Oilman T. Boone Pickens has been all over the airwaves lately promoting his “Pickens Plan,” which is pretty cool; he’s putting (some of) his money where his mouth is, trying to effect change in America’s energy policy. What bothers me about his ads, though, is this line: “Projected over the next 10 years the cost will be $10 trillion — it will be the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.” See, that makes it sound like some sort of welfare program, or income redistribution program - as if America is simply giving the $10 trillion away, or the money is being somehow “transferred” to another entity without our knowledge or agreement.
The truth is, it’s not a “transfer” — it’s an EXCHANGE. An exchange of money in return for goods and services. It’s called capitalism, albeit not exactly “laissez-faire.” We want oil. “They” have oil. We give them money, they give us oil in return.
In other words, it is NOT a wealth transfer - it’s actually millions of transactions, wherein one side pays the other side for something of value. Now, is it entirely a “fair” deal? Possibly not - with so many politicians & nations involved, and taxes and tariffs and such, no one can put an actual cost and benefit tag on the transactions. But the fact remains: it is NOT a transfer of wealth. The $10 trillion represents transactions of money for goods.
I did not…have…sexual relations with that woman…” Only in this case, the woman is Miss Hunter, not Miss Lewinsky, and the lying pol is John Edwards, not Bill Clinton.
I just don’t understand how someone could outright and blatantly LIE to the American people like that.
John McCain should select J.C. Watts as his Vice-Presidential candidate.
Barack Obama should select retired general Wesley Clark as his Vice-Presidential candidate. Both moves would likely satisfy the “base” of each party.
Obama’s selection of Clark would give him the military & foreign-policy depth that he desperately needs. As a former Presidential candidate, Clark has been vetted about as thoroughly as possible. He also would represent maturity, something that Obama, at the tender age of 46, doesn’t quite project.
Watts is much more of a conservative than McCain and would reassure the right-wing that McCain “gets” it. He’s a former Congressman, a sports hero, and man of the cloth; how much more conservative could he be? And true, the fact that he is black might elicit enough interest among Obama supporters to at least give the Republican ticket a second look, if not draw some Dems away outright.
In light of higher gas prices, and so much public concern about environmental issues, I got to wondering: why does the US Postal Service deliver on Saturdays? Most non-retail businesses - and government agencies - operate primarily on a Monday through Friday schedule. So why does the USPS continue working on Saturday? It strikes me that discontinuing Saturday service would be a huge public-relations coup. And as much as I hate environmentalism and eco-religion, strictly from an economic perspective, the amount of gas that would be saved from such a move would be enormous
So. Anyone know why the USPS delivers on Saturday?
First, read this:
Don’t get me wrong—I like squirming, drooling, and sporadically attempting to focus on colors and shapes as much as the next guy. But of all the various activities one can choose to pursue in life, crying is tops as far as I’m concerned. In my opinion, I find nothing is more fulfilling than a good steady holler. It takes no experience to begin, and within moments, all one’s needs are instantly met!
Now, tell me this: doesn’t it sound remarkably like it applies to far-left progressive Demo weenies? Actually, it was written from the point of view of a baby. But is there a difference?
Quite a sobering - and largely accurate - article from Emily Yoffe at Slate.com about the enormous rise in out-of-wedlock births, and some of the causes and resulting problems. At the end comes this justified slap at oh-so-progressive types - think Murphy Brown - who are loathe to criticize, condemn, or otherwise judge:
But perhaps in our desire not to make moral judgments about personal choices, young women wholly unprepared to be mothers are not getting the message that there are dire consequences of having (unprotected) sex with guys too lame to be fathers.
There is a scene in the teen pregnancy movie Juno in which the title character, a 16-year-old who has decided not to abort her unplanned baby but to give it up for adoption, is having an ultrasound. The technician, thinking she has on the examining table another knocked-up teenager planning to raise her child, makes disparaging remarks about children born into those circumstances.
We are supposed to loathe this character and cheer when Juno’s stepmother puts her in her place. But I found myself sympathetic to the technician. Why is it verboten to express the truth that growing up with a lonely, overwhelmed mother and a missing father is a recipe for childhood pain?
Dan Quayle was right, for the most part. And notice that Wolf Blitzer, when interviewing Quayle, tries to somehow get Quayle to regret his remarks about the Murphy Brown issue, and asks him if he would like to “rephrase” them. Quayle, smartly, says that he would not.
I’m sure that some of you have seen or read about the controversy of the “Please Speak English” sign at a Philly cheesesteak shop. Over at MetaFilter, I posted my two cents about the issue, siding with the owner of the shop by stating: Private enterprise. Free speech. His business, his livelihood. To me, it’s strictly a matter of free enterprise and free speech.
But my two cents enraged someone named “Rich” who sent me the following e-mail:
I understand you’re a racist white asshole, but do you really mean to imply that nobody is allowed to complain about racism? That said, it’s your life, so feel free to be a crazy, asshole,
death-worshipping, anti-christian, right-wing asshole, who basically lives his entire life as the opposite of Jesus.Your life. Your right to be an unChristian racist fuck.
DIAF. HAND.
Wow. Quite a rant, eh? Let’s break it down:
I am not racist. I am white. I don’t think most people consider me an “asshole.” I’m not crazy. I am certainly not “death-worshipping.” I am anti-Christian, in the sense that I am an atheist. I am not a “fuck.” I do veer towards the right-wing. I do live my life as the “opposite of Jesus,” in the sense that I do not preach altruism or worship invisible pink unicorns.
Oh, and I’m not sure what the “DIAF HAND” reference means.
But overall, I think that “Rich” proves, once again, that the true intolerant racists generally tend to be left-wing liberals. His e-mail is filled with so much hatred and venom that I am sure that he is progressive weenie, puffed up with so much pride about how enlightened and tolerant he is, all the while spewing venom at anyone with views different than his.