Sunday Morning

Away we go!

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 15 at Raz today.

Tied with Romney at 45.

[narciso]

Speaking of the absurd, which becomes a singularity of denseness

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2012/07/14/chelsea-handler-lauds-meghan-mccains-pot-smoking-defends-obama

[NK]

JOM Rules of grammar -- the words 'chelsea handler' should always be foillowed by SKANK!

[Agent J]

I had never heard of Chelsea Handler, or her show.

Why are we paying any attention to these Public Schools drop outs?? Did you read the comments to this excrement?

Would MSNBC even be on the tube if people would not give it free advertisements by commenting..

[Clarice]

Last night I saw Beasts of the Southern Wild and the folks we were with hated it but I agree with Morgenstern's review here:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303649504577493143313805110.html

[Clarice]

I don't really care about entertainer's political views or those of pols' children. Chelsea as a person is apparently rather nice and generous to the people who work for her, including my niece's husband who's one of her producers.

[narciso]

Well that's kind of an odd reaction, what didn't they like about it;

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/my_problem_is_im_too_good.html

[NK]

Chelsea handler's stock in trade is being a public skank. Adolf H was a wonderful ballroom dancer and loved dogs.

[Mikey]

Has Barack Obama and Mitt Romney ever release their medical records? In lieu of what is happening with Jesse Jackson JR. shouldn't both candidates release them?

[hollywood second]

"I had never heard of Chelsea Handler, or her show. "

She put out a sex tape of herself a couple of years ago and she also dated 50 cent. She seems dirty and not a good dirty.

[hit and run]

Clarice:
I don't really care about entertainer's political views or those of pols' children.

No fair having this conversation while Janet is at church - it's one of her "favorite" subjects.

[AliceH]

Update on my Taubes-carb-skeptic/diabetic friend: In 2 weeks, he's gone from cynic, to skeptic, to enthusiast, to evangelist, i.e. he bought 2 copies of Why We Get Fat for a couple relatives and is nagging away :).

He's already lost a few pounds but more importantly, his blood sugar has dropped and stablized -- even post-meal rises are mild - no scary spikes.

[narciso]

Well, some people are personally different than their public face, however what motivates this behavior;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/kathy-griffin-chelsea-handler-bristol-palin_n_794907.html

[NK]

Dollars, and the big house and coke that come with them.....

[NK]

Usually IMO private virtues outweigh public personna. But sometimes the public depravity outweighs the private good.

[matt]

I was in Venice, CA yesterday afternoon. There are a number of good restaurants there and we decided to walk the boardwalk after a business lunch.

First we were struck by the preciousness of the hipsters and people on the main street.

This was a little different from the boardwalk, which is famous as a freak show and tourist attraction. Warm days usually bring out the girls in their summer dresses and there a lot of street performers.

We walked for 10 minutes, turned around and got the hell out of Dodge. We were almost ill. I have never seen such a human sewer. Low life city. The muscle beach gym was inhabited by a bunch of ex-cons covered, in a couple of cases head to toe with tats posing for the tourists.

The smell of high grade pot was persistent. From the "clinics" of course.

It was packed, mainly with trash of all colors. For some reason, there were quite a number of fat, ugly, heavily tattooed lesbian couples wearing clothing exposing some of the gnarliest tat's I've seen. Just plain stupid stuff.

My companion, an American expat who lives in Asia, was shocked at how we have degraded ourselves.If Venice is even the smallest representation of what this country is, we are doomed.

[Ignatz]

What's a Chelsea Handler?
I thought we were talking about Chelsea Clinton's PR folks at first.

[Ignatz]

OT,
But finally got sick of Norton endlessly asking me to re-up on their schlock product so uninstalled it and McAfee and everything is at least twice as fast.
Avast there, mateys.

[Danube of Thought]

Very enjoyable again, Clarice.

W.R. Mead, via Insty:

“Destroying the economic hopes of low income people in order to stoke the self esteem of entitled Boomers is not Via Meadia’s idea of progressive politics, but that just goes to show how backwards we are by the exalted moral standards of the California elites. The destruction of California isn’t a victimless crime. Millions of low income California residents are trapped in decaying cities where, thanks in large part to narcissistic green unicorn chasers, the manufacturing base has withered away. And anything that blights California, blights us all. America and the world need California back on line; the Golden State has too much to offer for anyone to remain indifferent to its fate.”

[narciso]

Norton, like Window's Vista, was conjured up by Abdul Hazred, out of some obscure chapter of the Necronimocon, I'm convinced of it.

[Captain Hate]

I thought we were talking about Chelsea Clinton's PR folks at first.

I don't know about great minds, but your's and mine were working the same on that.

[Janet]

matt's post is a good lead in to this Driscoll piece - Apocalyptic Daze

[Captain Hate]

narc, is there a Spanish word "rejuntative"? Or is it possibly Guarani or some dialect of Paraguay? This "translation" of "I the Supreme" contains lots of words that aren't in my OED and I'm wondering WTF. Otherwise the book is fascinating.

[narciso]

I don't get the red hot contempt that the other Chelsea gets, from the media. I mean nepotism, a deficit of talent, it's all meh,

I was thinking of taking a look at the latest Charles Stross, but as one of the Morons pointed out, he's 'speaking truth to power' by going after Evangelicals, well he doesn't want to die in a horrible way, otherwise he would pick another target of his contempt.

[narciso]

I have to see a spanish copy, you're not the only one,

http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/jay-martin

[Frau Ekel und Kotzt mich an]

My first thought, too, CH.

Arghhh! I am so dismayed after reading about Whedon's anti-capitalist rant. (LUN) Here I thought the authoritarian, totalitarian Alliance was the anti-capitalist regime. It seems I was wrong.

This comes on the same morning our daily newsette tells me the Cleoville city council has voted to support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision. Only one man--African born with BC to prove it--voted "no." Our lone Republican abstained! This comes on the heels of the same Ship of Fools voting to post signs throughout our fair city condemning second-hand smoke outdoors. No penalty, just Bloomberging the hay-ull out of people.

[narciso]

This might explain it,

http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=rejuntar

[GMax]

When is a tie not a tie, well that would be when you read the internals.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows President Obama and Mitt Romney each attracting 45% of the vote. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Romney picks up 76% of the conservative vote, while Obama is supported by 86% of liberals.

Among voters who remain uncommitted to either of the major party candidates, 46% are conservative, 31% moderate and 16% liberal.

So not all the conservatives have signed up yet, thus there is room to grow for Romney. And look at the breakdown of the uncommitted. Almost 3 to 1 Conservative to Liberal.

If I were in the Obama campaign and reading this, I would need to get a new pair of shorts, and then I would start running highly unlikely to work Hail Mary attacks, like calling him a felon without any basis. Cuz I know the way the movie ends otherwise.

[Clarice]

Frau, let me know if the earth shakes up there this week--the Wolverine's on campus for music camp.

[Ignatz]

Nice Driscoll link, Janet.

[Frau Ekel und Kotzt mich an]

Cleoville has penis Berkley envy. Our city council was persuaded in this vote by eight speakers from the American Institute for Progressive Democracy. Those in favor stated it was out of the realm of city governance but decided to be in favor *this* time. In researching this group, I found that TAIPD was organized in my town and focuses on the Citizens United issue as well as pro-Palestine projects and socialism-by-stealth. The officers I recognized are members of the local Democratic Club. It's enough to make a preacher cuss puke.

[Clarice]

Frau, sounds like nearby Takoma Park , Md and is "nuclear free zone". Dimwits.

[rse]

Clarice-the year we spent a month in Italy and 2 weeks in Alaska traveling with kids hubby so wanted a nice tectonic event.

No luck. So a few months later Atlanta had its only earthquake in my lifetime. Maybe it was tucked somewhere in our luggage.

In Seward I showed the kids the Tsunami evacuation routes signs as they are used to hurricane ones and explained the awful early 60s earthquake. Tourists behind me asked if I was from Alaska to know about tsunamis. My kids laughed as they think I am a walking dictionary/encyclopedia.

I guess before Indonesia and Thailand too few actually understood what a tsunami was all about.

I bet the Wolverine would like that wildlife rehab center there in Seward. Most tourists miss it as they scurry to and from the cruise ships.

[hit and run]

Obama in a CBS interview with Charlie Rose aired this morning:

ROSE: [Romney] will clearly say, let's look at your record, let's look at the fact that unemployment is at 8.2%, it is unlikely to change.

OBAMA: Mmmhmm.

ROSE: Let's look at how effective the stimulus was.

OBAMA: Right

ROSE: Let's look at your management of the economy.

OBAMA: [nodding head] Exactly.

ROSE: Yes, it was a bad hand you were dealt, but you have not made it to what it ought to be.

OBAMA: Right.

ROSE: That is the centrality of their campaign.

OBAMA: Exactly, that is his argument and you don't hear me complainin' about him making that argument, because if I was in his shoes I would be making the same argument.

[MarkO]

“Dollars, and the big house and coke that come with them.....”

Would that be the “new” coke or pharmaceutical grade?

Isn't it about time to take back California? It is exhibit A in the argument against progressive politics.

[MarkO]

OBAMA: And while I ain’t complainin', I don’t mind tellin’ ya that Romney’s a felon.

[Clarice]

rse, I wasn't thinking of a natural seismic event.

Just a heads up alert to the residents.

Later.

[peter]

That Charlie Rose excerpt reminds me of an old SNL skit where Bill Murray had a language disorder (quintlexia?) where the only thing he could say was, "That's true; you're absolutely right."

[hit and run]

WaPo article headlined, "Where Obama failed on forging peace in the Middle East"

The way Obama managed the Israeli-Palestinian issue exhibited many of the hallmarks that have defined his first term. It began with a bid for historic change. But it foundered ultimately on his political and tactical misjudgments, on a lack of trusted relationships and on an outdated view of a conflict that many of his closest advisers imparted to him. And those advisers — veterans of the Middle East peace issue — clashed among themselves over tactics and turf.
...
Obama’s inability to bring Israelis and Palestinians together is especially problematic today, as the Arab Middle East remakes itself and Israel, more isolated than ever, weighs a military strike against Iran.
...
Where, then, does a president who promised a new approach to the old Middle East and ultimately failed to deliver begin if he wins a second term?

During the meeting last month, Rabbi ­Shmuel Goldin, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, asked Obama for his assessment of the past three years.
...
“Mr. President, what lessons have you learned?” Goldin asked.
...
Obama answered, "The mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the Israeli people that gives them a sense of how hard I have been working, especially during terrorist bombings."

That last part may not have exactly been in the WaPo piece.

[Clarice]

Might not have been.

Any president who roars into office claiming he can reolve the hostilities in the ME is a certified nincompoop,

[MarkO]

Well, Clarice, this Mr. President roared in claiming he could lower the tide.

[Melinda Romanoff]

"Especially during Katyusha barages."

FIFY.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Oops.

"barrages"

[Chubby]

((If Venice is even the smallest representation of what this country is, we are doomed.))

I like your posts, Matt, because they often address moral issues. I don't think what you saw on your walk represents the country, but I do think it represents the pseudo-love that is permeating the west nowadays, the philosopy that the worst evil in the universe is saying "no" to the various depravities that wreck the human soul and human life.

[Ralph L]

Chelsea as a person is apparently rather nice and generous to the people who work for her
She'd better be, since she puts the men on air wearing bikini undies and no pants.

Whedon left current politics out of the shows I've seen--hope that continues.

[RichatUF]

and heal the planet...

[Danube of Thought]

Very hard to understand how a single conservative can have not yet decided to vote for Obama's opponent. I assume they'll come around, but what the hell is taking them so long?

[hit and run]

MarkO:
Well, Clarice, this Mr. President roared in claiming he could lower the tide.

Thing is, he made those claims on the night he secured the Democratic nomination using the phrasing, "this is the moment".

So, according to Obama, he didn't even need to become president to bring those things about. The nomination was enough. We really should have taken him at his word.

[Captain Hate]

Jerry Sandusky wasn't available http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/re_erection_campaign_Gppuedd8V87J5NCUQGHRoO

[Rick Ballard]

"but what the hell is taking them so long?"

Their price hasn't been met. The Goldilocks Optimum will have to be adjusted and some promises made without hedging or doubletalk. It won't be a problem - ABO/T1000 can be reprogrammed overnight, there's no principles silliness to overcome.

I wish them luck. The more they extract, the happier I'll be.

[hit and run]

Paul Ryan on Face the Nation this morning:

“People are not worried about the details as to when Mitt Romney left Bain Capital to save the Olympics or the details about his assests, which are managed by a blind trust, for pete’s sake. They’re worried about their jobs and their family’s future. And Barack Obama, he doesn’t want to talk about that. He has a terrible jobs result. He has a terrible record to run on.”

We know that Team Obama is constantly looking for the next "Look, squirrel!" moment to distract everyone from thinking about the economy and jobs.

Some of these sciuridae adventures are scurrilous, outright, transparent lies.

Makes me wonder -- with their accumulated 1,296 (estimated) Pinocchios in the past several weeks, is it fair to conclude that Team Obama would even rather be talking about how they are lying in their ads and statements rather than actually talking about the economy and jobs?

[rse]

chubby-I think many young people have already been hugely impacted by using education to change people's values and their attitudes and emotions as part of a misguided move that you could remake the economy after you changed what people valued. I may be writing about what is now being mandated everywhere nationally or internationally but in many school districts outcomes based education showed up 20 years ago. The noose has only been growing tighter and affecting more and more kids.

We rely on a variety of knowledge and skills for our economy to function. OBE tries to create uniformity in thoughts, behaviors, values, and skills for political purposes. The sense of entitlement is there because there's a degree or several. But there's little underlying knowledge AND it's still the old economy. I read the aspirations and things like these Qualifications Frameworks and think "this destroys the division of labor. That's a bigger deal than is being appreciated."

I mentioned yesterday I was reading a book written in early 90s to prepare mgmt in Big Business for this new sustainable economy. Few are likely to be able to read and recognize the ignorance of science and economics especially being propagated by that book. It was written to be believed and acted upon.

Checking what its authors were now up to showed the 3rd edition was published in 2009. I guess for execs like the soft drink company excited about its alliance with GreenPeace or Kraft execs excited about a Gay Pride Oreo cookie.

I had that OBE thought when the Casey Anthony jury could not follow jury directions in its deliberations. Broward was an early and aggressive adopter of some terrible ed ideas. And whatever Jeb thought was going on in Fla, his predecessor thoroughly put OBE into place there. Just like Texas did before GWB came into office. I am not sure either appreciated the progress stemmed from changing what was being measured.

[Agent J]

"but what the hell is taking them so long?"

Some of the Evangelist are holding back, they will either not vote, or will come around..

I still think when it is all over, there will be a 8 or 9 point spread for the "R".

Please keep in mind that I predicted Harry Trumann over Dewey in 48..Use to love hearing the old Radio when they were following the conventions. I think I learned the alphabetical order of the states from that.. A big booming voice "Alabama" 32 votes...then some one would tell all about the state for five minutes..loved every minute of it..

[Chubby]

I trust that you're absolutely correct rse. It's a bad scene but the good news is that all those wacky ideas won't be able to sustain individuals or a society long term, and we are seeing proofs of that already in Europe.

[Chubby]

((Very hard to understand how a single conservative can have not yet decided to vote for Obama's opponent. I assume they'll come around, but what the hell is taking them so long?))

what I have seen on another forum is that at least some Ron Paul supporters won't be voting for Romney. They are anti Romney because of his record on health care in MA. (I don't know if the Paulian idjits posting there are representative of all of RP's followers. )

[daddy]

More out of control Government.

Alaska sues feds over fuel standards for ships

"Set to go into effect Aug. 1, the low-sulfur diesel standards would require large seagoing vessels off Alaska's southeast and southern coasts to fire their engines with new fuel...the EPA touts immediate health benefits."

But "the EPA admitted that Alaska's air quality is better than national standards"

So we are above the National Standards but we have to comply with the new Law anyway.

"According to the state's lawsuit, costs are expected to rise 8 percent for things shipped to Alaska under the new standards. The state estimates that 90 percent of all goods that enter the state come through the Port of Anchorage."

So everything in Alaska purchased from the lower 48 just got 8 percent more expensive for no reason at all.

EPA delenda est.

[Jack is Back]

12 Reasons People Vote Democrat

Think Bubu, DuDa, KaKa and the Feather Merchant:)

[Frau Ekel und Kotzt mich an]

I already shared the great Driscoll link with others, Janet.

Clarice, I so hope the wolverine is at Scripps or a college other than Pisher where 20 yr-old buildings were demolished because they were not *sustainable* enough for faculty and students.

rse, growing up in pre-TV Long Beach, CA meant having vivid nightmares about tidal waves. I spent too much time in the public library reading scary nature stuff.

[glasater]

Capitalism is a term coined by Marx I've been told.

[Frau Ekel und Kotzt mich an]

Hi, AgentJ!--
"Some of the Evangelist are holding back, they will either not vote, or will come around."
Their kingdom may not be of this world, but while they are here, giving *more* to Cesar than he is due, will put us all in bondage.

[Clarice]

my kids live a few blocks from the Venice pier and I have a secret for you...except for the oddball doper telling fortunes or making sand paintings, most of the weirdos you see parading about the boardwalk are from elsewhere. Venice has a substantial number of really solid citizens--like Breitbart's f-i-l, for example.

[Melinda Romanoff]

glasater-

Correct.

[Frau Ekel und Kotzt mich an]

My best friend lived--rent-controlled,of course--13 stories up right on the beach,Clarice, so I know what you mean. Unfortunately,tourists from everywhere see the crowd matt mentioned.

[Chubby]

I'm not seeing as much anti Romney feelings from Christian convervatives as I am from the Ron Paul libertarians, who are saying a pox on both houses. In fact a read something not long ago on a Christian consverative blog that praised Romney's upstanding character and urged voting for him. I can't remember where it was though, so I could link it. Romney is a good friend of Israel, which is another thing he has in common with the Christian conservatives, and not so much with the Paulians who basically believe Israel needs to fend for herself.

[daddy]

Excellent Pieces Clarice!

[Captain Hate]

It's like Avery Brundage is still here: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/07/olympics_of_appeasement_and_the_rise_of_anti-semitism.html

To hell with the IOC and their garbage games.

[Janet]

Yeah, that Driscoll post is powerful. He links to this piece - Guest Post: The Collectivist War Against Cultural Heritage

It puts the ACLU suing to remove the visual reminders of Christianity in our heritage in a new, evil light.

matt's post at 12:01 was something too. Where exactly do these libs want to lead us? We need to start making them define their end game.
What is the correct temperature for the globe?
If marriage is not between one man & one woman....then what are the boundaries? Are there any?
If a black family gets a million dollars from the Pigford settlement....are we as a nation done paying them reparations? Will we still owe reparations to their offspring? Where does it end?
How much pay & benefits is "enough" for a public school teacher?
Define illegal alien - or is anyone that makes it across the border considered legal by you libs?

The libs get off easy by never having to define their end game.....they just tear down traditional society & whine about the repercussions of their own actions.

Frau - that Whedon link is heartbreaking...:(

[pagar]

"And Barack Obama, he doesn’t want to talk about that. He has a terrible jobs result. "

What he wants to talk about is how stupid people are for working for themselves when they could be getting free food stamps.

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2012/07/15/obama-you-didnt-build-that-business-on-your-own/

[Jack is Back]

daddy,

What do you know about a rumor going around (hard to verify) that the Obama regime has given Emperor Putin of the Russian Imperial Empire 7 Alaskan Islands "in gratis"? One of the Islands is supposed to be as big as Rhode Island and Delaware combined!

Don't know if this a email hoax or is even rationally true.

[Clarice]

The OIC os steeped in iniquity and sin --just like the UN, UNESCO, etc etc.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

Cartoon "liar liar" noted by PoliPundit.
http://global.nationalreview.com/images/cartoon_071412_A.jpg

There is a chunk of the voters who learned from the Bush Admin that Repubs won't cut spending, won't defund NPR, won't stand up to Dems, won't tell the MSM where to stick it, won't drop out of the UN, won't ....
If you accept that viewpoint, then letting "the ship hit the sand" becomes a potential strategy.
Personally, I am expecting Mitt to be light years better than BHO, but that's a pretty low bar...

[rse]

Janet-where they want to lead us is unworkable and delusional. That's why continuing down this pathway just worsens the inevitable correction or catastrophe.

You just get more kids with expensive worthless degrees and values that may make them politically malleable but they also make them useless as an employee that adds value apart from showing up.

These Qualifications Frameworks have been a real disaster in South Africa but Australia still adopted. Although I get the impression this was another one of the things Julia just put into place. I was reading other aspects of her pre-PM handiwork earlier. Close to verbatim what is being set out here in US now except for the references to aborigines.

You can just see how much the carbon tax fits in with it all. So galling to bo he is still missing that element.

[daddy]

Your book sounds sesquipedalian Captain, but the reviews do look interesting.

Worst case I can recall of an author so over using big fangled words when straightforward understandable words would have done the trick, was by David Berlinski in A Tour Of The Calculus.

Every once in a while I like to go to the readers "Bad BooK" comments to see who else hates Belinski's style as much as I did: 1-star reviews

[Janet]

Here is an old Villainous Company post from Feb 2010.
Cassandra is talking about DADT, but the points hold true to the dismantling of our traditional institutions.

"This is a conversation we need to have as a nation, but it should be an honest and open debate rather than one ruled by fear, name calling and hyperbole. Above all, it is a conversation in which we should look just as hard at how we got where we are as at where we want to go:

...as G.K. Chesterton points out, people who don't see the use of a social institution are the last people who should be allowed to reform it: ...."
The G.K. Chesterton excerpt that follows is wonderful. We are tearing down the fences & gates without thought as to why they were built in the first place.

[Captain Hate]

daddy, the book is very good and since the prose is *extremely* dense, going to the OED or googling a word isn't as bothersome as it would be in a breezy page turner. It's when the google top result is the text I'm reading that makes me go "hmmmmm".

[daddy]

Jack,

I hear it is true.

The guys in favor of giving away those islands say they were never really considered American to begin with, but the guys I've heard discuss it on talk radio say we actually paid for them and specifically included them in various maps and official documents from history as being ours.

The guys angry about this are treated somewhat as fringe "Birther" types.

I have no idea what this move would entail when you consider international boundaries, especially in light of the new Law Of The Sea Treaty being bandied about and pushed by the majority of the left and also by Lisa M and Dick Lugar. If they are for it, then I am definitely against it. Am also told that the new EPA fuel regs I posted about above do not apply to international ships, so apparently the only guys being punished by that are us, and for some reason The Aleutians are exempt from the EPA ruling.

I don't know why we want to give these ilands to Putin and unfortunately am off to Newark just this minute so sorry for such a brief, incoherent answer.

[hit and run]

Daddy:
the low-sulfur diesel standards would require large seagoing vessels off Alaska's southeast and southern coasts to fire their engines with new fuel...

Interesting. TK brought up one of the consequences of mandating low sulfur diesel in trucks the other night . . . DEF and it's ammonia smell.

I'm not as familiar with the maritime regulations for low sulfur diesel and their history.

In the case of trucks, the unintended consequence of the regulations was to glut the market with a huge number of trucks before the regulations went into effect (trucks manufactured prior to 2007 were not required to use low sulfur diesel) right before the crash in 2008. So a lot of trucks were sitting around in lots with no freight to carry. And truck makers were left with no trucks to build because the market was saturated with low-mileage trucks, thus no one needed to buy new ones.

Sounds like now, the unintended consequence is to hamper a recovery by placing an added expense on transporting goods and other commerical activity via the sea.

All in the name of . . . because they can.

I haven't looked -- I wonder what the EPA is doing to piss all over aviation? Oh.

[GMax]

That McClatchy poll that had a strong majority favoring extension of the Bush tax rates for EVERYONE? Its a Registered Voter poll so it understates the actual favorability in likely voters. But after going home and changing their shorts from the last poll internals, well those Obama advisors need new shorts AGAIN. Look at these internals with must have voter groups for the incompetent one:

Young voters ages 18-29 favored tax cuts for everyone by a margin of 69-29, the largest margin of any age group.

Latinos favored tax cuts for all incomes by 62 percent to 36 percent. Whites supported tax cuts for every income by 50 percent to 44 percent. African-Americans split, 48 percent for limiting the tax cuts to incomes below $250,000 and 47 percent for extending them to all incomes.

And those making less than $50,000 supported tax cuts for all incomes by 53 percent to 41 percent.

[Ignatz]

-There is a chunk of the voters who learned from the Bush Admin that Repubs won't cut spending, won't defund NPR, won't stand up to Dems, won't tell the MSM where to stick it, won't drop out of the UN, won't ....
If you accept that viewpoint, then letting "the ship hit the sand" becomes a potential strategy.--

There's a chunk that I suspect is even bigger for whom this is the last chance the Republicans will be given. Include me in that group.
If Repubs can't make a serious attempt to avoid running aground when the stakes are this high and our fiscal house is such a runaway mess then I'll consider the craziness of the Libertarians to be a lesser form of insanity than the Republicans are suffering from.

[rse]

That GK Chesterton quote fits the regional accreditors and the gypsy principals and gypsy supers perfectly.

They are so useful because of their ignorance of the value of what they are being asked to eliminate.

And frau-I have no doubt you would have known to run when the tide went out instead of seeing it as an opportunity for seashell collecting.

[Jack is Back]

That 12:23 link by Janet was one great article. But the one that stood out for me was Virginia Postrel's interview by Brian Lamb. The reason being that where she discusses her use of the Cambodian emigres who monopolize the LA donut shop business had a topicality about it from today's mass at church.

We had a visiting Deacon from St. Augustine but is also a full time employee of Maryknoll Missions and he related a story about a "hero" priest/Missionary to Cambodia who worked with the blind there. Evidently, in Cambodia blind people are shunned and are considered a very low, if not lowest, caste. The have no present much less a future.

So this priest decided to focus his mission on serving the blind and what he did was he figured out how to make them use their other senses to compensate. He trained them to be Massuers and as a result they are now much better off, able to provide for themselves and families, have opportunity and their own spas or shops. Just one little effort like that created social acceptance for a previously excluded class of people.

Anyway, the story and others he related was worth the $20 I dropped into the special collection for the Maryknolls.

[Frau Ekel und Kotzt mich an]

But....we shall not give in to dispair, Janet. I continue to support the Judeo-Christian foundations of our country *and* the rights of those who wish to smoke, eat and drink as they wish.

I never watched "Buffy" so I cannot comment on any political viewpoint, but "Firefly" certainly does not reflect Whedon's quoted comments:

He (Whedon) added that America is “turning into Tsarist Russia” and that “we’re creating a country of serfs.”

He has confused Tsarist and Bolshevist. Joss, not all collars will be the same. *Some* serfs' collars will be more comfortable and fashionable.

[Ignatz]

I always like going to Villainouscompany. :)

[narciso]

That root word,'rejuntar' is not in the Larousse dictionary, that my late autodidact grandfather, brought from Spain, more than 30 years ago, that shows that Roa Bastos was trying to show off, but context helps a little

[narciso]

Some people don't understand the very story, they spun, 'Firefly' is a Western, the hero,
is like in many of such a tale, a former Confederate, of a sort.

[hit and run]

BTW - it would unfair to blame the EPA on Obama, even if having Lisa Jackson there has made things worse by degree.

The EPA's utter malfeasance definitely predates Obama (all those low sulfur regs were finalized on Bush's watch), and just getting rid of Obama, absent something fairly radical (in terms of modern treatment of federal agencies), will be but a drop in the diesel bucket to rein in its reign of terror.

[narciso]

Now mind you, I have no particular qualms with this particular tactic, but it is imbued
with the sense of certainty, that makes foul ups more poignant, and of course, you can't
revive the target of an awry strike,

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/sunday-review/the-moral-case-for-drones.html?_r=1

[Frau Edith Steingehirn]

Janet, the Chesterton quote is echoed in the Driscoll article. The elites want to create Ground Zero where no link to the past is allowed.

rse, my dream ended with my being saved on top of Signal Hill which is miles from where I lived just two blocks from the beach. The dream tidal wave was as high as the hill and enough to wake me up. No interpretations, please; I was under ten years.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Chelsea handler's stock in trade is being a public skank.

John Wayne's stock in trade was shooting people wearing leather vests.

[Jack is Back]

narciso,

Got a great book I'm reading and highly recommend to you and CH: The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri Murari. Veeeery Interesting and you don't have to know anything about cricket to understand the deviant Taliban culture.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Unfortunately,tourists from everywhere see the crowd matt mentioned.

Tourists in Cherokee, NC see a cigar store Indian wearing a Sioux feather headdress.

[Danube of Thought]

And never forget it was Nixon who created the thing.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

And never forget it was Nixon who created the thing.

Actually the Thing was invented by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(comics)

[Jim Ryan]

Looks like the Congressional Democrats haven't been idle. They've come up with a strategy to handle our economic problems. They've even come up with a name for it, just as the other strategies seem to have (Fair Tax, Cap 'n' Trade, etc.). They call it

Tax and Spend

The way it works is this. The propose to raise taxes on the wealthy (employers and others making over $200K). This way, they intend to tackle the deficit. Meanwhile they want to increase spending, putting American back to work and fixing potholes, bridges needing repair and so forth.

I don't know about you, but I think it's a pretty clever strategy. Not sure if it will work, but you have to hand it to them for ingenuity. It hasn't been tried before but it's worth a shot, I think.

[Jack is Back]

Wasn't it James Arness (Matt Dillon) who played The Thing in the movie?

As a kid growing up on an Air Force base in southern Greenland (Sanderstrom or BW-8) that movie was hitting way too close to home. My Dad would commute regular up to Thule and come back telling us that they were still searching for The Thing but so far all they could find was blood and footprints in the snow. Not funny:)

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Wasn't it James Arness (Matt Dillon) who played The Thing in the movie?

yup.

Came from an old John W Campbell story, "Who Goes There?".

[hit and run]

Charlie:
Tourists in Cherokee, NC see a cigar store Indian wearing a Sioux feather headdress.

Huh. I was going to find a pic of the sign one sees when approaching Victor, ID from the north. Couldn't find it. Surprised no one on the internets has posted it (somewhere I could find it).

It reads: "Welcome to Victor. The End of the Line."

Yike. Kinda ominous for a tourist sign...Come to Victor and meet your demise!...well, if you don't know why the history of the slogan.

Anyway, while browsing pics for Victor -- what showed up in the results? This:

That's from last year's gig.

[Ignatz]

--Came from an old John W Campbell story, "Who Goes There?".--

That story scared the bejeebers out of a young Ignatz the first time he read it.

[daddy]

Jack,

At Shanghai the best massage place is "Blind Man's Massage" behind our hotel. All blind guys but the clerk, and these guys do a great job pummeling the pain out of my lower back. Initial I thought it was weird when first suggested, but now I love the place.

(At the airport on ATC hold for thunderstorms for a couple hours---very ugly looking lines of thunderbumpers here to there:(

[Janet]

This looks good - Runaway Slave movie trailer