Schmaltz und Grieben mit Alois, Klaus, Deb und der Lugers

December 2007

12/31/07:

GOODBYE, 2007: I couldn't wait for this year to end.

And no, I haven't forgotten to count my blessings: A happy marriage (something I had waited much of my life for) and the great overarching gift of raw animal health, increasingly rare in a man my age. And there's plenty of other stuff I am thankful for too.

But, in the other mundane details of life, this year has sucked. I'll probably get into some of the reasons later on, if I think they're of any interest to anyone. First and foremost, though: It's time for corporate America to grow a spine and a soul. And this extends everywhere, from our cancerous healthcare industry to the lazy "growth sectors" that have encouraged so much of our illegal immigration. And let's not forget my much-beloved "meeting industry" that has pawned off American manufacturing and technological prowess in favor of expensive catered box lunches, megalithic "human resources" departments, and endless PowerPoint presentations about absolutely nothing.

Ah, yes, I could go on and on. But I'm hoping for a happier New Year for us all. And so I leave you with this lovely little video from James Lileks, which puts me in mind of another thing I am grateful for... the continued health of my old farm dogs Midnight and Whitney, whom I adopted almost four years ago and who are now 15 and 14 years old, respectively. Lileks' Jasper is Midnight's virtual twin. (And never mind the dumb Simpsons song at the end. I guess I'm just happy that James has enough of the child in him to find it amusing.)

С новым годом!

Posted by Alois on

12/29/07:

SO. WHO'S THE REAL FEMINIST? I personally find this nauseating, appalling, and offensive in the extreme. And I hope that the perpetrator(s) burn in hell.

A woman should never be subjected to such treatment simply because she's a woman.

Now: I've been waiting all day to hear a similar condemnation from American feminists. And I'm growing cobwebs while I wait. Tick.... tick.... tick....

Posted by Alois on

12/27/07:

"GOODBYE, CRUEL JEWS": The lunatic left removes the blinders. (Hat tip: Michael Totten)

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BENAZIR BHUTTO, 1953-2007: We always liked the idea of a woman leading a hyper-conservative Islamic nation.

But with that in mind, we'll let Jonathan Foreman say what needs to be said about Bhutto's tragic demise.

While Benazir had plenty of enemies, including jihadis who detested the idea of a woman leader and who were furious at her newly robust pro-Western antiterrorist stance (she had said she would let U.S. troops hunt for Osama bin Laden within Pakistani territory and allow a proper international interrogation of nuclear proliferator A. Q. Khan) every conspiracy theorist in Pakistan and among the Pakistani diaspora will assume that Musharraf or people around him were responsible for the assassination. After all, Musharraf warned against Benazir’s return, predicted havoc if she came back, and didn’t really want to make a deal with her.

On the other hand it may be that a larger section of the Pakistani elite—and the Pakistani military establishment—will finally take the militant threat more seriously: too often in Pakistan the battle against militant extremism is seen as an American fight that Pakistan is involved in only because its forces are paid to do so by Washington.

But even if that is the case, the assassination of Benazir is a tragic development for Pakistan and the region as a whole.

Image credit: AP

Posted by Alois on

DON'T SAY WE NEVER GAVE YOU ANYTHING FOR CHRISTMAS: And yes, you don't need to tell me that it's a couple of days late. But sometimes you just have to wait for the good stuff.

Here's a way-before-Dark-Side-of-the Moon-era Pink Floyd performing "Cymbaline," a song I've always loved (and virtually unknown in the Floyd canon). David Gilmour is in exceptionally fine voice, and the guitar solos are memorable.

And here's Desmond Dekker and the Aces playing "Israelites" on some ancient frug-n'-groove teen TV show. Dekker was arguably the first reggae/ska practitioner to attract notice in the US (I say "arguably" because my son will no doubt point out some group called Snub and the Grubs from rural Jamaica that hosted a party in Louisiana BEFORE the American release of "Israelites," but never mind).

Note the addled white teenagers making merry all over the stage. Fun!

Posted by Alois on

12/26/07:

UND HAPPY HOLIDAYS... from S&G, und Alexxus!

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12/25/07:

THE MORON CLAUSE: First of all, Merry Christmas. Now, down to bidness.

People like this have always given the gun-control lobby wet dreams.

Even though the aforementioned lobby will never be happy until we can't even own a pea-shooter and are completely supine before their proto-Commie gubmint, I would propose throwing the gun-control lobby a bone (gasp! ).

Under my proposed legislation, we would introduce a Moron Clause into the federal requirements for gun ownership.

Look at this cretin's previous conviction record. Under the Moron Clause, he would never be allowed to own a firearm (think of Philip Bosco's Judge Flatt character in Nobody's Fool: "If you arm one moron, you've got to arm them all. It wouldn't be sporting otherwise").

Just imagine this proto-simian paying a visit to his local Wal-Mart: "I'm sorry, sir, but you aren't allowed to buy a gun. Your application bounced under the Federal Moron Clause."

Again, some will accuse me of being overly simplistic. But can you honestly say that this legislation would not encourage some would-be gun owners to clean up their act?

Posted by Alois on

12/21/07:

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: American Indians and the Volvo-'n-Brie Set's assclown stagecraft have always made a particularly noxious mix, since on one hand we're talking about a proud people who could only be subdued (in slow, agonizing stages) by the full military might of the U.S. Government, and on the other hand a bunch of overweening, overeducated bicyclists who are terrified of someone smoking a cigarette. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

And let me just say, before we go on, that we'd come to expect more of Russell Means.

But David Yeagley has pretty much nailed what can happen when Stanford gets into bed with Standing Rock:

So the Lakota are withdrawing from the United States? The Lakota Sioux are 'walking away' from the 150 year-old treaties with the United States government?

Sounds like another grand publicity stunt. Russell Means is speaking for the movement, but, there are apparently no tribal leaders involved, of any Sioux. This is another one of those "white" Indian schemes, behind which white Communist-oriented liberals seek to create racial agitation. They love to use Indians for this kind of stunt. They make their careers off this--off using Indians. They've trained certain Indians to front for them. Well-trained them...

Indians nations are United States nations. More like states. And I despise association with other third world nations. They have nothing to do with American Indians, and they could never have fought and defeated any American Indian tribe. At least not any Plains Indian tribe, nor any of the major Eastern tribes, either. We owe them nothing, not even the time of day. To reach out to them for affirmation is hideous, ahistorical, and is terribly degrading to American Indians. It is the epitome of weakness.

But that's the racism involved in these publicity stunts. Indians are being used by white Leftists, and made into absolute fools. The Indians involved simply take in the money, and really don't care what happens. This is leading in the wrong direction. Furthermore, I repeat, there are no tribal leaders involved in this Lakota thing. This is strictly a publicity stunt for the old AIMsters [AIM=American Indian Movement--ed.], and their activist heirs. This is a disgrace to all American Indian people--especially those trying to accomplish something in the way of self-reliance, a job, economic independence, etc. This holds everyone back--especially in the primitive white areas of the country, like the Dakotas, and the plains states. This kind of thing makes it harder for any real Indians to have any real professional success in the world. This is a bad thing. A very, very bad thing.

Just let everyone remember that it is white people that create these anti-white racist movements. This is the work of white Leftists. Lets not blame Indians for this, in spite of the few that get paid (by white people) to protest.

For Indians, it is only a dance. It is the Ghost Dance. It is a particularly cruel version of it. All this Lakota movement does is suggest a stepped up version of the reservations...

This last stunt does not light a fire under Indians to make them want to live differently than they do. This kind of nonsense makes Indians even more dependent, psychologically. This means they can't participate in America, ever. This destroys all hope. This kills all the natural ambition, the innate aspirations of Indian youth. This is a horrible curse, really. This level of profound discontent is the worst thing that any Indian could promote.

As I said, let's remember that white Leftists, white Commies are behind this, and always have been. I can only hope that reasonable white people understand this. This is not an Indian movement. This is a white political movement, using a few well-paid Indians to front.

Posted by Alois on

DAILY GAAAAAAZ-O-LEEEEEEN! AWARD(S): IT WAS ALREADY LATE FALL AND THE INDIANS ON A REMOTE RESERVATION IN SOUTH DAKOTA ASKED THEIR NEW CHIEF IF THE COMING WINTER WAS GOING TO BE COLD OR MILD.

SINCE HE WAS A CHIEF IN A MODERN SOCIETY HE HAD NEVER BEEN TAUGHT THE OLD SECRETS.

WHEN HE LOOKED AT THE SKY HE COULDN'T TELL WHAT THE WINTER WAS GOING TO BE LIKE.

NEVERTHELESS, TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE, HE TOLD HIS TRIBE THAT THE WINTER WAS INDEED GOING TO BE COLD AND THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE VILLAGE SHOULD COLLECT FIREWOOD TO BE PREPARED. BUT BEING A PRACTICAL LEADER, AFTER SEVERAL DAYS HE GOT AN IDEA. HE WENT TO THE PHONE BOOTH, CALLED THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND ASKED, "IS THE COMING WINTER GOING TO BE COLD?"

"IT LOOKS LIKE THIS WINTER IS GOING TO BE QUITE COLD," THE METEOROLOGIST AT THE WEATHER SERVICE RESPONDED.

SO THE CHIEF WENT BACK TO HIS PEOPLE AND TOLD THEM TO COLLECT EVEN MORE FIREWOOD IN ORDER TO BE PREPARED.

A WEEK LATER HE CALLED THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AGAIN. "DOES IT STILL LOOK LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE A VERY COLD WINTER?"

"YES," THE MAN AT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AGAIN REPLIED, "IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY COLD WINTER."

THE CHIEF AGAIN WENT BACK TO HIS PEOPLE AND ORDERED THEM TO COLLECT EVERY SCRAP OF FIREWOOD THEY COULD FIND.

TWO WEEKS LATER THE CHIEF CALLED THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AGAIN.

"ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT THE WINTER IS GOING TO BE VERY COLD?"

"ABSOLUTELY," THE MAN REPLIED. "IT'S LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE ONE OF THE COLDEST WINTERS WE'VE EVER SEEN."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE?" THE CHIEF ASKED.

THE WEATHERMAN REPLIED, "THE INDIANS ARE COLLECTING FIREWOOD LIKE CRAZY." (Hat tip: JoAnn)

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was a vocal atheist and a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.' The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God. I'm still waiting.' It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and delivered a crushing roundhouse right, knocking the professor off the platform and rendering him senseless.

The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, 'What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do that?' The Marine calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid shit and act like an asshole. So, He sent me.'
(Hat tip: Pat)

Posted by Alois on

12/19/07:

GIRL IN A WINDOW... on a cold December day.

Posted by Alois on