Speaking of Affirmative Action...

It's not the book that's funny, it's tragic. But the author's name, now...

And yes, it's a genuine book!

Merci, Mlle. Carnivereaux! (Yes I know that's not correct, but it sounds and looks better. Poursuivez-moi.)

Perfect truth about "Affirmative Action"...

"It does noting but inspire division and resentment. Well, it also prevents its beneficiaries from doing anything to better themselves, since they don’t have to. Like all federal do-goodery, it is a magnet for grifters, crooked lobbies, charlatans, shysters, and bus-station rabble. If you need affirmative action, you aren’t good enough; if you if you are good enough, you don’t need it; and if you take it anyway, you are a freeloader."

Via Fred Reed.

Senator McCain just lost the presidency...

Because he didn't say something like,

"The banks and lenders who claim to be in trouble made their own decisions. They are run by professionals in their business, and had access to the best advice available. Some of that advice was NOT to do the things that have gotten them into trouble.

Now, they are are asking the taxpayers to give them money. Huge sums of money, amounts so great that no one can calculate or even name them to any degree of certainty. They are asking the people of this country to take on an unknowable, yet cripplingly tremendous burden, to preserve corporate profits.

NO.

I will not vote to "bail out", "rescue", "protect" "lend to", or otherwise provide the citizens' money to huge corporations who have chosen to make bad business decisions.

These same corporations, when their profits were high, employed thousands of lawyers and accountants to be sure that they paid the very minimum tax possible. They weren't talking then about sharing, and I won't hear them talk about it now.

The only difference between Howard Jameson and AIG is scale. And the fact that AIG gave huge amounts of money to politicians, including me.

But the banks and corporations didn't buy my conscience, or my vote.

I'm sorry, but there will be serious pain and difficulty. It is better that that pain fall on the people who gambled and created it than on the prudent, the modest, the savers. I'm not going to put my name on anything that makes those careful people the chumps and losers in this.

Davy Crockett" was right.

Internet Dating Rejection...

In the aftermath of my Heather Blake experience, I was talked into trying internet dating. I couldn't post a picture on the site, but of course I offered to send one.

I did NOT look forward to it.

More importantly, everybody- even (insert name of most beautiful person you can think of) has been rejected because of his or her appearance on occasion, because no one's appearance appeals to everybody. But we don't know it- we just get dinged, no one ever says "You're too ugly to my eye".

But when we're chatting along fine, and she said send pictures- and the ding followed, I'd KNOW. Ouch! And it would happen, eventually. I'm no great beauty, and I must have done something really bad to Louis Daguerre in a previous life, because his invention is taking a terrible revenge. Pictures of me appear to be of someone entirely different, and uniformly goofy.

And eventually, it did. (Actually it wasn't a ding, just silence. Some people are rude!)

But here's the thing- I expected to be all sad, but it didn't bother me at all!

Because I realised that what was rejected was- my parents' DNA!

My physical body- my appearance- is the ONE THING about me that I don't choose, cannot change, and in fact have absolutely nothing to do with! My manners, my interests, my outlook, my speech, what I wear, my physical fitness- all those things ARE mine and I control them. I can even dye my hair if I like.

But my looks? They were made elsewhere, by people now dead, nine months before I was born.

It was absolutely liberating.

Elder sexual abuse pictures...

No, pervert. I mean pictures used to advertise training about catching people who assault old people. My littermate brought this to my attention:










But this is creepy. What, are those the raped and fondled grandmothers' descendants? Then why are they happy? SO happy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be an orphan. But if even my dam was assaulted, I'd at least be angry!

Hey, Congress and President Bush...

If you hurry, you can still get a Preakness bet down on Barbaro!

The stupidest investor I ever met didn't buy things AFTER they were already worthless.

September 11, again...

If you haven’t seen “United 93”, rent it and watch. Use a big screen and turn off the telephones so you won’t be disturbed.

Truly an amazing experience. If I owned a theater, it would be on the screen all day and night today, no ticket charge. Like the French theater that ran "Mr. Smith Goes To ashington" the last week before the Germans showed to occupy in 1940.

United 93 ought to be our focus in these memorials. It’s odd and not very old-time American that we concentrate on the people in the buildings- who were just at work- and the professional rescuers. What happened to them was awful, the rescuers were heroes, and I can’t think of them without tearing up.

But the people on 93 were different. They, random ordinary Americans, in the space of half an hour discarded false hope, organised, decided what to do, stood up to our enemies, and sacrificed their own lives to protect others and themselves. They weren’t trained or paid to do it. It wasn’t expected of them- in fact, passive obedience was what they were trained to exhibit. They were supposed to be victims, like the people in the other planes and in the buildings.

They didn’t default to that training.

They defaulted to Lexington and Concord.

We ought to take "In God We Trust" off the currency, and put on it "United 93, motherf*cker!"

And if you haven't teared up today:

My family chicken decapitation story...

Back when Cleveland was President and Victoria Queen, my great aunt Augusta was a little girl. Her father's city house in Wilmington was like the other big places there- the front was display, out back there was a yard surrounded by a high board fence. In the yard were the wash house, privy for the staff, and those sorts of things.

And the chickens.

Aunt Augusta's older brother made the mistake of naming them, and one was yclept for his baby sister.

The day came, and Jerusalem the cook went out back to do the deed. Unfortunately Brother- yes, that's what they called him- saw, and out he went to obstruct dinner.

"No, Jerusalem! Don't kill Augusta! Please don't kill Augusta! Put down that axe! No, No!"

"Mas' Brother, Augusta's time is come! You get back in that house and be quiet, or I'll take this hatchet to you when I've finished with her!"

Unknown to either of them, some one was passing near the back fence, heard the exchange, and ran off to summon a policeman.

Jerusalem completed the task, and hung the bird to drain. Then she went back toward the pump...

The policeman ran back, burst in the gate, and saw a large Black woman approaching him with bloody hands and hatchet...

Fortunately it was 1895 and not 1995, so everyone had time to explain!

Thank you Tam, for reminding me of this story!

First day out!

For us, it was a 7 A. M. meet- misty and not too hot, the forecast was 83 and sunny so we beat the prediction!

Hounds hit the side of "The Knob", and found immediately!

"Good morning, Mr. Coyote! Break's over!"

"Oh #$%^&*, I thought you $%^&*s had quit."

Pushed him back and forth for a while, maybe a half hour. Beautiful cry, between the misty air, the trees, and the hillside it was like the peal of a hundred bells.

"Enough of this, I'm off!"

And so he was, skates on and gone. Hounds tried to keep up for a good distance, but they just couldn't hold on. Then drawing back to the meet, and found again in the same spot! A very typical thing for our coyotes, we'll find several then settle on one, the others will hang around secure in the knowledge that we won't be back. Wrong this time!

Couldn't push one out, scent was dying as the dampness burned off. A good first day for the field, of whom there were 60 or so, a shocking big number for 7 A. M.

It's time...

Hounds, horses, coyotes- BREAK'S OVER!!!

Governor Palin motivationals...

From here.

Punished for exposing criminals...

From Denmark:

"A jeweller in Århus who placed a video on the internet of his shop being burgled and its attendant being assaulted will likely receive a fine for his actions. He was reported to the police by the Danish Data Protection Agency for the clip - which was placed on the YouTube website - because it made public the identities of the three thieves. To add insult to injury, the burglars were acquitted for the robbery in court Tuesday, with the exception of one, who was found guilty of receiving stolen goods."

"Connections" and "The Day the Universe Changed" available on line...

I liked these programs. Television isn't ENTIRELY a stupidity machine.