Give Ace Money [someone]
— Open Blog

BUMP. tmi3rd tried to bump this last night but failed, so here it is again for the overnight/weekend folks.

OK, morons, it's like this.

Ace would never do this himself* and may in fact delete this post, but I was reading Instapundit and he's mentioned NRO's current donation drive two days running, while also asking for money for PJTV.

I'm not going to trash any other basically right-wing media, but let's face it: none of those more, uh, respectable outlets provide what you really want. And that is... an actual conservative viewpoint, sure, but also -- the important stuff. Troll-bashing as sport. "Accidental" lesbian pr0n links. The Blago skull. And well-deserved epic insult barrages. I mean, I'd pay $100 to read Victor Davis Hanson call some Palin-bashing moonbat a "cheap, sore-riddled nasty bit of gutterscrunge who'll rent you her mouth for the change in your pocket" but that's not going to happen.

And yet those other guys seem to get more money than Ace does. An outrage! And it's up to you to correct it. Hit the Paypal button on the left.

(* "He Ace. Ewok. Won't bleg, so I bleg for him.")

Update: Speaking of trolls, ol' "Adriana Lima" seems to be back in the comments here. How come trolls like besmirching the names of attractive women?

UPDATE from lauraw: I hope someone doesn't mind me barging in here, but it's only because I think he's fargin' brilliant.

We cobloggers have been pestering Ace to do this for more than a year, but he is one stubborn, proud little ewok. The guy is positively allergic to the idea of asking for money. Meanwhile, there's this little matter of living on Earth, and that requires occasional cash inputs.

Way to take the initiative, someone. You are teh awesome. If Ace gets furious with you and hunts you down like a hobo, I won't back you up because I'm a coward. But I still think you're swell and I won't eat any of the jerky Ace makes from your flesh.

Well, maybe just one little taste to satisfy curiosity, but that's it.

From the comments:

13 Come on you fuckers, it's not like you're blowing a ton of money on rubbers
Posted by: hutch1200 at June 12, 2009 07:15 AM (apMa4)

Hutch is not a salesman in real life.

FURTHER UNNECESSARY UPDATE: (Russ from Winterset) I cannot agree more with the sentiments already expressed by my colleagues "someone" and lauraw. Without Ace, all of us co-bloggers are just howling in the wilderness. I mean yeah, sure; Dave in Texas could always go back to working as a carny traveling the midwest (which, interestingly enough, is how he first met lauraw, or "Camela the Amazing Hump-Girl" as she's known in freakshow circles) and Gabe could finally become a rodeo clown like he dreamed of doing as a young child growing up in Oklahoma. But the rest of us? Screwed. I could achieve a bit of minor local fame as a competitive bacon-eater who also does political commentary and light ballistic blogging, but without the forum that Ace provides me, I'd just be "that crazy guy who rants to the pigeons in the park" instead of a moderately recognizable national political gadfly writing for a "smart military blog".

Let's all give a few bucks to the man who makes this all possible. And remember, without Ace you'd probably never have heard of spurwing plover. That right there is worth AT LEAST $20.

(someone, I'm not gonna lie here. If you get roasted, I'll probably go back for seconds. Especially if he wraps you in bacon before he cooks your carcass. "Law of the Jungle" and all that.)

AN EVEN MORE UNNECESSARY UPDATE [DrewM]: Yeah, Ace will very likely be less than thrilled because, believe it or not, he is a modest kind of guy but hopefully he'll see how much this place and his work means to us. Plus he can't get rid of us...or can he?

Any way...I could go on about what a cool little corner of the tubes this but you know that. I'd just say, don't think you have to give $100 or something like that (though you are welcome to). If we all toss a $10 or $20 in the pot, we can help keep Ace supplied with the essentials so he can keep making teh funny and doing those thoughtful pieces you won't find anywhere else.

If we don't step up, Ace is going to wake up one day and realize he's got some skilz and could make a real living. And then where will we be (and it's about us after all)?

Think of this way...You want that Ewok chained to his keyboard...no you NEED that Ewok chained to his keyboard. So please, hit the Paypal and give til it hurts. Not the emergency room kind of hurt but the, "no I didn't say the safe word, do it again" kind of hurt.

(Kudos to someone for taking the initiative)

THE MOST USELESS, UNNECESSARY UPDATE POSSIBLE [Dave in Texas]:

Every time you give to AceofSpadesHQ, a hobo gets his wings.

And you all know what I mean by "gets his wings".

(Bumped to draw attention again)(tmi3rd)

A lot of folks have made great points above, but I'd draw you to the sense of community we have. All of us are working on taking back what was squandered by the squishy "moderates", and here is where we congregate to take it back.

It's worth a few bucks out of your pocket, once a year, to continue the level of work that our dear Ewok Leader undertakes, and he generously shares it with us. It's a rough time for everyone, but this is very much another home to many of us. Chip in if you can.

tmi3rd

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:31 PM | Comments (1)
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Overnight Open Thread (genghis)
— Open Blog

Item #1: You might remember a link in the overnight thread concerning PeTAÂ’s planned protest at a veterinarianÂ’s convention. The vets had invited the well-known Pike Place Market fish-throwers to be the opening act at the convention. As usual, PeTA went way over the top with the hyperbole and compared tossing dead fish to tossing dead kittens. The vets, looking to avoid controversy and confrontation, said they were reviewing the decision to have the fish-tossers at the convention and it looked like the nut cases at PeTA had won another battle just by threatening to show up and make asses of themselves. (For background on the story, visit here. )

But hereÂ’s an update that might actually give you some hope. It looks like the veterinarian group grew a pair and now the fish tossing is back on. Finally, FINALLY someone stood up to this insignificant but noisy band of pests. If only more organizations and companies would do the same against other pathetic grievance groups weÂ’dÂ…well, actually weÂ’d have a lot fewer things to make fun of. IÂ’d take that trade-off though just to see the reaction when those groups get a heapinÂ’ helpinÂ’ of some hearty STFU.

”SEATTLE (AP) - Despite complaints from an animal-rights group, a national veterinary association says Seattle's famed fishmongers will be tossing dead fish at its Seattle convention next month. American Veterinary Medical Association CEO Ron DeHaven said Friday his organization, based in Schaumburg, Ill., will proceed with a plan to host a team-building program offered by the famous fish-throwers of Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market.”

“DeHaven said in a telephone interview that his group supports the responsible use of animals for human purposes, such as food - and feels veterinarians are the best advocates for animals. "We're talking about three fish," he said. "The tossing is simply used to facilitate bigger purposes" such as motivation and team-building, which are valuable for veterinarians. The fish are dead and are consumed after the program. DeHaven said his organization thinks human consumption is an appropriate use of fish.”

Item #2: It’s hard to follow up that awesomeness but I’ll try (and fail). How about finding your own personal “Cheesus.” KTVT in Dallas/Ft. Worth provides a short video about a couple in north Texas who’ve found Jesus, in a Cheeto. I’m skeptical, but I’ll refrain from mocking them (for the moment). Because as soon as I do, the next bag of “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos” I buy is going to have a little Cheeto-sized Lucifer in it. And who really needs that kind of grief.

Item #3: Finally, every once in a while yet another site comes up with a list of The Worst Album Covers of all Time. So here’s another one of those lists you can scroll through. I’ve seen some of these on other “worst cover” lists but a number of them were new to me. And might be to you as well.

Thanks once again to Maetenloch who has now been promoted to senior researcher for the Overnight Open Thread. Congrats Mate! Stop by my office later and pick up your new parking pass. YouÂ’ll be pleased to know youÂ’ve been upgraded from parking area 36-J to 33-S. ItÂ’s about 100 feet closer to our building so youÂ’ll still probably need to take the shuttle in, but youÂ’re definitely moving up in the ranks. Ummm-kay?

TonightÂ’s overnight open thread is sponsored by the following exclamation point: !
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Posted by: Open Blog at 06:01 PM | Comments (2)
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Ahmadinnerjacket's Victory met with real unrest. [krakatoa]
— Open Blog

This is damn near unheard of.

I've long heard about the future of Iran -- the Youth that was pro-Western and chaffed against the fundamentalist strictures of its theistic government. How they would lead reform and, inevitably, create change through sheer demographic inevitability.

That opportunity has passed them by in the last decade as they licked their wounds after every political setback (read fixed election) and promised themselves: Next Time.

Well next time has come, with an extremely unpopular president somehow pulling out a victory, and the "Iranian Youth" (now comprised of by a large 30 to 40 - something demographic) seems to have had enough.

The brazen and angry confrontations — including stunning scenes of masked rioters tangling with black-clad police — pushed the self-styled reformist movement closer to a possible moment of truth: Whether to continue defying Iran's powerful security forces or, as they often have before, retreat into quiet dismay and frustration over losing more ground to the Islamic establishment.

Exit Question: Has a tipping point been reached? My gut says even if that's true, it probably won't matter without strong US support for any popular revolt. And my brain says our current administration wouldn't support that for all the quatloos in Klingon space.

Posted by: Open Blog at 02:37 PM | Comments (1)
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Your Saturday Confessional/Counseling Session (genghis)
— Open Blog

(no itÂ’s not the overnight threadÂ…that gets posted later)

Everyone (including me) seemed to like PAÂ’s post yesterday asking what were your best and worst purchases evah. Well, because we here at the HQ want to get to know you better, maybe we can do a few more posts in a similar vein (so we can use the info. against you later.) ThereÂ’s a list of nosy questions I came up with but will split them up as separate posts over the rest of the weekend. So if you donÂ’t like one of them or if it bombs, we can move on to the next one.

First up is a question posed annually by a local radio talk show host (Dori Monson) thatÂ’s usually entertaining. So without further delay, letÂ’s get rolling:

Submitted: “What is the single point in time in your life where you felt most ‘alive’?”

It’s purposely phrased to be a little vague since “alive” can mean many things to many people. It doesn’t necessarily mean the “happiest” moment of your life for example (though it could be that.) Sometimes though you hear veterans say that a particular experience on the battlefield is that moment, even though it was total chaos and horror. So lets hear it.
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Posted by: Open Blog at 02:20 PM | Comments (2)
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Kill the Old [someone]
— Open Blog

Anyone with half a brain and an eye to what's happened elsewhere around the world knows the endgame of universal coveragesocialized medicine: not just shitty, third-world standards of care and the end of drug development, well, forever but rationing -- the denial of care to those the government bureaucracy decides would cost more to treat than they're worth.

And this means, most of all, seniors -- you know, the huge voting bloc whose already government-subsidized treatments get more and more expensive as the time they have left gets shorter and shorter.

Now it's unsurprising to me that Kaus has spotted the Journolist zombies' foundation-laying for this kill-the-boomers endgame. What did surprise me was finding it in the very first draft of ZeroCare:

Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.

And this is, of course, the preliminary lowballing.

What's the AARP up to these days, I wonder?

Update: With even Bill Kristol calling for the GOP to find their balls on this, it's waaay too early for defeatist fatalism.

Posted by: Open Blog at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)
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Going Alinsky on Letterman (chad)
— Open Blog

Updated below the fold
(and again -- someone)

Answering the open blog call

We all know that David Letterman stepped in it this week. Besides being an unfunny has been his jokes about the Palin family have lit up the dextrosphere and as near as I can tell people are still angry as hell about them.

That's good because it gives the conservative right a chance to steal from the Obama playbook and go Alinsky on Letterman.

This seems perfect for a little Rule 1, 3, and 12 combined action:

Cynthia Yockey - A newly conservative lesbian - has some suggestions:

1. Be tenacious


• The campaign must last at least 30 days anything less and CBS will try and wait it out


2. The campaign must target not only CBS but the advertisers too


• Not just the main office but the Executive suite of the advertisers. CEO, CFO, COO
• I would also recommend calling local franchises and telling them you won't be eating there as long as they advertise on Letterman and filling out comment cards where applicable


3. Realize that Letterman is an opportunity for empowerment


• It gets boring sending out these letters day after day, but the upside is, if the campaign is successful, conservatives will be looked at with a little bit more respect (or fear which can be just as useful ask Al Sharpton) by CBS et.al.

If you are interested there is a list of advertisers below the fold: more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:44 AM | Comments (3)
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Open Bloggers ASSEMBLE!
— LauraW

AOSHQ needs your help, Open Bloggers.

Go do. That voodoo. That you do. So well.

Please?

Because the rest of us cobloggers are hungover and King Moron had a real feisty hobo last night.

Posted by: LauraW at 06:34 AM | Comments (2)
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Overnight open thread (genghis)
— Open Blog

KindaÂ’ quiet around the place today. Well, thatÂ’s all about to change with the overnight thread. By which I mean itÂ’s going to turn absolutely silent. Some linkies if youÂ’d like:

Item #1:LetÂ’s return now to those glorious days of yesteryear; to a magical time called 8th grade when you stood astride the world. Via time machine? I think not, but rather by dropping by the Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show.

”"You are in the video game section and what you are seeing is a collection of games from our local club," says event volunteer Scott Herald leading a tour through the rooms at the show. That local club, Seattle Metro Arcade Collectors, helped furnish more than 120 stand-up arcade games from the golden era of 1979 to 1983. Walking down the aisle you'll see titles like Donkey Kong, Pack Rat and Sega's Out Run. "Kids would save up their money and ride their bikes down to the drug store and play these games," says Herald. "We're a bunch of 40 year olds trying to be 12 again." But, as the name of the show implies, its not just arcade games. There are more than 255 pinball machines on site as well.”

Of course Mr. Herald leaves out an important step in that process: As soon as you got to the drugstore (7-Eleven in my case) getting shaken down for all your quarters by the 3 or 4 guys in the black concert t-shirts who would threaten to beat the shit out of you if you didnÂ’t hand them all over. So there was no actual playing of the games, at least not for you, but IÂ’m sure the guys who took your quarters have some fond memories. And after all, isnÂ’t it all about making others happy? HereÂ’s a partial list of the games you never got to play that are at the show.

Item #2: Might as well swipe something from Cracked rather than do one of those hard-hitting investigative pieces that the overnight thread has become so well known for. That way I can spend a little more time this evening polishing my Pulitzers. (That probably sounds dirtier than it was meant to). IÂ’m pleased to present 6 Ridiculous Sex Myths that are Actually True.

Item #3: Finally, howÂ’s about we take a look at the 16 Most Horrific Human Growths of All Time over at Manolith.com. Not for prurient reasons of course. No, weÂ’re about the science here. STRONG CONTENT WARNING: NSFW or really anywhere for that matter. You may wish to go ahead and purge anything youÂ’ve eaten or drank today if you decide to visit. Neither AceCorp LLC or any of its affiliates are responsible for any damage done to unprotected keyboards or other equipment. Thanks and/or curses to Maetenloch. (You can thank him in the thread tonight if you wishÂ…IÂ’m sure IÂ’ll be looking the other way or distracted by something shiny while youÂ’re doing so.)

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Posted by: Open Blog at 06:11 PM | Comments (13)
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What are the best and worst things you ever spent money on?
— Purple Avenger

This comment in the career Change post got me to thinking...my various tools are some of the most valuable things I've ever spent money on. Some of them have had tremendous payback in time/money saved over the years.

My CD collection not so much. I never listen to any of that shit anymore. Stone losers the whole lot. Same goes for the $300 Sony ghetto blaster I bought back in the late 80's with the built in CD player.

New computers? Stone losers the whole lot. I don't have ANY of the new computers I've ever bought anymore. I'm typing on an ancient 10 year old Compaq Pentium II that I fished out of the trash that's been running like a Rolex for the past 6 years.

Free computer - big WIN. New computers - epic FAILS.

Back when Windows 2000 came out, I invested in a legit copy. I've been running W2K on my internet access machine for almost 10 years now. The number of hard crashes with data loss over those 9 years has been zero.

Windows 2000 - big WIN.

Two Mitsumi interface very early 1X CD-ROM drives? Epic FAIL. Total waste of $500.

Lets hear your wins and losers. This should be a fun weekend post

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 12:13 PM | Comments (3)
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So, How About that Stimulus, Huh?
— Slublog

Feel the recovery.

People who still have jobs are faring worse than at any time since the Great Depression, a USA TODAY analysis of employment data found. Furloughs, pay cuts and reduced hours are taking a toll on workers who so far have escaped job cuts.

The employed worked fewer hours in May — an average of just 33.1 hours a week — than at any time since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began counting in 1964. Part-time work is at a record high. Overtime is at a record low.

The magnitude of job losses — 6 million jobs gone, a 9.4% unemployment rate — has overshadowed the groundbreaking nature of the nation's employment troubles, especially the financial decline of those still working.

"You can rip a whole chapter out of your Economics 101 textbook because the job market isn't behaving the way we were taught," says David Rosenberg, chief economist at money manager Gluskin Sheff and Associates.

Feeling the hope and change yet?

No?

How about now?

Posted by: Slublog at 12:08 PM | Comments (1)
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