diversity is divisiveness

go read this expansion of the idea that "those who will not be governed by God will be governed by tyrants."

busyness

looks like september will be busier than usual at work - the frequency (ha!) of posts may slow down here

autopsy

charisma = third world politics. read it all, including this quote:

Obama is going to fix the economy? That’s... like having a mechanic fix your car, when the mechanic’s been a lifelong advocate of hitchhiking and public transportation.

take a look at this one, too.

eulogy

Of Senator Edward Kennedy (Dead - Mass.), Jesse Jackson is reported to have said:

"I knew (Ted Kennedy) for over 40 years. He was an incredible leader whose effectiveness and consistency in the realms of civil rights and health care made him loved and respected by all."

...except Mary Jo Kopechne.

Senator Tom Carper is reported to have said:

"Before coming to the United States Senate in 2001, like a lot of Americans, I thought of Ted Kennedy as one of the most popular, progressive, passionate, and partisan senators."

...as did Mary Jo Kopechne.

Sen. Arlen Specter is reported to have said:

"Senator Kennedy made historic contributions on civil rights, health care, education, the Judiciary, labor law, immigration, and virtually all facets of life in America. Working with him on the big issues of our era was a real privilege."

...but not for Mary Jo Kopechne.

Pres. Obama is reported to have said:

"Even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited... from his encouragement and wisdom."

...unlike Mary Jo Kopechne.

The Kennedy family is reported to have said:

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, (as did the Kopechne family), but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, (unlike the profile of cowardice he showed in the Chappaquiddick) and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it."

...unlike Mary Jo Kopechne.

I came to bury Ted, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them.

---

The Anchoress adds:

Given a grim diagnosis in May of 2008, Kennedy managed, with the help of some of the best care available, to see another Christmas, another spring and even another summer. It’s entirely possible that what Kennedy’s death will really do is bring into stark relief the fact that under Obamacare, this overweight 77 year-old man with liking for the drink would probably have faced treatment rationing and an offer for “physician aid-in-dying”. Kennedy’s death will emphasize yet again that our elected “public servants” enjoy one of the best health insurance plans in the world, while they are trying to force something much less comprehensive (and life-affirming) onto their constituents.

stop the madness!

Edited, and without pictures, this post reads:

To the Congress:

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775.
You have had 234 years to get it right.
It is broke.

Social Security was established in 1935.
You have had 74 years to get it right.
It is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938
You have had 71 years to get it right.
It is broke.

The "War on Poverty" started in 1964.
You have had 45 years to get it right.
$1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor", and all we have to show for it is more poor people lining up for handouts.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965.
You've had 44 years to get it right.
They are broke.

Freddie Mac was established in 1970.
You have had 39 years to get it right.
It is broke.

Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the "Stimulus", the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. None show any signs of working.

And finally, to set a new record:

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009! It took good dependable cars (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with less-affordable cars, mostly Japanese. A good percentage of the profits went out of the country. And the American taxpayers again take the hit for Congress' generosity in burning three billion more of our dollars on failed experiments.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services" you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system?

20% of our entire economy?

With all due respect, are you ******* crazy?

old news

what would be shocking would be if there was a democratic fundraiser who wasn't a crook.

if we ignore him will he go away?

brett's farve-teen minutes of fame were up farve minutes ago:

It seemed everyone and their uncle was talking about Brett Favre yesterday. I promised my listeners I wouldn't. Told them I was tired of the whole on-again, off-again shenanigans of Green Bay's former quarterback turned Minnesota Viking.

However, for an hour yesterday afternoon, I read the current time with a slight twist.
"It's now Favre-fifteen" and "It's Favre-thirty", etc.

When the temperature reached the mid-70's, I announced that it was seventy-Favre degrees.

nausea-inducing

stories
of the
post-
election
downward
spiral

informed and involved

I hope all they have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.

tentacles

and you thought we lived in a free country...

it's not a feature

the un-midas touch...

really...

the cure

take two free markets and call me in the morning.

next time ask

what is hollywood's carbon footprint?

analysis

Conservatives tired of liberals destroying America's foundations, morals, and unborn children. Why won't they compromise?

almost onion-worthy

their title "like a complete unknown" cannot be improved upon.

(heavily edited)

Long Branch, NJ police were called after Bob Dylan was apparently acting suspiciously wandering around the streets.

In 1965 Dylan wrote "Like A Rolling Stone", with its line: 'How does it feel to be on your own, a complete unknown?'

A 22-year-old female officer demanded to see his identification papers. He assumed she would at least recognise the name if not the face... Then she radioed her older colleagues at the police station to ask if anyone knew who Bob Dylan was.

'The poor woman has taken rather a lot of abuse from us. I offered to bring in some of my Dylan albums. Unfortunately, she doesn't know what vinyl is either.'

what style

"michelle's like a programming language from the 80's. no class."

We The People

Vote against the Incumbistani Party!

So many (House and Senate members) are of the Incumbistani Party, which holds its head up high inside the DC Beltway and disdains the vassal State of Electistan that they really don't wish to represent but must as that is their 'duty'. The Emirs of Incumbistan are very, very cozy in their relationship with their respective parties, both of which have worked very hard to make it impossible for a new party to form on even a State to State basis, not to speak of a National basis. As the Incumbistani do have to stand for re-election from time to time, although often in 'safe' districts that their parties have gerrymandered into existence to protect those 'safe' seats, most of that is a rubber stamp affair with those backers who get goodies from the Incumbistani government wanting to show up to continue the goody stream...

Do your trust a bureaucrat more than yourself?

If you don't, then just when do you say: enough is enough?

Read the rest - it gets better.

posters

i can haz thoughtcrime?

free speech at berkeley?!?

that's crazy talk!?!

what's the opposite of rofl?

bailout

blue state, blue city,

blue populace

that's bad enough to trot out the cliche "won't someone pleeeease think of the children!!" (almost)

pics of the day

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=5302

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2009/08/open_thread_347.html

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2009/08/comrade_obamas_2.html

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2009/08/facebook_fad.html

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/08/great-news-riots-breaking-out-nightly.html

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/08/citizen-obama.html

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/08/two-speakers-in-one.html

update:
http://technology.todaysbigthing.com/2009/08/04

engagement

no, not for me. and not for president hussein either...

Les Paul, 1915-2009

most will remember him for pioneering development of the solid-body electric guitar. i'll remember him more for developing multitrack music recording, ranking right up there with raymond scott in my book.

1984

britain is living the nightmare

high five

I just had an idea for a meme:

1. Think of five people who have the same first name who you have known personally in your lifetime. (bonus points for more obscure names.)
   
2. Type their shared first name five times into a list.
3. Write a five-word description of each person after each name. Make it epigrammatic, but not obvious enough to only be one person. Ex: no "wonderful love of my life" for a spouse or "answers the phone at work" for a receptionist.
4. Arrange the list in either (your choice, but say which) chronological or non-chronological order, and number each name accordingly.
   

The example name that inspired this idea was "Tim", so here's my list:

- in non-chronological order -

Tim 1 - tall musician and pathological liar
Tim 2 - cheerful musician and insurance salesman
Tim 3 - teen victim of rare disease
Tim 4 - artist and former drug addict
Tim 5 - polite non-geeky web artist

And keeping with the theme of fives, you should tag five people with this meme. Mine are:

Local Malcontent
Mish Mash
Molten Thought
The Jungle Hut
Wry Mouth

Anybody else reading this is welcome to play along too... :)

Obama cariCATure

Those beady eyes!
Those huge ears!
That air of smugness!
It must be Obama!


Obviously the designer of this banner ad is a RACIST!!!1!!

;)

(i saw this on sitemeter. it's unmodified except for blocked out sponsor name)

non-epic fail

at least it wasn't something big keeping him from office, like a birth certificate...

spicy

the results of the "what spice are you" quiz showed jungle mom to be "cayenne pepper". i'll take her word for it, but i think there was something fawlty about my results...

meteor shower

the perseid meteor shower should be peaking this week. watch it if you can.

oh, and saturn's rings are disappearing...

extremists

i know one when i see one... or three, as the case may be

strike a match

lots of ads on tv and online for dating services ask "who will you find?". odds are it won't be the one in the picture...

blame us first

AP headlines again follow the doubleplusgood styleguide, this time more subtly:

Airspeed systems failed on US jets

The story eventually mentions that the problem occurred on Airbus A330s, which are not built in the US, and specifically with the "sensors made by the European electronics giant Thales Corp".

And no, this is nowhere near as important as the typical anti-American (or anti-freedom, anti-capitalism, or anti-Israeli) propaganda spewed by the AP; it is just another example of how that kind of bias permeates mass media coverage.

true story

i just drove by a tire shop with a big banner out front advertising their blowout sale...

VDH

Three good reads at Victor David Hanson:

The End of Post-Racialism
Our Angry Aristocracy
Lose-Lose When You Talk About Race

jet set

"Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies,... but apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress." The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own discretion.

Algore later added "Since these jets have retractable landing gear. they do not have a carbon footprint."

art fun-ding

lileks punctures pompous po-mo pundit

"...a few art forms we managed to create without (NEA) assistance:

• Jazz
• Blues
• Rock and Roll
• Every movie made in America
• Skyscrapers
• Painting that looks like something
• Sculpture that looks like someone

"

read the rest.

speaking truth to power

here is proof of who is killing our economy

since our representatives couldn't be bothered

please take your time to at least read the highlights of the (ironically-named) health legislation, and don't wait until you're sitting in st. barack's hospital & mortuary.

hate crimes

here's a jackson who, unlike michael, you won't be hearing much about on the evening news (yet...)

nice list

"you could have heard a pin drop"

too bad there are so many occasions for such retorts...