A Halloween Poem

See Free Thinke's original poem:
"All Hallows Eve."

Halloween Cats

(With much gratitude to Stogie of Saberpoint for the graphic below)

Back row, from left to right: Cameo, alpha cat of the household and surrogate mother to the new arrival in the basket; and Mysti, still pouting a bit about the new arrival.

In the front: Amber, the sweetest of all torties, born on March 13, 2012, and still in her kittenhood.  She  tears around the house night and day as if possessed.

Enjoy the video below the fold (hat tip to Amusing Bunni's Musings):

Spooky

Not ravens (hat tip to FJ):


Even in the city, an ordinary autumn day seems spooky around this time of year ("Mist," from Duck's Flickr photostream):

People revel in fear and the eerie, particularly at this time of year.

Frankenstorm!

According to the weather reports I've been hearing and reading, Northern Virginia, where I live, will be slammed by Frankenstorm.  Forecasts project Tuesday as the worst day, but heavy rains and high winds will likely arrive earlier.

Consider The Course of Empire

(Click directly on all images to enlarge them)

From 1833-1836, American artist Thomas Cole created the following series of five paintings (oil on canvas). The title of the series is The Course of Empire. The literary source for these paintings was the following verse from Byron's from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:

There is the moral of all human tales;
'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past.
First freedom and then Glory - when that fails,
Wealth, vice, corruption - barbarism at last.
And History, with all her volumes vast,
Hath but one page...

Below are photographs of all five paintings from Thomas Cole's series The Course of Empire:

The first painting, The Savage State, shows the valley from the shore opposite the crag, in the dim light of a dawning stormy day. A hunter clad in skins hastens through the wilderness, pursuing a deer; canoes paddle up the river; on the far shore can be seen a clearing with a cluster of wigwams around a fire, the nucleus of the city that is to be. The visual references are those of Native American life.

Obama Campaign Ad Equates Voting For Obama With Having Sex?

(with a hat tip to Reliapundit of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

The devolving exhibited by the Democratic Party during this election season continues. Trashy, to say the least:

Obama’s Failed Foreign Policy

It should not come as a surprise to anyone that I think US foreign policy is now, and has for a long time, been sophomoric. It is not something that originated with Barack Obama, not by a long shot, but it is also nothing Obama has reconciled his administration to improve upon. Worse, US foreign policy may be an even greater disaster today than at any other time in our post-World War II experience. I believe this because the stakes are much higher than at any other time since 1945.

Respite From Politics

(If you must politics, please keep scrolling)

Enjoy this respite from contentious topics, especially the topic of politics:


Another of Gruntlesnoot's nature videos below the fold.

Last Night's Debate

(Two posts day.  Please scroll down)

Video from NewsBusters below the fold:

Muslims Enraged By Swiss Flag

With thanks to Will for alerting us to Jihad Watch's new venture:


More RealDeal News HERE.

How to make your own animated video HERE.   

Use your freedom of expression while you still have it!

David Axelrod Outdoes Himself (With Music Addendum)

May Axelrod's words undo Obama's chances for re-election!

From Red Alert Politics:

Obama: Broken Record

Demagoguery promises to deliver but does not deliver:

Europe Today?

Check out the symbols in the graphic below (Click directly on the image to enlarge it):

Rational Nation USA has more information.

What Do Benghazi and Fort Hood Have In Common?

(With a hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance)

Connect the dots. Obama is reticent to call a terrorist attack by its correct name: Islamic jihad.  On the other hand, Obama frequently reminds us of how much Islam has contributed to America.

Mona Eltahawy – Again

I have previously posted about Mona Eltahawy and her vandalism of a sign in the New York City Subway.  The Muslim Brotherhood lauded her vandalism.

HERE she is again in a different context, that of her Tweet questioning the recent arrest in New York City of a wannabe jihadist terrorist Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis:

Is this Fed Reserve bomb plot another of those entrapments?

Twitchy has more HERE.

Jihad Watch also has MORE, and many of the comments are particularly interesting.

"Moderate Muslim" Mona Eltahawy, who became a United States citizien in 2011, certainly seems dissatisfied lately with life in the United States.

That Gigantic Sucking Noise …

by Sam Huntington

China has been as busy as a little bee flitting around the globe, making friends, asserting interests in other people’s business, intimidating neighbors, threatening others with their new navy, demanding access to oil reserves that clearly do not belong to them. They are even beginning to establish military advisory groups in some countries, providing arms and munitions to others, and selling modern military equipment to their new friends.

What The Taliban Really Fears

Hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

The story of Malala Yousufzai

TITLE OF THIS BLOG POST CORRECTED: Obama's Rose Garden Speech About Benghazi

LINK.  Also see THIS.

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

A Revealing Meeting: Part Two

(If you must have politics, please keep scrolling)

As I indicated in "A Revealing Meeting: Part One," my former student R doesn't know where to turn and is under intense pressure.  She has been assigned an impossible task.  Also, various evaluators are filling R's employment folder with their critiques and calling conference after conference with her; in these conferences, no specific advice is given other than telling her what he is doing wrong.

Furthermore, R has only a provisional teaching certificate and is still taking education courses, thereby having even less time to devote to teaching her classes.  Worse, the content of these education courses consists mostly of theory nonspecific to teaching non-English speakers.

A Revealing Meeting: Part One

(If you must have politics, please keep scrolling)

On October 8, I met with R, a former student of many years ago.  She hunted me down on the Internet and asked if I would advise her. This young lady, who did not go into teaching directly from college but rather pursued another career for a few years, thought that teaching would be relatively easy.  She actually said to me, "When you were teaching me, I thought that teaching looked so easy!"

This first year as a classroom teacher, R is finding out the hard way that effective teaching is anything but easy, particularly during those first years.

R's lack of experience, however, is only the beginning of her woes as a first-year teacher.

Under the Obama Regime, Any Incompetence Is Possible

Because of Visa issues, the Obama Administration didn't reach Benghazi for seventeen days after the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate and the murder of Ambassador Stevens?

The mind reels.

Benghazi-gate?

(hat tip to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS for the above graphic of Susan Rice)

I remember when the news broke about what later became the Watergate Scandal, a scandal that ultimately forced President Nixon to resign – the first and only time that a United States President has resigned in the face of mounting evidence of malfeasance.  Little did even political wonks on mid-June of 1972  realize the significance of the arrests.

During the televised hearings, we heard over and over again the following: "What did you know, and when did you know it?"

To no avail, President Nixon tried all sorts of ways to cover up his own involvement in the Watergate Scandal.  His mantra of "Deny, deny, deny!" couldn't save him, and he resigned on August 9, 1974.

Right now, it seems as if the White House is getting ready to throw U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice under the bus.  After all, Obama does have a history throwing supporters and adherents under the bus.  He is all about saving himself.

Now, let's consider the words of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on October 12, 1972 at a press conference. Please watch the entire clip:


The Daily Caller story is HERE.

Furthermore, we have this from Obama himself on September 18, 2012 (hat tip to Mike's America):


What did Obama know and when did he know it?

As one who lived through all the Watergate Scandal mess, I can tell you that the hallmarks are lining up for throwing anybody but Obama under the proverbial bus.

Will Obama attempt to throw Secretary of State Hillary Clinton under the bus in attempt to divert his own responsibility regarding the murder of Libyan Ambassador Stevens on September 11, 2012?

Maybe.

If  Hillary is targeted, however, she won't go alone under the wheels of the Obama Bus. No, siree. She'll take Obama with her.

If this information is accurate, Hillary is already preparing to save herself.

Musical Interlude

(If you must politics, please keep scrolling)

Jackie Evancho, age 12:

Biden Shows How Not To Behave During A Debate

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Video clips from last night's debate and commentary below the fold.

Unbelievable!

Forget "Hail to the Chief" and "Yes, We Can." Obama finally has a theme song that suits his governing ability.

Pathetic.

Laughable in oh-so-many ways:

Deus Ex Machina

by Sam Huntington

Dr. Victor Davis Hanson’s recent article, “The Neurotic Middle East” is a worthwhile read (follow the link). He writes, in part:

“Finally, what accounts for Middle Eastern neuroticism? A sense of collective inferiority, a feeling that life is pretty miserable, when it need not be — and that the causes are foreign rather than homegrown. Exasperated Arab secular intellectuals sometimes confess that tribalism in place of meritocracy, statism in place of free markets, authoritarianism in place of consensuality, religious fundamentalism in place of tolerance, censorship in place of transparency, and gender apartheid in place of sexual equality combine in the Middle East to ensure poverty and violence.”

More Recommended Reading

See General Dempsey Fires on Own Troops at Fix Bayonets!, Mustang's site. It is unconscionable and inconceivable that such a travesty has occurred!

Reasons Not To Vote For Obama

See 1001 Reasons to Vote Against Barack Obama: Complete Edition at Conservative Daily News.

Mine the list for all it's worth, and tailor your talking parts to the situation and the individual!

Only a few weeks remain until the 2012 Election.

Recommended Reading

See Did the mainstream media’s bias contribute towards President Obama’s terrible debate performance? over at Conservative Hideout 2.0. In my view, Matt has made valid points.

What Should We Call This?

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Negligence? Incompetence? Treason?

Please watch this short video (article HERE, dated October 5, 2012):

April 28, 2009

A reminder (hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance):


How could Obama have allowed the above to happen?

Obama's Lie About The Stafford Act Funds

From the THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, citing this October 6. 2012 essay at National Review Online:

Obama Lied, Saying Congress Denied Stafford Act Funds To Katrina Victims - In Fact, Congress Approved Those Funds And OBAMA VOTED AGAINST THEM.

Relating to Obama's 2007 speech at Hampton University in Virginia, Andrew McCarthy writes the following:

New Photos Up

See THIS at AOW's Photos. Comments are disabled here but not at my photos site.

Scholars In The Making

(If you must have politics, please keep scrolling)

This year, my middle school class of twelve homeschool students is quite diverse: two of Chinese descent, two of Korean descent, one of Guatemalan descent adopted by black parents, and two of Ethiopian descent. All but one Korean student and the Guatemalan student, the former an arrival here some three months ago and the latter adopted at age three, were born in the United States.

The parents of the two students of Ethiopian descent grew up in Ethiopia and immigrated to the United States several years ago.  It is my understanding that this couple, both of them well-educated individuals and practicing Christians, came here for the freedoms and the other opportunities that America offers. I've heard some mention of persecution of the parents in Ethiopia, but haven't pursued classroom discussion of the topic as the two girls are not enrolled in my history courses.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to discuss politics.  Rather, I want to share information about how one of these girls, M, is such a fine student.

Last Night's Debate

(Please scroll down for Sam's post today)

From empty chair to empty podium.


Of course, Joe Biden thinks that Obama won the debate.

American Values

In spite of the fact that Americans, as a people, are no more united than the states in which they live, we all have some concept of the meaning of the term “American values.” We may share some ideals, but it is not true we live according to the same moral standard. Nor do we agree on much of anything at all. People living in the northeast have almost nothing in common with folks living along the gulf coast, but this is nothing new. Regionalization existed in the Thirteen Colonies, it is what led us to the American Civil War, and it may be leading us in that direction once more.

A Personal Note

Cameo is sick!  As a result, I've been a bit distracted the past several days and tending to her nearly around the clock.


Symptoms: coughing, loss of appetite, difficulty swallowing, lethargy.

The President's Job?

Bread and circuses! Videos below the fold.

What's At Stake

(Two posts today.  Please keep scrolling)

If you care about the First Amendment no matter where you are on the political spectrum, watch the video below (background, in case you haven't already seen it):

The Profligacy Of The Obamas

(With a hat tip to Reliapundit of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

Obama likes to portray himself as the champion of the poor and the middle class.

HE. IS. NOT.

He loves to demonize Mitt Romney because Romney is rich.

AHEM!

Obama is such a hypocritical phony that the mind reels (the Daily Caller, dated September 26, 2012):

"October" by Robert Frost

(Two posts today. If you must have politics, please keep scrolling)

Not one of Robert Frost's better known poems but appropriate for today, the first day of October:

The Line In The Sand

When Obama gave his speech at the United Nations last week, he tried simultaneously to excuse the recent Muslim riots over the YouTube film "Innocence of Muslims," he managed to motivate Egypt and Yemen to draw the proverbial line in the sand.

According to this article in the September 29, 2012 edition of the Washington Post: