Hunter S. Thompson on The Edge

Lau Tzu on Life

A Glimpse of the Nekkid Truth as America Approaches the Fiscal Cliffs

As politicians on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue perform the strip tease regarding the avoiding Fiscal Cliff, it is worth stepping back to chuckle and simultaneously smirk at what brought us here.

In late November, protesters who could have been typecast out of the Occupy Wall Street sit-ins, albeit better bathed and sans clothes, decided to demonstrate in Speaker John Boehner's office regarding cuts from the sequestration


 

When commenting on the Capitol Hill streaking spectacle, former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) quipped at a Christian Science Monitor luncheon about the difference between being "naked" and "nekkid".  Obviously from the messages on their backs, they were up to something...

A similar case can be made about approaching the fiscal cliffs and budgetary sequestration

Typical of his governing style, President Obama had a hands off approach to budget negotiations when he went on his Hawaiian holiday.  When the President showily returned to the District of Calamity for budget talks, he gathered politicos for a photo op, offered nothing new and dictated how Congress should legislate by demanding an up and down vote, which might not even carry the upper chambers majority caucus.

Speaker Boehner called back House Members on Sunday afternoon in case there was a legislative compromise.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have tried to craft a last minute compromise.  It would not be surprising if the proverbial can gets kicked another month down the road...



So expect lawmakers to realize that they are "nekkid" and find a fig leaf.  The problem is that such a fig leaf of a plan essentially covers nothing and may get everyone banished from the land of the free and the home of the brave.

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com

Susan B Anthony on Theology

Annette Funicello on Life

Charles Schultz on Life

Penn Jillettte on Do Something Disease

Pablo Picasso on Imagination

Blanket Statements About Journalism

How times have changed.  Where you stand is where you sit and it is quite clear where the Mainstream Media rests their posteriors.

h/t: Mitt Fritts

Orson Welles on Character

Benjamin Franklin on Christmas

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A TSA X-MAS

Fun as along with way as we fly to Grandmother's house we go. But what about Santa?

h/t: Gary Markestein
     Reason.tv

Solace on the Day After

When the sun also rises on the day after the supposed end of the world, this mirthless Mayan could use a cup of good cheer.

Charlie Chaplin on Life

Krusty the Clown on Faith

"Winter Festival" Wackiness

For scores of years, there have been a squabble amongst secularists to prevent communities from celebrating the Federal holiday of Christmas on public property.  Religious references have been minimized to a holiday tree, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  School systems have abolished the Christmas vacation in lieu of the "Winter Break".  If these anti-traditional forces had their druthers, perhaps even public mentioning of Christmas would be prohibited and we would simply celebrate the "Winter Festival".

To try to accommodate all beliefs, some municipalities have tried to incorporate symbols of many faith systems during the holiday season.  So it was not uncommon to see a Chanukah menorah, later a Muslim Crescent and in some places displays celebrating the holiday for atheists (sic).  Alas, in Santa Monica, California, their half century tradition of holiday displays became too cumbersome due to political correctness, so it was abolished on public space.  But Santa Monica churches found a loophole  which allows for live displays. So now both Christians and atheist displays are permitted, as long as there is a live person. Time will tell how man convicted atheists will commit to manning their displays. 

Since 'tis the season to be jolly, while embracing politically correct celebrations of the "Winter Festival" (a.k.a. Christmas or the Feast of the Incarnation), it is time for a rousing chorus of "Have a RamaHanaKwanzMas!

Eleanor Roosevelt on Virtue

Gaming the System

Since the principles in the District of Calamity who are responsible for averting the Fiscal Cliff insist on playing games with the economy and America's indebtedness, it is time to respond in kind.

Over the past couple of years, the Lamestream Media magnified memes of class warfare and lionized the Occupy Wall Street activists  while demonizing the top 2% income earners in America.  Hence, it is is appropriate to reflect this rethinking of reality with America's iconic board game-Monopoly.

A piece of Occupyista propaganda pushed their own vision of the Monopoly game board.

Slate made its point about the 47% with a clever parody video.




Either of those options look more promising than the upcoming Monopoly movie.



Perhaps I will have the playing of playing the original paean to capitalism over Christmastide. However, knowledge of the rules does not equal victory when low information players gang up on someone who cares about the game outcome.  Then again, that sounds like the current political games in the District of Calamity.

h/t: Slate V

Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Advice

Robert Frost on Life

The Rush to Snap Judgment

As the national "conversation" stemming from the Sandy Hook tragedy starts, will we rush to snap judgments?

h/t: A.F. Branco

Einstein on Life

Celebrating Bill of Rights Day

 Today is the 221st  anniversary of the adoption of the Bill of Rights. On this date in 1791, the Commonwealth of Virginia was the 12th State to ratify the ten amendments that were then incorporated into our Constitution.

 These are not arcane relics of history. Every day, Americans practice their freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. Americans depend on access and the fairness of the judicial system. Our property rights can be challenged by eminent domain abuse. And ultimately, citizens need to protect their right to bear arms–it’s not about hunting but the ultimate safeguard against the abuse of a tyrannical government.

 Read More at the DCBarroco website.

Ayn Rand on the Constitution

William S. Burroughs on Politics

Jay Leno on Christmas Displays

Righteous Bumper Stickers

It seems only fitting that unions are still trying to drive an Edsel in a 21st Century economy.  If you wonder why they are so one sided and wrong, read Evan Sayet's The KinderGarden of Eden– How the Modern Liberal Thinks And Why He’s Convinced That Ignorance Is Bliss.

h/t: Michael Ramirez

Book Review Excerpt: The KinderGarden of Eden by Evan Sayet

Evan Sayet wrote an extended essay entitled The KinderGarden of Eden– How the Modern Liberal Thinks And Why He’s Convinced That Ignorance Is Bliss(2012).  This serious pensee of political philosophy was written by a stand up comedian originally championed by David Letterman and who cut his teeth in Hollywood by contributing to the successful Arsenio Hall Show and Politically Incorrect.

Despite his comedic credentials, Sayet can be a serious political thinker. Sayet based the book on his speech before the Heritage Foundation in 2007. The late Andrew Breitbart considered  "Regurgitating the Apple: How The Modern Liberal 'Thinks’” to be “[o]ne of the five greatest conservative speeches ever given."



Since then, Sayet’s speech is a viral video which has received over 700,000 hits, which is quite remarkable for a 43 minute talk on political philosophy.

Evan Sayet

Sayet labels himself a 9-13 Republican, as the self described New York Jew was appalled that liberals embraced the concept that America “deserved” to be attacked on 9-11.  This prompted Sayet to recognize that: “[L]iberals- were not only taking the side of evil, but they were often making the most objectively false and evil anti-American arguments in order to do so.”  Sayet concluded that the Modern Liberalisms blueprint for Utopia is to totally regress humanity to Adam and Eve.  Since progressives would shudder at such a non-secular metaphor, they would want everything to be like a five-year-old in a garden paradise–hence The KinderGarden of Eden.  

  READ MORE at DCBarroco.com

Baseball Ballet Between the Beltways

For the third year in a row, the Geico Racing Presidents crashed a performance of the Septime Weber's  and the Washington Ballet's performance of  Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" (1892) at the Warner Theater.


As it was at the end of the Washington National's 2012 season, Teddy was a winning standout.

At a time when the District of Calamity is divided on how to avoid the Fiscal Cliff, it is nice to see how baseball fans, Christmas sentimentalists and lovers of the arts can briefly be brought together in a season of hope and anticipation.

Mick Jagger Stuck in a Moment?

During his recent appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Mick Jagger quipped as the number one thing that he learned after 50 years in Rock and Roll is:

Mick Shrimpton's implosion in Spinal Tap.

 Funny stuff. But it contradicts Mick Shrimpton's wisdom from Spinal Tap: "I used to say 'sex, drugs, and rock and roll.' As long as there's sex and drugs, I can do without rock and roll."  Of course, he supposedly spontaneously combusted in concert, so he had no chance to be part of the rock of ageds.


What a drag it is getting old. Guess it's time for Mother's Little Helper or the ilk. But is there more than element of truth in Mick's admission about getting Satisfaction?

Some rock critics identify those immersed in the Rock and Roll lifestyle as being in arrested development. Does that mean that Mick Jagger is Stuck in the Moment? And U-2 (sic)?





This works out well if you are in the pantheon of Rock legends. But if you are not featured in the motorcade of generosity, how do you afford your rock and roll lifestyle?




During the RNC in Tampa, Representative  Paul Ryan (R-WU 1st) noted in his VP nominee acceptance speech:

 College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life.

Must we all be stuck in the moment, whether it is at the Mom and Pop Pension or depending upon Uncle Sugar?  Well you can't always get what you want--but if you try sometime you just might find that you get what you need. 

John D. Rockefeller on Perseverance

Tax Temptation

It may be sold as the Tree of Life, but that bitter fruit of taxes is actually the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Blaming the tempter won't work either as the public will be made to remember the vow breaker not the insidious instigators.

 Gorging on the fruit without having a disciplined diet (like spending cuts and a Senate approved budget) should get both banished from the garden but that is unlikely in the District of Calamity.

 h/t: Michael Ramirez

Voltaire on Politics

John Lennon on Friends

A Date The Will Live in Infamy

Rescue operations on the U.S.S. West Virginia after the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941

December 7th 1941, a date that will live in infamy.    Those words uttered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his address to Congress have resonated in the 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii.




Americans were shocked out of their inclination to isolationism during the 1930s by what was understood as being a sneak attack by Japanese forces.

Recent scholarship calls into question how much of a surprise the Japanese strike was to the American government.

READ MORE at DCBarroco.com

Gen. George S. Patton on Success

Book Review--APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur

PE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book (2012,  Nononina Press, 314 pages)  by Gary Kawasaki and Shawn Welch is breezy book which details the trials and tribulations of publishing a book.


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Kawasaki’s inspiration for writing APE stems from his difficulty even as an established author to get 500 promotional e-books authorized while working through a traditional publisher and the I-Tunes store.  Friends suggested that Kawasaki investigate the advantages of self-publishing.  Alas, self-publishing is not as easy as just cranking out a manuscript, uploading it to an on-line seller and raking in the profits.

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Kawasaki is an enthusiastic proponent of what he terms artisanal publishing (self-publishing).  Artisanal publishing requires greater involvement by the creator of the book but also allows for more control and greater profit potential (albeit without the traditional publishing “Advance Fee”).  

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READ MORE of this book review at DCBarroco.com

Malcolm Forbes on Prudence

You've Got to Hand It to the Feds

The Food Stamp program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Interior Department,  asks Americans to "Please don't feed the animals".

 The stated reason for this U.S. Government policy is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.

Irony anyone?

As there is drama in the District of Calamity to find paths away from going over the fiscal cliff, President Obama and the Republican leadership both have proposals which increase taxes without firm cuts in federal spending.

Maybe we should not feed the political animals for our own good.