A question for the next debate, Nick Gillespie @ Reason magazine

The federal Department of Education was created in 1980. Given the chart below, how can you justify the existence of the Department of Education and the $77 billion it spent on K-12 education in 2010? Is the only argument that performance would have been even worse absent large and growing amounts of federal dollars?

Violence from the Left

#1.  Andy Cohen plays a ridiculous game on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live called "Marry, Shag, or Kill" in which he gives three names to his guests, and they have to choose who they'd marry, shag, and kill.

On Current TV's Say Anything Monday, host Joy Behar played this game with Cohen with the subjects being conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, Republican presidential nominee Paul Ryan, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum

#2.  PHILADELPHIA – A high school sophomore says her geometry teacher bullied her for wearing a Mitt Romney t-shirt to class last Friday.

Sixteen-year-old Samantha Pawlucy used “dress-down” day at Charles Carroll High School to show support for the Republican presidential hopeful. She decided to support Romney after researching both candidates, and deciding that Romney’s opposition against partial birth abortion matched her views.

 But when she showed up to math class wearing her Romney/Ryan shirt, Pawlucy was “embarrassed and shocked” by her teacher’s over-the-top reaction, reports Philly.com.

 “The teacher told me to get out of the classroom, I said no,” Pawlucy told NBC 10.

 “She told me to take off my shirt and said that she has another one if I need one. And then the teacher asked me… ‘Are your parents Republican?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’ She said that’s like her wearing a KKK shirt,” Pawlucy said.

 The teacher informed her that Carroll was a “Democratic school,” and called a nonteaching assistant into the classroom who tried to write on the t-shirt with a marker, Pawlucy said.

#3.  More of a "If Palin/Bush/etc had said it" but here goes:

Still flustered and rattled after being defeated by Romney in the first presidential debate, President Barack Obama announced in Denver today that the best way to maintain a strong and thriving middle class was to export more jobs. 

Obama made  similar mistake last week at a campaign appearance at Kent State University before quickly catching his slip and saying he was "channeling Mitt Romney."

While 1/1/13 will mark the start date of the largest tax increase in the history of the world there is still some work to be done to roll back Obamacare.  Fortunately the poor design neccesitated by the slipshod drafting and enactment have handed us several weapons that cen be used to destroy it. Think of the chink in Smaug's plates ... or the common cold against the martians.

The administration’s response to the impending failure of its signature legislation — a failure resulting entirely from its flawed design — has been to ignore the inconvenient portion of the law. In May, the Internal Revenue Service decided it would issue tax credits to people who get insurance from exchanges established by the federal government. It has thus exposed firms and individuals to taxes and penalties without any legal authorization. Obviously, that situation sets the stage for lawsuits.

The plaintiffs will have a strong case.

There are also still claims working their way through the legal system attacking the statute based on violations of the origination clause and the free exercise clause.

You may recall that the first day of oral argument was dedicated to the AIA, the issue that Liberty University’s case placed before the High Court. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the AIA does not apply to Obamacare. Therefore, Liberty Counsel asked the Court to grant the petition (because Liberty University prevailed on the AIA claim), vacate the Court of Appeals ruling and remand (send back) the case to the Court of Appeals to consider the Free Exercise claim and the employer mandate, neither of which were decided by the High Court.

Long story short: If the Supreme Court ultimately hears the case on appeal – which is highly possible as the claims are unique – and rules that the employer mandate and Free Exercise claims are legit, Obamacare dies on the vine. It’s effectively overturned. It’s like a shiny new Chevy Volt without the exploding battery. It goes nowhere fast and is towed to the junkyard of really, really stupid ideas.

Nosferatu (1922 silent classic) and Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

F.W. Murnow.  Max freakin' Schrek.  And a hauntingly beautiful Greta Schroeder.  Shadows, but not as many as MOST German expressionists used.  Bats and wolves, yes, but Schrek's vampire relies on the rat ... and the plague.  See it.  This one hits my screen every year.

 The Kinski remake isn't as good.  Oh, it stays loyal to the original but that's the problem.  Film making has gotten better in 57 years.  Shots that Murnow HAD to use could've been improved by Herzog, but weren't.  This one's dropped on my list and probably won't make the cut next October.  

A replacement (or, to make it a triple header) add Shadow of the Vampire (2000).  Malkovich as Murnow, Defoe as Schrek: The filming of Nosferatu is hampered by the fact that the star is taking his role far more seriously than what seems humanly possible.  Fun and watchable with a tasty Catherine McCormic as Frau Schroeder.

Three times. THREE TIMES!  It was a simple workout.  3x600 2:24 [2'].  Shoulda been a laydown slam dunk.  Wasn't.  Lots of things conspired.  Lots of lessons learned - like now that school's in session i can't just show up on the track and run.  Anyway - problems fixed for the time being, workout done, week 2 of Phase I completed, new mile mark (7:36 - 2 minutes faster than back in May) and we move on to week 3 - the hardest - before easing up in week 4.

First w/o in week 3?   3x600 2:24 [2'].  Snakes.  Why did it have to be snakes?  Follow that up with 3x300 65-73 [4'], 2x700 2:49 [2'], then ease it up with 2x 1 1/2m <13m.  Week 4 is a play week.  12 minute trial, 100/300 trial, 600 trial.  Then Phase one all over again.

The Fars News Agency, which is “independent” but closely tied to the Iranian government, mistakenly reported a satirical piece from the Onion last week that Americans would prefer to vote for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Barack Obama. Fars republished nearly the entire story, and claimed it as its own original content.

According to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. president Barack Obama. “I like him better,” said West Virginia resident Dale Swiderski, who, along with 77 percent of rural Caucasian voters, confirmed he would much rather go to a baseball game or have a drink with Ahmadinejad than spend time with Obama.

Dan Rather would be SO proud!

Now that ONU has lost to Mt. Union by a mere 56 points my interest is waning.

1.  Alabama.  still

2.  Texas A&M.  SEC 1&2

3.  Texas.  Too bad this couldn't be a Big 12 matchup.

4.  South Carolina.  Ol' ball coach keeps rolling.

5.  Oregon schedule still not Div I material so this spot goes to another SEC school: Florida.

Ohio State still in the second 20.  Need to beat Nebraska by a TD or more to move up.

Ravenous - interesting cast and idea.  Cannibalism spreads through the US Army after the war with Mexico.  Guy Pearce, David Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, and an early pre-Once Upon a Time role by Robert Carlyle.  Watchable but overlong.  Can't recommend it.

Dead and Buried.  Mae for TV pap from the early 80's.  Interesting story.  Nice twist at the end.  Interesting cast featuring James Farentino, Melody Anderson and in an odd turn Jack Albertson.  And Robert Englund three years before he created Freddie Krueger.  Fair.  Watchable. But it won't make anybody's top 20.  I put it at 2,913.  Flickchart likes it better at 1665

The second of MY lists picks:  Angel Heart.  Mickey Rourke back when he looked like Mickey Rourke.  Robert De Niro (as Louis Cypher - get it?), a just starting to fade Charlotte Rampling and a hot young ripe Lisa Bonet trying to make a break from sitcomdom as the ANTI-Cosby kid.  Set in Nawlins.  Well written.  Good soundtrack.  The last 30 is as good as the first 30.  Solid throughout.  205 all time on my list, 1004 at flick chart

No change at the top.  Coldwater is da bomb! 

Covington surprised me in SPANKING Miami East 41-0 last week.  They need one more win to be legit and it might come 10/12 vs National Trail. 

Summit Country Day.  Solid.  Need to beat Clark Montessori 10/19 to be legit. 

Dayton Christian will make da bowls but I don't look for much.  Last game vs W-G will tell. 

Our old nemesis WL-S.  One quality win over Clark Southeastern.  4-2 D4 Greenview this w/e.  Win THAT and we'll talk. 

Anna.  The Fighting Anomolies.  3-3!  One quality win.  Should lose to Coldwater this w/e and be knocked out of contention. 

Another  old nemisis Versailles.  Win over Marion Local gives em a whiff of credability.  They'll need to win the last two to be legit.

Madison Plains.  That is NOYT a typo.  Week 7 and they're still in the mix.  Win over Southeastern is only claim to fame.  Need to beat Trace this w/e and McClain to be legit.

Roughriders.  tied for the #8 slot.  Perhaps Grandview is a quality win.  We'll see.  Next 3 opponents are 14-4.  Win two and we're in.  Win all three and we should host a first round game.  Harvest Prep this w/e @ Kile Field.  Two common opponents. HP beat em by an avg of 38.5.  We beat em by and average of 22 but bothof our games were called due to lightening.  Riders win but it'll be close.