ASTEROID!

Here you can comment on the ASTEROID! entry at Eject! Eject! Eject!

The essay can be found at : http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000191.html

The PUMAs Have it...

The Message?

Don't. You. Believe. It.

(...someone needs to go tell that @%$#&*@'in Allahpundit)

Update:
They're-Not-Even-Real-Trolls...

Move Along, Folks - No Double-Standard to See Here...

Palin's Noose-Hanging Effigy is "Art"..
Obama's is a "Crime"

'Cause that guy... The One running for President?

...he's a Victim, y'see.

We have the best commenters

Free-range Oyster, The rise of a king.

I saw a disturbing thing today: a man who wished to be a slave. An anonymous poster joined the discussion over at E3 Gazette, and had the following to say (emphasis mine):

"I can't wait for eight LOOOOOOOOOOOONG years of OBAMA rule"

Now the inimitable Mark Paules already made a simple rebuttal regarding the use of that word, and how inappropriate it is in light of our system of representative government. The problem here is not just that the term "rule" is inappropriate. It is frightening. It frightens because of what it reveals of the mentality of this person, and probably many others...

I'm not suppoosed to say it... but
Go read the whole thing.

The Passion of the Plumber

The Columbus Dispatch now says that the Ohio computer database lookups of "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher were more extensive than previously disclosed:

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.
. . .
"Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise, ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked confidential databases ," she wrote.

Sharing the results of those searches with the Tanning Bed Media was just an extra service they provided. As bad as this invasion of privacy is, Jones-Kelley's explanation betrays a fundamental misconception. She seems to think that economic classes are static; that people are born into a class and stay there their entire lives. The reality is that there is a great deal of movement up and down the economic ladder.

I knew a man who grew up in poverty during the Depression, who went on to become a multi-millionaire through his construction and real-estate business. You'd never know it looking at him; he and his wife shopped at the same low-price stores as I did, wore off-the-rack clothes, and drove an old pickup truck. They kept reinvesting their profits into building more properties. And he is hardly unique.

Joe told Barack Obama that he had conversations with his employer about buying him out at some point. The way a deal like that often works is that the owner gets to retirement age without having groomed a family member to take over the business, so he sells it to an employee on a contract/loan. For years after Joe "took over", he would have been paying off his current employer out of the profits that the business earns, reinvesting his profits to improve his equity. That's why he was worried about Obama's plans to "tax the rich"; If those profits are taxed at a higher rate, countless Joes around the country will not be able to move up from employee to employer.

Perhaps Obama and his allies are unaware of this economic reality. On the other hand, they may full well know that raising tax rates decreases upward mobility, creating the very ills they pretend to oppose. I suspect that some of them do know it, and others don't. I'm not sure whether ignorance or malice is the greater indictment, but we need not concern ourselves with their motives. Their policies are destructive.
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Wheels Fly Off Obama-Bus - No Film @ 11:00

Obama Speechwriter Defects Democratic Party, Endorses McCain...
Dang...

Button described the Democratic Party as almost like family, but says that now "it doesn't even feel like a distant cousin." The party's treatment of women, and the way that they mocked and smeared "Joe the Plumber", a working class American, has left her disgusted and disillusioned. As she says, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me.”

Here's her own post, explaining her position in detail:A speechwriter for Obama, Edwards, and Clinton on why she’s voting McCain.

"Sh' can't tayhk annemoor, Cahptan! Sh's shaki'n aparrt!"

Another Joe

Don sent us this from Common Sense:

Hello
My Name is
Joe The Plumber
and yes we - are related
we're AMERICAN
Laughing at his dream
you're laughing at mine too!

Trick or Treat!

I got this in an email so I can't credit the original source.

Goldberg Lays It Out Nicely...

..with "Obama's Not New".

Money-Quote:
"...Obama doesn't represent anything novel. Rather, he symbolizes a return to an older vision of the United States that was seen as the "wave of the future" eight decades ago."

Too many people have lost their grasp of history, for this to not be intuitively obvious.

- MuscleDaddy

Red State Voter

I told some friends over at the Lounge that this idea had been percolating around in my head. Now that we have Gretchen Wilson performing "Redneck Woman" at McCain/Palin rallies....

...it's time for me to share my lyrics.

---

Well, I never been the sophist type.
I can't jump through those mental hoops,
I know what's wrong and right.
Some things are
so basic
you can't just legislate.
We got them from a whole lot higher power than the State.
Our Founding Fathers held that
they were Truths self-evident.
And I support our troops no matter who is President!

'Cause I'm a Red State Voter
I ain't no left-wing fraud
I don't think folks are stupid
just for having faith in God
I can surf the Internet and hear talk radio
so I learn things the New York Times wished that I didn't know!
Now here's to all my sisters out in Flyover Country
Can I get a big "Hell Yeah" from the Red State gals like me?
Hell Yeah!
Hell Yeah!


So-called "free" health care
Yeah, that sounds nice
But everything worth havin' costs; you always pay some price.
If not money, then time
service, or quality.
And if you are not free to choose, then it's not really free.

They tell me Global Warming
is caused by driving cars
I didn't think that there were any SUV's on Mars!

Hey, I'm a Red State Voter
I ain't no left-wing fraud
It doesn't make folks stupid
just for having faith in God
I can surf the Internet and hear talk radio
So I know things that See B. S. wished that I didn't know!
Now here's to all my brothers out in Flyover Country
Can I get a big "Hell Yeah" from the Red State guys like me?
Hell Yeah!
Hell Yeah!

In a Blue State, voter?
then don't be deterred
You can be a Maverick
Stop running with the herd
You can surf the Internet and hear talk radio
And you'll know things the MSM wished that you didn't know!
So here's to all the others who will fight for their country
Can I get a big "Hell Yeah" from US folks like me?
Hell Yeah!
Hell Yeah!
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]

---

Gretchen, if you ever want to sing this version, you not only have my permission, but my undying gratitude.

Pajamas Media: Eyewitness to the Ayers Revolution

Larry Grathwohl was a member of the Weather Underground, and an FBI informant. This Pajamas Media interview gives us a first-hand account of why they're still relevant [emphasis mine]

I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of which have graduate degrees, from Columbia and other well-known educational centers, and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 25 million people.

And they were dead serious.

. . .

I suppose you could consider this a purely academic discussion in that the Weathermen never had the opportunity to implement their political ends. However, I can assure you that this was not the case. There was an absolute belief that they, along with the international revolutionary movement, would cause the collapse of the United States and that they would be in charge.

Sound familiar?

Bob Hope on Obama Voters

RIP, Dean Barnett

Dean Barnett has finally succumbed to Cystic Fibrosis. Dean was truly a class act. He will be sorely missed.

Preserve, Protect and Defend!

See here about 57 seconds in.

"It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution."

WHISKEY! TANGO! FOXTROT!

Wasn't that the reason the founding fathers established a Supreme Court in the first place? To make sure that no one "broke free" from those constraints?

Obama's history favoring "Redistribution"

Joe the Plumber wasn't the first person to get Barack Obama to admit his position on wealth redistribution....

UPDATE: Bill has weighed in on this and directed the comments come here. We'll try to coordinate that better next time.
UPDATE: Some have accused that these quotes are "out of context". So here is the full, uncut program for anyone who wishes to evaluate that accusation. (Thanks to Rob for the pointer.)

Boortz: To the Undecided Voter

Recently, we told you about The Comprehensive Argument Against Barack Obama. Our buddy Don reports that Neal Boortz has a similar effort: To the Undecided Voter. Like a lot of us, he's got plenty to dislike about McCain, and says as much. But his differences with Maverick pale by comparison to his problems with The One. As did Benson, Ham, and Morrisey in their article, Boortz steers clear of the unsubstantiated allegations that the left would use to discount the reasoned critiques.

All Your Retirement Accounts Are Belong to...

Our old buddy Don sends us this cautionary tale of how Argentina is using the current financial crisis as an excuse to seize individual retirement accounts. The Democrats in Congress seem interested in doing something similar with 401(K) accounts; rest assured they're watching how this one comes along.

Explaining Our U.S. Tax System with Beer

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.'

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free, but once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right,"exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important....they didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier. [Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia

h/t The Source.

News of the Future?

Two Visions of Human Nature

Over at Forbes.com, Peter Robinson invokes Thomas Sowell:

The American Revolution embodied the constrained vision. "In the United States," Sowell says, "it was assumed from the outset that what you needed to do above all was minimize [the damage that could be done by] the flaws in human nature." The founders did so by composing a constitution of checks and balances. More than two centuries later, their work remains in place.

The French Revolution, by contrast, embodied the unconstrained vision. "In France," Sowell says, "the idea was that if you put the right people in charge--if you had a political Messiah--then problems would just go away." The result? The Terror, Napoleon and so many decades of instability that France finally sorted itself out only when Charles de Gaulle declared the Fifth Republic.

If that second paragraph doesn't chill you to the bone, you haven't been paying attention.

Zombie: William Ayers' Forgotten Communist Manifesto

The indefatigable Zombie, who routinely goes into the belly of the moonbat beast so that we don't have to, has obtained an original copy of the Weather Underground's manifesto, has scanned in bunches and oodles, laying it all out for us to see why his alliance with Barack Obama is so important.

Read the whole damned thing, if you have the intestinal fortitude.

Orson Scott Card (registered Democrat)...

...pounds one straight out of the park!

"Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? "



No Kidding - this one should be posted on every site across the en-damned-tire interwebs.

- MuscleDaddy

The Comprehensive Argument against Barack Obama

If you read nothing else in this election season, you need to read
The Comprehensive Argument against Barack Obama. Created by WIND Chicago radio talk-show host Guy Benson, Mary Katharine Ham of The Weekly standard, and "Captain" Ed Morrissey, it lays out the solid reasons why we can't afford to risk our country's future on Senator Obama, while deliberately avoiding the unconfirmed rumors upon which many in the blogosphere fixate.

If you know people who are thinking of voting for Obama, ask them to read this article and honestly consider what it has to say.

I am Joe!

Iowahawk

Bob on Joe

The Day the Universe Changed: 10

The tenth and final episode of The Day the Universe Changed. This series seems particularly apt in the context of a comment thread at E!3 about what "rights" are, and how we conceptualize the laws of nature. Enjoy them both.
(Click on the image to play — it will open in a separate window/tab)

Prior Episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Connections Episodes:1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Connections II: 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18 | 19-20
Connections III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

McCain Roasts Obama, Clinton

At the Al Smith charity dinner. Part 1:

Part 2:

The past is prologue

From Don,

Will the Bailout Work?

Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it.

They failed and it closed.

Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nitwits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze...

The Lady Ann Sheds Some Light On...

... the nature of Presidential Race "polls" - through history.

- MuscleDaddy

Joe The Plumber on the Final Debate

Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher on the final debate

Say It With Me....

Link from Michelle Malkin:

Plumber(business owner) to Obama:
“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more. Isn’t it?”

Obama:
“It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too. I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Here’s what I think we should do…


Push hard through every blog we know -

Make sure that “Marxist Wealth Redistribution” becomes such a common part of the lexicon that ANYONE who finds himself in a “townhall” w/Obama will AUTOMATICALLY have it trip out of his mouth when phrases like that are uttered in his presence.


The only way to make sure the word gets out, is to make sure the words are used.

MuscleDaddy

Palin Abuse of.....Power?

Doesn't this guy ever SLEEP?
Hell, no - he's got kids...

Okay - here’s the problem… (please bear with me)

Let’s start with our reference material, being the report & findings in question.

While I’m as happy as anyone else with the “within her rights to fire the insubordinate ass-bag” - part, there is, unfortunately, another part…

In the linked doc, go to page 8 to see “Finding 1″ - this is where the “abuse of power" part comes from....

Apparently, Alaskan statutes maintain that “…each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

It also defines “benefit” as “anything that is to a person’s advantage or self-interest, regardless of financial gain”. (pg 49)

It further identifies “personal interest” to include “immediate family members” which, in turn, includes “siblings” (pg 50).

Finally, “Official Action” is defined as “…advice, participation, or assistance, including… a recommendation, decision, approval, disapproval, vote, or other similar action, including inaction, by a public officer.” (pg. 50)

---

Okay - so basically it boils down to this:

When Sarah & Todd kept asking where the investigation was going, RE: her sister’s complaints about the kid tasering, moose poaching, drunk driving, criminality-bragging state-trooper-ex-husband…

… and repeatedly asked why such an embarrassing asshat was allowed to continue to represent the agency and the state of Alaska….

…that was a breach of ethics - as those inquiries were “official actions” committed for the “benefit” of her “sibling”.

Todd’s inquiries apparently count against Sarah as well, since she didn’t stop him from making them, bringing us back to the “inaction” part noted above.

That is the purported “Abuse of Power”.

---

But wait…. what’s this?…
Waaaayy down on page 79 - under the heading “The Second Recommendation”…

“The legislature should consider amending AS 39.25.080 to permit those who file complaints against peace officers to receive some feedback about the status and outcome of their complaint”


Hmmm….

So… this all got started because the AK state police had apparently ‘circular filed’ all of the sister’s complaints - and there was no legislative requirement to give the complaintant any information - so Sarah and Todd had to try to run it down for themselves…

…just to keep the department from doing whatever-the-hell-they-wanted?

(page 58 references an account of Wooten[asshat] having been slapped with a Restraining Order for harrassing and intimidating his ex-wife….which was lifted, when his supervisors intervened - looks like "whatever-the-hell-they-wanted" was the order of the day…)

Well - there we are.

Myself?

If pursuing a do-nothing police agency over a do-nothing investigation of an asshat-scumbag-embarrassment of an officer is “Ethically Wrong”…

I don’t wanna be right (and like her better knowing she feels the same way)

Like the man says:

thatisall.
- MuscleDaddy
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]


They'd better have brought a really good cake, if this is all the "October Surpise" they can manage...

The Day the Universe Changed: 9

The Day the Universe Changed, Episode 9.
(Click on the image to play — it will open in a separate window/tab)

Prior Episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Connections Episodes:1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Connections II: 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18 | 19-20
Connections III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

That's IT??

Seriously,

There I was, sitting on the couch with MuscleBaby-The-Elder...

I turned on the debate (a little late) and listened to the first question to come across (the one about "What is the bailout specifically going to do for people in trouble?").

After listening to the first 30 seconds of McCain's "answer" I closed my eyes and exhaled.

Then I heard MBTE (who is nine, btw) say to me:

"He's just yappering now, isn't he Daddy?"
"Yes Baby, he is - c'mon, go brush your teeth - it's time for you to go to bed anyway."

Losing's easy - I was really hoping to show her how a presidential candidate wins.

- MuscleDaddy

The Day the Universe Changed: 8

The Day the Universe Changed, Episode 8.
(Click on the image to play — it will open in a separate window/tab)

Prior Episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Connections Episodes:1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Connections II: 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18 | 19-20
Connections III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

The BaiLOutBill!

Bill's a busy boy today. He tells the horror story of the BaiLOutBill on PJTV, which has kindly allowed non-subscribers to benefit from his wisdom.

Cowboys and Secret Agents

It's Friday, so does Bill have a new NRO piece out? Yep. It's called Cowboys and Secret Agents, wherein he enters into an exchange of ideas on fighting Islamic Extremism.

Bill on PJTV Talking Energy

Bill's got another PJTV program, this one on energy policy, available to non-subscribers. Here's a whole page of their currently-available, free offerings.

Ed. Note: As a matter of policy, when we give you a link, the item in question is one click away; we don't link to web resources that require registration or subscription, even when they're run by people we like. When they offer unencumbered samples of their programming that the E3 community might find informative or entertaining, we're happy to let folks know about it.