NBC interviewed what they thought was a random tourist about the Queen, but doesn't realize the person they are talking to is Evander Holyfield, former world heavyweight boxing champ.

Good job, children.

This is the cover that the bankrupt liberal rag Newsweek should be running next week.  Who cares, though, as no one reads this fifteen page magazine any more, although they might if they would publish covers like this.

Peter Orszag, of all people, states a point that I wholeheartedly agree with.

Privatize the post office.

"The Postal Service faces three problems: First, Congress has not given it the permission it needs to cut costs and raise revenue -- and lawmakers seem unable to approve even modest reforms. Second, its market has been declining for years, as e- mail, electronic payment and other alternatives to traditional mail have grown. Third, the economic slump has caused a further drop-off in mail volumes. [...]

[P]rivatization has become the best path forward, mainly because it would take Congress out of the picture. As New York Times columnist Joe Nocera recently argued, "the problem is that neither the management nor the workers really control the Postal Service. Even though the post office has been self-financed since the 1980s, it remains shackled by Congress, which simply can't bring itself to allow the service to make its own decisions." And Congress won't do so, as long as the post office remains part of the government."

It's all about control.  Congress feels it must maintain it's control over the post office, even if that control is abused through neglect and causes bankruptcy.  They likely figure that they will just shovel tax money at the institution in the last resort, just like they do with everything they ignore or mismanage. 

Trouble is, there might not be tax money left to waste anymore.   

Another option is to simply sell the post office's franchise to some private party, like Federal Express, or  UPS.  Those businesses would immediately determine what services could profitably continue, and which should be jettisoned or changed.  The process would generate revenue for the government, and leave the country with the mail service that they actually would pay for.  Why not do that, and remove the mail issue entirely from government's dead hand?

                                                   Arrgghhh!  One day down.  Four to go.

                  Bring it on, workweek!  I'll eat you right up and spit the bones all over Saturday!!

                                                            Freckles, they are good.

Back at the end of WWII, Detroit was a world leading city in industry, population and culture, as illustrated by the Dodge plant booming above.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Hiroshima was a smoldering ruin after being nuked to put an end to the war the Japanese started.

Fast forward to today.  Having been run since the sixties by the current president's party, the roles are reversed.  In Detroit, the population is down, many parts of the city mimic the devastation of Hiroshima just after the war, and the city government is know far and wide for crime and corruption.

Meanwhile, back in Hiroshima, things couldn't be more different.  A booming vibrant city with it's future ahead of it.   The difference is that in Hiroshima, the people supported a government that wanted to build a city.  In Detroit, after about the mid sixties, the people supported a government that wanted to loot the wealth created by prior generations, and they got it.  Now look at it. 

The lesson for all of us is that the place makes no difference.  The relative wealth or poverty makes little difference.  If the people decide that they want something, they will get it.  If they are basically amoral, as those in Detroit became, it is only a matter of time before the greatest wealth will be gone, and the people will become as poor as their souls.

Detroit is where the president and his party is taking our country today.  We cannot count on being insulated from the madness by the prior success of a way of life and a moral foundation that is disappearing in more and more places in our land.  The end result depends on us, and it depends on our willingness to work hard to keep the people who would ruin us to rule us at bay.  They will never quit, because evil never does quit.  Neither can we.  Keep Detroit's fate in mind this November, and decide if you wish to live in a nationwide Detroit, or in the old, vibrant, booming Detroit.  Hiroshima shows that no matter how bad it is, a better world can rise.

I find this story almost too incredible to believe, but if true, it shows yet again a government simply out of control and completely lawless.

If true, and I emphasize if, since I simply can't believe a government official would authorize this, it is really worse lawlessness than the criminals they are trying to fight.  It is appropriation of property outside the law and without knowledge or approval of the rightful owner, so that the government can use it for highly dangerous purposes. 

Gotta have a clean out of the government for sure after the next election.  For sure.

Victor Davis Hanson knocks one out of the park once again.  I must say that I was down in Tulare (99 south of Kingsburg) a week or so ago, on business, and didn't notice anything particularly wrong with the highway.

The cure for all this, however, is so drastic that it will never really happen here in California, where apparently uneducated citizens voted all by themselves to allow the state to issue the bonds for the high speed rail that now no one but Jerry Brown and the labor unions wants.  When will they ever learn? When the state and all it's cities are finally destitute and bankrupt?

                                                           Mondays, they're like that

Time to take off into another week.

Freckles, they are good.

Yesterday, 70 to 100 thousand Tea Party people filled Cowboy Arena in Arlington Texas to attend Glen Beck's "Restoring Love" event.

  

Did anyone hear about this on the legacy media?  I certainly didn't, and by not reporting this massive turnout, they demonstrate once again that their bias against the Tea Party controls their decisions about what gets air time.

This is especially egregious when their boy has trouble filling a community college gym, and if that isn't a story that has enormous political implications, I don't know what does.

 It tells a lot about who is politically motivated, and who isn't. 

That has to be of great concern to the MSM, and it must force them to recognize, if only to themselves, just how far their influence has fallen.

Spent this Sunday afternoon getting some required ethical training done on the computer, but at the same time baking a giant loaf of my favorite shepherd's bread.  It's a process tailor made for a quiet weekend when you can stick around the house and make the magic happen at the correct pace - slow and carefully.

Here is a pretty good video about bread making that I certainly enjoy, and which well illustrates how really simple the process actually is.  Simple, but very rewarding indeed.

WTF??

Hat tip: Feral Irishman

To impress the infidels with their military prowess, the Taliban just recently release a video that featured this Rambo Wanna-Be firing two heavy machine guns at the same time.

Problem is, Rambo Wanna-Be was later killed attacking an American base.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

Loser.

There is no cure for this much military grade stupid, other than a .223 round between the eyes.

Our future financial armageddon set to music.   All the guilty parties with bit parts.  Kids, don't watch!

And it's not just us Amerikaners that are in deep do-do.

I'm feeling happy, like the creator, in my happy little world.  Bob was one of the good guys.

I like how the skyscrapers disappear into the hazy distance, and you can't really see the ground.  It's life in the air.

Saturday night yuk

Walruses gotta keep in shape too.

Judging by her sour expression, the queen was not amused by the opening ceremonies of the olympics.

She might just agree with this guy's take on the whole thing.

This year's new olympic sport?   Butter eating!  Admit it, that's a way more entertaining sport than badminton.

This year's new olympic sport?

Water Cholo!

Hat tip: Lauraw

                                                                 Saturday open road

                                  But be careful, the open road can become an obsession.

I'll bet it's a bear to adjust the carburator and set the points on this motor.

Tour de France bike crashes. That looks like it would hurt - bad.  Almost as much fun as Nascar crashes.

Check this out.  

The Martian moon Phobos, compared in size to the medium sized French town of Grenoble.

Kinda SMOD like.

Since the Olympics are on, I fondly recall my favorite Olympians.

One of those was respectfully known as The Experiment.

 The all time world champion in Greco Roman wrestling, the most dominant wrestler, literally, since Hercules, I present the amazing Alexsandr Karelin.

The Experiment won every match he entered for 13 straight years, and went six without anyone scoring a single point against him.

Karelin was famous for his reverse body lift, the "Karelin Lift", where facing the opponent who was lying flat on the mat to keep from being thrown, Karelin hoisted his opponents into the air and slammed them violently to the mat. This devastatingly effective maneuver, when properly executed, awarded Karelin 5 points per throw, the maximum awarded in Greco-Roman wrestling. The throw had long been in use by lighter wrestlers but not by heavyweights since the technique required immense strength. Karelin's ability to perform this throw against elite opponents weighing as much as 130 kg was amazing to audiences as well as other participants and observers of the sport.

Asked how he gained his impressive strength, he famously said, "I train every day of my life as they have never trained a day in theirs."

Weighing in at 15 pounds at birth in Siberia, he was one of the biggest babies seen in his Oblast.  Beginning his wrestling career at age 13, everything was going well until two years later when during a match he snapped his femur.  The injury was so horrific that his own mother burned his wrestling gear and forbade him from competing ever again.  But The Experiment was not to be stopped, even by his mamma.  He rehabbed himself by running through the Siberian snow, and tossing a wooden rowboat repeatedly until his hands bled.

Once, in Russia, he bear hugged a fridge he had purchased and carried it up eight flights of stairs to his apartment.  

The Experiment's personal policy was to immediately consent to a drug test whenever anyone asked, to prove his amazing body was his own creation, and not the product of pharmacy.  He never failed a test. 

However, Karelin is no fool.  He has a law degree and a PhD.   He has also been elected to the Russian government by his home region. 

Alexandr Karelin, an amazing athlete.

Freckles, they are good

The Obama administration is beyond parody. 

The announcement that they are going to set up an office of education for black "Amerericans" was apparently spell checked by an affirmative action hire.

Cabin porn

This one is in New Mexico, which has a lot of cool cabins, come to think of it.

Romney zings incredibly boring white guy Brian Williams.

Friday smile.

People: they are sometimes good to have around, even if you are a bear.

Friday yuk, yuk.

Artillery.  I love it.

Three rounds in 20 seconds. Hoorah.

The older I get, the more eccentric I think I'm becoming.

My choice of personal air transportation?

1947 Ercoupe, with the distinctive Liberator bomber tail.

My choice of land transportation (after my Dodge 1500), is the Morgan three wheeler.  Very odd. Very fun.

You are a Taliban soldier in a group moving across the mountains of Afghanistan.

The Marines somehow get wind of your position, but have no nearby assets to strike.

The answer is a record breaking artillery shot, over 22 miles, from a neighboring district, with the valentine of love pictured below. 

Taliban unit destroyed.

Hoorah!

Hat tip, Feral Irishman

Great sentiments from the occupant of the Ted Kennedy seat in Congress.

I've noticed a bit of this lately.

All things considered, blacks and the civil rights culture surrounding them are the most open and prolific purveyors of racism in America. This is an ironic travesty which spits upon the graves of history’s abolitionists and offends all who are committed to a dream of equality under the law and goodwill among men.

Anyone up for a little wooden boat action?

Hong Kong builds itself a 1000 ton gold vault, equivalent to 22% of the storage capacity of Fort Knox.

Wonder what they could be thinking?

The Proposition:  The media are vermin.

The evidence:

The autopilot of ideology charts only one course: when there is a gun-massacre or an act of terror, you blame your political rivals as long as possible and as often as possible because that is what the simplistic fairy tale of your world view demands. You immediately, long before any evidence is in, exculpate your allies, because this is also what your simplistic fairy tale demands.

George Zimmerman, a registered Democrat, is reported as being a “white Hispanic” because Caucasians shooting Negroes in cold blood fits the fairy tale, and the facts do not fit the fairy tale.

When Dr. Amy Bishop shot and killed three colleagues at a faculty meeting, the Left speculated that she was a Tea Partier because that fits the fairy tale, and the facts do not fit the fairy tale. In fact, she was lifelong Democrat and Obama donor.

James Lee, 43, took three hostages at the Discovery Channel’s headquarters in Maryland. The media speculation was that Lee a “climate-change denier” who’d resorted to violence.  . That fits the fairy tale, and the facts do not fit the fairy tale. In fact, he was a radical environmentalist who viewed humans as parasites on the Earth

The census-taker Bill Sparkman in rural Kentucky was supposedly hanged by extremist anti-tax Tea Partiers. Such insanely murderous acts by the peaceful protesters (who clean up after themselves when they gather in public areas) fits the fairy tale. In fact, he hanged himself. The facts do not fit the fairy tale

Mayor Bloomberg immediately speculated that the bomber was someone upset about the president’s new health-care law. The media trumpeted the idea that crazed conservatives had turned to violence. In fact, the perpetrator was Faisal Shahzad, jihadist terrorist. The facts do not fit the fairy tale.

Joe Stack who flew his plane into the IRS in Texas was supposedly a Tea Partier, because according to the fairy tale the ordinary Americans in the Tea Party are insane murdering scum. In fact, he quoted from the Communist Manifesto in his suicide note. But the facts do not fit the fairy tale.

Amidst the debate over the Ground Zero Mosque, Michael Enright stabbed a Muslim cab driver in the neck. It was immediately dubbed an “anti-Muslim stabbing,” with “rising Islamophobia” on the political right to blame. Because the fairy tale is that the Tea Party commit acts of random violence for political ends. In fact, Enright, a left-leaning art student, had worked with a firm that produced a pro-mosque statement.

John Patrick Bedell shot two Pentagon security officers at close range. The media went wild with speculation that a right-wing extremist had reached the end of his rope. Bedell turned out to be a registered Democrat and 9/11 Truther. The facts do not fit the fairy tale.

The Fort Hood shooting is reported as being unrelated to the religious affiliation of the gunman because this fits the fairy tale, and the facts do not fit the fairy tale.

When Congresswoman Giffords was shot, even though this was done by a deranged man with (as far as we know)  Leftwing political views, the rhetoric of the Right was blamed by Paul Krugman, and Sarah Palin was blamed.  By what torturous line of Palin-Derangement-Syndrome suffering stream-of-consciousness the Senator from Alaska is blamed for a shooting in Arizona, I leave for psychiatrists to explain.

Read it all here.

Thanks to Obamacare, a doctor representing the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons told The Daily Caller on Thursday that “physicians have reached a tipping point” under current health care laws, as they cannot both care for their patients and comply with mandated regulations.

We had relatives over to visit this weekend, and since nearly everyone is into photography, and because we needed to get out of the house, we loaded up the truck and hit the road on a photography expedition.

It was great fun, we got to wander around some local back roads, and we scored some nice shots to boot.

The corral on Tonzi Road, also known as the place of the hubcap.

Sam and Sam

My favorite of the angels

                                           Sam, Sam, John and Suzanne at Teresa's Italian

The hole was discovered by chance on images of the dusty slopes of Mars' Pavonis Mons volcano taken by the HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently circling Mars. The hole appears to be an opening to an underground cavern, partly illuminated on the image right. Analysis of this and follow-up images revealed the opening to be about 35 meters across, while the interior shadow angle indicates that the underlying cavern is roughly 20 meters deep. Why there is a circular crater surrounding this hole remains a topic of speculation, as is the full extent of the underlying cavern. Holes such as this are of particular interest because their interior caves are relatively protected from the harsh surface of Mars, making them relatively good candidates to contain Martian life. These pits are therefore prime targets for possible future spacecraft, robots, and even human interplanetary explorers.

This attempted mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado back in April did not make the news, because an armed citizen stopped it immediately.

The to these insane shooters is to make sure someone else is carrying as well, and the shooting is over right away because citizens will protect themselves.

Reason number 1 why Obama has to go in November.

We will never survive four more years of this type of debt, but then again, if he is pushing a Cloward - Piven strategy, that is in fact the plan.

Two British tourists from Salisbury came up to British Columbia on a fishing vacation, and hooked an enormous sturgeon in the Fraser River. 

It was as long as their boat.

Now that is a catch to remember back home in jolly old England.