And once you see it, you will see it in everything.

Posted by: Alice H at 10:57 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I don't think bears steal stereos.  The rest of it I could buy, but I just don't know what sort of tunes a bear would jam to.

And as long as I'm here, I'm going to offer a few tips for Rocky Mountain National Park tourons, all stemming from our visit yesterday.

more...

Posted by: Alice H at 11:26 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Because Milwaukee just received some wrath and the damage is significant.  This is the third time in three years.  WTF is wrong with Wisconsin?

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 10:08 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Today on Neil Cavuto(this is the best transcript I can find so far. Stossel starts at 00:22:0

No one else has picked up on this; I’m surprised because normally John Stossel's word is treated like Holy Writ, but if this is actually his position I expect him to be relegated to the idiot file soon. Immigration reform is currently one of those areas where there is no middle ground.

(Note: This was a three minute interview on Cavuto's show this afternoon. Stossel has a special on immigration tonight that should provide more context to his remarks, but they seem pretty unequivocal)

As I have said a number of times at my blog and over at Ace's when I have open blogged, I basically agree with what Stossel is saying.  My basic premise is that illegal immigration is an economic problem and my solution to it would focus on handling it through the market.  That said I always have qualms about guest worker programs, which Stossel advocates, in every country that I am aware of that has a guest worker program the guest workers evolve into a permanent underclass.  I would much rather allow workers to qualify for permanent residence / citizenship, after X years and costing X dollars (to cover some costs of schooling etc. for dependents).

I know these ideas won't be popular but I still think it's the best way to proceed.

Posted by: chad98036 at 07:38 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Yes, I haven't been posting a lot lately but I've got tons of good reasons. 

1)  Super secret project 1.
2)  The political season is about to really kick into high gear and I'm saving some of my facecocks and mojo for that.
3)  I got married to my lovely wife Rachel on July 5th which means that I've been involved in supporting her plan it for several months. 

At any rate, it was suggested that I share our registry with the general community in case anyone felt like being generous so, I will do so.

The Mr. and Mrs. Moron Pundit Registry.

Thanks in advance, Morons.

Also, my absence has nothing to do with a sudden and overwhelming addiction to Dresden Files books.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 07:52 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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Yes, I have a reason for inflicting this on all three of our readers. The Tottenham Spurs (not that any of you classless soccer-hating fucks have any reason to know who they are) have banned the vuvuzela.

Posted by: Alice H at 05:40 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Seriously, someone needs to put Isaiah Mustafa in a full-length movie so I can drool and stare for a couple of hours. A full-length movie where he's shirtless most of the time. Doesn't have to be all the time, because there's that nice "Oh, he took his shirt off!" feeling when a hottie disrobes.

I wasn't going to post on this, but his response to Starbucks is too awesome to not put up.



Sarah K. has an entire collection of the videos of the future Mr. H (I am allowed to have two Mr. H's if one of them is Isaiah Mustafa, aren't I?). If you drop in for a visit over there, watch your language - she is a lady and doesn't cotton to the fuckity-fuck language we use in our house.

And just in case you're one of the three people on the planet who's never seen the original commercial...



One of our commenters posted the original commercial on her site not too long ago, and for the life of me I can't remember who it was. So speak up so I can give you some linkylove!

Update: I have to post one more video, proving Mr. Mustafa's superawesomeexcellence. How can you fail to fall for a man who understands baconlove?

Posted by: Alice H at 04:11 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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So, was out of state for the weekend, during my drive out I stopped for gas, a soda and to take a leak at a gas station, the place had one or two small tables and you could buy sandwiches there. 

Anyway, heading to the bathroom to take a leak, been driving for a few hours and had to seriously friggin' go, and there's two guys sitting eating lunch. One's got a paper open and, poking the paper with his finger and ranting to the other guy, "Look at these fuckin' idiots running our country, and don't even get me started on that fuckin' (says loudly) N*GGER in the White House!"  No, I didn't light into him for his racist douchebaggery, I had other, more important things to do, like take a piss. Here's the thing, though, this guy sounded EXACTLY like Nick the shopkeeper in Falling Down. 

It took everything, and I mean everything I had not to stop, lean over the table, point to my head and evoke Nick's "Think about it!" verbal tic.

If you're unfamiliar with Falling Down, it's worth renting or sitting and watching if it's on TV, here are the relevant scenes, if you need a refresher,

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:51 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Watch it on Academic Earth

Most of the readers here will probably disagree with the narrative / ideology of the speaker but the talk itself is interesting, especially since it was given contemporaneously, Jan 2009 I think (actually Nov 200 . (Be warned, the facial tic is disturbing)

Causes according to Dr. Blinder:

Risky lending - based on abnormally low default rates over the past 5 to 6 years (from 2003 to 2009). This was backed up by mathematical models that didn't look back far enough also.

Housing bubble - Irresponsible mortgage lending and irresponsible taking of mortgages by consumers. Refinancing ponzi scheme, liar loans, no-doc loans, ninja loans (no income no job or assets). Brokers made risky loans because they would only hold the loans for a short time and then they would be passed on so any defaults would be someonelse's problem. Blinder believes that mortgages should be federally regulated, he also believes there should be a suitability standard, and that brokers should have to hold some percentage of loans they originate to maturity.

Regulatory failure - specifically failure to rein in subprime lending.

Mortgage backed securities - as noted above the mortgages were bad so the securities were bad. When the defaults started the banks held huge amounts of debt. This was caused by bad risk management practices including poor diversification of capital classes (up to 80% in mortgage backed securities).

Rating agencies - didn't do their due diligence. Conflicts of interest exist because the agencies are paid by the bond issuer. He also advocates a bit of Caveat Emptor in that the lage firms should do some of their own investigation and rating.

Derivatives based on mortgage backed securities - unregulated and excessively leveraged. Very short term financing which led to a lack of liquidity when defaults started. (AIG) An attempt was made to regulate these derivatives and it failed. I personally don't know if this would have made a difference but maybe enforcing some liquidity requirements and limiting leverage would have.

George Bush - Of course it had to be George Bush's fault. My memory of events is different that Dr. Blinder's but I am not the one giving the lecture.

The Lehman Brothers failure - destroyed confidence in the financial system.

During the question and answer session it becomes very clear that Blinder was not a fan of TARP or the auto industry bailout. He also disputes the idea that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a large role to play in the sub-prime crisis. I can’t find anything to dispute him but I specifically remember in 2008 / 2009 large numbers of Fannie / Freddie mortgages being defaulted on and it being pointed out that they held huge numbers of subprime mortgages.

Posted by: chad98036 at 08:53 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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The Hogan family, I'm guessing, were the winners.

Posted by: Sean M. at 02:42 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In case you are somehow not in the know, I've been gone from the internetz for about a month.  I lost my job in June, and had a brief period of freaking out (I do have a family to support).  During the freak-out time, my husband and I decided that we were going to leave Louisiana and move back home, which means Nevada.  So, we had a lot of things going on - from packing to moving to finding a house to me finding a job, and it just wasn't a good time for me to be on the internet.

So, I thought I'd pop back into the blogosphere for a minute to say, first, I'm baaaa-aaaack, and I missed my Moron Horde!  Second, I will be registering to vote next week, and I am thrilled that moving to Nevada means I get to vote against Harry Reid.  Hooray!  That will make this November extra satisfying.

Posted by: Ember at 09:01 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Yes, that's "Tea Time with Tyson". It's one of the oddest things you'll see not involving a guy in a leotard.
I do have to admit I spent most of the vid wondering when Tyson would ask, "One lump or two?" before hitting the guy on the head once or twice.

Via Tex, who says it's "surreal", I have to agree.

Posted by: Veeshir at 07:44 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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You won't find any Valu-Rite here.  Thekitchn.com has a list of slightly-above-bottom-of-the-shelf liquors promising to please a stingy moron's palate.

Sure, I love me some Bombay Sapphire, but it's Gordon's in my liquor cabinet.

I'll be looking to try the Canadian Club Sherry Cask and the Weller 12-yr bourbon.

Posted by: JoeCollins at 08:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Last longer drive I did I took the scenic route part of the way, and that kicked ass, the rest was highway and urban driving, but I got to be a passenger for that part of the trip and I had great company in going.  I've done long highway/urban drives alone, but that scenic drive was a much more relaxing drive, especially driving through the state forests of PA...have another long drive on my own, and am putting real thought into taking the scenic route. 

I tend to be very uncomfortable with the aggressive driving on highways and cities, and am a good technical driver, so country driving doesn't bother me.  Only problem is I'm looking at a 5_^1/2 hour + drive (assuming no accidents) and turning it into a 7+ hour drive, and that's if I don't stop for lunch (will have to stop for gas though) or get delayed by anything.  What say you, morons, are you scenic drivers or do you go highway?

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:51 AM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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Undercover Karaoke with Jewel from Jewel


Below the fold Gelnn Beck uncovers the most insidious progressive plot yet! more...

Posted by: chad98036 at 09:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Do I really have to point out that it's NSFW?

I really want the corset in picture 18, BTW.  In adult size, of course.

Posted by: Alice H at 03:33 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment
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Yes, I like the World Cup quite a bit but I'd still like to put some knowledge to people that say that soccer is "the world's sport" or similar bullshit.

Soccer is Europe's sport and was extended by brutal force to the colonized areas.  That's why Africa, Europe and South America always care about it more than anybody else.  In fact, colonies that broke the strangle hold on their own (more or less) like Canada, the US, Australia and India tend to care far less about it than everybody else.  

There is no "world" sport.  Except maybe gymnastics. 

I don't mean the kind in the Olympics.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 08:55 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I could understand the outrage over this if they were dancing on the graves at Auschwitz as an act of contempt, but that's so obviously not the intention here. 


There's a difference between victimhood and survivorhood that I think is often overlooked, especially when dealing with large-scale human-inflicted tragedies.  We memorialize the sites of these cataclysmic events solemnly, creating monuments to the dead and telling ourselves we will never forget.  At what point are we giving the perpetrators of horrible acts a victory by failing to reclaim the sites of terrorism and genocide?  Should we be building a memorial at the site of WTC Twin Towers, or should be building new towers at the same site, bigger than before, to send a message that we will not be controlled by acts of terror?

And frankly, who is anyone to tell someone who survived a Nazi death camp that they're being disrespectful of the memory of that?

Posted by: Alice H at 07:00 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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It's weird but it's Christina Hendricks

Posted by: chad98036 at 09:21 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I'm sure my invite was lost in the mail.

[W]hen the out-of-another-era glamorous and gorgeous Christina Hendricks hosted a private dinner and Johnnie Walker pairing at the penthouse of the Chateau Marmont, it seemed a match made in Don Draper heaven.

The evening unfolded with close friends of Hendricks on the terrace—including her husband, actor Geoffrey Arend, and whiskey master Stephen Wilson—sipping Johnnie and Gingers (Johnnie Walker Red Label and ginger ale) and Blood and Sands (Johnnie Walker Red Label, orange juice, sweet vermouth and cherry syrup) and nibbling from plates of bacon-wrapped dates and teeny beef Wellingtons.

Scotch, Bacon AND Christina Hendricks how the hell did the guy have the presence of mind to take notes for the article.

Posted by: chad98036 at 11:40 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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