Is it real or is it ...

... Photoshop? This could be something right out of "Journey to the Center of the Earth", the Sci-Fi Channel movie-of-the-week or the latest cgi-screen grab from the "Independence Day" filmmakers.

Nope, it's none of the above.

According to CNN, this is the real thing. The office of Guatemala's president handed out this aerial view of a crater that opened up after Agatha hit. This phenomenon knows as a sinkhole apparently swallowed a three-story building, not that you can see anything down there in its maw. And it may be responsible for the deaths of the still-unaccounted for missing. Guatemala is no stranger to monstrous sinkholes. Only a few years ago they had to contend with this killer beast:



When these hit in southern California, I remember billboards in the surrounding areas showed a sudden increase in insurance advertising after a couple Suburbans were swallowed up. But in the land of the beautiful they had the City of L.A. to bill for their losses. In Guatemala, they don't have something like insurance to cover even a bicycle that may have vanished into the earth, let alone provide for a family who lost their bread-winner.

I've seen the eyes of the survivors of storms that cause the earth to open like this... and all I can think is.. Did you look into the abyss? Or did the abyss look into you?

Just another guy from the neighborhood.

Memorial Day: time for remembering, giving thanks. Parades, bbqs and ... hate-mongering?Obama Skips Arlington, Secret Service Confronts Farrakhan Security

Reading blurbs from the White House Press pool this week was an eye-opener. Apparently the Obamas went to Chicago on "vacation" for Memorial Day. Arlington Cemetery? Who Cares. They had more important things to do. Like visit the Nesbitts. Now the Nesbitts happen live next to that friend to all - Louis Farrakhan. Or maybe the Nesbitts house is just a front to another stop on the Communist & Socialist Railroad. What a crowd. Obamas. Ayers. Dohrn. Farrakhan. They all live in Obama's old neighborhood. They must have had some amazing block parties back in the day when Obama was just ACORN's lawyer and man-about-town.

Are the Fruits of Islam posturing to replace the Secret Service? Unlikely. I know they're out of work since Michael Jackson passed but they're better suited to terrorizing than protecting anyone from terrorists. Perhaps they were just fronting to get the press away from the windows of the home Obama was really visiting...

As for the timing... it isn't as if he was visiting Bill Ayers to get the final draft of any kind of Memorial Day speech. I heard some excerpts before God chased him away and he may as well have been reading the insert to some new acne vitamins for as much emotion as he put behind it. I'm kind of okay with Obama not visiting Arlington. Our Fallen heroes deserve better than his crocodile tears.

This Land is My Land

More evidence that Israel has obviously gone off the plantation in their reaction to those pacifist ships who were just looking to pass out baby formula.

Have you stopped laughing yet? Yes, I was being sarcastic. The media's reaction to this event is an embarassment on a global scale. Not to mention the reaction of all those fawning college-kids on twitter under the #flotilla trend. They make emo-kids look positively jolly.

I'm sure there are some out there summoning the minions to call me a bunch of terrible names. Bring it on: I stand with Israel and don't apologize for it. Kind of like I stand with Arizona.

An interesting comparison, is it not? Both have to constantly defend their borders. Both are constantly told they are "racist" and "elitist" and "isolationist" and "nationalist".. and name-your-favorite-ist for doing so. Both should be allowed to protect their own borders.

I don't see a lot of Arab-countries opening their borders to the oppressed and down-trodden and oh, yes, bomb-happy Palestinians. I imagine it would be easier to find a buyer for life insurance over 50 among Somali pirates.

Shh. Don't hurt them with pesky things like... painful truths.

Never Forget

Never Forget those who Gave All... and those who Lost All.

For Freedom.

Our American Military and Military families: We Support You.

Israel Defends Herself. Horrors.

Video footage: view and decide for yourself.

Israeli Navy Addresses a Ship in the Flotilla and Offers it to Dock in the Ashdod Port


and

Demonstrators Use Violence Against Israeli Navy Soldiers Attempting to Board Ship


and

Close-Up Footage of Mavi Marmara Passengers Attacking IDF Soldiers (With Sound)




Israel warned the ship it was approaching a legally-blockaded area and offered a dock, and escort, to offload its supplies. It refused, was boarded, and its inhabitants attacked the IDF Soldiers.

"Freedom flotilla". "Freedom workers." "Aid workers." "Humanitarian workers." If you're a fan of Russia Today and Al-Jazeera... and college professors... one more... "Martyrs."

So many names. In the thought process from whence came "a rose is a rose is a rose..." I prefer the all-descriptive "terrorists."

If the videos are removed -- you'll know the propaganda machine is in full swing.

The Thrill is Gone

Couldn't have happened to a nicer piece of human garbage.

Chris Matthews laments "This President is not acting like Commander-In-Chief".

I wonder what he's upset about? Big Oil losing a rig is a win to the left, no matter how it came about. Even if Big Oil gave your guy loads of cash. Is it his refusal to talk about it? The media's comparisons to Katrina? Maybe it's just the fact that Obama has golfed more in his first year and a half as president than Bush did during his entire 8 years...?

I won't say he's climbed out of the kool-aid cesspool that is eerily like the "V" leader Anna's 'bliss'.. but he's wondering how this could have happened. If he can't pin this on any leftover from the Bush administration who is still somehow working within 12 miles of the White House, then he'll find a way to pin this all on overweight speechwriters dealing with diet pills side effects.

He'll get back on the wagon. But this remark coupled with James "the Ragin' Cajun"'s very public outburst this week about Obama's non-response to the Gulf disaster, has made this a week for the right to remember and savor.

A little perspective

BP. It may as well stand for "Bush Petroleum" it's become so reviled lately. How many times did Obama blame them (Bush AND/OR BP) for his administration's reluctant response to this ecological disaster? And while everyone has an idea about who to blame, noone in the media or federal government can seem to figure out how to stop it from gushing out and clean the mess up. The local government have some ideas but the feds are working from the Marie Antoinette playbook this week.

Newsmedia are falling all over each other trying to get down there and document greasy seabirds and dead fish for their pulitzer races, but when the President went to visit he for some odd reason chose a beach where he had to kneel down and pick up pebble-sized balls of crude as if to say "where?... this rock? ... oh yes, I see it now". It would have been more believable if he'd been carrying a inogen oxygen concentrator in his pocket.

As an aside, when is the last time you heard a standing president refer to his immediate predecessor as "corrupt"? I don't even know if President Ford did it to Nixon.

The picture above is not from the double-explosions that sank the exploratory drilling rig the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the deaths of eleven men. It's actually from the biggest oil spill in history back in 1991 when Saddam beat back from Kuwait retreated by unleashing 500 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf and setting fires to the wells along the way.

I don't know how or why this current disaster happened. Everyone has a theory. I tend to suspect terrorism, if only because the fallout from such an attack would benefit terrorists:

They attack our domestic exploratory deep sea rigs, resulting in a moratorium on further drilling due to the deaths, spills, danger.
We're back buying oil on the market from our friends the Saudis, Iranians and Russians. Oh and that lunatic in South America.
And terrorists are able to attack our interests... i.e. pipelines... in their own backyards instead of ours.

Did anyone happen to notice that other BP... accident... up in Alaska this week?

Just sayin'.

The New Gang of 14

Pres Obama has decided that instead of the usual reaching across the aisle when dealing with States' Rights hurdles, he's going to confront it head on. We're hearing that he is threatening 14 State Governors with immediate arrest if they don't conform to his mold and get in step with the program:

A chilling report from the Foreign Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) prepared for Prime Minister Putin warns today that United States President Barack Obama has had served on 14 US Governors National Security Letters (NSLs) warning that if their actions in attempting to form what are called State Defense Forces are not halted they will face “immediate” arrest for the crime of treason.

The use of NSLs in the United States was authorized by the Patriot Act law enacted after the September 11, 2001 attacks and forbids anyone receiving them from even acknowledging their existence, and was reauthorized by Obama’s “rubberstamp” Congress this past February over the objections of both civil and human rights groups who warned they mimic similar type “government security notices” enacted under both the former German Nazi and Soviet Communist regimes

I can only hope that the 14 Governors in question stick together. They obviously see the writing on the wall and the vision for America that Obama has is quite different than the one outlined in our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. We're even hearing that he's hot to have our government sign a treaty with UN for disarmament -- possibly eroding our Second Amendment rights? Secessions may not be laughed at for much longer if this continues. And it will.

I'm guessing when Obama reauthorized their use he failed to actually read the fine print which states:

“State Defense Forces (SDF) (also known as State Guards, State Military Reserves, or State Militias) in the United States are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government; they are not regulated by the National Guard Bureau nor are they part of the Army National Guard of the United States.

State Defense Forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. State Defense Forces are distinct from their state’s National Guard in that they cannot become federal entities.

The federal government recognizes State Defense Forces under 32 U.S.C. § 109 which provides that State Defense Forces as a whole may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the Armed Forces of the United States, thus preserving their separation from the National Guard.”

Side note: Does anyone ever wonder if Obama would have an "Anchorman" moment if someone put whatever they wanted on the teleprompter? I'd love to have someone slip something innocuous like liquid prenatal vitamin into one of his speeches on population control to see if either he or his fawning media even noticed.

If You Can't Laugh at Yourself, Go Back

This weekend proved to me yet again that Conservatives really do have a wicked-fun sense of humor.

The place: twitter.
The trend: #ObamaTVShows

At first blush, you give the title a look and think maybe people are all guessing about what shows Obama watches. Not exactly... more like... the kinds of shows that might air in Obamaland. I had a blast joining the fun, being a TV-bot of sorts myself. Some of the best tweets -- and there were some gems:

The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers (h/t politikoz for the reminder of bygone days)
@trevorkight: The Amazing Race Card
@AiPolitics: Whose Dime is it Anyway?
@Afterseven: Arrested Developers, Mad About SEIU, Mao Three Sons
@NathanWurtzel: Russell Simmons' Debt Jam
@hch242: Marxist in the Middle
@cprater Marxist Welby, MD
@DannyGallows: American Idolatry
@thegre8_1: Deface The Nation (h/t @marklevinshow)
@Pinandpuller: The Greatest American Zero
@ConservaRock The Man from A.C.O.R.N.
@Dr_Rose: The Czartridge Family, Czarsky & Hutch
@mikem2006: Mao and Mindy, Cost
@TheGenuineDavid: The Court Marshall of Eddies Father
@dbopinions: The Left Wing
@BenFroland: The Saul Guy
@taffastrophe: Seven Bribes for Seven Brothers, thirtysomething (trillion in debt)
@WhineNot: The Sonny and Cher The Wealth Show
@southsalem: Kate and Alinsky
@Redstickrant: Czar 54, Where Are You?
@moneypenny008: Saved by the Bailout, Marxist Eye for the Socialist Guy, My Three Socialists, The Odd Couple. The Blunder Years
@scifighter: Little Foreclosed House on the Government-Owned Prairie
@tonybalogna: Pimp My Government-Issued Ride
@AlinskyDefeater: Curb your Capitalism
@Howardman1: Debt Valley Days
@rdickerhoof: Super Nanny-state, Nanny-state 911
@Covert4Liberty: Days of our Lies
@mebPEZZ: Saint Welfare

If you tweet, I highly recommend you follow these fine, fun folk!

My Own Contributions:

Marx and Mindy
Marx and Ruby
Marx Headroom
Martial Law and Order
I Love Lenin
The Incredible Hoax
Empty Nest Egg
Love, Anti-American Style
Logan's Ruin
My So-Called Life Savings
Wall Street Blues
As the World Burns
Czar-bado Gigante
Futurahma
Freaks and Sheiks
Hamas Five-Oh
JAG Off
Allah and the Chipmunks
Hamas Street Blues

Of course, those on the other side of the aisle who perched on their contemporary sofas whilst they judged those of us who were sharing laughs didn't get the joke. I think I was called, along with everyone else, a "fat white guy with a small (*winkie*)". Oh, and a Racist. So.... what else is new?

I understand differing senses of humor though. We conservatives didn't get the joke either when liberals (and their leaders) laughed during events like Ron Brown's funeral or Paul Wellstone's funeral:



Man, death is FUNNY on the other side.

Workin' out with Wee Ones

Plotting her next move by staring down the lock on the fridge.

Who needs a room full of the best fitness equipment when you have a three year old just slightly curiouser than your average cat and an almost-toddler who thinks that a fat bottle of milk must surely be a the top of that flight of stairs?

The three year old has mastered every child lock in the house and frequently accesses those nether regions little children are best banned from: like... the cabinet where we stored the toilet paper (note the past tense) and the condiment shelf on the refrigerator door. This is something we quickly explain to visitors who pause after they enter when they realize nearly everything we own other than the furniture itself is 6 feet above ground. Or my husband.

Everyone seems to think it's so adorable when she pushes her trusty chair past them headed for the cabinets above the counters, determined to seek out and find those fruit snacks she knows are there. And when you catch her -- what does she do? Promptly gives them to the baby who is waiting below for any old treat she happens to drop down ... to share... or share the blame?

As if she is saying: "Look what a nice sister I am Mom. Isn't that nice of me?"

Yes she does call me Mom. First three year old I've ever identified as having an old soul.

Oh, and every time I reach up and take her down from the countertop I give a little extra workout to my deltoids. Or triceps. Or whatever those things are.

Sex for Sale

H/T I Hate the Media: You can't make this stuff up.

Apparently, a bunch of women think they were short-changed this Mother's Day, and are putting their money, and a lot more, on the line to feed that displeasure.

31,427 women to be exact. That's an awful lot of neglect. Or perceived neglect. What about the women who feel the same and don't have the guts to take such a bold move? And imagine how many women out there don't even know about the website?

I dropped this bombshell on a pretty large handful of moms I know. The general response? I was expecting shock and outrage that those women would go out and desecrate not only their marriages but their families by prostituting themselves out there. Yep, I said it. The site isn't free. And isn't that the point of prostitution? Anonymous sex, no strings attached?

What I got? A lot of head-shaking and understanding. Apparently, women, moms rather, think that even something as silly as a greeting card, burned bacon, soggy eggs and watery orange juice is a wonderfully generous token of endearment. Some would even have appreciated just the card.

I tried to broach the point that those women are "interfacing" shall we say with married men. Not a blink in the crowd. The topic turned to whether or not to hire an energy auditor and I knew that it truly was a sign of the end times.

Wannabe Chillin'

Even people who are mad at Toyota for no reason other than the Obamamedia tells them to be want to roll with the Sienna family. Personally, it's an eye opener to hit the wondrous state of mommydom and start coveting minivans and extra-large SUVs that pass you by like mobile palaces. I know plenty of moms who brag on their own rides which happen to have terrible mpg and a 3rd row. I'd take this one with a convex mirror or two over a Humvee anytime... and not just for the funky beat (ok, if that was a real song, I'd never have made it to the 3rd word... word.)

Ah, minivan envy. It's a beautiful thing.