tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88632582008-07-13T15:57:48.865-07:00TurkeyBlog2gbartonoreply@blogger.comBlogger1048125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-88835345652558696592008-07-13T15:53:00.000-07:002008-07-13T15:57:48.898-07:00Pennsylvania Democrats Use Taxpayer Money for Fundraising - Corruption Probe Underway Pennsylvania Democrats including Mike Veon were allegedly using government offices for fundraising and giving taxpayer funded bonuses to aides based on how much money they raised. Here's the story, found at Instapundit.gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-32533714762371076712008-07-08T23:44:00.000-07:002008-07-08T23:51:25.863-07:00A short essay in the manner of those writers who find their every observation fascinating or Why You Should Leave the Dog Poo on the Ground The other day, when I was at my local Barnes and Noble, I stopped into the restroom. There was already someone at the urinal and I was on the edge of going into the first stall when he flushed and retreated. I stepped toward the urinal and was surprised to gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-26230203645180908472008-07-03T17:20:00.000-07:002008-07-03T17:23:58.751-07:00Comment of the Day, over at Ann Althouse's blog:Foobarista said... If Obama refined as much oil as he does on his positions, gas would cost 80 cents a gallon...John Kerry in 2004: I was for it before I was against it. Barack Hussein Obama in 2008: I was for it before I was for it.gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-23557062607551344452008-06-28T10:47:00.000-07:002008-06-28T11:10:14.260-07:00Gallup (via Instapundit) reports that a majority of the people believe: 1. The government should focus on growing the economy, not income redistribution. 2. The government is doing more, not less, than it should. Ronald Reagan: 1. A rising tide lifts all boats. 2. Government isn't the solution, it's the problem. Now if only we could find a Republican who wants to win one for the Gipper.gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-6169632004643052802008-06-22T11:03:00.000-07:002008-06-22T11:43:35.109-07:00Instapundit points to this story about housing costs in San Francisco and the exodus of the middle class. Says the article, San Francisco has gotten too expensive for all but the rich to live there. I think that if you want to live in SF and can afford to, that's fine. And if you can't afford to live in SF, well, that's how life goes. What I find interesting, though, is that the leftist rich of gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-90299777584299851302008-06-15T23:37:00.000-07:002008-06-15T23:48:19.122-07:00You mean there are legal immigrants too? To hear the media cover immigration, you'd get the sense that the United States has slammed the door in the faces of a world that wants to come here, so if there are illegal immigrants here, what could you expect? What you could expect, of course, is that those illegal immigrants would try to come here legally. Here's another angle on illegal gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-19464426228814745562008-06-08T22:51:00.000-07:002008-06-08T23:05:59.801-07:00Mickey Kaus flags a snooty Timesman whining that his Starbucks experience isn't special enough:Rewards are nice, but recognition is better. So if I'm one of Starbucks's best customers, I want to have elite status, as I do on American Airlines. I want shorter lines, better freebies... - Ron Lieber, NYTSome years ago, I lived in Tours for about a month. On my second day there, I found a café where gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-61889571932369381252008-06-07T09:27:00.000-07:002008-06-07T09:29:44.470-07:00In which we channel Rodney Dangerfield: I get no respect. When I was a kid, my folks said us kids liked the packaging better than the presents so they gave my sister a cardboard box - and me a plastic bag. (if confused, look at the warning label on the closest plastic bag to hand)gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-37360465319125085142008-06-05T11:20:00.000-07:002008-06-05T12:08:21.327-07:00Precisely:It is Rush, not me, who has repeatedly mused that he would prefer to see Republicans lose this election if McCain were nominated. So who is the advocate of "surrender" here? And since Obama has pledged early and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq, it’s not just an election that Limbaugh equably contemplates losing – it is a war. - David FrumRobert Heinlein said you should always vote gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-37371536545557918662008-05-29T08:25:00.000-07:002008-05-29T10:43:55.491-07:00How not to deal with a child with Asperger's Joanne Jacobs has a write-up on a novel new method for classroom discipline: peer humiliation meets Survivor:Five-year-old Alex Barton was voted out of kindergarten class by his fellow students in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Before the vote, his teacher told classmates to say what they didn’t like about Alex: He was labeled “disgusting” and “annoying.” gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-65449547827301528192008-05-28T21:26:00.000-07:002008-05-28T21:31:35.236-07:00Obama's Memorial Day speech summarized: If we had better government programs, our soldiers would stop clinging to their guns and vote for me.gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-43395690826435654792008-05-28T20:53:00.000-07:002008-05-28T21:20:43.328-07:00On Obama's Memorial Day Remarks I don't care that Obama said Buchenwald instead of Auschwitz. I don't care that it was a great uncle, not an uncle or a grandfather or whatever. I don't care that Obama seemed to think Memorial Day was for veterans in general, not soldiers who gave their lives for their country. But it bothers me a lot that that given an opportunity to talk about a relative - gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-79390046532145263492008-05-23T06:51:00.000-07:002008-05-23T07:59:44.347-07:00Fog and Damp in Santa Cruz Mountains Morning after Summit Fire Stepping out on the front porch this morning, I was immediately hit by the smell of smoke. But according to the radio, it's good news this morning: low clouds, cool fog, damp air, light winds. The fire is now back to 3100 acres, 20% contained. That from KCBS radio. The view above is from 6:50 this morning. Mostly it's fog; not gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-4366547489601464182008-05-22T13:18:00.000-07:002008-05-22T13:30:29.539-07:00Fires in Santa Cruz Mountains Here's the latest from the Merc. When I arrived at work this morning, a colleague asked about the Summit Road fire. However, Summit's a long road stretching into the next county, and so far the fire looks to be well south of us. Coming out this morning, we noticed a little "fog" to the south, but that's pretty common when moisture blows in off the ocean. I suppose gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-88694203795024754592008-05-20T21:23:00.000-07:002008-05-20T21:38:52.510-07:00Instapundit has a nice round-up of links for the Kentucky primary. Methinks the Dems have a problem. The problem isn't that Hillary won't drop out. The problem is that a) the voters won't make her, and b) some of them seem pretty intent on waving a great big finger in the face of the media and the Dem establishment about it. And I don't think this would be such a problem except that the Obama gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-86216137458993251192008-05-16T19:20:00.000-07:002008-05-16T19:55:37.195-07:00Here, in two paragraphs, is why I will be voting for McCain this November. Taken from his remarks to the NRA: Senator Obama has said, if elected, he will withdraw Americans from Iraq quickly no matter what the situation on the ground is and no matter what U.S. military commanders advise. But if we withdraw prematurely from Iraq, al Qaeda in Iraq will survive, proclaim victory and continue to gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-69600599345621791172008-05-14T18:30:00.000-07:002008-05-14T18:49:57.225-07:00AOL Home page Headline: Edwards Makes His Choice He Supports a Former Rival I'm just wondering how often a former presidential candidate has managed to support someone who wasn't a former rival. Did someone think he'd endorse Ron Paul? Of course, with all the acrimony in the Democrat party these days, maybe it is something novel for one Democrat to support another. :P The story is here, but gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-511312291708995602008-05-13T11:15:00.000-07:002008-05-13T11:59:42.392-07:00Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, there's an interesting post on "science studies," postmodernism, etc. The comments are interesting too. The crux of it comes from a reprint of Norman Leavitt, of which I think this is the nut:[Professor el Hajj's] ideas are at the least heavily tinctured with what, for want of a better term, is usually called "postmodernism." This incorporates the attitude that gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-45262560403073377252008-05-11T12:26:00.000-07:002008-05-11T12:41:22.379-07:00Over at Michael Totten's blog, there's a Tony Badran post on the Obama campaign's response to events in Lebanon. According to the Obama campaign:It's time to engage in diplomatic efforts to help build a new Lebanese consensus that focuses on electoral reform, an end to the current corrupt patronage system, and the development of the economy that provides for a fair distribution of services, gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-50519698430020979142008-05-05T22:53:00.000-07:002008-05-05T23:26:54.657-07:00Reports InsideHigherEd (via Instapundit):In an effort to increase access to higher education, the government has been lavishing financial aid on students. The largest of these subsidies are the loan programs (primarily the federal direct and guaranteed loan programs, Perkins and PLUS), which accounted for just under 70 percent of all federal financial aid last year, according to the College Boardgbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-44806506439872535682008-04-30T10:17:00.000-07:002008-04-30T13:22:18.288-07:00What if whole economy is made up? Instapundit flags Tom Friedman talking about Hillary and McCain's pandering on the gas tax. The quote from Friedman: We have no energy strategy. If you are going to use tax policy to shape energy strategy then you want to raise taxes on the things you want to discourage — gasoline consumption and gas-guzzling cars — and you want to lower taxes on the things you gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-68219315400668800532008-04-26T16:08:00.000-07:002008-04-26T16:32:42.868-07:00Over at PajamasMedia, Michael Weiss has a piece on the arrogance of Obama's latest strategy - acting like he's already won the nomination. What I like best about Obama, though, is the quality of his supporters. For example, there's this from commenter Karen, who is either a troll or the epitome of Obama's troubles. Says Karen:Why doesn’t anyone talk about how college educated people tend to lean gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-90925056096685596952008-04-21T17:11:00.000-07:002008-04-21T17:49:42.700-07:00Last week, Stephen Green did an update on where he sees the electoral college playing out. In the post, he notes:OK, here’s the thing. Current polls — and the primary votes already held — show Obama does best in states he has virtually no shot at winning in November. (Maybe the red states are so red because the local blue voters are even further to the left than blue state voters. Just a thought;gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-65741268100888063252008-04-21T10:17:00.000-07:002008-04-21T10:56:42.036-07:00Instapundit points to this Reason article, Adieu to the Avant-Garde. I think part of what we're seeing here is the same fragmentation that's happening across media and politics. First, cable television broadened entertainment choices, which meant that not only were there more choices for news than the big 3 networks but also that if you wanted to watch something other than the news from 6:00-7:00gbartonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863258.post-8421199022812157922008-04-13T10:21:00.000-07:002008-04-13T10:32:37.403-07:00Over at the Commentary blog, commenter Karen Braun nicely summarizes what's wrong with Obama's view of the world:Obama said that bitter middle Americans cling to guns or religion. What that acutally means is that most Americans erroneously rely on themselves or their God to provide and protect them and not the collective state. And they do so not out of bitterness, but from a foundational belief gbartonoreply@blogger.com