RESCUEBOTS, UNITE! Snake robots and a quadcopter fuse together in this chimera drone [video].

THE GREAT AMERICAN GOVERNMENT CASHOUT: Top Senate aide goes work for the hospital lobby.

POWERLINE'S WEEK IN PICTURES -- Holder trouble edition -- is up. They're good, but still this one is my favorite.

ENVIRONMENTALISM: And you only thought they were crazy. It's long, but scroll through the whole post.

Linked via Instapundit.

BILL CLINTON ON CORPORATE TAX INVERSIONS: "This Is Their Money". This, from the guy who signed into law the highest corporate tax rate in the world, hinting http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/195508/"to Wall Street that if it donates to Hillary, she’ll take care of them."

F-22 RAPTOR flies its first combat mission over Syria.

BARACK OBAMA, War President?

THAT PESKY CONSTITUTION keeps interfering with our right to control you.

THE PEOPLE'S MARCH against common sense. My fear is that common sense is losing.

THEY'RE ONLY EXCESSIVE IF HE OPPOSES THEM: Obama Claims that He’s a Foe of Excessive Regulations.

IF THE GOP WANTS TO WIN, it needs to talk to the middle class.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: It's not just footballers who commit domestic violence.

DON’T STEAL — the government hates competition.

BREAKING NEWS: Climate change causes trash.

MINNESOTA’S STATE OBAMACARE EXCHANGE: You don't really want to renew your 'healthcare' policy, do you?

MICHELLE OBAMA'S healthy eating program is classist and sexist. Personally, I think the single word 'stupid' is more than adequate. Well, maybe 'elitist', since that's a synonym.

IRS SURPRISE for some ObamaCare subsidy recipients next year.

If you bought into ObamaCare, you bought a pig in a poke and are about to find out the pig is a skunk.

REALLY? Global Warming Concerns Grow. Compared to when?

Here's the little factoid I find interesting:

About half of Republicans considered the economy more important than the environment, while nearly two-thirds of Democrats said the environment should take priority.

Republicans have jobs; Democrats have 'free stuff'.

WHO CARES? It's other people's money: "Federal health insurance officials can't tell Congress how much the government has spent since 2010 selling Obamacare ...according to the Government Accountability Office."

WHAT HAPPENS when you provide price competition to a police gun buy-back program?

BARACK OBAMA is not a Muslim; he's a golfer. Read it all.

REASON actually asked the NYC climate protesters what they want to do.

YES, SIR, the science is settled.

BUT, BUT ... IT'S JUST COMPOST: The #ClimateMarch is trashing New York city. Best comment: "It would be easy to call all environmentalists pigs, but that would demean a noble animal.

Heh.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLEBRAND'S weight critic is revealed. Male, a Democrat, and - conveniently - dead.

U.N. AVIATION BODY (ICAO) to mull space safety as 'space taxis' ready for flight. Mulling opportunities for graft would be a more accurate description.

MICHAEL BARONE: Immigration reformers should learn from history.

There’s an obvious lesson here for immigration policy. Immigration can promote social mobility, but not always. The United States got high-skilled immigrants in the Ellis Island period largely by happenstance. Today Canada and Australia profit from upward mobility because their immigration laws admit only those with high skills.

I think Barone's wrong on this one. The U.S. used to be an upwardly mobile society because immigrants were encouraged, almost required, to be productive. That is no longer the case.

US NAVY'S TRITON UAV makes first cross-country flight.

HEH.

'FREE STUFF' isn't enough. LA’s brilliant plan to boost voter turnout: bribery.

ACCOUNTABILITY(!?) Broken culture, risky reforms leave unethical VA execs on public payroll.

The constitutional problem ... is rooted in a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held most civil service employees have a property right to their jobs. That right can only be negated if the employee has a meaningful right to respond to the charges.

Amazing. Utterly amazing. For all practical purposes, civil service laws constitute a 'ruling class protection act'. Where is the 'citizen class protection act'?

LEGAL ISSUES facing UAVs on the farm.

Technology that allows farmers to use drones to scan their fields for blight and pests is available now but its use remains illegal.

That status comes as the unmanned aircraft industry waits for federal regulations to be developed for commercial use of drones. Some experts have predicted that industry could create thousands of jobs and generate more than $75 billion for the U.S. economy.

Any farmer using drones in any commercial capacity is breaking the law and risking fines, said Peggy Hall, a specialist for agricultural and resource law at Ohio State University Extension.

“I think it’s fair to say the technology is far beyond the law, and we’re trying to play catch-up here,” Hall said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is developing rules that would determine how and when the drones can be used....

One would think that -- on farms especially -- one would allow farmers to use drones to find out what works, what doesn't, and then write regulations based on experience. But no, that would make sense.

LIFESTYLES of the rich and climate-conscious attendees at the "People's Climate March" in New York.

Here's DiCaprio, with a Bernie Sanders (I-VT) bonus.

ABOUT TIME: U.S. launches first wave of bombing strikes over Syria. Now if only Obama will let the military do its job without interference....

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Don't let your kids play outside. It is long past time when we should be telling these intrusive nannies to sit down, shut up, and go away. This strikes me as a case where a lawsuit and restraining order are justified.

IEEE SPECTRUM: Detroit's IT Systems “Beyond Fundamentally Broken”. The legacy of liberal lunacy....

VIK KHANNA: Public Health needs to rethink gun control.

Linked from The Truth About Guns blog.

MICHAEL GOODWIN: The S.S. Obama is sinking fast. Even Democrats are beginning to abandon ship.

MIDLAND (TX) INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT becomes first commercial airport to be certified as a spaceport. And two California firms are moving there (heh).

OH, WAIT: Maybe I'm not a victim, now that you've got the video.

JEFF JACOBY: Prosecutorial Political Discretion.

BOEING'S 'SPACE TAXI' will include tourist seating. Oh, to be younger (and richer).

BUT ONLY if they can retake the Senate: GOP charts agenda for the majority.

DEFENSE NEWS: Bet on the F-35.

MICHAEL BARONE: Which party is weaker? The Democrats, clearly, but with the assistance of the 'Democrats with bylines' mainstream media, it's going to be a tossup.

IF YOU ENJOY FIREWORKS, you'll like these images from the Hubble Space telescope. You can click the image for an enlarged view.

BOEING, SPACE-X are winners of NASA 'space taxi' contracts. Boeing is the last of the 'old guard' and Space-X the upstart.

WHY #GAMERGATE MATTERS: As one who is completely outside the gaming community, I'm not terribly interested in the 'scandal' itself, but I did find this Instapundit comment interesting:

The “social justice warrior” crowd isn’t about social justice. It’s about using race-and-gender talk to keep people in their place. In exchange for this, they get to cement their position on one of the lower rungs of the New Class.

'Social justice' is little more than moral preening.

AREN'T THE ROADS CROWDED ENOUGH? Humanoid Robot Nao Learns to Drive Its Own Car.

JEFF JACOBY: An election tsunami?

It’s not hard to understand why so many members of Congress come to regard incumbency much as medieval kings regarded the crown — theirs by divine right. The Economist noted recently that while 30 percent of Europe’s monarchs have been replaced since 2012, less than 4 percent of US House seats are seriously competitive in the November midterms. Kings and queens aren’t as hard to extricate as congressional incumbents.

I'd be happy if there is one, but I won't pin my hopes on it.

WELL, WE ALWAYS KNEW Democrats favor redistribution.

I'M NOT SURPRISED: Faith in the Republican Party's ability to fight terrorism is at an all-time high. But I am somewhat surprised that the Democrats rank as high as they do.

ANDREW KLAVAN: Is ISIS Islamic?

THE DEMOCRATS' "War on Women" has come home to roost.

OBAMA: A narcissist 'surrounded by sycophants'.

NANCY PELOSI just might be insane. Nah. Bonehead stupid covers the territory adequately.

LARGE TECHNOLOGY, LARGE GOVERNMENT. Small technology, larger government?

COMPELLED SECULARISM? Yes, let's tax religious affiliation.

WHO NEEDS AMBASSADORS? Or a State Department for that matter, if they keep telling you things you don't want to hear?

HARRY REID'S complaining that Republicans have advanced his own bill in order to "stall" the Senate....

The Senate ain't Burger King, Harry. You don't always get it your way.

CATCH-22: Russian space training may put U.S. in a diplomatic bind:

As the International Space Station gets ready for a routine change of crew using Russia’s Soyuz spaceships, the Russian government seems to be initiating a subtle gambit to force the United States into a diplomatic trap over the status of Russian-occupied Crimea.

Here’s how it works: Either the United States acknowledges the legitimacy of the recent Russian annexation of that Ukrainian province, or it will be forced by existing agreements to disqualify NASA astronauts from flying aboard Russia’s spaceships, which currently provide the only means to get astronauts to and from the space station.

All the more reason to develop an American orbital capability; otherwise the "International" Space Station hijacking by the Russians will be complete.

JEFF JACOBY: Here's drinking to your health. Jacoby raises a good question: if Cheerios can advertise the 'heart-healthy' benefits of oats, why can't alcohol advertisers promote the health benefits of moderate drinking?

TO UNDERSTAND the 'climate change' hysteria on the Left, you need only to follow the money.

MORE OBAMACARE MISERY: Cheaper drugs can also mean less choice without savings for patients. The author blames the pharmaceutical industry; I blame crony capitalism.

UPDATE: case in point. Read to the bottom of the post.

GETTING IT IN THE 'WATER' MIGHT BE A CHORE: NASA takes to the depths of outer space with plans to send submarine to Saturn moon.

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP:

School bans 'offensive' Chick-fil-A sandwiches.

Football team forced to remove Christian crosses from their football helmets.

Army dad denied entry to child's school because he was in uniform.

Vermont bans brownies from school snacks.

We don't send our children to public schools any more; we send them to indoctrination centers.

OBAMA: Just because we're going to go out and kill people doesn't mean we're at war. The poor bast... guy is utterly blinded by political correctness.

FIVE THINGS that could (and probably will) go horribly wrong with Obama's action in Iraq.

Simply put, Obama isn't competent enough to manage his way out of a wet paper bag.

YOUR REMINDER that the health nannies can't be trusted.

This post-WWII food group almost got it right ....

But they missed coffee and booze.

ROSETTA SPACECRAFT captures breathtaking comet views.

More pictures at the link.

OBAMA TO LATINOS: I'm not that into you.

At the end of the day, President Obama sees Hispanics as raw numbers: new voters who he thinks will give his party future victories. But to make sure all those potential votes support big government, he must make sure that he adds to their numbers without improving their lot.

People who are independent of government largesse don't vote for Democrats.

TRANSPARENCY: Obama's chief ad agency lands $5.7 million CFPB [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Elizabeth Warren's baby)] contract that has produced no ads. Given the Friday 'publication' date and Tuesday response date, I don't think there can be any question that (a) the CFPB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Obama Inc., and (b) this is a pass-through to Obama Inc.'s slush fund.

LIBERAL FASCISM laid bare in one tweet.

The ends justify the means....

BIG DATA, BIG RESPONSIBILITY: Who will protect our personal information?

According to the report “Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values” issued by U.S. president Barack Obama’s administration in May 2014, personal data management may be better off in the hands of academia.

You have got to be kidding; I wouldn't trust academia to clean out my cats' litter box, much less trust them with personal information. But then none of the choices is appealing; academia is just the 'least untrustworthy'.

NOT YET, but the time is getting closer....

INSTAPUNDIT on the 13th anniversary of 9/11.

DEMOCRATS MOVE to partially repeal the First Amendment. "[I]t seems that there is no depth to which the Democratic Party will not sink."

It reminds me of the question "What is the difference between a politician and a catfish?" Answer: "One is a scum-sucking bottom feeder; the other is a fish." In this case the scum-sucking bottom feeders are Democrats.

LIBERALS EAGERLY put women at risk because of politics: "[T]he principal principle of liberal feminism is that every woman has the inalienable right to be a disposable sex toy for some horny progressive politician."

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Back to bad schools.

My solutions? (a) get rid of teacher unions, (b) get rid of licensing and certifications, and (c) return complete control of schools to the localities they're part of. Oh, and (d) put a strict upper limit on non-teaching staff.

ONCE MORE: Climate science is political science.

DON'T BUY MY CARS: I can't afford to sell them to you.

I think I may have posted something similar a month or two back, but it's worth reposting just to remind one of the ill effects of government regulation on the marketplace: it's about control, stupid.

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIRST-GRADER?

My wife got it instantly. But then she taught 4th-5th graders.

NO VIRGINS FOR YOU: ISIS fighters terrified of death at hands of female PKK warriors. I'd suggest an appropriate punishment for captured ISIS terrorists would be to simply disarm them and turn them over to the women....

OBAMA: "I should have anticipated the 'optics'." It's not about optics; it's about compassion, and respect, and ... human decency.

None of which are apparent in this President.

STACY MCCAIN delves into the 'feminist lesbian heteronormative patriarchy'. His perfectly rational response:

Perhaps a couple of weeks of therapeutic sessions could help me overcome my resentment of pretentious snobs and Ivy League assholes, except that my resentment of them is entirely rational. These snobs and assholes are determined to destroy everything good and decent in American life, and every honest and intelligent citizen ought to be fighting to stop them, while there is still anything in this country worth fighting to save.

Read it all. But a fair warning: it's long and packed densely with progressive left idiots saying really stupid things....

PRESIDENTIAL LEGACIES:

MITT ROMNEY: "I don’t know if you can see reality from a fairway." Obama is more than adequate evidence that you can't.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (Socialist-VT) introduces proposal for new wealth tax. Notice it's a tax on other people's money. It's always about other peoples money.

IT'S OKAY TO PUNCH BACK:

So I went to confession at St Mathias on Saturday evening before Mass and started with the usual… “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been 4 weeks since my last confession. Last night, I beat the crap out of an Obama supporter.”

The Priest responds, “My son, I’m here to forgive your sins, not to discuss your community service.”

From my email.

OBAMA TO DELAY IMMIGRATION ACTION until voters can’t punish Democrats for it.

This is nothing more than a head fake to keep voters from punishing Democrats for Obama’s attempts to abuse the separation-of-powers structure in American government. Republican candidates should use this transparently pusillanimous maneuver to put their Democratic opponents on the spot, and remind voters that Obama’s just waiting until after the election to steamroll Congress. Why not elect a Republican Senate to tighten the check on Obama’s exercise of power in light of this head-fake attempt?

The Obama administration usually puts out bad news on Friday night when everyone's gone for the weekend. This time they waited until Saturday morning, I suppose so that the news will out while their base is still hung over from whatever they ate, smoked, or drank the night before.

OBAMA GOES ON MEET THE PRESS, reality fails to intrude. Read the comments; they're biting.

PSAKI MAKES ME PSICK, and Harf makes be barf. I'm not quite at that level yet, but it's clear to me that the State Department is a JV team (if that good).

OH, REALLY? We still don’t know why Lois Lerner’s Blackberry was wiped clean.

HOT AIR: Romney was right.

AVIATION WEEK: thoughts on the airpower debate. The comments are where the action is....

PRIVACY? WHAT PRIVACY? Spying cell towers may be spread across U.S. I've got a suggestion: let's blow 'em up and see what rats scurry out.

MICHELLE OBAMA'S FOREST SERVICE: drop the chocolate in your s'mores.

If the Obama administration has its way future generations will be sitting around a computer generated fireplaces, roasting kumquats, and sipping shots of wheatgrass.

This kind of nonsense will only stop when government agencies (at all levels) are so impoverished that they can only -- and just barely -- supply the essential services required of them.

FREE SPEECH? You're too immature for free speech.

It might interfere with your indoctrination....

YES: New 'loser pays' standard could curb abusive lawsuits.

PRESIDENTIAL LEGACIES:

DEMOCRAT HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE arrested for demanding fast food workers earn $15 an hour more than her interns.

Sort of explains why Congress always exempt themselves from the very laws they pass, doesn't it?

FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY: the smugness never changes.

INSTAPUNDIT: "[I]if you started requiring quality scholarship in grievance-studies departments, that would threaten the whole feedlot."

To reuse (or overuse) an Instapundit favorite: "Heh."

POWERLINE'S WEEK IN PICTURES, Stonehenge edition, is up. There are many good ones this week (Boobs, beer, and bacon; and the Great Pumpkin), but I've chosen this one as my weeks favorite:

Why, you ask? Well, because it "surely presages what historians of the far distant future will say about the Obama Administration: 'No one knows who they were or what they were doing'."

SMART(?) DIPLOMACY: Less Than 3 Weeks After Declaring Syria Chemical Weapons Free, Obama Admin Says They Hid Weapons.

When someone has to keep reminding you how smart he is, it's an open admission that he's dumber than a sack of hammers -- and much less useful.

THE REAL iCLOUD EXPERIENCE.

Why I'm not joining in....

I'VE ALWAYS wondered about that myself.

GLOBAL WARMING 'SCIENCE' is political science. Nothing more.

FAST FOOD WORKERS strike for wage increase. Actually what they're striking for is wage cuts for their robot replacements.

JUST AS SOON AS THE REPUBLICANS WIN THE SENATE: After years of bashing the filibuster, will Senate Democrats embrace it?

INSTAPUNDIT: "Watch for as many race-based and war-on-women headlines as the Dems can manage over the next couple of months. With everything imploding, they’ll have to do whatever they can, however sleazy, to boost turnout."

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: "Smart" Devices Make an Internet of Insecure Things. Think about that when you jump into your 'smart' robocar to go to the grocery store....

CARS THAT THINK: Smart Cars Would Save 420 Million Barrels of Oil Over 10 Years.

They will also encroach on your privacy, but for the government, that's not a bug, it's a feature.

SHOULDN'T WE BE MAKING IT HARDER FOR THEM TO COME BACK? President Obama will host a meeting in New York later this month (feel the urgency!) that will center on a proposal to make it more difficult for radicalized Muslims to travel to Syria and Iraq from the West to join up with the Islamic State.

EPA STRUGGLES to account for cross-state emissions reductions in power plant rule. Nuts. The rule is simple: if you import electricity (lookin' at you, California), then you export the equivalent carbon credits (or cash) to account for the pollution created in generating it. TANSTAAFL.

ONE CENTURY at a time.

FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY: The definition of 'progressive'. Truth stands the test of time....

JEFF JACOBY: A 'right' to recline?

Most air travelers, most of the time, don’t descend into rudeness and selfishness. But as the obnoxious “I-have-a-right” mindset grows ever more entrenched, clashes like the one involving the Knee Defender are apt to proliferate. Barro wants to be paid not to recline into the lap of Darlin, sitting behind him. Darlin claims the freedom to “reallocate” Barro’s ability to move his seat. Compromise? Consideration? Thoughtfulness? Nothing doing. For some people, the right to be a jerk trumps all.

Jerks -- the latest victim group to believe they're the 'entitled' ones.

CARS THAT THINK: Why Can't the Government Run Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications?

Wrong question. The right question is "Why should they?"

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT in the mainstream media (which you certainly did), this letter from the parents of a heroic Navy SEAL demanding that President Obama resign from office.

After finally choosing to view the barbaric, on-camera beheading by ISIS of freelance war correspondent James Foley, I have been left with a level of rage known only to those of us who have sacrificed unspeakable offerings on the altar of world peace.

My offering was my only son — Aaron Carson Vaughn. Aaron was a member of SEAL Team VI. He was killed in action when a CH47D Chinook, carrying thirty Americans and eight Afghans was shot down in the Tangi River Valley of Afghanistan on Aug. 6, 2011.

Many times over the past three years, I have been asked what drove my son to choose his particular career. What made him want to be a Navy SEAL? My answer is simple.

Aaron Vaughn was a man who possessed the courage to acknowledge evil. And evil, once truly acknowledged, demands response. Perhaps this is why so few are willing to look it in the eye. It is much simpler — much safer — to look the other way.

That is, unless you are the leader of the Free World.

As Commander-in-Chief, your actions — or lack thereof — Mr. President, cost lives. As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole — not only in America’s security — but the security of the entire globe. Your message has come across loud and clear, sir: You are not up to this job. You know it. We know it. The world knows it.

Please vacate the people’s house and allow a man or woman of courage and substance to seize the reigns of this out-of-control thug-fest and regain the balance we, America, have provided throughout our great history.

Thanks to your “leadership” from whatever multi-million dollar vacation you happen to be on at any given moment, the world is in chaos. What’s been gained, you’ve lost. What’s been lost, you’ve decimated. You’ve demolished our ability to hold the trust of allies. You’ve made a mockery of the title “President.” And you’ve betrayed the nation for which my son and over 1.3 million others have sacrificed their very lives.

But this should come as no surprise, since your wife uttered a vile statement on Feb. 18, 2008, during the primary campaign — one that speaks volumes of your true convictions. “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country,” she said.

I am sure my deceased son thanks you for that, Mrs. Obama. Oh, and you’re welcome.

Never in my lifetime have I witnessed such despair and such growing fear that the world’s last best hope, America, has finally been dismantled. Perhaps the better word is transformed — fundamentally transformed. Come to think of it, it’s become difficult — if not impossible — to believe things haven’t gone exactly as you planned, Mr. President.

Amazingly, in five short years, your administration has lurched from one disaster to another. You spearheaded the ambitious rush to end the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan — with no plan on how to do so effectively. Also, the release of “the Taliban five” in exchange for one American — without consulting Congress — is also on your shoulders.

You have been at the helm during unprecedented national security leaks — including, but not limited to the outing of SEAL Team VI on the Bin laden raid, the outing of the Pakistani doctor who provided the intelligence for that raid, the outing of Afghanistan’s CIA station chief, and the outing of your personal “kill list” to make you look tough. In addition, 75 percent of American deaths in Afghanistan and 83 percent of Americans-wounded-in-action have occurred on your watch, according to icasualties.org.

And now, we have this recent, heinous event: the beheading of an American citizen by a barbaric organization you foolishly referred to as “the JV team” in your statements to the New Yorker magazine in January.

You, sir, are the JV team. It’s time for you to step down and allow a true leader to restore our honor and protect our sons and daughters.

America has always been exceptional. And she will be again. You, Mr. President, are a bump in our road.

In point of fact, I would submit that Obama has already resigned from office; he's just collecting a paycheck for the next 2-1/2 years.

RECLINER RAGE forces another flight to land. Drive if you can.

THEN THERE'S Michelle Obama's War on Men.

IMMIGRATION: Surge will cost schools $761 million. At least some of that money is coming out of Prince William County coffers (read as my property taxes).

Thank you, Mr. President Sub Par.

MICHAEL BARONE: Democrats look increasingly like the party of the past.

PRESIDENT AWOL: "He’s kind of giving up on his job," said The Hill’s A.B. Stoddard. "He’s planning his post-presidency ... having lots of dinner parties where he doesn’t talk about policies or politics but the NBA playoffs. Anything but his job."

That -- and vacations.

ROSETTA SPACECRAFT set to begin 'capture' manoeuvres.

The Rosetta probe is about to begin the manoeuvres that will place it properly into orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The European spacecraft is currently flying arcs over the "ice mountain" that take it no closer than 52km.

But from Wednesday, Rosetta will gradually drop this distance so that come next week it will be at an altitude of just 29km.

At that point, 67P's gravity should capture the spacecraft.

Let the landing begin.

IT'S A WAR, DUMBASS: You don't 'manage' an enemy; you destroy it.

Dictionary.com: destroy.

1. to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.
2. to put an end to; extinguish.
3. to kill; slay.
4. to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.
5. to defeat completely.

That is the meaning of 'war'.

PRESIDENT SUB PAR: Amid crises, Obama’s busy social schedule means double duty for Air Force One. Obama plumb wore it out.

RAPE CULTURE? What rape culture? More http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/194312/here.

So much for the Democrats' "War on Women" meme....

SARCASM ALERT: the real 'JayVee' team. ISIS is a collection of evil, rabid animals, but a JV team they are not.

57,000 TO 6: Gun control in action.

THOMAS SOWELL: Is it time to make another irresponsible choice?

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS when you are retired and have too much time on your hands:

Here's a little fact for automotive buffs, or just to dazzle your friends.

The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner. On July 17, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees.

The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.

Henry was curious and invited them into his office.

They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car.

They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately.

The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.

The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, 'The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,' on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.

Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti-Jewish, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on two million Fords.

They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names would be shown.

And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls.

From my email (naturally).

ANOTHER BEHEADING: ISIS beheads American journalist. ISIS followers are not even remotely human; they're rabid animals and should be treated as such: put down (killed) as quickly and cleanly as possible, and the whole area quarantined to prevent future outbreaks.

Let's not make the mistake of granting them human rights. Or animal rights for that matter; they're rabid animals and should be treated as such.

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE: US Air Force's Secretive X-37B Space Plane Passes 600 Days in Orbit.

BIDEN: “It’s time to take back America!” Yes. From the Democrats.

RICH STATE, POOR STATE: Real Per Capita Income by State (2012).

Not surprisingly, the most prosperous place in the U.S. is the District of Columbia.... In the Age of Obama, lobbyists reign supreme. A few blue states are prosperous ... [b]ut most of the country’s wealthiest states are red or purple: in addition to the Dakotas, Wyoming (#3), Nebraska (#6), Iowa (#7) and Kansas (#11).

Kansans are smart, but you can't tell that to the average liberal.

It is noteworthy, too, that states like New York, California and Illinois have much more income inequality than states like the Dakotas. If we saw the same data using medians instead of averages, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Nebraska, etc. would look even better. The average person is remarkably better off in those states.

You apparently have to plow through the data to get a sense of the rightness of the above statement; it isn't obvious from the chart.

And finally, this conclusion:

While one should rarely draw sweeping conclusions from a single data set, these numbers do cause one to wonder: the blue model has plainly failed at the state level, so why would anyone want to implement it at the federal level?

The 'blue state' model is essentially a feudal plantation model; it has the rich (plantation) owners surrounded by their servants, with a few shopkeepers leavened in to fill the niches.

OBAMA: the definition of narcissism.

YEAH, RIGHT: “We need a national conversation…”

What we really need is for the pontificators, pundits, politicians, and 'experts' to shut up and listen.

MICHAEL BARONE: Obama's segue from constructive tax proposals to low-grade demagoguery.

He's always been a low-grade demagogue; he just concealed it better in his first term.

NEVER.

HAVING SOLVED ALL THE WORLD'S OTHER PROBLEMS, Obama to fix your dishwasher. What, the Maytag man is too busy?

PROBLEMS: Florida reports huge drop in ObamaCare enrollment. Here in Virginia, my opthamologist has chosen to self-insure and pay the 'penalty' rather than sign up on the federal exchange.

My opthamologist is smart.

THERE'S A REASON why you never put your finger on the trigger unless the weapon is pointed at the target and you're ready to fire.

RANDOM THOUGHTS from the retirement lane: President Obama should take a cue from actor Victor Mature: "I am not a President and I've got 5-1/2 years of experience to prove it."

Apologies to Mature, of whose films I have fond memories.

SEN. TED CRUZ: bomb the Islamic State 'back to the Stone Age'. They're already there -- just take away their modern toys and let 'em rot.

TEAR DOWN THOSE WALLS! The roof will remain standing. (Well, it does in my reality world. The rainbows & unicorns hold it up....)