COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Ayn Rand, Is there any There, There?

121 comments:

  1. I believe I'd be willing to bet my testicles that that young woman with the tattoos isn't the 45 year old Melody that I know and love but rather some other, possibly her pretty daughter, not that it makes any difference. As she is certainly more interesting than Ayn Rand, who should be replaced in anyone's library by, say, Evelyn Underhill, who actually knew something.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder if the daughter is in on this game. They are very close. She came home today with two fedora hats, sounding like one for each, to me.

    I think it is kinda a neat relationship, and the little grand daughter is a knockout.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How might you feel Quirk if you were to find you had been panting panting panting after Melody's daughter?


    if

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This fellow bet his testicles, and lost

    New York Times

    JERUSALEM - Former President Moshe Katsav of Israel was convicted of two counts of rape by a Tel Aviv court on Thursday, capping a sordid four-year spectacle that began with accusations of sexual misconduct against him while he was ...


    Another symptom of dysfunction?

    ReplyDelete
  5. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An Iraqi asylum seeker accused of plotting a shooting attack on the Copenhagen office of a newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad was freed Thursday due to an apparent lack of evidence.

    Once again the air has left allen's balloon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. India and Iran are at loggerheads, over the oil that India buys from Iran. The reason:

    Indian analysts said the oil dispute was the result of U.S. pressure on the international community to stop dealing with Tehran to force it to abandon its nuclear program.

    The US is finally getting it done, under an Obama Administration initiative.

    A task that was beyond the Republicans grasp, to isolate Iran, economically.

    Wonder why that was?

    ReplyDelete
  7. An interesting story, the baseline of which is patently clear.

    TEL AVIV—A leading Palestinian businessman is bidding to take over an ill-fated real-estate venture in an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, upsetting Israeli settlers who are trying to put together a counteroffer.

    Nof Tzion, Hebrew for Zion View, is a half-built project located in a mostly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, marketed two years ago to wealthy U.S. Jews as a luxury residence with a panoramic vista of Jerusalem's Old City. Though the 91 units of the first phase of the development have been sold and occupied, Israeli developer Digal Investment & Holdings Ltd. couldn't complete the project or repay its bondholders, mostly Israeli institutions. Representatives of Digal weren't available to comment.

    Jewish residents of the project are now livid at the idea that the project could be turned over to a Palestinian. The Palestinian businessman, Bashar Masri, said that if his bid is successful, he plans to offer houses in subsequent phases to Palestinians. His bid was discussed at a meeting of bondholders in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon.

    Mr. Masri, a U.S. citizen who grew up in the West Bank, is offering to repay 80% of bondholder debt totaling $17 million, according to a person close to the bidder. Digal also owes some $20 million to Bank Leumi Ltd. of Israel for project financing.
    ...
    Though Israelis consider all of Jerusalem their capital, the international community considers the Arab neighborhoods annexed to the city in 1967 as part of the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Jewish neighborhoods there are deemed settlements. Continued Israeli building in East Jerusalem has triggered U.S. protests and prompted the Palestinians to refuse to participate in peace talks.

    Unlike most Jerusalem building projects, which were initiated by the government, Nof Tzion was the first Jewish development in East Jerusalem to be financed by a public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange


    The only way that the Israeli could develop the occupied Palestinian territories was through socialism and government funding. Private capitalism just can't get 'er done.

    The hand of the State was required, first to seize that land, militarily, and then develop it, in a socialisticly subsidized manner.

    Israel represents the creeping socialism that is devouring "the West", not the open capitalistic economy that drives productivity and freedom, that are the real hallmarks of "Western Civilization".

    ReplyDelete
  8. The White House on Wednesday praised the Reserve Bank of India for reducing its dealings with Iran's central bank.

    "We think the Reserve Bank of India has made the right decision to carefully scrutinize and reduce its financial dealings with the Central Bank of Iran," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an email.

    "This latest action adds to the growing list of companies, financial institutions and governments that are increasingly concerned about Iran's misuse of trade and financial relationships to support illicit activity, including its nuclear program."
    ...
    U.S. President Barack Obama visited India last month and promised to help New Delhi boost its global role, including by supporting its bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.


    Another case where the US is moving forward, under the leadership of Mr Obama.

    Nay say as you wish.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Five Muzzies were arrested for terrorism. One Muzzie was released for "apparent" lack of evidence.

    ...and...your point...

    Hot air has expanded your head, again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. no dysfunction...

    merely proof that the Israeli justice system works...

    also proves that claiming to be from an oppressed minority doesn't cut any ice in Israel...

    Bill Clinton is free, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A penguin was eaten by a shark today.

    A building permit was issued for the construction of an apartment in Jerusalem today.

    The connection is stupefying!

    …yet another case of synaptic entropy…

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is dysfunctionality, in spades.

    Obama bypasses Senate, appoints envoy to Syria

    Just another day in rat's Amerika.
    (Don't even think about complaining, Fauxboys!)

    ReplyDelete
  13. It appears that the myth of Ayn Rand is being deconstructed. Whether this is an orchestrated effort, I do not know, but it is certainly in the interest of many to discredit Rand and by extension, her ideology of limited government and laissez-faire capitalism.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Obama bypassing the Senate, that is how the System was designed to function, it is not a symptom of dysfunction.

    Or there'd be no precedent for recess appointments.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The administration had argued that returning an ambassador to Syria after a five-year absence would help persuade Syria to change its policies regarding Israel, Lebanon and Iraq as well as its willingness to support extremist groups.

    We'll see.

    Syria is designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Syria is a terrorist state!

    I don't think the practice of recess appointments ever contemplated sending DoS buddies to rogue states.

    ...But, this is your Amerika.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I bet that Syria is off that list by the end of Obama's first term.

    ReplyDelete
  18. RE: Palestinians’ UN Gambit Puts Both Israel and Obama on the Spot

    "...it seeks a declaration that Israeli settlements are 'illegal'...”

    "...the asserted illegality has no foundation in international law..."

    ReplyDelete
  19. whit said...
    I bet that Syria is off that list by the end of Obama's first term.

    Thu Dec 30, 09:16:00 AM EST



    Whit, Obama just did! That is how things now work in rat's "progressive" Amerika. There is no need for messy negotiation and possible defeat; just make it up as you go along. It's all good cause doctors drive big cars, live in big houses, and play golf.

    I cannot wait to hear the howling when these bozos discover the 3.8% tax on the sale of real estate contained within OBAMACARE.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Leftists seem to think that what they think and believe are all that's need to constitute "legal and constitutional."

    With no common basis in law (or ideological foundation) whatever "feels" right becomes right. The left uses this fog to advance it's agenda.

    There were more articles yesterday about the Obama administration forging ahead via EPA requirements for 'carbon permits.'

    ReplyDelete
  21. Snopes on the 3.8% tax.

    Don't worry, it's just on the rich.

    (This year)

    ReplyDelete
  22. A few comment..

    I am a fan of Ayn Rand, her ideas are valid, clear minded and make sense.

    Israel has proved ONCE AGAIN that it is a nation of laws. And no one is above the laws.

    I am proud of Israel today, sad as well, but proud. Sexual predators abound across the globe and should be given no quarter anywhere.

    One standard for all... Yeah right... Let's not even attempt to apply Israeli standards to the region she lives in...

    Arafat? lol...

    ReplyDelete
  23. her ideology of limited government and laissez-faire capitalism.


    I don't mind that but it's always seemed to me there is a great big gaping hole in Rand where some spirituality should be.

    Also she takes this individualism too far.

    "One man alone ain't got a chance."

    Ernest Hemingway

    ReplyDelete
  24. Someone will please have to explain to me one more time why Jews fell all over themselves to vote for Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Danish Police arrested five individuals suspected of a possible terrorist act on Wednesday, as reported by all major Scandinavian news media.
    Four of the suspects were Swedish residents and three had Swedish citizenships. Police believe that the group was planning an attack on the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten with the aim of “killing as many as possible.”



    4 still in custody...

    muzzies...

    ReplyDelete
  26. whit,

    I have lost count of the number of times "progressives" were going to save the poor by gouging the rich. Dick Gephardt was the all-time master of the ploy. At the end of the day, it has always been the middle-class paying the bills. Once the taxman gets a taste of that 3.8% freebie, watch out John Q. Public.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Twelve Somali men have been arrested in Rotterdam on suspicion that they were on the verge of conducting a terrorist act. No weapons or explosives were found, Public Prosecution Service spokesman Wim de Bruin told CNN. All suspects remain in police custody.

    The 12 suspects were all men between the ages of 19 and 48. They were arrested in various locations. Police have searched a pawn shop, four homes and two hotel rooms.

    LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "The attack was said to be imminent so the national police started an investigation which led to the arrest of 12 Somalis later on Friday in Rotterdam," de Bruin said. "We are not sure about what the target was, how they were going to carry out the attack or when."


    all muzzies all the time

    ReplyDelete
  28. JAKARTA

    Police said on Friday they had arrested top terror suspect Abu Tholut, seen as one of the most dangerous Islamist extremists in the country.

    Tholut, 49, is suspected of playing a lead role in the formation of a militant training camp that was found in Aceh in February, as well as recruiting militants and raising illegal funds for terror activity.

    Police spokesman Djihartono said the suspect also known as Mostofa, Pranata Yuda and Imron Baehaqi was arrested without a fight in Kudus, Central Java province, on Friday morning.


    muzzie

    ReplyDelete
  29. A young Muslim stands accused of plotting to blow up U.S. military recruiting centers in Maryland.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Antonio Martinez, who now calls himself Muhammed Hussain, wanted to strike at the U.S. military because he believes it's waging a war on Muslims.

    However, the recent Muslim convert did not realize his fellow plotters were FBI agents. They supplied him with the fake car bomb that he tried to plant and detonate at a recruiting center.

    The bombing attempt and subsequent arrest of Martinez in Catonsville outside of Baltimore surprised some who work and live around the center.


    muzzie

    ReplyDelete
  30. British antiterrorist forces arrested 12 people in raids carried out Monday, December 20, 2010 am local time. A dozen people were arrested in a massive operation, planned and initiated action intelligence. The suspects, aged 17 to 28 years were held in London, Cardiff, Central England. They were interrogated on the same day, said West Midlands police officers. A security source said on CNN, all Pakistani nationals suspected. Added the source, the British domestic intelligence agency, known as MI5, led these raids.



    muzzie

    ReplyDelete
  31. Spanish National Police has arrested eight suspected Islamic terrorists in raids on several flats in the central Ravel district of Barcelona and in Badalona. It's thought that those arrested are linked to Al Qaeda and the arrests come at the same time as other detentions in other countries.

    The eight, all Pakistani nationals, are thought to be linked to a network of document falsification and to have been collaborators in the Mumbai bomb attacks in 2008 and to have sent fake passports to the country.


    muzzies

    ReplyDelete
  32. Karachi: Terrorist arrested, suicide jackets recovered
    KARACHI - 15th December 2010

    Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on Wednesday arrested a terrorist and recovered two suicide jackets and explosive from his custody in Karachi.

    According to police, terrorist Imam-Ud-Din belongs to banned organization Lashkar-e-Janghavi. Accused was also involved in 2002 Sheraton Hotel attack in Karachi.

    muzzies

    ReplyDelete
  33. While the poor Palestinians distract as they touch the heartstrings of progressives everywhere, Venezuela will be taking delivery of Iranian missiles. The problems in SW Asia seem to be growing some mighty long legs.

    Calling James Monroe! Calling James Monroe!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Cause of their tradition of social concern, for the poor, the worker etc. Deuce, is all I can come up with. It's hard to stop being a democrat.

    But many are doing it now.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Pakistan: Suicide bomber who struck refugees waiting for food was wearing burqa
    Police said "the attacker was a woman, who resisted being searched and hurled a hand grenade at security guards at the checkpoint before triggering her bomb..."

    Did they offer her the option of a self-administered pat-down and hand swab?

    An update on this story, as recent reports point to a single attacker. "More than 80 dead in Pakistan bombing and raids," from Agence France-Presse, December 25 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

    More than 80 were killed in a suicide bombing on a World Food Programme project and a series of helicopter raids against militant camps in Pakistan, officials said.
    A suicide bomber wearing a burqa, who some officials said was a woman, killed at least 41 people at a World Food Programme distribution point in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

    muzzie

    ReplyDelete
  36. Calling James Monroe! Calling James Monroe!

    :)

    Not a bad idea, not bad at all.

    ReplyDelete
  37. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up next to a string of shop stalls inside an eastern Afghan army base on Sunday, killing two NATO service members and at least two civilians, officials said.
    The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying it was a suicide attack by a Taliban sleeper agent who had joined the Afghan army so that he would be able to kill foreigners.

    muzzie

    ReplyDelete
  38. WiO said,

    The 12 suspects were all men between the ages of 19 and 48.


    Had you added "Muslim" before "men", you would have had almost the perfect PROFILE.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Yeah, its always a bad sign when "Tony" becomes "Mo".

    It is interesting to note that the bad guys are using a few more "exceptions" (women and migrants, for example), knowing that this will feed into the Federal disinformation campaign against profiling.

    On the whole, profiling would still snag the vast majority of bad guys.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Deuce said...
    Someone will please have to explain to me one more time why Jews fell all over themselves to vote for Obama.


    I think the answer is easy...

    The majority of Jews (me included) do not forget Nixon and the GOP's treatment of Jews.. From Bush Sr and James Baker, Weinberger and company to the ethnic comm....

    But the Jews that voted for Obama refused to see the truth under the surface because the TRUTH was far to unbelievable..

    A mainstream democrat candidate that actually was a member of a black liberation, anti-semetic church with louis farrakan as a buddy?

    denial aint just a river in egypt...

    there is still a healthy % of Jews that are still democrats no doubt but I have the feeling the democrats now are at the lowest they every have been by the Jews of America.

    I remember Obama speaking to us, just after he announced he was running, in Washington DC, it took me all of 4 minutes on my laptop to see the truth and get ill. but the truth??? obama had lined up the powerful jews of chicago and reform judaism to get their blessings...

    Obama is a great liar....

    he even said his ability is for people to PROJECT what they want to hear and see ONTO him.. their hopes...
    their dreams...

    He's one very smart, evil jackoff...

    ReplyDelete
  41. Baghdad Police HQ Destroyed by Suicide Bombs, Police Chief Dead

    BAGHDAD — An attack by three suicide bombers in the northern city of Mosul killed a top police commander there and destroyed the police headquarters on Wednesday morning, adding more unrest to a region already torn by extremist violence.


    The police commander who was killed, Lt. Col. Shamel Ahmed al-Jabouri, had been hailed for taking on terrorist groups in the area. The attack was the sixth attempt on his life, and the second in the past three months, according to a police official.

    ReplyDelete
  42. We're off to breakfast and Lewiston to get my official stamped plat map. There's an outside chance I may have a buyer for all of Phase I, minus four reserved lots. I certainly hope so, I'm tired or working.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I remember when we first moved back home years ago to a part of Philly that was once all Jewish and now, well, the synagogues are still there. The first week my neighbor knocked on my door to introduce himself and handed me two voter registration cards and told me he had signed us up for the democratic party.

    He was Jewish.

    ReplyDelete
  44. MeLoDy said...
    I remember when we first moved back home years ago to a part of Philly that was once all Jewish and now, well, the synagogues are still there. The first week my neighbor knocked on my door to introduce himself and handed me two voter registration cards and told me he had signed us up for the democratic party.

    He was Jewish.


    How is that possible?

    He forged your signatures?????

    Did you call the Federal Election Officials????

    ReplyDelete
  45. Look for the UNION label...

    These garbage men really stink.
    Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.

    Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.

    "They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important," said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.
    Halloran said he met with three plow workers from the Sanitation Department -- and two Department of Transportation supervisors who were on loan -- at his office after he was flooded with irate calls from constituents.


    Time to bust the union...

    ReplyDelete
  46. Columnist James Ahearn of New Jersey's Bergen Record has a great column on, of all things, the stagehands at New York city's top performing arts venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. These are not highly skilled or technical jobs but take a gander at how much they are paid:

    At Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, the average stagehand salary and benefits package is $290,000 a year.

    To repeat, that is the average compensation of all the workers who move musicians' chairs into place and hang lights, not the pay of the top five.

    Across the plaza at the Metropolitan Opera, a spokesman said stagehands rarely broke into the top-five category. But a couple of years ago, one did. The props master, James Blumenfeld, got $334,000 at that time, including some vacation back pay.

    Ahern also notes that the top paid stagehand at Carnegie Hall makes $422,599 a year in salary, plus $107,445 in benefits and deferred compensation. So why such exorbitant pay? You probably already guessed that a union is involved:

    How to account for all this munificence? The power of a union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. "Power," as in the capacity and willingness to close most Broadway theaters for 19 days two years ago when agreement on a new contract could not be reached.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Time to look at pay scales of all those that suck on the TIT of government.

    Yep and that also means Social Security

    No more money to ACORN...

    No more 100k garbage men...

    ReplyDelete
  48. Some Huge Economic Reports out this morning.

    A very nice drop in jobless claims (finally got below 400,000,) a good up-tick in Sales of Existing Homes, and a Blockbuster Chicago PMI - 68.6 IIRC.

    The Stock Market, of course is Selling Off.

    Also, a very "bullish" oil inventory report.

    Oil, of course, is selling off, also.

    I'd rather have a sister working in a whorehouse than a brother day-trading stocks, and commodities.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Russian tycoon Khodorkovsky gets 6 more years
    AP –
    MOSCOW – Jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to six more years in prison Thursday following a trial seen as payback for his defiance of Vladimir Putin and as a test of the rule of law in Russia.


    Don't cross Putin.

    O'Donnell: Spending accusations are 'thug' tactics

    O'Donnell: "Given that the king of the Delaware political establishment just so happens to be the vice president of the most liberal presidential administration in U.S. history, it is no surprise that misuse and abuse of the FBI would not be off the table."

    ReplyDelete
  50. it's really "atlas shrugged" in slow motion...

    i see it daily...

    ReplyDelete
  51. I'm telling you that's what he did. Maybe I did sign something. I don't recall. But I had no problem when I went to vote. I do know that.

    ReplyDelete
  52. What next?

    "Tampa, Florida-- With New Year's Eve only days away, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expects this to be one of the deadliest weeks of the year on the roads.

    But now a new weapon is being used in the fight against drunk driving.

    It's a change that could make you more likely to be convicted.

    "I think it's a great deterrent for people," said Linda Unfried, from Mother's Against Drunk Driving in Hillsborough County.

    Florida is among several states now holding what are called "no refusal" checkpoints.

    It means if you refuse a breath test during a traffic stop, a judge is on site, and issues a warrant that allows police to perform a mandatory blood test."

    ReplyDelete
  53. Always done for the most high-minded of reasons and th greatest of intentions and of course, with your welfare in mind. May I also add the necessary, "if you are innocent , why should you object?"

    ...""We don't want to violate people's civil rights. That's the last thing we want to do, but we're here to save lives," Unfried said.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Why do Jews vote for Democrats?

    Among other things, including strong socialist tendencies since European emancipation, there was the Suez Crisis (1956). Recall: Eisenhower's administration and the world, to placate Arabs, had been willing to become deaf, dumb and blind to Egypt's shutting off the Suez Canal and the Tiran Straits to Israel. Only when Nasser nationalized the Canal, placing both Britain and France's oil imports at risk, did anyone act against the Arabs.

    Eisenhower later regretted having intervened against Britain and France. He did not, I gather, feel the same regret when it came to their ally Israel, who had done most of the heavy lifting to keep trade routes open.

    The United States and Israel did not become "joined at the hip" until the '73 Yom Kippur War.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Deuce,

    Yes, I saw that news about forced phlebotomy.

    You may be interested to know that this has been common practice in Germany for years.

    ReplyDelete
  56. I never realized you could refuse a breath test at a check point.

    ReplyDelete
  57. You can in Idaho, but we rarely have those kind of check points anyway. Seems to me an unreasonable search and seizure and bearing witness against oneself kind of deal.

    Dammit Jack didn't get the plat in the mail so we drove down here for nothing. This computer at the Asotin County Library is nice. And I've learned again to appreciate the climate in the valley. No snow, clear roads. Damn there's a lot of geese around now, V's all over the sky.

    Time to go.

    ReplyDelete
  58. It's funny, that No-Refusal article caught my attention too. We're going down a slippery slope. No smoking laws even in private businesses, mandatory seat belt use and now coming to a checkpoint near you, forced blood tests.

    Your papers, please.

    Oh wait, we can't check those.

    ReplyDelete
  59. The assumption that anyone involved in an accident, who has been drinking, is that the drinking caused the accident. However, many more accidents are caused by people not drinking.

    93% of accidents do not have drinking involved. Using the same logic, you could come to the conclusion that not having a drink puts you at a greater risk of being involved in an accident.

    Alcohol and problems...

    ReplyDelete
  60. Another article that caught my eye is China preparing for armed conflict in all directions

    They're a rising power with a lot of money and a growing sense of nationalism. It's this growing nationalism that the Commies must keep a lid on, lest they find themselves in a hot war.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Good point barkeep, you can vote drunk and not have to prove anything.

    ReplyDelete
  62. whit said,

    Your papers, please.

    Oh wait, we can't check those.

    Thu Dec 30, 02:00:00 PM EST



    Something tells me "da powers dat be" will have no problem asking some of us for those. As usual, others will not be asked. They can be quite discriminating when necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  63. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Thinking about it on the way home - not knowing what courts have decided, maybe both ways - it seems to me the state might be within its rights, as, you are on a public way, not at home, you'd have no expectation of privacy, driving is a priviledge not a right, etc.

    We simply don't have sobriety check points out here, except maybe in Boise that I don't know about.


    What we do have is mandatory hunter check stations. These seem legit to me, as, once you buy the hunting license and the deer or elk(no need to do that now, no elk) tags, you have agreed to play by the rules of the game, and hunter check stations are a part of the game.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Damn blogger ate my comment. And I thought you all were just crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  66. And I thought you all were just crazy.


    And, you were right, save maybe Sam and WiO, who cling tenuously to lucidity.

    ReplyDelete
  67. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Do you think maybe it's the link I have in there?

    ReplyDelete
  69. Pa has an implied consent law.

    You can refuse a breath test but it's a given you will have to take a blood test. No judge needed on site.

    ReplyDelete
  70. If you refuse a breath test here, your license is a gonner.


    I remember when a friend of mine, a drinking realtor, ran his car into a ditch in the evening, he being pretty much 9 sheets to the wind. The cops didn't get around to investigating until the next day, and he'd sobered up by then.

    They asked him, "Had you been drinking."

    The idiot, thinking the event over, says, "Yeah, I was pretty drunk."

    Bingo, arrested, DUI, convicted too.

    heh, he was always ashamed of that stupid answer, but got so he could laugh about it.

    Lost his license for six months.

    Wife had to drive him around.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Take the breath test, avoid the blood test.

    Blood tests can show a lot more than breath tests.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Let's see if there will be any consequences to the union slow down on plowing NYC snow.

    ReplyDelete
  73. From the NYTimes:
    John J. Doherty, the sanitation commissioner, said he would look into claims that his department’s rank-and-file deliberately slowed down the cleanup work to protest budget cuts.

    “We have to look into that,” Mr. Doherty said. “I have not seen that. I’ve seen a lot of dedicated people out there”

    ReplyDelete
  74. Hate crimes across New York State spiked 14 percent in 2009

    ALBANY – Hate crimes across New York State spiked 14 percent in 2009 led by an increase in attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions, state records released yesterday show.

    There were 683 hate crimes reported to police authorities across the state in 2009 compared to 599 in 2008, according to a report released by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS.)

    ---

    Crimes motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment rose to 11 from eight the year before.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Israel Confirms Major Gas Find

    JERUSALEM — The Leviathan field, off Israel’s northern coast, is one of the world’s largest offshore gas finds of the past decade.
    India Struggles to Protect Flow of Iranian Oil

    ReplyDelete
  76. Larsen said...

    Obama recess appointed dep AG yesterday the very guy who covered for AIG, the center player in the meltown of 08. Of all the people in the world, the AIG -watchdog, who enabled the 50 trillion global meltdown and all flowing from it.

    look at the other recess appts from yesterday –both ends of the european oil lifeline pipeline, and syria –and the gov’t printing office!

    So much for bipartisanship

    ReplyDelete
  77. 175. Charles
    I’ve come round to the thought that while possible–its unlikely that Obama was born in Kenya because there is documented evidence that his mom showed up after his birth with her son for class
    in Washington state–two weeks after his birth. there is no documented evidence that barry’s father ever married or lived with his mother. so its unlikely that she would go to Kenya to have a baby.

    so why has obama spent over a million dollars to keep his birth certificate hidden?

    He was a dual citizen up until the age of 21. There are a lot of peculiar things in his papers that will no doubt come out that he will find embarrassing especially as both his father and stepfather were foreign nationals–something the constitution explicitly forbids in a president.

    ---

    Is that true?

    ReplyDelete
  78. Nope, 14th Ammendment, Charlie.

    ReplyDelete
  79. ah Doug we were all over that 100 times.

    You got to have a citizen father and a citizen mother.

    But you weren't listening.

    According to bob and all other serious thinkers on the subject.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Melody you are the silliest goose in the whole flock other than myself.

    ReplyDelete
  81. The Department of Health had received 27 requests for the president's birth information this month as of last Thursday, up from 16 in November, said spokeswoman Janice Okubo.

    ...

    Nearly all birth certificate information seekers are from the mainland United States, with requests rarely coming from Hawaii residents, said Cathy Takase, acting director for the state Office of Information Practices.

    Takase usually responds to appeals for Obama's birth records by telling requesters that the information they're seeking is contained in records protected by statute.


    Birth Info

    ReplyDelete
  82. I'll put my daughter's buns up against your daughter's buns anytime, but not on the internet.


    So we goto Wal Mart and I buy a ten dollar George coat and coming back I stop into the motel office for some coffee and the old boy I like is there and I shake my coat and say ten dollar coat and he says you've been to Goodwill?


    I prefer silly goose.

    ReplyDelete
  83. I guess then, bob, that John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is not as serious a thinker or as expert on the Constitution, as you, aye?

    Nor are the Secretaries of State in all 50 of the assorted States were Obama was on the ballot, nor amongst the members of the electoral College that ratified the results of the electorate, nor even the House of Representatives, the majority of which were Republicans, that affirmed the results of the 2008 election.

    They are all ignorant and frivolous, while bob is not.

    An unlikely thing, based upon your writings, to date.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Yes, you have that right, rat.

    ReplyDelete
  85. That it is unlikely, yes, I know I am right, bob.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Drudge says it is snowing in Phoenix.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Why did YOU not challenge his being on the ballot, in Idaho, where you had standing?

    Why didn't anyone, in any of the 50 States make that case?

    If they did, why did they not prevail?

    If you are correct?

    ReplyDelete
  88. It did, earlier today.

    Still is, up in Cave Creek.

    ReplyDelete
  89. I would never exploit my daughter like that.

    ReplyDelete
  90. I didn't have the time or money.

    It's all a judicial conspiracy, rat.

    :)

    The standing issue has come up again and again, the courts saying the average Joe has no standing.

    I wish the several states would come to grips with the issue before 2012.

    Some are, in a way.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Why not mount a 50 State legal challenge, in 2012?

    Why is no one collecting money for that effort?

    Not Ron Paul, not Mrs Palin, not Newt, not a single serious challenger nor US patriot is taking that course.

    Why not, if it is a serious position?

    ReplyDelete
  92. I would never exploit my daughter like that.

    In your fashion I say -


    "bwahahahbwabwabwahahahhahaha"

    ReplyDelete
  93. Because the entire nation is constitutionally illiterate like you. I only, and Donofrio, we stand alone.


    Snowing here again now. Was about fifteen degrees last night, going lower tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  94. I'm worried Melody you're going to go get absolutely soused on New Years Eve.

    Leave a little for tail of the dog in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Not illiterate on the subject, bob, just better informed, than the lunatic fringe.

    John Roberts and Samuel Alito, if there was a case to be made, they'd hear it.

    Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito have complained that President Obama, in last year's address, criticized the court on o ne of its decisions, even as the justices are expected to sit there expressionless.

    Alito, at one point, mouthed the words "not true" when Obama criticized the court for "opening the floodgates" to corporate money in elections through its decision in the Citizens United case.

    ReplyDelete
  96. What is that supposed to mean?

    ReplyDelete
  97. Tail of the dog is a phrase, out here anyway, meaning when you are really hung over and strung out, you have a couple drinks in the morning to kinda calm the nerves, see you through.

    But you got to be very careful doing it, or you might end up dead drunk again.

    ReplyDelete
  98. got it

    I think I've had one hangover my entire life. No matter how drunk I get.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Same here. I don't get hangovers. For some strange reason. I'll a little tired maybe. But that's it.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Another good trick is to take your first beer of the morning and throw it in the river. Because the first beer is the hardest to get down.

    ReplyDelete
  101. That's that Scandinavian heritage obviously. We don't hangover much.


    I think I'll go to the Capricorn Ballroom New Year's Eve.

    Or the University Inn Best Western or both.

    The roads are too bad to go north.

    So bad in fact that they were closed.

    ReplyDelete
  102. Alaska certifies Murkowski as Senate winner

    The Tea Party candidate could not even win, in Sarah Palin's backyard, against someone not on the ballot.

    There is not really much there, there, in the Tea Party.

    ReplyDelete
  103. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  104. By any measure, 2010 was the year when conventional wisdom was challenged, redefined or comprehensively overturned. A Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition assumed power in Britain and the sky did not fall in; the eurozone ceased being a shelter and became a source of instability; Barack Obama succeeded where so many had failed and pushed through healthcare and financial services reform; Silvio Berlusconi survived a string of sex scandals; Tony Blair, reputedly one of the most hated men in Britain, wrote a best-selling memoir; and Qatar, an up-and-coming oil-rich emirate, won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, alongside a Russian bid for 2018 that saw off England.

    ...

    The 2009 recapitalisation of the banks, coupled with massive deficit spending, saved the world from a 1930s-style Depression. In 2010, the bill came due in the form of a sovereign debt crisis.

    ...

    In 2010, China overtook Japan as the second-largest economy in the world and will soon be the world’s largest manufacturer. China also became more assertive, much to the discomfort of its neighbours.


    Year of the Unconventional

    ReplyDelete
  105. The latest arrests brought renewed attention to simmering anger at the newspaper, which has been the target of several attacks and threats since publishing 12 cartoons of Mohammed in 2005.

    The right-leaning daily, one of Denmark's largest, had asked Danish cartoonists to draw the prophet as a challenge to self-censorship after the author of a children's book on religion said its illustrator demanded anonymity because he feared retaliation for a picture of the prophet.

    Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favourable ones, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
    Kurt Westergaard, the artist who drew the most controversial of the cartoons - the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban - has also been attacked and threatened.


    Lack of Evidence

    ReplyDelete
  106. The 10th Amendment vs the Commerce Clause

    Houston Chronicle -

    Texas took another swing Thursday at the EPA, asking a federal appeals court to block the agency from seizing the state's authority to regulate the largest industrial sources of greenhouse gas

    ReplyDelete
  107. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  108. No spacecraft on line, but boy, does NASA spend the money, anyway.

    NASA has just signed a huge contract with Hewlett-Packard for IT goods and services.

    The $2.5 billion, 10-year deal includes computer networks, hardware, software, peripherals and “everything that’s plugged into the wall,” as NASA spokesperson Michael Sweigart told Bloomberg.


    NASA, it is really important and "worthy", I know.

    ReplyDelete
  109. Holly and Oscar, Oscar was a big black guy, some of our tenants a couple years back, celebrated Kawanaa. Last I heard they were still doing alright. Holly'
    s dad was the head of the dig at Tolo Lake for the mammoths. Head of Idaho State anthropology.

    They kept the sloppiest apartment we've ever seen.

    ReplyDelete