We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
You're thinking, "A half-court basketball shot? Hey, it might take me a few tries, but no big deal!"
I remind you, though, that form also counts.
But on a low note, as long as I was on YouTube I decided to investigate the darker side of basketball, so I did a search for "basketball cheerleader mayhem bloody death" and came up with the following horrific scene of a cheerleader being brutalized right there in public.
I didn't have the stomach to watch past the halfway point, though.
The 45-year-old former lawyer added: ‘We are going to take England — the
Muslims are coming. Brussels is 30 per cent, 40 per cent Muslim in
Amsterdam. Bradford is 17 per cent Muslim. These people are like a
tsunami going across Europe.”
"Pre-school" is a fancy word for group babysitting. If government provides it, though, it is union jobs. Suddenly, babysitters are converted into "educators." That means union dues, and votes.
Mrs. B. and I are also "experts in pre-school education." We spent enough years providing it, for free, to our clan. It worked out just fine. We have nothing against group baby-sitting, which is fine too.
Does anybody outside of DC care? Not likely. Taxing and spending is all they know how to do, and most of us are sick of that by now.
After all, these are not particularly intelligent or creative people but they have figured out how to keep their jobs. That's something - keeping a job.
So, after reviewing Fox News, CNN, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, The Washington Times and The Washington Post's web sites this morning, guess how many articles I saw rejoicing in the day's events as we honor our great presidents from the past?
Zero.
It appears Presidents Day has joined Flag Day and Arbor Day in the dustbin of history.
Still, there is hope.
Although it's filled with the usual liberal drool (global warming is going to kill us in 30 minutes, all guns are evil, et cetera ad nauseum) the movie The American President is a wonderful flick with a great cast, clever dialogue, good music and excellent direction.
Including the beginning.
I have a post on my personal fave, Theodore Roosevelt, here.
Drones are taking to the skies in the U.S. - Federal authorities step up efforts to
license surveillance aircraft for law enforcement and other uses, amid
growing privacy concerns.
As a small side note, in case you missed my post last Tuesday, I'm not feeling very well these days, so haven't been blogging very much. But I feel pretty good today so I thought I'd do a little gobsmacking of the AGW industry.
Everyone needs a hobby.
I discovered a terrific site called The Straight Dope the other day, which is just filled with fun, biting questions and answers.
I spent the whole day going through the archives and had a terrific time.
At least, until I got to the first global warming article.
All those silly up-and-down temperature cycles that have occurred over the past 10,000 years? Pfft! Ancient history, bud! Especially in light of the literally tons of CO2 we're dumping into the atmosphere on a daily basis.
Tons, he'll tell you, tons.
And it also appeared that — just perhaps — some of his questions were a bit 'staged' so he could show off his expertise. Questions such as:
If I were an evil genius, how could I go about melting the ice caps?
I won't link to the article since I'm going to quote most of it here.
So, okay, let's say man-made global warming is going to melt the ice caps and raise sea levels up 200 feet, or whatever the latest projection is.
But just how much energy would truly be involved in such an undertaking? Bear in mind as you read his first three hypotheses that we're comparing them to what's currently spewing CO2 into the atmosphere; that is, a smattering of coal plants and factories with more emission controls imposed on them than at any time in history, a bunch of small-engine cars that are emitting less pollution than at any time in history, and a 'green' culture that condemns the slightest waste of energy as possibly heretical.
So, what exactly would it take to actually melt the ice caps?
“There is wide scientific consensus that the increased number and intensity of climate change induced natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis and hurricanes, is of alarming concern,” said Ruppel, though adding that not all climate events lead to disasters.
Via Pirate. Somehow, the guy forgot to include meteors and solar eclipses.
The 18-29 crowd say government should do more, more, more, and that’s the way they vote. These young people, who have been miseducated and conned by politicians, are in for quite a surprise. Not only are they unemployed in record numbers and can’t afford their student debts, there’s this: if the national debt fell solely on their shoulders (which much of it does), that would be another $300,000 they’d each be responsible for. A mortgage without a house to go with it. They’re going to be pretty angry if ever they wake up.
A government limited to few things can probably do those things well, and thus it's likely to be trusted. A government that tries to do many things, might do them badly, and be less highly regarded.
“But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems, that the economic downturn happened because our government didn’t tax enough, spend enough and control enough. And, therefore, as you heard tonight, his solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.”
You might have noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately. The truth is, I haven't been feeling very well. It's not that I'm getting any worse; it's that I seemed to have stopped getting better. I did real well (according to the doc) after my tumor operation, but it seems like sometime during November I kind of leveled off at about 75% better. I still have bouts of weakness and sleepiness and a physical feeling bordering on nausea. And I just haven't found it in me to write about anything. As long-time readers know, even my most dire and scariest of articles, like the ones on the domestic spy drones, still have an upbeat, chipper edge to them, just because that's who I am.
They already did one standard blood test but the doc wants to do a more elaborate test, which I just can't afford right now. I'm already into the hospital for almost 300 clams and don't want to sink any deeper, nor am I sure they'd let me. I still have my operation's donation link here, but I wouldn't hope for any help on this. It's one thing to pitch in when someone's got a pending operation, whereas everybody's got medical bills. But I felt obligated to toss it out there.
By the way, there was one ironic note that I forgot to mention in my post-op posts. Within a few weeks of my operation, both my mother and a close friend up in Miami Beach had operations that involved surgery.
Both of them got infections after the operation. Thankfully, modern medicine came to their rescue.
Me, getting my operation in dirty, filthy, don't-drink-the-water Mexico, sailed through without a hitch.
That says something -- but I'm honestly not sure what.
If I do end up just kind of fading away, I'd like to say what an honor it's been to blog here these past five years. In twenty years of being online, I have never seen a site like it. Where else will you see video essays like my posts on horses, baseball and the amazing Jackie Evancho, only to next read an inside look at the higher education bubble, followed by a penetrating inquiry into the human psyche -- then end up with 'Chipmunk Of The Week'?
There's just no putting a price on something like that.
... the shock, in my mind, is not his commitment to compulsory redistribution, but that a leader so young has such old ideas. He is a man from America's past.
Barack Obama is old-school. He believes in top-down planning, not bottom-up incentives. He sees government as an industrial machine, though he lives in the age of the network. He trusts political and artificial imperatives from Washington, not natural and organic choices by ordinary Americans.His answer to irresponsive, ineffective, unaffordable old government is not reform, but to produce more of it. Obama's bright young smile cloaks archaic ideas, ill-suited for today's global economic race.
Good news: 
Dunkin' Donuts 
Interactive 
Pheasant populations 
You know you've been waiting for it: 
As a small side note, in case you missed my 
"Everybody has won, and all must have prizes, the Dodo said." 
The magical p
You might have noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately. The truth is, I haven't been feeling very well. It's not that I'm getting any worse; it's that I seemed to have stopped getting better. I did real well (according to the doc) after my tumor operation, but it seems like sometime during November I kind of leveled off at about 75% better. I still have bouts of weakness and sleepiness and a physical feeling bordering on nausea. And I just haven't found it in me to write about anything. As long-time readers know, even my most dire and scariest of articles, like the ones on the domestic spy drones, still have an upbeat, chipper edge to them, just because that's who I am.