Dude!

The little white squiggle that you see in the middle of this monstrous wave is a surfer from Hawaii taking off on an estimated 100-footer yesterday in Portugal. U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e! He made it. 




www.foxnews.com/world/2013/10/29/brazilian-surfer-may-have-set-new-big-wave-record-in-portugal/

Obamacare Commemorative Stamp Available Now

(Tip o' the hat to Nate Lyons/Lars Larson))

Good Samaritan

The Syrian civil war has spawned 1 million refugees, many of whom have spilled over into Jordan. Many relief organizations are providing food and medical care including one from Israel. The Israelis are staying below the radar for obvious reasons, but following the example of the Good Samaritan they are there helping people with nowhere to go. Would Syria do the same if the tables were turned? Just posing the question shows how ridiculous that thought is.

www.wnd.com/2013/10/israel-quietly-feeding-syrian-refugees/

What the Well-Dressed Chicken Wears.

If you are an urban chicken rancher, the USDA is about to require you to bundle up your chicks in urban safety vests. That's right - see and be seen. I guess it does make them better targets for hawks and coyotes. Maybe there should be a convenient carrying handle on the top.  Question: Do you take them off when you fry them up?

consumerist.com/2013/10/24/obviously-your-urban-chickens-need-20-reflective-safety-vests/


                                                       (Tip o' the hat to Brent Colvin)

Last Laugh

Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and the rest of the Republicans are starting to look like prophets. If you recall, the reason they were holding up the budget process was because of the train wreck that they saw coming with Obamacare. But "N-o-o-o" said the Democrats, who portrayed them as terrorists and assorted nuts and fruits. As it turns out, Cruz & Co. were right and now even a number of Senate Democrats are beginning to talk a one-year delay. What? Can't hear you-u-u! Were you talking to moi?

Observation Point

“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-
witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.”     Leo Tolstoy

(Tip o' the hat to Ray Ramsay and Don McGill)

Don't Bother Me

Chuck Colson and many other Christian leaders formulated the Manhattan Declaration to begin engaging in open and free-wheeling policy debates from a Christian perspective in the public arena. Eric Metaxas has taken over for Colson since Chuck's death. Today he had a very interesting piece about Japan. We tend to think about Western Europe when the subject is declining birth rates and the subsequent problems caused, but Japan is in a league by itself. Metaxas writes:

"A recent article in The Guardian depicted the dire state of marriage and sexuality in Japan. While America has lost her bearings, Japan has gone off the map. Due to lack of childbirth, Japan's population is projected to shrink by 1/3 in the next 50 years. Half of young adults are not in any kind of romantic relationship, and one-third under age 30 have never dated at all. The reasons for this are many, but can be boiled down to one simple statement: 'Medokusai.' It means, 'I can't be bothered.' "

At this rate they won't be bothered for long. 

Dangerous Ground

He is killing healthcare; he's killed the economy, and now he is killing the American military too. Yesterday Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno said that only two Army brigades were combat ready, which is about 14,000 - 20,000 troops because no training has been conducted for 6 months. That's roughly the same combat power as Britain or France. 

Obama is the Commander in Chief and when the CINC sends our people in harm's way, they should be the best equipped, the best trained, the best everything because we don't want a fair fight. To do any less is to put our people at substantial risk and that is exactly where they - and we - are right now. 

news.investors.com/politics-andrew-malcolm/102213-676088-ray-odierno-army-combat-brigades-way-below-minimum-after-cuts.htm

(Tip o' the hat to Mark Samples.)

The Last Roar of a Lion of God

Billy Graham is on national television November 7 in what may be his final address. Of necessity it was videotaped at his North Carolina home and is supposedly softer in tone than his earlier messages, but he will no doubt talk about the fate of nations historically who have who put themselves in opposition to God. And he will be right. He has also been quoted recently as saying that for the first time in his 94 years there are signs that the Second Coming may be imminent. Graham is a man of God and if he is saying this, then it's best to pay attention. Whatever he says, it will be worth tuning in, so mark your calendars. 

You'll Be Pleased to Know

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), senior Democratic House member, says: “It's just unimaginable the actions they would turn to, to get their way on a very small and modest bill – Obamacare. We’re talking about universal health care for everybody – single payer, that’s what the new direction is.”  Be still my heart - I can hardly wait - be still.

www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2013/10/21/Conyers-Obamacare-Very-Small-and-Modest-Bill-Compared-To-The-Universal-Healthcare-Thats-Coming

New Obamacare Spokesman

The White House today announced a new spokesperson for Obamacare today - Joe Isuzu! Here is some of his earlier work. He definitely has the chops for this job.

America's Team

I thought you would like to be the first to see the new branding for the Republican Party. That's right - the Manila Folders! Two weeks on this budget stuff was enough, especially for the Senate. It was definitely time to get back to business and voting new goodies for Congress, spending money on pet projects that we don't have, and posturing in front of the cameras. In the meantime Obamacare is just starting to ravage the lives of individuals and the country - the part that works that is. The budget deficit climbs ever higher. Restrictions on our freedom continue and even increase. The NSA is doing who knows what with America's e-mail and phone conversations. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we... Never mind, all will be well with you, all will be well.

The AFFORDABLE Health Care Act

Remember you will pay less and get to keep your own doctor. Right. Ask Adam:

"Adam Weldzius, a nurse practitioner, considers himself better informed than most when it comes to the inner workings of health insurance. But even he wasn't prepared for the pocketbook hit he'll face next year under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
If the 33-year-old single father wants the same level of coverage next year as what he has now with the same insurer and the same network of doctors and hospitals, his monthly premium of $233 will more than double. If he wants to keep his monthly payments in check, the Carpentersville resident is looking at an annual deductible for himself and his 7-year-old daughter of $12,700, a more than threefold increase from $3,500 today.

'I believe everybody should be able to have health insurance, but at the same time, I'm being penalized. And for what?" said Weldzius, who is not offered insurance through his employer. "For someone who's always had insurance, who's always taken care of myself, now I have to change my plan?' "

This is going to be a hellish experience for those of us earning a living. Remember that in 2014.

online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304106704579137593411360948

So Much for the Barrycades!

Does the President really think these miserable little racks will stop a vet who has gone through what this soldier has? Carry on soldier!

The Excesses of an American Caesar

Some of Rome's rulers were competent, but many of the Caesars were simply besotted with power and excess was the daily order of things. They were vain, petty, incompetent men who had no idea how to rule the Roman Empire and they eventually frittered away a 1000-year old civilization. The terms "vain" and "petty" and "incompetent" remind me of the current occupant of the White House.

Do these words not describe a man who, although we are allegedly in the throes of a budget crisis, actually rents barricades and pays guards to block military veterans and American citizens from their national monuments? Yet who allows a pro-immigration rally to occur on the National Mall without any harassment from his Gestapo? Who tries to force private concessionaires on or near national parks to close? Who cuts off death benefits to the families of American military personnel killed in the line of duty? Who plays cards in another room and then flies off to a fund-raiser in Las Vegas while his Ambassador to Libya is being murdered along with other brave Americans? Who rolls up the largest budget deficits ever and derides the Republicans for not allowing him to keep using the credit card? 

In a democracy we have no excuse - we get what we vote for. We have someone now who is doing in a few short years what it took a whole line of Caesars decades to accomplish. This is a vain, egotistical, petulant and incompetent little man. I pray that the House will hold the line until next year when Americans again get a chance to determine the direction of this once noble Republic. 

You Vill Comply!

Eric Holder's U.S. Department of "Justice" has now turned off the Amber Alert website allegedly due to the budget shutdown. Meanwhile First Lady Michelle Obama's website     proceeds merrily on telling kids how to be healthy. You can't make this stuff up.

www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/10/06/Spite-House-Shuts-Off-Amber-Alerts

Doing the Right Thing

Paul Greenberg writes a cutting commentary on the current cynical budget maneuvering of the Obama Regime but ends with a heartfelt quote:

"Never give up on this country. It may have been Winston Churchill who said Americans can be counted on to do the right thing -- but only after we've tried everything else."  

It take us a little time, but we'll get there.

townhall.com/columnists/paulgreenberg/2013/10/04/that-was-then--when-politics-required-thought-n1717440

A Second Lexington?

Most of us cheered the WWII veterans who stormed the barricades at the WWII Memorial in D.C. this week to see what they and their deceased comrades had earned with their blood and sacrifice. Now a park ranger spills the beans and makes explicit what was readily apparent but denied by the Obama Regime:

“It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

It costs more to close off the memorials than to leave them open for the American public to walk through them, sans park rangers. It is disgusting and an object lesson as to how far this nasty bunch of Chicago thugs will go to enforce their will. These are America's memorials and I hope the tourists now in Washington will take matters into their own hands and do whatever is necessary to see their heritage. I suspect that the ranger above and others like him or her will gladly step out of the way of a determined push by hundreds of their countrymen to see what lawfully belongs to them.
townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/10/04/park-ranger-weve-been-told-to-make-life-as-difficult-for-people-as-we-can-n1717297

Tom Clancy, RIP

The father of a whole new genre of books - technothrillers - Tom Clancy died yesterday at age 66. He described not only the dazzling new military hardware, but the technical competence and character of the American military that were using it. The world realized what he was talking about was real in 1991 during Gulf War I when the American military machine dismantled Saddam's Soviet-supplied and trained minions in short order. 
I enjoyed his books. He will be missed. RIP.