POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

O’Coileain Budget Released

This year, we are tightening the belt. Making some tough choices. You will see that our budget considers all aspects of our spending and income. Nothing is off the table.

We will earn 100% of all income.

We will only spend 50% more than we take in. This is a huge reduction from our overage last year - and represents our obvious willingness to work towards reducing our deficit.

We will cut 15% from our Starbuck's budget, 10% from our Magazine Subscription budget. Likewise, I will begin rolling my own cigarettes again. This will account for some couple hundred dollars in savings alone.

We will also invest in the future prosperity of our family through investing 2% of our budget after expenses into investments which will yield a guaranteed 4% (not counting inflation).

Investing at this rate shows we are serious about the future. The dollars we invest will cost us 29% to borrow. But we must continue to invest. It would be irresponsible not to.

We look forward to working with the government on this, as we will have to defer all tax burdens until the year 2029. We are confident the IRS will realize we are doing what we can to aggressively do things now, so as we will be in a position to pay the tax debts at some point in the future.

Here's to thanking them in advance for their understanding.

UPDATE

Middle child has agreed (tentatively) to a freeze in discretionary Lego spending. As in, he has agreed to us not spending more than we spent last year on Legos. Two eldest girls have agreed to peg their cell phone budget to cell phone bill. Not one cent more.

UPDATE x2

We will continue giving to all charitable causes with a slight adjustment for inflation. This includes all monies slated for the Underwater Basket Weaver's International fund, as well as the Great Snail Migration Marathon of Saipan. It would be heartless and counter-productive to pull any funding from them.

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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An Update On Web Searches Landing Here

I don't have to mention that articles mentioning women and their boobs receive hits long after they're first posted, so it's no surprise that Erin Barry continues to get hits. Oddly enough, my post on Betty Boop being raaaaacist has been getting a lot of search hits from Europe recently, for reasons that are obscure to me.

Morena Baccarin, Megyn Kelly, Anna Faris . . . I can understand the searches for all these women. Giada de Laurentiis cleavage is understandable, even if she could use shoulders. Anne Hathaway boobs, Michele Rodriguez, Christina Hendricks (or Hendrix) all kosher. Hot chicks in bikinis doesn't faze me. Nor does Emily Bronte tits. Honestly, how to relax before masturbation doesn't bother me, either.

Maybe, stop doing it in public?

Search away, people. You won't find photos of Michelle Malkin nude here or anywhere else on the intarwebs, I'm thinking. Lots of people seem to want to do oppo research on Wisconsin's Scott Walker. However, whoever the person is who landed here from Albany, OR looking for slut with mutilated tits picture, I think you ought to seek psychological counseling. Men dared to suck boobs images, you're just weird.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Italians Offended by Berlusconi

As JWF points out, it's not that they're bluenoses, or anything.

Blame TV? Yadda yadda.

No, Berlusconi has offended the famously aesthetic Italians by forcing them to visualize his satyr-like corpulence in bed with hot young women, over and over again.

There's simply not enough brain bleach for that.

Somewhat related: Incredibly out of touch FLOTUS assumes everyone has a pet Biden.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Obama “Furious” at Hillary, State?

If so, it's kind of got an "I made an ass of myself and it's all your fault" vibe around it.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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No Grade Inflation for Packers Analyst Bob McGinn

Bob got a shout out last Monday from Peter King for his level-headedness in assessing the hometown team (he writes for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). Well deserved, if you read his analysis of the team and the players, here. Indeed, if you read his player assessments, it's kind of miraculous that the Packers won the Super Bowl. Let's just say that he leaves plenty of room for improvement.

Part of the lesson from his objective analysis is that a few great or near-great players make their teammates a lot better than otherwise they'd be. Another part is that good coaching and heady personnel management can cover for a multitude of sins--or injuries.

What's scary is to consider how McGinn might grade other teams out.

Unrelated: Alcohol may have been a factor.

Not dramatized in Chariots of Fire.

Nightmares from My Dealer: a memoir of Hyde Park. One word: Zihuatenejo.

Valentine's Day in Iran. Meanwhile, at ABC News, "Does God Belong in the Bedroom?" People seem to invoke him there, pretty often, if the movies are any guide.

For that matter, Madonna doesn't seem to be able to get off unless there's Catholic iconography around. Maybe there's a story in that, ABC?

UPDATE: Malaysians also warned against celebrating Valentine's Day.

Finally, if it's a product from your past that you can't find anywhere in your vicinity, there's a chance you might find it at the Vermont Country Store.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Opinion: $70 Billion Hardly Enough for Leading Ungrateful Egyptians for 30 Years [UPDATEDx4]

Via Gateway:

“We are brothers, soldiers, we have bled together for Egypt, we have shed blood together. Today, we are faced by an enemy who demands we hand Egypt over to our enemies. The people of Egypt have been silenced by these insurgents and we have been more than patient. Will we all sit here and obey the Obama regime? Will we not once again, with honor stand up to our enemies? Will we not continue to stand for Egypt with honor?

Brothers, would you have me crawl away at the command of Obama? Would any of you crawl away like a dog that has been kicked? Would any of you bow down to the fools he has chosen to take our nation from us?

I leave to you, men of honor, the fate of Egypt, the honor of Egypt and in so doing, I know you will decide that which is right and honorable. We have known each other all our lives, we grew to be men together, we have eaten bread in each others houses and honored each others families. Will we now throw all that away for political expediency?

Let's see. Mubarak's garnered a personal fortune estimated at $70 billion. There are approximately 50 million Egyptians.* Per capital annual income was estimated at $3000 average recently, so if he would part with $50 billion that would mean $1000 for every man, woman and child in his country, and he'd still have $20 billion in the (Swiss) bank(s).

Truly, he would then be a hero. But it's so hard to climb down the ladder $50 billion, isn't it? I'm sure he earned it by the sweat of his brow, just as our politicians do.

UPDATE: Egyptian military dissolves Parliament, suspends constitution

Thanks to Patterico, too, for his earlier link.

500 members of ruling NDP tender resignations.

UPDATEx2: Egyptian banks shut down.

UPDATEx3: Elections now to be held in August rather than September. Considering how long it takes Obama's DOJ to respond to some FOI requests, that counts as all deliberate speed.

UK calls for freezing of Mubarak's assets.

UPDATEx4: Boston Globe (?): Bush policies partly responsible for Egyptian uprising (or, GW Bush: Community Organizer?):

A small, controversial effort launched under President George W. Bush to fund and train election monitors in Egypt played a key role in the movement to topple President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

The program, which provided millions in direct funding to prodemocracy groups, helped dispatch 13,000 volunteers to observe Egypt’s parliamentary elections in December. Thousands of those monitors, angered by what they said was blatant election rigging, joined the protests. Some became outspoken leaders; others used the networking and communication skills they learned to help coordinate 18 days of rallies.

“The very fact that they saw the fraud firsthand has contributed to them turning from monitors into activists,’’ said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, which has used a share of the US funds to train volunteers. “They became very disillusioned with the regime.’’

Julian Assange: No! The credit is mine!

* Oops. Per this fascinating interview with Jeane Kirkpatrick, it's 83 million.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Pigford Fraudsters Step in Pigshite

Now they're suing Breitbart and Breitbart.TV editor Larry O'Connell for their series of reports on the lawyer-enriching boondoggle that Pigford has been:

Andrew Breitbart said, in response to being sued, “I find it extremely telling that this lawsuit was brought almost seven months after the alleged incidents that caused a national media frenzy occurred. It is no coincidence that this lawsuit was filed one day after I held a press conference revealing audio proof of orchestrated and systemic Pigford fraud. I can promise you this: neither I, nor my journalisticwebsites, will or can be silenced by the institutional Left, which is obviously funding this lawsuit. I welcome the judicial discovery process, including finding out which groups are doing so.”

Lawfare at its finest.

I think we all know who the Pigford claimant who was fired by Vilsack at the behest of the NAACP and Obama is. You've really stepped in it now, lady. My guess is that this means that she's trying to postpone the House inquiry headed by Representative King, so that it won't compromise the court battle, which is liable to receive less coverage, at least in the MFM.

Go check out Kill Truck's week in review, too. She has words about my piece on testosterone and autism, but I think the article doesn't link it to high levels of testosterone in utero.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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So, What’s Happening in the Middle East? [UPDATED]

Algeria's cracking down hard, turning off the tubes and sending riot police to break protesters' heads.

The Tunisian revolution is going so well that Italy's declared a state of emergency over all the Tunisians trying to escape.

Latest speculation is that protests may be being planned in Saudi. (Sorry, lost the link). Ah, this one will do: Umma Gumma.

Yemen. Jordan. Sudan split in half. Haven't heard about Morocco. Going to be interesting to see what happens in Turkey and the 'Stans that Russia has been trying so hard to keep in its sphere.

Although Iran was mighty excited about the Egyptian uprising, they're not going to permit an "illegal opposition rally," no matter what Obama has to say about it, two years too late.

UPDATE: Lisa Graas has a good and links-laden post about the prospects in Pakistan, the potential nightmare scenario. Musharrif charged with assassination of Bhutto.

Also, hidden cameras reveal abuse of students at British Islamic schools.

Leftists: Muslim Brotherhood are nice!

Largely unrelated would be Wombat's mastication of the GOProud flap.

Not Safe for Breakfast: Paging Rebooting Wizard of Warm Healing, Universal Signifier and Rainbow-Hued Blank Canvas

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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A Medley of Things Overlooked During CPAC

Melanie Phillips:

For the past seven years, western progressives have screamed without remission that George W Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Uncle Tom Neo-Con and all were criminally out to lunch to pretend that democracy could ever come to Iraq through ousting a dictator.

The neo-con article of faith, that the Arab or Islamic world could or should embrace democracy and human rights, was held up as an example of cultural imperialism, racist bigotry or insanity or all three.

Yet when the Egyptian protesters called for regime change and free elections, those very same Bush-whackers excitedly hailed this brave new dawn of Islamic freedom.

They further declared that America had been criminally obtuse in propping up the dictator Hosni Mubarak rather than promoting regime change and helping install democracy on the banks of the Nile.

What’s the difference? Saddam Hussein was an enemy of the west; Hosni Mubarak is an ally. So progressives claim that getting rid of the former was a crime against humanity, while not getting rid of the latter was a crime against humanity. Got that?

Here’s the next amazing thing. When the people of Lebanon made their pitch for democracy against the crushing oppression of Hezbollah, western bien-pensants were totally indifferent.

When the people of Iran made their pitch for democracy against the savage cruelties of the Islamic regime, the bien-pensants were totally indifferent.

But when the Egyptians took to the streets, the bien-pensants all but wetted themselves with excitement.

BBC: Climate Change Deniers Pretty Much Like Paedophiles

NYT: Roman Catholic Church Pretty Much Like Muslim Brotherhood

Who was that guy who asked how many battalions the Pope had?

Ross Kaminsky on the US's awful messaging regarding Egypt

Bolton kicking ass in his CPAC speech

Wreck of second ill-fated vessel of cannibal captain Moby Dick is partly based on discovered off Hawaiian reef

He's after me lucky ethnicity!

RIP, Joshua Goldberg

UPDATE: More on Joshua Goldberg from Rick at Wizbang.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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