Do As I Say Not As I Do

School choice for the Obamas but not anyone else.

The Nanny State Strikes Again

I was just at the friendly neighborhood Walmart and figured that I had better start stocking up on those evil incandescent light bulbs. Earlier in the year I had hope that common sense might prevail and that the idiots in congress would reverse or delay their schemes to make everyone use flourescent bulbs by the year 2011. You know, those bulbs that contain mercury but that's not an issue just as long that 2011-restriction-bill gets passed, just as long as you consider a broken bulb hazardous and clear the building. You know, those bulbs that are getting cheaper but will suddenly have a disposal tax attached by the Obama administration to ensure proper disposal of all that hazardous mercury. At the very least I figure the gracious members of congress will allow us to purchase incandescent light bulbs as long as we pay some kind of carbon tax to offset all the damage we are surely doing to the environment. At least I hope so because at the moment there isn't anyone making those little 40W decorative bulbs that we use in the hallway or the dining room or the girls bedroom.

However 40W is no longer 40W. When I went to stock up on some 97cent boxes of incandescent bulbs I found that good ol' Walmart was making sure I was doing the right thing. So was GE. 40W bulbs, which are already pretty dim, are now 34W. 60W bulbs are 52W. 75W bulbs are 67W and 100W bulbs are 90W. The 50-100-150 are still (for the time being, 50-100-150).

I thought the point of using a light bulb was to (steady now) have light. If I wanted to have less than a 60W brightness I'd go and use a 40W. Now if I want 60W I have to (gasp) "waste" more electricity and use a 67W bulb. Which is exactly what I'm doing.

It's called the Law of Unintended Consequences and it affects just about everything government does. They intend to force us use less electricity but the end result will be us (or at least me) using MORE! I'd give more examples but right now I've got to go flip on every light in the house. Heck, I might even rip off the end of an extension chord and plug one end into the wall and leave the other on the ground so those electrons can just spill freely all over the place. After all, it's America and it's supposed to be my choice of what I do with the money that I have earned.

For a bit of added levity, here's a scan of some toilet paper I picked up at the same place. Yep, I'm just FLUSHING money down the drain. Be sure to tip your waitress!

The look on her face says "THIS BABY JUST SCREAMED FOR FOUR STRAIGHT HOURS. GO AHEAD... MAKE MY DAY."

I'm sure many of you can relate

Not our house but last night it almost could have been.

Everybody Loves Mail

One of the great things about writing CD reviews is being sent music from record companies, music that I would have never known about. Most of the time it's stuff that doesn't strike any inner chords but every now and then one resonates big time. Frost* is one such band.

Their first album, Milliontown, was a glorious mix of progressive rock. Yeah... that prog rock stuff. Except this isn't the self-indulgant stuff of today or the mellotron-drenched stuff of the 70s. Frost* is the creation of Jem Godfrey, some big time British pop producer who's done work with Atomic Kitten and various Walt Disney projects. Because of this pop music background he is able to make songs with instant appeal, songs that hook you on the very first listen, songs that nearly sound normal. However he's also able to add an amazing amount of depth to his music, making those "nearly normal" songs slowly reveal their nuances with each listen. In a nutshell it's the kind of music I love: well-written glossy rock/pop with enough intelligent progressive to keep you interested but not so many that you feel like you're doing calculus with each listen.

So Milliontown was a couple of years ago and there was nothing else I could find out on this band. A search for the band name brings up a Swedish dance-music duo or some other such rot. I figured Milliontown was just an amazing one-off project, never to be repeated (Toy Matinee, anyone?). Yesterday I opened a package and received a jolt of electricity through my brain... a new and completely unexpected album by Frost*!

It's currently spinning now for the first time and those immediate-gratification hooks are digging deep. It's like a surprise mini-birthday party for my brain!

Hear some samples here and surely you'll think I'm a dolt. But a happy dolt!

Also enclosed in the package was a massive 3-CD + 1 DVD retrospective set from Ayreon. I wished I liked this guy's music but despite trying to get into his past three albums I get nothin'. I mightily enjoyed his Stream of Passion project but his regular stuff... meh. What am I missing?

Fox Guarding the Chickens

Rent-controls began in New York City as a temporary emergency response to the Second World War.

Agriculture subsidies likewise were intended to be a temporary fix.

Back when it was newly built the parking fee at War Memorial Colesium (of twenty-five cents) was only going to last until it paid for the cost of paving the lot.

And how about that temporary 1% restaurant tax ten or so years ago that was going to go away just as soon as it paid for the convention center expansion of the Colesium (not the roof raising)?

When some politician says a tax or program is going to be temporary the only thing you can be certain of is that they are lying. Once they get that money coming in it takes a major effort to detox their system.

Spooky

Nothing New Under The Sun

From Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, a difficult but eye-opening and rewarding read:

"Jacob Maged, a forty-nine year old immigrant dry cleaner was jailed for three months for charging thirty-five cents to press a suit when the government insisted that all loyal Americans charged at least forty cents. Because one of the central goals of the early New Deal was to create artificial scarcity in order to drive prices up, the Agriculture Adjustment Administration ordered that six million pigs be slaughtered. Bountiful crops were left to rot. Many white farmers were paid not to work their land (which meant that many black tenant farmers went hungry). All of these policies were enforced by a militarized government.

"Meanwhile, under [General Hugh] Johnson's watchful eye, policement would break down doors with axes to make sure tailors weren't working at night and - literally - yank newsboys from the street because they didn't work for big corporations."

Sounds like eeeevil Republicans, right? Nope, it happened in the mid 1930's under FDR's New Deal, an administration that was much admired by Hitler.

A little bit later this same administration put over 100,000 Americans into concentration camps just because they were Japanese. Nice fellas.

Shadow of Things to Come

Obama invented a new office, "The Office of the President Elect", but apparently he's not even officially the President Elect until the electoral college votes are cast in early December.

Even more disturbing is how he vandalized the official Presidential seal.

To quote:

The seal did include the American bald eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch, but the Latin phrase “E Pluribus Unum” was changed to “Vero Possumus,” a rough translation of the Obama campaign slogan, “Yes we can.”

Obama’s seal also removed the shield over the eagle’s breast, representing the president’s oath to defend the Constitution, and replaced it with the letter “O,” presumably for Obama, and the image of the rising sun.

Why defend something as paltry as the little ol' Constitution when we have the Great and Mighty Obama to look out for us?

NOVA Tomfoolery

There's an episode of NOVA on right now where they have found a miniature adult skull (and fragments of twelve more miniature skeletons) in Indonesia (the country of Obama's citizenship) at a level estimated to be 700,000 years old (based on circular reasoning).

The average person would say, huh, a three foot tall adult. Bertha, that there is a midget!

But these scientists are saying "HOLD THE PRESSES! We've gots us a new human species and need to rethink all of evolution!"

Scientists... gotta love 'em!

Shafted

Many wondered if Mrs. Clinton campaigned so hard for Obama because of some kind of deal for him to repay her $13 MILLION debt she incurred while running against him. After all, he gets that kind of money in an hour from Winnie the Pooh.

But so far she has been disappointed because Obama has left her hangin' in the wind.

First his half-brother, then his aunt, then Mrs. Clinton... and soon the American people (even the lady who expect him to put gas in their car).

Mindless Distraction

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Now I'll Vacillate Over To Being Positive

In the wake of the recent election one has to wonder, has America gone completely left-wacko socialist?

No.

Consider that Obama went against his first campaign promise to limit financing to $84 million. It took $650 million (plus all the free positive media attention including over 50 magazine covers including six times on Time) to get him 62,000,000 votes and it only took McCain the limited $84 million to get his 62,000,000 votes in spite of constant negative media. Is anyone asking how much Michelle Obama's outfit cost last night? Also of note is how very early on McCain started pulling his punches, hamstringing his election team by placing such glaring issues as Obamas close ties with Rev. Wright in the "forbidden" zone. It's not playing dirty politics if you are telling the truth.

To get these votes Obama also had to publicly repudiate all of his past (ultra liberal) positions on guns, abortion, illegal immigration, school vouchers, past associations. He had to move to the center to get these votes. The same can be said for many of the Democrat Senators and Congresspeoples who received the vote. On a side note, no one will ever know just how many of these 62,000,000 votes came from ACORN-induced voters. Take those out of the equation and it's possible that McCain won the popular vote.

Finally McCain isn't exactly someone voters got excited about. One poll stated that adding the very conservative Palin increased his numbers by 13%. I know at my house we were very humdrum about McCain until he added Palin to the ticket.

Add all these up, plus the overwhelming support for traditional marriage, and it's actually fairly encouraging.

I've been reading a bit of the book Liberal Fascism, not exactly breezy reading, but in a chapter on Woodrow Wilson and his ideas were just as socialistic as Obamas. For instance it was a crime during WWI to criticize the government EVEN IN YOUR OWN HOME. Publications were shut down if they even hinted that the government was making a mistake and woah to the man who refused to buy enough Liberty Bonds.

But even with all those oppressive rules they could not change the hearts of the people, the hearts that voted in droves (popular vote, not electoral college) for McCain despite such towering odds. Even when the oppression begins and taxes go up for everyone (sure, income taxes may stay the same or even drop a bit but there will be Carbon taxes to crank up the prices of electricity and gas) and those who stand against el presidente get investigated (not uncommon during the Clinton years as well) the truth will remain in the hearts of America and that truth will eventually make things right again.



* Thanks to Glenn Beck for providing much of the meat of this post.

Bend Over!

Less than 24 hours after the election Obama is already saying, "Well, maybe I can't deliver on everything I promised."

From here I learned that Obama sez that we can expect the following glorious future!

• The deficit will be more than $1 trillion a year for several years
• The country needs a massive new fiscal stimulus
• The housing market will continue to decline through at least 2010
• Interest rates and taxes will eventually have to rise (after the economy stabilizes)
• Weak corporations have to be allowed to fail [we agree!]
  
• Millions of homeowners will lose their house
• Unemployment will probably rise to 10%
• The government simply cannot "bail the country out" -- not because it lacks the will, but because it lacks the power

So... "Thanks for voting for me. You will soon be experiencing high unemployment and a bunch of you will lose your jobs and I really WILL raise taxes on more than just those earning $250,000 (or $200,000 or $150,000 or $120,000). And see how the stock market is tanking 5% today? That's because I'm going to increase taxes on capital gains so you might as well pull your money out of the stock market. But at least my books are selling well. Oh, an that 'tax cut' may be delayed (see first link)."

Remember this?



You've been hoodwinked, lady!


The good news is that all that doom and gloom reporting on the economy is suddenly all roses now that a Democrat has been elected.

Call It What You Will

For quite a few years I use my lunch on Wednesdays to read a chapter of a Biblical commentary (the other days of the week I use my lunch to gamble and force bums to fight but that's another post). I'm not bragging (if I read a chapter every day then maybe), just setting the basis for this tale.

I am about halfway through a giant study on the book of John by James Montgomery Boice. Giant in that it spans five books and weighs in at close to 2000 pages and about 300 chapters. Being in the middle this is obviously an undertaking undertook many years ago.

So today I opened up yonder book to chapter 135, John 11:4:
When he heard this Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."

In the very first paragraph he mentions mankind's desire to know the future and that only God knows the future, specifically mentioning elections results as one of the things humans want to know.

The author then goes on to state that there are at least three reasons God lets us know that he knows the future: to let us know that His is God, to warn the ungodly of future judgement and to encourage his church.

I find it highly unlikely that it's coincidence that this encouraging chapter should be the one I read the day after this frightful election. In order for this to happen He would have had to orchestrate things years ago so that this chapter would fall on this particular day, just so I could have a morale boost. And if He's willing to go to such lengths just for a pick-me-up imagine what He'll do to watch over His children, even if they are under a tyrannical king.

Just Keep Smiling

Election Results

All the judges were retained, even the bad ones and all the code-blue conservative school board members were defeated. So bright spots include Mitch Daniels and Souder... yeah for our district having the most liberal of the Republican congressmen from Indiana! But at least he was in Ben Stein's eXpelled!

Also neither Senate nor House was able to get a supermajority so keep chanting GRIDLOCK GRIDLOCK GRIDLOCK!

This just in... I'm an enemy of the state.

I Smell A Racism !

Of course I'm talking about the 53% of those honkies who refuse to vote for a man strictly because of the color of his skin.

Trying to keep things brief

Vote for Obama and all your troubles will be over (24 seconds). You won't have to worry about gas in your car because everyone will be forced to take crappy public transporation.

Bigger and Morer Information on the Indiana Supremes from Big Doofus.

You can find general information on these justices and judges here:

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/retention/

You can find information on what some of the Supreme Court Justices believe about abortion and the Indiana Constitution here:

http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2005/11/ind_courts_supr_7.html

Note Justice Dickson in his concurring opinion on the case Clinic for Women v. Carl Brizzi in 2005:

I would affirm the trial court's dismissal of the complaint, thus reaching the same out-come as the majority opinion, but for different reasons. The majority leaves open the question of whether Article 1, Section 1, of the Indiana Constitution should be interpreted to provide protec-tion for a right to abortion. I prefer this Court to address that question and to explicitly declare that the Indiana Constitution does not protect any alleged right to abortion. In addition, because the challenged statutory pre-abortion requirements not only discourage harm to fetal life, but also protect the health of pregnant women, particularly in light of the risks to women from post-abortion psychological harm, I am convinced that these requirements not only are a proper exer-cise of legislative power but also are in direct harmony with and furtherance of core values of Article 1, Section 1, of the Indiana Constitution, which declares the inalienable right of "life" and the institution of government for the "peace, safety, and well-being" of the people.