HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Blaming Bush

Read Abe Greenwald's column, Obama’s Year of Living Blamelessly, in which he predicts that "Obama will find that he’s gone to the Blame Bush well one too many times."

X(ray) Marks The Spot

It was announced today that Amsterdam's airport will start using full body scans to thwart future plane-bombers. But won't terrorists simply avoid using this airport and go through one with less stringent mesaures? Also, why would any passengers protest the "lack of privacy" resulting from these scans? If it comes to choosing between a body scan and a body bag, the choice is obvious.

Grand Rounds

Visit Grand Rounds: Vol.6, No.14, stat! It's hosted by Dr. Ottematic, and it's the last one of 2009.

Terrorism Denial

I wanted to kick in the television when Alan Colmes defended the "rights" of the isolated extremist Abdulmutallab to a civilian trial. Jennifer Rubin at Contentions describes the terrorist denial that never ends:

"When the Obama administration flacks tell us this was only an 'attempt' or that it was 'foiled,' they should tell that to the passengers on that flight and to their loved ones. The Obama team is now seemingly in the business of defining terrorism downward. We are supposed to celebrate and think that the 'system worked' because 300 poor souls were traumatized rather than incinerated on Christmas Day."

and

"The desire to not believe there are jihadist fanatics determined to kill us — organized in multiple international venues, not amenable to reason or persuasion, and only stoppable if captured or killed — is so intense that it still ensnares elite sophisticates and those who are charged with keeping us safe."

Around The JBlogosphere

Take a tour of the jblogosphere with your guide, Soccer Dad!

Cash for Clunkers

I get so angry when I read about irresponsible parasites like these!

"A mother and father with an incredible 14 kids who prove Britain's benefits system has gone bonkers, showering them with a whopping tax-free £36,847 (US$58,815) a year in handouts. Pregnant Dawn and Sean Cain's huge family, aged 21 years to 19 months, have just enjoyed a very merry Christmas, with every mouthful of their turkey dinner, and every present stuffed under their tree, paid for by taxpayers. He and wife Dawn admit their New Year's resolution is never to find work, because no job they'd get in Britain's recession-hit economy will come close to paying the same."

Why should taxpayers support such leeches?

Tweeting About Iran

Here's a great tweet about the latest demonstrations in Iran:

"A revolution is happening in Iran and only the blogs are covering it. If only someone in Iran had slept with Tiger. #frontpagenews"

Isn't that the truth!

The Year's Worst Reporting

Make sure you read the Media Research Center's Best Notable Quotables of 2009, the 22nd annual awards for the year's worst reporting. Categories include The Coronation of the Messiah Award for Fawning Inaugural Coverage; The Obamagasm Award for Seeing Coolness In Everything Obama Does; The Barbra Streisand Political IQ Award for Celebrity Vapidity; and the Damn Those Conservatives Award.

Beijing Bailout

The clever people at The People's Cube have created a parody that cuts a bit too close to the truth for my liking: "China Says U.S. Too Big To Fail, Offers Obama Bailout."

Year in Review

Here's Dave Barry's annual year in review. Meanwhile, 80-year old gossip columnist Liz Smith is referring to 2009 as the Year of the Bimbo.

Watcher's Council Winners

Visit Soccer Dad and check out the latest Watcher's Council winners.

It's Terrorism, Stupid!

These aren't "incidents" or "man-caused disasters". These are acts of terrorism, pure and simple. That wretched Janet Napolitano should resign.

Shoebomber II

Congratulations to the heroes on Delta Flight 253, who thwarted a terrorist bombing. And shame on our politically correct media which, as with the Fort Hood terrorist, has resisted calling this a terrorist attack.

Jimmy Carter Loves Jews!

I don't believe him, and I don't trust him.

Just Say No to Obamacare

I agree wholeheartedly with this reaction to Obamacare.

"...this American knows there is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that allows the federal government to force me to purchase something I don’t want, need or agree with. Call me uncompassionate, but as a matter of principle, I refuse to pay for some-else’s abortion, botox treatment or transgender surgery. And I refuse to let the government impose an unconstitutional mandate on me..... I’m tired of being patronized by moral hucksters who pander to the lowest among us as they use my money to buy votes from deadbeats. I’m tired of being lied to. I’m tired of having my voice ignored. I’m tired of having my money used to support causes with which I disagree. I’ve had enough. This is my line in the sand. I vow I will not allow one cent of my hard earned money to be used to further this socialist redistribution scheme. I refuse to participate. I will not be forced to pay for anything to do with this fraudulent bill. And I refuse to pay any fines that might be imposed. And taking a cue from the Democrats, I officially declare this debate over."

Jolly Old Saint Nick

From Metafilter, here's a lovely story about Luxemberg residents' gratitude to the Americans -- and to the Saint Nicholas -- who helped them during WW2.

Oil's Well in Israel!

Yid With Lid has some very good news from Israel.

HAPPY HOCHMAS!

Today consists of Chinese food and remembering my grandfather Louis Hoch, born on December 25, 1900.

Vote for Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of 2009!

Cast your vote for the Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of 2009! I voted for the case of the Holocaust denier who sued the Auschwitz survivor, but that's only in third place so far.

Travesty of the Day (Besides the Obamacare Vote)

I heard on ESPN Radio this morning that dog-killer Michael Vick -- MICHAEL VICK! -- has won the Ed Block Courage Award:

"The Ed Block Courage Award recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication. He is also a community role model. With this honor, he enters into an association which contrasts his fierce profession by becoming a major component of the Courage House National Support Network for Kids. He becomes an Ambassador of Courage for victims of abuse, violence and neglect."

Excuse me, but didn't Michael Vick create victims of abuse, violence, and neglect??
Make sure you read this Phil Sheridan column, in which he contrasts Michael Vick with other winners of this award. He writes,

"It is the players who vote, and the Eagles players selected Michael Vick.
Not Jeremiah Trotter, who came out of retirement, accepted whatever role the coaches gave him and worked his way back into the starting lineup.
Not Todd Herremans, who has played remarkably at both guard and left tackle after being forced to use a little cart under his left leg after knee surgery in September.
Not Brian Westbrook, who had surgeries on his knee and ankle in the off-season and is trying to return after two concussions in one month.
Not Antonio Dixon, a long-shot undrafted free agent defensive lineman who was homeless as a child.
No. The Eagles chose to recognize Vick for 'what he's been through,' as head coach Andy Reid put it."

**Sigh**

No More Jefferson Smiths

I saw "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" on TV for the umpteenth time, and in this article Michael Goodwin mourns the lack of such decent men.

"The health-care debacle alone would make a classic Capra morality tale. The naked vote-buying that enabled Reid to get 60 was the very sort of insider corruption the three-time Oscar-winner despised. His reel heroes, including Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, would be denouncing the bill as crooked and stacked against honest, ordinary Americans."

The Nightmare That is Obamacare

At American Thinker, Wendi Lynn G. explains "why the 'angry mob' is angry":

"We're justly and increasingly angry because our reps not only refuse to hear us, but they also chastise us for wanting to be heard. How else would they expect us to react when we feel so helpless and hopeless? No matter what we want, say, or do, our government is going to force us to eat a meal we never ordered. In addition, we keep saying, 'no, we don't want this', but they keep putting affirmations in our mouths and proceeding with their radical agenda anyway. We are not enjoying the governmental rape of our country. We said 'no,' and 'no" means 'no' in every language. Why doesn't this matter? Every poll reflects the president's rapidly declining approval rating -- for good reason. And still, Robert Gibbs flippantly dismisses it. How are 'we the people' supposed to feel? Certainly we do not feel happy, or even just mildly upset, about being disregarded. Far-left ideologues who supposedly espouse 'compassionate' causes have no compassion for how we feel, nor do they have a clue that we are an angry mob of their own creation."

Francine Prose + Anne Frank

I'm reading "Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife" by Francine Prose, and I came across this beautiful section of writing on pages 68-69. She is describing the arrest of the residents of the hidden annex, and how close the world came to never seeing the diary at all. It had been kept in a briefcase...

"But now the briefcase was being put to a different use. Silberbauer dumped out the papers, along with some notebooks, and handed the satchel to his colleagues to stuff with jewels and cash.
The details of the briefcase could have come from one of those fairy tales that counsel reflection, patience, morality -- lest one wind up like the thoughtless, greedy man or woman (usually the wife) who mistakes the rhinestones for diamonds or cooks the magic fish for dinner. Eventually, Silberbauer realized he'd filled the briefcase with pasteboard and scattered rubies across the attic floor.
But how could he have imagined that what he had discarded --loose sheets of paper, exercise books -- was not only a work of literary genius, not only a fortune in disguise, not only a record of the times in which he and its author lived, but a piece of evidence that would lead to the exposure of his role in the Nazis' war against the Jews, even as so many like him slipped back into their old lives and kept up their furniture payments?
There was no way he could have known what the briefcase contained. How could anyone have suspected that a masterpiece existed between the checked cloth covers of a young girl's diary?"

Grand Rounds

The doctor will see you now! Grand Rounds 6.13 - Coming Together is up at Teen Health 411.

If The Mainstream Media Covered Christ's Birth...

Here's how the mainstream media would have covered the birth of Christ. (click the image to enlarge it)

Banished Words

Lake Superior State University offers its annual list of banished words, which includes the annoying "green", "carbon footprint", and "staycation". (Via Interesting Pile)

Whitehouse and the White House

Instapundit reports that the aptly named Senator Whitehouse feels that "foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups" . If I remember correctly, we are also "domestic terrorists" and supporters of slavery. Have I left anything out?

"Yule" Love This Joke!

I'm suffering from PTSD -- Post-Traumatic Shovelling Disorder -- and needed a good laugh, and here it is.

Haveil Havalim Time

Per nice, warm Jack, it's time for Haveil Havalim #248 — Welcome to Tevet at Frume Sarah's World.

What Has HE Written Lately?

Here's a rebuttal at Contentions to Garrison Keillor's objections to Christmas songs written by Jewish composers.

An Undiplomatic "Diplomat"

Nice! Yet another comparison to the Holocaust.

"A diplomat has sparked outrage by comparing the climate-change deal reached in Copenhagen to the Holocaust."

These idiots make me sick.

Creature Teacher

THIS is a teacher? She gives teachers a bad name.

"A Northwest Career and Technical Academy teacher is accused of denying the Holocaust happened and telling students that the Nazis lacked the technology to kill so many Jews, one senior said. Jewish students said the teacher's comments have circulated widely and have created a poisonous atmosphere at the public school, which has led other students to make anti-Semitic jokes and threats against them."

After losing her job, she should be made to watch the "Why We Fight" episode of "Band of Brothers"; or the great documentary "The World at War"; or "George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey" in which he filmed the concentration camps.

Obama at War

I loved the comments regarding this Associated Press propaganda story on Obama, "the wartime President".

Watcher's Council Winners

A list of the latest Watcher's Council winners can be found at Soccer Dad.

Antarctic Endeavor

Here are some wonderful photos showing renovations to Capt. Robert F. Scott's Antarctic hut. As he famously wrote in his diary before the end came,

"Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of hardihood, endurance and courage...which would have stirred the hearts of every Englishman."

It's a Wonder

The Telegraph is spotlighting the 20 wonders of the world. First up are the Pyramids of Egypt, always a source of fascination for me.

The Santa Clause

It's the time of the year for the Christmas cookie transfat liability and indemnification agreement . No office should be without it!

Krazy for Klezmer

I came across this great klezmer music at Metafilter. The tune "Sammy's Freilach" is particularly happy-sounding.

Give Me a Sign

Soccer Dad has some entertaining signs you don't see every day -- thank goodness! My favorite is the "Teach our children..." sign, which reminded me of the famous sign above.

"D" for Disaster, "F" for Failure

Give Obama a grade at this poll at The Anchoress. I gave him a "D or lower" only because there was no option for "F".

Grand Rounds

A "Charlotte's Web" - themed Grand Rounds is up at Florence dot com.

JBlogospherically Speaking

Take a visit around the JBlogosphere with Soccer Dad.

Democrats in a Nutshell

Charles Hurt sums up the Democratic party:

"They no longer care what they promised voters. They don't care what the public wants. And they don't care about what is right. All they care about is a victory so that they can claim to have accomplished something."

Watcher's Council Winners

Here are this week's Watcher's Council winners, courtesy of Soccer Dad.

Three Times the Power!

Read this story about triplets who have joined the IDF.

The Scars of Evil

Here's an article about a man who avoided doctors for 65 years. If you know about "Dr." Mengele, you will soon learn the reason why.

Haveil Havalim Time

Haveil Havaliim #247 - Chanukah 2009/5770 Edition is now available for your Sunday reading pleasure at The Israel Situation.

Also, Jack is looking for hosts for Haveil Havalim in 2010. If you're interested, e-mail him at talktojacknow@sbcglobal.net

Just a Lot of Hot Air

I like the cartoonist Gary Varvel. Take a look at this cartoon and this one.

Republicans and Obamacare

Here's a good article on what the Republicans should be doing to fight against the health care obscenity. This is a great opportunity for them to differentiate themselves from the Democrats, but unfortunately, they lack spine and have been almost invisible.

"If they don’t starting acting forcefully quickly and immediately, not only will they allow the country’s future to be unalterably damaged, they will be hastening the end to their own careers in the elections coming down the road faster than they can imagine."

Conservative Blog Awards

For some good reading, or to discover some new blogs, check out The 8th Annual Right Wing News Conservative Blog Awards.

HAPPY HANUKAH!

The Forward has a good article on Hanukah songs (not including that of Senator Hatch!)

"Whether approached with exuberance or with languor, with innocence or with knowingness, the music of Hanukkah not only lifted the spirits, but also promoted a tangible sense of connectedness with the past through print, sound and stage. Surely that’s something to sing about."

Watcher's Council Entries

The latest Watcher's Council submissions are up at Soccer Dad.

Incredible Internet

This is really amazing, but then again, it can be a bit overwhelming, especially to those of us who remember life before the Internet.
Created by Online Education

Happy Hanukah From Orrin Hatch!

So who knew? Senator Hatch has written a Hanukah song, which you can listen to here. It definitely beats "The Dreidle Song".

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds 6.11 - the Broadway edition is available without an appointment at nuts for healthcare.

Rabbis in Montana

I liked this article titled "Yes, Miky, There Are Rabbis in Montana", especially Miky, the police dog trained to understand only Hebrew commands!

The Minority Rules

Explain to me how the petty, politically correct complaints of one person (or one family) always seem to succeed in bringing everyone else to their knees: "Principal Forced To Take Down Christmas Tree For One Family." Just how was he "forced"? Where was his spine and common sense?

It's the Pollster's Fault!

Here's one thing Obama can't blame Bush for!

"President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term. Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and even Richard Nixon all had higher approval ratings 10-and-a-half months into their presidencies. Obama's immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush, had an approval rating of 86 percent, or 39 points higher than Obama at this stage."

Horrible Harry Reid

I heard about this on the car radio after work and nearly had an accident: "Reid ties GOP health care opposition to slavery supporters."

Soccer Dad Stuff

Soccer Dad's entry came in third in the latest list of Watcher's Council winners. Also, he links to this amazing story called "The man who smuggled himself into Auschwitz".

DECEMBER 7, 1941

68 Years ago today. Thank goodness there was no such thing as political correctness back then!

Haveil Havalim Time!

Soccer Dad has a nice roundup of Jewish blogging, which includes Me-Ander's Haveil Havalim - The Balagan.

Poliitically Correct Terrorism

There must be some sort of competition between the U.K. and the U.S. to see which country kowtows the most to terrorists:

"MINISTERS have been BANNED from using words like Islamist and fundamentalist - in case they offend Muslims. An eight-page Whitehall guide lists words they should not use when talking about terrorism in public and gives politically correct alternatives."

Well, obviously these politicians have forgotten what happened in London on July 7, 2005.

Today's Rally Against the 9/11 Terror Trial

Unfortunately, this important story seems to have been overshadowed at the New York Post by news of a suicide attempt by Billy Joel's daughter, and by the Tiger Woods scandal.

In Case You've Forgotten...

This video is a must-see.

School Songs

(from Lucianne.com)

Stars and Stripes and Idiots

I read about this outrage at Nealz Nuze. What would it hurt to let this patriotic war vet keep his flag? The man is 90 years old, for Pete's sake! How politically correct and petty can you get! He at least shows more respect than they do, and they should be ashamed.

It's Bush's Fault -- Part 298

More Bush-bashing from Obama. Will it ever end? I doubt it! This is from Jennifer Rubin at Contentions.

"It has become a nervous tic with Obama. Something is wrong, people are upset — blame Bush! Obama is going to need to rely on conservative support to prosecute the war since his own crowd certainly won’t be cheerleading for him. So it would have been politically smart and classy to have credited Bush with the surge or with leaving him the assessment for the Afghanistan war, which he relied on in the spring (the one his team previously denied receiving). But that’s not this president’s style. For reasons that aren’t quite clear — either personal peevishness or political expediency — even in a wartime speech in which bipartisanship would have been essential, he felt compelled to get in his digs. If President Obama seems smaller than candidate Obama it’s because he allows pettiness to get the best of him. He should give it up. He’s now president after all."

The Anti-Israel Union

Here is another good analysis by Soccer Dad -- along with one of his trademark clever titles!

A Hair-Raising Story

I was amazed at this story about free $300 haircuts for the unemployed. Even most working people don't get $300 haircuts. Did anyone ever hear of Wal-Mart or Great Clips? This reminded me of the free Viagra for the unemployed -- it's completely unnecessary.

Argus Hamilton Quips

Click here for Argus Hamilton's latest take on the news.

"Joe Biden flashed a big smile in pictures with the couple who crashed Tuesday's state banquet as part of their audition for a reality show. Joe was glad to pose with them. If he can help get them cast in that reality show, he gets credit for creating his first two jobs".

Random Thoughts from Thomas Sowell

Dr. Sowell has more random thoughts, including this one:

"In response to news of President Obama receiving the Nobel Prize for peace, an e-mail from a reader recalled a black classmate’s comments upon graduating from high school many years ago. When asked to list the advantages and disadvantages of being black, the black student facetiously listed as an advantage 'being praised for infinitesimal accomplishments.'"

What Obama Meant

Here's what Obama REALLY said in his speech last night in front of what Chris Matthews called "the enemy camp".

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds is up at Healthcare Technology News, and it's a "special post-Thanksgiving edition serving up Seinfeld as the lighter fare after the big holiday meal."

Support Our Troops!

And speaking of heroes, there is something extremely wrong in this country when our troops are treated like criminals while people worry about the "rights" of terrorists!

Good Riddance!

This is the hero of the day:

"Seattle police officer Benjamin L. Kelly is being hailed as a hero for his actions early Tuesday morning, in which he single-handedly shot and killed Maurice Clemmons, the man wanted in Sunday's killings of four Pierce County officers."