The French Trains were on the Wrong Track

American Thinker  "Memory can be painful, even extremely painful. The death on March 8, 2014 of 93-year-old Leo Bretholz has evoked memories of a still painful and controversial issue in wartime France. His small role in history and in current lawsuits in Maryland resulted from his action on November 5, 1942 when he leaped from a train carrying him and a thousand other Jews to Auschwitz. That train, number 42 of the convoys taking Jews on the journey to their death, was operated by the French railway company, the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF).
....
"The issue came up again after the SNCF had won rail contracts in Virginia and Massachusetts, and was bidding for contracts in California and Florida." ....
....
"Was SNCF was merely an instrument of the Nazi war machine or an independent agent? The company claims it was coerced rather than responsible for its actions."
 

Somehow we failed to notice this on April 1

University of Wisconsin sidewalks to become one-way only 

 

"It would be great if humor were one of the attributes colleges and universities looked for in students, faculty, and administrators. But humor aggravates the perpetually aggrieved, so it's more of a liability in institutions."

 

Another comment to this post:

My institution sent around a mildly amusing "special edition" of the Friday campus newsletter, designed not to be offensive to anyone.

Then they killed humor dead with this tone-deaf note:

Editor's note: all material included in this special edition is satirical in conjunction with April Fools. These articles are meant to be humorous and should not be assumed as truthful reporting.
Has there ever been a more awkward phrase than "satirical in conjunction with April Fools."

 

Political correctness has decayed the traditional American sense of humor.

Environmentalists to the Peasants: Drop Dead

calwatchdog
 

Commentary Magazine   "California is going through a terrible drought and 2013 was the driest on record in the state. So who is suffering, financially and otherwise, from its effects? 

"Hint: it is not the coastal elite. The water still flows to the upscale neighborhoods of La Jolla, Malibu, and Marin County. Their lawns are watered, their BMW’s washed and polished, their swimming pools full.

"No, it’s the farmers in the Central Valley and the agricultural workers who are idled as 500,000 acres of the best farmland on the planet lies fallow. Where is their water going? To save the environment." ...

Victor Davis Hanson: America's coastal royalty out of touch

Commander-in-Chief Obama Told Military Leaders: Accept Gays In Military Or Step Down, Admiral Says

Buzzfeed   "In a 2010 meeting in the Oval Office, the president told service chiefs they could “go do other things” if they didn’t support abolishing DADT, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp said."

 Weasel Zippers photo

 "In a meeting with the heads of the five service branches in 2010, President Obama offered the leaders a choice: Support my efforts to end the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, or resign, the Commandant of the Coast Guard said.

"In a video obtained by BuzzFeed via a Freedom of Information Act request, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp revealed that Obama was unwilling to compromise with service leaders over DADT during a meeting in 2010. “We were called into the Oval Office and President Obama looked all five service chiefs in the eye and said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I cannot divulge everything he said to us, that’s private communications within the Oval Office, but if we didn’t agree with it — if any of us didn’t agree with it — we all had the opportunity to resign our commissions and go do other things,” he said."

The President and the Pope, as told by the White House

Chip Bok; Pope and President 

 

"The pope gave the president a copy of Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel)."....

Obama surely loved the publication's opinion of free markets, but these next words, well, not so much:

 

Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right. ...  Full article

Thomas Sowell; How Foreign Is Our Policy?

The American Spectator  "Drawing red lines in disappearing ink."

Excerpts below:

Drawing red lines in disappearing ink makes an international mockery of not only this president’s credibility, but also the credibility of future American presidents’ commitments.

... "Many who are disappointed with what seem to be multiple fiascoes in President Obama’s foreign policy question his competence and blame his inexperience. Such critics may be right, but it is by no means certain that they are.
"Like those who are disappointed with Barack Obama’s domestic policies, critics of his foreign policy may be ignoring the fact that you cannot know whether someone is failing or succeeding without knowing what he is trying to do.
"Whether Obamacare, for example, is a success or a failure, depends on whether you think the president’s goal is to improve the medical treatment of Americans or to leave as his permanent legacy a system of income redistribution, through Obamacare, and tight government control of the medical profession."

The painful irony is that Jeremiah Wright was just one in a series of Obama’s mentors hostile to America, resentful of successful Americans, and convinced that America had too much power internationally, and needed to be brought down a peg.

Sowell's most poignant words come at the close of the article:

...Virtually every major move of the Obama administration has reduced the power, security, and influence of America and its allies. Cutbacks in military spending, while our adversaries have increased their military buildups, ensure that these changes to our detriment will continue, even after Barack Obama has left the White House.

Is that failure or success?

Sebelius Speechless After Reporter Tells Her How Unpopular ACA Is

Newsmax   "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was forthcoming in response to an Oklahoma City news reporter's questions about Obamacare on the last day for sign-ups — until he told her how unpopular President Barack Obama's healthcare plan is with people in his own state.

"Then she was speechless.

"The awkward pause occurred Monday morning during an interview with CBS affiliate KWTV reporter Stan Miller in which Sebelius gave several last-minute details for those who had not met the March 31 open enrollment deadline.

"The interview was almost over when Miller told her that "at last check, 64 percent of Oklahomans aren't buying into the health care plan, they don't like Obamacare, and they've been pretty vocal about it. Now that's going to be — still continues to be — a tough sell, but we'll see how that plays out over the coming months.' "

The Joke's on Us

Heritage

 

"You can’t make this stuff up. On the health law’s pseudo-deadline day, following a huge push for people to visit the website, HealthCare.gov went down. Politico summed it up:

HealthCare.gov was down for six hours early Monday morning. Then it was up. Then it activated its “virtual waiting room.” Then it blocked newcomers trying to create accounts. Then it was working again…

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says Obamacare is having problems getting off the ground because “people are not educated on how to use the Internet.” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says Obamacare is a “political winner,” while “Saturday Night Live” lampoons the administration’s attempts to connect with young Americans through any celebrity and social network available." ....

The eyes are the window to the soul

http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/03/branco-cartoon-windows-to-their-soul/

Delta Airlines brings a fallen soldier home with honor

Delta Honor Guard

Hat tip to Janie Sanford, Santa Maria, CA

Christians should get more involved in politics?

Consider Again   "At the moment, the reputation of Christians in public life is disastrous. Religious people are often seen as fanatical fundamentalists, leading massive hate campaigns complete with picket signs and boycotts.

"This projection is not representative of most Christians. Yes, there are those who use religion as a weapon, perceiving a divine backing of their actions though they intend only to attack and insult."
....
"A Christian that engages in firestorm attacks, offensive insults, or unfounded accusations reflects poorly on the whole faith community. We have a duty to glorify God by striving to maintain kindness and understanding in all of our actions.

“ 'We need Christians in politics who believe in conversation and reasoned discourse,” Judge Ken Starr, president of Baylor University, told me in an interview. “What we don’t need, regardless of faith journey, is people who simply yell at one another or shout the other side down. To my mind, that’s not a very Christ-like attitude.' ”

Via Danny Huizinga at Conservative Bloggers on Facebook

Local couple upset after receiving pre-marked voter registration card from Covered California

ABC10 News  "LA MESA, Calif. - A local couple called 10News concerned after they received an envelope from the state's Obamacare website, Covered California. Inside was a letter discussing voter registration and a registration card pre-marked with an "x" in the box next to Democratic Party.
The couple – who did not want their identity revealed – received the letter and voter registration card from their health insurance provider Covered California, the state-run agency that implements President Obama's Affordable Care Act."

Covered California Confusion ... " Behind the statistics are the actual experiences of individuals and families who have applied for healthcare insurance through Covered California.  Their stories offer insight into the realities of the application process and also help explain why more Californians are not applying for healthcare coverage." ...