Ten disasters were visited on Pharoah and not incidentally on Egypt. First was that which turned the Nile waters into Blood. This did not persuade Pharoah to free the Jews as he deemed this event a souped-up parlor trick or possibly an ugly coincidence. So then came the Plague of Frogs. Then of Lice. Then Flies, Pestilence, Boils, Hail, Locusts, three days of unbroken Darkness and finally the Death of the Firstborns; spared of the Jews who marked their doors with ram’s blood. Then Ramses let those people go though as we know, he soon reneged.

Pharoah had it easy. His opponent was nothing more than the nameless god of the Jews and he could tap out at any time. Greater sympathy is due Barack Obama. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Ken Watson
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Supply and Demand collude or compete to produce Price. Any child fortunate enough to have run a lemonade stand before they were outlawed knows this. Since the Battle Royal between Reagan and Bush Sr we have heard Supply-side economics ever derided as “voodoo” since it was so denounced by W’s dad and that has proven the most durable of his utterances other than “Message: I care”. Supply-side’s competitor is often called Keynesian economics although since the sixties little has been proposed in the name of Keynes that the man would have supported. Tax-and-spend is probably the rough rhetorical equivalent of the disparaging “voodoo” but let’s keep things pleasant for all players and call it Demand-side. The divide between these two combatants is the divide between Right and Left. To a lesser extent it is the divide between Democrat and Republican so it should be well known. Basically the Keynesians assert not that a lack of Demand is the only problem in an economy but that most other problems can be swamped by goosing the economic call for goods and services and that this can be done by pouring greenbacks out the front window. On this premise is built all things called Stimulus. It would be a slander on John Maynard Keynes to say this was his opinion but his heirs have modified the doctrine to their own purposes. Like Keynes, the Voodoo Economists would ask, where does that money come from? Well, today it is printed, borrowed and taxed in descending order. Supply-siders will tell you that what ails the economy is that too much is taxed out of it. But tax rates are historically modest, you might say. [Read more →]

Tags: money, politics & government by Ken Watson
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10. Cheney’s eighth great-grandfather, William Cheney, immigrated from England to Massachusetts, where he shot a fellow settler in the face with his musket

9. When he was born, there was a debate whether he should be nicknamed ‘Dick,’ ‘Richie,’ or ‘the Spawn of Satan’

8. In grade school, he had a crush on his third-grade teacher, who took six weeks to recover

7. At Natrona County High School, he lettered in swimming, diving, and waterboarding

6. He flunked out of Yale University twice, citing his inability to “fit in among the living”

5. Upon graduation from the University of Wyoming, he was voted “Most Likely To Scare Young Children”

4. During the Vietnam War, he applied for and received five draft deferments, claiming he was “too gay to be handling guns”

3. When he was Vice President, he perfected the ability to drink a glass of water while Bush was speaking

2. He’s had so many heart attacks, they finally put a zipper in his chest

1. He’s always enjoyed being a Dick
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, politics & government by Bob Sullivan
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Tags: money, politics & government by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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Do any of you follow the website Bad Ass of the Week.com, run by Ben Thompson?  I’m an avid reader, catching his unique salute to “all things badassery-related” every week.  His list is impressive, but it’s going to need to make room for a new member, a man whose story should be a lesson to all who read it:  Cecil Coley.  (h/t Glenn Reynolds).

[Read more →]

Tags: politics & government by Mike McGowan
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Dateline DC: This city of swamprats in custom suits is a limbo, a purgatory occassionally slipping into hell. It is the capitol and first city of the Wild East, edging out New York with baroque corruption more obscene than hundred dollar parking if only because the scales of loot and depravity are orders of magnitude larger. Why? For the same reason Willie Sutton robbed banks, rather than lemonade stands. It’s where the money is.

Cornell Jones is no villain, or at least not here. Lifetime criminal though he be, he is at least an honest one, hijacking his hoard with an iron fist and an open gun instead of a soothing word and a hidden dagger. Still, even he was not above getting his hands dirty in Washington politics, [Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, politics & government by Ken Watson
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Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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Tags: politics & government, travel & foreign lands by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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In June, I wrote an overview of Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential nomination, and concluded with the suggestion that readers keep a close watch on Rick Perry, governor of Texas. Well, last weekend Perry declared his candidacy and immediately leaped into second place, behind Mitt Romney (who is a Mormon). That’s what happens when you run against such obvious losers. Now we are swamped with critical articles about Perry and Texas, most of them by people who knew very little about the state or its governor until a few days ago. Today, I will analyze the effectiveness of these criticisms, and once I’m finished you won’t need to read any more articles about Perry (unless I write them, of course).

CRITICISM 1: PERRY IS A MORON [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Daniel Kalder
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Recently, presidential candidate Rick Perry claimed to be skeptical of man-made climate change.

Now, as if on cue, some people at an institution called Pennsylvania State University have come up with a very serious reason for human beings to fear climate change, and their role in it.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth’s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

This is ridiculous. We all know that we have much more to fear from Sasquatches (“Squatches”), Chupacabras (“Chuppies”), Loch Ness Monsters (“Nessies”), and Moth Men (“Mothies”) than we do from extraterrestrials. [Read more →]

Tags: environment & nature, politics & government by Ricky Sprague
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Tags: politics & government by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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Whenever I see children exploited by their parents as part of some misguided attempt to feel better about themselves, or to “live vicariously” through their children, I become filled with righteous indignation. Actually, I feel a sort of sadness mixed with superiority. And a dash of moral outrage. These children don’t know what they’re doing. They’re simply trying to please the parents who are using them for their own selfish ends. It’s pathetic. It’s venal. It’s a form of child abuse. I can’t think of anything that’s worse.

No, no… I’m not talking about those strange, sad parents who put their children through the burdens of beauty pageants. I’m talking about this:

For crying out loud, why can’t we just let kids be kids?

Contract kids video via reason hit & run. See also: Iced Borsht.

Tags: family & parenting, politics & government by Ricky Sprague
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Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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The United States of America, except for a short run during Clinton’s second term, has been running deficits and accumulating debt for decades. As Fareed Zakaria points out in this week’s issue of Time (“The Debt Deal’s Failure“) Ronald Reagan was the first modern President to cut taxes dramatically without accounting for proportionate cuts in spending. George H. and Bill Clinton raised taxes and curtailed spending to minimize debt and even create a budget surplus, but W. came in and slashed taxes, secured a drug benefit, and started two foreign wars. Still the deficit to GDP ratio W. ran before the financial collapse of 2008 was modest compared to his predecessors. When he left office the national debt was roughly $10 trillion dollars, $4 trillion more than when he took office. [Read more →]

Tags: money, politics & government by Robert O'Hara
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Our country is clearly suffering from severe dysfunction. The economy keeps getting worse by the day. Unemployment numbers are sky high. The stock market is falling. Our debt has never been higher. Even under the rosiest scenarios, our deficits are projected to get significantly worse. We are entangled in who knows how many wars against people in the Middle East.

But, at least we can all take solace from the fact that the president still thinks we’re a “triple-A” country, all the way. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Ricky Sprague
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Tags: politics & government, technology by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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Our country is currently being held hostage by the partisan bickering that is going on in our nation’s capital. This is just another dog and pony show, to be sure, but nevertheless the stakes have never been higher. We are in an unprecedented crisis, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. And still, while Rome burns, our elected officials fiddle, refusing to accept the reality of our situation and do what is necessary to ensure our country’s survival.

We must raise our debt limit by the completely hard and fast August 2nd deadline. If we do not, the United States will default on all of its obligations, and our nation — and, indeed, the entire world — shall be thrown into chaos. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Ricky Sprague
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Dear Ronald McDonald,

First, I want to say thank you. Sincerely and honestly, thank you for your recent announcement that you will be putting apple slices in your Happy Meals. Now, no longer will the toy be the healthiest thing children can remove from that colorful box and put in their mouths. Apple slices are naturally sweet and delicious, and I think you’ll find that the children who eat your food-like products will come to love these apple slices even more than the other things you put in those “meals.” [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, politics & government by Ricky Sprague
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It seems to me, doesn’t it to you, that a lot of the public squabbles we incessantly hear of do not arise from mere differences of opinion but from a seemingly primal urge we humans have to tell other people what to do. It’s not enough to be secure in our own certainty. It’s not enough for us to tell other people how right we are and how wrong they are. It’s not even enough for us to simply tell others what to do. We have to tell them what to do and, if they don’t comply, try to force them to do what we say through state action or the courts. It’s a sickness, a human design flaw, I think. I’m not immune. Frankly, I’m writing this to tell people to stop telling other people what to do, which kind of defeats my purpose. But wouldn’t the world be a more peaceful place if we adopted a more ‘live and let live’ attitude; if we curtailed our pursuit of power over others through government fiat; if we were just more accepting of differences in lifestyles, values, and beliefs?  [Read more →]

Tags: movies, politics & government, religion & philosophy by Jay Baldwin
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In addition to being an avid runner and a foodie, I spend a lot of my free time as an amateur archeologist. On a recent dig, I came across what is perhaps my most amazing find since the Neanderthal enemata: An ancient and very primitive type of “newspaper,” carved on a large piece of flat stone.

The stone contained a number of interesting “stories,” which I was able to translate due to my also being a skilled linguist well-versed in ancient languages. What follows is an item that I would classify as a very early “editorial.” As you’ll see, the caveman days weren’t as carefree and easy as we’ve been led to believe. In fact, there were many controversies raging:

Stop “a wheel” before make rolling move over children innocence

Telling by Foo Thik

Foo Thik hear about new create thing come from Tril Pop. Tril Pop create thing that shape in sort of circle way, with hole in middle. Make what call rolling move. Tril Pop call create thing a “wheel.”

Foo Thik not like this new thing call “a wheel.” Foo Thik worry about what “a wheel” do to our children. “A wheel” make caveman children less innocent. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, politics & government by Ricky Sprague
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