Instapun***K.com Archive Listing
InstaPunk.Com

Archive Listing
September 17, 2005 - September 10, 2005

Friday, September 16, 2005


A Smarter 8-Ball
It's Friday here at the plantation and we thought we pass along a little something to do at work -- HERE. We learned about this AI project from a little orange ball that has a chip set and a digital display to ask you 20-questions. Very strange. It works on the stand-alone ball and you can do it on the internet. Give it a try.




Tuesday, September 13, 2005


Time is running out...

Waiting for our help.

PSAYINGS.5A.36. Events are now proving out what InstaPunk has long suspected -- that the human death toll in New Orleans will be far lower than predicted by politicians and the mainstream media. This shouldn't be at all surprising. Americans are exceptionally hard to kill in large numbers. That's because we're a good deal more enterprising, resourceful, determined, and helpful to one another than the advocates of nanny government would have us believe. When the going gets tough, we're not the victims we like to pretend we are when we start suing for damages after the fact. That said, it's time for the great bout of whining, bleating, and impossible demands for recompense to begin. Get ready.

But if you're at the point of turning away from the increasingly womanish news coverage of "victims," don't. There ARE some victims who really do need someone else to speak for them: the pets whose owers abandoned or, in many cases, were compelled to abandon them by the heavy hand of bureaucratic regulations. Dogs, cats, birds, and even turtles remain trapped in the flooded areas by the thousands, and their rescuers need every bit of aid and assistance we can provide. Time is indeed running out for animals who have been without food and water for days. The Humane Society of the United States has an excellent site here. Please study it and see what you can do to participate.

UPDATE. One of the many InstaPunk readers who cares passionately about the plight of the animals in New Orleans sent us this copy of an email and the picture below. Here's the text:

He had just saved her from a fire in her house, rescuing her by carrying her out of the house into her front yard, while he continued to fight the fire.

She is pregnant.  The firefighter was afraid of her at first, because he had never been around a Doberman before. When he finally got done putting the fire out, he sat down to catch his breath and rest.

A photographer from the Charlotte, North Carolina Newspaper, "The Observer," noticed this red Doberman in the distance looking at the fireman.  He saw her walking straight toward the fireman and wondered what she was going to do.

As he raised his camera, she came up to the tired man who had saved her life and the lives of her babies, and kissed him, just as the photographer snapped this photograph.



Unlike many of their human companions, the four-legged fellas are capable of gratitude. Do all you can for them.




Sunday, September 11, 2005





UPDATE:  For those who've been asking -- the song you are hearing is Ag Criost an Siol -- a song we've mentioned before as a tune BalowStar wants to have sung grave side with a lone piper about 1/4 mile away from the burial site. You know, to help people cry who might not be so disposed at his passing.




Saturday, September 10, 2005


P. J.
Our Favorite Right-Wingers


PSAYINGS.5Q.2. We liked P. J. O'Rourke all the way back when he was an anarchic hedonist with the National Lampoon. Then he became a hilarious contributing editor for Car and Driver, serving as a willing and witty accomplice in that magazine's conspiracy to blow the engines of every vehicle equipped with a throttle and wheels, skis, or propellers. Driving things to the edge and beyond is, to our extreme ways of thinking, an excellent credential for a pundit. You can't really do it without understanding that actions and intentions have consequences. P.J's. wild youth was an excellent start.

At some point, he started getting serious, even journalistic, though thankfully never solemn. He's written books about the government, about war, and even about peace. He turns up on liberal media from time to time, including Bill Maher's everlasting celebration of himself and even one of NPR's sly topical game shows, where he trades mild quips with Paula Poundstone and, well, the usual suspects.

One could be pardoned for wondering just how mainstream he might have become by now. He's thicker of body and more gravelly of voice. Is there a point at which gonzo subsides to wry? We hoped not. That's why we enjoyed the refreshingly direct essay he wrote for the Weekly Standard's tenth anniversary. It's called "Politics is Evil." We'll give you just a taste of it here:

In the modern era politics has taken the place of mere tyranny. The result has been more killing in one century than in all the preceding centuries combined. Covetousness and stealing define redistributive politics. Without redistribution politics would have no political support. Politics' insistence upon involvement in every human activity, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is more anti-Sabbatarian than golf. The Social Security system is no way to honor thy father and thy mother. And as for adultery, there was, and there may be still, Bill Clinton...

Even to be "politically informed and engaged" is probably to be of the devil's party. Tune in to that most politically informed and engaged network, NPR, and listen to the evident relish with which its newscasts and current events programs recount misfortune, inequity, and suffering worldwide. The unspoken gleeful message is, "More occasions for more politics!"

Now go read the whole thing.




Back to Archive Index

Amazon Honor System Contribute to InstaPunk.com Learn More