Pillage Idiot

• Retirement

  All good things must come to an end. After four years and three months of writing this idiotic blog, nearly 2,000 posts, I've decided to call it quits.
  
  Do I mean permanently quits, or am I waiting for a massive outpouring of love to force me to return? I'd [...]
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  Posted: January 06, 2009, 7:14am EST
  

• An annotated Pillage Idiot sampler

  Given my decision to retire from writing Pillage Idiot after more than four years, I thought I'd leave you with a sampler of my writing, organized by subject matter. This is mostly a matter of vanity for me, a kind of proof of my own existence. And since it' [...]
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  Posted: January 06, 2009, 7:13am EST
  

• Sunday linkfest

  1. Things are actually getting better: the libertarian perspective.
  
  2. Aspen bomber. "1:26 a.m. Suspect is spotted driving green Jeep Cherokee with a spare tire on the roof." You should definitely be suspicious of a guy driving a Jeep on the roof. Bonus: Commenters blame Bush.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: January 04, 2009, 11:18am EST
  

• New Year's linkfest

  1. Thank goodness Hanukkah is over. Seven pounds of latkes?
  
  2. Princess Caroline speaks a lot like Uncle Ted. Another version.
  
  3. If even half of this is true, that's one great father who's one tough mutha.
  
  4. Carjack-ee to carjacker: "I'm'" [...]
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  Posted: January 01, 2009, 8:08pm EST
  

• Home furnishings we can believe in

  From the ridiculous to the merely tacky.
  
  Today, it's not the plastic surgery industry that's seeking to profit from the Messiah's election; it's the home furnishings industry.
  
  Last night, I was on the Metro platform at Gallery Place and noticed two large banners hanging from the balcony [...]
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  Posted: December 31, 2008, 8:43am EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 49th edition

  The 49th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is now up at Inside Charm City. You can find links there to posts from our Maryland bloggers.
  
  The 50th edition is scheduled for Sunday, January 11, and will be hosted at The [...]
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  Posted: December 28, 2008, 6:32pm EST
  

• Plastic surgery we can believe in

  This is absolutely the best print ad of the year. Without a doubt, the best!
  
  Assuming, of course, that you define "the best" as "the most shameless and outlandish (and therefore hilarious) effort to cash in on Obama's election."
  
  The ad below appears in the Washington Post Sunday' [...]
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  Posted: December 28, 2008, 11:33am EST
  

• Friday linkfest

  1. Top ten calamities for which global warming was blamed. (via HotAir)
  
  2. Get your Koran on your cell phone, courtesy of . . . an Israeli company?
  
  3. Yankees offer bleacher seats for 25 cents for exhibition openers. Scalpers begin drooling immediately.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: December 26, 2008, 2:27pm EST
  

• Merry Christmas

  Merry Christmas to my Christian readers. (Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish readers.)
  
  A few old thoughts of mine about Jews and Christmas. In paragraph 6, I suggest that Jews should volunteer on Christmas to take the place of Christians who want to celebrate the holiday. In this [...]
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  Posted: December 24, 2008, 9:11pm EST
  

• OPG (other people's garbage)

  Rockville has a new trash and recycling program, and my neighborhood is part of the guinea pig program -- I mean, the pilot program. It's actually not so bad. One pickup a week, but they give you massive containers on wheels for garbage and recycling, and much more can be' [...]
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  Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:57pm EST
  

• Monday linkfest

  What, another linkfest? Yes, another linkfest.
  
  1. Major scoop: Supreme Court justices might be influenced by their clerks.
  
  2. Baltimore efficiency: "Members of Baltimore's Board of Fire Commissioners will receive their final paychecks at the end of this month, after a recent discovery by the city's" [...]
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  Posted: December 22, 2008, 10:08pm EST
  

• Sunday linkfest

  After a slow week, I figured I'd throw together some links.
  
  1. The media mocked Bush, and an pro-Sadr Iraqi journalist threw shoes at him, but the troops he sent to Iraq gave him a tremendous welcome. It's got to be heard to be believed. (via HotAir)
  [...]
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  Posted: December 21, 2008, 10:29am EST
  

• Happy Beethoven's Birthday!

  On Beethoven's birthday (he would be 238 years old), I'm going to link a piece I wrote last January called "Starting with nothing," in which I discussed the second movement of the Op. 59, No. 1 string quartet. In that movement, Beethoven used "very basic materials to create an" [...]
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  Posted: December 16, 2008, 7:58am EST
  

• Rod Blagojevich and Rahm Emanuel talk business

  "Reputed potty mouth Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has found redemption. Actually, just vindication. The congressman, who curses about as regularly as a clock ticks, is heralding a study out of London claiming that swearing in the workplace boosts team spirit."
  
  -- Washington Post
  
  "Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack" [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2008, 1:01pm EST
  

• Actually, it came from us

  When my sister was in high school in the late 60s, they used a history textbook that included something like this: "As Jesus said, 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.'" We all had a laugh about that, because hundreds of thousands of people had said [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2008, 12:53pm EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 48th edition

  The 48th edition of the Carnival of Maryland has been posted at The Political Octagon. It features the latest writing from our Maryland bloggers. Go on and check it out.
  
  The 49th edition is scheduled for Sunday, December 28, and will be [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2008, 10:17am EST
  

• Report: Harvard seeking federal bailout

  With Harvard's endowment having taken an $8.2 billion hit over the past four months, Harvard President Drew Faust has ordered a salary freeze for all faculty and elimination of tenure-track and tenured faculty searches.
  
  Well placed Pillage Idiot sources report that Faust has met privately with Representative' [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2008, 9:36pm EST
  

• Blago holds an auction

  
  
  ABC News story. HotAir: "Obama: I never talked to Blagojevich about the Senate seat; Axelrod: Yes, he did." [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2008, 10:21pm EST
  

• Oops!

  Not news: A distinguished scientific institution issues its journal with a Chinese poem on the cover.
  
  News: The institution fails to get a translation of the poem before publication.
  
  Pillage Idiot: The "poem" turns out to be a sexually suggestive annoucement of a burlesque show.[...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2008, 9:52pm EST
  

• Economics 101 has lessons for Rockville

  I live in Rockville, Maryland, which actually has one of the better managed governments I've seen. But everyone makes mistakes.
  
  Until recently, one of the best-kept secrets had to do with parking at the Twinbrook Metro station. In the station parking lots, run by Metro, you would pay $4.75,' [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2008, 8:59pm EST
  

• Responding to Mumbai?

  This video from Aish HaTorah made it into my in box today. It's called "Responding to Mumbai."
  
  I actually find it quite alarming. If you don't feel like viewing it, let me give you the gist: We need to respond to evil by doing good.
  
  "When catastrophe" [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2008, 9:03pm EST
  

• Grumpy

  Does the fact that I can't stand the Christmas songs that are pretty nearly ubiquitous these days make me an anti-semite? (I don't vouch for the accuracy of the list, by the way.) How about this issue: Why is it that, on average, the more religious the Christmas song, [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2008, 8:23pm EST
  

• Attila, the movie

  Some years back, USA Network showed a movie called Attila, which I'm sorry to say I didn't watch. Possibly because it sounded like a soap opera about my namesake the Hun, who, despite his foul behavior, deserves better than that.
  
  But I recently stumbled upon the free [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2008, 11:30pm EST
  

• Harry Reid whiffs

  "My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."
  
  -- Senator Harry Reid
  
  Suppose [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2008, 11:23pm EST
  

• Linking the Jews with the Indians

  The alliance between Jews and Indians has become closer as we've watched the face of evil in Mumbai this past week.
  In its modest way, the [Indo-Jewish] coalition attests to the deepening bonds between Jews and Indians, whether in Israel, India or the United States;' [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2008, 10:47pm EST
  

• The gift season

  Now that we're past Black Friday, death toll approximately one, it's time to focus on gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday the wiccans are currently planning for.
  
  Dave Barry has his annual gift guide, which I find rather disappointing this year. Judge for yourself.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2008, 12:40pm EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 47th edition

  The 47th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is up at monoblogue. Check over there to see some of the latest writing from our Maryland bloggers.
  
  The 48th edition is scheduled for Sunday, December 14, and will be hosted at The [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2008, 12:04pm EST
  

• Happy Thanksgiving

  A Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Here are some links from previous years:
  
  1. Don't deep-fry your turkey. (video)
  
  2. Don't mention God near a public school in Maryland.
  
  3. If you do mention God, say Psalm 100.
  
  4. Watch out [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2008, 8:12am EST
  

• Post-modernism meets the Nigerian email scam

  Tonight, I received a typical scam email from Nigeria, and specifically from a Dr. Mrs. Veronica Amadi, KTT UNIT CBN -- the CBN apparently being the Central Bank of Nigeria. Mrs. Amadi says: "I am taking this bold step because of my belief as a Christian." The bold step, of [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2008, 10:22pm EST
  

• The next French civil war

  Those of us who are socially traditional tend to think that there really isn't much to be discerned between nudists and swingers. Both participate in a non-traditional lifestyle that's totally foreign to us.
  
  But this just shows how naive we are. It turns out that, in France, anyway, the [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2008, 9:36pm EST
  

• Reboot and roll the dice

  If you call tech support with a computer problem, what's the first thing they tell you to do? Reboot it, right? Have you ever wondered why?
  
  Some people say that the Tier 1 techs are given scripts, and they're required to run through the scripts with you over the [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2008, 8:58pm EST
  

• Bill Clinton plans a siege

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2008, 7:37am EST
  

• The Pillage Idiot No-Markup Store

  A while back, I told you I'd tried to set up a Pillage Idiot store with Cafe Press but didn't like the goods.
  
  I've just tried again and have been a little more successful. Two products: a white teeshirt with a large Pillage Idiot Advisory System image on [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2008, 9:44pm EST
  

• Frontiers of plastic surgery

  Here's my pedantic musing of the day: How many times do you have to write about the same subject before you have to stop referring to it as a "frontier"? Four? Six? One and a half? I ask because plastic surgery of the genitalia, female division, is a booming industry, [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2008, 6:53pm EST
  

• It's Greek to me, but it's Jew to you

  The latest, biggest nonsense to hit the internet is that the ancient Greeks were a bunch of wacky jokesters. Or, as this news story would have it, they invented Monty Python's dead parrot sketch. You can find the sketch written clearly on their joke parchment.
  
  I have nothing [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2008, 9:45pm EST
  

• Messianic salute

  First, he did it to Hillary. Then, he did it to McCain.
  
  Now, he does it in a pose showing how deep and thoughtful he is.
  
  As Baseball Crank (to whom that last link goes) said last spring, he really should be more careful [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2008, 9:47pm EST
  

• New Hampshire relaxes after the election

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2008, 11:20am EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 46th edition

  Here we are with the 46th edition of the Carnival of Maryland, a project run by the Maryland Blogger Alliance but open to anyone living in or writing about Maryland.
  
  Normally, when I host the Carnival, I start with the miscellaneous topics and [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2008, 7:46am EST
  

• He may be the Messiah, but can we expect miracles?

  
  Clyde Haberman, New York Times, Nov. 14, 2008 *
  
  
  * The online edition reduced the demand a little: "Can Obama Help Kill Baggy Pants Look?" [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2008, 7:09pm EST
  

• Yikes!

  Got this from Dave Barry's Blog, where he links it with the warning: "Men: Do not click here."
  
  But, you know, it's kind of silly, isn't it, to tell people NOT to click when you fully expect them to click out of sheer curiosity? Like all those "Dude" [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2008, 9:01pm EST
  

• Tuesday night mini-linkfest

  A short mini-linkfest tonight.
  
  1. Headline of the day: "Fake penis under attack for staying limp." (via BOTWT)
  
  2. Quotation of the day from the same link: "It's easy to think that it's pretty strange to approve prosthetics that can't get erect, because that is [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2008, 9:13pm EST
  

• Protocols of the President-Elect

  Office of the President-Elect
  Ready to Rule on Day 1
  
  "Yes, We Can; Therefore, We Will"
  
  

  November 11, 2008

  
  MEMORANDUM TO ACCEPTED MEDIA SUBJECTS
  
  RE: Protocol for Press Meet-Ups with the President-Elect
  
  The following rules will apply during any meet-up between the President-Elect and Accepted Media [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2008, 1:38pm EST
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 14

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . yeah, Ma . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . a national holiday . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . cultish . . . yeah, that's a . . . that's a good word, [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2008, 9:21pm EST
  

• Knives out for Rahm on the left?

  I've been getting a lot of hits today for my post about whether Josh Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, is Jewish.
  
  I'm guessing the sudden interest is related to the fact that Obama has now chosen Chicago thug Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Rahm is Jewish, [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2008, 7:31pm EST
  

• Surplusage

  Artscroll is the Microsoft of Orthodox Jewish publishing. People use it because it's everywhere, not because it's particularly good.
  
  When I say it's not particularly good, I mean that it doesn't really translate the text as much as it spoon-feeds the reader its preferred interpretation. Sometimes I'll be reading [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2008, 10:09am EST
  

• Winning the 108-year-old vote

  McCain apparently wasn't old or experienced enough for this Gaithersburg woman: "Woman, 108, votes in her 22nd presidential election."
  
  From the article:

  Though she predicted victory for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), in part because of his ability to mobilize young voters, she just couldn't get herself to buy [...]

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  Posted: November 06, 2008, 9:51pm EST
  

• The Obama Dow Jones Death Watch

  "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal . . . and the Dow Jones Industrial Average began to plummet."
  
  
  I apologize for being a little serious here, but it's Day 2 after the election and [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2008, 9:44pm EST
  

• Visitor of the day -- 11/5

  And already the questions begin . . .
  
  
  
  
  UPDATE: If you're thinking, "WTF?" right about now, try this post, where I've previously explained "suck eggs." [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2008, 9:04pm EST
  

• Another vote: no confidence

  "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal . . . and the Dow Jones Industrial Average began to plummet."
  
  
  
  
  [Ed. - I know it technically didn't "begin" to plummet, [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2008, 6:11pm EST
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 13

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no . . . no, Governor . . . no, Ed . . . no, I didn't say that . . . I said, monitors at the . . . at the polling places . . . right . . . [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2008, 8:23pm EST
  

• The nation's capital prepares for the election

  This photo was submitted by someone who wishes to remain anonymous -- and asks, "Isn't the word 'evacuation' in this context somewhat ambiguous?"
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2008, 9:22pm EST
  

• Pre-election linkfest

  Here's a short linkfest to keep you political junkies from having to hit the refresh button at your favorite news sites and blogs in the hope that you'll get some useful information.
  
  1. Here's an argument against early voting. (via Instapundit) For what it's worth, I'm voting [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2008, 9:20pm EST
  

• FedEx West Africa has a check for you

  Get your $800,000 check from FedEx West Africa now. What could possibly go wrong? The message was scanned for viruses, after all.
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2008, 6:05pm EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 45th edition

  The 45th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is up at What's New in Maryland. If you click on the first link, you'll see some of the latest writing from our Maryland bloggers.
  
  The 46th edition is scheduled for Sunday, November 16, [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2008, 5:27pm EST
  

• It's that "stupid bug" time of the year again

  If it's fall and sunny, it's time for the beetle I call the "stupid bug."
  
  Technically, they're called box elder bugs, but I call them "stupid bugs," because you can remove them easily, if they get in your house, by encouraging them to walk onto an envelope or [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2008, 12:25pm EST
  

• Grow up!

  I have a joke for you that I just made up.
  
  Q How many Phillies players does it take to screw in a light bulb.
  
  A Two. One to install the light bulb and one to talk trash about Jose Reyes.
  
  The Phillies finished first in the [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2008, 10:38am EST
  

• Can the weather have a sense of humor?

  Has anyone seen Al Gore lately?
  
  
  
  
  The headline of the day is: "Snow blankets London for Global Warming debate."
  
  It was the first October snowfall in London in over 70 years.
  
  UPDATE: Zombie JFK urges you to [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2008, 9:51pm EDT
  

• When corruption meets underwear

  Not news: Massachusetts legislator Dianne Wilkerson takes a bribe.
  
  News: Massachusetts legislator Dianne Wilkerson takes a bribe and stuffs the money in her bra.
  
  Pillage Idiot: Massachusetts legislator Dianne Wilkerson takes a bribe, stuffs the money in her bra, and discovers that the money has been [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2008, 7:58pm EDT
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 12

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no, Ma . . . no . . . Ma, listen . . . listen . . . your own mother and . . . your mother and father, Ma . . . Bubbe and Zayde, Ma . . . your [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2008, 6:16pm EDT
  

• Tuesday linkfest

  1. Joe the Plumber is more concerned about Israel than two-thirds of American Jews. (via HotAir)
  
  2. Ouch. "That Colin Powell. What a great judge of character."
  
  3. A federal judge is caught having made a campaign contribution to Obama. She describes her occupation [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2008, 9:50pm EDT
  

• A quick thought about slots

  Usually I'm in favor of having stupid people pay taxes instead of me, as if having slots in Maryland would actually reduce taxes for the rest of us, which of course is not the case in this high-tax dystopia. But this slots issue in Maryland leaves me with one sickening [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2008, 10:09pm EDT
  

• Visitor of the day -- 10/27

  Yeah, dude, the trick is to substitute the cucumber for it.
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2008, 9:47pm EDT
  

• Charles Fried and William Weld come under fire

  The Scene: Colombia, 50 miles outside Bogota
  
  Charles Fried and William Weld share the rear seat of a black Mercedes belonging to the American Embassy. Their driver, a grizzled vet who works for the Embassy, explains the rules of the road.
  
  Driver: This next 15 mile stretch we [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2008, 7:09pm EDT
  

• Visitor of the day -- 10/24

  Just another visitor on this very popular search, but this one's from an interesting place. (For those who haven't seen the post this search leads to, check here, with followup here.)
  
  Exit question: Hometown foe, or fan checking out the opposition?
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2008, 10:12am EDT
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 11

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no . . . no, Ma . . . no . . . it was just . . . just a rhetorical flourish . . . Ma . . . no, Ma . . . Joe's . . . Joe's a [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2008, 7:01am EDT
  

• Andrew Sullivan chats with Larry King

  
  This is Larry King. Tonight we chat with Andrew Sullivan, blogger extraordinaire, a conservative intellectual who's broken with the Bush Administration and is now supporting Barack Obama. Andrew, I'm . . .
  
  
  
  
  Larry . . . Larry [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2008, 9:05pm EDT
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 44th edition

  The 44th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is up at Creating a Jubilee County. Please check out the latest writings from Maryland.
  
  The 45th edition is scheduled for Sunday, November 2, to be hosted at What's New in Maryland.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2008, 8:19pm EDT
  

• Joey Biden is sent to the principal's office

  "Look, John’s last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs."
  
  -- Joe Biden
  
  Principal: Joey, Mrs. Ballenchain tells me you've been saying bad words in her classroom.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2008, 9:31pm EDT
  

• P.S. Your Snake is Dead

  If I ever have a serious fire at my house, I most certainly do not want the newspaper account to lead with this: "A pet boa constrictor was the casualty of a Rockville house fire Tuesday morning." I want there to be a lot more melodrama -- like the [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2008, 8:33pm EDT
  

• The Jews empty the shelves of Kool Aid

  I've occasional tried writing seriously about Obama and the Jewish vote, but I hate serious, and anyway, there's only so much one can say. The Jews are going to be drinking gallons of Kool-Aid (TM) brand artificially flavored drink mix this election day.
  
  Amir Taheri writes [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2008, 8:06pm EDT
  

• A day in the life of Congressman John Lewis (D-GA)

  I. Breakfast at the IHOP
  
  Waitress: Would you like sausage with your pancakes, sir?
  
  Congressman John Lewis: Whatchu saying to me, lady? You trying to kill me with all that fat and cholesterol? I didn't march with Martin Luther King so I could be offered sausage with my [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2008, 7:50pm EDT
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 10

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no, Ma . . . Ma . . . it's not . . . it's not the Weather Channel, Ma. . . it's . . . it's the Weather Underground . . . yeah, UNDERground, Ma . . . but Ma [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2008, 7:47pm EDT
  

• Sarah Palin answers the 3 a.m. call, Part 2

  (The darkened outside of a house is seen, followed by a shot of a young child sleeping in bed.)
  
  Voiceover: It's 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone on the campaign, and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world.
  
  (Cut away to [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2008, 7:45pm EDT
  

• Saturday evening linkfest

  If you've been wondering whether I've been taken into the Witness Protection Program -- kind of like those shirts sold by Chinese vendors on the streets of Washington ("You Don't Know Me") -- the answer is YES! I've been taken into the Witness Protection Program.
  
  But I've just been [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2008, 9:02pm EDT
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 43rd edition

  The 43rd edition of the Carnival of Maryland is up at The Greenbelt. Please click on over there, do some reading, and, as always, check out the photographs.
  
  The 44th edition is scheduled for Sunday, October 19, to be hosted at [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2008, 1:03pm EDT
  

• Four years at Pillage Idiot

  Q Pick a number from 1 to 10.
  A That's just plain stupid.
  Q C'mon. Pick a number.
  A Oh, all right.
  Q It's four, isn't it?
  A Of course it's four.
  Q I read your mind.
  A Don't be an idiot. We're the same person.
  Q So?
  A So? [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2008, 12:01am EDT
  

• Barack Obama practices his wink

  "Don't sell the American people short," [David] Axelrod told reporters after the debate. "I'm sure they liked Gov. Palin, but they need more than a wink and a smile."
  
  Byron York, National Review Online,
  Sarah Palin, the Winner by a Wink
  
  
  Obama: Like this, then?
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2008, 6:02pm EDT
  

• Sarah Palin answers the 3 a.m. call

  (The darkened outside of a house is seen, followed by a shot of a young child sleeping in bed.)
  
  Voiceover: It's 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone on the campaign, and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world.
  
  (Cut away to [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2008, 6:32pm EDT
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 9

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no . . . no . . . Ma . . . no . . . I know it's serious . . . yeah . . . a crisis . . . I know . . . I know about the [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2008, 8:18pm EDT
  

• Shanah tovah

  A very happy and sweet new year to my Jewish readers.
  
  And to my non-Jewish readers, I want to thank you for your support during the past year. [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2008, 5:06pm EDT
  

• 2008 Mets, R.I.P.

  I'm sorry to say this post-mortem is becoming an annual feature. (See last year's far more morbid post-mortem.)
  
  The Mets entered the final game of the season today tied with Milwaukee for the wild card slot but lost ignominiously, while Milwaukee won.
  
  I could say more, but [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2008, 9:45pm EDT
  

• Fotonovelas

  I don't usually write about nice things people have written about me. This is not because I suffer from undue modesty, mind you. It's because people don't write nice things about me.
  
  So I was a little surprised to learn that Steve Heller, who writes for Print magazine [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2008, 7:42pm EDT
  

• Sunday morning mini-linkfest

  I was going to leave you a mini-linkfest on my way out of town for the weekend, but it happened too fast. So with your indulgence, I'm going to give it to you a little late.
  
  1. 1. S.Weasel has discovered Abraham Lincoln's YouTube account. It's actually a [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2008, 3:52am EDT
  

• A Met-aphor?

  Being a Mets fan is a little like, well, being a Mets fan. If you're a fan, you know what I mean. At some point, something is going to go horribly wrong. Sometimes you can predict it. Sometimes you can't. But it will go wrong. Trust me on that.
  [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2008, 8:43am EDT
  

• The high price of (passing) gas

  If flatulence can make it all the way to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, then, surely, it can make its way to the local courts in Charleston, West Virginia. (via HotAir)
  

  When police were trying to get fingerprints, police say [Jose] Cruz moved [...]

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  Posted: September 24, 2008, 10:29pm EDT
  

• I'm still here

  I'm still here, but I've been quiet for the past couple of days because of (a) work; (b) a computer that's uncooperative, if not outright hostile; and (c) a bout of weltschmertz.
  
  So meanwhile, I invite you to do the following:
  
  1. Consider my proposed new benchmark [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2008, 11:29pm EDT
  

• The Inquiring Photographer: Who's responsible for the economic crisis?

  The Inquiring Photographer asks:
  
  "Who is responsible for the current Wall Street financial crisis?"
  
  
  
  "The money changers at the Temple of Greed. I have overturned their tables."
  
  Barack Obama, Illinois
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2008, 7:50pm EDT
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 42nd edition

  The 42nd edition of the Carnival of Maryland is up at Tinkertytonk. There's a lot of good material there, so please click on over there and do some reading.
  
  The 43rd edition is scheduled for Sunday, October 5, to be hosted at [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2008, 6:18pm EDT
  

• "Is He 'The One'?"

  That's the headline, and no, I'm sorry to report that Cosmopolitan is NOT posing John McCain's mocking question about Obama.
  
  Read this article and weep, because Cosmo is giving women the usual, patented, high-quality advice you can expect from that source about whether your guy is marriage material. [...]
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  Posted: September 20, 2008, 8:59pm EDT
  

• Visitor of the day -- 9/19

  What? Two in a row? Sorry, but I couldn't resist this one.
  
  Because I'm here for pillaging, too.
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 20, 2008, 8:47pm EDT
  

• Visitor of the day -- 9/18

  I know what an "Obama shofar sound" is. It's the sh'varim, the three broken wailing notes that, with the right inflection, sound exactly like someone complaining that it's mean to suggest that he's laughably unqualified to be president.
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2008, 9:20pm EDT
  

• A walk through the WJW

  The Washington Jewish Week is a pathetic little rag that arrives every Thursday. It makes a half-hearted effort to provide some political balance, but mostly it just provides unintentional humor.
  
  Its resident political commentator, "nationally syndicated columnist" Douglas Bloomfield, has never met a tired, shopworn idea go unwritten, and [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2008, 9:14pm EDT
  

• Wednesday linkfest

  After I do a long photo comic, like the one I posted on Monday (Bill Clinton agrees to campaign for Obama), it's hard to get back to normal posts. Unlike most of the garbage I post here, photo comics take a long time, and the hardest part is working [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2008, 10:09pm EDT
  

• We get comments

  Shortly after Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate, I put up a post called "Sarah Palin is evil." Playing into the insane reaction to her from the lunatic left and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself), the post was a spoof of the site "Bert [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2008, 8:56am EDT
  

• Bill Clinton agrees to campaign for Obama

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2008, 9:51pm EDT
  

• The barbecue

  Is it just me, or does Mr. Obama seem to be past his "sell by" date?
  
  I'm just wondering, because it seems to me that if you're running as the Second Coming of Jesus, you sort of have to keep throwing out for us a new miracle every couple [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2008, 10:34pm EDT
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 8

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no, no . . . please . . . please listen to me . . . no . . . please . . . just hear me out . . . no . . . no . . . the "pig" [...]
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  Posted: September 12, 2008, 6:07am EDT
  

• Seven years

  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2008, 6:00am EDT
  

• Sarah Palin and the Ollie North Effect

  I began working in Washington in May 1987, just in time for two major events in American political history: the Bork nomination and Oliver North's testimony at the Iran-Contra hearings.
  
  One could write volumes about the differences between Bork's mishandling of the media and North's success, but I have [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2008, 9:43pm EDT
  

• Soccer Dad: When you're running for office the whole world is Jewish

  Crossposted on Soccer Dad
  
  It was ironic to see a column from Jonathan Tobin yesterday asserting:

  Unlike 2004, when just about everyone running for president except George W. Bush was producing a Jewish relative of some sort, the two nominees, John McCain and Barack Obama, aren't pretending to [...]

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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 5:18am EDT