23 October 09 - 00:23A tale of three news articles

Here are two different viewpoints from opposite sides of the pond.  First, an article from Oregon on Obama's recent poll results.

Article 1

In recent polls, GOP limited to Southern comfort

By David Sarasohn, The Oregonian - Oregon Live - October 22, 2009
For months, Barack Obama’s national approval rating has been hovering in the low to mid-50s. The level is respectable — his predecessor hadn’t been there for his last three years — but not exactly intimidating, not exactly a number to make congressmen think they’d better get in line.... Cited Article

The level is respectable..... Really, thats what the mainstream media says.  Lets check another from the bottem end of the west coast.

Article 2

Obama’s approval rating declines in California, up nationwide

BY Katie Browning, San Diego News Room - Tuesday, 20 October 2009

After nine months in office, President Obama is slipping in his approval rating in California, according to the most recent Field Poll.

The poll surveyed 1,005 registered voters in California between Sept. 18 and Oct. 5. Overall, 60 percent said they approve of his job performance while 31 percent disapprove....

Six months ago, the same poll showed his approval rating at 65 percent, with 21 percent disapproving.... Cited Article

Things aren't so bad here either.  Obama is down a bit in California, but coming back in the rest of the country.  You gotta love this guy.  But, wait, what are they saying overseas?  Let's check Ireland, home of the star of "Hunt for Red October", Sean Connery.  What are they saying there?

Article 3

Obama sees steep decline in popularity

Belfast Telegraph - Friday, 23 October 2009

Barack Obama has been hit by the worst poll rating drop for a new president since records began more than 50 years ago.

The decline in his popularity since July has been the steepest of any leader at the same stage of their first term since 1953. Gallup recorded an average daily approval rating of 53% for Mr Obama for the third quarter of the year, a sharp drop from the 62% he recorded in the second quarter. It means that of the past nine presidents, only Bill Clinton had a lower poll rating at this stage. In comparison, George W Bush had a rating of 72% in 2001 while JFK’s score was 77% in 1961.

After entering the White House with a 78% rating, Mr Obama's current score is only just above the level that would make re-election a struggle. Cited Article

Are these guys reading the same polls?  This result is the shittiest ever since recording began and the Oregon guy says this is respectable while the California girl says its just in California, ya'll.

And this is the media Obama wants you to follow?  Of course, he does.

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21 October 09 - 23:04Google Earthing the Russian Typhoon

One of my favorite movies was "The Hunt for Red October". I had read all of the Tom Clancy books that I could get my hands on and this one was one of my favorites. It was a book written by Clancy when he still had good balance between story and details.

The book moved rapidly and involved a huge Russian submarine with a special silent "caterpiller" drive.  The actual construction of the submarine for the movie followed the lines of the Typhoon class submarine that I had just watched on the dismantling of one of these magnificent boats.

Nat Geo Dismantle a Typhoon Page

The movie piqued my interest in the submarine and I wondered if I could find one of these subs on Google Earth.  It took me about three hours.  I started by Goggling Murmansk to make sure my memory was correct in thinking that this was the port most used for the Soviet submarine fleet.  It was.

Next to Google Earth where I entered Murmansk into the search field.  The globe turns and I zero in on the port.  There are a lot of interesting things in this port.  Although it is literally located on the arctic circle, warm ocean currents keep it ice free throughout the year.  I looked and looked.  I found ship after ship.  Little and large ships, sailing and sunken ships, upright and tipped over ships, and even a huge aircraft carrier. . .

Finally, tonight I found military ships and then submarines.  The submarines were long and slim, not the ones I wanted.  I wanted a Typhoon.

Then I saw it.  Could it be the Typhoon? I checked against my line drawing of the boat and it was obvious that there is a Typhoon on Google Earth.  Want to see it?  Save yourself some time.  The coordinates are: Lat 69° 26' 11" N Long 32° 21' 7" E

Marla, my wife, was not nearly as excited as I was.  I was near Finland which borders Russia here which means Norway and Sweden are nearby and I guess she could find something exciting like the IKEA factory. 

I'll try that a different day.

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20 October 09 - 21:49What is a Pun?

The definition of a pun is a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between like sounding words for humorous effect.

Here are some different catagories of puns (my catagories), so prepare yourself for some real PUNishment!!

Literary Puns

• How many mystery writers does it take to change a light bulb? One, but he needs to give it a good twist.

Political Science Puns

• If Progress means To "move forward," what does Congress Mean?

Science and Math Puns

• Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other says, "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."
• Knock knock. Who's there? Recursion. Recursion who? Knock knock....  (ooops, that's a knock knock joke)

Psychology Puns

• Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
• He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
• A guy walks into the psychiatrist’s office wearing only Glad Wrap shorts. The shrink says, “I can clearly see you’re nuts.”

Anthropology Puns

• Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

Sports Puns

• Golf is a lot like taxes - you drive hard to get to the green and end up in the hole.
• I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Wedding Puns

• And then there were two antennas who met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.
• Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.
• With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
• It was an emotional wedding. Even the cake was in tiers.
• An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

Hunting and Fishing Puns

• I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day, but I couldn't find any.
• Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says, "Dam!"

Construction Industry Puns

• When is a door not a door? When it's ajar.

Mortuary Puns

• Sign on the gate of a cemetery: INTER HERE.

Bar Puns

• Hear about the dyslexic man who walked into a bra.
• Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.
• Same bar different man, he walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm, and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."
• A jumper cable walks into a bar and the bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."
• Four fonts were insulted in a bar as the barman asked them to leave immediately as their 'type' was not allowed there

If you made it all the way to the end you are really in bad way.  Get a life!

If there are any you don't understand, same answer.

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19 October 09 - 21:46What doesn't Obama want you to see?

On Sunday I watched several conspiracy theories on the History Channel.  However, there is an even bigger conspiracy afoot, I think.  Fox News is doing something. Doing something Obama does not want you or me to see or hear.  He is also advising other news stations not to carry stories which are heard first on Fox.  He doesn't want you to hear it and he doesn't want them to spread it around.

Not only that, Obama and members of his administration have analyzed Fox News and determined they are not really a news channel.  Why?  They are not like the other media stations.  Other media channels do not have any bias according to Obama, but Fox does!

This is sinister, very sinister.  I intend to watch, just to see what our president thinks I shouldn't see.  Pardon me while I take a peek!

Shhhhh.

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13 October 09 - 12:12We all need to give a little, for the good of all.....

TORONTO (Reuters) 10-12-09 – A Canadian truck driver has been fined for smoking in his vehicle because it is considered his workplace, a police spokeswoman said on Friday. ... [The fine was] a C$305 ($290) ticket. ...

-------------------------------------------------

Unquestionably smoking is not healthy.  However, big government has certainly made it's will be done in eliminating this nasty habit by targeted smoking relentlessly through taxes, lawsuits, prohibition laws, and nasty comments.  So how does this gem of a law work where someone can get fined $300 for having a smoke in their own truck?

This little piece of work is the "Smoke Free Ontario Act" [Link for more information] which prohibits smoking in all enclosed workplaces.  This apparently can mean the cab of your own semi-tractor rig.  As we move forward in Obama's attempts to make our healthcare more like the constitutional monarchy of Canada this explanation of the law on the Ontario Ministry of Health website might give you an idea what the conservative "liars" are talking about.  Here is the quote:

"The Smoke-Free Ontario Act is designed to protect the health of all Ontarians by prohibiting smoking in all enclosed workplaces and enclosed public places in Ontario as of May 31, 2006." - Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion

As we hear rumblings that sodas, french fries, and hamburgers should be taxed or otherwise controlled on one hand and we hear that we need Obamacare on the other hand, this type of law gives us a crystal clear vision into the future of government intervention in the name of government controlled health.  If you want this sort of thing forced on you because you think it is the right thing to do (and it doesn't effect you) go ahead and continue to support the Democrat party.  After all, it's clear that this is good for the man in the story to "not smoke" in his own truck.

Just remember as you support the healthcare bill that sooner or later, it will be you as well as me, my liberal friends, that find our rights abridged in the name of the public good.

Once again, I apologize for this "pants on head stupid" opinion that the conservative way protects your rights far more than the liberal way.

Ah, yes, at least I don't smoke, so this won't effect me.  Ahhhhhhh.

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11 October 09 - 00:18Predator

NEWS FLASH (from the New York Times)......

In Polanski Case, ’70s Culture Collides With Today

By MICHAEL CIEPLY - October 10, 2009 - LOS ANGELES - ... Mr. Polanski was treated by the authorities, including Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, not so much as a sexual assailant but as someone ... that is, ... a normally responsible person who had shown terrible judgment by having sex with a very young, but sophisticated, girl. ...

Michael Cieply was born the same year I was, 1951.  He is an entertainment industry writer and lives in that world, I apparently live in a different world.  In his article in the New York Times with a dateline of Los Angeles he describes the Woody Allen movie, Manhatten, and compares the affair that the 47 year old character played by Woody Allen has with a 17 year old high school senior to Polanski's escapades.  In the movie the young lady comes of legal age as she passes from 17 to 18, only later to be dumped for an older woman.
 
Michael goes on to indicate that this sort of thing was more acceptable in the 70s and then compares the movie to Polanski's rape of a 13 year old girl.  First of all, the type of behavior in the movie is at least legal, even today.  The age of consent in New York is 17, so a romantic consentual affair between a man in his forties and a girl of 17, could be considered unusual, but legal.  This is not and was not the situation with Mr. Polanski.

Mr. Polanski did not have an "affair" with a teenager.  He did not even "do it like a man".  He had illegal sex with a little girl who had not even been a teenager for a full year.  She was thirteen years old!  It was also, not an affair or even something the girl desired from what has been recorded.  Roman Polanski lured this girl, not once, but twice, to carry out first a mildly inappropriate photo session, then a later rape where he carried out sexual intercourse in both the girl's front and back door after giving her alcohol and at least part of a dose of the original date rape drug, the Quaalude.

Then, after making a deal in court to a watered down sentence, he did not take it like a man, he ran away to avoid prosecution.  Michael, Whoopi, it was rape then and it is rape now.  Based on his behavior he is a flight risk and now has another charge to face.  The man is a criminal.  Talented?  Sure, but a criminal just the same.  The only difference between today and yesterday is that today he would be put on the local pervert's list if he were living in the United States.

And, yes, this is my conservative viewpoint.  So let's really consider when things were more "liberal".  Then or now?  As I write this Obama is on television praising gays for their political activism which is making what they do more acceptable.  In the 1970s this behavior may well have been illegal!  So, Michael, which is the more permissive time for "offbeat" sex?  Then or now?

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09 October 09 - 23:01What exactly is Bribery???

Years ago a young teacher named Mrs. Bott did a great job of teaching me the English language.  I remember clearly (or as clearly as an "old fart" can remember) studying the fact that words or phrases have two forms of interpretation.  These forms of interpretation of a word or phrase are called "connotation" and "denotation".  Back then I was surprised to find that what we hear has intended meaning, commonly interpreted meaning, and exact definition.  Wow.

And now the two words I mentioned before....

Denotation is the specific, literal image, idea, concept, or object that a word or phrase refers to.

Connotation includes the cultural assumptions that the word or phrase implies or suggests.

I believe that connotation is the cause of many an arguement since it describes the nature of a word or phrase to involve emotional overtones, subjective interpretation, socio-cultural values, and ideological assumptions.  With that said, let's ask a question...

What is bribery or what is a bribe?  Here are some answers and their sources.  Try to determine the literal image, the concept, the denotation of the word from the definitions.

1) Bribe - the practice of offering something (usually money) in order to gain an illicit advantage
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=bribery
2) Bribery - a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bribery
3) Bribe - the making of illegal payment, or bribes, to persons in official positions as a means of influencing their decisions
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bribery
4a) Bribe - make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence; "This judge can be bought"
4b) Bribe - payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=bribe
5) Bribe - something (usually money) given in exchange for influence or as an inducement to dishonesty; To give a bribe to
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bribe
6) Bribe - a payment made to person, often a government official such as a customs officer, to induce favorable treatment.
www-personal.umich.edu/~alandear/glossary/b.html
7) Bribe - the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of ...
www.pi1stclass.com/glossary.htm
8) Bribe - "None to be taken; "for the gift maketh open eyes blind, and" "perverteth the cause of the righteous" (Ex. ...
www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Free-Bible-Dictionary-B.php
9) Bribe - something you give before a bad behavior occurs which causes the bad behavior to occur. Never recommended for use by anybody.
www.treatmentplansthatworked.com/
10) Bribe - offering something such as money or a favour to influence a decision or action of dishonesty.
www.sacc.to/glossary/glossary.htm
11) Bribes - inappropriate inducements, financial or otherwise, given or received by one’s political enemies. Or indeed, by one’s political cronies if they ...
chandachisala.com/2009/01/23/the-encyclopedia-of-african-politics/

Now consider the news, here is an example. ...

President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Washington Post - 10/9/2009 - President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. ...

This prize was supposedly awarded for his Obama's work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, etc., etc. ...  This prize had a monetary value of 1.4 million dollars plus the mind game that the "award" will certainly invoke.  So, does this generate any thoughts in your mind on this development?

It does in mine....

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07 October 09 - 00:20An oldy but goody (Joke That Is)

A man boarded an airplane and took his seat. As he settled in, he glanced up and saw the most beautiful woman boarding the plane..

He soon realized she was heading straight towards his seat .. As fate would have it, she took the seat right beside his..

Eager to strike up a conversation he blurted out, "Business trip or pleasure?"

She turned, smiled and said, "Business. I'm going to the Annual Nymphomaniacs of America Convention in Boston "

He swallowed hard.. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen sitting next to him, and she was going to a meeting of nymphomaniacs.

Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, "What's your business role at this convention?"

"Lecturer," she responded. "I use information that I have learned from my personal experiences to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality."

"Really?" he said. "And what kind of myths are there?"

"Well," she explained, "one popular myth is that African-American men are the most well-endowed of all men, when in fact it is the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait.

Another popular myth is that Frenchmen are the best lovers, when actually it is men of Jewish descent who are the best.

I have also discovered that the lover with absolutely the best stamina is the Southern Redneck."

Suddenly the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed. "I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't really be discussing all of this with you. I don't even know your name.."

"Tonto," the man said, "Tonto Goldstein, but my friends call me Bubba."

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04 October 09 - 23:32Life as an Indicator....

Employment is a lagging indicator, say the government folks.  I have some insight for them, livelihood of the citizens is the whole purpose of the economy, you dimwits!  What do you mean indicator?  I think it is time that those of us who are citizens are not merely considered as indicators of whether or not the ecomony is improving.

In my humble opinion, employment IS the core of the economy.  I think we need to work on semantics here.

Job creation, ladies and gentlement, where is the job creation, that is the essence of the economy we need information on.  The recession is technically over? I don't think it is technically over until unemployment rates are below six percent.  Until then, indicators point to recovery of employment of us serfs.  We are the economy that I care about, what the suits in New York City are doing moving money about and investing are great indicators that the ecomomy is picking up, but don't call unemployment and indicator, please.

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02 October 09 - 23:12Mr. President Please Stop Apologizing

Please please please, Mr. Obama.  Stop apologizing for our country.  Europe doesn't hate us, radical Muslims do.  Whereever did you get it in your head that people hated the United States any more under the recent administration of an outstanding Christian man any more than they have in the past.

Your remarks in Copenhagen were dispicable, unwarrented, and not based on reality.  Might I point out that your branch is the administrative branch of government, the exectutive brand. don't you know.  Your branch is supposed to execute laws, suggest laws, and see to it that things get done.  If you want your pork package which you called a stimulus to do anything other than stink to high heaven, you need to execute. You pushed that damn bill through like you knew what you were doing.  Now execute it.  At last tally we have lost jobs every month of your presidency and you have only managed to get less than 15% of your bill spent.  It is yourjob to get it spent, so if it is the magic pill, do it!!

Nice you could stop off to see your general in afghanistan on the way back from your idiotic trip to Denmarck.  A look at the list of cities and a bit of understanding of the way the Olympics work should have told you that you either needed a big bribe, or your trip was in jest.  The trip was worse than a joke, it made the US look stupid.  Pants on head stupid I think is the liberal term.

We lost a lot of jobs again last month, Mr. President.  Even more than healthcare we need jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs....

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