Pillage Idiot

• Retirement

  All good things must come to an end. After four years and three months of writing this idiotic blog, nearly 2,000 posts, I've decided to call it quits.
  
  Do I mean permanently quits, or am I waiting for a massive outpouring of love to force me to return? I'd [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 06, 2009, 7:14am EST
  

• An annotated Pillage Idiot sampler

  Given my decision to retire from writing Pillage Idiot after more than four years, I thought I'd leave you with a sampler of my writing, organized by subject matter. This is mostly a matter of vanity for me, a kind of proof of my own existence. And since it' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 06, 2009, 7:13am EST
  

• Sunday linkfest

  1. Things are actually getting better: the libertarian perspective.
  
  2. Aspen bomber. "1:26 a.m. Suspect is spotted driving green Jeep Cherokee with a spare tire on the roof." You should definitely be suspicious of a guy driving a Jeep on the roof. Bonus: Commenters blame Bush.
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 04, 2009, 11:18am EST
  

• New Year's linkfest

  1. Thank goodness Hanukkah is over. Seven pounds of latkes?
  
  2. Princess Caroline speaks a lot like Uncle Ted. Another version.
  
  3. If even half of this is true, that's one great father who's one tough mutha.
  
  4. Carjack-ee to carjacker: "I'm'" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 01, 2009, 8:08pm EST
  

• Home furnishings we can believe in

  From the ridiculous to the merely tacky.
  
  Today, it's not the plastic surgery industry that's seeking to profit from the Messiah's election; it's the home furnishings industry.
  
  Last night, I was on the Metro platform at Gallery Place and noticed two large banners hanging from the balcony [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 31, 2008, 8:43am EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 49th edition

  The 49th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is now up at Inside Charm City. You can find links there to posts from our Maryland bloggers.
  
  The 50th edition is scheduled for Sunday, January 11, and will be hosted at The [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 28, 2008, 6:32pm EST
  

• Plastic surgery we can believe in

  This is absolutely the best print ad of the year. Without a doubt, the best!
  
  Assuming, of course, that you define "the best" as "the most shameless and outlandish (and therefore hilarious) effort to cash in on Obama's election."
  
  The ad below appears in the Washington Post Sunday' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 28, 2008, 11:33am EST
  

• Friday linkfest

  1. Top ten calamities for which global warming was blamed. (via HotAir)
  
  2. Get your Koran on your cell phone, courtesy of . . . an Israeli company?
  
  3. Yankees offer bleacher seats for 25 cents for exhibition openers. Scalpers begin drooling immediately.
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 26, 2008, 2:27pm EST
  

• Merry Christmas

  Merry Christmas to my Christian readers. (Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish readers.)
  
  A few old thoughts of mine about Jews and Christmas. In paragraph 6, I suggest that Jews should volunteer on Christmas to take the place of Christians who want to celebrate the holiday. In this [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 24, 2008, 9:11pm EST
  

• OPG (other people's garbage)

  Rockville has a new trash and recycling program, and my neighborhood is part of the guinea pig program -- I mean, the pilot program. It's actually not so bad. One pickup a week, but they give you massive containers on wheels for garbage and recycling, and much more can be' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:57pm EST
  

• Monday linkfest

  What, another linkfest? Yes, another linkfest.
  
  1. Major scoop: Supreme Court justices might be influenced by their clerks.
  
  2. Baltimore efficiency: "Members of Baltimore's Board of Fire Commissioners will receive their final paychecks at the end of this month, after a recent discovery by the city's" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 22, 2008, 10:08pm EST
  

• Sunday linkfest

  After a slow week, I figured I'd throw together some links.
  
  1. The media mocked Bush, and an pro-Sadr Iraqi journalist threw shoes at him, but the troops he sent to Iraq gave him a tremendous welcome. It's got to be heard to be believed. (via HotAir)
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 21, 2008, 10:29am EST
  

• Happy Beethoven's Birthday!

  On Beethoven's birthday (he would be 238 years old), I'm going to link a piece I wrote last January called "Starting with nothing," in which I discussed the second movement of the Op. 59, No. 1 string quartet. In that movement, Beethoven used "very basic materials to create an" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 16, 2008, 7:58am EST
  

• Rod Blagojevich and Rahm Emanuel talk business

  "Reputed potty mouth Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has found redemption. Actually, just vindication. The congressman, who curses about as regularly as a clock ticks, is heralding a study out of London claiming that swearing in the workplace boosts team spirit."
  
  -- Washington Post
  
  "Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 14, 2008, 1:01pm EST
  

• Actually, it came from us

  When my sister was in high school in the late 60s, they used a history textbook that included something like this: "As Jesus said, 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.'" We all had a laugh about that, because hundreds of thousands of people had said [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 14, 2008, 12:53pm EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 48th edition

  The 48th edition of the Carnival of Maryland has been posted at The Political Octagon. It features the latest writing from our Maryland bloggers. Go on and check it out.
  
  The 49th edition is scheduled for Sunday, December 28, and will be [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 14, 2008, 10:17am EST
  

• Report: Harvard seeking federal bailout

  With Harvard's endowment having taken an $8.2 billion hit over the past four months, Harvard President Drew Faust has ordered a salary freeze for all faculty and elimination of tenure-track and tenured faculty searches.
  
  Well placed Pillage Idiot sources report that Faust has met privately with Representative' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 11, 2008, 9:36pm EST
  

• Blago holds an auction

  
  
  ABC News story. HotAir: "Obama: I never talked to Blagojevich about the Senate seat; Axelrod: Yes, he did." [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 09, 2008, 10:21pm EST
  

• Oops!

  Not news: A distinguished scientific institution issues its journal with a Chinese poem on the cover.
  
  News: The institution fails to get a translation of the poem before publication.
  
  Pillage Idiot: The "poem" turns out to be a sexually suggestive annoucement of a burlesque show.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 08, 2008, 9:52pm EST
  

• Economics 101 has lessons for Rockville

  I live in Rockville, Maryland, which actually has one of the better managed governments I've seen. But everyone makes mistakes.
  
  Until recently, one of the best-kept secrets had to do with parking at the Twinbrook Metro station. In the station parking lots, run by Metro, you would pay $4.75,' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 08, 2008, 8:59pm EST
  

• Responding to Mumbai?

  This video from Aish HaTorah made it into my in box today. It's called "Responding to Mumbai."
  
  I actually find it quite alarming. If you don't feel like viewing it, let me give you the gist: We need to respond to evil by doing good.
  
  "When catastrophe" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2008, 9:03pm EST
  

• Grumpy

  Does the fact that I can't stand the Christmas songs that are pretty nearly ubiquitous these days make me an anti-semite? (I don't vouch for the accuracy of the list, by the way.) How about this issue: Why is it that, on average, the more religious the Christmas song, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2008, 8:23pm EST
  

• Attila, the movie

  Some years back, USA Network showed a movie called Attila, which I'm sorry to say I didn't watch. Possibly because it sounded like a soap opera about my namesake the Hun, who, despite his foul behavior, deserves better than that.
  
  But I recently stumbled upon the free [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2008, 11:30pm EST
  

• Harry Reid whiffs

  "My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."
  
  -- Senator Harry Reid
  
  Suppose [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2008, 11:23pm EST
  

• Linking the Jews with the Indians

  The alliance between Jews and Indians has become closer as we've watched the face of evil in Mumbai this past week.
  In its modest way, the [Indo-Jewish] coalition attests to the deepening bonds between Jews and Indians, whether in Israel, India or the United States;' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2008, 10:47pm EST
  

• The gift season

  Now that we're past Black Friday, death toll approximately one, it's time to focus on gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday the wiccans are currently planning for.
  
  Dave Barry has his annual gift guide, which I find rather disappointing this year. Judge for yourself.
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2008, 12:40pm EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 47th edition

  The 47th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is up at monoblogue. Check over there to see some of the latest writing from our Maryland bloggers.
  
  The 48th edition is scheduled for Sunday, December 14, and will be hosted at The [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2008, 12:04pm EST
  

• Happy Thanksgiving

  A Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Here are some links from previous years:
  
  1. Don't deep-fry your turkey. (video)
  
  2. Don't mention God near a public school in Maryland.
  
  3. If you do mention God, say Psalm 100.
  
  4. Watch out [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2008, 8:12am EST
  

• Post-modernism meets the Nigerian email scam

  Tonight, I received a typical scam email from Nigeria, and specifically from a Dr. Mrs. Veronica Amadi, KTT UNIT CBN -- the CBN apparently being the Central Bank of Nigeria. Mrs. Amadi says: "I am taking this bold step because of my belief as a Christian." The bold step, of [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 25, 2008, 10:22pm EST
  

• The next French civil war

  Those of us who are socially traditional tend to think that there really isn't much to be discerned between nudists and swingers. Both participate in a non-traditional lifestyle that's totally foreign to us.
  
  But this just shows how naive we are. It turns out that, in France, anyway, the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2008, 9:36pm EST
  

• Reboot and roll the dice

  If you call tech support with a computer problem, what's the first thing they tell you to do? Reboot it, right? Have you ever wondered why?
  
  Some people say that the Tier 1 techs are given scripts, and they're required to run through the scripts with you over the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2008, 8:58pm EST
  

• Bill Clinton plans a siege

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 21, 2008, 7:37am EST
  

• The Pillage Idiot No-Markup Store

  A while back, I told you I'd tried to set up a Pillage Idiot store with Cafe Press but didn't like the goods.
  
  I've just tried again and have been a little more successful. Two products: a white teeshirt with a large Pillage Idiot Advisory System image on [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2008, 9:44pm EST
  

• Frontiers of plastic surgery

  Here's my pedantic musing of the day: How many times do you have to write about the same subject before you have to stop referring to it as a "frontier"? Four? Six? One and a half? I ask because plastic surgery of the genitalia, female division, is a booming industry, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2008, 6:53pm EST
  

• It's Greek to me, but it's Jew to you

  The latest, biggest nonsense to hit the internet is that the ancient Greeks were a bunch of wacky jokesters. Or, as this news story would have it, they invented Monty Python's dead parrot sketch. You can find the sketch written clearly on their joke parchment.
  
  I have nothing [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2008, 9:45pm EST
  

• Messianic salute

  First, he did it to Hillary. Then, he did it to McCain.
  
  Now, he does it in a pose showing how deep and thoughtful he is.
  
  As Baseball Crank (to whom that last link goes) said last spring, he really should be more careful [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 17, 2008, 9:47pm EST
  

• New Hampshire relaxes after the election

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 16, 2008, 11:20am EST
  

• Carnival of Maryland -- 46th edition

  Here we are with the 46th edition of the Carnival of Maryland, a project run by the Maryland Blogger Alliance but open to anyone living in or writing about Maryland.
  
  Normally, when I host the Carnival, I start with the miscellaneous topics and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 16, 2008, 7:46am EST
  

• He may be the Messiah, but can we expect miracles?

  
  Clyde Haberman, New York Times, Nov. 14, 2008 *
  
  
  * The online edition reduced the demand a little: "Can Obama Help Kill Baggy Pants Look?" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2008, 7:09pm EST
  

• Yikes!

  Got this from Dave Barry's Blog, where he links it with the warning: "Men: Do not click here."
  
  But, you know, it's kind of silly, isn't it, to tell people NOT to click when you fully expect them to click out of sheer curiosity? Like all those "Dude" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2008, 9:01pm EST
  

• Tuesday night mini-linkfest

  A short mini-linkfest tonight.
  
  1. Headline of the day: "Fake penis under attack for staying limp." (via BOTWT)
  
  2. Quotation of the day from the same link: "It's easy to think that it's pretty strange to approve prosthetics that can't get erect, because that is [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 11, 2008, 9:13pm EST
  

• Protocols of the President-Elect

  Office of the President-Elect
  Ready to Rule on Day 1
  
  "Yes, We Can; Therefore, We Will"
  
  

  November 11, 2008

  
  MEMORANDUM TO ACCEPTED MEDIA SUBJECTS
  
  RE: Protocol for Press Meet-Ups with the President-Elect
  
  The following rules will apply during any meet-up between the President-Elect and Accepted Media [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 11, 2008, 1:38pm EST
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 14

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . yeah, Ma . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . a national holiday . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . cultish . . . yeah, that's a . . . that's a good word, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 10, 2008, 9:21pm EST
  

• Knives out for Rahm on the left?

  I've been getting a lot of hits today for my post about whether Josh Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, is Jewish.
  
  I'm guessing the sudden interest is related to the fact that Obama has now chosen Chicago thug Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Rahm is Jewish, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2008, 7:31pm EST
  

• Surplusage

  Artscroll is the Microsoft of Orthodox Jewish publishing. People use it because it's everywhere, not because it's particularly good.
  
  When I say it's not particularly good, I mean that it doesn't really translate the text as much as it spoon-feeds the reader its preferred interpretation. Sometimes I'll be reading [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2008, 10:09am EST
  

• Winning the 108-year-old vote

  McCain apparently wasn't old or experienced enough for this Gaithersburg woman: "Woman, 108, votes in her 22nd presidential election."
  
  From the article:

  Though she predicted victory for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), in part because of his ability to mobilize young voters, she just couldn't get herself to buy [...]

  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 06, 2008, 9:51pm EST
  

• The Obama Dow Jones Death Watch

  "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal . . . and the Dow Jones Industrial Average began to plummet."
  
  
  I apologize for being a little serious here, but it's Day 2 after the election and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 06, 2008, 9:44pm EST
  

• Visitor of the day -- 11/5

  And already the questions begin . . .
  
  
  
  
  UPDATE: If you're thinking, "WTF?" right about now, try this post, where I've previously explained "suck eggs." [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 05, 2008, 9:04pm EST
  

• Another vote: no confidence

  "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal . . . and the Dow Jones Industrial Average began to plummet."
  
  
  
  
  [Ed. - I know it technically didn't "begin" to plummet, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 05, 2008, 6:11pm EST
  

• If Barack Obama were Jewish, instead of the Second Coming of Jesus, Part 13

  Obama (shouting into his cell phone): . . . no . . . no, Governor . . . no, Ed . . . no, I didn't say that . . . I said, monitors at the . . . at the polling places . . . right . . . [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 04, 2008, 8:23pm EST