Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
Chuck Norris gives his presidential endorsement:
“I won’t leave you in suspense. Though Giuliani might be savvy enough to lead people, Fred Thompson wise enough to wade through the tides of politics, McCain tough enough to fight terrorism and Romney business-minded enough to grow our economy, I believe the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.”
If he’s good enough for Chuck Norris…
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Monday, October 22nd, 2007
When asked about his campaign schedule today the increasingly curmudgeonly Fred Thompson replied:
“I’m going to do it the way I want to do it.”
Well, Fred, that’s fine. But don’t get mad when we vote the way we want to do it. Seriously, am I the only one that thinks that Fred could be just a little more congenial in his responses? He’s coming off less and less like The Great Communicator: Part II, and more and more like a bad sequel to Grumpy Old Men.
Have I mentioned how much I like Mike Huckabee lately?
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Monday, October 22nd, 2007
The Case for Mike Huckabee:
The GOP is in a deep hole and keeps digging. Even after Mike Huckabee won big among attendees at last week’s “Values Voters Convention,” many evangelicals have been telling the former Arkansas governor—and onetime Baptist minister—that they like him but won’t back him because he can’t beat Hillary Clinton. They have it exactly backward. He may be the only Republican candidate with a decent chance to beat the Democrats next November.
Another good line:
Huckabee comes across more hopeful than Giuliani, more believable than Romney, more intelligent than Thompson and fresher than McCain.
Read more…
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Saturday, October 20th, 2007
J.K. Rowling, author of the insanely popular Harry Potter series, just made a surprise announcement on her visit to the U.S.:
In front of a full house of hardcore Potter fans at Carnegie Hall in New York, Rowling, sitting on the stage on a red velvet and carved wood throne, read from her seventh and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” then took questions. One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled. “Dumbledore is gay, actually,” replied Rowling as the audience errupted in surprise. She added that, in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort’s predecessor who appears in the seventh book. After several minutes of prolonged shouting and clapping from astonshed fans, Rowling added. “I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy.”
It opens up so many questions. Isn’t it interesting that she waited until after the lion’s share of the last book in the series had been sold before making that announcement? Isn’t it interesting that she made this announcement not in her home country of Britain, but in the U.S.? What about all that “private coaching” time that Harry spends with Dumbledore alone in his office? And last but not least, do they sell Harry Potter books in Iran?
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Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
Just read an interesting article on Newsweek.com. The teaser for the story says it all:
Gen-Yers say they are willing to make financial sacrifices to make the world a better place. But how long can they really expect to work less, volunteer more–and count on their aging parents to push back retirement?
It’s true. I, being a Gen-Yer myself, am constantly amazed at how many of my former schoolmates and friends are not married, hold no “real” job and keep talking about what they’re going to be in the future. If they’re not caught up in being professional students, then they’re working a job that’s fun but offers no real stability. Many still live at home, and many more of them receive some kind of consistent financial assistance from their parents. The oldest Gen-Yers turn 30 next year (that’s me) and yet many have made no real foothold for themselves in the world.
Is it a coincidence that a sizable chunk of our young adult population has the mooch mentality while we find that government is getting larger, and that Hillary Clinton and her $700 Billion + proposals are gaining traction? Is it possible that the next president will be decided not based on the best fiscal, domestic, and foreign policies but rather on who can keep the Gen-Yers from having to get a job? Scary thought.
It’s not just in America, however. This is a global issue:
In France, for example, some 65 percent of people in their mid-20s are still living with their parents–double the proportion that stayed in the nest in 1975…
In May, Britain’s HSBC banking group released a global study on the future of retirement, which found that in nearly all of the 21 countries they studied, senior citizens–those who in times past would have been cared for by their grown children–gave more money to their offspring than they received. In total, almost a quarter of baby boomers had provided financial support to grown children at least once in the previous six months.
At some point this will all come home to roost. Fred Thompson talked about it in his last (read: only) debate appearance:
But we are spending money we do not have. We are on a mandatory spending lockdown that is pushing us in a direction that is unsustainable. We’re spending the money of future generations, and those yet to be born. That has to do with our mandatory spending problem.
The problem is that Gen-Yer’s don’t care where the money comes from as long as they don’t have to come up with it. Until we take the time to educate them on the folly of their ways they’re going to continue to drive the country like that leased 2008 Mercedes that their parents paid the down payment on. And just like that car, who do you think they’ll turn to after they’ve wrecked it?
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Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
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