People....

How Romantic

Socialized Health Care, the preview

Nearly half the respondents in a survey of U.S. primary care physicians said that they would seriously consider getting out of the medical business within the next three years if they had an alternative.

Uh-oh. We'd better socialize the industry to encourage the best and brightest to stay. Oh wait....

Of the 12,000 respondents, 49 percent said they'd consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there's too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.

Hmm. The doctors want to leave because government intervention and regulation makes their lives difficult. Does anyone think socializing the industry will make this better? It will add to the red tape and decrease doctor salaries. That'll convince 'em to stay, for sure.

Found via AnarchAngel.

3rd Annual Second Deadly Sin Barbeque of Doom

I know it's early, but I think, for next summer's barbecue, I'm going to have honey-glazed ostrich kabobs, instead of a turducken, just to shake things up.

No Media Bias Here

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/13/msnbc-retracts-false-palin-story-duped/

NEW YORK -- MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday.

David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a FOX News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent.

Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Imaginary people reporting imaginary things. Lovely.

The best part:

Gaines told the Times that someone in the network's newsroom had presumed the information solid because it was passed along in an e-mail from a colleague.

Email forwards are news stories now? I wonder if the budget for MSNBC includes the email tracking paycheck from the AOL/Microsoft collusion of 1996? Are they reporting on the lethality of Diet Coke?

Gun Auction for Project ValourIT

http://www.theguncounter.com/forum/view ... =29&t=2254
http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2008/11 ... e-for.html
http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?pag ... -valour-it

For those who don't know about this charity:

Valour IT buys laptop computers, and accessibility accessories for wounded soldiers. Be they wounded in combat or training, if they need a laptop, and Valor IT has the money, they're getting a laptop and everything they need to make it work.

...If they have the money.

So far, Valour IT has raised enough to give over 1500 laptops to our wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines; but there are more wounded men and women that could use our help.

So, just to keep this in the military spirit (and to use our rivalry to best effect), they have an annual interservice fundraising drive; with teams from and supporting each of the services competing to raise the most cash for the cause.

One should note, all the money ends up being used for ALL service members; the money raised by the Air Force team doesn't go only to Airmen. It's just a way of having a little fun while raising money for a good cause.

This is a standard, tax deductible charitable donation, and I can't imagine a better cause. All my charitable giving for the last two years, and for the foreseeable future (excepting that going to my parish), is going to Valour IT; and I ask you to please help in any way you can.

The details of the auction:

Last year, In order to add a little extra incentive to the Project Valour-IT fundraising challenge; and I had a reverse auction for a pistol.

Last year we auctioned an FEG PA-63, which is a perfectly decent little pistol; but not exactly a world beater.

We managed to raise about $5,000 through our little part of the challenge; and this year we need even more money, in less time, so I decided to up the ante a bit.

This year, we're auctioning off a SIG P6.

So, this is how it works. Anyone who donates to ANY of the teams during the fundraiser, send me a copy of your PayPal donation receipt for at least $150 (which I will verify with the folks at Soldiers Angels); and the person who donates the most, will win one of these, along with 2 magazines, a holster, and a set of custom wood grips:


I was going to refinish it, and put a set of night sights on it, but there was such vehement disagreement as to what finish to use, and what sights to put on it, that I decided to just leave it up to the winner.

The pistol the winner receives will be a former west german police issue pistol. It is in arsenal rebuilt condition, and was purchase from J&G sales, with a two magazines, a box, original paperwork, and a West German Motor Officers holster.

Obviously, due to the wonderful ATF, unless you are in Arizona, this pistol will need to be transferred from my FFL to yours; but I will cover the shipping. If you happen to live in Arizona I will handle this as a private transfer. Unfortunately for you crufflers out there, these pistols are not C&R eligible.

I hate to limit the pool of potential winners, but I'm not sure if this would be legal to transfer to someone in California and Massachusetts (because they have "approved" lists), or any of the states that require a special permit for every pistol you purchase (New Jersey and Hawaii for example); but it doesn't have any of the nasty "assault weapon" features that would get it banned in some states . If it is legal, hey great; ask your FFL to make sure.

Also note, this pistol would not be received from, transferred from, or won from Valour IT or soldiers angels; it would be coming from me, Chris Byrne.

This is my PERSONAL incentive to anyone who supports a charity I also support.

No-one at Valour IT or Soldiers Angels is in any way involved in this little giveaway. So, if some anti-gun lunatic wants to get all pissy, they can come talk to me about it, not Valour IT.

To be clear, I am not involved, just supportive.

Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce

Found here.

The Finishing Sauce I use is as follows:

1 Cup Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Course Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Warm the Vinegar up enough so that it disolves the Sugar well. Then add the remaining ingredients.

I use it in one of those clear Ketchup bottles you can get from Wally World for about $0.99. Snip a little bit larger hole out of the spout with a pair of scissors. Once all your ingredients are mixed together, put your finger over the top, and shake vigorously.

Randomly squirt this over warm freshly pulled Pork, then kind of mix it up with gloved hands. This adds very little heat (despite the Red Pepper) and mellows out the stronger, gamier parts of the Shoulder. The Vinegar also helps break it down even more for some REAL juiicy pork.

Personally, I eat it just like that, but your guests can add whatever "Q sauce they prefer once it's on their plates or bun!

If you've never done Pulled Pork with a "Finishing Sauce" before, you're in for a real treat!!!! It's the secret ingredient that alot of Quer's don't know about, and part of the reason people at my 'Q Parties say "they've never had Pulled Pork that tasted this good, before!".

Jeff

Death of Discretion

Why do I have to know every detail about the sex lives of my coworkers? Why do I have to know about the domestic issues of the various people around me? What happened to being discrete about personal matters?

Veteran's Day II

A veteran -- whether on active duty, discharged, retired or in the reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount of up to, and including, his life.

That is honor. There are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.


By Roland Ashmore Newnan

Veteran's Day

You Can't Tell a Vet Just By Looking

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carrier didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth whose behavior is outweighed in the cosmic scales by four hours of unparalleled bravery near the 38th Parallel in Korea. She is the nurse who fought against futility in Da Nang and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years. He is the POW who left one person and came back another. He is the drill instructor who has never been in combat, but has saved countless lives by turning no-accounts into Marines. He is the parade-riding legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the white-haired guy bagging groceries at the supermarket, aggravatingly slow, who helped liberate a Nazi death camp. A vet is an ordinary and extraordinary human being — someone who offered his life's vital years in the service of his country. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. We will never be able to repay the debt of gratitude we owe. —Author Unknown—

Damn.

The American people have officially fallen for the biggest bait and switch scam in history. May the gods have mercy on our souls.

Election Day, 2008

I was the 222 voter in my relatively small precinct, 15 minutes after the polls opened. When I got out an hour later, there were at least 200 more in line.

I held my nose a voted at least once in a way that was kind of painful. I decided I wanted to keep Franken out of office more than I wanted to punish Coleman. I voted no on all of the tax-raising referendums.

My predictions for the day: