What a story! ---------Korean War pilot who landed blind dies at 83

Korean War pilot who landed blind dies at 83 | The Detroit News
Los Angeles — Kenneth Schechter, a Korean War pilot who landed his plane while blinded from a wound, has died. He was 83.
Schechter died on Dec. 11 in Fairfield, Calif., his son, Rob Schechter, told the Los Angeles Times. He had prostate cancer.
Schechter was a 22-year-old Navy pilot when an enemy shell sent fragments into his eyes and blood running down his face during a March 22, 1952, bombing mission.
Schechter suddenly was semi-conscious, flying a smashed-up Skyraider at 200 mph over the Korean coast.
“Instinctively, I pulled back on the stick to gain altitude,” he wrote in an account for the 2001 book, “Chicken Soup for the Veteran’s Soul.” ‘’When I came to, sometime later, I couldn’t see a thing. . I felt for my upper lip. It was almost severed from the rest of my face.”
“I’m blind! For God’s sake, help me!” he cried into his radio. “I’m blind!”
His friend and fellow pilot, Lt. j.g. Howard Thayer, had already spotted the plane climbing and knew something was wrong.
Over the next 45 minutes, he helped talk down the plane. At one point, Thayer dumped his canteen over his head to wash away the blood. For a moment he saw the controls but then everything went dark.
“Get me down, Howie,” he radioed. “Get me down.”
Thayer guided the plane toward the coast, intending for Schechter to bail out and be picked up in the water but Schechter refused. He had seen another pilot drown in the same waters after a bailout.

“Jump out in that icy water blind? You’d have to be insane,” Schechter said in a 1995 Times interview.

With the nearest air base 30 miles away, and the bleeding Schechter slumping in the pilot’s seat, Thayer looked around for someplace to land — even a rice paddy. He finally remembered a rutted dirt Army landing strip dubbed the Jersey Bounce that had been used by reconnaissance planes.
As they approached, Thayer told Schechter to lower his wheels.
“The hell with that!” Schechter replied. He thought a belly landing would be safer on the uneven ground.
Thayer, flying a few feet from his friend, kept up a running commentary as the plane came down.
“We’re heading straight,” he said. “Hundred yards to runway. You’re 50 feet off the ground. You’re level. You’re OK. You’re over the runway. Twenty feet. Kill it a little. You’re setting down. OK, OK, OK. Cut!”
Schechter was safe. It was his last flight before he left the Navy months later. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1995.

It's that time of year again - time to debunk Kwanzaa

It's that time of year again - time to debunk Kwanzaa | NJ.com:
"It's that time of year again - the time when lazy journalists go out and write puff pieces about a fake African holiday created by a psychopath who tortured black women."
...Imagine if a white man had tortured those women in that way and then tried to market himself as some sort of a paragon of racial pride. 
If some Ku Klux Klan leader set up a holiday to compete with Christmas, every editor in America would direct his reporters to research that leader's background before writing an article about how wonderful that holiday is.

...... If the journalists of America would only do their jobs and inform readers of the real nature of Kwanzaa, it would soon be a forgotten relic of a bad time in American history.

Cracker Barrel pulls select 'Duck Dynasty' items

Cracker Barrel pulls select 'Duck Dynasty' items | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has removed select products from its stores tied to the stars of the cable hit "Duck Dynasty."

While the Lebanon, Tenn.-based restaurant company will continue to offer some products from Duck Commander, the business run by the Robertson family of the A&E show, they decided to remove certain products "which we were concerned might offend some of our guests.""

Wasteful Spending: Government Waste of Your Tax Dollars This Year

Wasteful Spending: Government Waste of Your Tax Dollars This Year
So it’s timely that the office of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released its 2013 “Wastebook” yesterday, listing 100 examples it deems wasteful spending this year. In our infographic below, we’ve picked just a few of the highlights of your tax dollars at work.

Pretty simple stuff... but pills are free!!! --------------------2,000 steps to a healthier heart: Walking that far every day for a year can reduce heart attack and stroke risk by 8%

2,000 steps to a healthier heart: Walking that far every day for a year can reduce heart attack and stroke risk by 8% | Mail Online:
"2,000 steps to a healthier heart: Walking that far every day for a year can reduce heart attack and stroke risk by 8%
Exercise is equivalent to walking 20 minutes a day at a moderate pace
Walking 40 minutes a day can reduce cardiovascular risk by up to 20%
Researchers at University of Leicester looked at 9,306 adults for study
Those with greater levels of activity had lower levels of risk"

And NONE of 'em are good----8 Ways The Taper Is Going To Affect You And Your Family

Guest Post: 8 Ways The Taper Is Going To Affect You And Your Family | Zero Hedge

5. Quantitative Easing Has Been Causing The Cost Of Living To Rise

The Federal Reserve insists that we are in a time of "low inflation", but anyone that goes to the grocery store or that pays bills on a regular basis knows what a lie that is. 
The truth is that if the inflation rate was still calculated the same way that it was back when Jimmy Carter was president, the official rate of inflation would be somewhere between 8 and 10 percent today.

Most of the new money created by quantitative easing has ended up in the hands of the very wealthy, and it is in the things that the very wealthy buy that we are seeing the most inflation.  As one CNBC article recently stated, we are seeing absolutely rampant inflation in "stocks and bonds and art and Ferraris and farmland".

6. Quantitative Easing Did Not Reduce Unemployment And Tapering Won't Either

The Federal Reserve actually first began engaging in quantitative easing back in late 2008.  As you can see from the chart below, the percentage of Americans that are actually working is lower today than it was back then...

The mainstream media continues to insist that quantitative easing was all about "stimulating the economy" and that it is now okay to cut back on quantitative easing because "unemployment has gone down".  Hopefully you can see that what the mainstream media has been telling you has been a massive lie.  According to the government's own numbers, the percentage of Americans with a job has stayed at a remarkably depressed level since the end of 2010.  Anyone that tries to tell you that we have had an "employment recovery" is either very ignorant or is flat out lying to you.

OMG! The NYT seems just tired of their guy and his "signature bla bla"-----Mixed Messages Add Anxiety as Deadline Nears in Health Act

OAS-"Obamacare Anxiety Syndrome".
Get diagnosed and ya get free Medicaid!
Mixed Messages Add Anxiety as Deadline Nears in Health Act - NYTimes.com:
"But as the date approaches, a series of decisions by the Obama administration to delay some of the law’s most important provisions and to extend some deadlines has caused uncertainty among insurers and confusion among consumers.

Already the enrollment of young adults appears to be lagging behind the expectations of federal officials and insurers.
And insurers, struggling with problems caused by the chaotic debut of the federal insurance exchange in October, have criticized the administration’s last-minute changes, saying they could cause instability in the market."

Sadistic bullies on a PC jihaad-Why Did BuzzFeed & Co. Target Justine Sacco for Online Assassination

Why Did BuzzFeed & Co. Target Justine Sacco for Online Assassination

Why did BuzzFeed and others gin up a journalistic assassination squad to hit some nobody named Justine Sacco?

If you'll pardon the mixing of metaphors, why was this private citizen plucked from obscurity by The Online Statsi for a trip to Room 101?

What we have seen happen to public figures, like "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson, who dare offend the political/media left-wing elite is frightening enough. Is this group now so addicted to the taste of bloody scalps that no one is safe -- that any obscure citizen with only 174 Twitter followers can have their social media door broken into and lives ruined by the likes of BuzzFeed: Speech Detectives?

Or maybe it is something else.

Any time, day or night, you can use  the search feature to look up "N*gger, AIDS, gay, homosexual, f*g," and literally find hundreds of thousands of tweets filled with unquestionable venom and hate.

So why Justine Sacco?

How did this nobody living in a social media world buried in tens of thousands of truly racist and homophobic nobodies, find herself in the crosshairs?

If BuzzFeed and Co.  wanted to feel self-righteous about themselves, there are literally millions of tweets out there that are unquestionably indefensible and that are not written by some defenseless, unsuspecting woman about to step off a plane and into social media Hell.

Maybe BuzzFeed and its sorry band of elite media minions chose Sacco to send an intimidating message that says no one is safe from their speech rules, even nobodies with 174 Twitter followers. Randomly pulling people from their online homes as an example to the rest of us, is certainly going to have a chilling effect.

But maybe it was a targeted hit based on a personal grudge or agenda we will never know about.

Either way… Good God.

Barry's "possible sons" don't interfere with Hawaii vacation-----Four arrested for killing lawyer, 30, shot dead protecting his wife in carjacking at New Jersey mall

Al Sharpton silent.
Is Al dead?
The nation ponders.
Four arrested for killing lawyer, 30, shot dead protecting his wife in carjacking at New Jersey mall | Mail Online:
"Four men have been arrested over the death of a lawyer shot in front of his wife during a carjacking outside a New Jersey mall last week, authorities said on Saturday.

The suspects in the fatal carjacking on Sunday last week, in which Dustin Friedland was killed at The Mall, Short Hills, were arrested in a series of raids overnight.

Three of the men were arrested in their homes in New Jersey and the fourth was arrested in a Pennsylvania hotel, between 9pm on Friday and 3am Saturday.

The suspects were identified as Hanif Thompson, 29, Karif Ford, 31, Basim Henry, 32, and Kevin Roberts, 33."

Remember, this is little Barry's "signature legislative success----- Morning Joe Can't Stop Laughing at Obamacare's 'Pajama Boy' - YouTube

Link works
▶ Morning Joe Can't Stop Laughing at Obamacare's 'Pajama Boy' - YouTube: "

History for December 22 -Four Heroes

History for December 22 - On-This-Day.com:
1895 - German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen made the first X-ray, of his wife's hand. 











1961 - James Davis became the first U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam, while U.S. involvement was still limited to the provision of military advisers. 










1984 - New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot four black youths on a Manhattan subway. Goetz claimed they were about to rob him. 







1990 - Lech Walesa was sworn in as Poland's first popularly elected president. 

▶ TWO DOGS DINING - YouTube

▶ TWO DOGS DINING - YouTube: "

"Silence in the face of evil, is evil itself"

Olivet Michigan team of teenage football players does something unexpected. - YouTube

▶ An entire team of teenage football players does something unexpected. - YouTube: "

Lots of depressing stuff here------Straight talk about Detroit and Illinois pensions

Yes, it's fixable.
But it will take strong, articulate, honest leaders.
.....we're doomed.....
Straight talk about Detroit and Illinois pensions - Encore - MarketWatch:
"The financial problems facing Illinois and Detroit are among the worst in the country, and have few implications for the nation as a whole.  
Illinois has systematically not funded its pensions – nor paid any other bills, to my understanding!
Detroit’s financial crisis reflects the large outmigration of people and industry, as well as fiscal mismanagement.
It does not make sense to extrapolate from the nation’s most dire situations to the rest of the country.

Pensions play a major role in the Illinois situation, but are less important in Detroit.
Although one can always argue about the appropriate interest rate to use in discounting future benefits, Illinois state plans (with the exception of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) vie for last place in terms of funded status.
Both of Detroit’s pensions, in contrast, are funded at roughly the national average.
The funded status does reflect the transfer of proceeds from pension obligation bonds issued in 2005 and 2006, which increased the city’s non-pension debt.
But pensions are not driving Detroit’s problems."

Megyn Kelly Responds to Santa Claus Critics: Get a Sense of Humor

Megyn Kelly Responds to Santa Claus Critics: Get a Sense of Humor | NewsBusters:

After playing several clips of various television shows reacting to her remarks, Kelly commented further on the response: “This would be funny if it were not so telling about our society. In particular, the knee-jerk instinct by so many to race bait and to assume the worst in people, especially people employed by the very powerful Fox News channel.”

Indeed. As we noted yesterday, it seems that many leftists in this country seem to be psychologically disturbed that there is one television channel which is not controlled by Democratic partisans and therefore they seek to turn even the tiniest molehills into mountains when it comes to Fox News. The entire segment was a joke and for people to pretend otherwise speaks negatively of their intelligence or their honesty.

Kelly summarized the kerfuffle well when she added at the end: “The fact that an offhand jest that I made during a segment about whether Santa should be replaced by a penguin has now become a national firestorm says two things: race is still an incredibly volatile issue in this country and Fox News and yours truly are big targets for many people.”

A complete transcript of the segment which appeared on the December 13, 2013 edition of “The Kelly File” follows.

Political Correctness-It is not about tolerance. It is about power.

We are subsidizing our own destruction-The Year the Monarch Didn’t Appear

The Year the Monarch Didn’t Appear | Cornucopia Institute:
"“There’s no question that the loss of habitat is huge,” said Douglas Tallamy, a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware, who has long warned of the perils of disappearing insects.
“We notice the monarch and bees because they are iconic insects,” he said.
“But what do you think is happening to everything else?”

A big part of it is the way the United States farms.
As the price of corn has soared in recent years, driven by federal subsidies for biofuels, farmers have expanded their fields. 
That has meant plowing every scrap of earth that can grow a corn plant, including millions of acres of land once reserved in a federal program for conservation purposes."

It's the culture, stupid-----Woman, Just Out Of Prison, Arrested For 397th Time

And more money ain't gonna fix it-------
Woman, Just Out Of Prison, Arrested For 397th Time « CBS Chicago:
"Last month on the train ride home from prison, Shermaine Miles said she was done with booze — done with the old life of petty crime, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Old habits apparently die hard.
The woman who has racked up a near-record 396 arrests picked up one more this week when she was hauled off an Edgewater street for a host of alleged offenses, including misdemeanor battery, theft, reckless conduct and drinking in public."

Even with the press, it's ALWAYS how it affects "Dear Leader"------Weary Obama seeks Hawaii sun's waking touch

Weary Obama seeks Hawaii sun's waking touch - Yahoo News:
"He ended it with a ponderous press conference, deflecting dire assessments of his prospects and gingerly testing an optimistic message for 2014: "We are poised to do really good things."
Second term presidencies are always tough, as exhaustion, unmet promises and fading political zeal humble exhausted administrations.
But Obama's prospects look especially cloudy."

The problem with suicide bombers is when they blow themselves up in your home--------- Obamacare Initiates Self-Destruction Sequence

Obamacare Initiates Self-Destruction Sequence - Bloomberg:

Arnold Kling put it more pithily: “Obama Repeals Obamacare.”

I’d ask this: 

What do you do for an encore? 

Will the administration force these folks to buy insurance next year? 

Or will they keep allowing special exceptions rather than take the political heat for changing health insurance that people liked?

I’m not sure the administration is thinking that far ahead. 

The White House is focused on winning the news cycle, day by day, not the kind of detached technocratic policymaking that they, and the law’s other supporters, hoped this law would embody. 

Does your fix create problems later, cause costs to spiral or people to drop out of the insurance market, or lead to political pressure to expand the fixes in ways that critically undermine the law? 

Well, that’s preferable to sudden death right now.

9 Crazy Stories about People Being Unfriended on Facebook

9 Crazy Stories about People Being Unfriended on Facebook - Oddee.com:
"The Transgender Woman Who Attacked Her Boyfriend Because He Unfriended Her and Changed His Status to "Single"
In February 2012, a transgender woman attacked her boyfriend with a knife, a pair of scissors, and a fork after he "unfriended" her on Facebook and changed his status to "single." William Hanz De Veyra Arriesgado, a 25-year-old Filipino who had a sex change but could not change her name under her country's laws, was then sentenced to two years in jail for causing her Australian lover grievous harm."

Hug the one you love-----Unique Story of Love and Loss is Told Through Cute Couple's Photos

Unique Story of Love and Loss is Told Through Cute Couple's Photos:
"The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” for a reason.
Explaining how we feel is one way of getting a message across.
Another is simply showing each other how we feel.
During each season, this couple took a photo together in front of their house.
In the resulting series of images below, without saying anything at all, a love story is being told.
It’s full of hope, joy, fear and loss, but it’s told in the most unique way.
You’ll see what we mean – and then you’ll be moved by it."

Throwing off the chains of thuggery------100,000 Government Workers Choose Freedom from Unions in Wisconsin

100,000 Government Workers Choose Freedom from Unions in Wisconsin - Matt Batzel - Page full:
"Less than 3 years after Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed his collective bargaining reforms (Act 10), more than 100,000 union members have left Big Labor.
The Left has fought these reforms at every step, but when workers are given the choice, they have overwhelmingly voted to leave government unions. "

Perhaps the best LTE written in 2013-MUST READ-Letter to the Editor: Rome

Please read it all.
And understand this patriot lost his Muskegon county commission seat in the last election.
I suspect EVERY currently elected commissioner disagrees with Mr. Jager's thoughts.
At least none have publicly commented in support of ANY of these observations.
We have choices in life.
And elections DO matter!
READ THE ENTIRE COLUMN.
Please.



Letter to the Editor: Rome:
"So I go back to the Romans.

How do we change this? 
I don't know that it is possible. 
Yesterday at a local store a person bought $115.00 worth of Monster Energy drinks on food stamps. 
Why give money in donations when our government does it for us? 
Why own a business when the government hates us?

Why work when the government takes the money away, why save when the rich wall street fat cats take it away.
It pays so much better to be a taker.

You can grow $20,000.00 dollars worth of marijuana tax free and get government aid. 
Like the Roman Empire it may be inevitable. 
So many of my friends think we are headed for war from within.
People are buying guns and ammunition, which is getting scarcer.
The amount of people prepping with food and shelter is astounding and you wonder why the government thru NSA is spying on all of us?"

Santa don't do bonds-Don't buy mom Illinois bonds for Christmas

Merry Christmas!
Our towns, cities, counties and country are all broke.
Oh God, help us!

Don't buy mom Illinois bonds for Christmas:
"Would you invest your mother’s money in municipal bonds?
In a recent interview on Fox Business News, host Gerri Willis asked me that very question.
It didn’t take me long to say I’d certainly do my homework first.
Based on the growing number of city bankruptcies from Alabama to Rhode Island to California, it’s clear to me I’d keep my mother’s retirement money, and mine, far from those governments running the risk of bankruptcy.
Many cities are collapsing due to out-of-control pension costs, but it’s only the demise of Detroit that’s awoken retail investors like my mom to those risks."

Look out taxpayers, they're comin' again! National consultants sought to study feasibility of downtown Muskegon convention center

Soooo, the "search" will be for a consultant?
And the one they hire will get $25,000?
And what do they want the $25,000 "consultant" to report back to them?
Anyone wanna bet what the candidates for the consultant job will tell the guys with the extra $25,000?

National consultants sought to study feasibility of downtown Muskegon convention center | MLive.com

MUSKEGON, MI – The Muskegon County Accommodation Tax Committee is preparing to ask the county board of commissioners to support a study of a downtown convention center.

A special ATAC working group has helped county Community Development Director Bob Lukens prepare a “request for proposals” looking at the feasibility of a downtown Muskegon convention center and other issues related to a series of downtown facilities.

The nationwide search for consultants includes the county’s wish to look at the potential renovation or expansion of the L.C. Walker Arena, pedestrian connections to downtown facilities and the potential for using those facilities for expanded meetings and events.

The county outline for potential consultants points to the L.C. Walker Arena, Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts and the two downtown hotels – the Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor and the Shoreline Inn and Conference Center.

As the potential for a downtown convention center is explored, the consultant will be asked to evaluate specific downtown sites, most likely in close proximity to the Holiday Inn, L.C. Walker Arena and Frauenthal Center which are all close enough to be easily linked by enclosed walkways.

They've been doing this for DECADES? ----Bill Would Prohibit Asset Forfeiture In Michigan Without Criminal Conviction

Our government at war with us!
And we're paying for THEIR army!
Bill Would Prohibit Asset Forfeiture In Michigan Without Criminal Conviction [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"Jacque Sutton didn’t commit any crime but police impounded his 1989 Mustang GT and charged him $900 to get it back.
His offense was attending a party in 2009 at an art gallery in Detroit which didn't have a permit to hold an event with dancing and DJs. 
Police raided the place and gave everyone tickets for illegal occupation, which were later waived.
But Sutton's car was seized and he couldn't get his property back until he paid the money as a result of Michigan's asset forfeiture law.

He's not alone.
Since 2001, Michigan agencies have seized at least $250 million worth of property and money from citizens. While much of what's seized comes from criminals, a significant amount of assets and a number of cases involve people like Sutton."

Pretty cool as they add some background on the video-WSJ's 2013 Photos of the Year

Video - WSJ's 2013 Photos of the Year - Usain Bolt Crosses Finish Line As Lightning Lights Up Moscow's Sky - WSJ.com:
"WSJ's 2013 Photos of the Year
From the floodwaters of the Ganges to the gravity defying bubbles inside the International Space Station, WSJ photo director Jack Van Antwerp looks back at some of the best images of 2013."

At some point, will we ever get it?

Wonderful news for the world that totally bums out the MSM------Seven global warming alarmist setbacks in 2013

Read 'em all.
As whiny, overpaid/underworked university professors prepare their lawsuits for "income insecurity".
Seven global warming alarmist setbacks in 2013 | The Daily Caller:
"Hold your champagne glasses high this holiday season, because the end of 2013 marks the 17th year without global warming."
...7) The Senate testimony of Dr. Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado completely undercut environmentalists and Democrats trying to claim that global warming was causing “extreme weather.”

“It is misleading and just plain incorrect to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts have increased on climate timescales either in the United States or globally,” Pielke said. “It is further incorrect to associate the increasing costs of disasters with the emission of greenhouse gases.”

The other witnesses on the panel did not refute Pielke’s data.

We're selling gold. China is buying gold. Gulp..... "The Chinese Don't Want Dollars Anymore, They Want Gold"

"The Chinese Don't Want Dollars Anymore, They Want Gold" - London's Gold Vaults Are Empty: This Is Why | Zero Hedge:
"Today gold slid under $1200 per ounce, dropping to a level not seen in three years.
Judging by the price action one would think that gold is not only overflowing from precious metal vaults everywhere, but can be found thrown away on the street, where nobody even bothers to pick it up.
One would be wrong.
In fact, as Bloomberg's Ken Goldman reports, "you could walk into a vault in London and they were packed to the rafter with gold, and the gold would trade from me to you to somebody else.
You could walk into these vaults today and they are virtually empty. 
All that gold has been transferred out of London, 26 million ounces...."
To find out where it has gone and why it is never coming back, watch the clip below 
(spoiler alert: listen for the line: "the Chinese don't want US dollars anymore, they want gold")."

Caption This-Yes, it is a contest!

PJ Media » Caption This:
"As Nancy Pelosi would say, embrace the suck; click to enlarge to full size.

Obamacare’s Footie Pajamas Boy is self-mocking even without additional Photoshopping, but that didn’t stop one of our in-house artists from PJM’s Millennials-oriented Next Generation TV from adding his own special touch to an already special, special image.


However, it’s up to you to provide the best caption, in the contest. (The one above is just temporary.) 
Some ideas that immediately come to mind beyond it are:
1. Obamacare: Babying our Millenials.
2. Do Millenials think that Obamacare sucks?
3. It sucks to be Obamacare Millenial Pajamas Boy.

But we’re sure you’ll think of something even better.
Have at it in the comments below."

More about "Pajama Boy":http://washingtonexaminer.com/how-pajama-boys-defenders-missed-the-point/article/2541058

History for December 21-Brrrr, Brits and Blast

Chase's Calendar of Events:
Winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere at 12:11 PM, EST.








In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower reached what is now Plymouth, MA.








25 years ago, in 1988, Pam Am Flight 103 exploded in midair and crashed at Lockerbie, Scotland, as a result of a terrorist bombing. The death toll was 270 people.

▶ LES MISERABLES 10th Anniversary Dream Cast (with Lyrics) - YouTube

▶ LES MISERABLES 10th Anniversary Dream Cast (with Lyrics) - YouTube: "

More of the president's promised "smart diplomacy"....................Angry India Pulls Back US Embassy Security

Angry India Pulls Back US Embassy Security - The American Interest:
"Angry India Pulls Back US Embassy Security
In response to the alleged mistreatment of an Indian diplomat by American law enforcement officials, Indian authorities have taken a series of unprecedented steps to show their displeasure, including the removal of security barriers around the American embassy in New Delhi. The New York Times reports:

The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, the deputy consul general in New York, was arrested last Thursday and accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her housekeeper and paying the housekeeper far less than the minimum legal wage. Indian officials said that Ms. Khobragade was arrested and handcuffed on the street as she was leaving her daughter at school, and that she was kept in a holding cell with drug addicts before she was released on $250,000 bail.

More infuriating for Indians was the allegation that Khobragade was strip-searched as well, later confirmed by American state officials."

Greetings from Chuck Norris (The epic Christmas split)

Greetings from Chuck Norris (The epic Christmas split) - YouTube: "

20 People Who Deserve a Darwin Award

20 People Who Deserve a Darwin Award

"jobs.ca"? The top 10 domain sales of 2013

How much "private" and how much "government" moolah?
The top 10 domain sales of 2013:
"Today, Sedo announces the top 10 domain sales of 2013.

jobs.ca -- $450,000 USD
body.com -- $380,000 USD
yinhang.com -- $300,000 USD
dji.com -- $300,000 USD
moms.com -- $252,000 USD
apuestas.com -- $165,000 EUR
moneta.com -- $150,000 USD
elend.com -- $140,000 USD
sandwich.com -- $137,500 USD
partners.com -- $125,000 USD"

Three versions of "Time To Say Goodbye"

Which one do you love most?
Tough call.

Click this link to see the 3 videos:
MuskegonPundit: Search results for time to say goodbye:

Wear body armor------Woodward Avenue to be scene of Detroit block party tonight

Woodward Avenue to be scene of Detroit block party tonight | Crain's Detroit Business:
"The Rock Ventures Family of Companies and retailers in the 1200 block of Woodward Avenue are hosting a holiday block party tonight.
Holiday DLight @nite will feature live musical performances by local artists such as Stereo Jane and the Rapt Collective, street performers and shopping, according to a news release.
Many of the 1200 block retailers will have free food and drinks including Faygo Beverages Inc. pop at The Detroit Shoppe, hot chocolate at Spielhaus Toys and crepes at the Somerset Collection’s CityLoft, according to the release.
Rachel Lachover, retail development manager for Bedrock Real Estate Services, said the first-time event is designed to “activate the streets of Detroit.”

I'm thinkin' she be lyin'. And she be caught.......Rep. Phil Gingrey to Sebelius: Prove You Met with President About Obamacare

Exclusive–Rep. Phil Gingrey to Sebelius: Prove You Met with President About Obamacare
In a move sure to spark consternation inside the White House, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) sent a letter Tuesday to embattled Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting she produce a list of the one-on-one meetings she and President Barack Obama allege to have held in the over three-and-a-half years leading up to Obamacare’s calamitous rollout—meetings that do not appear on the White House's own official calendar.

....Last week during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, Gingrey, a medical doctor, asked a flustered Sebelius how many one-on-one meetings she had with Obama. 
“A lot,” replied Sebelius. Gingrey then asked whether she could verify her statement. “I, I…,” Sebelius uttered while flailing her hands. 
The committee chair then announced that Gingrey’s time for questioning had expired.

WH Won't Say Whether Anyone Will Have to Pay Obamacare Penalty in 2014

WH Won't Say Whether Anyone Will Have to Pay Obamacare Penalty in 2014 | The Weekly Standard:
""Is there going to be a single person in 2014 that's going to pay the penalty?
A single uninsured American that is going to end up paying the penalty in 2014 at this point?," asked MSNBC host Chuck Todd.

"Chuck, I can't talk to you about how many people are going to be subject to the penalty," said White House deputy senior advisor David Simas, sidestepping the question."

"Big mystery"...yeah, right.........Questionable actions cost 2 Huron Valley teachers their jobs

But, thanks to their union clout, they got paid whilst on "administrative leave".
The district " would not say if they were fired or resigned".
I guess they didn't say anything about gays, homosexual marriage or God..... we'd see it on the TV news.
Questionable actions cost 2 Huron Valley teachers their jobs | The Detroit News:
"Two middle school teachers are no longer employed by Huron Valley Schools after being accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior in an empty classroom, the district announced Thursday.

The male and a female teachers, both whom worked at White Lake Middle School were reported to administrators Dec. 13 and were immediately placed on administrative leave while the district launched an internal investigation into the allegations, said Kim Root, school district spokeswoman.

Root would not elaborate on what the teachers were doing in the room.

On Thursday, the district announced the two were no longer employed, but would not say if they were fired or resigned.

Parents have been informed via email and substitutes are filling in as replacements, Root said."

There's gotta be a way to wring some money out of this..........2013 Will Finish One Of The Ten Coldest Years In US History, With The Largest Drop In Temperature

2013 Will Finish One Of The Ten Coldest Years In US History, With The Largest Drop In Temperature | Real Science:
"2013 Will Finish One Of The Ten Coldest Years In US History, With The Largest Drop In Temperature
Posted on December 20, 2013 by stevengoddard
Before NASA and NOAA start tampering with the data, 2013 is one of the ten coldest years since 1895, and has had the largest year over year decline on record."

Muskegon's most gifted columnist--Listing and Sinking

LIBERTY REVIEW:
Listing and Sinking
"Our vessel will not survive this continuous assault from every direction.
Not only are the pirates launching wave after wave of unanswered attacks but the captain is drilling holes in the hull below deck.  
His crew runs around stuffing rags into the ruptures they’ve created.
They assure us that all is well.
We are told to go back to our sunbathing. 
As an extra bonus, free drinks are available at the bar, compliments of the captain."
Read it all and bookmark her blog!

Holy crapoli! What liberal's kid got this contract?......................Oregon blows one-third of Obamacare ad budget on 'acid trip' commercial

Oregon blows one-third of Obamacare ad budget on 'acid trip' commercial - Richmond Advertising | Examiner.com:

• At $3.2 million for air time and production, it cost just under a third of the state's $9.9 million Obamacare marketing budget.

"In an animation style that looks like a poor man's Yellow Submarine, a hippie with a guitar takes flight over the mountaintops and is joined by other 1970s-style Oregonians, who form up and magically transform into the shape of a huge bird.

The lyrics he's singing are:

We fly with our own wings,

Care 'bout the same things.

We stand strong together,

So let me hear you say:

We fly with our own wings,

Dreamin’ all the big dreams.

Long live Oregonians; we’re free to be heal-thy.

Long live Oregonians; we’re free to be heal-thy."

Don't forget. When the IRS is scheming to audit Tea Party groups (and finding NOTHING) it's not doing the job they promised us they were doing------Jane Fonda has a charitable foundation

Fire EVERYONE at the IRS!
NOW!

Jane Fonda has a charitable foundation » Joe For America:

Hanoi Jane is now Charity Jane. She has her own foundation, the Jane Fonda Foundation, and she spends her time – when she’s not elbowing John Kerry out of the way for Botox – running her foundation.

Though Jane Fonda’s private foundation has nearly $800,000 in assets, the group has not made a charitable contribution during the last five years for which it has filed federal tax returns, an apparent violation of Internal Revenue Service rules.

According to the Jane Fonda Foundation’s most recent tax return–filed last year and covering calendar year 2011–the organization’s cash, stock, and bond portfolio was valued at $798,133. The filing lists the 75-year-old actress as the foundation’s president and chairman of the board, and reports that she devotes 10 hours a week to the charitable group.

The foundation hasn’t made a charitable contribution since 2006, according to IRS public records, when they donated $1,000 to the Atlanta Obstetric and Gynecology Society.

The interesting part of this is that while the IRS has plenty of time to harass conservative 501-c4 groups, and audit critics of ObamaCare, they are ignoring Hanoi Jane’s compliance problems with her foundation.

In the dark of night-----------Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare's Insurance Mandate, 'Unaffordable' Exchanges

Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare's Insurance Mandate, 'Unaffordable' Exchanges - Forbes:

It’s hard to come up with new ways to describe the Obama administration’s improvisational approach to the Affordable Care Act’s troubled health insurance exchanges. 

But last night, the White House made its most consequential announcement yet.

 The administration will grant a “hardship exemption” from the law’s individual mandate, requiring the purchase of health insurance, to anyone who has had their prior coverage canceled and who “believes” that Obamacare’s offerings “are unaffordable.” 

These exemptions will substantially alter the architecture of the law’s insurance marketplaces. 

Insurers are at their wits’ end, trying to make sense of what to do next.

Front paging the bearded guy interviewed in GQ. Sorta missed this minor annoyance------5 die from gunshot wounds in 18 hours in Chicago

Barry Hussein's home town.
Doesn't ANYONE in the liberal media care?
At all?

5 die from gunshot wounds in 18 hours in Chicago - chicagotribune.com:
"Three people, including a 74-year-old man, were shot to death within three hours on the South and Southwest sides in Chicago overnight, according to authorities.
Adding to the toll are two teens who died Wednesday after being shot earlier in the week."

A tawdry tale-Read it----------- The Welfare Queen:

Instapundit » Blog Archive » JOSH LEVIN IN SLATE: The Welfare Queen
JOSH LEVIN IN SLATE: The Welfare Queen: Ronald Reagan made Linda Taylor a notorious American villain. Her other sins were far worse.

Four decades later, Reagan’s soliloquies on welfare fraud are often remembered as shameless demagoguery. Many accounts report that Reagan coined the term “welfare queen,” and that this woman in Chicago was a fictional character. In 2007, the New York Times’ Paul Krugman wrote that “the bogus story of the Cadillac-driving welfare queen [was] a gross exaggeration of a minor case of welfare fraud.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews says the whole thing is racist malarkey—a coded reference to black indolence and criminality designed to appeal to working-class whites.
Though Reagan was known to stretch the truth, he did not invent that woman in Chicago. Her name was Linda Taylor, and it was the Chicago Tribune, not the GOP politician, who dubbed her the “welfare queen.” It was the Tribune, too, that lavished attention on Taylor’s jewelry, furs, and Cadillac—all of which were real. . . .
When I set out in search of Linda Taylor, I hoped to find the real story of the woman who played such an outsize role in American politics—who she was, where she came from, and what her life was like before and after she became the national symbol of unearned prosperity. What I found was a woman who destroyed lives, someone far more depraved than even Ronald Reagan could have imagined. In the 1970s alone, Taylor was investigated for homicide, kidnapping, and baby trafficking. The detective who tried desperately to put her away believes she’s responsible for one of Chicago’s most legendary crimes, one that remains unsolved to this day. Welfare fraud was likely the least of the welfare queen’s offenses.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Hyper-Regulated Lawlessness. “The political significance of the “welfare queen” story rests on how many of them are out there. A single person scamming the welfare state does not, by herself, represent a devastating indictment of the welfare state. It matters how easy it was, and whether a large number of people participate in such activities, albeit on a less grandiose scale than ‘the haughty thief who drove her Cadillac to the public aid office’ and wore ‘expensive clothes and oversize hats’ to her trial. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of scamming going on, and the Left is not even slightly interested in cracking down on it, or even admitting it’s a problem.” For them, it’s not a problem. It’s a funding mechanism.