Draw your own conclusions.

Marty was working at Tufts Veterinary Medical School when she got Frank and Louis, who was brought in at one day old to be euthanized...

Frank&Louie--the Janus Cat

As the local video news report below shows, he is a mostly normal, playful kitty. Thanks to Marty being the right person in the right place at the right time, he has had the opportunity to live a good life.

My former views on abortion and euthansia are...um...being 'modified' of late.

Actually, this article should be required reading

As the line between reality and satire grows more blurred every day...

"It's actually pretty simple: We just have to ask ourselves if people doing the same thing in the past caused something bad to happen," Collins continued. "Did the thing we're thinking of doing make people upset? Did it start a war? If it did, then we might want to think about not doing it."

In addition, Collins carefully explained that if a past decision proved to be favorable—if, for example, it led to increased employment, caused fewer deaths, or made lots of people feel good inside— then the nation should consider following through with the same decision now.

While the new strategy, known as "Look Back Before You Act," has raised concerns among people worried they will have to remember lots of events from long ago, the historians have assured Americans they won't be required to read all the way through thick books or memorize anything.

RTWT, then decide if you should laugh or cry.

Janeane Garafolo talks to the animals. Their response below.

Read, pray, think

First, read the linked article regarding the imminent execution of an Iranian pastor for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

Then pray, if you will.  For surely, this man faces his darkest hour, yet he stands firm in his faith.  May the Lord bless and keep your soul, Youcef Nadarkhani.

Now, think about this part of the linked article in the context of continuing efforts to bring shari'a to America and place it on a par with Constitutional law.  Emphasis is mine.

Although apostasy is not an offense in the Iranian penal code, the country’s constitution includes a clause (article 167) that says if the basis for a judicial ruling does not exist in the law, judges must turn to “authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa.”

But don't worry.  Islam is a 'religion of peace...'

Islamic scholars who argue for the death penalty for apostasy cite texts like sura 4:89 of the Qur’an, which urges Muslims to seize and kill those who turn away. A hadith (the traditional writings and sayings of Mohammed) quotes the prophet as saying, “Any [Muslim] person who has changed his religion, kill him.”

Not in my country.  Not on my watch.  Not now, not ever.  لن استسلم .

(HT the Last Refuge)

Let's get our Fisk on

By way of The Other McCain, I present more Leftist insanity to vivisect.

Under the rubric of dialogue and debate between the “Left” and Right about amending the U.S. constitution, this conference will further legitimate the reactionary Tea Party movement.
The U.S. is waging unjust imperial wars. The ecosystems of the planet are endangered. The know-how and technology exist to produce enough food for everyone on the planet; meanwhile some one billion go hungry. Capitalism is a horror and a failure.

I put this challenge to progressive people seeking change and attending this conference. Rather than reaching out to the proto-fascists and Tea Party-ers with their anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, and racist-encoded “states rights” agenda, rather than looking to repair a system that has only meant misery and more misery for humanity—why not reach forward to a viable and emancipatory alternative? This is what the Constitution of the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) From the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S. is about.

OK, here we go.  First, I shall present the comments debunking this buckethead's first paragraph:

I hate to disillusion Mr. Lotta's beliefs here, but the reality is that for the vast amount of human history, most people have lived very miserable existences.  The average age at time of death stubbornly held around 40 for centuries.  Proper hygiene practices were unknown.

But more importantly, most people had little or no money to obtain the foods necessary for a proper diet.

That's all changed with the advent of capitalism.  Thanks to capitalism and the drive to invent, running water and flush toilets are common in even the poorest communities on earth.  Thanks to capitalism, everyone on the planet enjoys a higher standard of living than nearly all people who lived before the 17th Century -- including the wealthiest of the time.  Thanks to capitalism, people are able to market and sell their goods to others around the world.

It's idiotic to claim that capitalism causes more and more misery, when the historical fact is that it has vastly improved the lives of everyone on the planet.

...

Ugh.

Just taking the most obvious...   we have the technology to feed everyone but someone (and I'm not naming names) vilifies the companies and processes that produce higher yield crops, in particular spending great time and effort convincing hungry people in developing countries that higher yield crops are a conspiracy against them.   These same people (and I'm not naming names) also do their best to retard and restrict the other most important thing related to hunger, and that is transportation of food from one place to another because it is fueled by fossil fuels.

And somehow this all becomes the failure of capitalism?

Truly?

OK, now on to the second paragraph.  Hang on to your asses, Leftists; it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

I put this challenge to progressive people seeking change and attending this conference. Rather than reaching out to the proto-fascists

Let's get it out in the open.  You do not seek any sort of positive 'change.'  You do, in fact, seek fascism, ie; "anti-anarchist, anti-communist, anti-conservative, anti-democratic, anti-individualist, anti-liberal, anti-parliamentary, anti-bourgeois and anti-proletarian.^[15] It entails a distinctive type of anti-capitalism and is typically, with a few exceptions, anti-clerical.^[16][17] It rejects egalitarianism, materialism, and rationalism in favour of action, discipline, hierarchy, spirit and will.^[18]"  This is what you desire, and don't try to pretend that you want anything different.  Reality calls you out.

and Tea Party-ers with their anti-immigrant,

We are not anti-immigrant.  Three of my four parents came here from other countries--LEGALLY.  We oppose invaders, not immigrants.

Islamophobic,

"Islamophobic" connotates an irrational fear.  When you're facing a bunch of maniacs who wish to institute a  global theocracy which promotes the murder of queer folks, the subjugation of women and the annihilation of free will,--no matter what they have to do or who they have to kill--the fear of this is not irrational.

and racist-encoded “states rights” agenda,

 Please enlighten me as to how enforcing the Constitution is 'racist.'  Oh, are you referring to the excuse your fellow Democrats used to keep people down because of their skin color?  Hey, pal--the racist scum on your side are the ones that perverted the concept of "states rights" to further your own evil agenda.  Sorry if the truth hurts.  Take an ibuprofen and deal with it.

rather than looking to repair a system that has only meant misery and more misery for humanity—why not reach forward to a viable and emancipatory alternative? This is what the Constitution of the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) From the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S. is about.

I got your 'misery' right here, sucker.  Communism/Socialism is responsible for the murder of well over one hundred million people in one century.  Your precious 'alternative' leads to nothing but death, destruction, loss, suffering, misery and despair.  Every single time it's been tried.  Every one.  Without fail.

Anyone who--in this day and age, with the example of history to learn from--still advocates Communism, or its embryo, Socialism, is either historically ignorant, insane, or evil.  Which are you, sir?

Umm...what's this mean?

Via Sister Toldjah, I stumbled on this here chart.  Me being a dumb truck driver, I just can't figure it out.

Luckily, them smart folks over at PowerLine can.

Call out the SWAT team!!

Actually, I'm kind of amazed there wasn't a shock-and-awe, flashbang-and-tear-gas entry.  Who knows what these religious nuts were up to?

A southern California couple has been fined $300 dollars for holding Christian Bible study sessions in their home, and could face another $500 for each additional gathering.

City officials in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. say Chuck and Stephanie Fromm are in violation of municipal code 9-3.301, which prohibits “religious, fraternal or non-profit” organizations in residential neighborhoods without a permit. Stephanie hosts a Wednesday Bible study that draws about 20 attendees, and Chuck holds a Sunday service that gets about 50.

Now, if a bunch of Muslims were fined for gathering at someone's house, I'm certain that the city of San Juan Capistrano would be the target of Leftist fury from across the nation and around the world.  That is, if SJC even dared to serve the citation in the first place.  But it's just a bunch of those nutjob, possibly-terrorist Christians, so you're not likely to see any discussion of this outside of the Real Media.*

Yet another reason I didn't move to Kalifornia.


*  Let's face it, y'all--the LameStream Media is completely irrelevant.  The only true media left in America, where you can see all perspectives and nothing remains hidden for long, is the internet...which will henceforth be referred to as the Real Media.

Economics 101: Referee on the take

"Hello, sports fans, and welcome to Memphis, Tennessee, where the Memphis Muscleheads are about to defend their NFL Championship record against the Jacksonville Jocks.  Memphis has elected to receive, and here's the opening kick...caught by Barry Beertapper of the Muscleheads!  Look at that young man run!  He's past the 40...the 30...the 20, nobody near him...TOUCHDOWN!!

"Wait a minute...what's this?  There's a flag on the play!  Referee Obama has disallowed the touchdown on the grounds that the Jocks have won less Championships than the Muscleheads, and therefore, the touchdown is disallowed 'in the interests of fairness!'  Can he do that?  Where's the rule book?  I don't think he can do that...!  Referee Obama has, however, allowed the Muscleheads to go for the extra point...

....

"Hello, again, sports fans.  Fourth quarter begins here in the Jocks/Muscleheads Championship game, which has become one of the most bizarre spectacles in football history.  The score is tied at 25-25, due to a series of decisions by Referee Obama attempting to ensure, as he puts it, 'fairness and equitability for all.'  Half the audience has left and the other half is preparing to riot.  Referee Obama has repeatedly been told that he has no authority to rule outside the terms of the Official NFL Rulebook, but he's continuing to do so regardless of legality..."

Does that sound just completely whacked-out to you?  What would you do if that happened at your favorite sporting event?  Probably more than you're doing right now, while this exact same thing is happening to our economy.

I'm trying to put this in the most simple terms possible, so as to ensure that everyone can get it.  Rules and structure are needed to run a sporting event, an economy or a country.  The key is to make the rules as few as practicable, easy to understand, and applicable to everyone equally.  The rules of our economy started out simple:  Don't misrepresent your product or service, ie; don't defraud people.  Don't dump poison into our environment.  Run your business honestly, do your best, and the market will decide how successful you become.  Pretty simple, and applicable to all.

Now, 'poison' is being defined as carbon dioxide, the same thing we exhale, and the same thing plants need to live.  The government is now literally trying to regulate every breath we take.  Well-connected corporations with lots of lawyers might be able to cope with that; smaller firms can't.  Thus, the Big Boys are protected from any real competition.

 Fraud is perfectly acceptable as long as you're on Big Government's buddy list.  In fact, if you're really good at 'paying off the Ref,' you don't have to pay a penny in taxes even as you outsource jobs to Asia in the midst of one of the most horrific employment markets in American history.  When you can travel all over the world, negotiating deals with corporations and governments with the POTUS at your side...let's just say that you have a certain advantage not enjoyed by your competitors.

When you go bankrupt due to that fact that you make products no one wants to buy, you're supposed to go out of business as other, more competent firms take your place.  But that isn't being allowed when you're supposedly "too big to fail."  (BTW, check that outsourcing list again.  Look who else is on it.)  So GM continues to stumble along making vehicles no one wants, while up-and-coming manufacturers--who could have jumped into the vacuum of a failed GM--are relegated to niche markets.

This, my friends, is 'crony capitalism.'  It's when the Ref stops enforcing the rules fairly, and begins deciding who will win and who will lose.  Whether guided by a flat-Earth enviromaniac ideology, the ravings of a bunch of discredited fools, or simply a bit of kickback--this is why America's in such a mess.  This is what we on the Right despise just as much--if not more so--as those on the Left.

The Leftists are always going on about what they perceive as 'fair.'  How about we have one set of simple rules and apply them across the board to everyone, regardless of who they know, how much money they have or how cool they are?  How about we let people--and corporations--suffer the natural consequences of their own incorrect choices?  How about we stop trying to control everything and let people live their own lives, for good or ill?  You know--freedom.

That's about as 'fair' as life's ever going to get.  And that's what we stand for.

The Palin/Beck controversy

Yeah, yeah--more Linky No Thinky.  I'm a little behind the curve of late; moving freight for constant 11-hour nights makes me loopy.  (On the plus side, I've lost 15 pounds in a month and I'm getting totally ripped.  (OK, 'ripped' for a 42-year-old truck driver.  Cut me some slack.))

I've been reading the pervading screams of outrage over Brian Sack's recent Palin jokes on GBTV, all of which seem to demand that Sack should be shot, Beck should be tarred and feathered, and the entirety of GBTV should be razed to the ground with salt and acid sown upon the ruins, that one electron should not stand upon another.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I will state that I dig Glenn Beck.  I will also point out that the blogger linked herein is a Mormon, as is Mr. Beck, so there may or may not be a certain conflict of interest here--make up your own mind.  But she's got some very good points to make, and you should all read them now.

It doesn’t do us or Sarah herself any favors if we start to see (and overreact to) attacks where none were intended, or even where there’s enough reasonable doubt in the matter that a more reasonable person would just let it alone. We (justifiably) poo-pooed Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter for decrying how unreasonable we Palinistas are, but stuff like this is only handing them (and others like them) more ammunition. It’s the flip side of Palin Derangement Syndrome, in which anything anyone says that could possibly be construed as a negative toward the Governor is immediately decried as vile hatemongering. It’s wrong when they do it, and it’s wrong when we do it.

Yeah...it's exactly like that.  One of the main reasons the Right has been losing the culture wars is because we've been derided as straitlaced, uptight and not being able to take a joke.  And this, I'm sorry to say, is an accusation not without merit.  Whether the joke is funny or not, we have to know "when to, and when not to."  This routine was a complete non-issue until some of my fellow Palinistas went insane about it, and I'm asking you all to please knock it off. 

If we've learned nothing else over the past three years, it's that Governor Palin is more than capable of taking care of herself.  We must counter the lies, we must advance the facts.  We must stand firm in our support.  But if we allow ourselves to become as shrill and intolerant as the Obamanoids, then we lose big.

Think about it, please.  We're not going to prevail by becoming what we oppose.

Immortalized. Also, OMG EWW!

Ann's speech on Islamic sexuality (which I was hoping to see live, but didn't--long story) is below.  Among the topics discussed is the fairly recent fatwa concerning necrophila(it's حلال).

The fatwa isn't what bothers me so much.  It's the fact that the question came up at all.  Someone actually went to his Imam and asked something along the lines of, "Hey, is it cool with Allah if we bang dead corpses?  What if it's our wife?"

DUDE.  WTF.

Among the major faiths of the world--Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.--this whole issue would be a non-starter.  The concept of having sex with a corpse wouldn't cross the minds of most people.  And even if, in some abstract flight of fancy, it did...no one would have to consult their priest/ rabbi/ guru/ roshi/ whatever to figure out the answer.  We all know what it is.  And if anyone actually didn't know, they'd be set straight PDQ.

Unless they were Muslim, in which case the prevailing issue would be the freshness of the corpse in question.

Anyway, here's the presentation, which includes some horrendously graphic images of  "female circumcision," aka "you bastards are going to burn in a very special level of Hell for this."  As loathe as I am to give my readers nightmares, I urge you to take a look at what we're fighting against.








So there you are.  Commentary?