New Year, New Approach

Being the contemplative type (read: a navel-gazer), I tend to tinker with my blog's look-and-feel with some regularity. You may have noticed the progression. Light blue heading with textured background and gray side panel. This was followed by the Dark Blue with Vulture avatar, neon green text and trim, textured Gold sidebar. This was followed by the Fall colors Red, Yellow, and Orange, with a "real" lurking vulture logo. This past weekend I changed it up again, going with Navy and White as the primary colors, with Red subtext and with Gray-Blue as the side panel color. The "real" lurking vulture logo now resides on a white background.

"BFD", you say. "Who cares about the colors and layout? It's the content I care about." Which, it turns out, is the point of this post.

I've been ruminating (read: navel-gazing) about the blog and its content. As a result, the following changes will be in place for the new year.

• I have come to the conclusion that weekly and monthly Wiener awards is too much. I've decided to go with a single Wiener award, to be awarded on an ad-hoc basis (read: "as deserved") versus some sort of fixed schedule. Fear not: the Wiener of the Year award will live on. It's my favorite post of the year, every year.
  


• I've decided to forego my habit of chronicling every 49ers game for the entire 17-week NFL season. It's too much work for me and, frankly, bores most of you. I'm contemplating some sort of 'Weekend Highlights' post, which will be in style and format very similar to my 'Vulture Droppings' posts. I'll include some sort of game reaction blurb in the 'Weekend Highlights' as opposed to a long-ass full post.
  


• And speaking of 'Vulture Droppings', I plan to do more of those this year than last. It allows for a much better opportunity for analysis of the issues of the day.
  


• Lastly, I vow to FINALLY complete the 'Death Knell' series on the fraud that is AGW.

If there is any sort of feature you would find interesting or topic which you would like to see given more attention, let me know. I always aim to please.

Oh, one last thing. This is DEFINITELY the year that I break free of the constraints of Blogger to create my own free-form website. Hopefully, that will be the last time that I change site format - but, knowing me, I would warn you: don't count on it.

Wiener of the Month - December

Who else could I chose for Wiener of the Month but the State of Virginia for their colossal fail with snow removal.

There was no competition. It wasn't even close.

In the immortal words of Toes, "The state abbreviation should be IV Incompetent Virginia = the IV State. It needs an IV".
True dat.

Virginia (IV for short), you're the Wiener of the Month for December.

Wiener of the Month - November

Big Media (the BM for short) has continued to stonewall or downplay ClimateGate.

James Delingpole of The Telegraph (yeah, you have to go to UK sources to read ANYTHING about ClimateGate) wrote an opinion piece that provides a breakdown of the BM's non-coverage of the issue. In the course of detailing this journalistic malpractice, he makes the following assertion.

But in the case of “Climate Change”, the MSM has been caught with its trousers down. The reason it has been so ill-equipped to report on this scandal is because almost all of its Environmental Correspondents and Environmental Editors are parti pris members of the Climate-Fear Promotion lobby. Most of their contacts (and information sources) work for biased lobby groups like Greenpeace and the WWF, or conspicuously pro-AGW government departments and Quangos such as the Carbon Trust. How can they bring themselves to report on skulduggery at Hadley Centre when the scientists involved are the very ones whose work they have done most to champion and whose pro-AGW views they share?

The sad thing is - he's absolutely right. Environmental reporters are as wedded to AGW as the corrupted "scientists" who are studying it falsifying data to keep the myth alive.

Congratulations, BM - you're the Wiener of the Month for November.

Update

Catching up on my reading, I note that Andrew Bolt is on the same page as Mr. Delingpole. A must read.

Wiener of the Month - October

Team Elephant has been WotM before. Team Elephant will, no doubt, be the WotM again. And again.

The elitist snobs currently at the helm of the party just don't get it. We the people want a Congress and President that respect and abide by the Constitution of the United States. We do NOT want "Democrat Lite", which is what they insist on force feeding us.

In a New York House special election, a nobody running under the banner of the Conservative party nearly beat a well-funded liberal who was, in fact, endorsed by Team Elephant's own candidate!

Democrat Bill Owens has captured the special election for a New York congressional seat that became a fight over the identity of the Republican Party.

Owens defeated Conservative Doug Hoffman and Republican Dierdre Scozzafava (skoh-zuh-FAH'-vuh) in the heavily Republican 23rd congressional District in rural northern New York. Scozzafava abruptly withdrew Saturday and supported Owens.

Hoffman has conceded the race.

With 88 percent of the precincts reporting, Owens had 49 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Hoffman. Scozzafava had 6 percent.

Hoffman got 46% of the vote in spite of the fact the the Team Elephant elite essentially sabotaged his campaign!

Remember last Fall, when I was excoriated for refusing to vote for McCain? What I told you then, I'll repeat now. If you keep holding your nose and voting for whatever disgraceful human being the Team Elephant elite foists upon you, you'll continue to get candidates that require that you hold your nose when you vote for them.

I applaud the run of Mr. Hoffman. I hope that Team Elephant gets the message, but I don't think they will. The right message is that we want conservative candidates from them. The message they'll probably come away with is that they have to work harder to shut up those stupid conservatives in flyover country.

Team Elephant, you're the Wiener of the Month for October.

Wiener of the Month - September

In what must qualify as a stunning surprise to someone [/sarcasm], automobile sales collapsed in the month following Cash-for-Clunkers.

General Motors sold some 156,673 vehicles in September, a slump of 45% with retail sales off 46% and fleet sales dropping 43%. Car sales were down 43% and total truck sales -- light and heavy -- plummeted 47%.

40 percent plus declines in sales? Gee, who would have ever thought that would happen when you went from $10,000 off the sticker price to full sticker price? Only the buffoons in Congress, that's who.

Congratulations, Congress! You're the Wiener of the Month for September!

Wiener of the Month - August

Last night I watched a special on the National Geographic Channel called 9-11: Science and Conspiracy. It was fascinating. NGC set out to examine via exhaustive scientific proofs the 9-11 Truth Movement's (Truthers) various theories on the attacks.

Two things quickly became evident during the course of the show. The first is that I should have gotten into a field where I could burn things and blow shit up. I was SOOOOO very entertained by the various experiments such as burning 700 gallons of jet fuel to see if it could weaken a girder (it could: in less than 4 minutes, as a matter of fact).

The second is that the so-called Truthers are impervious to, well, Truth. Each and every experiment rebutting one of their contentions was met with some lame-ass explanation as to why it was "irrelevent" or "incorporated massaged data". These people believe what they believe and neither Heaven nor Earth will move them from their wacky, tin-foil hat tenets.

The funny thing is, I'll bet the lot of them are atheists and deride believers in Jesus as being simple-minded morons. And yet each and every one of them shows the same blind "faith" in their ridiculous cause that they accuse Christians of showing with their believe in Jesus. The problem for them is that belief in Jesus makes a whole lot more sense and stands the scrutiny of the historical record a whole lot better than their little tin-foil hat conspiracy does. Ironic, no?

As someone who refuses to swallow the official government version of most events, I can understand the scepticism of the Truthers. Really, I can. But, c'mon folks! Have the decency to admit when you're wrong.

Truthers, you're the Wiener of the Month for August 2009.

Wiener of the Month - July

July was not a good month for our WotM. Not good at all.

Il Duce started July with a strong approval rating and Big Media (the BM for short) in his back pocket. But a serious of missteps left him in negative approval rating hell and his agenda in shambles. The BM is starting to actually report negative news about their savior. The push to produce his birth certificate is not just gaining momentum in the Internet conspiracy community, but in the mainstream BM as well!

But the real slap in the teeth he took in July was the failure of his pet project: health care reform take-over.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Congratulations to Il Duce! You're the Wiener of the Month for July.

Wiener of the Month - June

Honduras had the unfortunate distinction of being caught squarely in the cross hairs of major world Wieners this past month. Mary Anastasia O'Grady of the Wall Street Journal describes the situation thusly:

Reason has gone AWOL in places like Turtle Bay and Foggy Bottom. Ruling the debate on Mr. Zelaya's behavior is Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez, who is now the reigning international authority on "democracy."

Mr. Chávez is demanding that Mr. Zelaya be reinstated and is even threatening to overthrow the new Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti. He's leading the charge from the Organization of American States (OAS). The United Nations and the Obama administration are falling in line.

Shocker that. Il Duce falling in lock-step behind the leadership of Hugo Chavez.

All that the majority of the Honduran people want is to be free of this train wreck of a president. The man was engaged in all manor of reckless unconstitutional actions. And the United State (no misspelling; see Pro Libertate for the explanation) supports the crooked Leftist, not the people seeking to be rid of his nonsense.

Congratulations to Il Duce and Succubus of State Hillary Clinton - you're the Wieners of the Month for June.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that Succubus of State HRC is flying Zelaya up to Washington to meet with him. Read the complete article if you want to see an example of one-sided pro-leftist reporting.

Wiener of the Month - June

Well, it's finally official - GM has filed for Chapter 11 protection. So you think that they're the WotM, right? Wrong!

Trust me, I'm not about to defend the mindless way the scavengers at the top of the corporate ladder ran the company into the ground. But they had help. LOTS of help. In no particular order, these are the contributors to GM's passage from Corporate Titan to fully-owned subsidiary of the United States of America.

1. Labor Unions. It's not bad enough that unions destroyed the US steel industry. No, they won't be satisfied until every manufacturing job in the nation is priced so high that the corporations have no alternatives; it's either go offshore, go to Uncle for bailout cash, or go under.
2. Earth worshipers. It just wasn't enough for these assclowns for the Big 3 to build automobiles with low exhaust emissions and gas mileage numbers that dwarf the best numbers from the 1970's. No, the Gaia crowd kept crying for more, more, more. These people will never be satisfied. Even if the only thing coming out of tail pipes were water, they would bitch because the water wasn't clean enough.
3. Activists. Ralph Nader alone brought about a number of expense-adding regulations -- granted, some very import, live-saving ones, to be sure. But the cost of satisfying all of those regulations also contributed to the Big 3's inability to compete with imports, whose labor cost per vehicle is so much lower than Detroit's. And yet, Mr. Nader had the quiñones to write this drivel chastising GM! A bowling alley doesn't have the balls this man has!
4. The media. Can you remember the last time you read ANYTHING positive about any of the Big 3? I'm guessing it was the mid 80's the last time I did. And let's not forget that fat ass oxygen parasite Michael Moore and all of the negative press he brought to GM.
   
5. The government. Politicians chasing the Union and tree-hugger vote bent over backwards to saddle the automobile industry with one regulation after another. And now, Obama owns the company. Thanks, Il Duce!

As a result of all of this "cooperation", the Wiener of the Month for June is shared among GM and the 5 major contributors to its fall from grace.

Congratulations, Wieners. You all suck!

Wiener of the Month - April

April is at an end. So, apparently, is the Supreme Court career of Justice David Souter, the albatross hung 'round the neck of America by King George the Elder way back in 1990. This Trojan Horse was pushed through by old Bush with all of the usual assurances that he would uphold the Constitution.

But did he? Hell no! Souter beat cheeks over to the Liberal end of the court. He joined with the other liberals on the court who believe that they are the seven anointed oracles appointed by...well, not God, certainly, because "you can't mix church and state"...but appointed, nonetheless, to rule according to......whatever they feel like, apparently, because it sure ain't the Constitution of the United States they're using as their guide.

King O is likely to appoint someone even further to the left of Souter as his replacement, so it's not like we can celebrate his departure as an improvement in the Court. But we can celebrate the end of the career of a sanctimonious phony who used the Constitution as toilet paper.

I have one further beef against Souter. He not only didn't understand technology, but openly avoided any contact with it, preferring to use a fountain pen to hand write his legal opinions. So what?, you say. What does that matter? It matters plenty! It shows a man lacking in intellectual curiousity (sound familiar? that was the accusation leveled at King George the Dim by the Left). It shows a man who's made up his mind, who's inflexible, who's refused to explore things he doesn't understand. It shows a man whose head is shoved firmly into the sand (or firmly somewhere else, if you prefer). It is a leading indicator of a lack of intellect.

Ah, hell. Why sugar coat it? The man is an effing idiot.

And he's the Wiener of the Month.

Wiener of the Month - March

I hate to pick on poor Ben Cardin (the Junior Senator from Maryland) again. He really is a stand-up kind of guy. But this is too much!

With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

That's it? You give newspapers -- some owned by Fortune 500 companies -- the same special status as, say, the United Way............why? Because they can't survive in today's marketplace? That's weak!

Mr. Cardin, they'd have a much better chance of surviving in today's marketplace if they didn't talk down to their customers and present such a one-sided view of the world. When you deliberately demean and insult 50% of your target audience on a regular basis, you're going to take your lumps. There are WAY too many other options available now for getting your news, and the vast majority of them don't treat people who reject lock-step liberal orthodoxy like they're neanderthals or morons.

This is a case of the BM reaping what they have sown. And it couldn't happen to a more haughty, self-absorbed, dogmatic, and outright ignorant bunch of people.

Senator Cardin, you're a good guy. But you're on the wrong side of this one. And you're the Wiener of the Month for March.

Wiener of the Month - February

By rights, the WotM should be ME, for realizing more than a week into March that I hadn't done a WotM for February. But me pillorying me would be about as interesting as a Rosie O'Donnell after-school special.

No, I've got bigger fish to fry. And, speaking of "fish", it's that pompous-ass fish faced phony Harry Reid who is on my hook today.

First, there was the little matter of the "Obama" stimulus bill, which consisted of His Royal Holiness throwing a command over the wall to Congress to present him with a bill. Oh, they sent him the bill, all right. Harry and Little Nancy (Pelosi) saw to it that every Congressman and Senator had his or her slab of pork delivered up and made to order. They essentially strong-armed the President and had their way with him.

But, more recently, there was this.

The Senate's top Democrat is proposing special power lines to carry renewable energy — like solar and wind power — from remote places.

The Federal government would be able to override states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them.

Wait? Did I read that correctly? The Federal government would be able to override states? Would direct where the lines would go? Would dictate who would pay for them?!?!? Where I come from, that's called Dictatorship. But that's Harry. Apparently he's in charge now.

Harry Reid, you're the Wiener of the Month.

Wiener of the Month - January

Sometimes the WotM just writes itself. This is one of those times. Check this out.

What happened
John McCain is returning to his unpredictable, often bipartisan form two and a half months after his defeat in the presidential race. In his first speech to the new Congress, McCain admonished Republicans for delaying Hillary Clinton as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state. McCain said the election showed that Americans “want us to work together, and get to work." (The Washington Post)

What the commentators said
It looks like McCain is Obama’s new best friend in the Senate, said Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post. The Arizona senator immediately and publicly praised Obama for announcing the closure of Guantánamo, and Obama has returned the favor with lavish praise for McCain. Maybe McCain sees himself as a bridge between Obama and Republicans, which could make him a “major player” in the fights ahead.

I have four words for all of you "lesser of two evils" Republicans who were lecturing me about McCommie last Fall: I TOLD YOU SO.

Congratulations, "lesser of two evils" Republicans! You're the Wiener of the Month!

Wiener of the Month - December

The WotM for December has a much more personal than usual twist to it. It seems that Big Enviro has struck again in their never-ending quest to rid the planet of pesky humans.

Vin Suprynowicz reports.

As usual, it was initially reported as unmitigated “happy news.”

“Your Metered-Dose Inhaler is Changing to Help Improve the Environment,” is how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration chooses to present word that the inhalers used by those who suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments are being pulled from the shelves as of Jan. 1.

Back in 1987, representatives of the federal government signed the “Montreal Protocol,” in which 27 major industrialized nations agreed to halve their use of chlorofluorocarbon gases, which some believe could damage the earth’s ozone layer.

Real-world experiments to prove the theory have been in short supply — it’s hard to imagine how one would be devised, since it would first have to be shown how chlorofluorocarbons, which tend to be heavier than air, could reach the ozone layer in the first place.

Nor did the Montreal deal actually call for banning the propellant from the inhalers, since that use represents only about 1.5 percent of all CFC uses (it was less than 1.0 percent at the time), and signatory nations get to choose what uses to change. (Car air conditioning systems were the first use targeted — Greens hate cars — whereas the Environmental Protection Agency saw no immediate need to go after document-preservation sprays, foam insulation for coaxial cable, or CFC-based fire extinguishers.)

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled the switch would be mandatory as soon as a viable replacement could be marketed.

Reports show that the new drug is much more expensive than current remedies, some of which are available over-the-counter, bringing the cost from around $8 per inhaler to $40 or more.

Vin continues.

Meantime, multiple studies have shown that raising costs leads to poorer adherence to treatment; one study found that patients took 30 percent less anti-asthma medication, for instance, when their co-pay doubled. There are also concerns about patients getting proper instruction on use of the new inhalers, which need to be primed more often than the old models, and which also tend to clog and need to be cleaned more often.

So why is this personal to me? Because I'm an asthma sufferer, and have been since I was a small child. I know the panic of not being able to breathe, of struggling to get air down into swollen, laboring lungs. To think that Gaia is more important than a child whose only desire is that next breath is abhorrent to me! I can only wish the most horrible kind of death on people who put the vanity of "saving the planet" ahead of the terrifying plight facing many poor children in the year ahead. Die, all of you.

You're the Wiener of the Month for December.

Wiener of the Month - November

It may seems like it happened months ago, but the elections of 2008 occurred a paltry 29 days ago. During November. And I'm naming a WofM. For November. So how much you wanna bet that the Wiener has something to do with the election?

This month's WotM is the Team Elephant elitist establishment. It's bad enough that they rammed an unpalatable candidate like John McCommie down our throats. But then, after throwing conservatives a bone by selecting Sarah Palin as VP on the ticket, they proceeded to trash the woman every bit as much as Big Media (the BM for short) did, and the BM was demonstrably in the tank for the opposing candidate!

The Team Elephant elitist establishment has mismanaged, misread, and bungled every opportunity to reach the American people. Just think -- in two short years Team Elephant has gone from holding the Presidency and both Houses of Congress to losing the Presidency, losing both Houses, and, if events play out right in Minnesota or Georgia, creating a Team Donkey-run filibuster-proof Senate.

You guys keep ramming "moderate" (read: socialist lite) candidates down our throats. Maybe then you'll be able to achieve what the Federalists, the Whigs, and the Bull Moose party achieved -- extinction.

Team Elephant establishment: you're the Wiener of the Month for November.

---

I'm currently accepting nominations for Wiener of the Year. I welcome all nominees.

Wiener of the Month - October

While it would be tempting to tag AOL for this "honor" in the wake of its WotW award earlier today, the fact is that there's a more worthy recipient.

Big Media (the BM) has distinguished itself during this current election cycle with the cynical way it has waived the pompoms for Barack Hussein Obama and savaged anyone who stood as a potential obstacle to the ascension of their lord and savior.

Thanks to the BM, I know more about Sarah Palin (most of it cartoonish and exaggerated) than I know about BHO. Thanks to the BM, I know more about Joe the Plumber (most of it cartoonish and exaggerated) than I know about BHO.

And it's not just Chris Matthews sporting wood at the mere mention of BHO's name. It's the way the BM has ignored everything about BHO that might hurt his chances of being seated on the thrown of One-World Socialist Utopia. Tony Rezko? Associations with radical leftists, anti-America zealots, and communists? Share the wealth? 57 states? * sound of crickets chirping *

They shamelessly harp on Sarah Palin's inexperience, when all she's done is serve as Governer of an energy producing state, clean up statewide corruption (including exposing corruption by members of her own party!), and serve as commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard. But Mr. Community Organizer (leftist-speak for "communist agitator") has all of the experience you could EVER ask for.

They take an unknown small businessman, pull all of his data from government computers in collusion with corrupt Ohio government officials, and crucify the guy for having the audacity to ask His Holiness a question!

The media has been in the tank for a candidate before (see Clinton, William J.). But never before has it served as an actual propaganda agent for a campaign. This is the most shameless thing I've seen in my lifetime.

Congratulations to the BM for their victory in tomorrow's elections! And congratulations...you're the Wiener of the Month.

Wiener of the Month

Yeah, I'm late...again. So sue me! It's not like anything on this blog is done according to a regimented schedule. Anyway, I'd really rather talk about last night's VP Debate (I'll get to it later today or tomorrow at the latest).

Hmmm. September. So many wieners to choose from.

Do I pick the BM (Big Media) for their over-the-top treatment of Sarah Palin? (Contrast, if you will, the "*poof* it's gone!" treatment of John Edwards, erstwhile presidential candidate, actually caught in a real scandal...heard anything about that lately? Yeah, didn't think so. Must be the 'D' after his name...).

Or what about the Chicken Littles running around proclaiming economic apocalypse if we don't hand over the economic keys of the country to the Secretary of the Treasury?

Or the so-called "conservative" commentariat (particularly the female members) lining up to kill Sarah Palin when she's the only positive thing McCommie has going for him?

No, the Wiener of the Month is John McCommie. Good Lord, how in the world can you take a "bump" like the one McCommie came out of August with, where he was actually ahead of Obama/Hairplugs in some polls, and finish September 5-9 points behind?

The problem, in the humble estimation of this carrion-loving bird, is that McStupid hid Sarah Palin under a basket for the past month because he's been cowered by the scathing media witch hunt against her. As she proved last night against Senator Hairplugs, she's a big girl and can give as good as she takes. She was the only positive he had going for him, so what's the dumbass do? He sends her back to Alaska for a month and totally tanks his momentum. Way to go, asshat!

For torpedoing his own electoral chances for fear of the BM, John McCommie is the Wiener of the Month for September.

Wiener of the Month

August's WotM is my favorite little Limousine Liberal, Nancy Pelosi.

Little Nancy is letting her stock investment in T. Boone Pickens' natural gas company and her ties to Big Enviro money dictate her decision to prevent an up-down vote on domestic offshore drilling. This venal, corrupt, despicable shrew deserves to be impeached. If Team Donkey had any sense at all, they would replace her as Speaker. She's going to cost them dearly come November.

For being the quintessential corrupt policitian, Nancy Pelosi is the Wiener of the Month!

Wiener of the Week

For the third week running, the WotW relates to the issue of oil drilling and the Congress that (a) won't vote on it because of the personal mendacity of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (more on that in my next post, coming soon), (b) is using it as an issue to grandstand for political points (Yea Team Elephant! Way to show real leadership by giving speeches in the dark. Asshats!), and (c) is using it as an issue to grandstand for political points (Yea Team Donkey! Way to show real leadership by hiding behind the skirt of your mendacious House leader and parroting her talking points! Asshats!).

Face it, we are suffering not from a surfeit of oil, but from a surfeit of honest, competent leadership.

For their hard work and leadership, appreciated by at least 14% of the populous who still think they're doing a swell job, Congress is the Wiener of the Week.

Wiener of the Month - July

By rights, the WotM should be ME, for being late two months in a row with the WotM. But, even though I qualify as a first-rate dumbass for failing to notice the change of month twice in a row, there are so many more worthy candidates.

My choice is John McCommie, who is running perhaps the most dreary and uninspiring political campaign ever. Even Bob Dole must be asking himself, "How did the party choose such a Nimrod?"

Honestly, if I were an aluminum hat-wearing conspiracy theorist, I would SWEAR that Team Elephant is trying to throw the election. That's how bad McCommie is as a candidate.

For being a total douche in the face of a Team Donkey candidate who isn't so hot himself, John McCommie is the Wiener of the Month (for July).