Is it back?

It's been over six months since I last posted. Hard to believe. I mean, I didn't even post during the 49ers Super Bowl run!

For a while I thought I'd hung up my keyboard for good. But as circumstances have evolved, I started to get the itch to write again, if for no other reason than to blabber about said changes.

Yes, the world is still going to hell on a rocket sled, and there's nothing we can do about it, which, as a point of fact, was the primary reason I stopped posting; the way I saw it, why try to persuade others to embrace libertarian principles when it's already too late to salvage what's left of the Founders' vision?

But that doesn't mean I can't make fun of the mental midgets driving the rocket sled, or otherwise make a nuisance of myself, right? So, I'm gonna give it another shot. Don't expect a torrent of posts out of me, at least not initially. A post every few days, once a week, at odd intervals...baby steps. Let's not strain something here!

The Vulture is back. You've been warned.

Is there a cure for blogger ennui?

It's been two months since my last, half-hearted post on this blog. I'm sure some of the dozen or so regular followers of this blog have been wondering where the hell I've been, why I've been so quiet, and why, with so much going on in the world, I haven't stuck my opinionated viewpoint into the middle of the goings on.

I've been here before. I've blamed it on "no interest in current events". Another time it was "burnout". Still another time I explained it as "inexplicable indifference". Then there was "my give a damn tank is on 'E'".

But I think the first extended period I had with no posts is the time I captured the essence best: "blogger ennui". It's a certain blend of general indifference coupled with the knowledge that one is powerless to do anything about what's going on.

"Take the red pill", they said. "You'll be able to see through the bullshit", they said.

Yeah. See through the bullshit...and see how hopeless any chance of correcting course is. For every person who has had the scales of cultural and political propaganda fall from their eyes so that they see clearly, there are 99 who not only don't see clearly, but are totally happy with the status quo.

Libs love the ever-encroaching socialist dystopia. "Conservatives" love the expansion of the military-industrial complex. "Bomb Iran - killing people makes them love and respect us". Every day freedoms are lost, in the name of the "common good", or "to protect us from" the current boogie man in the cross hairs.

Even if a libertarian were elected President with a libertarian majority in both houses of Congress, we wouldn't be able to fix the mess that is the USSA. Too many people are locked onto the guvmint teat -- both individuals and corporate looters -- to save this sinking ship.

But, hey, let's have a primary election coronation for Mitt Romney, so that we can have "Clinton-Dole" and "Obama-McCommie" redux. Let's pretend like the tea party hasn't been completely co-opted by the Elephants. Let's pretend that Occupy actually means something more than a bunch of spoiled 20-somethings whining that life isn't fair.

If I could still pretend, I'd be blogging. I can't pretend.

I'm not calling it quits. I'm just acknowledging the futility of it all.

Top ten reasons why the Vulture hasn't posted

Some of you are probably wondering what happened to the Vulture and his blog? Well, it seems that life sometimes gets in the way of things.

Here are the top ten reasons why I haven't posted in the past month.

10. I've had a song stuck in my head and can't make it go away. Worse, it's a song by Celine Dion (shoot me, please!).
9. I discovered Twitter.
8. My current work assignment has me this close to burnout.
7. Late-onset puberty.
6. Early-onset senility.
5. Two wrongs don't make a right.
4. Someone has incriminating pictures of me with Paris Hilton (or is that Paris, Idaho?).
3. The 49ers keep winning, leaving me at a loss for words.
2. I've been in rehab for Angry Birds addiction.
1. I'm a lazy f***.

Okay, there are some REAL reasons why I've been noticeably slothful in posting. I was in Arizona visiting with my parents and sick brother for the past week. And, truthfully, news and current events just haven't been terribly interesting lately. I'm either too burned out to care, too jaded to be stirred to righteous indignation, or I just stopped giving a damn. Or.......wait for it.....news and current events just haven't been terribly interesting lately.

I'm really going to try to get untracked and back in the saddle again, I swear. No, really!

New Tizona Post

A huge victory for the cause of freedom: a Federal court has ruled that cops can no longer treat videoing them in the course of executing their duties as a criminal offense.

With regard to my prolonged absenses

Not that my detractors would care, but I haven't been posting much in the past month or so. Okay, that's a major understatement: I've barely been posting at all. The problem? My current work situation. I've been handling responsibilities once performed by 4 people by myself for 16 months. I had once considered myself burnout-proof. I've since learned that no one is burnout-proof. Some of us are burnout-resistant. But no one is burnout-proof. So the combination of an insane workload and a long-ass commute have left me too beat to post on weekdays and too brain dead to post on weekends.

That situation is approaching a resolution, however. Not to disclose any details (don't want to count those chickens before they've hatched), but I am quite confident that I'll return to doing the work of a single person very shortly.

This, of course, means that soon I'll once again be contributing to the incivility of our national discussion. Deadeye can hardly wait.

Long time, no time

I've been extremely busy at work, and unmotivated with regard to posting in my free time these past two weeks. I know that my biggest fan, CalJim, missed me. I'd like to think others did as well, but I wouldn't hold your breath on that one. I am going to try to get back into the swing of things and post more regularly.

But it's not like I missed anything the past two weeks. The debt ceiling Kabuki dance? Child, please! Like anyone didn't know that it would play out that way. "We averted default! Yay for us!" Yeah, you averted default. You kicked the can down the road. You bought us what? Maybe 3, 4 years tops. Like a ship with a great gaping hole in the side, we continue to sink. We're headed for the same fate as Rome and all the other great empires that preceded us. And yet...I don't much care.

Warren Jeffs is on trial...hey, how 'bout that? [/sarcasm] Yet another Kabuki dance. Texas LE has a major hardon for the FLDS, and Jeffs is going down hard. Maybe he deserves it, I dunno. The fact that a great deal of the evidence to be used against him was obtained as fruit of the poisoned tree (the military-style raid on YFZ) should bother me...but it doesn't.

I think my "give a damn" tank is on 'E'.

There is one thing on my radar, and I hope to make the time to do it justice. That's the (should be) scandal surrounding Operation Fast and Furious.

Stay tuned.

Input needed

You may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. There's good reason for that -- I've been pondering the future of this blog. Not whether or not I will continue to post; that's not changing. Rather, I've been contemplating whether or not to switch from Blogger to Wordpress.

Why switch? Comments.

I used and was very happy with Haloscan during the early years of this blog. Then those rotten bastards at JS-Kit bought out Haloscan and implemented the gawdawful abortion that is Echo in its place. I hate Echo with a hatred that burns white hot 24x7.

I put up with it because (a) this isn't exactly a comments-heavy site to begin with, and (b) I was too lazy to look into what I needed to do to replace it.

But when my beloved, Deadeye, told me that she was unable to enter comments the other day due to Echo, that was the last straw. Nobody disses Deadeye. Nobody.

So I began exploring a replacement for Echo in earnest. Blogger native comments was never an option; been there, done that, hated it. After exploring the interwebs, I installed Disqus on this site because it is very highly recommended.

But that creates a dilemma. Echo makes it impossible to export comments w/o prior experience with their API. They really are assholes, in every sense of the word.

Okay, so I lose 3 years of comments - so what? There's nothing been said in those comments that amounts to a hill of beans. But there was an argument not so long ago around the topic of deletion of comments from those bigots at FLDS Texas. They claimed I delete comments from trolls just like they do. The problem for them is: I don't. To this point I've deleted only one comment on this site, and that was to protect the commenter from themselves (overt racism with your real name attached to it = not smart). Ultimately, I decided that I don't give a tinkers damn what those subhumans think. Lost comments? So what.

Then I was taken with another idea. Why not cut the cord to Blogger entirely. So I started playing around with Wordpress. I really like the layout I built, the color scheme, etc. It bothers me that it's not customizable to the extent I would like, but I can live with that, I suppose.

So here's the deal: This is your chance to weigh in. Stay with Blogger and the status quo, or move over to this? Click here to vote. As in Chicago, you can vote as many times as you like.

Not a dummy after all

Vox Day wrote a post about Big Media's surprise at Sarah Palin's writing ability. Her overall level was 8.5 on the Flesch Kincaid scale. However, it was Vox's own rating that piqued my attention, not Sarah's.

Out of curiosity, I popped my most recent column into the Readability Calculator: "Flesch Kincaid Grade level: 13.10". And my recent email to KW came in at 14.74.

It made me curious. So I popped a few of my blog posts in to see how I fare. This is the scorecard.

The Eisenhower Warnings - 10.50
An idea whose time has come - 10.07
Taking credit - 8.74
Prosecutorial misconduct - Texas style - 8.39
Maryland's Lost Icon - 7.61
Who to believe? - 8.38
The Circus is in Town - 9.00
A Retraction of Sorts - 8.59

That last one was a puzzler to me. I used the words "plausible deniability" and "habitue" in it! And STILL couldn't make a 9th grade level! My average score for the 8 posts was 8.91, not a whole lot higher than Sarah Palin's. And these posts were more or less cherry picked; I only included longer posts with minimal slang in my sampling. Sarah Palin's sampling was 24,000 fricking pages!!!!

If my writing, which hardly qualifies as simplistic, can't make it out of High School, what's a moron like Al Gorebells score? 3rd grade?

Kinda puts all of those "stoopid Sarah" stereotypes in perspective, doesn't it?

TVL turns three

It was three years and 763 posts ago that this humble blog got its start.  The first post, from November 24th, 2007, reads as more overwrought and ponderous than more recent blog posts -- at least, I hope so.

Three years into this little endeavor I'm still going at it.  My site hits have risen steadily each year, but are still in the "is anyone out there?" end of the the hits spectrum.  No matter.  I plan to keep at this for the foreseeable future.  That's either good news or bad news to you, depending on your opinion of the things I write about the subjects I write about.

Many thanks to you, the reader, who have kept me from throwing in the towel and inspired me to "aim lower" with every post I make.

Is it Echo....?

Yesterday I received an email notification from Echo, my current -- and soon to be ex -- comments provider/software/PITA.  The email said I had a comment from {Person X}, and included the comment content.

However, when I went out to reply to the comment, I found it wasn't there.  Okay, figure I, it's probably just a lag between the time the comment hit Echo and the time that the blog widget refreshes to get the most current comments.

I waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.

The comment never showed!

So my question is...is it Echo "swallowing" the comment because I refuse to convert to their pay-for-play service?  Or did {Person X} delete the comment...maybe have second thoughts?

Echo wants me to convert to their pay-for-play service.  To quote a great American, "NFW".  Echo, to put it succinctly, sucks.  It makes the native Blogger comments service seem awesome by comparison.  Why in the name of all that is right with the world would I PAY MONEY to receive the same shit service and use the same POS user interface I have now?

Query to my fellow bloggers out there.  Is there a comments service out there you use and recommend?  Don't suggest CoComment -- it absolutely refuses to acknowledge my "ownership" of TVL. 

I don't care what it takes -- even if I have to pay for someone else's service -- Echo is coming down.  I've had it.

Man, I miss Haloscan!

P.S.  Message to {Person X} -- thank you so much for your kind comments.  Encouragement is always much appreciated.

Vulture inbox

Most of the emails I get regarding my blog are nastygrams from Deadeye regarding my attitude and profanity (what? so I swear a little - BFD) or from my father taunting me (which I regard as the highest accolade one can earn as a blogger).  But every so often I receive a nice email that makes me glad that I've stuck with this blogging thing in spite of my stagnant site hit numbers.

A young FLDS man whom I'll refer to as 'HR' wrote me a lengthy and much appreciated email.  He is 26 years old, single, and a computer programmer. Hey, what's not to like about him?

Here are some excerpts.

I found your blog from Hugh McBryde a month or two ago, but I haven't really read through much until today. I must say, that I'm very impressed by the way you explain things, and I want to personally thank you for your unwavering support of our Constitution. We need more people like you in this country. It's so sad to see so many people totally blind to their basic rights and freedoms being eroded away day by day.

Dude, you are SO right about that. The average American is WAAAAAY more concerned with Joren Van Der Sloot than with the encroachment of our government on our personal liberties.

I was reading through your older posts on your blog about our people. Even though you had been swayed quite a bit by the trash spewed forth by the Big Media about us, yet you still were willing to defend our basic Constitutional rights. It was nice to see how you changed your view of us once more of the truth started to be known. I just wanted to personally thank you for what you have done. Any act of kindness or friendship does not go unnoticed. Just imagine living all your life knowing that you, your parents, your loved ones, are hated. How people can allow themselves to be consumed by such hatred, I will never know. Maybe you already saw this piece that Bill Medvecky posted (a comment from the Gosanangelo rag):

“PLEASE hire contractors with no flds affiliation !!!! My husband & many of his friends have lost so much work in the last couple of years ! The flds can work for cheaper rates because they bring all their teen & preteen boys to do all the work. Please pay the little bit extra to NOT use flds. Tell Lowe’s & Home Depot that you do not want flds working on your things !!!"

Of course, "Grandpa Bill", as I lovingly call him, asks us what if that were posted referring to another group?

“PLEASE hire contractors with no NIGGER affiliation !!!! My husband & many of his friends have lost so much work in the last couple of years ! The NIGGERS can work for cheaper rates because they bring all their teen & preteen boys to do all the work. Please pay the little bit extra to NOT use NIGGERS. Tell Lowe’s & Home Depot that you do not want NIGGERS working on your things !!!”

Well said, my friend! I had to plead mea maxima culpa some time back when I was made aware of my initial bigotry in dealing with the YFZ fiasco. But what limited contact I have had with the FLDS has left me impressed. Much like FLDS Mom, you write well - much better than a young man your age is usually capable of in this age of the Internet and PS2. And you're much more aware of the situation regarding our personal freedoms than many of your maleducated peers.

I'm loath to categorize an entire people based on contact with just a few supplemented with the occasional gander at an FLDS-centric blog (BTW, 'HR' recommends truthwillprevail.org, a site I will be adding to my blog role). But I have to say that the FLDS with whom I've had contact have impressed me a whole lot more than the bigots and ignoramuses at Caput Penitus Culus, with their slavering fetish for "the law", could ever hope to achieve.

'HR', I'm glad to have you as a reader. You're an interesting and articulate young man. Come back often.

Been a while

Life happens.  The past week has been a blur of activity.  I've been extraordinarily busy at work (we've temporarily gone from 12 to 3 full-time "units" as a contract transition is occurring).  My in-laws were up for the weekend - that was enjoyable, but also introduced it's own limits on the good old routine.

Right now I'm barely treading water.  I'll be back to blogging once the pace of my life gets a bit more "normal".  Of course, anyone who's read this blog knows that "normal" and I are rarely in close proximity.

Lucid Truth

About a week or so ago my favorite Aussie, Bingbing, announced that his blog, James Board, had been accepted as a featured blog by LucidTruth.com.  Since I'm an attention whore of the worst kind, for whom the words "Me too!  Me too!" have been life's subplot, I decided to submit my meager little blog for consideration.  Imagine my surprise when they accepted my request!

So I not only join the legendary Bingbing as a featured blogger, I join Instapundit, Vox Popoli, Atlas Shrugs, The Other McCain, Ace of Spades HQ, Human Events, Michelle Malkin, Power Line, La Shawn Barber, Town Hall, and other big-time blogs.

So go out to LucidTruth.com and check out the scene. Better yet, cast your vote for The Vulture Lurks and visit the site by clicking the 'Click to Vote' button in the widget to your right. The more votes the blog gets, the more attention it gets.  And the more attention the blog gets, the more attention the ultimate attention whore, me, gets.

Transitioning comments

You may notice that my site is somewhat "broken" for the next little while as I attempt to transition my comments from soon-to-be-dead Haloscan to Echo.

Please excuse our dust while we perform this tedious exercise.

Thank you.

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I think I've got all of the kinks ironed out. Please let me know if you encounter any weirdness when entering comments.

New Year, New Approach

Being the contemplative type (read: a navel-gazer), I tend to tinker with my blog's look-and-feel with some regularity. You may have noticed the progression. Light blue heading with textured background and gray side panel. This was followed by the Dark Blue with Vulture avatar, neon green text and trim, textured Gold sidebar. This was followed by the Fall colors Red, Yellow, and Orange, with a "real" lurking vulture logo. This past weekend I changed it up again, going with Navy and White as the primary colors, with Red subtext and with Gray-Blue as the side panel color. The "real" lurking vulture logo now resides on a white background.

"BFD", you say. "Who cares about the colors and layout? It's the content I care about." Which, it turns out, is the point of this post.

I've been ruminating (read: navel-gazing) about the blog and its content. As a result, the following changes will be in place for the new year.

• I have come to the conclusion that weekly and monthly Wiener awards is too much. I've decided to go with a single Wiener award, to be awarded on an ad-hoc basis (read: "as deserved") versus some sort of fixed schedule. Fear not: the Wiener of the Year award will live on. It's my favorite post of the year, every year.
  


• I've decided to forego my habit of chronicling every 49ers game for the entire 17-week NFL season. It's too much work for me and, frankly, bores most of you. I'm contemplating some sort of 'Weekend Highlights' post, which will be in style and format very similar to my 'Vulture Droppings' posts. I'll include some sort of game reaction blurb in the 'Weekend Highlights' as opposed to a long-ass full post.
  


• And speaking of 'Vulture Droppings', I plan to do more of those this year than last. It allows for a much better opportunity for analysis of the issues of the day.
  


• Lastly, I vow to FINALLY complete the 'Death Knell' series on the fraud that is AGW.

If there is any sort of feature you would find interesting or topic which you would like to see given more attention, let me know. I always aim to please.

Oh, one last thing. This is DEFINITELY the year that I break free of the constraints of Blogger to create my own free-form website. Hopefully, that will be the last time that I change site format - but, knowing me, I would warn you: don't count on it.

TVL's second anniversary

This here blog is two years old today. And, much like a common two-year-old, the blog's proprietor can throw a mean tantrum.

A very heart-felt thank you to all of my regulars -- I'd mention you all by name if I didn't think I'd forget one or two of you and risk hurt feelings. I would like to give a special shout out to Toes and Pharisee as two individuals who have kept me on my toes (no pun intended) and who always bring it strong on their blogs.

My readership growth has been slow -- PAINFULLY slow -- but it is growing. I hope it's been as enjoyable for you to read as it has been for me to write.

There certainly is no shortage of things happening in the world that compel me to mount my soapbox, so expect this to go on for a while.

Thanks all!

The Echo Chamber Effect

One of the reasons I have concern for the future of our world is a little something known as the echo chamber effect. Briefly, this is the tendency of people to gravitate towards sources of information that will reinforce their own beliefs regarding events or topics of interest to them.

The echo chamber effect is hardly a recent phenomenon. In what perhaps may be an apocryphal quote, Pauline Kael is supposed to have said regarding the landslide victory of Richard Nixon over George McGovern in 1972, "I can't believe Nixon won. I don't know anybody who voted for him".

New media gets accused of fomenting echo chambers, but old media has them as well. Fox News is a comfortable echo chamber for people with Neocon leanings. MSNBC is a comfortable echo chamber for those who feel that King George the Dim is the cause of all the world's problems, as well as for those who think that Big Dick Cheney is the cause of said problems.

But new media - particularly blather radio and blogs - are especially susceptible to the echo chamber effect.

I started to ruminate on this subject late last week because of my recent experiences over at Caput Penitus Culus. Talk about your echo chamber!

There are basically three types of people at that site, besides the loathsome reptile who hosts it: female authoritarians who want to force their worldview on others; bigots; and the willfully stupid (yes Stamp, that would be you). Each of these archetypes enters the blog with a worldview they desperately want to reinforce. Each comes away with exactly what they wished for - EXCEPT when some "troll" like me comes along questioning certain aspects of their beliefs.

Troll. It's an interesting concept. The textbook definition of a troll is someone who shows up uninvited at your site to argue for the sake of arguing, a disruptor, an agitator. What a troll is in practice is someone who shows up at an echo chamber with a different viewpoint than that of the denizens of the site. You can tell a lot about a site and its proprietor by the tolerance shown to alternative viewpoints; at Caput Penitus Culus, FLDS Texas, and other like sites, you're likely to have your comments deleted and your access to enter comments blocked.

Partly because of my libertarian political leanings, but also because I've seen it demonstrated masterfully at Vox Popoli during the 7+ years I've been reading that blog, I think I've managed to a large extent to avoid hosting yet another echo chamber. But (and this is an important concept to grok) I can't be the judge of that; only those who read this blog and other blogs with differing viewpoints can accurately say whether I've been successful on that count or not.

Okay, what's the point, Vulture? The point is this: our nation used to have a tradition of tolerance for opposing viewpoints. Now, with the echo chamber effect, we're not inclined to hear, let alone respect, differing viewpoints. This is unhealthy intellectually, and it's unhealthy for the continuing health of a Constitutional republic.

But what do I know? According to the Caput a Palos, I'm not too bright. Then again, considering the source, I might just be an effin genius...

TVL - one year anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog. One year ago today I unveiled The Vulture Lurks in all of its fetid glory. The first post was the Vulture Manifesto. I very excited about my little blog and my ponderous, self-satisfied first post, so I sent out a blanket email to all of my friends and family. Then I sat back and waited for all of the visitors to pound on my site. What followed was the sound of crickets chirping. Not good

A lot has changed in the year since that inauspicious first post. 340 posts later I now have a small but loyal band of regulars who stop by to check out the latest here. The tone of the blog, initially quite confrontational and even rude at times (ask Mrs. Vulture: she'll tell you!), has evolved into a more thoughtful and reasoned tone. Things I write these days are heavier on facts and references and lighter on name calling. I credit Whateverman with a lot of the change of tone. He and I frequently disagree on issues, yet we're able to discuss our divergent points of view in a reasoned and reasonable manner. I really appreciate Whateverman; he's made me much sharper in terms of being sure that I say things the way I wish them to be understood and to hone my arguments so that there aren't any factual or logical errors in them.

One of the side benefits of having a blog that I certainly didn't anticipate was the opportunity to discover the work of other bloggers as a result of having them link to my stuff. I'm very happy to have made the acquaintance of Toes, whom I admire greatly for her efforts to bring Child Protective Services and their myriad abuses into the light of day. I also appreciate her comments, and the fact that she puts up with my whining about the 49ers.

This blog wouldn't be complete without yodaddy, dw, mark, and xfloggingkylex. They don't comment frequently, but they're loyal readers, they pass on a LOT of good leads to me for post topics, and when they do comment, they bring it strong. Thanks, guys!

My extended family discovered this blog as well. I appreciate them checking out my blatherings.

What's in store in Year 2 of TVL? On January 1st I will unveil the first class of inductees into the Wiener Hall of Fame. If there's someone living or dead who you believe deserves to have their lifetime "achievements" recognized in the WHOF, please feel free to pass on your nominees. Two of my front-runners are King George the Dim and Ted Kennedy. I may throw in Michael Moore as well. We'll see.

Here's hoping that Year 2 of The Vulture Lurks brings a whole slew of good topics for us to chew on.

Vulture Droppings - catching up

Vulture droppings is a semi-regular feature of this blog. It's a kind of "Random Thoughts" post in which I try to quickly summarize a particularly large event or series of events. Think of it being sort of like what a vulture leaves behind after devouring a horse. You don't get the whole horse, just highly processed leftovers.

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The past month it's been pretty hard to keep up with all of the stuff happening out there in the world. It's coming at us fast and furious, and it's not showing any signs of let up. As such, I wanted to 'drop' a bunch of items here so that I could clear some of the backlog.

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I've made the big time. I've been added to the Voxologisti - the blogger links on Vox Popoli, Vox Day's blog. Okay, so there are about 100 other blogs featured there. But I'm one of them!

BTW, I can't recommend Vox Popoli strongly enough. He's always got a strong take on the issues, and it's always a great read.

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Mark has a beef with Obama's early proclamations.

Subject: Gas

Heard on the news last night that one of Obama's 1st acts as pres. will be to overturn Bush's efforts to explore and drill for more oil & natural gas. Hello $5.00 gasoline and higher utility rates!! Boy I love Lefties!!!

I hadn't heard about this. I did a quick web-blast, and found stories saying that BHO was "considering" overturning this edict of the Rex Americana. To me, it seems that BHO is following in the footsteps of the Clintons by sending up trial balloons to see exactly what he can get away with. If there isn't a general public outcry about a particular "balloon", he'll know that it's something he can get away with.

Another trial balloon floating about is in regards to the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. I want to emphasize in the strongest possible language that a reimplementation of the Fairness Doctrine, coupled with the extraordinary powers now vested in the Office of the President thanks to King George the Dim, could very likely spell the end of freedom of speech in this country. Don't think that the Lefties will limit its implementation to just TV and radio -- the Internet will be included, too -- maybe not right away, but eventually.

For a guy who's supposed to be a visionary and a uniter, he's sure quick to embrace (a) rule by edict, (b) sneaky Clintonista tactics, and (c) suppression of Constitutionally-guaranteed liberties.

Whether it's King George the Dim doing it, or BHO doing it, rule by Executive Order runs contrary to everything our founding fathers believed in. The fact that he's already deciding which edicts he will issue two months before he takes office leads me to believe that he'll follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and use the Constitution as toilet paper.

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dw also chimes in, on a different theme. This was obviously written before I had a chance to review the game.

Subject: WTF VULTURE

A Monday night like no other. Yes, I am talking the 9ers. OMG, were they something else. Down to the last 4 seconds. Oh, I forgot, you Eastern sleepy heads were fast asleep while this loyal fan in AZ watched the whole firggin game. A disappointment - NO!! I love Singletary - He walks the sidelines with AUTHORITY! I like the Cards since moving here but THE 9ERS LIVE ON and on my walls. So sad to see the Vulture swooped right over that one. Hey Vulture, take time to smell the desert. Great game and actually some hope for my beloved 9ers!!!

dw, I couldn't agree with you more. Yes, the result of the game was disappointing. But you can see a palpable difference in the attitudes of the players. Their attitudes are starting to mirror the attitude of the Head Coach. Mike Singletary is a man among men, a giant, a legend of the game of professional football. I love what he is doing with the team. I think that, ultimately, after he's done making all of his rookie coaching mistakes, he'll end up being one of the top-notch Head Coaches in the league. Mark. My. Words.

The Niners, like the South, shall rise again!

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Have you noticed the slew of articles pointing out that there is zero accountability over the financial bail-out money being distributed hither-and-yon to Friends of Henry Paulson, Inc? Have you noticed that, rather than purchasing the worthless mortgages from financial institutions, as Congress had promised they would do when they passed that steaming pile of legislation, they are, instead, purchasing stock in the financial institutions themselves? I wish I was making that up. I really do.

Fascist economics: Fascists believe in joint ownership of business/industry between private interests and the government, or private ownership with government oversight of said businesses.

Welcome to the Fourth Reich.

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Last item: the people who are constantly telling us how bigoted and intolerant we are seem to think its okay to threaten and harass those whose viewpoints don't match their own.

Letters containing a suspicious white powder were sent Thursday to Mormon temples in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City that were the sites of protests against the church's support of California's gay marriage ban.

The temple in the Westwood area of Los Angeles was evacuated before a hazardous materials crew determined the envelope's contents were not toxic, said FBI spokesman Jason Pack.

The temple in downtown Salt Lake City, where the church is based, received a similar envelope containing a white powder that spilled onto a clerk's hand.

Let's just imagine, if you will, that the roles were reversed. Let's imagine that Prop 8 had WON, and the Mormons were picketing and heckling the gays. Then a package of white powder is received by a gay organization, requiring evacuation of the building and perhaps immediate medical attention for the poor clerk who opened the package. Under those conditions, would the news story have been buried about 12 column inches down the page on the Drudge Report? Or would it have been the headline? Would it be completely ignored by the websites of ABC news, CBS news, and NBC news? Would it be ignored by CNN.com, and hidden in the 'US news' page on MSNBC.com? Because that's the treatment the story of the Mormon temples receiving white powder is receiving as of 2:30 EST today.

I'm just saying...

What's a busy Vulture to do?

There are days when I have literally nothing to write about. Days when absolutely nothing is happening in the wide world of asshattery. Today I'm encountering a different sort of problem -- I've got more topics in the bin than I've got time to write.

Rather than attempt to tackle one at the expense of others, or tackle all at once in a "Vulture Droppings" post, I'm going to simply post a "Coming Attractions" list. If there's any one topic of interest to you and yours, let me know in the comments and I'll kick it up in priority.

Coming Attractions

1. The Great Society legacy of "peace" - the growing trend towards violence on the part of the Left towards those who don't agree with them. Tip of the beak to Mark for calling my attention to this lovely story.
2. The advent of "Generation Jones". No longer must MY generation be lumped in the those 60's maggots. Tip of the beak to WatchingSociety for that tidbit and for links to these sources.
3. Fear mongering as a campaign tactic. This topic stems from the steady stream of panic being shoveled on blather radio, but both Left and Right are guilty of this. Examples will be provided.
4. The advent of the Carbon Police in England. Just what we need: more Überwachenden.
5. An email is circulating that makes the case for Obama being the Antichrist. I slice, dice, and ridicule said email. Hilarity ensues.
6. An actual, honest-to-God unbiased site for information on the presidential and congressional elections. Targeted for women, CitizenJanePolitics.com is an excellent source for information regardless of your sex. Tip of the beak to xfloggingkylex for passing this information to me.
7. More wacky environmental news. Always fun. Always enlightening. News on the subject of man-made global warming is especially fun this week in light of the near-record low temperatures we're seeing right now.
8. And finally, I'm running in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5k tomorrow. It's my first competitive race...and I expected to finish towards the end of the pack. But it's a good cause (to raise funds for breast cancer research), and I'm really looking forward to it.
   

Whew! I'm gonna be a busy bird!