There's some dangerous places in the world and it apparently costs a LOT to protect our devoted diplomatic corps in them.

So you're wondering where this ultra-high risk embassy would be located, but I don't want to spoil the surprise just yet.

Iraq? No. (that one only cost $700M)
Syria? No.
Pakistan? No. (that one cost ~$850M)
Afghanistan? No.
Sudan? No.
Libya? No.
Congo? No.
Venezuela? No.
Israel? Lebanon? Saudi Arabia? No. No. No.

Its going to be in the most vile, ungoverned, wanton violence infested, pestilence ridden, asshole of the universe nation on the planet where Americans are being ruthlessly gunned down and blown up with car bombs daily by the dozens. A nation where the whole freaking populace is armed with AK-47's, RPG, and all manner of heavy weaponry just itching to render any American who dares poke their head up into a fine pink mist at the first opportunity.

I'm sure you've guessed it by now. Obviously, I'm describing England and our new embassy in London. The good news is -- it will have a real moat like all proper castles do! Presumably this would be a heated moat so it won't freeze and the Piranhas and Crocks don't get all lethargic and start slacking during the colder months.

Since our "special relationship" is so very special, the Brits also want to charge us an additional 17.5% VAT on that cool $1B cost as well. So far we've sac'd up and told'em to get stuffed on the VAT. I'm guessing Obama's spiffy gift DVD collection wasn't much of a bargaining chip there.

Here's an idea - hows about just building a huge poured concrete bunker with 10' thick blast proof walls or welded 12" battleship'esque armor plate?

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 07:56 PM | Comments (158)
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Happy Thursday M&Ms.

How to Start Up Up An F-16C
So if you're looking to boost an F-16, the good news is that there's no key. But that's also a down side since it means that you actually have to know what you're doing. So here's the minimum you need to know:

Start up of the F-16C is simple....no external APUs or other equipment is necessary. One switch turns on the battery and then another switch hits the Jet Fuel Starter. When you see the GREEN JFS light, unock the throttle and in less than a minute you're up to idle speed, and the only thing left to do is aligning the inertial navigation and perform pre-flight checks.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:57 PM | Comments (674)
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Sorry, I have to out myself -- this show is awesome.

Chiefly because I think "Boston Rob" Mariano is awesome.

If you haven't watched Survivor in a while, check it out. Just started on CBS (Eastern) tonight, and you only missed two episodes (both available online). It's another All-Star show, with the tribes divided up according to who's supposedly a hero and who's supposedly a villain.

Posted by: Ace at 04:08 PM | Comments (116)
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Wow, these guys sure do have a lot of grassroots, bottom-up, self-starting energy on their side.

The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America has quietly launched an initiative aimed at making Obama supporters' voices heard on the largely conservative airwaves.

"The fate of health reform has been a focus of debate in living rooms and offices, on TV and online — and on talk radio. And since millions of folks turn to talk radio as a trusted source of news and opinions, we need to make sure OFA supporters are calling in with a pro-reform message," says the introduction to the online tool.

The online tool presents users with a radio show discussing political topics, to which supporters can listen live, and the phone number for that station, for when health care comes up. It also offers tips for callers and talking points on the issue.

Ever notice that everything they accuse us of they're actually guilty of?

Projection. It's not just a river in Egypt.

Thanks to enoxo.

Posted by: Ace at 02:56 PM | Comments (234)
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Dave @ Garfield Ridge wrote to me to say Paul Ryan had given him wood earlier in the day, with his Washington doesn't have all the answers mini-speech.

I think this is better.

Look at Obama just having to sit there and take it, with that Nixonian glower. And note again he will not engage on any point he'd have to concede -- he just says he doesn't want to get "bogged down" in petty little details like whether this cuts costs as advertised, or in fact creates a perpetual multi-trillion hole in the budget.

More videos at The Right Scoop.

Jay Nordlinger: Agrees Republicans won:

Let me try something out on you: This health-care summit was a bad idea for the Democrats for this reason: They have long benefited from a perception — a perception greatly abetted by the media: The Republicans don’t care about health care, they don’t know about health care, they are the Party of No. All the ideas and caring are on the Democratic side.

It is not so, and it has never been so. And now everybody knows it.

Posted by: Ace at 01:51 PM | Comments (205)
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But Obama and his bastards are doing this for the American people, huh?

If President Obama is unable to reach a deal with Republicans at the summit, 59 percent think he should start from scratch later. Some 34 percent think he should go ahead and try to pass the current bill without Republican support.

...For independents.... by more than two-to-one they support dropping the current bill and starting over.

Another finding: by 62% to 17%, the public says Obama is better at campaigning than governing.

"Broken Government:" I like this point by George Will:

Today's health policy "summit" comes at a moment when, as happens with metronomic regularity, Washington is reverberating with lamentations about government being "broken." Such talk occurs only when the left's agenda is stalled. Do you remember mournful editorials and somber seminars about "dysfunctional" government when liberals defeated George W. Bush's Social Security reforms?

Posted by: Ace at 12:18 PM | Comments (214)
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Yuval Levin of NRO:

morningÂ’s session suggests three broad points. First, the Democrats appear to have no particular purpose in mind for this event. TheyÂ’re not driving anywhere, or making a clear individual case, while Republicans clearly want to get across the point that we should scrap the current bills and start over in pursuit of a few incremental steps. The Democrats may have thought that simply putting the spotlight on Republicans when the subject is health carewould make the GOP look bad. But Republicans so far seem prepared enough and focused enough to avoid that, and to make the Democrats look rather aimless by comparison.

...

Third, an important part of the Democrats’ problem is that Obama himself is their only star, and this format is not working for him. He certainly seems engaged and well informed (even given a few misstatements of fact, at least one of which John Kyl made very clear.) But he doesn’t seem like the President of the United States—more like a slightly cranky committee chairman or a patronizing professor who thinks that saying something is “a legitimate argument” is a way to avoid having an argument. He is diminished by the circumstances, he’s cranky and prickly when challenged, and he’s got no one to help him. The other Democrats around the table have been worse than unimpressive. The Republicans seem genuinely well-prepared, seem to have thought through the question of who should speak about what rather carefully, and several of them have done quite a good job making their case against the Democrats’ approach. If we were to judge by debating points, Republicans certainly won the morning handily.

Jim Geraghty:

There are a lot of flaws in this health care bill, but I think one of the reasons it's polling badly - opposition between 46 and 56 percent, support between 31 and 41 - is because it represents a big and unknown change to a public that is wary, and particularly nervous about big, sweeping changes during a time of economic uncertainty. As I've noted, Obama and the Democrats made a lot of similarly grandiose promises about the stimulus that haven't panned out. Their credibility is pretty damaged right now.

The Democrats have a much, much tougher job today: They have to win over skeptics. The Republicans just have to keep pointing out all the flaws and ways it won't work — cost, limitation of choice, overblown promises of cost containment, tax hikes, the likelihood of higher premiums, etc.; they haven't even gotten to abortion or illegal immigrant coverage yet — and give the skeptics enough reason to say, "yeah, this just isn't going to work; big, expensive government programs never live up to their promises."

The Democrats are offering a lot of anecdotes about Baby Jesus, Steny Hoyer's answering machine, and the teeth of the dead. Obama is at his least persuasive; he keeps ruling GOP arguments out of bounds for one reason or another - don't hold up a copy of the bill, don't cite Washington because people are angry at Washington right now, don't ask for equal time, don't focus on where we disagree, don't remind me of what I said as candidate. I don't think that transforms the skeptics into supporters.

I don't trust myself to judge, really, because I thought McCain and Palin kicked ass in each of their debates with Captain Wonderful and Simple Joe; the public didn't seem to disagree. But it does seem to me the Republicans are getting the best of it, since the Democratic talking points are old and busted (the media parrots them all the time) and the Republican ideas haven't gotten nearly as much air time.

Another Positive Assessment: Phil Klein:

Having watched every minute of the health care summit, I have to disagree with my co-bloggers. I think that Republicans have been, generally speaking, handling this very well. I've been very critical of the GOP throughout the health care debate, but Republicans have consistently made fact-based arguments on why President Obama's plan will make our health care system's problems worse, presented other ideas, and made the case for scrapping the current highly unpopular bill and taking a different approach. Paul Ryan just completely eviscerated the Democratic claims that the Senate health care bill would contain costs and reduce deficits, outlining the accounting gimmicks that Democrats used, as well as the actuarial study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found the Senate bill would actually increase health care spending. Chuck Grassley, while not the whiz kid that Ryan is, followed up by noting a CBO report that found Democrats cannot double-count the savings from the Medicare cuts to claim it will both reduce deficits and extend the solvency of the program both at the same time.

Posted by: Ace at 12:01 PM | Comments (111)
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A NY1 reporter named Josh Robin tweets:

Top Paterson aides and advisors do not know where he is right now, and haven't been able to reach him.

Thanks to Slublog.

Update: Located in NYC.

I just have that image of Fred Amisen wandering around the SNL Update set.

Posted by: Ace at 11:47 AM | Comments (96)
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Just got back from Big Lots while making my weekly Arugula and Wagu Beef run and they had a big stack of handsomely boxed limited run Obama commemorative plates for $2. They used to sell for $20+S&H on TV. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Even though they were placed on an endcap at the front of the store, it didn't look like they were moving.

Anyone want to wager this rather embarrassing remaindered stock vanishes very quickly due to an "anonymous" bulk buy? more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 11:01 AM | Comments (123)
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I'm behind on my DVR. Fast-forwarding now looking for interesting bits.

Posted by: Ace at 10:52 AM | Comments (304)
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