The Countertop Chronicles

As Roger Daltry once sang, I can’t explain.

On the day that Nike announced they were resigning from the U.S. Chamber because the nation’s business community expressed some concern over the pace at which the Obama Administration was seeking to destroy the U.S. economy via climate legislation. . . . .

Nike also announced that they were going to re-start the promotional relationship they once held with the dishonest and despicable dog torturing and puppy dog murdering Michael Vick.

So, let me get this straight – Is Nike’s message that exercising your constitutional rights to question the governments action is wrong, while brutally killing helpless dogs isn’t????

Like I said, someone help me here. I simply can’t explain this.

Next thing you know, we’ll have Whoopie Goldberg defending pedophiles who like to drug and then assfuck helpless 13 year old girls and claim that it isn’t really “rape-rape”

Of, wait. . . . . she did what?????

So let me get this straight.

A former pro bowl quaterback was running around behind his wife’s back, with a drug addict cocktail waitress – and the wife had no idea there were any problems in the relationship while the drug addict cocktail waitress had told her family that she was selling her furniture to move in with Mr. Quarterback since he was in the process of divorcing his wife (which wasn’t happening) and then . . . . something happens to make her want to shoot this guy and then kills herself (like, perhaps . . . and I’m just speculating here – Mr. Quarterback told her he was married and not getting a divorce) and we are supposed to think this is the gun’s fault??

Right.

I’m praying for the Iranian people.

As Uncle points out,

The pictures are amazing. People are throwing rocks at snipers. And the mullahs can’t stop the signal. The trouble for the citizens is that they will be crushed when the government decides it has had enough. That is happening now.

I wish them the best. But, more so, I wish they had rifles.

Interestingly, the NY Times editorial page (well, at least Thomas Friedman) also understands this dynamic.

Second, even if defeated electorally, the Islamists and their regimes have a trump card: guns. Guns trump cellphones. Bang-bang beats tweet-tweet. The Sunni Awakening in Iraq succeeded because the moderates there were armed. I doubt Ahmadinejad will go peacefully.

But of course, no but the government needs guns, right????

So this post by the Instapundit got me thinking about how Obama is gonna ban guns.

THE CHRYSLER FALLOUT: Obama Takes Sides. “The question becomes: are we just bailing out a bunch of politically-connected billionaires? Whenever you get a chance, ask anyone who will listen: Why has President Obama not told us what he plans to give Cerberus in exchange for Chrysler?”

What does this have to do with guns?

Well, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. stands to receive Billions with a B from the forced sale of Chrysler (not to mention that they own 51% of GMAC . . . . low and behold, right now all new Chrysler financing will be handled through GMAC). They also own, amongst other firms Bushmaster Firearms, Inc., Remington Arms, Cobb Manufacturing, DPMS Panther Arms, and Marlin Firearms.

That’s not everyone, but boy is that a hefty share of the gun businesses.

And don’t think VPC/Brady/Joyce (and therefore Obama) don’t realize it.

The question is – how much does Cerberus really value our Second Amendment rights? Enough to risk tens of billions of dollars????? And will George Kollitides allow the tens of billions that Obama/VPC/Brady/Joyce are holding over his head influence the NRA??

This just happened, 20 minutes ago. At 13th and Pennsylvania (2 blocks from White House)

Young lady (yl): Hello, can I talk to you about the ACLU?

Me: ACLU? They supporting the constitution yet?

YL: everyday. We support the constiution.

Me: Not the second Amendment you don’t.

Yl: well, that’s a state by state issue

Me: isn’t the constitution the supreme law of the land? Are you telling me my right to free speach is different in one state than another?

Yl: no. Just the 2nd amendment. Our policy varies state by state

Me: (staring dumbfounded) it does? I thought you supported the constitution

Yl: (realizing where this is going) well, no ones perfect. But what about the rest of the constitution?

Me: I support the whole thing. And my guns keep you from infringing on my speach

How fitting.

Black liberals were the critical voting bloc. Jewish liberals voted overwhelmingly against Prop 8, to offer a simple contrast. Obama has always opposed marriage equality, even splitting with his own church on the issue. In California, he got his way.

Hey Andrew Sullivan!!

How does it feel to have gone and fucked yourself???

It seems there was some ta do in DC the other day

Here’s the AP Report

A Jersey City councilman has reportedly been arrested for urinating on a crowd of concertgoers from the balcony of a Washington D.C. nightclub.

The New York Daily News reports in Sunday’s editions that two-term Jersey City councilman Steve Lipski has been charged with simple assault.

The newspaper says 44-year-old Lipski was removed from a place called the 9:30 Club on Friday night.

That’s after club staffers saw him relieve himself onto the crowd from a second floor balcony during a concert by a Grateful Dead tribute band.

Messages left at Lipski’s council office, and a Jersey City listing under his name were not immediately returned.

Hmm, a politician arrested – for a lewd and crude (and most likely drug induced) crime. What other information could they tell us about Mr. Lipski???? Well, maybe they do tell us, cause if he was a Republican, I bet that would be in the opening sentence.

Smack dab in today’s NY Times

To the Editor:

My message to William Kristol: Actually, a �Wasilla Wal-Mart Mom a heartbeat away� from the presidency is horrifying to me.

Leading the most powerful nation in the world is not supposed to be a game of chance. Our leader should be the most highly educated, principled, cultured, traveled and respected figure we can find.

My message to voters: For all our sakes, remember that the world is bigger than you!

Tracy Taub
Princeton, N.J., Sept. 8, 2008

This will certainly help win over blue collar union voters.

And on that point, David Brooks is right on point

If I were advising the candidates, I�d tell them to double down on weirdness. Obama needs to occasionally criticize his own side. If he can�t take on his own party hacks, he�ll never reclaim the mantle of systemic change. Specifically, he needs to attack the snobs who are savaging Sarah Palin�s faith and family. Many liberals claim to love working-class families, but the moment they glimpse a hunter with an uneven college record, they hop on chairs and call for disinfectant. Obama needs to attack Bill Maher for calling her a stewardess and the rest of the coastal condescenders.

Not to be confused with the Andrew Sullivan Award for moral equivalency, this one is given out to examples of self serving dishonest bullshit taken to levels only a member of the media could reach.

Look: I’m gifted at outrage but this current Republican crew is more gifted at provoking it. I’ve aired many defenses of Palin on this blog and made a point of reminding readers that many sources in Alaska have longstanding enmity for her. But I think her record is very underwhelming when you look at it, and the record is now clear that she has lied – even being forced to admit it – in public office. I also think it is simply insane that a person who could be president next January and is a total unknown to the world should somehow require being shielded from a press conference. I mean a capable candidate would be begging for an hour alone on Meet The Press, not running to ground in Alaska and taking no questions for three weeks in September before an election.

John McCain just told Bob Schiffer on Face the Nation that Sarah Palin would be out campaigning on her own in a couple of days and she would start with her first major media appearance on Face The Nation.

Well, I’d have to say as a one of the many carry permit holders who hasn’t committed a crime as a carry permit holder, and generally doesn’t try to hard to raise my google fu through weird google bombs utilizing terms like carry permit holders, I’m offended that their carry permit holders ranking isn’t even lower.

I don’t blog about work, but just beat the stinking hippy tree huggers in a case that the NY Times and Washington Post editorial page weighed in on (which means, by implication, I beat them too!)

I’m goona eat a steak to celebrate!

In their editorial on D.C.’s proposed new gun law (expected to be passed today), the Washington Post states

Likely to be enacted today by the council on an emergency basis, it would permit only handguns in homes for self-defense. Sawed-off shotguns, machine guns and short-barreled rifles would still be banned. To register handguns, residents would have to complete an application, pass a written firearms test, provide a photo and proof of good vision, and be fingerprinted — all sensible requirements that are generally seen as being able to pass court muster.

I’ll let others point out how ludicrous the machine gun ban – which defines any gun that has the potential to hold 12 bullets in a magazine as a machine gun – is (and how quickly its going to fall).

What I want to discuss are these registration requirements

Application – ok
Written test – well, seems to me some states have already tried to require African Americans to pass poll tests and were rightly struck down.
Photo – ok
proof of good vision – So the D.C. government isn’t only a bunch of racist bigots? Their also anti handicapped? Folks, this forget the smell test – this doesn’t pass either the American’s With Disabilities Act or D.C.’s Human Rights Act

� 1-2501. Intent of Council.

It is the intent of the Council of the District of Columbia, in enacting this chapter, to secure an end in the District of Columbia to discrimination for any reason other than that of individual merit, including, but not limited to, discrimination by reason of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, disability, source of income, and place of residence or business.

(1973 Ed., � 6-2201; Dec. 13, 1977, D.C. Law 2-38, title I, � 101, 24 DCR 6038; June 28, 1994, D.C. Law 10-129, � 2(a), 41 DCR 2583.)

PROHIBITED ACTS OF DISCRIMINATION

� 1-2511. Equal opportunities.

Every individual shall have an equal opportunity to participate fully in the economic, cultural and intellectual life of the District and to have an equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of life, including, but not limited to,

in employment, in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement, in educational institutions, in public service, and in housing and commercial space accommodations.

(1973 Ed., � 6-2211; Dec. 13, 1977, D.C. Law 2-38, title II, � 201, 24 DCR 6038.)

� 1-2532. Discriminatory effects of practices.

Any practice which has the effect or consequence of violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be an unlawful discriminatory practice.

(1973 Ed., � 6-2278; Dec. 13, 1977, D.C. Law 2-38, title II, � 268, 24 DCR 6038.)

� 1-2556. Private cause of action.

(a) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory practice shall have a cause of action in any court of competent jurisdiction for damages and such other remedies as may be appropriate, unless such person has filed a complaint hereunder; provided, that where the Office has dismissed such complaint on the grounds of administrative convenience, or where the complainant has withdrawn a complaint, such person shall maintain all rights to bring suit as if no complaint had been filed. No person who maintains, in a court of competent jurisdiction, any action based upon an act which would be an unlawful discriminatory practice under this chapter may file the same complaint with the Office. A private cause of action pursuant to this act shall be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction within one year of the unlawful discriminatory practice, or the discovery thereof. The timely filing of a complaint with the Office shall toll the running of the one year statute of limitations while the complaint is pending before the Office.

(b) The court may grant such relief as it deems appropriate, including but not limited to, such relief as is provided in � 1-2553(a).

(1973 Ed., � 6-2296; Dec. 13, 1977, D.C. Law 2-38, title III, � 316, 24 DCR 6038; Oct. 23, 1997, D.C. Law 12-39, � 2(d), 44 DCR 4856.)

I’m looking for a client

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

Last week, Fannie�s stock plummeted to $10.25, down 74 percent in 2008. Freddie�s shares also dived, closing at $7.75, a loss of 77 percent this year.

So, besides EVERY member of Congress for the last 40 years (throw every last one out – Republican and Democrat – and sue them and their estates to recoup the bill) who’s really to blame for this?

James A. Johnson, a longtime member of the Washington establishment who previously worked as a campaign adviser to former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, ran Fannie for most of the 1990s.

�Jim Johnson was the architect of Fannie�s lobbying strategy. He was the muscle guy, if you will. The guy who would walk the halls of Congress,� said Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Arlington, Va., and longtime critic of the companies. Freddie, Mr. Ely said, soon copied Fannie�s playbook.

Hmm, Jim Johnson . . . haven’t we heard that name before???

Oh, here it is, 8 paragraphs later HIDDEN far down in the article

(Mr. Johnson was compelled to step down as the head of Senator Barack Obama�s vice-presidential search team last month after he was criticized for receiving mortgages on favorable terms from Countrywide Financial.)

Of course, Barack Don’t-mention-my-middle-name-is-Hussein-and-my-family-is-muslim-
and-I-did-more-to-finance-gun-bigots-than-any-other-America Obama didn’t fire him for single handedly creating and funding the system that looks to do more damage to America than Osama bin Laden . . . no, that was actually the reason he was hired.

Sure, gas is just hitting $4 a gallon here in Northern Virginia (actually, I filled up for $3.79 yesterday) but I’m not that worried. Even with an SUV. I suspect things will be tight this summer, as speculators run rampant (blame the press) but as with everything market related the laws of supply and demand will hold true again and you can bet that price will begin to creep down as American’s conserve less and can justify, economically, more efficient vehicles.

Me, I’m gonna keep driving my 1996 Grand Cherokee. One, its paid for. Two, it only has 110,000 miles on it. And three, I boosted its fuel efficiency 20% this week, going from a paltry 18.5 mpg to 24.5 mpg – or about $15 per fill up. Now thats real money (and will help buy me some eggs and milk)

How? Well, Glen linked to this story on Fuel Efficiency tips and I simply took the first it to heart. I set the on board display to show current mileage and knowing I got about 18.5 mpg with it generally tried to drive at a pace that stayed above that.

Here’s the top 4 tips I followed:

1. Track Your Mileage in Real Time
2. Only Brake When You Have to
3. Always Stay Alert on the Road
4. Drive Like You’re on a Bike

It wasn’t too hard. A couple of things – I never went over 60 miles per hour (that seemed to be the magic threshold where mileage really dropped off. Thats ok, 60 is plenty fast where I was driving. I suspect on the highway, if I got up to cruising speeds, it would handle it too). I also slowed down slowly, trying to conserve momentum, and when I was at a traffic light, I accelerated slowly. Thats it. I didn’t even resort to the old standby of putting the car in neutral to coast down big hills.

I’ll try that next week.

Don’t know where they got this

According to Michele Foster, InStadium’s head of marketing, people go to the john an average of 2.3 times per game (we didn’t ask about the .3 times). They’ll look at ads for at least 90 seconds, longer if there’s a line, she says.

I’ve been to 5 games at the new Nationals Ball Park, and over the last 4 years have attended an average of 25 games a season. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve taken a leak at either RFK or the new stadium