Quote of the Day

"Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, 'Serenity'

R.I.P Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy has died of brain cancer. He was 77. Whatever you thyought of his life, his career, his politics, or his controversies, it's over now. From here on out it's between him and his Maker. My prayers are with those who loved him.

If you hear the Mariachi static on your radio and the tubes they glow in the dark, where are you?

Musical Geography Trivia Question

I was sick and tired of everything when I called you last night from where?

Quote of the Day

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it."

-- Abraham Lincoln, 4 April 1861

Info Blegging

Something I've always wondered regarding German armored vehicles from WWII: a lot of times you'll see the designation of the vehicle end with the term "Ausf." followed by a letter -- e.g. Pz.Kpfw.Tiger Ausf.E. I assume it's a designation similar to the American "Model" or British "Mark", but what is the literal translation?

Just for my own satisfaction.

Quote of the Day

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."

- Patrick Henry

Only in Eugene...

...will you see a Prius with an NRA membership sticker.

Musical Geography Trivia Question

Not too many horns can make that sound. Where are they?

Public Service Announcement

I have been putting this blog post off for a while, hoping I wouldn't have to post it, not knowing when or how to broach the subject, but the time has come when I have to address it, because the topic of it will be something that directly affects me on a daily basis, and hence will have an impact on my blogging.

My wife and I are getting a separation. the paperwork will be filed this week, and I will be moving out as soon as a few practical issues have been addressed.

The goal at this point is to gain perspective and seek counseling ofor both of us. Reconciliation is still a possibility.

The reasons for the separation are complex, and neither one of us is entirely without fault nor completely to blame.

I do not intend to air our dirty laundry here any further, and ask that any readers who know us personally refrain form taking sides or making personal comments regarding either of us in my comments. My wife and I may have our issues, but they are ours, and as the mother of my son I still respect her and her privacy.

Please pray for both of us and especially for our son.

What's The Frequency, Kenneth Herr Goebbels?

OK, I know I said I wouldn't be blogging, but this was just to ripe a fruit not to pluck.

From the Aspen Daily News: Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news.

From itself?

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute.

“I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said.

We could call it something like, "The Ministry of Information"! Yeah!

Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make
recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to
keep news organizations alive.

Here's an idea for a way to save journalism jobs: BE JOURNALISTS, NOT PROPAGANDISTS!

Corporate and political influence on newsrooms, along with the conflation of news and entertainment, has created what Rather called “the dumbing down and sleazing up of what we see on the news.”

Do you think that maybe some of that "sleazing up" can be attributed to the media's whoring itself out to one political ideology, Mr. "Fake but accurate"?

The free press, as established by the First Amendment to the Constitution, ought to operate as a public trust, not solely as a money-making endeavor, Rather argued, and it’s time the government make an effort to ensure the survival of the free press. If not the government, he suggested, then an organization like the Carnegie Foundation should take it on. Without action, he predicted, America will lose its independent media.

So let me get this straight -- the way to ensure a free press is to have the government control it? how very Soviet in your logic, Dan.

“If we do nothing more than stand back and hope that innovation alone will solve this crisis,” he said, “then our best-trained journalists will lose their
jobs.”

So that's what it really comes down to. Dan's worried about his buddies' paychecks. When he says "Best-trained", just filter it as "Most thoroughly indoctrinated" and you'll see what the real crisis for Dan and his ilk are. Because the fact is, Mr. BLather, innovation alone IS solving the crisis. From alternative news outlets, to the blogs, to the way that social networking sites like Twitter were used to get the news out of Iran when the government there had shut down traditional journalists, innovation is driving changes in how information gets out. The old legacy media no longer holds the information monopoly. And THAT is what Dan Rather REALLY wants Obama to save.

Things Fall Apart, the Center Cannot Hold....

Dealing with some personal issues, sorry for the blogging break. I'll be back when I can.

Quote of the Day

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than
the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels
or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit
lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!"

- Samuel Adams

Musical Geography Trivia Question

I'll get a standing ovation from the people,

When I start to sing my song,
When I turn 'em on where?

A Wall-to-Wall Wednesday

Proof positive that we were slammed all during the dinner shift: I can still feel the residual greae in my eyebrows.

Best. Commercial. EVER!

The Chicken or the Egg of Power Politics

Everyone knows the old saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It's accepted wisdom, and our culture not only accepts it, we promulgate it in our popular mythos -- Citizen Kane, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -- and and attention paid to the way things are done in D.C. seem to merely reinforce the assertion.

But recently I've begun to question whether we might have the paradigm reversed. Take a look at the corruption rampant in government, especially in the highest levels of government, and ask yourself if the people involved truly were corrupted by their power, or were many of them corrupt to begin with, and used corrupt methods to get where they are? Look at the political strategies used to win elections -- destroying your opponents personally, lying, voter fraud, the list goes on and on.

I'm beginning to believe that power does NOT corrupt. Rather, sadly enough, corruption empowers.

A Glimpse of the Future

Socialized Medicine in America

Democratic Redefining of Words...

This time it's not a question of what the meaning of the word "is" is... it's the word "Immdiately".

Protection Racket

A tip of the Toque to Gateway Pundit via Pundette:

IBD Editorials has sounded the alarm regarding a very disturbing little paragraph in the Obama healthcare package:

...The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under
the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the
"Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance
issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if
the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year
the legislation becomes law.

So let me get this straight. If you want insurance, your choices will be to stick with what you have, find work for a company that provides group insurance, or go on the government plan. If you HAVE a n existing individual plan, and you decide to make any changes to it, your choices are narrowed down to two: the governmnet plan, or a corporate group plan. And if you work for a company that doesn't have a plan, or goes with the government plan, or if you want to be self-employed, your choice is down to one -- the government plan.

But this is all about "preserving choice", not forcing socialized medicine on everyone.

And it gets better:

Fox News: Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000:

Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with
fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by
key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic
priority.

So not only are your options narrowed down to one plan, you're going to be fined if you don't choose a plan -- but there's only one plan to choose from. How is this NOT forcing us all into a government-run socialist program?

I absolutely LOVE the 1984-esque terminology:

Called "shared responsibility payments," the fines would be set at least
half the cost of basic medical coverage, according to the legislation. The goal
is to nudge people to sign up for coverage when they are healthy, not wait until
they get sick.

The Nanny State meets the Protection Racket. This administration aned congress are like Mary Poppins and John Gotti on a cross-country spree. They're like Boy Scouts gone bad -- they're going to help the little old lady across the street, and htey're going to bust her kneecaps if she declines.

This is what you voted for, America. This is what you elected. Did you really want this, or were you tricked, were you seduced, were you awed by the facade marble columns and the stern gaze into the future? Well, either way, this is what you brought upon yourselves.

Hope?

Change?

Meddling.

Coercion.

Are you going to stand for it? Has Obama made an offer you can't refuse?