Triage

Related Link » The Willingness To Work For Solutions
“I believe that the world is inherently a very dangerous place, and that things that are now very good can go bad very quickly. [...] The gap between our civilization, our prosperity, our freedoms and all of those [bad] things is the quality of our leaders, the courage of our people, the willingness to face facts and the willingness to work for solutions.” [emphasis added]
— Newt Gingrich; as heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, June 27, 2005

Yes indeed, we need solutions in this problems-filled world. As Speaker Gingrich foresaw in 2005, so it continues today; with a vengeance.

So many problems. So little time -- and so little resources, which diminish at alarming rates that are accelerating. Anyone who makes a minimal attempt to keep abreast of developments, away from those at the American Idol studios, can only wonder how we can possibly attend to all the calamities advancing relentlessly towards us.

I know something about solving problems, having been engaged in technical problem-solving ever since mastering the multiplication table at age 5 or thereabouts. As I follow along with developments within our federal government, I am astounded by the complete disarray in Congress and in the White House. All of the chickens, without exception, have had their heads cut off and are acting accordingly.

These times of frenetic developments on multiple fronts require not only prioritization but triage. We can not address all of the problems confronting us. We lack the manpower consensus, the resources, and the National will. Hence, we must pare down the list to a manageable number of outstanding problems to be addressed. Instead, we have a leadership that is hell-bent on meeting head-on a host of complex national and international challenges, each of which has the capacity to ruin our economic engine, which would leave us defenseless against more deadly challenges waiting for signs of our succumbing to our ill-chosen futilities.

Once we have performed the necessary triage, we must prioritize the remaining list, with a focus on the inherent prerequisites and correlations between those major challenges before us. Everyone knows that our economic engine is our main resource, and, therefore, we mustn't embark on trillion-dollar experiments in social engineering; not now; not ever. Instead, that is precisely what our misguided Administration is intent on doing, come hell or high water.

But the economy is not even our number one priority. Nothing can take precedence over our national security. Somehow, this single constant over two centuries of anecdotal evidence has slipped from the forefront of our collective psyche. Obama thinks our national defense is safely ensconced in his handy rhetoric. Who needs F-22 fighters and anti-missile defense systems when The Obama has the world's scumbags in thrall to his melodious cacophony?

And the beat goes on ...

Post #879 Triage

It's the deceitfulness, stupid!

Related Link » Suborned in the U.S.A.: The birth-certificate controversy is about Obama’s [dis]honesty, not where he was born.

“To summarize: What Obama has made available is a Hawaiian ‘certification of live birth’ (emphasis added), not a birth certificate (or what the state calls a ‘certificate of live birth’). The certification form provides a short, very general attestation of a few facts about the person’s birth: name and sex of the newborn; date and time of birth; city or town of birth, along with the name of the Hawaiian island and the county; the mother’s maiden name and race; the father’s name and race; and the date the certification was filed. This certification is not the same thing as the certificate, which is what I believe we were referring to in the editorial as ‘the state records that are used to generate birth certificates [sic] when they are requested’. To the contrary, ‘the state records’ are the certificate. They are used to generate the more limited birth certifications on request. As the Jeffers post shows, these state records are far more detailed.
[...]
The information in the certification may be identical as far as it goes to what’s in the complete state records, but there are evidently many more details in the state records than are set forth in the certification. Contrary to the editors’ description, those who want to see the full state record — the certificate or the so-called ‘vault copy’ — are not on a wild-goose chase for a ‘secondary document cloaked in darkness’. That confuses their motives (which vary) with what they’ve actually requested (which is entirely reasonable). Regardless of why people may want to see the vault copy, what’s been requested is a primary document that is materially more detailed than what Obama has thus far provided.
[...]
Now, let’s address motives for a moment. Are some of those demanding the full state records engaged in a futile quest to prove Obama is not a U.S. citizen? Are they on what the editors call ‘the hunt for a magic bullet that will make all the unpleasant complications of [Obama’s] election and presidency disappear’? Sure they are. But not everyone who wants to see the full state records falls into that category. I, for one, have very different reasons for being curious.
[...]
The fact is that Obama’s account of his background is increasingly revealed as a fabrication, not his life as lived; his utterances reflect the expediencies of the moment, not the truth. What is supposed to save the country from fraudulence of this sort is the media. Here, though, the establishment press is deep in Obama’s tank — so much so that they can’t even accurately report his flub of a ceremonial opening pitch lest he come off as something less than Sandy Koufax. Astonishingly, reporters see their job not as reporting Obama news but as debunking Obama news, or flat-out suppressing it.
[...]
But we should know. The point has little to do with whether Obama was born in Hawaii. I’m quite confident that he was. The issue is: What is the true personal history of the man who has been sold to us based on nothing but his personal history? On that issue, Obama has demonstrated himself to be an unreliable source and, sadly, we can’t trust the media to get to the bottom of it. What’s wrong with saying, to a president who promised unprecedented ‘transparency’: Give us all the raw data and we’ll figure it out for ourselves?” [my emphasis added; TBH]
— National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute

It's all about Obama's deceitfulness, as well as the MSM's efforts on his behalf to suppress it. The media had been incoporated by our Founding Fathers for an important role in our rule of law. Hence, we have the pride of place for 'freedom of the press', situated between 'freedom of speech' and the 'right to peaceably assemble' within the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (the first part of the United States Bill of Rights). They (the "press") have shown themselves to be completely unworthy of the Founding Fathers' trust.

Not only has Obama's Administration forfeited his assumed high road in his election campaign, he has continually manipulated much of his personal history to suit whatever purpose was his highest priority at the moment of his fabrications. You know it; I know it; and most certainly the media know it to be so. Nevertheless, his deceitfulness is not only tolerated; it's extolled by his devotees.

The Fourth Estate, even more than the principal culprit in this mendaciousness, have disgraced the Constitution and the Nation's integrity they were meant to uphold.

Post #878 It's the deceitfulness, stupid!

Read it; and weep ...

Related Link » Disaster in the Making?
“Many people are rightly worried about what this administration's reckless spending will do to the economy in our time and to our children and grandchildren, to whom a staggering national debt will be passed on. But if the worst that Barack Obama does is ruin the economy, I will breathe a sigh of relief.
[...]
He is heading this country toward disaster on many fronts, including a nuclear Iran, which has every prospect of being an irretrievable disaster of almost unimaginable magnitude. We cannot put that genie back in the bottle -- and neither can generations yet unborn. They may yet curse us all for leaving them hostages to nuclear terror.
[...]
Like so many before him who have ruined countries around the world, Obama has a greatly inflated idea of his own capabilities and the prospects of what can be accomplished by rhetoric or even by political power. Often this has been accompanied by an ignorance of history, including the history of how many people before him have tried similar things with disastrous results.”
— Thomas Sowell

The only hope is that reasoned words of truly wise men will be heard by Americans who haven't lost all reason.

Post #877 Read it; and weep ...

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: What a Fool Believes

{Song #22 « Song #23 » Song #24}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #23 is What a Fool Believes sung by The Doobie Brothers.

This song (with Michael McDonald singing lead vocals) became something of an obsession for me in the late '70s and early '80s, a period of time I can best characterize as my mid-life crisis.



Post #876 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: What a Fool Believes

The Whole Ass Catalogue

Related Link » Cambridge Police Profiling Still A Grim Reality for Harvard Faculty Assholes
“Some suggest that the election of President Obama proves that America's prejudice against Harvard assholes is a quaint relic of the past. But for those of us who live with it every day, the evidence shows the opposite. And it isn't just Harvard assholes suffering the cold, rude hand of uppity townie privilege. Other, if less endowed, asshole faculties suffer similar oppression: in the southern Lacrosse fields of Duke; in the west coast arugula farms of Stanford; at Northwestern, wherever Northwestern is. No, we must not be silent. That is why I have used a portion of my class action windfall against the Cambridge Police department to produce a shocking new documentary film, "Asshole Like Me," detailing the courageous plight of the tenured Sphincter-American community. It premiers this Friday at the Science Center. Get your tickets now -- with free beer on tap, demand will be high!”
— From: Guest Opinion by Professor John Evans Evans-John [AKA Iowahawk], Harvard School of Harvard Faculty Asshole Studies, Harvard University

Good call on Northwestern, Professor. Turns out it's not in the Northwest! Those assholes are actually in the Midwest, ironically near the old stompin' grounds of certain alumni of the Harvard-asshole variety. Furthermore, the Harvard School of Harvard Faculty Asshole Studies has reciprocity agreements with their counterparts in all the other Ivies, including the Ivy of the South (Duke, as already mentioned), which is not, technically, an Ivy at all, it just has about as much money as the bona fide Ivies: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn. The Asshole Studies at Columbia in particular are very strong, offering, as they do, dual Doctorates in Asshole Studies and Jew-hatred.

Post #875 The Whole Ass Catalogue

What does DNA have to do with place of birth?

Related Link » Gibbs: Scoffs that DNA wouldn’t satisfy Obama birth controversy
“In the Monday press briefing Gibbs scoffs [that] Americans want to see a long-form birth certificate saying, ‘I hate to indulge, in such an august setting as the White House briefing room...the made-up, fictional nonsense whether the president was born in this country,’ Gibbs said. ‘If I had some DNA, it wouldn't assuage those who believe he wasn't born here’.”
— Gregory Dail


Would you buy a used car from this moron?

Break me a f*cking give, Gibbs. What does DNA have to do with place of birth, you stupid f*ck? And it's not fictional nonsense if you haven't proved it to be false, nor is it nonsense if it is a Constitutional requirement for the Presidency of the United States.

Post #874 What does DNA have to do with place of birth?

What do liberals want?

As it turns out, they want two things:

1. They want more. And,
2. they want it in cash.

Related Link » Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
   “By the way, Henry,” Philip added, “do you mind if I ask you to have Miss Ives give me the money in cash?” Rearden turned back to him, puzzled. “You see, Friends of Global Progress are a very progressive group and they have always maintained that you represent the blackest element of social retrogression in the country, so it would embarrass us, you know, to have your name on our list of contributors, because somebody might accuse us of being in the pay of Hank Rearden.”
   He wanted to slap Philip's face. But an almost unendurable contempt made him close his eyes instead.
   “All right,” he said quietly, “you can have it in cash.”
   He walked away, to the farthest window of the room, and stood looking at the glow of the mills in the distance.
   He heard Larkin's voice crying after him, “Damn it, Hank, you shouldn't have given it to him!”
   Then Lillian's voice came, cold and gay: “But you're wrong, Paul, you're so wrong! What would happen to Henry's vanity if he didn't have us to throw alms to? What would become of his strength if he didn't have weaker people to dominate? What would he do with himself if he didn't keep us around as dependents? It's quite all right, really, I'm not criticizing him, it's just a law of human nature.”
   She took the metal bracelet and held it up, letting it glitter in the lamplight.
   “A chain,” she said. “Appropriate, isn't it? It's the chain by which he holds us all in bondage.”
— Atlas Shrugged, end of Part One, Chapter II

I suppose that a case can be made for liberals wanting something else too: they want their cash receipts as entitlements, without compensatory expression of gratitude to their benefactors, whom they loathe vocally and with great relish.

Well who wouldn't want that?

Post #873 What do liberals want?

Yo Mama!

Related Link » Which Part Of “Great Satan” …
“Gates says the U.S. overture to Iran isn’t open-ended. By ‘not open-ended’ he’s clearly not refering to the bottom, where all the logic fell out pretty much as soon as they tried to pour it into that bucket. The only hopeful sign in all of this is that they might finally be looking for a way out of that bad idea that doesn’t look like an acknowledgement that it never was a good idea, compounded by the fact that they stuck with it even after the Obama base finally figured out it was a morally bankrupt idea. Weird how they stuck with it even when the murderous, mendacious terrorism-supporters on whose cooperation it depended were mocking it from the start. Too bad they've [Obamination — TBH] wasted so much time. Because unless the Obama admin has entirely come to its senses ["it only hurts when I laugh" — TBH], which I doubt, it [Obamination — TBH] needs to figure out another way of dealing with this problem that doesn’t involve blowing up Iran’s nuclear facilities. Yeah, yeah, I know, ‘sanctions’. Because those have such a great track record with dictatorships that want nukes.”
— Jules Crittenden

Yeah; what he said. Isn't this Gates supposed to be one of the smart Gateses? If so, how come he is just now coming to the realization that by "Great Satan" they mean something akin to "Yo Mama!"?

Got to hand it to The Obaminator. He Has a special talent to convert every Cabinet Officer into a p*ssy, including those who ... oh, never mind.


   Would you buy a used car from this guy?

Post #872 Yo Mama!

Ignorance Is the Trump Suit

Related Link » Efficiency? Equity? Rationality?
“Much of the behavior Caplan characterizes as voter irrationality is more properly interpreted as either concerns about transition costs or as ignorance - lack of information, or less than perfect processing of the information available. In any event, that people are inconsistently rational in almost all endeavors, including politics, will surprise only the most hidebound economist. All the rest of us already knew that primeval instincts or our hearts often trump cold reason or narrow self interest when we make decisions.” [emphasis added]
— Ralph T. Byrns, from a review of "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies"

This might be my first post that was stimulated by a book review. Moreover, the book in question was itself mentioned in a post by a blogger whose blog I subscribe to. All three (author, reviewer, and blogger) are economists, economics being a subject I know little about. I mention these things because they illustrate a remarkable versatility offered by the Web for expanding the horizons of a curious mind, which, to my mind, is a very good thing.

My curiosity was stimulated by the title of the book, "The Myth of the Rational Voter", because I have often wondered why it is that American election results seem to be completely devoid of rational thought. My own academic background in science and engineering is heavily dependent on rational thinking, and that has often been a source of great irritation and dismay for me in my non-professional interactions.

As a former colleague of mine was fond of reminding me, "Henry, people do not behave in accordance with the laws of physics". And yet, I find it difficult, if not impossible, to accept what is probably an integral and fundamental characteristic of human nature — "primeval instincts or our hearts often trump cold reason or narrow self interest when we make decisions", as Dr.  Byrns asserts. Very sad, but, by most accounts familiar to me, very true indeed.

Perhaps I might expand Byrns' bridge-analogy premise thus: " ..., because, more often than not, ignorance is the trump suit".

Post #871 Ignorance Is the Trump Suit

Eye Disbelief: All Men Are My Brothers

Related Link » This I Believe: All Men Are My Brothers
“But if I am tolerant of other men’s prejudices, I must insist that they be tolerant of me. To my home in rural Pennsylvania come brown men and yellow men and black men from around the world. In their countries I lived and ate with them. In my country they shall live and eat with me. Until the day I die, my home must be free to receive these travelers and it never seems so big a home or so much a place of love as when some man from India or Japan or Mexico or Tahiti or Fiji shares it with me. For on those happy days, it reminds me of the wonderful affection I have known throughout the world.

I believe that all men are my brothers. I know it when I see them sharing my home.”
— James A. Michener - As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, July 24, 2009

I like James Michener. I have read and enjoyed several of his novels, including Hawaii, The Source, and Poland. I also agree that, in a larger sense, all men are my brothers, for we all trace our mtDNA to Mitochondrial Eve.

But I withdraw from Michener's pollyannish view of the brotherhood of man, in the neighborhood of Cambridge, to take a currently prominent example. If I were to see men sharing my home here in Durham, I would most likely be witnessing a burglary.

The first recorded homocide was fratricide, lest we forget. And history is replete with civil war, which tends to be the most bloody variant, as was our own. The American Civil War accounted for more American casualties than all the other wars in which America has fought, combined.

Spare me the oft-repeated platitudes about fraternity. They envision brotherhood as saints and revolutionaries would have it, not necessarily as it is by nature. Man, with or without siblings, goes through stages of rivalry, camaraderie, resentment, collegiality, animosity, and not too uncommonly plain outright hatred. Most of us wish it were otherwise. Prudence, however, dictates that we "trust, but verify".

Post #870 Eye Disbelief: All Men Are My Brothers

Merciless Buffoonery

Related Link » North Korea Warns of 'Unimaginably Deadly Blows' to U.S.
“We will mercilessly and resolutely counter the enemy's sanctions with retaliation, its all-out war with all-out war”, Kim told the meeting. “We will deal unimaginably deadly blows at the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppets if they ignite a war, obsessed with a foolish ambition.”
— Associated Press

That's it. This time they've crossed the line into unimaginative buffoonery. This unimaginative volition into Gobbledygook is an unimaginative volition of all pretensions to mercilessness and puppetry. The merciless deadliness of imaginariness and blowing smokiness, not to mention the deadly mercilessness of smoking dopiness, will not stand. Now hear this: We will unreasonably and with all due willingness, unforeseen by all the puppetry of former merciless stupidity, proceed with abandon, albeit cautiously and resolutely. The deadly mercilessness will be blown into the far winds of glory, whilst we abandon restraints that have handcuffed the unimaginatively gross puppetry of clowning buffoonery and sleepiness.

You catchy my draftiness?

Post #869 Merciless Buffoonery

Don't confuse me with your facts!

Pray tell, what is the point of all the contradictory "findings" on any issue confronting the electorate? Unless they are the findings of board-certified saints, no findings known to politically-motivated man are worth the paper that Al Gore's credentials are printed on. And that is a fact you can believe in.

From the dawn of human deceitfulness, man has perfected the talent to produce "un-biased" findings to support any position on any topic, even those that are prima facie self-contradictory. The amount of time and effort that is spent on concocting, distilling, promulgating, proselytizing, and perpetrating such self-serving findings, if spent productively, would undoubtedly have eliminated the national debt by now.

Whenever I see a segment on some news-commentary program that pits two opponents on some political issue against one another, I know they are both armed with incontrovertible evidence that their opponent is full of sh*t. And I also know that they are both right in that regard, and that regard only.

Please, don't confuse me with your facts. You wouldn't know a fact if it fact you in the ass.

Post #868 Don't confuse me with your facts!

The Ultimate American

Related Link » Soldier gets highest honor for ultimate sacrifice
“Army Sgt. Jared C. Monti of Raynham has been posthumously named to receive the Medal of Honor this week for giving his life as he tried to rescue wounded comrades under heavy fire in Afghanistan in 2006.”
— By Katy Jordan (BH)

h/t Jules Crittenden

It is tragic that it takes (so prematurely) the life of a man like Jared Monti to restore one's faith in humanity, after one's faith is beat down by all the human detritus, including, but not limited to, the dregs among our government's incumbents.

Post #867 The Ultimate American

Go cyber, young man!

Related Link » Contractor Seeks 'Cyber Warriors' to Help Defend U.S.
“For the Raytheon jobs, all you need are very strong computer skills — a college degree in computer science, math or engineering is preferred, but not necessary — strong ethical standards, and, for most positions, the ability to pass government security clearances, which entails U.S. citizenship.” [emphasis added]
— Raytheon

Horace Greeley's frontier "west" is today's cyberspace. In a depressed job-market such as our current one, especially for young people, there is a golden-opportunity oasis — cyber security, as exemplified by the Raytheon "want ad". It strikes me that there exists a perfect confluence of modern-youth skills, critical national needs, and availability of well-paying positions. Best of all, the excitement of criminal activity is shielded from prosecution. What an enlightened circumstance!

As if all that were not enough, it is actually true that a college degree is not absolutely necessary. I know this to be true from first hand experience. In my first post-doctoral career that focused on large-scale computer applications for the simulation of radiation transport in 3-D environments, it was my privilege to encounter several instances of first-rate computer programmers who did not have advanced degrees. These young men (and a woman or two) did not have the necessary background in physics to contribute to the specifics of the applications, but their programming skills were in most cases greater than those of the physicists.

So, my Greeley advice is, "Go cyber, young wo/man, go cyber."

Post #866 Go cyber, young man!

Most Famous Alumna

Related Link » *This* is truly disturbing
“Assuming Speaker Pelosi was quoted accurately, and assuming she wasn't ‘misspeaking’, she is utterly bereft of economics. She is asserting the equivalent of a perpetual motion machine in physics.”
— Craig Newmark

h/t The Huffing Post

Disturbing, yes. Surprising, no.

Though there are legions of alumni, "The-Bat-Out-of-Hell" Pelosi is the most famous alumna of the San Francisco-based "School for the Perpetually Perplexed". She majored in Voodoo Economics and Perpetual-motion Phenomena, while minoring in Porcine and Chiroptera Aviation. Or vice versa.

Post #865 Most Famous Alumna

Behavior I can believe in

Related Link » Obama Expresses His Regrets On Gates Incident
“The brief and surprise appearance by Mr. Obama before reporters on Friday afternoon was an attempt by the White House to move beyond the controversy that has dominated the last two days of news coverage. Only hours earlier, Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, said the president had made his final remarks about the issue. But advisers said the mounting criticism from police groups and others persuaded the president to address the matter in an attempt to move on.”
— By JEFF ZELENY [NYT]

I believe the President has now acted properly in these circumstances, by swallowing his pride and admitting that he spoke inappropriately in his prior remarks about this local incident.

This was not an incident that rose to the level of national importance, and as such it should not have elicited public commentary from the leader of the free world, especially since he himself prefaced his original remarks with the disclaimer that he was not privy to all relevant details of the incident. The President got caught up in the seemingly ever-hot-button issue of race relations. In so doing, he did not serve to improve the status of American race relations that his own election to our Nation's highest office did so much to advance.

My hope is that the President's effort to rectify his earlier misstep will be accepted in the spirit of fellowship that it appears to have been offered.

Post #864 Behavior I can believe in

This is not about politics?

Related Link » Why Obamacare Is Sinking
“This is not about politics? Then why is it, to take but the most egregious example, that in this grand health-care debate we hear not a word about one of the worst sources of waste in American medicine: the insane cost and arbitrary rewards of our malpractice system? When a neurosurgeon pays $200,000 a year for malpractice insurance before he even turns on the light in his office or hires his first nurse, who do you think pays? Patients, in higher doctor fees to cover the insurance. And with jackpot justice that awards one claimant zillions while others get nothing -- and one-third of everything goes to the lawyers -- where do you think that money comes from? The insurance companies, which then pass it on to you in higher premiums. But the greatest waste is the hidden cost of defensive medicine: tests and procedures that doctors order for no good reason other than to protect themselves from lawsuits. Every doctor knows, as I did when I practiced years ago, how much unnecessary medical cost is incurred with an eye not on medicine but on the law. Tort reform would yield tens of billions in savings. Yet you cannot find it in the Democratic bills. And Obama breathed not a word about it in the full hour of his health-care news conference. Why? No mystery. The Democrats are parasitically dependent on huge donations from trial lawyers. Didn't Obama promise a new politics that puts people over special interests? Sure. And now he promises expanded, portable, secure, higher-quality medical care -- at lower cost! The only thing he hasn't promised is to extirpate evil from the human heart. That legislation will be introduced next week.”
— By Charles Krauthammer; Friday, July 24, 2009

And the week after that, there will be legislation to provide free lunch for everyone, and a partridge in a pear tree. And if that doesn't buy your vote or float your boat, you can trade up for five golden rings, or 72 virgins. Anything the tooth fairy can do, The Obaminator can do better. That's a promise.

Am I being too cynical? Perhaps. Perhaps not cynical enough, though. Who can forget the video of the woman at the Obama Election-Victory Celebration, who rapturously welcomed the second coming because she no longer had to worry about her mortgage or putting gas in her car?

No, it's not about politics. It's about smoke, mirrors, greed, narcissism, cynicism, Communism, botulism, and every other-ism — except patriotism.

Post #863 This is not about politics?

Stunning Acknowledgment of the Obvious by the Obtuse

Related Link » Reid: Senate Will Not Vote on Health Care Before Break
“The acknowledgment that the Senate would miss the deadline that President Obama set months ago to complete the health care legislation was a stunning about-face for Mr. Reid. He had insisted repeatedly that the Senate would complete the bill, as well as confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court, before the recess. But at the news conference on Thursday, Mr. Reid shrugged at a question about the timetable and told reporters that it should come as no surprise to anyone that the health care legislation would not be ready, though he also tried to put the blame for the delay on Republicans – saying that they had asked for time.”
— ‘By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN’ [NYT]

Thank God for small favors, one of which being that even an ignoramus can't ignore the obvious indefinitely. Though this particular ignoramus could not restrain himself from taking a swipe at his political opponents' insolent request for time to deal with a very complex set of issues!

Along with everyone else, I don't know what the proper parameters should be for a health-care program that would improve on the one we have. What I do know, however, is that it would have been an economic and technocratic disaster to Rahm one through on a completely arbitrary accelerated schedule, imposed on a Congress of self-serving borderline incompetents by a Self-serving borderline ego-maniacal Executive, Who just wants to sign legislation, any legislation, that He can call His own during His next election campaign.

Unless one is a complete moron, and that can never be discounted in government, it is generally clear which National issues qualify as emergencies and which do not. The Founding Fathers had the genius to understand, therefore, which issues are best handled by the Executive and which by the Legislature. In case that isn't clear, the Legislative Branch, Congress, is the deliberative Branch of our Federal government. Congress is "best suited" (given the limitations of our restricted choice) to deal with National issues that do not rise to the level of an emergency, which latter, in most cases, is "best dealt with" by Executive order. And those issues dealing with the Constitutionality of the actions of the other two Branches are to be dealt with by the Judicial Branch. That's the beauty of our American federal system of government.

The ugliness rears its head when one Branch encrouches on the purview of another. And that is the case when the President tries to impose His time-table on the deliberations of the Congress. At least this time around, the Nation has dodged a deadly bullet.

   Our Newest United States Senator

 Would you buy used cars or diapers from this clown?

Post #862 Stunning Acknowledgment of the Obvious by the Obtuse

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Related Link » Found in a Montana History Book

“. . . I mean, seriously, would you quit drinking?”
 — STORMBRINGER SENDS

h/t Theo
  Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition Liquor

Post #861 Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Yesterday Once More

{Song #21 « Song #22 » Song #23}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #22 is Yesterday Once More sung by The Carpenters.

Karen Carpenter's voice was one of the cleanest vocal instruments ever recorded. This beautiful song by the Carpenter siblings (Karen and Richard) could very well serve as my theme song for this ongoing series of posts. Karen's tragically premature death (anorexia) was a great loss to those who love melodic songs, which, with few exceptions, is just about everyone.



Post #860 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Yesterday Once More

Who are these morons?

Related Link » Saving Healthcare

“This short spot contains some humorous moments from Monday's healthcare forum with Russ Carnahan. It concludes with TheBlackSphere.net--Kevin Jackson--asking: ‘If it's so good why doesn't Congress have to be on it’?”

h/t Secular Apostate

Another clueless Congressman touts $6 Billion savings out of an expenditure estimated in the neighborhood of $1.5 Trillion! This bit of noise amounts to 6/1500 or 0.4%. And, of course, it implies that Congressional wizards are capable of projecting healthcare costs, or any other government costs for that matter, to much better than 1% accuracy over the course of a decade!

Since one decade's total-expenditure estimates for health care reform have been quoted within $½ Trillion of $1.5 Trillion, the real "accuracy" of such guesstimates is around 50% (most likely much worse, given their political incentive to under-predict costs). The discrepancy between this real "accuracy" and the implicit accuracy of the ridiculous claim is two orders of magnitude, which is like claiming a penny saved in a transaction that is quoted to the nearest dollar. This would have made the $6 Billion-saving claim ridiculous even if it had been made by a high-school dropout.

Post #859 Who are these morons?

No One "of Weight"

Related Link » Obama May Have to Wait for Health Care Passage
“‘No one wants to tell the speaker [Nancy Pelosi] that she's moving too fast and they damn sure don't want to tell the president’, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., a key committee chairman [someone "of weight"], told a fellow lawmaker as the two walked into a closed-door meeting Tuesday. The remark was overheard by reporters.” [emphasis added]
 — AP, Wednesday, July 22, 2009


   Would you buy a used car from these guys "of weight"?

Charlie Rangel (arms folded in above photo) is the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

On September 24, 2008, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Rangel's alleged failure to report thousands of dollars in rental income or pay taxes on his beachfront villa in the posh resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, allegedly living in multiple rent-subsidized apartments in New York City while claiming his Washington, D.C. home as his primary residence for tax purposes, alleged use of congressional stationery to solicit donors for a public policy institute in his name at City College, and other alleged questionable activities. — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Would you buy a used car from this slime-ball "of weight", let alone a multi-trillion-dollar overhaul of the American health-care system?

Post #858 No One "of Weight"

Closure's just another tautology

Related Link » Summing up Tuesday's briefing
“Though he bobbed and weaved on the details and exact timeline of Gitmo closure, Gibbs firmly stated that nothing short of a full shutdown would be acceptable: ‘Closure means closure’.” [emphasis added]
 — By ALEXANDER BURNS | 07/21/09 [politico44]

Thanx, Bob. Appreciate the firmness with which you clarify everything. Because, you know, all that clarity and transparency and all the visual allusions and optical illusions can make one bug-eyed.

As to why all this has to be accomplished in accordance with a completely arbitrary deadline, he opined that it had become an important issue world wide! And why had it become such an important issue world wide? Was it because The Obaminator used it as a campaign slogan?

Does anyone else want to hurl when this hack appears on TV, or am I the only one with a chunky screen?

h/t Pundit Kitchen
Would you buy a used car from this guy?

Post #857 Closure's just another tautology

Play Me?

“'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.”
 — Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 2

“You are the sun; I am the moon. You are the words; I am the tune. Play me.”
 — Neil Diamond, "Play Me"

“I've seen the mountain top and it ain't what U say. Don't play me. I already got laid.”
 — Prince, "Don't Play Me"

“play me: to tease or to mock”
 — Urban Dictionary

The expression "play me" has a multiplicity of nuanced meanings, but both the eloquent and the mundane usage questions the ability of anyone to know anyone else well enough — well enough to presume understanding. It is rather commonplace to encounter someone who "protests too much"; someone who presumes too much, however, includes everyone.

Nevertheless, one must presuppose something about another person to interact with him. Otherwise, how can you begin? Personal interactions are, therefore, analogous to iterative procedures for successively better approximations (e.g., an algorithm for square roots by Newton's Method).

So then, for a continuing personal relationship, one that is not merely a futile exercise in aggravating discourse, one must bear in mind that each interaction should serve as a better approximation, in an infinite series of improvements toward complete understanding, which will always elude us because we exist in spacetime.

A reasonable facsimile to a good relationship, therefore, requires timely interactive iterations. Sporadic iterations lose the efficacy of preceding improvements to the approximation, and must revert to a reinitialization of the iterative process.

Post #856 Play me?

§ One of These Things Is Not Like The Others: Oh, the humanity!

{Post #8 « Post #9 » T•of•C}
§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts.

The flogging will continue ...

Oh, the humanity!

(1) Jupiter Struck by Object, NASA Images Confirm [REUTERS]	(2) Source: Burma Calls for Nukes, N. Korea Answers [ASSOCIATED PRESS]
(3) Watchdog: Financial Bailout Support Could Reach $23.7 Trillion [FOX NEWS]	(4) Katherine Jackson's Guardianship: Are the Kids Becoming Jehovah's Witnesses? [FOX NEWS]

Post #855 § One of These Things Is Not Like The Others: Oh, the humanity!

On Complexity-of-Gratification As a Metric for Maturity

“Of several acceptable explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest is preferable, provided that it takes all circumstances into account.”
— Occam's razor (common understanding of the principle)

“Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
— Einstein's razor, (used when an appeal to Occam's razor results in an over-simplified explanation insufficient to meet needs or goals)

Despite Einstein's imprimatur for simplicity in theoretical physics, complexity has its own beneficial attributes. Notable examples include the complexity of well-aged wine, the dietary benefits of complex carbohydrates, and the negentropy resulting from human ingenuity.

All human newborns have the same basic (hence simple) gratification-instinct: mother's milk. As they mature, their world view expands to include other, less basic, though potentially just as gratifying pursuits, including, but not limited to, wine, (wo)men, and song. Such pursuits introduce complexity of ultimate gratification, especially in the case of women (but I digress).

It occurs to me that complexity of gratification could serve as a metric for a person's level of maturity. By this I do not necessarily mean delayed gratification, as opposed to instant gratification, the former considered to be a personality trait which is important for life success. For the purpose of this post, I mean complexity of gratification in the sense of a reduction in local entropy through a creative activity, not simply mindless groping for the nearest breast, so to speak.

With complexity of gratification as a metric for maturity, we correlate maturity with creativity and progress, which in turn has the effect of ennobling the aging process. Thus, construction is preferred to destruction, especially because the former delays while the latter accelerates the inexorable increase of entropy toward universal heat death. The winner in the game of life is not he who accumulates the most toys. It is he who strives for more complexity of gratification.

Post #854 On Complexity-of-Gratification As a Metric for Maturity

Apollo 11 — Mankind's Giant Leap

Related Link » Apollo 11: Onto a New World

Credit: Apollo 11, NASA
A human first set foot on another world on July 20, 1969. This world was Earth's own Moon. In honor of today's 40th anniversary, NASA has released a digitally restored video of this milestone in human history. Pictured above is Neil Armstrong preparing to take the historic first step. On the way down the Lunar Module ladder, Armstrong released equipment which included the television camera that recorded this fuzzy image. Pictures and voice transmissions were broadcast live to a world wide audience estimated at one fifth of the world's population. The Apollo Moon landings have since been described as the greatest technological achievement the world has known.

---

Related Link » Remembering Apollo 11

(NASA) #21
Television footage of the first human footstep on Lunar soil on July 20, 1969. Astronaut Neil Armstrong took these first steps, followed shortly by Buzz Aldrin. This is a reproduction of the television image that was transmitted to the world on July 20th, 1969.

---

(NASA) #23
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on his way to the Lunar surface for the LM on July 20th, 1969.

---

(NASA) #28
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, photographed by Neil Armstrong (visible in reflection). Buzz Aldrin: "As I walked away from the Eagle Lunar Module, Neil said 'Hold it, Buzz', so I stopped and turned around, and then he took what has become known as the 'Visor' photo. I like this photo because it captures the moment of a solitary human figure against the horizon of the Moon, along with a reflection in my helmet's visor of our home away from home, the Eagle, and of Neil snapping the photo. Here we were, farther away from the rest of humanity than any two humans had ever ventured. Yet, in another sense, we became inextricably connected to the hundreds of millions watching us more than 240,000 miles away. In this one moment, the world came together in peace for all mankind." (quoted with permission from Apollo Through the Eyes of the Astronauts).

Post #853 Apollo 11 — Mankind's Giant Leap

Then and Now

Related Link » LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites
“This photograph shows Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin in front of the lunar module.”
Credit: NASA/Neil Armstrong

Related Link » From the Moon to the Earth
“After proving that humanity has the ability to go beyond the confines of planet Earth, the first humans to walk on another world -- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin -- flew the ascent stage of their Lunar Module back to meet Michael Collins in the moon-orbiting Command and Service Module. On July 21, 1969 the ascending [from the Moon] spaceship was captured by Collins making its approach, with the Moon below, and Earth far in the distance.”
Credit: Apollo 11, NASA

Related Link » LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites
“NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. This picture shows Apollo 11 mission's lunar module descent stage sitting on the moon's surface, as a long shadow from a low sun angle makes the module's location evident.”
Credit: NASA/Goddard, et al.

Post #852 Then and Now

Only One Thing NOT Confusing About Health-Care Debate

Related Link » Public Is Confused About Health Care Debate
“With Congress dashing to overhaul a health care system representing 17% of the economy and affecting the life of every American man, woman and child, respondents to our latest IBD/TIPP Poll are far from a consensus on the path those reforms should take and clearly confused about the options before them.”
 — By RAGHAVAN MAYUR | Posted Friday, July 17, 2009


   Would you buy a used car from this guy?

The only thing about the current health-care debate that is not confusing is The Obaminator's urgency in demanding passage of a bill before the Congressional August recess. That part is crystal clear.

I generally don't like to weigh-in with my 2-cents-worth when everyone and his uncle is vying for attention, as with the cacophony of lame-claims and counter-claims reverberating throughout the land about a 17% chunk of the total economy. But unlike the vast devilry of detail surrounding such a massive undertaking (even by federal-government standards), one aspect of this thundering blundering is obvious: The Obaminator knows that his best shot at getting what he wants depends on Rahming it through Congress before anyone has had a chance to figure out the consequences, or even to read through this pending monstrosity.

People, let's just pause for a minute, shut the f*ck up, and think about what's going on here. We are bandying about trillions of tax-payer dollars as if they were last year's billions. Must I keep repeating that a trillion represents a thousand billion? These are unprecedented portions of our nation's total productivity. Does the magnitude of such sums not deserve at least as much scrutiny as Pelosi's unsubstantiated allegations against the Central Intelligence Agency, or the Minnesota Clown's antics during Supreme-Court confirmation hearings?

Post #851 Only One Thing NOT Confusing About Health-Care Debate

Take your BS and Rahm it!

Related Link » A preposterous excuse for a president

“Exclusive: Jackie Mason blasts Obama for incremental 'toughness' on Iran. World Net Daily Video Commentary #14. This video first premiered on World Net Daily where Jackie does a weekly video column.”
 — TheUltimateJew

Jackie Mason is not slick. But he's one of the few Jewish Americans who refuses to drink the Kool-Aid. I like his style.

Post #850 Take your BS and Rahm it!

Self-fulfilling Prophesy and Intended Consequences

Related Link » Forward trio
“And, further to this post, a column on US Jewish support for Obama over Israel, and on the merits and demerits of the public expression of differences of opinion among allies.”
 — Norman Geras

Related Link » Jewish Leaders Give Obama No Push-Back on Settlement Freeze
“WASHINGTON — Forty-five minutes at the White House was all it took to crystallize the new paradigm defining the relations among the Obama administration, the Jewish community and Israel. As Jewish leaders left their July 13 meeting with President Obama — ‘glowing,’ according to one of the participants — it became clear that despite some misgivings regarding the tone Obama has used toward Israel, the bulk of the organized Jewish community is in full support of his peace efforts, including his demand for a complete freeze of Jewish settlements on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. [...] It is worth noting, however, that explicitly pro-settlement groups were not invited to the meeting.” [emphasis added]
 — By Nathan Guttman

Worth noting, indeed. Can it really be surprising that Obama supporters actually support Obama? Is it surprising that only those Jews who consider Kool-Aid to be kosher (79% of the US Jewish community) would be invited to an Obama pep rally? Well, Mr. Guttman was gutt enough to include that bit of disclaimer, albeit buried in his pile of glowing horseshit.

Most Americans who drank the hopey-changey Kool-Aid continue to worship The Infallible Obamitude, and Jewish Americans are no different. The flogging will continue until morale improves, and all y'all shalt feel the tingling up the legs and the numbing of the brains.

Lord have mercy ...

Post #849 Self-fulfilling Prophesy and Intended Consequences

... and there was light!

Related Link » Finally Admitting The Obvious
“If this really is the new stance of the same European powers that for years now have believed that fanatics like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei can be persuaded by half-hearted sanctions and offers of economic aid, then it sure has taken long enough for them to see the light.” [emphasis added]
 — By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, July 16

The European powers may be craven cynics, but they are not naive/inept as The Obaminator is. When and if The Enlightened One ever does avert His gaze from The Brilliant Reflection of His Narcissistic Self, He might see the obvious, though He might not admit it.

The European masters of international intrigue and two-faced dialog are not in the habit of losing sight of the ball and the scent of the obvious. They have known all along which side of their bread is buttered, something one might expect a Community Organizer Extraordinaire to understand too. And who can really know The Mind of The One? Is His Naivete just "playin' the fool" by publicly chastising His allies, Israel in particular, or is He simply blinded by The Light of His Gleaming Splendor?

Israel understands European treachery all too well. And it is unlikely that Israel misunderstands what motivates His Obamitude.

Post #848 ... and there was light!

She Said — He Said — I Ask You

Related Link » Leahy Brushes Off Testimony From Witnesses at Sotomayor Hearing
“Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Wednesday that he may not ask any questions of the witnesses present at the Supreme Court nominee's hearing. Among the witnesses requested by the committee to testify are New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Connecticut firefighters whom the federal court judge ruled against in the reverse discrimination case -- Ricci v. DeStefano -- that was overturned last month by the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor had dismissed the claim of white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who alleged racial discrimination over the city's decision to scrap a promotions exam after too few minorities did well. ‘I doubt if I have any questions for either -- for the witnesses for or the witnesses against her -- because we're going to make up our mind based on what she said,’ he said.”
 — FOX News' Lee Ross and the Associated Press contributed to this report.


Would you buy a used car from these guys?

It is a well known maxim of representative government that the people deserve the government they get. There is certainly some truth to this. But I can't help feeling that some loophole exists in our grand experiment, which has permitted the ugliness of majority tyranny to hold sway more often than our Founding Fathers intended.

The Obama-Biden-Pelosi-Frank-Misc-Miscreants Cabal has a strangle-hold on traditional American common sense, and there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight. Does the 52-48% Obama majority entitle them to grind down our Nation's greatness, which took centuries of blood, sweat, and tears to construct? Must we settle for the mediocrity of the lowest common denominator in the three branches of our federal government? Is this the kind of change we really deserve? I guess that is just what that 52% majority is claiming. Damn their ignorance.

Post #847 She Said — He Said — I Ask You

Computers can't get no respect!

Related Link » Consumers Get $23 Quadrillion Credit Card Bill Because of Visa Glitch
“A New Hampshire man was shocked to learn that when he purchased pack of cigarettes he also got charged $23,148,855,308,184,500, or more than $23 quadrillion — a number that rivals that of the national debt. [...] Visa spokeswoman Elvira Swanson said in a written statement, ‘The technical glitch has been corrected, and all erroneous postings have been removed’.”
 — The Associated Press contributed to this report.

In colloquial parlance, a "technical glitch" is a so-called "computer glitch" and is frequently so attributed. But, dear reader, I am here to tell you that it is not a computer glitch. It is human error.

To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, computers can't get no respect. I won't say never; one must never say never. But computers (the hardware itself) rarely experience a glitch. The problem is almost always caused by human error or human maliciousness (one must always modify "always" with "almost").

So, in the case of the Visa system that charged $23 Quadrillion (with a Q) for a pack of cigarettes, I'll bet dollars to donuts this hiccup was man-made. By the way, you might as well get used to these new dollar-denominated units: a $Trillion (with a T) is a thousand $Billion (with a B); and a $Quadrillion (with a Q) is a thousand $Trillion or, if you prefer, a million $Billion. Now that's not chump change. That's change you better get used to.

Post #846 Computers can't get no respect!

Supreme Disingenuousness

Unlike Sonia Sotomayor, I speak for myself only. And I speak as an adult citizen of the United States of America with the First Amendment of the Constitution guaranteeing my right to free speech, which includes my right to express my opinions without undue regard to others who might hold opposing opinions. The judge is, as is every other federal judge, speaking and ruling on matters of law that potentially affect all citizens of the Unites States. And when speaking under oath during her Senate confirmation hearings concerning her nomination to the highest court of the Nation, where Constitutional issues are decided as a matter of course, thereby potentially affecting even unborn generations of Americans, she is not at liberty to dissemble, under penalty of law.

I submit that the judge, if she is not actually resorting to dissembling before the Senate of the United States to account for her expressed and published personal views that are inimicable to the concept of blind justice, has been less than truthful, and she has been most definitely disingenuous in her clumsy attempts at defending her past statements. Her disingenuousness is palpable.

Ms. Sotomayor's conduct diminishes, in my view, the grandeur of the American system of justice and in so doing, diminishes the value of humanity's last best hope. Moreover, so does the Nominator-in-Chief and all of the other political hacks who support this mediocre nomination. I resent them for their callous disregard for America's reputation and the beauty of its grand ideals.

h/t Theo
Post #845 Supreme Disingenuousness

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: La Marseillaise

{Song #20 « Song #21 » Song #22}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #21 is La Marseillaise ("The Song of Marseille"), written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg on April 25, 1792. It is the national anthem of France.

It became the rallying call of the French Revolution and received its name because it was first sung in the streets by volunteers from Marseille upon their arrival in Paris. The song's lyrics reflect the invasion of France, which was ongoing when the song was written, by armies from Prussia and Austria. Strasbourg itself was attacked just a few days later. The invading forces were repulsed from France following the Battle of Valmy, which strategically ensured the survival of the French Revolution. As such, and despite its minor size, Valmy is one of the most decisive battles in history and marks one of the first times a mix of old soldiers and raw volunteers were able to successfully oppose the highly respected professional Prussian and Austrian armies.


Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People

"When I hear this most stirring of all marshaling anthems, especially when sung on Bastille Day, it makes me want to grab my musket and go out and kill Germans." — Henri LeGrand



Post #844 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: La Marseillaise

This horsesh*t has to stop!

Related Link » CIA Had Secret Al Qaeda Plan: Initiative at Heart of Spat With Congress Examined Ways to Seize, Kill Terror Chiefs
“WASHINGTON -- A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter. [...] According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn't become fully operational at the time Mr. Panetta ended it.”
 — By SIOBHAN GORMAN (WSJ) 

CIA Director Leon Panetta

Would you buy a used car from this guy?

Let me see if I understand this — a secret CIA initiative, terminated by Director Panetta, was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives? OK, I think I understand what this means — the CIA was planning to do what they are paid to do.

What, exactly, is the problem? Seriously, is this not what God invented such counter-terrorism agencies for? Is this not part of each agent's job description? So the agency didn't rush to apprise the Congressional committees that they were planning to carry out their mission? WTF?!

What, exactly, is Leon Panetta's job description, besides being Obama's lackey? Was he chosen by The One to actually direct the agency, or merely to stifle its counter-terrorism effort, because, you know, counter-terrorism is so not politically correct in our post-sanity era? This horseshit has to stop. Seriously.

Post #843 This horsesh*t has to stop!

Amazing!

Related Link » The Sunday Word: Confirmations and Torture Investigations
“On the same program, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said she wouldn’t indicate how she would vote, but told Mr. Cornyn that she found the judge [Sonia Sotomayor] ‘amazing’.”
— By JANIE LORBER (NYT)

Everyone exaggerates. Well, not everyone, obviously, but because that is obvious, it is understood that what is meant is "most everyone" does. It is also widely accepted that adjectives like "awesome", which literally means "awe inspiring", hardly ever modify nouns that inspire awe. For example, of the several page elements in this blog's left-hand sidebar, which use this word in the page-element's title, only the video of the 15 megaton thermonuclear test is truly awe inspiring; and, arguably, the "Awesome Blog" qualifies too.

But consider Feinstein's amazing remark that the second-rate Judge Sonia Sotomayor was "amazing". What is one to conclude from such an amazing pronouncement? Does the judge and/or her nomination cause [Feinstein] amazement, great wonder, or surprise? All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above? To me, it is amazing, in the "surprising" sense, that a President of the United States would scrape the bottom of the barrel of qualified judges for a Supreme-Court Justice nomination. Even more amazing, to me, that a United States Senator, albeit from the amazing state of California, would make such a vacuous pronouncement on national television.

It would have been far more appropriate for Feinstein to have twittered it instead. For she is an amazing twit, as is the judge, despite the latter's amazing wonderfulness of Latina-feminist superiority.

Post #842 Amazing!

The Wages of Stupidity Is California's IOU

Related Link » Bailing Out Illegals
“Illegal Immigration: As California issues IOUs to its citizens, another ballot proposition may be brewing to cut off benefits that are draining the state budget. From education to welfare to crime, the cupboard is bare. California is a leader in both government debt and the sanctuary city movement. But as its citizens seek shelter from the economic storm, the question has arisen anew whether its non-citizens and the better life they want takes precedence over its citizens and the better life they are entitled to. In this mother of all recessions, it's getting harder to argue that illegal aliens are here to do the jobs Americans won't do. These days there are fewer jobs Americans won't do. These days there are fewer jobs, period. It's fair to ask whether those who are going to pull the wagon of higher taxes should get to decide who rides inside.”
 — By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, July 10, 2009

What we've got here is ... failure to communicate [to coin a phrase]. Alternatively, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink [you can, however, quote me on that]. When the insane horses of California's leftist mentality are hell-bent on ruination, you can check-out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

The once-golden state has lost the Midas touch, and its bat-out-of hell is trying to do the same to the Nation.



Post #841 The Wages of Stupidity Is California's IOU

The Moralizer-in-Chief

Related Link » Obama: Wealthy nations have moral obligation ... in fighting poverty
“L’AQUILA, Italy — President Barack Obama says wealthy countries have a moral obligation to fight poverty and hunger around the world.”
 — Bureau News

Maybe so. But I resent being lectured on morality by His Holiness The Obamitude. He was elected President of the United States, which makes Him the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the current pResident in the White House. It does not make this former community-organizer in the nether regions of Chicago, and long-time intimate-confidant of cretins like the outspoken Jew-hater Jeremiah Wright, the spokesman on moral obligations for America. He doesn't speak for me on moral issues, nor does he speak for anyone else besides himself.



Post #840 The Moralizer-in-Chief

Final Salute to American Soldier (KIA)

Related Link » Honor a Fallen Soldier
“Killed in action the week before, the body of Sergeant First Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City , Georgia , just south of Atlanta , on June 11, 2009 . [...] The [video] below is a short travelogue of that day’s remarkable and painful journey. But only watch this if you wish to have some of your faith in people restored.”
 — Theo Spark

A Hero's Salute — SSgt John Beale — June 11, 2009

Post #839 Final Salute to American Soldier (KIA)

... but he doesn't do windows!

Related Link » Red giant star Betelgeuse mysteriously shrinking
“BERKELEY — The red supergiant star Betelgeuse, the bright reddish star in the constellation Orion, has steadily shrunk over the past 15 years, according to University of California, Berkeley, researchers. Long-term monitoring by UC Berkeley's Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) on the top of Mt. Wilson in Southern California shows that Betelgeuse (bet' el juz), which is so big that in our solar system it would reach to the orbit of Jupiter, has shrunk in diameter by more than 15 percent since 1993. [...] ‘To see this change is very striking,’ said Charles Townes, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of physics who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the laser and the maser, a microwave laser. ‘We will be watching it carefully over the next few years to see if it will keep contracting or will go back up in size.’”
 — By Robert Sanders, Media Relations | 09 June 2009


UC Berkeley physicist [Nobel Laureate] Charles
Townes cleans one of the large mirrors of the
Infrared Spatial Interferometer. (Cristina Ryan 2008)

Post #838 ... but he doesn't do windows!