relantel's blog

From FramingPaterno.com, John Ziegler gives us this 10 minute video billed as:

Here is an exclusive MUST SEE VIDEO on the "cover up"!!! This is exactly what would have had to have happened if the Freeh Report is correct. Spread the truth and the laughs!
 

It is quite hillarious in illustrating the absurdity of a "cover up".

When is a non-tax a tax?

Opinion link presented without much comment as I've only browsed the syllabus and read the early part of the dissent, which would have struck down the entire law.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

2012-06-29:

For the longest time, I was a bystander to gaming trends. Outside of an occasional PC version (say NHL06 may be the last game I had purchased), that is. Well, I may still be a bystander, but we broke down and purchased a console for Christmas - an XBOX 360. I didn't push getting it - if you can believe it - Mrs. Rel did. It is the first system I've had since the Magnavox Odyssey² in the early 1980s. That's right, pre Coleco Vision. 

Saw a trailer over the weekend for the film Apollo 18. It intrigued me enough to seek out the full trailer online. It is set for release on September 2, 2011. The tantalizing tagline: "There's a reason why we never went back to the moon."

Short premise: Archive footage has been discovered of a secret Apollo mission that was thought to have been cancelled and never flown. Why was it covered up, hidden away from the world?

For those that don't recall, the Apollo Program was effectively cancelled after the successful Apollo 17 mission, such that the Apollo 18 equipment had been reassigned and used for the Apollo 17 launch. NASA had a limited number of Saturn V rockets - 15 - and the Skylab project took away some that were intended for moon missions. Rather than order more, or update the rocket technology, the missions were cancelled piecemeal as other needs were deemed a higher priority.

In any event, Apollo 18 looks like it could be an interesting example of speculative historical fiction.

The title says it all. The GOP surrendered (bravely ran away) in the process, and got a much less desirable bill than the Cut, Cap and Balance bill that had originally passed the House. In exchange for pushing the next vote until after the 2012 election, the bill that passed increases spending baseline at 8% a year, or over $8 Trillion in new debt over 10 years. "But, but, but... we cut $2.4 Trillion!" some say. Paring down the increase in spending by that much is not a true cut, just a decrease in the amount of growth.

Don't get me wrong --  the Democrats didn't win this battle. President Obama didn't win this battle either. There are two losers in this battle, three if you count the American people - President Obama and the Congressional GOP. Both exhibited a lack of leadership, albeit for different reasons.

Early this morning, NASA saw fit to end the 30 year Space Shuttle program by landing Atlantis before sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was as if they cared not have the American people watch the landing live, since they landed while most everyone was still asleep.

So much more could have been made of this event. Instead, it was as if they went quietly into the night. Quiet so magnified by the lack of a ready replacement vehicle. Short sighted, yes, but when they cancelled the Shuttle program, the necessary 2-3 year lead time needed for parts, supplies and training meant shutting down the supply line well in advance of the final flight of Atlantis. Subsequent to this, the Obama administration saw fit to cancel the Constellation program, which was set to replace the Shuttle. By the time this latter cancellation was made, it was too late to restart the shuttle supply chain - even if reinstated, the Shuttle program would have faced a flight gap.

Earlier I wandered into a summer TV preview in a post chronicling where we have been and what we had been watching. Made some earlier observations in a comment on some of the shows referenced, and now that more have been watched, fuller comment and review appear to be in order as its own root post. 

There may be spoilers below the fold. Series include Leverage, Franklin & Bash, Rescue Me, Falling Skies, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice and Combat Hospital. I'd label these as observations rather than a full out review - if I took the time to do the latter these would all be off the air before I would finish it.

Rel as usual is behind in TV, entertainment, and BP. So much stuff cycles through our DVR, rarely do we see things when they air. Usually we are weeks behind, and sometimes we don't get to a season finale until the next season has begun.

So, what has Rel been watching lately?

I thought I would be a grand entrance, something like:

 Our quest may well be Quixotic. But the quest must go on. Is the dream impossible? We shall find out.
 

 We will endeavor to be around more, all around. I had to settle for a subtitle of "the lull is over" as it has been intended to be for some time. We will see if we can make it last. 

I voted at 8am this morning, in a district that had just VA-10 and 3 state constitution amendments on the ballot. Not near as exciting as New York, with the Gov, 2 senate races, etc., but here we are. Our lovely precinct was down to 3 machines this year, each of which seemed to take 3 minutes to generate the ballot on screen. Little line to check in, but small line for the machines.