Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi

This is a colossal flustercluck. All that talk about Hillary challenging Obama in 2012? Out the window. Her career is finished. Obama? His opponents will be citing this speech of his this time next year.

Speaking of Mo, I saw this on Zero Hedge today:

Rumor has it that Gaddafi sent his agents to Kenya to find credible evidence that Obama was born there.

If found, Gaddafi could play the ultimate extortion card.

"Hey, brother Barry - are you sure I should be forced to leave Libya? You sure?"

I suggest the reason Obama won't release his "official" birth certificate isn't because he doesn't have one, but because the controversy keeps a large number of people distracted by a non-issue and it makes his opponents look kooky. Seems like a pretty smart political strategy.

Harris County Sports Authority may default on bonds

The Harris County Sports Authority may default on its bonds. I clearly remember when this was sold to us taxpayers as a "can't lose" proposition. So now we have a bunch of stadiums we can't pay for (plus one on the way), and we are still paying for a decrepit 45-year-old Astrodome.

I think this is hardly unique. The stadium mania over the past decade will come home to roost in your town very soon as well.

Fly Air New Zealand with Richard Simmons

Are Australians insane? (Part 2)

Part 1 here.

Jessica Irvine of the Sydney Morning Herald says there is no housing bubble.

Less sophisticated bubblers simply compare the rise in house prices over the past few decades to the rise in wages to make the ''overvalued'' claim, pointing out that the former vastly outperforms the latter.

But this overlooks the historic boost to household borrowing capacity that occurred in the 1990s with the halving of nominal interest rates. This, in effect, doubled the amount households were able to borrow against a certain income. The relaxation of lending standards by banks in response to financial deregulation also increased the amount banks were willing to lend against that income. These two factors are largely responsible for the increase in household debt between the mid-1990s and 2000s.

OK, but what happens when it's time to sell? $402 will get you this in a distant Sydney 'burb.

Irvine writes,

Most of the population is concentrated in a few capital cities with often marvellous water views.

This is the marvelous view from that $402k house. A nice view of graffiti and clotheslines.


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Think of your budget and what you are looking for in a house and do the math (h/t iamfacinganap for spotting this property).

Corning's vision of the future

I like it. We will have firmware updates for our refrigerator doors and bathroom mirrors. Microsoft Windows for Your Windows will have "patch Tuesdays" and you won't be able to look outside of your house until your windows have been rebooted.

New photos emerge from Afghanistan

Minutes ago, Michael Yon posted a series of photos on his Facebook page showing what appear to be US soldiers posing with corpses of dead civilians. It also looks like they were abusing the corpses. One person wrote about the propaganda value to the enemy. Yon wrote,

(I) understand what you are saying, but they are already out and trust me -- these will be on all the Jihadist websites very soon. Right now, US commanders need to get these, too. I was actually contacted by people in Afghanistan who want to see these, now.

Update: Here's a link. This is an old story, only the images just came out. It was a lot worse than I thought.

Moron re-writing Twain

Following up on this, 60 Minutes did a story tonight about re-writing Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

I understand the desire to drop the N word, particularly for children. It's tragic that our boys will not experience the sheer pleasure of reading these two stories because of that word, but if removing the word is what it takes, so be it. I disagree with calling him "Slave Jim." Why not just "Jim"? It is understood from the context of the story what his background is.

I realize I am walking on a slippery slope. But it seems to me that the choice is now a) These two stories are denied to our kids or b) They read them without that word.

Two Fat Middle-Aged White Guys

Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra today. The years have clearly taken their toll on Mojo, and he's only 29. It occurs to me that Jello Biafra is a dead ringer for Leo Laporte.

Speaking of Dead Kennedys, Klaus Flouride will be 62 in just a few short weeks. It's amazing to see former punk rock icons reaching Social Security age.

Chevy runs deep.

I keep hearing that tagline on Chevy ads. I don't know what it means. You're deeply underwater the moment you drive off the lot?

No segue. I don't know why a Nobel Peace Prize winner is declaring war on yet another Arab country. I thought it was a bad thing to use American forces to depose brutal dictators in the Middle East, but now it seems that this is a good thing. Confused.

Poop in Houston

Some dude named Denver Hopkins found an unopened, unlocked keyboard on one of those electronic road signs over the weekend and had some fun. He turned himself in and faces a $500 fine.


I think these events are pretty funny and I hope TxDOT leaves this one alone. They have more important things to worry about.

Japan earthquake

The videos of the tsunami in Japan are horrifying, a wall of water and burning structures. I fear that many thousands of people have been killed.

I love you, you love me, I donate to the DNC

Joyce Slocum is the new head of NPR, and now there's some minor controversy about her campaign donations. I'd just like to point out that she was with Lyrick Studios, most famous for unleashing Barney the Evil Purple Dinosaur on the helpless American public.

The company was best known for its distribution of home videos, audio products and children's books and toys for the children's television series Barney & Friends and Wishbone. The company was acquired by HiT Entertainment in March 2001 for $275 million.

Funny how that works. Since taxpayer dollars were used to fund Barney on PBS, were we reimbursed after the $275 million sale? Just asking.

Wisconsin Dems go insane

Who does this Chris Larson guy think he's fooling?

State Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said Wednesday night he attempted to drive back from Illinois to Madison to get to the Capitol before Republicans passed the measure.

"This is on the Republicans' heads right now. If they decide to kill the middle class, it's on them."

"This is a travesty is what it is," he said about the vote. "I can't sit by and let them kill the middle class."

Well, you did sit by, Chris. You hid in Illinois for 3 weeks, avoiding your job. Funny, lots of state governments don't have collective bargaining or public employee unions, and employees are still rewarded handsomely. They may not be as fat as Wisconsin state employees, but they have fairly secure jobs that put them solidly in the middle class (if not a little higher) and good pensions.

Larson's comments have nothing to do with protecting the middle class. Larson is pissed off because the primary source of his campaign donations has been cut. You know it, I know it, he knows it, the ones in Milwaukee protesting know it.

Something even more disturbing in Larson's comments is his implication that the only way you can be part of the middle class is by getting a unionized government job. Really, Chris? The only way Wisconsin residents can join the middle class is to get that union government job? Well that doesn't say very much for the way your party has been running the state for decades, does it?

I am all for the right of private-sector workers to unionize. I think it is a mistake in many instances, but if they want to unionize they should knock themselves out. But unions should never be allowed in the government sphere. One look at the finances of heavily unionized states shows why.

Chirac est un ver.

Jacques Iraq is in the news. It was 8 years ago that Jacques Chirac took a stand against invading Iraq, not out of principle, but because he was protecting his financial ally Saddam Hussein.


This sign is making the rounds today, but I think that people have forgotten the source:

It seems kinda sad now that Chirac is in his twilight years to put him through the legal wringer. I wonder if they waited until he was senile and decrepit in order to display a meaningless show trial about something unrelated to his activities in the Middle East.

Idiocracy

I think I've found the main feed. Yay! Winning apostrophe abuse.

The Flagship has never looked better

Former Houston residents may be pleased to know that Galveston's Flagship Hotel is coming down. In fact, it hasn't looked this good in decades.

Landry's is building an amusement park on the pier. If you're curious, this is what the pier looked like 60 years ago. If you ask me, alligator wrestling, bars, "adult rides," and a 2000-seat arena at the end were probably more interesting than the Rainforest Cafe/animated character jungle ride/roller coaster thing to come.

33% thinner

Jews made my dog fart!

The things that just a few Jews can do is amazing! They represent like 0.8% of the Earth's population, yet they control everything! We are all just marionettes, and the Jews pull our strings! We dance for the Jews! Dance, dance!

Charlie Sheen? The Jews make him act that way!
Gaddafi destroying Libya? Jews did it!
Insanity in the financial system? Jews! Oh, wait. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

When will Charlie Sheen die?