Gazizza.Net

"Harmony, liberal intercourse with all Nations, are recommended by policy, humanity and interest. But even our Commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand: neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of Commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with Powers so disposed; in order to give trade a stable course."

-- George Washington (Farewell Address, 19 September 1796)

Reference: Maxims of George Washington, Schroeder, ed. (71)

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The Freakonomics blog held a contest to select a new six word slogan for the United States. The runaway winner:

Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay

It sums up well the dichotomy between some citizens seeming hatred for America and their desire to stay in such a flawed, evil country, while pointing out that they do, indeed, wish to stay.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.

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I took book out of the library last week after seeing something online reminding me that, although not dealing directly with the show "Lost," it is set in the same "universe" and supposedly contains some clues about the mysteries contained in the show. So, I figured, what the heck, the library's free so I took it out and read it this weekend while visiting family in Connecticut.

I just read the Lostpedia entry on Bad Twin (Note: link contains spoilers) and it notes that the producers of the show were very unhappy with the results of the book and seem to almost disown it. So, it's usefulness in decoding the mysteries of the island may be very limited indeed.

While it does feature many elements in common with the series, the book never mentions the events of the crash, which is fitting considering that the book was "written" by one of the passengers on the ill-fated Oceanic 815 flight. (The "author" survived the crash but was the first to die on the island as he was the one sucked into the engine causing it to explode, in what was a pretty cool scene.) Themes covered in the book include primogeniture (leaving all inheritance to the oldest son), twins, the difference perspective makes in determining whether someone is good or evil, and the fact that wealth can in fact be a burden or curse, rather than a blessing.

I didn't pick up anything that gave me any great insights into the mysteries of the show, but found it a nice, easy read that could be enjoyed even if you have never heard of Lost. It would make a decent beach read if you're into that sort of thing.

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Spring training games started today. Phillies won 8-1.

Sweet.

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"An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry." - T.S. Eliot

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'guilty'." - Theodore Roosevelt

"As Senators Obama and Clinton try to outdo each other in blaming government for our lack of individual responsibility and promising solutions by raising taxes to give us more government, they offer little change and less hope." - Victor Davis Hanson

"Nothing... will assuage Clinton supporters' sense of injustice if the upstart Obama supplants her. Their, and her, sense of entitlement is encapsulated in her constant invocations of her '35 years' of 'experience.' Well. She is 60. She left Yale Law School at age 25. Evidently she considers everything she has done since school, from her years at Little Rock's Rose Law Firm to her good fortune with cattle futures, as presidentially relevant experience." - George Will

"Hope must be grounded in objective truth otherwise it quickly becomes wishful thinking." - Cal Thomas

"Eloquence is deep thought expressed in clear words." - Peggy Noonan

"Why McCain? After all, somewhat similar allegations about recent Democratic nominees were precisely the sort of thing that [The New York Times] scrupulously avoided as trash journalism. And the Times' attitude toward Bill Clinton's various sex scandals was hardly one of unbridled enthusiasm. During those years, the Gray Lady published many, many articles lamenting the fever of 'sexual McCarthyism' in American politics. It seems that such concerns are unwarranted if the subject is a Republican." - Jonah Goldberg

"Our elected officials don't make America great, nor do temporal policies. America is great because of its people, its defining institutions and its freedoms." - Linda Chavez

"Are the Democrats so intent on denying George Bush retroactive vindication for a war they insist is his that they would deny their own country a now-achievable victory?" - Charles Krauthammer

"The junior senator from New York is as spontaneous and emotion-laden as a space shuttle launch. It's all planning, calculation and stage-management with the Clintons. She's like the Tin Man in 'The Wizard of Oz': heartless, creaking her campaign joints and unable to prove the humanity voters want in a president." - Jed Babbin

"McCain may seem unappealing when he's debating policy with Mike Huckabee or even Mitt Romney. But let him start taking fire from Al Gore, Gloria Steinem, antiwar groups, environmental activists and teachers' unions- not to mention The New York Times - and suddenly he will look lovelier than the Taj Mahal at sunset." - Steve Chapman

"Hillary Clinton's campaign manager said she will make a much better commander-in-chief than her rivals. She's well schooled in the use of force. How many presidential candidates can honestly say that they have thrown a lamp at an important world leader?" - Argus Hamilton

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William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82 - Yahoo! News

William F. Buckley Jr., the erudite Ivy Leaguer and conservative herald who showered huge and scornful words on liberalism as he observed, abetted and cheered on the right's post-World War II rise from the fringes to the White House, died Wednesday.

This is a sad day for conservatism. By helping build the intellectual and political basis of conservatism, Buckley helped make America and the world a better place. Without him, there may not be a conservative movement this day, and there certainly would been no President Reagan.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

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Barack Obama Would Take Back Vote Helping Terri Schiavo Avoid Euthanasia

Senator Barack Obama debated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night and said his biggest mistake was voting with a unanimous Senate to help save Terri Schiavo. Terri is the disabled Florida woman whose husband won the legal right to starve her to death.

When asked his biggest mistake, Obama said that trying to save an innocent woman's life, trying to prevent her from being starved to death, was a big mistake. (Take note, too, that this bill passed the Senate unanimously.) As the article linked above points out, it's not the first time he stated that either.

As Hube points out today, and I mentioned before, Obama opposed a bill that would defend the right of children born alive after an abortion attempt to live.

In my earlier post linked above, I also take note that Obama said he would not intervene militarily in Iraq, even to stop a genocide of innocent Iraqis.

So, to sum up:

* He opposes saving innocent people from being starved to death
* He opposes requiring that innocent children who are already born be saved
* He opposes trying to save the lives of innocent genocide victims

He also supports the death penalty. Who would Obama grant the right to life to?

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The Catholic Cavemen think so.

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Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself

(I may have done this already, but what the hell.)

1. I'm very distrustful of any guy dating a woman I care about, whether the female in question be a friend or relative. I just assume the guy is not good enough for her.
2. I'm usually right about the above.
3. I talk to myself a lot while programming. But, I find most programmers do from my experience.
4. It's not that I don't like people, I just prefer being by myself.
5. I am often disappointed at how easy I find it to watch TV instead of doing something constructive.
6. Finding out that someone doesn't like dogs does lower my opinion of them.

Hat Tip: The Anchoress

Book memory meme:

1. Do you associate reading particular books with the places you read them or events of the time you read them?

Not usually. Unless there's some special reason to make an association, I don't remember where or when I read books that often. I can remember vaguely when I read books, but not specifics.

2. Do you remember the books you read or do they fade quickly? Or do you remember some better than others? How about remember details like character names, not just overall plot?

Fade fairly quickly. I've read all the Harry Potter books, for example, but can't remember much beyond the main plot points of them. More challenging books often stick in my mind better since I have to put more effort into reading them.

3. Have you ever forgotten you've read/own a book and borrowed/bought it again?

Only rarely. Usually because it was a book I didn't enjoy and therefore blocked from my memory. For example, my mother gave me a brain teaser book for Christmas that sounded familiar when I looked at it and upon looking through some of the puzzles, I remembered having read it as a kid, except in two separate volumes. So, I tend to remember what I've read.

Hat Tip: The Curt Jester

I don't bother tagging anyone. You're big enough to decide if you want to do a meme yourself.

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There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don't know what can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.
- Kurt Vonnegut

The true test is, whether the object be of a local character, and local use; or, whether it be of general benefit to the states. If it be purely local, congress cannot constitutionally appropriate money for the object. But, if the benefit be general, it matters not, whether in point of locality it be in one state, or several; whether it be of large, or of small extent."

-- Joseph Story (Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833)

Reference: Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 453.

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"Hillary Clinton told The New York Times recently, 'I want to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market... You try to find common ground, insofar as possible. But if you really believe you have to manage the economy, you have to stake a lot of your presidency on it.' Notice that she equates government power and market power. That is absurd. 'Power' in a free market means success at creating goods and services that your fellow human beings voluntarily choose to buy. Government power is force: the ability to fine and imprison people. Politicians who talk about managing the economy ignore the fact that, strictly speaking, there is no economy. There are only people producing, buying and selling goods and services. Keep that in mind, and one realizes that government action more often than not interferes with the productive activities that benefit everyone... The economy is far too complex for any president- no matter how smart- to manage. How can politicians and bureaucrats possibly know what hundreds of millions of individuals know, want and aspire to? How can government employees fathom what trade-offs to make in a world of scarce resources? They can't. That's why free people are more prosperous than unfree people. Presidential candidates should promise to keep their hands off the economy." - John Stossel

"The goal of the 'liberals' - as it emerges from the record of the past decades- was to smuggle this country into welfare statism by means of single, concrete, specific measures, enlarging the power of the government a step at a time, never permitting these steps to be summed up into principles, never permitting their direction to be identified or the basic issue to be named. Thus, statism was to come, not by vote or by violence, but by slow rot- by a long process of evasion and epistemological corruption, leading to a fait accompli." - Ayn Rand

"Those who are quick to say that the traditional family is nearing extinction would be wise to check out the latest report from the Census Bureau. According to the most recent data, a majority of American children (70%) live in two-parent homes and the vast majority (90%) of those live with both of their biological parents. This means that of all American children, 63% are living with both their biological parents (60% married biological parents, 3% cohabiting biological parents). The other bit of good news is that the intact married family is getting stronger among Asian-Americans, where the proportion increased significantly between 2001 and 2004, from 76.4% to 80.5%- making the strongest family ethnic group even stronger yet. The rest of the news is not as optimistic. For all American children in all ethnic groups, there has been a slight decrease (1.4%) between 2001 and 2004 in the proportion living in the married, intact family. White American children are the second strongest group, after Asian-Americans, with 65.9% (down from 67.1%) living with their married, biological parents. Hispanics are next at 57.1 % (down from 58.2%) and African Americans last at 28.2 % (down from 29%)." - Tony Perkins

"The massively cruel and ruinous communistic experiment of the Soviet Empire would not have been necessary if philosophers and intellectuals had not ignored a basic truth about human nature: Human beings, as a derivative of the instinct to survive, are innately driven to act in their own self interest. Notwithstanding propaganda, conditioning or brute force, any government or institution which runs head on against the grain of this basic human drive is doomed to fail. We seem not to have learned a basic lesson of history: Capitalism harnesses human self interest; socialism exhausts itself trying to kill it. The bureaucrats, who seize and dole out other people's assets, initially see themselves as humanitarians. Eventually, they conclude they are indeed superior to others, and treat themselves accordingly. They make laws to which they are not subject; they vote themselves and their wards privileges and benefits. Then, they no longer serve- they rule a nation of the government, by the government and for the government." - Linda Bowles

"Which of these three options is more likely to prevent further murderous rampages: a) making universities closed campuses and increasing the police presence on campus (as the president of [Northern Illinois University] has promised to do); b) making guns much harder to obtain; or c) enabling specially trained students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on campus? Because political correctness has replaced wisdom at nearly all universities, colleges are considering options a and b. But the only thing the first option will accomplish is to reduce the quality of university life and render the campus a larger version of the contemporary airport. And the second option will have no effect whatsoever since whoever wishes to commit murder will be able to obtain guns illegally. But if would-be murderers know that anywhere they go to kill students, there is a real likelihood that one or two students will shoot them first, and if in fact some would-be murderer is killed before he can murder any, or at least many, students, we will see far fewer such attempts made. Even though many of these murderers end up killing themselves, they don't want to die until they have first murdered as many students and teachers as possible. Of course, there is virtually no chance that the uniformly left-thinking individuals who run our universities will ever consider this option. To do so would mean abandoning what is essentially a religious-like conviction that guns are immoral rather than the people who use them immorally." - Dennis Prager

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Pope 2008.com: For all your Pope's visit to America needs.

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"In a general sense, all contributions imposed by the government upon individuals for the service of the state, are called taxes, by whatever name they may be known, whether by the name of tribute, tythe, tallage, impost, duty, gabel, custom, subsidy, aid, supply, excise, or other name."

-- Joseph Story (Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833)

Reference: Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 337.

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"Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."

-- Thomas Paine (Common Sense, 1776)

Reference: Thomas Paine: Collected Writings , Foner ed., Library of America (6)

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George F. Will - Playing the 'Fair' Card - washingtonpost.com

The four-letter F-word that is central to Democrats' rhetoric and to discord everywhere -- "fair" -- is being bandied about. Clinton would be ahead in the delegate count if Obama had not won about twice as many delegates as she in caucuses, so Clinton implies that it is not quite fair to consider delegates accumulated in caucuses as significant as those won in primaries. Obama says it would not be fair for "superdelegates," or delegates chosen by Michigan's and Florida's renegade primaries, to decide the nomination.

Clinton has a small piece of a point but misses the important point. Caucuses are, indeed, less purely "democratic" than primaries. That is their virtue. They are inconvenient, requiring commitments of time and energy that are more apt to be made by especially interested voters. Thus caucuses filter out, disproportionately, the lightly committed and least informed, which is not cause for dismay.

Popular sovereignty is simple in theory -- government by consent of the governed -- but should not be simple-minded in practice. It need not mean government by adding machine, the mere adding up of numbers. A wise polity also has mechanisms for measuring, accommodating and even rewarding intensity. The Senate does this with the filibuster, which enables an intense minority to slow or stymie a majority, at least for a while.

I was going to make a crack that focusing on the mere popular vote might be a fine way to elect the next American Idol, but then I remembered that American Idol does allow multiple voted by one person, so they recognize the importance of acknowledging the intensity of someone's support, rather than sheer numbers. American Idol gets it; will our politicians?

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Tonight, I taught my parish's RCIA class about the Eucharist: why we believe it's the Body and Blood of Christ, the Scriptural support for it, and the implications that has for us in our lives.

Read my outline. (PDF format)

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The lovely Miss Anonymous Opinion quotes author Orson Scott Card as saying:

Now Hillary is getting a taste of what it's like to run for President as a Republican, with the media against you every step of the way.

Just wait till McCain starts getting that treatment; he's in for a surprise, too.

Two Saturdays ago, I was at a party at the house of a very Democratic family. The family is so Democratic that after the funeral of one of the grandsons, the grandmother was trying to convince me to switch parties. The family loves to talk to me about politics, although there is a standing rule about the grandmother and I speaking on that subject with each other. This past visit was no different. One of the family members, long active in Democratic circles and currently holding a prominent appointed position, was bemoaning the media's treatment of Hillary, saying that they weren't being fair and actively favoring Obama. I pointed out that he now knew how Republicans have felt for decades. He responded, "But they're just not being fair and they're so biased." I repeated, "Now you know how Republicans have felt for decades." He got the hint that I wasn't going to give him any sympathy and moved on to other topics.

There are a few issues this brings up:

1) Is it okay for Republicans to watch Democrats being hoist on their own petard, with media bias bringing down their candidate, instead of supporting their candidate for once? Is it merely schadenfreude to take pleasure in their suffering?
2) Was his reaction merely disappointment over the bias going against his candidate for one? Or was it deeper? Was he finally realizing that the media is indeed biased and not afraid to use their power to promote their own objectives, rather than merely report the news? Had he honestly never seen the clear bias of the media, because it was in his favor?

If enough on the left finally are recognizing the obvious agendas and biases of the media, maybe we'll finally have enough of a base to do something about the problem about media bias, and get an objective media, rather than one that just lies in order to pretend it is.

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SURVIVOR HILL MIGHT NOT SURVIVE THIS - New York Post

Charles Hurt writes about Hillary's primary losses last night:

This very morning, she is picking herself up off the canvas, returning to her corner of the ring where Bill will brush Vaseline across the swollen cuts on her face.

John Derbyshire comments:

Easy on the imagery there, Chuck, please

I think it's far more likely that Bill would tell her to "get some ice on that."

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"The name of American, which belongs to you... must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism." - George Washington

"Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight." - Helen Keller

"Talk is cheap- except when Congress does it." - Cullen Hightower

"People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election." - Otto von Bismarck

"It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember." - Eugene McCarthy

"Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?" - Will Rogers

"The Bush administration's decision to take a shot at a crippled spy satellite Thursday has provoked no shortage of complaints from the disarmament crowd. 'The politics are terrible,' grouses Jeffrey G. Lewis of the New America Foundation, in the New York Times. 'We will be using a missile defense system to shoot down a satellite.' Yes, we will. And the politics are terrible only for liberals who are ideologically committed enemies of missile defense. A successful effort to protect people from a man-made device falling from space would counter some of the arguments that missile-defense critics have been repeating since Ted Kennedy started throwing around the term 'Star Wars' as an insult. The satellite in question failed more than a year ago, soon after its launch. Much of it will burn up as it reenters the atmosphere- but not all of it. The satellite is believed to carry half a ton of hydrazine, a rocket fuel that could prove lethal if it falls on an inhabited region- talk about terrible politics. With its embryonic missile-defense system, limited though it currently is, the U.S. military has the option of trying to do something about that... Military officials insist that the Pentagon merely wants to prevent a potential disaster. At the same time, a successful display of missile-defense prowess can serve a supplementary purpose if it reminds potential adversaries that we've developed sophisticated anti-ballistic technologies... By coincidence, the 25th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's speech on the Strategic Defense Initiative is almost upon us. When it arrives, on March 23, we'll know whether the military has managed to shoot down a falling satellite. Let's hope that this speech soon receives a fitting memorial on the edge of space, when a missile that exists because Reagan called for its creation demonstrates a capability that we need now as much as we did then." - National Review

"There is something empowering about a gavel in the hands of a U.S. Congressman. No matter how big a weenie he may have been in high school and no matter how much fun the other kids used to make of him, he now has the authority to make corporate heads, executive department bigwigs or sports stars squirm and perspire." - Pat Sajak

"All of that soaring rhetoric is supported by policies that are so old they creak. Obama may be shiny, bright, and new, but his ideas are suffering from senility." - Mona Charen

"[Hillary's] whole life right now is a reverse Sally Field. She's looking out at an audience of colleagues and saying, 'You don't like me, you really don't like me!"' - Peggy Noonan

"The problems facing America- unsustainable entitlements, broken borders, nuclearizing enemies- require tough solutions, not gaseous Sesame Street platitudes." - Mark Steyn

"Hillary Clinton stated there will be no personal scandal caused by her husband if she's elected president. There goes the last of her support. First she lost the black vote, then she lost the youth vote, and now she has lost the comedians." - Argus Hamilton

"Over the weekend in Ohio, former President Bill Clinton had an angry confrontation with a heckler who claimed at one point Bill Clinton made physical contact. Clinton denied any physical contact, but then again, he always does." - Conan O'Brien

Jay Leno: Hillary Clinton is on the campaign trail. She's been speaking about Black History Month. She's been saying that America has come so far that a black man could one day grow up and possibly be vice president. ... This has not been a good week for Hillary. I guess Bill bought her a dozen roses for Valentine's Day. Turns out seven of the roses have committed to Michelle Obama. ... Hillary has lost the last [ten] primaries in a row. So any crying you see from now on is going to be real. ... Things aren't looking good for Hillary. Like a lot of women in Washington, I think she's just starting to realize she may have slept with Bill Clinton for nothing.

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I got home yesterday and saw a small package waiting with my mail. I went to it first and was surprised to see it was a package from a former coworker who now lives in Maryland. I opened the envelope and saw a book: Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The laughing caused a coughing fit.

So, yet another book thrown on the "To Be Read" pile. (And it will give me something to show my cousins this weekend who are also Buffy fans.)

Thanks, Doug!

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IMAO answers all your hippie-punching questions.

There seems to be some question as to whether or not hippies should be punched on Sunday. While it may fall under some people's definition of work, I would suggest that the pleasure it gives outweighs the work involved, and besides, to the extent it is work, it's certainly the Lord's work.

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When someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!

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"His Example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read."

-- John Adams (message to the U.S. Senate, 19 December 1799)

Reference: Life of Washington, John Marshal, vol. 5

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Richard Brookhiser tells a nice story:

Washington also knew how to handle his friends, sometimes a harder task. By the time he retired, he had become convinced that Thomas Jefferson and his friends would drive America off a cliff if they ever came to power. But Jefferson, then vice president, was the darling of Virginia. Washington tried to encourage Virginians who shared his views to run for office. One of the men he thought of was John Marshall, a bright Richmond lawyer who had served under him as a captain in the Revolution.

Washington invited Marshall to Mount Vernon in 1799 to make his pitch. Marshall idolized Washington, but he wanted to make money, and tried to beg off. Washington would not let him. Marshall finally concluded that he would have to escape from Mount Vernon at day break. He found when he got up, however, that Washington had gotten up earlier, and donned his Revolutionary uniform. Marshall obeyed orders, and began the career that would make him, in less than two years, chief justice.

Why Washington is not just the greatest President, but perhaps the greatest American, ever: he resigned.

Consider all the times that Washington put service before self.

In 1775, when he accepted command of the Continental Army, he promised Congress that he would resign his commission when the war was over. Once the British withdrew, he was true to his word, and surrendered command of an army fiercely loyal to him. In a moving scene before Congress on December 23, 1783 (then assembled in Annapolis, Maryland), Washington pledged loyalty to the civilian government he had served. He thereby established the principle that our nation’s military would always be under civilian rule.

Earlier in the 1780s, Washington had been approached twice by army officers who promised their support if he decided to seize civilian power. In one famous incident in 1782, Col. Lewis Nicola wrote a letter urging Washington to overthrow Congress and become America’s king. The commanding general scolded Nicola the very same day.

In 1783, Washington caught wind of officers wanting to stage a coup d’état against Congress. The so-called Newburgh Conspirators were frustrated that Congress was not paying them what had been promised when the nation desperately needed their sacrifice. Washington would not be moved — that die would not be cast. On the Ides of March, he called the men together and sternly reprimanded them for losing faith in the idea of America. The new nation had a chance to succeed only if its leaders and military adhered to the rule of law.

When King George III heard that Washington would resign his commission to a powerless Congress, he told the painter Benjamin West: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

Washington returned home to Mount Vernon in December 1783. Like Cincinnatus, he put down his sword and took up his plow, making him the most trusted man in America. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 selected him to be their president, knowing he would not abuse his position to aggrandize himself. And a grateful nation unanimously elected him president of the United States in 1789 and again in 1792, because they knew he would devote all his energies to serving the new nation.

Washington, when convinced that he had done all he could to help the country, retired after two terms as president. True to principle, he relinquished the power that was his for the taking. It was an example of selfless leadership that inspires Americans and the world to this day. Why don’t more American children know that?

George Washington, the indispensible man, without whomo we would not have a country. Let's make sure to remember that although many call this "President's Day," it really should be honored as Washington's Birthday.

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"His Example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read."

-- John Adams (message to the U.S. Senate, 19 December 1799)

Reference: Life of Washington, John Marshal, vol. 5

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Murphy won't cheer Giants (phillyBurbs.com) | Courier Times

Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, has taken the rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants to Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday, the House passed a resolution congratulating the New York Giants on winning this year’s Super Bowl “and completing one of the most remarkable postseason runs in professional sports history.”

The resolution passed by a vote of 412 to 1.

Murphy, a diehard Eagles fan who worked at Veterans Stadium as a security guard when he was 16, was the only House member to vote against it.

“As a former 700-level security guard and lifelong Eagles fan, I couldn’t, in good conscience, vote for the New York Giants,” Murphy said Thursday. “The only thing worse would have been a resolution honoring the Dallas Cowboys.”

Excellent move by the young Democrat here. He's actually married to a college friend of mine, although we lost touch over the years. While we raised her better than to marry a Democrat, at least she's got a good one.

Hat Tip: The700Level.com - Philly Sports & Minutiae

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Clemens: You want answers?

Congressman: I think I'm entitled to them.

Clemens: You want answers?

Congressman: I want the truth!

Clemens: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has baseballs. And those balls have to be hit by men with bats. Who's gonna do it? You? You,Congressman? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for steroids and you curse HGH. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that HGH, while illegal, probably sells tickets. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, sells tickets...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that mound. You need me on that mound. We use words like fastall, slider, splitfinger...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent playing a sport. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and falls asleep to the Sportscenter clips I provide,! then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a bat and dig in. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!

Congressman: Did you order the HGH?

Clemens: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do.

Congressman: Did you order the HGH?

Clemens: You're gddamn right I did!!

Source

(Typos in the original.)

Posted by Paul Smith Jr at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is truly one of my favorite days of the year. It reminds us of what's truly important, what we love most in this world, what brings us the most joy of all the good the world has to offer.

Because on this day, pitchers and catchers report to spring training!

Posted by Paul Smith Jr at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Greenhouse Affect - WSJ.com

The ink is still moist on Capitol Hill's latest energy bill and, as if on cue, a scientific avalanche is demolishing its assumptions. To wit, trendy climate-change policies like ethanol and other biofuels are actually worse for the environment than fossil fuels. Then again, Washington's energy neuroses are more political than practical, so it's easy for the Solons and greens to ignore what would usually be called evidence.

The rebukes arrive via two new studies in Science, a peer-reviewed journal not known for right-wing proclivities. The first, by ecologists at Princeton and the Woods Hole Research Center, reviews the environmental consequences of increased biofuel consumption, which had never been examined comprehensively. Of course, that didn't stop Congress and the Bush Administration from jacking up the U.S. mandate to 36 billion gallons by 2022, a fivefold increase from a mere two years ago. Such policies are supposedly justified because corn-based ethanol and other "alternatives" result in (very modest) reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions when mixed with gasoline.

The researchers break new ground by exposing a kind of mega-accounting error: Prior studies had never credited the carbon-dioxide emissions that arise when virgin forests, grasslands and the like are cleared to grow biofuel feedstocks. About 2.7 times more carbon is stored in terrestrial soils and plant material than in the atmosphere, and this carbon is released when these areas are cleared (often by burning) and the soil is tilled. Compounding problems is the loss of "carbon sinks" that absorb atmospheric CO2 in the bargain. Previous projections had also ignored the second-order effects of transferring normal farm land to biofuels, which exerts world-wide pressure on land use.

So, incredibly, when the hidden costs of conversion are included, greenhouse-gas emissions from corn ethanol over the next 30 years will be twice as high as from regular gasoline. In the long term, it will take 167 years before the reduction in carbon emissions from using ethanol "pays back" the carbon released by land-use change. As they say, it's not easy being green.

Posted by Paul Smith Jr at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"The government solution to any problem is usually at least as bad as the problem." - Milton Friedman

"Vote for the man who promises least; he'll be the least disappointing." - Bernard Baruch

"In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant." - Charles de Gaulle

"If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." - H. L. Mencken

"We'd all like to vote for the best man but he's never a candidate." - Kin Hubbard

"We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex- but Congress can." - Cullen Hightower

"The Presidential winner in November will probably appoint no fewer than two Supreme Court Justices. The likeliest vacancies, from an actuarial perspective, will come from the liberal wing of the Court. So a President Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton has the potential to set back the prolife agenda by 30 years. It could well be a generation before a President would have another opportunity to shift the balance on the Court to the right. [John] McCain's harshest critics argue that his judicial picks could easily be as bad as anyone tapped by Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama. This is caricature, but even if it had merit, [they] would be trading the risk that Mr. McCain picks moderates for the court for the certainty that his opponent would appoint liberals. It's always possible Mr. McCain would make a bad Supreme Court nomination, just as Ronald Reagan picked Anthony Kennedy, who later affirmed Roe v. Wade... The conservative coalition has learned a lot about picking judges since 1987, and especially since the nomination of David Souter by another Republican President. As the Harriet Myers interlude proved, another mystery pick by Mr. McCain or any other GOP President is far less likely than it used to be...[S]ocial conservatives may decide they can't vote for Mr. McCain for any number of reasons. What they can't do with any credibility is claim that helping to elect a liberal President will further the causes that these conservatives claim to believe most deeply in." - The Wall Street Journal

"There are seven reasons for anyone to support the eventual nominee no matter who it is: The war and six Supreme Court justices over the age of 68." - Hugh Hewitt

"Kamikaze Republicans- those who say they'll never vote for John McCain because he isn't conservative enough- may get what they deserve. The Clintons... It isn't necessary to love everything McCain has done to vote for him should he be the nominee. But it isn't possible to argue that there's no difference between McCain and Clinton (or Barack Obama), as some Republicans insist." - Kathleen Parker

"A wise aphorism has it that the perfect is the enemy of the good. While conservatives tilt their noses expressively in the air at the idea of John McCain's representing a movement he votes with 85 percent of the time, Democrats offer the electorate two strong believers in the power of big government, two babes in the woods when it comes to foreign policy, two fast friends of every liberal interest from pro-choice to gay rights to let's-kill-the-Bush-tax-cuts." - William Murchison

"We are a movement that believes in personal responsibility, so it's time to take some. There are consequences to losing. Now is the time to rebuild and re-group, not whine or complain or sulk. Reagan lost many political battles along the way but never lost hope in the enduring nature of basic conservative principles. Neither should we." - Laura Ingraham

"Conservative principles are timeless, and will outlast any politician." - Alfred Regnery

"[Barack] Obama is a candidate whose empty bombast could float a fleet of hot air balloons... Obama's speeches never actually capture a struggling thought- and if they did, they'd have to waterboard it for information. Obama's speechmaking isn't deep. It is profundity for dunces." - Ben Shapiro

"If Hillary Clinton loses, does she know how to lose? What will that be, if she loses? Will she just say, 'I concede' and go on vacation at a friend's house on an island, and then go back to the Senate and wait? Is it possible she could be so normal?" - Peggy Noonan

"We now have a pro-American President of France. And, in spite of what some radicals say, I think we should have a pro-American President of the United States." - Martin Silbermintz

Jay Leno: Mitt Romney threw in the monogrammed towel. That leaves McCain and Huckabee. The old guy and the preacher. Which brings up the philosophical question: Which one is closer to God? ... John McCain was the big Republican winner. One pundit said McCain's lucky nickel was working. He carries a lucky nickel. It must be lucky- six months ago, that was his campaign war chest. ... Hillary Clinton also carries around a lucky nickel. Not for superstitious reasons- she just flips it when she needs a position on Iraq. ... Newsweek estimates that Bill Clinton made between $10 and $15 million last year for speaking engagements. That explains why Hillary never speaks to him anymore- she can't afford it. ... Hillary Clinton has the support of Bill Clinton, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, or as she calls them, the party unfaithful. ... They did a poll on whether Bill's campaigning for Hillary helped her or hurt her. Well, 38 percent thought it helped; 36 percent thought it hurt. Then 26 percent said, "He never told me he was married!"

Posted by Paul Smith Jr at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)