Its that time of year folks. I always do my Christmas shoplifting and credit card fraud early to avoid the rush.

Hit the tab for product "reviews" at this link. I think you'll be as impressed as I was by this fine apparel product and want to give one to all your friends..

I've been having problems with my stool lately, and have not been able to pass my Feces as well as I've been accustomed to in the past. after wearing these badboys, I've been able to pass my stool much easier! It feels so good just to be able to put these pants on and go go go without having to stop for a toilet break. infact It wont stop! I've been going for about 3 days solid (pun intended) Overall a good pair of pants if you've been racked with the same ailment that i've had..

...These pants saved my life. First I wore them to my job interview at the bank and totally got the job on the spot when the manager saw my pants. Then when i was walking home I stepped on a rake and it shot between my legs at lightening speed. Fortunately there is about a foot between the crotch of these pants and your actual crotch, so I was saved an expensive trip to the ER...

[UPDATE!] I see that Charles Johnson and Al Gore have submitted product reviews. Superior products sell themselves.

CJ: "What can I say? Honestly these pants are so comfortable they have convinced me to give up bike riding entirely, and concentrate my attack on the right wing smear merchants full time"

Al Gore: "It's totally what those 4chan gays wear while they are typing on their Mom's computer. If you have ever wanted to look like those 4chan gays wear while they are typing on their Mom's computer, or the gay that runs right wing crazy web site Ace of Spades, you are so lucky. Buy these beautiful trousers immediately. They help fight global warming."

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 07:22 PM | Comments (99)
Post contains 369 words, total size 2 kb.

Hey it's a new experience to actually post the ONT for once. Sadly I'm kind of tapped out after today so you'll have entertain yourselves like you usually do.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 05:48 PM | Comments (962)
Post contains 257 words, total size 3 kb.

It's on.

Governor Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio are now tied in the 2010 race for the Republican Senate nomination in Florida.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP Primary voters finds Crist and Rubio each with 43% of the vote. Five percent (5%) prefer another candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

...RubioÂ’s name recognition has grown in recent months and he is now viewed Very Favorably by 34% of Likely Primary Voters. ThatÂ’s up from 18% in August. As his name recognition increased, RubioÂ’s support in the polls has jumped from 31% in August to 43% today.

Rubio's website, including donation page, is here.

No doubt David Frum is lying in the fetal position bemoaning the death of the GOPs big tent.

Posted by: Ace at 03:44 PM | Comments (195)
Post contains 146 words, total size 1 kb.

(A series of daily-ish roundups of the day's Climate news and commentary.)

This is by no means a comprehensive recap. The stories come from a variety of sources, and I highly recommend exploring the linked sites for more breaking news.

Brought to you by the major new motion picture, The Beta Monologues, a story written and directed by Ace o'Spades.

Starring William McKibben:

(after the break...) more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:02 PM | Comments (80)
Post contains 1043 words, total size 8 kb.

I think I see
Indeed I see
the
Neural
Singularity

Stewed in juices
some of which
were my own
A unified blog-driven
voice has
all but grown.

The science is settled;
so let me be clear
hockey-stick
thoughts
are
readily
homogenized here.

The benefits
accrue
to me
and
to me;
I can blog
without blogging,
Posts
spring forth
effortlessly!
I cant do it alone
although that's
how it
seems.
I owe
many thanks to
the
neural
singularity. more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:37 PM | Comments (215)
Post contains 304 words, total size 2 kb.

As if the Obama administration's Afghan policy wasn't already clear as mud, Sheriff Joe decided to wade into the debate today and add a few more pounds of muck to the mix.

"You're going to see that [troop numbers] chart coming down as rapidly over the next two years," Biden said after looking at a chart showing troop numbers surging from 33,000 at the beginning of 2009 to 98,000 in the summer of 2010. "This is not a Coin [counterinsurgency] strategy," Biden said. "We just want to make sure that the Taliban is diminished enough so that the Afghan government can contain it."

Perhaps most troubling, Biden said: "the president has made something exquisitely clear to each of the generals: He said do not occupy any portion of that country that you are not confident within 18 months you're going to be able to turn over to the Afghans. Do not occupy what you cannot turn over."

It's not a counterinsurgency strategy? Did anyone tell that to Obama, McChrystal or Gates?

I'm not sure if this is Slow Joe being Slow Joe (he was supposedly an advocate for a counter-terrorism based approach) or he accidentally let the truth out but there's already been too much confusion over the meaning of the December 2010 review, the July 2011 pull out and whether or not it's all conditions based, we really don't need any more 'nuance' added to the program.

Related Enough: The Weekly Standard takes a look at Joe Biden's, um, intellect and finds him wanting.

A little philosophy? Who better to cite at a summit on urban policy in Chicago than Aristotle, who, "over two millennia ago .  .  . recognized the defining advantage of cities. He wrote, and I quote, 'Men come together in cities in order to live; they remain together in order to live the good life.' That is as true today as it was then." Never mind that Aristotle's point in the Politics was basically the opposite--that men move beyond their local "villages" to form broader political associations, translated as "city" but also "society," with roughly the connotation of today's "nation." Oh well--it sounded nice.

Biden also dabbles in theology. In May, he quoted a line from G.K. Chesterton ("It's not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and left untried") that must have struck its audience--the American Israel Public Affairs Committee--as an odd an-alogy. (Biden was likening Christianity to the Middle East peace process.)

Thanks to Edward via Ace (the real one) for the latter Standard link.

Posted by: Ace at 12:18 PM | Comments (177)
Post contains 442 words, total size 3 kb.

Bart Gordon, a 12-term congressman representing Tennessee 6 (a porkchop shaped district wrapped around the east side of Nashville) calls it quits.

Monday's announcement followed similar decisions from fellow long-timers John Tanner of Tennessee, Brian Baird of Washington and Dennis Moore of Kansas. More retirements are expected following the holidays.

Party strategists describe the retirements as more of a trickle than a flood. Fifteen years ago, the party lost more than two dozen incumbents to retirement as the Newt Gingrich-led Republicans swept into power by gaining a total of 54 seats.

Maybe just a trickle. Maybe a coincidence and all. But Tenn-6 went for McCain by 25 points last year.

HT ace, thanks me.

Posted by: Ace at 11:38 AM | Comments (39)
Post contains 126 words, total size 1 kb.

Did anyone see this yet?

I didn't.

Thanks to AHFF Geoff and ace, but mostly ace.

In related news:

Andrew Sullivan's Trig Trutherism posts: B

Andrew Sullivan's "Underblogger" posts: A

On average: B+.

Posted by: Ace at 11:20 AM | Comments (161)
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.

In polling jargon, this represents a "B+" level of support.

When he was inaugurated in January, Obama scored a job rating of 64% approve-25% disapprove in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll — a net positive rating by a formidable 39 percentage points.

As the year comes to a close, heÂ’s still in positive territory, but not by much. The latest survey, taken Friday through Sunday, puts the presidentÂ’s approval at 49%-46%. That is ObamaÂ’s narrowest margin of the year, with his approval matching his low point in early October and his disapproval matching his high point later that month.

In comparison to the approval ratings for modern elected presidents in December of their first year in office, ObamaÂ’s standing is the worst, though heÂ’s close to Ronald Reagan. In December 1981, ReaganÂ’s approval rating was also 49%, though his disapproval rating was a bit lower, 41%.

In related news, I just emailed myself to say "Obama is stewing in the cerebral fluids of Herbert Hoover."

Thanks to ace.

Posted by: Ace at 11:12 AM | Comments (60)
Post contains 205 words, total size 1 kb.

Channeling Joe Biden?

COPENHAGEN
, Denmark, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has admitted that alarming figures on Arctic icemelt he cited in Copenhagen, Denmark, were only "ballpark"...

... The newspaper said Gore's office later admitted that the "75 percent" figure was one used by Maslowksi as a "ballpark figure" several years ago in a conversation with the former vice president.

Admitted? He's not admitting anything, he's doubling down and claiming again this is what Maslowski said, just calling it a "ballpark" estimate.

Of course, Maslowski is a true believer - he absolutely pushes the "settled science". He does believe we're causing Arctic ice to wither away and wants Copenhagen treaties and CO2 emission schemes, all that crap. It's just he's not a total douche like Gore and doesn't want to sound like an idiot with outrageously exaggerated claims ballpark estimates. Gore has no such problem with hyperbole.

My currrent bank account balance? Four thousand seven hundred dollars (ballpark estimate). Roughly next spring's shoe budget, also ballpark.

Percentage of Daily Dish Posts written by Excitable Andi? 100% (ballpark estimate).

And this thing on my back? Just a little beauty mark is all. Dime-sized.

Ballpark. Estimate.

Posted by: Ace at 09:33 AM | Comments (145)
Post contains 213 words, total size 2 kb.