Saturday Ramblings

Which GOP presidential candidate has Obama worried? It's not Mitt or Michelle or Tim or Ron:

US President Barack Obama's top reelection strategist charged Friday that Republican White House hopeful and Texas Governor Rick Perry had "very little to do" with his state's economic success.

And well he should be worried about Perry.

Presidential bearing? Check.

Executive experience? Check.

Military service? Check.

Self-made man? Check.

I like Perry's announcement speech because he ignored all the other GOP candidates and acted as though he's only running against one opponent -- the one that's currently in the White House. If he keeps that up, he'll really have my respect.

Update: Yep. Perry's entry into the race is alarming the Obama Dems. Any guy who has the far lefties up in arms is the right guy for me.
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What's at the root of the UK riots? Maybe parental attitudes like this:

‘But, I believe our human rights have been completely taken for granted. Daniel was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

‘As a mother, I’m not responsible for my son’s actions and they are penalising me for his actions.’

Marvelous job, Mum.
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I haven't seen a really good heist job comedy in a long time. I have hope, because this looks promising:


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What is just about the silliest question ever posed?

"Can brownies be too rich?"

Really?
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For Denny and Jimbo, who I could see doing this song:



Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha!!!

(A tip of the cap to GruntDoc for that little giggle.)

Drive-Bys

This'll put a smile on your face:


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For all you GRRM/Game of Thrones fan-geeks like me, Maureen Ryan (whose column I miss in the Chicago Tribune, dammit) has Part 1 of her interview with him here and Part 2 is here. Good stuff.
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Ooooh! And you can now stream Season One of Game of Thrones on your computer. Sweet!
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Just how bad is the economy here in Illinois? We're going back to burying our indigent dead in potter's fields. That's just sad.
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Wholly crap! The Dems are losing their union support:

About a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because they're angry that it's being held in a right-to-work state and frustrated that Democrats haven't done enough to create jobs.

The move could pose a larger problem for President Barack Obama next year if an increasingly dispirited base of labor activists becomes so discouraged that it doesn't get the rank-and-file to the polls in the usual strong numbers.

Did you spot the flying pig that just whizzed by?
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For those that think all the looters in the UK are poor, down-trodden folks on the dole who think they are taking their bit back, think again:

The middle class 'rioters' revealed: The millionaire's daughter, the aspiring musician and the organic chef all in the dock

It's an eye-opener, no?

Justice is being handled very swiftly:

Two-thirds of those who have come before magistrates have been remanded in custody and a large number have been sent to Crown Courts, which have powers to hand down prison sentences of longer than six months.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said: 'Yesterday and today I met court staff and judges who had worked 30 hours straight.

'We will continue to provide all necessary support to the police to ensure anyone involved in this kind of criminal activity is brought to justice as swiftly as possible.'

A Ministry of Justice spokesman added: 'We have enough prison places for those that are sentenced to custody after these incidents. There is substantial capacity in the prison and youth justice system.'

In addition, the papers are shaming by naming names. LOTS of names. Well done.

Also, I love this purple rain idea:

In addition to shutting down Twitter and BlackBerry messaging during civil disturbances, the government is suggesting rioters be sprayed with dye....

Other governments have used brightly colored dye to mark and arrest people. The tactic has been used in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, Hungary, Bangladesh, Uganda, South Korea and Indonesia.

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Are there really no good new story lines, for cripe's sake??? Now they're bringing the Munster's back... and making them... edgier... darker. It was a comedy! It's not supposed to be "dark" dammit.

Leave. Well. Enough. Alone.
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Gross-Out Alert:

If there’s a warrant out for your arrest, perhaps you should think twice about popping your pimples in a public place.

That’s what police in Florida said when they arrested Owen Lemire Kato outside a Cape Coral McDonald’s in an incident that would make the Hamburglar blush.

As Mr Kato, 23, reached behind him to pop zits on his back for 10 minutes, customers demanded that he leave the restaurant.

The popping of zits is disgusting, on his back is even grosser, doing it in a public restaurant is appalling.

But the thing that really blows my mind is that he had enough back zits that he could take ten whole minutes to pop them and still not be done. *Shudder*

I don't know about you, but I feel like I need to shower in Lysol now.
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Drive-Bys

It's a trifecta of man vs. train within the past 24 hours:

• One guy on the Pink Line during rush hour (try 'splaining to St. Peter that you met your end on the pink line);
• One guy in San Antonio in the wee hours who traumatized an engineer, but at least didn't screw up rush hour; and,
• A stupid teen who might just get lucky and pull through despite his best efforts to the contrary.

I shudder to think what the totals for man v. train will be here in Chicago by year's end.
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The hippiest, dippiest joint in Chicago appears to be in financial trouble:

The Heartland's financial problems are varied. Some might blame the service or the food. (I like the food.) [I do, too -- especially the fried brown rice.] The bigger problem, James and Hogan say, is the recession. Paying bills with money they didn't have, they accumulated huge overdraft charges. Their bank won't give them credit. Big city license fees are due.

"It's the first time someone could say 'You're not living within your means,'" Hogan said. "It's taken us close to two years to ..."

"Get it," James said.

They get it now. They've made changes they hope will help. And they're hoping that the same trust and instincts that made them shake hands on a far-fetched deal 34 years ago will get them through again.

I hope they do learn the lesson, because that place is a gem. In fact, this song pretty much sums it up:


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Don't blame the mobile phone -- blame the inconsiderate assholes who think their time is more valuable than yours. (And if a friend does it to you more than once, they're not a very good friend.)
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The first in a series of laws designed to completely eradicate smoking and tobacco use in Finland came into effect Friday, including possible prison sentences for selling cigarettes to minors.

Finland is the first country in the world to write into its legislation that it intends not just to reduce smoking but to end all tobacco use through law.

Actually, my argument all along here has been that if it's not illegal to sell them or smoke them, it's pretty hard to say you can smoke them here but you can't smoke them there. Pretty smart, those Finns...
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Seeing "pink testicle" at first glance here, instead of "pink tentacle" means I should think about getting my eyes checked, right? (And not that my Freudian slip is hanging down a mile...)


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What are we heading for here? Oh... maybe this:

Most families who are due to lose their child benefit are worrying about how they'll make ends meet without it.

But for Kelly Marshall, who has five children by four different fathers, the handout has never been about paying for nappies, food and other everyday expenses.

She saved her benefit money to help pay for breast enhancement.

And as many parents envisage tightening their belts after the Tories announced plans to cut the benefit for higher-rate taxpayers, she plans to save more of hers for liposuction and a tummy tuck.

Fasten your seat belts. I predict that attitude will find it's way across "The Pond" soon, if it hasn't done so already.
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