My dreary, soul-crushing work environment

Dreadful, isn't it? The water is the ship canal connecting Elliot Bay and Puget Sound with the freshwater lakes. It can sometimes be disconcerting to look up from my desk and see the upper structure of a ship go floating by outside.

Polled

One of my favorite whines has been summarily cut off. Every time some silly poll proving all conservatives hate bleu cheese came out I had been able to truthfully say, "But they never asked ME!"

No longer. Your humble Snarkatron has been polled by Rasmussen. A nice robot lady asked me to push buttons. What I recall of the questions:

-What did I think of the job Obama has been doing? Strangely, "sucking dead rats through a straw" was not one of the options.
-What did I think of the job (Washington state governor) Christine Gregoire has been doing? see above.
-(for all three of the Republican Washington state senatorial candidates) If the Republicans nominated him, would I vote for him over Patty Murray? In a heartbeat.
-(for all senatorial candidates, including Murray) Did I think their views mainstream, or extreme? I'm sure Patty's opinions are mainstream somewhere, maybe Mars. This is the Taliban Daycare lady, okay?
-If the Republicans nominated a broom with a hat on it, would I really vote for it rather than Patty Murray? (just kidding ...)
-How did I feel about my financial situation? And in the future? I'm burying mason jars full of coins in my yard and wishing I'd taken notes when my grandmother talked about surviving the Depression, what does that tell you?

I thought it was really interesting that the Democrat was *always* listed first, and the first numerical option was "strongly approve" when evaluating. No bias there, nope.

UPDATE: the poll questions and results have been posted.

That's it, we're doomed

I give up. I was going to fight to the last redoubt, on the shores and in the shopping malls, but my spirit is broken and I will fight no more forever. Invest in hemlock futures.

You may well ask why.

It's not because we have an economic illiterate in the White House who is *also* a malignant narcissist and incapable of listening to any good advice, should any be given.

It's not because the economy is trying on the Depression-sized polyester pants, no longer fitting in the Recession sizes any more.

It's not because Congress has given up on reading any bills it passes, preferring to huff paint fumes and giggle while they mistakenly vote Paul Clifford into law.

It's not because Solar cycle 24 is still bumping along the bottom unable to get airborne, bringing the great risk of a Dalton/Maunder minimum, global *cooling*, and famine, disease, and whiny journalists.

I saw a trailer at the movies. (Went to see "Despicable Me", very funny.) This was not funny. They are making a Smurf movie. Not just a Smurf movie, we might be able to survive that if we have enough bunkers. No, a live-action, 3D Smurf movie.

We are so doomed.

Nice knowing y'all. Summon the meteors!

Maybe if I sign a waiver?

Today is home chores day. I needed some paint, oil-based, for house trim. So, I go to Home Depot with my paint sample to match and wander up to the paint counter, only to be informed they don't have oil-based base paint. None. I proceed to interrogate the paint guy with some puzzlement, since I had gotten oil-based paint there before. From what he told me, since California and other states are piling on the environmental and health regulations, big box stores like Home Depot simply aren't carrying "toxic" paint like the oil-based stuff. Since when is it toxic? And since it is primarily used for outside purposes, it isn't like I'd be huffing the stuff.

So California thinks this paint is too dangerous for me. This would be the same state that thinks it should be perfectly fine for me to inhale, on purpose, marijuana smoke. With many other folks thinking why stop with weed, ALL drugs should be legal to inject, inhale, and ingest. But oil-based paint? Health Hazard Alert!

Now, the paint guy thought that maybe some of the full-on paint stores like Parker still might carry it. Or maybe there's a guy on First and Bell who can get me what I need, if I don't look like a paint cop. WTF, over? It's just *paint*. I promise not to drink it.

Sunday Funnies

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Schoolhouse Rock with "Fireworks"

-Schlock Mercenary Kidnapping the father of a mercenary commander is usually defined as a "career-limiting move"
-TwoLumps Yeah, cats should probably not be issued firearms.
-xkcd
-Girl Genius Lucrezia experiences a setback in her body-stealing plan.
-Delta Bravo Sierra. Run away!
-Digger Oh, we're just killing a god? No problem then.
-Dreamless Parachute.
-No Need For Bushido Where is Ina? New comic Monday!

Not Updated, fie!

-Dresden Codak
-My Ninja Family
-Lackadaisy
-Gone with the Blastwave
-Argghhh-onauts is too busy oogling lady LAN-warriors.

Dear NRA

Your letter requesting that I renew my membership has been duly noted. I have also noted your recent activities in the political sphere, namely carving out a special exemption to the DISCLOSE Act that would require smaller politically active groups to name donors and disclose other financial information.

You claim that you did so to preserve your ability to promote and defend the Second Amendment and that this is and should be your only focus. A truly cynical person would note that this special exemption preserves your lobbying power but inconveniences other, smaller gun-rights groups such as Gun Owners of America . A person familiar with the Constitution might be moved to point out that it is not a Chinese menu, and the First Amendment supports and protects the Second just as the Second supports and protects the First.

Furthermore, I have noticed your “singular focus” is somewhat blurred when it comes to the missives I receive from you. In the month of June alone, I have gotten NRA “special offers” for the following non-gun-related items:

• Cell phone services
• Automobile discounts
• Life insurance
• Identity theft protection
• Father’s day items from the NRA store
• Wine club memberships

My advice to you would be fewer wine clubs and more support for the Constitution as a whole. I know this modern technological world can be very confusing, and judging from the advertisements you garner for your magazine you must be pitching your readership as rich in years and not precisely comfortable with computers and the Internet. Neither, apparently, are you. Information travels very quickly now, and interested participants can find out which gun rights cases you supported, which ones you didn’t, and start asking awkward questions. You should have been at the forefront of Heller, and you weren’t. I’ve heard your arguments defending your decision; they are unpersuasive. For such a powerful organization you are surprisingly risk-averse and prone to confining your strategic vision to battles rather than wars. Senator Reid may have found his way to earmarking a cool $61 million for a gun range but he is not your friend, and it would be a better use of your efforts to replace him with, at the very least, someone who reads the bills he promotes and who supports the entire Constitution. You need to be supporting the rights of ALL gun owners, not just the ones in states where you are sure you can win court cases. Yes, you may lose some battles. Think about winning the war instead -- and winning back the disillusioned supporters who no longer wish to be a part of your organization.

Like me.