Est Quod Est

Worst Cover of Mack the Knife. Ever.

2012-01-30T23:41:00.002-05:00

And I like the Furs too.

Wardrobe Malfunction

2012-01-28T14:30:00.001-05:00

Pretty Amazing

2012-01-28T13:58:00.003-05:00

I woke up this morning determined to honor the promise I made over a month ago to post on the Brooks piece, which I did. After I finished I decided to read my email only to find the the ever-intrepid J-Carp had emailed me this bit of related news.

The former DMN editorial boarder and current American Conservative writer has cut himself quite a deal. The New York Post is saying that he landed an “estimated” $1 million deal to write a memoir about how a small Louisiana town supported his sister as she died from lung cancer. The book is titled The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life. It’ll come out in the spring of 2013.

I asked Rod about this $1 million figure (I’d heard it was slightly higher). He wrote back: “I’m not going to confirm a rumor, but I will say that the money will be sufficient to provide a college education for my sister’s children, provided they go to a state school and, unlike their no-count uncle when he was at LSU, stay the hell out of the barrooms.”

So the no-count uncle confirmed the $1,000,000.00 rumor. Gee whiz, you can't make this stuff up.

Another Man's Statesmanship

2012-01-28T11:00:00.147-05:00

I had promised J-Carp and some others a month ago when this David Brooks piece came out that I would be blogging on it. Part of the reason it has taken me awhile is that I wanted the perfect approach to address the what is so laughable about what appears on the surface to be a narration of someone's illness and death from an aggressive form of cancer. I think I found the approach in the article in the fifth paragraph.

Dreher, one of the country’s most interesting bloggers, captured Ruthie’s illness in real time. “It’s so beautiful to see it’s almost painful,” he wrote the night of the [fund-raising] concert, “and so unreal in its generosity that you think it must have been a movie.”

There are two images here and the second one, the likening of the experience to a movie, is worth exploring. Brooks's article is sort of like the review of that movie, but I always preferred TV Guide blurbs to reviews, both to write and to read. Here's my blurb:

Rocked by his sister's sudden death, a struggling writer moves back to the small Southern town of his youth replete with strange and eccentric characters.

That's more of a first impression, I'll admit, and blurbs do little to convey anything but the most general of themes. I'll leave it to others to come up with a title for this blockbuster along with the casting, the front graphic for the Bluray box, etc.

Another aspect of film is changing a story to ensure correspondence of the content to the targeted audience. This is a family drama, I assume, about at least somewhat religious people, so I'm thinking that the character of the one-legged stripper would be either greatly moderated to a more standard floozy of the Violet Bick variety or simply left on the floor of the cutting room.

I think this character would have to be considered by the screen writers and not simply ignored since she is mentioned by the protagonist of the film in, not one, but four separate blog posts. This was all at the time of his sister's funeral. Do you know what the word obsession means, boys and girls? Then he brings it up again in November in a Sunday opinion article for the Dallas Morning News which I'm pretty sure gets more readership than the American Conservative, lest anyone miss it who follows Rod Dreher slightly like Pikkumatti. Here's the pertinent excerpt:

After Ruthie died, I was drinking beer (again) with her friends. Somebody brought up the one-legged stripper at the redneck bar just over the state line in Mississippi. Holy Flannery O’Connor, I thought, this is too good to be true. Then someone pulled his BlackBerry out and showed us all a photo of the half-naked woman, hanging off the pole, rocking that one leg.

“Yeah, I’d heard about her,” an old man said. “Ol’ Terry, he went up there one time and asked for a lap dance. Her leg come off. He was kind of surprised by that.”

I listened to this and thought: Why, exactly, am I living outside the South?

Stop reading for a moment and think about that. Let it sink in.

Yeah, good ol' Terry.

I didn't realize that in the south that a man can indulge in pornography, and as long as the woman providing you with her services is crippled, all is forgiven. Charity, right? Neat.

There is a link on that page that reads Rod Dreher: Reliving the sacrifice of Christ, through modern-day martyrs. This writer claims to represent Christianity as well as Conservatism. Are the modern day Christian martyrs into lap dances?

I mentioned that a movie was the second image from that paragraph. The first image is brought up by Brooks when he writes "Dreher, one of the country’s most interesting bloggers, captured Ruthie’s illness in real time." It was initially the word captured which captured my attention. For some reason I thought about the famous incident where a tiger attacked Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy fame. I would argue that things roaming wild and free in the world may be captured and used for a good purpose, but I would also argue that parading those things around in front of large crowds might not be a good purpose. In fact, it could be ultimately dangerous to the one holding the leash although, for a time, the captor may become materially enriched by the parading.

This is probably a good point at which to mention that the title of this blog post was taken from a quote by Milton Friedman, the libertarian economist who is mentioned at the end of Brooks's piece. You may want to Google it for the full quote. The insinuation is made that Friedman is not "communitarian" like the two hundred or so readers of The American Conservative. I guess he wasn't known for his backyard cookouts or play-by-play accounts of the illnesses of family members.

To me, everything in this whole episode reaffirms the incoherence of the reactionary alternative "conservatisms" which have been advanced by quasi-intellectuals in recent decades. Crunchy Conservatism is the poster boy for these, and falls apart upon close examination as fast as James Brown's most famous lyric. You preach about a locally grown diet, but you publicly rejoice when le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé. You prattle about getting away from technology and big business, but then coo about listening to Diana Krall on your iPod while your wife has a C-section. You lament the skankification of Miley Cyrus, yet you obsessively mention a one-legged stripper in close conjunction to the funeral of your sister. And relative to that topic, you express your anxiousness to move back close to where you can drink beer with buddies who carry around pictures of her engaged in her art.

This is the very essence of incoherence and to me bears no resemblance to Christianity or conservatism. Why would anyone take this man seriously on his pet religious topics when he fails to set a good example on the most basics virtues? Especially given that there is so much available to read elsewhere? Would a good Pagan or a good Jew talk about the glories of a strip joint which posted the sign "Tits for Tots" at Christmas?? I hope all the Catholic bloggers and others who had oodles or praise for Rod Dreher when Crunchy Conservatism came out are feeling more and more uncomfortable about ever having defended and endorsed this guy. Sure, no one is perfect and we should judge a man by the totality of his actions. But in this man's case, I see the totality getting darker and darker.

Charlie Jazz Drumming

2012-01-28T10:45:00.000-05:00

Cool video. They do a jazz arrangement of "Miss You". It really works.

"I don't like drum solos." My kind of guy.

Newt Gingrich's Speech Writer

2012-01-26T15:16:00.002-05:00

OK, not quite moon colonies. But close.

Honestly....

Good article about Ron Paul

2012-01-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

This article really makes a case against Ron Paul as a nominee and president. Excerpt:

Many Americans believed in isolationism during the 1920s and '30s, seeing it as a remedy for America's ills and entanglements abroad and as an antidote to U.S. involvement in WWI. Paul is a throwback to those times. Opposing global entanglements and what he sees as an American Empire, Paul offers a foreign policy which amounts to complete retreat from America's moral responsibilities to the world. He is non-interventionist to the nth degree. When asked by reporter Jeffrey Scott Shapiro about America's entrance into WWII and the need to save Jews from the Holocaust, Paul said:

No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't risk American lives to do that. If someone wants to do that on their own because they want to do that, well, that's fine, but I wouldn't do that.

Think about that statement for a moment, for the implication is that America has absolutely no ethical responsibility for any people anywhere at any time -- except its own citizens. Self-interest, even if six million were to perish, is to reign supreme.

I really wish the Ron Paul candidacy didn't represent such horrible ideas and associations. I want to like him because he has a few good ideas. But alas, we live in reality and not the world of wishes.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T13:30:00.002-05:00

Though torn in two
We can be one.

I guess they must be racists?

2011-12-27T13:02:00.000-05:00

Caddell and Schoen are the two Democrat guys who warned Obama about the 2010 shellacking if he didn't moderate any. Now they are back with an article telling Obama to quit and let Hillary Clinton run. It's pretty forceful, here's an excerpt:

One year ago in these pages, we warned that if President Obama continued down his overly partisan road, the nation would be "guaranteed two years of political gridlock at a time when we can ill afford it." The result has been exactly as we predicted: stalemate in Washington, fights over the debt ceiling, an inability to tackle the debt and deficit, and paralysis exacerbating market turmoil and economic decline.

If President Obama were to withdraw, he would put great pressure on the Republicans to come to the table and negotiate—especially if the president singularly focused in the way we have suggested on the economy, job creation, and debt and deficit reduction. By taking himself out of the campaign, he would change the dynamic from who is more to blame—George W. Bush or Barack Obama?—to a more constructive dialogue about our nation's future.

Even though Mrs. Clinton has expressed no interest in running, and we have no information to suggest that she is running any sort of stealth campaign, it is clear that she commands majority support throughout the country. A CNN/ORC poll released in late September had Mrs. Clinton's approval rating at an all-time high of 69%—even better than when she was the nation's first lady. Meanwhile, a Time Magazine poll shows that Mrs. Clinton is favored over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by 17 points (55%-38%), and Texas Gov. Rick Perry by 26 points (58%-32%).

By the way, Merry Christmas.

What do I think? I think it would be great if he quit even if it made it harder for the Republican to win the Presidency. Hillary couldn't be worse, I don't think.

"And the moon under her feet"

2011-12-12T10:46:00.001-05:00

One giant leap for mankind.

The Virgin (William Wordsworth)

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin allied;
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast;
Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast;
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend,
As to a visible Power, in which did blend
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee
Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

Wealth won't stop dementia

2011-12-12T10:33:00.001-05:00

Proof. Excerpt:

“Adding solar energy to our generation portfolio is a strategic move to invest in yet another renewable energy source,” said Greg Abel, chairman, president and CEO of MidAmerican.

Uh-huh. Can you say loss leader, boys and girls?

...my reputation as something more than wild...

2011-11-26T20:52:00.001-05:00

The defense rests.

South African Handshake....

2011-11-25T07:53:00.002-05:00

...it could save your life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

Gee, I hope this doesn't offend any blind people who read my blog.

In which I (Kathleen) get Dreherrific

2011-11-20T14:45:00.009-05:00

"For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." Matthew 23:4

----
I volunteered to help teach music at a Catholic school, so on Saturday I was required to attend a training session called "Protecting God's Children". They didn't show the film credits to my class, but it looked like it was produced by the Catholic diocese in Kansas or Oklahoma . Much of the session consisted of watching a film with the usual plot points -- horrible stories narrated by survivors, previous offenders detailing how they groomed children, and apologetic bishops confessing they didn't do enough to prevent child sex abuse in the church. OH, WAIT. Scratch that last one.

The film presented about five examples of child molestation, which were as follows:

male skating teacher molests underage girls
female teacher molests female student
male camp counselor molests male student
ten year old boy molests five year old boy
priest molests underage girl

In other words, according to my diocese and any diocese who shows this film to lay Catholic employees/volunteers, anyone -- even a ten year old -- can be a child sex abuser. And I suppose technically this is true; the nice kid next door could indeed be a predator fiend. But in light of recent events, is this REALLY the message Catholic dioceses want to send to lay people involved with the Church? "You're just as suspect as we are"? Were bishops frantically covering up for Catholic *lay* people accused of molestation, assuming there were any accused in any significant number? There was a very brief, watery mention of how American bishops and clergy fell short protecting children for, oh, several decades (interestingly it was stated in the passive tense, e.g. "not enough was done…") Frankly, I find it pretty rich that lay Catholic volunteers are forced to sit through a three hour training which not only makes barely any mention of how Catholic bishops nationwide have fallen short protecting children, but points the finger at everyone else in the community as possible culprits.

The training then went on to discuss observing signs of sexual abuse in victims' behavior, and how to avoid being accused of molestation. For example, if a child wants to hug you, you are supposed to "swivel" to the side and just leave your arm across their shoulders. In other words, an entirely new level of paranoia and distrust is introduced before any interaction with children has even taken place. It's very easy to argue this training is unfortunate but necessary. However, I wonder at what point things become so unpleasant and tense people just stop interacting with children anymore. Certainly, given the atmosphere created by "training sessions" like this, if any child were molested, he'd be hard pressed to get a private moment with a paranoid but innocent adult who might be able to help him out. That sad fact alone makes the training somewhat counter-productive.

Obviously the filmmakers went out of their way to illustrate every possible permutation of child sex abuse. Nothing, according to this film, is typical of child sex abuse. But as we know from priest abuse cases, there are patterns. For example, in the case of priests, 80% of the sex abuse was against underage males. So, is it an unhappy coincidence that in the film the only example of priest sex abuse shown involved an underage girl? Seriously?! The one case you are going to cop to in your training, O Catholic poobahs, is going to be totally atypical? WHY IS THAT, EXACTLY? To quote Led Zeppelin, "oooh and it makes me wonder…"

The training leader failed to mention that the Kansas City bishop was just indicted for concealing the fact that a priest had child porn on his computer. I find it amazing that this recent news story wasn't brought up, even though it was completely topical. I guess it's not a fact the bishops want advertised -- but that's just the problem isn't it? They want this stuff to go away. It's pretty clear that for American bishops, concealment and deflection is still the order of the day.

I can hear the plaintive cry now: "But what are the bishops supposed to dooooo? They are between a rock and a hard place." Here's a start: if bishops insist on making the primary thrust of their training "everyone does it", include a big old dose of mea culpa and "here's what we did wrong". This would necessarily amount to more than half a sentence in the passive tense per three hour training session. Also, they should consider hiring a public relations firm that knows what the hell they are doing. It's a sad day when Madison Avenue has more self-awareness than Catholic clergy, but here we are.

They need louder horns

2011-11-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

Just imagine if you had a really loud horn, amplified through a cop-PA system, and you just laid it on. Maybe that would fix these people. Of course it might just rile them more. And I hate scraping occuposers off my car.

What is this shit

2011-11-19T19:41:00.001-05:00

Hat tip Mike Shedlock. Please sit down to prepare yourself for this one from the EU bastards.

EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

NHS health guidelines state clearly that drinking water helps avoid dehydration, and that Britons should drink at least 1.2 litres per day.

The Department for Health disputed the wisdom of the new law. A spokesman said: “Of course water hydrates. While we support the EU in preventing false claims about products, we need to exercise common sense as far as possible."

Good grief.

Bill Whittle on the Relative Wealth of the American Poor

2011-11-19T15:28:00.001-05:00

...and resentment...

...and envy. Which is worse than greed, BTW.

Got Puppies?

2011-11-17T21:33:00.002-05:00

My goddaughter is selling some puppies. She has 2 males left. Purebred Golden Retrievers. Here's a picture of them with their sister who has already been sold, plus see the details below.

Purebred Golden Retriever puppies.
AKC registered, vaccinated and de-wormed.
Both parents are AKC registered and
OFA hip certified. These playful pups have been
raised with lots of love in a family environment.
Ready to go now. $700.00 each (two males left)

Aren't they cute? You know you want one.... Send me an email if you're interested.

Jedi Kittens Strike Back

2011-11-15T09:28:00.001-05:00

Back to the basements

2011-11-15T09:14:00.001-05:00

The dream is over. Bloomberg finally pulled the plug on Occupy. His remarks are interesting:

"Protestors have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags," the mayor said. "Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments."

But their arguments don't stand up on their own. They need props. This is why there are no really successful liberal talk radio shows while there are many conservative ones. Liberals rely on images and theatrics to communicate their message. They have to go through all this "occupying" drama to make a point. Which is... what? Rich people won't share their money with poor people? It's unfair that banks got bailed out? White collar criminals should go to jail? We should have a Marxist revolution? Regardless of the value of any of these messages, why is a tent and sleeping bag a good way to communicate them?

My kids have plastic boots. So?

2011-11-09T20:03:00.000-05:00

...phew, glad that's over....

Occupy's Blood Lust

2011-11-09T07:45:00.002-05:00

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

2011-11-07T10:55:00.000-05:00

Oh, too sweet, too choice. Check out this piece, "Why Bank Transfer Day actually helped banks" about the worthless and back-firing efforts of the Bank Transfer Day movement. Here's the money quote from the top summary:

Bank Transfer Day helps commercial banks by removing less profitable accounts, explains Motley Fool and DCDecoder.

Translation: Thanks for lowering our overhead.

Guy Fawkes gets burned again, so sad.....

This is awesome. Check out the Bass Player, Ray Brown

2011-11-05T20:42:00.000-04:00

Love that smile. He is a happy guy, playing with the best. He takes a half-minute solo 8 minutes in, completely smooth and unpretentious.

Man, is this so good. This is exactly what I need right now.

The pianist is Gene Harris, another dude absolutely sick with talent.

Oh yeah.

Occupy Oakland in Photos

2011-11-05T18:34:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that this Occupy movement has been going on for this long and this is the first visit I made to Zombietime for his excellent photo coverage of Occupy Oakland. He's a truly skilled photographer documentarian who always gets the most pertinent footage by embedding himself within the protests.

I mean, who wants to see pictures of police hitting a guy who asks for it? That happens everyday, thankfully, but it's sort of boring. Or, what about photos of cute protesters? Go to a Russian Bride site for cuties, for heaven's sake. Zombietime captures the essence of the movement from the inside actually exposing the audience to it. Pictures like this one with the man's comments really do speak a thousand words:

Even more disturbingly, all over the camp were signs that said 'Not a toilet,' because some occupiers basically relieve themselves wherever and whenever they feel the urge. Disgusted campers started putting up signs so that their particular tents wouldn't be on the receiving end of any effluvia.

The entire page is long but worth it and ends an update on the teargassing the city was forced into complete with video and news links. I don't know if mainstream outlets don't want to show drug use, buckets of human filth and words on like shit and fuck but how else can you really capture the zeitgeist of the Occupy Movement?

"Slurp up the banality of existence with a krazy-straw of resistance." Is the Krazy Straw a symbol of consumerist enslavement? Is this a failed chant committed to writing? I'll let you decide.

"Last week was free love"

2011-11-05T17:03:00.000-04:00

The NY Post talks about some problems at the good ol' #OWS gatherings that we didn't really see so much at the Tea Parties.

A volunteer at the park admitted concern among protesters about STDs.

“We give directions to clinics if people ask for information regarding STDs,” said the volunteer, who identified himself only as “Captain” and added that pregnancy tests are also a hot item.

“Like anything else, it happens. People ask, and we do the best we can for them.”

Volunteers at the medical tent hand out cash, usually $15 or $20, so the randy radicals can visit clinics that cater to a low-income clientele, the source said.

Experts said it’s the right thing to do.

“My advice for the protesters would be to practice safer sex. It’s a lot cheaper to buy a condom than get treated for an STD,” said Dr. Lisa Oldson, medical director of Chicago-based Analyte Health, which provides testing services for labs nationwide, including STD Test Express New York.

This reminds me of a friend of mine who is a registered independent and what I describe as a Radical Moderate, i.e., someone who thinks the conservatives and liberals are all a bunch of asses. He is smart and working on his doctorate, but he worked construction for many years with older guys who came of age in the sixties. His contention is that the vast majority of men in all the protest movements of the sixties were really just about scoring sex with as many women as possible, and that was an integral part of the energy of the movement. He said that this is evident from the way that so many of them remembered all the political upheaval that went on from the peace movement to civil rights.

So nothing has changed. I suppose this week will be Free Love Week as well, and Analyte Health will be raking in even more dough for their services.

I am the 98%

2011-11-05T12:20:00.000-04:00

...who don't care about immigration and who view the issue as a big distraction. Excerpt:

Actually, no major poll of the last year—no, not one of them—showed robust public interest in immigration. This month, CBS News asked respondents to name “the most important problem facing this country today.” Less than 2 percent came up with “illegal immigration,” while a dozen other concerns, led by “the economy and jobs,” of course, finished higher on the list. Over the summer, surveys from Bloomberg and Fox News found 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively, who identified immigration as a priority, with gas prices, the war in Afghanistan, health care, the deficit, education, and even nebulous concerns like “partisan politics” and “moral values” more frequently mentioned by the public.

Lost my friggin' leg

2011-10-30T22:22:00.002-04:00

Screw it, they're good.

"But maybe in the next world, maybe in the next world"

2011-10-29T17:17:00.000-04:00

A major fracture in the Occupy movement? Say it isn't so! Major down twinkles, man. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. All honeymoons end. Here's the full article, and here's a highlights piece from Verum Serum. Excerpt:

Because even by the time the General Assembly was ready to meet at 7:30 p.m., things were unraveling. A large group, made up almost entirely of men, stood in a circle denouncing the General Assembly and their efforts to "police" the camp, particularly regarding drinking or smoking weed. Anyone who spoke in favor of a code of conduct was aggressively booed. Adding to the morass were four different men looping in and out of the circle, each armed with his own megaphone, shouting their own grievances and rhetoric. When a runner from the General Assembly made the announcement that they would begin the meeting, he was thunderously shouted down, then someone yelled out “The GA is dead!” and the crowd erupted in both celebration and shock: "We don’t want you or your fucking procedure!" One male protester, in an army helmet and no shirt, cried out as shoving matches erupted between several groups of men. The young man who was leading the informal group yelled: "This is the People’s Forum! There are no committees, there are no rules, everyone gets to speak. Get in a circle! GET IN A CIRCLE!" A majority of the crowd abided, although they were openly chastised when the circle took on non-circle shapes.

If there are no rules, then what is the next statement when he says "Everyone gets to speak"? Sounds like a rule to me, albeit a dumb rule. There's an old proverb, something like "Anarchists should be seen and not heard" which I think is mainly based on the content of their blather and not the threatening tone or the megaphonic volume.

The next paragraph mentions how everything eventually degenerated into "spastic dancing and primal bellowing". This is the most consistent thing to do shortly after denouncing rules, authority and order of any kind.

Reminds me of the lyrics to Death of a Disco Dancer by the Smiths:

Love, peace and harmony ?
Love, peace and harmony ?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
...but maybe in the next world

"[W]e have no idea what you are doing..."

2011-10-29T12:50:00.000-04:00

So get this: Occupy Madison loses it's permit. Why?

A neighboring hotel's staff alleged voiced concerns about having to recently escort hotel employees to and from bus stops late at night due to inappropriate behavior, such as public masturbation, from street protesters. In addition, officials agreed further occupation should not be allowed to continue without restrooms on site to avoid further public health violations.

Public masturbation. Yep, that ought to do it. Here's the part that really puts it into featured can't-make-this-up-material.

Occupy Madison representative and street use permit holder Paul Streeter said he hopes to use the 30 on the Square space again as soon as possible after Freakfest.

"[The protest] is indeed a work in progress," Streeter said. "We will continue to address issues as they come up."

No pun intended, we'll assume.

Madison's Parks Division requested a written form stating the dates and location where members wish to occupy.

"You can tell us what your proposals are, but we have no idea what you are doing, how you are doing it or what your safety and security plan is," McCullen said. "We have nothing in writing to back it up, and we usually require that all events have [written plans]."

Do any of them no how to write?

Occupy Madison is relocating onto Olin Terrace until Monday when Freak Fest is over, and they can request a new permit for 30 on the Square.

Call it Freak Fest II. Or maybe "The Real Freak Fest". Or "Festering Freaks", "We have no freaking point"... the possibilities are endless.

The Like Total Unfairness of Darn Rich People

2011-10-27T21:35:00.002-04:00

My feeble attempts at humor are nothing, NOTHING, compared to this awesomeness from Frank J. Fleming. Excerpt:

See, the wealthiest 1 percent prevent us from getting ahead because any time we improve our incomes, we spend more on businesses and services, and guess who that helps? The 1 percent. Getting ahead just isn’t worth the knowledge that the rich are getting richer.

There’s no point in working hard to try to become one of the 1 percent ourselves, because what’s the chance of that happening? One in 100? Who would play a lottery with odds that bad?

No, instead of working hard, the 99 percent can only sit and protest on Wall Street until the wealthiest 1 percent are torn down.

Here’s the thing: They’re the 1 percent, but we’re the 99 percent. Their wealth may be much more than ours, but 99 is a much bigger number than one. So we should just gang up and take their money.

When one person takes the property of another, that’s tyranny, but when lots of people get together and do it, that’s democracy. So we should legislate that the 1 percent no longer get to keep that vast wealth and must instead distribute it among the rest of us. (I should get the largest portion because it was my idea.)

Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

Paul Ryan: Saving the American Idea

2011-10-27T21:25:00.001-04:00

Subtitle is "Rejecting Fear, Envy and the Politics of Division".

He is right on, my man Paul.

I live for this stuff: Occupy Jupiter!

2011-10-26T22:10:00.001-04:00

It's so unfair! Grab your spacesuits.

Great line from this page: "99% of all matter in the solar system is in the sun. We are the 1%!!!"

I found the picture in a TPP email, but this is probably the original source.

Geometric Purity Fail

2011-10-26T16:22:00.001-04:00

The dispenser on the refrigerator where I work is labeled Ice Cubes. But you could hardly call what came out when I pushed the lever "cubes". They would be best described as "the round half of a semi-circle."

They were CINOs: Cubes In Name Only.

Sure they functioned as ice, chilling my cola thoroughly. But I kept thinking "Why aren't you cubes like you say you are? Do you just want to fit in the round glass better and that is why you've compromised on your shape? And how will we ever restore the French Monarchy?" I didn't voice these thoughts aloud like I wanted to; someone might have walked in the kitchen and heard me. But I don't think the faux cubes would have cared. They were too busy smiling at each other like Cheshire cats: "Look how cool we all are!"

I looked at the glass filled with cola and phony cubes for what seemed like a minute but was actually only about fifty-seven seconds, give or take a few. Finally I made a firm decision. I fished out each of the phony cubes with a spoon and threw them in the sink. It was a stainless steel spoon made in the USA, not one of those new plastic ones that only looks like it's made of metal.

Satisfied that I had made the right decision, I picked up my partially flat cola and returned to my cube. As usual, I couldn't help noticing as I entered my cube that it is actually rectangular and missing two sides.

Can Herman Cain Beat Obama?

2011-10-18T20:22:00.003-04:00

Rasmussen says yes, 43-41. Excerpt:

Interestingly, all of the income demos give narrow splits. Obama wins the under-$20K by only six points despite his recent class-warfare schtick, 39/45. Cain wins every other income demo by six or fewer points, including a narrow 46/44 in the $100K+ demo. Just as curiously, Obama only beats Cain among union households by a seven-point plurality (44/37), while Cain wins non-union households by an even narrower margin of 44/41. Obama beats Cain among those who reject Tea Party affiliation, but only by fifteen points, 34/49. Those who embrace the Tea Party support Cain head to head by 86/7, not surprisingly, while those who are not sure support Cain by 21 points, 48/27.

I say sounds good, just dump this 9-9-9 crap and you got my vote, Mr. Cain.

"If you don't have a tent, it's sort of pointless...."

2011-10-17T23:10:00.000-04:00

OK, this is Satellite Howard Stern, so I don't to even say "not safe for work", etc. But it is sooooooo funny.

Saw it on Hot Air. There is another produced video on that page which is based on footage from Occupy Oakland which is really scary in the way it showcases the Marxism inherent in the movement. No one is going to be able to hush the radicals up. They are the mainstay of the movement.

Edward T. Hall III: Face of the Revolution

2011-10-16T13:43:00.002-04:00

This guy makes me feel good to be among the 99.999% of people who are glad that he represents the .001%.

Trust fund baby, of course. Hat tip Hot Air.

Had Enough? Vote YES on Issue 2

2011-10-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

Even the Plain Dealer is endorsing Issue 2.

Funny new Twitter tag: #YouMightBeAFleabagger

2011-10-15T12:30:00.001-04:00

I'm digging the new hash tag on Twitter, #YouMightBeAFleabagger. Here are some highlights:

OldBob47: If your Mom urges you go out & protest so she can have a chance to clean the basement #YouMightBeAFleabagger

Iowa Hawk: If you think you're cleaning up Wall Street by taking a dump in the middle of it, #YouMightBeAFleabagger

And my favorite...

Nick_Rizzuto: If you think the 90% unemployment rate amongst post-modern, bi-sexual haiku majors was caused by Goldman Sachs #YouMightBeAFleabagger

I guess if I really thought this movement was going anywhere I wouldn't be laughing at it so much. And I suppose that some bad things might come out of it. But these people are the types who are easily distracted by shiny objects, and they don't have Barack Obama's ability to jive talk. Plus I think shitting on police cars is a warm-up act compared to what we'll see these people doing if they aren't given enough bread and circuses to occupy them. So negative public opinion is right around the corner.

This is real. This is not a "mockumentary"

2011-10-12T13:36:00.000-04:00

If you don't find this hilarious, it's probable that we cannot be friends. Sorry.

Wonder if Mr. Roberts of Robert's Rules of Order fame was wearing facial hardware when he first explained the rules.

OK, so wrap it up, idiots.

Cool

2011-10-09T12:57:00.002-04:00

...and refreshing.

Pathetic White People

2011-10-07T18:30:00.002-04:00

Honestly...

Makes me so embarrassed to be white.

That's the day I throw my drugs away

2011-10-01T12:14:00.000-04:00

What a sound they had....

The Truth about Ohio Issue 2

2011-10-01T12:02:00.000-04:00

Here's the "go-to" site to get the truth on Ohio Issue 2. I've reprinted the Myth/Truth chart here:

MYTH: State Issue 2 is an attack on Ohio's middle class.

TRUTH: Issue 2 empowers the middle class - and every Ohio taxpayer - with reasonable reforms to the growing cost of government pay and benefits, which now consume as much as 80 percent of local budgets. As The Columbus Dispatch wrote in an editorial: "There is no question that Senate Bill 5 is about the middle class. But it is not an attack, it is an attempt to restore to Ohio's middle class the control of the government it pays for and elects." State Issue 2 makes some very fair and common sense requests of government employees to help our local communities get their growing labor costs under control.

MYTH: State Issue 2 would "cut salaries and benefits."

TRUTH: Issue 2 would not cut salaries or benefits for any government employee. Employees would simply be asked to pay a modest share of their benefits, just like employees in the private sector do. For health care coverage, they would pay at least 15% of their overall plan. (Many local government employees currently pay less than 9% of their health care premium, while the average private sector worker pays upwards of 30%.) In addition, employees would be required to pay their personal share of a retirement plan (only 10%), rather than asking taxpayers to pay that share. That's not too much to ask at a time when many private sector workers get no retirement benefit at all. Finally, Issue 2 requires that benefits apply equally to all public employees, so no one gets special treatment.

MYTH: State Issue 2 will raise government employee health care costs.

TRUTH: Issue 2 only affects government employees who pay less than 15 percent of their taxpayer-funded health care premium. The new law requires all government employees to pay at least 15 percent. That's hardly unfair when private sector workers are being asked to pay an average of 31 percent. This reform won't impact state employees at all because they already pay 15 percent of their health care.

MYTH: State Issue 2 will eliminate government employee pensions.

TRUTH: Government employees will still get a very generous pension benefit – an annual payment that averages their three highest annual salaries. That's a pretty nice deal, when many private sector workers get no retirement benefit at all. State Issue 2 only ends a practice where some government union contracts require taxpayers to pick up the tab for BOTH the employer AND employee shares of a required pension contribution. In this economy, it's simply not right to ask struggling taxpayers to foot the bill so government employees can get a free retirement. Issue 2 simply says government employees should pay their required share (10 percent) and taxpayers will contribute the employer share (14 percent).

MYTH: State Issue 2 will cut teacher salaries.

TRUTH: That's one of the scare tactics government unions are using to turn people against these reforms. Nothing in Issue 2 determines salary levels. It only ends the practice of handing out automatic pay raises, or "step" increases, and longevity pay - or bonuses just for holding the job for a certain period of time. Issue 2 also asks that performance be added as a factor in teacher compensation, a goal President Barack Obama set out in his national education policy in 2009.

MYTH: State Issue 2 will cost jobs.

TRUTH: Just the opposite is true. Ohio's state and local tax burden ranks among the top third in the nation. As a result, companies large and small have left our state in pursuit of better tax incentives elsewhere, taking hundreds of thousands of jobs with them. If Ohio hopes to compete for new job growth, we have to make our state a more affordable place to live, work and do business. That starts with getting the cost of government under control so we can direct more of our limited resources into economic development, community revitalization and better schools.

MYTH: State Issue 2 will destroy union bargaining power by prohibiting strikes.

TRUTH: Ohio's public safety employees are already prohibited from striking. Issue 2 simply expands that restriction to all state and local government employees. Strikes are rarely used to settle a dispute, and, more importantly, they carry the potential to put schools, safety and services at risk if workers are allowed to walk off the job. Most federal government employees have long been prohibited from striking, a policy upheld by presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama.

MYTH: State Issue 2 will result in more labor disputes by eliminating binding arbitration.

TRUTH: Binding arbitration - or the fear of it - forces local governments to agree to labor contracts they cannot afford, and it should be eliminated. Local governments across Ohio have been forced into budget deficits and even tax increases by unelected, unaccountable arbitrators, who have no obligation to the taxpayers. These decisions are sometimes made without regard for current budget or economic conditions. In most every dispute situation, Issue 2 replaces outside arbitrators with elected government leaders, who are directly accountable to the voters for managing tax dollars. If taxpayers don't like a particular contract agreement, they can fire the politicians who agreed to it. They'll also have a greater, more transparent role in helping to resolve contract disputes by reviewing proposals from both sides and participating in a public hearing. And, if the elected officials choose the most expensive contract offer, taxpayers can take it to the ballot as a referendum. It's time to put the people who pay the bills back in charge of how the money gets spent.

MYTH: State Issue 2 eliminates collective bargaining rights for government workers.

TRUTH: Actually, the law hasn't changed. The new law states the same as the old law: "Public employees have the right to… bargain collectively with their public employers to determine wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment." The only difference is that Issue 2 helps to better define what those "terms and conditions" are. Since the old law was passed nearly 30 years ago, government employee unions have successfully expanded the definition to include a laundry list of costly perks and fringe benefits that taxpayers can no longer afford. Senate Bill 5 simply restores the balance between the needs of our government employees and the ability of taxpayers to effectively manage their schools and services.

So now you know why we need to vote "YES" on Issue 2, if you didn't already.

A Deadly Sham

2011-09-29T20:11:00.001-04:00

Some people will do anything for money. There are hookers, pimps, Nigerian scam artists, Solyndra, etc. Then there are people who've figured out how to get women to abort babies via testing. Here are two good paragraphs:

What’s more is that, for all the talk of prenatal testing being only the sharing of information and not requiring abortion, test developers nonetheless count on most mothers terminating. They have to in order to justify the unnecessary costs of their testing. Over 99 percent of pregnant women are not carrying a child with Down syndrome. While a negative prenatal test may provide welcomed reassurance, from a dollars-and-cents perspective, it is an unnecessary expense. Developers of prenatal testing, however, have justified these unnecessary expenses by demonstrating through cost-effectiveness studies that such costs can be offset to the private insurer or the public healthcare system, provided that enough children prenatally identified with Down syndrome are terminated. In this way, prenatal testing is promoted as “saving” the health care system the added medical costs associated with Down syndrome. For all their public defenses, test developers nevertheless rely on a high percentage of abortions to justify the cost of their testing.

But the regime of prenatal testing for Down syndrome is exposed for the sham that it is when the double standard within prenatal testing is considered. In 2007, the same year that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended that all women be offered testing for Down syndrome, ACOG’s ethics committee issued an opinion finding that prenatal testing for sex selection was unethical. The same arguments for prenatal testing for Down syndrome can be made for prenatal testing for sex selection. Sharing the information about the sex of the child is simply respecting a woman’s right to choose by giving her information she can use to determine whether to continue her pregnancy. But, in the same year that ACOG said all women should be offered testing for Down syndrome, it also said it is unethical to use prenatal testing for sex selection because it enforces sexist opinions that one sex is more desirable or valuable to society or a family than another. The ACOG committees that worked on the contrasting statements failed to appreciate the doublespeak, since prenatal testing for Down syndrome reinforces discriminatory attitudes against those considered to have disabilities. Upon seeing a baby girl, strangers do not ask “why didn’t her parents undergo prenatal testing,” but that question is asked of parents when that little girl happens to have Down syndrome.

...but read the whole thing. Really shows the anatomy of an abortion industry boondoggle. I just heard about this on Hugh Hewitt's show, but it's half a year old.

Oh hell yeah

2011-09-28T19:16:00.002-04:00

Here's where Rick Perry buys his golf clubs. And balls & shit.

J. Mitchell Simon "House of Eden"

2011-09-24T10:16:00.004-04:00

Find more experiencemitchell songs at Myspace Music

The only problem with this tune is that it's too short.

Classical Music

2011-09-18T21:49:00.002-04:00

Sounds like he says "Youtube" at the beginning.

Gimme little drink

2011-09-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

I've been singing this tune and listening to it all week.

Attack Watch gets "Downfalled"

2011-09-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

Hitler discovers ATTACKWATCH is a joke.

Too funny. What's your favorite line? Mine is "The American people are stupid, like dogs; toothless hillbillies with lizard brains."

Vigalancia de Ataque!

2011-09-16T13:07:00.001-04:00

H/T AmSpec

Blecchhhhh....

2011-09-13T01:14:00.001-04:00

Hey, that's me regurgitating something from a little over a year ago. I read it and got a big kick. I remember a guy, big sports fan, being all down in the dumps at the time. I said "Why did you think LeBron James would stick around Cleveland?" He pointed out that he has tattoos which read "Family" and "Loyalty". Oh, honestly....

Here's a good one for all the die hard LeBron James fans. No big tips for you suckas!

Who reads American Conservative Magazine?

2011-09-12T13:59:00.002-04:00

And who comments there? My friend sent me an email last night admiring Kathleen's The Day Rod Was There post and simultaneously suggesting that the list be updated including the new Rod-centric details he posted here. I had already read that bit of inadvertent clownishness, but I checked in today for the comments since he had specifically requested them. The first one sort of popped up at me:

mccavity, on September 11th, 2011 at 10:32 am Said:

I lived in the city but was out of town visiting family. I watched it on TV.

When the first tower was hit I thought it was an accident.

When the second tower was hit I thought “THIS IS THE PRICE WE ARE PAYING FOR ISRAEL”.

On this day of remembering where we all were, and what happened, if is very important to remember WHY it happened.

Rod Dreher probably won't delete this comment. He only deletes comments if he disagrees with them or if he finds them to be offensive.

Eulogy-writing 101

2011-09-11T14:38:00.000-04:00

Just got finished reading this fantastic obituary by Oengus Moonbones about his friend, Joseph Schooler. Wow. I loved its Christian simplicity and its American-ness. He should teach a class on how to write a eulogy; many could benefit. The ending was pure poetry.

In Genesee, the grain silos make their stand and pierce the blue sky as they had for many years. This place was as American as America can ever get.

Hope I can check out Idaho some day and look up at the sky from the Land Inbetween.

B16 on 9/11

2011-09-11T14:10:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of Christopher Blosser, here's the Holy Father's message for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.

To my Venerable Brother
The Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

On this day my thoughts turn to the somber events of September 11, 2001, when so many innocent lives were lost in the brutal assault on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the further attacks in Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. I join you in commending the thousands of victims to the infinite mercy of Almighty God and in asking our heavenly Father to continue to console those who mourn the loss of loved ones.

The tragedy of that day is compounded by the perpetrators’ claim to be acting in God’s name. Once again, it must be unequivocally stated that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life is precious in God’s sight and no effort should be spared in the attempt to promote throughout the world a genuine respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals and peoples everywhere.

The American people are to be commended for the courage and generosity that they showed in the rescue operations and for their resilience in moving forward with hope and confidence. It is my fervent prayer that a firm commitment to justice and a global culture of solidarity will help rid the world of the grievances that so often give rise to acts of violence and will create the conditions for greater peace and prosperity, offering a brighter and more secure future.

With these sentiments, I extend my most affectionate greetings to you, your brother Bishops and all those entrusted to your pastoral care, and I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and serenity in the Lord,

From the Vatican, September 11, 2011

Investment Bonanza

2011-09-11T13:15:00.004-04:00

About a week ago, The Man From K Street pointed out a funny Onion piece, and I just got a chance to read it. It does always seem like the "experts" called on by the media are pretty much in agreement with the media's point of view. I wonder why that is? Excerpt:

Experts went on to tell reporters that not only is there no safer place to invest than print media, there's also no sector of the economy with more promise for growth. Urging investors to diversify their stock portfolio among national and regional newspapers as well as dailies and weeklies, they said print media will be a "bonanza" for shareholders, even as the economy as a whole flounders.

"Print media is a cash cow that will multiply an investment over and over," said the experts. "Other products fail, real estate bubbles burst, but print media is here to stay. The only retirement strategy anyone needs is as close as their local newsstand."

And I loved this paragraph:

"No matter how tough times get, people will never turn their back on their newspapers," said every media expert in the nation, adding that newspapers would likewise never, never, never take their readers for granted, because it is readers that the print media industry depends on, and the nation's newspapers and magazines have always, without fail, worked tirelessly to provide readers with the highest-quality product possible. "They wouldn't desert their trusted print media outlets like that. Besides, everyone knows that new media technologies come and go, and that newspapers are an indispensable part of our national identity that must be protected by all of us, and chiefly by shrewd investors or even ordinary business owners who take out a very reasonably priced quarter-page ad. Or something smaller. You'd be surprised how much mileage you can get out of even a tiny little classified."

Lest a gullible passer-by think this is serious investment advice, I will merely remind all readers of the old maxim: "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."

Bansai economy?

2011-09-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

Timothy Lee shows how Obama's economy has been the worst for growth. Excerpt:

The economy proceeded to grow 1.7% in the third quarter of 2009, and reached 3.8% in the fourth quarter before peaking at 3.9% in the first quarter of 2010. But then, a new decline began. Economic growth slowed to 3.8% in the second quarter of 2010, then declined to 2.5% for the third quarter, and then 2.3% for the final quarter. The first quarter of 2011 saw growth of just 0.4%, and the most recent quarter came in at just 1.0%.

In other words, economic growth, paltry as it was under Obama, reached its 3.9% peak over one year ago and then began a new decline. But Obama and his apologists ask us to believe that he deserves credit for the upswing that began before he entered the White House, yet the ensuing decline that continues to this day is somehow his predecessor’s fault?

Maybe Obama is trying to make the United States economy into a kind of bansai. A little snip here via regulation, a little snip there via NLRB bullying whenever part of the economy threatens to start growing. Liberals hate sprawling growth and love tight control. They are like the weird control freak mom who doesn't want her baby boy to grow up. The hard-working realists in this country deserve better.

"You want to screw that thing back on Earl?"

2011-09-10T12:27:00.002-04:00

That ol' C. W. McCall... God-dang!!

From Scott Heiferman, Founder of Meetup: "9/11 & us"

2011-09-10T12:21:00.000-04:00

I got this email from Scott Heiferman who got the idea for Meetup.com shortly after 9/11/01, as he explains.

Fellow Meetuppers,

I don't write to our whole community often, but this week is special because it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many people don't know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby.

Let me tell you the Meetup story. I was living a couple miles from the Twin Towers, and I was the kind of person who thought local community doesn't matter much if we've got the internet and tv. The only time I thought about my neighbors was when I hoped they wouldn't bother me.

When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they'd normally ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being neighborly.

A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was
born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet -- and grow local communities?

We didn't know if it would work. Most people thought it was a crazy idea -- especially because terrorism is designed to make people distrust one another.

A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months after 9/11.

Today, almost 10 years and 10 million Meetuppers later, it's working. Every day, thousands of Meetups happen. Moms Meetups, Small Business Meetups, Fitness Meetups... a wild variety of 100,000 Meetup Groups with not much in common -- except one thing.

Every Meetup starts with people simply saying hello to neighbors. And what often happens next is still amazing to me.
They grow businesses and bands together, they teach and motivate each other, they babysit each other's kids and find other ways to work together. They have fun and find solace together. They make friends and form powerful community. It's powerful stuff.

It's a wonderful revolution in local community, and it's thanks to everyone who shows up.

Meetups aren't about 9/11, but they may not be happening if it weren't for 9/11.

9/11 didn't make us too scared to go outside or talk to strangers. 9/11 didn't rip us apart. No, we're building new community together!!!!

The towers fell, but we rise up. And we're just getting started with these Meetups.

Scott Heiferman (on behalf of 80 people at Meetup HQ) Co-Founder & CEO, Meetup New York City September 2011

My dad could beat up your dad

2011-09-07T00:57:00.005-04:00

People unfortunate enough to know me well know that my favorite humorist is Jack Handy of Deep Thoughts and SNL fame. Here is a Deep Thought which comes to my mind at the moment (source):

Grandpa used to describe the size of everything in terms of a calf. For instance, if he was describing a large dog, he would say it was 'about as big as a calf.' Or about a car, he would say it 'could seat four calves comfortably.' (Oh, that was another thing: how many calves could ride in something?) One time he was talking about a calf he had, and I asked him how big it was. He said it was 'about three-quarters as big as a calf.' Sometimes Grandpa would tell time by calves. If you asked him how long something would take, he'd say 'About as long as it takes a calf to drive over here.'

Yes, I know, completely absurd. And maybe you don't think it's very funny at all. I understand. Well, here's something else which is absurd and not very funny, and is a good illustration of obsessing, not about calves, but about Catholics. Witness a man who uses the occasion of a dear friend's death to attack his former coreligionists. Excerpt:

As Catholics, we figured an archbishop would be an exalted personage who carried himself with a sense of inner pomp. By that time, frankly, I had had quite enough of bishops and archbishops.

I was on the ropes spiritually, battered by several years of writing about the sex abuse scandal in my church, and disgusted beyond measure with our hierarchs. They carried themselves with such a pride and entitlement, but when it came to protecting the children of the faithful, they had disgraced themselves.

As usual, there's a lot here. "On the ropes" is a boxing metaphor. But what opponent is "battering" him in the ring? Dreher's answer: "several years of writing about the sex abuse scandal in my church". Ergo, he was beating himself up. Ding!

But this part made me laugh. Check out Dreher's own "santo subito"-induced blindness where his Gandalfian friend is concerned:

That said, Dmitri's leadership was not flawless. I never saw problems, because I came to know him only in the late winter of his life. But some parishioners with long memories told me that as personally holy and pastoral as he was, Dmitri hated conflict, and didn't exercise strong administrative oversight when he needed to have done so. (This is also true of Pope John Paul II, incidentally).

Oh, well, no staff-breaking scene from the Dallas Gandalf. Note the obligatory tu quoque tossed at John Paul II, a recent Catholic Pope, at the end of an otherwise boring paragraph.

Is it a coincidence that just about everything reminds the working boy of how much better Orthodoxy is than Catholicism? On March 17th, Rod Dreher attacked the Catholic Church in the midst of a piece supposedly about the glories of Eastern Orthodoxy. Back a few years ago, Rod Dreher used the occasion of the death of Father Richard Neuhaus to attack his differing views on priest scandals. If you were the proverbial man from Mars, you would have learned precious little about Eastern Orthodoxy or Father Neuhaus from those articles, but you might have probably noticed that the author disliked Catholicism a great deal and waited for a priest who was noted as a skilled rhetorician to pass away before attacking his views.

The Orthodox readers who comment on Dreher at this blog—on this post and others—reinforce the disgust that we Catholics have for his constant Catholic-bashing. They are embarrassed and appalled that someone seemingly ignorant of his new faith is so strident in condemning his former one. I invite them to add a first name or nick name to their comments so we have an easier time getting to know them.

How many times must the cannon balls fly at the Catholic Church? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

A midlife crisis is a real bitch

2011-09-04T17:31:00.003-04:00

And I'm sure people think I'm compensating when they see this 96-gallon beast in the driveway. But this Big Momma of G-cans will hold freaking everything from an entire week, and unlike our old little guys, it's got a hinged lid. So the raccoons' mouths can keep watering as they kick on down the lane.

The old lids went missing when we lived in Cleveland on winter. I hope the thieves enjoyed their sleds.

We're going to christen this beauty over the long weekend. Still not sure what to name her.

Proof of God's existence

2011-08-28T13:42:00.000-04:00

Awesome. Seriously, how could this have happened by chance?

He's obviously not a lawyer

2011-08-24T21:11:00.002-04:00

If you murder your baby, don't forget to tell your husband to keep his mouth shut when you get caught. Otherwise he may say something like this:

"My wife was not in her five senses. She didn't know what she was doing," Medina said, choking back tears. "I don't know if many people know what postpartum depression is, but in reality it is something very serious and needs to be treated."

Not "in her five senses." Weak. A sad story, but premeditation was likely involved.

Simmons said Hermosillo's behavior showed she intended to kill her son, regardless of her mental state.

"It's not like she's in a fetal position when the police arrived," he said. "She picks a specific location, drives to the top of the building (and) takes the helmet off. I'm sure she's depressed, the post-partum blues, I'm sure she had some of that."

I have five kids, OK? Do you think there's never been pust-partum depression in our house? It's pretty bad, but murder is something different. Rest in peace, little guy.

"Me have given lectures"

2011-08-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

More CM.

Andy Nowicki has a new book out

2011-08-23T21:28:00.000-04:00

Andy Nowicki has a new book out. Here's an interview thing about it, I read half of it. I might get this one, sounds like it might be interesting. The last one about Columbine was just too weird.

Andy is a nice guy who I jagged around with a bunch of times in the early days of this blog. He usually took it pretty well, as I recall. I guess he's some sort of professor.

You call yourself intense

2011-08-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

Check out that last frames with the geeks in the sweater vests. Looks like they're playing a lunch gig at Microsoft.

Oh, I can hardly wait.

2011-08-22T22:21:00.002-04:00

Per a tweet pointed out to me by Pikkumatti, Rod Dreher is returning to the blogosphere. Maybe he got tired of having internet searches on his name return Est Quod Est and R. S. McCain on the first page, mainstream conservatives that we are. So rah, rah, yay team.

Update: Picture change.

Killers, thieves and cookies

2011-08-21T18:07:00.001-04:00

OK, you may hate Tom Waits, but you have to admit this is well done.

Kissing the little girl at 0:30--priceless.

I have about 17 favorite moments in this mash-up. We'll discuss them in the comments.

H/T Owen.

"Tell me all the things that I want to hear"

2011-08-21T18:02:00.002-04:00

Silly girl I'm in love with you.

Ohio, Vote YES on Issue 3

2011-08-20T10:32:00.000-04:00

From our friend at Ohioans for Healthcare Freedom, aka "The Ohio Project".

Fellow Ohioans, don't forget to vote YES on Ohio Issue 3 on November 8, 2011.

Aww, wow man!

2011-08-17T21:24:00.002-04:00

You make my darkness bright, baby!

Turn it on, man.

Aww, yeah baby!

2011-08-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Just Stop

2011-08-14T21:44:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine is just losing it on Facebook. Here's the thing: I really don't think she has any idea that she is. She is "living out loud" and making sure her "friends" get multiple angles of her dirty laundry.

I know she doesn't read this blog, but if she happens to maybe this will wake her up. Facebook is basically an information-sharing service as I've noted before, and posting amounts to broadcasting to subscribers (a more accurate word than friends.) This person has over 200 such and, unless I'm very much mistaken, she is imprudent to be sharing such information with at least half of them. Possibly most of them, at least those who make a lot of the comments to her dirty laundry posts which have the most commentary by far on her page.

She basically has two ex-husbands at this point, although I'm not sure she has formally ended her relationship with the current one. Recently he has been found guilty of a crime involving a female who is a minor, hence the breakup. It was painful to read her posts about this on Facebook. Wouldn't it have been better to send private emails if she really felt she must keep people informed of developments? By the way, my description is purposely vague and censored, but I'll say no more. Her posts are far more graphic than the newspaper stories and yes, there were newspaper stories.

Now she has let go with a rant about a horrible thing her first husband told her children to characterize her. This is basically like handing the football to the other team. Now everybody who is a friend/subscriber gets to be splattered with the grime of his boorishness. Everybody at her page already knows he's a loser if they know her, so why do this? Does she want attention? She's blasting this out to 200+ people, some of whom are children from the look of the pictures. When they see her at church or at family gatherings or on the street what are they going to think? "There's the lady whose life is like the soaps."

She needs to just stop.

I like what Kathleen said in response to the piece I linked earlier with regard to self-censorship, which is basically what I want her to begin engaging in. "It's a bit like abstinence -- self-censorship is the most reliable form of privacy. and actually Facebook presents an excellent means of teaching this skill." Well, people who know me know that I'm all for self-governance. But I believe people know not what they do, so I keep putting these posts out like cigarette warning labels.

(Yeah, I'm mixing topics here, but that's a choice cartoon, no? Source.)

Le soir

2011-07-17T12:42:00.004-04:00

Beginning is a little lame. Music kicks in around 1:30.

Public Service Announcement (without guitars)

2011-07-11T20:54:00.002-04:00

We had a fire in our house, in our kids' room. It happened a few weekends ago. No one got hurt, the damage was mostly from smoke, and I really don't want to talk about it in any more detail. But here's what you need to know--the culprit:

...and here's the scoop on the exact model. Basically each time these SMC oscillating fans oscillate they get a step closer to shorting out the cord which comes up through the stand. So if you have one of these, you may want to replace it with something newer.

Hokey Pokey President

2011-06-27T22:01:00.003-04:00

Pretty accurate.

HT Erick Erickson

Jonah on the GOP primary

2011-06-27T21:27:00.000-04:00

Here's a rambling yet fun Goldberg article on the GOP primary. Have to admit I hadn't heard Pataki's remarks about hate crimes.

Oh, and Pataki is also the author of what I have long considered the single dumbest prepared statement in modern political history.

“It is conceivable,” Pataki said in 2000 when he signed a hate-crimes bill into law, “that if this law had been in effect 100 years ago, the greatest hate crime of all, the Holocaust, could have been avoided.”

You could write several Ph. D. dissertations on why that is idiotic. Though I do like the image of Hitler having his hands tied by a hate-crimes law, because, you know, there were no laws against genocidal murder when he came into power. “Meine Herren,” Hitler would have to tell his comrades in the Eagle’s Nest, “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.”

Sort of puts me in mind of the blame-the-Pope-for-AIDS crowd, only with the added silliness factor of mindless holocaust invocation.

"Many things are on my mind, words in the way"

2011-06-25T15:43:00.000-04:00

Ironic and Coincidental

2011-06-19T12:58:00.001-04:00

What do you think I got for Father's Day? Ironically my wife got me the Sh*t My Dad Says book, which is funny because as I mentioned earlier the subject of the book is so anti-Father's Day. It came out last year, but who cares. You're always behind when you have five kids.

Also received awesome homemade cards. Homemade cards on Father's Day mean I didn't have to pay for store bought F-day cards with stale aphorisms, the definition of loser. Instead I got penguins and Pokemons on my cards with secret codes which had to be explained to me. Definition of awesome.

Plus we went to Panera and ate out on the patio which is like the top thing to me right now after that ridiculous winter.

Awesome Father's Day Story

2011-06-16T21:16:00.002-04:00

This is the real shit. "I love you; your room stinks."

How much time do you have?

2011-06-16T11:29:00.000-04:00

If you have 15 minutes or so, I highly recommend reading George Weigel's piece "The End of the Bernardin Era" from the Feb 2011 issue of First Things. I just finished it, and it was informative and enjoyable as all Weigel's articles are. Here's a typical paragraph:

John Paul II embodied a heroic model of the priesthood, and a heroic exercise of the office of bishop, that had a profound effect, over two-and-a-half decades, on the Catholic priesthood and episcopate in the United States. The men who elected Timothy Dolan as USCCB president in November 2010 were men deeply influenced by the John Paul II model, as they were men intellectually formed by the Polish pope’s dynamic magisterium on questions ranging from the Catholic sexual ethic to Catholic social doctrine. They understood, in a way that those who embodied the Bernardin Era did not quite seem to grasp, that it was important for the Catholic Church to be able to give a comprehensive, coherent, and compelling account of its faith, hope, and love in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church, just as they understood that the reaffirmation of classic Catholic moral theology in Veritatis Splendor was an important weapon in the war against what John Paul II’s successor called the “dictatorship of relativism.”

If you don't have much time, here's a quick email I just received from ol' Bill Donohue at the Catholic League which I believe to be related. The subject is "Sister Fiedler gets it right".

Sister Fiedler Gets It Right

Sister Maureen Fiedler, one of the most outspoken veteran dissenters in the Catholic Church, commented honestly yesterday on the meeting of the American Catholic Culture last weekend in Detroit. She admitted that those in attendance were part of the "graying" crowd, and bemoaned that it was also "a very 'white' crowd."

Thus did she validate our news release on the meeting that we issued prior to the conference. We mentioned how it would be filled with octogenarians. We didn't mention that only old white people would be drawn to event, but next time we'll be sure to mention how lacking in diversity the dissidents really are. Thank you, Sr. Maureen, for getting it right.

These aging white hippies are the folks whom people like Cardinal Bernardin were interested in appeasing with a lot of the triangulation in which he engaged during the seventies and eighties. Now that these angry fogies are dropping off his old policies are of a necessity going by the wayside and making way for straight-ahead Catholicism. At least we hope.

Remember You're a Womble

2011-06-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

Go revise your theories, Charles Darwin.

Oh, hell yeah. Love these guys.

These "bumps" vote

2011-06-13T13:15:00.002-04:00

"Baby-faced dork who was never all that smooth with women"

2011-06-09T11:47:00.000-04:00

Here's a piece from the archives, good enough for a laugh. Best line: "Weiner pals who have known him since he arrived in Washington a decade ago recall him as a 'baby-faced dork who was never all that smooth with women.'" Priceless.

Also got this pic.

Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin, two women to avoid if seeking dating advice. You gals sure know how to pick 'em.

Hey Ohioans, what's in your neighbor's wallet?

2011-06-09T09:07:00.003-04:00

You can find out if he or she works for a Federal, State or Local Government (*) institution. Just go to the Buckeye Institute website and click the proper sub-category on the left side.

Or, of course, you could download their iPhone app which allows the same thing. This is useful when you are waiting in line at the post office and want to know how much that slowpoke behind the desk is getting paid to bitch at customers. In fact, a recent press release from the Buckeye Institute shows that searches on USPS salaries are the most common among the federal salary searches. Interesting.

(*) - Actually I don't think they have all the localities in their database yet. But the do have some major cities (Cleveland, Youngstown, etc.) and pretty much all the school districts which are most interesting to me anyway.

"A real mother of a blow out"

2011-06-09T08:35:00.001-04:00

I guess Michelangelo was pretty western, huh.

I like it

2011-06-08T16:23:00.002-04:00

I always wondered if Dr. Seuss wrote this for the Stones. The lyrics remind me of some of his books. He was still alive in 1974, you know.

Rep versus Rev

2011-06-08T15:56:00.002-04:00

Donohue asks the question "What if Rep. Weiner were Rev. Weiner?" Excerpts:

Priests who engage in lewd conversations with teenagers are suspended from ministry for committing a "boundary violation," and are charged with sexual abuse. But Rep. Anthony Weiner can send pornographic images of himself to young girls and he is free as a bird. Indeed, the majority of New Yorkers say he should not resign.

Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle says Weiner's "biggest sin may not have been sexual"—it was "lying." Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine says that "Lying is unforgivable," but has no comment on his sexual offenses. Joan Walsh of Salon confesses that "The lying is what disturbs me." S.E. Cupp's article in the New York Daily News is flagged, "The disgraced congressman should resign, but immorality has nothing to do with it." Similarly, Leslie Savan of the Nation wonders, "How can you be so stupid?"

...

In other words, if the guilty party were Rev. Weiner, he would be sanctioned by the Catholic Church's "zero tolerance" policy. But because he is Rep. Weiner, there are no penalties. As usual, it's not the offense that matters—it's the status of the offender.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... William Donohue is always going on like this. Only... he's absolutely right. We'll call the policy in effect for House and Senate Democrats the "infinite-tolerance policy", infinity being the opposite of zero.

The only insight I have on the Weiner apology is that the line "In addition, over the past few years, I have engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over Twitter, Facebook, email and occasionally on the phone with women I had met online," is meant to alert all the cool people that he can do better than Gennette Cordova.

31 Resolutions for the Summer Months

2011-06-08T10:50:00.003-04:00

A Priest and friend of mine just sent me this. It works for kids and adults.

31 Resolutions per month for the summer months

Here are some suggestions for resolutions that can be lived, one each day, during the summer months.

Hint: you can switch the order! Another hint: you can do more than one each day!

Another hint: you can make some other special resolutions that you know will please God and others.

1. Be nice to everyone I meet today, beginning at home.
2. Remember to tell God I love him at least once an hour.
3. Tell my mother that I am willing to do any job she wants me to do today.
4. Tell my father that I am really thankful for all the nice things he does for our family.
5. Call or write my grandmother and ask her how she’s doing (and tell her what I am doing).
6. Read a good book for at least one hour.
7. Keep a smile on my face all through the day.
8. Do that favor I have been putting off.
9. Say at least one nice thing to each person in my family.
10. Try to take note of the images of Mary in my home and say something nice to her.
11. Put order in my room, in my drawers and in the closets.
12. Thank my Guardian Angel for accompanying me all through the day and the night.
13. Call or email a friend and be sure to say something complimentary to him/her.
14. Resolve to go to bed on time and to get up on time without giving in to laziness.
15. Pray to my patron saint so that we become friends.
16. Make a schedule for the day so that I do what I need to do and don’t waste time.
17. Try to be on time for everything.
18. Do what I can to make the people around me happy.
19. Pray my morning offering very well and tell God: all I do I do for you and all for love.
20. Don’t forget to say thank you for all the nice things others do for me.
21. Make sure I don’t let any bad thoughts linger in my mind or imagination.
22. Think often –at least once every hour- about the fact that God is always with me.
23. Read a good book for at least two hours today.
24. Spend time playing with my brothers and sisters and show them that I enjoy doing so.
25. Listen to my parents and do right away whatever they ask of me.
26. Put on a good face even when I have to do something I don’t particularly like.
27. Pay attention to God and our Blessed Mother when I pray the Rosary and other family prayers.
28. Think of what I could say or do to my different friends to make them happy.
29. Pray for each member of my family and for each of my friends and for their families.
30. Try to think of others first and of myself last.
31. Don’t complain!

Thanks, Father.

Obama's Intellectual Stammer

2011-06-07T17:49:00.000-04:00

This is such a slam, and so on the money. Meghan Daum opens up some serious ass-whoop, though perhaps inadvertently. My fave paragraphs:

But consider this: It's not that Obama can't speak clearly. It's that he employs the intellectual stammer. Not to be confused with a stutter, which the president decidedly does not have, the intellectual stammer signals a brain that is moving so fast that the mouth can't keep up. The stammer is commonly found among university professors, characters in Woody Allen movies and public thinkers of the sort that might appear on C-SPAN but not CNN. If you're a member or a fan of that subset, chances are the president's stammer doesn't bother you; in fact, you might even love him for it (he sounds just like your grad school roommate, especially when he drank too much Scotch whisky and attempted to expound on the Hegelian dialectic!).

And here's the money shot:

Obama's problem is not that he's an intellectual (for the sake of argument let's define it as someone who is scholarly, broadly informed and distinguished as a thinker). It's that he sounds like an intellectual. Unlike other presumed political brainiacs — Bill Clinton or Newt Gingrich, for example — he isn't able to bury his ideas behind a folksy regional accent or good-old-boy affectations when he wants to. Nor is he effective at "keeping it real" when he falls into traditionally African-American cadences that he clearly never used when he was growing up.

By speaking as though he hails from everywhere, he ends up being from nowhere. The result is that people look at him and see not a Hawaiian or a Chicagoan or even a black man, but a university man.

"University man." [he shivers.]

Google FYI

2011-06-06T17:35:00.002-04:00

Here are some Google searches in which this humble blog appears on the first page:

I guess the biggest surprises to me are the fact that I'm no longer on page one for "bald women" and that I am on the first page for "Rod Dreher", which lands on this page. It definitely shows a loss of web presence. I mean, where's his Wikipedia page? Somewhere, but not on page one.

Rogues + USAF = Great Performance

2011-06-06T11:34:00.001-04:00

Forgive the minute-plus intro, the performance is worth it.

The Pipes don't always play well with other instruments, but here's an example of a great ensemble performed a truly inspiring arrangement.

The Truth Will Set You Free

2011-06-06T09:18:00.000-04:00

I have a number of new readers here at Est Quod Est. Some no doubt are under some sort of illusion that this is a good blog and that I am a good blogger. Those of you fitting this description should read one of my many feeble attempts at humor Why I am a Bad Blogger from two years ago. You may find it illuminating and slightly funny.

Religious Art

2011-06-05T20:52:00.002-04:00

"The Penguins Going to Mass"

This is a picture of "The Penguins Going to Mass". The big penguin with a "C" on his chest is Clumsy, an evil penguin with jet powered boots who is trying to kill the faithful Catholic penguins. The penguin on the right is a baby who is hanging out in the entryway.

The picture was drawn by Gideon, age 5.

We're idiots

2011-06-03T14:10:00.002-04:00

About two minutes in, the video gets behind the audio. That's a shame because this is an incredible performance.

Public Intoxication

2011-06-01T10:39:00.001-04:00

I was ruminating on Paul Zummo's post from yesterday detailing the irony of Eugene Robinson's hand-wringing remark about Sarah Palin: "What the GOP should worry about is the intoxication that adoring crowds often induce in politicians." Obviously we wonder where he was during the fevered campaigns of 2008, of which this instant classic blog site might serve as a reminder.

I'm afraid that if we had the opportunity to bring this up to Mr. Robinson, the irony would be lost on him. He would probably respond that Barack Obama was not going to be intoxicated by an adoring crowd because, in the language of the street, he really is "all that", whereas Sarah Palin is merely some lady up in the wilderness. Maybe he would challenge us to produce a picture of Obama donning a lampshade or staggering down the stairs of a DC lounge shortly after one of his rallies. But who needs to do that? One visit to the aforementioned Obamamessiah site provides quotes from the man himself such as "We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." Also: "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." Also: "...a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Barack Obama." These are delusional remarks to make even for a man who aspires to be the chief of the executive branch.

I think Obama supporters would dismiss this all, however, and say that these were "just words" spoken the heat of a campaign, it was all figurative speech, etc, etc. Then that brings us back to the question, "What's wrong with Sarah Palin having enthusiastic followers now?" Hmmm. Why don't they just admit that they disagree with a woman who has a large following of a certain type of American citizen? That's what we do routinely with Obama, a President with higher approval numbers than it seems like his success-failure ratio should warrant. I think it's just that ridiculing the right has become the staple of the left, and it's so much easier than bringing up substance and forming arguments.

Surprise, Surprise

2011-06-01T09:48:00.001-04:00

"Stimulus to Cost $43 Billion More than Estimated". Things always cost more than expected when you're spending money which belongs to other people.

Obama and congressional Democrats enacted the law, arguing it would provide a quick jolt to the economy. Republicans opposed the law, saying it would increase deficits and wasn't designed to work quickly.

So who was right? It doesn't matter now, does it. The money is already committed. The people who enacted it don't care that they were wrong; they got what they wanted. Do you really think any of the big spenders look at this and say, "Oh, dear, we shall have to try to do better next time!"?

Well, now the joke really is on you

2011-05-31T12:29:00.000-04:00

I'm going to pass out laughing.... help!

Catholic Power versus Catholic Morals

2011-05-31T08:23:00.000-04:00

Liked this article by Joseph Bottum. He uses Notre Dame's recent dropping of charges against pro-life protestors as an occasion to narrate the right/left political split in American Catholicism. I think the narrative is good; here's the crux:

The curious part, however, was the way that it broke. The liberals, the left wing of the Murrayans, chose the political side, electing to join and support the American political establishment. And the conservatives, the right wing of the Murrayans, chose the moral side, electing to use Catholicism to call the nation to a higher morality that sees abortion as an outrage against human dignity.

The result is things like the clash on Notre Dame’s campus in 2009. No doubt the protesters believed themselves good Americans. And no doubt Fr. Jenkins, president of a Catholic school, believed himself to be pro-life. But the sides they’ve chosen in the Murray Project compel them all to certain behaviors—on the one hand, to march against the simple appearance of a pro-choice American president at a Catholic college, and, on the other hand, to have Catholics arrested for protesting abortion.

Like all narratives boiled down into a short article, it's not a perfect account, and much more could be said on the matter, obviously. The Catholic Left would especially protest the idea that they alone ceded the moral high-ground, and support their point by mumbling something about seamless garments and how McDonald's doesn't pay a living wage. But the end result, the loss of moral authority in the political sphere, is the same regardless of whether the Catholic Church in America is divided or morally bankrupt on both sides. I'm glad that I'm not on the side that has to send out thugs to beat down fellow Catholics.