Blog Heap of Links for the day 8 September 2011

Why now? This may be the most important question of our time. Why are some people reaching the boiling point? Why do many others look vacant, like in an Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The shootings at military bases, from Little Rock to Fort Hood -- why now? It's Obama, of course.

Papa B relays the latest bumper stickers gracing his black 2004 Yukon. It is, as you might expect, equipped with some custom extras including driver and passenger Beretta 92FS holders. [h/t Maetenloch at Ace of Spades]

no one applauded until instructed to... When President Bush gave a speech to the military... the media made sure that everyone knew who the applaud-starter had been... Oddly enough, they were strangely silent when President Obama not only didn't receive applause... [until] from the stage, someone requested of the audience to do so. ... I suppose there's always the possibility that they, like me, didn't realize that it happened, which wouldn't be altogether too surprising considering the WhiteHouse YouTube channel conveniently edited out the beginning of the speech.

the mental universe of liberalism. It is a vast sphere of assumptions that are found nowhere else. In an effort to promote the civility of debate that is so much in demand these days, here is a compendium of the myths underlying some of the strange things liberals say.

The former home of Bartlesville Office Supply, the Kress building, has recently been the target of a renovation and rejuvenation project. ... "When the Kress stores went under, they knew their buildings were architecturally significant," Oldroyd said. The company donated all of their blue prints and plans to The National Building Museum in Washington D.C. The builders also took photos whenever they made any structural changes to the building and sent them to the corporate office as proof of those changes. Oldroyd contacted the museum and was able to have all the blue prints and pictures sent to him. "It was a tremendous tool in seeing what the building was originally like," Oldroyd said.

They had their chance to have a strong woman in Hillary. Instead, they chose a weak minority male. Most likely they wasted their chance with Hillary because if a Republican wins in 2012 and things improve at all, the GOP will probably win in 2016. The year 2020 is probably too late for Hillary to make a comeback. And although anything can happen, as far as I can tell, there are no other strong females on the Democratic horizon. Additionally, there don't appear to be any strong blacks on the Democratic horizon either. Or, for that matter, any minorities. The Republicans, on the other hand, have some rising African-American stars in Congressman Allen West of Florida and businessman Herman Cain. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, of Cuban descent; Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, of Indian descent; and a host of women might steal the spotlight from the Democrats' big tent -- to say nothing of New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, also of Hispanic origin, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, with Indian ancestry. Ironic, isn't it?