This one's for Drama Queen

She went through a phase last year (or the year before; they all blur together) where she loved this show. This is my revenge.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

H/T to Miss Cellania.

Bring on the stainless steel hanky!

I'm not entirely convinced this trend is an altogether bad thing. Vigorous enforcement of good manners is a welcome change.

Politenessman would be proud:

Centennial!

Grant County, Washington turns 100 today.

On February 24, 1909, Douglas County split into two parts, the southern and eastern parts forming Grant County. You can click on the map to see what it looked like then.

Most of the little towns on the map aren't there any more. Moses Lake, which is now the biggest town for about 80 miles any direction, was just a little village. Notice that the Grand Coulee is dry; the dam wouldn't even be proposed for another nine years.

My great-grandmother, Laura Padgett Peterson, was there when the counties split. Her family came out ere and homesteaded in 1908. She almost made it to a century herself, passing away in 1997 at the age of 98. In the meantime, she lived long enough to get to know Wharf Rat and to hold Long Drink when he was born.
I like Grant County. I didn't grow up here myself, but through Grandma Pete and others of her family, I've put down some deep roots here. My kids will always have a place to come back to, where their name means something and they never have to be newcomers, no matter how long they may live somewhere else. It may look like the bleakest country God ever forgot, but it's home. I'm proud to be a part of it.

I want!

Who needs a better mousetrap? Give me a speedbump like this instead.

This would take care of the yahoos who race down our street like the Dukes of frimpin' Hazzard!

Pub Toom Baumarkt (fun Dos-d'âne)
by _006-serie-TS_

Hope. Change. Intimidation.

The New York Post did exactly what an American newspaper is supposed to do – expressed an editorial opinion on a government action. Had this been any previous administration, that would be all in a day's work.

But this is the age of Hope and Change, and if you don't believe it, there's a mob of brownshirts outside waiting to take set you straight.

The NAACP is calling for a boycott of the paper until the editor and cartoonist are fired. That's their prerogative in a free country. Peurile and petty, but hardly un-American. But now the Reverend Crybaby is crossing the line and demanding government retribution against the paper.

he Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday ramped up his protest against the New York Post's decision to print a cartoon that has been criticized as depicting President Barack Obama as a monkey. His comments came a day after the leader of the NAACP called for the firing of both the paper's cartoonist and editor.

Sharpton, with City Council member Letitia James (D-Brooklyn), spoke to reporters in front of radio station KISS-FM headquarters in lower Manhattan, where they called for the City Council to review the Post's employment records because they questioned whether the newsroom staff represents the city's diversity.

But they shied away from NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous' call for the ouster of cartoonist Sean Delonas and editor-in-chief Col Allan. "Yes, the cartoonist ought to be dealt with, and the editor," said Sharpton. But he said "just firing them and not dealing with the overall problems of who's in the newsroom" doesn't address what he termed the "unfair setup" of staffing.

Sharpton also said he was starting an online petition drive to collect signatures in an effort to force the Federal Communications Commission to remove the waiver that allows the Post's parent company, News Corp., to run more than one media outlet in the area. "This is not the first time they have denigrated people of color," said James. "Now is the time to do it."

Jealous, speaking at the NAACP's annual meeting Saturday, said the cartoon was "an invitation of assassination" because the monkey - depicted as shot dead by police with the words "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill" - could be construed as being Obama.

Forget for a moment that the cartoon had nothing to do with Obama. Forget that we've been regaled ad nauseum with actual chimp/president juxtapositions for the past eight years. Forget the actual calls for assassination that the NAACP and Reverend Loudmouth were perfectly copacetic with. Let's suppose the chimp really was meant to represent Obama.

Is this going to be the fate of any media outlet that takes a less-than-adoring stance on The One's policies? Their licenses to print (or broadcast, or blog) will be contingent on their unquestioning approval of the current administration? This is (or was) America, where reinforced-recessive mouth-breathers like the Ku Klux Klan and the Southern Poverty Law Center are free to speak their puny little minds. At least for now. Whether that will still extend to both sides of the aisle in a few years is apparently up in the air.

The president Himself, I notice, hasn't actually said anything about the cartoon. (At least not that I've heard.) But that's irrelevant. His followers, the same ones that intimidated white voters and vandalized houses with McCain signs, are rising up to silence any dissenters on his behalf. As much as I respect Godwin's Law, I can't escape the resemblance, especially in light of the attempts to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine and Obama's comments about Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. Combining government retaliation with brownshirt tactics has an ominous ring to it.

Oh, and perhaps it's time for Letitia James to step down, in light of her use of a racially offensive term above. Bigot.

A relief, that!

I was afraid I was losing my touch.

Your result for What is the Measure of a Man? The Gentleman's Test...

The Classic Gentleman

Proper behavior and etiquette are always crucial.

You are a well-rounded gentlemen who focuses perhaps a bit much on courtly manners. Nevertheless, your character is sound, and you make an excellent addition to the decor of any party.

Take What is the Measure of a Man? The Gentleman's Test at HelloQuizzy

Cougar Barbie

And they don't mean she went to Wazzu. Bad, bad, bad.


Find more videos like this on Reviews, News, and How To Geeks


Barbie's friend Mary Kay sold separately.

Post-Valentine's schmaltz

The inimitable Yogi Yorgesson:


Sort of sweet, really goofy. Y'betcha!

An Australian explains the stimulus payment

It seems to work the same way in this hemisphere, too.

Important Information on the Stimulus Payment

This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment.

This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to Taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.
_____________________________________________

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the Economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:

If you spend that money at K-Mart, all the money will go to China.

If you spend it on petrol it will go to the Arabs.

If you purchase a computer it will go to India.

If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to South East Asia or New Zealand.

If you buy a car it will go to Japan.

If you purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan.

And none of it will help the economy.

We need to keep that money here. You can keep the money here by spending it at garage sales, going to a football game, or spending it on prostitutes, beer or tattoos, since those are the only businesses still here.

H/T to Mark Shea.

Friday Film Day: Know for Sure

The day before Valentine's and Friday the Thirteenth. An irresistible opportunity to get in touch with my inner cynic. After all, the initials "VD" stand for more than just a holiday.

This little atrocity was originally a WWII propaganda film. It features a pretty well-known cast of character actors, all uncredited, directed by Lewis Milestone and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Of particular note is the reliably excellent Ward Bond, who would again prove himself willing to humiliate himself on celluloid for the war effort. Greater love hath no actor...

The version you're about to see is the one that was edited for use in schools, with all the icky graphic stuff cut out. I remember seeing similar films along about the seventh grade, punctuated with some very descriptive side material from my teacher's military days. Those were the classes where they took all the girls off into another room, so he didn't soft-pedal anything for his all-male audience. You never saw a bunch of 12-year-old boys cross their legs and cringe so hard.

So remember, boys and girls... when the romance begins to blossom this Valentine's Day, don't just hope for the best... know for sure!

Midwife at Auschwitz

Two good things came out of that hellish piece of history we call the Holocaust. First, the world was finally willing to allow Jews to have their own country, a place where they need not fear that the country they live in will turn on them.

Second, and far more important from an eternal perspective, it created an anvil on which saints were forged. Not just nice people, but the sort of saints whose mere existence is proof that God has not abandoned us altogether. The forge at Auschwitz broke most of those who were hammered against it, but there were a few who brought the light of God into the darkest place man has managed to devise yet. For them, canonization is only the feeblest gesture. Still, it's the least we owe them.

Here is one of those. Read it with your hat off.

That's torn it!

See if Gary Graham ever gets work in Hollywood again.

WWKSS?

The minute I saw this story, I asked myself, "What would Kathy Shaidle say?" I may have to e-mail it to her attention.

A foster mother has been struck off the register for allowing a Muslim girl in her care to convert to Christianity.

The woman, who has looked after more than 80 children in the past ten years, is considering suing the council over the decision.

Although she is a practising Anglican, she said she had put no pressure on the girl who was baptised last year at the age of 16.

She said social workers had also raised no objections to her own attendance at church.

But officials insist she failed in her duty to preserve the girl's religion and should have tried to stop the baptism.

Last April, they ruled that the girl, now 17, should stay away from church for six months...

The carer is a single mother of two in her 50s who has worked with young children for much of her life. She has had an unblemished record since becoming a foster parent in the North of England in 1999.

Of the Christian convert, she said: 'I did initially try to discourage her. I offered her alternatives.

'I offered to find places for her to practise her own religion. I offered to take her to friends and family.

'But she said to me from the word go, 'I am interested and I want to come.' She sort of burst in.'

The woman said it had never occurred to her that she would be axed from the register.

As Kathy said last week, "Dear Luftwaffe: please come back. All is forgiven."

Ho hum

Another sneering boob tries to pass off "Just enough of me, way too much of you" as "scientific" and "rational."

As I've said before, people who bellyache about overpopulation are by definition hypocrites. If they meant what they said, they'd off themselves first. But they don't; it's always the other chap who's using up too many resources.

By what intrinsic superiority does this dolt think he's more deserving of a patch of earth than someone else?

No words

Besides the time constraints, the reason I haven't posted on this is that it just pisses me off beyond words. Not just at the abortionist and his henchwomen who very intentionally stuck a living baby in a garbage bag and threw it out, but also at anybody who fails to be furious at this. And yet in the long run it won't matter. However much proof is given that a baby is human from the beginning, however much tut-tutting the pro-aborts may do for the next few days, it won't change a damned thing. I just don't know what to say that will make any difference. God help me, I'm part of a country that rates human life lower than trash.

I note Patterico's comment on the political aspects:

Both sides of the political aisle find this story disturbing. Conservatives, because someone apparently felt entitled to take a live human being and throw her in the trash to die. Liberals, because wingnuts might use the story to undermine Roe v. Wade.

Which aspect concerns you more?

Well?

I wish I thought he meant this

I really do.
Unfortunately, his record is emphatically against it, which prompts me to wonder why on earth he would say such a thing. If Obama had his way, this would be perfectly legal. Does he really think he's going to pass himself off as pro-life?

Marginally related: Ewww.

Blossom Dearie travels in elephants

It blows me away that "Blossom Dearie" was more or less her real name. I have a couple of CDs of hers at home, but this is how I remember her:

Not dead yet

Posting has been light due to a heavy workload last week, followed by some kind of bug yesterday and today. I've had several things I wanted to get posted and just haven't had time, including the horrifying story Ken sent me in the comments. (That one leaves me scrambling for words.) Anyway, if I survive being back at work today I'll see if I can't catch up a bit.

You want Benny Bell?

I gotcher Benny Bell right here!


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There's more at the Internet Archive page linked above.

Groundhog Day in Moses Lake

The little rodent sticks his head out of the hole, and if he's not blown to shreds, spring is on its way.

For explanation, see here (part one) and here (part two).

Oh, and the prosecutor who swapped justice for a political career? It worked. Now he's a judge. God help us.