Saturday, May 19, 2007

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...40 years ago?

Russ Smith (aka Mugger) on the anniversary:

It's possible for two reasonable adults, probably older than 45, to argue for hours about the most significant pop music event of the 1960s. My own vote would be cast in favor of the Beatles' first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, but a very close second is the release of their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the majestic album that will be 40 years old in early June. It's not that "Sgt. Pepper" is my favorite record from that era -- Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" is -- but there's no denying the extraordinary influence that the Beatles' most famous achievement had not only in the music industry but this country's popular culture as well.

KSKY in Dallas

KSKY has a pretty impressive daytime range out of Dallas. I drove from Athens to Palestine to Hearne and all the way to Round Rock today before I lost 'em.

The Townhall.com network grows its web.

Emergency Room as Admitance

I hate what seems to becoming a new way of admitting patients. Get a bad test result? Go get admitted at the emergency room and the doctor will come see you as soon as he can.

What is already the nightmarish process of getting admitted into a hospital becomes a six hour ordeal in a gown on a bed in a hall...with sick, injured people all around. To top it off, by getting admitted this way, the admittee becomes part of the problem for the ER.

It sucks.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Porn Star endorses Hillary in a very funny way...

See Carol Platt Liebau's short post here.

I readily admit the endorsement was not sought.

Quick Hits

1) I watched a little of the last Republican debate. I might have to look into Romney a bit more - I liked what I heard from him. As for Ron Paul, dude is a wacko. Michael, is he your Congressman?

2) My new most hated person is Paul Wolfowitz. What a piece of work he is. I was reading about his ongoing "problem" at the World Bank and saw a quote from him that alluded to the fact that he didn't the ethics rules at the WB applied to him. Wonder where he got that idea?

3) Are the Texas Rangers the worst baseball franchise? They suck this year, like they do most every year, and have never come close to winning anything - EVER! Yet, year after year, the media here in Dallas pumps them up and tries to convince the public that THIS year is THE year. They are on pace to lose 100 games this season. The owner seems more interested in buying an English soccer team (Liverpool) than having a decent baseball team. Not that I really care that much, since I've been anti-baseball since the first strike many years ago. But it gives me great pleasure to hear all the moaning on the sports talk shows and in the paper. Not that the Astros are anything to write home about this year....

4) I will be out of pocket until after Memorial Day (as I talked about here). I'm sure Michael and Scooter will carry on without me...and probably enjoy my absence.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Newt and Krauthammer on Dennis Miller

Newt and Krauthammer on Dennis Miller. This guy is on his way.

Romney

This is going to be interesting. HH and MM seem to heading toward an endorsement. I attended a 46th birthday celebration for my old college roommate, a die-hard leftie, who referred to Romney as Flitt Flopney, or something like that. The Left seems to really fear him.

Marriage Class Bill goes to Gov. Perry

From KEYE:

State lawmakers decided to tie a few strings to tying the knot in Texas, by offering incentives to couples who attend premarital counseling. Those who don't would be slapped with what opponents call a marriage tax.

Lawmakers agreed Tuesday to double the marriage license fee to $60, but that fee would only have to be paid by people who don't attend marriage classes before they walk down the aisle.

Proponents say they're just trying to save an institution, but critics say that's not the business of lawmakers.

I think I have to agree with the critics. This seems like a bad idea. What on earth is an additional $30 for the marriage license going to net those who decide to go to the counseling? I think it's pretty safe to say at that cost, it won't be one on one with a genuinely qualified counselor. This is going to be a lot more like an eight hour defensive driving class...stuffed in DMV-like office with 20 other couples watching short films of Marriages Gone Bad. I'm all for good ante-nuptial counseling but The State won't provide it. This is just another way to pry another $30 out of our pockets.

No single person can make a pencil...

Dr. Sowell reminds us:

If you start from a belief that the most knowledgeable person on earth does not have even one percent of the total knowledge on earth, that shoots down social engineering, economic central planning, judicial activism and innumerable other ambitious notions favored by the political left.

If no one has even one percent of the knowledge currently available, not counting the vast amounts of knowledge yet to be discovered, the imposition from the top of the notions favored by elites convinced of their own superior knowledge and virtue is a formula for disaster.

Sometimes it is economic disaster, which central planning turned out to be in so many countries around the world that even most governments run by socialists and communists began freeing up their markets by the end of the 20th century.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Re: Dallas News TV

Certainly Channel 8 has always had the edge. And, certainly Hanson is an arrogant S.O.B. He's also good.

Skip Bayless was the same in the DTH when I slung it.

Re: Weather

BS? C'mon, Dallas and Houston are virtually the same.

If, otoh, you mean Denver doesn't have that much sunshine, I have to disagree. Lots of sun, it's the skin cancer capital of the world.