ChewBarracka!

Never has one seen such class gracing the American presidency -

Obama Sits in Front Row and Chews Gum at Joplin Memorial Service

Video

The MSM and the lefty blogosphere is either ignoring it or coming to Barry O's defense by such logic as -

We see their priorities in the face of a massive disaster.
What’s more important, chewing gum or the memorial service?
(from the comments)

or a variation of "What's wrong with chewing gum?", "When did it become criminal?"


Let us help our clueless lefty friends out.
Let's see if this is too difficult. We shall go over it word by word and slowly -
CHEWING      GUM      AT       A      MEMORIAL       SERVICE.

I hope something struck. Read it again if you will, again slowly. Hopefully, some more of it trickled in(or down).

Now let's continue, slowly of course and repeat if necessary (and you may consult a dictionary) -
MANNERS.

CHEWING      GUM     AT      A      MEMORIAL     SERVICE      IS     DISRESPECTFUL     AND   REALLY     BAD     MANNERS.

There got it? Good for you even if it is beyond Barry O's grasp.

Clueless Pundits

Eminent Indian media person, Prem Shankar Jha-

What do I know?

The countdown to a massive aerial bombing of Iran, possibly using bunker busting nuclear weapons, has begun.
      - Prem Shankar Jha, May 04, 2006

Did I say I'll be back?

My apologies for an unexpectedly long break. It was the combination of a holiday (loved it), indisposition (very fatiguing - felt all squeezed out like toothpaste run over by a truck) and above all a frustrating blogger's block (yes, there is such a thing) the size of Milky Way.

Anyway, the things will be settling down to normal soon or so I hope. Whatever normal was.

In the immortal words of Jim Carrey (Real audio file)-

"Did you miss me?"


No, no, don't tell!

From the LNC Quote Shop

Mark Steyn-

When the west’s bestselling atheists, stand-up comics, transgressive artists and all the rest belittle Christianity but steer clear of Islam, they’re not just engaging in prudent self-protection. They’re objectively advancing the cause of Islamic imperialism – because their selective mockery acts in support of the bullies’ core belief, that Islam is different and must be accorded a special deference: In practical terms, their selectivity comes to the same conclusion as any bigshot Talib in a hardcore madrassah. I said somewhere in America Alone that we’re operating to the same rules as the old Cold War joke: An American tells a Soviet that in America everyone is free to criticize the president. The Soviet replies, “Same in my country. Everyone is free to criticize your president.”

Book of the month -March, 2011

Introducing with this post a new feature of The Liberty Blog and the Liberty News Central -The book of the month. Starting off with the latest in The Politically Incorrect Guide to series-

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism

  

 by National Review
deputy managing editor Kevin D. Williamson 

From the National Review description of the book-

Stalin’s gulag, impoverished North Korea, collapsing Cuba . . . it’s hard to name a dogma that has failed as spectacularly as socialism. And yet leaders around the world continue to subject millions of people to this dysfunctional, violence-prone ideology.

In The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to Socialism, Kevin Williamson (“chancellor” of NRO’s exciting Exchequer blog) reveals the fatal flaw of socialism—that efficient, complex economies simply can’t be centrally planned. But even in America, that hasn’t stopped politicians and bureaucrats from planning, to various extents, the most vital sectors of our economy: public education, energy, and the most arrogant central–planning effort of them all, Obama’s healthcare plan.

In this provocative book, Williamson unfolds the grim history of socialism, showing how the ideology has spawned crushing poverty, devastating famines, and horrific wars. Lumbering from one crisis to the next, leaving a trail of economic devastation and environmental catastrophe, socialism has wreaked more havoc, caused more deaths, and impoverished more people than any other ideology in history—especially when you include the victims of fascism, which Williamson notes is simply a variant of socialism.

Williamson further demonstrates:

Why, contrary to popular belief, socialism in theory is no better than socialism in practice

Why socialism can’t exist without capitalism

How the energy powerhouse of Venezuela, under socialism, has become an economic basket case subject to rationing and blackouts

How socialism, not British colonialism, plunged the bountiful economy of India into stagnation and dysfunction—and how capitalism is rescuing it

Why socialism is inextricably linked to communism

If you thought socialism went into the dustbin of history with the collapse of the Soviet Union, think again. Socialism is alive and kicking, and it’s already spread further than you know.

What’s the central characteristic of socialism?

That’s easy—it’s failure, says Williamson.

Thats worth a repeat in large letters-

What’s the central characteristic of socialism?

That’s easy—it’s failure

Now somebody tell that to our Supreme Court judges.

Turn Chacha Manmohan S.Gandhi into approvers

There is this news -


Raja* should turn approver, says Shourie


which made me put on my thinking hat-
One turns someone into an approver to catch bigger fish or to catch several other big fish who collectively must be worth more than the approving fish.
But who is a bigger fish than Raja? Nobody -except Manmohan Singh and the Gandhi family(who collectively can be called Chacha Manmohan S.Gandhi in the words of inimitable Sauvik Chakraverti) and the DMK supremo and family.
Or who all can be the big fishes collectively more important than Raja? Perhaps several corporate CEOs and their political enablers.

So do you see Raja leading to the above? Maybe to a few business honchos and some minions to feed the frenzy of public opinion. Chacha Manmohan S.Gandhi and his merry gang will again get cleanly away, all the while claiming credit for following the rule of law.

Here's an idea - turn Chacha Manmohan S.Gandhi into approvers. Surely they know a few highly placed corrupt politicos and babus. More than a few, I bet. Can anyone believe they don't?

Only, no investigative agency has the balls to touch the real bastards. For the modern Mughals, the guard dogs are lap dogs. For us, they are just rabid. Totally useless and best avoided.




*Raja is the tainted former minister reluctantly booted out by the PM Manmohan Singh after serious allegations of corruption.

From the LNC Quote Shop

Bloody marvelous comment by O'Geary at this post-

Once upon a time, primitive peoples believed that, with enough human sacrifice, they could change the weather.

Today's advanced post-industrial peoples believe that, with enough human sacrifice, they can change the climate.

That's real human progress for you

All quiet on the civility front

It was only a few weeks ago but yet it seems like ages. We were being lectured on civility by a horde of talking heads and pundits. The hordes have since fallen silent though much incivility has occurred. All quiet on the civility front. The guns are silent. Pundits AWOL. Hysterical TV anchors and anchorettes mum. As if it was long, long ago in a different era.

Their silence about civility is, one suspect, the silence of support even as we are getting lessons in goodwill from the left-



Rhode Island union supporter to cameraman – “I’ll f**k you in the ass, you faggot”

Video

Union Protester Berates Jewish FreedomWorks Employee: ‘You Are a Bad Jew!’

Dem Rep to unions: Time to get ‘bloody’

They pushed and shoved until he fell on the ice, screaming the whole time to get the “F**K”out of here, they took the elderly man, pushing and shoving him
 

Elderly 'Teabaggers' Not Dying 'Fast Enough' Laments Libtalker Mike Papantonio

CWA union thug strikes young female FreedomWorks activist Tabitha Hale

Video

As John Hinderaker put it-

So that's what the Democratic Party meant by "civility!" If they had made that clear in the beginning, it would have saved a lot of trouble.

Getting around the Blogger template upload problem

Ah, the geniuses of Blogger have been doing naughty things - so naughty that they have messed up the back end of the Blogger platform, leaving thousands of poor blooging souls like myself to go crazy in our pajamas (bloggers are supposed to work in PJs). Have a look.

The problem has been summarized thus -

In the design back end of Blogger, you can not use the following features.

1. Expand Widget Template.
2. Preview your Template Savings.
3. Clear Your HTML Template Savings.
4. Save your Template in HTML Mode.

A couple of possible work arounds till blogger gathers it's marbles back.

Difference between private and public-sector unions

James Taranto provides the much needed clarity on the difference between the public and private unions and why the protesting public employees in Wisconsin are neither fighting for the rights of the workers nor for the taxpayers.

There is a fundamental difference between private- and public-sector workers. A private-sector labor dispute is a clear clash of competing interests, with management representing shareholders and unions representing workers. In the public sector, as George Will notes, taxpayers--whose position is analogous to that of shareholders--are usually denied a seat at the table:

Such unions are government organized as an interest group to lobby itself to do what it always wants to do anyway - grow. These unions use dues extracted from members to elect their members' employers. And governments, not disciplined by the need to make a profit, extract government employees' salaries from taxpayers. Government sits on both sides of the table in cozy "negotiations" with unions.

Collective bargaining in the public sector thus is less a negotiation than a conspiracy to steal money from taxpayers. The notion that this is "in the economic interests of the middle class" for government employees in Wisconsin and elsewhere to get above-market wages and extremely lavish benefits is just laughable. Sure, government employees are "middle class," but so are the vast majority of taxpayers who don't enjoy the special privileges that come from owning the means of coercion.

(emphasis mine)


And neither is Governor Walker Hosni Mubarak or Hitler.
Nor is Bush still the president.

But, hey, these are government teachers.

Black Holes are racist!

Quick, somebody tell Stephen Hawking - Black Holes are racist!

Julian Assagne looks like his condom!

Picture of Julian Assange's Famous Leaky Condom

Turned sideways by the Harry's Place, it resembles Assagne himself ! -

Is this some kind of karmic signal?

From the LNC Quote Shop

Bill O’Reilly on Obama's new slogan "Winning the future" (or WTF, as pointed out by Sarah Palin) -

Didn’t the Soviet Union want to win the future? The pinheads in Moscow spent gazillions of dollars trying to dominate the world. And exactly how did that giant central government-run operation turn out? I believe it evaporated, did it not?

Huge bureaucracies are not set up for winning the future. They exist to tell folks what to do and to take their money.

And didn't Nehru intend to win the future over 60 years ago? And we ended up with one of the most criminal and corrupt bureaucracies in the world. Thank you, Chacha*!




*The colorful Indian language translator-
              Chacha -  Uncle, here referring to the appellation commonly used for Nehru, as in Chacha Nehru.
    

Tunisian style revolution from Paypal users?

The relationship between the State and the citizen is one between a helpless, bound and gagged damsel and her rapist captors. And everyday the captor devises a new way to violate his victim. Thus while I was jolted, but not really surprised when a mail arrived from Paypal announcing new RBI 'guidelines' (Disclosure -this blog manages to make some nickels via Paypal). Notice the Orwellian use of the word 'guidelines' -as if the RBI is cajoling you to do something nice when in fact it is simply asking you prepare yourself for more screwing:

Here is the impact of amendment:

PayPal will not allow users in India to receive more than US$500.
Starting 1 March, 2011, PayPal customers in India will not be allowed to receive payments for any export-related goods or services for an amount exceeding US$500 per transaction. This change is to ensure that we continue to comply with the RBI Guidelines.


PayPal will not allow Indian users to keep money in PayPal balance.

Starting 1 March, 2011, PayPal customers in India will not be able to keep money in their PayPal account balance. Instead, all money received into a PayPal account must be transferred to a customer’s India bank account within 7 days from the receipt of confirmation from the buyer in respect of the good or services. This change is to ensure that we continue to comply with the RBI Guidelines.

Customers in India will NOT be able to complete their checkout with their PayPal account balance.

“We’re glad that you offer PayPal to your customers. Unfortunately, we will not allow customers in India to send money from their PayPal account balance starting 1 March, 2011. This means that your customers will need to link a credit card to their account in before sending you money with PayPal. This change is to ensure that we continue to comply with the RBI Guidelines.

Overseas customers will not able to complete purchase or pay via PayPal for amounts above $500.

Starting 1 March, 2011, PayPal customers in India will not be allowed to receive payments for any export-related goods or services for an amount exceeding US$500 per transaction. If you are listing products greater than US$500 per transaction then you may need to seek alternative methods of payment. This change is to ensure that we continue to comply with the RBI Guidelines.

Is Indira Gandhi the prime minister again? Is Nehru still frolicking at the Teen Murti Bhavan with Edwina? Is Soviet style planning back in fashion?


The prospect of getting screwed in such creative ways has evoked some colorful comments(from the same link)(screenshots)-?

 

In particular, from Debasish-

RBI governer, PM, FM, President ki maa ki aakh.

 Indians may be oppressed but we are expressive!
Does anybody smell a Tunisian style revolution welling up from the Paypal users?

Even if all the CONgressis and other gangs politicians fled by planeloads with tonnes of gold(a la Tunisian President's wife), we would have got by cheaply. Free of the scum, we can then at least build a truly free India. Who prefers to live under Manmohan Singh's boot and Sonia Gandhi's jooti*? Not me.




Original Paypal announcement here.


* The colorful Indian language translator-
                Jooti or Jutti- a traditional Indian shoe.
 

Progress -

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged in Marathi

Yet another Global Warming celebrity hypocrite

What is it about Global Warming that makes even greater hypocrites out of the rich and the famous more than usual?

I want to save the planet, insists Wozniacki after easing through to fourth round in Melbourne

‘Mark cars that don’t use so much gas, make them electric. Use the buses, the trains instead of taking the car.
When you take a shower don’t stay there for half an hour. Two minutes is enough, even for girls,’ she ventured.

 Caroline Wozniacki - saving the planet one tournament at a time

So, I suppose after that 2 minute planet saving shower she hops onto to an emission free  jetliner running on batteries on her way to the next tournament.

George Lucas in grip of paranoia and psychosis over 2012?

If this story is true-

Funnyman Seth Rogen was left stunned by a recent encounter with his moviemaking hero George Lucas - because the Star Wars director spent 20 minutes telling him the world would end in 2012.

Rogen was left speechless when Lucas and Steven Spielberg joined a movie meeting he was a part of - but the encounter has left him worried his life will be over next year.

He recalls, “George Lucas sits down and seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real. He thinks it.

“He’s going on about the tectonic plates and all the time Spielberg is, like, rolling his eyes, like, ’My nerdy friend won’t shut up, I’m sorry...’

then Lucas has lost it. Given all the nutcases in Hollywood, I wouldn't feel surprised.  Pity, yes; surprise, no.

Aren't you just rotten sick of these moral primitives forever performing the voodoo of 'Global Warming' -

Global Warming: Dire Prediction for the Year 3000

Even if humans stop producing excess carbon dioxide in 2100, the lingering effects of global warming could span the next millennia. The results? By the year 3000, global warming would be more than a hot topic - the West Antarctic ice sheet could collapse, and global sea levels would rise by about 13 feet (4 meters), according to a new study.

Time to put off my Alps vacation for 3100, then?

A commentator (called S) at this article furnishes an appropriate riposte to these barbarians posing as scientists-

After burning gas in my SUV all day, I came home and cranked up my thermostat to 80 degrees. Soon, I will blow some farts. Next, I will read the Constitution by an incandescent light bulb. Any questions?

Bloody marvelous!

From the LNC Quote Shop

Rick Moran-

As I have said before, Julian Assange is as interested in "transparency" as my pet cat Aramas. What he wants is to see the world burn.

Prequel to the Great Global Warming Swindle

A very interesting bit of climate skepticism on Television. Hard to believe, I know, given that there is so little of it but this is from 1990 and so even more amazing. Greenhouse Conspiracy, video in 6 parts:





Part 1-

Part 2-

Part 3-

Part 4-

part 5-

Part 6-

Via Bishop Hill who calls it a "sort of an early version of the Great Global Warming Swindle" and also-

I was struck firstly by how shifty-eyed Tom Wigley and John Mitchell come across, particularly when Wigley is asked about funding at around 46 mins. If you don't want to invest the time in the full video, this is the excerpt to watch.

Then there is the clear statement by the late Reginald Newell that he had his funding cut because of he had published a paper that undermined the greenhouse theory.

Postmodern science is for the believers, not skeptics.

(emphasis mine)

Note-
The Great Global Warming Swindle is here.

Postmodern,yes. Sane,no

We spoke about the postmodern nature of at least some of the contemporary science. New York Times (via Eureferendum) provides a working sample-

Hurricanes could become more prevalent with climate change, but the economic pain they deliver might not be recognized as man-made for 260 years.

That means smashed homes and ruined roads may not be attributable to greenhouse gases for centuries, according to new research that suggests climate policies like adaptation should be designed without financial evidence of climate-enhanced windstorms.


The researchers also warn environmentalists and policymakers against making claims that damage from Hurricane Katrina and other storms are rising from carbon dioxide emissions. Insurance companies that promote climate change as a reason for rising prices could also lose credibility.

That won't please Pachauri. IPCC's 2007 report warned that " that global warming is already affecting the severity and frequency of global disasters" and that the world had "suffered rapidly rising costs due to extreme weather-related events since the 1970s".

Nevertheless, as the Times continues, absence of proof is no stumbling block for postmodern scientists. They march on regardless:

................ a landmark study published in Science last January finding that the number of strongest hurricanes, categories 4 and 5, could double in 100 years because of climate change.

The researchers begin by assuming that's true. Then they apply hurricane damage data from the past century to those future hazards, adjusting for growth in population, inflation and wealth. 

What's the point of science? Let's assume whatever suits our narrative anyway. With our convenient assumptions, our "research" can show anything:

The results indicate that future hurricane damages won't produce a tangible "climate signal" for at least 120 years, and perhaps not for 550 years. The average time before a signal might be seen is 260 years, according to the combined findings of an 18-model ensemble used by the researchers. In that year, 2271, climate change is expected to increase damage by 106 percent, more than double. 

As Eureferendum says wryly-

So, let me get this straight. We have absolutely no evidence that man-made climate change is causing or will cause more hurricanes, and are unlikely to have that evidence for an impossibly long time – after everyone currently living is long dead – if ever. Therefore, we should proceed on the basis that it is proven.

And these people want us to believe they are sane?

Sane? No. Postmodern? Yes.




 (all emphasis mine)