Monday, March 19, 2007

Pissing On Kal's Suggestion


Kal wants me to buy this car to help the environemnt.
Base Price: $92,000, without a stereo system.
Only seats two, but no mention of lack of comfort for those two.
Range: 250 miles, if you are lucky. And it'll take seven hours to get you that far. On flat land. In nice weather. Without a head wind.

Last night, I took four adults out to dinner in my car.
If it was up to Kal, two of us would have had to stay home.


(most options, taxes,fees etc... $21,000 out the door).Plenty of room for fishing pole, rifles, luggage, cooler, and still able to drop the seat for a comfy snooze.


Going fast is great, for 3 hours... and then what? In a best case scenario, you have to stop for 3.5 hours to recharge. Vacations and road trips would take twice as long to get 'there'. And without luggage.

And I guess it's fine if you like paying for motels and restaurants. With this car, there is no room for an ice cooler,or to drop the seat back and take a snooze on the side of road.

No thanks,Kal.
Tesla may be a nice car for wealthy Republicans to drive on the weekend to show off their wealth, uber-coolness and enviro-consciousness, but it has no place in the life of those of us huddled masses whose lifestyle you think isn't practical enough.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Hmmm...

American Heritage Dictionary
troglodyte
trog·lo·dyte (trŏg'lə-dīt')
n.

1.
a.A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes.
b.A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
c.An anthropoid ape, such as a gorilla or chimpanzee.
d.An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm.

2.
a.An anthropoid ape, such as a gorilla or chimpanzee.
b.An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm.


**Caveman added due to suggestion from LawFairy.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Know Your Enemy


Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the now admitted 9/11 mastermind has confessed to a wide range of criminal/terrorist acts:
*"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z"
*Beheading Daniel Pearl
*1993 World Trade Center bombing
*2002 bombing of Kenyan beach resort
*2003 Bali resort bombings
*attempts at downing two transatlantic flights
*plotting assassinations of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton,Perves Musharref and Pope John Paul II
*attacks on New York bridges
*signing Rosie to co-host The View
*attacks on the Sears Tower,Empire State Building,Panama Canal and New York Stock Exchange
*plots against nuclear power plants,American Naval vessels and oil tankers
*not sure if he supports Obama yet, but finds him to be attractive,clean and articulate.
*denies any involvement in the JonBenet Ramsey slaying, shaving Brittany Spears, or Global Warming, but thinks he might be the father of Anna Nicole's baby.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Technology Threatens Traditional Marriage


Robotic Beer Launching Refrigerator -

Now, if only this guy can invent a robot that'll iron shirts, run a vacuum, and still keep quiet during a football game...









Hat Tip:Allan

Monday, March 12, 2007

I Knew It Was Coming


It's here!
The new Talking Barrack Obama Action Figure.
Get Your's Now!














I sure hope he grows into that outfit before he takes office.

People Is People

It's been 20-plus years since I last failed to attend a U.S. Government class. Needless to say, I ain't no constitutional scholar, though I sometimes play one online. My law training is limited to several trips to small-claims or traffic court over the past 27 years. In short, I don't know 'the law', but I've known enough lawyers, and stood before my share of judges, to understand the that initials "J.D." after someone's name is absolutely no guarantee of any higher level of intellect. I'm even willing to go so far as to believe, in many cases, it is a verifiable sign of just the opposite. Lawyers don't always impress me,and unless it's Halloween, adults in Darth Vader Robes just look silly regardless of who's wearing them.

Anyway... what brings this up is a Federal Appeals Court (D.C. Circuit) ruling to a challenge of a District of Columbia law banning the ownership of handguns by the citizenry. Personally, I think the law is stupid, and it appears the DC circuit majority agrees with me, overturning the law, setting up a challenge in the US Supreme Court on Second Amendment grounds.*Link*

In a 2-1 decision, writing for the minority,which means herself, and herself alone,Judge Karen L. Henderson,offers up this explanation:
"To sum up, there is no dispute that the Constitution, case law and applicable statutes all establish that the District is not a State within the meaning of the Second Amendment."

Hello? The second amendment does not mention the rights of states, but the rights of the people, and last I heard, the District does indeed have people in it.

I understand that the ridiculous sounding Justice Henderson just may be whoring for her idealogical point of view that opposes gun ownership, but is it necessary to be so stupid and illogical when doing it?
Is this the best a graduate of Duke and UNC Chapel Hill can do?
I'm thinking just maybe we might all be better off if we just put normal, logical everyday folks without educational pedigrees in charge of this stuff.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Meet The $600 Cat


Somewhere in my apartment is a protruding cat-gasher. I still haven't found it yet, but this kitty certainly has.

Seems kitty ran across this mysterious cat-gasher sometime Friday, or early last Saturday. Being a diligent cat-dad, I didn't notice the wound until late Sunday night.
I my defense, the wound was located in the fold of his hind-quarters, not easily visible to the eye, and there was no blood. Not a drop. On him, or any signs of blood in the house. As he wasn't showing any signs of discomfort, or lack of willingness to rough house and be chased around, I assumed that he was fine despite it all. Since it didn't look too serious, I waited til morning to take him to the vet for a look at it, just in case.

As it turns out, the gash was really deep, exposing the muscle, and already infected. After the required surgery, meds, and etc... I got nailed with a $600 invoice.

Now, he's wearing one of those plastic cone-shaped collars and a surgical drainage tube, and his sister thinks he's a freak. Poor guy. But I think he's clearly enjoying the extra tender loving care from Dad. And he takes his meds so easily, no fuss, no scratching, no struggle.

"Sure, Dad, I'll eat that pill, and wash it down with a dropper full of icky brown stuff."
A dream cat!
He can't be real.

Now, if he'll only show me where the cat-gasher is...

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Sometimes Things Just Work Themselves Out

Scooter Libby goes down, facing somewhere between 20-30 years in prison.
Personally, I think the charges against him were bogus and political.
Karma sometimes has a way of coming around, since it was Scooter who arranged the pardon (payoff)from Bill Clinton to Marc Rich.

Scooter ain't no conservative hero. He's been running with dogs. And he's as mangey as they are.

Drop him in a hole, and throw away the key.
America is better with one less of his kind running around.

Where Would Jesus Live?

I don't know what it is about politicians who feel the need to play the Jesus Card when 'down south', or when talking to Christian groups about policy, and why they think it works. Bible thumpers,(I was one, long time ago) might be easily duped with scripture quotes, but there has to be something else. Something real about the dude who's trying to dupe them. In short, this is not a group easily pandered to.
And obvious hypocrites receive no quarter.

Latest foolery comes from none other than John Edwards.
According to John, Jesus would be appalled at the selfishness of Americans when we live so well, and so many others do not. He wants to make fighting poverty a keystone of his (never to be acquired, despite his delusions) Presidency.

Of course, John's idea of fighting poverty, Jesus style, means the government taxes mill workers in Anaheim at 33+% (yours truly), while making no mention that rich bastards like himself live off of millions earned from investment income taxed at half that rate. The rich stay rich, while the working stiff struggles under the jack boot of progressive taxation to help the poor. This is John's "Two America's". His tax rate, and everybody else's.

Yeah, John's rich. Filthy rich. Self-made rich. This is good, and I fault nobody for making honest money. And he's done his own bit to relieve poverty through his selfless acts of suing obstetricians for millions on behalf of poor people, at a 30% cut, of course.

But somebody needs to tell this pretty boy that preaching to the 'other' America about fighting poverty for Jesus just seems a little bit disingenuous when one lives in a house big enough to shelter all of Nazareth. 28,000 square feet! 102 acres.
Couldn't he at least peel off a few acres for low-income housing? Or maybe even a tent city for the homeless?
I'm thinking John's next speech is going to center around forestland preservation, and reducing energy consumption for the 'other' America.
Because Jesus would like that.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

More From The Battlefront


A study in the UK shows that single women do less housework than partnered women. Well,duh! Two are messier than one. It took a college professor with an MA and an Honorary Doctorate to figure this shit out, I guess. Here's the link.

Among the findings:
*Single women in Britain spend 10 hours on average a week
*Single men in Britain spend 7 hours on average a week
*Women living in a couple spend 15 hours on chores
*Men living in a couple spend 5 hours on chores
The study involved households where both partners worked outside the home.

...And fails to bring up another well known fact: men generally work more overtime, at more physically demanding jobs, than their women.
(this study ignores another study, also taken in the UK, for obvious agendized reasons, begging the question: does feminism really care about women's health?)

What this study doesn't mention, and likely didn't bother to look into, is what percentage of other household work was done by the men. There is more to maintaining a household than housework.
Likely, the man now has to repair and maintain two vehicles, instead of one, and take out four times as much garbage as before. What percentage of outdoor chores did the man acquire in exchange for the new lifestyle?
Twice as much wear and tear on the home equals twice as many plumbing repairs,clogged toilets, and broken fixtures. Who is taking care of these things?
Who is shoveling the snow from the drive in winter?
And who is expected to wake in the middle of the night to confront any bumps in the dark?(in other words, who is expected to die, if necessary, while the other flees?)

Creating a home together is an enterprise that requires sacrifice and teamwork from both partners. And like any other economic enterprise, and yes, householding is an economic enterprise, a division of labors is the successful pattern, as opposed to equal sharing of all labors. Besides, just how many women would rather be shoveling their 'fair share' of snow,anyway?
But we aren't likely to hear this other side from the feminist study takers.

Of course, the answer from at least one feminist is:
"As much as we might like to legislate against men for not doing housework, it is not an option," laughs Ms Ruth Lister, adding that cultural expectations die hard.(Yeah, lady. I'm laughing too, but for a different reason.)

Again, blaming the culture (patriarchy?), instead of just recognizing that the very thought of such legislation is just plain stupid.
Almost as stupid as a gratuitous swipe at her fashion sense.But, no post about a woman would be complete witout some judgement of her appearance,would it? /sarcasm





Ruth Lister, social policy professor, Loughborough University
(No, it is not post-transgender-surgery Rod Stewart)



Note To Reader: I have alluded to Ms. Lister's academic and professional accomplishments, commented on her appearance, and made passing remarks to her level of intelligence and dedication to agenda. I think I've covered all the bases on this one.

As The Curtain Falls...

I'm kinda thinking this is apropriate.



Thank You.