Craig, the Nicest Guy in the Blogosphere, has advised me that he is moving stuff over to a new host. I don’t know if that will cause this place to go dark, but if it does, you will know the reason why.

That is all.

After closely watching our new President in action for a month, I have come to two conclusions.

The President either:

1. Has no idea what he’s doing; or

2. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

Number 1 frightens me, and number 2 positively terrifies me.

Long on change, but short on hope, as far as I’m concerned.

Apparently longing to emulate the student protesters of the sixties, a group of NYU snot noses students staged a sit-in in a university cafeteria, complete with barricades and bullhorns (live blogged here). Among their demands were:

Annual reporting of the school’s operating budget, expenditures and endowment (transparency, don’t ya know)

Thirteen scholarships per year to Palestinian students

The donation of surplus supplies to the Islamic University of Gaza

Permission for graduate student teaching assistants to unionize

A tuition freeze (surprise!)

To its credit, the University was having none of it. Students were advised that if they didn’t leave the building, they would be suspended and possibly expelled. Some left, and others did not. Dozens of students were suspended, and non-student participants will be treated as trespassers.

If I were King, I would have sealed off all but one exit and waited for the students to come out one by one, and as they exited, I would have handed each one of them a notice of expulsion, reminding them that, in the grownup world, actions have consequences.

I’d like to drag my guitar out to Jerry’s place and give this a try.

Via Evilwhiteguy’s Blog

Update: Fixed to add the link to Jerry’s Place, which is always worth a visit.

Are you reading The Black Sphere? You should be.

Kevin Jackson, the proprietor of the site says:

Due to the death of my mother when I was 5, I was raised by my grandparents who were staunch Democrats. I recall as a child watching Reagan give a speech in his unsuccessful run for the presidency. After Reagan finished, I said to my grandparents, “Why are we Democrats, when what we believe is what that guy [Reagan] just said?” Thus was the birth of The Black Sphere.

I am just a poor kid, who was fortunate enough to have been exposed to what the world has to offer, and I was raised to be an optimist. My grandparents instilled in me a “no excuses mentality” and work ethic. That is my definition of America.

Go read.

(Clicking makes it bigger — damned if I know why.)

It is a rather fancy-schmancy streetlight pole that was knocked over. (Don’t be distracted by the shadow running horizontally across the bottom of the picture.)

All the ice on the street is gone, so I can only assume that someone had a few cocktails before doing the ka-boom with the pole.

Sure, there is more important news in the world today, but this is about all I can handle without my cruller exploding.

PRS Operatives have again outdone themselves. They’ve managed to install a listening device on the telephone answering machine of our new Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Let’s see who is calling Mrs. Clinton these days shall we?

BEEEEEP
Hillary? Rahm here. Listen, the boss has an urgent assignment for you. There is a plumbing convention in Macedonia you need to attend. You know, show the flag, and press the flesh – that kind of shit. He needs you to leave within the next two hours. Don’t come to Andrews; I’m sending over someone with your ticket. The boss thought it would be good for you to fly commercial coach. It will make a good impression on the base. He said it would be OK for you to expense the cab fare.
click

BEEEEEP
Hillary, this is Oprah. Yeah, the Oprah. This is the third time I’ve called to invite you to come on my show, and you have not returned my previous calls. Who the hell do you think you are? Don’t think I don’t know what your problem is. It’s because I’m black, right? I’m takin’ this shit up with Barack.
click

BEEEEEP
HILLY!! Pearl here! Called to say Hey! I’m in Rome! The second the voting was over in the House, I slammed my gabel and headed for the door. Tomorrow I’m gonna meet with the Pope! Is that hot shit, or what? Know what I’m doing now? I mean right freakin’ now? I’m playing “Hide the Pepperoni” with a twenty-something named Carlo, who sings opera. Yeah, right now, as I speak! Ooooooh, Carlo …. Give mama that High C one more time. Gotta go, Hilly. Oooooooh ….
click

BEEEEEP
Mrs. Clinton, this is Margaret Benton from Jay Leno’s office. Mr. Leno has been very busy and was unable to return your many calls asking why your appearance on the show was canceled in favor of a guy who dances barefoot on broken glass. In order to save you the time of making any more calls, I shall be blunt with you. The fact is, Mrs. Clinton, nobody gives a shit about you these days. Please don’t bother Mr. Leno any more.
click

BEEEEEP
Mrs. Clinton, this is Vinnie, the Pizza Guy from Washington D.C. You still owe me $17,566.00 for pizzas I delivered last fall. I’ve been getting the runaround for months now, and I want you to know that I plan to turn this over for collection, if you get my drift.
click

BEEEEEP
Hey, deadbeat bitch! This is Albie Kneecaps DiFrancesco. I’m one a Vinnie’s partners, and it’s not very nice to stiff Vinnie and Albie. Vinnie told you what? Seventeen-eighteen tousand? Well, guess what, Grande Culo. He forgot the vig. The total is now forty-tree tousand. We want da money in 48 hours. Cash. I don’t plan on callin’ again. Freakin’ putana.
click

It’s nice to have the place to one’s self.

I am haunted by a recurring nightmare in which I am a guy in Munich back in, say, 1934, who can see into the future.

In my nightmare, there is a new leader who has taken the nation by storm. He promises us Hope and Change by bringing the nation back from the doldrums and economic chaos following the defeat in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. The Volk are mesmerized by this new leader’s charismatic speeches. They’re convinced of his almost superhuman powers and great wisdom, because he attracts huge crowds and he’s managed to get the trains to run on time.

The problem is that, in my nightmare, despite all the adulation heaped on the guy, I know how it will all turn out in the end, and no one will listen.

Which is why I don’t sleep much.

There’s an excellent chance that I won’t be writing anything today, other than this sentence.