September 28, 2009

THE LEFT: THINKING FUZZIER THAN A WAREHOUSE FULL OF PEACHES

Huffington Post contributor Michael Shaw posts three Tea Party photos (a "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy" sign, a hearse with "Obamacare" written on it, and a guy dressed like the Grim Reaper holding an out-of-frame anti-Obamacare sign) and concludes:

The wingnuts don't consistently merge health care reform with Obama's name just because it's catchy.

Actually, it's EXACTLY why they did it.

It's human nature to take linguistic shortcuts to save a syllable. That's why people sometimes call me "Harv" instead of "Harvey". In this case, "Obamacare" is a LOT shorter than "Obama's proposed health care reform legislation", and it means exactly the same thing. Why WOULDN'T they use it, especially since space is at a premium on protest signs?

As for his suggestion that "Obamacare" + death symbolism = "I want to kill the President":

The most chilling and sickest thing about the Teabaggers' presentation strategy is the way their exploitation of death symbolism, merged with their hatred of the President, cross-fertilizing a "death to/of Obama" suggestion.

If that were true, that hearse would've said "Cap & Trade". But it didn't, because carbon offsets aren't a matter of life & death.

What they're saying is that the end result of poor medical care is death, and that government interference will lead to poor medical care.

Look, Michael, I know you're bitter, but try to remember that wild exaggerations work better in comedy sketchs than in ostensibly logical argumentational essays.

Posted by: Harvey at 10:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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SINCE HE'S ONLY HALF-BLACK, DOES THAT MEAN CRITICIZING HIM ONLY MAKES ME HALF-RACIST?

Red State Update ruminates about whether criticizing Obama amounts to racism, and in the video:


[YouTube direct link]

they mention that if you want to criticize his health care program, you could call him a quack, and put his head on a duck.

But not a black duck.

So, photoshopping him onto Donald Duck would be ok, but not Daffy Duck.

Which, I suppose, means the most racist thing you could possibly do is say his presidency stinks and put his head on Pepe Le Pew.

Posted by: Harvey at 10:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 27, 2009

SERIOUSLY?

From This Is Why You're Fat:

The Widowmaker.jpg

1.5 lbs of ground beef, 1 package of bacon, 1 package of italian sausage, 1 box of hot pockets, 1/2 package of fried onion strips between 2 Tombstone Pepperoni Pizzas topped with Velveta Cheese and Marinara Sauce.

It's the "box of hot pockets" part that's really freaking me out.

Posted by: Harvey at 11:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 25, 2009

NOT SEEING THE SIMILARITY

I've seen liberals make mention of the fact that in 2006, a bunch of "Katrina Kids" sang a song about President Bush to Laura Bush (sorry, no video available, just a story).

Partial lyrics:

Our country's stood beside us
People have sent us aid.
Katrina could not stop us,
our hopes will never fade.
Congress, Bush and FEMA
People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us
and we join them hand-in-hand!

Which is the precise equivalent of the ObamaJugend rap ditty, right?

Look, I'm just gonna be polite and only mention a couple really obvious differences.

1) The O-J tune was NOT sung to Michelle Obama.

2) The Bush tune does NOT mention Bush's first, middle, and last names SIX times.

-----------

In related news, the San Francisco Gate piece linked above has an "incriminating" video of "the 'Jesus Camp' where kids were worshiping a cardboard cutout of good old Number 43":


[YouTube direct link]

which the article's author uses to bludgeon Michelle Malkin for criticizing the O-J video:

Now I'd bet Michelle would say, "Aww, that's so cute!" Why? Because the kids are white and its George Bush? Yeah, right. And so there's the racial problem - she can ignore singing if its done by white school kids praising a white Republican President, but if the subject's America's first black President, she gets really mad.

Three problems with this statement:

1) The kids are in a private Bible camp, not a public school.

2) They are praying FOR President Bush, not TO him.

3) I saw one black boy and two Mexican kids in the crowd.

Ignorance is sad.

Willful ignorance is repugnant.

Posted by: Harvey at 03:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 24, 2009

CBS: U R FULL OF AWESOME!

Here's a video of kids singing a song of praise to Obama:


[YouTube direct link]

And here's a news story by CBS.

Which is not about the video.

The story is about the reaction of angry, illiterate, right-wingers to the video being posted by Fox News.

They also misquote Fox by saying that part of the song was sung to "the tune of 'Jesus Loves the Little Children,'"

What Fox said was the song "quotes directly from the spiritual "Jesus Loves the Little Children," though Jesus' name is replaced with Obama's: "He said red, yellow, black or white/All are equal in his sight. Barack Hussein Obama."

The actual line is "Red and yellow, black and white/They are precious in his sight".

The tune they "borrowed" at the end of their otherwise tuneless rap ditty is "Battle Hymn of the Republic", sans chorus.

Lyrics, courtesy of Fox News:



Song 1:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama

Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"

Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!

Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!

Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!

So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----

Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!

Posted by: Harvey at 02:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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GREENPEACE HATES YOUR ASS

Headline:

Environmentalists Seek to Wipe Out Plush Toilet Paper

Anyone who opposes soft toilet paper has obviously never had either diarrhea or Mexican food.

NOTE: Since this is a WaPo story which requires registration, this is a good time for me to recommend the BugMeNot add-on for Firefox.

Posted by: Harvey at 09:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 14, 2009

WORDS I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE

"hip-hop feminist"

[hat tip: Beloved Wife]

Posted by: Harvey at 09:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

43 today.

Which is very exciting, because 43 is the largest non-McNugget number!

If you can think of anything more exciting than that, leave a link to it in the comments, or just tell me about it.

Posted by: Harvey at 06:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 11, 2009

1000 OR SO WORDS ON 9/11

(reposted from 9/11/04)

Higher, please.

(click to enlarge)



This picture is an original work of art by Bryan Larsen, which I found pre-9/11/01 at the Quent Cordair Art Gallery site. It fascinated me enough to bookmark it then, and I've viewed it many times since. Both professional quality and poster prints of this image are available via the Quent Cordair site.

The following text appears at the first link:

The following letter was written by Quent Cordair on Friday, September, 14, 2001, to our mailing list:

Dear friends, family and associates,

As a former U.S. Marine, I once carried a rifle in our defense. I've two younger brothers in the military who now stand ready to cover that end of things. The firemen, doctors, rescue personnel, blood donors, the brave New Yorkers and others on the scene are giving what they have to give to the effort. Philosophers are fighting with the pen. The artists' tools are uniquely valuable as well.

As a gallery owner, I offer what I have -- a single image to inspire, to counter the endless images of the destruction which we've all endured over the past days. This image stands in lucid contrast, in defiance of those who would destroy. It is a re-affirmation of who we are, of what we've created, of what we've built, of what we will rebuild and build higher yet, with unthwarted and unconquered determination. Those who would destroy us have not touched our essence.

My thanks to the artist, Bryan Larsen, who during the months in which others were plotting to destroy the World Trade Center, was busy creating, featuring the towers in an artwork which identifies and celebrates in theme all the towers stood for. The creation of this painting while others were targeting the painting's subject for destruction was no coincidence; there is no irony in the timing. Each side identified the WTC as a vital symbol of America in these times; one side sought to destroy that value, the other to celebrate it and build on it. In retrospect, the artwork stands in memorial. The World Trade Center was not fully appreciated, by many, until it was gone.

May this image serve as inspiration as we recover and look to the future. Please feel welcome to share it with all, to remind ourselves, and the world, of who we are, undaunted and unbeaten. God bless America, those who built it, those who will build again, and higher.

Quent Cordair

Again, I say...

Higher, please.

Posted by: Harvey at 07:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 06, 2009

DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK

Bloggranddaughter Rave of Quid Nunc is toying with the idea of "extreme honesty":

"What I am talking about is if you look like crap and ask me what I think of your outfit, I'm going to tell you I think you look like crap."

As a married man, I know that questions like these are actually just poorly-phrased requests for self-esteem boosting, and grading of physical appearance is not the intent of the questioner.

I answer the question the person wants to know the answer to ("how much do you love me?" - "lots"), and avoid taking things literally when it's not called for.

Unless I'm feeling grumpy or trying to be funny ;-)

Posted by: Harvey at 08:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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IT AIN'T THE WOMAN, IT'S THE POSE

A lot of women (including bloggranddaughter VW Bug of One Happy Dog Speaks) are happy about Glamour magazine using a non-airbrushed picture of a model:

lizzie miller glamour not airbrushed.jpg

Personally, I give credit to Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty.

As for my take on it, it's not what you'd expect from me.

If you've read me for a while, you know I prefer my women to look soft & cuddly, so the problem isn't this model's weight.

It's the pose.

It's not flattering.

For me, the most enticing aspect of a nude woman is the smooth flow of her curves. Some poses emphasize and complement this better than others. Standing, leaning, & reclining usually work best.

Hunched over... not so much.

Rail-thin ain't pretty, but neither is being wadded up like a used kleenex.

Posted by: Harvey at 08:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OBAMA'S KIDDIE SPEECH

Bloggranddaughter Mrs. Who of House of Zathras mentioned Obama's speech to schoolchildren, about which I say this:

Even if I weren't a raving right-wing lunatic (which I am) and just a normal, a-political parent, I'd have to ask - why do they want teachers to show something to their students without giving the teachers the chance to review the content of the speech first?

The whole purpose of education is to take the confusing cacophany of all the information in the world, and deliver it to the unlearned in a comprehensible, conceptually-organized format, so that it can be integrated into the learner's knowledge base. But Obama just wants teachers to throw his speech at kids and make sense out of it afterwards?

It's the difference between putting dirt in a flowerpot and flinging a shovelful onto your livingroom carpet.

I would strangle a teacher who hadn't read a textbook she teaches out of. I'd use an even tighter neck-grip on a teacher who thought it was a good idea to show her kids a TV show she hasn't watched.

Posted by: Harvey at 07:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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CALIFORNIA IS AN IRON

I got this video via blogdaughter Boudicca of Boudicca's Voice:


[YouTube direct link]

My first thought - what a horrifying thing to see on your horizon.

My second thought - Look at all that smoke! I'd hate to be live out there if I had asthma.

Finally - Thank God California protected its citizenry by banning smoking in bars!

To paraphrase Spider Robinson, "If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then California is an iron."

Posted by: Harvey at 07:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 05, 2009

NOTHING TO ADD, I JUST FOUND THIS FASCINATING

Apparently the distance between a woman's clitoris & vagina affects her ability to have an orgasm through intercourse.

"The 69 percent of women in her sample who could have orgasms during sex had significantly smaller distances between sex organs. These women, referred to as paraclitoridiennes, could almost always climax from sex."

Bonaparte also found a correlation between a womanÂ’s height and the closeness of her sex organs. This was namely that shorter women tended to have shorter spans.

So guys who are lousy in bed should hook up with short women.

Yes, my wife if 5 feet tall. Shut up.

Posted by: Harvey at 11:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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YEAH, I'M NOT EATING THEIR ICE CREAM - UPDATED 9-6-09

To celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in Vermont, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream has changed the name of it's Chubby Hubby ice cream to Hubby Hubby.

ben jerry hubby hubby.jpg

Normally I wouldn't care.

But the flavor in question contains "fudge-covered" pretzel sticks. Filled with creamy peanut butter.

I'm not sure whether to describe this as "apt" or "disturbing".

UPDATE 9-6-09 - Blogson Bitterroot of Friction and Harmony has his take on it. Don't let the kiddies see the picture on that post - explaining it will require some off-the-cuff explanatory gymnastics.

Posted by: Harvey at 11:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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