Wednesday, October 31, 2007

question

I find myself wondering, as oil prices hit yet another record high, what position America might be in had it invested a half a trillion dollars (or more) in alternative energy sources, rather than throwing it away on a largely futile attempt to maintain the status quo?
The only winners here have been the oil companies. Everyone else is the loser.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

sunday funny

There's more of the cartoon if you click on the image. There's more Big Fat Whale if you click here.

Friday, October 26, 2007

questioning

Which of the following statements do you suppose would be most likely to get me thrown into one of Dubya's Rex-84 gulags following the establishment of martial law after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2008?

1) George Bush sucks dick.
2) Dick Cheney sucks dick.
3) The guys at the NSA in charge of watching blogs suck dick.
4) "How did you know there would be an attack on September 11, 2008?"
5) Iran is not interested in killing the Great Satan America, but they would really like for us to get our soldiers and weaponry out of their back yard.
6) There is no god but the Flying Spagetti Monster.
7) George Bush is wrong.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Read This

Someday, probably someday soon, American bombs are going to fall somewhere in Iran. Oil prices will skyrocket, terrorist actions will be put into motion, and the Arab world be be even more opposed to ours. All because the Democratic Party is too worried about looking "weak on terror", that they have been unwilling to impeach the crazy bastards in the White House for any one of a number of possible reasons.

Dont think so? Read this, courtesy of Kel, who lives in a place where information about what an unmitigated asshole George Bush continues to be is actually considered to be news.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

tales from history

Okay, so, sometime during the Dutch Renaissance, they had a huge fad for tulips, and I'm talking huge. They were totally ga-ga over tulips, to the point that a single bulb (of the right variety) could bring the price of a house. Then one day, the fad collapsed, as most fads do. The story of the collapse I heard was this: One day, a merchant (himself a tulip collector) was looking out the window at the marketplace. Alang came a sailor, looking for whatever sailors look for. He stopped at a tulip merchant and, thinking that the tulip bulbs were onions, picked one up and took a bite. Supposedly, seeing this, the collector said to himself, "Oh my God! They're just flowers!" He dumped his stock, and probably said the same thing to friends, panic ensued, and lots of people lost their shirts, etc.

Some days I feel that way about blogging.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Read these:

The Other Woman, by Cheeky Lotus
The Authoritarians, by Bob Altemeyer
I'm going to hell for linking this
"Commander Guy" action figure!
MarketPlace interview with Goldman Sachs Vice Chairman Robert Hormats about War debt
whole-body Autism?
A really wild optical illusion which I'd embed if I could.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

sunday funny

This one's from a folder full of cartoons that I've cut out of papers in the past. I'm not sure how old it is, maybe from a few years ago, maybe from 30 years ago. It's most likely from the late 80's sometime, during the Reagan years. It still holds true, though, more true than ever.

Heh, you can tell it's an old cartoon because it uses a typewriter in the picture. I'm not sure who the cartoonist is, perhaps Mike Lane.

Friday, October 12, 2007

forecast

I'm going to be very, very busy for the next few weeks, working 10 hour days 7 days a week. I'm not looking forward to it, especially since if everything doesnt get done it'll be "my fault" even though I'm not the one who overbooked my department. On the plus side, I'll be raking it in.
Anyway, dont be surprised if things are a little thin round these parts.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

it takes a village to raise a Senator



Obviously, it's a doomsayin' day, who gets props

observation

I stole this quote from the Liberal Doomsayer's blog, who got it from Kos:
At a campaign stop (in New Hampshire), Hillary Clinton sparred verbally for several minutes with a man who pressed her on her recent vote to call Iran's army a terrorist organization.

Randall Rolph, from nearby Nashua, asked why he should support Clinton's candidacy when she did not appear to have learned any lessons from having voted to authorize force in Iraq.

Clinton thanked him for the question and explained her Iran vote would lay the groundwork for using diplomacy and sanctions to pressure that government.
Clinton accused the man of being a plant who had been sent to ask the question, to which he took exception, saying the question was a result of his own research.

"I apologize," Clinton said, explaining that she had been asked the very same question in three other places.
Okay, maybe this is so obvious that Clinton cannot see it for the trees, but maybe the reason that she's been asked the same question in three different places is because it's a question that voters really care about!

She doesnt get that, and yet, we* are still apparently going to choose her for the Democratic nominee.

* I use "we" in the loosest sense here.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A fond farewell...

to Dave at Sympathetic Stupid.
to Less People, Less Idiots, though it's not really gone.
to A Quiet Noise, now a headphone dealer.
to Rebecca at Harpowoman Honks.
to Spastic.
to Twitz and his twisted Bunny.
and to Pops at his Bucket, who just simply stopped.

I've enjoyed them all, but they've all ceased to be updated (if they're even still there), so they're coming off the sidebar. I'll miss them.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

What in the FUCK is going on???

Last November, almost a year ago, people all over the nation who were fed up with the erosion of the Constitution by the Republican party led by George Bush, rubbed their hands with glee as election returns showed a clear victory by Democrats. Finally, we said, we can roll back the fascist powerplays by Lord Bush and his Cabal. Alas, it was not to be, and it continues not to be. Again and again, the Democrats have continued the betrayal of the American people begun by the Republicans. Now they stand ready to continue that betrayal further, by extending the clearly unconstitutional warrentless wiretapping program. Does anyone in Washington listen to anyone outside of Washington anymore?

props to Kel

Sunday, October 07, 2007

sunday funny

Long ago, there was this strip in the paper called "Dave". I read it daily, mostly because it seemed to channel my life. Nowadays, it's no where to be found, except really, really cheaply on Amazon.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

side dishes

Okay, a couple of additions to the sidebar (not blogs, yet):

  1. "Uncle Jay Explains The News", something shown to me by Saur, and which I just had to have a link to here on my own blog, because it's very funny.

  2. "Blogger Play", which you may have already discovered if you ever bother to look at the Dashboard after you sign in. I rarely do, but I'm glad I did today. Blogger Play is basically a slideshow of stuff being uploaded to put onto blogs, and it's kind of mesmerizing. If there's a way to make it your screensaver, make it so.

end the war on drugs

Okay, I had this idea, and I think it's a good one, and it takes care of both the War on Drugs (which nearly everyone thinks isnt working, except the GOP) and the high cost of medicine (which almost everyone thinks is unfair, except the GOP).

Here's the idea: legalize recreational drugs, with heavy regulation, high taxation, and fixed low(ish) prices. Republicans are always talking about how regulation is so horrible for business, and yet recreational drugs are one of the most unregulated businesses on the planet (making something illegal is not regulation, not for drug dealers, and not for CEOs). Anyone who wishes to deal in recreational drugs will have to be licensed (for a fat fee), and their product will have to conform to standards (and I mean for the purposes of consistancy, not dilution). There will be a heavy tax rate, but, by regulation, prices will be kept fairly low in order to make crime less necessary in order to get money to pay for the drugs with and to make the current black market unprofitable.

But you're saying, "Dave, we've heard all this before, it's not original."

Maybe this part will interest you: The manufacturing of drugs will be placed in the hands of the Pharmaceutical Industry. In exchange for this constant supply of money, Big Pharma will agree to have strict controls placed upon the prices of medicine. They will also cease and desist all advertising and marketing of drugs, especially for non-FDA approved uses.

Some rules:
  • no R&D on recreational drugs.
  • any new rec drug formula becomes property of the State.
  • any pharma company found developing or colluding with development of new rec drugs is heavily fined and loses privledge of rec drug trade.
  • selling drugs without a license becomes a really hard-time penalty.
  • rec drug stores set up with same kind of rules as liquor stores: age limits, distances from schools, etc.
  • the same kind of rules will apply to driving under the influence as now apply to drunk driving (yeah, I know...)
  • much stricter penalties will apply for repeat offenders and those caught driving after they've lost their licenses for a DUI.
Naturally, there will be those who will oppose this idea on "moral" grounds, but I think that these people may be overcome through the use of the "lottery" arguement. I mean, gambling is considered to be both destructive and immoral, but how many states now have their own lottery*? And, in a way, doesnt the taxes paid on recreational drugs become a voluntary tax, much like the lottery, and with a very similar empty result?

Let's face it, the war on drugs has been a dismal failure, costing billions of dollars, and has almost nothing to show for it, except overcrowded prisons. Let's repeal the laws against it, declare amnesty for all but the biggest dealers (for instance, those who were busted on tax charges), and save ourselves billions of dollars per year, which we can then put to better use, like paying for pointless wars half way around the globe.


* And how many states passed lotteries under the guise of raising money for "education"? HA!

Monday, October 01, 2007

sunday funny, late again

This one's for Pooby, in lieu of my comment, and late, as usual.Wally Carrol ends his newscast every night with a lousy attitude and a universal hand gestureThe artist, Joey Waldon, was/is an Austin comedian, who did these comics in the Austin Chronicle and had/has t-shirts available. Where he is now, Google couldnt tell me.