You are what you watch?

Yesterday, while waiting for some car repairs to be completed, my son and I had the opportunity to take in bits of an afternoon soap opera. While thankfully my reading material was good, and I didn't catch too much of the "plot," the advertisers gave a fascinating glimpse into a typical soap opera viewer.

A quick list; a couple of antidepressants, joint pain medication, diabetes medication, frozen comfort foods, and Wal-Mart. One would infer that the typical viewer of "Field Marshal Krankenhaus" is overweight to the point of joint troubles and type 2 diabetes due to over indulgence in comfort foods, and is somewhat down about the whole deal.

Since this is a "family" blog, I won't comment about what typical football commercials--beer, cars, and vasodilators--might say about typical football fans.

Weakness to strength

I would guess that there are some dads out there, and probably also wives of dads, who suffer greatly with the reality that keeping "Job's contract with his eyes" and not look upon a maiden (or otherwise) is awfully difficult. Take heart, though; reality is that your very weakness is your opportunity to be able to really help them with the issue of modesty. Just be ready to quote:

"Kiddo, I've been struggling with the lust of the eyes for decades now, and reality is that that [insert article of clothing here] draws the eyes right to your [insert body part here] and is going to lead a young man's mind (as if he needed the leading) somewhere else than the contemplation of your sterling conversational abilities and quiet spirit. Just trust me on this one."

A sweet new ride

As one taking part in the Pelosi/Obama/Biden recession, one has to take it easy on spending. On the other hand, I did have the opportunity to give my ten year old daughter a hot new ride for only forty bucks.

A 1975 (or so) Schwinn Collegiate. No kidding. With springs under the seat, swinging your leg across the saddle of this hot rod is like going from a one ton Dodge to a Caddy, even if your legs are six inches longer than your daughter's. I found the bike in a junk pile at a friend's house, picked it up when I saw the old Schwinn badge, and discovered to my delight that apart from dead tires and a touch of rust, it was in really good shape.

With new tires, she took it 18 miles without getting tired. If you're in the market for a good bicycle, don't ignore the oldies but goodies. They can save you a lot of cash, and prevent you from getting saddle sore to boot.

Another thing I'm confused about

Apparently, the same head of the Heimatssicherheitsdienst (Department of Homeland Security) who cannot figure out that you don't accuse veterans of being terrorists without providing evidence is being considered as a possible nominee to the Supreme Court.

Are there no competent legal minds out there that we could tap for this position? Perhaps not. If nominated, hopefully the ABA reminds President Blago of the fact that the exercise of law does, in fact, depend upon the facts presented.

Lessee.....

We have an elected official who raised large portions of his funds from unions.

The same elected official overrode bankruptcy laws (in clear violation of Article 1 of the Constitution, which requires uniform bankruptcy laws) to award one of those unions billions of dollars of company equity to which they are not entitled under bankruptcy law.

There is as of yet no impeachment filed in the House of Representatives. Why not? This is clear, obvious corruption.

Mission accomplished

My heroic ten year old daughter had earned her choice of weapons by writing out ten chapters of the Bible. I had to get her something good.

Barrel?

Check.

Cartridges?

Check.

Deadlier than a sword?

Check.

Not what you were thinking. But close.

Taxing pop?

Apparently, people in the Blagojevich (oops, Obama) administration are advocating a tax on carbonated beverages to "help health." One wonders if they ever considered doing an even better thing by ending subsidies for growing corn and sugar, and maybe they could create an even greater incentive to good health by working to return healthcare to the free market.

Government planning achievements

Apparently, the new Yankee Stadium (costing $800 million or so) is so overpriced, they can't even sell out seats when the Red Sox come to town.

Great idea, y'all. I remind this forum that Wrigley Field was built for only $250,000($5 million adjusted for inflation), was funded completely with private money, is still in use, and is the best ballpark in the league. When you pay attention to ROI, you get Wrigley Field sold out. When you don't, you get the new Yankee Stadium.

Origins of "finance"

As an engineer, I've always been fascinated as colleagues go off to other jobs, presumably better paying, in the large, nebulous field of "finance." And so yesterday I took a look at my dictionaries to see what the origins of the word might be.

1990 dictionary: from the Old French "finans," or "ransom."

Noah Webster's 1828: from Latin and French words meaning a "fine."

Hmmmm.....I may yet decide to start demanding ransoms or fines for a living, or I may realize that modern word usage isn't completely hostage to etamology. Hopefully the latter, but I figured my "vast readership" might enjoy the irony of one of our most respected (and disrespected) professions having its root in feudal hostage-taking.

Got a high tech job in Wisconsin

Yes, a friend and I took an ancient grader (I'm thinking 1920s era) and figured out a way to tow it with a minivan. It is amazing what you can do with old equipment and a moderately powered vehicle, to put it mildly. Site is my church's camp near Somerset, Wisconsin.

Real men of genius

Word has it that Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn is in line for an appointment to the board of directors of GM by President Obama. Why so?

Well, he's apparently rejecting the advice of the attorney general of Wisconsin, and has instructed his officers to "take down" anyone found carrying a pistol openly (which is perfectly legal there), disarm them, and only THEN figure out if they're carrying legally.

Now think about this one for a minute; he's telling his officers to attack armed men without provocation, a deed that really ought to provoke, you know, an armed response. It's the kind of brilliant thinking that could land a lot of officers and citizens in the morgue, and fits perfectly with the kind of "thinking" President Blago wants to enshrine at General Motors.

Seriously, I hope and pray that this ends without someone being killed, and that it also ends with Mr. Flynn's firing. Even apart from his unconstitutional views on gun control, he's demonstrated that he has no clue about responsible police tactics.

H/T Northern Muckraker

Some consolation about the GM takeover

At least you'll finally be able to buy that Trabant you always wanted, at least if you're willing to wait ten to fifteen years for it. Pray that Geithner doesn't do anything to help the bicycle or motorcycle industry, or we'll all be walking.

Seriously, if the government wanted to do something horrible to General Motors, they could hardly have done better. Government and the UAW controlling 90% of the board of directors? The guys who can't figure out that hybrid cars are a money loser are running the business? Gettelfinger, who can't figure out that labor at twice the cost of what Toyota and Honda are paying is NOT cost effective, is going to be working the numbers for GM?

My prediction; tens of billions of dollars more down the rathole in subsidies, and at least one of the "Detroit 3" goes through Chapter 7 bankruptcy within five years.

I am holding out hope that stockholders will vote this one down, allowing GM to go through Chapter 11, but that hope is pretty dim.

Complying with a possible Obama appointee

Apparently, a prospective "regulatory czar" for Czar Obama has come up with the idea that whatever ideas someone puts on the Internet, he's got to link to a contrary position.

Here, of course, is the contrary position. Not that I expect Czar Blagojevich to catch on to the principles in that document any time soon, but per his nominee's request, there it is.

And what is it with people in government naming a prestigious position after the despotic rulers of old Russia?

A letter I'd love to see

Dear Miss Perez Hilton

I heard your comments about my daughter on YouTube. Let's step outside.

Mr. Prejean

Interesting....

I've been reading through the books of history in the Scriptures, and here's (as far as I can tell) a very interesting set of statistics about Solomon.

700 wives, 300 concubines, one child (Rehoboam) named.

One son indicates he wasn't totally sterile. What happened to others that ought to have been conceived? Did Solomon mimic Onan to prevent further alliances, or did he do the same to prevent the offering of his children to Molech, or....were some children born, but sacrificed to Molech?

Solomon also seems to have (see Ecclesiastes) dreaded handing over his estate to Rehoboam. One might guess that in all his (pagan) attentions to his wives, he neglected to raise up his own son in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We won't know this side of Heaven, but the questions raised here should be very sobering to us.