tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55482175987859046052024-03-13T12:18:35.772-04:00Eff The Elite D-BagsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-50969452320343835722011-10-19T09:19:00.005-04:002011-10-19T09:22:08.384-04:00Could someone please 'splain to me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wInzlV77MWs/Tp7OVIvO-aI/AAAAAAAAAII/YVQKmxyeALc/s1600/LunchLadyActionFigure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wInzlV77MWs/Tp7OVIvO-aI/AAAAAAAAAII/YVQKmxyeALc/s320/LunchLadyActionFigure.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>Why the hell the Department of Agriculture thinks it can regulate school lunches? Via <a href="http://www.drudgereport.com/">Drudge</a>, we see that<br />
<blockquote>The Senate threw its support behind the potato Tuesday, voting to block an Obama administration proposal to limit the vegetable on school lunch lines.<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_FRENCH_FRIES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-18-20-38-59">(source)</a></blockquote><span >Ok, statists think they should keep kids from eating too many potatoes at school, so they don't get so fat. A stupid idea, a further intrusion in matters that should be kept local, but far from the worst thing the administration has tried to pull. </span><br />
<span ><br />
</span><br />
<span >Reading deeper into the article, we see that:</span><br />
<blockquote><br />
Agriculture Department rules proposed earlier this year aimed to reduce the amount of french fries in schools, limiting lunchrooms to two servings a week of potatoes and other starchy vegetables.</blockquote><br />
<span >Umm, WTF? How the hell is this the business of the USDA? Do they really think they have the power to regulate anything that was ever grown on a farm? That's almost as far-reaching a power as Congress's post-Wickard v. Filburn Commerce Clause usurpations.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-18625766063414386062011-09-22T12:13:00.000-04:002011-09-22T12:13:16.441-04:00The brilliance of bureaucrats amazes meGary Alexander, secretary of public welfare for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, has come up with a great idea on how to save money on Medicaid. He wants to steer Medicaid recipients to specific, lower-cost hospitals. How does he plan to do that, you ask? By <a href="http://www.epmonthly.com/whitecoat/2011/09/pennsylvania-medicaids-cost-savings/">handing them piles of taxpayer cash</a>.<br />
<blockquote>“We are looking at a model to save hundreds of millions of dollars by steering Medicaid beneficiaries to the most cost effective settings,” Alexander told about 300 health insurance executives last week at a meeting in Washington. “To reward beneficiaries we would give them some incentive… so if the state saves $1,000 on a medical procedure we may give the beneficiary $100 or $200 as a reward.”</blockquote><br />
"Advocates for the poor", of course, hate the idea:<br />
<blockquote>“People on Medicaid should be able to go to the doctor or medical provider of their choice,” said Michael Froehlich, an attorney with Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. “We are all in favor of better quality health services but if it comes at the expense of restricted access to neighborhood doctors then I think we would want to take a closer look at it.”</blockquote>All very nice, high-minded liberal buffoonery. Why don't these fine, upstanding idiots have any understanding of human nature? Have they never met the poor?<br />
<br />
Ok, libs, here's how it works: If you subsidize something, you get more of it. Demand creates supply, and, by offering people a coupla hundred buck to go to a hospital, they're going to do it. $200 is a lot of cash to some people -- me included! -- and they'll be lining up to go to the hospital now.<br />
<br />
As<a href="http://www.epmonthly.com/whitecoat/2011/09/pennsylvania-medicaids-cost-savings/"> Whitecoat points out:</a><br />
<blockquote><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">If Pennsylvania begins paying people to go to “better” hospitals, the cab voucher fiasco will occur in Pennsylvania, only on a much grander scale. Once Pennsylvania Medicaid recipients learn that they will be paid to go to a certain hospital for medical care, those hospitals will be deluged with patients. To those receiving public medical assistance, the medical care is free, the medical testing is free, and the medical procedures are free. Now, with a monetary incentive to have a procedure done at a given facility, what do you expect will happen? Patients get $200 if they get a cardiac catheterization at one hospital versus another? Twelve year olds will go to those emergency departments complaining of crushing chest pain. Patients get $50 if they go to one emergency department that provides “higher quality”? There will be lines out the door.</span></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-67723646000083568282011-09-20T11:09:00.002-04:002011-09-20T11:10:01.690-04:00The science, it doesn't work the way you think it works.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XdVIfqXbwu8/TniraKAOTOI/AAAAAAAAAIE/GpPiykkSBM4/s1600/muppets_wideweb__430x318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XdVIfqXbwu8/TniraKAOTOI/AAAAAAAAAIE/GpPiykkSBM4/s320/muppets_wideweb__430x318.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're quite concerned</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Italian Scientists Go On Trial For Failing To Predict L'Aquila Earthquake</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote>L'AQUILA, Italy - A group of Italian scientists went on trial Tuesday for failing to predict an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009 despite signs of increased seismic activity in the area.</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>The seven defendants -- six scientists and one government official -- are accused of manslaughter in a case that some see as an unfair indictment of science. (<a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/international/italian-scientists-go-on-trial-for-failing-to-predict-earthquake-20110920-ncx">source</a>)</blockquote><br />
Man, and I thought <b>my </b>job was stressful! So it's technically impossible (with current science) to predict an earthquake with any certainty -- but these poor bastards are on trial for frikkin' <b>manslaughter</b>?? Idiocy. If I were a geologist in Italy, I'd be publishing an earthquake warning every hour of every day, just to avoid prison.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-72625401317181524242011-09-15T09:16:00.000-04:002011-09-15T09:16:47.938-04:00Yep, another Marine is a frikkin' liar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yDHGstN2vOw/TnH5xuJcNCI/AAAAAAAAAIA/KUIpeKRx4hg/s1600/250px-CplMeyer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yDHGstN2vOw/TnH5xuJcNCI/AAAAAAAAAIA/KUIpeKRx4hg/s200/250px-CplMeyer.JPG" width="160" /></a></div><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/dakota-meyer-marine-medal-of-honor-recipient-says-hes-no-hero/">Dakota Meyer, Marine Medal of Honor Recipient, Says He’s No Hero</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>At a White House ceremony later today, Dakota Meyer will become the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Meyer becomes the tenth recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor in those conflicts; all but two have been presented posthumously. Army soldiers Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and Sgt. First Class Leroy Petry are the only other living recipients of the award.<br />
The former Marine sergeant insists he is not a hero for repeatedly rushing into heavy enemy fire in an attempt to rescue four missing U.S. servicemembers pinned down in an intense hours-long ambush in eastern Afghanistan.</blockquote><br />
from the Medal of Honor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Meyer">citation</a>:<br />
<blockquote><i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">When the forward element of his combat team began to be hit by intense fire from roughly 50 Taliban insurgents dug-in and concealed on the slopes above Ganjgal village, Corporal Meyer mounted a gun-truck, enlisted a fellow Marine to drive, and raced to attack the ambushers and aid the trapped Marines and Afghan soldiers. During a six hour fire fight, Corporal Meyer single-handedly turned the tide of the battle, saved 36 Marines and soldiers and recovered the bodies of his fallen brothers. Four separate times he fought the kilometer up into the heart of a deadly U-shaped ambush. During the fight he killed at least eight Taliban, personally evacuated 12 friendly wounded, and provided cover for another 24 Marines and soldiers to escape likely death at the hands of a numerically superior and determined foe. On his first foray his lone vehicle drew machine gun, mortar, rocket grenade and small arms fire while he rescued five wounded soldiers. His second attack disrupted the enemy’s ambush and he evacuated four more wounded Marines. Switching to another gun-truck because his was too damaged they again sped in for a third time, and as turret gunner killed several Taliban attackers at point blank range and suppressed enemy fire so 24 Marines and soldiers could break-out. Despite being wounded, he made a fourth attack with three others to search for missing team members. Nearly surrounded and under heavy fire he dismounted the vehicle and searched house to house to recover the bodies of his fallen team members. </i> </blockquote><br />
Disragarding your own safety and rushing into danger to save the lives of your brothers-in-arms? That's the very definition of being a hero, you frikkin' jarhead. HUAH!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-86028539464808248202011-09-14T14:55:00.003-04:002011-09-14T15:02:19.081-04:00At last, Aeschylus is vindicated!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-imWTfBmoMdU/TnD41F7Y3TI/AAAAAAAAAH8/uulW7FHabaE/s1600/turtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-imWTfBmoMdU/TnD41F7Y3TI/AAAAAAAAAH8/uulW7FHabaE/s1600/turtle.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How can a rock-head get hurt like this?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was a terrible tragedy. Aeschylus, first of the ancient Greek playwrights was out bebopping along, and his buddy Euripides was like, "Hey! Look out!", and Sophacles said, "Yo! Is that a turtle?", and whammo! A frikkin' turtle landed on his head (Aeschylus', not the turtle's). History doesn't record the fate of the turtle, but we can assume it didn't do well. They rushed Aeschylus off to the local emergency room, conveniently next to the Parthenon.<br />
<br />
The real tragedy, of course, was that once they got there the doctors had no concise way to document the diagnosis of turtlecrainiotomy, and while they were looking for one, Aeschylus assumed room temperature. You see, those ancient physicians were stuck using ICD-9 diagnosis codes to document patient problems. Those 18000-odd codes aren't granular enough to describe Aeschylus' injury, so they didn't know if his injury was 854.10 (Intracranial injury of other and unspecified nature, brain NOS, with open intracranial wound) or 934.19 (imbalance of humors, black bile, unspecified).<br />
<br />
Well, believe it or not, but it took 2500 years or so before humankind could fix this problem. The kind-hearted bureaucrats at Medicare have decided that the country needs to switch to the newfangled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10">ICD-10 codes</a>. Now those 18000 inadequate diagnosis codes have been replaced with 155,000 codes that cover everything from L89000 (Pressure ulcer of unspecified elbow, unstageable) to Y92250 (Art Gallery as the place of occurrence of the external cause). And, thank God, there's not 1, but <b><a href="http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/MEDICALCODES0911/#term=Turtle">*9*</a></b> separate codes that deal with turtles -- everything from bites to strikes to "other contact" (<a href="http://www.gormogons.com/">Gormogons</a>, I'm sure you know what that means, wink wink). If only they had this in 500 BC Aeschylus could have survived!<br />
<br />
This is all quite silly, of course, except for one minor issue: what good does it do, and what does it cost? The bureaucrats claim this is a cost-savings measure, of course, as if changing a few codes on a billing sheet will save money. Someone sat down and calculated how much this cost-savings would cost, and <a href="http://news.aapc.com/index.php/2008/10/icd-10-cm-coalition-press-release/">it's a doozy</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>The total estimated cost for a 10-physician practice to move to ICD-10 would be more than $285,000. These expenses include:<br />
<ul style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; padding-left: 20px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Training expenditures are estimated to total $4,745</li>
</ul><ul style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; padding-left: 20px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">New claim form (superbill) software $9,990</li>
</ul><ul style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; padding-left: 20px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Business process analysis $12,000</li>
</ul><ul style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; padding-left: 20px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Practice management and billing system software upgrades $15,000</li>
</ul><ul style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; padding-left: 20px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Increases in claim inquiries and reduction in cash flow of $65,000</li>
</ul><ul style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; padding-left: 20px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Increased documentation costs $178,500</li>
</ul></blockquote><span style="color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">For a small, three-physician practice, the total cost to implement ICD-10 is estimated to be $83,290, for a large, 100-physician practice the estimated costs to implement ICD-10 is more than $2.7 million.</span><br />
<br />
<div>Yeah, that's going to save us a huge amount in healthcare costs. It's almost like Government bureaucrats aren't helping things!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Dr. Wes <a href="http://drwes.blogspot.com/2008/10/ten-times-fun.html">nails it on the head</a>, as usual:</div><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">But lets not fool ourselves. This is exactly what the government wants: more complexity and bureaucracy in the name of lower "costs." One only needs to see how the government </span><a href="http://www.cms.hhs.gov/TransactionCodeSetsStands/Downloads/5010RegulatoryImpactAnalysisSupplement.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #cc6611; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">calculated</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> their "cost" savings for justifying the massive increase in complexity to the coding scheme:</span><em><br />
Benefit Assumption 2: Pended claims will be reduced by 0.28% (minimum) to 0.7% (maximum). Using the research and interviews, it was assumed that the pended claim percentage, currently 14% (Benefit Assumption 1), would be reduced through standardization.<br />
<br />
Benefit Assumption 3: Reduced manual intervention will reduce the costs for providers by $3.20 per call and for plans by $1.60 per call. Manual intervention is required to resolve pended claims and both Healthcare providers and Health Plans incur these operational costs.</em><br />
<em>Benefit Assumption 2: Pended claims will be reduced by 0.28% (minimum) to 0.7% (maximum). Using the research and interviews, it was assumed that the pended claim percentage, currently 14% (Benefit Assumption 1), would be reduced through standardization.</em><em><br />
Benefit Assumption 3: Reduced manual intervention will reduce the costs for providers by $3.20 per call and for plans by $1.60 per call. Manual intervention is required to resolve pended claims and both Healthcare providers and Health Plans incur these operational costs.</em><br />
<em>Benefit Assumption 3: Reduced manual intervention will reduce the costs for providers by $3.20 per call and for plans by $1.60 per call. Manual intervention is required to resolve pended claims and both Healthcare providers and Health Plans incur these operational costs.</em><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Yep, there you have it. CMS has justified the most massive expansion of electronic coding so "providers" and massive health systems can get their money without having to pick up the phone.</span></blockquote><div><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Benefit Assumption 1: Based on the data provided in a recent <a href="http://www.ahipresearch.org/pdfs/PromptPayFinalDraft.pdf" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration: none;">AHIP report</a> the percentage of pended claims was assumed to be 14% of total claims.</em></blockquote></div><div>(snip)</div><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">My friends, soon we will see that the Beast has won. Independent stand-alone physician practices will soon be a thing of the past, brought to their knees by overbearing electronic billing and prescribing regulatory requirements. In their place will be physician-employees of major health care systems that are capable of purchasing computers, personnel and electronic reimbursement software upgrades annually, while they are subject to data-mining algorithms to assure "efficiencies" and "effectiveness" and "quality," all in the name of cost-savings.</span></blockquote>depressing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-47726076959406862552011-09-09T11:39:00.001-04:002011-09-09T11:40:35.777-04:00Why doesn't this happen in shall-issue states?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_8TP55ypgE/TmozOl-3HvI/AAAAAAAAAHo/sLHgguy2vlw/s1600/mob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_8TP55ypgE/TmozOl-3HvI/AAAAAAAAAHo/sLHgguy2vlw/s320/mob.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This is an outrage: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/longshoremen-storm-wash-state-port-damage-rr-144921214.html">Longshoremen storm Wash. state port, damage RR</a><br />
from the article:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.<br />
<b>Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours </b>after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.</blockquote>(emphasis mine).<br />
<br />
So they invaded the port, damaged property, and frikkin' kidnapped some people -- and nobody was arrested? People were kidnapped -- where was the FBI?<br />
<br />
Oh, and this was in defiance of a federal court order. The judge who issued the order was outraged -- OUTRAGED!! -- so he, umm, issued another order. Yay.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Scott Mason, president of the ILWU Local 23 in Tacoma, said some of his members have joined in the Longview effort, but he doesn't believe they were involved in illegal activity. He blamed the company for provoking the response and warned that more activity could be coming.(<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/judge-warns-wash-union-halt-illegal-tactics-222911055.html;_ylt=ArrOMiQ7DYY4RjA0Oulik3Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNqYjRwZWY2BG1pdAMEcGtnA2VmM2MwZmNmLTUzNzctM2I3ZC1iYjMxLTAxYjQzNTJmZTMwZARwb3MDMTAEc2VjA2xuX0xhdGVzdE5ld3NfZ2FsBHZlcgNkZGQ1OGYyMC1kYWY4LTExZTAtYmVkZS1jZmEzNjA2MTIyNmM-;_ylv=3">source</a>)</blockquote><br />
Isn't this pretty close to open rebellion? Where's the outrage? Where are the cameras?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-22192347577950530012011-09-08T10:53:00.002-04:002011-09-08T10:54:45.694-04:00"Why bother? We're not going to watch it either!"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t3sz4ue0CeI/TmjWdFZGuVI/AAAAAAAAAHk/QmHA4G5YCfQ/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t3sz4ue0CeI/TmjWdFZGuVI/AAAAAAAAAHk/QmHA4G5YCfQ/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thankfully the caption is no longer correct.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Queen Nancy is <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/07/republicans-opt-not-to-give-rebuttal-to-obama-speech-ticking-off-pelosi">peeved </a>that Republicans have opted out of a rebuttal to Obama's speech tonight. I understand their feeling -- it's the same reason my wife doesn't nag me about my drinking too much these days.<br />
<br />
From the article:<br />
<blockquote>Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said there will be "plenty" of response to the president's speech on Friday, but told Fox News he suspects the reason there's no formal response is "the speaker doesn't expect to hear much to respond to." </blockquote><br />
In other news, Obama has his <a href="http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-had-worst-month-ever-august-gallup">worst approval numbers</a> yet. After his first year in office, Obama had 95 percent approval among blacks, 78 percent approval among Hispanics, and 53 percent approval among whites. Since then, his monthly approval has dropped 11 points among blacks, 30 points among Hispanics, and 20 points among whites. Ouch!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-89902969328422678142011-09-02T22:19:00.011-04:002011-09-02T22:19:00.689-04:00Hospice or recovery?The Hill <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/179357-white-house-shelves-smog-rule-in-huge-defeat-for-green-groups">reports that Obama has shelved</a> a smog rule that's seen as a huge defeat for environmentalists. I actually agree with Obama on this one -- he admits that additional rules would be a problem in a weak economy. However, you have to dig the hubris with their comment:<br />
<blockquote><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">In a statement, President Obama said that the rule is being shelved because he is wary of imposing regulatory burdens during the economic recovery.</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Oh, of course, the recovery! Silly me! A recovery where job and GDP growth are stagnant is still a "recovery"? I guess a hospice patient who hasn't died yet is doing better then?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">h/t: William Jacobson's<a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/09/will-league-of-women-voters-now-run-anti-obama-ads-featuring-sick-children/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegalInsurrection+%28Le%C2%B7gal+In%C2%B7sur%C2%B7rec%C2%B7tion%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher"> Legal Insurrection</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-8971555472179573182011-09-02T15:13:00.000-04:002011-09-02T15:13:07.791-04:00Our intellectual masters have spoken<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GKTOjc5E4Gk/TmEoGDzWF4I/AAAAAAAAAHY/BQgPK4u0AOI/s1600/Dumb-and-Dumber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GKTOjc5E4Gk/TmEoGDzWF4I/AAAAAAAAAHY/BQgPK4u0AOI/s320/Dumb-and-Dumber.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Editors of the Wall Street Journal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>If you had your 'druthers, who would you choose to be the Republican nominee for president? Rick Perry? Michelle Bachman? Or maybe you like Herman Cain? In any event, if you're reading this blog, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't pick Jon Huntsman, right? He's far from conservative, no friend of the tea party, and has "I'm an elitist douchebag" hair like John Kerry and Mitt Romney's love child.<br />
<br />
However, via <a href="http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=30352">Jeff G. at Protein Wisdom</a>, we see that the "Conservative Intellectual Elite" seem to have anointed Huntsman the "New Candidate of the Conservative Intellectual Elite". The WSJ's editorial board likes him because his economic growth plan includes some sort of weak tax reform.That's pretty much it. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/huntsmans-jobs-plan-gets-endorsement-of-wsj-editorial-board-raises-stakes-for-gop-frontrunners-2011-9">Business Insider </a>points out that he's getting Obamacare-before-it-was-cool Romney worried, so you know they're both going to try to out-liberal each other.<br />
<br />
Is that really what we need now? Do we need more namby-pamby, career-politician, hail-fellow-well-met compromise? Or do we need someone with balls to step up and do the heavy lifting on entitlement reform, so our country might actually survive the next 50 years or so?<br />
<br />
As Jeff G. writes, "<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">That’s what the GOP ruling class </span><em style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">is</em><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">. That’s </span><em style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">all</em><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> it is. And it’s time we told them, in no uncertain terms, that we </span><em style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">aren’t interested.</em>"<br />
<br />
Or, as I like to put it, eff the elite d-bags.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-81715712770005950532011-08-22T12:57:00.000-04:002011-08-22T12:57:27.814-04:00Oh Tell My Baby Sister Not to Do What I Have DoneIn 1961 Bob Dylan released his debut (and eponymous) album. On it was a song later made famous by the British group The Animals -- The House of the Rising Sun. It's a classic folk ballad, most likely dating back to the "Unfortunate Rake" ballads of the 18th century. The Animals took inspiration from Dylan's version, but theirs is widely viewed as the first folk-rock hit of the 1960's. <div><br />
</div><div>There are a lot of theories about the "real" House of the Rising Sun -- or if it existed at all. In any event, tomorrow we're going to be in the neighborhood. The Boy™ -- my 18-year-old stepson -- is off to college in the Big Easy, and She Who Must Be Obeyed™ are taking him down. Should be a great time -- I've never been before. Unfortunately, work is so crazy that I can't spend too much time down there this time. Next trip is for parents' weekend at the end of September.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Anyhow, does anyone have any restaurant suggestions? Or places not to be missed? The Boy™ will be majoring in Jazz, so he'll take care of the music tours on our next trip. </div><div><br />
</div><div>And, because I like the Dylan version, I present to you:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/2b0KQ6_Oek8/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2b0KQ6_Oek8&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2b0KQ6_Oek8&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;"><b>The House of the Rising Sun</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Bob Dylan</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">There is a house down in New Orleans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">They call the Risin' Sun</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And it's been the ruin of many a poor girl</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And me, oh God, I'm one.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">My mother was a tailor</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">She sewed these new blue jeans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">My sweetheart was a gambler, Lord</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Down in New Orleans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Now the only thing a gambler needs</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Is a suitcase and a trunk</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And the only time he's satisfied</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Is when he's on a drunk</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">He fills his glasses up to the brim</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And he'll pass the cards around</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And the only pleasure he gets out of life</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Is ramblin' from town to town</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Oh tell my baby sister</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Not to do what I have done</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">But shun that house in New Orleans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">They call the Risin' Sun</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Well, it's one foot on the platform</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And the other foot on the train</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I'm goin' back to New Orleans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">To wear that ball and chain</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I'm a-goin' back to New Orleans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">My race is almost run</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I'm goin' back to end my life</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Down in the Risin' Sun</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Jesus, '</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I don't wanna be left alone.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Jesus, oh Jesus, </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Can you hear my last prayer?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I know I have sinned, </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">But Lord I'm sufferin'</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Jesus, oh Jesus, </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Can you hear my last prayer?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">There is a house in New Orleans</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">They call the Risin' Sun</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">It's been the ruin of many a poor girl</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And Lord I know I'm one</span></div><div><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 15px;">© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-7801459487156979842011-08-18T09:34:00.000-04:002011-08-18T09:34:19.951-04:00One Reason I Moved to Florida<a href="http://visiontoamerica.org/3234/florida-state-law-eliminates-firearms-restrictions/">Guns are allowed:</a><br />
<blockquote>The Florida State legislature has taken steps towards securing Second Amendment rights by eliminating restrictions on firearms. The measures, which will be enacted on October 1, will impose penalties on public officials who pass or enforce gun regulations at the state level. Violators face a $5,000 personal fine and may risk being removed from office by the governor. </blockquote>It seems that in 1987 the legislature passed a law saying that it was illegal to pass any gun laws outside of the state-level laws, but there was no enforcement mechanism. Because of that, towns and cities passed laws all willy-nilly, making the state a quilt of different gun laws. No longer!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-69514102112599264672011-08-17T10:08:00.001-04:002011-08-17T10:09:30.044-04:00Next Target of the Nanny State -- your TV?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7RK4NbO9vKQ/TkvLYBay_yI/AAAAAAAAAHU/LUJfGNPT25U/s1600/nanny-state.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7RK4NbO9vKQ/TkvLYBay_yI/AAAAAAAAAHU/LUJfGNPT25U/s320/nanny-state.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Researchers in Australia reached far up their asses and pulled out a fascinating "fact": <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44156412/ns/health/">one hour of TV can shorten your life by 22 minutes</a>. That makes one hour of TV as deadly as smoking 2 (gasp!) cigarettes! OMG!!!<br />
Eleventy!!11!!<br />
<br />
It's just another case of post hoc not equaling propter hoc, of course -- correlation just isn't causation. They looked at a cross-sectional survey of people 25 and up at the turn of the millennium, and asked them how much TV they watched. They then looked at national mortality rates for the year 2008, and attempted to correlate the two numbers. That's interesting, of course, but it means exactly nothing.<br />
<br />
I'm interested in how this will be used by the nanny statists to screw with our freedoms. Will the Center for Science<sup>1</sup> in the Public Interest<sup>2</sup> wage a war on television, like they've done against salt? Will Mike Bloomberg mandate an age limit for TV watching? Whatever it is, you know someone's going to jump on this study like your host on a 5-pound bucket of bacon.<br />
<br />
<br />
1: well, propaganda spun as science<br />
2: umm, not in the public interest. In the interest of superannuatated hippies, maybe?<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-47383444602392761752011-08-16T16:53:00.001-04:002011-08-16T16:57:14.596-04:00It smells like Democrat policies in here<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QnzowUsdbdU/TkrYypfeCjI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/Byixv--jd_E/s1600/fish+sauce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QnzowUsdbdU/TkrYypfeCjI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/Byixv--jd_E/s1600/fish+sauce.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I prefer 3 Crabs brand. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>We finally had our furniture delivered over the weekend. I learned a really important lesson: even if it's your favorite condiment in the world, don't pack a bottle of Vietnamese fish sauce in with your kitchen stuff. It <b>will </b>shatter and the rest of your property <b>will </b>smell like rotten fish. And She Who Must Be Obeyed™ will fail to see the humor in it.<br />
<br />
And yeah, it amuses the hell out of me that my blogfather published a post entitled, "<a href="http://borepatch.blogspot.com/2011/08/air-smells-of-freedom.html">The Air Smells of Freedom</a>" the same day I posted this. I have to disagree on you with this one, Daddy-o.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-46087236450293957082011-08-12T18:31:00.014-04:002011-08-12T18:31:01.298-04:00I think malaria must have bullied Bill Gates in middle school or something<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rNAbeIL46A/TkVGWF-HIUI/AAAAAAAAAHM/DfVjYT4MQ2U/s1600/popcorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rNAbeIL46A/TkVGWF-HIUI/AAAAAAAAAHM/DfVjYT4MQ2U/s1600/popcorn.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another use for the device?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Bill Gates has a serious hard-on for malaria. He wants it killed like I want Salma Hayek. The only difference is, he has a decent shot at success. It's nice to see someone using real-world business acumen in philanthropy.<br />
<br />
Via <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5830278/scientists-to-cure-malaria-by-microwaving-you-wait-what">Gizmodo</a>, we learn that scientists have <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1772783/researchers-emit-microwaves-to-kill-malaria-parasites?partner=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company+Headlines%29">developed a technique</a> that may lead to curing malaria by putting people in giant microwaves. Yeah, you heard me -- the same device that heats up 7-11 burritos may be used to prevent the deaths of millions of people each year. That's pretty cool.<br />
<br />
Basically, the parasites that cause malaria have extra iron in them. The microwave would be used to heat up that iron and make the parasites explode. How it keeps the patient from exploding I have no idea, but it sounds awesome.<br />
<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-16890904522236530532011-08-12T12:25:00.034-04:002011-08-12T12:25:00.340-04:00Eponymous, they name is.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSWwW6vTDGM/TkRbGgjCUmI/AAAAAAAAAHE/NFI-08mduFk/s1600/51T7KeScHzL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSWwW6vTDGM/TkRbGgjCUmI/AAAAAAAAAHE/NFI-08mduFk/s1600/51T7KeScHzL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From back when REM didn't suck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Here's a pretty good rule of thumb: If you're naming a piece of crime legislation after a crime victim, <a href="http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/06/03/547/94921" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #006699; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">it's probably a bad law</a>. It means you're legislating out of anger, or in reaction to public anger over a specific incident. That's generally not how good policy is made.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">--<a href="http://ideas.theatlantic.com/2009/06/law_and_order_interview_with_radley_balko_part_i.php">Radley Balko</a></span></blockquote><br />
The USA Patriot Act. Meghan's Law. The Adam Walsh Law. The (proposed, and blatantly unconstitutional) Caylee's Law. What do they have in common? They're all shitty, frequently-abused laws that curtail our rights, but got passed because of a pleasant. This shit has to stop.<br />
<br />
Are you having trouble getting your mandatory vivisection law to pass? Just rename it to the God and Babies Act (Gut our daughters and cut their eyes, breasts, intestines, ears, and skin Act) and presto! Who wouldn't vote for a cute baby? This is lawmaking as a marketing exercise.<br />
<br />
When I am appointed emperor, my first* command will be forbid the naming of all laws. If you want to compromise our rights, at the very least be honest about it. Oh, and GFY.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*my second will be to resign, of course. Well, after awarding myself a lifetime of free booze.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-49474828487484674582011-08-12T11:12:00.000-04:002011-08-12T11:12:05.170-04:00What is it about the UK?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Zx-8OS_6e0/TkVCs1kxSEI/AAAAAAAAAHI/QYTcSBqaGoU/s1600/fuck-the-police-cubby-demotivational-poster-1232413823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Zx-8OS_6e0/TkVCs1kxSEI/AAAAAAAAAHI/QYTcSBqaGoU/s320/fuck-the-police-cubby-demotivational-poster-1232413823.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>The response by London police to the riots has been ineffective to the point of idiocy. They failed to respond quickly to the violence, and until recently have come off as pretty weak. Now, it seems, they're cracking down -- <a href="http://www.frumforum.com/british-police-crack-down-but-not-on-rioters">on the civilians who dare to stand up to the mob</a>!<br />
<br />
From the article:<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">They were particularly energetic in their confrontation with “vigilantes” in the predominantly white working class North London district of Enfield <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/08/10/uk-riots-vigilantes-not-helping-police-effort-says-asst-commissioner-115875-23334022/" style="color: #003399; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">yesterday</a> where a significant number of men, some of them allegedly members of the infamous fan club of the Millwall soccer team, had gathered to protect the community. Police in riot gear moved in force to disperse the crowd, displaying far more determination than they had shown against the rioters.</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">So the Brits have disarmed their law-abiding subjects. The cops have a monopoly on the lawful use of force, but have been loathe to use it. And now if their undefended subjects dare to defend themselves against the wogs they're threatening them? WTF??</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">Oh, and this is great, too: <a href="http://www.frumforum.com/no-criticism-please-were-british">David Frum</a> found this gem:</span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Senior police officers quickly made clear their anger with ministers. “David Cameron blamed the police for not having a crystal ball and not anticipating the most serious set of circumstances ever seen,” one senior police source said. “<b>The confidence of the police leadership in the government is at an all-time low</b>. Cameron dumps on the police when it suits him, to deflect blame from himself.</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">Oh, the arrogance. Jesus wept!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #232323; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-9150926260042186802011-08-12T06:18:00.036-04:002011-08-12T06:40:44.588-04:00If my aunt had balls she's be my uncle<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l_uo9sgeavk/TkRX1-dOrUI/AAAAAAAAAHA/DDuQg34rWNg/s1600/fatcat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l_uo9sgeavk/TkRX1-dOrUI/AAAAAAAAAHA/DDuQg34rWNg/s1600/fatcat.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidently your author is a fat cat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Victor David Hanson makes excellent use of the subjunctive tense when he asks, "<a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2011/08/11/what_if_the_president_liked_businesspeople/page/full/">What if the President Liked Business People?</a>" . He has a number of excellent quotes, among them<br />
<blockquote>But imagine that the president had instead promoted profit-making -- by cutting red tape, praising entrepreneurs, promising no new taxes or burdens on businesses, and offering incentives to open new plants inside the U.S. In other words, what if small businesses and large corporations believed Obama to be a friend and partner, a leader who wanted them to make big profits, hire millions of workers and enrich the country in the process?</blockquote><br />
I'm an entrepreneur. I recently co-founded a startup company that is going to revolutionize the way young kids learn and develop intellectually. Among my co-founders are a neurologist from Yale School of Medicine, a serial entrepreneur and Harvard MBA who's grown and sold several multi-million-dollar companies, and an ex-Microsoft guy who helped build the platform upon which we're developing the product. In other words, aside from me they're pretty bright guys. And to a man we're terrified of what next financial hell Obama is going to inflict upon us. We're having a bitch of a time raising capital because of new restrictions on angel investors. We're terrified to hire people because God only knows what new rules the labor department will come up with. We're paying out the ass for medical coverage because of Obamacare mandates. This is the worst time in the world to start a business, and if it weren't for hubris and a lot of alcohol we wouldn't have bothered.<br />
<br />
Screw dreaming about how nice it would be if the president liked business people. It'd just be nice if he'd stop being openly hostile to us!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-39760024645377567612011-08-11T17:32:00.004-04:002011-08-11T18:35:11.271-04:00Among the castrati, the one-balled man is king<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2kNz_h9jQEk/TkRKZ__npOI/AAAAAAAAAG8/G5sWT6nn0ys/s1600/300px-Kirpan_small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2kNz_h9jQEk/TkRKZ__npOI/AAAAAAAAAG8/G5sWT6nn0ys/s1600/300px-Kirpan_small.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirpan">Kirpan</a> (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="IPA" style="font-family: 'Gentium Plus', Gentium, GentiumAlt, 'Charis SIL', 'Doulos SIL', 'DejaVu Sans', Code2000, 'TITUS Cyberbit Basic', 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Chrysanthi Unicode';" title="Pronunciation in IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/kɪərˈpɑːn/</a></span>;</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span lang="pa" xml:lang="pa">ਕਿਰਪਾਨ</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">) is a ceremonial sword or dagger <br />
carried by orthodox Sikhs. According to a religious commandment <br />
given by Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Guru of Sikhism) at the<br />
Baisakhi Amrit Sanchar (a religious ceremony that formally baptizes a Sikh) <br />
in CE 1699, all baptised Sikhs (Khalsa) must wear a kirpan at all times.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>And it seems that Sikhs have two big brass ones. I've always admired Sikhs for their concept of <a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sant_Sipahi">"Sant-Sipahie"</a> — their goal of being a saint-soldier. their Guru Granth Sahib taught that one must have control over one's internal vices, and must have the courage to defend the rights of all who are wrongfully oppressed or persecuted irrespective of their color, caste or creed. Sikhism is one of the most tolerant religions in the world because of this.<br />
<br />
Well, those Saint-Soldiers have their work cut out for them in London. With the wogs rioting and threatening everything, hundreds of Sikhs have taken to the streets to defend their Gudawara (shrine). Nice that some Brits seem to still have cojones!<br />
<br />
via <a href="http://phlegmfatale.blogspot.com/2011/08/real-men.html">Fatale Attraction</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-39885002175970312242011-08-10T16:53:00.000-04:002011-08-10T16:53:40.978-04:00"Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet."With unpleasantness popping up just about everywhere these days, Uncle Jay brings the smart with his post on his personal <a href="http://l2uj.blogspot.com/2011/08/things-are-getting-really-really-ugly.html">Rules of Engagement</a>. Go read, now.<br />
<br />
H/T: Blogfather (pbuh)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-58439097635587405332011-08-09T15:33:00.000-04:002011-08-09T15:33:53.022-04:00I'm back, and have a questionHey Folks,<br />
<br />
Sorry for the long break -- the move and new job have taken a lot more effort than I had expected. I'll be back to my posting goodness soon.<br />
<br />
I have a question, though. There's some <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8687177/London-riots-live.html">serious rioting</a> going on in London right now -- scary stuff. Similar (though smaller scale) riots are occurring in <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/127077078.html">Milwaukee </a>and <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/8/mayor-talks-tough-to-black-teens-after-flash-mobs/">Philadelphia</a>. All seem to have a racial component (though, granted, the press has been forgetting to mention it).<br />
<br />
Anyhow, why would there be racial riots in such liberal areas? Aren't liberals the ones who are the real friends of minorities? After decades of "progressive" rule shouldn't everyone be holding hands and singing kumbya?<br />
<br />
Also, 2 of those 3 cities have really <s>repressive</s> Progressive gun laws -- pretty much only the police are allowed to carry guns, don'tcha know. Why don't people riot in areas with less restrictive carry permits? I mean, you hardly ever hear of riots in Florida or Texas, right? Coincidence?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-86897355818013178462011-07-08T10:35:00.000-04:002011-07-08T10:35:02.041-04:00How Would You Do It?The founders of our fine republic didn't like government all that much, so they structured the constitution to limit its powers. They did a damned good job of it overall -- the government stayed limited for, oh, 150 years or so. However, since the new deal the government has grown faster than my man parts when I see a pic of Salma Hayek. Not a good thing.<br />
<br />
That's made me wonder: did the founders miss something when writing the constitution? Is there something they should have put in there to make their goal of limited government more explicit? Could they have prevented the growth of the leviathan somehow?<br />
<br />
If there were a revolution tomorrow and you were put in charge, what would you do to make sure that down the road we wouldn't be in the same pickle that we are now?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-3225427765364346322011-07-07T14:32:00.002-04:002011-07-07T17:57:07.880-04:00Why I Am Not a Vegan- Neaderpundit's <a href="http://neanderpundit.com/?p=4489">bacon-wrapped deer tenderloin medallions</a>. Oh my those look good.<br />
<br />
- the self-righteous tone of<a href="http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2011/07/06/self-righteous-vegan"> this vegan's passive-aggressive note</a> enrages me.<br />
<br />
- T<a href="http://www.porktopia.com/2009/03/porkgasm.html">he Porkgasm</a>. 'Nuff said.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2009/06/22/soyfckers-anonymous/"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-56O9JHAvMFg/ThYCUly0tBI/AAAAAAAAADI/FVS9maCPyD4/s400/3642661392_5801c3b218.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-60640703475476147282011-07-07T14:20:00.000-04:002011-07-07T14:20:26.373-04:00I Have to Concur with Jennifer (language NSFW)Jennifer from <a href="http://injennifershead.com/">In Jennifer's Head</a> writes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://injennifershead.com/?p=2884">Dear Cancer</a>,<br />
Fuck you!<br />
You know, I’ve seen quite enough of you in my circle of friends, family, and co-workers. Some nerve you’ve got showing up around here again.<br />
Bastard.<br />
If only I knew the right caliber to use on you, I would hunt you down. Instead, I’ll trust the doctors to help her out.<br />
But you? I wish you’d die in a fire already. Fuck you.</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #02171d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<br />
Hear hear! Fuck cancer.<br />
<br />
Saturday morning we bury my wife's aunt, who passed at age 58 after a 2-year fight with ovarian cancer. Today I got an email from my father saying that my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 liver and pancreatic cancer, and has around 6 months to live.<br />
<br />
Yeah, fuck cancer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-46898877243602355762011-07-06T16:09:00.001-04:002011-07-06T16:10:03.825-04:00Enough!Over at the <a href="http://www.gormogons.com/">Castle Gormogon</a> the wise and mighty 'Puter has <a href="http://www.gormogons.com/2011/07/enough.html">hit one out of the park</a>. An excerpt:<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are sick and tired of working long and hard, whether laying brick or writing briefs, and sending a significant and ever-rising chunk of our pay to Washington and our state capitals where it is squandered.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We are sick of overweening government bureaucrats who think they know how to live our lives better than we do. We can't have 100 watt light bulbs because they use too much electricity. We can't have trans-fats because you've decided they are bad for us. We can't have a toilet that will efficiently dispose of a normal-sized crap because too many people moved to California and sucked all the water out of the ground. We can't be trusted to use fireworks or firearms responsibly. We have to buy health insurance, because you've decided it's for our own good. Garbage. You can't even run your own lives, I'll be damned if you'll run mine.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We are sick of being told by elites what to think and how to think it. We are racist or backwards if we disagree with elites. We are not morons. Many of us are well educated, and darn near all of us possess common sense, the least common of all gifts. Your Ivy League degree means crap to us when your policies have bankrupted our country. Try eating that sheepskin when you find you can't get a job in the real world.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We are truly enraged by the lifestyles others are living on our dime, be they poor who refuse to work or congressmen who do likewise. We are told that we must subsidize these folks. It is our duty. Yet there is no duty from our wards back to us. No duty to learn a skill. No duty to find a job. No duty to behave responsibly. No duty not to get carelessly and needlessly knocked up, locking another innocent into a lifetime of poverty. No duty to abide by basic human societal norms. It's all taking and no giving. This, as Sen. Moynihan sagely noted, is a recipe for societal disintegration, and that's what we're seeing right now.</span></blockquote><br />
Go <a href="http://www.gormogons.com/2011/07/enough.html">RTWT </a>right now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548217598785904605.post-44114416663714459412011-07-05T10:12:00.001-04:002011-07-05T10:20:07.230-04:00I'm Going Where the Sun Keeps Shining<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-icSFQXZJxRU/ThMdfd4duyI/AAAAAAAAADE/YFv31Mp7Bxo/s1600/heron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-icSFQXZJxRU/ThMdfd4duyI/AAAAAAAAADE/YFv31Mp7Bxo/s320/heron.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><br />
After six years of planning, we're finally moving from Connecticut to Florida. The Boy™ has finally graduated high school, and we've married off* The Girl™, so we can put New England in our rear view mirror and go to where the weather suits our clothes. Now that Connecticut is fully in the hands of the <strike>Democrats </strike>Kleptocrats, it looks like we're leaving just in time.<br />
<br />
For the last 20 years CT has had a Republican governor -- since the Democrats instituted an income tax. The legislature has always been filled with dems, but at least they were tempered by a Republican governor. In fact, John Rowland (2 governors ago) was consistently rated the most fiscally responsible governor in the country (until, of course, he was convicted of corruption, but you'll have that).<br />
<br />
Anyhow, that all ended last November. The wise people of Connecticut elected Democrat "Dannel" Malloy, a career politician (except for a brief stint as a prosecutor, natch), to be our new Governor. Since then, the government has done everything possible to drive the state into a ditch.<br />
<br />
They started with higher taxes, of course. Higher income taxes, and sales tax increases from 6 to 6.35%. Higher taxes on gasoline, hotel rooms, cigarettes, alcohol and rental cars. In addition, scores of now-exempt services and products would be subject to sales taxes, including haircuts, car washes, luxury goods, yoga studios, pet grooming, cosmetic surgery and hazardous waste removal.<sup><a href="http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Malloy-s-plan-higher-income-taxes-higher-sales-1012976.php">1</a></sup><br />
<br />
The sales tax increase took place on July 1st, and that morning I had to stop by my local garage to check on my car. As I arrived I saw a woman scurry out, and the owner of the garage said that was the local tax collector. Evidently they were going around to every business in the area and assessing a tax on all current inventory -- to make sure not a penny of the sales tax was missed. Lovely!<br />
<br />
In addition to the taxes, they've also mandated paid sick leave for all companies with more than 50 employees. Now, most companies of that size already offer sick leave as part of a benefits package, but the rest of them (mostly restaurants, stores, and other low-end service businesses) have to pay up as well. It already costs more to operate a business in CT than almost any other state in the country, and this just makes it worse. It's like CT is trying to drive as many companies out of the state as possible.<br />
<br />
They also passed another interesting bill, dubbed the "Bathroom Bill". In short, that bill requires that transexual and transgendered individuals be<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> given access to women's facilities, including public and private women's restrooms, locker rooms and showers.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">On the surface, this bill appears perfectly legitimate: “An Act Concerning Discrimination”. It prevents “Discrimination” in the title, what could be wrong with that?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I have no problems at all with gay or transgendered/transsexual people -- who cares how someone dresses or with whom they have sex? However, this new law opens the door for a sexual predator to claim transgendered status, and gain access to victims' showers, changing rooms, and bathrooms. That just doesn't seem like a great idea to me. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">There is one decent law they passed, believe it or not. They've decriminalized small amounts of pot, which is a good thing. Now you can have up to 1/2 pound of cannabis -- a significant amount! -- and only get a $150 ticket. Finally a sane drug law in the state -- and the first law the assembly passed that'll actually save the state money!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Of course, in the same session<a href="http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/10/news/doc4d2baeee25381381358239.txt"> the senate voted</a> to make posession of <b>*synthetic*</b> cannabis a crime punishable by a $1000 fine and up to 1 year in jail. So, in short, you can have good weed in the state, but none of the crappy stuff. It must be a quality assurance plan for pot! Next up: a ban on ditch weed. Only high-quality hydro for CT!</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">So yeah, CT is a mess. The Democrats in the state are acting like the Democrats in Washington -- they're trying to do as much damage as possible before the grownups get back in power. I'm so glad to be moving somewhere a bit more civilized.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* well, they're moving down with us, but at least she's married now, right?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1