COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, February 02, 2013

Shotgun Barack

BREITBART

The White House has released a picture purporting to show President Obama "skeet shooting" at Camp David.  An activity he claims he does "all the time."


"This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.


But  the photo released by the White House is actually a government photoshop. In fact Obama has been a closet reenactor for some time. He often plays Robert E. Lee at Camp David but also enjoys playing under the pseudonym of  Brigadier Barracks O’Bama. 

I could not find a photo of him dressed as General Lee or the Brigadier but I did find a photo of him rehearsing with some colonial reenactors. Obama was fresh off Marine One and is such an avid shooter and  arriving a little late  from chilling at some burger stand, he could not wait to change and got into the action in his street clothes:







234 comments:

  1. To give it away under the banner of Love for a righteous cause, or so that other *deserving individuals or groups may live, justifies that "Sacrificial" return.

    As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free?

    ....


    What's Barky doing using a modern double barrel that looks like my Beretta out there on the Civil War Battlefield?

    Isn't this some kind of anachronism?

    Something seems odd, and out of place, like a mouse with wings and a human face.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bob, the photo released by The White House is pure theater. It is absurd. I merely used my my talents over a cup of coffee to heighten the absurdity.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Does the original White House photo background look like a skeet shoot?

    ReplyDelete
  4. It took me ten minutes to create something just as absurd.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, Deuce, I do understand that.

    “I don’t understand Iranian politics,” he announced in perhaps his least misspoken statement of the day. But the Iranians understand ours, which is why, in an amusing touch, the foreign ministry in Tehran has enthusiastically endorsed Hagel.

    Fortunately, Iran is entirely peripheral to global affairs — it’s not like Chad or the Solomon Islands or the other burning questions the great powers are currently wrestling with — so it would be entirely unreasonable to expect Hagel to understand anything much about what’s going on over there. So what of his other, non-Iranian interests?

    “There are a lot of things I don’t know about,” said Hagel. “If confirmed, I intend to know a lot more than I do.”


    Continuing on with the absurd, and the absurdity of an otherwise intelligent man supporting Fudd.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That sounds like a statement so refreshingly honest, so un-Washington, where everyone of the assholes in congress know everything about everything, instantly.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good point.

    It does sound refreshingly honest.

    And also ought to lead to his immediate rejection as S of D.

    If he doesn't know anything about Iran, he ought to at least know what the current policy is said to be, even though what it is said to be is not the real current policy.

    You'll be glad to hear I'm heading to the Casino, to lose the money I won last night.

    out

    ReplyDelete
  8. Obama has turned the presidency into reality TV.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I shoot a lot of skeet and sporting clays. Clay pigeons are rarely thrown at that low of an angle. Just an observation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those who aren't very good at shooting skeet also tend to wait til later in the flight to take their shot hence aiming at a lower flying object, no?

      Delete
    2. Are you assuming all is authentic? Where is the game bag for shells, water bottle, towel, etc?

      Reality TV.

      Delete
    3. The gun also has a muzzle break. Notice the smoke out the side of the barrel? I wonder how many photos were shot before the director picked the RIGHT one for release?

      Delete
    4. I'm sure he would prefer shooting hoops with his homeys.

      Delete
    5. Ash is noted for being oblivious to tells.

      Delete
  10. By the way, that appears to be a Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon. Very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The most honest thing he said ...

    The US is following a containment policy toward Iran.
    Arming the Wahabbi in the Gulf, promoting turmoil in Syria, and taking out the only other Med base opportunity from the Russians, Iran's premier military provider, along with China.

    Some Chicom spokesmen including Iran in China's 'Sphere of Defense', to paraphrase.

    The Russians deeply involved in protecting their port authority in Syria.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Containment leading to even greater internal political destabilization, economic deprivation and finally...

    Regime Change!

    ReplyDelete
  13. With our Iraqi proxies waiting in the wings to claim the 'Rightful' leadership of the Shiite sect from the Iranian mullahs.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Iran to follow the Liyan and Syrian models, rather than the Iraq or Afpak style intervention and occupation

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ah, I finally came across a poem I had read but could not locate til now.

    for Doug:

    We will grieve not, rather find
    Strength in what remains behind;
    In the primal sympathy
    Which having been must ever be;
    In the soothing thoughts that spring
    Out of human suffering;
    In the faith that looks through death,
    In years that bring the philosophic mind.

    W. Wordsworth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was "Wordsworth" a Pseudo, like the many posted here by our friend ex-farmer Bob?

      He's a wannabe poet, but don't know it.

      Delete
    2. Naw, Woodsworth is the real deal. Those few lines gave me comfort when dealing with my own loss.

      Delete
    3. It would be a comfort to me to know more, but you are a rather private person, online, at least.

      At 4 inches, we know ex-farmer Bob will never be known as a Longfellow.

      Delete
  16. In Search for Causation of Climate Change

    Could Christie Hefner be right?

    Is this an unusual occurrence, or is there a negative correlation between murder rates and Prius drivers?

    Here we have three Climate Warriors, a Bicyclist and 2 folks in a Prius involved in a drive by shooting.

    ...but is this a pattern, or an anomaly?

    ReplyDelete
  17. This guy is dead wrong sometimes, like all of us, but has some amazing insight at hand.

    15. blert

    @11…

    It’s a myth that the Germans couldn’t track such a slow plane.

    They used optical physics to drive their ranging calculations…

    What everyone has missed: fuel-less fabric wings don’t sustain damage the way metal mono-planes do. They can’t leak fuel — it’s not there. When a bullet hits, the fabric tears — flapping in the breeze afterwards. Whereas, with any metal, damage would cause horrific protrusions into the air flow; typically ruining flight dynamics. Further, the damaged zone would be much more pronounced: the shock waves would’ve moved across the entire assembly.

    Shooting at the biplanes was like shooting at a helium filled blimp. It just leaks.

    It wasn’t slowness… it was the snappy turns…

    BTW, the RN attacks were too close in for air-burst shells to time-off, either. Fuse design expected the opfor to be many thousands of feet away. The RN biplanes were leveling out less than a shell-second a way.

    ===========

    The British re-analyzed the Hood’s attack and concluded that her admiral a l m o s t pulled off the rapid closure required to get underneath Bismark’s plunging fire.

    Computer simulations put Hood mere seconds away from equalizing the contest.

    Hood would’ve been better off following a Fabian strategy. By staying just out of range, she would’ve frustrated any attempt to set Prince Eugen loose. Then, the RN could’ve brought up so many battleships that the entire German campaign would’ve sunk.

    Hood should’ve danced like a butterfly. But doctrine had her faking it as a true battleship.

    I wouldn’t have let even an Iowa fight the Bismark if I were commanding. (Unless after sundown) Instead, I’d have used a fleet action — aircraft included.

    But, that was the whole flaw in even building the Bismark. She was always going to be lost due to (Fabian) fuel oil denial — and massed (fleet) attack.

    Such reasoning also explains why the Tirpitz was stuck in Norway as a floating ‘fleet in being.’ If she ever sailed, it’d be a one-way trip only. For, one had to expect that the RN would send a flotilla of subs to her anchorage — to await her return.

    And, while at sea, every manner of torpedo carrying plane was sent across her path.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Toyota drops plan for widespread sales of electric car:

    Toyota drops plan for widespread sales of electric car: Admits it 'misread the market and the ability of still-emerging battery technology to meet consumer demands' Read the Full Article

    Guy who spearheaded Prius development: 'The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society's needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Back in 2009, Obama predicted that with the $5 billion he planned to spend on elctric cars there would be 1 million of them on the road by 2015.

      So far it's about 70,000 of them. Only 930,000 to go.

      .

      Delete
    2. Just wait til Israel or Government Motors invents Mat's Magic Battery.

      Delete
  19. ""I wanted to catch them to find out what did I do to deserve this?" said Brad to KVUE. "Why would you do this to another person and create such a situation where somebody could literally get killed? ... I thought I was aware of everything that was going on around me and this caught me 100 percent by surprise. Nothing to provoke the shooting.""

    It's been a while since I imagined was aware of everything that was going on around me.

    ReplyDelete
  20. 12. maineman

    "When a society has lost it's common sense, that society is lost.

    - Ronald Reagan
    "

    ReplyDelete
  21. uh, that was my reply to "Maineman"

    ReplyDelete
  22. Man, with those Ear Covers, Salt and Pepper, and those toned arms, I'm almost overcome by a man crush.

    ...not to mention the Levis, Nike T, and Leather Belt

    ReplyDelete
  23. ...and of course the shades to hide those lying eyes.

    Plus, he doesn't have his nostrils on prominent display.

    ...I wonder if the video has the Presidential Reverb on that Ash loves so much?

    ReplyDelete
  24. He's also always obsessed w/the welfare of OUR wives and children.

    Not.

    ReplyDelete
  25. If you were in your second and last term, would you still be campaigning?

    ReplyDelete
  26. .

    I liked this,

    Democracy is a journey. Your mileage may vary.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  27. We need a modern real-time digital on screen mileage display.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The Greatest

    This was an enlightening history lesson for me:

    I was not aware that a World Champ was prosecuted for transporting women accross state lines for illegal purposes.

    ...it was the Black Champs (white) wife.

    Wish I could hear all of Joe Louis's commentary.

    ...also did not know that he interrupted his career to join the War against Facism.

    ---

    25. Abbie Normal said:

    The Clinton camp seemed to have some brain power; the Obama camp seems populated by chuckleheads. Why is the latter in charge?”

    I replied:

    …that which cannot be mentioned:

    White Guilt

    ReplyDelete
  29. Even after the IPCC acknowledges extensive evidence for ... solar forcing beyond what they included in their models, they still make no attempt to account for this omission in their predictions. ... It's insane,

    he told FoxNews.com.

    It was interesting that Hefner said:

    "Violence is related to some things we can't change."

    ...like Climate Change, which she associates with Gun Violence.

    ReplyDelete
  30. That video has lots of great stuff in the first ten minutes, if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

    ...Like Liston pulling out a handgun in Los Vegas on a harrassing Cassius Clay and shooting it several times.

    Then shooting his own Suit to show it was loaded with blanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I won $10 on that fight from another kid but the dick never did pay me.

      Heck, I could have been on top of the world.

      .

      Delete
    2. If they weren't all dicks, I coulda been Champ.

      Delete
  31. .

    William Wordsworth was mentioned above by Ash for Doug.

    A year and a half ago I acommpanied my sister and daughter to see his grave. The only thing I remembered of him was the poem Daffodils from high school English. He did most of his writing in the Lake District and you could see where he got his inspiration. It's quite beautiful there.

    His grave is in a little churchyard and its surrounded by the graves of other family members in a little fenced in section. Its by a river and they have put in a nice garden. In the spring, the daffodils are in bloom.

    Wordsworth called the Lake District the most beautiful place on earth. One wonders what he would think of the constant stream of tourists walking past his grave.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ex-Farmer Bob will be buried in his Deere and forgotten.

      Delete
    2. Even he will not be surprised by the loneliness.

      Delete
  32. Is that a sweet face, or what?

    Sadly, Ali said she violated his Muslim Faith and was dispatched in less than a year.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Also did not know that Max Schmeling (spelling?) stood up against Hitler.

    ReplyDelete
  34. 29. wws

    damn – author of “American Sniper”, deadliest US sniper in Iraq, was killed today at a gun range, apparently by a deranged neighbor.

    http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/rough-creek-189536271.html

    the jihadis couldn’t take him down, but a crazy fellow veteran did. damn.

    ReplyDelete
  35. “Day by Day”

    31. Blast From the Past

    Caligula put his horse in the Senate. Obama puts a brace of horse’s asses in the Cabinet. Incitatus was probably a nobler beast that gave better service.

    Stop the Presses!
    See today’s “Day by Day” cartoon. Where our own Subotai Bahadur is quoted. Congratulations SB.

    ReplyDelete
  36. .

    While researchers from the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute for infection and immunity in society were developing a questionnaire to determine sexual risk behaviors in Australian prisons, forensic nurses told them about an odd phenomenon. In the last few years, they had seen several cases of male prisoners with skin infections on their genitals. These infections were a consequence of foreign bodies having been inserted under the skin of the penis...

    Her team's survey, which is the foundation of a recent study published in Plos One, found that almost 6 percent of male prisoners in correctional facilities in Queensland and New South Wales had a penile implant. Nearly three quarters of those implants had been inserted behind bars...

    "It's more common the younger you are, so it's probably increasing in incidence," said Basil Donovan the head of the Sexual Health Program at the UNSW's Kirby Institute, who was another author of the study...

    Donovan agrees with McVie's theory. "Probably what it shows more than anything is how incredibly boring prison is. You've got to do something that fills in the day."



    Can't we get these guys some comic books or something?

    http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/02/the-problem-with-diy-penis-implants/272766/

    .

    ReplyDelete
  37. Real TV War:

    Recently, he also appeared as an "operative" on the NBC reality show Stars Earn Stripes, in which "celebrities are challenged to execute complicated missions inspired by real military exercises."

    ReplyDelete
  38. TURNS out two heads really are better than one.
    .

    Mind Meld Best Way to Steer Space Ship


    Two people have successfully steered a virtual spacecraft by combining the power of their thoughts - and their efforts were far more accurate than one person acting alone. One day groups of people hooked up to brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) might work together to control complex robotic and telepresence systems, maybe even in space...

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729025.600-mindmeld-brain-power-is-best-for-steering-spaceships.html

    Can you imagine the possibilities with a guy with a multiple personality disorder like Bob?


    In a related story,

    Is Iran's space monkey a fake?

    In Israel, there was concern that Monday’s apparently successful rocket launch proved Iran had overcome crippling international sanctions to develop advanced technology that could be used to power nuclear warheads...

    But the fear has since subsided with the release of images from a press conference billed as a hero’s welcome for Iran’s first monkey astronaut...

    The monkey triumphantly presented to the nation’s media in his own silk tuxedo appeared markedly different to the creature that was picture strapped into a rocked prior to its launch into space.

    That animal had light fur and a distinctive red mole over its right eye. But the monkey that returned was dark haired and had no mole. It was carrying a copy of Tolkein's The Hobbit, was spouting what sounded like nonsense poetry, was wearing a t-shirt from an Idaho casino, and had a royal coachman good luck piece tucked into to the band of its helmet...


    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9842580/Is-Irans-space-monkey-a-fake.html

    .


    ReplyDelete
  39. Patterson looks about 6 inches shorter than Ali, and made it to 12 th round.

    Maybe if he had Ali's reach, he woulda won.

    Coulda.

    ReplyDelete
  40. He was also 30 years old, but maybe Clay was just toying w/him:

    "Patterson lost by technical knockout at the end of the 12th round, going into the fight with an injured sacro-iliac joint in a bout in which Ali was clearly dominant.[8] Ali called Patterson an "Uncle Tom" for refusing to call him Muhammad Ali (Patterson continued to call him Cassius Clay) and for this outspokenness against black Muslims.[9] Instead of scoring a quick knockout, Ali mocked, humiliated and punished Patterson throughout the fight"

    Patterson also had an injured sacro iliac.
    Age sucks.

    ReplyDelete
  41. At age 37, Patterson was stopped in the seventh round in a rematch with Muhammad Ali for the NABF Heavyweight title on September 20, 1972. The defeat proved to be Patterson's last fight, although there was never an announcement of retirement.

    Jeeze: Good Genes.

    ReplyDelete
  42. .

    Confirmation for Mel from the Triassic period.

    One of the oldest creatures inhabiting this world,

    Flies of the World Embrace Vegetarianism

    http://uanews.org/story/flies-of-the-world-embrace-vegetarianism

    .

    ReplyDelete
  43. In 1982 and 1983 he ran the Stockholm Marathon together with Ingemar Johansson.

    Patterson lived in New Paltz, New York for many years and was known as a true gentleman around town.

    His adopted son, Tracy Harris Patterson, was a world champion boxer in the 1990s and was trained by Floyd during part of his career. Floyd also trained Canadian heavyweight Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in 1992 for this fight with Greg Page.[12]

    The New Paltz High School football field was named "Floyd Patterson Field" in 1985.

    [edit] Death





    The grave of Floyd Patterson
    Floyd Patterson suffered from Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer and had been hospitalized for a week prior to his death. He died at home in New Paltz in 2006 at age 71. He is buried at New Paltz Rural Cemetery in New Paltz, Ulster County, New York. Patterson's demise was likely the result of Dementia pugilistica.[13]

    That's what'll get me after banging my head against the wall so much.

    ReplyDelete
  44. "It's easy to do anything in victory. It's in defeat that a man reveals himself."
    "They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most." (This quote was used in the tenth episode of the 2009 TV series, V.)
    "When you have millions of dollars, you have millions of friends."[14]
    On boxing: "It's like being in love with a woman. She can be unfaithful, she can be mean, she can be cruel, but it doesn't matter. If you love her, you want her, even though she can do you all kinds of harm. It's the same with me and boxing. It can do me all kinds of harm but I love it."

    ReplyDelete
  45. Patterson - Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Reach 71 in (180 cm)

    Ali - Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Reach 80 in (203 cm)

    9 inches!

    ReplyDelete
  46. .

    Latest immigration argument that has to be overcome, Obama want's any immigration compromise reached in the Senate to cover same-sex couples. Also wants Obamacare to cover the same.

    GOP expected to object.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  47. .

    Immigration reform, if it leads to full citzenship for current illegals is likely to costs hundreds of billions over the ten years of a budget process. This is because as citizens they would eventually qualify for Medicare, Medicaid, and/or Obamacare.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  48. Destruction wherever he goes.

    Meanwhile, the economy is tanking, which we all would have known before the election if there was a free press.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Obama's agenda as articulated in his inaugural speech,

      Immigration

      Gun Control

      Taxes

      Gay Rights

      Climate Change



      Not mentioned,

      The Economy

      Jobs

      Unemployment

      .

      Delete
  49. .

    10 Ways Liberal Education Fails Students -- and Society

    The title of this article is misleading in that it doesn't condemn liberal education per se but rather it condemns the basterdization of liberal principles that are foisted upon our youth by the faculty and institutions of learning in this country.

    Accordingly, the primary task of liberal education is to transmit knowledge and cultivate students’ ability to think for themselves. Indirectly, however, educators cannot help but shape character. When faculty perform their jobs properly, liberal education fosters above all the virtue of intellectual integrity, which involves respecting facts, honoring evidence, vigorously exploring arguments, and cherishing the inevitable and illuminating diversity of opinion in a free society.

    But when faculty abuse liberal education -- either by lazy neglect of basic pedagogical and scholarly responsibilities or by using the classroom to advance narrow professional interests or partisan opinions -- they corrupt their students’ character. And the nation suffers as colleges and universities send forth into the political world young citizens less capable of accurately weighing evidence, patiently considering alternative perspectives, and presenting arguments and counterarguments cogently...


    That's the Way You Do It

    .

    ReplyDelete
  50. BC

    "Let’s lighten up. Here’s a joke. The King of Saudi Arabia offered $50 million dollars to anyone who could make his horse laugh. Robert Mugabe and Keith Olbermann decided to give it a try. Olbermann told the horse joke after joke with his awesome comedic skills to no effect.

    Then dour Robert Mugabe whispered something in the horse’s ear, whereupon the steed fell to the ground laughing. When the horse had recovered it stood up again. Then Mugabe whispered yet another message and the horse broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

    After paying out the money the King of Saudi Arabia said, “you won the contest fair and square. But tell me, what did you whisper to the horse to make it laugh?”

    “I told it that Barack Obama was President of the United States.”

    “What did you say to make it cry?”

    “I told it that Hillary would be next President of the United States."

    ReplyDelete
  51. 35. . Andrew X

    "Why not call a blatant terrorist attack a mob scene, and jail an American citizen as part of the false narrative in doing so? Why not??

    Why stand with a Senator when on Thursday, the FBI launches a major investigation of him for sex with minors, when on Sunday, he can go on a big five Sunday “news” show, and not be asked one single word about it? Why not stand with him?? What’s the downside?

    Why not rack up the longest and highest unemployment numbers since the depression when you are going to be re-elected anyway? Why not?? Why not sell Obamacare with numbers and scenarios that have not the slightest bearing to reality, and then when when that reality hits, the media will never discuss it anyway, so why not do it??

    Why not ignore the law, and ignore the most fundamental duty of coming up with a real budget for spending the public’s money. It’s the law, they ignore the law, and no one cares!!!! So why not do it?? Why not??

    Blowback? What blowback? The political genuises of the democratic party (that is not sarcasm) have figured out a way to remove the blowback issue from the table, or worse, commit the crime and then truly and genuinely blame the people who have been warning against the crime for years…. and people will buy it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Senate GOP Arms The Brotherhood

    I’m done grumbling about how President Obama is empowering America’s enemies. After all, it is not just Obama. When it comes to abetting the Muslim Brotherhood, Republicans are right there with him.

    Not all of them, of course. This week, for example, Senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment that would have prohibited our government from transferring F-16 aircraft and Abrams tanks to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood–dominated government. This lunatic plan is not just an Obama initiative. It is also a GOP brainstorm — of a piece with 2011’s Libya debacle, in which Republican leaders cheered as Obama, upon consulting with the Arab League, ignored Congress and levied war on behalf of the very jihadists who, quite predictably, have since raided Qaddafi’s arsenal, besieged northern Africa, and massacred Americans in Benghazi.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Baby vs Kitten Wrestling Match

    Never had a cat like that.
    Baby would have been toast.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Aw, this was an extremely good post. Finding the time and actual effort to create a really good article… but
    what can I say… I procrastinate a lot and don't seem to get anything done.
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    ReplyDelete
  55. The car in front braked perfectly to get hit by a wheel.

    ReplyDelete
  56. "3) Who can deliver YouTube views for you?

    We can! Because…
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    Good that they emphasize and want to help you!

    ReplyDelete
  57. Posted @ BC

    We will soon have a Secretary of State who has his picture on Display in Hanoi for his service to the Regieme.

    And a SecDef who is endorsed by Iran.

    ---

    BREITBART

    Shotgun Obama

    ...be sure to checkout Deuce's photoshopped second picture.

    "The White House has released a picture purporting to show President Obama "skeet shooting" at Camp David. An activity he claims he does "all the time."

    The White House also warns all you mischievous internet types to not mess around with the picture:

    "This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”"

    ---

    Press conferences sound like a million unloaded guns going off:

    Who do we contact to have the click sound option checked "no" for the silent digital cameras?

    ...or must the press have ONLY Digital SLR's with mirrors?

    ---

    The very Presidential Reverb enabled on all Obama's Soundtracks is just fine, though.

    ---

    ReplyDelete
  58. ‘What difference ... does it make’ quip may thwart.."

    James Jay Carafano

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will soon become Citizen Clinton once more. She'll rake in huge speaking fees, juicy book deals, corporate board seats and dozens more honorary doctoral degrees. But none of that can ever wash away what happened at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

    Last year, on 9/11, Secretary Clinton finally got that "3 a.m. phone call." Her failure to answer leaves a permanent black mark on her record.

    Al-Qaida has made war on our State Department for over a decade -- since the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa. The department has had to learn how to defend its staff and facilities in combat zones from Iraq to Afghanistan. That background makes State's failure to address adequately the security risks in Libya all the more stunning.

    Secretary Clinton's blindness to the magnitude of the department's failure was on display in her recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

    "Was it because of a protest or is it because of guys out for a walk one night and they decide they go kill some Americans?" she asked rhetorically, before adding: "What difference, at this point, does it make?"

    It was like asking: "What's the difference between hitting a deer that bolts out in front of your car or running over some kids on a field trip because you're blind drunk?" One is an accident; the other is a catastrophic failure of judgment.

    The administration now acknowledges the assault in Benghazi was a deliberate, planned terrorist act. It is reasonable -- indeed, necessary -- to ask if State did everything reasonable to mitigate the risk.

    We know there was no shortage of funds or other resources. Senior State Department officials have repeatedly testified there was no problem there -- though some politicians continue to cry poverty on behalf of the administration.

    Clearly, the problem was the department's failure to plan adequately before the attack and respond adequately once it began.

    Seeing no difference between a riot and a raid also suggests Clinton doesn't understand the nature of the threat.

    "Islamist terrorists," wrote my colleague Middle East scholar Jim Phillips, "are motivated to kill Americans not because of emotional reactions to alleged slights such as the questionable video on Mohammed, but because they seek to seize power and impose their Islamist totalitarian ideology on other Muslims."

    ReplyDelete
  59. Refinery Blowup in Mexico

    (SF Bay area residents are used to having them about once every decade.)

    Pena Nieto cautioned against speculating over what caused the blast, and said authorities would be closely investigating.

    Thousands of people work at the Pemex headquarters, which includes a 54-story building that is nearly 700 feet tall.

    The explosion occurred in an annex building just to the east of the tower, Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade said.

    Officials evacuated the complex and operations will cease there until further notice, the company said.

    The state oil company's director, who was on a business trip in South Korea this week, said in a Twitter post that he would return to Mexico immediately.

    "We will get to the bottom of the causes in close coordination with the authorities," Pemex Director General Emilio Lozoya Austin said. "At this time, attending to the injured is the priority."

    Federal troops and rescue dogs were aiding in search efforts late Thursday night.

    As they combed through the rubble, a Pemex executive's cell phone rang, Rangel said.

    A man on the other end of the line said he was still trapped, and started to describe his location to rescuers.

    "Unfortunately, we lost communication with him," Rangel said.

    When they called back, his phone didn't ring.

    ReplyDelete
  60. "Islamist terrorists," wrote my colleague Middle East scholar Jim Phillips, "are motivated to kill Americans not because of emotional reactions to alleged slights such as the questionable video on Mohammed, but because they seek to seize power and impose their Islamist totalitarian ideology on other Muslims."

    Clinton just doesn't get that. Her testimony revealed a leader unapologetic for her failure to act or understand.

    Worse, she showed no real interest in learning from the incident. Such knowledge could help her department better adapt to the emerging threats in the region.

    But Clinton has disengaged herself from the Benghazi horror from the beginning. Immediately after the attack, the department surprised everyone by presenting a U.N. ambassador -- a post irrelevant to the events -- rather than the secretary herself as its official spokesperson for the tragedy. Later, and perhaps more shockingly, Clinton didn't even bother to testify before the Accountability Review Board she had commissioned to investigate the incident.

    When challenged on her actions and non-actions at the hearing, Clinton launched an emotional counterattack. But demonstrating empathy with the fallen can never make up for the avoidable failures that allowed them to fall. And after four months of distancing herself from the tragedy, Clinton's hearing histrionics rang hollow.

    Throughout this sorry saga, Clinton has demonstrated poor leadership. Taking "responsibility" for the attack means nothing without follow-up. It appears that the only thing she hopes to learn from the experience is that -- if you play nice with the press and with Congress -- you can suffer no consequences for abject failure.

    That said, the bumbling of Benghazi and the indifference toward learning from the disaster cannot be erased from reality.

    The ghosts of Benghazi will always follow Citizen Clinton -- even amid the future crowds cheering "Madam Secretary

    ReplyDelete
  61. Drudge:

    SUICIDE BOMBING AT U.S. EMBASSY...

    Eighth Embassy Attack During Clinton Reign...

    HILLARY: 'I've done what was possible to do'...

    'Some people refused to accept the facts'...

    Says Benghazi massacre, murdered ambassador won't affect run for presidency...

    ReplyDelete
  62. Big brother to log your drinking habits and waist size as GPs are forced to hand over confidential records

    (Presently, GP's can be disbared for disclosing personal info)

    Data includes weight, cholesterol, BMI, family health history and pulse rate
    Doctors will be forced to reveal alcohol consumption and smoking status

    Privacy campaigners described it as 'biggest data grab in NHS history'
    Part of new Health Service programme called Everyone Counts
    Officials insisted data will be anonymous and deleted after analysis

    GPs are to be forced to hand over confidential records on all their patients’ drinking habits, waist sizes and illnesses.

    The files will be stored in a giant information bank that privacy campaigners say represents the ‘biggest data grab in NHS history’.

    They warned the move would end patient confidentiality and hand personal information to third parties.

    ReplyDelete
  63. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Can you imagine the possibilities with a guy with a multiple personality disorder like Bob?

    No, they can't, they can't even begin to imagine. But it is the secret as to why we are so intellectually far superior.

    Hamdoon
    Buck
    Chief Many Coups
    Bob
    Me-me

    ReplyDelete
  65. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/01/cats-threat-wildlife-gareth-morgan

    Should domestic cats be eradicated?

    Save The Cats!

    Down with the vermin..

    ReplyDelete
  66. A Sin City Savior's Quest To Cure The Common Hangover

    An enterprising anesthesiologist, clad in black scrubs and armed with a magic IV, isn’t just making sure that the high-roller money that comes to Vegas stays in Vegas. He’s dedicated his life to the noble pursuit of pleasure without pain.

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/gregbeato/a-sin-city-saviors-quest-to-cure-the-common-hango


    Drink all night, IV in the morning.

    See: Hangover Heaven

    http://hangoverheaven.com/

    Why do I continually get the feeling Las Vegas offers exactly zero to our 'society'?

    They even have mobile treatment units for shut-ins like Quirk!

    Warning!: Article is quite long and will test the attention spans of most readers here who lack multiple personality disorders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Multiple Personality Deficit - MPD - is the technical name for this debilitating malady.

      The accompanying exuberant stupidity is known as Multiple Personality Deficit Syndrome - MPDS.

      Quirk shows some signs of possible progress in this regard. Often there are hints that his one may finally become two, or even three or four.

      This often shows up when he is trying to defraud someone financially, and is making a spiel.

      Delete
  67. Which makes me think of Rufus. He has been gone a long while.

    I hope Rufus is all right and just couldn't stand this place any longer.

    ReplyDelete
  68. He is all right and just could not stand the place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for that information.

      I hope he comes back.

      Delete
    2. The "place" is just a reflection of his own mind. Hopefully he will be able to come to terms with himself.

      Delete
    3. If only you were just a reflection in my own mind. I'd roll over and dream something else.

      :)

      There is a dream dreaming us, but who is dreaming the dreamer?

      Delete
    4. Scroll, boobie, scroll
      that's what I do to you.

      Delete
  69. How do we get an American politival party?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the problem, Jenny. We have American political parties. And they don't work. And a new one won't work either. We all know this down deep, but just don't want to admit it.

      The human race is ungovernable.

      Delete
    2. All non political people are happy in the same way, all political people are unhappy in their own way.

      Delete
    3. http://hotair.com/archives/2013/02/03/film-review-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey/

      The Hobbit


      I am going to go see this. While I really haven't read the books, at least not much, I have been reading a good book about Tolkien recently. His books are a long extended parable about providence, my author tells me. Putting them in the Judeo/Chritian tradition. Which is a happy thought, which is the only kind of thought I can stand any longer.

      Bilbo seems to have won out in the tunnels under the Misty Mountains when he let that other fellow live, etc.....

      One must overcome oneself, not the other.....

      Delete
  70. My wife just told me that Henry Ford put Edsel in charge for a while to scare the investors, drive their stock down, which he then bought up.

    ReplyDelete
  71. I just got tired of the abuse - on myself, and other non-crazy, right wing posters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :)

      Just put a little more oil on your feathers, you should be OK, but surely to abuse crazy right wing posters, that's fair game!

      I missed you Ruf, even if no one else did.

      :)

      Delete
    2. One approach to pollution is dilution.

      Help is needed to deal with the excrement of the b00bie and Dougshit show.






      Oh...







      :)

      Delete
  72. February 3, 2013
    Saving Us from Our Degenerate Selves
    Glenn Fairman

    Both Aristotle and Plato informed political philosophy of the turbulence of direct democracy and its tendency towards anarchy or tyranny as the form inevitably degenerated........The Founder's incarnation of human political liberty requires a capacity for self-rule, both of the soul and in the public square. Absent this, it is impossible for a regime to retain its Founding virtues; and without this it descends into timocracy, oligarchy, or tyranny until it relearns in a crucible of abject pain the fundamental lessons that were once acquired by others in blood, treasure, and humility.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/02/saving_us_from_our_degenerate_selves.html

    Brought to you by the black and white, rich and poor, male and female right wing crazies over at American Thinker who still possess a mind with some historical memory.

    WalMart time!
    Casino time!
    Superbowl time!

    out







    ReplyDelete
  73. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies


    1. You make a horrible swallowing noise in your throat, is all. A habit probably picked up at the BarberShop, before the Spitoon there.

      Now you can humbly apologize for this slander - and one of the ubiquitous anonymi (likely Butt-Boy Bob or one of his clones) - because I don't even remember that conversation, and I very rarely do anon. It has happened but rarely, and sometimes by mistake.

      Thought you'd slip in the name calling while I was away, eh?

      Alas, I am still waiting on the wife.

      All I can say is that you are one poor excuse for a Hobbit.

      the Stark when to my knowledge this avenging Anonymi has never brought up

      There! I hardly recall what the Stark incident was, there have been so many incidents, and would not have thought to mention it.

      As if I care what you have to say anyway, Gollum.

      Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the children's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings. Gollum was a Stoor Hobbit[1] of the River-folk, who lived near the Gladden Fields.[2] Originally known as Sméagol, he was corrupted by the One Ring and later named Gollum after his habit of making "a horrible swallowing noise in his throat".[3]

      In the Appendix F to The Lord of the Rings, the name Sméagol is said to be a "translation" of the actual Middle-earth name Trahald (having to do with the idea of "burrowing", and rendered with a name based on Old English smygel of similar meaning).

      The Ring, which Gollum referred to as "my precious" or "precious", extended his life far beyond natural limits. Under centuries of the Ring's influence, Gollum had come to love and hate the Ring, just as he loved and hated himself. Throughout the story, Gollum was torn between his lust for the Ring and his desire to be free of it. Bilbo Baggins found the Ring and took it for his own, and Gollum afterwards pursued it for the rest of his life.




      Delete
    2. .

      ... and I very rarely do anon. It has happened but rarely, and sometimes by mistake.

      The mind is a terrible thing to waste.



      Anonymous Sun Feb 03, 09:55:00 AM EST

      Can you imagine the possibilities with a guy with a multiple personality disorder like Bob?



      No, they can't, they can't even begin to imagine. But it is the secret as to why we are so intellectually far superior.

      Hamdoon
      Buck
      Chief Many Coups
      Bob
      Me-me


      .

      Delete
    3. .

      Jeez, Bob, you can't remember what you wrote a few hours ago.

      .

      Delete
    4. A major error there, I admit.

      I think I had two EB's up on my whatsitcalledbar, or something. That is my best excuse.

      Delete
  74. "But there is a more fundamental problem with the idea that guns actually protect the hearth and home. Guns rarely get used that way. In the 1990s, a team headed by Arthur Kellermann of Emory University looked at all injuries involving guns kept in the home in Memphis, Seattle and Galveston, Tex. They found that these weapons were fired far more often in accidents, criminal assaults, homicides or suicide attempts than in self-defense. For every instance in which a gun in the home was shot in self-defense, there were seven criminal assaults or homicides, four accidental shootings, and 11 attempted or successful suicides. "

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/dangerous-gun-myths.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. News for Homeland Security recommends using scissors

      New York Post

      Dept. of Homeland Security Recommends Bringing Scissors to a Gun Fight
      Voice of Russia ‎- 2 days ago
      Dept. of Homeland Security Recommends Bringing Scissors to a Gun ... hiding, and in the worst-case scenario, using scissors to fight off an ...

      Scissors v. Shooters
      Washington Guardian‎ - 3 hours ago

      Homeland Security has advice for confronting mass murders ...
      www.nypost.com/.../shear_bravery_beats_guns_feds_...
      4 days ago – He conceded that Homeland Security was correct in recommending that people use scissors to attack a gunman but only in a “last, worst-case ...
      Homeland Security Recommends Citizens Arm Themselves With ...
      www.usacarry.com › ... › Main Category › Deadly Force and The Law
      3 days ago – According to the so called 'Experts' within the Dept. of Homeland Security, All of us Taxpaying Citizen Sheeple should consider arming ...
      Workplace Getting Shot Up? Homeland Security ... - Before It's News
      beforeitsnews.com/.../workplace-getting-shot-up-homeland-security-...
      3 days ago – (Before It's News) You see ! Who needs the Second Amendment? Janet Napolitano has the solution. The department of Homeland Security ...
      Workplace Getting Shot Up? Homeland Security ... - We the People
      dancingczars.wordpress.com/.../workplace-getting-shot-up-homeland...
      3 days ago – Posts about Workplace Getting Shot Up? Homeland Security Recommends Protect Yourself With Scissors written by jcscuba.
      Tackle crazed gunmen with SCISSORS or just hide - Daily Mail
      www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Is-workplace-getting-shot-crazed-gunman-J...
      3 days ago – An instruction video released by Homeland Security tells people to arm themselves with a pair of scissors to fend off attack if a crazed gunman storms their office. ... The video recommends fleeing or finding a safe place to hide ...
      Homeland security recommends scissors - Page 5 - XDTalk Forums ...
      www.xdtalk.com › ... › XD Talk › XDTalk Chatter Box
      2 days ago – This is a discussion on Homeland security recommends scissors ... But, but...before using scissors it's recommending that you try an open hand ...
      Page 6‎ - Feb 1, 2013
      Page 3‎ - Jan 31, 2013
      Page 4‎ - Jan 31, 2013
      XDTalk Forums - Your XD/XD ...‎ - Jan 31, 2013

      More results from xdtalk.com »
      Homeland Security: Defend yourself against a shooter with scissors ...
      americaswatchtower.com/.../homeland-security-defend-yourself-agai...
      3 days ago – Homeland Security: Defend yourself against a shooter with scissors ... recommends trying to overpower the shooter with “whatever means are ...



      Go for it, Ash, and the ring of power be with thee. But use the rounded ended ones, so you don't hurt yourself.

      Delete
    2. I have spent a good part of my life waiting on my wife and daughter, but finally -

      out!

      Delete
    3. .

      Or, if you don't have scissors, throw a bottle at them. Just make sure it doesn't contain more than 1 oz of liquid.

      .

      Delete
  75. I'd been reading the Chris Kyle story, doug, but your news of his demise does change the tone.

    As to the USS Stark and the comparison to the USS Liberty, many of you may recall my Equiveleny Campaign.

    Now it is the supporters of Israel that are waging the same campaign.

    The 'Elitists' that scramble to find equivilency with the Arabs and Persians.

    Your story is a hoot, Q, excepting the US KIA in each incident..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I pulled the story a short while ago; evidently, not soon enough.

      I was still po'd at the guy who joined in on the argument I was having with WiO. I pulled it so as to avoid extending an argument that has already gone on for two days or more.

      .

      Delete
    2. And the apology to poor bobo for the slander and name calling is coming when, Gollum?

      Delete
    3. .

      Sorry, butt-boy, but I don't know this bobo person. Is that another one of your personas?

      As for the apology, how do I know it wasn't you? For that matter, how do you know it wasn't you? As noted a couple posts upstream, you don't even know who you are signed on as half the time.

      .

      Delete
  76. Are all of you going to be buried in the Deere, Hamdoon?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, we go our separate ways then, it's a division of consciousness sort of thing.


      Hamdoon

      Delete
  77. Rufus believes it is sinful to think that Obamacare will be anything less than paradise on Earth.
    True believer, indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There you go again setting up a strawman and puffing your chest as you knock it down.

      Delete
    2. A Socialist is a Socialist, not a Strawman.

      Canada and Sweden are turning back toward freedom and prosperity as the USA is stuck in a Socialist Death Spiral.

      Delete
    3. Banal generalities. Meaningless!

      Delete
    4. Specifically:
      Socialism never has worked, never will.
      Very specific generality that happens to be true.

      ...as are the individual specifics like Obamacare, Fracking, Canada, and Sweden.

      ...but in AshRufusTowne tm Obama can do no wrong.

      Banal generalities, indeed!

      Up yours!

      Delete
    5. A battery powered Socialist Ghetto.
      Utopia!

      Delete
    6. Social programs are in place and functioning successfully all around the world - even in the good ole USA

      Delete
    7. Yeah, debts on top of debts for our children to bear.

      Delete
    8. Specifically, Ash, how is a typical Hispanic family living in California's Central Valley making 20 - 40 thousand a year, or on welfare, supposed to be able to afford the cheapest Obamacare option costing over 20 thousand a year?

      Delete
    9. There are definitely problems with Obamacare! The main problem, from the vantage point of this rather uninformed observer, is that the legislation only deals with the demand side of the equation (it increases demand) while doing little on the supply side of the equation. I attribute this, primarily, to folk like you who view the world in black and white, dem or repub, free market or socialism. The health care legislation is a half step toward where in need go, an incremental step problably not even rising to a half.

      Delete
  78. I've decided to root for San Francisco though I don't know why. Don't even like the place anymore. It is west of the Mississippi, which helps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's what it once was, socially, and still is Geographically.

      Most beautiful city in the US, from what I've seen, although Honolulu is quite stunning in a different way.

      Delete
    2. You know me, big is usually bad.

      Sister was in Oakland. I admit, the area really is beautiful.

      Delete
    3. http://www.govandals.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=17100&ATCLID=206197160

      Iupati

      Delete
    4. When the San Francisco 49ers kick off against the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's Super Bowl (3:30 p.m. PT), the University of Idaho will be represented for the 1tth time by the 12th Vandal to play in the game. Guard Mike Iupati, a household name among Vandal football followers, has been a starter for the 49ers since he was the 17th overall selection in the 2010 draft. His climb to the highest level of football is chronicled by Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News.

      In making it to the Super Bowl, Iupati follows in the steps of such Vandal greats as Jerry Kramer (Super Bowls I and II), Reg Carolan (Super Bowl I), Ron Porter (Super bowls III and VIII), Eric Yarber (Super Bowl XXII), Richard Carey (Super Bowl XXV), Mark Schlereth (Super Bowls XXVI, XXXII and XXXIII), Marvin Washington (Super Bowl XXXIII), Jeff Robinson (XXXIV and XXXVI), Ryan Phillips (Super Bowl XXXV), Spencer Folou (Super Bowl XXXV) and Jake Scott (XLI).

      Delete
    5. "Mike Iupati"
      Sounds like a football name.
      What's his ethnicity?

      Delete
    6. Samoan, I think. 300+ pounds, if it is the guy I'm thinking of, taro eater.

      Delete
  79. Where my wife to be once lived, in SF, when I was in the Army.

    She was on the second floor, so no bars on the windows.

    She'd walk to work in the financial district.

    ReplyDelete
  80. That's the SF look.
    .......


    49ers look to be outgunned.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Rich Eisen predicted that if Kapernick made no mistakes, niners would win, if he did they wouldn't.

    Checking score and headline at SF Gate,
    ...looks like he did :-(

    ReplyDelete
  82. Somebody flipped the light switch to give the Niners time to regroup.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Damn!
    2 point game.
    Kapernick for POTUS.
    Cover the Whitehouse w/Black Christian Tatoos!

    ReplyDelete
  84. Colin Kaepernick 15 yard TD run (Randy Moss 2pt conversion attempt NO GOOD) 9:57
    Drive: 5 Plays, 76 Yards, 2:57

    Phooey

    ReplyDelete
  85. Iupati has played the whole game, no mistakes.

    ReplyDelete
  86. ...Randy Moss: illegitimate loser.

    And in his mind he thinks he is better than Jerry Rice, the all-time greatest.

    ReplyDelete
  87. SF Gate has a cool graphic of where the offensive team is.
    Ravens on the Niner's 45 :-(

    ReplyDelete
  88. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Iupati

    Big fucker, as we farmers say of Big Bud tractors.

    ReplyDelete
  89. 1st and ten on the 40 :-(

    ...my first riveting play by play account.

    ReplyDelete
  90. The best commercial of the night:

    Check Out AdZone: Ram Trucks: Farmer on Hulu.
    ( http://www.hulu.com/adzone/452839 )

    ReplyDelete
  91. 49ers ball on Baltimore 5
    2nd and 5

    ReplyDelete
  92. Ravens ball on own 8, 4th and 7...

    ReplyDelete
  93. Ravens ball on own 0, 4th and 7 :-)

    ReplyDelete
  94. They're screaming next door. Sounds bad.
    Suspense builds.
    TV off.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Last Play: Sam Koch kicks off to the SF18. Ted Ginn Jr. return for 32 yards to 50. Tackled by Josh Bynes.

    ReplyDelete
  96. One GD record breaking kickoff return for a TD!

    ReplyDelete
  97. My Vandie guy played well the whole game, so I go to bed happy.

    ReplyDelete
  98. "Michael Vick Has Spent Nearly $30 Million Since Bankruptcy"

    Obama the Presidential version of Michael Vick.

    ...probly abuses dogs too.

    Under Secret Service covers.

    ReplyDelete
  99. God made a farmer........and the farmer said:

    "Why me? Goddammit!"

    ReplyDelete
  100. You hear that, Quirk?

    On the 8th day........God made a farmer!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .


      On the 9th day..........He hit the reset button.


      .

      Delete
  101. Somebody that can plow straight.....and deep......and not cut corners.......

    Salesmen.....were the wayward sons.......that ran away to the city......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ......unapologetic slanderers.....and name callers.....

      Delete
  102. .

    Radio Liberty is in a funk.

    Another thing we can blame Hillary for. The Obama administration decide to change the format from hard-nosed news reporting over to fluff. Unlike people in the US, the Russians said, "Nyet!"

    That still leaves a larger problem. The United States is spending $750 million a year on international broadcasting, including more than $90 million on programs for Russia, former Soviet Bloc countries, Iran and Afghanistan through Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Yet as Hillary Clinton said in her final appearance before Congress as secretary of state, “we have abdicated the broadcasting arena. . . . Our Broadcasting Board of Governors is practically defunct in terms of its capacity to be able to tell a message around the world.”

    How could so much taxpayer money be spent so poorly? Part of the answer lies in the broadcasting board, made up of the secretary of state and eight political appointees confirmed by Congress who work only part time. Few are experts in public diplomacy or journalism, much less the countries where the broadcasting is focused. An inspector general’s report issued last month found that the board, riven by feuding, was trying to do the impossible by overseeing the day-to-day management of a large organization on a part-time basis...



    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-static-at-radio-free-europeradio-liberty/2013/02/03/1d8acfc2-6bcb-11e2-ada0-5ca5fa7ebe79_story.html

    .

    ReplyDelete
  103. #54 erc rodson

    I also think the original photo released by Obama was faked. However, I am given to understand [I don't shoot skeet or trap] that the specialized firearms used can have compensators about there. I tend to restrict my shooting to things either edible or dangerous; or preparations therefore. Clay birds being neither edible nor likely to ambush me, I will leave those with direct experience to speak as to whether the placement is accurate.

    I have posted elsewhere on this, and I’ll take part of it to list my doubts:


    1) After over a week of insisting that he “shot skeet”; now they are saying that they meant that he was trap shooting, because if you are shooting skeet you have to aim up. The picture showed him firing horizontally. Here is a drawing of how a skeet range is set up.
    http://tinyurl.com/butykqm

    A trap range can have a low flight path for some birds, but most will be rising. You have to lead above and ahead in the flight path.

    http://tinyurl.com/cyrbp6p

    Now either the White House [and maybe Obama himself] did not know what sport he was engaging in, or they were lying. And they doubled down on the mis-statement for a week.

    2) Obama’s posture and the position of the butt of the shotgun have already been noted. If he fired a full charge shotgun round in that position; he would look like he had been backhanded by Michelle with her left hand. And probably have his left arm in a sling, and likely would have landed on the orifice he speaks out of. I will say that in both sports, you are swinging to lead. This posture does not look like he was doing that. It is theoretically possible that the still was taken just as he swung to that position, but not likely. He looks as stiff as some of the Airfix toy soldiers I had when I was a kid.

    3) I mentioned “full charge”. Modern shotgun [and all firearm] rounds are loaded with what is referred to as smokeless powder. It burns faster and more completely than the old black powder [which I burn in multiples of a quarter pound at a time in muzzle loading cannons]. There is a lot less smoke at the muzzle of modern arms. Granting that once again, it may be an artifact of the still, but this still seems to have more smoke than normal. If you want to reduce the recoil for the shooter, or do a posed picture, you remove the shot from the round and possibly reduce the powder charge. Which limits the risk to the clay birds, drastically.

    In the absence of the shot in the round, the powder is not held in long enough to burn completely, so you get more visible smoke.

    Taken together, this has a high probability of being a posed publicity shot of the type that Kim Jong-Il would understand. http://tinyurl.com/axw7yxp

    That type of press release is fair game for any kind of visual or verbal ridicule applied.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my entire life I have never seen a shotgun with a blow hole on the top front end of the barrel. I have not seen all the shotguns there are, however.

      Delete
  104. Source Blevins reported to me today that North Koreans were among the dead at Fordow.


    Hamdoon

    ReplyDelete
  105. Keep on the case, Hamdoon.

    Your service is priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  106. When the guy did that kickoff return for a TD, it look like the Niners too aggresively ran twoard him.

    How hard would it be for the coach to leave one man back in niner territory, in case a guy broke loose.

    I do think they were outcoached in the Harbowl.

    ...and had two great plays stolen by the Refs.

    ...but who's complaining?

    It would only have shut up Terry Bradshaw's mouth forevermore about which was the greatest football city in history.

    ReplyDelete
  107. "toward"

    takes a rewrite after a couple of drinks.

    ReplyDelete
  108. I do think the brother Raven outcoached the Brother Niner.

    As Corolla says:

    "It'd be fun if they revealed their favorite son."

    For him and his twins, it's no contest:

    He'd adopt out his daughter in a heartbeat.

    ...although he'd describe it in coarser terms not appropriate for this forum of serious scholars and intellectual ladies and gentlemen.

    ReplyDelete
  109. 26. MachiasPrivateer

    It’s a Brave New World of (stupid or evil - D) women in the highest positions of government

    Michelle Obama
    Valerie Jarrett
    Hillary Clinton
    Susan Rice
    Dianne Feinstein
    Barbara Boxer

    The credo for the 21st Century?

    “Don’t confuse me with the facts.”

    ReplyDelete
  110. 26 Doug:

    I'd add Senator Patty Murray, from the state of Washington, who distinguished herself early on after 9-11 by educating us of all of the good works of al-Queda, or the Taliban.

    ...the memory fails, and it was bad enough going to Google for a spell check, and seeing her image for the first time. Yikes! Dykes.

    ...I'm just guessin, I'm no expert.

    ---

    Well, on the same page it says she's married w/2 kids, both Girls.

    Hope they're safe and sound, and glad I'm not the spouse.

    ---
    27. K2K:
    HOW did you learn that factoid about Hillary and Fellowes?

    ReplyDelete
  111. They should have tried a run behind Iupato at the end, couldn't have been any worse.

    ReplyDelete
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