The Sun Is Setting On GE

GE to bring 1,200 jobs, manufacturing tech center to Van Buren Township

General Electric Co. plans to open a manufacturing technology center and eventually employ about 1,200 workers in Van Buren Township, it announced today.

Expected to open later this year, the Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center will include a GE research and development facility with scientists and engineers.

They will develop manufacturing technologies for GE's renewable energy, aircraft engine, gas turbine and other products. They will also will develop software, networking and other services.

It is planned to open in the Visteon Village corporate park in the township located in the western portion of Wayne County bordering Washtenaw County.

Hiring is expected to begin later this year.

GE, which is based in Fairfield, Conn., says it will build a 100,000-square-foot facility to house the manufacturing center. The state of Michigan is providing $74 million in incentives over the next 12 years to support the center, which is expected to yield $146 million in income taxes and other revenue over the same period, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said.

Not five minutes ago I just talked to somebody who works for General Electric and is in *tech*....

They told me that the company has no business need whatsoever for the new *tech center* in that economic wasteland known as Michigan; that it makes no sense at all to funnel work out there; and that this was announced to their department in such a ridiculous queer manner so as to leave everyone dumbfounded.

They said this was clearly a 100% politically-motivated, publicity-driven decision.

So there you have it; this is how far we've fallen....

America's biggest, and once best, companies are, like almost everyone else, officially *wards of the state*.

GE is so bankrupt, and so dependent on Big Government largess now that not only are they willing to bend over for their upcoming bailout(s)....

....they'll gladly don a flimsy little skirt for THE MAN - as per his fancy!

Free Range Kids

Seems a bit cheesy - though spot on. Me, I don't need no stinkin' book on commonsense.

But a million others, most ironically, very much need to read this book and *research* the basics of instinctual parenting.

I LOVE the title - Free Range Kids. Throw the propaganda terms right back in these Morons' faces.

You knuckleheads get it, right? I don't have to explain the pun of free range livestock versus children quarantined in padded cells, do I?

The book's a good business idea too since we all know a bunch of *new parents* in dire need of a clue.

Though the trick is to send this book BEFORE the kids get too big. If you are going to send it to someone with kids 5 years and older....send it anonymously.

And, should this book become a big hit, certain inept couples will be no doubt be receiving MULTIPLE copies!

On Hitchhiking

The other day I drove by a hitchhiker and slowed down. Not because I was even going to think about picking him up, but because I wanted to see how crazy he looked; I wanted to assess his chances of EVER getting a ride.

Thumbing, as they used to call it, has been *out* for quite some time now. I remember in the early 1980s learning (from my parents?) that it's dangerous to pick anyone up. Though one day, my father pulled over to pick some teenager up out in the sticks. I was watching the kid like a hawk in the rear-view mirror - lest he try any *foul play*. Turns out, he was shifty Eagle scout! He had left his camp and was going to trek 5 full miles to the center of town for a pizza.

My mother told me that, as a teenager/college student (beyond?), she used to thumb rides all the time - and everywhere. That's hard to believe in this day and age.

So I ask y'all - what has changed so much? Why has hitchhiking disappeared from our culture?

A large part of the explanation has to be the relative cheapness of auto transport today, right?

Families used to only own a single car; now they often have 3-4 cars spilling out of their driveways (because the garage is cluttered!).

But I suspect there's also an anti-social aspect to hitchhiking's demise. People are scared to death of *everyone else*. This had to come from somewhere which I strongly suspect is Big Media and Hollywood. There's no way I could KNOW if people were friendlier 30, 40, or 50 years ago as I wasn't there. But I'm very much inclined to think so.

Anyways, one would think that ride bumming could make a comeback as it's *greener* than a dozen Priuses. It's a whole lot more *carbon neutralizing* than symbolic windmills, under-utilized commuter trains, or recycling paper. Heck, just about every car that drives has only one person in it.



I believe hitching is popular in Europe - but am not sure. I've only been there once and didn't pay any attention. Cars and *petrol* are a whole lot more expensive across the pond....AND, those snooty Euros have a whole lot less money than we do!

That Luxembourg chick above, with her home-sewn jeans, looks perfect for our own West Coast Tom. He stop his Prius in a second for her....

Try To Keep Up

If one more person tells me that they can't *keep up* with my posting I'm going to go ape-sh*t on them. Who among you clowns is busier than the author?

Not only should y'all be current with my commentary....y'all should also have time enough to be re-reading and committing to memory, my old posts.

Dirty Dishes

It's got to be the third worst household chore - doing the dishes.

I don't care what anyone says, dishwashers only help a little. They're good for glasses, silverware, and for, well, just clearing some counter and sink space for the dirty pots, pans, etc.

I have a highly sophisticated *system* of cleaning up the kitchen. The only problem is, often times my wife will come in and mess things up.

For example, she's a stuffer. She jams everything in the sink regardless of its *dirt*. She'll take all sorts of barely dirty dishes and plop them into a huge greasy pan filled with soapy water. So now instead of simply quick-wiping say a pan that just had boiled water in it, now it's covered all over in greasy residue. THIS DRIVES ME INSANE - and has for almost 10 years.

She'll also put stuff in the dishwasher without scraping it clean - like an egg plate. Her pitiful rationale is *I'm not going to wash stuff before putting it in the dishwasher*. No, instead, I have to wash it AGAIN after the cycle!

The last chafing offense that I'll mention of my wonderful wife is that she chooses dishes from the cupboard that increase my workload. For instance, she'll let the kids use funky Winnie-the-Pooh cups that have like 7 components to them, lids, straws, etc. Me, I give them paper cups. Or I re-use what they drank out of for the prior meal - on account of the *environment*!

But washing dishes sucks even without an aggravator. Everything is greasy and sticky; everything has cheese melted on it. I can't stand Tupperware and GladWare. That plastic crap doesn't wash - especially if someone nukes oily food in it. And it doesn't dry off - the lid and the grooves always trap water.

When I was in Florida this January, with the kids, by myself, in an unfamiliar kitchen, I took my dishwashing system up a notch. There was no way I was going to be able to operate efficiently with that little condo's tiny sink, no disposal, meager counter space, etc. Nor did I want to. I had my hands full with the kids and was also trying to relax a bit.

So I went the *all paper* route. Paper cups and those flimsy white paper plates for everything. (We also ate out ALOT.)

When I got home, I was hooked. Now we buy those plates 1,000 at a clip at CostCo - and we go through them. I'm doing fewer dishes these days....and my wife has few opportunities to frustrate my system!

Note that grilling also helps a lot in the summer - in the way of fewer dishes to wash. When's the summer going to start here in New England anyway? It's July 10th and we can still barely get a 70 degree day!



I just don't know how anyone can't efficiently operate without one of those soap-filled brushes.

And I don't know why anyone would ever get a *divided* sink and/or fill it all the way up with water. The big farmer's sink is definitely the only way to go.

Marginalizing Swivel-Heads

Damn....

Hah! Drudge has that pic up on his frontpage - and he'll probably leave it there for a while.

It turns out, not only was the messiah caught looking, mouth agape, the young lady happens to be only 16 years old!

Of course, ABC News shockingly goes to bat for him:

...one of those times when a picture can be misleading. The president was on a higher step and was stepping down -- so he looked down to assure his footing as the woman was walking up the stairs.

It is freakin' hilarious. Not only do these public figures have to watch what they vote on, what they say, etc....they have to be mindful of reflexive glances on account of ubiquitous photographers.

But still, Obama demonstrated his pervasive ineptitude.

First of all, swiveling one's head is a juvenile tack.

Everyone knows the importance of sunglasses; and moving EYES ONLY.



Okay, maybe every red-blooded male except for Senator John Kerry.

What I do, when walking with my wife is I always lag ever so slightly behind - for unencumbered, unwitnessed swiveling. One has to be polite, no?

And, for my advanced maneuver, when I espy a possible *target* in the distance, I turn my entire body into a position facing the forward vector of the chick/M1LF/cougar. This way, as they walk by I achieve maximum, unsuspected viewing pleasure.

See also - What Happens Next?

Fascist Fiat

Better yet, fiat is Latin for "let it be done".

Today I want to highlight two outstanding developments in the world of irredeemable, paper currency.

First, from that bastion of liberty - China:

(CNN) -- As Internet-based economies edge closer to their real-world counterparts, one country is apparently trying to build a wall between the two.

China has announced new rules that prevent "virtual currencies" like Linden Dollars and QQ coins from being traded for real cash.

"It's a pretty important step," said Edward Castronova, a professor at the University of Indiana who studies virtual currency. "These virtual currencies, as they grow, are going to become competitors to real-world currencies -- and apparently that's what happening in China. These QQ coins are becoming things you can use at the corner store to top off your bill."

It's difficult to say how large virtual economies have become, because governments don't conduct surveys, Castronova said, but the popularity of online cash is reportedly growing by as much as 20 percent per year.

Virtual worlds like Second Life allow users to buy clothes, cars and land for their virtual characters, or avatars. And online cash has become important in online games and social networks, where users can buy trinkets to give to their friends or power-ups for their video game characters.

Hah! No government, no matter how inept, is going to tolerate a competing form of money. If they did, it might become difficult for them to interfere with the lives of freely associating peasants! Our elected officials will do EXACTLY the same - so don't y'all laugh.

And secondly, the insane IOUs being issued today by the State of California:



There're all sorts of issues with this *new currency*....which banks will accept them? Are they tradable? Are they *securities* subject to regulation? Etc.

It's such a complete disaster that I wouldn't be surprised if it precipitated a stock market crash. I do wonder which state will be next. Michigan? New Jersey? Every single one of them is technically bankrupt.

As I hinted at in a previous post's comments....we do have *other* options than fiat servitude.

Did y'all know it was legal in the States to issue your own paper currency? Click here.

Is that a good idea? Perhaps for a little while. Remember still that fiat, paper currencies have a historical failure rate of 100% - no matter how well originally designed or *reserved*.

Our next choice is good old-fashioned barter. One just can't find an apocalyptic perma-bear these days whose every fourth word isn't *barter society*!



Have to run now. I cut the lawn, did the laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. Think that's currency enough for my wife let me go boozing?

What Cougars?

I had never even heard the term *cougar* until last year when someone used it to describe vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

But since then, the word has been everywhere; amazingly, a word that implies *horned old broad* has become mainstreamed. We've sure descended a long way in our public dialogue from when saying *heck* on low def television spurred an outrage.

Now, I'm well aware that network and cable TV are veritably cauldrons of filth these days. Still I was blown away when I saw an ad for an upcoming ABC show titled Cougar Town. That's the *Disney* network, right?

And, I was somewhat surprised to see a recent Newsweek article titled:



This is freakin' crazy, no?

Is this going to be Sarah Palin's legacy?

So get this. There's a restaurant/bar nearby that has the reputation of being a *cougar bar*. Hearing all this cougar talk I just HAD TO check it out. I mean, I'm relatively new to suburban, married-with-kids living. The guys who told me about this place made it like it was a real spectacle to behold. Even though I'd been in a jillion bars across the land, perhaps there was a drinking sub-culture I'd yet to witness?

So I went one Thursday night and saw next to nothing - not a cougar in sight. Figures.

But my research into this sweeping phenomenon is ongoing:



Wow!

It lasts less than a minute....

And Cougars mate 50-70 times per day!

BTW, Sarah Palin is only 45 years old....my wife and I concur that, if anything, she's better described by that lewd acronym popularized by American Pie. Click here for the gutter etymology. [Warning - Adult Language]

Lasly, I just found the preview of Cougar Town:



A Courtney Cox fan AND a Desperate Housewives addict....I just don't see how my wife doesn't watch this show.

Doing Their Best To Destroy This Country

House Dems Looking At Taxing The Rich For Healthcare

WASHINGTON—House Democrats working on President Barack Obama's goal of health legislation are narrowing in on an income tax surcharge on the highest-paid wage earners to help subsidize insurance for the 50 million people who lack it.

As discussed in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, the surtax would apply to individuals with adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000, according to officials involved in the discussion. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a member of the panel, said the panel is looking at a surtax of around 3.5 percent on income above those amounts. Other members suggested it would be closer to 3 percent.

Pelosi made clear Thursday that whatever the Senate comes up with, the House bill will have a public plan and will not tax benefits.

"We will not be taxing benefits, health care benefits in any legislation that comes from the House," Pelosi said.

Hah! So they won't be taxing *benefits*, they'll just be taxing what pays for benefits, i.e. INCOME!

First of all, 3.5% is a staggering number. It may seem like a small percent, but if someone or some couple makes $300,000 annually, figure they're going to have an additional ten grand confiscated EVERY YEAR.

The cut-offs are curious too. $250,000 earning couples in *Blue states* will get hit the hardest. Their $9-$10,000 monthly budget will get hit to a tune of almost $900 per month from this new healthcare tax alone.

Now, bear in mind, that this will be happening at a time of rapidly increasing job insecurity, a time when *bonuses* are devastated everywhere (except at Goldman Sachs), a time when sales and energy taxes are getting jacked up, commuting taxes are rising, as are property taxes, and stock portfolios are on the brink. It's a heck of a time to be kicking working Americans, huh?

Note that individuals have to earn $200,000 before being hit with this tax. So, if you are say a doctor earning 150k and so is your sweetheart....why the bleep would you even (officially) get married?

Just have a party, move in together, play house, and save that extra 10k annually....since you're going to need it to pay for everything else!



Over the last several months I realized that simply earning *fiat currency* is neither an effective nor a sufficient plan for wealth building because paper money is far too easily confiscated and debased - especially on the down-slope of an economic cycle in a latently communist country.

One last point about those dual income families at the threshold of this tax. If you presume that 250k-300k earners buy homes in the $700,000-$1,000,000 range....

It follows that when erasing $900 from their monthly budgets....that these folk will only be able to afford homes $100,000-$150,000 cheaper. In other words, this tax ALONE will deliver another whack to the upper-middle part of the housing market - in tony Blue towns anyway.

McNair Should Have Kept One Eye Open

So ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair was murdered while he slept by the wack-a-do chick he was cheating on his wife with.

One of the conundrums of male life is that the crazy broads are at the same time the most desirable and the most *fraught with risk* - if I may reuse an expression from yesterday's post.

To give one example, remember Tony Soprano's gumar Gloria - who was masterfully played by Annabella Sciorra? Remember the flying London broil from Season 3?



Getting back to McNair's gumar side-ho....

It's been surmised that the nutty broad suspected her married, philandering lover was ACTUALLY cheating on her! And that's why she shot him and then herself.

I don't know where she'd get that outlandish idea....

If only Steve saw it coming and had a henchman to talk some sense into her dome - as Tony Soprano did. Click here.

I Must Be Getting Even Younger

So I've been hearing this catchy tune on the radio. Something about *climbing a mountain*. I figured it was a Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood type of singer. I thought it may have even been contemporary Christian rock or Country music. All I had were hunches.

But then a buddy informed the other night, amidst some drinks and bar noise, that the song was "Miley Cyrus....Hannah Montana" - and I didn't get around to processing that *dissonance* until just now.

Now I had no idea who Miley Cyrus was; but I did know that Hannah Montana was some Disney sensation adored by 10 year old girls.

Turns out, as I just learned, that they are one and the same person. They are both monikers for the, now 16 year old chick.

Whatever, the song is pretty darn good. I'm man enough to admit that I'm now a fan of the same singer as my nieces. Heck, I'll even volunteer to take them to a concert!



Clearly, my newfound, objective open-mindedness is fraught with risk!

Us Sports Recorders Were Prepared

With my wife behind me watching her own *delayed* American Idol finale, I remembered the incredible ending of last year's competition. Bear in mind that it was DAVID Cook versus DAVID Archuleta:



My DVR had cut off at the same exact juncture.

Though, not being a Moron, I had recorded the subsequent show as well.

That was pretty amazing though, where it cut off: "American Idol 2008 is.....David---"

I imagine at the time, there was a whole lot of cursing out there in Comcast Country by clowns who've never recorded a ball game that's overrun its time slot.

Wall Street - It Really Is All Brawn, No Brains

Being a Masshole myself, and a little bit young, I don't remember Lenny Dykstra as a Met. But I witnessed him firsthand in Philly where he often put the entire team on his back in carrying them to the 1993 World Series. He was one baaaad dude; and did everything with a real *flair*:



Apparently he hasn't changed one bit. Today he's declaring bankruptcy in style as well:

Lenny Dykstra Files Bankruptcy

NEW YORK -- Lenny Dykstra, the former star center fielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The 46-year-old has no more than $50,000 of assets and between $10 million and $50 million of liabilities, according to a petition filed Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California.

Dykstra's filing comes in the wake of more than 20 lawsuits he faces tied to his activities as a financial entrepreneur, including The Players Club, a glossy magazine for athletes he had helped launch in 2008.

According to an April article on ESPN.com, Dykstra put his net worth at $60 million, and also owned a black Rolls Royce Phantom and Gulfstream II jet.

Walter Hackett, a lawyer for Dykstra, said the event triggering the bankruptcy filing was a planned foreclosure sale of a southern California residence that Dykstra bought from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky for $17.5 million in 2007.

According to the bankruptcy petition, Dykstra's largest unsecured creditors include units of JPMorgan Chase & Co., owed $12.9 million, and Bank of America Corp, owed a combined $4.2 million.

Hackett said Washington Mutual, now part of JPMorgan, was the main lender on the 2007 home purchase, and that the bank misled Dykstra about his ability to afford the property. The lawyer said the bank deserves nothing on its claim.

Hah! JP Morgan and Bank of America getting stiffed to the tune of millions at a clip?

Who'd a thunk it?

One just has to love the lawyer's defense - that *the bank misled Dykstra about his ability to afford the property*!!!

Now I had no idea that Lenny had re-fashioned himself into a *financial guru* and that Jim Cramer had gone long Dykstra. Pay attention to the funniest part - between the 13 and 30 second marks:



You thought you were watching a CollegeHumor or SNL parody there, right?

So did I.

Here's Cramer's money quote:

Now there are probably only four or five people in the world who if they sent me an email...told me to own(?) a stock....I would actually take them seriously....He's one of them.

What else is there to say?

Just keep shorting Cramer, Cramer pumps, and banks that lend to them!

[Looks like Forbes was onto this story last year.]

Last year, in Empiricism - The Only Science I discussed the fabulous book Moneyball which touched upon Lenny Dykstra. In that book Billy Beane admiringly contrasts himself - a can't-miss talent who flopped - with Lenny Dykstra who was an unorthodox, cocksure killer. If memory serves me, Beane was astounded learning one day that Lenny didn't even have a clue who the imposing (HOF-bound?) pitcher was for their upcoming game. Lenny was simply guts personified and a complete neanderthal.



Looks like a spot-on diagnosis for today as well - not that he's any different than the rest of the meatheads on Wall Street.

Remember Bear Stearns' Josh Weintraub?

Worst Baby Name Ever

SOMEONE within my extended family just had a baby and chose the most God-awful name imaginable. I wish I could spell it out for y'all. Instead, everyone will have to make due with a mere sampling of the reaction I've garnered:

• Unbelievable.
• Not in a million years would I name a kid that. WHY?
• That is what everyone is saying - why, how? It sounds perverted in some way to me.
• Poor kid. You almost feel sorry for the little guy, as like you say people will ask why, who, whatever...
• I know - poor kid - people are getting really crazy with their made up names these days.
• I think the grandparents should get together and talk to them about it - I mean he will get made fun of to no end.
• No kidding. I just do not understand why people do that. They think it is cute or something.
• Total a$$holes....
• I'm going to be nonjudgmental on this one....I think they got the idea from "One life to Live".
• Seriously...."cool" nicknames are one thing but what they did is selfish, bordering on abusive.
• I keep reading this and getting more and more pissed off.
• Classic….the kid better learn karate.
• Usually parental mistakes happen a little later….not right at birth.

The last one was my favorite reaction because it came from an *expert* - a parent of a teenager who could easily write the "How to" manual on parental mistakes!

After I emailed my brother the *name announcement* he instantly called me on the phone from overseas. For a day or so he was downright convinced that I was messing with him. "No, seriously, what's the name," he kept pestering me with.

Now remember, this is just a fraction of the feedback I've gotten; it's only what was in my email inbox. The verbal reactions were pretty much unanimous in declaiming it the *worst* name anyone's ever heard.

AND my son, my 4.6 year old son went into hysterics when I told him the baby's name. In between belly-aching laughs he declared, "THAT'S NOT A NAME!!!"

Again, sorry I can't divulge the actual moniker on this blog.

Trust me, this name is absolutely terrible. And consider the one commenter above who said the name sounded *perverted*.

Well, I just googled the name and discovered that the first/middle name inverted is in fact the name of a male porn star.

So the middle-aged woman who offered up that comparison just inadvertently admitted to having somewhat of a naughty streak in her!

And the poor kid has to bear that stigma on top of just having a made-up, ridiculous name.



Recently I personally broke through in the baby name department.

And I also blogged a bit on kids' names in - New Parent Empricism.

Yet Another Ridiculous, Illiterate, Crass Hit Song

I just heard it on the radio - it's called Birthday S*x. Read Decipher the lyrics below if you can:

Yeah, yeah, yeah

{Verse 1}

It's your birthday so I know
you want to riiide out,
Even if we only go to myyy house
Sip mo- weezy as we sit upon myyy couch
Feels good, but I know you want to
cryyy out
You say you want passion
I think you found it
Get ready for action
Don't be astounded
We switchin' positions
You feel surrounded
Tell me where you want
your gift, girl


{Chorus}

Girl you know I-I-I
Girl you know I-I-I
I've been feenin'
Wake up in the late night...dreamin' about your lovin'
Girl you know I-I-I
Girl you know I-I-I
Don't need candles or cake
just need your body to make good

Birthday sex
Birthday sex

It's the best day of the year, girl

Birthday sex
Birthday sex

It feels like, feels like... lemme hit that...g-spot g-spot

{Verse 2}

See you sexy and them jeans got me
on 10
1-2-3, think I got you pinned
Don't tap out...fight until the end
Ring that bell; we gon start over again
We grindin' wit passion, cuz it's yo birthday
Been at it for hours...I know you thirsty
You kiss me so sweetly...taste just like Hershey's
Just tell me how you want yo gift, girl

{Chorus}

{Verse 3}

First I'm gonna take a dive into the water deep until I know I pleased
that body (body ah oop)
Or girl without a broom
I might just sweep you off your feet
And make you wanna tell somebody
(body, how I do)
somebody body how i do
Or maybe we can float on top my water bed you close your eyes as i impry between your legs
We work our way from kitchen stoves, and tables
Girl you know I'm more than able to please, yeah
Say you wanted flowers on the bed (on the bed)
But you got me and now it's on again

{Chorus) (it's the best day of the year, girl)
(lemme know what it feels like, feels like, when I hit that G-spot, G-spot)

My wife's birthday is fast approaching - a time of annual stress for her husband. Allow me to remind y'all that there're freakin' 5 holidays per year where I'm supposed to gift-wrap a token of my love and appreciation. After 11 years of togetherness, I'm about out of ideas.

Hmmmmmmm....

Yeah right - that won't suffice! Mrs. C-Nut went all out this year, against my explicit wishes, and showered me with several gifts last month for my 35th birthday.

It was absolute and total BS. It was simply a ruse to inflate her own July birthday celebration. For some reason chicks are crazy about their birthdays - no check that, they are crazy about their *birthday weekends* and even *birthday weeks*!

So I'm going to have to give the wife something material soon. Though, she definitely deserves to find this stupid song, as a joke(!), in her inbox next week.

[Just got another laugh running spellcheck on this post! The lyrics blew up into a sea of red.]

Spousal Obscurantism, the DVR, and American Idol

My wife is in the process of watching this season's American Idol. Even though the show concluded 1.5 months ago, Mrs. C-Nut still hasn't a clue who won.

Just yesterday she made it far enough through our DVR recordings to discover that I had been messing with her.

For some time now I've been telling her that Danny Gokey won. [That's the dude whom my wife referred to, mnemonically, as *wife killer*....when in fact the poor guy lost his wife to cancer!]

Since, on her timeline, he just got voted out of the top three, the wife is now on to my shenanigans. Sometime later this week she'll find out if the ambigendrous Adam Lambert could hold off the far less talented Kris Allen.

It's utterly amazing that she still doesn't know who won, right?

Well, the only information she gets is from yours truly - a responsibility that I'd never abuse! She works hard all week; comes home to tend to the kids for a couple hours; and goes to bed where for a few minutes each night I apprise her of what she needs to know. That's all she has time for - even on the train her head is contantly buried in a Blackberry or spreadsheet. Occasionally she sees a news blurb in her work elevator but that's the extent of my information competition.

ob·scur·ant·ism (ŏb-skyŏŏr'ən-tĭz'əm, əb-, ŏb'skyŏŏ-rān'-)
n.
1) The principles or practice of obscurants.

2) A policy of withholding information from the public.

3) a. A style in art and literature characterized by deliberate vagueness or obliqueness. b. An example or instance of this style.

That's according to dictionary.com. Though I like the definition I memorized way back:

Obscurantism - A bigoted opposition to enlightenment.

And if you want a more scholarly example than the one I provided above - think of the Catholic Church and its former insistence on Latin-based bibles and services. Cynics allege that this was an *obscurantist* scheme to keep the masses dependent on the clergy; lest they interpret Scripture for themselves....

Ring Any Bells?

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

That's from 2 Timothy verses 1-7.

Selfish, money-worshipping Morons who are unable to *acknowledge the truth*???

I've never come across any!

Have you?

So we must have plenty of *days* left....

In all seriousness though, this is why the Bible is a must read. It's timeless - about the past, the present, and the future.

Reading it I discovered that *abortion* was far from a new issue. It has roots going back millennia to when pagans sacrificed children to Molech.

I also discovered that being *green* today isn't just about junk science, statism, wealth guilt, and being trendy; I found out that it's merely the modern day version of age-old earth worship.

And I found out a whole lot more than that from the Good Book- as anyone who approaches it with application and a discerning mind will.

BTW, I believe the *last days* refers NOT to the week before a Al Gore's apocalyptic tidal wave hits the moneychangers in Manhattan....I believe it refers to the period of time between Jesus Christ's resurrection and his imminent return.

See also - Finally Done!.

Google On The Fritz?

Those *suggestions* can't possibly be right or good, can they?

See also:

Google Search Suggestions - Who Is?

Who Wouldn't Appreciate A Good Suggestion?

Google Search's Seminar On The Sexes

Googling That Wacky Other Species

On Vegetarians

I really don't want to be *that guy*, you know, the one who mocked golf his entire life as a sissy non-sport but then retired and was smitten by the golf bug - forever lamenting that they should have taken the game up years ago, back when they were *more flexible*.

I'm trying to be real conscious these days of personal closed-mindedness. Remember although I didn't ridicule yoga before, I let preconceived notions about it, and my impressions as to whom it was *for*, I let them build up a wall of resistance to the practice in my mind. Thankfully, I was able to break through.

In this spirit, I recently realized that I hadn't fully researched a number of things. A couple of weeks ago, in conversing with that Canadian *mom* I met, I came face-to-face with one of these very issues.

She was talking about being a vegetarian - something I've mocked for years. I asked the young lady why she won't eat meat:

CanadianVeggieMom - I stopped eating meat when I was 16. I had a bunch of friends who were vegetarian so I tried the diet unintentionally....My body felt so much better it was unbelievable. So I stuck with it.

Nowadays she also has a *global warming* justification for eschewing meat - she said that one could have their veggies overnighted, everyday from Australia and their diet would still have been supplied by less fossil fuel than what's burned by meateaters. She told me to go Google it.

That last part sounded dubious to me, but again, I freely admit that I haven't at all looked into how my fleshy foodstuffs are made. The Bible says its okay to barbeque critters, right?

And let's not even get into the false premise that burning carbon is going to kill us.

While I sat there listening to VeggieMom, I kept my mouth closed and my mind open. Then when I got home I relayed my thoughts on the possibility of vegetables perhaps being healthier to my wife:

Mrs. C-Nut - That part about *feeling better* is total bullsh*t....I've tried those fruit, vegetable, and bean diets for weeks at a time....not eating meat DID NOT make me feel healthier....I was starving and felt terrible!

So there you have it!

Just after I mustered the intellectual humility to admit that I had never tried meatlessness, and was about to give it a go,....

My wife came in and, as she's wont to do, slammed shut my wide-opened mind!

But, is there a way we can test the *veggies are healthier* proposition by proxy?

Sure. How about looking at the *free market* of professional athletes?

I Googled *vegetarian pro athletes* and found relatively nothing. Desmond Howard and a couple of no-names.

One might think if carrots, rice, and pomegranates were in fact better for the bod....that there'd be some empirical evidence in the way of vegetarian athletic out-performance, right? And one would think that *competitive* athletes would be going vegan in droves, right?

Alas, there aren't any that I can find.

But I did find this hilarious story of Prince Fielder - a baseballer who gave up meat and lost all of his hitting power!!!

For background on VeggieMom, see - Homeschoolers - Winning The Diversity Bee Too!.

See also:

Pagan Pizza

Those Militant Vegans Had It Coming

America - Where Beggars Can Be Choosers

Goldman Arrogance

With all that's transpired in the past year:

• Lehman Brothers, one of the few remaining Goldman rivals, being *not-bailed* out by a Big Government dominated by Goldman alums.
• Goldman Sachs converting to a bank for a bailout; then converting back to an i-bank for bonus time.
• Goldman Sachs getting a whopping $13 billion or so from bankrupt, taxpayer-owned AIG.
• Goldman Sachs eliminating December 2008 from their earnings results!
  
• A furious, *technical* bear market rally that saw a near 50% retracement from March 2009 lows that can only be explained by *quant trading* - which is dominated by Goldman.
• The curious case of Goldman's former programmer - see Bloomberg for that one. And Ritholtz.
• And while the rest of the economic world crumbles, Goldman Sachs is poised to hand out record bonuses.
• Etc. Etc. Etc.

Everyone is piling on Goldman Sachs at the moment - and most deservedly so.

The article du jour that's spreading like wildfire over the internet is Rolling Stone's article subtitled - "How Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression."

Note Goldman has also targeted and harassed critical bloggers like Mike Morgan and Tyler Durden.

While I may long to have the stature of those other bloggers....on second thought, when it comes to the omnipotent Goldman thugs, I think I'll cower in fear of retribution.

But I do have one anecdote from this past weekend.

At a social gathering of just 5 couples, I met a guy who worked for Goldman.

He was on the equity side so I asked him what he thought the market was going to do.

GoldmanDude - Flat on the year....it'll sell off a bit in the summer and then rally back.

[S&P at roughly 900 at the time; sharply up from the March low of 666.]

Okay. Fair enough.

Then I joked that I was more of a "permabear". He instantly snapped back:

GoldmanDude - Well, that's an intellectually s-u-p-e-r-i-o-r position.

Say what? Did this guy just call me a Moron to my face?

To cap it off, he scoffed at me in his foreign accent, while turning his head away.

Now I just met him but 30 minutes ago. This was a laid-back, holiday cookout. I was speaking sardonically. But, even if I wasn't, who the eff is he to make such a crack?

The guy was about 135 pounds for crying out loud. How about I jump up, break him in half, and throw his poorly-marbled frame on the grill!

That was what I was thinking for a split-second anyway.

Instead, I calmly retorted in my same jesting tone, "Well, it worked last year."

[Future readers note that 2008 saw stock markets worldwide plunge 40-50%. So it was hardly the time to be mocking *perma-bears*!]

But I was livid on the inside for a multitude of reasons.

Here's a guy who traffics in other-people's-money, who doesn't risk a penny of his own taking a know-it-all, haughty posture. Unlike him, my money and mouth are always in the same place. Furthermore, he works for the most depraved, criminal organization on this over-heated planet - Goldman Sachs. And he's in a position to condescend on me?

I don't think so.

Now normally, any other person acting this way wouldn't bother me. But this guy was just teeming with arrogance. Over three hours and much conversation Mssr. Goldman didn't ask me one single question about myself. This neighbor of mine wasn't interested in where I was from, what I did for work, how old my kids were, or any other informational tidbit that's normally exchanged at very small dinner parties.

We'll surely cross paths again. And next time, the S&P will hardly be 900 and neither my diction nor my tone will be hamstrung by my wife.

You see, these are her friends - a couple of whom I've already severely offended in the past. On the way over to these coed affairs, I have to really coach myself up to be extremely polite and avoid, well, just about every interesting subject: politics, religion, education, weather,....in their midst.

I do my best to just sit there, tongue bleeding from bite marks, whilst they discuss *how cheap homes are*, *how the market will bounce back any day now*, and *the benefits of windmills*.

It is great that I have this outlet here; before I started Marginalizing Morons, I simply could not keep my mouth shut.

Scared of Moi?

link

So, about an hour ago I just had a woman come to my house to buy something I had advertised on Craigslist.

She came to the door waving money but seemed hesitant to come in. So I implored her. She wanted to inspect the item first, right?

She tiptoed one step in and I reached to close the door because it was pouring out (again!) and that's what I generally do - I CLOSE DOORS (on account of the environment).

But as I was doing so, she reached out and blocked the door. She blurted out, "My husband is in the car!"

Okay. Now this all happened so fast. I retrieved the item, handed it to her, she threw the money on my counter and ran out.

It wasn't until she was ten steps out of my door that I realized what was going on.

She was petrified to come in my house.

And for some reason it really pissed me off even though she acted exactly how I would want my wife to act in such a situation.

Regardless, just to mess with these worrywarts, the next time I sell something I am going to answer the door topless and in my BVDs....

All Hail....Louisville Wings

After you taste these you'll be like me today....wondering why wings are made any other way!

LOUISVILLE WINGS

Serves 4-6


5lbs of chicken wings (about 24)

2 tbsp of salt, plus salt for sauce

2 tbsn of lemon pepper

2 tbsn of sweet paprika

For the marinade

1-1/4 (10 tbsn) salted butter

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2/3 cup of Dijon mustard

2/3 cup of Tabasco or hot sauce

2/3 cup of lemon juice (fresh)

2/3 cup of Kentucky bourbon

3 tablespoons of sugar (brown?)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups of hickory chips soaked for 1 hr, then drained.

Wash the wings, blot dry. Place in large bowl and toss with salt, lemon pepper, and paprika. Let marinate for 1 hour.

Prepare the sauce. Melt butter in saucepan. Add garlic and cook over medium heat until garlic is fragrant and sizzling, but not brown, 3 minutes. Stir in the mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, bourbon, brown sugar, and pepper. Boil for 3 minutes. Let this mixture cool to room temperature. Pour half the sauce over the wings and toss to mix. Let marinade for 4 hours.

Set up your grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium. If using a gas grill, place the wood chips in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch. Preheat to high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, preheat to medium and toss the chips on the coals. Brush and oil the grill grate.

Arrange the wings on the grate away from the fire and indirect grill until golden brown and cooked through, 30-40 minutes.

The last few minutes, move the wings a few at a time directly over the fire and direct grill until cracking crisp, basting with some of the sauce. Arrange the wings on a platter and pour the remaining sauce over them. Serve at once. Provide hot wet towels for cleaning your fingers.

Tonight was the first time I made them. I tried *indirect grilling* but probably didn't have enough charcoal/heat. So I inched them closer to the flame and did my best to cook them somewhat slowly. Remember, it's chicken so the meat will cook reasonably fast.

I also skipped the hickory chips because I couldn't find any easily.

One thing the recipe doesn't tell you is how to properly prepare store-bought whole chicken wings. First you cut off the tip; and then split the wing at the elbow. Click here for a demonstration.

Also, for the initial *rub*....



I recommend mixing the lemon pepper, salt, and paprika in a bowl with a fork before *tossing* over the wings.

Now the recipe might say that it serves *4-6*....but I would adjust that to *3-4*!

Where did I find this one?

From that nerd on PBS. His show is called BBQ University.



Above find a perfect side dish for Louisville wings. By happenstance, our invited guests brought a *watermelon salad* over tonight. Looking at this thing and its ingredients there's no way any chromosomally male human being would salivate. It's simply watermelon, cucumbers, feta, and mint.

But it's actually very, very tasty - and a good palate cleanser for in between half-dozen wing inhalations.

UPDATE - Just acquired the recipe:

4 cups watermelon, cut into cubes
2 cups cucumber cut into cubes
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
3/4 cup feta cheese
2 Tbsp. lime juice (or lemon juice)
2 Tbsp olive oil

More 4th of July Levity

I posted this classic on 2.5 years ago on YouTube. Thus far it has 163,000 views and 266 comments!

Some radio dj pranks a poor nutjob of a woman in Alabama, informing her that her Social Security checks will be reduced.



The best part may be that this woman has been a *repeat victim*!

I also like this jest that came from the Private Caller clan today:

A fifteen year old Amish boy and his father were in a mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again.

The boy asked, "What is this Father?"

The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is."

While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, a fat old lady in a wheel chair moved up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened, and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed, and the boy and his father watched the small numbers above the walls light up sequentially..

They continued to watch until it reached the last number, and then the numbers began to light in the reverse order.

Finally the walls opened up again and a gorgeous 24-year-old blond stepped out.

The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his son.....

"Go get your mother."

Lastly, check out the following pic:



I received that in a stream of 3 pics titled - How to spot a millionaire.

Another of the pics was this one which I posted in a blog many years ago.

The third pic I can't post on account of unclad genitalia. Let's just say there was a vertically-challenged dude and a lanky, buxom blonde hand-in-hand.

Watch It More Than Once....

Because it gets funnier each time. Note that she IS GIGGLING....



And the title is a killer!

Bored To Sleep

I read this today:

The CEO might sound hyperbolic, but Firewire’s capabilities were on display when teen surfing sensation Dusty Payne was awarded $50,000 this spring for winning the Kustom Air Strike best-aerial contest. Payne shot off a wave, spun 360 degrees in the air and landed with nary a hair out of place. The jaw-dropping, skateboarding-style trick, caught on video on the North Shore of Oahu, could shake surfing the way Tony Hawk’s two-and-a-half-rotation “900” helped to launch ESPN’s X Games into popular culture 10 years ago.

Indeed, Price says, competitive surfing was once about carving the surface of a wave; now the sport is heading “above the lip”--in the air--where skate-style moves are becoming de rigueur for a new generation of riders.

And just had to find this *epic* maneuver on YouTube....



Yawn.

But I imagine that's many of y'all's reaction to my pastime of golf.

Incidentally, I have to leave the house tomorrow around 4:30am to play golf 63 miles away. So I won't be blogging much more tonight.

SpellQuizzer

A couple of months ago I received an email from the proprietor of SpellQuizzer software. He sent me the software for free in hopes that I would discuss it on my blog.

It's simply a program that *says* words and asks your child to spell them. Wrong answers are pointed out and corrected - and the kids get another crack at the words they missed.

BUT, the program doesn't come with a library of words. You have to compile your own lists; read them into the computer's microphone; and record them in a sentence if you desire.

As much of a pain in the butt finding my buried microphone was and recording the words is, this is an ideal program to tailor a flexible homeschool curriculum.

Not only can I enter words at the precise cusp of Prince C-Nut's ability, I can keep the quizzes current with words from other timely subjects. For example, yesterday's list had *Maine* and *camping* on it - because that's what we did last week.

The format is pretty much as one would expect. Your child hears:

"Maine.....We went to Maine for our vacation."

So not only does the parent get to choose the words, they get to put them in a sentence. This is another opportunity, like everything else in life, for edification. For example, I put *stone* in one list thusly:

"Stone.....A diamond is the hardest stone."

So maybe my kids will learn a tad more than just spelling. I have to admit I've also inserted my colorful humor a few times!

"Body.....My Mom only married my Dad for his body."

Much to my chagrin I really just started this program with my 4.6 year old the other day. I firmly believe that spelling is an integral part of what I call reverse-reading or *composition*.

My son can read fairly well, but when I ask him to spell one of the words that he's just pronounced correctly, well, he can't do that yet.



This all begs the larger question, "How important is spelling?"

Because I've seen many smart people self-deprecate with *Well, I'm a bad speller*.

Is it possible to be *intelligent* or *educated* if one can't spell?

After all, just about all of our written communication these days has a *spellcheck* functionality.

But I submit that spelling is VERY IMPORTANT.

Words are mental tools and even weapons (of self-defense only - like karate!). The more you have in your box - the more your mind can construct, destruct, and repair. So in my book one must ideally study words with great application; this would include not only precise spelling and meanings, but also origins.

I've grown to see etymology as a profoundly important subject.

In fact, note Will Durant's last line in this excerpt from Age of Faith:

By adding French and Latin to its German base, English could triply express any one of a thousand ideas (kingly, royal, regal; twofold, double, duplex; daily, journal, diurnal,...); to this it owes its wealth of discriminating synonyms and verbal nuances. He who should know the history of words would know all history.

I'll have more to say on this SpellQuizzer as we get further along with it.

[I sure hope there are no spelling errors in this post! Google's spellcheck has been malfunctioning lately.]

Hard Evidence Smacks Globies In The Face!

The *most emailed* story from the Boston Globe yesterday was an Op-Ed column by some dude I've never heard of, Jeff Jacoby:

No climate debate? Yes, there is

It's a standard debunking of the eco-propaganda pawned off as *science*; and peddled in furtherance of Bigger Government.

Read it later, I want to discuss it from a wider angle.

Since I prefer my swallowed food to *stay down*, I don't read the Globe much - never did. But I can't remember ever noticing such anti-agitprop in it before. This egregious blasphemy had to be a *guest column*, right?

But could this development indicate a new, more liberal(!) policy at the Globe?

Not only was the article the *most emailed*, by the time I came across it, it had generated a whopping 500+ reader comments.

As stupid as Globies are, how long can they go on ignoring the fact that offering up a *diversity* of opinion is their only chance at business survival?

There has to be at least one person high up at the Globe who can put two and two together. The has to be one person who understands that stories that generate *feedback*, *emails*, and *hits* are like....THE MOST IMPORTANT BLEEPIN' THING in the new hyper-competitive world of digital media.

How messed up would that be if by simply becoming a tad *fairer*,....if that was all it took to save the Boston Globe from oblivion?

After all, the market for agitpop has been overly saturated for quite some time now.

Weather Whining

This was the local forecast I read late last night:

The second round of downpours could dump two to five additional inches on some areas in southeastern Massachusetts Thursday, the forecasters said.

Meteorologists expect tomorrow's state average to be between one-quarter inch and 1.5 inches of rain.

"Some areas may only get one-hundredth of an inch. Some other areas will get deluged. That’s just how it goes," meteorologist Walter Drag said.

Who cares right? Rain and poop *happens*.

But we've just endured 6 weeks of absymal weather up here in New England. It's been cold, cloudy, and wet seemingly every single day. I kid y'all not!

We suffered through a veritable 5-6 month winter for this?

Last week we went camping. My wife got all depressed looking at the ten day forecast for our trip:



Click that graphic to enlarge. Basically it forecast rain 7 out of the 8 days (Sat-Sat) were to be camping.

Now, it had already been miserable for several weeks so I tried to convince my wife that the forecast was fighting the law of averages and also that a *10 day* forecast is inherently a joke from these clowns who perpetually struggle with 1 and 2 day outlooks.

But that forecast turned out to be 100% prescient - even overly optimistic because while we got the rain everyday it forecast....it turned out even colder than was foreseen. The one *10% chance of rain* - Thursday - did turn out to be our token, beautiful sunny day. What are the odds that meteorologists could make a long-term forecast so accurate?

AND, bear in mind that this ridiculous spring/summer is on top of a brutal winter. When I escaped to Naples, FL this January....I missed a whopping 3 feet of snow. Point of fact, when I came back in February I had a couple *moms* (of small children) tear up recounting the month I was gone.

Woe to government school kids in Massachusetts this year! Many of them had school extended until the very end of June. We met plenty of families camping last week who had their kids missing their last school days. (My *homeschooled* did not. We found time for math, and a bit of reading every single day we were on *vacation*.)

But there are ramifications well beyond depressed psyches for weather this unusual.

How do y'all think the restaurants, hotels, and local economies of beach towns are faring? Their season is only 2.5-3 months to begin with. Is anyone doing any gardening? Having cookouts? Or traveling anywhere? I don't think so.

I've also heard loud whining from golf courses; and painters who need several consecutive *dry* days to paint exteriors.

I know it certainly doesn't qualify as *real hardship*, but the past month plus has been extraordinarily cruel to a populace already beset with economic woes.

And I'm not kidding one iota when I say that, for typical Massholes: eco-pagans, sports religionists, and communists, thank God the Red Sox are winning these days!

Nice Retort

Newsweek - On another front, the court has decided three cases against the Bush administration on Guantanamo, the most recent one giving habeas corpus rights to supposed enemy combatants. What do you make of that whole line of cases?

Robert Bork - It strikes me as preposterous to begin to extend rights to enemy combatants that we never extended to captured Germans, Italians and Japanese in World War II. It's also dangerous once we begin to judicialize the conduct of a war. It can only make our forces less effective. But something has changed in the attitude. I think it was the invasion of Grenada, when a commanding officer refused to let the press come to the front lines, and a reporter said "in World War II we were allowed in the front lines," and the commander said "in World War II you were on our side."

Bam!

By the way, I don't know anything about Robert Bork, one of Ronald Regan's Supreme Court nominees who was shot down by Congress.

At the time I was 13 and thoroughly uninterested in contemporary politics - as I am again now. So if you are a ruling or aspiring slimy politician or some other celebrity today....you have missed your window of opportunity to frustrate my chi!

He seems like a pretty sharp guy though. Read that whole interview here.

Whore Training?

Wow! I don't think I've ever seen a chick with a stomach like the one on the right has.

Heck, her midriff, for a female, is a notch above mine!

I saw her yesterday while looking for a new yoga program on Comcast's Exercise TV.

These Flirty Girls currently have an OnDemand routine called *Chair Dance*. Seriously. And that's not all:

Flirty, Fit & Fabulous!

Imagine having a sexy, slender, fabulous body without ever having to do another boring, tedious workout again! Treadmills, bench presses and stair climbers have been replaced with dance poles, kitchen chairs, and pink feather boas. Flirty Girl Fitness™ is the hot, new body makeover system that takes the world’s sexiest dance moves, from music videos, club dancing, even exotic dancing and turns them into fast, fun, fat-burning routines that anyone can do. We guarantee results you’ll see in just the first 10 days!

I just can't imagine any self-respecting female would partake in these *stripper* workouts.

Fake breasts are one thing in that at least the consumer can delude themselves about. They're for *self-esteem*, right?

But pole dancing?

Nobody even has a pole in their house so Flirty Girl Fitness can't be marketed as a tool for spicing up a marriage.

Though here's betting it sells big in Tampa middle schools!