Soccer Dad, Carnival-Juggler

Soccer Dad is juggling carnivals here and, with lovely photos, here.

Difference Between Republicans and Democrats

Occasionally, this website has good jokes, and this was one of the best:

"Four Year Old Logic. I was talking to this little girl, Catherine, the daughter of some friends. She said she wanted to be President someday. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there with us. I asked Catherine - 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?' Catherine replied - 'I would give houses to all the homeless people.' 'Wow - what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.' I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you're President to do that, you can come over to my house and clean up all the dog poop in my back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then, we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house. Catherine (who was about 4) thought that over for a second, while her Mom looked at me seething. Catherine replied, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just pay him the $5 dollars?' And I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party'"

How to Survive Anything

Via Instapundit comes this page of natural disaster survival information from Popular Mechanics.

IE8

If you love the Internet as much as I do, you should download Internet Explorer 8 Beta. Although I prefer Firefox, IE8 is even faster than IE7. Give it a try.

Haveil Havalim Time

Haveil Havalim #180: The Alyn Edition is up at My Shrapnel. Gila has been raising money for Alyn Hospital Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center in Israel.

Divorce: It's Bush's Fault

Here's gratitude for you!: "Murray blames the hurricane for troubles in his marriage, saying, 'Her and I never argued, never fought, never nothing until this hurricane, until we got cramped in that FEMA trailer.'"

Child-Killer News

This is a badly-spelled and badly-written article about the creature who probably murdered her child Caylee. But the sentiment is right on: "Casey Anthony – The Next OJ Simpson?"

I Can't Stomach This

From Fark comes this competitive eating contest. Ugh!

Oh, Shut Up!

Neal Boortz reports that "Jimmy Carter – who has sadly become a true jerk – is now accusing John McCain of 'milking every possible drop of advantage' from his POW time in Vietnam." This reminds me of those critics who said that Rudy Giuliani was talking too much about September 11. Since these are life-altering and character-defining events in our history, they should be talked about, and often!

It's McCain-Palin!

There's a lot of good reading about Sarah Palin at Michelle Malkin and at Hot Air, while Human Events says "This presidential contest is far from a done deal: But John McCain's courage and decisiveness in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate displays his no-holds-barred resolve to go-for-broke. Now, at last, the real race is on. And conservatives appear to have a champion of their own in it."

Tamir Goodman, the "Jewish Jordan"

Steve Lipman writes, "A decade after Goodman earned the distinctive moniker while starring on his yeshiva high school basketball team in Baltimore, Goodman is still a hero in his hometown. His combination of Sabbath-observant piety and laser-passing skills earned predictions of a bright future where frum (religious) players had never gone before, but that career never quite materialized."

The Democrat Bear

Someone sent this photo to me at work. I found the (misspelled) website where it was located. The caption is:

"(This is) a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the USA. Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democrat Party.....as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance."

Where No Democrat Has Gone Before

The always enjoyable Rubicon3 points out yet another similarity between "Star Trek" and the Obama campaign!

Gall of the Week

The creature who lied and said the Duke lacrosse team raped her has now written her memoir! This belongs in the same category with O.J.Simpson's books. LaShawn Barber says it best: "In a sane world, Crystal Mangum's forthcoming memoir would contain just two words: "'I'm sorry.'"

Remembering Rick Monday

I remember this event as if it happened only yesterday.

"People have given him dozens of American flags, which have flown over the White House and Baghdad, over state capitols and with the French Air Force. It's all because in one impulsive moment, Rick Monday saved Old Glory from being burned."

Wisdom of Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell has some interesting random thoughts.

Denver Sideshow

Just get a load of the freak show in Denver.

Haveil Havalim Time!

Yehuda is the host of Haveil Havalim #179, and this issue is very pleasing to the eye. And Jack wants you to know that if you have any problems submitting entries for future editions of Haveil Havalim, you can send him your posts at talktojacknow@sbcglobal.net

Hate Crime in Queens

Atlas Shrugs reports on the latest episode of antisemitism and the media's double standard: "'We can't show you the most of the graphic images because they are extremely vulgar and offensive'. So says NBC News. They won't show the images of just how vile and deep the antisemitism is but I assure you if it was against Muslims or used the 'n' word they would be shoving it down our throats on an endless 27/7 news cycle."

"'Die Jews' Scrawled On Stop Sign Near Vandalized Temple. 7 Torahs Stolen From Queens Synagogue. NEW YORK -- Vandals spray-painted hateful, vulgar language on the wall of a Long Island synagogue and defaced a nearby stop sign around the same time seven torahs -- worth up to $80,000 apiece -- were stolen from a synagogue in Queens."

Bloggers in Conventionland

David Gerstman of Soccer Dad is one of a number of top bloggers invited by The National Journal to participate in its survey on the Democratic and Republican conventions. Congratulations to him and to my other favorites on the list:

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs
Betsy Newmark of Betsy's Page
Lucianne Goldberg of Lucianne.com
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit
Walter Olson of Overlawyered
John Hawkins of Right Wing News

A Titanic Collection

Here's some news about an exhibit of items from the Titanic.

Honesty is the Best Policy (?)

This is a good article but also an infuriating one, as we all by now have seen that irresponsibility and recklessness pay, while hard work and honesty do not.

"Two giant mortgage companies get into hot water over risky investments. The government steps in to throw them a lifeline should they need it. Hundreds of thousands of Americans buy homes more expensive than they can afford. Congress approves a rescue package. Troubles erupt at a Wall Street investment firm that made bad bets on mortgage investments. The Federal Reserve steps in and provides financial backing for the company's takeover. Meanwhile, tens of millions of people pay their mortgages on time, don't max out their credit cards and put money into retirement funds. They may even save a little extra on the side.In return, they get rates on their savings that don't even keep up with inflation. They also are witnessing the horror of their nest eggs shrinking as the value of their homes plummets and the stock market tumbles. Washington policymakers seem more focused on rescuing those who behave badly by putting at risk taxpayers who've played by the rules and shunned the get-rich-quick schemes of Wall Street croupiers.If the government can toss a lifeline to troubled mortgage underwriters Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they why won't they do something for Americans who save their money?"

OBIDEN Roundup

Obama has chosen Joe Biden, and Michelle Malkin has dubbed them Smarmy and Smirky. Ed Morrissey said "Not only has Obama turned this into a game show, he has also now built up expectations to the point where almost any selection would be a letdown." And
Cassy Fiano comments:

"I can't help but wonder if this was really the best choice for Barack Obama. Yes, Republicans will have a field day with this guy (he's incredibly gaffe-prone, not to mention narcissistic), but that's beyond the point. The Obama camp has been trying to hype up the announcement for weeks now, but they've waited so long that whoever they picked would've been a non-story. What were they thinking, making the announcement at 5:00am on a Saturday? My only guess is that they either wanted to lessen the impact or make it be the news everyone woke up to. Given the arrogance of both politicians, I'd go with the latter."

Lego Gold Medal

Hot Air has linked to this story (with pictures) of the Lego Olympics.

Perfect Obama Poster

Here is "The only Obama poster you'll ever need"

Why You Should Vote for Democrats

Read what Democrats believe in here at Moonbattery. An excerpt:

"I'm voting Democrat because I don't want the USA to drill for oil off its own shores to preserve its economic freedom but will allow other countries that choice!! … and even let foreign countries drill off of OUR OWN coast — like China is doing off Florida!!"

Imagine A World Without America

Rubicon3 links to these wonderful videos showing what life would be like without America.

Israel's Achievements in 2008

Here's a list of Israel's accomplishments so far this year. Israpundit ends by saying, "In contrast to the efforts of tiny Israel to make contributions to the world so as to better mankind, one has to ask what have those who have strived to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth done other than to create hate and bloodshed."

Jumping the Gun

Is this a joke? It's definitely an insult to Ike.

"The World-renowned Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado has changed the décor of room number 825 by removing the pictures of (an actual) President Dwight D. Eisenhower. According to Ackle.com the suite of rooms formerly known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Suite, for which the term 'Western White House' was coined, has been changed to the Barack Obama Suite. No word yet on whether the Beverly Hilton Hotel will be changing room numbers 246 or 252 to The John Edwards / Reille Hunter non-Vice Presidential Suite"

Olympic Moments

Last night's Olympic coverage on NBC and the Oxygen Channel was the best night for viewing since the Opening Ceremonies. There were equestrian events, synchronized swimming, men's diving, track & field, and gymnastics -- and not a volleyball to be seen! And speaking of beach volleyball, columnist Jenice Armstrong has a good column about those skimpy outfits!

Not a Liberal

Dennis Prager spells out why he is not a liberal.

It's Time to Fly

The United Airlines commercials being shown during the Olympics are just beautiful, especially the one called "Sea Orchestra".

Elvis

I hadn't seen much in the news over the weekend about the 31st anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, so I just had to mention it. I worked with a girl who saw him in concert, and she never stopped talking about it.

Crybabies!

What sour grapes! I don't mean at the Olympics -- I mean Obama and the Democrats! Michelle Malkin reports on the wild accusation that McCain had to have gotten the questions in advance at the Saddleback Church. I guess if a Republican does well, he had to have cheated! I sure hope the McCain people fight back, and hard!

Watcher's Council Winners

Soccer Dad reports on the winning Watcher's Council entries of the week.

Dara's Dozen

It would be nice if the media could report on Dara Torres' achievements without mentioning her age, and this headline was typical: "Middle-aged Torres adds 3 silvers to collection".

Haveil Havalim Time!

Haveil Havalim #178: The Tu b’Av Edition is up at The Rebbetzin's Husband, and what a good job it is!

Cold War

Neil Cavuto discusses the new Cold War.

Immigration Raid

Here's more self-destructive politically correct nonsense:

"ASHEVILLE – Organizers of a march and vigil planned for today and Sunday want to show community support for workers caught up in a recent immigration raid at a Woodfin factory. 'We just want them to know that there are people who don’t feel the immigration raids are something that are welcome here in Asheville,' said Alikhan Salehi, a student at UNC Asheville."

Excuse me. It's the raids that ARE welcome; it's the illegal aliens who aren't. The immigration officials should be applauded for doing their jobs. And there are plenty of American citizens who should be doing these jobs, so spare us the sympathy.

Theme Night at the Dem Convention

(from today's Lucianne.com)

Conspiracy Theory of the Day

Neal Boortz reveals Michael Phelps' secret :

"Stop the presses ... an Israeli doctor thinks that he has found a way to disqualify Michael Phelps from the Olympics for doping. Seriously! Dr. Alexei Koudinov can't stand the fact that Michael Phelps is the most decorated athlete in Olympic history ... so he is working hard to make sure that's no longer the case. Dr. Alexei Koudinov explains that Michael Phelps is doping because .... he listens to his iPod before he swims. Yep, that's it. Scientific evidence proves that listening to music improves blood oxygen capacity and is a performance enhancement, according to Dr. Koudinov. Never mind the 5 hours a day that Phelps spends practicing, or the weight training, or the fact that he is naturally gifted ... nope. It's all because of his iPod. Gawd, Apple really needs to get on that endorsement."

The Wit of Argus Hamilton

The Republicans ought to hire Argus Hamilton as their speechwriter. He says, "Barack Obama enjoyed a nice vacation in Hawaii this week. During his morning walks on the beach, the tide would go out, and during his afternoon walks on the beach, the tide would come back in. No wonder he draws fifty thousand people wherever he goes."

Conventional Wisdom

Betsy comments on the schedule for the Democratic convention.

Spies Like Us

I already knew that catcher Moe Berg and chef Julia Child were OSS spies during WW2, but I learned today that actor Sterling Hayden was one as well. (To learn more about the brilliant Berg, read the very interesting "The Catcher Was a Spy".)

Disorder in the Court!

Neal Boortz reports that "The US Supreme Court has been asked to consider a case on whether a fifth grade art project using candy canes is 'offensive.'" They must have way too much time on their hands these days.

Frugal Living

Here's an article about living frugally, a concept that too many Americans have totally ignored, to their peril. "Making do" is what most of us have always done, without expecting bailouts.

Olympic Moment

The always enjoyable UK Telegraph refers to the amazing Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps as "A normal bloke from a different planet".

Proud To Be An American

Ernest Borgnine says: "You’ve got to prove that you’re a good American by being an American."

Signs of the Times

Take a look at these 7 strange signs from all over, and make sure you read the captions!

Jewish Vs. Goyish, Part 2

Here's more "Jewish vs. Goyish"!

The Devil, You Say!

Why do we insist on catering to people like this? "West Virginia is offering special driver's licenses to people who oppose digitized photos because they believe this could be the beginning of the biblical 'mark of the beast' prophecy."

Carnival-Juggling Time

Check out Soccer Dad's latest Carnival-Juggling routine.

Dara Does It

Dara Torres won the silver medal in the women's relay last night: "'The water doesn't know what age you are.'"

Box Office Poison

How's THIS for ultra-liberal nonsense? "George Clooney, already one of Hollywood's leading liberal voices, has embarked on what may be one of his most controversial projects: the story of Osama bin Laden's driver."

About Caylee Anthony

Here's a post about that missing and probably murdered child Caylee Anthony. I wish they would stop putting everyone on TV and just try to get the truth out of that so-called "mother" already! This has gone on way too long.

Haveil Havalim Time!

Simply Jews is the host of Haveil Havalim #177 - Tisha B'Av Edition.

Remember George W. Bush?

The Anchoress offers a terrific blog roundup and includes these observations about President Bush:

"You remember AlQaeda, right? Ten years ago this week, they bombed US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Not that we did much about it at the time. But it is worth noting, they haven’t done that to us again, nor any of these other things, since 9/11. I blame Bush. You remember Bush, right? The guy who goes to Asia and tells China to free her people, while the press jeers, the guy who, while in Asia also meets with Democracy Activists in Burma and gets ignored for it, the guy who drew enormous and supportive crowds in Korea, while the American press yawned? Sure, you remember Bush! He’s the guy whose life was threatened along with Barack Obama’s but only the threat to Obama was newsworthy for a very long time at CNN. Bush? You mean the creepy moron who will be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity as soon as congress can figure out how to do that without exposing itself or having to put some of its own members under oath? Yeah, that guy! The guy who does more than just talk about freedom and progress. The guy who has brought real hope and change to people all over the world, and yes, here in America. But you don’t want to hear it. It’s the wrong and inconvenient narrative, the embargoed one."

Olympic Moments

ESPN has a fashion review of the Parade of Nations. (Did anyone else do a double-take when the "nation" of Palestine marched in?) I loved seeing tall Yao Ming and child hero Lin Hao march in together; what a story!

"Nine year old Lin Hao survived the Sichuan Earthquake in May while many of his friends did not. After freeing himself from the rubble, he went back in to help rescue his classmates and he pulled two of them out carrying them to safety. Lin Hao then went back into the collapsed school and encouraged his classmates to sing songs, to keep their spirits up as Rescuers worked to free them."

The Olympics!

Wow, what an awe-inspiring opening ceremonies this is! To see photos and coverage, go here and here.

Edwards the Idiot

Well, the National Inquirer was right after all! John Edwards has confessed. Let's hope his wife doesn't do a Silda Spitzer.

"We Are One"

I knew Obama's new "Sign of Progress" hand gesture reminded me of something! Gateway Pundit has figured it out.

Betty Goodfriend

Gail at Rubicon3 tells us about the remarkable Betty Goodfriend.

Soccer Dad Stuff

As usual, Soccer Dad has a lot of good stuff to read. He has recommended this video called "Hello Martyr, Hello Fatah", which he submitted to this week's Watcher's Council. Also, he beat me to the punch talking about this moronic British professor who, according to what I saw on Fox News this morning, doesn't think students should be criticized for their misspellings.

According to The Daily Mail, "Dr. Ken Smith is urging colleagues to turn a blind eye to the 20 most common slips - such as ‘Febuary’, ‘ignor’ and ’speach’ - and view them instead as variants of standard spellings."

How stoopid!

The Dumbing Down of Achievement

Here's a terrific piece by the always-perceptive Thomas Sowell regarding today's annoying habit of self-dramatization in sports, and in life: "... superficial attention-getters have replaced achievements that speak for themselves. Indeed, the whole notion of achievement is downplayed, if not swept under the rug."

Go to #Dontgo

Michelle Malkin says that the #dontgo Movement "is the new gathering place for conservative activism."

Excuse of the Day

From Best of the Web Today, yet another sickening anti-execution
excuse :"Richard Cooey raped and murdered two women in 1986, landing him on Ohio's death row. Now he is so fat, his lawyers argue he shouldn't be executed." How come killers always get more sympathy than their victims, and why are their executions seen as much worse than the murders they committed?

Olympic Spirits

Interesting Pile linked to this list of 5 great moments from the Olympics. (The Nancy/Tonya soap opera doesn't belong on that list at all)

Initial Reaction

Greg Crosby has another enjoyable column. Among other things, he talks about the dopey nicknames for people, like A-Rod and J-Lo:

"But this shortening of people's names by using initials business throws me. How come some stars are immune from this? Why isn't Tom Cruise referred to as T Cru? How come they don't call Courtney Love C Lo? Or Christian Bale C Ba? Humphrey Bogart would be H Bog. John Wayne would be J Way. Katherine Hepburn would be K Hep. Elvis Presley would be E Pre. Bing Crosby would be B Cro. So maybe it really is a Latin thing. But if it is, then why haven't we been referring to other Latinos and Latinas in the same way all along? Like Desi Arnaz as D Arn. Carmen Miranda as C Mir. Ricardo Montalban as R Mon. Pancho Villa as P Vi. And Fidel Castro as F Cas."

Fat Chance

American voters can be stupid, but are they actually this stupid? "Is Barack Obama too thin to win the White House? 'Skinny' Obama sees poll lead vanish in the land of the fat"

It's Haveil Havalim Time!

The colorfully illustrated Haveil Havalim #176 - The Dirty Laundry Edition is up at Little Frumhouse on the Prairie.

Walking a Tightrope

There's a documentary out about Philippe Petit , who walked on a tightrope across the Twin Towers. I remember this as if it were yesterday. Who would have ever thought then that the Twin Towers would one day be gone?

A Grand Father

My friend Diane says there should be other words to use instead of "mother" and "father", and her suggestion is "breeder". So I guess we shouldn't really be surprised at stories like this: "Brit to be a grandad at 30".

Bailout Blues

I agree with what Arnold Ahlert says: "Housing Bailout? More Like the 'Screw Responsible Americans Act'"

Winning Watcher

Congratulations to Soccer Dad, whose entry won at the Watcher's Council this week.

Revolting Congress

Smooth Stone points out how the Republicans were forced into showing some spine. (Update from Mark Hemingway at NRO's The Corner: "I just heard that the House G.O.P. wrapped up their protest session at 5:05 by singing "God Bless America" and left the chamber with the crowd chanting, "USA! USA!" Unbelievable." Too bad C-SPAN wasn't allowed to cover all this!)

"Mansions of the Lord"

This beautiful and dramatic hymn is called "Mansions of the Lord", and I first heard it at the funeral of Pres. Ronald Reagan. Like many other viewers, I was extremely moved and immediately went online to find out what it was and where I could download it; I've had it on my computer ever since.