What? Me blog?

2011-12-31T23:01:00.001-05:00

Happy new year!

Classic!

2011-03-02T02:16:00.002-05:00

Best science fiction short story compilation ever! I loved this book as a kid and love re-reading them 40 years after I read hem the first time.

Many of the stories have been adapted to film, among them The Last Mimsy (Mimsy Were the Borogoves), Arena and Charlie (Flowers for Algernon.) These are classic stories in every sense of the word. Whether you like Science Fiction as a genre or not, these stories are must-reads.

I have - finally - signed up for Facebook...

2011-02-17T12:29:00.004-05:00

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and am unimpressed.

Signed up for Skype and part of the signup process was a pitch for Facebook, to which I succumbed. My family have all adopted the social network and so I decided to take the plunge and give it a try. It has all the depth of a Yahoo! comments page with the ability to at least filter the commenters, but the lack of depth which seems to be a hallmark of the site is annoying, at least to me. My wall is covered with graffiti and the sheer volume generated by just 9 friends is amazing.
I suspect that that at least two of them are professional content providers. How they find the time to post so much is beyond me.
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60 degrees and the mid-winter thaw is well under way, as is my annual bout with hacking pain in the posterior lung problem I got this year, now entering its third month. Every year it gets harder to kick it and this year has been a real bitch. I've managed to stay out of the hospital this time - at least so far - but almost caved the night before last as I couldn't get my breath and my chest hurt from trying to hack up the latest hairball. Sleeping is the biggest problem. I'm tired all the time. I've begun medication, so we'll see how that works out.
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I've been hard presssed not to drag the bike out for a ride, however brief, but, Lord, the last couple of days have been glorious. My last ride was on New Year's Eve (probably why I have pneumonia or something now) and the road calls. I have maintenance to perform before I will allow myself to get the bike out, and I mean to get it done before I talk myself out of doing it. Once the bike comess out, I'd rather ride than work on it. As my garage is not heated, if it's nice enough to ride, it's nice enough to work.
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October was my last post, huh?

Huh.

Wow! October already?

2010-10-04T08:08:00.003-04:00

Frost is literally on the pumpkin. I slept with the windows open and the ceiling fan running - air should move! - and the other denizens of the hoosiertoo household woke up whining about the cold, although I had already been out walking barefoot through the frost, and so wasn't moved by their pitiful whining. Wimps!

Barefoot through the frost, you ask? The dogs wanted out and the one of the tie out cables was wrapped around a tree - stupid dog! - and whoever let the dog in didn't bother to untangle it, leaving the cable well out of reach. I was far too impatient to hunt for my shoes, so off I went across the frozen tundra to retrieve the cable. I did manage to find my shoes - no socks though - to walk my grandson to the bus stop later, but I didn't wear a jacket.

I'm sure the I made a pretty picture for the bus driver - middle-aged fat man in sneakers, no socks, sweatpants and a t-shirt drinking a cup of coffee at the bus stop. Come to think of it, thats pretty much my uniform of the day anyway. Poor bus driver! I note she was wearing a coat. Wimp!

Fall is my favorite time of year, even though it sucks that riding season is about done. Short day trips and saddlebags loaded with cold weather apparel are the order of the day, and I wear the helmet more and more often to keep the ears warm. Hard to believe that I was swimming in Lake Michigan a mere two weeks ago - I have pics to prove it. A long warmish Fall like last year would be a wonderful treat - thanks God! - so here's to a long Indian summer.

Many years ago I got suckered by warm weather in late October and took off for a long weekend ride. I got back early on a Monday morning having ridden through torrential rain, high winds, and finally snow all in the same day as I worked my way back north to North Muskegon on my '74 Honda 750. I was in the military at the time, and being AWOL come Monday morning wasn't much of an option for me. Considerably younger, I was neither experienced nor equipped to ride in bad weather, and I was miserable by the time I got home. I was actually wearing a trash bag as a poncho! I began bar hopping, stopping every few miles once I got across the Michigan border, to warm up and top up my antifreeze, which doesn't help, by the way. I was too damn cold for whiskey to take the edge off.

I was close to worthless to the Coast Guard that day anyway, although my CO probably didn't notice, me having been the stereotypical drunken sailor of song, early in the morning - Weigh, heigh and up she rises! - on more than one occasion. Luckily the Coast Guard of 1981 was not as inventive at disciplining drunken sailors as was the Royal Navy of 1781!

Today, my bike isn't much bigger (783 cc) but ol' hoosiertoo is much better prepared for fall riding. And I hope do a lot of it yet this year.

Criminal Cops?

2010-08-30T20:51:00.004-04:00

Downsizer Dispatch, from downsizeDC.org, urges that we copy and/or borrow from the following and send to our congress critters. I think that's a wonderful idea! You can too! While you're at it, join downsidedc.org. The more, the merrier and the greater the impact.
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Civil asset forfeiture corrupts our police. It turns cops into robbers.
Civil asset forfeiture is at the heart of government lawlessness:
* It disregards the Bill of Rights.
* It confiscates property from innocent people.
The federal government compounds the problem by cutting-in local law enforcement. They've turned the Drug War into a referral program! In a process known as "equitable sharing," local law enforcement can work with the federal government in pursuit of criminals, and keep as much as 80% of the booty. http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3117&Itemid=165
And where does this money go?
* In Texas, a district attorney has been indicted for using $200,000 of forfeiture funds to line his own pockets and pay for trips to casinos http://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-san-antonio/former-texas-county-district-attorney-indicted-for-misusing-200-000-for-extra-pay-and-casino-trips
* In Indiana, where the law requires forfeiture loot to be spent on public education, only one county is complying with the law. In the other counties, law enforcement departments are keeping almost all the money, and the Attorney General doesn't seem to care! http://reason.com/blog/2010/08/18/indianas-attorney-general-on-a
Are you surprised by this corruption? You shouldn't be.
If confiscating property is an institutional mission, one must worry about the people such a group will employ to carry out that mission. If a government tells its employees that they must steal to meet their budgets - that is, engage in asset forfeiture - then some will rationalize that stealing is okay.
And they'll steal from their employer, too.
The Institute for Justice has a tantalizing list of how some local posses have spent the loot. http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3117&Itemid=165
When asset forfeiture (is aboilished) government corruption (will be reduced.) ...Send a message to the people that the police really are there to serve and protect -- not to steal.

2010-08-29T21:47:00.002-04:00

LaPorte, IN

Lake Geneva

2010-08-12T20:36:00.001-04:00

Bored? Go for a ride!

Independence Day

2010-06-29T14:00:00.003-04:00

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I use Yahoo.com mail and My Yahoo as my portal for news, feeds, etc. The other day, I was perusing the headlines and checked into a story and followed up by reading the comments. I hardly ever check the comments at such sites, except for sports stories; I don't expect much from such comments and I'm rarely surprised. Reading the news story comments was a learning experience. Comments are unmoderated and of unusually low quality. Posters are allowed to rate comments (thumbs up or down.) Comments with low ratings are not displayed unless you opt to see them on a case-by-case basis. You would think people who are interested in the news of the day would have a reasonably good grasp on reality. Apparently, such is not the case.

Go to Yahoo.com sometime and look at the numbers of comments that accompany the news articles at the site. You'll find that there are usually far more comments per article than you will find at sites like Townhall.com or PajamasMedia.com. Then, for a truly disheartening experience, read those comments left by the (mostly) drooling imbeciles who congregate in the forums there. For a real treat, post a well-reasoned comment that doesn't toe the mob's PC line. Prepare to be shouted down, or worse, be subjected to the indignity of those same nattering idiots rating your comment so low as to not be seen. Still, they babble on and on, bereft of reason or civility.

These, friends, are the Americans we need to re-educate if we are going to take back America and restore the Republic? Bah. Who wants it?

Find a defensible chunk of real estate and secede from the death cultists? Now we're talking. I just want to know where to sign up.

Notre Dame and the Big 10-11-12-whatever...

2010-06-17T10:35:00.002-04:00

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I was discussing this issue with a Purdue alum yesterday. I was of the opinion that ND should stay independent. He was ambivalent; ND is a rivalry game after all. I think the rotting corpse of ND football in South Bend is good for the other BCS schools in Indiana and Illinois. If ND is "forced" to join a conference, I'd prefer it to be the Big lEast. Were I in charge of the other Big Ten schools' athletic departments, ND would be off the schedule and left to stew in its own past glory - hopefully to stay in the past. ND doesn't belong in the Big 10-11-12 academically or culturally. It's a shame that so many of the same old folks who remember what ND used to be (in legend if not in fact) are the same folks who think ND would be a good fit for the Big Ten. The B10 probably isn't done expanding; Notre Dame should be left out of the discussion.

How I spent the Memorial Day Weekend...

2010-06-03T21:18:00.002-04:00

Evening on the Fox River

Fox River, Neenah

One Tuesday on the bike...

2010-06-03T21:14:00.004-04:00

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Discovered Wisconsin SR 23 quite by accident while looking for a different route from the Dells back to Neenah. On my way back to Indiana - the LONG way via Galena, IL and a lovely (and way too short) ride down Illinois 84 - found this little one room schoolhouse cum museum and stopped in. If you ever happen to find yourself in Ripon, stop in and have a look. The guide was friendly and knowledgeable and oh-so-quick to point out that the schoolhouse was a non-partisan museum.

I smiled inwardly and enjoyed myself anyway.

Birthplace of the GOP. Ripon, WI

What fools we be...

2010-05-24T21:16:00.001-04:00

Attributed to someone from the Czech Republic and making the e-mails rounds. No actual person cited as the source, but it hits pretty near the mark:

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president."

"The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince.

The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

Substitute the name of virtually any one of the fools - from Dodd to Schumer on the left to Lugar and Snowe on the not-so-far-left - and it is abundantly clear that the electorate is the problem. But why? It's easy enough to point the finger in any direction and score a hit. Education? Sure. Complicit media? Sure.

But the truth is that the electorate has become lazy and complacent. Looking past the party line is too hard. Educating your own kids is too hard. Taking responsibility for yourself is too hard.

Nice win for Rand Paul in Kentucky!

2010-05-20T00:58:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately, the bifactional ruling coalition isn't about to roll over, and Rand Paul, assuming the PTB don't manage to derail his campaign, is likely to be as marginalized in the Senate as Ron Paul is in the House.

The way the parties control the political process you about have to take over a party from the grassroots up to change anything, and that has to happen on a state-by-state basis.

Third party activity is actually counterproductive. The winner-take-all approach to elections and the inability of third parties to change election laws at the state level precludes 3rd parties from anything but the spoiler role. The Paul win is nice, but just winning an election changes nothing where it counts. Our dumbed down electorate will continue to suck down Kool-Aid and return the same old progressives to power, albeit with different names, more often than not.

Democracy ensures the election of the best panderers, and the best panderers are big gummint "progressives." Rand Paul, like his father, will likely be just another exception that proves the rule.

The fate of a turncoat...

2010-05-19T08:05:00.001-04:00

Sen. Arlen Spector: ‘To Eliminate Any Doubt, I Am a Republican....errr, Democratic...errr, unemployed."

I don't know why he thought he was going to get any loyalty from the folks he'd been beating in elections for so long, much less from Obama. They got what they wanted from him. He got no less than what he deserved.

So long, it's been good to know ya!

In support of Arizona.

2010-05-13T00:10:00.006-04:00

As I understand Arizona's immigration law, it is more-or-less a codification of federal law and an attempt to actually enforce laws that the Feds are simply not enforcing. I sympathize completely with what Arizona is doing. I wish more states would adopt such a law. Better yet, I wish the pandercrats in Washingon would actually enforce the law. Good luck with that. I suspect the only way that would happen would be if the migrants were white libertarians and/or lower-middle class Republicans.

FWIW, one of my grandparents was a naturalized citizen (German by way of the Ukraine) and my wife is Hispanic. Her grandparents were also naturalized. I know why immigrants come and I do not object to their presence so long as they are here legally and they behave themselves. If and when they become naturalized citizens, I will welcome them and their children as such.

Charity does not demand that we let everyone into the US who wants in. Just as the Church does not give the Eucharist to every Tom, Pablo and Ivan that walks in the door - they are supposed to be one of us - and while we can and do welcome them, there is a process they have to go through to qualify as "one of us." You know - RCIA, baptism, confirmation and all that legalistic stuff? Even a cradle Catholic has to be reconciled to the Church before he can receive. Why some of the bishops and priests insist that we follow a national policy that the Church doesn't practice herself is beyond me.

True charity would dictate that we insist the Mexican and other Central American governments do something about the sorry states of affairs in their own countries and desist from depending on the US to do what they should be doing for their own citizens. Common sense dictates that we not allow people in who want to destabilize or overthrow our government.

And, really, if the place you are migrating from is so bad, why in the world would you want to recreate in the US the conditions of the hellholes you came from? Californians go home!

No, wait...

The politician who proposes the following is going to get strong consideration for my vote:

1. Build the fence. An open border policy is simply insane. It's no more rational than leaving your door unlocked. Simple folk looking for a better life and willing to work aren't the only people crossing that wide-open border, and more than a few of them are dangerous.

2. Amend the laws on citzenship to exclude children born of non-naturalized citizens.

3. Offer guest visas to those already here. AFTER A REASONABLE TIME, deport those we find who do not have one. Deport those who should not be here (criminals, etc) immediately.

4. Offer permanent visas to those who qualify.

5. Let those who wish to become citizens do so when they have met the criteria.

6. Fine or shut down the employers who hire them.

7. Immediate execution by burning at the stake of race-baiting, pandering politicians and lawyers.*

I'm not asking for a lily-white America. I am demanding that our immigration policy at least be coherent. Illegal immigrants are here. We need to treat them as human beings and take care of them as well as we are able and deport them as fast as is humanely practical if they do not deserve to be here.

*Wishful thinking, I know.

I edited and enlarged this from an earlier post. I daresay I'll be able to trot it out annually with only minor changes, as nothing much will change - except most likely for the worse.

Shout out...

2010-02-17T23:58:00.002-05:00

If you like your music proggy - I do! - and old school, give Progman Radio
a try. I just stumbled across it today - errr, yesterday - and was really impressed with the playlist. Very nicely done!

I give up.

2010-02-10T18:17:00.003-05:00

Comment spam has reared its ugly head and I 've tried to come up with a way to stop it short of turning on comment verification or going back to haloscan (urk) or CoComment.

No such luck.

So word verification it is.

If you stop by, do please comment, if just to say "Hello!"

Decline and Fall of the IPCC

2010-02-10T18:01:00.003-05:00

SEPP.org provides a timeline of the unraveling of the IPCC and it's fraudulent report:

· In mid-August, after repeated requests for such data under the Freedom of Information Act, the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (CRU), one of the three international agencies that calculate global temperatures, announced that it discarded the raw data used to calculate global surface temperatures. The CRU action renders independent review and verification of the temperature trends
published by the CRU impossible – a clear violation of principles of science and
the Freedom of Information Act .
· In October, at the 2009 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Dr. Don Easterbrook presented graphs demonstrating how tree ring data from Russia
showing a cooling after 1961 were truncated and artfully disguised in IPCC
publications. The artful deceit, so exposed, indicates that the IPCC Assessment
Report 4 (AR4) contains deceptions rendering the entire document scientifically
questionable.
· In November, emails from the CRU were leaked to the public. These emails reveal
efforts to suppress independent studies that are contrary to IPCC conclusions of
human caused global warming. Thus, the IPCC scientific review process has a
systematic bias of an unknowable magnitude in favor of human induced warming.
· In mid-December, the Russian Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) reported
that the Hadley Center for Climate Change of the British Meteorological Office
(Met Office) had probably tampered with Russian climate data and that the
Russian meteorological station data do not support human caused global warming.
The Met Office collaborates with the CRU in reporting global temperatures. The
reported global surface temperature trends are unreliable and probably have a
strong warming bias of an unknown magnitude.
· In January, Joe D’Aleo and E. Michael Smith reported that the National Climatic Data Center (NOAA-NCDC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (NASA-GISS) dropped many meteorological stations from their data bases in recent years. The dropped stations, many of which continue to make appropriate reports, are generally in colder climates. The actions by NOAA -NCDC and NASA-GISS make their
reported temperature trends unreliable and likely to have a strong warming bias
of an unknown magnitude. [NOAA-NCDC and NASA-GISS are the two other
organizations that report global surface temperatures.]
· Thus, all global surface temperatures and temperature trends announced by the three major reporting international organizations probably have a warming bias of an unknown magnitude rendering their announced temperatures and temperature trends scientifically unreliable.
· On January 23, 2010, the Sunday Times (London) reported that the AR4 wrongly linked natural disasters to global warming. AR4 claimed that global warming is causing increases in property losses. Yet the Sunday Times reported the actual published report upon which this claim was based actually stated: “We find insufficient evidence to claim a statistical relationship between global temperature increase and catastrophic losses
· In January, Dr. Murari Lal, the coordinating lead author of the AR4’s chapter on Asia, stated that the report deliberately exaggerated the possible melt of the Himalayan glaciers. “We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policy-makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.” This admission demonstrates that the AR4 is a political document and not a scientific one.
· This past week, additional reports reveal that IPCC’s claims that warming will cause extensive adverse effects in the Amazon rainforests and on coral reefs came not from peer reviewed science but from publications by environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace. Thus, the IPCC pretense that it represents peer reviewed science is false.
On December 7, 2009, the EPA administrator made the determination that Carbon Dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The EPA determination is based almost entirely on the reports of the IPCC. During the public hearing period, which closed on June 23, 2009, a number of scientists, including members of SEPP, testified that the IPCC reports are not the best science available; thus such a determination is scientifically flawed. At that time it was not clear the extent to which IPCC science had been compromised. The recent revelations demonstrate that the science upon which the EPA relies is hopelessly flawed.

I blew off the AGW hysteria as a hoax a long time ago. If you still believe - why?

Go Colts!

2010-02-07T12:40:00.004-05:00

The Case Against (some) Aid to Haiti.

2010-01-27T18:40:00.004-05:00

If You Rebuild It, They Will Come ESPN has already cut ties with Paul Shirley over this column, but he's only saying what needs to be said, and should have been said to the survivors of other natural disasters.

It shouldn’t be outlandish to hope that we might stop short of the reactionary word that is so often flung about after natural (and unnatural) disasters. That word: Rebuild. Thus, the tired, knee-jerk cycle of aid/assist/rebuild would be replaced by a new one: Aid/assist/let’s-stop-and-think-before-we-screw-this-up-again.

If forced to do so through logic-colored glasses, no one would look at Haiti and think, “You know what? It was a great idea to put 10 million people on half of an island. The place is routinely battered by hurricanes (in 2008, $900 million was lost/spent on recovery from them), it holds the aforementioned title of poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, and it happens to sit on a tectonic fault line.”

If it were apparent that Haiti would likely rebuild in an earthquake-resistant way, and if a cure could be found for hurricane abuse of island nations, then maybe one could imagine putting a sustained effort into rebuilding the place. But that would only be feasible if the country had shown any ability to manage its affairs in the past, which it has not done.

I was against rebuilding Nawlins. People who build in flood plains deserve what they get. That doesn't mean I don't have compassion for people devastated by these natural disasters. Many of his other points, such as the responsibility of the people of Haiti for their government, echo my own blurts on this blog at one time or another.

Paul Shirley will likely be villified for this column, but he shouldn't be.

Errata

2010-01-27T18:13:00.007-05:00

Obviously, I haven't been doing much in the way of blogging. Not that anyone has likely missed my screeds...
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I have spent a lot of time catching up on my reading, mostly American Revolution and Civil War. I've spent WAY too much time watching TV lately. Mostly I watch movies, sports and news - I never watch series television. Netflix on the Roku device (which is still performing marvelously) is addictive. There are some decent movies that flew under the radar, and a lot of foreign films I wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise, that eat up a couple of hours a day. Plus it seems a waste to let that new 52" plasma go unwatched. My remining free time is usually spent w/grandchildren or motorcycling, or yard work, or doing ANYTHING besides in front of my computer typing out this drivel.
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The good people of Massachusetts declined to resurrect Kennedy's bloated corpse and return him to the Senate. Good for them. They did, however, elect a big government liberal - albeit with an "R" after his name. Oh, well. I guess you can't have anything.
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GO COLTS! Man do they look good on that new 52" plasma...
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I've managed one ride on the motorcycle since late November. Where's global warming when you really need it?
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Fat. Dumb. Happy.

Not much to blog about.

51. Woohoo

2010-01-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to me...

Good riddance.

2009-08-27T18:34:00.003-04:00

When I first heard of Ted Kennedy's death, I was glad to hear of it. In my journey across the political spectrum one thing has remained constant: I have always detested Ted Kennedy. Despite the glowing eulogies - even hagiography - for Ted Kennedy, I am confirmed in my initial reaction.

The only thing better than a dead Ted Kennedy now - seemingly the only way to get him out of the Senate - would be if the son of a bitch had drowned 40 years ago instead of Mary Jo Kopechne. Though unfortunately his influence lingers on, I, for one, am glad he's gone. My only desire is that the Massholes who kept returning the bloated gasbag to office will collectively come to their senses.

I'm not holding my breath.

R.I.P.

2009-06-25T19:59:00.006-04:00

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In the dim recesses of memory, all the faces of my youth look the same now as they did when. Angela, Kathy, Cecil, Terry and all the other friends, acquaintances, lovers and enemies of my past haven't changed at all. On the rare occasions when I encounter any of them, there is a momentary struggle to match the latest incarnation of an old friend to my memories. Pop icons are no different.

I can't say I was ever a fan of Michael Jackson, but there was no escaping him. He was on the cover of every fan mag and tabloid for the last 40 years. With his increasingly bizarre behavior and the sad, strange caricature of himself that he became, it's hard to believe that this normal kid became the media's favorite train wreck of the past decade or so.

Michael Jackson and I had little in common. He was a male, born a Hoosier and 50. That was about it. Today, we have even less in common, as he is no longer sucking air. Jackson had issues and demons I'll never face. I wouldn't trade places with him for all his money. While I certainly don't condone his actions or his "lifestyle," I try not to cheerlead for the devil. So here's hoping that Michael stands before his Maker and is shown the mercy none of us deserve.

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On the wall in my office is a Snap-On clock of early '80's vintage, I'd guess. The lovely young model who posed for the photo that is on the face of that clock is probably at least 45 now. I know she has more than a few admirers a third of her age because the model in that 27 year old picture is as lovely now as she was then and will remain until the end of time - or of that clock at any rate...

The Farrah Fawcett of 2009 is not the same person as the youthful Farrah of 1976. If you came of age in the 70's, chances are you either had this poster or knew someone who did. In 1976 I was a senior in high school. This poster was everywhere. 33 years later, the subject of the photo, and the object of so many young men's fantasies, is dead.

Rest in peace, Farrah Fawcett.

An anonymous 8th century Saxon...

2009-05-11T21:31:00.004-04:00

beholds the Roman ruin:

‘Strange to behold
is the stone of this wall
broken by fate
The strongholds are bursten
The work of giants decaying
the roofs are fallen
the towers are tottering
Mouldering palaces roofless
Weather marked masonry shattering
Shelters time-scarred tempest-marred
undermined of old

Earth’s grasp holdeth
Its mighty builders
tumbled, crumbled
in gravel’s harsh grip
Till a hundred generations
of men pass away.’

RINO Specter a Demonrat

2009-04-29T11:11:00.004-04:00

...and also a liar.

Sen. Arlen Spector: ‘To Eliminate Any Doubt, I Am a Republican’

One RINO down; quite a few more to go. Snowe of ME should be shown the door so she can hit it too.

“What a bunch of stupid bitches most single mothers are.”

2009-04-24T22:07:00.003-04:00

Hey, I didn't say it! This guy did! And if you think that statement was bad, wait'll you catch the title of the article.

Funnily enough, an old New York University study from the ’50s says they’re just that, specifically, “overtly dominant, aggressive, narcissistic and bitterly hostile.” Sounds accurate to me. Shit, I get uncomfortable when I see babies with pierced ears, but you’re cutting out 50% of their parenting? Isn’t that child abuse? Talk about starting your child out with a crippling handicap. - Gavin McInnes

I didn't say it, not in this way anyway, but I agree with him.

Just...Wow!

2009-04-24T13:09:00.004-04:00

Starving the Beast

I wish I could increase spending with falling revenue, but then I don't have my very own printing press. Counterfeiting is worse when the government does it. The small-timers can't make enough funny money to do any real damage and the bills are spotted and taken out of circulation quickly. We'll be straightening out this mess for generations.

What morons we elect. What morons we must be.*
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-
-
-
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*in the collective of course. We both know we're really pretty smart, don't we?**

**At least I am!***

***No - really!

Really good, without hyperbole!

2009-04-24T11:26:00.004-04:00

Jim Babka writing at Positive Liberty -

If you’ve never been to DownsizeDC.org, I encourage you to visit. We provide a free to the user program that we call the Educate the Powerful System. With your basic contact information, you can find out who your Representative and Senators are, and then, send them a personalized message, simultaneously (no need to go to all three sites and input all your information each time). Register once, and you’re done with that too — no need to redo the process when you use the site again. Plus, you’ll get a subscription to the Downsizer-Dispatch. The benefit of using our system is that you’re not alone in sending your messages. 24,900+ people receive the Dispatch each day.

Huzzah!

As a more-or-less orthodox Catholic - that is, a social conservative - I obviously take issue with my more socially liberal brethren at Positive Liberty and other such sites, but this is a great site. The ability to hit all of my congresscritters at the same time is, if not priceless, then wonderfully convenient.

Babka's post on the evil's of HR 875 Really Bad (Without Hysterical Exaggeration) is spot on. It is a farm safety bill that would be a disaster for farmers and the rest of us. You can see information on HR 875, including the whole text of the bill, at govtrack.us. No exaggeration, this bill is a disaster in waiting.

The revolution begins?

2009-04-21T13:51:00.003-04:00

Not by windbag libertardians talking King George to death, but a 68-year-old fart with a thing against getting speeding tickets in the mail, apparently.

Doug Georgianni, 51, was on the eastbound side of the highway inside a Ford Escape used in the Arizona Department of Public Safety photo-enforcement program when police said (Thomas Patrick) Destories pulled up in a 1980s model Chevrolet Suburban and fired several shots at the van about 8:45 p.m.

Prayers for Georgianni and his family, and for Destories.

The comments to the story are revealing. The photo radar program, put in place by current head of DHS and ex- AZ gov Napolitano seems to be unpopular.

All Purpose O-pology

2009-04-21T13:27:00.003-04:00

From American Digest:

TO: White House Staff
FROM: David Axelrod
cc: POTUS, FLOTUS, TOTUS, CNN, MSNBC, JOURNOLIST

RE: Standard O-Pology Policy [For immediate release to loyalists]

The continuing strain on our beloved President Obama of His world-girdling apology tour is beginning to show on our Commander-in-Chief. In addition, even with several hundred more aides in the White House than his predecessors, the effort of crafting new craven and groveling statements is beginning to tax even those resources. In the interest of a more efficient government, our beloved President today signed off on the following document which will be used henceforth for all state occasions.

All Purpose O-pology

I, [SAY YOUR NAME AND TITLE], come to [NAME EVENT / COUNTRY / MEDIA OPPORTUNITY / CHANCE ENCOUNTER] today as the very first penitent, conscience-stricken, regretful and contrite American President. Speaking as the one and only unifying voice for My country, I beg your indulgence to say that all Americans now share the pain our very existence causes you and we deeply regret it. We repent of our lives, our freedom, and our prosperity with every shred of our American soul. Hear now our eternal confession of sin and error.

The rest of the post is equally sad and funny. Sadly funny. I swear Obambi is actively trying to supplant Jimmy Carter as "Worst President Ever." I'm already longing for the good ole days of the Bush presidency - urkh.

AIDS Prevention in Africa

2009-04-21T00:54:00.004-04:00

It seems strange that 30 years later we are still having a conversation about a disease that is easily preventable. And yet, due largely to a wholly inadequate response to the problem of AIDS, more people have died and many more have contacted AIDS than is necessary. It seems that sin does indeed make one stupid.

Dale O'Leary has written a provocative paper, provided by the blog Feminine Genius here that brings us up to date with the situation in Africa, and the picture isn't pretty.

In the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Africa and the attendant brouhaha over O'Leary updated a 2005 paper, providing an overview of the various strategies for dealing with AIDS.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has caused immeasurable suffering, but prevention is possible. The disease does not strike randomly – we have identified the virus that causes AIDS, and we know the pathways the virus can take. The question for the people of Africa is: What is the most effective strategy for preventing transmission?

The protection of public health in the face of deadly epidemics has always required a balance between respecting freedom and saving lives. Governments are given three options from which to build a strategic response: risk elimination, risk avoidance, and risk reduction. Even the most devastating epidemics can be stopped if the government is willing to abridge its citizens' freedom by employing draconian risk elimination strategies such as mandatory testing and quarantine. Such strategies are normally only employed for deadly, fast-moving epidemics. Risk avoidance strategies prevent infection by motivating the public to avoid all possible sources of infection and enforcing public health regulations. Risk reduction strategies allow people to continue to engage in behaviors that could expose them to infection while encouraging a reduction – but not elimination – of the risk of infection.

Early in the epidemic, various nations made different choices with differing results. When Cuban soldiers returned from fighting in Angola, the government realized that some were infected with HIV. The regime responded with mandatory testing and quarantine. The epidemic was blunted.

The U.S. opted for risk reduction. Mandatory testing and quarantine were suggested but ruled unacceptable. Standard public health measures that were used to control sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis and gonorrhea were also rejected. Instead, prevention focused on educating people on the ways in which they could protect themselves by using condoms. The result: twenty-five years after the threat was identified, over a half million citizens have died of AIDS and three times that many are living with HIV. In 2006 in the U.S. 56,300 people were newly infected – the majority of them being men who have sex with men. The U.S. strategy with some modifications has been exported to other countries as the preferred method for controlling the epidemic.

Africa’s leaders and those who fund AIDS prevention programs in Africa need to consider the full range of options available. The following is a review of what is known about how HIV is transmitted, standard public health strategies, the prevention strategy presented to Africa as the "scientific consensus," the agendas of those who created this consensus, the challenges to that consensus, alternative strategies, and the effect of the choice of prevention strategy on the culture.

Be sure to read the full report.

Definitely - Digg this.

2009-04-20T12:39:00.003-04:00

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Obama's 100th day celebration: All a$$lickers invited. - submitted by Eviction Notice

breitbart.com — "It's going to have the energy and excitement of an election night so bring your barf bags!"

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I just can't help myself. It's funny, although I might have said "bootlickers." This is a perfect illustration of why CNN is increasingly becoming irrelevant, third now to FOX and (P)MSNBC.

Cyber police, arrest this man...

2009-04-15T12:25:00.003-04:00

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Not that it should come as any surprise to learn that Repugnicon Olympia Snowe of ME is on board with Demonrat Jay Rockefeller of WV, but the provisions of S. 773:

To ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cyber security defenses against disruption, and for other purposes.

should be of concern to freedom-minded Americans. It looks to be yet another in an ever growing parade of bi-factional ruling coalition bills aimed at ever more centralization of control. As usual, the powers are loosely defined, delegated to the president, aimed at coordinating the security efforts of the various military and security agencies and placed under the administration of an unelected "czar."

Sound familiar?

The bill as introduced by Snowe, Rockefeller and Sen. Bill Nelson (D) FL can be seen at GovTrack.us. Under

SEC. 17. AUTHENTICATION AND CIVIL LIBERTIES REPORT.

Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the President, or the President’s designee, shall review, and report to Congress, on the feasibility of an identity management and authentication program, with the appropriate civil liberties and privacy protections, (uh-huh) for government and critical infrastructure information systems and networks.

SEC. 18. CYBERSECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY.

The President--
(1) within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, shall develop and implement a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy, which shall include--
(A) a long-term vision of the Nation’s cybersecurity future; and
(B) a plan that encompasses all aspects of national security, including the participation of the private sector, including critical infrastructure operators and managers;
(2) may declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network;
(3) shall designate an agency to be responsible for coordinating the response and restoration of any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network affected by a cybersecurity emergency declaration under paragraph (2);
(4) shall, through the appropriate department or agency, review equipment that would be needed after a cybersecurity attack and develop a strategy for the acquisition, storage, and periodic replacement of such equipment;
(5) shall direct the periodic mapping of Federal Government and United States critical infrastructure information systems or networks, and shall develop metrics to measure the effectiveness of the mapping process;
(6) may order the disconnection of any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information systems or networks in the interest of national security;
(7) shall, through the Office of Science and Technology Policy, direct an annual review of all Federal cyber technology research and development investments;
(8) may delegate original classification authority to the appropriate Federal official for the purposes of improving the Nation’s cybersecurity posture;
(9) shall, through the appropriate department or agency, promulgate rules for Federal professional responsibilities regarding cybersecurity, and shall provide to the Congress an annual report on Federal agency compliance with those rules;
(10) shall withhold additional compensation, direct corrective action for Federal personnel, or terminate a Federal contract in violation of Federal rules, and shall report any such action to the Congress in an unclassified format within 48 hours after taking any such action; and
(11) shall notify the Congress within 48 hours after providing a cyber-related certification of legality to a United States person.

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Just in case you've become glassy eyed at the fairly innocuous language of the bill so far, here are the definitions of terms used in the draft:

In this Act:

(2) CYBER- The term ‘cyber’ means--
(A) any process, program, or protocol relating to the use of the Internet or an intranet, automatic data processing or transmission, or telecommunication via the Internet or an intranet; and
(B) any matter relating to, or involving the use of, computers or computer networks.

Broad enough brush for you?

The term ‘Federal Government and United States critical infrastructure information systems and networks’ includes Federal Government information systems and networks; and State, local, and nongovernmental information systems and networks in the United States designated by the President as critical infrastructure information systems and networks. The term ‘Internet’ has the meaning given that term by section 4(4) of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5503(4)) and the term ‘network’ has the meaning given that term by section 4(5) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5503(5)).

15 U.S.C. is a wonderful read. Take plenty of No-Doz. You'll find that network is further defined in section 5512.

Truly He is risen!

2009-04-12T00:55:00.001-04:00

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; 5 and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, 7 and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rab-boni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 18 Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Religion and Liberty

2009-04-06T23:02:00.003-04:00

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When discussing "liberty" and "freedom," it seems some clarification of terms is in order. The founders' vision for America was not about unfettered freedom, but, rather, a particular type of ordered liberty. "Freedom" without a strong moral basis is an empty promise. The founders - admittedly an ambiguous term, but for the purpose of this post can be described as the founding generation of the United States, steeped in the Judeo-Christian tradition (if they weren't themselves orthodox, ie: trinitarian, Christians) and natural law - understood the problem of liberty quite clearly. The problem, stated simply, was how to keep liberty from degenerating into mere license. The solution, as many of the founders saw it, was to encourage the practice of religion among the American people under the assumption that the Christian religion helped make citizens fit for republican government. Meaningful freedom required the exercise of virtue on behalf of citizens and the connection between the Christian religion and virtue was obvious.

The problem inherent in a free society is that immoral actors take advantage of moral ones. If everyone quite rationally suspects everyone else of immoral behavior, then in order to protect themselves in any given transaction the value of exchange is necessarily undercut by the cost of self-protection. As actors become more immoral in their transactions, it becomes necessary to ease the expense of self-protection by enlisting the aid of government in the form of regulation, thereby undermining the entire libertarian idea. The key to breaking the cycle of immoral action and regulation is to change the nature of the actors. This not a new concept, as would-be social engineers and progressives of every stripe have been attempting this with various degrees of failure to show for their efforts for more than a hundred years. The more virtuous actors in an exchange are, the less opportunistic their behavior, then the more trust all actors can have at the outset of exchange. With trust, the costs of transaction rapidly decline and the need for government regulation and enforcement eases also. Absent trust or government intervention, exchanges are only regulated by the relative strength of the actors, a situation that can be readily observed in criminal activity.

"Because the founders had the wisdom and imaginative power to predict what evil a man might conjure up with unrestrained liberty, they grounded liberty in the context of order. Prudence is generally scorned today, but in the days of the Constitutional Convention it was a highly regarded way of life. Mores and honorable social tradition constituted what it meant to be a liberated man. They held as self evident that when confronted with liberty ungrounded in order, men create a world of chaos with respect to themselves and a world of tyranny with respect to others. In contrast, some think today that unrestrained liberty constitutes what it means to be a liberated man. A deep reverence for the Founders' ideal of a liberated man, exercised through right reason, defines the proper relationship between order and liberty and altogether defines what it means to be a conservative." - Christa J. Byker

Religious social conservatives press for public policies that tend to increase social capital by improving citizens. The difference between what social conservatives and humanistic socialists are after in the transformation of the individual into a good citizen lies in the nature of their different approaches. The Christian sees the development of virtuous behavior as a "bottom up" enterprise, meaning that society is perfected as its individual members are, whereas humanists tend to work from the top down, defining the ideal and coercing the individual to its vision. True liberty lies in the freedom to do as one ought, that "ought" as realized by a properly formed actor.

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For more on natural law - http://www.acton.org/research/reading/research_reading_natural_law.php

On Virtue - http://www.idehist.uu.se/distans/ilmh/Ren/civic-virtue.htm

On ordered liberty - http://www.isi.org/spotlight/essay_contest/order_liberty_05/2.pdf

See also: Samuel Gregg's excellent book "On Ordered Liberty: A Treatise on the Free Society (Religion, Politics, and Society in the New Millennium)" http://www.amazon.com/Ordered-Liberty-Treatise-Religion-Millennium/dp/0739106686/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1239073034&sr=11-1

Verizon Wireless Sucks

2009-03-23T19:05:00.005-04:00

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Confession: I left AT&T Mobility in a fit of pique. I'd been a customer for many years and clashed with them over having to lock into a new contract when I wanted to open a new line in my family plan, even though I owned several compatible phones outright. I figured if I was going to have to have a new contract anyway, I'd just go to Verizon and get new phones also. I am sorry I did. I'm now in my third month of service with Verizon Wireless and I can say without a doubt that I am dissatisfied, to say the least.

My biggest source of dissatisfaction comes from the phone itself, a Motorola V750 Adventure. Transferring music files involves interfacing with Rhapsody, rather than using the elegant and useful Motorola Phone Tools software that I used happily with my old V365. Transferring MP3 files is an excercise in patience. I do not care for Rhapsody's interface anyway, which is why I use ITunes. I finally figured out how to get the files out of my music folders onto the phone after loading Verizon's version of Rhapsody. Sometime during the course of trying to get the damned phone to work, I inadvertantly activated V-Cast. Getting that credited off my bill was difficult, but finally accomplished, although I still got stuck with a portion of the billing for a service I didin't want and never used.

I've tried to come up with a way to use normal headphones with this unit; not happening. The 2.5mm headphone jack will only work with a two way headset. Attempting to plug a good set of phones into the jack results in nothing, so I seem to be stuck with a MP3 capable cell phone - the reason I chose this phone to begin with - that is a crappy MP3 player. I now also have a pile of adaptors that don't work.

Why Verizon chose Rhapsody over Motorola's own file transfer program is a mystery to me, as I would think the ability to handle all your digital files with one easy-to-use program would make for a happier end user, which as I am beginning to discover isn't too high on Verizon's priority list. This concludes the music portion of my criticism of the V750's shortcomings.

Now for pictures. The Motorola V750 includes a 2 megapixel camera. Apparently, the only way to move photos off my phone and onto something I can use as a photo editor involves sending the photo via text to an online album. Here's a clue: texting photos without a plan costs $.25 per photo, or you can opt for a plan at I forget what ridiculous cost. The Motorola V365 I had while I was with AT&T Mobility allowed me to transfer into my editing software using - you guessed it - Motorola Phone Tools software at no additional cost. So I now have a camera phone - the 2 mega-pixel camera being another reason I chose the V750 - that is a lousy camera.

I've been told that data on an optional memory card can be transferred directly using an USB adaptor - yet another unnecessary expense.

The main purpose of a cell phone is to make and receive phone calls, and at this the V750 is adequate, although, again, it's not as good as the less sophisticated V365. Whether this is due to Verizon's network not being as good as AT&T's or the phone itself, I can't be sure. I'd like to blame all of the V750's problems on Verizon, but Motorola desrves at least some of the blame for allowing Verizon to talk them into making this piece of crap. If all I wanted was an adequate cell phone, I'd have opted for the freebie that comes with the damnable contract and to hell with it.

In effect, I'm paying for something I can't use properly.

I have better things to do with my life than worry about a cell phone, so as I had time, I made several trips to the Verizon store trying to come up with the right combination of software and adaptors to make this phone work, to no avail. By the time I figured out once and for all that this phone was a lemon, or more precisely, a POS, it was too late to trade it in for something else. Apparently, the only way to get a usable phone in the Verizon sytem is to go with a smartphone. How AT&T managed to get it done with a lowly V365 is beyond me. Maybe they're just smarter than Verizon.

Now for the network. Slightly more dropped calls and more dead spots. I generally travel the same beaten path, so comparisons are easy. AT&T's network is simply better in my area. Customer service is much better; Verizon's reps adopt a hard line from the get-go. My experience with AT&T was much better. I can be belligerant, no doubt. I work in customer service myself and appreciate that the rep on the other end of the line doesn't make the rules or design the phones. I do have to say that the two reps I spoke with were professional, if ultimately unhelpful.

I'd be happy to drop my contract, but I'm not about to give Verizon the privilege of $350.00 unearned. If they'd waive the fees, I'd drop them in a heartbeat. Instead, I'll content myself with costing them a customer or two, beginning with my extended family. When I went with AT&T, I brought my family (3 adult children, my parents and their families) into the network. I've already counselled my kids to wait on joining Verizon, and now I'll warn them off completely.

If for some reason you still want to go with Verizon, stay away from the Motorola Adventure V750 and more power to you. There may be a better cellular company out there than AT&T, but it ain't Verizon.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Waiting for Spring

2009-03-22T22:43:00.004-04:00

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This good lookin' lady is R.J. Keller. She is a friend of mine and has given birth to the novel she is holding in her hand, "Waiting for Spring." The book has received good reviews, and I can personally recommend the author.

Check it out!

Myths are powerful things.

2009-03-19T23:08:00.003-04:00

Is America a Christian Nation? Johnathon Rowe at Positive Liberty:

The problem is the Christian Nation idea is a myth. It was debunked by modern scholars and, since the 1970s, figures like Peter Marshall and David Barton are trying to “reconstruct” what has been “deconstructed.” But ultimately the “imagined community” of “Christian America” has very old roots. What might make for an interesting BOOK (certainly too much for a paper) is to trace the origins of the Christian America idea, show when and how it was deconstructed, examine the attempt to “reconstruct” the myth and compare the difference between what was “deconstructed” and what (David) Barton, et al are trying to “reconstruct.”

At various times in the nation's past, the people have re-imagined what the constitution of the founders meant, until, finally, "we the people" are no longer Virginians or Hoosiers, but Americans. The same document - with relatively few changes - came to mean different things at different times. The founders would think we are all nuts.

There is enough truth in the Christian nation construct to make it plausible. I, for one, believe it to be true, if not quite in the way that one might imagine. I am a cynic, OTOH; truth is irrelevant in politics. Deconstruction works just as well on "truth" as it does on "myth." Given a compliant media and control of the public schools, I could construct, or deconstruct, any "truth" I want, for a while anyway.

America is a Christian nation if its citizens are mostly Christian. If not, then not. The entire debate is more or less meaningless. The Kingdom of God is not of this world.

Homosexual Marriage

2009-03-10T21:12:00.005-04:00

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The Mormons seem to be a target for homosexual marriage proponents of late. Support for Prop 8 in Californication led to vitriolic attacks from opponents. Now the Saints in Illinois are in the crosshairs. From Meridian Magazine:

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual activist group in the nation, is targeting Mormons in Illinois who support traditional marriage.

Illinois is considering homosexual "marriage" and civil unions, so HRC is now challenging Mormons in that state after one ward sent an email to its members to oppose the legislation. Accusing the Church of Latter-day Saints of "fighting an anti-gay crusade" across America , the pro-homosexual group has called to action its Illinois-based supporters and asked them to confront the church for its "deceitful, fear-mongering tactics."

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No law in any state in the Union that I know of has ever forbidden homosexuals to marry; the law has never asked that a man prove his heterosexuality in order to marry a woman, or a woman hers in order to marry a man. Any homosexual who can persuade a woman or man to take him/her as spouse can avail himself of all the rights of any hetero under the law. Many have, and with no legal prejudice. Homosexuals, then, are not deprived of any civil right. In order to claim that they are deprived, one must change the meaning of “marriage” to include a relationship that it has never included, before recently, anywhere on earth.

Because a frog wishes to be called a prince does not make it so; that homosexual partners wish to be called “married” does not mean that they are. Declaring them to be so flies in the face of the common language and the facts of life. However bonded a homosexual couple may feel themselves to be, what they are not and can not be is “married.” And society benefits not a whit by treating them as if they were.

Originally posted as part of a comment at Positive Liberty.

Catholic Liberty

2009-03-10T21:00:00.003-04:00

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If you have been confused by the apparent oxymoron "Catholic libertarian," you shouldn't be.

The principle of subsidiarity is one of the key components of Catholic social teaching. Simply, the principle of subsidiarity states that nothing that can be done as well, or better, by a smaller and simpler organization should be done by a larger, more complex organization. As should be obvious, subsidiarity is a cornerstone of limited government and personal freedom and is diametrically opposed to the modern Welfare State.

Pope John Paul II criticized the modern welfare state in his encyclical Centesimus Annus, writing that the welfare state was contradicting the principle of subsidiarity by intervening directly into and depriving society of its responsibility, leading "to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending.”

The U.S. Constitution was designed to leave most issues of importance in the hands of the citizens, and to the states. Under the Constitution, the federal government's role is (was?) to do only those things which the individual or states could not effectively do for themselves. The subsidiarity principle, insofar as it is firmly rooted in natural law, was at work in the foundation of our nation.

Subsidiarity applies to all human institutions, including the State itself. An example of a flagrant violation of the principle of subsidiarity is seen where the federal government usurps the rights and responsibilities of state and local governments, perhaps most famously in the form of unfunded mandates, leading to serious disruptions in the ability of the state to fulfill its obligations. Certainly confiscatory taxes and intrusive government programs interfere with the responsibilities of the individual and such institutions as basic to society as the family. No government has repealed the law of unintended consequences, as the state of the family at the beginning of the 21st century in America should make obvious.

Alexis de Tocqueville presciently predicted that democratic government would devolve into a huge, if possibly benign, nanny state "which would guide the individual in all of his affairs and insure that all of his needs were met:"

“For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances; what remains, but to spare them all the care of thinking and all the trouble of living?”

The principle of subsidiarity is thoroughly Catholic and thoroughly compatible with America's founding principles. Just so, it also applicable in economics. When government, as it did in the Great Depression and - God help us! - is doing today, skews the economy, producers and consumers are not allowed to bargain freely, prices no longer reflect meaningful information and become instead arbitrary dictates of a clueless, distant bureaucracy. Central planning, or the placing price controls on everything from farm products to health care "limits the freedom of individuals by distorting the free market and takes away the power of decision from producers and consumers, entrusting it instead to government bureaucrats."

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Interestingly, the 10 Commandments are not communitarian; they are directed to the individual. The first four deal with the individual's relationship to God. The precepts of the last six of the Commandments are meant to protect him in his natural rights against the injustice of his fellows - from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

His life is the object of the Fifth;
the honour of his body as well as the source of life, of the Sixth;
his lawful possessions, of the Seventh;
his good name, of the Eighth;
And in order to make him still more secure in the enjoyment of his rights, it is declared an offense against God to desire to wrong him, in his family rights by the Ninth;
and in his property rights by the Tenth.

Life, liberty, property. Libertarian and Catholic to the core.

None of this is original to me of course. For more, visit the Acton Institute. I borrowed heavily from Fr. Bosnich's article The Principle of Subsidiarity in Religion and Liberty

Go Tell It On The Mountain!

2009-03-04T12:24:00.003-05:00

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If we weren't both already married, I'd propose to this woman, sight unseen, based solely on the contents of this beautiful rant!

Save me the arguments that my (tax) money funds the betterment of society. It obviously doesn’t when 1 in 30 of our citizens are in the criminal justice system, as much as forty percent of our high schoolers drop out before graduation, a scandalous number of non-performing public schools, warehousing ignorant children, are still in existence and we have up to 70% out of wedlock birth rates standing alongside the total disintegration of normal family units in significant segments of society. My money hasn’t done diddley shit for the generations of shiftless idiots unable to carry their own water, except exacerbate the growth of disgustingly useless government programs that induced these ills to epidemic heights. - Daphne at Jaded Haven

Ahhh! Read the whole rant, and then hang around to sample Daphne's site. Some good stuff there.

Lincoln the Abolitionist

2009-03-03T19:34:00.005-05:00

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Fellow-Countrymen:

AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

May you live in interesting times...

2009-02-27T12:28:00.003-05:00

From Liberty File reports, Friday, February 20, 2009

Indiana State Senator Greg Walker (District 41) is reported to have filed
some form of what has recently come to be referred to as a "Sovereignty
Resolution" whereby a state reasserts its rights under the 10th Amendment
to the U.S. Constition and reminds the Federal Government of its
constitutionally limited powers.

Although details are still pending a posting of the bill it is
believed to be Senate Concurrent Resolution 37 (2009-2010) and that
Senator Dennis Kruse (District 14) and popular Senator Mike Delph (District 29)
might also be working with or supporting Sen. Walker's effort.

As many as twenty states are believed to have had similar resolutions
introduced in 2009 including Arizona, New Hampshire (HCR 6) and Oklahoma.

UPDATE 1:45 PM FEBRUARY 22, 2009: It is now confirmed that State Senators Walker, Kruse and Stutzman have introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 37.

UPDATE 11:20 AM FEBRUARY 26, 2009: Senator Mike Delph (29th District) has been confirmed as the 'second author' on the bill and there are now 14 total authors/co-sponsors.

****
Text of the Resoulution:

First Regular Session 116th General Assembly (2009)

SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION No. _____

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, and the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives of each State's legislature of the United States of America to cease and desist, effective immediately, any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of their constitutionally delegated power.

Whereas , The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically provides that, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people ”;
Whereas , The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution of the United States and no more;
Whereas , Federalism is the constitutional division of powers between the national and state governments and is widely regarded as one of America 's most valuable contributions to political science;
Whereas , James Madison, “the father of the Constitution, ” said, “The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, [such] as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people ”;
Whereas , Thomas Jefferson emphasized that the states are not “subordinate ” to the national government, but rather the two are “coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole. The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same government ”;
Whereas , Alexander Hamilton expressed his hope that “the people will always take care to preserve the constitutional equilibrium between the general and the state governments. ” He believed that “this balance between the national and state governments forms a double security to the people. If one [government] encroaches on their rights, they will find a powerful protection in the other. Indeed, they will both be prevented from overpassing their constitutional limits by [the] certain rivalship which will ever subsist between them ”;
Whereas , The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be limited in its powers relative to those of the various states;
Whereas , Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government;
Whereas , Many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;
Whereas , The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States , 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and
Whereas , A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now being considered by the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; Therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly

of the State of Indiana, the House of Representatives concurring:

SECTION 1: That the State of Indiana hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.
SECTION 2: That this Resolution serve as a Notice and Demand to the federal g overnment to maintain the balance of powers where the Constitution of the United States established it and to cease and desist, effective immediately, any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.
SECTION 3: That the Secretary of the Senate immediately transmit copies of this Resolution to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each state's legislature of the United States of America, and each member of Congress from the State of Indiana.

Admiral

2009-02-25T01:01:00.005-05:00

Admiral is not a movie that would have been made 30-20-maybe even 10 years ago in Russia, but itseems lately that the time is come for Russia to rehabilitate some of her heroes from before - or in this case during - the revolution. Alexander Kolchak (played by Konstantin Khabenskiy, in a role that did not stretch him much) was leader of the White Russians, who vied for control of the country following the downfall of the Russian monarchy. Admiral tells the love story of Anna Kapel and Admiral Kolchak against the backdrop of the 1st World War and the revolution and subsequent battle for control of Russia.

As depicted in the film, Kolchak is not a sympathetic character, and I had a hard time rooting for either Anna or the admiral. Anna was the wife of a subordinate, very well portrayed by Sergei Bezrukov, and Kolchak himself was married. The affair, although unconsummated until after the two of them had separated from their spouses, broke up two marriages and was, I thought, unconscionable. More interesting to me was the glimpse into Russian history, although doubtless as skewed as such a movie would be in America. I am moved to know more about this period.

I think Andrei Kravchuk and Ron Maxwell must have had the same teacher in film school. As I watched the story of Admiral Kolchak played out in stylish vignettes with not much connecting story, I couldn't help but think that here was an opportunity wasted. Director Kravchuk certainly has an eye for setting a scene; the movie is gorgeously shot. Costumes and locations draw you into the period. Battlefield recreations are nicely done and if Admiral had a story to match, this might have been a great film. I swear that if a scene with Admiral Kravchuk praying with a negro cook had been included, I would not have been surprised.There was in fact a scene where Kolchak leads his sailors in prayer during a battle against a German battleship. At least Admiral moves right along, where Maxwell's Gods and Generals was insufferably slow-paced.

The problem with epics is that characters get lost. To properly develop characters, the movies have to run way long. It seems most directors never quite get the balance right.

The movie I saw was in Russian with English subtitles; I could be wrong, but given the packaging of the DVD I obtained, I imagine this was probably geared to Russian-American buyers. The included MP3 CD was all Russian dialogue and so was useless to me. I had rather hoped it contained a soundtrack or something - no such luck. I got a horrible recording - I watched large chunks of the movie in stop motion and no sound. I'm hoping to return it and get a good copy. Perhaps my opinion is colored by the problems I had with the disc.

I would recommend Admiral with some reservation. It is a beautifully shot movie, after all. As I understand it, Admiral was made on a budget of $20 million. If true, it's amazing what the Russians can do with a tenth of the budget of an American flick. After I get a clean copy of the DVD, I'll try it again and maybe offer a different take.

Elizaveta Boyarskay, who plays Anna is - well - HOT!

UPDATE: Friday -

2009-02-20T18:35:00.002-05:00

****
Just talked with the driver of the other vehicle. Seems like a nice guy. He has two fractured vertebrae and will be in a neck brace for the next 8 weeks. His wife and child were at the school I passed on the way to the accident scene. She had heard the sirens and said a prayer for the people involved in the accident, not knowing one of the victims was her husband. The son found out about the accident from a schoolmate, who had recognized his father's truck at the accident scene.

I'm not ordinarily a fan of insurance companies, but it is a rare luxury to be able to worry about the people involved in an accident and let the insurance companies worry about the unimportant crap. Husbands, wives, sons and grandmothers are much more important than minivans and pickup trucks.

****
As expected, the wife is bruised, battered and stiff, but still all good. Amazing how many different colors a bruise can turn - none of them skin tone.

Monday. It's 7:30am.

2009-02-18T20:08:00.006-05:00

****
The wife has just left for work, a routine that's just becoming routine again after being unemployed for more than a year. Still in my pajamas, I've settled back down to doze for another hour or so. I work evenings and am rarely in bed before 3:00 am, so a doze is definitely in order. Ordinarily, I might have made coffee and cooked up a quick breakfast for us, but not this morning; I'm tired. I'm just staring to drift away. Naturally, the phone rings.

Crap.

So much for nap time. Is it work? One of the kids? Whatever, at 7:30 it's an imposition no matter who it is. I might just let it go to voice mail, but no. I suck it up and answer the phone.

"I'm in a bad accident on 39. Come and get me hurry." She was crying.

Seven seconds - my phone timed it. By 7:34, I'm starting my car and trying to figure out how to get the frost off the car FAST. It doesn't happen that way. I scrape the window in record time and roll down the side windows in my old heap and drove to the end of the driveway. Out the driver's side window I can see the ambulance making the turn to go south on 39 and I CAN'T SEE A DAMNED THING OUT OF MY WINDSHIELD because the inside has fogged up and frozen. I hit the windshield a lick and try to keep going, but have to pull over after turning out onto the highway because it's just no use. I compose myself and finally get the windshield clear enough to see and I work through the school traffic as quickly as I dare and head south on 39. By this time the ambulance is well out of sight.

Indiana State Road 39 is a two lane blacktop highway that is the main route between Podunk and the next town south where my wife works at the local middle school as a para-professional (meaning non-degreed and not under contract and underpaid teacher. She loves her job.*) It's about 10 miles of curvy road and lots of the intersections with county roads and driveways that make driving in rural Indiana a hazardous proposition. In the seven second conversation, she didn't mention where she was on the highway and she hasn't called back with more information, so I don't know when I'm going to come upon the accident scene and I have no idea what to expect when I get there and inside I'm half frantic and I'm going over all the reasons that it can't be all that serious - I mean she called after all so at least she wasn't unconscious or anything and she's been in accidents before and everything nothing serious and I see the accident scene finally and she didn't make it TWO MILES and there are two ambulances and rescue crews and there's a mangled red pickup truck parked in its own debris and her minivan is 30 feet into a muddy, harvested cornfield, stubble stretching as far as I could see and I park on the northwest corner of the intersection and half trot toward the minivan while trying to absorb as much infomation as I can and there's someone in a neckbrace and back board strapped to a gurney - not her she's still in the van and a paramedic is working on her and the van is a godawful mess the left rear wheel has broken completely off and is lying next to the van and I get to the door and she's alert and talking - thank God! - and I can begin to calm down. What happened?

****
The driver of the red pickup was probably on his way to work. He stopped at the intersection where the county road met Highway 39. He looked both ways - my wife saw him do this - and didn't see the van. He started across the intersection and laws of physics, unmerciful as they are immutable, took over. As the van smashed into the pickup, the driver was tossed violently to his right. When his head snapped back to the left, his head smashed through the driver's side window and his neck fractured under the strain - thank God it did not dislocate. Injured and bleeding, his first thought was to come to my wife's aid, at one point collapsing to the ground while he tried to call for help. It was about this time that others arrived on the scene and the wife collected herself enough to call me.

The wife never had a chance to avoid the truck; all she saw was red and she thinks she just managed to lift her foot off the accelerator. When the minivan struck the pickup just behind the right front wheel, suddenly, the westbound truck was headed south and the southbound minivan headed southwest, the van and truck touching once more side-to-side before separating. The second impact as the two stricken vehicles careened out of control broke out the side windows and snapped the left rear spindle of the minivan. She was comparatively lucky. As the van drove into the pickup at about 55 mph, she was thrown forward. The air bags deployed and her forward motion was arrested. She settled back into her seat and while stunned and bruised was relatively unhurt.

****
A cop is sifting through the litter in the passenger compartment of the minivan, looking for the van's registration like it's some kind of holy grail. WTF? Who cares? Any info on the registration he can get by running the plate. The glove box exploded when the air bag did and the contents are scattered all over the interior of the van. The registration - I know this - is actually in the center console. I pluck it out of the console and hand it to the cop. Meanwhile, the paramedics have cut up the wife's right pants leg to get a look at the knee and ankle, which had taken a shot and were swollen and painful to the touch. Oddly, the destruction of her pants - bought new just the night before and worn for all of thirty minutes before the accident - affects the wife more than the demolition of the van. The paramedics and hospital personnel destroy about a hundred bucks worth of clothing with scissors as they expose her layer by layer to the scrutiny of doctors, nurses and machines. Pants, shirt, bra and panties will all succumb to the shears before the day is over, but it's the pants she's most upset about.

Finally, the paramedics fit her with a neck brace - de rigueur in this type of accident - and pull her out of the van and load her onto a back brace, then onto a gurney and into an ambulance for the 20 mile ride to the hospital. Knowing she's okay I stay and survey the scene for a few minutes, sifting through the wreckage looking for glasses, cell phone, purse and other items that she will need before they haul the sad remains of the minivan off to the impound yard to await the final judgement of the insurance adjuster. Someone - fireman I think - just notices that the fuel tank has broken and is spilling gas under the van. I actually like the smell of gasoline. I've been a mechanic too damn long. Good thing I don't smoke; I continue to go through the van and ignore the fumes.

I finish poking through the van for the important stuff, leaving the rest for a follow-up visit to the impound yard. The ambulances are gone now. The emergency crews are sweeping the debris out of the roadway and waiting for the arrival of the wreckers. A cop directs traffic around the site and after one final survey, I take a couple of pictures using the cell phone camera. I walk back across the street and get into my beat up old Honda. As I sit in my old beater, built before the advent of air bags, I shudder at what could have been. The same crash in this smallish car could easily have meant death or serious injury for my wife.

The windshield still has frost on it. The side windows are still down and I pull onto the road and drive off to be with my wife at the hospital, thanking God and the Chrysler Corporation's engineers for my wife's escape.

****
Several long hours at the hospital. A small fortune in MRI's and x-rays and blood tests and exams later and all for bumps and bruises only, thank God! She's going to be sore for a few days, but I still have her, and that's all good.

Beer, Bratwurst, Cheese and a Bag of Radishes,

2009-01-29T11:58:00.002-05:00

****
Seriously.

Does lunch get any better? Yes, but only with sauerkraut.

The guys are going to LOVE me tonight at work.

No asteroid.

2009-01-20T20:54:00.001-05:00

****
No fire and brimstone.

No terrrrist attack.

Just a falling stock market.

So much for Change We Can Believe In.

Bah! Humbug.

Dish Network

2009-01-19T23:08:00.003-05:00

****
Satellite TV is a service I love to hate, and Dish Network, being the provider I have dealt with, is the satellite TV service I love to hate the most.

I own my own equipment. I installed my dishes and switches and wired my house. I did this because I don't want to be locked into a long-term contract. Dish Network, to be fair, has been great about letting me change my programming at a moment's notice and, after some bitching, will usually waive the fee for dropping programming - a process which costs them nothing, or next to it. I note that they don't offer to give me $10.00 when I add programming. Currently, the only programming I carry are the "local" channels - braodcast channels I would have ordinarily got over the air for free.

I have yet to be convinced that there is a good reason for Dish Network's programming packages. Their "family" package is a joke. Their basic package doesn't include Fox News. The Top 100 and Top 200 packages include music channels, as well as shopping channels and public service channels I get just by having the satellite. I mean, I get 20-odd channels with no paid programming package at all! Granted, the vast majority of them pretty much suck, but then so do most all of the channels in the other packages.

Channels I'm not interested in:

Music channels. Have these people never heard of the internet? I can program my own radio channels and stream them to my receiver and listen to them in stereo.

Shopping channels. I'm not paying for shopping channels. Especially when I can get them for nothing already.

Music TV. The Flava of Love. Seriously? Music video TV, Fuse, VH1 thru 100. I can live without all of them.

Kid TV. Nick, all the various Disney channels, etc. I'm 50. Do you think I watch The Little Mermaid? If the grandkids are over, I put in the DVD. Or better yet, I actually interact with them.

How about channels for adults? The ESPN channels. Fox News, finance and sports. CNN, HNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, etc. TCM, AMC, IFN, TNT, SciFi, History, etc. You know, actual entertainment. I'd buy a package like that. Better yet, let me pick 30 channels. You can stick me with whatever other crap you want up to 60, and I'll pay $30 bucks a month and be happy. There's a reason I change my programming so often. It's because none of the available packages are compelling enough for me to keep.

My most recent encounter with the folks at Dish Network soured me even more. I inquired after their HD packages which, oddly enough, contained pretty much just the channels I wanted. I was prepared to purchase the necessary equipment, only to be told that the only way I could get the HD channels was to buy some other package that I didn't want. Guess what? I didn't bite. And I won't.

Sometime in the not too distant future, Roku or some other intrepid company is going to stream HD TV over the internet for the right price and with the right packages. Netflix has already replaced HBO, Showtime and Starz! in my home. Amazon Video on Demand will replace Dish Network's PPV movies at less cost and with more variety. Dish Network needs to understand that they must be more responsive to their customers, or they will be left in the dust. The battle is no longer just between cable and satellite; there are more and more options for entertainment out there. I'm buying, but not what Dish Network is selling.

Why I don't hate Embarq any more - pt. 1.

2009-01-19T20:48:00.006-05:00

****
My unhappy experience with magicJack had a happy side effect.

First, some background. Embarq, if I understand the muddy waters of the telcommunications industry correctly, is a local telecom provider and spin-off of Sprint Nextel. Embarq focuses on plain old telephone service, high-speed internet, and DISH Network satellite TV. Embarq offers bundled services to customers, with the "convenience" of one monthly bill and provides discounts to customers for adding additional services. Many moons ago, when I first moved to lovely downtown Podunk, I became a more-or-less dissatisfied customer of Sprint. I say more-or-less because I knew that life in Podunk came with some disadvantages.

Like no cable. And when cable showed up, no digital cable.*

Like ridiculous sewer bills.**

Like crappy cellular service.***

Like 1970's level phone service.

Sprint was a little higher than the Geetingsville Telephone Company (next town east) and the Mulberry Telephone Company (next town south) but, monopolies being what they are, there wasn't a helluva lot I could do about it, so I learned to growl and bear it. Since I had to have a landline in order to get on the internet, I was pretty much stuck with Sprint. When DSL came along, I was even more stuck with Sprint because Sprint owned the wires that DSL used to get me on the net.

We live in a small world, made even smaller than the internet. It was pretty easy to figure out that Sprint's prices were a little higher than everyone else's and the level of service could only be described as "smug." I wasn't going anywhere, and they knew it.

Time passed. A merger here and a spinoff there and - Voila! - I'm an Embarq customer. Nothing else changed, of course - the letterhead on the bill and that was about it. I'm still using the original Sprint DSL modem. As time went on, though, other things changed. Cellular service got better; 3G was introduced. Coverage got better. VOIP got better. It is now possible to contemplate breaking the local telecom monopoly and go totally wireless.

Sprint's own 3G network covers my home in Podunk. With speeds of 1.7M, it is possible to network the computers in my home to share the internet connection, including the use of a service like magicJack or Vonage to go completely wireless. On the Sprint network it is possible to stream 2 or three movies a week and download a lot more than the 75 or so songs a month I get from eMusic.

There is real competition now for the the local telecoms.

In a crowded market, about the only thing you have going for you is customer service. In our "service economy,"**** good service is rare. Customer service is offshore. Technical service is bad and getting worse. Companies either don't care or are relying on their competitors service to be just as bad. Or both. When the chance came along to streamline my services to try to save money and still get the services I wanted or needed, I jumped at the chance to dump Embarq and break away from a company I'd come to dislike. So this brings my story to the really bad experience I had with magicJack.

Part 2 later...

*Still no digital cable. **Sewer bills going up about 10% - thanks, IDEM! ***Cellular service still mostly crappy. Verizon and AT&T don't really service my home area. I get around it by purchasing my service in the next large town west and living off the extended network. This presents some opportunities for really crappy customer service - more on AT&T Mobility later. ****I notice that the "service economy" is morphing into yet another paradigm - more later.

Updates

2009-01-19T20:22:00.004-05:00

****
kel, for one, is apparently happy that this blog has turned, at least temporarily, into a consumer blog. This post, then, should make kel happy.

Netflix by Roku - Still happy as a clam. The unit had no off button, which puzzled me at first. It's a minor annoyance; I have it plumbed into the DVD player, which is programmed to pick out the first signal it reads and default to it, so I have to manually switch to satellite or VCR if I'm doing something besides watching Netflix. I found out why the Roku had no off button when I had to do a power down on the network. I had to go through the setup again. All the information was still there and it only took a couple of seconds, though. I wonder what happens if the power goes off?

I'm thinking about bumping my download speed up to take advantage of the new High Definition capability being offered by Netflix and Roku.

****
MagicJack - I was notified that they had received the faulty unit and that a refund would appear on my next statement, unless I was never billed. I was and I wasn't, so we'll see. Still more impressed with the return than I was with the hardware and the support.

50! Woo-hoo.

2009-01-13T09:42:00.002-05:00

****
My annual birthday post.

Netflix player by Roku

2009-01-09T17:21:00.006-05:00

****
I'm really not trying to turn this into a consumer blog, but it seems that lately I've had to deal with products new to me and so in turn I get to weigh in with my opinion.

Today's product is the Netflix player by Roku. As a Netflix subscriber I get to view streaming movies on my computer for no additional cost and now with the Netflix player by Roku I can stream them from my internet connection directly to my TV, or in this case through my DVD player, making Netflix a far more attractive and affordable option than premium services like HBO, Showtime or Starz through Dish Network. For $8.99 a month I can watch all I can stand in addition to the two DVD's at a time I get in the mail and, best of all, I get to pick the movies from, according to Netflix, 12000 titles.

I didn't count them.

The Roku box itself is nothing short of amazing. It's about the size of a router and has outputs for HDMI, S-Video and the standard RCA jacks. It operates either on wired or 802.11g wireless networks. The setup allows you to choose HD, Standard 4:3 or 16:9 Widescreen TV outputs. All for $99.99 and no extra monthly fee. Are you listening Dish Network? Outstanding.

The FedEx guy dropped this neat little gadget at my doorstep this morning and about 20 minutes later, including having to find the SSID for my network, two unrelated telephone calls and logging on to Netflix for the activation, the Roku was installed, updated, up and running with absolutely no hitches. It came with a large, easy-to-read installation guide that walked me through the process step-by-step. It couldn't have been easier.

After the debacle with the magicJack installation, I was absolutely thrilled with the ease of the installation. Hallelujah! Somebody got it right!

I had loaded a couple of movies into the queue in anticipation of the Roku players's arrival and settled down to watch "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" with my lunch. The player automatically adjusted for changes in video quality - a minor annoyance while in the process and I would like to find out if the problem is in the wireless network or the internet connection or Netflix. Still, I couldn't be more pleased with the product.

Roku promises more entertainment channels for the player beginning early in 2009. If they are to be anywhere near as good as the Netflix channel, I can't wait. I normally like to live with a product for a while before I praise it, but really this Netflix player by Roku is that good. Highly recommended.

Update: Coming soon to a Roku player near you - Amazon.com video on demand. $.99 for back catalogue titles to $3.99 for new releases. It just gets better.

Do NOT buy a magicJack ....

2009-01-07T04:34:00.007-05:00

****
I ordered and received a magicJack this past week and was not at all happy with it. The order process went well; it arrived in a timely fashion and all seemed right with the world.

I followed instructions and plugged it in and waited for it to load itself, happily anticipating the moment I could finally tell Embarq to take their overpriced service and go away.

The nightmare ensued.

The unit would not self-install correctly, and even worse corrupted the registry causing my optical drives to malfunction. Well - okay. MagicJack's website offered up live tech assistance 24/7. No problems, right? Ummm - technical support was a nightmare. Of course, 24/7 support means foreigners typing instructions in a chat format, following a script that may, or most likely doesn't, address your actual problem. After 5 hours of following the written instructions of various "levels" of tech support all following the same script, I gave up.

Unfortunately, by the time I was done, not only were the optical drives messed up, but the last tech wizard, who went by the name of "Dover" also managed to screw up my internet connection - I'm pretty sure purposely. Spent about an hour and a half getting the PC back to normal, which involved a recovery to a time before the install, and a registry repair. So, 7 hours of wasted time so far.

My best experience of the whole ordeal was getting the return authorization to send the damned thing back. Now if my card gets credited promptly, I'll write the whole experience off as a bad idea and forget it.

I might add that Microsoft's guided support was awesome. It made the registry repair a snap.

I did save the chats to a text file, if anyone is interested.

Based on my experience, I can't recommend magicJack. Their website included no phone numbers to talk to a live rep and the overall feel of the site was sketchy. Technical Assistance was worse than useless. If you are planning to buy a magicJack, think twice.

I hate Embarq, but unless something comes along a lot better than magicJack, I guess I'm stuck.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

I started this photo blog a little over a year ago. Just look at the way it's affected me:

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:25:00.001-05:00

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God bless us, every one!

That Inbox again...

2008-12-30T16:33:00.004-05:00

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Dear Employees & Suppliers,
Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis......................As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President General Motors North America
Response from: Gregory Knox, Pres. Knox Machinery Company Franklin, Ohio

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General Motors North America.
Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same
entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new "messiah", Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream"… Believe me folks, The dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities…this dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever.

Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I've seen over those year s in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.
Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: "There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not."
You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive (We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)
Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea: "over the last few years…we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors."
What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke! We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It's time to pay for your sins, Detroit.
I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". "Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems," but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and the following very important thing would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up…that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would only let it work…"

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in and "save us"…Save us my ass, Hell - we're nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is really happening…But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah - THAT'S really important, isn't it…

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country?... How can that be??? Let's see… Fuel efficient… Listening to customers… Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul… Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning… Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy"… Efficient front and back offices… Non union environment…Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know down deep in their hearts.
I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten your self into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age.
I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh… Am I there for them in the wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.
Bad news people - it's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied…"we really might not do it in a year…or in four…" Where the hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office.

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks … That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000… People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits… That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year… We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe…

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home… Let the market correct itself folks - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna' be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has…and doesn't live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God.
Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news". I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President Knox Machinery, Inc. Franklin, Ohio 45005

According to Snopes.com this is a legit e-mail. It's a little late in he game now. All the trillions we've borrowed...

We should be ashamed of what we've done to our grandchildren.

"Es lebe heiliges Deutschland!"

2008-12-28T23:58:00.005-05:00

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With those words still on his lips, a German firing squad ended the life of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg following a failed assassination and attempted coup. With any luck, it will also end Tom Cruise's desire to play Wehrmacht officers in otherwise decent movies. As noted below, I suspected that Cruise was miscast for the role of von Stauffenberg in the film Valkyrie. Unfortunately, I was right. His performance was a bit stiff and his accent jarring. Everyone knows that Germans speak with English accents in "B" grade WW II movies and Cruise's accent was American. Nondescript American, at that.

The film suffered from a couple of flaws - one inherent and the other not. The story could only end in one way and stay true to history, so if you are historically literate at all there aren't any surprises. The other is that there wasn't enough focus on Von Stauffenberg to draw you into his character, although this may have been exacerbated by Cruise's performance. I would have been interested in seeing a little more of the relationship between Claus and Nina, his wife - played by Carice van Houten, who was largely wasted. And Dutch. She had a better English accent than Cruise too.

I don't think Valkyrie is the definitive movie on Von Stauffenberg, but I suspect that movie will be German, directed by someone like Oliver Hirschbiegel (of Der Untergang) and acted by Germans, in German.

With American subtitles.

Or maybe English subtitles for you purists out there.

Oddly, Christian Berkel and Thomas Kretschmann, both veteran German actors who appeared in Downfall (Der Untergang) had better English accents than Cruise. No-one had a better English accent than Kenneth Brannagh, though. Not even Bill Nighy.

The movie managed to overcome Cruise and actually was a fairly engaging thriller, easily comparable to the better WW II historical dramas of the 60's and 70's. It was competently directed and well acted - Cruise excepted - and the Germans all had commendably English accents. Except for the main character.

I do recommend Valkyrie, but don't be afraid to wait for video. If you must have stars ... 3-1/2 (out of 5)

Family Gathering

2008-12-27T09:30:00.000-05:00

Of course there was food...

Nice, huh?

2008-12-26T22:38:00.001-05:00

From the Jerusalem Post:

Both Iran and its Hamas proxy in Gaza have been busy this week showing Christendom just what they think of it. But no one seems to have noticed.

On Tuesday, Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Shari'a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, it legalizes crucifixion.
Hamas's endorsement of nailing enemies of Islam to crosses came at the same time it renewed its jihad. Here, too, Hamas wanted to make sure that Christians didn't feel neglected as its fighters launched missiles at Jewish day care centers and schools. So on Wednesday, Hamas lobbed a mortar shell at the Erez crossing point into Israel just as a group of Gazan Christians were standing on line waiting to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas.

Assholes.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

Mom, Dad and Mrs. hoosiertoo

Andrew

Elise and Kiera and Baby Alive.

What do bored mechanics do for fun?

2008-12-23T22:14:00.000-05:00

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Harass parts guys, of course!

At the Christmas Pageant

2008-12-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

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For 3-year-olds.

Andrew, the WiseMan.

Katelyn (now 3 months!) and Mom.

Katelyn takes a peek...

No, I didn't eat any of it...

The Fall

2008-12-15T00:57:00.004-05:00

I've been into movies a lot more than usual lately. This caught my eye at the local video store, and I'm glad it did. I'm just sorry I missed it at the theater.

The Fall is visually stunning - see it on good equipment - but it is the story and characters that carry the movie. The trailer will give you some idea of the film, but it must be seen in its entirety to really appreciate the effect of this magnificently shot work of art.

The story is relatively straightforward: A silent movie era Hollwood stuntman named Roy (played by Lee Pace) is in the hospital, paralyzed from the waist down with injuries sustained during a failed stunt (shown in a glorious black-and-white prologue.) Trouble ever comes with company, and he has also lost his lover. He plans suicide, but needs the help of an inquisitive little girl named Alexandria (wonderfully played by Catinca Untaru), to whom he tells stories of adventurers on a quest in order to manipulate her into helping him to commit suicide.

These stories are played out in the imagination of young Alexandria, and her imagination is the source of the stunning visuals, which were shot in 20 locations. The stories change during the interplay between Pace and Untaru, making for some light moments in an otherwise serious film, but make no mistake: the story is Roy's, even if it is playing out in the imagination of young Alexandria, and Roy is depressed.

The characters in the stories represent real-life people at the hospital, like the characters in the Wizard of Oz represented real people in Dorothy's life, but this is most definitely not a movie for children.

The soundtrack is outstanding. The main title is from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, II. Allegretto, and is performed admirably, and the music written for the movie was spot on, and performed very well indeed. The soundtrack seems to be hard to come by, though. More's the pity.

Squirrel

2008-12-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

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Taken with all the zoom I could muster from about 50 yards out. These guys are very wary, what with being a constant object of a certain cat's attention.

It's hard to tell from a trailer...

2008-12-09T19:10:00.004-05:00

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But Tom Cruise appears to be miscast.

I call BS on the BCS.

2008-12-07T10:10:00.007-05:00

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Before the BCS, the writers and coaches conspired to rob more deserving teams of a championship decided by writers and coaches and not on the field. It wasn't a championship then. Since the inception of the BCS, the writers and coaches have conspired to rob more deserving teams of a chance at winning a "championship" game whose participants are decided by writers and coaches. It ain't a championship now.

A "Mythical National Championship" game is still a just an overhyped bowl game that decides - wait for it - the winner of a single bowl game. In this case it's likely to include one team that lost to another eligible team in a head-to-head matchup. Even worse, the numbskulls in charge of the Big 12 allowed writers, coaches and computers to decide the conference's championship game representative. What kind of joke is that?

Until the NCAA decides to actually have a playoff based on criteria decided on the field and not by the whims of writers, coaches and computers - you know, like for Divisions II and III - there is not a Division I champion and never has been. The winner of the Division I "championship" game is still going to be a mythical champion. If you're going to crown a mythical national champion, the old way at least preserved the integrity and tradition of the bowls.

The championship should be decided on the field. Until it is, the bowl season is becoming less and less relevant. Don't give me any of that "and 1" crap either. When does bowl season end now? February?

A good prophet is one who is wrong.

2008-12-04T10:28:00.001-05:00

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Think about it.

I call BS

2008-12-04T10:01:00.004-05:00

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As near as I've been able to figure, auto execs flying to Washington, D.C. in private jets doesn't cost me a dime I can't avoid by simply not buying their products. The cost of their private fleets are minuscule in the overall pricing of their products anyway.

The cost of the pinheads running the dog-and-pony-show in D.C. I can't avoid, and the show costs me a heckuva lot more than the flying habits of the CEOs of Chrysler, GM and Ford combined.

And then some.

And then some more.

It's probably a good thing I'm not the CEO of GM. I'd have told Pelosi & Co. to stuff their bailouts up their keisters and gone back to Detroit and filed bankruptcy and let the poseurs on Capitol Hill deal with the fallout, which is what needs to happen anyway. The auto industry can't get better until it reorganizes. Now is the chance.

Verse 4

2008-12-04T02:25:00.000-05:00

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Our father's God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

Amen!

Just say, "Nyet!"

2008-12-03T13:25:00.002-05:00

Found in the comments to the Peter Schiff post linked below. Beautifully said:

#5) On November 21, 2008 at 4:59 PM, russiangambit (98.51) wrote:

I remember that when we had perestroika in Soviet Union, all kinds of US and IMF experts would come, look at our misery and say, it is OK, this is necessary pain to work out the excesses and inefficiencies and become a free market society.

Somehow, I find it ironic, that when it comes to the US itself, politicians and experts are doing everything possible to avoid even a bit of pain that is necessary to work out the excesses.

I don't need to tell you that Americans are not that popular in Russia anymore.

And the ultimate irony, of course, that it is impossible to stop the inevitable pain . All bailouts are accomplishing is making sure that the payback is going to be long and painful.

One of my coworkers asked me, so what are you going to do about it, about our gloomy future? And I said, I am making sure my kids are getting the best education they can. This is all I know to do. The capital in your head is something nobody can take away, which cannot be said about worldly posessions.

Just stop it.

2008-12-02T19:21:00.010-05:00

Democratics like to take credit for balanced budgets in the '90's while Bill Clinton was president. In fact, this was a campaign meme for the Obamessiah. Of course, few people remember that House Republicans had to drag Slick Willy and the minority Dems kicking and screaming through multiple attempts to pass a budget. Remember when the federal government shut down? Oh glorious day! As I recall, the Republicans took the hit for that one due mainly to a complicit media constantly wailing about poor park rangers and family trips to national monuments put on hold all because of mean Republicans.

Hark back to 2000, when, following a Bush victory, it was magically revealed that the economy was in recession. The Democratics and the lapdog media did their damnedest to pin the poor economy on Bush, never mind that he inherited it from Clinton. Those pesky Arabs managed to make the electorate forget about the economy long enough to allow Bush and Company to get us into two wars, one justifiable. One not so much. And get Bush re-elected. Thanks pesky Arabs!

Now, it is 2008 and Bush has decided that handing off a recognizably crappy economy to the new Panderer-in-Chief is fair play. Unfortunately, the lapdog press is going to allow Obama to leave this pile on the porch where it really does belong while the Obamessiah proceeds to throw borrowed money down an ever-increasing black hole of bad debt in an effort to reinflate our flat economy. It won't work. FDR tried it in the '30's. Every damned Keynesian for the past 40 years has tried it and it doesn't work. Trouble is,the media and the Obamessiah's spin machine are going to maximize positive coverage of Obama's economic "solution" while ignoring inconvenient bad news. This isn't really new; I lived through stagflation and malaise and the worst economy in 100 years and all the spin I could stand. There's lots more where that came from, and from what I've been seeing for the past year, our leaders in DC are failing to learn anything from past failure and are desperately looking for a balloon to blow up.

The "solution" to our ailing economy isn't an increase in taxes. It isn't an increase in spending for public works. Giving our money - actually our great-grandchildren's money - to bankers makes bankers happy, but - just like in the Great Depression and the Great Malaise - the bankers parked on it once they got it. Credit is still tight. Bailing out failing business isn't the answer.

So what is the answer?

Stop it! Ummm, no, wait! Just stop it! *

"So for the same reasons that Washington should not bail out General Motors, the world should not bailout America. Like GM, our economy is in desperate need of a restructuring. Spending must be replaced with savings, and consumption with production. The service sector must shrink and manufacturing must expand to fill the void. The dollar must fall, wages in America must be brought down to a competitive level, and hopefully government spending and burdensome regulation
can be reduced.

This transformation will not be fun, but it is necessary. Our standard of living must decline to reflect years of reckless consumption and the disintegration of our industrial base. Only by swallowing this tough medicine now will our sick economy ever recover. By accepting a lower standard of living today, we will eventually be rewarded with a higher one tomorrow." (Peter Schiff)

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This morning on Fox News, I heard Stephane Dion, the opposition Liberal Party leader from Canuckistan, make an extraordinary statement to the effect that a major reason his new opposition coalition was planning on usurping power from Prime Minister Stephen Harper - an unprecedented move - was because Harper's budget included next to no stimulus for the flagging Canadian economy. "Dion said the coalition would announce a robust economic stimulus plan that would include money for housing, infrastructure and the auto and forestry sectors." Well do tell. If true, then a politician has done precisely the right thing for the Canadian economy. Which is to say, nothing. This was undoubtedly an accident. Harper is after all a politician, and a Canadian politician at that. Of course, Harper caved; apparently the potential loss of power was stimulating enough to pump a little stimulus into the economy. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

*Not only is the Newhart sketch hilarious, our "leaders" in Washington should apply its lesson to the economy. Those three little words, "just stop it," could go a long way to making the world a better place.

Violent fundamentalists

2008-12-02T18:12:00.003-05:00

Chiesa reports -
Hemmed in by the two forms of aggressive fundamentalism, Muslim and Hindu, the "little flock" of Christianity in India is distinguishing itself by its refusal to resort to violence. It is calling for the use of force by the constitutional authority, but this is failing in its duty to exercise it. The international community is providing only weak and sporadic support. Not even the Christians around the world are strong in solidarity toward victims who share the same faith, whether in India or in other regions of the globe. On Thursday, November 27, during the same hours when Mumbai was under attack, Benedict XVI issued a new appeal for the release of two missionary sisters kidnapped two weeks earlier by Muslim gangs between Kenya and Somalia. Also during those same hours, in Cairo, ten thousand Muslims attacked, with impunity, a church full of Coptic Christians in prayer, whose offense was that they had opened a new house of worship.

Bug report

2008-12-02T12:54:00.004-05:00

Great site!

Islam, again.

2008-12-01T21:33:00.006-05:00

In many respects, I understand Ron Paul's insistence that blowback vis American foreign policy is at least to some extent the reason for attacks on US and Western interests here and abroad by everyone from Russians to wild-eyed whackjobs in caves in Pakistan. Insofar as our foreign policy really does have consequences, Paul is exactly correct. As Samuel Huntington has noted, though, the borders of Islam are bloody.*

Rob Taylor at Red Alerts:
...the one religion on earth that can claim credit for more murders than Nazism and Communism combined** is the “Religion of Peace.” While the smoke had yet to clear on 9/11, when the train platforms still smoldered in Spain, while the British pulled bodies out of the twisted wreckage of double deckers, miseducated windbags from a thousand liberal Arts colleges were wagging their fingers at the rest of us for daring to think the inspiration for the holy war Muslims are waging comes from their “holy” book and the religion which spawned it.
And even now while the streets of Mumbai are awash in innocent blood there are those who cling to the delusion of peaceful coexistence with a religion designed to make peaceful coexistence impossible. Islam is not a “Religion of Peace” and Islam in fact means something closer to “submission” than peace. It is submission to Islam from the non-Muslim world that Muslims seek; to me this seems far from a peaceful goal. The West must decide if it will abandon thousands of years of social progress and embrace the depravity of Militant Islam or stand up and fight a foe more determined than any we have faced in the last 200 years. It is a delusion to think otherwise.
Muslims riot and burn churches and we do nothing. Muslims raised money for the Mumbai attacks in British mosques and Britain will do nothing. American Muslims are celebrating the attacks and we will do nothing. There is an “epidemic” of Muslim taxi drivers in England raping women fares, and England attacked the mother of a young girl who wanted to ensure her daughter’s safety rather than stop the rapes. Europe is allowing Islamic polygamy all in the vain hope that such wild accommodation will calm the excitable Muslim street and then we can finally get on with living together in harmony with our friends in the “Religion of Peace.”

As much as we've earned the approbation of the Muslim street for having taken on the terrrrists and supported Israel, we seem to get no points for coming to the aid of Muslims in Afghanistan, Kosovo and elsewhere. I don't think that even were we to - properly - withdraw our forces to our own borders and cease to be the world's police force that we would get much "peace" from the religion of peace. Muslims do not coexist with other religions. They convert or conquer. Ask the Christians in Iraq, or "Palestine" or the many conflict zones in Africa. Ask the Hindus in India - not that they are above a little persecution of their own - about the "religion of peace" and you'll begin to get an idea of the extent of the problem with Islam.

I suspect that in the end, it will be them or us.

And most of "us" don't even know we're in a fight.
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Update: Up way too late cruising the net and I find -

Mark Steyn at NRO says, "It's the ideology, Stupid!" - "This isn’t law enforcement but an ideological assault — and we’re fighting the symptoms not the cause. Islamic imperialists want an Islamic society, not just in Palestine and Kashmir but in the Netherlands and Britain, too. Their chances of getting it will be determined by the ideology’s advance among the general Muslim population, and the general Muslim population’s demographic advance among everybody else."

*"While groups from all religions have engaged in various forms of violence and terrorism, the figures make it clear that in the past decade Muslims have been involved in far more of these activities than people of other religions. One of the things that attracted a lot of attention in The Clash of Civilizations was my use of the phrase "the bloody borders of Islam." But if you look around the Muslim world you see that in the 1990s Muslims were fighting non-Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kashmir, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Middle East, Sudan, Nigeria, and other places. Muslims have been fighting one another also. The International Institute for Strategic Studies surveyed the armed conflicts going on in the world in 2000, and its figures show that twenty-three of the thirty-two conflicts under way involved Muslims. Why is this?" - Huntington

**Given socialism's body count, I find this tough to believe.

Joe Donnelly, Member of Congress

2008-11-26T17:47:00.004-05:00

Finally got a response to the e-mail I sent to Mr. Donnelly (D - 2nd District) - nearly two months later!

November 26, 2008

Dear Mr. hoosiertoo,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the ongoing financial crisis. I value your views, and your input helps me to better represent the people of Indiana's Second District in Congress.

As your congressman, I believe it is my duty to do whatever I can to protect jobs, retirement savings, and economic growth in our communities. The financial crisis threatens them all. I am angry that Main Street was asked to step up and fix a mess that was caused by the greed and recklessness of Wall Street. The FBI is already investigating many firms for possible wrong doing, and I hope anyone who acted illegally lands in jail. However, I believe that the cost of inaction would have been much greater than the cost of the rescue package, and I could not stand idly by as your representative and do nothing as the crisis worsened. On October 3, I joined colleagues from both parties in the House of Representatives in passing H.R. 1424, The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, by a vote of 263 to 171. The bill was signed into law that same day.

One of the primary causes of these problems is that mortgage companies and lenders began several years ago to significantly expand the number of home loans they provided to Americans with questionable credit histories. Homeownership soared as
the number of "subprime" home loans increased. Many banks, investment firms, and other financial institutions got in on the housing boom by offering and trading incredibly complex "mortgage-backed securities" and other products whose values were, in theory, based on the value of the mortgages held by lenders. These were bought, repackaged and traded by an increasing number of financial companies, leaving many banks and firms exposed to huge unknown risks in their pursuit of bigger profits.

When the housing market crashed, so did the value of these complicated assets, and the result has been the worst economic crisis America has seen in several decades. In mid-September, lending activity began to freeze up. Reacting to the failures of major investment firms and fears that others were on the brink, banks slowed, or, in some cases, even stopped, their lending. These banks either did not have enough capital on hand to continue their standard lending practices or decided they were unwilling to assume the risk of possibly not being paid back.

Our economy depends on the availability of credit, and action was necessary to get the credit market to thaw. H.R. 1424 authorized the Treasury to use up to $700 billion to purchase shares of banks or buy existing mortgage-backed and other troubled securities over the next two years in an effort to ease the flow of credit and restore confidence in our financial system. The government would hold these assets temporarily, selling them back in a few years and earning most of the value back. The bill includes strong oversight mechanisms, prohibits any executive of a participating company from getting a golden parachute, and temporarily raises from $100,000 to $250,000 the amount per depositor the federal government will insure.

Much work remains to shore up our economy, protect retirement savings, and ensure that hard-working Americans can feel secure in their ability to provide for their families' needs and plan for the future. I promise to do everything within my power to ensure that smart regulation and oversight of our financial system is restored so that this kind of disaster never happens again, and as Congress considers future action to help the economy, I will always put the interests of Hoosiers first.

Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to write, call or email me again if I can ever be of assistance. Also, if you would like to receive regular updates on my actions on your behalf in Congress, sign up for my e-newsletter, The Donnelly Dispatch, at http://donnelly.house.gov.

Sincerely,
Joe Donnelly
Member of Congress

The Birth of Freedom

2008-11-15T03:40:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder...

2008-11-14T22:32:00.001-05:00

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The end is near!

“The world’s food-producing system,” warns Dr. James D. McQuigg of NOAA’s enter for Climatic and Environmental Assessment, “is much more sensitive to the weather variable than it was even five years ago.” Furthermore, the growth of world population and creation of new national boundaries make it impossible for starving peoples to migrate from their devastated fields, as they did during past famines.

Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects. They concede that some of the more spectacular solutions proposed might...create problems far greater than those they solve. But the scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies. The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality.

Newsweek article

The Economy Is Booming!

2008-11-14T21:13:00.007-05:00

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What recession? According to Gun Magazine:

Sales by firearm and ammunition manufacturers were up 9.7 percent in the
first quarter of 2008, led by a 17.3 percent increase in ammunition sales, a 5
percent rise in handgun sales and a 6.7 percent increase in long gun
sales.

The statistics are taken from the latest Pittman-Robertson federal
excise tax collection report. Excise taxes are calculated as a percentage of
wholesale receipts, paid quarterly by firearm and ammunition manufacturers, and
earmarked for state wildlife conservation and habitat restoration programs.
These statistics are based solely on US civilian sales and do not include sales
to military, police, etc.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_11_54/ai_n28573738

And the Bend Bulletin:

Southport, Conn.-based Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc., manufacturer of Ruger
brand guns, saw its sales increase 31 percent in the third quarter of 2008 from
the third quarter of 2007.

http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081103/NEWS0107/811030387

And the International Business Times:

As firearm sales continue to increase this year, at a rate of 10 percent over
the same period last year and 15 percent in October alone, the National Shooting
Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms industry --
is pointing to gun-owner concerns about an Obama Administration as reason for
the boom.

Last week President-elect Obama's Web site had posted his
administration's agenda for curtailing the Second Amendment rights of law
abiding Americans, thereby validating the concerns of gun owners, sportsmen and
firearms enthusiasts all across the country. Curiously, the Obama-Biden
gun control agenda was taken down from the Web site after just two
days.

http://ibtimes.com/prnews/20081110/nssf-obama-anti-gun.htm

Go figure... And in Raleigh:

Barack Obama said he would improve the economy. Turns out he already has, at least in one retail niche: gun sales.
Starting in the days before the election, gun shops across the state have been mobbed by buyers who fear that Obama and a larger Democratic majority in Congress will restrict firearm sales. Many were stocking up on things such as assault rifles, high-capacity magazines and handguns that they think would be the most likely targets of new laws, though practically everything related to shooting has been selling more quickly.
"It's been an absolute madhouse," said Trey Pugh, a manager at Jim's Pawn Shop in Fayetteville, which is selling 15 to 20 AR-15 assault rifles a day. "I'm getting guys come in and say I always wanted that gun, and give me that one too and that one and, oh, I need a gun safe, too."
Distributors are running out of assault rifles, he said, and prices are rising.

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1286786.html

Dang inflation! Ol' hoosiertoo, ever slow to spot a trend, has decided to join the spree. Mrs. hoosiertoo is figuring another shotgun and a hunting rifle are in order. She wants an M1911a1 all her own too. I'm going to need a second job.

What do we need jobs for?

2008-11-14T17:16:00.001-05:00

****
Found in inbox and unattributed. Nicely done parody.

Crap!

2008-11-10T11:43:00.004-05:00

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Noting that DHL now wants a bailout...

Most everyone making more than me are getting bailouts.

Most everyone making less than me are - have been! - getting bailouts.

I'm putting Uncle Obama on notice - I WANT MY BAILOUT TOO! I'm thinking $100 grand ought to cover it, a bargain compared to these other clowns.

Harrumph

2008-11-05T06:13:00.004-05:00

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While I can say emphatically that I'm not at all happy with an Obama win, I note that the country has survived socialists and eugenicists for the past 100 years. Hopefully the Repugnicons will now go about the business of purging the libtards and becoming a true opposition party. Not likely, but one can dream.

I don't have complete results yet, but it appears all my candidates - with the obvious exception of Baldwin - won. Obama's coat tails weren't very long in my area, I guess. All those suckers buying the Obamessiah's change message seemed to lose focus farther down the ticket. I'd like to say I'm surprised at Obama carrying Indiana, but given the demographics and McCain's lack of appeal, I'm not. One thing that strikes me - there really isn't a big ideological divide in Indiana. Mitch Daniels is a Bush Republican who seemed to run away from the McCain campaign.

The Libertarians made a sad showing in an election that was tailor-made for them - a weak Repugnicon candidate should have allowed them to garner more than a paltry 1.24% of the vote in the most "conservative" district in Indiana, although Horning got twice that in the gubernatorial race, which had a strong Repugnicon candidate. Way to go guys!

It's going to be a long four years...

The official end of summer...

2008-10-29T12:30:00.004-04:00

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Just finished a salad with the last of the vine-ripened tomatoes from the garden. I have about 3 pounds of tomatoes that I rescued from the freeze and in various shades of green ripening in the house, but it's just not the same.

Fall is my favorite time of year, elections notwithstanding, but it's bittersweet.

****
Wife had to teach today. That means I got to cook up a small school of whitefish. Mrs. Hoosiertoo hates seafood in general, so the only times I get seafood is when we go out - or when she leaves me alone.

Today it was unbreaded whitefish fillets cooked in butter with salt, pepper, garlic and a lot of parsley. Yum! The house reeks of fish; I'm going to catch it when she gets home.

I'll be at work. Heh...

As promised...

2008-10-29T03:59:00.003-04:00

****
A couple of days ago I posted my picks for POTUS, Indiana Governor, and 4th District Representative. Today, I reveal my choices for state and local offices. You may unbate your breath now.

State Attorney General - Greg Zoeller (R)
Superintendent of Puplic Instruction - Tony Bennett (R)
State Rep - Dist 38 - Jacque Clements (R) Held my nose on this one. Her opponent was an absolute cipher. During a Q & A session with the local fishwrap, I don't think he gave an answer longer than a sentence, and agreed with Clements on virtually every issue. I went with experience, even though I wish there would have been a stronger candidate.

Local Offices:

County Prosecutor - Justin Hunter (R) Mainly because I don't like his opponent.
County Commissioner D1 - Michael Beard (R) His opponent is the ex-County Coroner, a Democrat who gave up his seat to run for Commissioner. The coroner's position will be filled by a Republican who is running unopposed. Go figure.

The only Democrat in the County Council At-Large race, when asked what he hoped to accomplish if elected replied, according to the Frankfort Times:

"First of all, try and learn the job," he said, "and not lose touch with them (constituents)."
Phipps has no specific plans for the months leading up to the election, but intends to connect with as many residents as possible.
"Just to let everyone know I'm doing it, and see how it goes," he said. "I'll be campaigning at the gas station when I'm pumping gas."

(In case anyone wonders why I didn't vote for any Democrats, that's a big reason why.)

Of the justices up for retention, the only one I voted "NO" on was Theodore R Boehm.

In every case, my vote went to the more pro-life candidate, or if there was no real data to ascertain who the pro-life candidate was, I went with the candidate most likely to be for smaller government and fiscal restraint.

I was disappointed that there were so many unopposed races. I think I may toss my hat in the ring next time around. Maybe even as a Demonrat. Think the party is ready for a pro-life Catholic libertarian?

Lying Liars Lying

2008-10-27T12:29:00.006-04:00

****
or at least obfuscating...

Steve Buyer has supported Bush's losing economic policies, voted for massive federal deficits and allowed billion dollar bailouts that will be paid for by taxpayers for generations to come.

Just received another campaign missive from Nels Ackerson.* It's loaded with standard politico twaddle, such as this jewel:

...Steve Buyer has been in Washington too long, and he has been too partisan.

He goes on to promise to

"...reach across party lines and confront the excessive partisanship that has crippled the political process."

He also castigates Buyer for not bringing home enough pork to the 4th District.

...the 4th District has fallen to the bottom in the nation in receiving federal contracts.

Buyer is one of the few politicians of either party to vote against the massive bailout of the banks and financial sector- twice. I've already castigated both Bayh (D) and Lugar (R) in this blog - how's that for bi-partisan? - for conspiring to foist this unprecedented power grab off on the American people.

Ackerson conveniently forgets that Congress has been Demonrat controlled for the past two years and that the bailout was a BI-PARTISAN debacle. The political process CALLS for principled opposition on occasion. If the federal deficit is enormous - and it is - Ackerson should bemoan the bi-partisan effort it took to create it instead of promising CHANGE by promoting more of the same.

I suspect that Ackerson isn't planning to vote for Mr. Bi-Partisan himself, John McCain. Just sayin'.

As for not bringing home the pork, even if it is true (it's not) - so what? I'd be much more interested in sending less of Hoosiers' hard-earned dollars to the thieves in Washington to begin with, and while Buyer could certainly do a better job of that, I see no indication that Ackerson could either a.) bring more home or b.) send less to begin with. Sending Ackerson to Congress to beg largesse for the 4th from Pelosi and the rest of the Demonrat leadership in exchange for supporting such abominations as FOCA hardly seems like a good idea to me.

Real change would involve breaking up the bi-factional love fest in US politics and electing libertarians and true citizen legislators instead of career politicians - such as Nels Ackerson (or Buyer, for that matter) to power. Given the lack of alternatives, I feel much better about my vote for Steve Buyer.

*I keep wanting to type Ackerman.

How I'll Vote.

2008-10-26T23:33:00.006-04:00

****
G.K Chesterton has said:

The whole modern world has divided itself into conservatives and progressives. The business of progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.

Here I sit staring at my absentee ballot and wondering how I'm going to cast my votes this year. Yes votes. There are many offices up for grabs in this election, despite the media's fixation on The Chosen One and the coming socialist dys - err, I mean U - topia.

I am a past member of the Libertarian Party and have cast votes for their candidates in virtually every race in which they have run a candidate over the past 40 years. Not this time. A few years back, I canceled my membership (although I've still voted for Libertarian candidates) when I began to suspect that they no longer took themselves seriously as a party. This election, they confirmed my suspicion by whoring out the party to a Republican for name recognition. Bob Barr? Really?

Well, it didn't work. Third parties have been even more marginalized than usual and the Libertarians seem poised to waste the hard work invested in gaining ballot access over the years. It's a shame. I like Andy Hornung, but the LP is not and won't be a viable threat to supplant the Repugnican party, and let's face it - a third party is a third wheel in US politics. At best, the LP can cost the Repugnicons a few votes in a close race. Not that I care a heckuva lot about Repugnicons per se, but who needs more Demonrats in office?

That said, I'm voting for Steve Buyer in the Indiana 4th Congressional District due solely to his principled opposition to the bailout. I've perused Nels Ackerson's campaign material and remain unimpressed. FWIW, my vote for Buyer is the first for a Republican congressional candidate ever. Thanks Congressman Buyer for your "no" vote.

Mitch Daniels is my choice for governor. He's done a good job during his first term; the state is in decent financial shape - the budget is "balanced" and the infrastructure seems to be improving. God knows there are enough construction zones all over the place. While there is still work to be done, I think Daniels can do the job. Jill Long Thompson's main message seems to be that she isn't Mitch Daniels. Indeed, I agree. FWIW, this will be my first vote for a Republican candidate for governor ever. Here's to four more years for Mitch!

Barack Hussein Obama will not get my vote. I doubt that ANY Demonrat would have, but Obama made me seriously consider voting for John McCain, if only in the hope that a McCain win would stop the Freedom of Choice Act and the lives of unborn children could be saved. Given McCain's penchant for bi-partisanship, I'm not at all confident that would be the case in any event. I was disgusted with the Repugnicon choice of candidate and still am. I cannot vote for McCain; if I were to vote for him, at best it would only be a vote against Obama. Sorry. I've resisted the urge to vote against a candidate in all but the '84 election. If that seems a little odd given my history of voting third party, so be it.

While a vote against Obama is a reasonable and justifiable position, a vote against Obama should not equal an endorsement for McCain. I simply do not believe John McCain should be president. I don't believe that rewarding the Repugnicans for choosing a jackass in elephant clothing is a good idea.

As for VP, Joe Biden is a liar and an idiot of the first magnitude. Sarah Palin is a lightweight. I'm not voting for Vice-President anyway, although Palin would probably be a better president than either McCain or Obama. I doubt she could be worse. Did I mention that Biden is an idiot? For a party that derides the intellect of Shrub, you'd think the Demonrats could do a better job picking candidates.

Indiana proscribes writing in a candidate who is not declared as a write-in candidate. Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party candidate for POTUS, is a declared write-in candidate. I've never cast a vote for a write-in candidate before. Since this seems to be an election of firsts for me, I intend to write in Chuck Baldwin as my choice for POTUS. Casting my vote for Baldwin is a positive act, as he is a candidate that I can support whole-heartedly over either the Marxist (Obama) or socialist lite (McCain) candidates the major parties have served up.

I do not cast votes in uncontested elections. There are five such local races this year. Surely the opposition could - you know - oppose? If you don't participate in the primaries - and as an independent, I don't - you don't get a choice. I know for a fact that the performance of state and local government leaves a lot to be desired. C'mon guys, get with the program.

I'm going to be back in Da Region on election day - hence the absentee ballot. I'm sure I'll need lots of beer to follow the results, probably on Fox. Fox is unbearable, but even at that they're better than CNNPSMNBCCBSETC. At least I won't have to watch Chris Matthews have an orgasm on national television when the Magic Negro wins the election.

In the unlikely event McCain wins, I hope the riots don't start until I get back to Podunk. And that the MSM's collective heads explode. THAT would make for a good night, and compelling television.

I'll list my choice for local offices in a later post.

Like anyone is likely to care.

The Bi-Factional Ruling Party stikes again.

2008-10-02T20:59:00.003-04:00

Sen. Evan Bayh represents virtually everything I hate about Demonrats. Sen. Richard Lugar represents most everything I hate about Repugnicons. Little wonder the two of them voted to saddle us with the atrocity of a bailout bill that the House will take up tomorrow afternoon.

Anyone still deluded that either Obama or McCain will CHANGE anything, except for the worse, is on crack. McCain or Obama? The choice is still yea or yea.

No wonder I normally vote 3rd party.

Yeehaw!

2008-09-29T21:16:00.004-04:00

The Paulson Plan as modified by the idiots in Congress was defeated! I've been watching the fearmongers go into full scale panic mode on CNN, MSNBC, etc. while I drink beer and laugh at the buffoons.

I not under any illusion that we're not going to get the shaft eventually, but it is nice to see that some representatives at least listened to their constituents and thought better of trying to ram this through before the election.

But for now, the bill is dead, the beer is cold and I'm happy.

Update: 11/30 - Watched a couple of the morning shows this morning. I've never seen so many people trying to blow smoke up the public's asses. It'd be funny if it wasn't so serious - no, wait! It's just funny.

I did actually see a couple of analysts - I didn't catch any names - admit that the bailout was a short term feel-good bandaid and that the real pain was still to come. Didn't catch names, but kudos to them!

Strings and beer and Push-ups.

2008-09-26T02:04:00.006-04:00

I was in an Osco in Chicago the other night picking up - or at least trying to - a remedy for the sinus infection that has plagued me for the past 2 weeks, when I happened to notice that some genius of marketing placed the alcohol selection next to the feminine hygiene products.

I've been buying feminine hygiene products for over 30 years now. I'm largely incapable of embarrassment anyway, and picking out some hapless clerk - the younger the better - and trying to get her to explain the benefits and features of various flow absorbers used to be one of my favorite pastimes, so I never really mind the inevitable monthly trip to the drug store. You'd think that after the first couple of years of periodic visits from Aunt Flo women would get the hint that it might be a good idea to stock up on feminine hygiene products at least a couple of days in advance of the blessed event.

Alas, such is not the case.

Feminine hygiene products have changed a lot in the past 30-odd years. For one thing, there used to be one basic pad - roughly the size of a travel pillow - and tampons with either plastic or cardboard insertion devices, which reminded me a little of Push-Ups.

Push-Ups were usually some sort of sherbet in a cardboard tube with a plastic piston on a stick used to push the sherbet up the tube. My favorite flavor was orange - but I digress.

Tampons have strings for ease of removal (much less self examination required to get the damned thing back out) and this of course has inspired men to make crudes jokes involving flossing, pediculosis pubis and bungee jumping.

Push-Ups don't have strings.

Now, feminine hygiene products come in a bewildering array of sizes and shapes, making it even less likely that the poor guy who has to buy one of these products is actually going to get the correct product home to a stressed-out mass of raging hormones with a disposition somewhat analogous to a pissed-off badgerette and already fired-up because guys DON'T HAVE PERIODS (Thanks, God!) and who also believes against all reason that the guy should know that she ALWAYS buys Always Super Ultra-maxis with Wings and Ailerons.

As if. I've had to make the return trip more than a few times. Oddly, I've never encountered the same sales clerk twice.

Naturally the poor shlub who has to go through this process knowing he isn't likely to get laid for a week or so and who also has the privilege of putting up with a creature that, if, say, it was a house pet would be taken to an animal shelter - or shot - is understandably under a lot of stress.

Beer in moderation is a good stress reliever, though it doesn't do much for the badgerette's stress level. So while putting beer next to the feminine hygiene products was a GREAT IDEA - I'd bet it was a guy who thought it up - the marketing guru who puts boxed chocolates and fishing tackle next to the beer will get my vote for president.

Just got back from "Da Region."

2008-09-25T23:11:00.002-04:00

One of my least favorite places on Earth.

Even worse, I'm off soon to SE Michigan, which I like even less.

Just say, "NYET!"

2008-09-24T12:57:00.005-04:00

It's no secret I'm not a fan of government or corporations, much less government by corporation. You would probably guess that I am a little exercised about the current financial mess and the Paulson Plan that our elected(?) thieves are planning to shove down our throats.

The following is from an e-mail received from the Ron Paul '08 campaign. I didn't edit much

"The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress' throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect. It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder. Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China! "This is welfare for the rich," he said. "This is socialism for the rich. It's bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters."

That describes the current bailout package to a "T." And we're being told it's unavoidable.
The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it. But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences - predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian (Trust me, you don't have to talk like Ahnold to figure this one out -HT) economics - are being let off the hook. The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!

• The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time. That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.

• Financial institutions are "designated as financial agents of the Government." This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.

• Then there's this: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process.

Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this "sadly necessary." Sad, yes. Necessary?

Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people. The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind - another example of the big choice we're supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes. Now, with a backlash brewing, they're not quite sure what their views are. A sad display, really.

Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we'll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short.

The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government?"

No doubt Paul can be a little myopic about his economics message (even if he is right) but this warning is spot on. I've already fired off e-mails to Senators Bayh and Lugar and will be doing the same to Dan Burton and all of Indiana's House contingent.

The Paulson Plan is a naked power grab and a huge boondoggle for the taxpayers, who stand to be the ultimate losers in this game. The pigs are already lining up at the trough. Think Warren Buffet's investment of $5,000,000,000 in Goldman is "a vote of confidence in the crisis-stricken banking system?" (WSJ) Yeah, me neither.

No business is too big to fail. The world would have gone on without the Chrysler Corporation, and will survive the demise of the fat cats on Wall Street.

My opinion can be summed up in two words:

Screw 'em.

Katelyn

2008-09-14T00:47:00.000-04:00

The hits just keep a-comin'!

Welcome Katelyn - #6!

2008-09-14T00:14:00.001-04:00

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Haven't been well this past week, so I haven't been able to hold her yet...

Bubble beard...

2008-09-06T23:35:00.000-04:00

Campfire

2008-09-02T00:39:00.000-04:00

Whitefish chowder...

2008-09-01T00:34:00.000-04:00

and smoked salmon for the road.

Yum!

Petoskey

2008-09-01T00:21:00.000-04:00

Downtown...

The waterfront. The harbor...

Green space downtown...

Train station, conerted to museum...

Crossing the Strait

2008-09-01T00:05:00.000-04:00

Pines

2008-08-31T00:02:00.000-04:00

****
At my campsite...