Reed the Viking

Just a Reminder: It Sucks to be a Cop in Mexico

At least 75% of us still agree it's the greatest country EVAH! Optimism in U.S. Government is at a 36 Year Low.  And for those of you who read my blog, optimism is the code word I use when I'm trying not to drop the H-Bomb (hope). 

Just a reminder in case you forgot: The U.N. is completely useless. Iran and Saudi Arabia Considered for U.N.'s New Womens Agency Board.

Just a reminder in case you forgot: Mexico is now more dangerous than Iraq. Every Cop in Mexican Town's Police Force Resigns After Attack. Yikes... I'm glad I'm on an island far, far away from MS-13.

More anti-elitism from Glenn Reynolds and Meg McArdle.

In the case of climate change, there is actual scientific knowledge about the properties of CO2, but advocates of emissions mitigation schemes constantly attempt to drape the mantle of science, or more broadly expert knowledge, around public policy positions that, as I have argued many times, do not follow even from the core technical reports produced by the asserted experts.

 

Bill Buckley famously said that he "would rather by governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston telephone directory than by the Harvard faculty." So would I. But I would rather fly in an airplane with wings designed by one competent aeronautical engineer than one with wings designed by a committee of the first 20,000 names of non-engineers in the Boston phonebook. The value of actual expertise in a technical field like wing design outweighs the advantages offered by incorporating multiple points of view.

 

The essential Progressive belief that Klein expresses in undiluted form is that crafting public policy through legislation is a topic for which, in simplified terms, the benefits of expertise outweigh the benefits of popular contention. Stated more cautiously, this would be the belief that the institutional rules of the game should be more heavily tilted toward expert opinion on many important topics than they are in the U.S. today.

 

This would be a lot more compelling if the elites didn't have such a terrible track record of producing social interventions that work.

 

An aeronautical engineer can predict reliably that "If you design a wing like this, then this plane will be airworthy, but if you design it like that, then it will never get in the air." If you were to build a bunch of airplanes according to each set of specifications, you would discover that he or she is almost always right. This is actual expertise. I've tried to point out many times that the vast majority of program interventions fail when subjected to replicated, randomized testing.

 

Our so-called experts in public policy talk a good game, but in the end are no experts at all. They build castles of words, and call it knowledge.

Elites are often missing crucial knowledge, and unaware of it. In some ways, that effect is more pronounced than it used to be, with more and more of the elites drawn from a narrow class of extremely well-educated people from a handful of metropolitan areas, few of whom have ever, say, been responsible for a profit and loss statement, or tried to bring a gas station into compliance with local and federal EPA regulations. In a world where your primary output is words, it is easy to imagine a smoothly operating process based on really smart rule-making.

Good stuff.

Senator Babs Boxer is facing ethics complaints again. Who's Barbara Boxer, you ask? Why, she's the Chair of the Senate ETHICS Committee. What's she up against? Complaints that she didn't disclose a million dollar house she had in Oakland and complaints that she had solicited public school students to campaign for her. You'd think somebody on the Ethics Committee would know their right from wrong. And they wonder why we have so little... optimism in the system.

I love Jon Stewart, but I've always said that his upcoming march to restore sanity was basically a pro-democrat operation. I mean, it's bi-partisan as long as you agree with the liberal agenda, if you disagree, however, you're lacking in sanity! I've also always said that the Daily Show, while not claiming impartiality, will almost never make fun of Democrats or criticize them with one glaring exception. They will criticize and make fun of Democrats who aren't being Liberal enough. David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun has a more detailed post on that subject here. If you're interested in seeing how "moderate" his march is going to be, just take a quick look at this WaPo piece by Anne Applebaum. If you're too lazy to look, people are going to be bussed in by PETA and Arianna Huffington, hardly paragons of moderation.

And if you're really naive enough to think that this march is going to be moderate or bi-partisan, just check out Allah's summary report.

That’s one way to look at it, and the DNC is certainly trying to take full advantage. (Says a voting expert at American University, “For Stewart, sanity is a code word for Democratic.”) Another way to look at it is that the left is hot to top Glenn Beck’s rally in turnout and “prove” that they’re still the ones who Care The Most, notwithstanding the brutal beating they’re about to take next week. And a third way to look at it, I suppose, is as a reaction to what Shelby Steele identified today in his superb op-ed about the failure of Obama’s liberal Hopenchange redemption narrative. As George Carlin once said, inside every cynic is a disappointed idealist, and there an awful lot of disappointed idealists among the lefty base right now. Is it any surprise that they’d take comfort in a rally organized by two guys who’ve become superstars of cynicism, with a consoling chicken-soup theme of sanity and moderation and, heck, all-around niceness? (Plus, Sheryl Crow will be there!)

Oh, Sheryl Crow!!! Honestly, if I had the chance, I'd go to the rally because I enjoy Jon and Steven and find them hilarious. 

The Frisky: Men are from Bacon, Women are from Cupcakes. Quite possibly the best piece on gender differences I've ever read. It's hilarious and spot on. I'm not one much for sweets, but I'm always down for a bleeding, unhealthily-rare steak with a side of bacon and slathered in baconnaise with bacon salt. Chocolate covered bacon for dessert? If I was kosher, would I be from Turkey Bacon? This article is insensitive to Joos, Islambs, and Hindoods.

That's just how far our culture has gone... chocolate covered bacon, baconnaise. Just look at what King Sized used to mean, back when our country was poor and starving or something. I always marvel at the drinks when I go to Wendy's. They have a price on the board (it's for small) but when you order the meal, they assume you want medium so you end up paying more. And medium is ginormous. I don't even like soda (see above, don't like sweets) very much, and now I've got 32 ounces of it. WTF mate?

Saudi Prince Wants NYC Mosque Moved? When you've lost the Saudi Princes...

I hope I ride on these beasts: New Navy Boat Powered by Seaweed. I'll just unwrap my Lion Roll and fill up my tank.

Johnny Dollar finds more hypocrisy at MSNBC... you don't say? They might as well give Alan Grayson a TV show where he can call everybody Monkey Hitler Talibans and Whores.

New Monkey, Naked Charlie Sheen, and Turning the Tables on Galifianakis

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!

Charlie Sheen has made a career of playing Charlie Sheen in movies since the dawn of time. Is it any wonder that he also plays Charlie Sheen in real life, after his career and bank accounts were repeatedly rewarded for acting that way on TV? Charlie Sheen hospitalized after being found naked in trashed hotel room with hooker hiding in the closet, admits taking copious amounts of cocaine. Who's surprised?

Zach Galifianakis gets hoisted by his own petard during an interview with Texas radio host, Gordon Keith. The tables are turned, and the outcome is just as hilarious as expected.

 

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.

1/9th of Our Nuclear Arsenal Goes Offline for an Hour. Heads better be rolling, I planned to use those nukes today!

Stranger Danger on Halloween is a Farce. Although there is one documented report of somebody poisoning Halloween candy:

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.)

Wish they had a picture of the best tattoo artist evah's masterpiece: Tattooist Charged Over 40cm Penis Tattoo on Man's Back. 

I had more to post but I'm out of time unfortunately.

South Park Pulled a Dane Cook

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.

Bees are Smarter Than Computers. Well, not exactly but still pretty cool.

It's like rain on your wedding day: Three Term NYC Mayor Supports Two Term Limit. Mike Bloomberg, why are you such a schmuck?

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 disheartened? A round up of good old fashion voter fraud can be found here.

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!

Lando Asks the Important Questions

One way trip to Mars? Sign me up!

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).

Nazis, Commies, Truthers, and Real Life Ron Burgundy

News from the East

On the mainland: Communist Party Elders Call for an End to Censorship.

Across the strait: Taiwan to Allow Small Brothels.

Well, it seems obvious that I'd prefer to head to Taiwan, where censorship has never been in effect, and where hookers were just legalized. I suggest you follow suit, China, if you want my sweet, 24 karat, sexy pouch of joo gold.

Communism is bad, mmm'kay? As bad as Nazism. Robert Heinlein quote for the win:

Let me go on record that I regard communism as expressed by the U.S.S.R. and its friends here and elsewhere as a grisly horror, a tyranny maintained by force and terror, utterly subversive of human liberty, freedom of thought, and dignity. I regard it as Red fascism, distinguishable from black and brown fascism by differences of no importance to me nor to its victims.

Best Idea Evah: "Draft Chris Christie 2012." I realized that what I like the most about Chris Christie is his straightforwardness. Even when he's doing things that I don't like, or that others don't like, or that HE doesn't even like, he doesn't shy away from telling the hard truths. And he's been pretty willing to listen to other perspectives as well (as evidenced by his reconsideration for an expensive mass transit project).

Viking Blogger just messed his pants at the sight of it: The Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger. Guess what I'm cooking for dinner tonight?

Grandma's got a lead foot: 82 Year Old Woman Pulled Over for Doing 110 in a 55.

Real Life Ron Burgundy Sacked for Drinking During Live Newscast. If that's an indication of Finnish culture, Finland is freakin' awesome. Well, not that the poor hero was fired, but the fact that he's out there doing it makes me happy.

Great News: Russia Vows to Help Venezuela Build Nuclear Power Plant.

Let's Talk About Race!

Identity Politics Fail: Charlie Crist Scolds Marco Rubio for Turning His Back on Hispanics. I hate identity politics to begin with, but this is just silly. I'll defer to Allah's commentary because I'm lazy and he said it first:

It’s bad enough playing identity politics when one is of the identity in question. It’s doubly offensive when it comes from someone who shares nothing of the ethnicity they purport to represent. In Crist’s case, though, it qualifies as high satire. Isn’t Crist the candidate that just “turned his back” on the political party he led in this state only because Rubio was kicking his rear end in primary polling, and then spent the next several months reversing almost every policy position he ever held? Crist has the nerve to lecture Rubio on political ambition?

Fail.

More about those "overwhelmingly white" rallies. Fun picture comparisons at the link.

Angela Merkel Proclaims Multiculturalism a Failure. Yep, and it's destroying the places who subscribe to it. Assimilation is important and should be encouraged, not discouraged.

Joy Behar and Whoopie Goldberg Walk Out of the View Interview with O'Reilly. I think O'Reilly's a bit of an asshole, and it wrong to smear all Muslims with 9/11. I just wish Joy and Whoopie would be such moral paragons as to stand up to the smears of, you know, 9/11 truthers who think Bush committed 9/11. Because you know,  suggesting that Muslims perpetrated 9/11 is far more sinister and outlandish than suggesting the former President of the United States commissioned an inside job. Think it's time I bust out Ye Olde Conspiracy Theory that I cooked up:

The Future is Going to Rock, Can't Wait to Get There

DIY - Father and Son Launch Camera and iPhone into Space.

Scientists Find Evidence of Psychic Phenomena.

Cell Phones Reveal Emerging Disease Outbreaks.

Pocket Optometry: Use Your Cell Phone to Identify Eye Problems.

And to bring this post to a close, I'm going to link you to some whiny Republican crying about how Libertarians aren't more partisan. I'm sorry I'm not more of a team player, and that I don't support Christine O'Donnell over her opponent, the self-styled bearded Marxist. I never claimed to be a Republican, and excuse me for disliking politicians who's ideas are antithetical to mine. As for who I think is better in the O'Donnell/Coons election, I think that I'll prefer the full-on Marxist, because hopefully he'll be so horrible that it'll motivate Delawareans to throw him out in the next election. Meanwhile, if that embarrassment O'Donnell won, it'd be the Republicans who have an embarrassment to deal with. Look at Alan Grayson (D) in Florida, he's doing more damage to Democrats than a Republican ever could, and so count yourselves lucky if O'Donnell loses. God knows her parading about trying to convince people that masturbating is bad (if masturbating is bad, I'm going to the Hitler level of Hell) and that she's not a witch (uh, duh?). However, Miss Clouthier, I did appreciate this part of your post, which will be the exit quotation to mine.

P.S. NO ONE believes the old Republican guard has learned their lesson. NO ONE. Can we just chuck this straw man right now? Set it on fire. Throw it in the streets and stomp it so you can make sure it’s not just dead, it’s libertarian dead (really super, extra special, smarty pants dead). What people in the Tea Party believe is that 2010 is a START. And then, there’s 2012, where a whole bunch of scumbag Senators are up for re-election. Guess what? They’re going to be primaried and lose, too. This wave Is Not Stopping.

I'm glad that's a common sentiment.

That's Just What We Call Pillow Talk, Baby

Pillow Talk, explained by evolution. 

Women seemed to prefer let's-just-lay-here-for-awhile activities like kissing and chatting, while men seemed eager to leap out of bed and start, um, drinking.

Drinking is fun, but I also like sandwiches. For some reason, I'm thinking of a peanut butter and fluffernutter sandwich, it sounds like the best post-coital sandwich to me.

Study author Susan Hughes explained that, from an evolutionary perspective, this makes perfect sense. Women want to put on "Pink Moon" and spoon for hours for the emotional purpose of bonding and the physical purpose of being horizontal and retaining sperm (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew). Men don't need to lay there to ensure that our genetic material doesn't dislodge from their innards, so they do things that will aid future mating success in some way -- either by having sex again (powering up with a panini and a Lagunitas), or asking for something that they want while we're all flustered and sexually roughed up.

I'm glad there's science out there to explain this phenomenon.

Moar psy-ince! Increased Solar Activity May... Cool the Earth? This to me just confirms that nobody in the scientific community knows what the fuck they're talking about when it comes to global warming.

Another reason people don't trust environmental science. When science gets politicized, it loses it's integrity. You get people who start studies with predetermined conclusions, and then manipulate or read data in ways that support their foregone conclusions. That directly opposes the scientific method, but what do I know, I'm not a scientist.

Like with climate science, studies on domestic abuse and rape with foregone conclusions lack integrity. Domestic abuse is a terrible thing, and lying about or distorting facts to support your thesis ultimately hurts the true victims of domestic violence.

The greatest obituary picture evah? H/T to Eric at Grim's Hall.

Kurt Albert in lederhosen, holding a stein of beer while dangling from a precipice

MTV, BET, and CMT are doing a casting call for the audience of a Barack Obama townhall. What's wrong, B-rock? Can't fill the stands on your own, or do you want the audience hand-selected so none of them give you trouble? Note that they're asking for a photo and a description of your political views. Keep it in mind when the only Republican is a hideous fat mess who is looking for the One's birth certificate.

72,000 Stimulus Payments Paid to Dead People. But don't worry, they'll do a great job running healthcare. Also, the WSJ on it:

The SSA says that the stimulus package didn’t include a provision allowing it to try to retrieve funds  that were mistakenly sent out, so it can’t try to retrieve the rest of the money. Money transferred electronically may be sitting untouched in bank accounts of dead people.

Good Game.

In the past, I've mentioned the "unexpected" bad economic news trend. To quickly sum it up, every time there's bad economic news in the press, it is always "unexpected." Glenn Reynolds thinks they should perhaps adjust their expectations. I agree, always over-estimate how bad things are, so when things aren't as bad as you estimated, people thank you for saving the day! Anyway, I don't post 'em every time I read about it, but today's "unexpected" economic news gets special mention. "Why?" you ask. Because after Hotair noted it today, Reuters went back and stealthily edited their article to take out the "U" work. As the Chinese would say, "that's hirarious." With today's interwebz technologies, we can see them react to us. True, they haven't nutted up enough to acknowledge their editing, but babysteps people, babysteps. When I go back and edit a published post, I always note the time, place, and correction. Fortunately for me, I don't proofread and so very rarely will I go back and change anything, and I would never go back and change something I wrote to make me look like less of an asshole. Face it, Reuters, your caught, and the cover-up is worse than the crime (although neither were that bad in this case)!

I'm not a tax professional, but here's some food for thought. Study: Expiration of Bush Tax Cuts Will Hurt Poor the Most.

Tunku Varadarajan on Forbes' selection of Michelle Obama as the world's most powerful woman. He makes some very interesting points.

Actually, to say that Michelle Obama is the most powerful woman in the world is not merely absurd; it is retrograde, and misogynist, a tediously sexist take from the power-behind-the-throne school of political theory (which holds that women can only wield power through husbands and sons)...

And whatever it is that Michelle O has—that which Forbes chooses to call “power”—is not intrinsic to her. It comes, entirely, from her marital state. (I am gagging here, somewhat, at having to state the blessedly obvious.) I would have thought that the most “powerful” woman would be the one who had won office herself in the biggest economy available to her: And surely she must be Angela Merkel, the German chancellor: She’s been elected twice by a notoriously fussy electorate, runs a thriving economy—a major world power—and her husband’s an anonymous chemist who has nothing to do with any of it.

The Nobel Peace Prize was given to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident who is currently incarcerated. Of course, China has gone about their routine in-country censorship and stage management, as well as condemned Norway and threatened their relationship. Glenn's commentary cracked me up: "I guess tomorrow he’ll send 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Well, we can use ‘em!" 

His Hands Tied Behind Him

Former CNN-employee and frequent butt of Jon Stewart jokes, Rick Sanchez, got fired last week after calling Jon Stewart a bigot and crying about the Jooz in control of CNN. Jon Stewart got him back on the Daily Show last night with a hilarious segment that showed the world that Rick Sanchez to be the real world Michael Scott (the Office). Well Christopher Hitchens has weighed in on the firing, and in his typical Hitch way, he made me look at the issue from an angle I couldn't previously see. I support his idea to call for Jon Stewart and the Jooz to support Rick Sanchez to be hired back, and if he doesn't get re-hired, he could see first hand that we don't control the media. I personally want him back because he's too hilarious to lose. It's not like having him around costs CNN some of their respect and gravitas; hooker handler Elliot "Gov. Outcall" Spitzer has a show and that network. But like a tree falling in the woods, if Spitzer gets a show on CNN and nobody watches, does it make a noise?

I disagree with Hitchens in that I do think Sanchez was implying that jooz run the media as he simultaneously played the victim card. He also seems to suggest that Jewish success sort of supports Sanchez' statement that the jews don't qualify for entry to the "oppressed minority" club. Success in the face of oppression doesn't mean that the oppression doesn't exist.

Hitch also says, "Self-criticism among Jews, on matters of religion and statecraft, is actually rather noticeable." It's also noticeable on matters of science and technology. From the scary joooo lobby AIPAC, here's a video on Israeli innovation.

 

Also, h/t to my college friend and surfing partner Mona "KGB" Smelnikov, pointing me to this awesome Mark Twain piece from 1899 Harper's Magazine:

 

”...If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky way. properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.

The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?” 

 

And there are people out there that want to snuff us out of existence. There's a reason that Israel is our closest partner in the Middle East. They share our values and dedication to freedom, democracy, and the pursuit of happiness. Take a look at Israel's enemies (our enemies), and know what it is that they wish to destroy.

 

P.S.- You can't spell freedom without Reed.

The Viking Returns!

After a weeklong break during my training course, I am returning to the blog. Please, contain your excitement, I don't want anybody to go into cardiac arrest. I have come to the decision that I will start breaking up my posts, with an individual post for each topic that I write about, and one post per day with a roundup of my favorite links that speak for themselves (or call for minimal commentary).

Victory: Possession of Pot Down to Infraction from Misdemeanor. C'mon Prop 19, pass this fall and give us something to cheer about. Hawaii has legal medical marijuana, I wonder how long until it gets legalized here... probably a long time, considering how long it takes to get anything achieved in Hawaii (30+ years to build H3?). 

From commenter CF, a glorious story about crack in crack... that is, crack-cocaine in a butt-crack. But don't worry, it's not his, he swears!

People fret about diseases making the jump from animals to humans (bird flu, swine flu), but Prof. Jacobson gives us a new cause for concern. Computer Virus Makes Jump to Humans. That stuxnet virus is both terrifying and incredible. I hope we're amping up our cyber-warfare divisions...

Rick James, take notice: The Dangers of Unity. Ed's a smart man, and he hit the nail on the head right here.

Scary stuff in Paris (video at the link). Hat tip to the Mother Viking. For those who have been paying attention, this shouldn't be news to you. Nonetheless, it's pretty crazy to actually see it.

The Miracle of Science: Boob Job in a Bottle. I'm not a big fan of fake bewbs, but if you could make your bewbs larger by stimulating natural body processes, please by all means go ahead. And email me, [email protected] if you'd like feedback.

I'm not a smoker, and I'm happy that I don't have to hang out in stinky smoke filled restaurants and all that, but c'mon this is just retarded: Cincinnati Reds Reported to Health Department for Smoking Victory Cigars. In their own clubhouse... and they were reported by their own fans. But seriously, do they really expect us to believe that there's a team called the Cincinnati Reds?

VDH wrote another great piece, and I wanted to pick out some quotes for you all, but I'd have just taken the whole thing, and I think it truly deserves a full read. This is the one I urge you to read out of all the links in the post. This is the one that would get it's own post if it wasn't late at night (I will start doing that tomorrow). Read the whole thing! How the Unbelievable Can Become the Accepted.

An old argument I've made before, but simply and shortly stated here in this video. Liberals should by all means be Israel's biggest supporters. Would that that were so... The Liberal Case for Israel:

 

Being anti-Israel is almost exclusively a left-wing phenomenon in this nation. That is, not all lefties are anti-israel, but all most anti-Israel folks are lefties. Similarly, not all lefties are anti-American, but most anti-American folks are lefties.

Tony Soprano meets Al Gore: Reduce Your Emissions... Or Else. That's some of the craziest Enviro-fascism I've ever seen, and let me tell you, I've seen my fair share of humanity hating radical Environmentalists. Needless to say the more moderate environmentalists are not thrilled about this campaign.

Apparently, the 1940's are ancient history. Because people who died in my lifetime are obviously irrelevant now. Next they'll tell us that Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is an obscure, kooky text from days long gone (The Fountainhead was published a couple years before Hayek's Road to Serfdom). NYT's Kate Zernike, you fail. Glenn's got some good comments as well at Instapundit.

From my college buddy Leornidas, the appropriate comeback to use if you're a woman and a man asks you to make him a sandwich.

And from my other college buddy and BFFE, Dr. Ago, here's the coolest picture I've seen all weekend. Yes, it's real. Click to see it full sized.

America's Best Moms, Teachers, and Young Dancers

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?

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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.

 

Mullet: Business in the Front, Party in the Back

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