Seems that civilization in Europe is much older than previously thought, with Paleolithic structures that rival the pyramids and Stonehenge, but predate them by at least two millenia.

It might be argued that civilization hasn't returned to the area since the collapse of that Neolothic culture, but thats just one snide POV....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It's Thomas Sowell, need I say more? Hie ye there and further your education in clear thinking.

Update: And here's PART TWO.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:23 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Democrats have been losing a lot of elections lately for one major reason: they have only tried to court what they believe to be their core base, the Progressive Urban Yuppy,Sectarian Elite. They have for all practical purposes given up and ceded the Republicans the "religious" heartland and the rural South. If you don't believe it, just take note of the fact that in most of the states where they won, they only garnered the major population centers...IE, in Penn., they won Philly and Pittsburg, and lost every where else. Here in Ind. they only took something like four or five counties in the state (My home county being one of them btw). This, after the Democrats having held control in the statehouse the last two elections.

From a partisan standpoint, I for one am elated about this, as it means that I can look forward to my choice of candidates to be the winners. That said, there are a Democrats that could be excellant leaders, if they would run with what is really in their hearts, and not with the party's Elitetist heirarchy's packaged meme's.

There are Democrats that know this fact and have tried to clue the Party decision makers in, but those leaders have turned a deaf ear, preferring to listen to marketing and one issue lobbyists instead.

I found THIS PROFILE of one such Democrat that really does have a handle on how to win in America. After listening to him talk, even I would take a long, hard, second look at a candidate he would back, if it was a personal choice of his, and not just a campaign job.

I hope that "Mudcat" remains an outsider in the Democratic stratedgy councils; should they ever become wise enough to really listen to him, and heed his advice, the GOP would be in for big trouble.

Fair warning, the piece is a really long one, but assure you, that if you take the time to really absorb it, you'll be pleased with the insights it can give you, and it's well worth the time.

Raisinettes ?....hmmmm

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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A Cajun man wants a job, but the foreman won't hire him until he passes a
little math test.

"Here's your first question, the foreman said.
"Without using numbers, represent the number 9." "Without numbers?" the
Cajun says, "Dat is easy." and proceeds to draw three trees. "What's
this?" the boss asks.

"Ave you got no brain? Tree and tree and tree make nine," says the Cajun.

"Fair enough," says the boss. "Here's your second
question. Use the same rules, but this time the number is 99." The Cajun
stares into space for awhile, then picks up the picture that he has just
drawn and makes a smudge on each tree. "Ere you go." The boss scratches
his head and says, "How on earth do you get that to represent 99?"

"Each of da trees is dirty now. So, it's dirty tree, and dirty tree, and dirty
tree. Dat is 99."

The boss is getting worried that he's going to
actually have to hire this Cajun, so he says, "all right, last question.
Same rules again, but represent the number 100." The Cajun stares into
space some more, then he picks up the picture again and makes a little
mark at the base of e ach tree and says, "Ere you go. One hundred." The
boss looks at the attempt. "You must be nuts if you think that
represents a hundred!"

The Cajun leans forward and points to the marks at the base of each tree
and says, "A little dog came along and crap by each tree.
So now you got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd,
and dirty tree and a turd, which makes one hundred.

....So, when I start?!"

H/T to Bob

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:14 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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THIS IS THE BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE
CENTURY.

A Charlotte, NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars,
then insured them against fire among other things.

Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars
and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the
policy, the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of
small fires."

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that
the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued... and WON! (Stay with me.)

In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company
that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that
the lawyer "held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that
the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that i would insure them
against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable
"fire" and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance
company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his
loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."

NOW FOR THE BEST PART...

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him
arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!

With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous
case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally
burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail
and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the First place winner in the recent
Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

ONLY IN AMERICA! NO WONDER THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THINK WE ARE NUTS

H/T to Bob for the tale

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Diana West of the Washington Times points out something that we should all take note of the in the aftermath of the "Koran flushing" fiasco of a story that Newsweek disseminated, then retracted.

Take heed of her point, and heed it well, it may mean our survival. The attitude of submission is not one to take with a hungry wolf.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:37 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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On the lighter side, Boortz also has a link to the latest drug habit to come down the pike..

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 11:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In the ongoing debate on tax reform, there are three basic proposals...

A. More of the same. (just tweaking rates and adjusting loopholes.)

B. Flat Tax (everyone pays the same flat rate, no loopholes)(and if you believe THAT, I have this bridge...)

C Fair Tax (moving to a consumption tax, rebates issued for basic necessities of life, no taxes on business, death, etc)

As far as A goes, thats what got us in the horrendous mess we're in now, and all the tweaking that can be done will only further sink us in it's stinking morass.

Option B would be better than we have now, but there are some problems from an economic growth standpoint.

Option C would be my choice, were I in the position to take the decision.

I wanted to compare B and C to show why I favor the Fair Tax Plan, but I found that Neal Boortz had already done the job for me, better than I ever could, so here it is:

AND WHAT ABOUT THE FLAT TAX?

Yes, I know. Some of the people that we would love to have supporting the FairTax have weighed in in support of a flat tax instead. So ... here's some flat tax vs. FairTax issues some of you may want to consider.

1) In 1986 the Congress reformed our tax code to essentially give us a flat tax ... a flat tax with two rates. Fifteen and twenty-eight percent. Most deductions were eliminated. Today's tax code is the result of that effort.

2) A flat tax leaves the IRS in place. You'll still have to report your income to the IRS every year, and you'll still be subject to audits.

3) Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes? Still there.

4) Do you get 100% of your paycheck? No. Withholding will still be there.

5) Business taxes? Still there .. and they'll remain embedded in the price of every good and service you buy, so you'll be paying them.

6) Corporate board meetings? They'll still spend an inordinate amount of time working on the tax implications of business decisions, rather than just basing their business moves on what's best for their customers and shareholders.

7) K Street lobbyists? They're still there too. They'll still be drawing their six-figure incomes while they game the new flat-tax for the benefit of their clients.

Bring American businesses back home? Nope. Business taxes are still there, so American businesses will still locate their operations overseas in order to escape our punishing business income taxes.

9) Death Tax? Gift Tax? Still there in all the flat tax proposals I've seen.

10) Will the flat tax bring American wealth back home? The latest estimates put $10 trillion of American wealth in offshore financial corporations. There is only one reason that money isn't back here working ... and that's our income tax structure. Will the flat tax bring that money back home? Nope. The FairTax? Yup.

11) What about the poor? They're not paying income taxes now ... will they pay the flat tax? No way! But politicians will still be looking for a way to raise taxes on the rich so that they can relieve the poor, poor pitiful poor of the responsibility for paying for their own Social Security and Medicare.

12) Will all Americans be able to buy the basic necessities of life without any federal tax consequences under the flat tax? No. The FairTax? Yes.

13) Will foreign visitors to our shores contribute to our Social Security and Medicare programs under the flat tax? No. The FairTax? Yes.

There's just a few points. If you have some good counterpoints, let me know! From my point of view, the flat tax pales in any comparison to The FairTax.

**************************************************************

There you have it. Your opinion?

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 11:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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What happens when German and Arab technologies combine?

CLICK HERE for the answer.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:24 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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On June 9, the Canadian Supreme Court paved the way to allow individuals to obtain private health insurance. This may be the first break that destroys the Socialist dam.

I have had an ongoing dicussion with a number of individuals of the opposite political spectrum on the topic of Socialized Medicine, and Canada was often offered up as the example that we should follow. I tried to inform them that such a system invariably resulted in a lessoning of quality, and as noted in the story, the CSC AGREES with me, to wit: "Despite this, governments are unable to provide timely tests and treatment to many patients, resulting in suffering and death"

Whenever you get Government involved in what are essentially private sector areas, service always suffers. The more they become involved, the greater the loss. The Candians have finally come to realize that this is just a fact of life.
The ultimate direction they will take still remains to be seen, but I feel that this ruling is my opportunity to indulge in a minor gloat and say "I TOLD you so".
This would have occurred much sooner, had the NHS not had the neighbor to the south providing a safety valve for their system. But eventually, as it always happens, the chickens have come home to roost and they must be attended to.

We certainly have many problems with health care here in the US too, that can't be denied, BUT, we still have the highest level of service for the greatest number of people any health care system in the world.

Government intervention in health care is one reason for high costs...have you EVER seen a bureucratic system that didn't generate inordinate amounts of red tape paperwork, adding to costs and diverting personell from their primary task to (mostly) needless paperwork?

The largest problem with our health care system has nothing to do directly with medical care at all, but the need to "CYA" in an ultra-litiginous society. Tort reform would do more to lower the cost of health care than any other action. Reform in the way Insurance companies assess premiums should be examined and evaluated as well, all to often the insurred pay for projects the companies engage in that have nothing to do with health care.

Some streamlining in the area of medical research and bringing the products of same to the market would help also. Yes, testing need to be done to ensure safety and efficacy, but the present system is rife with built in cost ineffencies, leading to multiple increases in costs above where it is possible for them to be.

Last, but not least, reforming our tax system can help free up large amounts of private and public funds that could help drive down costs through competition. FAIR TAX NOW!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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THIS explains a lot about the latest concern about mens fashions in France....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sydney Goldberg, husband of the Blogosphere's premier newsblogger, Lucianne Goldberg, has passed away. I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the Goldberg family on their loss.

She felt that this tribute to Sydney written by NRO's John Podhoretz was the most fitting for her site, and who am I to argue?

What finer tribute could a man ask for than that he was truly loved and will be sorely missed?

All that we can know about those we have loved and lost is that they
would wish us to remember them with a more intensified realization of
their own reality. What is essential does not die but clarifies.
The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.
-Thornton Wilder

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know how stupid these quizzes are, but in this case, with the little flame skirmish thats going on, I thought the results were very apre po(sic):

You Are a Rottweiler Puppy

Powerful, smart, and protective. You're eager to growl at anyone you hate - but you're a big sweetheart inside.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:18 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I have been Remiss! in the changover from Mblog (that Emigre refuses to acknowledge) I was remiss in not including one of my old blogging friends, Kiril, the Mad Macadonian, and a new friend, a fellow Hoosier that I've been meaning to get around to adding to the blogroll.

Sometimes the law of unintended consequences truly works in mysterious ways, had it not been for a silly little bird in Australia, it may have been months longer before I noticed and corrected such a grave oversight.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This has got to be one of the funniest things I've heard of in a Long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired. This is a True phone call from the Word Perfect Help line which was transcribed from a Recording monitoring the customer care department. Needless to say the HelpDesk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect organization for "Termination without Cause." This is actual Dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee. Now I know why they record these conversations!

"Ridge Hall computer assistance; may I help you?"

"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

"What sort of trouble?"

"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."

"Went away?" "They disappeared."

"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"It's blank, it won't accept anything when I type."

"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

"How do I tell?"

"Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"

"What's a sea-prompt?"

"Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?"

"There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

"What's a monitor?"

"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall! ." "Yes, it is."

"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

"No."

"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."

"Okay, here it is."

"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."

"I can't reach."

"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

"No."

"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle -- it's because it's dark."

"Dark?"

"Yes, the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."

"Well, turn on the office light then."

"I can't."

"No? Why not?"

"Because there's a power failure."

"A power... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

"Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."

"Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too f---ing stupid to own a computer."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:01 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Thanks to Neal Boortz for putting this link up. Just some down home humor to brighten up the day.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Holy Claymation,Batman! Will we soon have avatars to stand in for us at those pesky physicals? And you thought those "liquid robots" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) were merely the feverish imagination of a wild-eyed script writer! Seems that life can follow art....maybe.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Here's an update on the "Koran abuse" that, should you believe the MSM, is an almost hourly event at Gitmo. Seems that the Muslim extremists don't have all that much respect for their own Holy Scriptures, as compared to the soldiers guarding them.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at
the top of the tree.

Most men don't want to reach for the good ones
because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good,
but easy.

The apples at the top think something is wrong withthem, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait forthe right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Share this with women who are good apples, even those who have already been picked!

Now Men.... Men are like a fine wine.

They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Enviromentalists are always touting wind power, solar power, etc etc, but when a viable wind power farm is set up, they yell that "the birds will die".

Well, Writing in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, researchers say previous estimates of collision risk have been "over-inflated". Seems the birds are smarter than the enviromentalists and just bypass the wind farms. And the "experts" are forecasting the demise of caribou herds if Anwar is drilled for oil....these are the same "experts" that predicted the same thing when the Alaska Pipeline was being built...guess what? the herds have almost doubled in size around the pipeline area, because the pipeline heats the area and provides extra food and shelter....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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