Hither and thither 2/18/11

Another busy week, and I get the joy of preaching Sunday. So it may mean for a slightly shorter HT today, but hey! what I have here is yours. (Remember the perennials.)

• So, poor sleep last Sunday night, bad headache in the middle, wake up in the morning, go to the mirror, and...

• Want to see someone try deceptively to make an either/or look like a both/and? Thanks to reader Robert Sakovich, here you go.
• Barack Obama then: "I was a constitutional law professor, which means unlike the current president [George W. Bush] I actually respect the Constitution." Barack Obama now: shred it.
• Reader Mike Westfall challenges us: guess that caption!

• I find this ominous: while Beijing increases propaganda efforts in America, the Obama administration is canceling Voice of America broadcasts in China.
• Another reason to love the House GOP leadership: when was the last time you saw the phrase "cutting spree" applied to any branch of government?
• Hope Boehner does what he says he will do.
• The House is also targeting Obama's shadow-government-by-"czar."
• Triablogue came up with a nice pictorial summary of atheism.

• Reader Kristina Nunez found the tale of a young man who refused to wrestle a girl, and suffered as a consequence. She applauds his choice, as would (evidently) John Piper. I applaud his acting on conscience but, as I've explained, have mixed thoughts about the specifics of his choice.
• DAOD found an article suggesting that folks with last names towards the end of the alphabet jump to make purchases, more so than those towards the As.
• Relatedly (kind of a double-pun, that), for you who love the pictures of our grandson Timothe, here are a couple extra-adorable installments. One shows that, though Timothe's much bigger, Hagrid's still a pretty big cat. (Freshen your memory with this picture.) The other shows that Timothe (at only about ten months) is doing that walking thing he's been so eager to do... and following in his uncles' warrior-footsteps.

• Need a real-life silly-break? I've got 27 seconds for you, courtesy of reader Joe Lewis: there's a horse in that car.
• And now, as you ponder that — James Earl Jones reads Justin Bieber.
• Is governor-envy a sin? This sad Californian has sighed before over NJ Gov. Chris Christie's tough-dealing with the huge-spenders in his state. Now Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is taking on, even in a relatively small way, the deathly stranglehold that unions have on his state. Guess his party? I know, too easy. But never fear, the Democrats are doing their part. They have fled the scene, so as to avoid doing the job they're paid to do. Nice.
• BTW as an aside: this is what Democrats do when they don't like the way an election goes. Is it just me, or is the disconnect between reality and the lexical meaning of "Demo-crat" just getting more and more surreal?
• Anyway, back to what Governor Walker is doing. Wish our governor would do that. But... there really is a difference between the parties. Often, anyway.

• The Corner's Jay Nordlinger gives a pretty good fisking to the gold-standard stonily-objective MSM Associated Press and their biased coverage of events in Wisconsin.
• This is why I love, love, love how Rush Limbaugh calls MSMbots stenographers (for the Democrats) rather than reporters.
• Blacks must be liberal. That isn't what I think, so don't look at me like that. That's Helen Thomas, respected MSM correspondent extraordinaire.
• And because that statement wasn't sun-explodingly stupid enough, she added that Obama isn't really liberal.
• Netflix is about to have some competition from Redbox. Ahh, competition. Always good for the consumer.
• Simply brilliant:

• Do you think all American taxpayers should be forced to support certain television and radio shows? Find that one in the Constitution. Well, liberals think so, and they'll pull stunts to prop it up. ("Sure, cut the budget... no no, not that part!") Is there really a sentient human being who doesn't think Sesame Street could get sponsors just like every other competitive show? (Thanks Robert Sakovich for the tip.)
• Are you a Christian? Ha! OPPRESSOR! (This courtesy of the geniuses at nearby UC Davis; thanks to multiple readers for the link.) Reader Dave adds John 15:18 as an apropos observation.
• Continuing westward, the peace 'n' granola hippies in Berkeley decided not to pass a resolution welcoming released Guantanamo detainees into their lovely haven. (Thanks to Chris Carney for the link.)
• Mmm, meatloaf cupcakes.

• (Yuck.)
• "Socially moderate but fiscally conservative"? Mythical beast.
• The message of Dorothy Rabinowitz' chilling WSJ piece seems to be: liberal multiculturalism kills. (Thanks to reader Eric Van dyken for the link.)
• Let's play Name That Political Party again. Which party is a Kansas lawmaker who proposes that all newborns in the state be given DNA tests to determine paternity? I know, I know. "Too easy." (Thanks to Dawn Lewis.)
• I love my readers. I don't want to lose any of you. So please, please, please — don't try to go all Matrix on me:

• And don't do this, either.
• No wonder I'm tired. Sam Knisely found an article titled All the Digital Data In the World Is Equivalent to One Human Brain.
• Are you the sort who can't get enough of super-slo-mo, even if it's utterly inconsequential? Then reader Yurie Hwang found just the thing for you.
• I'll bet this was an interesting wedding:

• Massive bacon fans will thank Laura Kellher for this link to the "best" bacon reviews.
• Finally: it would have been cruel to Brad Williams (and others) to put this first, so here it is at the end. (Refresh the page if the picture doesn't do anything.)

• Leading to...