Sunday, October 14. 2007
 John Wayne to the rescue. "One sneeze and you're a dead man." Good job, dude. 12 ga. is what you want for home defence.
The new cure for TMJ. Ace Warmening killing off all the Europeans. Not Americans or Aussies, however. I guess we get to the hospital, in our SUVs, where our docs are our friends, and do not view us as expense items. The Daring Book for Girls. Dr. Helen About the famous "long telegram," by Steyn, via Blue Crab The Single Man's Diet. Hog Read Colbert filling in for Maureen Dowd yet? CIA hijinks. Most unique horse farm. Coyote Defining poverty upwards. Driscoll. Get everyone on the dole and/or the government payroll that you possibly can, and they might vote for you, forever. The "poor" are already in the bag. Next, the middle class. And, speaking of which, more on Hillary's million ideas at Oxford Insanities Time again. Dr. Pat often finds our insanities to be quite insane. Speaking of insanities, Vermont Pot? Good grief. Can't a government employee afford the good stuff? Photo: A Theo lovely. It's Art for Art's Sake, for Pete's sake.
 It's good fun to look for villa rentals in Tuscany. One has to wonder how people found these things before Al Gore invented the internet.
We like this one, south of Siena and not too far from the tourist trap of San Gimignano. Sleeps 12, if you are lucky enough to have some friends.
Iraq sees dramatically low death toll. Good for Iraq, and good for America. Related: More on what Gen. Sanchez really said, at neoneo.
Luke 17: 11-19 11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a]met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Milkweed turning autumn yellow at Maggie's Farm. 
Saturday, October 13. 2007
Have you noticed that Bushitler-Cheney has have turned off their hurricane-generator? Not one storm this year, proving beyond doubt that they do control the weather for their political purposes, drowning millions of brown people when it is to their advantage - and to make money for Halliburton when Halliburton runs short of cash. (Heck, that's why white-colored devils all own tons of Halliburton stock. Be a fool not to.) Our wiley Maggie's Farm staff managed to get a photo of their Halliburton-built weather-generating device, despite the masked armed guards, black helicopters, and top-secret location. As you can see, it is turned off, but well-maintained and ready for action: 
 Everybody knows I hate the euphemism "healthcare." Medical treatment is for illness, unfortunately. Health requires no care. Two medical links:
Brit columnist claims UK's NHS has failed, says each patient is viewed as a "cost." Of course. Surber. Do you want your doctor, or a government employee? Brave New World explains it all: when you get sick, you go to die happily and spare everyone the burden - and they recycle your remains! More on the question of "Who are the uninsured?" Betsy. I see no crisis, and would not trade what I have for anything. If 3% of my cost goes to cover illegals, the irresponsible, and parasites, I don't care all that much - but a "thank you" would be appreciated. My medical insurance cost (with a $5000 deductible) would cover the cost of a nice vacation. Which is more important to me?
A piece in which the Viola does not play second fiddle. What fun these guys have with this piece.
Vaclav Klaus "surprised" by Gore Nobel, wonders what Gore has done for peace. Where our Homeland Security money is going. And, even dumber, The Gumball Threat. The Family Cloth. Sheesh. I do not want to be that Green. h/t, Thompson Secrets of the Knights Templar. AOL News Jewish Elders lift 6000 year-old ban on ham! Onion The rest of the story: What the MSM omitted from the Sanchez speech. Draft Al Gore! Not likely, I think. Is said to despise the Clintons, but is fearful of them. Did you know that the environmental movement was a moral "struggle"? And that I am, apparently, morally bankrupt? At least I have no debt, and I only lie to girls. White lies. From Flopping: On Wednesday, Hillary said: "I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all."
Hillary's just getting started. In another year this figure could be quadrupled. See the background material here.
Gee, that's funny, because I have a million ideas too, and all of them are about reducing the power and scope of the federal government for the freedom and benefit of the citizens.
From the Spectator debates. Just press "download podcast" and it will play. It's long, but entertaining and worth the time. Hop on ye olde treadmill and listen. I did, with some Irish Coffee, and now I and the missus will saddle up for a long October ride over hill and dale among the changing leaves. Hope I don't break my neck.
Cuomo, Kurtz Revel in Media's Ability to Push Antiwar Agenda. A quote: On Tuesday's "Good Morning America," co-host Chris Cuomo and media critic Howard Kurtz ignored the role that liberal bias has played in the decline of ratings for the network evening newscasts. At the same time, Cuomo and Washington Post reporter seemed to be proud of the media's ability to turn Americans against the war in Iraq. Kurtz, who has written a book on the subject, asserted, "I believe that these newscasts in 2005 and 2006 played the biggest single role in helping to turn public opinion against the war." Cuomo agreed and complimented the journalist's analysis. He enthused, "It's easy to say, 'Oh, well. The war was unpopular. People were looking for the unpopularity of it. At some point, the networks gave that to them.' But you have a more penetrating look at it. You take a look at it in terms of the role of the nightly newscasts in shaping the ideas about the news..." According to Kurtz, the top three network anchors kept "framing the story in such a way" that the bad news finally had an impact. And while the two reporters wondered about the effect the iPod and internet are having on network low ratings, at no time did they discuss liberal bias or salient facts such as that journalists backed John Kerry over George Bush by a two-to-one margin.
(Those are Kate's highlights.) Read the whole thing. h/t, Small Dead Gophers. That we are immersed in media partisanship is not news. The news is that they feel emboldened enough to take pride in it.
Ideological purity is for children, who want to insist on exactly what they want, when they want it. Politics is about the practical. As a Conservative, I think it's down to Fred vs. Rudy, and the only relevant question is who can put up the best fight against Hillary Clinton and her machine. I do like Fred very much. See The Conservative Case for Fred Thompson, by Hawkins. I also believe that Rudy is much more conservative than people think. Murdock at NRO: It's Wrong for the Right to be Rudyphobic. Despite all the things that weigh against Hillary, I think it is going to take some fancy footwork to put her on the ropes. Is Fred up to that? Can he be expansive, vital, cheerful, embracing - or is he a grumpy old man like me?
Friday, October 12. 2007
Our contributor Roger de Hauteville, the one-time King of Sicily, reminded me of Roxy Music the other day. Some called them the triumph of artifice over substance, and some saw in them the precursors of punk and other pop styles. I have no idea why this was called "art rock" and "glam rock," but it was, and it isn't really my cup of meat but it is lively.
 The WSJ has the old-timey story of the Southside Sportsmen's Club in the 1880s, and Long Island's fishing secret - the Connetquot River, which holds large sea-run (and hatchery) trout.
I am fortunate to have fished that stream. (Reservations required, and barbless hooks, which I prefer anyway for all fishing purposes.) Henninger's piece Where Big Fish Caught Big Trout, begins thus: Assume you are a wage slave in New York City. As respite, you favor the joys of fishing streams for large trout. You have a couple of choices. Travel 2,206 miles to the banks of the Madison River in Montana, or thereabouts. Plan B: Early on a weekday morning, load your car with a flyrod, stream waders and a box of flies, drive some 57 miles out of New York City on the old Southern State Parkway into Long Island, turn in at Connetquot State Park, in Oakdale, walk to your reserved "beat" on the Connetquot River, fat with rainbows, brookies and browns. Oh, and there's a bonus: You will have arrived at the living heart of the politics and history of the Empire State.
Read the whole thing (link above). Photo above: A big Brown we caught on the Connetquot last September. Below, my photo of my beat on the stream that day. 
 What happens when the government mandates free hats for all. White Coat Rants (h/t, Bruce Kesler)
Also, Americans' Sense on Health Care, from Bruce re Rasmussen polling. And, speaking of heathcare and free hats, Hillary asserts access to the internet is a right. As Right Thinking comments in a humorous piece, Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, is there anything Hillary doesn’t think the government should be doing?
Lastly, a great quote from Fightin' Rudy: "If we do Hillary care or socialized medicine, Canadians will have no place to go to get their health care."
That line from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani drew plenty of laughs at Tuesday's Republican debate. Sure, Michael Moore's absurd fantasy that our northern neighbor's rationed government-run health care system is one to be coveted rings pretty funny. But the underlying realities are fatally serious.
Our Aliyah Diary author Nathan sends us this piece from Jewish Chronicle describing how noted Marxist Bertell Ollman wishes to "resign from being a Jew" prior to surgery. A quote from the piece: ...it is lonely, on the left, when you step out of line. And the party line, when it comes to Israel and the Jews, is that one can express a proud Jewish identity only through the experience of suffering and victimisation from the past, which the Holocaust has come to embody above all. The Jew as a victim and as a witness of the quintessential, archetypal experience of suffering emerges as the positive Jewish role-model, in sharp contrast to the pro-Israel or even Zionist Jew, who is chastised for having betrayed both universal values and what is seen as the authentic Jew. Again, to borrow from Christian terminology, the Jew as the sacrificial lamb, the Agnus Dei, is what we are being asked to be.
That’s why so many Jews, spiteful of their faith and ashamed of Zionism’s accomplishments as a society which rejects the role of the victim, wish Israel away. For them, it was so much better before Zionism, when we could still say, with some self-righteousness, S’iz shver tsu zayn a Yid — it is hard to be a Jew!
Roger Simon explains How the Neocon Got His Trunk, and his voyage from Lib to Neocon. One quote: Perhaps it was that I got to visit the People’s Republic of China quite early (1979) and later Cuba and the Soviet Union (twice) on cultural exchanges that I began to see those countries as gigantic jails. Still, I lived in a curious twilight zone where many in my generation found themselves, sympathizing, in principle, with the egalitarian socialist ideal while encouraging, even helping, writers and other dissidents to escape those societies. Hello, cognitive dissonance. It was all part of who we were – the way we were, if you will. My trips behind the Iron Curtain were considered “groovy” in Hollywood, where I worked. They gave me panache. We were light years beyond the Blacklist. And then something happened. Eastern Europe started breaking away from the communist world and the Soviet Union fell. Never mind that the reviled Reagan may have had some responsibility, everyone – or at least most everyone - rejoiced. And it wasn’t just a totalitarian system that was dissolving, socialism as an economic system lay in tatters. To call it “scientific” was laughable. The Left was left with little to do, little to organize around. (Bill Clinton, recognizing this, essentially deserted his own side by walking back on welfare issues).
Read the whole thing.
This is rough, from an editorial piece in The Telegraph: The former US Vice-President has already taken over from Michael Moore as the most sanctimonious lardbutt Yank on the planet. Can you imagine what he'll be like now that the Norwegian Nobel committee has given him the prize?
I don't know what bothers me about him most - his condescension or his lying and hypocrisy. But I could care less about his weight: I'd bet that the Gores have a very good chef. All of this will seem very silly, though, when we hit the next crisis of global cooling, in which case Al will be well-insulated.
Donald Douglas, who we read regularly, has a new blog, American Power. He explains why the change from Burkean Reflections.
Has the political atmosphere shifted back to redistributionism? Be careful. It's easy to kill the goose. Kiss my ass, Empire State Building, says Ace Moronic Islamists go after Buddha again. They hate Buddha as much as they hate Jews. Also, how the Islamists attempt to influence Western elections. Banning knives in the UK Burning food for cars is stupid. Coyote. We agree. We have 500 years worth of oil in North America. Let's use it, while we build nuke plants. Sarkozy: “If you think 53 makes you old enough to retire, then fine, go ahead and retire. But don’t expect the state to pay for it.” Rudy's to lose. Cafe Hayek. I agree. Imperfect as he is, I think he's my guy. I was hoping for Thompson, but he seems half-asleep.
Nasty little printer's devils spew forth from the press in this Puck cartoon of Nov 21, 1888. (H/t, Gumshoe) 
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