Right Wing Nation

Sebastian wrote an article about all of the gun control legislation the Philadelphia Democrats are pushing, and I commented:
I hate to state the obvious, but if those people are so worried about crime, they might try locking criminals up and throwing away the keys instead of patting them on the top of the head and […]

If you think that last one was incendiary, just wait till you read this. And I might add that three hours on the phone with Microsoft support did not improve my mood.
Ryan Sager, author of The Elephant in the Room (which, ironically, cause a great deal of screaming when it came out), quotes an article […]

I’ve been on the phone with MS customer support — for three hours.

for Zombie, that is, who photo documented the pro-troops rally at Berkeley.

The quotation of the day:
Karl Rove had the audacity to hope Democrats would nominate a hard-left Cook County hack…and they did!

Horton Hears a Who. Cute, but not nearly as good as Finding Nemo, or either Ice Age movie. Not as good as Over the Hedge, which also wasn’t as good as the three movies mentioned.
But cute. There’s a pokemon sequence that’s one of those “WTF is this doing in this movie?” moments, but it’s […]

Going to see Horton Hears a Who, then making a quick stop to the store on the way back for cilantro, for those enchiadas we’re going to eat for dinner.

I never knew. My birthday is also the day the Rosenbergs were convicted of treason. Two reasons to have a party in one day!

So here’s the first of several grumpy posts. I’m sure to get in hot water for this one, but wait, because I’ve only started.
As long as illegal immigration is a law enforcement issue, I’m on board. No, I don’t buy this “they’re here because they’re oppressed and they’re not criminals!” idiocy, because by being here, […]

So yes, it’s a bone-in ribeye at Toftrees, which according to the menu, comes with a “wild mushroom demi-glace.” Well, I have news for the chef. Goop so thick you can cut it with a knife is not demi-glace.
The steak was done just as I wanted, it was tender, and when I could taste it, […]

make some popcorn, kick back, and enjoy the show!

I’d send Howard Dean a thank you note. A handwritten thank you note, of course. And speaking of, I agree with Ed.
Yeargh! You go, Howie!

Beef. The Down Under Steak House at Toftrees. Reservations at five.

The most valuable experience I had in grad school (and I should say that’s a difficult choice, because I had some excellent faculty and support) was thanks to one of my professors (and friends), BH, in a sociolinguistics class. During class discussion, she noted on which side of an issue each of us fell, then […]

God knows I don’t want to sound like my grandfather, particularly today, but as you know, I just got a new computer. Do you remember when computers came with manuals, you know, with real information in them? You bought a TRS-80, and you got a CP/M manual. You bought a PC, and you got a […]

Well, there are three choices.
At Toftrees, there’s the Down Under Steak House. The last time we went — which was my birthday a couple of years ago — they had taken the bone-in ribeye off the menu (we ended up going to Outback — ick. If we’re going to do a chain for steak, we […]

Gotta have birthday cake, and sorry, but this year, I wasn’t into making my own. That’s what the Coldstone Creamery is for (clicky to biggy):

Chocolate cake, sweet cream ice cream (basically vanilla without the vanilla), and chocolate ganache. I think I’ll have another piece, thanks.

We should have gone to do our weekly errands an hour ago. It’s my birthday. I was quite comfortable sitting here, still am. But I guess I’ll get dressed now and venture outside.
We badly need to go to Meyer dairy, anyway.

See? What’d I say? Here’s confirmation: NJ ruining Pennsylvania.

from Samizdata, what nobody is saying about the so-called “housing crisis,” and why Jimmy Carter and his Democratic Congress are largely responsible. And speaking of the “housing crisis,” Rasmussen has interesting poll results:
Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans say that the federal government should not help out homeowners who borrowed more than they could afford. A […]

First, from Missouri:

And the presidential tracking polls for the month of March:

I guess I won’t be making those enchiladas today. Tomorrow.

A favorite Jonah Goldberg column, that is, from 2001. “Invasion of the Obvious: I need a study to tell me this?” Starts off humorous, but addresses some points that badly need to be made more strongly and more often.

Click the pic to get the immense version.
While people bustled in every direction, these folks were skating in Rockefeller Center:

Somehow, on previous trips, we missed Carnegie Hall. It’s way too big to get in a single frame without a fish-eye lens, but here’s the front:

Hey, look!

Grand Central Station:

I never have been a Letterman […]

McCain’s first general election ad (video). Good stuff.

Jimmyb wanted more recipes. My recipe collection is here. Lots of recipes.
I’m making these tomorrow — got everything today, except the cilantro.
Pictures. Okay. I’ve been preoccupied with this new machine and trying to get Office installed, but give me a few minutes …

So after waiting on the phone for 20 minutes, I got somebody at MS customer support. I explained the situation, and she forwarded me to the activation department. The activation department person told me I had to get a new product key and only customer support did that. So I’m going to call MS customer […]

I finally got the network set up so I can use the damned printer. Browse for the workgroup, and it’s not there. Sometimes. Or if it is, and you try to open it, you get an error. But browse for it with the addy in the wizard, and it finds it and connects just fine.
Office […]

The five most ridiculously overhyped health scares of all time:

DDT
Asbestos in NYC public schools
Cranberry scare
Artificial sweeteners
Three-Mile Island

Read the whole thing. And while you’re there, don’t miss the six endangered species that aren’t endangered enough (although I disagree about the Goliath bird eater; they’re cute and friendly, and very soft and petable).

So I was nearly killed — again — when an idiot decided to change lanes while I was right there, in the next lane, right next to him. Not in his blind spot. Right there, nose to nose. Had there been a car in the lane to my right, I couldn’t have swerved over, because […]

Can’t connect to the workgroup (or the printer) on that new computer. Troubleshooting time.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: For the state with the largest percentage of German-Americans in the country, there just ain’t much in the way of German food. Forget weisswurst, knockwurst, or often, even bratwurst here (Wegman’s sometimes carries brats in their deli, but only sometimes, and that’s about as German as […]

There’s a little bit of everything there, even things you’d never expect. The first day we were there, I left the hotel to get lunch, and there were guys working on the street outside. One of them had a camo cap on with “Born to hunt” above the bill. That wouldn’t even register if I […]

Yeah, there will be pictures, just probably not tonight. And the brand new computer is already acting up. I downloaded a virus definition update, and the damned thing wanted to restart the computer. Fine. And I got a black screen. Hung during boot. Finally, I cold booted it (shut the damned thing off, then on […]

Been back for an hour and a half or so, but I had to set up this damned computer. Still stumbling my way around Vista. Gotta say, though, this box is fast and can handle a heavy processing load. Windows Defender is running a scan right now. My other machine would have been unusable until […]

Shutting down to shower and pack, then cab to JFK in Queens.

Click to hugefy.
Oh my God . . . it’s a good thing I resisted the temptation to go inside. Imelda Marcos has huge quantities of shoes; I have huge quantities of ties:

These looked like single-family homes, not apartments (only one mailbox, and no buzzers). Upper West Side just down from the park. Sehr exclusif and […]

Leave JFK at 10:07 and arrive in Dulles at 11:30. Leave Dulles at 12:30 and land at State College at 1:40 (or thereabouts). Short trip, only an hour layover. Then we hit Best Buy to pick up the computer (mine died the day before we left, if you recall), then over the mountain to pick […]

between Pennsylvania and New York, that is (clickify to biggify).

Their bears are bronze. Our bears are real — but fortunately, hibernating at the moment.