Bird brain

Watch this crow bend a wire into a hook in order to retrieve a small bucket of food from a narrow tube. Too bad Nancy Pelosi isn't this smart.

Korea after dark

The largest blob of light up there is the South Korean capital city of Seoul. It's an active metropolitan area of over 10 million souls who do pretty much what free people everywhere do. They go to movies, eat out, waste time on the internet, and so on. For contrast check out Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It's not hard to find but if you have trouble start at the little communist dictator's forehead and go due left until you reach the only speck of light in the country. People there pretty much do what oppressed people everywhere do...what they're told.

The next time the little commie leader threatens to destroy America you can think of this photo and laugh. And if you're ever in the presence of some stupid lefty who's screeching that war is not the answer, tell them to look at this photo and then ask themselves if they think the Koreans on either side of the 38th parallel feel the same.

Photoshop fun

Obama, bad for what ails you

Victor Davis Hanson does a pretty good job of sizing up the Obama method. If you don't want to read the whole thing you can get the gist from the tasty bits below...

Obama has surrounded himself with legions of ‘fixers.’ Bright men and women who have Ivy League law degrees, business school credentials, PhDs in the social sciences, and academic pedigrees in science, humanities, and engineering. Quite impressive, these Platonic Guardians of the soon to be perfect state. But most of their careers in finance, government, business, and academia have been well-paid jobs critiquing, administering, regulating, nuancing, writing about, and hectoring those who create things–builders, developers, industrialists, farmers, truckers, transportation execs, retailers, lenders and investors.

We are being run now by film critics, not directors, book reviewers not writers, music columnists, not musicians. And it is far easier to fault than to birth, nuance rather than build. The irony is that the muscular classes carry the regulating and talking classes on their backs. They don’t mind being whipped occasionally and even bridled, but like any good mule will suddenly stop and no longer move when they feel the rider either does not know where he is going, or is going to kill the mule with his switch, spurs, and yanking on the bit.

Independence Day blast from the past

In 1973 the United States was in the process of giving up on a unpopular war, our economy was in trouble and, just like today, countries big and small were reaching out for our money, material and protection with one hand, and flipping us off with the other. Canadian radio broadcaster Gordon Sinclair was fed up with an ungrateful world and was compelled to speak out in an editorial entitled, The Americans.

Since 9/11 an updated internet version of Sinclair's rant has been making the rounds, but this is the original.

June 5, 1973

The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Misssissippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy .. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.

I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 107? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are breaking Canadian laws .. are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind ... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.

Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.

I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year's disasters .. with the year less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody...but nobody... has helped.

Atheists are haters

Read this article only if you believe in God, or not. Hat tip to Wonder Woman at Lasso of Truth.

U.S. soldier captured by Taliban

This ain't good. The best we can hope for is that his captors won't treat him as harshly as we do the Gitmo prisoners.

King Selfish and the Vicar stop in for a burger at Wheeler's restaurant in Kiowa, Ok - tasty

Monkey business

Pat Buchanan takes on Darwinism.

A Duke rape case the Left isn't concerned about

That silence you hear is the mainstream media and the rest of the self-righteous and hypocritical left. There are new rape allegations involving someone connected with Duke University but this time it's all quiet on the leftist front. Frank Lombard is the director of the university's Center for Health Policy and he's been charged with a very heinous crime, but for some reason this case isn't big news. Hmmm, I wonder why.

You may recall that back in 2006 a black female stripper accused several white lacrosse players of rape and other sexual misconduct. The charges were entirely false, the young men were acquitted, and the prosecuting attorney was disbarred because of his misconduct. But not before the innocent students were subjected to slanderous hell from the left, blacks, the media, and even 88 members of the Duke faculty. But hey, that's the way it goes. When a white male is accused of a crime against any member of a liberal protected class, he's guilty.

So, why aren't all the usual suspects on the left crying out for "justice" in this case, even though the FBI feels sure they've got their man? If your answer is because the victim in this case is white, give yourself an incomplete. That's too easy, everyone knows that white victims get no love from the left. If your answer is that this case isn't raising a big liberal stink because the accused is gay and the victim is his 5 year old adopted white son, who he allegedly offered to share with other pervs, give yourself an A.

Glock gun business

Inside the secret and violent world of Gaston Glock, maker of the most popular firearm in U.S. law enforcement.

He is the man behind the gun. You don't mess with Gaston Glock. His most trusted associate tried. Lured into a dimly lit garage in Luxembourg by his colleague Charles Ewert, the Austrian Glock stopped to look at a sports car at Ewert's suggestion. Suddenly, a massive masked man leaped from behind and smashed a rubber mallet into Glock's skull.

( The excerpt above is from a 2003 Forbes business magazine article. It's basically just your average CEO profile, with a little betrayal, embezzlement, and attempted murder thrown in. If interested, glock here now.)

Obama lies, but not always

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed Obama's Climate Change-Energy bill. It will soon be taken up by the Senate. If you pay attention you will hear a bunch of lies from democrats about how this will create jobs and save the planet. What you won't hear is what Obama himself said about this bill back during the presidential campaign. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle he said, "Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

He also said that his plan would bankrupt the coal industry, from which around 50% of our electricity is generated. What he didn't say and what is true, is that virtually everything that costs you money now will cost you more if this bill is passed.  

Michael Jackson is dead, little boys now safe

The following article will not be a waste of your time.







Sorry Neda, We Have a Pedophile to Worship

By Joy Tiz - Canada Free Press

For previous generations, the question: “Where were you when Kennedy was shot” has served as a conversation starter as well as a catalyst for exploration of a shared history. It would seem that the quintessential question will soon be: “where were you when you found out Michael Jackson was dead?”?

For the record, I was at the gym. Credulous, I trusted that the Jackson story would get a few minutes of coverage before Bret Baier returned. My jejune confidence that Charles Krauthammer would momentarily be providing commentary about actual news was hastily crushed. Abstrusely, Fox News brought Shepard Smith in to cover this astounding turn of events.

You know what would be really shocking? Michael Jackson dying at the age of 87. That would have been a real stunner, well deserving of the nauseating nonstop narration that should be reserved for heads of state.

Time really stands still on the treadmill when you are listening to a fervid Geraldo lamenting Anna Nicole Jackson’s “shocking” death.

All other news of the day having been declared inconsequential, Fox proceeded to indulge in unnecessary and disproportionate keening about the calamitous death of the world’s most famous pedophile.

The same Michael Jackson who once told a reporter it was “sweet” and “charming” to sleep with little boys and ply them with “Jesus Juice” (known to lucid people as “wine”) has been deified. Jackson, who dangled one of his babies off of a hotel balcony also obtained those children via a bizarre and labyrinthine arrangement, named one of them Blanket and made them wear burkas.

Jackson is exceedingly popular in the United Kingdom, confirming Mark Steyn’s reflection that the United Kingdom is further along than the United States in the march toward complete social and economic collapse. But not to worry, we won’t quit until we’re Number One.

Michael Jackson recently converted to Islam. Michael’s brother, Jermaine, converted to Islam in 1989. Even the Religion of Peace failed to deliver true bliss.

Americans know far more about Michael Jackson than they do about the history of Iran and its relationship to the United States. Most of what America knows is wrong, having been subjected to pertinacious propaganda in Ayers’ based public education.

Which is why the interest in the life and death of Neda Agah-Soltan was so facilely dwarfed by the opulent freak show that surrounds Michael Jackson.

Neda was the beautiful young Iranian woman who was gunned down in the streets of Tehran for the crime of showing up. She showed up to take a stand for freedom and took a bullet in the neck for her aspirations. A relative in the United States had cautioned Neda not to attend any demonstrations, telling her “They’re killing people.” To which the lionhearted and prescient Neda replied: “Don’t worry, it’s just one bullet and its over.”

For just a flicker in time, Neda became an icon, a symbol of the young Iranians’ longing for the most elemental liberties. It was easy for Americans to be incensed at the barbarous slaughter of a young woman so lovely and earnest. Young Iran has caught a glimpse of freedom, the inescapable byproduct of advancing technology. The noteworthiness of Neda is in no small measure due to the ease with which young Americans can appreciate her as not so unlike themselves.

Part of the delusive indoctrination that goes on in public schools includes the rewriting of Iranian history in a way that abets the left.

In actuality, before the Jimmy Carter regime, the United States and Iran were on friendly terms. The Shah of Iran was the least backward of all Muslim leaders. The shah, who is erroneously characterized as a villain, was responsible for giving women the right to vote. In other Arab states, they still don’t have the right to leave the house without a husband or other male relative.
Unimaginable though it may be post-Carter, Iran and Israel were not always bitter enemies. The current government of Iran is as much an enemy of the Iranian people as it is of Israel.

Iranians are understandably horrified by the new American president who has referred to the Ayatollah as Supreme Leader, a show of respect for the legitimacy of the barbaric regime. Barack Obama went so far as to send a letter to the Ayatollah Khomeini weeks before Iran’s June 12th election. Obama was pandering to the brutal, backwards and oppressive Iranian leadership.

Back when the news still took the trouble to cover the bloodbath in Iran, the world saw young Iranians holding signs in English. Urgent pleas were coming through computers worldwide begging the leader of the free world to help the Iranian people. Many Americans would be amazed to learn how many Iranians were educated via petrodollars in the United Kingdom or the United States. Some Iranian young people speak far better English than your local high school kids.

The late shah’s son reached out to Obama for support:

“I would like to take this opportunity and tell the President this is a crucial moment - on behalf of my compatriots and millions who have been turning to the outside world, particularly to this President - to say: don’t let us down.”

While Barack Obama was eating ice cream, Neda’s parents were forced from their home by government agents. Public displays of mourning were shut down. Nineteen year old Kaveh Alipour was gunned down by government barbarians. After frantically searching for news about his missing son at hospitals and eventually the morgue, Alipour’s father was told he would be required to pay a $3000 “bullet fee” to reimburse the government for the ammo expended in executing his child.

Barack Obama did eventually deliver the obligatory “we are outraged” statement. He held off as long as he could, until public opinion became too clamorous to overlook. While he gabbled, the violence in Iran escalated. Iranian citizens were being massacred in the streets with axes and machetes. Students were being routed from their beds in their dorm rooms.

Ronald Reagan responded to a similar cry for help from the people of Poland who were then enslaved by the Soviet Union. Reagan minced no words in decrying the Soviet Union as an “Evil Empire”. He never expelled gibberish about how the United States shouldn’t “meddle” as innocent citizens suffer.

Then, as today, pantywaist liberals were caterwauling about toning down the rhetoric so as not to pique oppressive dictators. Thankfully, Reagan ignored such nattering. The Poles were doing what the Iranians are today: insisting on the most basic of human liberties. Ronald Reagan had no intention of sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how this thing played out:

“In a stiff note to Soviet boss Leonid Brezhnev; Reagan said that if the Russians kept up their thuggish response to Poland they ‘could forget any new nuclear arms agreement.’ Gone too would be better trade relations, and in their place would be the ‘harshest possible economic sanctions’ if they even thought of invading Poland as they had done with Czechoslovakia in 1968 or Hungary in 1956.”

The Soviets responded by declaring martial law and shutting down the Polish borders, as well as squelching communications with the outside world.

Reagan was unflinching. He wrote in his diary:

“I took a stand that this may be the last chance in our lifetime to see a change in the Soviet Empire’s colonial policy re Eastern Europe. We should take a stand and tell them unless and until martial law is lifted in Poland, the prisoners were released and negotiations resumed between Walesa and the Polish government, we would quarantine the Soviets and Poland with no trade or communications across their borders. Also tell our NATO allies and others to join us in such sanctions or risk an estrangement from us. A TV speech is in the works. “

Reagan helped spirit the defecting Polish Ambassador out of the country and to the United States. Leonid Brezhnev was livid. Reagan was delighted; Brezhnev’s outrage confirmed to Reagan that he was on the right track. Ronald Reagan went on to use every tool at his disposal to topple Brezhnev’s regime and replace him with Lech Walesa.

Ronald Reagan won the battle to liberate the Polish people. They have not forgotten. He is considered, in the words of the Polish president, the ”architect of democracy.”

Barack Obama is certainly no Ronald Reagan. The entire world, including the United States would be better off and more secure if the Ayatollah’s government toppled. The death of a pedophile has created a distraction from having to deal with the knotty problem of full scale slaughter in the streets of Iran.

Boxer is a bitch, explained

Dennis Prager explains why Barbara Boxer is a bitch and why white Christian males are better than everyone else.

Don't wait, get sick now

Boxer is a bitch

Ma'am Boxer can't conceal her contempt for the military. Notice that when the stupid bitch chastises the general she doesn't address him by his title. Instead he is interrupted with a condescending, "you know".

What Liberal Media?

The following was published this morning at American Thinker...

A little food for thought from Newsbusters:

At the time of this writing, there are nearly 7,000 references to “George Tiller” in Google News.

There are under 500 for “William Long.”

George Tiller, of course, was the Kansas abortion doctor murdered Sunday morning by a man who allegedly had political and religious motives.

William Long was the 23-year-old military recruiter murdered Monday morning by a man who allegedly had political and religious motives.

George Tiller dedicated his life to killing fetuses.

William Long dedicated his to killing terrorists.

One story still has ‘legs,’ the other is yesterday’s news. Nice priorities you’ve got there, MSM.

Someone has already commented on Twitter saying Tiller was a public figure, while the soldier was not. Granted, but how often are US soldiers murdered on US soil by a terror suspect?

Update - With this, I’m not trying to condemn one killer while praising another. Scott Roeder is a criminal and nothing justifies the murder of Dr. Tiller.

What bothers me is the willingness of the media to smear the entire pro-life movement based on Roeder’s actions while devoting very little airtime or newspaper space to the national security implications of William Long’s murder.

Update II - Ace of Spades HQ blogger DrewM makes an interesting point on Twitter. When Dr. Tiller was murdered, the White House released a statement on Sunday afternoon. As of 11:15 a.m. EST, the Commander in Chief has yet to release a statement condemning the murder of a member of the armed forces by a suspected terrorist.

A happy day for Al Gore

Scientists at MIT now say that the earth is going to get much hotter, much faster, with much more dire consequences than previously thought. Frankly, I think it's all a bit much. On the bright side, if the planet does become a flaming deathtrap we will never again have to look at Al's sanctimonious mug. The article is a waste of time so take my advice and don't click the link. If you just have to click something, try this.

Memorial Day

Don't forget to take a minute today to remember the tens of thousands of young men who died fighting our enemies. Without their sacrifice we would undoubtedly celebrate different holidays in a different language. Everything we have, as a nation, we have because Americans are now, and have always been, willing to pick up a rifle and go wherever necessary to fight the bad guys. Today is about the ones that didn't come home. The least we can do is remember.

Move Over Nancy-Boys

This woman is a genius.

The 4 stages of a man's life

College student 1 - Home invader 0

Feel good story of the day.

Internet upgrade?

If you can read this you will want to read this.

More Ballistic BS

I recently read an article at strategypage.com that stated that the U.S. Army is going to re-barrell their 7.62NATO M-24 sniper rifles to fire the .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge. According to the geniuses who came up with this idea, this will provide 50% greater effective range. Upon reading that statement, my bullshit detector not only went off, it almost exploded. This is a typical example of a "fact" pulled directly from someone's ass and then waved around and defended as a scientific certitude.

Just so everyone is on the same page the 7.62NATO/.308 Winchester and the .300 Winchester Magnum are both .30 caliber(.308) cartridges. This means that they fire the exact same projectiles, any bullet that can be loaded into one can be loaded in the other. The only ballistic difference is that the .300 WM propels it's bullet slightly faster. Assuming the same bullet weight and type the .300WM pushes it out 400fps faster than the 7.62NATO/.308. This velocity difference remains the same no matter what weight or type of bullet is used. By the way, all of the ballistic facts I'm using were extracted from my Sierra reloading manual, NOT a lower body orifice.

For comparison purposes I used the .30 caliber 180 grain boattail spitzer point bullet. According to my well worn Sierra manual, this bullet fired from the .308 Win. , leaves the muzzle at 2600fps (maximum load) and fired from the .300 Win. Mag, leaves the muzzle at 3000fps(maximum load). Remember now, according to the Army "experts", this extra 400fps in velocity equals 50% greater effective range.

What does "effective range" mean? Glad you asked. It means the range where the bullet no longer has enough velocity to deliver a lethal blow to a man. What is the minimun velocity required to deliver such a blow? Glad you asked. Some experts say 400fps others say 600fps and still others say something in between. For our purposes it doesn't matter, we are concerned with the DIFFERENCE between the two cartridges which stays the same no matter which minimum velocity is used. I used 600fps in order to save myself some calculating. Using the Sierra ballistic table I tracked the velocity loss for both cartridges down to the lowest number above 600fps. Here is what I found.

At 1800 yards the bullet fired from the 7.62/.308 Win. is moving at 628fps, if I took it to 1900 yards the velocity fell below the magic 600fps. Because I'm lazy I figured everything in increments of 100 yards, this makes the maximum effective range of this cartridge 1800 yards. If the Army "experts" are correct, the .300 WM will be effective at 2700 yards. Not quite. According to Sierra's ballistic data the "SUPER DUPER BAD GUY FLATTENING .300WM is effective out to a whopping, wait for it, 1900yards. Keep in mind folks, that this difference in effectiveness only comes into play at ranges past 1800 yards. At any distance under that, where 99% of sniper shots are taken, there is 0% difference in the effectiveness of these two cartridges.

Why do I care? Glad you asked. I'm weird in that I prefer that my "experts" actually know stuff. Oh yes, and there is the $4000 per rifle that the Army is going to spend to make this "improvement". The bad news for the Army sniper is that he's going to get a rifle with significantly increased recoil and noise, and negligibly increased perfomance. The good news is, due to the bulkiness of his new ammo he won't be able to carry as much of it.

Note to those who want to get REALLY technical: Yes the faster bullet has a slightly shortened flight time thereby VERY slightly reducing the effect of a crosswind. I maintain that this minor advantage is offset by the loss of the 7.62NATO/.308 Winchester's inherent accuracy.

Damned Lies

For the record, there is absolutely no truth to the malicious rumor that all the Archduke and I do is drink beer and shoot guns. Sometimes we dance.

Here's looking at you

If you gaze upon this photo for 5 seconds you will know the feeling I get when I think of the current administration.

Simple, Handy, And Under The Radar

Recently, while scouring the local pawn shops for bargains, I aquired an old "Springfield Arms" side by side 12 gauge.(not the one pictured above) The old girl was actually made by the Crescent Arms Company sometime in the 1940's. Back then Crescent Arms made a lot of utilitarian "farmer guns" under a variety of names and mine is one of them. The previous owner had allowed the stock to get loose and quite a bit of filth and some rust to accumulate. This same genius had removed about 2 inches of both tubes. I assume he used a hacksaw but from the look of the wound it could very well have been done by a grizzly bear with steel teeth. Anyway, I tightened the stock, cleaned it up, and had a gunsmith trim the tubes to 21 inches and install a brass bead. While she still isn't much to look at she does have some nice wood and everything works fine.

Now to the interesting part, this handy little shotgun with twin cylinder bore barrells will put 6 of 9 00buck pellets in a man size target at 25yds and if that doesn't impress you, it will put 3 of 9 in the same target at 50yds. That's right 50 yds! Kingselfish and I were also able to quickly and easily hit a man sized target in the vitals with a slug at 50yds using only the bead sight. After our shooting session I think I can safely say that bad guys should stay at least 51yds away from anyone armed with this type of weapon.

Now my question. Why don't more homes have one of these? For the guy who isn't interested in guns but sees the value in protecting his home, this gun is perfect. It is handy, as simple as they get, devastatingly powerful, and legal to own in all 50 states. They have the added benefit of looking "old timey" and don't seem to cause the gun haters to soil themselves like handguns and the black guns do.

If you've got 300ish dollars, and a need for a Spartan no frills weapon that will allow you to repel the huns when they come to sack your castle, something like this could be just what you need.

Love, Sharia style

Muzzammil Hassan and his wife Aasiya are a Muslim-American success story. They came here from Pakistan 25 years ago and settled in Orchard Park, Ny, a suburb of Buffalo. They soon became influential members in the thriving Muslim community of Buffalo. Mr. Hassan was a successful banker until 2004, when at the behest of his wife he started a television station designed to combat the negative perceptions some Americans have of Muslims. The tv station has been a relative success and things have been going well for the couple, at least professionally. Unfortunately, their perfect romance would not last forever. Mrs. Hassan eventually came to realize she no longer loved her husband and recently made the painful decision to file for divorce. Then, predictably, things got all beheady.

This Week in Islam

It seems things may be on the upswing in the Muslim world. A 23 year old Saudi woman was recently-gang raped by 5 dudes who probably look a lot like this pig. The good news is that instead of being stoned to death for adultery she was sentenced to a year in jail and 100 lashes. It's a start.

A publisher and editor of a newspaper in Calcutta have been arrested for hurting the feelings of Muslims. Seriously.

Remember Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician and film-maker who was charged with hate crimes in Amsterdam for his Islam documentary? Well, the British House of Lords invited him to England to show his film, then a British Muslim in Parliament threatened to have 10,000 frothing Muslims riot in the streets, then the House of Lords told Wilders to forget the whole deal, then he said screw you I'm coming anyway, then he went to England where he was met by customs officers at Heathrow airport, then he had his passport confiscated and was told to go home, then he said the Brits were a bunch of girls.

And that ends this week's This Week in Islam.

No kidding

Trust me on this, Mexico City is the kidnapping capital of the world. World, I say! In 2007 the official number was 789, although Mexican authorities say most cases go unreported. And in the first 4 months of 2008 that number increased 76 percent. Kids, tourists, businessmen, and rival gang members seem to be the ransom bait of choice for the discriminating Mexican kidnapper. Fingers, toes and hands are systematically chopped off until the victim's family pays up. And I don't need to tell you what happens when the ransom isn't paid. But I'm sure none of this surprises you. Everyone knows that Mexico is a cesspool so let's move on to something more interesting, like second place.

Alright smarty pants, which city comes in number 2 on the list? Think carefully. South America is a big, bad place. Russia and parts of Eastern Europe are no strangers to all manner of foul play. Virtually the entire African continent is corrupt. And don't forget the vile pit known as the Middle East. Oh, hell, let's just get this over with, it's Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix, Arizona. In America. The Mexicans are playing their game on our field. Dang.

It's about time we had some Koala cuteness on this blog

This young Koala was abandoned by its mother during a recent heatwave in Australia. Fortunately it was rescued by a family who provided sweet, refreshing water which the baby bear first tested...
then drank...
and finally...

Elections have consequences

Back in the soon to be good old days of W, the collective Left never missed a chance to ridicule the president. The hate crazies never failed to seize upon even the most trivial George Bush faux pas, using each one as a means to undermine, make fun of, and otherwise prove his unfitness for office. But my how things have changed. In his first few weeks in office, His Awesomeness has confused a window for a door, bumped his head while boarding Marine One, and made a really stupid face at an elementary school. Meanwhile the Left averted it's gaze, weakly cleared it's throat, and pretended not to notice.

Lone Ranger

America has an all volunteer military. Correction, America has an all but one volunteer military.

By their fruits ye shall know them

Over the past few weeks I have heard several intelligent political insiders say that after being out of power for the last eight years the Democrats plan to do whatever it takes to never lose control again. They say that amnesty for illegals and creating an even larger dependent class with the help of the criminal stimulus bill are two of the methods by which the Democrats intend to create a one party state. The article below explains another.


Little noted move on census by Obama could spell GOP disaster

by Rick Moran

There's a reason the Census Bureau is a quaisi-independent agency that reports directly to the Commerce secretary.

Once every ten years, numbers from the census are used to draw the lines for Congressional districts. What makes the Census Bureau such a pivotal player, especially today, is that it is generally recognized that the districts which contain high concentrations of minorities and illegal aliens are undercounted. This is not the fault of the Census Bureau who rely on thousands of local residents to help them in carrying out the door to door counting of people but rather the general mistrust of government that keeps people from applying for the temporary jobs offered as well as the relative safety of the canvassers in many neighborhoods where the undercounts are alleged.

The census has been taken since the very early days of the republic and always in as non-partisan a manner as possible. Until now.

The Capitol Hill publication Congressional Quarterly yesterday reported that the White House, responding to minority groups' concerns about Gregg's commitment to funding the census, has decided to have the director of the Census Bureau report directly to the White House.

Minorities are traditionally concerned about an accurate count because the census numbers are used to apportion political power, through redistricting, and federal funding, reflecting demographic changes over the past decade.

The White House move angered some House Republicans, who called it a power grab directed by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Last, Congressional Quarterly updated the story, noting, "The White House took a small step back from what the senior official told CQ, releasing a statement late Thursday that couched the relationship between the Census Bureau director and the West Wing as one in which the director would work with the high-level officials rather than report directly to them."

Trying to game the census for political purposes is just about what we'd expect from this crew. They have talked so long about building a permanent majority, manipulating numbers to perhaps overcount their core constituencies should not be put past them.

If Bush/Rove had dared to do something like this it would have been headline news nationally. As it is, we hear barely a peep from the media and are not likely to in the future.

Update

Yesterday I linked to an article from Fox News which stated that President Obama had asked for an 11 percent cut in the defense budget. Congressional Quarterly says Fox is wrong and that instead of a cut the Joint Chiefs have been given the green light for an 8 percent increase. Hell if I know. The stimulus bill is still criminal.