Future posts go here: Mac Beach

AKA:
http://blog.macb.net

The Paperworth domain was a joke that never materialized, as a joke anyway. Instead it has materialized in real life, millions of times over.

Somewhere along the line I decided to use it as a home for (mostly) political views. But the domain is about to expire, and I can't think of any good enough reasons to renew it. So in preparation I'm going to stop posting to this blog. Simplify, simplify!

For more on the nature of the Paperworth joke, go *here*

Works and Days: What If…

What If…

What would be the press reaction—if George Bush announced that he wanted to invade nuclear Islamic Pakistan? Or if he addressed a group of African-Americans and adopted a fake-black accent as if implying all spoke with flawed Southern-accented grammar? Or if he went to a Daily Kos convention and praised lobbyists? Or if he told a reporter that he hated a Congressman? Or if he said that our soldiers in Guantanamo reminded him of Nazis, Stalinists, and genocidal followers of Pol Pot? Or he said that Abu Ghraib was about the same as when Saddam’s murderers ran it? Or if he said another Congressman reminded him of Hitler? Or he lost his temper and began yelling at Fox’s Chris Wallace?

Valerie Plame's Lawsuit Dismissed

"A federal judge on Thursday dismissed former CIA operative Valerie Plame's lawsuit against members of the Bush administration in the CIA leak scandal."

OH! The follow-on book deals!

A Habitable World?

"Still, for the brave few who stuck with all 174 hours of Live Al, there was something oddly touching about seeing rock gazillionaires who'd flown in by private jet tell Joe Schmoe all the stuff he doesn't need. Your own car? A washer and dryer? Ha! Why can't you take the bus and beat your underwear on the rocks down by the river with the native women all morning long?"

Cafe Hayek: Chinese Atrocity

"One of the great mistakes committed by many pro-liberty enthusiasts in America is to forget how free we Americans still are compared to persons elsewhere, especially to persons outside of western Europe and the English-speaking world. Yes, we Americans are not as free as we should be; our government insults and harasses us continually with pernicious regulations and taxes; our 'leaders' typically are venal liars, with no more personal integrity than ordinary pick-pockets -- they would be clowns worthy of belly-laughs if their access to power over us were only pretend."

Court Under Roberts Limits Judicial Power - WSJ.com

But the biggest change under Chief Justice John Roberts might not involve who wins on the merits. Rather, it may be who gets through the courthouse door in the first place. In case after case, the court shifted toward what Chief Justice Roberts has previously referred to as "judicial self-restraint." As it addressed issues large and small, in civil disputes and criminal justice alike, the court's resurgent conservative bloc repeatedly found that the question didn't belong before a judge at all.

Bravo!

Lincoln letter on Gettysburg found at U.S. archives | U.S. | Reuters

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An optimistic two-sentence note that Abraham Lincoln penned to his top general after the Civil War's decisive battle was unveiled on Thursday at the National Archives where it was undetected for nearly 70 years."

Fortunately this was not among the materials pilfered by former Clinton administration officials.

Our Soviet Health System - WSJ.com

The essential problem is this. The pricing of medical care in this country is either directly or indirectly dictated by Medicare; and Medicare uses an administrative formula which calculates "appropriate" prices based upon imperfect estimates and fudge factors. Rather than independently calculate prices, private insurers in this country almost universally use Medicare prices as a framework to negotiate payments, generally setting payments for services as a percentage of the Medicare fee structure.

My Way News - Democrats Hide Pet Projects From Voters

"After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year.

Democrats are sidestepping rules approved their first day in power in January to clearly identify 'earmarks' - lawmakers' requests for specific projects and contracts for their states."

A Green Card in Every Pot by Ann Coulter - HUMAN EVENTS

"Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, immigrant and first Jewish member of the Supreme Court, said that Americanization required that the immigrant adopt 'the clothes, the manners and the customs generally prevailing here' and that he adopt 'the English language as the common medium of speech.'

But, Brandeis said, this is only part of it. '(W)e properly demand of the immigrant even more than this -- he must be brought into complete harmony with our ideals and aspirations and cooperate with us for their attainment. Only when this has been done will he possess the national consciousness of an American.'

Or as George Bush would call it, 'empty rhetoric.' And as Linda Chavez would call it, 'racist.'"

C'est Si Bon by Ann Coulter - HUMAN EVENTS

"With Nicolas Sarkozy's decisive victory as the new president of France, the French have produced their first pro-American ruler since Louis XVI."

Florida to dump touch-screen e-voting systems

Where it all got started, finally, an end.

What happened to the Obama profile?

Not that I'm likely to vote for Obama, or Hillary, but here is an interesting glimpse into how the fan-base looks for these left-wing candidates. Can you imagine any discussion about conservatives being so devoid of actual content? It's all about personality, who is a "nice" person and who isn't. No "issues".

Will they go public with any actual plans for a presidency this early? Not in Myspace I'm sure. We'll have to look elsewhere.

Isn't it way too early for all of this? Whoever wins will be gray-haired by the time they take office. Too worn out for actual decision making, and too trained by their handlers to just keep their opinions to themselves.

Package Forced NBC to Make Tough Decisions - New York Times

"In an interview last night on MSNBC, Mr. Williams said NBC had been concerned about the sensitivities of broadcasting as much of the material as it did.

“This was a sick business tonight, going on the air with this,” he said."

I wonder: what didn't stop them?

Fact-checking the Gray Lady

"The NYT may also have found the ride a bit rough. There's this vibration, you see, caused by the big spinning three-blade thingies on the front of the engines of GA-ASI's King Air. Memo to NYT. If you really want to get your credibility above the Jayson Blair level, maybe you should assign aerospace stories to someone who knows the difference between a propeller and a jet."

Elizabeth Edwards afraid of neighbor

Johnson, 55, acknowledges his Republican roots. But he takes offense to the suggestion he has purposefully left his property, including an old garage he leases for use as a car shop, in dilapidated condition.

Johnson said he has lived his entire life on the property, which he said his family purchased before the Great Depression. He said he's spent a lot of money to try and fix up the 42-acre tract.

"I have to budget. I have to live within my means," Johnson said. "I don't have millions of dollars to fix the place."

The Coming Tax Increase - WSJ.com

"The new House and Senate majorities have now passed budget resolutions -- five-year budget outlines -- that include the repeal of the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. Republicans are overstating things when they imply this means a tax increase this year. The Bush tax cuts don't expire until the end of 2010, and Democrats aren't about to tip their tax hand before the 2008 election. But under the cover of zero media attention, Democrats are constructing a budget process that will make a tax increase all but inevitable."

Thank you so much "blue state" Americans (What, you weren't happy being called "reds"?) I'm sure the money will be well spent.

About the New Orleans imagery in Google Maps and Earth

Given that the changes that affected New Orleans happened many months ago, we were a bit surprised by some of these recent comments.

Which comments? Ohhhh, you mean these?:

Citing an Associated Press report from Thursday, the House Committee on Science and Technology's subcommittee on investigations and oversight asked Google Inc. Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt to explain why his company is using the outdated imagery.

"Google's use of old imagery appears to be doing the victims of Hurricane Katrina a great injustice by airbrushing history," subcommittee chairman Brad Miller, D-N.C., wrote Friday in a letter to Schmidt.

Never, I mean NEVER underestimate congressional bungholes ability to be, er, bungholes. They get paid for it too!

Isn't it scary though that people like this have oversight over anything? Is to me. Of course this won't get the traction that the "Tubes" analogy did. Only Republicans get ridiculed for technical incompetence (even though the bad tubes analogy made a valid point while, in this case, they are critical of a company for doing a GOOD job, as long as they can imply that there is some sort of funny-business going on with the evil Bush administration, hey I read it on the Daily Kos!).

ABC's Silent Expert

"Mr. Stephanopoulos doesn't mention his own valuable expertise on the subject of fired federal prosecutors, the kind of expertise that might help place the current mess in context. Mr. Stephanopoulos was the Clinton White House communications director in 1993 when the Justice Department cleaned its slate of all 93 U.S. attorneys, and he was central to the administration's finessing of the episode--just the sort of insider experience, presumably, that prompted ABC News to hire Mr. Stephanopoulos fresh out of the White House in 1996."

FOXNews.com - World Bank Anticorruption Drive Blunted as China Threatens to Halt Loans

"Making loans to developing countries is central to the bank’s very reason for existence — so the threat to quit borrowing is a blow at its mission, and to the job security of some 26,000 World Bank bureaucrats, staffers and consultants around the world."

Pope: Europe Losing Faith in Its Future

"'One must unfortunately note that Europe seems to be going down a road which could lead it to take its leave from history,' the pontiff told bishops in Rome for ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, a major step toward the creation of today's European Union."

Pajamas Media: The Gospel of John & Yoko: The Origins of Mad Morality

"If you believe the Gospel of John and Yoko represents a higher morality, you will naturally begin to resent such obstacles in the way of “progress” as reason, the rule of law, common sense, the need to be a master of your own life, and the responsibility for your own well-being. And since the United States of America was built on such values and remains their most dedicated proponent, any honest and consistent “progressive” is bound to develop a seething hatred towards this country.

In the “progressive” book of virtues, American values are the quintessence of evil. So if you are a “progressive” and you aren’t mad at this country, that just means you’re neither honest nor consistent. But then again, because living by this dead-end moral code is logically impossible, one has to resort to hypocrisy and seek compromises, forever balancing on the edge of madness."

indirectly, from the web site linked below. A good one.

The People's Cube - Correct Opinions for Progressive Liberals - Political Humor & Satire

Tom DeLay.com - Home - A Clog in the Democrat's 'Swamp Drain'

"the spirit of this earmark rule is about openness. It is about allowing the public the ability to scrutinize the use of their tax dollars during the lawmaking process. A constituent has every right to know where their money is going and which members are spending it. Yet, the Democrats have decided that the public is better served by Democrat staffers removing all their parties’ earmark request letters and hiding them away in some closet until the 11th hour. So much for transparency – but then again, Democrat rules were made to be broken."

In Washinton, It's Always the Year of the Rat

"To the contrary, the problems at Walter Reed are further proof of the Democrats' failed domestic policies -- to wit, the civil service rules that prevent government employees from ever being fired. (A policy that also may account for Robert Byrd's longevity as a U.S. senator.)

Thanks to the Democrats, government employees have the world's most complicated set of job protection rules outside of the old East Germany. Oddly enough, this has not led to a dynamic workforce in the nation's capital."

American Thinker: I Call for Justice

"Sordid the episode is, but not because of anything Libby did. And "a troubling picture" of Washington it is-but not of this Administration. The Bush crowd is guilty only of terminal naiveté and the foolish idea that high standards of probity will ever beat the opposition's utter unscrupulousness and willingness to misuse the legal system to their own partisan ends, even if it means the ruination of an innocent and capable man and enormous hardship to his family."

Good luck in calling for justice from the mainstream media. After all they are "unbiased" right? That word seems to have a different meaning in their lexicon though. Even mentioning that there might be another angle to a story seems to qualify.

I even found nuggets of truth in the Washington Post, but I had to look real hard:

washingtonpost.com

"Fitzgerald was overzealous," Zelnick says, and "the effect is serious and adverse. It's going to take a long time for reporters and their sources to figure out how to deal with each other in a way that doesn't risk contempt citations and imprisonment."

and...

blog.washingtonpost.com

"The reality that Armitage was the original leaker doesn't change the fact that Libby subsequently dined and whined with reporters to push the bosses' agenda. But Armitage is not a Cheney guy, and his revealed role does question the presumption of White House conspiracy and Cheney guilt.

The truth is that everyone at the top gossips. I hate to say leak for that suggests a piece of information of greater importance. Gossip fuels Washington, and the relationship between the top reporters and the top officials shape the news and fuels the ship of state.

Saying everyone gossips also isn't meant to excuse Libby or the government cesspool: My attitude is always that it is a great day for America when a government official is led away in handcuffs. These people are not above the law.

But they are above it all. "

An editorial gets it right. How did THIS slip through:

washingtonpost.com

"Mr. Libby's conviction should send a message to this and future administrations about the dangers of attempting to block official investigations.

The fall of this skilled and long-respected public servant is particularly sobering because it arose from a Washington scandal remarkable for its lack of substance."

But then, when you think about previous administrations, this is small potatoes. We can't be sure what goes on in other people's minds, only what they actually do. This man will go to jail for what hist intentions MIGHT have been, while others will get book deals and speaking engagements even though we KNOW they did wrong. How is this a good thing again? Because it will warn future administrations not to get caught?

From the same editorial:

"Mr. Wilson's case has besmirched nearly everyone it touched. The former ambassador will be remembered as a blowhard. Mr. Cheney and Mr. Libby were overbearing in their zeal to rebut Mr. Wilson and careless in their handling of classified information. Mr. Libby's subsequent false statements were reprehensible. And Mr. Fitzgerald has shown again why handing a Washington political case to a federal special prosecutor is a prescription for excess.

Mr. Fitzgerald was, at least, right about one thing: The Wilson-Plame case, and Mr. Libby's conviction, tell us nothing about the war in Iraq."

Much less difficult to get this other angle from bloggers:

powerlineblog.com

"The whole Libby affair remains something of a mystery. President Bush ordered all executive branch personnel to cooperate with the Fitzgerald investigation. Other people, apparently including Dick Cheney, told investigators that they had discussed Wilson and Plame with Libby. It's hard to understand why Libby's testimony was so out of step with that of the other Executive Branch witnesses. At the end of the day, imperfect memory seemed as good an explanation as any. But the jury didn't see it that way."

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Speaks

First Justice Thomas refers to media inaccuracies caused by forcing all news into a false model of their own making, and then as if to demonstrate, the next question is:

Father Brooks made a point of trying to recruit a lot more African Americans to campus in the months before you came. Do you think that recruitment drive helped you?

Oh no. I was going to go home to Savannah when a nun suggested Holy Cross. That's how I wound up there. Your industry has suggested that we were all recruited. That's a lie. Really, it's a lie. I don't mean a mistake. It's a lie.

I had always been an honors student. I was the only black kid in my high school in Savannah and one of two or three blacks in my class during my first year of college in the seminary. I just transferred. I had always had really high grades so that was never a problem. It was the only school I applied to. It was totally fortuitous.…The thing that has astounded me over the years is that there has been such an effort to roll that class into people's notion of affirmative action. It was never really looked at. It was just painted over. Things were much more nuanced than that….You hear this junk. It's just not consistent with what really happened.

Touchy, Ain't She? by Jed Babbin - HUMAN EVENTS

"In a display of courage equal to proclaiming undying support for Mother's Day, the Virginia legislature has voted to apologize for the state’s role in slavery. According to one report, “This session will be remembered for a lot of things, but 20 years hence I suspect one of those things will be the fact that we came together and passed this resolution,' said Delegate A. Donald McEachin, a Democrat who sponsored the bill. No, Mr. McEachin. This session of the Virginia legislature will be remembered in the same way that the 109th Congress will be remembered: for doing what is expedient instead of what is necessary."

Hillary Clinton's hidden thesis - Hillary Clinton News - MSNBC.com

"Hillary Rodham (who wasn't the valedictorian of the Wellesley class of '69, no matter what Wikipedia has said since July 9, 2005) was indeed an honors student and received an A on the thesis after her oral defense of it that May, recalls professor Schechter, who was one of the three graders."

One good thing about Hillary, she actually finished college, she actually made good grades, she actually took challenging classes. The left won't have to make things up or leave things out as they did (and still do) with Al Gore. But how will her young conservatism play? Will is be an asset or a liability?

'In her paper, she accepted Alinsky's view that the problem of the poor isn't so much a lack of money as a lack of power, as well as his view of federal anti-poverty programs as ineffective. (To Alinsky, the War on Poverty was a “prize piece of political pornography,” even though some of its funds flowed through his organizations.) “A cycle of dependency has been created,” she wrote, “which ensnares its victims into resignation and apathy.” '

One has to ask then: What happened to HRC's common sense view of the world?

Left and Right wing partisans should take to heart this notion from the comments section:

"You can't have both, either what they did in the past influences who they are now or it doesn't. You can't insult Bush for actions at 21, and then say what Hillary did at 21 doesn't matter because she was young. They're both accountable or neither are accountable."

Greenhouse sceptics to congregate - National - theage.com.au

"'Environmentalism has largely superseded Christianity as the religion of the upper classes in Europe and to a lesser extent in the United States,' Mr Evans says in the publication.

'It is a form of religious belief which fosters a sense of moral superiority in the believer, but which places no importance on telling the truth,' he says.

'The global warming scam has been, arguably, the most extraordinary example of scientific fraud in the postwar period.'"

Group says Gore's home overuses electricity - USATODAY.com

"Utility records show the Gore family paid an average monthly electric bill of about $1,200 last year for its 10,000-square-foot home.

The Gores used about 191,000 kilowatt hours in 2006, according to bills reviewed by The Associated Press spanning the period from Feb. 3, 2006, to Jan. 5. That is far more than the typical Nashville household, which uses about 15,600 kilowatt-hours per year."

Patriot Files, Links to Motivational Materials

From site (linked in title), a variation on the several guys go to a restaurant analogy:

Tax Cuts - As Explained By A Democrat

If you don't understand the Democrats' version of tax cuts (and you are not alone), maybe this will help explain it:

50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out. A refund was then due.

The team was about to mail refunds when the Congressional Democrats stopped them and suggested that they send out refund amounts based on the Democrat National Committee's interpretation of fairness.

After all, if the refunds were made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the ticket holders of the most expensive tickets. That would be unfair and unconscionable.

People in the $10 seats will get back $15, because they have less money to spend. Call it an "Earned Income Ticket Credit." Persons "earn" it by demonstrating little ambition, few skills and poor work habits, thus keeping them at entry-level wages.

People in the $25 seats will get back $25, because that's only fair.

People in the $50 seats will get back $1, because they already make a lot of money and don't need a refund. After all, if they can afford a $50 ticket, then they must not be paying enough taxes.

People in the $75 luxury seats will have to pay another $50, because they have way too much to spend.

The people driving (or walking) by the stadium who couldn't afford to watch the game will get $10 each, even though they didn't pay anything in, because they need the most help (sometimes known as Affirmative Action!).

Now do you understand?

If not, contact Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senator Ted Kennedy or Senator Hillary Clinton for assistance.

Some quite powerful presentations on the War on Terrorism too.

Woodward, Novak Say Libby Wasn't Leak - WSJ.com

Mr. Woodward's testimony provided Libby's attorneys a victory in making that argument. They persuaded a judge to let them play a one-minute excerpt of Mr. Woodward's taped interview with Mr. Armitage. In it, Mr. Woodward asks about a CIA fact-finding mission that Mr. Wilson says helped him debunk prewar intelligence on Iraq.

"Why would they send him?" Mr. Woodward asked.

"Because his wife's a (expletive) analyst at the agency," Mr. Armitage replied.

"It's still weird," Mr. Woodward said.

"It's perfect. That's what she does. She is a WMD analyst," Mr. Armitage said.

(expletive) this whole sham process.

Penn and Teller: Bullsh*t! Recycling

Not new, but new to me. Handy resource for those tired of trying to get this message across to, those certain people in your lives.

(Of course they won't believe it anyway)...



Good news there about recycling aluminum at least.

Will Al Gore Melt?

"But if we are to follow Mr. Gore's suggestions of radically changing our way of life, the costs are not trivial. If we slowly change our greenhouse gas emissions over the coming century, the U.N. actually estimates that we will live in a warmer but immensely richer world. However, the U.N. Climate Panel suggests that if we follow Al Gore's path down toward an environmentally obsessed society, it will have big consequences for the world, not least its poor. In the year 2100, Mr. Gore will have left the average person 30% poorer, and thus less able to handle many of the problems we will face, climate change or no climate change."

Mark Steyn : What's so hot about fickle science?

"The question is whether what's happening now is just the natural give and take of the planet, as Erik the Red and my town's early settlers understood it. Or whether it's something so unprecedented that we need to divert vast resources to a transnational elite bureaucracy so that they can do their best to cripple the global economy and deny much of the developing world access to the healthier and longer lives that capitalism brings. To the eco-chondriacs that's a no-brainer."

See below.