A Summary of Pop Culture

Border patrol cuts!

Even though the Border Patrol now reports that almost 1,300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border is not under effective control, and the Department of Justice says that vast stretches of the border are “easily breached,” and the Government Accountability Office has revealed that three persons “linked to terrorism” and 530 aliens from “special interest countries” were intercepted at Border Patrol checkpoints last year, the administration is nonetheless now planning to decrease the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Why don't we just open the border? Why continue pretending that anyone in authority is actually concerned about borders?

As sovereignty dissolves

From an Imprimis article by Jeremy Rabkin

Where does this trend away from the sovereignty of national constitutions lead? I do not think the danger is a world tyranny. I think that idea is fantastical. Rather what it will lead to, I think, is an undermining of the idea that national governments can protect people, with the result that people will start looking for defense elsewhere. We saw this in an extreme way in Iraq when it collapsed into chaos before the surge, and people looked for protection to various ethnic or sectarian militias. A similar phenomenon can be seen today in Europe with the formation of various separatist movements. We’re even hearing loud claims for Scottish independence.

I hope he's right about the 'world tyranny' thing.

South Carolina 16 - Ole Miss 10

Guess Ole Miss wasn't really a #4 team after all.

Dollars? For what? Wallpaper?

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed concern as early as March over the safety of his country's huge US bond holdings now worth more than 800 billion dollars, making it the largest creditor to the United States.

Then, Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, who supervises more than two trillion dollars worth of dollar reserves, the world's largest, raised the stakes by calling for a new reserve currency in place of the dollar.

We can accuse the Chinese of doing a lot weird and senseless things but they ain't stupid. The US is on a debt path that absolutely can not be sustained and the Chinese know it. They believe the dollar is seriously in danger of becoming worthless and they could be right.

Follow the rules please

"Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow," Obama said.

Well who would of thought that Iran would break the rules?

Hmm, hmm, hmm

Lots of oil

The oil industry has been on a hot streak this year, thanks to a series of major discoveries that have rekindled a sense of excitement across the petroleum sector, despite falling prices and a tough economy.

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Folks ain't buying it no more;

Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters nationwide now oppose the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s the highest level of opposition yet measured and includes 44% who are Strongly Opposed.

Emphasis mine.

I guess the Democrat plan to label all opposition as violent and racist is not quite as affective as they had hoped.

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Samurai Justice

The intruder's left hand was nearly severed -- Mr. Guglielmi described it as "hanging on by a thread" -- and the man suffered a severe cut to the upper body. The 49-year-old suspect, whom police described as a habitual offender, died at the scene.

What a way to go. Skewered.

the suspect had 29 prior arrests, mostly for burglary and breaking and entering, and had been released Saturday from a Baltimore County jail after serving about a year for auto theft.

29 prior arrests! Perhaps a justice system that dealt more harshly with criminals would have saved the suspects life.

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Watch the kids from a satellite?

GPS tracking of the kids;

Parents will be able to see their child's location on Google maps by texting 'wru' to a special number, or clicking 'where r you' on the secure website linked to the device. The street address and postcode will be displayed.

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What is health care?

The term 'health care' gets thrown around quite a bit these days but it's really a very vague term. If I could wave a magic wand and grant everyone the right to health care what would that mean? Would that include a right to food? One can't stay healthy without food. What about water? If we have a right to health care does it mean I can demand a Doctors attention every time I get a headache?

Missile defense! What missile defense?

President Obama dismayed America's allies in Europe and angered his political opponents at home today when he formally ditched plans to set up a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Why should this action by Obama surprise anyone?

But it (missile defense) had hobbled relations with Russia, which considered it both a security threat and an unnecessary political provocation in its own backyard.

Why would Russia consider defense a threat why should we care?

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Update:

In an April speech in Prague, Obama hailed the “courageous” Poles and Czechs for agreeing to host ten missile interceptors and a radar site, respectively. When the Czechs signed the initial deal for the radar installation last July, a suspiciously timed “technical difficulty” reduced Russian gas exports to Prague by half. Last November, Russia moved missiles to Kaliningrad, bordering Poland. Now, Polish and Czech courage gets its perverse reward.

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You Lie!

Joe Wilson was right. President Obama did lie.

Ole Miss watch

The Rebels have now climbed to #5 in the AP poll.

1 Florida (56) ----- 2-0 1491
2 Texas (1) -------- 2-0 1404
3 USC (1) ---------- 2-0 1396
4 Alabama (2) ------ 2-0 1328
5 Ole Miss --------- 1-0 1145
5 Penn State ------- 2-0 1145
7 Brigham Young ---- 2-0 1122
8 California ------- 2-0 1058
9 LSU -------------- 2-0 951
10 Boise State ----- 2-0 945

Hopefully the Rebels won't have as much problem with Southeastern Louisiana as they did with Memphis for three quarters. If they don't come out strong they'll get passed by Penn State - unless Penn State somehow manages to blow it against Temple. They could possibly get passed by BYU also.

Although Alabama remained at #4 their total points went up by 172 since the pre-season poll. They're getting very close to Texas and USC who are practically tied.

Florida and Texas have both lost a few points since the pre-season poll.

Satan loving kids will be kids

A 15-year-old girl who allegedly worships Satan was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of lighting a fire at her Orangevale church.

And what does the little demons mother say...?

"Well, you know, kids sometimes don't always like what their parents want them to do," said Annette Hilt, the suspect's mother. "Everybody knows that."

Sure mom. Everybody knows.
This is frighteningly far beyond stupid.

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Enough Computing

Yesterday I bought a used computer.

For $60 I got the following:
- 1.7Ghz P4
- 32M Onboard Graphics
- 384M RAM
- 40G Hare Drive
- CDRW
- Several USB ports
- Ethernet

Keyboard, mouse and monitor were not included.

For $60 I can email, view youtube videos, surf the net and other basic computing stuff. Seemed to me like a reasonable deal. I almost never do any compute intensive jobs on my home PC so why spend hundreds of dollars?

For around $150 I could have gotten a slightly more up to date 64bit system.

Update: The hard drive crashed. Luckily I have an old spare 40G hanging around.

States taking the lead

In light of the overwhelming tendency toward centralization of government power it is refreshing to occasionally see states taking the initiative.

EXAMPLE

Update: I am not in favor of secession. However, I would support the right of secession.

More ACORN voter fraud

The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office issued arrest warrants for each of the 11 suspects, all of whom worked for the local chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, (ACORN).

Apparently it was ACORN that turned themselves in.

But ACORN officials said they had alerted authorities about the alleged illegal activity among some canvassers in Miami-Dade after finding ``numerous discrepancies'' on voter cards collected from the Homestead area.

The arrests are ``further evidence we've been policing our own folks and report people attempting to commit voter registration fraud,'' said ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring. ``This was really some individuals who were trying to defraud their employer.''

I'm willing to give ACORN some benefit of the doubt in this case. However, the fact remains that ACORN's methods have always encouraged this type of conduct.

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Update: These ACORN folks just can't help themselves. LINK

Chavez has a good side.

While Michael Moore is busy demonising capitalism, Oliver Stone is trying to show the good side of Hugo Chavez.

Chavez, who landed in Venice for the film's premiere, has earned a reputation for his outspoken criticism of U.S. policy, and in Stone's "South of the Border" he is sympathetically portrayed as a hero of the people who refuses to be bullied.

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Capitalism is Evil

So says Michael Moore.

Blending his trademark humor with tragic individual stories, archive footage and publicity stunts, the 55-year-old launches an all out attack on the capitalist system, arguing that it benefits the rich and condemns millions to poverty.

I'm continually amazed at how some of the luckiest beneficiaries of capitalism are it's greatest critics.

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iCub

Six versions of iCub exist in laboratories across Europe, where scientists are painstakingly tweaking its electronic brain to make it capable of learning, just like a human child.

Can it learn to cut the grass?

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Let's All Thank CA for Pete Stark

What a maroon! ~ Bugs Bunny

President Obama's School Address

Why is President Obama's speech to school children a bad thing?

Ole Miss #8

When was the last time the Ole Miss Rebels were in the preseason top ten? I don't know but I'll bet they had a quarterback named Archie at the time.

1 Florida (58) ----- 0-0 1498
2 Texas (2) -------- 0-0 1424
3 Oklahoma --------- 0-0 1370
4 USC -------------- 0-0 1313
5 Alabama ---------- 0-0 1156
6 Ohio State ------- 0-0 1113
7 Virginia Tech ---- 0-0 1054
8 Ole Miss --------- 0-0 1047
9 Oklahoma State --- 0-0 989
9 Penn State ------- 0-0 989

If Alabama beats Virginia Tech in week 1 and USC beats Ohio State in week 2 then it's possible that Ole Miss could move up to number 6; Assuming they can beat Memphis and Southeastern Louisiana.

Hopefully Alabama and Ole Miss will both be undefeated when they meet on October 10th.

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Update: Alabama looked solid throughout their game against VT. Ole Miss looked pathetic for three quarters and then somebody hit the play switch.