Had a fun conversation with Patrick and Ted during a break.  What about prostitutes vs. hookers?

With hookers, you choose when you'll get screwed.  With politicians, you're ALWAYS getting screwed!

With hookers, you choose how you'll get screwed.  Politicians will screw you every way 'till Sunday!

With hookers you can choose to stop getting screwed.  You can't stop politicians from screwing you!

With hookers, you choose up front how much you'll pay.  With politicians, you never stop paying!

Hookers give you value for your hard-earned money.  Politicians waste your money on their onw hookers!

. . . 

But what about female politicians?  Their hookers are called "gigolos!"

Sometimes those emails making the rounds contain a good idea:

We have a little less than one month and counting to get the word out all across this great land and into every community in the United States of America . If you forward this email to least 11 people and each of those people do the same ... you get the idea.

THE PROGRAM:

On Sunday, September 11th, 2011, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States . Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this tenth anniversary of one of our country's worst tragedies. We do this to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds

So, here's what we need you to do:

(1) Forward this email via cut and paste. (Please don't be the one to break this chain. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.

(2) Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation.

God Bless You and God Bless America !

Not a bad idea.  (My thanks to Bobby & Debbie!)

Didn't exactly follow the directions on that wasp-killing spray?  Guilty.

Used just a little too much of that fertilizer on your yard?  Guilty.

Imported wood from India that is is full compliance with India's export rules but that the US has decided isn't?  You too, may be guilty, Gibson Guitars!

Of course, you know that if they were Democrat donors, they'd be off scott free, right? Of course, they are Republican donors, so they are GUILTY:  CEO of Gibson Guitar a Republican donor; Democrat competitor uses same wood.

Lots of bad people out there.  They want to control your computer.  There are far too many of them, and they have far to many ways to do it.  They want your passwords, they want your banking accounts, and they want to use your system in their network of "bots" to send spam and attack people they dislike.

Yeah -- spam.  We all hate it.  YOU may be sending it for them!

How can you tell? Usually, when "funny" things happen.  Maybe your CD thing pops open, all by itself.  Windows appear and disappear on their own.  You system gets REALLY sluggish--everything seems to take forever, even when it's not doing the Microsoft "downloading updates" thing.  Or your virus scanner does find something but just can't clean it.

Why use a rescue CD?  That way the bad stuff can't hide.  Bad stuff is getting really good at hiding.  Bad stuff takes over your operating system (Windows, usually) so it can lie to any scanners.  "Infection?  Not in this file!"  The rescue CD doesn't run your usual operating system.  The bad stuff won;t be running.  It can't run and it can't hide.

I just used The Avira AntiVir Rescue System (been wondering where I've been? Now you know!)  There's also others, like the Kaspersky Rescue Disk and the F-Secure Rescue CD.

Don't like those? There are others. See them here: http://www.google.com/search?q=rescue+disk.

Dr. Jerry Pournelle gets right to the heart of the matter on the question of raising revenue or cutting spending:

But in any event, to my thinking, increasing government revenue is itself the wrong course of action. Is there any indication that if they had more money to spend they would spend it wisely?

We all know the answer is a resounding "NO!"

A friend of mine, Bob Tracy, happened to attend the same Tea Party meeting as Representative Canseco.  Bob sent me this note after reading my post:

I was glad to see him risk an appearance. His office responded with a
letter when I wrote him to complain about Boehner's ineffective
performance during the debt ceiling "negotiations." Gist of my argument
was that Boehner was forcing Republicans to negotiate with themselves,
because the Dem side of the aisle wasn't offering any counterproposals,
i.e., you *can't* negotiate with yourself, and Boehner evidently never
learned that. If the bastards had stuck to their guns, they would be
heroes today, or at least no more reviled than they already were. We
get painted as terrorists for what? Nothing of substance was gained by
"our" side -- it's all feel-good crap signifying nothing *other* than we
actually got the country talking about the unlikely possibility of real
spending cuts.

"Teh Party of Stupid" was obviously not listening to what their informed
constituents were saying, even if they heard something from us. How
difficult would it have been to call Ogabe's bluff on Grandma and the
military not getting their checks if the 8/2 deadline wasn't met? Even
the few left-leaning people I dare to call friends understood the simple
math of "debt_service + Social_Security + military_pay < current_revenue"
meaning they knew at *some* level that if the U.S. defaulted, it would
be a conscious choice on the part of our pResident to apply current
revenues to things *he* deemed more important.

Most of the opposition's argument is based on playing semantic games
with the term "obligations", as in, they see every program authorized by
federal law as a financial obligation. One doesn't have to expend the
energy it would take to power a piss-ant's motorcycle around the inside
of a Cheerio to find multiple examples of unfunded federal mandates.
Authorizing spending does not automatically equate to funding, which is
a simple concept most leftards seem to be unable to grasp. Defund a
program/agency/bureau/whatever and it goes away: that's actually easier
to accomplish than writing a bill to undo the thing another bill created.

Enjoyed seeing everyone at the meeting. Lots of people who genuinely
care about the United States of America, and who are horribly naive
concerning the tactics of our enemies. I pray we get smart in a hurry,
because time is running out if a peaceful solution is truly desired.
One long-time Republican acquaintance said he has faithfully voted for
Republicans since becoming eligible to vote in 1947. He's done voting
Republican, because he sees no peaceful end to the country's death
spiral, and wants the inevitible citizen-against-moocher violence to
happen while he's still healthy enough to fight effectively. I wish I had
the desire to encourage him to stay the course, but his attitude reflects
only a slight amplification of the 2008 "independent" voter attitude: if
my only choice is between Democrat and Democrat-lite, why *not* vote for
the real thing?

 (typos and emphasis in original)

Switzerland is the counter-argument to much moon-battery.  A fully auto machine gun in almost every home?  Don't screw with the Swiss!

Now, back that up to about the 45-second point.  Besides the multiple machine guns, note the bumper stickers in the gun case:

Never Mind the Dog; Beware of Owner!

Fight Crime; SHOOT BACK

Punish Criminals not Gun Owners

WHERE Has a Gun Law Reduced Crime?

Love that last one!  Every big city with strict "gun control" laws is a cesspool of violent criminals with guns.  Thanks God I live in Texas!

No pictures of him, but Rep. Canseco, my Congressman, was at the SATP Mid-Summer meeting.  I've really blasted him over the recent vote on raising the debt ceiling.  He took some heat at the meeting, too.  I give him a lot of credit for showing up to argue his case.  He argues that we couldn't get it all through at once, but faced certain defeat if we pressed harder.  He used this analogy on the need to avoid default:

There was a gun pointed at us.  I had to decide to take it in the heart or in the shoulder.  I took it in the shoulder.

He also argued that it was a "can opener," that will force a vote in the Senate on a Balanced Budget Amendment.  OK, I still don't like it, but fair enough.  He was there, we weren't.  I do hereby moderate my very aggressive attacks down to a low growling grumble.

We'll see what happens.

But you all missed a GREAT Tea Party!  For some photos, go HERE.

So.

Boehner and the Senate let you down and FAILED to actually cut the spending.  The Spending will actually go up?  No big surprise.

Joblessness has taken over.  14 million plus, with 42% of them "long term."  The policies of Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are just getting started, so that should be no big surprise.

The market has TANKED.  Down 10% over the last ten weekdays.  That should be no big surprise, give all the above.  The market hates uncertainty, and nobody knows exactly when the policy of "Spend, Spend, Spend until you have nothing, nothing, nothing" will destroy us all.  Could be tomorrow.

But heed the wise words printed on the cover of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy..."

DON'T PANIC!

That's what the bastards want.  Panic about the Debt Crisis?  They pass their "keep spending" bill.  Panic in 2008?  They pass their "bailouts."  Panic in the market?  You end up buying high and selling low (the exact opposite of your stated goal) and letting them sell high (to you) and then buy low (from you) and pocketing the cash that was once yours.

Don't panic.  But don't let them get away with it either.  Hie thee to you local Tea Party and join up.  It's work, yes.  But we can put a stop to this madness. Just please, for the love of your country...DO NOT PANIC!