Year's End: 2010

First, politically speaking, we Conservatives (a small segment of the Republican party, as seen from orbit) took a beating in 2008 and 2009 and during most of 2010. Barack Hussein Obama, the farthest-left liberal ever to occupy the White House, sent out his favorite witch Nancy Pelosi and that dastardly gnome Harry Reid to wreck havoc in the Legislative Branch of our government. Using majority control of the House and Senate, they rammed ObamaCare down our throats; the worst of many spending sprees the Left-Progressive-Liberal-Social-Democrats approved.

Thanks to the three of these horrible far-left people, we've seen voted for and spent more money that doesn't even exist than any other Congress ever (the 111th Congress spent more than the first 100 Congresses combined), money that likely can never be earned and squeeze-taxed or borrowed-printed in enough quantity to even service the interest on that debt; likely it will never be paid back.

So large a debt that in fact it most likely will eventually result in the U.S.A.'s defaulting on it's obligations; forcing austerity programs that may well cause blood to flow like water in our streets (in a worst-case scenario). And we created this debt for the sole purpose of promising mythical, unattainable YOUtopia to dreamy doe-eyed left-moocher-Liberals, socialists at heart sorts who spasmodically vote for Democrats to assuage their fears and guilts. OH, and for the all the free stuff they can get their rich-people-hating envious and greedy hands on.

Paid-for voters, who've with their votes have looted the treasury, a feat that may well culminate in the worst fears of Ben Franklin coming to pass: the end of the Republic.

In November, things began to whiff of CHANGE. We delivered to BHO a shellacking of monumental proportions. Mr. Barack Hussein Obama lost more seats in the midterms than any President since 1948. Fueled by the Tea Party (without whom the Republicans would still be wandering about in the wilderness, as was predicted after BHO won in 2008), Team R won back the House of Representatives in stunning fashion. And, again fueled by the Tea Party, they took over state Governorships (29 governorships to the Left's 20) and picked up 680 seats in various state legislatures, which will work out very well for us when it's time to gerrymander the districts.

BHO spent a lot of political capital in winning these last two fights in the lame duck session; DADT and START, two political duds that'll cost him this coming year. His poll numbers aren't very impressive. His den-of-rattlesnakes base is buzzing like Amanda Marcotte's phalanx of dildos; all of 'em having expected Teh O!ne to have miraculously ended two wars, freed all the slaves in Guantanamo, secured World PEACE! and given all of 'em Eternal Life and Free Health. Sorry, Marcos, you're in the wrong line for that action. PUMP MY FREE GAS, BITCH~!

So, 2010 ends with a glimmer of hope (OUR hope, not your DO!pe's HOPE) and not many ways out of this mess; none of 'em easy or pleasant.

We've got to stop spending. We've got to reverse ObamaCare, and replace it with something less expensive. We've got to stop the EPA from destabilizing what little spark we have in our economy; their desire to regulate CO2 is anathema to our recovery. Defund the EPA, and the NEA while you're at it.

Well, 2011 will go a long way to getting things sorted out. I still predict we won't see much progress in hiring until BHO is safely voted out of office and replaced in January 2013; he and his ilk are a cancer eating away at the heart and soul of this Nation, and we of John Galt know it. Yes, it's a battle, a fight, a war so to speak. We've no choice but to engage.

In any event, Welcome! 2011; in many ways, good bye and GOOD DAY! to 2010.

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Here's some musics to help welcome in the New Year...J.D. McPherson, "North Side Gal", from his 2010 album Signs and Signifiers.

JD McPHERSON / SIGNS & SIGNIFIERS - featuring Jimmy Sutton and Alex Hall

With a strong singing voice that moves from smooth and sweet, to raw and rockin' on a dime, JD McPherson channels Little Richard, James Brown, Charlie Feathers, to name a few. Hi-Style Records is excited to present the debut release by JD McPherson, Signs & Signifiers! Hi-Style brought JD McPherson up from Oklahoma to the big city of Chicago to record this stellar 12 song, full length album. Produced by Jimmy Sutton (Mighty Blue Kings, Four Charms, Del Moroccos) and engineered by Alex Hall (The Modern Sounds, Del Moroccos), the album also features Sutton on bass and guitar, and Hall on drums and piano. Recorded to an old 1960's Berlant 1/4 inch tape machine, this stellar performance, and brilliant song writing by McPherson, all come together under Jimmy Sutton's impeccable production. This is authentic electrifying rock n' roll/ rhythm & blues with post-structural lyrics and arrangements.

The album also features guest musicians: Scott Ligon, (NRBQ's Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet), plays incredibly tasteful piano. Austin's Jonathan Doyle (Nick Curran and the Lowlifes, White Ghost Shivers) and Chicago's Josh Bell (The Del Moroccos) blow killer tenor and baritone saxophones. Susan Voelz (Alejandro Escovedo, Poi Dog Pondering), on violin, and Allison Chesley (Helen Money), on cello, contribute a beautiful string arrangement to the soulful "A Gentle Awakening". Rounding out the album's guests, guitar ace Joel Paterson, (The Modern Sounds) lends some choice guitar work to the Joey Simone classic "Your Love (All That I'm Missing)".

Go forth and buy that CD. Best I've heard all year, really.

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FOUND IT!

Lady Gaga's Missing Penis.

Inspired by this photo collection "Best of 2010: Lady Gaga's Missing Penis" (trigger alert~! Flash of Gash!) and Cowboy Blob's Weekly Photoshop and Caption Contest (that I won last week!).

(And 'just because' I can't stand this Lady Gaga meat-dress-wearing thinger, here's a better bit of beauty...)

Ann-Margret Olsson

Now you're talking. For unquestioned Carnal Knowledge; no one ever had to wonder whether or not Ann-Margaret had a penis.

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Friday Photo (well, video then)... "IDIOT WITH A TRIPOD"

Found this gem at the WSJ, accompanying an article on New York City's snowpocalypse. The photography - videography is stunning.

Armed with a movie camera and tripod, Queens resident Jamie Stuart filmed scenes from the Christmas blizzard that clobbered New York City. His film, "Idiot With a Tripod," pays tribute to Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent classic "Man With a Movie Camera."

From the article...

Criticism of Mayor Mounts

"This could be the straw that breaks New York City's back in terms of how well they think, a good job, the mayor has done," said Ms. Rose.

"I was stranded for three days myself. I could not get out," Ms. Rose said. "Something went drastically wrong with this snow removal."

The mayor said the administration plans to conduct a full investigation into the city's response to the storm. That probe will include examining allegations that disgruntled members of the Department of Sanitation deliberately slowed the snow removal as a protest.

The mayor and Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty on Thursday said they don't believe there was a coordinated slowdown.

"I don't think it took place but we're going to do an investigation to make sure that it didn't," Mr. Bloomberg said. "It would be an outrage if it took place. But I just don't know."

Yeah. Union thugs would never conduct a slowdown, would they?

If they did, fire the lot of 'em.

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Union Thugs Slow New York City Snow Removal as a 'PROTEST'.

Who knew?

These garbage men really stink.

Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.

Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.

"They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important," said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.

If Bloomberg had the balls of Reagan, he'd fire the lot of 'em. But he doesn't.

This little Union-led mess might open a couple of eyes, give a black eye to the Democrats and their number one campaign contributors, or so we would hope.

And where is Obama whilst this snowpocalypse is going on in New York City, you ask ?

h/t Drudge

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You Dirty Socialist jackwagons, you.

Semper Fi, R. Lee Ermey.

Here comes the debt!

(CNSNews.com) – The federal government has accumulated more new debt–$3.22 trillion ($3,220,103,625,307.29)—during the tenure of the 111th Congress than it did during the first 100 Congresses combined, according to official debt figures published by the U.S. Treasury.

That equals $10,429.64 in new debt for each and every one of the 308,745,538 people counted in the United States by the 2010 Census.

And the basterds still haven’t left the building.

Bankers don't care much for BHO...

Wall Street banks are doing so well since the crisis (the last two years have been the best ever for Goldman, JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America) that you might think they'd have too much money to allow a little rhetoric to hurt their feelings.

But nope! The bankers are still pissed.

Bankers told POLITICO: "He whipped everyone into a frenzy against us," said one banker.

"It's a bunch of academic lefties down there," said another.

"You have to understand, it is very personal. He raised money from us," one executive at a top bank said. "Then he started calling us bad people. So forgive us for not wanting to buy him a drink after getting punched in the eye."

Academic lefties who’ve never, ever held ‘real’ jobs, met payrolls, dealt with Government as a principle adversary to the necessary function of Making Things Work in order to satisfy customers and shareholders and bringing enough money home to feed the baby.

Bottom line: Leftists (and now Democrats, because they’re controlled by the Left) are anathema to a strong America. That is all.

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Michael Vick: It's time to attack the cock-and-dog-fighting culture.

I responded to commenter Stew Magoo, who asked me what in the world I meant by saying the Michael Vick story was a good story?

It's worth elevating to full post stature I think, given the news is full of Vick (who got decidedly out-Vick'ed last night in his loss to rookie Vikings QB Joe Webb) and of course Governor Rendell who notices that we are now a nation of wussies. For once I agree with the little prezzidint-man BHO (shocka!).

My reply to Stew...

Yeah, I've known people personally attracted to that culture, the cock-and-dog-fighting poor-white-and-black-trash deep-South sorts who grew up knowing no better. Believe me, I've posted plenty on Vick, and none of it was supportive.

But on t'other hand, you've got a guy who's been in Leavenworth for 18 months, a high-profile sort who now has the opportunity to take a deep slash at those remaining in that culture. It's still going on, and worse; the only way to get rid of it is by trotting out high-profile people like Vick who've paid their price and now know better.

At what point should we move on? When the potential benefits outweigh the original crime. Vick, lending his name and fame to a crusade against cock-and-dog fighting, might do much more good than would having him fade away, of no more use than as a whipping boy.

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Data meets Reality: Americans Suffering

Bob Herbert's NYT column today lists depressing statistics about our economic outlook. There's doom and gloom for many Americans who are out of work, under worked, under paid and hurting. These are facts, and the truth. Bob's ideas of the 'why' we got this way and the 'how' to get out of our predicament I do not share. His, and his spiraling-ever-further-leftward party's ideas will never work. So I left this as a comment to him, to his commentariat, to all of our friends who are becoming these far-Left Democrats who have a similar mindset.

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I read these comments wherein people express angry hatreds for the 'rich', a sentiment obviously shared by many of the new-Left Democrats. There's no disapproval expressed for these sentiments from Democrat 'leaders'; instead, they exploit these basest of human emotions, greed and envy, to advance their political agendas. Hatred, greed and envy are not sentiments that will drive an agenda that will turn this Republic around.

We were not, nor have we ever been, a Nation that embraces the political agenda now endorsed by the Left. We are (were) a nation of strong character that was influenced by ruthlessness when it was necessary. We scrabbled out way out in front and on top not by being soft and gentle at home, but by being hard and competitive. We've lost much of our edge, our 'American Spirit'.

Remember, we came out of the Great Depression only because we became embroiled in a world war, a war that put almost every American to work. We were all aligned politically behind a threat. There is no way that'll ever happen again.

At risk of howls of mirth from the 'enlightened' Democrats who are also mostly atheists, we've turned our back on God; we've become a strikingly secular nation that no longer needs help from some sky spirit who doesn't exist except in the fevered mind of Conservatives. He's never done anything for us, ever, obviously; why should we allow our thoughts to stray to such imaginary foolhardiness?

Why, indeed? Look around you. This Republic is going to fail, and will be reduced to smoldering rubble, maybe in our lifetimes.

We should never have turned away from the paths of strength and American Spirit and away from our belief in God, and embraced the weaknesses that will likely result in our downfall.

Either pray or laugh. Your choice. There's not much else to do at this juncture, really.

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The New York Times: "How to Derail Financial Reform". I know! EMPOWER MORE DEMOCRATS!

Just another reactionist editorial from the NYT, blaming Republicans for issues that should belong to both parties in general, and Barney Frank in particular. To name their pet financial reform law the "Dodd - Frank" financial reform law was ironic and laughable.

Barney Frank should be in jail.

Barney Frank's obstructionism to Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac reform must be mentioned again and again. He, more than any other Democrat politician, brought on much of this financial collapse with his refusal to allow George Bush (who asked 17 times) to put Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac under tight regulation along with GSE's in 2007.  Morgen Richmond ...

Let it be noted that in May 2007 Barney Frank and the Democrat-controlled House would go on to pass GSE reform legislation. Legislation which was adamantly opposed by the Treasury Dept. and the Bush Administration for limiting federal oversight of Fannie and Freddie’s mortgage holdings. Legislation which included
Frank’s pet project, an “affordable housing” fund backed by tax payers.

Let it also be noted that going into 2007 Fannie and Freddie had never in history been allowed to purchase or finance sub-prime mortgages. But under pressure from Democrats in Congress (including Frank), they were granted this authority by regulators in September 2007.

Let it also be noted that in 2007 Frank aggressively pushed to increase the maximum loan limits which could be underwritten by the GSE’s. A move which would ultimately transfer tens of billions of dollars of loan liabilities from private financial institutions to tax payers.

It’s no wonder that even after the total collapse of Fannie and Freddie in 2008, at an ultimate cost to tax payers which could exceed $400B, Barney Frank is still adamantly opposed to legislation which would prevent any further federal bailouts of the GSE’s. For Democrats like Frank, continued control over Fannie and Freddie represents the effective nationalization of the entire mortgage industry. It’s a dream come true for those who wish to use the power of the federal government to implement their desired social and redistributive policies.

The Community Reinvestment Act should be abolished; Fannie and Freddie, if allowed to continue to exist, must be tightly regulated.

Barney Frank should never have been re-elected.

Until Democrats are weaned away from the successful Moocher - Looter symbiosis they've used to construct an eager but pathetic voting base, a base that's guaranteed  to vote Democrat for reasons that are self-serving, ME FIRST!; a base that has nothing to offer but their outstretched, open, expectant palms, we will not have real financial reform. Until this symbiosis is challenged and broken, this Republic will remain at risk of collapse.

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Weekend's End Video: Steve Vai: Experience Hendrix 2010

Recorded live in Pittsburgh, Oct. 26, 2010.

One of the greatest rock guitarists alive, celebrating another who isn't.

Doesn't get much better than this.

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Medicare's Top Administrator, Dr. Donald M. Berwick, starts running 'Death Panels' January 1, 2011

That's right, starting January 1, a new Medicare regulation includes the infamous "Death Panels" rules that troubled so many people in 2009. The New York Times headline says it all...

Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan That Caused Stir

WASHINGTON — When a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning touched off a political storm over “death panels,” Democrats dropped it from legislation to overhaul the health care system. But the Obama administration will achieve the same goal by regulation, starting Jan. 1.

"By regulation". Not by an elected official's vote, but by a bureaucrat who gets away with it because Barack Obama approves.

The rule was issued by Dr. Donald M. Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and a longtime advocate for better end-of-life care.

“Using unwanted procedures in terminal illness is a form of assault,” Dr. Berwick has said. “In economic terms, it is waste. Several techniques, including advance directives and involvement of patients and families in decision-making, have been shown to reduce inappropriate care at the end of life, leading to both lower cost and more humane care.”

They wanted to keep this matter under wraps. This email, sent in November...

After learning of the administration’s decision, Mr. Blumenauer’s [Representative Earl Blumenauer, (D) Oregon] office celebrated “a quiet victory,” but urged supporters not to crow about it.

“While we are very happy with the result, we won’t be shouting it from the rooftops because we aren’t out of the woods yet,” Mr. Blumenauer’s office said in an e-mail in early November to people working with him on the issue. “This regulation could be modified or reversed, especially if Republican leaders try to use this small provision to perpetuate the ‘death panel’ myth.”

Just how far the 'conversation' with a patient goes is of interest to me. How much information is given to the patient, and in what context? What kind of words are used, what phraseology is acceptable? Does the 'care provider' push a sense of 'guilt' onto the elderly patient, for 'living too long' and consuming 'valuable resources' that might better be used to fund another abortion ?

Moreover, the e-mail said: “We would ask that you not broadcast this accomplishment out to any of your lists, even if they are ‘supporters’ — e-mails can too easily be forwarded.”

The e-mail continued: “Thus far, it seems that no press or blogs have discovered it, but we will be keeping a close watch and may be calling on you if we need a rapid, targeted response. The longer this goes unnoticed, the better our chances of keeping it.”

Well, this New York Times article certainly brings it to everyone's attention. Kept under wraps until the day after Christmas; that's likely long enough to get it by the people's radar.

Love how the New York Times sat on this for over a month, but is quick to release the WikiLeaks documents as they see fit. Leftist irony, it certainly burns.

Starting January 1 2011, Medicare can advocate for spending less monies on seniors, by going to the seniors and telling them they are probably better off dead.

Just another significant 'win' for Barack Obama.

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Christmas Roundup: Santa Claus is...tapping your phone ?

Spotted at the Volokh Conspiracy. Seems appropriate in this Big Sis environment...

You’d better watch out,
You’d better not cry,
You’d better not pout;
I’m telling you why.
Santa Claus is tapping
Your phone.

He’s bugging your room,
He’s reading your mail,
He’s keeping a file
And running a tail.
Santa Claus is tapping
Your phone.

He hears you in the bedroom,
Surveills you out of doors,
And if that doesn’t get the goods,
Then he’ll use provocateurs.

So–you mustn’t assume
That you are secure.
On Christmas Eve
He’ll kick in your door.
Santa Claus is tapping
Your phone.

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From Boston dot com's 2010 Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar, this animated GIF of a pulsar...

What you see is the Crab pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star at the heart of the Crab Nebula, propelling matter and antimatter outward at near the speed of light, seen in 24 sequential images acquired over several months by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Crab pulsar is a tiny, dense remnant of a star that exploded in a supernova, observed here on Earth in the year 1054. It is very small - only about 25 km (15 miles) across, has a mass about 1.5 times our own Sun, and rotates at an amazing rate of 30 times per second. Bright wisps of energetic particles can be seen moving outward from the pulsar at half the speed of light to form an expanding ring. These wisps appear to originate from a shock wave that shows up as an inner X-ray ring. Also, a turbulent jet appears to be spewing material to the left, looking much like steam from a high-pressure boiler - except it's a stream of matter and anti-matter electrons moving at half the speed of light. This little neutron star, some 6,500 light-years away, has been doing this energetic pirouette for the past thousand years, and, undisturbed, will likely continue to do so for billions of years more.

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Oh, from Within the Cranium, tips on how to avoid a Zombie Apocalypse during your holidays...

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From Hillbuzz, this photo of George and Laura Bush at home for Christmas in Dallas...

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And my personal favorite, this Santa getting ready to do a run on the lake in Washington State.

Damn, but I miss being on the water's edge~!

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Finally, a shot of the Titans Cheerleaders from last Sunday's home game...

...dancing with their shadows.

Merry Christmas to all~!

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Merry Christmas!

And may your New Year bring you the ride of your life !

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So, what does it mean when a (local, state, federal) government runs completely out of money ?

Let's look at a case in point. Prichard, Alabama is broke; it's economy collapsed after the boom years passed. Now, pensioners who paid into the pension fund aren't getting checks; they are suffering and hurting...

Prichard did something that pension experts say they have never seen before: it stopped sending monthly pension checks to its 150 retired workers, breaking a state law requiring it to pay its promised retirement benefits in full.

Since then, Nettie Banks, 68, a retired Prichard police and fire dispatcher, has filed for bankruptcy. Alfred Arnold, a 66-year-old retired fire captain, has gone back to work as a shopping mall security guard to try to keep his house. Eddie Ragland, 59, a retired police captain, accepted help from colleagues, bake sales and collection jars after he was shot by a robber, leaving him badly wounded and unable to get to his new job as a police officer at the regional airport.

Far worse was the retired fire marshal who died in June. Like many of the others, he was too young to collect Social Security. “When they found him, he had no electricity and no running water in his house,” said David Anders, 58, a retired district fire chief. “He was a proud enough man that he wouldn’t accept help.”

Bad, terrible things happen when the monies stop coming in.

But Prichard's solution was the only solution...

So the declining, little-known city of Prichard is now attracting the attention of bankruptcy lawyers, labor leaders, municipal credit analysts and local officials from across the country. They want to see if the situation in Prichard, like the continuing bankruptcy of Vallejo, Calif., ultimately creates a legal precedent on whether distressed cities can legally cut or reduce their pensions, and if so, how.

“Prichard is the future,” said Michael Aguirre, the former San Diego city attorney, who has called for San Diego to declare bankruptcy and restructure its own outsize pension obligations. “We’re all on the same conveyor belt. Prichard is just a little further down the road.”

Is there no way for Prichard to re-start these benefits? Why is there no money to give to these pensioners?

A lawyer representing the city, R. Scott Williams, said that the city simply did not have the money. “The reality for Prichard is that if you took money to build the pension up, who’s going to pay the garbage man?” he asked. “Who’s going to pay to run the police department? Who’s going to pay the bill for the street lights? There’s only so much money to go around.”

Who, indeed. Where are the EVIL RICH when you need 'em?

There's a solution for this shameful calamity, you know.

Prichard needs a gen-u-ine U.S.0A. money printing press of it's own.

Just like the shiny ones working overtime at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas. Just allow Prichard a small press, to print the new $100 note and pass sufficient quantity along to it's suffering pensioners. Maybe a few notes kicked out extra to current employees (because we CARE!), and don't forget a few more printed for the schools and the city library. Hell, a few million new bills and the town of Prichard could become an attraction to homeless people from all across Alabama, then Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, necessitating more public facilities and more public food distribution and a new, bigger jail and new...more...better...

And why stop with Prichard? Just give these money printing presses to every city and state in the nation. No one, no where, need ever be broke and needy again!

IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN, DAMMIT ~!!!11!1!11!!!

And if we don't print new monies for Prichard? If this spreads to other, larger cities, states? What then?

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Xmas Toonz

OK, so this is a somewhat funny collection of ribald Christmas jokes, cartoons and images. Might be a bit NSFW, so if you are easily frightened and tend to cling to your fainting couch, move right along.

Beneath the fold...

Bart Gordon's TN 6 Earmark Requests (or, How to Prime my Post-Political Job Search! )

2011 Earmarks requested by Bart Gordon, many that were added to the recently killed Omnibus Spending bill...

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $250,000 Horse Science Center Equipment
Funding would be used to purchase needed state-of-the-art equipment for the equine training and education labs at MTSU. The horse science program is one of the nation's top undergraduate degree programs for equine science and its graduates support the growing equine industry in Tennessee and surrounding states.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)


Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $777,000 Improving Food Safety by Controlling Pathogenic Bacteria
Funds will be used to study the interaction of bacteria associated with food-borne illnesses and microbes such as other bacteria, protozoa, and amoeba. Synergistic relationships between these microbes will be explored as a means to decrease the virulence or inhibit the growth of the pathogenic bacteria. This project will provide economic benefits to
agriculture producers and health benefits to the broader public.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN Requested

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $100,000  Agriscience Education
Funding will be used to strengthen the MTSU Agribusiness and Agriscience department's role as the leader in equine and dairy training; develop curriculum to address the latest developments in agriculture such as alternative fuels, food safety, organic foods, animal health and welfare, and the use of biotechnology in animal and crop production; and develop a business plan to maximize the Miller Coliseum for the benefit of students and the public.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $661,000 Forensic Investigations
Funding would be used to develop education courses and workshops to enhance MTSU as a regional center for standardized education training for law enforcement forensic personnel. Forensic science is a broad and rapidly changing field that requires continuous updates on new scientific techniques and judicial standards for evidence, yet no systematic changes in the training of law enforcement and forensic personnel have been made in response to the NRC recommendations. The Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE) at MTSU proposes to standardize of forensic practices and the effectiveness of Scientific Working Groups.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $200,000  STEM Innovation Through Digital Manufacturing Funds will be used to purchase two pieces of digital manufacturing equipment to engage the next generation of STEM students: the Stratasys FORTUS 400mc System and the Creaform 3D Laser Scanner. Digital manufacturing experiences are needed at the college level to help
students in the region understand in greater depth what future workforce opportunities exist in STEM disciplines.
Tennessee Technological University, Cookville, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $358,939  Future Aerospace Scientists in Tennessee
Funds will be used to conduct two-week summer day camps for underrepresented 9th and 10th grade students to teach STEM concepts using an aerospace theme. A concurrent workshop for high school teachers from high needs rural and urban districts will extend the impact of the project. STEM education is critical for continued U.S. competitiveness
and innovation.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $400,000 Aviation Safety and Human Factors Research Using Emerging Technologies
Funding will be used to continue research on best practices for safe implementation of emerging technologies included in aircraft and air traffic control systems for general aviation airports. As one of the top five aerospace programs in the nation, MTSU's program continues to grow and meet the increasing needs of our transportation system. Funding for the program would provide safety training for pilots and air traffic controllers using advanced technologies and reduce the human and financial risk of transitioning to new general aviation airport air traffic controller technology.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $1,000,000 Operation of High Voltage Transmission Lines at Overloads
Funding will be used to continue research on transmission lines and transformers, modeling dynamic loads of voltage stability analysis to protect power system from future cascading voltage collapse events. When completed, U.S. electricity consumers will benefit from increased grid reliability resulting from this research.
Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $1,650,000 Cognitive Radio Institute
Funding will be used to allow the Cognitive Radio Institute to design radio experimental models and system test-beds resistant to conventional jamming techniques. This is an extension of TTU's Ultrawideband test-bed prototyping that has received prior funding from the Office of Naval Research, Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation. Intellectual property generated could lead to small business spin-offs.
Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $5,743,000 J. Percy Priest Greenway Funding will be used to continue authorized plans and specifications and keep the construction of additional portions of the Greenway on track. This portion will run Walter Hill Park to the Coleman Farm.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—Nashville District, Nashville, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $915,000 Computational Modeling of Drug-Resistant Bacteria Funding will continue to be used to find antibiotics to treat methicillin-resistant bacteria. This project was funded for FY10 by the Department of Energy Office of Science. The project will develop computational models to understand how deadly infectious bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. These techniques can provide pathways for discovery of new classes of powerful antibiotics and help find methods to restore the effectiveness of previously successful drugs. The evolution of antibiotic-resistant mutants among bacteria ('superbugs') that cannot be treated with currently available antibiotics is a persistent and growing threat to public health.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $395,532 Study of Groundwater and Biodiversity in Karst Landscapes
Funds will be used to carry out investigations of groundwater and biodiversity in association with Middle Tennessee State University to promote sustainable development in the karst landscapes of Middle Tennessee. Karst-related environmental problems are widespread in Tennessee and other parts of the Southeast. For example, sinkhole flooding periodically inundates parts of Murfreesboro, Cookeville, and many other Tennessee communities. Scientists working with the Tennessee Water Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State of Tennessee, and Tennessee universities have discovered many solutions to karst-related problems, and this study would build upon that work in the wake of significant flooding in Middle Tennessee.

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $750,000 Stones River National Battlefield Property Acquisition Funds would be used to acquire critical, highly visible property in-holdings in the park's two main units, Nashville Pike Unit and McFadden Farm Unit. This will protect areas of the core battlefield that are currently inaccessible to the visiting public.
Stones River National Battlefield, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $400,000 Promotion of Physical Activity and Health in Youth
Funds will be used to continue expansion of MTSU's multimedia campaign to promote physical activity in children and adolescents, including expanding opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in sports and fitness programs. While the clinical endpoints of major health problems such as coronary heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoporosis are usually manifested during adulthood, mounting evidence suggests that the genesis of these health conditions occurs early in life. Public health efforts aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles in children, therefore, can be viewed as a logical and cost-effective means of reducing the incidence of premature ill health and death.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $525,000 Upper Cumberland Institute for Rural Health Care Child and Family Health Studies Program
Funds will be used to study obesity in children residing in Tennessee's Upper Cumberland area, conduct training seminars aimed at reducing negative behaviors, and develop practical research projects to reduce child obesity rates. If the obesity rates in the U.S. population continue unabated, health care costs of dealing with this issue will further burden the delivery of medical services. Funds spent to curb childhood obesity will dramatically reduce long-term health care costs to obese adults, and will positively impact and influence quality of life issues.
Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $561,000 Developing the Biotechnology Workforce
Funds would be used to provide support for faculty to establish international biotechnology partnerships, fund internship stipends and supplies for graduate students and high school teachers, and develop biotechnology-related curriculum in the Molecular Bioscience Ph.D. program at MTSU. In order to create technologically skilled jobs with high salaries to replace rapidly disappearing manufacturing jobs, it is essential to support this business-friendly climate with a highly skilled workforce. Biotechnology industry is a high growth area
globally, and this is reflected in the developing biotechnology/biomedical industry in middle Tennessee.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $1,050,000 STEM Eagle Mobile Classrooms Funds would be used to purchase and equip two classroom trailers serving the STEM education needs of students and teachers in the rural counties in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. Investment in STEM education is critical to the future of U.S. competitiveness and innovation. This project will help familiarize students with tools and equipment used in science, technology, engineering and math careers and demonstrate the real-world application of learned skills.
Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $6,200,000 MTSU STEM Education Center Funds will be used to purchase and install equipment to provide programmatic support for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programs at Middle Tennessee State niversity (MTSU). Once equipped, the space will house the STEM Center in a prominent campus location to provide state-of-the-art spaces for interdisciplinary STEM education activities, outreach to the regionalK-12 community, and to promote synergies between existing and future STEM education programs. The need for enhancements to STEM education programs has been identified as a significant national problem - potentially affecting our ability to remain in a leadership position in science and technology.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $2,500,000 Middle Tennessee Boulevard
Funds would be used to widen Middle Tennessee Boulevard from Main Street to Greenland Drive to five eleven-foot traffic lanes (including shared shoulders bicycle lanes on both sides). The project will correct geometric deficiencies while mitigating congestion, improving air quality and enhancing pedestrian safety.
City of Murfreesboro, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $1,888,000 Gateway Drive Extension
Funds will be used to build out Phase II of the Gallatin Industrial Center, including the construction of a main artery road through the middle of the property. When completed, this project will spur economic development in Gallatin, bringing businesses and jobs to the area.
City of Gallatin, Gallatin, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $676,900 Healthy Homes Tennessee Funds will be used to improve the health and safety of families in at-risk homes in Tennessee. The Partnership for Healthy Homes will provide interventions, education, and training to address indoor air quality, prevent unintended injuries, lower medical costs, and encourage healthy and safe behaviors in the home. The project will impact at-risk families in Tennessee by reducing the prevalence of asthma; decreasing the incidence of unintended home injuries; and decreasing hospitalizations, emergency doctor visits, and lost school and work days due to asthma and unintended home injuries.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $485,000 Extending Effective Runway Length at General Aviation Airports
Funds will be used to construct and test engineered material arresting systems (EMAS) designed for general aviation airports. A test track will be designed and built in coordination with MTSU Aerospace program, Murfreesboro Airport and Smyrna Airport. Funds will also be used to develop the concrete mixtures formulated to handle loads from various aircraft, perform simulated crash testing of the materials, optimize EMAS based on test results, and carry out an economic analysis. The only EMAS approved by the FAA is costly and designed for large aircraft at commercial airports. This project will allow smaller airports to install EMAS, furthering economic growth in smaller communities.
MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $5,100,000 Stones River National Battlefield Auto Tour Road Expansion and Rehabilitation
Funds would be used to rehabilitate and expand auto tour road, waysides and trails and construct new park entry roads at the Stones' River National Battlefield. This infrastructure was built in 1961 and is in need of an upgrade. Project work will improve the overall visitor/interpretive experience by developing better visitor access to the park and better visitor access to the park and enhancing visitor circulation to key sites within the park.
Stones River National Battlefield, Murfreesboro, TN (Requested)

Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6) requests $550,000 Advanced Portable Power Institute  Funds will be used to apply breakthrough materials developed in FY10 to extend the life and durability of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell squad-level portable battery charger for extending the mission duration and extended life flights for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN (Requested)

Aren't we all glad this guy is gone? But damn, I wish he'd not 'retired' so soon; to see him voted out of office would've been priceless.

Like his predecessor who also 'represented' the TN6, Al Gore, Bart Gordon turned his back on his constituents when he supported the far-Left wing of the Democrat party. Especially heinous was his vote for ObamaCare. He was roundly jeered at his Town Hall post-vote.

Did he get 'paid off' for his votes? Will he go to work for NASA after the dust settles? Or, from looking at the earmarks list, for MTSU ?

None of these earmarks were 'paid out', as the Omnibus Spending Bill was torched before it could pass. Does that mean these 'earmarks' are completely dead, or will Bart Gordon try to find another bill to attach them to before he's finally departed public office?

We will closely watch Mr. Gordon's post-public service job search. Eyes wide open, of course, and always.

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What's the Unemployment Forecast? Two More Years of 'John Galt' Winter.

This article, written by a small manufacturing businessman who lives in the Midwest, published in Pajamas Media's blog, is the best damned read I've read in a fortnight.

Wondering why we aren't recovering economically? Why we are still mired in a long-running unemployment downturn with very little effort or desire to rehire and expand businesses? Jeff Pope 'splains things to you...

So we have a real problem. Businesses are reluctant to hire due to two hard years behind and concern about the future policies of an ideologically driven government that is clearly not pro-business ahead. Business conditions in 2010 are a little better than 2009, but nowhere near the prior levels that might encourage a more aggressive view. The three major forces in policymaking, President Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, continue to hold office and make no secret that they desire to advance their agenda with or without regard to the Constitution. They and their anti-business orientation will remain in place for at least two more years. On the other side of the aisle, most of the senior Republicans who were so ineffective over the past decade will retain the same ability to compromise away government restraint for the next two years. The November elections may have helped the situation, but the Republicans have a long, long way to go to prove they are up to the generational level change it will take to turn things around. Worse, it is becoming easier to accept the possibility that the corruption between all the special interests, including corporate, and government is just too firmly entrenched and too lucrative to break apart at all. If that is true, nothing changes until an ultimate collapse.

What to do? Stay locked down, very conservative, and prepared for at least two more years wandering in the employment desert.

Read the whole thing.

Who is John Galt, you ask?

We are all John Galt.

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Brian Aitken Freed! by Governor Christie

Update on the Brian Aitken situation in New Jersey. Governor Christie comes through...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave the Aitken family all they wanted for Christmas Monday.

Christie signed a letter ordering Brian Aitken, a New Jersey man sentenced to seven years in jail for having weapons he legally purchased in Colorado, to be released from Mid-State Correctional Facility as soon as possible.

Aitken, 27, was sentenced in August to seven years after a January 2009 arrest at his parent's home in Mount Laurel, Burlington County. ...

Aitken's father, Larry, could barely speak when reached Monday, but thanked "Governor Chris Chringle."

"From my family to yours, Governor, have a wonderful Christmas," Aitken said.

Now see to getting New Jersey's heinous gun laws changed.

More on the heinous gun law front: BATFE wants to keep records on 'high-powered rifle sales' (that's anything over .22 caliber, BTW), supposedly to starve Mexican drug cartels from getting weapons.

Here's an idea, Feds: BUILD A DAMNED FENCE! Stop the trafficking; stop the illegal crossings, shut down the damned border. But no: there's all kinds of unregistered Democrats what'll be needed for Obama's re-election bid in 2012, right?

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AT IT'S FINEST~!

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Titans - Texans Game Photos

A few of the photos I've had a chance to review.

Busy times, man! For that I'm thankful, really.

The Titans finally win a game, breaking the run of six straight losses. Fisher still has a job. For now. But who knows what Bud (Got Aricept?) Adams will do after the season is over? Meh.

I'm pulling for the Eagles now. Michael Vick is a good story.

Here's some photos, below the fold.

DADT Deep Sixed

So, all those people who complained for all these years that Gays were 'discriminated' against can now line up to enlist to serve their country.

You listening, Meghan McCain? (you'll be first in line for the Army's fAt bOy - fAATER GirL weight-loss program)

How's about you, Lady Gaga? Someone will have to create a new class for you. A halfway partial almost all there but not quite...all there.

Line up! Get in! Move your asses! You're in the Service now!

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Hippy Punching at the NYT: Charles Blow calls out the far-Left Progressive Democrats

Lessons in looting from NYT's Charles Blow.

Charles who isn’t so much worried about losing the Democrat party to the far-Left as he is the speed in which the Democrat party is losing to far-Left; a speed which he fears might, if you read Blow between the lines, cost BHO the 2012 election…

The near-apoplectic level of agita within the liberal screeching class over President Obama’s tax-cut compromise has exposed a seismic crack in the Democratic monolith — outspoken liberal Democrats on one side and barely audible moderate Democrats on the other. …

Another problem for far-left liberals is that they demonstrate an insatiable appetite for eating their own. Another Gallup poll, also released on Thursday, found a worrisome trend: President Obama’s approval rating among liberal Democrats, while still high, has slipped 10 percent since Nov. 1; but, among moderate Democrats, it has held steady.

I attribute much of this to the across-the-board, over-the-top scoffing by the ultraliberal, self-professed brains of the party. According to them, Obama must pay for abandoning his “progressive base.” That’s funny because progressives, many of whom really wanted John Edwards to be the nominee in 2008, only constitute 20 percent of Democrats.

To adapt a phrase from Bill Maher, these far-left liberals would rather fight the friend who disappoints them than focus on the enemy who wants to destroy them. That’s not so for those on the right. They just want to win. Too many liberals just want to whine. It’s like they’re perpetually humming the chorus to Lesley Gore’s hit from the ’60s: “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.”
Sadly, if the Democrats’ big tent of openness shrinks to a little fortress of liberalism too fast and too soon, they may well have a reason to cry.

Surprisingly enough, Blow didn’t call anyone in the ‘liberal screeching class’ RAAAAACIST!, as is his usual schtick. Can that be far off I wonder?

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Other interesting reads...
Why Violent Revolt Lies in our Future

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24 Signs That All of America is Turning Into Detroit

We were once a nation that was endlessly expanding, endlessly growing and endlessly becoming more powerful, but now just the opposite is happening.

All of this didn't happen overnight. Back in 1982, Billy Joel could see what was starting to happen and he released a song entitled "Allentown" which captured the depression that many residents of once great steel cities were experiencing. The song started out with these two lines....

Well we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down

Well, the United States has lost over 42,000 factories since 2001 and now all of America is turning into "Allentown".

Unfortunately, things are going to get even worse. Thousands more factories and millions more jobs will be sent overseas. The debt loads of our state and local governments will continue to skyrocket. The truth is that city after city after city is going to start looking like something out of a third world country.

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There Has been No Economic Recovery in California

However, this uptick in economic flow is not enough to move the trailing dead-weight of US unemployment–which is now becoming structural. Finally, for anyone who would like to challenge the notion and assert that “California is not the US economy” I would say this: Sorry, but California is indeed the US economy. The US will be going nowhere without the full participation–if not the leadership–of California.

Hopefully that's a crock'o'shit, because California is a failed wasteland, there's no leadership there whatsoever. Best we can do for California is wall it off and offer the land to the Chinese for payment on our massive debt. To quote a pw commenter, California is the land of failshit.

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Oh, and Merry Christmas~!

Julianne Hough - Is That So Wrong - Official Video
BANNED ON CMT!

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Friday roundup

I've been very much occupied this week, and it's not even over yet. Couple things...

Eric Thayer/Getty Images

This excellent photo of Sarah Palin, found here. Yes, Reid, we need a crowded primary field in 2012, but more importantly we need to keep the NYT from 'unchoosing' our candidate for us, as happened in 2008. Fred Thompson, the best offering, didn't even make it to the Tennessee primary date; we were stuck with Huckholio (who won Tennessee) and Romney and that McCain fellow whom I didn't like one bit at all. A sorry bunch, really.

But that was Before Tea Party. Now we've a chance to eliminate the RINO losers, the ones that the NYT so much supports, before they even catch hold.

No more Bob Dole. No more John McCain. No Mitt Romney. No Huckholio.

Oh, we win a battle; Harry Reid pulls the omnibus Democrat-favoring pork spending plan from the Senate. A nice win, but don't get carried away just yet; Reid is simply swabbing the barrel for to load up the rest of the year's crap he can shoot at us: the DREAM act and others. If Republicans get too giddy, they will allow an even worse nightmare to move forward.

Oh, this speech by Tom McClintock, just before the House passed the 'tax relief' (h/t Stephanie)...

House Chamber, Washington, D.C.  December 16, 2010.  M. Speaker:

I commend the Senate for passing the tax relief measure yesterday, and I hope that the House passes it today.

          According to the CBO, this bill comprises $136 billion in additional spending and $721 billion in tax relief. That means fifteen percent of this bill is spending – the other 85 percent is tax relief:

·        No across the board increase in income tax rates next year.
·        No AMT biting deeper into middle class families.
·        A Death Tax that’s a third less of what it would otherwise have been -- threatening far fewer family farms and family businesses with extinction.

          If this relief fails, when the ball drops at Time Square on New Year’s Eve, Americans will have just been walloped by a tax tsunami the likes of which we haven’t seen since Smoot-Hawley.

 Families and small businesses will be spending the New Year struggling to pay thousands of dollars of new taxes. A family making $50,000 will see at least $3,000 more taken from its paychecks. A small businessperson whose shop makes $300,000 will have to cut another $8,400 – perhaps the difference between a part time and a full time job for an employee.

          From the Left we’re told that we should raise taxes on the very rich who make over $200,000 because they don’t pay their fair share.

          According to the IRS, those folks earn 36 percent of all income; they pay 49 percent of all income taxes. 

A lot of them aren’t people at all -- half of the income earned by small businesses will be hit by these tax increases. These are the job generators that we’re depending upon to end the nightmare of unemployment for millions of American families. To confiscate billions of dollars more from them and expect more jobs to come of it is simply insane.

         
Some of my fellow Conservatives object to the 15 percent of this bill that spends money we don’t have.  I agree.

But that damage can be corrected through offsetting spending reductions next year. The new Republican House majority can do so without the Senate or the President – simply by refusing to appropriate funds – and it’s committed to doing so.

But it cannot rescind the taxes next year without the Senate and the President, who have made their opposition to just such a clean bill abundantly clear.

          And even if such a retro-active bill could be passed by Spring, these families and businesses won’t get their tax overpayments refunded to them until they file their returns a year later.

          Massive tax increases under Hoover turned the recession of 1929 into the depression of the 1930’s. Let that not be the epitaph of this Congress.

Yes, we do control the House, and therefore the spendings. We can nip many of these Democrat programs in the bud.

And we'd better start early, and nip often. And if it's not painful, we aren't cutting enough...

America's fiscal mess was a major focus of conservatives during the midterm elections. Cutting the size of the government, reducing spending and lower taxes were rallying cries of the Tea Party movement, which helped Republicans win the House of Representatives.

The new conservative members of Congress rail against increases in spending of any variety and some even advocate defunding the Department of Education.

Mesirow's Swonk says rather than acknowledge the depths of the country's problems or the cost of fixing them, Democrats and Republicans have retreated into "faith-based ideological views of economics that do not reflect reality."

"We're still a nation in denial," she said. "If we had a 10-year deficit reduction plan we could include spending on necessary reforms. But America's political class is not willing to do that because the incoming Congress has decided gridlock is good and our politicians keep lying to us by telling us we can get out of this without pain."

"So we're going to get a double whammy of adding insult to injury by not focusing on a pro-growth fiscal policy and creating a very wealthy class of people," she added.

"What we've chosen as a country is the hard way, which means more heartache and hunger lie ahead."

We have to watch ALL politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike. Difference is, Democrats are so far-gone to the Left that they can't even exist as a party without attracting the same damaging moochers who've gotten us in this predicament in the first place. Democrats exist only to loot.

On a lighter note...got your Christmas lights up yet ? ;D

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Top 25 Conservative Columnists for 2010

...spotted at RightwingNews dot com.

25) Ross Douthat (NY Times)
24) Mike Adams (Townhall)
23) Bill O'Reilly (Townhall)
22) Dick Morris and Eileen McGann (Townhall)
21) David Harsanyi (Washington Examiner)
20) Byron York (Washington Examiner)
19) Wes Pruden (Washington Times)
18) Tony Blankley (Townhall)
17) Rich Lowry (Townhall)
16) Michael Barone (Townhall)
15) Brent Bozell (Media Research Center)
14) Robert Samuelson (Real Clear Politics)
13) Jeff Jacoby (Boston Globe)
12) Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal)
11) Rachel Marsden
10) Walter Williams (George Mason University)
9) David Limbaugh
8) Michelle Malkin (Townhall)
7) Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post)
6) Victor Davis Hanson
5) Dennis Prager (Townhall)
4) John Stossel (Townhall)
3) Jonah Goldberg (National Review)
2) Thomas Sowell
1) Ann Coulter (Human Events)

But..not all of these are conservatives. Bill O'Reilly isn't, Ross Douthat isn't, Peggy Noonan surely is not a pure conservative. What's with Dick Morris and Eileen McGann? Add both of 'em together to get a Conservative?

No arguments at all with the top 10.

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Zogby's Person of the Year: Sarah Palin; Person of the Decade: George Bush

Q: How do you make a far-lefty's head asplode?

A: Mention Sarah Palin and George Bush. In the same sentence. With a huge smile on your face.

This should send lefty skull fragments into freakin' orbit...

Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is the Person of the Year for 2010, according to a new survey by Zogby International, which also designated George W. Bush as Person of the Decade (2000-2010).

Palin, Zogby, Person of Year, BushPalin was cited by 21 percent of the respondents, while 16 percent chose President Barack Obama. Glenn Beck and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks notoriety tied with 13 percent.

Independents for Obama? That's so 2008...

Democrats favored Obama with 33 percent, while Palin won among Republicans (39 percent) and independents (17 percent).

Hey, Obama doesn't do too badly compared to Osama...

In the Person of the Decade polling, Bush was chosen by 44 percent of respondents, followed by Obama with 20 percent, and Osama bin Laden with 11 percent.

The Tea Party is the political news ...

The most significant political story of 2010 is the emergence of the tea party, Zogby found, while the most significant international news story of the year is the Haiti earthquake, and the most significant issue of the decade is the rise in terrorism.

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Misuse of a Cutting Edge 4: Father Castrates Teen Daughter's 'Boyfriend' with a Bread Knife.

No photos, sorry...

BIELEFELD, Germany -- Police say a man became so outraged over his daughter's choice in men that he castrated her new boyfriend using a bread knife.

Helmut Seifert is facing attempted murder charges after allegedly castrated 57-year old Phillip Genscher for dating his teenage daughter, reports The Telegraph.

The father, a 47-year-old factory worker, had asked authorities in the town of Bielefeld to intervene, but the officers told him they had no authority over the girl.

Seifert then decided to take matters into his own hands, rounded up two of his work colleagues, and proceeded to the victim's house, says The Telegraph.

When they arrived, they forced Genscher to remove his trousers and then allegedly castrated him while he was fully conscious.

Police said the "severed testicles were taken away by the perpetrator."

A father has to do these things, take matters into his own hands, if society refuses to intervene. But maybe just a couple swift kicks might've been sufficient?

On an completely unrelated note, I spotted this apparatus on Sam Ridley Pky. here in Smyrna a couple years back.



Save this link. Might come in handy if some unacceptable freak wants to date your daughter.

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Misuse of a Cutting Edge 3: Muslim Child Self-Flagellates

 ~*~

Next thing you know he'll be strapping on a bomb.

Allāhu Akbar~!

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ObamaCare Slapped: Finally, a Hard Look at the Commerce Clause

In the latest round of Statists vs. the People, the People throw a brush-back pitch that might finally open average American's eyes to the role the Federal Government wants to take in our lives.

Judge Hudson points out to the American citizen to the possible overreach the 'Commerce Clause' provides to out-of-control Statists who see no limits to their powers and, if they can, will misuse it to further their ideological agenda. Finally the Commerce Clause becomes the center point of debate...

The days of calling the constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act “frivolous” and “political” are now officially over. Judge Hudson’s ruling that the individual insurance mandate is unconstitutional is a milestone in the legal process of deciding whether Congress has the power to command every person in the United States to enter into an economic relationship with a private company.

Until 2010, the only mandates ever imposed on American citizens pertained to their citizenship: register for the draft and serve if called, sit on a jury, file a tax return, respond to the census. In the U.S., one cannot even be commanded to vote.

If economic mandates like this one are allowed, however, Americans will be demoted from citizens to subjects. They will have to obey any commands that Congress deems convenient to its regulation of interstate commerce. No more expensive tax credits and subsidies to raise taxes to pay for; Congress can just command you to buy its favored products. Forget cash for clunkers; just make Americans buy cars from G.M. Or make them undergo medical exams to save on health care costs. Gone will be a federal government of limited and enumerated powers established by the Constitution and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court.

If Interstate Commerce is such an important and necessary role in our lives, then let's allow various States to propose as a Constitutional Amendment it's wording, allow a national debate (and citizen input), and votes. In such an important matter, it's difficult to stand aside and watch the Judicial Branch take the lead and control away from the other Branches.

Strike the Commerce Clause, limit the power of Federal Government once and for all. Allow the States to regulate inside their borders. If Liberals - Leftists don't like what a particular State does, they can vote with their feet and get the hell out, move to a State more favorable to their ideology. What, you say California and Illinois, New York and Michigan and New Jersey are nearly flat broke because their Democrat - Leftist controllers are running out of Other People's Monies ? Tough titty.

In the end, the principle of TANSTAAFL applies to all.

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Alfred Gaynor: Crackhead Serial Killer. You think Mace would've stopped this guy?

You've not heard of this guy? Killed more women and children than Son of Sam? A brutal murderer with no cool nickname?

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – He's killed more people than the Son of Sam, but there are no made-for-TV movies about Alfred Gaynor.

The one-time handyman did not even pick up a macabre nickname as he attacked and strangled at least eight women in his hometown of Springfield in the 1990s, becoming one of his state's most prolific serial killers.

The scale of his killing spree only recently became clear when Gaynor, imprisoned on four murder convictions, confessed this fall to four other unsolved slayings in which he'd been a longtime suspect. Charges are possible in two more deaths for which he's confessed: a 20-year-old mother and her toddler daughter in 1996.

The deaths terrorized this western Massachusetts city, where Mace permit requests soared as the women's bodies were discovered in alleys, vehicles and their own homes between 1995 and 1998.

His new confessions came as part of a convoluted plea deal for his imprisoned nephew, who'd been convicted in another murder for which Gaynor, 44, now claims responsibility.

The families of the strangled women — including the victims' 16 children, now teens and adults — vacillate between relief to see him held accountable and anguish over learning details of the deaths.

"Some people are just evil through and through," said Janice Ermellini, whose 34-year-old daughter, Jill Ann, was killed in 1997 by Gaynor in an abandoned truck shortly after she moved to Springfield from Windsor Locks, Conn.

"When he finally confessed, I felt like a weight was removed from my shoulders. But that day in court when I heard the gruesome details ... it's different. There's no peace. It goes through my mind constantly," Ermellini said.

Gaynor remains relatively unknown beyond Springfield, where he met several of his victims in their mutual search for crack cocaine. Others were low-income single mothers, often acquaintances, whom he robbed for drug money.  ...

In the eight murders, his calling card was brutality: Authorities say several of the women were tightly bound, some had socks or other objects jammed in their throats, and the rapes involved violence that went beyond sexual gratification. In three cases, the women's bodies were found by their children.

Gaynor insisted for years that he was innocent, even after his first four murder convictions in 2000. It was only after the 2006 death of his 67-year-old mother, a woman described as his family's matriarch and one of his strongest supporters, that he admitted he was a rapist and killer.

He told police and prosecutors in a 2008 interview that he kept quiet until after her death because he "just couldn't destroy everything she believed in." ...

And now, his victims' families await a final chapter: whether he'll be indicted based on his confession in two more 1996 deaths — 20-year-old Amy Smith and her 22-month-old toddler, Destiny, who was trapped for days without food or water in a sweltering apartment with the strangled woman's body.  ...

Gaynor blames his actions on the crack cocaine he once told police was his "first and last love."

He says he killed his first victim in April 1995 when 45-year-old Vera Hallums let him sleep on her floor. He beat her with a kitchen pot and bound her with electrical cords. He said he had planned to rape her, but that she strangled first on the cords.

Four slayings followed in 1997, then three more in the first three months of 1998. In most cases, Gaynor stole cash and items to pawn for drugs: Mickey Mouse earrings from one woman, a few coins for bus fare from another.

This bastiche has his own prison 'art' for sale. Click at your own discretion.

Here's what's drawn my attention to Alfred Gaynor...

The deaths terrorized this western Massachusetts city, where Mace permit requests soared as the women's bodies were discovered in alleys, vehicles and their own homes between 1995 and 1998.

Sigh.

If you’re close enough to mace a crackhead, you’ve allowed him to get too close. Mace is ineffective when drugs impair the pain response necessary to stop an attack. Tasers are ineffective if one misses (you only get one shot) or if the attacker’s clothing is too thick. And if the State forbids (or, by overly onerous and in some cases, impossible-to-fulfill requirements and limitations) personal gun ownership...you have these sorts getting away with murder, since Massachusetts has no death penalty.

The only solution for onerous states like MA, IL, WI and CA is for the State to issue one Officer per household, to make sure the persons therein are kept safe. The only way to truly satisfy a Statist is to bring the State home with him.

Or, better for you if you live in a 'free' State...

Now! Penetrates clothing that Tasers won't! Get one soon! You and only you are responsible for your own protection!

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