I found these great vintage Santa photos (via RivetHead) taken when Christmas was Christmas and not the nebulous and vapid ‘holiday’ nonsense being pushed today.

Keeping with this theme, Dave @ Moonbattery has summed up the Liberal War on Christmas concisely:

Every year liberals move the battle lines in their War on Christmas. It has already reached the point that acknowledging a holiday that 95% of Americans celebrate feels like a faux pas. Graham wonders,

Why go to so much trouble to ruin other people’s fun? If you really are so fouled up inside that you can’t find joy in Christmas, why not simply ignore it?

Here’s why: the rawest essence of liberalism is coercion. Every other principle can go out the window if it has too, but the coercion will remain because a liberal by definition is someone who worships it. That’s why coercion is their solution to every problem, and why the motto “live and let live” will never be applied by liberals to those they oppose.

RR: Irans Shows Off Downed RQ-170 Sentinel Stealth Drone; Fully Intact; Electronic Cyber Warfare Ambush?
Bunker: Osawatomie Kansas, Obama and the Weather Underground
CH2.0: A Defense of Capitalism and Free Markets
CS: Pearl Harbor 70th Anniversary

The Eye: Red State/Blue State Rehash
GTBTBA: Army vs. Navy
LaS: Sounds Like a Threat To Me
MTTM: Newt Gingrich Exclusive Photo
SJ: Teddy Roosevelt the original “Nanny Stater”

Spellchek: Seger and the Boss! Live at MSG! (I know the NJ contingent will like this)
TCotS: Newt Destructa Est!
theCL: The Peacemaker (Militarization of American Police)
Gator: Best comments of the debate last night? Newt Gingrich is not the problem, Obama is
Republican Mom: Newt Tried to Install Internal Passports on Us in 1998 – Guess Who Stopped Him?

Wade: A Letter to Obama
WWTFT: Before There Was TV
WyBlog: Rick Perry’s pro-Christmas TV ad is not “anti-gay”
Zilla: Savagelanche!

Good News: An upbeate and positive update from Jim from Conservatives on Fire regarding his eyesight.

These motorcycles combine two things I think are really cool, Rat Rods and Cafe Racers, into one: “Rat Cafe’s”

Via Bike EXIF:

Dutra’s bike is a 1975 GL1000, with a flat-four 999 cc motor. It had been faithful to its former owner for 35 years, and although it was time to move the bike on, the original owner didn’t want to see it scrapped. He wanted it to go to someone who could completely transform the machine, giving it a new and unexpected lease of life. That person ended up being Paul Dutra of Back Alley Motorcycles in Ontario, Canada.
When Dutra arrived to collect the Gold Wing, it was sporting a Vetter fairing and a full set of Krauser luggage. “It was all decked out with fog lights and extra brake lights,” Dutra recalls. “He had taken very good care of the bike, and had spare oil filters and plugs. He even gave me a period-correct Honda sync gauge in its original box. I managed to take the bags and fairing off, then lowered the forks through the trees and stuffed it all into a very short Dodge Caravan.”

This is one cool bike…

Now, on to the links:

Bunker: “This is what happens when he [Zero] goes off the Teleprompter.”
CS: Nothing to Be Thankful For? Think Again
The Eye: The Eye of Newt?
GTBTBA: My Thoughts and Prayers go out to the Cain Family
MTTM: Obama’s Jobs Plan- Make every able-bodied teenager a couch potato.

‘Bot: Your Help is Needed to Defeat #Texas #RINOs
Moonbattery: Uhbama Wishes His Subjects a Happy Winter Solstice
Pundette: Not Mitt, not Newt
SJ: Do we have a constitution?
Spellchek: What’s the easiest way to reduce unemployment? Stop counting people

theCL: Sen. Joe Lieberman- Google’s Blogger Needs “Flag” Button to Report Terrorist Blogs
Gator: The Bridge In Your Mind
Republican Mom: “The only reason we aren’t an all-out banana republic already is because of the second amendment.”
Wade: No One Left
WWTFT: The Mob and Freedom Of The Press – Part 2

WyBlog: Sanctimonious Saturday Salutations, or Barack Obama and the 17 Days of Christmas Vacation
Zilla: Sunday Sundries
FCBZ: Mark Levin Tweets, “Obama Is the Laziest President in My Lifetime”
CH2.0: More Reasons to Avoid Socialized Medicine

Translating brand names into Chinese is big business:

And so the art of picking a brand name that resonates with Chinese consumers is no longer an art. It has become a sort of science, with consultants, computer programs and linguistic analyses to ensure that what tickles a Mandarin ear does not grate on a Cantonese one.

Art “is only a very, very tiny piece of it,” said Vladimir Djurovic, president of the Labbrand Consulting Company in Shanghai, which has made a business of finding names for Western companies entering the Chinese market.

Maybe. But there is a lot of artistry in the best of the West.

The paradigm probably is the Chinese name for Coca-Cola, Kekoukele, which not only sounds like Coke’s English name, but conveys its essence of taste and fun in a way that the original name could not hope to match.

There are many others. Consider Tide detergent, Taizi, whose Chinese characters literally mean “gets rid of dirt.” (Characters are important: the same sound written differently could mean “too purple.”)

I guess the process for translating has come a long way from the “bite the wax tadpole” days.

Check out more literal brand name translations into Chinese here.

On to the links…

Sentry Journal: Never underestimate the stupidity of an uninformed electorate
CoF: Understanding Justice- from The Free Market Project
CH2.0: EMT Attacked by Occupods, sent to Hospital (I wonder when the MSM & Libs will drop the “the #OWS movement is just like the Tea Party” lie?)
Spellchek has the best tax plan ev-ah!
Bunker: Obama’s illegal Aunt says, ‘you owe me’

LAS: The #Occupy Meltdown Will Be Swift and Ugly From Here
TMGGB: Fannie And Freddie Have To Go
FCBZ: Getting Worse: Occupy Wall Street Fatal Shootings Ignored or Glossed over by Liberal Media, Protestor Standoff at Occupy Portland, Police Criticized for UC Berkeley Crackdown
GTBTBA: JoePa or the Kids?
Republican Mother: Wall Street and FDR: Chapter 1

Robot: How to Steal Power – Bill Whittle (video)
theCL: November 9, 2011 Emergency Broadcasting Test
Gator: Bill Press equates Herman Cain with accused Penn State coach
WWTFT: Power and Responsibility
WyBlog’s Weekly Obama Job Report is much like last week’s job report where Obama shows how weak he is.

The Eye: Rating Romney
MTTM: Traverse City Cain Train
Pundette: Public school kids explain why it’s better than homeschooling

Found theses interesting vintage Halloween pictures at Shorpy.

CP: With all those vegetables mentioned and the Soviet “glamor” maybe Michelle Obama caught this on You Tube as well?
CoF: Human Rights vs. Private Property Rights at Catholic University
Bunker: Napolitano knew about guns going to Mexico in 2009
Another interesting slice of history @ WWTFT: Loyal Opposition
Robot: Progressives Plan to Abolish Electoral College!

theCL: In case you needed even more evidence that mainstream media outlets are nothing more than state organs pushing propaganda
SJ: Michael Moore is one clueless soul…and I do mean clueless
CH2.0: It has only just recently begun to snow, so we’ll have to see how much snow the global warming brings.
WyBlog: “Nice little Halloween display you got there, be a shame if nobody got to see it.”
TMGGB: Follow the money and see who profits from this.

The Eye: The Karl Rove GOP v. the Sarah Palin GOP = Mitt Romney v. Herman Cain?
CS: Changing Landscapes of the Arab World
Pundette: Our gentle first lady, taking it a step or two beyond her husband’s “Argue with [your neighbors], get in their face”
FCBZ: Racism 101, Democrats, & MSNBC
TBA: Who the Heck is Orlando Jones?

Dewey: Catholic University of America and the Slippery Slope of Accomodation
MTTM on the #OWS crowd: They see corruption and cronyism as the problem, but do not understand that these are merely the symptoms of a greater, unrecognized problem.
RR: Rick Perry’s Newest Ad Hits Airwaves in Iowa
Henry Payne: Halloween 2012
Phil’s Blog: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

Found these great pictures at How to be a Retronaut. Be sure to check out the rest.

CS: Smoke and Mirrors Bus Tour
WyBlog: Lech Walesa says “Nie” to Occupy Wall Street
SJ: I’m not the same conservative I was five years ago
Cof: Has the Whole World Gone Mad?
theCL: Mainstream Politics Killed the American Dream

Bunker: Louisiana says no cash transaction for 2nd hand goods
LAS: Jack Wiley Dithers reports on Liberty at Stake’s new online store
WWTFT: The Savvy Author’s Guide To Publicity
CH2.0: Apparently, the 99% does NOT like Communists defecating on their property
The Eye: Herman Cain’s 999 Plan

MTTM: Occupy Traverse City… (If I were to occupy anywhere, I would occupy Traverse City. It’s beautiful up there.)
Dewey: Ennui On Wall Street
Bot: Drug Tests for Gun Buyers?
FCBZ: Queen Elizabeth Nearing “Fuel Poverty”
TBA: Amazing Artwork

Pundette: Biden visits future Dem voters in York, PA
Gator: Do the Democrats really care about the “working American”?
Spellchek: 21st Century Statecraft – a U.S. blueprint for civil unrest
RR: Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindal on Meet the Press = Who Cares?
TMGGB: Agenda 21…ICLEI Is Unconstitutional…Is It In Your Town?

These posters are so cool. Via one of my all time favorite artists, Steve Thomas.

The State of Michigan might tilt a bit to the left, but we do have a boatload of great conservative bloggers:

theCL: Teach Your Children How Government Works

Spellchek: Bearack Obearma

TBA: It’s Just a Game!

Christopher: Red Meat Part Deux – The Man

CS: Snyder Pulled a Romney; Wants Higher Michigan Gas Taxes After All…… (I really like the term “pulling a Romney” BTW.)

MTTM: Mitt’s Greatest Hits

Dewey: Up Against the Wall, Mother Jones, Inc.” The OWS Crowd Gets Tough.

Now on to other great posts from across the internet…

I love this response (and name of the web site) to the Occupy Wall Street crowd: getadamnjobyouhippie.org

Cof: Order out of Chaos? Part II

Bunker: E.U. spends half of its budget on ‘greener’ farm subsidies

The Shock Talk: Redistribution of Wealth

Sentry: Operating on Thinking vs. Feelings, and why it is Potentially Dangerous

CH 2.0: A Threat From an Occupy Wall Street Goon

WWTFT: John Adams, The Philosopher Rebel

FCBZ: Vintage, Classic, & Current Halloween TV Commercials (video)

RR: Computer Virus Threatens Drones; Predators and Reapers Compromised?

Another great conservative Michigan Blogger… Wade: Ups and Downs – Highs and Lows

TCoTS: They Sold Their Souls To The Company Store

TMGGB: For the gal that has everything…

Liberty: Newton’s Three Laws (Part 22)

ChrisWy: Is a Mitt Romney nomination really “inevitable?”…(I hope Mitt is not the nominee!)

‘Bot: The Soul Who Forsakes God Wanders a Barren Landscape

The Eye: Sci Fi Icons #2–Wilma Deering

Gator: Look Whose Relative Just Got $135.8 Million Energy Loan

Pundette: “But I want everyone to know I’m a fourth-quarter player,” he said. “I don’t miss my shots in the fourth quarter.”

Chickenfoot released their 2nd CD (I’m so old school) Chikenfoot III.

Via VHND:

So when Chickenfoot hooked us up with an advance copy of their second album, jokingly titled “Chickenfoot III,” we were salivating for our first taste.

If you own their first album and you thought you knew what Chickenfoot was all about musically, you’re wrong. The group’s sophomore set is in no way a carbon copy of the first record. In fact, it’s quite different. It features several rockers as expected, but the band boldly expanded their sound, delving into some unexpected directions, such as pop, blues, soul, and even a couple slow-tempo cuts. Many fans will enjoy these new directions, but others will likely wish that the group had stuck with the same successful formula it tapped for its debut.

While it’s a great album, “Chickenfoot III” sounds a little less uniquely “Chickenfoot” than the group’s inaugural set. Throughout the album, Sammy brings it lyrically and vocally, and Michael’s solid bass playing and completely unique background vocals are evident. Joe’s guitar playing and Chad’s drumming shine a little less often than they did on the debut, however, which leaves a few of the tracks sounding like a mixture of a Chickenfoot song and a Sammy Hagar solo song. It seems that Satch was purposely playing less technical and flashy, and more in a song oriented style.

In honor of the new Chickenfoot CD, I’m blatantly ripping off Matt from Conservative Hideout 2.0 “video interspersed with links” format for my (sort of) weekly right wing link round up.

First up, the latest Chickenfoot video, Bigfoot.

The Bitter Americans: Stolen Missiles and Racist Bake Sales

Cynical Synapse: Romney Picking Up Steam is Really Bad Hot Air

Bunker: Obama lets us know he didn’t care much about ethics.

CoF: Who Said Conservatives Don’t Have A Sense Of Humor?

WWTFT: Federalist No. 22

Foxy Lady.

SJ: Cutting the people out

‘Bot: So now we can create a few new artificial reefs…

FCBZ: Krauthammer Predicts Landslide Election Against Obama in 2012 (video)….. (One can only hope).

Spellchek: Beers with Herman Cain

LAS: Newton’s Three Laws (Part 20)

Get it up

Christopher: Little threat to Earth from big asteroid

theCL: Republican “Hope and Change”

Pundette: Notre Dame president “bewildered” by Obama’s contraception, sterilization, morning-after pill mandate

The Eye: Dude, Where’s My Credit for 9/11?

Tom Nelson: Government Now Spoon-Feeds Helpless, Incompetent Danes

Chris Wy: Would the Feds still demand repayment if the ARC tunnel was a Green Energy fiasco?