Decompression

Last week was a veritable Charlie Foxtrot for news of the world around us.  Fortunately, xkcd had the antidote:

...aaand, Stilton for the counterpoint!

Happy Women's...

...Reproductive Health Day??

Tweeted from the White House:

Thanks to the #ACA, 1 in 3 women under 65 gained access to preventive care—like birth control—with no out-of-pocket costs. #HappyMothersDay
— The White House (@whitehouse) May 10, 2013

(From the Weekly Standard, via Drudge)

Wiley...

...on the media:

(Click!)

Drudge For The Win!

CBS Reports FBI Posts New Benghazi Suspect Pictures

...if only!

Original at CBS

P S A

From Maggie's Farm

Gerard...

...is back:

(5/5/2013)--

(Found at Gerard's)

Pop Quiz

Go see how well you do in this science quiz over at the Pew Research Center!

Via THS at the Coalition!

Invitation to a Conversation

I just jumped into a thread on Gosnell over at Joan of Argghh!'s place, and I thought it worth posting here.

Erinyes posted:

This is part and parcel of the ‘Pro choice” death cultist agenda.

How does rhetoric and hyperbole such as this add anything to any reasonable discussion about abortion?
Sorry, the fact that some of us support pro-choice legislation does not preclude that we are members of a death cult. Many see the necessity of abortion when there are extenuating circumstances. Pro-lifers don’t hold the moral high ground in this discussion.
The fact that most pro-lifers DO feel they hold the moral high ground because of their chosen religion is what makes it impossible to have a reasonable discussion about those potential circumstances.

My reply:

Erinyes,
The moral high ground we hold is simply the understanding that abortion is the killing of a human being, and therefore murder. For us. at least, there isn’t any “fuzz” on that.
That said, my question to you is this: if abortion is not murder, then the fetus be must not be considered human. When, during the gestation period, does not-human become human? Until what point is abortion not murder?? Or, conversely, when does it become murder? Is what Gosnell did not murder, and if so, why?
Thank you.

Go RTWT.

Comments??

Iran is a Military Dictatorship

From an article in the Washington Free Beacon:

"As the Western world tries to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the IRGC is doing its best to ensure the opposite outcome.
“This generation of revolutionary guards has very little respect for the U.S., particularly this president and this administration,” Alfoneh said. “Even worse, they misunderstand the signals President [Barack] Obama is sending to them.”
The IRGC views Obama’s public overtures as a sign of weakness, Alfoneh explained.

“President [George W.] Bush, he was a much better communicator” because he was firm and consistent, Alfoneh said. “In Washington, you do not understand the value of someone like President Bush.”

“In Tehran, the revolutionary officers began saying ‘Oh, he’s even more crazy than we are.’ That served the interest of the U.S.,” Alfoneh explained. “They fundamentally believed President Bush was completely unpredictable and capable of doing anything against them. The liberal class in this country does not understand” the value of this perception.
Military strategist Fred Kagan agreed the IRGC has expanded its reach significantly in Iran.

“It’s all of the same network” in many different sectors of Iranian society, “and has spread its tentacles through all of the security services,” as well as “the Iranian economy,” Kagan said."

 I especially love the part about " They fundamentally believed President Bush was completely unpredictable and capable of doing anything against them."  Crazy like a fox.

Go read the whole thing!

Found at Drudge.

Look into the Void, II

I hesitated posting these pictures, but a discussion in comments over at Rodger's decided me in favor of it.  The thread addresses the idea that this was a false flag operation, and that the pictures of Mr. Bauman and his rescuers were staged.

The picture (and others) are below the fold, and are extremely graphic.  One shows Mr. Bauman's left calf and foot blow off, leaving only the tibia, shattered were his foot was blown off.

Presented without comment.

U.S. Knowledge Test

My cousin sent me a link to the Independence Day Quiz this morning.  This is what he sent along with the link:

Below is a link to a 30-question test to see how well
you know US Law. Give it a shot, and see how well you do!
Supposedly 96 % of all High School Seniors FAILED this test
AND if that's not bad enough, 50% of all individuals over 50 did too! Take the test and be surprised at what you don't know.

I didn't see that on the quiz' web page.  It only says that 24 out of 30 is considered passing.

(I got 29 out of 30.  Booya!!)

I Love a Universe...

...with a sense of irony.

The surviving Boston Marathon bomber, a Muslim, is being cared for at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Heh.

For the Children...

This was in my inbox this AM, from my cousin:

Sooo…. We should outlaw pressure cookers?

…license anyone who buys a pressure cooker?

Whaddya think?  Some idiot somewhere is asking these questions….

 In reply,  I reminded him that he forgot about ball bearings and nails.  Upon further reflection, I realized that there is only one way to stop the use of nails as shrapnel for home-made bombs.

Nails especially must have individual serial numbers, and each one must be recorded and signed for individually at the time of purchase.

After a Federal background check and a 6-month waiting period, of course.

It's for the chirren...

Question...

...if you were upset by Michael Vics, how are you feeling about Kermit Gosnell, and why?

Black Conservatives, Gun Control, Living Right

Mme Scherzo has been on a serious roll lately:

That is all.

Guess I'm a Lapsed Extremist?!

Saw this over at Sondrakistan:

I stopped practicing the Catholic faith when I was twenty, because I disagreed with most of their teachings on the nature of human sexuality.  I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to convince them to change their stand, so I left.

Fourty some odd years later, I seem to be in what might be described as a near-earth orbit of the Church.  I see how it is still a bulwark against the insane "-isms" that plague us at every step.

And then there's this stupid training poster the Army has put together.  I saw it and said to myself, "I stand with the Catholics".  I may not participate in the liturgy and Communion, but I stand with the Catholics.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Found at the ever-suave Mr. Green's Vodkapundit over at PJM.

Go and read.

Meanwhile, over at Gerard's:

Chinatown, Redux???

Remember that movie?  Where the developers were diddling with L.A.'s water supply, so the could drive off the farmers and build the San Fernando Valley?

Fast-forward to the two-inch bait fish that's just about got all the water turned off in the former breadbasket known as California's Central Valley.  Oh,and a multi-billion dollar clusterf**k boonedoggle of a useless high-speed rail line.

Palmdale to Sacramento??  You realize that in the time it took you to get from L.A. to Palmdale, you'd be halfway up I-5 to Sacto, wihout having to drive to Palmdale.

  Historically, Palmdale is where over-priced public works go to die.  We can only hope for the sake of what's left of California, it applies this time, too.