MOVING GUANTANAMO

Chuck Norris gives his top ten reasons for moving the terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Alcatraz Island. My favorites:

D-Block. Not the hip-hop group, but the row of solitary confinement cells.

It is rumored that "Dirty Harry" still roams the streets of San Francisco with his .44 Magnum.

It would give Congress something better on which to spend those hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout money than the current absolute waste of partisan pork.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district includes Alcatraz Island. Let her deal with the aftermath.

Better to keep them out of the US, of course, but if we have to bring them ashore, then give them to the liberals.

PALIN DERANGEMENT SYNDROME

Giving liberals a black eye.

In her quest for the Vice Presidency, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin mentioned a second-hand shop in Alaska where she sometimes buys clothes.

Apparently the name was already used by a big non-taxpaying chain of secondhand shops (in Hollywood!)— selling clothes that are donated for tax credits. Goaded on by Patt Morrison, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio commentator, the chain put the muscle on the obscure tax-paying shop in Alaska to get the name changed.

Morrison gloated about it.

Patt, you were a knothead when I lived in southern California 15 years ago. I see you’ve grown old gracelessly.

Hat tip to Don Surber

MORE SCENERY FROM IRAQ

The reeds along one of the irrigation canals are in full blossom.

A small picnic area alongside one of the lakefront villas.


Another lake view taken from one of the running trails within the camp.

ELECTRIC CARS

What happens when there's no outlet?

WHAT A MAROON

It has been almost two months, and this one still sticks in my craw.

Richard Cohen, the butter knife in the Washington Post’s columnist drawer, is amazed to find out that former President George W. Bush can read:

In what without a doubt is the most astounding op-ed piece of the year, Karl Rove reveals that his friend and former boss, George W. Bush, has read probably hundreds of books over the course of his presidency.

After a few snarks about his selection of books and the number read, Cohen admits:

Still, the fact remains that Bush is a prodigious, industrial reader, and this does not conform at all to his critics' idea of who he is.

But that won’t stop Cohen. He whines

The list Rove provides is long, but it is narrow. It lacks whole shelves of books on how and why the Iraq war was a mistake ....

In other words, Mr. Bush doesn’t read the books Richard Cohen approves of. Probably not.

I don’t read Zippy the Pinhead either.

POLITICS AND (UGH!) POLITICIANS

From Cal Thomas, writing about Tom Daschle’s tax problems: it was the late hotel magnate Leona Helmsley who uttered the immortal words, "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes.”

“Naturally, one who had been squired around when he was a senator and public servant shouldn't be expected to drive himself and search for his own parking spot, or worse, take public transportation. Once someone has enjoyed the power and perks of the Senate, it's difficult to come down to where the "little people" live. Perhaps some counseling would have helped.”

Two thoughts:

First, mandate that all politicians, er “public servants,” be required to undergo counseling for “post-politics” stress syndrome on leaving office. Obviously they need it at least as much as our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan need counseling for post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Second, mandate that every person elected to Federal office, and every appointed official requiring Senate confirmation, be fully audited by the IRS every year they are in office and for 5 years thereafter.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Here’s a consequence of the mortgage bailout that I hadn’t thought of – and should have, since I consider myself to be a pretty good systems engineer.

Bailing out homeowners who would otherwise be forced to find more affordable housing could hurt people who are ready to buy homes at rock-bottom prices.

There have been a number of ads on both radio and TV lately encouraging renters to step up and buy. One of my co-workers, a life-long renter, did just that a few months back.

One more reason for the Government to keep out and let the market take care of itself.

SHOVEL READY

From Michael Ramirez at Investors Business Daily.

In a related item, Mickey Kaus asks "Isn't the border fence shovel ready?"