Via Walter Hunt's weblog, here's a new Federal program to help save the economy. Let's all apply!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is currently circulating as comments by David Letterman...previously it was circulating as comments by Jay Leno. Comments by Craig R. Smith on the whining of America.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 01:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Chizumatic has some thoughts about the now finished (thank God!) election cycle. Considering some of the wing-nut commentary I've already read (on both sides of the fence), this is pretty tame and actually parallels a lot of my thinking. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've done my civic duty, have you? If you haven't...if you're too busy, if you think the lines will be too long, if you think you won't make a difference...then I don't want to hear one freaking complaint from you for the next four years.

It doesn't matter who you vote for. Just get off your posterior and do it.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Cast your peepers over the names of those who have contributed to the latest Mind Meld at SF Signal!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:32 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 J. Michael Straczynski? Awesome!

Posted by: John D. at October 29, 2008 09:23 PM (A8+6d)

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I've pretty much considered myself an independent. Or a centrist. I have beliefs that can be tagged pretty liberal and beliefts that can be tagged pretty conserative. I think most people are like this, neither black or white, but shades of grey, a combination of many political views.

So, I've never registered with either of the two parties or voted consistently either way. This is, despite one sister-in-law that always states that I vote Republican or hold Republican views. Or the firm belief of one ex-employer who was convinved that I had to be a card-carrying Democrat. The truth is, I voted pretty much Democrat for President until Al Gore lost his mind after he lost the election and started flopping around like a dead fish. The refusal to condone Bill Clinton and his zipper (as well as some of his utterly stupid foreign policy and economic decisions) also helped me to change my mind, so I voted Republican for President during W's second term. Maybe I should have just voted for Carter again, as they both seem to be cut from the same cloth, at times (yes, I know there's a time gap there).

On a local level, I'll vote Democrat, Republican or just about anything else.

This time around? Well, with the wingnuts on both side running things (and running), I'm really on the fence. Or on the horns. Sorry, folks, but both sides have major problems with their candidates, positions, past, running mates, etc. Both sides are a great example of how stupid most politicians have become of late.

If only my dream ticket were running. Joe Lieberman and Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg/Lieberman or Lieberman/Bloomberg. Would it matter which was which? Maybe they could swap every six months. Or co-rule, sort of like ancient Sparta with two kings. They both speak their mind and seem to be less tolerant with the party hogswallow that the candidates kow-tow to. But, it ain't happening this time around. So I sit on the horns. Hey, is Ralph Nader running again? How about Gerry Brown?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:31 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It appears that the Internal Revenue Service has suffered greatly due to cuts in hiring and equipment purchase. Just look at the e-mail I received from them this evening!

You Have Get a Tax Refund on your VISA or MasterCard
Complect The Formular
And get your tax Refund
(Your Refund Amount Is $620.50)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Doctors purge the body, preachers the conscience, lawyers the purse."

--German proverb (from my desktop calendar)

Posted by: JohnL at 11:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Coming soon from Disney, Pirates of the Canal!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sadly, you can't make stuff like this up.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The review can now be viewed here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:26 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Equal rights for apes.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The posting can now be read here.

There is an additional update here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:02 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The posting can now be read here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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“Accuracy and diligence are much more necessary to a lawyer, than great comprehension of mind, or brilliancy of talent. His business is to refine, define, and split hairs, to look into authorities, and compare cases. A man can never gallop over the fields of law on Pegasus, nor fly across them on the wing of oratory. If he would stand on terra firma he must descend; if he would be a great lawyer, he must first consent to be only a great drudge.”
—Daniel Webster

Lifted in toto from Timothy Sandefur's Freespace.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...among other things. He also appears to be of the opinion that copyright does not apply to him.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that China has evidence linking the Dalai Lama to the deadly unrest against Chinese rule in Tibet, as he accused protesters of trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympics."

I'm sure he's got a little list as well.

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list — I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed — who never would be missed!
There's the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs —
All people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs —
All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat —
All persons who in shaking hands, shake hands with you like that —
And all third persons who on spoiling tête-á-têtes insist —
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Last Centurion; John Ringo (Baen Books, August 200 .

Kumbaya.

I just finished reading this, in eARC (electronic Advanced Reading Copy) form from Baen's Webscription service.

Ringo has been steadily maturing as a writer. He has taken some chances, with Ghost and the other volumes of the Paladin of Shadows series, for example. I think the one thing that has kept him from a wider audience is the "science fiction stigma" and the generally (ahem) right-leaning orientation of the books.

No more. With The Last Centurion, he has moved firmly into the technothriller genre. That should attract more readers, as Ghost and its sequels did.

Kumbaya.

And...well...he pretty much manages to say something to anger just about everybody in the course of this book. Sure, the brunt falls on the Left, but keep reading. Everybody suffers at some point or another.

And maybe that is the point. As there is some stuff in here that ought to make you angry...and then make you think.

I'll give it another read when the final version is released.

Kumbaya.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Book publishers are phasing out DRM on their audiobooks. Why? It just does not work. Now, how about eBooks?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There are 2 Versions—Read Both

Traditional Version:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

Moral of the Story: Be responsible for yourself! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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