Celebrate Tolerance and Diversity!

Celebrate Tolerance and Diversity!

And crush the opposition.

excerpt:

A New Jersey high school teacher is under investigation after she allegedly posted a message on her private Facebook page that she opposed homosexuality because of her Christian faith.
The Union Township school district said they are investigating whether Viki Knox violated school policies when she allegedly posted remarks saying homosexuality is a sin that “breeds like cancer” and describing it as “perverted.”
Knox also complained, on her private Facebook page, that Union High School featured a display recognizing October as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History month. The display reportedly featured photos of Harvey Milk, Neil Patrick Harris and Virginia Woolf.

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Cicada Global Warming Horror Movie

The cicadas have been resting comfortably beneath the earth's surface for 17 years. When they submerged, it was unseasonably cool. They awake 17 years later to a scorched earth, a planet on fire due to man's ravaging CO2 greed. The hot temperatures cook them and they die off -- they are the canaries in the planetary coal mine, a harbinger of species wipe-outs to come. As the movie ends, gaunt humans are seen scavenging for food amid heaps of garbage and over-cooked debris.

Not.

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How to Talk to the IRS

How to Talk to the IRS: Just say "I don't know." "I don't remember." "I'm not familiar with that detail." "It's not my precise area." "I'm not familiar with that." 

And don't forget to add-- "I did nothing wrong". "I'm taking the Fifth".

Because that's the way they talk to us.

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"The Root Causes of Poverty" -- Have We Got It All Wrong?

The End of Poverty (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I've been thinking about wealth and poverty and why the West prospers and other societies/cultures languish.

You hear about "the root causes of poverty"; the analysis generally blames the wealthy and the West for being oppressive and exploitive. In other words, "it's not their fault -- it's ours". I'm thinking nations and societies here, not so much individuals, but they come into play as well.

But what if poor nations are poor because they simply don't have the cultural characteristics that tend towards wealth creation and preservation? I suspect that most of the well-meaning remedies will fail because they are based on wealth-creating assumptions, attitudes, predispositions, and values that may not be present in the host culture.

I think we've been going about it the wrong way. I've seen tons of money fall through Africa's hands and it remains as poor as ever. Here's a thought: money is not the answer to poverty, and those "Make Poverty History" signs, directed at the West, are pointed in the wrong direction.

Instead of studying the root causes of poverty, we should study the root causes of wealth, and then assess poor countries/individuals against those criteria. Why does resource-rich Zambia languish and resource-zero Singapore prosper?

I did a Google search. The phrase "root causes of poverty" gets 1.5 million hits. The phrase "root causes of wealth" gets 20,000. I noticed these hits were in the context of a longer phrase "root causes of wealth and poverty". When poverty is subtracted out of this phrase, the number of hits are, are you ready for this? -- thirty-eight. As in 3-8. So, the analysis goes 1.5 million to 38 in favor of explicating root causes of poverty rather than wealth.

I think we're going about it the wrong way. Someone should research and write a book called "The Root Causes of Wealth".

Does anyone else think I might be on the right track here?

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

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The White House Appreciation Tour

Jay Carney giving a press briefing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Watching Jay Carney's ties makes this video even more fun.

I hope you appreciate this post as much as I appreciate the chance to do it. C'mon. If you like it, let's hear some appreciation!

Jodi Arias: Even More Innocent Than OJ!

English: Logo of the City of Mesa, Arizona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jodi Arias, candidate for sainthood.

She prays for her jury. She regrets the trial because of the dirt dished on Travis her vile abuser and attacker. Now that she has been unjustly convicted, she hopes his family will have peace and closure. If she had to do it over, she would turn that rented car of hers around and report to the Mesa police station, not because the outcome might have been different, but by golly because it's the right thing to do.

When have we ever encountered such a caring, selfless person? Here's what I want to know: how did such a saintly person ever get herself into such a mess?

Meanwhile, Saint Jodi says she wants the death penalty. The least we can do for her is hope her prayers are answered.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Road Trip!™: Phoenix to Toronto April 2013

"The Big Texan Steak Ranch", Amarillo, TX (Photo credit: Xavier de Jauréguiberry)

Tuesday 5:30am. Left Phoenix for Winslow AZ and La Posada's Turquoise Room. Had their unsurpassed Green Chile Eggs and terrific coffee. Motored on to Albuquerque and stopped at Einstein's Bagels. Arrived just before 3pm so I got the bagel for 25% off -- my planning skills are simply awesome or, alternatively, I was just plain lucky. Pushed on to Tucumcari, my planned first night stop. Feeling good so pushed on to Amarillo TX and the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Saw a guy trying to eat his way to a free 64 ounce steak. I settled for a 12 ounce ribeye. Flopped at the Super 8 down the road.

Wednesday 7:30am. Left Amarillo. Reached Oklahoma City and said good-bye to I-40 for I-44. Stopped at the two McDonalds that are part of the I-44 turnpike, one north of Oklahoma City and the other south of Joplin, MO. Headed on to Lambert's Cafe - Home of the Throwed Rolls, in Ozark, MO, south of Springfield. Had an awesome pulled-pork sandwich topped with coleslaw. For pass-by fixin's I had fried potatoes and for my "vegetable", I had the applesauce. Pushed on to Rolla, MO and stayed at the Super 8.

Thursday 7:30 am. Left Rolla; hope to get to Detroit tonite. Headed up to and through St. Louis and over to East St. Louis and into Illinois. Up to Effingham, IL and then over to Terre Haute, Indiana. Ate a buffet lunch at Chicago's Pizza somewhere around Indianapolis. A friend had recommended Esther Price chocolates in Ohio so I tracked down their outlet store off I-70. Garmin was off but I got there eventually. Bought a pound of mixed dark chocolates and another box of chocolate covered potato chips. Back on the road east to Dayton and then north to Toledo. Stopped south of Toledo for a power nap and then south of Detroit for a Dunkin' Donuts coffee and a sack of White Castle sliders and some mac and cheese deep-fried poppers. Ain't the USA grand?! Pushed on through Detroit and made the big decision. Feeling pretty good so decided to push on to the border. Got to the border 9pm-ish and through Canada Customs by about 9:30 -- I had some duty to pay (but always find Canada Customs agents more than fair). Pushed on to Toronto. As usual, I experienced the worst, most unsafe driving on the 401 -- while most of the drivers simply flowed with traffic, some were uncivil, careless, and reckless.

Arrived home in Toronto at 1am. The dogs, Reggie and Brady, were thrilled.

Denouement (or, as Quinn Martin would say, Epilog). Happy to make the trip in three days but wouldn't recommend it. Memo to self: next time, stop at the Red Roof Inn north of Detroit and enjoy a good Bob Evan's biscuits and gravy breakfast the next morning. The Esther Price chocolates were really good, but the Esther Price chocolate covered potato chips are simply outstanding.

W

Cover of George W. Bush

W:

DALLAS — Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who’d covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she’d had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on.

We reminisced about all the places we’d been, all the crazy days and wild nights, all the history we’d seen — first hand. Just before we said our goodbyes, I asked her if she’d miss covering President Obama. 

“Not at all. He’s an inch deep. Bush is a bottomless chasm, a deep, mysterious, emotional, profound man. Obama is all surface — shallow, obvious, robotic, and, frankly, not nearly as smart as he thinks. Bush was the one.” 

Her words, so succinct, have stuck with me ever since. By the way, she’s a hardcore Democrat.

Full article here.

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Evangelical Extremists -- We're Number One!

A U.S. Army training instructor listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania.... The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.

 We beat out Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, the Sunnis, the Nation of Islam and the Catholics -- We're number one!!!

But really, here's the test: who would you rather be on a plane with -- a bunch of evangelical Christians heading to Africa to do charitable work, or a bunch of Al Qaeda on their way to America?

And that's the way the evangelical extremist Ball bounces.

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