Sunday - February 18, 2007
Sunday Funnies
Saturday - February 17, 2007
Through The Looking Glass
I know you all know about the US Air Force’s Thunderbirds and the US Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatic teams but did you know one of our allies also has an internationally famous aerobatic team? You didn’t? Shame on you!
Our good friends in the United Kingdom (a.k.a. Great Britain) have a flying team called the Red Arrows (Official Web Site). They are officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, and are the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Scampton, United Kingdom. They fly the British Aerospace Hawk trainer and are darned near as good as our Yank teams (I’m gonna catch flak from our Brit readers for that remark, I’m sure).
Either way you have to respect a country that makes their air force pilots fly with a damned bullseye on the side of their planes. That takes balls. Now, I need to ask you all for a favor. These fine lads are about to be put out to pasture by the Treasury bean-counters in Britain who want to axe the Reds to save a couple of shillings. The personnel, pilots and aircraft of the squadron are all capable of deployment elsewhere in the RAF, so the money really saved would be peanuts.
Cynics might observe that the move is a covert campaign to expunge from the public mind a potent and highly visible symbol of the very best of the Royal Air Force as an independent Air Arm of a United Kingdom giving up its identity to Europistan.
10 Downing St website has an online petition. Please go there and sign it - even if you are a Yank (Fake an address in New Zealand or the Turks & Caicos Islands if you must). Don’t let them get away with this. Do it for Sir Winston Churchill and all the rest of the fine upstanding Brits who talked us into bailing out France in WWII. --- Ooops! Never mind. Scratch that last. Just do it!
on 02/17/2007 at 04:57 PM
Art-Photography • Military • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Most Outrageous Item Of The Week
I don’t see why anyone is shocked at this move by the Democrats. I’m just surprised they didn’t put him in charge of the House Ethics Committee. Face it, Democrats in Washington don’t give a rat’s ass what you or I or anybody think. They are convinced they can get away with anything after making right bastards of themselves for the last six years and not getting punished for it.
What I really want to know is why is this freaking moron still walking around free. Why hasn’t the Justice Department clapped him in irons yet? Hell, they caught him red-handed with the bribe money in his freezer. What else do they need? Arrest his sorry, criminal ass and tell Louisiana to elect another Congressman. End of story. Then again, maybe not - the stupid retards in Louisiana would just send another crook to Washington. Never mind ...
Rep. Jefferson to Get Homeland Security Seat
(WASHINGTON POST) - Saturday, February 17, 2007
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who yanked embattled Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA) off a powerful tax committee last year, has decided to put him on the Homeland Security panel, aides to the Louisiana Democrat confirmed yesterday. The move infuriated some Republicans, who accuse him of being a potential security risk.
Jefferson has been the subject of an ongoing federal bribery investigation related to a telecommunications deal in Africa. His Capitol Hill office and his homes in Washington and New Orleans have been raided by the FBI, and he was kicked off the Ways and Means Committee last June after affidavits and evidence seized in the raids became public.
Nevertheless, Jefferson won reelection in December to a ninth term, and he has been an outspoken critic of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Pelosi’s decision to appoint Jefferson to the committee must still be formally approved by House Democrats.
“It sends a terrible message,” said Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), the committee’s ranking Republican. “They couldn’t trust him to write tax policy, so why should he be given access to our nation’s top secrets or making policy for national defense?
“Members of the committee have access to intelligence secrets, plots here in the country, overseas, and people under suspicion. This shows how unimportant the Democrats think homeland security is,” King said.
Jefferson’s chief of staff, Eugene Green, called King’s criticism ‘ridiculous and just politics.’ - “Representing New Orleans as he does, we’re very concerned as to what happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,” Green said. “It’s just natural for the congressman to serve his constituents on a committee of this nature.”
on 02/17/2007 at 12:44 PM
Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Outrageous • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Choose Or Lose
Casting the First (Litmus) Stone
-- by Michael Reagan
I don’t know if Diogenes ever found that honest man, but I do know that those Republicans are never going to find the perfect candidate, simply because he does not exist.
Some Republicans insist that the only perfect candidate would be a clone of my Dad, Ronald Reagan. Aside from the fact that there is no such thing, it’s important to recognize that Ronald Reagan, as he often admitted, was anything but perfect.
One of the criticisms about former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney focuses on his record concerning the abortion issue. We are told by the modern day Diogenes clones that he can’t be trusted to fight abortion because he once, more or less, supported a woman’s right to butcher her baby.
It may come as a surprise to these purists, but Ronald Reagan once supported abortion too. Yet nobody ever questioned his strong pro-life credentials after his conversion to Republicanism. They accepted his sincerity. Why can’t they accept Mitt Romney’s?
Romney’s record shows he should be totally acceptable to all conservatives, yet because of one dubious question concerning the validity of his conversion to the pro-life side, he is deemed unsuitable to carry the conservative banner.
The same is true of Rudy Giuliani. On every major issue, he is a solidly conservative and extraordinarily adept executive, but because he backs abortion and some form of gun control, America’s mayor—the hero of 9/11 and the man who did the impossible by cleaning up New York—is all but ruled out as a 2008 candidate.
Not one of the major candidates is free of some real or imagined flaw that offends some conservatives.
This is madness, and if it does not stop, the GOP is going to lose the presidential election in 2008. In the search for the perfect candidate we are going to end up with an imperfect candidate. Keep in mind the truism that agreement with someone on most issues and disagreement on others is seen as normal, but should you agree with someone on every single issue imaginable … well… to put it plainly, psychologists say you’re nuts.
“Is it possible that GOP conservative ranks are this thin?” the letter writer asked. “Has the GOP nothing better to offer? Should not pro-family pro-life voters also want a low taxes and limited government candidate before they vigorously support him?
Increased taxes and expanded government hurts everyone. Was Ronald Wilson Reagan an anomaly and did he represent the values of his party?
“These GOP candidates,” the letter instructed me, “are little better than Bob Dole, Gerald Ford, or [George] H.W. Bush. Did anyone notice they all lost?”
This makes me wonder if anybody can stand up to the litmus test these people are applying to candidates.
Ronald Reagan had one litmus test he applied to candidates. Were they Republicans? If they were he backed them all the way. He would let the party choose the candidate and he would support and vote for the candidate. He didn’t go sniffing around trying to find some flaw in their character or their past. Once nominated, they were his choice.
And nobody was more candid in admitting that he was anything but perfect than my Dad. He knew that like all men, he had his flaws and he spent a lifetime combating them. Had today’s GOP litmus test been seriously applied to him, he could not have passed the test.
The Democrats don’t have litmus tests. If the nominee is a Democrat, they support their candidate all the way, and if they lose it isn’t because they didn’t fight like demons for their man or woman.
If we want to win in 2008, Republicans had better wake up, and quit talking Ronald Reagan and start being like Ronald Reagan.
Mike Reagan, the eldest son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Radio America Network. Look for Mike’s newest book, “Twice Adopted.” E-mail comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. ©2007 Mike Reagan.
Saturday Silliness
Drowning
John Deering - The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Weekend Eye Candy
Now we all know Jack Bauer is THE MAN. When it comes to saving the world (or at least our part of it), no one even comes close. Every week we watch in suspense as Jack endures another terrible ordeal in his ongoing fight for Truth, Justice and The American Way ... wait a minute, that’s that other guy in the red and blue tights and a cape.
Anyway, we watch and hold our breath as another hour ticks slowly by and the bad guys get closer and closer to destroying civilization. We know Jack will come through somehow or another though. Except ... there’s something missing. I think Jack needs to be more like 007. You know, all those beautiful dames falling all over him as he fights against the evils of the world.
Which brings me to this weekend’s Eye Candy. I have decided that Jack should have 24 beautiful women to make life a little easier during his long day each season. With that thought in mind, I have chosen twenty four of Playboy’s cutest Cyber-Girls for this season of “24”. There is no need to ask “what would Jack Bauer do” this time. If he’s smart, he’ll save the world in the first five minutes then spend the rest of each hour with one of these lovely ladies.
Click the “24” image up there and proceed to the gallery. We’ll let you decide what hour of the day each one belongs to. The usual warning applies: DEFINITELY NSFW ....
Barking Moonbat Of The Week
Friday - February 16, 2007
Postcard From Iraq
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
-- Edmund Burke --
Motivational Poster Of The Day
Lost!
Hehehehe. I ain’t lost this time, by golly. I know exactly where I am. Down there is the largest USAF base I’ve ever seen. I’m over CONUS and I just checked and it’s warm outside so I’m gonna enjoy this landing. That’s all the hints you get today. Ready-set-GO!
Note From Skipper: I love this base. I’ve worked here on government contracts several times and I always loved those assignments. The most awesome sight in the world is standing or parking close to this end of that main runway and watching the F-16’s take off. Those hot shots come flying down the runway and just as they reach the end they switch on the afterburners and go vertical - and I DO mean vertical. Those birds have so much power that they climb straight up and they ACCELERATE while doing it. ZOOM-ZOOM!
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(Photo from Google Earth Desktop)
Congress Disapproves
I hope the Donks are happy with their backstabbing bullshit. Assholes.
You can find the ROLL CALL VOTE here. The vote was pretty much along party lines - except 17 Repubicans who voted for it and 2 Democrats who voted against it.
House Passes Resolution Opposing Bush’s Plan to Send More Troops to Iraq
WASHINGTON (FOX NEWS) - Friday, February 16, 2007
House lawmakers wrapped up a four-day marathon debate leading up to the 246-182 vote. The Senate is expected to take up the debate for a test vote on Saturday. The resolution vote, however, won’t alter Bush’s policy in Iraq or stop the surge of troops into Baghdad.
“The bipartisan resolution today may be nonbinding, but it will send a strong message to the president: we here in Congress are committed and supporting our troops,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House floor. “The passage of this legislation will signal change in direction in Iraq that will end the fighting and bring our troops home safely and soon.”
Bush pitched his plan last month to send an additional U.S. forces into Iraq to quell sectarian violence there, igniting opposition from Democratic leaders and some Republicans.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called Iraq a “defeat.” “What we now have in Iraq is a defeat. We cannot achieve the illusions of the Bush administration that we will be able to create a stable unified liberal democracy in Iraq that is pro-American,” Waxman said on the House floor. “Instead, we have sectarian fighting, death squads and a disabled Middle East that threatens to be engulfed by the nightmare that we have unleashed.”
Republicans warn the vote will embolden terrorists and insurgents, and send the wrong message to the troops on the ground, while Democrats argue that the troop surge will risk more American lives.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., asked fellow lawmakers to vote against the resolution, calling it “misguided and dangerous.” “You cannot support the troops if you are undermining their mission and challenging their commander in the field,” King said on the House floor. “By opposing this new policy, the supporters of the resolution are clearly undermining our new commander in Iraq at such a vital time at the conduct of this war.”
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the House panel that oversees military spending, said he plans to introduce legislation that would end Bush’s plan by setting limits on which troops can be sent and would prevent them from being sent back too soon or too poorly equipped. Troops going overseas for another tour would have to stay in the United States at least one year before being redeployed.
- More ...
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Speaking in an interview released on the anti-war MoveCongress.com website, Murtha said he would attach a provision to an upcoming $93 billion supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. If passed, he said, the provision would be “the most important vote in changing the direction of this war,” because it would “limit the options of the president and should stop the surge.”
Apart from the year-at-home requirement, the provision would also state that combat troops “must have the equipment and the training, and they must be certified by the chiefs of the various services before they can go back,” the congressman said. Murtha added that his proposal would prevent the Bush administration from extending the term of enlistment for military personnel.
“Now, if they can’t extend people, if they can’t send people back that don’t have equipment and so forth, they can’t continue the surge,” he said. “If this resolution passes the House and the Senate, the president could veto it, but then he wouldn’t have any money,” Murtha noted. “What we’re trying to do is make sure people understand we’re supporting the troops, we’re protecting the troops, but on the other hand, we’re going to stop this surge. The other thing we’re doing is saying, no permanent bases.”
MORT KONDRACKE: That would deny funds for any troops that go to Iraq unless they meet certain benchmarks of training, of equipment, of — they have to be back in the states a year, you can’t send them over there if they haven’t had their years rest. You can’t extend troops beyond a certain length of time service in Iraq.
Look, I mean it’s pretty clever on two different levels. One, it pretends to be for the troops, I mean, to make sure that they’re trained adequately and rested adequately and all this. And it’s also appears to be for the troops in that if you vote against the supplemental with this in it, you’ll be against funding the troops while they’re in combat. But it is truly anti-troop, because you’ve got — the surge will be well underway and what Murtha is going to try to do is deny reinforcements for these troops . . . leaving them more vulnerable than they were.
NINA EASTON: What happens if it passes both Houses and it lands on the president’s desk and the president says, “I’m sorry, I’m commander in chief, this is micromanaging the war. I’m going to ignore this.” He might not even bother to veto it and then it goes to the courts.
FRED BARNES: This is way too clever by a half for two reasons. One, it’s clear what Democrats are doing. . . . And secondly. . . in micromanaging the war with all these restrictions and so on that Mort talked about, they risk taking ownership of this war. I mean, this is Bush’s war, it’s the Republican’s war, but if they’re going to apply all these standards to it and micromanage the war . . . it could become their war.
on 02/16/2007 at 01:08 PM
Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Military • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Glowbull Warming Daily Briefing
Remember that godawful winter storm that just passed through dumping dozens of feet of snow, killing 15 people, stranding drivers in a 50-mile pileup and leaving an Arctic frozen wasteland behind? Well, it turns out he has a big brother coming to visit us this weekend - some guy named Alberta Clipper. No relation to Alberta Gore.
Thursday - February 15, 2007
Through The Looking Glass
“Holy Snakes”
Dwijendra’s name is among the most frequently mentioned in the history of temples in Bali. His pilgrimage is described in a lontar (palm leaf book) entitled Dwijendra Tattwa (The Teaching of Dwijendra). It covered Bali, and the eastern islands of Lombok and Sumbawa. At almost every place he stopped, a temple was built by the local community as a way of giving thanks for his spiritual teachings.
The Pulaki Temple, on Bali’s west coast, north of Gilimanuk, was built by fishermen to give thanks for his help, when they almost drowned. The Gading Wangi Temple, also not far from Gilimanuk, was built to give thanks by a local man who had suffered from prolonged illness. Dwijendra’s journey eastward brought him to what is now the Rambut Siwi Temple - where travelers stop to pray.
Sailing south-eastward from Rambut Siwi, Dwijendra arrived at a small rock-island, where he decided to take a rest. Local fishermen brought him offerings, and provided him a place to sleep. The priest, however, chose to stay on the rock island where at nights he gave Hindu teachings to the villagers. The priest advised them to build a shrine to the God Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa which is the origin of The Pakendungan Temple, better known as Tanah Lot. On his departure, the priest’s belt fell off, which according to popular myth, became black and white (polèng) snakes which still live under the rocks and are worshipped as holy snakes.
-- “Bali’s South Sea Temples - Holy Places”
Lost!
Lost again! This time I may be in Injun territory. I’m somewhere in the Middle East over what looks like a large USAF base. I smell roasted goat and camel dung from outside. Altimeter says runway below is at 175 feet above sea level and those look like hardened aircraft shelters in those loopey-loops to the left of the runway. I suppose now would be a good time to bow to Mecca and pray for a safe landing on that 10,007 ft. runway below. HELP!
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(Photo from Google Earth Desktop)
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