Tiny Cat Warriors

A thought from Heinlein:

A quote from Robert Heinlein:

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

Thoughts from Robert Heinlein

Noted today at Instapundit:

From Robert Heinlein:

"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

"This is known as 'bad luck.'"

As a nation, we seemed damn determined lately to make sure that that minority is marginalized and otherwise disincented to make a difference.

Everyone buys ink by the barrel - the new internet

Hugely entertaining series of posts on Twitter going on right now involving Kevin Smith (Clerks, Jay & Silent Bob, Chasing Amy, etc. etc. etc.) getting physically removed from a Southwest airlines flight last night because, the pilot told him, Smith was too fat. 

I guess the internet lets everyone figuratively buy ink by the barrel, but it helps a whole lot if you've got 1.7 million followers on Twitter.

 
 

On the Apple iPad

One Steve Jobs quote pulls back the curtains a bit about why the iPad will be a very big deal:

 

"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new." -- Steve Jobs

 

More later.

I rarely read anything Courtney Love has to say because, well, she's insane.  At best. And boring.  So you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw this quote from her and it was pretty funny:

"I have a 17-year-old; I know exactly how she feels. I'll never be cool enough for her. You can never be cool enough for your kid. Keith Richards isn't cool enough for his kids."

NY voters should read & consider

this comment from a couple of years ago vis a vis Harold Ford, Jr. 

"You know," he mused, "I've been in county politics all my life, been elected to a thing or two, and that's the sorriest thing I've seen in a while. That young man stood next to me for near ten minutes and not once did he ask for my vote."

Leopards don't change their spots, even ambitious, media savvy and supposedly politically astute leopards.

I'm just sayin'.  

Unbelievable, even for San Francisco

"Intervention over suspension" for a high school double homicide suspect? Who'd been sent home the day before for being drunk in high school class?  Surely this is a sign of the end times.

NBA = League of thugs?

I really really don't like watching pro basketball, at least partly because the games usually seem more like a gang fight than an organized sport.  Plus the players' culture seems to place a strong emphasis on emulating gang culture as closely as possible.  And then there's this news story which only reinforces my thoughts:

Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other during a Christmas Eve locker room argument over a gambling debt, according to The New York Post.

Citing an anonymous source, the newspaper reports in Friday's edition that the standoff was sparked when Crittenton became angry at Arenas for refusing to make good on a gambling debt. That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who then also grabbed for a gun, league security sources tell the Post.

Great examples for children.
 

White House Gate Crashers

 As we're learning more and more about Tareq and Michaela Salahi, it's sort of pathetic their need to be well known has apparently taken over their entire lives.  Hopefully they'll be prosecuted for something they are surely guilty of - violating Title 18 USC section 1001 for lying to a federal employee.  Which they did when representing to the Secret Service that they had invitations to the state dinner.

As I've been reading the stories about these two idiot fame-whores, it's becoming clear that their need to chase the spotlight (an 1,800 guest wedding?  Come on.) has become the centerpiece of their lives.  As I was reading the stories, it reminded me of George and Pansy in Seattle years and years ago.  George and Pansy, a son and mother team were known for a couple of decades as being a) crazy as bedbugs and b) crashing every affair from funerals to weddings to bridge openings to ground-breaking ceremonies to graduations.  You name it, George and Pansy turned up.  George always had a camera (and this in the time before tiny digital cameras - this was a big old film camera) and would always get pictures of Pansy with the few most important individuals attending the event.  More about George and Pansy here.  

 

Counting noses on ObamaCare

Interesting situation in the Senate vis a vis ObamaCare: there are a mess of Democratic senators in center-right leaning states who'll come up for re-election soon.  How do they feel about casting a vote for what, as it turns out, is a massively unpopular bill?  Here's the list:

Up for re-election in 2010

• Evan Bayh (IN)
• Blanche Lincoln (AR)
• Harry Reid (NV)
• Arlen Specter (PA)

Harry Reid is also massively unpopular in Nevada currently and 2010 will be the fight of his life.  He's trailing in polls behind two potential Republican challengers who haven't even announced yet.

Specter is just unpopular - his only reason for changing parties was that there simply wasn't any way he'd have gotten the Republican nomination, and it looks like he may be challenged in the Dem nomination process.

Up for re-election in 2012

• Ken Conrad (ND)
• Jon Tester (MT)
• Robert Byrd (WV)
• Claire McCaskill (MO)

Conrad will face a difficult run in North Dakota in any case, he just needs to ask himself if he feels like committing political seppuku for the Community Organizer In Chief.  

Byrd probably won't survive to run in 2012, so he may not be concerned as much about his vote here.  As a former Grand Wizard for the KKK, he's probably not all that concerned about his legacy either.  He's probably a likely voter for ObamaCare, if only out of respect for fellow Democrat Ted Kennedy.

McCaskill's in a world of hurt.  Unpopular in her home state & being seen as an Obama-bot nationally, McCaskill is rapidly becoming a marginal figure in national politics.  A vote for ObamaCare probably means she's looking for another job after January 2013.  She'll need one.

Up for re-election in 2014

Whether and how much an ObamaCare vote hurts these guys depends a lot on what else is going on in 2013 and 2014.  Unfortunately for those up for re-election in 2014, ObamaCare tax increases and mandates kick in 1/1/2013, so the unpopular parts of the bill will be in full effect in time for the 2014 election.

• Mary Landreiu (LA)
• Mark Pryor (AR)
• Tim Johnson (SD)
• Mark Begich (AK)
• Mark Warner (VA)
• Kay Hagan (NC)

Landreiu is probably the most likely to be swayed into not voting for ObamaCare.  She had a tough race in 2008 and will undoubtedly face a tough race in 2014 in a state that's trending right.  Pryor is also in a state that's trending right and I'd suspect he and Blanch Lincoln will vote as a block on the bill.

Tim Johnson is an anomaly in a state that's been center-right and is trending right.  Thune chased the sitting Democratic majority leader Tom Daschle out of office in 2004 - South Dakota voters felt that Thune had become too much a part of the Washington machine (they were right - has Tom Daschle ever physically been back to South Dakota since the 2004 election?).  Voters may be getting that same feeling about Johnson.  And they'd be right.

Begich is in a tough spot since he'd never have been senator at all if Stevens hadn't been chased out of office by an overzealous Justice Department.  He's probably f**ked for re-election anyway, the question for him right now is: Does he want to seal the deal by voting for ObamaCare?  

The list above is of 14 senators who each have some very good reasons to vote no on ObamaCare.  It's very unlikely that any Republican senator other than Snowe or Collins will vote for it.  Liebermann is probably a no for the bill in any form.  60 - 1 + 2 = 61 votes.  If 2 out of the 14 listed above vote no, there can be no vote for cloture.  

Interesting times.