Earlier today in the comments SDA reader kcdist linked to a touching personal video that nicely embodies the underlying spirit of Christmas. As commenter Ken (Kulak) put it,
Good for you and the others. Love is a major part of the Christmas celebration.
Yes it is. So gather the family ’round to watch Carmen’s generosity being repaid in kind.
Beauty.
Merry Christmas everyone!
On Christmas Eve 1394 candles were lit at the Canadian Cemetery in Holten -The Netherlands #liberators #worldwarII pic.twitter.com/OHYiJQIXSE
— [ i ] Rijssen-Holten (@ToerismeRH) December 24, 2014
What the sun looks like in x-ray.
And Jonah Goldberg hasn’t yet learned that.
Going by the standards liberals established, Sharpton clearly has blood on his hands (for this cop-slaying and other hate crimes from his earliest days as a race hustler). And the blame hardly ends there if you go by the rules that were applied to Palin and others.
But here’s the problem: Those rules stink.
Sharpton is a special case; he should have been pelted from the public stage decades ago. But it would be ridiculous to believe that de Blasio or Holder — or Obama — wanted this tragedy.
I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all. When the left loses in the legislature, or at the ballot box, or in the justice system, they turn to the mob. Whether it’s Occupy Wall Street, the blockade of a pipeline, or the burning of neighborhoods, the left can be counted on to march and if necessary, loot and riot, to impose their will.
De Blasio, Holder — and Obama’s — endorsement of anti-police factions in Ferguson and New York has nothing to do with the First Amendment or “racist” police, and everything to do with reminding good citizens everywhere, yet again, of the power of the mob. That’s why Al Sharpton is a constant companion of these elected politicians – he’s their t-shirt slogan, and the slogan is “Or Else”.
Double standards are seductive. If you’ve been demonized unfairly, it is only human to turn the tables at the first opportunity. Giving in to that temptation, however, leads to madness. Conservatives should take the high road — and liberals should join them — the next time a madman gives them an opportunity to take the low road.
Jonah Goldberg is a smart man, but he’s still wandering through the trees. The people who use blood libel as a political tactic don’t care about the road. They’re in it for the destination.
Monkeys, Zoo: Orangutans have been granted the status of “non-human persons” with legal rights in a landmark court ruling in Argentina.
Fearing more “mental illness,” France deploys soldiers in city centers
Tonight, to keep us in our nice relaxed holiday mood, we listen to the the soothing fourth and fifth movements from Corelli’s Christmas Concerto in G Minor.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
“The Ontario Liberal Party has decided to reimburse taxpayers the $10,000 Peter Faist was allegedly paid to wipe government computers.”
So, to be clear; the emails which in no way tied the Office of the Premier to the Gas Plant debacle, which really wasn’t that big of a deal ($2B), and in no way was political (2 seats), didn’t exist at all and wiping the drives (cost of a CD for someone who knows how) wasn’t to rid the systems of the emails.
But just to be on the up and up, the Libs will pay the $10G…cause you know, innocent and all.
A somewhat rambling journey to Saskatchewan’s Jewish past. (h/t Adrian)
If you ever want the ultimate context and vindication that the conservative/libertarian people in the world will win in the end, all one has to do is look at the life and (lack of) accomplishments of a social justice warrior. 65 years of precious life simply pissed away.
A more thorough (and libertine) analysis can be located here at the 37 minute mark.
Never ask, “Can we do it?”
Always ask, “Should WE do it?”
Context? In 1995 Saskatchewan Land Titles had to be brought up to spec from paper to digital form. There is no question that it had to be done, but the answer to the second question should have been a resounding, ‘No’.
In 2000 the gov’t “announced” their vapour-ware. In 2006, after numerous cost over runs, fee hikes and service degradation the “we’ll sell it when we’re done” excuses ran out of steam for the governing NDP and they announced the release. It was broken. When the Sask Party took power in 2007, some competent leadership from the technology sector was put in charge. And look at the success they’ve had since 2007. Last year they were privatized out of gov’t.
So, yes, the Sask NDP were correct, the tech is being sold…just not for the benefit of those who paid for it.
Why do I bring this up, you ask? Well, it seems the Ontario Liberal gov’t is having a bit of trouble with their new ODSP software….
On Friday, the Chicago Tribune released the results of a study it commissioned on injury crashes and red light cameras, revealing that while right angle crash incidents have been reduced, rear-end crashes that resulted in injuries went up 22 percent. The results of the study throw cold water on the booster efforts of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and raise questions about the use of red light cameras as a whole. […]
On a more granular level, the researchers found that there were no safety benefits from cameras that are installed at intersections where there have already been few crashes with injuries, and occasionally, there was evidence that red light cameras actually increased injury crashes at such intersections. “When intersections experiencing fewer than 4 injury crashes per year are considered, there is a significant increase in all crashes by 19 percent after the installation of RLCs,” the Tribune study found.
Top IRS officials specifically targeted tea party groups and misled the public about its secret political targeting program led by ex-official Lois Lerner, according to a bombshell new congressional report.
The Daily Caller has obtained an advance copy of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report set to be released Tuesday morning that definitively proves malicious intent by the IRS to improperly block conservative groups that an IRS adviser deemed “icky.” (That’s right. “Icky.”)
“The Committee has identified eight senior leaders who were in a position to prevent or to stop the IRS’s targeting of conservative applicants,” the Oversight report states. “Each of these leaders could have and should have done more to prevent the IRS’s targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants.”
In a completely unforeseen turn of events, it seems Germans prefer Germans to be German:
A record 17,000 people have joined the latest in a string of demonstrations against Islam in Dresden, eastern Germany, celebrating the rise of their far-right populist movement by singing Christmas carols.
The march on Monday night was organised by Patriotic Europeans Against Islamisation of the West – a group that has grown rapidly since its first protest in October.
Politicians from all major parties have been stunned by the emergence of the right-wing nationalists who vent their anger against what they consider a broken immigration and asylum system.
Completely unrelated.
And that’s why my retirement plans include a fortified bunker: A startling new anti-gun ad released by a San Francisco-based production company encourages children to commit a series of crimes by stealing their parents’ guns and turning them over to school officials…
h/t peterj
Tonight Charlie and Ira Louvin, accompanied by what sounds like a celestial choir, use their brotherly harmonies to let us know that it’s It’s Christmas Time. Give or take.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.
Never the twain shall meet. Minister Ambrose,call your Standing Committee on Health.
There is now a sufficient body of evidence available on several aspects and effects of EC for recent reviews to conclude that health care professionals and public health bodies should encourage smokers who cannot stop smoking using available treatments, or do not want to do so, to switch to EC [2],[3].
Emerging trends are as expected. In the UK where EC are available and taken up by sufficient numbers of smokers, quit rates are increasing and decline in smoking, especially among young people, is accelerating [19]-[21].
Via, Taste Your Juice
#AlSharpton is the Fred Phelps of the Democratic Party. Which is quite an accomplishment, considering Fred Phelps was also a Democrat.
— Katewerk (@katewerk) December 22, 2014
Cuba’s Coast Guard sank a boat carrying 32 Cubans who were trying to reach the Florida coast, according to a woman who survived and whose husband is missing.
Masiel González Castellano told reporters in a telephone conversation from Matanzas, Cuba, that her husband, Leosbel Díaz Beoto, is missing after falling from the boat that was repeatedly charged and hit by a boat manned by the Cuban Coast Guard.
“We were screaming and crying for help as the boat was sinking. But they ignored us. Instead, they continued charging against our boat. Some people dove in the water and others stayed aboard as the boat sank,” said González, who was contacted during a press conference hosted in Miami by the Democracy Movement. “They knew there were children aboard, but continued to charge against us. They didn’t care.”
Via Mickey Kaus
National Post: Being fat is a disability, EU judges have ruled, meaning that companies in Europe must offer obese staff bigger chairs, special parking spaces and a lighter work load.
h/t Kevin B.