Pious Agnostic

I'm not really that smart about economic matters, but this explanation of the rise and fall of oil prices makes sense to me.

posted at 8:23 AM Jul 2, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

A Frenchman with two asses?

Reminds me of something completely different.

posted at 5:39 PM Jul 1, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Are Volcanoes Melting Arctic?

Beats me, but it's a short article. Go read it yourself.

posted at 3:34 PM Jul 1, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Scooters Rise In Popularity As Gas Climbs

Kevin Foley of Yamaha's scooter division said that sales are up 65 percent over last year, while Vespa's sales shop up a record-setting 106 percent. The scooter industry as a whole climbed 25 percent in the last quarter. Honda scooters sales are up 30 percent over last year -- which were already up 20 percent from 2006.

Bill Savino, from Honda motorcycle press, said that dealers can't keep their 2008 models in stock, but that the 2009 models would be arriving soon.

The article doesn't mention the fun factor, which is considerable.

Plus there's this: Vespa owners I know assure me that the Vespa is the coolest scooter out there

You go that right!

posted at 10:50 AM Jul 1, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Wow!

Surely, I can state categorically that any political philosophy that has as its core value some variation of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” is antithetical to American values and, therefore, unpatriotic.

Surely, I can state categorically that any political philosophy makes the “world’s” feelings a priority over American interests or sovereignty is antithetical to American values or survival and, therefore, unpatriotic.

posted at 6:22 PM Jun 30, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

I LOL'd

posted at 12:02 PM Jun 30, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

This is the enemy

Crowd watches Pakistan militants kill 2 Afghans

Masked militants pulled the two blindfolded Afghans from a car and forced them to kneel on the ground.

Waliur Rehman, a local Taliban commander, told the crowd that the two men had confessed to aiding in the strike on a house in the border town of Damadola that killed 14 people last month. The men disclosed the names of others accused of involvement, who would be killed as well, Rehman said. Pakistan's army lodged a formal protest to "allied forces" in Afghanistan after saying Pakistan had concluded the attack was launched by drones from across the border. The U.S. did not comment on the incident.

"Whoever, for the sake of money, for the sake of America, harms the interest of the Islamic world will meet the same fate," Rehman said.

Gunmen with daggers then pounced on one of the men—identified as Jan Wali, 36—decapitated him and waved his bloody head to the cheering crowd, according to an Associated Press reporter and AP Television News footage from the scene.

The militants then argued over how to kill the other man because he may have been a teenager, before one lost patience and shot him with an assault rifle.

The crowd erupted in cheers of "God is great!" and gunmen fired in the air in jubilation. The celebratory gunfire killed two bystanders and wounded six.

John Hinderaker comments.

posted at 8:20 AM Jun 28, 2008 by Rob Ritchie
Category : Muslim Atrocities

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

Plugged into Wordle:

Pious gratitude to: Scalzi

posted at 8:53 AM Jun 22, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

An interesting article about my favorite form of punctuation:

Has modern life killed the semicolon?

Wherein, you will find this gem:

The semicolon allows woozy clauses to lean on each other like drunks for support.

posted at 7:48 AM Jun 21, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

As Glenn Reynolds says, this seems like good news:

Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

OK, they didn't "find" them, they are tinkering with their DNA to get the desired result.

If this works out (and I'll believe it when I see it, like Cold Fusion), how long until environmentalists and other leftists try to shut down this technology?

Also, if the amount of tinkering is small enough, is it possible that there are naturally occurring insects out there, deep within the earth, that are doing this in the wild?

posted at 7:49 AM Jun 15, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Some thoughts on the SCOTUS habeas corpus decision:

This decision, [of] course, will allow for "President Bush Is Rebuffed” headlines, the implication being that the Administration was caught red-handed violating clearly established Constitutional rights when in fact the Administration, and the Congress for that matter, followed guidelines established by the Supreme Court itself in prior cases.

posted at 8:27 PM Jun 13, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

You know, I always thought he was an all right fellow:

Donald Rumsfeld buys a Vespa

posted at 5:13 PM Jun 13, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Funny: Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People

posted at 3:49 PM Jun 8, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Classics in Lego

Terrific LEGO recreations of 17 classic photographs.

Slideshow here

posted at 8:30 AM Jun 8, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

How it Works in the Real World — The Minimum Wage and Unemployment

Bad news out today on the unemployment front — a big jump from 5.1 to 5.5%.

However, within the numbers are some interesting details.

First, the number didn’t spike due to a big loss of payroll jobs — those declined only by 49,000 in April. That would be only .0004% in an economy of about 138 million workers.

Instead, the number jumped because of a surge of new people who came into the job market looking for, but not finding work. The overall unemployment number is about 8.5 million, and the increase last month represented about 860,000 new job seekers — only 49,000 of whom had lost a job elsewhere.

Further, the unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group was up dramatically compared to other groups. Unemployment in that group rose 2.4%, compared to increasing by only .4% in the group of workers 25 and older.

.....

Who does this age group represent? How about high school and college students coming into the job market for the summer.

And what do many such job seekers get paid? Minimum wage –which Congress increased last year from $5.15 to $5.85, and which will increase again next month to $6.55, and then again next year to $7.25.

Read it all.

posted at 8:15 PM Jun 7, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Born to Scoot!

Me, with my latest purchase: a Vespa LX 50.
I rode it to work every day last week. It's SO MUCH FUN!

posted at 11:04 AM Jun 7, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

posted at 4:27 PM Jun 4, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

posted at 4:00 AM May 26, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Sad, but true....

Return to Sender

Dear 3rd District Voter:

Are you sick and tired of Bill Clinton and his tax-and-spend insider Democrat friends in Congress? Then please cast your vote me, Jerry Bristol, in the upcoming 1994 election for the 3rd District seat in the United States House of Representatives

Read it all!

posted at 12:23 PM May 25, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Imagine my surprise!

Muslim convert held after nail bomb blast in restaurant

posted at 7:46 PM May 22, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Here, in two paragraphs, is why I will be voting for McCain this November.

posted at 8:31 AM May 17, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Did you know this?

Prisoners convicted of a violent offense make up over half of the prison population

Violent offenses include murder, negligent and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, extortion, intimidation, criminal endangerment, and other violent offenses.

Property offenses include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, fraud, possession and selling of stolen property, destruction of property, trespassing, vandalism, criminal tampering, and other property offenses.

Drug offenses include possession, manufacturing, trafficking, and other drug offenses.

Public-order offenses include weapons, drunk driving, escape/flight to avoid prosecution, court offenses, obstruction, commercialized vice, morals and decency charges, liquor law violations, and other public-order offenses.

Pious gratitude to: Patterico, who has much more.

posted at 7:21 PM May 3, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

John Hinderaker's encounter with CNN's outrageous propoganda reminds me why I don't watch CNN.

A few weeks ago, I was having dinner in a restaurant that had CNN playing over the bar. They began a story entitled "Critics Say McCain Too Much Like Bush."

I pondered the newsworthiness of reporting this unexceptional fact, but then realized that the purpose of the story wasn't to inform, but to influence those Democratic voters who might be considering voting for McCain. A reminder that someone, somewhere, is reminded of the hated Shrubby McChimpHitler might secure them back to a vote in the liberal column.

What amazed me the most, though, is that this fluffy piece lasted at least five minutes. Of such things does the decline of a great cable company consist.

posted at 8:24 AM May 3, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Bull Connor, Democrat.

posted at 8:46 PM May 2, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Seems like, wherever Democrats are in the majority, they start talkin' succession.

Don't make us come up there and kick your asses. Again.

Update: Look, often times when someone refers to Republicans as "The Party of Lincoln", some smarty pants Democrat says "Actually, today's Republican party would be unrecognizable to President Lincoln."

That may or may not be true.

However, I believe that Lincoln would definitely recognize today's Democrats:

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Copperheads nominally favored the Union and strongly opposed the war, for which they blamed abolitionists, and they demanded immediate peace and resisted draft laws. They wanted Lincoln and the Republicans ousted from power, seeing the president as a tyrant who was destroying American republican values with his despotic and arbitrary actions.

posted at 2:45 PM Apr 27, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

The truth about Cats and Dogs

Pious gratitude to: The Anchoress

posted at 9:02 PM Apr 26, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

They just want the bacon!

Dag nabbit, I want my bacon dog!

posted at 4:32 PM Apr 25, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says

9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says

posted at 1:32 PM Apr 22, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

I wonder if Aliza Shvarts knows how evil she is?

Thank God, this appears to have been an intentional hoax.

posted at 2:37 PM Apr 17, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

An outragiously partisan statement by the author:

Democrats have never forgiven Republicans for winning the Civil War.

posted at 7:07 PM Apr 16, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Notes from a Post-Racial America

Disorderly Conduct?

This past weekend, Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski — a Carpentersville, Illinois village trustee elected as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention — was encouraged by the Obama campaign to resign for inflammatory speech. Ramirez-Sliwinski did not assert that America was run by hate groups. She did not state that the country deserved terrorist attacks; nor did she indict our government with conspiracy theories of racial genocide. And she didn’t try to goad followers into snuffing out a man’s life for running a legal business she does not like.

What Ramirez-Sliwinski did do was tell children to stop playing in a small magnolia tree “like monkeys.” The two children are African-American. The mother of one of the two children called the police over the slight, which Ramirez-Sliwinski insists was not racial in nature. Ramirez-Sliwinski was issued a citation for disorderly conduct, even though she claimed to have acted on behalf of the safety of the boys.

When I was growing up, kids were routinely called "monkeys." It's a reference to size, and noisiness, and a propensity to climb.

posted at 12:08 PM Apr 13, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Ann Coulter (whose opinions, I am now obliged to write, I do not entirely share [as if there is anyone whose opinions I entirely share], but who I nevertheless find frequently amusing) writes:

[L]et's revisit the story about Obama's grandmother being guilty of thinking like a "typical white person." As recounted in Obama's autobiography, the only evidence that his grandmother feared black men comes from Obama's good-for-nothing, chronically unemployed white grandfather, who accuses Grandma of racism as his third excuse not to get dressed and drive her to work.

posted at 1:53 PM Apr 12, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Indeed: "They do this because they know we won't behead them. Such is the bravery of artists."

posted at 9:06 AM Apr 12, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Pious thanks to Instapundit

posted at 4:47 PM Apr 11, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Teen makes mistake of trying to rob former U.S. Marine

A boy in his mid-teens learned Wednesday afternoon that it is not a good idea to try to rob a former U.S. Marine at knifepoint, even if the former Marine is 84 years old, police said today.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Steve Bair said that's what happened around 2 p.m. in the 1600 block of Fourth Street. The elderly man was walking with a grocery bag in each arm when the boy approached him with a large knife, Bair said.

The boy said, "Old man, give me your wallet or I'll cut you," Bair said. The man told the boy he was a former Marine who fought in three wars and had been threatened with knives and bayonets, Bair said.

The man then put his bags on the ground and told the boy that if he stepped closer he would be sorry. When the boy stepped closer, the man kicked him in the groin, knocking him to the sidewalk, Bair said. The ex-Marine picked up his grocery bags and walked home, leaving the boy doubled over, Bair said.

posted at 6:05 PM Mar 30, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Blind Faith

The Ku Klux Klan (originally a Protestant identity movement, as many people prefer to forget) and the Nation of Islam (a black sectarian mutation of Quranic teaching) may be weak these days, but bigotry of all sorts is freely available, and openly inculcated into children, by any otherwise unemployable dirtbag who can perform the easy feat of putting Reverend in front of his name.

posted at 10:45 AM Mar 25, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

An Open Letter to Senator Obama

posted at 10:08 AM Mar 25, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Power Line has a post about the White House Press Corp that is fairly amusing. Some sample questions:

QUESTION: The four thousandth U.S. death in Iraq, does the president regard that as a significant milestone? What does it mean to him?

PERINO: President Bush thinks that every single loss is tragic, from the very first several years ago to the ones that sacrificed yesterday. And he's extremely proud of the courageous men and women in uniform and all that they've done to help protect Iraqis, to protect each other, and to protect this country.

Most of the families of the fallen that he meets with have one request of the president, which is, "Do not let my loved one's sacrifice be in vain." And the president assures them that he is committed to staying and fighting and winning.

***

QUESTION: Aren't there also families of the bereaved who ask him to stop the war?

PERINO: There have been. But the vast majority have all asked him not to allow that sacrifice to be in vain. But certainly there are some.

QUESTION: (inaudible) can you say that with certainty?

PERINO: He has said that repeatedly. And that is true for the -- I think almost to nearly 1,000 families of the fallen that he's met with.

QUESTION: Does he take responsibility for a war he started without provocation that led to 4,000 deaths and 30,000 traumatically injured for life?

PERINO: As you know, as he said many times, he was the one responsible for making the decision to go to war. He didn't make it lightly. And as commander-in-chief, the hardest thing that you do, that he's done, and that any commander-in-chief before him and those in the future, the hardest thing that they will do is decide to commit our men and women to harm's way.

QUESTION: Did he foresee this kind of catastrophe?

Really, does anyone actually go to the press corp for their news any more?

posted at 6:18 PM Mar 24, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Happy Easter!

posted at 9:53 AM Mar 23, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Welcome, brother!

posted at 7:53 PM Mar 22, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Global Warming

I don't really know what to think about the global warming climate change science. I haven't made a detailed study of the data involved.

I do have an opinion about the politics of global warming climate change, though, and it's fairly simple: if the Al Gore / Hippy alliance believes we should go one way ("left") then I think we should probably go the other way ("right").

That being said, here is an NPR story about ocean temperatures that is interesting for the uncertainty in it's text:

Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them.

...

Kevin Trenberth at the National Center for Atmospheric Research says it's probably going back out into space. The Earth has a number of natural thermostats, including clouds, which can either trap heat and turn up the temperature, or reflect sunlight and help cool the planet.

That can't be directly measured at the moment, however.

"Unfortunately, we don't have adequate tracking of clouds to determine exactly what role they've been playing during this period," Trenberth says.

It's also possible that some of the heat has gone even deeper into the ocean, he says. Or it's possible that scientists need to correct for some other feature of the planet they don't know about. It's an exciting time, though, with all this new data about global sea temperature, sea level and other features of climate.

"I suspect that we'll able to put this together with a little bit more perspective and further analysis," Trenberth says. "But what this does is highlight some of the issues and send people back to the drawing board."

.

I don't see "consensus" reflected in this article. And that's interesting, concerning the source.

posted at 10:27 AM Mar 20, 2008 by Rob Ritchie

Probably the first Science Fiction book I read as a boy was Tales From the White Hart. It sparked a love of the genre that continues to this day, and many a happy hour has been spent reading this good man's work.

R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke. Enjoy your Rendezvous With Rama.

posted at 9:01 PM Mar 18, 2008 by Rob Ritchie