Saturday, January 31, 2015

A Little Saturday Night Music

Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons

Best of the Web*

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*…that I’ve seen all week!
Political/SocioEconomic
Nancy Pelosi Covered Up Dems Role In Mortgage Crisis


Another Massive Fail… Obama Sends 1,000 Paratroopers From Fort Bragg Back to Iraq


US Falls 6 Spots On Economic Freedom Index Since Obama Took Office…


Obama sends 5-man team to Israel to defeat Netanyahu in reelection


Cruz Demands Answers Over Taxpayer-Funded Nonprofit Working to Unseat Israel’s Netanyahu


Abolish the Air Force



Videos
Does Gun Loving US lead the world in murders? - Bill Whittle

W H Chief of Staff McDonough Nabbed by Wallace Trying to Steal Credit for Oil Boom


Andrew Klavan: Attack Of The But-Heads




Culture

Statistical Proof the New England Patriots Started Cheating Deflating Balls in 2007 -if you still care

“Why A Fake Article Titled ‘Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?’ Was Accepted By 17 Medical Journals,”
-authors: Pinkerton A. LeBrain & Orson Welles

Jesse Ventura: “Chris Kyle was no hero”. Green Beret to Ventura: "You are a dirtbag imposter"


New Obama Twitter hashtag - #WWOD


List of 18 mass shootings stopped by Armed Citizens





Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics

Cartoon of the Day – NRO Home page

Flopping Aces- Sunday Funnies

All theirs


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

Earl of Taint - Same Person, Right?


Reaganite's Sunday Funnies


How to Get Obama to Risk a “Megyn Kelly Moment”


Humpday Humor

Wait… Isn’t This How Obamacare Got Passed?



Linkfests:


In the Mailbox, 01.29.15




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 - Girls with guns, Girls with Guns, Hot pick

American Power- Sunday Rule 5

It's Friday!


Blonde bombshells


By Other Means - Seeing Red, Cosplay, Random Word/Image Association

The Daley Gator – Daley Babe, Jaime Anderson, Emi Tachi, Inna, Tomomi Motoza, Mai Sasaki

Daily Mail –Vanessa Hudgens


Babes and Trucks
, Lingerie Thursday

E.B.L. - Charlotte McKinney, Miss Universe costumes

Good Monday Morning

The Feral Irishman - Stretch, Prepare To Do Battle....

Friday Night Babe- Eugenie Bouchard

Good Stuff's Cyber World #175

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

Knuckledraggin' My Life Away - Hot stuff, Let the games begin ,Gillian Anderson

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


Flowing Curves of Beauty


PostalDog - Tiffany Amber Thiessen

Randy's Roundtable - Thursday Nite Tart , Miss Columbia

Sex in Advertising -All Natural Burger

This One Is For The Guys

The Last Tradition - Miss Colombia Paulina Vega

Theo Spark – Bedtime Totty, Bedtime Totty, Teatime Totty, Teatime Totty

The Other McCain- Rule Five Sunday


Vintage Babe of the Week – Lina Romay

Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

Your Crazy Uncle Bubba - Buenas, Si buenas

...and the obligatory Deflategate cheerleaders

Use the comments as an open thread on any of these topics. If you think your post is link worthy, send the link to: Proof.Positive@Hotmail.com

Quote du jour

If Obama were as great a leader as he is a liar, we'd still be the #1 economy in the world, Putin would stay within his borders and Iran would give up nukes.
-Proof

Friday, January 30, 2015

It's Official!

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Mitt Romney will not run in 2016. Whew! One down, how many to go?

Let me say what I have said time and time before. I believe that Mitt Romney is a good man. I congratulate and thank him for his prescient withdrawal from the 2016 race. I would love to see Mitt participate in a Republican victory in 2016, and think he could serve the nation well in a number of different cabinet level positions.

We shouldn't let this good man's experience go to waste. Having said that, he was not my choice in 2008. Truth be told, neither was John McCain. McCain was lacking in conservative bona fides, particularly when it came to economics. I don't know if Romney was done in by his supporters, but there was one Romneybot in particular who frequented Internet discussions and tried to hijack every thread, whenever he came across any meager crumb that favored Romney, and then regaled us with the inevitability of Romney taking the nomination. So, he had the distinction of not only being annoying but wrong. On top of that, instead of challenging McCain's policies, which I would have probably echoed and applauded, he chose to attack McCain personally, his military service, and going so far as calling him a traitor.

God save us from our friends.

In the end, I supported McCain, not because he was my favorite or ideal candidate, but in my estimate, he would have made a better president than Obama. Fast forward to 2012. Same story. Conservatives fail to find one solid conservative candidate to coalesce around, Romney, slow and steady takes the race. I campaigned against Romney in the primaries. I tried really hard not to violate Reagan's Eleventh Commandment in tempering my criticisms of Gov. Romney, and emphasizing the qualities of those he ran against. Once he was the nominee, I actively supported him, once again believing he'd make a better president than Obama had proven himself to be.

When I heard that he was perhaps considering a third run, I was somewhat alarmed. After eight years of Obama, our nation cannot afford for Republicans to run an "also ran" candidate. If Mitt Romney couldn't seal the deal in 2012, when the nation should have been able to see what an abysmal president Obama had been, how would he seal the deal over the Dems' next "Flavor of the Month"? Maybe touting the "first woman president"?

The train wreck that was 'Hope and Change' will take years, maybe decades to clean up. The sooner we start, the better. We need to clear the deck of vanity candidates and candidates that do not have a prayer, so that we can properly vet our next president. Having twelve guys on a stage posing for soundbites or hoping for an opponent's misstep upon which to capitalize will not accomplish this.

I'm not trying to deny anyone the right to run. The guarantee of free speech does not contain within it a guarantee of an audience, or the size of that audience. Let's weed out the "also ran" candidates as soon as possible. Gov. Bush, Gov. Christie, Gov. Huckabee: follow Mitt's example. For the good of the country, the quicker you get out or not all the way in, the better.

And Mr. Trump? Open your check book and not a campaign headquarters. Just sayin'!

Chris Christie Pursues Gerald Ford Constituency

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard!

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

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"I Was the Tea Party Before There Was a Tea Party"

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Quote du jour

"I have never wished a man dead, but I have read a few obituaries with pleasure."
-Mark Twain

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Vintage Babe of the Week

Tonight's Vintage Babe* is Lina Romay!
(*a.k.a. Rule Five)

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The Polaroid President

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You remember Polaroid? The first "instant" camera? You took a picture, waved it in the wind for a minute or two and saw a developed image of whatever picture you just snapped. These were the days when an LCD screen on the back of your camera (or phone) wasn't even a credible dream. Oh, and phones were still plugged into a landline...with a cord.

So, how does that fit with our President Selfie? Today, I was going over the long list of Obama's "accomplishments", and what most of them had in common. You will forgive me if I don't include such things as "Obamacare" as an accomplishment. Sure, he accomplished lying to 300 million people about keeping their plans and doctor, and accomplished the cancellation of millions of insurance policies, causing the victims, er, recipients of his policies to have to purchase more expensive plans, with larger deductibles, with coverage that many of them neither needed nor wanted.

But, consider his handling of the Keystone XL pipeline extension (covered here): Obama dithered and pandered to special interest groups for six years so far, yet, at one point, hauled himself out to a segment of the pipeline that did not require permission from his State Dept. and...had his picture taken there. Problem solved!

In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, he poses in the Oval Office with his head bowed. For Nelson Mandela's funeral, he took a selfie. He celebrated the birthday of Rosa Parks with a picture of...himself on the bus she rode. When pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong passed away, Obama commemorated his life with a picture of...himself, looking up at the moon.

The Polaroid camera filled the niche of instant gratification. You took a picture, you immediately saw how it looked. Businesses quickly adopted it, because it often saved them the expense of going back a retaking a picture that didn't quite fit their needs. Insurance companies used them to document car wrecks. (Man! How fitting is that??)

So, aside from documenting our national train wreck on a daily basis, how does the Polaroid legacy fit with "The One"? One, it didn't last. Not only was the technology overtaken with a far superior product (Sorry, Polaroid!), but when was the last time you actually saw a Polaroid picture? I think I have one squirreled away in a file cabinet, which hasn't suffered the ravages of age. (The photo, not the file cabinet. The file cabinet looks like it was kicked by a mule, dragged behind a stagecoach and used as a rampart, over which to observe a rocket's red glare!)

The main drawback to the Polaroid was, there was no negative. You couldn't store the negatives away and reprint them at a later date, because there were no negatives. You want a photo that Ansel Adams took of Yosemite? What kind of stock would you like it printed on? You want a Matthew Brady print of the Civil War?  8 x 10 or wallet size??

The parallels are twofold. One is the figurative 'lack of negatives', because the Legacy Mainstream Media didn't do their job as watchdog and played lapdog. The criticism of this guy who should have been vetted by in 2008 both of his character and his qualification was absent, and replaced with fake Styrofoam columns and rhetoric about driving back the ocean's rise. During his six year reign to date, the criticisms have been both tepid and shallow, if at all. Had the press been the unbiased bastion of a free press that they claim to be, Obama would have never seen the inside of the Oval Office, except perhaps, on a White House tour.

The other is that, other than the debt, which is harmful, and a growing bureaucracy to sustain the Federal Leviathan, Obama has left no positive legacy. No "Obama Doctrine" other than appeasement and retreat. No "Louisiana Purchase" other than spending, perhaps an equivalent amount on his vacations, golf outings and celebrity soirees at the White House.

For all of the attempted lofty, and somewhat stilted rhetoric of his speeches, lots and lots of speeches, there is no "there" there. Obama is the ultimate empty suit. On top of that, he has alienated our allies, encouraged our enemies and the single saving virtue of his economy is the economic growth of oil productions on state and private lands, while his policies resulted in a 6% reduction of production on federal land and he seeks to restrict drilling even more.

History will not be kind to the "first black president". His retreat from Iraq created the vacuum exploited by ISIS. We are in the process of sending troops to try to stop the advance of territory we had previously secured, at a cost of human blood and treasure. His imaginary "lines in the sand", which he had not the spine or will to back up, his blustery threats of Russian "isolation" have not deterred Putin in the slightest.
Obama stomping his tiny foot to demand the return of Snowden from Russia, the return of our drone from Iran have suffered the same lack of results. Only the return of Bowe Berdahl differs in that there is a greater negative effect with the release of five Taliban terrorists.

Master trader (I said trader!) swapped one deserter for five seasoned terrorists, proposed a deal with Cuba without appropriate concessions from a military dictatorship known for torture and human rights abuses, entered into negotiations with Iran by removing sanctions before obtaining so much as a single concession from their nuclear program except a promise to talk...sometime...with a deadline...which we extended...twice.

The Obama administration has entered into bad financial deals with Solyndra, which was known to be skating towards bankruptcy, interfered with the GM bankruptcy, illegally passing over the bond holders in favor of rewarding the unions, a solid Democrat voting base. They spent millions (billions?) on the Obamacare website which was late, unreliable and riddled with security holes for anyone who ventures there.

For Obama personally, the legacy will be rich. Six figure speaking fees, invitations to sit on corporate boards and golf. Lots of golf. For his friends that he has funneled money to over two term will fare well as well.

The rest of us? Well, we had the instant gratification of having elected the first black president, who waved in the breeze, depending on which way the wind was blowing, didn't last for very long and was soon relegated to the dusty shelf of fads that seemed good at the time*, but had no long term value.


*See also "Pet Rock President"

Next Shot is On Me!

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Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

Quote du jour

So I finally saw American Sniper yesterday.

Short review: You should too. Right now.
- Ed Driscoll

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Medal of Honor

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Petty Officer Robert R. Ingram


Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Corpsman with Company C, First Battalion, Seventh Marines against elements of a North Vietnam Aggressor (NVA) battalion in Quang Ngai Province Republic of Vietnam on 28 March 1966. Petty Officer Ingram accompanied the point platoon as it aggressively dispatched an outpost of an NVA battalion. The momentum of the attack rolled off a ridge line down a tree covered slope to a small paddy and a village beyond. Suddenly, the village tree line exploded with an intense hail of automatic rifle fire from approximately 100 North Vietnamese regulars. In mere moments, the platoon ranks were decimated. Oblivious to the danger, Petty Officer Ingram crawled across the bullet spattered terrain to reach a downed Marine. As he administered aid, a bullet went through the palm of his hand. Calls for "CORPSMAN" echoed across the ridge. Bleeding, he edged across the fire swept landscape, collecting ammunition from the dead and administering aid to the wounded. Receiving two more wounds before realizing the third wound was life-threatening, he looked for a way off the race of the ridge, but again he heard the call for corpsman and again, he resolutely answered. Though severely wounded three times, he rendered aid to those incapable until he finally reached the right flank of the platoon. While dressing the head wound of another corpsman, he sustained his fourth bullet wound. From sixteen hundred hours until just prior to sunset, Petty Officer Ingram pushed, pulled, cajoled, and doctored his Marines. Enduring the pain from his many wounds and disregarding the probability of his demise, Petty Officer Ingram's intrepid actions saved many lives that day. By his indomitable fighting spirit, daring initiative, and unfaltering dedications to duty, Petty Officer Ingram reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.


Petty Officer Ingram: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.

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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.”

President Obama's Credibility Takes a Dive

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Quote du jour

We must understand our role in the world – which is to lead – and the nature of our allies and especially, our adversaries. Like Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe. But unlike her, I have actually accomplished something. Mrs. Clinton, flying is an activity not an accomplishment. I have met Vladimir Putin and know that it will take more to halt his ambitions than a gimmicky red “Reset” button.
-Carly Fiorina

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Sex in Advertising

For all you connoisseurs of advertising...




I may not be exactly sure what she's selling, but, I'm pretty sure I'm in the market!

Now, I Really Can't Breathe!

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Quote(s) du jour

“I think you’ll also understand the position of the administration, for that matter any administration, Republican or Democrat, on the importance of maintaining the executive prerogative to conclude agreements that advance our national security interests and do not require formal congressional approval,”
-Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, on potential nuclear treaty with Iran


"[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur..."
-U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2, clause 2

Editor's note: Winken and Nod were unavailable for comment.

H/T Jim Geraghty

Sunday, January 25, 2015

"Deflategate" and the Undeflated

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

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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

Saturday, January 24, 2015

A Little Saturday Night Music

Jimmy Dean - Big Bad John

Best of the Web*

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*…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
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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

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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, January 23, 2015

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Donna Feldman!

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

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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

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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

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Vintage Babe of the Week

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

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Now Playing...

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

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Quote du jour

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

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Medal of Honor

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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.

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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.”