Open Threads

The trip to Dallas and back went off without a hitch. No accidents, no tickets (1 warning), and no missed flights on the way home. All is well.

A few quick notes-

– ATTENTION ALL SOUTHERN FOLK- Ford, Chrysler, and Chevrolet all sell something other than monster trucks and SUV’s. They are called cars. You might think they are kinda interesting- they even fit 4 whole people- they have this thing called a back seat- sorta like a bigger version of an extended cab, if you will. I know some of your women were a touch on the hefty size- but other than your dates, I didn’t see you hauling anything to justify the 9 million Dodge Power Ram 950000 monster trucks I saw on the road.

– The life expectancy of a Tennessee State Trooper has to be shorter than that of a D-Day infantryman at Omaha beach. All of I-40 west is named in memory of a trooper- which could explain why there were none on the road issuing tickets. I drove 85 miles an hour the whole way from Nashville to Memphis, and people were passing me like I was going 40. Amazing- so much for the ‘law and order’ South.

– I learned that in the south, the four food groups are barbecued, deep-fried, breaded, and dessert.

– I stopped in Hope, Arkansas, birthplace of the Big Me, aka Billy Jeff. If Arkansas is their vision for the whole country, the Clintons must be defeated at all costs. There was a spectacular hole in the wall BBQ joint there (The Smokehouse?), and I had the best pulled pork sandwich I have ever had.

– Dallas leads the nation in middle-aged bottle blondes with boob jobs.

– If everyone in the South would drive slower and talk FASTER, they would find their life to be much more fulfilling (one theory of mine was that they drive like hell to make up for all the lost time spent speaking at such a slow rate of speed).

– The South is hot. Damned hot.

I am back..Post + Comments (11)

Steve Gilliard at the Daily Kos has compiled the complete list of reasons you should hate Martha Stewart and should not be upset she was indicted. I have to admit, I am feeling a mild bit of glee about her indictment because she is such an obnoxious shrew, but even though I hate the woman, I think there is much worse going on in the Wall Street boardrooms than this matter. Cripes- they just let a bunch of brokerage houses that screwed us for hundreds of billons off with measly fines.

Remember this:

Citigroup Global Markets is the corrupt Saloman Smith Barney. They just changed their name to hide the perfidy. Don’t forget.

Martha, MarthaPost + Comments (6)

My Bloginality is ESTJ!!!

As an ESTJ, your personality is Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. This makes your primary focus on Extraverted Thinking with Introverted Sensing.

This is defined as a SJ personality, which is part of Carl Jung’s Guardian (Security Seeking) type, and more specifically the Supervisors

As a weblogger, you may fufill responsiblities as a leader in group weblogs. If you are really interested in blogging, you’ll follow it through and post regularly. Because you appreciate social order, you may be likely to take on a responsibility just to keep a project going.

People of this type tend to be: energetic, friendly, and outspoken; productive, organized and efficient; realistic and sensible, but often skeptical about new or untested ideas; honest and direct to the point of bluntness; quick decision makers, opinionated, traditional, serious, and accountable.

Whatever.

(via Dean Esmay)

Bloginality?Post + Comments

How much of a pottymouth are you?

Woops.

Take That, Richard NixonPost + Comments (1)

Here is a good how-to on how to be an honest blogger– go read Kevin Drum discussing Medical Malpractice.

On reading the report more carefully, I now note that all these figures are for median payouts, which wouldn’t be affected at all by a few huge awards. I’m not sure what’s going on, but this is so obviously the wrong statistic to use in this case that there must be some kind of axe to grind here. I’m now very skeptical that this report is, as it claims, “not driven by a political ideology or industry-driven self-interest.”

What’s more, although Appendix 2 does indeed show that premiums have gone up only 35% in states without caps, there are several states with enormous increases and several with tiny increases, and it’s hard to see any correlation at all between median payout increases and median premium increases. This might be due to the use of medians, it might genuinely be due to different regulatory regimes, or it might be something else. Who knows?

Why can’t we get this type of honesty and self-scrutiny from the mainstream media?

Good PostPost + Comments

Am I the only one who can not get Talk Left to load?

*** Update ***

This is why…

IS Talk Left Down?Post + Comments (3)