On a bottle of Ban roll-on deoderant:
Apply to underarms only.
Geez! No wonder I’ve been going through them so quickly.
Found on a lid of Tucks Medicated Pads:
“After application, discard pad.”
Thank goodness for that instruction! I can only imagine the other things that people may have tried to do with a used Tucks pad.
My buddy Jonathan is posting some great quotes over at his blog.
This one is particularly timely.
“The rise of the modern secular state is a historically contingent event that has produced more, not less violence. It has done so not by secularizing politics, but by supplanting the imagination of the body of Christ with a heretical theology of salvation through the state.” William T. Cavanaugh, Theopolitical Imagination (New York: T&T Clark, 2002), 5.
Now Wal-mart is carding everyone who looks to be under the age of 40 before they will sell beer. I’m being forced to show my governement papers in order to make a purchase. Mooo. Moooo. (the sound of mindless cattle being shoved through a chute)
What’s really frustrating about the whole concept is the fact that the current laws are written in a way as to coerce businesses into doing the government’s job for them. Rather than doing the reasonable thing, making purchasing the product a crime and then prosecuting those who break that law, they’ve decided that they’ll just shove that responsibility onto the business folk. Make it a crime to sell it to anyone under 21, yeah that’s the ticket. That way we can have the draconian law and a free army of checkers to do our enforcing for us… As a side note, if you think this whole situation is reasonable, here’s a homework assignment. Go read www.lewrockwell each day for a month and then get back with me.
[EDIT] I think that more people need to lay on the Lew Rockwell stuff to clear their minds. I can’t count the times when someone’s clear description of something as simple as what a driver’s licence implies has really made me see things for what they are. That said, think about what is happening here from a justice perspective. Current law is written to punish those who are the victims of deception. Here’s a little parable to make my point. Suppose that we lived in a strange world where it was illegal for folks with the last name of Smith to own and use baby swings. Suppose that I had one at a garage sale. I post a sign (because I’m such a good citizen) reminding folks of this law. Suppose further that someone comes up to purchase the swing at my garage sale. I have a sign posted, everyone knows the law, so I sell the swing to this individual. By virtue of the fact that he engaged in the transaction, the assumption is that he’s not breaking the law. Unfortuantely, he was a Smith. All of a sudden, police sirens go off, the SWAT team lands and I’m in handcuffs. Why? I was the victim of a deception. Mr. Smith was the one trying to decive me and purchase something that was illegal for him to own. Explain to me how that makes sense? Is that justice? As folks who are servants of someone whose nickname is “Justice” I think this is the sort of thing that should interest us. Sure, there are weightier issues out there, but since this isn’t a deep blog, I figured it was worth mentioning. 
Rep. Ron Paul, before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Report on Iraq to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, April 9, 2008
Opening Statement
Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for calling this hearing on the current state of affairs in Iraq with General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Reviewing the presentations by our panel, I have noted with some concern that they seem more focused on justifying a future attack on Iran than reporting on progress in Iraq. Many of the assertions about Iran in Iraq seem illogical, others seem intended to inflame the situation with little justification.
Particularly, I am concerned about claims that a new enemy in Iraq has emerged with ties to Iran. First we were told that the enemy was Saddam Hussein and his Baathist Party. Then we were told the enemy was the “dead-enders” from Saddam’s former government. Then the prime enemy became “al-Qaeda in Iraq,” a prime focus of the presentation by Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus last September. Now we are told that the new enemies are mysterious “Special Groups” that are said to have spun off from al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.
If this phenomenon of constantly emerging enemies bent on destabilizing Iraq is accurate and our presence in Iraq keeps generating new enemies, perhaps the problem is the occupation itself. If this is the case, doesn’t it make sense that our departure from Iraq may actually have a stabilizing effect?
I suspect these allegations that Iranian-supported “Special Groups” are now the prime enemy are in reality designed to provide an excuse for a planned US attack on Iran or are meant as justification for a permanent US military presence in Iraq.
It makes little sense to assert that Iran is funding militias to undermine the Iraqi government. The current Iraqi government may have been approved by the United States, but essentially it was made in Iran. The leading political parties of Iraq, the DAWA and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council have close ties to Iran. Leaders of these parties were in exile in Iran until the US invasion of Iraq. Iranian president Ahmadinejad is warmly welcomed in Baghdad by Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki. Why would Iran set up militias in the south to destabilize a government with such strong Iranian ties? I find the allegation that Iran just cannot tolerate an elected government next door to be unsatisfying, particularly considering that Iran itself regularly holds elections where a wide variety of political parties compete for power.
It is alleged that the rockets fired into the Green Zone during the recent clashes in Baghdad and Basra were made in 2007 in Iran. Is it not true, however, that if the Iranian government were to actually arm the Iraqi militias, these groups would have more modern weapons to counter U.S. helicopter gunships and heavy tanks? Is there any hard proof that the Iranian government is arming groups in Iraq? There are reports that thousands of US weapons have gone missing in Iraq. If some of these turn up in the hands of insurgents, would it make sense to suggest that the US government is intentionally arming them?
In fact, there is plenty of evidence that Iran is trying to prevent the further destabilization of Iraq, which makes sense considering that Iran is next door and would keenly feel the effects of an Iraq fallen into civil war. The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Iranian government has condemned attacks on the “Green Zone” in Iraq. According to other press reports, the government of Iran brokered a ceasefire after recent Iraqi government moves against elements of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army in Basra.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to conclude by again stating my concern that the real purpose of today’s testimony is to further set the stage for an attack on Iran. Congress should make it very clear that there is no authority under current law for an attack on Iran. It is in our best interest to talk with Iran and to work with Iran to help stabilize the situation in Iraq. It is also in our immediate interest to remove US forces from Iraq as quickly as it is safe to do so.
I know that these posts will really serve no purpose other than to allow me the rights to a big and tearful ”I told you so” and they will provide a nice little log for me to recall specifically how this happened. That being said, I hope you’re all ready ’cause it’s coming. The drums are beating, the media lackeys have been set in motion, the commander who was agianst military action in Iran has resigned, and plus, Dick Cheney needs the extra Haliburton work so that he has something to do if he’s not still the vice president come next January.
EDIT - One more link
EDIT Again - Yet another link
“But actually, he thought as he readjusted the Ministry of Plenty’s figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another… the Ministry of Plenty’s forecast had had estimated the output of boots for the quarter at a hundred and forty-five million pairs. The actual output was given as sixty-two millions. Winston, however, in rewriting the forecast, marked the figure down to fifty-seven millions, so as to allow for the usual claim that the quota had been overfilled. In any case, sixty-two millions was no nearer the truth than fifty-seven millions, or than a hundred and forty-five millions. Very likely, no boots had been produced at all. Liklier still, nobody knew how many had been produced, much less cared.”
“U.S. crude for May delivery climbed $2.37 to settle at $110.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a new new closing record.
Oil also set a new intraday high of $112.21 earlier in the session. The previous intraday high of $111.80 was set March 17, while the previous closing high of $110.33 was set March 13.
In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Information Administration said crude stocks fell by 3.2 million barrels in the week ended April 4. Analysts had been expecting an increase of 2.4 million barrels, according to a Dow Jones poll.
The EIA said gasoline supplies fell by 3.4 million barrels. Analysts had only expected a drop of 2.3 million barrels. Distillates, used to make heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 3.7 million barrels, more than the expected drop of 1.2 million barrels.”
The new Credenda is finally here. I’ve only had a chance to briefly thumb through it (considering that I’m working and such) and I ran across a great line where Ben Merkle calls global warming “Premillenialism for non-christians.” I thought that was a great line. I cannot wait to settle down this evening after the kiddos are in bed with a glass of Scotch (Ack! I’m out!) rum and read through it.
More on Iran here.
It might not hurt to re-read these too.
We are alive to witness some amazing times.
