Happy New Year!!

lm currently en route to the Big Windy for my annual New Years pilgrimage.. Something that has been happening on the maternal side of my family now for over 80 years. I'm blogging off a blackberry now, but I'll post more on this later.

Meanwhile...best wishes for a blessed and peosperous New Year, to one and all!

Superman to Super Pimp?

I was motorcyclimg around St. Cloud when I passed the corner of 25th and Division, by the Dairy Queen, when I happened to spot our friend, ourlocal St. Cloud Superman; only this time he looked more like a graduate of the Velvet Jones School of Technology than he did Clark Kent

Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to ask him, "What gives?!?"

He told me that he was pimpin' "...just to keep people guessing. A pimp is the antithesis of Superman. I'm for freedom of speech and expression"

The guy has a point.

Anyway, ya gotta give a guy credit who dares to be different. As always, Superman, a/k/a was extremely cordial when I asked him to take this photo.

More power to you, Clark Kent!

A sad day...

I just got back from the vet after putting Husky (my greyhound) down....

I was with him and held his head in my arms as he died.

He was such a good dog, ... God I loved him.

Losing him was almost as bad as losing my dad earlier this year.

When I came home from my hip surgery a few years ago, he never left my side.... he would allow himself to be used as a support when I needed to get up...it seemed he would sense when I needed him.


I'm missing him terribly already.

Obama and Rezko: Peas and Carrots?

It would appear that the Obama's Hyde Park mansion in Chicago may not be the Obama's after all.

WND reports:

An attorney for convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko is listed as the owner and taxpayer for Barack Obama's Chicago mansion, according to records obtained by WND.

William Miceli is a lawyer at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, which also formerly employed Obama.

The controversy began when a website called News and Commentary for Thinking People published a 48-page document that lists Miceli as the owner of the Obama home at 5046 S. Greenwood.

Miner, Barnhill & Galland was Obama's employer when he did extensive legal work for Rezko, who awaits sentencing after he was convicted in June of fraud, money laundering and bribery-related counts.

Yeah. I know. Obama didn't know; he was just a poor, well-meaning, unfortunate dupe in this whole mess.

Great judge of character, that Barack Obama is.

Man, he'll make a great President.

Eartha Kitt passes ad astra...

Eartha Kitt, fabled Hollywood sex-symbol and siren, is dead at 81.

She was a singer and actress who rose from South Carolina cottonfields, but I mostly remember her for her role as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman series:

To borrow a famous line from Mae West... "When I'm bad, honey....I'm good."

A glimpse of my childhood...

Anyone who grew up in 1960s Chicago remembers that every kid in the neighborhood would run home after school so that he or she could watch Garfield Goose and Friends, with Frazier Thomas. During the Christmas season, Frazier would feature these animated shorts, and us kids just ate them up-- here they are, in all their stop-action, low-tech glory! Ladies & Gentlemen, I present Hardrock, Coco & Joe, and Suzy Snowflake:





Geeze--and how could I have forgotten Frosty the Snowman:

Merry Christmas!

I heard this song on our way home from Arizona today... It's truly a classic that bridged the gap between the World War II generation and the Baby Boom generation, and its message is timeless:

A Blessed and Joyous Christmas

I'll be going out of town for nearly a week, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog, if at all.

Just in case I can't, have a joyous Christmas, from The Ice Palace!

In the meantime, please notice the Salvation Army Kettle on the sidebar, and drop in a buck or two if you can to help the cause!

My First Ever Bacon Post...

(click on pic for full size)

The fix is in.

After today's recount results, Coleman's lead dropped from the initial 774 votes on election night to just five votes.

There are more to count, including the so-called "improperly rejected" ballots.

This will likely go to the Minnesota Supreme Court, where the two Supreme Court Judges that had any assemblance of sanity will need to recuse themselves, since they are participating in the current recount.

Say hello to Senator Franken.

He'll do Minnesota proud.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst, 12-17-08

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Melinda

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christian P. Humphreys
28 years old from Fallon, Nevada
6th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force 49
November 15, 2008


A funny, nice guy who loved to fly. That's how Christian P. Humphreys is remembered by his friends. "He was a great guy, always happy and had a joke," said Sean Whitney, a flight medic. "We used to play with our paintball guns in the cornfields behind his house."

Humphreys flew with the Fallon Naval Air Station Search and Rescue Longhorns from June 6, 2004, to May 5, 2006. He left the Navy and joined the Army as part of the "Blue to Green" program to become a helicopter pilot.

Humphreys, along with Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donald V. Clark, 37 years old from Tennessee, was killed when their OH-58 Kiowa helicopter crashed while on a mission over Mosul, Iraq. As a rescue crew chief, Humphreys was in charge of the operation behind the pilots. He made the decisions when to deploy rescue crews out of the helicopter to assist injured people, and he also took care of the equipment.

"He was a funny guy, a nice guy, a lot of character," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Schmidt. "The guy was always entertaining, always had something to say, but like everyone here, he displayed the professionalism in saving lives."

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christian P. Humphreys leaves behind a wife and parents.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Dhimmis in the news...

And the Dhimmi of the Week Award goes to:

The Canadian "Human Rights" Commission:

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has rejected a human rights complaint filed against a radical Muslim imam who published an viciously bigoted book about gays, Jews, women, Christians, and even called for the murder of infidels.

Marc Lebuis, the publisher of the Quebec blog Point de Bascule, filed a complaint with the CHRC back in April, after reading a hateful book called "Islam or Integration?" "Islam or Fundamentalism" (thanks to reader John for the translation correction.) You can see a copy of the book in its entirety here. (It's in French.)

Of course, if it was a Christian Pastor in Canada who said a word about homosexuality being a sin, he'd be thrown in prison.

But we must, of course, strive to understand the adherents of the Islamist death cult, mustn't we? I mean, you wouldn't want to risk offending them.

(h/t Doug Bass)

Now this oughta increase the tax base of New York State...

And maybe monkeys will fly out of David Paterson's butt, as well.

In a fit of economic suicidality, the esteemed governor of New York has decided to tax everything from I-pods to massages. In the words of Paterson,

"We're going to have to take some extreme measures," Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget.

And just how are you going to raise revenues after you slash and burn the economic climate of New York, Governor Paterson?

In the prescient words of Ronaldus Magnus,

"If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."

Where have we heard these before?

"I did not have sex with that woman... Ms. Lewinsky..."

"It all depends on what the meaning of "is" is...."

And, "We've...err.. I've had no contact with Governor Blagojevich."

Sneed hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds -- dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat!

I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "contact" is.

...And I shake my head...

Bush says he had to wreck the economy, to save the economy.

US President George W. Bush said in an interview Tuesday he was forced to sacrifice free market principles to save the economy from "collapse." "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," Bush told CNN television, saying he had made the decision "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse." Bush's comments reflect an extraordinary departure from his longtime advocacy for an unfettered free market, as his administration has orchestrated unprecedented government intervention in the face of a dire financial crisis. "I am sorry we're having to do it," Bush said. But Bush said government action was necessary to ease the effects of the crisis, offering perhaps his most dire assessment yet of the country's economy.

Correct me if I'm wrong, King, but isn't the only way to save the free market to enact and to engage in behavior consistent with those very principles that make it viable? Can one "save" the free market by enacting policies that are antithetical to same, and which by their very nature and in every other known circumstance act to thwart the growth of a free-market economy and benefits thereof? If so, then when is the correct time to right the ship back on that course of economic freedom and the prosperity (and risk) that goes along with it? Can one merely parcel a free market and expect it to then flourish?

You know, Bush has been more than gracious toward his malevolent detractors lo' these past eight years, what with the "new tone" and all. Could it be that President Bush is leaving Obama and the democrats (and, unfortunately this nation) with a poke in the eye? Somehow, that just doesn't seem to be his style, which, to this point, has been largely to go along to get along. Or, alternatively, has what has been at best a short-term pseudo-fix (if that) been enacted merely in an effort to provide the Obama administration with a set of training wheels, and to hell with our collective futures?

"I feel a sense of obligation to my successor to make sure there is not a, you know, a huge economic crisis. Look, we're in a crisis now. I mean, this is -- we're in a huge recession, but I don't want to make it even worse."

Question Mr. President: have the bailouts really made anything better? In the short or in the foreseeable long term?

I didn't think so.

The Day the Envirowhackos Tipped Their Hand....

"There's still no intelligent life in Hollywood"

I went to see the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still." A remake of the 1951 classic, it was okay, in its own way. Until it got really teachy-preachy... until, wittingly or unwittingly, the world ended up in an enviro-whacko socialist "utopia" that was a hell of a lot scarier than anything else Hollyweird could possibly dream up.

In the original, the aliens threatened to destroy humanity because we were killing each other.

In this, the cheesy and ever-so-politically-correct remake, the aliens were coming to destroy civilization not because we were destroying each other, but because we were destroying Mother Earth.

Ultimately, the main alien, Klaatu (I wonder if the near-rhyming of Keanu and Klaatu had anything to do with his landing the part), of course, decided not to destroy humanity, but rather destroyed all of humanity's means of producing energy, so that mankind could wreak no more destruction against mother earth and its creatures.

And, as would be the logical conclusion to an environmental-whacko socialist utopia, civilization was in ruins, automobiles, cylinder-driven means of transportation, and other modern-day evil luxuries were rendered useless, and we were back to living in the stone age.

Pretty much the enviro-whacko vision of America, don't you think?

And, no, there was no "Gort, Klaatu barada nicto."

All in all...save your money and go rent the original.

Christmas Cheer!

Courtesy of my granddaughter...

Recently seen on a streetcorner in Detroit...

Wednesday Hero Blogburst

Spc. Jonnie L Stiles
38 years old from Highlands Ranch, Colorado
769th Engineer Battalion, Louisiana Army National Guard
November 13, 2008


Louisiana National Guard spokesman Maj. Michael Kazmierzak said Spc. Jonnie L. Stiles had been serving as a gunner on a Humvee doing route clearance when and IED detonated near his vehicle in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He said the job typically involves checking roads for bombs and insurgents.

Stiles' wife, Launa, said that he was nearly killed last month when a suicide bomber blew up a military vehicle in front of his. She said he was still able to rescue three other soldiers and returned to duty before his 30-day recovery period was finished.

"He was strong and really cared for his men," she said.

Stiles was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and graduated from Littleton High School in Colorado. He served in the military for 17 years, first joining the Marines and then switching to the Army in 1999. He served three years at Fort Carson, left the Army and then returned as a member of the Colorado Air National Guard in the Summer of 2007.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Jihad Jack Murtha Stands By His Lies.

(Cross-posted at Murtha Must Go!!)

If there was ever a more brazenly self-serving, arrogant man alive than John "Jihad Jack" Murtha, I've yet to find him:

CNSNews.com: “Recently, all the charges were dropped with the soldiers involved in the Haditha event. You had been on TV with CNN and different outlets and you were saying that they were, quote, the civilians were killed in cold blood, end quote. But now that the charges have been dropped, do you think that was the right thing to say?”

Rep. John Murtha: “Yes, I think it was, that’s my job. My job is due. Listen, the NCIS (National Criminal Investigation Service) came to exactly the same conclusion I did. They had a two-star general investigate it. General Hagee went over right after I spoke out and talked to all of the Marines in the field and said you got to stop this kind of killing.”

What the hell does "That's my job. My job is due" mean? Is it your job, Jihad Jack, to usurp the Constitutional protections of soldiers who lay their lives on the line to defend that very Constitution? Is it "your job" to pronounce guilt before any investigation has taken place?

You say that General Hagee went right over right after you "spoke out" [read: LIED] and talked to all of the Marines in the field, telling them "you got to stop this kind of killing." Where is your proof of that? Why should we take you at your word when you have proven time and time again that you will lie to protect your sorry-assed, corrupt, political career? Did you even bother to look at the facts, Jihad Jack? Hell--you didn't even wait for an official briefing before you opened your big fat piehole on that fateful day in May of 2006, when you couldn't wait to run in front of the nearest camera to spill your bile--all just so you could pad your resume to advance your big, fat, self-serving backside to a coveted House Majority Leader post.

Jihad Jack Murtha: We here at Murtha Must Go!! continue to stand with our demand that you apologize and forthwith resign your seat in the House of Representatives. If you can't back up your story, if you can't back up your lies with facts, then you not only need to resign your post, but you need to be tried for slander.

We here at Murtha Must Go!! know of course that you will not do the honorable thing, because YOU HAVE NO HONOR!

Nonetheless, Congressman John Murtha, we here at Murtha Must Go!! will not rest until justice has been served!

We ask all like-minded readers to fill out the "Vets For Freedom" petition on the sidebar of this blog to call on Jack Murtha to apologize for his abject slanderous remarks and his blatant disregard for the principles inherent in the United States Constitution which his oath of office demands that he uphold.

(Cross-posted at Murtha Must Go!!)

What did Obama know and when did he know it...

Today, President-elect Barack Hussein Obama claimed he had no contact with Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D--Deep Shit) regarding who should fill his now-vacant U.S. Senate seat.

ABC News' Political Punch states otherwise, but then adds this caveat:

There are no allegations that President-elect Obama or anyone close to him had anything to do with any of the crimes Gov. Blagojevich is accused of having committed.

But if you go to the original indictment, Blagojevich himself states:

ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on call at the time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “motherfucker” [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put “[Senate Candidate 4]” in the Senate “before I just give fucking [Senate Candidate 1] a fucking Senate seat and I don’t get anything.”

No doubt Blago's high falutent way of saying, "I'm giving away this Senate seat and all I'm getting is this lousy T-shirt?!?"

Question: If Barack Hussein Obama had no contact with Blagojevich regarding his successor, how did Blagojevich know which candidate the, (in Blago's words) "motherfucker" wanted? If Blago didn't know which candidate Obama preferred in the first place, why the ruckus when he found that he wouldn't "get anything" for picking Obama's choice? In other words, how did Blago know who his (Obama's) senator was, if there was supposedly no contact with Obama regarding the matter?

Again I ask--what did Barack Hussein Obama know, and when did he know it?

And Good Riddance...

In my opinion, one of the most visibly corrupt, self-serving governors today has been Illinois Democrat governor Rod Blagojevich.  One can't go 20 miles down an Illinois tollway without reading a monstrous sign that states something to the effect of, "Open Road Tollway (courtesy of) Governor Rod Blagojevich" (as if he himself footed the bill). 

Democrat Rod Blagojevich took the reins in 2003, vowing to run a clean show after the ethically- (and mentally) challenged Republican governor George Ryan went down in flames of corruption.  But instead of delivering a promise of ethical virtuosity, Illinois voters got more of the same... in spades, up to the point where Governor Blagojevich is awaiting indictment on selling the vacated Obama U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder. 

Updated at 8:57 a.m.: On the issue of the U.S. Senate selection, federal prosecutors alleged Blagojevich sought appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain financial benefits for the governor, members of his family and his campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state jobs and state contracts.

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.
"They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."

It is my hope that as Blagojevich enjoys his perp and frog march, that my former fellow Illiniosians will make a wiser choice for a replacement.  But given their penchant for electing political machine candidates, I won't hold my breath. 

And give me three hail mary's and an our father and I'll give you absolution...

Some guys will do anything for a handout. Including engaging in self-flagellation:

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp on Monday unveiled an unusually frank advertisement acknowledging it had "disappointed" and sometimes even "betrayed" American consumers as it lobbies to clinch the federal aid it needs to stay afloat into next month.

The print advertisement marked a sharp break from GM's public stance of just several weeks ago when it sought to justify its bid for a U.S. government on the grounds that the credit crisis had undermined its business in ways executives could never have foreseen.

It also came as Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, who has led the automaker since 2000, faces new pressure to step aside as GM seeks up to $18 billion in federal funding.

"While we're still the U.S. sales leader, we acknowledge we have disappointed you," the ad said. "At times we violated your trust by letting our quality fall below industry standards and our designs became lackluster."

The unsigned open letter, entitled "GM's Commitment to the American People" ran in the trade journal Automotive News, which is widely read by industry executives, lobbyists and other insiders.

In the ad, GM admits to other strategic missteps analysts and critics have said hastened its recent decline.

"We have proliferated our brands and dealer network to the point where we lost adequate focus on the core U.S. market," the ad said. "We also biased our product mix toward pick-up trucks and SUVs."

That they have to adorn themselves with sackcloths and demean themselves and otherwise obsequiously shed every shred of dignity to get themselves on the public dole is sorry enough. But not even this smarmy exercise in self-flagellation could appease the self-righteous, pompous asses that make up Congress, who would not back down from exacting their pound of political flesh from their scapegoat du jour:

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut who is central to the effort to craft an auto bailout bill, on Sunday said GM should replace Wagoner.

With the hideous regulations and union kowtowing that Dodd, Frank & Co. exacted from the U.S. auto industry, crippling their ability to be competitive (not to mention the charms they worked on the home mortgage industry); that these incompetent buffoons continue to hold themselves blameless for the mess that they themselves were complicit in creating is nothing less than laughable.

Why the Printer Won't Work...

Getting in touch with my feminine side?

Lumberjack directed me to a "Gender Test" website, that hosts supposedly sophisticated software that is supposed to be able to tell whether a blog is written by a man or a woman.

Hogwash.

Now.... where did I lay that quiche recipe?

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 12-3-08

Spc. Matthew T. Morris
23 years old from Cedar Park, Texas
2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
April 06, 2008


"He was a very creative kid, and when he wasn't in a challenging environment, he tried to make life interesting," Glenn Morris, father of Spc. Morris, said. "He excelled in a military school structure and in a team environment."

Before enlisting in the Army in 2005, Morris attended the Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia where he met a history teacher who inspired him to want to become an educator. "After his service, he wanted to go back to school and get a four-year degree to become a teacher," said his mother, Lisa. "He wanted to make a difference and give back to the community."

Spc. Morris was killed when his vehicle encountered an IED in Balad, Iraq. Also killed in the attack was Cpt. Ulises Burgos-Cruz.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Remember that tool box...

You know, the one that Heidimarie Stephansh...whatever lost in space? (leave it to a woman to lose a guy's tools)...

Well NASA is tracking that $100,000 toolbox here, in real time.

Now if only NASA could help me keep track of my lost socks....

This Might Explain A Lot.

Separated at birth?

The alien Exeter from "This Island Earth," and Joe Biden...

You decide.

Enviro-whackism Uber Alles?

It seems that they want a world court to deal with "environmental injustices."

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has agreed the concept of an international court will be taken into account when considering how to make these international agreements on climate change binding. The court is also backed by a number of MPs, climate change experts and public figures including the actress Judi Dench.

[Whenever I want some hard scientific facts to back up my arguments, I naturally turn to Judi Dench--don't you?? --ed].

Mr Hockman said an international court will be needed to enforce and regulate any agreement.

"The time is now ripe to set this up and get it going," he said. "Its remit will be overall climate change and the need for better regulation of carbon emissions but at the same time the implementation and enforcement of international environmental agreements and instruments."

According to the piece, the court may very likely be staffed by the high priest of the Church of Global warming himself:

The court would be led by retired judges, climate change experts and public figures. It would include a scientific body to consider evidence and provide access to any data on the environment.

Hmmm... I wonder if their court will look something like this:

I'll tell you one thing, if these socialist pea brained whackos do hold a world court for "crimes against the environment," perhaps they should feature themselves as their first defendants:

Staging a global forum on climate change is a dilemma, as it adds to the very problem it is trying to solve.

Around 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be added to the Earth's greenhouse effect from the December 1-12 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UNFCCC said.

Heh. Yet another case of "Do as I say, not as I do!"

A question.

What is the difference between this, and this?

Just wondering.