Quote of the Day: Yeah, Ya Think??? Edition

Newt Gingrich:

"In retrospect it was a mistake."

Can't Argure That

Quote of the Day comes to us from MSNBC president, Phil Griffin:

"Keith [Olbermann] has been our tentpole."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Let Me See If I Got This Straight

A corporation like the New York Times has the Constitutionally-protected right to editorialize in favor of politicians who are actively looking to enact legislation giving tax-payer funded subsidies and bailouts to the country's struggling* newspapers.

But a corporation such as North American Coal has no right to sponsor political ads critical of politicians actively seeking to tax it out of existence and send thousands to the unemployment line.

* Translated: No one want to buy their crappy product in its useless, outdated format.

Gone Trappin'

Mousetrappin', that is.

After hearing the scritchy-scratchy sound of rodent feet tooling around inside our wall the other night, I picked up a four-pack of mousetraps from Wal-Mart and a jar of peanut butter from the cupboard.

Set four traps and scored three dead rodent critters on night #1.

But, the funny part (and the only reason I'm sitting here typing up this post) was the trap on the foundation ledge in the basement with a dead mouse in it and the bait tray licked spotless around his crushed little melon.

I can only surmise it went down something like this.

(Bob the Mouse out for nightly stroll)

Dum-dee-dum-dum-dum. Lovely night for a walk. Wonder if there's any...

OH SHIT, MAN! That's Doug! I was just talking to him yesterday. He was so young. He had a wife and kids. That's a...

Ooooh...is that peanut butter?

I'll Have What He and His Boss Are Smoking

White House press secretary bobblehead, Robert Gibbs:

"The president's going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated[.]"

What a jackass.

No offense to actual jackasses, noble beasts that perform actual work and produce tangible results to the benefit of those who feed them.

Well, Obama Did Promise Us Hope

And, nothing says hope for the future like underfolder AK's (with bayonet and four 30-round mags) going for $419.95.

Fill In the Blank

"Gee, I'd like to watch the president's State of the Union speech tonight, but I've got something more productive and worthwhile to do. If you need me, I'll be ________________."

Best response, as judged by me, gets some Gadsden and Culpeper loot.

There...Fixed It For You

Hot Air:



Corrected version:

How To Make the Snow In Your Yard Go Away

Buy new snowshoes.



I was looking for something halfway decent in the $120-$150 price range, and the 20% off sale at EMS sealed the deal.

Now I just need some snow.

Damn you, Al Gore!

Now You Know

The threads on a Gibson ES-335 style pickguard bracket and 1/24 scale slot car axles are both #5-40 size threads.

Quick Heads-Up For My Local Readers

Union Leader: Ice storm to hit New Hampshire on Sunday night

An icing threat will set up over New England on Sunday night as soaking rain sweeping northward along the Eastern Seaboard meets outgoing cold air.

Rain, literally icy cold, will overspread much of eastern Vermont, New Hampshire and inland Maine. The onset of freezing rain will take place between late Sunday evening and daybreak on Monday with icing continuing during the day on Monday.

Seems as though it will a short lived threat, at best.

What will put an end to, and limit the impact of, this icing outbreak will be warming from the south that will spread through New England, even the far north of Maine. This warming and halt to the glazing will happen late on Sunday night and through the day on Monday.

Regardless, I'll be taking appropriate measures to prepare for it.

Mmmm...Volume

Picked this up today from a guy in the next town over, via Craigslist. I'd been looking for a deal on the newer version, the VT50, but the price was right, and this has got more bells and whistles on it than I'll really need.

Vox Valvetronix AD50VT

Amazingly versatile and it nails the classic tube amps.

It puts together the amazingly realistic tube preamp sound of Valvetronix technology, Valve Reactor circuitry for the sound and feel of tube power, and 11 models of vintage and modern amp classics including the legendary AC30. It also packs a block of 11 high-quality effects including composites, 50W of juice, and a 12" Vox Original speaker. Knob-based controls make it easy to drive. 2 channels and manual mode give you 3 distinct sound sets. Output wattage is adjustable. Line and headphone jacks are provided for home recording and silent practice. Programs and effects are footswitchable with optional VFS2 switch.

Features:

* Vox Valve Reactor circuit delivers real tube tone
* 11 amp models
* 11 high-quality effects (including composite effects)
* User program storage
* 2 channels
* Preset amp models
* Knob-based interface for quick and intuitive editing
* Line and headphone jacks for home recording or late-night practice
* Operates as a conventional amp in manual mode
* Adjustable output wattage of the power amp
* Optional VFS2 dual footswitch controls programs and effects

Specifications:

* Number of amp types: 11
* Number of effects: 11, Noise reduction: 1
* Number of programs: 11 preset, 2 channel
* Input/output jacks: guitar input, footswitch input, and line/headphone output
* Power amp output: 50W RMS @ 8 ohms
* Speaker: 1x VOX original (12 inch, 8 ohm)
* Signal processing A/D conversion: 24-bit, D/A conversion: 24-bit,
* Sampling frequency: 44.1 kHz
* Power supply requirements: AC, local voltage

Pity the kids are sleeping right now.

UPDATE: Forgot the family portrait.

Dicky Barrett On the MA Senate Race

Still...Recovering...

The full effect of Tuesday's election has yet to sink in. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all the awesomeness in play here. Posting will be light.

In the meantime, enjoy this.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mass Backwards
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

(H/T to the dozen or folks who sent the link to me)

Don't Tread On MA

Hell. Ice. Some Assembly Required.

The people of Massachusetts have just elected a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy in the United States Senate.

Congratulations, Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-MA)!

UPDATE: Only 96% precincts reporting, as of 10:07 PM!

Plenty of time for the MGC to convene and enact a law giving Deval Patrick the power to appoint a permanent replacement for Kennedy's senate seat.

MA Senate Race Interactive Live-Blog

Over at Legal Insurrection.

Boston Globe Senate Race Results "Placeholder"

Up until 1:00 this afternoon, here's what the Boston Globe's senate race results page looked like.



They cleared the numbers right after I took that screencap.

Wishful thinking much?

No Time For Complacency

I vividly remember a certain October evening back in 1986, eyes fixed to the TV screen, standing with both my thumbs pushing firmly against the edge of a champagne cork.

That is all.

Quote of the Day

Cliff Clavin brings teh awesome:

This isn't the Democratic party of our fathers and grandfathers. This is the party of Woodstock hippies. I was at Woodstock — I built the stage. And when everything fell apart, and people were fighting for peanut-butter sandwiches, it was the National Guard who came in and saved the same people who were protesting them. So when Hillary Clinton a few years ago wanted to build a Woodstock memorial, I said it should be a statue of a National Guardsman feeding a crying hippie."

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

One candidate, walking the streets, signing autographs, surrounded by enthusiastic supporters from all walks of life.

The other, indoors, greeting a captive audience of union members, trying to orchestrate a photo op in a near vacuum of enthusiasm.

Seriously, how much does the guy in the middle NOT want Martha Coakley to be touching him?

UPDATE: More "enthusiasm chasm" illustrated (via the Boston Herald).



Depends heavily on one's definition of "cheer".

Coakley: Yeah, Scott Brown Is the Better Candidate

Martha Coakley is a woman with enough dirt in her closet (the now infamous "curling iron incident", Father Geoghan's secret deal, Fells Acre, giving a pass to corrupt Bay State pols, taking campaign cash from Big Dig lobbyists ) to bury her under a tsunami of negative ads, if any political rival ever chose to do so.

Knowing this, why would she go so negative in the late hours of this campaign, and release hit piece after hit piece, flinging mud at Scott Brown like it's going out of style?

Because, she knows that Scott Brown is to decent and honorable a person to stoop down to her level and engage in such sleazy character assassination.

She knows he'll refuse to run any ads detailing the secret arrangement she made with a child-molesting priest, or how she turned a blind eye to the corruption on Beacon Hill. As truthful as any such ads would be, they would serve only to distract the People from the pressing issues of the economy, joblessness, out-of-control government spending, and national security.

Coincidentally, those are all the issues which Ms. Coakley would love for everyone to be ignoring right about now.

For Martha Coakley, a person with so many political skeletons in her closet, to engage in such a negative, desperate, and disingenuous smear campaign is a tacit admission that (a) Scott Brown is a better, more decent person than she could ever hope to be, (b) that he would better serve the people of Massachusetts in the United States Senate, and (c) he would do so in the calm, rational and compassionate manner which the voters deserve.

Martha Coakley isn't fit to polish Scott Brown's shoes.

And she knows it.

UPDATE: Or, it could just be that Martha Coakley is a desperate, sleazebag politician with the moral capacity of a lentil husk, who sees her opponent polling above 50%, so her only pathway to victory involves smearing him mercilessly with lies and innuendo in a despicable attempt to erode some of his support.

Taste the Hopenchange.

Things Are Looking Up For John McCain

He's about to be stripped of his title of "Worst Candidate Ever".

NH Rep's Facebook Page Hacked

NH State Rep Dan Itse's Facebook page has been hacked!

If you are on his friends list, DO NOT OPEN any links in your inbox from him!!! PASS THE WORD!

Hockey Sticks

Via Intrade:

The Massachusetts Miracle

Wile E. Coakley - Super Genius

Just when it seemed that Martha Coakley had finally run out of stupid shit to say...

Question of the Day - Important Stuff

What do I name my "new" guitar?

With its dazzling looks and its ability to growl like a pit bull scorned, I'm leaning toward Sarah.

And, the body and neck are made of maple.

Maple Sarah.

Get it?

[crickets]

Thank you, I'll be here all night.

UPDATE: More on Sarah's pedigree...

Ibanez Artstar AS80 (1996)
Made in Korea (Cort factory)
Rounded horns a la ES-335
Super 58 pickups
Vintage Sunburst finish
Multi-ply cream-colored binding
Bound fretboard

It turns out it's quite unique in that it was manufactured during the transition period in which Ibanez switched factories in 1996, and as luck would have it, combines the best (IMHO) features of both factories' production runs into one guitar.

The changes made to the AS80 during this transitional period (1996 to 1997 models) include (1) the body shape at cutaway, (2) headstock design, and (3) upgrade of pickups. Here are some Ibanez catalog scans to illustrate this.



The serial number of my guitar indicates a manufacturing date of August 1996. The headstock shows it was manufactured in the new (Cort) factory with the upgraded Super 58 pickups. My guitar however has the old body shape with the rounded horns on the cutaway, which mimics the shape of the Gibson ES-335 on which this Artstar series'design was based. Note the 1997 model has the more pointed horns on it.

So, this guitar was one of the first ones made at the new factory using (based on what other have told me) the unused 1996-style bodies, explaining why it doesn't match any of the models in the Ibanez catalogs from that time period.

I really like the old body style better, but didn't want to have to pull out the Super 50's that were in the older models to upgrade them. So, when the opportunity came up to buy this "mutant" AS80, I jumped on it.

Gratuitous Guitar Pics

On account of she's so purty.




Have I mentioned how much I freakin' love this guitar?

To Paraphrase Han Solo

Great news!

Now, don't get cocky.

Mmmm...Scotch

So, I'm sitting here, drinking scotch and trying to get used to playing an electric guitar again. I've only played my acoustic Yamaha since selling my other gear some eleven or so years ago.

It's been a while.

And, it's also been a while since I had a contest of any kind to move some more loot from the Gadsden and Culpeper American Heritage Shoppe (plug alert!).

First person to correctly guess what brand of scotch I'm drinking tonight (answer via comments - telepathic entries disallowed) gets ten bucks worth of stuff. On second thought, let's turn it up to 11 (bucks).

Guns Are Like Guitars

You can never actually "complete" your collection.

That sum of money doesn't exist.

Elitism Illustrated

Illustration #1: Pressing the Flesh

Boston Globe:

For many Democrats, that is too close for comfort, in a race for the seat held for so long by a Kennedy in one of the bluest states in the land. Other polls have showed the race much tighter.

Despite that, there is a subdued, almost dispassionate quality to [Coakley's] public appearances, which are surprisingly few. Her voice is not hoarse from late-night rallies. Even yesterday, the day after a hard-hitting debate, she had no public campaign appearances in the state.

Coakley bristles at the suggestion that, with so little time left, in an election with such high stakes, she is being too passive.

“As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?" she fires back, in an apparent reference to a Brown online video of him doing just that.

Illustration #2: A Tale of Two Sundays

Last weekend, Scott Brown went to where the action was, meeting the people and shaking hands with the massive crowd outside Gillette Stadium before the Patriots first (and, sadly, only) playoff game.

While at the same time, Martha Coakley was attending a fundraiser, surrounding herself with sycophantic supporters (literally dozens of them!).

Illustration #3: The Takedown

Martha Coalkey's "message man", Michael Meehan,delivers the message loud and clear by pushing a treporter to the sidewalk for having the nerve to ask a question of a candidate seeking a high-level position of power and expect (gasp!) an answer.

Anyone with a dram of moral fiber in their being would have at least gestured as if he or she was trying to help the person up. Hence, Martha Coakley's stone cold expression of indifference and apathy toward the man on the ground.



Allow me to translate:

"Touch the peasants? Are you high?"

New Member of the Family

My wife's begging to differ notwithstanding, I simply couldn't afford not to buy this today.

Ibanez Artstar AS80 (1996)
Made in Korea (Cort factory)
Rounded horns a la ES-335 (vs. pointed, post-96 models)
Super 58 pickups
Vintage Sunburst finish
Multi-ply cream-colored binding
Bound fretboard

You Do the Math

Remember that $1.3 million Scott Brown raised in a single day?

Martha Coakley's claims of big money special interest groups feeding Brown's campaign coffers notwithstanding, the Daily Caller is reporting today that the average individual donation was hardly "big money".

Most of the 16,000 contributors who are responsible for Republican Scott Brown banking $1.3 million in campaign bucks on Monday for his Massachusetts Senate campaign came from grass roots donors averaging $77.89 a donation, his campaign said.

“It went viral,” Felix Browne, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican told The Daily Caller. Help from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, both Republicans who sent emails to their supporters encouraging them to donate, helped bring in dollars from across the country.

Rob Eno, a Brown supporter and one of the operators of blog RedMassGroup.com, said he helped raise over $12,000 for the money bomb off his Web site with an application for visitors to donate to Brown’s campaign. The Brown enthusiast donated $50 to the campaign minutes after the money bomb began early Monday morning.

“I’ve been involved in Massachusetts politics for 10 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Eno said of the grassroots involvement for Brown.

And, of course, Coakley made these claims about Brown's supposed dependence on well-heeled special interest groups while standing outside the building where she was attending a fundraiser in Washington DC to rake in tens of thousands from HMO, pharmaceutical, and insurance company lobbyists.

This woman has no shame.

And, how does the DNC (note: not exactly a Massachusetts-based opersation) respond to Scott Brown's success in getting ordinary American's to support his campaign?

SCOTT BROWN’S DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
Will Republicans Sell Out To National Tea Party Movement Backfire At Home?
And If He’s Elected, Who Will He Owe?

“Scott Brown made a deal with the devil – and he should have held out for a better one…Brown’s embrace of radical tea party groups for funding coincides nicely with his willingness to accept the millions in television ads from shadowy out-of-state organizations with links to Karl Rove…”

Yes, you read that right. The Democrats are still running against Karl Rove.

Taste the change.

Pop Quiz:

Martha Coakley and the Democrat national Committee have, by their own words, acknowledged that Scott Brown embraces hard-working, tax-paying American citizens upset with the direction their government is taking the country.

Martha Coakley, by her own actions, has embraced _________.

(a) child-molesting priests
(b) corrupt Massachusetts legislators
(c) the ACORN/SEIU machine
(d) K Street
(e) all of the above

Seriously, if this smear campaign isn't ample proof that Coakley and the Democrats are out of ideological gas, and have all but given up on debating the issues in an open and honest manner, what would be?

Hopenchange Paradigm #53:

Communicating openly and honestly with the American people, discussing the issues that matter the most to them, and earning their trust and admiration is the now considered "making a deal with the devil".

Skipping out of town to suck up to lobbyists, union bosses, and Beltway insiders is now grassroots politics at its finest.

So, What's Next For the Coakley Camp?

We've all seen by now the negative smearjob ads from the Coakley campaign, which most of us knew were coming the minute Rasmussen showed Scott Brown closing within single digits of Her Entitlementness.

What better way for her to acknowledge that even in Massachusetts, people are coming out in droves to reject her ideology. If you can't win in the arena of ideas, slander, smear and attack (and get your union racketeers to pay people to hold up signs with your name on them).

So, what's next?

When Coakley's internal polling shows over the next couple of days that these negative ads have had no net effect on her numbers (best case scenario for her), what will her next move be?

If you guessed "Play the victim card!", prepare to claim your prize.

I knew the negative ads were coming.

And, I'm calling this one too. The Victim Card^TM is en route.

I don't think we'll see actual tears, à la Hillary, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a statement from her camp alleging her personal safety has been put at risk by some imaginary right-wing hate group threatening her with violence of some kind.

You know, like all those crazy-ass Tea Partiers down in D.C. last fall who torched all those cars, hurled innocent passers-by through storefronts, and kicked every puppy within a 10 mile radius.

I give her people another 72 hours before they peel the first card of the top of the deck - 24 hours to run the numbers, 48 hours to launch Operation Sympathy.

Simon Cowell's a Moron

Doesn't even know what a fiyafighta is.

Paging Mr. Turf

Mr. Astro Turf. Please pick up a red courtesy telephone.

Father of the Year - Nominee

Caught On Tape: Thief Grabs Gold Chain Off Boy, 5

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― Police are looking for a suspect who yanked a gold chain off a 5-year-old boy's neck in South Los Angeles Wednesday.

The boy and his father were coming out of a restaurant when police say a man on a bicycle rode past and grabbed the boy's chain, reports CBS station KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.

What the hell, Dad? Next time, why not just send your kid out to play in the street with 10's and 20's glued to his face.

Coakley Camp Flings First Mud?

Fox25's Joe Battenfeld is reporting that the Coakley campaign released the first negative ad of the campaign immediately after tonight's debate. Anyone seen it?

You can watch the debate here.

I haven't watched it yet, just seen highlights.

UPDATE: And, oh yeah...Scott Brown's money bomb raked in a cool $1.05 million, blowing away the original goal of $500K.

Nice.

UPDATE II: Yes, she did.

UPDATE III: And, of course, comments disabled.

Courage.

UPDATE IV: DOH!

Scott Brown Picks Up Coveted SPAM Endorsement

The State Police Association of Massachusetts, that is.

BREAKING: Sarah Palin Signs Deal With Fox News

Chris Matthews and Anderson Cooper hardest hit.

You'll Be Glad To Know...

I found my shocked face.

It was under the sofa cushion, hanging out with a ChapStick, a guitar pick, and some four-day-old Cheez-Its.

And just in time too.

WMUR (via AP): Road Projects Don't Help Unemployment

Ten months into President Barack Obama's first economic stimulus plan, a surge in spending on roads and bridges has had no effect on local unemployment and only barely helped the beleaguered construction industry, an Associated Press analysis has found.

Spend a lot or spend nothing at all, it didn't matter, the AP analysis showed: Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation, raising questions about Obama's argument that more road money would address an "urgent need to accelerate job growth."

Now, if only I could locate my automatic forehead slapper.

From my comments attached thereto:

The goal of the so-called stimulus was NEVER job creation. It’s goal was two-fold. (1) The transfer of wealth from the private sector to organized labor as payback for their help in electing this conman, and (2) the intentional destruction of our economy that is needed to keep the crisis alive, so that it can be used as justification for the erosion of our economic and personal freedom. In those regards, the stimulus has been a smashing success.

Seriously, how can anyone be surprised by this “news”. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the the futility of paying a man to dig a hole and paying his neighbor to fill it back in. Sure, you created two “jobs”, but nothing got done and no wealth was generated. It was merely shuffled back and forth in the massive Ponzi scheme called “progressive” economic policy.

But, hey, that stretch of 101 between Raymond and Epping is now an inch and a half higher. Hooray.

Using that $787 billion to give every adult in the country $4500 worth of scratch tickets would have done more for the country’s economic well-being than this money-flushing fiasco.

Just Wondering

If I change my voter registration enrollment to become a Democrat, will I be able to call African-Americans "Negroes" with the blessing and the approval of Al Sharpton, Barack Obama, and the Congressional Black Caucus, or is that only OK for real, "progressive" Democrats?

As a Wise Man Once Said...

...ten bucks is ten bucks, eh.

You People Keep Using the Word "Change"...

...but I don't think you know what it means.

"To avoid handing the Republicans bragging rights for making it a competitive race, she's got to turn it up a notch and remind voters why it is they elect Democrats in Massachusetts and why she's the change agent in the race," said one senior Democratic strategist in the state, speaking on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment of Coakley's candidacy.

On this guy's planet, "change" is synonymous with "rubber stamp".

Remind me never to visit.

UPDATE: From the same Washington Post article...

Sensing opportunity, national Republicans are beginning to mobilize. The American Future Fund, an independent conservative group, is spending more than $400,000 on ads slamming Coakley on taxes, and sources familiar with the organization say there's more where that came from.

Democrats quickly sought to counter, announcing that former president Bill Clinton will be campaigning for Coakley in the state on Friday and sending out a fundraising e-mail urging donations to "fight back against swiftboat attacks" in the race -- a reference to the ads attacking the character of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) during his 2004 presidential bid.

History has shown us time and again that Massachusetts voters, on average, lack the mental capacity to remember what they had for lunch yesterday. What chance do they have of remembering "swiftboating"?

And, how is alerting voters to the fact that Coakley will jack up their taxes any kind of "cgaracter attack"? By that definition, all talk about her record and her policy positions is off the table.

Worcester Telegram...

...endorses Scott Brown.

Above all, voters a week from Tuesday should set aside all talk of what the late Sen. Ted Kennedy or his family would have wanted. The United States is a representative democracy. Positions of power are not to be “owned” by any political party, and cannot be inherited or handed down as if this were a medieval kingdom.

This election is about which candidate is best able to articulate and promote plans for sustainable economic growth, a vigorous national defense, and a limited government able and willing to remind its own members and the American people of the enduring value of our founding principles.

Just another right-wing rag, right?

(links via the Patriot Room via commenter Becky @ Legal Insurrection)

UPDATE: The Eagle Tribune goes Brown!

No Relation to Troy Brown

Hey, Man...

...nice shot.

(link via Viking Pundit)

UPDATE: This guy, on the other hand...

Heads or Tails

Public Policy Polling:

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.

That smell you're smelling is the Attack the Messenger Machine being put into overdrive over at Hopenchange HQ. Hope they remembered to change the oil.

Not Quite the Belly of the Beast

But, certainly pretty close.

Here's Scott Brown and a dedicated group of supporters braving the cold on the streets of Southie.



Donate to his campaign here.

Sacrificing For the Common Good

I stopped by my local Wal-Mart this afternoon and took my obligatory walk past the ammo case, on the off chance that they'd have something in stock other than politically-correct hunting rifle ammunition and 100-round value packs of bird shot.

When what do I see, but a lone 550-round bulk pack of Federal .22LR.

Damn, I thought. It's been months since that endangered species has been spotted in this neck of the woods. I should...

...wait a minute...

...not so fast....

Is there anything else I could spend that money on that might be more important, in the grand scheme of things, than another box of .22 ammo?

OK, maybe equally as important?

Why, yes there is.

Funny you, OK, I should ask.

I passed on the ammo, went home, got out the credit card and clicked here.

Another $14.95 is on it's way, Scott.

It's Like Predicting the Sunrise

No Looking Backwards - 1/5/10:

On the heels of this latest Rasmussen poll, I'll give the "progressive" anti-tolerance movement in Massachusetts 48 hours before they fire up the Race-Baiting Smear Machine and start feeding talking points to their foot soldiers in the press.

You know it's coming.

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - 1/8/10 (emphasis mine):

I received this e-mail from a Massachusetts resident and businesswoman (and I verified her identity through publicly available sources), regarding a phone call she received last night:

I got an odd call last night that presented as a survey on the Kennedy election. I was willing to participate in the survey but was left with a bad feeling when it was over. Today I am hoping to let a few people know. I saw your blog.

They identified themselves as McGrath [sic - see below] from Denver but I was unable to find anything on Google. The questions were obnoxious; for example: "would knowing that hate groups support Scott Brown change you opinion of him?".

Can someone invent for me, please, a collapsible, wallet-size shocked face that I can carry with me at all times. I keep misplacing mine.

Your Presence is Requested in Concord

Gun Owners of New Hampshire:

WE NEED YOU...

We need you MONDAY January 11, 1:00 pm at the LOB 210-211 for two hearings!

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A CLASS B Felon? No? Neither do we! No guns in any state or town building or “place”? That means state operated rest areas too!

Your rights have been taken by fiat in an obscure committee meeting without public input or hearing!! NOW those same anti-freedom ‘representatives’ want to limit you from public participation in government while criminalizing your right to self defense. We need to HOLD THE LINE!!

Less guns = more crime! Two proposed bills attempt to void your 2nd amendment rights and your ability to defend yourself and others even when traveling on our state roads!

See HB1635 and HB1654

These two anti-freedom bills create gun free zones in New Hampshire public buildings and The New Hampshire State House, the Peoples’ house! Only those who work for the government as a paid law enforcement (who are exempt) and criminals (who will ignore the law) will be carrying firearms or other self-defense tools in public buildings. Should these bills pass the rest of us will be disarmed or jailed as Class B felons.

As in the past, GO-NH will have a shuttle service to and from the hearing beginning at 12:00 pm ending around 4:00 PM at the Concord Ice Arena, at 15 Loudon Road, Concord, NH 03301 (Directions), directly across from the Concord Post Office on Loudon Road. GO-NH also will be paying for parking at the arena. (Donations accepted to offset cost Parking is $3.00 per car plus cost of shuttle) Please attend, please call your representative.

We need you there!

Please come and be heard!

More from NRA-ILA, including committee member contact info:

HB1654 will be heard at 1:00 p.m. by the House Legislative Administration Committee and HB1635 will be heard at 2:00 p.m. by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Both hearings will be held in room LOB 210-211.

If you would like to attend these hearings and show your support for the Second Amendment, Gun Owners of New Hampshire (GO-NH) will provide shuttle service to and from the hearing beginning at 12:00 p.m. until around 4:00 p.m. Please arrive and park at the Concord Ice Arena located at 15 Loudon Road in Concord (directly across from the Concord Post Office on Loudon Road). GO-NH will pay for parking at the arena but donations to offset the cost are welcome.

Please contact the members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and the House Legislative Administration Committee TODAY and respectfully urge them to oppose these bills. Contact information for the committees can be found by clicking here and here.

Massachusetts Blogger Snubbed!

Sorry, Jay. You didn't make the final cut.

I'd Buy That For a Dollar

Tincan Caldwell (New Hampshire Magazine) has some iPhone application suggestions for Steve Jobs.

The Massachusetts Border Alert Application: With its no nonsense icon of the state of Massachusetts with a skull and crossbones superimposed over it, this handy-dandy feature would sound an alert when the New Hampshire iPhone owner wandered too near to the Massachusetts border and that state's high taxes, hyper-aggressive drivers and impenetrable accent.

The Yankess Loss Alert and the Politician Locator would be worth having too.

Gee, The Suspense Was Killing Me

This just in!

BOSTON — The widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy is endorsing fellow Democrat Martha Coakley in the election to succeed her late husband.

Works For Me

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) will supposedly vote against any bill that doesn't include the so-called public option".*

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) might possibly vote against any bill that includes Ben Nelson's "Cornhusker Kickback".*

220...221, whatever it takes.

* to be taken with a grain of salt the size of Barack Obama's ego.

Bush Lied...

...whereas Obama was merely speaking in the mystical dialect of Hopenmagic, an ancient and enlightened tongue, the comprehension of which is simply beyond the abilities of us mortal commoners.

UPDATE: Just wanted to add...

Knowing what was done out in the open to get the senate bill passed, with hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded kickbacks going out Harry Reid's office door like Halloween candy, can you imagine what kind of corrupted pile of crap is going to come out of the Democrat's closed door negotiations?

You thought half-a-billion in vote-buying bribes was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.

The "most open and transparent Congress ever" knows full well that the more the People know what's going on here, the greater the opposition to this planned government takeover of our healthcare system becomes.

They know this bill is DOA if they don't hammer it out while shrouded in secrecy, and ram it down our throats before we have a chance to see what they've done.

I know I'm beating the old dead horse here, but it amazes me still that the same people who cried for years about George W. Bush and his administration's power grabbing ways are the same ones picking up the pompoms today and leading the cheers for this tidal wave of totalitarianism that's powered its way up the Potomac.

Jeanne Shaheen On Taxpayer-Funded Bribery

I missed this press release earlier, but it certainly merits a mention here. What an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to the people of New Hampshire this woman has proven herself to be.

Today, our nation took a historic step forward in a quest that has spanned generations - to provide better quality and more cost effective health care to all Americans.

The only thing "historic" about that particular bill was the openness and transparency with which the leaders in Congress purchased the votes of fellow lawmakers and the staggering amount - hundreds of millions - of taxpayer dollars used to do so.

Senator Shaheen knows this.

She also knows that this bill will do nothing to control the actual cost of healthcare. But in her eyes, forcing someone else to pay for lower quality goods and services is the same thing as making those goods and services better and more affordable.

Up is down.

Fact is fiction.

The truth is a lie.

She knows this.

She simply doesn't care.

For 50 Bonus Points...

...what's wrong with the opening paragraph of this story?

CBS2-NY: Comedy Of Errors: Cameras Didn't Work At Newark

It's a tale of shocking ineptitude: CBS 2 has learned a series of missteps unnecessarily added to the mayhem at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday. The six-hour delay stranded thousands of people, creating extreme crowding and chaos.

The mistakes made at the airport give new meaning to the term "domino effect." It was a cascading series of missteps that cry out for action.

The sign at the Transportation Security Administration screening post at Newark read: "Premises Under Constant Video Surveillance."

What is should add is: "If We're Lucky."

That's because CBS 2 has learned that when an unidentified man breached a secure area at Newark on Sunday night, delaying thousands of passengers for hours, the TSA cameras weren't working.

(emphasis not mine)

But, don't worry, people. The people hired by the federal government to oversee, regulate, and restrict all your healthcare choices will be wicked smarter.

Trust them.

UPDATE: 50 points for Bobman.

There's nothing "shocking" about government ineptitude.

Scott Brown Within Single Digits in MA Senate Race?

On the heels of this latest Rasmussen poll, I'll give the "progressive" anti-tolerance movement in Massachusetts 48 hours before they fire up the Race-Baiting Smear Machine and start feeding talking points to their foot soldiers in the press.

You know it's coming.

I Need a New Thesaurus

I'm running out of adjectives to describe this sanctimonious little turdsack.

Didn't Think It Was Possible

The UPS white board guy's haircut got worse.

There Are Two Kinds of People In This Country

Those who can't wait until the Socialist wing of the Democrat party gets its ass beat in the November elections, and those who think "Signs" by the Five Man Electrical Band isn't the dumbest song they've ever heard.

Shooting the Messenger

Politico: Low favorables: Dems rip Rasmussen

Democrats are turning their fire on Scott Rasmussen, the prolific independent pollster whose surveys on elections, President Obama’s popularity and a host of other issues are surfacing in the media with increasing frequency.

The pointed attacks reflect a hardening conventional wisdom among prominent liberal bloggers and many Democrats that Rasmussen Reports polls are, at best, the result of a flawed polling model and, at worst, designed to undermine Democratic politicians and the party’s national agenda.

Would Monsieur care for a little Camembert with his whine this evening?

UPDATE: For the reading impaired...

Hey, it's 2010

It's about [bleep]ing time.

Happy new year to all of you who have taken the trouble to come by and tell me what's what over the last five or so years.

Thanks for making this blog worth my while, and putting up with all my crap. I'd like to tell you all how important this little corner of the blogosphere is to me, and what it's meant to my overall mental health and stability over the last half-decade, but I've been drinking Irish "egg nog", champagne, Guinness, Tuckerman's Pale Ale, and Narragansetts tonight, and I wouldn't want to get all mushy and shit and say something I regret in the morning.

So...happy new year, kids.

- Bruce