Self-Servy Jersey

I will never be a big fan of Jon Corzine - he's a typical Democrat - but this is increasing his stock with me by a couple points.

The populace of this state is incredibly stupid for not realizing just how expensively stupid it was to be forced into full service. I remember my abortive attempt at getting something done by emailing my state legislator - I'd like to think that my little tirade helped push this idea into the governor's office just a little bit.

Update: Wussy! Fun side story: I actually met the Guv last Saturday during the Shadfest in Lambertville. I noticed his security detail first, and told Wifedido to take a picture of me with the Guv. I shook his hand and told him of my support of the plan, and he told me that actually it was 2 to 1 against so far with all the people he'd talked to. I guess that's why he caved...oh well, what else would you expect? Anyway, I'll post the picture later.

Imagine if Oil Was As Expensive as Watching a Movie

I don't know about y'all, but my patience is running thin with all the "exhorbitant price" rhetoric going on. Why can't people accept that our lifestyle isn't free (or even inherently cheap) and that oil companies should be able to charge whatever they want as long as we'll pay!

Sowell calls out the "bipartisan demagoguery."

Sock Puppets

Scandal at the LA Times. Summary here.

Reagan Reincarnated?

..Or is Pelosi pulling a Hillary? Cuz this sure isn't Nancy's real thoughts on the matter...

A shining example

of why some people should just keep their mouths shut.

Zach Randolph and Darius Miles said Tuesday what many fans and teammates already had surmised: The two highly paid players no longer know if they want to be part of the Trail Blazers

The gist of Miles' and Randolph's complaints are twofold: They don't like playing on what has turned out to be the NBA's worst team; and they don't care for the discipline meted out by first-year coach Nate McMillan.

Oh, ok, so they're tired of losing, which is partly to blame on themselves and they don't care for discipline. Really? And some wonder why there is no sympathy for millionaire athletes.

A follow-up of sorts

In line with my thoughts on why Grey's Anatomy exists on Sunday, why is Phantom of the Opera one of the first HD-DVD's?

Off With His Head!

A WSJ Op-Ed on Rummy's critics is dead-on, in my humble civilian opinion...

Update: In similar fashion, what would the 6/thousands of generals do? Some think Rummy leaving would bring a meltdown in Iraq. I tentatively agree.

Back when men were Men.

There existed a little company named Turbonique. Courtesy of Jalopnik.

Loss of Liberty in NJ

Yep, the nanny state is going to take a "Great Leap Forward" in a day when the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants goes into effect here - and it even bans smoking outside (within 25 ft.). Funny thing is - they won't ban it in the casinos of Atlantic City. I guess they really need those tax revenues, whereas they could give a rat's a** about the small business owners.

I fear that one of the icons of Jersey, the crappy diner, is on its way out.

The more you know...

So this morning I'm driving into work and as I turn into the parking lot of my building I notice the license plate in front of me is from Washington D.C., of particular interest was the motto. You know like "land of enchantment" here in New Mexico. I had thought that the motto was "celebrate & discover" (actually I didn't know that but I read it somewhere as I was writing this) but on that plate read "taxation without representation", presumptively to note the district's lack of congressional representation.

At first I thought it was fake. It had to be. Everyone in D.C., exspecially in D.C. must know why that is and what the District of Columbia is, right? Well, I was wrong. The voters there actually approved this motto. I will now light myself on fire. Maybe tea party on the mall (national monument mall that is) is next?

Lions and Tigers and Global Warming, OH MY!

Albuquerque joins the GW bandwagon. Don't expect balanced coverage, though...

Hey, Wait!

Aren't republicans supposed to be the only party in the culture of corruption? Katie or Meredith, please help me out with this!

Another Iraq Highlight

Y'all know I like to link Iraq's rather unreported news, so here's another piece from the venerable Strategy Page...

Update: And another from AIM.

Not to Upstage Ms. Couric's Irrelevance, But,...

some scientist thinks Jesus walked on ice.

Hey, it was a slow news day...

...And the Country Yawns

Katie Couric is going to CBS. Maybe she will lower the average age of the CBS Evening News' audience to the low 50s. Me, I'm still going to get my news from the internet.

Oh, and this isn't related, but it's still a little bit cool.

The south

So this week I'm visiting Huntsville (apparently pronounced hnnnnntsvuuuulllll), Alabama for work. Every time I visit somewhere I think of it as a residence in that when I'm there I think of what it would be like to live there. Last year I visited Corvallis, Oregon and the Oregon coast. I thoroughly enjoyed it, I would like living anywhere in Oregon. Too many hippies for my tastes but enough bike trails to hide from them all. Well I wrote that to lead to this, I will never, ever, ever live in Alabama. How can I include all of Alabama. Well, I learned that Huntsville is considered the "sophisticated" part of Alabama. Whoa. Not that it's all bad or anything but it's just more different than I expected. Before coming I joked around that no one would know what I was (ethnically speaking) but I never believed that would be true. But here I am and everyone acts as though it's the first time that anyone's ever seen my last name. You should have seen the puzzled look on the cop looking at my driver's license after stopping me as I was walking into a convenience store, he asked if I had any warrants out and what I was doing before frisking me and pulling out my wallet. True story, Kim was on the phone with me at the time and heard the whole thing, she was all ready to call the ACLU (of all things for me). Just kind of a strange place. Anyway, some random observations on my trip so far...

Whitesburg, AL. Quite fitting...

You know you're having a bad day when the traffic is to long at the ATM machine so you skip, being late to the airport, then the ATM at the airport is out of order as you're about to fly to a state without the bank you use. Seriously, no Wells Fargo.

What's this weird wetness? No rain but in the afternoon it feels as though there's a drop of rain hitting my forehead every once in a while.

There are a lot of poor speakers out there, this is supposed to be a modeling and simulation conference yet often I'm embarrassed by how people are supposed to be professionals present themselves.

Most popular restaurant types in Huntsville, pizza followed by taco places. Weird, there's even a place called "The Latino Quarter", stopped by and everything was three pesos (ba da dum!). Not brave enough to try tacos at a place called Humpfries's though.

No bus routes in the city apparently, only downtown. I walked about two miles to a grocery store to grab some things and get some cash.

Next time, get a rental car. My company only allows one for the trip and the older co-worker I'm with got it first and you know about the hell involved in adding a second driver.

New rule should be separate rental cars if the two people are 20 years apart.

When visiting a city without your home bank, remember to take more than fourteen dollars.

Well, back home Friday.

Green or Red (not Chile...)

You know, these two journalists should get together and swap coverage areas.

Something tells me the negative guy isn't leaving his hotel much, except maybe for an espresso.

If They're Going to Wave Flags, Couldn't The Flags at Least be American?

"If Mexican journalists were flooding into the United States and taking jobs as reporters and editors at half the pay being earned by American reporters and editors, maybe people in the media would understand why the argument about "taking jobs that Americans don't want" is such nonsense."

Sowell's take on immigration politics.


Update:

"There are over 300 million resident Americans, and the vast majority of them are citizens. Had the demonstrators marched chanting "God Bless America," confined their flag waving to Old Glory, and expressed thanks to a magnanimous United States that gave them a second chance when a corrupt Mexico has precluded their first, then they would have won public support."

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way...

I didn't really want to link to this

but this line was too good to pass up:

Actor Charlie Sheen has joined a growing army of other highly credible public figures in questioning the official story of 9/11 and calling for a new independent investigation of the attack and the circumstances surrounding it.

Emphasis added.

Good Idea to Allow Thought Patents?

Michael Crichton has a NYT Op-Ed on the rise of overly broad patents. In particular, patents on thoughts and strategies may proove problematic if the trend isn't stopped. I was unaware that for a period of time, up until 1996, doctors were sueing each other for using patented surgical techniques. Currently, the gene for diabetes is patented (according to the Crichton article). The patent holder thereby controls _any_ genetic based tests or treatments.

Another Reason Why Every Dallas Fan Hates Jerry Jones

See here. Well, he also fired the legendary Tom Landry.

Dan Rather in Jersey

A reporter from a South Jersey paper gets boo'd for doing what a journalist should do: ask the tough questions. Via BOTW.

V for Vendetta

I'm sure most of you have noticed the eyebrow raising undertones of the previews of V for Vendetta. I mean, obviously they are trying to target John Kerry. They had the movie's producer on Fox News this morning. Turns out that the movie's universe is drawn from a 1980s graphic novel portraying Margaret Thatcher's "arch-conservitive regime." I put that in quotes because it's exactly what the producer said.

Just More Propaganda...

TigerHawk dissembles a story on the "big oil spill" in Alaska.

So long to a genuine class act

Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett has died. He was one of my idols as I came of age playing baseball as a kid.There are some players that you can tell just relish every second they are out playing ball, and he was one of them.

We could use a few more like him in the world.

Update: Meanwhile, this not-so-surprising bombshell story just sickens me. Especially since it not only implicates Bonds, but other athletes such as Marion Jones. Say it ain't so.

It's About Time

Bush seeks line-item veto power. Since he hasn't vetoed anything for the last, oh, say several years (relatively speaking...), I think it's long overdue.

SCOTUS in Action..

Chalk up another one for Roberts... I know the decision for this is pretty straightforward, but it's too important to overlook. Even if the Pres' poll numbers dropped to 5%, I'd have voted for him just to get the right Justices in place...

Pathetic

AP "news service" tries to revive Cindy Sheehan. Shameless water-carrying for libs - what else is new?

Enviro-Wackos Busted

Good.

No Way, Dude

Well, I guess Wife and I won't be getting a surfboard this summer. It seems the price is going to spike now that the plant that manufactures 90% of the foam blanks is being shut down. Who do the surfers have to thank for this? The EPA.

Gordon Clark ends his letter with this:

When Clark Foam was started it was a far different California. Businesses like Clark Foam were very welcome and considered the leading edge of innovation and technology. Somewhere along the way things have changed.

So it seems.

This is what I like to hear

sounding more like a free trader every day. I think it's really good he's making nice with India. I think they've got more potential than the Chi-Coms, because they are at least more of a democracy and they've got the legacy of British common law.

Wow

Jonah Goldberg is back! There are too many good points in this column that I can't post excerpts, just read it yourself. I hadn't read Jonah in a while since it seems he had been slipping - he's been working on a book. I guess he felt compelled to respond to Dreher's "attack".

I'm with Jonah 100% on this. I haven't read Rod's book, but I certainly wouldn't consider myself "crunchy". I do "crunchy" things, like enjoy shopping at Whole Foods and enjoy nature, but Jonah hits the nail when he describes crunchy cons as conservatives who are essentially Christian Marxists - they see the world in purely economic terms - or, the way I prefer to put it is that they fall into the trap of politicizing everything. These are the ones who are signing on to the whole environmental evangelical movement.

Whatever your take is - we can certainly say that the conservative movement is full of dissent and argument still, which I think is much healthier than what the other side's got.

Will Fox Be Outfoxed By The Public?

Maybe... More and more folks seem to be catching on to the transformation.

Speaking of The USAF..

If the space port deal actually goes through, Alamogordo will be in good standing come the Raptors...

Attn Bush: Look for Choking Political Opponents

Here's a great strategy: Follow your opponent around until he finds his life in danger and save him!

God Bless the USAF...

I know.......nice topic from a fellow butterbar and this is basically just a rant on my part. You'd think after 14 weeks back in 2004 of constantly being ridiculed by Colonels, Generals, etc. I'd be used to it. But recently I participated in a mock awards board. Basically what people have to go through to earn a Officer of the Quarter/Year at least at base-level....well, they ask 3-4 questions and of course I'm SURE it's their job to critique my answers but this is just ridiculous and it's basically always will be catch-22.

1) What will you do to improve readiness level of the USAF?
my answer was "vague" according to them. Well...perhaps you asked a fucking vague question maybe???????????? At least IMO. On a side note, that Major had no right to critique my uniform. His looked like he just woke up in them and his boots were dirtier than Yokozuna's underwear. But again, this is their "job" I'm sure.

2) What is your opinion on the whole UAE potentially taking over ports ordeal?
my answer is that security is a big deal here (OTS taught me to be neutral) and I just explained the facts behind it and then my opinion. Of course their critique was I didn't choose a side. Thus proving everybody above the butterbar has their own damn opinion and I frankly will follow MY model.

3) What is your role in the USAF?
Geez, another stupid vague question. I had to be cocky here because, well, this is what they want. I explained without me and other satellite operators, soldiers would not be able to tell what's on the ground. I'm being professional but instead this Major said "if anyone here works with this kid, I would take him to the back now and kick his ass for basically lowering the entire space community." I was like "WTF?" Then he went on saying "you should've said *without me, Major, your ass would be dead* Have some *** damned PRIDE in what you do! You ARE right in that I needed GPS in order to kill Iraqis."

Um Major, I think saving your life is enough and that's honorable enough that I don't need to be showing pride. Next thing you know you'd think I'm an @$$hole for showing pride and saving your life.

I swear, USAF isn't about how talented and intelligent you are. It's all about rank. I knew this all along but this is simply the zenith for me.

Deal with the Devil?

Via Mark Levin, it seems the UAE company is not exactly a pristine one, at least when it comes to anti-Semitism.

How can it not fail?

Canada's national health care system that is. In the NY Times:

Accepting money from patients for operations they would otherwise receive free of charge in a public hospital is technically prohibited in this country, even in cases where patients would wait months or even years before receiving treatment

That bit of information, that it is illegal to provide healthcare outside the system, startled me. Even more startling;

Private clinics are opening around the country by an estimated one a week, and private insurance companies are about to find a gold mine.

So now, Canada's healthcare will truly embody what so many say is wrong with the US system, that only those who can afford it (not true here) recieve care, and further prove that a completely government run and operated system fails.

The kind of thing

I like to read...

But so long as you think you are getting something for nothing, the politicians' shell game has worked and the welfare state can continue to expand.

Intellectual Gathering...

Our Governor apparently had dinner with Jessica Simpson last week during her visit of Santa Fe to film a Wal-Mart parody. Topics of discussion included her recent split with "that 98 degree guy" and a symposium on what's actually in those Chicken of the Sea cans. It was unanimously decided that it's NOT green chile...