McCain Picks a Chick!

John McCain has gone completely nuts. He picked a girl. From Alaska (you know, the land of Ted Stevens and the Internet is a series of tubes).

I don't know her, nor do I know her positions, but I'm sure most would like to see her in this position.

I don't know about you, but she looks pretty hot. Which is unusual for a person to be in a state as cold as Alaska.

More to come after vacation, when I'll really do some research and find out more about her. She's already better than McSame, though.

Draft Sarah Palin For Vice President: Online Victory Party!

Watch Out, You Could Be Dead

How Steve Jobs’ obit got published - Apple 2.0

The story — which ran under the byline Connie Guglielmo and the headline “Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder, Arbitrator of Cool Technology, XXXX” (the X’s to be filled in with his age at death) — was marked “HOLD FOR RELEASE — DO NOT USE — HOLD FOR RELEASE — DO NOT USE.” But even that didn’t stop it from getting out. It should have been sent to Bloomberg’s internal wire, but instead it moved on the external wire that carried it to Bloomberg subscribers. The file was pulled within 30 seconds, according to Bloomberg PR, and the following retraction issued:

Story Referencing Apple Was Sent in Error by Bloomberg News

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — An incomplete story referencing Apple
Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m.
New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and
has been retracted.

—Editor: Joe Winski, Cesca Antonelli

McCain Ad to Steal Obama's Thunder

UPDATE: McCain Picks a Chick!
 
CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time - Blogs from CNN.com

John McCain will directly address rival Barack Obama Thursday night, in an ad the Arizona senator's campaign is calling "exciting and unprecedented."

Oh, I can't wait to see what shoddy accusations they have up their sleeves.

"Did you know? Obama is black."
"Have you heard? Obama is a Muslim."
"Obama will raise your taxes."
"Obama sympathizes with terrorists."

Poppycock.

John McCain -- Smart Enough to Steal Barack's Thunder? No. But Maybe Lucky Enough.

BREAKING: McCain Picks a Hottie Sorry George!

Speculation is that John McCain's camp will out his choice for VP tomorrow in order to steal Barack Obama's thunder. McCain's camp isn't that smart.

But they may be that lucky. They'll only think to do something like that because everybody and their mother is talking about it.

Who will the Veep be? I don't know who it will be, but I know who it won't be. It won't be Joe Lieberman, the Republican in Dem's clothing. No, there will be no second chance at VP for Lieberman (the first time around turned out so damned well for his running mate).

It probably won't be Bobby Jindal, either. He's too ethnic for the Repubs, if you know what I mean (to spell it out: He's not white). Plus, even though he's Catholic, nobody will believe it. Especially Catholics.

Besides, he's highly qualified, super-smart, and holds traditional conservative values (not to be confused with my conservative values). His youth counter-balances McCain's Moses-like age, too.

All those things considered, he's just too damned good to be VP for the Republicans. He's 180 degrees apart from McCain on a lot of things.

I'm predicting he chooses George W. Bush as his VP. After all, it's total nonsense, which is what John McCain is all about. On paper, Bush is a shoe-in. In his current job, he plays second fiddle to Dick Cheney, he's about as dumb as Dan Quayle, and he's been a miserable failure his entire life. All perfect qualifications for a vice president.

As you know now, McBain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate . Here are some highlights: She has kids, one with Down's. She is a lifetime member of the NRA, and she is a former beauty contestant (no kidding).

Updates from the Democratic National Convention

I've watched some of the Democratic National Convention, I must admit. I've seen Michelle Obama's speech. It was agood, not great. She looked like she was being sincere and I get the feeling that she genuinely is proud of her husband.

I saw a little bit of Hillary Clinton's speech last night. She just doesn't do anything positive for me. She has the speaking ability of the typical senator -- droning, monotone, yelling.

I also saw most of Joe Biden's speech, as well as his son's introduction speech. These guys are always made bigger-than-life, but if any of Biden's story is true, he is truly an extraordinary man. My hat's off to him for having to deal with losing his wife and a child to a tragic car accident and raising his two boys without a mother figure for 5 years.

His wife, by the way, looks extremely proud of him, too.

I didn't get to see any of Bill Clinton's speech. I regret not having watched more of his speeches while he was president. I don't like the guy to this day, but I hear he's a fabulous speaker and politician!

Where the hell is John Edwards? What? He had an affair with a chick his campaign paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for making silly documentaries of him on the road? This is better than Rob Lowe's sex tapes. Not quite as good as Pam Anderson's and Tommy Lee's though.

But, wait, there's more? He may be the father of the child she had? And he's paying her how much in support? And he's paying how much to put her and the baby up?

Man, I've been asleep at the wheel!

Really, I haven't. I just hadn't worked up the gumption to write about this, til now. I really thought he and Barack would have made a great presidential team. He's white, from the South, great speaker, had the attention of the white middle class and poor male. Barack is black, from the North, a great speaker, and also had the attention of the middle class and poor.

Oh well.

Tomorrow, Barack Obama is going to give his speech at the whatever they call it dome, in Denver, where the Broncos (if that's still their name) play. Should be about 80,000 rabid fans there. I hope the loonies don't get anywhere near Obama, but I fear there's always that chance. And always will be. Because he's black and some white folk just don't think a black man is qualified to sit at the same table, let alone run the country.

Next up: John McCain -- Smart Enough to Steal Barack's Thunder? No. But Maybe Lucky Enough.

Boobs on a Plane: How To Get Through Airport Security

The story below is about a woman who got stopped by airport security in Oakland, California.

Apparently, underwire bras set off TSA alarms. She showed 'em, literally (one could hope, right?)!

Security Theater: Woman Removes Bra To Get Through TSA

If you're a large-breasted woman, when you reach the TSA checkpoint you might want to yank your bra off and toss it in a tray. Not because TSA is demanding it, but because we'd just love to see that start happening a lot.

Vote for John Bootie?

I found this in my "drafts" folder...I got all over this guy for wanting to run for president. Here's the dialog. He agreed I could print this.


***********************************


In my last post about John Bootie, entitled Who the hell is John Bootie?, I introduced you to a truck driver-turned politician (he claims he is not a politician, but I say he is merely by running for office) who wants to be president. I've seen his name floating around the web and I have had a brief dialog with him.

He's a pleasant enough fellow. He and I don't share many of the same views, but we can hold a civil conversation, which is more than we will be able to say for Hillary and Giuliani, those two peas in a pod from New York, if they ever go head-to-head.

In the interest of sharing opposing view points, which is truly what makes America great, I have asked John if I could post our dialog on this blog. To his credit, he said yes, as long as I didn't post anything personal about anybody but the two of us. Fair enough. I've left the text as is and in chronological order.

*******************************************

Good Evening Bill,

Interesting headline you chose for your rant! So tell me what you want to know about John Bootie the candidate. Or for that fact, John Bootie the person. I will answer anything you wish to know, as long as it's about me and not my family or friends.

I don't care or expect everyone to like me or vote for me. Unless they like what the see and get to know the person behind the candidate. I am in this to get the message out that their are others out here, who are truly Conservative and for the little people. I have to be, I am one of the small unnoticed people. No I don't have a staff writing speech's for me. I wonder how Obama or Clinton would sound if they didn't have a staff of speech writer's.

Tell me Bill, who do you see as a truly stand out candidate so far? That you would entrust your children's or Grand children's future too? I don't see one person I would trust with the lives of my children or grand children so far. That's why I am in this race. I didn't have grand idea's it would be easy or that people would just stop and say hey I will vote for him. No I tell everyone I don't want your vote unless you agree with my views and idea's.....

"Apparently, John Bootie is a trucker-turned-politician."

Trust me Bill I am not a politician, I can't stand them. They lie to your face. They tell each group a different story. Most people I talk to think their all crooks and liars.

"Quite possibly, he is the most unqualified, ignorant, and foolish candidate EVER to run for office."

Apparently the most ignorant and foolish! Why is it if I differ in views and opinions with a liberal I am ignorant or foolish? Am I to understand that only the liberals and elite have opinions that matter, or are of concern to you?

As for unqualified how is that? The constitution clearly states the only requirement to run for the Office is that you be over 35 and be born in the USA.

"He talks about the importance of education, but he himself is so undereducated that it's near-impossible to follow his meanderings on his web site. If his writing skills are any indication, he never finished grade school."

No! Bill I finished High School. Believe it or not. No, I don't have a college degree do you? I do possess a PhD in commonsense. I truly believe our forefathers who founded this country and wrote the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence possessed PhD's in commonsense as well. I doubt, any of them had much of an education by today's standards either. Do you consider them ignorant, foolish and unqualified?

"I really don't like to beat up on guys, and he's probably a really nice guy. And I am not beating him up because his views are different than mine.

"I'm writing this because he needs to get a clue:"

Bill trust me. I have a clue, about what I am doing and why I am doing it. Your freedom to criticize me, is one of the reasons.

I am in this because of people who think they can do better. I am just silly enough to stand up and try, is all:-))

I am one of the normal every day guy's who wants a better life for you and my grand-daughters.

"Nobody's going to listen to him"

Bill obviously, for you to write this blog, you listened. John the baptist was one crying in the wilderness. Somebody listened to him, or he wouldn't have been beheaded. Bill, I have gotten the attention of a lot of people. I have even had some ideas spoken about on Hannity's afternoon show. They won't mention my name, since I am so unknown. But His producer has been very gracious in talking to us.

"Nobody's going to take him seriously"

Nobody will take me seriously? OK fair enough. But they didn't take Einstein or Edison seriously at first either. As long as GOD tells me to keep going, you can count on seeing my website updated more than once a week.

"Nobody's going to vote for him"

Bill even if I only get the two votes, of my son and I. The race was worth it. For one I have gotten a whole NEW perspective on my son Jason (you talked to him, my campaign manager) and daughter through this whole campaign so far. Second I have meet and gotten to respect a lot of new people. Third I have learned that you can't always count on your friends or strangers for that matter to help you out.

Thankfully you have a lot of other candidates to choose from out there. But you have to admit, I have given the people who look at my site. A view of what I would fight for on their behalf. No I am not for everyone. I expect to see people who disagree with me. I have a Gentleman heading up Nevada for me. Who still feels as you do. We disagree on almost everything. But he liked my desire to make changes. And offered to help me try to make those changes.

Trust me your rant is clean and mild compared to some emails I have received.

For the record, if you have a different view of things and would like to discuss them. I am open to new idea's. Or a different perspective on my idea's....

God Bless you and your family,

John Bootie

johnbootie08.com

**************************

Man Threatens to Assassinate Barack Obama

The loonie toons are coming out in droves now. First this, now this

CBS4 has now learned at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges.

I knew this was going to happen; I just certainly hope these guys are as lame at this as they have been with the rest of their lives.

Rants -- August 20 Edition: Blog Carnival Blows

As you may have noticed, this carnival was not published at its scheduled time. I bear some blame in this: I forgot. My dog ate my homework. Blog Carnival stopped working.

A-G-A-I-N


So here's your first Rant: I hate Blog Carnival. They simply suck. I don't know how else to say it. They blow monkey ass.

Of course, no amount of complaining will change anything. So, screw it. I'm looking for an alternative platform. Please tell me there is a viable alternative. If not, I may just shut this thing down.

Sorry. They present me with a headache darn near every week. So, next week, make any posts you submit good great ones. They may be the last.

Thank Blog Carnival for it.

Anyway, here are the rest of the Rants for the week.

Shaula presents Knackered in Nashua posted at Your Mileage May Vary.

Ian Bowman presents Vlog IV: On Safeway posted at If It Feels Good Do It.

The Baglady presents Thoughts about the Olympics and being Chinese in America posted at The Baglady.

Dom presents Warcraft Destroyed My Life: Love or Addiction? posted at Dom At Large.

Holly Ord presents Man Suffering from PTSD Sentenced for Resisting War posted at Menstrual Poetry.

John presents Less Critical Habitat for Spotted Owls posted at A DC Birding Blog.

Archvillain presents That's some fine police work there, Lou posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good.

Jeffrey Stingerstein presents I'm Sorry to Say that Georgia Has Learned a Tough Lesson. (It Seems Obama May Have Too) posted at Disillusioned Words.

Tejvan presents Costa Coffee UK and Sales Techniques. posted at Economics Essays.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents McCain's Bellicose Tune (Song Parody) posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness.

Holly Ord presents How Wrong is Fox News? posted at Menstrual Poetry.

NotYourDaddy presents Affirmative Action Has Run its Course posted at Government is Not Your Daddy.

NotYourDaddy presents Economics Lessons for Liberals: Minimum Wage posted at Government is not your Daddy..

Recoil presents Barack Obama - The Chameleon. posted at Double Barreled Opinions.

The BoBo presents The Gang of Ten…at it again! posted at The BoBo Files.

Phil for Humanity presents Companies are Taking Over the World posted at Phil for Humanity.

Archvillain presents Why does God need a starship? posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good.

Holly Ord presents Obligatory Castration for Transpeople? posted at Menstrual Poetry.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents My "Dear John" Edwards Letter posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness.

Miles Moen presents Legal Drinking Age posted at The Necessities of Life.

That's it. This is where I'd normally put the link to the submission form, but since I'm so damned pissed at Blog Carnival, I'm just not going to because I don't feel like it. Use the form on my sidebar to submit your posts. Remember, next week's edition might be the last.

Of course, you can return here to read my Rants. There is no shortage, especially now that my two boys and wife are sick. It may take me a while before I can post again, but I'll have some pent up rage welling deep inside my mind that I'll put to the virtual digital paper.

Time to Add Monkey to the Diet

It seems that monkeys are so prolific and with their natural habitat shrinking, they're population density is encroaching on urban Japan. Yum!

Monkey eludes dragnet at Tokyo train station - Yahoo! News

Monkeys have long made appearances in rural parts of Japan, where they have been known to damage crops, swipe food from grocery stalls and even bite humans. In recent years, growth in the monkey population has meant more frequent forays out of the forests and into farms and towns.

Barack Obama Is About to Announce His Choice for VP: It's Me!!!!

UPDATE: There has been a terrible mistake! Joe Biden has been announced as Barack Obama's choice for VP. WTF? Obama called me and told me he wanted me to be his running mate.

OH. Wait a minute. He wants me to be his running mate. Now I get it.
**********************************************************

Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama will announce his choice for Vice President in the very near future. But I've got the scoop...

It's me!

Yes, you read that right. Obama will choose me for his running mate because he "wants someone who will challenge his thinking." I challenge everyone's thinking. I am perfect for this.

First of all, I have impeccable credentials.

• I have no skeletons in my closet. 
• I don't own so many homes that I don't know how many. In fact, my networth might as well be zero compared to Obama and McSame.
• I haven't written a book. Yet. Though I keep on threatening that I will. FULL DISCLOSURE: I am writing a book. More here. It's totally unrelated to anything you'd read here.
• I've never cheated on my wife. Though, if it gets me a chance to be President, I'll talk to my wife about it.
  
• I've never gone to Harvard law school.
• I have never served in the military nor have I ever claimed that I am a war hero. Nobody has bestowed me with the title of "war hero" either.
• I've never run for public office, though I was selected to attend Boys' State when I was in high school, but I didn't attend.
• I am a conservative, and all that that implies: Small, non-intrusive government that believes in fiscal responsibility and deference to state's rights. I believe in the Constitution and everything that goes along with it, including the ability and necessity to change it when conditions warrant doing so. Build infrastructure, make the streets safe, collect as little taxes as possible to do so. See? I'm challenging Barack's thinking already!

I'll make a fine VP. I can attend parties, make small talk; in short, I'll be way better than Dan Quayle (I know how to spell potato). I won't be as good as Dick Cheney, if by "good" you mean "the most evil, vile human on the face of the planet." I mean that in the best possible way. I certainly hope he cleans his cave before I show up. And by clean, I mean thoroughly sanitizes the place. God, yes GOD, only knows what he did in there, what with the virgin sacrifices, the masturbation, and the secret co-worship of the Devil and Allah.

Okay, I made that last part up. But Cheney's that creepy.

Hell, that alone makes me better than Cheney. I am not creepy. Just a little weird. Some would say "kooky." So I fit right in with Barack and his weird-ass ears.

I probably won't be as good a Veep as Al Gore. As you know, he's won the Nobel Prize and an Oscar, he's on the board of Google, and he's a self-avowed "greenie" (though he certainly doesn't live like one).

But, alas, he couldn't claim any of these accolades until after he left office and lost the 2000 elections 5-4 in the lowest-scoring Presidential election ever. Can you believe only 9 people voted? Crazy. I'll get at least 10 people to vote for me -- I have plans to clone my two boys, advance their ages to 21, and instill in them that by voting for me, they're really voting for ice cream on demand. Which would just be a continuation of status quo.

As you can see, I will be an exemplary VP. Thanks, Obama, for choosing me. I will not let you down.

Sean Hannity: Bi-Sexual, Homosexual, or Just Creepy?

It's a little difficult to find any news on this, but apparently some bloggers are calling out Sean Hannity's past, a past that may include homosexual affairs with at least one white supremist.

Now, I'm not one to spread rumors, so I'll just let you look for the dirt on him yourself.

I just think it's funny that he's finally being accused of the crap he spouts off about all the time.

Daily Kos: Did Sean Hannity Have Sex With Hal Turner?

Spain's Swimmers' Suits Banned -- I Wonder If They Will Compete Nude?

Now we're talking! Getting back to the origins of the sports spectacular we call the Olympics is great for purists like me!

Spain's synchronized swimmers' suits have been banned by the Olympic committee in charge of such things, saying that the lights they use that they hoped would give them a little more "sparkle" were an accessory and cannot be used in competition.

So, let's give a shout out to the committee and the swimmers for thinking up a really great way to get at least one pair of athletes out of their suits and back in the buff like they used to do it.

If the Spanish swimmers compete nude, I'll take back my comment that "Synchronized diving is only slightly less annoying than synchronized swimming. What's the point again?"

I will now say that synchronized diving is only slightly less annoying than televising an entire women's marathon (2 and a half hours of the same thing).

So, let's hope this is just the beginning of a very cool return to the past!

Synchronised swimming-Lights off for Spain - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

I know most of you got here because of the bold terms above. Good for you! If you'd like to read something a little more cerebral, check this out: billspaced.

Why Democrats Lose

Okay, there are many reasons that Democrats lose presidential elections, but this is one of the biggies: They don't fight back.

They're pacifists. They let people beat up on them and they don't retaliate.

Why We Don't Shoot Back | OurFuture.org

Obama and Conservatives

Here's a piece from the New Republic about Obama's days as a professor at the University of Chicago. Interesting.

Con Law

Random Olympic Thoughts

I've always been a fan of the Olympics. I like sports and I like the athletes who participate in them. So, even though I have almost zero time to watch television, I have watched a bit of the 2008 Olympics in China. Here are some random thoughts and observations about what I've seen.

• Chinese air is visible. And it's brown.
• The visible Chinese air has not had a visible effect on Michael Phelps. I've never seen anything like him. Hope he doesn't get drunk and crash into anything.
• The men's 100 meter sprint. I didn't see the finals, but I saw the semis where "Lightning" Bolt from Jamaica, who's 6 foot 5, literally coasted the last 20 meters to a 9.85. Astounding. I haven't seen a man this fast do things so easily since Michael Johnson smashed the 200 meters record by unheard of tenths (rather than one-hundredths) of seconds back in Atlanta.
• Women's wrestling is no different than men's, except for one thing: The women don't have misformed ears.
  

• Synchronized diving is only slightly less annoying than synchronized swimming. What's the point again?
• Chinese gymnasts may be as old as they claim, but they sure don't look like it.
• Greco-Roman wrestling is a strange sport. Interesting but not a lot of action. Kind of boring. And I like wrestling.
• Softball is boring, too. Need more offense. Maybe move the pitcher's mound back 10 or 20 feet. Or have Jenny Finch pitch naked.

 

• Marathon: Why televise the whole thing?
• The Olympics brings out the worst in tennis players. How can Roger Federer not make the finals? Same for the Williams sisters?

McCain Not a Straight Talker on Energy

I really wish I liked John McCain. He seems like a fine fella (hint: sarcasm). But his record certainly speaks for itself. Embroiled in the Savings and Loan fiasco that cost taxpayers 1/2 a trillion dollars, caught up in "campaign finance reform" that did nothing but make the problem worse -- and more opaque -- and now this:

McCain has failed to vote the last 8 times on extending energy credits to help bolster the so-called "alternative energy" industry. In effect, a null vote is a no vote, in short because it's not a yes vote.

It's the yes votes that pass legislation.

So while McCain wants to make permanent the Bush tax cuts (a 180 from where he was a few years ago -- what changed, Johnny?), he doesn't want to do a similar thing with alternative energy incentives.

What a loser.

By the way, Obama is not much better, but at least he's voted 3 of the 8 times this legislation has come to a vote. Not even 50 percent. But he may say that he's been away for the 5 votes he missed (I'm not sure). But it's a fact that McCain was in his office on Capitol Hill during one of the votes.

Read Tom Friedman's article in the New York Times for complete details.

Rants - August 13, 2008

Welcome to the August 13, 2008 edition of Rants.

Jeffrey Stingerstein presents Political Hacks and Why I Hate Them posted at Disillusioned Words.
I hear ya on this! Ideology trumps reality every time for these jerks. Plus, they're just damned irritating (you know who you are, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, Olberman, Franken)

crebots presents You can pick your friends.... posted at Stop Believing Start Thinking.
Great line -- 

I always squirm a little when someone I don't know calls me "friend." I get the same feeling when I walk onto a used car lot. 

 Ashok presents The Unity of Justice and Fraternity: On Lincoln’s "Second Inaugural" posted at Rethink., saying, "A reading of Lincoln's Second Inaugural: how does a nation come together after an awful war that may divide it forever?"
Lots to think about. How do we compare today?

Jason Hughey presents Abundance or Scarcity? posted at Logical Consistency, saying, "When environmentalism is dissected bit by bit and taken to its logical conclusions, we can only conclude that: environmentalists desire scarcity."


Calvin Liu presents Olympics + Gerek in the Olympics posted at Up & On, saying, "A Chinese-American's perspective"

Calvin Liu presents Politics, Yo + A Little Humanism posted at Up & On, saying, "A naive college student's view of politics"

Calvin Liu presents And, the Starting Gun: China Against the World. posted at Up & On, saying, "Criticism of China"

Holly Ord presents What Kids Think About Bill O’Reilly posted at Menstrual Poetry.
Bill O'Reilly is quite possibly the biggest dick in television. Plus, he's a hypocrite.

Holly Ord presents Pro-Life Extremists Contradicting the Term ‘Pro-Life’–Again posted at Menstrual Poetry.
Not to mention that often they're pro-capitol punishment. Isn't that pro-death?

Wenchypoo presents TV D-Day: Will You Need a Converter Box? posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket, saying, "Not a rant, but more a public service announcement--no politics inside."
C'mon, I expect WAY more of you :)

Machione presents What Will North Canton Do With $1.1 Million? posted at The North Canton Beat....

Machione presents Anthony McCune, Writer, Marketing and PR Practitioner, Photographer, Activist, Advocate - Canton, Stark County, Ohio - A Pay Per Post Blog posted at The Lives and Times... of Anthony McCune.

Aahz presents Are Morgan Hill Teachers Actually OVERpaid? posted at Aahz Reviews Morgan Hill, saying, "Common wisdom holds that government school teachers are UNDERpaid. I couldn't disagree more!"

Urbain Beck presents Why the Push for the Libertarian Party? posted at NOT a Guru!.

Gavin R. Putland presents The Great Capital-Gains-Tax Hoax posted at Prosper Australia, saying, "Real capital doesn't gain."
A different way of looking at capital.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: Rants, blog carnival.

My New Friend Ashok

Take a look at my new online friend Ashok's blog. He dives way deeper into the philosophical and analytical side than I do (as you know, I often RANT). His post about Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is very good.

Give Ashok's site a look. If you like it, comment on his site, Stumble it, or digg it. He needs the traffic and, in my opinion, his blog is better than some blogs that get thousands of hits a day.

Georgia On My Mind

"Georgia On My Mind" is one of my favorite songs of all time. Sung by the gritty-voiced piano-playing Ray Charles, the song brings the chills, stands arm hair on end, and makes me yearn for "the olden days" where, as a child, my only worries were whether I had enough money to get into the public pool at the local high school on those hot summer days during school break.

Now, the words in the song inspire something else; they stir the mind to think: How far have we regressed in the past 10 years or so? I remember thinking around 1999 how fortunate we were to live on a planet where, for the first time in my "remembering" lifetime, I felt like we weren't all going to die in a series of nuclear blasts.

That ill feeling is returning, what with our invasion and permanent occupation of the Middle East and worsened by Russia's war with Georgia (damn, I thought Bush would defend Georgia, thinking that Russia had attacked a "sovereign" US state, but he didn't. California, you're next.), which, until today, looked like it might spill over first into a war of words between Bush and Putin and then a covert war of us against them (kind of like our first go-round with Afghanistan, where the Soviets tried to conquer Afghanistan in their own version of Vietnam and we, the good ole USA, supplied -- what was his name? -- Osama something-or-other with weapons to defend against the USSR. That turned out real well for both super powers.).

(That's a really long run-on sentence, no?)

Anyway, I heard there was a cease fire today, though I also heard that the word hadn't actually gotten out to either side's military, as they continued to fight the bloody fight.

Let's all hope that things settle down. I really don't want my kids to grow up with the fear that I had growing up.

News coverage here -- Fighting with Russia spreads to cities across Georgia - CNN.com

John Edwards Admits to Affair: Some Guys Will Do ANYTHING Not To Be Like Al Gore!

This guy was my choice for VP for Obama. Now, he's more suitable to be Bill Clinton's chauffeur. He may just get some on the side.

Edwards admits to affair, denies fathering child - Yahoo! News

Worst Cover Songs EVER

Celine Dion's AC/DC cover is worst in world - Telegraph

Worst Cover Songs

1. Celine Dion, You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)

2. Girls Aloud/Sugababes, Walk This Way (Run DMC and Aerosmith)

3. Westlife, More Than Words (Extreme)

4. Will Young, Light My Fire (The Doors)

5. The Mike Flowers Pops, Wonderwall (Oasis)

Best Cover Songs

1. Jimi Hendrix, All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan)

2. The Beatles, Twist And Shout (The Top Notes)

3. Guns N' Roses, Live And Let Die (Wings)

4. Nirvana, The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)

5. Muse, Feeling Good (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse)

Conservatives Love France and All They Stand For

A paradox?

• Self-identifying Republican "conservatives" (of which I am not) seem to hate the French and all they stand for.
• The same "conservatives" want nuclear power, often citing France's embrace of the power method, talking at length about how the French get 80 percent of their power from nuclear reactors and we get only 20 percent.

Yet, through all this, these same "conservatives" coined the term "freedom fries" because they disdain the French so much.


Here's my take on all this:

1. Stop bashing the French. They gave us the Statue of Liberty, croissants, and that little dude from Hogan's Heroes.
2. Ramp up production of nuclear facilities. They're super-efficient and very safe. The only two things I'd be concerned about are meltdowns and where to put the waste. 
1. Meltdowns: We had a brief scare at Three Mile Island. Nothing ever happened with it. Chernobyl? That was the Soviets. They were kind of reckless with stuff, weren't they?
2. Waste: There are vast areas of land here in the States that are barren. The Dakotas, Nevada, Utah, and Jersey are places where I'd consider putting this stuff. Another good place: Mars.
3. The "conservatives" I'm talking about here are people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly. You know, real dickheads. Guys who got the shit knocked out of them in school. They're real assholes and don't deserve a speck of our attention, yet millions of people watch and listen to them. I watch, but only like I watch a train wreck: It's just so enthralling.

So the title is a little provocative. "Conservatives" like Hannity, Limbaugh, and O'Reilly love to hate the French but they love their power (in more ways than one) and will argue their case using spurious statistics, even going against their own over-arching principles, most of which are anti-French and anti- anti-USA (which is everybody else because America is so great and NEVER makes faux pas!!!).

Rants -- August 6, 2008

Welcome to the August 6, 2008 edition of Rants.

Doug Ragan presents Congress Opens Self To Law Suit Over Oil Prices posted at I'm A Pundit Too, saying, "Let me start out by saying that this isn’t going to go over very well at all, but that never stopped me before. I have decided that it is indeed time to sue the US Congress over the high price of energy, and the bill they tried to pass earlier this year has opened them up to the suit."

Ian Bowman presents People Have Way More Fun Getting Into My Pants Than Visiting Your House So Eff Off posted at If It Feels Good Do It. 

Remie presents Record Federal Deficit posted at Hotfix America, saying, "A rant about our federal debt and the Bush Administration's role in it."

Something like 80 percent of our national debt has been run up by Reagan, Bush, and Bush. But they're not to blame. It's always Congress' fault!

Nick presents Why Hasn't the Internet Increased the Overall Intelligence of Society? posted at Nemesis.
One movie says it all -- Idiocracy

The BoBo presents Why? posted at The BoBo Files, saying, "Just a couple questions I'd really like answers to. Especially during this election cycle."

NotYourDaddy presents Without Just Compensation posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, "Between the categorical rule and the blanket exemption for background principles of state property law, the Supreme Court has begotten a brave new form of eminent domain that enables the states to completely bypass the just compensation protection set forth by our founding fathers in the Fifth Amendment."
As long as it's not their property, it's okay, right?

NotYourDaddy presents Private Property vs. Public Trust posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, "When the state can rule that the public’s “right” to scenic beauty supercedes the private property rights of individuals, one has to wonder if there are any limits to the ever-expanding powers of state government to abrogate our property rights for whatever arbitrary purpose they may declare." 
Ditto.

NotYourDaddy presents Giving Peace a Chance posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, "I was told yesterday that we should “give peace a chance,” and that the sanctions against Iran are working. We just need to give it time. I asked the person who told me that what makes them so certain the sanctions are working, even as Iran continues to amass and enrich uranium and conduct missile tests?"
Know why Iran is a little pissy at us? We've surrounded them.

Jay presents A Criticism of McCain’s Isolationist Policy posted at Hotfix America, saying, "A sharp criticism of McCains isolationistic policy"

APH presents Reason.org’s Staley Not in Favor of Property Rights if… posted at Market Urbanism, saying, "That is, he argues that private property should be subject to government planning restrictions if a developer building densely on its property creates a traffic burden on government roads."

Alberto O. Pareja-Lecaros presents Obama Is Evil posted at Youth Politics.
Racist office co-worker?

Archvillain presents Re-visiting the Police State posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "The alleged government of DC is at it again."

Sammy Benoit presents Where da White Women At? Obama Plays the Race Card posted at YID With LID.

Sammy Benoit presents Joe Klein is no Kappo, Just a Low-Life Scumbag posted at YID With LID.

Rickey Henderson presents Rickey’s Life Through Music Part III: The World of Tomorrow posted at Riding with Rickey. 
One of the funnier blogs I've read in a long time. My inner fantasy is that this is the REAL Rickey Henderson (famous baseball player), but I doubt it

Raymond presents Outsourcing Call Center Jobs To India Leads To Bad Customer Service posted at Money Blue Book.
I don't really care where the call ends, just speak my GD language, would you please? And I don't care that your name is Manpreet. Just don't call yourself Sam. That pisses me off.

adso.of.melk1@gmail.com presents Why CAN'T We Prosecute Bush for Murder? posted at Lorem Ipsum, saying, "Why CAN'T we prosecute Bush for murder? Let's debate."

GrrlScientist presents The Handmaid's Tale: Fact or Fiction? posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, "A US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) draft document was just leaked that proposes to redefine nearly all forms of contraceptives, especially birth control pills, as a form of abortion and allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman's access to contraception, including birth control pills [PDF]."
The logical corollary, I guess, is that an impotent man should be forced to take Viagra or Cialis?

GrrlScientist presents Will The Great Animal Migrations Disappear Forever? posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, "What do salmon, passenger pigeons, American bison and wildebeest have in common? They all are (or were) migratory, and their populations either are declining or have become extinct. In fact, the populations of nearly all migratory animals, from insects to fishes, birds to mammals, are suffering disproportionate population declines that sedentary species are not experiencing."

Philip presents I Was a Bad Employee posted at They called me an engineer.

Matthew Philip presents Removing the Fossil Fuel Blinders | EnviroHumanImpact | EnviroHumanImpact posted at EnviroHumanImpact, saying, "We recently published an article titled, 'Removing the Fossil Fuel Blinders,' which details the main problems regarding our current energy situation, the damaged economy, climate change, and global/national security. We discuss factors that contribute to the current situation, including government subsidies, politicians overlooking truly clean alternative energy in favor of offshore drilling schemes, and potential solutions and approaches we may take to abate the problems."
We. Simply. Don't. DO. Enough.

crebots presents We Don't Need Another Bubba posted at Stop Believing Start Thinking.
I wholeheartedly agree. Why do people want dumbasses running the country.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page

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Pickens: Altruist or Profiteer?

I'm betting you already know my answer. Sure, he's "got a plan." But what he fails to tell you is that his plan's goal is not our independence of foreign oil but our dependence upon him for our water.



Yes, you read that right. His plan speaks of so-called "alternative" energy (as if there's an alternative to electrons, photons, and chemical reactions. "Hey, lookie here, I just pulled energy out of my ass!") like wind, coal, and natural gas.



And, on paper and on YouTube, it looks great. Until you see how TBP intends to profit on this.



Read the whole thing here -- T. Boone Pickens may be supporting renewable 'energy'but gaining a water monopoly is his real goal --



but here's the gist of it. He owns water rights. A ton of them. He wants to sell his water to Dallas, 250 miles from where he owns the water rights. He just got passed in the Texas Legislature (or "Lege" as my friend Molly Ivins used to say) a bill that allows the government to take land away from landowners through eminent domain for purposes of allowing water districts to "transmit alternative energy and move water along a single right of way."









So here's how it works: Pickens buys water rights in Texas to sell 250 miles down the road. He can't get the right of way for transporting the water, so he compels people's emotional reaction to high gas and heating oil prices

by saying, duh, we need to figure out a way to become less dependent on

foreign oil. And the way we do this is let me build a wind farm. Oh, by the way, I need to transport that energy from here to there, and why don't you just let me move the water through that same channel?



Get it?

Hey, Dumbass Me Just Looked at a Map

Why are we so hot for Iran, and why is Iran so damned afraid of us? LOOK AT THE MAP, ME!



On the West, Iran is bordered by Iraq. And on the East, they have Afghanistan.



Where are we conducting not one, but two, wars? Right! Duh...



If I wanted to play a game (remember War Games?), I'd invade Egypt, too. Catch my drift?