Someone needs to get Al-Gore recalibrated...

He's going to be in Madistan on Friday, but the snow is going to hit the Twin Cities. Clearly he's out of whack. More than usual.

Meanwhile the sunspot minimum is pushing a record, and Al's source for alarming graphs pretty much made it up.

Science!

Metaphor

Selling us stuff we don't need, forcing it upon us when we don't want it, then handing us a bill: Grobama, totally tone deaf, doesn't care if you don't have ears--you're going to buy his earmuffs. Because he's selling earmuffs, and only earmuffs, don't bother distracting him with alternatives (elbowmuffs!), hold still and shut up and that'll be seven dollars.

Worth noting that this is Classic Sesame Street; these days Kermit would play along so as not to hurt Grover's precious self-esteem.

(What? No, I've been watching the German-language Sesamstrasse as an intellectual exercise. I know nahe and fern now. Heh heh.)

In which I can't separate baseball and politics

Yesterday I was reading rumors about "WH Counsel Craig" and saw "WH Craig Counsell" and couldn't figure out what the W stands for.

Today I'm wondering how much Corey Hart's appendectomy cost relative to the "surtax" his salary would be subjected to by Obamacare...and if he would have gotten the surgery early enough--or if he (or his employer) would have had to pay for treatment in Bermuda--under the plan the Democrats are going to institute in September regardless of the will of the people. And probably without even knowing what the fuck the actual plan SAYS.

(I'm guessing normal people don't have these concerns. They just post on Facebook about how they're bored of hearing people talk about Obama/Congress. I'm starting to look forward to the gulag, just to get away from people who couldn't care less about living in a fascist dictatorship as long as there's something on TV and cute dresses at the mall.)

It's worse than I thought.

I'm pretty much Bob here (except I couldn't find a quote in WI less than $420/mo, even explicitly requesting pregnancy not be included, and that's waaaaaaay more than I spend out of pocket in a year)--I'm going to be fined a couple months' rent and still have no health insurance (which is not the same as "no health care"...but that confisicated money would certainly come in handy when I see a doctor or a dentist, assholes).

Worse, if I start making more money and decide to purchase health insurance, insurers won't be allowed to sell it to me. The public option is the ONLY option.*

How the hell am I a criminal requiring punishment for not purchasing a product no one is legally allowed to sell to me?!

I got "unfriended" on Facebook this week when I pointed out to someone complaining that his doctor's office charged him for filling out and mailing some paperwork that office overhead needed to process his request--the woman who took his call, the woman who dug out his records (and/or the computer system that holds his records--for a one-doc practice, that software run high six-figures) and copied his info into the form, the phone, the copier, the electricity, the postage to mail his paperwork, not to mention the malpractice insurance--was not free. Apparently this guy is one of those assholes who thinks doctors and their staff should be providing their services to him for free, at a loss to themselves.

And that's where I'm getting stuck. How did we get to a point where everyone believes they deserve free services at a loss to everyone else, and believes punishing people who don't want to pay other people's way is just?

*Now taking bets on how long it will be before hospitals and clinics are legally forbidden from seeing uninsured patients in exchange for cash, thereby forcing everyone into buying the public option or leaving the country to be seen (or, in case of an emergency, being left to die on the street). If I was a doc with a private practice, I would totally be financing an MRI machine and relocating to the Bahamas.

Compare, contrast.

From last week: Michelle Obama lies with impunity to gin up fear about the "obesity crisis" among children, so we all feel warm and fuzzy about her husband and Congress taking over every aspect of our lives, right down to what we're allowed to feed our own children.

From the weekend: Michelle's husband and children eat ice cream.

Other than their father being crowned a god-king by the American media, how are Sasha and Malia any different from any other child in America?

I suppose this isn't any different than sending the children to private schools while insisting other parents should not be allowed that choice...I'm no longer fazed by self-appointed aristocracy living lives they would forbid everyone else--restrictions on food and fuel, sumptuary laws for the 21st century--but I'm getting more and more fed up with the people who clamor to be ruled by these tyrannical hypocrites. The hell is wrong with you people?!?! Can you honestly not see what they're doing here?!?

Biden Syracuse speech liveblog

I was flipping channels to see what's out there, and the Syracuse U graduation is live on the local ABC affiliate. Joe Botox has just been introduced. No one's laughing at his jokes.

Some blather about Mother's Day; no mention of his first wife, Syracuse native, or their child; a man-bashing joke.

Now he's started screaming about how horrible Vietnam vets were, and glorifying the student occupation of the campus when he was student. Students are glaring and rolling their eyes. On and on about how horrible the world was in 1968, and his generation was so shafted, but they knew they could change the world (thanks for nothing, guys). Yeah, these kids spent a hundred thousand dollars and 4-5 years of their lives to listen to Joe Biden talk about himself.

Now he's telling how he ended the Vietnam war by bullying Henry Kissinger.

And now, you kids inherit a shitty, ruined world (although we '68-ers didn't actual ruin it with our violent, society-altering changes, mind you), including "planet in peril!!"--my ass--

Now he's likening the class to a car wreck--they can further destroy the world with one wrench of the steering wheel. It's up to you!!!

"And the pessmists might point out we cannot guarantee exactly what our change might deliver." No, but I'm pretty sure I have a good idea...

Pan to students yawning, gossiping, texting.

Some sort of blathering about how individuals aren't important...inspiring!

"That's why Barack and I ran." Oh God, that's funny.

Now he's plagiarizing John Lennon...imagine this, imagine that, clean energy, "invest in every child from age three", guaranteeing free college to every 18-year-old regardless of ability, guaranteeing free health care to every person--kids applaud, obviously they don't realize they're going to paying for it--"imagine a country not destroyed by petty ideology"--give me a fucking break--more blather about socialist ideals and lyrics--"that's what you demanded of us in this last election"--really?--"They tell us this is all beyond us, beyond our scope: where they hell have they been?"--reading the Constitution, probably--fervently reassuring the crowd that the Constitution be damned, they will do these things because the American people want it--sadly true--

Joe is "more optimistic now than [he] has ever been in his whole life because of you Syracuse graduates." Now he's bitching that our soldiers in Iraq are "mostly under 30"--didn't see you volunteering, asshole--Pimping AmeriCorps--that'll pay back those six figures in loans--more pseudo-inspiring blather, plagiarizing someone--"if not now, when?"

Pan to parents looking bored and annoyed.

Blah blah, change the world, "it cannot sustain itself in the direction its going now"--the direction you and Barack have turned it, asshole--more lying about Amtrak, insinuation that the National Guard is racist--some asinine applause line I missed because I was getting a lecture from my houseguest about how Biden loves America--hope, mis-applied MLK quote about justice, usual blather about what a great place the school is for giving him an honorary degree

Conclusion--he's grateful for the chance to talk about himself, congratulations, "God Bless Our Troops" (Heather: "They're going to need Him with you and Barack in charge"), go party!

Heather gets up for a beer.

They're presenting an honorary degree to the guy who coined the phrase "frail elderly"--I want to see him get hit upside the head with a straw handbag by Estelle Getty--and an honorary degree for the "journalistic achievements" of liar Seymour Hersh.

Houseguest: "You know, there's paid programming for the Shamwow on one of those other channels."

Excellent idea!

In which I solve budget deficits again, albeit temporarily

There's a ton of money to made by some level of government if they just listen to me:

1) Send cops to the General Parking lots at Miller Park about an hour before home games. The anti-cruising task force would be well-suited.
2) Write tickets for underage drinking/serving to minors, drunk-n-disorderly, vandalism, etc.
3) Continue while people are stumbling back to their cars after the game and throwing beer bottles at passers-by.
4) Profit.

A DUI checkpoint, with big buses to hold people for mass processing later, could be helpful, but I think DUI costs more to prosecute than the fine, and we're trying to make money here.

Somehow yesterday we got funneled into the worthless twit section of the parking lot at Miller Park. While initially there was something amusing about hipster douchebags at a sporting event, they wore thin quickly. On the plus side, they were disgusted by old fat people in reclining camp chairs quietly eating bratwurst within visual range of their so-cool garbage cans of jungle juice.

Someone needs to explain to the state's Democrats that underage drinkers and chronic alcoholics don't drink just beer; if they're actually serious about collecting revenue (instead of just wanting to punish people for liking hops), there are better ways to do it.

...and while I'm complaining

Some Communist git I know in real life told me I have "really bought a load of shit from the teabaggers." (I assume that's the tolerant open-mindedness they publicly congratulate themselves for having.)

Meanwhile, I'm at least 600 miles away from anyone who cares about me so I can earn a wage, most of which is going to be siphoned by government and given to people who can't even be bothered to read the paperwork after they've lied on mortgage application forms.

It must be really nice to have no sense of responsibilty.

I like this...

Jim Treacher:


(tagging a post "assholes" and "Democrats" seems really redundant lately.)

Recycling

Here's my anti-DST rant from last year. My opinion hasn't changed.

Neither did the cell phone tower nearest my apartment. I went to sleep well before 2 a.m. with the alarm set for 6:30; it went off at 6:30, which was actually 7:30 according to the clock on the microwave. I'm going for a drive later on so it can get the real time from a new tower. ZOMG, energy use! Oh noes! Bwahahaha.

(Looks like Blogger hasn't changed, either. Interesting.)

UPDATE: I'm newly irritated by everyone chirping "I love DST because I can play outside with my kids after work!" You needed a literal act of Congress for this? Go home an hour early and leave the rest of us out it. Sheesh.

Heh.

From Iowahawk's Flickr:


(I responded to an ad today for a "competent software engineer." I'm not sure what to make of their inclusion of that qualifier...)

I'm surprised it took this long.

Dissent is no longer patriotic.

Will there even be a United States of America by the time we get a chance to vote this asshole out?

Starting to get entertaining.

Shepard Fairey arrested on outstanding warrants. Which is apparently part of his anarchist-lite schtick, and of course they don't say what the warrants are for.

I'm having a good laugh at the people who think some conspiracy of evil corporate Bushitler fans made some calls and had him taken out.

OTOH, I'm getting more and more disgusted by how many adult-age people think vandalism is awesome if you call it "street art."

Well, at least I'm keeping busy.

Someone obtained my debit card number, address, and e-mail address and made a bunch of charges since Tuesday. Kids, probably, since they're buying acne cream, tooth whitener, and memberships to tuition grant information websites. Fraud charges look nice on college apps, don't you think?

The bank is making me call all these companies myself, which irritates me, but they've given me some additional useful information to pass along to the police. (I was motivated to file a police report because they created an e-mail account with a username similar to mine for the purpose of signing up for this crap--trying to rip me off is one thing but violating my personal space like that something else altogether.)

*sigh* I wonder if I dropped a printout at PDX or something. I was really too sick to notice.

I hope this gets as much attention as PeTA...

NBC is refusing to air, during that game on Sunday with that name trademarked by the NFL, a pro-life commercial that notes Barack Obama wasn't aborted, even though his childhood was a NARAL template for "why we need more abortions, and women shouldn't be expected to pay for them--the government should."

It's quite tasteful and well within FCC regulations, unlike women masturbating with vegetables (no, I'm not linking to that).

...although with the lies and the "stimulus" and the foreign abortions and the scuttling of national defense, it's very hard to believe Stanley Ann made a good choice. Good for Barack, not so hot for a lot of other people. I'll have to think about this. God knows I have too much time to think these days.

Huh.

When you run for president as a community organizer, and a writer, or even a professor of constitutional law, perhaps it's politic to hide a few salient details about your actual lifestyle that might mess up the "savior of the downtrodden" narrative. It's important to keep up the fiction that only spoiled, indifferent, wealthy Republicans have personal servants.

I swear, everytime I read about things Michelle Obama does or says, I respect her even less. There has to be a bottom here somewhere, right?

Also some blather in the link about "locavore eating." I assume those wagyu steaks our smarter, Earth-caring-er betters were served last night were raised in Georgetown...

Hey, Ashton...

This morning when I was dodging claws and cold nose to try to get an extra five minutes of sleep, I realized that I've been a servant to a big-eared small-brained rather-annoying dude who's never held a real job since before you'd heard of Barack Obama because he hadn't gotten Jack Ryan thrown off the Illinois Senate ballot yet.



I can only handle one. Y'all gotta take a number.

Promote a culture of awareness of mentoring for the education of awareness of reduction of ignorance!

I thought I was kidding

when I said the whole country was going to be turned into the south side of Chicago, but it looks like I wasn't.



I laughed at "Apocalyptic Garbage Blizzard" but seriously, that looks exactly like the time my cousin came to visit me at school in Indiana and we thought we'd go to the Museum of Science and Industry and we didn't know the Dan Ryan had express lanes (our hometown has no stoplights...) and we thought we'd just take an exit and follow the map. Complete with abandoned elderly relative. Only thing missing is an iron grille on the front of the Smithsonian.

How's about maybe, instead of pledging to be a servant to your leader, you just clean up after yourself? For a change?

Mother Gaia will smile on you, or something.

I want a !(#*! apology

Dear people who told me George Bush was going to "round up" all the homosexuals and send them to extermination camps, and were dead serious, and called me everything but a white woman for thinking otherwise (Chele, I'm thinking of A$$wipe, but he's not the only one):

Are you an ignorant uneducated sheeple piece of shit duped by jingoist politicians, or just a lying piece of shit, or some combination of the two, so blinded by your own petty insecurities you're incapable of rational thought?

Take your time.

UPDATE: I'm doing a pretty good job of not unleashing megatons of ridicule and derision on the Coronation-obsessed Obaaaaaaaaama people I'm surrounded by in real life, but it's all gotta be vented somewhere to avoid apoplexy. Which would be here. Until I get my unicorn, and then I'll be too busy having fantastic adventures to blog.

Interesting...

Two local residents charged in GOP national convention incident

Jan. 17, 2009 10:41 a.m. | Two Wisconsin residents and a Texas resident have been accused of throwing a large road sign off a bridge during the Republican National Convention.

Twenty-three-year-old Bradley Crowder of Austin, Texas, 23-year-old Karen Meissner of Menomonee Falls and 18-year-old Christina Vana of West Bend were charged Friday with aiding and abetting second-degree assault.

According to a criminal complaint, protesters picked up sandbags used to hold down a street sign and used them to try to stop buses carrying delegates to the Xcel Energy Center on Sept. 1.

The three are accused of throwing a metal sign off the Marion Street bridge over Interstate 94 and the 5th Street exit ramp. It landed three feet from an officer who was trying to remove a sandbag thrown by a protesters.

One of the miscreants is from West Bend, where self-styled "radicals" meet at the library to discuss criminal activity. Coincidence, I'm sure.

It's too bad they couldn't be bothered to tell officials the names of their comrades who tried to kill dozens of people with the sandbags.