HAPPY NEW YEAR!

By Bob Gorrell

Good riddance to 2013, and welcome to 2014 -- which will be just as bad, since it's the start of three more years of Obama and the start of Obamacare -- heaven help us. Use this handy countdown clock.

Here's an encouraging figure to end the year: "10,988,269: 2013 Closes With Record Number on Disability Getting Highest-Ever Monthly Benefits." Something tells me that number will only grow in 2014.


In happier news, check out John Hawkins' list of the Top 10 Conservatives of 2013. I'm glad Trey Gowdy got an honorable mention.

Discover new blogs or revisit old ones on this list of 2013 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners.

Here are two lists I wish didn't exist at all: "Wiesenthal releases 'Top Ten 2013 anti-Semitic, anti-Israel slurs' list" and this outrage, "Israel publishes list of Palestinian inmates to be freed." 

This and That

Some odds and ends in the news:

From Ben Stein:  "Here is what I got for Christmas: not having to be in Auschwitz; not having to be beaten to death by Lithuanian death squads with iron bars; not having to be a prisoner in a Japanese prison ship; not having to be galley slave in Roman times; not having to fight in sub-zero cold against Communist hordes in Korea; not having to be in a leukemia ward; not having to be homeless on skid row in downtown L.A. That’s not all. I got to not be tortured and executed by an opposing ethnic group in South Sudan; not being sold into slavery in Brazil; not being hanged for having been born Jewish; not having to be gassed by insecticide by Nazi 'scientists.'". 

Here's Jay Nordlinger with his Impromptus column.  

WQXR is compiling a list of the top 105 most requested classical pieces. I was listening at work today when they played #38, The Lark Ascending.

Read Linda Chavez's column about the ridiculous infantilization of our culture: "We’ve gone from blue jeans in the workplace to pajamas at the mall. What’s next? It’s hard to imagine we could become more casual in our attire than we already are, but then I never thought I’d see someone in his jammies in line at the supermarket." I've seen this myself, but what's even worse is when so-called "men" insist on wearing those wool baby caps with the drawstrings. Also, do you remember when men actually removed their hats in public places? Now it seems that their caps are permanently attached to their skulls.

Vanity Fair lists the best infographics of 2013.

Playing the Antisemtism Card

Well, we should have known --- but I was still surprised and angered when I read that anyone who has attacked the pathetic "Pajama Boy" Obmacare ad must be an antisemite.  Jay Michaelson at the Daily Forward actually suggests that our hero's "obvious Jewishness" is why the ad was mocked.  Well, I guess that makes me a Jewish antisemite, because it certainly wasn't obvious to me.  This once again demonstrates the desperation of the Obama administration and its flacks when they resort to name-calling with anyone who disagrees with their policies. Joseph Goebbels would be pleased.

Best Headline of the Day

"Global Warming Expedition to Prove Antarctic Ice is Melting Trapped by Ice" - by Daniel Greenfield.

Opting Out of Obamacare

Jim Lakely at Human Events says "You CAN opt out of Obamacare", and he explains how.  Look at the reader comments as well.  As he says, "I’d certainly pay the fine plus the premiums of a health plan that met my needs if it was cheaper, and it undoubtedly would be. Hell, I’d find a doctor who would take chickens and rhubarb pie as payment before I’ll submit to the Obamacare Disaster."  Me too! Dr. Susan Berry has a similarly helpful article here titled "Eight Ways to Opt Out of Obamacare." At least someone is thinking of alternatives to blind obedience. 

Here's a group that wants to opt IN: illegal aliens! Forget about "hope and change" -- Obama's motto ought to be "nerve and gall".

Year in Review

No end of year list is complete without Dave Barry's year in review. He refers to 2013 as the Year of the Zombies.

Stolen by the Nazis

They stole lives in the Holocaust, and they stole their victims' art works.  Yet here it is 70 years later, and the heirs are still fighting to get their property back.  This is criminal.

"Not all lawyers are making a buck on the backs of survivors. American lawyer Chris Marinello, now based in London, has successfully negotiated many small Holocaust restitution claims pro bono. Today, however, he and his firm are representing one of the most important heirs in the Holocaust art restitution world, the family of art dealer Paul Rosenberg.

Since the publication of the Munich collection, he has been in direct contact with the task force of what he calls eminent art historians and leaders in the restitution field. And, like other lawyers of claimants, he has faced stonewalling and been told to have patience. 'My client in 94 years old and she doesn’t want to be told to have patience,' says Marinello."

Beautiful Photographs

Look at these Washington state landscapes, by photographer Lisa Wood. I think I just may change my computer desktop wallpaper!

Best Nonfiction of 2013

Usually I haven't read many of the books on these end-of-year lists, but I definitely agree with the Wall Street Journal, which includes Rick Atkinson's "The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944" among the best. I read it last month, am almost finished with the second volume in the Liberation Trilogy, and will soon read the first volume.  These are the best nonfiction works I have read this year, along with Robert Caro's "The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol.4", and William Manchester's/Paul Reid's "The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965."

Advice from Ramirez

Another great Michael Ramirez cartoon.

More Links

It's Friday, and that means it's time for Friday Afternoon Roundup - A Government Skeleton Crew, over at Sultan Knish.

Today's edition of Larwyn's Linx is titled "What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels."  In unrelated news, Reuters reports "Anxiety linked to stroke risk."

The Council has spoken! Here are the latest Watcher's Council winners.

Pootie-Poot Speaks

This has to be a parody. You know America is truly in decline thanks to Obama when I actually find myself agreeing with the former Evil Empire:  "To sum up: America has a dictatorship that imposes anti-Biblical immorality.   That’s your idea of freedom—and you can have it.  Here in Russia, we prefer real freedom: our right to choose the true path.  Our right to choose virtue.  But of course, you Americans are genuinely free in one way: You have the perfect freedom to be bamboozled by your party-line media and so to elect and re-elect bumbling leaders.  In my recent musings, I have taken note of America’s staggering geopolitical incompetence, and mocked the messianic pretensions of your media-anointed President Obama.   And I chuckle when I think about how long it took for Americans to notice his obvious ineptitude."  That makes two of us.

Absolute Power, Absolute Nerve

How is Obama getting away with this?  From the New York Post:

 "The cost of President Obama’s massive health-care law will hit Americans in 2014 as new taxes pile up on their insurance premiums and on their income-tax bills. Most insurers aren’t advertising the ObamaCare taxes that are added on to premiums, opting instead to discretely pass them on to customers while quietly lobbying lawmakers for a break. But one insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, laid bare the taxes on its bills with a separate line item for 'Affordable Care Act Fees and Taxes.' The new taxes on one customer’s bill added up to $23.14 a month, or $277.68 annually, according to Kaiser Health News. It boosted the monthly premium from $322.26 to $345.40 for that individual." 

How about fighting back and refusing to pay these taxes??

Oy Carumba!

This entertaining article from the Daily Forward accompanies the catchy tune "Mambo Shevitz". 

Lots 'o Links

Have your Pepto Bismol handy and catch up on all the news at Maggie's Farm,  at Betsy's Page, and at Larwyn's Linx.

Christmas Movies

Of all the biblical films I love to watch on Christmas ("King of Kings"; "The Greatest Story Ever Told", "Jesus of Nazareth"), "Ben Hur" is the best of all; the music, the acting, the story are just so compelling.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's how people around the world say "Merry Christmas" in their own language. Note that the English version is still "Merry Christmas" and not the weak "Happy Holidays"!

Dennis Prager speaks for many of us in his column titled "Mazel Tov, Christians! Most Jews wish you a Merry Christmas."

It Was a Very Bad Year

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

The title of John Podhoretz's column is "Obama's terrible, horrible, very bad year."  It should be called "The American people's terrible, horrible, very bad year", because those of us who didn't vote for Obama or Obamacare are suffering the most now.

Good News and Bad News

The good news is that many prominent universities are standing up to the American Studies Association's boycott of Israel.

The bad news is the fatal terrorist bombing of the police station in Egypt, which was referred to last night on the BBC World News as an "incident".

Spite and Evil

Remember when people used to react normally when life didn't go their way?  Nowadays, this seems to be the natural reaction:  "An unhinged man involved in a bitter child-custody battle tossed his toddler son to his death from the roof of a 52-floor building on the Upper West Side Sunday, then killed himself by jumping, law-enforcement sources said.Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35, of Brooklyn, was supposed to drop off adorable 3-year-old Kirill with his estranged wife at 1 p.m. at the 17th Precinct station house on the East Side after a three-hour visit, as per their custody arrangement, sources said." They'll probably make excuses for this "father" and demand more millions to help "mentally ill" people.   But this isn't mental -- it's deliberately spiteful and it's evil, a way of saying "Well, I'll show YOU!" Let's just hope he suffered, and the baby didn't.

Ride Em, Cowboys!

Rooting for the Dallas Cowboys today and hoping they (and I) can make it through the 4th quarter without any more last-minute disasters.

Here We Go Again!

Too bad Americans don't fight this hard over jobs the way they fight over $185 sneakers they can't afford! These people should be ashamed of themselves.

Pan Am Flight 103

Nobody should ever forget that terrible day.  Just to refresh your memory, in case you still think Islamic terrorism is just a myth and that we're all racists:

THE DEADLIEST TERRORIST ATTACK IN THE UK

"The Lockerbie bombing in 1988 killed more people than any other terrorist act over UK soil.
An explosive which was smuggled into the plane's luggage compartment exploded in mid-air, tearing a hole in the fuselage and sending the plane plummeting towards the ground.
When it landed, all 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie were killed.
The 103 Pan Am flight had originated in Frankfurt, and passengers switched planes at London Heathrow from a Boeing 272 plane to a 747.
The plane had been airborne for a little less than an hour when it lost contact with ground control.
Minutes later another aircraft sent in a report of flames on the ground above Lockerbie. The impact of falling sections of the plane destroyed several houses.
There were no survivors."

I'm Sure The Widow Is Thrilled

In the case of the animals who carjacked a couple and killed the husband, "'It was the car, not the person, that appears to be the target of this crime,' said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray." Well, that should make everyone feel better.

A Look at The Past

Here's a nostalgic column by Cindy Adams about life in 1913 compared to today:  "Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, excluding holiday buffets Americans spend 14 percent of today’s income on food. In 1913, women didn’t vote, didn’t work, didn’t have freezers, microwaves, computers and before the atom bomb, smartphones, moon landing, color TV, iPads and reality housecretins, and before couples’ double jobs, the families were larger and average annual salary smaller at $800."  They also didn't have Obamacare back then!

The Non-Stick Presidency

Via Hot Air: "Poll: Nearly five years into Obama’s presidency, most Americans still blame Bush for economic problems." *Sigh*

Must Reads

Check out the Friday Afternoon Roundup at Sultan Knish.  Also, if you haven't already read Peggy Noonan's column, do it now.  It's called "Incompetence" for good reason.  (As Soccer Dad used to say, "If...You Must"!)

Watcher's Council

The Council has spoken! Here are the latest Watcher's Council results.

A Classical Christmas Story

This article at WXQR points out yet another reason to love "A Christmas Story" -- the music!  "Though it hasn't been given much consideration, the 1983 holiday perennial, about a boy with an unquenchable desire for a Red Ryder BB gun, has a classical music soundtrack. Along with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and period songs by the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby, there's a generous helping of Tchaikovsky and Grofé, Britten and Prokofiev."

Lots 'o Links

Read all the news and catch up with this week's outrages over at Larwyn's Linx,  Betsy's Page, and Maggie's Farm.

Lee Rigby

The UK Daily Mail, which can be very sordid at times, has been right on in its coverage of the slaughter of Lee Rigby, who deserved a hero's death, not a victim's murder.  Their headline for the verdict of the animals who killed him is "A smile... then a kiss of the Koran: Lee Rigby's distraught family leave court in tears after his Muslim killers show no remorse as they are found GUILTY of hacking him to death in London street." And still, even since that terrible spring day, there are those liberal fools who still make excuses for Islamic terrorists.  What if anything will finally reverse their warped thinking?

Obamacare: Beyond Parody

PJ Media may soon have a new meaning.  This is hard to believe, even by Obama standards. From Power Line: "A doofus in a plaid onesie drinking hot chocolate–is this really how the Obama administration pictures its supporters? Pajama Boy takes the absurdity of the 'talk about health insurance' campaign to new depths."
Meanwhile. Michelle Obama suggests you make it your New Year's resolution to sign up for Obamacare. I think we should resolve to keep fighting it!

School for Scandal

Obviously Harvard has lowered its admission standards considerably if this is how students behave at exam time:  "Accused Harvard hoax bomber released on $100,000 bond. Feds are considering 'alternatives to detention' in the case of the Harvard sophomore charged with a finals-week bomb threat hoax that cleared four school buildings and had the campus crawling with cops on Monday."  Here's a selfish excuse for a man who, to avoid taking an exam, terrorizes the campus only months after the Boston Marathon bombing -- and this is how the authorities respond?  Howie Carr advises us to "Get ready for sad 'victim's' tale."

Drinking the Obama Kool-Aid

This proves nothing has changed in the climate of sleaze and attacks against Republicans:  "Podesta apologizes for calling GOP ‘a cult worthy of Jonestown’." Very professional!

Remember These?

Here's a nostalgic cartoon showing an Alphabet of the Obsolete, via American Digest.

Argus Hamilton Quips

His latest column includes items such as this: "Barbara Walters selected rap star Kanye West to her list of the Ten Most Fascinating People in America. He just said he wants to be the Obama of fashion. To achieve that end, he's introducing a clothing line nobody wants and selling it on a website that doesn't work."

Liar, Liar

At least he actually earned this award! Cartoon by Gary Varvel.

A True Man-Caused Disaster

David Solway wonders what it will take to convince people in this country that, thanks to Obama, we are heading for disaster.  "Accompanying the undeniable havoc and damage that Obama is wreaking on his country and equally on its allies — Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Poland, Czech Republic, Israel, and possibly Taiwan — is the sense of helplessness that overcomes one when writing or speaking about a rogue president and his destructive administration. I feel this personally, having done my utmost in books, articles and lectures, from 2008 to the present, to warn whomever might read or listen that Obama represented a greater threat to the U.S. and the oddly named 'free world' than any of our most dedicated and belligerent enemies. Even prior to his nomination as the Democratic candidate for the presidency, my distrust of this man was proprioceptive. And after his Missouri address, I wondered why anyone would want to 'fundamentally transform' a country which, for all its flaws, perched atop the pinnacle of success in comparison to any other country.
Everything Obama has done since then has only served to confirm what was originally a deep suspicion and soon grew to become a complete certainty. Dozens of meticulously researched books have been published to the same effect. And yet very few people seemed to be paying attention. No less disconcerting, those who argue that to criticize Obama is a sign of deep-dyed racism are, of course, relying on slander and misappropriation of language to protect their chosen standard bearer and his Marxist/progressivist/utopian project."
Read it all!

Troubled Waters

Here's an excerpt from a scathing retort by Schmuley Boteach to the venomous attacks of antisemite Roger Waters:  "The Nazis, Mr. Waters, were a genocidal regime who murdered six million Jews. That you would have the audacity to compare Jews to monsters who murdered them shows you have no decency, you have no heart, you have no soul. The Jews of Germany did nothing to invite the aggression against them. Indeed, they were loyal citizens of a country that many of them had fought for courageously just twenty years earlier in the First World War. They did not blow up buses for political purposes. They did not send terrorists into schools to murder children. They did not preach that killing German children would get them virgins in heaven. They lived lives of humanity and decency and were murdered for no other reason than the fact that they were Jews.

You have disgraced yourself by comparing the martyred six million, which included one-and-a-half million children who were gassed to death in cold blood, to Palestinian terror organizations like Hamas, and to Hezbollah, both of whose stated intention it is to wipe Israel off the map." That's telling him!

News Roundup

Here's Daniel Greenfield's Friday Afternoon Roundup, featuring an item we have all seen before in various forms: "Roger Waters: Jews are Nazis, Jewish Lobby Controls America." Can't musicians just sing, and shut up?

Never Discuss Politics...

...unless you're a liberal Democrat. Unfortunately, the following is not a joke: "Santa Clara County, Calif., officials have banned a 20-year employee from making 'less than positive' remarks about Obamacare, because they can cause stress for listening co-workers." If the employee had said positive, glowing things about Obamacare, would anyone have complained of stress?

Santa Clara County, Calif., officials have banned a 20-year employee from making “less than positive” remarks about Obamacare, because they can cause stress for listening co-workers.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/county-office-bans-criticism-of-obamacare/#i17LqUrzut5X1x1j.99

More of The New Normal

It's not the guns' fault, and it's not the fault of mental illness, or ADD, or whatever other excuses are used. Shooting and killing people results when kids and adults are never taught the difference between right and wrong; how to react appropriately to rejection; and the values of respect and decency. And that's why you have crimes like these:

(1) "An 18-year-old high school student reportedly frustrated when he was ejected from the school debate club has been identified as the shooter who opened fire at a suburban Colorado high school Friday, wounding another student before killing himself."  You don't make the team? Big deal!

(2) "18-year-old arrested for beating, raping elderly nun outside church." I guess nobody teaches respect for ones elders any more.

(3) "A 13-year-old carjacking suspect was arrested Friday morning after crashing a stolen vehicle in West Oakland while being pursued by police, authorities said. A suspect simulating a gun had stolen the 2000 Honda Accord from a 78-year-old man..."  Ditto. The lack of fear on the part of these criminals is what's truly frightening.

So stop obsessing about the weapons -- it's the lack of conscience and morals we have to worry about.

What Country Is This?!

This latest Obamacare abomination comes to you from the blog Truth Revolt, and it definitely is revolting:  "The Department of Health and Human Services will now pressure health insurers to retroactively accept payment for coverage that was supposed to begin on January 1, even if no payments have been made and no coverage has been formally granted. Furthermore, HHS wants insurers to pay out-of-network providers as though they were in-network." Health insurance is not free, but thanks to Obama, it appears that Americans have been conditioned to think everything is! Are the insurance companies businesses, or sheep? We'll soon see.

Avik Roy notes, "But it will be up to insurers to sue to protect their rights. Like battered wives, they are unlikely to do so. Companies like Aetna and Humana are so terrified that the administration will run them out of business that they are more likely to do what they’re told, and quietly pass the costs on to consumers. The chaos and recriminations have made insurers like UnitedHealth, who have largely stayed out of the exchanges, look smart.

Watcher's Council

Here are the latest Watcher's Council results from the Schmoozing With Dictators competition.

Lots 'o Links

For the best of the web, check out Larwyn's Linx, Betsy's Page, and Maggie's Farm!

Obama: Destroyer of Lives

I think this blog post encapsulates the true meaning of Obamacare and the destruction it has caused in the lives of those with medical issues who never wanted it in the first place.  Blogger Jim Hoft has posted this: Please Pray for Me...I Am Losing My Insurance. Nothing Obama propagandists like Adam Levine can say can possibly change the sense of doom.

Sign of The Times

This shows how con men and liars have infiltrated every segment of our society. This impostor will probably be offered his own reality TV series soon!  "Signer says suffered schizophrenic episode at Mandela memorial." If you believe this, you need your head examined.

What's Wrong With People?

You really have to wonder how people think this way.  This is a so-called man:  "A former hotel security guard pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for defacing a Jewish school’s Torah scroll and prayer books...Baker was arrested in January after the school’s students and faculty showed up for a worship service in the conference room at the DoubleTree Hotel in Jackson and discovered the Torah scroll and prayer books damaged and covered with graffiti, including 'Gentiles win, Jews lose' and 'Submit to Satan.' He also admitted to spitting on the Torah scroll, according to WJJB, the western Tennessee ABC television affiliate."  Does it occur to most adults to spit on and deface Bibles and other sacred religious objects?

Singing in the Pain

I've heard Steve Tyrell's singing voice and have never understood his appeal. Evidently, neither can Rex Reed, who has written an entertainingly scathing review.  Some excerpts: "Who needs singing when grunting and shouting will do just as well for an undiscerning crowd, bused in from expensive rest homes, who don’t know the difference."  "An evening of all that groaning and yelling is like a root canal before the Novocain sets in." "Musically, I’ve heard better phrasing from goatherds calling their flocks by moonlight. I shudder to think what tough, sophisticated Cole Porter would say if he came off sounding like Carole King. Mr. Tyrell is so square that he refuses to sing the word “cocaine.” The result is the first time I’ve ever heard “I Get a Kick Out of You” with a jolt of Valium. Tethered to the Rat Pack prototype, he never bothers to break out of the old mold long enough to get under the skin of the song itself. Of course, with due respect, he knows his limitations. God forbid what might happen if Mr. Tyrell ever tackles anything by Stephen Sondheim."  Read it all and have a good laugh.

Teaching ABCs & PC

William Jacobsen asks, "When do we finally stop the harassment of little boys by school administrators?"  Suspending little boys for kissing little girls at school and calling it "sexual harrassment" is insane. More parents (and school officials themselves) have got to fight back against all this politically correct idiocy. When will it end, if ever? I just hate it.

Not Written by Chris Matthews

Here is a fawning excerpt from a UK Guardian review of Mandela's memorial service: "There was only one speaker who made everyone stop and listen. The cacophony of cheers and applause for Barack Obama – who on his way to the podium stopped for a historic handshake with Cuban president Raúl Castro – left no doubt of his continued political rock star status, at least in Africa."  With the exception of MSNBC, probably only in Africa.

(I like this take from The People's Cube: "Mandela Crashes Obama Johannesburg Appearance.")

Mandela Crashes Obama Johannesburg Appearance

Mandela Crashes Obama Johannesburg Appearance

Twenty Reasons

Dave Weinbaum lists twenty reasons that Obama no longer represents him. What restraint in choosing only 20!
He says "He hasn't reached the low bar of Jimmy Carter incompetence. His lying, race-baiting, class war, red herring, straw man, pro-terror, anti-Semitic regime elevates Carter one notch on the US Presidential ratings.
That puts him below where the moon don't shine no more—lower than whale feces. As of now, I've decided that President Barack Hussein Obama doesn't represent me. In fact, he's an embarrassment. If he were Jewish, I'd be uber ashamed." 
Well, I'm uber-ashamed anyway.

I, Obama

Here's a terrific National Review slide show about Obama's habit of insinuating himself into history. (I wish he were history!)

Today's Obamacare News

Both items are from the Weekly Standard: a parody of an Advent calendar; and more ultimatums, evasions, and lies about keeping your doctor (period!): "Obamacare Architect: If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Pay More".

Compounding the Horror

This is a very discouraging headline: "A Race to Preserve the Voices of Holocaust's Last Survivors. As Witnesses Die, Historians Find Reality of Tragedy Harder to Convey."  The extermination of 6 million Jews has always been hard to convey, especially when there are Holocaust-deniers and antisemites out there who counter every attempt to do so.

Remember Pearl Harbor!

Listen to this news bulletin via Weasel Zippers.
 
Paul Greenberg says in his column, "Some memories never fade, and shouldn't." Remembering our brave sailors, and the great effort on the home front.

Our Anti-American President

In his column "It's Time to Take America Back", David Limbaugh tells you everything you need to know about the danger that is Obama. Those of us who knew it from the start are nodding in agreement. Those still enraptured with him don't care. Maybe someday there will be an important expose written about him, the way William L. Shirer wrote about Hitler -- but by then it'll be too late. 

Here are some excerpts from David Limbaugh:

"He doesn’t want to hear a peep out of you selfish malcontents who are losing your plans and doctors despite his promises that you could keep them. He doesn’t want to hear from you self-absorbed 'young invincibles' who have been reluctant to take the plunge into supporting your sick elders against your will. When he said your coverage would be cheaper, he wasn’t talking about you, you narcissistic jerks, who ought to be ashamed of your privileged health status. He was talking about other unspecified people to whom he will redistribute your resources in the spirit of leftist compassion.

For those of you who are experiencing firsthand the nightmares of this law and its ability to burrow right inside your pocketbook, you are to disregard your intellect and your senses and recognize that the welfare of those individual anecdotal props he has on the stage with him is more important than yours — and you are going to like it. This is Barack’s America, after all."

"His policy agenda is destroying economic growth and jobs, is ballooning the national debt and is shattering the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans every day. It is abundantly obvious that he doesn’t care a whit about this. What he aims to do is to complete his fundamental transformation of America, which, if you haven’t realized yet, means ruining what has made it unique, impoverishing it and bankrupting it. Based on all the damage he has done and his singular refusal to own up to it or change course to correct it, it’s no longer reasonable to deny that this infliction of damage is intentional — or at least that he’s perfectly comfortable with it as long as it is in service to his cause of fundamental transformation."

Odds and Ends

Read Daniel Greenfield's Friday Afternoon Roundup at Sultan Knish. Yet another Nazi has enjoyed too long of a life: "Unapologetic Nazi Murderer Heinrich Boere dies at 92".  Gee, what a surprise: "Iran refuses to recognize Israel at the UN." Here's a blog I came across recently and like:
Victory Girls, billed as "conservative, courageous, and unapologetically contagious." The Side-Lines section at American Digest is always interesting and enjoyable.

Watcher's Council

The Council has spoken! Here are the latest Watcher's Council winners from the Lawless Edition.

Seeing Red..and Green

This is just pathetic: "School bans Christmas trees, the colors red & green." Even thought I've seen similar moronic stories over the years, I'm always amazed. What with the authorities do, arrest those you dare to wear green and/or red?  Doesn't the majority of Americans still have common sense, or has this totally become a sheepish, low-information society? Where is your spine?!

The World's Policeman

Another perfect cartoon by Michael Ramirez!

Lots 'o Links

There's just so much to read over at Larwyn's Linx, Maggie's Farm, and Betsy's Page.

And here's a bonus from Argus Hamilton: "The Hollywood Wax Museum donated wax figures of the stars to ride in the Christmas parade including the Kardashians. Tourists love to touch these statues in the museum. They're made from the same wax, plastic and silicone that real celebrities are made out of."

What Difference Does It Make?

This morning I heard about the teacher killed in Benghazi and thought I had heard wrong, since nobody was making a full about it. I guess if the murder of four Americans isn't considered an outrage, why should the murder of one more?

Why, Some of My Best Constituents Are Jewish!

Here's a Councilwoman's excuse for "the knockout game":  "Councilwoman-elect Laurie Cumbo, who was elected to represent Crown Heights starting in January, released an open letter Tuesday saying that many of her black constituents told her they feel threatened by the growth of the neighborhood's Jewish community — and she fears the tension could be spiking the recent violence.

'Many African American/Caribbean residents expressed a genuine concern that as the Jewish community continues to grow, they would be pushed out by their Jewish landlords or by Jewish families looking to purchase homes,' Cumbo wrote in the 1,200-word letter, which was emailed to supporters and posted on her Facebook page.

'I respect and appreciate the Jewish community’s family values and unity that has led to strong political, economic and cultural gains. While I personally regard this level of tenacity, I also recognize that for others, the accomplishments of the Jewish community triggers feelings of resentment, and a sense that Jewish success is not also their success.'"

Of course -- blame the Jews for their being the victims of black thugs!  And because the thugs choose a life of crime and dependency, it's obviously the fault of hard-working Jews!  Well, she has used the magic words that will certainly ensure her reelection.

This makes me sick.

La Divina

Here's a nice tribute to Maria Callas, whose 90th birthday it would have been. She was a great Tosca.

Another Day, Another Disaster

The title of Ross Kaminsky's column is  "Another Day, Another Obamacare Propaganda Session", which ends this way: "During his Tuesday remarks, Obama said: 'If I’ve got to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that’s what I’ll do.' It seems likely that he will need to, in a battle that even this most Teflon of presidents will not be able to extricate himself from, as he sinks ever deeper into a role playing a low-rent 'as seen on TV' insurance salesman. Well, it suits him better than pretending to be a leader."

Argus Hamilton Quips

His latest column includes news items such as this one: "Auburn upset Alabama on the final play of the game Saturday when a kid ran a failed field goal attempt back for the winning touchdown. The kid got a call from the White House after the game. The Obamacare website designer wanted to know if he had any ideas."

It's The Jooos!

Here's the latest bit of wisdom from the great statesman Kanye West (who considers Kim Kardashian to be the new Marilyn Monroe):
"Rapper Kanye West defended President Obama's difficulty in passing his policies, saying 'Black people don't have the same level of connections as Jewish people.' ...  He continued: 'You know we don't know nobody that got a nice house. You know we don't know nobody with paper like that we can go to when we down. You know they can just put us back or put us in a corporation. You know we ain't in situation. Can you guarantee that your daughter can get a job at this radio station? But if you own this radio station, you could guarantee that. That's what I'm talking about.'"  
Well, if we were as powerful and influential as this antisemite claims, wouldn't we at least have a Jewish President in the White House by now?

All Choked Up

Here's what Michael Tilson Thomas did during a November concert.  Good for him. At least the audience wasn't bellowing into their cell phones during the concert!

"The Big Story"?!

I just love some of the comments following this incredibly fawning Associated Press article about Obama, which would be better off titled "The Big Nothing."  Gee, the AP certainly seems to have forgotten all about the wiretapping scandal the Obama Administration engaged in this past spring!

Argus Hamilton Quips

Read the latest column, which includes news items such as this one: "The White House issued talking points telling people how to argue for the Affordable Care Act with Republicans at their Thanksgiving table. It never stops. People are starting to believe that the bin Laden raid was just a bungled attempt to sign him up for Obamacare."  He's right -- it never does stop.  Pretty soon we'll all be carrying around Obama's Little Red Book.  (Cartoon by Chip Bok.) 

Temporary Obamacare Antidote

Here are some stunning photographs of the Grand Canyon, thanks to American Digest.