Watching Bobby Jindal's report on hurricane precautions

...gave me some insight into what a governor can do and has to do. He exhibited mastery of a very serious situation, based on expertise and judgment. An executive such as a governor has much more responsibility than a senator does.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter how useless a senator is. There are plenty of senators who are crooks and liars and dumb to boot, but their stupidity and dishonesty don't really affect anyone much. I'm not referring to the senatorial powerhouses such as Ted Kennedy, but to run-of-the-mill dolts like Chris Dodd. A governor, however--like Kathleen Bianco-- can really louse things up.

So I would say that Sarah Palin has more relevant experience than Barack Obama does.

I have to moderate comments now....

because I am going to say the unsayable.

I like Bush. G W Bush, current president, and proud trampler of civil rights of Democrats. I mean to say: aren't the prisons full of Democrats?--Oh, no, that's Denver. Trample harder, George--they're still showing signs of life.

I am one of the 30 percent who approve of GWB. I think he tries to do what he considers right for the country, no matter how much he is reviled and hated. If popularity mattered to him, he would have set a different course.

So far, whatever he is doing, New York City is still intact; so is Washington, DC. Chicago. The Statue of Liberty. Hoover Dam. The Golden Gate Bridge. American nuclear facilities. All of these are still present and accounted for. Could any of Bush's activities have contributed to this, or is it just a happy coincidence?

He's made plenty of mistakes, of course. His public relations are a disaster. He should have made his case for the war in Iraq to the people of this country. He should have not been loyal to losers like Scott McLaren. He should have kicked ass at the State Department and the CIA. He should have changed strategy in Iraq when he saw that what he was doing wasn't working.

Still, I've lived a long time, and I doubt whether I have ever seen, or ever shall see, a president who is such a dedicated public servant.

Note to "Anonymous:" bugger off. I don't want to hear from you.

Suggestion for a caller direction system

From my brother, the genius:

Hello, and thank you for calling Furndock Corporation. Your call means nothing to us because we do not value our customers or their time. If we did, we would have a human to answer our phone. However, humans cost money and your time is free, at least for us, so we have bought a cheap automatic caller direction system. Since careful programming of this machine also costs money, we have programmed it very badly which means that you will waste a great deal of time getting to the person you want, if you get the person at all, which isn't very likely. We don't give a damn how much this inconveniences you.

I often think that we could solve the problem of unemployment by hiring every single unemployed person to answer the phone instead of using these caller direction systems. That would be the kingdom of heaven on earth and is as likely to happen as the kingdom of heaven is likely to come to earth.

Oops, I forgot--when Barack Obama is president, the oceans will recede. Can he spare a little of his time to cure the caller direction problem?

Nancy Pelosi speaks

In her view, natural gas is not a fossil fuel.

Good to know that, Nancy, old girl. Thanks for clearing that up.

From the interview:

MR. BROKAW: ...talking about the energy plan. And then we read in The Wall Street Journal that you and your husband have made a substantial investment in the plan that T. Boone Pickens has put forward, which has a heavy emphasis on natural gas as well.

REP. PELOSI: But let me see if you call substantial 03 three percent of our investments.

MR. BROKAW: Oh, it's what, between 100 and $200,000.

REP. PELOSI: No, no, it was between 50 and $100,000, and it's part of an, you know, entrepreneurial package. This is the package we sign up for, this is what they invest in. But that's not the point. I'm, I'm, I'm investing in something I believe in. I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels.

Here's what I want to know: if 100,000, or 50,000 represents 3 percent of her wealth, her net worth must be--you do the math--quite a lot.

So what I want to know is, how many houses does Nancy Pelosi have?

Is going to church a bad idea for a presidential candidate?

Usually politicians make a big to-do about attending church, being believers, loving Jesus, etc., ad nauseam. Remember Bill Clinton on the steps of the church with his prayerbook in his hand? And all those prayer breakfasts?

For Barack Obama, unfortunately, the answer is yes, going to church was a bad idea. I bet he's wishing he had slept in on Sunday mornings, rather than attend Rev Wright's hatefests for 20 years.

An old post becomes relevant

Now that Joe Biden is hot news, I can do no better than to link to this old post:

Joe Biden, (D, Delaware), is the man with the golden foot in his mouth.

Hysterical commentors of all political persuasions have jumped all over his slightly lame comment, re Indians, 7-11s, and Dunkin Donuts.

If he had his mouth wired shut, Biden might be a candidate for President. But he keeps getting into hot water. Years ago, it was for quoting a speech from a member of the House of Commons without attribution. This puts him miles ahead of most of his fellow senators, who probably don't know what the House of Commons is. (Hint: it's not in Okinawa. Nor is it a house of what used to be called ill repute near Las Vegas, Nevada.)

What brings this on? you ask. I'm glad you asked. In looking at my statistics I notice several google searches about Biden, 7-11s, Dunkin Donuts, etc., which have landed on my site. I have never mentioned Biden, 7-11s, Dunkin Donuts, or even Indian food. The closest I have come to this is mentioning that I now live in Delaware. I haven't even mentioned Delaware that much, preferring to dump on New Jersey, a much larger and easier target.

I mean, Delaware is so small, we only have one Congressman. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. One is plenty. We only have three counties. We don't have any urban cesspools like Newark (NJ)or Camden. No sales tax. Just tolls, which are mostly levied on people who are trying to get the hell out of Delaware and go somewhere else, like New Jersey.

So now I have mentioned Biden, et al., feel free to google these topics and come straight to my site.

Biden is not the worst pick, not by a long shot. I believe he is quite intelligent, for a Democrat.

The most boring sport in the world

I am referring to volleyball. I never liked it. I don't like it in a gym or on the beach. I don't like it on the ocean. Or with green eggs and ham.

I've got a grudge against volleyball. When I was a kid, I was forced to play volleyball in gym class. Since I was extremely near-sighted, I never saw the ball coming at me until it hit me somewhere, usually in the stomach, but sometimes in other parts of my anatomy. Neither team wanted to have me on their side, for some reason.

I understand why gym teachers love it. All you need is a net and a ball. The students and the gym are already supplied by the management, so there you are. No lesson plan needed. Just line the kids up on either side of the net, go outside for a smoke, and the hour has safely passed. And after 25 years of this kind of stuff, you can collect a pension. With free health benefits.

But why would anyone want to watch it? Particularly in prelims, quarter finals, etc, etc, ad nauseam. Broadcast the finals if you must so we can see which country won, and let it go at that. They don't even have cute uniforms.

BTW, nobody needs to e-mail me the reason guys want to watch beach volleyball. I already figured it out. Still, beach volleyball! Why would people want to play stupid games on the beach, sweat a lot, and get sand in their bottoms, when they could sit quietly under an umbrella reading a book, with an occasional dip in the ocean? I guess some of us are incapable of sitting still and are never happy unless engaged in some organized activity.

Do any of my readers have another candidate for the most boring sport in the world? I can be open-minded about this sort of thing, so send me your suggestions.

Holmes thinks Americans are idiots

I don't think so. It's all about the name.

Fairness! Who could be against fairness? Fairness is, well, fair. It's an American virtue. We are fair people. We admire fairness. The people who name these things are not stupid. They know that whoever sets the terms of the debate wins.

Thus the peace movement. Not the surrender movement, or the anti-war movement. Or, God forbid, the pro-Saddam Hussein movement. Peace is really, really cool--who wants to be against peace, besides slavering, blood-lusting bigots? If you're against peace, you must want to murder babies by impaling them on the end of bayonets. Stands to reason.

So if you want to start a lefty organization, call it the Children's Defense Fund. Only unfeeling brutes are against children. And children must be defended, mustn't they? Someone has already invented a Children's Defense Fund, as it happens, so you'll have to come up with your own name for your organization. Try to include Hope and Change in the title. Obama did that, and has been quite pleased with the results.

Don't talk about crippling the economy, talk about saving the environment! Doing the latter will insure the former, but so what? Only the dopy slaves of middleclassness will suffer. The better class of people (us) can still jet around the globe, lecturing the great unwashed.

Is it an insult to be called a Jew?

My friend (Jewish) thinks it might be. She thinks "Jewish" is more proper. I think political correctness has muddled her brain. She also thinks that Barack Obama is going to appoint the right people to office when he becomes president and they will do what he tells them to and everything will be hunky-dory, so there are definitely some synapses that are not firing.

I don't think it is an insult. Hymie is an insult. Kike is an insult. Dirty Jew is an insult. Jew is a description. I am a Jew, and I don't mind being called that.

Do Arabs mind being called Arabs? Do Muslims mind being called Muslims? How about Christians? Would they prefer to be called Christianish? Jewish is an adjective. Jew is a noun. If you don't call a Jew a Jew, what do you call him? A filthy Zionist pig?

Then there's oriental. That's a big no-no. Since oriental refers to a direction on the map, I don't see the problem. Oriental is a good word for Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. persons. It excludes people like Indians and Pakistanis. The term Asian describes too many people--all those Chinese, plus India, and Japan, etc.. It covers half the world.

Negro long ago bit the dust, linguistically. Calling someone colored is a worse sin than calling him a serial rapist. I'm surprised the N double A CP doesn't change its name to the N quadruple A P, but I guess they've got a lot of stationery left with the old name.

To change the topic to another linguistic problem: President Bush says that Russia's invasion of Georgia is unacceptable. Iran having their very own nukes is unacceptable. North Korea's possession of nukes must be acceptable, though, because they've got them and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, except look down our noses in disapproval.

I find unacceptable--well, not acceptable. It's not a strong enough word, especially since we are not doing a damn thing about these things except to suck them up. Unacceptable is eating mashed potatoes with your fingers, or not writing your aunt a thank-you letter. Iran, Russia, and North Korea are doing as they please and thumbing their noses at us.

The word for such actions is deplorable.

When will John Edwards take a paternity test?

He's waiting for John Kerry to publish his military records.

I'm back from Lenox

We heard an all-Mozart concert, with Leon Fleischer as one of the featured soloists. he is famous for having lost the ability to play for many years due to a hand injury. The use of his hand has now been restored, and he played beautifully, for a guy who had not practiced for forty years. It's an amazing story.

Carnival of the Insanities is up

Lots of scorn heaped on B Obama, not least by me.

Here's where I'll be

I'll be sitting in the shed, not on the lawn, listening to Mozart.

Back August 10.

What is the Ebright azimuth?

It marks the highest point in Delaware, which is not very high.

I saw this sign and nearly killed myself trying to read it from the road with cars coming at me from two directions.

Does every state have an azimuth?

Men in shorts

The New York Times endorses men wearing shorts. The article is illustrated by pictures of three cute young guys wearing the aforementioned garments.

It's okay for them. They're young. They're cute. They're slim. They have nice straight legs. But they are not the typical men in shorts we encounter here in Delaware. Here in Delaware men don't care what they look like and prove it every day.

Almost any time I leave my house in the daytime I am treated to the unedifying spectacle of my across-the-street neighbor, who not only wears shorts nine months of the year, but has a beer belly hanging over the top of them. The beer belly can be easily seen because he seldom wears a shirt. I don't even want to talk about his tattoo--some things are better left to the imagination.

Know what makes the average non-gorgeous man look good? Sorry, fellows, it is a business suit, worn with shirt and tie. The suit covers a multitude of flaws, and can be designed to make the most of a man's best assets, such as broad shoulders. Stylistically, there can be no more forgiving garment, except maybe a toga.

I'm not suggesting that my neighbor wear a business suit to weed his garden. But how about a shirt, at least?

Standards of dress are in free fall, and not only among men. But that is a topic for another day.