Patterico's Pontifications

i didn’t get anything: i had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage in the snow.

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 1/7/2014 @ 1:15 pm

however, i do find this story to be amusing:

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2014/01/02/oregon-mother-i-cant-afford-obamacare-for-myself-1-year-old-son/

(repost from last night)

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 1/7/2014 @ 1:16 pm

But he believed in the troops, but not the mission;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/robert-gates-former-defense-secretary-offers-harsh-critique-of-obamas-leadership-in-duty/2014/01/07/6a6915b2-77cb-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html?hpid=z1

narciso (3fec35) — 1/7/2014 @ 1:33 pm

I had something earlier, but I put some ointment on it and it cleared right up.

Hired Mind (7f3e0d) — 1/7/2014 @ 1:49 pm

Crack Whore is back from vacay. Trying to stay invisible one would think.

Hope the dogs told him to leave, with prejudice.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:01 pm

I was saddened, though not at all surprised, to note that Bob Gates’ book says that Hillary and Obama admitted that their opposition to the Iraq surge was political.

Richard Aubrey (c411da) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:20 pm

You know, son, I kinda like you.

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/06/scott-walker-to-tea-partiers-lets-focus-on-taking-out-democrats-not-our-fellow-republicans/

But just who are you calling a Republican?

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:21 pm

So the liberals are all acknowledging what we knew all along, that ObamaCare is the Trojan Horse for single payer. It would amazing if the left — via the Federal Government — is actually rewarded for their incompetence by getting what they were after all along, but these are stupid times in which we live.

Now I hate the idea of single payer health insurance as much as the next person, but let’s put that aside for a moment to focus on the campaign that will likely be waged on its behalf. I would actually have respect for single payer advocates if instead of promising us that everything would be sunshine and lollipops, they acknowledge that under single payer the following results are likely:

1. Actual health services (doctor’s appointments, specialist visits, etc.) will be harder to come by and wait times will increase.

2. Your insurer who decides which treatments are too expensive to be covered will be replaced by a government bureaucrat who decides which treatments are too expensive to be covered.

3. The medical profession — doctors, nurses, technicians, and R&D engineers & scientists — will be a less prestigious industry and will probably not attract as many outstanding young minds.

4. Taxes will either go up, or service levels will go down.

There it is. If single payer advocates would at least acknowledge the likelihood of each one of these coming to pass, we could have a rational debate of cost-versus-benefit. Of course, expect them to insist that single payer will magically bring about the holy triumvirate of more coverage, higher quality, and less cost.

JVW (709bc7) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:23 pm

Don’t pet a dog that’s in fire.

CrustyB (5a646c) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:39 pm

From Best of the Web Jan 3:

Edie Sundby followup (survivor of cancer with cancelled insurance who wrote article in WSJ)

Remember Edie Sundby? She is the stage 4 gallbladder-cancer survivor who wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed two months ago in which she revealed that “my affordable, lifesaving medical insurance policy has been canceled effective Dec. 31.” While we were vacationing in chilly Southern California, we went to see her in San Diego to get an update on her insurance situation.

Atop her injury Mrs. Sundby has endured insult–imposed not by the law but by the nasty politics of a desperate administration and its supporters. It took the form of a propaganda campaign–led by the Center for American Progress and, as we noted the day her op-ed ran, cheered on by the White House–aimed at discrediting her. (Last month the president tapped John Podesta, the center’s founder, to be White House counsel. Earlier, in an interview with Politico’s Glenn Thrush, Podesta described House Republicans as “a cult worthy of Jonestown.”)

Igor Volsky, who’d launched the attack with a post on the center’s ThinkProgress.org site the day the op-ed ran, published a follow-up a few days later titled “The Cancer Patient From The Wall Street Journal Will Likely Save Thousands Under Obamacare.” This time, he claimed, he had numbers to prove it. But those numbers were only a guess, and Volsky guessed wrong.

“Relying on [her existing insurer] PacifiCare’s base rate filings with the California Department of Insurance, ThinkProgress estimated how much Sundby and her husband (who is on the same plan) could be paying,” Volsky wrote. He inflated the “base rate filing” by a “conservative” 40% “to account for underwriting–the process by which insurers increase premiums to account for beneficiaries’ health.” He came up with a figure of $2,186 for the monthly premium, or $26,241 a year. (The arithmetic was off by $9, presumably because he was rounding the published numbers but not the ones used in his calculation.) He added $11,000–a $3,000 deductible and $8,000 maximum in-network copayment–to come up with a total expense of $37,241.

Volsky then “searched the California exchange for the most expensive and expansive health care plan in San Diego and found a Platinum-level ‘Ultimate PPO’ from Blue Cross.” The monthly premium is $1,919, or $23,028 a year, for a plan with an $8,000 out-of-pocket maximum. That’s a total of $31,028. If all this had been correct, the Sundbys would stand to save more than $6,000.

In November we set out to check Volsky’s figures. Mrs. Sundby gave her insurance broker permission to speak with us about her case, and the broker was able to confirm that Volsky’s figures for the platinum plan were accurate to within a few dollars.

But as to the canceled plan, Volsky turned out to be using the Yglesias Method of making stuff up. Mrs. Sundby supplied us with statements from PacifiCare, which show that the monthly 2013 premium was just $1,107–an increase of 27%, not 40%, from 2012. The deductible was $5,000 and the individual in-network copayment $4,000. It adds up to $22,284–nearly $9,000 less than Volsky’s figure for the Blue Cross platinum plan.

Two additional caveats are necessary: First, the Sundbys’ old plan was not for the couple alone but also covered two daughters, both of whom turn 26 this year and thus will no longer be eligible for the family plan. Second, individual out-of-pocket maximums are generally half the family total, so that the comparable figure for the platinum plan would have been $4,000 less than Volsky’s estimate, or $27,028. Thus the Blue Cross plan would have cost 21% more despite covering two people instead of four.

The Sundbys ended up purchasing a “silver” plan from Blue Shield with a monthly premium of $1,438 and an individual out-of-pocket maximum of $6,350. That’s an annual total of $23,606, not counting any out-of-pocket expenses Mr. Sundby (who is in excellent health) might incur–or a modest 6% increase over the equivalent 2013 PacifiCare costs.

To be sure, even if PacifiCare hadn’t canceled the Sundbys’ policy, it likely would have hiked their premiums. Given that the increase between 2012 and 2013 was 27%, the new plan sounds like an improvement. But remember that their adult daughters are no longer on the plan. If they take out insurance, the premiums are likely to be considerably higher than they would be absent ObamaCare price controls, which soak the young in order to benefit the middle-aged.

More important, the analysis of costs alone misses the central point. While Blue Shield is not charging a great deal more than PacifiCare would have under their old plan, it is for a vastly inferior product. As Mrs. Sundby wrote in her op-ed, she has received care from three hospitals. Her primary oncologist is at Stanford University’s Cancer Institute. She got less specialized treatment such as chemotherapy locally, at Moores Cancer Center, part of the University of California, San Diego. She has also been treated at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

No plan available in San Diego includes both UCSD and Stanford in its network, so the Sundbys were forced to choose between them. The Blue Shield plan covers care at Stanford, so that she will now have to get local care elsewhere.

Volsky did acknowledge in his penultimate paragraph that Mrs. Sundby “may need to find a different health care provider. . . . If Sundby continues to see the non-participating doctors, she will incur additional out-of-pocket health care costs.” That is, he treated as an afterthought the actual injury ObamaCare inflicts on her. She was victimized twice by the president’s consumer fraud. She lost the plan she liked and doctors she liked.

We didn’t write about this in November because our conversation with the Sundbys’ broker left us confused. The broker believed that ObamaCare plans would cover out-of-network treatments, with higher copayments but the same limit on total out-of-pocket expenses. That called into question the premise of Mrs. Sundby’s op-ed: Had the broker been right, Mrs. Sundby would have been able to get the same care at only somewhat higher cost.

But the broker was misinformed. Mrs. Sundby confirmed with an administrator at UCSD that none of the plans that included Stanford in their networks would cover the full cost of treatment at Moores. Mrs. Sundby told us that her new plan covers out-of-network care only up to the (far lower) negotiated fees for equivalent treatment within the network; the difference must be paid out of pocket and does not count toward the annual limit on out-of-pocket expenses.

That makes the cost of care at UCSD prohibitive and forces Mrs. Sundby to go to a lower-quality facility. (The Moores website boasts that it “is one of just 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States, and the only one in the San Diego region.”) Mrs. Sundby told this columnist she is uncertain whether she will be able to return to M.D. Anderson should she need care there.

As Investor’s Business Daily noted in an editorial last month, the potential consequences of the narrow networks are profound and widespread:

A prominent New York insurance broker pointed out that most of the policies offered on the ObamaCare exchanges are not national networks, so “if you need routine medical services, they will not be covered when you leave your local area,” as they were before.

Travel health insurance, unfortunately, only covers emergencies. So, the broker told [The American Thinker’s Stella] Paul, “a large portion of the population will have their insurance as a consideration for their mobility, which they never had before.”

Imagine having to take all this into account in making decisions about where in America you want to live.

That the Sundbys’ broker, a seasoned insurance professional, was unaware of all this more than a month after the ObamaCare exchanges opened for business (and more than 3½ years after the law was enacted) suggests yet another serious systemic problem with ObamaCare: The government appears to have done a woefully inadequate job of educating even professionals in the field, much less ordinary consumers, about the law’s complicated and often destructive provisions. And this is in California, the state ObamaCare apologists have touted as the great success story.

“The health exchanges are so confusing, and the policy provider network details are not available,” Mrs. Sundby wrote us in an email the day after we met. “None of us who lost our insurance plans really know what we have bought on the exchange until after Jan. 1, 2014, when we start finding new doctors or making appointments with our established doctors.”

Mrs. Sundby knows better than most. An intelligent woman with a longstanding and complicated medical condition, she is about as savvy, motivated and well-informed as a health-insurance customer can get. Most Americans who get sick in the future will be far less well-prepared than she for ObamaCare’s cruel surprises. Political palliatives like the mandate exemption, even if it ends up being universal, aren’t going to help. Happy New Year.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:44 pm

This is kind of ~~cool~~ ~~warm~~ interesting. When you have a ton of snow and an arctic vortex you can build an igloo in your backyard.

http://www.suntimes.com/24804678-761/andersonville-mans-backyard-igloo-a-warm-place-to-fight-cabin-fever.html

elissa (3c2f35) — 1/7/2014 @ 2:59 pm

I got this.

NSFW

http://www.complex.com/tech/2014/01/jenna-jameson-4chan-help

SPQR (768505) — 1/7/2014 @ 3:13 pm

Extra-special blue snowflake Jerome Hauer, one of those LEO-trained and super-experienced firearms owners beclowns himself, badly needs to be arrested, charged, and convicted of a handful of crimes. Joe Sixgun would be looking at assault, felony endangering, brandishing, illegal carry, attempted homicide, and having too many rounds in his magazines. To start with. There’s probably also an “endangering vision by shining laser into eyes” charge.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/Blog/2014/01/06/NY-state-director-of-homeland-security-allegedly-used-handgun-as-laser-pointer/5971389046399/

htom (412a17) — 1/7/2014 @ 3:19 pm

According to CBS “Congress let unemployment benefits lapse”.

On the lighter side: How do you spot the blind man at a nude beach? It’s not hard.

nk (dbc370) — 1/7/2014 @ 3:25 pm

Here are six castles that cost less than NYC apartments, with pics to compare what you are paying for.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-07/6-castles-cost-less-apartment-nyc

Haze (4f8242) — 1/7/2014 @ 3:26 pm

nk, did you give Saysuncle that joke?

SPQR (768505) — 1/7/2014 @ 3:34 pm

Err, no, SPQR, I didn’t.

This story is worth a mention. A drunk on an airplane slapped a 19-month old baby (not his) for crying. He got eight months in federal prison. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/joe-rickey-hundley-sentenced-698432

If it had been my baby, he would not have made it off the plane.

nk (dbc370) — 1/7/2014 @ 3:43 pm

15. Great link. I’d like to see a comparison of property taxes with those as well.

Why spring for a 50 room hotel on the Irish coast with all the headaches of employing the adjacent village when a 1 1/2 bath, single-story bungalow fixer-upper can be had in downtown Portland, OR?

Bubble? What bubble?

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:26 pm

Have any of you that live in the L. A. area tried the burrito vending machines? Are they gourmet?

mg (31009b) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:38 pm

I got acres of nothing.

Colonel Haiku (21a525) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:39 pm

Wait!… I got a weather-related tasty piece of music: http://youtu.be/h5J70ouitMM

Colonel Haiku (21a525) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:41 pm

I’ve got a poem. About guns. Being a parody of a poem about guns. Take notes, Haiku. http://winningwriters.com/contests/wergle/2005/we05_farrell.php#.UsyfDLR2nx4

nk (dbc370) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:44 pm

Kinda funny how 40 years old music rocks more than any new stuff…

Colonel Haiku (21a525) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:46 pm

The first burrito vending machine is in a mobile station on Santa Monica Boulevard. Anyone close?

mg (31009b) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:46 pm

although this one comes real close… http://youtu.be/Vrmy_Yjc4Ik

Colonel Haiku (21a525) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:49 pm

Reads like some album liner notes from 1969, nk! Can I get an amen!

Colonel Haiku (21a525) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:54 pm

teh spooge-encrusted
an’ weezul-dusted diver
of many dumpsters

Colonel Haiku (21a525) — 1/7/2014 @ 4:59 pm

If it had been my baby, he would not have made it off the plane.

If you had been there, nk, that miscreant wouldn’t have slapped the baby. Buttwipes like him only do that sort of thing in the presence of a woman or a child.

The interesting question is how to react if you are a neutral party sitting nearby. My instinct would be to jump this guy and start punching, but you have to consider that you are aboard a flight in route and that you run the risk of causing panic on the plane and getting yourself a nice long visit with Federal Air Marshalls once it lands. I think the key would be to react quickly so that you can claim that you thought the child was in imminent danger of being hit again, thus your throttling and stomping of the perpetrator was a preventative measure.

JVW (709bc7) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:04 pm

Evidently, the Sun has erupted with a X-class flare.

This lady is predicting kp of 6 tomorrow which means temblor action somewhere.

https://twitter.com/TamithaSkov

Anyone near the polar circles should see an aurora.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:19 pm

I have a sister named Sarah – now if I could just get two mules for her…

felipe (6100bc) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:22 pm

This is different…..I actually remember this from 1971, although I was just a kid at the time.

Anti war protestors who burglarized the FBI HQ in Philly wrote a book:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140107_Book_reveals_secrets_of_a_burglary_from_Phila__s_antiwar_past.html

Pine Baroness (a1d9be) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:23 pm

15. On a related note: How can one call it living to suffer weekly a lousy, rat-infested market?

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Media/Slideshow/2012/04/13/12-Worst-Supermarkets-in-America?page=11

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:49 pm

You look fabulous, my dear:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10556850/IMF-to-revise-up-global-growth-forecasts-says-Christine-Lagarde.html

Cake, you say?

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:55 pm

USA by Dos Passos vs. The Education of Henry Adams: should I put down the former in favor of the latter, at least for a time?

I’m through the first volume of USA, and I enjoyed it a lot, but I’m getting the impression that almost every male Dos Passos character follows one trajectory – childhood, wanderlust, hobo, regular lust, marriage, wanderlust, abandonment, hobo, Communist/sailor.

I should just push through the next 50 pages and beat my naysaying into submission.

Leviticus (6a67b8) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:59 pm

33. Cont. Time to get serious about credit card debt.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10556543/Eurozone-losing-safety-margin-against-deflation-trap-as-core-gauge-falls-to-record-low.html

Shrinking US trade imbalance would be great news for a strong dollar.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:15 pm

Maybe Walker should have a chat with him;

http://washingtonexaminer.com/gop-senator-ousted-by-tea-party-challenger-donates-to-democratic-senate-hopeful-in-georgia/article/2541728?custom_click=rss

narciso (3fec35) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:27 pm

I do get that a Select Committee would likely not be the best approach to prosecuting Benghazi:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/06/GOP-LEADERSHIP-Benghazi-victims-families-conservatives-absurd-and-inaccurate-in-select-committee-demand

It’s just that in 4 Billion years the Sun balloons into a red giant and all the evidence will vaporize.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:33 pm

Well you could use dark matter, like Nero, in the last Star Trek,

narciso (3fec35) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:34 pm

38. Gen. Alexander has the bridge.

That hairpiece looks like a wet tribble, Sir.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:40 pm

Red matter, not dark matter, narsciso.

felipe (6100bc) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:42 pm

37- Ohio is `getting ready to dump crier John. A national revolt against this turd should be taking place. And then, on to disposing of the liar Cantor.

mg (31009b) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:58 pm

it’s just been a long day

i give give give give give

and for what

happyfeet (8ce051) — 1/7/2014 @ 6:59 pm

Well that a fluke, not a pattern, wait;

http://weaselzippers.us/?p=166973

narciso (3fec35) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:08 pm

I’m through the first volume of USA, and I enjoyed it a lot, but I’m getting the impression that almost every male Dos Passos character follows one trajectory – childhood, wanderlust, hobo, regular lust, marriage, wanderlust, abandonment, hobo, Communist/sailor.

For what it’s worth, Leviticus, the first part of the USA Trilogy was my least favorite part. It’s been a lot of years, but my recollection is that the characters in the other two parts are more interesting.

JVW (709bc7) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:09 pm

“I never doubted Obama’s support for the troops, only his support for their mission.”

You keep using that word, support. Rather like a certain White Sox fan, I should say.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/robert-gates-former-defense-secretary-offers-harsh-critique-of-obamas-leadership-in-duty/2014/01/07/6a6915b2-77cb-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_print.html

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:14 pm

I dunno, I’m drawing a blank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nr2Bz23F-eo

Tom (bea0bc) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:17 pm

Anyone near the polar circles should see an aurora.
Comment by gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:19 pm

Is having temperatures near the polar circles good enough?

I saw a picture that made me think of you, gary. Minneapolis, with the caption,”Minnesota, come for the culture, stay because the car won’t start.”

MD in Philly (f9371b) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:24 pm

47. Thanx for the thought. I be going to start my baby now.

Back in a creak.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:31 pm

“I never doubted Obama’s support for the troops, only his support for their mission.”

You keep using that word, support. Rather like a certain White Sox fan, I should say.

Maybe that should be the new GOP talking point: We supported ObamaCare to the same degree that he supported our missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But seriously, if Obama approved the surge in Afghanistan without being at all committed to it, then he is beneath contempt.

JVW (709bc7) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:32 pm

I have anemia. It’s bad and ..its bad.

Also a sooty flue and insufficient attic insulation.

SarahW (b0e533) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:59 pm

well get better soon

you’re due for a run of fabulous good luck with serendipitous occurrences and unforeseen delights

i know these things

happyfeet (8ce051) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:05 pm

Clinton has a war chest building and all she has to do is make it official.

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-78811187/

In other important news, Justified started up again tonight.

Dana (9a8f57) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:22 pm

Clinton should make it official in her butt I think

happyfeet (8ce051) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:26 pm

Hope your better soon, SarahW

mg (31009b) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:27 pm

For your consideration: What must happen to the money?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-07/so-you-want-higher-rates

This debt is easily 150% of Gross World Domestic Product. Right now bonds are a better short-term deal than blue chip dividend income.

At the same time 85-90% of businesses have forecast lower earnings for the coming year. Consumer income is in a fifth year of decline here and China, Japan and Europe are all headed toward lower growth as well.

In China’s case its a bit of a choice. Perhaps 30% of loans by value are non-performing and something has to give.

Investors already have $Trillions$ in commodities, metals, locked away in warehouses. Their price, with no production, is destined to fall over the near term.

Can NY and London properties go up still more? How does one collect rents at these prices?

Where do profits come from in 2014 & 15?

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:34 pm

I thought this was kind of cool. A little boy and his mom blew soap bubbles in the subfreezinf temps. The pictures are amazing.

http://distractify.com/culture/arts/frozen-bubbles-in-wintertime/

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:37 pm

The photos are amazing. So ethereal and delicate. What a great mom. Lucky kid to have one who seizes the moment so creatively.

Dana (9a8f57) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:43 pm

Sandy Eggo Padres announcer Jerry Coleman dies at 89. He was a Yankees infielder from 1949-1957. He’s the only MLB player who flew combat missions in WWII and Korea. He was a Marine pilot, flew Corsairs in both wars, and retired a Lt. Col.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/sd/san-diego-padres-announcer-jerry-coleman-dies-at-89?ymd=20140105&content_id=66332642

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:44 pm

50. Has your furnace been checked?

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:47 pm

My dog just returned from surgery because she had a lot of bladder stones. When I say a lot, I mean almost 100. One was the size of a quarter.

I really, really feel bad about it. She was suffering and she’s a good dog. However, I’m a bit more upset at the vet for treating her for urinary tract infections rather than the real problem for about two years.

The reason I tell that story is because I have always had a lot of respect for Robert Gates.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 1/7/2014 @ 8:55 pm

Jerry Brown wants to use AGW hoax money to fund Bullet Train.

Irritating how the Slimes keeps calling it pollution credits. As in “Gov. Jerry Brown will ask state lawmakers to use funds raised from the sale of pollution credits to help pay for the state’s beleaguered high-speed rail program, according to sources familiar with the proposal who were not authorized to speak publicly about the plan. “

They won’t even say carbon credit anymore.

I wonder when was the last time they used “Global Warming Solutions Act” in a sentence?

They should die of embarassment.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:02 pm

I have a sister named Sarah – now if I could just get two mules for her…

Comment by felipe (6100bc) — 1/7/2014 @ 5:22 pm

Wellllllll, there are a couple of jackasses that stop by on this blog every now and then, and leave their droppings everywhere!

peedoffamerican (ee1de0) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:05 pm

59. The reason I ask about the furnace is cracks in the combustion chamber can lead to carbon monoxide with incomplete combustion.

Fan blowers also degrade over time as windings bridge.

‘Sooty flue and insufficient insulation’ give me a very bad vibe in combination with anemia.

We now have a dual stage with a variable speed fan wired at 240 and the difference in even distribution of heat is phenomenal.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:22 pm

i hate cracks in the combustion chamber and anemia and Hillary Clinton and bullet train hornswoggles

likes are include bubbles and even distribution of heat

happyfeet (8ce051) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:26 pm

The Times also askes the question, “What is a polar vortex?”

Apparently they’ve discovered a new euphemism.

What do you call a “polar vortex” over the South Pole?

Answer: “Ozone hole“.

The last thing they want to do is say the ozone hole has opened up over Chicago, or investigate a bit further to discover the phenomena formerly know as ozone hole is naturally occuring and temperature dependant.

Because the truth would blow the lid off just about every one of their environmental slush funds.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:40 pm

The Xue Long has broke free of the ice in the Antarctic.

http://www.news.com.au/world/trapped-rescue-ship-xue-long-breaks-free-of-ice-after-becoming-trapped-helping-to-free-stranded-antarctic-tourists/story-fndir2ev-1226796930514

Added bonus; more info on how the Akademic Shokalskiy got trapped in the first place.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/01/02/the-cause-of-the-akademik-shokalskiy-getting-stuck-in-antarctica-sigtseeing-mishaps-and-dawdling-by-the-passengers-getting-back-on-ship/

December 24th:

“The third drama of the day is the one which is still unfolding. Because of the Argo mishap we got off late, and had one less vehicle to ferry people to and fro. I’m told the Captain was becoming rather definite late in the afternoon that we needed to get everyone back on board ASAP because of the coming weather and the ice closing in. As I write we are continuing to make extremely slow progress through what looks like a winter alpine snow field – it’s yet another surreal part of this journey that we are in a ship trying to barge our way through here! I’m sure the Captain would have been much happier if we had got away a few hours earlier. Maybe we would have made it through the worst before it consolidated as much as it has with the very cold south- easterly winds blowing the ice away from the coast, around and behind us as well as ahead.

We’ll see where we are in the morning – it may be a very white Christmas Eve!

PS. 9.30am 24/12. We have moved less than a kilometre over night, and are now stationary in a sea of ice. The word is that we are not stuck, merely waiting for a weather change. It seems to me that we are having the quintessential Antarctic experience. J Stay tuned.”

THE CAPTAIN and PASSENGERS knew that bad weather and ice were coming on Dec 23-that a “blizzard had been forecast”. The Captain made it clear to them more than once, because he “became rather definite” later that they needed to get OUT of that area ASAP.

As of 1 am on December 24th, they were already progressing through “ice pack” that caused the ship to “bash and barge” it’s way through the ice! Need more evidence of how stupid these people are?

…Again, for Chris Turney to PRETEND after the ship got fatally stuck, to be shocked or surprised about all this ice suddenly showing up where it had not been before is ludicrous! It was there when they sailed in, it was breaking up and moving the whole time they were there, and Chris Turney admits on Dec 19th that he knew they were

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:46 pm

After a concert tonight, I went for a walk down along the Hudson. Portions of it are covered in ice, stretching a good 20 feet out into the water.

The Statue of Liberty looks *amazing* in the dry, clear, crystalline air.

aphrael (d09290) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:55 pm

And here’s a picture of the “ozone hole” opening up over Chicago.

Ozone Mixing Ratio: Northern Hemisphere.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/7/2014 @ 10:07 pm

Damn. I thought this guy might still be alive. Out of curiousity I did a search on his name. Turns out he died three years ago.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/22/lachhiman-gurung-obituary

But instead, it was the Gurkhas who were encircled and cut off. At the village of Taungdaw, Rifleman Gurung was helping to man a small forward position some 100m in front of the rest of the Gurkhas and came under attack by hundreds of Japanese. An enemy victory at that point would have been a major setback for the British.

During a savage action, Gurung twice snatched up Japanese grenades and threw them back before they detonated. Another landed on the outer edge of his trench and Gurung attempted a third “return to sender”, but the grenade went off in his right hand, destroying his fingers, shattering his right arm and wounding other parts with shrapnel.

Gurung ignored his many wounds and carried on firing with his left hand – a considerable feat, as the bolt-action rifles of the day were made for right-handed use. “Come and fight a Gurkha!” he yelled, as wave after wave of Japanese troops tried for four hours to overrun the position. They failed. The 4th/8th Gurkhas held out for another 48 hours until relieved on 15 May.

It turns out that Lachhiman Gurung had a flair for the dramatic. When the grenade blew his hand off, he drew his khukri, thrust it into the ground and shouted at the Japanese that no one was going to pass by him that day.

He later said he thought he was dead anyway, so he might as well go out fighting.

Not bad for a guy who was only 4’11” and normally would have been rejected but there was a war on. Lucky for the Brits, eh?

When he was finally relieved the only thing he complained about was the flies were bothering his stump. Not that his hand had just gotten blown off. Just that the flies attracted to the putrid mess were a nuisance.

Added bonus: Gurkha motivational poster.

http://yougottobekidding.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/military-motivational-posters-04.jpg?w=497&h=497

Extra special Gurkha bonus:

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2011/01/the-fight-one-lone-retired-gurkha-against-a-train-with-40-bandits.html

The Fight: One Lone Retired Gurkha against a Train with 40 Bandits

Who wins?

Yeah, you know who freakin’ wins.

Ayo Gorkhali!

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/7/2014 @ 10:21 pm

You know how the Guardian, Huffington Post, and just about every other liberal leaning news commentary site have staff on hand to delete any conservative speech what might have wandered in by mistake?

Well the Sacramento Bee has taken that a step further. Their comment section is by invitation only. Invitations are awarded under some secret formula to only a select few who are then allowed to comment.

I’m just linking this story to illustrate the point not to comment on the contents there of (even though I find the topic, as I do most things reported and cheered on by the Bee, as repellent as a vampire finds garlic)
Sac City Council votes to use eminent domain to swipe a Sky Scraper in Downtown Sacramento.

Scroll down to where it says Sign In Using The Social Network of Your Choice to Comment
Click on the google tab.
A popup will say,

Were you invited to comment with a Sacbee voucher?
Before attempting to sign in with Google, please understand that a voucher is required.

If you have already claimed a voucher and successfully signed in, simply continue connecting to the social network used to create your account.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/7/2014 @ 10:27 pm

papertiger, that sucks about the Bee. I don’t ever read it, except for when I want to hear from Dan Walters (who is sometimes syndicated in my local newspaper). For my money, Dan Walters is the best damn columnist writing about Sacramento in the whole state. I’ve been reading him for years, and I couldn’t tell you what his political leanings are. He plays it absolutely straight, which pretty much no one else does these days.

JVW (709bc7) — 1/7/2014 @ 11:02 pm

Well the Sacramento Bee has taken that a step further. Their comment section is by invitation only.

Putting politics aside, I’m amazed at how much of the print media manages to hang on, year after year. Perhaps a vampire- or zombie-type survivability allows a Sacramento Bee to be so idiotically arrogant and nonchalant about limiting the public’s access to its web pages. Or doing just the opposite of what a business interested in reaching the eyeballs of as many potential consumers as possible, and, in turn, luring in as many potential advertisers as possible, would seemingly want to pursue for a sales strategy.

Mark (58ea35) — 1/7/2014 @ 11:21 pm

He still finds it hard to believe that he took on 40 armed robbers alone. “They may have feared that more of my army friends were traveling with me and fled after fighting me for around 20 minutes,” he explained.

“Ayo Gorkhali!” indeed.

/hand salute

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 1/7/2014 @ 11:45 pm

Fighting for twenty minutes. IN a knife fight.
You’ve got to win everytime.

I wonder how much time they spent counting robbers?

Is that a hard forty, or was that like twenty were just along for a ride then ran away as fast as they could once the violence broke out?

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/8/2014 @ 12:20 am

It could be that the Bee comment pages of yore have been cleansed of unhealthy thought and free expression, But I’m not interested enough to look.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/8/2014 @ 12:23 am

Dan Walters is the best damn columnist writing about Sacramento in the whole state.

I’ve seen better.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/8/2014 @ 12:26 am

Janice Rogers Brown. Instead that progressive twit, who I HATE more and more everyday, George effing Bush nominated John my kids are here illegally Roberts. What a disgrace. All you republican lovers are shameful, just shameful. None of you have any fight for what’s right. Putrid.

mg (31009b) — 1/8/2014 @ 3:11 am

Surprise, surprise;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/former-guantanamo-detainee-implicated-in-benghazi-attack/2014/01/07/c73fdf78-77d5-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html?hpid=z4

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 4:06 am

Regarding Leviticus’ comment on USA (#34), and the followup (#44) by JVW:

The first book of the trilogy, The 42nd Parallel, is indeed the weakest of the three. One has to get into the middle of the second volume, Nineteen Nineteen, to really start getting the feel of the whole—for it is not until then that characters from the first book start walking through the lives of characters in the second, and one sees the whole interlocking panorama.

Reading the trilogy the first time or two, it is easy to gloss over the Newsreel and Camera Eye sections, and the various bios. This is a mistake. They are an essential part of the book.

USA is an expansion of themes and techniques Dos Passos originally explored in Manhattan Transfer, and the book of a still-young man. This is part of why Dos Passos seems so pro-IWW in the first volume; he was, in a vague student-radical kind of way, but also the IWW was a big noise in the US in the pre-WWI years. But by the time one gets through the trilogy, one can also see the seeds of the the conservative that Dos Passos became later in life; his chapters which deal with the radical Mary French can be very sympathetic (his Camera Eye following the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti remains very moving), but at the same time are merciless in portraying the infighting, backbiting, and self-immolation of the Left.

Dos Passos went through a remarkable transition from lefty internationalist to pro-McCarthy conservative. The fulcrum of this change was the Spanish Civil War, in which a reformist friend of his was murdered by the Loyalists and Hemingway, who had been a friend of JDP’s up until that time, defended the murder. Dos Passos’ novel Midcentury is corrosively anti-union, and contains the dying reminiscences of an old IWW—in effect, one of his characters from the beginning of USA—looking back on his life wistfully at the gap between his ideals and what those ideals had accomplished. He also writes in that novel, presciently, of the soldiers captured in the Korean War who willingly became propagandists for the Communists.

buzzsawmonkey (e6cdb5) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:10 am

Get well soon, SarahW.

Dos Passos’ USA. I have vague memories of being required to read and write about this in college. That’s all I remember of it. Maybe I should try it again.

“Ayo Gorkhali!” indeed. http://www.ayo-gorkahali.org

htom (412a17) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:10 am

77. Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?”

it took a nipponized bit of the old sixth avenue el; in the top of his head: to tell him

There is no telling this generation anything.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:18 am

Jeremiah is a very cynical person I bet if he had known he would be remembered that way he would’ve worked a little harder to accentuate the positive like how Katy Perry does it.

happyfeet (8ce051) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:37 am

Comment by papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/7/2014 @ 9:40 pm

Thanks, Papertiger – now I have something new to yell in a road-rage fit.

“Learn todrive, ozone hole”!

or in polite company

“What a polar vortex”!

felipe (b5e0f4) — 1/8/2014 @ 8:20 am

49. …But seriously, if Obama approved the surge in Afghanistan without being at all committed to it, then he is beneath contempt.

Comment by JVW (709bc7) — 1/7/2014 @ 7:32 pm

Just add it to the list of reasons why President Tiger Beat is beneath contempt. But this is one of them.

Hillary! is as well,and for the same reason. Absolutely everything they do, every position they take, is based entirely upon their calculation of how it will effect their domestic political prospects. They don’t care whether or not what they are doing will work. They don’t care how it makes them look to the rest of the world.

Another aspect of this is not only did he send US forces to die just for domestic political consumption, he sent them to kill Afghans for domestic political consumption. This is not lost on the rest of the world. As far as people like Clinton and Obama are concerned, both US servicemembers and foreigners are just extras in their political theater. No more real than Obama’s styrofoam Greek columns. Animals in movies get treated with more consideration.

US troops/Afghans were harmed in the creation of this play. Are you not entertained?

This is having disastrous results. I could reel off the list, but just look at what’s going on in Iraq. Candidate Obama made it a campaign issue to “end the war” in Iraq and bring the troops home. In order to do so his administration declared the mission a success, the Iraqi government stable, AQ annihilated in Iraq and on the run elsewhere, and the country secure.

None of this had anything to do with reality. But it’s what he needed to say at the time. How are things looking now.

We see this in his mania to get agreements. Over Syrian chemical weapons, over the Iranian nuclear program, between Israel and the Palestinians, whatever. It does not matter one bit how disastrous those agreements are. It does not matter one bit how much worse he makes the situation. He just wants a piece of paper to wave around. He can lie about the rest. When things blow up because of his idiocy, President One Trick Pony will whip out the blamethrower and blame George Bush, the Maliki government, a tsunami, global warming, Chrysler bond holders, whomever, for his f*** up.

Think Obamacare. We already knows he’ll lie to get what he wants, and then to keep what he wants. He doesn’t care how much harm he does to others. It’s all about him.

Keep this in mind when these people declare the success of their social engineering experiments as well. They’re purging the military of any senior officers who are primarily concerned with creating a force that can sustain combat. These progressives have contempt for the lives of the troops; what do they care about that? What they care about is being able to proclaim their diversity experiments a success.

One thing I keep in mind is General Casey’s immediate reaction following the Fort Hood shooting. He declared it would be an even worse tragedy if it derailed the Army’s diversity initiatives.

They turned a blind eye to Major Hasan’s unhinged radicalism because they needed the statistic. A Muslim Army psychiatrist. But think about it. Had Nidal Hasan stopped short of mass murder, he’d be treating Soldiers for PTSD. What kind of care would these Soldiers be getting from a man who considers them murderous infidels worthy of Allah’s wrath in the form of eternal damnation?

And what does it say about people like Obama, Clinton, and General Casey who are just fine with that?

Again, keep that in mind when they declare women in combat or gays in the military a complete and total success.

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/8/2014 @ 8:59 am

“Nothingburger”

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/08/uh-oh-e-mails-link-top-christie-aid-to-gwb-lane-closing-controversy/

Vetting, schvetting, turnout dodos, moas and great auks, why don’t ya?

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 9:09 am

papertiger @74, about half are always just along for the ride.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/joseph-torrez-mma-fends-off-four-attackers-kills-one_n_4548172.html

A New Mexico mixed martial arts fighter can say he’s 4-0 at home after pummeling four intruders who broke into his mobile home. Police said that one of the attackers was killed and another was hospitalized.

…The alleged assailants — Sal Garces, 25, his brother Raymond, 19, Nathan Avalos, 20 and Calvillo, 22 — forced their way into the mobile home at about 2 a.m. Torrez’s fiancee, son and another woman were also inside at the time.

The older Garces was stabbed to death in the ensuing melee, and Avalos sustained “severe” facial injuries, according to the New York Daily News. He was taken by ambulance to an area hospital.

…Torrez reportedly scared the other two men into fleeing, but they were arrested a short time later on conspiracy and property damage charges. All four of the men are reportedly gang members, some of them with drug histories.

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/8/2014 @ 9:16 am

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/sacbee.com

Sacbee.coms page views took a nosedive when they closed the comment section “for renovations” in November, losing about half their readership.
Now that they’ve rolled out the “new and improved voucher system” that remainder has been halved again.

papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/8/2014 @ 11:35 am

what is the translation for Houston we have a problem;

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/saudis-fight-with-syrian-rebels-despite-contradictions-20140108-hv7to.html

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 3:38 pm

Here is (I presume) Prince Bandar giving his spin to the New York Times: (their sources actually seem to be in the Ministry of the Interior, but he’s in charge of their whole Syrian policy, and tghe repsonse to the Arab Spring in general)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/world/middleeast/saudis-back-syria-rebels-despite-a-lack-of-control.html

I don’t believe he doesn’t control them – or I should say, I don’t believe he’s opposed to them doing everything he would like others to believe he is opposed to them doing.

Sammy Finkelman (28600b) — 1/8/2014 @ 3:48 pm

Let’s start an NGO having Bangladeshi children make soccer balls to send to the Sauds so’s their young men have something else to do.

The madrassas aren’t working.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 3:57 pm

Actual his brother, prince Nayef, actually runs the Mahabeth, which is in charge of rehabilitation,

the hospital administrator, is trying the Saudi version of scared straight, but I don’t think the message is getting true,

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 3:57 pm

A couple of good posts are up at Powerline. The first is about the Old Grey Red Army Camp Follower and the unbelievably boneheaded mistakes these people make.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/01/the-ny-times-does-geography-which-goes-on-top-north-or-south.php

The other is about the despicable Hillary! and President Mean Girl.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/01/democrats-criminally-cynical-handling-of-war-and-peace-issues-confirmed.php

I’ll just excerpt one part of this one.

Gates never doubted Obama’s support for the troops; “only his support for their mission.” But it was Obama who gave them that mission.

Woodward describes Gates’ report as one of the more serious charges that a defense secretary could make against a commander in chief sending forces into combat. That’s an understatement. Expending American blood on behalf of a strategy one has devised but doesn’t believe in is despicable, if not criminal.

Call me crazy, but if I’m ever SecDef and the President tells me to put the troops life on the line to execute a strategy he devised but is one that he not only doesn’t believe in but is convinced is doomed to fail, I’m going to doubt his support for the troops. As far as I’m concerned this book doesn’t paint Robert Gates in a very good light. He didn’t resign. He didn’t speak up at the time. But he was a good German and sent troops to fight and die in what was planned to be a lost cause.

How can anyone claim to “support the troops” when they have this much contempt for their lives? If there’s any evidence that supports this then not only does Obama need to be impeached but the the whole bunch need to be lined up and shot. This to me is just premeditated murder. Obama sent troops off to die in order to get reelected, essentially.

Steve57 (d35759) — 1/8/2014 @ 4:54 pm

I don’t understand that attitude, Steve, the fmr CIA counsel, takes a similar tack with other mal intentioned figures as well, in his memoir,

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 5:03 pm

Afghanistan was never going to be anything other than a morass. If 1) Karzai were more than a trumped-up drug dealer and 2) we could completely seal the border with Pakistan, then we could possibly, if 3) we killed about one-third of the Afgani males, see some semblance of stability in that country. Otherwise, they’ll remain 7th century BC barbarians with 20th century AD weapons, feeding, rutting, and killing each other, until Judgment Day.

But who wants to hear that? They want to hear, “The Axis of evil will pay”; “If you’re not with us, you’re against us”; “We’re going in to drain the swamp”; “We have to fight them in Afghanistan, otherwise we’ll be fighting them in New York”; ad nauseum. ~~Was~~ Is America ready to give up jingo for either a Democrat or a Republican candidate?

nk (dbc370) — 1/8/2014 @ 5:34 pm

Actually no, this retrograde aspect of Afghanistan wasn’t wide spread in the 50s and 60s, it took Pakistan’s active intervention through the ISI, Saudi money, to get us to this point,

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 5:38 pm

There was a brief, twenty-year period of western (actually Soviet but ok) sort of progress. But that’s all there was. Ever. Sure, there’s been all kinds of foreign aid to the various factions (including from us back in the ’80s for a time, as well as after 2001), but foreigners created neither the factionalism nor the neolithic mentality.

nk (dbc370) — 1/8/2014 @ 5:56 pm

A similar pattern occurred in Egypt, where Quradawi is from who is on good terms with Rahm Emmanuel over say Chick a Fil, even though the former, recommends gays be stoned,

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:06 pm

Not so easy yet, in Chicago. They should go to Colorado.

nk (dbc370) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:13 pm

Oh great, I ate at Gordon’s circa 1980:

“Barack and Michelle reportedly became engaged in 1991 after a dinner at Gordon’s Restaurant on Clark Street in Chicago.”

The question that keeps popping into our heads: Why has ibn Dunham, so obviously indebted to bin Talal, now become such a sycophant of the Shi`a now that his Sunni collaboration is dashed?

Mirengoff has a post up supposing he just likes anti-American strongmen. A little thin.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:14 pm

Patterico, we are due a post on Chris Christie punishing his enemy.

Reminds me of the shutdown when the Obama administration took the handles off the water faucets at the national parks and put up cones to prevent pull outs at Mt. Rushmore.

AZ Bob (ade845) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:16 pm

Actually that makes as much sense, as anything else gary, recall when he visited Pakistan he was a guest of the Anti Zia resistance, any antiWestern constituency fits.

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:20 pm

First picture I’ve encountered of Chandoo 14/14.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/10/barack-obama-at-occidental-college-photographs.html#slide_ss_0=14

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:21 pm

101. So the Sunni/Shia divide is irrelevant? Can’t find Hamid and/or Chandoo affiliation but assume wealthy Sunnis.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:26 pm

I guess the Sauds should’ve expected the cowboy to wander:

http://www.independentviewpoints.org/home.html

Askari Chandoo’s website as of 2006.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:35 pm

young man Obammy so feckless
with Chandoo he was rather reckless
at teh Ujima dinner
thought himself a winner
gave as good as he got
tricks with pearl necklace

Colonel Haiku (b14023) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:39 pm

Get a load of this IV CV:

Khalid Latif recently graduated from New York University with a degree with honors in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Islamic Studies with a concentration on Muslim-Christian Relations and a Certification in Islamic Chaplaincy from Hartford Seminary. Aside from serving as the Muslim Chaplain at NYU, he is also a shura member and Advisor for the New Jersey Islamic Speakers’ Bureau, MSA-NY, and the Islamic Center of NYU Alumni Association. As well, he is currently serving as the Chair for the Muslim Accomodations’ Task Force of MSA National. Currently, Khalid is an educator with Abraham’s Vision, teaching high school seniors at Abraham Joshua Heschel High School in Manhattan and the Al-Iman School in Queens. He is a regular friday speaker at the Muslim Community of New Jersey, the New Brunswick Islamic Community, the Islamic Center at NYU, the Islamic Circle of Mercer County, and Belleview Hospital.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:43 pm

“What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply hungry…”

– Gov. Chris Christie

Colonel Haiku (b14023) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:44 pm

105. Collective work, ujima:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2065002_practice-ujima-during-kwanzaa.html

A renegade muslim still fits.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:50 pm

107. You do have a gift.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:54 pm

Here’s an interesting story out of Texas to get everybody’s blood flowing and fingers typing.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/its-not-matter-of-pro-choice-and-pro.html#more

elissa (c8b349) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:02 pm

I remember when Joe Pyne used to have that fraud Ron Karenga (Mr. Kwanzaa) on his L.A. television talk show back in the day. I was always entertained by that high-pitched squeak of a voice Karenga had.

Colonel Haiku (b14023) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:04 pm

Actual reportage:

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/09/obamas-paki-con.html

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:55 pm

If you watch Downton Abbey and Sons of Anarchy you’re really just watching the same show.

http://tv.suntimes.com/

elissa (c8b349) — 1/8/2014 @ 7:57 pm

Yeah I don’t buy it;

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/8/feds-pick-obama-supporter-lead-irs-tea-party-probe/#ixzz2pr8rYtm5

narciso (3fec35) — 1/8/2014 @ 8:07 pm

Seems Crack Whore welches on all his debts.

Who is Hassan Chando? His family is a prominent family in Pakistan with whom Obama stayed for three weeks in 1981. He is also in the higher echelon of the Democratic party and fundraiser of the East Coast Muslims. His mother, Gulshan Chando, is the grandniece of Ali Jinnah, the founder of present day Pakistan. Her husband attended the same school as Pervez Musharraf, former President of Pakistan and both belong to the same Old Patricians Club in Pakistan. Pervez, former military leader, has formed a new political party in Pakistan, the All Pakistan Muslim League and is seeking a move to lead Pakistan again

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 8:10 pm

A couple of common errors encountered poking around all the ‘investigative’ blogging on Occidental is 1) A picture of Dog and unkempt Sohail Siddiqui, his roomie later at NY, is often labeled as one of Chandoo. 2) He didn’t visit Hyderabad, India on the 1981 trip, but Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 8:33 pm

79. Comment by buzzsawmonkey (e6cdb5) — 1/8/2014 @ 6:10 am

He also writes in that novel, presciently, of the soldiers captured in the Korean War who willingly became propagandists for the Communists.

But they didn’t, really. That’s what a lot of people thought.

They were tortured and treated miserably, not really “brainwashed,” although may of them would have been ignorant enough not to know certain things being said were untrue.

Sammy Finkelman (28600b) — 1/8/2014 @ 9:48 pm

92. Comment by Steve57 (d35759) — 1/8/2014 @ 4:54 pm

Expending American blood on behalf of a strategy one has devised but doesn’t believe in is despicable, if not criminal.

Lyndon Johnson did that. He did that because he considered the alternative worse.

And the same thing probably for Obama.

that he not only doesn’t believe in but is convinced is doomed to fail,

If that’s what Obama thought, he was wrong.

and sent troops to fight and die in what was planned to be a lost cause.

Did Gates think it was a lost cause?

Obama sent troops off to die in order to get reelected, essentially.

If that was his only motive for wanting to prevent Afghanistan from going back to the way it was before September 11, 2001.

Sammy Finkelman (28600b) — 1/8/2014 @ 9:53 pm

115. That would seem to indicate that Obama’s connections in Pakistan were with a reasonably decent group of people.

Sammy Finkelman (28600b) — 1/8/2014 @ 9:56 pm

119. “Decent”. Top flight.

gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 1/8/2014 @ 10:02 pm

120. There could be some problems. Compromises with evil.

Sammy Finkelman (28600b) — 1/8/2014 @ 10:09 pm

Expending American blood on behalf of a strategy one has devised but doesn’t believe in is despicable, if not criminal.

Lyndon Johnson did that. He did that because he considered the alternative worse.

Not even remotely Sammy. I’ve met people from the
“if you ignore the differences then they’re both the same” school of policy analysis. You’re the first guy I’ve come across who attended the “if you ignore reality you can say pretty much anything you want” school, though.

Tell me, Sammy, how did LBJ do in that reelection bid of his? My history is a little hazy. When LBJ ran for reelection how’d he do?

Steve57 (613188) — 1/9/2014 @ 2:14 am

http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/01/benghazi-terrorist-designation/356840/

U.S. Officially Ties Benghazi to Terrorists for First Time

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 1/10/2014 @ 12:34 pm

Steve 57 at 92: Expending American blood on behalf of a strategy one has devised but doesn’t believe in is despicable, if not criminal.

Me at 118: Lyndon Johnson did that. He did that because he considered the alternative worse.

122. Comment by Steve57 (613188) — 1/9/2014 @ 2:14 am

Not even remotely Sammy

Tell me, Sammy, how did LBJ do in that reelection bid of his? My history is a little hazy. When LBJ ran for reelection how’d he do?

He won by a landslide, not quite as big (in the Electoral College) as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936.

But that was before the Vietnam War escalation.

He was eliogible to run also, in 1968. In those days a presidential campaign could start later. There was no “campaign finance reform” as yet. Senator Eugene McCarthy got a substantial total, although not a victory, in the New Hampshire Primary.

Then Robert F. Kennedy decided to jump in.

On March 31, 1968 Presient Johnson addressed the nation – president used to be able to do this, and later Nixon did this a lot – the networks would make time – and announced a bombing halt below I think the 20th parallel.

A bombing halt BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS had been a proposal advocated by the Communist dictatorship of North Vietnam, echoed stupidly by a lot of people.

And at the end of the speech President Johnson he
surprised many people by saying, that he woiuld not be a candidate for re-election.

I thought he did that to indicate his sincerity. It has also been said that he maybe never really intended to run at all, because the men in his family had died young.

And he never really did believe in his war strategy.

Now Obama, it could be all he cared about was not losing Afghanistan to the Taliban and al Qaeda before the November 2012 election and after that it was not vital to him.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 1/10/2014 @ 12:46 pm

1/7/2014

Open Thread

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