Yeah, you can't get away from annoying people who want to strike a political pose, even at the orchestra. (Instapundit)

Of course, one of the ways people can be an asshole in response to this kind of nonsense is to hit organizations like this where they live: not just in the wallet, but in the tax exemption. This is something I always worried about with in respect to Detour. I didn't want even the appearance that we were partisan one way or the other because of this, and I don't know that I was always clear to people about why. Putin jokes OK, maybe even jokes about the LDP (which would actually have been within our ambit) but for Kami-sama's sake, no campaign wear. It only takes one person to start a mountain of problems.

A liberal feminist tries to figure out why there's all this misogynist/sexist rage from the Left about Sarah Palin. (Instapundit)
( Do you want to know more? )

No post yesterday since I was pretty much caught up in events, so I guess I'll play catch up now.

Neighbors in the apartment next to the laundry room moved out; maintenance people were in there stripping out the carpet and doing other stuff yesterday.
Speaking of which, I did my laundry, which took most of the morning as I was periodically distracted by Civicrack. Poncho liner now looks strangely fluffy.
Finished Amy Chua's World on Fire, which is basically a polemic regarding economically dominant minorities and why democracy in Second/Third World nations that don't have a strong legal tradition is a Bad Idea.
( Good, but... )
Spent the late afternoon and evening getting caught up with Mr. Taylor, who was not down in the valley with his dad the Master of Llamas after all. This of course precluded the drive up to Hagerstown for baseball and fireworks, but I'm willing to argue that I had a better time in Reston.

So I missed the Big Announcement from Governor Palin. Initial reaction: it's her life, and if she wants to quit being governor for the benefit of her family, that's up to her.

P apparently went and talked to animaltofriends last night, and if jamestrainor's reaction is any indication, it went about as well as I thought it would.

Devolution in the USA: what if our future is to break up like the USSR? Apparently there are groups working toward this, if only as an academic exercise.

Needless to say, as a Falangist I disapprove. There is little in the ambitions of these groups hat couldn't be satisfied by a return of the US to a more decentralized federalism instead of the increasingly statist polity we're speeding toward under the Obama administration.

I've been holding off posting on the whole George Tiller thing, partially because it's just not a burning issue for me and partially because I just don't post very much about the abortion issue. Most of my friends have pretty fixed attitudes on it by now, as do I, and I seriously doubt that anyone's mind is going to be changed by anything I have to say, so why waste everyone's time?
( Politics and irony warning )
Megan McArdle has some useful posts on the subject; surprisingly so given her recent drivel on the Sotomayor nomination:
The War on the War On Abortion
A Really Long Post About Abortion
One More Post

Anyway, Ms. McArdle (unlike me) is one of those Orange pro-choice types, so it's a little surprising (if pleasant) to see that we wind up in some of the same places. Read all of them, if you will.

Now you know why I've been cutting back on reading & posting about politics lately. This stuff will boil your brain if you spend enough time marinating in it, and I have uses for that brain.

Green shoots bustin' out all over! (Instapundit)

N.B.: Do not click the link if you are under the impression that Obama and the Congress are doing a good job with the economy. Mr. Cavanaugh will harsh your mellow.

Related: Brian Doherty's Radicals for Capitalism is an interesting and concise history of the libertarian movement in America, which goes back a lot further than Ayn Rand and (imao) has a lot of crazy uncles in the attic. Lots and lots of short bios of all the major figures in the movement, some analyses of why the LP hasn't achieved much as a third party, and a lot of background on the anarchist/Left/"soft" libertarians that I frankly hadn't been aware of. Highly recommended.

Shikha Dalmia would have been more honest if she'd titled her recent piece in Forbes "Dear GOP: Please choose libertarianism!"

( Political stuff )

Apparently Congress isn't the only place they're having trouble with corrupt politicians - the Mother of Parliaments is looking pretty shabby these days. Extra points for the C.S. Lewis quote at the end.

N.B. Hal Colebatch is an Australian poet who's contributed several stories to the Man-Kzin Wars anthologies.

“Perhaps predictibly, someone showed up in the comments to my post on Medicare and Social Security to argue that liberal analysts have very serious plans to cut Medicare’s costs, which is why we need universal coverage, so that we can implement those very serious plans. I hear this argument quite often, and it’s gibberish in a prom dress.” Read the whole thing.

The bottom line is that nobody at Don Beyer's service department can figure out wtf is going on with the Sportage, except that the zap from the battery isn't getting to the starter/fuel pump/some internal stuff like the radio. Fortunately, the Electrical Wizard will be returning tomorrow from hanging for nine days and nights on Yggdrasil and will no doubt analyze the problem in a flash of intuitive insight. In the meantime, they loaned me an Optima, which is sort of like the Hyundai Sonata; not quite small enough for me to put it on as opposed to getting into it, but not really comfortable. Better than no wheels, or a Dodge Neon, or (shudder) an Aveo. Quickie review: it would probably be more comfortable if I were 100 pounds lighter and six inches shorter, the sound system is most impressive with Combichrist and Funker Vogt on it, and the acceleration is very nice after years of driving the 4-cylinder Sportage. Still want the Marauder.

Went to the polls and voted for the Republicans and independents running for the city council; the Democrats are (as usual) taking Alexandria down the same path Minneapolis followed under Sharon Sayles-Belton, and I'm not okay with that. On the way there from Don Beyer's, I stopped to try and pick up some needles at the VA clinic, but they close at 1600 and I missed that by ten minutes. Well, there's tomorrow. Or Thursday.

In the meantime, my stomach is telling me it's been too long since lunch.

...you run into people that you know are intelligent, and yet they spew insane political drivel you thought no sensible person could believe. The kind of thing even the New York Times would be embarrassed to run with, because it bears no relation whatsoever to the actual facts of life as most of us know it. And you talk to these people, and after a few back and forth exchanges you realize they're not joking. They really believe this DU-grade fever-swamp bullshit, and can't believe you don't agree that it's the real truth. I'm too old and tired to argue with people like that any more. If they think this Reverse Black Irish Southern Catholic Redneck Jewboy is some kind of unreconstructed Nazi, well, there's not much I can do for them. Or want to do for them. Hopefully I can still enjoy this guy's art without thinking about his politics, because as far as I can tell he manages to keep the art free of politics. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of his art.

In the meantime, blood sugar is down in the normal range, and as my personal protest against the swine flu hype, I'm going to Shooter McGee's for some ribs.

Also, I now have the newest pair of pants back from the tailor's, and can relegate the work pants I have (and their problematic zipper) to the emergency reserve. Saturday I'll have another pair of repaired pants available, and next week yet another pair. If this keeps up, I may actually be able to change work pants several times a week. :)

Offshore oil rigs are havens for marine life. (Moe Lane) Moe's post also includes some cool videos shot by divers around various rigs.

The Other McCain holds forth on Specter's defection. I am inclined to agree with Conservatives4Palin: "RINO turns jackass."

...or does G. Gordon Liddy in this clip sound like Marlon Brando playing Colonel Kurtz?
The clip is worth listening to for other reasons, of course, not least of which is his discussion of insects as a means of torture.

Related (because I found it on mah Twitter feed) MKHammer describes a prominent black politician making hard choices as he cuts his budget. Unfortunately, as she points out, "It just ain't Obama".

Probably the most concise summary of Lamestream Media's coverage of last week's Tea Party events, courtesy of Bluftooni. (Moe Lane, who also brings us zombie haiku.)

Unrelated: welcome to LJ, tammisue39!

Got up this morning feeling okay, and am heading off to the Day Job now - with DayQuil. Just in case. Still coughing a little, but that may be from burning the toast this morning.

Good luck to edminster, the Other McCain, and everybody else going to today's Tea Parties. I'm with you in spirit, and praying for you. Call us terrorists, will they? I say: WOLVERINES!!!

In this insightful blog post, the Captain gets to the root of The Mystery. The Mystery is a staple of discussion at Joe Soucheray's Garage Logic, where just about every day brings fresh news of Euphorians' and other ne'er-do-wells' work on advancing The Mystery. Oddly, despite having been sent this missive no less than three times, Joe has so far not aired the Captain's essay or referred to it. Perhaps there's more to it than the Captain knows? I myself am suspicious of purely economic explanations for human behavior, since it seems obvious to me from reading history that some people just don't care about money or rate it fairly low in their scale of Important Things.

In line with the old Mafia saying that "the fish rots from the head", Obama's administration seems to be taking its military direction from the pages of the Onion.

Tom Smith says things aren't so bad. This may strike some of you as odd, but I agree with him somewhat...if for no other reason than "It ain't over until WE say it's over!"