Our DoE Gestapo

The first hint for many of us.. which I missed but some found curious was:

WaPo: Education Department buying 27 shotguns

Now we know WHY..

No Really: SWAT Team Raids House at 6 AM and Handcuffs Father of Three Young Kids to Execute a Dept. of Education Search Warrant for Estranged Wife's Defaulted Student Loans

STOCKTON, CA - Kenneth Wright does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

"I look out of my window and I see 15 police officers," Wright said.

Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts as a S.W.A.T team barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn.

"He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there," Wright said.

According to Wright, officers also woke his three young children ages 3, 7, and 11 and put them in a Stockton police patrol car with him. Officers then searched his house.

As it turned out, the person law enforcement was looking for was not there - Wright's estranged wife.

"They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids," Wright said. [...]

The U.S. Department of Education issued the search and called in the S.W.A.T for his wife's defaulted student loans.

Oh.. wait!

It wasn't the Stockton SWAT team, it was the Department of Education 'OIG'.. no doubt using some of those 27 shotguns.
And it wasn't a loan default that got them called into action but possible criminal fraud..

Dept. of Education SWAT Raid Update: Not for a Student Loan, DoE Says

Well!!!!

All BETTER, then! We are INDEED becoming more egalitarian, don't you notice? Now white collar crime like fraud and embezzlement is treated exactly as if it were done by armed robbers. Besides being easier in the sleuthing side, it's more fun and you get a chance to use all that swell assault training.


As a favorite blogger of mine often sez... "They told me if I voted for McCain, {insert outrageous activity here}.. and they were right!"

Quasi-Intellect Leads to Insanity

Further proof of the imminent end-times:

Foreskin Man!
- decidedly 'Aryan Avenger' style, wot?

Yet another Joo-hate effort by the atheist quasi-intellectual bunch!
For all you soft-hearted idiots out there..

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/womens-health/articles/2009/03/25/circumcision-guards-against-stds

I'm sorry.. I'm no longer soft-peddling my views for those of you who read Lame-Stream-Media by the 'learned and Informed' who eschew the least bit of common sense because of their 4 or 7 years of academic indoctrination.

If you are stupid enough to take the word of your 'intellectual betters' over F@##$$4king common sense given you by God, you and your children deserve what you get!

Take it from one whose procedure was botched and suffered pain in adolescence because of it.. I'm STILL glad my mom did it!

H/T Hot Air!

*** 

For some more better news:

No handicap here:

***

BONUS!!!

Bank of America Gets Pad Locked After Homeowner Forecloses On It


DailyMail: President Obama wolfs down TWO chili dogs and fries... the day after his wife unveils new dietary guide

- If some of you hadnt yet noticed.. to get the REAL Scoop on some of the fascinating by-play in our government{s}, you have to read the BRITISH papers. Since it's not THEIR government.. hence no danger of being summarily excluded by Guvmint minders, they are free to look at ours.. unlike some unfortunates at the SF Chronicle who ask the wrong questions.
Good on OUR Pres. for doing .. or eating.. what he feels like with no regard to 'PC' .. shouldnt we all have that degree of choice? .. after all..

“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
–Thomas Jefferson

Why you MIGHT think he was talking about the corn Ethanol fuel, or GoreBull Warmening scams!!!
Or that to lose weight you need to go on a low-fat diet. After all the science is settled.. err.. well.. it WAS settled, wasnt it.?

Fannie and Freddie Frauds finally explored

Several years ago I posted on a soccer messageboard what I thought was the primary reason for the financial mess. It's all gone because someone supposedly hacked the site and the admin just wiped it out.
That was the CRA of 1999.

Funny thing is that most people using their common sense KNOW that government 'fair housing' programs incited the banking houses to get creative with those junk futures instruments. But in that thread all I got for rebuttal was mealy-mouth party memes.

But you'll get howls anytime you try to point fingers at exactly WHO was responsible. Because people will not admit that their political heroes would screw something up so badly. So far, the only politico I'm aware of who's come close is Bill Clinton. He said perhaps 'we went a little overboard'. I'll say! Before that you never heard all those mortgage brokers advertise 'no money down, up to 100% financing'.

Well someone has finally written a book on it and because of their credentials maybe someone will actually LOOK at Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and their role in the bust.

Volokh has thoughts and the link to the book:
A Book Length Account of Fannie and Freddie and Their Role in the Financial Crisis

Looks interesting. Maybe we'll get some justice in knowledge rather than just blaming the banks.

Palin exposes Media Boobs

Michelle Malkin has a precious writeup on how Sarah Palin has turned the tables on the very media that has mocked her since she's been in national politics:
Chasing Sarah: The Boys Behind the Bus

This is especially good:

The Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta griped that "reality TV star Palin" was "treating pol reporters like paparazzi -- needing and hating, inviting and making chase." Perhaps Franke-Ruta needs a reminder of what a truly parasitic press-pol relationship looks like. I have stacks of Obama 2008 profiles exulting over his glistening pecs and soaring oratorical skills, followed by countless spurned-lover laments from reporters disappointed about the control freaks who stage-manage his every press appearance.

As if they haven't ALWAYS treated Palin as if they were 'paparazzi'. How would you catalog Andrew Sullivan's fascination with her?

As my friend and blogging colleague Doug Powers put it: "Reporters whining about Palin are like kids who can't reach the cookie jar because she keeps moving it."

It's too bad the 'journalists' have forgotten how to do 'investigative reporting'. REAL press in the old days would be able to sniff out where she's going, obviously someone is expecting her somewhere. And you can bet it's not a union convention.

Now they'd rather just blame the stalkee for their own laziness.

And if they do figure it out that she's toying with them, they'll do it anyway:

NYT: Palin Dismisses the Media, but They Come Back for More

Free journalism? Well... Sometimes you DON'T get what you pay for.

Rainey, LATimes.. On the Media: The price of 'free' journalism

If you don't care to read it, the thing is focussed on the recent sale of Huffington Post and the subsequent complaint by its writer/bloggers that they got nothing for their content input that made Arianna Huffington a lot of money.

Implicit is the concept that perhaps content is worth more than what was directly paid for it. Interesting. Especially that this was published at nearly the same time as the NYT paid grudging respect to Matt Drudge, acknowledging that he is still very much the arbiter of what is news and what is not. IOW, most of the paid press reads him and puts their fingers in the wind accordingly. I hope everyone sees the irony there.

Contrary to the writer's apparent point, I contend that there are three forms of 'news' information: opinion, certifiable opinion, and factual rebuttal.
- non-factual rebuttal falling into 'opinion' category.

Opinion as provided by HuffPo, is just that, one person's (or publication's) opinion. And you know what they say about 'Opinions.. everyone's got one, just like...'  If HuffPo was forced to pay for content, that might be a good thing, in the big picture.  Folks that write dross that's easily refuted might be shed to protect the overall reputation.

Certified {not to say 'paid'} Opinion on the other hand, is more like legal publishing; ALL the pertinent factual information is addressed. You don't go to court on precedent supplied by Google search, or Drudge or even free internet caselaw. That would be Lexis/Nexis or Westlaw.  Or Bloomberg on stock performances and Corporate Reports.

Free factual rebuttal is exactly what the internet bloggers are best at.
- Ask Dan Rather.. oh, wait dont. He's a 'victim' you see!  Ask the 'scientists' at UEA on Climategate.  The fraud of 'Global Warming' has been well and truly exposed almost exclusively on the 'net. By people doing it for FREE!

OTHER than that, you PAY for vital information and indeed that is how the internet is now shaking out. What once was more or less free.. like the on line white pages, is now only readily available for a fee.  Did anyone seriously expect it to be otherwise? Who is going to pay for factual verification of someone's name, address and phone number?


Standards and Practices
News and journalistic standards used to be such that you could count on the front page to be a factual uncolored account. Who, What, When Where, and why or how. The latter being certifiable facts behind the issue or event. And the 'why or how facts' mostly disappeared from news reports sometime in the late sixties or seventies. Some say because of USAToday. I say EVEN BEFORE that in  my local paper.

We held the Wall Street Journal in high regard then, because it continued providing the factual background. The Opinion pages and sometimes Features were colored by POV, the news was generally not.

I refuse the premise that the only useful opinion is that which is compensated, at any rate. Going back to when dead tree news was still king, the publication might publish any sort of nonsense or opinion that it wanted to... whether on the Front, Editorial or Op-ed pages.

And that is why we also read the Letters to Editor. Once in a while or often, depending on the publication's journalistic standards, those letters presented facts that devastatingly rebutted the compensated professional's viewpoint. That content was free, and whether it's on the net article comments or printed on the pulpwood, it always will be supplied free of charge by the writer, who is usually more knowledgeable on the given subject or issue.

I appreciate the content providers for HuffPo wanting to be paid and submit that HuffPo certainly had the ability to gauge the value of the content to its readers and pay accordingly but what those writers should understand is that their credentials have nothing to do with the value of their content in the eyes of the general public. And Arianna's apparent hypocrisy on the subject is beside the point.


Paid Writing - Free Music? Does Not Compute!
However.. since a few of those same writers advocated that the net should allow free dissemination of other creative product, such as music and video, I think it rings hollow.
As does the idea that HuffPo is popular for its original content. The only value I see in it is argument against viewpoints published elsewhere and LINKED. Thus it goes one step, perhaps, beyond Drudge or even Instapundit.

Meanwhile NYT has re-erected its pay wall, trying to put a price on access to Dowd, Krugman et al. They brag of 100,000 subscribers in the first week. I don't care. I can find the same opinions in Washington Post or the Guardian or the Independent. Only some of the NYT Features have original content other than crass opinion. And most political opinion there has to pass through its editorial board to match their publisher's whims. In doing that they open themselves up to charges -by 'free' writers- of crass biases.

But the most important thing is that, paywall, writer compensation or not, the Media can't hide behind 'value of content' and force those who can rebut them to do the same thing.

Fair or not, the market decides.. for now, anyway.  That is the beauty of the 'net.

Meet Meghan McCain, Blonde.

"..and what do you call the other one?"

Meghan McCain is nowhere near that ditzy, but she's not exactly establishing herself as a serious commenter, either.
I, along with most other people, first became aware of the Senator's daughter during his 2008 campaign.  One of my favorite bloggers noticed that she had started one of her own, logging life on the campaign circuit from her viewpoint.
I was disappointed, though, as her point of view was as shallow as it could get.  We never got an insight on anything from her, alternately gushing about how super they were treated and then the hard travel schedule.

She hasn't grown up much in the years since.  New York Times Magazine just ran a human interest Q & A on her: Inside Meghan McCain’s Bachelorette Pad

Some samples:

HUMAN OBSESSION: I am borderline obsessed with Sofia Coppola. She is unbelievably talented and has a famous father and established herself as a force...

Well, Meghan.. you have a famous father and I suppose you have established yourself as a force

BODY IMAGE: I wake up every morning with large breasts, and it doesn’t affect me. But people had a meltdown when I posted a photo of myself on Twitter. I found such extreme sexism in it. I’ve spent as much of my career having my weight and body commented on as my writing and politics. 

 Uh, no.  Not in the sites I read, comments on your boobs referenced far less than the other meaning of the word as applied to you.

And here's a hint why:

FAVORITE DEMOCRAT: I like Anthony Weiner, the congressman from New York. He has YouTube moments I find entertaining, and he’s married to Huma Abedin, who works for Secretary of State Clinton. I have to tip my hat to him for landing such a hot woman.

Ironically this same day, the web is 'all-a-twitter' about a pic supposedly of Weiner in his gray tighties showing a boner. {no comments on 'vienna sausages, please} but that has nothing to do with this... other than chuckles and grins.
Read the rest of the piece. Then read Meghan's wiki.

In terms of economic policy, she has remarked on The Rachel Maddow Show that "I didn't even take Econ[omics] in college. I don't completely understand it so I'd hate to make a comment one way or the other. That's – truly of all the things – I keep reading and I just don't understand it."

Well, now. There's really nothing wrong with not understanding Economics.. and especially when you admit it. But economics is what the crux of the Republican Party platform is about.
And if you don't understand our economy is in deep trouble and why, and you're pro-choice and pro-illegal immigration and pro gay marriage then you might as well be a Democrat.   Cause they have such good cool people.. marrying hotties and all.
 So shut up about Bristol Palin.  Somehow I think if Bristol went to college, even Columbia, she probably would take at least one Econ course and probably WOULD understand it.

So let's face it.. Meghan does blonde women a disservice by reinforcing the old 'skin deep intellect' stereotype.

She may not actually be that dumb, most blondes arent really. But I can't imagine what she would have to say that would fill more than one book.

*****

Speaking of celebrities.. here's the Celebrity Headline teaser of the Week:

"Mila Kunis has finally realized.... 

{wait for it}

.. she was dating Macauley Caulkin!"

Now THAT'S FUNNY! I dont care where yer from.

I'm not linking it because it was a teaser for those sites that have you clicking from one to another just to finally get to the punch line.

Why Women hate CFL's

Not only are people finding Compact Fluorescents not saving much money in power bills, and not lasting as long as claimed.. unless there's special circumstances, but women HATE them when they try to dress or put on makeup.

- I find that ones installed outside last long time though switched on and off. Of course it takes forever for them to warm up.
- Also left on ALL the time typically last a couple of years.

I guess we guys all know it's really hard to find good ones to install in proximity of both woman and a mirror.
via XkCD, Doghouse Diaries hints on the reason why:

- Note: I have a minor blue color misperception {light blue eyes, 'Electric Blue' turns into a blob that hurts my eyes} and I cant see any difference in some pinks plus some color gradients, like 'eggplant', seem out of order to me.

XKCD has a lot more to say on the subject but it develops on why women see color differently than men.

Whatever the case, it's obvious even to me that CFL's fall short in the color hue department. Cool White or Daylight is the only acceptable color temperature.

Add to that the mercury 'hazmat' problem.. which is laughable on the single broken bulb handling, yet pretty serious when a whole truckload gets smashed.
- by the way the recent tornadoes present that problem. All the smashed Lowes, Home Depots and Walmarts turned into hazmat zones by broken shelf stock. Now..Imagine a warehouse FULL of CFL's!

Sadly even LED lighting, though making great progress, still hasn't solved the color hue to the extent of traditional bulbs.

Farmers Nervous.. and we should be, too.

With all the extreme weather we've been having and the coverage of tornado damage and deaths in the midwest and south, another aspect that has even more long term consequences for the world is the inability, because of wet fields, to get corn in the ground.
Marietta Ohio Times

As of the start of this week, only 11 percent of the state's corn crop had been sewn, compared to the nearly 90 percent average for this time of year.

An emergency meeting is planned for this morning in Columbus at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address the issue, according to an official with the local Ohio State University Extension Office.

Indpls Star

Barely half of Indiana's corn crop for 2011 is planted and several million acres of seeds still must go into the ground with just a week remaining before Wednesday's optimal planting deadline.

- via Instapundit

This isn't just a localized problem it will affect everyone, national and global.

Global Food Output May Be Hurt as Climate Shifts, UN Warns

Drought in China has affected 6.5 million hectares of farmland, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on its website on May 20. China has ordered the operator of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest, to release water to replenish the Yangtze River and counter the local region's lowest rainfall in half a century.
.....
In the U.S., floods along the Mississippi River and its tributaries have affected almost 3.6 million acres of cropland, causing the most damage in Arkansas, the American Farm Bureau Federation said on May 23. Floods in Canada's Frenchman River Basin may be the largest since 1952, and the waters slowed the nation's sowing, the Canadian Wheat Board said on April 20.

And some of us olders know that precipitation tends to even out during the year. Too much rain now will likely be countered with too little when the ears of corn are filling.

And yeah, it will even affect gas prices:
Bloomberg

Ethanol moved higher with corn, which rose on the Chicago Board of Trade as storms stretching from Iowa to Ohio may bring rain by tomorrow. Planting is behind the normal pace because of excess rain, with some of the biggest delays in Ohio, North Dakota and Indiana.

On the last, our government could help by telling the petroleum refiners to reduce ethanol in gasoline or eliminate it altogether.
- dont worry, your car can handle that just fine and your gas mileage would probably increase.
Only problem with that, of course is that the Agribiz corporations are very good friends or our elected.

So dont bet on it.. just remember where the real problem lies.. and it's not with CO2 global warming. Because temperatures have NOT gone up they are decreasing at the moment. The weather patterns {not climate} HAVE shifted due to ocean current changes and la Nina, but not for the first time nor will it be the last.

Retread your DVD library..watch them in B&W

from Flavorwire: 10 Modern Movies That Are Better in Black and White
Great idea.. turns adventure films into suspense films! And makes suspense films like Halloween and Fargo even spookier

Great example of that:



You appreciate them in a whole different way

O'Reilly / Stewart on Common at WH sends my blog hits up 500%

Note: 'Pettifog' means 'Make a big deal over little or nothing.'
-You're welcome. That's not exactly how I write on my blog but reflects how I like to look at everything related to an issue.

Blog hits went from minuscule to noticeable in one fell swoop... because first O'Reilly then Stewart use the term 'pettifog' several times to describe overstating the importance of an issue. In this case inviting the Rapper 'Common' to the White House.
Article in HuffPo on the 'debate'. The word first comes up about 4:48 of part 1.

All the traffic increase came from Google search of 'Pettyfog'.. meaning users were unfamiliar with the term and misspelled it.
I explain my spelling in 'about'

{So when} I got on the then young internet, I adopted the identity "Pettyfog" as my online personna. It was a play on words from the Dickensian use of 'pettifog' {self-important minor bureaucratic blather, not the 'evil lawyer' use, and I used 'y' instead of 'i' for two reasons. 'Little Fog' being one, identifiability the other.

- the HuffPo staff did add a definition later, spelling it correctly.

But.. on the issue of Common: I expected from the HuffPo account that O'Reilly had gone off the deep end again. He truly is often guilty of blowing things up to ridiculous extents and he did pettifog here, somewhat. But hell, Stewart does the same thing. I dont watch either of them for that reason.

O'Reilly is right in that it does define the White House. Stewart's on shaky ground.

But it's still trivial because we already should know this would happen, the invite's a sop to Obama's most solid constituency; 2012 is just around the corner and he hasn't done much of anything for them, yet.

Apparently there is now ..

.. GOOGLE ENTRY FOR “CAPTAIN SEXY BANJO.”

Instapundit posted:

THERE’S NO GOOGLE ENTRY FOR “CAPTAIN SEXY BANJO.” Well, maybe this will fix that problem.

And lo.. it sure did

And yet... none of the 90 or so links listed were for Amazon{dot}com.

Taliban 'Tet' a dud; MSM weep!

On May 8 the Taliban attacked the provincial capital of Kandahar in a much anticipated effort to repeat the NVA/ Viet Cong Tet offensive which the US won militarily, utterly destroying the attacking forces, but the press blew into a 'We Cant Win' meme.

Despite their loads of bombs and sniper tactics, the Taliban failed miserably.

But Time Mag and the NYT aren't giving up on their Cronkite-ish theme. 'Analysts', particularly those with facial hair to make them look serious and wise, are free to put any sort of spin on it they can think of:

NYT: Broad Taliban Attack Paralyzes Kandahar

The attack ended as night fell Sunday, when the last two suicide bombers were killed in a hotel near the provincial headquarters of the national intelligence department. Spent casings littered the streets “like hail after a storm,” one Kandahar resident said, and ranks of police officers stood guard at official buildings.

The scale and organization of the attack as well as the targeting of government buildings suggested that the Taliban had been planning it for some time — and that they had relied on support from inside Kandahar.

Among the places singled out were the provincial governor’s palace, the police headquarters, the transportation police headquarters, a police substation and other buildings used by the military, according to a NATO statement.

Those are among the most well-guarded spots in Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan and a major base for NATO forces. Still, the 27 insurgent fighters involved in the attacks were able to move in those areas while toting explosive vests or driving vehicles laden with explosives, raising questions about complicity with the attacks.

- summary. None of those targets were captured, let alone occupied. And yet the tone is one of 'woe' with the inevitable negative statements from locals who fit the profile.

Time holds out hope even after the one sided debacle:
Afghanistan: A Taliban Offensive Hopes to Repeat Vietcong's Tet Effect

So much so that Time's bearded wunderkind writer former anti apartheid activist brings up a totally off the wall statement by Gen Westmoreland about the enemy in Nam, months previous to Tet:

{{Tet's} historical impact was to mock the triumphalist claims of General William Westmoreland, who had told Americans months earlier that the Vietcong were on the ropes and unable to mount a major offensive, and that the war would soon be over.

Of course there's no parallel example in the modern military effort, but hey.. that was just too good to pass up. And never mind most of us who were actually voting age adults, and paying attention at the time, thought Westmoreland was an idiot.
Well the writer was alive, too. Maybe ..what.. six years old.

The Washington Times has a different view of the Taliban flop.

...the Taliban launched a major attack on Afghan government targets in the insurgent’s spiritual capital of Kandahar. Press reports called it a “vengeance attack” for the killing of Osama bin Laden a week earlier. Time magazine forebodingly compared it to the 1968 Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War. The general tone of the coverage was thick with knowing dread.

The outcome of the attacks was far from the doom presaged in the press. “All of the Taliban involved in the Kandahar attack were either captured or killed,...”

At a heavy price, no doubt? Well it disrupted everyday life in the city for 30 hours. Does that count.. guess it depends.

The series of attacks in Kandahar reached none of their assumed objectives. No Afghan government public buildings were seized and the insurgents inflicted few casualties. The most underreported good news story was that the defense of the city was conducted by the Afghan National Security Forces. “The ANSF did a really good job,” our source said. “They were calm; they were capable.”

But all that good news didn't change the theme for the IDIOT Leftist press. And it never will.

Bureaucrats rethink "All your cash are belong us"

Dallas police have change of heart on cash found by teen 

From WFAA

There are new developments in the story of Plano teenager Ashley Donaldson, who turned in $2,000 she found in an envelope on the ground in North Dallas — only to find out that when no one claimed it the city planned to keep it.
Dallas police Chief David Brown issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the department will follow a provision in state law in determining what happens to the funds.

 But previously:

On Tuesday, police said under a new city policy, the unclaimed money will go into Dallas' general fund — not back to the person who found it, as in years past.
"We appreciate your honesty," said Dallas police spokesman Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse. "We're going to put the money to good use. It's not going to be wasted, but put to good use for the City of Dallas."

 Now the reason I highlighted Cpl Janse is that he probably hasnt been a civil servant long enough to become SO EVERLOVING FREAKING STUPID as to think the government claiming found money is a good idea.
And it probably wasn't even the Dallas chief.. No, that takes years of 'public service' and would be someone who has a law degree and also one in 'political science'.

It takes that sort of training to acquire the myopia needed to believe that it was a good idea for future crime solving.
Because, you see, the first think I thought when I read the original article was
"What!!! No one who hears about this and finds an unmarked envelope with cash in it will bother turning it in."
And lets face it, that could be money from a drug deal. And the loser might be dumb enough to claim it; it's happened before.
If that was the case, THEN the police would keep it and there's precedence for that but the finder would get some satisfaction from helping out the police.

And you know what.. I'm just a guy with some common sense but I noted there were others who got that point. Only those who think the people are there to serve government wouldn't get it.

* * *

There's a lot more to the story about Ashley and her family on the WFAA site, read the 'related' links

WSJ: Giggles and Grins column

For some muted chuckles on world and national affairs, in a large national paper, you could do worse than bookmark the Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web Today"

In the May 9 edition, The bin Laden Book Club, we learn:

- bin Laden was a fan of idiot savant Noam Chomsky and commented favorably on Jimmy Carter's geo-politics

- John Kerry thinks it's a good time to raise taxes.

Now that Osama bin Laden is defunct, John Kerry, the haughty, French-looking former junior senator from Massachusetts, who by the way served in Vietnam, thinks it's time to raise taxes.

note: Rush probably wishes he had copyrighted that.

- The New York Times still largely has a staff of Blow-hards and Coastal Elitists

But the best stuff is the skim of the 'net - linked news articles, at the bottom of the article, which usually include things like:

Life Imitates the Onion

which uses wordplay to add silly summaries to straight news headlines
and

Questions Nobody Is Asking

and

Answers to Questions Nobody Is Asking

which are not pointing to the same issues, btw.

Everyone should bookmark that section.

Science: Man-Brain > Food, Sex, Sleep.. all the same.

LiveScience Article: Men Think About Sleep & Food as Much as Sex

... men paid no greater attention to sex than they did food and sleep, Fisher found.

Men think about sex every seven seconds, right? Not according to a new study that finds men ponder sleep and food as much as they do sex.

The median number of thoughts about sex by college-age men was 18 times a day to women's 10 times a day, the study found. But the men also thought about food and sleep proportionately more.

"In other words, there was nothing special about sexual thoughts," study researcher Terri Fisher, a psychologist at The Ohio State University, Mansfield, told LiveScience. "Males thought more about any of the health-related thoughts compared to females, not just thoughts about sex."

So... since men think about those three more than women do, the question is 'What are the women thinking about, instead?
- Hmmm.. On further rumination, I'm pretty sure it relates to what they are wearing and how they look in it.

And the subjects of beer and sports wasn't even covered, leaving an even larger gap. One that surely can't be explained completely by "Do I look fat in this?" can it? Naw.. it's probably "Wonder if the kids are all right?"

I was a little troubled, at first, by the 'thinking about sleep' part. Then I realized it was college kids and I remembered being that age. I too missed a fair amount of sleep on occasion. Closing time was 1:30 even on weekdays back then.

Now I'm sixty eight and for me it's mostly 'food - nap - food - sleep'.

And I never think about beer unless someone else brings up the subject.
But when I DO think about beer, I think about a Dos Equis

Taking out the Trash

First, kudos to President Obama for giving the go ahead to erase the Al Quaeda mentor.
Second kudos to Navy Seals for collecting and sanitizing the garbage.

But we all must realize that this is somewhat equivalent to 'capture the flag', where one side steals the talisman of the other and it was not only captured but deep-sixed so that it could never be used again.

As a symbolic victory it cannot be denied as a scoring coup. In reality it changes little other than to underscore that the US will only put up with so much humiliation from its supposed 'ally', Pakistan, who knew full well where bin Laden was stashed and did absolutely nothing about it in order to appease its large population segment who still live in the dark ages.

There will, no doubt, be reprisals from these cretins, and we don't know where or when. But it's important that they don't get away with it, on the premise of 'allowing free expression from other cultures'.
You can be sure there will be some sort of street demonstration, in the UK, against this action. You can also be sure that unless it breaks out into full riot, the British will treat these stinking Islamists with kid gloves. Jailing and charging as few as possible.
On the other hand if native cultural Brits counter demonstrate with the same sort of rhetoric and actions, they will be jailed and prosecuted for hate crime or anything else that applies and to the full extent of British law.

And THAT would serve greatly to repair the damage to Islamist morale that losing bin Laden inflicted. Nothing is more important to terrorists than to show how weak and ineffectual their opponents are. From the embassy hostages in 79 to the first WTC bombing to the Cole to the attacks on the two African Embassies. they had their way until the two towers fell.
It could even happen that way in the US... already the 'progressive left' is mewling about International Law being violated. Well when the other side is bringing knives to the fight, you throw away the Marquis of Queensbury rulebook.

So... Taking out the Trash, finally, is a good thing. That the garbage collector comes around often and as scheduled is most important.
___________________________________________________________

Deep Background:
The Secret Team That Killed bin Laden

Taxes: WWJD? - "Jesus would take it all"

.. or so says Monsigneur Larry O'Donnell of the Holy Church of Social Justice. aka MSNBC.

Seems that Rush got on the subject of what Jesus would say about the rich being taxed enough. And the 'WWJD' thing got him probably a little flummoxed so he shifted the meme to what most of us would consider firmer ground; "What Would Jesus Take?" Rush answered himself; "Nothing."

Obviously this is too much for some people, especially those who might say Jesus was a social activist, or a community organizer:



Now I'm not a very good Christian, but I believe. And I've read the Bible through a few times. The first, when I was young, scared the stuffin's out of me. Then as an adult I learned how to read it. And read it through twice. With all verses in context of those coming before and after. In fact the Gospel only really makes sense in context of the Old Testament.

So.. in those terms this guy's takedown covers the particulars O'Donnell cited pretty darn well.

But I've got another thought on it. Or maybe.. would like to advise O'Donnell of a few words also in the Bible.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

as well as..

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's.

Now since we all have to act on our own beliefs and free will, something that O'Donnell seems to have a problem with, I'm gonna have to desist writing 'My Judgment' on that. After all it's possible O'Donnell is right and I am wrong.

If we believe the Bible, we know the devil is a great deceiver and may have pulled scales over my eyes and I've got it all wrong. But, from what I've always believed, I have to side with Rush.. Jesus wouldn't TAKE anything. Isn't that what Free Will is all about?

So, I can't speak for Jesus any more than Rush can. But, when I see what O'Donnell thinks, 'Pharisee' comes to mind.
Read more:
MSNBC's O'Donnell Slams Limbaugh As Biblically Ignorant

"Trump, you Magnificent Bastard!"

.. so says the creator of Dilbert, Scott Adams in his blog.

This morning I read a news item saying that some folks at NBC think Trump might be pretending to run for president to boost ratings. The story noted that ratings for his TV show are up 20% lately. I laughed out loud because sometimes I forget that at least half the country doesn't realize he's just screwing with the media.

The magnificent part of this whole thing is that he's putting no effort whatsoever into concealing his prank. That's what I love about the guy. He knows that no level of clownery in a field of clowns will single him out as the one clown that doesn't really mean it.

In other words, the conservative electorate are being 'Punked'.

Sadly this is one more time Adams shows his acumen in separating out all that is unattractive in human nature.

He goes on to cite Trump's loudly voiced opinion on the birther nonsense. Then explains that Trump is no dummy having graduated from Wharton. While I'll demur on how smart that really makes you, I can't really argue it.

The birther issue is a stupid issue. It attracts the same sort of divisive, idiotic thinking that the 9/11 'Truthers' projected.

Somehow Trump has managed to cross basic issue agendas and gain following from those in both the mainstream GOP and Tea Party, despite some glaring inconsistencies. Approving Eminent Domain for Commercial Development being another sore point. Of course he approves it, he uses it.
I've seen similar behavior before and thought.. well maybe the guy really could open up some discussion, though certainly we dont need yet another narcissist President. so I didn't say anything. Now I think it's true, especially now that 'Dilbert' points it out.

Yet another elitist showing that the electorate are foolish.

Just 'Bastard', in my view.

80/80 rule: Why the Masses are too stupid to govern

Australia is set to implement a carbon tax in 400 days or so. The interesting part is the present Labor/Greens coalition was elected on a promise of no carbon tax. Yet it seems that was the core of the coalition agreement, so there will be a carbon tax.

The purported aim of the tax is to help save the planet. Australia's efforts, if totally effective, reducing global CO2 emissions by a whopping 1%.
Except the PM, Julia Gillard is now solemnly saying that it wont hurt the poor, or industry, or energy companies; somehow all these will be kept whole and job-producing coal exports won't suffer a bit.
Amazingly enough, the 'rough crowd' doesn't buy it.

Tim Blair, a columnist-blogger, who amuses greatly just by pointing out things things like this, focuses our attention on a great piece by thinker/writer/PhD in Architecture,
Elizabeth Farrelly: Democracy is blocking intelligence

It may be, as one correspondent wrote last week, that advertising works on the "80/80 principle", the assumption that 80 per cent of Australians have an IQ average of 80. Now I'm fine with stupidity in advertising. Indeed, I expect nothing less - isn't that why God gave us the mute button? But what makes the 80/80 thought especially gripping - as in, by the throat - is how much it explains that branch of advertising we call politics.

Everything is dose related. Whether it's arsenic in your diet or radioactivity in the sea, small amounts now and then are OK, even beneficial, but large amounts, repeatedly, are bad and even terminal. It's the same with almost everything else - cars, houses, chocolate, holidays, even happiness.

For one person to live in an acre of grass and trees is perfectly harmless, even lovable. But for the numberless hordes to do it means an end to wilderness, clean air and polar bears.

By the last, I assume the verdant one-acre domicile is meant for those who truly appreciate and will protect it, like herself and her peers. Certainly not for a jobsworth, barely getting his ticket out of high school, who owns a couple of pizza stores.

She sets all this up by invoking Thomas Jefferson and the beloved 'pursuit of happiness' phrase. And the summary is that either the pursuit or the happiness - maybe better, BOTH- must be rationed and regulated for the good of the whole.

I wonder if maybe the government might issue a license to pursue? Hmmm..
Or just POSSIBLY.. that license to pursuit of happiness is inherent in completing post-graduate studies.
You know, I think that's it! After all it IS a 'Doctorate of Philosophy' isnt it.
And Elizabeth Farrelly has one in Architecture! Leads one to think it isnt so much continuing education in engineering and architectural sciences as it is meant to further appreciation and application of architecture in civilization and society.

So that PhD, really not mattering what field it's in, is indeed a pass into the hallowed halls of the intellectual. Giving the bearer full rights and privileges of the governing elite / protector of the stupid masses.
Which is probably what Jefferson had in mind in the first place, right?
And which, taken to the utmost, explains Noam Chomsky {Dr of Linguistic Mechanics} so beloved by the progressive intellectual elite that he needn't even bother debating his awesome philosophies.

The whole point is that when you read opinions like hers, you should start thinking about what the attack on the previously benign, harmless, beloved of all plant life Carbon Dioxide, really means.

Fragrant Dried Petals and Leaves

Attractive men have long... ring fingers: study

For the visual test, the results were unambiguous. "The longer the ring finger compared to the index -- that is, the greater the exposure to testosterone -- the more attractive the face was rated," she said by phone.

"I feel pretty.. oh so pretty..."
pffffft!

______________________________________________________________________

Facebook poll:

Do you think they should put prayer back in school?

The knee jerk for most who've seen it eliminated is 'yes'.. BUT.. the keyword is 'put back in'
The older I get, the less I believe in Ritual Prayer and more I believe in spontaneous silent prayer. And that is Biblical.
Which means: No, not really. Look at it this way.. watered down invocations to everyone including Gaia. And possible use of prayer rugs to show 'solidarity'.

No thanks.
_______________________________________________________

How Japan Compares With The World In English Proficiency

or

'Which Furriners Speak English Good?'.. note the Dutch rank #2 to the Norse. Why do the Dutch seem to have a more North American, than British, accent? Dunno.

Texas History Re-Writ

President Obama: "Texas has always been a pretty Republican state, for, you know, historic reasons."

'Aggresive Reporter' Interview seen here: NPR
LBJ? Sam Rayburn? Lloyd Bentsen? Ann Richards?

And this was from a Columbia University Poli-Sci major. As far as we know.

Well, I'm not. so there's that. Reckon the girls on 'The View' will comment?

h/t Powerlineblog

What an odd coincidence!

April 13, 2011
Internet gambling is coming to D.C.

April 15, 2011
FBI shuts down poker sites in major online gambling crackdown

I'm sure it's just a failure to communicate.. or something

Geeks v Suits

Sometimes even cynics take Sunday off
It occurred to me after a little tiff on a soccer message-board that I'm becoming far too sarcastic and cynical in my typing. Paying too much attention to current events and news coverage of those events can do that to you. At least that's the excuse I'll use for the moment.

So I decided I would look around for some good news to comment on.  There really isn't a whole lot of that, unfortunately, but I'll settle for anything the least bit neutral and I did stumble across a theme I'm pretty familiar with:

Code Monkey vs Biz monkey
- To put it another way, the eternal struggle for supremacy in the workplace of the Geek squad and the MBA mob.
The discussion seems to boil down to which is most important in the pecking order of a startup company

In search of a biz monkey (why bother?)

MBA's with buzzwords and the ability to raise a million dollars around some web idea are not scarce. They are fungible.
People who understand technology and are willing to bend it to their will, on the other hand, are scarce. They can't be found with a classified ad on Craigslist or in a blind project ad on eLance.

Which was referring to...

.. and if you can't teach it, regulate it

Not always a good idea to match up a bureaucrat with a politician/lawyer/small businessman, that has more than half a brain.

Easy pickin's ... courtesy  HotAir



Of course they don't look at jobs, they just look at political leverage and tax/fee/fine possibilities.

Nor do they even attempt to address the Cost of Living multiplier effect of any energy tax.
- If tax adds one cent at the beginning of a product's supply chain, it's probably 10 cents or more at the end of it.

This tax and regulation environment explains why there's a freaking mob rush of even 'Green' industries to get out of California.

Gore: Global Warming a lot like the Civil Rights Movement

via Ed Morrissey


The Hill: Gore to young advocates: Battle industry lobbyists to turn the tide on climate

“You need to ask that question and other related questions. Don’t they see the evidence, don’t they hear what the scientists are saying, do they actually believe this lying from the large carbon polluters, that the scientists are making this up?” Gore added.
He went on the offensive against climate change deniers, citing a litany of extreme weather events – ranging from floods in Pakistan to droughts in the U.S. southwest – and noted that nine of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last 12 years.

All of which has been proven bullshit by scientists NOT trying to make a buck in more funding.

Want to see Al go red-faced to critical mass?  Bring up his claim that Venus is super hot because of runaway carbon warming.
Ask him what the median temperature is in Venus atmosphere where the air pressure is the same as earth sea level.
Interesting that, despite Venus being closer to the Sun and CO2 making up about 60% of its atmosphere, Venus' median air temp at an altitude equating to 1 BAR is about the same as Earth's
 No Al.  It's NOT like the Civil Rights movement.  It's more like the Carpetbaggers era.

How Guvmint Stuff Works

Back in 2005 the Science was settled. The climate was warming like never seen before and we were causing it.
The UN wanted its share of the carbon mitigation/reparations pie but it had to provide something to justify the shakedown... so it put some eager interns to the task and somehow found an estimate of 50 million climate change refugees by 2010.

And that story remained on their website right up until this week.

Anthony Watts has the story of the inept effort to 'disappear the inconvenient facts':

The UN “disappears” 50 million climate refugees, then botches the disappearing attempt

How much credibility should you give any group, which YOU indirectly fund, that attempts to cover up their mistakes rather than simply say they were wrong and explain how it might have happened?
_____________________________________________________
More from WUWT, this time real climate science.
Ocean cold/warm water fronts mix CO2 much more than previously thought

More Pie?

Look at this pie again!


- Townhall: Michael Ramirez

via Ace:
 Another way of looking at that pie. Take those numbers, Divide by 100 MILLION

We have a family that is spending $38,200 per year. The family’s income is $21,700 per year. The family adds $16,500 in credit card debt every year in order to pay its bills. After a long and difficult debate among family members, keeping in mind that it was not going to be possible to borrow $16,500 every year forever, the parents and children agreed that a $380/year premium cable subscription could be terminated. So now the family will have to borrow only $16,120 per year.

 Need a video.. there's yet another way of seeing it.....

Two Signs of the Times: Lady Liberty Faux and Personal Massagers

Post office uses image of Vegas Liberty statue for stamp by accident

- somehow seems fitting, dunnit!

Walgreens as a Sex Shop?

- yeah, I've been noticing those 'personal items' sections have been getting more and more 'in yer face'.

Oh.. I almost forgot: a little bonus sign of the times:

Carbon-neutral Bra's

- Funny, I thought that problem was solved in the sixties.

How much longer till AKC comes clean on Rotties and Pit Bulls?

Yet another tragic story of child killed by family pet..

Mom: Baby Attacked, Killed By Dog

Police are investigating the death of a 7-month-old baby whose mother said was attacked by the family dog.

Katrina Mitchell called 911 Tuesday afternoon saying her infant daughter had been attacked by the family's Rottweiler.

This is a tragic story, yet anecdotal, and we only hear about these things because of the ubiquitous capacities of the internet. But one thing is clear when you read enough of them; you never hear that the family Jack Russell Terrier, or Labrador Retriever attacked the baby. Last one I recall that was not a Pit Bull or Rottweiler was a Great Dane. And while it MAY have happened, I cannot remember a family German Shepherd (Alsatian} attacking a child.
Dog 'Experts' explain the attacks by those two ferocious breeds away by saying they were improperly trained or socialized.
Sorry but Bullshit! We all can't ship our puppies off to Cesar Millan to be trained properly.

Reporter Snookered by Warmists?

WUWT: Fish carried up a mountain on backs of llamas to escape global warming

The endangered vendace, that has been in Britain since the Ice Age, is in danger of dying out as lakes and rivers warm up because of man made global warming.
.....
Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, said British species have to be protected from climate change.

"In addition to the anticipated warming of lakes and rivers, we may also see an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves.

"All of these could have an impact on much of the native wildlife in England, especially aquatic species such as the rare and specialised vendace, so we are taking action now to conserve the existing populations."

Emph mine.

Now comes the determination: Is the reporter just stupid/incompetent or a liar.

Her own readers took her to school in the comments, here
If you notice, her readers are better at research vetting the facts than she is.
And what will she write if the colony fails because water temp is too low?

I'll go easy on her: She is probably one of those who labored away in J-school 'to make a difference'
- so she is just an idiot, trusting in 'EXPERTS'. Experts at getting funding for their organizations.

New Improved Federal Budget Pie Chart

User Friendly Pie Chart

- Townhall: Michael Ramirez

This was done just prior to the 'agreement' but I guess you can see the 'crumb factor', right?

As it turns out, those crumbly 'cuts' weren't all that, anyway. CBS NEWS:

Many of the cuts appear to have been cuts in name only, because they came from programs that had unspent funds.
For example, $1.7 billion left over from the 2010 census; $3.5 billion in unused children's health insurance funds; $2.2 billion in subsidies for health insurance co-ops (that's something the president's new health care law is going to fund anyway); and $2.5 billion from highway programs that can't be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation.
About $10 billion of the cuts comes from targeting appropriations accounts previously used by lawmakers for so-called earmarks - pet projects like highways, water projects, community development grants and new equipment for police and fire departments. Republicans had already engineered a ban on earmarks when taking back the House this year.
Republicans also claimed $5 billion in savings by capping payments from a fund awarding compensation to crime victims. Under an arcane bookkeeping rule -- used for years by appropriators -- placing a cap on spending from the Justice Department crime victims fund allows lawmakers to claim the entire contents of the fund as "budget savings." The savings are awarded year after year.

Read more about it at AoS:
Suckers! We were fooled again.

The total amount appears to be somewhere between $8 and $14 billion actually cut.

That's out of $1,650 Billion shortfall this year.  Genius!

Note: Comments disputing the numbers will be accepted and researched and corrected if need be. Comments pointing at something else - like 'Soze yer mom!' will be sent where they belong: the shitcan.

Trump and the Birther Nonsense

Just a few weeks after Hawaii's Governor said he was going to end it once and for all, then didn't have anything new to offer, Trump has restarted the controversy. .
It's ridiculously distracting.
But let's put the blame for this where it REALLY belongs: On the State of Hawaii's stupid privacy laws. Only the subject can see the original certificate.

The records dept, as directed by state legislature, of Hawaii skates around the issue here:
Dept of Health faq on Obama's vital records

The pertinent clause is

2 Index Data

Haw. Rev. Stat. §338-18(d) states, “Index data consisting of name and sex of the registrant, type of vital event, and such other data as the director may authorize shall be made available to the public.” Refer to link above for HRS §338-18.

Index data consisting of name and sex of the registrant, and type of event is made available to the public. The director, in accordance with HRS §338-18(d), has not authorized any other data to be made available to the public.

Once the election was over it's done. Unless there's absolute outright provable fraud, and there's no real indication of it, the whole thing is moot. What's important is that it doesn't happen again.

But dont hold your breath... you're going to just have to trust authority.

Long, Long Ago...

Reminisces of youth, and other disjointed crap.

I just turned 68 and of course got a lot of congrats and remarks on my facebook page.
To all those peeps, thanks. I understand. I also got asked why I missed our fiftieth reunion which most celebrated this year.

FIRST, I happened to have been called to Canton in August and September, to assist my youngest on a major renovation on his twenties vintage Sears house. This consisted of lopping off everything above the 2nd story ceiling joists and building all new from there up. The crew consisted of me, him, his two teenage boys and their friends. In other words, he did the work and I helped. And they mostly watched, humped some lumber, and swept up now and then.


- I did make it to Homecoming though. There's that.

No Comment needed...




heh...

Dumb Soccer Apology of the Week

Every World Cup Brings out the grouches who don't understand the game, think it's boring and just as soon as their baseball game is over or while they wait for the latest Pro Rasslin' PPV, sit down and dash off a letter to their local paper telling us exactly how boring it is.

Sadly some papers let someone who ALSO doesn't really get it handle the response. That's case this week with an editor of the Columbus Dispatch:
Soccer takes a few kicks from guilt-ridden uncle

Mr. Stein: It’s nice to see that there are others (Mailbox, last Sunday) who find soccer a bit yawn-inspiring.

I think the last sentence in your reply best made the point: “Soccer is an equalizer; anybody can play it.” It does even the playing field, I suppose. But in this case, it seems to flatten it.

Bravissimo? For most, I’m sure this is true. “Boringissimo” is what guiltily comes to mind for me, even as I dutifully watch my nieces play it.

— Ron _____ by e-mail

Ron: Soccer is not for everyone, obviously, but it sure seems to me that the World Cup is strong enough that even the staunchest blue-blooded American sports fan would find reason to tune in. Do your nieces know you’re a closet hater? Bad Uncle Ron.

Since I can't get to the original letter, we have to refer to that. The 'Soccer is an equalizer' statement obviously means that all you need is a ball or something that looks something like a ball, some open space and you can play soccer.

Sadly some take it to mean that anyone can play the game and equate that to the excitement factor. As I said, some of these guys are baseball fans.. Do you know what the average Brit or European soccer fan says about baseball? That it's 'a game for English schoolgirls (Rounders) and boring as hell.'

Here's some more ideas:
- Golf is a great equalizer, anyone can play it.
- Chess is a great equalizer. Anyone can {try to} play it.

And how about 'Basketball is the Great Equalizer'....

Well, I'm sure you get the idea. Come ON!!! It's NOT like soccer is sucking up hours and hours of sportcenter every week. And someone please ask me what I think of Ultimate Fighting as a sport.

Whither Neanderthal?

The advancement of human civilization is owed to TRADE. Period.
- With a hat tip to Bishophill blog

It's been proposed for some time that the Neanderthal died out because the Human understood, and perhaps invented, the concept of barter.
Free trade may have finished off Neanderthals

Shogren tested his theory with simulations of population growth. He even gave the Neanderthals, who were larger than Homo sapiens, a head start by assuming they were better hunters and individually brought home more meat - which may or may not be true.

But because humans were allowed to trade, in two of three similar simulations, they overcame this initial handicap and ousted the Neanderthals within 7000 years. In the third simulation, the two ended up co-existing.

Now, Matt Ridley has come out with a book: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
in which he proposes that progress is based on expansion of the concept of free trade.

Over 10,000 years ago there were fewer than 10 million people on the planet. Today there are more than 6 billion, 99 per cent of whom are better fed, better sheltered, better entertained and better protected against disease than their Stone Age ancestors.

The availability of almost everything a person could want or need has been going erratically upwards for 10,000 years and has rapidly accelerated over the last 200 years: calories; vitamins; clean water; machines; privacy; the means to travel faster than we can run, and the ability to communicate over longer distances than we can shout. Yet, bizarrely, however much things improve from the way they were before, people still cling to the belief that the future will be nothing but disastrous.

In this original, optimistic book, Matt Ridley puts forward his surprisingly simple answer to how humans progress, arguing that we progress when we trade and we only really trade productively when we trust each other.

Think about all ancient civilisations that you've read about. Isn't it true? The Roman Empire - trade. The Chinese: trade (Remember: they were initially just a bunch of feudal tribes.)
One can easily assume that the Neanderthal were 'self-sufficient' hunter gatherers, much like the Australian aborigine, and had no need to trade other than with the next group. They instead migrated to follow the resource.

And let's look at what happens when trade is restrained. Ever wonder why the Pacific is full of 'Polynesians'.. EXCEPT for Australia? Why there were no Abos in New Zealand and no Maoris in Australia? To this day, the Australian native race follows a different path; The path of nomadic self-sufficiency.

And why did Columbus sail west? Because Italy insisted on controlling trade with China. Why did the US break from Great Britain? Restraint of trade.

Why did the German, French and even Spanish colonial systems fail? Restraint of trade.. in order of naming them, there, the trade was all one-way.
Why did the Japanese Empire rise and fall so spectacularly? Restraint of trade and Elitist hubris in the course of it. If the Japanese had even offered the appearance of equal and fair trade for goods and services, the populations in their expansion might have reacted differently. But they all hated the Japanese and some do to this day.

Alternatively the English had a benefit, they moved to the colonies and molded their lifestyles to suit. Same with the Dutch. There's notable exception available there for debate, but you can't deny the home population ended up absorbing the best of the conquering culture.

Now this brings us to the uncomfortable realizations of the above concept, which is:

Trade or be Traded.

If we could take the way-back machine and somehow do away with the African Slave Trade and instead, only admit to Western Expansion, it seems to me that the African Negroid race might be in danger of extinction. I don't mean just the English part of the human trade, I mean going back millennia and stopping Bedouin cultures from dealing in it.

This is 'controversial', to say the least, but this is what maddens me when I hear Reparationist babblings. If there had been no slave trade.. meaning no value in their lives.. the frank alternative would have been to isolate and decimate the population. That's what the Japanese would have done. And the Chinese before them. It's not conjecture, it's empirical fact.

But that didn't happen and there is no possibility of the black race dying out. Society and Culture evolves and with that comes the much ballyhooed 'Diversity'. Never mind it had to do with slavers.

So.. that connects us with the fate of the Neanderthal. That's all good, in the end, right?

Not according to Libtards like Georges Monbiot. Here's what he has to say about Ridley and his book:
The man who wants to Northern Rock the Planet

Brass neck doesn’t begin to describe it. Matt Ridley used to make his living partly by writing state-bashing columns in the Daily Telegraph. The government, he complained, is “a self-seeking flea on the backs of the more productive people of this world … governments do not run countries, they parasitise them.”(1) Taxes, bail-outs, regulations, subsidies, intervention of any kind, he argued, are an unwarranted restraint on market freedom.

Then he became chairman of Northern Rock, where he was able to put his free market principles into practice. Under his chairmanship, the bank pursued what the Treasury select committee later described as a “high-risk, reckless business strategy”(2). It was able to do so because the government agency which oversees the banks “systematically failed in its regulatory duty”(3).

On 16th August 2007, Dr Ridley rang an agent of the detested state to explore the possibility of a bail-out. The self-seeking fleas agreed to his request, and in September the government opened a support facility for the floundering bank. The taxpayer eventually bailed out Northern Rock to the tune of £27bn.

So.. there you have it. Monbiot does what Moonbats ALWAYS do: they excoriate the messenger rather than debate the concept.

NEVER MIND that Northern Rock was put in the same position as financial institutions in the US by the same government meddling in financials.

To wit: creating the bags of soon to be worthless instruments and encouraging trade in them.

I mean to say, this resulted in a de-facto restraint on trade by over-governance. The inevitable result is same as happened centuries ago, the Tea Party.

You see, the educated and informed always believe they are educating and dealing with Neanderthals, that we are unable to grasp nuance and needful of enlightened guidance.

Thank God ancient humans didnt have the time for that. They were busy trying to negotiate with the people over the horizon.

Signs 'I'm past it' - selling my Mustang 'SVO Convertible'

A 1988 Mustang "SVO Convertible". Born in my own driveway/garage.


Yes, that's a custom grill opening treatment, cut out the LX bar.
I took pride in the fact that it looked so familiar but no-one had ever seen one just like it before. Double takes from other Mustangers were precious!

This car was my last car freak effort, after I'd built a couple XR4 ti's for my two oldest sons and put together at least 4 79-85 heaps for other kids.

I mean I used to be able to ID really small differneces and models easily. Now I find I cant ID the latest Mustangs on sight.. couldn't even tell the diff between and 09 and 10 without 'em side by side. That sux.

I modified the original LX with
Rear Running gear from a 1984 SVO (anti-wrap bars) and a Front full K-member from 1986 SVO
(Obviously 5 lug)
Aftermarket 15" wheels

86 TC Engine and ECU, Short Block needs rebuilt. Who cares, though... When someone answers the ad, I'll throw in extra TC/XR4 engine running fine when pulled, plus another cracked-seat head from 86 SVO, both stored in-gar ten years. Crap 'shrouded chamber' head for 88 2.3 N/A is in car.
I paid a 'pro speed shop $750 to redo the short block and they eff'ed it up royal. NEVER go to a 'speed shop that adverts on regular local tv. That's why I'm throwing in the extra 'good engine' free.

Turbo spins but needs rebuilt, var 2.3 turbo-FI parts includ orig 84 SVO turbo. Various Intercooler and turbo parts and extra SVO IC body. Several ECU's.

Several T-5's from 2.3's includ original from 84 SVO with bad 2nd gear synchro included.



Scoop orig, grafted from deer-hit 84 hood.

This car is a full resto-project, though it should be streetable with engine change and new fuel pump, started okay till fuel pump quit running key-on, relay engaged. Rust condition when stored was fair to moderate, by current standards for 88 vintage for SW OHIO. IOW, passenger/driver floor to firewall transition probably needs attention. Trunk lip bad.
Driver side doorskin, rocker panel and rear fender flare was replaced by me, thus not professional, Body work over that was by pro, but he didnt rustproof the trunk lip, and he radiused the scoop graft part line (against my wishes) to factory appearance, thus it cracked.

Interior: Stock LX Red, 'fair'. Carpet needs replaced. Top Fair, pads discolored, original - not repl'd with top.

Also have var wire harness from XR4/TC's.

Throw in Flowmaster stk# 42553, NIB.

All stuff listed obviously sold as-is. The car and stuff has been stored over ten years. I guess I'm never going to reaquire 'the jones'. Coming back to 'car freak status' only happens once in life, I suppose. Or twice.. for me; from early twenties to late thirty's, then after ten years off, to late forty's early fifty.

Dont respond here... this isnt an ad. It's a statement of pride in what I've done AND that I've lost interest in fixing up this stuff.
Look up Mustang club adverts in SW ohio to get contact info.
I dont want to haggle. Dont want to catalog and list everything. Dont want to drag car out of shed and photograph everything.

I'm only gonna ask $1000 for all the above. If that's really too much, guy better make a case for his offer.

Any idiot just saying "What will you take, cash, right now?" will be asked to leave premises. Those guys piss me off royal. Last two times I sold cars, I did state selling price and that happened. Both times the idiots showed up later and asked where the car was. I just smiled.

Anyone showing up without trailer will be asked to put up $100 earnest money cash to hold it for ten days, N-R of course. Ever have someone ask you to hold something 'till tomorrow? Yeah.. right.

Also will discount 79-86 Fox dashpad, NOS never installed but out of box, and correct for SVO, for $150 to car buyer.
$250 otherwise.

I'm a prince among men!

What they're saying...

AP: Palin would be 'fragile' president

MADISON, Wis. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would make a "pretty fragile" president, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said Friday as politicians trotted out their talking points on Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's surprise vice presidential pick.

- Then WHY are most conservative bloggers ecstatic? I dont think these people understand exactly how Palin got where she is.

That Includes O'Reilly just now on his show... he thinks she's lightweight. He hasnt watched this clip of her on US Energy Policy, including criticizing Dubya for his plea to Saudi's to increase production:


But then O'Reilly notes this:
Under Breaking News banner on MSNBC: "How many houses does Palin add to the McCain ticket?" Seriously.. video

From OpenLeft

She's appealing and well spoken on TV but she said several times this year it was unlikely she'd be picked as VP... maybe because she knows she's not capable? But she's ambitious and competitive so what the hell why not.

How is she going to campaign full time with a baby? Is that any way to treat your child? Can she handle the VP duties and also raise a baby, a 7 year old, and a 13 year old?

My friends, please welcome the Mayor of Wasilla and her eskimo First Gentleman.

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A Kos Kid says Palin not only wants to outlaw abortion, she belongs to a SECRET SOCIETY that wants to outlaw CONTRACEPTION!!!
- I expect he doesnt think anyone will actually READ the link he provides.
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Oh, hell... it's too much to keep up with, just check out this google search and wonder if they can spell it "Miss Ogeny"

On Craigslist

Sarah Palin swimsuit

got a be a pic out there somewhere. Will the religious hardliners vote for a woman that was in a swimsuit competition?

Their counterpart taliban wouldn't.

Whooaaaa! First REAL Palin 'scandal'?

On kos:
Palin's faked "pregnancy"? Covering for teen daughter?

Supposedly David Sirota reported it on the Thom Hartmann show. Trying to find some sort of transcript for that.

UPDATE: I just asked David Sirota, in his own diary, whether there was anything to this. He says he never mentioned this to Thom Hartman. Knew nothing about it! Whoa!

Apparently her teenage daughter was out of school, unseen, for months, because she "had mono".

I'm not quite sure what to think of this. Seeing as how she opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest maybe she's actually not a hypocrite.

Normally I'd say this is a totally private issue for them, but seeing as how she's quite willing to butt into the private lives of every other American woman, I think it's fair game.

UPDATE:

Okay, 11 comments in and already some people are crying out to delete this. So I'm adding a poll:

Well, That's somewhat refreshing, coming from kos. But the PREMISE presented is a little troubling.
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UPDATE: On Palin's 'Troopergate' investigation as noted in the post below, FloppingAces has the skinny
- Between choices of "Something or Nothing", looks like Nothing.
Bottom line - Palin fired a guy she appointed. Where's the beef? Actually she didnt even fire him; she said he wasnt doing well in that role, wanted to move him to one he was expert in and he declined.

McCain Rolls the Dice with Palin

Gotta admit ... he's still the Maverick.

She has not much more executive experience than anyone else on these tickets. And the pundits are saying that it's a mistake because Biden, in face to face will tear her apart. That remains to be seen; what does McCain know that we don't? I bet she will surprise.

Her baggage is that she's conservative. But that's her strong point too. Ted Stevens and other corrupt GOP Rep are also baggage, but she ran for Gov and won on a 'throw the bums out' platform.

The scandal to uncover.. she's quarreling with the chief law enforcement officer in Alaska about his failure to fire his relative on the AHP. It may be uncovered as a personal vendetta as her sister was involved. Or not.

UPDATE: Time: Dems go after Palin

They'd better watch out... she's no Dan Quayle... or even Geraldine Ferraro. For some reason some Dems say Ferraro was a disaster. I dont recall it that way. I liked her then, I still like her and thought she was the strong suit of that ticket.

Additional points: Palin dismissed her security detail, sold the 'Governor's airplane'. Fought the Oil companies' pipeline plan. Fought the state GOP on several 'old boy' fronts.

But ThinkProgress triangulates on the Brother in Law situation.

So.... if her staff HADNT pushed to fire the guy... it would have also been seen as 'insider corruption', right?

Oh.... you think she will hesitate for one minute to throw Ted Stevens in front of the bus and back over him, herself?

Typical Lefties; grasp at any straw... let's hope they keep doing that.

And.. sigh.. she was FOR taxing 'windfall Oil Co profits'??!! So much for her being in 'Big Oil' pockets. {Sarah.. there's NO SUCH thing as a 'Corporate Tax'!!!!}

Talkleft's Big Tent Democrat is impressed and thinks Obama had better tread lightly

Penn & Teller: World Peace!

In which the "Bullshit!" artists cut away the drivel and drive a stake in the heart of partisanship.. in their own inimitable way!
Linking to the LGF three part embed from Youtube. Dont worry, there's no editorial comment there. It's here:

Got that, you morons?

No subsidies, no tariffs. No tax breaks to 'even things out'. No long lasting sanctions or embargoes... no matter WHO or WHY or how much money their expats piss into your campaign slush funds.
No Diplomatic Immunity for two bit chiselers from half-horse petty fiefdoms. They embezzle from the UN, they go to jail. They rape and pillage the people they're supposed to keep safe, they get turned over to the victims' families in the middle of the night.

Farting Contests can be fun......

But, sooner or later, someone drops a turd and spoils it.

Thus, I've at least temporarily shut down political commenting on a soccer site forum I mod and invited an eclectic group of people from there to post and comment on here.

I have no idea if they will and I have no idea what they're gonna say. Judging from the first couple guys {howdy Paineist and Indigo} who accepted i probably wont agree with 'em all the time, either. But it'll be fun trading the harangues, anyway.

Maybe I'll at least get the blog-ometer back up to ten a day or so.
An open blog for comments on whatever.