oooh...

yeah, i want one of these too.

various bits and pieces

here are a few things i've been meaning to post on for awhile, but kept getting distracted. if i don't give anyone credit for them, either i found it myself or it came from one of the other blogs i frequent, most likely wizbang or say anything.

1) hooray! for socialized medicine. if you like being shipped to india for your health care, that is. (wizbang)

2) liberals are insane. we all knew that already, but now we've got a psychiatrist to back us up. although much like the "global warming" debate, you could probably find people with all sorts of facts on both sides of the issue. (wizbang?)

3) governor spitzer of new york wants to tax illegal drugs. either he's incredibly stupid, or he thinks all of the dealers in his city are. who the hell is going to claim that they've got crack, and then pay a tax on it? surprisingly, 21 other states have tried this or something similar. maybe they're taking their cue from britain, where polygamy is illegal, but you can still get extra welfare benefits for your multiple wives.

4) my vote might be making it's comeback. if obama & mccain end up as the nominees, i may vote for mccain just to be voting against obama, who wants to send more money off to the UN to fight global poverty. i've got no problem fighting poverty, but don't do it through the UN. they're much more likely to deface historic sites, rape the locals, or take bribes from dictators. and on the off chance they get something right, why should they get credit for something when we're the ones putting up the funds for it? if you want something done right, do it yourself.

5) i'm not sure what to think of this site. i've gotten through the first 10 postings, and for the most part it's fairly entertaining. but at the same time, if they had called it "things black people like," it probably would have been shut down for being racist.

6) on a more positive note, i want one of these.

thought of the day

from dostoevsky's crime and punishment (wordsworth classics edition, pg. 204):

"I do not believe in another life," replied Raskolnikoff.
Svidrigaïloff remained pensive. "supposing we found there nothing but spiders or such-like things?" asked he, all of a sudden.
"The man is mad," though Raskolikoff.
"Men always represent eternity as an incomprehensible idea, as a something immense--immense! But why should this necessarily be the case? Imagine, on the contrary, a small room - a bathroom, if you will - blackened by smoke, with spiders in every corner. Supposing that to be eternity! I often conceive it to be so."

i've had several different ideas of what heaven would be like over the years, but none of them come close to a darkened bathroom full of spiders. i'm with raskolnikoff... that guy was completely insane.

whoops, our bad

remember that whole "global warming is going to melt the icecaps and kill us all" shpeil? turns out that it may actually save lives. who knew?

brilliant!

i never knew how incredibly intelligent our speaker of the house is. she's figured out a way for our troops to be successful, even though their mission has apparently failed:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said twice Sunday that Iraq “is a failure,” adding that President Bush’s troop surge has “not produced the desired effect.”

“The purpose of the surge was to create a secure time for the government of Iraq to make the political change to bring reconciliation to Iraq,” Pelosi said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “They have not done that.”

The speaker hastened to add: “The troops have succeeded, God bless them.”

so Nan, fill me in... what exactly are our troops succeeding at over there if not the surge? i realize we've got the best military in the world, but still, it seems a bit beyond their capabilities to succeed and fail at the same time. it's like that question some athiests will ask to "disprove" God: "Can God create a rock so big that he can't move it?", or something along those lines.

h/t say anything

fortune cookie say

"A blonde from afar has something interesting for you." ... [you know what comes next]

better late than never?

russia is finally beginning to see the light. after iran launched a long range missile on monday, russian deputy foreign minister alexander losyukov noted that "It increases the suspicion of Iran regarding its possible desire to create a nuclear weapon." yes, yes it does. although a better time to notice this sort of thing might have been two years ago, while russia was busy helping iran with its nuclear program.

remind me again...

why do we still send money to these people?

UN peacekeepers in the disputed African territory of Western Sahara have vandalised ancient rock paintings, a UN official has told a UK newspaper.

~~~~

Graffiti, including the spray-painting of UN personnel's names, can be seen at Lajuad, an important archaeological site, Mr Harston said.

According to The Times, an area there known as Devil Mountain is regarded by the local Sahrawi people as a place of great cultural significance.

you'd think that after having been there for nearly 17 years (remember that number next time someone complains about how long we've been in iraq or afghanistan), they'd be able to find something better to do with their time. in theory at least, the united nations mission for the referendum in western sahara (MINRUSO) is tasked to "monitor the ceasefire and to organize and conduct a referendum which would allow the people of Western Sahara to decide the Territory's future status." 17 years later, the issue is still up in the air. we've spent less time in iraq and afghanistan combined, and have already overseen several successful elections in both countries. things are far from perfect, but at least we're making progress.

who knew?

to paraphrase hillary clinton, it's like the middle class squeeze, only without the squeeze.

h/t say anything

picture of the year

both accurate and absolutely hilarious, this picture has got my vote:


h/t: wizbang