There's Still Hope... Part 2

B-Daddy here. All indications point to a well deserved drubbing for the Republicans in November. Losing a very safe House seat in northern Mississippi does not bode well for the fall. In shades of 1964, the GOP has nominated a small government conservative from Arizona and finds itself branded as the party of war-mongers. Peggy Noonan thinks it's too late for the Republicans to re-brand themselves, but I have to ask, if not now, then when? Even if the Democrats sweep to power in November, it will not be the end of the two party system. Further, they're liberals, they'll over-reach because they just love the power. Republicans need to re-brand themselves now to take advantage of the inevitable over reach. Heck, if they return to the themes of limited government and keeping America safe, they might just win in November.

Keeping in mind that this is basically a conservative country, I have a few suggestions.

1. Go after earmarks and pork. The farm bill was a missed opportunity in this regard for the GOP members of Congress. But John McCain passionately argued against it, and Obama voted for it. McCain staffers should be poring over the bill for the most egregious lard in this travesty to embarass Obama with.

2. Hammer away at Obama's naivety with respect to meeting with the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar al-Assad, Hugo Chávez, and Kim Jong Il. Charles Krauthammer details the idiocy of Obama's position on direct negotiations.

3. The Democrats are going to reward their union supporters with so called "card check" method of organizing, supplanting secret ballots. This is as un-American, and fascistic proposal as I have heard from liberals in a long time. The linked video makes the key points.

4. Obama has no way to pay for his health care plans except by massively raising taxes and jailing patients and doctors who don't cooperate with the new collective medicine scheme. When the wheels come off this plan, the Republicans need to be ready with some free-market alternatives. The time to present those plans is during this campaign.

This is just a start, BwD welcomes your further suggestions.

There's still Hope

The economy grew at a higher than expected rate as Americans said no to imports and exports climbed to a record. Story here.

The Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, grew at a rate of 0.9% which is above the 0.6% estimate of the Commerce Department.

“The new GDP statistics did not meet what analysts consider one definition of a recession – two straight quarters of a shrinking GDP. But that didn't happen in the last recession (in 2001), either.”

Then why was it called a recession?

Anyway, not everyone is giving up on this. Between falling home prices and rising fuel prices there are still quite a few people that see a silver lining as reflected in Harvard economist, Jeffrey Frankel’s assessment, “I wouldn’t rule out going into a recession” later in the year.

Spelling Bee title goes to yet another kid whose name we wouldn’t be able to spell.

Congratulations to Sameer Mishra of West Lafayette, Indiana for nailing “guerdon” to take home the Scripps National Spelling Bee trophy, yesterday. Props also to Justin Song of Carmel Valley Middle School right up I-5 who finished tied for 8th and was eliminated for missing on “satyagraha”, the word that describes Ghandi’s philosophy of non-violent resistance.

The Sklar Brother of Cheap Seats were big fans of the ‘Bee as witnessed in this compilation of highlights from the '97 Spelling Bee.



UPDATE #1: The champ, Samir Mishra, fights off a curve ball much to his own relief.



Thanks to Dar' for passing this along

Radio KBwD is on the Air

We stumbled upon these guys quite by accident. About 6 or 7 years ago, we were rummaging around the discount CD bin at Sam’s Club and came across an alternative-country compilation album, alt.country: exposed roots. It was a fine album and contained a cut, a woeful, drunken Appalachian wail, "I like Drinking" by our featured artist. We’ve been lucky enough to see them 3 or 4 times live and their blend of country, bluegrass, Cajun, rock and yes… hip-hop is always a treat. We pretty much consider them the best band you’ve never heard of.

Ladies and Gentlemen, from Austin Texas, The Gourds performing "El Paso" … (not that El Paso).

Old Guys Rule

Must be a phase of the moon or some type of planetary alignment because we sure can’t explain the smackdowns being handed out by some of our seasoned citizens to their unsuspecting callow subjects.

While McCain has been boxing Obama about the ears with his Iraqi road trip offer, Bob Dole beats former White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan like a rented mule. McClellan’s tell-all book which shows the Bush Administration in a less-than-flattering light illicited this response from Dole in an email to McClellan:

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits and, spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

"…because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high-profile job."

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," "You’re a hot ticket now, but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"
wow….

Now if McClellan was thinking he was going to get any liberal love he may be in for a surprise. We’ve been trying to keep up with the responses and quite a bit of it is along the lines of “A little too late” or “Now you tell us – thanks for nothing”.

Whatever the ultimate outcome of all this is, we've taken to heart a valuable lesson: Mess around with these old dudes at your own peril.

H/T: Weasel Zippers

Not Yet Ready for Prime Time

Obama has been taken to the woodshed by the old man. At first, Obama said he would not make a joint trip to Iraq with McCain after the same was offered by the Senator as Obama claimed he did not want to “be involved in a political stunt.” But now he says he may be willing to make that flight solo, sans McCain.

So let’s get this straight: Making a solo trip after rejecting a joint trip is any less of a political stunt? And to call a trip to Iraq, joint or otherwise, to visit the troops and to see the progress that has been made there a “political stunt” is the epitome of tone-deaf campaigning not to mention downright disrespectful to the people who he may be commanding some day.

Besides, wasn’t Obama supposed to be an agent of change… of unity…? Would not then an offer by Mr. Bipartisanship, himself, be a perfect way to display the chops he has all of us panting after once he takes office?

Obama, by how poorly he played this, is now compelled to make a trip to Iraq and after repeating the Democratic Party mantra of the “failures” of the Bush Administration policy in Iraq during speeches during the Oregon primaries and his will-he-or-won’t-he-“talk” with the various loons in the Middle East foreign policy, it will make for an interesting trip, indeed.

McCain had the brush but it was Obama who provided the water colors to have himself painted into a corner.

Empty suit, Empty suit….. We see us an Empty suit!

The Beers with Demo Election Guide

Beers with Demo is proud to endorse Ms. April Boling for 7th District City Council here in America’s Finest City. April is a CPA and owns a small but successful accounting firm here in San Diego. We got a chance to meet here last Saturday and she seemed a very pleasant, down-to-earth and earnest person.

As you may know, San Diego has put itself in a terrible bind with its underfunded pensions to the public employee unions and with her opponent, Marti Emerald, garnering the support of those very unions, we are very skeptical that Emerald will do anything to buck the current system of the unions calling the shots down at city hall.

April is a very strong supporter of Prop. 13 and against raising taxes which is just city hall’s way of passing responsibility for their ineptness and corruption on to the citizens who didn’t want or ask for this unholy mess.

And while Emerald believes that the illegal immigration issue is something for the Feds to deal with (not an entirely unreasonable stance, by the way), April is committed to ending the city’s de facto “sanctuary city” status. (It should not be the primary responsibility of municipalities to enforce federal law but neither should there be a tacit or silent recognition of illegal immigration by this city while hiding behind the its-not-our-job façade).

The only two propositions on the ballot that we really care about are the two eminent domain ones… 98 and 99.

Yes on 98

No on 99

Prop. 98 sets a higher bar for eminent domain than does 99. 98 allows you to challenge your case in court where the final decision is taken out of the hands of the very public agency trying seize your property. There are simply too many loopholes and exceptions for taking of private property in 99. In fact, the independent legislative analysis says that a Yes vote on 99 means, “In a limited number of cases, government would no longer have the authority to take a single-family home." Emphasis on limited. Its no surprise 99 is backed heavily by the developers.

Unfortunately, 98 is getting beat by 99 in the polls in large part because of false information being spread regarding rent control. The 99ers want you to believe that rent control would be eliminated immediately if 98 passes. This is a lie. Landlords will not be able to raise the rent on existing tenants. Once the tenant leaves, the landlord will be able to raise the rent to market rates on the next tenant but will be restricted by existing rent control laws from raising them further while that tenant resides there.

We would like to see them eliminated altogether but believe 98 is an entirely reasonable step in the right direction. Unfortunately, people don’t bother to read the actual ballot language.

Programming Alert

Bridging the gap between the Memorial Day orgy of televised sports and the start of the NBA Finals is the Scripps National Spelling Bee which will air beginning tomorrow on ESPN. Yes, ESPN.

Look, if they are going to televise Poker and professional bowling then why not a spelling bee where the dysfunctionality resulting from a 13-year old moving in with their spelling coach rivals that of women's gymnastics. Besides, spelling is apparently not a point of emphasis with some people as it is with 'Bee participants.





Many thanks to our friend Dar' for passing along this photo from the parking garage of the Mission Valley Mall.

Olberman.....zzzzzzzzz.....

Over the holidays, we did a post on the best/worst Christmas/Xmas/Holiday ads from the Presidential candidates. It was one of our favorite posts because it was simply just a lot of fun. We chided some candidates and praised others for their efforts but the use of a single "nickname" for John Edwards caused a couple of friends to respond via email saying they stopped reading the post right then and there because this upcoming election was too important to resort to “snarkiness”.

We were simultaneously bemused and perplexed. We thought it was all in good fun and besides, we hardly thought, “Breckie”, “Silky”, “the Breck Girl” “Opie”, “Lil’ Johnnie”, “He whose ass is firmly planted in one America”…. or whatever it was we called him was particularly invective considering some of the tags that have been hung on members of the armed forces, members of the Bush Administration and members of and pundits representing our current default party of (R)egristration.

Which brings us to the guy on the video below who has been at the fore of this tagging. Apparently, Rachel Ray while shilling for Dunkin’ Donuts was wearing a scarf that was, to some, a little to close in resemblance to the ‘do-rag worn by Yasser Arafat. Threats of boycotting Dunkin’ Donuts got the ad pulled and incurred the wrath of Keith Olberman. Was the boycott threat an overreaction? We haven’t dug too deeply into it because we really don’t have the time or concern but on the surface it did seem like an overreaction but nothing compared to what is seen nightly on Olberman’s Countdown program.

(If little Red riding Lasso isn't working please click, here.)



If he wants to call Republicans “the real terrorists” or liken them to “jihadists” or Michelle Malkin a “fascist”, that’s certainly his right and in fact, we welcome it because the continued usage of these terms further discredits Olby as a serious media type.

There’s a reason why Saturday Night Live does not do parody sketches of Keith Olberman, or if they do no one posts them on YouTube. When one thinks of invectives, there is probably nothing worse in the entertainme…. news industry that one can be tagged than “redundant”.

Picture is of the Fonz Jumping the Shark

H/T: Hot Air

Supreme Overreach

A Field Poll revealed that for the first time in the history of the state, a majority of Californians approve of allowing homosexuals to marry members of their own sex… who else would they marry? By a 51 to 42 margin, Californians are cool with the concept and as the graph below shows, the gap had been closing steadily since the mid-80s all of which bolsters our contention that the California State Supreme Court overstepped its jurisdiction.

Here’s the money paragraph from the Court’s majority opinion: “As past cases establish, the substantive right of two adults who share a loving relationship to join together to establish an officially recognized family of their own… constitutes a vitally important attribute of the fundamental interest in liberty and personal autonomy that the California Constitution secures to all persons for the benefit of both the individual and society.”

We searched high and low in the California Constitution for a substantive right to establish an officially recognized family and found nothing of the sort. And if you’re going the connect-the-dots route of linking gay marriage to the right of liberty and personal autonomy, we find that free ice cream every night, free (disease-free) love and a free Humvee setting in our driveway is a substantive right by virtue of our constitutionally protected liberty and autonomy.

We tried to slog through the rest of the opinion but couldn’t because, well… it was written by lawyers. We take that back - it was worse. It was written by lawyers turned family counselors… “…retaining the traditional definition of marriage and affording same-sex couples only a separate and differently named family relationship will, as a realistic matter, impose appreciable harm on same-sex couples and their children, because denying such couples access to the familiar and highly favored designation of marriage is likely to cast doubt on whether the official family relationship of same-sex couples enjoys dignity equal to that of opposite-sex couples."




Pure conjecture. Chief Justice Ronald M. George offers no evidence to support what is solely his own subjective feeling in the manner.

Look, this is all about a definition. Its about a definition of a term the voters felt one way about for many years and do not appear to do so any longer. As we’ve said, we’re not for same-sex marriages but we’re far more opposed to judges determining the scope of definitions when contrary to public opinion especially when its based on such flimsy logic.

We would have zero problem if the same language from Prop. 22 were put on the ballot in November and the people of California said yes to gay marriage. We wouldn’t like it. We would still have our narrow, traditional concept of marriage but similar to our hang-up with the abortion debate as it relates to Roe v. Wade, we would be satisfied that at least the laws under which we live were a result of the democratic process and not judges fashioning rights out of thin air.

With one notable exception...

A friend at work passed along this. It’s a list of the 50 worst album covers of all-time. And though we won’t quibble too much with the selections, we’re curious how ol’ Porter got left off the list. What’s with the wheels….? What is he looking at….? Why is he sweating so profusely…? And why do we appear to be on the ground looking up at him?

We should probably go now.






(picture courtesy Avocado Memories)

The City of San Diego plays politics with National Security

Blackwater Worldwide, a private security firm has asked a federal judge to order the city of San Diego to issue the final certificate needed for that firm to open up their training facility in Otay Mesa. If they are unable to do so by this Monday then Blackwater will be in violation of their contract with the Navy. Story here.

The training facility, including the firing range is entirely indoors and will be used to train sailors and Marines in marksmanship, assembly and disassembly of weapons, new weapons systems and in arrest and apprehension techniques. Ostensibly, these sailors and Marines would mostly benefit the physical security forces of U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command (civilian operated Navy supply ships and notoriously bad aims) vessels against terrorist and small-scale attacks on the same. Think USS Cole.

But with elections coming up, its obvious that Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Attorney Mike Aguirre are caving to the same pressure that denied Blackwater a proposed training facility in East County near Potrero. Unmentioned in article is the city councilman for the district in which the facility resides, Ben Hueso. Hueso has been a vocal critic of Bush the War in Iraq and not coincidentally, Blackwater.

This is a local issue with over-the-horizon implications. Point being, Blackwater is employed almost exclusively by veterans and former members of the military and the instructors who will be doing the training all live in the San Diego area. The sailors and Marines they will be training and the assets and men and women at sea and abroad they will be protecting are all San Diego-based.

For these agitators and obstructionists who wish to portray Blackwater as a shadowy para-military arm of the Bush junta and who will allow their distaste for this Administration and our presence in Iraq to trump the safety of their own neighbors is unconscionable.

Up to this point, Blackwater has jumped through every administrative, bureaucratic and environmental hoop for the city so when they cry foul and claim they are being held hostage by petty, agenda-driven politics, they are exactly right.

But Blackwater Worldwide is not entirely blameless. Let’s face it, were this any other security firm than Blackwater or perhaps Blackwater did not have as ominous a name, this would be a non-issue. So in the spirit of free advice, may we make a suggestion that instead of their current name, it becomes something more non-threatening, fuzzy and in keeping with spirit of peaceful dialog and conflict resolution with the bad guys….

We propose…….





…… Barney Worldwide

She's making our job way too easy.

Thanks to Arianna Huffington and NARAL, we're closer and closer to gettin' this thing done. But first, we’re beginning to wonder if she can make it through an entire article without dropping a pop culture reference. She’s treading into that uncomfortable area where older people in an attempt to appear relevant start quoting Cartman and hip-hop lyrics. Don’t let this happen to you. Its embarrassing and everyone can see through the shameless pandering to youth.

Anyway, Ari’s bent because McCain received a “0” score from NARAL while Obama maxed out at 100… for the 3rd straight year. Yaaaaaayyyy……

Obama on limited government and potential voters:

"A woman's ability to decide how many children to have and when, without interference from the government, is one of the most fundamental rights we possess. It is not just an issue of choice, but equality and opportunity for all women." Well, not all women, eh Barack?

And with respect to his two daughters: if they were ever to “make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.” Can’t say we’ve heard that particular verb tossed around when talking about a pregnancy. Note to self: Call Mom just to make sure.

We’ll keep saying this for as long as we have to but reasonable people can disagree over Roe v. Wade or abortion in general but to chalk up 3 straight perfect seasons in the eyes of a group that is wholey unwilling to accept in any small degree and will fight savagely any sensible restrictions on abortion, such as, late-term abortions or parental notification, leaves us cold. Sorry. Can’t say we’d be real stoked to have that person representing this country in the Oval Office

Good thing the Ponies don't run on fuel

Its never ever a good thing to see carnies and tipping points being mentioned in the same article together. In this case, though, its nothing catastrophic – only the rising price of fuel finally starting to cause a noticeable drag on businesses like airlines, shipping companies and carnival operators. Actually, this term, “tipping point” is one which has seemed to sprout-up in print just in the last two weeks. Article points out that most economists are disbelieving of tipping points as economies react in a more gradual fashion to a variety of factors than the term would suggest.

We’re not sure what our tipping point is with respect to gas prices and driving behavior. Anecdotally speaking though, we will note that this past week filling up the tank on the truck crossed the $60 threshold for the first time and not coincidentally illicited our first verbal “Holy Smokes”… or words to that effect.

Bush endorses Obama

McCain would be wise to run a campaign that portrays an Obama presidency as Bush's 3rd term... it will remain to be seen if Obama can successfully distance himself enough from Bush to win in November. Click here for more.

O Glorious Day.

A winter-like storm had blown through the region just a few days before leaving cool, brisk and breezy conditions in its wake… perfect for getting out for a drive or a hike. Since hiking was like so last week, we hopped in the truck and headed up to the Mt. Soledad War Memorial to hang out, take some pictures and just relax… should be pretty quiet up there… nothing going on – its Memorial Day weekend – everybody’s out of town. Nothing happening except the Memorial Day ceremony. Please enjoy the pictures of the monument and people that were taken before the ceremony started. (Click on the photos to enlarge).




The entrance to the Memorial which was closed to thru-traffic.














....Because any event worth going to is worth tail-gating at. These are our people!





























A look at the Memorial from the lower parking lot.

































It remains unfathomable to us that there are people out there whose existence has been consumed with destroying this Memorial.

































Jerry Coleman (on left): Marine Aviator in both WW II and Korea, former Yankee player and current San Diego Padre radio broadcaster and all around great guy and gentleman. Now that's a life lived.














Members of the Buffalo Soldiers















I looked for an 82nd Airborne banner but couldn't find one, 'Dawg. Sorry.















Gentlemen here are from the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association. There are 3200 plaque locations at the monument, 2500 of which have been filled.


































And what better way to end the day than with some vino, a few ice cold Sierra Nevadas and a real-life American hero. Worried that the war would be over before he and his buddies from western PA got over there to take care of business, Bob Callahan enlisted in 1943 at the age of 18 and saw action in both Italy and France as part of the 3rd Infantry Division. Bob is a two-time Purple Heart recipient and this post is dedicated to him. God Bless you, Bob and thank you for your service and devotion to this country.

We're gonna let Ray bring it home this evening. Any objections...? Didn't think so.

Remember

Foxfier has an outstanding post on a Memorial Day tradition of which we were totally unaware. As if it needs to be said, please take some time out today to remember those who have made this radical experiment in democracy possible. And though the phrase wasn't invented for this occaison, we still think that all of us here are merely "standing on the shoulders of giants."

It Just Doesn't Matter... or Does It?

J-Red over at East Coast Bias gets to the bottom of the Spy-gate and the steroid scandal investigations and explains why they ARE that important.

"Pick up the phone... Jesus is speaking, Jesus!"

“Jesus left there and went to the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet, and he healed them.”
Matthew 15:29

Add Wesleyan College to the list of places at which Jesus has appeared. Jesus, filling in for Ted Kennedy who has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, urged the graduates in his commencement address yesterday to think beyond themselves:

"There's no community service requirement in the outside world, no one forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should."

Apostates are not held in high esteem at this small Methodist liberal arts college in Connecticut.

I don't know of anybody who is an out-of-the-closet Hillary supporter," said William Franklyn, a 21-year-old music and government student, referring to Obama's rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Franklyn said students who back the presumed Republican nominee, John McCain, "can get jumped for that."

Students say the school has a small, but active, Republican club.

Apparently, not active (or stupid) enough to be interviewed for this story.

Full story here.

National Treasures

Here’s Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing the national anthem at the Staples Center Friday night before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.



That got us to thinking of great national anthem performances of which everybody has their favorite. We think a lot of people will never forget Whitney Houston’s amazing turn at the Super Bowl back in 1991 between the Giants and the Bills as this nation was about to go to war to free Kuwait from Sadaam’s occupying Iraqi forces. Our choice, though, would be Marvin Gaye singing the anthem at the 1983 All-Star game at the Forum in Los Angeles. It was to be one of Gaye’s last public appearances as he was fatally shot by his father just a little over a year later.



The NBA, at first, tried to distance itself from the unconventional arrangement but later, as time passed, saw the brilliance (or dollar signs) and had included the performance in their NBA 50th anniversary celebration DVD.

These are a few of our favorite peeves...

....Line-cutters, cars driving down the emergency lane or shoulder in heavy traffic and people like the one pictured. Our friend, Kells, passed along this public service site (strong language warning…. actually, just one word that is in the title of the site that is used repeatedly) that is devoted to the documenting, notification and education of people who are either just clueless or just a little bit better than the rest of us. We really, really love these people.

The Week in Review

Thanks to Foxfier we finally got one of those site counters to work to our satisfaction, and while KT was very helpful in his suggestions, we found statcounter to be a bit more user-friendly so that is what we are going with for the time being. Thanks to both of you. By the way, our running count, since installing statcounter last Saturday, is at the bottom of the right hand margin.

Obviously, our sample pool is very small but the statistics would seem to indicate that we get most of our traffic on the weekends and particularly on Sunday. With that in mind, we want to try something new… call it a weekly wrap-up of a handful of posts that provoked a round of comments or received a higher degree of “hits” as revealed by statcounter or ones that we enjoyed and wanted to trot back out in case you missed it the first time around…..

A highly informative,creative and original artwork display at Balboa Park.

A shining example of cross-border pollution prevention and clean-up.

If John McCain played sax, he’d have this thing wrapped up… he’ll have to settle for this, though.

The House gets completely out of the box… and their skulls with their version of alternative energy.

And our weekly KBwD feature.

What's in a Phrase?

He’s not revealing too many details but McCain is back in the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” rodeo again. And because he’s not in a revealing mood, we are left only to divine his intent when he says this must be a priority of the next President. He mentions his previous efforts with Ted Kennedy (bad) but follows up with “I got the message” on border enforcement (good). So at this point, consider us taking up residence in Missouri: Show Us!

We would suggest scrapping this term altogether as many of us see only “amnesty” as it related to last summer’s Rube Goldberg Amnesty Bill goat-rope. Of course, the simple-minded nativist in us would suggest wordy, though focus group-tested phrases like, “Enforcing the laws that are on the books” or “Its called the ‘Temporary Worker Visa Program’: Use It”.

That does not have, however, the sex-appeal of using the words “reform” and “comprehensive” which connotes not screwing up merely one or two things but rather a willingness to cluster-bomb a variety of concepts like “sovereignty”, “rule of law”, “justice”, “right and wrong”, etc… minor affairs all, we can be assured.

Senator McCain needs to strive for a bit more clarity in this matter. Stay tuned.

Commies.... I Hate Commies.

We haven’t yet been able to see the 4th installment of the Indiana Jones series yet but it appears the movie has been an annoyance to some folks we haven’t heard from in a while. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” has really got under the skin of some old Russian Communist Party hacks who have condemned the film.

"What galls is how together with America we defeated Hitler, and how we sympathized when Bin Laden hit them. But they go ahead and scare kids with Communists. These people have no shame," said Viktor Perov, a Communist Party member in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg.

Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett (are) second-rate actors, serving as the running dogs of the CIA. We need to deprive these people of the right of entering the country," said another party member, Andrei Gindos

Heavens, No!!!

Our movie-goers are teenagers who are completely unaware of what happened in 1957," St Peterburg Communist Party chief Sergei Malinkovich told Reuters
"They will go to the cinema and will be sure that in 1957 we made trouble for the United States and almost started a nuclear war."

True enough… that trouble came 5 years later.

(Full story here. Thanks to ‘Dawg for passing it along).

That these criticisms are of a fictional movie and come from a collective lot that should’ve been hung, drawn and quartered for their treatment of their own people… we’re not quite sure what to make of all of it. We thought everything was settled and we could look back on this with some humor, fun and nostalgia by which all the previous Indy movies were informed... We won – they lost – its cool. But if they want to revisit the Cold War all over again, fine by us. We’ll don our t-shirt, march down to the cinema this Memorial Day weekend and kick their asses one more time (cinematically speaking, of course).

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, thus far. Stay warm.

Rise Above

One thing we’ve learned over the years watching NBA hoops is that you never throw dirt on the champion before there are 4 notches in their loss column and this applies double to the San Antonio Spurs. Yeah, that 30 point romp last night was fun but man, call us paranoid but we can’t help but think the San Antonio Spurs got the Lakers right where they want them.

This is their gig… this is what they do. They buck the odds, they defy conventional wisdom. It’s a statistical reality that a team that goes down 0-2 in a seven game series wins that series only about 7% of the time but those seemingly insurmountable odds did not keep the Spurs from doing just that in their last series against the Hornets including a Game 7 win on the Hornets’ home floor.

Of course, these Lakers are different. They have been playing the best basketball of any team in the league now for the past 2 months and they certainly seem to be peaking at the right time. Also, they have shown a cold-blooded killer instinct that appeared to be lacking even earlier in these playoffs.

We go back to last Friday night when a more immature team lacking that fire in the belly could’ve mailed in that Game 6 in hostile territory knowing they had Game 7 at home in their back pocket. Instead, they went out and beat the pants off the Utah Jazz and aside from taking the first 2-1/2 quarters off in this series to knock off the rust from a 4 day lay-off, they have outscored the Spurs by 57 points over the last 5-1/2 quarters. They certainly aren’t playing like they want this thing to go 6 or 7 games.

Two soundbytes we heard that made us ponder. After the Game 1 on Wednesday, Kobe was asked at the press conference why he waited so long to assert himself offensively (the appalling double standard in this line of questioning may be addressed later). Kobe kind of shrugged his shoulders and said he was just checking out the flow of the game and then stated a plain matter-of-fact that he could “go off any time I want”… and he’s exactly right.

Kobe’s playing at a different level right now from everybody else in the league – he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder and like Wilt Chamberlain once leading the league in assists just to silence the he-doesn’t-make-his-teammates-better critics, Kobe is doing pretty much whatever he wants right now and really is looking and playing like you-know-who.

Also, Lamar is talking about “perfection”. Lamar, after last night’s game, sounded like he was reading up on some John Wooden, saying that though the Lakers were playing very well right now, their goal was to “play the perfect game”. When you hear a guy like Odom, who has been one of the most frustrating and enigmatic on-court players in the league, start talking like this, its as if a light has come on or that something has finally clicked to where he is for the first time in his career in a comfort zone where he can maximize all that amazing physical potential.

Again, nothing has yet been decided but to paraphrase Tiger Woods… the Lakers are defending well, they’re shooting well, they’re rebounding well…. we like their chances.

P.S. Trevor Ariza got some garbage-time minutes for the 1st time since January as he was out with a broken bone in his foot. Its probably too soon off his injury and too late in the season to expect any significant minutes from him but his long athletic 6-8 frame allows him to guard 4 positions, rebound and get out on the break. We look forward to seeing more of him next year. Welcome back, Trev!

The Democratic National Convention: Sucking the fun out of life since 2008

…. Because nothing says you don’t give a hoot about recapturing the Solid South like a ban on fried food.

We get a kick out of all the aged hippies that brought drugs, free love and all other manner of license to the big tent of the Democratic Party back in the day now seeing it transformed (much by their very own doing) into that of a bunch of nags, scolds and yes… fear mongers.

H/T: Drudge

Radio KBwD is on the Air.

We promised we’d share some music from our visit to Balboa Park this past Sunday.

Its safe to say the following act is probably at the forefront of the standing harp, mandolin and upright bass power trio scene. We discovered them during our stroll down “Obligation Row” and from the looks of the video, that is where they do quite a bit of their work. But not for long as it appears these kids are headed out on the road for their “We Believe in You!” ’08 Summer Tour.

Ladies and Gentlemen….. straight out of Coronado, it’s The Wrong Trousers performing the Buggles' “Video killed the radio star”.

Obscene...?

Big Oil – Big Government update:

… and introducing Shell Oil’s new CEO… Maxine Waters.

Firmly reasserting itself atop the dung heap of shameless pandering and completely insane ideas, the House jumped into the fray with some suggestions of their own. Head Madam Maxine Waters (D-CA) felt that if privately owned and operated Big Oil could not bring down the price of oil perhaps government could.

Link: sevenload.com

If video fails to launch go here. If that fails, here is the gist: Ol’ SMaxine wants to sociali………………………………… wants the government to take over oil production.

You know, it’s a sad, sad day in American politics when a Leftist like Waters is unable to even articulate the term “nationalize” in its proper context. It makes one wonder just what the hell is going on with our public education system where the language and terminology of socialist policy is not being properly taught.

Update #1: Mongo reminded us in the comments of something we saw but forgot to point out. At the end of Waters' finger-wagging, check out the expression on the gentleman and especially that of the lady to Waters' right. She has this sort of endeared expression that is reserved for batty old aunts... as in, "poor old aunt Maxine... she really has been dealing well with her dementia but sometimes, well sometimes she just kind of loses it and says the wackiest things, bless her little heart."

H/T: Hot Air

Elvis: Branching out in directions you may not have been aware

We’re all biased by our own personal experiences so you can understand that while we might consider the 70s the Golden Age of Game Shows, it was only because that was the only time we ever watched them while staying home sick from school.

The Price is Right, Hollywood Squares, Match Game, Family Feud… great shows all but also some great theme music.

We were having this conversation with our little bro and we opined that the Family Feud theme was written for Elvis….. Vegas Elvis. Seriously. Listen to the banjo in the opening and then the horn section belting out that full sonic broadside and tell us you can’t picture the Rotund One in the white jumpsuit, knees bent in a half-crouch, microphone extended straight-out in one arm while the other is making a slow windmill motion….? Tell us!

Enjoy!

Move along.... Nothing (new) to see here.

This past Sunday, we headed out to Balboa Park to take in some the sights and sounds on what was an unseasonably warm spring afternoon. We had a great time and listened to some really cool music, some of which we’ll share later on. Since “Obligation Row” drained our pocketbook (small bands, street musicians, Alex’s Lemonade Stand and China earthquake relief… you gotta give a little, dontcha?) we were looking for some cheap/free education.

Well, we achieved half our goal and also experienced a first at the Park’s Centro Cultural de la Raza. Our visit to this place marked the first time in our ever-lengthening stay on this planet where we visited a museum/gallery/cultural display where we did not learn one single solitary new piece of information or pause to reflect upon one item.

The only thing happening at the Center was a display of artwork some of which you’ll see below and in what is perhaps as egregious a sin as being un-educational, the artwork displayed lacked creativity and any hint of originality. The place reeked of the same, tired refrain of resentment, thinly veiled racism and entitlement that has been the hallmark of the border “activist” set for many years now. (Click on pictures to enlarge)

This is what greeted you as you walked into the art exhibit. Easy for them to say.













Their Manifesto.
















This one was titled “America the Beautiful” (we think). We’d have loved to tell you something about the artist whose biography was just off to the right…. but it was in Spanish.










....or was it this one. We forget.














A Warholian attempt to link lung cancer to Prop. 187….?
















Ah yes… The obligatory "Pete Wilson is a Nazi" artwork. Don’t open your La Raza gallery without it.












and finally… drum roll please…. Its the Big Cheese. The Big Tuna. The Guiding Light. The penultimate figure that informs and guides these people through the darkness giving them comfort and aid in their time of need. The Icon. Ladies and Gentlemen, won’t you open up your heart and let him. Let him in so that he can wash away the sin of your greed, jealousy, hatred and skin color. Let him in.

Let in the Coup de Cliché’…

Let in….

Che Christo!










As we were saying. Not one thing. Not one thing new.

Big Oil in the Parliament of Whores

The Senate, unwilling to let the House continue their unprecedented run of unhinged, irrational and childish behavior unaccompanied, hauled before them the leaders of Big Oil and strapped them to the whipping post for a public flogging on Capitol Hill, yesterday.

In a regrettable affront to 3rd graders everywhere, we imagine the leaders of Big Oil trying to explain global market dynamics as it relates to oil, would be like talking to a roomful of schoolchildren who haven’t yet been put down for their nap.

Typical of the exchanges between the petrol evil-doers and Congress:

Big Oil…

Lee R. Raymond, Exxon's chairman and chief executive, said that the industry's profits, measured as a share of its revenue, were no greater than those in other industries. We are in line with the average of all U.S. industry," Mr. Raymond said. "Our numbers are huge because the scale of our industry is huge. How are these earnings used? We invest to run our global operations, to develop future supply, to advance energy-producing and -saving technologies, and to meet our obligations to millions of our shareholders."

And the Senate…

“None of us knows much about pricing…” Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota.

Of course, this harangue-op will do absolutely nothing to lower the price of oil nor will it do anything to bring more of the world’s currently most economically feasible energy commodity to market. It won’t… we promise.

Full story here.


Some of the planet's perturbed, scaring children and crinkling noses at the hearings yesterday.

Joe Baca wants you to understand: Its a Race thing.

Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA) pens an article titled "A Farm Bill for All Americans" and to bolster the title's contention, he spends the entirety of the piece praising the Farm Bill for how much it will benefit Latinos. Read here.

On a Dead Sprint from the Parking Lot, A Hearty Welcome Aboard!

Blogging was a little light today as we were helping a friend check out some real estate and we had our rec league hoops game later on downtown… which also meant we missed that incredible Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in which the Lakers came from down 20 in the 4th to win 89-85 over the flopping, whining San Antonio Spurs. We listened to as much of the 3rd quarter as we could on the radio in the parking lot of the gym before running inside right before tip-off.

But hey, enough about us… we’ve got a very special announcement to make. Mr. Styles of Tom Brady is my Hero and his lovely bride are the proud parents of their first boy and second child. Baby “Lo-Do” was brought into this world at 3:30 A.M. this morning, checking in at 7lbs.- 12oz. Both mother and child are doing fine. The fact that Mr. Styles, himself was the winner of the blind draw baby pool has caused us no small degree of consternation and suspicion but we’re not going to let our pettiness mar what is otherwise a joyous occasion for the extended BwD family. Congrats Dick and Joanne.

We’ll get back after it tomorrow where we think we will be taking a look at some rather dunderheaded Obama campaign strategy and possibly tease our trip to Balboa Park that we made on Sunday.