Surprise Windstorm Causes Christmas Tragedy

While on duty yesterday, the National Weather Service issued a Gale Warning and Wind Advisory for the Puget Sound area.  Winds were predicted to gust up to 35 knots.  Due to a convergence of low pressure, yesterday's wind gusts were 45-56 mph.  After the 3-hour storm, thousands were left without power.  Before my Christmas Dayshift ended we heard about the tragedy on Whidbey Island. 

Since I was on duty yesterday, the story of this girl's death hits me harder, than it would if I merely saw it on the news at home.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family.



The Best Holiday Cheer

I haven't posted a Health and Fitness article in a while.  Too much bad news going on in the world, I guess.  But on this Christmas Day, I came across this article in The Daily Meal rating the best and worst of my favorite holiday drink:  Eggnog.

There's also this article by some eggnog-haters in New York Magazine.  The taste-testers actually liked a couple samples.  Being lactose intolerant, I end up settling for Silknog.  Although I did get a kick out of the "pretty darn awful" rating the NY Mag folks gave it.  I find Silk products to be very watery and only buy their special flavors.  It's better than no eggnog at all, right?

No matter what brand of Holiday Cheer you chose, I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas.



Merry Christmas!

May there truly be Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards All.

Santa Not Welcome in MA School District

The PC Grinch Superintendent of Schools in Saugus, MA tried banning Santa from visiting the elementary schools according to this commentary by Todd Starnes.

The reason of course, is to make the kiddies aware about the secular progressives' twist on the seperation of church and state.

Behind Every "Great President"...

In a Newsweek interview, Joe Biden declared the Taliban are not our enemy.  On Monday, the White House spokesmoron claimed the VP's comments are being viewed "out of context," according to this story on FOX Nation.

Chaulk this up as another "great accomplishment" for this presidency.  (See yesterday's post).

So if the Taliban isn't the enemy, I wonder who Joe thinks is the real enemy of America...

A Legend in His Own Mind

Apparently, 60 Minutes did some selective editing of their interview with Obama during the prime-time show this past Sunday (18 Dec 11).  They posted the edited footage to their on-line Overtime show, maybe thinking no one would pay attention to our Dear Leader's outrageous claims to fame.  Fortunately several blogger watchdogs did, according to this article in Politico.

The biggest jaw-dropping comment:

I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history...

Really?

With North Korea building nukes and Iran following suit, along with China and Russia's belligerency, not to mention being $15 trillion in debt, I wonder what Obama's opinion of failure is.

I rate this presidency as:  Epic Fail.

And if Obama gets re-elected, I'll move it up to:  Catastrophic Fail.

At least one person is happy about the Obama Presidency...

Leaving Iraq/Leaving Things Undone

Well at least there wasn't any images of helicopters plucking desperate refugees off roof-tops, a-la the fall of Saigon 1975.  However, our departure from Iraq, may spawn repercussions similar to what Southeast Asia experienced in the wake of the Vietnam War.  Already, the sectarian faultline is shaking things up in the Iraqi government, according to this Yahoo News/Reuters article.

And Comrade Karla sent us this Black Five article with the following recommendation:

an excellent summary of what we’ve done in Iraq and left undone, thanks to the self-fulfilling politics of hopey-changey foreign policy.

Breaking News: So Long So Rohnery!

(Image from Team America)

Minutes ago, news agencies began reporting the demise of Kim Jong Ill, aka "So Rohnery," to fans of Team America.  The most complete story at this time, comes from CNN.

I doubt anyone south of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and outside the Korean Peninsula will mourn him.

Appeasment--Inside and Out

("Obamerlain"  I've used this image before, but I thought it was appropriate)

A few days ago, in the wake of our downed surveillance drone, Charles Krauthammer wrote this scathing piece for the WaPo.

Unfortunately it's not just external adversaries our president specifically and Americans in general, are appeasing.  Yesterday Mark Steyn rolled-in on an undisclosed Catholic university giving in to political correctness over it's annual Christmas card. He ties this together with a number of other subjects, in a way only Mark Steyn could do on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

And despite America's plethora of in-your-face slogans, Mark points out that even Americans are as compliant as any Canadian or European in this Sign of the Times article.

Gun and Grenade Attack--Liege, Belgium

(Image:  Wounded being evacuated from Saint Lambert Square)

This story broke earlier today:  A gunman opened fire and tossed grenades at Saint Lambert Square.  Additional stories can be found on:  The BBC and the Daily Record. 

Occupy Seattle's Not-So Peaceful Protest

I found the Seattle PD Blotter reporting on the latest Occupy Seattle demonstration at Pier-18.

Not quite the peaceful darlings the media portrays them to be are they?

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Scotland was battered by a windstorm, with gusts up to 165 mph.  In addition to the damage and lives disrupted, the high wind proved too much even for windmills. 

Remember:  There's always uninted costs and consequences.

Comrade Karla Senior, made this observation:

I didn’t think they were supposed to heat themselves . . .

Iranian Scimitar Rattling

Iran plans on conducting an exercise to close the Straits of Hormuz. 

Two of my friends exchanged a point/counterpoint discussion:

Presumably these idiots are aware of the international legal implications of blocking a waterway like the Straits of Hormuz? Egypt found out the hard way in 1967 how that works.

I don't think Iran is really concerned about the legal implications.

Kicking the Can to Oblivion

(Image by Gorrell)

Mark Steyn, once again, sounds the warning about the disapearance of billions of dollars to ever-increasing government control, in this OC Register article.

Pulling Punches on Sanctions

(Image by Gary Varvel)

In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the US Senate voted 100-0 for sanctions against Iran's central bank, or anyone doing business with it.  With such unanimous support, you'd think Our Dear Leader would follow through with this whole Will-of-the-People thing.

Think again.

Obama, however, wants to soften the blow, such as it is, against the mullahocracy, according to Roger Simon writing for PJ Media.

This tidbit of "leading from behind," brought out the following comments:

Not that it hasn’t been obvious for some time that this administration is terminally stupid on this topic, but still.

Based on my simple understanding of math and my simple understanding of politics, I would think that anytime the Senate votes 100-0 on anything, that pretty much defines what people often refer to as bi-partisanship.


I thought it was the little people unfairly hindering the Greatest President Ever™ in his wondrous, brilliant genius.

Circling the Gunrunner Wagons

Thing got hot under the Capital Dome during yesterday's committee hearing over Operation Fast and Furious.  Eric Holder is refusing Republican calls for firing any "top men" in the Justice Department (DOJ)over this scandal.

This makes me think back to Watergate, where the Nixon presidency imploded over the mere break-in of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Headquarters.  Unlike Fast & Furious, which is responsible for the death of one Border Patrol Agent and hundreds of weapons in Mexico still unaccounted for.

More than a handful of DOJ lackeys should loose their jobs.

Resetting the Reset Button?

The results of the parliamentary elections in Russia are in and a lot of Russians aren't happy.  Protests broke out in several cities this week as the United Russia party eked out a bare majority.  Many are therefore suspicious of election fraud.  The Once And Future President, Vladir Putin is not amused.  In fact, he "knows" exactly who to blame for all the unrest in Mother Russia--America.

Yup.  According to the ex-KGB operative, we're spending "hundreds of millions of dollars" to rain on his coronation parade. 

Looks like the warranty on that infamous Reset Button, just got voided.  Or as Comrade Karla put it:

The glorious success of the reset button is now bearing fruit…

Ft Hood Massacre Merely "Workplace Violence"

The Department of Defense declared the Ft. Hood massacre, caused by Major Nidal Hasan, to be a case of "workplace violence."  Congressional lawmakers rolled-in on the whitewash.

This is similar to how honor killings are merely chalked-up as "domestic violence." 

This story garnered a couple comments:

Because we never, ever want to call it “terrorism.”  Just like the shootings at the Little Rock Army recruiting station—I’m sure that was “gang violence” or something. 

...9/11 was merely a combination of workplace violence (most of the victims were at work) and air safety issues (since planes crashed).

My response was:  Of course this is workplace violence.  Everyone who goes postal shouts "Allahu Akhbar!" while they're reloading.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

Breaking News: Iranians Claim They Shot Down a US Drone

(Image:  Predator drone firing a Hellfire Missile)

I caught the news headline as I woke up this morning, that Iran claims it downed a US drone. 

Here's another breaking headline, this time from the WaPo.

While this incident is being investigated, I'm inclined to believe it was the drone we lost contact with (mechanical failure?) and the Iranians are merely nabbing the credit. 

One thing is certain:  The Iranians will continue to make a public scene over this.  Even if we prove they didn't shoot it down, they'll respond by saying this is another of the Great Satan's lies.

Connecting the Dots With Mark Steyn

Julius Caesar once said:  In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes. 

My favorite commentator, Mark Steyn has a gift of being able to connect-the-dots of seemingly unrelated issues, and yet see a disturbing pattern in these "trivial causes."

Take for instance, this story about a 7 year-old boy being investigated for committing a sexual assault for kicking a school mate in the crotch.  This isn't merely overreaction, but a slavish devotion to regulations that erodes common sense decision making.

If you don't believe this, keep in mind 7 year-olds become adults (eventually) and may end up working for some agency like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), for instance.  Three days ago, a teenage girl was stopped at the airport because her purse had a handgun design on it.  While the girl can be criticized for her fashion sense, it shouldn't have warranted her being detained. 

Of course, TSA isn't budging on the issue, which means it's a Federal offense to be carrying or wearing an image of a weapon on board an airplane.  Who knew?

In his typical glib style, Mark declared this is a case of society being too stupid to survive. 

Our spiral into bureaucratic stupidity is already having global repercussions. 

Remember how most of the news media thought Egypt's "Facebook Revolution" was the next best thing to our own?  Well the Coptic Christians probably don't think so, while the Jews fled Egypt years ago and have no intention of going back.  Mark points out that our leaders refuse to push our national interest on the world stage and we're on the verge of loosing the middle east--long before the final curtain is drawn.

Recession's Impact on Western WA State

Today's Seattle Times features a series of charts & graphs illustrating the effect the Recession has had on the Puget Sound area. 

The Once and Future President

As if Islamic jihadists and China's "Underground Great Wall" isn't enough to worry about, it looks like Imperial Russia's about to make a comeback.  My friends saw that Medvedev was merely keeping the throne warm for Putin's return.  This article in The Guardian spells out what the world, Europe and the US in particular, may be in store for.

However, even at it's greatest height, Russia/Soviet Union was always something of a ramshackle empire.  Living conditions have been deplorable throughout it's long and tortured history--and in many areas they still are.  So there's no telling how far any future imperial resurgence will go.

Or as one friend put it:

I'm hoping (and sort of expecting) this Putin sequel to go the way of the Star Wars prequels -- full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.  Of course, it will lay bare the utterly impoverished leadership and foreign policy of our very own dear leader.

I've always said a bear can't change its fur--no matter how many times you hit the "Reset Button."

OWS Encampments = Hazmat Sites

(Image from:  The Christian Science Monitor)

The other day, Los Angeles joined the ranks of cities in evicting the Occupy Wallstreet squatters.  In the wake of the eviction, the "99%" left behind tons of garbage--literally--30 tons to be exact. 

Some commentators, for both the right and left, have stated that the Occupy Wallstreet and Tea Party movements share common issues, goals, themes, etc.  While this may be true regarding some facets of the respective movement, there is one glaring difference between the two:  Tea Partiers pick up after themselves.

The United Kingdom, Great Britain, England--Whatever

Once again, Obama has demonstrated:

a. Contempt for our closest allies,  and

b. He is in dire need of a basic Western Civ lesson.

The other day, the British Embassy was stormed by an Iranian mob, most likely with the blessing of the Iranian government.  The BBC has the story.

So what's Obama's response?

Condemn the attack on the "English Embassy."  Nile Gardiner, of The Foundry, delves into what's wrong with this clinker.

Our good friend, Comrade Karla, had this to say:

I wonder if our President understands about that whole Act of Union thingy in 1706 or the other one in 1801?  Sounds like a game of Kingmaker.