What occasioned the above observations was this video, passed along by reader Doug S., that aims to educate on that same point:
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Negative Campaign Ads...
One of the many consequences of the typical American's ignorance of history is their perception that politics today is cruder, nastier, and more partisan than ever before. The truth is that campaigns today are quite civil by comparison to the campaigns of yesteryear. My introduction to that truth was reading about the Presidential campaign (including contemporaneous pamphlets and advertisements) of Lincoln versus Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell in 1860. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a dedicated proponent of free speech – but even I was taken aback by some of those campaign materials!
What occasioned the above observations was this video, passed along by reader Doug S., that aims to educate on that same point:
What occasioned the above observations was this video, passed along by reader Doug S., that aims to educate on that same point:
Friday, October 29, 2010
Slightly Revised Constitution...
Originally from SGT Phillip DePalma, via reader Jim M.:
"We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights."
ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.
ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.
ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.
ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.
ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.
ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.
ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.
ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.
ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.
ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!
ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!
Texas vs. Obama...
Via my mom:
President Barack Obama was in the Oval Office when his telephone rang.
"Hello, President Obama” a heavily accented southern voice said. "This is Archie, down here at Goliad Texas , I am callin' to tell ya’ll that we are officially declaring war on ya!"
"Well Archie," Barack replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?"
"Right now," said Archie, after a moment’s calculation "there is myself, my cousin Harold, my next-door-neighbor Randy, and the whole dart team from Hooters. That makes eight!"
Barack paused. "I must tell you Archie that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command."
"Wow," said Archie. "I'll have ta call ya back!"
Sure enough, the next day, Archie called again. " Mr. Obama , the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!"
"And what equipment would that be Archie?" Barack asked.
"Well sir, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Harry’s John Deere tractor."
President Obama sighed. "I must tell you Archie, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armored personnel carriers. Also I've increased my army to one and a half million since we last spoke."
"Lord above", said Archie, "I'll be getting back to ya."
Sure enough, Archie rang again about twenty minutes later. "President Obama, the war is still on! We have managed to git ourselves airborne! We up an' modified Harolds's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Legion have joined us as well!"
Barack was silent for a minute then cleared his throat. "I must tell you Archie that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO MILLION!"
"Well, crap," said Archie, "I'll have ta call you back."
Sure enough, Archie called again the next day. " President Obama ! I am sorry to have to tell you that we have had to call off this here war"
"I'm sorry to hear that" said Barack . "Why the sudden change of heart?"
Well, sir," said Archie, "we've all sat ourselves down and had a long chat over a few beers, and come to realize that there's just no way we can feed two million prisoners..."
Quote of the Day...
George Neumayr, on Obama's recent appearance on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show:
Once upon a time jesters courted kings. Now enfeebled kings court jesters.This captures quite nicely the shame I feel about my President.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
This is So Close!
Democrat: 49
Republican: 45
Toss-up: 6
At worst, it looks like the Democrats will retain their majority in the Senate, but with a much lower margin. At best, the Republicans could gain an outright majority. This is more likely than the poll results indicate, as some of the constituent polls are clearly biased toward the Democrats, probably because of likely voter sampling error. The California polls may be biased toward the Republicans, because young voters may vote in higher-than-expected numbers to support the marijuana legalization initiative.
There's another interesting possibility that emerges if the Democrats end up with a one or two seat majority (and this is actually looking like quite a likely outcome). In that environment, Senators who currently caucus with the Democrats have a huge incentive to switch to the Republicans, as they can likely cut an interesting deal to incent them to switch. For example, one could imagine Lieberman getting chairmanship of a committee relating to foreign affairs or military interests in exchange for switching.
Next Tuesday night will be a cliffhanger. I'm not planning on getting much sleep!
Marine Logic...
My favorite from a collection of posters my mom sent me. Several of my regular readers are Marines (some no longer on active duty); I'm sure they'll appreciate this...
When Farm Kids Get Bored...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Signs of Climate Weirdness...
One of the less attractive features of the chaparral is a little beastie known as a gopher (though it's generally referred to by names I won't repeat here). This destructive little devil bores holes through the dirt, burrowing underneath your favorite plants and eats them from below. You can watch them disappear down into the ground as the gopher gobbles them up, safe in his burrow.
Most of the year, the soil out here is as hard as concrete. The gophers in their burrows are safe from just about anything short of nuclear or chemical weapons. During these times, the soil is so hard that the gophers can't make new burrows.
But after rains, the soil dampens and softens up. Right now if I walk in my yard, my feet sink into the ground a half inch to an inch. The gophers, when they detect this softening, go right to work, digging their burrows at a prodigious rate. Every few feet they drill a hole to the surface so they have a place to kick out the soil they have excavated. You can track the progress of an individual gopher by watching these “tailings piles” build up around the excavation holes.
Right now in our yard (which is about three acres), we probably have about twenty gophers excavating like mad. One of these is boring a hole right across the front of our house, right alongside the concrete slab. I think it must be a particularly stupid gopher, as there is no food available here at the interface between our slab and our driveway. Nevertheless, el stupido gopher is drilling away, leaving a trail of tailings piles across the front of our house.
Debbie has been raking the debris piles flat, so they don't look so bad. I suspect the gopher is delighted by this assistance, as it makes it easier for him to kick more dirt out of those excavation holes. I picture him telling all his buddies about the helpful human he has, filling them with jealousy. They're probably all boring in our direction now.
What I'd really like for Christmas is a Gopher Terminator robot, preferably one equipped with a wide variety of gopher terminating devices. I'm ok with tactical nukes, and certain kinds of chemical weapons are all right as well. I'd rather stay away from the biological weapons. Anybody know a web site I can buy one of these from?
Most of the year, the soil out here is as hard as concrete. The gophers in their burrows are safe from just about anything short of nuclear or chemical weapons. During these times, the soil is so hard that the gophers can't make new burrows.
But after rains, the soil dampens and softens up. Right now if I walk in my yard, my feet sink into the ground a half inch to an inch. The gophers, when they detect this softening, go right to work, digging their burrows at a prodigious rate. Every few feet they drill a hole to the surface so they have a place to kick out the soil they have excavated. You can track the progress of an individual gopher by watching these “tailings piles” build up around the excavation holes.
Right now in our yard (which is about three acres), we probably have about twenty gophers excavating like mad. One of these is boring a hole right across the front of our house, right alongside the concrete slab. I think it must be a particularly stupid gopher, as there is no food available here at the interface between our slab and our driveway. Nevertheless, el stupido gopher is drilling away, leaving a trail of tailings piles across the front of our house.
Debbie has been raking the debris piles flat, so they don't look so bad. I suspect the gopher is delighted by this assistance, as it makes it easier for him to kick more dirt out of those excavation holes. I picture him telling all his buddies about the helpful human he has, filling them with jealousy. They're probably all boring in our direction now.
What I'd really like for Christmas is a Gopher Terminator robot, preferably one equipped with a wide variety of gopher terminating devices. I'm ok with tactical nukes, and certain kinds of chemical weapons are all right as well. I'd rather stay away from the biological weapons. Anybody know a web site I can buy one of these from?
Your Morning Voter Education...
James O'Keefe – the guy who's been making those videos that look shockingly like actual journalism instead of the press release parroting normally seen in the lamestream media – has done it again. This time, he took his video cameras under cover into the New Jersey Education Association's (NJEA) Leadership Conference. The video below is the first volume of the results; it's a graphic illustration of what happens when you get generations of parasites sucking on the public teat. Click over to YouTube to see the rest.
Remember: the teacher's unions (that's what the NJEA is) are, nationwide, the number one source of funds for Democrat candidates. Remember that when you vote.
Remember: the teacher's unions (that's what the NJEA is) are, nationwide, the number one source of funds for Democrat candidates. Remember that when you vote.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Morning Walk...
It was clear this morning, first time in a while, but still cool and humid. A roughly two-thirds moon was high overhead, just about on top of the Pleiades. It provided enough light for us to see color even in the distance; after a couple minutes accommodation I could walk as confidently as in daylight. Sirius is high in the east, and Orion even higher; the season is changing quickly.
The three field spaniels went crazy with sniffing. Definitely some beastie was in the yard, and they were on the job, diligently trying to absorb every molecule of scent it left behind. I got the sense that they were outraged, that the beastie had done something the dogs were offended by. Race, of course, just waited for me to kick the pine cone. There are lots of them now; the year's “crop” is falling off the trees, delighting him with new and ever-more-wonderful pine cones every day. Sometimes he'll find two or three in the same spot, and he'll try his best to carry them all in his mouth. Fails every time, but keeps trying...
The three field spaniels went crazy with sniffing. Definitely some beastie was in the yard, and they were on the job, diligently trying to absorb every molecule of scent it left behind. I got the sense that they were outraged, that the beastie had done something the dogs were offended by. Race, of course, just waited for me to kick the pine cone. There are lots of them now; the year's “crop” is falling off the trees, delighting him with new and ever-more-wonderful pine cones every day. Sometimes he'll find two or three in the same spot, and he'll try his best to carry them all in his mouth. Fails every time, but keeps trying...
Morning Read...
From Mark Steyn, who's been off on some kind of mysterious business overseas and has been largely absent (and his wit much missed) from the season's political scene. One interesting paragraph:
We know American government is living beyond America’s means. What’s more interesting is whether it’s living beyond the world’s. Historically, foreign official holdings of US Treasury securities have been less than five per cent of the rest of the planet’s GDP. By 2009, they were up to seven per cent. Obama-sized budgets depend on foreign holdings rising to about 20 per cent of the rest of the planet’s GDP.Much more here – go read.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Debbie and Miki, In Competition!
Five runs, five winner's ribbons. Debbie and Miki rule the agility field!
Soggy Morning Walk...
Three years ago today, we were in the first day of our evacuation because of wildfires, and we were closely watching the Harris fire that threatened our home. The threat mainly came from the incredibly low fuel moisture (< 3%) at the time, compounded by a fearsome Santa Ana windstorm.
This morning could hardly be more different.
There was no wind at all. The dogs and I, on our morning walk, were completely enveloped in thick fog, through which a light drizzle was falling. The ground is soft and sopping wet. Another ground moisture indicator: the gophers have started digging their tunnels, which they can only do when the soil is thoroughly wet in the top 10 to 20 inches. The fuel moisture gauge on Lyons Peak reads 44.7% (meaning that the fuel there would be very hard to ignite).
In two days, our front yard has developed a thick coating of greenery. Bulbs are erupting everywhere, months earlier than usual. The frogs were very loud this morning; probably a combination of frog-friendly moisture in the air and better hearing through the wet atmosphere.
Sure enjoyed the walk this morning!
This morning could hardly be more different.
There was no wind at all. The dogs and I, on our morning walk, were completely enveloped in thick fog, through which a light drizzle was falling. The ground is soft and sopping wet. Another ground moisture indicator: the gophers have started digging their tunnels, which they can only do when the soil is thoroughly wet in the top 10 to 20 inches. The fuel moisture gauge on Lyons Peak reads 44.7% (meaning that the fuel there would be very hard to ignite).
In two days, our front yard has developed a thick coating of greenery. Bulbs are erupting everywhere, months earlier than usual. The frogs were very loud this morning; probably a combination of frog-friendly moisture in the air and better hearing through the wet atmosphere.
Sure enjoyed the walk this morning!
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