Angels We Have Heard On High

Courtesy of Six Pence None The Richer:

The 12 Days of ... Winter?

The 12 Days of ChristmasWinter



Shamelessly stolen from Theo Spark's place.

Santa wears combat boots

I particularly like the picture of the Brits sending some special Christmas mail... outgoing mail that it.

H/T Theo Spark

Quantitative Easing and The Fed

This explains EVERYTHING.

Happy Birthday, Flying Leatherneck Edition

That is all.

Separated at Birth?

One is a discredited Secretary of the State who gained national notoriety by presiding over a pathetic attempt to count ballots, and the other one is from Florida.

Florida goes West, Michigan makes a Doctor's Appointment

I've been a fan of LtCol West since he ran unsuccessfully in 2008. This year the voters in FL-22 saw fit to send him to Washington. Michigan voters have seen fit to have Dr. Dan Benishek make a cross country house call to Congress. I hope he's got the right medicine in his bag. As a health care provider I hope he has pride of place as the Republicans start their attempts to modify Obamacare.

I think LtCol West's leadership skills will huge in Congress. But I don't think he'll be very popular in the Congressional Black Caucus...


LtCol Rep. West's victory speech:

Release the Kraken

It's election day... You know what to do.

Uh, you DO KNOW, don't you?

Update:Apparently Ed Morrisey over at Hot Air had the same thought as I did... but of course he did it better...

Here's the video he used:

Anonymous Advertising is Killing Democracy, or something...

From the fine folks at reason.tv:

An Unintended Benefit of War

USA Today is reporting that the US Army has developed a blood test that can detect mild brain damage or concussion.

Army Col. Dallas Hack, who has oversight of the research, says recent data show the blood test, which looks for unique proteins that spill into the blood stream from damaged brain cells, accurately diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury in 34 patients.

The Army Vice Chief of Staff states accurately that "This is huge".

This is more than huge. This could be a total game changer for my kid's generation. No longer will a child with a concussion play when they should sit a game out, nor will a healthy child have to ride the bench when they can play. From middle school to the Majors or the NFL, athletes will have better protection. More importantly our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines can be more accurately screened; troops who are well can stay in the fight while those who need care can be quickly identified.

The Army worked with a company in Florida called Banyan Biomarkers. There will be a final set of clinical trials that will run through 2013.

If this pans out and makes it's way into general use, I think some of the scientists involved should get Nobel Prizes. Because "This is huge".

Real Music, Fake Subtitles

Apparently there's a quite a few music videos from India that have been "translated"... that is to say, English subtitles added with humorous effect. OK, it's not quite "What's Up, Tiger Lily?", but it will do for a Monday morning.

I present to you, the Nipple Song:

Google Car

So Google knows where I live, (Google Maps, complete with property lines), who I call (Android user and Google Voice user), who I e-mail (GMail), where I go (Google Locale), what I'm shopping for (Google Shopper), what I'm looking at (Google Goggles,Google Image search), and what I'm interested in (Google Search, Google News, Google Books, Blogger, YouTube, Google Earth, etc.).

Well, now Google is experimenting with cars that drive themselves. I for one, welcome our new overlords from Mountain View.

I think it's great. I can't wait to buy a car that has this technology. Google knows everything about me anyway, now Google can get me where I need to go. And since I use Google Calendar, they know when I have to be there. And I can spend that extra time using more Google products. Genius.

I wonder if they'll use it to make their Street View/Spy cars into fully autonomous SkyNet patrol vehicles...

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Now that the barbarians who stone women to death are on the Women's Rights commission, the UN has moved onto far more pressing tasks.

No, not Iranian nukes.

And no, not the continuing crisis in Darfur.

And no, not even the floods in Pakistan.

They are preparing to meet E.T. Yes. really.

Why We Fight, 21st Century Edition

Frank Capra made a famous series of propaganda movies during World War II called Why We Fight. In this age of cell phone video cameras our enemy seems to be making the movies for us. Between the home videos of the suicide bombers and the jihad porn of beheadings, the enemy continues to illustrate why they need to be hunted down and killed.

The video below is of a stoning. Watch it.

Urban Steeplechase

These guys are amazing - looks like they could pull off any burglary they want... if they only applied themselves:

She said what?

Yes... two Vietnams, North and South, living together.

Where do we find such people?

Learn Swedish....

Another episode of Simple Swedish:

Hitler and the Vuvuzela

Quick - watch it before YouTube gets a take down notice:

The One about the UN

I love these videos by No Laughing Matter



Watch and enjoy.

Southern Arizona a No Fly Zone?

Rest assured that your federal government is doing everything it can to protect you... from Arizona's legislature. Meanwhile signs are posted in the Arizona wilderness informing the reader that they are entering a dangerous zone:



Note the signs are only in English...

Superiority of Japanese Culture Confirmed, Again

If there is anyone left who doubts that Japan is the seat of the highest cultural achievements let them watch this:


F'ed Up Trailer for 'Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl - Watch more horror

A different view of Soccer

Via Theo comes this thoughtful meditation on soccer:

Bad Day for an F-16

Less than one minute between bird strike and crew ejection:

Semper Fi

A Marine presents arms during the Rolling Thunder XXIII

Love Boat, Peace Activist Style....

I saw this video at Theo Spark's place...

Hi Powered Nerf Gun

I really wish I lived next door to this guy. How cool would it be to spend an afternoon hacking nerf guns or making laser pointers into laser cutters?

Android 2.2, a/k/a FroYo

This is one of the reasons why I haven't pulled the trigger on a new phone to replace my well worn G1:

A view of Sharia Law

And guess who suffers the most? Surprise, women and gays. Muslim women and Muslim gays.

US Pole Dancing Federation??

Who knew there was a Pole Dancing Federation, or that they apparently hold a competition? Well, not I....



Via the esteemed Theo Spark

Wowee One - My Next Tech Purchase

I first saw this on an iPad podcast. This might be one of the coolest, "I didn't know how much I need it till I saw it" gadgets of the year.

Iran and the "Status of Women"

Photo from The Pirate's Cove

The ever helpful and proactive United Nations has allowed Iran to be elected to a four year term on the Commission on the Status of Women.

The mind boggles. Read Amanda Fox's piece linked above.

I've doubted the utility of the UN for many years. Oil for Food showed it to be an organization with much corruption. But this is unbelievable. I suppose women arrested in Iran for having a suntan can seek help from the commission?

And note how they divvy up the spoils of the Commission:

Membership and composition

Forty-five Member States of the United Nations serve as members of the Commission at any one time. The Commission consists of one representative from each of the 45 Member States elected by the Council on the basis of equitable geographical distribution: thirteen members from Africa; eleven from Asia; nine from Latin America and Caribbean; eight from Western Europe and other States and four from Eastern Europe. Members are elected for a period of four years.

The Awesomely Awesome Axis of Awesome

Via mental_floss comes this great clip from the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival - Every song is a 4 chord song:

What Kind of Handgun are you?

I am a: Heckler and Koch, Model P7 in 9mm

What kind of handgun are YOU?

ANZAC Day

Today is April 25th, ANZAC Day, a date observed in Australia and New Zealand to remember the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

This picture is from an observance in Iraq in 2004:

There’s not much good Aussie companionship when you’re the only Australian in a remote Iraqi township but Maj Craig Madden, RAE, is nothing if not resourceful. Maj Madden, left, scouted around on Anzac Day and eventually came across Rochelle Knight, right, a Kiwi from Christchurch, who is in Iraq working for civilian contract company KBR. Add about 20 US soldiers to hold the flags, wreaths made from locally-growing gum trees and “wha-lah!” a instant Anzac Day ceremony.
Maj Madden and Rochelle were in Balad, a town about 100km north of Baghdad, where he was providing awareness training on mines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance.

The Secret to YouTube Success

I wish I had known this before I started uploading to YouTube:

The Viral Video Kit

/div>

The Pearl Earing, Updated

This is very cool. The artist is Dorothee Golz

You Picked a Find Time to Lead Us, Barack

This is too funny:

Jerks Pwnd

Charleston, WV pwns Westboro Baptist Church a-holes:

Best Will It Blend. EVER.

Blendtec + iPad =



When I need a new blender I am so getting one of these.

Coffee for the Photographer

SingleServe coffee brings word on this travel mug that was handed out at the Vancouver games:

In which our government fails to do its duty, again

Via Theo Spark and Occidental Soapbox, a video from CAIRObservatory:

Blimp My Ride

From Dvice, a blimp ride in San Francisco...

New Google Translate App

I think this needs Android 2.1 - but it really looks cool:

Time to Pee Test Congressmen

Or the Short Bus has a stop on Capitol Hill...

Truly, we are in the very best of hands....Via the fine folks at Weazelzippers:

Burger Control

How stupid is this? The Health Care Reform package signed into law has a provision that requires chains with 20 or more stores to post the calorie counts on their menus. So every item on the menu will have to analyzed by a nutritionist or a lab to determine the calorie count... and any change would have to be re-analyzed. I guess we should expect menus that all most never change... Ed over at Hot Air has a good post on the subject.

This provision, like so many, doesn't fully kick in until 2014. But that's not fast enough for this tool in Vermont. He wants a state law to make the counts appear on menus in the Green Mountain state starting in 2011. Good to know they've got all of their problems in VT fixed so they can focus on duplicating federal law.

Meanwhile, over at TIWYF... Cupcakes Wellington

Old Advertisements for Horrifying Food

The ad for lard, and more vintage but disgusting food advertisements, can be found at Guyism

And I'm pretty sure if you served the dish touted as "Body Building for Children" the Health Nazis would look you up, no questions asked.

When Ben Nelson Is Bought

When Ben Nelson is bought, by God he stays bought!

The man who sold his vote for the Cornhusker Kickback will oppose the reconciliation bill, ostensibly because of the Government takeover of student loans. Reconciliation "extends" the Cornhusker Kickback to every state. So if Nelson succeeds it's back to preferential treatment for Nebraska. I made a bumper sticker up for an earlier post, but it looks like I make actually have to get this bumper sticker made... (but this time I'll correctly say Medicaid instead of Medicare).

If you like it, get yours at makestickers.com

What do these have in common?

The logos for the local electric company and my phone company bring to mind another iconic image... and for good reason.

Ronaldus Magnus on Healthcare

Not much has changed since Ronald Reagan delivered these words in 1961. Ironically, this is from a recording produced for the American Medical Association:

A little late for St. Patrick's Day...

Seen at the esteemed Theo Spark's blog.... an Irish cross walk light:

We're from the IRS, and we're here to help you

Courtesy of Yid with Lid comes this graphic illustration of the IRS's role in the Brave New World of ObamaCare.



This one provision all most gave me an aneurysm:

The IRS is barred from imposing these taxes and penalties on illegal immigrants

As the saying goes, read the whole thing...

Boilerplate Academy Award Nominee

Allahpundit "tweeted" the link to this video, a trailer for every Academy Award winning movie for the past several years:

So, what's changed?

Via Naked Emperor News, this video of Senator Byrd (D-KKK) talking about attempts to use reconciliation and the Byrd Rule to move health care reform through the Senate.... circa 1993:

Iraq Illustrated

Via the esteemed Theo Spark, a picture of an Iraqi soldier or policeman holding an M16 (or possibly an M4?).

Three points to note:

1) The weapon is on SAFE

2) Index finger is safely outside of the trigger guard.

3) He voted! In spite of IEDs, mortar attacks and every thing else the jihadis can come up with to disrupt the elections, he and millions of his fellow Iraqis voted yesterday.

Why is this news?

Oh, yeah - by opening his mouth he's putting his life in danger.

Pakistan-born Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri said there were no "ifs or buts" about terrorism, in a news conference attended by officers from London's Metropolitan Police, lawmakers, charitable organisations and think-tanks.

He said he wanted to convey the message that acts of terrorism cut people off as true followers of Islam.

"They can't claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim Umma (the wider Muslim community). No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are leading towards hellfire.

It has taken decades for such a fatwa to be promulgated. I predict that we shall see a great deal of Muslim "scholars" dispute his claim. Stay tuned to Arab TV (Via Memri) and just watch as they ignore Dr. ul-Qadri and simultaneously attempt to disprove him.

I wonder if Salman Rushdie needs a room mate?

Jobs for Vets...

Well, someone has to be in Congress, why not Veterans of the GWOT and first Gulf War?

Go to the Iraq Veterans for Congress, see the candidates and select at least one to support. You don't have to live in a candidate's state or district to donate.

I'm supporting LTC Allen West, FL 22 and Justin Bernier, CT 5.

And yes, I still wish LTC West would run for POTUS.

Danish Cartoonist Jihad Humor

From Creeping Sharia comes word of a German carnival float featuring the Religion of Outrage and humor:




I note that the "humor and satire" moniker is written in English, odd for a German float about events in Denmark...

Even though the Islamonut has decapitated "humor and satire" it still rises up and bites him on the ass... I like that!

Another Happy Nexus One Owner

What do you get when Marina Orlova of Hot For Words fame gets a Google Nexus One phone? A video that I'm compelled to post....

The Man Who Should Be President

I really wish LTC West would run for POTUS in 2012... but he's running for Congress in 2010. LTC West ran for the same seat in 2008 and I posted about his campaign then and I link to his campaign site again. Please consider giving what you can to help send this hero to Congress.

Here LTC West answers a fairly complicated question in a straight up manner.

A Confession

At a hearing to determine his status, Khalid Sheik Mohammad had his lawyer read a confession. A confession made without duress. A catalog of terror, and the leg work it takes to pull off an operation. KSM pays attention and corrects his lawyer. And yet he's going to get an unnecessary trial.

Video from MyThomsonGitmo. It comes with a content warning.

Where have all the cheerleaders gone?

Apparently the NBA is suffering a plague... of cheerleader eating mascots.


EMBED-Mascot Eats Cheerleader - Watch more free videos

Olympics

The Winter Olympics are upon us. Via Theo Spark we see that Total Pro Sports has a list of 25 Hot Female Olympians to watch. I may have to tune in for the Curling event.

The Great Recession

Scott Johnson at Powerline has a great post up about unemployment. He's linked to a report in Forbes that features two charts that should scare the shit out of you get your attention. The second graph really scares me. Have we fundamentally changed the economic game? What will economists call "full employment" these days? 6% maybe 7? Just imagine how much better it will be once Crap and Tax is passed.

Simmons pwns McMahon

Linda McMahon and Rob Simmons appeared together in Vernon, Connecticut, campaigning for the Republican nomination for US Senate.

McMahon talks about her foreign policy experience when she opened a WWF office in China. Rob Simmons eats her lunch. Makes you wonder which one would stand a chance against Richard Blumenthal in Connecticut's US Senate race?

Update: Edited to fix a typo in Linda McMahon's name.

Gunny speaks

From Neptunus Lex, via Theo Spark

Finally

Damn... Plugs all most screwed this up:

Of Interest to Every Marine

A letter to Marines from a Marine on the USMC in Iraq.

Click to enlarge.

H/T, Theo Spark

Symptom of poor leadership: Bad Lying

One President. One administration. 3 officials from said administration. 1 "party line" on jobs created? Not so fast, my friend. According to Politico, three flacks from the administration were on three different shows... and gave three figures for the fabled "jobs saved and created" meme:

From The Politico:

White House advisers appearing on the Sunday talk shows gave three different estimates of how many jobs could be credited to President Obama’s Recovery Act.

The discrepancy was pointed out by a Republican official in an email to reporters noting that “Three presidential advisers on three different programs [gave] three different descriptions of the trillion-dollar stimulus bill.”

Valerie Jarrett had the most conservative count, saying “the Recovery Act saved thousands and thousands of jobs,” while David Axelrod gave the bill the most credit, saying it has “created more than – or saved more than 2 million jobs.” Press Secretary Robert Gibbs came in between them, saying the plan had “saved or created 1.5 million jobs.”

Read the whole thing to get the quotes in more context. But you'd think a well oiled machine like the Obama administration, run by the best and the brightest could at least have a huddle and settle on one lie before they fanned out for the Sunday yak-shows. Maybe they are getting their statistics from recovery.gov, a website that makes up Congressional districts and can't even get zip codes right.

Jarret did speak some truth. The jobs saved were government jobs. I have nothing against teachers, cops, etc. I, in fact, am employed by government. We government workers are net drains on the economy. And we do not deserve more consideration than folks in the private sector.

TPM Photo selection

I clicked on a link to Talking Points Memo posted on Twitter to see how they will be reporting the Senate race in Mass. I noticed they had a few pictures of Coakley and Brown on their main page. Every picture of Brown was pale, washed out looking. Every picture of Coakley appeared to benefit from some post processing. Photoshop for the Democrat, but not even a Picasa "I'm feeling lucky" click for the Republican?

A couple of examples:

An Israeli View of US Airport Security

The Israelis know a thing or two about airline and airport security. And they know ours really is a joking matter. H/T Brian of London via twitter. And if you don't all ready listen, you should really check out Shire Network News, and the "full fat, non-Vegan podcast".

Gaming the Canadian System

I love the variety of speakers you see in the TED talks. Astronomers to Zoologists, and everything in between; including a young woman who needed a hip replacement. In Canada. So it would be free, and all. She would just have to wait. But she didn't want to wait (and I can't blame her for that!). So she did what she needed to do to get her surgery done quicker. She can justify what she did, but it just shows an Animal Farm-esque form of favoritism, if not downright corruption:

KT Tunstall's Footwork

This video is of KT Tunstall performing on a UK tv show called Later with Jools Holland. Watching her technique is an education. But good lord, what is she wearing on her feet?

Did Patton Say That?

The quote in this "motivator" sure sounds like Old Blood and Guts... as they say around the blogosphere "too good to check". Via Hookers and Booze

NCTC Boss Just Phone'n it in

Michael Leiter - Future Unemployed Guy

So, you're the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and there is a terror attack within the United States. What do you? Well, when the going gets tough, the tough go... skiing?

But hey, you were keeping in touch via BlackBerry. And these things happen every day; it was a failed attack; a lone nutcase; um, ... uh, shutup.

This guy's operation is the primary ball dropper in this whole fiasco. Where did the State Department and CIA information go? Three guesses, and if you need more than one you lose.

From the New York Daily News:

WASHINGTON - The Obama White House rushed Thursday to defend a top counterterror official who went on a ski vacation for six days after an alleged Al Qaeda bomber attempted to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.

Michael Leiter -- whose National Counterterrorism Center failed to connect dots on suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab -- came under fire for being away from his intelligence clearinghouse at the height of the crisis when it was still unknown if other terrorists were on their way to the U.S.

Heckuva job, Mikey!

No Hidden Meaning

I'm not sure what this picture means.... except maybe it's all ready a long winter?

Dump Napolitano

Some joker on Facebook has started a "Dump Janet Napolitano" group....

(OK, that joker would be me...)

Worst. Headline. Ever.

Does Politico really think that terrorism on their watch is the Democrats worst nightmare? Does Politico think the Dems think terror on a Republican President's watch is less bad? Well, they are pretty well plugged in...

There's a lot of things I'm willing to believe about politicians in general, and Democratic ones in particular, but surely not this?

But then we heard from the Secretary of Homeland Security that "the system worked". When last heard from Ms. Incompetano was informing the Arab world that she would work to prevent any anti-Muslim/anti-Arab backlash after the Fort Hood jihad shootings. I guess her hard work paid off as I don't recall any Muslims being beheaded, stoned to death or hanged from construction cranes.

Then we read that the White House "calibrated" it's response to the Christmas Day attack. We learn the attacker's lawyer has handled terror cases before. Miriam L. Siefer allegedly forged documents in a previous terror case in Detroit. No wonder the enemy combatant suspect has stopped being talkative. He's lawyered up and may even entertain thoughts of beating the rap.

Worst head line ever... because it's true. And that is sad.