Monday, October 31, 2011

Sing it, Preshizzle!

The Oval Office. The president has called an emergency meeting with David Axelrod and David Plouffe.

Obama: Sit down guys. We’ve got a problem.

Axelrod: What is it, sir? More bad economic news? Evidence of a new terrorist attack?

Plouffe: Is Biden traveling without his handlers again?

Obama: Worse than any of those. Well, except maybe for Joe being on the loose. Anyway, I just saw a video clip of Herman Cain singing a religious song to the tune of “Danny Boy.” That’s not only eating into my African-American constituency, it’s likely to rope in the Irish vote, too. So, I’m thinking it’s time for me to do something authentic…you know, apply the human touch.

Axelrod: No! I mean, er, the voters have come to think of you as sort of superhuman, Mr. President. You wouldn’t want them to see…to see…

Plouffe [whispering to Axelrod]: The little man behind the curtain?

Obama: I heard that! No, no, put your penknife back in your pocket, Plouffe. You don’t need to cut your pinkie off in an act of expiation. It’s gross, and what the hell am I supposed to do with that? I get what you’re driving at. Your basic voter can’t really grasp my awesomeness, so he’s always wondering if I’m a little too good to be true. I think the answer is to change course somewhat, relate to the people on an emotional level. That is why I, too, have decided to release a music video.

Axelrod: But, but, sir! Even the first lady has said you couldn’t carry a tune in a bushel basket.

Plouffe: Begging your pardon, Mr. President, but I heard you humming the other day, and it sounded like a cat clawing at a banjo.

Obama: That was just idle noise. I can belt out a tune when I really want to. Listen to this; it was a big hit back in my community-organizing days:

“Stand up, all victims of oppression,
For the tyrants fear your might,
Don’t cling so hard to your possessions,
For you have nothing if you have no rights…”

Axelrod: Mr. President, that’s the “Internationale”.

Obama: Yeah, kinda catchy, isn’t it?

Axelrod: Sir, it’s associated with various socialist and communist movements.

Plouffe: Besides, Mr. President, it sounded like you were singing the lyrics of the “Internationale” to the tune of the theme song from Gilligan’s Island.

Obama: Oh, come on! Listen to the rest of it:

“With Lenin,
Deedle-dee-doot-doot
And Stalin, too,
Deedle-doodle-deedle-dee
Warren Buff-e-e-e-t-t,
and his wife…”

No, wait, that’s not right. Here, let me start from the top…

Plouffe: Mr. President, that song simply won’t do, no matter how, er, well you sing it. Please, drop the singing idea.

Obama [sulkily]: Well…we’ll see.

* * * * * * * * *

A Presidential press conference.

Obama: I’d like to close, today, with something a little upbeat. *Ahem*

“Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again…”

Jake Tapper (ABC News): I recognize the lyrics, but…

Brad Smilo (Paco World News Daily): Why is he singing “Happy Days Are Here Again” to the tune of “Deutschland über alles”? Beats me.

Unlike Jimmy Carter, Jon Huntsman did not wait until becoming president before having an embarrassing encounter with an animal

He has been nibbled and found wanting.

“Huntsman bitten by goat while campaigning in New Hampshire.”
The Union Leader reports that the bite was not vicious — Huntsman was not hurt, nor were his pants.
His pants were not hurt? Oh, good. That means David Brooks’ endorsement is still a possibility, right?

What’s the big deal? The Obama administration is already pretending that the Constitution doesn’t exist

Eric Holder’s Department of “Justice” has promulgated a new rule under which the government can simply deny the existence of documents that it doesn’t want to release under Freedom of Information Act inquiries.

The transparency sure is getting thick around here!

Fox to perform audit of henhouse; Old McDonald eagerly awaits report; “This could…*burp*…take some time,” says the fox

The White House has ordered a review of Department of Energy’s subsidized loan transactions.

Meanwhile, another government-subsidized energy company goes bust.

Some key questions:

(1) What is the total size of the existing portfolio of DOE loan guarantees (and direct loans, if the agency makes any of those)?

(2) What is the current default rate?

(3) How does the DOE reserve for the guarantees (or does the agency reserve at all)?

(4) How many transactions (and in what aggregate dollar amount) are in the pipeline of prospective deals?

(5) How many transactions (and in what aggregate dollar amount) are currently being, or have been, renegotiated?

(6) What percentage of the DOE’s total portfolio consists of renewable energy transactions? What is the average age of the renewable energy portfolio?

(7) What credit standards are used to evaluate the likelihood of repayment? How many deals did not adhere to those standards? On what basis, and under whose authority, were departures from established credit standards permitted?

There you go, Mr. Fox! Start with those questions. Better get to it, though, before the whole portfolio goes *Poof!*, and you’re just stuck doing one humongous post mortem.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Is anybody else beginning to find Muslim outrage pretty outrageous?

Doug Giles takes a look at the latest cause of high dudgeon among our Islamic friends, Catholic symbols at Catholic University:
It seems that an investigation has been sparked by Muslim “outrage” against a Catholic university (called Catholic University) for being, well, Catholic. Evidently Muslim students feel their human rights have been violated by not getting special digs on campus, minus Catholic imagery, to do their daily prayers on college grounds.

Let’s see, what can I compare this situation to? Hmmm. Dig deep, Doug, dig deep. Channel your inner Dennis Miller. I’ve got it! That’s like going to Hooters and being offended at all the bodacious hooters bouncing about. People don’t go to Hooters for their chicken wings; it’s called Hooters. Hoot-ers. Hooters. Geez, people. What the heck did you expect, students? It’s called Catholic University for a reason.

Human rights violated? That’s rich. Yes, let’s talk about human rights violations with Islam, shall we? How many Christians were killed in Egypt this week?
Doug also describes what he thinks the university's reaction should be:
Look, I’m not a Catholic and don’t work for good old CU, but if I did I’d be ticked and would stand my Catholic ground. I’d start swinging incense pots like a ninja warrior working a pair of nunchucks at any group trying to eradicate our cherished traditions and vision for our established university.
Splendid imagery. I think we should avoid showing undue deference to the members of a religion, many of whose homelands discourage or prohibit even the private practice of Christianity, and actively persecute non-Muslims. Perhaps I'll be a little more receptive to Muslim grievances when the Catholic archbishop of Saudi Arabia sends me a letter of remonstrance.

Happy Halloween!



I hope we've got enough candy here at the Paco Command Center for the trick-or-treaters. Mrs. Paco bought several bags of chocolate bars and M&Ms last week, and there's been some, er, mysterious inventory shrinkage.

Monday Movie

Gary Cooper in the showdown, from High Noon.

Carpetbagger


This is one Yankee who's going to get a boot up his ass if he doesn't stop meddling in Virginia. Not content to deprive his own subjects of the right to self-defense, Mayor Bloomturd of New York City is donating thousands of dollars to gun-control Democrats here in the Commonwealth. And here they are:
Five of the candidates Bloomberg supports are Democratic incumbents: John Miller, Mark Herring, Toddy Puller, Dave Marsden and George Barker. A sixth, Barbara Favola, is running for an open seat.


"You know, Spurgeon, I'm thinking that the NRA should have a state headquarters in New York commensurate with its importance as a private institution dedicated to preserving one of our most cherished rights. Across the street from City Hall should do nicely."

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Sunday funnies



Plus: Why did the chicken cross the road? (If that link doesn't work, try this one, courtesy of Captain Heinrichs).

Rope salesman's ploy backfires

Jeffrey Immelt - CEO of GE, adviser to President Obama, and Vichy capitalist - recently expressed support for the Occupy Wall St. protesters. Ironically, that didn't keep a crowd of them from trampling his begonias.

Immelt is one of those sleazy operators who talks like a businessman, but eagerly solicits government largesse. Personally, I prefer my capitalists unadulterated and unvarnished.


"The Occupy Wall St. mob? Bah! Put 'em on a chain gang building some of that infrastructure the president's always yapping about!"

Update: I wonder what's going to happen when Mayor Bloomberg's tax-paying constituents reach their boiling point and force hizzoner to take action against the protesters? I hope suspect that it might look something like this:

More Snotty Nonsense from Biased Commentators

This time via Karen Finney, an MSNBC "analyst". She says Republicans like Herman Cain "because he's a black man who knows his place."

Well, she's right, but not in the way she thinks. Herman Cain does know his place, and many Republicans agree that it looks like this:



Update: David Morris and Stacy McCain discuss Cain's rise.

Cardinals win the World Series

Congratulations to the red birds on their series victory. The sixth game ranks as one of the most exciting postseason exhibitions of all time.

Friday, October 28, 2011

“Are you for real?”

Jeff G. writes another pitch-perfect response to a Democratic politician’s fund-raising request.
You are everything our Founding Fathers worried about when they tried to place limits on federal power. Barack Obama has called us -- the constitutionalists and promoters of the free market, who want less government and more individual freedom -- "enemies."

And in a sense he's right: some of will not stand by while our children and grandchildren are enslaved to future debt they can't possibly ever pay back. We will not stand by while you use the politics of envy to surreptitiously rob of us of our liberties and further expand your reach into every aspect of our lives. Which I suppose makes us the enemies of those who claim to love America, even as they demand it's "fundamental transformation," which includes an escape from the constraints of a "flawed document" like the Constitution.

So no, I won't give you a dime.
Jeff is one of the most impassioned and eloquent writers in blogdom. Read the whole thing.

Jack O'Lanterns have come a long way

Check out these amazing pumpkin sculptures by Ray Villafane.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Genuine coin of the realm

Wouldn't mind having a piggy bank full of these.

Happy Feet Friday

A young Donald O’Connor and Peggy Ryan strut their stuff in Mister Big (the music starts at 1:13).

Trick or treat!

H.W. Crocker III suggests dressing up as a famous imperialist for Halloween, in order to shock the sensibilities of one’s liberal neighbors. Sir Henry Morgan, for example, or Sir Richard Francis Burton, or maybe Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer:
Class warriors would be affrighted by the aristocratic Templer, who was an Olympic athlete and who as an old man (in a dressing gown and waving a swordstick) chased down a burglar; he breathed his last while nursing a pink gin. Templer was the man who gave us the “hearts and minds” strategy for defeating Communist insurgents, which the British used successfully in Malaya. But it was not all a matter of public uplift and good works. Templer employed hard measures too. He found, for instance, that headhunters made excellent trackers of Communist guerrillas.
A charming article, filled with fascinating thumbnail historical sketches.

Life imitates Wodehouse

“Man reports date as burglar when girlfriend shows”.

The (Not So Great) Mall of China

Legal Insurrection has an intriguing video concerning the Chinese real estate bubble. The vast, well-maintained but almost empty new city of Zheng Zhou is haunting.

Gee, I wonder who’s going to be buying U.S. debt when the bubble pops?

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Like pouring gasoline on a fire

Britain’s expenditures on foreign aid are not simply useless, but downright destructive. Hal G.P. Colebatch reports.
Zimbabwe, under the demented tyrant Robert Mugabe, does best of all, with an increase in aid of 70 million pounds to 350 million pounds. A genocidal war was carried out by Mugabe against the Northern Ndebele (Matabele) tribe, using North Korean-trained troops. Torture in police cells is taken for granted. Once among the most prosperous food-growing countries in Africa, it has been reduced to destitution by Mugabe's policy of confiscating mostly white-owned farms to redistribute among his cronies.
And this is under a Conservative prime minister, mind you.

The times, they are a-changin'

“Worst California biker feud in decade erupted at Starbuck’s”.
Tensions boiled over in January 2010, when members of the rival gangs, some wielding ball-peen hammers, fought outside a Santa Cruz Starbucks before scattering as police arrived.

"It was all about who would be allowed to hang out at the Starbucks downtown," Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said. "The Vagos brazenly came in and tried to cement their presence. It was a pretty strong play on their part to establish themselves as the premiere club."

He added: "Only in Santa Cruz would you have biker wars over who's going to control pumpkin spice lattes."
H/T: Drudge

Oakland’s Occupy site now unoccupied

Zombie has an excellent photo essay concerning the Occupy Oakland site.

Which has now been tear-gassed by the police (great videos at the link).

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Occupy movement looks for new worlds to conquer

And Smitty is there with his telescope.

Rakin' it in

One of the most damning pieces of evidence of Washington's corruption is the wealth of its population.
According to the latest Census figures, Washington, D.C. is now the wealthiest metropolitan area in the United States.

That's good news for local property values, but I can't say it fills me with hometown pride. After all, Silicon Valley's wealth was earned -- just rewards voluntarily given for producing innovations that have dramatically improved our lives.

In contrast, D.C.'s prosperity reflects a parasite economy that battens on wealth created by others. We live in a vast, metastasizing tick of a city, swollen on the lifeblood it drains from the body politic.

Dude, that's why it's called an elective office

Defeated Democrat congressman sues conservative group over election loss.
There's nothing quite like a politician scorned.

When voters in Ohio's 1st Congressional District threw Democrat Steve Driehaus out of office after only one term, he did not bow out gracefully. No, he decided to get even. So he did what anyone does in today's culture: he sued somebody.

Charging that its activities contributed to his defeat and thus to his "loss of livelihood," Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports pro-life candidates for Congress and which has been one of the leading and most effective organizations involved in the fight to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
Talk about a sore loser (emphasis on "loser"). If we've learned nothing else over the last few years, we should at least have learned that the link between the Democratic Party and democracy is extremely tenuous.

Strange refugee

Cubans, Haitians and now giant LEGO Men are fleeing to Florida's shores.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Oh, please let it happen

Plugs Biden is not ruling out a run for the presidency in 2016.


"Vote for me, or Marco Rubio will be cruising the streets in his Cadillac Escalade, hanging out the window and shooting down teachers and firemen with a semi-automatic pistol."

Hewitt and Steyn

Here’s another transcript from the Hewitt/Steyn dialogues that take place more or less weekly on Hugh Hewitt’s radio program. As usual, this one covers a wide range of issues, including the increasing absurdity of Democratic campaign rhetoric:
Mark Steyn: “Harry Reid, you know, just a couple of months ago, was saying oh, no, the Republicans are going to decimate the federally-subsidized Cowboy Poetry Festival. Now, we’ve moved beyond that to a land where cowboy poets are going to be raped and murdered by the thousands because of those Republicans. So I don’t know, at this rate of ratcheting up, I don’t know where the rhetoric’s going to be in a couple of months beyond this. Nobody believes any of this stuff.”
Sounds like an interesting exercise! I invite readers to provide specimens of likely Democrat vituperation, obloquy and hyperbole (pronounced “hyperbowl”, if you’re an Australian prime minister) in the comments section. What do you think they’ll be saying as we get closer to the probable demise of their hero’s political career?

Congratulations!

To Bobby Jindal, who won a second term as governor by virtue of his victory in Louisiana’s open primary.

Jim Geraghty provides some interesting historical background.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Go get 'em, er, Spike



Kathy Bates to Obama: "Stand up on [your] hind legs and fight these rat bastards."

The "rat bastards" being the same bankers who contributed all that getus to Obama's campaign back in 2008.

Don't be so paranoid

You can trust the government with your health care, social security, even your Ferrari. (H/T: Overlawyered).

"Where have all the showers gone?"

Mark Steyn notes the appearance among the occucriers of a genuine commiesaurus.

Monday Movie

The frightening pool scene from Cat People (1942).

Those wacky chemists!

Happy Mole Day!

BTW, I don't know what moles have to do with avocados. We had several avocado trees when we lived in Miami, and the squirrels would sometimes get in amongst the fruit, but I never saw any moles up there. And speaking of avocados, they've got to be the blandest fruit in the world, although the ones we grew in Miami were almost the size of footballs, and people who like 'em said they were delicious. Oh, there's the phone, hold on a minute.

"Hello? Yeah, this is Paco. Well, Michael Lonie! How you doin', you old egg head, you? What's that? It's not about that kind of mole? And it doesn't have anything to do with avocados? Avogadro's number? Oh, ok. I'll get this sorted out. Thanks.

Yes, operator? Can you connect me with 602-1023? Fella by the name of Avogadro. He's got some 'splainin' to do!"


Update: Ok, this is indisputably about avocados: "Avocado thief banned from having more than 10 at a time".

Sunday funnies

The Obama campaign is looking for poster submissions from artists in support of the president's jobs bill. Steve Burri rises to the challenge.

How would you respond if you saw satellite debris coming down near you? Miss Red has a video that shows some typical reactions.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Best wishes

Friend and frequent commenter, Deborah Leigh, was in an automobile accident recently.

Our prayers and best wishes go with her as she recuperates. Get well, soon, Deb!

OWS: a festival of neuroses

Whatever else the occudopes believe in, it sure isn't personal responsibility.

Update: More on this "amazing" mom.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Assortment (World-going-to-hell-in-a-hand-basket edition)



Qaddafi is dead and gone, but Libya’s future is still looking pretty grim.

Among the worst enemies we face are our own internal parasites.

A desperate administration is becoming increasingly incendiary in its rhetoric.

When it comes to welfare-state delusions, people never seem to learn.

Some of the Occupy movement’s more coherent demands have a real déjà vu quality about them.

Economic problems? You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

Until further notice, if I can’t drive there, I ain’t goin’.

Not so stimulating stimulus.

“It began, as it so often does, with a drum circle”

Schism and apostasy among the sans culottes.
“The sunshine protestors will leave,” said “Zonkers,” a 20-year-old cleaner and longtime occupier from Tennessee. (He asked that his name not be used due to a felony marijuana conviction.) “The people who remain are the people who care. You get a lot of crust punks, silly kids, people who want to panhandle ... It disgusts me. These people are here for a block party."

As the communal sleeping bag argument between Lauren Digion and Sage Roberts threatened to get out of hand, a facilitator in a red hat walked by, brow furrowed. “Remember? You’re not allowed to do any more interviews,” he said to Digion. She nodded and went back to work. But when Roberts shouted, “Don’t tell me what to do!” Digion couldn't hold back.

“Someone has to be told what to do," she said. "Someone needs to give orders. There’s no sense of order in this fucking place.”

Update: Heh. “All we are saying…is give us a bath!”

How deep has the rot gotten at ATF?

This deep.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Happy Feet Friday

Fred Astaire in a longish video clip from The Sky’s the Limit - primarily appealing, to me, for the absolutely mad boogie starting at around 3:13.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The return of The Thing

Jason Apuzzo at Libertas reviews the new remake of The Thing.

BTW, he takes a shot at the sci-fi series, Falling Skies, which I think is well deserved. I watched every episode of the first season, and thought it was pretty awful: utterly pedestrian writing, cringe-worthy overacting, excessive emoting, comparatively few scenes actually featuring aliens, and an unbelievable plot line (the aliens were able to wipe out the armies of the world - millions of troops, with sophisticated weaponry - but has trouble even locating a poorly armed band of guerrillas, whose second-in-command is a college professor? In Massachusetts? Please). This series is so vastly inferior to the - sadly - cancelled V that it makes me shake my head in complete bafflement.

One positive: I do like the program's sarcastic biker-gang character, John Pope.

Down the memory hole

The Department of Energy is changing previously issued press releases that have been posted on the internet .


"It is now time for the two-minute hope and change!"

Busty feminist busted



Naomi Wolf - whose main claim to fame, apparently, was her job teaching Al Gore how to reach women voters (but not in droves sufficient to enable him to beat W in 2000) - was recently arrested in Manhatten while she was doing a celebrity walk-on role in support of the Occupods.


Al: Are you sure this is what women want?

Naomi: You can't miss, dreamboat!

Rollback

The EPA is retreating on several regulatory fronts, as indicated in this article by Walter Olson at the Cato Institute .
Are there enough data points yet to call it a trend? I think there are: the Environmental Protection Agency is now backing off a whole series of deeply unpopular Obama-era initiatives. This time it’s the idea of tightening the federal standard for coarse airborne particulates—better known as “dust”—from the current 150 micrograms per cubic meter to a figure somewhere between 65 and 85, depending on what assumptions are used. That change could have dealt a tough economic blow to businesses, notably farms and ranches, that kick up quantities of dirt in the ordinary course of operation.
But be advised: the agency is only doing this grudgingly.
This, then, seems to be the new Obama administration compromise position on the EPA: they’ll hold off for now on saddling the economy with at least some potentially ruinous regulations—but they’ll make sure you know they’re not happy about having to take that stand.
Another good reason to make sure Obama is a one-term president. Imagine how much damage the EPA and other agencies in the executive branch could do once Obama is no longer constrained by the requirements of electioneering and the need to feign concern over the loss of real jobs.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Hats off to Australian engineer, Chris Malloy!

He's invented something that will make my daily commute to Washington a breeze.

And for when I retire, I'm considering one of these.

Chuck Norris opines

Norris on the promise of America, past and future.

Today's Chuck Norris fact: Chuck Norris can text on a payphone.

Democratic heavyweights in Virginia send their regrets

Seems like they’re trying desperately to avoid catching the presidential cooties.
President Obama arrives in the state Tuesday as part of three-day North Carolina and Virginia bus tour to talk about the economy, but it’s not clear how many Virginia Democrats will be with him.

As we reported today, Democratic state legislators are none too eager to support Obama, let alone be seen with him.

The state’s top Democrats will be not be around, either.
He’ll probably have trouble drawing crowds of regular folks, too – unless he decides to ride through Chesterfield in an open car, distributing sawbucks from a big canvas sack [Likely response from typical Chesterfield resident: “Meh. Mail me a check.”]

For sale

One teleprompter (used, but still in great shape); two podiums, complete with genuine presidential seals; assorted microphones and speakers; one dog-eared Cliff Notes version of Saul Alinky’s Rules for Radicals.

Don’t miss these, and many other desirable items, at the annual Paco Command Center Yard Sale! This Saturday, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Remember: we’ve got what you want, or maybe just what you happen to be missing, down at the Paco Command Center. See you there!

From the shelves of the Paco library

Two freebies via Kindle/Amazon.

I. The Innocents Abroad

In 1867, Mark Twain embarked on a grand tour, encompassing Mediterranean Europe and the Holy Land, with side trips to Constantinople and Odessa. Twain traveled with an open mind, but not an empty one, so the book is filled with honest, uninhibited observations, frequently hilarious, occasionally somber, and sometimes even nearly worshipful.

Twain playfully builds up the trip in the opening chapter, quoting, in its entirety, the advertisement that had originally prompted his interest. He also notes, with awe, that the group of tourists is to be joined by a high panjandrum of the U.S. government:
I was proud to observe that among our excursionists were three ministers of the gospel, eight doctors, sixteen or eighteen ladies, several military and naval chieftains with sounding titles, an ample crop of “Professors” of various kinds, and a gentleman who had “COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EUROPE, ASIA AND AFRICA” thundering after his name in one awful blast!...I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it maybe; but I state frankly that I was all unprepared for this crusher…Ah, if I had only known then that he was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute…
In Italy and France, Twain and his boisterous friends kept up a running battle with guides and would-be guides, some of whom seemed far more interested in steering their charges toward the shops of friends and relatives than toward the famous sites that they wanted (or felt compelled) to see.

In the Crimea, the passengers encountered an instance of wonderful serendipity, and were invited to take tea with the Czar and to visit the palace of one of the Grand Dukes. The tourists were completely charmed by their hosts. Twain writes, “When it was time to go, we bade our distinguished hosts good-bye, and they retired happy and contented to their apartments to count their spoons.”

The Holy Land, Twain found disappointing in many ways. The Bible stories of kings and armies had created a picture of vastness, yet, crossed and re-crossed on donkeys and on foot, the region taught Twain that most of the signal events occurred in an area that would have fit into a typical eastern American state (with several counties left over). He was also appalled by the corruption and incompetence of Ottoman governance, the narrow-minded sectarian strife that plagued the holy places, the squalid living conditions of the denizens of small villages and the constant clamoring for “bucksheesh”. One of the most amusing refrains in this book is Twain’s periodic (and sarcastic) notations of the great disparity between what he saw and experienced, and the heavily romanticized versions of travelers such as William Cowper Prime. Near the end of his visit, he wrote:
We do not think, in the holy places; we think in bed, afterwards, when the glare and the noise, and the confusion are gone, and in fancy we revisit alone, the solemn monuments of the past, and summon the phantom pageants of an age that has passed away.
First published in 1869, Innocents Abroad is one of the most famous, and still very popular, travel books written by an American author. By turns funny and bitter, perhaps the thing that most stands out, to me, is this sad fact: traveling around the Middle East in 1867 was safer, in many ways, than it is today.

II. A Man of Means

First published between May and October of 1916 in the Pictorial Review, these six stories by P.G. Wodehouse have now been gathered together in one volume. They feature Roland Bleke, an inoffensive young man whose main fault consists in becoming infatuated with girls who look upon him primarily as a meal ticket; and as his bank account grows fatter – with the initial impetus of a winning sweeps ticket that he had completely forgotten about, further supplemented by a cascade of lucky investments – the ambitions of his lady friends expand accordingly. Here is a sample of Wodehouse’s typically hilarious prose, from the fourth story in the series (Roland has rashly invested in a newspaper, motivated exclusively by a desire to save the job of a pretty employee, and his chief editor - worshipped by the lady in question - has been beaten up by a rough customer unhappy with a tabloid-style exposé):
Miss March turned on her heel. It was plain that she regarded him as a worm. Roland did not like being thought a worm, but it was infinitely better than being regarded as an interesting case by the house-surgeon of a hospital. He belonged to the school of thought which holds that is better that people should say of you, “There he goes!” than that they should say, “How peaceful he looks.”
Light-hearted and fun in their own right, these early stories are interesting, as well, as a sort of foreshadowing of the future Bertie Wooster.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Smitty does us another solid...

...by bringing us this video clip of Dr. Thomas Sowell talking about the Occupy movement.

Bumper sticker reflux

Of all the gag-inducing pro-Obama bumper stickers I’ve seen, this one is the nearest thing to ipecac.

It’s all part of the plan

Jeff Goldstein continues to be one of the most articulate political prophets in the land. Here is his latest piece, which focuses on Obama’s attempt to coopt the Occupation for his own ends. A sample:
And now the next stage is beginning: an assault on the “fat cats” and the money men, launched from different angles, with the Occupy Wall Street crowds providing the civil unrest, the social tension, and the optics, making the more outlandish demands (and including the most repugnant fellow-travelers), while Obama serves as the voice of reason and moderation, fashioning his campaign around a populist soft-socialism in which the banks and bankers and money men are required to pay “their fair share” and the “wealth disparity” is addressed — even as the evil Republicans try to “protect the rich.”
One man cannot bring down our nation; however, a nation that twice elects such a man as currently occupies the White House is already essentially finished. Let us hope and pray that the ignorance and social rot have not advanced so far.

Update: At least the Occupy movement is bringing people together - even Nazis and Communists.

Ah, just like old times…



Update II: A question occurs to me: is Obama our Kerensky – an incompetent “game-changer” overtaken by forces that he helped unleash but can’t control – or is he our Lenin, fully aware of what he’s doing and pleased with the likely end-results?

North of the border, south of the border; is there a difference anymore?

Cartels are now recruiting among Texas schoolchildren.
Texas law enforcement officials say several Mexican drug cartels are luring youngsters as young as 11 to work in their smuggling operations.

Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told Reuters the drug gangs have a chilling name for the young Texans lured into their operations.

"They call them 'the expendables,'" he said.
The open borders crowd considers us all to be expendable. Maybe when a vast swath of the American southwest is finally absorbed into the Mexican narco-state, people will wake up and take notice (at which point it will be too late to do anything about it). What with the Mexican cartels in the west, the Manchurian candidate president in Washington, and the uprising of the clueless lumpenproletariat, I’m afraid America’s going to wind up resembling some weird combination-remix of Blade Runner and Tombstone.

Do you live in a hellhole?

Here is a list of indicators to help you evaluate the relative hellishness of your town.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Monday Movie

Jimmy Stewart has a lively discussion with a Confederate recruiter in Shenandoah.

Occupuncture

The Occupy movement is trying to go global, but its efforts in Sydney, Australia seem to have fizzled.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Friday, October 14, 2011

Pictures at an Occupation

I paid a visit to McPherson Park today, the site where Occupy DC's soviet gathers every afternoon. Attendance has increased since I last sauntered by, and I tell you, the revolution is beginning to look like it's for real. Get a load of these photos (click to enlarge).

Professional graphics!



Catchy slogans!



Socialist infrastructure!



Unlimited resources!



We are up against it now, my fellow running dogs of capitalism!

Assortment

Mark Steyn and Hugh Hewitt discuss – or rather, romp through - a range of current issues.

Why is the Republican establishment pushing so hard for Mitt Romney? Jeff G. would honestly like to know (and so would I).

Herman Cain is a gentleman. Lawrence O’Donnell is not.

Warren Buffett continues to tax my patience.

A really interesting piece by Quinn Hillyer on the Republican debates, focusing on the different perceptions one gets from seeing and hearing the candidates, and then reading the transcripts of what they said.

Of particular interest to Australians: the return of Margo Kingston (Reminds me of the old days at Tim Blair’s previous joint. Good times, good times).

The problem was, it wasn’t supposed to be a submarine.

Chip off the ol’ crock: Jesse Jackson, Jr. thinks Obama should declare some kind of jobs martial law.
Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that congressional opposition to the American Jobs Act is akin to the Confederate “states in rebellion.”

Jackson called for full government employment of the 15 million unemployed and said that Obama should “declare a national emergency” and take “extra-constitutional” action “administratively” — without the approval of Congress — to tackle unemployment.
So, voting down Obama’s phony jobs bill was, what, like Fort Sumter? And Mitch McConnell is General Beauregard? I guess Junior wasn’t considered smart enough to run a beer distributorship, hence his entry into politics.

Jackie Kennedy: a pretty nasty piece of work, according to Paula Cohen.

Many thanks to Smitty for posting this video of the great Alonso Rachel, taking on Herman Cain’s race-baiting critics.

Charles Krauthammer opines on Obama’s irresponsible descent into the politics of class warfare.

Lumpenproletariat plans national convention. Paco Enterprises going long on penicillin, hazmat suits and Febreze.

Update: Woo woo! My earlier J.Packington Paco story linked at WSJ.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Happy Feet Friday

Jerry Lee Lewis performs his great Ode to Jock Itch.

A titan of industry puts down - or, rather, reroutes - a revolution


J. Packington Paco III sat behind his gargantuan empire desk, staring at a sheet of paper. To the casual observer (should one have been present), it would have appeared to be similar to the other sheets of paper that were piled neatly to either side. But to the gimlet eye of this shrewd financier, it might as well have been an angry pit viper coiled and ready to strike.

Only a very small pit viper, perhaps, since the dollars did not amount to much – only a few hundred thousand – but there was no question that it rankled. Here were all these other papers - financial summaries of his vast holdings, all swimming luxuriously in black ink - while this piece of paper revealed an irritating blush, a dab of red ink indicating that thing he abhorred above all else: an economic loss. It didn’t matter that the amount was trifling; it was the principle of the thing (or, rather, the principal and accrued, unpaid interest).

To be specific, it was a house that had been foreclosed by one of his many financial subsidiaries, and it looked to be a complete write-off. A smallish affair of only 5,000 square feet, it had now been on the market for nearly five years, with no takers. No, this wouldn’t do.

J.P.’s brooding was interrupted by a light tap on the pocket doors of the library, which suddenly opened with a whisper no louder than the whoosh of a maestro’s baton, conducting a movement in Andante moderato. J.P.’s gentleman’s personal gentleman, the redoubtable Spurgeon, approached his master carrying a silver tray with a demitasse on board.

J.P.’s troubled reverie dissipated somewhat at the prospect of his afternoon espresso.

“Ah! Thank you, Spurgeon. Mmmm! The pause that refreshes.”

“I am glad that you find it satisfactory, sir.”

J.P.’s brows suddenly furrowed in silent puzzlement. “I say, Spurgeon, you know this is liberty hall as far as your sartorial tastes go, but I’m bound to ask: why do you have that old Enfield rifle slung over your shoulder? And what is the point of the WWII-era Tommy helmet?”

“I regret to inform you, sir, that a mob of Bolsheviks and anarchists has foregathered in front of Paco Tower, under the auspices of the notorious “Occupy” movement. They seem to be clamoring for the overthrow of – forgive me for repeating something so vile, Mr. Paco – for the overthrow of capitalism. And in your own person, they apparently think they have found a highly symbolic target. The crowd is heaping obloquy on your head, and they are preparing to burn you in effigy. I sincerely fear pillage and mayhem.”

“The Great Unwashed, eh?”

“Certainly unwashed, sir, although not particularly great. They number about twenty.”

J.P. downed the rest of his coffee. “Good, that. From one of my coffee plantations in Brazil?”

“Indeed, sir. The one located on the site of a reclaimed rainforest.”

“Well,” J.P. said, rising from his chair and rubbing his hands together. “I believe I’ll go downstairs and show the flag.”

“I shall accompany you, Mr. Paco.”

“No, no, Spurgeon. Take up a position in yonder window, and pick off as many as you can if they become violent. I assure you that I shall be well protected.” He patted the copious pocket of his tweed jacket.

“But, sir…”

“Now, now, Spurgeon. I have faced many an irate minority investor at shareholders’ meetings over the years, and once held off a band of scalp-hunting Securities & Exchange Commission investigators with nothing but a cherubic smile and a couple of byzantine organizational charts until they finally withdrew, exhausted and demoralized, from the field. Handling this small delegation of the lumpenproletariat is well within my scope.”

With a hearty clap on his man’s shoulder, J.P. bustled over to his private elevator and descended to the first floor. As he walked toward the front entrance, he encountered the security guard, who was scowling through the glass at the milling mob. Joe, an African-American built along the lines of a particularly large NFL linebacker, and a veteran of several foreign wars, removed the vintage Colt 1911 pistol from its holster and checked the safety; in his massive paw, the thing looked like a derringer.

“Going out, Mr. Paco? No problem. I’ll just take out a few in front, starting with that four-eyed string-bean with the ZZ Top beard…”

“No, no, Joseph. Please don’t trouble yourself. I thought it might be good to go outside and have a peaceful word or two. Oil on troubled waters; that sort of thing.”

“What you oughta do, is have Spurgeon pour some boiling oil off the balcony. That’ll settle their hash.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Just stay back here and act as a reserve.”

“All right, sir. But you keep a sharp lookout, you hear? And holler if you need me.”

“I will, Joe.” J.P. smiled to himself, confident in the knowledge that, before he ever had occasion to holler, Joe would be on the spot, dealing out destruction with both hands.

J.P. pushed through the door and walked out on the spacious landing. His olfactory sense was immediately assaulted by the aroma of unwashed proletarians. Nonetheless, he beamed at them.

“Good afternoon, fellow citizens! I understand that you would have a word with me.”

The crowd, finally face to face with a genuine capitalist, grew silent. It is one thing to talk of streets running red with the blood of the oppressors, quite another to encounter an oppressor in the flesh, swaddled in tweed, and resembling nothing so much as a jolly sportsman who has just come back from potting a few grouse on the moor. With the insolence and false courage provided by the presence of his fellows, however, one of the rowdies piped up.

“Your time is up, man!” said the bespectacled and bearded revolutionary, to whom Joe the security guard previously drew our attention.

“On the contrary, young man. I have all day. I am completely at your disposal.”

“You don’t get it, do you, bloodsucker? We’re taking the country back from the Man! Light the effigy, Bryan!”

Bryan, another hirsute member of the masses, fumbled in his pockets ineffectually. “I don’t have any matches.”

The first rabble-rouser, who seemed to be the leader, spat in disgust. “Doesn’t anybody have any matches?”

A ragged chorus of negatives greeted his inquiry. An obese girl with pimples (attired, somewhat dubiously, in a t-shirt celebrating the virtues of vegetarianism) spoke for the crowd. “None of us smoke.”

J.P., ever obliging, offered up a lighter, after first igniting an Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur. “Here you are. Be my guest.”

The leader grabbed the lighter, set fire to the effigy, and began to spell out the demands of the revolution. “We insist on the redistribution of wealth! Free health care! The cancelation of all student debt! Subsidized housing! Yikes!”

At first, J.P. found this last demand somewhat baffling, but quickly concluded that the exclamation was more in the nature of a response by the leader to the sudden realization that his beard was on fire.

J.P. offered some friendly advice. “You people are the experts – the vanguard and all that – so I’m reluctant to counsel you on the nuts and bolts of protesting; however, I’m fairly certain that you’re supposed to let go of the effigy once you’ve set it alight.”

After dousing himself with a bottle or two of natural spring water, the leader stood before J.P., smelling like a singed horse that had narrowly escaped from a burning barn, and trembling with rage. “Effigy, smeffigy! It’s time to go after the real thing!” He removed a brick from his knapsack, and brandished it menacingly.

But not for long. From the heights above, a loud report sounded, and the brick splintered in the leader’s hand. J.P. turned and looked up to see Spurgeon at his post, the Enfield still held in firing position. With a “thumbs-up” sign to his man, J.P. faced the crowd again, intending to resume his conversation with the leader; but he saw nothing but his scrawny form, receding rapidly into the distance, all flapping shirt tail and pumping arms. Half of his followers had decamped with him, at similar, if not greater, speed.

Ten or so anarchists remained, however, either braver than their comrades, or perhaps simply weighed down by bovine incomprehension. A large brute, clad in dungarees and a denim shirt with the sleeves cut off (one arm decorated with a tattoo of a knife sticking through a skull, the word “Mother” spelled out underneath in Gothic lettering) picked up a chunk of the shattered brick and tossed it, meditatively, in the air a couple of times.

J.P., unsure of the gorilla’s immediate plans, slipped a hand into his pocket and withdrew an antique Colt Peacemaker. Passed down through the generations, it had belonged to an earlier Paco who had achieved a degree of notoriety in the Old West as a venture capitalist in his own right (he had made his money in stagecoach lines – typically from horseback on moonless nights, with a bandana drawn around his face, and backed by similarly attired business partners, playfully described by various sheriffs and town marshals as a “gang”). The big fellow sighed and dropped the fragment of brick.

“Aw, we didn’t mean no harm. It’s just that none of us have jobs, and most of us don’t even have a place to sleep. Looked like a good opportunity to shake down some of you rich folks.”

J.P.’s physiognomy underwent a transformation, his features resolving themselves into a configuration that an astute observer would have read as signifying the word, “Eureka!”

“No place to sleep? Why, that’s a shame. Listen, you’ve moved me deeply. If you’re not too particular about the location, I’ve got a house in Omaha, just sitting there empty. And, if you’re still keen on protesting against the wealthy, you’ll be glad to learn that it’s adjacent to the property of one of the wealthiest men in the world. You’ll be able to protest around the clock, from the comfort of your own back yard!”

“Hey, that sounds great! But,” the homunculus said, turning his pants pockets inside out, “it takes dough to buy a bus ticket.”

“That’s no problem at all, my hulking friend! Here.” J.P. withdrew his small-change purse from within the recesses of his costume and fished out a handful of c-notes. “This should see you all there safely.”

Almost speechless with gratitude, the man muttered his heart-felt thanks and informed his friends of the godsend. They gave three cheers for J.P., waved good-bye, and trooped off to the bus station.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

J.P. returned to his penthouse suite and found Spurgeon in the kitchen, cleaning and oiling his rifle. Spurgeon stood to attention and stared morosely into the middle distance.

“Fine bit of shooting, old fellow!”

“I offer my sincerest apologies, sir.”

“What? Apologies? What are you talking about, man? That was as splendid a shot as I’ve ever seen. You popped the brick out of his hand with ease.”

“I was aiming at his forehead, sir.”

“Ah. Well, brick, forehead; in his case, the two were practically identical in appearance. Superb marksmanship any way you slice it. Annie Oakley has nothing on you!”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a telephone call to make.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Hello? I’d like to speak to Warren Buffett, please. Oh, is that you, old top? You sound a little hoarse. Probably comes from all that bellowing for higher taxes. Very bad for the larynx, not to mention business. Say, you know that place next door to your house in Omaha, the one that you’ve been unreasonably refusing to buy, even though I’ve offered you an outstanding discount, the one you said you won’t buy at any price? Well, you’ll be buying it soon, and not just at any price – at my price. No, no, I don’t want to ruin the surprise. But here’s a tip: keep my telephone number handy. You’ll be wanting to call me in a few days. Count on it.”

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Happy Anniversary!

Friend and blogger, Isophorone, recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of his blog. Incidentally, he is also one of a very few bloggers that I have met in person. Get on over there and say howdy!

Now we know the whole story

In fact, this provides a clue as to what they do with the rest of the moose.

Bring it, bro!

This idiot is calling for violence against the bourgeoisie.

Two words for you, slick: Second Amendment.

BTW, aren't most of these protesters from the non-working class?

Who's the best catcher in baseball?

36 Chambers has a theory...

In other quantitative analysis news: Ok, ok, so I thought quantum mechanics were grease monkeys who worked a lot of overtime. So I was wrong.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Keith Ellison: Ekanomic Jeenyus

Rep. Keith Ellison (D – of course! – Minnesota) thinks that creating new regulations is good for boosting employment.


“Gawrsh, Keith! Even I know that forcin’ a business to divert scarce resources into unproductive channels reduces profitability and job creation. And that even if yuh increase the number of regulators, they’re not contributin’ anything to return on investment or capital formation; they’re just an unrecoverable cost that hangs around the neck of a company, and the necks of the taxpayers, like a millstone, havin’ nuthin’ but a negative impact on revenues and operatin’ margins. Hyuck!”

One strongly suspects that this would not be consensual on the part of the animals

Bestiality is now, apparently, a human right.

I can well understand the difficulty many of these people have in getting a date, but it strikes me that there are, or at least should be, certain inviolable limits. Where is PETA on this issue? Is there an Occupy the Barnyard affiliate? Do these perverts know when “b-a-a” means “no”?

Comparisons are odious…

…Dr. Johnson said, but then so is “Professor” Cornel West of Princeton University, who recently took some remarkably cheap shots at Herman Cain. Presumably the latter is somehow an inauthentic specimen of African-American because he does not, like the eminent academician, deck himself out in a Frederick Douglass Halloween costume 365 days a year, and earn his daily bread as a race-hustler. Inauthentic, except, I suppose, for the “symbolic crack pipe” attributed to him by the absurd West.

Herman Cain responds here.

Eric Holder: the Obama Administration’s one-man disaster

Marc Thiessen had an excellent piece in the Washington Post’s online edition yesterday, laying out the unbroken chain of ineptitude and arrogance that has marked Eric Holder’s career as Attorney General. Read the whole thing.

This is one Obama crony who definitely deserves to go under the bus. If Obama doesn’t remove him –and soon – that will, in my opinion, be conclusive evidence that the president has completely parted company with reality.

“Rosebud…”

Monday, October 10, 2011

"Rosebud..."

According to reports in the New York Post and the Washington Post, President Obama is becoming increasingly withdrawn and isolated, even from his own Cabinet members. From the New York Post:
The reports are not good, disturbing even. I have heard basically the same story four times in the last 10 days, and the people doing the talking are in New York and Washington and are spread across the political spectrum.

The gist is this: President Obama has become a lone wolf, a stranger to his own government. He talks mostly, and sometimes only, to friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett and to David Axelrod, his political strategist.
As far as I know, Obama hasn't actually taken to shuffling along the corridors of the White House at night in bedroom slippers and bathrobe, mumbling the word, "Rosebud", but he may be heading in that direction. And it's quite understandable. Ushered into the presidency on the myth of his own awesomeness - a myth he believed - it must be extremely difficult for him to come to terms with his own incompetence and the non-viability of an ideology that he has held dear his entire adult life. A man with genuine intelligence and strength of character would ultimately be able to admit this to himself, however hard the internal struggle, and change course. Is Obama such a man? For his own sake, as well as for the sake of the country, I hope he is; however, I have seen no evidence of it thus far.

(H/T: Friend and commenter, JeffS)

Just a reminder: the Iranian government is run by evil clowns

An Iranian actress has been sentenced to a year in jail and 90 lashes for appearing in a movie about Iranian-government restrictions on artistic freedom.

Which pretty much proves the point of the movie. Nice douchebagocracy ya got there, fellas.

Better than Obama



Conservative Radio host, Mark Levin, has said on more than one occasion that he'd vote for a can of orange juice before he'd vote for Obama.

I agree, but I hope we can do better than Romney a can of orange juice. For once, it would be nice to be able to really get excited about a candidate, rather than just grit one's teeth and grimly vote for the Un-Democrat.

Is Rush Limbaugh cruel and unusual punishment?

A woman arrested in Texas for a driving violation had to listen to the Rush Limbaugh radio program while she was being driven to jail, and is now suing the City of Houston.

She should have listened with an open mind; she might have learned something.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Here's a suggestion for Rep. Issa

Why not subpoena the DOJ's Inspector General, Cynthia Schnedar, who was feeding information to Holder at the same time she was supposed to be investigating the Fast and Furious scandal?

Monday Movie

Comrade Ninotchka arrives in Paris to straighten things out.

More of it, please

Citizen wins rare victory against EPA.
The legal might of the U.S. government is usually enough to roll right over someone like Opelousas, La. plant manager Hubert Vidrine Jr. But last week the underdog had his day: a federal court awarded Vidrine $1.7 million for having been maliciously prosecuted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Sunday funny

The more we learn about ObamaCare...



Update:

My Pet Stoat

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Revolution and rebellion through the ages

The Glorious Revolution (England, 1688)



The American Revolution



The July Revolution (France, 1830)



The American Civil War



The Spanish Civil War



Occupy Wall Street 2011



Hmmm. Kinda hard to rally around that. Maybe if was converted into a poster with an appropriate slogan...



Nah. Not dramatic enough. How about this?



There you go. Homeric!

The green propaganda roadmap

Click to enlarge.


Via Tim Blair.

Raise Michael Jordan's taxes!

He's one of those evil rich people who own corporate jets.

Update: Yojimbo in the comments: "Occupy NetJets!"

So, you think you’re a cynic?

You’re the merest dilettante compared to Ambrose Bierce.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Boy! You’ll be able to see the mark that left even through the cellulite!

Meghan McCain, who apparently considers herself to be our national youth director, tries to bully a critic, and receives a stunning (and hilarious) rebuke from the critic’s lawyer.
My client will not be bullied out of exercising his First Amendment right to make clear his belief that your client is a spoiled, brainless twit who is cheapening the political discourse in this country.
It gets kind of rough after that.

OccupyWhiteHouse2012

Now, here’s a movement I can support. A “general assembly” is hereby called for November 6, 2012.

The revolution will be astroturphed

Free speech, for fun and proft.

And let’s not forget who the real extremists are.

Happy Feet Friday

Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters perform "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" on this audio.



There’s also the Tom and Jerry version!

It isn't so hard to understand

Capitalism vs. anti-capitalism.

Creation vs. destruction.

Hey, it doesn't happen very often, so you'll understand my posting on the subject

The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees in a nail-biter, 3-2. The Tigers will now go up against the Texas Rangers this Saturday.

Nice work, boys!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Blogfather is back

Tim Blair has returned from his trip to the states, where he was doing some post-graduate work in American sociological studies. Elsewhere in Blairistan…

A day in the life of Boy on a Bike.

Bingbing wonders who’s funding the Occupy Wall St. protests. You’ll never guess who it is.

One presumes that it is only a matter of time before Mr. Bingley begins pouring boiling oil from the roof-top of his office building on the vermin-infested heads of the barbarians.

Parenting: You’re doin’ it wrong, says El Cid (I agree, of course).

Miss Red provides a very interesting specimen of what, I believe, is known as a “photo bomb” (look closely; I almost missed it).

Licking stamps in Australia: You’re doin’ it wrong (or are you?)

Ok, ferris wheels are now off my list.

Richard McEnroe provides some valuable assistance in identifying different breeds of Labradors.

I’m convinced that Swampy is the literary successor to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (by the way, I’m with Swamp Man on the Brussels sprouts affair).

Is ‘strine making headway in other countries? Gavin Atkins looks at the evidence.

That wild man of the web, TimT, has hit upon a (typically) ingenious new marketing scheme.

Steve at the Pub recounts the history of an extraordinarily crafty customer.

Good news

Ice cream trucks are now able to make amphibious landings.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of making the Potomac River my daily commuting route.

Me thinks thou dost protest too much

When Administration apparatchiks start yelling that “there’s no story here!”, then the odds are excellent that there’s one helluva story, indeed.


He may be a liar, but at least he's got class.

La manera de Chicago

Sure, by all means, let’s let illegal aliens convicted of felonies walk.
The release of more than 40 suspected illegal immigrants jailed in Cook County on felonies has added fuel to a contentious debate over public safety and local authorities' defiance of a White House program that aims to pursue more criminal deportations.

…Other places, such as San Francisco, have taken similar measures, part of a backlash against the Obama administration, which many say is unfairly seeking to deport immigrants accused of traffic violations and other minor offenses. But Cook County's new ordinance is the first to forbid a sheriff from holding suspected felons as well as those accused of misdemeanors.
Well, of course! You’re talking about future Democrat voters. Need to keep them around since there’s going to be a pretty close election next year.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Sarah Palin not running for President

As I was driving home from the Vienna Metro station this evening, I was listening to the Mark Levin radio show, and he read Sarah Palin's announcement that she is not running for President. Then he proceeded immediately to a live interview with her. She was dignified, articulate, and every bit as committed to helping put this country back on the right path as she always has been. God bless her and her future efforts.

Update: Here's the audio from Mark's show.

Occupied

The Occupy protestors were in D.C this past weekend, but there were insufficient numbers to do more than occupy part of a small park near the agency where I work. I saw one of their flyers yesterday, which (1) disingenuously mischaracterized the constituent elements of the movement, as well as its genuine level of support (you represent 99% of the populace? And almost all of you are white?), and (2) pompously called for “general assemblies” at noon and 6 pm “indefinitely”.

If they were really concerned about the overlap of business and politics - and weren’t such complete ignoramuses - they’d start out their day at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue protesting Wall Street’s donations to the current White House occupant in the 2008 presidential campaign, and the reciprocation of that support in stimulus cash and soft, government-backed loans to failing crony businesses. Then they’d head over to Congress and burn Rep. Barney Frank in effigy, since he’s one of the principal architects of the financing and regulatory framework that destroyed the U.S. housing market.

But, no, for these neo-hippies, communist agitators, “progressive” hucksters, students-in-perpetuity, AWOL busboys qua artistes, nouveau panhandlers, manifesto scribblers, Gaiadolaters – in short, the rank and file of the imbecilariat - the enemy will forevermore be some cartoon version of capitalism. The irony, of course, is that if their totalitarian dreams ever come true, they’ll be the first ones shot. When the dark night of left-wing fascism finally descends, there will at least be that small consolation.

Follow-up: I went over to McPherson Park this afternoon and saw a “crowd” numbering perhaps a dozen people (maybe fewer; it’s not always easy to tell the difference between the homeless and the clueless). Featured prominently, on a sagging bench, were two extraordinarily obese proletarians, sporting scraggly beards and tattooed sugar gliders (one was flashing a bit of uncouth butt-crack). There were also a few women of the butch-haircut class who had taken their denim granny dresses out of moth balls; they milled around aimlessly, frightening the pigeons. Revolutions are never pretty, but I cannot recall one quite as unlovely as this.

What?!? Give the money back?

Just because the program isn’t working? You must be nuts.
A $500 million green jobs program at the Department of Labor has so far provided only 15 percent of current participants with jobs, leading the agency's inspector general to recommend that the bulk of the money be returned to the Treasury.

The program, which was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aims to find employment for almost 80,000 people by providing grants for labor exchange and job training projects. With those grants expiring over the next 15 months, IG officials concluded that the program would fail to come close to that target.

…According to the Labor IG report, as of June 30, grantees had placed 8,035 participants into jobs, or 10 percent of the program's target. Long-term unemployment numbers are worse, with 1,336 participants finding jobs for six months or longer. That's 2.5 percent of current participants, and 2 percent of the program's final target of 69,717.
Return the unspent $300 million to the Treasury? Dude