

Sunday, January 17, 2016

The History of Everything in 18 Minutes

No Icelanders under 25 believe God created the universe, poll claims

Over 90 per cent of respondents under 25 believed in the big bang theory of the universe

No Icelanders under the age of 25 believe the creation story that God was responsible for creating the universe, a new poll claims.
The poll, commissioned by the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, claims that 93.9 per cent in the under 25 category responded that the universe was created by the Big Bang. Just over 6 per cent responded with ‘don’t know’ or ‘other’. None of the respondents, however, believed that the universe had been created by God. 
The Iceland Magazine, which reported the findings, added that the poll showed younger people and inhabitants of Reykjavík were the least religious. It added: “80.6 per cent of those older than 55 identified as Christian and only 11.8 per cent said they were atheists. At the same time 40.5 per cent of people who were 25 years or younger said they were atheists, and only 42 per cent said they were Christian.
One Reddit user, however, criticised the poll as misleading. They said:  “The question in the asked in the poll was confusing. It was ‘how do you think the universe came to be?’ and the answers were ‘the universe came to be in the big bang’ and ‘God created the universe’ or ‘Don’t know’ and ‘other’…”
The user added: “Many people believe that God is the root cause of the big bang, and the comments in the ‘Other’ section of the poll (page 14) are overwhelmingly about something to that effect, e.g. ‘God created the world in the big bang’ .
Other users pointed to the fact that the Big Bang theory was originally hypothesised by the Catholic priest and physicist Georges Lemaître. 
In October 2014 Pope Francis said the theories of evolution and the Big Bang were real and God is not a "magician with a magic wand". Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.


  1. Yet with that said, we tolerate this:

    More than 2000 nuclear explosions have occurred since 1945 as part of nuclear weapons’ testing.


    The media consensus is that a nuclear holocaust is an impossibility.

    Should we be concerned?






    Political Insanity





    1. http://www.globalresearch.ca/there-is-no-danger-of-nuclear-war-or-is-there/5500276

  2. Yeah, yeah, we done got real smart.

    47% of Americans will vote for Donald Trump.

    1. 60% of White Americans will vote for Donald Trump.

      We be genii.

  3. Think about the absurdity of all human history and future in the hands of Ruby, Cruz, Clinton or Trump.

    1. We're incredibly lucky to have made it this far,

      and the one immutable law of the Universe is that All Lucky Streaks End.

    2. We are so fucking smart that we get to choose between Hillary, and The Donald.

      How are them apples?

  4. On another matter, with oil tanking and economies faltering it would be a brilliant time to slam a $1 gallon tax on gasoline to be used for infrastructure. That would take away the ability of OPEC to recover and and transfer $135 billion a year to the US economy creating real American jobs. Allow the Treasury to print currency instead of borrowing it from China and Japan up to $250 billion per year and also use that for non-defense related infrastructure in non fossil fuel energy projects and you create 3 million new jobs and an additional 100 billion of government revenue in income taxes.

  5. The alternate is to allow OPEC to recover and tax the US economy with old price increases and continue borrowing from China and Japan and maintain no real income increases for US workers.

  6. I don't like the gas tax; I'd rather subsidize Wind, Solar, and Cellulosic Ethanol

    (with the aim of making every County - or in the case of large cities, geographic area - at least 50% Energy Independent.)

    And, with the too-strong dollar, and low interest rates, I would vote for borrowing the money, and loaning it back at "cost plus 1%," or so.

    1. Wind, Solar, Cellulosic Ethanol, And Batteries.

    2. Government should not be involved in picking and choosing winners and losers in industry trying to replace oil - that is a recipie for all that is bad in government; bureaucracy, corruption, inefficiency, ect. I'm with Duece - tax it. Call it a sin tax if you like.

    3. It is not picking "winners and losers", Ash, it is picking energy security over foreign control of the US economy.

    4. The gas tax is a very Regressive tax (and, will have the added disadvantage of slowing the economy.)

      Subsidizing Renewables will be a job creator, and produce the benefit of Lowering Energy Costs, and being a Positive for for the economy.

      In Both cases you're "picking winners and losers."

    5. In deuces case you pick oil as loser and all other options are on an equal footing. You can address the tigress I've nature of the tax through other methods.

    6. Phone auto correct - not tigress but regressive



      In Both cases you're "picking winners and losers."

    8. You only have two options:

      1. The US taxes gasoline and uses it for the benefit of the US.

      2. OPEC will regroup and will tax gasoline (with price hikes) and uses it against US interest.

      Oil is not going to stay down forever. When opportunity knocks, open the door.

      Option 1 creates wealth and new domestic jobs. Option 2 is the most regressive as it taxes consumers with no domestic offset.

    9. As to picking winners and losers, isn’t that why we have social security and subsidized healthcare? We don’t want to let the market determine who lives or dies. Why is the market sacrosanct on gasoline prices and not on healthcare prices?

    10. Of course, Deuce, you're absolutely right. Picking Winners and Losers is what government does. It's their job.

    11. I'm not so sure it is a straight line equation that higher gas prices/taxes would slow the economy. Prices are very low yet the economy is far from booming.

    12. Recessions are almost always (something like 11 of 12 times) preceded by Spikes in Gasoline Prices.

    13. There is much that can explain that such as booms proceeding recessions.

  7. The US public has destroyed the last standing Bush. Bring the wrecking ball on to the Clintons and give the body slam to the GOP Likuds Force.


    The US Treasury says it is imposing new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran after Tehran released five American prisoners.

    The move also comes less than a day after some of the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program were removed by the US and EU.
    Washington has imposed sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for helping to supply Iran’s ballistic missile program, the Treasury Department stated.

    Read more
    This file photo taken on September 10, 2013 shows Iranian-American Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and his Iranian wife Yeganeh Salehi. © Str.Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian & 4 others freed in Iran prisoner swap deal
    “Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to international sanctions,” Adam J. Szubin, acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a press release.


    The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says it will also block the assets of Mabrooka Trading, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, for providing Iran with parts used in their ballistic missiles. Others sanctioned include companies and individuals involved in the program, which supervised the testing of two ballistic missiles in 2015.

    President Barack Obama’s administration delayed implementing the sanctions for more than two weeks, while negotiations to release two US prisoners being held in Iran were taking place, Reuters reported, citing its sources.

  9. SOUTHWEST ASIA, January 17, 2016 — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.


    Strikes in Syria

    Remotely piloted aircraft conducted 3 strikes in Syria:

    -- Near Ar Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Manbij, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Mar’a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    Strikes in Iraq

    Rocket artillery, ground attack, attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 26 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Albu Hayat, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL command and control nodes.

    -- Near Kisik, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL fighting position, and denied ISIL access to terrain.

    -- Near Mosul, 10 strikes struck seven separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed three ISIL vehicles, 34 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL weapons caches, three ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL bunkers, and wounded two ISIL fighters.

    -- Near Qayyarah, four strikes struck an ISIL weapons manufacturing facility and an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed an ISIL crude oil heater and denied ISIL access to terrain.

    -- Near Ramadi, five strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL artillery piece, five ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL heavy machine gun, suppressed an ISIL staging area, and cratered an ISIL-used road.

    -- Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

    -- Near Tal Afar, one strike struck an ISIL-used bridge.

    1. 40 ISIS elements killed, 5 vehicles destroyed in eastern Ramadi

      (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Sunday, federal police command announced, that 40 elements of the ISIS organization were killed in a military operations in eastern Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad), while indicate to the destruction of five vehicles equipped with heavy weapons.

      The federal police Chief Raed Shakir Jawdat said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The federal police elements carried out a military operation and advanced towards Juwiba and al-Sedikiya areas in eastern Ramadi, killing 40 elements of the organization.”

      Jawdat added, “The operation also resulted in the destruction of five vehicles equipped with heavy weapons, six defense positions belonging to ISIS, as well as detonating 16 improvised explosive devices,” noting that, “The security forces continue its advance to meet the military troops in Sofiya axis in order to attack the enemy.”

      Noteworthy, Joint Special Operations Command announced, that the full liberalization of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad), while raised the Iraqi flag over its government complex.


    2. Rapid Intervention Forces kill 21 ISIS elements in eastern Ramadi

      (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Sunday, Commander of the Rapid Intervention Forces General Thamer Mohamed Ismaeil announced, that 21 elements of the ISIS organization were killed and six hideouts belonging to the organization were destructed in eastern Ramadi.

      Ismaeil said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “A force from the Rapid Intervention Forces carried out an operation in Husaibah area (7 km east of Ramadi), killing 21 elements of ISIS and destructing three vehicles belonging to the organization.

      Ismaeil added, “The security force managed to destruct six hideouts and headquarters for the ISIS organization in the area,” pointing out that, “Eight improvised explosive devices exploded during the advance of the forces in the area.”

      Iraqinews - Ramadi

  10. 1/17/2018

    "Q"Nit(tm) of the Day

    Jihad Watch
    Virginia: Two Muslims arrested in attempt to join the Islamic State

    January 16, 2016 6:46 pm By Robert Spencer 17 Comments

    Not to worry. John Kerry is no doubt on his way now to explain to Joseph Hassan Farrokh how the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam. But why Muslims keep misunderstanding Islam, all in the same way, remains something about which Kerry and his colleagues are completely incurious.

    Islamic State33

    “Two Men Arrested in Attempt to Travel to Syria, Join ISIL,” NBC Washington, January 16, 2016 (thanks to Patrick):

    A Virginia man who was allegedly attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and a man accused of helping him have been arrested, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

    Joseph Hassan Farrokh, 28, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested Friday afternoon at the Richmond International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Chicago. Officials said once he reached Chicago, he intended to board a flight to Amman, Jordan, with an ultimate destination of Syria.

    Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 25, also of Woodbridge, was arrested Friday evening after returning from driving Farrokh to Richmond.

    Farrokh, who is a U.S. citizen originally from Pennsylvania, has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

    Elhassan, who is a legal permanent U.S. resident originally from Sudan, has been charged with aiding and abetting Farrokh’s attempt to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

    According to the criminal complaints, Farrokh been trying to leave the United States and join ISIL in Syria since Nov. 20, 2015. Farrokh purchased an airline ticket on Dec. 21, 2015, for flights departing on Jan. 15 from Richmond with an ultimate arrival destination of Jordan, and would then travel to Syria.

    The complaints state Elhassan introduced Farrokh to a person who Elhassan believed had connections to individuals engaged in jihad overseas. The person was an FBI informant cooperating with law enforcement as part of a plea deal for a reduced sentence in a criminal case, according to the complaint.

    Elhassan also knew of Farrokh’s plans to travel to Syria to join ISIL, a journey Farrokh believed was facilitated by the informant, and two other associates — also FBI informants. Farrokh told the informants that he lied to his family and had informed them that he intended to travel to Saudi Arabia to study.

    In a taped conversation between Elhassan and one of the informants, the Sudanese-born man reported that Farrokh was close to leaving for Syria, and that his route would be through Jordan, not Turkey as previously planned.

    According to the complaint, Farrokh told Elhassan that he “wanted to go right away and ‘chop their heads.'” Elhassan called his attitude as that of an “extremist,” to which Farrokh responded that he just “belongs on the battlefield and would rather go by himself.”…


    Sunday added Bonus Nit -

    Germany: Muslims arrested for stoning transgender women

    By Robert Spencer on Jan 16, 2016 11:55 pm

    Germany: Muslims arrested for stoning transgender women

    A glimpse into Europe’s future. But when Pamela Geller and I tried to call attention to the treatment of gays under Sharia, gay leaders criticized us for doing so. They will be in for interesting times. “North African men suspected of stoning transgender women in German city,” by Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, January 16, 2016: […]

    Read in browser »

  11. I'm with galonpin2 on the gas tax.

    Low gas prices are one of the best things that can happen for the 'Average Joe'.

    Deuce wants to make Joe's life more difficult.

    Being a 'Limo Liberal' a few more bucks into the tank won't hurt him, but Joe can used the money for the wife and kids.

    I've driven lots of our freeways all the way to Ohio, Kentucky and back, on all the routes, north, south and central, down through Florida and Texas too, Nevada, Wyoming....

    I don't see what all the hoot is about 'infrastructure'.

    Seems like a hell of a good highway system to me.

    Cruising along at 70-75 mph in perfect comfort.

    Kids in Iceland are all drunks. They got nothing else to do, and no imaginative capacity.

    They ought to read some good books, leave, quit drinking, and shut the fuck up.

    By the way, we almost went to the newly built Catholic Church here today, where the new Priest is a black fellow from Africa, but wife didn't wake me from my excellent sleep.

    So we are now planning on The Cowboy Church first Sunday of next month.

    She went there once. Said the whole parking lot was filled with Cadillacs.....

    1. The Cowboys have the excellent idea that one service a month is enough, and they sing like hell, too....!

    2. I think of these asshole drunk white punks in Iceland, and then I think of my Niece.

      It's embarrassing how bad whites can behave....

  12. A nuclear weapon is a beautiful wonderful wonderful thing if one gets them before the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese, who were every bit as much racists as the Germans.

    A couple of nukes are wonderful things if one is tasked with occupying Imperial Japan.

    Not so good in the hands of Islamic End Timers, as in Iran however.

    But then we've been reassured by Deuce not to worry, they need them for self defense.

    And they are just nice normal folks just like us, like the West Europeans, like the Russians....so what if they stone their women to death?

    They are not really serious about imposing Sharia on the entire world. So, they've been preaching the same thing for 1400 years, and acting on it too, both Shia and Sunni, to the best of their ability, but.....they couldn't really be serious....

    I think nukes prevented the Rooskians from invading Western Europe back in the insane commie days.

    Nice to have then, too.

    O'bozo, Kerry and Crew have all but guaranteed now that the Iranian End Timers will have their nukes, (if they don't have them already), sooner, or later.

  13. Replies
    1. Go watch it and stop smearing your ship around here. I'm surprised Deuce is not embarrassed by having it all over his blog.

    2. Fuck off, moron.

      January 17, 2016
      The most plausible explanation for the 10 riverine sailors captured by Iran
      By Thomas H. Lipscomb

      See also: Calling BS on the official story of the Iranian capture of two US riverine boats

      I have separately heard from two experts, both high ranking Marines, one on active duty and the other working in DC at a foundation, the following.  When I pressed them on the Fars News Service statement from Iran that the 10 captured on the two US vessels were all Marines, they countered:


      So that explains several things. Why the captured sailors were so much more fit than the average sailor these days, and how a woman could be among them. While not special ops personnel directly engaged, they have to be extraordinarily fit and well-trained, as indeed these sailors appear to be.

      It also raises the question as to whether they had been on a mission ferrying SEALS somewhere.  One must understand that small craft “belly bumping” has been going on all over the Gulf for decades. There are Standard Operating Procedures for numerous levels of possible engagement, including being swarmed and overcome. They don’t have to include vainglorious responses like getting all your people killed resisting being taken prisoner by other ships with more firepower.  

      The young Lieutenant commanding the mission, covered in this Chicago Tribune story appeared totally composed in making that statement of “confession,” probably because that was exactly the statement he was supposed to make according to one of those SOPs at Fifth Fleet that had been set up for the alternative scenarios.  So any notion that malfeasance by the officers and crews of these two vessels is most unlikely.   

      Also unlikely is any notion that with the multiple communications channels of special ops vessels and multiple navigation aids anyone on board them got lost, was without communications, or drifted while doing repairs anywhere near the Fars Islands. Look at a map. The course from Bahrain to Kuwait is not only direct, it is almost directly N-S and given the shallow draft capability of these vessels, both boats could have proceeded with the Arabian coast in sight the entire time.  


      If the American people were not suffering from an incompetent and incurious press and media, some of these discrepancies would have come to light and been subject to public debate. One would think the questions remaining over what are now the clear lies about Benghazi would excite some editorial interest.  


      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/the_most_plausible_explanation_for_the_10_riverine_sailors_captured_by_iran.html#ixzz3xWm7C9PH
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

    3. And, it should be 'shit' not 'ship', you dumbship.

    4. Yeah, shit it is - boobie droppings smeared all over the place.

    5. Your stuff is interesting only in how it reflects the under side of American political thought. It gives us insight on the intellectual level, ability to reason, and thought processes of an individual Trump supporter. It is quite horrifying to think there are so many in America who think like you.

  14. Wow !

    Carolina is great!

    That Cam Newton is one hell of a quarterback.

    Coach Carrol ought to be allowed to throw in the towel.

    31-0 midway through first half.


    Ashlikins, you left your own country.

    You got nothing to say.

    And, I'm a Ben Carson supporter, though I'm resigned.

    Ashlikins, you're the definition of liberal idiot.

    Only a perfessers son could be so stupid.

    Geewiz, Ashlikins.

    Your pic is perfect for you, I will say that.

    Potato for brains.


  15. .

    I'm with galonpin2 on the gas tax.


    Probably, the best reason for discounting Rufus' view.

    There is regressive and then there is 'regressive'.

    Germany pays about 25% more for their electricity than the EU (28 country) average. Most of the subsidies are paid by the consumer. They even have a name for it, 'energy poverty'.

    Major dislocations and rising prices have forced major changes in the German subsidy programs many of which will start taking place this year. Some that had been scheduled to begin already (solar)have had to be delayed because transmission projections began to fall with the drop in subsidies.

    New jobs in new RE are obviously offset by losses in existing industries. The stories of major disruptions in the total energy industry complex are easy to find. The EU has also been investigating whether German RE policies meet EU Competition Agreements.

    Just saying.


  16. What these people obviously need is a good lecture from our Canadian ex-patriot about the virtues of multi-culturalism....(Quirk has enough brains, and values his head, so he is unlikely to try the experiment) -

    January 17, 2016
    Weekly round up from the religion of horrors
    By Carol Brown

    Israelis live under constant threat of attacks that can occur anywhere, anytime, any way – from suicide bombings to stabbings to being run over with cars. (And this doesn’t even address the threat of large-scale attacks that loom on the horizon.)

    The West has had the relative luxury of looking at Israel from afar and feeling a sense of how different life is here, compared to there. But times are changing as evil gains ground. Westerners can no longer cast their eyes to Israel and sense a great divide between us and them anymore. The Israeli reality has become the West’s reality as we face increasing terror attacks that crop up anywhere, anytime, any way.

    These events are no longer occasional (though that would be bad enough). They’re not even every month or two (though that would be bad enough). Jihad has become a daily reality. Here is a sampling from just last week of some of the horror that the religion of horrors served up.

    Bavaria: A group of Nigerian “refugee” women attacked a refugee center worker, attempting to strangle him while they held their babies in front as human shields so the man would not fight back. (here)

    Brussels: Muslim adolescent boys sexually assaulted a teenage girl on a train. (here)

    Denmark: A 15-year-old convert to Islam was arrested for possessing explosives. (here)

    Canada: Two Muslims attempted to shoot up a nightclub full of people. A Muslim serial rapist was arrested after having raped at least ten teenage girls. (here, here, and here)

    Germany: Three Muslim teenagers stoned two “transgender” people. (There really is no such thing as a “transgender” person, but for the sake of this report, the term is being used.) The attackers were apprehended and told the police: “such persons must be stoned.” Teenage girls were sexually assaulted and raped by “Syrian migrants” at a swimming pool. A Muslim man kicked a woman in her face and broke her cheekbone while attempting to rape her. Christians continued to be targeted by Muslims at asylum centers. (here, here, here, and here)

    1. France: A Muslim teenager attacked a Jewish teacher with a machete and a knife, stating that he was acting in allegiance with the Islamic State. (Life for Jews in France has become so perilous that Jewish men are being urged not to wear yarmulkes in public.) Women continued to come forward to report sexual assaults from New Year’s eve. (here, here, and here)

      (Cologne, before and after)

      Norway: A three-year-old boy was raped at an asylum center, likely by several assailants. (here)

      Switzerland: A Swiss convert to Islam attempted to travel to Syria with her four-year-old son to join the Islamic State. (here)

      Sweden: A former member of the Taliban ranted and raved on a bus, stating he feels vengeance in his heart, he would like to kill Swedes, and he could eat Swedes, among other threats. (here)

      (Some of those poor widows and little children)

      United Kingdom: A Muslim woman stabbed a teenage boy on a bus. The boy’s grandmother intervened and the attacker fled the scene. As of this writing, she remains at large. (here)

      (ISIS flag among “refugees)

      United States: Two people were arrested trying to join the Islamic State. An Iraqi refugee planned to join ISIS, but not before he planned to blow up malls in Houston, stating: “I am against America.” A Muslim man was indicted for joining al-Shabaab. It was discovered that the Muslim who attempted to execute a Philadelphia police officer was part of a terror cell. A Muslim man who is likely a terrorist attempted to extort a large sum of money from couple who tried to help him. (here, here, here, here, and here)

      Note: This list is not exhaustive, does not include jihad attacks elsewhere around the world, creeping Sharia, daily acts of dhimmitude, the evil truth that is yet to be unearthed regarding Iran and our sailors, Guantanamo detainees who’ve been released, the Muslim Brotherhood advance, refugee resettlement (hijra), or attacks and threats we do not know about for any number of reasons,

      As you read these words, jihadists are plotting and planning. What will next week hold?

      Hat tips: Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Religion of Peace, Creeping Sharia, Bare Naked Islam, Breitbart, Truth Revolt, Daily Mail, The Telegraphs, Express, Global News, Reuters, Fox News, NBC, and the Jerusalem Post

      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/weekly_round_up_from_the_religion_of_horrors.html#ixzz3xX098TbM
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

      Back to the game !

    2. After forcing tyrannical governments upon the Muslims of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and Yemen as well as most of Africa, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson is shocked that there is now some "blow Back" to the hundred years of colonial policies pursued by "The West".

  17. .

    I may have to consider voting for Bernie Sanders.

    Bill O'Reilly said he would consider moving to Ireland if Bernie was elected.


  18. .

    The Iran Nuclear Agreement is being touted as a huge success...

    By Israel.

    From the Times of Israel

    If Jerusalem hadn’t ‘led the way’ in enforcing harsh sanctions, Tehran would’ve had nuclear weapons ‘long ago,’ Netanyahu says


  19. .

    The Charlie Hebdo shooting from a couple years back was an unconscionable act of terrorism. There is nothing that justifies it.

    And Charlie Hebdo has an innate right to draw and publish anything they want even if it offends any one or everyone.

    That being said, the Charlie Hebdoites have proven themselves, as a group, to be a bunch of execrable shits.

    First, most of their cartoons lack either humor or in some cases easily identifiable message (obviously, a subjective opinion on my part).

    Second, they abandoned any claim to professional, political, or moral integrity when in the face of further threats they declared they would no longer publish any cartoons of Mohammad.

    Third, you may remember that when the Syrian refugee child washed up on the shore, Charlie received some criticism for publishing a cartoon of his body laying on the beach.

    But this takes the cake...

    Abdullah’s three-year-old son Aylan’s body was photographed lying face down on a Turkish beach after he drowned on the crossing to Greece, a bleak image that helped focus international attention on the plight of refugees making the perilous journey to Europe.

    Aylan’s four-year-old brother and his mother also died in the accident.


    Charlie Hebdo ran a cartoon depicting Aylan as a man chasing after a woman with a caption asking:

    “What would have become of small Aylan if he grew up?”

    “Someone who gropes asses in Germany,” it said, alluding to a rash of crime targeting women at New Year’s festivities in Cologne that has been blamed on migrants.

    The Charlie Hebdo drawing has triggered sharp criticism on social networks while Aylan’s relatives in Canada expressed “disgust.”

    The magazine, contacted Thursday by AFP, declined to comment.


    What a bunch of shits.


    1. That cartoon sounds as if they are addressing people like our very own boobie.

    2. That cartoon sounds as if they are addressing people like our very own boobie.


    US Imposes New Sanctions on Iran After Prisoner Swap
    US Withheld Sanctions Over Fear of Stopping Trade

    The Obama Administration reportedly decided to withhold sanctions against Iran over ballistic missile testing on fears that it would damage their ability to negotiate a prisoner exchange. After the exchange happened yesterday, however, the US went ahead with the sanctions anyhow.

    The move is likely to fuel new acrimony with Iran, and indeed with other P5+1 member nations, coming less than 24 hours after the US had removed the nuclear sanctions against Iran. Iranian officials have argued the new sanctions would violate the letter and spirit of the nuclear deal.

    Indeed, that may be the case. The sanctions are based on UN Security Council resolutions forbidding Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, which suggests the resolutions to be part of the now resolved issue of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has also argued that the missiles in question aren’t capable of delivering a nuclear warhead at any rate, meaning they aren’t covered by the resolutions.

    The other P5+1 nations all seem to agree, and it was only the US that complained at all about the tests, let alone going so far as to impose new sanctions against Iran within a day of lifting the sanctions against them.

    The new sanctions aren’t as broad as the originals, of course, but will still serve as a slap in the face after Iran made the P5+1 deal and then went the extra mile to implement every portion of it months ahead of schedule.

    That’s likely to be a costly decision for the US, as Iran is planning to use much of its newly unfrozen wealth to modernize its economy, and some major international corporations could be in for some big contracts in that regard. New US sanctions are likely to push the US companies to the back of the line in competing for such deals.

    by Jason Ditz, January 17, 2016


    (JNi.media) If you thought America suffered its biggest humiliation when US Navy soldiers were forced on their hands and knees for the benefit of the cameras before being granted their freedom — after having committed the international crime of a navigational error — think again. According to a Reuters exclusive, the day before the Obama administration was about to impose new sanctions on Iran in late December, for violating the UN prohibition on developing long range ballistic missiles, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told Secretary of State John Kerry if the sanctions are declared, the four prisoner deal that was going to be the cherry on top of the Iran nuke deal sundae would be pulled. And Kerry acquiesced.

    There were several long distance conference calls between Kerry, some top aides, and President Barack Obama—who was vacationing in Hawaii—and they all decided it was better to blink on the sanctions and not risk the chance to free the four dual-nationality Americans in Iranian captivity.

    And so the Obama administration “delayed” a package of limited sanctions penalizing Iran for test-firing ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to Israel and Europe.

    Unlike the US, which has kept quiet on the capitulation to Iran’s long range missile ambitions, the Iranians have been bragging about it. Ever the victim in its own narrative, Iran made its threats public vociferously, merging the two separate sets of sanctions, one imposed on its nuclear program, the other a UN Security Council resolution against its ballistic missiles program. Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani, chief of the Iranian Judiciary, declared last week: “For them to say, ‘we have lifted sanctions as regards enrichment, but we can adopt new sanctions for missile activities and the human rights issue’ is not sensible or acceptable. With such an approach, they would take the Islamic Republic of Iran to the point of a revision on the JCPOA issue.”

    A US official on Saturday insisted there was no connection between the nuclear deal and the release of the four Americans. But, as Reuters reports, Kerry’s decision not to call Iran’s bluff in December shows how months of clandestine negotiations to free the Americans were completely intertwined with the implementation of the nuclear deal.

    You can get over a nasty bit of Iranian choreography forcing helpless US Navy men on their knees. But having given up the sanctions weapon on Iranian illegal ballistic missile development goes a long way to curtail US options in the region. Even without a fully developed nuclear weapon, Iran today may be capable of sending conventional warheads to Tel Aviv and a good part of Europe. When would the Administration start imposing sanctions—when there are forests of those missiles at the ready, targeting the Jewish State?

    1. http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/iran-humiliates-us-on-ballistic-missile-sanctions/2016/01/17/

    2. Can someone please tell them that Israel’s problems are not US problems?

  22. Watching the GOP candidates for President call for the President to act without Congressional approval against the Islamic State, while at the same time bemoaning the President's use of executive power without Congressional consensus, was immensely funny.

    Their calls for a "Coalition" to act against the Islamic State, even funnier as they denounced Iran and Hezbollah, who, along with Assad and the Russians are providing the "boots on the ground" in the fight against the Islamic State, in Syria.

    Wish we could see those 28 pages of the 9-11 Commissions report that dealt with Saudi complicity in the attack upon the US in September of 2001. If those pages were made available, they would, I surmise, be embarrassed.




    1. Another congressman who has read the document said that the evidence of Saudi government support for the 9/11 hijacking is “very disturbing,” and that “the real question is whether it was sanctioned at the royal-family level or beneath that, and whether these leads were followed through.”

      Now, in a rare example of bipartisanship, Jones and Lynch have co-sponsored a resolution requesting that the Obama Administration declassify the pages.



  23. Rubio knocks Cruz for disparaging 'New York values' but taking NYC money

    Rubio also jabbed the Texas senator for his recent string of attacks on so-called "New York values." Cruz last week explained his terminology, describing New Yorkers as "socially liberal, pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, focused on money and the media."

    Those comments, which critics in and out of the GOP contest have criticized, with some suggesting they amount to a dog whistle aimed at anti-Semitic voters or homophobic elements in the party, represent a deeper dishonest, Rubio claimed.

    "I think the bigger problem is Ted has raised a lot of money out of New York. He didn't say that when he was there raising money," Rubio said. "He said that in one state and then said something different in another."

    Cruz's wife Heidi is a managing partner at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs' Houston office.

    1. http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/17/politics/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-immigration-new-york-values/

    2. Goldman Sachs, now that is the epitome of "New York Values"

    3. Just watched Cruz interview on Fox. What a putz.

  24. I move that Deuce change:

    “This site is dedicated to preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.”


    "This site is dedicated to kindness, mutual enlightenment, good sincere conversation, and generally uplifting one another."

    I have been following the rules, but I'm really tired of calling Ash an idiot, even though he is one. Seems like a decade or so of it.....

    1. Mətušélaḥ Fri Nov 14, 12:48:00 AM EST

      Fuck, you're a dumbass, Bob.

  25. .

    ...the report would damage American intelligence operations, revealing “sources and methods that would make it harder for us to win the war on terror or more likely we would have asses handed to us by the American people.


  26. Hey !

    I just became aware there is a 'debate' tonight between the Criminal, the Commie, and some bird named O'Mallard.

    Hillary's campaign has been doing a great job of allowing the American People to see her aging face as little as possible.

    If you want - I don't know why you would - but if you want to catch a fleeting glimpse of this aging dementing criminal you might try to find it on the Tellie tonight somewhere.....check out the least watched channels.

    Meanwhile, Billygoat has been put on a lease, and Chelsea, flamed out, is in some guarded closet somewhere.

    I liken it to seeing an albino ground squirrel, the rarity of it.

    I actually saw one once, an albino ground squirrel.

    1. Hillary by the way is a real 'spring chicken' compared to The Bern, who is closer to 80 than 70 and is still spouting the socialism of his youth, despite the experiences of Venezuela, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Eastern Europe, etc etc.

      The Bern is an extremely slow learner.

      The Bern in refusing to say where he will get all the money for all his 'projects', but many of us suspect - actually, know - it will be from people who have created something, like Deuce, and the middle class of the USA, people like many of us here, including, alas, myself, and the national money printing press.

      The 1% couldn't possibly begin to cover it. Nor the 5%, nor the 10%.....

      The Bern seems to have a following among those brain dead broads in colleges across the land who think they are always being micro-aggressed in some way, and love to click their pretty fingers while spouting nothings, the kind that Quirk is always taking to task.

    2. And people like Ash, who thankfully can't vote here.

    3. Why do you say I can't vote in US?

    4. What State are you a registered voter in, Ash?
      How do you maintain a residence in that State, while living as an expatriate in Canada?

    5. We know that Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson's wife voted in Ohio, while a resident of Idaho, the only case of voter fraud documented here, at the Elephant Bar, by a contributor.

    6. When voting I register in my last State of residence which was Michigan.

    7. Wrong-o, Jack Turd Liar Dead Beat Dad Hawkins.

      (When Jack Ass's wife gave birth - 'dropped the kid' in his lovely lingo - in the USA she immediately fled back to Central America to get away from Jack Ass - smart lady)

      I went through that very carefully.

      I was a citizen of Ohio at the time.

      Had lived there long enough.

      Registered to vote there, and did.

      Did not vote in two places.

      Actually spent a little time working in the local Republican headquarters sitting around not doing much of anything except b.s. ing with the others.

      You really need to quit the lying, Liar Hawkins.

      How is that super secret nationally necessary - vital - project you got going with the CIA, National Intelligence, etc going ? Once again everyone is anxious to know.

      Everyone is longing to know what new utter bull shit you will come up with.....Mr No Cattle, No Hat Hawkins.

    8. I remember the conversation and it regarded your wife's vote, not yours. My memory of it was that she chose to vote in Ohio instead of Idaho because Idaho was a done deal for the pubs.

  27. I ask the same questions as JH, Ash.

    The last I knew Canadian citizens can't vote in the USA.

    Here's why I can't stand to fly:

    'Whoever is farting in rows 10 to 12 should definitely see doctor:' Passenger writes desperate plea to flight attendant about offensive traveler...Drudge

    And why I begrudge no man a Limo, which always beats a Greyhound Bus....

    1. Ash has never said he was a Canadian citizen, "Draft Dodger".
      He is a resident of Canada, never a citizen.

      Ted Cruz, now he WAS a Canadian citizen, until 2014.

      In August 2013, after the Dallas Morning News pointed out that Cruz had dual Canadian-American citizenship, he applied to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship and ceased being a citizen of Canada on May 14, 2014.

    2. I just live in Canada but am not a citizen here. I am considering becoming a Canadian citizen. My understanding is that it won't change anything regarding my rights and obligations that come with my US citizenship.

    3. Ah, that clears that up, sort of.

      I recall you said you paid US taxes.

      I think US law should state that if one has dual citizenship one can only vote in one country.

      I also think it's time for a Constitutional Amendment here making clear what are the requirements to be US President.

      I obviously like the two citizen parents idea, which is how it was thought of in the beginning. For damn good reason.

      We had just fought the British to get some rights, for goodness sakes....

  28. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has had a rough start to 2016 and it appears things might get even more complicated. With questions being raised about his eligibility to run for the White House, Cruz is now facing legal trouble.


    Trump and Cruz are the leading Republican candidates as the first round of primary voting begins in less than a month. While Trump still has an advantage nationally, Cruz is now holding a slim lead in the important primary state of Iowa.



    - Winston Churchill

  30. Jack HawkinsSun Jan 17, 07:09:00 PM EST

    AshSun Jan 17, 07:42:00 PM EST

    Idaho BobSun Jan 17, 09:19:00 PM EST

    Wrong-o, Jack Turd Liar Dead Beat Dad Hawkins.


    I went through that very carefully.

    I was a citizen of Ohio at the time. So was my wife.

    Had lived there long enough.

    Registered to vote there, and did.

    Did not vote in two places.


    You really need to quit the lying, Liar Hawkins.



    1. After my wife went through the sacred event of two human births she stayed right with me, for 35 years and counting, and we raised our children together, mutually supporting one another, and the kids.

    2. yet you want to travel Europe with your old girlfriend....weird.

      re vote - as above:


    3. You need to check your memory.

      She had been out there for some time. I came out some months before the election, and decided to vote there too.

      Part of my thinking was, indeed, that Idaho was a done deal for the Pubs, as it generally is....

      What in the hell is wrong with traveling with a Niece or old girl friend ?

      You are showing your ugly mind, young Ash, implying hanky-panky where none exists.

      You should be ashamed of yourself, Sir, and need to cleanse your mind and manners !

      Got an email from my son today. Someone has been living in the place. It's a little spooky, as last time we were out there, long some time ago now, someone was hanging out in the barn.

      He put a new big padlock on the doors.

      I had asked a neighbor about calling the Sheriff.

      He laughed.

      It would be two days before they showed up, he said.

      It's really very peaceful there. Yet 100 miles north in Cincinnati it's a jungle, some of it.

      Cities are the bane of the human race.

  31. Locals say they are devastated after surgeon Dr Ken Elliot and his wife Jocelyn were kidnapped by suspected Islamic extremists in the West African nation Burkina Faso.


    Malian Islamist group Ansar Dine said the couple were being held by members of the group "Emirate of the Sahara", who are linked to Al-Qaeda.

    A spokesman for Ansar Dine, Hamadou Ag Khallini, told AFP in a brief phone message that the couple were alive and more details would be released soon.

  32. .

    From the Guardian,

    David Bowie: astronomers give the Starman his own constellation



    1. There's a Q Constellation out there too.

      In honor of sales pitchers everywhere.

  33. .

    From the Guardian,

    Richest 62 billionaires as wealthy as half the world population combined

    Charity says only a crackdown on tax dodging, higher investment in public services and higher wages can halt the wealth divide widening even further and faster.


    1. I'm surprised the numerical gap isn't wider as most people world wide don't have squat.

      If you gave them all the billionaire bucks they'd have squat plus a little. At least for a little while.

      What's needed is development, along with a little sanctity of contact and the all other necessaries.


      Think Zimbabwe.

      No one in Zimbabwe, except a few governmentals, has anything at all.

      They don't, now, even have a currency.

      This after all the wonderful redistribution of the evil white farms, etc.

      The Breadbasket of Africa - now the BasketCase of Africa. And CasketCase too, as starvation has taken its predictable toll.

    2. I'll always remember, as long as I live, that statement by Mugabe:

      "We don't need all these people around here anyway."

  34. Islamic State fighters have seized more than 400 civilians after capturing new ground in a major assault on the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, according to reports.


    Much of the oil-rich Deir ez-Zor is under Isis control. Syria’s eastern desert has long played a role as a conduit for jihadists into Iraqi territories across the border, even during the American occupation.


    In Iraq, Isis has lost the city of Ramadi to an army-led campaign, as well as the city of Sinjar , the ancestral home of the Yazidi community, to an offensive by the Kurdish paramilitary, the peshmerga .
    In northern Syria, close to the capital of their self-proclaimed caliphate in Raqqa, the militants have lost vast tracts of land to an American-backed offensive by Kurdish militias, whose forces are now just 48km from the city.

  35. Over 90 per cent of respondents under 25 believed in the big bang theory of the universe

    I mean, really, Good Grief, how drunk are these young unread Icelandic yoots ?

    The universe comes, the universe goes, as it always has done, and always will do.

    Nothing to 'believe in' here.

    The Great Mother plays.

    Don't ask me why, ask Her.

    And She won't tell you, but insist you learn on your own, one of these days, one of these fine fine days, in this universe or some other, to your own bliss.

    The Hindus have been saying this for time out of mind, but the Icelandics don't seem to be listening.

    One of the truly unfortunate effects of the current (crudely understood) mid east religions is this non sense about some once in a forever which is never 'creation'.

    The universe is creative right now, always has been, always will be....

    1. Crudely understood -

      Kindly recall that entirely other theory of time lurking just under the surface in the Bible concealed in the ages of the Patriarchs....not a thing about a once in a forevernever creation there...

  36. The real question that needs to be decided:

    Should Britain ban The Donald ?

    Everything depends on this.

    (If I had a vote on this important matter, I'd vote no, but vote for banning any more moslem 'refugees'. British women should feel safe in their persons and purses.)

  37. According to RCP, Trump is now ahead of Cruz by a little over 1% in Iowa.

    Mr. Misunderstood