Another rhetorical question

Is it a bad sign when you call the telephone company for service and get a busy signal the first 10 tries?

Embarrassment

Usually it is a kid, not a parent, that does something to embarrass an elected official. Not this time. (And Dad is 81.)

Oversimplification

Link.

One thing that would really improve political discourse, and maybe even lead to some better results, would be for all of us to stop oversimplifying issues. Our culture has fallen into a bad habit of trying to turn nearly every subject into a simple duality, with two opposite positions and no gray areas, no third or fourth or fifth possibilities, no troubling ambiguities. It makes life easier in the short run. We don’t have to think, all we have to do is try to yell louder than the obviously evil or crazy people on the other side. But it doesn’t work most of the time. There aren’t many issues that are really that simple, because if they were, they wouldn’t be issues. The only way either liberals or conservatives can turn them into such exercises in obviousness is to omit big parts of the picture, and that guarantees that we’re not seeing it accurately.

What a moonbat wanker this guy is.

(For cross-post at Centerfield and comments posted there, click here.)

"I enjoy cocaine because . . ."

Stephen Colbert is brilliant. Just watch this.

Google ads - gone

I have removed the Google ads. They screwed up the viewing of the site through Internet Explorer (but not Firefox), and then Google sent me and email advising me that "you are currently displaying Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies." I don't even want to know why. It ain't worth the hassle.

Rhetorical question

What is it with people who place classified ads in the newspaper looking for particular kinds of work and, when you call them, they tell you that they are to busy to take on any more work at this time? (That happened to me twice this week.)

Stem cell bill

Spending has exploded during the past 6 years, and President Bush decides that this bill will be the first that he will veto. I'm disgusted.

A bright spot

Report.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 16 — With the battle between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah raging, key Arab governments have taken the rare step of blaming Hezbollah, underscoring in part their growing fear of influence by the group’s main sponsor, Iran.

Saudi Arabia, with Jordan, Egypt and several Persian Gulf states, chastised Hezbollah for “unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts” at an emergency Arab League summit meeting in Cairo on Saturday.

I'm deeply concered as to how this thing is going play out, but this is a very good development in an otherwise bad, bad situation.

Toughest job in America

This guy has to have the most challenging job in the United States. So much is at stake, yet the obstacles to finding "good" resolutions seem practically insurmountable.

These are very dangerous times for the whole world.

Theories

Apparently, you can teach anything at the University of Wisconsin-Madison if you just label it a "theory." See here.

Picture of the day

Explanation here.

Free market

I previously blogged about twincitiesfreemarket.org, here and here. I feel compelled to do so again today.

We are relandscaping our backyard. We have, literally, tons of river rock that is nice looking but not friendly to the feet around the pool. The general contractor landscaping proposals that we received for the backyard included $1,500 to $2,000 to remove the river rock. I thereafter decided to general contract the job myself.

To get started on the project, I put this up on twincitiesfreemarket.org on Thursday:

We are planning on installing flagstone in vast areas in our yard that are currently covered by nice river rock. If you are willing to put the sweat equity necessary into collecting some or all of the river rock, you could save $100s over purchasing the same from a nursery or Home Depot.

Despite the fact that it has been hot as heck here this weekend, 7 truck/van loads of rock have been carted away this weekend, with me watching from the air conditioned indoors. It is almost all gone, the people were thrilled to get it, and we saved huge bucks.

The Internet is so cool.

UPDATE: Make it 8 loads. One guy made another trip just before dark, his third of the day and fourth since Friday. He even brought pictures of where he is putting it.

Sabbatical

If you had not noticed, I'm taking a break. I will be back, well, whenever.