BW

One of my favorite political commentators is Bill Whittle. A pilot and a writer/commentator, he currently works for Pajamas Media and appears on PJTV. I'm not sure I have a single quote of his that I  would use on the blog here the way I normally do-with Bill it's more about the arguments he makes and his style that I really like. My favorite piece that he's done is this pre-election one:

It's got a long set-up but a great payoff.

Pol i tics

We had an interesting discussion in EQ this last week about politics and the lay of the land now, post-election. One brother joked that the next conservative president we'd have would be Jesus. He might be right. Certainly we'll have another republican president again, but he won't be a conservative in any recognizable form. We just don't have the demographics to pull it off anymore.

This is largely due to immigration and also to changing social norms. A social con has little chance at all anymore. I think it's safe to say we've lost, likely forever, the culture war. And since politics flows from the culture and not the other way around, this is a problem for social cons that wish to make any kind of meaningful headway to regain lost ground.

Commentators say the GOP needs to moderate and to work on its messaging, to find a way to sell its ideas to a modern generation. I don't think you really can. I thought Ryan and Romney did this as well as most anyone could have-their Twitter streams were almost non-stop a list of things they believed in. Political philosophy, straight-up. "I believe the government belongs to us and not the other way around." That kind of thing.

The US is a chronic smoker and we are fighting over which party gets to dole out the cigarettes. We promise that we'll be the party that will cut back to just 3 packs a day from their current 4. Instead we should want to get everyone to stop smoking. Unfortunately, that doesn't win elections anymore.

I think the only chance fiscal conservatives have is to do a version of what this guy, Drew, recommends. I kind of disagree on the amnesty part-what's the win for the republicans to import millions of people who vote 70-30 against us? But I agree with the idea of offering up some compromise on something (I have no idea what) in exchange for a flat tax. It's the only way to make sure everyone has some skin in the game. I truly believe that there is no greater political priority for the GOP than a flat tax. If we can make sure everyone pays something, it won't be so easy the next time a socialist president decides it's worth a 5% tax hike to pay for union pensions or to bail out California. You can only raise taxes on 'the rich' so many times before you no longer have 'the rich' left to tax.

So go all in on flat tax, GOP. Take it from me, an anonymous blogger who draws poorly crafted caricatures of obscure LDS general authorities from time to time.

HCK

I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit. That arises from the perfection of His attributes; He is a jovial, lively person.

-Heber C. Kimball

SA

No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and virtue is preserved. On the contrary, when people are universally ignorant, and debauched in their manners, they will sink under their own weight without the aid of foreign invaders. 

If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.

-Samuel Adams

Outline

At my friend Nate's suggestion, I'm posting the rendering of how the 'ghost'  picture kinda looks to me.

Other pictures of the window

I found these other views of the window from Google Maps:

I remember this store-it was a Flagler College team gear store. Everything inside is just t-shirts (as can be seen through the window). There is also a big blue 'Flagler College' sticker on the window and some other stickers blocking out the window. So this isn't a store that specializes in 20" tall bald dolls and possibly freaky all-black skeleton head companions. Oh right, I didn't mention that part. Check it out:

Tell me there's not two figures there, and that the one on the right looks a lot like a black figure with a skull head.

Free. Key.

You can also see in the above window pictures that there really isn't a ledge, to speak of. There's a small indentation for the shutters to be able to close and a small space to accommodate the window sill. This isn't a display case or trophy-type case. It's just a flat window that is flush with the wall.