Diddy Blog #21: Sh*t Happens!

aka the poo Diddy edition. As always the usual language warning applies...

Biden, the Gift that Keeps On Giving.

Joe. Hoover was president. TV wasn't even invented yet. Love you, man!

Bloodsucking Fiends

No, this isn't another post about government, although you might think so by the title, this is actually about the book, Bloodsucking fiends: A Love Story, by Christopher Moore. For years, people have told me, dude, you'll really love this guy, he has your kinda sense of humor, and he loves the same sh*t we do.

I have read dozens of snippets from Lamb and while I had never sat down and actually read the whole book (I do plan to now), I loved the goofy religious satire, and in world with far too little religious humor, that book seems to be one of the best -- charmingly blasphemous, well written, and just plain cute.

Anyway, Bloodsucking Fiends. Loved it! Funny, a cool little story, believable characters, nice use of fan service to the vampire genre, and did I mention it was funny?

Without really going into too much detail, the story of Jody the vampire is my kinda vamp tale: she becomes a vampire and just deals with it. No big oh my God I can't believe it; much more like wow, vampires ARE real now how do I deal with it?

Just like a real person who has seen a few movies and experienced popular culture would be. I always hate it when in contemporary urban fantasy we have to suffer through pages and paragraphs of the characters NOT BELIEVING in what has happened and acting like they've never heard of a vampire before. Refreshing.

Add to that a collection of highly memorable characters, retail humor reminiscent of Kevin Smith, and you have a highly enjoyable, low maintenance novel. If you have some time, give this one a read. You'll be glad you did.

More Evidence That It's the Democrats, Stupid

The evidence is mounting that while both parties had a hand in it, the current money meltdown has far more Democratic fingerprints on it, as we told by Kevin Hassett of the American Enterpise Institute at Bloomberg.com:

Enough cards on this table have been turned over that the story is now clear. The economic history books will describe this episode in simple and understandable terms: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exploded, and many bystanders were injured in the blast, some fatally.

Hassett goes on to explain how this happened, and then goes on to discuss how some people tried to stop it, or at least head it off:

The clear gravity of the situation pushed the legislation forward. Some might say the current mess couldn't be foreseen, yet in 2005 Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie ``continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road,'' he said. ``We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.''

What happened next was extraordinary. For the first time in history, a serious Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in risky assets.

If that bill had become law, then the world today would be different. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, a blizzard of terrible mortgage paper fluttered out of the Fannie and Freddie clouds, burying many of our oldest and most venerable institutions. Without their checkbooks keeping the market liquid and buying up excess supply, the market would likely have not existed.

But the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter.

Again, BOTH sides are to blame for this, but each day, more and more evidence shows the Democrats deserve the lion's share of it. Will the mainstream media allow this story to get out? Not if it might hurt their Messiah, Barack Obama.

Funny Biden Video

One of the things I LIKE about Joe Biden is he is just a regular guy. I don't like his politics, but I do like him:

Now, people are saying he is drunk here; but so what if he is? he's not driving, he's hanging out.

Either way, I love seeing politicians when they get caught as human beings :)

...and if this turns out to be a fake, it's still a funny video.

Update: From what I understand, Biden doesn't drink. Nothing wrong with a sober man making himself look silly either :)

1 Timothy 4: 9-10

Here is a saying you can trust. You can accept it completely. 10 We work hard for it. Here is the saying. We have put our hope in the living God. He is the Savior of all people. Most of all he is the Savior of those who believe. (NIV)

This [is] a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. (KJV)

9The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (ESV)

Okay, we have three translations, even the one the hellraisers are so fond of: the King James Version. I don't think the Apostle can be any more clear here: "The saying is true and deserving of full acceptance." In other words: listen the heck up, dudes, this is VERY IMPORTANT I am about to tell you something that is certified.

He then says "for to this end we toil and strive" -- in other words -- THIS is what it's all about.

Now he doesn't say, watch out, yer hellbound unless you get yourself born again, pray the sinners prayer, and let Jesus into your soul. Nope. Not at all. The Apostle then goes on to say that "we have our hope in the living God, who is Savior of ALL people, especially those who believe.

There we see it AGAIN, a "special" salvation for believers, but make no mistake, ALL seems to once again mean ALL, and here we see God is the savior of ALL.

Once again, either Paul is a liar, or all are saved.

Clinton Praises Palin

America's greatest living politician more or less agrees with my assessment of Palin, as reported by ABC News Jennifer Parker:

September 18, 2008 6:33 PM
Asked if he was surprised by the bounce McCain received in the polls after choosing Palin as his vice presidential candidate, Clinton said he wasn't, and lavished praise on the Alaska governor.

"No, she's a-- she's an instinctively effective candidate," he said, "And with a compelling story. I think it was exciting to some, that, that she was a woman. It was exciting that she was from Alaska. It was exciting that she's sort of like the person she is. And she grew up in a, came up in a political culture and a religious culture that is probably well to the right of the American center. But, she didn't basically define herself in those terms," Clinton said.

"She handled herself very well," he said, "I get why she's done so well. She, she's, it's a mistake to underestimate her. She's got good intuitive skills. They're significant."

Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton knows his stuff. Democrats would do well to pay heed to the opinions of a master. It is interesting that Clinton's opposition hated him beyond reason and tried to dig up as much personal garbage on him as possible, attacked his daughter, and otherwise resorted to extremely low tactics to hurt him politically.

Huhuhuh...he said "Persecuted"

It's worth listening to the whole thing, but shoot up to about 4:50 for the funny part:

Gotta love a good Bush gaffe. Nothing better to instill (or should I say install) confidence in our financial system...

Another Good Attack Ad

Seems the McCain campaign has gotten better with their attack ads:

This is the kinda thing I enjoy seeing in a bloody campaign. I hope to see Obama following suit with some better ads.

Sandra on Sarah

The hatred on the left is almost unbearable sometimes; so is their theology. I wince as I hear this venom. Explicit language ahead.

Is this what the left has turned into?