I’m REALLY not sure why I still read Slate, but I think this article may have finally been that nail to stop me reading it.  In case you’re a better person than I and won’t/don’t read the link, I can summarize it very easily for you. Mickey Kaus, writer for Slate, author of many nearly unreadable fragments and half sentences, posted a new article about himself, and how he tweeted something to the president of CNN to be inflammatory. That’s true daring.  In the true style of Hunter S. Thompson and other writers who wrote the truth, censorship be damned. Especially on Twitter. Because I’m sure Hunter S. Thompson would take his words of disdain for Bush and those who threaten true freedom to twitter. Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Malkin, the voice of calm restraint and logic, has apparently taken offense to David Axelrod speaking to Katie Couric about his epileptic daughter. How dare he! The audacity to both be a fan of public health care, be diligent in your passion for this, and still worry about your sick child! Even mention that Sarah Palin has children, and you are a liberal child hating monster in her eyes, but there’s no problem in making fun of epilepsy. Up next, Michael J. Fox. Wait, nevermind. But I guess you have to expect that level of quality of AHEM “Journalism” and ethics from the same Asian woman who said the internment camps for Asian Americans were the proper thing to do. (Note – Malkin is technically of Filipino descent, and the internment camps were for the Japanese, but of course, WWII era America, they would have made sure to note the difference.) Civil Liberties, only worth defending when it’s your ass on the line.

Creed is Here! Thank god!  They’re back! That’s right! The folks who brought you such classic third generation washed out crap as “With Arms Wide Open” “Higher” and so forth… have come back. And good to know it took less than a week for Slate to post an article reminding us how only the Music Snobs who ripped on Journey still hate them. That’s right. You have to be an uptight, effete snob to not like a band that rode the backs of the bands that rode the backs of grunge bands and used a poor version of Eddie Vedders’ voice and Child Worship to a multi million dollar career.  Because money is the sole thing that determines artistic merit. Hello, Wiggles! When did we become a nation where every band must be treated as being as good as every other band simply because they sold records? If you can’t feel the plasticity and inauthenticity of these godawful bands, the problem lies with you, not everyone else. When the next M. Night Shayamalan movie comes out,  most people won’t flip out because it’s the same formulaic drivel that he’s been puking out for nearly 15 years now.  I love Rallys, but I don’t deny that it’s nothing but greasy fast food.  And I don’t cry and throw a fit when someone points out there are great real restaurants.  Great music can be art, and shlock is schlock. Keep your Creed and Journey cds in their proper crap schlock bin, and stop trying to pretend there’s some higher value to that drivel. I prefer artists who play from their heart.

WARNING: The ideas advocated in this post have absolutely no chance of occurring.

The United States has the oldest continually-operating constitution in the world. When first hearing this fact many Americans react with smug pride. That’s stupid; our political system is nothing to write home about.

The reason why nations so often change their constitutions is because their old ones don’t work anymore. Or (as is the case in the United States), they simply function at a level that is tolerable but far from ideal. Our current system is a presidential republic; parliamentary republics function much better.

In the United States, the President governs at the whim of a Congress that he or she often has little or no control over, even if he or she is of the same party as the majorities in one or either house of Congress (see: Barack Obama). The President’s agenda is rarely passed in a way that leads to the result that the President intended because all legislative power in concentrated in Congress. Beyond swaying public opinion in his or her favor, the President does not have any real control over how the bills he or she has to sign and enforce are written. There are obvious flaws to this, with Presidents often having extremely antagonistic relationships with their Congresses and even more combative attitudes toward the legislative intent of laws that he or she doesn’t agree with (see: George W. Bush and the Bill of Rights). Read the rest of this entry »

There is perhaps no other country in Africa that had more hope or promise for the future than Zimbabwe. And, like most of Africa, Zimbabwe has tragically had its hopes and dreams absolutely obliterated due to complete abject mismanagement of the economy by a despot ruler intent on clinging to power at any cost.

Without any dramatic stretch of the imagination, the situation in Zimbabwe can be viewed as representative of the situation on the entire African continent. Zimbabwe, like the continent as a whole, was once a place with enormous hope and promise. It is now an autocratic regime with probably the most mismanaged economy in the world.

Since 1980, Robert Mugabe has held unbridled power over the citizens of Zimbabwe. After decades of white-only rule, Mugabe first looked as though he would be an effective and fair ruler. Twenty-nine years of despotic rule later and that theory has been shown to be false. Mugabe has made illegal land grabs, beaten, jailed, and killed opposition members, rewarded his bully men with the land he illegally took (which they then grossly mismanaged), and stolen at least three elections – probably more.

But beyond the egregious human rights violations, the people of Zimbabwe have suffered the worst through the completely corrupt mismanagement of the economy.

Before having to abandon its own currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, Zimbabwe was afflicted with the worst case of hyperinflation in world history. During the peak of its hyperinflation crisis, Zimbabwe’s rate of inflation was estimated to be at the unfathomable rate of 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000% (there are twenty zeroes there, FYI) and its exchange rate with the US dollar was 300,000,000,000,000 (fourteen zeroes, if you’re still counting) Zimbabwe dollars to one US dollar. In 2002, that figure was Z$300 : US $1. Things clearly had gotten bad, fast.

After having ten zeroes taken off of all Zimbabwean currency in 2008, $100 billion still only bought three eggs.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s not much I can say about this clip, having not seen the full episode. But there’s something particualrly strange about this Glenn Beck clip. If this woman speaking at 7:38 is a real doctor, why does her coat say “Richard”?

Glenn Beck: 10/06/2009

Federal minimum wage laws have sometimes been criticized because it hasn’t been tied to inflation, thus not forcing companies to increase their minimum wages at the rate of prices.

Tying it to inflation would give minimum-wage workers higher pay generally, as prices typically rise more quickly than Congress has increased the minimum wage, thus it might make it easier for minimum wage workers to purchase products.

So if prices rise a lot, low-paid workers see the same relative increase in buying power.

If prices don’t rise much, you don’t need as much of an increase in salary, because you don’t have to purchase any more than you did.

That’s what’s happening now in some states like Colorado and Oregon. Even with their wages being increased with inflation, there are still people complaining.
Read the rest of this entry »

The police effectively shut down a Burlington Coat Factory when a woman who claimed to have won the lottery offered to pay for everyones merchandise.  It’s not known if the woman actually won any lottery but she did start writing out checks for people’s rent.  The woman claimed the she had been “used by her family members all her life” and that it was her turn to give back.

Unfortunately, law enforcement  in Ohio doesn’t believe in altruism and when the women left to procure more cash, the cops asked everyone to leave the store. Maybe the policemen should focus on those actually committing a crime instead of practicing acts of charity.  Just a thought.

Link: http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/10/13/story_clothing_lottery.html?sid=102

While checking my e-mail I just ran across everyone’s favorite news source, AOL, detailing an article about a self-described “abortion addict” and her new book recounting her experiences.

Irene Vilar’s book Impossible Motherhood discusses her own addiction to abortion, citing 15 procedures in 16 years.  This is bad for a number of obvious as well as not-so-obvious reasons.  I’d argue that this is hardly an issue about abortion for pro-life and pro-choice supporters to debate over, but rather an issue of addiction.  If you read any comments on the website articles, most pro-life supporters are furious for religious reasons and because they feel that this is an example of the awful abuse of “procreational power” caused by the legality of abortions.  Pro-choice supporters are upset at the extreme representation that seems so unique to Vilar’s individual case, and argue that the book is a lesson in just how difficult and tragic the procedure can be.

I say, this book is about addiction.  It’s obvious that people are not just addicted to the “obvious” things like drugs or alcohol anymore.  People can literally be addicted to anything–food, pornography, sex, gambling, video games, etc., and abortion can now be included along with every other addiction.  This woman needed psychiatric help for her addiction, citing as well her own suicide attempts and depression, and her story should not be sighted as one more reason to end the legality of abortions, but rather seen as the darkest places addictions can go.

\’Abortion Addict\’ Recounts Vicious Cycle

September 29th, John Perry, former editor of Newsmax, one of the myriad of right wing sites such as world net daily dedicated to the proliferation of their view of the world wrote

” There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America’s military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the
“Obama problem.” Don’t dismiss it as unrealistic.America isn’t the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened
doesn’t mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes:Officers swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Unlike enlisted personnel, they do not swear to “obey the orders of the president of the United States.”

Surprisingly, Newsmax took it down from their site, however, it has been saved as a version by Media Matters . It’s quite enlightening, as a whole read. Referring to the sitting president as nothing but a “Problem” that should be dealt with.

Read the rest of this entry »