Wow, Dallas sucks. But the Redskins suck more.

Too bad for them.

Happy Sunday morons.

There's just somethin about those Tampa Bay girls, isn't there?

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 10:14 AM | Comments (210)
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I don't know why Dave in Texas has forsaken you (he probably doesn't like you very much) but he has.

Just remember who has your back and who doesn't.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:12 AM | Comments (20)
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Between work and the epochal snowstorm we had last week, I haven't had much time to read. In the few moments I can spare, I'm working my way through the five-volume history of western music by Richard Taruskin. I have a feeling that I'm going to need to read it twice for much of this stuff to sink in.

I've also visited the Project Gutenberg to download a bunch of public-domain novels for my Kindle. It's been ages since I've read Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, or Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. I also grabbed the full set of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries -- they're always a pleasant way to pass the time. I've also got Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars novels, and a great little adventure novel called The Mucker. All of that stuff should keep me busy well into the New Year, I should think.

For a work-related project, I've had to spend quite a bit of time with an old classic: Donald Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming: Fundamental Algorithms. It's not often that I have to go to the big guns to solve a problem, but this was one of those times. And Lo! The mighty Knuth helped me solve my problem.

What's everyone else reading?

Posted by: Monty at 06:12 AM | Comments (124)
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Ouch, when the hard left Guardian blows the whistle on a commie like Moore, you know its gotta be pretty bad.

...Castro's government apparently went on to ban the film because, the leaked cable claims, it "knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them."...

...The memo points out that even the Cuban ruling elite leave Cuba when they need medical care. Fidel Castro, for example, brought in a Spanish doctor during his health crisis in 2006. The vice-minister of health, Abelardo Ramirez, went to France for gastric cancer surgery. The neurosurgeon whoheads CIMEQ [Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Quirúrgicas] hospital – widely regarded as one of the best in Cuba – came to England for eye surgery, returning periodically for checkups...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:15 AM | Comments (90)
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Only six more blogging days 'till Christmas!

Coats are Required on TonightÂ’s ONT:

Pants and underwear? Not so much.

I swear that at one point in the song it sounds like the guys doing the background rhythm part are singing “ninja ninja ninja ninja…”

A buffet of Lame awaits you below the fold. But then, you already knew that. more...

Posted by: Genghis at 06:00 PM | Comments (415)
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When last we met Politifact they were spinning faster than a gyroscope pretending that Obama didn't say what Obama said in order to label a George Will statement "false".

Now they are back with what they call their Lie of the Year: That government has or will "take over" health care

By selecting "government takeover' as Lie of the Year, PolitiFact is not making a judgment on whether the health care law is good policy.

The phrase is simply not true.

Said Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of health policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: "The label 'government takeover" has no basis in reality, but instead reflects a political dynamic where conservatives label any increase in government authority in health care as a 'takeover.' "

Over at Patterico's place, Karl takes Politifact to the cleaners. A taste.

Let’s start with the straw man that “a ‘government takeover’ conjures a European approach where the government owns the hospitals and the doctors are public employees.” By this measure, there has been no government takeover of healthcare in countries like France or Switzerland. Even in England, most doctors, dentists, optometrists and other providers of local healthcare are self-employed, and contract their services back to the NHS. If PolitiFact wants to invoke the “European approach” to healthcare, it might help if they could accurately describe it.

...The point here is not that PolitiFactÂ’s claim is a lie, or that PolitiFact is biased (although the latter is fairly obvious). Rather, the point is that the question of whether ObamaCare is a government takeover of the healthcare system is one of political opinion, not a simple question of fact.

If you're not already, you should be following Karl on Twitter.

Posted by: DrewM at 01:51 PM | Comments (331)
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The final vote on repealing DADT will be at about 3pm.

A couple of snarky thoughts on it:

-This week Barack Obama adopted Bush era tax polices and "refudiated" Bill Clinton's signature military policy.

-Joe Lieberman pretty much gets the "credit" for the DADT repeal. Jon Tester of Montana voted against it. Kos purged the former from the party and strongly supported the election of the latter. Remember when Markos was a player in the Democratic Party? Seems so long ago.

-Will Bill Clinton be at the bill signing for the repeal of DADT? As "DCBrent" said on Twitter, "(Clinton will) be there and start signing the bill halfway through if BHO has any pressing parties to get to."

Ok, enough about that (for now).

For your consideration...HBO 24/7, The Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the lead up to the Winter Classic on New Year's Day.

If you're a hockey fan, it's a much watch. If you're not a fan but have ever wondered what it's like to be a pro athlete, it's a much watch. If you just like interesting TV, it's a must watch.

Get the idea?

I don't have HBO but thanks to an uncharacteristically smart move by the NHL, it's available on the league's website.

HBO is doing a great job with it but they got very lucky in that the two teams are going in opposite directions. When the show picks up the Penns are on a 10 game win streak and the Caps on a 5 game losing stream. The contrast and drama make for a great watch.

Thanks to College Politico for the heads up.

Below the fold....one of the special features from the HBO site. This one is entitled "The Art of the Hit" more...

Posted by: DrewM at 10:12 AM | Comments (187)
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Alternate title: Harry Reid Sucks Up To The Liberal Base Day.

Above the post update:

DADT repeal vote underway. McCain is resigned to losing it.

Just a reminder, Republicans who vote for this are breaking their pledge not to vote for anything until the tax AND budget deals were reached.

Republicans voting for this: Brown, Collins, Kirk, Murkowski, Snowe, Voinivich.

Lying traitors the lot of them.

Just a reminder...the US military would not be harmed one bit if DADT had remained the law. This was about social policy, pure and simple.

That said, the military will make it work. They always do.

Oh one bit of BS that will soon be shown to be just that...supporters of repealing DADT, include SecDef Gates, said it won't happen until the military says they are ready and this will ensure it's done in an orderly fashion and not in an ad hoc way if the courts ordered it.

Does anyone really think the court challenges will be withdrawn? I don't. And if a federal judge finds that there's a right for gays to serve in the military, then what's the rationale for delaying that? Rights don't get put off because it's inconvenient for the government to recognize them, one of the benefits of many rights is that they do precisely that...inconvenience the government.

I bet we see the worst case scenario that Gates and the Joint Chiefs warned of because this whole push has always been about personal edification for a few individuals and the political left, not military necessity.

That said, if the policy was going to be changed, this is the right way to do it. Supporters made their case to the people and Congress and they won. That's the way the system works.

Now we get to sit back and find out all the unintended consequences of this action are.

Original Post below the fold more...

Posted by: DrewM at 06:31 AM | Comments (472)
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A reminder about the College Bowl Pickem thing, if anyone's interested. First bowl game is today.

Also, CDR M has set up an NFL Playoff Challenge Fantasy picker thingy here. Password is valurite.

Now, I'm not even gonna pretend I know how that thing works yet. But I did sign up for it, I'm sure I'll waste all you suckers just like I did with my picks this season.

While I'm at it, here's hoping each and every one of you have a great Christmas. I don't know diddley-squat about Hannukah except that it was a week or so ago this year, and if that was yours I hope it was pleasant and reasonably mom-guilt free.

Today's cheerleader courtesy of Pupster.

SJ sent this from the U Hawaii marching band. So I took it from him, then I beat him up for his lunch money. more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:35 AM | Comments (44)
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Greetings Morons, CDR M reporting for duty. It would seem Genghis has some business dealings in Thailand tonight so I'm filling in. You can discuss amongst yourselves what that might mean (he did say he wasn't going out like Carradine). In keeping with Genghis' desires (no not the Thai tranny ones), here is your obligatory Friday Warrior content.

I know, I know, not your typical warrior content but good none the less. Suck it up buttercup! Semper Fi! more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:46 PM | Comments (454)
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