#323 - Hoffa Reappears. Sorta.

It happened while I was still in high school. (Note: there are disputations as to what, exactly, "in" high school means, but that's not for this story.) Jimmy Hoffa, former Teamster boss and Mafia beneficiary disappeared quite suddenly in July of 1975. This was news that riveted a nation because Hoffa was one of those larger-than-life characters that I'd grown up hearing about. He was a favorite target of Robert F. Kennedy when Kennedy served in his brother's cabinet in the 60's. He was constantly associated with the Mafia, whether deserved or not. Turns out he probably wasn't in the Mafia, but when dealing with the Mafia close is bad enough.

Then, of course, there were the wild rumors and speculation. If the Mafia got him, where'd they bury him? My personal favorite was either the end zone or one of the cement supports of Giants Stadium. I particularly loved the "buried in cement" scenario because it always reminded me of Hoffa being tossed, Jack Lemmon-like, into a giant gloppita-gloppita machine.

So Hoffa became a perfect metaphor for disappearing without a trace, preferably by less than savory means. I found this to be a comfortable disappearance. Here was a man for whom I had no respect disappearing probably because of ties with one or more crime families in a case that is still considered unsolved.

Except for the confession.

Turns out there was a confession, and many people now find it to be highly credible. Hoffa was apparently done in by someone he trusted and had frequently used as his own muscle in some of his shadier dealings. He either did not know or somehow overlooked the fact that this same man was himself a hit man. Poetic justice, methinks.

So, after literally decades of fanciful speculation and amateur detective work, the "truth" comes out in this hit man's own death-bed confession. I've never read the book, but if I get bored sometime I might look for it.

Apparently Hoffa was murdered the same night he was supposed to meet with Mafiosos to "clear the air" between them. Instead, he gets two bullets in the back of the head, and a quick ride to a local funeral home where he is incinerated and, presumably, scattered to the wind.

Mystery apparently solved.

I believe I'll miss it.

#322 - Well, No Wonder...

Christmas is coming. Rapidly. However, the internet shopping junkies have already been trolling for deals, and the Woundup keeps popping up on their radar screens.

I suppose that's because folks began coming here by accident looking for Woody's Roundup® toys and such. My apologies. As I mentioned before, you won't find anything here about the Roundup. That's partly because I'm too old for that stuff, partly because my Woodyettes just aren't interested in that stuff, and partly because I fear Disney® Lawyers™ far too much to even mention Woody's Roundup©™® with impunity.

No, shoppers, at the moment the only shopping advice you'll find here is why you should avoid Il Divo™®etc. According to the Cranky Reviewer, Il Divo (so I quit attributing... so sue me) causes brain cancer, infertility, and is responsible for single-handedly destroying civilization as we know it. Or something like that. The Cranky Reviewer's reviews frankly begin to run together in my fevered brain at this festive time of year.

So, anyway, sorry if you came here under false pretenses.

Merry Christmas©!

#321 - Life By Committee - Revisited

Dredging through Drudge this evening I came across a reference to a highly disturbing article. A Bishop in the Church of England has indicated that children who are severely deformed or disabled at birth should be allowed to die under certain circumstances. At first, this struck me as sounding awfully familiar. But there's a small difference in this case. Holland's Groningen Protocol actually codifies circumstances under which life should be terminated - effectively placing the Dutch government in the role traditionally assigned to God, or courts (as when dealing with convicted murderers). In this case, however, Anglican Bishop Tom Butler of Southwick appears to be arguing for a more traditional approach to this deeply emotional issue. He indicates that

...there are occasions when it is compassionate to leave a severely disabled child to die.

With this particular statement I actually agree. When writing about the Groningen Protocol, I recounted the story of a young couple with whom I was acquainted whose very premature baby was born with multiple deformities, none the least of which was a brain that had developed with no more than a stem. After long consultations with family, doctors, and local church leaders they made the painful decision to not attempt any extraordinary lifesaving procedures; not even a respirator, if memory serves. The baby lived barely a week, during which they snuggled her, named her, blessed her, bonded with her as best they could, and generally enjoyed this small life for as long as God had granted them. It was a very significant experience for me, and I learned much about how we should protect both the lives as well as the spiritual welfare of our children and loved ones. Their family "portrait" probably still hangs on their family picture wall.

Reading further, however, I found this rather chilling statement by the Reverend Bishop:

[The Bishop] has also argued that the high financial cost of keeping desperately ill babies alive should be a factor in life or death decisions.

While I believe I know what prompted this statement, it unfortunately sounds far too Groningen-like for my taste.

Look, unless you're born rich or put off having children until you've made your pile, no one is ever ready for all the burden and responsibilities that go along with raising offspring. Even the rich ones have their challenges laid out for them, unless they prefer to abdicate everything to the care of their nanny. But the parent who, when presented with a desperately sick child, has as their first thought, "How will we pay for all of this?" is one who should have reconsidered becoming a parent in the first place.

Admittedly, I have only ever known a small handful of people who have had to go through these decisions in their own lives. Some, like the couple I mentioned previously, are friends. Others are extended family. A few are merely chance acquaintances. But in every single case when discussing the subject, their first and foremost thought was always, "What would be best for this child?" Thoughts of financial burden or worries about how to rearrange their lives to accomodate such a child are always secondary. For a true parent it has little to do with money or inconvenience, and everything to do with wishing - indeed, hoping against hope - that their precious baby didn't have to suffer so.

So while I think I understand that the Bishop was merely trying to provide some practical guidance in this instance, his concerns for financial considerations in what is already a highly emotionally charged decision for parents make the Anglican Church seem just a little cold-blooded.

It's not Groningen, but it could be.

#320 - More Public Service

To all you yahoos good people who arrive here looking for Woody's Drive-In in Salt Lake City, this link's for you.

I've visited Woody's a few times over the years. Mrs. Woody's brother happens to live in the area, and it's a sort of tradition for us. It's a cholesterol palace, but, hey, it's no Chuck-A-Rama either.

The food is pretty good and the atmosphere is friendly. Not a bad place to eat, but a heck of a commute from Anaheim, California.

#319 - Two Questions

(H/T: Dave Barry)

First, why is this considered news? This sort of thing happens all the time in the entertainment biz. This is why Trump invented pre-nups in the first place.

Second, whom does she think she's kidding?

Britney fears the raunchy footage will destroy her wholesome image[.]

She has a "wholesome image?"

[checks dictionary]

Umm... only if Bill Clinton is re-writing the dictionary. No, I believe Ms. Spears burned that particular bridge a looong time ago.

Makes for fun blog fodder, though.

#318 - Who Really Won?

Silly question, of course. According to the ever-reliable "the Onion," the politicians won!

Natch!

(H/T: Dave Barry)

#317 - Congratulations, Nancy and Howard!

Let me be the first to heartily congratulate the Democrats on their truly decisive victory in the House of Representatives. You have your absolute moral mandate. Good for you.

Not to pressure you, or anything, but I can't help thinking about Pelosi's First Hundred Days scenario. I've just been running back through some memes and threads over the past couple of years and wanted to point out to you what our expectations are, now that you're in power. I'll even be generous and give you two whole years:

1. You are not allowed to fail in Iraq. You can spin "fail" any way you wish, but failure is not an option. Certainly not based on what your expectations were while we were in control. If you have a plan for withdrawing our troops, now's the time. To be considered successful, however, let me remind you that at the same time you're bringing our troops home, the new Iraqi government must be able to continue to govern effectively for at least a few months after we leave. That will give you time to declare that it was Iraq's failure to govern and not our withdrawal that did absolutely nothing to ease the violence in that region.

2. Katrina must never again be allowed to happen. My goodness, the fuss you made over the government's multiple failures to deal with such devastation. So, I'm assuming that in the next two years you will not only have repaired the levee system, but will also have ensured that evacuation plans will not include having thousands of busses sit idle in a parking lot somewhere instead of using them to move people to higher ground.

3. Political corruption. Not allowed during your tenure. And we get to adjudicate your behavior by exactly the same standards you applied to Republicans. Fair?

4. Gay marriage. It goes without saying that one of your first orders of business will be to override the votes of people in all the states where they legally enacted protection of marriage laws. I just hope you're not expecting that we who voted for those laws will stand up and cheer when you do so. Please also do not act shocked when some of the more extreme elements of our party begin using the words "censure" and "impeachment" in conjunction with your name. This is not a threat, but merely a friendly warning.

5. Stem cell research. Just wanted you to make sure that when you pass stem cell research legislation, you have done so having already a complete knowledge of the true benefits of that research before you rush off to create (and then destroy) innocent lives. Note that I say "true benefits" rather than "political benefits." Really, we just might think a little less of you if those benefits turn out to be elusive.

6. Abortion. Now, just because I voted down our California initiative that would have required 48 hour notice to parents before terminating a minor's pregnancy, I don't want you to get the false impression that I somehow support abortion as a fundamental right. I believe I have made it abundantly clear in previous writings that I truly believe that elective abortion is a golden passport straight to Dante's seventh level. Although, since I imagine Hell to look a lot like the Capitol building, I suppose you'd be quite comfortable there.

7. Ooh! Let's not forget about the economy! Our expectations, now that Pelosi is the de facto empress of the nation, is that you will not only leave the economy in as good or better shape than it is now, but that you will also eliminate poverty and tax only the rich (defined as those people making more money than I do). You will also make it possible for corporations to continue to do business so they don't have to keep laying off thousands of workers every year.

8. Global warming. You will of course commit the United States to the Kyoto protocols, or whatever replaces them. This means that the United States will not only take the lead in eliminating global warming, but will also admit and apologize for having caused global warming in the first place. That means that, while you're busy keeping our economy on track, you will also be prepared to pay exorbitant amounts of money to developing nations who were callously destroyed by our negligence. We have a guilty conscience, after all.

9. Immigration. You have two years to resolve this thorny issue. Really, two years ought to be plenty of time, so long as we suddenly acquire a national backbone about our current revolving-door borders. May I point out that allowing thousands of people to cross our borders without control of any kind places us in a kind of double jeopardy? Sure, you have your potential terrorism problem, but there's also an economic angle to be considered here. Isn't it possible that those same rich people you plan to tax might get a little tired of supporting entire third-world nations within our own borders? You know how expensive health care is, for example. Just a thought. (I know I sound a tad cold-hearted on this one. My apologies. I just think it would be cheaper in the long run to simply help developing nations beef up their own health care rather than try to cure them here. Our doctors have better lawyers, and that's always more expensive.)

I could have added something about impeaching Bush, but I kind of see that as a waste of our time, don't you? I mean, we had Clinton dead to rights - in flagrante delecto so to speak - and wasted all that time in the trials rather than preventing 9/11. So I'll just leave the whole Bush-impeachment issue off the table for now. I'd suggest you'd do the same, but, hey, I'm not in power anymore.

Anyway that's it. It's not much more than we would ask of Santa Claus, really, except that Santa is more likely to deliver on his promises. I'm sure you understand; we just really don't want you guys to mess up now that you've got the ball.

#316 - Fun With Insomnia

Yet another thing you can do with insomnia is...

REDESIGN A PERFECTLY SERVICEABLE BLOG PAGE.

Of all the time-wasting nonsense. My only excuse is that I've had flu today (now going well into tomorrow) and I'm restless. I'll try to get some sleep now, but I just wanted you to know how much I suffer for my art.

Well, I don't so much suffer as mess around.

Actually, I'm avoiding housework for the most part.

'Night.

#315 - Uncle Woody's Election Night Woundup - UPDATED

UPDATE: Whoops. Serves me right for speaking too early in the process. Turns out that I was overly optimistic about the state-wide offices.

Uncle Woody's final ballot initiative tally remains 5 out of 13. The two close ones (84 and 90) were decided not in Uncle Woody's favor. More bond debt and some private developer will soon be telling you to find lodgings somewhere else, thank you very much. Boo hoo.

Uncle Woody's final tally on the high-visibility offices of Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Insurance Commissioner was nearly commpletely wrong. Turns out Arnie will be getting in touch with his inner-Democrat as he works with Dems in all of those offices, except for Insurance Commissioner. 'Nother words, business as nearly usual here in the Golden State.

For all that, my "shoulder shrug" (as attributed by Way Off Bass) has not materially changed:
--------------------------------------------------
I realize it's obligatory for a Republican blogger to say something about today's election. What I'm really supposed to say, of course, is that I'm depressed, gonna slit my wrists, and move to, um, well, whatever nation has a strong conservative base today, and, um... gee. Can't think of one right off-hand. Cam mentioned Australia, but only because they have a PM with a backbone right now. The rest of the country is just as politically screwed up as we are.

Oh, well. No matter. Even though I'm supposed to wax suicidal over our apparent loss in the House, I just can't get too worked up over it. Really. So Pelosi is the Presumed Speaker now. So what? If she's busy in Washington, that means she's not paying too much attention to California, and that suits me just fine. Also, I can't say we didn't have this one coming. We've known for some time that anti-war sentiment would fester into a revenge/payback election in the mid-term, and it did. It was inevitable. Enough people are fed up with the Iraq situation that they're really hoping a Democratically controlled House will somehow be able to talk some sense into our international policy.

Fat chance, of course. To do that, they still need to elect a Democrat to the Big House in 2008, and right now they can't find a coherent enough voice to galvanize their base. If Romney doesn't foul himself up in the next two years, he could make things very uncomfortable for any Democratic front-runner. McCain ceased to be relevant to any conservative base a long time ago and is now only fit for news fodder.

But back to today. Those who actually bothered to read my "Curmudgeon's Guide for Young Conservative Voters" already know that Uncle Woody called 5 out of 13 ballot initiatives with 2 still close enough that no one can call 'em. The two, by the way, are the Parks (and other infrastructure) Bond initiative - #84 was leaning Y (against my N) at last count. Prop 90 was leaning N against my Y. 90 is the Eminent Domain initiative, and I think there are enough developers and business execs in this state to keep this one down. I'll probably lose this one.

The ones I pegged were: 1A (Transportation Fund Protection) - Y; 83 (Sex Offender Monitoring) - Y; 85 (Waiting Period & Parental Notification) - N; 87 (Alternative Energy Bureaucracy) - N (this is particularly satisfying because Bill Clinton appeared in numerous ads giving a doctored stump speech to urge its passage. Heh.); 89 (Campaign Reform) - N.

Of course I'm not losing sleep over the ones that got away. Most of them were either tax increases being voted down, or bond issues being approved. We just live in a state where the word "debt" is meaningless to far too large a portion of the population. The voting population, at any rate. I'm used to it now.

Locally the races ran exactly as anticipated. Our congressman ran unopposed in this district, so no surprise there. Schwarzenegger won against Angelides, and even though I'm no fan of the Muscle-Bound One, I'm far less a fan of the Fraudulent Huckster. Republican wins for Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, and Insurance Commissioner are also satisfying. In fact, of the statewide offices, the only head-scratcher is Jerry Brown (former "Governor Med Fly" Brown!) for Attorney General. His campaign ads called him "independent." Not since he left his father's house he isn't. Also, the man has never shown himself to be particularly tough on crime. He probably grows his own pot, but that may just be my personal hysteria speaking.

Uncle Woody's Bottom Line: No change. Really. Not one race that was either won or lost today will have any immediate impact on me or my family. Gas prices will go up or down depending on whether OPEC can quit squabbling long enough to limit production as they continually threaten. Public education will continue to become less and less relevant to my circumstances over time, unless someone begins to threaten my rights to homeschool. Nothing about that in this election, that I've heard or seen. My taxes will not be going up in the immediate future, unless Arnie listens to his Chiefette of Staff too much more.

Having Democrats in charge of the House only means that Bush now will have an excuse for his lame border-control policies. It also means that we will continue to hear partisan bickering over how and when to disengage ourselves from Iraq, with the Dems pushing harder than ever for their cut-and-run scenario. Bush is pretty much a lame duck now, but would have been with or without a Republican House for the next two years anyway.

Back to bed, citizens. Nothing to see here.

#314 - It's Coming!

I'm pretty sure the Book of Revelation names this as one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

#313 - Way Off Bass Reviews Christmas Albums

Not a moment too soon, too.

Cam and I are (arguably) musicians. That means that we not only have both performed in our fair share of Christmas concerts over the years, but we also have a fairly good-sized collection of Christmas music to help get us in the mood every year at about this time.

(This is a lie, actually. Unlike the annoyance we feel at Christmas muzak assaulting our senses at the mall a full month before we're ready for it, Christmas musicians begin dealing with Christmas music in September. What's more, we enjoy it. So, it was only a lie to say that Christmas hits us at this particular time of year. It was not a lie to say that we have good-sized collections. This has been your caveat emptor for this post. Thank you.)

Since Little Bro has remained single for a goodly portion of his adult life, it's safe to say that he has had, oh, ample opportunity to build up his collection. It's also safe to say that, good as my collection is, I still envy him his. Generally.

Anyway, check out the reviews WOB has posted thus far. I'll have to think about the "Cornets for Christmas" album, but I'm already looking for ways to drop broad hints to Mrs. Woody that her darling hubby would love to get his ears on the "Christmas Fantasy" album. I can always use another recording of "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" and I, too, love the Warlock "Bethlehem Down." I first became acquainted with Warlock's music in high school, and I've been a devotee ever since.

Seasonal Greetings!

#312 - Ad Hominem Kerry

Good ol' John Kerry. Like my brother, I really miss Kerry from a blogging perspective. The man just reeks of opportunities for snarky posting of the highest caliber. He is one of the reasons the Woundup came into being in the first place. (Well, that, and not wanting my brother to have all the fun.)

Kerry, for his part, has not left us bereft of material. Although other things have occupied my mind and column space of late, Mr. Kerry has once again managed to prompt at least one more post.

Kerry's blab about our "uneducated" military backfires for a couple of reasons. I work with many, many military and ex-military individuals who are as sharp as any MBA's I've ever met. Not a few of them actually happen to be MBA's, as well as a decent smattering of post-graduate degrees from all the academic disciplines.

By the same token, many of the people I work with who had military careers are, like myself, relatively uneducated. That is, they never pursued their college studies. They opted instead to enter the workplace and prove themselves as being just as capable and intelligent - indeed perhaps more so in many cases - than their "educated" counterparts.

Whether college grads or not, they chose military careers for many reasons, none the least of which was receiving assistance with their schooling. The fact that they loved their country enough to have wanted to serve is, I think, one of the burrs under Kerry's saddle, but that's fodder for another post.

But Kerry himself is germaine to the point of this post: Lack of a formal education is no indicator of intelligence or ability. Mr. Kerry likewise proves that neither is having an education any guarantee of smarts. (Appendix A would be John Murtha.)

Keep talking, John. It always does our side a world of good.

#311 - The Curmudgeon's Prayer

UPDATE: Howdy and welcome to all you Junkyard Blogites. Enjoy your visit!

It's nearly 3:30 AM here on the left coast, and I have insomnia. Bad insomnia. I'm about to try to lay down and sleep and will hope against hope that my boss wasn't expecting to see my shiny forehead physically in the office today. I still plan to report to work, mind you, but the line between working virtually and virtually working will be much, much thinner today.

In the meantime, if I were one to recite prayers, this is one I might consider:

Now I lay me down to sleep.
My baggy eyes are sunken deep.
If I should wake with my alarm
I plan to do the darn'd thing harm.

I'll throw it 'gainst the wall at first.
I'll want to hear its innards burst.
(If there is justice in this life,
I'll not wake up my sleepy wife.)

And should I "Snooze" and not "Disarm"
I'll have to shoot my old alarm
Who's been with me through thick and thin.
A .38 should do it in.

Yet, since I've aged a bit of late
and even though the clock I hate,
I'm sure come morn all will be well
'cause I'll likely sleep straight through the bell.

'Night.

#310 - And the Site Meter Says...

I enjoy looking through the referrals to the Woundup as tracked by Site Meter. They really do yield some surprises from time to time, and show just how many ways - both accidental and deliberate - people come across this blog.

For instance, say "Howdy" to Scrummager over at Townhall.com. He was nice enough to place me on his Blog Roll, and I have reciprocated. Don't know much about him yet, except that he appears to be a retired law enforcement type who's enjoying his life in Sanford, Florida. He also claims to hold the ranking of 17,234,675 at Technorati which, he claims, are still better odds than the Florida lottery.

Heh.

I apologize to the poor soul who ended up here whilst looking for Woody's Roundup® toys. I mean, this person had to be desperate. I was on page 8 on Yahoo! and the summary under the link said nothing about toys. Well, that's not strictly true. I did refer to North Korea's playing around with dangerous "tinker toys," but I also used the word "nuclear" in that context.

Is it that time of year already? Woody'd better get on the ball.

Not buried quite so deep on AOL's search engine ("Powered by Google!") was the Cranky Reviewer's review of Il Divo. You remember, don't you? Cam compared the Il Divo Christmas "collection" favorably with William Shatner's "The Transformed Man." Oh, yeah, that review! The search string, by the way, was "IL DIVO FOR HIRE." One shudders at the portent of this phrase.

Meanwhile, the search phrase "homeschooled cover face spelling bee" on Google scored my riposte of CBS' "special report" on homeschooling that aired in October of '03. Oddly enough, CBS never fails to find fault with homeschooling in general, and Christian homeschoolers in particular. But then, if the current crop of CBS "journalists" are all the product of public education, that may well explain a few things.

Finally, I apparently have ensnared more than a few innocents with my ever-popular (in my own mind) Curmudgeon's Guide for Young Conservative Voters. All Uncle Woody can say is, if young conservatives in California are looking to Uncle Woody for advice as to how to vote this November, this country is in for ginormous trouble. I'm flattered, really, young people. But do us all a favor... figure it out for yourselves! I have enough to feel guilty for, if some of my detractors are correct.

Oh, one more before I go; apparently some operative was checking on sources for links to Dick Mountjoy's official campaign website. For you history buffs, waaaay back in May I posted a piece about the laughable state of California's Republican office seekers, particularly Mr. Mountjoy. Apparently, whomever was checking for links to their boss's site found my little missive. Whether they read it or even took it seriously remains to be seen. I can tell you, however, that my opinions have not changed since May. Mountjoy is without question the single most invisible Republican candidate we've ever had for US Senator. I'd be tempted to write "Dick WHO??" on the ballot, except that we're electronic here in Orange County and I'm afraid that Hugo Chavez will laugh at me, or call me "the Devil," or whatever it is our little unhinged neighbor to the extreme south does these days.

Blogs. Gotta love 'em.

#309 - This Is Precisely Why...

...we are not a cat family.

#308 - Why We Homeschool (Reason 429)

Bullet-proof textbooks.

I'm serious. A candidate for Oklahoma State School Superintendent by the name of Bill Crozier really wants to pursue this idea, whether he wins the election or not.

My first reaction was to laugh out loud. I really couldn't help myself. The thought of kids and teachers in a Columbine-type setting crouching behind their textbooks or trying to decide which vital body part to cover with them was just a little too ludicrous for my warped sense of humor.

Then, of course, as I related this story to Mrs. Woody, I realized that it's really my sense of horror that we even need to consider such a thing that is my overriding reaction. In fact, it was the memory of Columbine and numerous other shooting tragedies that sobered me up pretty quickly.

I just can't see this idea adding any real protection to kids around the country. For one thing, it will drive the already prohibitive cost of educational texts sky high. Can you just hear the order clerk? "Will that be with or without the armor-piercing-resistant cover?" For another, I have a hard time imagining that kids are going to take time to think about hiding behind a textbook while in the midst of an all-out panic. How much would a bullet-resistant textbook weigh in comparison with today's glorified paper-weights? Think the kids are having back pains today? Just wait.

All I know is that guns are not an issue here at Wonderwood Academy. Neither, fortunately, are bullet-proof textbooks.

#307 - In Case You Missed It

Yesterday was declared by our president as "United Nations Day 2006." I know there may have been a few of you who missed that important date, so let me just say that we here at the Woundup celebrated by waking up, getting showered and dressed, and driving twenty six miles to Seal Beach to give a fifteen minute briefing on a tool that I, er, we did not build. How's that for international diplomacy?

In all seriousness, let's pause for a few moments to recognize the U. N. for everything they've contributed over the past six decades:

1. They, um, they... give me a minute... Okay, they've been squatting on perfectly good land in New York City that otherwise would have become tenement apartments by now. They are welcome.

2. They also get nifty license plates that pretty much allow them to park on the same sidewalks where NY taxis are trying to drive.

3. They spend a fair amount of time vetoing anything the United States puts forward for discussion.

4. They keep Kofi Annan from participating directly in his family scandals.

5. Let's not forget serving as a platform for every U.S.-hating socialist who carries a grudge and a picture of Cindy Sheehan in his wallet.

I know I sure feel grateful.

#306 - There's Gambling, and Then...

Cox and Forkum's latest.

So the Fed is restricting online gambling. Big hairy deal. Hey, it's no skin off my teeth since I'm no fan of gambling. It's not entertainment, it's an addiction. Period. (For you who disagree, please refer to Woody's Woundup Rules of Engagement, section 3, paragraph 12 which states, "My blog... my opinion. Your opinion? Your blog.")

That said, here's the ironic quote of the day: (from the evidently omniscient Ayn Rand Institute)

"Why do supporters of the law deny individuals the freedom to spend their hard-earned money on gambling? Because, they say, people will bet and lose more than they can afford. In other words, individuals are inherently incapable of making rational decisions, and thus it is the government's job to protect us from ourselves. This vicious, paternalistic idea has no place in a free society."

I'll lay odds that whoever wrote that has a standing account with Trump in Atlantic City.

So, let me get this straight. People apparently want to restrict some people's rights to gamble away their hard-earned money. This I understand. But they turn to the Federal Government to do that? This is a "rational decision?"

Isn't that, like, fighting fire with gasoline?

Just askin'.

#305 - Campaign Wall of Shame

So it's not just the water in New York. Here in Orange County we have our own candidates who are guilty by association (or otherwise).

Part of the problem is that these turkeys are so intent on hitting all the current political "hot buttons," that they conveniently forget to keep their collective noses clean during the campaign.

Or could it be (he wonders out loud) that the GOP are really just executing a cleverly designed exit strategy so they can blame the Dems when nothing works as advertised in the next two years?

Nah... that's too cynical, even for a life-long Republican.

#304 - Another One Bites the Dust...

(via Drudge)

John Spencer, the GOP challenger to Hillary Clinton, just proved two maxims of mine:

1. Politicians are physiologically incapable of shutting their mouths when it's absolutely necessary. If there's any space in a politician's mouth, his or her foot will be inserted at the most inopportune (or, if you're on the other side of the argument, opportune) time.

2. Career politicians are rarely worth the money they print. Really. Incendiary members of Congress have never (repeat: never) been good for anything except a media circus. Spencer may as well go back to being a local crime party boss, or whatever it was he did for a living before becoming a professional idiot.

Freedom of speech occasionally can and will work against the speaker.