Books, movies, politics, and whatever I want

Archive for April, 2014

Culture of Corruption

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

You may have missed this story from last month.  It didn’t get much MSM/DNC coverage.  Not very surprising given the story.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane shut down an investigation started by her predecessor.   The investigation was an old classic, probably inspired by the recent movie American Hustle.  Undercover operatives offered state politicians cash bribes.  The bribes were made to both Republicans and democrats, but it was only democrats who took the money.

One of AG Kane’s first official acts was to shut down this operation, while playing the race card and several other victim cards.

It doesn’t take a deep understanding of Occam’s Razor to figure out that Kane did to protect the corrupt members of her party who were caught by this sting operation. It’s a partisan cover up of democrat fraud and corruption, pure and simple.

Monday Book Pick: Hard Magic

Monday, April 28th, 2014

Hard Magic by Larry Correia

Larry Coreia makes the book pick again. This time with the first book in his hard-boiled noir series complete with more than a bit of magic thrown in. It’s the 1930’s and magic has been around for about a hundred years. It started with just a few people, but it’s been growing pretty steady, so by the time this story takes place it’s pretty mainstream. Magic takes different forms in different people. Some can move objects with their mind, others can heal people, others can change the effect (more or less) the effect of gravity, others can teleport, and so on. Then there are the Cogs. They are just really, really smart in specific areas. Einstein was a Cog, as was Count Von Zeppelin, and John Moses Browning. Larry Correia is a former firearms instructor, so of course John Moses Browning in the book, and he is hero. I enjoyed this book a lot. Good characters, both good guys and bad guys, and those who are really a bit of both. An interesting setting, and lots of action. I’m glad there are two sequels to this already in print.

Monday Book Pick Archive

Moonbats on Parade

Friday, April 25th, 2014

I’ve observed leftists getting all wee-weed up over somebody on Fox News Business saying “don’t be poor.”

When did the concept of bettering yourself and improving your lot in life become an idea that sensible people would find offensive?

It is certainly better advice that the moon-bat’s deity, Barack Hussein Obama has been giving to a big chunk of his voter base, i.e. “be poor.”

Just look at the numbers. Minority unemployment is at record highs. Unemployment levels for minority teens are at levels that would be a national crisis if a Republican was in the White House. Non participation in the work force is at record high levels (currently 91 million, up from 79 million in 2008) that haven’t been seen in 40 years (yup, the economy in our so called “recovery” is at Jimmy Carter Recession levels), the number of people on food stamps have doubled since our Dear Leader took office, the average income is down, not getting laid off is the new raise, food and fuel prices have risen dramatically, and we are still stuck in the unprecedented worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. As Mr. Reynolds says, “They told me that if I voted for Mitt Romney, the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer, and they were right!” Let’s not forget the National debt, which is at $17.5 Trillion and rising.

Historically, booming recoveries after a recession have been a bi-partisan event. Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush benefited from booming recoveries that historically follow a recession. How did Barry get stuck with a non-recovery? Simple, he worked very hard to strangle that recovery in its crib.  Barry is much more interested in:

1: His golf game

2: His agenda of wealth distribution

than he is in doing anything that would actually help the US economy and the average US citizen.  Sorry folks, if you are in, or want to be in, or used to be in, the middle class, you just aren’t in his core demographics.

Seriously, it takes a serious partisan avoidance of reality to take that much offense at someone saying to better your lot in life through self improvement.

Happy Lenin’s Birthday!

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

Yup, it’s time for the annual Lenin’s Birthday post!

For those of you coming in late to the party, Earth Day” is on Lenin’s Birthday.  Not a coincidence, given that the “founder” of Earth Day was much more a “Watermelon” than an actual environmentalist. Watermelon: Thin layer of green of the outside, red to the core.

Let’s review the predictions from the very first so called “Earth Day” back in 1970.

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” — George Wald, Harvard Biologist

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” — Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” — Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” — Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” — Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University

“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” — Life Magazine, January 1970

“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” — Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” — Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

Ok, Ehrlich was sorta right on this, if you restrict his predictions to modern Communist China, where they are showing the typical communist/socialist contempt for the environment.

“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’” — Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

Now we get to my personal favorite, although probably not Al Gore‘s…
“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years,” he declared. “If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” — Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

2014 Update: Wired Magazine publishes this article: Renewables Aren’t Enough. Clean Coal Is the Future

It wouldn’t be Lenin’s Birthday with out this clip of the late George Carlin discussing “Saving the Planet.”

Monday Book Pick: The Given Sacrifice

Monday, April 21st, 2014

The Given Sacrifice by S.M. Stirling

Once again, S.M. Stirling proves himself to be the current master of the epic trilogy. Set in his Emberverse, he wraps up another historic period of his alternate universe where Powers have denied technology beyond gunpowder. Don’t worry, there will be more epic trilogies set in the Change series. It’s just time for the next generation.

Monday Book Pick Archive

Corrupt democrat Leland Yee in the News again

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014

Via Breitbart comes this report:

California State Senator Leland Yee, who has been charged with wire fraud and conspiring to import firearms, may be facing new charges from the federal government.  Although U.S. Attorney Susan Badger said that the government “is anxious to start discovery,” the government stated that there will be additional charges in a superseding indictment.

Leland Yee, a prominent democrat, was the odds on favorite to win the Secretary of State race.

Along with many other democrats, Lee is currently charged with multiple counts of corruption. Leland Yee was also charged with illegal gun running.  The anti-civil rights activist wanted to disarm the law abiding, while supplying fully automatic weapons and shoulder fired missiles, purchased from Islamic terrorists, to his friends in the Tong.

Sunday SciFi: Stargate SG:1

Sunday, April 13th, 2014

It’s taken a few years, but I’ve finally finished all ten seasons of Stargate SG:1.  That, along with two movies, and seven seasons of two different spinoff series, make it one of the longest running and successful Science Fiction series of all times. Don’t forget the movie that the series was based on.

Over ten seasons, the series had time to do rich character development, story arcs, and even took the time to poke fun at themselves.

Overall, it is a good action series where the bad guys are truly bad.

 

Friday B-Movie Pick: American Hustle

Friday, April 11th, 2014

American Hustle

This flick takes you back to the heady days of Disco, complete with the obligatory Studio 54 scene. It is based on an actual historic advent called “Abscam.” For those of you who were not alive in the 1970’s, Abscam resulted in a bunch of democrat congressmen and other democrat politicians getting arrested on corruption charges. So things really haven’t changed much. This a well crafted movie, so play attention to the details, like the political party of the corrupt politicians never getting mentioned. You will have to watch in in High Def, so you can fully appreciate the carefully crafted difference between the con man’s comb over and the federal agent’s perm induced curls. It points out that the con man was more honest than the government officials. You’ll also want the high def view of Amy Adams’ breasts. Seriously, she wears those outfits with the neckline down to her waist for a reason. She’s a con artist too, and wants the mark’s attention anywhere except what she is saying. Those tits are certainly playing a bigger role than they did in a previous B-Movie pick, “The Wedding Date.”

Friday B-Movie Archive

Not Quite the Same Thing

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

I heard some leftist trying to compare Hobby Lobby to Mozilla firing their CEO based on a political donation eight years ago.

There is a major difference that the leftist decided to ignore.

In the case of Hobby Lobby, the owners of the company are making  very public statement of their company policies based on their personal religious views.

In the case of Mozilla, the CEO was hounded out of office not for his actions as CEO.   He had made no public statement as CEO, or otherwise, about his stand on marriage laws.   He was attacked by activists outside the company for a private political donation made eight years ago.  A donation that should not have been available to the public.  It was known, because of an illegal leak of private IRS data.  A leak done to harm those who the leaker, a federal employee, disagreed with politically.

If the federal employee who leaked the information is every identified (and don’t hold your breath waiting for anyone in our Dear Leader‘s administration to pursue that), that person should be subject to criminal prosecution and civil prosecution from individuals harmed by their illegal actions.  The former CEO of Mozilla for example.

Leland Yee, the face of the modern democrat party

Monday, April 7th, 2014

If you depended on the MSM for your news, you probably never heard of Leland Yee.   OK, he was on Piers Morgan’s show a lot, but given the ratings his recently cancelled CNN show had, I’ll stand by my statement. Leland Yee is a California State Senator, and like the majority of that body, a democrat. He was a very prominent and influential member of the California democrat party.  He was running for the position of Secretary of State, and was considered a ‘shoe in’ for the position.  He was also one of the state senate’s most vocal proponents for massive restrictions of the Constitutional rights of Californians.

Then he was arrested, along with numerous other democrat politicians, on charges of fraud and corruption. Leland Yee had an additional charge brought against him, gun running.  This prominent California democrat, who was very vocal in his stance that law abiding citizens had no rights to legally own firearms, was trying to smuggle fully automatic firearms and shoulder fired missiles from Islamic terrorists, which he was then going to give to his contacts in the Tong (Chinese organized crime).

While this does look like typical leftist hypocrisy, Leland Yee’s actions are actually very much in the tradition of the democrat party.  Remember that that the very first “gun control” laws in the United States were passed by democrats in southern states, right after the Civil War ended.  The democrats didn’t like the new citizens, which they still considered property, shooting back, when the democrats para-military wing came to burn down their homes and hang them.

Mr. Yee wanted the law abiding citizens to be disarmed, while his friends the Tong had the firepower to destroy armored police vehicles.  Mr. Yee’s actions were keeping with the established traditions of the democrat party.  No wonder he was so popular with the heavily democrat California electorate.

Popular Mechanics has a story entitled:Who’s Packing What: The Weapons in the Leland Yee Scandal. Here is bit of information that shouldn’t be a spoiler. Yee didn’t want law abiding citizens to own any of the weapons listed in that article.

Newsbusters points out how MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow skipped mentioning the Gun Running charges and how John Stewart busted her for it.

Found this delicious bit of spot on snark online:

In 2006, the Brady Campaign named Leland Yee [on their] Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll.

Perhaps they should have done a background check first.

Yup, other anti-Civil Rights groups are crying because one of their shining stars was caught trying to smuggle massively illegal weapons from Islamic terrorists in order to sell to his Tong buddies.  Wah!

Victor David Hanson has an excellent slide show of a democrat Rogues Gallery, that includes Leland Yee.

One of the other arrested gun runners picked up with Yee, who happens to be black and a democrat, is of course, playing the race card.