Insane?

They really need to tighten up that definition.

Posted by: Ace at 11:58 AM | Comments (85)
Post contains 31 words, total size 1 kb.

She wanted a scene from the Chronicles of Narnia, capturing the magic and whimsy of that world.

The actual tattoo failed to depict Aslan in all his leonine majesty, given that the tattoo is is actually of a steaming pile of poop.

Damnit, I Knew It: Fake.

Thanks to RDBrewer for correcting me.

Posted by: Ace at 11:16 AM | Comments (154)
Post contains 111 words, total size 1 kb.

The song is really bad, even by the current standards of music.

Here are the lyrics.

Don't live a lie, this is your one life ooh
Don't live it like you won't get lost
Just walk just walk

It's a liberty walk, it's a liberty walk
It's a liberty, liberty, liberty
It's a liberty walk, it's a liberty walk
It's a liberty, liberty, liberty

Here's to all the boys tryin to hold you back
Tryin to make you fell like your less than that
Got nothing more better than to make you crack
But really just tryin to put your dreams off track
And you know in the end it'll be okay
Cause all that really matters are the steps you take
And everything else falls into place
There's no price to pay, I say

We're alright (alright) yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
We're gonna get it where we livin, livin
We're alright (alright) yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
We're gonna get it where we livin
Whoa whoa

It's a liberty walk, walk say goodbye to the
People who tied you up
It's a liberty walk, walk
Feeling your heart again, breathing new oxygen
It's a liberty walk, walk free yourself, slam the door
Not a prisoner anymore
Liberty, liberty, li-li-liberty, liberty, li-li
It's a liberty walk (walk, walk)

Don't stop, keep on walking it
Don't stop, keep on talking sh!t
Don't stop, keep on walking it
(walk, walk ....)

Don't be afraid to make a move
It won't hurt you just do what you would
Born to do and everything works out right
Don't listen to all the people who hate
more...

Posted by: Ace at 10:44 AM | Comments (281)
Post contains 282 words, total size 2 kb.

Finally.

President Obama's slow ride down Gallup's daily presidential job approval index has finally passed below Jimmy Carter, earning Obama the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history.

Since March, Obama's job approval rating has hovered above Carter's, considered among the 20th century's worst presidents, but today Obama's punctured Carter's dismal job approval line. On their comparison chart, Gallup put Obama's job approval rating at 43 percent compared to Carter's 51 percent.

Honestly this seems like a contrived story to me, "contrived" because Carter's job approval suddenly perked up around this point in his presidency (due to a rally-round-the-flag effect directly after the Iranians took our embassy workers staffers; this bump did not last). Prior to that, he'd been at a lower approval level (lower than Obama's).

But still and all, I have to post it.

Posted by: Ace at 09:59 AM | Comments (198)
Post contains 160 words, total size 1 kb.

...and a buddy of Obama's. And they guy who brokered a deal between Obama and PhRMA in 2009, over ObamaCare.

In 2009, as the leader of PhRMA, he brokered a deal capping at $80 billion the amount drugmakers would contribute to the overhaul in return for his organizationÂ’s support of the law.

It's worse than that. PhRMA actually agreed to spend from $100 million to $150 million on advertising to support ObamaCare (and ergo to support Obama himself).

Ira Stoll wants to know what $11.6 million bought, exactly.

The system really is very corrupt, isn't it?

Via Instapundit.

Posted by: Ace at 09:01 AM | Comments (178)
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.

He'll make a decision "in the next few days."

My theory is that all of these guys are haunted by the Ghost of Tim Pawlenty, and most will be very reluctant to get out of the race until, say, Florida, or after. In a volatile race, you're just one news cycle from being on top. Or being on the bottom.

No one can really know.

Cain might get out because there are other factors here (like just not wanting to deal with these questions, and strains on the homefront), but as a general matter people are going to be very reluctant to formally drop out. Even no-hope candidates will keep a skeleton, "notional" candidacy going, because, you never know.

Campaigns may be suspended, but won't be ended, and I don't even think they'll be announced as suspended. At least not until it's well-nigh-inarguable that someone is really, definitely not going to have a swell of sudden support, and I don't know how you would have that confidence.

Transcript of Conference Call: Cain denied there was an affair or sex on CNN, then his lawyer came out and seemed to issue a non-denial.

Now Cain seems to be denying.

“Obviously, you’re all aware of this recent firestorm that hit the news yesterday,” Cain began, his voice somber. “First thing I want to do is say to you what I have said publicly: I deny those charges, unequivocally. Secondly, I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly, I have been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So thinking that she was a friend, and I have helped many friends, I now know that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was a just a friendship relationship.”

“That being said, obviously, this is cause for reassessment,” he continued. “As you know, during the summer we had to make some reassessments based upon our financial situation. We were able to hang in there; we reassessed the situation and kept on going. We also did a reassessment after the Iowa straw poll and we made another reassessment after the Florida straw poll. When the previous two accusations, false accusations, came about, we made another assessment. The way we handled those was, we continued on with our schedule. We made an assessment about what was going to happen to our support. But our supporters, and even some folks that we didn’t have as supporters, they stood with us, and they showed it, not only in terms of their verbal support, they showed it in terms of their dollars.”

“Now, with this latest one, we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth,” Cain said.

More at the link.

Posted by: Ace at 07:59 AM | Comments (286)
Post contains 498 words, total size 3 kb.

The spin, as Christie relates it, is that Obama stayed away from the SuperCommittee because he knew it was doomed to failure. So, that's a reason for taking a month off or something.

Obama actually doesn't claim that. Or I haven't heard that spin. He claims instead that he would not have been helpful in the discussions, because, he claims, the Republicans are so partisan and so want to deny him a "win" they will automatically gainsay his arguments.

But that assumes that he's there to take the side of Democratic congressmen and just pitch new arguments in favor of the Democratic congressional (campaign) agenda to Republicans.

True, if that would be the extent of his involvement, it's useless. Obama is not, as he believes, some kind of amazing persuader. He's invested a lot of ego in the proposition that he can convince people of the rightness of progressivism if he can just jawbone them for a while. It doesn't matter how much this is disproven; believing this is central to his conception of himself.

But why would Obama -- supposedly the President of everyone in America, not just the president of the Democrats in Congress -- assume his only role was to play quarterback for the Democrats? Why would he not assume that as President of the whole country he is also tasked with prodding his own party towards a compromise?

The answer is obvious: Obama and the Democrats have nothing to run on, so they'll be running against the "Do-Nothing Republicans" and on Mediscare. That is their only plausible path to victory, so they're making sure nothing gets done, and they sign no agreements involving Medicare.

Rating agency Fitch has put US credit on a negative outlook, indicating a greater than 50% chance it will be lowered from AAA to AA in the next two years, on news that the US failed once again to address its long-term, and long anticipated, financing crisis.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 07:16 AM | Comments (184)
Post contains 347 words, total size 2 kb.

PSA: Appy-polly-loggies for the DOOM-less Monday. Real life presented some small-scale DOOM that kept me from fulfilling my Ace of Spades duties. I denounce myself.

AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, has filed for bankruptcy.

The most terrifying chart-fu yet.

Steyn: “More, more, more”. That might was well be the theme song of the Democrat Party.

The problem is not with a fundamentally broken banking sector. No, the problem is with...stupid investors, apparently. This story just underscores the problem with the mindset of many financial people: they underestimate the role human psychology plays in the markets. When you get right down to it, human behavior is all that matters in economics, because economics is just people doing what people do.

Michael Barone: blame entitlements, not tax cuts, for the wealth gap.

Personally, I dislike the whole “wealth gap” argument. In a country where the poorest people can afford iPods, video game machines, cars, refrigerators, flat-screen TV’s, plenty of food, and a roof over their heads, then the “gap” is nothing compared to most of human history. A poor man can now buy and own things that kings and emperors of ages past couldn’t have bought for all the wealth in the land. Poor people have access to healthcare that a hundred years ago would not have been available even to the President of the United States. To me, it’s like saying that a millionaire is poor because his neighbor is a billionaire. This whole thing is really just a hoary old Democrat chestnut: class envy. more...

Posted by: Monty at 04:47 AM | Comments (297)
Post contains 1244 words, total size 10 kb.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:51 AM | Comments (111)
Post contains 8 words, total size 1 kb.

Where Have All The Poster Girls Gone?

Back in the 70's and most of the 80's if you had walked into any teenager's room you would have found the walls adorned with at least several posters - most of them quite sexy. And probably too sexy by today's standards.

For guys it was usually a poster collage based around 'The Farrah' with additional swimsuit models centered around her to provide balance. For girls it was typically Shaun or David Cassidy, a TigerBeat guy, and the rock star du jour. In fact back then pretty much every store had its own poster rack filled with posters ranging from cheesecake to psychedelia to the daily affirmation type.

But now not so much. These days outside of the military and maybe prisons you rarely see scantily-clad babe posters - or really any posters at all. I guess everything has gone digital including the pinups.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:50 PM | Comments (704)
Post contains 764 words, total size 7 kb.