Well, The Malaise deepens...if you believe the latest poll/results from Gallup: Practically 9 out of 10 surveyed thinks the current Congress bites the big one.
Sure, as a movement conservative, Otto could gleefully point to that result and start chucking it in the face of everyone I know who rejoiced when the Demmies gained control last November. They in turn, probably, would heave back Dubya's current poll numbers. Heave, splat, heave, splat, on and on we go...
Some other point needs to be made, I think. And that has to do with gratitude. Or, obviously, the screaming lack thereof.
For I abso-freakin'-lutely guarantee you that some percentage, and quite possibly a large percentage, of those folks polled by Mr. Gallup are on government assistance of some sort. It could be Social Security. It could be Medicare, or Medicaid. It could be AFDC, or Head Start, or food stamps. It could be any number of the other social programs administered to the tune of billions, tens of billions per year.
You would think that the recepients of these payments would have some level or degree of thankfulness, of gratitude, for this assistance. Based on this poll, you would be wrong. Very wrong.
And so Otto is compelled to ask: What's up with that?
We are all base creatures, is my take on things. Base and extremely selfish. If we get a slice of cake, we start looking at the whole damn thing, the rest of it, as being ours too. Assuming it's good cake. If we get ourselves a house, invariably we start thinking about bigger houses. Or multiple houses. I'm pleading guilty straightaway on this. I'm definitely not immune.
Some on my side of the political aisle have said and are saying that Dubya isn't doing a good enough job -- or, like, isn't doing it AT ALL -- communicating the good times we're currently enjoying. Take interest rates. Everybody all freaked out now that they've gone above 6 percent. Anybody want to take a guess what they were back in 1979-81? I mean give me a freakin' BREAK here. There's high interest rates, and then there's HIGH interest rates. So maybe people forget the really bad times.
I'd be very tempted to take a different tack, and pull a stunt that is generally acknowledged as political suicide: Give the voters a little tongue lashing. Give 'em some Bobby Knight. Tell 'em in no uncertain terms what a bunch of spoiled babies they've turned into.
But the best way out of this, The Current Malaise, is the best way out of any and every bad situation you face in your life. Religion. Jesus Christ, specifically.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandments were, what was his answer? Loving God, with all your heart and soul and might; and...loving your neighbor as yourself.
What does that have to do with anything?
Here's my short answer.
Loving God means giving him thanks and praise and glory for all of the good and great things He's done for us. In other words, it means GRATITUDE. Isn't that what worship is?
Loving your neighbor means helping out, cooperating, and just basically downplaying their idiosyncracies, which all of us have.
When we're grateful, we're more likely to be happy with what we have.
When we cooperate, we get along better and are happier about the place where we are.
Would YOU want to be a Senator or Representative right now? Hundreds of people calling or writing or e-mailing you every day, asking or even demanding that you fix their problems...and then turning around and STILL calling you a bum when some pollster contacts them?
The problem is not with Congress. The problem is US. We, the people. We are the problem. Christ is the solution. Book it.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
A Stacked Bob Vila
So today it is time to pay tribute to Otto's Amazing Wife.
Amazing Wife is amazing on many levels, but I am compelled to log her amazingness because of the way she has stepped up her game lately around the house.
Here are the things she accomplished yesterday:
-- Finished the painting, caulking, and woodworking on the downstairs basement
-- Performed drywall repair on the stairway leading to the basement
-- Repaired the fence gate in the back yard
-- Painted a lamp that Daughter will be taking to her apartment in Morgantown this fall
Here are the things she accomplished the day before yesterday:
-- Repaired the sliding-glass door in the basement
-- Repaired the handrail in the stairway leading to the basement
If I were a single man, but still living in our present abode...well, I would not have had the first clue how to go about doing ANY of the above. Any of it. I would have looked at these things, day after day, in their sorry and broken conditions, and tried to ignore them. Except when I had to deal with them. Which, in some cases (like the sliding-glass door) would have been nearly every day. You needed the strength of The Incredible Hulk to move that door after it got busted -- hoisting and tugging and straining, cursing all the while -- and while the blow-it-off part of the male brain kept saying "It's no big deal" the other, bigger part, the one that deals with problem-solving and orderliness and that stuff, was having a Quiet Riot. Remember George Bailey's face, every time that doo-dad would pop off the top of the staircase thingy? Anger and despair.
So when God arranged to have my Amazing Wife and I meet, and then marry later (after I kept trying to screw up the plan), He knew that I had no skeels in the home improvement department. Not only no skeels, but no interest in developing any skeels. He also knew that my wife was about exactly the same way vis a vis cooking. He brought us together so we could fill each other's deficiencies. He is a great God in that way, and many others.
My Amazing Wife finds fulfillment in home improvement projects. I mean in actually DOING home improvement projects. Here are the two items she asked for and received three weeks ago, on her 52nd birthday:
A compound miter saw and a circular saw. That is what my Amazing Wife wanted for her birthday.
Let it not or ever be said that Amazing Wife's talents are limited to home improvement alone. No, verily, for she has made about half a dozen quilts, 50 birdhouses, 10 afghans, 13 sets of custom pillowcases, and a whole bunch of other stuff just in 2007. She has also lost 24 pounds in the past year and looks about as shapely as she did when I first laid eyes on her. She is a stacked Bob Vila, a Martha Stewart with a clean record, an HGTV Hero...
AND...she puts up with me. My moods, my sometimes potty mouth, my former drinking, my unhealthy habits, and all the other stuff that Otto is not so proud of. She puts up with it, bucks me up, loves me well and greatly, and laughs at my jokes. She IS The Original, OldSkool, Champions Tour Amazing Wife Of All Time. I am very blessed to be able to share my life with her. Selah.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Congratulations, I'm Sorry
The King had linked to a StrategyPage article yesterday, which I read this morning, which caused me to browse the site a bit more, and I wind up seeing this:
June 9, 2007: The government has backed away from a plan to legalize prostitution. A cleric has advocated using an old Shia custom of "temporary marriage" which, in effect, made prostitution, or shacking up, legal. Of course, you needed a cooperative cleric to sign off on the deal. This usually required a fee. The proposal was meant to placate the many impoverished young Iranian men who cannot afford to get married, and are rather restless as a result. There is already a lot of prostitution, and the new proposal was seen as another ploy by the corrupt clerics to extract more money from the people, in this case, horny men. As a result, the government has backed away from the proposal. Many ultra-conservative clerics want to maintain the ban on prostitution, and the clerics running terrorism operations don't want illicit sex interfering with the recruiting of suicide bombers (who are assured of 72 willing girls in the after life).
That's about it, eh? The human condition, neatly summed up in less than 150 words. Guys who want chicks, but can't get chicks because they have no kwon, and what in the H are we gonna do about that? The gubment as usual is helpless, and the church should help but it's been corrupted by power-lust...and what we're left with is the same old, same old...I caint GIT no, I caint GIT no...
It's comforting to Otto -- and not that surprising, either -- that life in the good ol' People's Republic of Iran is about the same as everywhere else. I think that simple factoid gets lost on a lotta folks. I hear them explaining to We, The Supposedly Ignorant that these are different CULTURES, you see, with different MORES and different PRACTICES and different PARADIGMS, and how dare we attempt to apply our own particular TEMPLATE on them. The key is UNDERSTANDING, you see, and the path to that is through DIALOGUE, you see, and we pursue war and violence instead and that's so WRONG, you see...
And I reply: There's nothing to see here. Nothing new under the sun. Guys want to bust a nut. Don't overthink this.
You can blather on about "oversimplification" all you want, but The Real Deal in all these shitehole parts of the world is about guys and kwon and chicks. To make kwon, you need a job. The social and governmental structures in places like Iran and the Sudan are absolutely incapable of providing them. So you have large numbers of idle males, slogging around and fully aware of their worthlessness, but still wanting chicks...who are fully second-class citizens, flying economy and wanting nothing more than a guy with some kwon who can provide a little comfort, and a dwelling, and kids, and all or most of the basic Good Things in life...but there are no jobs and no kwon...and that's when guys turn to violence and buy into about ANY harebrained set of ideas...
Bitch about the downsides of capitalism all you want, but the fact remains that it employs large, LARGE numbers of males who would otherwise act out violently.
The greeting of capitalism to a male, all males, is: Grab a shovel, get to work, and let's make some kwon.
The greeting of all other socio-economic models, including the weird sort of feudalistic cult that is the Present Day Arab Middle East is: Congratulations, I'm sorry. We have nothing for you except hate and loathing. Get used to it.
June 9, 2007: The government has backed away from a plan to legalize prostitution. A cleric has advocated using an old Shia custom of "temporary marriage" which, in effect, made prostitution, or shacking up, legal. Of course, you needed a cooperative cleric to sign off on the deal. This usually required a fee. The proposal was meant to placate the many impoverished young Iranian men who cannot afford to get married, and are rather restless as a result. There is already a lot of prostitution, and the new proposal was seen as another ploy by the corrupt clerics to extract more money from the people, in this case, horny men. As a result, the government has backed away from the proposal. Many ultra-conservative clerics want to maintain the ban on prostitution, and the clerics running terrorism operations don't want illicit sex interfering with the recruiting of suicide bombers (who are assured of 72 willing girls in the after life).
That's about it, eh? The human condition, neatly summed up in less than 150 words. Guys who want chicks, but can't get chicks because they have no kwon, and what in the H are we gonna do about that? The gubment as usual is helpless, and the church should help but it's been corrupted by power-lust...and what we're left with is the same old, same old...I caint GIT no, I caint GIT no...
It's comforting to Otto -- and not that surprising, either -- that life in the good ol' People's Republic of Iran is about the same as everywhere else. I think that simple factoid gets lost on a lotta folks. I hear them explaining to We, The Supposedly Ignorant that these are different CULTURES, you see, with different MORES and different PRACTICES and different PARADIGMS, and how dare we attempt to apply our own particular TEMPLATE on them. The key is UNDERSTANDING, you see, and the path to that is through DIALOGUE, you see, and we pursue war and violence instead and that's so WRONG, you see...
And I reply: There's nothing to see here. Nothing new under the sun. Guys want to bust a nut. Don't overthink this.
You can blather on about "oversimplification" all you want, but The Real Deal in all these shitehole parts of the world is about guys and kwon and chicks. To make kwon, you need a job. The social and governmental structures in places like Iran and the Sudan are absolutely incapable of providing them. So you have large numbers of idle males, slogging around and fully aware of their worthlessness, but still wanting chicks...who are fully second-class citizens, flying economy and wanting nothing more than a guy with some kwon who can provide a little comfort, and a dwelling, and kids, and all or most of the basic Good Things in life...but there are no jobs and no kwon...and that's when guys turn to violence and buy into about ANY harebrained set of ideas...
Bitch about the downsides of capitalism all you want, but the fact remains that it employs large, LARGE numbers of males who would otherwise act out violently.
The greeting of capitalism to a male, all males, is: Grab a shovel, get to work, and let's make some kwon.
The greeting of all other socio-economic models, including the weird sort of feudalistic cult that is the Present Day Arab Middle East is: Congratulations, I'm sorry. We have nothing for you except hate and loathing. Get used to it.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Apply the Gitmo test
The latest Uniquely American Spectacle, the continuing manic obsession over all things celebrity, is of course Paris Hilton's forced return to the pokey. In and of itself, it's a sneeze droplet or small speck of dust on the radar of your life and Otto's. But the modern-day Left has chosen to step in -- again? yes, AGAIN -- and try to politicize it, and my Anger Meter spiked while reading the morning 'net news, and it's time to counterweigh those bastards.
As a short aside: I mean, is there ANYTHING that these people won't try to turn into The Next Great Struggle? I'm feeling a dump coming on here soon; is that in danger of being politicized? Yes, Otto, it already has -- ever heard of the enviro-toilet?
So we begin...with the old reliable vane, The New York Times:
The Most Right Highest Honorable Reverend Al Sharpton: "...decried Ms. Hilton’s release as an example of “double standards,” saying consideration was given to a pampered rich girl that would never have been accorded an average inmate."
The Breck Girl: "Even the presidential candidate John Edwards found himself drawn into the debate. When asked about Ms. Hilton’s release on Thursday he said, ''Without regard to Paris Hilton, we have two Americas and I think what’s important is, it’s obvious that the problem exists.”
And from a diarist on The Daily Kos: "There's a lesson to be learned from what is going on with Paris Hilton: Americans love it when the rich and powerful get served."
Rich. powerful. Two Americas. The same old tired shite, trotted out once again.
For starters, the Constitution guarantees you a day in court but it does not say a blessed thing about your right to have a five thousand dollar an hour defense attorney working your case. Why should it? In the same way, no one who is without health care coverage can or should expect their treatment from the Mayo Clinic or whatever. One of the reasons you work hard to get ahead and make more kwon is so that you can avail yourself of these high-end services if the situation ever arises. The best legal and medical help...for free? That's just a microwaved plate of leftover Communism, pure and simple.
So here's my suggestion, to be used on anyone you come into contact with the next couple of days who spouts off about Paris Hilton and the rich and the powerful and etc etc. Ask the person this question:
Do you think the United States is justified in holding suspected terrorists down at Guantanamo?
If the person answers Yes, then at least there's some consistency and stick-togetheredness in his/her thinking. A Law And Order point of view. Because that's the bottom-line issue here -- the safety of the community and our country. That's why Paris went to the pokey. That's why we punish people by using jail time. We make it safer for the law-abiding by getting and keeping the law-breaking off the streets, and at the same time send a message that further bad behaviors will lead to more and longer jail. It's safety, pure and simple.
But if the person answers No, then ask him/her to explain how we as a community and country are made safer by keeping Paris Hilton in jail and letting the Gitmo bunch free.
Otto's suspicion is that for this latter group, it's not about safety so much as retribution. Punish the rich and powerful. Punish America, even. It's a sickness of the mind that I'll be damned if I can explain...except to say that these people are just plain Haters.
So apply the Gitmo test. Identify the deranged. It'll help you safety-wise.
As a short aside: I mean, is there ANYTHING that these people won't try to turn into The Next Great Struggle? I'm feeling a dump coming on here soon; is that in danger of being politicized? Yes, Otto, it already has -- ever heard of the enviro-toilet?
So we begin...with the old reliable vane, The New York Times:
The Most Right Highest Honorable Reverend Al Sharpton: "...decried Ms. Hilton’s release as an example of “double standards,” saying consideration was given to a pampered rich girl that would never have been accorded an average inmate."
The Breck Girl: "Even the presidential candidate John Edwards found himself drawn into the debate. When asked about Ms. Hilton’s release on Thursday he said, ''Without regard to Paris Hilton, we have two Americas and I think what’s important is, it’s obvious that the problem exists.”
And from a diarist on The Daily Kos: "There's a lesson to be learned from what is going on with Paris Hilton: Americans love it when the rich and powerful get served."
Rich. powerful. Two Americas. The same old tired shite, trotted out once again.
For starters, the Constitution guarantees you a day in court but it does not say a blessed thing about your right to have a five thousand dollar an hour defense attorney working your case. Why should it? In the same way, no one who is without health care coverage can or should expect their treatment from the Mayo Clinic or whatever. One of the reasons you work hard to get ahead and make more kwon is so that you can avail yourself of these high-end services if the situation ever arises. The best legal and medical help...for free? That's just a microwaved plate of leftover Communism, pure and simple.
So here's my suggestion, to be used on anyone you come into contact with the next couple of days who spouts off about Paris Hilton and the rich and the powerful and etc etc. Ask the person this question:
Do you think the United States is justified in holding suspected terrorists down at Guantanamo?
If the person answers Yes, then at least there's some consistency and stick-togetheredness in his/her thinking. A Law And Order point of view. Because that's the bottom-line issue here -- the safety of the community and our country. That's why Paris went to the pokey. That's why we punish people by using jail time. We make it safer for the law-abiding by getting and keeping the law-breaking off the streets, and at the same time send a message that further bad behaviors will lead to more and longer jail. It's safety, pure and simple.
But if the person answers No, then ask him/her to explain how we as a community and country are made safer by keeping Paris Hilton in jail and letting the Gitmo bunch free.
Otto's suspicion is that for this latter group, it's not about safety so much as retribution. Punish the rich and powerful. Punish America, even. It's a sickness of the mind that I'll be damned if I can explain...except to say that these people are just plain Haters.
So apply the Gitmo test. Identify the deranged. It'll help you safety-wise.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Back to the well...
The wife and I went up to Carlisle, PA last Saturday for the annual All Ford event. I entered Luci in the show field, not because I thought she had a snowball's chance of winning anything but because I'd heard parking around the fairgrounds was absolutely brutal, ten bucks to go off-roadin' onto somebody's front lawn and then a half mile trek to the gate, stuff like that. For a show field price of forty-five beans, on-site parking and two admissions to The Show seemed a good choice. It was.
Boy were there some money Ponies in attendance! The 2005-07 era was best represented, by about a three to one margin, so we spent a good half hour going up and down the rows of The Greatest Generation of Mustangs. I cannot get words to completely convey how deep my affection and love is for these cars. All I have to do is see one, out on the road, and I smile. I still don't know what exactly has gotten into me.
Met one of the guys I've corresponded with on the AllFordMustangs forum, who has what I think is THE premier tricked-out '05 V6 in the whole country. Good times. Then spent about another half hour at the K.A.R. tent talking with owner George Waydos...an Ohio native, just like my wife, a believer, and lover of all things Pony. I told him I'd be buying one his cars someday. A '67 or a '70. His prices are so reasonable, I can't refuse. We had terrific conversation. Great times.
Saw some absolutely gorgeous Old School Stangers, one of which is below. Man, if the '07 Shelbys get down close to sticker, I'm gonna be tempted to get one of those too...
I just love these cars. Just love 'em. They make my heart sing. They make everything groovy.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The hope that springs eternal...
Just finished submitting my lottery entry for next year's Ryder Cup, at Nicklaus's Valhalla course in Louisville, KY, and am already starting to feel the first pangs of Buyer's Remorse. One Large, One G, for two tickets, and then probably about another Two Large for a hotel for that week (unless we find something like a Sleep Inn in Hazard), plus meals and accoutrements, and it'll be the price of a freakin' Vortech supercharger...to likely witness the good ol' U S of A getting its arses handed to it, once again, by the Euros.
Jack fell in love with these "collection areas" around the greens, which are now All The Rage amongst the high-end daily fee courses. An example is above.
The deal is, with these tricked-up things: If you don't place your approach just so...the ball trickles off into the collection area, the almost-short stuff, where...you putt, you chip, you lob, you dissect the ball with a sand wedge, you take out your freakin' three wood and hit it like you were freakin' three years old or whatever...and time after time, the Euros will find a way to hit these shots stiff while our guys stare helplessly at a golf ball rolling back towards them. And I'll be standing there, probably in a cold driving rain, thinking, "I could have supercharged Dixi, and instead I chose THIS? Kelly, you f---ing moron..."
And etc...
In not too much longer, a U.S. win at this event is gonna be like The Miracle On Ice, Lake Placid, 1980. I mean it will be so contra to past outcomes, so improbable, that Being There will instantly place one among The Special, The Revered...
"You were there when we won? That's effing AWESOME, man! Tell me all about it..."
And etc...
So already it's The Hope That Springs Eternal From Within The Human Breast. A sad state of affairs, to be sure -- and one you can be sure I will be writing about, beginning a year or so from now, if that freakin' lottery entry strikes gold.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
A short, sinful rant
From a Drudge lead, courtesy ABC News:
Another figure underscores the public's broad grumpiness: Seventy-three percent now say the country's off on the wrong track, the most in just over a decade.
So, if those numbers are right -- and yeah, I know, a poll from ABCCBSNBC is oftentimes about as reliable as an opinion from a 2nd grader -- but let's just say they're right, or close to...
Then that means three of every four people you meet today, at work, in the burger joint, on the golf course, at the dry cleaners, wherever...three of every four people say the United States of America is on the wrong track.
So Otto feels compelled to say, to these threes: You're outta your f---ing minds. Get some f---ing help. Now.
Subgroup A, comprising probably about 35%, are the Pure Left, The Haters Of All Things Conservative, who probably would sit on the sidelines and cheer if Radical Islam invaded American and decided their first order of business was to execute all of the Christian evangelicals. Yeah, you heard me right. They'd cheer. These people, by and large as far as I'm concerned, don't consider themselves Americans -- no, it's just living in a country that happens to be called America -- and wouldn't give a damn if certain of their neighbors started getting rounded up. Look at how many of them are actually supporting Hugo (The Boss) Chavez, even as he's in the process of strangling free speech in Venny-zuela! These people are rootless, witless wimps -- they blather incessantly about "rights" but the fact of the matter is they don't give a shite about 'em as long as they got 'em. Basically, a lot of these turdbirds are Sixties Hippy MFs, and the country will get better and better once more and more of them start dying.
Subgroup B, probably about 25%, are Republicans who think Bush has sold them down the river on immigration. I got quick news for you folks:
1) Mass deportation of illegals is just NOT GONNA F---ING HAPPEN, in this lifetime or any other. It would walk and talk and feel and smell like Adolf: The Sequel. And really...do you want our police and military tied up in making that happen, when there's so many other Clear And Present Dangers around?
2) Can one of you please tell me how much this big wall, this fence, this booby-trapped, mine-laden, whatever that you say you want the government to build on BOTH the northern and southern borders of our great land, how many dollars this is going to cost? Maybe some quick math will help you out -- according to Wikipedia, the Border Patrol is responsible for patrolling 19,000 miles of land and sea border. Let's say the land borders are half of that, or 9,500 miles. How does a million dollars a mile sound? That's what it costs to do an interstate these days, and that's just freaking concrete on the ground. A million dollars times 9,500 miles is 9-point-five Billion with a B dollars. Then, to protect these walls, we've gotta have people manning them. Ten people per mile? Shoot, the way the gubment operates, it would be more like 100 people per mile. 950,000 new federal employees? That might or might not make the nut. Figure $100K in salary and benfits per year, or another 95 billion...per year. Forget Social Security, and Medicare, and all that other stuff you want so much. We're f---ing BROKE, on this road.
3) Get honest with yourselves for a minute, too, and ask yourself if you know any recent, legal Hispanic immigrants. I do. They are about the most grateful and supportive Americans I know, besides the Occidental Indians and Asians. If we gave amnesty to every freakin' ONE of these people tomorrow, and simultaneously rounded up and deported just a THOUSAND of the most suspicious Arabs walking our streets, the country would be a damned sight safer. A damned sight.
And, Subgroup C then, the remaining 15%...these are just The Disaffected Youth, who just naturally complain. If they get a free apartment and new Mustang GT from the parents, they would still consider things "on the wrong track" if they didn't have Wii. These nummies will grow out of it...just like I did.
So all of y'all should just shut the hell up, get back to work, and show a little f---ing GRATITUDE once in a while. Is that too much to ask?
Another figure underscores the public's broad grumpiness: Seventy-three percent now say the country's off on the wrong track, the most in just over a decade.
So, if those numbers are right -- and yeah, I know, a poll from ABCCBSNBC is oftentimes about as reliable as an opinion from a 2nd grader -- but let's just say they're right, or close to...
Then that means three of every four people you meet today, at work, in the burger joint, on the golf course, at the dry cleaners, wherever...three of every four people say the United States of America is on the wrong track.
So Otto feels compelled to say, to these threes: You're outta your f---ing minds. Get some f---ing help. Now.
Subgroup A, comprising probably about 35%, are the Pure Left, The Haters Of All Things Conservative, who probably would sit on the sidelines and cheer if Radical Islam invaded American and decided their first order of business was to execute all of the Christian evangelicals. Yeah, you heard me right. They'd cheer. These people, by and large as far as I'm concerned, don't consider themselves Americans -- no, it's just living in a country that happens to be called America -- and wouldn't give a damn if certain of their neighbors started getting rounded up. Look at how many of them are actually supporting Hugo (The Boss) Chavez, even as he's in the process of strangling free speech in Venny-zuela! These people are rootless, witless wimps -- they blather incessantly about "rights" but the fact of the matter is they don't give a shite about 'em as long as they got 'em. Basically, a lot of these turdbirds are Sixties Hippy MFs, and the country will get better and better once more and more of them start dying.
Subgroup B, probably about 25%, are Republicans who think Bush has sold them down the river on immigration. I got quick news for you folks:
1) Mass deportation of illegals is just NOT GONNA F---ING HAPPEN, in this lifetime or any other. It would walk and talk and feel and smell like Adolf: The Sequel. And really...do you want our police and military tied up in making that happen, when there's so many other Clear And Present Dangers around?
2) Can one of you please tell me how much this big wall, this fence, this booby-trapped, mine-laden, whatever that you say you want the government to build on BOTH the northern and southern borders of our great land, how many dollars this is going to cost? Maybe some quick math will help you out -- according to Wikipedia, the Border Patrol is responsible for patrolling 19,000 miles of land and sea border. Let's say the land borders are half of that, or 9,500 miles. How does a million dollars a mile sound? That's what it costs to do an interstate these days, and that's just freaking concrete on the ground. A million dollars times 9,500 miles is 9-point-five Billion with a B dollars. Then, to protect these walls, we've gotta have people manning them. Ten people per mile? Shoot, the way the gubment operates, it would be more like 100 people per mile. 950,000 new federal employees? That might or might not make the nut. Figure $100K in salary and benfits per year, or another 95 billion...per year. Forget Social Security, and Medicare, and all that other stuff you want so much. We're f---ing BROKE, on this road.
3) Get honest with yourselves for a minute, too, and ask yourself if you know any recent, legal Hispanic immigrants. I do. They are about the most grateful and supportive Americans I know, besides the Occidental Indians and Asians. If we gave amnesty to every freakin' ONE of these people tomorrow, and simultaneously rounded up and deported just a THOUSAND of the most suspicious Arabs walking our streets, the country would be a damned sight safer. A damned sight.
And, Subgroup C then, the remaining 15%...these are just The Disaffected Youth, who just naturally complain. If they get a free apartment and new Mustang GT from the parents, they would still consider things "on the wrong track" if they didn't have Wii. These nummies will grow out of it...just like I did.
So all of y'all should just shut the hell up, get back to work, and show a little f---ing GRATITUDE once in a while. Is that too much to ask?
Thursday, May 31, 2007
For the record...
...so that a marker can be placed in cyberspace, forevermore...
If a pollster called me today and popped The Big Question, I would give George W. Bush a Favorable rating.
I would DEFINITELY vote for George W. Bush again, if not for the 22nd amendment.
He has acquitted himself incredibly well in this latest world war, the war on terror, the one that so many would have you believe is going so badly. Once all the dust settles, and radical Islam is defeated -- as did Reagan to the Communists, as did FDR to the Nazis, as did Washington to the British, as did Salk to polio, as did Jenner to smallpox, and on and on and on -- those with eyes to see and ears to listen will not be able to avoid the truth. The truth that We Won, They Lost, again...
He has successfully nominated two judges to the Supremos that are young (for justices) and unshakably conservative. The rewards for this effort are already bearing fruit in protection of the unborn. At this point in time, only those in Deep Denial still don't acknowledge that A Baby Is A Baby, inside or outside the womb. Technology has made it clear. The law is catching up with technology, once again...
He has presided over an economy that has been well-nigh Rocky Balboa-ish since the mess inherited from Wilhelm Jaifferson Clintoine, and Enron/Worldcom, and 9/11, and Katrina. Bloodied, puffy-eyed, and suddenly off the ropes with startling aggression and forward movement. Larry Kudlow is right: This is The Greatest Story Never Told, and here again, time passages will put these incredible times into their proper light. People forget about what it was like in the late '70s. I don't. I'd just purchased my first car. Times sucked. And I had a guaranteed job back then! Forget and repeat, people, forget and repeat...
He has reminded us all what the White House looks like when it's inhabited by adults.
He has reminded us all what a redeemed, believing Christian Presidency looks like. Sure, the "scandals" have been laughably lame; if Al Gonzalez's firing of incompetent/partisan lawyers is all you got, MSM, you got some weak beer. But I keep reading in the conservative rags these days about Bush's "problem" in being too loyal to the people he hires. Imagine that. As if two-faced, back-stabbing, tell-all memoir writing whoredom was Business As Usual in our nation's capital. Imagine that...
George W. Bush doesn't like Washington. You know what? Neither do I. Bully for George W. Bush. The haters will fade away, melting themselves with rage. The legacy and achievements of the 43rd President will stand, and not fade away. We win. They lose.
Again.
If a pollster called me today and popped The Big Question, I would give George W. Bush a Favorable rating.
I would DEFINITELY vote for George W. Bush again, if not for the 22nd amendment.
He has acquitted himself incredibly well in this latest world war, the war on terror, the one that so many would have you believe is going so badly. Once all the dust settles, and radical Islam is defeated -- as did Reagan to the Communists, as did FDR to the Nazis, as did Washington to the British, as did Salk to polio, as did Jenner to smallpox, and on and on and on -- those with eyes to see and ears to listen will not be able to avoid the truth. The truth that We Won, They Lost, again...
He has successfully nominated two judges to the Supremos that are young (for justices) and unshakably conservative. The rewards for this effort are already bearing fruit in protection of the unborn. At this point in time, only those in Deep Denial still don't acknowledge that A Baby Is A Baby, inside or outside the womb. Technology has made it clear. The law is catching up with technology, once again...
He has presided over an economy that has been well-nigh Rocky Balboa-ish since the mess inherited from Wilhelm Jaifferson Clintoine, and Enron/Worldcom, and 9/11, and Katrina. Bloodied, puffy-eyed, and suddenly off the ropes with startling aggression and forward movement. Larry Kudlow is right: This is The Greatest Story Never Told, and here again, time passages will put these incredible times into their proper light. People forget about what it was like in the late '70s. I don't. I'd just purchased my first car. Times sucked. And I had a guaranteed job back then! Forget and repeat, people, forget and repeat...
He has reminded us all what the White House looks like when it's inhabited by adults.
He has reminded us all what a redeemed, believing Christian Presidency looks like. Sure, the "scandals" have been laughably lame; if Al Gonzalez's firing of incompetent/partisan lawyers is all you got, MSM, you got some weak beer. But I keep reading in the conservative rags these days about Bush's "problem" in being too loyal to the people he hires. Imagine that. As if two-faced, back-stabbing, tell-all memoir writing whoredom was Business As Usual in our nation's capital. Imagine that...
George W. Bush doesn't like Washington. You know what? Neither do I. Bully for George W. Bush. The haters will fade away, melting themselves with rage. The legacy and achievements of the 43rd President will stand, and not fade away. We win. They lose.
Again.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Power Sans Merit
Reading about the latest internet death threat vid from Adam Gadahn, the American Taliban 2 (he's actually A.Q., but hey, what's the real diff?), as well as some background info courtesy of LA's CityBeat, Otto is once again reminded of the basic profile of a terrorist. "Loser" would be a bit harsh, but not too far off the mark.
You can theorize and psychoanalyze this kind of stuff all day, but in the end it comes down to One Main Thing: Getting chicks. With the benefit of almost fifty years' thinking on this subject, I will propose that there are three (3) basic ways to get chicks:
1) Be incredibly good looking. Jude Law. Tom Selleck. Early Mel Gibson. Rugged jaw. Heart-melting smile. Soulful eyes. This doesn't happen too often, so your chances here are pretty slim.
2) Be good. Sure, it may not win the hand of the Angelina Jolies and Keira Knightleys of the world, but the average chick does place large stock in common decency and kindness in a guy. The problem with this approach is that you typically wind up being in a relief pitcher role, sitting on the bench for long long innings, and are only called into the game after the starting pitcher (See numbers 1 and 3) messes up big-time. It's a long wait, and some can't wait that long. So then, finally, there's...
3) Obtain power. This can occur by getting rich, or once in a great while by being lucky enough to be born into it. But there is another way...yes, a way that's not been talked about much by anybody in The Chattering Class in this present day and age. That way is to become a Muslim.
Why? Because the whole system is geared towards guys. Need proof? Just two words will make the nut: Clitoral circumcision.
The typical way to get rich is to work hard, in school and in your job. No matter how many times the mindless Left wants to hollah that The Game Is Rigged, working hard is still the surest way to bucks. Merit leads to bucks, which lead to power.
But if you don't want to go that route, if the whole grind-it-out approach leaves you cold, then radical Muslim would surely be an easier way to power. Power sans merit.
Now you got your chicks. What could be sweeter?
You can theorize and psychoanalyze this kind of stuff all day, but in the end it comes down to One Main Thing: Getting chicks. With the benefit of almost fifty years' thinking on this subject, I will propose that there are three (3) basic ways to get chicks:
1) Be incredibly good looking. Jude Law. Tom Selleck. Early Mel Gibson. Rugged jaw. Heart-melting smile. Soulful eyes. This doesn't happen too often, so your chances here are pretty slim.
2) Be good. Sure, it may not win the hand of the Angelina Jolies and Keira Knightleys of the world, but the average chick does place large stock in common decency and kindness in a guy. The problem with this approach is that you typically wind up being in a relief pitcher role, sitting on the bench for long long innings, and are only called into the game after the starting pitcher (See numbers 1 and 3) messes up big-time. It's a long wait, and some can't wait that long. So then, finally, there's...
3) Obtain power. This can occur by getting rich, or once in a great while by being lucky enough to be born into it. But there is another way...yes, a way that's not been talked about much by anybody in The Chattering Class in this present day and age. That way is to become a Muslim.
Why? Because the whole system is geared towards guys. Need proof? Just two words will make the nut: Clitoral circumcision.
The typical way to get rich is to work hard, in school and in your job. No matter how many times the mindless Left wants to hollah that The Game Is Rigged, working hard is still the surest way to bucks. Merit leads to bucks, which lead to power.
But if you don't want to go that route, if the whole grind-it-out approach leaves you cold, then radical Muslim would surely be an easier way to power. Power sans merit.
Now you got your chicks. What could be sweeter?
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Why Hillary Will Win, Part 1
Yeah, I can't help it...way too wired on polly-tiks to write about Mustangs all the time...
Between now and, let's say, next March -- the way our primary system is going, with dates continually being changed to earlier and earlier in the year...imagine a world where like 8 states will have their Prez primaries on January 2nd or something -- I may post one, or ten, or a hundred and thirty seven entries on why Hillary Clinton will win the Demmie nomination for President. I have already bet Uncle Art 50 dollars on this, last September, and while I'll never pursue the collection of the money, the bragging rights quotient will be huge. He's a Truman Democrat, a populist, who ranches out in Kalispell, MT, and fashions himself the REAL voice of the Democratic party.
We stood their, mano a mano in a friendly way, as he declared to me there was NO WAY The Hill was gonna come outta the primary season on top.
These numbers, though, pretty much doom Art.
It may be true that what you view as the most reliable poll is the one that comes closest to validating your own set of beliefs about The Way Things Are. So forgive any personal bias there. But one can't help but looking at those Party ID numbers by gender, ESPECIALLY in the Women, Age 45 and up groups. I mean the Demmie gap is just huge.
And when it comes down to a woman vs. anybody else, be he black or white or red or straight or gay or big hair or no hair or actor or whatever else you can come up with...women are going to vote for the woman. That is a STONE LOCK.
I have a perfectly perfect vision of who those women are. I see 'em all the time out here in the People's Republic. They don't color their hair -- it goes gray, and they leave it that way -- you hardly see 'em with a man in the car at all, and they ALWAYS have at least one bumper sticker of some lefty nugget like:
Bush Rapes Our Mother, Rapes You, and Your Children Too -- Torture And Kill Bush!
Oh, and they're always frowning.
You cannot win against these people, Uncle Art. Hillary is why they freakin' breathe, why they get out of bed each morning. They are monomaniacal. And they will NOT vote for Barack. Sorry, Art.
Between now and, let's say, next March -- the way our primary system is going, with dates continually being changed to earlier and earlier in the year...imagine a world where like 8 states will have their Prez primaries on January 2nd or something -- I may post one, or ten, or a hundred and thirty seven entries on why Hillary Clinton will win the Demmie nomination for President. I have already bet Uncle Art 50 dollars on this, last September, and while I'll never pursue the collection of the money, the bragging rights quotient will be huge. He's a Truman Democrat, a populist, who ranches out in Kalispell, MT, and fashions himself the REAL voice of the Democratic party.
We stood their, mano a mano in a friendly way, as he declared to me there was NO WAY The Hill was gonna come outta the primary season on top.
These numbers, though, pretty much doom Art.
It may be true that what you view as the most reliable poll is the one that comes closest to validating your own set of beliefs about The Way Things Are. So forgive any personal bias there. But one can't help but looking at those Party ID numbers by gender, ESPECIALLY in the Women, Age 45 and up groups. I mean the Demmie gap is just huge.
And when it comes down to a woman vs. anybody else, be he black or white or red or straight or gay or big hair or no hair or actor or whatever else you can come up with...women are going to vote for the woman. That is a STONE LOCK.
I have a perfectly perfect vision of who those women are. I see 'em all the time out here in the People's Republic. They don't color their hair -- it goes gray, and they leave it that way -- you hardly see 'em with a man in the car at all, and they ALWAYS have at least one bumper sticker of some lefty nugget like:
Bush Rapes Our Mother, Rapes You, and Your Children Too -- Torture And Kill Bush!
Oh, and they're always frowning.
You cannot win against these people, Uncle Art. Hillary is why they freakin' breathe, why they get out of bed each morning. They are monomaniacal. And they will NOT vote for Barack. Sorry, Art.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Look Ma, No Modem!
And so the incredible continues...
I am composing this blog from our cabin in Double-You-Vee. Minus modem.
It's unbelievable, really.
Left work Friday afternoon and came straight up -- which meant I had my work computer, a laptop, as part of the luggage. That computer has a wireless card. I'd experimented a couple of times with WiFi, pretty much unsuccessfully, 'cause I just don't know how to work the dang thing. What signals are available? How do you find them? What secret decoder ring do you need to get in? These things are beyond my current understanding.
So last night, semi-bored, I just cracked the laptop open, hit IE and typed in the Google URL. And the thing came up!
I have little idea how. I have NO idea where, as in where this signal is originating from. It just works.
Unbelievable.
It was 1998 when my brother and cousin and I were in a minivan, traveling from MPLS to North Dakota for my grandma's funeral, and Crazy Cuz Harry whipped out his laptop to show us some of the crazy vid clips he'd downloaded. That was only 9 years ago, and I still remember those moments very clearly, because it seemed like a miracle. Road trips in my early years were AM radio (maybe, it there were any stations in the area), windows down for cooling, and four boys in the back seat of the station wagon. And thirty years later, it was AC with controls that let you hit the cabin temperature to the degree, captain's chairs front and middle, and freakin' Ashley Judd at the Academy Awards.
And now it's only 7 years after that, and I'm sitting here connected to the Web with no visible means of support.
People are always gettin' all down about stuff. Buck up, folks. These are incredible, cutting edge times we live in. I'm gonna go hit the AllFordMustangs site.
I am composing this blog from our cabin in Double-You-Vee. Minus modem.
It's unbelievable, really.
Left work Friday afternoon and came straight up -- which meant I had my work computer, a laptop, as part of the luggage. That computer has a wireless card. I'd experimented a couple of times with WiFi, pretty much unsuccessfully, 'cause I just don't know how to work the dang thing. What signals are available? How do you find them? What secret decoder ring do you need to get in? These things are beyond my current understanding.
So last night, semi-bored, I just cracked the laptop open, hit IE and typed in the Google URL. And the thing came up!
I have little idea how. I have NO idea where, as in where this signal is originating from. It just works.
Unbelievable.
It was 1998 when my brother and cousin and I were in a minivan, traveling from MPLS to North Dakota for my grandma's funeral, and Crazy Cuz Harry whipped out his laptop to show us some of the crazy vid clips he'd downloaded. That was only 9 years ago, and I still remember those moments very clearly, because it seemed like a miracle. Road trips in my early years were AM radio (maybe, it there were any stations in the area), windows down for cooling, and four boys in the back seat of the station wagon. And thirty years later, it was AC with controls that let you hit the cabin temperature to the degree, captain's chairs front and middle, and freakin' Ashley Judd at the Academy Awards.
And now it's only 7 years after that, and I'm sitting here connected to the Web with no visible means of support.
People are always gettin' all down about stuff. Buck up, folks. These are incredible, cutting edge times we live in. I'm gonna go hit the AllFordMustangs site.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Getting blown
The ne plus ultra, the mega mother, the big cheese, the shite, the be-all-end-all, of major horsepower gains in automobiles always comes down to two little things: air and fuel. And I very quickly learned, after falling in love with Dixi and wanting to do just about ANYTHING for her, that the Stairway To Heaven was supercharging. Or, as the boys like to say, "getting blown."
The MMR tube discussed yesterday is one in a series of incremental upgrades you can make to increase horsepower. It's the car version of Small Ball, a single here, a stolen base there, a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up...little dinky things that, taken separately, are essentially not noticeable when you park yer booty in the driver's seat. I've seen people claim they can tell or feel the difference in a 5 horsepower increase. I can't, at least not yet. So the Small Ball approach means purchasing a whole bunch of things and getting an overall additive increase -- which in The Dix's case is about 40 hp -- in bits and pieces that you probably can't even detect. It's like that summer you did all your growing...you didn't FEEL any taller, day to day, but over the course of six months it was like, damn, how'd these pants shrink so much?
The beauty of the supercharger is that you get a bathtub full of hp in one fell swoop. If I took the plunge and decided to get Dixi blown -- Danger, Will Robinson, similes and metaphors not working in concert! -- it's 80-120 hp, boom, instant butt-kicker.
For around $6,000.
Yeah, you read that right. The kits available for the V-6 are running between $3800 and $4600 right now, and they all say "10-12 hours installation." I'd have NO SHOT doing that myself -- don't have the tools, or the skeels -- so at $80 an hour, the going rate for car performance shops in the mid-Atlantic region, you're talking another grande or so. Add tax, the inevitable "few extra parts", and you're at 6K.
And when you do the math, as per previous post, on hp per dollar...you'll see that a blower ain't that great a deal either. $50 per horsepower, as compared to $40 for the MMR tube. Which argues in favor of a Small Ball approach.
The problem is...you run out of choices pretty quickly. And then you're either happy with what you've got, or you keep wanting more. More cowbell. More power.
So here's a great article about air, and the basics of getting blown. I'll do it, someday...it's inevitable...maybe when the new version of the Stanger comes out, at which point the prices for aftermarket stuff on the older models will go down. It's an illness, this modding...a terminal illness...
The MMR tube discussed yesterday is one in a series of incremental upgrades you can make to increase horsepower. It's the car version of Small Ball, a single here, a stolen base there, a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up...little dinky things that, taken separately, are essentially not noticeable when you park yer booty in the driver's seat. I've seen people claim they can tell or feel the difference in a 5 horsepower increase. I can't, at least not yet. So the Small Ball approach means purchasing a whole bunch of things and getting an overall additive increase -- which in The Dix's case is about 40 hp -- in bits and pieces that you probably can't even detect. It's like that summer you did all your growing...you didn't FEEL any taller, day to day, but over the course of six months it was like, damn, how'd these pants shrink so much?
The beauty of the supercharger is that you get a bathtub full of hp in one fell swoop. If I took the plunge and decided to get Dixi blown -- Danger, Will Robinson, similes and metaphors not working in concert! -- it's 80-120 hp, boom, instant butt-kicker.
For around $6,000.
Yeah, you read that right. The kits available for the V-6 are running between $3800 and $4600 right now, and they all say "10-12 hours installation." I'd have NO SHOT doing that myself -- don't have the tools, or the skeels -- so at $80 an hour, the going rate for car performance shops in the mid-Atlantic region, you're talking another grande or so. Add tax, the inevitable "few extra parts", and you're at 6K.
And when you do the math, as per previous post, on hp per dollar...you'll see that a blower ain't that great a deal either. $50 per horsepower, as compared to $40 for the MMR tube. Which argues in favor of a Small Ball approach.
The problem is...you run out of choices pretty quickly. And then you're either happy with what you've got, or you keep wanting more. More cowbell. More power.
So here's a great article about air, and the basics of getting blown. I'll do it, someday...it's inevitable...maybe when the new version of the Stanger comes out, at which point the prices for aftermarket stuff on the older models will go down. It's an illness, this modding...a terminal illness...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
A Mighty Wind
So I suppose I could give you a long history of the upgrades, piece by piece, item by item, and yes, bill by bill, for Dixi and Luci. I think that will come out, eventually, if I just jump into the narrative as to where we're at right now and take it from here.
Dixi has a Cold Air Intake (or, if ya wanna get hep with the car lingo junks, CAI) made by Steeda -- it was one of the first mods made, right after the JBA axleback exhaust. The CAI is a nice item, big ol' filter and a sturdy, sheet-metal type shroud with padding to boot...but it did not (and still doesn't) come with a custom intake tube to the engine. If I knew two years ago what I know today -- no, wait, that's not right -- Steeda was pretty much first out of the box with the CAI for the V6, so I would have bought it, period -- anyways, there are now several CAIs on the market, and most of them have a custom tube.
Of course, I now have Tube Envy and have been contemplating this piece from MMR:
So why buy it? "Because it looks cool," cooeth the right brain. "Because of the horsepower gains," declareth the left brain. Both brains are correct, at least for this mod and this Pony Owner. The folks at MMR are claiming "up to an additional 7 RWHP!" I could definitely do at least one blog entry on those two little words "up to" and what they REALLY mean...but not now...suffice it to say that the stock intake tube sort of looks like this:
~
except the curves are sharper, and it's just common knowledge that if air has to run through that kind of obstacle course before mating up with the gasoline and producing those happy explosions that move the pistons that turn the crankshaft that rotate the back tires that make Dixi GO...well, the air will be tired and not as enthusiastic and you'll get less power.
Or something like that.
Actually, the whole process and mechanics of the internal combustion engine is freakin' unbelievable. It's one of those things that is so far outside and above my radius of expertise, it's like magic. I'm sure I could learn it -- want to learn it, in fact, hopefully will have the time in my "golden years" to get into all that, maybe take an auto shop class or two -- but right now it's like, God bless the man or men who came up with this, because if it had been left to me we'd still be hoofin' it.
What the MMR tube purchase really comes down to, and what ALL power adder mods come down to, is price per horsepower. The tube is $170 plus probably 20 beans shipping, tax...let's say an even $200. I'm guessing this will get The Dix an additional 5 hp, max...which means $40 per hp. The good thing about this piece is that I think I can install it myself, so there will be no additional labor/shop cost. And as you will see, as the story of Pony girls Dixi and Luci continues...those costs are not trivial. Far from it.
I'll probably order this soon. Just letting the thing germinate, or ferment, or whatever, for now. I'm getting better about impulse buying on this stuff...at least a little...
"Wait for it, wait for it, give it some time..."
-- Howard Jones, "Everlasting Love"
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Heard ya missed me...
...actually, not really. There's nothing like a long period of blog inactivity to help you figure out who your readership is. In Otto's case, it was about two people.
That's fine. I didn't start this thing to get famous. And I sure as H don't have the time, right now anyways, to begin a Reynolds-like blitzkrieg of blog posts, even with this new Google-based platform that lets me e-mail a blog entry (!). (Thus giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "mailing it in.") I've advanced a bit at work, which requires more time out of my life. Daughter is now home for the summer again, from WVU -- actually, she got an internship at my place of business -- and appropriates our home computer a fair share. There are other reasons too.
But probably the main one is cars. PONY cars, to be exact. Ever since that red-letter day, a little less than two years ago, when I purchased The Dix, a great deal of my free time gets spent on cars. PONY cars, to be exact. Plural. Yeah, I got another one. An '06 GT, in Legend Lime, auto. Last September. I couldn't resist the 0%, 72 month deal that FoMoCo came out with around Labor Day.
I just love these cars to death. And because the aftermarket market, heh, for power adders and bling and effects and just about everythang, is so huge for Mustangs...there's always new stuff to look at, to think about, and to purchase.
Maybe I should just turn this into a Mustang blog. I mean, they say you should write about what you're interested in, eh? I may just do that, as I get meself back in the bloggroove.
Here's my two baby girls -- Dixi Candace and Luci Elinor. They are The Greatest Generation, of Ponies or any other vehicle ever made. Looks, price, power, performance -- they are The Greatest. I so love my Pony Girls.
And yeah, their asses are still so HOT.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Tidbit of the Day, from Rasmussen:
Democrats now have a net advantage of 3.3 percentage points over the GOP. In June of 2004, the Democrats had a 2.5 percentage point advantage. Please keep in mind that these figures are for all adults, not Likely Voters. Republicans typically do a bit better among Likely Voters (in fact, the two parties ended up even among those who showed up to vote in 2004).
The whole "registered vs. likely" thing has been explained in great detail (see here and here for examples) but is just one more reason why the numbers you see (and WILL see) from the MSM polls are likely to be skewed.
Otto's thought for the day: Politics is first and foremost about winning. "If I were a Reepub candidate"...I would hit that ANWR issue like a heavy bag. If my opponent is on the record for voting or verbally in favor of the caribou over the humans, I would make a huge point of it. There is going to be a LOT of anger about gas prices come November, and most of it will be initially aimed at the incumbents.
Finally, in the "Libs Say The Darndest Things" department, the following:
Wednesday, November 3, 3:15PM...For many opponents of Bush, this election has been a wrenching event, not unlike a death in the family.
This was blogged by a freakin' PROFESSOR at freakin' PRINCETON, the day after the 2004 Presidential election -- and not some liberal arts weenie either. The guy is in freakin' MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. Anecdotal, to be sure, but to me perfectly illustrative of how religious these people are about their politics. A death in the family?! Are you kidding me?!
When you take that kind of irrational emotion into the market, any market, you're gonna get yer clock molecularly cleaned. I hope Prof Wang has some dough in the IEM. So does Dixi.
Democrats now have a net advantage of 3.3 percentage points over the GOP. In June of 2004, the Democrats had a 2.5 percentage point advantage. Please keep in mind that these figures are for all adults, not Likely Voters. Republicans typically do a bit better among Likely Voters (in fact, the two parties ended up even among those who showed up to vote in 2004).
The whole "registered vs. likely" thing has been explained in great detail (see here and here for examples) but is just one more reason why the numbers you see (and WILL see) from the MSM polls are likely to be skewed.
Otto's thought for the day: Politics is first and foremost about winning. "If I were a Reepub candidate"...I would hit that ANWR issue like a heavy bag. If my opponent is on the record for voting or verbally in favor of the caribou over the humans, I would make a huge point of it. There is going to be a LOT of anger about gas prices come November, and most of it will be initially aimed at the incumbents.
Finally, in the "Libs Say The Darndest Things" department, the following:
Wednesday, November 3, 3:15PM...For many opponents of Bush, this election has been a wrenching event, not unlike a death in the family.
This was blogged by a freakin' PROFESSOR at freakin' PRINCETON, the day after the 2004 Presidential election -- and not some liberal arts weenie either. The guy is in freakin' MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. Anecdotal, to be sure, but to me perfectly illustrative of how religious these people are about their politics. A death in the family?! Are you kidding me?!
When you take that kind of irrational emotion into the market, any market, you're gonna get yer clock molecularly cleaned. I hope Prof Wang has some dough in the IEM. So does Dixi.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
After an absolutely shite day at work, I haveth not the energy to go link-searching for some evidence/date to back up my claim on this one...more to be done on that front. But at any rate, here's the theory:
As has become clear from the last two presidential elections, there is a clear separation, voting preference wise, between the bigger cities (Democratic) and the more rural areas (Republican). Population is supposed to be roughly equal for every House seat; in other words, the one representative from the great state of Montana has about the same number of constituents as one of the representatives from the not-so-great state of Maryland...both around 400K or so. Not sure about other metro areas in the country, but at least here in DC, the Democratic candidates win BIG...not unusual to see 20 or 30 point margins of victory. But it wouldn't matter if the margin was a hundred points...there's only one seat up for grabs. Thus, the most accurate polling for the House outcome AS A WHOLE would involve a statistically random sampling FOR EACH SEAT rather than a nationwide poll that did not take specific Congressional districts into account.
This, of course, accounts for the following:
A) Eve of the 2002 off-Prez election: Nationwide poll shows 48-48 preferences
B) Actual result: Republicans gain 6.
My guess or rough rule of thumb, based on the above, is that each percentage point in the nationwide poll represents one seat -- or, that if a poll showed a six point lead for the Donkeys (let's say, 50-44), that in reality the outcome would be a net zero for both sides -- stasis.
That's one of the things I'm basing my big RGain bet on.
More reasons to follow...
As has become clear from the last two presidential elections, there is a clear separation, voting preference wise, between the bigger cities (Democratic) and the more rural areas (Republican). Population is supposed to be roughly equal for every House seat; in other words, the one representative from the great state of Montana has about the same number of constituents as one of the representatives from the not-so-great state of Maryland...both around 400K or so. Not sure about other metro areas in the country, but at least here in DC, the Democratic candidates win BIG...not unusual to see 20 or 30 point margins of victory. But it wouldn't matter if the margin was a hundred points...there's only one seat up for grabs. Thus, the most accurate polling for the House outcome AS A WHOLE would involve a statistically random sampling FOR EACH SEAT rather than a nationwide poll that did not take specific Congressional districts into account.
This, of course, accounts for the following:
A) Eve of the 2002 off-Prez election: Nationwide poll shows 48-48 preferences
B) Actual result: Republicans gain 6.
My guess or rough rule of thumb, based on the above, is that each percentage point in the nationwide poll represents one seat -- or, that if a poll showed a six point lead for the Donkeys (let's say, 50-44), that in reality the outcome would be a net zero for both sides -- stasis.
That's one of the things I'm basing my big RGain bet on.
More reasons to follow...
Monday, July 24, 2006
I'll be referencing Rasmussen a lot in the run-up to November. His track record for the last six years or so is outstanding. Personally, I think Zogby used to be the best, but then something happened...it's like he went corporate or something (which he probably did) and started conducting all sorts of weird, generally anti-conservative polls that of course got big play in the Dinosaur Media. See ya, Zogs...
Anyways, today's short comment is about a number I think you'll hear/see quite a bit between now and the election. Nationwide party preference numbers. It's a good quick soundbite for the Demmies, and I KNOW it will boost their confidence and also have some effect in the IEM market traders. I happen to think that number is misleading vis a vis the market outcome. This week's posts will explore why.
More to come...
Anyways, today's short comment is about a number I think you'll hear/see quite a bit between now and the election. Nationwide party preference numbers. It's a good quick soundbite for the Demmies, and I KNOW it will boost their confidence and also have some effect in the IEM market traders. I happen to think that number is misleading vis a vis the market outcome. This week's posts will explore why.
More to come...
Saturday, July 22, 2006
'Sup...yeah, I'm back...
On a specialized blog thang. Iowa Electronic Markets' 2006 House Bonanza. Visited the site two weeks ago to see if there was any action vis a vis the off-Prez election. Sho 'nuff. My baby girl Dixi, the '05 Windveil Blue Mustang with the hottest ass EVER, needs a new set of pipes -- shorty headers, to be exact -- and I need some windfall kwon to make the purchase.
And once I saw the share price of the "Republicans Gain" action, I wrote a check for $100 faster than you can say "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" and mailed it to the Tippie Homiez. I'm so confident of a big payday right now, I may just go ahead and get the shorties next week, and then make a deposit of 1,000 clams or so come November to cover the bill.
A thousand? Yeah, I think that's about right. As of COB yesterday, here was the price info:
07/21/06 RH.gain06 .097
07/21/06 RH.hold06 .469
07/21/06 RH.lose06 .442
Meaning, in the winner-take-all format, if ol' Otto can get about 10 cents to the dollar on a purchase price, that's a thousand shares...at one dollar per share after the win.
So how can I be so cocky about this right now? You watch the Evening News lately? (Yeah, I actually did, tonight, NBC...a new low, I'm so ashamed.) Nothing but one horror story after another. Lebanon, Iraq, gas prices, the searing heat, the scorching drought, the shaky stock market, the Dubya stem cell veto...hellfire and brimstone for the full half hour. Kind of strange and kinky coming from a bunch who pretty much flat-out do not believe in God.
But that's actually Reason Number One why that RHGain price is so unbelievably good to me. It can't get much worse than this, if you're a Republican strategist. Toss in the whole Abramoff thing too, while we're at it. This is about as bad as it can get, I think.
And so what does Rasmussen say? Bush's ratings are up since mid-May. Up 6% for Strongly Approve, and up 8% for overall approval. Meaning...bring on more bad news. Especially on the international front.
If Hezbollah and OBL had half an ounce of clue about the American electorate, they would take a long summer vacation. Just let everything wind down for a bit. Then the MSM would pick up the slack and start talking up the deteriorating quality of baby formula, or the repressive nature of Christian outreach missions to New Orleans, or some such drivel that plays well with the gals. As long as the war is the top story, the Demmies will lose more seats. That, my friends, is a stone GUARANTEE.
Reason Number Two, at least as of right now: Congressional districting. Tommy The Hammer (DeLay) did such a good job of gerry-rigging the maps, it will take a Kennedyesque act for most incumbent Elephants to lose. I don't really agree with gerrymandering, but let's be honest here, you lefties...your side did it like it was going out of style when you ran the show. It's part of the package when you take over, a Spoil Of Victory. DeLay was every bit as ruthless and effective redrawing those lines as Carl Albert or Jimmy Wright or the Tipster or any of those Democrat magnates were. THAT, I think, is why he was so despised by the Left.
But you know what? In the end, I'm just a freaking contrarian. If RHLose were at 7 cents, I'd buy it. I cannot stand large groups or the thinking therein, so I'm just gonna pick the lonely orphan and run with it like freaking LaDainian Tomlinson. Dixi will thank me...and that's plenty enough.
On a specialized blog thang. Iowa Electronic Markets' 2006 House Bonanza. Visited the site two weeks ago to see if there was any action vis a vis the off-Prez election. Sho 'nuff. My baby girl Dixi, the '05 Windveil Blue Mustang with the hottest ass EVER, needs a new set of pipes -- shorty headers, to be exact -- and I need some windfall kwon to make the purchase.
And once I saw the share price of the "Republicans Gain" action, I wrote a check for $100 faster than you can say "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" and mailed it to the Tippie Homiez. I'm so confident of a big payday right now, I may just go ahead and get the shorties next week, and then make a deposit of 1,000 clams or so come November to cover the bill.
A thousand? Yeah, I think that's about right. As of COB yesterday, here was the price info:
07/21/06 RH.gain06 .097
07/21/06 RH.hold06 .469
07/21/06 RH.lose06 .442
Meaning, in the winner-take-all format, if ol' Otto can get about 10 cents to the dollar on a purchase price, that's a thousand shares...at one dollar per share after the win.
So how can I be so cocky about this right now? You watch the Evening News lately? (Yeah, I actually did, tonight, NBC...a new low, I'm so ashamed.) Nothing but one horror story after another. Lebanon, Iraq, gas prices, the searing heat, the scorching drought, the shaky stock market, the Dubya stem cell veto...hellfire and brimstone for the full half hour. Kind of strange and kinky coming from a bunch who pretty much flat-out do not believe in God.
But that's actually Reason Number One why that RHGain price is so unbelievably good to me. It can't get much worse than this, if you're a Republican strategist. Toss in the whole Abramoff thing too, while we're at it. This is about as bad as it can get, I think.
And so what does Rasmussen say? Bush's ratings are up since mid-May. Up 6% for Strongly Approve, and up 8% for overall approval. Meaning...bring on more bad news. Especially on the international front.
If Hezbollah and OBL had half an ounce of clue about the American electorate, they would take a long summer vacation. Just let everything wind down for a bit. Then the MSM would pick up the slack and start talking up the deteriorating quality of baby formula, or the repressive nature of Christian outreach missions to New Orleans, or some such drivel that plays well with the gals. As long as the war is the top story, the Demmies will lose more seats. That, my friends, is a stone GUARANTEE.
Reason Number Two, at least as of right now: Congressional districting. Tommy The Hammer (DeLay) did such a good job of gerry-rigging the maps, it will take a Kennedyesque act for most incumbent Elephants to lose. I don't really agree with gerrymandering, but let's be honest here, you lefties...your side did it like it was going out of style when you ran the show. It's part of the package when you take over, a Spoil Of Victory. DeLay was every bit as ruthless and effective redrawing those lines as Carl Albert or Jimmy Wright or the Tipster or any of those Democrat magnates were. THAT, I think, is why he was so despised by the Left.
But you know what? In the end, I'm just a freaking contrarian. If RHLose were at 7 cents, I'd buy it. I cannot stand large groups or the thinking therein, so I'm just gonna pick the lonely orphan and run with it like freaking LaDainian Tomlinson. Dixi will thank me...and that's plenty enough.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Stick THAT In Your !@#$% Pipe
Let's see how much the Self-Appointed Defenders Of Freedom will have to say about this...
No smoking -- OUTSIDE. In Calabasas, California, home of the famous frog-jumping contest (?) and hardcore Leftists.
All of the Usual Suspects have been soiling their shorts big-time over the Bush Big Brother Wiretapping tempest...where the authority is limited to people having conversations (no doubt to book those Dream Vacations) with places like Iran and Sierra Leone.
But Otto expects to hear some Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence, from those wingnuts when it comes to Calabasas' Brave New City...a place where:
-- Second-hand tobacco smoke is "a toxic air pollutant"
-- Magnanimously, private residential property is exempt from the happy new law, "other than housing used as a childcare or health care facility when employees, children or patients are present" (emphasis Otto's -- and also note that it will be a very short step for some future "activist/lawyer" to argue that houses of parents with kids are in fact providing "childcare" and thus are in fact INCLUDED in the ban)
-- The wise Overlords of the City apparently can read people's minds and habits, since "The city said it would relax the ban at times when non-smokers aren’t present in a public area"
-- Passing the buck -- to, where else, PRIVATE INDUSTRY -- is the preferred method of coercion ("Business owners will be responsible for ensuring that all employees and patrons comply with the new law")
And for yer coupe de gracious, The Big Taco:
Individual citizens can report offenders to the city and officials will determine how to handle fines on a case-by-case basis, said Tony Coroalles, Calabasas city manager.
Right outta Uncle Joe Stalin's playbook...
So let me just say, all sarcasm and satire aside -- This is the Real Deal here, if you're truly and sincerely worried about government intrusion. This is the Real Deal, if you're truly and sincerely committed to "minority rights." This is the freakin' REAL DEAL if you're truly and sincerely adamant about Bill Of Rights freedoms.
But you know what, you Lefties? You're not. Not worried or committed or adamant, truly and sincerely. In the end, it's all about The Power...the ability to force people to live the way you think they should. The Power is the only thing you're truly and sincerely interested in.
"Speaking truth to Power", my ass.
Stick THAT in your !@#$% pipe and smoke it, you hypocrites.
Let's see how much the Self-Appointed Defenders Of Freedom will have to say about this...
No smoking -- OUTSIDE. In Calabasas, California, home of the famous frog-jumping contest (?) and hardcore Leftists.
All of the Usual Suspects have been soiling their shorts big-time over the Bush Big Brother Wiretapping tempest...where the authority is limited to people having conversations (no doubt to book those Dream Vacations) with places like Iran and Sierra Leone.
But Otto expects to hear some Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence, from those wingnuts when it comes to Calabasas' Brave New City...a place where:
-- Second-hand tobacco smoke is "a toxic air pollutant"
-- Magnanimously, private residential property is exempt from the happy new law, "other than housing used as a childcare or health care facility when employees, children or patients are present" (emphasis Otto's -- and also note that it will be a very short step for some future "activist/lawyer" to argue that houses of parents with kids are in fact providing "childcare" and thus are in fact INCLUDED in the ban)
-- The wise Overlords of the City apparently can read people's minds and habits, since "The city said it would relax the ban at times when non-smokers aren’t present in a public area"
-- Passing the buck -- to, where else, PRIVATE INDUSTRY -- is the preferred method of coercion ("Business owners will be responsible for ensuring that all employees and patrons comply with the new law")
And for yer coupe de gracious, The Big Taco:
Individual citizens can report offenders to the city and officials will determine how to handle fines on a case-by-case basis, said Tony Coroalles, Calabasas city manager.
Right outta Uncle Joe Stalin's playbook...
So let me just say, all sarcasm and satire aside -- This is the Real Deal here, if you're truly and sincerely worried about government intrusion. This is the Real Deal, if you're truly and sincerely committed to "minority rights." This is the freakin' REAL DEAL if you're truly and sincerely adamant about Bill Of Rights freedoms.
But you know what, you Lefties? You're not. Not worried or committed or adamant, truly and sincerely. In the end, it's all about The Power...the ability to force people to live the way you think they should. The Power is the only thing you're truly and sincerely interested in.
"Speaking truth to Power", my ass.
Stick THAT in your !@#$% pipe and smoke it, you hypocrites.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Know Your Target -- And Beyond
I can totally understand the big ruckus being made over the Dick Cheney shooting incident. He's a public figure, number one, so that goes completely with the territory. You screw up, you get headlines...no problem with that. And I'm not even gonna defend, at least vociferously, the scenario/circumstances surrounding the event. The title of this post is the FIRST RULE of hunter's safety, and it was burned into Otto's brain at an early age...thanks to Dad and a mandatory course I took in the great state of Montana circa 1970. I am 47 as I type so you can do the math...and figure out that I had a shotgun in my hands at a very early age. It's still that way in ol' MT. Which would probably shock and infuriate the anti-gun Left, all by its lonesome. A gun in the hands of a 12 year old?! Yeah bitch. But anyways...
Let us just make sure that we, all of us, understand a little about hunting birds...
Pheasants were my preferred target growing up, because they were the biggest and flew the slowest. (My first question to all of the Libs at work making fun of Doofus Dick the last two days has been: Have you ever shot a game bird? Guess how many have answered Yes? Correctomundo...ZILCH.) Even there, I almost shot my brother once on a hunt, when he had wandered up a hill the other side of a little gulch when Max, our completely retarded English Springer Spaniel, scared up a pheasant while I was walking point. The bird flew at about a perfect 90 degrees to where I was standing -- the classic line and the easiest shot -- and I swung the muzzle of the 20 gauge up and to the right perfectly and had a perfect lock when I saw Charlie standing right behind my shooting line. Still not sure how I managed to refrain from pulling the trigger because we'd walked like forever and not seen a bird that day, and you get really antsy for some action after 2-3 hours...but I did, and held the line on the bird some more, another second a half or so, until Charlie was out of the way, and then let 'er rip. And the bird went down. It may have been the best shot I've ever taken, and that's why it's still so clear in memory.
But here's the crucial part, the understanding part...what transpired that day happened in about three to four seconds max. And that is an ETERNITY compared to the way a quail comes out of the brush. I mean those critters just explode out, and are immediately up to about 35 mph cruising speed. You've got maybe a second, or two at the most, to get a shot off when you're hunting quail. Compared to pheasants, quail look like hummingbirds. And there is a lot of information you gotta process in that second or two. Heck, the average reaction time is about .3 seconds, right? Yeah...check it out yourself.
Again, no excuses on behalf of the Veep. ANY time somebody gets hurt in a hunting accident, it is the shooter's fault -- period. But aren't we forever hearing from the lib cogs some variation on the theme of "Don't criticize until you've actually walked in their shoes"? Maybe that admonition applies only to others, and not themselves...hmmm?
I can totally understand the big ruckus being made over the Dick Cheney shooting incident. He's a public figure, number one, so that goes completely with the territory. You screw up, you get headlines...no problem with that. And I'm not even gonna defend, at least vociferously, the scenario/circumstances surrounding the event. The title of this post is the FIRST RULE of hunter's safety, and it was burned into Otto's brain at an early age...thanks to Dad and a mandatory course I took in the great state of Montana circa 1970. I am 47 as I type so you can do the math...and figure out that I had a shotgun in my hands at a very early age. It's still that way in ol' MT. Which would probably shock and infuriate the anti-gun Left, all by its lonesome. A gun in the hands of a 12 year old?! Yeah bitch. But anyways...
Let us just make sure that we, all of us, understand a little about hunting birds...
Pheasants were my preferred target growing up, because they were the biggest and flew the slowest. (My first question to all of the Libs at work making fun of Doofus Dick the last two days has been: Have you ever shot a game bird? Guess how many have answered Yes? Correctomundo...ZILCH.) Even there, I almost shot my brother once on a hunt, when he had wandered up a hill the other side of a little gulch when Max, our completely retarded English Springer Spaniel, scared up a pheasant while I was walking point. The bird flew at about a perfect 90 degrees to where I was standing -- the classic line and the easiest shot -- and I swung the muzzle of the 20 gauge up and to the right perfectly and had a perfect lock when I saw Charlie standing right behind my shooting line. Still not sure how I managed to refrain from pulling the trigger because we'd walked like forever and not seen a bird that day, and you get really antsy for some action after 2-3 hours...but I did, and held the line on the bird some more, another second a half or so, until Charlie was out of the way, and then let 'er rip. And the bird went down. It may have been the best shot I've ever taken, and that's why it's still so clear in memory.
But here's the crucial part, the understanding part...what transpired that day happened in about three to four seconds max. And that is an ETERNITY compared to the way a quail comes out of the brush. I mean those critters just explode out, and are immediately up to about 35 mph cruising speed. You've got maybe a second, or two at the most, to get a shot off when you're hunting quail. Compared to pheasants, quail look like hummingbirds. And there is a lot of information you gotta process in that second or two. Heck, the average reaction time is about .3 seconds, right? Yeah...check it out yourself.
Again, no excuses on behalf of the Veep. ANY time somebody gets hurt in a hunting accident, it is the shooter's fault -- period. But aren't we forever hearing from the lib cogs some variation on the theme of "Don't criticize until you've actually walked in their shoes"? Maybe that admonition applies only to others, and not themselves...hmmm?
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