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Cleveland Mom and Indianapolis Mom fight over title for "Best Mom Evar." I hope these monsters die in jail.
Huge Fossil Cache Found in California. How did the camels get here? Wait a minute... I think the more important question is, why did they leave? DUH DUH DUHHHHH *cue scary music*.
Legalize it: Pot-Ice Cream. It's like, exercise averse potheads didn't have enough on their plates with just brownies, now they get to have them a-la-mode. Banannabis Foster, that's a good one. I wonder what kind of creative name they'll come up with for pot-laced Half-baked...
Legalize it: 5 Myths About Prostitution.
The most important issue to independents: Healthcare? Well, I support health-care reform, just not the version that was passed into law. The most important issue to me is the debt (which is linked to Obamacare I guess), because it's my generation that is going to have to deal with paying the price. I know I'm in the minority on this one (for both parties), but I think Social Security and Medicare are breaking our nation. I see no difference between what Bernie Madoff did and what our government is doing with Social Security. Everybody agrees that Madoff is a cocksucker, so why is support for social security so high? Because people have already paid into it with the expectation of getting a payout. The article of the day that is a must read is this one right here: Why Does Government Grow and Grow and Grow? Most people are in favor of small government in theory, but when it comes to real life actions towards that end, support fizzles.
"While aid for vulnerable groups obviously drives a lot of government spending, we could lift every American, young or old, above the poverty line with government transfers of around 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Yet the federal government today spends more than 25 percent of GDP. Big government isn’t generated by caring for the truly poor; after all, despite spending 25 times more than needed to fill the poverty gap, we nevertheless leave millions in poverty."
Andrew G. Biggs then goes on to explain exactly what's wrong with our approach to Social Security, and why it's so hard to fix. Seriously, read this article. Tough, unpopular choices are going to have to be made if we want to continue being the best country evah.
More on that "sore loser syndrome" that's infected the GOP establishment. Money quote: "party unity is a lie used to make conservatives more obedient." Ouch. I vaguely support the idea of the tea party, but in reality a lot of the winners of primary elections are not libertarians, but social conservatives. They offer libertarians some lip-service by saying that they won't legislate based on personal and religious views, and I hope that's true. But that'd require me to believe something that somebody running for political office is saying. So color me naive, but I'll believe them for now, because I'm tolerant of somebody with different social views than I have (until they try to legislate based on it).
I color myself naive, as politicians making promises are perhaps the most untrustworthy people in the world. Just look at Obama. Or, take a look at the Republicans. Today, they offered up a 21st century update to 1994's Contract With America. It offers gems like "read the bill," promising to have the bills online for 3-days before they vote on them (hey, didn't the dems promise that?). Or how about this platitude (as we all know, a platitude is a platypus with an attitude): "adhere to the constitution." No shit. Besides, why should we trust you when it's been less than 20 years since your last contract with us and you acted like assholes pretty much since then?
Where were these teachers when I was a teen? Legalize it? Middle-aged Blonde Teachers Plied Young Boys With Drink and Drugs at Summer Sex Party. I can't believe they're getting jail for 10 years! When they get out I'll be waaaaaaay too old to fulfill my cougar/teacher fantasy with them :(.
Yesterday I talked about all the great men who thought capitalism was a blight upon this green earth. I forgot to mention the Marxist leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe and China are working together to thrive in the blood diamond trade and suppress their people. Personally, I ONLY buy blood diamonds. I feel that they're worth more if I know somebody has died for them. It's like there's a soul trapped inside.
Remember that computer virus I talked about yesterday... I was seriously wondering (that's sarcasm, get it?) who could be behind it. Well today, I got this: Stuxnet Malware is "Weapon" Out to Destroy Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Plant. Seriously guys, who could it be?! Awesome stuff, if not downright scary.
Real Reason Titanic Sunk: somebody didn't know their right from left. The worst part is knowing that if somebody was more concerned with saving lives than his own reputation, thousands could've been saved.
Smirnoff is running a new advertisement saying that they performed well in a blind taste test against high end vodkas. I'll believe that if by high-end they mean 5 dollar plastic handle. I don't like vodka to begin with, but I'd rather drink anti-freeze than Smirnoff. I can actually enjoy the nicer vodkas, although I'll still be happiest with a nice glass of scotch.
Party of Tolerance: Democrat Congresswoman: "The Vietnamese are Trying to Take Our House Seat." RACIST! Just imagine the outcry if a white Republican said this.
The always hilarious Daniel Tosh has a video of some little kids dancing like... whores I guess?
| Tosh.0 | Weds 10:30pm / 9:30c | |||
| 20 Seconds on the Clock - Kids Grinding | ||||
| ||||
And because traffic has been down since last week, I am going to gratuitously post a picture of a smokin' hot Indian babe in a bikini.
Confirmed: Yep, Moses Parted the Red Sea.
GOP Confronts Sore Loser Syndrome. I believe I've spoken on this quite a bit.
File this under WTF: MI6 Uses Semen as "Invisible Ink" for Secret Communications.
Braylon Edwards... you fucking fool.
American Targeted for Assassination by Obama Allegedly Surrounded in Yemen.
I wonder what kind of nation state could possibly be behind this: Iran Attacked by Sophisticated Computer Worm.
Speaking of Iran, Iranian leader Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket blames capitalism for global woes. Quick recap on the great idealists who hate capitalism: Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, Hitler, Mussolini, Castro, Chavez, Kim Jong Il and the list goes on.
Jammie Wearing Fool comes up big today with two awesome posts. "15 Best Things About Our Pubic Schools." Yeah, everything's spelled *right*. England's future King: "I talk to plants to keep me sane." Uhhh, ok Charles.
As Allah is wont to say, "it's come to this."
Funny post by Dana Loesch who wonders what's worse, witchcraft or a mullet. Mullets are great, Dana, back off. I can't trust anything you say anyway, after you said, "I thought the left was supposed to be tolerant." Please, don't make me laugh. Seriously, Dana... Witchcraft is way lamer than a mullet, I mean, c'mon check out this bad boy. He looks like a real hockey player. (Note: I took this picture from the profile of my BFF Marky Bonethugs aka Mikey Fleischbones aka Marky Bankrolls)
Glenn Reynolds gave an overreaching island government some terrible ideas. Glenn, you know you're a prophet, even joking is not safe for you. If the U.S. Government ever tried something like that, I sincerely believe there's be an armed revolution that transcends party lines.
Here's a true story about government intervention gone wrong in NYC. Prime example of the law of unintended consequences. Reminds me of that time Mao got rid of all the sparrows because they ate the grain seeds, and as a result, locust populations thrived and destroyed the crops, resulting in a famine that killed as many as 30 million people.
If you only have time to click one link on this blog today, make it this one. It's about EDM Day, which I've written about a lot, and it goes into the utter failure of our media and law enforcement institutions. Could you imagine if the FBI said it couldn't protect black people from the KKK? The media would be all over their asses, and rightly so. What has happened to the "creator" of EDM Day is a complete and utter travesty. If you needed any more evidence that NYT writer Nicholas Kristof has his head firmly lodged up his ass, read this article. If you didn't, read the article. Bottom line, read this article.
Surprise: Health Insurance Companies to Stop Offering Child-Only Policies. "If you like your plan, you can keep it." - President Obama
Reminder: Congress Still Hasn't Come Up With a Budget for the Fiscal Year Starting in 9 Days. Ed wrote that post with the main focus being on Congress taking their longest vacation in 50 years so they can fundraise in at risk districts. That, to me, is only secondary to the fact that there's still no budget! If there was a budget, I wouldn't mind the long vacation, but for fuck's sake, really Congress? Really? These people are not fit to lead. It feels like nobody responsible has run this country since... has it ever been run by people who know what they're doing? If not, well, that's a little consoling.
Awesome timelapse montage set to the music from Inception, which was an awesome movie with awesome music. Enjoy
VDH: Decline is in the Mind. This is one of my favorite posts by VDH, a former professor of Classics and military historian, and it put some things in perspective for me. Decline is in the mind, and it's also a choice. America doesn't have to throw in the towel and let China take the lead. That is not predestined.
Canadian Woman Survives Deadly Cancer with Miracle Procedure... in America. It doesn't explicitly mention it in the article, but the Mayo clinic she had her procedure in is located in America. We'll see how long that sort of headline lasts after our healthcare system fully realizes the new legislation. I hope we don't see any decline in those sorts of headlines, though. I sincerely hope I am wrong and the healthcare legislation transforms our system for the better. But just save this article when people brag about Canadian healthcare.
Jewish Viking Blogger Re-evaluates His Feelings About Germany. Actually, I harbor no ill will against ze Germans; I love their food, I love their beer, and their women ain't bad either. Just gotta keep our eyes open for the telltale signs if they start to revert back to their 1930's attitudes. I was actually thinking about it earlier last week, how people often dismiss the anti-semitic comments from the usual suspects (Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket comes to mind) as just a political rhetorical flourish to please the fundamentalist base. It's very hard for Jews to dismiss eliminationist comments as empty threats, when, given the opportunity, people who spoke that way DID try to eliminate us. So yeah, that might be why Israel takes Iranian threats very, very seriously. Last time we didn't take such comments seriously, it didn't end well for us.
Best Dad Evah. Alternate Headline: British Guy Really Loves Fat Chicks. Cost to the taxpayer: 1.5 million pounds, which is equal to the combined weight of his ten girlfriends.
I've always been a huge fan of the Quaids. Denny Q-ballz is great for a trillion reasons (Dragonheart, Frequency being the first two I can think of). Randy Q-ballz is great for even more reasons (Not Another Teen Movie, Midnight Express, Independence Day), but most recently I love him for this: Randy Quaid Arrested for Squatting. I thought he would never measure up to Denny, seeing as Dragonheart is the greatest movie of all time (I mean c'mon, Sean Connery is a Dragon, Professor Lupin is an evil ginger king, Pete Postlethwaite joins to make the best cast evar). This might put him on the level.
We already knew Sasha Baron Cohen could do gay, but can he do Zoroastrian? Sasha Baron Cohen Slated to Play Freddie Mercury in Biopic. I hope he's good for the role, because if they fuck up a Freddie Mercury biopic, they'll have legions of angry Queen fans at their throats, myself included. Here's to the greatest vocalist in rock 'n roll history.
SEXIST! Harry Reid Calls Kirsten Gillibrand "Hottest Member of Senate." NOW, please notify me when after you have sent him a letter of reprimand.
Having just fasted for the holiday of Yom Kippur, I do find this practice a bit... unsettling. Jews Twirl Dead Chickens Above Their Heads. I found a Reform Jewish Temple out here (never found one when I was stationed in California) and I had a nice time going to services for the High Holy Days. It's funny to go to temple and see people dressed in Hawaiian floral shirts, and it was the highest population of Asian Jews I've ever seen in once place. The Rabbi was pretty good, but he has a funny speech impediment and sounds like one of the Spathi from Star Control 2. Pretty damn funny.
Suuuuuuuuuure you did, Dave. David Letterman: Yeah, I Knew Joaquin Phoenix's Interview Was a Hoax.
Media Lefty Admits Media Bias for Democrats. Nothing we didn't know here, but I like to repeat it to drill the point home. Especially when prominent, well-known leftists admit that the media will literally play cover for the D's.
More on Delaware and the O'Donnell race... I'm still of the opinion that I preferred Mike Castle as a candidate, but Christine O'Donnell is who the primary voters of Delaware wanted, and the GOP in Delaware should get behind her instead of playing sore loser. Sore loser also being played in Alaska, where entrenched establishment politician lost the primary and instead of endorsing the GOP candidate, has continued to smear him and conduct a write in campaign. Back to the topic of O'Donnell, I think the lefty meme about her being a witch is way off the mark. I've done stuff in HS that I'm not proud of, and that would look terrible on a campaign. It's not fair, but the Dems will do it to her as the GOP would do it to Dems with shady pasts. To prove my point, let's take the O'Donnell/Carter Quiz! I scored a perfect score, 100% ;). Don't cheat, and see if you'll be surprised. The takeaway from the quiz, for me, was not that O'Donnell or Jimmy Carter are loons because of crazy things they've said in the past taken out of context, but that pretty much everybody says crazy shit sometimes. If I ran for office in 20 years, do you think I'd be the same person as I am now? And do you think that the admittedly crazy things I've said here, taken out of context, could seem pretty damning? I sure do, my mom's even worried about my employment when I get out of the military because of this blog. In the quiz article is a quote from O'Donnell that actually warms me up to her a great deal, so hopefully that's really who she is and I underestimated her.
If there's one link you click on in this entire post, let it be the VDH post that I linked to first. If you click on TWO links this entire post, take the O'Donnell/Carter quiz. It'll challenge your preconceived notions and all that (well, I scored 100% but that's mostly because I'm a smart ass and guessed at the game, I didn't truly know the answers).
How Dogs Got Domesticated. Awesome video, I want a pet fox.
58% of Middle East Muslims Oppose Ground Zero Mosque? Talk about pre-conceived notions, consider my mind blown. Of course, I wouldn't take those numbers at face value; polling is often about the way questions are worded and the samples used. But I'm too lazy to do due diligence, so I'm stickin' with the article. Actually, the numbers aren't the important part of the article, just good for a headline. This is a very good article, read it. I particularly love the story about Caliph Omar, and the way Fouad Ajami relates it to his larger point.
I had previously seen the Facebook: Civil War Edition, but today my BFF Dr. Ago sent me a new one of Facebook: Historical Events. I am posting both pictures side by side, you'll need to click on them to make them larger so you can see, they're both really funny.
Scientific Question of the Day: Is Your Child a Prehomosexual?
Great: Turks Prefer Mideast Over Europe.
Boston Herald is running an article about John Kerry's disdain for the Tea Party. Quoted in the article are two of my favorite and often linked to bloggers, Prof. Glenn Reynolds and Prof. William Jacobson. I particularly like:
"I think the Tea Party couldn't ask for any better publicity than to be denounced by a millionaire for dodges paying taxes on his yacht."
Glenn notes in the above link that he couldn't have said it better himself (it's a joke, because he said it. Good one, Glenn LOLZ!).
The Last Psychiatrist gives his take on the Inez Sainz NY Jets affair. It's very interesting, and he probably had better things to say than I did. I've only read two of his posts so far, but his style is entertaining and his posts often contain good laughs. Thanks to commenter HP for the tip on this blog.
You can't please everybody all the time: Chris Christie Blasts Jersey Shore. LEAVE SNOOKIE ALONE! No seriously, leave her alone, she's got herpes. Snookie and Vinnie fire back at the haters. I laughed at the mental image of the snookster drinking coffee and reading books in Barnes and Nobel. In said mental image, she's always reading the classic "Goodnight Moon."
GOP leader John Cornyn, has been getting a lot of flack from social conservatives over his plans to speak at a gay republican event. Intelligently enough, he understands that fully embracing social conservatism will alienate people like me. Choice quotes:
"Mr. Cornyn, who has been on the receiving end of anti-establishment anger, argued that the Tea Party had helped Republicans in one important respect, by moving the debate away from social issues. While Tea Party supporters tend to be socially conservative on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, most say they don't want to talk about them...
"As I've traveled," he said, "I've talked to a lot of folks who are basically independents who say: I'm fine with the Republicans as long as we're talking about fiscal responsibility. Where I go off the reservation is when you talk about social issues."
He's got that right, in my case and in the cases of many others. I don't care what your personal view on gay marriage or abortion is as long as you don't try to legislate on it. Chris Christie, for example, is pro-life, but I don't care because he has said he would never take action in pursuit of those beliefs. That's why Christine O'Donnell bothers me; she seems pretty cooky, I wouldn't be surprised if she thinks the President was born in Kenya, which is not something I want in an elected representative. Also, she plays politics like a liberal; the identity politicking has already began as she screams the gender-card. Part of what I hate about the modern left is the identity and victimhood politics. Libertarianism and to some extent, conservatism is about content and substance, not superficiality and group identity.
The GOP will never win with young voters if they keep the social conservatives as the backbone of their support. There was a new episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia tonight, and it was about gay marriage. Aside from being hilarious, the episode really made the anti-gay crowd look stupid. I understand that you're religious and that's fine, but the Bible also says it's ok to beat your slave to death, so long as he dies two days after the beating and not immediately. Fundamentalism is bad when you're adhering to millennia old doctrines.
Politics as usual... that's why we've got to vote these fuckers out and change their concept of what's considered "usual."
Most absurd idea for a reality show to date. I mean, it's already so ridiculous that I won't be surprised if the next big thing is about a family of gay albino werewolves who are competing in a wedding planning competition where the grand prize winner gets to star in the new Balto movie. When that show gets made, I want my cut. They'll call the competition The Ididhernot.
I wonder if his Wolfmother noticed he was gay back when he was a prehomosexual pup?
NYT Really Hates the Tea Party. From Allah, "The New York Times' idea of bipartisanship: Democrats and Republicans joining hands to crush conservatives." I've said it before that the media will only ever praise a conservative for acting like a liberal (2000 McCain ringin' any bells?), and will only ever shit on a Democrat if it becomes apparent that the story is so mainstream that they can't hide from it anymore (John Edwards affair ringin' any bells?) or if the liberal is not acting liberal enough. I've said it particularly of John Stewart, for his only criticism of the left is that they aren't left enough. But John Stewart is an entertainer and comedian, not operating under the guise of impartiality.
Time Magazine considers Everybody Draw Mohammed Day to be gratuitously provocative. I consider Time Magazine to have it's head up it's ass. Have they even looked at what was being drawn of Mohammed? South Park merely wanted to show the prophet, not doing anything in particular, but comedy central chickened out. The creator of EDM Day and myself both drew the most inoffensive pictures you could draw on MS Paint. I guess standing up for free speech is just a gratuitous provocation these days.
More hateful tea-party anti-Republican violence here and here. You'd think with all the hate and rancor towards conservatives these days that the conservatives were in power... I find it rather odd, considering the house, the senate, and the executive branch are completely run by Democrats with a supermajority.
California's most anti-semitic public school: U.C. Irvine. It has quite the track record.
The future is here, and it's awesome: Spray-on Clothing. I kinda want that shirt.
Surprise: Joaquin Phoenix's meltdown was a hoax. But does a hoax have any meaning if nobody cares?
The Lesson of Jacob Maged. I don't really care too much for George Will, but this is a pretty good article and definitely worth the read.
I told my girlfriend I was going to get her a gun, so that if she ever got harassed, she could feel confident and protect herself. She said that in Taiwan, where she's from, people don't do that. They don't own guns in Taiwan. I asked her what she'd do if a group of muggers tried to attack her. Her response was that she'd call that police. Here's another reason to arm yourself, and remember that sometimes the police can't get there in time (even if you warned them in advance that you were being held hostage, as is the case in the article).
Allah has been toting this video as "The manliest ad in political history." It's pretty manly, but it doesn't do it for me the way D-Petes' AG commish video did. He's too sober I think.
Today marks my 100th post, a very important benchmark for a super serious blogger like myself. I should be getting a book deal soon, right? Somebody pay me damnit! So that's not the only recent bench mark in my life. Last week, and I forgot to mention it on my blog because it was on the weekend, was the 2nd year mark of my navy career. This is important for two reasons:
If there's one link you click on today, make it this one. VDH wrote an excellent post about the Obama administration's Animal Farm. I don't think it could be put any better than that, and quite frankly, I'm jealous that I didn't write it. Curse you, VDH!!!! CURSE YOU!!!!!!
Some discouraging, perhaps even worrying news from Turkey. How long can they remain a secular democracy? Scary question...
More troubling Turkey news: Big Contributions From Iran.
According to this report, I should be excellent at quick decision making. I don't think I'm good enough, maybe I should play more Counterstrike. Let's see if I can convince the Navy that we should have annual Halo training for 4 weeks.
When you've lost John Stewart... Dems are in deep trouble in November, lucky for them it's not 2012.
How to concede election results with grace. Would that more losers act this way, sportsmanship seems very underrated these days.
WaPo hackery: Extending Bush Tax Cuts Would Deprive Government of $4 Trillion. Ed explains the hackery, but the short of it is that keeping the status quo doesn't deprive the government of anything, but raising taxes would increase tax intake by $4 trillion. The way they write it, it's like we owe them that money of ours (well, we do). I pay them quite enough, thanks.
Yesterday I read about a big announcement that would excite Democrats around the nation. This announcement, I read, was to be announced on the 15th of September by Tim Kaine. Allah had some interesting and hilarious hunches about what the announcement might be, and he wasn't far off, but he was ultimately wrong. If you click the link, and follow his link to the new "car metaphor," you are liable to laugh. It was Glenn and his readers, however, who had my favorite reaction to the big news today.
“It’s no fun when they are so easy. How long before that logo shows up with a red cross bar running from 10 to 4?”
If I were worth a damn at photoshop, I'd have been all over that hours ago. Good thing I've got MS Paint! Done and done.
Artist Behind Everybody Draw Mohammud Day Forced to Change Identity. I have little sympathy for her, especially because she chickened out and apologized after it caught on. The real reason I have no sympathy for her is because I, Reed the motherfucking Viking, created Everybody Draw Mohammud Day first! I created it the day the South Park episode 201 aired. I got no credit because nobody reads my blog, but damnit I thought of it first, I should be the one with the death threats! I'm trying so damn hard here, somebody notice me and threaten to kill me! I thought of wearing an outfit made from meat to try to provoke PETA, but unfortunately I'm a little late on that one... Allah also goes into why he supported EDM Day but not the Quran burning with pretty much the same reasoning that I use. The most important point is found here, which I pretty much 100% agree with:
"As I acknowledged during Koran-apalooza last week, it’s a fine line between Jones’s stunt (which I opposed) and “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” (which I supported). One of the reasons I look dimly on dopey atheist gags like erecting “Secular Trees” next to Christmas trees on public squares is because the offense to Christians seems gratuitous. Sure, they’re making a point about religion in the process, but they’re doing it in a way that looks like mockery, calculated to annoy. They have the right, but why alienate people with a taunt? That’s what Jones’s stunt seemed like to me — not so much a message to jihadis, even though he tried to frame it that way at times, but something aimed at provoking all Muslims, a group that includes people like Zuhdi Jasser. EDM Day wasn’t aimed at all Muslims, though. Some moderates were bound to take offense, but the point of the day was to push back against the sort of jihadis who’ve now forced Norris into hiding. Intent and intimidation do count here; if Christian fundies were threatening to kill atheists over “Secular Trees,” my calculations would change accordingly. But either way, there simplymust be space for this sort of offense in public debate. I’m open to drawing the line in a slightly different place, but the line has to be drawn somewhere."
Well said, Allah.
Glenn also linked to that story on Instapundit, and his comment goes back to what I was saying yesterday about the victim being blamed for the violent offender's actions.
True words right there."Blaming the victim is what people do, when they’re scared and don’t want to do anything about what’s scaring them."
Hot Mexican Chick in Tight Clothes Gets Cat-Called in Locker Room. Really? This is a news story? There's nothing more dog bites man than this. 2+2 = 4, and smoking hot women in flattering outfits who walk into a locker room are going to get attention for their looks. Normally I'd ignore this retarded "story," but it's about my Jets (who suck, but whatever) so I felt compelled to comment. Lori Ziganto does a good job with this one, so just click the link and read her perspective. This really was just an excuse to post a picture of a hot chick.
Men can't be men anymore in this country apparently, not even in the NFL. Next thing you know, they'll be sitting next to Tiger being treated for their sex addictions.
Jonah Goldberg revisits some excellent libertarian concepts. I've argued on the blog that a market economy is cooperative and fairer than a "fair" and "planned" economy. The biggest takeaway from this article, for me, was the concepts explored in "I, Pencil." You don't know how to make a pencil, and not even a pencil expert could do it himself nor could he know the immediate needs at every level in the process in a timely manner. I don't care how many Ivy League degrees you have, or how many Nobel Prizes you've won, a centralized body will not be as well equipped to deal with the issues at hand as the people who are actually affected. Not to mention the law of unintended consequences that comes into play every time new legislation passes (did somebody say higher insurance premiums?).
My father wrote about the law of unintended consequences today. Environmentalists know that bikes are better for the environment than cars, so as logic dictates, biking to work should be incentivized, right? Cue the law of unintended consequences:
"The City took away one traffic lane and two parking spots and now has cars oddly placed in the middle of the street. During periods of usual traffic, the loss of one lane increases transit time significantly. Traffic never moves fast in New York (though the recession has helpfully cut the number of cars driving in the City; perhaps the Democrats can use that as evidence for the silver lining of their economic policies?) Here is the conundrum for the Bloomberg administration, as it increasingly attempts to micromanage the behavior of New Yorkers: although their desire to save the planet and protect the health of New Yorkers is admirable, (it is for our own good, after all) they have neglected to factor in the unintended consequences of their policies. For example, of the number of people who travel up First Avenue everyday, less than 1% are riding bikes. If the bike lane causes increased congestion (which it does) then the net benefit on our carbon footprint will go up, rather than down. Furthermore, the loss of parking spaces on the street means people will have to use parking garages more often (which increases the city's coffers by virtue of their 18.5% tax on their ridiculously high fees) which increases the cost of doing business in New York. A not insignificant number of tax paying commuters will conclude, as all the costs of living and working in New York increase (again, the cost of food, clothing, and all other necessities goes up when the city makes it more costly to move around), that doing business in New York is just not worth the expense and the inconvenience. Thus, our Mayor's desire, admirable as it is, to control every aspect of life in the Big City, will lead to a deterioration of life in the Big City. "
He also waxes poetic towards the end of his post, with a funny take on a poem about the Holocaust (Funny? Holocaust? You're sick Reed). Also it's a good post because he linked to me, thanks Dad.
One of my favorite blogs, Are We Lumberjacks, made me piss my pants with this one today.
Yesterday I gave my input into the Delaware situation and realized I didn't fully explain myself. I do enjoy when shitty careerist politicians with no principles (other than to be elected and bring pork to their district) get ousted by fresh faces. There's nothing I enjoy more, perhaps, than seeing politicians who don't live up to their word and take their voters for granted becoming the latest unemployment statistic. The anti-war crowd is going through this now, as the democrats, who took their votes for granted, continue with every Bush policy, even extending some. These democrats haven't been put through enough, however, as evidenced by their unwillingness to vote for other candidates because they'd rather have a shitty dem than any republican. Same goes for the gay crowd, who have been let down time and time again by dems who take their votes for granted because they feel they have no where else to go, but I digress. The reason I didn't like Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party backed candidate, as opposed to Mike Castle, the "establishment" republican endorsed candidate, was not because of her principles. She might agree with me on the role and size of government, but that doesn't matter if she's a questionable character. She won the primary, and if she wins the general election, I suppose it's better than the marxist she's running against, but she seems like a shady, crazy woman. Character counts as much as ideology (unless you're a Mass voter who kept Teddy K in office for life despite the fact that he killed a woman in his youth), at least to me, and I'd rather vote for somebody who I don't always agree with but I know is grounded in reality than somebody who I often agree with, but is a loon(Glenn Beck?). And Mike Castle is pretty conservative, especially for a blue state like Delaware. But it's all moot now, O'Donnell won, and I'd prefer her to the marxist, as I said earlier.
Bats, like humans, have regional accents when they communicate. I wonder if the ones from the South sound stupid...
You'll notice it's never the pretty ones that pull stunts like this. I don't generally believe it should be a crime for women to go galavanting in the buff, but in this case, please, somebody lock her up.
For all the pot smokers who rejoiced at Obama's announcement to stop federal raids on Marijuana, I've got some bad news for you... Wasn't I just saying something about broken promises? Don't follow leaders, watch your parking meters.
The Daily Beast agrees with me that broken promises and empty rhetoric will not work for the GOP anymore. Do not take your voters for granted, reps. If you talk big on eliminating debt and cutting government spending, and you wanna ride the Tea Party wave in to Washington, by G-d you better walk the walk. That's why I love Chris Christie, who walks the walk.
Or Mitch Daniels, who walked the walk and is still walking the walk. Politico thinks he's gearing up to make moves on the White House. Daniels/Christie '12 would be my dream ticket, and in that order too. A Daniels dark horse run would make a lot of people happy, I think.
And just yesterday, I mentioned what incredible, ground breaking, terrifying phenomenon took place after a Tennessee park relaxed gun laws. Today, as if on cue, I stumbled upon this blog post: Violent Crime Continues to Plummet as Gun Ownership Skyrockets. But don't fall into the trap that correlation implies causation... There could be other factors at work as well, I just so happen to believe that an armed society is a polite society.
Harry Reid, environment hypocrite? Say it ain't so! I never could have anticipated that... add him to the list with Al Gore, Leo DiCap, and virtually any other high profile "environmentalist." As Glenn remarked, "if you're astonished, you haven't been paying attention."
This quote of the day should go hand in hand with the Lawyer who cleans toilet post. It could also go with my discussion with Batman about jobs in D.C..
This is both bad and unsurprising: More Innocent People Admit to Crimes They Never Committed Than You Think. Psychologists have been able to plant memories in peoples minds of things that they never did, why should the police convincing the accused of crimes they never committed be much different? People react in different ways under pressure, and people who are easily influenced might not have the self-confidence to stand up for their version of the truth.
Holy shit: A British Woman With Straight Teeth! Ok, so there's an actual article in there, but that was my main takeaway.
I talked a little bit about the NYT bias with it's hit piece on House Minority Leader John Boehner (R - Ohio). I then realized that I have no idea how to pronounce his name, but I like to call him John Boner because it's funny. Then I wanted to actually know how it was pronounced and came across a Slate article giving the uninformed the correct pronounciation. I find it hilarious that the article needed to be written, most likely because people kept calling him Boner. He should hang out with Michael DuCOCKis and DICK Cheney. Real high-brow stuff here at Reed the Viking.
Tea Party to reach out to Jews... Hire me! I think I'd be an effective messenger, although I despise identity politics and wouldn't pander unless you paid me really well ;). But outreach and identity politics are two separate things, I think?
Resurgent anti-semitism on American campuses. It's kinda old news, but the commentary is new (to me). For those looking for an answer to the question, "Are jews a religion or a people?" I would say that we are both. But while I am not religious, I am most certainly Jewish, both culturally and genetically. While my great grandparents may have been born in Eastern-Europe, they were not ethnically similar to the people in their host countries (and thus, were massacred or forced to leave i.e. pogroms). Jews, and Ashkenazi Jews (Eastern European) at the very least, are an ethnic group, with specific traits and genetic phenomena such as Crohn's disease or being ultra smart, good with money, and incredibly attractive. I look Jewish, but you can't look Christian. We are a people.
I'm Jew...ish, but I speak Chinese, so naturally I got a kick out of this article about Jews in Shanghai. A bunch of Jews went to China during the early days of World War II, but Jews were actually in China far earlier, some evidence suggests. The city of Kaifeng, along the banks of the Yellow River in the Henan province, has had a Jewish population since the Northern Song Dynasty (around the tenth century AD). Back then, Kaifeng was the capital of the Northern Song. Chinese Joooooz, LOLZ!
"The momentum to repeal Obamacare picked up a little momentum in an unlikely place: the White House." - Ed Morrissey. I thought that was pretty funny, and the rest of his commentary is just as good. The problem that the White House is seeking to solve is not a new, unforeseen problem (well, not if you were opposed to the legislation at least). But as Ed says, this is what happens when you pass legislation to find out what's in it. 2,000+ pages, 48 hours to read it all... is anybody surprised by this?
This blogger feels exactly the way I do about Sarah Palin, so it's worth noting.
"I am not a big Palin fan. I am an atheist and not a social conservative in any meaningful sense. In my estimation, her chief virtue is that she annoys and enrages all the right people."Exactly.
Supreme Court Justice claims Quran burning may not be protected by the first amendment... WHAT?! My first reaction to the Quran burning story was that, like the Mosque by Ground Zero, it was well within their rights to do, but they're still big assholes for doing it. Allah and Ed's reactions, respectively. This reminds me of when the kids who wore an American flag on Cinco De Mayo were sent home from school because their shirts might incite violence. You're punishing the victim for his actions, effectively saying he deserves what's coming to him. That's not how our country is supposed to work. Violent offenders should be prosecuted, and I shouldn't have to tailor my speech to conform to whatever that fucking nutjob thinks is kosher talk. If I started a group of looneys who started shooting up elementary schools whenever Samuel L. Jackson says "Hold on to your butts" in Jurassic Park, would they ban that movie? Ok, bad example. If We started firebombing hospitals every time Bill Maher aired a new episode of his stupid show, would they cancel his show, or try to bring the criminals to justice. I would hope the latter, but in light of this SUPREME COURT JUSTICE'S comments, I'm not altogether confident... actually, I just thought of a great way to get that smug asshole off the air! G-d forbid they ever ban Jurassic Park though.
Interesting article by James Taranto about why "Islamophobia" seems to be more prevalent under Obama than it ever was under Boooooooooosh. Bush had peoples' trust and confidence that he was playing for America, because you can't really question that the right-leaning side of this nation loves the shit out of 'Mrrrkah (Fuck yeah!). Anti-American sentiment seems, unfortunately, to be almost exclusively on the left side of the political divide. Well, I should broaden that to Anti-Western sentiment, to include Israel. I do not claim that all left leaning people do not like America, and I think the Obama is legitimately taking actions that he truly believes will benefit our nation. But I do not think that Obama or the left as a whole stand as firmly for 'Mrrrkin interests and the ideals we stand for, such as freedom and democracy (his outreach to Iran and conspicuous silence during their protest movement, his siding with Latin American dictators in a rather simple Honduran political crisis, reluctance to criticize our enemies and eagerness to heap blame on our allies). Is it hard to see why people are skeptical of the left's professed love for America when a lefty Supreme Court Justice think it's OK to burn the American Flag (and it is and should be, legally speaking), but not OK to burn the Quran.
Here's something to brighten everybody's mood... HIPSTER BASHING! Hilarious video, I particularly like the line about electro pop meeting southern hip-hop, which could be talking about Major Lazer, a hipster favorite (sorry Guiseppe, I know you love them). If you argue that Jamaican hip-hop doesn't count as southern hip-hop, check a map, dick.
The final takeaway: I learned that Britain has hipsters too... it's an epidemic, like zombies. And like zombies, I'm pretty sure a shotgun blast to the face would take care of the problem.
Exit question: Was this created by somebody making fun of hipsters, or was it created by a hipster who was ironically taking jabs at his own people, and thus, he could become the hippest hipster. I report, you decide.
Do as I say, not as I do: Taxes are for the little people. Well considering the Secretary of the Treasury owed tens of thousands to the IRS, is anybody surprised by reports like this? Glenn says, "It's easy to see why these people don't mind higher taxes. They don't plan on paying 'em anyway..."
If you ever wondered why I refer to Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit) as the Instaprophet, it's because his predictions are pretty much always correct. Here's what he said right around 9/11/01.
In Delaware, there's a bitter primary battle for the Republican nomination for Senate between Mike Castle and Chrisitne O'Donnell. Many conservatives take issue with Castle for being too moderate. My older brother and I were talking this morning, and he said (I'm paraphrasing), "I'm kinda pissed off at some of the conservative bloggers about Delaware." Before he could explain, I said, "I know, I really don't like this O'Donnell character. She reminds me of Michelle Bachmann, but even crazier." Then I worried that I had offended him, and he supported her. It turns out that we agreed that she seemed crazy and was definitely bad for the broad group of people opposed to the Democrats' agenda. When the Tea Partiers backed Joe Miller in Alaska against incumbent Lisa Murkowski, I thought that was a good thing because she was of the political class that was more concerned with being elected than anything else (she's still trying to get on the ballot somehow). When the Utah tea partiers knocked out an incumbent who they viewed as too liberal, I thought, "representatives who do not represent their constituents should be voted out." In Delaware, not only does O'Donnell have a snowballs chance in hell of winning, she's also batshit crazy. Oh, and Mike Castle isn't even that liberal. Basically, I'm in the Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels camp. Those guys are my guys. If the Republicans line up behind the Palin/Bachmann/O'Donnell types, they can count on my vote going elsewhere. And if the Tea Party types fuck up their current trajectory and get hi-jacked by social cons, and lose a lot of their libertarian impulses, they can count me out.
This discussion provides a natural segue into this article about Christie and Ryan. These two guys are sticking it to the man. When I was young and I thought of the hippies and the 60's, I thought of them as fighting the power and sticking it to the man. When I thought about punk rock and rap music, I thought it was about sticking it to the man. Despite working for the man, part of what my blog does is my way of sticking it to the man. How the left-wing managed to convince people that they are the ones that stick it to the man is beyond me. A cursory run-down of conservative ideals in terms of the scope of government: smaller government and lower taxes. Plenty of conservatives haven't lived up to the ideal, Dubya being a prime example, but that's why nobody liked him. A quick run-down of the liberal flipside: I'm not sure there are specific ideals in modern liberalism; rather, they support a bunch of policies and concrete positions based on emotion, not principle. If they were principled and those principles ran counter to conservative principles, then in theory, they would support bigger government and higher taxes. So who are the real punks, the conservatives or the liberals?
My friend Batman went to school down in D.C. as a journalism major, and she remarkably found a job there doing journalism. I caught up with her yesterday for the first time in a long time, and when I said I was impressed and excited that she found a job there, she said it she knows how lucky she is, but since she's in D.C., all her friends have jobs because that's where all the jobs are. I said that's a telling sign for the times, that all the jobs are in D.C. while everybody else is unemployed. She also told me that she was jealous of her friends that work for the gov't because they get paid well and have great benefits. This is bad. People should be encouraged to work in the private sector, because the private sector creates wealth for our nation. Public jobs cannot create wealth, all they can do is use up the wealth created by the private sector. Public service should be just that: service. It's a bad day when people who could be out creating wealth are more incentivized to join the lucrative business of government work.
Newest Democrat campaign strategy: Vote for Justin Beiber. G-d, I wish I were kidding, but seriously, watch the video. Nevermind that he's Canadian and therefore can't vote in American elections and just watch.
I know they don't explicitly mention to vote for Democrats, but the organization behind the ad (Campus Progress) is a democratic outfit, so it's implied. It's one of George Soros' little babies.
California Newspapers lining up against marijuana legalization (despite the fact that 90% of their employees have smoked the stuff). Legalize it, tax it, and maybe sell flavored, pre-rolled blunts to attract the children. Maybe give 'em a little toy with each pack, like a happy meal.
No shit: DoJ report on rates of college rape are grossly inaccurate. As the Daily Caller notes, the reported percentage of people raped at college, according to those statistics, would be ten times higher than Detroit. I remember in high school and college, the definition of rape that they taught us was so broad that if you were to sleep with somebody, and regret it later, you were raped. Nobody likes to take responsibility for their own decisions/behavior, good thing they can just put the blame on external forces and call it a day. It kind of reminds me of when our health class told us 10% of people on earth are homosexual, which of course I didn't buy either.
Ouch: Laid-off Lawyer formerly making 160k a year now cleaning toilets. I've got it way too good. Right now, I'm currently waiting for a training course to start, so in the interim period they have me doing odd-jobs where they need me. Occasionally I get to drive a government vehicle. I'm the most overpaid, overeducated, and overqualified bus driver evah. If only the hippies knew that the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan is being played in a military vehicle...
While I came out firmly against Quran burning (and honestly, who wouldn't?), I can't help but be a little amused by this Australian Professor who compared smoking a joint rolled out of Bible paper and a joint rolled out of Quran paper. The professor was, unfortunately for his sake, completely correct when he stated that he is screwed and will lose his job over it. Well, he does represent the school, and when you represent an institution greater than yourself, you have to play by their rules; thus, I cannot wear a t-shirt that says, "Fuck fuck shit heroin cocaine fuck shit doody Sean Penn." Had to give it to goodwill :(.
Anybody surprised by this logical step: HHS Secretary Sebelius, "Insurers who criticize healthcare will be locked out of our system." Hmm, like nobody (excluding the left) saw that one coming. Ed also adds this bit in another post:
"Yes, this is thuggery, but in a free-market system, it would be an empty threat. This is precisely the reason why government should not run private-sector industries — the management of these systems becomes political rather than fiduciary or achievement based. And it’s started already."Nothing any principled conservative couldn't have warned you about.
Here is one of the best examples of media bias at the NYT, along with some historical examples included towards the bottom of the post. The White House was tweeting the NYT article on their twitter page, if those two love eachother so much they should just get married or something. I know that was lame, Reed, but people hear about NYT media bias all the time and kind of shrug it off ("Well, all newspapers are biased somehow."). This is just plain dishonest, politically motivated, and looks at best like hackery, and at worst like coordination. Is the NYT on the White House payroll? Not yet, but when that newspaper bailout inevitably comes...
First living man since Vietnam to receive the Medal of Honor (military's highest honor) speaks. It's hard to comprehend just how insane being awarded that medal is, but let's just say singlehandedly taking out a base of terrizts, a la Arnold in Commando, might award you a bronze star (the 4th highest). Do all that after getting shot in the face plus saving some friends, that's the Medal of Honor.
When looking at the effectiveness of policy, you have to see if the goal is being accomplished. For example, gun control policy was created to stem violent crime. However, if you look at places with the highest crime, oftentimes they have the strictest gun control measures (Chicago and D.C. come to mind). I believe that owning a gun doesn't turn a law-abiding citizen into a bloodthirsty murderer and criminals will get guns illegally because they're criminals and break the law. The only people with guns, in a gun controlled society, are gangsters and the government, leaving the people defenseless. But regardless of what you believe, reality is hard to argue with, when presented with it. Here's a story about the relaxation of gun control laws in Tennessee and exactly what resulted from it (nothing).
Take that same argument and extend it elsewhere. What is the goal of the war on drugs? Lower drug use and a prohibition on drugs in America, presumably. Is it working? Hell no.
How about we take it to affirmative action. What is the goal? Help bridge the achievement gap between minorities and whites. Is it working? Not really.
Here's a picture I took at the Chinese restaurant near my house that was not very good at all. Silly Chinese... and for that, I have named my post.
