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Portrait of an Endangered Specimen

Je Suis Joe’s Bitch
Joe Mekanic damn near fired me last Sunday.  My duty is to document his meanderings accurately, precisely, and on time, nothing more, nothing less, and is that too much to ask?  Damn flaky journalism.  The ONLY detail that saved my skin, ironically, is Joe’s temper.  If he took command of the computer it would end up in the snow outside the computer room window.  With pee on it.
My fist fight with WordPress continues.  Of course WP wins every round, but I’m determined to win the bout.  A rock and a hard place. It may take infinite rounds…..

The bright light in the entire gloomy morass is I’ve come to appreciate the term “idiot”.  It ain’t PC®, but it ain’t as harsh as retard (although I kinda prefer retardo – gives it that latin flavor – so romantic!)
If the word fits, use it……  Retardo Drovo has a nice symmetry to it.

The French Connection
Joe (and I) have long believed that religion is best kept to ones self.  Whether you are a disciple to a faith that worships aliens…………. actually, that’s what all religions do.  Let’s rephrase.  No matter what your “religion” is, how about NOT SHARING.  I know this goes against all progressive ideology, but how about “worshiping” at home in the basement alone?  By yourself.  All by yourself.  We hesitate to include the phrase “or with consenting like minded adults” because that there is the beginning of a mob.  We all know what mobs do.  Shame on you!  Practice your shameful beliefs by your own self, and keep it to yourself all by yourself.  It is fantasy time and means NOTHING.  DO NOT project your “beliefs” onto others, nor force upon them what to believe, nor coerce in any way your religious masturbatory imaginings onto others.  All religion reflects a dirty mind at best, and moribund mind at least.  It may feel good but isn’t productive.  Have we been clear?  Just stop it!
The section on FRANCE in the rant (below) has two short video clips from an interview with the new Charlie Hebdo editor, Gerard Briard.  How refreshing!  Listen carefully to his words.  I did.  C’est domage, je ne parle pas la francais.  Sadly, the best efforts of Madame Levesque and her ilk to teach me were as fruitless as casting your seed upon the ground (go, Onan, go!  And what’s this about your brother’s wife?).  So, I had to read the interpreter’s written words.   Nonetheless, the words are tres magnifique.  There it is, the language of love.
Humor is the best medicine (so says the Reader’s Digest).  Some day I will compare the religions of the world with the products known as “drugs” – i.e. Janism is like Valium: it’s practitioners are in a blissful drowsy relaxed torpor.  In the world of Religion®, Islam is crack cocaine and Varenicline (Chantix) combined: it’s practitioners are wild eyed, irrational, and extremely prone to violence.  Not one iota of humor.
There exist many sources of information regarding the “religion of peace (and terror)”.  I offer Stephen Blanton’s web page, “Beliefs and Practices of Islam”.  This is the graphic from his home page –

Qur’an, Hadith, and Sira  are the body of Islamic documentation.  The friction among Muslim factions stems from interpretations of Sunnah (the practice of the prophet Mohammad), which draw upon oral traditions in Hadith (traditions of the prophet), and Sira (biography of the prophet).  There are many versions of Hadith and Sira wherein lies the conundrum – which are the true documents / traditions?  Combine this with no sense of humor……  Voila!  Modern Muslim 7th Century Dervishness.  Oh, the irony!  Oh, the humanity!  Oh, keep it to yourself and mind your own business.  Behave in public in a secular manner and keep your ugly true nature secret.  Form a band, get a job, become an alcoholic, eat some piggy puffs, see the world through different eyes.  Try and get laid WITHOUT raping someone, be it man, woman, or goat.  Get over yourselves.

Self Help Department (for my kids and others)
Mel Robbins (from TED 2006) insists she can help you get what you want.  She insists it is easy.  Take a look as she tells you “how to stop screwing yourself”:

Joe’s Politics
The “I Side With” website has a quiz that determines your political leaning as a Canadian.  Joe’s results:

If you want to know where you rank on this scale, take the quiz here.

Best Cartoon of the Week
Joe thinks cartoons are the best.  To paraphrase of an old expression: “a picture is worth a thousand laughs”, and thought provoking, too.  The following is the best I’ve seen this week –

 CANADA

Oils Well That Ends….
The Keystone project has now been approved in the U.S. senate and the house of representatives.  Obambilocks has promised to veto.  That’s neither here nor there.

Here is a link to a web page about Keystone and the existing pipeline structure between Canada and the U.S.  As one commenter stated, an excellent summary.
One of the more interesting graphs from the link identifies a glaring motivation behind the tardy approval –

Somebodies are making huge $$$ transporting crude oil via rail across the border.  This is good for the railroad industry, bad for the consumer AND the environment (in terms of cost, risk and risk management).  Once more, with feeling…… GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF BUSINESS!  CRONY CAPITALISM IS A CANCER WHICH KILLS.

 

 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

American Sniper is setting records for box office revenues.  Joe (and I) say brilliant!  I watched the movie and loved every minute (except the doll baby – but on reflection, why would you use a real infant in a movie without it’s consent?).   If you have a problem with winning wars and war movies that show our side in a positive way, do some serious thinking.  In OUR western world, these people are volunteering, and do a job to the best of their ability.  They DID NOT choose to start a war or engage in warlike activity – the political class, the political elite are the source of that commitment.  Chris Kyle is a hero.  A quote from his book –
It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don’t regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn’t save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I’m not naive, and I don’t romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job.
May he rest in peace.
Canada has produced world class snipers.  The longest kill shot in recorded history belongs to Canadian Robert Furlong.  A short video of his accomplishment –

An informative piece of video.  There is a world of ballistics to learn in mastering this craft.  By the way, this record long shot used American bullets.  They are “hotter”.  Ooo-la-la.

Democrats = Liberals
The Hypocrisy of Liberals
Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America :
1. America is capitalist and greedy – yet half of the population is subsidized.
2. Half of the population is subsidized – yet they think they are victims.
3. They think they are victims – yet their representatives run the government.
4. Their representatives run the government – yet the poor keep getting poorer.
5. The poor keep getting poorer – yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about – yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century.
Makes you wonder who is doing the math.
These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Funny how that works. And here’s another one worth considering…
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. But we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money? What’s interesting is the first group “worked for” their money, but the second didn’t.
Think about it…..and Last but not least,
3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII, but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens.
Am I the only one missing something?

 

 

FRANCE

From the land of Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau comes a voice of sanity.  This is Gerard Briard, the new editor (just like the old editor (I hope)) of Charlie Hebdo.  He is speaking to the truth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBkOnurC47o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpDS30a8uo8

Who would have thought?  On reflection, somewhere in the western culture at any given time there must be someone speaking truth to words.  Even in France.  Big turnout for the march.  We all asked  “where is the munificent Mulatto?”  Probably playing golf or imagining another incident with his imaginary son……  WE ARE BETTER OFF WITHOUT HIM.

 

POLITICS, POLITICIANS, WACKJOBBERY, HUMOR, STUPID

 

Corey doesn’t include the leap year days in his calculation, but the laugh meter is still pegged –

My own calculation as of January 20th is 24,059 sit-ups with no abs in sight.  So much for exercise….

 

Dennis Miller is a verbal Michael Ramirez –

What was it that Mensa joke said?  Half the human population is below average in what????

 

 

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, SMART STUFF

Petrichor (That smell after a rain)

MIT scientists have found what they believe to be the mechanism which produces that amazing smell after a rainfall.
It is a very fond memory from my youth.  However, the negative side indicates viruses and bacteria may also be present in the aerosol – depending on the surface (earth) the rain is hitting.
Good old “Mother Nature” once again proving what a loving, nurturing hag she is….

 

 

THE CULTURE (THERE IS ONLY ONE)

 

MUSIC

A few tunes by Steve Earl & friends.  Better with age –

 

PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHERS, SMART STUFF

 

GUNS, GUNNERS, GUNNERY

Joe (and I) believe all women should be armed if they wish, with concealed or open carry as they please.  How to choose?

 

 THE RELIGION OF PEACE (ON US ALL)

Those jolly fun loving Muslims are relentless.  As of this writing, 24,943 deadly terrorist attacks since 9/11.  Not sure if the number is exact?  Review the data here.

 

SUNDAY SERMON

Daniel Dennett in the pulpit again this week with his excellent talk from TED 2002, discussing the implication of “memes” in human culture (meme = information packet with attitude):  Religion is a meme… a collection of memes.  Memes are “alive” and are evolutionary products:

 

WEATHER (OR NOT)

We in Vernon are in the grip of an “old time” winter.  Mild temperatures around the freezing mark.  2 feet + of snow on the ground.  Some sun (halelujah Jesus!) mostly grey, gray, greh, bla, bleh.  Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the skies are not cloudy all day!!!

Until we meet again.
Joe (Chilly) Mekanic
p.s. Ramirez never fails –