Friday, April 15, 2011

Hither and thither 4/15/11

Cool week with, as you've read, various kinds of book action. And through it all, Dear Reader, my helpers and I collected a nice little passel of peculiarities for you. To wit:
  • Let's begin with a very pleasant: a gent in Wales has constructed an absolutely gorgeous hobbit-home. The site has pictures, plans, the whole nine yards. Sigh.
  • Yep. If I were to attempt basketball, it would go pretty much exactly like this:
  • You know, you keep hearing of revolutionary new car technologies (like this one, courtesy of my mother-in-law)... but nothing ever fundamentally changes.
  • Name That Party. I think I saw even one of our readers echoing the "no difference" meme. So, which political party led its body to defund Planned Parenthood and passed a pro-life CR?
  • To be clear: if someone says there isn't enough difference in every detail between the two parties, I'm right there with you. But no difference? Not much difference? That just tells me you're not following the news.
  • Aw, c'mon! Where's your sense of adventure?
  • This is beyond ridiculous. Easter eggs don't even have anything to do with Easter (=the resurrection of Christ). Yet even the suggestion of the word is too much for one government indoctrination camp in Seattle, which requires that they be referred to as "spring spheres." (Link thanks to reader Sam Knisely.)
  • Yeah, I pretty much can't, either:
  • National Waste of Time/We're Doomed Alerts. A nice, right-principled man with the public personality and communication skills of a baked potato announces an exploratory committee. In bumbling his own announcement of a run, Pawlenty signals that he is (at best) not ready to beat Obama and the MSM. And perennial candidate, cultist Mitt Romney — who has only ever held office as a massive-government, big-spending, pro-abort enthusiast — is cluttering up the stage and distracting the conversation again. Tone-deaf and clueless as always, Romney made the announcement on the fifth anniversary of Romneycare.
  • And, what's more, Donald Trump provides an answer to the question, "Who is the only living American who doesn't realize that Ross Perot was a self-serving egomaniac deserving of eternal membership in the American Hall of Shame?"
  • But you know, Trump's a Christian, so... there's that. He says. Goes to church when he can. Sundays. Christmas, definitely. "When there's a major occasion." (Thanks, Joel Griffith.)
  • I don't know who Michael Walsh is, but this essay is worth reading — if only for the phrase, "the audacity of mope."
  • OK, now: having read and growled at all that bad news about the men who cannot save us, turn your minds to Prof. Jim Hamilton's meditation on the one true Hero who can save us.
  • Yeah, I can do this. Just stand back. Further. Further. Further....
  • Not sure whether Pecadillo ever stops by, but just in case: here's his Bjork fix. (He's a huge fan.)

  • Leaving only...









24 comments:

Paula Bolyard said...

I was reading a Freep thread tonight after Hannity's interview with Trump and was shocked that so many are drinking the Kool Aid. The emerging theme seems to be, "Yeah, we know he's probably a liberal, but he's not as bad as Obama and we think he can probably win."

Not sure I agree with you about Santorum's lack of personality. I've seen him in a couple of informal debates on news shows recently and he's got an attack dog side of him that might set him apart if he can find ways to showcase it. He debated Al Sharpton on abortion on Hannity a month or so ago and really dominated. I think he could really do well in GOP debates.

I think right now is a pivotal time if we want a true conservative on the GOP ticket. All this preliminary shuffling and posturing may seem unimportant, but a big part of it is to see which candidate can raise money. Unfortunately, Trump and Romney are way ahead in this area.

I had a conversation with a state candidate last year who had been elbowed out by party bosses, mostly because his opponent had a boatload of money. He said, "The big problem is, conservatives don't give." He meant, they don't give to political candidates, of course.

Right now, Bachman, Santorum, and Pawlenty are the conservatives who are thought to be seriously considering running. If they don't demonstrate in the next few months that they can raise serious boatloads of cash, they'll be out, no matter how many straw polls they win.

Tom Chantry said...

Apparently he can't grammar either.

Pierre Saikaley said...

My daughter's teacher informed her she couldn't bring "junk food" to school....what was it...PUDDING.

As I read that article I note two things:

1. The part where it says the sandwhich is cut into a Star Warsshape

2. I felt like I was reading about some Communist institution imposing a government schedule of nutrition regulations.

The socialism that is growing like cander in our countries is mind-blowingly outrageous.

Oh,the "dream" of public education.

DJP said...

Of course, I like about Santorum that he went toe to toe with the execrable Senatrix B. Boxer. But lost.

I turn on Bennett every Friday with Santorum guest-hosting, and turn it off every Friday. One can only take so much of, "Yeah, heh heh... well, y'know... y'know I gl --, er I phbli-- or, I think we should, y'know...."

He's been doing that show for some time, and hasn't grown a centimeter. I heard Bennett interview him the other day about possibly running. No difference.

May be the best ideas in the world, but if he can't communicate them arrestingly, convincingly, persuasively (to say nothing of coherently), he's not the guy.

Robert said...

Tom,

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. I am guessing that both the lack of ability to write a complete sentence and do simple math is more common among people than we'd like to admit.

Joshua Collins said...

Thanks as always for the great collection. This is about the only thing I look forward to about work on Fridays! I like to email my wife the best and funniest links to read when she gets to work on Monday morning as well.

My wife was especially angry about the school lunch issue because in all the articles she read, the principal's inspiration for the rule was observation of lunches on a field trip. Every 5 year old knows there's stuff you get to eat on Field Trip day that your parents would never pack every day for lunch. Apparently the principal doesn't.

Benjamin said...

So is that vegetarian sandwich made from real vegetarians?

DJP said...

LOL! I get it!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

And this is why I love Friday mornings...

Well, except the snake pit, which may give me nightmares!

That Easter egg news bit is no surprise. Our local schools banned SANTA CLAUS, because - you know - he made people think of Christmas, and we can't have that.

No home lunches, "gay" history... just more reasons to homeschool. Well, yeah, and the "I can't math." (eyes rolling) Although that seemed to work in the server's favor there! (What's that, a 38% tip?)

The premeditation in the stalker/murder case is chilling. Makes you take another look at Kennesaw, yah?

Benjamin... score! Quick on the draw, there, with the veggie sandwich.

Around here (we're a hunting family) and we're grazing at the top of the food-chain.

Julie

Herding Grasshoppers said...

And P.S.

Dan, you know Washington is the Promised Land, right? I've seen pictures of Israel, and it just doesn't match the description. Washington does.

Deut. 11:10-12
The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

I rest my case.

The Squirrel said...

So, let me get this straight...

The Romanist cult adopts the name & symbols of a pagan fertility festival and "melds" it with the Christian celebration of the Lord's resurrection - so now these pagan fertility symbols are regarded at "too Christian" by modern pagans?

There's a funny irony in there somewhere...

& Benjamin said...
"So is that vegetarian sandwich made from real vegetarians?"

Indeed, yes! (Most cows are, anyway...)

Squirrel

MJ said...

But you must give Donald Trump credit for keeping all those Bibles in a "certain" place. A "very nice" place.

Ok, the school lunch thing in Seattle (big surprise!!), just about drove me over the edge but what really gets my blood pressure up is those insufferable PSA's on the radio that encourage lying to your children to get them to exercise/eat healthy.

I'm in a very bad place in terms of the 2012 election in that, right now, I'd vote for Ruprecht the One-Eyed Troglodyte over Barack Obama.

Aaron said...

That robo conversation about the unions was hilarious.

I've heard many of Trump's interviews. His rising popularity is easy to see. First, he's a household name. Second, his TV persona is a powerful, no nonsense leader who isn't afraid to stand up to people. You know, the type the Republican party has been desperately seeking. And lastly, he hasn't stated specifics but lately has said he's anti-abortion/pro-life and taken several very conservative positions. I don't think he's what we are looking for...but I see the appeal.

@Pierre: I wonder how schools would handle special cases. In high school I was so skinny my orthopedic surgeon told me that I needed to desperately gain weight. High calorie, high calcium foods such as pudding were top of my list to eat.

@Herding Grasshopper: sorry, but I dont' want to see snow in winter much less in Spring.

@DJP: How long until CA makes homeschoolers adopt that curriculum?

DJP said...

It would follow an unprecedented cold snap.

Wendy said...

This is ridiculous, kind of like having a dumb song stuck in your head: I'm going to have to watch every movie I own yet again just to see if they say Goodbye when hanging up.

Rachael Starke said...

Re: the Oz animal diagram - it does do something to explain our rather hardy personalities. :)

And @ MJ

I'd vote for Ruprecht the One-Eyed Troglodyte over Barack Obama.

I sort of thought I did that in 2010....

Solameanie said...

I think the vegetarian sandwich is really Soylent Green. And we all know what Soylent Green is.

Sonja said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paula Bolyard said...

Mark Levin just PWNED Trump on his radio program, demonstrating that he is a fraud - he is no conservative. He challenges the notion that "all businessmen" spread money around to their legislators and asks what Trump got in return for all those donations to liberals in NY.

Where was he during the Tea Party's rise and throughout the battles it was having? Why was he donating to Senator Schumer, Congressman Anthony Weiner, and Hillary Clinton's campaigns when the Tea Party was beginning to rise? Mark also speaks about how Donald Trump wants universal healthcare - how is that conservative? Finally, Mark plays audio from Trump contradicting himself on whom the worst President is - first he says it was George W. Bush, then Jimmy Carter, then Obama.

Trump in 2011: Obama Has Been The Worst President Ever

Trump in 2007: No President can be worse than Bush

Trump in 2007: I don’t understand how the Dems lost the 2004 election

Trump in 2008: Bush should be impeached; I’m impressed with Pelosi


This five minute clip should settle once and for all whether Trump should be the GOP candidate.

Aaron said...

@Paula: Good stuff. I podcast Mark Levin's show, although I don't listen to it everyday. His 4/15 show isn't up on Itunes yet but I'll look for it.

I think it was Michael Medved who said it's just another publicity stunt by Trump who has said he'd run in other years but never did.

Robert Warren said...

Ross Perot has always seemed to me to be the Ernest T. Bass of politics (throw some rocks, laugh like an idiot, and run off). What would be the Andy Griffith Show analogy to Donald Trump?

Solameanie:

But Tuesday is Soylent Green day; Friday is Soylent Yellow day.

Chris Dean said...

FYI, Gary Varvel, the editorial cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star who drew the landing the tiny budget fish cartoon, is a solid born-again Christian. He had a starring role in a short movie his church put out called 'The Board', based upon a Colin Smith sermon series about the boardroom of the mind grappling with the claims of the Gospel. It is excellent, I highly recommend it. Varvel is the silver-haired sunglass-wearing man. It can be viewed here: http://www.boardmovie.com/

pentamom said...

"What would be the Andy Griffith Show analogy to Donald Trump?"

One of those city slickers who drives into town, acts all arrogant, mocks Andy, refuses Aunt Bee's cooking, drives Barney nearly to tears, and generally makes life miserable for the first 21 minutes of the show, until Andy and the Mayberryites humiliate him with their warmth and small town common sense.

threegirldad said...

Yet even the suggestion of the word [Easter] is too much for one government indoctrination camp in Seattle, which requires that they be referred to as "spring spheres."

Hang on a minute. Leaving aside the hysterical over-reaction against the word "Easter," why on earth is a school system referring to eggs as "spheres" rather than "ovoids"?

Oh, wait a minute -- it's a public school system. Never mind.