Obama: “Duffer in chief?”

From Politico:

Barack Obama might have abs that are the envy of men half his age and the ability to command a crowd of 100,000 with his speeches.

But when it comes to the decidedly presidential sport of golf, well, to put it diplomatically — he’s only a little smoother on the links than he is in a bowling alley.

It wasn’t until Obama teed off as the president-elect a few times during his Hawaiian vacation that his golfing skills — or lack thereof — really showed.

I’m afraid the last thing you’ll ever hear me do is bust someone’s chops over his golf game. I’ve gotta be completely honest with you: knowing that Obama’s skills – or lack thereof – on the greens amount to less-than-PGA status makes me more likely to identify with him. As for people suggesting that he needs to have a goal of leaving the White House with a single-digit handicap, may I recommend that a good golf game should be way, way down on the list of priorities for a president?

Idiot McKinney buys another 15 minutes with her provoked “incident” at sea.

When you purposely try to penetrate a “closed military zone” attempting to resupply the enemy of the people with the navy securing that zone, one shouldn’t be surprised when an “incident” occurs:

Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, unimpeded by the “closed military zone” imposed by Israel, was among 16 people aboard a medical supply boat that collided with an Israeli naval ship Tuesday as it tried to enter coastal waters around Gaza.

The yacht, owned by the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement, was reportedly carrying 3.5 tons of medical supplies donated by Cyprus. A press release from the group claimed “several Israeli gunboats intercepted the Dignity she was heading on a mission of mercy to Gaza.” They said the Israeli military fired machine guns into the water in an attempt to stop the Dignity’s progress.

I think the reporter (and the multiple layers of editorial oversight) have used the wrong word up there in the 1st paragraph. McKinney & Co. were surely “unimpressed” with and “ignored” the closed military zone, but it’s pretty obvious they were pretty definitively impeded by it. I have no doubts that McKinney, a person with a long history of hatred toward Jews, always suspected she’d be intercepted while trying to land supplies for Hamas in Gaza. I think she was hoping for something dramatic to get her crazed mug back in the newspapers.

At the same time, I think everyone on that boat should be damned glad it wasn’t me in command. A vessel attempting to resupply an enemy that has made literally thousands of attacks against my fellow citizens tries to just barge past the picket line I’ve been ordered to maintain? One warning shot is all they’d get to turn away from their course. The next order to fire would be for effect and the cease-fire order would only come when the boat’s structure had slid beneath the surface. McKinney’s no US official. She’s an idiot who thinks she’s important and she’s gladly putting herself and anyone who follows her into the line of fire in a shooting war. Caveat emptor, kids. Follow her at your peril.

Apple’s store-opening woes in Georgetown

Patrick Ruffini makes his feelings plain in his tweet on the attempts by Apple to open a store in DC’s Georgetown: “DC Luddites blocking first Apple Store in the Capital.” From the linked story:

The wait for Apple’s first retail store in the nation’s capital will reportedly drag on, as local preservationists have been unable to see eye-to-eye with the Mac maker on a design for the new shop.

The Cupertino-based company acquired a building in the historic Georgetown district more than a year ago with the intention of demolishing the structure and replacing it with a flashy high-profile Apple store.

Although it’s since been cleared to raze the building at 1229 Wisconsin Ave., Apple has been unable to pass its design proposals for the new store through a review process governed by a pair of local preservationist bodies, according to the Georgetown Current [PDF].

Read all about Apple’s attempts to put in a store that doesn’t look like a re-done row house. At the end of the article it mentions that Apple has apparently not paid taxes it owes since buying the property. To be frank, I wouldn’t be paying them, either, if I was constantly getting stonewalled about actually being able to build on it. If the Georgetown board mentioned has the ability to legally stop them from building on the property then they can take the heat for the taxes being withheld. If they don’t, then I’m afraid I’d consider this 3rd refusal from them the 3rd strike and go ahead with the building process over their protests.

Lucile Shaw Minchew, rest in peace.

As a result of my travels I’ve been a bit disconnected from the local news here in Loudoun and it was only on my return yesterday that I read the e-mail telling me of the passing of Lucile Shaw Minchew, mother of Randy Minchew whom I have mentioned here at HoodaThunk? several times. I never met her, personally, but I can be assured she was a fine woman of impeccable character given the example set by her son. Mrs. Minchew died on Christmas day.

I feel very clearly what that can do to a person. My grandmother died on Christmas day, 1974, literally with family surrounding her going about our Christmas celebrations. Being 1 step closer on the family tree than I was, I can imagine the impact on Randy and his siblings is just that much more. I know from personal experience that nothing helps this close to the passing of a parent but perhaps, down the road and with what healing time can provide, some small measure of comfort can be taken from the knowledge that she was called home on the birthday of Christ and that the heavenly hosts were singing their most resplendent songs. To be invited to that celebration is surely the greatest of honors.

May God grant Randy and his family the strength to persevere through this grief. Minchew family, you are in the prayers of my family today.

Eternal light and life grant unto her, O Lord, and peace to her family. We ask this in Jesus’ name…

Yellowstone rocks?

The ground is shaking in Yellowstone, apparently.

Yellowstone National Park was jostled by a host of small earthquakes for a third straight day Monday, and scientists watched closely to see whether the more than 250 tremors were a sign of something bigger to come.

Swarms of small earthquakes happen frequently in Yellowstone, but it’s very unusual for so many earthquakes to happen over several days, said Robert Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah.

“They’re certainly not normal,” Smith said. “We haven’t had earthquakes in this energy or extent in many years.”

In Yellowstone there is actually a large volcanic caldera – what amounts to a dormant volcano. (You can view the US Geological Survey’s information on it here.) There’s been discussions about the ramifications of that caldera suddenly going active and the term “supervolcano” was coined as a result. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Defense of self is the most basic of all rights

Via Instapundit I find this from Jeffery Goldberg:

If someone was sending rockets on my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop it, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.

These aren’t my words — they’re Barack Obama’s. But I attach myself to this sentiment.

So do I. All the standard-issue Arab bleating aside – and I am happy to report that Egypt does not appear to be among those offering it this time – Hamas has brought this upon themselves. They’ve called down the thunder, as the saying goes, so they get to enjoy the fruits of that effort. The people living in Gaza can thank the government they freely elected for this New Year’s gift. I only hope they live to regret their choice.

Returning home

Back on the road in the morning returning home. Been a great visit, far “busier” than I thought it’d be.

Iran executes 10 on Christmas Eve. And unless you don’t depend on our media for your news, you’d never know.

Fascinating that they’ll cover Ahmadinejad’s Christmas rebuttal speech but our major media outlets refuse to run the story of how he acted when he returned home. Iran executed 10 people on Christmas Eve. Read Ed Morrisey’s take on it.

Pajamas Media on alternative energy vehicles

Brian Douglas over at Pajamas Media:

The truth is that there are a number of new technologies on the horizon that will help reduce emissions and dramatically lower our dependence on oil. Of course picking a single winner in the propulsion derby would be a lot like picking just the right vehicle for everyone to drive. And don’t be too surprised if you find some people populating the Beltway who feel empowered to do just that.

Let’s put political considerations aside for a moment and look at solutions that are pretty exciting. For people whose transportation needs can be solved with a small sedan or utility vehicle, we now have the technology to take energy directly from the sun and convert it to family mobility. And this isn’t the go-to-the-moon stuff where we need to gather every available rocket scientist to put a massive program together. Let me explain.

As The Man says, “Faster, please.”™

NJ Judge rules birth certificate of adopted kid can be allowed to contain false data

Here we go again. Last time this happened it was a lesbian couple in NJ. Now, a New Orleans judge has ruled in favor of a gay (male) couple in requiring that the LA Office of Vital Records list the names of the 2 men who adopted a boy on the boy’s birth certificate as his legal parents.

I understand completely what they’re trying to do, here, but this is a stupid move on the part of the Court. Our species requires 2 genders to reproduce. As I said back in 2006, there are medical procedures that allow for a sexless conception, but there is absolutely a male parent and a female parent and those are the people who should be listed on a birth certificate. I explained the rationale in my last post on this topic:

Birth certificates are part of a set of documents called “vital records” and that’s no misnomer. Such a certificate provides a wealth of data, including the names of both parents. To purposely misidentify or omit a parent from that document will literally chop off an entire half of the child’s family tree.

And lest anyone jump up and say that the biological father’s family isn’t really family in this case or that knowledge of who he is is immaterial, allow me to remind that someone that medical history is a tricky thing to compute when you don’t have half the data. The father’s family might have a history of stroke or heart disease, specific cancers, or some kind of birth defect. Even if this child doesn’t suffer some defect personally, the risk will be carried by him or her into their own married life. The line of children to come (we assume) will deserve to be able to judge the risks based on the full picture. That’s a picture that’s being purposely cut in half on the altar of political correctness and expediency.

There are children all over the country whose loving parents aren’t the couple that produced them. They have a name on their birth certificate of someone who’s not relevant in their lives in any manner except genetically and they’re just fine. This action on the part of these 2 women isn’t being done with the child’s future in mind. There are ways to accommodate their legal needs without the vanity of seeing their own names on this child’s birth certificate. And vanity is all this is.

That was true then and it’s true now. There are all manner of methods to provide official documentation of the status of a given person, place, or thing. That it’s somehow “necessary” that the birth certificate of an American citizen be altered or issued with information on it that’s patently incorrect is pure bunk. It’s a play to the ego of the adoptive parents and a bending of the rules just to make things easier on them to make the system work like they want it to. I hope someone’s actually thinking about the kid in this case and is making an archive ofthe real information so it’ll be available down the road when he needs it.