Plenty of jobs for proofreaders

Because you can't spell-check a banner:


Ironically, the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is tonight.

Dude, you're getting a Dell...pink slip!

Caveat blogger

A Massachusetts doctor learns the hard way not to blog about work. From the Boston Globe: "Blogger unmasked, court case upended"

It was a Perry Mason moment updated for the Internet age.

As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him with a question.

Who was Lindeman Flea?

Flea, jurors in the case didn't know, was the screen name for a blogger who had written often and at length about a trial remarkably similar to the one that was going on in the courtroom that day.

In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff's case and the plaintiff's lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the jury of dozing.With the jury looking on in puzzlement, Lindeman admitted that he was, in fact, Flea.

The next morning, on May 15, he agreed to pay what members of Boston's tight-knit legal community describe as a substantial settlement -- case closed.

Don't bother heading over to Dr. Flea Blog - it's been wiped cleaner than a surgery room floor.

Allegiances in question - Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe on that Pew survey on American Muslims: "In the Pew survey, only 8 percent of American Muslims said terrorism in the name of Islam is often or sometimes justifiable. But 8 percent of 2.3 million Muslims is 184,000 people who support suicide bombings and beheadings in at least some instances. That is not a trivial threat. And it cannot be effectively suppressed unless the moderate Muslim mainstream actively repudiates and anathematizes Islamist ideas."

He looks familiar - Great list of "hey, it's that guy" from movies and TV (HT: Ace)

Hey kids, can Gramps borrow a half-million dollars?

From USA Today: "Rules hiding trillions in debt - Liability $516,348 per U.S. household"

Modern accounting requires that corporations, state governments and local governments count expenses immediately when a transaction occurs, even if the payment will be made later.

The federal government does not follow the rule, so promises for Social Security and Medicare don't show up when the government reports its financial condition.

Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and all other debt combined.

It's the new math! According to the federal government, if you lend yourself money you've doubled your assets because you have 1.) the cash and 2.) the I.O.U. to yourself. And if you wonder why I agitate over this issue so much, here's why:

This hidden debt is the amount taxpayers would have to pay immediately to cover government's financial obligations. Like a mortgage, it will cost more to repay the debt over time. Every U.S. household would have to pay about $31,000 a year to do so in 75 years.

How can we possibly continue with this accounting fiction?

The White House and the Congressional Budget Office oppose the change, arguing that the programs are not true liabilities because the government can cancel or cut them.

Ha ha ha!!!! Oh, heavens.

More - Great minds (like me and Bulldog Pundit) think alike.

Teamster-free Yuengling - Workers at America's oldest brewery voluntarily decide to de-certify the Teamsters union after the boss says "read between the lines." (HT: Fark)

Seek help, Cindy

I stopped blogging about Cindy Sheehan after hearing this interview on NPR (transcript here). Host Neil Conan had the temerity to ask Sheehan about her son Casey and the conditions whereupon he joined - and re-enlisted - in the Army. In response, Sheehan becomes irritated and curt before cutting off the interview short, leaving an incredulous Conan hanging on the line.

But then Cindy Sheehan's movement was always about Cindy Sheehan:

But no, she's not, not an attention whore, and it's never been all about her. Which is why she uses the personal pronouns "I" and "me" no less than 59 times in her little blog post. Her one 'moment of clarity' seems to exhibit itself in her choice of title for this regurgitation.

Once the media backed away from Sheehan's cuddle sessions with Hugo Chavez and her lengthening list of Leftist causes, there was no use in carrying on. Seek professional help, Cindy, you're free now.

Extra - From Rick Moran: "Mother Sheehan, goddess of peace, ascends to heaven"

From the "When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" file - CNN headline: "Obama would tax wealthy to pay for universal health care" Of course.

Picture of the day - A white tiger swimming. Cute!

Memorial Day

The Sentinel's Creed:

My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted.
In the responsibility bestowed on me never will I falter.
And with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection.
Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements,
I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.
It is he who commands the respect I protect.
His bravery that made us so proud.
Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day alone in the thoughtful peace of night,
this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.

Arlington Cemetery - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

It gets better! - The 2007 NASCAR season has been smoldering bore because Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have won nearly every race, leaving little room for drivers beyond the elite. But tonight's Coca-Cola 600 almost made up for it: Casey Mears captured his first Nextel Cup win, J.J. Yeley in second place had his best finish ever, and Kyle Petty in third had his first top five win in a decade.

It gets worse

Have I mentioned that Social Security is an awful Ponzi scheme? In today's Boston Globe, business writer Scott Burns explains how future retirees will receive less but will be taxed more:

In 1983, a presidential commission recommended that Social Security benefits be taxed. The recommendation became law in 1984. At the time, few retirees were affected because benefits were only to be taxed when other sources of income were quite high. With the initial income level set at $25,000 for a single return and $32,000 for a joint return, it was expected that only 1 percent of beneficiaries would pay anything .

But there was a catch. The income levels weren't indexed to inflation. As inflation and economic growth increased the level of benefits for future retirees, more retirees would pay the tax.

When taxes are geared to capture "only the rich" (think alternative minimum tax), eventually the dragnet hits everybody.

Hang up and drive

Have you ever seen that Allstate commercial where Dennis Haysbert warns us about those distracted motorists who, among other things, change their pants while driving? I called "bull" when I saw that spot, convinced that nobody could be so irresponsible.

I stand corrected. From today's Boston Globe: "Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling hair..."

Just last week, State Police Lieutenant James A. Jones noticed a man trying to pull his dress shirt over his head, then continuing a wardrobe change, all while driving on Route 24. "I was about to turn on my blue lights when he stands up," Jones said. "He's taking off his pants."

On my long commute, I thought I'd seen it all.

Star Wars + 30 - Here's some chick from the G4 channel wearing Princess Leia's slave bikini. What sartorial quality of that outfit drives men wild? Who cares.

Below - The Friends episode "The one with the Princess Leia fantasy"



Extra - From Wired: "The cult of Leia's metal bikini"

More - You really can find anything on the Internet: "Leia's Metal Bikini"

The entitlement elephant in the room

I was visiting Mom over the past couple days, so let's just roll out another Social Security article for now:

This important matter -- far more important than the promises -- is to fix Social Security. Here's a program absolutely vital in the lives of tens of millions, a program that is explicitly the responsibility of these congressional malingerers and a program that is in such a bad way financially that there won't be enough revenues to finance all the benefits just a decade out.

Do nothing about it, and along with Medicare it will eventually swallow the budget whole. Wait to act until the crisis is at hand, and the options will all be ghastly tricks on a trusting public.

Jay Ambrose writes that the Democratic Congress has done "nothing" which is unfair because they've passed 26 laws since the election dealing with very important matters.

Update - Slight correction: Congress has now passed 27 laws.

Burning that good Venezuelan gas - Gas-guzzling SUVs choke the parking lot at the Marin Civic Center where the well-heeled Left gathered to hear Al Gore say stuff.

No dough for Hasbro - The credit card companies win another round in their relentless effort to eradicate cash. The classic game of "Life" will replace play money with a Visa credit card that will automatically add up your charges. No more banker, no more math, and no wonder people can't make change without a calculator.

When repo men attack - "With Simeone still on the hood, Bradley drove to the Abington police station, where the brothers were arrested and the car was repossessed."

Worst in history, redux

Jeff Jacoby piles on:

The fruits of Carter's spinelessness, says scholar Steven Hayward, have been bitter. The fall of Iran, he observes, "set in motion the advance of radical Islam and the rise of terrorism that culminated in Sept. 11." By doing nothing to prevent the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter invited an evil from which grew the jihadist violence that is such a menace today.

"Nothing?" What about boycotting the Moscow Olympics? That show'd em!