A Grab Bag of Interesting Finds

This one sounded so much like something my ex-father-in-law would do that I expected to see his picture with the article. Miamians taking advantage.

If they keep coming back, he either charges $7.50 -- the estimated cost of the breakfast per person for the hotel, or calls the cops and have them charged with trespassing, but not stealing!

And this one reminded me of my brother-in-law, (not related to the above mentioned ex-father-in-law), who has had good fortune in finding cash in the pockets of clothes he buys second-hand. Man loses life saving donating his suit.

The 80-year-old man, who didn't trust banks, had kept his life savings of $13,000 sewn inside the lining of one of his suits. He is currently appealing for the money's return so that he can care for his wife, who has Stage 4 cancer.

This one is a Christmas story for the ages. Police refuse to evict 103 year-old woman and her 83 year-old daughter.

"No, I knew that they know what they were doing. God don't let them do wrong," Lee said.

From WWII we have, another indication of Japanese attack was missed, and more proof that the Holocaust really happened is preserved.

And, after years of study Stonehenge serves up more clues.

The researchers aren't anywhere close to finishing the puzzle: Gaffney figures there's at least another two years' worth of survey work to do. Even then, the full story of Stonehenge and its environs may remain wrapped in mystery. How much can stones and earth tell? Stay tuned ...

Editor's Note

I find my previous post to be much too long for presentation here; and I am currently attempting to learn enough CSS and Java Script so that I can competently locate where to enter the code to produce a "Read More" function for all long posts. The result will be shorter posts with the ability to expand the post if it appeals to you, the reader. Patience please.

Update- I also intend to code this site for all links to open in a new window, thereby you will not be directed away from here when you click on a link.
Update- The "open in new window" feature is complete, and an easy fix it turns out. Found it at The Real Blogger Status. 2nd Update: It is possible to ascribe this feature to your posts with the new post editor and it is not necessary change the HTML as I did.

Continue down the Rabbit hole »

Damn Right: Right To Work

Dear
XXXXXXX
Running Rabbit Editor,

As one of the cosponsors of the National Right to Work Act (S. 504), I'm grateful to all the concerned citizens like you who have urged your U.S. Senators and Representatives to stand up to Big Labor and end forced unionism.

Just last week, National Right to Work Committee staff delivered the first of 1.1 million (and counting) signed petitions to the U.S. Senate.

This is a crucial step as chief sponsor Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and I work with our colleagues to take the next step in the legislative process.
But it's vital for Right to Work supporters to keep up the pressure.
That's why, if you haven't yet signed, please go ahead and do so by clicking here.
It's important your elected officials hear your opinion on the National Right to Work Act.
Once you have (or if you already did), I would like to ask a favor of you.
...
Let your friends and relatives know that the National Right to Work Act not only fights forced unionism, it also loosens Big Labor's stranglehold on our economy.
...
This is an important step forward in building momentum for this crucial legislation.
I hope I can count on your action today.
...Forward the National Right to Work Act petition to your friends and family.
...

Sincerely,

Rand Paul
U.S. Senator (R-KY)

Continue down the Rabbit hole »

La Belle Heaulmiere

I became aware of this Rodin work while reading Robert Heinlein's classic book Stranger In A Strange Land.

There are lots of sites which introduce this piece, many quote from Heinlein's writings to explain why this is an important sculpture. For Heinlein's stranger the beauty was evident for she had achieved a face.

Word of the Day- Coprophagous

A new series for me, where I introduce words I discover.

This one comes from the comment section of the announcement I cite in the previous post, and i understand why the poster used it to describe the C-J editors.

co·proph·a·gous
adj \kə-ˈprä-fə-gəs\
Definition of COPROPHAGOUS
: feeding on dung
— co·proph·a·gy noun
Origin of COPROPHAGOUS
Greek koprophagos, from kopr- + -phagos -phagous
First Known Use: 1826

Card Check at the C-J

Card Check is of course the proposed method of voting for union members in which the member signs his ballot in public thereby opening himself up to retaliation from those who oppose his selected candidate. And, let's be clear, there is no question that there are people crazy enough to harm someone, either physically or through influence, for voting differently than the mad man wishes.

A newspaper I regularly read online is adopting a new policy for those leaving a comment to an article, they will require you to identify yourself in order to comment. The newspaper is the hometown publication of my favorite college basketball team, and I go there to follow the Louisville Cardinals and sometimes to keep up with my one time hometown in general. The method of delivering identification will be to sign on through your Facebook account, and the change is designed to identify those who leave distasteful comments with the hope that they will cease their offense if their names are known. And, while that has merit in a finite universe it has implications in the real world which the deciders failed to accommodate. And, all of the bad consequences of their action derive from the public knowledge of the names of the innocent commentator, and it is the same danger posed to those required to vote in a Card Check world; the people who don't like their opinion are given free access to the identity of those they might harm for their opinion!

In both cases the solution is worse than the previous arrangement. The idea at the newspaper does at least have a noble goal in mind, I can image no such valued purpose for Card Check; both ideas leave the innocent vulnerable to the predator.

There are those who are working to protect the secret ballot endangered by Card Check. And the newspaper need only read the comments to their announcement of the pending Facebook fiasco to see how its readers view their decision. And, then there are you and I to stand in the doorway blocking both dangerous actions.

Late To The Party: Discovering Sigur Ros

Gl'os'oli

So When It is Alive?

It has long been a worry for sexually active women, and back when getting a woman pregnant had implications men worried about it too. All manner of birth-control have been created and used to avoid pregnancy. Some women even go to the trouble to have a pregnancy terminated because leaving it alone leads to that it thing becoming something more. But, for all the realization that allowing an it to happen there is an awful confusion about what an it is.

American Capitalism Explained Circa 1948

A carrot to : Temple of Mut

Obama Set To Vote Present On XL Pipeline

The proposed XL pipeline would increase America's access to oil from friendly sources while providing thousands of jobs for American citizens. The downside to the project, some worry about the environmental impact.

America's record of safely transporting via pipelines is exceptionally good, we need oil, getting it from a friendly source which is also right next door seems a good solution. We also need the economic boost. And, even if we don't take the oil it will be produced and used, probably in China, so as long as we continue to maintain our stellar record on pipeline transport we should let them build and deliver.

Oh, the other reason to not allow the pipeline, at least at this time, politics; Obama may do nothing for fear that either choice he makes may affect the vigor of support he receives in the upcoming Presidential election. And that is a sad way to govern!

Update: Obama faces choice on Keystone pipeline: Big Labor or Big Green

Murmuration

Murmuration is name given to a flock of starlings. Who knew?

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Dr. Sowell Explores Unequal Justice In Schools

One of our great challenges as a constitutional republic is in the consistent interpretation of the laws we live under. Our Rights are guaranteed by divine gift, but even those we mistakenly attribute to our lawmakers and then seek to make them fit into supporting roles for our contemporary crusades in ways while often also seeking to deny them to others by the force of authority. We people sure are a messed up bunch.

Doctor Sowell exposes the transitional nature of society's protected classes on school campuses.

To put it bluntly, it was a question of whose ox was gored. That is, what groups were in vogue at the moment among the intelligentsia. Blacks clearly were not.

The current media and political crusade against “bullying” in schools seems likewise to be based on what groups are in vogue. For years, there have been local newspaper stories about black kids in schools in New York and Philadelphia beating up Asian classmates, some beaten so badly as to require medical treatment.

But the national media hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. Asian-Americans are not in vogue today, just as blacks were not in the 1920s.

What we learn at school we carry to society at large. I wait with little hope that I will live long enough to see a time when we practice equality.





The following is a response I left to a comment. Lector wanted to prove that Dr. Sowell was mistaken.

Lector, the four personalities you cite are not students on a campus, therefore the "campus thought police" have no jurisdiction over them.

That said, each has certainly faced hostile reaction to their speech. Take Mr. Limbaugh, for example, he was fired from ESPN for saying that the media wanted Donovan McNabb to succeed. Which they did. They wanted him to succeed as proof that a black man could play Quarterback in the NFL. And, simply for saying that truth out loud he was ostracized. Former U of L linebacker and then fellow ESPN employee Tom Jackson attempted to point out the benign nature of Mr. Limbaugh's remark and was met with threats of violence against his family for saying the fair and truthful. He had to back off from what he knew to be a truthful statement by Rush in order to protect his family. Limbaugh's remarks have never been properly defended since, and were even used to prevent him from being an owner of an NFL team. So, don't try to use him as an example of someone who has not been punished. He was punished unjustly and we are all expected to forget what was done to him because he is not among a protected class.

Equal protection under the law, or in society is a myth! As, those who were once unprotected mostly seek revenge with their new found place within the protected. And the hypocrisy does not bother them.

Bill To Eliminate Budget Accouting Gimmicks

The House Budget Act.



carrots to Instapundit and Hot Air

Another Surreal Moment From Islamoficism

A French newspaper was firebombed after they ran the following cartoon. Since the depiction is meant to be a caricature of Mohammad there is little doubt which group is behind the violence. And why, after all, it is a quite flattering image of the man.

The Prophet says, “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter!”.

Luckily, no one was hurt in the blaze.

a carrot to Instapundit

What Is Latin For OORAH

"Oorah", yells the master Sargent, "forward into the past"!

My fictional dialogue is to introduce a fictional setting which is to be a movie soon; a group of Marines travels back to ancient Rome to do battle with the Roman Legion, who wins.

An intriguing question.

The Roman legions and Marines are both highly trained with a clear unit structure and hierarchy of command. They emphasize aggression, dominating the opponent, unit cohesion, and being flexible on the ground. "It’s easy to arrange people like chess pieces and march them in a direction," Erwin says. "But when you’ve got basically huge gangs of people going toward each other at knifepoint, it’s very hard to maintain a plan. So they have to improvise."

Three Of Interest

Three what? You might ask? And, I might answer.

“Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” Groucho meets T.S. Eliot.

Algorithm your gangs away. Math predicts criminal's identity.

"But what if government encouraged, even invented, those "abusive practices"?" The document at the heart of the housing collapse.

Rewind to 1994. That year, the federal government declared war on an enemy — the racist lender — who officials claimed was to blame for differences in homeownership rate, and launched what would prove the costliest social crusade in U.S. history.