Recently in General Musings Category
Swear to God, I'll write him in if I have to..........
Is bias in the MSM so pervasive now that they not only show bias to the D's, but they are now comfortable revealing their primary picks?
See if you can pick up the subtle bias in Hillary's favor here:
By last night, senior aides to Clinton, who represents New York, and Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, were quarreling on television, their raised voices a measure of how competitive the 2008 presidential campaign has become with more than six months until the first votes are cast.
Catch that? Clinton represents New York, while Obama is just the "junior" senator from Illinois. Why doesn't it say, "Clinton, the junior Senator from New York, and Obama, who represents Illinois......"? Only the "journalist" who wrote the article knows for sure.
The Hotline blog highlights this exhange between Barack Obama and George Stephanopolous:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've also said that with Social Security, everything should be on the table.OBAMA: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Raising the retirement age?
OBAMA: Everything should be on the table.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Raising payroll taxes?
OBAMA: Everything should be on the table. I think we should
approach it the same way Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan did back in
1983. They came together. I don't want to lay out my preferences
beforehand, but what I know is that Social Security is solvable. It
is not as difficult a problem as we're going to have with Medicaid and
Medicare.STEPHANOPOULOS: Partial privatization?
OBAMA: Privatization is not something that I would consider....
So everything should be on the table except the stuff that I don't want to be on the table. Idiot. Why is this lightweight even being humored with support in the polls?
Can we dispense with the "Charlie-Weis-is-a-genius" talk? Forever?
Thanks so much.
Well, this being January 2 and all, let's expand that to say, best headline of this college football season:
Wolverines go down with a whimper Rout by USC exposes Michigan as pretenders in national title picture
Amen, brother, amen!
Carr was asked whether USC could beat Ohio State. Who better to ask than the coach who had lost his last two games to them both?Carr, though, wasn’t biting.
“I’ll let you be the judge,” he said.
That's just Carr's way of saying, "There's no real way to tell, because we got way lucky to be able to score as many points as we did against Ohio State. If we had played them again, the result would probably have been the same as the USC game."
How many times does OSU have to beat them for people to get that they can't beat us?
Why would you want a rematch of a game that was just played? An OSU/UM rematch is completely different than, say, an OSU/UT rematch, or God forbid, a UM/Notre Dame rematch. Each team is a different team than they were in September. Thus a rematch would be an interesting test of each team's improvements and exposed deficiencies that perhaps weren't obvious in September.
On the other hand, OSU just beat Michigan. We're both the teams we'll be on January 8. So what's the point?
And I am tired of the argument that Michigan deserves more respect than Florida because they came within 3 points of the #1 team on their home field? Don't kid yourself. If we had played Michigan again, they wouldn't have come within two touchdowns. Face it: We handed them 10 points on a silver platter. Our first turnover game them the ball on what? Our 25? Anyone recall how many yards they gained on that series? Anyone familiar with the expression "3 yards and a cloud of dust?" Well, there was no dust. Just the 3 yards. The best the "second best team in the country" could muster on that drive starting at our 25 was three points, or put another way, 1 point per yard. They scored again when we coughed the ball up on the 9 yard line. So for those 10 points, they had to gain a whole 12 yards. If we play them again, they don't score those 10 points. Suddenly, their 3 point loss is a 13 point loss in a gaime they were never really in. I think it was Pat Forde on ESPN.com that pointed out that for all Michigan's heroics, they only had one opportunity to take the lead in the second half, (it was 31-35) and they went three and out. We promptly drove the length of the field for a touchdown. Game over.
Bring on the Gators. Michigan showed a complete inability to stop us. No doubt the Gators effort will be just as futile. Then can everyone shut up about the SEC being the best conference in the nation?
I frequent an online forum that has a popular thread entitled "unique baby names." You'd have to read it to believe it. Some people really are idiots. This may be the quote to end all quotes from the thread:
My daughter's name is Lochlyn Blue. We too wanted something unique, but not too odd. I don't imagine we'll encounter many other Lochlyn's throughout her life!
Unique, but not too odd? And you think "Lochlyn Blue" hit the mark? For the love of God, people! Think before you act. And if you act before you think, at least think before you open your mouth about it.
The latest argument against the President that's currently in vogue is the idea that we didn't do enough in Afganistan. That Iraq distracted from finishing the job in Afganistan. That because we changed our focus to Iraq so quickly, that the Taliban has been able to regain a foothold in Afganistan.
So tell me this. When was the last time a significant Al Queda operative was captured or killed in Afganistan?
Many people think that Osama is dead; those who think he's still alive say he's a lot of places, but not Afganistan. We bagged some of his cohorts in Pakistan, and bodybagged more than a few in Iraq. But we haven't found any in Afganistan. Why is that? Perhaps because we satisfied our objective in Afganistan, and it is now only marginally important to the war on terror?
We went to Afganistan because it was a haven for terrorists and OSB. Now it no longer is. Sounds like Mission Accomplished to me.
Is that even possible? An Al Queda operative was in Iraq? But Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror does it? Does it?
[Update: Best of the Web agrees]
Something that really bugs me are sanctimonious prigs who cover their cars with left-wing bumperstickers. I saw one today that pious asked, "Who would Jesus bomb?"
What a stupid friggin' question. Why on earth would Jesus use a bomb when he could just wipe out every living creature on the planet (except, of course, anyone he thought was righteous enough) with a flood?
Morale of the story: Don't get all self-righteous and start throwing around stupid cliches unless you really consider what you are saying.
And while I'm on the subject, you might do will to consider what the Islamofacists believe their Allah requires of them. In their view, the question "Who would Allah bomb?" is easily answered: everyone and anyone, as long as it's in Allah's name.
In light of enemy's mindset in this regard, Jesus just might do well to start packing some heat, if he cares for his flock.
Ever notice that when you see an MSNBC.com headline like:
"Croc Hunter's" death caught on tape | Video
The video link is never what you had hoped it would be? Or is that just me?
This is a pretty cool website that tells you how common your last name is. Type it in and the website will give you its rank in the top 55,000 surnames in the United States.
My wife claims that she guessed the top four in only four tries. How many guesses will it take you?
Sometimes, the contraints of headline writing, brevity being the most important, don't allow for an adequate description of the story below. Take this one, for instance:
Pregnant woman crashes car, gives birth alone
Wow! That's amazing, you say. That must be an amazing story, you think. But to really convey how amazing this story is, the headline should have been
Pregnant woman crashes car, gives birth alone in a partially submerged car, despite broken leg.
Now THAT's a story!
British authorities said Thursday they thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up 10 aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, averting what police described as “mass murder on an unimaginable scale.”
"Unimaginable"? Sadly, no. If 9/11 taught us anything, it's that nothing is "unimaginable."
This article about Maurice Clarett's unbelievable new arrest provides (unwittingly, I think) an incredibly valuable insight into how Clarett became Clarett.
Let's set the scene.
Clarett is arrested after an L.A.-style police pursuit (trailing helicopter and all!) on the highways and byways of benign Columbus. The police had to use a spike strip to get him to stop his car. When he finally did, he refused to leave his vehicle, he had to be forcibly removed and subdued with mace (the stun-gun didn't work because of the protective vest Clarett was wearing).
That's right - Clarett was wearing a bulletproof vest. He had a loaded 9mm under his legs on the driver's seat. A loaded "AK-47 type assault rifle" was at his side on the passenger seat. Two other guns were found in a backpack on the passerger side floor.
That's the backdrop. Here's the insight:
Clarett was planning on playing football in an indoor football league for a team called the Mahoning Valley Hitmen. Oh my God, the irony is so rich I feel like I need angioplasty. But that's not even the insightful part. Upon learning the news, here's what his erstwhile coach said:
The arrest will not affect Clarett’s status with the team, Terry said.“We gave him a chance and now we’ll wait to see what happens,” he said. “I’ve seen far worse situations than this.”
Wha-Wha-WHAT? He's seen far worse situations? Like what, if I may be so bold? Clarett was wearing a bulletproof vest, sitting on a 9mm and had an assault rifle within reach. It's not too ambitious a conjecture to suggest that quite possibly, the Columbus Police prevented a massacre of some sort.
That blase statement about Clarett's arrest from his coach provides a telling insight into the mentality of the people that he grew up with, learned from, returned to. It is sad and pathetic. With that kind of thinking influencing his development, it is not suprising that, according to MSNBC's Mike Celizic, he is one of sports's greatest flameouts.
One last thing: You think the name of his erstwhile team is ironic? Check out its logo.
Here are a couple of things I’ve learned recently.
1. Kids won’t eat anything, just because the food is endorsed by a famous celebrity.
2. Not even Hello Kitty.
3. Not even Hello Kitty Pop Tarts.
5. Meow-Berry is not an appealing flavor for kids.
4. At least one of my children won't eat anything with jimmies on it.
5. Not even Hello Kitty jimmies.
Who knew?
Well, obviously, Castro is dead. There's no other way to explain this bizarre turn of events, is there? By using the ricidulous claim that the United States is about to attack, Cuba can use the impending invasion as cover to mobilize the military throughout the country -- so that they can put down any resistance or any too joyous celebration when the truth about their dear leader comes out.
Love James Lileks. Read him every day. Agree with him on most stuff, as it turns out (except for his love of techno, of course). Anywho. He's a Mac guy. And like every Mac guy (sorry - Mac person), he's a bit, um, well, pious about Mac v. PC. Nobody's perfect (See, e.g., techo, supra). Anyway, his little rant today was a classic.
Here it is in a nutshell.
I installed the Gigawhatsis KT-18W5B3 software on the PC side of Gnat’s Macbook. This enabled me to ship my custom ringtones and wallpapers to the new phones.Did you plug the phone into the PC yet? Just wondering. 'Cuz if I were a PC, I'd be asking at this point, "why am I geting software for a Gigawhatsis KT-18W5B3 if I don't have a Gigawhatsis KT-18W5B3 installed? Oh well, people are stupid. Let me call up the wizard and install it anyway."
Set up was amusing, as ever: Windows is preparing to install a wizard that will prepare the installation of the installation wizard; please wait.You think Mac's don't do this only without announcing it? Perhaps the wizard should have just put on some jeans and a black t-shirt and lurked in the shadows sipping a grande latte.
The installation process included a screen with a warning: Warning! You may see this warning. Your computer may say that your computer is incompatible. Please disregard this message. You had to click a box that said, in effect, “I subscribe to this jury-rigged heap of code with the usual weary indifference,” after which you were permitted to continue.Windows is ubiquitous. Thus, gajillions of companies make bajillions of software applications for it. Not all of it is good or even always functional. Not Windows' fault. Apples are only used by [derogatory unfair generalization (a group to which Lileks doesn't belong in any case) omitted]. Thus, vastly fewer companies write code for it, and thus, the software that gets produced for it tends to be a little tighter. At this point someone who was less charitable might ask why Lileks wasn't installing the software on the Mac side of his Mac. Anyway....
When the Wizard was done I was presented with the Panasonic program for transferring files to the new phone. Spiffy! I plugged in the phone. Windows has detected something new; would you like to install the hardware for it? Well, I just did, didn’t I? Dismiss.
GGGGAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! NNNNNNNNNNNNOoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
This is precisely the point where every PC user lost interest in this particular rant. Who here doesn't know how this ends at this point? Show of hands? Because every PC user knows: Do not defy Windows. if it asks you to install something, you install it. Already installed it? Install it again! Period.
Sounds inefficient, I know. But its saves you from calling tech support for a phone.
I'm just sayin'.
P.S. I'd bet my mortgage that the directions instruct the user the connect the phone to the computer BEFORE installing the software. Again, I'm just sayin'.
Here's a classic bit of thinking from Chuck Schumer.
New York's senior senator said he was weighing Mr. Bolton's backing of Israel against his unwillingness to work with other countries at the United Nations. "There's a good part of Bolton. He's been a staunch and very good defender of Israel," Mr. Schumer said on CNN's "Late Edition." "There's a bad part of Bolton. He seems to have a ‘go it alone' attitude at a time when we need the nations of the world on our side. We've seen that in Iran and North Korea."
Got that? Schumer doesn't like it when Bolton "goes it alone" when we need other nations on our side. But Bolton's "staunch defense" of Israel is great. WTF?
We've been busting our ass (successfully) to get the rest of the Security Council on board with hemming in Iran. Ditto with North Korea. In fact, about the only subject upon which we are actually "going it alone" is.......wait for it.......
ISRAEL! We are Israel's only "staunch and very good defender." On every subject and practically every vote, we are "going it alone" on Israel.
Do politicians ever think about what they are going to say before they open their mouths?
