North Dallas Thirty

What Matters Most

2010-12-25T12:59:00.000-06:00

From a sermon of Martin Luther on the Nativity.

How unobtrusively and simply do those events take place on earth that are so heralded in heaven!

On earth it happened in this wise: There was a poor young wife, Mary of Nazareth, among the meanest dwellers of the town, so little esteemed that none noticed the great wonder that she carried. She was silent, did not vaunt herself, but served her husband, who had no man or maid. They simply left the house. Perhaps they had a donkey for Mary to ride upon, though the Gospels say nothing about it, and we may well believe that she went on foot. The journey was certainly more than a day from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, which lies on the farther side of Jerusalem.

Joseph had thought, “When we get to Bethlehem, we shall be among relative and can borrow everything.” A fine idea that was! Bad enough that a young bride married only a year could not have had her baby at Nazareth in her own house instead of making all that journey of three days when heavy with child! How much worse that when she arrived there was no room for her! The inn was full. No one would release a room to this pregnant woman. She had to go to a cow stall and there bring forth the Maker of all creatures because nobody would give way.

Shame on you, wretched Bethlehem! The inn ought to have been burned with brimstone, for even though Mary had been a beggar maid or unwed, anybody at such a time should have been glad to give her a hand.

There are many of you in this congregation who think to yourselves: “If only I had been there! How quick I would have been to help the Baby! I would have washed his linen. How happy I would have been to go with the shepherds to see the Lord lying in the manger!” Yes, you would! You say that because you know how great Christ is, but if you had been there at that time you would have done no better than the people of Bethlehem. Childish and silly thoughts are these! Why don’t you do it now? You have Christ your neighbor. You ought to serve him, for what you do to your neighbor in need you do to the Lord Christ himself.

The birth was still more pitiable. No one regarded this young wife bringing forth her first-born. No one took her condition to heart. No one noticed that in a strange place she had not the very least thing needful in childbirth. There she was without preparation: no light, no fire, in the dead of night, in thick darkness. No one came to give the customary assistance. The guests swarming in the inn were carousing, and no one attended to this woman. I think myself if Joseph and Mary had realized that her time was so close she might perhaps have been left in Nazareth. And now think what she could use for swaddling clothes – some garment she could spare, perhaps her veil - certainly not Joseph’s breeches, which are now on exhibition at Aachen.

Think, women, there was no one there to bathe the Baby. No warm water, nor even cold. No fire, no light. The mother was herself midwife and the maid. The cold manger was the bed and the bathtub. Who showed the poor girl what to do? She had never had a baby before. I am amazed that the little one did not freeze. Do not make of Mary a stone. For the higher people are in the favor of God, the more tender are they.

Let us, then, meditate upon the Nativity just as we see it happening in our own babies. Behold Christ lying in the lap of this young mother. What can be sweeter than the Babe, what more lovely than the mother! What fairer than her youth! What more gracious than her virginity! Look at the Child, knowing nothing. Yet all that is belongs to him, that your conscience should not fear but take comfort in him. Doubt nothing.

To me there is no greater consolation given to mankind than this, that Christ became man, a child, a babe, playing in the lap and at the breasts of his most gracious mother. Who is there whom this sight would not comfort? Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and guilt, if you come to this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.

With love from me and my family....a happy, blessed Christmas, and a joyous New Year, to every one of you.

Dan (North Dallas Thirty)

Entertaining Contradiction of Today

2010-11-24T19:39:00.004-06:00

In which Sarah Palin is upbraided for her temerity in saying that Americans should be allowed to be responsible for their own health.

In the wacky world of Wasilla's finest, Palin tries to cast the effort to fight obesity as part of Michelle Obama's "different worldview."

Here is a portion of the transcript from HuffingtonPost.com: "Take her anti-obesity thing that she is on. She is on this kick, right. What she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families in what we should eat.

"And I know I'm going to be again criticized for bringing this up, but instead of a government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician's wife priorities, just leave us alone, get off our back and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track."

Hmmm. "Let's Move" is Obama's "kick?" Maybe someone should kick Sarah Palin so she can understand how devastating obesity is to the future of the United States.

Of course, if you look at how fat Roland Martin is, it's pretty obvious that the government needs to do his thinking for him, since he clearly had no idea how bad obesity was for your health.

Entertaining Contradiction of the Day

2010-11-23T22:34:00.002-06:00

From a usual source of amusement.

DN says:
November 22, 2010 at 11:35 pm

… wait… You blocked him from commenting and he comes here and lifts lines you write so that he can whine about it on his blog? That’s pathetic!

The hilarity comes from the fact that the blog where this comment was made is famous for lifting lines other people write so they can be whined about there.

Num Num Num

2010-11-23T22:26:00.003-06:00

Supper was so good tonight, I had to share it with all of you as well.
4x4 with cheese plain and fries.

It's a secret menu thing.

The First Annual Christina Romer Award for Ideology over Economics

2010-11-19T21:24:00.002-06:00

To a fitting target, for this statement:

That’s why tax cuts for the rich have a much smaller impact: the rich allocate a much smaller fraction of their income to buying goods and services.

Of course the rich devote a smaller fraction of their income. If you make $200k a year as opposed to a typical income of $50k, you have to spend roughly four times as much to be spending the same fraction of your income.

However, if a person making $200k spends $50k per year and a person making $50k spends $25k, the person making $50k is spending double the fraction of their income, but the person spending $200k is spending double the amount.

And the stimulative power of spending is all about the amount, which is why the richest five percent of the population account for nearly three times that percentage of the spending. Furthermore, since the rich have more to spend in the first place, they have not cut back nearly as much as the poor in terms of keeping the economy afloat. Meanwhile, there is also evidence that not only do the rich spend a much greater amount, but that they are just as prone to spend as the poor.

In short, Rob Tisinai's statement, while in keeping with the correctness of the Obama Party ideology that requires demonization of the rich (while ironically supporting and endorsing tax-dodging kajillionaires like John Kerry and Charles Rangel), does not make sense from an economic standpoint.

In other words, in classic Romer style.

Nothing Like Sacrificing Other Peoples' Money

2010-11-19T20:58:00.003-06:00

The latest from the desperate Obama Party:

More than 40 of the nation's millionaires have joined Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength to ask President Obama to discontinue the tax breaks established for them during the Bush administration, as Salon reports.

"For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you allow tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000 to expire at the end of this year as scheduled," their website states. "We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more."

Of course, the thought of voluntarily paying more in taxes, which every one of them can do right now, never seems to cross the minds of these leftist doofuses.

I'll make "Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength" a deal; they agree to hand over every ounce of their money and assets over the magical $250k threshold to the government for five years, and then we'll think about it.

But since they can't even hold their own like Geithner, Rangel, and John Kerry responsible for tax evasion.....

Narcissist Fix of the Day

2010-11-17T00:49:00.002-06:00

From Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin, we find that Bristol Palin's appearance on Dancing With The Stars is all about homophobia and hatred for gays.

And, should anyone wonder, those who support equality for gay people (or who question continued institutionalize discrimination based on race, gender roles, or other identifiers) are “elites” and “Hollywood types” and not “real.” In fact, contempt for “Hollywood” is one of the central themes of anti-gay activists and those who object to entertainment’s embrace of gay people and lack of enthusiasm for religious conservatism.

Or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that "Hollywood" openly endorses drugging and having sex with thirteen-year-olds, goes wild over socialist dictators, and openly muses about how wonderful it would be to just abolish democracy in this country.

Of course, Timothy Kincaid and the rest of Gay, Inc. don't care; after all, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, and Woody Allen all support gay-sex marriage. That's what counts.

Completely Expected News of the Day

2010-11-15T23:01:00.004-06:00

Turns out that the Harvey Milk LGBT Obama Party Club and the union puppet organization Pride at Work both support and endorse gays and lesbians who sexually harass others in the workplace.

But the real kicker came just the other day, when the city's Human Rights Commission concluded that Atos had repeatedly made flirtatious, sexually charged and inappropriate comments on the job - and had even pressured one male employee to "come out" against his will.

In short, the investigators said, Atos was "terminated for inappropriate sexual conduct in the workplace."

So let's see; the Obama Party that endorses and supports this sort of behavior by gays and lesbians in the workplace is now demanding that our soldiers be forced to put up with it.

I think not.

An Open Letter to GOProud

2010-11-15T21:41:00.005-06:00

Not bad, guys.

At least you've started the conversation; there is much to be said for that.

And you've made an excellent point; this election was not a mandate by any stretch of the imagination, nor should it be read to be more than what it was.

But the key to dealing with social issues is not to ignore them completely. Indeed, by making them off-limits, you infuriate those whose support you need and leave yourself open for the Obama Party to exploit them against you.

Realize that this election has done two useful things; it's put Republicans in control of the House, and it's driven the left even farther in the direction of shrieking madness.

So don't discard social issues; pick them up and use them. Dare I say it? Triangulate.

Take, for instance, abortion.

Regardless of how you feel about it, the simple fact is this: Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi rammed through a bill that not only requires you as a taxpayer to fund abortion, but for that money to be sent to organizations who are covering up statutory rape and refusing to notify parents -- and then donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to that same Obama, Reid, and Pelosi.

Call me crazy, but last I looked, older men getting fourteen-year-olds pregnant, blocking parental notification in the name of getting an abortion, and demanding Federal dollars from the very same people to who you're donating don't poll well with many people other than Pelosi, Reid, and Obama.

Use it. Don't avoid it. Grab the abortion issue by the throat and paint the picture for Americans: Obama, Pelosi, and Reid demand that you fork over your hard-earned money to pay off their cronies who are pushing abortions on middle-schoolers and covering up for rapists.

Same with gay marriage. Put bluntly, regardless of how you feel about it, the core value of the American system, the Tea Party, and anyone outside the Beltway is this: We the People have the right to determine our own laws and what they say.

Not racist Latinas in black robes. Not lazy Attorneys General and Governors. We the People. And that means you're going to get votes like in Iowa. You're going to get Proposition 8. And you know what? Until you start focusing on changing minds instead of trying to ram things through courtrooms and disenfranchise voters, those will continue to happen.

The onus is not on people to not change their constitutions. The onus is on you to explain why there's no need for them to do it. So the answer is very simple; "The Tea Party and GOProud supports the right of Americans at the Federal and state levels to amend and update their own constitutions as they see fit."

And last, but not least, we come to DADT.

The math isn't there, guys. Bluntly put, even if the leaked results of the survey are correct, you're demanding that we piss off 30% of our current military to please a minority of 3%, two-thirds of which are irrevocably wedded to a party that calls our military uninvited and unwelcome intruders, demands that it be abolished, and funds the very people who are out to attack and kill those serving in it.

One percent versus thirty percent and divided by two wars is a major loser. I understand that this hurts; you can't understand why something that you feel is supported by the majority of the country should have to wait. But the choice now comes down to whether you are going to put what the gay community wants first, or whether you are going to put what's best for the military and our country first.

And doing the latter will go a long way towards easing any concerns about the former.

Especially if you make it clear what the so-called "repeal" is; Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid holding the whole of our military hostage so they can pander to their base that is still rationalizing its addiction to trying to kill our soldiers.

You've gotten this far. Take the next steps. Instead of avoiding social issues, grab them. Reframe them. Own them. And realize that you have a lot more in common with social conservatives than you don't.

Your friend,

North Dallas Thirty

Did You Know....

2010-11-14T20:37:00.002-06:00

that the plight of gays and lesbians in the United States who cannot marry their sexual partners is exactly the same as American citizens of Japanese descent in internment camps?

It's true! The gay and lesbian community says so!

Apparently this is a response to the fact that the gay and lesbian community's claim that Republicans are building actual concentration camps never seemed to come true. This must be some new sort of virtual victimization, where you can actually claim similar brutalization without having to go through the effort.

What's With That Tagline, Anyway

2010-11-14T20:17:00.005-06:00

You mean this?

Yes.....yes....your anguish sustains me.

That would be a reference to Family Guy, Season 4, Episode 4, "Don't Make Me Over".

Stewie: Oh there there, let me dry those tears. [licks his fingers with Meg's tears on them] Oh, oh yes yes, your anguish sustains me.

For those of you who aren't fans, Meg, in a fit of teenage angst, whines how unpopular she is and how awful her life is, so Lois takes her to the mall and gets her a makeover. Her new looks go to her head, she turns into a spoiled brat, and she ends up being humiliated by being taped having sex with Jimmy Fallon for the opening sketch of "Saturday Night Live".

On a meta level, a perfect summary of the behavior of the gay and lesbian community that I skewer.

Which is an added bonus, because I just happened to like the quote.

Time for an Update

2010-11-13T16:35:00.002-06:00

When you can't remember the last time you fixed your template, it's probably time to refresh it anyway.

Unfortunately, as quite often happens with remodeling, certain things had to be removed and reshuffled. Over the next few days, or when I get around to it, links will be restored, dirt will be vacuumed up, and general order restored.

Until then, thank you for your patience!

Sunday Morning Rebuttal

2010-09-05T12:02:00.006-05:00

I think QuakerJono deserves a post answer to his comment on my previous post.

Who else could take an informed critique of current health insurance practices and a plea for insurance coverage of proactive treatments for chronic conditions, which prove to be more effective and cheaper, possibly even avoiding the condition in the first place, and reduce it to Cuban-style communism?

Someone with a broader view of these things. :)

First, as someone who works with health insurance organizations, I can tell you right off the bat that they would sell their grandmothers into prostitution to get people to engage in proactive treatments if it would reduce the amount of money they have to pay out on claims.

The problem is that overall, as they are very well aware, it doesn't.

Sweeping statements about the cost-saving potential of prevention, however, are overreaching. Studies have concluded that preventing illness can in some cases save money but in other cases can add to health care costs. For example, screening costs will exceed the savings from avoided treatment in cases in which only a very small fraction of the population would have become ill in the absence of preventive measures. Preventive measures that do not save money may or may not represent cost-effective care (i.e., good value for the resources expended). Whether any preventive measure saves money or is a reasonable investment despite adding to costs depends entirely on the particular intervention and the specific population in question. For example, drugs used to treat high cholesterol yield much greater value for the money if the targeted population is at high risk for coronary heart disease, and the efficiency of cancer screening can depend heavily on both the frequency of the screening and the level of cancer risk in the screened population.

And can even make matters worse.

To see why, let's use an example. Your cholesterol levels are too high, which increases your odds of catastrophic and expensive heart disease. What are your choices?

1) Eat less, exercise, and lose weight

2) Take a pill for it.

So let's see; from your perspective, you either can eat less, exercise, and lose weight, all of which will cost you more in time and money and deprivation and increase the likelihood that you won't do any of them, or you can take a pill for it.

From the insurance company's perspective, they can pay for you to have better food, have access to a gym or whatnot, and to lose weight, none of which they are certain you will actually do, or pay for a simple pill that has been scientifically proven to lower your blood cholesterol and requires you to do nothing more than open a bottle once a day.

That's problem one.

The second problem comes in the fact that, if one is actually going to do preventative medicine, one actually has to make it worth peoples' while by rewarding those who do it and punishing those who do not. The best and most effective method in that regard has been shown to be premium discounting -- as in, those who follow healthy practices pay lower premiums than those who continue to engage in unhealthy practices.

However, under ObamaCare, that's illegal.

Second, the bills would ban insurers from charging differing premiums based on the health of their customers. Again, that's understandable for folks with diabetes or cancer. But the bills would bar rewarding people who pursue a healthy lifestyle of exercise or a cholesterol-conscious diet. That's hardly a formula for lower costs. It's as if car insurers had to charge the same rates to safe drivers as to chronic speeders with a history of accidents.

So let's summarize:

1) The insurance companies cannot reward you for doing something; they can only pay for you doing it.

2) They can either pay more for you to do something which requires a significant amount of time, effort, and commitment on your part and has unpredictable results in terms of lowering your cholesterol, or less for something that requires no effort on your part and which has scientific trials showing predictable results in lowering cholesterol.

In short, if the goal is to lower your cholesterol to prevent heart disease, the pill IS the more effective and cheaper treatment.

What this all boils down to is that, ultimately, you can't make people do the right thing; you can only, as we used to say in horse training, make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult.

And what the whiny article cited was about was avoiding that basic fact and making the argument that the whiner's stepfather wouldn't have eaten himself to death if the United States had single-payer government-controlled universal health insurance.

The way around this is pretty straightforward. Repeal community rating and allow health insurance companies and group plan owners like employers to set premium costs based on likelihood of payout, similar to what car insurers do. Give people who elect to follow healthy lifestyle proscriptions decreased premiums, and charge more for people who want to engage in lifestyle behaviors that are detrimental to health.

But all of that is antithetical to the basic principles of ObamaCare that the whiny article was trying to push.

We Have Finally Reached the Point of Insanity

2010-09-04T17:50:00.004-05:00

There is really little more that can be said about this pathetic excuse for a whinefest.

My stepfather, who had diabetes and heart disease, was a victim of our modern Tuskegee experiment. He ultimately died last year as a result, and cost our health care system $400,000 along the way. If he were simply provided the choice of a different treatment--a treatment that is proven to be more effective and cost less than medication and surgery--namely a program for sustainable and comprehensive lifestyle change, perhaps he would still be alive and our national debt would be reduced by $400,000.

Translation: "It's not my stepfather's fault that he sat on his fat ass and ate junk food all day despite knowing he was a diabetic who needed to lay off the Ho-Hos and do some exercise. It's not my fault that I, the so-called 'doctor', presumably used my magic snake oil and programs on him and failed miserably. It's society's fault!"

And my answer: if this halfwit wants to live in a totalitarian state where his diet, exercise, and medical care are completely controlled by the government, I hear Cuba is lovely this time of year.

(h/t to Protein Wisdom)

Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon

2010-09-03T23:02:00.004-05:00

I cannot possibly improve on this little gem from The Michigan View (h/t to AoSHQ as well)

Following the embarrassing news that Mayor Dave Bing’s GMC Yukon was hijacked by criminals this week, Detroit’s Channel 7 reports that the Reverend’s Caddy Escalade SUV was stolen and stripped of its wheels while he was in town last weekend with the UAW’s militant President Bob King leading the “Jobs, Justice, and Peace” march promoting government-funded green jobs.

Read that again: Jackson’s Caddy SUV was stripped while he was in town promoting green jobs.

Dear God, it's like a news version of the Heart Attack Benedict.

Friday Night Algebra

2010-09-03T22:49:00.002-05:00

Cause = Effect.

Not that anyone really buys that Moonbeam would do anything of the sort, of course. But it's fun to watch him delude himself into believing that he's fooling us.

Short and Sweet

2010-08-29T16:53:00.002-05:00

In the year's hiatus or so, I've taken to doing a lot more talking on Twitter. Not surprisingly, the address is NorthDallas30.

Enjoy. Feel free to tweet back. Or twit, or whatever it is that these things do, I don't know.

Cobwebs for Sale, Cheap

2010-08-23T23:26:00.002-05:00

I think enough time has passed to come back. :)

Patterico Explains It All

2009-08-03T17:45:00.001-05:00

This cannot possibly be improved.

Looks like the cash-for-clunkers program may be near an end. I don’t qualify; I made the mistake of buying a fuel-efficient car in 2000.

Didn’t get any money for my house either. I made the mistake of getting a mortgage I could afford.

I’d love to get my student loans paid off — but dammit, I paid them off myself.

I’m trying to think if there’s some area of life where I can be stupid and irresponsible now, so I can get paid by Obama in the future. Because so far I’ve really screwed myself by doing things right.

And the winner of best comment on the thread so far:

Why work for a living when you can vote for one instead?

Tax Cuts For The Rich!

2009-07-31T11:36:00.001-05:00

(and other assorted fiction).

Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the "rich" are not paying their fair share of taxes.

Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.

Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.

To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent is comprised of just 1.4 million taxpayers and they pay a larger share of the income tax burden now than the bottom 134 million taxpayers combined.

Taxes For Thee, But Not For Me

2009-07-27T16:19:00.003-05:00

Or, as my grandfather always puts it, "Never a problem to order steak for everyone when you're not paying the bill".

Wait For It....Wait For It....

2009-07-24T22:58:00.002-05:00

and there it is!

The intraparty dispute had racial overtones. One African-American Democrat, Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia, pointed out that the seven Blue Dog Democrats holding up the health care bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee were “a nondiverse group” of white men.

Question to all liberals: what, exactly, is the amount of minorities that you need to have in a group for it to be "diverse"?

So Right, Yet So Wrong

2009-07-15T18:41:00.003-05:00

You know the whole healthcare dog-and-pony show is in trouble when even Pravda DC is saying it's a bad idea.

But what I thought particularly hilarious was the equivocating paragraph used to at least preserve some shred of leftist cred.

THERE IS a serious case to be made that the U.S. income tax system should become more progressive. The average rate paid by the top 1 percent of households shrank from 33 percent in 1986 to about 23 percent in 2006. At the same time, the share of adjusted gross income claimed by that highest-earning sliver of American society doubled, from 11 percent to 22 percent. So, in principle, higher taxes for the well-heeled could make sense -- as part of a broader rationalization of the unduly complex tax code.

However, what the non-mathematicians leave out is the fact that, while their share of income doubled (increased by 100%), their taxes only fell by 30% (23% divided by 33% = 70%). In other words, if you were making $100 before and paying $33 in taxes, you're making $200 now and paying $46 in taxes.

That explains why a) the total share of Federal taxes paid by the top 1% has gone steadily UP since 2001 and b) the Treasury was collecting record revenues prior to the crash.

Question: What, exactly, SHOULD the top 1% be paying, then?

What Newspapers Does Pelosi Read?

2009-07-14T10:31:00.003-05:00

Because evidently one of them isn't the New York Times.]

The Bush administration has prepared a list of terrorist leaders the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill, if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence officials said.

The previously undisclosed C.I.A. list includes key Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as other principal figures from Al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups, the officials said. The names of about two dozen terrorist leaders have recently been on the lethal-force list, officials said. "It's the worst of the worst," an official said.

President Bush has provided written legal authority to the C.I.A. to hunt down and kill the terrorists without seeking further approval each time the agency is about to stage an operation. Some officials said the terrorist list was known as the "high-value target list."

But of course, the Obama Party insists they never knew anything about it.

What Founding Father Am I?

2009-07-14T01:46:00.002-05:00

It's the ginger thing, I guess.

New Truisms for Our Society

2009-07-11T16:46:00.001-05:00

If you even consider airing an advertisement critical of socialized medicine, Obama will shut you down.

If your legal case that you won threatens the confirmation of an Obama nominee, Obama will have you publicly smeared.

Hope and change!

Who Knew?

2009-07-05T21:36:00.002-05:00

For those of you who don't go around reading the DSM-IV, here's a bit about what one of the larger Internet exams says about me.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	78%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	62%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	74%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Hedonism	\|\|	10%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Humanitarian	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Avoidant	\|\|	10%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|	16%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Family drive	\|\|\|\|	16%
Physical Fitness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Honor	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Thriftiness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality test by similarminds.com

And, more specifically:

Stability results were moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun.

Extraversion results were high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

F'ing Brilliant

2009-07-03T17:21:00.002-05:00

She just changed the paradigm.

Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down as Alaska's chief executive by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010.

Ace and Allah seem pretty convinced that this is the end for her.

Says Ace, “It’s over. You can’t resign from a governorship and then run for higher office.” I agree. Placing your ambition over your commitment to the state looks shady, especially for someone who won’t have a single full term as governor under her belt for the primaries.

Love you, guys, but that analysis and those objections are based on 11/3 tactics -- or, more precisely, the maxims of politics that were in place prior to November 4th, 2008.

Let's go over them in more detail, shall we?

Substance always trumps style. Palin should concentrate on serving her term in Alaska so she has a record of accomplishments there, and then she can run.

There are two phrases that ruin that one completely: "President Barack Obama" and "Senator Al Franken".

Seriously, fellas. If substance were what mattered, we'd be back in the good old days where every word out of the President's mouth was a lie, every misstep was a scandal, and Helen Thomas's diatribes about controlled press conferences would have been six months earlier.

Palin has a tremendous record already of fiscal conservativism, fighting corruption, doing what's right, and sticking up for principles of good government. No one cared. They were all too busy dancing along to "HopeyChange, The Musical" and vague promises to be even looking at Obama's dismal record, much less hers.

Substance is indeed important. But what Palin has recognized is that substance is irrelevant unless it is heard, which brings us to:

You can overcome blatant and obvious media bias by having great, perfectly-timed interviews and speechmaking opportunities.

Um, no. There are enough times when TelePrompTer Jesus has fallen into the Pit of "Uhhhhhhs" and Land of 57 States to demonstrate that foulups in message don't really matter -- unless those are the only clips that the Main$tream Media has to run.

As a former point guard, Sarah knows the gospel of the run-and-gun: it doesn't matter if you only make half your shots if you're taking twice as many of them. The only way to prevent yourself from being pigeonholed by the media is to flood the zone with bigger and better material, and dilute the impact of anything negative.

With that in mind, we come to the last maxim:

Staying put is better than being branded a quitter.

Problem with that one is this: it assumes that the people who are most likely to attack Palin would be cowed by her staying in office.

Doubtful at best.

This is simple political calculus. To win against Obama, Palin needs to do only one thing: get her face and story out in the media on her terms.

That simply cannot be done while she is governor of Alaska. Her job precludes it. She is hamstrung both by her official duties, which she cannot neglect, and the fact that, as governor, she is subject to abuse of good-government laws by Obama's flying monkeys. It's the worst Catch-22; if she fulfills her duties and responsibilities, people can take constant potshots at her without her being able to fight back, and if she fights back, they'll claim she's putting her interests ahead of her constituency.

Palin has come to one of the most empowering realizations in politics: if you are going to be criticized regardless of what you do, then there's no reason you shouldn't do the right thing. By resigning her position, she has the capability now to take the initiative and attack. When David Letterman makes rape jokes about her daughter, she can pound the bejesus out of him on all three morning shows instead of having to do it by remote before the throwing out of the ceremonial first salmon. The only scheduling conflicts she'll have to worry about are the ones she chooses. She can wear what she wants, spend what she needs, and go where she pleases without worrying about frivolous "ethics complaints". Most of all, she can be out there telling her story and connecting with the people who will ultimately put her in the White House.

Most of all, she has Obama in exactly the box she was. If he stays put, she owns the media field. If he starts campaigning, she nails him for not doing his job and unleashes her own bevy of people to file ethics complaints. Sweet, ironic, and perfect.

And the obvious question? I can hear the response already: "All politicians quit their jobs to go campaigning. My constituents deserved me being honest about it. Some politicians don't care that their voters are paying them for full-time work while they're not working; I do."

I could certainly be wrong on this. But hoping to God that I'm right.

When Moonbats Attack.....Each Other

2009-06-30T10:42:00.003-05:00

Rule #3 of Really Bad B-Movie Sci-Fi: Any monster you build to take your revenge on others will invariably come back to kill you.

And yet, people still keep building them.

Anyone got the popcorn?

Have Some Carrots, Karen

2009-06-30T10:14:00.003-05:00

'Cause it sure looks like you're going blind.

How do you think conservative talk radio has affected the Legislature's work?

The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: "You vote for revenue and your career is over." I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair.

But of course, it's not "terrorism" when Speaker Karen Bass's Obama Party is the one doing the "threatening".

Love it. Exercising your constitutional right to remove an elected official with which you disagree is "terrorism" and "career-ending" -- but destroying a private individual's business and career over a political donation is perfectly OK with Karen Bass and the Obama Party.

Jenny Sanford, You Are My Hero

2009-06-26T13:13:00.002-05:00

Word.

Jenny Sanford said Thursday that her husband Mark Sanford's political career is "not a concern of mine" and that she'd be just fine -- regardless of whether their marriage survives.

"His career is not a concern of mine," she told reporters as she departed the family's vacation home in Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. "He's going to have to worry about that. I'm worried about my family and the character of my children."

She added that she would be fine, with or without her husband.

"I have great faith and great friends and great family. We have a good Lord in this world and I know that I'm going to be fine and not only will I survive, I'll thrive," she said.

"I don't know if he'll be with me, but I'm going to do my best to work on my marriage because I believe in marriage. I believe in raising good kids is the most important thing in the world," she said.

Call it, sister.

This Makes Perfect Sense, I Suppose....

2009-06-23T17:53:00.002-05:00

if you're a complete and total idiot.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris' office on Monday defended allowing about a half dozen first-time drug offenders to clear their records by going through a job-training program, even after prosecutors learned they were deportable as undocumented immigrants.

But Harris' aides said they have since made changes in the program that would prevent a recurrence of instances in which illegal immigrants got their criminal records cleared by going through the Back on Track jobs program, which trains offenders for jobs that undocumented immigrants legally would be prevented from holding.

But wait, there's more!

Harris was quoted in the Times as saying that enforcing federal immigration law was not the job of local authorities. The district attorney was explaining how her office handled the case of Alexander Izaguirre, an illegal immigrant from Honduras who had been enrolled in the Back on Track program in July when he allegedly robbed a woman of her purse in Pacific Heights, then got into an SUV that drove into the victim.

Again, given Obama Kamala's past record, this is not a surprise to anyone; it merely has become a question of just how far off a rocker one can go.

It's Not Always Bad.....

2009-06-07T17:57:00.004-05:00

After three years of habitation here, you get used to people who know you and your opinions opining how anyone to the right of Bill Ayers can possibly live in San Francisco.

The answer: A faith in the inherent good nature and rebelliousness of people who fully realize and are used to the fact they're living under a completely-dysfunctional totalitarian state constructed on screwball ideology and run by nitwits. Sort of like Das Kapital meets A Night at the Opera.

This week's prime example:

He sleeps under a bridge, washes in a public bathroom and was panhandling for booze money 11 months ago, but now Larry Moore is the best-dressed shoeshine man in the city. When he gets up from his cardboard mattress, he puts on a coat and tie. It's a reminder of how he has turned things around.

In fact, until last week it looked like Moore was going to have saved enough money to rent a room and get off the street for the first time in six years. But then, in a breathtakingly clueless move, an official for the Department of Public Works told Moore that he has to fork over the money he saved for his first month's rent to purchase a $491 sidewalk vendor permit.....

Moore is nothing if not dutiful. He attempted to work his way through the byzantine city government channels, although he didn't get much help.

"I guess my gripe is that when the city came by and told him to get his papers in order but couldn't tell him how to do it," said Travis See, who manages the Custom Shop Clothiers on the corner of Market and New Montgomery. "This lady couldn't even tell him which building to go to so he could stand in line and waste all day."

But don't despair, folks; there is a happy ending.

Larry Moore shined so many shoes on Thursday that he ran through two bottles of polish.

Then there were the women who walked up to give him a hug, the tourists who had their photo taken with him, and the people - more than one - who stuffed $100 bills in his shirt pocket.

"Honestly," Moore said, "it is probably the best day of my life. And not for financial reasons. It just means so much to have people come out and recognize someone working hard."

Now we just have to work on the general realization that our main control on this system is failing to re-elect the idiot politicians who appoint, employ, otherwise protect, and receive generous campaign contributions from the dimbulb city employees who cause these sort of problems.

But there is hope.

It Lives....It LIVES!

2009-06-07T17:45:00.003-05:00

It never fails. Just when you remove someone from your blogroll for lack of activity, they come back to life.

But given that it's Matt and Robbie....I have never been happier to see a reanimated corpse.

Save a Step and Skip to "Nyah, Nyah!"

2009-06-07T15:32:00.004-05:00

Blogger Ed Whelan at The Corner offers an explanation for his behavior in outing an anonymous blogger that has to be described in only one word: "Obamaesque".

Excuse #1: "Nobody needs to be pseudonymous."

A blogger may choose to blog under a pseudonym for any of various self-serving reasons, from the compelling (e.g., genuine concerns about personal safety) to the respectable to the base. But setting aside the extraordinary circumstances in which the reason to use a pseudonym would be compelling, I don’t see why anyone else has any obligation to respect the blogger’s self-serving decision.

With this much projection, Whelan needs to be opening a movie theater.

For some reason, despite the clear and present danger that this blogger's anonymity presents, in Whelan's opinion, the person has managed to blog for years without anyone else engaging in the same sort of e-stalking that Whelan has done. Did Whelan bother to postulate why so many other people were content to live and let live?

Excuse #2: "He's a hypocrite."

Blevins desired to be unaccountable—irresponsible—for the views he set forth in the blogosphere. He wanted to present one face to his family, friends, and colleagues and another to the blogosphere.

Based, of course, on Whelan's exhaustive analysis and Cerebro scans that says the blogger has never actually told anyone else about their blog.

The irony of this is that these kind of outings are self-fulfilling prophecies; people blog pseudononymously because they don't want their families, friends, and jobs involved in online arguments, and then people like Whelan go right ahead and drag their families, friends, and jobs into these things.

Why? Well, that leads us to Excuse #3: "It's HIS fault!"

If he wanted to avoid the risk of being associated publicly with his views, he shouldn’t have blogged.

Sure. And if people didn't want their employers picketed, their churches vandalized, or white powder mailed to their offices, they shouldn't have donated to organizations that were against Proposition 8.

This really is what puts the godawful stink on this whole process. Whelan has inadvertently made it clear that his whole point in doing this is to create problems for the blogger with said blogger's "family, friends, and colleagues". This has nothing to do with what was said; this has everything to do with creating trouble outside the blogosphere for someone who disagrees with you with the sole intent of getting them to stop doing whatever it is with which you disagree by hurting them somehow.

That isn't honest dialogue; it's hostage taking.

This blog exists primarily because of my utter revulsion and disgust for people who engage in this sort of behavior. Ed Whelan is now among them.

Roundup of opinion at Instapundit.

R.S. McCain offers a slightly-different perspective (Rule #2! Rule #2!).

Along similar lines, I'm linking Little Miss Attila's post because a) she's in California, b) she qualifies as a Talented, Sexy, and Beautiful Straight Woman Who Blogs, and 3) she has a gun and knows how to use it.

Updated the Blogroll

2009-06-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

Any and all omissions are purely due to oversight. Email me if you want to be added (or re-added).

The Reports Of My Death Have Been Greatly, Etc., Etc.

2009-06-06T20:10:00.004-05:00

Yes, it has been quiet lately.

Perhaps the schedule will explain matters somewhat.

January 15th: Start new volunteer commitment

January 30: Start new job

February 1: Start teaching flagship classes for professional organization

February 15th: New volunteer commitment expands to two weeknights a week

February 28th: Flagship classes expand to the other two weeknights a week

March 1st: New job kicks into high gear of basically redesigning entire department

March 15th: Other instructors for flagship classes unable to teach for remaining class

March 30th: Volunteer commitment sprouts required trip to England in 30 days

April 1st: Redesign shifts to layoff of 10% of organization

April 15th: First of three weeks where I am busy every night

April 28: Give classes final exams

April 29 - 30: Perform individual layoff counseling meetings for 10% of workforce

May 1: Hop plane to England

May 5: Return from England

May 8 - 12: Family celebration and emergency

May 16: Husbear's milestone birthday celebration with 70 people, 4 staying at house

May 20: Drop off husbear at airport at 5 AM for five-day trip, run household

May 21: Massive all-day volunteer commitment

May 25: First day off in months

Man, I got tired just writing that.

Here Comes Another One

2009-05-30T15:03:00.003-05:00

My husbear insists that this is the sign that he is successfully influencing me to be "practical".

Ha.

Although I must admit that it does suit the times; next year, when, thanks to The One, gas is $5 per gallon, inflation is at 7%, and interest rates are at 14%, I will have 34 mpg, positive equity, and 0% financing.

Not to mention a stinking huge tax deduction and credit.

Sweet.

Mmmm, Tasty

2009-05-06T22:52:00.001-05:00

The schadenfreude has been particularly thick these past few days.

What A Surprise

2009-05-01T02:21:00.001-05:00

Turns out Obama's vaunted "tax cut for 95% of Americans" really isn't a tax cut at all.

Buy The Book

2009-04-19T14:07:00.002-05:00

One of the better perks of having been around a while in the gay blogosphere is that, between the numerous and depressing bits of flotsam and jetsam, you do run into some rather unique individuals -- folks who are charming, funny, intelligent, and extraordinarily talented.

Such a man is Famous Author Rob Byrnes.

His latest novel, Straight Lies, is rapidly creeping its way up the charts and soon will supplant Harry Potter as the book most likely to be banned for encouraging witchcraft and devil worship. Or something. At any rate, buy and read it. Or watch Rob talk about it.

And remember, everything goes with cheap white wine.

We Get (More) Letters

2009-04-18T12:56:00.004-05:00

Same ol' song and dance, though.

You're not posting at any where nere the rate you used to, is it because you have AIDS? Is that why you hate gays so much, you blame them for your own irresponsibility?

Followed a week later by:

Here's a link you might find useful.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/brochures/livingwithhiv.htm

Again, the amusement of watching the gay community using HIV status to demand sympathy on the one hand and insult and attack on the other never really gets old.

Sort of like their claims bemoaning suicide among gays while at the same time they busily encourage it.

Today's Public Service Announcement

2009-04-05T14:13:00.002-05:00

How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You.

(aka Why John in IL is Living on Borrowed Time).

For No Particular Reason At All

2009-03-28T19:21:00.003-05:00

Admit it. You knew you wanted to look like Chase and act like Angela.

And of course, as a former citizen of the Republic of, I am thus obligated to post this.

Opportunities for Hotness Lost #42,576

2009-03-28T17:10:00.001-05:00

Here's another one of those, "Oh, if he only would get a haircut....."

Today's Nice Warm Fuzzy

2009-03-19T17:12:00.002-05:00

Lovely.

In an online Spanish language chat room, people from all over the East Coast seek tips on how to get driver's licenses in Maryland even though they don't live there. Businesses run classified ads in Spanish-language publications in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland urging "undocumented Hispanic friends" to take advantage of the opportunity to get Maryland ID without having to prove they're in the country legally.

Makes me feel a lot better about getting on an airplane.

My Own Personal TelePrompTer

2009-03-10T23:41:00.002-05:00

Been pretty busy lately, so it's kind of nice when people, as has happened before, step in to write my copy for me.

You're not posting at any where nere the rate you used to, is it because you have AIDS? Is that why you hate gays so much, you blame them for your own irresponsibility?

Priya Lynn

It just sort of answers itself, doesn't it?

There's a Saying About This

2009-02-28T00:32:00.000-06:00

Something about living by the sword......

What a Surprise!

2009-02-23T11:50:00.002-06:00

It truly does boggle the mind.

Among the eight members named Friday to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry and the 10 senior policy aides who will assist them in their work, two own American models. Add the Treasury Department's special adviser to the task force and the total jumps to three.

Do we have any more takers for my new line of Obama Party bumper stickers?

Welcome to Ludicrous Land

2009-02-17T23:11:00.003-06:00

Line of the day:

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass urged state employees facing layoffs to call Republican senators and press them to vote for the budget.

Obviously her primary concern is the state employees' unions that fill her campaign coffers, versus the constitutents that she's planning to soak with a massive tax increase.

The tax hikes include an increase of 1 cent on the dollar in the state sales tax, a 12-cent-a-gallon hike in the gasoline tax and a boost in vehicle licensing fees.

The measure also includes a one-time, 5-percent income tax surcharge for taxpayers who owe money to the state at the end of 2009.

My personal opinion: if 10,000 California state employees were abducted by aliens overnight, the next morning, state offices would operate exactly in the same fashion they do now -- late, surly, and patently incompetent.

What Bass and her fellow nitwits have not and will not figure out is that people have reached the price limit they are willing to pay for this state's shitty government. Californians are not opposed to premium prices; they are opposed to paying premium prices for pathetic services.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

2009-02-07T22:42:00.005-06:00

The headline alone of this op-ed by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings tells the story.

I’M the chief executive of a publicly traded company and, like my peers, I’m very highly paid. The difference between salaries like mine and those of average Americans creates a lot of tension, and I’d like to offer a suggestion. President Obama should celebrate our success, rather than trying to shame us or cap our pay. But he should also take half of our huge earnings in taxes, instead of the current one-third.

Then, the next time a chief executive earns an eye-popping amount of money, we can cheer that half of it is going to pay for our soldiers, schools and security. Higher taxes on huge pay days can finance opportunity for the next generation of Americans.

Ah yes, another one of those lovely "billionaire whines that they should pay more in taxes" stories.

Warren Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, has criticised the US tax system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and his cleaner.

Speaking at a $4,600-a-seat fundraiser in New York for Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion (£26 billion), said: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”

My response: Messrs Buffett and Hastings, if you really, really want to give 50% of your assets to the US Treasury, be my guest. You certainly don't need the tax codes to be changed to do that; all you need to do is get a pen and write the damn check.

But of course, you're not doing that. You're getting up in front, you're blustering, you're posturing about how your secretary is (inexplicably) paying a higher tax rate than you are, but every April 15th, you're still only paying your 17.7% or whatever rate.

Put your money where your mouth is. If you want to pay 50% of your assets in taxes, pay it. No one's stopping you. No one's complaining. But if you did, that would actually require you to pay what you're demanding of others, and as we see from Daschle, Rangel, Franken, Solis, Geithner, and Obama, that is the last thing any good Obama Party member is ever going to do.

Can They Get Any Clearer?

2009-02-06T00:57:00.002-06:00

One would think this would be enough.

President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

That is, if you thought the concerns of the Obama Party actually had anything to do with the economy.

Savor the Irony

2009-02-05T02:23:00.004-06:00

Rarely do examples this stark of the priorities of the Obama Party come along.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s support for aerial wolf-hunting has sparked a heated cross-country war of words between the governor and an environmental ad campaign fronted by the actress Ashley Judd, with Palin calling the organization funding the ads an “extreme fringe group.”

The squabble began Tuesday when the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund unveiled a campaign called “Eye on Palin,” targeting the governor for what they call her “extreme anti-conservation policies.”

The group is highlighting “Palin’s championing of the brutal and unnecessary aerial killing of wolves and other carnivores” — a controversial practice allowed by permit in Alaska since 2003, with the goal of protecting populations of moose and caribou.

My question: Why does Judd oppose the limited killing of wolves for logical and scientific reasons when she herself endorses the unlimited killing of humans for personal convenience?

Smoot-Who-Ley?

2009-02-02T00:24:00.002-06:00

To paraphrase Santayana, those who choose to ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Smells Like Desperation

2009-02-01T13:48:00.007-06:00

If there is one theme going through all the propaganda outlets of the Obama Party this week, it's why the government needs to waste billions of dollars on contraceptives, resodding the National Mall, and god knows what else instead of simply cutting taxes.

The stimulus is about one-third tax cuts and two-thirds government spending. The trade-off is fairly simple: Tax cuts work quickly but ineffectively, because much of the money is saved. Most government spending takes longer to implement, but generates more impact because the money is spent.

Um, according to the Obama Party's own chief economic advisor, bullshit.

A key issue facing the new Obama administration is to what extent the economic stimulus should take the form of spending increases versus tax reduction. One way to think about the issue is the size of the fiscal policy multipliers. The multipliers measure bang for the buck--the amount of short-run GDP expansion one gets from a dollar of spending hikes or tax cuts.

So what are these multipliers? In their new blog, Bob Hall and Susan Woodward look at spending increases from World War II and the Korean War and conclude that the government spending multiplier is about one: A dollar of government spending raises GDP by about a dollar. Similarly, the results in Valerie Ramey's research suggest a government spending multiplier of about 1.4. (Valerie does not present her results in multiplier form, but she emails me this translation: "The right column of figure 5A of my paper shows that for a log change of government spending of 1, log GDP rises by 0.28, implying an elasticity of 0.28. To back out the implied multiplier, we can use the fact that government spending averages around 20% of GDP. This implies a multiplier of 1.4.")

By contrast, recent research by Christina Romer and David Romer looks at tax changes and concludes that the tax multiplier is about three: A dollar of tax cuts raises GDP by about three dollars. The puzzle is that, taken together, these findings are inconsistent with the conventional Keynesian model. According to that model, taught even in my favorite textbook, spending multipliers necessarily exceed tax multipliers.

So when that blows up, again, the ~~Obama Party Ministry of Propaganda~~ mainstream media, starts with the ultimate scare tactic: we can't have tax cuts because Americans will save the money instead of spending it!

Americans are hunkering down and saving more. For a recession-battered economy, it couldn't be happening at a worse time.

Economists call it the "paradox of thrift." What's good for individuals — spending less, saving more — is bad for the economy when everyone does it.

Little did I know how much my grandparents hated America when they bought a house with cash and just used their old living room set; if they had been truly patriotic, they would have taken out a no-money-down subprime mortgage, maxed out their cards to fill it with furniture, and then demanded that their Social Security checks be increased to pay their interest costs.

And how evil and unpatriotic I am for buying a seven-year-old American-brand car with cash; had I really cared about the good of our country and self-sacrifice, I would have spent nine times the amount to impress the neighbors with an appropriate high-end brand, borrowed it all, and spent eight years paying through the nose for depreciation, interest, and insurance.

However, because of this treasonous behavior, our banks have one less toxic mortgage, bad credit card, and nonperforming auto loan -- and two rapidly-growing savings accounts. Meanwhile, my financial terrorism against the United States has made several hundred more dollars a month available for me to use in purchasing good, strong, dividend-paying value stocks and bonds.

In short, what we are doing is keeping toxic assets off the banks' books, injecting cash into the banking system, and providing companies and local entities with investment money for improvements. We are making all of these changes without it costing taxpayers a dime or requiring any bit of government intervention.

Which is likely why the Obama Party hates it.

Who Cares, As Long As It's Free?

2009-01-31T22:19:00.003-06:00

Read and be frightened.

If Democrats learned anything from the HillaryCare defeat, it was the danger of admitting to their wish to federalize the health market. Since returning to power, they've pursued a new strategy: to stealthily and incrementally expand government control. "What no one is paying attention to in the [stimulus]," says Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, "is that Democrats are making a big grab at the health-care sector."

First grab: the children.

Initially designed for children of working-poor families, this new Super-Schip will be double in size, and even kids whose parents make $65,000 a year will be eligible.

Given that the US median average household income is just over $44,000 per year, that means that nearly 65% of American households qualify as "working-poor" and thus get free health insurance.

And the kicker:

The Congressional Budget Office estimates 2.4 million individuals will drop their private coverage for the public program.

Read that again. These are people who already HAVE health coverage; all they're doing is taking advantage of a government "freebie".

And yes, it does get worse.

Under "stimulus," Medicaid is now on offer not to just poor Americans, but Americans who have lost their jobs. And not just Americans who have lost their jobs, but their spouses and their children. And not Americans who recently lost their jobs, but those who lost jobs, say, early last year. And not just Americans who already lost their jobs, but those who will lose their jobs up to 2011. The federal government is graciously footing the whole bill. The legislation also forbids states to apply income tests in most cases.

House Democrat Henry Waxman was so thrilled by this blowout, it was left to Republicans to remind him that the very banking millionaires he dragged to the Hill last year for a grilling would now qualify for government aid. His response? A GOP proposal to limit subsidies to Americans with incomes under $1 million was accepted during markup, but had disappeared by final passage. In this new health-care nirvana, even the rich are welcome. CBO estimates? An additional 1.2 million on the federal Medicaid dime in 2009.

And if that wasn't enough:

The "stimulus" also hijacks Cobra, a program that lets the unemployed retain access to their former company health benefits -- usually for about 18 months. The new stimulus permits any former employee over the age of 55 to keep using Cobra right up until they qualify for Medicare at age 65. And here's the kicker: Whereas employees were previously responsible for paying their health premiums while on Cobra, now the feds will pay 65%. CBO estimates? Seven million Americans will have the feds mostly pay their insurance bills in 2009.

So let's see; the average COBRA cost is $1,069 per month, so times 65%, times seven million people, times ten years.

Oh well, that's only $4.8 billion a month, or $583 billion over ten years if you're counting -- plus the minor detail of tens of billions more on Medicaid. All on the taxpayer's dime, and all coming out of the pockets of working people, of course.

But what do the Obama Party nitwits pushing this care? They don't pay taxes.

Robbery By Any Other Name

2009-01-29T10:57:00.012-06:00

Today's example of the Obama Party mentality, brought to you by liberal and self-determined Social Security expert Susan Alexander.

Let's exclude high rollers from receiving Social Security benefits. Affluent individuals can refuse to receive them, but many have chosen to take them instead, creating a glaring example of waste.

A means test that would exclude seniors who live in wealthy households could start us on the road to saving Social Security.

Problem is, Social Security already HAS a means test that is used to reduce benefits for the affluent; it's called the bend points.

PIA formula
For an individual who first becomes eligible for old-age insurance benefits or disability insurance benefits in 2009, or who dies in 2009 before becoming eligible for benefits, his/her PIA will be the sum of:
(a) 90 percent of the first $744 of his/her average indexed monthly earnings, plus
(b) 32 percent of his/her average indexed monthly earnings over $744 and through $4,483, plus
(c) 15 percent of his/her average indexed monthly earnings over $4,483

Put into English, what that means is that the more you earn, the less you get credited for it -- even though the more you earn, the more you pay into the system.

And where is the income threshold cutoff for what constitutes "affluent", at which point you have too much money and should start receiving proportionately less in benefits?

$8,928 per year.

In short, the Obama Party believes that the key to "saving" Social Security is to punish success on both ends; not only will those who earn more and pay in more get credited less, but now they'll have even that taken away if they dare to accumulate assets or retirement savings.

One can only hope that Susan Alexander gets the trip to Washington she so obviously deserves to advise Pelosi and Obama. It should be hailed as another example of Obama Party political brilliance to state to the public that they are going to take people who have worked, saved, and paid into the Social Security system at the highest rates for over forty years that they get no benefits -- especially as they put into power officials like Timothy Geithner who don't pay their Social Security taxes.

Who Needs Skills?

2009-01-22T14:24:00.007-06:00

In this case, the title says it all.

The Stimulus: How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers

And yes, it's real. Here's the video of Reich telling Congress the same thing.

I'm telling you, it makes me feel a whole lot better to drive over roads, cross bridges, and use telecommunication networks built by unskilled labor instead of skilled professionals. After all, remember; it's not the integrity of the structure that counts, it's the color of the person who built it.

(/sarc)

(h/t AoSHQ)

More "Name That Party!"

2009-01-20T21:55:00.003-06:00

Read it. Then read more.

So let's review the situation here.

-- Send suggestive instant messages to former interns and be hounded out of office

-- Have romantic and sexual relationship with then AND former intern, lie about it yourself, tell said intern to lie about it, initiate full-blown coverup with things like hiring a person who just happens to know more than you would like about the relationship to a job as a city planner for which she's wholly unqualified....and nothing will happen.

I suppose the lesson here is either to go for the gusto -- or, if you want to prey on teenagers, change your party affiliation.

And It Can Get Worse

2009-01-20T20:46:00.003-06:00

Much, MUCH worse.

The government wouldn’t be able to spend at least one-fourth of a proposed $825 billion economic stimulus plan until after 2010, according to a new report that suggests it may take longer than expected to boost the economy.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis of President Barack Obama’s plan found that most of the approximately $355 billion in proposed discretionary spending on highways, renewable energy and other initiatives wouldn’t be spent before 2011. The government would spend about $26 billion of the money this year and $110 billion more next year, the report said.

But wait, there's more!

The analysis suggests that much of the stimulus may not come until after the economy has begun to recover. The CBO has previously said it expected a “slow” recovery to begin later this year and that the economy will expand by a “modest” 1.5 percent in 2010.

That clinches it. This "stimulus" has nothing to do with the economy; it has EVERYTHING to do with increasing government spending and is using the recession as an excuse.

(h/t DrewM at Ace of Spades HQ)

So Much For Science

2009-01-20T20:10:00.005-06:00

Remember how the Bush administration was constantly accused of letting ideology get in the way of research?

Turns out they had nothing on the Obama one.

Top Obama economic adviser Christina Romer has studied 20th-century recessions and concluded that monetary tools, not fiscal spending, produced recoveries. Even in the Great Depression, monetary expansion, not FDR's public works, opened the way toward recovery beginning in the spring of 1933.

But wait -- it gets even better.

Now, though, Romer and other Obama advisers are betting that the $825 billion package under consideration in the House will be big enough to alter the history that they've all studied.

They are also betting on the fact that a package divided between $550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts will be the right mix, even though Romer's research also shows tax cuts to have a larger multiplier effect on the economy than spending.

Now we've reached the point of ludicrous.

The New Deal has been invoked for six months as proof that rampant government spending works to slow or stop recessions -- only to have it admitted that government spending really didn't do anything to slow or stop the Great Depression.

Tax cuts have been determined to provide more bang for the buck than government spending -- so Obama is doing double the spending and half the tax cuts, deficit and value be damned.

These people have zero concept of reality. They don't want to fix the economy; they want to spend government money.

From where, exactly, do they intend to get that money?

Mistakes Do Happen

2009-01-19T02:45:00.003-06:00

I must correct this mistake by PinkNews.co.uk.

Long-running TV comedy show The Simpsons has revealed that the character of Duffman is gay.

The revelation comes in the latest episode of the programme, now in its 20th series.

Actually, in the episode "Homerazzi", Homer accidentally takes a picture that shows Duffman and Boobarella in the background, to which Bart responds, "Hey! He's supposed to be in a committed gay relationship!"

That is all. Carry on.

There's Nothing Wrong that Wasting Money Can't Fix

2009-01-14T13:39:00.004-06:00

There are so many things wrong with this it's hard to know where to begin.

A hydrogen fuel cell car driven by U.S. Rep. Eric Massa to Washington, D.C. on Monday didn’t actually get him all the way there.

Massa had to be in the nation’s capital Tuesday for his swearing in as the 29th Congressional District’s new representative. He drove the General Motors Equinox prototype car to draw attention to the technology, some of which is being developed in the district.

The problem is the car can go about 150 to 200 miles without a refill, and the trip from Corning to Washington, D.C. is 282 miles. And there are no hydrogen refilling stations along the way.

As a result, Massa had to switch to another GM hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that was standing by in Harrisburg.

Here's the kicker.

After the trip, both cars were towed back to their original locations by two Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid SUVs.

So let's see; making the optimistic assumption that these two Tahoe hybrids were getting their EPA-rated 22 mpg on the highway while towing other vehicles, that means one burned 7.4 gallons of gas going the 162 miles from Harrisburg to Corning, NY, and the other burned 5.5 gallons going the 120 miles from Washington to Harrisburg, for a total of 12.9 gallons of gas.

Or he could have simply driven a Chevy Malibu, which, given a highway average of 30 miles per gallon, would have gotten there on 9.4 gallons of gas -- meaning he blew nearly 30% more in cash, gasoline, and carbon in the process.

Which is probably why the article in question is another fine example of "Name That Party!"

(h/t Reason Hit and Run)

Seriously, You Can't Make This Up....

2009-01-13T21:20:00.002-06:00

Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary apparently doesn't know you have to pay taxes.

Truth In Labeling

2009-01-12T18:49:00.004-06:00

As pointed out by Victor Davis Hanson, those of us here in California are surrounded by people who will proudly proclaim the necessity of the Big Three automakers bailout -- as they head for their Lexus, Infiniti, Volvo, BMW, Volkswagen, Mini, Porsche, Audi, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Saab, Subaru, Suzuki, and Isuzu.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I think they should advertise the fact. Hence, I am soliciting suggestions for a new line of bumper stickers. Feel free to insert your own.

"I Believe in (Someone Else) Buying American"

"My Help Drives a Chevy"

"I Support The UAW -- I Just Won't Own Anything They Make"

"Unions Build Better Benefits. Cars, Not So Much"

"I Voted Democrat So I Didn't Have To Buy Their Crap"

"Solidarity Forever, Except When It Comes to My Money"

We're Still Not Getting It

2009-01-12T18:21:00.006-06:00

There was an interesting comment left on my previous post about the cluelessness of gay organizations calling for "dialogue" with religious people and organizations while they support and endorse antireligious bigotry that warranted bringing forth here.

When you realize that Brigham Young's edict to his church was to "put to death" anyone who committed a homosexual act or slept with a black person, and made the edict "eternal," I think you might better appreciate the defensive and offensive nature of the LGBT community.

Oh, I do, I do.

Given the following:

-- Brigham Young died in 1877

-- I personally know black Mormons

-- I personally know interracial Mormon couples with children

-- I have never been threatened with death or even had an attempt made on my life by the numerous Mormons I know

it becomes obvious that you are allowed to take a defensive and offensive view towards a group of people based on the words and behavior of someone who died over a century ago that said group is quite obviously not following or caring much about today.

In that case, I hereby give license to all people who would take a defensive and offensive view towards the gay community to do so, given that I can quote Harry Hay saying publicly that gays should support and include NAMBLA and other exploiters of children as part of the gay community.

Tales of the Clueless, Part Dos

2009-01-12T15:28:00.003-06:00

It's no news that a gay and lesbian liberal is refusing to use or reference the Bible because it's "offensive" -- but it becomes even more entertaining when that person claims to be a Christian pastor.

As for himself, Robinson said he doesn't yet know what he'll say, but he knows he won't use a Bible.

But after all, it's not what you say or do that matters; it's the fact that you're a minority.

"It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way," Robinson told the newspaper for a story in Monday's editions. "Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority, or in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters."

One wonders if Robinson has ever read either Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:7, or Matthew 10:33.

UPDATE: Robinson is now much more direct, letting the world know that he has been reading past inaugural prayers, was “horrified” at how “specifically and aggressively Christian they were", and assures us that his will "not be a Christian prayer".

Yes, because, as we know, that Jesus fellow and the whole book about him are just too, you know, offensive.

Tales of the Clueless

2009-01-12T01:58:00.005-06:00

It does occasionally boggle the mind.

Last week, Sacramento-based Equality Action Now sent a formal dinner invitation to evangelical pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church who was selected to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration........

"We'll meet with him anytime, anywhere. Whatever he wants," said Tina Reynolds, who added the offer is a genuine attempt to initiate dialogue with the evangelical community.

And, just as an example of the type of dialogue they have already initiated:

More notably, Reynolds's organization has been responsible for five of the media-focused Capitol protests so far, including Margaret Cho's appearance last month where the comedian sang endearing lyrics suggesting Mormons shove their religion up their asses.

Personally, I fail to see why Rick Warren, or any other religious leader, should waste the dollars, carbon, and oxygen to talk with this group when what it believes and professes is readily available on YouTube.

Reap the Whirlwind, Part Deux

2009-01-09T22:40:00.006-06:00

The local gay newspaper, the Bay Area Reporter, is usually very good about putting their letters to the editor up on their website, but apparently this week, they seem to have slipped up.

As a public service, I now provide you two of the three letters that appeared in this week's print edition.

Graffiti at church

Someone put graffiti on Most Holy Redeemer this week. I'm not surprised.

Every day that I walk past this mega-million dolar structure, thoughts of defacing it go through my own mind. This church funds fashion victims Archbishop George Niederauer and the pope. Niederauer single-handedly did the most to support Prop 8 by enlisting the Mormons to bankroll it.

Cries of, "but it's a gay-friendly church!" make me laugh. They gladly take money from gays, that much is true. "But look what they've done for the community!" Okay, let me look. Decades ago, MHR was one of the first to provide AIDS hospices. Fantastic. Nowadays their support is tied directly to funding.

What else has MHR done? The archbishop told them to stop gay bingo. What did they do? They succumbed. The archbishop told them to provide e-mail addresses of its members so that it could send out Yes on 8 propaganda. What did they do? They succumbed. They were told not to hold legal same-sex weddings. They succumbed. This church puts on a gay-friendly front in order to oppress gays worldwide.

The pope wants to eradicate homosexuals from the planet. This hateful spewing directly leads to violence against gays. Catholics espouse guilt. They certainly have plenty for which to be guilty, especially the ones who attend MHR.

Gary Young
San Francisco

Conspiracy theory

I believe the graffiti on the church in the Castro was put there by either the Yes on Prop. 8 people or by the secret Catholic organization Opus Dei to defame gay and lesbian people. The cabal of churches were more than willing to use deceit to promote Prop. 8 and I see no reason why they would stop now that their civil rights busting proposition is being challenged by the high court.

Jerry Royer
San Francisco

Gee, I wonder why these weren't published. Is it that it shows the gay community as a bunch of whackjob tinfoil-hat wearing DaVinci Code-spewing antireligious bigots, and makes a mockery of the attempt at PR spin that said bigots' leaders and encouragers are trying?

Reap the Whirlwind

2009-01-09T11:46:00.002-06:00

The rioting in Oakland over the shooting of a minority individual has managed to do one thing spectacularly -- hurt minority-owned and operated businesses.

Leemu Tokpa and several family members stayed overnight at Creative African Braids on 14th Street, the hair salon Tokpa started four years ago. Protesters smashed the store windows Wednesday night.

"I understand they were mad because a black man was killed, but I'm a black lady. If they're protesting, why would they come into the store?" Tokpa said Thursday morning.

And of course, what does the dimbulb who organized the riot think?

"The mayor was forced to come out and acknowledge that the citizens of Oakland are angry and that we want Justice," Shamar said. "I'm not condoning violence, but sometimes to get justice, you can't just sit around holding hands singing 'Kumbaya.' "

Of course, he was at home watching TV at the time, so it's probably easy for him to look at things "objectively". Not like his business was being vandalized or anything.

Happy Whatever

2009-01-05T18:07:00.002-06:00

As of yesterday, I have officially been in the business of blogging for four years.

I can't tell whether that's funny -- or really, really scary.

Oddly Enough, This Doesn't Surprise Me At All

2009-01-02T19:14:00.002-06:00

Your results:
You are Uhura

Uhura		75%
Worf		70%
Jean-Luc Picard		65%
Chekov		60%
Mr. Sulu		60%
Beverly Crusher		55%
Will Riker		55%
Deanna Troi		55%
Spock		52%
Data		51%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		50%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		45%
Mr. Scott		35%
Geordi LaForge		30%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		30%

You are a good communicator with a
pleasant soft-spoken voice.
Also a talented singer.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

And we both have damn fine legs that look good in miniskirts.

New Year, New Auto

2009-01-01T22:23:00.008-06:00

Long story short, it's looking like I'll be doing more commuting to the South Bay and Peninsula (San Jose and Palo Alto, for those of you who aren't au fait with the messed-up way we do geography here in the City and its environs) -- which means much more dependence on the 101 and its all-day parking lot traffic pattern. However, the thought of navigating my poor little stick-shift Geo Tracker through the morass of stop, go, grind, slam, and swear was just more than either it or I could bear.

So I used the Donald Trump method: get a younger one with more buttons.

Ten inches longer, seven hundred pounds heavier, forty-seven horsepower stronger, a real Ahmurrrican name (no more of that Geo world car multiculturalistic crap) and a (eech) automatic.

In the immortal words of my husbear, "Wow, you finally bought a real car."

And don't worry; my older one found a new home with a loving family literally within fifteen minutes of having it advertised.

Your Daily Brain Hygiene

2009-01-01T22:17:00.002-06:00

After 18 straight months of owning Jamie's daily online trivia game (and several of FARB's, too), it's high time that one was established here.

Hence, witness the canned glory that is Mental Floss.

(Contrary to popular belief, it is not seven days of "Bible Trivia".)

So go play already. The link is in the sidebar.

Two Things I Learned This Christmas

2008-12-26T14:52:00.003-06:00

1. Whether it be by the previous night's Chinese or a 24-hour bug, having your floodgates opened at both ends is not conducive to holiday cheer.

2. Understanding friends and Mamma Mia, however, are.

What Song Is This?

2008-12-24T21:43:00.005-06:00

So here we are again at Christmas.

Growing up Lutheran, you realize early on that there are two tenets of the faith: one, Jesus died for our sins, and two, you had damn well better sing about it. Johann Sebastian Bach, perhaps the foremost of Lutheran choral composers, wrote over 300 cantatas in his lifetime, or roughly one for every Sunday, feast day, and holiday for five years (which explains on several levels his Coffee Cantata).

Of course, as a bright young lad with an above-average singing voice, Christmas meant one thing and one thing only for me: sing, boy, SING! Sunday school pageant (soloist). Adult church choir (never enough altos, right?). School vocal concert (again, soloist). Christmas Eve service cantor -- for not one, not two, but three different churches. It was like being Andrea Bocelli, only without the hair, groupies, and bumping into things.

Along the way, though, I picked up one song that has to me always symbolized at its deepest level what Christmas is and truly about.

What child is this who laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping
This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, King, to own Him
The King of Kings, salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him
Raise, raise the song on high
The Virgin sings her lullaby
Joy, joy for Christ is born
The Babe, the Son of Mary

Pretty straightforward, right? All that talk about joy and happiness and babies and shepherds and goodies and whatnot, how could that not be a favorite.

Truly, though, that isn't it at all. It's the second verse -- the one that most people leave out.

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding
Good Christian fear for sinners here
The silent word is pleading
Nails, spears shall pierce Him through
The Cross be borne for me, for you
Hail, hail, the Word made flesh
The Babe, the Son of Mary

Talk about a buzz kill. This is Christmas, right? All that stuff is a good three months away! We should be rejoicing! We should be praising!

Well, yes we should. But to me, the miracle of Christ's birth has never been the fact that he WAS born....but that he was WILLING to be born at all.

Seriously. Which one of you would choose, if you could, to give up the sweetest gig in the universe -- Son of God -- to be popped out in a cattle barn and dropped into a cold manger, with the knowledge that, after thirty-three years of life, you would be ditched by your friends, unjustly accused, tortured, and executed?

Jesus knew all that. He knew in gory detail what was going to happen to Him. He knew He was giving everything up for nothing, that He was going to get no thanks for what He was doing, that there would be people that, after all He said and did, would not only refuse to believe Him, but would go so far as to kill Him in the most repulsive, demeaning, humiliating, and painful way possible.

And yet....despite all that....He did it. Not for Himself, but because He loved us.

It is that act of selfless, beautiful love that is truly "the reason for the season". Even on this most joyous night, the shadow of the cross is not far away....but were it not for that cross, that suffering, there would be no Christmas.

On this great and wonderful evening, I leave you with what is my favorite Christmas song of all.....the one that always brings tears to my eyes.....sung by one of my favorite artists.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

-- Dan

So Which Do You Choose?

2008-12-20T13:11:00.002-06:00

As a kid growing up in the Midwest whose parents were both emergency medical technicians, there were two things engrained in my early childhood: wear seatbelts, and that the difference between life and death in an emergency is literally a matter of seconds. Do what you could to help someone, especially when the situation was quite obviously dangerous, because if you didn't, the likelihood of them dying went up exponentially.

Of course, that doesn't make any sense to the California Supreme Court.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a young woman who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle isn't immune from civil liability because the care she rendered wasn't medical.

All right, fine, we won't help them -- then wait for the court to rule that we can be sued for NOT helping them.

Hilary Rosen -- Liar and Hypocrite

2008-12-18T12:25:00.003-06:00

The leftist gay blogosphere is all atwitter today over Hilary Rosen's ranting, Rosie-esque performance last night on AC360.

Of course, what they leave out is the fact that Rosen has a little bit of a credibility problem in her tantrums about people who support gay marriage bans, given her endorsement of said people.

Again, the problem is not what Rick Warren said or did; it's the fact that he's a) white, b) not a reliable Democrat voter, and c) doesn't worship Obama.

Anything else, is OK.

I Gotta Say It....

2008-12-09T12:50:00.000-06:00

she should have seen this coming.

Next Revelation: Water is WET!

2008-12-08T12:06:00.002-06:00

You really have to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Many borrowers who received help with mortgage modifications earlier this year tended to re-default on their payments, a top U.S. banking regulator said on Monday, citing recent data......

Dugan said recent data showed that after three months, nearly 36 percent of borrowers who received restructured mortgages in the first quarter re-defaulted.

The rate of re-default jumped to about 53 percent after six months and 58 percent after eight months, Dugan said, without providing an explanation for the trend.

Really? What a surprise! You mean people might be defaulting for reasons other than the bank being mean to them, like their having taken out loans that they had no f'ing chance of paying?

Nothing But The Finest Crap

2008-12-07T18:25:00.005-06:00

Once upon a time, "AP" stood for "Associated Press".

With stories like this, it can now be formally changed to "All Propaganda".

The Nationals tickets were bargains for Freddie Mac, part of a well-orchestrated, multimillion-dollar campaign to preserve its largely regulatory-free environment, with particular pressure exerted on Republicans who controlled Congress at the time.

Internal Freddie Mac budget records show $11.7 million was paid to 52 outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006. Power brokers such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were recruited with six-figure contracts. Freddie Mac paid the following amounts to the firms of former Republican lawmakers or ex-GOP staffers in 2006:

But of course, not one word is whispered about a little thing like an actual person in Congress in 2006 who just happened to be a former director of Freddie Mac, or its largest recipients of actual largesse.

So I guess we can safely say it's not that Freddie Mac gave money to politicians and political staffers that's the problem; it's whether or not the fact that they did can be used to impugn Republicans. What was done is irrelevant; who did it is.

Yes, We Did Redecorate

2008-11-26T23:50:00.001-06:00

Both the blog and the guest bedroom, which now match. :)

Maintaining Your Healthy Level of Insanity

2008-11-24T19:52:00.005-06:00

Not that this is a problem for most of my readers, but for those of you who are new, here's a foolproof set of instructions on how to make people think that you're more than a bit crazy.

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down

2. Page yourself over the intercom

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask, "Would you like fries with that?"

4. Put decaf in the coffee maker for three weeks; once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch it out for espresso.

5. In the memo field of all your checks, write "For Marijuana".

6. Skip down the hall instead of walking and see how many looks you get.

7. Order a "diet water" when you go out to eat.

8. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go".

9. Sing along at the opera.

10. Tell your friends that you can't attend their party because you have a headache -- five days in advance.

11. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream, "I won! I WON!"

12. When leaving the zoo, start running for your car yelling, "They're loose! They're loose!"

13. Tell your family over dinner, "Due to the economy, we're going to have to let one of you go".

Last, but certainly not least:

14. At the pharmacy, pick up a box of condoms, go to the counter, and ask them for the key to the fitting room.

All in all, though, should I be concerned that my father sent me this?

And The Obvious Answer Is....

2008-11-24T12:53:00.002-06:00

because he's black.

UPDATE: Oh yes, it can get better. Much, MUCH better.

Give Me Some Serious Geek Cred

2008-11-20T01:27:00.001-06:00

Your result for Which Star Trek Ship Should You Command? Test...

Galaxy Class!

20% Flight_Control, 30% Tactical, 20% Science and 90% Command!

Congratulations! You have been assigned a Galaxy Class vessel! This class of starship is the top of the line when it comes to Command facilities and diplomatic amenities. It is perfect for any sort of mission of diplomacy!

Take Which Star Trek Ship Should You Command? Test at HelloQuizzy

Today's Massive Bit of Self-Absorption

2008-11-17T23:47:00.007-06:00

As expected, courtesy of Box Turtle Bulletin, which carries this pleasant little bit of narcissism concerning people who felt the need to block the major on-ramp off and onto the 101 for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Prepare to upchuck.

On Saturday, on a sunny day in San Francisco, 15 beautiful people were arrested for you, your neighbors, your friends, your family and the people you love. We did it for people you may not even know, we did it for people you may fear and we did it for people you may not understand. Most importantly, we did it for civil rights.

To the brighter side, at least this sounds better than the toddler at the grocery store testing out the maximum displacement of his lungs in an attempt to get Mommy to buy Fruity Pebbles rather than Cheerios.

But the net motivation and effect on passersby is exactly the same.

Supposedly this creature so desperate to "do something" for other people lives here in San Francisco. If that's the case, I know at least two organizations who would be more than happy to have him show up on their doorsteps right now and would have him hard at work actually helping people who need it within thirty seconds, without wasting the police's time, burning up thousands of taxpayer dollars, and producing the increased air pollution/wasted gasoline/unnecessary blood pressure spikes that his little tantrum did.

But since there's no TV cameras, I doubt he'd be interested.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Some Morons?

2008-11-16T17:39:00.002-06:00

One of the things about blogging that I've always taken very seriously is collateral damage, especially to people who are in no way associated with this blog. My opinions are my opinions; however, because there are more than a few gay (and non-gay) people in this universe who have demonstrated their willingness to attack others in an attempt to get at those who disagree with them, I've stuck with pseudonymous blogging pretty much since I started.

But what happens when coincidence turns up someone using the same pseudonym as you -- and the end result is that person's profile, hopes, and dreams being dragged through the mud and mocked on a nationally-read gay blog?

I mean, seriously. My profile says San Francisco. A simple search of my blog would indicate I'm in San Francisco. Heck, you don't exactly need to be a Mensa scholar to recognize that the picture that is the first friggin' thing you see on the blog is not the waterfront of downtown Dallas. They obviously are not without research capability, given that they located the guy's profile in the first place, so how did they miss things so obvious?

But all because of that, some guy who I don't know, who likely doesn't even know me, and has nothing to do with my opinions is having his personal information aired to the public, being accused of being a pedophile, being called all sorts of names, and having people laugh at him -- all because a blog full of bigoted fools couldn't be bothered to do the most basic research before they set off on their smear-fest.

I know the next response from Jim Burroway, Daniel Gonzales, and Timothy Kincaid: "Well, uh, we're not responsible for what our commenters post, and besides, we can't do anything about it."

I might believe that had it taken them more than a few minutes to find my offending comments, remove them, and ban me. But, since it didn't, I call bullshit.

What is more likely is that, since they've spent years teaching these commenters that people who criticize the behavior of other gays are lower than pond scum and should be treated accordingly, their ability to correct the behavior of their drooling hordes is sharply limited by their fear of being stomped. Besides, they're gay liberals; they're not about to admit that they're wrong, and more likely they're going to blame me or this guy for having the same pseudonyms.

So there's the problem. This guy is probably going to keep receiving undeserved sh*t from gay liberals and other assorted halfwits, and the people who precipitated it are too intransigent and too cowardly to stop it.

Seriously, I wonder if it's time for a name change on my part. I have no desire to undo four years of history, multiple email routings, and God-only-knows-how-many weblinks, but the simple fact of the matter is that I either do it or leave someone else in the situation where a bunch of moronic gay liberals are going around trying to ruin his life because they're too stupid to realize he's not me.

What do you think?

Responsibility Is Dead

2008-11-16T17:00:00.005-06:00

Just read it.

Prepare yourself before this portion:

The streamlined process looks only at income, not assets. If you refinanced your home to buy a Mercedes or own another home, you won't be expected to sell them to pay your mortgage.

Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, predicts that many homeowners who have little or no equity will stop paying their mortgage and then reduce their income to get the biggest payment cut possible. They could stop working overtime or, if two spouses work, one could quit. After the modification, they could try to boost their income again.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Schiff says. "People are going to feel like complete morons if they don't participate. The people getting punished are the ones who never made an irresponsible decision to buy a house they couldn't afford."

But it will reward the the people politicians pander to, won't it?

Blind Hatred Makes You Miss Targets

2008-11-16T12:42:00.009-06:00

The best example so far: the discussion that ensued over at Box Turtle Bulletin upon my banning.

In short order, the people there:

-- Accused me of being a pedophile

I hope nobody is ever stupid enough to leave their little boys alone with him.

But no, I wouldn’t leave my nephews around him either.

-- Questioned my sexual orientation

If he’s really gay, then he has serious emotional problems, and I feel bad for him.

ND30, along with other kooks like former gay porn actor turned flop wannabe-FOX pundit Matt Sanchez, and a “michigan matt” all come from the “Gay Patriot” blog - aka the deranged sisters of Log Cabin Republicans.

The guys from that particular website has some issues - nothing more than walking Paul Cameron advertisements, and believing your average gay person is inferior to them.

Confused me with someone else entirely -- and then proceeded to publish that person's profile and information

You can’t get any gayer than gay.com! LOL:

Now consider Box Turtle Bulletin's "comment policy".

While we value a range of opinions, we may delete comments and/or ban or moderate commenters who engage in:

-- Threats, direct or implied. This can include implied threats through the posting of phone numbers, addresses, or places of business or employment.

-- The use of derogatory terms. Prohibited terms include (but are not limited to):

-- Terms which demean one’s personal appearance or mannerisms

In addition, commenters may be moderated or banned for persisting in any of following behavior:

-- Defamation against entire categories of people. This includes members of religious groups and political parties.

-- Unsubstantiated claims, for example, claims which are not backed by direct quotes, links, or bibliographic references from independent sources

-- Unsubstantiated rumors or speculations, particularly where sexuality or sexual behavior is concerned

What makes this really funny is that a simple thirty-second check of my blogsite would have made it clear that, if that's my Gay.com profile, it's in the wrong city, wrong physical description, wrong age, and totally unaware of the partner I already have. But why be accurate, when you know that you'll never be held accountable for such behavior by Jim Burroway, Daniel Gonzales, and Timothy Kincaid? It's all about the smearing, and these blog owners are more than willing to aid and abet such things when it's their ideological allies that are doing it.

As I said yesterday, gee, it's almost like they care less about content and what a person actually does than who that person is.....

UPDATE: Grabbed the Google Cache of the comments in question.

Second Update: Not surprisingly, Jim Burroway tried erasing the comments (which is why I grabbed the Google Cache).

Not good enough. As I pointed out above, their idiot commenters not only made all sorts of nasty remarks about me, but, in their attempts to do so, directly smeared someone who is in no way connected with me AND everyone over at GayPatriot. There needs to be a public retraction and an apology made to that person and the GayPatriot blog.

The Most Amusing Part About Being Banned.....

2008-11-15T19:29:00.003-06:00

is watching the people who did it let slide posts that contain exactly what they claimed they were banning you for doing.

Gee, it's almost like they care less about content and what a person actually does than who that person is.....

It Doesn't Even Surprise You Any More

2008-11-15T14:29:00.004-06:00

Another nugget of interestingness from Time:

Karger says a "soft boycott" they started against Bolthouse Farms, which gave $100,000 to Proposition 8, was dropped after he reached a settlement with the company. Bolthouse Farms was to give an equal amount of money to gay political causes. The amount ultimately equaled $110,000.

Remember that these gay and lesbian groups were the ones that said threatening boycotts unless someone donated an equivalent amount of money to them was blackmail and extortion?

Of course, expect a condemnation by gays of said behavior committed by gay and lesbian groups about the same time there's a run on mukluks in Hades.

Odd Question #1 For Saturday

2008-11-15T14:02:00.003-06:00

Does this qualify as a hate crime, given her recent revelations?

That's Right, Pull Back Into Your Shell

2008-11-15T13:12:00.008-06:00

Since Jim Burroway and Box Turtle Bulletin apparently have issues with their tactics being criticized, here's my response to Burroway's latest attempt to justify why the tactics of flagrant antireligious bigotry and attempting to get people fired for exercising their religious and political beliefs that he endorses are all right.

And so are you saying that I have no legal right to express my freedom of speech in encouraging others to participate in a boycott?

Here's a better example of the expression of that "freedom of speech".

But the anger was apparent as the few customers of the evening walked in, including a lesbian couple. They were met with angry chanting of "Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you!"

Funny, last time I looked, yelling "Shame, shame, shame" at a lesbian couple qualified as harassment and hate speech in the eyes of Burroway and his cohorts, and thus did not qualify as "freedom of speech".

The other example, on the other hand, is that of a private employee who merely had a conversation with a co-worker — the same sort of conversations which take place around water coolers all across America. This is not even close to being in the same category. This employee was in no way the public face of of the company. In fact, her identity remains publicly unknown still.

Meanwhile, this woman's donation is only public because she followed the law and put her correct name, address, and occupation on it, which was then propagated by websites that were specifically set up and looking for "dirt" to harass and attack Mormons prior to the vote.

Nothing exists to show that she publicized the fact; the law and gay and lesbian people did it. Why, then, are they calling for her to be fired?

Hey, hey, ho, ho, Marjorie has got to go!

The entertaining part about this is that California law explicitly forbids firing someone as a result of their involvement in a political campaign or making donations. In other words, the gay and lesbian liberals like Burroway who are endorsing this are demanding that businesses make a choice: violate the law, or have your customers hassled and harassed with hateful remarks.

Good Thing She Can Sing.....Oh, Wait

2008-11-08T15:17:00.003-06:00

Here we have noted celebrity something-or-another Melissa Etheridge throwing a snit fit over the passage of Proposition 8 and, in retaliation, saying she will no longer pay California state taxes.

Three questions:

Doesn't that make her selfish?

Doesn't that make her unpatriotic?

And, since California law grants all the state tax benefits of marriage to registered domestic partners, doesn't that make her really stupid?

We Get Letters

2008-11-08T00:43:00.007-06:00

And in several cases, they're more than entertaining.

As a gay man, as an American, as an HIV physician and academician at one of the more conservative medical institutions in the U.S, I can say without hesitation that your views remind me of the sad duplicity that arises in gay men who grow up in the Bible Belt. I was born and raised in Dallas, and still reside here, and I face constant personal and professional challenges due to the indoctrinated bigotry, Red State "values" and religious and cultural philistinism that plagues this town. You seem to cling to those philistine principles, but hypocritically deny the aspects that aren't compatible with your sexuality or your chosen family. As I kept reading your blog, I felt like I was being enclosed in a progressive, suffocating hysteria that was like being trapped in a housefire with the smoke rising to my nose. I was crawling on the ceiling, desperately looking for the chimney. Your repressed shame and self-doubt was so obvious beneath the grandstanding and stident lectures that you made Mary Tyler Moore in "Ordinary People" look like Robert Mapplethorpe.

What staggers me is that you abandoned the struggle for progress here in the South in favor of the tolerant comforts of San Francisco--a city whose inhabitants bled for the acceptance you enjoy there--and with staggering condescension and arrogance, you trash and condemn those who still fight for your freedom. It must be intensely empowering to write your judgmental blog--which is essentially a courtroom with a jury of one--with the city without a priori rejections right at your doorstep. You, sir, are guilty of the worst form of Uncle Tomism, and belong to a small, infuriating sect of gay men who make life exponentially harder for the rest of us.

I have some unfortunate news for you: your political party only approves of you until the election is over--after that they're embarrassed by you. Your church may "hate the sin and love the sinner", but most of them think you represent the sickest form of pathology and evil, and if it were socially-acceptable and legal, you and your partner would be hanging from a tree. Meanwhile, those idiot liberals you so hatefully condemn elected a mayor who is fighting for your right to have the love between you and your partner recognized in the eyes of society, the government, and God. There is true spirituality in that fight--if Jesus is your thing, he'd be standing by your mayor, not by the privileged polish and sanctimony of Sarah Palin.

I can only theorize that you're wearing Republicanism and Christianity and Conservatism as a facade to convince yourself that you can be gay and "normal" at the same time--and honestly, I think that's why the majority of Republicans cling to that party. For men at least, it's a form a hormone replacement therapy--it's all about guns and Biblical patriarchy and the expensive suit that hides the paunch. For both sexes, having that Bush '08 sticker on the minivan is an excuse to behave with reprehensible hypocrisy and still keep the membership in the country club. I know one thing--if Palin had won (McCain won't be around much longer, so let's dispense with the fiction), my partner of four years, who is from Germany and working to get a green card, would be sent home in a rowboat, and you and I would be tattooed and sweeping floors in a concentration camp. She's the political equivalent of Nurse Ratched, and when you're dealing with the company woman incarnate, the only way to keep order in the commune is to silence those that don't play by the rules. This means you, no matter how many quaint homilies you post on your blog. There's no room for gay couples on the Ark, big guy. You can try to outsmart them with the khakis and top siders and the short haircut, but they know how to smell a fox.

Of course you're entitled to your views. The liberals out there will make sure you always will be.

Which is, of course, why they keep sending these letters telling us how they know exactly why we do what we do and how wrong our views are, how very awful of persons we are, how no one else cares about, respects, or loves us, how anyone else who says they do is just lying, and how our only hope is to do exactly what they say and be grateful that they're still willing to forgive scum like us.

Please. I've seen too many Lifetime Original Movies to fall for that one.

How Do You Spell "Aravosis"? H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E

2008-11-08T00:10:00.006-06:00

It seems noted gay media whore and bigot John Aravosis is at it again, this time calling for a boycott of the state of Utah in retaliation for the fact that numerous Mormons donated to the campaign that successfully pushed for passage of California's Proposition 8.

In response, I would state the following:

It seems odd that Aravosis is only attacking the Mormons, rather than going after Democrat Party-trending groups like blacks and Catholics who voted in equal or larger percentages for Proposition 8 and contributed millions of dollars as well.

It seems even more odd that Aravosis is attacking anyone at all for supporting state constitutional amendments, given his gushing support for those who brag about how they would vote for them.

So what we have here is an antireligious lunatic who is not only going after people for exercising their right to vote and contribute to political campaigns, but is doing so in a fashion that makes it obvious that he doesn't care if the "right" people do the same thing as those he's attacking.

And remember, it's all because he's gay and that's what gay folks do.

Word Xanax

2008-11-05T00:05:00.005-06:00

This has been a tough week in far more respects than an election loss, and frankly, I've been more than a bit down even before today.

Help for these funks sometimes comes from unexpected places, and in this case, it was from Turner Classic Movies -- or, more precisely, their showing of The Mortal Storm. Not for the movie itself, which is more than a bit disquieting on numerous levels, but for the poem with which it ends, "The Gate of the Year" by Minnie Louise Haskins.

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

Amen.

Not Quite What I Preferred.....

2008-11-05T00:03:00.001-06:00

but so it goes.

DelD over at Ace of Spades expresses my feelings nicely.

And on the bright side, my partner got who he wanted. :)

And So It Begins....

2008-11-01T15:56:00.004-05:00

Here I am, sitting in bed on a rainy San Francisco afternoon, watching Ina....and it happened.

The first ad of the "holiday season" -- for this.

That is what is known as an inscrutable omen.

If You Like It So Much, Why Don't You Try It?

2008-10-28T23:47:00.003-05:00

From Cafe Hayek:

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need -- the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

h/t to John in IL