Been a GREAT couple of weeks.  The weather this month has been pretty cooperative.  I had to force a couple days off (Thurs/Fri) to give my legs a break, although the CV and upper body didn't need it.  Starting to feel a little more "run" in my shoulders/arms and chest, which is nice.

Sweating COPIOUS  amounts. Which is also nice.

Tempos are solid.  Pace getting better.  

A nice soccer mom pulled over in her mini-van today to tell me to drink plenty of fluids.  Didn't have the heart to tell her I was doing this for a decade before she was born.  She meant well.

Mind again turning to racing, like it did LAST summer.  Need to go back and read to see where I was last Memorial Day.  Figure will be working up to a full 3 by June and have accomplished it by July 4.  Be still my heart.

a few more observations on Health Care.

 “Healthcare is not an inalienable right as the Left maintains. How could it be, considering it didn’t even exist until very recently and still doesn’t for much of the world?” – Bill Flax, The Courage To Do Nothing, p. 112

Andrew Carnegie - “Capitalism is about turning luxuries into necessities”

Ludwig von Mises - “Every advance first comes into being as the luxury of the few rich people, only to become, after a time, the indispensable necessity taken for granted by everyone.”

Daniel Sanchez - Automobiles don’t dot the global landscape because hapless politicians over 100 years ago deemed them something everyone should own. Instead, cars began as a highly distant luxury enjoyed by the lucky and enterprising few, and because market forces were allowed to prevail, what was once obscure soon enough became pedestrian.

The municiple pool in my home town isn't opening this year.  It was built when I was in grade school.  I was there new.  Opened Memorial Day w/e every sumer and closed after Labor Day when school started again.

But not this year.  The cost to get a Life Guard Certification is over $200.  Nobody wants to lay out that kind of money for a three month part time gig.  Not gonna happen.

And then there's this: Obama Holds Off on Pool-Destroying Regulations til After Election

MOST Muni pools will be seeing thier last season.  If you have one and you enjoy it, make sure to pay your respects this season.  It'll probably be the last.

The Washington Post is trumpeting its new poll of adults, which found Obama and Romney tied on their ability to handle the economy. The Post is also reporting that, among its screen of registered voters, Obama edges Romney by 2 points, 49-47. As Obama supporters breath a sigh of relief, they should not a big asterick on the poll results: it took some heavy lifting with the numbers to get Obama up that high.

Specifically, the Post poll assumes a collapse in GOP turnout. The partisan breakdown of the poll is D-32, R-22, I-38. In other words, only 22% of the voters sampled were Republicans. If only 22% of voters in November were Republicans, it would be about the lowest turnout for the GOP in modern history. 

In 2010, 35% of voters were Republican. In 2008, the year Obama swept into the White House, 32% of voters were Republican. Even in 2006, the year Democrats took control of Congress, 36% of voters were Republican.

from Breitbat's BigGovernment.

Screens and filters.  Keep asking the queston

Rising blogstar “Political Math” has a neat recounting of the tricks used to juice Nutting’s numbers, in infographic form.

And today's question for POTUS:

You maintain that federal spending has risen more slowly under your administration than under any president, including Republicans, in nearly 60 years. When you made that boast to supporters in Denver on Wednesday, they applauded and cheered.

Given your (and your supporters’) apparent support for increasing federal spending more slowly than Republicans, will you now propose increasing federal spending more slowly than Republicans such as, e.g., Paul Ryan have proposed? If not, why not?

In my single days Mr. Lee and I would occasionally find ourselves elbow to elbow and a couple local drinking establishments.  Some nights they'd be jumping target rich environments.  Some nights they'd be dead.  And we came up with the idea of putting cameras in linked to the 'net so we could see what the crowd looked like BEFORE coming out.  And we did NOTHING about it.

So now some egghead is making money with the deal.

More power to 'em.

MICKEY KAUS: If Facebook’s a scandal, what about GM?

Facebook’s IPO launched at $38 a share, and the stock is now trading at $32, and the company and its bankers stand accused of having “hyped up” the stock.** There are lawsuits and hearings.

GM’s post-bailout IPO launched at $33 a share, and the stock is now trading at $22, after being repeatedly touted by the highest officials of the U.S. government. Yet the suckersinvestors who bought it aren’t having a cow.

Friday, May 25th Is “Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day.”

Related: Who Is Brett Kimberlin? “He’s a terrorist turned leftwing activist. I’ll let Stacy McCain catch you up on the details. Right now, the terrorist turned activist — who gets money from major Democrats including Teresa Heinz Kerry and Barbra Streisand — is apparently threatening McCain’s family. Given Kimberlin’s history of bombings, harassment and thuggery, Kimberlin is unfortunately a real threat and the state of Maryland needs to step in and stop him.”