Desperate Democrats Bow to Iran

American Thinker

comment:

America has been Oswaldized.  Lee Harvey Oswald, if he were alive, would be rubbing his hands in glee.

America is screwing itself.  That's the entire point of the far out radical leftwing fringe that now occupies the White House.

Nice going, idiots.

Sellout to Iran at Geneva worse than sellout to Hitler at Munich

Sellout to Iran at Geneva worse than sellout to Hitler at Munich

comment:

Thank you Pat Buchanan.  He was the one who argued that Neville Chamberlain wasn't such a bad guy after all.

Six Months to Doomsday

American Thinker

quote:

The thumbscrews are working, otherwise Iran would not be complaining about them. The current deal is the equivalent of Iran saying, "loosen the screws, and I promise to tell you my favorite color."

comment:

I just watched a video about how close we came to nuclear holocaust during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  We had Russians to deal with then.  Are so confident that the Iranians will be as reasonable as the Russians?  The use of the word "reasonable" is a bit of a stretch, in case you are wondering.

Driver Arrested in Ohio for Secret Car Compartment Full of Nothing

reason.com

Quote:

As for the car itself, the Institute for Justice’s 2010 “Policing for Profit” report calculated that law enforcement officials in the state have collected more than $80 million in shared proceeds from asset forfeiture funds. Oh, and the hidden compartment law exempts vehicles being operated by law enforcement officers, so if state troopers can come up with an excuse to use the ride they just grabbed, they may be able to keep it for themselves. [emphasis added]

Land of the Free?  Bullshit.  Unless you are a corrupt law enforcement official.  Then you can steal people's property for your own use.

Obama's IRS Moves to Close Down Political Speech of Nonprofits

newsmax

comment:

This can be done within the regulatory authority given to the IRS and Treasury, which means that Congress can't do a damned thing about it.

Looks like the administration is cracking down on free speech.  So much for Obama's "outrage" over the IRS abuses which came to light earlier this year.

Are you going to steal my wrench? » RobertRinger.com

Are you going to steal my wrench? » RobertRinger.com

The story is about the differences Ringer noted in New Zealand v. America.  Many folks in the comment section noted the differences in American culture over the last 30 years or so, and it wasn't a beautiful thing.

People like Oswald took advantage of the mutual trust that existed and now people don't trust each other because to do so will get you burned.

Thoreau: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

SparkNotes on Walden

This phrase comes to mind when I read about Oswald.  At the point in his life just before the assassination, he was even more withdrawn than usual.  He lied about his past in order to get hired at the Depository.  The man who hired him didn't check his application.  If he had, he probably wouldn't have hired Oswald, who was fired from his previous two jobs.  Not only that, there was his other questionable acts prior to those.

On the quotation, SparkNotes says:

His use of the word “desperation” instead of a milder reference to discontentment or unhappiness shows the grimness of his vision of the mainstream American lifestyle. He believes that the monomaniacal pursuit of success and wealth has paradoxically cheapened the lives of those engaged in it, making them unable to appreciate the simpler pleasures enumerated in Walden.

Oswald may have appreciated this and may have been familiar with Walden since he read so many books.  He expressed similar opinions himself.

Given this quotation and Oswald's behavior, I am wondering if his plight was seen as somewhat of a sort that elicited pity, and therefore the tendency to want to blame someone else but him for the assassination.

It is a troubling thing to think that someone in a prominent position who has advised a President--Dick Morris-- could actually think Oswald may be innocent.

It is hard to derive something of value from this.  A cautionary tale perhaps.  "There, but for the grace of God, go I."  So many of us-- I presume since I am including myself-- at times feel that sort of desperation.  All the same, Oswald is guilty.

Lite posting continues...

As I read the Bugliosi's book --Reclaiming History.

It is over 1500 pages and it is taking a long time, just as I had thought.  I can't give an estimate on when I will finish this, but it may take as much as a week.

I'm reading the chapter about Lee Harvey Oswald.  Perhaps it can be said not to be a chapter, but an entire book in itself.  Very detailed.  Very much like Bugliosi to have so much material.

I have stopped to include my perception of Oswald at this point.  There is more about him, but I've seen enough to draw a conclusion.  What would that be?  Well, people may sympathize with Oswald, and feel that all he needed was more understanding.  But the only thing that more information and understanding about Oswald brings is that he was totally unreachable.  No amount of human kindness and understanding could reach this man.  I don't think he could be deterred from a tragic ending of some kind, even if his path with Kennedy never crossed.  He was destined for tragedy---no doubt about it.

Update:

Oh, boy.  Bugliosi is just piling it on.  I stopped to include this one more little thing:  I dare anybody to read this and then claim that Oswald was innocent.  NO.  FREAKING.  WAY.  You'd have to claim that Bugliosi is a liar.  I may disagree with Bugliosi at times, but I don't think he is a liar.

Zapruder flick

Warning: Graphic video. Do not watch if sensitive to blood and gore.

Here is what I've been working on all morning.

I think this little video shows that the head snap backwards was caused by a quick extrusion of brain matter through the wound and a subsequent rubber band like snapping back into the skull.  The weight of the brain caused the head to go forward very briefly and then to snap back when the brain didn't come apart.  The brain stretched out a distance from the skull and then retracted back towards the skull giving an impetus that forced the head back.

It may help to watch this video in slow motion, or to stop it frequently to note the effect described.

Studying the Zapruder film

By the way, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I noticed something when looking at my stats for the day.  My numbers fell way off for the USA.  I know that some people may be put off by my criticisms of the President.  But that is how I see the man.  If it turns you off, well, I think you may not be considering the facts as they are, but the way you want them to be.

At any rate, I call em like I see em.  If that offends, then so be it.  My overall global numbers are relatively good.  So, I'm not worried about that.

I'm sure it offends some Americans even more for me to be visiting the Zapruder films.  It is an unusual thing to do on Thanksgiving Day to be sure.  I would not hesitate to admit that I'm an unusual guy.  I do unusual things.

This is still a great country and I am very grateful to be living in a country where I can offend the hell out of some people and it won't get me locked up or killed.  At least, not yet.

CNN Poll: 53% Say Obama is Not Honest

Yeah, no s#!t Sherlock.

I mean, whatever gave you the clue?  Benghazi, maybe?

And a CNN/ORC International survey released Monday morning also indicates that 53% of Americans now believe that Obama is not honest and trustworthy, the first time that a clear majority in CNN polling has felt that way.

This guy has been hyped from Day One.  Too bad people are just now realizing it.  But that is the state of this culture.  He maybe even worse than I think, which at the moment, starts to look terrifying.

NOTE:

I noticed that my links to my book reviews on Amazon have been discombobulated, somehow.  I mean, it couldn't be that somebody might have sabotaged this, could it?  I can't fix it, by the way.   Why is that?

Update:

Looks like all my book review links have been destroyed for some reason.  I am going to re-do the entire list.  This takes up valuable time.  Makes me suspicious why this happened.

What hath the Lightgiver wrought?

A nuclear war?

How can this be?  Evil forces must be at work to stop him from doing goodie-good-good-good.

Iran Accuses the Obama Administration of, Get This, Lying About What Their Agreement Says...Obama has managed his most important goal, though: Cornering Israel. ...Except that it's not wise to corner a country in existential fear for its continued existence.

You mean Israel may attack if they feel that their very existence may be in jeopardy?  Whatever could have given them that idea?  Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?  I'm shocked...shocked, I tell you.

Reclaiming History and The Zapruder Film

Today, I finally reached the discussion of the Zapruder film.

Bugliosi starts off saying that it is not important, but reverses himself.  In my opinion, the film is important.  Not to ignore how it is abused in order to advance conspiracy theories, but there was that factor of throughout the controversy.  The point is that the side of right could have been won or lost depending upon how it was handled.  Bugliosi acknowledges this.  If he did not, he most likely would have failed.  He succeeded in a mock trial.

In my reading the book thus far, I cannot render a verdict on how he did, but I think he is on the right track.  There is more to go on this subject.  I plan to comment upon that when he completes his discussion.

Update:

Just completed the Zapruder chapter.  Bugliosi only touched upon an idea that just occurred to me since I've been reading the book.  Since the idea is a new one, I don't think it is proper for me to comment upon it at this time.

Bugliosi is doing a fine job of destroying the conspiracy theories.  I'm wondering with my idea if there could be any way to improve upon his work.  Maybe not.

Kidnapping of Patty Hearst

crime library website

There are those who will never believe it possible that people can be brainwashed.  But I am not one of them.  This goes on all the time and explains a lot about how things have gone wrong.

Update:

This should not be construed as an excuse for what Patty Hearst did.  It is only a comment upon brainwashing as a possibility to be accounted for.  This has to be done with training, and even that doesn't always succeed, according to something I read.

The Little Blue Book: Quotations from Chairman Lakoff

Pj media

Summary:

A long discussion of how Lakoff, who is venerated in liberal circles, manages their messaging for them.

Comment:

I'd really like to read the whole thing, but time is short.  So much to do, so little time.

The main reason I was interested in it was Obama's claim not to be ideological.  Could this book be part of the strategy in action that allows for such a ludicrous claim as that to be made?  To deny the obvious?

Update:

Managed to squeeze in an entire read.  Now for a quick quote, which I think is a doozy, and hits the nail right on the head:

The book’s real underlying message is this: We liberals are morally superior to our nasty and small-minded opponents; if everyone could just see what was in our hearts, we’d be more popular than those mean old conservatives.

That is the conceptual frame Lakoff embeds in The Little Blue Book: We’re better than you. Progressives can position it carefully on their coffee tables and feel righteous.

Bingo!  They'll actually say that too, and will feel outrage if you don't recognize how horrible you are if you are a conservative.  All very, very true.

Orwellian Doublespeak

Obama describes himself as non ideological:

He also attempted to contrast himself with Republicans who control the House of Representatives, saying they are "more focused on positioning themselves for the next election."

"I'm not a particularly ideological person," he said

No, he just hangs around communists just to be sociable.  It doesn't really mean anything. /sarc

The Press is Number 2 in more ways than one

Ace

There was a choice given to explain the press's role in how ObamaCare was reported.  Here's the quote:

there are only two possible explanations:

1, the press is ignorant and incompetent and simply not up to the job of doing anything more difficult than straight stenography.

2, the press is institutionally, conspiratorially dishonest, and chose not only to not report this for four long years, but even more, chose to actively join in a lie.

I decided on number 2 a long time ago---even before ObamaCare.

'"Nobodies" changed history'

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE9AO01420131125?irpc=932

How democratic.

A Cadillac Volt

Will only cost you $75k

Mark Twain brainy quote

I like this one

Do the right thing.  It will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.

Also, along those lines, in the movie The Bourne Identity, the character Marie said "nobody does the right thing".

People are corrupt.  Everybody knows it too.

Obama taking a tough stand on Iran deal - with Congress

American Thinker

The mullahs' hold on power, despite their widespread domestic unpopularity, has just been strengthened. The relaxation of sanctions will improve life for ordinary Iranians, and the regime gets to claim that it has scored a double triumph.

Obama is increasingly looking like a sinister figure.

Ken Okuyama Design Kode9: Enzo designer's lightweight sports car

Said to be a 3D printed machine.

370 horsepower for a 2000 pound car.  My 1982 Sentra, bought new, weighed in about that much.  It was powered by 1.5 liter engine that got 40 mpg on the highway.  Nobody would confuse that car with a race car.  The point is that that little car I had weighed about the same as this car with a horsepower that was greater than a sixties muscle car that I once owned.  The performance of this car must be amazing.

JFK space race myth?

USA Today via Instapundit

This post seems questionable to me.  Why do these people consider that the program was "horrifically expensive" when it only consumed 4% of the budget?

In fact, before his death in November of 1963, he had been giving serious consideration to ending the race, and negotiating with the Soviets to do a joint mission, to reduce its horrific costs (at its peak in the mid-sixties, Apollo was consuming 4% of the federal budget).

Considering what might have been gained if the program had continued, it seemed to me to be a bargain.  If space is worth doing at all, 4% of the budget is really not that much.  Servicing the debt takes more than twice that.  The defense budget is far greater still.  Four percent of the budget today would be about 160 billion dollars.  That's almost ten times what we spend today.   If that much was spent, the solar system could be claimed for mankind.  The amount that could be worth is hard to even calculate.

A few thoughts on Bugliosi's book

As mentioned before, it is quite lengthy.  At the moment, I have only read a small part of it.  This is after two days of solid reading.

After this much, it may be useful to take a break and reflect upon what I've read so far.

The book seeks to "reclaim history".  Does it succeed in that?  In order to answer that question, one has to consider why there is a controversy at all.  In my opinion, it comes down to Jack Ruby's murder of Oswald while Oswald was in custody of the police.  If this hadn't happened, it would have been an open-and-shut case.  Thus, the book covers an enormous amount of material that doesn't bear on what is really eating most people.

However, in all of his great attention to detail, you can see why Ruby was able to accomplish what he did.

To me, the whole book should have been about Ruby and Oswald.  It appears to me that the two men were a study in contrasts.  Oswald was introverted.  Ruby was extroverted.  Oswald didn't trust nor like authority.  Ruby liked the cops and knew many of them.  Oswald surrounded himself in books.  Ruby was quite different, and probably didn't read much more than newspapers.  Oswald could explicate upon abstract theories like Marxism and Leninism.  Ruby was not such a man.  Therefore, the question must be asked--- could two men such as his have collaborated on the assassination of a President?  It is inconceivable that such a possibility could exist.  Ruby admired the President.  He loved the President.  Why would he kill Kennedy?

A motive was said to be hard to pin down for Oswald as well.  To me, it is rather plain.  Oswald wanted to make a name for himself.  This was his one big chance and he took it.  Otherwise, if he had not, he would have remained an obscure figure and nobody would have ever known he existed.  Down in his heart, he must have felt his failure and acted accordingly.  It wasn't the first time that Oswald behaved in a self-destructive way.  When he couldn't expatriate himself to the Soviet Union, he attempted suicide.  The Soviets, having rejected him at first, subsequently granted him his wish.  Oswald had a history that indicated trouble ahead.  His stint with the Marines included an event that got him into trouble.  I don't recall it at the present, perhaps it will be included in the book.

Perhaps this will come out.  The book is quite long and I have only just begun reading it.

It is too early to pass judgment on the book.  But if there is a weakness, it is its length.  People would prefer to get to the point.

SPACE POLICY AND THE CONSTITUTION (JFK moonshot)

american uncommon sense

Some of the history behind JFKs decision to go to the moon.  The project didn't just come out of nowhere.  The big F1 rocket engines were already under development before JFK arrived.

Reading Bugliosi's book "Reclaiming History"

After watching Dick Morris suggest that Lee Harvey Oswald may not have been the assassin of JFK, I felt it was necessary to revisit the issue.

One thing about Bugliosi, he is very, very thorough.  After reading it all day yesterday, I am reminded of that fact.  The book is over 1500 pages.  I suppose I've read a couple hundred by now.  So, there is much, much more to read.

He is taking it in chronological order.  I am at the point now where Oswald has been captured and is awaiting transfer which never gets completed because he is killed by Jack Ruby.  So, there's a long way to go yet.

Since I've looked into this subject before, there isn't a whole lot here that is new about the salient points, but there are many minor details that I didn't know about.  The minor details fills in a picture that is about as different as a crude sketch portrait compared to a fine quality photograph.  You get the complete flavor of the situation, so to speak.

It is rather impressive, I must say.

It will take a long time to read all this, so posting will be light.