No There There

I'm glad someone else notices the President's peculiar diction. I wonder if he talks to his friends the same way? And what about the heads of state around the world? Ben Stein fearlessly calls the president out on his minstrel show.  My father and his friends used to do this sort of thing in the 40s into the 50s. They didn't know that only certain protected minorities could act or speak in this way.

Why Did It Take So Long?

Justice, even in this vale of tears, can be an exceedingly slow and uncertain process. The sentence for Mr Bates of Downton Abbey came soon after the jury found him guilty. Why can't we do the same?

Surely the judge has heard the same evidence as the jury. Why shouldn't he or she sentence the defendant immediately? Mitigating factors are always brought up during the trial, are they not? So what is the delay for? And why should we commoners have to put up with harassing the poor convicted criminal for 20 years?

And isn't a delay of 20 years a form of "cruel and unusual punishment?" Or so it seems to me. Where have I gone wrong?

A Warning To Phoenix Visitors

I came across this fairly selective review of a place that I was looking forward to visiting. I guess I will take it off my bucket list. I love the title of the blog entry: Mortification—what a great word.

As our enemies become more vicious we must respond in kind. None of that turning the other cheek crap.

From Occam's Razor

I thought I remembered our President opining a few years ago that it would be a good idea if gas prices moved upward significantly. I remembered rightly. See and read Scott Kirwin's excellent blogsite.

"Let Them Eat Condoms" Says Barry Antoinette

Mark Steyn does his usual job as an undocumented alien here. This graph has not been concocted by incredulous conservatives but rather by our betters in Washington DC in what the New York Times calls a "responsible budget."

It looks like we are playing a game of musical chairs where the last one standing must do the politically unpopular and thus suicidal.

What He Said

This is worth reading if you are wondering what were some of the persuasive people and their writing that attracted some of us to the practice of medicine.

Found in the somewhat mis-named blog Scepticemia. (http://www.scepticemia.com)

I must have been freshening my drink when this was broadcast

There Are Such Things As Conservative Teachers In This Complicated World

I wish my children had had teachers like this guy or gal. He or she starts to make the case that the Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark's theory that the sun is what makes our world warm. Check him out.

Harry Hole: Anti-Hero

I read Jo Nesbø's—I have no idea what the"o" with tilted line running through it sounds like or is called; I pronounce it with a long "o"—The Leopard a couple of days ago. Then I read hisI like the attention to local geography and the occasional reference to some outside influences just to orient the reader to time and place.earlier The Snowman. Both are excellent violent Norwegian murder mysteries. The science  is up-to-date, and the characters all seem appropriately dark Scandinavian

My advice is read them in the order they were written because the building suspense is a necessary part of the thrill of reading these gritty police page-turners. And the later Leopard reveals some essential stuff about the Snowman you don't want to know 'til the end.

I like the attention to local geography and the occasional reference to some outside events just to remind the reader that Norway is a place in the real world.

Better than a lot of other similar entries in this genre. The geographic place names remind me of the special emphasis that Ian Fleming used to put on his character's use of well-known brands of shaving lotion and cigarettes and everything else we use in everyday life.

As usual the author gets to give his opinion of a lot of other cultures and the oddities of human nature. Worth reading both but be sure to read them in the right order.

I like the mixture of good and bad in all the main characters, even extending to the police.

Your Will Be Done

Cartoon by William Warren. Not as funny as usual. I guess cartoons don't have to be funny. This "compromise" that the President is offering now makes him sound even sillier than this.