Friday, November 12, 2010

Hither and thither 11/12/10

Nice enough week for me. Quiet here at the blog. I've left up the Advent season post, in hopes that more will chime in. Some requested an Advent reading schedule I created, and I've found it, so that may come up in the coming weeks.

But for now, you can head into your weekend with this. Let me hear from you!

As usual, updates possible until noon PT.


  • Once again, I just watch it over, and over, and over, and over....
  • So, which is the bigger surprise: that Dick van Dyke is still surfing at age 84, or that porpoises saved his life?
  • The good news: under Obama, salaries have soared! The bad news? It's government salaries that have soared. (Surprised? Didn't think so.)
  • Remember how we were told (and told) that the whole world hated Bush, but everything would change under Obama? The world would love us again, we would have peace and harmony, The One would just stride out and make it all wonderful? Bad week for that myth.  The Iraqi president (a former close ally of America) rejected Obama's personal request that he step down to allow a new government to form. Second, South Korea (South Korea!) rebuffed Obama's attempts at a trade agreement. Third, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Obama's proposal concerning global trade imbalances, and (same article) China rejected Obama's call to speed up economic reform.
  • Gee... if only someone had pointed out to the pre-November-2008 0-cultists that Obama was an unaccomplished, unqualified, ideologically-driven, arrogant empty suit. If only.
  • Irony Can Be Pretty Ironic Alert: a bigger man would be humbled. Pray for the president. Seriously.
  • No sign of that yet, though. Obama insists on playing dumb about extending Bush tax cuts, only pledging to extend them for (what he defines as) middle-class tax-payers. He says he "can't afford" to give tax-cuts to the wealthy. To the unreflecting, this makes him sound moderate. But wait — I thought we wanted more jobs? Don't we? Doesn't he? And who generates jobs and new start-ups and large venturesome investments? "Middle class"? So, if we want more jobs, does it make sense to raise taxes on the most prosperous?
  • Obama may think so. We'll see how many Dems join him in this death-wish.
  • The problem is that Obama and his fellow hard-lefties view private citizens' money as theirs. To them, it's a question of how much they (i.e. the State) can afford to give to the citizens. Which is exactly wrong, of course: the money is not theirs, and the issue is how much they should take out of the economy if they want to grow the economy. Tax-cuts are an investment, not a loss. Obama is exactly wrong: it isn't that we "can't afford" not to raise taxes on the wealthy; it's that we can't afford to penalize the job-producers so that the State can continue to expand.
  • All this to say: "humbled" and "humiliated" are not synonyms. Need further proof? Here y'go
  • Okay, back to my home state.Think we exaggerate about California? How about this. While some thirteen-year-olds are getting into drugs and hostile dress and behavior, Cody Alicea just wanted to have an American flag on his bicycle... on Veteran's Day, to show support for the veterans in his family. How did government re-education officials welcome this show of patriotism? By telling Cody to take the flag off his bike, because it might "cause racial tensions." That's right. In an American school, in America, paid for by American tax dollars, this American student was told not to display the American flag.
  • Okay, maybe you just want to walk that one off for a second before we get back to fun and frivolity. Cleansing breaths: in... out... in... out... ahhhh.
  • Know who once wanted to film The Lord of the Rings? Try The Beatles. Know who killed the idea? Try J. R. R. Tolkien.
  • Pat Sajack apologizes — and for good reason. Keith Olbermann immediately proves Sajack right, though unintentionally. Isn't it funny how often liberals and anti-Christians do that?
  • Reader Sonja found us a pretty cool Hummer — but doesn't it look a little tippy?
  • Christmas is coming; you might want to see these gifts for Star Wars fans.
  • Now. Two words: yes, please.
    • (Should that have been three: si, por favor?)
  • Too early? Run, Alvin, run!
  • Another thing that tells you all you need to know about Democrats is that Alvin Greene received 358,276 votes.
  • If there were a contest to see how many messed-up things could be crammed into one headline, the winner just might have to be Woman Gives Birth to Homosexual Son's Baby
  • Oh crud, spoke too soon? Gay Dad Fights Two Lesbians Over Kids.
  • Somewhat relatedly, we can thank a Marine for telling some unwelcome truth about cramming a particular sexual perversion into the military. Semper fi.
  • Still somewhat relatedly, a Yeah... Well... That's Nice Alert: Amazon.com pulled a title advocating and instructing in "safe pedophilia."  Not a joke. But why not? While even professing Christians continue to romanticize one particular repulsive sexual perversion, and its addicts force outward acceptance across the culture, what's next, and why shouldn't it be? Apart from God, I mean? (Thanks to reader Robert Sakovich for the lead.)
  • Tower of Babel, unintentionally visualized? Harrowing watching.
  • On that subject... you want to get that fluttery about-to-fall feeling, sitting in your chair? Check this out (and don't look at anything else on that site). (ONE MORE NOTE: I'm being told that, if you speak Russian, you should mute the video, since those Russian teens are potty-mouths.)
  • This lizard... it's delicious.. and it's new! (Okay, not "delicious" — but new; thanks to Laura Kelleher.)
  • I guess I'm at (and have been at, for years) the stage of my life where I sometimes think about how I'd like to die, if the Lord tarries. Witnessing for Christ, check. Protecting any of my family, check. Protecting another person, check. Foiling a terrorist plot, check. Any of those. But not like this.
  • Relatedly and antepenultimately, here's a pretty cool complete schematic of the Millennium Falcon (click to enlarge):

  • Penultimately, I hope you'll pardon a bit of nepotism. You see, it's a long story, but my dear wife is helping out her parents with something, and wonders if anyone in our eclectic readership is interested in a Dickens Victorian Village. (If we had room to display it, we'd just find a way to grab it ourselves.) Or maybe you know somebody who knows somebody?
  • And now, ultimately:












28 comments:

Sonja said...

Legos -- is there nothing they can't do?

Robert said...

All of this "sensitivity training" is really working, huh? I never thought the day would come when you couldn't display the American flag in America on Veteran's Day!!! Of course, I also didn't think I'd ever see a book to encourage pedophilia and call it love. It makes me wonder just how bad it was during the times of Noah because that's what it's supposed to be like around the second coming (at least that's what I take from reading Jude...maybe I'm wrong).

JackW said...

Excellent Dan.
Don’t try this at home folks or you may end up looking like that Wintertime BibChr Safety Tip guy.

Anonymous said...

So, just wondering if that guy had to wait til the spring thaw to be found.

And my favorite quote from the Alvin Greene prez run article: "Greene... called the state Democratic Party on Tuesday to ask how much it would cost to run for president." Yeah, so what's the price for a Dem presidential bid?

And the thing with the kid with the American flag? Pathetic. So apparently the school officials must have been OK with the Hispanic kids showing their Mexican flag...even though this is Los Estados Unidos last I checked. Hmmm... I wonder what flag is out front of said school? If any...wouldn't want to cause racial tensions, y'know.

I guess living in Nebraska, I am just too unnuanced to get this kinda stuff.

Mike Westfall said...

I tried to check H&T earlier today from the hotel lobby computer, but the site was blocked. Apparently the word "pedophilia" was involved...

In other news, we are waiting to see if my 9 year old daughter will advance to the semi-final round in the National Bible Bee.

Fred Butler said...

Question about those human castle builders. How exactly do the helmets keep those little kids from getting a spinal cord injury?

Brad Williams said...

Okay, wow.

First, I praise the Lord that Tolkien said no.

As for the Russian kids on the tower...I immediately prayed that if my children ever did anything that..ermm..unwise...that he would first protect them and secondly that He would see to it that I never, ever find out.

I must admit that I think the Millenium Falcon's lay-out needs a workover. First, I can only find six bunks. Who has to stay in the room with Chewie? Secondly, the escape pod is waaay too far from the cockpit for my ease of comfort. Perhaps noble captains are to go down with the ship, but rouge-ish smugglers? Nah.

And the "One Does Not Simply Rock Into Mordor"...niiiiice.

Paula Bolyard said...

Pat Sajak - Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Hillsdale College. He spoke at the school's Fall Convocation this year. DS was quite impressed - not the lightweight one would expect from a game show host.

In OH, CONVICTED FELON Jim Traficant ran as in Independent and received 16% of the vote (nearly 30,000).

"He was expelled [from Congress] after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C., and was released from prison on September 2, 2009, after serving a seven-year sentence."

"Traficant also claimed, in the letter[to KKK Grand Wizard, David Duke], that he knew facts about "Waco, Ruby Ridge, Pan Am Flight 103, Jimmy Hoffa and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy", which he may divulge in the future." THIRTY-THOUSAND PEOPLE VOTED FOR HIM!!!

Politico has a scathing review of Obama's press conference at the end of the G 20 Summit. Even the MSM drones were going after him about his loss of clout and the resulting loss of U.S. influence on the international scene and Obama was none too happy about being asked tough questions.

Incidentally, in the same press conference, he said he planned to cut the deficit in HALF by 2014. Not gonna hold my breath on that one.

Magister Stevenson said...

Funny, scary, tasty--just what I expect from a H&T. Maybe I'll do my weekly pizza like that. The kids would love it. My wife made a great cheeseburger pizza a couple of weeks ago--FANTASTIC!

Love that Christie (I live in PA, and we just elected to governor one we hope will be like him). I wish Palin had his gravitas, though. Palin can twit whomever she wants--still lacks the sine qua non of politics. And how she will survive quitting the governorship I don't know.

Magister Stevenson said...

And one more thing: what was that person thinking about jumping off the pier? I mean, even on a frozen lake, it still doesn't make sense. Had to know it wouldn't end well.

JackW said...

Jim “Beam Me up” Traficant was my favorite Democrat. I would have voted for him just for the entertainment value.

I really don’t understand why people think that Palin quitting the governorship is such a negative. Time has shown it to be a wise decision to my way of thinking. The Dems would have had a field day bringing up false charge after false charge, which they were ramping up to do. That would have been bad for Alaska and a nuisance for Palin. She accomplished much more by doing what she did IMHO.

Aaron said...

The government pay article is startling to me. I had to check my pay first to see where I stood, but I'm still not quite in that bracket yet..assuming they are talking about pay and not "total compensation." The article mentions physicians and defense department personnell but doesn't say what any other jobs or job titles are or where they are located.

The article is not very good with details at all. It says civilian counterparts make less. Except there aren't civilian counterparts for a lot of jobs (like mine). And it depends on where you are working too. A prosecutor in Los Angeles making $170K is making less than half of what he would working for a private law firm. In other states, however, that would be far better than local lawfirms.

Aaron said...

I think Palin quitting was probably the best course of action in that it was in the best interest of Alaska. But it wont make her more qualified to be President.

DJP said...

She has been kind of like Obi-wan, hasn't she?

Paula Bolyard said...

Update on flag-flying student: School officials have made a U-turn

"Parraz says the school decided on Friday to allow Cody to display his flag again, and now it will be shifting its focus to the students who complained.

"In no way did we want to take that right away from Cody," Parraz told Fox40 on Friday. "…We think we know who the instigators are that were trying to do that and we need to meet with their parents and those students to just kind of explain that this isn't what we want to have. We want to make sure that our kids can appreciate a safe environment and be able to have the American flag."


What took 'em so long?

DS is attending government school for the first time this year. Though not perfect, this small town school district at least honored its veterans properly with a district-wide assembly, which was open to the community. The band played patriotic tunes, the students sang patriotic songs, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and students were encouraged to wear red, white, and blue. And AMERICAN flags were a-flyin'!

Magister Stevenson said...

More like Jar-Jar Binks.
She did not count the cost and her reputation is what suffers.
She is the Republicans' John Mark; we need a Paul. Christie is our man.

Paula Bolyard said...

Christie = Peter

Gov.-elect John Kasich (OH) = Gov. Chris Christie (we're hoping!)

Kasich is wasting no time. He's already sent letters to both Obama and outgoing Gov. Strickland telling them he's killing $400 million high speed train project, saying, "It's dead" and telling Gov. Strickland to immediately terminate any contracts associated with the project.

He's also put the education establishment on notice that he intends to dismantle last year's sweeping (so called) Evidence Based education plan enacted by Gov. Strickland. We came within inches of subjecting Ohio children to competency tests demonstrating "cooperation" and "enthusiasm."

Guy hasn't even been inaugurated yet and the state has improved. Gotta love that!

Magister Stevenson said...

Paula,
"Peter"--I like that. Our new guy, Corbett, has the unions nervous. I pray he turns out in practice to be what he was in campaigning.
My co-workers are sweating it already with the potential changes to the education system.

Susan said...

Regarding that pizza/taco/whatchimacallit:

"Si, prego!!"

Tim Brown said...

"In an American school, in America, paid for by American tax dollars, this American student was told not to display the American flag."

...and let us not forget that the school *itself* has the flag on display...

How hypocritical.

Brad Williams said...

I can't quit looking at the fat guy breaking through the ice. Is it okay to say "fat guy"? Maybe he's skinny disabled.

DJP said...

I keep looking at it, too. I think one reason is it's smooth; it doesn't look painful. As a rule I hate GIFs and clips that just show really hurting himself/herself.

Unless Phil's right, of course.

Rob said...

That pizza-taco monstrosity makes me want to clench my stomach and lay on my side for awhile...

Wendy said...

Oh, how I wish I had $600. The village hasn't been sold yet and I'm already jealous of whoever will get it! :)

Ron (aka RealityCheck) said...

I’m just getting around to H&T.

Mixed emotions on Obama’s arrogance. The country would be better off (short term) if he got the message but I think better off (long term) if he doesn’t, assuming it leads to him getting booted in two years.

I can’t even talk about the kid with the flag on his bike… aargh!

On the playboy mansion thing, until I heard the guy died, I just naturally assumed it was Bill Clinton and was kind of amazed that he could climb that well.

My wife absolutely freaks over height stuff, so I’m going to sucker her in with the kid on the ice and then, “oh while you’re here dear”… boom… Russian kids on the that tower… lol

Good stuff Dan, thanks.

Pierre Saikaley said...

D. Van Dyke...

I guess God had a porpoise for his life...heheh...(why is no one laughing?)

DJP said...

Oh, ouch.

Mike Westfall said...

Ah, The Porpoise Driven Life. Someone should write a book about that.