Sunday, January 31, 2016

Wait for it, wait for it …

Any time a liberal group or a government or a college/university says this: “We believe strongly in freedom of speech and freedom to express unpopular, and even offensive, views,” you know in your commonsense mind this will follow: “However, unnecessarily divisive, counterproductive, and even hateful speech runs contrary to our mission and the environment we wish to foster…”

That’s right. We believe in freedom of speech … Except when we disagree with what was said or what might be said.

The above quoted stuff is from an explanation by the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism on why Richard Dawkins was disinvited from the NECSS conference scheduled in May. Dawkins’ crime against free-thinkers was, he retweeted the video “Feminists Love Islamists.”

Here is the offending video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecJUqhm2g08

Source: http://moonbattery.com/

Wow! Pissing off feminists and Islamists at the same time? Give the dude a medal.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Sites

A couple of months ago I copied and filed somebody’s top 300 quote Conservative unquote site addresses.

Do you know how difficult it is to look at 300 web sites/blogs? Not even in two months. A few now and then, and I haven’t dented the number any more than the Seven Dwarves dented … Never mind.

Funny thing (or maybe not) – the most readable are the ones at the bottom of the list. Upper Tier, Top Drawer, not so much.

Still plugging away. Just like the dwarves.

There really is an island in the middle of nowhere

Tistran da Cunha, between the tip of South Africa and the lower southern part of South America; 2,400 kilometers from Africa, 3,360 kilometers from South America.

“The islands have a population of 301. The main settlement is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (known locally as ‘The Settlement’). The only religion is Christianity, with denominations of Anglican and Roman Catholic. The current population is thought to have descended from 15 ancestors, eight males and seven females, who arrived on the island at various times between 1816 and 1908. The male founders originated from Scotland, England, The Netherlands, the United States and Italy, belonging to 3 Y-haplogroups: I (M170), R-SRY10831.2 and R (M207) (xSRY10831.2)[39] and share just eight surnames: Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello, Patterson, Repetto, Rogers, and Swain. There are 80 families on the island. Tristan da Cunha’s isolation has led to an unusual, patois-like dialect of English described by the writer Simon Winchester as ‘a sonorous amalgam of Home Counties lockjaw and nineteenth century idiom, Afrikaans slang and Italian.’”

http://sweasel.com/

Trump trashes Gandalf

Or so says http://coldfury.com/

The site’s link also says, “You know you want to read all of it, you geek, you.”

http://thefederalist.com/2016/01/27/donald-trump-let-me-tell-you-about-smaug/

The Ring movies were long and boring. The best work was Harvard Lampoon’s Bored of the Rings. It’s still out there. Somewhere. Aged like a Hobbit.

I would be concerned, too

"Over half -- 59% -- of Israelis are afraid to travel outside the country, with 25% saying they are usually afraid to do so, and 34% saying they have become more afraid this past year, a poll commissioned by the World Zionist Organization shows. [...]

"Another worrying number also emerged from the poll: 25% of Israelis believe there is reason to fear that another Holocaust will be perpetrated against the Jewish people, and 24% believe there is a chance that the State of Israel will cease to exist.

"Over two-thirds (67%) of those polled are worried about the safety of Jewish communities abroad, with 66% saying they believe European governments are not working effectively to battle anti-Semitism and a further 14% saying European governments are not fighting anti-Semitism at all. Given the rising anti-Semitism in Europe and worldwide, 39% of respondents say that European Jews should emigrate to Israel. However, 46% of those polled expressed understanding that Jews continued to live in Europe for economic, social, and other reasons."

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=31437

Link at http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/

Friday, January 29, 2016

We’re from Moscow and we are here to help you

World Bulletin / News Desk

“Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said during a visit to Turkmenistan that Russia is keen improve ties with Turkmenistan.

“Lavrov told Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov that Russia was ready to cooperate more closely with Turkmenistan in a number of areas including terrorism, drug smuggling, and organized crime, according to reports in Russian media. Plans to increase defense and security cooperation to ensure regional security was also in the pipeline.”


Uh, no thanks.

“During talks with his Turkmen counterpart, Lavrov said Russia was ready to help Turkmenistan patrol its southern border with Afghanistan, but he added Ashgabat does not need such assistance right now.”

(Or, We sort of remember when we were part of the USSR, and … Nah.)

http://www.worldbulletin.net/russia-to-protect-turkmenistan-afghan-border/168903/russia-to-protect-turkmenistan-afghan-border

Everybody gets in on the act.

Except the U.S., Russia and China. But you can bet all three are watching what happens on the ground, and most assuredly watching each other’s actions.

What it is: TAPI pipeline – Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. (As Sesame Street might say, “Which of those is not the same as the others?”)

“Turkmenistan has earlier said it expects the gas link with an annual capacity of 33 billion cubic metres to be fully operational by the end of 2018.

“However uncertainty hangs over the project, whose cost is estimated at $10 billion (9.0 billion euros).

“Aside from the risks associated with a link traversing war-torn Afghanistan, the four-country consortium has yet to confirm the participation of a major foreign commercial partner willing to help finance TAPI.”

http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/167329/major-south-asian-pipeline-launched


If Trump wins …

“Democrats aren’t laughing about Donald Trump anymore. He has them all but admitting defeat.

“In a stunning admission, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager predicts in an email that Donald Trump will become president if he wins the Republican nomination.

“’If Donald Trump takes the Republican nomination, our party will lose more than the presidency,’ Robby Mook writes to supporters.

“’Years of progress will be ripped away. Obamacare will be repealed. Marriage equality will be rolled back. Get excited to visit the wall on the Mexico border — and get ready to pay for it if President Trump can’t magically get Mexico to cough up the cash for it.’”

http://claytonecramer.blogspot.com/

(When my mother-in-law was getting up to 20 panic-pleas daily for cash from political non-profits, Nancy Pelosi used the same argument – If the Republicans win control of the House and Senate, all our efforts of the last 50 years will be washed away. Little did Pelosi know – certainly she could not admit – that the GOP had lost its cajones, and Democrats had little to fear from the Party of Lincoln.)

This is probably racist

Well, no, it isn’t. These are commonsense replies to questions not asked by men whose intent is to subject every living man, woman and child to a foreign doctrine.

Also, remember it is a Muslim’s duty to free all non-Mohammadans from present tyrannical Western ideas so that all mankind will live in the enlightenment of a desert-dwelling child rapist from 1,400 years ago.

‘Welcome to the West! A FAQ For Immigrants’

By Brian Sack

Greetings, and welcome to the West! We’re thrilled that you chose us over all the other options out there, although it kind of makes sense because everywhere else is mostly gruesome, so everyone keeps coming here.
It shouldn’t take long before you realize you made the right choice. We have so much to offer! How do we know? Because everyone’s emigrating here and not to Laos or Burkina Faso.

We’re betting the West is quite different from the place whence you came—otherwise you’d have stayed put. We assume you want to stay, so to make your assimilation as seamless as possible, we’ve endeavored to answer some common questions.

Why Is That Woman Walking By Herself?

Not having asked her, we have to assume that she is going somewhere. It could be to a job, a store, a boyfriend, a girlfriend (guys love this), or she may be headed to a comedy class where she paid $375 to be told she’s hilarious. It’s hard to tell unless you ask, but nobody asks because nobody cares, because why the hell would you?

Why Isn’t that Woman All Covered Up?

As you have noticed, Western women are not covered from head to toe in an unsettling black bedsheet. This is mainly because it’s the twenty-first century. We have Oculus Rift, the Apple Watch, autonomous Teslas, and women are allowed to choose whether they ghost about town under a bedsheet. Unsurprisingly, most choose not to. This was the very same choice women in Iran made until the Angry Bearded Yelling Men took over in 1979!

Does an Uncovered Woman Desire My Hand on Her Crotch?

You should always assume the answer is no. Creepily traipsing about the mall in a disconcerting black bedsheet does not make a woman more pious, pure, or moral than an un-sheeted one. It makes her subservient to a misogynistic, patriarchal system derived from a Bronze Age origin story that was copped together from other Bronze Age origin stories.
In the Modern Age, the sexual proclivities of a woman can only be ascertained by conversing with her. This can be done over dinner and drinks—or if you both swipe right on Tinder.

Who Owns This Woman?

Well, that’s the thing: She owns her. The notion that women have zero say in their lives seems limited to countries that people thoroughly enjoy emigrating from. Not sure if there’s a correlation there, but it’s just wise to disabuse yourself of the notion that women are chattel. By and large, they cannot be told what to do, and you will not be able to prevent them from watching “Downton Abbey.”

You will have to accept that you are not the boss of them. Any other mindset is dated and coincidently ensures you will not be dated. In Western society, it is quite common for women to rise to positions of great prestige and power. In fact, Republicans are working hard to ensure that a woman is elected president of the United States!

My Daughter Has Dishonored Me and Needs to Be Killed. Cool?

Nope! Nope! Listen, we really want a hiccup-free assimilation, so we’re glad you asked. Most of us in the West—actually, all of us—are incapable of picturing a scenario where strangling a daughter is an actual option. This bears repeating: Countries that turn a blind eye to filicide seem to be the very same countries people don’t want to live in. Coincidence? Who knows, but no. Perhaps this little rhyme can help: To live here in the West, God willing, just say no to honor killing.

Shall We at Least Murder These Kissing Men?

Dude, what’s with the murder thing? Assimilation doesn’t have to be hard. Once again, we’re not asking you to celebrate, approve, or embrace anything you don’t like, but you will have to tolerate it in order for the assimilation thing to stick.

It is certainly within your rights to wag your finger at such behavior because you vehemently oppose it or secretly like it. You’re even welcome to join the Westboro Baptist Church should you wish to do god’s work and torment grieving people at funerals.
We can’t say this enough, though: Tossing someone off of a building is viable only in countries no one wants to live in. We strongly suggest you find a less violent, equally petulant response to things you don’t like—such as when Orthodox Jews delay a plane’s departure because they don’t want to sit next to icky women.

How Can I Silence These Opinions I Dislike?

That’s going to be a problem, because one of the more popular liberties in the West is the freedom to speak one’s mind, and the inability of the government to prevent it. Various Western countries have different takes on what constitutes free speech, as does Twitter (ask @Nero), but suffice to say there is a very good chance you will hear something with which you disagree. This can be a hard cross to bear (sorry for the Christian reference) for folks coming from countries that routinely make people dead just for drawing pictures or saying words.

How Can I Silence These Opinions that Offend Me?

Dislike or offend—it doesn’t matter. As famously well-assimilated immigrant Salman Rushdie once said: “Nobody has the right to not be offended.” We understand that certain cultures have a terrible time handling criticism or dissent, but it was you who came here—without a gun to your head. If there was a gun to your head, it was being held by someone who couldn’t handle criticism or dissent.

And there you have it.

We’re confident that with a little effort you will not only assimilate into Western society, but you’ll add to it some elements of your country’s rich culture and history. Let’s just leave the weirder, medieval bits behind—you know, the elements that create the oppression, squalor, murder, and mayhem folks tend to flee from. As you know first-hand, emigrating sucks.

So, welcome to the West! This is your chance to start anew, settle down, and embrace all the great opportunities available to you. If you do it right, you’ll raise a generation of children who’ll take it all for granted.

If we fail to live up to your expectations and you find yourself pining for the comfort of the theocracy, kleptocracy, or dictatorship that you fled, let us know as soon as possible! We want you to be 100 percent satisfied, or your country back.

Brian Sack writes things of varying lengths with the best of intentions. He once had a very funny show on a network that ran out of money. www.briansack.com

http://thefederalist.com/2016/01/26/faq-for-non-western-immigrants-to-america/


Muslim ‘refugees’ come as conquerors and intend to remain that way

“The refugees are acting as they are, not because they see themselves as charity cases, but because they see themselves as conquerors. They know perfectly well that one doesn’t defecate in a pool in which people (especially children) are swimming. They’re doing it because they are performing the literal equivalent of the expression ‘I don’t give a shit about you.’ They know you’re not supposed to rape women . . . that is, unless those women are the products of conquest, in which case raping them is one of Mohamed’s commandments.

“It’s almost funny seeing Europeans trying politely to teach their conquerors how not to treat those whom they have conquered. I wonder how long it will take before the Europeans figure out that they’re no longer in the driver’s seat. And then I wonder whether they’ll be able or willing to mount a counter-strike, or whether the twelve-hundred year-long Islamic jihad against Europe will finally have succeeded.”

http://www.bookwormroom.com/2016/01/28/muslim-migrants-not-as-stupid-and-simple-as-politically-correct-europeans-seem-to-believe/

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/


Thursday, January 28, 2016

Hey, let’s rob the armed security guard!

"A security guard at a Houston, Texas apartment complex was approached by several men in a parking lot. One of the men pulled out a gun and the security guard drilled him. The other men fled, leaving their buddy behind. The wounded fellow went to the hospital and he’s expected to survive."

Or, the helpless woman with the big purse!

"A man in Lexington, Kentucky attacked a woman in a parking garage and put a knife to her throat. He demanded her wallet and she reached into her purse. In the confusion, the poor woman grabbed her gun by mistake and perforated the fellow. He fled to his safe place where folks called an ambulance for him. She flagged down some patrolling cops and told her story. The thief is expected to survive his wound."

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=64048

(A friend of my wife Facebooked something about women needed to get Tasers. My wife replied: “Look, you are from Arkansas and I am a Texas woman. Women need to get guns.”)

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Real estate ad notes local drug labs

Checking image hits that match my solitaire score, I came across a photograph of a residence in Chicago. The picture showed a three-story walkup, two rooms wide. I clicked on the “show page” selection to find out what urban Chicago houses are going for these days.

What came up was not the pictured house, but a Shell convenience store on South Michigan Avenue. That was surprising, since I thought I would see the residence.

Even more surprising were the tabs for “Local Crime” and “Nearby Drug Labs.”

What?

Below a photo of the convenience store was a red circle with a large white exclamation mark and the notation: Crime Rate High.

Also: School rating D+.

Registered offenders: 34 within one mile. (Does that mean sex offenders, or just general criminals?)

Foreclosures: 176 within one mile.

Environmental hazards: 114 within one mile.

A notation immediately beneath the photograph said: “Every Address Tells a Story.”

No kidding?

Nearby drug labs???

Why don’t people leave those neighborhoods? Or do drug-dealer cleansing operations?

Danish girl fights off man intent on rape, she might be fined

A 17-year-old girl who was physically and sexually attacked in Sønderborg will herself face charges for using pepper spray to fend off her assailant.

The teenager told police that she was attacked in central Sønderborg on Wednesday at around 10pm by a dark-skinned English-speaking man. She said the man knocked her to the ground and then unbuttoned her pants and attempted to undress her.

The girl was able to save herself from further assault by using pepper spray on the attacker, but now she may be the one who ends up in legal trouble.

“It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will likely be charged for that,” local police spokesman Knud Kirsten told TV Syd.

The case has sparked a backlash among some Danes who point to increasing reports of sexual harassment in Sønderborg and other Danish cities at the same time that police say they are stretched too thin to properly carry out their duties.

Numerous readers wrote in the comments section on TV Syd’s story about the incident that they would be willing to pay the girl’s fine, which will most likely be 500 kroner.

The man who attacked the 17-year-old fled from the scene and has not been charged.

Sexual assaults have been in the news in Sønderborg recently after several women in the town reported earlier this month that they sometimes feel harassed by the aggressive behaviour of some male asylum seekers and refugees at the local asylum centre.

It is not known, however, if the assailant in this latest incident was an asylum seeker or refugee.

In related news, a nightclub in Sønderborg is now barring guests from entering if they cannot speak Danish, English or German. Other Danish nightclubs are also reportedly considering similar moves.

http://www.thelocal.dk/20160126/danish-teen-fought-off-her-attacker-with-pepper-spray-now-shell-face-fine

Link at http://ace.mu.nu/

(That is what is happening in much of Western Europe.)

Monday, January 25, 2016

VA preference: Not in union? Fugattabout it.

“Virtually the only jobs explicitly reserved for veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs are toilet-cleaning ‘housekeeping aides,’ a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of data from USAjobs.gov found.

“Filling the janitorial jobs with veterans helps the VA meet its hiring goals without intruding on a lucrative union giveaway that favors current government employees over everyone else for the majority of open positions.

“The VA is currently advertising for 3,000 positions, some seeking multiple people each. Only about 50 job ads, seeking an estimated few hundred workers, are accepting applications exclusively from veterans. And of those, all but a handful would have a returning hero trade a rifle for a mop and $13 an hour. At the same time, more than a thousand vacancies, many with no highly specialized skills required, were being advertised as open only to current civil servants.” – Luke Rosiak

http://dailycaller.com/2016/01/17/only-va-jobs-reserved-specifically-for-vets-janitor/

Link at http://www.military.com/military-report/vets-only-jobs-at-va-are-low-pay.html?ESRC=mr0125.nl

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Freeze warning tonight

Last time I checked, I still live in West Central Florida.

Robbing a barber shop?

“In Columbia, South Carolina, two masked and armed men intended to rob a barber shop. When they pulled out their gats, they were shocked to find two customers in the crowded shop also had their legal and licensed firearms and they unloaded on the pair. One escaped the maelstrom, but collapsed on the sidewalk outside. He was DOT (dead over there) at the hospital. His partner escaped completely. None of the victims in the shop were injured.”

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=63979

(I would not characterize the barber shop armed patrons as "victims.")

It’s still A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

My wife and I watched the 1963 movie tonight. I first saw the flick in Korea in 1965. A funny film, but the 200 or so GIs in the theater were just as interested in Edie Adams and Dorothy Provine -- and Barry Chase, bikini-clad dance partner and beer-getter for Dick Shawn – as in the comedic aspects.

None of the principal actors is still alive.

Funny, but in a community development area not far from my house is a park with two palm trees forming a big V. I mentioned to Priscilla that with another two trees and another V, it would mean W marks the spot.

DNA identifies homelands of decapitated men in England

In 2004, the skeletal remains of 80 men were discovered in a Roman-era cemetery in York.

“Of the 80 individuals, 48 of them, 60% of the total and 79% of the 61 skeletons with surviving crania and cervical vertebrae, had been decapitated from behind with a very sharp, very fine blade. Their heads were buried with them but not in anatomically correct or even consistent positions. Skulls were placed on the chest, between the legs and at their feet.”



“Osteological evidence indicates they were trained to fight from a young age. Their right arms were consistently longer than their left, which means they’d been using weapons regularly since before they’d finished growing. Most (of) them also showed signs of inadequate nutrition in childhood which they overcame to become healthy, strapping young men.”

The men were not from the area in which they were buried. One traveled a long distance.

“The nearest modern descendants of the Roman British men sampled live not in Yorkshire, but in Wales. …

“However, one of the decapitated Romans had a very different story, of Middle Eastern origin he grew up in the region of modern day Palestine*, Jordan or Syria before migrating to this region and meeting his death in York.”

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/


(*There is no “modern day Palestine.”)









Maybe we expect a little too much from presidential candidates

Like, they should know how cases get to the Supreme Court?

Bernie Sanders: “Any Supreme Court nominee of mine will make overturning Citizens United one of their first decisions” – Tweet, 7:57 p.m. – 21 Jan 2016.

http://twitchy.com/2016/01/22/thats-not-how-it-works-bernie-sanders-scotus-pledge-proves-somebody-failed-civics-class/

Angus Johnston replied: “Heads up, Sanders — an intern found your Twitter password and your liquor.”

So Sanders is elected, sworn in. Does he then get C-Span time and question Court nominees in the Oval Office? “Judge Whammer, when I announce your appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, do you promise to immediately bring Citizens United back before the Court?”

Taking a cue from President Obama, Sanders knows he need not consider the Senate’s advise and consent. In fact, he could even decide on using five justices instead of nine to hear specific cases. Or, why not send the other eight on vacation and just have Judge Hammer decide?

Oh. One more thing. Bernie, how many is "any," as in "Any Supreme Court nominee?" I'll answer for you: "any" is "one." OK. How many is "their?" Again, I'll answer: "their" is "more than one."

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Thinking about a new password?

People who use these (a) don’t want to be bothered with remembering stuff; (b) don’t have imagination; (c) don’t really give a (whatever) about security; (d) all of the above.

123456, qwertyuiop, football, baseball, password, letmein …

I like the last one.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2016/01/19/qwerty-and-123456-top-list-of-2015s-worst-passwords/

Link at http://ace.mu.nu/


opensesame probably not part of learning these days, part of The Thousand and One Nights, perhaps considered anti-Islam.

Which kids?

Something called Mookie Blaylock Pearl Jam T-Shirt:

“9 out of 10
KIDS
prefer crayons to
GUNS”

(There is no reference to any study supporting the allegation.)

Articulated buses

Some pictures from the U.S. and Europe.

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/bus-stop-classic/bus-stop-classic-1958-kassbohrer-setra-continental-trailways-super-golden-eagle-strike-two-for-the-articulated-highway-bus/

Friday, January 22, 2016

Calling Kyrgyzstan sausage ‘horse penis’ a hate crime

British miner working in Kyrgyz gold mine for Canadian company kicked out of country after Facebook remark on chuchuk. Miners reacted to equine comment with a temporary strike.

The miner faced up to five years in prison under Kyrgyzstan “race hate laws.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/04/kyrgyzstan-judge-deports-briton-comparing-sausage-dish-horse-penis

And the British miner is also part of a plot to melt Kyrgyz glaciers and pretty much fork up the whole country.

“Prominent Kyrgyz historian and publicist Kyias Moldokasymov wrote on Facebook: ‘The guy who mocked chuchuk must definitely be punished! And don't you think that those who are destroying Kyrgyz glaciers and creating irreparable damage to our environment while taking natural wealth out of the country are also laughing at us and asking, 'What can you do about it?' must also be punished?"

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/76691

There might just be a bit of anti-foreigner bias at work.

Waiting for something to leap out of the news and astound me

Hasn’t happened so far.

All types of people taking shots at Donald Trump. Nothing new.

National Review columnists all think they can be William F. Buckley, Jr. I saw Buckley in several live TV interviews, and I can tell you, sirs: You are no Bill Buckley. (Play on 1988 TV debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen.)

Muslims all over the barbaric world (outside the U.S.) are killing and raping Christians. Not new.

Christians are not killing enough Muslims in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Also not new.

Check out Hindu v. Muslim killings in the last 70 years.

For that matter, Muslim v. any other group.

The Crusades were moral and just.


Headlines that precede ‘And?’

Winter storm to affect 85 million Americans

25 million in direct path of storm

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Death by a thousand cuts

From http://moonbattery.com/#sthash.fAFw4CcT.dpuf

‘Susquehanna University to Change Nickname Because Crusaders Were Islamaphobes’

The Crusades were among the proudest highlights of Western history. After centuries of incursion by Islam, which had expanded out of the Arabian wasteland not by persuasion but by brute force and mainly at the expense of the Christian societies that had dominated the Middle East, the fight was finally taken to the enemy, so that pilgrims would not be preyed upon while visiting the Holy Lands. There is nothing wrong with fighting for strategic or economic advantage, but the Crusaders had higher motivations. These knights left behind comfortable lives to spend themselves into bankruptcy, endure almost unimaginable hardships, and face staggering odds on behalf of their souls. No wonder centuries later sports teams at high schools and colleges around the country are named the Crusaders after these noble heroes. No wonder moonbats, who define themselves by their hatred of Western Civilization, find this intolerable:

A Pennsylvania university is searching for a new mascot and nickname to replace its longtime “Crusaders” moniker, which the school says is “at odds” with its “values and commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.”

“Diversity and inclusiveness” are euphemisms for cultural Marxism.

Susquehanna University is asking people to submit their top choices for a replacement by Jan. 25.

For now, the school has narrowed the list to the Bobcats, Explorers, Phoenix, River Hawks, and River Otters. Unlike the Crusaders, river otters inspire respect in a society dominated by milksop liberals.

Sadly, Susquehanna isn’t alone:

In 2000, Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., dropped its Crusaders name and changed it to Thunder. Other schools have since followed suit, including Maranatha Baptist University in 2014, Eastern Nazarene College in 2009, University of the Incarnate Word in 2004 and Point Loma Nazarene University in 2003, which changed its name to the Sea Lions.

Eventually the Crusaders will follow the Confederacy into the Memory Hole, to be followed in turn by the Founding Fathers. The awe-inspiring heroism that characterized the Crusades will be lost to future generations.

In the meantime, maybe we can help Susquehanna U. come up with a name less lame than the Bobcats or the River Otters. Jihad Watch suggests the Susquehanna Dhimmis, the Susquehanna Losers, and the Susquehanna Milk al-Yamin.

We all know this, but it needs repeating

“Home schoolers do not wish to force other parents to home school. Gun owners do not insist that others buy guns, or that hunting be promoted as an alternative lifestyle. It is not the National Rifle Association out lobbying to have government schools read books entitled 'Heather Has Two Hunters' to preschoolers. It is, in fact, the Left that now strives to use state power to impose its morality by forcing all taxpayers to pay for abortions and public ‘art’ that mocks people of faith. It is the Left that forces parents to pay for government schools where they do not wish to send their children.” Grover Norquist. IMG

http://likesuccess.com/topics/960/abortion/3

Olaf, we need to bale more ice!

Climate warmers ignore 500 years of Greenland history.

“It worries me that there are people living today, and allegedly well-educated and intelligent people, who claim that Greenland was as cold if not colder 1,000 years ago, than it is today. I should like to show them the 95 excavated farms at the Western settlement site, many being dug out from under permafrost, and ask for an explanation as to how this could be? Now, how does one cultivate crops in a land of permafrost? Were the Norsemen farmers in the Western settlement growing ice to feed their livestock?”

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/01/19/debunking-the-vikings-werent-victims-of-climate-myth/


Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Navy will appoint committee, talk with fleet, get feedback

Sec. Ray Mabus tells admirals, "Please review the position titles throughout the Navy and ensure that they are gender-integrated ... removing 'man' from their titles."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/01/19/end-midshipman-navy-secretary-calls-gender-integration-removal.html?ESRC=army-a_160120.nl

Can’t have any “midshipmen.” So. Midshipperson? Midship? Middie?

The Navy (still, I suppose) sometimes refers to officers as “Mr.” It’s a good thing Thomas Heggen isn’t working on a novel today. He would have to call it “Naval Officer Roberts” or some such.

In the “not sure of this woman’s knowledge” area:

“Kyleanne Hunter, a former Marine Corps pilot, founded the Think Broader Foundation to bring attention to social biases.

“Hunter, who is based in Oregon, said past changes in military titles -- airman to pilot, armormen to tankers -- show that the service is serious about integration.”

Honey, an “airman” is not a pilot. And I never, never heard a soldier in the armor branch called an “armorman.”


Strange dying

Mary was a friend of my wife in Little Rock. Mary’s father, Herb, was a collector of things useable or sellable, taking what he could find from where he found it. One day while driving on Interstate 30 southwest of Little Rock, Herb saw a piece of something useable in the grass median. Herb parked his pickup safely on the shoulder of the highway, got out and walked back toward the object. When reaching the object, Herb stepped onto the highway and into the path of an 18-wheeler that was doing about 70 miles an hour.

Jackie was my wife’s secretary in Paris, Texas. Jackie had moved to Paris more than 20 years before from a state Up North where factories closed and rusted. Jackie had lost track of her son. All she knew was he had moved from Up North to California. One day she got a call from a California state agency. The caller said Jackie’s son had been hit by a freight train in a railroad yard. He had, the caller said, been released from a state prison two days before. Jackie was listed as next of kin on state prison records. The caller wanted to know if Jackie wanted her son’s body shipped to Texas or whether the state should bury him. Jackie said she could not afford shipment costs. She had not seen her son in such a long time anyway.

Jerome was one of my daughter’s best friends in high school. A 350-pound All-State defensive lineman, Jerome was given a four-year full scholarship to Florida State University. He dropped out at the end of his freshman year. He said, “Those people were serious about their football.” A couple or three years ago, Jerome had a flat tire while driving to Austin on Interstate 35. He changed the tire and while carrying the flat to the back of his car got hit by a speeding tractor-trailer.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

How crazy are these people?

Very, as it turns out.

Seattle residents surprised their urban gardens don't produce enough to feed the city.

Kale don’t cut it in the hunger game.

“’I think many people see food growing in their backyard and a salad at dinner throughout the summer season and assume they are feeding themselves,’ Moskal said. ‘They don’t realize that calorie-wise, that’s not really the whole picture.’”



“The researchers say their model can be used by other cities that have good geospatial data on sunlight and tree cover if planners input the relevant crops that grow well in a particular area. A sunny, sprawling city like Los Angeles, for instance, might be able to grow more crops than Seattle.”

http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/01/13/fewer-than-1-in-25-seattleites-can-really-eat-locally/

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

A backyard garden won’t feed your family. Really? Hippies really are stupid. But, hey, when everything falls apart, urban hippies will become extinct.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Yeah, you might have to put on shoes or something

“Debra Jackson said she likes shopping at the Dollar Place because it is convenient and casual.

“’I don’t have to get all dressed up like I’m going to Wal-Mart or something,’ she said.”

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1088469/REDNECK-FIRE-ALARM-OT

Friday, January 15, 2016

This never happens in the movies …

… when the hero dude must access command modes to stop launch of all ballistic missiles aimed at Russia or override Russian commands and change flight direction of a single missile aimed at NYC …

Turn on computer, greeted with blue screen and this message: “Installing updates. 20% complete. Do not turn off your computer.”

Speaking of movies …

Watched Extraction a few nights ago. Bruce Willis, lots of shooting, cars blown up and cars wrecked. Did I mention it was a Bruce Willis movie? Had to be good, right?

Not!!

The movie sucked. Big time sucked.

The studio must have spent a good percentage of the budget on Willis’s contract and not a whole lot on anything else. Made in Mobile, Ala., mostly in a warehouse and/or what looked like a chemical facility.

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 0%. Metacritic rating: 25 of possible 100.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Virginia slaves in 1860

A remarkable map.

http://www.mappingthenation.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Coast_Survey_Virginia_Slave_Map.jpg

Nottaway County – 2,270 whites; 6,468 slaves.

Amelia County – 2,894 whites; 7,667 slaves.

At the other end:

Hancock County – 4,442 whites; 2 slaves.

McDowell County – 1,535 whites; 0 slaves.

The western counties of Virginia seceded from the commonwealth and became West Virginia. Generally, mountain residents were not slave owners.

Linked from www.neveryetmelted.com

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

3,000-year-old homes found in silt in English river

By Harry Mount for Daily Mail and Richard Gray for MailOnline

Two Bronze Age homes built on wooden stilts five feet above a river have been unearthed in an extraordinary archaeological excavation that promises to provide new insights into the way ancient Britons lived.

It is thought the buildings were destroyed by a fire around 1000-800 BC, causing them to collapse into the River Nene in Whittlesey, near Peterborough, where they were preserved in the thick silt.

Archaeologists who have scraped away more than six feet of mud to reach the 3,000 year old settlement, say the ancient tragedy has provided them with two of the best-preserved Bronze Age houses ever found in Britain

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3396219/Pompeii-Fens-best-preserved-Bronze-age-home-Britain-Experts-astonished-dwelling-s-condition-unearth-treasures-3-000-year-old-rugs-jewellery-human-remains.html#ixzz3x5v2S8CY

Lots of pictures.

Found money

A few months ago I got a letter from a Bakersfield, Calif., law office informing me that a taxing agency in Texas had transferred $408 to the state comptroller’s office, the money property tax overpayment. The letter stated that if I signed and returned an enclosed document, the attorneys would secure my $408 from the State of Texas and then forward the money to me, after taking a 10 percent fee.

Hmm, said I. Let’s check this out.

A search of the comptroller’s office web site showed, sure enough, the state held my $408, since the taxing agency had not been able to contact me. The web site had a form to complete and the state would mail a check. Well. I completed the form and then emailed the Bakersfield firm, advising them of my action and that I would send them a check for the 10 percent.

I also searched the firm’s actions. I was surprised at what I found:

Complaint after complaint, all in the vein of: “Yeah, I got a letter from them and they said I was owed (an amount) and they would get it for me and take 10 percent. They want to take some of my money! It’s my money, not theirs. This is a ripoff!”

Wait a minute, said I. You get information about money due you, money you didn’t know about, and you’re bitching about a 10 percent finder’s fee? You want to piss and moan about getting 90 percent of money you didn’t even know about?

Here’s a question: If the pissers and moaners found a bag of cash and a name and address and returned the cash to its owner, reckon they’d expect a reward for being honest?

Yeah, I think they would, too.

Monday, January 11, 2016

A cheapskate and a cheat

For a time in my first year of college, I worked as a bouncer at a night club on the Arkansas side of Texarkana. The club was open Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, with two bouncers on Wednesday and three the other two nights. We all had a uniform – white shirt, black trousers, black clip-on tie, and a Miller County Arkansas Special Deputy Sheriff badge. A clip-on tie is important for people whose jobs involve the distinct possibility of physical confrontation – If an antagonist grabs your tie, you want it to come off easily.

The club did not sell alcohol, but did sell ice, bottled water and sodas – Coke, ginger ale and such. Patrons brought their own bottles of liquor. Beer was not allowed; that would have cut into profits.

One night after the club closed, I found out another way the manager kept profits up. I went into the water/soda/ice area (a former kitchen) for some reason, and I saw waitresses filling bottled water bottles with tap water and replacing the caps, and another employee pouring Coke from half-filled bottles into other half-filled bottles, and three quarter-filled bottles into one quarter-filled bottle, then recapping the full bottles.

I knew the manager was a cheapskate cheat, but proof came that night.

I got fired a few weeks later after confronting the manager over another incident. The $25 a night pay was OK for a college student in 1971, but I didn’t lose any sleep over losing the job.

Poke the bear, you get bit

“Abdulvakhid Edelgireyev survived for years hiding in the Chechen mountains, launching attacks on Russian security forces and evading capture. He survived the battlefields of Syria, and those of east Ukraine. But in November his life came to an abrupt end in a flurry of bullets: he was shot dead in broad daylight in Istanbul as he embarked on a shopping trip with his three-year-old niece.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/10/murder-istanbul-chechen-kremlin-russia-abdulvakhid-edelgireyev


Russians are not like the rest of us.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Knowing the soldier's way

In Good-Bye to All That, Robert Graves wrote:

“The test of drill came, I said, when the officer gave an incorrect word of command. If his company could, without hesitation, carry out the order intended, or, if the order happened to be impossible, could stand absolutely still, or continue marching, without confusion in the ranks, that was good drill.”

On a late afternoon in basic training at Fort Polk, La., the company returned by platoons from a training area to barracks. All of us in Third Platoon were tired, as everyone is on just about every day of the eight-week period of dis-learning civilian ways. Whether from morning PT, marching to and from classroom areas or conducting rifle range firing, all 40 soldiers knew bone-tired days, which, along with discipline, kept us from trouble.

At one point in the march, Sgt. 1st Class Roach, platoon drill sergeant, gave the wrong command. “Left flank … ” he said in his drill sergeant voice. But we all knew he meant us to perform right flank. When he commanded “March!” all 40 of us turned right.

Sgt. Roach never said anything about giving the wrong command, nor were any of us foolish enough to bring his mistake to his attention.

At that point, though, we young men all realized we had reached an immeasurable stage in soldier development. We knew what was required, and we did it.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

So if your co-religionists kill a bunch of people …

… you get special status.

“The attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, in late 2015 and other recent world events have heightened concerns about workplace protections for all employees, including individuals who are, or are perceived to be, Muslim or Middle Eastern,” the EEOC asserts in its recently issued document. “Discrimination in the workplace based on religion, national origin, or race is strictly prohibited by federal and state laws. Reactions in the workplace to world events demand increased efforts by employers to prevent discrimination.” EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang refers to Muslims as “vulnerable communities” that need protection “even as we grapple with the concerns raised by the recent terrorist attacks.”

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2016/1/7/eeoc-to-employers-all-religions-are-equal

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

Where is the discrimination against Muslims in the workplace? Why does EEOC demand special “workplace protections” for Muslims?

Well, as with things racial, the present president has set the atmosphere for special things Muslim. In the minds of Obamaists, all religions are not equal. Jews and Christians fall far short of equal recognition. That is not just an idea of politics, but a belief deeply embedded in the minds of Obama followers.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Let’s get personal

Today is my birthday. Number 70. Yep. Seven-zero. So, some meaningful birthdays:

No. 18 – graduated from Paul H. Pewitt High School in May; enlisted in the Army in September.

No. 19 – in infantry AIT at Fort Polk, La. On a troopship in March, 28 days crossing the Pacific Ocean; stopped at Pearl Harbor, Guam, Yokohama, Okinawa and Inchon. Assigned to 1st Cavalry Division.

No. 20 – With 2nd Infantry Division, Republic of Korea. Reported to Air Cav Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry at Fort Meade, Md., in April; assigned to Aero Rifle Platoon; arrived in Republic of Vietnam on Dec. 2, 1966.

No. 21 – At Blackhorse Base Camp, about 10 miles south of Xuan Loc, Republic of Vietnam.

No. 26 – married Priscilla Rodgers in Texarkana, Texas.

No. 30 – had first child, Michael.

No. 33 – daughter Kathleen born.

No. 34 – second son Casey born.

No. 35 – started work as Training NCO with Co. B, 3d Bn (Mech) 144th Infantry, Texas Army National Guard, in Sulphur Springs, Texas.

No. 40 – vein burst in my brain; had surgery; emotional and physical problems followed.

No. 44 – medically retired from Army.

No. 63 – moved to Central Arkansas, where Priscilla had job that paid more than three times my top salary as a soldier.

No. 68 – moved to Florida.

?? – returned to Texas and became part of the soil.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

And USPS wonders why it loses billions of dollars

Michael, my oldest, ordered a concealed carry holster from a company in Miami. That’s a few hours south of here. Ye Olde Post Office was to deliver the holster. When Michael ran an on-line track two days ago, Ye Olde Post Office reported the holster was in Sacramento. California.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

We are doomed, Part 2

I sent the post on the "AUTO'S" sign to Pilot/Flying J. Strangely, Pilot/Flying J has not responded.

We arrived an hour early and then stiffed the dentist $200

We didn’t really stiff the dentist. What happened was:

I misread a Tuesday text message. The message said today’s appointment was at 1:50 p.m. The message was sent at 12:50 p.m., and I read the sent time as the appointment time. Then the receptionist said today’s CT scan would cost $198.

My wife said, “We were told we had paid for everything four months ago.” The receptionist said the dentist ordered the CT scan after we made our payment (of $13,000, plus $7,000 to another dentist, who made new uppers). I said, “As much cash as we shelled out, I’m rather surprised at a new $200 charge.”

My wife added that we had not been informed of a new CT scan. She said, “Bob got scan when we were here before, but no one told us he would get another one.” She handed her credit card to the receptionist.

The receptionist apologized for the lack of information. She called the finance officer and passed on our comments on not being informed of a new CT scan and an additional charge. The finance officer said we would not be charged for the CT scan.

After the scan, my wife and I went to the waiting area. We expected, from our last visit four months ago, that today’s appointment was to open my gums to the five posts imbedded at my last visit. We also expected that new uppers would be attached to the posts. I anticipated the eating of real food for the first time in 18 months.

Not to be.

We were in the waiting area about 10 minutes when the CT scan technician told us, “OK, everything is good. We’re done.”

Wait, wait. What about the opening of gums and attachment of new uppers? That, we were told, will not be scheduled until the dentist studies the CT scan done today.

That was not what my wife and I understood from our last visit, but it isn’t like we can insist the dentist slice open my gums and attach new teeth now. Maybe in a week, maybe in another month, maybe three.

That’s fine. As long as there is not another charge waiting.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Probably just a misunderstanding

“Police say officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant on a suspect. When officers approached the home ‘they were confronted by several suspects who began firing at the officers,’ according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release.”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article52888875.html#storylink=cpy

Yeah, they said they were police, but we know how that goes, so we kind of started shooting, cause, you know, they were gonna shoot us.

Link from http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=63665

Monday, January 4, 2016

Mrs. Clinton says

She wants “to work with responsible gun owners.”

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/04/politics/obama-loretta-lynch-gun-control-actions/index.html

What constitutes irresponsible gun owners?

We are doomed

Somewhere in southeastern Georgia on Sunday, we pulled into a Pilot gas stop and saw this sign directing drivers to the proper refueling place: “AUTO’S.”

Normally, I would think a national chain such as Pilot would hire people who understand grammar and spelling, given the number of customers who might recognize a stupid when seeing one. But, this is a brave new world, a world in which grammar and accuracy play no part.

We deserve the society and the leaders with which and with whom we are stuck.