Harry Reid is a Lying, Revolting Scumbag

And just a miserable POS example of a human being. So, I guess, the PERFECT Democratic leader.

Sorry

Been too busy to write even my usual drivel.

And frankly just too disgusted by the stuff going on, so I’m finding my bourbon far more interesting of late.

“I Will Never Compromise When It Comes To Israel’s Security”

I tell you, I regret every day that this guy didn’t become President

I want you to know that today I’ll be speaking from my heart, and as a true friend of Israel. And I know that when I visit with AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), I am among friends. Good friends. Friends who share my strong commitment to make sure that the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable today, tomorrow and forever.

…We know that the establishment of Israel was just and necessary, rooted in centuries of struggle and decades of patient work. But 60 years later, we know that we cannot relent, we cannot yield, and as president I will never compromise when it comes to Israel’s security.

Not when there are still voices that deny the Holocaust. Not when there are terrorist groups and political leaders committed to Israel’s destruction. Not when there are maps across the Middle East that don’t even acknowledge Israel’s existence, and government-funded textbooks filled with hatred toward Jews. Not when there are rockets raining down on Sderot, and Israeli children have to take a deep breath and summon uncommon courage every time they board a bus or walk to school.

…Because of the war in Iraq, Iran — which always posed a greater threat to Israel than Iraq — is emboldened and poses the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and Israel in the Middle East in a generation.

…And then there are those who would lay all of the problems of the Middle East at the doorstep of Israel and its supporters, as if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all trouble in the region. These voices blame the Middle East’s only democracy for the region’s extremism. They offer the false promise that abandoning a stalwart ally is somehow the path to strength. It is not, it never has been, and it never will be.

…Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.

That starts with ensuring Israel’s qualitative military advantage. I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat — from Gaza to Tehran.

…We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations.

…Let me be clear. Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable. The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive, and that allows them to prosper — but any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.

…Syria continues its support for terror and meddling in Lebanon. And Syria has taken dangerous steps in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, which is why Israeli action was justified to end that threat.

…We must never force Israel to the negotiating table, but neither should we ever block negotiations when Israel’s leaders decide that they may serve Israeli interests.

…There is no greater threat to Israel — or to the peace and stability of the region — than Iran. Now this audience is made up of both Republicans and Democrats, and the enemies of Israel should have no doubt that, regardless of party, Americans stand shoulder to shoulder in our commitment to Israel’s security.

…The Iranian regime supports violent extremists and challenges us across the region. It pursues a nuclear capability that could spark a dangerous arms race and raise the prospect of a transfer of nuclear know-how to terrorists. Its president denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe Israel off the map. The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat.

…He criticizes my willingness to use strong diplomacy but offers only an alternate reality — one where the war in Iraq has somehow put Iran on its heels. The truth is the opposite. Iran has strengthened its position. Iran is now enriching uranium and has reportedly stockpiled 150 kilos of low enriched uranium. Its support for terrorism and threats toward Israel have increased. Those are the facts, they cannot be denied, and I refuse to continue a policy that has made the United States and Israel less secure.

…We will also use all elements of American power to pressure Iran. I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That starts with aggressive, principled diplomacy without self-defeating preconditions, but with a cleareyed understanding of our interests. We have no time to waste. We cannot unconditionally rule out an approach that could prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. We have tried limited, piecemeal talks while we outsource the sustained work to our European allies. It is time for the United States to lead.

…We will pursue this diplomacy with no illusions about the Iranian regime. Instead, we will present a clear choice. If you abandon your dangerous nuclear program, support for terror, and threats to Israel, there will be meaningful incentives — including the lifting of sanctions, and political and economic integration with the international community. If you refuse, we will ratchet up the pressure.

…Finally, let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel. Sometimes there are no alternatives to confrontation. But that only makes diplomacy more important. If we must use military force, we are more likely to succeed, and will have far greater support at home and abroad, if we have exhausted our diplomatic efforts.

Ah, what could have been, what could have been had President Obama governed in any way similar to the way Candidate Obama quoted above promised. As Ace so poignantly put it yesterday: “So, Jewish Democrats who voted for Obama: How’s Obama’s ass taste?”

U.S. Caves to Key Iranian Demands as Nuke Deal Comes Together
Limited options for Congress as Obama seeks to bypass lawmakers

LAUSSANE, Switzerland—The Obama administration is giving in to Iranian demands about the scope of its nuclear program as negotiators work to finalize a framework agreement in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the administration’s position in the negotiations.

U.S. negotiators are said to have given up ground on demands that Iran be forced to disclose the full range of its nuclear activities at the outset of a nuclear deal, a concession experts say would gut the verification the Obama administration has vowed would stand as the crux of a deal with Iran.

…“Once again, in the face of Iran’s intransigence, the U.S. is leading an effort to cave even more toward Iran—this time by whitewashing Tehran’s decades of lying about nuclear weapons work and current lack of cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy Agency],” said one Western source briefed on the talks but who was not permitted to speak on record.

…“Instead of ensuring that Iran answers all the outstanding questions about the past and current military dimensions of their nuclear work in order to obtain sanctions relief, the U.S. is now revising down what they need to do,” said the source. “That is a terrible mistake—if we don’t have a baseline to judge their past work, we can’t tell if they are cheating in the future, and if they won’t answer now, before getting rewarded, why would they come clean in the future?”

The United States is now willing to let Iran keep many of its most controversial military sites closed to inspectors until international sanctions pressure has been lifted, according to sources.

The White House has decided that a nuclear Iran is a good thing.

Well, That Would Explain It

The Germanwings crash wasn’t an accident. According to the reports now, the co-pilot locked the pilot out and wouldn’t let him back in.

And then dove the plane into the ground.

Randomly. Deliberately

Funny how there’s been a complete embargo on the names of the pilot or co-pilot, isn’t it.

What’s up with that?

UPDATE: now we have a name: Andreas Lubitz

UPDATE the Second: the prosecutor:

We heard the captain ask the co-pilot to take control, then we hear the noise of a seat that goes back and a door open, we can assume he went to relieve himself.
The co-pilot was alone. It is at this moment that the co-pilot manipulates the buttons of flight monitoring system to action the descent of the plane.
The action of this altitude can only be deliberate. We hear the captain then speaks via an interphone to speak to the co-pilot, no response of co-pilot, he taps on door, no response from the co-pilot, all we can hear is the sound of breathing, until impact suggesting the co-pilot was alive until impact.
Air traffic control tried to get through via 7700 but couldn’t get through. Air traffic control even tried to contact other planes to try and contact the plane, but no response.
Alarms sounded to signal to crew the proximity of the ground, then we hear banging of someone trying to break down the door
The pull up alarms to pull the plane up went off.
Just before the final impact one can heard what appears to be the first impact of the plane on a mountain top.
There was no message of distress type or mayday recevied by air traffic control, and no response to all the air traffic controllers.
The interpretation is 48 hours after the crash, I take precautions, but for us investigating…the most plausible and realistic is that the co-pilot by a deliberate decision refused to open the cabin door to the captain and actioned the button ordering the loss of altitude.
There was a deliberate desire to destroy this plane. Apparently the co-pilot was breathing normally. He said absolutely nothing after the captain left the cabin.

There’s going to be a whole lot of digging into this guy’s background.

Hillary Talking “Our Values” in Itself Is a HOOT

But listen to the echoes of #WhatDifferenceDoesItMake

Yup

The left called Bowe Bergdahl a hero and Chris Kyle a racist murderer. Let that sink in, folks.

— RB (@RBPundit) March 25, 2015

Good For SouthWest

This guy is a crude boorish pig.

Well My Bracket Is Totally Hosed

Does this mean I actually have to talk with my family for the rest of the month?

First Day Of Spring?

my ass.

So BFD ~ SoCom and State Told Them to Surrender Their Weapons

After all, what difference would it make?

The commandant of the Marine Corps told lawmakers that Marines who disarmed before departing Sanaa, Yemen during an embassy evacuation last month did so on the orders of U.S. Central Command and State Department officials.

Gen. Joseph Dunford fielded hard-edged questions on the mission Tuesday morning from Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee. Kline, a retired Marine officer, is the author of a letter to the State and Defense departments demanding detailed answers about a controversial order to Marines to destroy their weapons and depart the country unarmed.

Just…

…BRILLIANT.

Senate Republicans want to use a powerful budget maneuver known as reconciliation to go after Obamacare http://t.co/blUDb1c0Dz

— POLITICO (@politico) March 19, 2015

@exjon @politico Its like throwing the ring into Mount Doom where it was forged.

— Duke Woodson (@El_Woodo) March 19, 2015

😀

The Possible Racial Angle Is Disturbing, But…

Also very disturbing are (armed?) and uniformed Alcohol Control Agents

(CNN)”Hey! His head is bleeding! Yo, his head is bleeding!” a bystander screams.

Martese Johnson is lying face-down on the pavement, blood flowing from his forehead. He was injured when Virginia alcohol control agents took him to the ground, trying to arrest him for public intoxication and obstruction of justice.

As he’s pinned, video captures him yelling: “I go to UVA! … You f****** racists! What the f***? How did this happen?”

An agent can be heard telling the student to stop fighting.

The video does not show the moments leading up to the arrest. But many say it’s the latest example of excessive force by officers against a black man.

Denied entry at a bar
The incident started when Johnson, 20, was turned away from a bar during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control agents approached him and decided to “further detain the individual based on their observations and further questioning,” the agency said.

The proper response to a possibly tipsy 20 year old kid trying to get in a bar on St. Pats is to laugh and say “nice try”, not tackle him and handcuff him.

This is what fascism looks like, boys and girls: Official Alcohol Agents beating the shit out of people trying to get a drink.

Should I Leave Room In The Cup For Your White Privilege?

Starbucks wants its baristas to talk to you about race

Starbucks to encourage baristas to discuss race relations with customers

CEO Howard Schultz is encouraging his employees to bring up the hot-button issue — his latest foray into controversial topics.

Starbucks SBUX -0.58% CEO Howard Schultz has never shied away from involving his company in controversial debates, whether those debates are about same-sex marriage, or gun control, or U.S. government gridlock.

But the executive, who oversees a coffee empire with 4,700 U.S. stores, has now taken on arguably the most polarizing political debate in the United States: race relations.

Starbucks published a full page ad in the New York Times on Sunday — a stark, black, page with a tiny caption “Shall We Overcome?” in the middle, and the words “RaceTogether” with the company logo, on the bottom right. The ad, along with a similar one on Monday in USA Today, is part of an initiative launched this week by the coffee store chain to stimulate conversation and debate about the race in America by getting employees to engage with customers about the perennially hot button subject.

Beginning on Monday, Starbucks baristas will have the option as they serve customers to hand cups on which they’ve handwritten the words “Race Together” and start a discussion about race. This Friday, each copy of USA Today — which has a daily print circulation of almost 2 million and is a partner of Starbucks in this initiative — will have the first of a series of insert with information about race relations, including a variety of perspectives on race. Starbucks coffee shops will also stock the insert.

Why does everything, every single act in life, have to be a political statement to some people?

Someone in the White House Needs

…a WAAAHmbulance.

ABC: ‘There’s a Lot of Disappointment at the White House This Morning’ with Bibi Victory http://t.co/J4CBoNk9gD pic.twitter.com/u5bM7Zcymm

— Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) March 18, 2015

Well…

…shut my mouth.

Just in: Jen Psaki says there's "no record" of Hillary Clinton signing separation statement, adding the Dept is "fairly certain she did not"

— Ed Henry (@edhenry) March 17, 2015

Steak And Kale

So this weekend my Bride is out of town, my Daughter is overseas, I have a bad cold and Virginia lost.

Normally any one of those three would be enough to make me put up a massive cooking/drinking thread but since we lost our sweet boy I just haven’t got the energy.

Sure I made a kick-ass cast iron fried ny strip with sautéed kale tonight

but without that Dear Sweet Boy it might has well been takeout from McDonalds.

The pain never goes away.

There Ain’t No Trash In My Trailer

The ironing board surfing is a new one for me!

I Call Man Law

No WONDER They Were Pissed

…about the Senators’ letter to those mean, nasty old mullahs! Somebody might have REALLY taken offense and skipped their party!

First Lady celebrates Iranian New Year at the White House

…1. Celebrating culture
To introduce Obama, University of Maryland student Ashley Azmoodeh spoke about her own family’s connection to the holiday and its importance.

“The most memorable celebration from my childhood, one that we continue to celebrate annually, is Nowruz, meaning ‘New Day,’” Azmoodeh said.

The First Lady paid homage to the holiday by noting its long history and cultural significance for people around the world.

“For more than 3,000 years, families and communities in the Middle East, Asia and all around the world, including here in the United States, have celebrated this holiday to mark the renewal of the Earth in spring time,” Obama said.

Sinking Like a STONE

US Producer Price Index down 0.5% in Feb vs. up 0.3% expected

U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in February on weak trade margins, pointing to muted inflation pressures that could argue against an anticipated June interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index for final demand fell 0.5 percent after dropping 0.8 percent in January. It was the fourth straight monthly decline in the PPI.

Unexpected.

Another Friday The 13th

Now excuse me whilst I clean up that mirror I broke when I dodged that black cat crossing my path…

“…Since a White Officer…”

“…killed an unarmed black teenager there in August.”

With media friends like responsible news agency Reuters explaining the complete circumstances of every officer involved death, it’s just amazing there aren’t more attempted summary executions of random police officers. The only thing they’re missing is Al Sharpton’s byline.

Oops

But in his defense I can kind of understand if he didn’t see it

World’s smallest sculpture no bigger than ant’s head accidentally crushed by photographer

Jonty Hurwitz, from Hampshire, uses a high-tech process called nano-painting to craft detailed representations of the human form in miniature.

Some of his pieces are just 100 microns tall and so tiny that they cannot be seen by the human eye without a microscope.

…“I went off to have the original sculpture photographed so I found a laboratory with an electron microscope and the photographic technology,” Hurwitz told the Daily Mail.

“The technician went to change the orientation and then for the next half an hour we were looking for the piece through the lens.

“Eventually I noticed there was a fingerprint exactly where the sculpture used to be and I was like ‘Man, you have just destroyed one of the smallest art pieces ever made’. I slightly freaked out.”

It had taken Hurwitz a year to make the sculpture.

Horton was unavailable for comment.

After The Terrorist Random Attacks In Copenhagen…

The Danes have naturally decided to, er, disarm their Home Guard*

One of the weapons used in February’s terror attack in Copenhagen was an M95 rifle that had previously been stolen from the home of a Danish Home Guard (Hjemmeværnet) member.

As a result, the Home Guard has now decided that it will temporarily require all Home Guard members to turn in the bolts to their rifles, making them unable to be fired.

Over 4,300 volunteer members have a Home Guard issued weapon and they now have until March 30th to turn in their bolts, which will be stored in central depots across the country. The military service says it will then implement a long-term solution for dealing with members’ weapons.

“In light of the tragic events on February 14-15, 2015, the Home Guard is implementing these security measures until the Home Guard has found the proper solution,” Home Guard General Major Finn Winkler said in a statement.

In addition to being asked to disarm their rifles, the Home Guard members will also be subjected to periodic visits from controllers who will check that the weapons are stored safely and properly.

I’m not sure how they still manage to consider them ‘weapons’ when the bolts are removed, unless Denmark has some sort of State Inspection Code for clubs (and pretty piss-poor clubs at that); well they probably do have such a code, now that I’m thinking about it.

*They’ve now adopted the British definition of Home Guard: you don’t. Your home is now the Intruder’s Castle in the eyes of the State.

Paint Your Palette Blue And Gray…

Who knew it was an automatic feature?

It’s been puzzling art curators and experts for a long time, but scientists at the University of Antwerp discovered the reason why some of van Gogh’s most prized works of art are turning white.

It’s the plumbonacrite!

Also known as red lead, plumbonacrite is suspected to be one of the first synthetically-made paints known to man, and van Gogh was a particular fan of the stuff. In many of his paintings he used bold colors — including the red hue — which apparently degrades like a Gobstopper candy when exposed to light.

Francesca Casadi, a conservation scientist with the Art Institute of Chicago, says “We have known for some time that some of the pigments that van Gogh used alter with time. But honestly I was quite surprised to find that the red lead the mineral pigment that typically is considered relatively stable also failed him.”

Casadi says that at the time many artists like van Gogh were swept up my the insdustrial revolution and it’s impact on the art world — like the manufacturing of paint.

“This is the time right after the industrial revolution when pigment was manufactured. You don’t have the work-ship or assistance grinding minerals and having all control on the production, you have the first industrial production. And I suspect that the failing of this red lead may have to do with something in the way it was produced.”

Much like the restorations of the frescoes in Italy it will be interesting to see what the paintings actually looked like when new.

(thanks to HotAir)