Wednesday, November 18, 2009

"Certainly, aunchient, it is not a thing to rejoice at."

My former Senator has set a new record--but (to my mind) it is a cause for shame, not a thing to rejoice at.
When the clock strikes midnight tonight, Sen. Robert Byrd will become the longest-serving member of Congress ever — a capstone on a remarkable career in which the adopted son of a coal miner propelled himself from poverty to the pinnacle of legislative power, where he could, did and still does send billions of federal dollars back across the Blue Ridge to help build his home state of West Virginia.
We need term limits for all of our elected officials. We will never see true change in Washington, never truly be rid of a Policitcal Class that lords it over us with their never-ceasing offers of government entitlements.

To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, "To borrow, & to borrow, & to borrow" is not Shakespeare--it's a bloated government that intends to bury our grandchildren in debt.

Nobody has benefited from this spendthrift approach to government (read "reelection strategy) than Senator Robert Byrd.

Shame on him.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

"Gramercy, fellow: there, drink that for me."

Despite the big word--psychographics--used to describe these phenomena, this a fun article (excerpted below) that will hopefully put you in the mood for the weekend! (nota bene: btw, I think it's a lot of hooey)

As it turns out, it's an exciting weekend of NCAA College Football for somebody, like me, who comes from the upper Ohio Valley region. WVU travels to Cincinnati, and Pitt will take its turn in attempting to oust ND's Charlie Weiss.

Anyway, here's an excerpt from "What your taste in beer says about you":

BUDWEISER

True to form, Bud drinkers are sensible, grounded and practical. They are the polar opposite of daydreamers and don't easily get carried away. These beer drinkers also don't like authority—can anyone say union?—and are emotionally steady people who live in the here and now. However, what may be a bit surprising is that people who prefer Bud can also be very spontaneous and tend not to do much advance planning.

Budweiser drinkers are 42% more likely to drive a truck than the average person, 68% more likely to choose a credit card with flexible payment terms and 42% more likely to use breath-freshening strips every day.

BUD LIGHT

Are Bud Light drinkers just Bud guzzlers on a diet? Not a chance. Bud Light personalities actually skew quite different from their more-caloric sibling. Keep in mind, this was the beer choice for President Barack Obama during his so-called "Beer Summit" this summer when he invited police officer James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Gates over to the White House for a beer and a make-up chat. (The cop chose Blue Moon and the professor selected Red Stripe.)

Bud Light drinkers profile as lacking in carefulness. They are grounded like their Bud brethren, but respect authority. Bud Lighters can also have frat boy-like personalities, particularly when it comes to personal risk-taking. In regard to others, these good-time guys and gals are accepting of most everyone and generally easy to get along with.

Bud Light drinkers are also 48% more likely than the average person to play the lottery every day and 34% more likely to never buy organic products.

MICHELOB ULTRA

Have you seen the 2008 TV spot that's still on about the hip, handsome young male executive dashing out of a meeting to put on running gear? He meets up with an equally fetching athletically garbed woman for an inner-city run before both magically change into trendy threads and hit a fabulously decorated rooftop-bar party with even more young and beautiful friends—all drinking Michelob Ultra, of course. Every personality trait Mindset Media came up with appears there.

Michelob Ultra drinkers rate high in superiority; that is, they think highly of themselves and can be a little bit conceited. They care what other people think about them and want to appear perfect. They also tend to be take-charge types with strong opinions, and can even be confrontational. Michelob Ultra drinkers are 43% more likely than the average person to consider sustainability a priority, and 34% more likely to buy life insurance.

CORONA

"Where's the party?" is probably an oft-asked question by Corona and Corona Light drinkers. They are busy and energetic people who are also extremely extroverted. They're people persons who seek out the company of others whether in a group or just one-to-one. Corona drinkers do more and see more people in one day than most people see in a week. But the life-of-the-party Corona drinkers also have an altruistic side; they care deeply about other people and see themselves as giving and warm.

Corona drinkers are 91% more likely than average to buy recycled products and 38% more likely to own three or more flat-screen TVs.

HEINEKEN

There's a slang term that could sum up Heineken drinkers: posers. These self-assured people believe they are exceptional, get low scores on modesty and high scores on self-esteem. They love their brand badges—a role the distinctive green glass bottle may play—and in fact, this group is attracted to luxury products in general. They are also energetic and dynamic and enjoy being both the center of attention and in the middle of the action.

People who choose Heineken as their favorite beer are 58% more likely to have American Express cards, 45% more likely to be early adopters of new mobile phones, and 29% more likely to drive sports cars.

BLUE MOON

The personality traits of people who prefer Blue Moon, a Belgian style wheat beer, tracked similarly to the same type of people who prefer craft beers—which means Blue Moon drinkers probably don't know it's a Molson Coors Brewing Co. family product made in Colorado.

Blue Moonies are socially liberal and usually quite willing to go against convention. They really hate moral authorities, and believe children should be exposed to moral dilemmas and allowed to come to their own conclusions. They can also be sarcastic and snide in order to get a point across.

People who drink Blue Moon beer are 105% more likely than the average person to drive hybrid cars, 77% more likely to own Apple Mac laptops, 65% more likely to purchase five pairs or more of sneakers every year, and 32% more likely to not be registered voters.

CRAFT BEERS

These specialty made beers get lumped into one category both because there are fewer fans (and thus less statistically significant data) of them, but also because the personalities of one type fairly well describe another. This group is more likely to spend time thinking about beer rather than work. They are more open-minded than most people, seek out interesting and varied experiences and are intellectually curious. Craft-beer drinkers also skew as having a lower sense of responsibility—they don't stress about missed deadlines and tend to be happy-go-lucky about life.

Craft-beer lovers are 153% more likely to always buy organic, 52% more likely to be fans of the show "The Office" and 36% more likely to be the ones to choose the movie they are going to see at the theater.

ABSTAINERS

It probably doesn't take a psychographic profile to discover that those people who refuse to drink beer at all don't like to loosen up very much. They are socially conservative and see many issues as black and white. Teetotalers honor tradition and authority and prefer a less-hectic social life.

People who turn down beer are 50% more likely to call themselves Republican, and are 30% more likely to never buy organic products.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

"Let those who are in favor with their stars of public honour and proud titles boast."

Face it: the man is a megalomaniac. This is absolutely disgusting.



Hat tip for this video to Power Line blog, who writes:

Both Secretary Clinton and President Obama emphasized Obama's world-historic story. Clinton likens Obama's election to the fall of the Wall. Obama draws the moral of the story. "Few would have foreseen ... that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it."

Obama's brief remarks are an exercise in bowdlerization, circumlocution, evasion. Omitted from the remarks, among other things, is any mention of the Soviet Union or Communism, Harry Truman or Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul. Obama neither decries the villains nor salutes the heroes of the story. Rather, Obama celebrates himself. He is an agent of destiny. He is the fulfillment of history.

It reminds me of a conversation I overheard the other day. Two professors were talking about how hard it is to teach Thoreau.

"They just don't get it," said one.

"That's because they're not hippies," replied the other.

I thought to myself, "Thoreau = hippy?"

Er, ok, I get the whole Nature thing and some of the civil disobedience stuff. But what about all the things Thoreau said about self-reliance?

In other words, all of these ex-hippy professors are now Statists. They're proponents of Big Government--government entitlements like universal healthcare that make us wards of the State from cradle to grave. Hardly self-reliance, wouldn't you say?

More disturbingly, they have so lost sight of self-reliance that they have fallen prey to Obama's Cult of Personality. Remember that creepy "Pledge Allegiance to Obama" video?

Thought For The Day: Thoreau would have a more interesting conversation with Rush Limbaugh (or, better yet, Glenn Beck or any Libertarian) than he would with any college professor.

Second Thought for the Day: Boomer Professors are like Obama talking about the Berlin Wall--they think History is all about them!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

"In good sadness, I am sorry that for my sake you have sufferd all this."

To all the families & friends of those killed at Ft. Hood, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you.

In spite of the business-as-usual attitude expressed by our media & politicians, we recognize the magnitude of your loss--OUR loss. This is indeed a national tragedy on the order of Va. Tech or Columbine. Indeed worse when we remind ourselves that your loved ones were targeted because of their service to all of us.

We remember them. We remember their service. And we want you to know we are standing beside you.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

"What needeth then apologies be made."

Shameful. Utterly shameful. He must be too busy ignoring recent elections and can't be bothered to speak up for the oppressed people of Iran.

Obama Speaks Appeasement to Evildoers [Michael Ledeen]

As Michael Rubin notes, there are ongoing demonstrations against the Iranian regime all over the country. It seems clear that the violence from the Revolutionary Guards and Basij is worse than anything to date. The Supreme Leader delivered a verbal beating to President Obama, demanding a full American retreat. And what does our president do? He issues a statement that doesn't even mention the regime's savagery, instead mewling and whining, asking for the Iranian regime to make nice. Here he is, in full Carter/Chamberlain mode:

We do not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. We have condemned terrorist attacks against Iran. We have recognized Iran’s international right to peaceful nuclear power. We have demonstrated our willingness to take confidence-building steps along with others in the international community. We have accepted a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency to meet Iran’s request for assistance in meeting the medical needs of its people. We have made clear that if Iran lives up to the obligations that every nation has, it will have a path to a more prosperous and productive relationship with the international community.

A sad day to be an American, don't you think? As Churchill said of Chamberlain, we can say of Obama: You had a choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.

In fact, he's already got it. It always happens when you become an accomplice to evil.

More From the Appeaser in Chief [Michael Ledeen]

Just when the president should have been expressing solidarity with the Iranian freedom fighters, he sells them out again:

WASHINGTON – The White House is calling for an end to violence in Iran as security forces there crack down on anti-government protesters.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Obama administration leaders are following reports of the unrest and "hope greatly that violence will not spread."

Personally, I hope the demonstrations spread like wildfire until the regime burns and crashes.

Shame. Shame. Shame.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

"We will bind and hoodwink him so."

A very serious, thoughtful, & provocative piece--certainly a must-read--by Robert Kagan...
Watching the Obama administration launch its "new era of engagement" over the past 10 months, most seasoned observers have pondered two questions: First, if engagement fails, will the Obama team ever acknowledge that it has failed? And what then?

...

The worst of it is that the Tehran regime is now desperately trying to buy time so it can regain full control of the country in the face of widespread anger after the fraudulent presidential elections in June and a still-vibrant Iranian opposition. For the clerics, an endless negotiating process is not merely a means of putting off any real concessions on its nuclear program. It is also, and more important, a way of putting off any Western sanctions that could produce new and potentially explosive unrest in their already unstable country. That is the best card in Obama's hand right now. It's time for him to play it -- or admit that poker is not his game.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

"Rememberest thou any that have died on't?"

Michael Ledeen posts this noteworthy piece at NRO:

241 Americans Killed...Can't Quite Remember Who Killed Them [Michael Ledeen]

A very important piece from Barry Rubin, who does many of them. The bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut back in the 80s was noted by the White House, but there is no mention of the killers: Iran and Syria, via their creation, Hezbollah.

Yes, it's craven. But it's what happens when you put "the deal" in front of dignity. Paradoxically, the president would have a better chance of making his deal if he regularly told the truth about the Iranian regime, and stood by the country's people. Airbrushing them out of major historical events only convinces them that they can get away with anything.