Mike-istan didn’t consent. Maybe he’d be interested in what’s going on in New Hampshire.
Updated: My wife passed me this link, which lead to this link, which lead to this link. Interesting stuff, folks.
flabbergasted
Didn’t read but still got an A
I remember back in 11th grade I was supposed to read Invisible Man by Ralph Waldo Ellison. The assignment was for each student in class to read some book, then on a particular day we were going to have a 2 hour writing assignment in class on the book. So since I didn’t read it, I naturally got to spend two hours sitting at my desk attempting to look busy. I wrote some b.s. on the paper, knew it wouldn’t fool the teachers, and naturally as a result I got a big fat zero (0) on the assignment.
But it would seem that not reading the assignment is a Good Thing for our (out of control) public servants.
The sad part is, they’ll eventually receive a grade for their work, but it’s going to hurt us a lot more than it’s going to hurt them.
Stimulated
Well, it seems we’re officially going to get stimulated. I’m all a-flutter.
How did your Congressman vote? How did your Senator vote? Or I can save you the trouble, if a Democrat, voted for, if a Republican, voted against. Oh wait… it’s not THAT cut and dry. In the Senate, Specter (R-PA), Snowe (R-ME), Collins (R-ME) voted for the boondoggle. In the House 5 Democrats voted no: Griffith (D-AL), Bright (D-AL), Minnick (D-ID), Taylor (D-MS), DeFazio (D-OR); Clyburn (D-SC) didn’t vote, and Lipinski (D-IL) voted “present”… those two are as good as a “no”.
I hope this means my rainbow-farting unicorn is finally on its way. My kids have been growing rather upset that it hasn’t arrived yet.
Update: Anthony G. Martin’s commentary on this.
Oh grow up
Once again, I’m with you Lissa.
My mother is Korean, my father is “white” (German, Scotch-Irish). I took zero offense to this. Why? Because there’s no offense intended. Look at the picture…. all the white kids are squinty and the one Asian kid is round-eyed. Looks like nothing but a bunch of friends having fun and being silly. If the Asian kid in the picture isn’t offended (and in fact is playing along), why the hell should you be? Oh that’s right… he’s not the one hoping to milk Miley Cyrus for a $4B payout.
Is it playing on a racial difference? Sure. But being offensive requires intent to harm. I recall one time as a kid some other kid came up to me, made some Asian-like faces, flailed his arms, and made “ching-chong” sorts of sounds at me. Did that bother me? Sure did, because the kid’s intent was to make fun of me and hurt me. In high school a Korean friend and I would always joke back and forth about being a “rice eater”, he’d call me a “half-breed” and I’d call him “slant eyes” or some such thing. Did this bother us? Nope, because it was all in fun with no intent to harm.
Look folks, racial/cultural humor can be funny (Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Mel Brooks, Jeff Foxworthy), or not (Margaret Cho – sorry, while I get her Korean jokes on a whole other level, I just don’t find her all that entertaining). You have to look at intent. Is it intended to be funny? or is it intended to harm? Causing harm to another, even by word or gesture, isn’t acceptable. But it appears all Miley did was have some fun with her friends.
Delayed stimulus
So the stimulus package has been delayed. I guess better than premature stimulus.
The new version includes help for victims of the recession in the form of unemployment benefits, food stamps, health coverage and more. It would also provide billions for states that face the prospect of making deep cuts in their own programs.
It also preserves President Barack Obama’s tax break for millions of lower and middle income taxpayers.
Ah, help for the victims. And who gets to pay for all of this? Me (at least in part).
Anyone going to give me a break?
Anyone going to give me a handout?
Anyone going to take care of my mortgage? My bills? Feed my children? Put gas in my car? Keep my lights on?
I guess I’m not a victim.
It’s an interesting thing. When something is worth spending your money on, people willingly spend their money on it. When something isn’t worth two shits, people don’t spend their money on it. So what’s the solution if your two shits aren’t getting funding? Why use the force of law to get funding! And so government grows, more money is taken from We The People, and We The People rightly get pissed off.
I donate money to charitable causes. I volunteer my time. If I was able to keep more of my own money, I’d had more to give to worthwhile causes. If I didn’t have to take on additional employment, I’d have more time to volunteer. You’d think those liberals with all their compassion would understand that, but apparently they don’t know how to give unless they’re giving someone else’s money away or forcing you to volunteer. And then of course, you have no personal investment in any of it, so you aren’t that responsible with it. One mess leads to a bigger mess.
Stimulated Pork
So looky what was slipped into the “stimulus” package.
So we take one more step towards socialized medicine. One step away from you being able to control your own health and well-being.
Y’know it’s odd. So many of these same people that scream for socialized medicine are the same people that scream about keeping abortion legal. They demand how it’s their body and they should be allowed to do what they want with it. Well, I agree with that. So tell me how government-controlled medicine is going to let you do what you want with your body, or perhaps more important, to give your body what it needs. Go on, I’m waiting. I’m really curious to know how increased regulations and control by an external party over my life and my body equates to greater freedom.
I also liked this part of the article:
Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.
Tom Daschle is 61 years old. I hope he’s been accepting of the conditions that are coming with his advancing age, and not treating them. No no, not even Advil as that’s a treatment. I’d like to think Daschle would be one to lead by example, but if we followed his example there’d be no tax revenue to fund this boondoggle.
Updated: Anthony G. Martin chimes in with his take on the matter.
Their rights were violated???
From this morning’s Washington Times, 16 illegals sue an Arizona rancher.
So we have 16 people, crossing illegally into the United States. We have a man that’s sick of his property being used as a “highway” for illegal border crossings, which results in things like massive amounts of trash all over his property, drug smuggling, damage to his property, death of his cattle, and risk to he and his family (and anyone rightfully on the property) because often those illegally on his land are armed. And this man is the one that gets sued?
Something’s rather bass-ackwards here folks.
Now, the Libertarian in me does struggle with this. On the one hand, you want open borders and to allow people to freely travel. But on the other, we’ve got individual property rights to maintain. This article by Per Bylund sums up the issue rather well. But while we work out the philosophical issues, for now the law is what it is. What has Roger Barnett done that was illegal? What have those 16 people done that was illegal? Let’s see… hurt feelings vs. breaking the law. The civil rights of these 16 were violated? Hell, they’re not even citizens of this country! Is there no consideration for the civil rights of Mr. Barnett being violated? The property rights of Mr. Barnett being violated? The law of the United States being violated?
I need a new tag, “flabbergasted”.
Just Give Them What They Want
I was reading an article at the Austin Gun Rights Examiner about how concealed carry saved lives again. Some may jump to say the individual was a law enforcement official. While true, that person was not on duty, had no legal or professional obligation to carry or do what they did. For all intents and purposes, it was just another Joe Citizen that opted to live the life of a sheepdog and protect the sheep from the wolves.
But what moved me about the article was this:
At a 2006 National Violent Crime Summit, attended by police chiefs and mayors from around the U.S., the Cincinnati, Ohio police chief stated: “There’s almost a different code on the street, that it’s not a robbery unless you shoot somebody.” This is due, in part, to the fact that “robbers, especially juveniles, are more likely than ever to shoot victims, even when they do not resist” and that young gangsters shoot people to gain “respect.”
Indeed, a sad commentary on society. But what’s even more sad is the advice given on how to deal with this behavior. Hecate apparently lives in Omaha and has a justifiably flabbergasted reaction to the advice. So, go ask the wolves how they like their sheep to behave. Then we should wonder why the sheep keep getting picked off and the wolves grow numerous and fat?
*sigh*
Update: Xavier tells a story of an old friend.
Stuff From Hsoi 