Grinding Gears

Give that girl an "A"

2009-03-07T15:15:00.002-05:00

So I just showed our 11-yr-old this page demonstrating what a TRILLION dollars looks like.Her comment: "They're spending that much money to fix the economy? That's just stupid."H/T to Frank J.

Just so we're clear...

2009-03-02T22:07:00.001-05:00

Is being behind on taxes actually one of the job requirements?

I'm a little tired

2008-10-15T23:15:00.000-04:00

of hearing Barack Obama refer to the current economic situation as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. As if a recession were ANYTHING like a depression.Besides that, it doesn't appear to be remotely true. The generally accepted definition of a recession is 2 consecutive quarters (or more) of negative GDP growth. I've had a little trouble finding officially published monthly

This is probably really good

2008-10-02T22:00:00.000-04:00

But I can't figure out what tune it's supposed to be to.Yakko’s Bailout

So if I were Barack Obama...

2008-09-24T23:14:00.000-04:00

What's the harm in calling McCain's bluff?First of all, I don't think the responsible thing to do is to rush through some half-baked "aid" package which will increase the national debt by hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. I work on the general assumption that neither McCain or Obama trusts the free market enough to let it sort itself out. I'll grant that most of the nation doesn't

So on a completely different tone

2008-09-03T23:29:00.001-04:00

Anybody else think Governor Palin looks a lot like Tina Fey? Just wondering.Update: Apparently so.

Really didn't want to talk about politics.

2008-09-03T23:17:00.002-04:00

But I just couldn't resist.I just can't help but be amazed at how FREAKED OUT the media are about McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.It's pretty much common knowledge now that just about the entire media establishment is in the tank for Obama. Maybe subconsciously, somewhere deep in the reptilian part of their brains, they have some fuzzy awareness that Obama's most excellent

So seriously

2008-08-12T22:10:00.001-04:00

Am I the only one that thinks this whole Mark Penn kerfuffle isn't just a leak by the Obama campaign to try to weaken the McCain campaign?Have I missed something here?

Things I've done and said that have surprised people in the last couple months

2008-08-12T22:04:00.001-04:00

Publicly commented that the Clinton administration wasn't a disaster. Taken as a whole, I'd take four more years of WJC over four more years of Jimmy Carter.Bush was something of a disappointment as a president. I should have expected it, though - the whole "compassionate conservatism" thing really rubbed me wrong.I switched my voter regisration to the Democratic Party this year. I'm in good

Woo-hoo (Or, watch this space please)

2008-08-11T22:19:00.003-04:00

A personal record: six months without posting. I'm not dead. I'd like to think this site isn't either. This is me developing the motivation to come back and post.

This used to be me

2008-02-22T22:07:00.003-05:00

Not so much anymore.

The Republicans in Congress haven't done a lot right in the last six years

2007-10-18T22:08:00.001-04:00

But they did this much, at least.Power Line: SCHIP veto override fails in House

Why don't we just tax the poor and give it to the middle class?

2007-10-10T21:53:00.001-04:00

If a republican came up with that gem of an idea, he'd get the kind of press that... republicans usually get. But when a democratic congress comes up with it, they're courageous for standing up for the underprivileged. Yeah, right.S-CHIP is the supposedly state-funded children's health insurance program. But the fact is it's supported very heavily by the federal government, and - I believe -

Some pet peeves:

2007-09-06T21:20:00.001-04:00

Seeing their, there, and they're used interchangeably.Ditto your, you're (and yore?, well maybe not)and this one, I noticed today:People who don't know the difference between "ten times more than" and "ten times as much as". And yet when people say nuklear, it doesn't bug me at all. Go figure.My wife suggests Christmas letters which don't include spell-check. And newscasters who refer to the

HP

2007-07-31T22:23:00.001-04:00

Took the older kids to see Order of the Phoenix last night. The movies always let me down to a certain extent. Few of the actors carry the roles as well as I hope, and there just isn't time in a commercial feature to give proper attention to the details that make the books worth reading. But that's just me nitpicking. The books are still perceived, I think, primarily as children's literature.

Eight things

2007-07-10T22:32:00.001-04:00

I was tagged by Scott over at Ah, Shoot!. And I don't usually do these at all, but for as infrequently as I post it was nice to be remembered at all, so in no particular order:I am1. something of a technophile. I like more of those things than I can afford. The ones that cost money and the ones that waste time.2. a formerly avid comic book collector/reader. Never bought them for value, just for

My personal favorite suggestion:

2007-06-14T21:37:00.001-04:00

So Nancy Pelosi apparently has asked people to submit alternative neutral connotation words which could be substituted for earmarks.Over at Captains Quarters, Ed Morrissey held a poll to determine the best word to convey the meaning, though something tells me Madam Speaker wouldn't have liked any of the alternatives the CQ readers had put forward.The winner was Congressional Resource Allocation

Whaddya know!

2007-06-14T12:43:00.001-04:00

The other night I got the all-too-rare opportunity to spend a little time with the older son: lobbing some pitches to him and helping him work on his swing. He's in coach-pitch this year, and he's spent a few games now feeling like he'll never be able to hit the ball. I know, because I've been there.We spent about the first half-hour working off a tee, practicing good swing mechanics and showing

Bleg

2007-05-22T21:55:00.001-04:00

For my wife, who asked for a site which would recommend books based on other books she's liked.I know LibraryThing's Suggester does that, based on the author or title, using the database of its member's collections.Another page I liked on the same site is their tag cloud, which is a pretty interesting way to whittle down a wide variety of books.Anyone else have other suggestions? Thanks!

I don't blog reality TV

2007-05-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

...because it's not my thing. But who's ever watched a Tuesday night episode of American Idol and not known that Melinda Doolittle would win?Really!

Somebody else's kids

2007-04-15T22:24:00.001-04:00

Faith is a strange thing.We say we have it, and that we believe in things we've never seen. But saying it doesn't make it so, and there are things we'll never see until we truly have faith.Last year my wife and I felt a call to become foster parents. I'd never felt something like that before, and if someone had told me it would happen, I'd have said they were crazy. I didn't see myself as a

15-diaper day

2007-02-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

We had seven kids in our house all week. We've had one foster baby for four months, who's nearly part of our family, plus two we watched for a week while their foster family was out of town. The three of them are in diapers, plus our youngest who is mostly potty-trained. The title of this post was probably typical of the week, but it was actually spoken by my wife as an assessment of her day so

Reader help

2007-02-24T16:16:00.000-05:00

Since I added labels to posts, there have been problems with some browsers displaying error messages when the page gets loaded. I use Firefox, so I haven't noticed the problem, but I know a number of my readers use other browsers.It would be a big help if you leave me a comment or an e-mail letting me know what browser you use and whether you noticed any problems.Thanks!

So just in case you're interested...

2007-01-18T22:39:00.000-05:00

Congress is trying to resurrect the Fairness Doctrine (which ended by Presidential veto in 1987) this week. Why? Maybe because they're in the majority again and can't figure out how to compete economically with the strength of conservative talk radio.On the face of it, that's bad enough. But the thing many people have found alarming is that there was an attempt to apply the rule to bloggers above

Nothing to see here.

2007-01-08T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe that's not the best title for a post when you get a sudden traffic surge. Most traffic I've had in months, and it seems to be because I've been adding labels to the existing posts. Glad you stopped by, though. Please look around!

Subtle

2007-01-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

As I may have mentioned before, our youngest son is something of a challenge most of the time. The terrible twos was something of a mystery to us when our older two children were in that age range. But we truly got introduced to the concept by our younger daughter, who seemed at the time to be making up for the good behavior of her older brother and sister. She was, and remains at times, an

Post-industrial economics lesson, Christmas Edition

2006-12-26T22:56:00.000-05:00

Conversation with the seven-year-old:He: Dad, why does my new guitar say Made in China?I: Well, that's where it was made. Lots of things are made there.He: I thought it was made by elves?I: Well, it came from the elves, but they probably subcontracted out the manufacture.He: Oh. Dad, what does subcontract mean?

Another sign the holidays are here

2006-12-19T23:07:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day of school, and our oldest has posted holiday visiting hours for her room. Apparently there are no exceptions.

You know it's Christmas when

2006-11-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

... the radio in our office lobby is playing Christmas At Ground Zero.Everywhere the atom bombs are droppingIt's the end of all humanityNo more time for last-minute shoppingIt's time to face your final destinyIt's Christmas at ground zeroThere's panic in the crowdWe can dodge debris while we trim the treeUnderneath the mushroom cloudSeriously. It's catchy, though.

Election day

2006-11-06T21:12:00.000-05:00

This is funny because it's there's so much truth to it, but nevertheless: Get out and vote!While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance."Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see,

Sugar rush

2006-10-31T22:55:00.000-05:00

Took all four kids trick-or-treating tonight. It was a clear, starry night, which was a major improvement over the rain we got the year before.The youngest was old enough to walk this year. (Last year, he rode in the stroller. Unconcerned with keeping up with his siblings, he sucked the chocolate off candy bars right through the wrappers.) Since the weather was nice, they filled up their buckets

Lutheran Guy

2006-10-27T23:52:00.000-04:00

In honor of Reformation Sunday (tomorrow) and for your amusement, I present a song written by my wife's aunt. I think she did a great job.LUTHERAN GUY (to the tune of American Pie)By Cynthia Strieter-BolandA long, long time agoWe must all rememberHow the Reformation got its startA boy to Hans and Margaret bornWas baptized on the following mornThe child of the Luther’s was named MartYoung Martin

They let another one slip away.

2006-10-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

The Cards have just beaten Detroit in Game 4, forcing a must-win for Detroit to bring the World Series back home.Come on guys, bring it home. You really don't want your only win to be clouded by the stain of pine tar on Kenny Rogers' hand.

Michael J Fox isn't the only celebrity with an opinion

2006-10-26T23:49:00.000-04:00

And not all opinionated celebrities agree with each other.When it comes to stem cell research, maybe people will give Fox's opinion more weight due to his illness. I have sympathy for the guy, but his situation doesn't change whether the the relative value of adult versus embryonic stem cell research.The truth is that I'm not convinced whether one is more promising than the other. I also remain

Decision time

2006-10-26T23:32:00.000-04:00

I'm not a person who deals well with change. I avoid it whenever possible, and I delay it as long as I can. Even when I know it's going to be good for me, I procrastinate. This is probably one of my most frustrating qualities (certainly to my wife), but even to myself.The big change I've been resisting lately has been to leave our church home.I've changed churches twice in my life, and both

No evidence of a young boy wrapped in a red towel was found

2006-10-19T23:39:00.000-04:00

"Rare Meteorite Found in Kansas"OK. Not that rare.

Haloscan comments

2006-10-10T22:25:00.000-04:00

Found a link to The Logical Philosopher with some explanation of how to show Haloscan comments and trackbacks. Working on getting those implemented in my limited spare time, so if your comments have disappeared, that's why. Also helps to explain the infrequent posts.When it's all done, the Blogger comments won't show at all.blog tech

Pwned, 6-0

2006-10-06T23:18:00.000-04:00

Kenny Rogers and the Tigers over The Big Unit, that is.8K's and 5 walks, vs 4K's and 5 earned runs. And did you see the line drive to Rogers's head, which he knocked down in time to make the play?Nobody thought Rogers or the Tigers could perform like that. Well, maybe noone outside Detroit.Tigers

Sheesh

2006-08-30T21:45:00.000-04:00

Stop the ACLU says:The ACLU thinks that parents have no right to know if their pregnant underage daughter is seeking an abortion.The ACLU believes anyone, for any reason at any time should be allowed to abort a child.The ACLU opposes abstinence education.The ACLU has fought to have constitutionally-sound displays that include the Ten Commandments removed from public property.The ACLU is on record

Recently

2006-08-28T22:31:00.000-04:00

After two months of night classes, my wife and I were licensed to be foster parents this summer. Last week, we received our first long-term placement: a bright, adorable, attractive one-year-old girl.Only thing is, she screams bloody murder when I walk into the room. With my wife or with the kids (especially our oldest) she's fine, but she has no use for adult males unless there's no women

Bach'n it

2006-08-17T23:42:00.000-04:00

My wife took our oldest out of town for the rest of the week, and today was my first full day alone with the other three kids. Forgot how much I always liked the smell of Play-Doh.Oh, come on. You do too.

Twenty years later...

2006-08-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

... (and a handful of abominable VHS tapes in our library) and I can still correct some of our kids on the names of the Care Bears. There must be something more useful those neurons could be remembering.

Quite a week

2006-06-22T12:42:00.000-04:00

Father's Day was great. The oldest kids hand-made a birdhouse and painted a storage container for me. They put a lot of work into it. I'm really blessed to have kids so eager to show their love. Also got this which I've been listening to back and forth to work all week. Watched Walk the Line a month or so ago, and it got me hooked.Also, YD had her dance recital on Sunday. Her mom, big

Sign that the end is near.

2006-06-06T23:12:00.000-04:00

I'm watching shows (as I work in the evening) during which they run advertisements for bail bonds. Their slogan: "You call, you walk."Color me disturbed.

Schadenfreude

2006-05-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

I never really appreciated the term. Sure, I've taken pleasure in the suffering of others. I'm human, after all. Not sure I've ever enjoyed it this much though. Lileks's saga of the Oak Island Water Feature seemed to have come to an end on Friday. (He's been mentioning it on and off since last September.) What a relief to read this morning that it still leaks. I'd have thought he'd be having

Indeed.

2006-05-22T12:17:00.001-04:00

Scrappleface is always on target. Sometimes painfully so.When asked how an outsider with no expertise in cryptology could break the code and comprehend the secret, the Popes spokesman said, To reveal the mystery, first lift the cover of the Bible. Then carefully examine all the text on the first page. Slowly turn the page. Repeat the process until the mystery becomes plain. Taken out of context,

Away for a little while...

2006-05-04T22:19:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Unfortunately, it probably still will be for a while.It's gotten very busy at work recently, and then a fourth of our department took 3 weeks vacation. He deserves it, so I don't begrudge him, but it means I don't have much time to post or even read blogs lately. (Work isn't the only priority which comes ahead of the blog.)Hopefully things will calm

In case you've forgotten

2006-04-18T06:45:00.000-04:00

There are some things about the Bush presidency which should please anyone who claims to love freedom and human rights. Here's one.China and Russia last night thwarted a year-long diplomatic drive by Britain to impose United Nations sanctions on the perpetrators in of the violence in the Darfur province of Sudan ... The United States, which backed the British initiative, reacted angrily by

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T22:29:00.000-04:00

Sure, it's late in the day (today) but I figure people have been celebrating for 2000 years. So what's 12 hours here or there, right?Ariel's got a great Easter post up at Bittersweet Blue.LaShawn also has a great read here.If you haven't read already, stop by and check them out!

Q&A, part one

2006-04-06T22:18:00.000-04:00

It seems like the first thing major media does whenever stories like this or this come out is assume they are of equal or greater merit than the Bible. Doesn't it seem like the thing that a responsible journalist should do is to be skeptical and investigate? But who's got time for that, right?A friend once insisted to me that the entire Bible was an elaborate deception fabricated centuries ago

New problem, easily solved...

2006-03-30T12:33:00.000-05:00

...I hope. Back in January our hard drive crashed, taking all of our important documents with it: Tax returns and resumes, mostly. Not to mention some recorded audio of our kids being genuinely cute. And so I learned about the importance of regular backups.Well last night the computer wouldn't start up at all (no fans, no hard drive, etc.) but the little LED's which indicate a network

Test No. 3

2006-03-29T12:38:00.000-05:00

18 out of 20. Genius, I say! Well, actually it came from a third party. A completely objective, anonymous third party, whose credibility in measuring such things is not verifiable. So it must be true.I couldn't get number 7 or 19, by the way. Hat tip: Mac Stansbury, guest-blogging at Alabama Improper.Tag: time-waster

Peace at any price

2006-03-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

Captain Ed reported that United for Peace and Justice was protesting in front of the Pentagon today, in an attention-seeking effort to build opposition to the presence of American troops overseas. Normally, I'd ignore this sort of thing because it just doesn't interest me that much, except I noticed that one of the featured speakers is local rabble-rouser Mike Ferner of Veterans For Peace.I

This just in:

2006-03-16T12:34:00.000-05:00

Bush may actually be Hitler. Mr. Right has the scoop.Hat tip to the Jawa Report.Tag:humor

OK, So I'm a geek

2006-03-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } But I want my next sheet of stamps to be this one.

Freedom of speech (blah blah blah)

2006-03-07T12:47:00.000-05:00

There was some hoopla last week about a poll (PDF) which indicated unsurprisingly that Americans are more familiar with elements of pop culture than the freedoms explicitly listed at the top of the Bill of Rights. Sad perhaps, but as I said, unsurprising.Unfortunately, some people support those First Amendment freedoms so vehemently they'll attack anyone who disagrees with them on the

Ears like a dog

2006-03-01T12:27:00.001-05:00

So I'm driving home from a class last night with my wife, doing 60 mph on the expressway and carrying on a conversation about the topic of the night's class, when I hear this clicking sound. "What's that sound?"She shrugs. "I don't hear anything."I check the keys. They're swaying as they dangle from the ignition, but not banging into anything. "Is it your watch?"She holds her watch up to her ear

Yikes

2006-02-22T11:49:00.000-05:00

Sunday: KindHearts of Toledo was raided by Treasury agents as an alleged front operation for funneling money to terrorist organizations Hamas and Al Qaeda.That's about four miles away from my house. I've driven past that place probably a thousand times (though I'm not sure how long they've been there.)My first thought: it's unsettling to think there could be terrorist fundraisers that close to

Taxes on windfall profits

2006-02-16T21:49:00.000-05:00

Why do we need them, since there are already corporate income taxes which (theoretically) are taxes on the profits made by a business? The idea that we should tax "excessively" large profits at a higher rate than others implies that there is such a thing as an excessively large profit.It assumes one of two things:Either that a corporation lucked into an exceptionally high earnings year

Cuteness, or From the mouths of babes

2006-02-15T20:49:00.000-05:00

The small cross which hangs in our sons' bedroom falls off the wall with the banging of a door or the stomp of a 2-year-old's foot. It's a daily occurrence.And while our kids recognize drawings or paintings of Jesus, and they know the Lord's prayer -- when I pray with OS at bedtime, YS chimes in with "Father...power...glory...amen" -- it's probably that cross that gives them most physical

And the lesson for today is...

2006-02-08T22:37:00.000-05:00

Plan ahead, but not too far ahead. And when you plan ahead, expect the unexpected.We've been working on finishing the basement recently, with the idea that we'd turn it into a rec room / office. We had removed a lot of the clutter in the fall, then put up a partition wall to separate the laundry room from the rest of the basement.We installed styrofoam insulation on the outside walls two weeks

That's disappointing...

2006-02-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

And I'm in Ohio.Eric Florack reports that the House Majority Leader is John Boehner. via Fox NewsTag: politics

Groundhog Day

2006-02-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

In an effort to prove that I am at least as prescient as a large rodent, I have two predictions to make:There will be six more weeks of winter.The day after tomorrow will end with the letter y.Let me know how I did.

Ewww

2006-01-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

Reversible? That's just gross.

I'm number one!

2006-01-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

If you search for "grinding gears" on Yahoo, that is.Simple gratification, that's what I'm talking about.

On the topic of birthdays...

2006-01-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to our daughter, who is four today. She was uncharacteristically patient in waiting for her brother to open his presents last night before digging in to hers. The girl deserves a prize.Tag: family

Indoctrinate them while they're young

2006-01-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

Our youngest son is getting a Fisher Price Imaginext playset for his birthday. It's sort of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-Book of playsets. Comes with an assortment of parts which imaginative tykes can assemble however they wish so that the adventure is always new. They're pretty cool toys, really, and in my opinion a heck of a lot more interesting than LEGO's entry-level product, DUPLO.I like

An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers

2006-01-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

From N.Z. Bear.: We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.We are not naive about lobbying, and we know

This is really cool.

2006-01-04T12:58:00.000-05:00

The Music Genome Project picks songs based on the example criteria you give it. Give it a try.Hat tip: Althouse.Tag: Entertainment

Lions farm coaches in San Fran

2006-01-04T08:58:00.000-05:00

If Hall-of-Famer Mike Singletary was to sign on at Detroit, he'd be the third member of the 49ers coaching staff in a row to jump to the Lions head coach position, following Marty Mornhinweg and the recently-fired Steve Mariucci.Mariucci came off a great run with the 49ers. Mornhinweg, was an assistant coach, as Singletary is now. Is he ready? I don't know. Will it matter. Probably not.Tag:

Carnival of Christmas

2005-12-23T13:28:00.000-05:00

...is now up over at Adam's Web.

Dude, you're getting a Dell?

2005-12-20T08:15:00.000-05:00

Megan McArdle is in Dell Hell.

Yes, that's me, the Grinch

2005-12-11T23:07:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas - all of it: The deeply Christian holiday with four weeks of advent and the lighting of candles, the joyous celebration of the birth of Christ with the remembrance that God fulfills all his promises in his time. Also love the stuff that has next to nothing to do with Christ, but has become part of the cultural holiday - the sounds, the colors, the flavors,

No, really, I'm still here

2005-12-07T08:02:00.000-05:00

Sorry, the site hasn't gone completely idle, but I've had commitments. Got a handful of posts in my head, waiting for time to flesh them out.Meanwhile, Jay Tea at Wizbang has a nice post up about the probable retirement of the last two WWII-era battleships, if you're interested.

What did you do today?

2005-11-20T00:47:00.000-05:00

Saturday was my wife's annual all-day holiday shopping trip with her girlfriends. The kids and I took a vote, and I got to be in charge (by a very narrow margin). We had a good time, nobody got hurt, and I even managed to get some work done.In the morning, after we all ate and dressed, we had a parade through the kitchen and living room. It started out as just the younger two (and myself

Markets work. (aka: Steve Forbes may be right)

2005-11-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

I mentioned this a few months ago. Forbes predicted an oil price drop way back in August. Looks like it's happening. Only question is whether it will keep going.And for the record, gas prices are back to within 20 cents of where they were a year ago, despite an increase of almost 100% from November to September. Here's the DOE stats for Ohio.Hat tip to David at Constitutional

Joke of the day

2005-11-15T18:55:00.000-05:00

I usually hate these in my e-mail (usually) because it's an intrusion on my day. But since you came to my site, perhaps you're looking for a distraction.Two boys are playing hockey on a pond in a Cleveland park when one of the boys is suddenly attacked by a crazed Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy takes his hockey stick,shoves it under the dog's collar, twists it and breaks the dog's

If you're looking for content...

2005-11-13T23:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but I've been otherwise occupied. We've started to partition our basement in hopes of finishing it this winter. That's been taking most of my time lately. I've got three of the four stud walls in place, with the fourth one started. This probably wouldn't be a big deal if it was something I did often, but let me tell you: I wake up sore.Been spending some time here lately, when I've had the

Have you voted today?

2005-11-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

I was voter number 21 in my ward before coming to work this morning. Our county has just purchased electronic touch-screen voting machines. As I pulled into the parking lot at the precinct, the radio was filled with doomsday reports of the poll workers not being ready 30 minutes after the scheduled opening. The parking lot was congested, but not full, and there was no apparent line (in contrast

Eternal vigilance

2005-11-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is election day. Please exercise your right. It's probably cost you almost nothing, but don't make the mistake of treating it that way.Tag: Vote

Surprise!

2005-11-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

Saint Marcy joined most of her party to support the first amendment!Well, that would be a surprise, but it's not what happenned.Tags: politics, First Amendment

UnChristian Lit?

2005-10-27T23:44:00.000-04:00

I originally posted this on Oct 10, but am moving it to the top today for the benefit of La Shawn Barber's readers who may be visiting for the first time. Welcome!And for those of you who haven't seen it and are interested, check out her column on the Harry Potter series at Townhall.comLa Shawn Barber had a lively discussion going earlier in the day about what makes literature Christian. La Shawn

Well now that's done.

2005-10-27T09:20:00.000-04:00

Harriet Miers has been withdrawn as nominee for the SC. Rightly so.Looks like Charles Krauthammer was right. Powerline has the scoop, and Captain Ed has commentary.Previously blogged here: here. Tags: Miers, politics

Porkbusting, V

2005-10-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

As I wrote a week ago, I've written to all of my representatives in Congress regarding the need for fiscal responsibility in our nation's capital. Last week I got a response from Senator DeWine. Today I received a reply from my congresswoman, Marcy Kaptur (D, OH-9).Anyone want to guess what form that reply took? Well, it came by snail mail, and it was neatly typed on her Congressional letterhead

How much is your blog worth?

2005-10-26T12:50:00.000-04:00

My blog is worth $3,951.78.How much is your blog worth?Sound like a lot? Maybe if this is the only blog you read.The top blogs on the TTLB ecosystem are:Instapundit: $3,826,452.12Michelle Malkin: $2,889,315.72Daily Kos: $5,689,434.12Powerline: $2,330,985.66little green footballs: $2,094,443.40Hat tip to La Shawn Barber, whose site is worth a cool million!

Porkbusting, IV

2005-10-20T22:52:00.000-04:00

So it has now been roughly four weeks since I contacted both Sen. DeWine, Sen. Voinovich, and Congresswoman Kaptur regarding the need for fiscal responsibility. I got an automatic response back from DeWine within about two days, saying he appreciated my input and that he'd like some time to look into my questions before responding.Late this afternoon I received an e-mail back from his office

Unwelcome news

2005-10-17T22:18:00.000-04:00

Our phone rang one night last week while we were cleaning up after dinner. My wife answered the phone and took it outside so she could hear over the kids. She was out for a while, and when she came back in the house, I heard her tear-choked voice calling me.For most of us, the sudden death of a small child is only a fever dream from which we wake in the early hours of the morning. For one family

Now with more Feedster

2005-10-12T10:06:00.000-04:00

No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster

What's in it for the maverick?

2005-10-07T12:43:00.000-04:00

Ramesh Ponnuru notes on the Corner, that John McCain has endorsed Ken Blackwell for Ohio governor in 2006. Blackwell's site mentions a list of other politicos who've also endorsed him, including Zell Miller and Steve Forbes.Blackwell was instrumental in Bush's campaign here in the Buckeye State, and it's a sure bet McCain is looking to secure his support for 2008.Tag: politics

Template change

2005-10-06T21:34:00.000-04:00

My wife (my most faithful reader) said the black template looked like early 90's internet. So I've updated a little. Please let me know if this is any easier or harder to read.Tag:blogging

Through no effort of my own...

2005-10-06T10:58:00.000-04:00

Update, 8pm: easy come, easy go.I've been promoted to Crawly Amphibian, and have jumped some 6,000 places in the rankings. In fact, this is despite going over a week between posts. N.Z. Bear must be purging the rolls.Tag:blogging

Where do they get this stuff?

2005-10-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

OS said to YD this evening, for no particular reason, Are you ready for the pain? The boy is not yet six. Apparently heard from someone in his kindergarten class.Tags: Family stuff, kids

Disappointed?

2005-10-05T13:43:00.000-04:00

Lots of chatter on the usual sites right now about how poor of a choice Harriet Miers is for the O'Connor seat on the Supreme Court. My reading preferences skew to the right, so the complaints I've seen mainly fall into two categories: that the president is letting down his base my nominating someone without solid conservative credentials, or that the president is resorting to cronyism. The first

CIC

2005-09-27T22:56:00.000-04:00

Look, I'm the last guy to say anything bad about the idea of a female president. The idea, that is. Someday, it will become a reality. When it does, we'll have as good of a chance of getting a Hoover as a Lincoln. Women aren't better, but they are different from men. That said, is Geena Davis's Mackenzie Allen the best Hollywood could come up with?Apparently, the message we are to take to heart

Imagine...

2005-09-27T12:06:00.000-04:00

Powerline notes that French police have arrested nine alleged terrorists who were planning to bomb the Paris subway. Early reports indicate that the bombers were motivated by France's support for the U.S. war effort in Iraq.Imagine what they would do if France had actually supported the war effort in Iraq.Tag: terror

If a moonbat gets arrested on Pennsylvania Avenue...

2005-09-26T16:13:00.000-04:00

and no one's around to hear it, would anyone care? No? What if there are camera crews?

Porkbusting, III

2005-09-23T14:08:00.000-04:00

I got an e-mail yesterday from the office of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) with some additional options (aside from cutting pork) to offset the cost of rebuilding the areas affected by Katrina. I'm not personally that knowledgeable about Senator Coburn, but a quick google gives some good MSM references. He appears to be conservative and a budget hawk.At any rate, since the e-mail was more or less a

Keep praying

2005-09-23T12:54:00.000-04:00

As Rita continues to approach the coast, it appears to be weakening slightly. Here's the National Hurricane Center's forecast for the region. Wherever you are, your prayers for those affected are needed.Tags: Rita

Porkbusting, II

2005-09-22T06:37:00.000-04:00

VOA News - Republicans Suggest Spending Cuts To Offset Katrina CostsThat speaks for itself. The article doesn't say which Republicans, except that they are members of Congress, and that they definitely do not include Tom DeLay.See my original post and the Porkbusting home page here.Update: Instapundit reports Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana is leading an effort to have spending cuts offset the

Disabling Blogroll

2005-09-20T09:25:00.000-04:00

Ran into some long refresh times after changing my Blogrolling preferences, and couldn't access the BR site to repair it. I'll restore links when their site is back up.Update: Blogrolling is back up.Update II (9/21): And down.Update III (1pm): And up. Somebody take away their yo-yo. Actually, it looks like they were doing server maintenance, but should be done now.Tag: blogging