Pious Agnostic

All this talk about Marines peeing on Taliban corpses has President Obama scratching his head, wondering how to pronounce "corpse."

posted at 10:17 AM Jan 14, 2012 by Rob Ritchie

Solyndra for Dummies

posted at 7:45 PM Sep 13, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Shocking!

The most self-regarding generation in history has another gem for us:

Many baby boomers don't plan to leave their children an inheritance

Upending the conventional notion of parents carefully tending their financial estates to be passed down at the reading of their wills, many baby boomers say they instead plan to spend the money on themselves while they're alive.

In a survey of millionaire boomers by investment firm U.S. Trust, only 49% said it was important to leave money to their children when they die. The low rate was a big surprise for a company that for decades has advised wealthy people how to leave money to their heirs.

Gosh, it's almost as if they were selfish or something.

posted at 7:52 PM Sep 7, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

I went to East Naples Middle School

...so this story doesn't surprise me at all.

East Naples man knocks out mom after she complained of his martial arts

An East Naples man is accused of knocking his mother unconscious after she became angry with him for practicing martial arts in the house.

Cory William Morrel, 27, of the 7800 block of Regal Heron Circle, was arrested Friday by Collier County sheriff’s deputies at home.

According to a Sheriff’s Office report, deputies were dispatched to Morrel’s home in reference to a woman who was kicked in the head and was knocked unconscious for five minutes.

When deputies arrived, they said Morrel’s mother was unable to recall what happened and appeared disoriented and nervous. She yelled several times at Morrel, asking him what happened, reports said.

Morrel told deputies that while practicing martial arts in the living room, he accidentally kicked a wall causing a scuff mark. He said his mother became angry with him and began yelling profanity at him.

It is unclear what happened next due to redacted information regarding Morrel kicking his mother in the head. However, Morrel said he then called 911 when she became unconscious.

posted at 9:06 AM Sep 4, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Look folks, when Obama unveils his hither-to unknown jobs initiatives, initiatives that have apparently taken 2-and-1/2 years to create, about which he's never given a hint, they're so amazing and innovative and foolproof; when he gives his speech and wows the Democratic establishment and the Media (but I repeat myself) with their self-evident beauty and effectiveness; when he finally takes this huge dump at the podium, if they are the same old stuff he's been pushing for the last 2-and-1/2 years, the Republicans are going to reject it. If it isn't likely to do any good, and likely to do harm, then they'll reject it.

Boy, the Democrats are sure hopeful about this speech. They really hope that somehow Obama will pull something out of his nethers that will kick-off his reelection campaign in a great way.

Because, you know they don't realy give a shit about jobs or the economy, except as it effects their electoral chances.

posted at 9:38 AM Sep 3, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Brilliant!

Zombie's Voluntary Tax Rates and Personalized Earmarks: How to Solve the Debate over Taxes

Submitted for your approval: The perfect solution to America’s national debate over taxes.

This proposal is completely serious. Below you will find my suggestion for an amended IRS 1040 form. As you will see, it contains two new sections: “Voluntary Tax Rate,” in which each American can individually determine his or her own rate of income taxation; and “Allocation,” in which taxpayers can apply their personal tax payments to specific federal expenses.

It’s simple, it’s completely non-partisan and even-handed, and it allows for total individual autonomy and personal freedom.

Will it lead to a complete restructuring of the United States government? Possibly. And if it does, will that be a good thing? Most definitely.

Read on to see how this new idea came about.

posted at 8:51 PM Aug 24, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Mark Steyn: The Imperial Presidency

This guy is brilliant. Read this whole thing, which includes this humorous bit:

By sheer coincidence, I happen to be writing a conspiracy thriller in which a state-of-the-art Canadian bus transporting Pres. Michael Douglas on a tour of Minnesota goes rogue and takes over the government of the United States. Eventually, crack CIA operative Keira Knightley breaks in the rear window and points out to the Canadian bus that it’s now $15 trillion in debt. In a white-knuckle finale, the distraught and traumatized bus makes a break for Winnipeg pursued by Chinese creditors.

posted at 8:04 PM Aug 21, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Internet Spammer Found

I found this story of how a notorious Internet Spammer was caught to be very interesting.

Case Study: How a notorious spammer was brought down via Twitter

posted at 10:54 AM Aug 18, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

New Game

I've been working on a new game for Necronomicon 2011, though the things I'm putting together will work for a lot of humor-based fantasy games I think.

I'm using the Cortex system, which gives me a lot of freedom with character creation and the cinematic play style I favor.

The game takes place in a rural fantasy setting, in the small village of Hardscrapple Downs, populated by Halflings and Gnomes. I'm thinking of redneck halflings as PCs, thinking Justified meets The Hobbit.

Hardscrapple Downs was imagined as part of a backstory for a couple of characters I've played over the years, as a place people get away from. But I started fleshing out what it was like in-game and it became for me an interesting setting in its own right.

I guess we'll see.

More info: here.

posted at 9:44 AM Jul 31, 2011 by Rob Ritchie
Category : Gaming

Timeline For The Various Official Versions of the bin Ladin Kill Story

The thing that Obama had no role in crafting, only authorizing -- the planning of the military strike -- went beautifully. (With the exception of a mechanical glitch downing a stealth copter.)

The thing that Obama had a primary role in crafting -- the PR and reportage about the military's spectacular raid -- has been nothing but glitches, walkbacks, mistatements, blown opportunities, and -- this is now becoming a pattern with Obama -- screwing up everything so badly and so... oddly that people begin doubting the most basic facts reported to them.

Given that, I'm really not sure I'm ready to credit Captain GutsyCall.com with having meticulously oversaw the mission's planning. The one thing I know he meticulously oversaw -- the one thing that he really cares about, and is best at (as far as his limited capabilities) -- he completely screwed up.

There's more. Read it.

posted at 1:26 PM May 6, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

For once I'm glad that a Democrat's hypocrisy and insincerity has actually benefited my nation.

Well done Obama. In my heart of hearts, I never thought you weren't a stone-cold killer; I'm glad to see that I was right.

posted at 5:07 PM May 4, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

OBL's Death a Victory for the Adults

To sum it up, everything we as conservatives believe about our country's defense, the War on Terror, interrogation, special ops / black ops, Gitmo, and the realities of the world was validated. Our ideas won. Our tactics won. An enemy we never hesitated to call out was killed.

Read it all, you grownup you.

posted at 10:08 AM May 4, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Unearthing Matriarchy

The possibility that a candidate for a position in biology, anthropology, or, say, English literature might secretly harbor the idea that God created the universe or that the Bible is true, is a danger not to be brooked. But apparently, the possibility that a candidate believes that human society was “matriarchal” until about 5,000 years ago is perfectly within the range of respectable opinion appropriate for campus life.

...

Arguing with those who put stock in the ancient matriarchy story, however, is pretty much like trying to disabuse those who believe that the etchings in the plains of Peru were made by space aliens. Some stories are just too good to relinquish no matter how poorly they stand up to critical inspection.

If you are concerned about the deterioration of the respect for science in our universities, please read it all.

posted at 3:06 PM Apr 16, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

A terrific piece at one of my new favorite site: Ricochet.

Why We Have Game Theory

posted at 6:41 PM Apr 4, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Let me get this straight...

The French rejected a statue because the breasts were too big?

French mayor upset about statue's breasts

OK, I'll just say it: the guy's a homo.

NTTAWWT.

posted at 9:43 AM Apr 3, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Richard Goldstone regrets...

From John Podhoretz: Have a Rotten Eggroll, Mr. Goldstone

At Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: Richard Goldstone Confirms He Was A Useful Idiot

posted at 9:21 AM Apr 3, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Instapundit highlights a "Comment of the Day:"

Obviously, the biggest problem with Bush was sending the military into an Arab Muslim country that hadn’t even attacked us. Among the several things that made that offensive were

* the rush to war – it was only several months after the possibility of military involvement was raised that combat operations began

* lack of United Nations sanction – only 17 relevant resolutions were ever passed before they were enforced

* lack of Congressional oversight – the President authorized the use of military force based on the flimsy pretext of a bill passed by Congress titled “Authorization of the Use of Military Force”, rather than seeking a document that had the words “declaration of war” in it; that’s every bit as bad as getting no Congressional approval at all

* obvious financial motives – clearly no one approved of the murderous dictator or sought a normal working relationship with him besides the French; at the same time, one couldn’t help but be suspicious of the fact that the population we were ostensibly protecting was located conveniently near the oil fields

* stretching our military – we were overburdened as it was, and our brave military despite its courage lacked the resources for yet another operation

* inflating our military – the only way to keep the bloodthirsty Pentagon beast fed was to give it the hordes of jobless young men who had no prospects in an economy that saw unemployment skyrocket above 4% in most states

* ignoring our generals – the decision to go to war was made by political hacks who had never worn a uniform

* inflaming the Arab Street – despite some touchy-feely talk about Islam, it was impossible for the Muslim world not to notice how the President made repeated, insistent proclamations of his Christianity, how he only ever used the military against Muslim targets, and how at the time the war started he’d kept the concentration camp at Guantanamo open for over a year

* wasting money – it was completely irresponsible to commit the military to an expensive mission when the President’s fiscal mismanagement had resulted in a budget deficit of over $150 billion in 2002

But anyway, what I really like about Obama is that he’s gone 29-3 in his bracket picks over the first two days. You have to spend a lot of time watching college basketball to be that good.

posted at 8:22 AM Mar 20, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Is this a hoax?

Study: Staring at breasts increases heart health

Five-hundred men participated in the German study. Half were told to refrain from looking at breasts for five years, the other half were told to ogle them daily.

The study found the men who stared at breasts more often showed lower rates of heart problems, a lower resting heart rate and lower blood pressure.

Why take chances? Start here and scroll.

posted at 9:37 AM Mar 5, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Charles Krauthammer

From Baghdad to Benghazi

Now that revolutions are sweeping the Middle East and everyone is a convert to George W. Bush's freedom agenda, it's not just Iraq that has slid into the memory hole. Also forgotten is the once proudly proclaimed "realism" of Years One and Two of President Obama's foreign policy - the "smart power" antidote to Bush's alleged misty-eyed idealism.

posted at 9:32 AM Mar 5, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Why do I seem to link to everything Zombie writes these days?

Read it for yourself and find out.

Death Channels

posted at 9:20 PM Feb 22, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Human Rights Imperialism: leftist satire or moral collapse?

Another gem by Zombie

posted at 8:40 PM Jan 22, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

Ace unloads on Howard Kurtz, et al.

And oddly enough-- even as Howard Kurtz offers to admit on Palin's behalf that she talked in violent code that resulted in murder -- I notice that not a single figure on the left is willing to do likewise.

posted at 6:35 PM Jan 12, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

In response to Tuscon, Obama declared a "War on Schizophrenia".

The President was quick to say that "Schizophrenia is a mental illness of Peace."

posted at 8:33 PM Jan 11, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

The wonders of Deinstitutionalizationalism

I'd like to point out that for every dangerous mentally-ill person waiting to fulfill his murderous impulses, there are probably 100 people who, while not dangerous, are suffering and helpless in the grip of their illness.

A moral society would help them, not leave them to die in the street.

posted at 3:28 PM Jan 11, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

The swiftness with which some on the left leapt to politicize the murders in Tuscon, makes me think that they were eagerly hoping for something like this to happen.

I almost wrote "praying for something like this to happen" but changed my mind because the type of person who would hope for something like this is unlikely to be a praying person.

posted at 8:11 PM Jan 10, 2011 by Rob Ritchie

The Five Best Arguments Against Sharia in the United States

This is a terrific article by Zombie. Here are the five reasons:

1. U.S. law is the “supreme law of the land,” no exceptions.
2. Sharia, as “divine revelation,” is inherently undemocratic.
3. Many aspects of Sharia are flagrantly unconstitutional.
4. Sharia is fundamentally religious law, and should be inapplicable to U.S. criminal or civil law.
5. Subjectively, Sharia is a discriminatory and cruel legal system.

OK, that's a taste. Now go read the whole thing.

posted at 9:35 PM Dec 30, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

posted at 9:38 AM Dec 6, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

The new humane

Ed Morrissey has some interesting thoughts on how we came to be killing terrorists instead of capturing them.

posted at 10:39 AM Dec 4, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Ace gives Meghan McCain both barrels..then reloads and fires a warning shot over Sarah Palin's prow.

"Blue Bloods"

What Meghan McCain's barrels may look like.

Definitely not Sarah Palin's prow.

Incidentally, I know this post is blatantly sexist. I'm doing it anyway, 'cause it's funny.

Funny because of the boobs.

posted at 9:08 PM Dec 1, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

My Hero

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie blasts teachers’ unions (again) in Washington, D.C. speech

posted at 10:47 AM Dec 1, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Pope Plays It Right

Thoughts on giving thanks and the papacy, wisdom and missing one's father.

Perhaps it’s the approach of yet another dad-less Thanksgiving — a holiday during which we give thanks for whatever parts of our lives are set to the music of those true notes — that has set my mind in this direction. But that shouldn’t surprise, for he was always the true rock in my river.

Via The Anchoress

posted at 10:32 AM Nov 25, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Let's see how long it takes...

...for anybody to notice I put up a new post.

Ladies and gents, I give you Squidworm!

posted at 9:22 PM Nov 24, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Still alive, not too broken

The last year has been a year full of personal health issues that have dogged me.

The most recent is a broken shoulder that I acquired by falling off my scooter. This happened on October 4th, so just exactly 7 weeks ago.

I'm a long way into recovery, doing physical therapy and all that.

posted at 9:22 AM Nov 22, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Fishy, fishy, fishy

posted at 4:53 PM Jun 30, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

The Obligatory 'Sorry I haven't been blogging' Post

Actually, I'm not really that sorry.

I've been Tweeting, though, and if you want to see what I'm up to, you can go here.

posted at 5:39 PM Mar 31, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Instapundit quotes a reader:

The real story in that poll is not merely that “swing-district voters oppose ObamaCare.” No, the real story in that poll is that voters will punish their congressman if he votes FOR ObamaCare, but they will treat him better at the polls if he votes “NO.”

This far more pointed and potent message just isn’t getting through, Glenn. It directly refutes the White House narrative, which says the opposite: that if ObamaCare fails, swing-state Dems will suffer more in November. That Big Lie has now been poll-tested, and proved false. If this message gets through to the swing-state Dems, I believe ObamaCare goes down to defeat this week.

Say that this is true, and Dems vote against Obama/Pelosi/ReidCare, and voters reward them in swing states. Suppose that as a result, Republicans don't win the House in November. Would this be a win, or a loss?

I say a win. I'll accept Democrats who vote in their own self-interest as long as they vote for (or against) the things I want.

posted at 5:42 PM Mar 15, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

An amazing column that I urge everyone to read...and share:

A prayer from the living world

posted at 10:45 AM Feb 27, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Robot Drum Circle Makes Human Hippies Obsolete

Instapundit comments "aren’t they obsolete anyway?"

posted at 8:22 PM Feb 22, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

When Films are Ruined by ‘Special Features’

Recently I rented a DVD of the award-winning 2003 documentary Winged Migration. Famed as one of the most unique and beautiful films ever made, Winged Migration literally takes the viewer up into the sky as it follows birds on their long-distance seasonal flights around the world. Somehow, seemingly as if by magic, the cameras are right there amongst the migrating birds, and you feel as if you are flying thousands of feet in the air with your fellow avians over landscapes which range from the picturesque to the breathtaking. When the film was over, all I could say was “Wow!”

And then, I made the terrible, terrible mistake of clicking on “Special Features” in the DVD menu. Ten minutes later, I realized retroactively that I didn’t like the film after all. In fact, I hated it.

Why? Because among the special features was one of those short “The Making of…” mini-documentaries which divulged the secrets of how they filmed Winged Migration. And it revealed that the film was all a lie. A beautiful lie, but a lie nonetheless.

Very interesting, and something I haven't considered but in retrospect I agree with.

Use caution.

posted at 8:40 PM Feb 10, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

The message here is....

...they're taking over, so get on their side early.

posted at 6:45 PM Feb 8, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Thanks a lot, dip-shit.

posted at 8:45 PM Jan 24, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Jeeze, he's just not that into you....

posted at 9:14 PM Jan 23, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Fact: Conservatives have been saying for 8 years that the McCain-Feingold “Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002" was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.

Fact: This week, the Supreme Court of the United States, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the McCain-Feingold “Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002? was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.

Fact: Democrats / Liberals / Leftists from Obama on down are screaming bloody murder.

posted at 10:36 AM Jan 23, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Glenn Reynolds links to this Conrad Black post about Obama, and quotes:

He is increasingly perceived as having credibility problems and of being cold, cocksure, narcissistic and intoxicated by what he modestly called ‘the gift’ of his own articulation. And as president, he has been quite, and quite surprisingly, incompetent. . . . It has been a year of fecklessness, amateurism, and posturing. Less that is useful has been accomplished by this president in his first year than by any president since Herbert Hoover.

See, here's the thing: this comes as no surprise to me, nor to most people who voted against him in '08. This characterization is exactly what I perceived and is one reason I didn't vote for him.

I wonder if any people who didn't see it before are seeing it now.

posted at 10:20 AM Jan 23, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Mark Steyn: Obama can't say who we're at war with

The election of Barack Obama was a fundamentally unserious act by the U.S. electorate, and you can't blame the world's mischief-makers, from Putin to Ahmadinejad to the many Gitmo recidivists now running around Yemen, from drawing the correct conclusion.

Regardless of his successes or failures, Obama will enter history like FDR: those who loved him can see no wrong, and those who didn't can see no right.

posted at 11:00 AM Jan 10, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Where are the WMD's?

Interesting.

Recently neutered Christmas panty-bomber has been indicted:

A six-count indictment handed down Wednesday charges Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and other charges.

Six counts, huh? That seems like a lot, so like liberal critics of Bush's reasons to go to war against Iraq, I think I'll just ignore five of them and concentrate on WMDs.

If the investigation doesn't find fully-staffed and funded WMD labs and turn-key delivery systems in Abdulmutallab's underwear, then the entire case will fail and I'll have to march in the streets proclaiming his innocence.

posted at 10:03 AM Jan 9, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Slightly On The Grid

Oh, I'm back, but there are still about 1,145 things I still need to install on my home computer before it's fully functional. And I'd do it, too, except I keep getting distracted by things, like this perfect example of the lawyers art:

[Yansane's] attorney said “[o]ther people could have had access to the apartment, so maybe if a rocket launcher was located there, as is stated in the offense report, maybe it belonged to somebody else.”

Love it! Lawyer dude knows full well that the rocket-launcher belongs to his client. Hey, I should have tried this when I was a kid.

"Mom, other people might have access to my underwear drawer, so maybe if the stack of Playboys you mention really was found under my tighty-whities, then they were placed there by somebody else."

Nah, Mom would have seen through that in a second.

posted at 9:48 AM Jan 3, 2010 by Rob Ritchie

Slightly Off The Grid

Grrrr.....

I was loading Vista SP 2 on my home computer, and it crashed. Hard. As in, it's become a brick and not a computer.

So, I'm busy climbing back out of this hole, reinstalling the OS and everything else.

I really, really hate this.

posted at 2:08 PM Dec 29, 2009 by Rob Ritchie

posted at 10:48 AM Dec 24, 2009 by Rob Ritchie

Mark Steyn sums up Copenhagenmas.

posted at 8:55 AM Dec 20, 2009 by Rob Ritchie

The Known Universe

Simply amazing....

posted at 4:26 PM Dec 19, 2009 by Rob Ritchie

Evil both personal and industrial: Why One Auschwitz Survivor Avoided Doctors for 65 Years

posted at 4:19 PM Dec 11, 2009 by Rob Ritchie

Steven Den Beste writes about Government by Wishful Thinking.

It's well worth reading.

posted at 4:39 PM Dec 7, 2009 by Rob Ritchie

More on Climategate

I admire expertise, and scientific expertise especially; like any intelligent citizen I am willing to defer to it. But that puts a great obligation on science. The people whose instinct is to respect and admire science should be the ones most disturbed by these revelations. The scientists have let them down, and made the anti-science crowd look wise. That is outrageous.

posted at 6:04 PM Nov 30, 2009 by Rob Ritchie