Wednesday, July 8. 2009
Government medical care means the government has nationalized your body.
Mark Steyn, filling in for Rush today. Hate to say it, but I'd rather listen to Mark these days.
 It's the Codex Sinaiticus, a 1600 year-old Greek Bible.
The British Museum curator notes that it does raise some theological questions in its differences from modern versions.
The hand of God moves in mysterious ways, and, sometimes, we humans are His deeply flawed and inadequate agents - or wish to be.
Tuesday, July 7. 2009
This photo was on the morning of the 4th, before I got the rest of my hosed-down camo life jackets and my vast assortment of hosed-clean blaze-orange shooting stuff, some waxed and some not, hanging up on this thing to be dried and refreshed in the sunshine.
That basement flood was rough on my gear (much of which was on or near the floor), and it all needed a serious, high-powered hosing-down -not a washing machine. It got most of the mold and dirt out, but everything needed a good long sunshine treatment.
Maybe I need a real outdoor clothes line, like my Mom has. She hates to sleep on sheets that have not hung in the New England sun, summer or winter. That old Yankee gal believes that sun on your sheets gives you good dreams, and the thick scent of the Berkshire wild thyme helps.
Monday, July 6. 2009
The Dems' twist on a GOP strategy: Spend now, tax later
Related at Am Thinker: How would you design a tax?
A radical feminist wonders why people hate Sarah Palin so much
Related, from Dr. Clouthier:
How many iconic images can one woman conjure? Well, that imagery links energetically to the common person’s hopes and fears. She brings out the clucking church ladies, yes, I’m talking about feminists, wanting to brand her with the scarlet letter for being powerful, sexual, female, beautiful and most of all, feminine. The fangs and claws are bared and it’s as transparent as the politics of a sixth grade dance. Make no mistake: If she were butch, we would not be having this discussion.
Related at Hugh Hewitt: Sarah is running a marathon
Daily sex with younger women helps men live longer.
Australian wine prices dropping lower than bottled water
From Spencer at Watts, re Cap&Trade:
...even if cap-and-trade does what is intended, the reduction in CO2 emissions as a fraction of global CO2 emissions will moderate future warming by, at most, around one tenth of a degree C by late in this century. That is probably not even measurable.
Of course, this whole discussion assumes that the climate system is very sensitive to our carbon dioxide emissions. But if the research we are doing is correct, then manmade global warming is being overestimated by about a factor of 5, and it is the climate system itself that causes climate change…not humans.
If that is the case, then nothing humanity does is going to substantially affect climate one way or the other. Indeed, given the fact that life on Earth depends upon the tiny amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, I continue to predict that more atmospheric CO2 will, in the end, be a good thing for life on Earth.
Yet, many politicians are so blinded by the additional political power and tax revenue that will come from a cap-and-trade system that they do not want to hear any good news from the science. For instance, in my most recent congressional testimony, the good news I presented was met with an ad hominem insult from Senator Barbara Boxer.
I can only conclude that some politicians actually want global warming to be a serious threat to humanity. I wonder why?
The NYT implicitly doesn't want Waxman-Markey. Too weak, they think. They'd rather keep the issue going.
FDR and Positive Rights, etc, at Villainous
"A common bias among the smart is to overestimate how smart everyone else is." Stupider than you might realize
Are you better off than you were 2 years ago, when the Dems took over Congress?
Seen a Christian martyr lately? Here's one.
Who knew? Good grief. In fact, Toyota is the most American car company.
Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal.
Arthur C. Clarke (h/t, LGF)
Sunday, July 5. 2009
At  American Digest.
Semi-sort-of kinda related: More tea parties. Who would not attend a tea party, when invited? I am sympathetic, but, as a red-neck Yankee, I might be more in favor beer parties, meself. Hold the Chardonnay, but I will not despise the baked - or grilled - Brie.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up!
2 Corinthians 12: 2-10 (New Living Translation)
2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Saturday, July 4. 2009
Taking a little break from cleaning the basement, which has now dried out but still smells musty. I had to hose down and sun-dry tons of hunting and fishing gear. Mold on my Filson wax trousers and chaps, but it could be hosed off.
Later, will trim some hedges. Then, take a needed shower, and go to a big annual 4th barbecue party with the reading of the Declaration followed by bbq pork, squid salad, shrimp risotto, lobsters, and burgers, tons of different salads and pies including rhubarb - my favorite - and real cocktails too. Hope it doesn't rain again, but a t-storm will probably blow through. It always does, as if to remind us of the battles for freedom. God's fireworks make man's fireworks seem small.
 At Reason TV, PJ O'Rourke asks "Where was the government with Studebaker?" I miss seeing them, but never would have bought one.
The Anchoress has tons of misc thoughts about Palin. I like the lady, but I'm just not that into celebs.
Speaking of Palin, here's Alaska
Speaking of celebs, fat celebs are stoking the obesity crisis. Stoke on, celebs. It's a free country.
East Germans: life was better under Communism. As we have said repeatedly, not everybody is suited for freedom. Americans are supposed to be.
The "ominous rise" of adjuncts in colleges and universities. Seems to me like normal job conditions for most folks.
Is Afghanistan "winnable"? Matthew Parris doubts it. Afg. isn't a country, except in name only. So what is there to win? Afg, it seems to me, is an attempt at nation-building where there never was a nation. A tall order.
The Great Lakes water levels are rising again. They said AGW was making them drop. Waiting to see if they'll say that AGW is making them rise. My view? There is no "normal" level any more than there are "normal" temperatures. Nature is always in flux.
Shut down debate on health care, says the O to the Dems
What's with Powell? Is he just a regular confused person like me?
Powell in May: Americans Want to Pay More Taxes... Powell in July: But We Can't Afford This
Image: Our international readers may not realize that the Gadsden flag, often featured on libertarian-minded websites, was an early American flag back before the upholstery stripes.
It's a big travel weekend. In Yankeeland, you might very well find yourself driving through the Merritt Parkway's Hero's Tunnel under West Rock ridge in New Haven.
Amusingly, the Merritt, the earliest American parkway, had these criteria in its design:
To ease objections from county residents who feared an influx of New Yorkers on their roads, in their towns, on their beaches and through their forests, highway planners called on engineers, landscape architects and architects to create a safe and aesthetically pleasing limited access highway - one with exit and entrance ramps, but no intersections - that would not spoil the countryside.
With the lighting, the Hero's Tunnel looks like the gates of hell - but it really just takes you to Hamden:
Friday, July 3. 2009
 Her speech showed how good she is, how real she is.
No notes, no teleprompter either. From the heart. I almost cried when she said "The world needs more Trigs" to keep us oriented to the important things. The "elites" don't get it - nor do they know how to operate a fishing boat.
She sounds sane, refreshingly unpolished, as Levin says. She has a life, unlike most pols. Too sane for politics? Or what does she want? Whatever it is, she sure does get attention, doesn't she?
A cool story.
A few links at Insty.
Via Attack Machine -
He thinks so deep that he studies Urdu poetry. No doubt.
That Urdu poetry might be why he is becoming such a screw-up. An overdose of Urdu poetry is known to be dangerous and I know why: I have read more of it than the O has.
 Billions and billions of Indian sodomists are off the hook. What a relief.
Betsy, with more on Ricci:
As people celebrate the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor simply because of her ethnic background and not because of her judicial background, we know that giving people a leg up solely because of their ethnicity is nowhere near over.
Kristol:
Almost a half-century before, a young Democratic president had said this:
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Once an American president had promised we would bear any burden. Our current president promises "we will continue to bear witness." It's quite an evolution.
Is this like "I like to watch"?
From his boss at the EPA:
Mr. McGartland blasted yet another email: "With the endangerment finding nearly final, you need to move on to other issues and subjects. I don't want you to spend any additional EPA time on climate change. No papers, no research etc, at least until we see what EPA is going to do with Climate." Ideology? Nope, not here. Just us science folk. Honest.
I say, Burn the heretic at the stake. Thereby adding a little CO2 to warm up New England. We need it.
Powerline:
Where does the Obama administration end and the Washington Post begin? That is becoming an increasingly metaphysical question.
Related from Discoll: Was anybody really surprised?
More Honduras:
Last Saturday, Honduran soldiers marched into the presidential palace, bundled up President Manuel Zelaya and put him on a plane for Costa Rica.
The ouster had been ordered by the Supreme Court and approved by the Congress, as Zelaya was attempting an illegal referendum to change the Honduran constitution so he could run for another term.
Will someone please explain why this bloodless transfer of power to the civilian legislator first in line for the presidency, in a sovereign nation, is any business of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, Hugo Chavez, the Castro brothers or Barack Obama? For all have denounced the "coup" and demanded Zelaya's immediate return.
The hypocrisy here is astounding.
Thoughtful post on adverse selection at Marg Rev. It's a handy concept.
Krugman makes for a fine straw man. Sort of like Sullivan does. Usually straw men are unreal, as in "some say...", but these buffoons are, seemingly, real. Krugman wants more government stimulus. WTH? This is like idiot religion: If your prayers aren't answered, just pray harder.
Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.
Charles Krauthammer, via a piece at Classical
h/t to Tiger for this series of photos from Afghanistan from the past couple of days. God bless 'em and protect them. Here's one of the pics (note the pup keeping an eye on the photog):
Thursday, July 2. 2009
VDH struggles mightily to identify some theme to make sense out of the ways moral flaws and hypocrisies are played out in the politics of today.
While I admire his effort and enjoy his examples, I think he mostly misses a simple point, the one Lyndon Johnson made about some Central American dictator: "He may be an SOB, but he's our SOB."
It's pure politics, VDH. Politics is not the place to look for moral consistency, moral energy, or intellectual integrity. This is why many believe a degree of sociopathy and narcissism are required in politics.
(As Ace puts it re Sanford: "You can get away with being a bastard, but you can't get away with being a buffoon.")
To the Left, at least, politics is war in which, as they often brag, the ends may justify the means because they like to believe that they are well-intentioned. "By all means necessary.." etc.
I always grant more trust to those who claim to be self-interested - even if they are lying - than to those who claim virtue.
Update: More on public virtue from Rick Moran.
 A soulful traditional song (lyrics here).
Not embeddable, but a good tune about desire for a prostitute. Fun video too. 1993.
Bogus or not, I like these ideas for guys to avoid accompanying their spouses on shopping trips. (It's like the age-old trick of breaking the vacuum cleaner every time one is asked to use it). This is from Mostly Safe for Work:
Wednesday, July 1. 2009
We support the fish ladders. Government built the dams: government should build the fish ladders too.
The Repub's problem with black voters. Solve it, geniuses. In America, it's crazy for any skin color or ethnic group to vote as a block.
Time to declare victory in Iraq. Tiger
Construction spending:
We say it again: That was no military coup in Honduras.
Insty:
MORE CRUSHING OF DISSENT. I remember when protest was patriotic! Seems like it was just a little while ago . . . .
Health care lawsuits, and how they drive medical costs. If an OB pays $250,000/yr for insurance, you are the one who must pay for it.
Synthstuff:
I call it the SUE defense, the Shut-Up Explanation. Here’s a quick and dirty example of how it works:
Skeptic – “There has been no global warming since 1998.”
Green – “Shut up!”
In which Tom Friedman permanently convinces me that he is a partisan, fad-chasing knucklehead.
More hysteria:
"Today, international action on climate change is urgent and essential. Indeed, there can no longer be any debate about the need to act, because the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), of which I am chairman, has established climate change as an unequivocal reality beyond scientific doubt."
Sorry. There is nothing in science which is "beyond doubt."
Sowell does not want discount medical care.
The hangings have already begun in Iran
The current status of US States' budgets. They love those credit cards, because they spend on our cards, not theirs.
Where did the Madoff money go? Kudlow
Viking:
The law trumps empathy - It was yet another 5-4 Supreme Court split in the Ricci case, but buried in the details is the fact that not a single Justice affirmed the reasoning that SC nominee Sonia Sotomayor used to rule against the New Haven firefighters claiming reverse discrimination.
The Shrimp and Grits I had on Saturday in Alabama were served hot in large Martini glasses with a tiny silver spoon. It was something new to me. Like a dessert. The shrimp and sauce were spooned on top of the grits.
I detected a faint hint of cilantro and lime in the shrimp sauce, but I do not have the recipe. The shrimp were sweet as sugar, fresh from the Gulf, and bite-sized - about an inch long. I do prefer the tender little ones to the big ones for most purposes.
I learned the below from this site (which includes one of the countless recipes for this treat)
In the Low Country of South Carolina and particularly Charleston, shrimp and grits has been considered a basic breakfast for coastal fishermen and families for decades during the shrimp season (May through December). Simply called 'breakfast shrimp," the dish consisted of a pot of grits with shrimp cooked in a little bacon grease or butter. During the past decade, this dish has been dressed up and taken out on the town to the fanciest restaurants. Not just for breakfast anymore, it is also served for brunch, lunch, and dinner.
Tuesday, June 30. 2009
Thanks for these from the Golden Gate Quartet, AVI, from your fine music post. Real American music:
At Am Digest, Bungee dating in NYC. The guy is right. He is an idiot. A gentleman never, never takes a nice girl on a date to a Korean whorehouse.
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