The Source of the Blacklist Controversy

Looks like it may have been something over at Weer’d Beard’s, which he explains here. So ultimately the explanation is they got played by MikeB? That’s pretty funny. MikeB is essentially a troll, and not something I’d even remotely take seriously. I find him to be a very entertaining troll, however, and whipping up a controversy out of something like this, I have to admit, takes talent, and a keen ability to recognize a sucker.

Mystery of the Missing Garlic

Two stores we’ve been to lately have been mysteriously out of garlic. When it was Giant, I just wrote it off as typically crappy service that they wouldn’t have any out on the shelves or even in the back in inventory. But Wegmans was out, too. That’s just not cool when they are out of something we use so often.

I came home to the wonders of Google to find out if there was some kind of garlic shortage. Considering that it auto-filled “garlic shortage 2011,” I didn’t expect to find news about moderating prices and rebounding production. So what gives? If garlic production is actually going up, and prices are going down, why are the stores out of garlic?

Help a Blogger Out

Captain America is up for the Most Valuable Philly Blogger hosted by a local news outlet. Go vote for him in the “Local Affairs” category.

Because it’s certainly not city leaders who want to talk about issues residents who shoot up ambulances or how fire-related deaths and injuries are on the rise since the city has been slashing public safety budgets to keep up the rest of their spending.

Am I The Only One Who Thinks Rick Perry …

… looks a bit like Ronald Reagan? Except I’m hoping Perry is better on the Second Amendment and the deficit than old Ronny was. I first thought that when I saw this picture. I wasn’t prepared, really, to jump in into the Perry camp until Michelle Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll.

Not Cool

My previous post was rather polite, as I generally try to avoid drama these days. But that was before Tam pointed out that on Tuesday TTAG pilfered an entire post of hers, seen here. This wasn’t the first time, either, as was mentioned in Uncle’s post. I wasn’t too pleased with the reaction to Tam’s objection, when the first incident happened. But stealing a whole post? And then telling the world you don’t steal posts? If you want to know why no one links The Truth About Guns, this is why.

UPDATE: That’s better.

Bill Clinton Gone Vegan?

Say it ain’t so Bill? But my first thought after seeing that headline, is that he’s probably sleeping with some chick that’s a vegan, and so now he’s a vegan too. PETA is happy now, though:

In December 2010, PETA named Clinton its Person of the Year, estimating that his diet shift spared the lives of 200 animals a year.

I hate to break it to PETA, but I ate those animals instead. Yum.

Tough to Admit You Were Wrong

The Roanoke Times is having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that concealed carry in restaurants hasn’t increased crime in those places, but that crime in bars and restaurants actually seems to have decreased, and proceeds to rationalize their position, and suggest they could still be proven right:

But it is irresponsible to extrapolate too much from a naïve numerical count. Other factors weigh on crime rates. For example, was business down in bars over the same period? If bars had fewer patrons drinking less during the recession, then gun incidents might similarly fall off.

A 5 percent change could be statistical noise. It could reflect a decline from a previous increase. It could be the result of reduced enforcement in the face of less spending on public safety. Without deeper analysis and context, it is unreasonable to conclude any causal connection exists.

But if there had been a five percent increase, you can bet they’d be shouting from the rooftops how right they were. All their criticisms very well could be valid, but the fact of the matter is, the sky did not fall. We told you the sky would not fall. Now you don’t want to admit you were wrong, and that just seems to us to be a lot of whining to us.