A shameful admission

I've long harbored a poor opinion of many casual dining restaurant chains. Don't get me wrong, it's not a matter of principle. Chili's, Outback, or even Olive Garden have very good choices (even if they don't represent authentic cuisine from Italy, Australia or... um... Chile?). But I've had nothing but bad experiences, for the most part, with places such as Applebees and Ruby Tuesdays (with the exception of going specifically for its salad bar). Don't ever order a steak at either place. But, because of the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays, it is a good option for when my girlfriend and I are looking for a place to eat.

So we're at Crabtree Mall tonight, and we settle on the Ruby Tuesdays there. I'm not in the mood for a salad, and I recall seeing numerous commercials for their triple prime burger. It's ground from three prime steak cuts: sirloin, filet, and I think ribeye. Probably in sirloin heavy proportions, but it's still a good concept, as I once learned from watching a cuilinary cuilanary culinary cooking genius.

I have to say, it was delicious. The cheddar was too sharp, and overpowered the meat flavor. So I peeled it off. So it was just lettuce, tomato, and garlic mayo. But it was good. Like real good. Like I'm-so-ashamed-I-liked-a-Ruby-Tuesdays-offering-this-much-but-I-feel-like-telling-someone good. Seriously, I want to keep hating them. Especially THIS Ruby Tuesdays. This is the Ruby Tuesdays that, on the day of my 21st Birthday (for a friend's 21st birthday celebration.... mine was the day before), gave me what had to be, at most, a 4 oz sirloin. And no, I was informed, they did not actually bring me the petite sirloin that was on the menu. I seriously had as much meat on my burger tonight as I had on my plate that night. And it tasted better tonight. So next time you're at Ruby Tuesdays because your girlfriend/wife/parole officer wants to get a salad, give it a try.

More libertarian misconceptions

If you repeat it enough, it might as well be true.

The surprising fund raising numbers for Rep. Ron Paul are causing people to take notice of the libertarian movement. Unfortunately, the wrong ideas many people have about libertarianism are beat into their heads through repetition. And why not? The entrenched political elite on either side of the aisle are so engrossed in their Zoroastrian struggle that any deviation from The Way is heresy. So whether you're reading Time or even the Wall Street Journal (which is going to be as sympathetic as any big media outlet), you can't be surprised to hear the same old canards.

The following piece appeared in Time magazine. I saw it linked by Mitch Kokai over at the Locker Room.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1673265,00.html

I'll just quote from my email discussing the article with Mr. Kokai:

It does have some interesting political commentary, but again libertarianism comes off as horribly misrepresented in a MSM publication. Now the author does go out of his way to note that he’s speaking in completely unfair generalizations, but that’s no excuse for trotting out the tired, “Libertarians are against government in all its manifestations.” You can also learn from the article that being against or skeptical of pre-emptive, foreign military intervention makes one an isolationist (which I’m sure would come as a shock to the trade policy folks at the Cato Institute), and that government and society are essentially the same thing (which I’m sure would come as a shock to Alexis de Tocqueville).

Of course, reading such in Time was not nearly as disappointing as reading hints in an Opinion Journal piece that Libertarianism is essentially a sort of amoral, free-wheeling nihilism; a notion that a moderately libertarian conservative / very serious Christian such as myself finds particularly noxious.

My thanks [for linking] was not at all sarcastic. It is good to see that libertarianism is getting some publicity, perhaps largely because of the surprisingly serious campaign of Ron Paul. But the article also shows that some misconceptions will take silver bullets and wooden stakes.

The Opinion Journal piece can be found here.

So: libertarians are not the same as libertines. The protection of rights cannot be achieved through anarchy. And the desire to keep troops close to home in most all circumstances (a far from certain tenet of libertarianism to begin with) has not the first thing to do with protectionism/isolationism.

NC Lotto Highlighted in NY Times

Article found here.

The article mentions the lackluster revenues from the lottery compared to predictions, and how higher payouts (and thus, lower returns) will be used to bring in more customers.

A couple of highlights:

States including Georgia, Oklahoma and South Carolina have enacted laws that prohibit substituting lottery dollars for money that would have otherwise gone to education. But such laws have not stopped legislators.

Somehow, that sounds familiar.

States are also trying to bolster the number of “core” players, according to interviews with lottery officials in several states. Such players typically represent only 10 percent to 15 percent of all players but account for 80 percent of sales, according to Independent Lottery Research, which does research and marketing for state lotteries.

I wonder. Will targeting that demographic be a regressive or progressive revenue grab?

It's definitely worth a read. H/T: JLF LockerRoom.

Pro Choice? Really?

Something occurred to me today about the candidates out there for President. I'm sure pretty most all of the Democratic choices would describe themselves, with varying degrees of certainty and pride, as pro choice.

Lets examine that.

Choice as to how you pay for your health care? Nope.

Choice as to how and when you actually receive your health care?

In one case, no. But for others, it's an inevitable slippery slope.

How about letting proprietors decide if their establishment will allow people to smoke? Or allow consumers or workers to choose which such establishments to patronize / work in? Surely you jest.

Choice at the grocery store? Choice as to what candidates your money supports? Choice as to what views and opinions you listen to / watch / read?

Not in their America. But you can choose to end the life growing inside of you if you're a pregnant woman. And apparently that's enough to make you pro choice.


BTW, this phenomenon can be found on the 'GOP' side as well.


The supreme irony of all of this is that the candidate in either primary that most supports choice is the 0% NARAL rated OB/GYN from Texas who has delivered numerous babies.

Remember Reuters in the Israeli conflict in Lebanon?

Not to be outdone, the AP rubberstamps the following 'news' item:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_US?SITE=NCWILHN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

“In a region where the tradition of hospitality outweighs personal opinions about people…”

Says who?

“While Ahmadinejad likely expected at worst a hostile grilling by the audience, Bollinger's sardonic comments reflected a blatant disregard for the tradition of hospitality revered in the Middle East.”

Says who?

While you can’t expect a report out of Tehran to follow journalistic ethics, that doesn’t mean the AP should still feel comfortable slapping their logo on this commentary.

Vote Early, Vote Often

One stop voting began Thursday in Wake County.

Those aren't the words, Err

Now I haven't heard one of these songs in, well, years probably. But the beginning of both Nine Inch Nails' Closer and Foreigner's Jukebox Hero are eerily similar. Perhaps NIN was paying an homage. This lead to much confusion earlier when I was flipping through my presets and heard (I thought) 100.7 The River playing Nine Inch Nails.

Free Lunch

So there's a convenience store I like to stop at around work (won't specify which one). It's nearby, they have Saranac Ginger Beer, and the inked up guy behind the counter is always really nice. Anyway, I dropped in today to pick up some Tums. We started talking about what works for controlling heartburn besides just antacid tablets. I mentioned I had used Prilosec before. The clerk said that Nexium works really well. And then he said something I wasn't expecting. "I've got plenty of it if you want to try some." Which was very nice of him, of course. But I kinda shrugged him off. He was persistent: "No really, if you're around here Saturday, come by and pick some up. The stuff cost like $300 a bottle, but my insurance pays for it, and I've got a ton of the stuff."

You don't say...

SMITTY!

As much as I'd like to see Mario Williams continue his nice start to the season, I am a Panthers fan first. And seeing the Jake to Smitty thing clicking this well early on feels me with hope for the season.

Keep Rowin' Rowin' Rowin' Rowin'

Update: oh crap :(

YOWZA

What's all this water falling from the sky?

Robin Hoodwinked

As I was looking at the vote for the revamp(ir)ed corporate giveaway package, unsurprisingly, it fell largely along party lines. Only four Republicans and three Democrats crossed over the aisle. But then I started thinking about what those parties usually represent. Specifically, I was thinking back to a comment I read in this N&O article. "Tire manufacturing is coveted because of the pay and benefits associated with the jobs. Goodyear pays its Fayetteville workers an average of $55,000 a year. Hourly workers at Bridgestone also earn $55,000 a year." Now, socialist minded redistributionists, which the Democratic party presumably represents (at least more than the Republicans... I hope) might have a problem with that. According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the per capita income in NC in 2005 was $31,041. I'm guessing, but am not entirely sure, that a fair amount of people between that number and the tire plant workers are paying something in State taxes. Wouldn't that make this a regressive redistribution? Perhaps not overall. Obviously those above $55,000/year are paying more of the taxes. But still, there are those making less than the tire plant workers that are helping to pay their wages. I'm not sure I've ever heard someone passionately claim they were, "Stealing from the lower middle class and giving to the middle middle class!!!"

Blimp My Ride

Over at the Locker Room, I added my support to the movement opposing the Goodyear incentive program. I join a diverse cast, including members of the John Locke Foundation, NC Policy Watch, and the Governor himself. Check it out! (Apparently Mr. Coletti enjoyed the subject line I included in the email -- wonder if that nickname will stick with me) One thing I learned from watching NC Spin is that anytime John Hood and Chris Fitzsimon agree on something, it’s probably because somebody in government is screwing up so egregiously, it simply cannot be accepted. Of course, not everyone listed is so hard-lined against targeted incentives for ‘economic development.’ Easley being the most obvious example. But that just shows the complete lack of foresight amongst those that support such measures when it promises to “create new jobs.” OF COURSE existing firms will start crying for a handout. How would you feel if you were a businessman in North Carolina for some number of years, always making it on your own, when you see that someone else is getting a break starting out because they’re adding jobs at a time when it’s politically expedient to give a handout. Some of the players in the Incentives Game are throwing their hands up at the Goodyear deal saying, “We only want to give to those who are adding jobs!” Well what about those that have already added jobs? Did you help them? Frankly, while the whole deal is detestable, Goodyear, and any other existing company in the state, has some grounds to request support. And the next domino is teetering over in Wilson County.

Of course, supporters of corporate welfare claim that it is not a matter of rewarding those that create jobs, but just providing incentives for new jobs to be created. It’s strictly an investment. It pays for itself. Unfortunately, those that are making the decision to undertake the entrepreneurial risk are playing with someone else's money. Politicians can gamble on long-term risks with the taxpayers' money and take the short term gain of smiling for the camera at a ribbon cutting ceremony. If the terms of the incenvitves outlast the next election cycle, then it's too late to hold the pols respondible. Indeed, because of short memories and political spin, the animosity will likely be on the company if they pack up and leave once the public teat dries up. There is simply not enough personal risk assumed by the decision makers. It takes a lot of faith in the hands that hold the purse-strings to believe they will give away money with only the best of intentions. It's not really a surprise, then, that most proponents of such giveaways are those that feel comfortable consolidating more power in the hands of the politicians to run our lives, but I digress. Even assuming the best of intentions, it's too much to expect aldermen and commissioners, and even state legislators, to have sufficient knowledge of industries in which the cruel efficiencies of the market make or break experienced venture capitalists.

Anyway, this is the first blog post in a while. I've been thinking of getting back into it for a few weeks now, mainly because of issues like these. But once I got the reference on the Locker Room, I figured I'd definitely need to start back sooner rather than later. I just need to find (or remake) my old banner image and host it somewhere.

Deals with the Devil Never Pay Off. See: John Bunting

We all know, from the days when Robert Johnson supposedly made his deal with Ole Scratch at the Crossroads, that being imbued with underworldly power is a surefire route to earthly success, fame and fortune. Right?

Well, maybe not always. Case in point: John Bunting's career at UNC.

It is obvious that bad consequences are supposed to come after the success. The whole selling of the soul part implies an eternity spent in warmer lattitudes, of course. But even so, legends tell of the eventual downfall in the more corporeal realm.

Poor Bunting never really even got off the ground. No Eruption. Not even a Separate Ways.

So what's my evidence for Bunting's deal with the prince of this world?

1: The team song for UNC's football team the last few years, apparently, has been Hell's Bells. Now nevermind the ridiculous thought of Angus Young half duck walking out onto the stage with a powder blue guitar. Or of Brian Johnson waving a pom-pom. This is a song that they picked. The song did not pick them.

Every third down, the loud speaker begins belting out the opening bell tolls to Hell's Bells (AC/DC Song Template #5). And between the third and fourth quarter, the song is allowed to play through. This gets the UNC crowd excited, which seems to conflict with their image, and I really have no good answer to this.

Lets take a moment to examine some of the lyrics to this piece of classical music:

Won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives
Nobody's putting up a fight
I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell
I'm gonna get ya, Satan get ya
Hell's Bells!

Hell's Bells, Satan's comin to you
Hell's Bells, he's ringing them now
Hell's Bells, the temperature is high
Hell's Bells, across the sky
Hell's Bells, they're takin' you down
Hell's Bells, they're draggin' you down,
Hell's Bells, gonna split the night
Hell's Bells, there's not a cloud in sight, yeah

Now, presumably, the UNC football team and crowd take on the persona of the narrator, with their opponent being addressed by the song. The Stones may have had sympathy for the Devil, but Bunting & Co. seem to be offering active assistance.

2: Dawn Bunting's voodoo rituals have been the stuff of legend since they became public knowledge.

Forgive me for linking to a Barry Saunders column, but it's hard to find a better link right now.

Days before the Sept. 18 game, Dawn Bunting, the wife of UNC head coach John Bunting, was seen escorting a veiled, stooped figure around the empty stadium. The woman was burning sage and making incantations.

The sage ritual was also practiced in St. Louis when Bunting was an assistant coach with the Rams from 1997 to 1999.

All this, and no championships. Not even a Gator Bowl. And now he's lost his dream job. Maybe he just handed his soul over, and forgot to ask for the success part. Tough break.


Now my Carolina friends will be quick to point out that now is not the time for NC State fans to poke fun about football. I would just point out that we're already aware that where Bunting is headed... our football program is already there!

Milton Friedman has passed

One of the principle defenders of Liberalism of the past century, Milton Friedman died today at the age of 94.

Here is a great interview from a recent WSJ:

Link

At 94, his work was as done as it was going to be. His death is a symbolic one. But oh, what a symbol.

Who is left to represent us? Who will be the standard-bearer? The Republicans have shown what they do with total power. The Democrats never pretended to represent such ideals (despite having stolen the name of Liberalism for the better part of a century). It will not be a politician.

Fresh views from afar? Europe is crumbling in a chaotic din of cultural takeover that a morally impotent continent is unable to withstand in light of their spineless political correctness and Orwellian overlords in Brussels. Perhaps someone from a former Bloc state with first hand experience of having walked the Road to Serfdom.

If I didn't have faith that God is in control of it all, I'd be near despair.

Anal Bum Cover

I seriously think Celebrity Jeopardy might be easier than Teen Jeopardy. It's definitely easier than College Jeopardy.

The Departed

Any movie that defenestrates Martin Sheen is a good movie. I mean, that's almost as awesome as a Railing Kill.

Sonic Commercial about Blogging

That one talking about a milkshake or somesuch cracks me up. Guy mentions wanting to post about his milkshake experience on his blog (similar to a post I made recently). He goes on to state that his readers will be very interested. His wife points out that he has one reader -- his mother.


I think he's got me beat.

*cricket chirp*

Free Advice

Samuel Adams makes a Cranberry "Lambic^*"

Do not walk within ten feet of a bottle of this stuff.

Don't say no one warned you.

---

^*I rather doubt it is a true Lambic

It's about IDEAS!!!

Not people.


Earlier tonight, one of my friends, with whom I have political disagreements with on a regular basis, sent me a link to the following Dick Armey column.

The column itself is excellent. Armey makes many points that I have been making for a while now, particularly recently. Some excerpts:

As a united conservative movement, we win when we defend traditional values against big government pretensions to impose its brand of "morality" on the American people. We lose when we attempt to use government power to impose our values on others.

And so America’s Christian conservative movement is confronted with this divide: small government advocates who want to practice their faith independent of heavy-handed government versus big government sympathizers who want to impose their version of "righteousness" on others through the hammer of law.

We must avoid the temptation to use the power of government to perfect our society and its citizens. That is the same urge that drives the Left and the socialists, and I can assure you that every program or power we give government today in the name of our values can be turned against us when the day comes where a majority of Congress is hostile to us.

That last part: "I can assure you that every program or power we give government today in the name of our values can be turned against us when the day comes where a majority of Congress is hostile to us." was something I repeated over and over when the calls for a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage first started cropping up. Armey does seem to have a personal beef with Dobson that I don't know about, but other than that, I say right on!

Now back to my friend. Unlike me, he is no Christian. But he at first respected the seemingly principled stand. But then he says he recalled the Clinton impeachment trials, and he said that at that time, Armey was betraying many of the principles he is espousing here. Maybe so, maybe not. But it's not a personal concern of mine. My beliefs do not hinge on whether one particular politician has always been principled. My beliefs just happen to be expressed very succintly in this column.

He went on to rattle off a few examples of Chrisitan leaders and Republicans embroiled in scandal. As if mattered. Textbook tu quoque. He seemed convinced that if you could add up all the hypocrites and slimeballs on 'both' political sides (because we all know there are only two sides, locked in a Zoroastrian struggle ), his side would come out on top, and that would validate his positions. I simply told him that I didn't see the need to keep score.

What I should have asked was if he'd urinate on the Declaration of Independence because it was written by an owner of many slaves. Ideas can be greater than the people who have them. In fact, by definition, any worthwhile one will be.

Are college athletics good for college academics?

Specifically, are high dollar athletics good for academics?

The question was indirectly posed yesterday on NC Spin. During a discussion of whether UNC behaved appropriately by firing John Bunting mid season, John Hood made the comment that (paraphrased), "Semi-pro athletic teams have no business coming home to roost at a state institution!" It was the closing comment and didn't get a chance to generate much discussion on its own.

Given, though, that athletics are a part of college, I think the behavior was, at worst, debatable. Sure, it does kind of throw the current crop of seniors under the bus. But it also gives the school a jump on getting any available coach. But as anyone here in Raleigh knows, coaching searches that go on too long don't look too good.

Of course, none of that goes back to the implicit point that Hood was making. Should a state university, whose mandate is clear, become that involved in athletics? Is it ultimately good for academics or bad? I really, really want him to be wrong. My initial reaction was to think back to my own college experience. While it is obvious that an undue amount of my own time was focused on attending NC State sporting events (especially to collect SWPC points). But I certainly didn't have to. Isn't that a good thing? I'm free to involve myself in athletics. I'm at liberty to do so. Well... it's not that simple. In a sense, it is almost like the lottery. While I think people should be legally free to gamble away their money, it is quite a different matter when the government takes an active hand in it. Please note that I am only likening the two issues in type, not in severity or importance.

In defense of college athletics, they are almost completely divorced from the academic side of a university. They have their own budgets and their own administration. It's not like (with the exception of some arena funding at both of the state schools in the Triangle) public money is going straight to the programs. Well, that's not completely true, too. Coaches earn a state salary, but is a very, very small fraction of their total compensation, which includes endorsements, shoe contracts, and camp earnings. So no harm no foul?

It's interesting food for thought at the very least. My reaction to sports, though, is unlikely to change. It's similar to watching a good band on Austin City Limits. While entertainment goes well beyond any reasonable mandate for government, my turning my TV to PBS does not make an effective difference. However, the comment has made me give second thought to my Wolfpack Club membership.