What has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny–our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how we’re going to get there. We know we’ll get there. — Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill” Or, as Harry Truman might have put it: There is as yet no consensus on where the buck stops. And so I’ve established a national commission to understand the buck’s velocity and the degree of kinetic friction between the buck and the surface across which it is traveling. Even if we don’t know precisely where the buck is going to stop, we know it’ll get there. — Best of the Web Today Read more →
Don’t Send a Community Organizer to Do a President’s Job
My fellow Americans — I’m angry. Not just because the southern coastline of our nation — including Louisiana, which I purchased from Napoleon in the sweetest deal of 1803 — is being destroyed. Read these pathetic remarks from our president, Barack Obama: The president also implied that anti-big government types such as tea party activists were being hypocritical on the issue. “Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something’ are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much,” Obama said. “Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our… Read more →
Real Mayonnaise
Twitter: 2010-06-22
Name someone who has ever objected to profiting from the devotion of the faithful. Other than Jesus, I mean … # Read more →
Tiger, Tiger
A Few Blocks from Home
Police received a call around 12:30 a.m. June 14 about a man hanging from a fence post in front of an apartment complex in the 800 block of South Baker Street in Santa Ana. Later identified as Hipolito Tapia Bravo, the 26-year-old Santa Ana landscaper was pronounced dead at the scene. He was just a few blocks from home. — OC Weekly They say most homicides happen within a few blocks of home. Especially if your home is in Santa Ana. Or is that traffic accidents? Read more →
Happy Father’s Day
When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. — Mark Twain A wise son maketh a glad father. — Proverbs 10:1 Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later . . . that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called ‘Being a Father’ so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life. —Tom… Read more →
Twitter: 2010-06-21
RT @eddiepepitone: 2 unconnected thoughts?- tom cruise and cameron diaz star in a new movie. Banality is the true face of evil. # Chip Tip: Sun Chips and Cheetos make a tasty combination! # Read more →
A Question
Trevor Ariza went to Houston for more money. Ron Artest came to L.A. for less money. Who made the better choice? Read more →
Lakers 83, Celtics 79
“I’m really going to be sad if the Lakers lose,” my son said before the game. “Yeah,” I said, “a lot of people are going to be sad. Of course, a lot of people are going to be sad if the Celtics lose too, but at least it will be the right people.” Read more →
Not Much to Show for Myself
My wife gives the boy a plate of donettes as he comes down for breakfast. Then she asks me, “Do you have 10 dollars you can give him?” Checking my fund supply, I find that I have a five-dollar bill and two ones. “I have seven dollars,” I say, holding up the bills. “Fifty years of life and this is what I have to show for it. Seven dollars.” The boy jumps into the conversation at this point. “There’s only five donuts here,” he says. “These definitely come in a package of six.” “Okay, I modify my statement,” I say. “Fifty years of life has given me seven dollars and a donut. Not even a large donut. A donette.” Read more →
No One Listened
Today, I will introduce the Free Housing Market Enhancement Act, which removes government subsidies from the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the National Home Loan Bank Board. . . . Congress should act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors who were misled by foolish government interference in the market. — Ron Paul, 2003 [HT: Steven Landsburg] Read more →
Twitter: 2010-06-16
RT @penelopetrunk: All productivity books summarized in 11 words: 1 thing at a time. Most important thing 1st. Start now. (via lifehacker) # Read more →
Libertarianism
Libertarianism rests on two bedrock beliefs: human freedom is a great good and the public sector tends to screw things up. The first belief is based more on faith than empirical result; the second derives from millennia of human experience. — Edward L. Glaeser Read more →
Twitter: 2010-06-15
RT @jheitzeb New York Times 50 Most Challenging Words http://bit.ly/c9feQj #New #York #Times #NYT #Vocabulary # Read more →
World Cup Fan
Originally uploaded by GIORGINOFOREVER! Read more →
Twitter: 2010-06-13
RT @eddiepepitone: The 3 hour nap I took today barely scratched the surface of my contempt for life. # RT @eddiepepitone: Toy story due out in a few days-man is marmaduke going to take a fucking hit. # Read more →
Thomas Jefferson on the Oil Spill
I do not believe that the federal government should have a central and powerful place in American life. I believe in freedom and self-reliance. Some people, like President Obama, disagree with me. He believes you should part company with your freedom and your money for the privilege of having the government take care of you — wipe your collective backsides, so to speak — from cradle to grave. In which case — why doesn’t he know how to plug an oil leak? — Tom Read more →
Don’t Look Back
In uncertain conditions the main question should not be: “Why didn’t your performance yesterday conform to the original plan?” Rather, it should be: “What kind of feedback can help you learn faster and perform better tomorrow?” — “Ninety-Nine Rules for Managing ‘Faster, Better, Cheaper’ Projects” Read more →
BE THE HAMMER!
I’m a special teams coach. I get guys to run 60 miles an hour into each other and like it. I always tell my players: Be the hammer. Not the nail. — USC special teams coach John Baxter FIGHT ON! Read more →