One More Bird Flu Death

Wonderful.  I suppose the fact that the ChiComs and their bureaucratic goodness are sitting on a complete jack-up-my-universe pandemic should inspire me with all kinds of hope.  And maybe change. 

On the bright side, should an outbreak worthy of Dustin Hoffman occur, at least we can count on our comrades to the east to put a bullet in the heads of those insolent bastards.

Hopey-Changey Stuff

Do YOU have skills?  Are you a construction worker?  Most importantly, are you WHITE? 

If you are a combination of any of the above, f’get about Big O stimulus money.  Awesome.  Though I see what Reich is driving at.

This sounds like SUCH a new, refreshing idea.  

Good Stuff From Marie Freeman

Not mine, but that of gifted local photog, Marie Freeman.  Check out her photoblog, Blue Ridge Blog, for more like this.  Note the irony…

Rescuing Those Trapped by Ike

You get the call to leave and you’d better leave.  Electricity may be down for a month.  Wonderful. 

“What’s really frustrating is that we can’t get to them,” Galveston police officer Tommie Mafrei said. “It’s jeopardizing our safety when we try to tell them eight hours before to leave. They are naive about it, thinking it’s not going to be that bad.”

 

 

The Dragon in the New York Times

129 is an awesome road, though dangerous at times.  If you can hit it on a weekday morning, do it.  But weekends, afternoons and anytime in the fall or summer might not be a good call.  Glad it’s getting some love in the times, though.  For all things Dragon, tailofthedragon.com

Freddie P’s Trial Postponed

Get this guy in a cell or a chair and let us forget about him.  What he did to the Hudler and Miller families is inexcusable.  What could possess someone to murder three, innocent men in cold blood?  Do what you need to get this one in the books and then let the hack rot.

Motorcyclist Dies in Record Attempt

239 miles per hour.  On two wheels.  I feel bad for the family of Cliff Gullett, and anyone who saw this happen, but you’re asking for trouble at that speed.  All it takes is a tank slapper at speed, and it’s all over.  I will say, however, that to go out of this life in the middle of whatever you love most, is probably the best anyone can hope for.  Unless you’re the Grizzly man.  That would suck.

Bloomberg Publishes Steve Job’s Obituary

Oops.  Steve Job’s is very much alive, although he DOES look terrible (owing to his illness).  It appears as though this is just a run of the mill accident, but it’s terribly embarrassing for all involved.  Let’s hope Steve sticks around for a long, long time.

Barry Says “Hush, Child!”

As it turns out, American Issues Project won’t be bullied.  They’re the (527, I believe) that produced and is passing around the Bill Ayers ad that the Messiah wants pulled.  I won’t reproduce the whole thing here, but Michell Malkin has all of it, here.  Obama is adamant about having this thing pulled, and is just drawing MORE media attention to the story, which is going to make it very hard to spin it in any effective manner.  Here’s the ad

Gustav Is Coming

Great.  Gustav might head for the Gulf, which could wreak havoc with gas prices.  Just when we were knocking the top off the majority of the speculation…God forbid it heads to New Orleans.  Many of the levy’s still show structural weaknesses.

Good Thoughts on the New Airborne Laser Weapon

Dale Amon has more about Boeing’s new “Ray Gun”.  Plus this…

 It is my belief he is being insufficiently creative when he imagines what such attacks would entail. One might take out a communications facility by targeting a turnbuckle on an antenna guy wire; or a power plant by blowing away a standoff and dropping a high voltage line onto others; or perhaps blowing a hole in an oil filled transformer. I can easily think of ways of disabling infrastructure with this device in ways that would leave enemy repair crews terribly puzzled.

2081: Everyone Will Finally be Equal

I didn’t see a release date right away, but this one’s gonna’ be good…Via Club for Growth.  Watching the trailer, I had flashbacks of both 1984 and Gattaca.

“Based on the short story Harrison Bergeron by celebrated author Kurt Vonnegut, 2081 depicts a dystopian future in which, thanks to the 212th Amendment to the Constitution and the unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General, everyone is finally equal… The strong wear weights, the beautiful wear masks and the intelligent wear earpieces that fire off loud noises to keep them from taking unfair advantage of their brains. It is a poetic tale of triumph and tragedy about a broken family, a brutal government, and an act of defiance that changes everything.”

Kindles selling like Hot-Cakes

The Amazon Kindle is selling so well, Citi analyst Mark Mahaney has revised his projection upward to 378,000 units sold this year, 934,000 next year, and 4.4 million in 2010.-TechCrunch

Blow Artic Wind, Blow

Could this really be “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow?”  Even more intriguing is the fact that, *gasp*, the “Chosen One” had nothing to do with it.  Anthony at Watt’s Up With That? has this…

NOTE: You may recall a story I posted some months ago titled: “NASA: It’s the wind” regarding Arctic wind circulation patterns and the way it drove sea ice further south into melt zones. Commenter Paul Marek brought this story to attention recently, and given the sea ice trend this summer, I thought it was worth bringing to light again. Then and now, “The results suggest not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming. ” Given our less than predicted catastrophic sea ice loss this year, coupled with this study, it looks like Arctic ice could be on the mend.

The Roundup-August 11, 2008

• An the Bolivarian beat goes on….
• All pain, 0 gain.  Robert Ferguson lets tells the Shaftesbury Society that, if North Carolina emissions were to go to 0, no campfires, nothing, that China would make up for the lost emissions in only 31 days.  The Locker Room says that they’ll post the entire thing later today. 
• C’mon why would we actually want an experienced President?  I mean, it’s not like he makes decisions that have an impact on the entire world…wait, never mind.  The next-big-thing, Bobby Jindal, explains why Obama’s statements about Russia and Georgia were that far off.

• The Chearleader, Larry Kudlow, on public support for drilling…”Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) support offshore oil drilling, according to a new Rasmussen poll. And 42 percent say offshore oil drilling would have the biggest impact in terms of reducing oil prices. Only 20 percent of Americans now oppose offshore drilling. And in terms of reducing oil prices, building more nuclear plants and developing more fuel-efficient cars rate only 16 percent.”

 

Rest In Peace, Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes has died.  I knew him best from his nine year run as Chef.  I recently watched “The Return on Chef” for the 9,000th time and now feel extremely bad about it.  I love South Park, but think they go over the top sometimes, especially with someone who was as integral a part of their show as Isaac.  I guess they were trying to make a point, that everything is fair game.  At the time, I laughed.  I don’t think I will anymore.

Professionalism

Simple, concise, no B.S.  These are my thoughts on this by Smitten Eagle.  It’s one thing to imitate the consumate professional among you.  Its a whole other ball game to live those ideals on a daily basis.  Words to live by:

• Continual study
• Gaining and maintaining the respect of your peers
• Policing your peers, and working to fix their shortcomings
• Developing the next generation of practitioners of the profession
• Holding superiors accountable
• Upholding the Oaths and ethics of the profession
• Ensuring a favorable view of the profession by the public

HT-Glenn Anderson, who wrote a piece on the lack of professionalism by Miley Cyrus.  Now, I think its hard to hold a 15 year old pop singer to the same standard required of Marines, but its good to keep in mind, this is something we all must strive for.

Bumbling, Rumbling, Stumbling to the Finish

Mike Glover explains yet another Barry Gaffe.  When the shine wears off, Stewart and Colbert are going to have a field day with this guy.  Via-Instapundit

No…Euro’s Covering Up

Johnathan Pearce has more on this sad phenomenon of European babes covering up on the beach.

Illegals in NC’s Community College System

If my understanding of the community college system here in NC is correct, each CC is partially subsidized by state tax dollars.  If illegal immigrants were paying out-of-state tuition, which is basically a crime anyway, I would not be opposed to their attending institutions in-state.  In fact, I would encourage it.  For anyone that actually want to attend an institution of higher learning, it seems unfair to tell them no, illegal or not.  More here.