Shocking

My grandfather once told me a story about how he hooked up a metal sign to an electrical source (a model T coil, I believe) to deter dogs from peeing on it. Apparently, the legend lives on.

The lesson is simple. If it isn't yours, keep your hands off.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks

Are they trying to stop people from saving?

How Capitalism will Save Us.

Good stuff at Forbes.

What started in August 2007 was not the failure of free markets but the outcome of bad government actions. Greed and recklessness always run rampant during bubbles, and the mania that engulfed housing and much of the financial sector was no exception. The behavior of mortgage bankers and of Wall Street packagers of subprime mortgages, as well as the excesses and misuses of exotic instruments, will be grist for investigators and writers for decades to come. But all this came about because of government errors--regulatory and monetary.

25 Million

At Confederate Yankee, there is an article discussing more background on why the people one associates with matter:

I asked, "well what is going to happen to those people we can't reeducate, that are diehard capitalists?" and the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated.

And when I pursued this further, they estimated they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these reeducation centers.

And when I say "eliminate," I mean "kill."

Twenty-five million people.

I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of which have graduate degrees, from Columbia and other well-known educational centers, and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 25 million people.

And they were dead serious.

Go and read it all.

Blinding Beauty

Located here are some absolutely beautiful pictures of the sun. It's amazing the complexity involved with a giant ball of gas.



There's some absolutely awesome pictures here. I may have a new background soon.

Two must read stories...

Two awesome stories. The first is about the media. The second is about tax cuts...or lack thereof.

Root Cause?

This post over at instapundit caught my eye with this quote:

This is primarily an effect of the Calvinist Puritan roots of American progressivism. Just as Calvinists believed in the centrality of the depravity of man, with the exception of a miniscule contingent of the Elect of God, their secularized descendants believe in the depravity and cursedness of Western civilization, with their own enlightened selves in the role of the Elect.

I found this very interesting. As a Wesleyan, I'm going to think this over for a bit and comment on it.

Sri Lankan Army

I trained with a Captain from the Sri Lankan Special Forces while at The Basic School. Those guys are pretty fricken tough. Well, it looks like things are going well them: Secret Commandos Waiting To Strike

The army is now four kilometers from Kilinochchi, the LTTE "capital." The army is also fighting its way up the coast, and the end of LTTE control over Sri Lankan territory appears imminent. The LTTE has attempted to stop this advance with a terror bombing campaign. There have been six such attacks in the capital in the past five weeks. But the bombs have been small and poorly constructed, and merely made Sri Lankans more determined to finish off the LTTE once and for all. But the army is in no hurry. They know that haste merely provides the LTTE with more opportunities to launch surprise commando attacks. The LTTE still has several hundred experienced, well trained and armed fighters that could launch devastating attacks if the army got sloppy.

The LTTE is also known as the Tamil Tigers.

Good luck and Godspeed Capt Saman.

Oh, snap!

Socialist!

KFC

So I haven't had KFC in about 4 years. Mostly, because Sarah's not a big fan. Being by myself this week, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not all that impressed. The chicken meat I suppose was tender...but it was almost liquid. Kinda gross, really. In fact, the mashed potatoes and baked beans were okay...but the chicken was quite disappointing. Sounds like another 4 years for me.

Atlas Shrugged

Watching the AIG CEO's getting raked over coals bugged me...but in a rather fundamental way. My view of the business world is heavily shaped by Ayn Rand's objectivist thinking. Now here we have massive financial institutions gathered before the government wanting a handout...then, they proceed to blow it. Now, I understand it is a "separate division," but in terms of PR, they should have recognized that the general populace does not understand divisions or dbas. They see one name and understand it to be a single entity.

At any rate, it's is very frustrating watching the supposed great industrialists of our nation fall face first, then grab free handouts, and follow it up with an undeserved award. I know many at this level are mostly political monsters, but still, what happened to the decision-making. I guess I am just assuming that the best and brightest are leading our big corporations, but it seems not be so. In fact, I'd bet our best and brightest are leading small corporations and businesses. Perhaps this is where Ayn's modern hero's are. Her characters were never afraid of rolling up their sleeves and getting to work. And all that without a $400K spa package.

Line of the Day

From Jonah Goldberg in today's USA Today:

Many mainstream reporters are so deep in the Obama bunker they could play Operation during a Dresden-style air raid and not even light up the patient's nose.

Proof, you ask? Just start here.

Much ado about

I got my free USA Today at my hotel room, and the front page article was on the "younger voter." Specifically, the article mentions under 30 voters. Based on what I've seen, they'll matter just as much as they do every election...not a whole lot. The 12-year chunk is divided between the Gen-Y and the Gen-I(or Millennial) kids. When I was in college, there was a huge gap between one year of students. The difference was palpable. In mixed classes, the two groups separated, like oil and water. I suspect the difference was cultural. At any rate, many of them didn't really care about elections. The Gen-Yers were much more political, and I think have become more so. I suspect the younger-than 25 vote will again be underwhelming. But maybe that's just me.

Is it just me...

...or have snickers bars got a whole lot smaller.

Back on the air...

After a month since the catastrophic explosion of my computer, my laptop is back online. In other news, I smell chipolte...