A Catechism

Based on the eighth commandment. “Thou shalt not steal.”

1. Is this injunction to be taken literally?

Yes, but with certain exceptions.

2. What are the exceptions?

Principally, in the cases wherein the State grants a license to steal.

3. Can you cite examples to illustrate your assertion?

Yes. The banking industry, for example. Banks are granted a license to steal.

Also, telecommunications companies are licensed to conduct business, i.e., a license to steal.

4. Are there other examples?

Yes, a case in point is the State itself, in which it licenses to itself the power of operating lotteries, thereby stealing vast amounts of money from those who can least afford the loss.

Also, the taxation systems in many federal, state, and local governments are essentially licenses to steal, inasmuch as the "ins" use the codes in overreach of their legitimate function in pursuit of activities not granted to them in their constitutions, thereby taking from some illegitimately to buy votes from others. Stealing.  There are yet other instances.

5. If the State then is a role-model for our moral behavior, then is it not right for me to steal if it is to benefit me or my kin?

No, the State will throw you in jail quicker than baking soda reacts with vinegar in a fifth-grade science experiment. “Do as we say, not as we do,” is the mantra of the State.

6. I see. Then essentially might we accurately say we are screwed?

Yes.

Handicapping the Horses

The first Saturday in May.  The horses go to the post at Churchill Downs this afternoon.  For those of you who care, it looks as though Baffert may have another winner on his hands.  So I am told.  I rather favor a horse named "Hansen" and not because I know a thing about the horse, the trainer, the rider, or horse-racing in general, for that matter.

I choose Hansen because I once knew a girl whose surname was Hansen, with an "e" and the last time (the only time) I bet on a horse it's name was "Wendy," also the name of a one-time acquaintance.  Won, too.

Also, I am partial to greys.  Hmm.  Perhaps I should...

"Falling" It Is

Falling in love is a visceral
anti-intellectual response to
a visual misperception of reality.

World Affairs at the Dinner Table

We were discussing a number of Middle East issues which led to a recent Obama decision to delay "talks" with the Iranians and Bibi's objection that that was giving the Iranians a free pass.

Mrs. Warr said, "No one could make that many awful decisions if it weren't on purpose."

Social

The evening social was scheduled for 5:30 and I arrived a few minutes early. Though some tables were filling up, I selected a seat at a thus-far vacant table. But soon others began to sit nearby. A couple came in, sat directly across. I introduced myself, as did the gentleman. The lady radiated chill, and the sniff was nearly audible. I said, We can move if someone else sits here." "No, no," she said. "That's all right." We start to get up, but the gentleman says, "Set your a$$ down. No one owns this table." "Well," she says, " we have been sitting here for twenty-one years." (Emphasize "have" as you read that.)

This is a "social" but not necessarily a sociable!

At Home in the Holler

I was fourteen. Mom and Dad were gone for the day. I was rummaging through drawers and stuff in the interest of learning, don't you know. I came upon a birth certificate in the name of Wallace Wright. But the birthdate was mine, and father's name was "Wallace Wright, jr."

It's the first I ever knew I had any name but Junior, because I was always called: "Junior Junior." I knew Dad's name was Junior. But Wallace? I'm Wallace? Well, I'm glad no one knows that; I'll just go on being Junior Junior.

Green Planet

General Motors has told 1,300 employees at its Detroit Hamtramck that they will be temporarily laid off for five weeks as the company halts production of the Chevrolet Volt and its European counterpart, the Opel Ampera.

“Even with sales up in February over January, we are still seeking to align our production with demand,” said GM spokesman Chris Lee.
--from The Detroit Free Press
Abound solar lays of production employees.
--The Denver Post

Indeed. The people are not so easily duped as the politicians and the greenies would like to think them to be. It all fits. The people are smart enough to know that the return in "green living" is not nearly so great as the cost.

(Actually, some have actually figured out that biofuels are more harmful than helpful and that the electricity that powers the Volt and its ilk is generated in large measure by fossil fuels!)

You might be interested in this WaPo piece about electric cars and the politics of science.

I've Seen That

...a woman's love is like the morning dew, it's just as apt to settle on a horse turd as it is on a rose. --Larry McMurtry, in Leaving Cheyenne

Music in the 21st Century

"Oh, please shut that off." said Mrs. Warr. "He makes Johnny Cash sound like a melodic wonder."

Yes. She was right. Where do these people get off, placing their fingers across the frets, whacking the thing like a drum, atonally accompanying the noise with caterwaulering, and calling it "music"?

Right On, John

In my experience, warm fuzzies are like lice, bedbugs or a herpes infection. People who have them ought to get treated before they infect the rest of us. --John Cowart, on Rabid Fun.

Borrowed from

a friend on facebook who no doubt borrowed it from someone else.

Breaking News: The pity train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck it Up & Move On and crashed into We All Have Problems before coming to a complete stop at Get the Hell Over It. Any complaints about how we operate can be forwarded to 1-800-WAA-WAAA. This is Dr. Sniffle reporting live from Quitchur Bitchin’.

The Perfect Life

Okay, the down-side to the receipt of the precious rain. Here we are, cooped up in this space— eighty square feet of floor space, a booth, a chair and a bed. Well, stove and sink, but who is going to sit in or on those?

Clearly

Chrchcurmudgeon posted this to Twitter:

This year's halftime entertainment is just two years away from getting a discount on a Filet-o-Fish and a cup of coffee.

Shopping

While sitting on the bench at Wal-Mart waiting for a script to be filled, I got to watching the people. I thought about “The People of Wal-Mart” forwards I get via email. Then I realized, “My spats and gaiters! I am the people of Wal-Mart."

Life

a man lives
only so much

as he spins
in the mind

of a woman

Which clearly is to say, I do want to keep me on your mind.

I've Got Some Stuff

Seller on American Pickers: You can't sell memories; you can only sell stuff.

True. Memories are until you lose them. Stuff is convertible- to cash.

Joy to the World!

In the spirit of the season of "peace and goodwill," I won't be offended if you wish me "Happy Holidays!" Please don't be offended when I wish you a "Merry Christmas!" Thank you.

Verizon Wireless makes major marketing, airwave deal with cable firms

...and for whom is this good news?

Bodes ill for the consumer, I daresay.

What Do You Think?

My footnote comment on the last post occupied some of my waking hours in the middle of the night. Dad used to say, "The only thing in the newspaper you can believe is Alley Oop."

If he could see what passes for "news" on today's TV I don't know what he'd say; but it would not be complimentary.

It seems to me, and I suppose I could be wrong, that news media, both print and air, have two aims, or missions, if you will. a) to titillate, and b) to indoctinate, not necessarily in that order.

objectivity: word, the meaning of which is totally unknown to "news reporter" types.

Snow

About to go to bed. No where else to go, what with all the snow. News says the backup on US 31 is "miles long" and people are running out of gas while sitting. That would be what? Zero mpg.

At least we have power. Same news said there were "thousands" without power in the vicinity.

Rain would have worked. Oh, wait. We had buckets and buckets of rain before it turned to snow. Witness the ponds in the back yard. No, they are snow covered now, too.

Hope the wind dies down soon.