Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach January 5, 2014 – 10:18 am

Gil Elvgre Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in the Once And Future Nation Of America, if you like bitter, historic cold, that is. This pinup is by Gil Elvgren, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Victory Girls Blog has TSA agents drunk on power
  2. Western Hero notes that justice is blind and stupid
  3. Wizbang notes Rand Paul suing Obama over NSA spying
  4. This ain’t Hell… has a good guy with a gun
  5. Doug Powers discusses Obama vs Nuns
  6. The People’s Cube was a the recipient of Facebook censorship
  7. The Other McCain features a competitive victimhood derby
  8. The Lonely Conservative notes Obama’s whiny weekly address
  9. The Last Tradition covers the big marijuana sales in Colorado
  10. The Last Refuge explains how NSA spying affects you
  11. The Daley Gator notes some wasted money by the DOJ
  12. Sister Toldjah has Obamacare follies, via vending machines
  13. Right Truth notes a man arrested for the knockout game, but not charged with a hate crime
  14. Rhymes With Right notes how screwed up Obamacare is
  15. And last, but not least, protein wisdom covers some feminists, noting that all penetration is now rape

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. (BTW, since someone asked, the reason I leave links for the previous week up (or you might see a *) is because they are place holders for later in the day or for next weeks. Easier than rewriting all the time. Also, the listing order has to do with how they are added over time, not how good a post is. I just copy and paste from the previous week, then edit. If you see one of the *’s, go ahead and check out the blog anyhow, see if there is an update. I cannot update with my Android during the day.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Posted in Patriotic Pinup | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Obama’s Post-American Smart Power Leads To Middle East Power Vacuum

By William Teach January 5, 2014 – 8:50 am

Unsurprisingly, this has led to an even stronger Islamist movement and a more open spread of the Islamists (It’s been a while since Islamists has been defined. The term covers the hardcores, those who are interested in jihad, in forcefully spreading a hardcore version of Islam, in Sharia law. And before any liberal claims “Islamaphobia!!!! the NY Times uses the term, as well)

(NY Times) The images of recent days have an eerie familiarity, as if the horrors of the past decade were being played back: masked gunmen recapturing the Iraqi cities of Falluja and Ramadi, where so many American soldiers died fighting them. Car bombs exploding amid the elegance of downtown Beirut. The charnel house of Syria’s worsening civil war.

But for all its echoes, the bloodshed that has engulfed Iraq, Lebanon and Syria in the past two weeks exposes something new and destabilizing: the emergence of a post-American Middle East in which no broker has the power, or the will, to contain the region’s sectarian hatreds.

Amid this vacuum, fanatical Islamists have flourished in both Iraq and Syria under the banner of Al Qaeda, as the two countries’ conflicts amplify each other and foster ever-deeper radicalism. Behind much of it is the bitter rivalry of two great oil powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rulers — claiming to represent Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively — cynically deploy a sectarian agenda that makes almost any sort of accommodation a heresy.

What we have is a delicate balance. The US has been the historical powerhouse across much of the world since the end of WWII, competing with the now defunct Soviet Union. Certainly some European nations played a part, particularly in the Middle East, but the US led the way. But, do we want lots and lots of bases across the world? Both Conservatives and Liberals can agree that the interference in countries around the world, including reducing bases, should occur, albeit for different reasons. However, like it or not, the United States is still the country so many turn to when guano hits the fan, as well as for attempted stability.

And the US has been somewhat absent or squishy in the Middle East under Barack Obama. From his wanting to run away in Iraq to refusing to take a stand during the Iranian Green uprising to his tepid and late response to the Arab Spring, to the baffling dealing with Egypt and Syria, to the mess regarding the “red lines” with Syria. Air strikes to nominally protect civilians in Libya but no Syria or other nations. Obama’s Smart Power seems to have no bearing on any doctrine, it’s more about off the cuff last minute academic decisions. In other words, it’s a mess.

Read: Obama’s Post-American Smart Power Leads To Middle East Power Vacuum »

Posted in Barry Obama, War On Terrorism | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

UK Guardian Fascist Wonders If Aussie Papers Should Give Platforms To Skeptics

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 5:42 pm

Lest you think I’m casually throwing around the word “fascist”, Progressives are, at their very core, part of the Fascist movement. Jonah Goldberg referred to them as “nice fascists” in his book Liberal Fascism. And Warmism has Progressivism at its very roots. And, for all their high-minded discourse about wanting debate and free speech, they Do Not like people being allowed to disagree with them, and do everything they can to Shut Debate Down. Here’s yet another example, as Warmist movement to shut down debate in the media grows. This is Alex White at the UK Guardian

Should Australian newspapers publish climate change denialist opinion pieces?

Should Australian newspapers, like Fairfax, publish opinion pieces that deny or seek to cast doubt on man-made global warming?

Obviously, you won’t be surprised that Mr. White leans towards the position that papers should ban any diverging viewpoints on “climate change”, like has happened at the LA Times, Reddit science, and a few other outlets. White is discussing an op-ed in the The Age by Skeptic John MacLean, and doesn’t seem to like that MacLean was given a platform. Progressives really hate that. White ends with

Is the responsibility of major media publishers on honesty, accuracy and objectivity?

That seems to be the view of the L.A. Times, and of Reddit.

If that was really the case, every media outlet would stop publishing the views of Warmists, who live in an alternate reality where unicorns=science.

This comes via Bishop Hill, which writes

Guardian Eco is, yet again, trying to set out its stall as the new home for totalitarianism in the international media, in an article questioning whether things would be a whole lot better if we didn’t have freedom of the press any longer.

BH also notes that we should expect more of this, as professional journalists are replaced with activists.

Read: UK Guardian Fascist Wonders If Aussie Papers Should Give Platforms To Skeptics »

Posted in Global Warming, Liberal World | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Don’t Forget, De Facto Ban On 60 and 40 Watt Incandescent Bulbs Starts This Year

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 1:25 pm

Remember, pot is legal in Colorado, but certain lightbulbs aren’t

(Business Insider) Soon you won’t have much of a choice than to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs — the government ban on the production of 40- and 60-watt incandescent bulbs has gone into effect for the new year.

These lightbulbs account for more than half of the lightbulbs purchased in the U.S., according to Sustainable Business. The government has already phased out 75- and 100-watt incandescent bulbs.

It’s not really a “ban”, so much as legislation signed by President Bush (thanks, George!!!!!) that mandates energy efficiency specifications. Which means that most incandescents cannot be produced to meet those specifications, not without making them really, really expensive. KVAL puts it succinctly when it comes to all the different types of bulbs

And if you don’t prefer that choice? Too bad.

These incandescents were warmer and used more energy, so you will be made to comply. Cause Climate Change. CFLs are greener or something. And healthier! Except for all that mercury. Which will end up in landfills. Soaking into the land.

Read: Don’t Forget, De Facto Ban On 60 and 40 Watt Incandescent Bulbs Starts This Year »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible freezing cold water inundating the biosphere because someone drove a fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Director Blue, with a post on Democrat Logic.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Al Qaeda Captures Fallujah, Proclaims It An Islamic State

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 8:39 am

It’s a good thing “Bin Laden is dead and Al Qaeda is on the run“. Otherwise I’d be worried about the spread of Islamists and al Qaeda specifically

(Washington Post) A rejuvenated al-Qaeda-affiliated force asserted control over the western Iraqi city of Fallujah on Friday, raising its flag over government buildings and declaring an Islamic state in one of the most crucial areas that U.S. troops fought to pacify before withdrawing from Iraq two years ago.

The capture of Fallujah came amid an explosion of violence across the western desert province of Anbar in which local tribes, Iraqi security forces and al-Qaeda-affiliated militants have been fighting one another for days in a confusingly chaotic three-way war. (snip)

“At the moment, there is no presence of the Iraqi state in Fallujah,” said a local journalist who asked not to be named because he fears for his safety. “The police and the army have abandoned the city, al-Qaeda has taken down all the Iraqi flags and burned them, and it has raised its own flag on all the buildings.”

Al Qaeda affiliated groups, some just self-styled, have been spreading across the Middle East, Asia, and northern Africa. One of the fallacies coming from the groupthink of liberals ever since the US invaded Afghanistan post-9/11 and liberals turned on President Bush was that US forces should have just targeted Osama, because the war against al Qaeda would be over once he was dead. This was the Queen Bee Theory, where if you kill the queen bee, the hive dies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. It’s a great moral victory that Osama is dead. I have, and I will, give Obama props for killing him, even with all the controversy surrounding the mission and Obama’s role. Hey, he’s POTUS.

But killing Osama doesn’t end al Qaeda. It did fragment it, something which was happening going back to when he was on the run. The spread of Islamists, both the violent and non-violent types, has been going on for decades, it will continue to go on, since they “breed” like cockroaches, and too many refuse to believe that Islamists believe what they say regarding their aspirations.

Read: Al Qaeda Captures Fallujah, Proclaims It An Islamic State »

Posted in War On Terrorism | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Bundle Up: Record Breaking Global Warming Cold On The Way

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 8:16 am

Following on the heels of 1,000 new cold records set around Thanksgiving, and 2,000 cold and snow records during the early part of December, and yet another big snowstorm hitting the North East, and a big blast of cold on Thursday through Friday, well, “climate change” will do its thing again, all because you, yes, you who are reading this, all because you drove a fossil fueled vehicle and refused to turn the heat down a few degrees and put greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

(Fox News) As much of the country digs out from a powerful winter storm that buried parts of the Northeast, tundra-like temperatures are poised to deliver a rare and potentially dangerous blow to the Midwest, with forecasters predicting a near-record or historic cold outbreak.

The “polar vortex,” as one meteorologist calls it, is expected to send cold air piled up at the North Pole down to the U.S., funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast and driving temperatures below freezing for most of the nation.

Forecasters expect a weekend warm-up in some areas before temperatures plunge again, sending wind chill temperatures in areas in North Dakota and Minnesota to minus 50 degrees by Saturday night.

Those states are notorious for their cold winters, but states in the Mid-Atlantic and New England can also expect wind chill temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees.

WRAL here in Raleigh is calling for a high of 24F on Tuesday. The normal high is 49F. In Minnesota they have cancelled school for Monday for the first time in 17 years. In Wisconsin, schools in Milwaukee and Madison are also cancelled for Monday, and you can bet that other school systems will follow along. A meteorologist called the temperatures “life-threatening”.

Green Bay, Wisconsin, set a new low record of -18F, beating the previous of -17 set in 1979. That year was only a few years removed from Climatologists wondering if a new ice age was coming. The game between Green Bay and San Francisco may be the coldest game ever played.

There’s also another big blast of global warming created snow on the way, hitting the Midwest, though it is projected to be mostly a rain event when it makes it to the East coast.

What Warmists will tell you is that this is fully backed by the “theory” of “climate change”, where the super crazy melting Arctic is melting and sending that melted cold ice on a southern route in the form of cold and snow. Because, let’s face it, these people are delusional and should be put on a regimen of Thorazine, Valium, and, really, they should bring back Quaaludes.

PS: Just as always, neither cold weather, snow, or cold winters/seasons proves the Earth is entering a cooling period of any strength. Nor does it disprove it. Nor does it mean the Earth won’t further warm. It simply highlights that a) the natural forces of the Earth do what they want, and b) that man-induced climate change is mule fritters, because they claimed, using their computer models and wishful thinking, that this shouldn’t happen. Until it did, then they had to scramble for an excuse.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Bundle Up: Record Breaking Global Warming Cold On The Way »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

Surprise: Obamacare Not Able To Handle Life Changes

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 2:10 pm

Color me shocked!

(WRAL) You were patient with the government’s kooky website, and now you have your health insurance card. That’s good, since your family is expecting a new baby.

But you may have jump through more hoops to get the child formally added to your policy. The Obama administration confirms there is no quick and easy way for consumers to update their coverage under the new health law for the birth of a baby and other common life changes.

With regular private insurance, parents just notify the health plan. Insurers still must cover new babies, officials say, but parents will also have to contact the government at some point later.

For now, the HealthCare.gov website can’t handle new baby updates, along with a list of other life changes including marriage and divorce, a death in the family, a new job or a change in income, even moving to a different community.

After spending lots and lots of time trying to get the high deductible insurance, people will have to spend lots and lots of time getting that super responsive federal government to understand and recognize life changes.

Oh, and there are lots more snags, as The Lonely Conservative points out.

Read: Surprise: Obamacare Not Able To Handle Life Changes »

Posted in Healthcare | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible resource sucking dog, causing major snow storms, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on Syria.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Ever Notice That Those Calling For Tolerance Are Rather Intolerant Themselves?

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 10:37 am

One of the big stories making the rounds is about Chris Kluwe calling Minnesota Vikings coaches names

I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot

Hello. My name is Chris Kluwe, and for eight years I was the punter for the Minnesota Vikings. In May 2013, the Vikings released me from the team. At the time, quite a few people asked me if I thought it was because of my recent activism for same-sex marriage rights, and I was very careful in how I answered the question. My answer, verbatim, was always, “I honestly don’t know, because I’m not in those meetings with the coaches and administrative people.”

This is a true answer. I honestly don’t know if my activism was the reason I got fired.

However, I’m pretty confident it was.

Or, it could be that the Vikes were able to replace him with a younger, cheaper punter. And then was beat out in Raiders camp by a better punter. Sometimes business decisions are just business decisions. Especially with punters, who are canned and replaced all the time. Oh, and he had a knee problem requiring surgery.

But, apparently Leslie Frazier, the head coach (since canned himself…hey, he’s Black, I bet it’s racism…or, that the Vikes were one of the worst teams out there) told him to please give the gay talk a rest. What Kluwe leaves out is that coaches would prefer to have less conflict and controversy in the clubhouse, because, you know, winning.

Anyway, the whole story is one sided, of course, so it would be interesting to hear from Leslie Frazier and the other Vikings coaches for their point of view.

“It’s my belief, based on everything that happened over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn’t agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter,” Kluwe wrote, adding that he hoped Priefer never coaches in the NFL or “ideally” at any level of football. He also said he can still compete in the league, but that it’s clear “no matter how much I want to prove I can play, I will no longer punt in the NFL, especially now that I’ve written this account.”

Or, it could be that people have different views on homosexuality. On one hand we’re told that We Must Be Tolerant of the homosexual POV, on the other the same people telling us We Must Be Tolerant are completely intolerant of the viewpoints of other people. This is typical Progressivism: tolerance is a one way street. This goes back to Erik Erickson’s multiple You Will Be Made To Care posts. If you disagree with the Proscribed and Approved Liberal Dogma, you will be destroyed. Ask the silly little woman who made the stupid Twitter joke about not getting AIDS cause she’s white. The long knives come out.

Even if Frazier and the other Vikings staff respond, they will not be believed. But it wouldn’t matter what they say, because they are Not Allowed To Have Their Own Opinions That Are Different. Look through the links at the Memeorandum thread, in the stories and comments. There’s all sorts of talk about hate and homophobia and what bad people Frazier, his staff, and anyone who disagrees with the homosexual lifestyle are. All sorts of nasty names are being thrown about.

Liberals are the most intolerant people around. Let me wrap up what could become a massive post by asking a question: why should I be tolerant of you if you’re not tolerant of me?

Read: Ever Notice That Those Calling For Tolerance Are Rather Intolerant Themselves? »

Posted in Musings | 5 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove