This just in....

There was a meeting yesterday of the Ministry of Silly Hats and a wedding broke out.

RERUN: "Ты Всегда Рядом 1945" (You Are Always With Me)

I first ran this in 2009. It's worth running again.

I cannot speak highly enough of this masterpiece of performance art: Kseniya Simonova--an illustrator in sand--turns her art into a memoriam to those lost in Ukraine during the Great Patriotic War.


It is through the gift of the Internet that such as this becomes known to us. God bless Kseniya Simonova (her first name means "Princess", btw).

P.S. Note that far, far more Ukrainians died in the war than all Americans and British who died.

Combined.

Let us never forget. Не забувати!

ADDENDUM:

Many remember the losses during the 1930s under Stalin, during the artificial famine of 1932-1933. And yes, that was indeed a massive crime.

But we must not forget that the Nazis also butchered an unbelievable number of Ukranians, a number that may have actually exceeded Stalin's butcher bill.

There were indeed millions who died in the holodomor, the Ukranian famine of 1932-33. From Wikipedia:

The Holodomor (Ukrainian: Голодомор; translation: The Hunger) refers to the famine of 1932–1933 in the Ukrainian SSR during which millions of people were starved to death due to Soviet policies. There were no natural causes for starvation and in fact, Ukraine - unlike other Soviet Republics - enjoyed a bumper wheat crop in 1932. The Holodomor is considered one of the greatest calamities to affect the Ukrainian nation in modern history. Millions of inhabitants of Ukraine died of starvation in an unprecedented peacetime catastrophe. Estimates on the total number of casualties within Soviet Ukraine range mostly from 2.6 million to 10 million.

And yes. When the Nazis arrived they were indeed greeted with salt and bread. And the Germans threw the salt and bread onto the ground (this happened numerous times). As horrible as Stalin's famine was, the Nazis were either equally bad, or more likely, even worse.

The following was from an article I found through Google from the Ukranian History Institute, published in 2004. Translated by yours truly (good to know I still have the chops! :0)). The article lacks ideological phrasology so I have to assume that it's safely post-Soviet.

Demographic losses of Ukraine in the xxth century. Stanislav KUL'CHITSKIY

WEEKLY MIRROR / PEOPLE #39 514 2-8 October 2004

The Ukrainian History Institute, together with many qualified academics, including a number of foreign students of the subject, have been laboring since 1998 on creating an encyclopedia of history on the subject .... here we have the initial results of the study on this subject...

The numbers of casualties in the Second World War in the USSR has been revised many times (the latest estimates are on the order of 26.6 million people). It is difficult to draw national figures from this larger number; however, a statistical study on population numbers in general can be carried out with this in view. An estimate of the populations indicates that the population of the Ukrainian SSR fell from 41,657,000 in June 1941 to 27,328,000 at the beginning of 1945. It is therefore estimated that on the order of 14,275,000 people were lost in Ukrain in that period.

Among the above numbers we also note that some 1.6 million Ukrainians died while serving in the Soviet Army during the war.

The Russians overplayed casualties from the Germans, yes, and underreported those dead by famine under Stalin.

But this is history: 14 million Ukrainians dead in WWII is 1 in 3.

That's Black Death kind of numbers.

Не забувати, indeed.

(FWIW: I'm something like 1/16th or 1/8th Polish, the rest Irish-German-English. I think. I have no ax to grind, as such, on this subject.)

"if you never failed, you've never lived."

Life is risk.

Just as life is pain.

Anyone who says anything else is selling you something.

Obama's Birth Certificate Released - Not A Joke

The entire thing can be seen here.

Okay. He's a USC by birth IN HAWAII. To his mother and his father on the soil of the United States.

He's an American citizen.

And (since the 14th Amendment modified what constitutes a 'natural born citizen') he is a Natural Born Citizen.

Can we talk about something else now?

PS For the record, I've wanted to see the BC myself for the last two years, but I was convinced back in '09 that he was a USC on American soil born. And my previous theory (that the name on it was Soetoro rather than B.A.O.II) is officially debunked. I'm OK with that, as even if true it makes no difference.

Don't call me a 'birther' -- just one who's had some doubts.

Anyway. Still, it's a win-win. No doubt Mr. Obama had planned to slam dunk the birthers during the reelection campaign. Trump forced his hand.... and since prochoicer Trump is a nonstarter for President anyway, it's all good as far as I'm concerned.

ADDENDUM 2006-04-28

At FreeRepublic.com, normally a cesspit of right wing fumings and similar madness, ran a very good post today on why the BC referred to above IS the real deal, the end, that's it. It's worth a five minute read.

RIP Phoebe Snow - A One Hit Wonderful

She gave up a career in music to care for her brain damaged daughter.

And her music--or at least her one wonderful, one hit--is still played daily.

She had a stroke in January 2010 and had been in a coma since.

God Be With You, Good Lady.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CPaNdTAC_ZE

John Williams Is Da Man....

Credit: Corey Vidal and Moosebutter out of Utah. More people have probably seen this video today than have my blog in its entire history....

"It Was Twenty Years Ago, Todayyy....."

Well, yesterday, actually, but close enough.

Twenty years since my Dad went to fly with God.

You're missed, pal. You're missed.

(Above: Dad in June 1943 (it says so right there on the pic ;0)), in pilot school. He never graduated, but that's OK; he stayed behind and taught while most of his classmates were killed in the early bombing campaign over the Reich, most of which flights had a 5% casualty rate*.)

*5% doesn't seem so bad, does it? That's 5% shot down per mission. The chance of surviving to 25 missions and rotation home that first year?

(.95^25), or.... 28%

Which means the converse, 72%, died or were captured. That's a FAR higher casualty rate than even Iwo Jima.

And Now... Some Very Good News Indeed.

1The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

2Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

3Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.

4So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

5And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

6Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,

7And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

8Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

10Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

11But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

12And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my LORD, and I know not where they have laid him.

14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

19Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

20And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD.

21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

And Further Word From Our Sponsor

31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and [that] they might be taken away.

32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

35 And he that saw [it] bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave [him] leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound [weight].

40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation [day]; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

And now, a Word from Our Sponsor.

1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!

6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;

9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

A Message From Abby Johnson, Former Planned Parenthood Director

This battle is still only beginning.

If The Cops Pull Your Over and Ask for Your Cel SAY NO!

If the report from TheNewspaper.com below is correct, this is an absolute and unacceptable OUTRAGE.

Michigan police are now performing routine traffic stops and DOWNLOADING THE ENTIRE CONTENT OF YOUR CELL PHONE onto a data-sucking machine for later examination.

A US Department of Justice test of the CelleBrite UFED used by Michigan police found the device could grab all of the photos and video off of an iPhone within one-and-a-half minutes. The device works with 3000 different phone models and can even defeat password protections.

"Complete extraction of existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags," a CelleBrite brochure explains regarding the device's capabilities. "The Physical Analyzer allows visualization of both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth. In addition, location information from GPS devices and image geotags can be mapped on Google Maps."

The ACLU is concerned that these powerful capabilities are being quietly used to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

"With certain exceptions that do not apply here, a search cannot occur without a warrant in which a judicial officer determines that there is probable cause to believe that the search will yield evidence of criminal activity," Fancher wrote. "A device that allows immediate, surreptitious intrusion into private data creates enormous risks that troopers will ignore these requirements to the detriment of the constitutional rights of persons whose cell phones are searched."

Read the whole thing HERE.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

If you are ever pulled over and Officer Friendly asks you to give him your cell phone, YOU HAVE NOT JUST THE RIGHT BUT THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY NO unless they have a search warrant.

Law enforcement has no right to do this to common citizens on the street who commit no crime. No right at all.

Four words. Nine-Teen Eighty-Four.

OH, and by the way...

If you are ever asked to talk to the police....

...the answer is no.

Particularly if you are innocent.

http://kingcorey.com/2008/12/dont-talk-to-police-ever-ever-ever-ever-ever/


ADDENDUM:

From Britian's The Guardian.

THIS is why you don't give the cops your phone.

Security researchers have discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps track of where you go – and saves every detail of it to a secret file on the device which is then copied to the owner's computer when the two are synchronised.

The file contains the latitude and longitude of the phone's recorded coordinates along with a timestamp, meaning that anyone who stole the phone or the computer could discover details about the owner's movements using a simple program.

Whee!

Oklahoma City, 1995: Sixteen Years

LEST WE FORGET:
LIST IF VICTIMS OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, APRIL 19, 1995

THE CHILDREN OF THE AMERICA'S KIDS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER, SECOND FLOOR:

Baylee Almon, 1, Oklahoma City

Danielle Nicole Bell, 15 months, Oklahoma City

Zachary Taylor Chavez, 3, Oklahoma City

Anthony Christopher Cooper II, 2, Moore

Antonio Ansara Cooper Jr., 6 months, Midwest City

Aaron M. Coverdale, 5 1/2, Oklahoma City

Elijah S. Coverdale, 2 1/2, Oklahoma City

Jaci Rae Coyne, 14 months, Moore

Taylor Santoi Eaves, 8 months, Midwest City

Tevin D'Aundrae Garrett, 16 months, Midwest City

Kevin "Lee" Gottshall II, 6 months, Norman

Blake Ryan Kennedy, 18 months, Amber

Dominique Ravae (Johnson)-London, 2, Oklahoma City

Chase Dalton Smith, 3, Oklahoma City

Colton Wade Smith, 2, Oklahoma City



NINTH FLOOR

Drug Enforcement Administration

Shelly D. Bland, 25, of Tuttle

Carrol June "Chip" Fields, 48, Guthrie

Rona Linn Kuehner-Chafey, 35, Oklahoma City

Carrie Ann Lenz, 26, Chotaw

Kenneth Glenn McCullough, 36, Edmond

U.S. Secret Service

Cynthia L. Brown, 26, Oklahoma City

Donald Ray Leonard, 50, Edmond

Mickey B. Maroney, 50, Oklahoma City

Linda G. McKinney, 47, Oklahoma City

Kathy Lynn Seidl, 39, Bethel

Alan G. Whicher, 40, Edmond

EIGHTH FLOOR

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Ted L. Allen, 48, Norman

Peter R. Avillanoza, 56, Oklahoma City

David Neil Burkett, 47, Oklahoma City

Donald Earl Burns, Sr., 63, Oklahoma City

Kimberly Kay Clark, 39, Oklahoma City

Susan Jane Ferrell, 37, Oklahoma City

Dr. George Michael Howard, 45, Vallejo, Calif.

Antonio "Tony" C. Reyes, 55, Edmond

Lanny Lee David Scroggins, 46, Yukon

Leora Lee Sells, 57, Oklahoma City

Jules A. Valdez, 51, Edmond

David Jack Walker, 54, Edmond

Michael D. Weaver, 54, Edmond

Frances "Fran" Ann Williams, 48, Oklahoma City

Clarence Eugene Wilson, Sr. 49, Oklahoma

SEVENTH FLOOR

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Diane E. (Hollingsworth) Althouse, 45, Edmond

Andrea Yvette Blanton, 33, Oklahoma City

Kim R. Cousins, 33, Midwest City

Diana Lynne Day, 38, Oklahoma City

Castine Brooks Hearn Deveroux, 49, Oklahoma City

Judy J. (Froh) Fisher, 45, Oklahoma City

Linda Louise Florence, 43, Oklahoma City

J. Colleen Guiles, 59, Oklahoma City

Thompson Eugene "Gene" Hodges, Jr., 54, Norman

Ann Kreymborg, 57, Oklahoma City

Teresa Lea Taylor Lauderdale, 41, Shawnee

Mary Leasure-Rentie, 39, Bethany

James A. McCarthy II, 53, Edmond

Betsy J. (Beebe) McGonnell, 47, Norman

Patricia Ann Nix, 47, Edmond

Terry Smith Rees, 41, Midwest City

John Thomas Stewart, 51, Oklahoma City

John Karl Van Ess III, 67, Chickasha

Jo Ann Whittenberg, 35, Oklahoma City

SIXTH FLOOR

U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting

Sgt. Benjamin LaRanzo Davis, USMC, 29, Edmond

Capt. Randolph A. Guzman, USMC, 28, Castro Valley, Calif.

FIFTH FLOOR

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Olen Burl Bloomer, 61, Moore

James E. Boles, 50, Oklahoma City

Dr. Margaret L. "Peggy" Clark, 42, Chickasha

Richard "Dick" Cummins, 55, Mustang

Doris "Adele" Higginbottom, 44, Oklahoma City

Carole Sue Khalil, 50, Oklahoma City

Rheta Bender Long, 60, Oklahoma City

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Paul Gregory Beatty Broxterman, 42, Edmond

U.S. Customs Office

Paul D. Ice, 42, Midwest City

Claude Authur Medearis, S.S.A., 41, Norman

FOURTH FLOOR

U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway

Lucio Aleman, Jr., 33, Oklahoma City

Mark Allen Bolte, 28, Oklahoma City

Michael Carrillo, 44, Oklahoma City

Larry James Jones, 46. Yukon

James K. Martin, 34, Oklahoma City

Ronota Ann Newberry-Woodbridge, 31, Edmond

Jerry Lee Parker, 45, Norman

Michelle A. Reeder, 33, Oklahoma City

Rick L. Tomlin, 46, Piedmont

Johnny Allen Wade, 42, Edmond

John A. Youngblood, 52, Yukon

U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion

Sgt. 1st Class Lola Bolden, U.S. Army, 40, Birmingham, Ala.

Karen Gist Carr, 32, Midwest City

Peggy Louise Holland, 37, Oklahoma City

John C. Moss III., 50, Oklahoma City

Victoria (Vickey) L. Sohn, 36, Moore

Dolores (Dee) Stratton, 51, Moore

Kayla Marie Titsworth, 3.50, Lawton

Wanda Lee Watkins, 49, Oklahoma City

THIRD FLOOR

Defense Security Service

Harley Richard Cottingham, 46, Oklahoma City

Peter L. DeMaster, 44, Oklahoma City

Norma "Jean" Johnson, 62, Oklahoma City

Larry L. Turner, 42, Oklahoma City

Robert G. Westberry, 57, Oklahoma City

Federal Employees Credit Union

Woodrow Clifford "Woody" Brady, 41, Oklahoma City

Kimberly Ruth Burgess, 29, Oklahoma City

Kathy A. Finley, 44, Yukon

Jamie (Fialkowski) Genzer, 32, Wellston

Sheila R. Gigger-Driver, 28, Oklahoma City

Linda Coleen Housley, 53, Oklahoma City

Robbin Ann Huff, 37, Bethany

Christi Yolanda Jenkins, 32, Edmond

Alvin J. Justes, 54, Oklahoma City

Valerie Jo Koelsch, 33, Oklahoma City

Kathy Cagle Leinen, 47, Oklahoma City

Claudette (Duke) Meek, 43, Oklahoma City

Frankie Ann Merrell, 23, Oklahoma City

Jill Diane Randolph, 27, Oklahoma City

Claudine Ritter, 48, Oklahoma City

Christy Rosas, 22, Moore

Sonja Lynn Sanders, 27, Moore

Karan Howell Shepherd, 27, Moore

Victoria Jeanette Texter, 37, Oklahoma City

Virginia M. Thompson, 56, El Reno

Tresia Jo "Mathes" Worton, 28, Oklahoma City

SECOND FLOOR

AMERICA'S KIDS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER - ADULT STAFF

Dana LeAnne Cooper, 24, Moore, Mother of Anthony Christopher Cooper II

Brenda Faye Daniels, 42, Oklahoma City

Wanda Lee Howell, 34, Spencer

VISITOR

Scott D. Williams, 24, Tuttle

FIRST FLOOR

Social Security Administration

Teresa Antionette Alexander, 33, Oklahoma City

Richard A. Allen, 46, Oklahoma City

Pamela Cleveland Argo, 36, Oklahoma City

Saundra G. (Sandy) Avery, 34, Midwest City

Calvin Battle, 62, Oklahoma City

Peola Battle, 56, Oklahoma City

Oleta C. Biddy, 54, Tuttle

Casandra Kay Booker, 25, Oklahoma City

Carol Louise Bowers, 53, Yukon

Peachlyn Bradley, 3, Oklahoma City

Gabreon D.L. Bruce, 3 months, Oklahoma City

Katherine Louise Cregan, 60, Oklahoma City

Ashley Megan Eckles, 4, Guthrie

Don Fritzler, 64, Oklahoma City

Mary Anne Fritzler, 57, Oklahoma City

Laura Jane Garrison, 61, Oklahoma City

Margaret Betterton Goodson, 54, Oklahoma City

Ethel L. Griffin, 55, Edmond

Cheryl E. Hammon, 44, Oklahoma City

Ronald Vernon Harding, Sr., 55, Oklahoma City

Thomas Lynn Hawthorne, Sr., 52, Choctaw

Dr. Charles E. Hurlburt, 73, Oklahoma City

Jean Nutting Hurlburt, 67, Oklahoma City

Raymond "Lee" Johnson, 59, Oklahoma City

LaKesha Richardson Levy, 21, Midwest City

Aurelia Donna Luster, 43, Guthrie

Robert Lee Luster, Jr., 45, Guthrie

Rev. Gilbert X. Martinez, 35, Oklahoma City

Cartney J. McRaven, 19, Midwest City

Derwin W. Miller, 27, Oklahoma City

Eula Leigh Mitchell, 64, Oklahoma City

Emilio Tapia, 50, Oklahoma City

Charlotte Andrea Lewis Thomas, 43, Oklahoma City

Michael George Thompson, 47, Yukon

LaRue A. Treanor, 55, Guthrie

Luther H. Treanor, 61, Guthrie

Robert N. Walker, Jr., 52, Oklahoma City

Julie Marie Welch, 23, Oklahoma City

W. Stephen Williams, 42, Cashion

Sharon Louise Wood-Chesnut, 47, Oklahoma City

General Services Administration

Steven Douglas Curry, 44, Norman

Michael L. Loudenslager, 48, Harrah


THOSE KILLED IN SURROUNDING AREA

Athenian Building (Job Corps)

Anita Christine Hightower, 27, Oklahoma City

Kathryn Elizabeth Ridley, 24, Oklahoma City

Oklahoma Water Resources Board Building

Robert N. Chipman, 51, Edmond

Trudy Jean Rigney, 31, Midwest City


KILLED BY DEBRIS AFTER THE BOMBING

Rescue Worker

Rebecca Needham Anderson, 37, Midwest City

S&P Cuts Rating for US Debt... DOWNWARD

This is extremely bad.

The collapse of US creditworthiness is about the most disasterous thing that can happen to our economy right now.

Thanks, Barack. Thanks a lot.

Time asks: What if There Is No Hell?

ANSWER:

Then THIS is perfectly OK.



(The Srebrenica morgue at Tuzla, 2001, with the bodies of 4000 genocide victims then awaiting identification. 90% were subsequently identified prior to burial.)

I could go on... but I'm' sure I've made my point.

Without the possibility of divine judgment and banishment of the evil and unjust from the divine presence, that means that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Mohammad Atta, Bonnie and Clyde, Slobodan Milosevic, China's Gang of 4, Marat, Robespierre, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Beria, Trotsky, Himmler, Goering, Streicher, Jodl, Ramesses, Caligula, Nero, Caracalla, Margaret Sanger, Elizabeth Batory, Susan Atkins, Qin Shi Huangdi, the Empress Lue .... are all dancing in front of God, having paid absolutely no price for their mass crimes; and all their rapes, murders, extermination, and evil are rewarded with eternal joy.

I don't believe for a moment that that is how the universe works.

I don't believe God believes that way either.

"Behold, A Marvel In The Dark"

The Andromeda galaxy, .... in a little better detail than usual.

Awesome. Purely.... awesome.

From Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a treasure trove of God's creation.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/main/index.html

In Re Atlas Shrugged

"Two novels can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - author unknown

150 years

I spent part of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War (AKA the War of Southern Liberation, the War of the Destruction of Slavery, Lincoln's Unmitigated and Righteous Triumph, and the War of Regional Collective Stupidity) driving through Richmond, VA, capital of the Old South.

On an Interstate.

Think about that for a second.

I'll write about this at greater length, but my good friend The Mighty Favog had this to say on his blog yesterday in remembrance of the disaster that befell the slaveowning republic:

If any son of the South is honest with himself -- any white son of the South, that is -- sooner or later, he comes up hard against the truth of his "Southern heritage."

Namely, that all the popularly defined aspects of "Southern pride" are nothing to be proud of. For Southerners -- particularly we of a certain age -- this conclusion generally is reached, if it is ever reached at all, after a lifetime of equivocation, denial and trying to reconcile the irreconcilable.

....The antebellum South, and all of the supposed "gentility" that surrounded this eternal Tara of our mind's eye, was built on the backs -- and at the cost of the freedom, dignity and lives -- of millions of African slaves.

It came at the cost of everything by which Americans self-define, and only after twisting the white man's soul into accepting good as evil and evil as good.

THERE WAS no noble cause. There was no honor in defeat. Our ancestors fought -- and died -- for a damnable lie, and the flag they rallied around just as well could have sported a big "666."

Lincoln was right; Jeff Davis was a traitor, and Sherman did what he had to do. The Lost Cause was damn well lost, because a people had damn well lost their minds . . . and perhaps their souls.

Thank you, sir.

They don't come much more Nawthun than me (I was born in Fairbanks) so I catch a lot of shit from those sons of the South who still believe in a fairy tale they call The Cause. But I'll say it anyway: Thanks be the Risen Christ for the total destruction of the slaveowning (wage-stealing, slave-raping) Old South and its replacement by the values embodied in the United States Constitution and all that goes with it.

AFK

On the road again...

Back when I'm home in a few days.

The President says he misses....

....being anonymous.

I can relate. I miss his being anonymous too....

Happy Birthday, Hugh Hefner, age 85.

To which I can only say: the good die young.

On Wisconsin

To those who think that the Republicans stole the judicial election this week in Wisconsin, I have but two words to say:




Senator Al Franken.

Dem Congressman to Vet: "Sit Down Or Leave"

Congresscritter Jim Moron of Arlington, VA, a Dem safe seat, reveals what he thinks of veterans who don't kiss his ass. 4:05....

Adieu, mon ami, adieu.

I write today in grief.

One whom I loved dearly died yesterday. Of which I shall not say more, for instructions were left specifying no service, no funeral, no public acknowledgment of any sort, just a final departure and no footprints.

I shall respect that individual's wish and say no more of them here....

...but this.

"Time it was and what a time it was, it was...
A time of innocence,
A time of confidences.
Long ago, it must be--
I have a photograph.
Preserve your memories.
They're all that's left you."

- Paul Simon, 1968

A Few Giggles For Passover

Sarah Palin, Superstar

Brain Damaged Man "Taken to Vote" By Nursing Home

Purely despicable, if true.

Minnesota resident Jim Stene voted last November -- and thought he was casting his ballot for President Gerald Ford.....

Jim Stene, 35, suffers from anoxic encephalopathy, severe brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. He has lived with the condition since 1987, when, as a 12-year-old boy, he jumped into a river to save the life of his drowning sister, Heather.

... He and other residents of the home were taken to the Crow Wing County auditor's office on Oct. 29 to vote by absentee ballot. Minnesota is among the states that offer early voting by absentee ballot days before Election Day.

This man is as great a hero as any soldier on any battlefield. And somehow I have a funny feeling that he voted for whoever he was told to vote for.

And one guess what party that was.

April 4, 1968. Memphis. Never forget.

Early morning, April 4
Shots ring out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride....

What Really Happens...When We Eat The Rich?

It Will Not End Well.

Per the immortal Bill Whittle:

A Lenten Reflection from Cracked.Com

Always thought that "Cracked" was a lame knockoff of MAD Magazine, but I have to give them credit....

...they gave us an awesome reason to reflect on God's wisdom in this article on how immortality would truly suck.

Literally every powerful and wealthy person on Earth will decide that in your veins pumps the one thing they can't buy: freedom from death. They're not going to stop until they've spent every penny they can spare to see if they can turn your blood and organs into unending life for themselves. Think about the wars that are being fought over oil. The secret to eternal life would be worth far, far more.

So we're not talking about the occasional blood test and urine sample here and there while they let you stay in some five-star facility. It's more like you getting kidnapped and kept in some damp underground shack away from any civilization while they go balls out on your organs E.T.-style.

Get comfortable, because since nobody will know where you are, they can keep you there for as long as they want.

Check 'em out: http://www.cracked.com/article_18708_5-reasons-immortality-would-be-worse-than-death.html

“Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death." - Francis of Assisi

Rutgers Students Snookered by Snooki

Rutgers.

is.

paying.

$32K.

for.

Snooki.

Thirty two grand to hear a tanning booth bunny babble about laundry.

Are you guys sure this isn't an April Fool's joke?

My favorite April Fool's Day Joke--Which Isn't.

I will admit I purely love this story. The short version is that Kremvax - which started as an April Fool's joke in 1984 - may well have saved the world in those dark days of the summer of 1991.

From The Jargon File, a dictionary of geek speak well known in the computer world, via Dictionary.com:

Kremvax /krem-vaks/ (Or kgbvax) Originally, a fictitious Usenet site at the Kremlin, named like the then large number of Usenet VAXen with names of the form 'foovax'. Kremvax was announced on April 1, 1984 in a posting ostensibly originated there by Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko. The posting was actually forged by [Dutch internet pioneer] Piet Beertema as an April Fool's joke. Other fictitious sites mentioned in the hoax were moskvax and kgbvax. This was probably the funniest of the many April Fool's forgeries perpetrated on Usenet (which has negligible security against them), because the notion that Usenet might ever penetrate the Iron Curtain seemed so totally absurd at the time.

In fact, it was only six years later that the first genuine site in Moscow, demos.su, joined Usenet. Some readers needed convincing that the postings from it weren't just another prank. Vadim Antonov, senior programmer at Demos and the major poster from there up to mid-1991, was quite aware of all this, referred to it frequently in his own postings, and at one point twitted some credulous readers by blandly asserting that he *was* a hoax!

Eventually he even arranged to have the domain's gateway site *named* kremvax, thus neatly turning fiction into truth and demonstrating that the hackish sense of humour transcends cultural barriers. Mr. Antonov also contributed some Russian-language material for the Jargon File.

In an even more ironic historical footnote, kremvax became an electronic centre of the anti-communist resistance during the bungled hard-line coup of August 1991. During those three days the Soviet UUCP network centreed on kremvax became the only trustworthy news source for many places within the USSR. Though the sysops were concentrating on internal communications, cross-border postings included immediate transliterations of Boris Yeltsin's decrees condemning the coup and eyewitness reports of the demonstrations in Moscow's streets. In those hours, years of speculation that totalitarianism would prove unable to maintain its grip on politically-loaded information in the age of computer networking were proved devastatingly accurate - and the original kremvax joke became a reality as Yeltsin and the new Russian revolutionaries of "glasnost" and "perestroika" made kremvax one of the timeliest means of their outreach to the West.