Howler of the day: George McGovern is back. He blames the "insurgency" on Amerika. Natch. First time I read it, I thought it was a satire. But, come to think of it, I guess he is an expert on quitting and losing.
Cross Ball State U off the list. Michelle. Just another school that does not tolerate diversity.
Frito-Lay's new healthy snax: One quote from the release:
PLANO, TX—With the recent trend of wholesome snack foods reaching "truly ridiculous proportions," Frito-Lay announced Monday that it would, against its better judgment, roll out a new line of healthy fruit-and-vegetable-based chips next February.
"Here," said Frito-Lay CEO Al Carey as he disgustedly tossed a bag of the company's new Flat Earth-brand snack crisps onto the lectern during a meeting with shareholders and members of the press. "Here's some shit that's made from beets. I hope you're all happy now that you have your precious beet chips with the recommended daily serving of fruit, or vegetables, or whatever the hell a 'beet' is."
From state icon to pest: the gator resurgence in FL. Don't they call them swimming handbags?
New Hampshire needs a border fence. On the southern end. Wizbang
Classical Values reflects on the election:
Whether the Republicans are viewed from a libertarian perspective, an economic conservative perspective, or a social conservative perspective, they failed.
I mean, the best I could come up with was "Hold your nose and vote Republican!"
While that can hardly be called a winning slogan, as it turned out, I had such a terrible cold that I didn't need to hold my nose.
Under the leadership of the New York Times, as quoted at Dem Project:
"During the last 50 years, New York State’s share of U.S. income has declined 37%, while Minnesota’s remained constant, and New Hampshire’s increased 67%. New York State now ranks 45th among the 50 states in population and income growth, and percent of the adult population employed. Although NYS spends the most per pupil for education, our state has the 44th lowest graduation rate. Four out of ten students do not graduate from high school in New York State.
"Our state has the highest per-capita tax burden of the 50 states, a burden that is 53% over the national average. Per-capita state and local government debt is 76% above the national average. Per-capita state and local government spending is 46% over the national average. State spending increased 13% this year, far faster than revenue growth, and four times the inflation rate. From 2000-2004, New York lost over one million residents to other states, 300,000 more than any other state."
More agenda-driven fear-mongering from The Lancet. This time it's evil chemicals. We are getting well past the point of taking that once-venerable mag seriously. Worstall
A good word for Oprah, at Slower Pace
Why do we use the word "just," especially in prayer? Middlebrow
Live for today? From Viking:
A quarter of Americans plan to eat cat food in retirement – From Dayton Business Journal: “While most people know that Social Security and company-provided pensions might not be available when they hit retirement, many still plan to rely on them. In the survey, a phone poll of 1,000 nonretired people throughout the United States, 23 percent say they intend to use Social Security as their primary income source in retirement.” The primary source of income! Good luck with that.
An opinion, from Shape of Days. I tend to think he just wants the world to stop turning, but I'm sure others share his feeling, which I suspect comes from too much negatively-slanted news. A quote:
But ours is not a happy or healthy nation. Confidence in the American way is as low as I’ve ever known it to be. Optimism, long endangered, seems to have become extinct.
I’d use the word “malaise” here, but the irony would be too much to bear.
I think the first step toward restoring confidence in America — at least in my own heart, if not in the minds of the American people as a group — is for government to just slow down for a while. September 11, two wars overseas, a natural disaster at home, the Patriot Act (which has done more good than harm), the Military Commissions Act (which merely by existing does far more harm than it could ever do good) … there’s just been too much change in the past six years.
