HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D) Men are spending way less on engagement rings. “Engagement rings are supposed to be the ultimate symbol of love, but during this recession men can’t afford the giant rocks they once could. A new study by home insurance firm LV found that while many guys used to spend three months’ salary on a ring, now two thirds of grooms are spending only about three weeks’ salary. So while men used to cough up $8,000 on a ring the majority are now spending around $2,000.”
Archive for 2011
August 26, 2011
WHY CONSERVATIVES get paranoid about Obama.
I mean since Obama has become president conservatives have often wondered: is he really this bad at his job, or is he some kind of evil genius trying to intentionally frak up this country? . . . Now, consider this syllogism.
1. An unpatriotic act is one that unjustifiably harms this country.
2. Obama has declared that adding $4 Trillion to the debt was an unpatriotic act.
3. As President, Obama has added $4 Trillion to the debt.
4. Therefore Obama is knowingly, intentionally, and unjustifiably engaging in conduct that harms this country.
Now, tell the truth liberals, is there anything at all unreasonable about that syllogism? No.
But there is a reason why that syllogism fails, because there is a hidden premise in it. Let’s call it step 2.5 and insert it back into my syllogism:
1. An unpatriotic act is one that unjustifiably harms this country.
2. Obama has declared that adding $4 Trillion to the debt was an unpatriotic act.
2.5 Obama actually means what he said.
3. As President, Obama has added $4 Trillion to the debt.
4. Therefore Obama is knowingly, intentionally, and unjustifiably engaging in conduct that harms this country.
And as far as I can see, that is the only logical defense to the charge that the President is knowingly and willfully harming this country: that he is a cheeseball politician willing to say one thing to be elected and to do another once he actually has power.
Well, that makes it all better then.
SARAH PALIN’S Four-Point Plan For Libya.
JERRY POURNELLE ON WHAT’S WRONG WITH A VALUE ADDED TAX: “A VAT would lock the 7% exponential growth of government in place for decades; the result would be a doubling of the size and cost of government every 12 years until the collapse of the economy.” I propose an income tax where withholding is forbidden and people have to write a check to the government each year. The day before election day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Todd Steed!
FIXING YOUR ACHING back, neck, and shoulders.
THE WRATH OF ALLAH: “Remember how the Islamists were reveling in the Almighty’s earthquake that hit America the other day? Well, there’s flooding, big flooding, in the holy city of Mashhad, Iran. Four dead. I keep looking for the holy men cheering on the divine carnage. Nothing yet.”
August 25, 2011
DISASTER-PREPARATION IDIOCY: North Carolina Governor Declares Every Concealed Carry Permit in eastern NC Invalid Due to Hurricane Irene.
IF RICK PERRY IS MORE MANLY THAN BARACK OBAMA, then there must be something wrong with the notion of manliness.
CERN UPDATE: Climate Models Will Need Substantial Revision.
NOW THAT’S JUST MEAN: “Ed Schultz With A Smaller Rack.”
INTERESTED IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS? Check out Bill Quick’s discussion forum. And here’s a hurricane preparedness list.
Also, some bug-out bag recommendations. And some stuff to keep in your car or SUV.
UPDATE: Some preparation advice from Dr. Melissa Clouthier.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Hints for boarding up your windows.
LOTS OF HURRICANE IRENE UPDATES from Brendan Loy.
NO, I DON’T KNOW why the last 8 hours of posts suddenly vanished. Working on it.
UPDATE: Okay, it’s not just the last 8 hours, it’s everything I posted or scheduled since last night. Sigh.
THE MAN WHO almost killed Hitler. “The Munich bomb, on the other hand, exploded on November 8, 1939, at the height of the Führer’s popularity and less than three months after the outbreak of World War II—before the final order was given for the invasion of France, and when Russia remained a German ally and the United States remained at peace. Not only that; this bomb was the work of just one man, an unassuming carpenter who was far more principled than Stauffenberg and whose skill, patience and determination make him altogether much more interesting. Yet the Munich incident has been almost forgotten; as late as 1998 there was no memorial, in Germany or anywhere else, to the attempt or to the man who made it. His name was Georg Elser, and this is his story. . . . Asked later to explain his decision to take on Hitler, he was blunt: ‘I considered that the situation in Germany could only be changed by the elimination of the current leadership.'” Too bad he failed.
OF COURSE HE DOES: Mayor Bloomberg Wants A Traffic Camera On Every Corner.
Hey, Bloomie: How about you deal with the bedbugs first?
NEW MADRID REDUX: The Pentagon’s Quake Nightmare.
“Electric power would go out, not for days, but for weeks and months in the four state region,” he said. “Municipal water systems, they all run on electricity, don’t they? Well, people are gonna get thirsty. You need water for firefighting, don’t you? Second, all gasoline pumps run on electric power. Same with diesel fuel. So in terms of road mobility, of getting the relief forces in, and evacuating people out — no gasoline? The cascading failures go on and on.”
Harden the systems now. Every gas station should have a generator adequate to power at least one or two pumps. (And there’ll be plenty of gas!) Also, old gas pumps used to have a handcrank behind the panel. New ones, as far as I know, don’t. Maybe that’s a bad design?
Meanwhile, this is another reason to engage in disaster preparedness at home. The government won’t be there in a hurry.
AT AMAZON, Top Deals In Electronics.
RICHARD FERNANDEZ: The $350 bottle of wine vs the $400 haircut vs the $10m vacation.