Frankly Speaking

The liquor store where I buy my necessities has just started carrying Shiner Bock. Seriously, I could have kissed someone when I saw it there on the shelf. It's $7.99 for a six pack, but well worth the effort. This is, hands down, my favorite domestic beer.

I enjoyed a few this weekend, and it was everything I knew it would be. I haven't had one since spending a week in Austin during March 2007. Now I don't have to schlep myself all the way to Tejas to enjoy the stuff.

It really is that easy to make me happy.

Labels: all about me

Opponents of domestic drilling keep telling us that we can't drill our way out of this. I concur, domestic drilling is not the ultimate long-term solution.

However, three weeks ago I paid $4.21/gallon to fill up my car. Shortly thereafter, President Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling. This morning I paid $3.79/gallon to fill up.

Question, if merely talking about domestic drilling brings the price of gas down $.42 a gallon, what impact do you think actually drilling the oil and putting it into the supply would have?

Labels: inconvenient truth, liberal hypocrisy, liberty, life

During his visit to the Western Wall last week, Obama placed a folded, white piece of paper with a prayer written on it into the cracks of the wall. Apparently someone took it almost immediately, and now it's been published in an Israeli newspaper^*.

I know I do quite a bit of Obama bashing, but this is really not kosher^**. What someone prays is between him and G-d, and shouldn't be used as political material by either side.

So mark this down, boys and girls, I'm on Obama's side on this one. Whatever he believes, and whomever he prays to, is none of our business and should be left private.

^*I originally put his prayer into this post. But since my whole point is that it should be a private matter, I took it out before publishing the post.

^**See what I did there? I made a Jewish joke. I know it's not really funny, but come on. It's the best I had.

Labels: obamessiah

The big news you won't hear on the news this week is that John Edwards was caught running around with his mistress and love child. Oddly enough, no major media outlet is covering it. You will only see this in the Enquirer and on the blogosphere. Given the sensitivity of something like this, the LA Times has ordered its bloggers not to cover it.

There has been a little buzz surrounding John Edwards and his alleged affair. Because the only source has been the National Enquirer we have decided not to cover the rumors or salacious speculations. So I am asking you all not to blog about this topic until further notified.

Okay, so they question the source and have decided not to cover it. I can respect that, if they apply that same standard to everyone.

But what's this The LA Times made quite a big deal about a rumor that John McCain was having an in appropriate relationship with a female lobbyist.

Aides to Sen. John McCain confronted a telecommunications lobbyist in late 1999 and asked her to distance herself from the Arizona senator during the presidential campaign he was about to launch, according to one of McCain's longest-serving political strategists.

So, let's review the rules, shall we?

1. Republican candidate: Fuck him, we'll run anything we can get our hands on
2. Former Democratic candidate and presumed VP front runner: I know there were witnesses who actually saw Edwards coming out of the hotel at 2:30 am where his mistress and love child were staying, but we really need to give him the benefit of the doubt. For the children.

h/t Ace

Labels: mediots, presidential politics

I told you all along the surge would work, even when I didn't say that.

January 2007—“And until we acknowledge that reality, uh, we can send 15,000 more troops; 20,000 more troops; 30,000 more troops. Uh, I don’t know any, uh, expert on the region or any military officer that I’ve spoken to, uh, privately that believes that that is gonna make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.”

July 2007—“Here’s what we know. The surge has not worked. And they said today, ‘Well, even in September, we’re going to need more time.’ So we’re going to kick this can all the way down to the next president, under the president’s plan... My assessment is that the surge has not worked and we will not see a different report eight weeks from now.”

September 2007—“After putting an additional 30,000 troops in... we have gone from a horrendous situation of violence in Iraq to the same intolerable levels of violence that we had back in June of 2006. So, essentially, after all this we’re back where we were 15 months ago... It is a course that will not succeed.”

January 2008—“I had no doubt, and I said when I opposed the surge, that given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation and we would see a reduction in the violence.”

Now: “What I said was even at the time of the debate of the surge, was if you put 30,000 troops in, of course it’s going to have an impact. There’s no doubt about that.”

h/t http://patriotpost.us/

Labels: Iraq, obamessiah, presidential politics, war

Except for the cheating wife part, some days this feels like my life.

Labels: all about me

Much has been made about the fact that Obama didn't visit Landstuhl or Rammstein during the German leg of his world tour. Seems he didn't think it was worth stopping off to visit the wounded soldiers there because he couldn't bring along his cameras.

A U.S. military official tells NBC News they were making preparations for Sen. Barack Obama to visit wounded troops at the Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein, Germany on Friday, but "for some reason the visit was called off."

One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama's representatives were told, "he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers." In addition,
"Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama's visit."

The official said "We didn't know why" the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. "He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him."

There you have it. He had scheduled the visit, was informed that no media could be present, visit gets un-scheduled, fast, quick and in a hurry.

This single event tells me everything I could ever want to know about Obama. The man wants to be Commander in Chief, but he can't visit wounded soldiers unless the press covers it? Are our soldiers nothing more than a photo op for the chosen one on the way to his coronation? It sure seems that way.

Here's a little story for you from my own experience to solidify why I would never vote for this man for any position. I was traveling over the fourth of July weekend. On my way to my connecting gate there were a couple of young soldiers walking through the airport, giving high fives to every person they passed. Every single person they walked up to gave them the high five except the two long-haired, hippy types wearing Obama T-shirts. They turned their backs on the soldiers and walked away. Looks like they were following the example set by their messianic leader.

I have absolutely no use at all for anyone who disrespects our military like that, U.S. Senator or not.

I question his patriotism. And his character. And if this is an example of the hopeychangitude he wants to bring to the country, I want no part of it.

Update: Well, this explains it all. According to Andrea Mitchell's repitition of an Obama camp rumor, Mccain used his Pentagon connections to sabotage Obama's visit to the wounded troops. And people still want to vote for this ass-clown. Boggles the mind.

h/t Ace.

Labels: obamessiah, presidential politics

Just not exactly like this.

A man who held up a McDonald's at gunpoint when he was 14 is one of two South Florida finalists in a contest to mix a new jingle for the fast-food giant.

Tamien Bain served 12 years in prison for the crime.

Now 29 and known in hip-hop circles as "BAiNG The Locksmith," Bain, of Miami, learned this week he's made the top five in McDonald's BIG MAC chant competition.

Now that is funny, I don't care who you are.

The good side to the story is that serving his time seems to have turned this guy's life around, and now he's trying to help out other juvenile offenders. And I have a new respect for McDonald's, in that he told them up front about his past but they let him compete anyway.

See, some stories do have a happy ending.

Labels: pointless silliness, rise and fall of American culture

Russian Miners Too Terrified to Work After Bears Eat 2 Colleagues

To which I give a resounding, "DUH!" If people are being eaten by bears at your office, are you going to go plop your fat butt back down in your cubicle and wait for your turn to come?

Labels: pointless silliness

Apparently there is some sort of political bias amongst journalists. I know that you are all aghast to hear it, but it appears to be true. And it's not, as Tom has tried so many times to tell us, a bias towards the right. According to this article in Investor's Business Daily, journalists are donating to Democrats over Republicans by 100-1.

An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans .

Two-hundred thirty-five journalists donated to Democrats, just 20 gave to Republicans — a margin greater than 10-to-1. An even greater disparity, 20-to-1, exists between the number of journalists who donated to Barack Obama and John McCain.

Searches for other newsroom categories (reporters, correspondents, news editors, anchors, newspaper editors and publishers) produces 311 donors to Democrats to 30 donors to Republicans, a ratio of just over 10-to-1. In terms of money, $279,266 went to Dems, $20,709 to Republicans, a 14-to-1 ratio.

You mean those objective keepers of Teh Truth^tm are not really unbiased? You mean when Chris Matthews talks about how Barack "The Chosen One" Obama gives him a thrill up his leg, he's not talking hypothetically?

Here's my favorite part, though. Looks like Barack "The Real Thing" Obama has received quite a bit of money from PACs.

And while the money totals pale in comparison to the $9-million-plus that just one union's PACs have spent to get Obama elected, they are more substantial than the amount that Obama has criticized John McCain for receiving from lobbyists: 96 lobbyists have contributed $95,850 to McCain, while Obama — who says he won't take money from PACs or federal lobbyists — has received $16,223 from 29 lobbyists.

That's right, Barack "Middle Name Redacted" Obama, who gave us all his word that he wouldn't accept one penny from PACs (the DNC followed suit the next day), has had more than $9,000,000 in support of his candidacy.

Finally this. Of journalists who listed themselves as actually being employed by a major news organzation (most list themselves as freelancers), the giving was $315,533 to Democrats, $3,150 to Republicans. A whopping four individuals gave money to McCain. Four.

I'm no math major, but $315,533 to $3,150 looks to be about 100-1 in favor of Democrats to me.

But then again, I was educated, for the most part, by DODDS (Department of Defense Dependent Schools), so maybe I'm a little biased.

Go read the whole thing. It is very enlightening.

H/T Jawa

Labels: inconvenient truth, liberal hypocrisy, mediots, presidential politics

Heather Kennedy, a former New York school teacher, got busted for having sex with a 16-year old.. at least five times since having pled guilty to fooling around with the kid previously.

And the five times claim is from the 16-year old himself. Most likely posted on his myspace page and overheard in the locker room. Because no self respecting teenager is going to nail his 25-year old teacher and not tell everyone about it.

Seriously, where were all these young, hot, insatiable teachers when I was 16? Because all of my teachers looked like Bea Arthur.

Granted, Ms. Kennedy isn't really that hot, but when I was 16 she would have been.

Labels: pointless silliness, rise and fall of American culture

German Chancelor Angela Merkel, when asked about Obama, said, "I would say that he is well-equipped -- physically, mentally and politically."

Video of the conference below.



My apologies to Tom for stealing his post and my comment to post here. But it was too good not to share.

Labels: pointless silliness, presidential politics

I'm off to an outdoor concert tonight, so enjoy this whilst I get ready to head out of work early.



I'm a.. li-ttle.. ner-vous.. 'bout what you'll think, when you.. see me.. in my.. swimming trunks..


I'll be the old guy jumping around, dancing inappropriately for a guy my age.

Labels: all about me, music, pointless silliness

Answer: When it's the right to keep and bear arms.

The 32-year ban on handguns in D.C. expired today, allowing people to attempt to jump through a million hoops to legally register their handguns. Including Dick Heller, of D.C. vs Heller. His application was, of course, denied.

Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.

But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.

You can find a rundown on the new rules for attempting to legally owning a firearm in D.C. here. They are, to put it mildly, insane.

Registration procedures for a handgun purchased for self-defense in a District residence:

1. A District resident who seeks to register a handgun must obtain an application form from MPD’s Firearms Registration Section and take it to a firearms dealer for assistance in completing it.

2. The applicant must submit photos, proof of residency and proof of good vision (such as a driver’s license or doctor’s letter), and pass a written firearms test.

3. If the applicant is successful on the test, s(he) must pay registration fees and submit to fingerprinting. MPD will file one set of fingerprints and submit the other to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis and criminal background check.

4. MPD will notify the applicant whether all registration requirements are satisfied. At that point, the applicant returns to the Firearms Registration Section to complete the process and receive MPD’s seal on the application.

5. The applicant takes his or her completed application to a licensed firearm dealer to take delivery of the pistol. If the dealer is outside the District, the dealer transports the pistol to a licensed dealer in the District to complete the transaction.

6. The applicant takes the pistol to the Firearms Registration Section for ballistics testing. When testing is complete, the applicant may retrieve the pistol and take it home.

There are so many things wrong with this that I don't even know where to begin.

Let's start with the easiest first. According to the Second Amendment, an individual's right to keep and bear arms, "..shall not be infringed". I think that's pretty cut and dry myself, as in the government is not allowed to pass laws restricting an individual's right to own and bear arms. You know, just like the government is not allowed to restrict your G-d given right to free speech, the freedom of assembly, and the freedom of the press. Or here's another one for you, how about the right for all citizens of the United States to vote, regardless of race or gender? I seem to remember a time when local governments tried to restrict access to the ballot box by imposing taxes and making potential voters take a test to make sure they were competent. That didn't work out so well for them either, did it? Weren't the chief proponents of poll taxes mostly Democrats? And aren't the fascists in the D.C. council mostly Democrats? I'm starting to see a trend here.

I have an idea, from now on all journalists must pass a written exam, fill out an application requesting permission to report on the news, and then are limited to only print media of 1,000 words or less. The AP will be shut down completely, as it is the press equivalent of a machine gun, blasting news all over the world with a single click of the mouse. There is no way the founding fathers could have anticipated such an organization, so clearly we have to use our living constitution, which clearly allows us to regulate this new medium.

I mean, come on, there will still be reporters, but they will be responsible reporters; guaranteed to never show bias or misreport the news because we made them take a test first. Oh, and no felon will ever be allowed to be connected with the press ever again.

But back to the subject at hand.

Heller was denied his application because he has a semiautomatic handgun that holds seven rounds. D.C.'s new regulations require that handguns hold less than 12 rounds, because that must be the magic number that makes gun owners lose their minds and go on murderous rampages. Heller complied with that rule, but was denied because his handgun is bottom fed, and is thus lumped in with machine guns. Which, despite conventional wisdom, are not illegal in most of the country. They are just very, very expensive.

Along with the limited capacity requirements and the restrictions that basically limit you to owning a revolver, you have to keep your handgun disassembled, unloaded and with either a trigger lock or in a gun safe. These requirements, for all intents and purposes, render the firearm useless. The whole point of Scalia's majority opinion was that the constitution specifically guarantees the individual's right to self-protection. If someone is in the process of breaking into your home, do you think you will have the time to unlock the safe or trigger lock, assemble the weapon, load it and still hit your target? I seriously doubt it.

What D.C. is doing is, essentially, thumbing their noses at the constitution, the citizens of the United States, and the Supreme Court. They have decided that they know better what is good for us, even if that means trampling on a few of our individual rights which are constitutionally guaranteed.

And we're not even talking about a made up right, like abortion. They had to do some real verbal gymnastics to create that "right" out of the constitution. This one is spelled out in black and white, listed second (which implies to me that it's kind of important) that individuals have the right to keep and bear arms.

So now I expect Heller to start the process of challenging the current asinine rules, which will, of course, be overthrown. But along the way we will have several more years of government denying citizens constitutionally guaranteed rights.

But hey, at least all those terrorists in Guantanamo Bay get to have trials in federal court. I noticed no one had a problem enforcing that ruling, did they?

Labels: governmental idiocy, gun control, nanny state, rise and fall of American culture

Labels: pointless silliness

If you watch only one video today, let it be this one.

h/t Snoop

Labels: governmental idiocy, nanny state

What do you think the chances are of hearing any of today's Hollywood stars saying something like this?

Labels: hollywood

A woman, searching for the perfect gift for her husband's 40th birthday, decides that she will have sex with him every day for a year.

On the eve of Brad's birthday, Charla told him that his present was going to be sex with her every day for a year. She had wracked her brains to think of a gift that was original, intimate and - most importantly - memorable.

'I never wanted him to look back and ask himself: "Now, what was it Charla bought me for my 40th?"' she says. 'When I came up with the idea of daily sex for a year, I thought I'd hit the jackpot. What man wouldn't think that was the best present ever?'

I know what you are all thinking right now.. does she have a sister?

The funny part is that the husband initially was not happy about it, and neither were any of her friends. One even told her to never mention it in front of her husband, because she didn't want him getting any ideas.

Go read the entire article. It's actually quite interesting to see the attitude that so many people have about sex.

And on a personal note to you-know-who-you-are.. I'll be 40 in 9 months. Just saying is all.

Labels: pointless silliness

I'm sure everyone has heard by now that Bush made the largely symbolic move of lifting the executive ban on offshore drilling. Symbolic because congress still has to do something about its ban. This led me to again ponder what increasing domestic drilling would do for us.

First, let's hear from that voice of reason, the Speaker of the House:

“Once again, the oilman in the White House is echoing the demands of Big Oil. The Bush plan [to open more offshore oil drilling] is a hoax. It will neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence... If the President wants to bring down prices in the next two weeks, not the next two decades, he should free our oil by releasing a small portion of the more than 700 million barrels of oil we have put in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Okay, so according to Nancy, increasing domestic production won't help consumers at the pump at all. Obviously she doesn't understand supply and demand and the effect increased supply has on speculators, who are mostly responsible for the dramatic increase in the price of oil.

Maybe Nancy and those like her should have been thinking about this over the last 20 years. You know, every time Republicans tried to relax restrictions on oil companies so they could actually poke some holes in the ground and take advantage of all that sweet black gold our nation is floating on.

What affect would that have had on domestic prices? Well, right now in Saudi Arabia they are paying 45 cents a gallon for gasoline. I don't know about you, but if we increased production enough to bring gas down to $2 a gallon I would be thrilled to death. If it dropped back to $1 a gallon, where it was roughly a decade ago, I would do a little dance. And record it. Maybe even post it on Youtube for all the world to see.

Labels: conservatism, inconvenient truth, presidential politics, rise and fall of American culture

If I didn't have reason enough to not vote for Obama before, this just did it for me.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the Pittsburgh Steelers might soon be for sale. The word is that the team’s chairman Dan Rooney and his son Art II are trying to buy Dan’s four brothers out.

I’m thinking the Steelers are going to stay in the Rooney family, but there are a couple good reasons why I think it’s a good time to sell and I’ll some it up in one sentence: EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN TAXES.

Daniel Rooney is attempting to buy out his three brothers so that he can comply with NFL rules that the controlling party own 30% or more of the team's stock. He currently owns 16%. The basic rundown is that if Obama takes office and raises taxes like he has promised, along with ending the moratorium on the estate tax, the Rooneys are screwed. Go read the full article for the details, I'm too sick to really go into it all.

I am a life-long Steelers fan, even during the 80s when they won like, what, three games? The Steelers are the last family run team, being in the Rooney family since Art started the team back in 1933.

And I just had an epiphany while typing this. If McCain wants to carry Pennsylvania, forget pandering to the unions or trying to win them over on economic issues. Just point out that if Obama wins the Steelers are most likely going to end up in the hands of some investment banker and watch the record voter turnout.

h/t Hot Air

Update: That I should have done sooner, but hey, better late than never. I wrote this in haste and didn't word it exactly as I should. It should have said that the Rooneys are one of the last family franchises in the NFL. They've owned the team since 1933, and there are far too few of these stories left around.

Thanks to Scott for pointing out my error.

Labels: all about me, inconvenient truth, presidential politics

I had quite a long discussion with my sister-in-law this weekend about energy policy in the U.S. My basic argument was that we have no viable alternative to oil in the short term, so we need to drill here, drill now, and continue looking for an alternative that will work in the future. Her argument was that if oil is cheap, people will never change, therefore high oil prices are a long term good for the economy, because people are going to learn how to conserve and will eventually find an alternative.

That's when it hit me. We weren't really arguing about oil, we were arguing about the role of government in our every day lives. My solution involves getting government out of the way of business and letting the oil companies do their job and actually drill for oil that can benefit us. I argued that the only role the government should be playing is similar to McCain's proposal for battery technology. They should be offering large sums of money and tax incentives to whomever can invent the technology that will take us away from an oil based economy. Other than that, it should be private citizens and companies run by private citizens that take care of it. Because as sure as the sun is rising tomorrow, there is some kid in his parent's garage right this minute working on a battery that will be half the cost and last twice as long as current battery technology.

Her argument is based on her belief that government knows best and needs to parent us and show us that we don't really know what is best for ourselves. We just don't realize that although gas prices are high and there are thousands of people struggling to make ends meet, in the long run it will be better for us.

Personally, I prefer the solution where government stays the hell out of my business and lets me live my life as freely as possible.

Labels: all about me, governmental idiocy

One of the 50 states directly in the path of his Presidency.


Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

I know it's over the top and silly, but I think this is hilarious.

h/t Hot Air

Labels: pointless silliness

Seriously, if McCain had ties to an anti-American traitor like this, do you think everyone would gloss over it? I think not.

And can someone please tell me why these two are still walking around free when they admit they are guilty as sin? They admire Manson and set bombs at the pentagon. What else do you have to do for someone to point out that you're not only an idiot, but a traitorous idiot?

Labels: obamessiah, presidential politics, rise and fall of American culture

Take the test at MSNBC and find out.

Full disclosure: I scored 100% on my test.

You answered 100% of questions correctly. Here's your rating:

0-20%: Maybe you're still thinking too much about the Old Country.

25-40%: Mmmm. Do you really want to be a citizen? This kind of performance isn't going to impress those nice immigration folks.

45-60%: Not too bad, but you really need to break out the civics books again -- word is, the INS is looking for an 80 percent score.

65-80%: Hey, you may make a good citizen yet! Look at your wrong answers and a little revision should do the trick.

85-100%: Welcome to the United States! (And, truth be told, you know more about this great land than most Americans.)

Labels: rise and fall of American culture

If anti-war protesters are, as they say, simply displaying their patriotism by opposing the war, why is it that the only time you ever see an America flag on display is when someone is either stepping on it or burning it?

Labels: moonbats