in the skin of red grapes -- is responsible for this effect, as it works with vitamin D to bolster a type of gene that plays a part in immune function. Another study suggests that moderate alcohol consumption can also act as an immunity booster, and these are scientists saying it, so you know it's true. Those scientists discovered this by giving monkeys 22-hour-a-day access to booze, so they must be really smart to have secured funding for that experiment.

Scientist studying the effects of wine on colds.

It's good for your heart

It turns out that the heart is a pretty important organ, and red wine helps protect it. Not only does it increase HDL cholesterol (the good kind) in people with type 2 diabetes, but resveratrol (again) is good for any heart. Resveratrol prevents heart-disease-promoting inflammation, and reduces systolic blood pressure, which can slash the risk of stroke.

It makes you smarter

Sure, alcohol may have played a role in some of your dumber decisions, but drinking red wine may ultimately help improve memory and protect the brain. Resveratrol is at it again, with one study showing it may improve memory, and another suggesting it may help brain cells survive a stroke by hiking up the levels of a protective enzyme in the brain. You want to be smarter and happier, don't you?

So relax and enjoy your wine free from guilt. After all, it's the holiday season...

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2015.12.11

I used to be a pump jockey at a service station (if you know what I'm talking about, you're old).

However, nothing like this ever happened to me...

Hey Donald - STFU

Agree with him or not, but there is no denying Donald Trump has a knack for attracting media attention like a flame attracts moths.

DONALD TRUMP plays the press “like a fiddle” by saying “outrageous things and garnering attention,” grumbled Jeb Bush recently. “That’s his strategy, to dominate the news...”

Mr Trump, a property tycoon and born salesman, does have a genius for dominating the headlines. This Monday has been a sorry case in point. The day began with journalists atwitter about a Monmouth University poll which showed Mr Trump losing his first place in Iowa—the farm state which will on February 1st host the first party selection contest of the presidential season—to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

As a bully, braggart and narcissist, Mr Trump does not enjoy being overshadowed. Right on cue, in the late afternoon he lobbed a large rock into the race: a breathless and confusingly-worded statement calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on..."

Mr Trump’s latest provocation duly prompted wall-to-wall analysis on cable television, online and in print media...

That's where I have a large issue with The Donald. His outrageous statements, coupled with the media's obsession with all things Trump, tend to obscure meaningful and significant developments. Two examples:

Hillary and Benghazi

The media obsessed with Donald Trump’s memory of “thousands” of Muslims celebrating 9/11 are giving a total pass to Hillary Clinton over her shameless lie Sunday.  Appearing on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, she averred to her husband’s former aide that she never told family members that she blamed an anti-Islam video for the deaths of four Americans in the Benghazi attack, and that the video maker would pay.  This contradicts the accounts of four separate survivors.

… by the time the murdered Americans’ flag-draped coffins arrived home several days later, the Obama administration was in full-blown election season spin mode, which entailed muddying the waters on whether the deadly raid was, in fact, a premeditated terrorist attack.  At the now-infamous Andrews Air Force base ceremony on September 14, 2012, Hillary Clinton told grieving family members that their loved ones had been murdered by a bloodthirsty mob incited by an online anti-Islam video.

Which we all know was a bald-faced lie. However, with everyone focused on Trump, Hillary slips away under the radar ... again.

More:

Judicial Watch today released a new Benghazi email from then-Department of Defense Chief of Staff Jeremy Bash to State Department leadership immediately offering “forces that could move to Benghazi” during the terrorist attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. In an email sent to top Department of State officials, at 7:19 p.m. ET, only hours after the attack had begun, Bash says, “we have identified the forces that could move to Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak...”

Bash’s email seems to directly contradict testimony given by then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2013. Defending the Obama administration’s lack of military response to the nearly six-hour-long attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Panetta claimed that “time, distance, the lack of an adequate warning, events that moved very quickly on the ground prevented a more immediate response.”

So the revelation of emails directly contradicting the administrations' fairy tale that (1) the Benghazi attacks were caused by a video; (2) there was no way the military could respond in time; and (3) the military was never told to stand down were buried under Trump's anti-muslim pronouncement. His comments served as a smoke screen to distract the American people from the truth.

Example 2: obamacare has severely damaged the American health care system. It is closer and closer to totally collapsing under the weight of obamacare's rules and regulations. Another presidential candidate - Marco Rubio- has perhaps hamstrung the entire damn thing, while the other GOP candidates have been flapping their gums about it.

We conservatives think we are a hundred times smarter than liberals. So why does it seem that our representatives in Washington so often get the short end of the stick? That’s a long story, but at least part of the answer is that we need representatives of conservatism who are not only good on the stump and adept at firing up the base, but who understand the intricacies of legislation and are willing to do the hard and usually thankless work needed to beat our opponents in the trenches.

Today the New York Times headlined: “Marco Rubio Quietly Undermines Affordable Care Act.” Is that music to our ears, or what?

The Times expressed grudging admiration for Rubio’s shrewdness in derailing a key provision of Obamacare:

    A little-noticed health care provision that Senator Marco Rubio of Florida slipped into a giant spending law last year has tangled up the Obama administration, sent tremors through health insurance markets and rattled confidence in the durability of President Obama’s signature health law.

    So for all the Republican talk about dismantling the Affordable Care Act, one Republican presidential hopeful has actually done something toward achieving that goal.

    Mr. Rubio’s efforts against the so-called risk corridor provision of the health law have hardly risen to the forefront of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but his plan limiting how much the government can spend to protect insurance companies against financial losses has shown the effectiveness of quiet legislative sabotage.

No, I don't understand all those confusing details either. But that's the point. Rightly or wrongly (and I strongly say "wrongly"), most legislation these days is a morass of politics, obscure legislative procedure, and stupefying legalistic nonsense. Until we can flush that crap from our political system, we need someone who knows how to navigate those murky waters.

Please note I'm not necessarily endorsing Rubio, or discounting Trump. I appreciate that Trump is raising serious, meaningful issues that need to be addressed. But his way of drawing attention to them also tends to arouse emotional reactions on both sides, to the detriment of substantive, serious discussion. For his sake and ours, it may be time for him to tone down the rhetoric and start offering more detailed policies and plans to fix what is currently and unarguably broken.

Two-Fer Thursday

I had two stories in mind for today - one serious, and one on the absurd side. I couldn't make up my mind which one to feature, so I decided to go with both of them. First, the serious one.

Iran sends defiant signal to the West with missile test

Iran has broken a United Nations resolution and delivered a pointed signal of defiance to the West by testing a new ballistic missile with a range of at least 1,000 miles.

The Ghadr-110, which could be adapted to carry a nuclear warhead, is believed to have been launched on November 21, according to Western officials.

 In 2010, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1929 banning Iran from “any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches”.

This was the second missile test since the nuclear agreement was signed in July...

obama's response?

The State Department said that it was conducting a "serious review" of such reports.

Oh, I feel so much better now. A "serious review." That should have them shaking with fear in Tehran.

"We're conducting a serious review of this reported incident," (State Department spokesman John) Kirby told reporters. He added, "If the reports are confirmed and if there is a violation of any relevant U.N. Security Council resolution, then we're going to take the appropriate actions."

Bad mullahs. Bad!

He stressed that ballistic missile activity wasn't a violation of the July deal that imposed more than a decade of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in potential relief from international sanctions...

After the October test, President Barack Obama noted that Iran has often violated missile prohibitions. He said the U.S. would make clear to Iran that there are costs for bad behavior, but stressed that the issue was separate from nuclear arms control.

Based on obama's response to international incidents so far, I doubt if anyone over there is losing sleep worrying about barry and his mostly hypothetical 'costs for bad behavior'.

At least one senator is thinking the same way.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement condemning what he described as the lack of response to Iranian missile violations.

"Iran violates U.N. Security Council resolutions because it knows neither this administration nor the U.N. Security Council is likely to take any action," said Corker.

Yeah, we can really depend on Iran complying with the provisions of the 'no nukes for a few years' deal that obama has stuck us with. Hopefully the Israelis will bail us out of this mess.

As for story #2, well, it's hard to get much more absurd that this.

Naked, drunken man with 3 women in car hit 110 mph

A Florida man with a history of drug, gun and theft arrests was allegedly naked, drunk and driving 110 mph with three female passengers when the Florida Highway Patrol caught up to him on Saturday afternoon.

Noe Dejesus was pulled over just after 3 p.m. following a report of a car driving recklessly on Alligator Alley. The Highway Patrol officer who clocked Dejesus’ speeding Cadillac initially believed the driver was merely shirtless.

But when Dejesus opened the door and stepped out, he was completely naked, police said.

The trooper allegedly spotted an open 12-pack of Corona and a nearly empty bottle of Crown Royal whiskey in the car, according to the Naples Daily News. Dejesus allegedly smelled of alcohol, was slurring his speech and almost fell down trying to put his pants on.

The only way this story could be better would be for the women to be naked as well.

Thankfully the drunk idiot didn't hit anyone.

Wordless Wednesday - Doggy Style

This country is going to the dogs. We may as well get a laugh out of it.

Double Standard

More evidence that the double standard is alive and well.

In the news last week:

A senior Navy Department official decided Monday to force a Marine Corps officer out of the service for his handling of classified information, three years after he was first investigated after sending a warning to deployed colleagues about an Afghan police chief (Sarwar Jan)  whose servant later killed three Marines.

Maj. Jason Brezler will be separated from the Marine Corps following a decision by acting Assistant Navy Secretary Scott Lutterloh...

Brezler’s case first came to light after he sent an e-mail with a couple classified documents attached to Marines in Afghanistan about Jan (the Afghan police chief). Brezler was deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, and had worked successfully to have Jan removed from power in another district... Brezler self-reported his spillage of classified information afterward, and the service found that he had been keeping it on an unsecured hard drive.

Brezler has served in the Marine Corps since graduating from the Naval Academy in 2000, and is now a member of the Marine Corps Reserve. He works full-time as a member of the New York Fire Department, and has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In other news:

The State Department’s latest release of Hillary Clinton documents brings the total number of Clinton emails known to contain classified material to nearly 1,000.

On one hand we have a Marine veteran (who also serves as a firefighter) in trouble for disclosing classified information in an attempt to save lives.

On the other hand we have a former Secretary of State storing classified information on an unsecured server, and attempting to cover up her role in the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi.

And she will quite possibly be the next Commander-in-Chief.

God help us all...

Not Just Pearl Harbor

On Dec. 7 we all remember the attack on Pearl Harbor. What we tend to forget is that there was a series of other attacks on American forces throughout the Pacific. Here's one man's story of one of those other attacks.

Pearl Harbor Wasn't The Only Surprise Attack that Day

The Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor is burned into the American consciousness. But for two North Texans, Dec. 8 is the day they will never forget.

Just hours after the dawn attack on Pearl Harbor but across the international dateline making it Dec. 8, Japanese planes also bombed American bases and Manila in the Philippines.

"It was a complete surprise. We were unprepared. It was the second of a number of Pearl Harbors in that first year of the war," said Leon Long, a 93-year-old who grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and then joined his high school friend George Loritz in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939.

The two pals, who worked in aircraft maintenance, were stationed at Clark Field with the 19th Bombardment Group composed of 35 B-17 bombers and 23 P-40 interceptors. Just days before, 16 B-17s were flown 500 miles south to the island of Mindanao as a precaution against attack, Long said.

After hearing radio news reports of the Pearl Harbor attack early that morning, Long and Loritz were returning to work after lunch when they saw two flights of more than 50 twin-engine planes approaching the airfield.

"George said, 'Hey, look, it's nice to see the Navy is out protecting us.' About that time, the earth began to erupt at the end of the runway," Long said.

"George ran to the hanger where he worked and I dived into a slit trench. Two other guys jumped in on top of me," he said.

After enduring nearly an hour of bombing and strafing runs that destroyed 16 of the B-17s and 20 of the P-40s and most of the base, Long crawled out from beneath the two other men who had been killed by concussion blasts to find that Loritz was among the 100 Air Corps troops killed that day.

That day was just the beginning of a remarkable year-long odyssey of war for Long as he escaped the Philippines and joined other survivors of his bomber group in striking back against the Japanese.

About 10 days after Clark Field was bombed, Long was transferred to an artillery battalion on Bataan. One night, after spending a day digging gun pits in the rain, he crawled under a chicken coop to sleep.

"During the night, somebody kicked me in the butt and told me to get my rear end in a jeep. 'You're going back to Clark Field,'" Long said.

The few B-17s that were intact after the Japanese attack had been sent to safety in Australia. But a crew from a bomber with a large hole in a fuel tank were desperate to escape and someone remembered Long's metalworking skills.

Long's tools, which had been buried to keep them from the Japanese, were dug up and he cut the top off a 50-gallon drum and screwed the metal patch over the gaping hole with a seal improvised from a tire tube.

"It worked. The B-17 crew taxied down about 100 yards and then stopped. A guy came running back and said that since I fixed the tank, the pilot wanted me to come onboard," he said. "That's how I got out of the Philippines. I would have never made it through the Bataan Death March."

But there would be no shortage of challenges before he made it back home.

Stationed first in Australia and then at a base in Java and then pushed back to Australia, his unit was first attached to Dutch, then Australian and finally British air forces.

There were no replacements available for bomber crews and Long was soon pressed into duty as a side gunner on a B-17. After bombing missions, he went back to work repairing the planes.

"The first time I ever fired a .50-caliber machine gun was in combat. You learn rapidly in that situation," Long said.

His well-traveled unit finally rejoined the Army Air Corps and late in 1942 his group returned to the U.S.

"Our ship landed in San Francisco and me a friend slipped away and spent four or five days in the St. Francis Hotel. We were the first troops back, you couldn't buy a drink or meal," he said.

Long spent the last three years of the war training bomber crews at Pyote Air Force Station in West Texas.

Long spent another 20 years in the Air Force, working as a B-36 flight engineer and instructor. After retiring as a master sergeant, he spent 27 years in research and engineering for General Dynamics in Fort Worth.

He learned to fly in 1948 and after retiring from General Dynamics he was a pilot for a Fort Worth law firm for 10 years. He also worked as a flight instructor for 43 years and didn't quit flying until April.

Long's wife of 64 years, Myra Lynn, died a month and a half ago, and he still lives in the tidy brick home on the west side of Fort Worth they shared for 60 years.

The veteran laughs that he might momentarily forget where his keys are but he has remarkable recall of his more than nine decades of life.


That momentous day on Dec. 8, 1941, remains a life milestone, but Long shrugs off his extraordinary war service.

"We were doing what we had to do. You didn't think about it, you just did it."

Tom Clark, a 68-year-old former jet fighter pilot during the Vietnam War who worked with Long at General Dynamics, said Long's story from the Philippines amazes him.

"I worked with him for years before I heard anything about the war. His escape from the Philippines, that's one of those deals in life I call a 'God wink.' It's so incredible you have to think something is behind it."

How did we get from a nation populated by such men (and women), a nation that led the world in a great struggle to defeat evil, to the present mess?

Speaking of Pearl Harbor, I watched the Fox network's pregame NFL show yesterday. Part of it was live from Pearl Harbor. Survivors of the attack, along with current active duty members of the military, were featured. But for me the highlight of the show was when the Navy band played the Star Spangled Banner. They played it the way it was meant to be played, with pomp, dignity, and a martial air. It was a refreshing change from the usual celebrity crooner interpreting mangling the anthem in an attempt to showcase themselves. I was pumped up and choked up at the same time.

Kudos to Fox.

Sunday Funnies 2015.12.06

On Thursday, the day after two muslims went on a murderous rampage in San Bernardino, the Attorney General of the United States made her position on terrorism crystal clear.

AG Loretta Lynch said her "greatest fear" is the "incredibly disturbing rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric" in America and vowed to prosecute any guilty of what she deemed violence-inspiring speech.

Well, Loretta, I have a proposition for you. When muslims stop killing people, I'll stop my anti-muslim rhetoric. Until then, your misguided political correctness offends and disgusts me. To offset the garbage spewing from your mouth - and the mouth of your boss, barack hussein obama - here's some rhetoric for you.

I hope you choke on it.

Q: What's the difference between a Muslim and a vampire?
A: At some point the vampire will stop being bloodthirsty.

Q: How does a Muslim close the door?
A: Islams it.

Q: How do you play Taliban bingo?
A: B-52...F-16...B-1...

Q: What do you call a drunken Muslim?
A: Mohammered.

Q: What is the most popular kids show in the Middle East?
A: Dora the Exploder

Q: What did the Muslim train conductor say?
A: Allah board.

Q: What do Muslim men do during foreplay?
A: Tickle the goat under the chin.

Q: Why don't they teach Driver's Ed and sex education on the same day in the Middle East?
A: They don't want to wear out the camel.

Q. How many Muslim extremists will it take to destroy America?
A. None. American Liberals can do it all by themselves.

Q: A muslim, a socialist, and a communist walk into a bar. What does the bartender say?
A: "Hello, Mr. President."

Seriously?

This is a little dated, but it's well worth watching.

The bodies in San Bernardino were still warm when a leftist slime ball - with zero evidence - blamed the shootings on "anti-government militia."

This is so despicable it is beyond words.

Dateline Dec. 2, shortly after initial reports of the shootings:


I'm sure Tom Fuentes, the CNN 'correspondent,' and his handlers, made sure that their retraction and apologies reached as many viewers as their initial irresponsible report did.

Yeah, right...

Random Thoughts On The San Bernardino Shootings

On Wednesday in San Bernardino CA, 14 people were killed and 21 wounded by two heavily armed conservative Christian NRA members.

Oh, wait...

I'm sure many on the left were disappointed that the shooters were not members of the Tea Party. I'm also sure that they were chagrined to learn that the killers turned out to be muslims. 

Here's yesterday's front page from the New York Post.

 

Factually accurate. No hyperbole or stereotyping. But it runs contrary to the politically correct view that the vast majority of muslims are peaceful, law abiding innocents. Take this tweet, for example, from CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) referring to the Post's headline.


Maybe if muslims would quit shooting people the rhetoric would stop.

Speaking of off-the-mark responses, by now you've probably heard the usual response of anti-gun nuts. One thing I've noticed this time around is an emphasis on the number of mass shootings in the past year or so. Setting aside questions about the data collection and analysis methodology, let's take a look at the other side of the coin.

Several mass shootings this year have brought renewed attention to the issue of gun violence in America, and President Obama has again called for Congress to change the nation’s gun laws.

But the increased spotlight on guns does not reflect the overall gun violence trend in the country. Although most Americans think the number of gun crimes has risen, the U.S. gun homicide rate has actually stabilized somewhat in recent years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of death certificate data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Between 1993 and 2000, the gun homicide rate dropped by nearly half, from 7.0 homicides to 3.8 homicides per 100,000 people. Since then, the gun homicide rate has remained relatively flat. From 2010 to 2013, the most recent year data are available, the number of gun homicides has hovered between 11,000 and 12,000 per year.

The nation’s overall gun death rate has declined 30% since 1993. This total includes homicides and suicides, in addition to a smaller number of fatal police shootings, accidental shooting deaths and those of undetermined intent.

Something to think about. Of course, facts mean little to gun grabbers.

A Different Kind Of Joyride

Lord knows I did my share of wild and crazy stuff back in the day. To quote George W. Bush, "When I was young and stupid, I was young and stupid." However, I don't think I was ever this 'young and stupid.'

The Tale Of When A Marine Mechanic Stole An A-4 Skyhawk For A Joyride

In the early morning hours on July 4th, 1986, 21-year-old Lance Corporal Howard A. Foote Jr. climbed a ladder leading into the cockpit of an A-4M Skyhawk. He started the jet up, taxied to one of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro’s runways—which was unlit at the time—and pushed the throttles forward. Moments later, the Lance Corporal would realize his dream to fly a tactical military jet, albeit just once and illegally.

As news reports at the time recount, Foote flew out toward San Clemente Island, executing loops, rolls and high-speed maneuvers before turning back to MCAS El Toro after about 45 minutes to attempt a landing. This time, the runways were all very well lit and the base was buzzing with activity due to his “borrowing” of the jet.

After several landing attempts, the Skyhawk maintainer put the A-4M down safely and was quickly detained after exiting the cockpit.

There is, of course, more to the story, including his friendship with the Marine general who commanded MCAS El Toro (hit the link to read the backstory). Regardless, however, it was an incredibly dumb and dangerous stunt. For his trouble, Foote received 4 1/2 months brig time and a less than honorable discharge - much less than he would have received for Grand Theft Auto.

In spite of that, Foote went on to have a successful career in aviation. As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now, the rest of the story."

Howard Foote Jr. went on to become a civilian test pilot and engineer, working on various projects over the years, including a microwave airplane concept and projects for NASA.

Not bad for a guy who stole an operational fast jet from the Marine Corps.

Not So Wordless Wednesday - Liberal Hypocrisy Version

Today's focus is on liberal hypocrisy.

I know, I know - that covers a lot of ground. So let's narrow it down to the ridiculous claims by the left that the recent shootings at a Colorado Planned Parenthood facility are due to "the inflammatory rhetoric we see on ... bloggers and talk shows..." (quote source here; more examples here).

Forget the fact that the shooter was obviously a lunatic.

Alleged shooter Robert Dear

No, according to the left he went on his rampage because someone on talk radio made some harsh comments about Planned Parenthood. Or maybe it was a blog. Who knows? The important thing is to link this terrible act to those who oppose abortion.

Of course, the left would never admit that rhetoric from their side might lead to acts of violence.

Let me get this straight. In the eyes of the Left…

….criticism of Planned Parenthood means something like the shooting in Colorado “was bound to happen”…

…but chants where people describe police as ‘pigs’ and call for them to be ‘fried like bacon’ doesn’t lead to attacks on police…

…when an event by Pamela Geller is targeted by an Islamist shooter, it is “not really about free speech; it was an exercise in bigotry and hatred” and the attempt to kill her means she has “achieved her provocative goal”…

… while at the same time, investigators contend we may never know what motivated a 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez to kill four Marines and a sailor in an attack on Chattanooga’s U.S. Naval and Marine Reserve Center last July…

There's more at the link. Do yourself a favor and read the entire thing. It highlights the hypocrisy of the left, while at the same time giving you ammunition to refute their bogus (or at least one-sided) claims that rhetoric - make that "right wing rhetoric" -  leads to violence.

Speaking of liberal hypocrisy:

click to embiggen