Some of you will bristle...

...but this is some common sense from an uncommon lady.

I had the opportunity to hear her speak here at W&L last year. She has a wonderful grasp on American political and intellectual history. We could use more judges like her.

Gay Australian men are more interesting than gay American men

This is no ineffective werewolf story, but it's pretty entertaining. I had to read the first paragraph 3 times before I fully grasped what was said. Fan-tastic!

A is A

Is the whole world on crazy pills?!?

Animal rights wackos/environmentalists want to kill a baby polar bear in the zoo??? WTF? I mean, Jesus Christ! I say wait till the bear is older then feed these assholes to the bear. Go Knut the polar bear!

"Just call me Captain Toke!"

I just have to brag that Doulglas Ginsburg (who would have been the best Supreme Court Justice EVER if not for that asshole Bill Bennett) is giving a talk at CWRU on 4/4. Cooooool!!

Re: I am manlier than you....

It's only sexual harrasment if it's unwanted. Just like rape. And your terrible at not doing that as well.

I am manlier than you and that's a fact.

Apparently calling someone a sissy or a wuss is sexual harassment. In which case, I sexually harass everyone all the time, because compared to me everyone IS a wuss.

For a good laugh...

...go here. Warning! Vulgarity. Not that any of you care.

I also "have powers"

Courtesy of John, here is the BEST news article i'll ever read. Wait, here's the headline:

Ineffective werewolf faces drug charges

Real news story. Not The Onion. Enjoy.

Someone to vote for finally?

Go Newt! I know we have Ron Paul, but I could only vote for him in protest, slaps.

Crazy animal stories

1. 26 toed cat. I don't know what else to say, its just funny. I mean, look at the picture of that silly cat.

2. COLOSSAL squid caught. That is some scary stuff. I won't post pictures so as not to frighten the children.

Apparently the Australia/New Zealand area is much more exciting in terms of crazy animals.

"We smoke while we shoot the bird"

Quite rightly, John has pointed out that I totally agree with the dirty hippies in this Boston silliness. However, certain conservatives are actually, seriously up in arms about this. "How dare you scare us, dirty hippies!?!" "We are at war!" Whatever. At least there are some sane conservatives left, like the following, whom I usually disagree with:

The Crucible in Boston [Mario Loyola]

I think the Boston authorities should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. They mistook obvious toys for bombs and sent the entire city into a paroxysm of war-on-terror paranoia. And now they're taking out their frustrations by lynching two quasi-hippies who quite are quite rightly mocking them and everyone else who thinks they did something wrong.

Reports that those guys held back from explaining the provenance of the gadgets are serious if they knowingly held back for any significant length of time. But the main point is that by the time they figured out that it was all their fault, the authorities had already caused a city-wide panic over funny-looking gadgets that look exactly nothing like a bomb.

Whether those guys did anything to apologize for, the Boston authorities should apologize for turning the United States into a planetary laughing-stock. The European press is going to have a field day with this. Normally world opinion can cook in its own stew as far as I'm concerned, but I'm going to be traveling abroad soon and I really hope I don't have to answer questions about this incredibly embarrassing incident.

New Study Reveals Boston to be the Stupidest City Ever

I'm sure everyone's heard about this by now, but just in case, I'm putting this post up. Slaps and I love the show and have agreed that everyone in Boston is God forsaken idiot. Except the two guys going to jail. They are brilliant, as you can see below.

Re: Who dey is

Here ya go Bert...some more glorious conduct. The Bengals should just be a team of convicts who ride around on a big white bus and challenge various professional and college teams to games. Which I think is the direction they are heading.

some science

Creepy

Tony Dungy's Black?!?!

But seriously... I mean, this is news!!!!! These guys slipped through the fingers of the big white hand holdin' the brothas down.

Who Dey Is

Professional sports increasingly has to deal with this nonsense. This year it certainly hurt the Bengals. As a Bengals fan I'm not proud of it, and the organization should be ashamed. It reflects badly on the NFL, the team, and the city.

It also is an indictment to some extent of Marvin Lewis. Cincinnati fans have been hopeful that he would bring back winning football teams, and he seemed to bring that attitude the last few years. Doubtless, Marvin would have been forgiven for some extent had they ended up 10-6. But they fell apart. They should have been one of the better teams in the AFC, and the off the field stuff had to play a part. Lewis should get a large share of the blame.

Who Dey?

Dey's criminals.

Black history month for the nfl

I guess I shouldn't be surprised about this, but it makes me grind my teeth in annoyance. I guess this is important enough to warrant a story (go go AP!) instead of the colossal collapse of the patriots (huzzah!) or that once again Grossman's awful play somehow didn't doom the bears or that peyton's finally goin to a superbowl. Nope. We need a story on black coaches and the historical impact of not just one, but TWO coaching in the superbowl. I fail to see how the coaches' skin color has any impact on the game at all. If Jesus comes back and he's black, by all means, write a column or two on it. But this is a football game. Jeez.

Early Valentine to the Guys I Love....

Even if you don't like this show (which I think is hilarious). I hope you'll enjoy this little number--which really explains pretty well how I think I feel about some of you. I can only hope you feel the same way....

Best Article Title Ever?

I think so.

Well I know who gets my vote...

no matter what. Ron Paul has formed an "exploratory committee", whatever the hell that means, to look into running for PotUS in 2008. Even if he doesn't, I'm writing him in anyway. Boy, do I want to see a debate with Paul, McCain and Guiliani. He'll beat those losers into the ground.

Ron Paul on Iraq
on the welfare state
etc.

The Right Minimum Wage...

... 0$.

George Will, emphatically not a libertarian ideologue, explains.

Save us from our government.

JB '07

I have returned for 2007 newly minted and reforged.

Firstly, important matters.

Casino Royale was no Bond movie. Just awful. Daniel Craig was nothing nothing like Bond and the whole movie was nothing nothing like a Bond movie. It was just like any other action movie. And before you say, "that was the point", hear this. This movie was an utter betrayal of the 31 or so movies that came before it. I don't care that Die Another Day wasn't great. James Bond is dead to me. Dead and not coming back. (Unless they return handsome, suave Pierce Brosnan to the role.) What a disgrace.

The conservative movement has failed to get a compelling grip on the Republican party, and has for too long enable pretenders and spineless wimps to sway it. 2008 will not elect a conservative president, because no true conservative will run, and I can identify no true conservative anywhere on the national stage that isn't Dick Cheney. Game over for at least a decade on the national level. Too much acquiescence over too many years has gutted the movement. More on that later.

Not sure really what the point of the Espicopalian post is, Robinson is older news, and there was signs of a split as his confirmation. The point of the whole episode is namely that the Espicolpalians have the most liberal "platform" of almost any American Prostetant denomination and the inclusion of an openly homosexual bishop is somewhat controversial for two reasons. A) Scripture clearly condemns it. B) Requires sexual activity outside of marriage, also condemned in Scripture. Now, obviously, no bishop or minister is devoid of sin in his life, but, there is a signficant difference between a sinful lifestyle choice that is anti-biblical and basic human sinfulness. That said, I am not particularly interested in reviving this debate because obviously even the liberal-ordered multicultural Episcopalians are splitting over it. Churches have split over this very issue before, ask the United Church of Christ, although they had the twin issue of female ministers. One more point about Robinson that I would like to make is that known adulterers, drunkards, or pedophiles, for example are not permitted to be bishops, even though Scripture lines homosexuality up with adultery and pedophilia. It seems to me that the Anglicans are more interested in contemporary social flexing that consistent doctrine. My 2 cents.

Keith Olbermann is annoying, to be sure, perhaps even a cad. But, to the relief of all responsible journalists, he has a tiny viewing audience. More people watch old reruns of Dick Van Dyke than watch Keith Olbermann.

I second the Olberman thought

That jerk should have stuck to sportscasting.

Here's some science:

Midgets choosing to have midget kids.

Is this cool? I don't think so. Not that I care, mind you but forcing your kids to share your club foot or six toes or whatever the hell is wrong with you is going to make them hate you in the long run. I'll have more to say if anyone else has an opinion.

Just a thought:

Keith Olbermann is a smarmy dipshit and I want to smack that goddamn grin right off his face.

Even though he coached at Indiana...

I've always liked this Ohioan.

bored

Just to stir up some fun (I hope):

Apparantly there is a huge uprising in the Episcopalian Church. You can read about it here. But to save you the time, I'll just tell you what it's about. Basically, specific churches are seceding over the church's decision to annoint an openly gay bishop (V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire). Which makes absolutely no sense because by Episcopalian tradition, no bishop can operate outside the boundaries of his diocese. So churches even within New Hampshire but outside his diocese aren't affected, let alone in places like Virgina, California or Nigeria. I think the best guess here is that these jackoffs (as they will now be so lovingly referred to) are so preoccupied with forcing conservative dogma down the throats of those too simple to think on their own that they have thrown all pretense of reason into the wind - which shouldn't be and isn't a very big surprise when it comes to dealing with religion and zealots.

Essentially, what they are protesting is his being openly gay. Had he never come out, things would have been fine and no one would have moved for a rift in the church. In other words, it would have been more acceptable for him to continue living a lie (which he did do for some time to the point of marrying and having children before accepting his homosexuality). I'm not sure what message these jackoffs are trying to send through their secession, but the act is essentially saying that a collected group of devout Episcopals would rather their leader and Bishop lie to them.

Herein lies the problem with religious devouts: they are unable to think reasonably when confronted with an issue challenging to their faith. The immediate answer is "The Bible says it's wrong so it's wrong." The whole purpose of a Bishop is to oversee the work his subordinates do in spreading the Word of God. Does being gay in any way affect this? I fail to see how it would. Is it hypocritical to the context of the faith? Perhaps. But let us consider a two points:first, the fact that he was raised to his current status not only by the normal voting procedure, but by that procedure being carried out during the Episcopal General Convention of 2003. Which means had it been an issue that horrendously upsetting to the faith, there is no way he would have ever passed the ELECTION PROCESS. Let me say that again in case you missed it: he was elected. His office was gained within the proper tenants of Church Law in the presence of representatives from parishes all over the country. A democratic procedure isn't something that is used when convenient and the results make everyone happy. If there was only one point of view, there wouldn't be a need for democracy. Nonetheless, when the system fails your cause, you don't abandon it. To me, the Episopal Church should make no effort whatsoever to accomodate these hypocrytical, self-satisfying jackoffs. They are using it to achieve their own selfish ends when it's convenient to use. Their cause would be much more noble and tolerable to the sensible if they remained a part of the Church and used their faith to try to defend their point of view. What they are doing now is simply taking their faith and going home because they didn't get their way.

Secondly, am I expected to believe that God would speak to the masses through the mouth of someone so profainly vested in sin? Or is he not speaking through the Bishop at all? Is it more that He has turned his back to his followers? The implications on these lines seem to suggest that the faith should be abandoned completely. If you believe that God is active in your faith, how can you believe that He would allow something so dreadfully wrong to occur in the upper echelons of the faith? I am forced to conclude that a God worth worshipping would have enough wherewithall to not allow something profain to the faith to reach such a standing in the Church.

More to the point, as I said earlier, being gay does not affect his ability to perform his job. I have a rampant love affair going with my hand and it doesn't affect my ability to do my job. And I can assure you thuoghts of my hand consume more time than his love of men. Because it's pretty much all the time. Which makes sense. When you have the penile equivalent of the Hope Diamond you pretty much have to fawn over it all the time. It's only a matter of time until it gets taken away and put in the Smithsonian. Cherish it people! Cherish it!

What?

Who the shit is Victor Davis Hanson? Is he the guy that lives above me? I hate that guy.

I do, however, like Libyans. Their acting is unequalled (watch Back to the Future for proof). Comic genius! Like that part where the gun won't fire and Marty runs to the DeLorian...man that's hysterical. And only partly because you can't understand whatever language they speak (French?). They totally make that movie (without them Marty never gets in the time machine). So based on their unholy...acting...talent! I must conclude that their doctors are without peer as well. Therefore Victor Davis Hanson is a silly person.

Q.E.D.

Libyan Vacation

Victor Davis Hanson has a brush with death in Libya and lives to tell about it. Can you imagine having to have an emergency appendectomy in some poor Islamic clinic? Frightening.

ha ha, maureen dowd

Catching up on my reading lately, In the Nov. 16 Rolling Stone (I don' t know why I get it) John Stewart says of his interview with Maureen Down (NY Times columnist): "I didn't know we were going to have to be high for this interview."

More on everything else later while both you and I absorb this comment.

Rematch?

After watching the USC/Notre Dame game last week, I thought OSU/USC matchup would be a good one. Plus there is some old Rose Bowl rivalry history to go along with such a game.

Assuming Florida wins the SEC championship game and USC loses to UCLA, Florida could be said to deserve a shot.

Who deserves to go? That is a tough question. Michigan's only loss is to the Buckeyes. Florida and USC both lost to lesser teams. You could also say that Michigan had their shot, and that USC or Florida deserve a shot at OSU. I fail to see how Michigan would be eliminated from a playoff system though since they will finish 4th at worst in the polls/BCS. Florida is perhaps more deserving considering the tougher schedule they had than USC.

Florida is the least interesting matchup national TV/rivalry wise, and I don't think Chris Leak can hang with the Buckeyes. A USC matchup has a broader national appeal than either Fla. or Michigan. It'll likely be USC. If the Buckeyes win, Florida will have the biggest grievance. That said, what Buckeye fan wouldn't want to beat Michigan twice in the same year?

More on the rematch

I agree with John, but am not sure whether I want a rematch or not. I'm truly ambivalent. I kind of want a rematch for these reasons: I really think UM is better than anybody else out there (excluding us, of course), and a rematch could cause the kind of outrage that would make people start thinking seriously about a tournament (see Urban Meyers' comments from a few weeks ago). I want to avoid a rematch, however, because of the following: I honestly fear getting beat the second time (call me a pessimist), and playing them again--especially after that unbelievable game on the 18th--seems kind of unnatural, like necromancy or trying to raise a loved one from the dead (not that I "love" the Wolverines, but we do share a kind of necessary, existential connection that transcends football). At any rate, this ambivalence has rendered me unable to root for either side in either of USC's final two games. I just want it to be over so we can start concentrating on who we'll play.

OSU-Mich rematch

While I agree with Nick that it would probably be the best game, I think it would be a perfect example of why college football will never be able to crown a legitimate champion (especially if Mich wins, which means each team is 1-1 against the other) owing to the fact that in a playoff system (which seems infintely more appropriate and respectful than the rooting through dog puke methods the BCS uses now) Michigan would have been eliminated from championship contention. You shouldn't get a mulligan when playing for something as "prestigious" as the national college football championship. That would make it even less respectable than it is now.

Senator-elect Webb

Although I didn't vote for him, I thought Jim Webb might turn out to be a decent Democrat Senator despite the awful campaign run by both candidates down here. However, he's off to a poor start without actually having started his term.

No more Hobbits for Peter Jackson

According to the December 1 issue of Entertainment Weekly, New Line has announced Jackson will not direct the film adaptations (it appears they're going to milk two pictures out of it). The article cites some contract disagreement, blah, blah...this sucks.

Thousandfold Thought

A pretty honest review of The Thousandfold Thought, the last in Bakker's trilogy, which I think has just come out. I will say this: Bakker is trying to do a lot more than most authors with his books. It doesn't always work, but as these things go, the mere effort makes it more compelling than most of the alternatives on the fantasy shelf.

I'm in the first third of the second book of the trilogy, The Warrior-Prophet. I'm a bit underwhelmed so far. Apparently spent 12-13 years writing and polishing the first book, and then, once the contract came in, wrote the second in less than a year. It shows. But I'd still rather read him than, say, I'm-going-to-teach-you-how-to-pronounce-my-character's-names Robert Jordan.

So...

Knowing next to nothing about college football, and having heard all of the arguments each way over and over again, I'll throw this out there:

OSU and Michigan should rematch for the national championship.

Why? Because it's the only game I want to watch.

I mean, really. How many times to did Rocky and Apollo Creed rematch? At least two. And they would've done more if Apollo hadn't died. But before that they became friends. See my point?

Ding Dong...

...He might be dead. But what's next for Cuba?

super-dooper poopy head

Bert: what the hell is going in Virginia???

Not the party of the common man...

...as George Will points out.

I am no populist, and as it turns out, Democrats aren't either. (We do have something in common!) It seems they empathize with the working man only as long as it doesn't involve capitalism.

Full disclosure: I love Wal-Mart and go there an average of twice a week.

The Media Lied. People died.

Christopher Hitchens explains the outrageousness that was the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson affair.

As many observers noted way back in the middle of this mess, most notably Byron York at National Review, there was nothing there.

Well, that's not exactly correct because the people who were accusing the administration of a vendetta knew all along that it wasn't true. Along the way an investigation was instigated into a crime that was never committed.

It is now clear--as if it wasn't before--that many in the media are out to get the administration, not to report the news. This would be laughable perhaps if there wasn't so much at stake. But it is apparent that no one in the media is going to answer for this stuff in any meaningful way.

The New York Times publishes sensitive intelligence information and what is done to punish them? Nothing. Hopefully the NSA leaker will be prosecuted. But one wonders where the sanity is in any of this.

RE: This is why everyone.....

I think the metaphor of you in a whorehouse is perfect. I can't imagine anyone else I know being better at spending money on "pet projects" (pork?) in a whorehouse than you. I'll bet there are other things you're good at, but I just wanted to point out how great you'd be at buying hookers.

This is why everyone should have listened to me

Apparently its worthwhile to look at gov't spending when one pary controls both houses of Congress and the Presidency. You know, 'cuz Republicans have been spending money like me at a whorehouse (or some other applicable metaphor). The argument goes that one party controls gov't like that it is more apt to get its pet projects (also known as pork) though; ie, wasting more money.

My response? Duh. I've been saying that for a while now.

Republicans are just as much power hungry whores as are Democrats. Except Ron Paul.

Pirating

I see he has, oddly, pirated the symbol of Bourbon France as well as adopted an interesting--to be kind--constitutional theory about lobbying.

Yeeeeaarrrrrgh!

So if I lived in Iowa, I'd vote for this guy. He's running for Congress as a pirate. Like the "Arrrrgh, Matey" kind of pirate. Check him out. He's pretty stellar.

Deric's Football Message

Here it is; the spacing and formatting got messed up--sorry. I really hope you can all make it. If not, we'll do the draft-by-proxy thing as needed.
-----------------------------------------

To: "Brandon Roberts" , carathers@hotmail.com, ihatebutter@hotmail.com, elarson13@yahoo.ie

Hey all. Greetings and crap like that... Here is what I see as our roster this year. Eric Larson, Miles Larson, Mike Carathers, John Tedesco, Kris Stanya, Brandon Roberts, Mark Thut, Jarrod Bottomley, Brian Tedesco, Matt George, Nick Hoffman, Chad Landsettle. Everyone please look in the'To:' line and if you notice that a name is not represented here forwardthis to them.

The drills: E$'s house again. Friday Sept. 1st. Rule revisions,additions, etc. " " " . Saturday Sept. 2nd. OSUv. NIU. as well as the draft. This will likely be a long day then eh? Same as last year.
Understanding that we are nowscattered all over the country, many will be hard pressed to attend. Send someone with a sheet of your requests, suggested rule changes, your amount of beer, and anything else that represents their views. Equipment: Beer or other drinks of choice. (bring enough tosatisfy your addiction level). Grillable meats. There is a Marc'sgrocer, within walking distance which generally has great brat prices. If you plan on arriving before the end of normal grocery hours, you canbuy them there, as well as the beer. Game day: Unfortunately our first game is the following Thursday which will force me to be ultra punctual with the entry of teams, andyou to check y'alls roster ASAP. I will have them entered as soon as I can get them in I promise. Trophy: I have noticed that we are the only FF league on theplanet that has no hardware. The first year the winner was to receive adrink from everyone in the league which I'm sure didn't happen, and thenwe seem to have fallen away from such rewards. Please consider whatwould be reasonable and affordable compensation for league dominance. $10/team winner take all/75%; gift certificate to build-a-bear; 3 Cases of canned goods? whatever people like. God I love you all, and Football is Darn fine as well... Toodles, andplease reply ASAP whether you will be in attendance, or involved in the league at all...

Boy, ya got me....

Apparently, these people do.

And no, I guess you don't need to respond. In lieu of any argument, I'll have to assume "statist" is another one of those wilfully manipulable, ill-defined, sophistical buzzwords of convenience, like "judicial activist."

Hand-raising and what not

I did not receive the football email, and I cannot top Slaps's hand-raise. georgeb@wlu.edu

That aside, I take it from your statism post that you have secured a job or are trying to secure one on a university English faculty (one of the few places where it is believed there are people in this country who look to and trust in GWB as our capital L Leader).

Come on e-money... Do I really need to respond?

FOOTBALL!!!!!

Just to get everyone in the proper mindset for football season here is a series of clips of some great hits from the past. And it concludes with the greatest hit EVER (hint: it involves L.T. and that gasbag Joe Theisman). What could be better than grown men beating the hell out of each other every week? The answer? Nothing. Woot!

On "statism"....

Yeah, I've been out for a while, so I'm gonna need you to define that word for me. You probably don't mean "intolerant of dissent," "a proclivity to run around accusing political opponents of treason," "dogmatic, if not evangelical faith in the transcendent moral virtue of the state," "willingness to relinquish personal liberties so The Leader can 'keep us safe,'" "tendency to ascribe divine qualities to said Leader," or any stuff like that. You mean affirmative action and food stamps, don't you?

Fantasy Football Returns

Sorry I haven't chimed in for a while...been busy. We're rounding up the usual suspects for fantasy football once again. If you are one and you didn't get my brother's e-mail yet, raise your hand. Questions or concerns should be forwarded as soon as possible. I hope to see all of you.

GG

I think Kris already mentioned it, but this man is brilliant and his blogs are worth visiting every day.

Re: South Paws Rule

It's sad what people get paid to do.

This just in: Statistics show that short, hairy men are 79% more likely to have to beat off women with a stick than their tall, hairless counterparts.

Or the exact opposite.

GOP cleansing?

"Throw the bums out!" says a former Reagan man. I for one hope it happens.

South Paws Rule

Interesting news for awesome men like myself.

The Man holding everyone down apparently uses his left hand.

Re: Leiberman

I was pulling for Leiberman to win the nomination in '04 as well. No suprise he lost in '04. He really showed some character in that race by bucking the venemous anti-war types and made up for the whoring he did as the VP candidate in 2000. He has been a little weak in this race since he had to confront the criticism from the left and woo lefties.

A little more suprising he lost yesterday. He will have a difficult time running as an independent, but he does have some momentum going in the last few weeks despite the loss.

This is certainly bad for the Democrats. They have fewer and fewer reasonable people in their ranks the more this stuff happens. There is a constituency for hard left politics, but it can't be a majority in this country. It is in large part geographically isolated to the coasts and large cities and demographically isolated to aging radicals and dumb kids who haven't made any money or started families yet.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Joe wins. Will he feel free to be even less statist-liberal and more hawkish? Or will he feel the need to get back in good graces with his party? Will they take him back? This depends in part on who takes the reigns of the party in the next few years. If the Clintons take the party back, Joe will likely be taken back no matter what. If the Deaniacs and lefties continue to gain ground, Joe might be an independent for a long while.

Joe-mentum

Bert:
Do you really think Leiberman is going to lose in CT? I say no way. If anything, this just hurts Democrats in the long run, as Leiberman will no longer be part of their party (officially). In the Pres primarys for the last election, I was pulling for Leiberman, despite knowing a Jewish guy is not going to be elected President any time soon. Anyway, that's my $.02

Independent Joe

Some good and some bad news.

Great Expectations

Buckeyes ranked #1. #1 and #2 will have a showdown in Austin Week 2.

More Whining about an Estate Tax Cut

The minimum wage/estate tax cut bill, thankfully, failed to go to a vote in the Senate.

E.J. Dionne, like me, is happy about this, but for the opposite reason. He whines about the estate tax cut being an example of "the central goal of the currently dominant forces of politics: to give away as much as possible to the truly wealthy." Of course he doesn't explain how letting people keep their own money is giving away money to the wealthy.

The whining is not because the Republicans pulled some fantastic, hypocritical prank. The bill would have passed if it had reached the floor. Liberals are just mad because they will be the loser here. It was a good political move that will hurt the Democrats. The Democrats prevented the minimum wage from being increased simply because of the estate tax cut. Despite all the crying, Americans are not offended by the thought of an estate tax cut. So the Democrats now have to explain why they didn't raise the minimum wage, which means crying about how the Republicans are just out to help the rich. Nothing new here.

This whining is drowned by Dionne's glee over his prediction of the collapse of conservatism. He, disingenuously, praises conservatives like Bill Buckley and George Will and National Review only because they are currently discontented with the Republican leadership. He predicts a Democrat victory in November. While the Democrats will likely be marginally victorious, the election will not signal the end of the conservative movement and its replacement by a resurgent liberalism. As vulnerable as the Republicans are, the Democrats have not offered up any reason to vote for them other than Bush-hatred. They continue to adhere to the stale statism of the last sixty years just adding some anti-Americanism to the mix. This is not a winning platform.

Ouch!

Fishing is dangerous.

Watch this:

Whenever I'm depressed or pissed off I watch this and always laugh. Its never not funny.

Kids being kids

I suppose if this is what kids have to deal with for being kids I understand now.

Also, I agree with Elton. I need some crazy gender-bending glam rock.

Glam it up, please...

...says Elton.

WaPo

It boggles my mind how things like this are frequently printed in one of the most-read newspapers in the country.

I will agree, however, that many Republicans are only concerned with keeping power and not governing. Or, at least their brand of responsible governing means acting like a Democrat.

But this partisan nonsense is nearly Dowd-like.

First, the author assumes without argument that an increased minimum wage is a moral imperative. Apparently opposing an increase in the minimum wage makes one a "Dickensian grotesque". Wait, actually just being a Republican might make you a Dickensian grotesque.

Second, cutting the estate tax is a similar moral outrage, and Republican's are evil Machiavellians for tying this to a minimum wage increase. Good God man! It's called compromise. Legislators have been doing it since the dawn of legislatures!

Finally, these same evil Republicans wield a far-right ideology that is allowing the "corporate welfare state" to crumble and global warming to turn the planet to "toast".

This guy doesn't even know what "far-right ideology" is if he thinks the big-government, big-spending, out-democrat-the-democrats Republicans are far right. Elect me and some other real right-wingers and we'll make this pantywaste cry.

No. I take that back. Let's elect this guy. Low-paying entry jobs will start at $15 an hour and afford 17-year-olds and illegal immigrants lavish lifestyles. The planet will cool down with the stroke of a pen. Candy and nuts will rain from the sky.

Cindy Garrison

I'd say we fight over her, but she's just gonna rape and kill the winner anyways. Or maybe kill then rape. Either way, there's no real winner. Except her, I guess.

More BSG

OK, OK this is the last I'll say about BSG for a while. But I watched the 1st episode last night. ANd it was great. Not much in the way of politics, but I will say this, hopefully to draw Bert in: The enemy (the Cylons, in case you didn't know) utilize terrorist tactics against the humans. And the humans have to decide how to defend themselves against these attacks (attacks that seemingly involve both hiding behind civilians and killing civilians). Good stuff. I don't want to spoil anything in case you do start watching. So do it.

Wow

John, Kris, is this the woman for you?

Pornstar

Yeah. You know, I think Kris and I saw that on one of the HBO specials we stayed up to watch. They can be very informative.

At any rate, at least she's basically prostituting herself out in the open, which is more than I can say for most political figures. Plus, I like her campaign slogan: "For the Bare and Honest Truth." Although I expect her campaign to fail, desptite the fact that her boobs don't fit through the limo's sunroof (I suggest you all go look at her campaign galleries), if there's one place she stands a chance, it's gotta be in the home of good, ol Las Vegas. Also, I like that she's the new face republicans. If she wins maybe I'll go republican. It'd be a little less embarassing having a pornstar associated with the party than the current faces.

If I were a kid today, I'd be in big trouble

Here's an article saying what I've been thinking for at least 10 years: That kids today are pussies.
Its 8 pages, but it is interesting and will probably piss you off ("...In my day we beat each other to death with baseball bats!")
1. College students suffer from anxiety??? Look, that is not a legitimate mental disorder. Of course you should be anxious at certain times in college (writing a big paper, studying for an important test). It is healthy to be able to cope with stress.
2. Parents complaining about their children's grades? I would be mortified if my parents did this to me. But in college?? Embarassing for everyone involved.
3. 40,000 schools have canceled recess?? Permanantly??? How will kids beat the shit out of each other? Learn to avoid the authorities? These are all important skills later in life.
4. Despite finally breaking down and getting a cell phone, I am still fundamentally opposed to them. And they do help children to not break ties with their parents and set out on their own (e.g., my sister).

The whole point of all this is it really made me think of my childhood (and apparently how freakin' great it was compared to these narcs). I had acres of woods to explore without any parental supervision. I could bike almost anywhere I wanted to (and NEVER wore a bike helmet). We never had enough kids in the neighborhood to play a pickup game but we played a crapload of tag and "shoot each other with play guns," which I assume is probably illegal now. We had TWO recesses everyday in elementary school and would play tag on wooden playground equipment. Which was already against the rules. I remember falling off the giant 2-story slide in fourth grade. I think I blacked out. Basically, I am saying that all parents need to do is to make sure kids are doing well enough in school and not killing or committing crimes, etc. Next time I talk to my parents I need to thank them for not doing any of the crap that parents do now.

My basic life philosophy revolves around doing things for myself. If someone else does it I can't really learn from it. I'd rather do things wrong myself than someone else do them right. But I guess self sufficiency isn't too popular anymore.

Porn star...

...running for governor of Nevada.

the administration

Kris, I have to agree, mostly, with what you said about the administration. The president is not a conservative in the political sense. He is socially conservative, and that is about it. But conservatives are pretty unhappy with the president in the last couple of years. He enjoys some support from conservatives because the Democrats are so vehemently against him and because of the war on terror (although many conservatives have bolted).

The Democrats' dislike of Bush is somewhat inexplicable concerning domestic policy. Bush is governing like a Democrat at home. The war (maybe not even the war) and the tax cuts are really all they would, in more sane times, disagree with. The left's pacifisim and libertinism on social issues are in the forefront perhaps because they cannot criticize Bush domestically since he has governed as they would.

It is somewhat silly to hear Democrats complain about spending and No Child Left behind or the prescription drug bill. These are democratic bread and butter. Only conservatives have any legitimate beef here.

Young Americans

Courtesy of my personal hero, Greg Gutfeld, comes this trailer to the upcoming documentary from Pat Dollard. Don't watch this at work. Lots of swearing and some gory war footage. Powerful stuff. I reccomend the "Video Clip" movie, second down. Others are good too. Like the Iraqi translator that wants to fight Michael Moore. Impressive.

Ann Coulter?

Ann Coulter's only redeeming quality is that she has good taste in music. Sometimes she is kind of funny too I guess. Most of the time she a crazy bitch though.

G.O.B. for President

Bert, I think you are right about the Democrats (and liberals in general) on only wanting to discredit the current administration. However, you cut the Pres. and his admin waaaaay too much slack. I mean, for a supposedly "conservative" administration we've seen gov't grow more than under Clinton. Although, I still argue that the Repub. congress and Dem Pres. couldn't get anything done because they were too busy arguing with each other. With Repubs in power on both branches pretty much anything either side wants gets through. There is a presidential veto for a reason. I mean, COME ON!

A joke...

...to interrupt my super-seriousness.

Ann Coulter on treason at the New York Times:

"[The New York Times's] reaction to al-Zarqawi's death was to lower the U.S. flag at the Times building to half-staff. (Ha ha -- just kidding! Everybody knows there aren't any American flags at The New York Times.) "

BSG

Yo,
If you guys got the yellow fever there's a bitchin' Asian party over at Princeton.

Really though, I am intrigued and am going to start watching with Slaps.

Democrats cont.

According to the Democrats, Israel has every right to defend itself, but they just shouldn't be allowed to defend themselves with guns.

While Democrats attack the Bush administration for Maliki's Israel criticism, they claim an immediate cease-fire with Hezbollah is a moral imperative.

Warren Christopher, giant of American foreign policy, explains why killing bad guys needs to stop. Apparently former Clinton administration officials deserve our attention concerning the Middle East what with their stellar anti-terrorism and Arab/Muslim-Israeli peace record.

John Kerry explained how simple the solution was...er...sort of. (If only we could go back in time, that is.) He said this wouldn't have happened if he was president. The Arabs and other Muslims presumably would have become friends of Israel upon his inauguration. Either that or Kerry would have ordered Israel to bend over and take it like a Frenchman. And obviously Israel would bow to Kerry's wishes instead of pulling the strings behind the neocon conspiracy.

Look, I'm not terribly happy with the President, but Democrats just can't be trusted. Their only guiding principle is get Bush. They say anything, even this contradictory conspiracy theory/fantasy nonsense, in an attempt to discredit the President. It seems that, to them, Bush is the enemy. This is not the function of a loyal opposition. It's quite disloyal in many respects and dangerous.

super-serious stuff

Peter Beinart again takes issue with his fellow liberals over their reaction to Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's visit to the US.

I'm not a fan, and the magazine he edits is not as good as it has been in the past. But Beinart is an independent voice in his party these days. Democrats could do worse than take his advice.

re: gas

Bert, the point you missed was watch Battlestar Galactica.

Gas

I agree that gas taxes should not be increased. I think they should be lowered actually.

Demand for gas, however, is relatively inelastic. No doubt many people are changing their driving habits. However, demand for gas and oil is not declining in any similar proportion, if at all, to the increase in cost. Demand does not change as much for gas and oil as it does for other goods with similar percentage price increases.

If the price continues to rise, demand will certainly decline to some extent or at least in certain segments of the market, but it will decrease more slowly than the price increases.

If gas prices increase and people do not expect them to decline or expect them to keep increasing, they will begin to change thier habits and maybe even consider fuel costs as a factor in where they live as you explained.

Full disclosure: I'm not an economist.

BSG

To switch gears (and sort of keep with the StarWars/sci-fi theme of the title) I am going to highly highly reccomend the Sci-Fi channel's Battlestar Galactica. I just finished the first 3 hours of the miniseries last night and was completely rivited. I haven't enjoyed anything as much in a long time. I think even super-serious Bert might like it. It has everything: action, drama, politics, subterfugeLook, I just can't reccomend it enough. Also certain cast members are easy on the eye. My favorite ( to admire for beauty) is Grace Park who plays the pilot "Boomer." However, the coolest character so far is definitely the Chief of the docking bay (I don't know his name). He's pretty bad ass about his job. Here, also, is a picture of the lovely Grace Park to admire. Enjoy.

Gas Prices

I disagree with the idea that gas is an inelastic good. Like John, I drive significantly less due to high gas prices. The claim that people need their car to get to work is not an argument for inelasticity, a person chooses where they live. I choose to live close to my job/school so I can walk or bike in. Sure, both are less convenient than driving but so is paying $35-$40 to fill up my car every other week. I know people who live closer to school than I do yet still drive in every day. I think that the only truly inelastic good is food (and maybe shelter).

Oil Prices

At current gas prices it costs me over 4% of my monthly income to fill up my gas tank once ($60). That is silly. I'm no rich republican able to foot the burden of gas taxes. I can hardly foot the burden now. I do it mostly by not driving. Because I can't afford to fuel my automobile.

GM Rebound?

GM's sales are up 12%, but it posted a huge 2nd quarter loss. The market reacted well to this news since GM seems to be more successful than expected. The losses are mostly from one-time restructuring and buyout costs. Hopefully, they can turn it around and get out of the hole they and the unions have dug.

Oil Prices

Robert Samuelson considers an oil bubble and the reason for high prices.

As he mentions demand is pretty inelastic, so his suggestion that there should be higher gas taxes is probably not a good idea, but others such as Charles Krauthammer argue for higher gas taxes as well.

As he notes, despite high prices, gas is still only 4% of disposable income. So, while we cringe at a $3 gallon of gas, it is not that bad yet, and there are legitimate reasons for the rise in price. Some of these reasons are remediable by external forces to the market, namely building refineries and more exploration. These are longer-term solutions and they require the government to unleash oil companies which will draw a lot of resistance politically as the ANWR debate did.

RE: Bill Cosby

I like this quote:

"One of those stereotypes is that poor blacks are lazy citizens who victim-monger while bemoaning the "white man." Such a view is undercut by what we know about the black poor: Most of them work, and few are paralyzed by their astute perceptions of persistent racism."

I think the best place for proof of this claim (outside of New Orleans) is the McDonalds on Euclid. All of the black people there seem really happy to have jobs and take pride in their work. I also like that if one of the two white people employed there is on duty, I have to wait for one of them to get my food. No bowing to the white man here. And also the guy who shows up riding in his friend's new cadillac listening to some song about hustling and proceeds to walk around the dining area all day asking people for money. You know, cuz he's so hungry. And then I see him dancing at bars on coventry at night. I suppose my persistent racism prevents me from giving my money to a hustling black man, but I'm not sure what else he expects from an insufferable white bigot like me.

On a related note, I watched an awards show for the best pimp job on cars last night. It was hosted by Shaq and some other people. There were no white contestants, but that's probably because white people can't think of things like having an interior of a hummer be made entirely of alligator and ostrich skin or driving your "Snoop DeVille" with a chandelier or even having a paint job that cost more than I make in a year. From what I could tell, black people seem pretty well off. I don't know what they're complaining about.

The bad kind of pork

I know you didn't think such a thing existed. If this bill in the Senate passes, the fight against the bad kinda pork might be underway. The bill proposes an easy-to-search website that lists all recipients of federal grants, contracts, etc.

Let's hope it passes and we are restored to a world where pork is better known as a delicious treat and not excessive government spending.

Bill Cosby

...tool of the White Man.

Nick vs. Nick

As promised, here is the comparison. There is no question. I totally asked the Chinese kids in my lab. Same person.

Why are they blue? I don't know. But I need to finish work so I can get out of here before 9.

Look:

Clearly, Nick is going to go completely Libertarian, invent a time machine in the future, travel back to now and move back to Oxford. These recent pictures of Nick Gillespie don't lie folks. So, since I've figured this all out can I have a free subscription to Reason? I'm going to work on a side-by-side picture in case you're still unsure (you shouldn't be).

Back on "The Internets"

Back from Alaska. And Bert apparently had lots to say. My meager contribution is this: The anarcho-capitalistic economics of the A-Team. Awesome.

Also, Ted Stevens, illustrious Republican Alaskan Senator (read "moron") had some amazingly idiotic things to say about the internet. Although not a big fan of the Daily Show, their mocking of him for this is all that needed to be done.
And the Strongbad-esque "dance remix" is here.
Bless you, YouTube.

Now to catch up on Bert's required reading.

No Shame

Valerie Plame is now suing Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. Here is the complaint.

If you don't know anything about the legal process, take a look at it. Notice how vague you can be in pleading your causes of action to get into court (the claims are in the last few pages). The problem here is Plame can just harass the defendants without any evidence and draw the discovery process out to create a headache and large legal bill for the defendants.

I hope Plame's attorneys get smacked with some sanctions for filing this.

This story keeps getting more absurd every day. It is shameful that she and her husband were ever entrusted with anything to do with our country's foreign relations and national security.

Today Is Cost of Government Day

Today is the day in which the average American worker has earned his share of the burdens of government spending. Grover Norquist points out that this is one day later than last year and 12 days later than in 2000.

Federal spending growth has been greater than national income growth in five of the last six years. This cannot continue, but who is going to reign it in?

Why is TR on Rushmore?

Thomas Sowell takes Teddy down a notch.

Here is some more analysis of TR in the wake of Time's TR issue.

I know Jarrod is a fan, but I certainly am not. There is no doubt TR was a progressive although he did recognize America should wield a big stick and had a much more realistic foreign policy than the too-influential Wilson. According to a Mt. Rushmore tourist site, TR stands for the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs. This is, perhaps, fitting considering the century that followed TR.

TR certainly wielded the presidency like a big stick. TR was the first modern president, expanding the role of the office in many ways for better or worse. He infused the office with his personality. This is likely why he is remembered so fondly.

Movie Recommendations

Pirates of the Carribean, the second installment, was terrible. Another Jerry Bruckheimer masterpiece. Shame on Johnny Depp. Don't go see it.

If you want to see a good movie, I recommend Andy Garcia's The Lost City. (movie site)

I saw it a little over a week ago but our blog has not been cooperative with my publishing attempts lately. A super-gorgeous leading lady breaks your heart, but despite this and the inevitable bad ending for Cuba and its people, it is well worth your time.

Best of all, Castro and Guevara are bad guys. Hollywood forbid! However, the movie is not very political. I guess Garcia did not want to offend the in crowd too much.

Supreme Court Intrigue

An interesting tale of Supreme Court intrigue. I have always been suspicious of Brandeis.

The author makes a good point about the exclusionary rule. It really should be used to exclude bad evidence not as a mechanism to get the guilty off on procedural grounds.

My favorite line: "But if a man can’t sort his crack and firearms without police barging into the house on such short notice, then none of us are free."