Orange County Fire Authority Gearing Up for the Wind Event

Things could get pretty busy for firefighters in the next 36 hours:

Orange County firefighters are increasing staff and patrols in anticipation of powerful winds that could reach 65 mph, bringing a red-flag fire warning and potentially causing property damage.

Trees or power lines could be downed and hazards raised for drivers as the winds begin to kick up Wednesday night, the National Weather Service says.

The winds should hit their peak Thursday morning, with another, less powerful peak Friday morning.

The Orange County Fire Authority will staff one helicopter for 24 hours, add a fourth engine on fire calls to watch for sparks spread by winds, and place one engine crew on 24-hour duty during the wind event, said spokesman Mark Stone.

“We’re up-staffing,” he said. “The bottom line is we don’t want to get caught behind the eight ball on this one.”

Fire-watch volunteers also will fan out into the county’s wild lands to discourage firebugs and watch for ignitions.

A red-flag warning was issued by the Weather Service from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 3 p.m. Friday, one of three separate alerts called by the agency because of the expected winds.

A red-flag means “explosive fire-growth potential” is expected, when humidity drops to 15 percent and sustained winds rise to 25 mph or higher, gusts to 35.

You can listen to fire dispatches from the OCFA and other Orange County agencies here.

There Won't Be Any Babies in a Manger At This Christmas Event

The unholy alliance between Democrats and Planned Parenthood continues in Houston:

Democrats in Houston have decided on a location for their annual Christmas party and have decided to hold it at a local Houston Planned Parenthood facility.

The women’s auxillary of the Harris County Democratic Party will hold their politically correct-named “Holiday Party” on December 8 at the late-term abortion business Planned Parenthood runs in the southeast party of Houston that has gained national attention and controversy.

Now that I think about it, there won't be any Wise Men either.

A New Reality Show About Mission Trips

Hard to say how well this will work out:

Houston megachurch leader Joel Osteen will soon be coming to a television near you -- this time as the star of his own reality show.

The preacher and his family have partnered with "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett for a show about Lakewood Church's mission trips, the Associated Press reports. The show, which will focus on "people helping people," is expected to air some time in 2012.

Osteen has reportedly been approached for several reality shows in the past, but this one caught his attention, according to the Houston Chronicle.

"We have great respect for Mark and we know that the finished product will not only entertain but will illustrate the generosity and selflessness that is a hallmark of the American people," Osteen told "Entertainment Tonight".

Don Iloff, Lakewood spokesperson, told the Chronicle that the program will have a feel-good premise similar to that of reality shows such as "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

At least one expert says he's not surprised by the pastor's new endeavor.

"In an era where media exposure is the Holy Grail, this is to be expected," Richard Flory, an expert at the American Christianity at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC told the Chronicle.

Joel Osteen is not exactly hurting for media exposure, so I'm not sure Flory's comments make any real sense. This is a guy who reaches 200 million homes a week with his church service broadcasts.

If this show is uplifting and shows people helping people, great. I'm not sure it will attract that much of an audience in today's TV climate, but it can't hurt.

#OccupyLA Photo Essay

Leave it to the British press to offer some very revealing photos of the "peaceful" eviction of #OccupyLA. Check them out here.

#OccupyWallStreet Video of the Day

The occupiers get smacked down by the real 99%:

Christmas Cartoon of the Day

If Santa had Facebook (larger version here):

Eric Holder Thinks "Fast and Furious" Is a Scandal Only Because the Media Reported It

If a scandal occurs in the White House and somebody reports it, is it the media's fault?

Holder's been smoldering about the Daily Caller -- Speaking Truth to Power is good, as long as the power is in the hands of a Republican. Otherwise, knock it off. That's what TheDC's Neil Munro and Matthew Boyle learned yesterday:

"Embattled Attorney General Eric Holder today demanded The Daily Caller stop publishing articles about the growing calls in Congress for his resignation because of the failed Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking program. As Holder's aide was escorting the attorney general offstage following his remarks Tuesday afternoon at the White House, a Daily Caller reporter introduced himself and shook Holder's hand. The reporter asked him for a response to the growing chorus of federal legislators demanding his resignation. Holder stepped towards the exit, then turned around, stepped back toward the reporter, and sternly said, 'You guys need to — you need to stop this. It's not an organic thing that's just happening. You guys are behind it.'"

Which he said while literally finger-pointing.

It's not fair to hold public officials accountable for their actions, or lack of actions, even though they're Democrats. It hurts their feelings and you should be ashamed of yourself. Holder didn't say, "Why can't you guys be more like MSNBC?", but it was implied.

Hey, if he wants to give us credit for nudging him toward the door... Thanks!

They're getting under Holder's skin, that's for sure. He needs to go.

Hamburgler Defeats the San Francisco Supervisors

The politicians who thought they were so smart by banning Happy Meal toys may actually have created a law that will guarantee the sales of even more Happy Meals:

It turns out San Francisco has not entirely vanquished the Happy Meal as we know it. Come Dec. 1, you can still buy the Happy Meal. But it doesn't come with a toy. For that, you'll have to pay an extra 10 cents.

Huh. That hardly seems to have solved the problem (though adults and children purchasing unhealthy food can at least take solace that the 10 cents is going to Ronald McDonald House charities). But it actually gets worse from here. Thanks to Supervisor Eric Mar's much-ballyhooed new law, parents browbeaten into supplementing their preteens' Happy Meal toy collections are now mandated to buy the Happy Meals.

Today and tomorrow mark the last days that put-upon parents can satiate their youngsters by simply throwing down $2.18 for a Happy Meal toy. But, thanks to the new law taking effect on Dec. 1, this is no longer permitted. Now, in order to have the privilege of making a 10-cent charitable donation in exchange for the toy, you must buy the Happy Meal. Hilariously, it appears Mar et al., in their desire to keep McDonald's from selling grease and fat to kids with the lure of a toy have now actually incentivized the purchase of that grease and fat -- when, beforehand, a put-upon parent could get out cheaper and healthier with just the damn toy.

​Messages for Mar and his legislative aides -- who are, at this moment, in a Board of Supervisors meeting -- have not yet been returned.

In any event, it appears the fast food chain's sharpie lawyers have McTopped San Francisco's legislators. Count this city's lawmakers as the latest among the billions and billions served.

Heh, I love it when smarmy liberal politicians step in it like this.

Major Wind Event for Southern California

From the OC Register:

Wednesday begins with partly cloudy skies and highs of 69 to 74 inland, 63 to 68 on the coast, with only light winds.

Then the winds kick up as night falls. At first the approaching low-pressure system should bring 15 to 25 mph winds with gusts to 35 mph from the east, moving to the northeast and gusting to 45 mph overnight.

On Thursday morning the gusts could rise to 60 mph in lowland areas. Bump that up as high as 80 mph below the canyons and passes of the Santa Ana Mountains.

This will be the strongest of the season so far. Although some of the previous events have caused strong winds near the canyon passes, we haven't had anything significant in my neck of Orange County. That may change this time.

 I've seen winds as high as 60+ at our house during a couple of really bad Santa Anas. One day I was looking out the upstairs window when the top half of a eucalyptus tree broke off, sailed through the air, and landed in the street. Just a few minutes before there had been kids out there, but things had gotten so crazy everyone had come in.

Let's just hope we don't end up with major fires.  The nuts out there may take this as a chance to start something.

LA Unplugs the Toilet and Flushes #OccupyLA Away

First, what's wrong with this LA Times headline?

Occupy L.A.: More than 200 arrested in peaceful sweep

If 200 people had to be arrested, it was not peaceful. If this was peaceful, how would you describe hundreds of Tea Party rallies at which no one was arrested?  Is there a word for that the LA Times doesn't know?

As I was going to bed last night the cops were preparing to move on the encampment. Fortunately, they didn't back down this time:

Without resorting to large-scale violence, Los Angeles police successfully cleared out the Occupy L.A. camp at City Hall early Wednesday, managing to avoid fierce confrontations that marred sweeps in Oakland and New York.

Hundreds of police officers swarmed the large camp at City Hall’s south lawn shortly after midnight, encircling the demonstrators in less than 10 minutes. By quickly establishing a perimeter, police managed to take control of the scene in the first moments of engagement.

No tear gas was used in the shutdown of what was the nation's largest remaining Occupy camp. More than 200 people were arrested in the operation that involved 1,400 officers.

“They were like storm troopers. They encircled us,” said protester Cheryl Aichele, who was sitting in the middle of the south lawn in a circle with other protesters when police first entered the camp.

The protesters largely kept to their promise of confronting the police peacefully. While some taunted police verbally and a few rocks were thrown, most protesters either left on their own or nonviolently submitted to arrest, with many going limp and forcing the police to carry them out.

Hey LA Times, you might want to get a new dictionary. I don't think "peaceful" means what you think it means If your staff acted that way in an editorial meeting, would you call it "peaceful"?

The scenes I'm seeing on TV this morning are of a park that has been completely trashed. The grass has been dead for weeks, and they'll be carting off multiple truckloads of debris before they can even see the dirt again. The dispersed losers are now wandering around downtown claiming victory and saying they can "occupy" anything they want. Meanwhile, the city is installing a fence around the park which means nobody, even the good citizens of LA, will be able to use that area until it's been rehabilitated (and fumigated)>

Political Thought For the Day

From Ken Gardner:

What I know today: no incumbent POTUS after FDR has been re-elected with unemployment above 7.2% or Gallup JA at 43% or lower this late.

JA = Job Approval.  Obama's Job Approval has now sunk below Jimmy Carter's.  That's bad...for Obama.

However, it's still his race to lose, and given the weak GOP field, he has to like his chances.

Media Headline of the Day

Too funny:

Joy Behar Asks Ann Coulter ‘Do U Think It’s a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy’ My Show Got Canceled?'

Uh...no. It's actually a conspiracy by both sides of the political aisle of people who don't like bad TV hosted by harpies.

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Tattoo Artist Scorned

Tatt-poo:

A FURIOUS woman is suing her ex-boyfriend after he tattooed a steaming poo on her back.

Rossie Brovent wants £60,000 in damages from Ryan Fitzjerald.

Rossie, from Dayton, Ohio, US, wanted a scene from the Narnia trilogy inked on her back.

Instead she was left with a pile of excrement with flies buzzing around it.

Tattoo artist Ryan turned rogue after discovering that Rossie had cheated on him with his best friend.

Rossie originally tried to have her ex-lover charged with assault but she had signed a consent form agreeing the tattoo design was "at the artist's discretion".

She said: "He tricked me by drinking a bottle of cheap wine with me and doing tequila shots before I signed it and got the tattoo.

"Actually I was passed out for most of the time, and woke up to this horrible image on my back."

Just wouldn't be complete without the photo:

Weekly KHND Interview Podcast/Video

Something new this week - the in-studio video from my weekly interview with KHND Radio.  My part of the broadcast starts at 18:32, so if you wish you can skip ahead to that point and listen in.

I also did an interview today on Voice of Russia America radio, an English language broadcast in New York City and Washington D.C.  I was on a panel with a constitutional activist from New York and the media guy for #OccupyOakland.  That was different.    We were discussing the increased costs to municipal governments due to #Occupy protests.  It's clear the guy from Oakland has a basic misunderstanding of what the First Amendment really means.  He seemed to think that anything is okay in the name of protest and assembly, but it's not.  The First Amendment does not supersede the rights of property owners, whether public or private, to control the activities on their property.
I also made the point that permit fees and security bonds, often required for Tea Party gatherings, have never been required for #Occupy protests.  They've been getting a free ride at taxpayer expense.  That has to stop.

#OccupyWallStreet Video of the Day

The capitalists fight back with a clever ad mocking the #Occupy movement:

Maybe Der Wienerschnitzel Isn't the Best Place for My Credit Union to Put Their ATMs

Back in March of 2009 the ATM belonging to my credit union was stolen from a Der Wienerschnitzel fast food joint near my house.  It's happened again to one of my credit union's machines, this time in Anaheim:

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying two men suspected of taking an ATM from a Wienerschnitzel restaurant.

The burglary happened about 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 22 when two men pried open the drive-thru window of the restaurant on the 2800 block of West La Palma Avenue, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said.

The men then covered the surveillance cameras with napkins from the restaurant and used a pallet jack to take the automated teller machine from Schools First Federal Credit Union, which contained thousands of dollars, Dunn said.

"The pallet jack was left at the scene and (detectives) believe it was used to transport the ATM machine from inside the restaurant to a possible waiting vehicle," Dunn said.

I think they may need to rethink their ATM marketing strategy.

Sports Headline of the Day

From the OC Register:

Is Vin Scully the greatest announcer ever?

Yes.

Political Cartoon of the Day

From the OC Register:

Auto Video of the Day

What happens when two Corvette owners meet at a red light?  Countdown to stupidity (language warning):

Democrats Are All About Identity Politics, Not About Solving Problems

Jim Geraghty has a spot on analysis of today's Democrat party:

Ah, but look, today’s Democratic party isn’t really about addressing economic opportunity or even dealing with America’s most pressing problems – for starters, many Democrats are not persuaded in the slightest that the annual deficit, accumulating debt, and ticking time bomb of entitlements are pressing problems at all. If Democrats really expected that electing Obama would solve problems, they would be angrier with him than we are. No, for most Democrats, their political party is about a cultural identity. That identity is heavily based on not being one of those people, i.e., Republicans or conservatives.

As far as I can tell, there are three inviolate principles in the modern Democratic Party:

• Any form of consensual sexual behavior is to be accepted if not celebrated; with that central belief comes the policy abortion on demand for any woman at any age free from parental consent for minors; free contraceptives in schools, gay marriage, and the insistence that Bill Clinton’s lying under oath about Monica Lewinsky didn’t count because it was about sex. Complaining about explicit sexual content in pop culture reaching an audience that isn’t ready for it – i.e., Tipper Gore in the 1980s – is the sign of the square and the prude. As no less an expert political philosopher than Meghan McCain told us, “the GOP doesn’t understand sex” and has “an unhealthy attitude about sex and desire.” (Republicans are supposedly repressed and sexless, even though they generally have more children.)
• America is a deeply racist country, even though you have to look far and wide to find anyone who openly expresses the belief that one race is superior to others. Everybody recoils when Imus says something snide and obnoxious about the Rutgers womens’ basketball team. Racism is never found in the central tenet of Affirmative Action, that minorities must be judged by a lower standard, or in the until-recently all-white lineup of MSNBC or the claims that Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain are Uncle Toms or in the career of Robert Byrd. The fundamental belief of the Democratic Party is that racism remains a serious problem in America today and that the problem is found entirely in the GOP.
• Credentials are to be respected, and any scoffing or skepticism at, say, the Ivy Leagues is a sign of anti-intellectualism, ignorance, jealousy and insecurity. Those who go there are indeed the best and the brightest, and undergraduate and graduatedegrees from those schools are key indicators of one’s intelligence, good judgment, and overall character. The success of dropouts like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg are strange anomalies, and no serious reevaluation of the higher education system is needed. As Rush Limbaugh observed, Bill Clinton said he wanted a cabinet that “looked like America” and declared he had achieved it after assembling a group that was almost entirely Ivy League-educated lawyers.

Everything else is negotiable. For a while, it appeared that Democrats were organizing themselves around the principle that almost every dispute with every other nation and group can be resolved through “tough, smart diplomacy,” but now President Obama has started killing foreigners left and right and not too many Democrats complain at all. Obama even used a drone to kill an American citizen, Anwar al-Alwaki, with nary a peep. Don’t get me wrong, Alwaki had it coming, but this is precisely the sort of don’t-bother-me-with-legal-details-I’m-fighting-a-war philosophy that Democrats spent seven years denouncing.

You think the Democratic Party cares about wealth? Come on. In their minds, George Soros spending his money to help out his political views is noble, but the Koch Brothers are evil incarnate. Higher taxes are good, but no one will complain if Tim Geithner or Charlie Rangel cut corners on paying them. One might be tempted to argue that the righteousness of unions represent an inviolate principle to Democrats, but in New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trimming here and there and living to tell the tale.

No, the party really is about identity politics now; us vs. them. And everybody knows which side they’re on.

Yep, that's all it is. Solving problems doesn't advance the cause of identity politics.

Democrats would rather have an issue to demagogue than a solution to a long-standing problem. They think they have a better chance of obtaining power by dividing people against each other.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored Lights

That's a tongue-in-cheek organization I started on Facebook a few years ago to express my general distaste for all-white Christmas light displays.  Even the New York Times has picked up on the dispute between the white lightists and the folks like me who prefer lights of color:

Back in 2005, after the first of their children was born, Liz McCarthy saw a strange obsession take hold of her husband, Andrew. He began festooning more and more of their home in the Bronx with brightly colored Christmas lights, claiming he was “doing it for the kids.” Every surface became his canvas: the bushes and flower beds, the 40-foot evergreen on their lawn, their siding, their eaves, their mantel, their kitchen.

But Mrs. McCarthy wanted white lights, not unlike those that twinkled gracefully from the nearby Throgs Neck Bridge. She finally persuaded her husband this year to agree to a truce. They would alternate the color of the Christmas tree lights each year.

“It’s almost like this recurring fight; he’s become so neurotic about having colored lights,” Mrs. McCarthy, 36, said. “The tree this year is white lights. It was my turn.”

And so it goes, a battle played out in living rooms across the city and the nation at this time of year: White lights or colored lights?

These divisions often run deep, adding to holiday stresses in a season notorious for bringing family fissures to the fore. To Mrs. McCarthy, having a Christmas tree with white lights meant creating almost a room of her own in a house overrun by riotous color. To her in-laws on Long Island, in the grip of the same debate, the differences are defined by taste. To a New Jersey couple in their 70s, the Codringtons, the divergence of opinions has cultural roots.

The origins of the white-versus-colored holiday light debate are unclear. Electric Christmas lights began replacing the fire-hazardous candles in the early 1900s, and their popularity increased greatly in the wave of giddy consumption that defined the post-World War II years.

Somewhere along the way, white lights came to represent a sort of sophistication; one need only behold the acres of white-only lights blanketing Fifth Avenue in recent years. (Rockefeller Center has it both ways: the big tree is drenched with multicolored lights, but the smaller ones surrounding it have white.)

Of the hundreds of thousands of strings of lights sold each year by one leading vendor, Christmas Lights Etc. of Georgia, 70 percent are white.

Not every style maven is happy about this. Simon Doonan, the creative director of Barneys New York — a place that would seem to suggest sophistication — said the notion that white lights implied good taste was “about a quarter-century out of date.”

“It’s very ’80s ‘Dynasty,’ ” Mr. Doonan wrote in an e-mail, referring to the evening soap opera. “People who are pathological about white lights are usually the same people who stuff their TV into an armoire and try to pretend they don’t have one.” Colored lights, by contrast, Mr. Doonan said, are “beautiful and magical” and carnival-like.

“When I pass a suburban house festooned with twinkly colored fairy lights,” Mr. Doonan wrote, “I always scream ‘Bravo’ out of the window of my car.”

If you support the end of discrimination against lights of color you can join my Facebook group here.

The Thrill is Gone

Nothing better demonstrates the lack of enthusiasm for Obama these days than this story from Scranton, PA:

When Hillary Clinton was on the campaign trail in 2008 and spoke at Scranton High School, the line to get tickets a few days before her appearance stretched about 1,000 people long.

Monday's line to grab the available free tickets to President Barack Obama's speech Wednesday was noticeably shorter — about 225 people were waiting when the doors opened for the distribution.

"It's a little disappointing to see that," said Cathy Kneeland, 64, of Scranton, who showed up more than three hours early to stand in line and found herself second. "You would think more people would want to see the president speak."

By the end of the day, all 1,000 available tickets were distributed.

What do you bet the unions were burning up the phones to get their people down there and pick up those tickets?

I'll bet if you told the folks in Scranton that the cast of The Office, which is supposedly based in Scranton, were going to make an appearance they would have sold that out in about 10 minutes.

Barney Frank Now Free to Be The Complete Jerk He Really Is

During his retirement announcement Rep. Barney Frank said he'd no longer have to be nice to people he didn't like.  He's off and running with his appearance this morning on The Today Show:

Barney Frank lashed out against the Today Show's Savannah Guthrie this morning for asking 'negative questions' during an interview about his recent retirement announcement.

Frank took issue with Guthrie for suggesting he was retiring becuase of redistricting in his district, and seethed at a seemingly innocent question about whether Democrats could win back the House of Representatives in the next election.

"I wish we could talk substance sometimes in the media." Frank blustered, "I know that's against the rules. I'd like to talk about public policy. I regret that we can't."

When asked about the partisan tone in Washington, Frank further berated the Today Show host.

"You manage to ask all sort of negative questions. I understand that's the media's current role. It didn't used to be that way. That's part of the reasons for the low approval. It's gotcha this and gotcha that, it's gotcha journalism and gotcha politics an it does lessen our chances to get things done."

When Guthrie asked Frank if he took responsibility for adding to the partisan tone in Washington, he shot back. "Well, congratulations, you're four for four in managing to find a negative approach."

A few more interviews like this and we can be assured that Frank will disappear into the trash heap of history. The media won't want to talk to him, and that may actually be his plan. After all, if any of the mainstream media ever decide to start asking him questions about his role in the collapse of the housing market and the subsequent worldwide financial collapse, things could get dicey for old Bawney. Being ignored by the press should be his ultimate goal.

Obama Campaign Abandons White Working Class Voters

They won in 2008 with them, and now they're trying to figure out how to win by ignoring them:

For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.

All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment -- professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists -- and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic.

This is where #OccupyWallStreet comes into the Obama campaign plans and this is why you saw early support for the movement. It's a collection of all the losers Obama thinks he needs to attract to win next year. Promise minorities that they'll have their every need met by the government, and promise the rich liberals that they'll punish rich people who aren't liberals.  Something for everybody.

Today's Chris Christie Lesson in Government

The New Jersey governor takes it to Obama over the failure of the supercommittee:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ripped President Obama for the failure of the debt supercommittee calling the president "a bystander in the Oval Office" in comments Monday.

“I was angry this weekend, listening to the spin coming out of the administration, about the failure of the supercommittee, and that the president knew it was doomed for failure, so he didn’t get involved. Well then what the hell are we paying you for?” Christie said in Camden, N.J. “It’s doomed for failure so I’m not getting involved? Well, what have you been doing, exactly?”

Christie was contrasting the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements, saying both stemmed from "anger" with government's inability to respond to the financial crisis. But while Christie said "both parties deserve blame for what's going on in Washington, D.C.," he pointed the finger squarely at Obama for failing to strike a budget deal.

“Why the president of the United States refuses to do this is astonishing to me. If he wanted to run for Senate again and just be 1 of a 100, I’m sure he could have gotten reelected over and over again in Illinois,” Christie said. “He’s the one in Washington and he’s got to get something done here. And it’s not good enough just to say, ‘Well, I’ll get it done after the election.’"

Obama never wanted the supercommittee to succeed because that would have meant big entitlement cuts that would have imperiled his election. He had hoped the Dems would shame the GOP into agreeing to immediate tax hikes in exchange for nebulous future spending cuts that would never be enacted. He didn't get that when the GOP thankfully recognized their duty to their constituents and held strong.

Now he owns the budget crisis, and that will be an anchor on his campaign.

American Airlines Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Looks like fuel prices and union woes have taken their toll on America's flagship airline:

American Airlines and its parent company are filing for bankruptcy protection as they try to cut costs and unload massive debt built up by years of high fuel prices and labor struggles. There will no impact on travelers for now.

The nation's third-largest airline also said Tuesday that CEO Gerard Arpey had stepped down and was replaced by company president Thomas W. Horton.

AMR Corp. has continued to lose money while other U.S. airlines returned to profitability in the last two years.

Horton said the board of directors unanimously decided to file for bankruptcy after meeting Monday in New York and again by conference call on Monday night.

American said it would operate normally while it reorganizes in bankruptcy. The airline said it would continue to operate flights, honor tickets and take reservations. It said the AAdvantage frequent-flier program would not be affected.

Horton said, however, that as the company goes through a restructuring it will probably reduce the flight schedule "modestly," with corresponding cuts in jobs.

Obama must be grinning today given that soaring fuel prices and overpaid union workers are both goals of his administration.

I'm glad I cashed in my AA frequent flier miles last year.  Although they claim the program will be unaffected, that's a huge outstanding liability and they're sure to put further restrictions on the program.  I had a heck of a time getting flights for my son using miles (and in fact had to buy some to make it work).  They don't really like it when you use their perks.

Tea Party Complains to City About #Occupy Costs, City Orders Tax Audit...Of Tea Party

Of course they did:

Two weeks after the Richmond Tea Party delivered an invoice to Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones for costs incurred for previous rallies, we received a letter from the City of Richmond formally stating that the city is auditing our Tea Party. Coincidence? This audit is an obvious attempt to intimidate and harass us for standing up against the unfair treatment and discrimination against our Tea Party.

First some back story: as reported on the front page of the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Richmond Tea Party delivered an invoice for charges incurred in our previous three Tax Day rallies at Kanawha Plaza because Mayor Jones chose to allow Occupy Richmond protesters to convene in the same park for two weeks.

The Mayor not only allowed the Occupiers to break the law, but he visited them in the city-owned park. “Jones said that as a ‘child of civil rights’ and protests, he had allowed the group to remain in the park but understands his mayoral responsibility to uphold laws of the city,” reported the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Apparently his mayoral duties included preferential treatment for a group he sympathizes with ideologically at the expense of the taxpayers.

The blog Virginia Right reported that the city provided services such as portable toilets, trash pickup, etc. The incomplete invoices obtained from the city totaled $7,000. This was only a portion of the actual costs to taxpayers because the costs of police, helicopter and incarcerations were not included. Also not accounted for was the 24-hour police protection of the Mayor’s home after the Occupiers moved their camp next door to the Mayor’s house. The Richmond Tea Party, conversely, paid for all services for our rallies, including the police, portable toilets, park fees and permits, amounting to approximately $8,500.

In Los Angeles, had the Tea Party set up camp across from City Hall they would have been run out the first night. OccupyLA has been there for two months, with no permits or fees paid, costing the city millions, and even when a deadline was set the city didn't act against the protesters. It's clear that liberal politicians are essentially wimps who believe that the law need only be enforced against people with whom they disagree.

Planned Parenthood's Christmas Propaganda

Have a tough time when you get together with your relatives at Christmas?  Are they always advocating for silly things like "life".  Planned Parenthood has some advice:

“The holidays are upon us! Going home or getting together with relatives for the holidays is always a stressful time, but if your family members are the type who regularly protest outside the local Planned Parenthood, you know that this holiday is going to be a doozy,” the New York City affiliate of Planned Parenthood explains on its website. “Luckily, we have some tips for surviving those awkward conversations”

The abortion provider offers supporters “8 Easy Steps for Discussing Reproductive Health and Justice at the Holiday Table.” The online cheat-sheet includes such advice as “Avoid bumper speak talk” to steer away from anger-inducing slogans, and “Remember the big picture” to keep the conversation on common goals such as the need for health care. It also advises readers to “Know your facts, but keep the conversation more global.”

“It’s good to clarify misinformation—for example, the misconception that emergency contraception ends a pregnancy—but staying there can cause a fight. Instead, try to clarify, and then transition back to the underlying value of why you believe what you do,” the tip sheet explains.

I'm guessing Planned Parenthood has gift cards you can buy for that special loved one you'd like to abort.

#OccupyWallStreet Cartoon of the Day

From Facebook:

Chevy Volt, The Ford Pinto of Our Time

Back in the 70's the Ford Pinto was a surprisingly popular car...until they started blowing up in rear-end collisions.  Turns out a design flaw made them very susceptible to ruptured fuel tanks even in relatively slow speed collisions.

The Chevy Volt uses a different kind of energy, but it still burns when it gets hot enough:

As promised, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) looked into the safety of lithium batteries after a Chevrolet Volt caught fire back in May. After conducting three different tests two weeks ago, the NHTSA found that the Volt’s battery either caught fire or began to smoke in two out of the three.

General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt underwent several tests in a NHTSA Wisconsin facility earlier this year. On May 12, 2011, it experienced the side-impact crash test. Three weeks later, the plug-in electric vehicle (EV) caught fire while parked in the NHTSA testing center.

The fire, which was fierce enough to burn other vehicles parked nearby, prompted an investigation of the Chevrolet Volt and the safety of lithium batteries.

The NHTSA conducted side-impact crash tests for the Chevrolet Volt on November 16, 17 and 18. After each test, the batteries of the three separate Volts were then rotated 180 degrees. Out of the three tests, two resulted in fire, smoke or sparks while one remained normal.

The November 16 test had normal results, while the November 17 test led to a battery fire one week later and the November 18 test caused the battery to smoke and emit sparks. The battery packs of the three Volts were not drained after any of the crashes.

The results have led to a formal investigation of the safety of the Chevrolet Volt and its lithium battery.

The biggest difference between the Pinto and the Volt? People wanted to buy Pintos. So far few want to buy Volts, and given the problems with the batteries, that number is sure to drop.

Political Thought For the Day

From me, posted on Twitter:

I'm convinced that Obama's legacy will be like Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. He'll be the name of a street in the worst part of town.

Political Cartoon of the Day

From the OC Register:

Political Quote of the Day

From an email sent to Don Surber:

I love Christmas lights. They remind me of the people who voted for Obama. They all hang together; half of them don't work, and the ones that do, aren't that bright.

So true.

The Iconic Christmas Special That Almost Didn't Happen

Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of Charles M. Schulz and his Peanuts comic strip.  I grew up with his work, collected the books (which I still have), and have twice visited the museum built in his memory in Santa Rosa, CA.  Seeing his office reconstructed in the museum is a bit like traveling to a shrine.

His iconic Christmas special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, almost died before it aired because of network fears that a character reciting a Bible verse in a Christmas special would offend a Christian nation.  They also opposed the lack of a laugh track, the use of actual children to voice the characters, as well as the jazz music that accompanied the show.  They were wrong on all counts.

Lee Habeeb writes about the results from that first showing in 1965:

As Charlie Brown sinks into a state of despair trying to find the true meaning of Christmas, Linus quietly saves the day. He walks to center of the stage where the Peanuts characters have gathered, and under a narrow spotlight, quotes the second chapter of the Gospel According to Luke, verses 8 through 14: 

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.

“ . . . And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” Linus concluded.

The scene lasted 51 seconds. When Linus finished up, Charlie Brown realized he did not have to let commercialism ruin his Christmas. With a sense of inspiration and purpose, he picked up his fragile tree and walked out of the auditorium, intending to take it home to decorate and show all who cared to see how it would work in the school play.

When CBS executives saw the final product, they were horrified. They believed the special would be a complete flop. CBS programmers were equally pessimistic, informing the production team, “We will, of course, air it next week, but I’m afraid we won’t be ordering any more.”

The half-hour special aired on Thursday, December 9, 1965, preemptingThe Munsters and following Gilligan’s Island. To the surprise of the executives, 50 percent of the televisions in the United States tuned in to the first broadcast. The cartoon was a critical and commercial hit; it won an Emmy and a Peabody award.

Linus’s recitation was hailed by critic Harriet Van Horne of the New York World-Telegram, who wrote, “Linus’ reading of the story of the Nativity was, quite simply, the dramatic highlight of the season.”

A Charlie Brown Christmas is equaled only perhaps by the 1966 Howthe Grinch Stole Christmas! in its popularity among young and old alike. Thank God the Grinch-like executives at CBS chose to air the special back in 1965 despite their misgivings. If it had been left to their gut instincts, we would have had one less national treasure to cherish come Christmas time.

And here is the moment on screen:

When we visited the museum the last time we watched the entire special again in the museum theater. Still good.  The unedited version is scheduled to air again this year on Thursday, December 15, 8pm Eastern and Pacific, 7pm Central.  Hopefully it won't be bumped by an Obama speech like it was in 2009.  I'll record it again.

Planned Parenthood Quote of the Day

From a 17-year old, away from home and afraid she was pregnant, who was sent at her parent's suggestion to Planned Parenthood to get help with her pregnancy test and prenatal care:

The same day I called them and told them that I had a blood test and it confirmed pregnancy, and I needed to see if I could see a doctor about prenatal care and what I could and couldn't do, and what would keep the baby healthy. They then told me that unless I had a sexually transmitted disease or wanted an abortion that they could no longer help me. I said so y'all do not help pregnant women? They told me no that they didn't have doctors for pregnant women.

The whole story is here - read it all. Planned Parenthood is not in the business of planning parenthood, they're in the business of ending it.

Media Bias Photo of the Day

The Time Magazine covers for December 5, 2012 (larger version here).

In case you can't read the title on the U.S. version, it says "Why Anxiety is Good For You".  Nothing like trying to make America think all of our Obama-caused troubles are good for us.

For All Your Cyber Monday Shopping Needs...

Please start your Amazon.com shopping via the banners at the top of this blog. Your purchases won't cost a dime more, and a portion will go to support this blog.

Bawney Fwank's to Retire In Order to Spend More Time With His Boyfriends

And he can look back on a career that included multiplying the National Debt and destroying the housing market.

(CNN) - Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, a 16-term Democrat, will announce Monday he does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, according to a statement from Frank's office.

You can also credit him with the Dodd-Frank banking regulations that are making everything we do more expensive without adding any value to our lives. He refused to allow reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...or even an investigation in the agency's practices... and gave us the housing bubble and subsequent collapse. My house is worth about 40% of what it was a few years ago thanks to the efforts of Frank and his Democrat colleagues.

He was a disaster and the country will be better off without him.

Atheism, the De Facto Religion That Demands It Not Be Offended

You think radical Islamists are intolerant of other beliefs?  Try putting a Santa Claus on public property and see what happens (from the Washington Times):

Atheists must be the most fragile peaches in the basket. They’re always getting bruised by the slightest exposure to public displays that remind them of Christmas, God, the Ten Commandments or, worst of all, Jesus. ...

Driving the whole mess is the growing fear Not to Offend. The war on Christmas, part of the ongoing trend to eradicate anything Christian in the public square, is also driven by a profound misreading of the First Amendment, which says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

To the ACLU and other pro-atheist groups, that means the government must be hostile to anything that offends atheists. That makes atheism the de facto official religion, something the founders went out of their way to prevent.

Genuine conflicts do arise, and the courts have found ways to keep religiously themed items legal on public property - as long as they fulfill a secular purpose. In 1984, the Supreme Court in Lynch v. Donnelly ruled that the presence of a creche amid other seasonal displays - a Santa Claus house, a Christmas tree and a “Seasons Greetings” banner - erected by the city of Pawtucket, R.I., was not an unconstitutional establishment of religion.

The secular purpose? Government was acknowledging the cultural significance of a traditional holiday celebrated by the vast majority of Americans. In what became the “reindeer test,” the court said that religious elements are OK if secular elements are present. So if you dust off a Bambi, put a red nose on it and place it next to the baby Jesus, all is right with the world. Previous generations didn’t need this kind of “cover,” but we’re in a different place now.

The court also noted, “The Constitution does not require complete separation of church and state; it affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any.”

The definition of "religion" has now been taken to include pagan or secular symbols like Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or anything else that might remind someone of a certain holiday that occurs near the Winter Solstice, even if the symbols themselves have no religious connotation at all.

Atheists are terribly delicate.

#OccupyWallStreet Quote of the Day

From me, yesterday afternoon, regarding the order from the City of Los Angeles to vacate the #OccupyLA camp:

My guess is if things actually start to get ugly down there the city will fold like a cheap suit. I'm guessing the Occupiers will still be there in the morning.

Sure enough, the #OccupyLA encampment is still there this morning, almost seven hours after the deadline imposed by the cty. There are still tents in place and losers with their signs and chants. They still haven't evicted the morons from the park across from City Hall.  Although the LAPD put on a display of force, they're apparently a paper tiger...at last at this point.  They're not being taken seriously.

This is one of those days when I really miss Chief Daryl Gates.

Maybe Obama Doesn't Really Want to Win

Sometimes I wonder.  He doesn't really seem to like the hard parts of the job, just the perks.  He clearly enjoys campaigning more than governing.  I wonder if he might be thinking it would be better to lose and play the victim for the rest of his life:

“Over the last decade, we became a country that relied too much on what we bought and consumed.”

- President Obama, Nov. 19, 2011

“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.”

- President Carter, July 15, 1979

There are only two ways to look at the Obama re-election campaign right now: Either the upstart candidate who stunned the world when he defeated the Clinton machine to capture the Democratic nomination three years ago has lost every bit of that massive mojo, or the bruised and battered president, after three years in office, just doesn’t want another spin in the Oval Office.

How else to explain the nonstop missteps, the stammering and stuttering campaign, not to mention the brazen attacks on American voters, who, he has said, have “fallen behind,” lost their “ambition and imagination,” gotten “lazy” and “a bit soft” - this is a guy seeking the support of America?!

For the past 36 months, Americans have hoped for the best. But it hasn’t turned out that way. In fact, some argue that Mr. Obama actually made the economy worse - the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week that his 2009 stimulus package may have sustained as few as 700,000 jobs at its peak and that over the long run it will be a net drag on the economy.

But then, this. The president, traveling the country purportedly to look for votes in 2012, decided to lecture the American people on their shortcomings: fat, lazy, stupid. And now, he’s channeling - of all people - Jimmy Carter.

There are certainly plenty of comparisons to the Carter years. Unfortunately, I don't see a Reagan on the horizon who can unify the electorate against him.

More Fun for the LAPD - #OccupyLA and #OccupySF to Join Moron Armies

This tweet means things may get interesting:

@EileenLeft: #OccupySF has canceled General Assembly because .... #Occupiers are driving to LA to be there before Midnight

I hope they left early, because being the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend traffic will be heavy coming south into Los Angeles. I wouldn't want them to miss their share of pepper spray and batons.

Get The Popcorn Ready, #OccupyLA Is Supposed to Vacate Tonight

Some will go, and some will fight.  The real question is what will the LAPD and city do when faced with actual opposition?

Despite a fast-approaching deadline set by the mayor and police chief, very few of the anti-Wall Street protesters from Occupy Los Angeles had begun breaking down their tents Saturday on the City Hall lawn -- and most said they didn't intend to.

The Occupy LA encampment was abuzz with activity, but nearly all of it was aimed at how to deal with authorities come Monday's 12:01 a.m. deadline.

Some handed out signs mocked up to look like the city's notices to vacate, advertising a Monday morning "eviction block party."

Dozens attended a teach-in on resistance tactics, including how stay safe in the face of rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and pepper spray.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Friday that despite his sympathy for the protesters' cause, it was time for the camp of nearly 500 tents to leave for the sake of public health and safety.

The mayor said the movement is at a "crossroads," and it must "move from holding a particular patch of park to spreading the message of economic justice."

But occupiers did not intend to give up their patch of park too easily.

Will Picard, who sat Saturday in a tent amid his artwork with a "notice of eviction" sign posted outside, said the main organizers and most occupiers he knows intend to stay.

"Their plan is to resist the closure of this encampment and if that means getting arrested so be it," Picard said. "I think they just want to make the police tear it down rather than tear it down themselves."

My guess is if things actually start to get ugly down there the city will fold like a cheap suit. I'm guessing the Occupiers will still be there in the morning.

Political Cartoon of the Day

h/t Don Surber:

Newt Wins New Hampshire Union-Leader Endorsement

Newt Gingrich is having a good day:

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich received the endorsement of the influential editorial board of the New Hampshire Union Leader on Sunday, providing another boost to his surging campaign.

The endorsement gives the former House Speaker additional momentum after a month which has seen him vault to the top of national GOP polls.

"We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing," said the editorial by publisher Joseph W. McQuaid.

"A lot of candidates say they're going to improve Washington. Newt Gingrich has actually done that, and in this race he offers the best shot of doing it again," he added.

This endorsement won't have much effect nationally, but it could serve to undercut Mitt Romney in a state he was expected to win pretty handily.

Political Quote of the Day

From Newt Gingrich, talking about a debate with Obama:

“If he wants to use a TelePrompter, that’s fine… We have to be fair.”

Sort of like Rush's "half my brain tied behind my back... just to make it fair."

Crime Blotter Headline of the Day

'Tis the season:

'Frosty the Snowman' Arrested at Town Parade

Convicted Murderer Mocks Oregon Governor For His Liberal Weakness

A liberal squish gets his comeuppance at the hands of a murderer:

A condemned inmate who was scheduled to be executed next month is slamming Gov. John Kitzhaber for giving him a reprieve, saying the governor didn't have the guts to carry out the execution.

Two-time murderer Gary Haugen had voluntarily given up his legal challenges, saying he wants to be executed in protest of a criminal justice system he views as broken. But Kitzhaber on Tuesday said he won't allow anyone to be executed while he is in office, calling Oregon's death penalty scheme "compromised and inequitable."

But in a telephone interview with the Statesman Journal ( http://stjr.nl/tSY0qo ) on Friday, Haugen mocked Kitzhaber.

"I feel he's a paper cowboy," he said. "He couldn't pull the trigger."

So, governor, how is society better off by keeping this vermin alive?

"Caribou Move"

That's our global warming quote of the day as a herd of caribou feared missing by global warming alarmist have suddenly shown up:

A vast herd of northern caribou that scientists feared had vanished from the face of the Earth has been found, safe and sound — pretty much where aboriginal elders said it would be all along.

“The Beverly herd has not disappeared,” said John Nagy, lead author of a recently published study that has biologists across the North relieved.

Those scientists were shaken by a 2009 survey on the traditional calving grounds of the Beverly herd, which ranges over a huge swath of tundra from northern Saskatchewan to the Arctic coast. A herd that once numbered 276,000 animals seemed to have completely disappeared, the most dramatic and chilling example of a general decline in barren-ground caribou.

[...]

“Many of the community people reported that elders think this is nothing new. Caribou move.”

Why are some supposedly smart people so desperate to be stupid when it comes to global warming?  Because it's never been about saving the planet, it's been about controlling people and money.

#OccupyWallStreet Quote of the Day

For those people feeling sorry for the #UCDavis loons who were pepper-sprayed by the cops, here's what one of the organizers at Davis had to say about the incident:

Well we were protesting together and the riot cops came at us and we linked arms and sat down peacefully to protest their presence on our campus. And then at one point they were – we had encircled them and they were trying to leave and they were trying to clear a path. And so we sat down, linked arms and said that if they wanted to clear the path they would have to go through us. But we were on the ground, you know, heads down and all I could see was people telling me to cover my head, protect myself and put my head down. And the next thing I know we were pepper-sprayed.

As I said at the time, they brought it on themselves. They were looking for a confrontation and they got it. Those police officers who were placed on leave should be immediately reinstated.

Black Friday Headlines of the Day

From Drudge:

Woman pepper sprays other Black Friday shoppers 'to gain an upper hand'...

'Competitive shopping' turns into chaos...

VIDEO: Mayhem over $2 waffle maker...

Two women injured in brawl...

Woman shot, robbed in SC after midnight shopping trip to WALMART...

NC police use pepper spray to break up melee...

GUNFIRE ERUPTS AT MALL
OCCUPY MAIN STREET...

Demonstrators to 'Occupy' Struggling Retailers as They Try Turning Profit...

BEST BUY bans tents outside stores...

Tea Party retaliates with 'BUYcott' Black Friday...

#OccupyWallStreet Photo of the Day

And therein lies the problem:

A GOP Debate Thanksgiving

Courtesy Jimmy Kimmel:

#OccupySantaAna Comes Out of Their Hovels And Embarrasses Themselves

Your protest feel-good story of the day:

The folks from Occupy Orange County might need to work on their delivery if they want to get their message across.

A two minute “flash mob” by members of Occupy’s Santa Ana contingent left some Walmart employees feeling disrespected and confused.

An Occupy protester leads a scripted chant as WalMart customers go about their shopping behind her.

At 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, about 20 protesters gathered near the cash registers at the Walmart at Harbor Boulevard and McFadden Avenue in Santa Ana.

The group began chanting a message intended to convey solidarity with Walmart employees and urging them to skip work on the day after Thanksgiving.

“We believe that it is wrong that the corporation you work for is making you come in to work in the middle of the night when you should be at home with your families,” the group chanted in unison. “It is wrong that their profits soar while you struggle to make ends meet. … We strongly urge you to call in sick on Black Friday.”

The group then marched out of the store chanting “We are the 99 percent.” At least one shopper joined the group and marched out with them, pumping her fist in the air.

Afterward, as the protesters drove away, a handful Walmart employees gathered outside the store’s entrance. One woman called the protest “stupid.” Another said it was “disrespectful.”

A third employee seemed to miss the protesters’ message entirely, thinking they were connected to an effort to unionize workers at the store.

That third employee is probably more right than he or she knows. The Occupy movement has significant union backing and don't think some of these protest are aimed specifically at non-union employers.

More Fall Color

There's not much fall color in Southern California, so it's nice to come north while the trees and vineyards are still aflame.  I took some shots around Rohnert Park and on the campus of Sonoma State University:

Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving Day has always been a day of reflection for me, so I thought I'd bring out some photos I found of celebrations past. These first three are from my first Thanksgiving with my future in-laws, 1986, otherwise known as the "Year My Future Mother-in-Law Tried to Kill Me".

No, she didn't poison my food, she just insisted I eat way too much of it. The pumpkin pie at dessert finished me off and within 30 minutes I was giving it all back. Didn't taste as good coming up as it did going down.

My future bride is the only family member that didn't make it in the pictures.  She was blocked out behind me. That's my mother-in-law on the right.

Those two little kids are my niece and nephew.  She's now a veterinarian and he's a doctoral candidate.

My father-in-law made the best turkey in the world.  The.  Best.  You may notice there are strips of bacon attached to the bird.  The big fight each year was making sure you got some of that bacon.  My job for about 15 years was to help him move the bird from the baking pan to the serving tray, and it took both of us and four big forks to do it.  The thing was so tender it just about fell apart each year during the move.

This next shot is from 1993 and there are some new faces in the crowd - my kids.  My son was only two and my daughter five in this picture.  Sadly, three of the people in this shot are gone now.  Both of my wife's parents and her Aunt Esther are with us no more.  Circle of life, I guess.

We move forward a few years to 1997.  My daughter's older, but the turkey's as good as always.

In 2005 our family tradition was broken a bit when my dad and mom decided to fly the family to Oklahoma as part of their 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration.  We had Thanksgiving at my cousin Linda's home in Edmund along with my sister and her family.

Since then Thanksgiving Day has taken us lots of places. We celebrated at our house in 2007 with my daughter home from college. In 2008 we celebrated in her dorm room at Sonoma State University. 2009 we met the family for a tough first Thanksgiving after my dad died at a local restaurant. Last year it was just me, my wife and son at home. Today will find the four of us at my daughter's apartment in Rohnert Park along with my wife's brother (we're picking my son up from Sacramento State on the way).

Who knows what next year will bring?

Political Cartoon of the Day

Too good to pass up: