Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Vulgarity, ahoy
I was in a local department store recently when I seen a 12 or 13-year old girl bedecked thusly:
Short - and I mean short - denim skirt; tank top; large hoop earrings; and enough makeup for two or three adult females.
I stood behind the girl and her mother (I assume it was her mother) for five minutes in the check-out line. The entire five minutes I kept asking and saying to myself: "Why would any f***in' parent let his/her child leave the house wearing that?"; and, "I know why so many old men letch after young girls. Because so many young girls are allowed to dress like 22-year-old club rats."
I couldn't help but think about the abovementioned department store trip when I read the Wall Street Journal's third editorial today. This is powerful stuff:
"Readers with little girls at home don't have to be told who Miley Cyrus is. Their daughters want to be Miley Cyrus. The Disney Channel singer/actress is the star of 'Hannah Montana,' one of the most popular shows on TV. Her latest album is No. 3 on Billboard magazine's bestseller list. Reports estimate that she will bring in $1 billion in business to Disney this year.
"She is also 15. Thus this week's uproar over a seminude photo by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair magazine. The photo – showing Miley draped in a sheet, back bared, hair tousled, with a come-hither smile – upset countless parents who immediately grasped the photo's essential vulgarity.
"Such ordinary wisdom apparently escaped every so-called grown-up involved in the photo shoot. The sophisticates at Vanity Fair defended the picture as a 'beautiful and natural portrait.' Absent sensible adults, Miley herself stepped forward to issue a statement saying that the now-embarrassing photo shoot was supposed to be 'artistic.'
"Next to what crosses TV and computer screens every day, Miley's photo is relatively tame – save for the fact that Vanity Fair was trying to lower the bar on this stuff to the age of 15. Parents have enough difficulty teaching their daughters how not to expose their bodies in a vulgar way; this makes it harder. If there's good news here, it's that folks in Buffalo, Charlotte or Iowa City are still insisting on cultural norms alien to the elites of Manhattan or Hollywood."
Short - and I mean short - denim skirt; tank top; large hoop earrings; and enough makeup for two or three adult females.
I stood behind the girl and her mother (I assume it was her mother) for five minutes in the check-out line. The entire five minutes I kept asking and saying to myself: "Why would any f***in' parent let his/her child leave the house wearing that?"; and, "I know why so many old men letch after young girls. Because so many young girls are allowed to dress like 22-year-old club rats."
I couldn't help but think about the abovementioned department store trip when I read the Wall Street Journal's third editorial today. This is powerful stuff:
"Readers with little girls at home don't have to be told who Miley Cyrus is. Their daughters want to be Miley Cyrus. The Disney Channel singer/actress is the star of 'Hannah Montana,' one of the most popular shows on TV. Her latest album is No. 3 on Billboard magazine's bestseller list. Reports estimate that she will bring in $1 billion in business to Disney this year.
"She is also 15. Thus this week's uproar over a seminude photo by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair magazine. The photo – showing Miley draped in a sheet, back bared, hair tousled, with a come-hither smile – upset countless parents who immediately grasped the photo's essential vulgarity.
"Such ordinary wisdom apparently escaped every so-called grown-up involved in the photo shoot. The sophisticates at Vanity Fair defended the picture as a 'beautiful and natural portrait.' Absent sensible adults, Miley herself stepped forward to issue a statement saying that the now-embarrassing photo shoot was supposed to be 'artistic.'
"Next to what crosses TV and computer screens every day, Miley's photo is relatively tame – save for the fact that Vanity Fair was trying to lower the bar on this stuff to the age of 15. Parents have enough difficulty teaching their daughters how not to expose their bodies in a vulgar way; this makes it harder. If there's good news here, it's that folks in Buffalo, Charlotte or Iowa City are still insisting on cultural norms alien to the elites of Manhattan or Hollywood."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
"Bad f***in' news for Tennessee constitutionalists"
Bad f***in' news for Tennessee constitutionalists:
"William M. Barker, the Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice, announced his intention today to retire from the state’s highest court," the Nashville City Paper reports.
In Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Don Sundquist, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled, 4 to 1, that there is a fundamental right in the Tennessee Constitution that is stronger than the abortion rights discovered in the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
In a magnificent 38-page dissent, Justice William Barker shot the pro-abortion crowd's arguments all to hell. Here's a passage from his dissent:
"Plainly stated, the effect of the court's holding today is to remove from the people all power, except by constitutional amendment, to enact reasonable regulations of abortion. Rather than leaving policy decisions regarding reasonable abortion regulation to the General Assembly, this court has converted itself into a roving constitutional convention, which sees itself free to strike down the duly-enacted laws of the legislature for no other reason than it feels they are burdensome and unwise. In so doing, the court has been unable to convincingly point to any textual or historical basis for its decision, and its holding that our Constitution provides greater protection for the judicially-created right of privacy than the federal Constitution is contrary to nearly 200 years of legal precedent."
Goodbye, Chief Justice Barker. You will be missed.
"William M. Barker, the Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice, announced his intention today to retire from the state’s highest court," the Nashville City Paper reports.
In Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Don Sundquist, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled, 4 to 1, that there is a fundamental right in the Tennessee Constitution that is stronger than the abortion rights discovered in the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
In a magnificent 38-page dissent, Justice William Barker shot the pro-abortion crowd's arguments all to hell. Here's a passage from his dissent:
"Plainly stated, the effect of the court's holding today is to remove from the people all power, except by constitutional amendment, to enact reasonable regulations of abortion. Rather than leaving policy decisions regarding reasonable abortion regulation to the General Assembly, this court has converted itself into a roving constitutional convention, which sees itself free to strike down the duly-enacted laws of the legislature for no other reason than it feels they are burdensome and unwise. In so doing, the court has been unable to convincingly point to any textual or historical basis for its decision, and its holding that our Constitution provides greater protection for the judicially-created right of privacy than the federal Constitution is contrary to nearly 200 years of legal precedent."
Goodbye, Chief Justice Barker. You will be missed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Holocaust-denyin' dumbasses're still out there ...
"[French] far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen sparked a chorus of outrage in France on Friday by repeating an incendiary claim that the Nazi gas chambers were a 'detail of history,'" Ynetnews.com reports.
"'I said the gas chambers were a detail of the history of World War II: that, to me, seems so obvious,' the 79-year-old Le Pen told Bretons magazine.
"When the Bretons journalist told him that the Nazis 'deported people to camps simply to kill them,' Le Pen replied: 'But that is what you believe. I don't feel obliged to adhere to that view.'
"'I observe that in Auschwitz there was the IG Farben factory, there were 80,000 laborers working there. As far as I know they were not gassed, anyway, nor burned.'"
Wow.
My political views place me on the right side - and by "right" I mean conservative and intellectually correct - of the political spectrum. Indeed, I consider myself to be more conservative than the late Sen. Robert Taft, aka Mr. Republican ... and that makes me pretty damn conservative.
That said, I get extremely pissed off when I see anti-Semites like Jean-Marie Le Pen described as being "right-wing" or members of the "far right." Folks like him ain't left or right or center; indeed, they ain't nothin' but a bunch of dumbasses. And that's how they should be pegged ... as "Dumbasses." Indeed.
"'I said the gas chambers were a detail of the history of World War II: that, to me, seems so obvious,' the 79-year-old Le Pen told Bretons magazine.
"When the Bretons journalist told him that the Nazis 'deported people to camps simply to kill them,' Le Pen replied: 'But that is what you believe. I don't feel obliged to adhere to that view.'
"'I observe that in Auschwitz there was the IG Farben factory, there were 80,000 laborers working there. As far as I know they were not gassed, anyway, nor burned.'"
Wow.
My political views place me on the right side - and by "right" I mean conservative and intellectually correct - of the political spectrum. Indeed, I consider myself to be more conservative than the late Sen. Robert Taft, aka Mr. Republican ... and that makes me pretty damn conservative.
That said, I get extremely pissed off when I see anti-Semites like Jean-Marie Le Pen described as being "right-wing" or members of the "far right." Folks like him ain't left or right or center; indeed, they ain't nothin' but a bunch of dumbasses. And that's how they should be pegged ... as "Dumbasses." Indeed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Picture of the day
Nuts, all of 'em ...
I visited a local bookstore this afternoon 'cause I needed to pick up a birthday gift for a friend. Since I knew what I was gonna purchase when I entered the store, I said to myself, with some confidence, "In and out ... I won't be here five minutes."
As I walking past the periodicals, I seen out of the corner of my eye a magazine with a picture of Tom Cruise - sporting a pointy beard and mustache - and the words "Scientology" and "cult" on its cover. I read the article, portions of which I re-read several times, and then I left.
Well, so much for five in-and-out minutes ... I spent a half-hour in that frappin' bookstore. You can read the article that interested me so right here.
Here's a sample:
"It's been a bad couple of months for the Church of Scientology. In December, German authorities took a significant step toward outlawing the group, announcing that they "do not consider Scientology an organization that is compatible with the constitution." In January, St. Martin's Press published Andrew Morton's Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, which painted a scathing portrait of the actor's chosen religion as a money-mad, fascist mind-control sect led by Cruise's closest friend, David Miscavige, a gun-loving high-school dropout with a Napoleon complex who runs his religion like a paramilitary group. Morton's book kicked off yet another blistering round of bad PR for the image-obsessed Church, with headlines about its efforts to draw in Katie Holmes, allegations that Cruise functions as the Church's second-in-command, and the far-fetched belief among some Scientology 'fanatics' that Suri Cruise was actually sired using Hubbard's frozen sperm. It debuted at number one on the New York Times best-seller list.
"Then came the video. You've probably seen it by now—leaked footage of Tom Cruise accepting the Church's Freedom Medal of Valor award at a 2004 gathering of the International Association of Scientologists. Slickly produced, with the theme from Mission: Impossible pumping along in the background, the clip features a manic Cruise exhorting his co-religionists to commit themselves to the cause. 'Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else,' he says. 'As you drive past, you know you have to do something about it. Because you're the only one who can help.'"
As I walking past the periodicals, I seen out of the corner of my eye a magazine with a picture of Tom Cruise - sporting a pointy beard and mustache - and the words "Scientology" and "cult" on its cover. I read the article, portions of which I re-read several times, and then I left.
Well, so much for five in-and-out minutes ... I spent a half-hour in that frappin' bookstore. You can read the article that interested me so right here.
Here's a sample:
"It's been a bad couple of months for the Church of Scientology. In December, German authorities took a significant step toward outlawing the group, announcing that they "do not consider Scientology an organization that is compatible with the constitution." In January, St. Martin's Press published Andrew Morton's Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, which painted a scathing portrait of the actor's chosen religion as a money-mad, fascist mind-control sect led by Cruise's closest friend, David Miscavige, a gun-loving high-school dropout with a Napoleon complex who runs his religion like a paramilitary group. Morton's book kicked off yet another blistering round of bad PR for the image-obsessed Church, with headlines about its efforts to draw in Katie Holmes, allegations that Cruise functions as the Church's second-in-command, and the far-fetched belief among some Scientology 'fanatics' that Suri Cruise was actually sired using Hubbard's frozen sperm. It debuted at number one on the New York Times best-seller list.
"Then came the video. You've probably seen it by now—leaked footage of Tom Cruise accepting the Church's Freedom Medal of Valor award at a 2004 gathering of the International Association of Scientologists. Slickly produced, with the theme from Mission: Impossible pumping along in the background, the clip features a manic Cruise exhorting his co-religionists to commit themselves to the cause. 'Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else,' he says. 'As you drive past, you know you have to do something about it. Because you're the only one who can help.'"
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
A true Rain Man
Week in and week out for the past, oh, two months, there's been a guy who stands on a street corner near my house waving a sign advertising two new townhouse developments. Today, dude was out holding and waving his sign during a thunderstorm. Here's a pic (snapped through my car's dashboard window):
When I was 11 or 12-years-old, several friends and I were playing football in my backyard during a cats-and-dogs downpour. My dad yelled through a window and told me to get my arse inside. When I got my arse inside, mon père asked me this (and I'm NOT paraphrasing), "Son, do you not have enough goddamn sense to know when to come in out of the rain?"
When I seen that guy waving his sign today, I wanted to pull over and ask him, "Sir, do you have no better sense than to stand outside in the rain?" Then I thought, "Maybe he's being paid very well to hold that sign, rain or shine." Wait ... well-paid street corner sign-waver? What was that my dad said about me havin' no goddamn sense?!
When I was 11 or 12-years-old, several friends and I were playing football in my backyard during a cats-and-dogs downpour. My dad yelled through a window and told me to get my arse inside. When I got my arse inside, mon père asked me this (and I'm NOT paraphrasing), "Son, do you not have enough goddamn sense to know when to come in out of the rain?"
When I seen that guy waving his sign today, I wanted to pull over and ask him, "Sir, do you have no better sense than to stand outside in the rain?" Then I thought, "Maybe he's being paid very well to hold that sign, rain or shine." Wait ... well-paid street corner sign-waver? What was that my dad said about me havin' no goddamn sense?!
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Sunday, April 27, 2008
Free Tibet!
Since Tibet's been all over the news recently, I figure it's a good time for me to share this story ...
'Bout my third year in college, some friends and I set up a table in front of my school's main cafeteria from which we dangled a big "Free Tibet!" banner. On the table we placed some flyers we'd printed up announcing that a mercenary force was being formed by several wealthy patrons who wished to see Tibet freed from Chinese rule. We added that the wealthy patrons would be providing several million dollars-worth of assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, landmines and assorted small arms. We also put out a sign-up sheet for anyone who was interested in joining the Free Tibet Expeditionary Force.
You should've seen it, man. These hippy dippy types would come up to our table all excited, then they'd read the flyer and stomp off. "Hey, don't you want to free Tibet?!" we'd shout when they stomped off. One guy gave us the middle finger, and one guy told us we needed to have our asses kicked. To that dude I said: "You should think twice about threatening us, pal. After all, WE'RE the ones who have access to assault rifles and machine guns!"
We manned our little table for about 2 hours before some university hack told us that we had to take the table down. (We'd neglected to get permission beforehand, you see.) That was okay because we'd accomplished just what we'd set out to do when we put up our table and started passing out our flyers:
We pissed off a lot of people that day. And exposed quite a lot of hypocrisy in the process.
Tee hee!
'Bout my third year in college, some friends and I set up a table in front of my school's main cafeteria from which we dangled a big "Free Tibet!" banner. On the table we placed some flyers we'd printed up announcing that a mercenary force was being formed by several wealthy patrons who wished to see Tibet freed from Chinese rule. We added that the wealthy patrons would be providing several million dollars-worth of assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, landmines and assorted small arms. We also put out a sign-up sheet for anyone who was interested in joining the Free Tibet Expeditionary Force.
You should've seen it, man. These hippy dippy types would come up to our table all excited, then they'd read the flyer and stomp off. "Hey, don't you want to free Tibet?!" we'd shout when they stomped off. One guy gave us the middle finger, and one guy told us we needed to have our asses kicked. To that dude I said: "You should think twice about threatening us, pal. After all, WE'RE the ones who have access to assault rifles and machine guns!"
We manned our little table for about 2 hours before some university hack told us that we had to take the table down. (We'd neglected to get permission beforehand, you see.) That was okay because we'd accomplished just what we'd set out to do when we put up our table and started passing out our flyers:
We pissed off a lot of people that day. And exposed quite a lot of hypocrisy in the process.
Tee hee!
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Sunday, April 27, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
B. Hussein's "problem" ...
"What is [B. Hussein Obama's] problem?" Pat Buchanan asks in an e-mail I received today. Pat answers his own question, quite cogently, in this column:
"Though he has stitched together the McGovern wing of the party -- the anti-war crowd, the cause people, the professoriat -- with the Jesse Jackson wing -- 90 percent of the African-American vote -- he is being systematically pushed out of the heartland of the party, the white working and middle class. And reinforcing the impression in Middle America that Barack is 'not one of us' is the core of both the Clinton and Republican strategies. And they are working."
Read the rest here.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 25, 2008
Go ahead and protest (I'll be at home drinking beer)
The folks at Enturbulation.org sent me an - unsolicited - e-mail today telling me about a nationwide anti-Scientology protest that'll be taking place on May 10. (I'm pretty sure I'll be busy drinking beer that day.)
Here's what Enturbulation has to say 'bout itself:
"It is the purpose of this site to collect and distribute sourced information and facilitate the organization and planning of worldwide protest actions concerning the Scientology Organization. The purpose of these actions is to expose and document the offenses of the Organization of Scientology, not attack or question their religious beliefs.
"All articles, linked or quoted, cited from this site have been thoroughly investigated and are, to the best of our knowledge, authentic. It is not our position to present any outlandish claims, nor to slander The Scientology Organization; rather, our goal is to present the information as-is and allow you to make your own, informed, rational decision.
"Enturbulation.org is constantly expanding to ensure a sturdy and consistent base for activism and organizing pickets worldwide. Enturbulation is a non profit site ran by professionals during our free time and we strive to keep improving the site and discussion forums. For further information on how you can help us please visit our donation guidelines."
Here's what Enturbulation has to say 'bout itself:
"It is the purpose of this site to collect and distribute sourced information and facilitate the organization and planning of worldwide protest actions concerning the Scientology Organization. The purpose of these actions is to expose and document the offenses of the Organization of Scientology, not attack or question their religious beliefs.
"All articles, linked or quoted, cited from this site have been thoroughly investigated and are, to the best of our knowledge, authentic. It is not our position to present any outlandish claims, nor to slander The Scientology Organization; rather, our goal is to present the information as-is and allow you to make your own, informed, rational decision.
"Enturbulation.org is constantly expanding to ensure a sturdy and consistent base for activism and organizing pickets worldwide. Enturbulation is a non profit site ran by professionals during our free time and we strive to keep improving the site and discussion forums. For further information on how you can help us please visit our donation guidelines."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 25, 2008
The dark (and diseased) side of immigration ...
Cogitate upon this story when you hear some open-borders type calling for even more Third World immigration into the U.S. ...
"Call it one price of [mass immigration].
"Last year, tuberculosis increased in four of the Bay Area's five largest counties, and the San Jose area in 2006 had the highest TB rate of any large American metro area, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health. San Francisco, after an outbreak of TB among Latino day workers in the Mission district, has the highest TB rate of any county in California - quadruple the U.S. rate.
"From the bodies of Peruvian mummies to 21st-century tech workers, tuberculosis has been mankind's dark partner for centuries - a highly infectious disease that never followed the path to eradication of smallpox and polio. One in three people worldwide are infected, and 1.7 million died last year, mostly in poor countries where people lack the access to detection and treatment available in the United States."
Read the rest here.
"Call it one price of [mass immigration].
"Last year, tuberculosis increased in four of the Bay Area's five largest counties, and the San Jose area in 2006 had the highest TB rate of any large American metro area, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health. San Francisco, after an outbreak of TB among Latino day workers in the Mission district, has the highest TB rate of any county in California - quadruple the U.S. rate.
"From the bodies of Peruvian mummies to 21st-century tech workers, tuberculosis has been mankind's dark partner for centuries - a highly infectious disease that never followed the path to eradication of smallpox and polio. One in three people worldwide are infected, and 1.7 million died last year, mostly in poor countries where people lack the access to detection and treatment available in the United States."
Read the rest here.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Capitalism works like this ... (update)
Apparently, the price of gasoline is the topic du jour every jour on the Phil Valentine Show. I heard 15 minutes of his show on my way home from work this evening, and every minute I heard was devoted to gas prices.
In the course of his gas-talkin', Mr. Valentine queried why all gas stations pay the same price for the gasoline they receive from gas distributors, aka Big Oil. Well, I'll tell him (and you):
The price of gasoline is not determined in a boardroom by a cabal of corporate suits. Gasoline is a commodity, and just like all commodities its price is determined on a commodities exchange. (In the case of gasoline, it's the New York Mercantile Exchange, or Nymex.) Thus, when it comes to gasoline, oil companies charge, and gas stations pay, whatever the market is dictating on any given day.
That said, here's an interesting experiment which you and your friends can try when you wanna know what a gallon of gas will cost on any given day ...
Get a copy of the Wall Street Journal. Pull out the "Money & Investing" section. Turn to the commodities page, and find "petroleum futures." Check out what a gallon of gas is going for on Nymex. When you find that figure, add federal, state and local taxes (roughly $.50). Then add the nickel your local gas station gets for that gallon of gas, and you will know, give or take a few pennies, what gas is going for in your ville.
So there (again).
In the course of his gas-talkin', Mr. Valentine queried why all gas stations pay the same price for the gasoline they receive from gas distributors, aka Big Oil. Well, I'll tell him (and you):
The price of gasoline is not determined in a boardroom by a cabal of corporate suits. Gasoline is a commodity, and just like all commodities its price is determined on a commodities exchange. (In the case of gasoline, it's the New York Mercantile Exchange, or Nymex.) Thus, when it comes to gasoline, oil companies charge, and gas stations pay, whatever the market is dictating on any given day.
That said, here's an interesting experiment which you and your friends can try when you wanna know what a gallon of gas will cost on any given day ...
Get a copy of the Wall Street Journal. Pull out the "Money & Investing" section. Turn to the commodities page, and find "petroleum futures." Check out what a gallon of gas is going for on Nymex. When you find that figure, add federal, state and local taxes (roughly $.50). Then add the nickel your local gas station gets for that gallon of gas, and you will know, give or take a few pennies, what gas is going for in your ville.
So there (again).
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 24, 2008
Who's afraid of the Church of Scientology? (YouTube, that's who)
Remember when I posted a video in which actor Jason Beghe ripped Scientology ("Scientology is destructive and a rip-off. ... If Scientology is real, then something’s f***ed up")? Go lookin' for that video on YouTube now and you won't find it.
Check out the e-mail I just received 'bout Jason Beghe and YouTube:
Hi,
Just letting you know your Jason Beghe interview embedded from YouTube
is broken (video removed). Fresh (working) video links and updated backstory on why your original YouTube link doesn't work, see update:
Video: http://xenutv.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/234/
Backstory: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/YouTube_accounts_of_Scientology_critics_suspended
Maura
I wonder ... if someone asked YouTube to remove a video featuring a celebrity ripping, say, Pat Robertson, do you think YouTube'd do it?
Check out the e-mail I just received 'bout Jason Beghe and YouTube:
Hi,
Just letting you know your Jason Beghe interview embedded from YouTube
is broken (video removed). Fresh (working) video links and updated backstory on why your original YouTube link doesn't work, see update:
Video: http://xenutv.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/234/
Backstory: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/YouTube_accounts_of_Scientology_critics_suspended
Maura
I wonder ... if someone asked YouTube to remove a video featuring a celebrity ripping, say, Pat Robertson, do you think YouTube'd do it?
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Capitalism works like this ...
On his syndicated radio program today, Nashville-based talker Phil Valentine asked the following question (and I'm paraphrasing here):
Why do oil companies have to charge the prevailing market price for their goods?
With oil companies taking in record profits, I'm sure a lot of people are asking the very same question. "Can't they just lower their prices to give all us Ordinary Joes a break?" they ask. Well, here's a newsflash for such-minded folk: Publicly-owned businesses aren't in business to give anyone a break; they're in business to provide goods and services the public at large desires and - AND - make a profit.
That said, corporate directors have one primary job: to maximize profits so that their company's stock increases in value. A company can't do either of those things by selling the goods it produces at below-market prices. If'n that sounds like a bad thing to you, well, direct your Web-browser to the Communist Party's site and click the "join now" button.
With that off my chest, I'd like to tell ol' Phil this:
Any CEO or corporate board member who proclaimed that he or she wished to provide the goods produced by his or her company at prices below what the market dictated would face an immediate shareholder revolt ... and he or she would soon be looking for another job. And that's why you ain't gonna see any oil company selling gasoline below what the market is dictating.
So there.
Why do oil companies have to charge the prevailing market price for their goods?
With oil companies taking in record profits, I'm sure a lot of people are asking the very same question. "Can't they just lower their prices to give all us Ordinary Joes a break?" they ask. Well, here's a newsflash for such-minded folk: Publicly-owned businesses aren't in business to give anyone a break; they're in business to provide goods and services the public at large desires and - AND - make a profit.
That said, corporate directors have one primary job: to maximize profits so that their company's stock increases in value. A company can't do either of those things by selling the goods it produces at below-market prices. If'n that sounds like a bad thing to you, well, direct your Web-browser to the Communist Party's site and click the "join now" button.
With that off my chest, I'd like to tell ol' Phil this:
Any CEO or corporate board member who proclaimed that he or she wished to provide the goods produced by his or her company at prices below what the market dictated would face an immediate shareholder revolt ... and he or she would soon be looking for another job. And that's why you ain't gonna see any oil company selling gasoline below what the market is dictating.
So there.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Bring Him On! (By "him" I mean B. Hussein Obama)
I just got me an "insider" e-mail from the Republican National Committee 'bout exit polls from yesterday's Pennsylvania primary. The exit polls confirm something I've been telling myself a lot lately: B. Hussein Obama will be easier to beat in November than Hillary Clinton.
Check this out:
"Obama only wins 72% of the Democratic vote in a general election match up among those surveyed last night. Clinton shows her broad coalitional strength and wins 81% in a general election match up against John McCain. A full quarter of the Democrats in Pennsylvania are not willing to cast their ballot for Obama against McCain (15% say they vote McCain and 10% say they stay home), however, Clinton loses only 17% of Democrats (10% for McCain and 7% would not vote). This gap of 8-points would be significant in a general election match up. President Bush lost Pennsylvania by 2-points in 2004, when 41% of the electorate were Democrats. That 8-point gap among Democrats is enough to swing the state the other way (8% of 41% is 2.8-points, turning Pennsylvania red). This dynamic is clearly visible in publicly released surveys; an average of April polls show McCain trailing Obama by an average of 3-points (3 surveys in April) and trailing Clinton by 8-points."
Check this out:
"Obama only wins 72% of the Democratic vote in a general election match up among those surveyed last night. Clinton shows her broad coalitional strength and wins 81% in a general election match up against John McCain. A full quarter of the Democrats in Pennsylvania are not willing to cast their ballot for Obama against McCain (15% say they vote McCain and 10% say they stay home), however, Clinton loses only 17% of Democrats (10% for McCain and 7% would not vote). This gap of 8-points would be significant in a general election match up. President Bush lost Pennsylvania by 2-points in 2004, when 41% of the electorate were Democrats. That 8-point gap among Democrats is enough to swing the state the other way (8% of 41% is 2.8-points, turning Pennsylvania red). This dynamic is clearly visible in publicly released surveys; an average of April polls show McCain trailing Obama by an average of 3-points (3 surveys in April) and trailing Clinton by 8-points."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
F*** Earth Day
To hell with Earth Day. Don Boudreaux says we should be celebrating Capitalism Day ... and I heartedly agree. To wit:
"On this Earth Day, I celebrate capitalism -- the institution that, far more than any other, has made human lives clean, safe, dignified, and culturally rich. Capitalism is also responsible for giving people the wealth and leisure to permit them to mis-perceive nature as loving and bountiful, and to enjoy nature in a way that few of our pre-industrial ancestors could ever have enjoyed it.
"So, on this Earth Day, I offer you here my essay, inspired by the work of Julian Simon, entitled "Cleaned by Capitalism." Here are the central paragraphs:
"Before refrigeration, people ran enormous risks of ingesting deadly bacteria whenever they ate meat or dairy products. Refrigeration has dramatically reduced the bacteria pollution that constantly haunted our pre-twentieth-century forebears.
"We wear clean clothes; our ancestors wore foul clothes. Pre-industrial humans had no washers, dryers, or sanitary laundry detergent. Clothes were worn day after day without being washed. And when they were washed, the detergent was often made of urine."
Keep reading.
"On this Earth Day, I celebrate capitalism -- the institution that, far more than any other, has made human lives clean, safe, dignified, and culturally rich. Capitalism is also responsible for giving people the wealth and leisure to permit them to mis-perceive nature as loving and bountiful, and to enjoy nature in a way that few of our pre-industrial ancestors could ever have enjoyed it.
"So, on this Earth Day, I offer you here my essay, inspired by the work of Julian Simon, entitled "Cleaned by Capitalism." Here are the central paragraphs:
"Before refrigeration, people ran enormous risks of ingesting deadly bacteria whenever they ate meat or dairy products. Refrigeration has dramatically reduced the bacteria pollution that constantly haunted our pre-twentieth-century forebears.
"We wear clean clothes; our ancestors wore foul clothes. Pre-industrial humans had no washers, dryers, or sanitary laundry detergent. Clothes were worn day after day without being washed. And when they were washed, the detergent was often made of urine."
Keep reading.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Awwwwww ...
Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a certified plastic surgeon, has written a children's book, entitled My Beautiful Mommy, which purports to enlighten young children about their mommy's 'bout boob jobs, nose jobs, tummy tucks, etc. How adorable! Newsweek reports:
"Salzhauer got the idea for a book after noticing that women were coming into his office with their kids in tow. He says that mysterious doctor's visits can be frightening for children. 'Parents generally tend to go into this denial thing. They just try to ignore the kids' questions completely.' But, he adds, children 'fill in the blanks in their imagination' and then feel worse when they see 'mommy with bandages,' he says. 'With the tummy tucks, [the mothers] can't lift anything. They're in bed. The kids have questions.'"
What's next ... The Tattoo Above Mommy's Butt Crack? My Mommy Kissed Another Mommy On "Girls Gone Wild"? My Mommy Has Open Credit At Bud's Liquor Store?
"Salzhauer got the idea for a book after noticing that women were coming into his office with their kids in tow. He says that mysterious doctor's visits can be frightening for children. 'Parents generally tend to go into this denial thing. They just try to ignore the kids' questions completely.' But, he adds, children 'fill in the blanks in their imagination' and then feel worse when they see 'mommy with bandages,' he says. 'With the tummy tucks, [the mothers] can't lift anything. They're in bed. The kids have questions.'"
What's next ... The Tattoo Above Mommy's Butt Crack? My Mommy Kissed Another Mommy On "Girls Gone Wild"? My Mommy Has Open Credit At Bud's Liquor Store?
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
"Hillary [won't] get out ... even if she loses"
Rich Galen has a good take on tomrrow's Pennsylvania Primary:
"Finally ... Barack is in a full whine saying Hillary is throwing 'the kitchen sink' at him with charges which are nothing but 'distractions' from the big issues. ABC's Jake Tapper captured the theme on his blog, writing:
"'How on Earth can Obama with a straight face decry these distractions when his campaign that very same day organized a conference call to harp on Clinton's Bosnia-sniper-fire gaffe?'
"This has gotten so ugly, that I am not now certain Hillary will get out of this thing even if she loses tomorrow.
"Hope, as they say, springs eternal."
"Finally ... Barack is in a full whine saying Hillary is throwing 'the kitchen sink' at him with charges which are nothing but 'distractions' from the big issues. ABC's Jake Tapper captured the theme on his blog, writing:
"'How on Earth can Obama with a straight face decry these distractions when his campaign that very same day organized a conference call to harp on Clinton's Bosnia-sniper-fire gaffe?'
"This has gotten so ugly, that I am not now certain Hillary will get out of this thing even if she loses tomorrow.
"Hope, as they say, springs eternal."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 21, 2008
Where do you get off asking me **** like that?
During a pre-draft interview with a National Football League team, Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo, who will likely be a first or second-round pick, was asked this question: "When's the last time you cheated on your girlfriend?"
In an interview with the Sports By Brooks blog, Mayo had this to say 'bout the unusual question ...
"They said 'When's the last time you cheated on your girlfriend?'" Mayo said. "They didn't even ask me, 'Did you cheat on your girlfriend?' I told them I didn't cheat on my girlfriend."
AOL's Michael David Smith makes a good point:
"Mayo didn't say which team asked him that question, but at some point you have to wonder whether the questions cross the line from legitimate efforts to get to know a player into pure nosiness. Questions regarding sex, gender, sexual orientation and marital status are almost always considered inappropriate and are in some cases illegal in job interviews, and NFL teams need to remember that a job interview is exactly what they're conducting when they talk to draft prospects."
In an interview with the Sports By Brooks blog, Mayo had this to say 'bout the unusual question ...
"They said 'When's the last time you cheated on your girlfriend?'" Mayo said. "They didn't even ask me, 'Did you cheat on your girlfriend?' I told them I didn't cheat on my girlfriend."
AOL's Michael David Smith makes a good point:
"Mayo didn't say which team asked him that question, but at some point you have to wonder whether the questions cross the line from legitimate efforts to get to know a player into pure nosiness. Questions regarding sex, gender, sexual orientation and marital status are almost always considered inappropriate and are in some cases illegal in job interviews, and NFL teams need to remember that a job interview is exactly what they're conducting when they talk to draft prospects."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 21, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
VP Prognosticatin' (Update)
The Wall Street Journal's editorial page seems to think that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is McCain's first choice for VP:
"South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford speaks in a soft Southern drawl. But he doesn't soften his message or hesitate with his words. They come quickly and, at times, with a blunt force. As he talks, he reveals why he is on nearly every Republican strategist's shortlist for vice president this year.
"Over the past six years, Mr. Sanford has amassed a political record that many within the GOP would like to see enacted in Washington: tax cuts, school choice, market-based entitlement reform and a long list of vetoes handed out to a profligate legislature. Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove and Sen. Lindsey Graham (a stalwart John McCain backer) have all floated Mr. Sanford's name for veep."
Exactly one week ago, I prognosticated that McCain will ask a conservative female governor to join his presidential ticket. I stand by my choice.
As much as I admire Mark Sanford, I don't think he'll be on the GOP ticket come Labor Day. The McCain campaign, you see, is lookin' female and/or person of color - as well as unabashedly conservative - for the second slot. Thus, Sanford is out.
You know, if former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts still found himself serving in Congress, he would undoubtedly be the runaway favorite to be McCain's VP ... and I would be his biggest VP cheerleader, if you will. (To borrow a line from Goober Pyle, that needed to be brung out.)
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Saturday, April 19, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
A "tax" by any other name
Creeder Reader Kim tells sends us the following link, from the New York Times, in which Richard Conniff says the U.S. gov'ment don't need to use the word "tax" no more:
"I propose we stop saying 'taxes' and start calling them 'dues.' ...
'[T]tax' comes from the Latin for 'appraise' with punitive overtones of 'censure' or 'fault,' as if wage-earners have done something wrong by their labors. Dues,' in contrast, is rooted in social obligation and duty."
Don't know about you, but to me a tax by any other name is still a tax -- or legally sanctioned robbery.
"I propose we stop saying 'taxes' and start calling them 'dues.' ...
'[T]tax' comes from the Latin for 'appraise' with punitive overtones of 'censure' or 'fault,' as if wage-earners have done something wrong by their labors. Dues,' in contrast, is rooted in social obligation and duty."
Don't know about you, but to me a tax by any other name is still a tax -- or legally sanctioned robbery.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 18, 2008
What we pay for "non-traditional" families ...
Next time you hear some left-winger bitching 'bout the cost of the Iraq war, tell him/her this:
"The Institute for American Values just released a groundbreaking report this week called The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing. Using very conservative calculations, the study estimates that fragmented families cost the American taxpayer at least $112 billion a year. Put another way, over the last five years American taxpayers have spent $500 billion on the war in Iraq and $560 billion on broken families."
"The Institute for American Values just released a groundbreaking report this week called The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing. Using very conservative calculations, the study estimates that fragmented families cost the American taxpayer at least $112 billion a year. Put another way, over the last five years American taxpayers have spent $500 billion on the war in Iraq and $560 billion on broken families."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The "art" of abortion
And you thought the picture of a crucifix in a jar of urnine was offensive. Check out this story from the Yale Daily News (HT: Creeder Reader Steve T.). A sample:
"[Aliza Shvarts' project is] a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself 'as often as possible' while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood."
What a f***in' sicko.
If Ms. Shvarts' parents aren't deeply ashamed - and if they're not constantly asking themselves, "Where did we go wrong?" - then they ain't worth much o' nothing. Indeed.
UPDATE:
Aliza Shvarts was hoaxing. She wasn't artificially inseminated, and she didn't suffer any miscarriages. According to Ms. Shvarts, what transpired after she lied and announced that she'd purposefully miscarried artificially-inseminated babies was her idea of a "performance art" display.
What a f***in' sick bitch!
Know what I think? I think Ms. Shvarts didn't get enough leather on her backside when she was a young lass. (Hell, the same can be said for just about anyone who's younger than 25 these days.)
"[Aliza Shvarts' project is] a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself 'as often as possible' while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood."
What a f***in' sicko.
If Ms. Shvarts' parents aren't deeply ashamed - and if they're not constantly asking themselves, "Where did we go wrong?" - then they ain't worth much o' nothing. Indeed.
UPDATE:
Aliza Shvarts was hoaxing. She wasn't artificially inseminated, and she didn't suffer any miscarriages. According to Ms. Shvarts, what transpired after she lied and announced that she'd purposefully miscarried artificially-inseminated babies was her idea of a "performance art" display.
What a f***in' sick bitch!
Know what I think? I think Ms. Shvarts didn't get enough leather on her backside when she was a young lass. (Hell, the same can be said for just about anyone who's younger than 25 these days.)
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 17, 2008
A clueless boob, indeed
B. Hussein Obama is a clueless boob. For proof, check out Jonah Goldberg's comments 'bout last night's Democratic debate. A sample:
"I don't cry 'class warfare!' very often. But the beginning of Obama's capital gains tax question was amazing stuff. He conceded the premise that revenues go up when you cut capital gains taxes. But he said it would be worthwhile to raise them nonetheless as an issue of "fairness" because some people are making too much money. In other words, even if the government loses money to pay for all of the wonderful things Obama wants to do, it'd be worth it because sticking it to rich people is a good in and of itself."
"I don't cry 'class warfare!' very often. But the beginning of Obama's capital gains tax question was amazing stuff. He conceded the premise that revenues go up when you cut capital gains taxes. But he said it would be worthwhile to raise them nonetheless as an issue of "fairness" because some people are making too much money. In other words, even if the government loses money to pay for all of the wonderful things Obama wants to do, it'd be worth it because sticking it to rich people is a good in and of itself."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 17, 2008
Three cheers for Jason Beghe
Actor Jason Beghe - who's famous for his roles on CSI and Numb3rs - is telling the troof 'bout Scientology. He recently released a teaser video for an upcoming interview in which he harshly criticizes the "religion." Check it out:
Sayeth Mr. Beghe: "Scientology is destructive and a rip-off. ... If Scientology is real, then something’s f***ed up."
Indeed.
Sayeth Mr. Beghe: "Scientology is destructive and a rip-off. ... If Scientology is real, then something’s f***ed up."
Indeed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
More pro-abortion "crackin'" ...
Crackerboxpalace came back, and he/she e-mailed me thusly:
"Pro-choice was found in case [sic] of Roe v. Wade."
Here's a portion of my response:
Regarding Roe v. Wade, have you actually taken the time to read Justice Blackman's majority opinion? I mean, Blackman's opinion IS a quasi-sacred document to most liberals; thus, I'd like to know what you think about his legal reasoning.
Since I'm in a generous mood, I'll save you some trouble and give you the legal lowdown on Roe: there is no legal reasoning in Blackman's 51-page opinion. Indeed, there is not one line of explanation that qualifies as legal argument. If you'd like to know what the ancient Egyptians and Greeks thought about abortion, consult Roe. If you'd like to know what the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the American Bar Association had to say about abortion in 1973, consult Roe. If you want to know how many times abortion is referenced in English common law, consult Roe. However, if you'd like to know exactly where the Founders inserted the right to abortion in the Constitution, you'd better look elsewhere because you won't find it in Roe v. Wade.
I especially like the last line in the response to Crackerboxpalace. We'll see if he/she dares send me a comeback ...
"Pro-choice was found in case [sic] of Roe v. Wade."
Here's a portion of my response:
Regarding Roe v. Wade, have you actually taken the time to read Justice Blackman's majority opinion? I mean, Blackman's opinion IS a quasi-sacred document to most liberals; thus, I'd like to know what you think about his legal reasoning.
Since I'm in a generous mood, I'll save you some trouble and give you the legal lowdown on Roe: there is no legal reasoning in Blackman's 51-page opinion. Indeed, there is not one line of explanation that qualifies as legal argument. If you'd like to know what the ancient Egyptians and Greeks thought about abortion, consult Roe. If you'd like to know what the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the American Bar Association had to say about abortion in 1973, consult Roe. If you want to know how many times abortion is referenced in English common law, consult Roe. However, if you'd like to know exactly where the Founders inserted the right to abortion in the Constitution, you'd better look elsewhere because you won't find it in Roe v. Wade.
I especially like the last line in the response to Crackerboxpalace. We'll see if he/she dares send me a comeback ...
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
You ain't crackin' nothin'
Some dumbass calling himself/herself "Crackerboxpalace" sent me a crackerjack e-mail taking issue with my link-between-abortion-and-breast-cancer post. He/she said:
"The continued insistence on a connection that simply is not there is nothing more than another scare tactic promulgated by those who would take away a woman's right to choose."
Crackerboxpalace is simply taking a cue from NARAL/Planned Parenthood and reflexively attacking any perceived threat to abortion rights -- even though he/she is ignoring sound science and common sense in the process.
A growing body of scientific evidence has linked abortion, fertility drugs, chemical contraceptives, and hormone replacement therapy with breast cancer. It would be one thing if religious and/or pro-life outfits were the only outfits producing papers in which the link between abortion and breast cancer. But it's professional peer-reviewed medical journals that're talking about the link. Tain't no "right-wing conspiracy" goin' on here, indeed.
As Cosmo Kramer once remarked, "Mother Nature is a mad scientist." Mad scientist indeed. We're forever learning what bad things can happen when the natural reproductive process is altered or turned upside down, the views of the pro-abortion crowd notwithstanding.
Click here to read more 'bout abortion and breast cancer.
"The continued insistence on a connection that simply is not there is nothing more than another scare tactic promulgated by those who would take away a woman's right to choose."
Crackerboxpalace is simply taking a cue from NARAL/Planned Parenthood and reflexively attacking any perceived threat to abortion rights -- even though he/she is ignoring sound science and common sense in the process.
A growing body of scientific evidence has linked abortion, fertility drugs, chemical contraceptives, and hormone replacement therapy with breast cancer. It would be one thing if religious and/or pro-life outfits were the only outfits producing papers in which the link between abortion and breast cancer. But it's professional peer-reviewed medical journals that're talking about the link. Tain't no "right-wing conspiracy" goin' on here, indeed.
As Cosmo Kramer once remarked, "Mother Nature is a mad scientist." Mad scientist indeed. We're forever learning what bad things can happen when the natural reproductive process is altered or turned upside down, the views of the pro-abortion crowd notwithstanding.
Click here to read more 'bout abortion and breast cancer.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 15, 2008
B. Hussein to rural America: "You rubes!"
The very first election in which I participated was the 1992 primary for U.S. President. My vote went to Pat Buchanan. When Buchanan pens stuff like this, it's no wonder why I wanted to give him the keys to the White House back in the day. A sample:
"It was said behind closed doors to the chablis-and-brie set of San Francisco, in response to a question as to why he was not doing better in that benighted and barbarous land they call Pennsylvania.
"Like Dr. Schweitzer, home from Africa to address the Royal Society on the customs of the upper Zambezi, Barack described Pennsylvanians in their native habitats of Atloona, Alquippa, Johnstown and McKeesport.
"'You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and ... the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them.
"'And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.'
"This is the pitch-perfect Hollywood-Harvard stereotype of the white working class, the caricature of the urban ethnic -- as seen from the San Francisco point of view.
"As Linus clung to his security blanket, Barack is saying, out-state Pennsylvanians, bitter at the world that has passed them by, cling to their Bibles and guns and naturally revert to ancestral bigotries against "people who aren't like them" -- blacks, gays and immigrants.
"Though he sees himself as a progressive who has risen above prejudice, Barack was reflecting and pandering to the prejudice of the class to which he himself belongs, and which he was then addressing."
"It was said behind closed doors to the chablis-and-brie set of San Francisco, in response to a question as to why he was not doing better in that benighted and barbarous land they call Pennsylvania.
"Like Dr. Schweitzer, home from Africa to address the Royal Society on the customs of the upper Zambezi, Barack described Pennsylvanians in their native habitats of Atloona, Alquippa, Johnstown and McKeesport.
"'You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and ... the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them.
"'And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.'
"This is the pitch-perfect Hollywood-Harvard stereotype of the white working class, the caricature of the urban ethnic -- as seen from the San Francisco point of view.
"As Linus clung to his security blanket, Barack is saying, out-state Pennsylvanians, bitter at the world that has passed them by, cling to their Bibles and guns and naturally revert to ancestral bigotries against "people who aren't like them" -- blacks, gays and immigrants.
"Though he sees himself as a progressive who has risen above prejudice, Barack was reflecting and pandering to the prejudice of the class to which he himself belongs, and which he was then addressing."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Alicia Keys: Nutbucket
It wasn't so very long ago when some influential members of the black community were praising "gangsta" rappers for accurately portraying life in the hood. We were told that the young men who talked about killin' police, dealin' drugs, and beatin' ho's were simply venting their frustration for having to live a life a poverty whilst always bein' hassled by The Man.
That ain't the story we're being told no more. Oh, no. According to Alicia Keys, violent rap music was created by white people and introduced into the ghetto to encourage black people - primarily young black men - to kill each other. When you finish laughing, check this out:
"There's another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist.
"The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: 'Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other.' ...
"Keys, 27, said she's read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck 'to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead,' according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.
"Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled 'by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing.'
To borrow a line from Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife, Alicia Keys is a nut.
That ain't the story we're being told no more. Oh, no. According to Alicia Keys, violent rap music was created by white people and introduced into the ghetto to encourage black people - primarily young black men - to kill each other. When you finish laughing, check this out:
"There's another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist.
"The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: 'Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other.' ...
"Keys, 27, said she's read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck 'to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead,' according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.
"Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled 'by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing.'
To borrow a line from Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife, Alicia Keys is a nut.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 14, 2008
Bad news for the pro-abortion crowd
Here's a very interesting story from the March issue of Newsmax magazine:
"Having an abortion raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer by at least 30 percent, and is fueling an 'epidemic' of the often fatal disease, according to British researchers.
"According to a new study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, young women who had an abortion before having a child are at the greatest risk for developing breast cancer.
"The study’s lead author Patrick Carroll calls abortion the single 'best predictor' of breast cancer trends.
“'An abortion in a young woman who has never had a child has a carcinogenic effect because it leaves breast cells in a state of interrupted hormonal development in which they are more susceptible,' says Carroll, director of research at PAPRI (Pension and Population Research Institute) in London.
"The study adds fuel to the already fiery debate between abortion-rights advocates who believe the option to terminate a pregnancy is a basic right, and abortion foes who believe the procedure is morally and ethically wrong."
Reckon B. Hussein Obama and/or Hillary Rodham (Clinton) will discuss the abortion-breast cancer connection on the campaign trail? I'm betting they won't.
"Having an abortion raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer by at least 30 percent, and is fueling an 'epidemic' of the often fatal disease, according to British researchers.
"According to a new study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, young women who had an abortion before having a child are at the greatest risk for developing breast cancer.
"The study’s lead author Patrick Carroll calls abortion the single 'best predictor' of breast cancer trends.
“'An abortion in a young woman who has never had a child has a carcinogenic effect because it leaves breast cells in a state of interrupted hormonal development in which they are more susceptible,' says Carroll, director of research at PAPRI (Pension and Population Research Institute) in London.
"The study adds fuel to the already fiery debate between abortion-rights advocates who believe the option to terminate a pregnancy is a basic right, and abortion foes who believe the procedure is morally and ethically wrong."
Reckon B. Hussein Obama and/or Hillary Rodham (Clinton) will discuss the abortion-breast cancer connection on the campaign trail? I'm betting they won't.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 14, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
VP Prognosticatin'
The Club for Growth has launched a new blog which's "dedicated to the speculation and gossip surrounding the potential vice-presidential picks." Check it out here.
Wow. So many potential VP candidates, so little time between now and late summer. For what it's worth, these are the folks I'm bettin' on for VP (right now, at least):
John McCain: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
B. Hussein Obama: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
Hillary Rodham (Clinton): Senator Evan Bayh (IN) or Senator Bill Nelson (FL)
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Saturday, April 12, 2008
Why America neesds Wal-Mart (redux)
Wal-Mart gets a bad rap from a lot of folks -- see Democratic presidential candidates B. Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham (Clinton) -- 'cause its workers are neither unionized nor making $25 for each hour worked.
What you never hear out-the-mouth of the B. Husseins or the Hillarys, or the other Wal-Mart-hating leftists, is the fact that Wal-Mart saves a lot of people a lot of money day in and day out. Indeed, there are a great many folks in this land who would be incredibly worse for wear if'n they couldn't rely on Wal-Mart's low-priced goods to satiate their everyday needs.
That said, the Wall Street Journal recently published a chart detailing the price of certain goods at grocery stores in Obamaland, er, Chicago, IL. Big shock -- Wal-Mart was the cheapest, by far.
Wanna know why Wal-Mart is good for America ... just look at this:
(Item ... Wal-Mart price ... Jewel-Osco ... Dominick's)
Two-liter Pepsi ... $1.38 ... $1.99 ... $1.89
Doritos chips ... 2.50 ... 3.49 ... 3.49
Cheerios cereal ... 2.50 ... 3.89 ... 3.75
Folgers coffee ... 6.34 ... 10.99 ... 11.55
Oscar Meyer hot dogs ... 2.50 ... 3.49 ... 3.59
Kraft cheese slices ... 3.68 ... 4.49 ... 3.99
Sara Lee white bread ... 1.97 ... 3.29 ... 3.09
Oreo cookies ... 2.37 ... 4.09 ... 4.19
Raw spaghetti (store brands) ... 0.88 ... 1.49 ... 1.29
One dozen eggs ... 1.98 ... 2.98 ... 3.49
What you never hear out-the-mouth of the B. Husseins or the Hillarys, or the other Wal-Mart-hating leftists, is the fact that Wal-Mart saves a lot of people a lot of money day in and day out. Indeed, there are a great many folks in this land who would be incredibly worse for wear if'n they couldn't rely on Wal-Mart's low-priced goods to satiate their everyday needs.
That said, the Wall Street Journal recently published a chart detailing the price of certain goods at grocery stores in Obamaland, er, Chicago, IL. Big shock -- Wal-Mart was the cheapest, by far.
Wanna know why Wal-Mart is good for America ... just look at this:
(Item ... Wal-Mart price ... Jewel-Osco ... Dominick's)
Two-liter Pepsi ... $1.38 ... $1.99 ... $1.89
Doritos chips ... 2.50 ... 3.49 ... 3.49
Cheerios cereal ... 2.50 ... 3.89 ... 3.75
Folgers coffee ... 6.34 ... 10.99 ... 11.55
Oscar Meyer hot dogs ... 2.50 ... 3.49 ... 3.59
Kraft cheese slices ... 3.68 ... 4.49 ... 3.99
Sara Lee white bread ... 1.97 ... 3.29 ... 3.09
Oreo cookies ... 2.37 ... 4.09 ... 4.19
Raw spaghetti (store brands) ... 0.88 ... 1.49 ... 1.29
One dozen eggs ... 1.98 ... 2.98 ... 3.49
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Happy Tax Freedom Day!
Today is Tennessee's Tax Freedom Day ... the date each year on which the average Tennessean has worked enough to pay his or her combined federal, state and local taxes. (Nationally, Tax Freedom Day is "celebrated" on April 23.)
According to the Tax Foundation, Americans will work longer this year to pay for government (113 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (108 days).
Indeed, Americans, as a whole, will work longer to afford federal taxes than they will to afford housing; and as a group, they will work longer to pay state and local taxes than they will to pay for food.
B. Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham (Clinton) have both promised, if elected president, to raise any and all taxes.
Good God ... ain't we taxed enough?! Any Tennessean who says "no" has no business voting; and if they do vote, they are surely lacking in brain cells if'n they vote for B. Hussein or Hillary, indeed.
According to the Tax Foundation, Americans will work longer this year to pay for government (113 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (108 days).
Indeed, Americans, as a whole, will work longer to afford federal taxes than they will to afford housing; and as a group, they will work longer to pay state and local taxes than they will to pay for food.
B. Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham (Clinton) have both promised, if elected president, to raise any and all taxes.
Good God ... ain't we taxed enough?! Any Tennessean who says "no" has no business voting; and if they do vote, they are surely lacking in brain cells if'n they vote for B. Hussein or Hillary, indeed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Go Taki! Go Taki!
Don't know why, but Taki Theodoracopulos' musings are no longer being published in The American Conservative magazine -- a magazine he helped found.
Taki's now opining on this eponymous Web site. And it's 'cause of stuff like this that will make me a regular reader:
"Jean-Paul Sartre was a far greater fornicator than philosopher, but he did come up with the greatest truism of them all: “Hell is other people.” (The last line in one of his plays.) Mind you, a Greek savant has bettered him by proclaiming Hell is other people speaking on their mobiles inside an airplane. Yes, it has come down to this, or, rather, it has gone up to it. Passengers have been cleared to use the most malignant device since television during flights by telecoms watchdogs. The Dubai-based Emirates was the first airline to allow the suckers who fly it to use mobile tepehones last week, which I predict will definitely lead to mayhem sooner rather than later. Can you imagine a billionaire goatherd towelhead shouting orders to some flunkey while he picks his dirty toes, or some money-grubbing hedgie showing off at forty thousand feet? There will be blood."
Taki's now opining on this eponymous Web site. And it's 'cause of stuff like this that will make me a regular reader:
"Jean-Paul Sartre was a far greater fornicator than philosopher, but he did come up with the greatest truism of them all: “Hell is other people.” (The last line in one of his plays.) Mind you, a Greek savant has bettered him by proclaiming Hell is other people speaking on their mobiles inside an airplane. Yes, it has come down to this, or, rather, it has gone up to it. Passengers have been cleared to use the most malignant device since television during flights by telecoms watchdogs. The Dubai-based Emirates was the first airline to allow the suckers who fly it to use mobile tepehones last week, which I predict will definitely lead to mayhem sooner rather than later. Can you imagine a billionaire goatherd towelhead shouting orders to some flunkey while he picks his dirty toes, or some money-grubbing hedgie showing off at forty thousand feet? There will be blood."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 10, 2008
Oh, the misery
Since I'm talkin' sports today, I simply must post this Forbes.com story ... in which America's most miserable sports cities are, er, featured. A sample:
"There are really two types of misery in sports. There's the well-chronicled misery that comes with futility, like the New Orleans Saints losing 60% of their games and qualifying for just six post-seasons (and no Super Bowls) since their birth in 1967.
"Then there's the true misery that comes with repeated heartbreak. Even after celebrating two recent World Series titles, fans of the Boston Red Sox haven't forgotten the pain associated with an 86-year championship drought, complete with near misses and names like Bucky Dent and Bill Buckner. They'd argue the gut-wrenching losses by teams good enough to win makes for an even worse experience than following a perennial loser that can't get you excited in the first place.
"It's the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos (all from cities on our top 10 list) losing four Super Bowls. It's the fans of Atlanta seeing their teams reach a combined six World Series and Super Bowls and win one of them (the Braves have also lost in the National League championship series six times)."
"There are really two types of misery in sports. There's the well-chronicled misery that comes with futility, like the New Orleans Saints losing 60% of their games and qualifying for just six post-seasons (and no Super Bowls) since their birth in 1967.
"Then there's the true misery that comes with repeated heartbreak. Even after celebrating two recent World Series titles, fans of the Boston Red Sox haven't forgotten the pain associated with an 86-year championship drought, complete with near misses and names like Bucky Dent and Bill Buckner. They'd argue the gut-wrenching losses by teams good enough to win makes for an even worse experience than following a perennial loser that can't get you excited in the first place.
"It's the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos (all from cities on our top 10 list) losing four Super Bowls. It's the fans of Atlanta seeing their teams reach a combined six World Series and Super Bowls and win one of them (the Braves have also lost in the National League championship series six times)."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 10, 2008
LET'S GO PREDATORS! (clap, clap, clap clap clap)
The Nashville Predators enter the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight with no one - and I mean no one - prognosticating that they'll advance past the first round for the fifth straight year. Given that the teams more or less played to a draw during the regular season, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Preds will move on to the second Stanley Cup round this year.
Now I know all about how the Tennessee Titans have sold out every game since they (finally) came to town in 1998; but I defy anyone to tell me that the atmosphere at ANY Titans game was as electric as the atmosphere at the Predators' last home game this year. Click here to see why I'm sayin' what I'm sayin'.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Hey, big spenders!
The National Taxpayers Union released its 2007 NTU Ranks Congress report yesterday. The NTU's report covers every roll call vote in the House and Senate over the past year that affected tax, spending, regulation, trade, and debt burdens. Based on their individual votes, Representatives and Senators received a Taxpayer Score (percentage) and corresponding grade which reflects how wisely they spent our money. I could tell you that I'm shocked that no Democrat from Tennessee scored better than a D, but I'd be lying if I did.
Here's how Tennessee's House delegation fared:
Blackburn ... A ... 90 percent
Cohen ... F ... 3
Cooper ... D ... 21
Davis, David ... B+ ... 84
Davis, Lincoln ... F ... 9
Duncan ... A ... 86
Gordon ... F ... 7
Tanner ... F ... 12
Wamp ... B+ ... 43
As for Tennessee's Senators:
Alexander ... C+ ... 58
Corker ... B- ... 63
Here's how Tennessee's House delegation fared:
Blackburn ... A ... 90 percent
Cohen ... F ... 3
Cooper ... D ... 21
Davis, David ... B+ ... 84
Davis, Lincoln ... F ... 9
Duncan ... A ... 86
Gordon ... F ... 7
Tanner ... F ... 12
Wamp ... B+ ... 43
As for Tennessee's Senators:
Alexander ... C+ ... 58
Corker ... B- ... 63
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The Hamburger: A universal signifier of imperialism?
Commentary magazine's Terry Teachout tells us about a new book that implies that hamburgers are yet another evil America has foisted on the world:
"The Hamburger is like that from start to finish. Is the hamburger a Bad Thing? Well, yes, it must be, if only because it is an American Thing beloved of ordinary folk, and you know all about those pesky ordinary folk, right? But the damn thing still tastes good, so Ozersky writes about its cultural history in such a way as to suggest at all times his superiority to that which he nonetheless allows himself to enjoy–and the benighted Americans who continue to insist on enjoying it unselfconsciously. Like a limousine liberal of fast-food cuisine, he wanders in and out of both camps, nibbling his medium-rare cheeseburgers with just the right amount of ennobling guilt."
This ridiculous passage from The Hamburger: A History is all I need to hear, er, read to know that I have better things on which to spend my money:
"Even before the hamburger became a universal signifier of imperialism abroad and unwholesomeness at home, it had a special semiotic power-a quality not shared even by other great American sandwiches like the hot dog, the patty melt, the Dagwood, the Reuben, the po’boy, or even such totemic standards as fried chicken and apple pie. At the end of the day, nothing says America like a hamburger . . . . Is it a sizzling disc of goodness, served in a roadside restaurant dense with local lore, or the grim end product of a secret, sinister empire of tormented animals and unspeakable slaughtering practices? Is it cooking or commodity? An icon of freedom or the quintessence of conformity?"
"The Hamburger is like that from start to finish. Is the hamburger a Bad Thing? Well, yes, it must be, if only because it is an American Thing beloved of ordinary folk, and you know all about those pesky ordinary folk, right? But the damn thing still tastes good, so Ozersky writes about its cultural history in such a way as to suggest at all times his superiority to that which he nonetheless allows himself to enjoy–and the benighted Americans who continue to insist on enjoying it unselfconsciously. Like a limousine liberal of fast-food cuisine, he wanders in and out of both camps, nibbling his medium-rare cheeseburgers with just the right amount of ennobling guilt."
This ridiculous passage from The Hamburger: A History is all I need to hear, er, read to know that I have better things on which to spend my money:
"Even before the hamburger became a universal signifier of imperialism abroad and unwholesomeness at home, it had a special semiotic power-a quality not shared even by other great American sandwiches like the hot dog, the patty melt, the Dagwood, the Reuben, the po’boy, or even such totemic standards as fried chicken and apple pie. At the end of the day, nothing says America like a hamburger . . . . Is it a sizzling disc of goodness, served in a roadside restaurant dense with local lore, or the grim end product of a secret, sinister empire of tormented animals and unspeakable slaughtering practices? Is it cooking or commodity? An icon of freedom or the quintessence of conformity?"
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
"What the **** is a Barack?!"
Don't know why, but my grandmother's favorite exclamation, when surprised or shocked, was "Good Gowdy!"
In an interview with XXL Magazine, hip-hop artist DMX was asked about the 2008 presidential race. Here's the questioning (bold) and answering (italicized ), and all I can say is ... GOOD GOWDY!
I'm not going to apologize for any of DMX's profanity or racial epithetery, mainly 'cause I'm not the one who's actively trying to offend Jesse Jackson's sensibilities.
Now, tell me this ain't funny:
Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.
You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!
Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!
Barack.
What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?
Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?
Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.
You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.
I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black ...
Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, 'Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit' [laughs] 'That ain’t your fuckin’ name.' Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.
So you’re not following the race. You can’t vote right?
Nope.
DMX can't vote? To borrow a line from C3PO in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, "Thank the Maker!"
Indeed.
In an interview with XXL Magazine, hip-hop artist DMX was asked about the 2008 presidential race. Here's the questioning (bold) and answering (italicized ), and all I can say is ... GOOD GOWDY!
I'm not going to apologize for any of DMX's profanity or racial epithetery, mainly 'cause I'm not the one who's actively trying to offend Jesse Jackson's sensibilities.
Now, tell me this ain't funny:
Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.
You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!
Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!
Barack.
What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?
Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?
Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.
You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.
I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black ...
Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, 'Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit' [laughs] 'That ain’t your fuckin’ name.' Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.
So you’re not following the race. You can’t vote right?
Nope.
DMX can't vote? To borrow a line from C3PO in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, "Thank the Maker!"
Indeed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Liberty Fund, Inc. rules!
I reckon I have about 25 Liberty Fund-published books in my personal library. What is the Libery Fund, you ask? Well, it is a private, educational foundation which was established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. The Liberty Fund publishes as many as 20 books each year, by contemporary and classic authors, extolling the virtues of classical liberalism -- that is, the liberalism championed by folks like Thomas Jefferson and Milton Friedman, not the statist/socialist liberalism promoted by today's Democratic Party.
One of the Liberty Fund's newest books is Commerce and Government Considered In Their Mutual Relationship, by Étienne Bonnot, Abbé de Condillac. Published in the same year as Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Commerce and Government has been called "one of the most sustained defenses of economic liberty in the eighteenth century." In it, Condillac urges the removal of barriers to free trade and of the importance of the competitive market economy in a free society.
My copy of Commerce and Government was waiting for me when I got home ce soir. I've already made my way through the first 100 pages. I'll let you know what I think about the entire book at some point in the very near future. Stay tuned.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 07, 2008
Blog 'til you drop
Are there really bloggers who blog 'til they drop. According to the New York Times, yes. To wit:
"A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.
"Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly."
"A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.
"Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 07, 2008
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Pic of the day
During her re-election campaign last year, my Metro Councilwoman took issue with my assertion that Antioch/Priest Lake is becoming increasingly "dangerous."
This morning, I sent her an e-mail with this attached pic:
And I asked:
"Ten bullet holes in a stop sign not 50 yards from my - residential area - house. Now, tell me again how your district ain't 'dangerous.'"
I'll tell you if/when/how she replies ...
This morning, I sent her an e-mail with this attached pic:
And I asked:
"Ten bullet holes in a stop sign not 50 yards from my - residential area - house. Now, tell me again how your district ain't 'dangerous.'"
I'll tell you if/when/how she replies ...
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Saturday, April 05, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
"Separate" this ...
From today's USA Today:
"A federal judge has permanently barred a Kentucky county from using the Ten Commandments as part of a 'Foundations of American Law and Government' display.
"U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley said the Grayson County display has the 'effect of endorsing religion.'"
Leaving aside the fact that a frieze in the U.S. Supreme Court building shows Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, I'd like to know where Judge McKinley found the words "endorsing religion" in the U.S. Constitution.
Over the past fifty years, our federal judiciary - prodded by the ACLU and other leftist outfits - has perpetuated the myth that the concept of a complete separation of church and state appears in the Constitution. Using this myth as a guide, all forms of religious expression are slowly being stripped from the public square. This is something the Founding Fathers clearly did not envision.
Anyone who's actually read the First Amendment knows that Congress - say again, Congress - is prohibited from establishing a religion. I'd like to know how the display of a copy of the Ten Commandments in a county courthouse in Kentucky equals an establishment of a national religion ...!
The fact that a sitting federal judge so completely misunderstands the First and Tenth Amendments to our Constitution is bad enough. Knowing that such a judge in Heartland Kentucky a county can dictate what can and cannot be displayed on local courthouse walls should send a chill up the spine of all liberty-lovin' Americans.
Thomas Jefferson, who said, "If our nation be destroyed, it will be from the judiciary," is starting to look like a prophet, indeed
"A federal judge has permanently barred a Kentucky county from using the Ten Commandments as part of a 'Foundations of American Law and Government' display.
"U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley said the Grayson County display has the 'effect of endorsing religion.'"
Leaving aside the fact that a frieze in the U.S. Supreme Court building shows Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, I'd like to know where Judge McKinley found the words "endorsing religion" in the U.S. Constitution.
Over the past fifty years, our federal judiciary - prodded by the ACLU and other leftist outfits - has perpetuated the myth that the concept of a complete separation of church and state appears in the Constitution. Using this myth as a guide, all forms of religious expression are slowly being stripped from the public square. This is something the Founding Fathers clearly did not envision.
Anyone who's actually read the First Amendment knows that Congress - say again, Congress - is prohibited from establishing a religion. I'd like to know how the display of a copy of the Ten Commandments in a county courthouse in Kentucky equals an establishment of a national religion ...!
The fact that a sitting federal judge so completely misunderstands the First and Tenth Amendments to our Constitution is bad enough. Knowing that such a judge in Heartland Kentucky a county can dictate what can and cannot be displayed on local courthouse walls should send a chill up the spine of all liberty-lovin' Americans.
Thomas Jefferson, who said, "If our nation be destroyed, it will be from the judiciary," is starting to look like a prophet, indeed
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, April 04, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Illuminating commentary, indeed
If you're not a subscriber to Hillsdale College's monthly pro-freedom/pro-free market newsletter, you need to sign up, post haste. Click here to get your free subscription.
A most fascinating essay by Charles Kesler is featured in the latest issue of Imprimis. Kesler says we need to distinguish between limited and small (or constitutional) government on one hand, and expansive/unlimited (or unconstitutional) government on the other. To wit:
"Limited government can be distinguished from small government. The two concepts are easily confused because they usually overlap. We are in the habit of invoking, for example, the percentage of Gross Domestic Product that is consumed by government as a sort of criterion. If that percentage goes up, we become alarmed for our liberties. If it goes down, we breathe a sigh of relief. And there is something to this: It is illuminating, for instance, that in 1930, before the New Deal, federal spending was 3.4 percent of GDP, whereas today it’s about seven times that. But there are other instances, perhaps more instances, where that figure can be misleading. At the height of World War Two, for example, the federal government spent 43.6 percent of GDP. But was this big government in the pejorative sense?The problem with our government is not simply its size, but the kinds of things it does." [Emphasis mine]
Kesler also tells us that the "change" proposed by the likes of B. Hussein Obama and other progressives is simply a rehashing of the statism that was first propagated by Otto von Bismarck ... 130 years ago:
"The Progressives believed that freedom did not come from nature or God, but instead is a product of the state and is realized only in the modern state. Far from being the people’s servant and, therefore, a possible threat to freedom—because servants can be unfaithful—the state is the full ethical expression of a people. The state is the people and the people are the state. This strange use of the term represents the Progressive attempt to translate the German concept of der Staat into American politics. America did not have a state theory of this sort until the Progressive era. Conservative and most libertarian anti-statism arose in opposition to this innovation; but too often, in recent years, hostility to der Staat has been confused with opposition to government per se."
Read the entire essay to be completely enlightened.
You'll be glad you did.
A most fascinating essay by Charles Kesler is featured in the latest issue of Imprimis. Kesler says we need to distinguish between limited and small (or constitutional) government on one hand, and expansive/unlimited (or unconstitutional) government on the other. To wit:
"Limited government can be distinguished from small government. The two concepts are easily confused because they usually overlap. We are in the habit of invoking, for example, the percentage of Gross Domestic Product that is consumed by government as a sort of criterion. If that percentage goes up, we become alarmed for our liberties. If it goes down, we breathe a sigh of relief. And there is something to this: It is illuminating, for instance, that in 1930, before the New Deal, federal spending was 3.4 percent of GDP, whereas today it’s about seven times that. But there are other instances, perhaps more instances, where that figure can be misleading. At the height of World War Two, for example, the federal government spent 43.6 percent of GDP. But was this big government in the pejorative sense?The problem with our government is not simply its size, but the kinds of things it does." [Emphasis mine]
Kesler also tells us that the "change" proposed by the likes of B. Hussein Obama and other progressives is simply a rehashing of the statism that was first propagated by Otto von Bismarck ... 130 years ago:
"The Progressives believed that freedom did not come from nature or God, but instead is a product of the state and is realized only in the modern state. Far from being the people’s servant and, therefore, a possible threat to freedom—because servants can be unfaithful—the state is the full ethical expression of a people. The state is the people and the people are the state. This strange use of the term represents the Progressive attempt to translate the German concept of der Staat into American politics. America did not have a state theory of this sort until the Progressive era. Conservative and most libertarian anti-statism arose in opposition to this innovation; but too often, in recent years, hostility to der Staat has been confused with opposition to government per se."
Read the entire essay to be completely enlightened.
You'll be glad you did.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 03, 2008
Don't believe the historical hype!
Cracked.com has compiled a list the five most ridiculous lies we were all taught in history class. The Albert Einstein-failed-math myth is of particular interest to me, mainly 'cause it was once mentioned on the Andy Griffith Show, aka The Best Television Show In The History Of Television.
Check this out:
"As it turns out, Einstein was a mathematical prodigy, and before he was 12, he was already better at arithmetic and calculus than you are now. Einstein was in fact so fucking smart that he believed school was holding him back, and his parents purchased advanced textbooks for him to study from. ...
"The idea that Einstein did badly at school is thought to have originated with a a 1935 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! trivia column.
"There's actually a good reason why it's a bad idea to include Robert Ripley among the references in your advanced university thesis. The famous bizarre trivia "expert" never cited his sources, and the various 'facts' he presented throughout his career were an amalgamation of things he thought he read somewhere, heard from somebody, or pulled out of his ass. The feature's title probably should have been: Believe it or Not! I Get Paid Either Way, Assholes.
"When he was first shown this supposed expose of his early life, Einstein allegedly just laughed, and probably went on to solve another 12 mysteries of quantum physics before dinner. By the time he finally kicked the bucket in 1955, it's entirely possible that 'failure' was the one concept that Albert Einstein had never managed to master."
Check this out:
"As it turns out, Einstein was a mathematical prodigy, and before he was 12, he was already better at arithmetic and calculus than you are now. Einstein was in fact so fucking smart that he believed school was holding him back, and his parents purchased advanced textbooks for him to study from. ...
"The idea that Einstein did badly at school is thought to have originated with a a 1935 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! trivia column.
"There's actually a good reason why it's a bad idea to include Robert Ripley among the references in your advanced university thesis. The famous bizarre trivia "expert" never cited his sources, and the various 'facts' he presented throughout his career were an amalgamation of things he thought he read somewhere, heard from somebody, or pulled out of his ass. The feature's title probably should have been: Believe it or Not! I Get Paid Either Way, Assholes.
"When he was first shown this supposed expose of his early life, Einstein allegedly just laughed, and probably went on to solve another 12 mysteries of quantum physics before dinner. By the time he finally kicked the bucket in 1955, it's entirely possible that 'failure' was the one concept that Albert Einstein had never managed to master."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 03, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Perhaps I've been wrong 'bout HR!
Free Liberal's Jan Helfeld has interviewed Senator Harry "Sleepin' At The Ritz" Reid about government coercion. In the course of the interview, Reid says paying taxes is a voluntary endeavor. I likes me the sound of that!
Check out the Reid interview here.
If the Socialists, er, Democrats add a taxes-are-voluntary plank to their 2008 party platform, I just might consider voting Democrat for the very first time come November!
Check out the Reid interview here.
If the Socialists, er, Democrats add a taxes-are-voluntary plank to their 2008 party platform, I just might consider voting Democrat for the very first time come November!
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Of convictions and corrections
"I just think my days as a Titan is [sic] over with."
-- Tennessee Titans defensive back Adam Jones
I don't talk about sports here very much. When I do, you can rest assured that the sports gods have moved me pretty deeply.
This afternoon, I was listening to a local talk radio program as I drove home from work. (I'm not gonna name the radio station to which I was tuned in -- I'll just tell you that it was not a sports-talk station.) The topic was Adam Jones' numerous brushes with the law. Several callers said, and the host of the show agreed, that Adam Jones has "never been convicted" of anything.
Granted, Jones has never received a conviction from a jury of his peers. He does, however, have a felony conviction on his record.
In 2006, Jones was charged with felony obstruction of police after an altercation with officers in Fayette County, Georgia. This past February, he settled the case by entering a "bargained" guilty plea, which left him with a felony conviction on his record. So, again, Adam Jones may never've been convicted of anything; but he is a proper ex-con, and he forever shall be.
Oh, how I love to set records straight!
Now, I'm sure sports-loving Creeder Readers have noticed that I've not used Adam Jones' popular nickname a single time in this posting. Here's why: I refuse to refer to Mr. Jones by anything but his Christian name because, quite frankly, his nickname is without a doubt the dumbest nickname in professional sports history.
So there.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, April 02, 2008
