Mother & Newborn Son Die During Delivery... Then Come Back to Life...

Yes, you read that right.

Christmas Miracles do occur.

War??? What war???

No, we aren't at war against Islamic terrorists. September 11th was an isolated incident. No need to panic. No need to worry. The government has everything under control. Pay no attention to the empty suit behind the desk of the Oval Office.

Nigerian tries to blow up airplane over Detroit.

Suspect arrested.

Yemen rally days before the attempted attack.

The passengers saved their own a**es, so let's make it harder for them to do so again.

"The system worked." Hmmm... really. Maybe not.

Many more just like him are out there to try to do the same thing. Yes, many, many more.

His dad warned the U.S. about his son.

Al Qaeda claims responsibility.

Meanwhile, three days later, The Obamessiah finally speaks to the American people about the attempted terror attack.

Former Gitmo detainees linked to the attempted bomber.

Like treat him like a common criminal rather than as an enemy combatant.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wishing everyone -- family, friends, strangers, blog readers -- a wonderful & blessed, peaceful & loving, safe & spirit-filled...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

P.S. To my patient blog readers... yes, I know, I haven't been blogging much over these last several months. Priorities have shifted as things change in life. But I'm not stopping anytime soon, just being a bit more sparse in posting for the time being.

ClimateGate...

Remember a little over a week ago I posted this regarding Ft. Hood and KSM? In that post I listed my Top 12 blogs for news/politics/current events. Well, you should go to them again and do word searches for "Climategate".

You'll get information like this which you won't get from the mainstream media.

Not-So-Black Friday and Oiled Again...

From the AP:

The gap between what drivers are paying for gasoline compared with a year ago is widening and figures to get worse between now and the end of the year. Prices at the pump were $2.629 a gallon on Monday, 80.4 cents more a gallon than a year ago, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Services. That is about $40 more a month for a typical motorist.

The government releases its survey on retail prices late Monday. Gasoline prices bottomed near $1.61 during the last few days of 2008 as the recession took hold, demand for fuel crumbled and the stock markets tumbled. Consumers now are paying about $1 billion a day for gasoline, about $300 million more a day for gasoline than they did a year ago.

And in December, for the first time in about 10 years, oil prices are expected to be twice what they were a year ago, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for OPIS. Crude prices have been trading between $75 and $82 a barrel for the past month or so. Prices hit $33.87 a barrel on Dec. 19.

The rapid rise in prices is worse for consumers this time, however. Before prices doubled in early 2000, a barrel of crude cost about $10.

As someone who currently spends $250/month on gas for my car, this sucks. It also explains (in part) this next item via Business Week regarding "Black Friday" and the holiday shopping season:

More consumers went shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, yet spent less than last year as they hunted for bargains on toys and electronics, according to the National Retail Federation.

Spending at stores and on Web sites from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29 rose 0.5% to an estimated $41.2 billion from $41 billion a year earlier, the Washington-based trade group said Nov. 29, citing a survey conducted by polling firm BIGresearch. The higher turnout and lower average spending were in line with expectations, the NRF said. The group is sticking to a forecast for a 1% drop in spending this holiday season.

The year-to-year increase in spending for the holiday season is usually an average of 3%. This year's 0.5% is NOT good.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

God

Faith

Family

Friends

Community

Country

Good Health

Better Finances (heh!)

Good Food

Better Wine

Fine Company

Pleasant Conversation

Less Stress & Anxiety

More Joy & Laughter

Contentment

Peace

Love

Wishing all the best that the season could offer you and your loved ones during this holiday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Dang, that tree is full of dropping ACORNs...

Stupid is as stupid does. Man oh man, are these guys arrogant. Flopping Aces has the story. ACORN HQ in San Diego tried to dump thousands of documents before the California AG got to investigate their shenanigans. No worries, though. Breitbart and BigGovernment.com is on the case.

Heh!

Ft. Hood & KSM... so, what about it?

I've refrained from commenting on the Ft. Hood massacre/terrorist attack, and on "The One's" decision to try five of the highest level 9/11-Gitmo detainees/terrorists in civil court in NYC rather than in a military tribunal. No need to comment. It's obvious and filled with common sense. Something the present administration in the White House is severely lacking.

For detailed posting on both these issues, I'd strongly suggest perusing the November archives of Gateway Pundit, Ace of Spades, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, Powerline, and RedState. Or do word searches on their sites using "Fort Hood" or "Ft. Hood", and "KSM" or "Khalid".

They've done a thorough job.

Those six blog sites (along with RWN, Michelle Malkin, American Thinker, Mark Steyn, PoliPundit and the political cartoon Day By Day) are the cream of the crop and are always in my Top 12 to check on daily for important news, views, issues and insights.

More Nuts Fallin' Outta That Tree, I See...

Apparently, there are a lot more videos of ACORN shenanigans (read: corruption).

Hot Air, Gateway Pundit and RedState have the details.

*heh* again

What's That Chill I Feel?...

The so-called global warming B.S. has been deliciously busted!

Gateway Pundit and Ace of Spades have the details.

*heh*

Wine Blogs...

Eric @ Daily Eudemon links to a Forbes article on the best wine blogs in cyberspace.

UPDATED: Some of the best are:

Dr. Vino (I get his monthly emails, some reeeeeally good stuff here... plus, wine pairings with Halloween candy???)

Crush Pad (this whole site looks really good)

Wineanorak (want to read about some serious Reisling?)

The Pour (want to read about orange-colored wines?)

Jancis Robinson

Fermentation (gives industry insider info, plus a post on "the wine of my dreams")

Vinography (a sample post about wine retailers).

And the Wine Library video blog.

I will certainly check out these vlogs. ;-)

TARP'ed...

Ace has this not-so-little gem of info about the scam called TARP.

UGH!

Hoodwinked...

Gateway Pundit has been following the details of yesterday's tragic Ft. Hood massacre.

See here, here and here.

HotAir has a long list of story updates here, as does Michelle Malkin here.

Plus "The One-in-Chief" shows his cluelessness here.

Clunk... Clunk... and Clunk again...

That "Cash for Clunkers" program worked out sooooooooo well, didn't it?

Not! As was speculated before it even went into effect, all it did was create sales in July & August that would normally be there in September and October. Which is why Sept & Oct sales #s dropped like a rock.

Not! As we also see, the vast majority of trade-ins were for getting newer pickup trucks to replace older pickup trucks, with only 1-3 mpg increases.

Not! As dealers wait... and wait... and wait... for the government to reimburse them for the program.

Not! As the salvage yards are backlogged with the trade-ins.

Not! As used car prices have increased 16% over last year.

Not! As you may have paid too much in taxes on that trade-in.

Not! As we find out that this big government boondoggle will cost us $24,000 per car (that's our tax dollars at work, baby!).

Sounding His Barbaric YAWP...

... over the rooftops of the world!!!

On the big screen, the leader of theDead Poets Society at an all-boys prep school was an inspirational teacher played by Robin Williams. In real life, it's a balding amateur poet who drives around in his "Poemobile," visiting and documenting the graves of dead poets and calling attention to their works.

Walter Skold, founder of the Dead Poets Society of America, just finished a three-month road trip in which he visited the graves of 150 poets in 23 states. Skold boasts that he set a literary land speed record of 1.66 gpd (graves per day) over the course of his 15,000-mile journey...

"It's not really a morbid project but rather a way to honor our literary forebearers and to historically resurrect their works," Skold said...

Skold, 49, of Freeport, founded Dead Poets Society of America a year ago, leaving his job as a public school technology teacher to pursue his passions of poetry and photography. For his trip, he bought a used cargo van with a rack for cameras and supplies, shelves for books and a desk that, in a pinch, doubles as a bed.

Over the course of his 90-day journey, Skold visited the gravesites of giants of the poetry world including Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as lesser-known poets like Dudley Randall, whose Broadside Press published many leading African-American writers.

He's making a film documentary called "Finding Frost: Digging Up America's Dead Poets." Next year, he hopes to scout out America's dead poets buried in Europe...

"So many of these individual poets have such interesting stories and such interesting lives that I really feel it's a shame that they've been lost to our literary imagination or our literary history," he said. "I'm trying to bring back people's works and lives who have value and who have been forgotten for one reason or another."

Random links a-comin'...

Over these last few months in which I haven't been as active in blogging as I had been in the past, I have accumulated quite a number of links to stories (political, economic, and otherwise) which I found either intriguing or important. Over the course of the next month I hope to go through these, sort out the ones I still find of importance, and post them.

So, stay tuned...

This about sums it up 9 months in...

Day By Day says it all today.

Awesome rundown, Chris!

Prizeless!!!

UPDATED:

Hot Air is on a roll about it.

First Things also chimes in.

Creative Minority poses a question:

The best part is that the votes were in by February 1st which means that Obama was in office less than two weeks when the Peace Prize committee voted... Essentially, the only thing President Obama did before the vote was taken was he reversed the Mexico City Policy to allow the funding to international abortion providers. Does funding the death of babies from other countries merit a peace prize?

Power Line lists previous notorious winners of "The Prize".

And I just shake my head and laugh at the absurdity.

The Cross of Honor is bestowed upon Mother Angelica...

(Hat-tip Insight Scoop)

EWTN's founder Mother Angelica and the network's former president, Deacon Steltemeier, have been bestowed the highest honor by Pope Benedict XVI - The Cross of Honor.

Congratulations!

Back in mid-2006 I had the opportunity to visit EWTN and The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama. This link will take you to my 8-part post on my personal experiences during that spiritual trip.

"Let the sunshine in..." Part II

(Hat-tip Redstate)

Senator Bunning has introduced legislation similar to Congressman Joe Wilson's.

Hee-hee.

Ten for '10

(Hat-tip to RedState)

Laura Ingraham initiated a TEN FOR '10 plan that harkens back to the successful '94 Contract With America (click here for the details):

• A taxpayer bill of rights
• End taxpayer funded abortions
• Secure and defend the border
• Support a strong dollar
• Empower American businesses
• Defend America
• End Statism
• End generational theft
• Restore justice
• Make America energy independent

I like it!

"Everybody, Let's Sing Some More"...

(Hat-tip to Gateway Pundit)

In another classroom at another school... another song of praise for The Obamessiah.

(Hat-tip to HotAir)

And another school with yet another song of worship of The One!

God help us all!!!

Bloom -> Rose -> Off

(Hat-tip to Flopping Aces)

He never had the right.

He's lost the middle/independents over the summer.

Next... the lefty MSM?

"Let the sunshine in... let the sunshine in..."

(Hat-tip to RWN)

Joe "You Lie!" Wilson has a "let the sunshine in" bill that would require every bill in Congress to be posted in full on-line for 72 hours before any votes are cast.

Heh-heh-heh.

I like his style.

Everybody, Let's Sing Along!...

Gateway Pundit has this scary gem of a news item.

I seem to remember mentioning things like this before.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

CLUNK!!!

Surprise, surprise, surprise...

Chesterton Takes On ACORN...

Just link through to Sean @ The Blue Boar for more. (Heh!)

Lest We Forget...

The plot thickens, as a Denver man is taken into custody in Queens, NY.

Storage facilities revealed some interesting things. Seems that railway systems are part of the threat.

Fox News breaks more info on the investigation, as stadiums and hotels are in the mix.

Jihad Watch has more here, here and here.

Hmmmm... that's right... we are still in a WAR on... uhh... what was it, again?... hmmm... oh, yeah... THAT'S right... radical Islamic terrorists.

'Tis Time to Erase the "Racist" Rhetoric...

Mr. Malaise thinks we're all racists. But, with links-a-plenty, the Anchoress hits a grand slam out of the ballpark! READ IT ALL!

More from the Anchoress HERE.

9/12 March on D.C. (Tea Party Redux)...

The most accurate crowd estimates have the 9/12 Protest March on D.C. at between 850,000 and 1 million as the minimum. Flopping Aces has more on the event.

American Thinker has a nice take on the event, too.

NEVER FORGET...

Angry, You Say?...

Someone over at RedState is a little pissed.

Bow Down to "The One"...

(Major Hat-Tip to Flopping Aces!!!)

The One wants airtime to talk to our kids during school hours.

Hollywood idiots ask the kids to make pledges... including these two gems

"I pledge my service to Barack Obama." (WTF?!?)

and

"I pledge to be a servant to our President." (Umm... he's supposed to be OUR servant.)

"Heil Obama!"

Big Brother: Obomination-style

(Hat-tip to HotAir)

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773, which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

Read the full story here at CNET.

R.I.P. Les Paul...

A master of music and invention has passed. His signature guitar is one of my favorites.

Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.

ObamaCare, plain and simple...

When "The One" (and his family) and all members of Congress (and their families) all are forced to join the same exact healthcare plan that they want to foist on the rest of us peons, THEN and ONLY THEN will I accept their offer to join said healthcare coverage.

I'm not holding my breath.

Pump Prices Not Matching Oil Prices Again...

So, if in July of '08 crude oil prices peaked at $147/barrel, and the average price of gas in my area peaked @ $4.65 at that time, then WHY when oil prices closed at less than half that peak on Friday ($70.93) the average price of gas in my area is up to $3.07/gallon???

LET'S DO THE MATH, SHALL WE?

71/147 = 0.483

So, 48.3% of $4.65 = $2.25

That's $2.25 per gallon... NOT $3.07.

We are getting gouged again!!!

Prayers Request...

Popping back in here for a brief moment to request some prayers.

First, my girlfriend Cindy has come down with a kidney infection shortly after returning from our mid-week camping trip. This is not the first time she's had to deal with this issue.

Second, my brother-in-law Bernie has been unemployed for several months and is in need of a job ASAP.

Third, my friend Manny from my mens bible study group just had aggressive surgery this week to battle cancer. He had his colon, part of his intestines, and some lymph-nodes removed.

Also, another bible study member (Bob S.) has been in poor health recently. He's in his early 90s.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Yes, I am on a blogging break...

Sorry for not blogging as much over the last couple months. I am, as you have already surmised, on a blogging break. There have been a few current event topics I've been wanting to chime in on during this time, but real life takes precedents. If you follow any of the links in my blog roll over this time period, then you're already aware of the key issues of the day anyway.

I've been through some stressful moments over the last couple months, combined with a period of time when I battled a persistent chest cold, some weight loss and occasional bouts of insomnia. Just as with everyone else (especially here in California), the state of the current economic and financial climate adds to the edginess and uncertainty.

But, all-in-all, it's been good... because I'm in love. Which can and does, in it's own way, also add to the stressfulness of things. I've just got to learn to not worry so much, and to stop over-analyzing things. I need to keep things in their proper perspective; to rely less on self and outside influences, and to rely more on God.

Currently reading Thomas a Kempis' classic work "The Imitation of Christ" (available via Dover Publications in paperback for $2.50). Thanks to Eric @ The Daily Eudemon for that recommendation a few months back.

Thanks also to Dim Bulb @ The Divine Lamp for stopping by lately and giving me an "Honest Scrap" Award. I feel so honored. (Hah!)

A general request for prayers wouldn't hurt... so, there it is (heh). And I'll keep all of you in my prayers, as well.

Thank you all for being patient. I hope to return to blogging form soon.

Here we go again...

We'll be welcoming in hyper-inflation when 2010 begins.  Via Ace:

... crude oil rose to a seven-month high [$70/barrel] after Goldman Sachs said prices may reach $85 by the end of the year as demand recovers and supplies shrink.

Gas in SoCal is already pushing close to $3/gallon.  If Goldman Sachs is right in their prediction, the economy is going to get much worse before it gets better.  Stocks may rebound a bit because of the jobs cuts, cost-cutting, and products/services price increases to try to offset various expenses (including fuel/transportation costs).  But when prices get too high, stag-flation sets in.  The public then CAN'T buy things because of the higher prices and lack of necessary income.  I said it before, and I'll say it again.  Jimmy Carter 2.0.

Harriet Myers v.2.0 (The Liberal Edition)

Per Erick @ RedState:

"Conservatives rejoice. Of all the picks Obama could have picked, he picked the most intellectually shallow.  Even the New Republic has been rather scathing about her. It’s like Obama decided he wanted a Souter to replace Souter."

HAH!

P.S.  And, yes... I'm back.  Real life has a way of taking hold of you and putting you through the ringer.  Persistent bad cold, among other things.  I'll gradually start blogging again, soon.  Thanx for being patient.

Here we go again...

(link)

"Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, with the New York contract hitting a six-month high above 60 dollars as the US currency tumbled against other leading units, traders said...

"Crude oil prices have found support in recent days from rallying stock markets and a falling dollar rather than from signs of rebounding demand for energy, according to analysts...

"Many market watchers believe the dollar is likely to decline against most rival currencies in the coming months as risk aversion recedes on hopes the worst of the global slump is over."

And hyper-inflation will start kicking in in about 6-9 months.

Where the heck is Trubador?

Sorry... real life finds it's way to edge out blogosphere stuff.  Will be back to blogging soon.  In the meantime, check out this link over to The Blue Boar with a video of Fr. Corapi taking Notre Dame to task.

AWESOME!

Creative Minority Report has a link to a story about Fr. Frank Pavone (head of Priests For Life) leading an alternative to the official commencement on the campus.

Paragraph Farmer links to a Joseph Bottums article in the Weekly Standard (Bottoms being the editor of First Things) which puts the ND scandal in it's proper perspective.

My Own Inoculation...

I did my part in combatting swine flu by cooking and eating pork chops for dinner last night, with brown rice and veggies. I even have leftovers for tonight.

YUM!

Ventura ArtWalk Spring 2009...

Last weekend was the bi-annual ArtWalk in downtown Ventura.  I spent the first day browsing around with a couple good friends, and then returned on my own on the second day.  Below are some of the newest and latest that I found quite intriguing.  Just click on each image to get a larger view of the works of art.

First, Gerardo Segismundo (one of my favorite local artists) is stretching his art into a larger, expressionistic, oil-based realm with works like "Mirrored Moves":

Next is Sarah Kalvin with her watercolors and oils, such as "The Yellow Umbrellas":

Jim Martin continues to wow with his stunning photography, such as "Sunset Behind Two Trees" and "Pelicans, Ventura":

Sherron Sheppard's fine art photography also captures haunting moods, such as "Caddo Sunset" and "Strawberry Field in B&W":

Michael Zelcer has a wide range of artistic talents, such as architectural art glass and painting, as well as sculpture:

One gallery was filled with works by young local art students from Cal State University - Channel Islands (CSUCI).  One impressive artist was Leah McMahan with her "Gateways II":

And then... there's the amazing 24-year old Christine M. Brand, a graduate of CSUCI's art program.  Her two oil paintings - "November Leaves in Merced River" and "Vintage Abalone Shell" - were shockingly gorgeous, especially from someone who's only been painting for just a handful of years. This young lady will leave an amazing artistic legacy, if these early examples are any indication:

Sunday Cross-Post (in more ways than one)...

For today, I want to cross-post to West Coast Catholic who posted on 4/23 about an article appearing in American Spectator On-Line.  The topic was on The Obamessiah's policies on "torture" versus abortion.

WCC writes:

A very scary thought. With so much talk about 'Torture' lately, this article shows the unspoken side. Water boarding is Torture, sleep deprivation is torture, a bath of bugs is torture. The cry, "Prosecute the Torturers!" Abortion is not torture?

WCC then posted an excerpt from the AS article, which posed the question:

If achieving world peace required torturing a single baby, asks a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, would it be worth it? 

"Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature -- that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance -- and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth." 

The liberalism that Barack Obama seeks to complete answers Dostoyevsky's question with an emphatic yes. What is Obama's abortion-on-demand-forever policy but the building of a modern American way of life upon the graves of tortured babies? And not just the unavenged tears of one baby but millions of them...

Terrorists, we're told by pro-abortion liberals, suffer excruciating pain while the ejected unborn and euthanized elderly feel nothing.

I felt compelled to respond with a comment of my own:

In answering the question: "If achieving world peace required torturing a single baby, asks a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, would it be worth it?"

Actually, yes. But not in the way that you think. For it was of God's choosing and offering, not of humans choosing and offering. He was an infant born in a cave some 2000 years ago, who was even more perfectly innocent than any other baby before or since. Some 30 odd years later, he was tortured and put to death for the salvation and peace of the whole world.

Though we were the instigators and executioners of this One Man, it could not have occurred without the allowance and consent of God himself. For He knew that the ONLY way to bring true peace and salvation was through this one Man - the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, too many people today fail to take that message to heart. We keep trying to offer up our own "sacrifices" - via abortion, hatred, war, bankruptcy, corruption, lifestyle, etc. And we offer them up to ourselves rather than to God, because we think of ourselves as our own gods.

Two millennia ago God said, "Enough! What I am offering for you is enough. Peace be with you." If only we would all listen.

How Supreme!!!

"The One" will now get to appoint David Souter's replacement to the Supreme Court this summer, with a filibuster-proof Senate (thanks to Benedict Arlen Spector).

Just peachy!

UPDATE:  John Hawkins chimes in.  So does Michelle Malkin.

HotAir's AP comments, as does  Gateway Pundit.

Ace, as well.  Ben Smith, too.

And, of course, Captain Ed.

H.R. 1913 Hate Crimes Bill & the Election Aftermath...

The House of Representatives passed HR-1913, a so-called "hate crimes" legislation that will now be used to muzzle Christian pastors and preachers.  More info here, here and here.  Human Events warned about it here.

A former judge and congressman asked the members of the committee if the bill would make it illegal for pastors and preachers to publicly teach from the Bible that homosexuality is a sin.  He was told "yes".  So he offered up an amendment to the bill to protect their free speech from the ominous effects of the bill.  The amendment was then voted down in committee!  It went to the floor of the House, and passed 249-175.  With Arlen Spector now a (D), the Democrats have a filabuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate.  Then off it'll go to The Obamessiah's desk for his signature.

There yah go, people.  The fourth of five first steps towards cultural corruption by this administration.

First you had "The One" reverses the ban on tax-payer funding of abortion overseas.

Then he re-opens tax-payer funding for embryonic stem cell research (even though ESCR has already  been done without federal input, has failed miserably in it's results, and dozens of breakthroughs already have occurred with adult stem cell research instead).

Next the Department of Homeland Security (under Janet Napolitano) issues a report that targets so-called "right-wingers" and veterans as being more dangerous to the country than islamic terrorists.

Fourth is now this bill to further attack Judeo-Christian values (now it makes sense that he had Georgetown University cover the Name of Jesus over the archway behind him during a speech he gave there a few weeks ago) by limiting our free speech rights.

What's the fifth one?  It'll be coming this summer.  Read the next post for more info.  It's really Supreme!!!

OH!  And don't forget those Youth Brigades, now.

Visual Aid on the Federal Budget...

From AmSpec:

UPDATE:  Graphic (below) via Gateway Pundit:

Un-effing-believable!

If there is ANYTHING that so perfectly demonstrates how friggin' clueless, arrogant and narcissistic our so-called Commander-in-Chief is, THIS is it!  More info here and here.

What an effing a**hole!!!

They didn't even bother to info the mayor of NYC, nor the citizens of NYC and NJ, ahead of time.  Too bad they did choose to inform the pilot of that trailing F-16.

UPDATE #1:  Yah know... maybe this will also seal the deal on Prez Obamessiah's narcissism and cluelessness.  And this, too.

UPDATE #2:  Even more info from Michelle Malkin and HotAir.

Also... priceless!

Tortured Politics...

There are a LOT of links to this one, and they ALL are important to read and listen to.  Let's start from the beginning...

Redstate posted this ignored fact:

President Obama visited the CIA yesterday and gave a pep talk to the employeesdemoralized by Obama’s  decision to release formerly classified legal memoranda detailing the legal limits of interrogation techniques.

Obama’s pep talk was too little too late.

Obama was given a bipartisan warning not to release these documents. Four former heads of the CIA, two Appointed by President Clinton and two appointed by President Bush, all said that Obama’s release would risk national security. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden says even Leon Panetta, Obama’s head of the CIA, agreed with the bipartisan group.

Hot Air then posted this info from the CIA:

The Central Intelligence Agency told CNSNews.com today that it stands by the assertion made in a May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that the use of “enhanced techniques” of interrogation on al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) — including the use of waterboarding — caused KSM to reveal information that allowed the U.S. government to thwart a planned attack on Los Angeles.

In fact, per Gateway Pundit, these techniques were highly successful (CIA documents are shown).  Former VP Dick Cheney wants key documents released as well, which will put the whole issue in proper perspective.  Republicans want an investigation to determine the obvious damage done to the U.S. national security because of Obama's release of this information.

That doesn't stop Obama from contemplating prosecuting Bush & Cheney for decisions made.  This whole mess of Obama's own doing has (according to Moe Lane of RedState) put him between a rock and a hard place.

You see... it seems that Congress knew of the interrogation techniques.  That includes Democrats.  At first, Nancy Pelosi denied knowing anything.  Then she admitted it (kinda).  Rep. Hoekstra slams her on her lame waffling excuse.  So, you should ask, will Obama prosecute Nancy and the Democrats, too? Hmm...

Fred Thompson chimes in on the whole ordeal.  Americans already have chimed in, and they're not happy about "The One's" decision to release these memos.  Per Rasmussen, over 58% of people are pissed about it and say that this will endanger national security.

But don't worry about it.  Obama is going to cut national defense, while also boosting his "Youth Brigade".  With ACORN funding, no less.  In fact, "The Obamessiah" is having so much fun palling around with communist dictators like Chavez, Ortega and Castro, yet won't meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.  He'll even bow reverently to the muslim King of Saudi Arabia, but gives an iPod filled with his own (B.O.???) speeches to the Queen of England, and wrongly-regioned DVDs to the U.K. prime minister.

Rasmussen has been doing daily tracking polls, and by April 22 our fearless leader's job approval rating has gone down to only 54% from a high 65% at the beginning of his presidency.  His job approval index is down to just 2% (this measures those who strongly approval = 34% against those who strongly disapprove = 32%).  In fact, his A.I. numbers have been fluctuating between 2-5% and his overall approval number has been hovering at 54-55% for a couple weeks now.  And the trend is not in his favor.

The honeymoon is over, and buyer's remorse is sinking in.  How do I know this?  Because in the same set of polls, it seems that 70% of Americans say that Hudge & Gudge (Big Business and Big Government) are on the same team.  G. K. Chesterton would be so proud!

We just make things easier for them, don't we...

Via Gateway Pundit:

"The Chinese cyber spies have penetrated so deep into the US system — ranging from its secure defence network, banking system, electricity grid to putting spy chips into its defence planes — that it can cause serious damage to the US any time, a top US official on counter-intelligence has said."

Read the full story here.

Tea Party Crowd Estimates...

UPDATED (for running totals):

It looks like PJTV and Pajamas Media are trying to get accurate estimates of how many people attended all of the Tea Parties across the country last Wednesday. As of this moment, the number stands at over 935,000 people at over 900 locations throughout all 50 states plus D.C. And the count will continue to grow as more people, police and news organizations submit their data. A different city-by-city rundown is here, giving low-ball and high-ball estimates ranging 789,000-917,000.

Michelle Malkin has a great commentary.

And a transcript of the great radio interview with Hugh Hewitt and Mark Steyn is here.

Time for a Cup o' Tea!!!

Yes, it's not only tax day... it's National New American Tea Party Day!!!

*WOOT*

Follow all of the details at both the New American Tea Party website and the Tax Day Tea Party website.

Michelle Malkin has a rundown on what led up to this day.

Gateway Pundit posted a video of Rick Santelli responding to this growing phenomenon that was pretty much sparked by his Feb 19 impromptu rant on CNBC.

Captain Ed chimes in. So does Glenn Reynolds.

Gateway Pundit has a post, as does Flopping Aces.

And Newsbusters has a post about an ABC News report which reveals that The Obamessiah was unaware of all of today's protests. How clueless can this empty suit charlatan be???

Howard Kurtz, meanwhile, has a lengthy piece on the mainstream media's own obliviousness.

Pajamas Media will also be covering the events on their main site as well as on their PJTV site.

I'm going to enjoy following the day's events.

I'm also going to make myself a nice, hot cup of tea.

Seems appropriate.

UPDATE: Now this sounds disturbing. The Department of Homeland Security isn't sure which is more dangerous and worthy of monitoring - Islamic Terrorists or domestic "right wing radicals". Uh-huh... right... whatever you say, DHS.

Bill Bennett comments on today's issues here.

Barack Obama in 50 words or less...

Given that it's tax day today, I want to express - in 50 words or less - what I have thought and felt about the current occupant of the White House since the first day he appeared on the national scene a year and a half ago:

He's a smug, snobby, arrogant and inexperienced empty-suit charlatan with a narcissistic messiah complex who sprung from and was steeped in the notoriously and perpetually corrupt Chicago Democrat Party political machine, and who brings a militant pro-abortion culture and a radical socialist agenda that will bankrupt and destroy America.

Period.

Meanwhile, don't forget to visit the New America Tea Party and the Tax Day Tea Party websites today, and follow all of the related news stories on today's events nationwide.

Tomorrow is More Than Just Tax Day...

April 15th is perennially known as Tax Day, but tomorrow it will also be New American Tea Party Day. Thousands upon thousands of frustrated and fed-up citizens of all political stripes will gather in various locations in cities and towns all across the country to protest the absolutely irresponsible and arrogant spending on TARPs and bailouts and "stimulus" packages and overall government spending that are sinking this country and our future into unheard of and unrecoverable levels of debt. Andrea Tarantos reports:

As tax day approaches there is a crescendo growing across America in the form of organized protests, also known as tea parties, and the noise is on a path to becoming deafening. Thousands of rallies are planned across the country; one in every single congressional district and larger gatherings slated for cities like New York, Sacramento and Atlanta which hope to boast an upwards of 20,000 participants.

But it seems that the "O" administration is more worried about "right wing extremists" than Islamic radicals and terrorists.

Well, of course the "O" would think that, given that he bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia and then later had his team try to deny the fact.

In fact, the "O" is also "keeping score" on his political enemies, including those within his own party:

"Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.

He's also building his White House team with a bunch of Chicago millionaires.

The "O" also likes to manufacture events that make him look better. You know he hates cameras when he bows to royalty from a radical muslim country, but he just loves having that camera around when he's making a surprise visit to the troops in the Middle East. That is, except when we find out afterwards that the "cheering troops" were only an small number of "O" voters exclusively:

"... and that a staged event with Obama voters only and a bunch of cameras handed out as props is a real sign of soldiers’ devotion to the new, inexperienced, non-military-friendly Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces."

In light of all this, may I suggest you take a good long visit to the New America Tea Party and the Tax Day Tea Party websites for more information about tomorrow's line-up of nationwide protests.