Saturday, September 15, 2012

Of Grout Importance

Cousin Joan's
Pocatello Grout Remedy
&
Mule Cleaner


“Get some powdered laundry soap-maybe about 2 cups or 3, put into a bucket and add some hot water, maybe about half full. Mix together really good. Get a real stiff floor brush and dip into the bucket and get it back out and start scrubbing.“ Joan Sayer

Contains no White Vinegar, Baking Soda, Gin, Opium, or Marmot Scent Glands. Not approved for human consumption by the State of California. Even they aren't that dumb, but just the same, don't give them any ideas. They might decide to smoke it.

Ingestion guaranteed to cause a slow and painful death so don't drink it or use as an oral dentifrice on anything which still gives signs of life like bad breath or biting. Especially useful for shower floors, garbage cans, and the clothes of small boys. Remove small boy before laundering. They bite.


Testimonials:
“Made our grout so white we let the Pastor use the bathroom with pride.” Mrs. Samuel C, Hannibal, MO
“The finest mule and floor cleaner my servants have ever used. There is nothing better for removing blood from plaza cobblestones. Non-existing blood. There were no massacres. None. Just ask the Grand Vizier.” Sultan Abdul H., Constantinople
“Makes my grout white as the driven snow, and we have a lot of that here, so I think I know what I'm talking about.” Mrs. S. C., North Pole
“Do not ever use on a gilded Buddha! Oh, dear.” Dalai L, Llasa, Tibet
“It's grout stuff! Our wonderful boys, Frank and Joe, use it on their whitewall tires. Nancy D. does too!” Mrs. Fenton H., Bayport
“Nothing better for degreasing goat skins!” Mr. Robinson C., An Island off the Orinoco River

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Friday, September 14, 2012

John Oliver on President Obama

I missed this when it came out, but it is pretty good:

The embed code doesn't seem to work, so try this link:

Clik here.


When did The One lose the Daily Show?

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Cairo Embassy: Marines With No Ammunition. Benghazi: At Least the Doors Were Locked

According to multiple reports, including this one in Politico,
The consulate where the American ambassador to Libya was killed on Tuesday is an “interim facility” not protected by the contingent of Marines that safeguards embassies...

The Benghazi consulate had “lock-and-key” security, not the same level of defenses as a formal embassy, an intelligence source told POLITICO. That means it had no bulletproof glass, reinforced doors or other features common to embassies.
And, of course, no Marines. But don't worry, now that the Ambassador and his staff have been killed:
President Barack Obama said the United States would step up security at its diplomatic missions around the world.
Ambassador Stevens apparently did have American security guards as reports are that two of them were killed in the attack, so he wasn't just noodling around on a moped, but given reports of numerous assassinations, including of foreigners over the last few months, and a bombing of the consulate, why was security so light? One report said Ambassador Stevens sometimes had as few as four guards, and they were all Libyans.

One report, from a source with which I am not familiar, claims that in Cairo
Ambassador Anne Patterson, the US Ambassador to Egypt,...did not permit US Marine guards to carry live ammunition, according to USMC blogs. Thus she neutralized any US military capability that was dedicated to preserve her life and protect the US Embassy.
If true, this is astonishingly complacent. US Marine guards in a hostile revolutionary country armed with really bad clubs?

Hillary should prohibit the prohibition of loaded weapons carried by embassy guards all across the world.

Or the Joint Chiefs should tell the politicians that if the Marines are going to be disarmed, the politicians shall have to explain to the public why all the Joint Chiefs just resigned.

UPDATE: Not too surprisingly, there is some debate about the accuracy of the "no ammo" assertions. The Washington Free Beacon, another source with which I am not familiar, says:
“A decision or order to set rules of engagement that you can’t carry live ammunition and can’t engage violent crowds climbing over your walls and tearing down your flag stems from direct orders from the Chief of Mission and possibly whoever the Chief of Mission reports to,” the source explained....

A Marine spokesperson at the Pentagon denied the Free Beacon’s report in a statement to Fox News.

Pentagon Lt. Col. Chris Hughes told the outlet: “The ambassador and RSO (Regional Security Officer) have been completely and appropriately engaged with the security situation. No restrictions on weapons or weapons status have been imposed. This information comes from the Det Commander at AMEMB (American Embassy) Cairo.”

Several sources familiar with foreign embassies in international hotspots...said that the U.S. government often adheres to a policy of not permitting security officers and other personnel to carry loaded weapons.

Others indicated that in some instances, embassy personnel were prohibited from carrying weapons on embassy grounds altogether.
Who knows? And why believe anything the Administrations says on the subject?

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Ward Churchill Loses Again

Amazingly, Ward Churchill, he of "Little Eichmanns" fame. is still fighting his dismissal in court. I wonder who has been funding his assault on reason. According to InsideHigherEd:
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal in which Ward Churchill sought to get back his job as a tenured professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
His lawyer vows to take it to the US Supreme Court.

My older posts if you want background on this turkey here.

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Monday, September 10, 2012

Fascism, Thy Modern American Face is the Democratic Party

Back to the Chick-fil-A scandal, in which the mayors of Chicago, Boston and San Francisco declared that in the cause of tolerance, due to the owner's religious beliefs, the comapny had no place in their cities.

Here is a scan of the official letter sent by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to John Sexton, President of New York University, which is landlord to the only Chick-fil-A in New York City.

Unconstitutional? Of course. Does a high level politician of one of the major parties care about the constitution?

Of course not. Constitutions, like laws, are for the little people.

So far as I know, not a single Democrat has called them out on it, so fascism seems well-embedded in the Democratic Party. In the name of tolerance, of course.

More here.

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Sunday, September 09, 2012

Honolulu: Only the 10th Most Diverse City in US

That seems at odds with our self-image.
White share: 19.1%
Black share: 1.9%
Hispanic share: 8.1%
Asian share: 52.1%
Other: 18.9%
I suspect that "other" covers Pacific Islanders.

Least Diverse: Laredo, Texas at 95.7% Hispanic.

Given the differences between Asian groups, lumping them all into one category seems a bit ham-handed, but it does have the advantage of tradition.

I noticed that many of the listings are for what I suspect are metropolitan areas which include several cities and may even cross state borders. West Virginia-Ohio seem particularly white. I wonder if that is a product of the demographics of the early settlers coupled with such lousy economies that no one has wanted to move there in several decades.

Huffington Post has the story, based on a study done at Brown University. I can't say that I looked at it closely enough to have even skimmed it, but it looks interesting.

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