Saturday, December 29, 2007

I only wish Al Gore got a beating this bad

But I suppose once people stop proving PT Barnum correct by buying the Goracle's bullshit lock, stock and barrel, he'll get what's coming to him. So in that vein, I offer you another one of Mr. Alger's takedown of the Global Warming Hoax.

Human caused Global Warming is nothing but a steaming pile of rotten horse shit. Period.

Where's my list?

Grocery Shopping? Done.

Mow and trim the lawn? Done. As a side note, once I have my own house I'm going to rip out every last little bit of grass and have nice brick-paved walkways with raised garden beds. Screw this lawn crap.

Breakfast? Done, a long time ago. Lunch? Getting there soon.

Hell, my chores are done. I'm going to enjoy the rest of the day!

Fill in the bubble

Sondra K has a challenge for you - Hillary needs a thought bubble. Here's mine:



Go to town! Meheh!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Pelosi(D) & Rangel(D) were warned

Pelosi(D) & Rangel(D) were warned that their games:
Pelosi Backs Higher Taxes
Would cause delays:
Democrats' failure to patch the AMT until after the deadline for printing IRS forms will result in tens of millions of late tax refunds.
But don't expect the MainStreamMedia to be honest on why you got screwed:
IRS says more than 3 million could have to wait until February to get refund
The (D)emocrats wanted tax increases AND a tax cut for the rich... so you pay.

The "BigLie"? It was the AMT that resulted in Bush's tax cuts targeting the middle class... the oft-repeated lie that Bush's tax cuts were for the rich is exposed by the (D)emocrats' scramble to raise the limit on the AMT that hits urban 'Blue' voters especially hard.

Cross Posted at DANEgerus

Thursday, December 27, 2007

I'm with Kim du Toit

It's not like I trust the biased, agenda pushing Old-Stream Media at all these days, but sometimes you need to be reminded.

I’m starting to read more and more doom ‘n gloom stories about a looming recession in the U.S.—this in spite of other reports which showed Q3 growth was higher than forecast, and Christmas sales being up by 3.6% (brick ‘n mortar) and by 22% (online).

Before anyone starts talking about the economics, let me just pause for a moment and ask: if the public can be talked into believing that a recession is about to hit, or even has hit (despite the numbers), which party would benefit more from such a result, come the elections in Nov 2008?

Why of course: our old friends, the Democrats Socialists American Communist Party.

(Fixed that for ya there, Mr. DT)

Here's something to remember - when you hear all the howling and shrieking about how bad the economy is, before you take it to heart you need to look at who is doing the howling and shrieking. Are the Democrat American Communist Party members doing the yelling? Yes. Are the whores and propaganda organs otherwise known as the Main Stream Media yelling the same message? Yes.

Then it's bullshit, plain and simple.

How many consecutive quarters of growth have we had now? How many records has the Dow Jones set or broken? What's the NYSE sitting at now? This economy has been going like gangbusters, but at the first sign of a housing market correction all the usual suspect start screaming about how it's a recession or a failing economy or some other twaddle like that. It's bullshit. Partisan bullshit, designed to help and aid the worthless bastard commies of the Left. A pox on all of 'em. Gah. I can't even read about or listen to a Leftist shithead these days without my blood pressure spiking. They are either power-hungry liars, of they're so damn stupid and gullible that they need to be taken out of the gene pool.

Crap

This ain't good at all. And Pakistan just took another step towards anarchy.

I did nothing yesterday

And I mean nothing. I didn't leave the house. I vegetated. And you know what? It felt good. It was the first day I had to myself in a looooooooooong time.

So I apologize for not posting anything, but I barely looked at the internet yesterday. All I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and relax. So I did.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

I hope anyone reading this blog today is going to shortly be disconnecting from the internet and spending time with family or friends. The Ragin' Mrs. and I will be spending time together and relaxing today. We went over to a friend's house yesterday and had a flat-out awesome dinner.

The Heartless Libertarian emailed me a story about Southwest Airlines that I'd like to pass along today (link goes to his blog post about it). Good things do happen.

So I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Music

This is going to be a long, rambling post, which probably won't make sense at all. Just so you're warned. I'm not exactly all that coherent right now, and my mind is wandering like a horse escaped from a barn. A horse with ADD. So read on at your own risk.

Ever had someone ask you what sense you'd rather lose over all others? You know, "What would you rather live without - sight, hearing, smell, ect., ect,. ect" For some reason I always had people ask me that as a kid. Maybe I just had some really messed up people around me as I grew up. That could explain quite a bit. But even as a young kid, I always picked anything other than my hearing. I need my hearing. Not for my job, or for my family, but for music. Without music, I would probably end up dead within a year. I'd off myself, most likely. Music is my drug of choice, and it can affect me like nothing else with the exception of my wife. Right now I'm listening to KT Tunstall. When I first heard her songs (and I'm sure you've heard at least one of them on the radio) I thought "Hey, catchy tune" The music was good, but it was nothing that made me jump up and buy the CD.

Then I saw a video of her live, singing "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" solo. It was just her, a guitar, a tambourine and a repeater that she used with great effect. And it sounded just as good, if not BETTER, than the radio version. That's what got me hooked.

In the day and age of Britney Spears, Lindsey whatshername, and countless other pop "artists" who's success can be chalked up to someone else's writing and a really good computer program, seeing someone get up there by themselves and sing their hearts out makes me want to jump for joy.

I've probably written about this before but what the hell here I go again. I honestly believe that music has degraded over the years. Before I bought the KT Tunstall CD I hasn't bought a "new" CD in years. By new, I mean that the CD is from a modern band. I've bought some Bach, Yo Yo Mah, and music that while performed in modern times was written several hundred years ago. The fact that I got so damn excited over a woman PERFORMING HER OWN SONGS ON HER OWN without a synthesizer or some other computer program making her sound good made me reflect on that. I've often said that modern music is crap. I'm going to have to revise that statement, because on it's own it's not true. So the modified statement is this: Modern music, as foisted upon America by the music industry, is almost all crap. Via Instapundit comes this statement from David Byrne:

What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists.
And a truer statement has yet to be written. So many music artists aren't musicians at all; they're people who have been picked to fit a certain look, given music that someone else has written, told how to sing it, told how to dance, and had everything run through a computer to make sure it sounds good. Think of all the "bands" that have come and gone over the years. The Backstreet Boys. 98 Degrees. N'Synch. Britney Spears. Christina Aguilera was in danger of falling into that group, before someone told her that naughty sounding bubblegum pop was a loosing proposition. The One-Hit Wonders of the 80's, who after expending the whole of their creativity on one song faded into obscurity where they quite honestly belonged.

And don't get me started on rap. I can't stand it. Hate it. Rap is a combination of banality and a total lack of musical talent. But there's something worse that I've been exposed to down here in Puerto Rico. Reggeton. For those who don't know what reggeton is, count your blessings. Take all the worst aspects of rap, and take away what little skill is needed for even that, and you have reggeton. I swear to you, every computerized beat is exactly the same. It never changes from song to song, from "artist" to "artist". It's like they made a beat on a Casio keyboard and then just passed that keyboard around in the studio. It is mind-numbingly alike, and it's all over this island. I can't stand it. As someone who loves actual music, being subjected to reggeton is like having hot pokers jammed into my ears.

But this post is about music I enjoy, isn't it? So let me continue on that path. If I had to pick one season who's music I could listen to for years on end, it would be Christmas. And while modern Christmas music often falls into the "modern" side of the scale instead of the "Christmas" side, you have centuries of music to listen to.

Yes. Centuries. All you have to do is look in any Catholic missal.

Oh Come All Ye Faithfull (or it's proper name, "Adeste Fideles") written in the 1800's.
Joy To The World, music written by G.F. Handel, early 1700's.
Lo, How a Rose ere Blooming (original German - Es ist ein Ros ent­sprung­en) 1599.

You can find more, but these songs were written by true musical composers. What's more, they were meant to be sung by ordinary people. It's a sad fact that most people today cannot carry a tune in a bucket, much less harmonize or sing a descant to any of the above listed songs. But at least at Christmas, people try. I've found that by and large it's not a matter of musical talent or the lack thereof, it's that people aren't taught to sing music anymore. In all the hustle and bustle of daily life, people have forgotten what makes life worth living, until they turn to me when I sing at church and go "Gosh, you're good!" No, no I'm not. My vocal abilities are modest at best, but I had several years of being taught how to sing from my high school, from my parents, and from people I admired for their vocal talents. I have had the great fortune to be around musicians when I was growing up, and while I might not be able to do what they can do, I can at least appreciate it.

In any case, during the Christmas season I'm in heaven musically speaking. And while being down here dampens a bit of my Christmas spirit, I still have my music to listen to and remind me that things will get better. We won't be able to do four part harmony in church this year, but two part is within our grasp. Real music, performed live. Hell, it's half the reason I'm in the choir be begin with.

Any post I put up tomorrow will be short, so if folks choose to do the smart thing and turn off your computer in order to be with their family, let me wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I'll be spending it with my wife, curled up on the couch, dreaming of a roaring fireplace and snow on the ground.

Slightly deviant Christmas photos

One of our commenters, Frankly Opinionated, has sent me a picture of a snow angel to remind me of home. I debated with myself about putting it on the blog, until I remembered that most people have seen much worse on network TV.

So, from F.O., here's a snow angel to make you think of the holidays!



Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

More "Support" from the Left

The Daily Kos is now equating US Soldiers to Hamas Suicide Bombers. Isn't that sweet? Isn't that nice? Just in time for Christmas!

Degenerate fucking twats. If you want to see why this country has the problems it has, just take a good look at the Daily Kos.

The Rot of a Leftist Mind

Kevin Baker has up a post that absolutely destroys a movie that's come out recently - "Why We Fight". The movie is (to simplify it extremely) an anti-war propaganda piece that plays fast and loose with the facts, and Mr. Baker counters it point by point. It's a long post, and quite worth the read.

But I'm not here to critique Mr. Baker's post. No, I'm blogging on this because of one of his commenters, Markadelphia. Reading Markadelphia's comments is a look into the derangement that is Liberalism, one small bit at a time. What really made me just shake my head this last time is after being accosted with truth and facts, he pops off with:

Reality is what you make it, Kevin. There are many people in the world who want peace. Someday they may succeed. What if it happens? As long as people believe that war is inevitable, it will be. Ever read On War by Clausewitz?

Reality is what you make of it, says Markadelphia the deranged Leftist. And there lies a huge part of the problem with Leftism. It's in La-La land. It doesn't have any basis in reality, because to a Leftist reality isn't solid. Reality is what you make of it.

What a bunch of absolute horseshit. Reality is NOT what you make of it. Reality simply IS. Maybe in Markadelphia's little make believe world where little bunnies hop and snuggle up with cute fuzzy wolf puppies and everyone is buddies, and nobody ever does anything wrong or mean, and everything bad is because the USA is a big mean nasty bully, reality doesn't have any basis in factual events. But in the REAL world, where actions and reactions are based on REAL events, with REAL consequences, reality is more than something that you can just say "Oh, it is what you make of it."

You do not MAKE reality. You deal with it. You cannot change it. Truth and facts are not subject to anyone's whims or desires.

But when you start to think that reality "is what you make of it", then you start to believe that you can change it. All the sudden, reality doesn't really matter, because you can just wave your hand and make it something else.

Maybe that's how they think that high taxes are good for the economy, when reality shows the opposite. Maybe that's how they think that socialized medicine is better than a privatized system, when reality shows the opposite. Maybe that's why they think gun control lowers crime, when reality shows the opposite. maybe that's why they think that government control over more and more of a citizen's life is a good thing, when reality shows the opposite.

Reality doesn't matter to them, because it is what you make of it.

Oh, and Markadelphia is a big fan of Micheal Moore as well. No big surprise there, eh?