Amazing!!! Love Schwarzenegger's sense of humor

I happen to be a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I liked most of his movies (I'll watch either Conan movie whenever they are on), I tend to like his politics (despite his being married to a Kennedy), I like the fact that he made his kids do their own laundry so they would learn self-sufficiency.  I like the fact that, as a naturalized citizen of this great country, he truly seems to love his adoptive land.  And I gotta say, I love his sense of humor.  Rumor has it that he hides messages in his veto correspondence.  Check this out from Aol news and see if you can find the message he's (maybe) sending to Tom Ammiano, who apparently has had words for the Governator before.

I Hates Meeces to Pieces!!

Sometimes, due to back problems, we sleep on the floor since even a Sleep Number Bed set to 1,000,000 is not firm enough all of the time.  This isn't a problem and I generally sleep better--I put down several blankets and we've got some nice quilts so it's actually quite cozy.  However, last night we had a mouse in the house. 

Now I'm usually pretty good with critters and creepy crawlies--I've wrangled wood roaches in Tennessee, centipedes in Massachusetts, and spiders of various shapes and sizes just about everywhere I've lived.  BUT, my achilles' heel of the pest world is the mouse.  They totally just ook me out.  I don't know why, but they do.  I will scream like a five year old girl and will head to the highest point near me if I see a mouse.  It's just one of those things.  Yes, it's embarrassing, yes, I feel dumb, no, I can't do anything about it.

You would think that, with three young cats in the house, that mice would not be a problem.  However, we were out of town last weekend and left them the open feeder so they presently look like furry bowling balls with ears and tails.  So they were enjoying CHASING the mouse but didn't seem interested in the coup de gras.  B got up at 1:15 and moved a BUNCH of stuff to allow them access to the mouse so that the circle of life could complete itself, but to no avail.

Fast forward to 5:00 am. 

We're snug in our nest on the floor and the mouse decides to join us by running across my arm, down my body and from there, to points unknown.  I discovered at that moment that by chanting 'shit, shit, shit' at high speed and at an octave only dogs and bats can hear, my superpower of teleportation kicks in and I make it OVER B and onto the bed without moving through the intervening space.  Apparently the little rodent also has superpowers because I still don't know where the furry interloper went. 

B thinks it was a dream.  I'm pretty sure that I was a mouse-highway for a few seconds.

So the cats are now on a crash diet because we are SO not having a repeat of THAT!

Freedom is never free

There have been a couple of discussions on the above topic over at Tam's place with some related commentary at Shermlock Shomes.  The postings at Tam's and Shomes' have been about a total smoking ban in Marion county Indiana (I think that it did not pass, but was close).

What gets me, and I'm really just echoing what some other folks wrote, is that there are actually people out there who actually BELIEVE that the government should have that much control over what happens on private property.  The proposed smoking ban is really just a small step from the government coming in and saying that they have better use for the property you bought and paid for and here's your walking papers.  They always try to couch things under 'public health and safety' or something to make the non-thinking public swallow it.

Look at what's happening with Hamthrax (borrowing this term for Swine Flu from JayG at MArooned).  There's been a public emergency declared when considerably fewer people have gotten sick and/or died from the flu than in years when there's not the H1N1 component.  It's turned out to be a tempest in a teapot but they were trying to FORCE people into getting the almost-nonexistent vaccine 'for the public's health and safety'.  Someone comes at me with a needle or one of those nasal swabs and they are going to see how it fits rectally.

I guess what I'm trying to say in a very roundabout way is something I've said before.  Human behavior cannot be regulated and, in any case, government regulation should not be the fall back if you don't like someone else's behavior.  This creeping issue is caused by the fact that many folks can't pull up their big boy or big girl underpants and actually SAY something to someone.  They'd rather abrograte the responsibility to a third party so that they don't have to stand up for themselves.

And the verdict is in.... Burris is indeed a tool rather than a cog

Holy crap.  I don't think I've EVAH read such drivel.  In the Washington Independent, there is a transcript of Burris' "testimony" in the Senate Committee om Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.  As David Weigel notes, it's stuff like this that will help Republicans in Illinois gain back at least one seat. 

As a poli sci major, I'm embarrassed for whatever program produced Roland Burris (SIU-Carbondale, BA in Poli Sci in 1959). It sounds to me like Burris has fallen for one of the most famous blunders (the first being never get into a land war in Asia, but I digress), the blunder of trying to sound smarter than he is.  It's really clear that the clue bus has never stopped in his neighborhood.  His political career seems to consist mainly of financial postings (Comptroller, bank examiner, etc.). so I really think he's out of his league in the US Senate. 

As a side note, in the biography of Burris that I found online, I present the following tidbit which shows his hypocricy:

In 1993, Burris, an advocate for a national handgun ban, helped to organize Chicago's first Gun Turn-in Day. The following year, Burris admitted that he kept a handgun in his home and had not turned it into police as he had urged others to do. A spokesman stated that Burris had "forgotten about" the handgun.^[15]

BLOGMEET!

Had a great time at the Indy blogmeet yesterday. It was very nice for folks to hang around since they knew that B and I would be late since we were working at the Indy 1500 gun show.

I'm proud of myself in that I managed not to go all geeky fangirl on some folks that I read daily, namely Brigid, Tam, and Roberta X (I'd met Roberta X before and did see her, Tam, and Shootin' Buddy at the show the day before). I was able to do the whole Strike Hold demonstration for them, which I really enjoyed. Seeing their eyes light up as I screwed in the light bulb under water and ran the drill was a lot fun.

I was happy to meet Og, whose blog I've read but am now adding to the blogroll along with Jay, who used a chinese banknote as a notepad to give me his blog addy (wicked cool), which was totally fitting considering our conversation about Chinese cuisine and spices as well as the infamous omakase at sushi bars. Very much enjoyed chatting with Owen, who understands my pain in dealing with overinflated egos. It was also great to see Old Grouch again and listen to the discussion about the psychological implications of pumpkin carving.

Fantastic end to a great weekend!

Exhibit A for the prosecution..... MSNBC reporter can't tell the difference between Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton

I was laughing so hard I almost cried when I saw this video (via B, on Breitbart.tv-h.t. Insty). I have long contended that the talking (air)heads that they put on to read the news actually have no insight, no acumen, and no knowledge or thought of the words that are pouring out of their mouths like some never-ending fountain. They are not reporters, they are readers. That video is my proof.

She had no idea that it was Jesse Jackson and NOT Al Sharpton on the screen in front of her until he corrected her. He tried to give her time to recover and correct her introduction and she never caught the clue. He looked like how the South Park folks would have drawn him. Mouth open with shock and disbelief--I'll bet it's been decades since someone mistook him for anyone else. Her poor synapses probably went into overload trying to figure out what went wrong and WHY Al Sharpton was not answering her insight-laden question (that was written by someone else).

I find it to be particularly interesting that it was MSNBC, that bastion of all liberal-leaning news reporting and their news readers can't even recognize one of the leading liberal players (it's not like he's not on the news at least once a week protesting something or trying to get the city of Chicago to pay out-of-work parents to walk their own children to school).

Mrs. Kravitz, please pick up the white courtesy phone...

In Springfield Virginia, a man was arrested for, get this, being naked in his own kitchen at 5:30 in the morning (ht Reason). He was in his own home, his roommates were gone, and he got up to make coffee. What he didn't know is that a woman and her daughter were in HIS yard and the woman called the police who arrested him for indecent exposure.... IN HIS OWN KITCHEN. Echoing some comments why the woman was not arrested for trespassing and being a peeping tom, I do not know.

Gimme a house in the middle of 400 acres and a 2 mile walk to the mailbox. PLEASE!

Okay, so I've got egg on my face--NCIS

Watched NCIS last night--they were on the list via Big Hollywood of shows who were going to change their scripts to go along with Obama's script of service. Aside from a small separate announcement, as far as I could tell, the script didn't promote service.

I did notice, however, that they are continually putting the Israelis in a bad light and this seems to have begun towards the end of the last season and is continuing into the new one.

Can't believe I missed this one--MArooned

JayG over at MArooned (ht Men are not Potatoes) wrote a missive on why exactly gun control legislation won't work. I've seen a lot of arguments but this one I think cuts to the chase and speaks to the heart. There are no easy answers as to why people don't seem to put a value on life that they once had.

The only time the media seems to care is when they can do a tally to make a political point, usually for more gun control. Britain is so adverse to looking for the cause of violence that they are outlawing Boy Scout knives and are taking the points off of regular kitchen utensils.

-----------------------------------------------

As a non-subject-related point, I have a lot of sympathy for JayG, I was stuck in MA for five years.....

Quote of the Day--Noemie Emery

Noemie Emery in The Weekly Standard (ht Insty) ends an article discussing the implosion of the liberal Hollywood elite and the Nobel Committee through their own blatant hypocrisies with the following:

"If there were a Nobel Prize for shark-jumping, these people would share it: They have proved themselves more inane than their critics imagined. With friends such as these, the left hardly needs enemies. And with enemies such as these, the right may not really need friends."

Read the whole article. It's worth the time.

Why is it that a former Brit has to show more national pride than many of our citizens?

Craig Ferguson shows his pride at becoming an American citizen. Notice that the women of the View don't dwell on it nor were they able to parse from whence the symbolism might have come. (ht Anarchangel).

Watch starting at 1 minute 34 seconds.

A nightmare come true--an unholy alliance

B has been saying and I've been agreeing and apparently other folks have been saying it too. Government run health care would be the same as having your medical needs evaluated by the folks at the DMV. In this article (ht In Jennifer's Head), the present form of the health care bill makes this not far from the truth. In the 'plain English' version of the bill, there is a provision where folks will be able to buy their government-mandated health insurance at the DMV.

This is interesting on a couple of points: 1) it will be putting a financial burden for the federal plan on the states who already can't afford what the feds roll downhill to them now; 2) the government will be de facto taking over state-run facilities and so will control both.

My mind is shuddering at the thought of adding ANY responsibilities to those already not carried out by the folks at the DMV. If they can't figure out their own rules and regs (and those are just the state rules and regs) to the point where a simple transaction can take two to three trips, how, on this green earth, are they going to handle HEALTH INSURANCE options that will have labyrinthine federal rules and regs attached??

The article also has more information about bill provisions which have been very carefully kept under wraps. Read it.

The blitz has begun

Got this tidbit of info from Gateway Pundit. The point of the story was to show the students at Texas A&M protesting Obama. A small point mentioned is that he was speaking about community service. As we all know, there is going to be a weeklong media blitz/brainwashing session to try to get the American people in line with Obama's socialist agenda.

Guess he started the party just a bit early.

Perception

Perception is the lense through which we filter reality. This filter consists of our experiences, our education, our mood, and possibly that first cup of coffee. When we 'think outside of the box', we are expanding that filter to include elements that we don't normally use-new knowledge, new experience.

What we do with that perception, how we react to the world based on it, all comes down to that tidbit of wisdom from Capt. Jack Sparrow.

"The only rules that matter are these: what a man CAN do and what a man CAN'T do."

Action based on perception.

The latest from Thomas Paine... The Broken Common Bond

Listen to this, think about it, pass it along. The latest video from Thomas Paine--his talking points--That a Common Bond must exist for our country to stand, that national pride must exist and be taught in our schools, that immigrants must be legal, must learn English, must learn our history. He enumerates several things that have caused the Common Bond to be broken in our country. ht: Big Hollywood.

I agree.

So the only television show I can watch next week is.....

Stargate-Universe! Fortunately SyFy is one of the networks not assimilated into the Obama administration's "service and volunteerism" campaign next week. Big Hollywood (h.t. Drudge) has a list of shows that are participating in this media blitz (subversive campaign) that is designed to " 'organically' create and produce as many shows as possible about service and volunteerism".

Is it really organic, if one is given specific talking points to include in these tags, scripts, and spots? I'm really upset that NCIS is devoting its entire script to this brainwashing scheme. The CW has committed to something called 'I Pledge'. If it's the scary Demi Moore video then I'll forgo any CW programming, maybe forever. Read all three parts of Big Hollywood's report.

Glad we invested in the IPOD since it's going to be all music, all the time, next week. I'll also cancel my DVD settings for next week's programming.

A city is a victim??

Why is New Orleans still referred to as the hurricane-torn city, the city ravaged by Katrina, etc.?? Any other city in the WORLD has to be out of the victim stage after FOUR FRICKIN' years. If the residents can't pull their heads out of their collective butts within four years, tear it down and start again. What put this all in the news is Obama is making a trip there so people can bitch and moan about how hard life is in a city that has done nothing but collectively whine for four years.

Of course Obama is not visiting Mississippi, which was ACTUALLY hit by the hurricane. They don't whine, just cleaned up and got back to business as usual so they're not newsworthy.

eta: He hasn't even visited New Orleans yet and the residents are complaining because he's only going to be there for four hours and because he waited nine months before visiting. The only point they might have is the use of an immense amount of taxpayer dollars for what is essentially a day trip/photo op.

These broke my heart, but kind of in a good way

Via Ambulance Driver and New Life Changes there is this and this. Kleenex are necessary for both as AD says.

There is a will to live and likewise a will to die. Both are equally as important as the other. Johnny Cash followed June within weeks of her death. I think that we sometimes find that person that makes our existence in this time and place a beautiful and bearable thing and once that person is no longer with us, then it's time to follow them to the next adventure.

There are some who believe that this time of year is one where the veils between the world of the living and the world of the dead are the thinnest and that, additionally, the souls of those who died this past year have been waiting for the door to open so that they can go to heaven, hell, the Summerlands, Nirvana, whatever their belief system says is the next step.

Every day we make choices and walk the razor's edge and try to see through the many veils that make up our existence. Stories like the above remind us of the beauty and the sorrows.

And now for Exhibit A.....How bureaucrats are going to help bring down the economy

Via Taxing Tennessee (h.t. Insty), the Kiplinger Business Resource Center has an article showing how much rampant bureaucratism is going to cost businesses. I blogged a little while back about how it's the rules and regs that come along with a law are a major problem since they are written by little people in their little cubicles that don't think about the larger picture, only their minutia that become their raison d'etre and that the selective enforcement of this minutia is becoming a larger and larger issue.

Glad to see that others (with decidely more clout) are in agreement with me.

Do they REALLY believe the words that are coming out of their mouths??

I was listening to 890 WLS this morning on my way into work. I caught part of the interview with Rep. Schakowsky and I really can't believe that SHE believes the crap that she was shoveling is gold.

First, she said that 'not all opinions are worth voicing' in reference to the truthful information that has gone out about the first incarnations of the health care bill and compared that data to saying that the world is flat.

Second, she said that the stimulus money is creating hundreds of jobs daily, despite the fact that almost nothing has gone out and not really looking at the fact that we've been losing THOUSANDS of jobs.

I really don't know why they just don't burst into flames from the methane gas that has to be building up in their brains from all that manure.

Range Day

Went to the range and tried out my new Kel-Tec PF9-9mm. Shoots nice, kicks like a frickin' mule since it doesn't weigh anything--double action triggers are VERY hard to get used to though. Had to bring the line up to 21 feet since I couldn't tell what the HELL I was doing at 50 (shooting low, fancy that). Interestingly enough, I seem to shoot better one handed with this one than I do two-handed. All in all, nice carry piece since it's light, slim. But it wouldn't be one I'll take to the range just for fun, only for practice.

Glueball Wormening--what he said...

Linking to this at Men are not Potatoes since I can't say it any better.

Why must EVERYTHING be an attack??

The White House is miffed that the insurance companies have released a report that shows that the 'health care reform' plan would cost households an extra $1700/year than if the government does nothing. Of course 'supporters of Obama' characterize this as sabotage to the their plan, since like, well, telling the truth that interferes with their pipe dreams HAS to be an attack.

It's interesting to note in the article that the America's Health Insurance Plans lobby group spent $10 MILLION on advertising touting the plan but is backing off at the last minute. It's interesting that this lobby group HAS $10 million to spend on advertising.

The Senate Finance committee is supposed to vote on the Baucus plan which, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't been released to the public. At least I can't find one, even using the Thomas search engine. As with most things, if they are trying to keep this bad boy secret, then they are trying to pull a fast one--keeping the text of the bill out of the hands of those who actually might read it and provide an analysis.

Will they learn that playing this 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain' and 'we're from the government, we're here to help' just doesn't work anymore?? The wool has been removed from the eyes of the American public and the media can't control the populace anymore by controlling the flow of information. What's more, the American majority is tired of being treated like small children with those WE ELECTED acting as paternalistic nannies rather than being conduits for the will of the people.

Had to get this from BRITISH media

Apparently the Obama administration has taken away the rights of the Maricopa County (AZ) Sheriff to enforce federal law. The Guardian reports that he was enforcing laws under the aegis of Homeland Security with a two year contract that has been dropped. What's interesting is that the article has quotes from two people that work for the same organization, America's Voice, which is an 'immigration reform advocacy group'. The article says:

An estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the US. The federal government is virtually paralysed over how to react, with conservatives like Arpaio calling for the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants and increased border enforcement. Obama, many Democrats and some Republicans call for a system that will allow most to gain legal status after paying a fine and learning English, but reform efforts in 2006 and 2007 withered under sustained rightwing opposition.

I read a LOT of news, but had to get this tidbit via Drudge. Legacy media is so far silent on the subject. Personally I don't think that the Sheriff needs the permission of the federal government to enforce laws, federal or not. I believe that they are required to enforce ALL laws and picking and choosing which ones can be enforced or not is a travesty.

I guess the Nobel Prize doesn't mean jack anymore

Via B, the Nobel prize committee has given Obama the Nobel Peace Prize for something that he hasn't even done. When the voting was completed, Obama had been in office for two whole weeks. So they based their criteria on campaign promises and pictures of him on a Hawaiian vacation (must have been his abs that carried the voting). My understanding is that the Nobel Prize should be based on deeds, not words. Of course I lost any respect for the Nobel committees when they gave Al Gore a prize for work based on faulty science.

The classy thing for Obama to do would be to thank the committee and take a pass, based on the fact that he hasn't DONE ANYTHING TO DESERVE THE FRICKIN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE but his narcissistic personality will not allow that to happen.

Thought of the day....

I was talking with a colleague at work (academia). He is a liberal and a Canadian and a very nice man. In any case, we got on the subject of term limits (agreed that they would be a good thing) and I said something along the lines that I felt the Founding Fathers didn't want a legalese definition of a natural born US citizen but instead wanted someone who was born and raised here and so 'bonded' with the country. He then said that if Arnold Swartzenagger could run for President he would vote for him and I concurred. So then... and here's the kicker, he asked what I thought about Obama. I said that I didn't think that he was a legitimate president under what the Founding Fathers would have meant. I've truly never seen anyone's jaw literally drop to the floor. He asked what the difference to me was between Obama and Arnold and I really didn't have an answer (well I did but still have to work with him).

So I started thinking. Why would I vote for Arnold, if I could, but not for Obama?? I think what it comes down to is this. Swartzenagger, a naturalized American, has fully embraced and, from what I've seen, truly loves this country, even if he was not born here. I think that he wants to see the country succeed as he has succeeded being here. He embodies the American Dream and he friggin' well knows it. He is proud to be here and is proud to be a citizen of this great nation. He is, in his heart, more of a native son by choice than many who are born here.

All of the legal issues aside (birth certificate and the Occidental University application wherein Obama states that he is a citizen of Indonesia), I don't think that Obama loves this country. I don't think he thinks of himself as an American because I think that he believes that he is above that designation. To his liberal mind it is more noble to be a citizen of the world. And that is fine, unless you are the leader of a country. I think that to effectively lead a country, you have to love that country, you have to be proud of that country, and you have to be proud that you are a citizen of that country. And I don't think Obama has that pride.

Michelle Obama stated that she was not proud of her country until her husband got the nomination for President. How can you effectively champion the causes of a country if you don't believe in it, are not proud of it, and want to change it into something else?? It's like finding a man and wanting to change him instead of accept him or like moving into a new neighborhood because it's different and better than your old one and then trying to make it into the place that you left. It just doesn't make sense.

The people who are presently in power in this country do not have pride in this country. Obama has apologized to the world for everything this country has done for the world since the turn of the century. He feels that to be proud of our people, our drive for success, our independent spirit is provincial and beneath him. And I don't think you can be considered to be a leader of anything that you denigrate and wish to change into something else.

Thought this deserved a link--re: Tea Party Protester stuff

I've linked to an article by Stephen Green from April 18, 2009. In it he discusses the Saul Alinsky handbook and Anderson Cooper's use of the derogatory term for Tea Party Protesters. What brought this particular article to mind was a story I was told yesterday by B. I'll let him tell the whole thing if he wants. I just wanted to remind the world that the only thing that keeps you from getting punched in the head when you use a derisive term in a smarmy tone of voice is the impuse control of the person at whom you are directing your venom.

Impulse control is the most highly underrated and valuable virtue in our society.

A does not necessarily equal B: Standardized test scores

I got this peripherally from the story about the young man being beaten to death in Chicago. According to locals, the reason for the increase in gang violence in that area was caused by the closing of a high school (it was turned into a military school) and sending those kids to this other school. The closing were done by then CEO of Chicago public schools, now Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan under what was termed as the Renaissance Program that was designed to close under-performing schools and send those kids places where presumably they would get higher standardized test scores.

The problem with this meme is that better standardized test scores do not necessarily mean better learning. All it means is that those schools have better ways of teaching those students how to take tests, not the knowledge they would need to be able to pass the tests.

A does not necessarily equal B: the Flu

Again on NPR (see reasons for listening to it below) there are reports that reports of flu are up considerably at colleges and universities. The tone of this message is that we are on the burning edge of a pandemic since so many college students are reporting that they have the flu: something like 200 to 2 between September 2009 and September 2008.

The reporters at NPR couldn't figure out (or report) that probably the reason for an increased reporting of flu cases is because students are REQUIRED this year to report when they have flu systems. So instead of just sucking it up, taking some Nyquil and going to bed, they are going to their Health Services and are being tested to see if the strain they have is the dreaded H1N1. It's not as scary to say that because all students HAVE to report flu symptoms, we're seeing an increase in reported flu symptoms.

A does not necessarily equal B: Arizona Sheriff

I was listening to NPR this morning (like the guys at Men Are Not Potatoes, I do this just to get my blood pressure up--better than a cup of coffee). I heard a few things that I was just pounding the steering wheel about and shouting 'Duh'... And so I shall share now that I've calmed down somewhat. This is going to be a LOOOONG post but maybe I'll break it into three or four.

In Arizona, the Feds are trying to tell the Maricopa County Sheriff that he can no longer do sweeps and pick up illegals for delivery to the Feds for deportation. Part of the reason given is that, in most places, the sheriffs are apparently slackers and only deliver illegals who have been caught in the process of committing some other crime.

So since he goes that extra step and tries to catch the illegals (who are already committing a crime by being here illegally ) BEFORE they commit further crimes on US soil, they want to shut him down. And, as part of that, the bureaucrats at the 'Justice' Department are pursuing charges that he does racial profiling since most of his sweeps are in *gasp* Hispanic neighborhoods. So riddle me this Batman.... if most of the illegals are of Hispanic persuasion and look ethnically Hispanic and tend to reside with relatives, either illegal or not, who are also Hispanic, would Hispanic neighborhoods not be the place to look?? Here's the thing... if most of your illegals are say, Irish, would you not check the Irish neighborhoods for them. If most of your illegals are Eastern European, you would tend to look in those neighborhoods. It's common sense, which apparently has left the hallowed halls of the Justice Department.

In a somewhat related note, I heard that our immigration and Homeland Security forces are going to be trying to come up with a classification system for illegals so that they can house the 'not dangerous' ones in hotels and such rather than incarcerating them and using up valuable prison space. TO me, this seems to be a backdoor way of beginning to legalize those folks--very tricky on the part of Napolitano.

Conservatives in Academia...

Being in academe myself, I read this article by Ron Lipsman on American Thinker and nodded like a bobble-head doll the whole time. Below is his final observation but you should read the whole thing if you want to gain some insight into the groupthink that is higher education culture in the United States. I was particularly struck by his litany on the 'race/sex diversity=excellence' meme that has permeated and taken over post-secondary education.

He didn't go quite as far as to blame the higher education system for the liberal hegemony that has become part of the media, educational system etc. but he should have since it is the font from which this tripe flows. I think he also over-values the checks that are put on liberal thought outside of academia.

He writes:

3. My final observation is the following. The liberal hegemony exists in many quarters of the country beside academia -- e.g., the mainstream media, major foundations, law schools and the trail lawyers they produce, public school teachers, the Democratic Party, even big corporations. But none of these can maintain the atmosphere as effortlessly as campus profs and administrators. Politicians encounter opposition from their constituents; the media from its readers, listeners and viewers; trail lawyers from their clients; and corporations from their stockholders and consumers. But the educational establishment-both higher and lower-encounters little resistance. The students are ignorant, the parents are cowed, and Boards of Regents are cowardly. The ivory tower is alive and well in America and the intellectual product it presents is completely one-sided. What a tragedy for our nation and especially for its youth.

CNN and Yahoo FACT CHECK the Obama SNL skit

Okay, in the ultimate stupidity (and one more reason why it's a good thing that CNN is getting picketed next week), CNN actually FACT-CHECKED the Saturday Night Live skit spoofing Obama that contained a list of things he hasn't done. For pity's sake people!!

Presidents from Ford to the present have been spoofed, skewered, and otherwise lampooned on SNL. There are those who think that Chevy Chase's depictions of Ford may have affected his re-election chances. And how about Tina Fey's depiction of Sarah Palin more recently?? At least the Republicans have the grace to laugh at this stuff (like Sarah Palin's appearance on SNL) but how can any 'news' organization claim to be non-partisan when they do stuff like this?? And of course, CNN said that SNL's depictions of Palin and George W. Bush were spot on. Nothing to see here, no partisan politics in the CNN newsroom.....

Per The Bookworm Room, yahoo also did a fact check on the SNL skit. Guess I'm going to have to find yet another search engine.....

The only good thing is that it's soooooo blatant!

Broad rules=selective prosecution

The FTC has unveiled rules that would require bloggers to state any conflict of interest they might have when reviewing or endorsing products. Not withstanding the fact that, unlike many other communities, the blogosphere is pretty self-policing (think Wikipedia and how long incorrect information stays up before someone jumps on it) the Feds think it'll be a good idea that, if you say a recipe is better using a specific kind of bacon, you had better be DARN sure that you disclose any ties you might have to the hog farmer, the wood supplier for the smoker, the manufacturer, and the delivery guy. You might think I'm overstating, but that's the problem with such laws--they give license to the regulator to come down on you for any perceived reason.

I'm seeing this as part of a larger problem. In 1947, the Code of Federal Regulations, which essentially act as the strong arm of federal laws passed, was almost pamphlet sized. Now, the Code of Federal Regulations (which have the force of law done even though they are written by bureaucrats) consists of several bookcases worth of paper.

As Brian Walsh writes in the Washington Times (h.t. Insty),

Astronomical numbers of federal criminal laws lack specifics, can apply to almost anyone and fail to protect innocents by requiring substantial proof that an accused person acted with actual criminal intent.

His article has examples that are enough to chill the blood because, in one case cited, it wasn't enough for the federal government when one case was thrown out, they went after the person again from another angle. This avoids double-jepardy but I think it shows that an overzealous bureaucrat can be more dangerous to individual liberty than anything else the federal government has created.

The only thing I can see to do is to start over and wipe the slate clean. There have been movements in this area towards the IRS (who among us doesn't get a frisson of terror when you get an evelope from them?) but I think that it needs to go much further. Most of these rules and regulations that stem from laws passed are put in place without public input and the people enforcing them have little or no limits on their actions.

We are supposed to be a nation ruled by Law, not by bureaucratic regulation. We are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but the way the federal government is working, that's not the case and these new regulations from the FTC are just another symptom of a greater problem.

Screwing another ally... or Obama is a wuss....

Via Gateway Pundit comes the news that Obama will not meet with the Dalai Lama when he visits DC. Let's see here... The folks that Obama has kowtowed to, including his bow and scrape to a Saudi prince are the dictators and despots of the modern world--generally folks who stand against the type of freedom exemplified by the United States. The folks that he has insulted and left swinging in the wind--the allies of the United States. He's showing himself to be weak and easily swayed by foreign governments. Even when the Clintons rented out the Lincoln bedroom and granted access to the Chinese, Bill still met with the Dalai Lama and weren't, at least on this matter, seen bowing to pressure from Beijing. You almost expect him to jump and scream like a little girl if someone says 'boo'.

Problems with the Press

I was reading Tam's posting on the sickening Polanski case and how Hollywood and the press have been complicit in defending child rape and something occurred to me. The press stopped being the "Hounds of News" when they started putting pretty talking heads up on the screen instead of actual reporters. With 'newsanchors' basically being actors who couldn't find work in Hollywood, then that co-opts the folks who are supposed to investigate and report the news into folks who merely parrot the opinions of the writers rather than actually put thought into the words that are coming out of their mouths. When there are few sources of news, then any inaccuracies will be repeated as nauseum. It also allows those who want to shape opinion a perfect field in which to do so.

Some interesting ideas over at American Thinking

American Thinker has several VERY good articles (as always) but here's a few that caught my eye. The first one, by Greg Lewis, discusses Obama's 'beta-male' behavior and how his mannerisms show the homo sapiens version of canid submissive behavior. As a person raised around chows and at dog shows a lot, I found this article to be insightful since I often use those terms when talking about others' behavior.

The second one, by Marc Shepard, discusses the UN's duplicity in deliberately creating a crisis regarding global warming. It should have been entitled "A Real Inconvenient Truth for Those Whose Living is Made from the Artificial Crisis". While it's difficult to pin down exactly WHY the UN wished to cause an artificial crisis, cause it they did. Their fake and faulty science has affected the world economy in an extremely negative way. As a body, the UN should be disbanded. They have become second only to Chicago and Illinois in their cover-ups, corruption, and uselessness. It is also a drain on the economy of NYC as well as the United States since we fund most of their useless initiatives. Imagine if all of that money was funneled back into the US Economy--we could tell China to collectively (pun intended) bugger off.

Lastly, in their blog section, Rick Moran blogs news via Caucus Blog about how the administration may just be (re)considering their point of view and may possibly be thinking about offering tax cuts instead of tax increases to small business in order to stimulate the economy. While he doubts that doing the right thing to actually stimulate the economy will fly (I concur) since the liberal Democrats would all have their heads explode a la the movie Scanners (I thought about putting a youtube clip for this but it really is gross), it is painting Obama into a corner of his own socialist making, which bodes well for mid-term elections for the conservatives.

The difference between conservatives and liberals

The text below comes via The Bookworm Room:

"If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn`t buy one.
If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn`t eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy.
A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a black man or Hispanic are conservative, they see themselves as independently successful.
Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it’s a foreign religion, of course!)

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a conservative slips and falls in a store, he gets up, laughs and is embarrassed.
If a liberal slips and falls, he grabs his neck, moans like he’s in labor and then sues.

If a conservative reads this, he’ll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he’s “offended”.

SNL takes Obama to task on tasks not done

This video is brought to you via Powerline (h.t. The Breda Fallacy). I have to admit I laughed, but mainly from delight, because I thought it was funny that the writers on one of the most liberal shows are catching a clue. It made me sad too, because this very dangerous idiot is in place for another three years and if he does manage to do anything on the list, it's going to be ruinous for the country as a whole.

I think that this is FINALLY a sign that Obama's honeymoon with the press is over. Liberals are having to backtrack, if just a little, and are having to admit that maybe they voted for a Cult of Personality rather than for someone who has the... ahem... intestinal fortitude to be a world leader. Where Saturday Night Live goes, hopefully the Legacy Media will follow.

Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies....

Via Western Rifle Shooters Assn, a link to RedState with what they're terming the money quote of the month. Obama's envoy to the Sudan, Retired Air Force Major Scott Gration, likens countries to small children “Kids, countries, they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement.” “We’ve got to think about giving out cookies.”

Okay, never mind about the utter idiocy of trying to 'normalize' relations with a country like Sudan, which is lead by a maniac bent on genocide. Never mind the utter lunacy of putting a Retired Air Force MAJOR on the job (truly, how much diplomacy experience can this guy have??). Never mind the utter stupidity inherent in putting small genocidal countries in the same category as recalcitrant children in need of a time-out. The statements above make the Russian 'Reset' fiasco look like absolute brilliance.

I actually think I need a drink after reading about this one.

Picketing the Fourth Estate

Finally, on October 17, there is going to be an offshoot of the Tea Partys that directly go for the Legacy Media. There is a planned picket of CNN in Atlanta. The only problem that I can see with it, is that the Legacy Media really doesn't see itself as biased (CNN, CBS, NBC) or as a tool of the administration (ABC). The NYT "All the news that's fit to print" should have its motto as "All the news that fits our ideology, we print."

In a world that's so far to the political left, that centrists seem like right-wing extremists, there is no compass and no moral center. They honestly can't relate to anyone having life experiences or thoughts different from their own. There's the famous (mis)quote about how George W. Bush won the presidency "well I don't know anyone who voted for him". When surrounded by folks who either share your ideology completely, or who, for whatever reasons feel the need to keep silent if they have different ideas (think schoolyard ostracism), then you become so completely insulated from differing perspectives that you eventually feel that yours is the only valid thought (look at our universities and how they treat speakers such as the Minute Men, etc.).

If I could be in Atlanta, I would. It'll be interesting to see how CNN plays it and how many more viewers they'll lose because I sincerely doubt they'll catch the clue bus when it shows up at their door.

Slow blogging day... however, one bright spot

As much as I hate to keep on about this Polanski thing, I did read one good thing today. Via Insty, Ed Bernero actually writes that he is ashamed of those of his peers who are supporting this creepy pedophile. Big Hollywood has started its own petition for those who think that Polanski should face the music of his own making. As far as Polanski, I was reading in Mark Steyn's column that when he took it on the lam from the United States, he ended up with a 15 year old Nastassja Kinski. Still statutory, except for in France, I guess but I would think that would show a pattern to anyone looking.

And the word is out... and so is Chicago...

Not only did Chicago NOT get the Olympic Games, they were out in the first round despite the fact that the Obamas and Oprah made an appearance. Via Gateway Pundit, they are blaming Bush for making the world hate the United States SOOOO much that they couldn't possibly give us the Olympics (you would think that that particular meme has run its course after almost a year). It couldn't be that Chicago and the State of Illinois are still in the news as the Poster Children for graft, corruption, and, especially with Chicago, crime.

What I found/find ironic about the whole enchilada is that, even after Obama has been falling all over himself apologizing to the world for the existence of the United States (something he is trying to extinguish), his speech said how proud he was of Chicago and the United States. Maybe he had a Michelle-like conversion experience and could now be proud of the US now that he could actually go hat-in-hand to the rest of the world and beg for something. Being humbled made him proud. I actually think though, that maybe the rest of the world is not as dumb as the Obamas think it is and they saw through the disingenousness of both his and Michelle's speeches.

eta: It's nice to know that someone agrees with me (at least regarding the attitudes of the Obamas). Check out Victor Hanson at Pajamas Media.

Why they had to send Obama to Denmark...

Talking with B this morning. Tried to understand why they had to send Oprah and Michelle and Barak to Denmark instead of the mayor of the city that's been angling for the Olympics. Best we can figure is that Daly just has never bothered to take any speech lessons and he sounds like a Capone-era gangster, which just wouldn't fly with the IOC.

As a side note, the fact that it's such a chore and sacrifice for Michelle to fly to beautiful places with her entourage and snack on canapes, makes me dislike her elitist attitude even more than when she spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to get some specialized type of lettuce at the local farmers marker which had to be fully vetted by the Secret Service and accompanied by a line of limos that led back to White House (besides which I doubt she cooked it herself so what was the point other than to show what she can do?).

For someone who emphasizes humble beginnings (have you ever noticed that a LOT of liberals try to put themselves forward as self-made people rather than those who are either silver-spoon-fed trustfund babies or the recipients of public largess and open doors not available to folks like me??) she certainly has taken to trappings of privilege like a duck to water (Princeton/Ivy League training kicking in, no doubt). For some reason I constantly think of Marie Antoinette when I see Michelle or hear about things she's said or done.

Let them eat Kale!

If someone asks you if you like guns, you say 'YES'!

In an article from the Northwest Indiana newspaper online, there is a story of two men who were robbed by a man (who they had driven all over town). Before he robbed them, he asked them if they liked guns. When they replied 'no', he informed them that he had a gun (which they never saw) and told them to give him their money.

Guess he wouldn't have tried that with me and mine since we LIKE guns and probably have one fairly close at hand. Interesting that he asked about guns first--before he robbed those two guys--love concealed carry--keeps those would-be robbers unsure!

But dude, he had sex with children*

Found the list of signatees to the Roman Polanski get out of jail free petition. It includes a bunch of folks I never heard of, but now I can't watch any movie by Guillermo del Toro, Scorsese, Terry Gilliam, or Woody Allen. I guess I'll give away or burn my copy of Pan's Labyrinth but I don't own anything by Scorsese, Gilliam, or Allen. And I'll just say no to watching Jumpin' Jack Flash, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Urban Cowboy for their Goldberg and Winger contents.

*Paraphrase from South Park's NAMBLA episode.

Have they gone entirely mad???

Via RobertaX: an ad campaign in London warning women to not hold onto guns for their menfolk. What gets me is their front page: "Know when to say no. Picking up a gun or a knife always makes a situation worse never better." I dunno, I can think of a whole bunch of situations where picking up a gun or knife will make the situation better for ME. Maybe not for the other person, but if I'm having to take that action, I'm not terribly worried about their health or state of mind, I'm worried for my own safety or the safety of those around me.

It still makes me a bit sad to see a country that once held sway over a large part of the world come to a place where their Boy Scouts can't carry pocket knives, where the points on knives are being removed, and where their populace now consists of a bunch of sheep. Where one of their main spokesmen is a Naked Chef. Maybe the theory runs true where all of the brave Brits, the ones who bore the brunt of two World Wars, died in those wars leaving behind the weak and the bureaucrats.

It makes me even sadder to know that the present administration is using them as a model.