Reinforcing my 3½ Minute Rule on YouTube videos...

You really should take a look at this one....



Where is our American version of this guy?

Seen on a number of blogs, but I first watched it via The Anchoress, who, although I am not Catholic, writes a wonderful blog.

20 Minutes.....

It is kind of an unwritten rule that a You Tube should not be more than 3 minutes long. Put up an 8 minute video and your audience will click off at 3½ minutes. On our own, we have exceptionally short attention spans, and much of the internet does nothing to improve this.

But you should find a way to book 20 minutes of your life away from everything else to enjoy Mike Rowe.



From the always-interesting Gerard.

This was kinda scary....

....Not in a dangerous way, and I have to admit I am partially bragging on this point.

I went to the IDPA match last night. It turned out to be the night they shoot under USPSA rules, so it was a little different than I am used to.

The scary part was that there were 4 cops there. I felt like that scene in Magnum Force...



These guys shot OK, but not nearly at the level that you'd expect cops to perform at. I suck, and being a fat guy twice their age who shoots better than they did (and who kept my gun running flawlessly the whole night) ought to make these guys think a bit. It sure made me think: Lord, don't ever let these guys pull their guns near me.

[R]ecent lawlessness, situational constitutionalism and institutional derangement....

Which George Will says describes the Congress in the first days of the Obama administration.

Go. Read it.

I'm beginning to get a suspicious feeling.....

And not just the same "I-Hate-Obama-and-Everything-He's-Doing" feeling. If I'm counting things right, he still has 18 vacancies to fill at Treasury. Geithner is a one-man act, and it isn't going well: They're developing a plan on when to plan to tell us about their plan for the economy. I'm betting that half of these vacancies are due to some of the problems (primarily past taxes) that brought the Zero administration so much attention earlier, but there may be some vacancies due to either Zero being unable to find capable person for the jobs or a willing approach to leave the jobs open. There are calls for Geithner's head, of course, but paradoxically, the vacancies at Treasury almost ensure that no matter how badly Geithner may be handling things, his job is safe.

Whatever the case, Geithner (and by extension, Zero) are handling things badly. The economy is in bad enough shape that this cannot be a one-man job for very long. Geithner will have a heart attack before we get things fixed....there is simply too much to do. Zero had better start something else before Geithner strokes out or something.

Hey! Look!....

Zero's wearing his flag pin!



Swiped from these knuckleheads, courtesy of Ace's sidebar.

The Nose on Your Face....

Swiped from Iowahawk, who is about the funniest guy on the intertubes.

You simply must...

Click Here: What will history say about Obama?

[And damn my poor bloggin' skilz. Somebody knows how to grab that photo and link it along, but it ain't me.]

"Pakistan Implodes"

Via Glenn, I see Richard Fernandez of Belmont Club offer...

"...The reason the Pakistani crisis seems to be coming out of the blue is because Washington is preoccupied by so much else. The world is still dangerous; perhaps even more so today than when George W. Bushchimp left office to the delight of so many on the Left. But contrary to expectation, America’s enemies did not stop their depradations upon the ascension of The One...."

Zero is being mocked by the Associated Press. He's in over his head, which is something that we who were his opponents were saying last summer. His approach on foreign policy--that we can just talk our way into a world of peace and happiness--isn't working with those who really, seriously, oppose us. We have elected a man of little substance, and now we're paying the price for that.

Reason #7012....

....That government management of the economy won't work.

Energy Dept. Said to Err on Coal Project

“This is math illiteracy on a grand scale and with global consequences.”

Folks, when the rocket scientists at NASA can launch into space a huge telescope with a near-sighted lens, and can slam a probe into Mars because they mixed up meters and feet, and now the watchers of a coal project can make a half a billion dollar math error, we ought to call into question the idea that if only we had more regulators--more oversight--more something--we could finally fix our problems.

We can't. Regulations and regulators are fine. They serve an important purpose.

But to rely on them to fix every problem--before they become problems--just doesn't work. Regulators--unlike those inside the industries they regulate--have no direct interest in seeing things actually work. They can make that half billion dollar mistake and keep their jobs. Maybe they won't get that next promotion to GS-XX, but they'll still be employed.

Wh...Wha.....What'd He Say?

Fox News: Obama Considering Deploying Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border

President Obama says he's considering whether to deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border...

and simultaneously,

"I'm not interested in militarizing the border."

Can sumbody splain me that?

Channeling my Inner Bonnie Raitt....

♪♫ ♪Let's Give Them Something to Talk Blog About ♪♫ ♪

• WSJ: Islam Should Prove It's a Religion of Peace written by...a Muslim

  ....Many Muslims seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion -- while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as a religion of peace, love and harmony....
  
  ...So, Islamic scholars and clerics, it is up to you to produce a Shariah book that will be accepted in the Islamic world and that teaches that Jews are not pigs and monkeys, that declaring war to spread Islam is unacceptable, and that killing apostates is a crime. Such a book would prove that Islam is a religion of peace.

• WSJ (again): He Says the Darndnest Things About His Life and New Quest
  Stephen Moore interviews Art Linkletter
  

  About Barack Obama, he says: "He's intelligent, a born performer and ambitious, like I was, but that spending bill [the stimulus] is the most terrible mistake in our history. I never thought I would see so much debt."
  
  His passion is Social Security reform. "...At first Social Security was a terrific idea. Give people some financial security in their old age," he says. But the taxes grew and grew over his lifetime -- to 15% from 2% of each paycheck. "And as the time went on, this huge fund became an ATM machine for Congress. And now all they have left are IOUs. Nobody owns anything." He says: "I was one of the first people to ever pay Social Security, at age 22 starting in 1935. But now the program has become a rip-off, just like the guy [Bernard Madoff] who did the Ponzi scheme. We need to stop the congressional raid on the trust fund and turn this tax money back over to individuals so they can own it and control it."
  

[FWIW, my emphases]

Friedman on Libertarianism...

The Debt Star...

Courtesy of The Smallest Minority, one of my favorite 2A and mostly libertarian, and Arizona bloggers (whom I should visit more often).

[And, BTW, the "I have altered the pool" image is one that I once used as my signature image on That-Forum-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. That kid still cracks me up.]

A (Very) Little Linkery...

Via Glenn, I see "How to Get Your Family out of a Financial Crisis".

Yes. I see no reason why that won't work.

Savannah & Charleston Report

WifeofAzlib and I had a great time on our little getaway. I liked Savannah more than she did, but we were both impressed with Charleston, and especially our little walking tour.

However, while we were gone, SonofAzlib noticed a little watery sound coming from under the kitchen sink. On exploring, he found one of the sinks was leaking badly, and the entire space was full of a black mold. He (wonderfully) tore out the damaged areas, and now, in addition to a March full of tree trimming, taxes, study for recurrent, manage a dwindling 401k account, truck maintenance, and other chores, I've got to rebuild a cabinet and install a new sink and faucet set.

File this under....