Transgressive artist transgresses, then whines.

As I mentioned previously here, the main goal of the modern Western artist is to "transgress" social norms, to shock, to outrage, to annoy, to bludgeon the "squares" who are all that stand between progressive people and Utopia.

 "The Truth"

Here's a example of an artist who transgressed, got the outrage he was looking for, and like a typical Lefty proceeds to bash the people he deliberately outraged... for being outraged. I was moved to write about this one because the whining was just TOO whiney to let go.

A painting that features President Obama posed as Jesus Christ crucified on  is on display at a community college art gallery in Boston.
The painting by Michael D'Antuono is part of a larger exhibit called "Artists on the Stump – the Road to the White House 2012." It's on display at the Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery until Dec. 15^th.
It was originally supposed to debut nearly four years ago at New York City's Union Square. But that event was cancelled due to public outrage.
"I always regretted cancelling my exhibit in New York because I feel my First Amendment rights should override someone's hurt feelings," D'Antuono told Fox News. "We should celebrate the fact that we live in a country where we are given the freedom to express ourselves."  D'Antuono said the public exhibition "has afforded me the ability to right a wrong."

Yes, see its supposed to work like this: Mikey gets to piss on your sacred beliefs because that's his First Amendment right, and you get to shut the hell up about it. Because he's a transgressive artist on the moral high ground, and you're just a square.

The whining continues:

He [D'Antuono] dismissed critics who called the display blasphemous.
"The crucifixion of the president was meant metaphorically," he told Fox News. "My intent was not to compare him to Jesus."
D'Antuono blamed the controversy on conservative media "trying to promote the idea that liberals believe the president to literally be our savior."
In the aftermath of his aborted first attempt – the artist said he received more than 4,000 emails containing messages that were "anything but Christian-like."
"But I accepted that it is their right to express themselves and hope that they now see it in their hearts to afford me the same right," he said.

'Yeah, those damn Christians don't understand the nuance of my highly innelekshual discourse here, and then they have the nerve to talk all mean and stuff.'  Little Mikey fails to get it that when a Christian tells you you're going to burn in Hell for mocking the Savior, they're just telling you the rules of Christianity. Christians are required to worry about your soul even when you don't Mikey. Maybe even especially when you don't.

Personally I think Mikey is burning in his own hell right now just by being the dick that he is. But that's just me. I claim no higher knowledge.

The crowning glory here, if I may employ the Lefty nested irony trick, is the fact that Little Mickey is trashing Christianity, the source of his rights and freedoms, and indeed the source of the civilization he lives in and enjoys, to get a guy reelected who is trying to dismantle Mikey's rights and freedoms and destroy that civilization as fast as he possibly can. I figure there's enough irony in there to start a steel plant.

The Phantom

SATURDAY is Hot Girls and Bacon day!

Because Real Life(tm) sometimes interferes with blogging. :) Today some Real Life girls! Yay!

"Hurry up and take the picture, I'm kneeling on a rock here!"

"You're silly."

"Don't touch my hair!!"

"Math is easy. Makeup is hard."

"Baaaaaacoooooonnnnn...."

The Phantom

New Lefty plan: barbarism is the new cool.

Cross posted from the comments section at Small Dead Animals, today's Phantom cluebat to the cranium for some stupid chick who writes for The Guardian UK. Kate links to the commentary on said stupid chick's scribblings by David Thompson.

Miss Kieran Yates, stupid chick who writes for the Guardian UK.

I read this article this morning, and the appalling stupidity of it started building up some rant pressure which I must now vent. She's all a-flutter because rap "singer" Jay Z spent 15,000 Euros, about $20,000 bucks Canadian on truffles. That's about two pounds of expensive fungus right there.

Very expensive fungus.

From the article: "With his latest truffle extravaganza, what Jay-Z is in effect saying is that the world of decadent foodstuffs is not off limits – not to him, or to hip-hop culture. Assumptions are slowly being challenged."

The whole point of this woman's article is the last sentence. "Assumptions are slowly being challenged." This "challenging assumptions" business is the root of the Post-Modern Art weed which is strangling Western culture these days. This need to "transgress" against the "norms" of society, to chastise Westerners for their beliefs and the way they take certain values and behaviors for granted, it forms the whole foundation and most of the body of work performed by modern writers and journalists.

Super rich guy.

Consider that the bare fact of a wealthy black person buying truffles is entirely unremarkable. People don't usually become wealthy because they are stupid or undiscerning, and truffles are very expensive because they are A) hard to grow and B) extremely popular among people with discerning tastes. Rich people buy truffles because they are tasty. No doubt I'd buy them too, if they weren't so expensive I've never sampled one.

Jay Z's audience demographic. Nice dental work.

Consider that the stereotype of "violent asshole" pinned on rap musicians is not undeserved. That is in fact the whole point of rap music, and musicians vie with each other to see who can amass the biggest reputation as the most hard core criminal possible.

Violent assholes, Ol' Skool style.

So here we have little Miss Kieran Yates celebrating the expansion of "bling" to include expensive food, as if that was a good thing. It isn't. Cases in point:

The Vikings used to like bling too. They liked it so much they used to make piles of it.

Viking hoard of bling.

 Some guys used to bling-out the skulls of their enemies and display them.

Pimp my cranium, baby.

 Some guys had the "potlatch" ceremony in which items of great worth were displayed and then destroyed to show the owner's power. (This prominently included slaves on the west coast of Canada, for those who may be interested in what bastiges the eeeeevile Europeans were for interfering with indigenous culture.)

The guy in the middle has really big balls. Or wants you to think so.

The concept is you make a big pile of the sh1t you stole to scare your enemies and let the ladies know how big your b@lls are. Its not a new idea, and its not a good idea either.

Now, its entirely possible that putting Mr. Jay Z and "barbarian" in the same sentence is unfair. Mr. Z might well be a man of discerning taste and refinement. I'm sure I don't know, and I'm very sure I don't care. At all. Because this isn't about Mr. Jay Z.

Its about little Miss Kieran Yates, the Guardian, and the Western Left in general and their fetishistic celebration of BARBARISM. The very idea that rappers [aka violent @ssholes] are trying to expand their notion of bling, or as they used to say in the old days "booty", "swag", "loot" and all the other synonyms for "something valuable which was probably stolen" is not something that should be getting celebrated in a civilized society. Barbarian activities and barbaric practices are NOT GOOD THINGS if you're trying to keep a civilization going.

Therein lies the issue. Little Miss Kieran Yates and company are not trying to keep civilization going. They are trying to BREAK it and replace it with barbarism. When white people buy truffles that's Imperialist hegemony. When black rappers do it, its -cool-.

Here's what I want to know, little Miss Kieran Yates: is it still going to be cool when rappers start wearing the finger bones of their enemies?

Paris runway next year?

 Scalps as fashion accessories, the next couture craze?

It goes with my shoes, dahling.

YouTubes of counting coup before bludgeoning/shooting/stabbing their foes to death, hot or not?

That ain't horse hair.

Ear collections, the next must-have item for the aspiring rap musician?

These will look good on my belt.

The Phantom

...like They don't read it now.

Latest on your privacy as an American citizen... BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! As if!!!

A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law.
CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week.

As we know from the current Petraeus scandal, if Big Brother wants to read your email, Big Brother is going to read your email. However this new post-election re-write indicates that the DemocRats intend that Big Brother will be reading your email at whim, not even the tiny fig leaf of judicial oversight required. Further examination of the bill (I surmise) may reveal that Big Brother will be able to observe your entire internet surfing history at whim as well. Which means pretty much ANY cop will be able to view everything you ever did on-line. Including crooked cops, cops you own money to, cops who want to date you, cops you dated and ditched, cops who belong to political parties you don't like, cops doing a favor for their friends, or their relatives, or for some guy who paid them a hundred bucks for a peek at your file... you get the picture.

So the real question is, how much do you trust the average unionized public employee? Because they are going to know literally every goddamn thing you do or say on-line if they feel like it.

We can seeeeeee you!

Bad news is, it can be worse. The trend here is quite obvious and quite alarming. The policy makers in almost all Western countries are constructing a system of ubiquitous surveillance, by which you will be tracked 24/7/365 by your own electronic devices. Which you paid for. They will be able, legally and in a cost-effective, practical matter, to know exactly where you are, where you have been on a very long time scale of at least several years, your entire history of retail purchases, and they will be able to SPY on you with full video and audio by turning on your phone camera and also the phone cameras of people around you.  Furthermore they will be able to control your -car- as well. Track it, turn it on or off as they please, turn ALL the cars in a given location on or off, etc. Its far more pervasive and intrusive than the GPS ankle bracelet they fit to convicts on parole.

Just so you know what y'all voted for.  From my perspective Canada has nothing to brag about, our government is driving in this direction as well, if a little more slowly.

On the bright side, you can avoid the whole system by leaving your trinkets and cards at home and driving a pre-2005 car. If you have a classic with carbs and distributor ignition even better. Carry cash.

The Phantom

More proof that Animal Rights activists are not pro-animal.

They are not pro-animal. They are anti-human. Evidence, the bunny huggers are all up in arms about Brit Army surgeons getting trained on pigs.

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spokesperson Klare Kennett said the training exercises, which take place twice a year in Denmark, were "abhorrent and shocking".

"Pigs are intelligent animals and most people would be appalled by this, especially as there is an alternative available which does not involve harming any animals," she said.

What alternative?

Animal rights campaigners argue that life-like human simulator devices are more effective for medical training than live animals.

That's right, the "campaigners" say sewing up a DOLL with some tubing inside is better training than sewing up a live pig with a real gunshot wound.

And what -terrrrrrrrible- things do the mean army men do to the nice piggy?

The animals are heavily anaesthetised before being shot at close range "to damage organs but not kill the animals", and are then operated on before being killed humanely, the ministry said.

I'm sure piggy suffers horrrrrrribly in his sleep.

Now, its obvious (to me at least) that the Ministry of Defense is already bending so far over backward to appease the animal lover whackos that their heads are touching the floor, and the whackos say its not enough. It will -never- be enough. The whackos would not be happy if Britain disbanded its army, beat all the tanks into plowshares, razed the cities to the ground and turned the island into a bucolic, 1700's vegetarian farm community. That literally would not make them happy. They'd be screaming about animal slavery of the poor farm dogs and sheep and barn cats.

You can't reason with people like that. Because they aren't reasonable. As in, will not respond to reason. Or common sense, or history, or actual eye-witness demonstrations, or any other form of communication.

Unfortunately, because they're completely nuts they are tireless.  Gadflies who end up getting their way because they simply never, ever, ever stop bothering policy makers. The truth about the people who make policy in government is that they are LAZY, and will predictably take the path of least resistance every single time. That's why the MOD stopped doing this training for surgeons in 1998, because it was easier.

Now of course we see the program being reinstated for the same reason. Because its easier to have the program and put up with the screaming nuts than it is to explain to Mrs. MacDonald why wee Geordie died from his wounds due to an incompetent surgeon. Mothers outnumber animal rights wingnuts by a healthy margin.

Just so we all know what we are dealing with.

The Phantom

New EPA motto: Good and Hard!

Following the worst corn harvest since the 1950's, guess what the EPA is doing:

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday rejected a request from eight governors and nearly 200 members of Congress to waive requirements for the use of corn-based ethanol in gasoline, after last summer's severe drought wilted much of the nation's corn crop.

The move is a victory for corn farmers who have seen corn prices jump 400 percent in recent years. But it is a loss for pork and beef producers who say the diversion of corn to ethanol raises feed prices and ultimately prices at the supermarket.

Automakers have clashed with ethanol advocates and opposed boosting the percentage of ethanol. They argue that higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline — which may be necessary in order to meet stepped-up minimums for annual ethanol usage — can harm engines in most vehicles on the road today.

Some Greenies, oddly, are not happy with this decision.

Michal Rosenoer, biofuels policy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, criticized the EPA decision.

"If the worst U.S. drought in more than 50 years and skyrocketing food prices are not enough to make EPA act, it falls to Congress to provide relief from our senseless federal support for corn ethanol," he said.

"The RFS is a broken policy — rather than giving us clean energy, it's incentivizing biofuels like corn ethanol that are exacerbating our economic and environmental problems.

"Congress needs to cut corn ethanol from the RFS entirely to protect the economy and the environment from this destructive and dirty fuel."

It seems even some bone-hard Lefties think burning FOOD during a FAMINE is going a bit far. I never gave them credit for that much brains, guess I'll have to up my estimate from "stone" to "chimp".

Want to know the  reason the EPA spokesbeast gave? Its a beauty:

The EPA said Friday it had not found evidence to support a finding of severe "economic harm" that would warrant granting a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard. The law was signed in 2007 by President George W. Bush and requires production of increasing quantities of ethanol.

"We recognize that this year's drought has created hardship in some sectors of the economy, particularly for livestock producers," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "But our extensive analysis makes clear that congressional requirements for a waiver have not been met and that waiving the RFS will have little, if any, impact."

Translation: "Even though we know that food prices are going to hit the roof, and even though we know that the economy is in the dumper, and even though we know fuel prices are astronomical because of this bullshit ethanol requirement, and even though we know using ethanol is a big-time net loss for air quality... you boys did not fulfill the requirements set out on page 1428, paragraph 12, section 4b, line 632 of the Renewable Fuel Standard statute!  That gives us a perfect excuse to deny your application, so we will. Because we can. And for no other reason! And you can't do SHIT about it!!! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Good and hard, baby!

So, all you Blue State American Liberals out there, welcome to the experience all legal immigrants to the USA, all gun owners and all business owners are already intimately familiar with. Government officials screwing up your life just because they can. You voted for it, now you're getting it. Good and hard.

Enjoy!

The Phantom

Hot girls and Bacon, armed and dangerous edition!

In honor of the 35 year old lady in this story, who shall remain nameless at her request, today we have hot girls carrying heat.  She was confronted by a pervert while out for a walk with her little kid and she shoved a gun in pervboy's face. AWESOME! And bacon, of course. Gotta have bacon!

Girls with guns!

FN-FAL, my favorite!

Looking good at the SHOT Show

IDF soldier girl looking good on duty.

American soldier girls looking good OFF duty in Iraq.

Ok that's just silly. But hot!

Top model says that where guns are concerned, bigger is better.

Good luck to the IDF today, and good hunting.

And now crispy, yummy bacon...

Yes, it is a bacon gun.

...shaped like a gun. Don't tell me you never thought of that.

The Phantom

In Soviet Amerika you OBEY, stupid prole!

This one is pretty amazing. Man tasered to the ground because he was trying to put out a fire on his very own house.

When Jensen saw the fire jump on to his back roof, he again grabbed the hose. That's when he said -- unknown to him -- a police officer pulled out a taser and fired it at his back.
"As I went to grab the hose, I hear an officer on this side. There was a boat here; he was just behind it. He said, 'Hit him, hit him! Take him down, tase him!'" explained Jensen.  "I didn't know they were talking to me, or about me. I was concerned about putting water on the fire, and the next thing you know I'm being tased."

Long story short, the house next door was on fire, the fire was spreading to Jensen's house, the cops arrived before the fire department and decided that it would be ok for Mr. Jensen's house to burn down too. Mr. Jensen wasn't having any of that and wouldn't stop trying to save his house, so they tasered him. In the back.

Yellow bellied  back-shooter is not a complement, Mr. Policeman.

I would hazard a guess that the OPP down here where I am in Ontario would do pretty much the same thing. Back-shoot a guy with no warning for not following their orders to the letter. They've done a lot worse in Caledonia.

Its not the big things that show the problems we face. Its stuff like this.

Its getting worse by the day, ladies and gentlemen. I'd say vote accordingly, but that isn't going as well as we'd hoped  these days.

The Phantom

The Phantom featured at Small Dead Animals.

Ah, glory. Fleeting, yet glorious. Somebody got up my nose in the comments section at SDA the other night, and a neuron snapped in my brain. This wrathful diatribe was the result. Kate liked it and featured it.

Thanks Kate! :)

Davenport said: "I'm going to head off The Phantom here, who doubtless will show up shortly with some rant about how this is all FEMA's fault."

You really are DENSE woman. FEMA, while it is a clusterfrig of titanic proportions, could not cause this much misery on its own. Although they FAILED to have emergency generators at key fuel distribution points (read gas stations) and although they FAILED to have any kind of plan to move food and fuel to the affected areas, and although they FAILED to even have a forward based supply of bottled water and ran out last Friday, even these gold plated MORONS couldn't have frigged things up this badly alone.

Do you want to know why the power is STILL off on Long Island, Davenport? Read this here: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Sandy-LIPA-Outages-Power-Long-Island-Defense-Military-178115341.html

In it you will find reference to a report from 2006, SIX YEARS AGO, which found that Long Island Power Authority had not done the basic maintenance required to secure the power grid from weather damage. The maintenance they're talking about here is tree cutting mostly, and replacing bad power poles.

I lived in New York in the 1990's. I could have written that report. The f-ing power went off every time it snowed because they didn't cut trees and the trees ripped the lines down. They also didn't plow the roads, but that's a story for another day.

You want to know why they don't cut the f-ing trees Davenport? It isn't because they are stupid, it isn't because they don't know, it isn't because private enterprise is inherently corrupt, it isn't even because union workers are a bunch of rent-seeking layabouts. Its because every time they go to cut down a tree, some local Greenies get up a petition or a court order to make them stop. So they stop. So the trees break and knock down the power lines. Same thing all over the North East until you get up into snow country, where even the f-ing tree huggers know better.

Well -this- time it all came home to roost the same day, and every overhanging branch from New Jersey to Connecticut took out a line.

But don't get me wrong, there's a ton of corruption and scamming going on too. Paying off inspectors, hockey tickets for town council, that sort of thing. That's why all those flooded switching stations were within reach of a flood in the first place, because the money to move them was skimmed off by graft. That's why FEMA didn't have any forward located stuff, because it all either vanished or was never there to start with except on paper.

But now that there's been a disaster the LIPA wankers are screaming for crews. And they aren't getting them. You know why Davenport? Because volunteer crews from as far away as Florida showed up Monday -before- the storm and cooled their heels until Friday, didn't get any assignments because they WERE NOT UNION, and then those volunteer crews went the hell back home.

And FEMA didn't say jack about it, did they? Nor did anyone else. One phone call from Barack "The Golfer" Obama to the head of the union could have fixed that. Just one, single phone call. Didn't get made, did it? He made a speech on Wednesday and then flew to Vegas.

Some of the people displaced by the flooding are still in tents. FEMA is supposed to find or make housing for these people, its been a week and a half now, and they are in tents. Looked out the window today? Its cold. People are going to -die- in tents this time of year. It is reported today that some of these cold tent dwelling people started calling the news media, and the FEMA types running the camps started confiscating cameras and refusing to charge up cell phones. No power, they said.

The only organizations in this whole farce that showed up like they meant it have been churches. Not seeing much of that covered in the MSM are we?

But the crowning touch Davenport, the cherry on top of it all that just makes it all the more outrageous and mind numbing is that New Yorkers voted for MORE of it on Tuesday. More graft. More incompetence. More better and bigger Big Government. Gimme my Obama phone.

Say, d'ya think LIPA and ConEd will be laying off because of Obamacare? I bet they will. I bet they lay of a thousand guys right before January first.

I prophesy this: until people like YOU, Davenport, stop actively sabotaging everyone who's trying to make our civilization work, there's going to be ever-increasing numbers of people dying of exposure in tents waiting for help from Big Brother that never comes. I also predict that the ones who survive are going to be p1ssed.

As my parting shot, I want you to think about Toronto for a second.

Did you know that thanks to the Liberal Party of Ontario and -decades- of stunning stupidity, there are two (2) main power lines that come in to downtown? Yep. Both running at the edge of melting most of the time. And did you know that most of your power comes from far away places like Nanticoke, Darlington and Bruce? Did you know that outside of Pickering there is no generation in the GTA at all?

Did you know that gas stations almost never have an emergency generator, even around Toronto?

I want you to think about Toronto after two solid weeks with no power. In November. Nice eh? Now try February. Hope you stocked up. On insulin. 'Cause there won't be any.

And remember. YOU voted for this. You did. Not me. I voted to fix it, you voted for the stupid short sighted @ssh0les who broke it.

You don't even know how close to the edge you are, yet you argue with me for telling you. Wake the hell up and LEARN something before Bad Things happen.

We have yet to hear back from Davenport. Bet her ears are burning though. :)

Lest we forget...

Hot girls and bacon!

Yes its FRIDAY again, and time for more Hot Girls and BACON!

Today, because we are thinking of you, its girls from Israel! YAY!

 Takes a lot to look good in combats, but she does!The M-16 is a very fetching accessory, too.

Is she wearing combats?

Ok, definitely not combats.

Say, is that a Gucci rifle sling you have there?

 All those girls are making me HUNGRY! Let's have some bacon! And beer! With guns on it!

Now that's tactical bacon!!

Breakfast is served!

Picture of the "New" America.

Up on Drudge right now is the electoral map by county that got Barrack "The Golfer" Obama re-elected. The blue parts are majority DemocRat, the red parts are majority Republican. Here it is.

I noticed something about it. The red parts are where all the food comes from and where all the work gets done. The blue parts are where all the food goes. Also the fuel, etc. that gets made in the red parts.

Dear DemocRats, that's something for you to think about.

The Phantom

Update: Welcome  Catallaxy Files readers!

SAY IT LOUD! Say it loud or shut the hell up!

Kate's place has a post today titled "I Won."  It refers to this article in Foreign Policy regarding the Senate investigation into the attack at Benghazi and the death of the US Ambassador and three US servicemen. Predictably, the Obama administration is screwing around, won't let certain papers be viewed except this week, and only by Senators.

One senior GOP Senate staffer told The Cable that State is only making the documents available for senators and committee staff to view today and tomorrow, which won't actually allow the members to prepare for the hearing. Staffers for committee members are also not allowed to see the material.
"Funny since no member is in town," the aide said. "The timing and limited access clearly demonstrates the administration cares more about playing politics with the tragedy than accepting responsibility."

That's the GOP comment. Fiery, ain't it?

My comment over at Kate's , re-posted for your convenience.

"The timing and limited access clearly demonstrates the administration cares more about playing politics with the tragedy than accepting responsibility."

Really. You don't say.

Incidentally its not a tragedy. Those brave men died in battle like GIANTS. Chosen by the Valkyrie. Two of them accounted for 60 enemy fighters. They died not because their kung fu fell short, but because they were BETRAYED by their own side. Tragedies are when shit happens to innocent people by accident.

In other news, that guy who made that video this all was blamed on got a year in jail yesterday. For "unrelated charges" of course.

Make a fuss Republicans. Make a ruckus. Kick over the traces and stonewall Barry like there's no tomorrow. Or shut up and just let it burn.

But don't cluck like a bunch of hens. That's so degrading.

The Phantom

Apparently I live in Bizzaro World.

Barry wins! Wow, how the hell did that happen? I'm even more stunned by the fact that the odious DemocRATs kept their Senate majority. Did not see that coming. At all.

I thought about it all day today. Clearly all the stuff I talk about here and all the stuff on drudge and on the web generally hasn't made any impression on about half the population. I can riff about ten reasons off the top of my head why this is a frickin' disaster for the USA and double-plus ungood for Canada too... but its going to bounce off half the people out there like a tennis ball off an engine block.

I'm pretty confident in my disaster prediction, given that the DOW dropped 300 points this morning as soon as the market opened. Everybody with a clue knew that was going to happen. Everybody I know has a clue. Most of the people I've met in the USA in the last four years have a clue.  Hell, the gnarly Mexican gang dude I met in a car lot in Phoenix in 2009 had a clue.

So who the FRIG are all these clueless goofs that voted for Obama?

Well, lets start in New York. All the people I know in New York voted for Romney. Because they can tell shit from shinola, mostly. Who voted for Barry? HALF THEIR NEIGHBORS.

How about Staten Island? After getting flooded and then SHAFTED by Barry and NYC government, FEMA, Red Cross, the power company, the electrical union and etc as covered this last week here at the Soap Box, almost exactly half of 'em voted for "Thank you sir may I have another!" 49.9%Barry, 49.1% Mittens, 0.8% the Interstellar Party of Peace and Love or whatever.

That seems stupid to me. How does half a population manage to suspend reality so massively that they vote for the guy who came to their wrecked homes, made a speech and then flew off to Vegas. Leaving them to the tender mercies of bureaucrats so inept that they still don't have gasoline available. Been a week now. Total cluster-fuck, still voted for more of it.

I don't have a clue. Really don't get it.

But I kinda need to. Because if we less-government-more-freedom types don't find a way to breach the Reality wall and make contact with the cranium space of that other half the population, we are all going to be living in Greece North real soon.

The Phantom

Lexington Armory Update: "Victoria's Secret Saved Our Butts."

A new story in Wired today contradicts what I said yesterday. Fair's fair, so here it is.

"We were dead in the water until Victoria's Secret showed up," Captain Brendan Gendron, the Regiment's operations officer, told Wired magazine.

Victoria's Secret is slated to hold its annual fashion show at the New York Army National Guard's historic armory on 25th Street and Lexington in Manhattan on Wednesday, and producers were already in town to prep for the televised event when the storm hit. They had eight 500-kilowatt generators with them, and they were happy to put them to good use. Soon, the soldiers had power and hot water again.

This story in Fashionista is saying the National Guard has a pre-aranged agreement to move soldiers during the show, and is not getting booted out as previously said in yesterday's story.

We just heard from Victoria's Secret and they assure us that the Post's report is entirely untrue. The National Guard is incredibly grateful for the lingerie giant's help during Hurricane Sandy. Guardsmen will relocate as planned–Victoria's Secret is not kicking them out, as the Post's report implied.

There you have it then. Private production company steps up and saves state funded institution from their own lack of preparation.

My question now is, why doesn't the New York National Guard have their own generators and the brains to bring them along? They have more and better stuff than the whole Canadian Armed Forces, they can't wire up an armory in an emergency?

I'm sure they can, and I'm sure there's a reason why this all is the way it is... but really, I'd love to know if its a reasonable reason or if its all just down to SNAFU.

The Phantom

Disaster relief socialist style: Victoria's Secret update!

This here is surreal. You're not going to believe this, so here it is in print fer ya:

Dozens of National Guardsmen, and Army and Air Force personnel who have been sleeping at Manhattan's Lexington Armory in between hurricane-relief shifts are being booted — to make room for Victoria's Secret models in anticipation of Wednesday's runway show.

About 300 uniformed personnel have been bunking down at the armory at various times since Sandy hit.

But their numbers will be reduced to 60 by Wednesday for the event, which is featuring Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

The military workers will be relocated to the Jacob Javits Center, Harlem Armory and hotels such as the Marriott East Side and Ramada East Side — where they'll bunk five to 10 per room on the government's dime, sources said.

...

A massive transformer generator was being brought in for the show, and a huge Sony video board was hauled to the site.

Just to rub some salt in this wound, lets lay it out:

• Soldiers,
• on duty for disaster relief,
• in a disaster which is still a DISASTER,
• in a place where over a million people haven't had power since Tuesday and still don't,
• are being kicked out of the armory
• which was built and is maintained specifically for SOLDIERS to use during time of war, disaster, insurrection, plague and what have you,
• which cost the taxpayers of New York millions and millions and millions of dollars over the years,
• which is a Federal building under control of FEMA for the duration of the emergency,
• an emergency which is still in place,
• are being kicked out of their barracks for an underwear show,
• which is being powered by a huge generator that is urgently needed about a hundred other places by people who are cold and hungry,
• and is using equipment being delivered by large trucks which probably should be working to deliver that generator to the cold-and-hungry people.

New Yorkers, this is your government in action. This is the action delivered by your President, Barack Obama, who you voted for in droves, who promised to cut the red tape and get you people looked after. 100% fail.
Tomorrow you get to vote on who runs your government. I suggest you think about that Victoria's Secret show at the Lexington Armory and what it represents to you personally before you do.

Here endeth the lesson.

The Phantom

Disaster recovery, Socialist style!

The inevitable has happened in New Jersey. In the heat of the moment on Tuesday volunteers and work crews from as far away as Arkansas and Alabama showed up in New York and New Jersey to get the power back on. They came with trucks and chain saws, burly guys with wire strapped to their backs ready to kick some hurricane ass. Well, cooler heads have prevailed and we are back to business as usual.

Crews from Decatur Utilities and Joe Wheeler out of Trinity headed up there this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were told by crews in New Jersey that they can't do any work there since they're not union employees.
The crews that are in Roanoke, Virginia say they are just watching and waiting even though they originally received a call asking for help from Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
The crews were told to stand down. In fact, Moore said the crew from Trinity is already headed back home.
Understandably, Moore said they're frustrated being told "thanks, but no thanks."

See ya!

Because really, the most important thing when 600,000 people don't have power and gas stations can't pump gas is union rules. Right?

Well no. The MOST important thing is... wait for it... the New York MARATHON!!

These should be pumping gas somewhere.

Nice tent!

"[T]hose urging the city to halt the run believe that the thousands of Marathon volunteers could direct their efforts towards post-Sandy relief and cleanup, "and they also argue that the event will divert thousands of police from important hurricane-related duties." But despite petitions circulating, work started up again yesterday on the Marathon route.
A tipster, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us there were lots of workers in and out of the park today, who had "started before the storm and then came back starting yesterday." Trailers are lined up from around 71st to 66th Streets on Central Park West, a food truck was set up today, and "generators have been sitting there at least a week." The tents that were taken down prior to the storm have also been set back up, and there is a stage set up near 73rd Street.
Considering all the volunteer help and NYPD attention that's already being diverted to the Marathon, the added sight of generators and food being channeled to the event is probably going to strike some New Yorkers as a little misplaced—we're thinking of the ones who are currently lined up waiting for the National Guard to ration out MREs and bottles of water."

Say, couldn't these guys stay in the nice tent instead of clogging up the high school for another two weeks?

 The marathon staging area is Staten Island. Which is a disaster zone.

Downside, lost the house. Upside, got a NEW BOAT!

Meanwhile there's people on Staten Island still lining up for gas too, because many gas stations have gas in the tanks but don't have power yet. Because there's not enough crews. Because the crews are non-union, or they're working on the friggin' marathon.

Isn't socialism wonderful? Isn't Mayor Bloomberg a wonderful socialist?

Incidentally,  a reader from New Yawk (who shall remain nameless) informs me that strange people have been showing up in his 'way upstate neighborhood siphoning gas and stealing stuff off people's porches. He has no power yet. Another reader from a bit further north says he has no problems at all and there's no lines at the local gas station. We're talking less than 70 road miles from Battery Park here. An hour and a half drive from the flood zone there's no disturbance at all. Plenty of whatever you need.

Bottom line, the clusterfuck that is FEMA can't move PLENTIFUL fuel and material 70 miles down the biggest, best road network in the USA to reach the affected coastal zone that's no more than a mile wide at its worst.

The Phantom

Update! From a commenter at Small Dead Animals this link:  http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/02/ala-utility-florida-crewman-blame-electrical-union-for-interfering-with-hurricane-sandy-relief-video/

Crews from out of state are not being allowed to work by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The power companies invited them, the power companies want them, the -union- is telling them the crews have to join the union and get paid the union rate or they can't work.

Can we say this is a serious emergency? No. If these shitheads are still playing this game, its not at all serious. So much for Barry's "no red tape" promise, eh?

Just imagine for a second if something bad happened. Like an earthquake. Headlines would read "Two Million New Yorkers Dead From Abject Stupidity."

Will Sandy help Obama? Update: Not So Much.

Here's Barry "managing the response" during the storm.

"I gotta get one of those big screens for the beach house."

Here's Barry staring pensively down the river with Gov. Christie playing Second Banana.

"Hey Christie, is that your car down there?"

Here's Barry and Christie in  Marine One burning five hundred gallons per hour flying over the New Jersey shore accomplishing absolutely nothing.

"Come on Barry, I wanted to be door gunner"

 Here's forty zillion pissed off Jersey voters lined up for a five gallon can of fuel. For eight hours.

"Yeah? Well if Romney wins these lines will be TWICE as long!"

Here's some New Yorkers who are not rubbies getting dinner from a dumpster. Nice purse, baby.

"I was too stupid to get milk -before- the storm."

Government spokesmen are saying the power may be out for a week, fuel may be short for longer. Maybe they should siphon up what's running out of these cabs then, eh?

"We were too stupid to park -above- sea level."

 Where's Barry today? 

"What happens in Vegas, STAYS in Vegas!"

 Obama may not carry New York.

The Phantom