No idea who this guy is but he makes a lot of sense.

Boehner, R-Ohio, who appeared with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on "Fox News Sunday," said he wants House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a "fair and open debate" on tax rates because he's confident a bipartisan majority would vote to continue current levels for all tax brackets, which would bring some certainty about the economy for the coming year.

"Washington is spending more time with comedians than debating (our) economic future," Boehner said, referring to comedian Stephen Colbert's mocking testimony of the House on Friday. "They have time to bring a comedian to Washington, D.C., but they don't have time to end the uncertainty.

"If we leave here this week and adjourn for the election without passing tax cuts, this will be the most irresponsible thing we've seen," Boehner said.

That's arguable, the "most irresponsible" thing, but I'd put it in the top ten.

Let's be honest, they set the "irresponsible bar" pretty high.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:50 AM | Comments (99)
Post contains 196 words, total size 1 kb.

Update/bumped: Just got a call from Maet's attorney. Seems he's cooling his heels in a Tijuana jail cell so it looks like this'll be the ONT. Details are a little sketchy due to a bad phone connection, but from what I could make out it involves lace wigs, a very large amount of rubber hosing and Honduran tranny midgets. (Sorry, "Honduran tranny little people.") Sometimes it's best not to ask too many questions.

So I'll try to scrounge up a couple of other things you can gab about and place under the balloonishness.

“Local Sub-moron Does Good” edition.

In last night’s ONT we learned that “Dan in Ohio” is a balloonist. And not the creepy clown/molester type who twists them into animal shapes at kids’ b’day parties. (Though I suppose it’s possible he could be into that as well.)

Anyway Dan somehow managed to get himself interviewed by the local Fox affiliate concerning things balloonish. He comes off as strangely articulate in the clip but he mentioned later in the thread that he was somewhat new to Moron Nation. Which explains a lot of things. (DonÂ’t worry Dan, the brain rot will kick in soon now that youÂ’ve started hanging around the place. In fact itÂ’s probably already started and once that happens the process is irreversible. Soon you wonÂ’t stick out like a normal thumb.)

Balloon humor: Q: What did the balloon say when asked to fly? A: “First, you will blow me.” Thank you, you’ve been a fabulous audience! I’ll be here at the Airport Motel 6 all week. Please tip your waitresses.

Anyone else have any unusual, elaborate or expensive hobbies/pastimes?

more...

Posted by: Genghis at 03:09 PM | Comments (1013)
Post contains 615 words, total size 5 kb.

Oh well, at least I have the Cowboys.

...

also, last minute pick reminder.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:33 AM | Comments (499)
Post contains 27 words, total size 1 kb.

Last week I wrote about keeping an eye on spin in MFM articles about polls, particularly spin leading to conclusions about momentum.

Momentum is a placeholder for "energy." If a candidate has momentum, then he's doing better and, more importantly, his supporters believe they are doing better. There's a psychological benefit to being on the team whose fortunes are looking up. This is particularly attractive for the weakminded independents who haven't picked a team yet. Which means, even more importantly, the person with momentum can pick off wavering voters, that is someone with a slight, but not compelling preference for another candidate.

This, of course, adds to the impression that the momentum-designated candidate has momentum and causes other voters to vacillate. So on and so forth until there's a sudden rush to the candidate with momentum. People want to vote for a winner, especially if there's some heartwarming underdog bullshit.

Which leads me to this article from the Miami Herald this morning. The headline:

Democrat Kendrick Meek advances uphill in Senate race against Crist, Rubio

Now right there, just the headline and seeing nothing else (a not uncommon situation for news consumers), it gives the impression that Meek has momentum. That he's making important gains against Crist and Rubio. It signals to Democrats and independents who may be thinking about supporting Crist that Meek isn't a dead candidate. That they should think about coming over to the winning guy.

Now let's look at the article. First and second paragraphs are about black leaders rallying to Meek. Then:

On paper, the 44-year-old Meek appears to be a dream candidate for the Democratic Party: A loyal disciple in Congress and the Florida Legislature known for scuffling with former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. The first statewide candidate to qualify for the Florida ballot by gathering voter signatures, about 125,000 in all. The victorious underdog in last month's Democratic primary against a hard-charging billionaire.

There's so much cocksucking going on in that paragraph, the writer couldn't even use complete sentences. Keep reading:

Still, Crist — who cast off his lifelong Republican affiliation just five months ago to avert a drubbing by Marco Rubio in the GOP primary — continues to peel away enough Democrats to keep Meek at bay. But the tide is turning, according to a Mason-Dixon poll released Saturday that showed Meek in striking distance of Crist.

Translation: "Hey indeptards, he's a "dream candidate" and his campaign is rockin! You know, because it said it right there in the Miami Herald. Meek's campaign is going to run TV and radio ads quoting this!"

And now a small dose of reality. Here's the fifth paragraph, for the two people who read that far down in a Miami Herald article:

The survey found Rubio expanding his lead to 40 percent, Crist slipping to 28 percent and Meek rising to 23 percent. The Sept. 20-22 survey of 625 likely voters has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Homo sez whut? Meek, the "dream candidate" who has "advanced uphill" and for whom "the tide is turning" is still losing. No change. No change means no momentum. He's slightly made up ground on Crist, who is...wait for it...also losing. No change. No momentum at all. This is a lame-ass love-letter.

This isn't good news for Meek. This is awful news for Crist. And this such fantastically good news for Rubio, I want to dip my balls in it. The number-one fear for his campaign is that Meek would look so weak that loss-averse Dems and independents would pull the lever for Crist just to avoid having Rubio win.

No fear of that now.

The MFM are so eager to designate Meek the candidate with momentum, they're helping out Rubio. None of which would be an issue, if the author hadn't attempted the momentum spin "Meek advances uphill against Rubio, Crist; the tide is turning!" While technically true, so is this: "Meek still trails Rubio by 17 points; he's going to lose."

And did you catch that one little detail? Look again:

The survey found Rubio expanding his lead to 40 percent, Crist slipping to 28 percent and Meek rising to 23 percent.

Ah ha! See it now? Rubio is the candidate "advancing uphill." He expanded his lead. He's got momentum and he's winning.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:42 AM | Comments (202)
Post contains 730 words, total size 5 kb.

Genghis's Friday ONT mentioned Sol Yurick's mid-1960's novel The Warriors, and it got me to thinking about how books about street-gangs (both fiction and non-fiction) have always been a substantial sub-genre.

In fiction, I suppose it began with Holden Caulfield in J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Disaffected yoot, and all that. But really, you could extend the genre clear back to Charles Dickens in books like Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Even Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective Sherlock Holmes made use of a band of street urchins called the "Baker Street Irregulars".

The real classic of "feral youth" fiction has to be William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The book echoed the discomfort and alarm many in the post-WWII world felt about the new assertiveness of the "youth culture". Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange echoes what many in Britain saw as a descent of the youth into savagery at the time. (And which Dr. Theodore Dalrymple would argue has only gotten worse over the years...)

In American fiction, the genre really took hold in the postwar years as females entered the workforce in large numbers and children were left to their own devices to a greater degree than before. The increasing racial tensions as minorities flocked to the cities for war work also had a huge impact.

Richard Price has pretty much made a career out of writing about young people and the street life. His novel Clockers is probably his best (and it led to the HBO series The Wire), but he also wrote a really good book about New York gangs of the mid-1960's called The Wanderers that is much grittier and more realistic than anything you'll find in West Side Story.

Most of us probably read a book or two by S. E. Hinton in junior-high or high school. Her most popular book (which remains a classic today) was The Outsiders, but Rumble Fish and That Was Then, This is Now are good also.

Bob Ottum wrote a really good street-life/gang novel back in the late 1970's called See the Kid Run that seems to have gone out of print. It's a shame, because I remember it being a very good exploration of the lives of street kids, and their attempts to create their own social structures in the absence of any parental or adult guidance.

One of the most popular recent nonfiction books about early street-gangs is Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury. The Crips have nothing on the Bowery Boys, and the Bloods would get their asses handed to them by the Dead Rabbits or the Plug-Uglies.

(Lauraw suggested that I include this classic of childhood alienation and despair, but that seemed just a bit too grim.)

Posted by: Monty at 04:10 AM | Comments (155)
Post contains 461 words, total size 4 kb.

Def Leppard performing High n' Dry (Caturday Night)....

2010 Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot: Now in its 9th year and continuing to grow in popularity and awesomeness. Looks like theyÂ’ve added some new weaponry to the mix, including a flamethrower. And of course what would the OK Full Auto Shoot be without the annual Kill the Car event. This year's hapless victim was a '79 Chevy Impala, may it rest in pieces. Video below the fold. more...

Posted by: Genghis at 05:45 PM | Comments (676)
Post contains 224 words, total size 5 kb.

Pulled from the sidebar, John F'n Kerry, who served in Vietnam in case you hadn't heard that, suggests the problem with the Democrat message this mid term is that the voters are disconnected, not paying attention.

Stupid rubes.

Here's a counter argument, Senator Scary-Smart. Let's stipulate the message is full of awesomeness.

Perhaps you're just too stupid to sell it?

If it's so wonderful, so goddamn great, if Obamacare is the greatest thing ever if only you would pass it so we could see what's in it, why is it so friggin difficult for you to convince us how wonderful it is? I mean, come on. You and your cohorts aren't even trying. Suddenly the "third rail" of American politics is this crappy power grab dressed up as healthcare.

Why won't your candidates even talk about it? This is vexing Bill Maher, he thinks your strategy is so wrong. (I think I got this from a Breitbart twitter post, but I can't recall, so sorry for sloppy attribution).

Why won't they stump on this amazing accomplishment?

Oh, because we're stupid? We can't understand how employers are hesitant to make long term commitments (and therefore not hiring.. hey, remember jobs? Big deal, jobs. Very important, yo), or that our plans just went up 30% or more, the most we've ever seen in decades? We don't get that?

Ok, got it.

Thanks.

Also DIAF.

pjm link via Bobby on twitter.

Palate cleanser. Lt. Col. (USArmy, ret) Allen West is not afraid of Alcee Hastings or John Lewis.

"Welcome to the jungle."

Oh man, I want this good man to kick Ron Klein's ass in Nov.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:13 PM | Comments (204)
Post contains 291 words, total size 2 kb.

It's been a slow news-day, the outrages of the past week still roil the blood, and some balm for the soul is desperately needed. So: a music thread, if you please. more...

Posted by: Monty at 03:37 PM | Comments (220)
Post contains 129 words, total size 3 kb.

Something to ponder while you create your wonderful commentary -

Yemen. 37% of their water is used to grow the narcotic, Khat.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:15 PM | Comments (256)
Post contains 46 words, total size 1 kb.

Last weekend in September means the games start getting interesting now. A preview (all times EDT):

Ranked head to head games: Alabama (1) at Arkansas (10), 3:30pm. I smell an upset. S. Carolina (12) and Auburn (17), 7:45pm. Boise St. (3) vs. Oregon St. (24), 8pm, LSU (15) vs. W. Va (22), 9pm. Other top 10: Ohio St. (2) and Eastern Mich., 3:30pm, Texas (7) and UCLA at 3:30pm, OU ( vs. Cincinnati at 6pm, Nebraska (6) vs. S. Dakota St., 7pm, Florida (9) and Kentucky at 7pm, and Oregon (5) and ASU at 10:30

And last night, TCU (4) beat SMU 41 to 24

ALSO: Miss Autumnal Equinox, 2010.

ALSO ALSO: Mel Gibson just emailed me to say "I'm gonna go to the FSU/Wake Forest game and burn the stadium down, but first she will blow me"

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:00 AM | Comments (491)
Post contains 144 words, total size 1 kb.