Drive-By Thinking.

if i ever get a flat screen teevee…

…I won't be able to throw yarn balls at it as I did this afternoon.

I was minding my own business, watching the Price Is Right, and all of a sudden "We interrupt this program for a Special Report from CBS news."

So I sez to myself, "What blew up now?" 

Well, if I'd been wearing a blood pressure cuff, that would have.

so what did you really think about the interruption?

Well, since you asked… it was the same old lines. Blame Bush/Blame Congress/Pull Out the Class Warfare Card/Make Promises You Have No Intention of Keeping/Praise Self/Blame Congress Again/Smile for the Camera.

"The struggles of middle-class families were a big problem long before the recession hit in 2007."

I mean, not 30 seconds into said speech and he's blaming Bush. Yanno, I might have cut some slack on this one if it were January 2009 yet. But it's not. We're midway through Year 3 of this travesty and all that the chief executive can do is stand there like a kid caught redhanded in mischief and point to the kid standing next to him, saying, "It was him, not me."

No. Not now, not ever, certainly not anymore. If there's still a problem, sir, let me point out that you and a Congress fully controlled by your own party had two years to do something – and instead of taking the opportunity to solve the problem and truly put yourselves in a good light, you partied like teenagers with their parents out of town. Now it's 2011. We have a Republican majority attempting to collect the cups and pizza boxes and get the stains out of the sofa and all the POTUS and his ilk can do is pout in a corner and blame someone else for posting the party location on Facebook.

"… we're reviewing government regulations so that we can fix any rules in place that are an unnecessary burden on businesses."

You could start with gutting Obamacare. Y'all remember: that 2000+ page POS that gutted 1/7 of the private sector economy and placed it under the benevolent wing of Mother Government? That's going to destroy working systems already in place and make healthcare even more difficult for people to obtain? That is, if you bought the lie that it had anything to do with healthcare in the first place… in which case I really can't help you.

"Right now, Congress could…"

Congress could… but Congress is too busy fixing everything that got broken in the last two years. You know, like reining in the horrific spending spree y'all went on?

"…we've got to eliminate waste wherever we find it and make some tough decisions about worthy priorities."

Let's start with all those "czars" of yours. None of them are Constitutionally legally appointed. All of them have a bloated staff. That'd be a great start. 

"And that means trimming the defense budget…"

No. Not if you're going to go on ignoring the War Powers Act and keeping our forces in fiascos we don't need to be involved in. Besides, the defense budget has already been hobbled enough, no thanks to Lapdog Gates and his minions.

"If we choose to keep those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires; if we choose to keep a tax break for corporate jet owners; if we choose to keep tax breaks for oil and gas companies that are making hundreds of billions of dollars, then that means we've got to cut some kids off from getting a college scholarship."

How so? You know, it amazes me that this guy made it through Columbia if he's really this dumb.

If we keep tax breaks for high achievers, then that means they can continue to hire people. Who then will have jobs, and be able to pay for their little darlings' education. Likewise, said evil high achievers will also then be able to contribute to their university of choice, thus continuing the growth of the endowment funds from which these scholarships spring. If you TAX them, they won't have the money to do this, you idiot.

If you raise taxes on oil and gas companies, then they no longer have the capital to sink into research and development, which hobbles this country's ability to become energy independent or more efficient. Of course, that's what you wanted all along.

"That means food safety may be compromised."

Oh, horrors. Here comes the scare patrols, y'all. They want your grandma to eat dog food, too, ya know.

"I think it's only fair to ask an oil company or corporate jet owner that has done so well to give up a tax break that no other business enjoys. […] I think the majority of American's agree with that."

Yeah, well there you go thinking in the first place.

It was pointed out to me that corporate jet ownership has sharply increased lately. Which puts people back to work. Which grows the economy. And that this was lauded by POTUS just last week. Now they're evil. I guess because ultimately private sector = bad; government sector = good.

(Hey – If you fly on a corporate jet, do you skip the TSA feel up? Maybe that's why so many people want to fly that way… I'm just sayin'.)

Here's some other gems in this speech that I want y'all to keep in mind during this election cycle:

"…the revenue we're talking about isn't coming out of the pockets of middle-class families…"

Translated: "Shut up you whiners. You're doing just fine."

"If we do not have those revenues, then the kinds of cuts that would be required might compromise the National Weather Service."

Translated: "North winds blow! South winds blow! Typhoons! Hurricanes! Earthquakes! SMOG!"

"When unemployment is at 3 percent and they're making record profits, they're going to still complain about regulations because, frankly, they want to be able to do whatever they think is going to maximize their profits."

Well, yes. That is what businesses do. That's why businesses operate. To make a profit. And that's a damn hard thing to do in an atmosphere of overregulation. Even harder to project a profit when you have this healthcare law looming over you. Meaning, ultimately, that you can't hire anyone new because you have no real idea how badly the new regulations will decimate your bottom line.

_____

Yeah. I think I would have been better off watching the Showcase Round, then making a cup of tea to sip while I scoured the latest job postings in hopes of finding something to apply for. Not that it would have cheered me up, but at least it wouldn't have ruined my day.

Thanks for nothing yet again, Mr. President.

is this thing on?

I know… I know… I've been dealing with a lot of crap lately – most of it self-imposed – and it's left me with little time or desire to analyze either my life or someone else's in enough detail to write about it.

The biggest thing that's happened in the last three weeks is that Her Serene Highness was promoted to 3rd grade sporting all As on her report card. That represents a great deal of hard work on her part and a great deal of riding her ass on my part. We're both exhausted.

Scouts is also finis for the summer, with the exception of a week of day camp. She's particularly excited that they're going swimming, weather permitting. It's not cheap (cheaper than a week away at sleepover camp) but it's worth it if it breaks up a summer consisting mainly of her talking to herself.

Oh stop. We do things together as a family. Or have girl nights. Like last night, when we stole every pillow in the house and stayed up late to watch the Miss USA pageant.

Last weekend was also Worldwide Knit In Public Day at the store. We had a great turnout and a heckuva lot of fun. We spent a great deal of time rattling passerby by waving and smiling while wielding pointy sticks. While I'm not sure we inspired anyone new to take up the craft we certainly did attract attention.

I also finished a couple of things. One:

Pattern: Nordic Inspiration, from Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie van der Linden.
Yarn: Dale of Norway Heilo
Needles: US 1 Addi turbos
Notes: I did things differently than the pattern called for. For example, I didn't like her heel directions, so I did my usual short row heel. I also did the toe first instead of picking up the provisional cast on and knitting down. Won't do that again now that I understand why she wrote the directions the way she did.

I also learned that I have some powerfully huge feet. 

Then I finished this inside of a week:

Pattern: #7261, from Regia Journal 611.
Yarn: Regia Extra Twist Merino
Needles: US 7 Addi turbos
Notes: The only think I changed here was not doing the crochet edging. I didn't think it needed it. Oh, and if you do this shawl – and I highly recommend it – I found a mistake in row 93 of the chart. Let me know if you need the correction.

And now, onto other subjects.

You know, I don't often watch the Daily Show. Okay, that's a lie… I don't watch the Daily Show at all. Mainly because Jon Stewart's type of comedy isn't my cup of tea; minorly because the fact that there are people out there who take him seriously – which he himself finds disturbing – and I don't feel the need to add to that ratings demographic.

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

He's right on with this bit, though. What kind of desperation does that indicate? What lack of journalistic integrity have we stooped to? When did tabloid journalism become the mainstream? How do these talking heads look themselves in the mirror in the mornings?

And why, if this is the best that network news and major newspapers can field in the way of investigative reporting, why am I still nominally unemployed? Honestly – this could make a saint swear.

Oh hey… apparently, the TSA isn't just content to give you a quick thrill. This explains where my mother's camera went – the one with the last pictures of my father on it. (If I ever get hold of the person who stole it, he'll be minus a set of hands.) Not than anyone at Homeland Security thinks this is a real problem. Their precious union flunkies would never do anything like that.

Another reason why anyone working in government should have to show real-world experience in the private sector: we're doing just fine without a budget! Move along, peon… nothing to see here…. Meanwhile, even Russia is dumping US holdings. Yeah, dude… just fine. If this is your definition of "just fine," I'd really hate to see your definition of "totally fucked up."

Okay, I've bored y'all enough for one night. K out.

pot shots.

I hope you all enjoyed a long weekend. We did. Barbequed, worked a bit around the house, and flew the flag proudly. Spent time reflecting.

Unlike other people we know, who paid a little token respect and took off for the back nine. Per usual. ¹

Fortunately, there are still folks who recognize what needs to be done on that day. Even if they have to get a court injunction to do it. ²

I'm loving this. Not because I necessarily think it's a great idea for her to run, but just the whole screwing with the press thing. The quote from Ed Morrissey is precious.

Meanwhile, I'm still liking the Train.

Yeah, okay Anthony. Whatever. Cyber attack. Right. Sure. 

Speaking of … at least this woman had all the evidence.

And at least she's being listened to by the police, not treated as a criminal just because of her gender. Unlike these women. Ah, the sweet smell of revolution. But what do I know, right?

After all, this woman probably had it coming, too.

I shouldn't judge such a peaceful group of folks, though. I will suggest that this … gentleman… volunteer for duty. First.

As for myself, I will reserve my sympathy and my energy for those who most need it, like this little guy and his sister.

K out.

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1. Hat tip: Blackfive

2. Hat tip: Maggie's Notebook