Just wondering . . .

Is it possible to spend five minutes on the internet without being confronted by before-and-after stomach pictures?

Creeping Leaping toward socialism

Another great column by Mark Steyn:
A trillion ounces of prevention

Inspired by Nancy Pelosi, he likens 'stimulus' to an STD. See paragraph four for comic relief from the scenario that's inexorably slouching toward us.

Excerpts:

The rules in this new "post-partisan" era are pretty simple: If the Democratic Party wants it, it's "stimulus." If the Republican Party opposes it, it's "politics" – as in headlines like this: "Obama Urges GOP To Keep Politics To A Minimum On Stimulus."

In a media age, politics is a battle of language, and "stimulus" is too good a word to cede to porked-up statist hacks. "Stimulus" has to stimulate – i.e., it's short-term, like, say, an immediate cut in payroll taxes that will put real actual money in your pocket in next month's paycheck. That way, you don't need to wait for ACORN: You can start "stabilizing" your own "neighborhood" right now.

What's at stake:

It's a massive expansion of the state in the same direction that has brought sclerosis to Europe. A report issued last week in London found that government spending now accounts for 49 percent of the UK economy – and in the Celtic corners of the kingdom the state's share of the economy is way higher, from 71.6 percent in Wales to 77.6 percent in Northern Ireland. In the Western world, countries that were once the crucible of freedom are slipping remorselessly into a thinly disguised serfdom in which an ever higher proportion of your assets are annexed by the state as superlandlord. Big government is where nations go to die – not in Keynes' "long run," but sooner than you think.

Gotta love Mary Steyn for having the courage to use such deliciously politically incorrect terms as loose women and nancy boys. But of course hate speech is his specialty.

Paul Begala taking the low road on CNN

If you like moral outrage with your morning coffee, watch the video posted by JWF.

He slanders Rush Limbaugh ('corpulent drug addict') and President Bush ('spectacularly lazy'), and calls Sarah Palin 'bitter.' And I think he calls Obama 'self-deprecating' and 'Reaganesque' but I must have heard him wrong.

What a creep. Maybe he's bitter about being the only Clinton hack not picked up by the O administration.

Health care reform well underway

WSJ Online: Democratic Stealth Care

Tom Daschle is still waiting to be confirmed as secretary of health and human services, not that he's in any rush. Democrats are already enacting his and Barack Obama's agenda of government-run health care -- entirely on the QT.

Congress has passed the Super-SCHIP bill, and through the Bacon Explosion 'Stimulus' they hope to expand Medicaid, expand COBRA, and take control of the transition to electronic health records.

Add it up, and Democrats may move 10 million more Americans under the federal health umbrella -- in just four weeks! Good luck ever cutting off that money.

Read on for all the gory details.

Steyn joke of the day

Mark Steyn on the Corner:

Good news!

Readers often say I'm too much of a doom-monger on the west's demographic death-spiral, so I thought I'd pass along this inspiring headline:

New Zealand Reptile Becomes Dad At 111 Years Old

He's a Tuatara (kind of like a lizard, but not really) and his name is Henry. Go to the article to learn lots more personal stuff about this old guy, who isn't really that old - tuataras can live to be 250!

But the positive demographic spin Steyn gives this is unwarranted. Tuataras have been on the endangered species list since 1895.

(File this Steyn post alongside the clinically depressed poodle, the death of the Great Satan's cat, and the Great Turkey Carnage.)

UPDATED to add link to very amusing post on Henry at LGF. Video and everything.

Krauthammer exposes Obama's historical ignorance

If only our president had half the education and insight of Charles Krauthammer, whose Washington Post column today shreds the misperceptions and untruths that Obama has lately been spreading, notably in his inaugural address and in his Al Arabiya interview.

Excerpts:

[Obama insists] on the need to "restore" the "same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago."

Astonishing. In these most recent 20 years -- the alleged winter of our disrespect of the Islamic world -- America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for them. It engaged in five military campaigns, every one of which involved -- and resulted in -- the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

And what of that happy U.S.-Muslim relationship that Obama imagines existed "as recently as 20 or 30 years ago" that he has now come to restore? Thirty years ago, 1979, saw the greatest U.S.-Muslim rupture in our 233-year history: Iran's radical Islamic revolution, the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, the 14 months of America held hostage.

Which came just a few years after the Arab oil embargo that sent the United States into a long and punishing recession. Which, in turn, was preceded by the kidnapping and cold-blooded execution by Arab terrorists of the U.S. ambassador in Sudan and his chargé d'affaires.

This is to say nothing of the Marine barracks massacre of 1983, and the innumerable attacks on U.S. embassies and installations around the world during what Obama now characterizes as the halcyon days of U.S.-Islamic relations.

Look. If Barack Obama wants to say, as he said to al-Arabiya, I have Muslim roots, Muslim family members, have lived in a Muslim country -- implying a special affinity that uniquely positions him to establish good relations -- that's fine. But it is both false and deeply injurious to this country to draw a historical line dividing America under Obama from a benighted past when Islam was supposedly disrespected and demonized.

Read it all. The unavoidable conclusion is that President Obama is woefully ignorant when it comes to recent world, and even US, history. He's historically illiterate. This is the man the majority of American voters wanted. Not only politically radical but inexperienced and poorly educated.

$1,200,000,000,000

That's the cost of the stimulus including the interest over ten years. I think we should stop writing the word "trillion" and go with all those zeros instead. Choose your own adjective to describe this number: staggering? stupefying? astounding? mind-blowing?

Video of Pelosi on stimulus

Please keep her in front of the cameras:

Pro-life ad won't be aired during Super Bowl

Too bad NBC has declined to air this tremendous pro-life ad during the Super Bowl. Here's the ad again - pass it on - and the background story.

Leave the economy alone. Really.

From the Politico:

Most of Washington has reached quick consensus: Government must do something big to shock the economy, and it should cost between $800 billion and $900 billion.

But dissident economists and investment professionals offer a much different take: Most of Washington is dead wrong.

Instead of fighting over what should go in the economic stimulus bill, pitting infrastructure spending against tax cuts and contractors against contraceptives, they say lawmakers should be fighting against the very idea of any economic stimulus at all. Call them the Do-Nothing Crowd.

“The economy was too big. It was all phantom wealth borrowed from abroad,” says Andrew Schiff, an investment consultant at Euro Pacific Capital and a card-carrying member of the stand-tall-against-the-stimulus lobby. “All this stimulus money is geared toward getting consumers spending and borrowing again. But spending and borrowing were the problem in the first place.”

Click on title at top to read the rest.

This is exactly what Pundit says. Do nothing. He's a real conservative.

Man of the People

And today's secret woid is ELITE.

1) Prima Bama cranks the thermostat in the Oval Office. More here and here. Now we know how he survived all those chilly Chicago winters. High energy bills weren't a concern, nor was he worried about The Planet. He was cold, ok?

2) Prima Bama brings family's personal chef to the White House, and he happens to be U of C educated. I call that over the top. Sarah Palin would have sold him on eBay.

NYT: A spokeswoman for Michelle Obama, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said Mr. Kass would not be the only cook preparing the family’s meals, but “he knows what they like, and he happens to have a particular interest in healthy food and local food.”

Heaven forbid they are offered food they 'don't like,' prepared by the White House chef and her staff, who are worthy to cook for state dinners, but not, it appears, for the First Family.

Did I mention I can't stand this whole foodie thing?

Lisa Schiffren writes a fantastic post about this at the Corner. It's a must-read for Palinistas and all you other iceberg-lettuce-eating yokels out there.

Excerpts:

I believed all that stuff about how Michelle was an overburdened modern working mother, rushing from school dropoff to her high-paying, demanding work at the hospital, to dress fittings, to whatever it was she needed to do to support her husband's political aspirations, back home to take care of her daughters. Call me naive, but that model usually includes making dinner. And squeezing in a weekly grocery shopping trip. Especially for those fresh, whole foods that don't keep so long. Now I have to wonder who did the laundry, and the vacuuming. Sure, granny helped—but I doubt she was the maid. Who was?

* * * * *

Didn't the women at Slate, among others, complain that there was something offensive about Sarah Palin's apparent ability to raise 5 children, run the state of Alaska, run marathons, and cook those mooseburgers—because it set the bar too high for ordinary women? But they were willing to believe that Michelle could do it all, and keep it all organic and healthy at that—because she has a law degree from Harvard?

Then there's Sarah Palin, who famously declined on the personal chef. She not only cooks her family's food, but hunts and fishes for it as well. She once again proves herself to be the anti-Obama, Michelle included.

Recipe from Sarah: Sweet and Saucy Salmon
















Thank you, Pundit, for the links and title. H/T also to JP.

Video on the birth of online news

From 1981, but it seems much more dated. I hope you enjoy this as much as my kids did.



h/t: HotAir

Anti-abortion campaign for the hip

Please pardon my marginal vulgarity, but here's something interesting:

What the FOCA?!

Read about it above, and here.

H/T: Pundit

It's Only Money

Well said by Gateway Pundit: If Dems Luv the Kids So Much... Why Are They Stiffing Them With a Trillion Dollar Tab?

See Michelle Malkin for news of the Republican moral victory. Not one of them voted for the Bacon Explosion Bill. But 11 Democrats voted against it. That's bipartisanship we can believe in.

Pundit and I were talking about the Democrat spending orgy. I was trying to understand the mentality that goes into this kind of outrageously irresponsible legislation. These men and women can't possibly run their families and businesses this way. They'd be penniless, out on the street with nothing, if they did. (Though I guess even responsibility for one's own financial decisions, e.g., buying a house you can't afford, is becoming passe - just get a bailout on that big mortgage.)

But in the world most of us live in, adults weigh the pluses and minuses of large expenditures, sometimes even delaying gratification. The phrases "We can't afford it," "We don't have the money right now," or even "Let's save up for that," are still used in families, aren't they?

But Pundit had the answer: the money our legislators are spending isn't their own, and it has no limit. The prudence center of the weaker mind is apparently wiped clean when confronted with this bottomless pot of gold. Throw in the facts that they have no idea how their actions will affect the economy, and that they are blithely burdening the next generation or two with a trillion dollars of debt, and it's hard to respect these people.

But hey, it's only money.

"Defending the Indefensible"

Defending the Indefensible: Kmiec Gives it One More Try
by Matthew J. Franck

Clarity on the tangled web web woven by Douglas Kmiec.

ACORN and the Democrats' Spending Spree Bill

Fox News: Republicans Object to Stimulus Dollars for ACORN

It's only $4 billion, and it wouldn't all go to ACORN, so what's the big deal?

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told FOX News Tuesday that the money could be seen as "payoff" for groups' political activities in the last election. ACORN generally supports Democratic candidates and actively backed President Obama last year.

But he said the funding is just one example of frivolous spending items in the $825 billion package.

"It's just a long list of spending items. Not a real economic stimulus job creation bill," Vitter said. "It's line after line after line of favorite liberal spending programs, and it amounts to a big government bill -- not a job creation bill."

Bacon explosion on Capitol Hill

My pals at Conservatives for Palin were cited in a NYT article on the Bacon Explosion internet sensation. (I haven't tried it, but I know that you start out by weaving a potholder out of bacon slices.)










The Times's point is that this recipe has taken the internet by storm and is showing up in the unlikeliest corners of the blogosphere.

Could the Times possibly have missed the obvious political implications of the term "Bacon Explosion"? From now on I'm going to use it in place of the wildly inappropriate "stimulus."











Stimulus, a.k.a. Bacon Explosion

In decline

Your daily dose of Mark Steyn: Young at Heart

Steyn himself is not personally in decline. Far from it. But almost everything else is. Victor Davis Hanson agrees. If these articles were mine I'd add these tags:

• demographic decline
• decline of youth culture
• decline of the grown-up
• decline of the male
• decline of the media
• decline of the movies
• decline of education
• decline of integrity in business
• decline of California
• decline of the classy politician
• decline of the Left
• decline of the farmer

Phew.

From VDH: Ten Random, Politically-Incorrect Thoughts. It's from last November, but if you missed it as I did you might want to read it now. I started to excerpt but I couldn't figure out where to stop. Warning: it may it dampen your spirits. You'll need to follow up with something uplifting and lively. Try this:

"Demographic Winter"

Demographic Winter

Maybe this film will help rouse people and alert them to the population crisis (low population, that is) before it's too late. You can watch the trailer and purchase the DVD at the site.

I haven't seen the film yet. A cursory look at the website reveals no mention of the Islamification of the European cultures that are committing suicide by not reproducing. Maybe it's there and I missed it.

From the Q&A:
Question: Can’t the problem be fixed by increased immigration?

Answer:
In a demographic sense, this is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The host country gains people, but the home country loses. The developing world, which has seen its own birthrate cut in half since 1970 (from almost 6 to barely 4), can ill afford to lose large numbers through emigration. The loss of labor from these countries adversely impacts their own economy and since the majority of those who leave are the men, many children are now growing up without a father, creating other social problems for these countries. The developing world is paying a high price to bail out the developed world’s lack of labor due to low fertility rates.

Mass immigration changes the national character of the host country. Immigrants tend to have a lower education level than natives. Many never learn the language of their new home or identify with its history and heritage. This changes the social and political makeup of the host countries, in some cases so dramatically that it is causing social and political unrest.

That's stating it very blandly. Mark Steyn has written a book that makes the case much more clearly and forcefully. Below are excerpts from Daniel Pipes' 2006 review of Steyn's America Alone:

The nanny state infantilized Europeans, making them worry about such pseudo-issues as climate change, while feminizing the males. It also neutered them, annexing "most of the core functions of adulthood," starting with the instinct to breed. From about 1980, birth rates plummeted, leaving an inadequate base for today's workers to receive their pensions. Structured on a pay-as-you-go basis, it amounted to an inter-generational Ponzi scheme, where today's workers depend on their children for their pensions. The demographic collapse meant that the indigenous peoples of countries like Russia, Italy, and Spain are at the start of a population death spiral. It led to a collapse of confidence that in turn bred "civilizational exhaustion," leaving Europeans unprepared to fight for their ways.

To keep the economic machine running meant accepting foreign workers. Rather than execute a long-term plan to prepare for the many millions of immigrants needed, Europe's elites punted, welcoming almost anyone who turned up. By virtue of geographic proximity, demographic overdrive, and a crisis-prone environment, "Islam is now the principal supplier of new Europeans," Mr. Steyn writes.

Arriving at a time of demographic, political, and cultural weakness, Muslims are profoundly changing Europe. "Islam has youth and will, Europe has age and welfare." Put differently, "Pre-modern Islam beats post-modern Christianity." Much of the Western world, Mr. Steyn flat-out predicts, "will not survive the twenty-first century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most European countries." With even more drama, he adds that "it's the end of the world as we know it." (In contrast, I believe that Europe still has time to avoid this fate.)

America Alone deals at length with what Mr. Steyn calls "the larger forces at play in the developed world that have left Europe too enfeebled to resist its remorseless transformation into Eurabia." Europe's successor population is already in place and "the only question is how bloody the transfer of real estate will be." He interprets the Madrid and London bombings, as well as the murder of Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam, as opening shots in Europe's civil war and states, "Europe is the colony now."

Pipes isn't in full agreement with Steyn, but no matter. He's written a pretty good summary of the population vacuum facing Europe. What must be added is that the culture of the 'successor population' is hostile to the liberties that the free world holds dear.

What to do?

Pared to its essentials, [Steyn] counsels two things: First, avoid the "bloated European welfare systems," declare them no less than a national security threat, shrink the state, and emphasize the virtues of self-reliance and individual innovation. Second, avoid "imperial understretch," don't "hunker down in Fortress America" but destroy the ideology of radical Islam, help reform Islam, and expand Western civilization to new places. Only if Americans "can summon the will to shape at least part of the emerging world" will they have enough company to soldier on. Failing that, expect a "new Dark Ages … a planet on which much of the map is re-primitivized."

There's a cause and effect relationship between socialism and a culture's loss of the will to work, create, take risks, and procreate. The book and the review were written in 2006. Now, in 2009, our government is ballooning at an unprecedented rate. Using fear of economic collapse, the nanny state is moving in to take over and take care of us.

Suggestion to Mark Steyn: make America Alone into a film. Reading is on the decline, but everyone watches movies.

Japanese urged by employers and state to have children

Workers urged: Go home and multiply

At 1.34, the birthrate is well below the 2.0 needed to maintain Japan's population, according to the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

The 5:30 p.m. lights-out program is one simple step toward helping address the population problem. It also has an added benefit: Amid the global economic downturn the company can slash overtime across the board twice a week.

I can't begin to understand Japanese culture. But it seems to me that urgings from the state and the employer will never motivate couples to have children they don't feel inclined to have. Japan needs lots of large families to reverse the trend, but governments are better at making families smaller than they are at making them bigger.

Related stories:
Increase in petty thievery among elderly Japanese
Something fundamentally wrong in Japan
H/T: hyacinth girl

'Stimulus' contains NO funding for troops in field

Highlighted in previous post, but deserving of its own space here.

Weekly Standard quotes memorandum from Rep. Kirk:

F. Despite $550B in Spending, No Funds for Troops in Field

Despite spending $550 billion, no funds are provided for troops in Afghanistan or Iraq. The Defense Department estimates they will need $60-$80 billion soon to support immediate combat operations.

When money is being thrown around with such unprecedented abandon, it's hard to understand how they could miss anything at all, let alone the war-fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq. But they seem to have their priorities.

Related post here.

Kirk: 'Things you should know about the stimulus bill'

If we still had the capacity to be shocked or appalled, we would be by the data provided below by Rep. Mark Kirk.

Do not miss item F. (!!!!!!!!)

From the Weekly Standard blog: Reasons to vote against stimulus
Gary Andres observes:

Looks like the Democrats are using the demand for stimulus to satiate their pent up demand for a lot of new spending unrelated to economic growth.

You betcha.

And he posts the following from Rep. Mark Kirk:

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Members of the Appropriations Committee

FROM: Mark Kirk

DATE: January 21, 2009

RE: Things You Should Know About the Stimulus Bill

Here are some things you should know about the bill before our Committee today:

A. Large Taxpayer Cost Per Job Saved

Combined with the provisions of the Ways & Means Committee, this legislation will cost taxpayers $825 billion and claims to save “3.7 million” jobs. That means the government will save each job at an average cost of $222,972. Combined with the previous $700 billion bailout bill, the cost per job saved by recent congressional spending is $412,162 per job saved. On average, the private sector created 2007 jobs at a cost of $50,283 per job.

B. Most Items Are Unrelated to Economic Stimulus [oops - our bad!]

The legislation contains 152 separate appropriations. Only 34 line items have estimates in the committee report estimating jobs saved. 117 appropriations have no job saving estimate at all.

C. Major Job Producing Items Cost $65 Billion

Just 11 appropriations out of the 152 in the bill generate over 1,846,800 jobs at a total cost of $65 billion. These programs that have the highest payoff are some of the lower cost items:

1. Highway Infrastructure Investment (835,000 jobs, $35,928 each) $30B

2. Clean Water State Revolving Fund (282,000 jobs, $21,276 each) $6B

3. Transit Capital Assistance (165,000 jobs, $36,363 each) $6B

4. Child Care Development Block Grant (125,000 jobs, $16,000 each) $2B

5. Weatherization Assistance (104,000 jobs, $59,615 each) $6.2B

6. Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (94,000 jobs, $21,276 each) $2B

7. Grants-in-Aid for Airports (75,000 jobs, $40,000 each) $3B

8. Head Start (50,000 jobs, $42,000 each) $2.1B

9. State Energy Program (41,000 jobs, $82,926 each) $3.4B

10. Energy Efficiency & Conservation Grants (40,800 jobs, $85,784 each) $3.5B

11. Capital Investment Grants (35,000 jobs, $28,571 each) $1B

D. Bill Language Requires Extremely Fast Spending

Under Title I of the bill, all formula grants must be allocated within 30 days and all discretionary grants must be allocated within 90 days. This will require unprecedented speeds in federal spending.

E. Few and Friendly Economists Cited in Report, CBO Ignored

CBO reported that of the $550 billion in spending approved by this bill, only $26 billion will be spent in FY09. Of the $30 billion appropriated for highways, only $3 billion will be spent in FY09 and $4.2 billion in FY10. Over $60 billion of spending in the bill will not be spent during President Obama’s first term. CBO’s comment on the bill is not mentioned in the committee report.

The Committee report does cite the work of only three economists supporting this legislation: President Obama’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Christina Romer, Vice President Biden’s economic advisor, Jared Bernstein, and Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com. Zandi is a political contributor to Sen. John McCain and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). Zandi is quoted no less than six times.

F. Despite $550B in Spending, No Funds for Troops in Field

Despite spending $550 billion, no funds are provided for troops in Afghanistan or Iraq. The Defense Department estimates they will need $60-$80 billion soon to support immediate combat operations.

G. Funds Specifically Prohibited for Casinos, Aquariums and Pools, Not Bars

The text of the bill specifically prohibits funding from this bill to support “casinos, gaming institutions, aquariums, zoos, golf courses or swimming pools.” The prohibition does not mention bars or the pornography industry.

H. No Bipartisan Oversight

The bill creates an Accountability and Transparency Board. All board members are appointees of the President. [pay no attention to the man behind the curtain]

I. No Analysis of Unprecedented Trillion Borrowing Triggered by the Bill [but we're sure it will work out just fine]

There is no mention of the borrowing needed to finance this bill. CBO projects that if this legislation is passed, the federal government will need to borrow over $2 Trillion in the coming months. This will increase the public debt from $6 Trillion to $8 Trillion in a matter of weeks. No bond market has ever handled so much debt sold so quickly.

J. Very High Cost Broadband Provided at Taxpayer Expense

The bill creates a rural broadband program at a cost of $2.8 billion to serve 3.6 million people. Under these terms, the bill will provide broadband to rural (but not urban or suburban Americans) at a taxpayer cost of $784 each.

K. Funding Provided for Programs About to be Out-of-Date

The bill appropriates $650 million for digital-to-analog converter boxes despite the impending deadline of the program, announced two years ago of February 17, 2009.

I'd like Pundit to leave a comment, please, on this concept of jobs "created or saved." Throwing in that second word pretty much nullifies any meaning the numbers might have had.

At least we know who to blame

Roland Burris, getting a bit carried away with himself (again):

"If there was no Martin Luther King Jr. and no Roland Burris, there would be no Barack Obama in the White House today," Burris said to cheers at a Rainbow PUSH Coalition breakfast in Chicago. "We must recognize, friends, that we all stand on each other's shoulders."

H/T: Marathon Pundit

Stimulus-shmimulus

Iain Murray:
Let's Stop Calling it the Stimulus

"Further to my last post, I agree with others who've been saying we should stop calling the current pork bill a "stimulus" package. It stimulates only the Swiss bank accounts of the well-connected (all right, that may be over the top, but not by much). More accurately, it's a borrow-and-spend package or a tax-our-children-and-spend package. Other ideas welcome."

Yuval Levin:
That Stimulus Bill

"It’s simply seen by the Democratic leadership as an opportunity to spend a lot of money on various causes they’ve wanted to support for years and to increase the reach of the government into the economy. They offer no sense of just how their solution relates to the problem our economy faces; no reason to think that they will ever pull back from the levels of spending and of intervention they now envision; and no excuses for even the most egregious examples of profligate waste in the plan."

Michael G. Frank
Beware the Long-Term Agenda in the Stimulus

They quote the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee (and the panel’s former chairman), Rep. Buck McKeon (R., Calif.), asking the pertinent question:

What will happen two years from now when the Democrat spending spree comes to an end?

Dr. (and Senator) Tom Coburn of Oklahoma provides the answer:

It'll never go away. You're talking about a permanent increase at a time when we are in the worst financial shape we've ever been in.

Does this make me look fat?

From the Washington Post Arts & Living section,

Wearable art could bring about a brave new world of anonymity, isolation, and false individuality:

There seem to be clear references, in all this work, to the body-hiding masks and costumes of certain African cultures. But where those outfits reinforce a single cultural identity, Cave's seem meant to set their wearers free. For anyone who, like Cave, grew up black in the United States, there might be something to be said for a new world where every person could choose to look absolutely, unrecognizably different from everyone else.

Pundit says he thinks he saw that episode of Star Trek.

Some of the 'soundsuits' made me think of this:














The most surprising fact is that the artist has sold "a number" of these.
More examples here.

Video of Sen. Kyl grilling Geithner

Kudos to Sen. Jon Kyl for attempting to pin down the eel-like Geithner on his tax irregularities. He couldn't get him to admit the obvious: that after being audited, he paid only the taxes he was l obligated to, and declined to pay the '01 and '02 taxes, not because he didn't think about it, but because he could legally get away with it.



To use Sen. Kyl's phrase, it "strains credulity" to believe that super-genius Geithner, the only man on the planet smart enough to run the Treasury, not only forgot to pay these taxes for four years, but that he omitted to pay the taxes from '01 and '02, not because he could legally get away with it, but because, though he took the auditing process "very seriously," it just didn't enter his mind that, if he owed for '03 and '04, he certainly owed for '01 and '02 also. Congratulations to Sen. Kyl for not letting him off the hook, and for somehow retaining his composure in the face of Geithner's refusal to give him a straight answer.

Aussie nanny state invades children's lunch boxes

From Junkfood Science:
Schools confiscate desserts and evil snacks from children's lunch boxes. Some parents are understandably up in arms, believing that the government has no right to tell them what they can feed their kids.

Hmm. Wonder what happens to the goodies. Do the same rules apply to the teachers and administrators?

Steyn: "The Audacity of Dull"

I wish my late mother were here to enjoy Mark Steyn. She would have adored him in the same way she did Frank Sinatra, Jack Aubrey, and Ronald Reagan.












Steyn outdoes himself again with this column. No point in excerpting because it's literally all good. He exposes President Obama's 'soaring' inaugural address for the cliche-ridden snooze that it was. He shows no mercy toward the vacuous Obama celebrigroupies pledging their allegiance and likening him to a deity. And he provides a few inconvenient reminders of the consequences of giving up that childish partisanship, as Obama has recently suggested, and following the enlightened European example.

Okay, now I have to excerpt:

The result [in Europe] has been to deliver a society of permanent high unemployment, unaffordable entitlements and deathbed demographics – even before the economic downturn put more immediate question marks over the future. As Obama was inaugurated, rioters were besieging their parliaments in Iceland, Latvia and Bulgaria, the beginnings of a civil unrest that will spread inward from the fringes of the European map. Unlike Ashton Kutcher, these people are not worried about arts education mentoring.

Steyn never fails to give us the big picture.

Read it all.

Obama: Don't listen to Rush

The NY Post reports that President Obama has some advice for conservatives which I'm sure is intended for our own good: Don't listen to Rush Limbaugh.

"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

One White House official confirmed the comment but said he was simply trying to make a larger point about bipartisan efforts.

"There are big things that unify Republicans and Democrats," the official said. "We shouldn't let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done."

That wasn't Obama's only jab at Republicans today.

In an exchange with Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) about the proposal, the president shot back: "I won," according to aides briefed on the meeting.

"I will trump you on that."

What astonishing arrogance.

But don't worry. He plans to listen to the GOP:

Gibbs disagreed with those who called the meeting window dressing.

"The president is certainly going to listen to any ideas," he said.

"He will also go to Capitol Hill the beginning of next week to talk to Republican caucuses and solicit their input and their ideas."

Meanwhile, we're running out of words to express the magnitude of the monstrous, mushrooming, ballooning, ever-expanding hogzilla-sized pork-fest "stimulus package." Congress has given themselves a blank check and they're anticipating the biggest, wildest spending orgy in the history of the world. Bankrupting their great-grandchildren doesn't concern them.

Republicans say the $825 billion price tag is too big a burden for a nation crippled by debt and that it doesn't do enough to stimulate the economy by cutting taxes.

"You know, I'm concerned about the size of the package. And I'm concerned about some of the spending that's in there, [about] ... how you can spend hundreds of millions on contraceptives," House GOP Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) later said.

"How does that stimulate the economy?"

Hangin's too good for 'im, Sheriff

Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys.

No poetry this time, but Blago never disappoints.

From the AP:

Blagojevich, a fan of Western movies, drew a long analogy Friday between his situation and that of a cowboy falsely accused of stealing a horse. His story ended with one cowboy suggesting the accused thief be hanged, with the other suggesting he first be tried, then hanged.

Photo source: TheCapitolFaxBlog

Go to Marathon Pundit for more.

'A Slobbering Love Affair'

I don't read romance novels but I might make an exception for this:



A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media by Bernard Goldberg

The author says this about Obama's recent irritation with the media:

". . . the president's honeymoon with the mainstream media isn't even close to being over."

Do you feel safer now?

I don't.

Marc Thiessen on the Corner:

[Obama] has removed the tool that is singularly responsible for stopping al-Qaeda from flying planes into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, Heathrow Airport, and London’s Canary Warf, and blowing up apartment buildings in Chicago, among other plots. It’s not even the end of inauguration week, and Obama is already proving to be the most dangerous man ever to occupy the Oval Office.

Read the rest.

Update: Here's a follow-up from Mr. Thiessen.

Obama to media: Down, boy!

Prima Bama strikes again.

He resents that pesky media, who once in a blue moon decides to ask him a pointed question.
The Politico reports this exchange:

Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.

"Ahh, see," he said, "I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."

Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter's shoulder and staring him in the eye.

"Alright, come on" he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. "We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys - that's all I was trying to do."

The president was quickly saved by a cameraman in the room who called out: “I’d like to say it one more time: ‘Mr. President.’ ”

Eeww. That was downright cloying.

Mark Hemingway queries:

How long is Mr. "Why Can't I Just Eat My Waffle?" and "Come on! I Already Answered, Like, Eight Questions" going to whine about dealing with an otherwise slavishly devoted press corps before they begin to resent him?

Medal of Honor heroes dissed by Obama

Obama blows off Medal of Honor recipients
This ugly omission won't help unite the country.

About the MoH and its recipients:
MedalofHonor.com

Medal of Honor video:
http://www.greatamericans.com/videos/d730536f67/the-face-behind-the-file-medal-of-honor-from-army4life

I love to see these ordinary looking guys in the video and realize what great men they are. It makes me feel better about humanity in general. What hidden heroes do we pass by every day?












Hero Wesley Fox, USMC, featured in video above.


h/t: TAH
(cross-posted here)

March for Life '09 (with photos)

Updated to add this link to some great photos.
Updated again to add another link with over 400 photos.

Please read this eloquent (and brief) post by Michael Novak on the Corner.

Another suggested read is The Moderate Voice, which gives an interesting perspective on the future of the pro-life movement, and on the people attending the March. Mr. Piper has a problem with the pro-life movement's emphasis on religion, so plainly in evidence at the March. He sees this overt religiosity as the "biggest anchor weighing [the movement] down from broader acceptance." As someone who spent half her life as a non-religious person and the other half as a Catholic, I understand how, from the outside, religious trappings can be off-putting, baffling, and downright weird. Mr. Piper hopes the next generation will tone them down so as to make the pro-life cause more palatable to the non-religious person.

Here's an alternate antidote: non-religious people could become better acquainted with their Catholic and Evangelical neighbors. Mr. Piper might talk to some of the marchers (maybe he did) and find out why the religious aspect of their pro-life beliefs is so critical to them. It would be interesting to find out why these people aren't embarrassed to wear their religion on their sleeves.

From the AP, a beautiful quote from a pro-life democrat:

Among those attending the rally was Kirk Kramer of Cottage City, Md., who held up a sign reading: "The Audacity Of Hope: No More Roe."

Kramer, a Democrat, said he has mixed feelings about Obama. He supports the president's position on Iraq but said he was concerned about statements Obama made during the campaign indicating support for the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overrule many state-level restrictions on access to abortion.

"Love always finds a way. There's a way we can find for every pregnant woman to have a child or give it up for adoption," he said.

Other March links:
Washington Post: Abortion Foes Recall Lincoln's Slavery Stand (see photo gallery)
"The mood on the Mall yesterday was upbeat, with throngs of teenagers chatting, chasing one another and laughing."
Newsbusters: Terry Schiavo's Brother Rips Olbermann at March
The Bulletin: March for Life: Hundreds of Thousands Attend
WND: Activists to Obama: Go Watch Abortion

Here are a few pictures taken yesterday by Pundit and offspring. Click on pics to enlarge.

Post-racial era?

Videos: Michelle Malkin, Dennis Miller on "my president is black":
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/22/video-michelle-on-the-my-president-is-black-kerfuffle/

Disappointing

I'm afraid we're going to have to fill up our minivan's gas tank soon. That needle is creeping toward empty and the gas vouchers or whatever still haven't arrived. Hey - here's an idea - how hard would it be to change those numbers on the gas station signs to zeroes? Maybe the police or somebody could do it, and then we could just pull up and pump. But last time I checked, they're still making us pay. And we keep looking, but we haven't found any checks from President Obama in our mailbox yet. What is the problem?

Still hoping the change will kick in before the next mortgage payment is due. But we're starting to lose the faith.

Abortion commentary links

Current commentary on the abortion issue, January 22, 2009:

Robert George
Our Struggle for the Soul of our Nation

Ann Conlon
Life in the Time of Obama

Star Parker and Gary Bauer
A Dream Unfulfilled

Michael New
The Case for Pro-Life Optimism

Film:
22 Weeks: The Movie

Ad from CatholicVote.com:
Life: Imagine the Potential


Archives:

Robert George
Aborting Conscience
Obama and Infanticide
Obama's Abortion Extremism

Andrew McCarthy
Why Obama Really Voted for Infanticide

The tragedy of abortion hits black women and children the hardest

A Dream Unfulfilled
Roe v. Wade has played a big role in the devastation of the African-American community.
by Star Parker & Gary Bauer

Excerpts:

The confluence of these events should prompt all Americans to reflect on how far our nation still has to go in creating a culture of true equality. For while abortion has had devastating effects on all demographic groups, its impact has been particularly acute for black Americans.

The magnitude of the problem is difficult to overstate.

*Nearly half of black pregnancies end in abortion.

*Three in five black women will abort a child.

*1,500 black Americans are aborted every day.

*America's black population has been reduced by roughly one-third because of abortion.

What's more, disparities among racial groups are widening.

Read on.

Juan Williams on media's treatment of Obama

Juan Williams: Judge Obama on Performance

h/t: Laura Ingraham

Tired of Mr. Right

Readers, can this relationship last?

Dear Abby,

I've been seeing this great guy for a couple of years now. He is really incredible: smart, cool, great dresser, really ambitious, kind of exotic in a cool way. Did I mention he's cool? And a good listener who really respects my point of view (though, to be honest, he never seems to change his mind). Different from my usual type, I admit, which is more mature, square, and straightforward. You know, boring. I felt like I needed a change and boy did I get it!

So what's the problem? All my old friends think he's a jerk who is just using me, and they tell me so in no uncertain terms. They point out that some of his friends are kind of shady (which is true, but he is so over them now --- he told me himself). And we do disagree about a few things, like children --- he called them a punishment, which is kind of harsh, though maybe I can see his point. And they say he wants to take my stuff and run my life. But would that be so bad? I mean, he is really smart.

So what should I do? I hate to part ways with my friends but this is the chance of a lifetime. And I'm sure he will be different once we formalize our relationship. I can bring him around on those things we disagree on. It will definitely be worth the effort! There is so much promise there!

And my friends are not cool at all. I see that now. So small loss, really.

Thanks for listening!

Signed,
Tired of Mr. Right

(originally posted here by Pundit)

Do-over on the Oath of Office

Details from Byron York. Typical double-think: it was perfectly valid, but just in case it wasn't (but it was), it was necessary to do it again (but it wasn't necessary).

The cult of Obama

Worshipping Obama

Pundit wanted me to know that he found this before Jonah Goldberg.
And I was all over that Astaire thing before K-Lo. We rock.

Inaugural speech snipes at Bush

Was this really necessary?

Jay Nordlinger evaluates the speech here and here.

The bottom line:
"Time to stop knocking (and sliming) Bush and do something on his own."

The pledge

I wasn't going to actually watch the 'Celebrity Pledge' which I mentioned here, but Critical Thinker's comment encouraged me to take the plunge and invest the four minutes.

Quite a bit of variety in the pledges, which I've gleaned from NewsBusters. Check NB out for amusing parodic pledges interspersed among the celeb-pledges. IowaHawk does a great parody of it, too. But Breitbart has the final word.

Here are some of the pledges. I'm not sure why we couldn't be good parents, sisters, or neighbors under President Bush. But no matter. It's never too late to improve.

Emphasis has been added by me to a few pledges that I was really gratified to see included.

to help end hunger in America... to smile more... to laugh more ... to love more.. I pledge... to volunteer more of my time to help children battling serious illnesses... I pledge... to be a great mother ... to be a great father... to continue working with UNICEF to make this world a better place for all of our children... to be the voice for those that have no voice... I pledge... I pledge... to consider myself an American, not an African-American... to always represent my country with pride, dignity, and honesty... [Ashton, you'll have to lose that sweater first.] I pledge to go to USAservice.org... to find a service project that I am passionate about... I pledge allegiance to the funk to the united funk of funkadelica... [huh?] I pledge to never give anyone the Finger when I'm driving again... to always find the humor in everything... I pledge to help find the cure for Alzheimers... to care for America's elderly... to make sure that senior citizens have access to healthcare... so that our next generation's memories will not be forgotten... I pledge to bring awareness to mental disease... to advance stem cell research... to spread the awareness of autism... I pledge to show more love to strangers... to meet my neighbors... and find out their names... I'm going to give them a smile and ask them how I can be of service to them. I pledge... I pledge... to be a better mentor to my younger sisters... to continue to be a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters... I pledge... to reduce my use of plastic... by starting with using less bottled water... to plant 500 trees this year to help our planet... to be more green... to no longer use the plastic bags at the grocery store... to sell a culture of intelligence instead of ignorance... to the abolition of 21st century slavery... I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama... to be a servant to our president...

One celeb vows to turn out the lights when he's not using them. This is a habit many of us were raised with, just so we wouldn't run up the electric bill. I recall my late father going around the house, turning off the lights and muttering something about not being made of money. I guess it's harder to conserve electricity when you are in fact made of money.

Many conservatives, by temperament and habit, are not wasteful people, and care about what they have. So they don't trash the environment, consume conspicuously, or waste their resources. Conservatives are also known for their generosity. It's nice to see some celebrities waking up to the idea of practicing the virtues of charity and temperance. These virtues have been around for a while.

You've got to watch the video to get the full effect. Thanks to Jason Bateman of the great Arrested Development to puncture the sanctimonious tone with his pledge.

Related post here.

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off . . .

. . . start all over again.

Not a bad theme for the conservative movement.

I'll use Obama's exhortation to pick ourselves up as an excuse to post a favorite number or two from a favorite musical of mine, Swing Time. These clips are an antidote to the non-dancing we witnessed last night at the I-balls. I'm guessing that Ron and Nancy were the last presidential couple who could actually dance.

First, Astaire pretending he can't dance:


Then, by George, I think he's got it:


Thank you, Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.

Updated to add this from the Corner, which I think is absolutely absurd. Have you seen Obama dance?!?

Coincidence? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

"[Obama's] gentlemanly manners and lithe elegance—he is closer in style to Fred Astaire than to any U.S. politician—charm suburban whites generally and white women in particular."—John O'Sullivan, Toronto Globe and Mail, yesterday morning.

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."—President Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech, yesterday.

Go 2.27 minutes into this. And hats off to lyricist Dorothy Fields.

01/21 02:02 PM

Updated again on 1/26/09 to add Mark Steyn's take on this great song and its invocation by the new president. Please note the end of Steyn's piece, which echoes what I say at the top of mine, almost exactly. :D

Denyce Graves notably missing from inaugural events

Updated 3/15/09: Rule 5, but with culture. Scroll down to the video.

I confess I didn't watch the festivities live. So please correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't find any indication that she was there.

I read this a couple of weeks ago and couldn't understand why the gorgeous and talented world-class mezzo-soprano was not invited to perform for the inaugural extravaganza. She is an Obama supporter and was eager to be a part of it:

"No, I'm not [involved] at all, and I would looooove to be," she told us. She said she's adored Barack Obama since hearing him speak in Chicago, pre-Senate. "I was mesmerized. I called my best girlfriend, who lives in Switzerland, and said, 'This man could be president some day.' "

But the calls aren't coming in? "No, they're not!" Graves sighed. "I think they've already chosen." For the swearing-in, yes: Aretha Franklin will do the honors. The loyal Dem said she wonders if her Bush inaugural gig knocked her out for this round: "I got so much hate mail. People were furious. For me it was about being an American, and the office itself. This one is personal. . . . I would love to be involved in any way, if not now, then sometime in the administration." Hint. Hint.

This Weekly Standard blog writer also suspects that Ms. Graves has been blacklisted snubbed overlooked because of her performance at the Bush inaugural:

P.S. Did I miss opera singer Denyce Graves at the concert? Or is she performing today? Or is the extremely talented and beautiful African-American soprano from D.C. being punished for singing at Bush's second inaugural?

That would be pretty low. And stupid. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Denyce Graves, the Carmen of our era, is dynamite. Here she is at the 2005 Inauguration, looking fabulous in a fur coat (faux or real, I don't know or care). I would embed it here, but a couple of news cretins talk over her entire song.

And here she is as Carmen. Be warned: If you're not an opera fan, watching this may cause you to become one.

Inauguration twitter, background stories, and speech

The speech:

We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.

Oh dear.

. . . and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass;

Bitter swill? That must be a mistake.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

I fear that the Muslim world's 'way forward' contains little respect for the West. And I see I'm in good company.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

But we do ask whether our government is too big, and the answer is yes. Way too big. We also disagree on its purpose. He sees its role as caretaker. As for accountability, we won't hold our breath. John Miller "await[s] the list of programs he recommends ending."

[Our nation relies on] the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Unless the child is inconvenient, and viewed as a punishment and dispensed with. Yes, this "unwillingness to nurture" takes a terrible toll.

Michelle Malkin on the Oath:

12:06pm Eastern. Obama bungles the oath. The visible nervousness is humanizing.

Obama takes the podium. Again with the “humble” stuff.

He thanks President Bush for his service to the nation. Scattered applause.

He’s back in his rhythm with help from the teleprompter.

Ouch. That was embarrassing. Roberts goofed first. I'd love to hear the media if this had been Bush or Sarah Palin flubbing the oath. Couldn't they have, like, rehearsed it?

One thing I believe about George Bush -- he is a humble man.

The race-based benediction: Scandalous.

Rev. Lowery:

“We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right,” Lowery said.

This is dreadful. We teach our kids to focus on the person, not on his race or skin color. Rev. Lowery lumps people together in groups, by color. And look at which group is the bad guy here. This fits my definition of racism.

WTOP Twitter

FROM Mark Segraves : The reaction from the crowd here on parade route after speech was flat
11:35: Crowd now seems peaceful, yet upbeat and jovial. No one appears to be hurt from the 9:30 am crashing of the disabled section.

9:30: The crowd just broke the police barrier, plastic fence, and charged the handicapped section to move closer.

Lopez: BDS Disgrace

Wow. Well, my inaugural good feelings were definitely spoiled a bit by the "Na Na Hey Hey ... Goodbye" outburst on the Mall just now. How shamefully disrespectful. Keith Olbermann even thought so!

Defense Secretary Will Skip Inauguration

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, the lone member of the Bush Cabinet who will keep his job under President-elect Barack Obama, will go today to a military base outside Washington, as the "designated successor" to run the federal government in case of a catastrophe during the inauguration, officials said yesterday.

Europe Set to Party for Inauguration

Bush Leaves Note for Obama

Frenetic street scene awakens capital before dawn
Hypothermia is a threat, and some are disappointed in hopes to get near the Capitol.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Mall swelled into a vast, pulsing scene of expectation Tuesday as excited crowds clogged mass transit lines and security checkpoints to witness the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama.

Energized by the historic moment, hundreds of thousands of people turned this city's orderly grid of streets into a festive party scene. Ready to endure below-freezing temperatures, they streamed up from subway stations and thronged past parked buses, emergency vehicles and street vendors, bound for Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall for the inauguration.

"This is the culmination of two years of work," said Obama activist Akin Salawu, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who helped the candidate as a community organizer and Web producer. "We got on board when Obama was the little engine who could. He's like a child you've held onto. Now he's going out into the world."

By 4 a.m., lines of riders had already formed in suburban parking lots for the Metro transit system, which opened early and put on extra trains for the expected rush. Many parking lots filled up and had to be closed.

Streets around the Capitol quickly filled with people, and security checkpoints were mobbed. The cold registered at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit at 9 a.m.

The joyous mood was tempered only by delays and by the dashed expectations of revelers eager to get an up-close look at history.

Alice Williams, a 51-year-old teacher of gifted children from Kansas City, Mo., had the coveted purple ticket that would placed her in front of the Capitol, but she got caught in the crowd bottleneck and instead was stuck a half mile away.

"We got blocked off; there was too much traffic and no guidance," she said forlornly. "I've been walking for an hour and a half. All I want to do is see my president sworn in."

'Stars pledge allegiance to Obama'

More comic relief, this bit from OK! Magazine:

In a series of moving videos directed by Demi Moore, MySpace Celebrity and Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Media asked celebs including Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Aaron Eckhart, Alyssa Milano, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, Tobey Maguire, Dakota Fanning, Eva Longoria and more to pledge service to the President-elect. The moving videos represent ways in which each star plans to take actions that lead to the nationwide change motivated by Obama's campaign.

Since I haven't watched any of these videos, I can't say for sure that they aren't "moving." If anyone out there is willing to watch them, let us know if you were moved.

Related post here.

Obama plans to fund the UNFPA

From the Weekly Standard:

Obama and forced abortions in China

Excerpt:

But Barack Obama, like Bill Clinton before him, has pledged to reverse the course of his Republican predecessor and fund the UNFPA. It's somewhat ironic that feminist organizations are the interest groups pushing most strongly for UNFPA funding.

Apparently, if thousands of Chinese women are forced to abort their unborn children--and baby girls, in particular, are targeted for death--well that's just collateral damage in the cause of "women's rights", in the view of groups like NOW.

This is in keeping with the Inaugural Theme: A New Birth of Freedom.

(cross-posted here)