Quiptoon du jour

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

"Deflategate" and the Undeflated

Here. Something to take your mind off Tom Brady's balls for a week...

Judge Jeanine on Chris Kyle

Judge Jeanine Blasts Michael Moore - Chris Kyle Wore Big Boots Neither You Nor Your Friends Could Ever Fill

Quote du jour

"I think I've probably [done] more television than any actor living. I've done over 2,000, could be 3,000 now, television productions. I love television. To me it's the most exciting medium. . . . I think there is a strange immediacy to it. I suppose there is also the feeling that it is the largest medium by far for information, education and above all, entertainment. And after all, that's what an actor's life is all about. Getting work and entertaining people."

-Edward Woodward

A Little Saturday Night Music

Jimmy Dean - Big Bad John

Best of the Web*

*…that I’ve seen all week!
Political/SocioEconomic

Five reasons to repeal Obamacare

Unanswered Benghazi Questions: 8th in a Series

So Far, Obama Has Broken a Whopping 112 Promises From SOTU Speeches - Give him time! He's just hitting his stride!

Blast form the past: 13 Detroit Houses You Can Buy For Less Than $100 - Feb. 2012

A G Eric Holder Halts Local Cops from Using Asset Seizure Laws

Obama's proposal to tax your kid's college savings account has an exemption — for Malia and Sasha

ANOTHER KEY WEAPON SYSTEM KILLED: A-10 Warthog ISIS-Killer Axed by Uber-Competent Commander-In-Chief




Videos

BBC Mocks John Kerry For James Taylor ‘Soft Power’ Diplomacy

Will: Romney Would Be ‘Backward’ Choice for 2016 GOP

Jeanine Pirro: “We’re Not Winning The War On Terror”

Trifecta: Why Hollywood Lefties Hate Eastwood's Movie...





Culture

Michael Moore Spits on Corpse of American Hero Chris Kyle in Latest Tweet

Chris Kyle’s Widow Appeared at SHOT Show to Support Sniper Group — Surprised and Speechless


France's demographic bad luck

Well this happened - An informal guide to reporting on scandals

Stanford Students Shut Down San Mateo Bridge


The Attkisson File

Thursday Lightning Round: The SOTU Round-Up

Obama: You Know Who Invented College? Politicians…




Science and Technology

Google invents smart contact lens with built-in camera


ESPN is filming the winter X-Games with a drone

VY Canis Majoris

Gov't Skeeters





Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics

Cartoon of the Day – NRO Home page

Diminishing the Office

Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies


John Cox- KiRKWOOD, KiRKWOOD, KiRKWOOD, KiRKWOOD, KiRKWOOD, KiRKWOOD, KiRKWOOD

Earl of Taint - I’m Gonna Remake This Movie

Film Flam

Reaganite's Sunday Funnies

Friday Nite Funnies




Linkfests:

In The Mailbox, 01.21.15

In The Mailbox, 01.22.15


In The Mailbox 01.23.15

Linky Love



Rule Five Roundup:
(While all Rule Five posts may be NSFW, I generally only flag the ones that are certainly NSFW)

90 Miles From Tyranny - Morning Mistress, Girls with Guns, Hot pick, Women with weapons, Hot pick

American Power- Lady Gagas Tatas, Miranda Kerr Strips Down to Lingerie for Wonderbra
, Page 3 girls, Olivia Munn

Smokin' Friday

By Other Means - Cosplay, Tap, Rack, and Bang , Stuck in the middle

The Daley Gator – Daley Babes - Cynthia Kaye Williams, Danay Garcia, Destiny Monique, Janis True, Monica Contreras, Rin Sakuragi
, Rachel Bilson, Mayuko Iwasa

Daily Mail – Kristen Cavallari

Double Trouble -Random Hotties, More random hotties

E.B.L. - Seagals, Sienna Miller, Jessica Alba

Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

Good Monday Morning

Friday Night Babe - Donna Feldman

Good Stuff's Cyber World #174

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World -The Friday Pin Up

Knuckledraggin' My Life Away - Good Morning Girl

Eva Shockey

Pirates Cove -Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup, If All You See…, If All You See…, If All You See…


Flowing curves of beauty

PostalDog - Stacey Dash

Sex in Advertising -St. Pauli girl

The Last Tradition - Grace Park, Lais Ribeiro

Theo Spark – Bedtime Totty, Teatime Totty, Teatime Totty, Bedtime Totty, Blonde Babe Rachel Carrie

The Other McCain- Rule Five Sunday


Vintage Babe of the Week – Louise Brooks


Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

Your Crazy Uncle Bubba - Buenas

...and the obligatory NFL cheerleaders, ...and the obligatory NFL cheerleaders redux


Use the comments as an open thread on any of these topics. Please send links of news, commentary, choice humor or Rule Fivage to: Proof.Positive@Hotmail.com

Quote du jour

President Obama should give the Ukraine access to the same sort of weapons that Senator Obama helped take from them.

-Proof

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Donna Feldman!

(*a.k.a. Rule Five Friday)

American Sniper and #FakeBabyGate

There did appear to be one tiny flaw in the otherwise great movie American Sniper. It's quite minor, and I only mention it because I wasn't the only one to notice it.

First of all, a confession: TMZ on TV is one of my guilty pleasures. I very seldom venture over to their website, and I could care less about most celebrity gossip. However, there is a very dysfunctional family vibe about the people who work there, and I enjoy watching the sibling type camaraderie that goes on there. (And occasionally, I get a new candidate for the Friday Night Babe.)

So, last night, they bring up what appeared to be a "fake baby" in American Sniper. The scene is where Mrs. Kyle finishes feeding her baby, Chris picks up the baby, holds it for about twenty seconds, then lays it in its crib. For about thirty seconds, that "fourth wall" of film making was breached, and I thought about the constraints upon filmmakers when filming small children and infants. That's it. About 30 seconds. When Bradley Cooper picked up his "baby", it looked like one of those life sized dolls. But soon, the story picked up again and I forgot all about the problems with using babies in films.

In case you don't know, there are very strict child labor laws concerning small children and infants. Thanks to Obamacare, most infants can only work 20 hours a week. (I'm kidding!) Most TV and movie productions that involve small children and infants, typically cast twins when they can, so that when one kid's time on camera expires, they bring in kid #2. Because of time constraints and the fact that children do not always stop crying on cue, life like baby dolls are often used for long shots of the kids, because their stage mothers are the prop people.

Commonly, when you see a baby on TV, you see really tight close up of the baby and long shots of the kid in a crib or bassinet. Less frequently do you see a two shot of someone actually holding a squirming, kicking, sometimes crying baby.
The exception to this is childbirth scenes. The frequently used "I'm giving birth right now" scene which concludes with the rookie who just assisted a childbirth hands a somewhat slimy older infant to it's "mother", and says, "It's a boy/girl!"

As a veteran father of five, who has been present at the delivery of multiple babies, I know something about handling newborns. I was there to catch my daughter as she came into world, with sure hands,like Tom Brady handling a slightly deflated football! When it comes to handling babies, I'm your man! Having some familiarity with the scene, I generally try to guess the age of the large "newborn" with the big, perfectly shaped head, that's being handed to its "mother" on TV and movies. Fortunately for directors, newborns cry a lot, as do older babies being handed about by strange actors. This works for them.

Again, #FakeBabyGate was a very small distraction for me, because either some poor mother has a kid with a head like a Cabbage Patch doll, or they used a real doll. I personally have the solution to the problem: CGI

A computer generated baby violates no child labor laws and only cries and coos when the sound man tells it to. I'll stop trying to guess the ages of the infants smeared with goo that get handed to their fake mothers, and you'll probably save a little time, money and grief in trying to work with babies.

After my remarks about eliminating jobs for babies in Hollywood,  I believe that I am starting to channel my inner W.C. Fields, so, we'll just leave it at that!

Update: According to the clip from the Today show, Infant #1 was running a fever and infant #2 was a 'no show', so they went with an uncredited performance by a plastic doll.

State of the Union Address - the Subtext

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

American Sniper and the UnAmerican Sniping of it

This afternoon, I had the opportunity to go online and watch Glo Zell interview President Obama, or see American Sniper. Wow! It was powerful and hard hitting! Man, that President Obama sure knows how to give an interview!

Get real! I saw American Sniper and I must say it exceeded my expectations. To do any sort of a decent movie review, I'd have to include a lot of spoilers, and I don't want to do that. I want you to see this movie and experience it as unbiased as possible the first time.

I knew the basic story before I went to see it, but the movie is gripping enough that even when you know how it will end, it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Much of the film is a character study of how Chris Kyle became the man he was, how he dealt with hardships, and relationships, and sorrow and loss. Also his struggle with the morality of taking a human life, even when it will save the lives of others. And what this does to a man's soul as he looks upon evil and does battle with it day after day. The film also deals with his wife, struggling to maintain her life and family in spite of a husband who deploys for months on end, and may not ever come home.

Some of it is a gritty, sometimes brutal, but realistic telling of what our soldiers endured in the Middle East and what their families endured at home. It is rated "R". It is definitely not a movie for children. The violence is at times quite graphic. The language is the language of fighting men, more fitting for the locker room than the parlor. I did not find it distracting. Some might.

The acting is top notch. Bradley Cooper could be a ringer for Kyle. The director, Clint Eastwood, knows how to get the maximum performance from his actors and how to capture that on film. When the credits rolled, I sat in my seat for a while, wiping away a few tears. It is a moving story about a real, down to earth guy. Not a super hero or super spy, but a real American hero.

As I sat there, I tried to picture how anyone could not be moved by this movie, even Leftist tubs of lard like Michael Moore. One thing that occurred to me, was that there was a lot of truth in this movie. Being confronted with truth may be so foreign to some that they are uncomfortable in its presence.

It was in no way a "propaganda" film. What did they propagandize? "Join the SEALS, go through brutal training, get shot at or blown up, and if you do make it home you ay be messed up psychologically, missing a few limbs and have you wife and kids leave you"? Great! Sign me up!

There is one message that Chris Kyle carried, and that was it was important for him to protect his country. That his country was worth defending and even worth dying for. That may have sent Leftist blowhards like Moore, if he ever even saw the film, into a catatonic state. (No, not California!)

Chris Kyle is the Alvin York of our time. If you are of age, you should see this movie. It is a well crafted piece of cinema, and leaving the theater, I was hard pressed to remember any movie I had ever seen that was better than this one or had greater emotional impact.

Still haven't.

If you faint at the sight of blood, don't see it. If violent movies give you bad dreams, don't see it. Wait 'til it comes on TV and they'll edit out some of the language and gorier parts. The rest of you, go to the theater and see it at least once. Soon. In addition to seeing a fine, well crafted movie based on the true story of an American hero, every dollar that it makes at the box office is a big...raspberry (kept it PG-13, didn't I?) to the leftist tools who are trying to discourage people from seeing it.

Vote with your wallets, America, for movies about true American heroes, and maybe Hollywood will finally take a hint about what the American public is longing to see.

Five stars out of five.

Quote du jour

"Please do not do anything you will never live to regret."

-Robert McCall, The Equalizer

Vintage Babe of the Week

Tonight's Vintage Babe* is Louise Brooks!
(*a.k.a. Rule Five)

Now Playing...

... at being President in a country near you!

Quote du jour

“A person's a person, no matter how small.”

― Dr. Seuss

Medal of Honor

Specialist Fourth Class Frank A. Herda

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Herda (then Pfc.) distinguished himself while serving as a grenadier with Company A. Company A was part of a battalion-size night defensive perimeter when a large enemy force initiated an attack on the friendly units. While other enemy elements provided diversionary fire and indirect weapons fire to the west, a sapper force of approximately 30 men armed with hand grenades and small charges attacked Company A's perimeter from the east. As the sappers were making a last, violent assault, 5 of them charged the position defended by Sp4c. Herda and 2 comrades, 1 of whom was wounded and lay helpless in the bottom of the foxhole. Sp4c. Herda fired at the aggressors until they were within 10 feet of his position and 1 of their grenades landed in the foxhole. He fired 1 last round from his grenade launcher, hitting 1 of the enemy soldiers in the head, and then, with no concern for his safety, Sp4c. Herda immediately covered the blast of the grenade with his body. The explosion wounded him grievously, but his selfless action prevented his 2 comrades from being seriously injured or killed and enabled the remaining defender to kill the other sappers. By his gallantry at the risk of his life in the highest traditions of the military service, Sp4c. Herda has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Sp4c. Herda: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.



Hat tip Home of Heroes

There are fewer than a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice. In the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”

About Last Night (Flash Impressions from the State of the Union)

by guest blogger Andrew Roman

Who was the President speaking to last night? Did it even appear as if he were addressing the newly elected Republican-majority congress? Or even the American people? Did anyone else get the sense that President Obama felt he was doing the elected officials before him a favor by showing up and gracing them with his presence? Did anyone else get the sense that the whole speech was nothing more than a Campaign-2016 primer?

And what planet does he reside on? Because after that little performance, I am more than ready to pack up all my things and head off into the delicious rose-colored world he clearly believes we live in. (Just imagine how many more acts of terrorism there would have been if not for President Obama and his brilliant foreign policy strategies).

I won’t invest a lot of time analyzing last night’s State of the Union address, but allow me to briefly throw together some flash observations:

-There really was nothing in this speech about the actual "state" of the union, save for the declaration that the "shadow of crisis"  - whatever that is - has apparently passed. However, the state of Obama's campaign persona remains very strong.

-Obama’s modus operandi was on full display: He says he will work with Republicans.... but has already promised to veto whatever they send him.

-He says he wants to put money back in the pockets of working people. But why take it out in the first place?

-The myth of women continuing to be victims of not receiving equal pay for equal work still breathes. It’s a wonder that corporations run by money-grubbing humans with penises aren’t hiring anything BUT women, seeing as they are all so attainable on the cheap.

-Why propose tax cuts for families with two working parents and not for those with stay-at-home parents?

-Like it or not, Mr. President,  the reduction in gas and oil prices is, in large part, the result of fracking. (This supply and demand thing really seems to confound him at times).

-A few nano-seconds were spent on foreign policy – mostly a self high-five on how well his strategies are breaking down the terrorists. (That sound you heard was the terrorists laughing their collective asses off).

-Obama says that Iran’s progression toward nuclear weapons has been halted, but it is entirely false. The November, 2013 agreement in no way keeps them from converting their already existing stockpile (one that has been steadily growing under Obama’s leadership) into a nuclear weapon.

-There was nothing on corporate tax reform…as companies continue to flee the nation with the highest corporate tax rates on the globe.

-Apparently, there still isn’t enough free stuff out there, so it is necessary to punish Americans once again by way of tax hikes on “the rich.”

-The President decried divisiveness across the political landscape – this coming from the man who, at one time or another, called Republicans “hostage-takers,” and “cowards.” I think he even called them terrorists. 

I’m sure there’s probably more I could touch upon, but I’ve got a clog in my bathroom sink to tend to – entirely more entertaining and fulfilling.

___

Lame Duck Dynasty

Quote du jour

According to their allegations, petitioners are members of the Muslim Religious Group. They believe in the solidarity and supremacy of the dark-skinned races, and that integration of white and dark races is impossible since contrary to the laws of God and nature.

-from a Habeas Corpus petition presented to a California court, Apr. 24, 1961.

Your 2015 State of the Union Drinking Game

Okay, folks! Really simple this year! First, the caveat that if you are prone to alcoholism, liver disease or unconsciousness, you may want to leave this to the professionals. The rules are easy:

1) Take a shot every time the president uses a personal pronoun (I, me, mine, ours).

2) Prepare for the most drunken night of your life.

3) Relax! No way you remain conscious during the entire speech!

Any questions?