Haunted Houses in Los Angeles

Halloween is a fun time. Not only do people love to dress up, but they love to decorate their houses as well, with the macabre and the shocking. Full of scary laughs and frightening decorations.

I thought I'd share with my readers, some of the clever and imaginative if not bone-chilling haunted house decorations out there in the Los Angeles area....







These are near UCLA....







On my way to work, houses in Palms and Culver City...

This one is just awesome:

Scariest houses of all, though.....








Brace yourselves.......














Now those are simply terrifying. Tricks-or-treaters should be wary that if they go to these houses with a bag already full of candy, beware the owner of these houses doesn't reach into your bag to distribute your hard-earned candy to other tricks-or-treaters, just making their rounds. Play safe, and be safe!


Happy Halloween!

Dear Mr. Obama....

This video has been making its round on many blogs, but am finally posting it here. (Skye posted one by a military wife). It can't be viewed enough. It's received 11,504,712 views, and there are...what? About 150 million registered voters?


If Senator Obama were a true centrist, if he were honest in wanting to "bring both sides together"; to listen, to "seek common ground", to "reach across the aisle" and the partisan divide, we would see him acknowledge, discuss, and promote the views of this Iraqi war veteran:



And not just surround himself with anti-war veterans who give the illusion of military support to the freshman senator from Illinois and Democratic presidential hopeful.

There is more than one point of view on Iraq; but Senator Obama is only interested in one: That the Iraq War is a mistake.

Senator Obama is a man of the Left. He is anything BUT interested in TRUE bipartisanship, other than asking Americans to "unify around my far left political views".



"In words, Obama is a uniter instead of a divider. In deeds, he's spent years promoting polarization."
- Thomas Sowell



Cross-posted at Flopping Aces

Senator Obama and his "Commitment" to Israel

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama casts a shadow on the Israeli and American flags while speaking at an event to honor the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence in Washington.
Mark Wilson - Getty Imag

My post is written over at Flopping Aces

Gee, I wonder what's on tv, tonight.....

*Click*

All He Ever Needed to Know About Communism, He Learned in Kindergarten

By way of Amanda Carpenter, Senator Obama tries to tell a funny:

Barack Obama was joking about the GOP's negative attacks on his campaign at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina today.

He said John McCain is "going to accuse me of being a Communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten, I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Nooooo.....McCain and Palin share their toys and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with others; what Obama does is share other people's toys and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.


THAT'S what you're being accused of advocating for, good Senator.


Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., takes a bite from his cheeseburger has lunch with supporters at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., Saturday, April 12, 2008.

Cross-posted at Flopping Aces

My Excursion into West Hollywood

Yesterday, before work, I took a detour to check out all the hoopla for myself. Read about it at Flopping Aces.

If California is on another planet, then West Hollywood is in another galaxy.

7 More Days....

Wake up, Sheeple!

More Obama on "Wealth Redistribution"

A supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) holds a fake bill with Obama's face at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, October 19, 2008.
REUTERS/Jim Young

I came across the WBEZ.FM radio interview Obama did in 2001, last night; since then, it's hit Drudge and now all the talk radio pundits seem to be pushing it.

Bill Whittle weighs in.....Amanda Carpenter mentions...

8 more days, people.

Also blogging:
Bill Dyer
Freedom Eden
Midnight Blue

The Faces of Innocence

Afghan girls and boys show their delight at the opening of a new wing at the Tajwar Sultana Girls School in Kabul, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Robert Romano

American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 22, 2008 – Afghan children are benefiting and thriving thanks to sustained efforts by a U.S. task force and a program that is helping to expand and improve their schools.

A new addition to a Kabul school was opened over the weekend in a ceremony that included Afghan officials, school faculty and U.S. military officials, as well as the local contractors who completed the work.

"This is the greatest day of my life. I feel as though I am the mother of all these children,” said Rabia Abdullah, principal of the Tajwar Sultana Girls School. “We used to teach them in tents, and now we have a school."

Read more...

The Face of Evil

A suspected Taliban fighter is detained in Patrol Base Wilson in Zhari district, Afghanistan, April 19, 2008.
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Over a thousand protest against the Taliban and their violence....and an innocent man's eyes are gouged out in front of his family. Read here.

John McCain, 41 Years Ago Today.....

Was shot down over Hanoi on his 23rd mission...

John McCain is pulled out of a Hanoi lake by a mix of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Vietnamese citizens in this October, 1967 file photo. McCain, currently a Republican presidential candidate, was shot down by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) and had broken both arms and his right knee upon ejection, losing consciousness until he hit the water. (Photo courtesy of Senator McCain’s office/February 23, 2000)


My post, in reprint.

Thanks for the reminder, Pondering Penguin.

Sunday Funnies

More at Flopping Aces

The Not-So Subliminal Obama Socialist Realism Propaganda Art

A supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) holds a picture as she waits for Obama at his hotel at the Maumee Bay Resort in Oregon, Ohio, October 15, 2008.
REUTERS/Jim Young

How can Obama supporters not see that there is a link between Barack Obama and socialism/communism/Marxism? The evidence is staring at them, plain as day.

All around, I see this image:






That image has always disturbed me, like seeing Che Guevara T-shirts around; it clearly looks like socialist realism art, and that's because it is based on socialist realism art:

Shepard Fairey (Eric Luse / The Chronicle)


Even though he has shown in galleries for years and attracted a following of wealthy buyers who enjoy his brand of art, Fairey achieved mainstream attention only this summer, after he designed what's become an iconic poster of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The image has been interpreted by critics as either capturing the inspiration Obama embodies or as just downright creepy in its propagandistic depiction of the political figure. The portrait, in muted tones, takes cues from socialist realism and is reminiscent of posters created to celebrate Lenin, Stalin and Mao. Fairey has enjoyed this debate. "The illustration does have roots in propaganda art," Fairey said. "I also want it to seem like a patriotic image, but not be seen as too countercultural. ... It needed just enough mainstream ingredients to transcend."

"Downright creepy in its propagandistic depiction" is how I'd best describe it. And this is aside from what I actually think of Senator Obama's candidacy. If he had depicted Senator McCain in these drab, muted tones and socialist realism style propaganda art, I'd be just as turned off.

Fairey purposely used a red-black-cream palette, the color scheme most associated with Soviet-era posters. Initially, the images are meant to suggest a conformist message; on closer look, they signal a biting commentary or a slight joke.

"It's asking people to question everything they're confronted by at first glance," Fairey said. "Propaganda hits you in the gut. And it's proven to be effective."

That is great advice to the conformist sheep in the Obama camp, swept up in the pied piper music of "Hope" and "Change" and "Yes We Can": propaganda is hitting them in the gut, effectively so.

"You don't question the authority," Fairey said of his creation. "You submit, because you think, 'It's so intricately designed, it can't be questioned.' "

Yes, how dare anyone question the authority of the MSM narrative on Senator Obama. We are racists and engaged in "distractions" to bring up any criticism on his character, judgment, and history of associations to radicals, afro-centrists, communists and marxists.

Here is the letter Senator Obama sent to Fairey, after seeing his "Progress" poster:



After which, Fairey was commissioned by Senator Obama to create the "Hope" "Nope", "Dope" and "Change" "Obey" posters we see everywhere.


A good post by The Autonomist (too good not to include in its entirety):

The similarities between the Soviet, Cuban, Chinese Communist and Barack Obama propaganda posters are not coincidental. Barack Obama is a collectivist, a far-Left socialist who has attracted and has the support of radical groups, including the Communist Party Illinois, Socialist Party USA, The Center for Constitutional Rights and The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.

The Obama "Progress" poster was designed by leftwing (surprise!) artist Shepard Fairey. A similar poster by Fairey, with the word "change" on it is sold by Barack Obama's online campaign store.

“I wanted to make an art piece of Barack Obama because I thought an iconic portrait of him could symbolize and amplify the importance of his mission. I believe Obama will guide this country to a future where everyone can thrive and I should support him vigorously for the sake of my two young daughters. I have made art opposing the Iraq war for several years, and making art of Obama, who opposed the war from the start, is like making art for peace. I know I have an audience of young art fans and I’m delighted if I can encourage them to see the merits of Barack Obama,” says Fairey.

If I had the inclination or motivation to ask Mr. Fairey two questions about his statement they would be, "just exactly what is Barack Obama's mission" and "what exactly does 'making art for peace' mean?"

Thomas Lifson of American Thinker gives some insights on pro-Obama art and its striking resemblance to Soviet propaganda. The similarities between the two are not accidental:

"Welcome the new aesthetic of Barack Obama, the left wing ideologue. The
signs have long been there, for those with the eyes to see them.

It is no accident that Obama has become the candidate of the Democrats'
left wing fringe, typified by the Daily Kos crowd, despite his continuing
efforts to sound a centrist note. The kind of people who are comfortable working with a poster of Che Guevara looking over their shoulders have been attracted to Obama because they read the little signals belying his centrist pose.

Of course, it may be unfair to hold a candidate responsible for all the actions of any of his supporters, but when a campaign itself indulges in the aesthetic of leftism, it may actually mean something. Take the striking posters of the candidate created by left wing artist Shepard Fairey and sold by the online Obama store run by his campaign. The entire run of the Fairey posters has sold out, so popular are they among the leftist cognoscenti whose aesthetic tastes run to nostalgic socialist realism.

Of the Fairey posters, the "Progress" poster is the most interesting. "Progressive" is, of course, the favorite euphemism for the hard left today."

In the 1940s and 1950s "progressive" was a euphemism used by American Communists to cloak their real agendas from mainstream America, and modern leftists like Barack Obama use the same term to mask their quasi-Marxist agendas from the American public. After all, though most people in America are opposed to Marxism and socialism, who in their right mind would be opposed to "Progress"?

And Senator Obama's supporters insist that their dear leader has nothing to do with socialist/Marxist leanings, thoughts, beliefs? Next time they tell you that, just point out the Fairey "Hope" button they wear on their lapel, or the one they are sporting as a sticker on their car.

Cross-posted at Flopping Aces

Robbing from the Rich, Giving to the Poor Hurts Both Rich and Poor

That’s what Democrats think of Republicans, while fashioning themselves to be the “champions of the poor and working class”. I’m so sick of the class warfare “tax cuts for the wealthy class” rhetoric of the Democrats. Tax cuts helps EVERYONE, paving the way for our society to grow more wealth for all.

This is brilliant:

Bar Stool Economics NOT by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Hat tip: Michael Medved Show

Bush tax cuts myth #10:

Myth #10: The Bush tax cuts were tilted toward the rich.
Fact: The rich are now shouldering even more of the income tax burden.

Popular mythology also suggests that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts shifted more of the tax burden toward the poor. While high-income households did save more in actual dollars than low-income households, they did so because low-income house­holds pay so little in income taxes in the first place. The same 1 percent tax cut will save more dollars for a millionaire than it will for a middle-class worker simply because the millionaire paid more taxes before the tax cut.

Top 1% Pay More Income Tax Than Bottom 90%

The Tax Foundation has published Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data:

New data released by the IRS today offers interesting insights into the distributional spread of the federal income tax burden, new analysis by the Tax Foundation shows. The new data shows that the top-earning 25% of taxpayers (AGI over $62,068) earned 67.5% of the nation's income, but they paid more than four out of every five dollars collected by the federal income tax (86%). The top 1% of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2% of the nation's income (as defined by AGI), yet paid 39.4% of all federal income taxes. That means the top 1% of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal individual income taxes as the bottom 95% of tax returns.

Cross-posted at Flopping Aces

The Distraction of a Rhetorical Flourish

Given that both the Obama camp and the McCain team have been receiving national security briefings in preparation for an Administration handover, do you suppose that Biden Six-Term indirectly leaked something he may have been made privy to?

The anti-war base of the Democratic Party may be in for a rude reality check, as they discover that the world is a dangerous place, that the Bush Administration has been doing its job all this time in protecting Joe Six-Pack and Joe the Plumber; and that confronting America's enemies may not be a partisan issue after all (they already admitted they lied to their base in 2006 to gain political power and House and Senate seats).

For all the huffing and puffing about how Senator McCain is "Senator More of the McSame", Senator Obama sure doesn't have any problem taking credit for the success of the Bush/McCain surge strategy paving the way for possible withdrawal dates; nor for adopting much of President Bush's tax cuts.

Say one thing to constituents, do another once elected. Probably further to the left; but who knows?

Family Guy Pulls the Nazi Card

This is nothing new:

But it never ceases to disgust me. Humor is fine; but this is slanderous garbage.

It contributes to the stigmatization that the Republican Party is the party of racists and fascists.

What's "funny", too, is that the Bush Administration has probably been the most pro-Israel American presidency we've ever had; and in Senator Obama's camp of foreign policy advisors (and supporters like Louis Farrakhan and Jimmy Carter), you'll find those who have been anti-Israel, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Robert Malley, Samantha Power (had to be let go after insulting Clinton in the primaries) and Susan Rice.

It amazes me how many Jewish liberals still support the Democratic Party, voting against their pro-Israel interests. Not everyone in the Democratic Party is anti-Israel; but there's no question that when it comes to those who are pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel, they overwhelmingly are throwing stones from the left side of the political spectrum.

Hat tip: Freedom Eden

President Bush the Conservative Liberal

I have said to Mr. McCain that I admire all he has done. I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years. It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that’s a choice the party makes.
- Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State under the Bush Administration, on Meet the Press, Sunday October 19, 2008

Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Hat tip: Skyepuppy)


What did Colin Powell have in mind, exactly, in stating his belief that the Republican Party has moved further starboard? Expansion of government and uncontrolled spending? Dramatic Increases in entitlement programs, such as social security, food stamps, and medicare drug benefit? Dramatic increase in education spendings ("I believe that education is the new civil right."- President Bush) under the current president? Faith-based intitiatives aimed at benefiting the poor? A soft "compassionate conservative" approach by the Administration in dealing with illegal immigration and immigration reform? More financial relief to fight AIDS in Africa as well as helping local farmers in Africa, doing more to help people living in Africa than any other previous U.S. president?

President Bush has behaved rather liberally on not just spending, but on supporting programs that have been beneficial to minority groups.

Rove recommended books to Bush to read, including Murray Myron's The Dream and the Nightmare and Marvin Olasky's The Tragedy of American Compassion. Both mirrored Bush's thoughts, arguing that the feel-good, permissive values of the 1960s undermined the strength of families and helped create dependency on government, ultimately harming the disadvantaged classes. As an antidote, Bush, in discussions with Myron, Olasky, and others, fashioned the concept of "compassionate conservativism."

It was not a catchy phrase, and conservatives didn't like it because it implied that there was something wrong with being a conservative- like calling someone a realistic liberal. But the phrase accurately described Bush's philosophy. His goal was to help people. He believed the best way to do that was to develop government programs and policies that allowed them to help themselves. He did not see government as an enemy, as traditional conservatives did. But he did not believe the solution to problems was necessarily to throw money around.

- Pg 58, A Matter of Character, by Ronald Kessler.

Read more »

Army Specialist Kareem R. Khan, Referenced by Colin Powell

Elsheba Khan at the grave of her son, Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan.
Photo by Platon, appearing in The New Yorker, referenced by Colin Powell on Meet the Press.

Read more at Flopping Aces

October Surprise: The One on the Right was On the Left

*sigh*

Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama on Meet the (De)Pressed, today.

Color me unamazed, but disappointed. Apparently he feels "energized" by Senator Obama's rock star charisma and ability to generate excitement amongst the masses.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."

"He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well," Powell said.

~~~

Powell said he questioned Sen. John McCain's judgment in picking Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate because he doesn't think she is ready to be president.

He also said he was disappointed with some of McCain's campaign tactics, such as bringing up Obama's ties to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

I know Republicans haven't been thrilled with Colin Powell (his State Dept was part of the problem in making the WMD angle a centerpiece of his UN speech, as well as with bungling post-war operations); but someone remind me of all the names he was called by those on the Left. They don't know whether to embrace him or savage him some more, over there.

I need a little Cash, to humor me up a bit:



Cross-posted at Flopping Aces

Sunday Funnies

More at Flopping Aces

Saturday Morning Fractured Fairy Tales

The Return to Reagan Country

3 days ago, I bumped into Norma at Bob's Market. I hadn't seen her since last March. As soon as I pulled in, and saw her car (I didn't even have to see the Reagan bumpersticker to recognize it) parked in the same spot, I knew I'd see her inside. I grabbed an origami gift from my car, went in, and tracked her down. She said she was just thinking about me, as the origami horse I gave her last time is a constant reminder.

She fears Senator Obama will probably win, but isn't giving up hope. She always looks around her when talking politics, for fear of some obnoxious Obama supporter butting in. Funny, but last weekend, I was there while two young boys were going up behind strangers, would chant "Obama" to see the person's reaction...they had on Obama t-shirts, so I'm not sure if they were pumped up from attending a rally or what.

I told Norma how I've seen a few McCain yard signs go up. She mentioned that there was one that was up last week Tuesday, but then was gone over last weekend. She expressed fear of putting up a McCain bumpersticker on her car, although she rides around with an '84 Reagan bumpersticker.

Anyway, we were happy to see a fellow conservative Republican in blue, blue, Santa Monica.

7-Election Scientific "Accurate" Poll

Angela Anderson, pouring coffee, says she has "voted" for Senator Obama at least 10 times in the "7-Election" coffee cup poll sponsored by 7-Eleven stores. Store promoters say the poll is "wildly unscientific and surprisingly accurate." In the 2000 election, George W. Bush received 51 percent and Al Gore, 49 percent in the "7-Election."
Photo: Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Go "get out the sip", folks. Senator Obama is leading, btw, in this "accurate" if highly unscientific poll. What does it tell us, fellow rednecks? That Joe Six-Pack and Joe the Plumber aren't getting their hot "cup 'o joe" at 7-Eleven; but ACORN organizers are probably making hourly trips there.

This is definitely a capitalist trick to get one to buy convenient store coffee.

Self-Roasting

I enjoyed both candidates self and other-deprecating humor at The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation.

Pleasant break from "politics as usual" without escaping "politics as usual".

I'm glad Sarah Palin is doing SNL. Conservatives may decry that she is going into hostile waters, the butt of liberal latenight comedy; but it's important that conservatives go into hostile interviews and not hide; it's important to show we can also laugh with them, who laugh at us. Don't take their jabs at us so seriously. Just laugh it off and don't have your buttons so easily pushed. Stuff like this, however, is to be frowned upon.

Rated- W

Stone says the film won't be an anti-Bush polemic. Rather, as he told Daily Variety, it will be "a fair, true portrait of the man that asks the question: how did Bush go from being an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world?"

Uh....riiiiiiiight.

The film will cover Mr Bush's obsession with invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein – which Stone suggests is to avenge the Iraqi leader's much ballyhooed assassination attempt on Bush Snr.

It will also look at Mr Bush's desperate hunt for WMDs in Iraq and his well known mangling of the English language. The script gives the impression that the White House is Mr Bush's very own fraternity house where discussions about going to war sound like the staff are betting on a football game.

The film will capture notorious episodes including his arrest for tearing down the goalposts at a college football game, his widely reported threat to get into a fistfight with his father when he came home drunk in the 1970s, and how he quit drinking after his 40th birthday when he woke up with a hangover and marching orders from his wife.

Mr Bush will be played by Josh Brolin, who starred in the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men. Laura Bush is being played by Elizabeth Banks, who starred in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

This is Stone's third film about a US president, following Nixon and JFK. The director has been an outspoken critic of President Bush's policy in Iraq.

But keep in mind while digesting all of this, that the movie (Oliver Stone, folks....Oliver Stone) will be "a fair, true portrait of the man."

Not.

Even Oliver Stone admits in this interview that facts won't get in the way of a good romp into anti-Bushism, under the guise of biography:

I certainly worked very hard on the research for JFK. We even put a book out filled with every footnote. I personally find it disgusting that we have to do that to make a movie. But at the time I felt very defensive about it. And we put it out because we weren’t ripping off, we were in the spirit of what we’d learned. We were talking to real witnesses and getting real facts, but they said that we had invented it all. It’s a cheap shot. So I became super defensive. Then on Nixon, we put out another book of footnotes to explain our reasons. Anyway, I realized it’s hopeless to get those things examined in the light of day: You’re always accused of being a filmmaker. That’s why with W I’ll probably be a little bit freer, because you know there’s not that much appreciation for all the work that goes into fact-checking. I think we can have more fun on it.

~~~

But I think Pinkville [Stone's film about the My Lai, which was shelved in 2007] was worth doing because it wasn’t a massacre story per se, it was about how the worst in human nature is covered up by human nature. And also about how sometimes there are heroes who do come along. In Pinkville’s case, it was a few people — it wasn’t just one. Men who did something — nothing extraordinary — but something more than ordinary to bring out the truth. And the truth is an amazing story. Kids don’t know about My Lai, they don’t have a clue. But unfortunately that’s been lost because of money. The My Lai fallout was a Wall Street deal where the studio was totally chickenshit and caved when their previous film about the Iraq war had failed. It was a total money deal. They give you a numbering system, they number off all their estimates and sales. You get the accountants saying the movie is going to do this, this and this — bottom line we can bank this, you can discount that, therefore you can get that. It’s a very tough way to work, because you’re assigning generally lowball estimates to movies. I think they have about as much chance of being right as those early poll estimates of John McCain getting the Republican nomination.

The ACORN doesn't fall far from the tree, Part II

Drawing excerpted from Why Mommy is a Democrat


Can anyone here say, "wealth redistribution"? I knew you could.

"My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. If you’ve got a plumbing business, you’re gonna be better off if you’re gonna be better off if you’ve got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody’s so pinched that business is bad for everybody and I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody." -Senator Barack Obama

Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism
Obama's 95% Illusion
What is wrong with Obamanomics?
Why Obama's Socialism Matters
Obamanomics is a Recipe for a Recession

Joe the Gaff-Machine vs. Joe the Plumber

Senator Biden needs to fix the leaky plumbing in his head....


....and check his basic math skills.

Saint Obama

He wears a halo, while engaging in negativity.

My post at Flopping Aces.

Obama's Judgment on Confronting "Evil"

University of Illinois at Chicago professor Bill Ayers speaks to a reporter outside his office Tuesday, October 14, 2008. (Tribune photo by Candice C. Cusic / October 14, 2008)

Notice some of the pictures on the walls?

Post is up at Flopping Aces

"I'd rather win this election than lose the war"

Goddammit...get up in his face....Go get 'im!

The ACORN Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree, Does It?

Irony of ironies, huh?

The page is from the children's indoctrination book, Why Mommy is a Democrat. They have a new one that is so unimaginative, it looks like it was written by a 5 year old.

Obamanomics 95

Obama is now on the campaign trail rolling out a new set of economic proposals, late in the game.

Meanwhile in the Wall Street Journal:

One of Barack Obama's most potent campaign claims is that he'll cut taxes for no less than 95% of "working families." He's even promising to cut taxes enough that the government's tax share of GDP will be no more than 18.2% -- which is lower than it is today.

It's a clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he's also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%. But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the meaning of "tax cut."

Read more...

There's no reason why John McCain should lose on the economic issue. Not only is Obamanomics wrong for the American economy, but the Obamessiah should be hammered on his associations to those directly responsible for the current economic crisis:

Franklin Raines, the immediate past CEO of Fannie Mae – who has collected a $90 million golden parachute while driving Fannie into the ground – has advised Obama on housing issues.

Jim Johnson, yet another former Fannie Mae CEO, resigned from Obama’s vice presidential search team when it was revealed he had received a sweetheart home mortgage deal.

Despite serving in the Senate for only four years, Obama himself has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac largesse in the entire Congress, ahead even of former presidential candidate John Kerry, who’s spent two decades in the Senate?

Obama’s long-time political ally, radical group ACORN, played a key role in pressuring banks to offer loans to those who were unlikely to be able to pay them back. ACORN has taken credit for pressuring banks to accept undocumented income as a basis for offering loans, for offering loans without using credit scores, and for making 100% financed loans available to low-income people.

CNN and the Reverse Bradley Effect

Mike Wallace: How can we get rid of racism?

Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man, and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.

I've been listening to CNN all night; and all night long, they are hung up on the issue of race. It's a liberal fixation.

I think CNN is helping to create this issue; not merely be a "conduit" for it, as I heard Don Lemon describe it to James T. Harris, who's been taking heat for the statement he made at a McCain rally. Each anecdotal report, each "expert" with an agenda to push, creates a self-fulfilling perception of "America won't vote for a black man". Forget the thousands of McCain-Palin supporters who are at a McCain rally voting against a Marxist/socialist/liberal/Democrat while voting for the candidate who best represents their political identity. Zero-in, instead, upon the woman calling Senator Obama an Arab, and sensationalize it into an indictment of the McCain campaign and the Republican Party as racists and hate-mongers. CNN and MSM are the ones fanning the flames, cheerleading the sensationalism, creating the false narrative by pushing a skewed "if it bleeds racism, it leads" perception.

Freedom Eden was at the Waukesha rally, and says media reports have been false:

For days, the mainstream media have been reporting that supporters at John McCain's rallies are raging, bloodthirsty, hateful thugs.

The Waukesha rally on Thursday has been depicted as a hate fest. That's flat-out inaccurate. That's not the way it was at all.

I am certain that the reporting of that event is biased. I know the media have distorted what happened because I was there. I can tell you they're reports are slanted.

The same media that keep referring to the Waukesha event as a gathering of unruly, angry people are the same media that are ignoring an extremely moving portion of that same town hall meeting.

Iraqi war vet, Scott Southworth, spoke of his adopted son, an Iraqi orphan. While he was serving in Iraq, Southworth volunteered at an orphanage. The man choked up but managed to tell the story of bringing his son home to America. The boy is now a citizen of the United States.

The crowd responded to that inspiring story with cheers that easily equalled any heard given to the speakers expressing their frustrations.

Nonetheless, the media focus on creating a report of a ugly scene. At least regarding the Waukesha event, I know it's manfactured.

Read here, here, here, and here. Say a lie loud enough...and spread it through the media. Where were they for the last 8 years to denounce the hateful rhetoric toward President Bush, which goes far beyond shouting "traitor" and "terrorist"? President Bush's life is more in danger of assassination attempts than is Senator Obama's. Where's the media hyperventilation on this?

Since this has been receiving so much headline news, I wouldn't be surprised if Obama supporters actually show up to McCain-Palin rallies and pretend to be racist supporters of the McCain campaign to draw media fire. Call me conspiratorial, but it's certainly not outside the realm of possibilities, given how low Democrats will go to win an election.

If anything, I think America trends more toward a reverse Bradley effect. Does anyone seriously believe that Senator Obama would be generating so much excitement and energy amongst Democrats, if it were merely his political message of "hope" and "change", resume, and campaign promises? It isn't just black voters who are excited (including those voting on race identity), but white voters, and multicultural voters (including those voting due to racial identity as well as those voting in spite of it- both types dispelling the myth that Americans won't elect a black president).

Senator Obama has gotten as far as he has, because America has moved beyond race, and is ready to accept a president, regardless of race or gender, and has been ready for some time (just look at all the American of ethnicity, in positions of leadership throughout our society). If he does not win the presidency, it won't be on account of his transracial identity. It will be on account of the fact that he is the least qualified of the two candidates; Americans will reject Senator Obama because he is the wrong man, for the wrong position, at the wrong time. And so long as he is a far left, liberal, socialist, Marxist Democrat, he will always be the wrong man, applying for the wrong position, at the wrong time.

The U.S. presidency is above Senator Obama's pay grade.

Cross-posted at Flopping Aces

Remembering the U.S.S. Cole

8 years ago, today, the U.S.S. Cole was attacked in the port of Aden, Yemen. Scott writes up an excellent post on accountability, and Gary Swenchonis, a father of one of the 17 sailors killed, posts a letter.

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Today in History: USS Cole Bombers Escape Yemeni Prison
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