Friday, 20 February 2009

In Passing

Change - If you can believe it


Quoted at Gateway Pundit

“I would like to say tonight that if the American people will let the Republicans back in charge, the 60% of this bill that won't be spent until after the next election, we'll cut it off and let it go to the Americans.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Hannity Show
February 19, 2009
Okay, that accounts for Rep.Gohmert.  But can we trust the RINOs?

LATER:  In the comments:
If the Republicans hadn’t been making and breaking promises like this since 1996, I’d feel optimistic.  The Republicans need to show us something - not just make empty promises to try to win back voters they have been p1$$1ng on for at least 8 years.
Exactly.

Related:  Carly Fiorina????

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In Passing

Off the air (cont'd)


Og closes Neanderpundit, promises direct action in the future:

I’m sick to death of blogdrama and whiney pussy trolls and fucktards.  I’m tired of engaging whiny pussies online, only to have them run off unscathed.  I deal with those people differently in person, and that's how I will engage fucktards from now on, and they will not be pleased with the result.
Please Sir!  Can I have the popcorn concession?

Later:  Looks like everybody’s getting settled in.

Previously.

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Clipfile

Clipfile - February 20, 2009

“You aren’t a citizen in the eyes of the governing class, you are simply either a dependent of the state or a revenue stream.” - DrewM.

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Wednesday, 18 February 2009

In Passing

“When Vice President Biden and I stand naked in the reflecting pool and chirp like birds.”


I’d put this one in the “consider the source” category:

...the White House is looking to install a small video or computer screen into the podium used by the president for press conferences and events in the White House.  “It would make it easier for the comms guys to pass along information without being obvious about it,” says [an unnamed former communications] adviser.

The screen would indicate whom to call on, seat placement for journalists, pass along notes or points to hit, and so forth, says the adviser. - American Spectator “Washington Prowler”
True or not, the idea raises some amusing possibilities:
“Mr. President, when will we see the end to this recession?”...

“Uh, uh,” ... “When Vice President Biden and I stand naked in the reflecting pool and chirp like birds.  Hey, that can’t be right.  Rahm, are you sure that’s what I’m supposed to say?”


Via:  Flopping Aces  (who don’t get it quite right, as the Prowler item mentions a monitor only.)

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Tuesday, 17 February 2009

In Passing

SFX: “crickets”


Yeah, I know it’s bad form to jack somebody up with “Hey, why didn’t you blog about <insert pet issue here>.”

So let me simply note my surprise to discover that there seems to be no mention whatever[1] of the CPSIA lead-in-children’s-books fiasco at Tor Books editors Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Haydn’s literary salon, Making Light, a site where I’ve enjoyed innumerable “favorite books” threads, and also discussions like this one.

Can’t believe they haven’t heard about it; don’t want to believe that the silence has anything to do with their politics.

-----

[1]  Methodology:   Scanned the January and February archives, then used Google search (which is also Making Light’s searchbar).  Found no instances of “CPSIA,” 289 instances of “children's books” (with nothing relevant in the first 60), and 3,870 matches of “lead” (with nothing relevant in the first 50).

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In Passing

The consequences of sanctuaries


Wall Street Journal:

A suspected U.S. missile strike[1] killed more than two dozen Taliban militants in Pakistan, while separately authorities announced they will impose Islamic law across a wide swath of the northwest as part of a peace deal with one of the group's factions.
...[omit 3 paragraphs]...
The decision by the North West Frontier Province to enact Islamic law, known as shariah, in the Malakand region means yielding to a major demand of the Taliban fighting in Swat.

The move came after peace talks with Sufi Mohammed, a Taliban spiritual leader, said Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the province's chief minister.

He played down the change, saying it only meant enforcing existing laws and added that the 12,000 soldiers who have been fighting in Swat would now go on “reactive mode.”
...
The Taliban already holds sway over much of the region and has imposed Islamic law in the areas it controls.  It has begun reshaping life, shuttering or destroying schools for girls, pressing women to remain indoors and forcing men to grow beards, and closing movie theaters and CD stores.  It has beheaded those caught violating its strict code.

So what we have here is Pakistan’s government effectively admitting that is has no authority in the Swat Valley region, which lies adjacent to, but is not part of, the “semi-autonomous tribal areas” where Talaban/Al Quada activity has been a problem in the past.  Now the cancer of shariah, with its mysogyny and atrocities, spreads to another part of that world.  Shades of 2000!

And yet another “success” of the Bush administration’s policy of tiptoeing around the sensibilities of the Pakistanis in particular (and the Muslims in general) by permitting Islamist sanctuaries to continue to exist within Pakistan’s territory.

Leaving the question for President Obama: Will it be “deal with ’em now,” or “deal with ’em later:”  Will you take action to suppress the spreading Taliban influence (despite Pakistan’s feigned(?) protests), or wait until the next group of Taliban-trained terrorists comes out of the ’stans?


Elsewhere:

-----
[1]  Noted an interesting variation between the hard copy and what’s currently on line.  The print version (central edition, page A-8) carries the headline: “U.S. Missle Kills Taliban Militants...,” and its lead paragraph omits the equivocation “suspected.”

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Linkage

Busy weekend



Previously.

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Monday, 16 February 2009

Linkage

Answer: “In the world of Hope and Change, you’ll take your cheese and LIKE IT!”


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Clipfile

Clipfile - February 16, 2009

“Just as you fix your economy by letting bad banks and other businesses fail, so the capital can be freed up for new, better replacements, you fix your political economy by letting bad politicians fail, so that your own political capital can be deployed to better politicians.  What is the difference between keeping a zombie bank in business because it is ‘your’ zombie bank, and keeping a zombie politician like Arlen Specter in business because he is ‘your’ zombie politician?” - Bill Quick

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Rants

Government orders book burnings- Nobody cares


As Our Masters in Washington decree:

...the federal government has now advised that children’s books published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or distribute.  Merchants, thrift stores, and booksellers may be at risk if they sell older volumes, or even give them away, without first subjecting them to testing—at prohibitive expense.  Many used-book sellers, consignment stores, Goodwill outlets, and the like have accordingly begun to refuse new donations of pre-1985 volumes, yank existing ones off their shelves, and in some cases discard them en masse.

The problem is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), passed by Congress last summer after the panic over lead paint on toys from China...  Penalties under the law are strict and can include $100,000 fines and prison time, regardless of whether any child is harmed.
...
A commenter at Etsy, the large handicrafts and vintage-goods site, observed how things worked at one store:
I just came back from my local thrift store with tears in my eyes! I watched as boxes and boxes of children’s books were thrown into the garbage!  Today was the deadline and I just can’t believe it!  Every book they had on the shelves prior to 1985 was destroyed!  I managed to grab a 1967 edition of “The Outsiders” from the top of the box, but so many!
Congress passes a poorly-drafted law, a clueless president (yeah, Bush II) signs it, and here we are.  Can you say McCain-Feingold Again?

No. Let’s NOT give ’em the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s call this one more step in the liberal fascists’ plan to cut our children off from their history.

Because you can bet that the usual suspects will fight tooth-and-nail against any attempt to stop this.  (And that assumes there’s anyone left in Congress with enough brains and balls to try.)  Just watch.

(Yeah, I’m furious.  Can you tell yet?)

Elsewhere (added 090217 18:47):

Via: Ace

Previously.

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