Friday Night Concert - The Brian Setzer Orchestra

Good evening, buckaroos and buckarettes. Hope y'all are ready for some swinging swing music.

Tonight's offering is the Brian Setzer Orchestra live in Montreal.

As an aside, I've seen this band twice live and they brought the house down both times. Once, one of my guitar player buds called out the song Sleepwalk towards the end of the show. To see Brian ask anyone in the band if they knew it well enough to try it was a blast. He did a few bars by himself with a big ol' smile on his face.

Anyway, glue your earbuds in and enjoy...



Y'all have a good weekend, y'all.

Obama Phone Lady a Bussed-in, SEIU-paid Protestor?

It's entirely possible, says The Jawa Report.

Be sure to watch the second video first.

Debate Prep Questions for Obama

Courtesy of Instapundit, Jennifer Rubin has some questions for President Obama that just might come up. That is, they'd  come up if there were politically balanced moderator. As it stands now, we can probably expect Mitt to get questions like, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" while Obama would get questions like, "What's your favorite color?"

Anyway, here are a few of hers...

If Iran is much closer to getting a bomb than when you took office, isn’t your Iran policy a failure?

 After Sept. 11, 2001, there were no terrorist attacks on the United States, but during your administration there have been the jihad-inspired Fort Hood massacre and the killing of four Americans in Libya, so isn’t your anti-terror record worse than Bush’s?

Why is the recovery under your presidency worse than any other recovery since WWII?

If you can decide not to enforce all of our immigration laws or amend the welfare work laws without Congress, why couldn’t a President Romney decide not to enforce Obamacare or parts of the IRS code?

 

And here are a couple of mine...

You promised to make energy prices "skyrocket," one of the few promises you've managed to keep to the American people. Would you please explain your reasoning and tell us how this will benefit the average American family whose breadwinners may be struggling. 

Since man-made climate change has been proven to be a hoax for several years now, can you explain to us why you continue to believe in it and to pursue related policies that hinder the economy?

You often confuse your Fast and Furious project that allowed thousands of guns to be put in the hands of Mexican narco-terrorists and resulted in many deaths on both sides of the border, including Border Agent Brian Terry, with  a similar, smaller program by president Bush. Do you know the difference between those two separate programs?

Have you stopped beating your children?

 Have I mentioned that I'd love to moderate one of the presidential debates?

Well, I'm Convinced.

This has to be the best argument I believe I've ever heard to vote for Obama.






Does that phone come with my second or third voter registration card? Or does it come before that?

Where do I sign up?

Dave In Florida Has His Own Blog

Fellow Moron Dave In Florida liked his guest gig here so much, he now has his own blog named, appropriately enough, Dave In Florida's Poll Analysis.

Having squinted at his numbers for minutes, I've found his methodology to be more accurate than anything the Idiot MFM is citing. And if you think for one moment that any of the polls you hear about from the Vintage Media showing Obama with the lead are accurate, you're being fooled.

Do like the rest of us are doing: ignore everything you hear or read from places like CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, HLN, NYT, or NPR and just vote for Mitt Romney.

Like your life depends on it.

(h/t to Dedicated Tenther)

Drummer Dies Onstage

Well, I can think of worse places to go.

Disco drummer suffers heart attack, collapses on stage.

"He died doing what he loved best." We should all be so lucky.

Our Long National (Football League) Nightmare is Over

Thank Vince Lombardi above! The NFL has finally resolved the lockout which resulted in the regular NFL referees being replaced with refs from Div II, high school football, the Lingerie League, Pee Wee football and a few guys from a construction site near the stadium.

Now we can look forward to important calls being blown by professional referees.

At least the games will go faster.

So there's that.

Seriously, it's about time. I'm glad that all is well and we can get back to some decent officiating. We desperately need to see something done right after four years of Obama.

Obama - "I want to see us export more jobs!"

In a speech yesterday, President Obama pulled a vice-president Biden when he said, "I want to see us export more jobs!"

As Pee Wee Herman might have said, "I meant to do that."

What is it with the left and their insistence that their boy or girl is always the "smartest person EVAH?" Real-world evidence doesn't exactly prove it, but then again, we aren't dealing with practical people, are we?

A Blast From the Past - America, Love It or Leave It, Said Socrates

Today, I'm going to dust off an old post of mine from a couple of years ago. It's made more relevant by the recent events around the world, particularly in the Middle East.

I'd like for y'all to click on this link to The Urban Infidel's coverage of the Muslim Day Parade held recently in New York City. The images there should concern you greatly.

Here's a video from Tom Trento that shows only a small part of what occurred that day.



Aside from these people's refusal to recognize our laws, their open contempt for America and our laws and values should shock you. It certainly did me.

If it seems like we are under attack, it's because we are. Still not convinced?

Welcome to Belgistan...




Not only are our embassies under physical attack abroad, our laws and the principles that govern us are under attack at home as well. Nothing about this is new, as you will soon discover.


In a sane world where everything wasn't backwards, the concept of good citizenship would be honored everywhere. Those who desire to be governed by whatever cultural norms appeal to them would congregate where those values are, essentially, the law

If your desire is to live under a theocracy, that's fine.

If you wish to be free, you can choose a free society in which to live.

But, that's not what we have in today's world.

I certainly hope that you don't think what we're seeing today is anything new. Indeed, the ink was barely dry on our Declaration of Independence when anti-Americanism began. Most of Europe at the time wasn't exactly cheering us on, especially England.

It's a basic human need to seek out and seek to be surrounded by people who agree with each other. Were this not the case, there would be no separate nations and certainly no cultural diversity. As there are people of different abilities, there are also nations of different abilities. Each nation has contributed its part to the world we know today, for better or for worse.

America is unique for many things. We are known as the Melting Pot of the World because, well, we are. What unites us is the desire to live freely according to our own potential, guided by our conscience, in peace. And for a long time, that's what we had.

But others, driven by envy, aware of their cultural failures, greedy, have sought not freedom for themselves, but instead to bring us down to their level. This is the vile reasoning behind today's calls for "fairness."

Their wish is not for peace. Their desire is not respect. Their wish is to control you: what you think, what you do, and how you live. In other words, what they want is the opposite of freedom.

I'm being simplistic in order to make a point.

The reason why we cannot live is peace lies in the darkness of the human heart. Have you ever been robbed? I have. The first thing that crossed my mind upon the discovery that about half of what I had worked for was gone, was, "Why would someone do this to me?" I couldn't understand why someone thought it was better for them to take something that didn't belong to them than to take that same effort and apply it towards themselves. It did, after all, take some doing to take my stuff.

Here lies the basic difference between good people and bad people. Multiply this by the seven billion or so inhabitants of Earth and you have the bloody history of mankind: the peaceful versus the aggressors. Anyone who thinks that all cultures are the same and equally good is, quite frankly, an imbecile.

As I mentioned earlier, none of this is anything new. The Ancients struggled with this, too. Socrates, in his incessant pursuit of goodness, laid out the ideal of citizenship in his work entitled Crito.

In short, Socrates approached the idea of citizenship from a mature, enlightened standpoint. A citizen either agrees with the place where he lives, or he moves on to a place more to his liking. The moralistic and intellectual underpinning of his argument is respect for his fellow man and the culture established by those who preceded him.

For, after having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given you and every other citizen a share in every good that we had to give, we further proclaim and give the right to every Athenian, that if he does not like us when he has come of age and has seen the ways of the city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his goods with him; and none of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him. Any of you who does not like us and the city, and who wants to go to a colony or to any other city, may go where he likes, and take his goods with him. But he who has experience of the manner in which we order justice and administer the State, and still remains, has entered into an implied contract that he will do as we command him. And he who disobeys us is, as we maintain, thrice wrong: first, because in disobeying us he is disobeying his parents; secondly, because we are the authors of his education; thirdly, because he has made an agreement with us that he will duly obey our commands; and he neither obeys them nor convinces us that our commands are wrong; and we do not rudely impose them, but give him the alternative of obeying or convincing us; that is what we offer and he does neither.
 

I would add that there is a fourth wrong. It's God's Desire that we live in peace, which is the reason why civilization was established originally. This is also why our legal foundation embodies the directives of the Ten Commandments.

If you do not wish to live among us as an American in peace, then please leave us in peace. Do not attempt to change us.

You will fail.

Neil Cavuto is Correct - It's Time to Demand More from Our Government

Why don't we demand more from our government, as Cavuto asks?



It's not like we don't. But more and more, it's a one-way conversation. We've been telling our representatives what we want done for a while now, but do they act? Do they seem the slightest bit interested in our wishes?

I'm certain that all fourteen of you would say "no."

So, here we are, stuck with an unresponsive and extremely expensive and intrusive federal bureaucracy that has its own agenda. One that knows no boundaries, no limits to what it can do. One that is in direct conflict with the foundation of our laws, the Constitution.

What can we do?

I'm not certain what, if anything, we can do. The people we send to Washington don't appear to be interested in adhering to any sort of principles except the ones that get them reelected.

So, what is it that "we the people" want and expect from our representatives that's seemingly so hard to do that they can't seem to do it?

We expect to have a good economy. We are, after all, capitalists. So why is Washington intent on diminishing the greatest economic engine the world has ever known? Look around and ask yourself if anyone seems interested in your economic well-being.

We expect to be secure. Right now, this administration is allowing Iran to pursue a nuclear weapons program. They declare that they want to wipe Israel off the map. Does anyone have a doubt that they won't? What will it take before Washington believes them? A nuclear strike against Bethlehem and Jerusalem?

We expect our laws to be obeyed. Ours isn't a complicated model for governance: we elect people to go in our place to enact laws that agree we need. We pretty much have the basics covered with the laws against murder, and theft and rape. So why is it we keep seeing an increasing number of laws and regulations coming out of Washington every year?

It's clear to me (and a lot of other folk too) that we've lost control of our government. We have a Congress that exempts itself from the very laws it creates. Our budget has outstripped our ability to pay our debts, our southern border with Mexico is a border in name only. We have many in Washington who look at foreign law (including the horror of sharia law) as a good idea.

We have no way to control this out-of-control beast that has been created without our permission.

What can we do?

What We're Up Against

I'm back! I was under the weather in a big way yesterday.

So, where was I? Oh yeah. Now I remember. Something about an election and something...

I'm only half kidding when I say that you should have to pass some sort of rudimentary civics test in order to hold office or to vote. SNL hits the nail on the head in this skit.




(h/t to Breitbart.com)

Friday Night Concert - Diana Krall

Time to shift to a different gear.

Mrs. Elvis Costello puts on a great show (with the legendary Peter Erskine on drums) an Union Station, which I'm going to assume, is somewhere north of here.

Get out ur earbuds or headphones and crank 'em up.



Y'all have a good weekend, y'all.

What She Said

Pamela Gellar enters the lion's den and emerges with a nice kitteh coat.



(h/t to The Other McCain)

Beware the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (The Fabian Socialist)

If you've watched Glenn Beck, you've probably seen his explanation of the Fabian Window (not to be confused with the Overton Window).




William Kevin Stoos over at the Canada Free Press gives us this reminder...

The wolf plays a prominent role in socialist thought. V.I. Lenin once said “When you live among wolves you must howl like a wolf,” meaning, of course, that if political necessity requires you to act like a capitalist or live among capitalists while you organize and work for socialist causes, you must act like those among whom you live. This is simply a matter of expediency. Norman Thomas, a founder of the A.C.L.U. once said:

“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”
 

 Couched in flowery prose of "caring" and "fairness," we've been fed the socialist line for decades. And the easily led among us are made to feel guilty for not being "good people."

I'm not speaking of personal charity. This is a true act of compassion and not at all what these wolves are talking about. Their goal is to forcibly take your money and give to others through government. This is what Obama meant when he said he believes in redistribution. If you can be made to think that it's "for the common good," then you'll go along with it.

It's what all the cool people are doing, aren't they?

Um, not so much.

We're seeing the fruits of socialism: an economy and a nation in shambles.

I sincerely hope that no one wants four more years of this "goodness."

What We Don't Know About Government Can Hurt Us

Here's a good video with Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter. In it, he points out several failings of our educational system and where they will inevitably lead: to tyranny.



(h/t to Ann Barnhardt, who has burned a koran herself)

As you listen, remember that one of the stated goals of Communism as read into the Congressional  Record in 1963 is this:

11. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

The Obama You Don't Know

If only this has been done four years ago, we could've saved ourselves a lot of trouble.

From the Washington Examiner...

The Obama You Don't Know

Obama Appoints New Foreign Security Chief

Captain Morgan.

 

 

Special Guest Post by Dave In Florida: The Real Poll Results

Good morning, y'all. I have a special treat for all fourteen of you today. For this post, I'm turning over the keyboard to fellow Ace of Spades HQ Moron Dave in Florida wherein he'll explain what the poll numbers should be.

I'm sure that everyone sees all the poll results that show President Obama with a slight lead nationally despite all evidence that should show him trailing Mitt Romney. There's more to this than meets the eye, as is common with political matters.

Dave is an engineer and works with numbers for a living as I once did. He's gone through the figures in these polls and will show that this presidential race is far from over and Obama is not in the lead as the MFM would have you believe.

Fair Warning: this post contains maths and it's quite comprehensive in showing how the actual numbers were reached. I concur with Dave's conclusion: Mitt is actually ahead.

Got your coffee ready? Good.

Take it away, Dave...



There has been considerable discussion among us all regarding the validity of
the national polls that are being published.  Obviously, when polls are being
put out that use samples that are larger than the results of the 2008 election,
then many of us become suspicious.  With this latest round of Eeyorism (Erick
and Ace, I'm looking at you), I decided that I was going to take a real look at
the polls and see if I could make sense of them.

As I examined the top line numbers, I realized what has been bugging me for
months about the polls.  There isn't enough noise in the samples to make them
credible.  Let me give an example I am used to in the real world.  If you sample
a specific frequency for a signal, you expect to see a lot of noise from other
signals in other bands interfering with your sample, due to harmonics.  What is
done is, the sample band is run through a filter to clean up the signal, removing
spurious signals first.

Look at the results of 7 polls currently being used in the RCP average:

Tipp - O+2
CBS/NYT - O+3
Fox - O+5
Ipsos - O+3
Dem Corps - O+5
ABC/WaPo - O+1
WSJ/NBC - O+5

Those are all in a nice tight grouping with an average of 3, with not a single
results more than 2 away from the average.  It looks like nothing is outside of
a single standard deviation.  That alone is a HIGHLY unlikely event.  I'm not
expert enough of a statistician to figure out the odds, but the probability of
getting a random sample this tight is very low against a truly random signal. 
In the signal processing world, we would look at this result and ask what type
of filter was used on the source signal, it doesn't occur in nature.

So if I want to be paranoid, I can think of an alternate sampling method that
would result in these results.  Suppose I start with a very large sample with a
relatively even distribution, such as 100,000 marbles which are half red and
half blue, then I determine that I want to end up with a result that I have
selected 52% blue marbles.  What I can do is keep picking marbles until I have
selected enough to show a random sample was used (e.g. at least 800 selections)
but not stop the selection until I reach the 52% number.  I might get there at
800, or at 900, or even at 1000.  But it won't take me long to get a result that
is a desired small deviation away from the actual distribution of the entire
population.

If I then report those results as an actual probabilistic outcome and not report
that I had a specific result desired, then it is not discernible from examining
the results.  Hence the old saying, "lie, damn lies, and statistics".

Over the last few days there has been some discussion of a few web postings
about this over sampling, and the Rasmussen Party ID poll.  If you aren't
familiar with the latter, Scott Rasmussen conducts a monthly sample of partisan
identification.  It is one question, asking are you a Republican, Democrat, or
Independent?  The sample size is 15,000, which in polling terms is an enormous
sample.  Most credible polls require about 800 samples to reach a 4% margin of
error.

The August result for this poll is as follows:

Democrat 33.3%
Republican 37.6%
Independent 29.2%

This R+4 results is dramatically different from the sampling results used by all
of the polls above.  These polls are using samples that range from D+4
(ABC/WaPo) to D+13 (CBS/NYT).  The basis for such dramatic over sampling of
Democrats is never given, but the Rasmussen poll (and it's inherent accuracy
given sample size and simplicity) shows these samples to be inappropriate. 
Again, being paranoid, it looks a lot like sampling to produce an intended
result, rather than justifying the sampling due to demographic expectations.

The problems with these polls are then further compounded by the RCP average. 
This is commonly reported by the media, even on Fox.  However, the value of an
average is questionable, when the demographic samples are different.  A more
useful average would be if every poll was using a single demographic metric,
then averaging them.

I decided to see if it was possible to reweight these polls to do exactly that,
using the Rasmussen party ID as a baseline.

Methodology:

1) I'm starting with the Rasmussen party ID results.  Since August showed a
dramatic rise in Republican identification, I am normalizing the results and
using the average in this poll over the last three months.  The partisan ID mix
that I use for normalizing all of the media polls is D/R/I of 33.8/36.0/30.3.  I
am confident that this represents a conservative view of the actual electorate,
without considering voter enthusiasm or any other demographic breakdown like
ethnicity or gender.

2) I then go into the internals of each of the polls and adjust their results to
account for partisan shift.  I am not going to try to equalize based on factors
such as number of Democrats supporting Romney or Republicans supporting Obama. 
I assume that a Republican is worth equal "weight" of Romney support as a
Democrat is of Obama support.  I also assume that an Independent or Undecided is
neutral.  50% of both types will support Obama and Romney (or stay home, which
is also a neutral effect).

3) If a poll identifies a level of Independent support for a candidate, then I
violate the above rule and assign a weighting factor to Independents of a
corresponding value.  For example, if the poll shows Independents support Romney
55 to 45, then a .55 weighting factor is used for Independent voters, rather
than .50.

4) Finally I add or subtract the appropriate weights corresponding to the
correct demographics.  If Democrats are over sampled by 4 points (38% used by
the poll), then 4% worth of Obama support is subtracted.  If Independents were
under sampled by 4 points (26% used by the poll), then 2% worth of Obama support
is added (the 50% Obama support with Independents rule).

Reweighting all of these polls results in the following:

Tipp - R+1.37
CBS/NYT - R+6.52
Fox - O+4.48
Ipsos - O+4.35
Dem Corps - O+0.79
ABC/WaPo - R+5.54
WSJ/NBC - R+2.43

The average of these reweighted polls is then a Romney lead of 0.89%, rather
than an Obama lead of 3%.  Almost a 4% shift.  We also see a much more noisy
result, with polling results ranging from Obama 4.48 to Romney 6.52.  This is a
much more believable result, since we are seeing variation over more standard
deviations.

Note a couple items here.  First of all, it is tempting to use Rasmussen's
latest results, which would given Romney a 2 point lead in the average.  But I
took a more conservative approach and used the average.  So the result is a
45,000 sample partisan ID poll conducted over 3 months.  Second, for half of
these polls, I am using a very conservative value of 50% for Independent
support.  All of the polls that report this value, report Romney with a
significant advantage in Independents (with the exception of the Fox poll). 
This analysis also assumes that undecideds will break 50/50, which is
historically untrue.  Finally, this analysis does not account for partisan
enthusiasm, if the reported measurement of that is true, then Republicans will
turn out higher than Democrats, increasing Romney's final results.

As a final piece of data, let's go ahead and average in the Rasmussen tracking
poll (Romney +3) as of Sep 18 when I did this analysis:

Current reported average: Obama +2.63%
Actual average of normalized polls: Romney +1.16%

I think this is a much better view of where the race currently stands than is
being reported.

Dave in Florida

U Didn't Build That by MC 'Bama

Heh.

Another Good RNC Ad - Redistribution

Ads within ads. This one includes part of the other one I posted earlier.



Keep 'em coming, Mitt.

New Ad Blisters Obama's Support of Muslim Brotherhood

This is gonna leave a mark...



By the way, anyone who thinks that the events in the Middle East just happened to get out of control "unexpectedly" are mistaken. This was the planned outcome from the beginning.

I Just Wanted to Post This Golf Joke

OK, here's the link: Golf lobby urges Rubio to drop the Obama golfing jokes.

And here's the joke from the comments:

Ye Can't Fool a Scottish Caddy

During his golfing vacation at Martha's Vineyard - President Obama had been slicing off the tee on every hole.

He asks his Scottish born caddy if he has noticed any obvious reasons for his poor tee shots, to which the caddy replies: "Aye, there's a piece of shyt on the end of yer driver."

The President picks up his driver and cleans the club face, at which point the caddy says:
"No, the other end."
 

The Stack of Bubbly Obama Doesn't Want You to See

So, how opulent was the fundraiser that Obama attended in New York City last night (after taping his Letterman show) while our embassies are still smoldering?

When President Obama addresses an elite roster of hipsters and multimillionaires, including hosts Beyoncé and Jay-Z, in New York tonight, he will do so next to a custom-designed tower of $800-per-bottle champagne that dominates the main room at Jay-Z’s 40/40 nightclub.

The 350-bottle champagne tower — designed by Jeffrey Beers — is a monument to Jay-Z’s favorite bubbly, Armand de Brignac, which is known colloquially by rappers, clubgoers and connoisseurs as Ace of Spades because of its gold-spade label.

“It’s floor-to-ceiling gold bottles in the entire space. It’s beautiful — breathtaking,” a rep for the Flatiron District hot spot told The Post. “It’s the first thing you see when you walk in.”

But the White House, which meticulously controls Obama’s image, is not expected to release any photos of the president’s appearance at the lavish club.
 

 OK, buckaroos and buckarettes, let's get out our calculators and do some maths.

350 times $800 is $280,000.00. That's more than I've ever made in my life.

For a guy who spends so much time telling us how bad rich people are, he sure spends a lot of time around them, doesn't he?

Silence Is Recorded As Support for Obama

Hmm. If you've been wondering, as I have, how the polls have managed to show Obama ahead while the Mideast burns and our economy sinks, look no further that this video.



Well, that's interesting, isn't it?

Here's another polling thingy for you. Most of the polls we're seeing that show Obama with the lead are oversampled in favor of Democrats. Since they pretty much vote for the Democrat candidate, we can assume that if you ask more of them who they're going to vote for, Obama wins. But if you adjust the samples, Romney is ahead.


Here are the numbers properly weighted:

Rasmussen R+3

Tipp R+2.5

CBS/NYT R+7.7

Fox O+3.4

Ipsos O+3.2

Dem Corps R+0.4

ABC/WaPo R+6.7

WSJ/NBC R+3.7



Average is R+2.2%

(Thanks to Ben and the Moron Horde over at Ace of Spades HQ)

Obama Plumbs the Depths of Redistribution Again

Here's a video that pretty much proves that socialist leopards don't change their spots.

Obama states he believes in redistribution of your money.



Need I remind you that this little statement is a rephrasing of that old failed Marxist tome of "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" with the governmental elite rulers deciding who needs what? It's usually themselves first, and the little people last, if at all.

If constitutional freedom theory was taught in school (gee, they could call it civics, or something), everyone would immediately recognize this and recoil from it, as they should. As it is today, most folk just say that it sounds nice. Of course it does. If all the Marxists who currently infest the Democrat Party were to actually admit what they wanted to do, they'd never win another election, as they shouldn't.

This statement, like so many others, must be decoded in order to understand its true meaning, since politicians speak a dialect of English known popularly as bullshit.

Computer Problems Here at Casa Backwardio

I know all fourteen of you are waiting with bated breath for my next post. However, I've managed to get a really bad virus on my computer.

As soon as I can fix it, I'll be back up to speed. In the mean time, feel free to poke around in the archives.

Not sure how long this will take, so please be patient.

Why Barack Obama Should Resign

This sentiment is spreading like wildfire across the Intarwebz.

Instapundit.

Ace of Spades HQ.

And now, me.

This has gone on long enough. Obama has violated his oath to uphold the Constitution.

It's past time to convene Congress and begin impeachment proceedings.

I'll have a lot more to say on this and a few other things come Monday.

New Ad from American Crossroads

Here's a new campaign ad from American Crossroads.

In the not-too-distant past this would have been newsworthy, today, not so much.

Really Dirty Cartoon Makes a Good Point

The satirically demented people over at The Onion have done it again. They've posted a cartoon that's, well, Not Safe For Work or Play to point out the vast differences in religious cultures that exist between islam and the rest of the world.

I'll just link it here with another warning: if your sensibilities are easily offended, don't click on it. It depicts deities from the major (meaning real) religions in a very sexual way.

A very, very, sexual way.

Meh, I'm not thrilled with the cartoon, but I'm not calling for the artist to be jailed, or beheaded, or anything like that. Neither is anyone else. As far as I know there have been no riots, and no one has died as a result of it.

You have been warned. You must be this tall (intellectually) to click on the link.

Friday Night Concert - Stevie Ray Vaughan

If there was ever a week that needed a release, this was it.

I had a gig last night and it was just what the doctor ordered. We had a new keyboard player who happened to be from Alabama. He was full of musical-type surprises for the rest of us. A good time was had by all in attendance.

For some reason, for me, there's nothing that a good gig can't cure. I'm certain that y'all have similar forms of recreation that work for you in much the same way.

So, without further ado, buckaroos and buckarettes, I present Stevie Ray Vaughan...



Y'all have a good weekend, y'all.

Oh, and one more thing: if you can spare a few minutes this weekend, please say a prayer for our fellow Americans who are in harm's way, especially those in our military who may be defending our interests in the hot spots. And also pray for peace and strength. I'll be doing the same thing.

Even if you don't believe, it can't hurt.

Clueless Carney: "Protests not directed at US"

This is the most stupefyingly idiotic comment from this administration I've heard...

...today.

CARNEY: We also need to understand that this is a fairly volatile situation and it is in response not to United States policy, and not to, obviously, the administration, or the American people, but it is in response to a video, a film that we have judged to be be reprehensible and disgusting. That in no way justifies any violent reaction to it, but this is not a case of protests directed at the United States writ large or at U.S. policy, this is in response to a video that is offensive to Muslims.
 

I understand that breathing is an autonomic function, but how does this guy manage to eat? I mean, really? Does he think that the American public is this stupid? I guess all those United States embassies that are on fire as we speak are something else entirely. These are not the flaming embassies you seek.

Oooh, lookie! A Squirrel video!

By the way, all the polls you see that declare Obama ahead of Mitt? They are nothing but pure propaganda, concocted by the MFM to make you think that Obama's numbers are going up. I'm here to tell you that nothing of the sort is happening.

I've been talking to quite a few of my liberal buddies, and every single one of them who voted for Obama in '08 are saying they will not vote for him this time around, especially after this week. I'm willing to bet that many, if not all fourteen of you, have had similar discussions with your lib friends.

This, gentle reader, is a far more telling statistic than any false poll.

My Experience Working With Iranians

Unless you've done a bit of traveling, you may not have a good grasp of the nuances of other cultures. However, one of the great things about our country, being the melting pot of the world that it is and welcoming immigrants who wish to become Americans, we really don't need to travel the world.

The world comes to us.

We have a lot to offer: freedom and opportunity for a better life are certainly at the top of that list.

Accordingly, many of us have worked with folks who are from somewhere else. In my case, I worked with a group of college students from Iran in the 1970's in a restaurant back home in Alabama.

It was an chance to see America through the eyes of guys from half a world away. It was, shall I say, enlightening.

This was around the time of the Shah of Iran's death, after he had been deposed. While some of the details are a bit foggy, my overall impression of their reaction to American culture remains strong. What I do remember was the contempt they showed towards our culture and mores. It was palpable. Out of a group of eight or so, I was only able to make friends with one student whose name was, appropriately, Mohammed. He developed a fondness for our music and we had several conversations over beers while the store jukebox played in the background after we had closed the store.

He was the only one. The rest kept their distance, and Mohammed was quiet condemned by them. It wasn't overt, but I could tell.

The other guys thought nothing of clocking an absent friend in to work when he wasn't there. Insubordination was a common problem, along with difficulty following company procedure.

The real kicker came when several of them flew from North Alabama to Los Angeles to take part in protests on American soil. It was then that I realized something that would stick with me to this day: some people just plain don't like us. I felt betrayed. How could someone from a foreign country come over here and protest on my land? Where is your respect?

My young eyes were opened. I gained some insight into their cultural attitudes in the time we spent working together. Their actions indicated that they were happy to take advantage of the freedoms we offered in a very condescending way. They clearly looked down upon us while making money and receiving a good education, neither of which were available to them in their home country.

Now don't get the idea that I think my experience would or should apply to everyone from that part of the world. Indeed, many come here in order to escape the brutal oppression that befalls those who are bold enough to think for themselves and question their culture. We've all seen reports of the stonings, imprisonments and executions of those who dare to challenge their government's iron-fisted sharia rule.

Needless to say, my experience with multiculturalism left a lasting impression.

Not a good one.

It did make me realize just how fortunate I am to be American.

I truly love this land.

As Expected: Al Queda Bomb Threats Shut Down U of Texas and NDSU

Shit, here it comes.

From The Drudge Report: University of Texas receives bomb threat from Al Queda.

The same at North Dakota State University.

And literally as I was typing this: Valparaiso University too.


I hope and pray we don't have to take up arms to defend our country. But, if it should come to that, we will.

Small Consolation - German and British Embassies Under Attack

If I didn't know any better, I'd think that the whole Middle East just doesn't like the West at all.

Not one bit.

This should come as a surprise to exactly no one.

"Smart Diplomacy" on Parade

I'm sure all fourteen of you have seen this link to the UK Independent's website that outlines just some of the details that our vaunted Journ-O-list media won't report.

We received warnings of a credible threat of violence 48 hours prior to the attack on our Benghazi embassy. No defensive action was taken.

None.

Sensitive information concerning Libyans who were aiding us was taken in the attack. These folk are now in danger, as they could meet the same fate as Ambassador Stevens.

The safe-house that Ambassador Stevens was taken to came under fire from mortars. This suggests a well-coordinated attack, not a mob. Its location was supposed to be secret.

This picture says it all...

More About the People Behind the Arab Spring, Lots More

This is kind of a long article, so I'll just link it and let y'all get your own beer.

It's about the global efforts of anarchists, communists, socialists and other ne'er-do-wells to tear down capitalism, Israel and America. It appears to be an ongoing, global effort designed to destroy civilization as we know it. That is no exaggeration. These people are dead serious and have declared their hatred for freedom. We will ignore them at our peril.


The Engineers of 'Leaderless" Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street.


We really need to figure out a way to stop these people.

They are our enemies.

IED Hits Our Consulate Last June - No Additional Security Steps Taken

Damn, I thought yesterday was bad.

Link to the fleet-fingered Ace once more. And since this also won't be reported by the MFM, you can email this to your friends.

We have to spread the word.

And I'm going to maintain that none of this strife in the Mideast is happening by accident. The more I find out (and pass along to y'all), the more I'm convinced this is all planned.

Also, I expect us to lose at least one of our embassies in the area tomorrow after their Friday "prayers."

This will not end well. It's not too good now. But, on the bright side, maybe getting pushed out of the Mideast won't be all bad. They hate us anyway, and always have, ever since the creation of Israel in 1948. They also hate us because we're free.

Perhaps if we withdraw and isolate them, then throw our full military might behind Israel, we'll do more good than making our sons and daughters targets.

Reports - Embassy Marines Not Permitted Live Ammo

I'm just gonna link to Ace for this, as I'm slowly but surely losing my composure.

I'd rather not post something for which I'll be sorry later.

I'm sure all fourteen of you understand my frustration.

And I hope you share it too.

Code Pink's, Ayers' and Dohrn's Egypt Connections

Those of us who follow these things have known this for some time. Naturally, you won't hear or see this in any of the MFM outlets, for obvious reasons.

"This" is the role that various leftist people and organizations have played in the uprisings in the Middle East. People like Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn and Code Pink. These anti-Americans visited the region to lay the groundwork for the Arab Spring protests that brought down former allies in the area and replaced them with new governments with strong ties to another anti-American group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Surprised? You shouldn't be. These people and their oganization's open hostility towards us is common knowledge: they have said so for decades.

This link has cobwebs on it, but it's still relevant to the violence that we're seeing on our TV's right now. In a sane world where everything wasn't backwards, these people would be in jail on sedition charges for aiding and abetting our enemies.

There are those watching Egypt’s orchestrated descent into chaos who claim that Obama has lost the Middle East.  

There are others who say he really controls it.  

If there’s any proof that it’s not a president but a strident community activist in the Oval Office, Egypt is proof positive Barack Obama’s friends Code Pink, Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, among others, have been fomenting for revolution on trips in and out of Egypt for more than a year. Only Kristinn Taylor and Andrea Shea King at biggovernment.com have bothered to write about it.
 

It was made to appear to be spontaneous. Everything that we're seeing from the violent protests all the way to the murder of our Libyan Ambassador is a direct result of this administration and its close association with the Radical Left. When all you know how to do is organize, the world appears as one big community. Somewhere in Hell, Saul Alinsky is smiling.

On a broader note, Obama and his America-hating cronies have essentially undone everything that George Bush accomplished in the Mideast. For generations, it has been the goal of islam to establish a caliphate (sort of a United States of islam) in that area in order to gain the military power to extend it to encompass the whole Earth. W's efforts in the early 2000's was, in part, to prevent this from happening. His administration understood the danger to us and to Israel.

Make no mistake about it: we are going to have a lot more trouble with the Mideast in the future. This is only the beginning. Soon, we'll start having islamic protests here in America, with its accompanying death and destruction, and demands for the elimination of our Constitution and replacement with the brutal oppression of sharia. It won't be long before the first American is beheaded by a follower of islam on American soil.

It is their oft-stated goal to conquer America.

And Obama and the radical leftists like Code Pink, Ayers and Dohrn will be responsible for it.

Weakness invites aggression.

Disgusting if True: Ambassador Stevens was Raped, Then Killed

Sorry to start everybody's morning off with such depressing news (mine, too) but there are reports circulating that slain Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens was raped prior to being killed.

According to the Lebanese news organization Tayyar.org, citing AFP news sources, U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was killed by gunmen that stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, was reportedly raped before being murdered. A google translation of the report says :...
 

 Whether or not this is true has yet to be determined, but regardless, the psychological boost to the animals that did this is true. The humiliation of infidels is an important part of jihad. The infidel (that's you and me) must be seen as weak.

Mentally, that goal has already been fulfilled by our own government, whose initial submissive response I documented yesterday. Physically, this report of the murder of Ambassador Stevens completes it.

President Obama, who is campaigning in Las Vegas, was unavailable for comment.

Weakness invites aggression.

About That Movie That Has The MidEast In Such a Tizzy, It's Fake

Well, it appears we have another case of "fake, but accurate" going on.

If you've watched this trailer that's reportedly been shown all over Arab TV the past few days and is the alleged reason for the riot at our embassy in Egypt, you may have noticed that it looks a little, well, how to put it, funny?



Watch at from 2:31 to 2:55 and again at the 3:45 mark. Shenanigans be there.

Some of the dialogue is clearly overdubbed, not to mention it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

But that's good enough to cause a riot.

I'll hand over the rest of this post to Ace, since he's the one who took this apart.

Oh, and here's another link to a Daily Mail article that's asking some questions. It appears that the cast was told one thing about the script, and then someone in post-production did something else.

Sorry to be stealing so much from Ace today, but he types a lot faster than I can.

BREAKING! Media Caught Co-ordinating Romney Attack

Maybe we should start pointing cameras and microphones at the media more often.

Here's Mitt's presser this morning. Pay close attention to every question hurled at him by the "reporters" beginning at the 3:30 mark.



They all seem to be centered around one subject, don't they?

I wonder how that happened. Oh, wait! They were all talking and crafting a strategy beforehand.

Here's the co-ordination of the presstitutes before Mitt's statement (h/t The Right Scoop).

"..no matter who he calls on, we're covered."

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: …pointing out that the Republicans… *unintelligible* …Obama….CBS REPORTER: That’s the question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: *unintelligible*
CBS REPORTER: Yeah that’s the question. I would just say do you regret your question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Your question? Your statement?
CBS REPORTER: I mean your statement. Not even the tone, because then he can go off on…
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then if he does, if we can just follow up and say ‘but this morning your answer is continuing to sound…’ – *becomes unintelligble*
CBS REPORTER: You can’t say that..
 

More over at Ace's Place.

Ambassador's Death Was Al Qaeda Plot

From Ace,

 A London think tank with strong ties to Libya speculated Wednesday that Stevens was actually the victim of a targeted al Qaeda revenge attack.The assault "came to avenge the death of Abu Yaya al-Libi, al Qaeda's second in command killed a few months ago," the think tank Quilliam said Wednesday. It was "the work of roughly 20 militants, prepared for a military assault," the think tank said, noting that rocket-propelled grenade launchers do not normally appear at peaceful protests, and that there were no other protests against the film elsewhere in Libya.
The planned attack came in two waves, one which prompted U.S. officials to leave the consulate for a secure location. The second wave was directed at the place of retreat, Quilliam said, citing unnamed sources on the ground in Benghazi and abroad.
 

 (Ace's post)

Also, there's more that a couple of reports that say the Libyan forces evacuated our embassy staff, then told the attackers where they were.

"We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures."

With "friends" like these, who needs enemies?

Weakness invites aggression.

Flashback: AP - Terror Takes Back Seat, Americans Safer Now

"Sherman, fire up the WayBack Machine!"

"Gosh, Mr. Peabody, where are going?"

"Back to September 8th, 2012."

By the Associated Press | Saturday Sept 8, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Americans debate whether they are better off now than they were four years ago, there is a similar question with a somewhat easier answer: Are you safer now than you were when President Barack Obama took office?
By most measures, the answer is yes.
 

US Embassies Under Siege in Sudan, Kuwait and Morocco

As predicted...

Weakness invites aggression.

Bizzare: D 'n C Shows Russian Warships in Veteran's Salute

How Freudian.

Naval experts concluded the background was a photo composite of Russian ships that were overflown by what appear to be U.S. trainer jets. It remains unclear how or why the Democratic Party used what’s believed to be images of the Russian Black Sea Fleet at their convention.
 

Oh Joy. $8/Gal Gasoline is Here

Just in time for the election, Drudge has this up at his place.


UPDATE: Ooops. Make that $9 per gallon.

Charles Krauthammer Has the Correct Response

Instead of the pitifully weak and apologetic response that the Obama administration issued through the Egyptian embassy (see the previous post), I much prefer Charles Krauthammer's response.




Weakness invites aggression.

US Embassies Attacked on 9/11, American Diplomat Killed

There are an awful lot of angry Americans this morning.

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff. The protesters, angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad, were firing gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades.
 

This followed another attack on our embassy in Cairo, Egypt where our flag was torn down, burned, and replaced with a muslim flag.


Here's the pathetic response to the Egypt attack:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.
 

"Hurt the religious feelings of muslims?" Christians are being dragged from their homes and churches, beaten and killed across the Middle East in record numbers. Where is the response to that?

Obama has now completed The Circle of Jimmy Carter. His failure to promote freedom across the region has resulted in the death of Americans. I expect more riots today.

Weakness invites aggression.

Now Your Child's PB & J Sammich is RAAACCIISSTT!!

Just when you thought it was safe to feed your kids, along come yet another leftarded moonbat to find racism in a sandwich. Ace has this post up about a Portland, OR principal who actually used peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a "lesson" about racism, or something.

You won't believe the stoopid...

Verenice Gutierrez picks up on the subtle language of racism every day.

Last Wednesday, the first day of the school year for staff, for example, the first item of business for teachers at Scott School was to have a Courageous Conversation — to examine a news article and discuss the “white privilege” it conveys.

Through intensive staff trainings, frequent staff meetings, classroom observations and other initiatives, the premise is that if educators can understand their own “white privilege,” then they can change their teaching practices to boost minority students’ performance.

 

Hey, I have an idea. Why don't the parents show up at a few school board meetings and tell them to stop this crap and start teaching?

Just sayin'...

The Candidate Taste Test

Which would you prefer?



(This fell off the Sandcrawler over at The Jawa Report. Seriously.)

The New Bacon Currency - Dogs Don't Know It's Not Money

Here's a guy after my own heart, um, stomach. He's bartering his way across the country with 3,000 pounds of bacon.

“There’s this fever for bacon in this country,” said Tom Bick, director for integrated marketing communications and advertising at Oscar Mayer in Madison, Wis.
 

As food prices keep rising, this might be a good idea.

(a spatula salute! to Instapundit)

The Muslim Drinking Game

Wherein you're supposed to take a drink whenever something isn't mentioned when you watch a 9-11 remembrance. That something would be the facts about this terrorist attack by the so-called "religion of peace."

Yeah, about that...




Drink up.

Obama Is NOT a Communist !

Heh. This is just so cute, since it's the type of argument you're likely to hear from an ObamaBot.




However, if you do believe that Obama isn't a communist, or at least a Marxist/Socialist, I have some land I want to sell you, just as soon as the tide goes out.

(h/t Trevor Loudon't New Zeal blog.)

In the Days Before Drum Machines...

A Viral Video You All Should See and Spread Around

Watch this video. Get your spouse to watch it. Get your children to watch it. Get your grandchildren to watch it. Get your neighbors to watch it. Get your pets to watch it. Email it to your friends.

Actual Unemployment Rate Now 11.7%

If you've noticed a new emphasis on the numbers behind the figures in the latest unemployment figures for August released yesterday, you aren't alone.

Nearly every mention I heard of it on the airwaves also mentioned that a paltry 96,000 jobs were added. Reporters also noted that the labor force participation rates reached a new 30-year low. We have about as many people working today as we did thirty years ago.

The amazing part (to me, anyways) is that we're hearing this at all. It's about time we did.

The way the numbers are calculated don't include those who have dropped off the rolls and have given up looking for a job. What's the point? There is nothing out there.

If the unemployment figures were accurate and included the workforce numbers from Obama's first day in office, our actual U-3 rate would be a whopping 11.7%. The U-6 figure would be around 19%.

That's what this administration doesn't want you to know.

From the link...

Have 4.5 million new jobs been created under President Obama, as several speakers in Charlotte have claimed this week?

A fact check shows that under President Obama, the U.S. economy has created a net 415,000 private-sector jobs—less than 0.2 percent of the 155 million-member American workforce. But even that statistic does not tell the full story, since the workforce itself has shrunk dramatically in size since Obama took office. Labor force participation is at 63.5 percent, its lowest level since 1981. In other words, a large chunk of Americans have simply given up looking for work. A significant number are collecting disability insurance instead...

So the next time you hear this "4.5 Million jobs created" line, understand that what you're being told is a lie.

And don't get me started on the inflation figures either. Those numbers are cooked even more worsely that the unemployment numbers. That's running around 9% and will begin to rise dramatically in the coming months.

Brace yourself, Effie. The Progressives aren't through turning us into a third-world country by their irresponsible spending just yet. Remember that we still don't have a Federal budget, and haven't had one during Obama's reign of economic terror, despite there being a law that requires it.

Friday Night Concert(s)

Good evening, buckaroos and buckarettes. It's time for another Friday Night Concert.

Since I was a bit too tired last Friday to post one, I'll make up for it tonight by posting two.

This first one is another classic. It's Eric Clapton's MTV Unplugged appearance.

Enjoy.




Aaaand, here's the second concert. It's Elvis, also unplugged.

For the ladies. You're welcome.





Y'all have a good weekend, y'all.

ObamaCare In One Sentence

You'll have to click on this link, because I can't find a way to embed it.

You won't be sorry.

Dear Santa Claus...

...I've been a very good Boy this year. And there's this new Cadillac that looks really nice...

Hennessey unveils 242 mph Cadillac CTS-V Coupe.

A Roundup of Reactions to Obama's Acceptance Speech

Tammy Bruce has a short list of some of the reactions to last night's speech by Democrat nominee Obama. Seems that a lot of pundits are less than impressed, even on the Left.

Me? I had better things to do, like watch the Pitt/Cincinnati game.

One speech I did see this morning was Cardinal Dolan's final benediction. This was the one that most major "news" outlets either cut off or just plain didn't show.

Heh.



(Here are some extremely ngative reactions from the Left. Warning: lots and lots of F-bombs directed at Dolan.)

In my humble opinion, it's all over but the votin'. Which, by the way, we still have to do. I'm not suggesting anything short of our best effort to defeat Obama and his Band of Merry Marxists in two months. There's still work to do.

We'd best get to it.

But we can do it with grateful hearts, especially after the debacle that was the D 'n C's convention. From kicking out conservative bloggers, to denying God three times (something I'm still mulling over for its obvious religious significance), to Obama's lame, worn out speech last night, we have a lot of momentum. The wind is at our backs.

Release the Happy Warriors! #War.

Um, Whee? Unemployment at 8.1%

The latest unemployment figures are out for August. They fell a whopping .2% to 8.1%.

I guess it's time to break out the party favors, pour a glass of champagne and celebrate. Happy days are here again! Except for one teeny, tiny little thing: labor force participation is at a new 30-year low. Both the civilian labor force (154.6 million) and the labor force participation rate (63.5 percent) declined in August. The employment-population ratio, at 58.3 percent, was little changed.

The economy saw an increase of 96,000 jobs. Keep this number in mind. Just to keep up with population growth, we need to add around 240,000 jobs per month.

This, gentle reader, is pathetic. It's a direct result of Obamanomics, that curious blend of Soviet-style command and control economics, coupled with far too many regulations and laws that stifle job and wealth creation. In other words, this is the "new normal" we hear so much about. Despite this administration's attempts to cook the books to make these figures appear to be not quite as bad as they look, the results are the worst "recovery" since WWII.

But wait! There's more!

One thing you won't hear on the nightly news from the MSM is that the July figures were revised downward, "unexpectedly."

But job reports for June and July were revised lower. The June count fell from 64,000 to 45,000, while July’s number came in at 141,000 from an originally reported 163,000.
Despite hopes that job creation would be better than expected, the monthly report fell short of economist expectations that 125,000 jobs were added for the month. The government said private payrolls increased by 103,000, about half the 201,000 that ADP reported Thursday.
 

Oh joy.

But take solace that things are proceeding as planned. President Obama said the private sector is "doing fine."

Here's a video to help you understand how Obamanomics works, courtesy of Professor Glen Reynolds...

Mike Rowe's Open Letter to Mitt Romney

I found this yesterday and Andy over at Ace's place posted this excellent article this morning.

As all fourteen of you (and most of the Moron Horde) knows, I was a machinist in my past life. The past life when I was employed, that is. I spent two years in high school getting certified, did a four year apprenticeship as a Tool and Diemaker, another few months getting my Quality Control Inspector Certificate and learned a whole lot of other stuff on the job. I added CNC programming and setup to my resume, along with CAD Drafting and Design, and a bunch of management experience. I've run several machine shops at various times during my thirty years spent in the manufacturing theater and loved every minute of it.

In addition, I got real close to an Associate Degree in Computer Science before I ran out of money (I paid my way because I didn't want to be burdened with a bunch of student loan debt).

You could say I enjoy learning stuff.

But I digress.

In the early Nineties, I began to notice a shift in the attitude of society towards the skilled trades. There was a decided bias against any job that involved getting dirty. This came as somewhat of a shock to me, since I valued the time spent in the shower (with a cold beer) after a day at work. In an hour, I was good to go. My job was dirty and dangerous, so what?

It was along about this time that president Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement and announced that we were going to move to a "service" economy. Several weeks before NAFTA was to take effect, the company I worked for that made automotive parts announced that they were closing operations here and moving the company to Mexico. This was just before the Holidays in 1994. Merry Christmas!

Things have gone downhill ever since for the manufacturing sector of our economy. My skills have become passe, an anachronism in the brave new economy where no one gets soiled and everyone has a college degree. We've watch other countries' economies expand to create a new middle class while ours has steadily declined. The things we used to make for ourselves, the goods that people always bought because they needed things like washers and dryers, computers, and cars were being produced by others in faraway lands who didn't share our passion for quality. What's worse was the attitude that began to pervade society that  those in the skilled trades were somehow less intelligent and coarse.

Which wasn't right or accurate. My coworkers were bright and smart. Just as smart as anyone who attended college. You had to be to be good at your job. If you weren't, you didn't last long in a shop.

Economically, I knew this was a big mistake. Purchases of hard goods such as appliances and autos never declined as much during a downturn. Service jobs were and are dependent more upon disposable income, which fluctuated greatly during economic dips. My point is, we were sacrificing an important, vital and robust section of our economy to, what? I still haven't figured that out, except that concurrent with that transition was the political attitude (found primarily on the Left) that America was too prosperous and that in order to be "fair" to other countries, we gave away a significant portion of our wealth instead of encouraging them to develop these industries on their own.

Environmentalism had something to do with this, too. Dirty became bad, the harvesting of Earth's resources became "evil," we were "raping the planet" and causing all types of damage to the climate resulting in "global cooling." Then, we were causing "global warming."

That wasn't right or accurate either.

Thankfully, there are several prominent people in America today who are realizing this same thing and are trying to remedy it. Mike Rowe is one of them, along with John Ratzenberger. Mike has formed mikeroweWORKS.com in an effort to revitalize our manufacturing base by changing the societal attitude and image toward those who work in the skilled trades.

Mike's has penned an open letter to Mitt Romney, making the same offer he made to Obama four years ago with no response (go figure). Here's a snippet or two...

Dear Governor Romney,

My name is Mike Rowe and I own a small company in California called mikeroweWORKS. Currently, mikeroweWORKS is trying to close the country’s skills gap by changing the way Americans feel about Work. (I know, right? Ambitious.) Anyway, this Labor Day is our 4^th anniversary, and I’m commemorating the occasion with an open letter to you. If you read the whole thing, I’ll vote for you in November.

...when our economy officially crapped the bed in 2008, I was perfectly positioned to weigh in on a variety of serious topics.

In each case, I shared my theory that most of these “problems” were in fact symptoms of something more fundamental – a change in the way Americans viewed hard work and skilled labor.

Certainly, we need more jobs, and you were clear about that in Tampa. But the Skills Gap proves that we need something else too. We need people who see opportunity where opportunity exists. We need enthusiasm for careers that have been overlooked and underappreciated by society at large. We need to have a really big national conversation about what we value in the workforce, and if I can be of help to you in that regard, I am at your service – assuming of course, you find yourself in a new address early next year.

According to Ben Domenich and Andy, Mitt's campaign has been informed and will respond to Mike. In addition to the obvious benefits for Mitt's presidential run, it's a perfect counter to Obama's "you didn't build that" statement denouncing America's producers.


Here's a video that I found a while back that shows what we're talking about. Gearheads amongst you will get an idea of what it's like to make something, something cool: a high-performance big-block engine.

From scratch. Enjoy.



Pardon me, I need a cigarette after that.

Where was I? Oh yeah. I was going to tell you some of the stuff you need to know in order to do something like that: a lot of math (horrors!), properties of metal and how quickly the cutters need to spin and be fed through the material, trigonometry, physics, computer programming and basic design skills. And that's just the beginning. Also a nice big, expensive machine. (Note the brand on the control face: Haas. That's one of NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart's sponsors.)

In other words, this isn't a job for the faint of mind or heart. And you can't tell me that video isn't cool.

One last clip and I'll leave you alone. It's a TED Talk by Mike on the virtues of work and sheep testicles.

That Was Fast - New Allen West Ad "Three Times"

UPDATE: Link fixed. Thanks for the heads up. (Sorry I accidentally deleted your comment.)

Dems: Let's Ban Profits!

(Extreme content warning for vacuity, vapidness, stupidity and gross economic ignorance.)




OK, let's extend this to it's logical conclusion and make sure that no one has any money left over after all their bills are paid.

Oh, wait...

(h/t to the Moron Horde)

Your Tax Dollars At Work - The Corruption Machine

If you've ever wondered why today's students can tell you exactly who's on Big Brother or what Justin Bieber's new tattoo looks like, but can't tell you who the Vice-President is, look no further.

Here's a good video, courtesy of Instapundit and Reason TV. It explains why we spend so much money on schools and education and receive so little in the way of actual student knowledge and good test scores.

This would be something good to spread around.



This is what the attempted recall of Wisconsin's Governor Walker was about.

Additionally, this is the biggest reason why our infrastructure is crumbling: so much money is going into public service union pensions (thanks to the outrageous benefits in their contracts) that there is little left over for their intended purpose, namely the maintenance of the infrastructure.

Also, this is why Obama put so much emphasis on "roads and bridges" in the failed $787B Stimulus Plan. It was to funnel money to his union cronies, not to benefit the public or to create jobs.

See the Solyndra mess for more.

Here's one more thing about schools that you may not know (I was certainly surprised to learn it myself):

Every schoolchild who’s ever squirmed in his seat, anxious for recess to arrive, can sympathize with students in Chicago. This year, many public schools in that city are scheduled to have recess for the first time in three decades. Chicago’s long recess drought isn’t unusual. Even before No Child Left Behind, recess was an endangered species. Since NCLB, every minute of the school day has been scrutinized for its instructional value—and recess, a break from instruction, often didn’t survive the scrutiny. It was, by definition, a waste of time.
 

Overprotective parents who won't let their children play outside due to some imaginary fear is the main reason for the epidemic of childhood obesity.

When I was young and dirt had that new dirt smell, we'd bound out the back door at first light, come back home for lunch, then back outside until dark. Unstructured play time is good for kids for a whole bunch of reasons you already know.

Too bad "educators" don't realize the value.

Finally, a Truthful Ad

This new ad hits the nail right on the head. The one with the hair plugs.



Remember when the media waited to excoriate President Bush for every verbal misstep and sought to portray him as some sort of mentally challenged fellow? I wonder why they don't do that to Ol' Slow Joe? It's certainly not for a lack of opportunities.

Personally, I'd much rather have someone a heartbeat away from the presidency who at least knows which century he's living in.

(h/t to BigFurHat over at I Own the World)

Dems Deny God Thrice

You may have heard that this year's Democrat Platform removed two provisions that had been included in previous ones. One was the one recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the other removed the word God.

After a kerfuffle, the language was restored to the platform this afternoon amidst a chorus of boos.



If I were someone who booed this, I'd be on the lookout for a smiting.

Just sayin'...

The Obamas Had It So Rough...

"How rough did they have it?"

So rough that they both went to elite, private schools and attended Harvard Law School.

So rough that Michelle had a job that paid over $300,000 a year.

So rough that they had to settle for a $277,500 hovel of a condominium in 1993.

So rough that they could only afford a $1.65 million dollar house in Chicago's Hyde Park.

That's how rough they had it.

Wow! CNN Factchecks Obama's Job Numbers, Finds Slight Discrepancy

I'm pretty sure I just saw a pig fly by the window.

CNN has done something I thought they'd forgotten how to do: actual investigation and reportage of Obama's record of job creation.

You won't believe this...

Anyone watching the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night heard the number 4.5 million several times.

It's a big-sounding number, given the still-sputtering job market. So we're giving it a close eyeballing.

 Nonfarm private payrolls hit a post-recession low of 106.8 million that month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure currently stands at 111.3 million as of July.

And total nonfarm payrolls, including government workers, are down from 133.6 million workers at the beginning of 2009 to 133.2 million in July 2012. There's been a net loss of nearly 1 million public-sector jobs since Obama took office, despite a surge in temporary hiring for the 2010 census.
 

 I looked real hard, thinking this was a piece from The Onion, but it appears legit.

Rats, sinking ship, leaving. Some assembly required. In reality, they're probably just casting about for a smidgen of credibility with which to attack the Romney administration.

Remember That Steel Plant Michelle Talked About Last Night?

Last night, First Lady Michelle Obama told us this fawning story of her beloved Barack...

He’s the same man who started his career by turning down high paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods where a steel plant had shut down, fighting to rebuild those communities and get folks back to work…because for Barack, success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.
 

And that steel plant?

It's closed.

Heckuva job you did there, Barry. I wonder what the unemployment rate is in those communities you fought so hard to rebuild?

And exactly what kind of difference did you make in those people's lives: a positive one or a negative one?

Where We All Belong: To the Government

Ace found this video that kicked off the D 'n C last night.

Creepy doesn't begin to describe it.




Now compare this to Clint Eastwood's "We own the government. They work for us."

Mitt's campaign echos the sentiment:

We don't belong to government, the government belongs to us.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 4, 2012

Conservatives on Twitter beg to differ with the Dims.

 The D 'n C is already trying to walk this back...

The “Welcome to Charlotte” video was solely produced and paid for by the Host Committee’s New American City Fund, which promotes the city of Charlotte and welcomes our guests. The intent of this video was to tell the story of this region and it is completely unaffiliated with the Obama campaign or the Democratic National Committee.
 

 Yeah, I believe that. Oh, here's your mask back. You must have dropped it.


I'm a free man. I don't "belong" to the government, thank you very much.

How much further from the Founders could this Democrat Party get? I really don't want to find out.

War of Word Clouds

SooperMexican has this post up that compares the word clouds of Ann Romney's speech at the RNC last week with Michelle Obama's speech last night at the D 'n C. The results are predictable.

I sense a theme emerging, don't you?