Cut Me Off In Traffic Day Today!

It was either a city-wide holiday or I didn't get the memo in time. I don't know if this is how you people who go home at 16:30 always drive, but it was a humm-dinger of a commute going home an hour early today.

Not once, but TWICE within 10 miles, somebody decided that the left-turning lane was not where they wanted to be, and they cut over into the #1 straight-through-the-intersection lane with traffic going 50MPH past them. Directly in front of my car. When I say "directly" I mean "if I didn't hit my brakes I would have stove in the side of a car and a pickup"

Seriously, you can't turn your head or put down the phone or lipstick or whatever you are doing long enough to NOT smash my car into yours? I think they are trying to get me to stop leaving early from work. I'll have to go give my boss a purple nurple for hiring people to be bad drivers so I won't want to leave early.

Or something.

The Most Open And Ethical Congress EVAR

. . . well, at least the racist part of it Congressional Black Caucus, wants to make it harder to expose a crooked politician. Because justice is racist. Or something.

BP Oil Spill No Big Deal After All?

Boortz said on the radio today that the spill in the Gulf of Mexico is (so far) about 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the annual cumulative leaks into the world's ecosystems via leaking or wrecked pipelines, tankers, and other oil recovery, shipment, and refinery operations. And somehow the world has continued, year after year.

A caller pointed out that a Mexican company had a bigger spill in the same Gulf of Mexico when I was a baby, and the fisheries are intact.

The oil will eventually dissipate and break down, to the point of harmlessness.

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In related news, the big surprising news this week is that the BP oil spill oil is going to work its way up the East coast of the USA killing sea life as it goes. I am a little astonished to think that not everyone already understands that this oil is going to be distributed all over the world. EVERYONE will have a bit of it on his beach.

And, in the long run, everyone's beach will be just fine.

Remember, it's something huge that crashes, flaming, into the ocean, that wipes out a third of the living things in the seas. Not an oil spill. So relax. Oh, and don't forget to blame President Bush, because everything is his fault.

Madness @ Work!

It is a tradition in my company that, when someone is hired to do what I do, he gets a couple of days of training and then is let to sink or swim. If you don't have the required skills or the ability to glean them from your co-workers in three months, you will be cut loose. Okay, that weeds out the weaker performers.

But we just hired a new guy and there is no computer for him to work on. The last two days he's going around scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get his own workstation together. He's making his own workstation. If that doesn't speak volumes about the kind of person you have to be to work here, you're not paying attention. I used to think anyone could do this job. Several sub-par hires have since fired proved me wrong. It takes a certain kind of duck . . . you have to let the insanity roll off your back.

I'll Take That As A "No."

(I heard these exchanges in audio from a White House press conference)

Reporter: Joe Sestak, can you tell us exactly what position he was offered?
Gibbs: (giggles like little girl)

I'm beginning to think that, incompetent as he is, Gibbs is actually a good spokesperson for this administration.

. . . later . . .
Reporter: (specific question about the scandal)
Gibbs: (tells him to look at "the memo")
Reporter: (protests that the memo doesn't address that question)
Gibbs: Right. Next question.

They won't answer your questions, because they are in Very Bad Trouble over this Sestak bribery allegation, and they know they are in Very Bad Trouble. The most open and honest aministration EVAR has circled the wagons against the Press.

And it may be only the beginning. There are at least two allegations coming to light, with proof or admissions from one or both sides in each case. When it happens so often that twice someone comes forward with proof, you have likely got a deeply ingrained (chicago style) mindset of "how can we make you go away." I reiterate my call: Someone needs to be going to jail for this. It would surprise me if everyone involved didn't fall on a sword before ol' Barry even gets a finger pointed at him.

From Inconveniences To Police Stings In One Generation

If you are of a certain age, you may recall when most people wouldn't be caught dead in a seat belt in their car. They'd rather be thrown clear in a crash, or else not be trapped in a burning wreck. It is no coincidence that although driving speeds were lower, the rate of fatal collisions was much higher then than now.

Then there was a big national campaign. Radio and television advertisements. In Texas, the Governor came out and explained to people that the proposed seat belt law would NOT be a reason the Police would stop you. Plus, only the driver would have to be buckled in. No, no, they would not be looking in your car to see if you were belted up, unless you were stopped for something else already. Obey all the other laws (the implication was) and you still don't have to wear a seat belt! And the people assented.

Somewhere in between then and now, it went from being a secondary offense to a primary offense (you can be stopped for not wearing a seat belt). Now, not just the driver, not just the passenger, but everyone in the car must be buckled up.

Now it is announced that deputies in Williamson County, Texas (i.e., Austin North) will be having a sting operation. A deputy, dressed as a bum with a sign that says "Click it or Ticket" (I hate that phrase) will be standing on the side of the road at an intersection. They don't run bums off around Austin, and the people largely ignore them, so this officer will be effectively invisible. He will look in your car, see you or one of your passengers not wearing your seat belts, and radio ahead to his partner in crime law enforcement. Then you will be getting a ticket with a fine of up to $250.

This transition took place in my own lifetime. Think about the minor inconveniences they are convincing you to tolerate because it's only a minor inconvenience. Think what would happen if it were made less minor. THAT's why you have to fight the Statist at every turn. Otherwise, you end up with parents unable to play with their children in a park or take pictures of ANYone's children, just in case. Your son can't buy a tire patch kit and you can't buy it for him, just in case. Spray paint in the car parts store is behind a stronger lock than boxes of ammunition. It leads to insanity of the type only a Statist could love.

Psalm 69:22 Applied

This is an application and possibly not a good one. As I was reading the psalm, the following occurred to me.

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Psalm 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

The "war on poverty" has been going for generations in America. We never really did have a big problem of dirt-poor type poverty, but look at how well we have cured American-style poverty (a.k.a. lower middle class/below poverty line living): Entire families for two and three generations that have NEVER worked an honest job. They couldn't survive without "welfare" payments if they tried. Not that they would ever try. They are trapped.

This outcome is not undesirable, depending on who's opinion you ask. I think it is a disaster.

No Posting Yesterday . . .

Last night the windows were rattling from the thunder. When there's a lightning storm, our computer and piano are not just off, they are unplugged. Even the modem is unplugged from the wall.

Overkill? Maybe, but it will keep the equipment safe in the event of a lightning strike.

What Did They THINK Would Happen?

At best, it was a botched raid gone bad. Poorly planned, poorly executed, poor strategy and with poor intel. At worst, it was an intentionally provoked incident by both sides. Both sides took the bait.

Nobody wins, but everyone has a new reason to point fingers and missiles at each other. And nine or ten "peace activists" who were fighting Israeli commandos boarding their ship are now dead. Dead for keeps. Turkey and other joo-hating nations are calling for the US to contemn Israel's actions. The US news media are condemning Israel. Fluster cuck.

Why would they board the ship in international waters? Why not disable and/or board the ship in Israeli territorial waters? Why not board en masse instead of one at a time? Why wouldn't they stop for the Jewish navy? Why not just let the supplies on board be inspected and passed on (like happens with tons of humanitarian aid moving from and through Israel every day)?

What did each side think was going to happen? Did anyone even stop to think?

Guatemala Could Use Some Help

Political differences aside, the people of Guatemala are just folks like you & me. Oh, and except for the way a volcano shut down the airport in Guatemala City, then a storm lead to flooding that caused scores of deaths, landslides, washed-away infrastructure, and a sinkhole that ate a whole building.

Not a good week. Christians, please take a moment or ten to say a prayer for the people of Guatemala.