Is There Going To Be A Double-Dip Recession? August 31, 2012
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
A lot depends on whether the Eurozone falls apart, triggering a banking crisis.
Which means, do the Germans and Scandinavians get tired of subsidizing everybody else in Europe.
Consider beer prices. Germany is OK, Ireland is back to normal, but Greece, Italy and Spain are out of control.
Discussion Topic: Who is the Most American of Americans? August 27, 2012
Posted by Sobek in News.comments closed
When the Russians erected a memorial to their national poet, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, the famed author Fyodor Dostoevsky claimed that Pushkin was the most Russian of all Russians.
The Lady-Killingest of All Lady-Killers
The Temptations of Engrish August 26, 2012
Posted by geoff in News.comments closed
Trying to find a place to buy Wu Dang, but having no luck. While searching, though, I ran across this movie, which is more of a how-to type flick. I don’t think I want to buy it, but after reading this description, how can I be sure?
The Series Of Wudang Martial Art – Wu Dang Horsetail Whisk Sword
…The method has been taught one to one only from thousands of year ago. It is antiquity and classical. Wu dang horsetail whisk sword is take a sword in one hand and a horsetail whisk in the other. When practice is like a dragon swims and tiger steps. And at the same time have the guise of drunkard eight celestial beings. It is usually use in smelt elixir and practice Taosim, preserve one’s health and protect oneself. It is changeable when displaying, lightness, good looking, and uncommon.
On second thought, never mind – I’ve already mastered the guise of drunkard eight celestial beings.
Birdplane August 25, 2012
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
The original “Superman” song by Five For Fighting is below the break.
Allow me to vent August 23, 2012
Posted by digitalbrownshirt in Family, Heroes, Personal Experiences, Stupid shit, WTF?.comments closed
Do you know what I find offensive? Soccer moms, driving gigantic SUV’s (an Excursion to be exact) with “Support Our Troops” and “God Bless America” plastered on the back that are absolutely horrified at the prospect of their 18 year old daughter going out with one of those troops because they just aren’t the kind of people she wants around her daughter.
The kid met a girl that seemed absolute perfect for him. She likes hunting, country music and video games. She’s tall and athletic. Her Conservative parents are involved in the Tea Party, 2nd Amendment groups, charities and church. She even told him up front that she’s saving it for marriage which amazingly my 23 year old son has also been doing. The only problem he had with her was the age difference. They’d both be Freshmen in college this year, but he got delayed by that whole “fighting for freedom” thing. She seemed like she really liked him a lot and he liked her back. The funny thing is the fact that since both of those kids were raised right they’re honoring her mother’s wishes.
Apparently mom found out about their budding friendship, took one look at his “friends” on Facebook (almost all of them GI’s) and decided the age difference and his “friends” were just not going to fit into her daughter’s future. She supported the troops in theory, but apparently in reality she found them to be a bunch of foul mouth, drunken thugs that killed people for a living. All true, but that doesn’t make them bad people.
Brian is the best man I’ve ever known and he’s not good enough to be part of their family. Utter bullshit.
Stephanie Cutter: A Complete Stranger to Truth August 22, 2012
Posted by geoff in News.comments closed
Stephanie Cutter tries her hand at Obamafuscation, saying:
…and seeing the president moving pretty quickly to stem the losses, to turn the economy around, and over the past, you know, 27 months we’ve created 4.5 million private sector jobs. That’s more jobs than in the Bush recovery, in the Reagan recovery…
So let’s just see, by several measures, who created more private sector jobs (data from the BLS Establishment Survey, seasonally adjusted):
| Reagan | Obama | |
|---|---|---|
| Since Inauguration | ||
| 1st Month of Office | 74,617,000 | 110,985,000 |
| Current Month in Office | 78,601,000 | 111,317,000 |
| Jobs Created | 3,984,000 | 332,000 |
| Since Lowest Point | ||
| Low Point of Employment | 72,775,000 | 106,773,000 |
| Current Month in Office | 78,601,000 | 111,317,000 |
| Jobs Created | 5,826,000 | 4,544,000 |
| Past 27 Months | ||
| 27 Months Ago | 74,131,000 | 107,107,000 |
| Current Month in Office | 78,601,000 | 111,317,000 |
| Jobs Created | 4,470,000 | 4,210,000 |
Advantage overwhelmingly Reagan, even for Ms. Cutter’s cherry-picked time period.
But it’s even worse, because as you can see, the employment numbers today are 50% larger than they were in Reagan’s time. Our population and economy have grown to the point where 4 million jobs created during Reagan’s administration would be equivalent to 6 million jobs today.
Her facts are wrong, and the comparison was ridiculous from the start. She definitely belongs with this administration.
Some Good News & Some Bad News August 22, 2012
Posted by geoff in News.comments closed
First the good news:
Two University of Colorado professors have devised a model to predict who will win the presidential election under current economic circumstances.
The victor, they say, will be Republican Mitt Romney.
The model uses economic indicators from all 50 states to predict the race’s outcome. The forecast calls for Romney to win 320 electoral votes out of 538.
It says Romney will also win virtually every state currently considered a swing state, including Colorado.
The professors who created the model, Ken Bickers from CU-Boulder and Michael Berry from CU-Denver, say it correctly forecast every winner of the electoral since 1980.
Huzzah!
But there’s bad news as well:
Salt shakers are getting the heave-ho at Boston Market.
The casual-dining chain, best-known for its spinning chicken rotisseries and its tasty but often-salty side dishes, is announcing plans today to remove salt shakers from guest tables at all 476 locations.
It’s one thing to cut down sodium in the food you sell, but entirely another to inconvenience customers who want to season their food to taste. Thanks, Nanny-State!! [Salt will still be available at the beverage stations, BTW.]
Rape* August 22, 2012
Posted by skinbad in Politics, Stupid shit, Women Ranting.comments closed
Skim down and read Sobek. I just thought there might be a slight possibility that the media might push a fairly obscure-idiot-white-male-Republican politician’s opining on rape more than that of a somewhat famous-idiot-black-female-liberal actress/comedienne. Consider me dumbstruck:
Rape August 22, 2012
Posted by Sobek in Politics.comments closed
Todd Akin doesn’t think rape victims can get pregnant. At least, not if it’s “legitimate rape.” How certain is he of this? Certain enough that he’s willing to bet his political future, GOP control of the US Senate, the repeal of ObamaCare, down-ticket races, future Supreme Court picks, and as a corollary Roe v. Wade. He also thinks the “I’m not a witch” gambit makes for successful politicians.
In other words, Todd Akin is a dumbass of such epic proportions, Peter Jackson will one day direct a twelve-part series of movies about him. In the last installment, you’ll spend the last forty-five minutes thinking the movie is about to end, but then it will cut to yet another scene of yet another Republican excoriating him for his dumbassery. (I could have linked any one of about a thousand conservative commentators for that last sentence, but I picked NiceDeb, because she’s nice.)
But I’m not writing this just to heap richly-deserved scorn on Todd Akin, or to observe that the shape of his skull may indicate some kind of mental retardation. I mean, the man thinks Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin and Charles Krauthammer are “the liberal media,” so obviously there’s a good chance he’s an undiagnosed Down baby. But that kind of remark is at once too easy and redundant.
No, I’m writing because Akin’s stupidity is also feeding the meme that Republicans hate women. After all, you’d have to hate women pretty intensely to tell rape victims who conceive children that they secretly must have wanted it, right?
My problem with that is this: although Akin appears to have some enablers, and although I’m willing to assume that some of them are idiot Republicans rather than Dems who recognize a good way to save Claire McCaskill’s otherwise doomed Senate seat, liberals have a, um, dodgy record when it comes to the ol’ war on women.
OK, I’m Going To Push Down A Post About Final Fantasy August 21, 2012
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
And give you something worthwhile, which is a “Rolling in the Deep” video.
It is amazing to me that so many prepubescent kids can cover this song so well. This kid is better than that Korean girl I posted. It’s not actually that easy to sing; it requires a fairly extensive vocal range and power, and she is nearly pitch perfect.
Seriously, watch at least the first two minutes. You will be shocked.
Maybe If I Mowed Some Lawns on the Side… August 21, 2012
Posted by geoff in News.comments closed
I’m a fan of the Final Fantasy RPG series. Big fan. Really big fan. Huge, you might say. Ginormously huge fan of Final Fantasy games.
But not this big a fan:
A true fan of the Final Fantasy video game series will tell you that the game we know in the U.S. as Final Fantasy II (FF2) was released in Japan as Final Fantasy IV, and that the game known in Japan as Final Fantasy II was never released by game maker Square in the United States. But did you know that the Japanese version of FF2 was slated to be released in the U.S. by Square, and that one — just one — demo copy of an English Final Fantasy II was made to show to the press?
It’s true, and after nine years sitting in a private collection (of a known seller), that lone Final Fantasy II cartridge has surfaced on eBay. The price tag: $50,000.
Here’s the ebay link, just in case any of you are thinking of buying it for me. Otherwise, maybe it’s time to put some ads up in the sidebar.
Top Six Facts About Medicare August 20, 2012
Posted by geoff in News.comments closed
Mark Miller, a columnist for HuffPo, wrote an article a few days ago entitled, “Top Six Myths About Medicare.” It is a pathetic, willfully ignorant attempt to rewrite the facts about Medicare.
Let’s take it one myth/fact at a time:
(more…)
Innocent Bystanders 