Far East Cynic

Fall weekend in the mountains

I have been trying to persuade the S.O. for this entire week that we need to head up into the mountains in Tennessee. She resisted it all week-till she called me up yesterday and said she wants to go. So off we go today- I had to put the details

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Playing the tape to the end….

I despise the Tea Party-they represent to me a danger to the United States that is equal to any other the country has faced. A few million docile swine-being manipulated by some very unscrupluous men. They may not being wearing brown shirts physically-but they are of the same caliber of

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The people in the crowd say it all………

At Beckapoolaza. Just cause I like to beat this particular horse ( and I have never known anyone else who deserves a beating more than Beck does. And before you start Curtis it is not wrong to hate him.) I thought I would post a few pics from “real Ameruuuika”: There it

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When it rains-it pours.

I’m going to war with the State of Alabama. Got home after work today-and in my mail was this: ” Payments under the USFSPA are not considered alimony. Accordingly,  your claim for alimony payments has been disallowed. You owe us money!” No f*cking shit, Sherlock. However did you read the

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Opening day…….

The one time of the year the Pirates are in contention for the pennant. Frank Deford, shows us why baseball is not like all the other sports though-in any given year,  any team CANNOT win the pennant: Yes, as sure as the flowers are a-bloomin’ again, every team has a

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They stand in the way of the way of the change we need…

T.R. Reid on health care:    

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Market selfishness

One of the more interesting things about the health care debate in this country-is the argument being made that the free market does not, of itself, impose any sort of rationing on health care services. Ezra Klein recently did a pretty good job blowing a hole in that theory: "Look

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5 myths about health care.

H/T to John Cole for finding this.  I can testify to the Japanese system-I’ve been treated by it myself and I went with the S.O. to her doctor’s appointments. Of course the piece he doesn’t tell is the challenge of being a Gaijin who doesn’t speak Japanese-and not being in

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Worth repeating……

Why do I have to hear the truth via an Australian ? A closely related rhetorical device — the idea that Americans or American values are “unique” — also deserves attention. For example, Emanuel describes individualism and equality of opportunity as “uniquely American.”1 Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the

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Maybe I will reconsider

 I was thinking about buying a Kindle. Now I think I will wait a while. People who bought Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm for their Kindle were surprised to discover that it had disappeared from their devices overnight. It turns out the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic

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