Right As Usual

...seems to be the president. Read these two stories in the NYTimes.   The first, in the Bush era, keeps making its political points, that: War is pointless Blacks are more likely to join than Whites Shows families that are against the war, and think their childrens' service a waste Military is seen as a way to make some money In other words, the 2,000 milestone deaths are used to push the Anti-Bush narrative.  Several times, Bush is personally mentioned, as though he was the sole reason for the war. And the racial flames are fanned in this story: Sept. 5, Specialist Williams, a 20-year-old medic, was killed by a roadside bomb in Tal Afar, Iraq. Mrs. Williams-Smith, 42, is silent no more. Though her oldest living son is in the Navy, and her youngest son wants to join the Marines, she openly rages against the war and President Bush. "It's time to bring these boys home," said Mrs. Williams-Smith, of Mansfield, Tex. "My feelings for Bush are harsh. He should...

I was reading this article about Obama's FORWARD message , and decided to make this:

How about a new musical? "Springtime for Islamicists and the Mid-East!" Filled with the antics of those wacky head-thumpers: Blocking roads to traffic 5 times a day Forcing women - Muslim or not - to veil.  Those refusing will be given the "smiley" - slashing the face from mouth to ear.  They'll veil after THAT!  If they need more persuasion, rape any unaccompanied woman on sight, and invite your Muslim brothers to join in on the FUN!  Any "woman" over the age of 6 is OK for the "sport". Looking for insults to the "Prophet", the Quran, and any aspect of Islam.  If they can't find an insult, MAKE ONE UP! When the "insult" is uncovered, go riot in the streets, being careful to rape, torture, and kill any Christians and Jews - whether they had anything to do with the "insult" or not. Burn the US flag - this is getting tiresome - can't they outsource it to Americans?  We have MANY who would be THRI...

This article details some of the background.  As the President and Sec. of State say, "Make no mistake" - I'm anxious to see whether or not the eventual retribution gets to this level.  I'm skeptical about that. The Salafist Nour party unquestionably carries responsibility for the embassy attack in Cairo. These two men should be questioned by authorities. One of them (Bakkar) is actually scheduled to be in the United States in the coming days. Make no mistake; the notion that these riots were spawned by an anti-Islam movie is completely and totally fallacious. It is not about the movie; it is about never letting a crisis go to waste. It is all about intimidating countries into implementing laws designed to extinguish free speech rights. The film is nothing more than a tool to be used to exploit politically correct inclinations. In the future, pay close attention to the group: Dar Al-Hekma (House of Wisdom) This is the extreme group that is one of the ones that would...

It appears that government officials may have been involved, according to CBS News. Wanis al-Sharef, a Libyan Interior Ministry official in Benghazi, said the four Americans were killed when the angry mob, which gathered to protest a U.S.-made film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad, fired guns and burned down the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. He said Stevens, 52, and other officials were moved to a second building - deemed safer - after the initial wave of protests at the consulate compound. According to al-Sharef, members of the Libyan security team seem to have indicated to the protesters the building to which the American officials had been relocated, and that building then came under attack. Stevens, 52, was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979. A Libyan doctor who says he treated Stevens told the Associated Press Wednesday that the diplomat died of severe asphyxiation and that he tried for 90 minutes to revive him. Ziad Abu Zeid said Steven...

From FoxNews:  The Fast & Furious report is out - it targets the persons that directed the operation - NO - Holder isn't mentioned as one of them, but I'm hopeful that the ones in the report will spill their guts.   Protestors storm US Embassy in Cairo:  I saw this, and had a sinking feeling - it all does seem like a horrible replay of the Carter Years, doesn't it? Supposedly, the attack was due to a film that they felt insulted the Prophet - ANYTHING that is said about their "prophet" they consider a grave insult. The US response: An embassy operator told CNN that the facility had been cleared of diplomatic personnel earlier Tuesday, ahead of the apparent threat, while Egyptian riot police were called to help secure the area. The U.S. Embassy said in a statement Tuesday that it "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions." "Re...

A Democratic candidate who voted in two different places just dropped out of the race, citing "personal reasons".   Right.   Personal reasons - like she is going to face CRIMINAL charges against her person.

Who we are remembering:   They will be Forever Young If, seeing the coverage, you begin to despair: They Found a Safe Haven This all didn't happen in a vacuum - let us not forget, the enemy is Jihad, and it's adherents. Osama was NOT the only threat - removing him is NOT an end to the threat.  Eliminating him should mean more than "bragging rights". Some unsung heroes - on 4 legs.  Another reason for Islamicists to hate dogs. They are, indeed, man's best friend.

I used  Wordle  to create these graphics.  What they represent is the frequency of use of all words in a body of text. They form a graphic of what, by repetition, a person thinks is most important. Below is Obama's Speech (the drab color is NOT a political statement - I just didn't think to change it): Click on the image to view it in larger form and with more detail. Here is Romney's Speech: The contrast is obvious - Obama's speech doesn't seem to have a central focus - although several words are larger, the number of words displayed shows that Obama's message is muddled and not clear. Romney, in constrast, shows a clear focus - the three largest words are America, American, and Americans.  He is clearly focusing on OUR country.  The word "world" is shown near the center, so he plans to engage with them, but, clearly, his major area of concentration is the USA. Isn't it nice to have a president who sees his major job is the desires and needs of Am...

I was avoiding housework following a link, and found this GQ piece on Ted Kennedy. It's sad to read.  Hard to believe that a man can sink so low.  Worse, that no one cared more about him than their own political well-being.  If they had, maybe there would have been a life-changing intervention before he hit bottom, and wallowed around there for the rest of his life. The article deals fairly with the various acts and incidents of Ted's life; still, you end up feeling a little sorry for the man that made such a mess of what seemed to be a charmed life. There's one thing that isn't in the article; Jacqueline Kennedy always spoke kindly about Ted.  That was, in part, due to the way that he assisted her and other family members with helping their children adjust to the sudden deaths of their JFK and RFK.  We sometimes forget that their deaths left 13 children fatherless.  Jackie appreciated that Ted would spend hours on the phone with his nieces and nephews, helping them to...

Here's the link. I want everyone to visit it, and hit the Thumbs DOWN button.  It has less than 2,000 votes, so, if we do so, then send the link to everyone on our Facebook pages, and our personal email list, we can probably move that ranking to more DISLIKES than LIKES. Wouldn't THAT be FUN! I watched it today (I fell asleep waiting for it to come on - well, the convention was boring, but also I had an early - 7:30 am - interview). I noticed several things: Obama's got only a few gestures - he twirls his hands around his wrists, he puts his fingers against his thumbs and uses the whole hand as a pointing gesture of emphasis,  sometimes he separates the fingers and thumb, but does the same gesture, and he puts his flat palms about 6-10 inches apart, and does a karate chop (sometimes karate chops with fists).  He uses all of them a bit too much - he's clearly been coached by a "speech doctor".  Who wants to make a drinking game - a shot or chug for each time ...

Interesting:  the following graph of costs under different scenarios. The Funny:  Watching Democrats try to justify their absolute affirmation of women's "Right to Choose", when confronted with other ways people might want to have rights to choose. xwejQBIyjow And, finally, WTF? syKF3eqoqQk  

8:47 pm - a Sister is talking about how Obamacare is a GOOD thing.  Sister Simone Campbell, from the Nuns on a Bus tour. I'm sure that she is a good-hearted person.  I don't believe that she is the last word on how Catholics need to vote.  I don't agree that the Romney/Ryan budget plan is "immoral". Funny how she worries about the budget, but not about forcing abortion & birth control on people who are morally opposed to it. It is NOT immoral to plan your spending so you can avoid debt. 8:55 pm - Rahm Emmanuel is being interviewed.  When asked why donors haven't contributed to the Obama campaign, he started stuttering, and made a lame, incoherent answer. Rahm is implying that Republicans, after the elections when Clinton was president, caved, and the legislation that passed was ALL Clinton's idea. Huh? Boy, is he trying to spin. He says that Obama will have a "broad-stroke, vision" speech, that will totally change this election.  Somehow, the...

It's not Republicans screaming "bigot"! It's not Republicans smearing ALL Democrats as "H8rs". It's not Republicans sneering that "you ALL hate women". It's not Republicans implying that your chosen candidate is a "felon". Don't bother Democrats, or their allies, with the FACTS.  They'll TELL you what the "facts" are. An example of "fact-checking" is this: A case in point: a perfectly correct statement by Sen. Rand Paul that the average federal employee makes $120,000 a year, while the average private-sector employee makes $60,000.  This was labeled "FALSE," by PoliFact because the figures included benefits.  On salary alone, the folks on the federal payroll only made $31,000 more than their counterparts. Bold-face mine. Another instance of "fact-checkers" bias: If you want a clue about the objectivity of "fact-checkers," take a look at what snopes.com has to say about Bara...

I've been watching the DNC convention (yes, it was occasionally painful), and have noticed some talking points that are likely to come up in the debate: Obama talks about "free" contraception.  It is NOT free, as Mitt should point out, but "taxpayer-paid" contraception, as those who don't pay for their own contraception through their insurance premiums will receive them thanks to the taxpayers. Those "tax subsidies" for oil-producers - does Obama mean "reductions in taxes" for legitimate expenses?  Instead of requiring government to "invest" in alternative energy start-ups, why not let the PRIVATE sector do the investing, since that's what they're good at. BTW, IF any money is to be given to alternative energy, it should come from NEW oil and gas leases of public land.  That should encourage the federal government to open up land to oil producers.  And, in effect, the old energy will fund development of new ene...

Most of the speakers were a relative snooze, with a few exceptions: Tammy Duckworth - she's running for Congress, and is a VERY impressive disabled vet.  On the positive side, she should be a strong voice for vets.  On the negative side, she supports the Democratic platform.  Still, a really good speaker, and apparently a remarkable woman. Julian Castro - a good choice for the keynote address.  As he has only been the mayor of San Antonio for 3 years, it will be difficult to predict how he will prosper in the future.  He is a good, although not excellent speaker (he is polished in how he presents his lines, waiting effectively for responses, but, in general, he has little to say that isn't a slogan for the Democratic platform).  I heard no new ideas, or fresh strategies.  Oh, and unlike Christie, little of substance. Michelle Obama - that dress!  As the fashionable would say, FABULOUS!  For once, she left off the boob belt, and the results were great - AND slimming.  A...

One of the more amazing incidents in WWII was the make-shift, volunteer-led evacuation of British troops at Dunkirk.  If you've not read about the rescue, click here. We, in America, on 9/11, had our own volunteer effort to rescue civilians fleeing Manhattan after the attack.  Here's their story. The Boatlift You will have tears in your eyes, I promise.

  Irritated at Muslim kvetching about our American troops not treating their Koran respectfully enough (they were burning some papers and terrorist materials, and approximately 100 Korans were mixed in by accident - hey, it IS written in Arabic, which few soldiers read).   The Kabul Press wrote an angry editorial, which is printed here. My response is in the comments (also written below). Angry? Bitter that Americans would not give YOUR holy book more respect than Muslims give OUR holy book - which they have burned, confiscated, and torn up. Heck, we shouldn’t give more respect to the Koran than is given to Christians in Muslim countries - where they are kidnapped, raped, beaten, burned alive, and killed via the most horrifying means. Tough. Their job is to provide military assistance. They do that. They do that, even with the restricting Rules of Engagement (ROE) that they have been forced to follow. You don’t like it? Too bad.