This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: “Teh Stoopid”

  • Well Now Isn’t That Special

    It looks like our friends at DHS are about to make travel easier and safer again.

    DHS has apparently decided to extend their “trusted traveler” program, Global Entry.  They’re planning to extend it to travelers from Saudi Arabia.

    Participants in the program have to present their passports and fingerprints on entry.  After doing so, they’re allowed to bypass normal customs procedures and checks when entering the US.  Once registered in the program, the status is good for 5 years.

    Now, don’t jump to conclusions.  Just because over 75% (15 of 19) of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis doesn’t mean anything.  Why shouldn’t we give them special entry privileges at customs?

    And what does it matter that only a relative handful of other nations meet program requirements have to do with anything?  Just because even close allies like France and Germany aren’t currently members of the program doesn’t mean Saudi Arabia shouldn’t be.

    Perhaps I should just shut up now, before my ability to be sarcastic escapes me and I start saying what I really think.

    In the words Han Solo:  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  • “The Food is Safe, Your Excellency”

    Apparently the POTUS recently attended lunch with Senate Republicans.  However, he passed on eating lunch himself.

    The reason?  According to Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the President couldn’t eat because his “taster” was not there.

    I’m not joking.

    “He looked longingly at it,” Collins continued. “He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over so, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better food than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting.”

    Geez.  And people called the Nixon Administration an “Imperial Presidency”.

  • “How Dare You Photograph the VP Without Permission!”

    No, that remark wasn’t actually made.  But based on what happened it might as well have been.

    It seems the VP attended a domestic violence event recently.  A student from the University of Maryland, Jeremy Barr – who is also an accredited journalist for the Capital News Service – attended.  He was covering the event.

    Barr took pictures.  So did some of the other people around him.

    After the event, Barr was approached by a member of the VPs staff.  That staffer demanded to see his camera – and deleted his photos.  He also demanded to see Barr’s iPhone to ensure Barr had not downloaded any of the photos to that device.

    Barr was further detained another 10 minutes because the staffer needed to “talk to a supervisor”.  Then he was permitted to go.

    The VP’s press office later apologized, saying that the incident had been “a mistake”.  Of course, they only did so after the dean of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, Lucy A. Daglish, called them with a complaint.

    “A mistake.”  Certainly.  Everybody knows you can’t take photos at a public event held in a public place.  How dare he!

    Why, Barr should just be glad he wasn’t sent to a closet to cool his heels.  Or prevented from talking to members of the public at the event.  Oh wait – sorry, those were “mistakes” by the VP’s staffers, too.

    Daglish had a rather dim view of the incident, calling it “intimidation”.  Barr’s editor thinks that Barr has a good case if he wants to sue.

    I have to agree with both.  Although I’d personally probably use a somewhat earthier term than “intimidation” to describe what happened here.

  • Modern “Edukayshun”

    Saw a reference to this on Drudge.  Maybe it’s just me, but today’s scheduled activity seems oddly apropos for a place named Brown University.  Perhaps they should change their name to “Brown 25“.  (smile)   (WARNING:  links  may be considered in bad taste and are probably not safe for small children.)

    And before anyone asks:  yes, the first link seems to be legit and not satire.

    Oh well, at least they’re a private institution so they’re not wasting public funds.  Other than the tax breaks they get.  And the grants/loans/subsidies from various governments they and their students waste while promoting and attending stuff like this.

     

  • More Words of Wisdom . . .

    . . . from guess who:

    “The one person I don’t want to have a weapon is a fugitive from justice.  I’d rather have an ex-felon have access to a weapon than someone fleeing the justice system.”

    Yeah, you guessed it.  That was our “brilliant” VP, Joseph Biden, speaking to the National League of Cities this past Tuesday.

    Suit yourself, Mr. VP.  Personally, I’d rather neither had a weapon.

    But I do have to wonder about the VP’s statement after thinking some about what he said.  As I recall, someone with an outstanding unpaid traffic ticket is technically a “fugitive from justice”.  I think I’d rather see that particular fugitive with a gun vice some unrepentant 35-year-old hard case who’s just got out after doing 15 years for rape and attempted murder.

    (No, that’s not unrealistic.  This guy will be eligible for parole after 20 years after being convicted of the kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder of a 10 year old child.)

    There are some other real “gems” in the VP’s remarks.  There is a short video at the link, so you can hear them yourself if you like.

    I’d say enjoy, but unlike liberals preaching gun control I refuse to be a public hypocrite.

  • But I’m Feeling MUCH Better now…

    Folks – if this is satire and I missed it PLEASE don’t hold my ignorance against TAH. I didn’t make the effort to verify the validity because it simply seems valid. If it ain’t real it DOES at least rise to the level of what Might Be given the current state of affairs, AND you just might be be as querulous as I.
    DOJ Looking to Saudi Arabia for Counter-Terrorism Measures: Too Many Americans are Violent

    This comes from Mohammad Alshoaiby writing for the Saudi Gazette on the occasion of a Holder visit in Riyadh. In normal times, I wouldn’t give a thought to it, but we’re talking about Eric Holder, so the “Saudi Munasaha (Counseling)” is likely of great interest to our current government. Far too many of America’s “young people” are violent and so Saudi Arabia, the country that has chosen to switch from beheadings to firing squads because they have a shortage of swordsmen, can teach us how to un-indoctrinate our youth…or maybe this is about TeaParty terrorists.

    Even paranoids have enemies.

    ETA: US shows interest in Saudi counter-terrorism program

    It IS true!

  • A Cincinnati Voting Fraud Update

    Jonn wrote about three weks ago about Melowese Richardson of Cincinnati.  Seems she was a poll worker – and also admitted to voting multiple times during the last Presidential election.  She voted twice as herself (once in person, once absentee), and several other times “on behalf of” other people.

    Well, yesterday Melowese Richardson was charged with eight counts of illegal voting .  If convicted, she’s looking at up to 12 years in prison.

    She’s not the only one in trouble, though.  Hamilton County authorities also indicted a nun and an elderly man for illegal voting – one count each.  Each is accused of casting an absentee ballot on the behalf of an individual who had requested one but died before returning their ballots.  They’re each facing up to 18 months behind bars.

    Silly me.  I thought the operative principle in a free and fair election was “one man, one vote”.  And I thought the dead only voted in Precinct 13 in Alice, Texas  (see Robert A. Caro’s Means of Ascent for context).  (smile)

  • Reality Check?

    The elephant in the room is making enough noise to be heard, but nobody seems to be listening.

    As Jonn noted here one Senator is convinced that PTS(D) should preclude many vets from owning guns, but we may have a sitting senator who, in every way, could be pictured along side the very definition of the thing.

    John McCain is a bona fide American Hero. However, the very events that make him a hero would make him suspect in some eyes.  Anyone doubt he could buy any gun he fancied?

    Please set aside his current behaviors because my point concerns a much broader dichotomy.

    The DSM is evolving tool. And there is a rather lengthy history of defining any opposition as mentally ill.

    Calling a Senator or two a “Wacko Bird” is one thing, but where will it end for the rest of us?