August 30, 2009

August On the Side: That Was the Month That Was

From:

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"Not all voices are demonic.
I once met a man who heard happy voices. I was walking down the hall of the locked ward in the hospital’s inpatient facility (“Club Head”, we called it) and a young man with dark curly hair approached me, staring into space, smiling, giggling, laughing. He turned his head to whisper to someone who was obviously not there. We passed each other and I heard him chuckle and say, “That’s very funny.” I knew he wasn’t talking to me–I hadn’t said or done anything–and I knew he was psychotic (I recognised the symptoms). At dinner that night I asked my roommate about the young man. “Oh, that’s Kevin," he answered. "He hears happy voices.” I immediately hated Kevin."-- BEING CRAZY IS NOISY | More Intelligent Life

To:

Can it core a apple? O, it can core a apple.

File under "Never Gets Old" The Honeymooners - Chef of the Future


It's been a hectic month @ On the Right. Here's the long, long collection.


August 29, 2009

Can it core a apple? O, it can core a apple.

File under "Never Gets Old" The Honeymooners - Chef of the Future


Posted by Vanderleun at 4:23 PM | Your Say (0)

Now This Is How to Bury a Politician

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Unless, of course, the bottom falls out of their "legacy:"
Instead of being placed into the ground, the coffins are hung either inside the caves or on the face of the cliffs, near the hanging coffins of their ancestors. The Sagada people have been practicing such burials for over 2000 years, and some of the coffins are well over a century old. Eventually the coffins deteriorate and fall from their precarious positions. Of course, there is always a steady stream of new arrivals to replace them. -- Sagada, Philippines @ Atlas Obscura

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:05 PM | Your Say (0)

When Andrea Mitchell Speaks, Projectile Vomiting Ensues

"Teddy Jr. said, his father told him that republicans were real people, just like democrats. This driving rain, perhaps the perfect weather for such a sad day, tears of heaven coming down." -- Kennedy Funeral: Quotes from the Morning Coverage

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:47 PM | Your Say (0)

Now Playing in Congress

The Dunning–Kruger Effect
is an example of cognitive bias in which "people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it". They therefore suffer an illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average. This leads to a perverse result where less competent people will rate their own ability higher than relatively more competent people. -- Wikipedia

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:02 PM | Your Say (1)

VIVA!

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Posted by Vanderleun at 1:21 AM | Your Say (1)

Whale Fall

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Whale fall is the term used for a whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor. Whale falls were first observed in the 1980s, with the advent of deep-sea robotic exploration. When a whale dies in shallow water, its carcass is typically devoured by scavengers over a relatively short period of time—within several months. However, in deeper water (depths of 2,000 m/6,600 ft or greater), fewer scavenger species exist, and the carcass can provide sustenance for a complex localized ecosystem over periods of decades. -- Whale fall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:19 AM | Your Say (2)

The Wonderful World of Having Children

Let's review....



"This is what I get for working on my computer all day and not paying attention. Oh, my God, I'm dead."

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:02 AM | Your Say (0)

August 28, 2009

Another "Lion" Done Gone

"Lion of Leinenkugel" Norm Snitker, 62, Laid to Rest
La Crosse WI -- Slowly filing past a green-and-gold casket festooned with cheese curds, lottery tickets, and bouquets of 6-pack rings, the city of La Crosse bid a tearful farewell this morning to Norman V. "Norm" Snitker, 62. Long heralded as the "Lion of Leinenkugel" for his relentless fight for free beer and shots at local taverns and supper clubs, Snitker succumbed to an exploding liver Tuesday evening during a late model modified heat at La Crosse Speedway's $1 Jagermeister night.

"Norm left an amazing legacy, and an amazing bar tab," said mourner Les Schreindl, 59. "La Crosse won't see his likes again soon."

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:05 PM | Your Say (0)

Theological Question of the Day @ Ace of Spades

Who among us hasn't killed a woman and gotten a lifetime of humor out of it? -- Ted Kennedy Memorial Service Thread

Posted by Vanderleun at 4:14 PM | Your Say (0)

An Idea Whose Time Has Gone

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet
They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:36 PM | Your Say (2)

The Health Care Numbers Game

For those that actually care to think about it, the number of Americans "denied" access to health care is... zero. The number of Americans who can't or won't pay for health care is between 8 and 50 million. The can't is probably contained in the 8 million. Let's find them, if they care to identify themselves in English or Spanish, give them a Medicare card, and be done with it. Those that won't? Why is that our problem?

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:50 PM | Your Say (2)

Another Reason I'm Not Taking Up Cave Diving Anytime Soon

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Eyeless, Fanged Crustacean Found in ‘Tunnel to Atlantis’
A species of crustacean with no eyes and venom-injecting fangs has been discovered in an underwater volcanic cave in the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa

Posted by Vanderleun at 11:58 AM | Your Say (0)

Everything You Need to Know About Ted Kennedy

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From the brilliant Tom McMahon's 4-Block World

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:45 AM | Your Say (0)

"My Name is Roger Ebert, and I'm an alcoholic

"In my case, I haven't taken a drink for 30 years, and this is God's truth: Since the first A.A. meeting I attended, I have never wanted to. Since surgery in July of 2006 I have literally not been able to drink at all. Unless I go insane and start pouring booze into my g-tube, I believe I'm reasonably safe. So consider this blog entry what A.A. calls a "12th step," which means sharing the program with others. There's a chance somebody will read this and take the steps toward sobriety." -- Roger Ebert's Journal: Archives

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:05 AM | Your Say (2)

"Our Leggs Fit Your Leggs. They Hug You. They Hold You. They Never Let You Go!"

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50 Years of Pantyhose

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:52 AM | Your Say (1)

August 27, 2009

Roller Skating a Roller Coaster

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Ah... er... after you, okay? Crazy Things People Do With Roller Coasters

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:44 PM | Your Say (0)

Denver, Broke, Continues to Ignore Primo Source of Revenue:

Fine for pot in Denver could go down to $1 That's a nickle-bag in 1965 dollars.

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:21 PM | Your Say (1)

First Complete Image of a Molecule, Atom by Atom

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This image of pentacene, a molecule made up of five carbon rings, was made using an atomic-force microscope. Details at Technology Review

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:24 PM | Your Say (2)

Teddy Without Tears

It's a dirty job and Gawker loves to do it:
He was the very definition of a functional alcoholic, able to achieve bipartisan compromises on important health care legislation by day and then fuck a lobbyist on the floor of a restaurant by night. He destroyed Robert Bork's chance at being on the Supreme Court, and paparazzi snapped him fucking a girl on his boat. He and Chris Dodd went out boozing and skirtchasing together. They'd later be joined by Ted's fuckup son Patrick and fuckup nephew William Kennedy Smith. After hitting the bar with son and nephew in Palm Beach in 1991, William allegedly raped one of the women he and Patrick had picked up. Ted testified. William was acquitted.

True, they wimp out at the end but, hey, they're perverts too.

Posted by Vanderleun at 8:07 AM | Your Say (2)

Big Woof

Woofer: where all you say has to have a minimum of 1,400 characters. Or else.

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:26 AM | Your Say (1)

August 26, 2009

And Now a Public Service Message from House of Eratosthenes

Morgan put this up "for absolutely no reason whatsoever." That's good enough for me.

Posted by Vanderleun at 11:38 PM | Your Say (0)

Open Question of the Day @ Yahoo! Answers

Now that the Kennedys are reunited, can we get on with our lives?
Or are we gonna have to watch hours of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann with tears streaming down their cheeks?

Answer:
"Alas, there are days of uninhibited slobberfests ahead culminating in President Obama giving the eulogy and then trying to climb into the coffin for one last hug."

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:25 PM | Your Say (3)

Rare Photographs of Now Extinct Beasts

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Last Thylacine yawning (No wise cracks. This has nothing to do with the item below.)

Posted by Vanderleun at 7:33 PM | Your Say (0)

For Those Of You Who Do Not Have Twitter

@ andrewbreitbart Andrew Breitbart's Twitterstream on the death of Ted Kennedy:
"Rest in Chappaquiddick/ Kennedy laid groundwork for legitimizing media-killing of conservatives. What he did to destroy Thomas & Bork is unforgivable. Mary Jo, too./ For whom did Sen. Kennedy show compassion? Bork? Thomas? The Kopechnes? Please, this is not about politics. This is about decency./ Pretending to care about poor & downtrodden (while institutionally using ill-gotten power to destroy them) is not a legacy to be proud of./ I'm more than willing to go off decorum to ensure THIS MAN is not beatified. Sorry, he destroyed lives. And he knew it./ .... This duplicitous bastard spit on GWB's face when he reached across party lines. Twas a grade school trick. Even til the end, he was a prick./ In this moment I can't but recognize absolute backwardness of media & society. Bush=EVIL. Ted Kennedy=SAINT." -- via iOwnTheWorld.com

Posted by Vanderleun at 7:21 PM | Your Say (6)

The View from 1799

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Thomas Cooper: ADDRESS TO THE READERS OF THE SUNBURY AND NORTHUMBERLAND GAZETTE, JUNE 29, 1799
Let me place myself in the President’s chair, at the head of a party in this country, aiming to extend the influence of the governing powers at the expence of the governed; to increase the authority and prerogative of the Executive, and to reduce by degrees to a mere name, the influences of the people. How should I set about it? What system should I pursue?
1st. As the rights reserved by the State Governments and the bounds and limits set by the Constitution of the Union, are the declared barriers against the encroachments of entrusted power, my first business would be to undermine that Constitution, and render it useless, by claiming authority which, though not given by the express words of it, might be edged in under the cover of general expressions or implied powers — by stretching the meaning of the words used to their utmost latitude, — by taking advantage of every ambiguity — and by quibbling upon distinctions to explain away the plain and obvious meaning.... In addition to this I would now and then exercise trifling acts of authority not granted by the Constitution, under some undefined notion of prerogative. If by such means one encroachment should be made good, it would be a precedent for another, until the public by degrees would become accustomed and callous to them.
2. My next object would be to restrict by every means in my power the liberty of the press. For the free discussion of public characters is too dangerous for despotism to tolerate. Hence I would multiply laws against libel and sedition, and fence round the characters of the officers of government by well contrived legal obstacles. Whatever should tend to bring them into contempt should be sedition, however contemptible or reprehensible they might be. Hence too, I would impress the idea that all who were opposed to my measures were enemies of the government, that is (in my construction) of their country. It should be the business of my partizans to inculcate this, and cry down all such persons as dangerous and seditious, as disturbers of the peace of society, and desirous of overturning the Constitution. The obloquy induced by these charges, dwelt upon in the public prints under my controul, and vociferously urged by the dependants of office in private conversation, would make opposition to my measures obnoxious and dangerous, and suppress all political conversation. -- Via The Volokh Conspiracy - -

Posted by Vanderleun at 6:34 PM | Your Say (1)

Obama Reading List: Gibbs Nightmare Version

  • - The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins.
  • - Easeful Death: Is There a Case For Assisted Dying? Warnock and Macdonald.
  • - Das Kapital, Karl Marx
  • - The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby
  • - The Koran

Brainstorm by marbury Any other suggestions?

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:51 PM | Your Say (4)

Snack Pack

Ferret with mouse papoose

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Wrong on so many levels.

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:31 PM | Your Say (1)

Everbody Wants to Go to Heaven But Nobody Wants to Bounce

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From VVORK

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:04 PM | Your Say (0)

The Phrase That Pays

Little Bill Daggett:

Well, sir, you are a cowardly son of a bitch! You just shot an unarmed man!

Will Munny:
Well, he should have armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend. -- Unforgiven

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:54 AM | Your Say (1)

Mr. President, the Joker's On You

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Cobb: The Icon
Obama has become, for all of his vaunted intelligence and ability to draw coalitions together, a mere caricature of himself. He is an icon, a symbol, and somebody whom I think desperately wants and needs to be pragmatic and effective. But he cannot outrun the fact that he has come to power without policy and has broken promises with every one of his constituencies. He has bristled at scrutiny and criticism, which means he will remain out there, a victim of his own image, and unable to work across any aisles.
I think these iconic descriptions of Obama will continue, and they will all be apt. He will continue to obsess over his ability to move the crowd, to be a popular man of the people rather than an ideologue or a man of strong pedigreed philosophy. All the while he will effect Machiavellian machinations behind the image and sacrifice any and all who cannot stand the white hot light of his loving media. He will be the last man standing, and nobody will know what he's really all about.

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:33 AM | Your Say (1)

Johnson Sez...

JOHNSON.
'Before dinner men meet with great inequality of understanding; and those who are conscious of their inferiority, have the modesty not to talk. When they have drunk wine, every man feels himself happy, and loses that modesty, and grows impudent and vociferous: but he is not improved; he is only not sensible of his defects.' -- The Life of Samuel Johnson

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:30 AM | Your Say (0)

August 25, 2009

Rathergate Redux: "Go to Page 130"

What was on page 130?
"Mapes had information prior to the airing of the September 8 [2004] Segment that President Bush, while in the TexANG [Texas Air National Guard] did volunteer for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots. For example, a flight instructor who served in the TexANG with Lieutenant Bush advised Mapes in 1999 that Lieutenant Bush 'did want to go to Vietnam but others went first.' Similarly, several others advised Mapes in 1999, and again in 2004 before September 8, that Lieutenant Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam but did not have enough flight hours to qualify." -- Bernard Goldberg: "Go To Page 130" - mediabistro.com: TVNewser

And still Dan Rather continues to drag his old and sorry ass through the courts. Good riddance.

Posted by Vanderleun at 6:54 PM | Your Say (1)

Dear Liberals and Black Democrats,

You've taken our national discussion down to the level of Jim Crow and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. What in the hell are you doing? Turning back the clock forty years to make political hay? Is it worth stirring this ugly shit back to the surface, instigating people's natural instincts to categorize and separate across color lines? Do you have fucking rocks in your head? Do you really think this is wise? -- Racist , Jaded Haven

Posted by Vanderleun at 6:50 PM | Your Say (0)

Polish Diversity

Watch the hands, they tell a story: AdFreak: Microsoft ads not quite as diverse in Poland
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American Version
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Polish Version

The Asian guy miraculously survived, but only a small portion of the black guy remains. They forgot to Photoshop out his hand.

Posted by Vanderleun at 6:38 PM | Your Say (5)

Limbo Lower Now. How Low Can They Go?

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"just how low the Obama administration and its Attorney General Eric Holder have sunk in making much ado about virtually nothing.... For moderates, Obama mouths words that indicate it’s actually rogue Attorney General Holder who is pursuing this against the President’s will, and that Obama himself would just as soon let bygones be bygones. Yeah, right."

Posted by Vanderleun at 3:29 PM | Your Say (0)

A Message from Uncle Vlad

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America is not motivating with whip. America is wanting nothing but cake. Cake all the time. Americans do not think of using whip in managing peoples. They are thinking “Sun Tzu” is tiny purebred dog. They are thinking “Machiavelli” is new drink on Starbucks menu. They are wanting always to be loved and never to be feared. -- The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: Update from Putin

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:17 PM | Your Say (0)

Must See TV

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The brilliant Bill Whittle @ Afterburner on MSNBC & The Great Liberal Narrative: The Truth About The Tyranny of Political Correctness Watch it and pass it on.

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:00 PM | Your Say (1)

A Whole New Look for Sherlock Holmes

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"YEARS AGO, A P.I. OUT OF CHICAGO BROUGHT JUSTICE TO A DIRTY TOWN. NOW HE’S GOING TO PAY."
A sawed-off shotgun blast to the face leaves one man dead – and reveals a secret that has pursued another across an ocean and set the world’s most ruthless criminal on his trail. The man needs the help of a great detective…but could even Sherlock Holmes save him now? -- Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind: Hard Case Crime's December Surprise Revealed!

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:59 AM | Your Say (0)

An idea whose time has come...

in Social Security, Medicare, Education... Harsanyi: Hey, how about a "private option"? @ The Denver Post
If health care is a "right," then education is a sacred moral imperative. How could an enlightened society allow a "public" education monopoly to run our precious schools into the ground? Let's get moving on a private option by means of vouchers so parents — or "victims," in this case — can blunt the influence of "villainous" super-funded special interest groups like the National Education Association. [HT" The Fat Man]

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:32 AM | Your Say (1)

From the "Yes, We Have No Brain" Collection:

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Bio-Accessories
Some will no doubt say that this is green fashion gone a bit too far – but what fun is always being eco-friendly at the expense of creative, unique and personalized style?

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:15 AM | Your Say (0)

Bai Ling's been thinking:

What I am thinking now is how lucky I am suddenly breath life and enjoy the moment of aware of life and simple lives around me, breath me, while we are watching other people as our view and we become their view. look at those photos, I want to show you what is around me on the streets, and in my glass and behind me, see there is a man with a mask on sitting behind me, wow .......can you see? Who is he? what he is doing? -- Naked Seduction 永恒的诱惑: A kiss from the hot east.............

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:11 AM | Your Say (0)

August 24, 2009

Oh, this is rich.

Obama the Candidate: A little walk down memory lane.



Posted by Vanderleun at 11:58 PM | Your Say (3)

Look, either get Aerosmith's Steve Tyler a sandwich or confine him to his room. Please.

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via: The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: At last, someone who makes me look good

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:24 PM | Your Say (8)

Good Question About a Bad Question

"Why is your race one of the questions on the Social Security Number application form?" -- What Were You Thinking About? Stupid Question

Posted by Vanderleun at 8:08 PM | Your Say (0)

Pondering the Public Option

Kevin's Just thinkin'
If a "public option" that competes with private health insurance companies is a good thing, why aren't private schools that compete for students with public schools also a good thing?

Posted by Vanderleun at 3:53 PM | Your Say (1)

Led by a coward and sleepwalking to Armageddon:

Well, we've come a long way. The war on terror has become the war on the CIA. And the terrorists no longer need fear anything more harsh than polite questions posed to them on a good night's sleep and in quiet, comfy surroundings. And the timing is perfect. Obama is on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, and not bold enough to announce and defend these developments from the White House. America, apparently, is on holiday from the war on terror, too. Unfortunately, our enemies are not. -- Jennifer Rubin: CIA Breaking Down

Posted by Vanderleun at 3:43 PM | Your Say (0)

GooglePhones?

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: Google is really starting to piss me off
They really think that it's perfectly fine for Google to come along and attach itself to other people's work and suck all the value out of it. They did it to the news business. So why not Apple, right?

Posted by Vanderleun at 3:09 PM | Your Say (0)

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If Pink Floyd were to grow a brain...

Uprising

The paranoia is in bloom, the PR
The transmissions will resume
They'll try to push drugs
Keep us all dumbed down and hope that
We will never see the truth around
(So come on!)

Another promise, another scene, another
A package not to keep us trapped in greed
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
(So come on!)

[Chorus]
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Interchanging mind control
Come let the revolution take its toll if you could
Flick the switch and open your third eye, you'd see that
We should never be afraid to die
(So come on!)

Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend

[Chorus]
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Hey .. hey ... hey .. hey!
(repeat)

[Chorus]
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:01 AM | Your Say (1)

Johnson Sez...

BOSWELL:
Observing some beggars in the street as we walked along, I said to him I supposed there was no civilized country in the world, where the misery of want in the lowest classes of the people was prevented.

JOHNSON.
'I believe, Sir, there is not; but it is better that some should be unhappy, than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.' -- The Life of Samuel Johnson

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:58 AM | Your Say (1)

Poetry Kills

Let your noun be noun

To us, a sun is not quite a sun unless it's radiant, and a spring not quite a spring unless it is limpid. Here to place adjectives would be so rude as leaving price tags on purchases. Japanese poetry never modifies. There is a way of saying boat, rock, mist, frog, crow, hail, heron, chrysanthemum, that includes them all. Newspapers have been filled recently with the story of a man from Nagoya. The woman he loved died last year and he drowned himself in work like a madman. It seems he even made an important discovery in electronics. And then in the month of May he killed himself. They say he could not stand hearing the word "Spring."

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:45 AM | Your Say (0)

Loomings

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Tornadoes of Fire Approach the Parthenon

Posted by Vanderleun at 12:37 AM | Your Say (0)

August 23, 2009

Oh...Kay....

Maggie's Farm passes on this note: Let me get this straight...
We're going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, signed by a president that also hasn't read it (and who smokes) with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's nearly broke.
What possibly could go wrong?

Posted by Vanderleun at 11:02 PM | Your Say (0)

"Is it me or does Ramadan get earlier and earlier every year?"

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:45 PM | Your Say (1)

Glenn Reynolds: The Early Years


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"I'm a PC."

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:31 PM | Your Say (5)

Merlin Mann, Making the Clackity Noise
I’ve learned that my job is to just sit down and start making the clackity noise. If I make the clackity noise long enough every day, the “writing” seems to take care of itself. On the other hand, if there’s no clackity noise, no writing. No little stories. The stories may be in there, alongside God knows what else, but there’s no way to know. You must make the noise.

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:28 PM | Your Say (0)

Serial killers and politicians share traits
Interpersonal traits include glibness, superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, and the manipulation of others. The affective traits include a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility. The lifestyle behaviors include stimulation-seeking behavior, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic orientation, and a lack of realistic life goals.

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:10 PM | Your Say (4)

Bill Maher or Obesity Epidemic Expanding to the Floor of the Tasmanian Ocean: Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) aka "The Ugliest Fish in the Ocean"


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As you can imagine, with the name like the Blobfish they aren't extremely active. In fact, most of the food that they eat simply floats right by them. This deep sea fish simply picks and chooses what to eat.
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UPDATE: It would seem the Blobfish has been threatening humanity for some time:

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Posted by Vanderleun at 12:22 PM | Your Say (12)

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Uncle Spam:
Millions of Americans have received emails and read blogs and commentary on social media sites and never realized that what they were reading was carefully crafted marketing messages from the government — paid for with their tax dollars and manipulating them to support government agendas, programs and legislation.
Today’s news exposed that the White House had hired a private social marketing firm to distribute mass emails and unsolicited spam to sell President Obama’s health care plan. The firm, GovDelivery.com —“the email and digital subscription management company for the government” — hired last January by the White House, has handled social marketing emails to sell the administration’s campaigns on a range of issues, including its Supreme Court nominee and healthcare reform. --Junkfood Science: Online social media — marketing in disguise

Posted by Vanderleun at 7:49 AM | Your Say (0)

"Nothing is more natural to the academic than trying to explain the inexplicable. It is a certain failing of logic. Sherlock Holmes' dictum: "After eliminating the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the truth" works perfectly well. But it is so easy to talk oneself into the possibility of the impossible." -- Quote: Earnest Hooton on Piltdown | john hawks weblog

Posted by Vanderleun at 2:38 AM | Your Say (0)

August 22, 2009

Stupid Nation by Rich Lowry asks,"Just how stupid do they think we are?" Let me count the ways. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:59 AM | Your Say (1)

August 21, 2009


The only reasons to dig a grave are Fear, Love, and Money.
Money digs a beautiful grave. Time is not really a quotient here; the gravedigger digs deep, carefully piling the dirt for reinterment. Then he skillfully trowels the sides, forms his right angles, flattens the bottom, and climbs out with a minor work of art resting at his feet. A Money grave has pride in it. Never mind the backhoes and fancy rigs: those are splendid graves, too, and for money. But if I were going to be buried, which I hasn't decided yet, I'd want a Shinny to dig my grave. With a bottle of Kessler liquor waiting for him, and possibly a girl in Pembroke, to soak the holy soil from his spent body. Then, I think, I could rest in peace. -- Velociworld: Shinny, Wakes, and Gravediggers

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:20 PM | Your Say (0)

For Immediate Release

U.S. Government Unveils Health Care Partnership With God Inc
To finance the project, Obama said US Government would seek US$2 trillion in a 103rd round of involuntary venture capital.
Headquartered in Washington DC, U.S. Government (NASDAQ: USAGOV) employs over 4,000,000 full time workers, with projected 2009 revenues of US$1.7 trillion and EBITDA of (minus) $2.1 trillion. Founded in 1789, the firm produces a diversified portfolio of products and services including military operations, postal delivery, free money, automobiles, and I.O.U.s. Its Health Care division has been in business since 1965.
God, Inc. is a privately traded, infinitely dimensionless enterprise headquartered on the ethereal plane, and has been the largest vendor of corporeal reality, including life and death, since its founding at the alpha origin of time. Its financial prospectus and mission statement were unavailable at press time.

Posted by Vanderleun at 10:07 PM | Your Say (0)

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"The grandchild, far from being incidental, is decisive.
Civilization persists when there is a widespread sense of an ethical obligation on the part of the present generation for the well-being of the third generation — their own grandchildren. A society where this feeling is not widespread may last as a civilization for some time — indeed, for one or two generations it might thrive spectacularly. But inevitably, a society acknowledging no transgenerational commitment to the future will decay and decline from within." -- Lee Harris, The Future of Tradition

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:37 PM | Your Say (0)

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Man is a beast of prey.
I shall say it again and again. All the would-be moralists and social-ethics people who claim or hope to be "beyond all that" are only beasts of prey with their teeth broken, who hate others on account of the attacks which they themselves are wise enough to avoid. Only look at them. They are too weak to read a book on war, but they herd together in the street to see an accident, letting the blood and the screams play on their nerves. And if even that is too much for them, they enjoy it on the film and in the illustrated papers. If I call man a beast of prey, which do I insult: man or beast? -- Oswald Spengler :The Decline Of The West; The Hour Of Decision

Posted by Vanderleun at 5:46 PM | Your Say (0)

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From BibliOdyssey's The Parrots

One of the most consistently fascinating and beautiful blogs, BibliOdyssey, has reached 1,000 Entries with the post, One Thousand: The Best of BibliOdyssey. Hard to argue with Peacay's selection but prepare to spend some time.

Posted by Vanderleun at 1:24 PM | Your Say (0)

FOR THE RECORD
TV listings: The Prime-Time TV grid in Thursday's Calendar section mistakenly listed MTV's "Jackass" show on the MSNBC cable schedule at 7 and 10 p.m. where instead MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" should have been listed.

It's not the Worst Mistake in the World. -- Top of the Ticket @ Los Angeles Times

Posted by Vanderleun at 9:29 AM | Your Say (0)

YUM! AN OAK barrel, full of butter, estimated to be roughly 3,000 years old has been found in Gilltown bog, between Timahoe and Staplestown.
The amazing discovery of the barrel, which is being described by archaeology experts in the National Museum as a "really fine example" was found by two Bord na Mona workers. The pair, John Posted by Vanderleun at August 30, 2009 2:58 PM
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