Stuart Hamblen’s song “This Ole House” was inspired by a lonely shack he found while hunting in the mountains. Inside was the corpse of an elderly man guarded by a starving dog.
Hunting with Hamblen was his friend John Wayne.
Obama Burma Visit 2012
Obama Burma Visit 2012 — Here is how the people of Burma welcomed Obama on his visit. They seem to have a better fix on him than half of America. For a report on the not-so-success of his endeavor visit here.
Those Crazy Japanese
Those Crazy Japanese — Issei Sagawa was a student in avant garde literature at the Sorbonne Academy in 1981 when he invited classmate Renee Hartevelt to dinner at his apartment.
Little did Miss Hartevelt know that she was going to be the meal. Sagawa shot her and proceeded to eat her over the next several days.
Sagawa’s deed was discovered when he tried to dispose of what he couldn’t finish in a lake.
Well, he was arrested, found insane and placed in an asylum. His wealthy father inveigled him to be transferred to a Japanese institution and then released into society. He served a total of 15 months.
Sagawa is now a minor celebrity in Japan where he gives lectures on cannibalism, writes restaurant reviews, and says that he would like to eat another girl.
Seriously.
Those Crazy Japanese
Thoughts On Secession II
It is true that if Pennsylvania should reject the existing paradigm of federal supremacy it would not have to share its natural gas revenue with places that allow world travel on welfare.
But it gets even better.
It’s not called the Keystone State without a reason. New Englanders and New Yorkers have to transverse it to reach points west and south.
Without federal interference, Pennsylvania could impose a heavy toll for using I-80 while removing the toll booths on I-76. This would give the port of Philadelphia a huge competitive advantage while righteously reaping revenue from our fat-cat oppressors in New York City.
Yes, with the state on its own the typical Pennsylvanian could live a life of indulgent leisure akin to the citizens of Bahrain or Qatar.
But wouldn’t the people who live in those precincts that went 100 percent for Obama oppose such a plan? Did you miss the part about living a life of indulgent leisure?
Those former Obama-supporting Philadelphians would be able to buy Bruce Springsteen’s horse farm and hire his daughter to clean the stables leaving The Boss to wander the ruins of New Jersey mumbling pathos-invoking songs about his circumstance.
Of course they would go for it.
Cryptowit
By William W. Lawrence Sr
Li srpc ievrw lmw jviihsq erh ibmwxirgi als hempc gsruyivw xliq eria.
Nslerr Aspjkerk zsr Ksixli
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.
Ben Stein
Economic News Of The Day
Half of the nation’s 40 biggest publicly traded corporate spenders have announced plans to curtail capital expenditures reports the Wall Street Journal.
“Shadow banking” which can be defined as any “levered up non-bank investment conduits, vehicles and structures” has reached a record high of $67 trillion globally, reports CNBC.
If the definition doesn’t work for you, examples would be hedge funds, private equity companies, money-market funds and cash-rich organizations that lend government bonds for banks.
Shadow banking is largely unregulated and CNBC is naturally calling for more regulation of it. What CNBC et al fails to comprehend is that all “money” basically is, is a communication tool and hence is as hard to regulate as any word or idea. If the word “dollar” loses its meaning it will be replaced by other words such as “yuan” or “yen”. There will be suffering but it won’t be the wealthy, healthy and able doing it.
Tidbit Of The Day
Road projects in Iceland are often re-routed due to concerns about elves.
Hat tip Cracked (and the New York Times).
Thoughts On Secession
Barack Obama may be the most divisive president since Lincoln, yet has neither his intelligence, moral character, work ethic nor his willingness to bend over backwards to find common ground with his opponents.
So movements have begun in various red states calling for secession from the Union. Pretty much a joke, right?
Well the media outlets now are writing hand-wringing articles saying what a disaster it would be for the red states which is not what one does when one is laughing.
The rebuttal to such claims is that relatively small nations do just fine and that places like Qatar, Norway and Switzerland are as rich or richer than we are.
It is worth considering how much better off we Pennsylvanians with our new found natural gas bounty would be without the debt-laden millstones of New York and California.
Just sayin’
Cryptowit
By William W. Lawrence Sr
Cqn orabc bcny cx pnccrwp cqn cqrwpb hxd fjwc xdc xo uron rb cqrb: Mnlrmn fqjc hxd fjwc.
Knw Bcnrw
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Proverbs
Hunters Share The Harvest
Pennsylvania hunters and sportsmen are encouraged by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to consider participating in the state’s Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) program, which provides donations of venison to local food banks, soup kitchens and families in need, says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).
Started in 1991, HSH has developed into a refined support service for organizations that assist Pennsylvanians in need. Each year, Hunters Sharing the Harvest helps to deliver almost 200,000 meals to food banks, churches and social services feeding programs.
As part of the program, hunters are encouraged to take a deer to a participating meat processor and identify how much of their deer meat to donate to HSH. If an individual is donating an entire deer, he or she is asked to make a $15 tax-deductible co-pay, and HSH will cover the remaining processing fees. However, a hunter can cover the entire costs of the processing, which is also tax deductible.
To learn more about the program and obtain a list of participating meat processors and county coordinators, visit the Game Commission’s website or go to the HSH website.
Pennsylvania’s HSH program is recognized as one of the most successful among similar programs in about 40 states.