I took nyquil last night and slept like 12 hours. Also, I need to go into work early today so this is going to be a rushed post but here goes.
New kind of Monkey discovered in Burma (I refuse to call it Myanmar, I don't give in to the demands of terrorists). Of course, the only specimen ever to be observed by scientists was already dead and being prepared to be eaten. Those southern Asians sure do love to eat their monkeys!
Israel to Get its Own Tea Party. This might surprise some, but I don't think I like it. Their tea party is defined by opposition to a foreign president (Obama) and has nothing to do with the ideals of smaller government. I get to rain shit on Obama because he's my President, you forners (foreigners) better back off. Also, color me naive, but I think that halted settlements would be good, not as a precondition, but as part of a package deal to reach a two-state solution but that's just me.
Joel Best, a sociologist at the University of Delaware, has researched the topic and spends every October telling the press that there has never been a single case of any child being killed by a stranger's Halloween candy. (Oh, yes, he concedes, there was once a Texas boy poisoned by a Pixie Stix. But his dad did it for the insurance money. He was executed.)
I thought last week's episode of South Park, which spoofed Inception, was pretty funny, but not on the same level as the Jersey Shore or NASCAR episodes. Turns out they lifted some material from an online spoof of Inception from collegehumor.com. My beloved South Park pulled a Dane Cook (stealing jokes; also known as a Carlos Mencia). At least they had the decency to own up to it, which is to be expected for a TV show that seemingly promotes the idea of individual responsibility. I think the collegehumor spoof was actually pretty good, if not even funnier than the South Park episode. Here it is for you to enjoy.
I often refer to Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds as the Instaprophet for his seemingly prophetic blog musings that are almost always accurate. Maybe I'll have to start referring to Allah as the Allahprophet after he predicted this spin just minutes before it showed up on MSNBC. Although as he himself admits:
That was posted at 4:27 p.m.; the Matthews clip below comes from the 5 p.m. hour and the Schultz clip comes an hour after that, with no doubt plenty more in store tonight from Olby and Maddow. That’s how easy it now is to predict MSNBC spin. And as I said earlier, if you think this is rock bottom in terms of liberal desperation this week, just wait. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Japan's Young Men Seek a New Path. From what I can tell, an entire generation of Japanese men are turning asexual. What does this mean for us? Hot Japanese girls desperate for real men like me!
Want to be completely depressed? Who's the Vice President? It won't let me embed the video, so just click the link and watch to lose all faith in the youth of America. College, yes, I repeat, COLLEGE students can not answer simple questions such as, "Who is the Vice President?," "Who's the Speaker of the House?," "How many total U.S. Senators are there?" and "How many Supreme Court Justices are there?" The only question that I didn't know the answer to was "How many total members of the House are there?" and apparently it's 435.
I've said many times in my life that I'm not a big fan of George Bush. He had like a 20% approval rating when he got out of office, so I think I'm not alone on this. One problem, however, is that many people on the left assume that everybody didn't like him for the same reasons. I didn't like him because he was a terrible economic conservative who spent like a liberal. Here to make the point better than I could is Dr. Timothy Dalrymple: The Tea Started Brewing Under Bush. Two quotes that I find poignant.
The important point is this: many who now comprise the Tea Party were not Bush die-hards, but disapproved or largely disapproved of the Bush administration’s big-government tendencies. Of course small-government conservatives and independents, when Obama took those tendencies and magnified them threefold, went from frustration to outrage...
...it is entirely natural that those who rejected Bush for his government growth and deficit spending would become, when Obama exploded that growth and spending, the leaders of the Tea Party movement. Further, for many conservatives there was some amount of trust that Bush would not go too far, that his policies were pro-growth, that his deficits were more sustainable. Obama came along and tripled the rate at which the debt is growing, budgeted for trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye could see, and punishes the very same private sector that he so desperately needs to create jobs. This alone, without reference to racism or bigotry or irrational hatred, is sufficient explanation for the Tea Party movement.
And just one more reason to dislike Obama. He's not very statesmanlike, and is an obvious product of the Chicago political machine as can easily be seen by his statement to the Latino community:
We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us
As if the Latino community is monolithic... identity politics at it's worst. But no, I must dislike him 'cause he's black, of course!
Another brilliant idea: Draft Mitch Daniels! Somebody get Jon Stewart on board this one, because electing this guy would truly be a move towards restoring sanity:
Why do we think our generation can unite behind this “uncharismatic” Indiana governor? Because his candidacy will give us a new hope for solving two of the greatest issues my generation faces: the degradation of national political discourse and the drastic rise in the federal debt...
...Governor Daniels, however, has gone out on a political limb by suggesting that we must declare a “social truce” in order to fix the economy and tackle the debt. We are all welcome to our social opinions, but when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs says that the national debt is the top threat to our national security it is time to declare a truce in the culture war and do what needs to be done to cut the budget down to size and get our economy producing jobs.
Here again, Governor Daniels sets himself apart from other 2012 Republican contenders. He earned the nickname “The Blade” for his ability to cut out excess spending as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as Indiana’s governor for turning a large deficit into consistent surpluses. While my generation has grown skeptical of Republican claims of practicing fiscal conservatism, there is no doubting Daniels’ record.
Between his remarkable fiscal credibility and his serious tone, he is what my generation has been waiting to see out of a Republican presidential nominee. Party politics aside, above all else, we just want to feel as though we face a clear and serious choice. And we believe Daniels offers us that choice.
Florida Senatorial Debate Moderator Calls Mexican Candidate Anti-Mexican. Marco Rubio, the child of immigrants, is pretty much as pro-immigration as it gets. Why is he anti-Mexican? Because he's pro LEGAL immigration. If you support the law, you're a bigot, duh! I'm not sure what kind of Mexican he is, I think he's one of them Cuban Mexicans, but I'm sure he's not a racist against other Mexicans like the Colombians, Brazilians, and of course, the Puerto Rican Mexicans.*
*If you are looking for a less racist version of this post, simply replace the word Mexican with Hispanic or Latino. All you beaners are the same thing to my cracker ass. In fact, if you're not 'Mrrrkin, then you're probably either Mexican, a Terrizt, or one of those faggy Europeans. Sorry peoples of Africa, East Asia, and Australia, those are your choices. Thank you, and I apologize for any confusion.
And here's a great message from Billy Dee Williams, also known as Lando "Space Pimp" Calrissian. H/T to old buddy King Leornidas of Eretz Yisrael (and also Long Island).
Confirmed: Smarter People Drink Alcohol. That just goes to prove that my sister and I, both of whom have long been assumed to have dominating intellects, are far more intelligent than our stooped (pronounced "stupid") parents. And for my BFF Guiseppe Fratelli, well, this is further proof that your parents are retards compared to you. Just kidding, I love B-Rock Fratelli and Limey Val Fratelli.
Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! Could you imagine if the institutions of higher education in this country offered that? The point is well taken, but that guy's not going to get his money back. It's foolish to think that a college degree can guarantee you a job, and it sounds like he feels he's entitled to a job post graduation. On the other hand, Boston College Law did lead him to believe his prospects were better than they are by using manipulated and misleading statistics.
The Earth is facing most serious extinction rate since the dinosaurs. This is alarming, unless all the extinctions are bugs, in which case, faster please. And make sure to grab DNA samples of a bunch of the vulnerable life forms so we can resurrect them when we have the technology.
My favorite line: "Did you know that some actors turn down roles." That's one of but many gems from Zach G.
H/T to Guiseppe Fratelli, BFF extraordinaire for pointing me towards The Rent is Too Damn High Party. Carl Paladino is such an embarrassment that I thought I'd end up having to vote for the terrible Andrew Cuomo for Governor of New York. Thanks to my buddy, I now know that I have an alternative in the The Rent is Too Damn High Party. Here's the campaign ad:
The comment that wins the thread: He is the love child of Mr. T and Col. Sanders."
And finally, hat tip to Mom Dukes for making me aware of a new, deadly strain of Gonorrhea. Remember, readers, safety first. Safety first and then teamwork.
Today I have read two of the greatest posts I've seen in a while. What makes them so great? They agree with me, of course! I've said a billion times that the tea-party would be embraced by the hippies, and I've tacitly alluded to my hippie-ish nature by posting a song by the Youngbloods, titling a posts after Bob Dylan songs, and professing my love for the Grateful Dead, as well as that fine young lass, Mary Jane. I have lamented that the counter-culture warriors who once bucked the establishment and played government watchdog have no become partisan shills and cheerleaders for The Man. I was having a fun little political debate with my "left-of-center" roommate who said he's a "moderate", and I noted that moderate doesn't really mean anything. I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-marijuana legalization, and I'm also pro-guns, pro-capitalism, and very right of center on social security. Sounds like I'm a libertarian, sure, but it just goes to show that I don't fit in on the left-right divide. That's why, courtesy of Zombie, I can present you with the new political spectrum graph!
Zombie's article is truly epic, as he explains the graph, and explains why hippies are right next to The Tea Party on the list. Also, I loved his bit on Hobos vs. Bums, making me even more excited for Hobo With a Shotgun.
I include “hobos” and “bums” on the chart because the distinction between these two classic types illuminates the nature of the spectrum. In case you’re thinking that hobos and bums are just different words for the same thing, note: A hobo is an itinerant laborer who chooses homelessness because of the freedom it affords him, but who is proud of his self-sufficiency and will take temporary jobs to support himself wherever possible. A bum on the other hand is someone who is poor because he simply refuses to work or support himself, and instead is unashamed to survive on handouts and other people’s generosity. Because hobos celebrate individualism, freedom, independence and their own self-worth, they occupy the “sweet spot” at the bottom left corner of the spectrum, along with hippies and Tea Partiers. But since bums are essentially parasites on society and who survive on either formally or informally doled-out welfare, and often blame others for their predicament, they rightfully belong near the other end of the spectrum.
Get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?
Zombie also explains the vertical axis and the dichotomy splits those who believe human nature can be changed and those who believe it is innate. It all goes back to what Malcolm Reynolds said in "Serenity" when talking about the evil, big intrusive government that is the Alliance.
I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave.
That, my friends, should be the Tea-Party's official t-shirt. Ok, it's a little long, but c'mon that's good stuff! I at least wanna see "I aim to misbehave" on signs at your rallies [Viking Admission: If they start bringing those signs to rallies, I want royalties!].
Zombie hits exactly upon my feelings here:
So, the hippies of 1968 didn’t particularly like either major political party, but they showed a particular anger toward the Democrats for screwing everything up — while giving the Republicans a shrug. Which, amazingly, is exactly the way the Tea Party feels today: Anger towards Democrats, and a grudging acceptance of Republicans as the lesser of two evils.
Everybody who reads this knows I that the only mainstream American political party I dislike more than Republicans are Democrats. Like the creators of South Park have said, "I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals." I also found it funny when people would say things like, "if you go to far right you get Nazis and if you go too far left you get commies." It depends on what "left" and "right" you're talking about. They're both collectivist economically and believe in huge government control. So in essence, they're on the same side of the spectrum for Zombie's horizontal axis, but taking in mind the vertical axis, Zombie explains the difference:
On the right half of the chart are all the different varieties of political collectivism, or people who seek to impose or benefit from collectivist government. Those collectivists who think that human nature is malleable and a “cultural construct” are at the upper right; those collectivists who think that “people are the way they are” can be found at the lower right. What unifies the collectivist Nazis, Fascists and Islamists is not just their belief that humans have built-in attributes, but that their specific social, ethnic or religious group possesses built-in attributes superior to everyone else’s.
Zombie notes that he hasn't included all political ideologies on the chart, and that if you take issue with his placement of a particular ideology you can debate him on it and change his mind. He also rejects the left/right dichotomy:
People who adhere to the outdated and overly simplistic left/right divide may have trouble grokking this new way of looking at society. Newsweek, for example, recently claimed that the Tea Party has an “anarchist streak.” I find this interesting, because the Newsweek writer understood that both Tea Partiers and anarchists are on the same end of the “Government Control” axis, but couldn’t grasp that, viewed from a different orientation, Tea Partiers are at the opposite end of the “Human Nature” axis from anarchists, who want to construct an (impossible) law-free utopia based on the assumption that people can change and control themselves in the absence of any authority whatsoever.
This brings up a good point: Scroll back up to the chart and think of it in terms of “halves.” Leftists want to highlight the fact the both Tea Partiers and Nazis are in the same “half” of the chart — the bottom half, as it is currently oriented (although of course the way I rotated the chart was completely random — there is no inherent meaning in the up-down-left-right placement, and I just as easily could have designed it to be 90 degrees or 180 degrees a different way). Of course, as mentioned above, the crucial difference is that Nazis and other totalitarians want to use government to enforce their idea of the natural order of things, whereas Tea Partiers have the exact opposite urge — to have no government enforcement at all, and to let the natural order of things play itself out — naturally.
On the other hand, The Tea Partiers (and I) want you to notice that all the “bad” ideologies, including Nazism and communism, also share space on the same half of the chart, in this case the “more government control” half.
So, the chart is viewpoint-neutral; each person can express their pre-existing political bias by pointing out how this-or-that political enemy is at least in the same half as some identifiably bad ideology. It just all depends on what angle from which you choose to view the spectrum.
The last thing I want to note from Zombie's piece is something I was genuinely ignorant of before reading. Jack Kerouac, beat writer and father of hippies, was a conservative who supported Bill Buckley of National Review fame. That shouldn't surprise me, considering that I have always thought it makes sense that hippies should be libertarian-ish, but it genuinely surprised me. Zombie explains how the commies and anti-capitalists co-opted the hippie movement. Their revisionist history has taught the younger folks like me that hippies were always hard leftists, but it was not so! And Zombie, like my father and Roger L. Simon, was once a hippie and a leftist has woken up and is now libertarian-ish.
Hat tip to Jeff G. at Protein Wisdom on the Zombie article, I don't know how I missed it as I usually read what Zombie puts out. Jeff has also posted his commentary, and his post title is also a Bob Dylan lyrical reference. Here's what he has to say, and if I may say so myself, he sounds a lot like me (that's a compliment, Jeff!)
For awhile now I’ve been pointing out to anyone who’d listen that the 60s counterculture (at least, its rank and file) agitated for the same kinds of libertarian values that we now see coming from Tea Party / legal conservative types. Meanwhile, today’s progressives — the direct descendants of the New Left — pretend toward a counterculture hipness that simply doesn’t jibe with their calls to regulate salt intake, or legislate toilets, or micromanage every aspect of the life of “the people”...
It’s time for the erstwhile hippies to take stock: are you for the freedom and individualism and anti-authoritarianism you once claimed to embody? Are you for smaller government, individual autonomy, self-sufficiency, and the organic organization of the marketplace? Or have you become The Man?
Nudists vs. Swingers - Whoever wins, we... win. It'd be better if they weren't French, who wants to see naked women with hairy pits? Not this blogger.
NYT Writes about my main man, Chris Christie. Christie is actually somewhat of a moderate, but he's a hard-line fiscal conservative who is very honest about where we are as a nation, and more specifically, where New Jersey is at as a state in terms of it's fiscal house. Listen to the way he talks in this video, and tell me if any other politician speaks with this degree of seriousness and candor. Tough, unpopular, but necessary decisions need to be made, and this is a guy with the cojones to make them. Respect.
A man with some backbone, something this country sorely needs.
Irritating harpy Katy Perry appeared on Sesame Street showing as much cleavage of her chest as she could muster up. Parents complained, and the episode will not air, but I have the clip on youtube. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Katy Perry might just be more annoying than Elmo. H/T Allahpundit, who notes that his favorite joke about the affair was when somebody tweeted, "This episode brought to you by the letters T and A." I wish I had thought of that. Also at the Allah link is a clip of Sesame Street's "True Blood" spoof, but I didn't really get it as I don't watch that show. I'm waiting for HBO's mini-series adaptation of "A Song of Ice and Fire." 2011 can't come fast enough!
Nicaraguan Diplomat Murdered Hours Before Obama UN Speech. "Our friend gave a speech at the UN... I told you a long time ago, you fucking little monkey, not to fuck me!" I think I know what happened here... somebody learned from Scarface's mistake. In honor of that classic scene from Scarface (which I think is tacky, overacted and overrated) I have this hilarious and well edited video mash-up of Tony Montana talking to somebody who appears to be a Johnny Depp's character in Secret Window look-a-like. Tony Montana tries to renegotiate his mobile contract.
Subtle Nuances: The NYJ are terrible, sexist animals for eye-gang bangin' that hot Mexican reporter, but Versus TV is edgy when they ask NFL receivers: Would you rather see Palin in the White House or in Playboy? Their answer surprises me, because personally, I'm going with Playboy. Actually, Christine O'Donnell would be even better in playboy, maybe the October edition in full Witch get-up (until she strips it all down, of course). Too bad she's all into abstinence, or I'd try to hit that. Am I being sexist or edgy?
Edgy? Buffalo Wing Joint Controversy Over Hot Sauce Named "Black on Black Crime." Well, it was created by a black guy, so I think this qualifies as edgy, but I'm not sure. I don't know about you, but I'd rather eat Black on Black Crime wings than Big Fine Woman 2000 wings. Black on Black Crime sounds more dangerous, and implies spiciness, while big fine woman invokes imagery that would make men lose their appetites. It's a sad day when our hot sauce has to be politically correct, considering some hot sauce companies have political incorrectness as their schtick. I know I've been concocting "Jewish Guilt" and "Bang For Your Buck" hot sauces that'll be cheap, kosher, and clear your sinuses (must be strong to clean out a Jewish nose).
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)
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
"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.
"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.
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.
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 :(.
"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.
