The Occasional Observer

Good for a (safe for work) laugh or two:

http://thereifixedit.com/


Here are some of my favorites:

The bucket's labelled in case you couldn't figure out what was in it.

I've been there.

Visegrips rule!

The great William Safire has passed on.

If I were to accidentally post some off-the-record work related stuff on the blog, I'd probably be pretty embarrassed. But if I worked for the AP, and accidentally posted it over the internet (e.g., on Yahoo! News), that would probably suck worse. To wit,

Swiss arrest Polanski on US request in sex case

Buzz up!374 votes
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Reuters
2 mins ago

OK, can you do some more probing? New York will want to know
frank's out today.

i checked already, and so did zurich. they say the question is irrelevant. he answered me with the quote i used, about we knew when he was coming this time. he's been here many times in the past, we think.

thx brad. aptn is aware, but unfortunately won't make it in time, but is hoping to catch tail end.
i'm pushing out another writethru with some more background details before press conference.
no surprise, new york is really hot on this.

they particularly want to know why now. (has he never set foot in switzerland before?) sheila, theorizes that's because they're under intense pressure over ubs and want to throw the U.S. a bone, but can yo ucheck with justice department sources there?

is frank around too, or are you alone?

u can tell aptn press conf 1700 (15 gmt) in bern at the parliament
i'll watch it live on internet

Just guessing, but this probably isn't the story as it was supposed to be published.

(Other than Congress--zing!)

President Obama gets off a helicopter in front of the White House while carrying two piglets. A Marine guard salutes and says, "Nice pigs, sir."

The President replies, "These are not pigs. They're authentic Arkansas razorback hogs. I got one for Secretary of State Clinton and one for Speaker of the House Pelosi."

The Marine says, "Good trade, sir."

HI-YO! Courtesy of Maxim Magazine (yes, I am a subscriber which should surprise no one that would read this board)

These stories (here and here) about foiled terror attacks on US soil don't make sense. After all, we all know that the only reason Islamic extremists hated the US was because Bush was president. Once he got out and we were completely conciliatory to the rest of the world all that was supposed to go away.

Right?

ht: R 4 '12

Good to see democracy is alive and well in The People's Republic of Massachusetts. After all, who needs silly things like elections and legislative waiting periods. Let's just appoint Gov. Patrick and King Patrick and return to our roots.

I just had two conversations at work today that shined the spotlight on just how bad an idea the currently proposed health care reform really is (as if we didn't know this).

The first was with a guy who's son attends MIT. He told me that Massachusetts, in their infinite wisdom, requires health insurance with a maximum deductible of $250. He already has perfectly good health coverage for him, but now has to pay extra because his policy's deductible doesn't meet the ridiculous requirements.

The second was with a guy who's mostly an Obama fan, but chooses not to have health insurance because he's generally healthy and would rather self-insure. Of course I pointed out to him that the proposed legislation would force him to have health insurance.

Tell me what is wrong with a bill that would included three things?
1. Tort reform
2 .Allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines
3. Government underwritten private insurance for those who cannot afford it (I'd even be willing to let the Government specify the coverage and price to the insurance companies within reason)

Oh. I forgot. Howard Dean already said they don't want to take on the trial lawyers. I guess that would be biting the hand that feeds for the Dems.

Join me in shaking your head in disgust.

Baron Freidrich von Steuben voluneetered to serve with George Washington during the revolutionary war. He trained the continental army at Valley Forge and is considered a hero of the war. His birthday, September 17th is celebrated by German-Americans during the nearest Saturday.

American Conservative discusses 5 "canonical" books of the modern conservative movement. I'm ashamed to say I've only read one of them, but I thought I'd forward for discussion.

Here's the story of a man who literally changed the world. In many ways, his story is a microcosm of what makes America great: innovation, tireless work ethic, personal responsibility, concern for his fellow man.

In this time of crypto-socialism, it should serve as a nice reminder to the 1st estate: it's the people, stupid. Not the government that makes America strong.

"Fool me once, shame on..........
fool me twice..............
won't get fooled again."

I know the Bomba's got us down, but remember, even when things are good, they're not that good.

My humblest apologies to Caribou Express: a while back I made fun of him for professing his love of Sex and the Ciy. He told me the chicks on that show are hot. I didn't believe him until I saw this shot of Kim Catrall from the set of Sex and the City 2 (currently annihilating traffic in midtown Manhattan during filming--thanks a million).

Clearly there are no words for how wrong I was...

And everyone else who hates the Dallas Cowboys (so pretty much everyone but MB, sorry Beasty):



Apparently the new, massive scoreboard at the Cowboys new digs (which also interferes with any decent punt attempt) is hooked up to a wonky computer.

Serves ya right, Jerry Jones!

From an e-mail I received this morning:

YESTERDAY ON "ABC-TV" (BETTER KNOWN AS THE ALL BARRACK CHANNEL) DURING THE "NETWORK SPECIAL ON HEALTH CARE".... OBAMA WAS ASKED:

"MR. PRESIDENT WILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GIVE UP YOUR CURRENT HEALTH CARE PROGRAM AND JOIN THE NEW 'UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM' THAT THE REST OF US WILL BE ON ????"...... (BET YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER)...

THERE WAS A STONEY SILENCE AS OBAMA IGNORED THE QUESTION AND CHOSE NOT TO ANSWER IT !!!...

IN ADDITION, A NUMBER OF SENATORS WERE ASKED T HE SAME QUESTION AND THERE RESPONSE WAS...."WE WILL THINK ABOUT IT."

AND THEY DID. IT WAS ANNOUNCED TODAY ON THE NEWS THAT THE "KENNEDY HEALTH CARE BILL" WAS WRITTEN INTO THE NEW HEALTH CARE REFORM INITIATIVE ENSURING THAT CONGRESS WILL BE 100% EXEMPT !

SO, THIS GREAT NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND I... IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR OBAMA, HIS FAMILY OR CONGRESS...? ? WE (THE AMERICAN PUBLIC) NEED TO STOP THIS PROPOSED DEBACLE ASAP !!!!... THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG !!!!!

PERSONALLY, I CAN ONLY ACCEPT A UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL THAT EXTENDS TO EVERYONE... NOT JUST US LOWLY CITIZENS... WHILE THE WASHINGTON "ELITE" KEEP RIGHT ON WITH THEIR GOLD-PLATED HEALTH CARE COVERAGES.

IF YOU AGREE PLEASE PASS THIS ON ....IF NOT PLAN TO SUFFER WITH THE OBAMA HEALTH CARE PLAN ....FOR FREE....WHILE OUR SELF-SERVING POLITICIANS MAKE SURE THAT THEY TAKE CARE OF THEIR BUTTS AT OUR EXPENSE.

A different kind of "Hope"



Thanks to DCenior for the send...