Awesome Video Saturday CXC

Sometimes hilarious, sometimes painful- Golfcart Fail Compilation:

Obama & Vacation

I disagree with the President in many ways, on many things.

I don't care if he and his family go on vacation.

I am concerned about the expense to taxpayers, as I would be about any public official, but the Obama's have resources. They have the flexibility. They want their girls to travel? Fine by me. In the interest of encouraging economic activity, I welcome it.

I don't think he is a good president, but his failures are not due to his vacation choices. This is a sideshow issue, and not worthy of significant focus.

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXXIX

A speech to end all speeches!



Take that President Obama! In case you hadn't seen it, that video is a few years old.

I think he took his oratorial style from this great episode of The Office:

Pot Calling Kettle

The other day I responded to a Facebook post written by an old High School contact. My response was unexpected, and I failed to follow a few rules of common courtesy that might have prevented any hard feelings, so overall the exchange was unsatisfying.

The reason I commented was that a quote from a Democratic Party leader implied that the DNC & Obama's choice to spurn PAC and Super-PAC money in the upcoming General Election was indicative of the righteousness of their party, candidate, and ideology.

I disagreed, and said as much. It was not well-received.

What are we to make of this news? From CNN's Political Ticker blog:

Obama campaign to support super PAC fundraising

Obviously, it puts the lie to Obama's holier-than-thou approach to super-PAC's in the past.
I wouldn't have had a problem with this strategy had he, and his surrogates, not staked out a philosophical basis for refusing to participate in this way.

Limited RAM

I was rocking my youngest son while feeding him his bedtime bottle. Somehow it made me think of something I have become very good at (maintaining my improved physical fitness) and all of the things I am not nearly as good at (list too long to write).

It made me wonder about our capacity to improve. Is it limited? What limits it? Can we become excellent at many things? Or are most of us limited to one or maybe two?

Think about great performers who excel in professions but fail in personal pursuits. Personally, I think we can be excellent in many things, but it can be exceedingly difficult.

Here's to trying.

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXXVIII

I'm going to have to link to this rather than embed it, as I am away from home. This is video of Conan and his show's new Newt Gingrich impersonator. It's a winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWqoaeBnlU4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXXVII

This moved me.

Hello from ant1mat3rie on Vimeo.

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXXVI

I like this cover of Coldplay's "Paradise"

Romney the Raider II

Powerline has a nice examination of one of Bain's success stories, which Gingrich and Perry have attempted to portray as a failure.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Romney the Raider

As this article explains, Mitt Romney has been under fire for his time as as head of a private equity firm.

His rivals are attacking him for firing people. This is hilarious, given how this is exactly what Republicans are expecting the next President to do. Do they think cutting government spending will all come from more efficient cost controls? It is not possible. Federal workers will be affected. The next president will need the stomach for it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

College Football...Adieu

So with Alabama's resounding victory tonight another college football season comes to a close. My teams were disappointing, the hometown team was disappointing, the championship rematch was disappointing to anyone not from Alabamy. In just under 8 full months it will all begin again. And I'll be counting the days. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Creating, not Consuming

A friend of mine posted a resolution on Twitter that I thought was excellent. He has decided to spend more time creating and less time consuming and connecting. I like that sentiment, so I am going to try to do a little more creating here, on the blog, than I did last year.

Traditionally I post a lot of videos, link to articles that I like, which I will continue to do, but I also want to spend more time on original thought. We'll see how I do.

Violence in Syria

There are reports of continuing conflict in Syria, this time involving the deaths of hundreds of people. If reports are correct this continues a shameful episode in the rule of Syria's Assad. Our silence on the subject is shameful.

This picture says a lot about the situation there. I don't believe it is photoshopped. I also don't think it reflects the sentiments of all anti-Assad Syrians. I'm not advocating military intervention in Syria, but I would like to see us take a more active role in pressuring the Syrian government on behalf of protestors.

Germs on a Plane

The Wall Street Journal has a frightening article on germs in airplanes and airports. It left me feeling like air travelers have almost no chance of avoiding illness.

One of their suggestions? Move seats if you are sitting by a sickly passenger. Have any of you flown on a plane lately with much extra space? Most of my travel on planes is 4+ hours long. It seems like those flights tend to be more full, so keeping my (less than 3 ounce) container of Purell seems like the way to go.

Early Giving

Here is the first theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. Merry Christmas-

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXXV

I thought 2009's G.I. Joe was a pretty lousy movie. This trailer, for the upcoming sequel, looks pretty great.



Do they really kill Duke?