Electronic cigarette or "Allah is great!": Which worries you more?

This dude does both -- the article goes with the onboard cigarette angle.

As much as I dislike onboard smoking, I'd be more worried about the Allah bit. Would it make a difference if instead of "Allah is great!!!" the guy shouted "Amish rock!!!"?

"Don’t like infanticide? Then don’t do it"

What if arguments for abortion were applied to infants?

Seven arguments for infanticide.

* * *

Don't think government-condoned infanticide happens now as part of botched abortion procedures?

Consider this:

"After doctors realized the "blunder," the woman, who was 32 weeks pregnant [do the math], had to undergo an emergency cesarean to deliver the sick fetus, where it was later terminated."

If you want it, it's your baby, if you don't it's just a fetus.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Image via Wikipedia

Vietnam man next to crying child opens plane door

"An airport official says the man will be fined up to $950, and it will cost $10,000 to refit the slide."

Why wasn't the fine $10,000?

Liberals: If they don't get their way, they leave their country

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Image via Wikipedia

Like the whiny kid who was always on the verge of taking his baseball mitt and leaving the game, liberals are always threatening to leave their country if they don't get their way. American celebrities did it when George Bush was running for re-election. (Don't think many actually left.) Now Justin Trudeau -- the gift that keeps on giving -- has said that if Canada doesn't support his values, he would be in favor of taking Quebec out of Canada.

Liberals -- when they get their way, they demand that the rest of us fall in line; when they don't, they threaten to leave.

So, grow up or leave already.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

30-Year Old Caught In Act Of "Adolescent Preening"; Judge Overrules Manda-tory Minimum

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Smickle the perp was in a pickle. He was caught holding a loaded weapon when police burst in. Facing a mandatory 3-year minimum imposed by the federal Conservatives, an Ontario judge struck down the sentence, and in a fit of Charter righteousness called the sentence outrageous, abhorrent, and intolerable.

Why not just call it "excessive"?

The perp's act of brandishing a loaded weapon is downgraded to an act of "adolescent preening". He's 30 years old!  In a further attempt to spin the perp as a decent lad, the article goes on to note he "had no criminal record, held a job, has a young child and a fiancée and was working to finish high school." Apparently fathering a child out of wedlock passes for some form of accomplishment these days.

I agree with the judge that three years is too long a sentence, but I disagree with her tactic of over-riding the law. The sentence doesn't rise to the level of outrageous, abhorrent, intolerable or cruel. And incarceration is certainly not unusual.

Her act was in itself, in effect, an act of lawlessness -- something that Charter-empowered judges are prone to.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

PS -- I'm open for opinions on all sides of this issue.

Mitt Romney's Nutso Analysis On Islam

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"There is, however, a movement in the world known as jihadism… It’s by no means a branch of Islam. It is instead an entirely different entity. In no way do I suggest it is a part of Islam." via Mark Steyn


I  watched the movie UA93 last night on Netflix. Now we know that the plane crash had nothing -- nothing -- to do with Islam -- which would come as quite a surprise to the martyrs.

Roadtrip!™ Day Five: Albuquerque - Phoenix

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Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Day Five.

Albuquerque - Phoenix.

We get on the road by 6:20 am. so we can make the Turquoise Room in Winslow, AZ for breakfast. A stop for gas and another stop for a fortifying Egg McMuffin. Great scenery along the way. 

We roll into the historic La Posada Hotel and the Turquoise Room at 10:50 am. I inform the host “two for breakfast”. He says, “actually, we’ve just switched over to lunch”. I inform him no, it’s not 11 o’clock yet, and we’ve driven from Albuquerque for breakfast. I tell him we want the Arizona Green Chile Eggs and the Corn Maiden and he goes to check with the kitchen and put the order in.

It was fabulous. 

The orange juice and coffee are also superb.

Now it’s noon and time for the victory lap down into Phoenix. We take the back road as I don’t like the hair-raising 75 mph drive down the mountain from Flagstaff. It’s 5 degrees C. when we leave Winslow and 20 degrees C. when we arrive in the valley. We pass the Winslow correctional institute on the way out of town. All the buildings are battleship grey, just to rub it in. "OK, we know we’re incarcerated, but do you have to paint the walls grey?!"

Phoenix. We park in our condo complex, and "the boys" (our two dogs) know immediately they are home. Reggie knows to turn to the left when we get off the elevator and Brady just follows along. The condo is in great shape. Let’s see, the mountains, the golf course, the pools, yep, all still there.

It’s great to be in Phoenix!

And the morning and the evening were the fifth day.

Hope you enjoyed to ride.

Roadtrip!™ Day Four: Oklahoma City to Albuquerque

Day Four.

Oklahoma City - Albuquerque.

We get onto I-40 in Oklahoma City and Garmin says something like, “In 600 miles turn left”, so you know you’re going to be heading west on I-40, the Route 66 overlay, for some time. 

We stop at El Reno OK to check out the pet-friendly Best Western. There’s a swarm of red-clad Halliburton employees milling around the dining room and the check-out. No wonder the BW was full last night! There’s a diner in El Reno -- Sid's -- we want to try. Maybe next time. 

Out of Oklahoma and into Texas. 

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We make the Big Texan in Amarillo around  noon. We order the 9 oz rib-eye lunch-specials. Had to wait over half an hour, but the wa

it was worth it. Three words: de lic ious. I see a half-order of fried mushrooms on the menu for nine dollars and a full order for 12. This intrigues me. Usually a side order of fried mushrooms runs you around four dollars. On the way we'll order the plate of mushrooms and a decent-sized steak for sharing. I want to find out what 12 dollars of fried mushrooms gets you.

Back in the car and on through Texas and into New Me

xico. This is where the scenery begins to get really interesting. We drive on to Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Drewry Inn. Kick-back time in their expansive eating area. Macaroni, mmmm! 

And the morning and the evening was the fourth day.

Tomorrow: The Turquoise Room and arrival in Phoenix.

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Roadtrip!™ Day Three: St. Louis to Oklahoma City

St. Louis to Oklahoma City
Wed. Feb 2, 2012.

A Drury Inn Quickstart breakfast in the St. Louis Southwest Drury Inn and then on the road.

Lunch at Lambert's -- Home of the Throwed Rolls™ in Ozark MO. We get the pulled pork sandwiches and the pass-around fixin's and I get three rolls throwed at me. I miss one.

Then on down to Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Welcome Center.

On past Tulsa down to Oklahoma City. Oklahoma has no Drury Inns, so we check our coupon booklets and decide on a pet-friendly Howard Johnston's. It's "OK". We share a pizza at the sports bar next door.

And the morning and the evening was the third day.

Tomorrow: Amarillo and The Big Texan.

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Road Trip!™ Day Two: Dayton - St. Louis

The mission: Toronto - Phoenix in five.

Day Two: Dayton - St. Louis

Tuesday February 1, 2012

QuickStart breakfast at the Dayton Drury Inn and then off we go. 


Drive west into Indiana and on to Indianapolis. Pass Lucas Oil stadium, site of the 2012 Super Bowl. No sign of Madonna.


Have a second Bob Evan’s biscuits and gravy breakfast at Terra Haute. Into Illinois, past Effingham and on to East St. Louis (Illinois) and St. Louis proper (Missouri). We spot the St. Louis Arch, “Gateway to the West”. We spend the night on the other side of St. Louis, at the St. Louis Drury Inn Southwest. Kick-back from 5:30 to 7. 

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And the morning and the evening was the second day.

Road Trip!™ Day One: Toronto - Dayton

Monday Jan 31, 2011
Toronto - Dayton.

The mission: Toronto to Arizona with two dogs and a wife in 5 days or bust. Enjoy the ride!

Toronto to Sarnia. Early stop at McDonalds for the ultimate road food: Egg McMuffins. We order two extra in case of a road emergency. Stop for a final Canadian Tims -- we try out the new extra-big size. We buy an extra large and share it -- anybody else do this?

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Across the border in under 10 minutes. Where is everybody? We have applied for Nexus cards to expedite border crossings so we go to the Blue Water Bridge Nexus Center in Port Huron. Obama's millions billions trillions have not, tragically, trickled down to the Blue Water Nexus Center. It's a barren wasteland of a government office complex. Early soviet union decor. There's a US agent and a Canadian agent (both female) working side by side. Kind of makes me tear up. The Canadian agent is Ms. Gruff. Why are you here early, she barks. Like, because we got here sooner than planned? The US agent helpfully informs us that the Canadian agent gets a mandatory lunch period.

So, over to Bob Evans for the first biscuits and gravy of the trip. Where is everybody? Never seen Bob's so empty. Then, back to the Blue Water Bridge complex. Did I mention it's a dump? Elevator not working. Stairways are narrow. The thing has the look and feel of a nuclear bunker in some apocalyptic post-America America. Back for our scheduled interviews. They go swimmingly. Both the American and Canadian agents are friendly and efficient. With Nexus, you don't wait for the agent to ask you, you proactively declare you are bringing in dog food, an orange, and $10,000 in American cash or they revoke your card!

On through Detroit. Talk about post-apocalyptic. Detroit is in a sorry state. Abandoned buildings. Roofs caving in. Windows broken out. I think, "this is what a generation of Democratic socialism where self-esteem accounts for more than competence gets you". (If you have any doubt about this, google the head of Detroit's school system.)

Through Detroit and on down to Ohio. Say hell-o to O-hi-o! Toledo, then Dayton. Spend the night at the dog- and people-friendly Dayton Drury Inn. 6:30 pm -- still a half hour left on Drury's Kick-back!  The steamed hotdogs have seen better days, but still taste good. I over-eat on the potato chips.

And the morning and the evening were the first day.