Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has long been a fan of the V-man.
If you’ve not checked out his latest post (wherein he responds to those commenters who attacked him for attacking Obama) you need to read it.
Your Maximum Leader would quote a little bit here, but to do so would do an injustice to the scope of the V-man’s invective.
Just read it yourself.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t have much time today. It being Halloween and all. Villainette #1 is home sick (day three actually - persistant virus).
But from our friend FLG we do have a very interesting post to share with you all.
Click here to visit Rooked Again…
Your Maximum Leader will have to keep an eye on Mr Perry.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader just thought that since he’s blegging for particular musical recommendations…
Does anyone (Skippy?) have a list of Randy Newman songs that your Maximum Leader should purchase?
And to counter balance your Maximum Leader’s blegs…
He recommends to you all either of Sophie Milman’s albums. They are “Sophie Milman” and “Make Someone Happy.” They are both great.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maxmium Leader owns one John Prine album. “Jesus - The Missing Years.” He loves it. He saw John Prine once (back in 1992 - when he toured with the Cowboy Junkies).
Now your Maximum Leader requests that some knowledgeable minion(s) give him a hand…
If your Maximum Leader were to buy another Prine album, what should it be? If not a full album - what selection of songs should he buy off i-Tunes?
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has a really good Johnny Cash playlist on the olde iPod. He was listening to it yesterday night.
Your Maximum Leader has decided he really likes the last few albums that Cash made. The various albums he recorded with American Records in Nashville. (Particularly “American Recordings,” “American IV: A Man Comes Around,” and “American V: A Hundred Highways.” These albums speak to him.
Today he was listening to “Further On (Up the Road).” He probably replayed the song 3 or 4 times. It was moving. Your Maximum Leader tried to find a linkable audio file to post here. But he couldn’t find one. So here is this video that some guy made to the song.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was listening to his iPod today. It randomly dished up one of the 8369 songs residing on the hard drive that caused me to rethink its rating. You see, your Maximum Leader has a number of playlists that are based on the number of stars he’s given a particular song. Your Maximum Leader had given 4 (out of 5) stars to “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls.
NB to disloyal minions who have ill on their minds: Go ahead and laugh if you like. Your Maximum Leader does like a few Indigo Girl songs. There was a period when a few girl friends of his were big into the Indigo Girls. The songs bring back particularly fond memories…
Anyhoo…
So, your Maximum Leader was listening to “Closer to Fine” and rather than enjoy it it seemed more like a bunch of new age hippie crap. He couldn’t remember why he liked the song at first. Then he remembered that whole bit about college professors struck a chord in him back in the day. He contemplated reducing the rating to 3 stars… He didn’t. But he is eyeing them suspiciously.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, like all of you he is sure, gets quite a bit of spam every day in his email. From time to time a message slips through the spam filters and winds up in his inbox. Today one such message meandered into his inbox. One “Justin Green” wrote an email with the subject line: “Lesbians!“. The whole body of the message contained the word “Lesbians!” again. The word was a link to some (surely) disreputable web site.
For some reason the simplicity of this message appealed to your Maximum Leader. If he didn’t know any better, he might have actually clicked through… If only for curiosity… Intellectual curiosity…
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wonders how many of you might have read Pete DuPont’s article in the Wall Street Journal two days ago. It was linked on a number of big sites. Your Maximum Leader started a post about it, but didn’t publish it. He’s decided to just link the piece and give a taste.
The Europeanization of America by Pete DuPont from the Wall Street Journal.
So where is the new Obama administration likely to take us? Seven things seem certain:
- The U.S. military will withdraw from Iraq quickly and substantially, regardless of conditions on the ground or the obvious consequence of emboldening terrorists there and around the globe.
- Protectionism will become our national trade policy; free trade agreements with other nations will be reduced and limited.
- Income taxes will rise on middle- and upper-income people and businesses, and individuals will pay much higher Social Security taxes, all to carry out the new president’s goals of “spreading the wealth around.”
- Federal government spending will substantially increase. The new Obama proposals come to more than $300 billion annually, for education, health care, energy, environmental and many other programs, in addition to whatever is needed to meet our economic challenges. Mr. Obama proposes more than a 10% annual spending growth increase, considerably higher than under the first President Bush (6.7%), Bill Clinton (3.3%) or George W. Bush (6.4%).
- Federal regulation of the economy will expand, on everything from financial management companies to electricity generation and personal energy use.
- The power of labor unions will substantially increase, beginning with repeal of secret ballot voting to decide on union representation.
- Free speech will be curtailed through the reimposition of the Fairness Doctrine to limit the conservative talk radio that so irritates the liberal establishment.
Your Maximum Leader will point out that bullet point about Federal Spending increasing. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t give Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress quite enough credit for holding down the growth of the Federal budget. Consider this credit. Alas, what that point shows it that if Obama was to become President (which is likely now) we really really need a responsible Republican Congress to act as a counter-balance. Sadly, that is not in the cards either.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader realizes that there is quite a bit of “bad news” being reported. Lots of stories about how to manage on less. What to do about your retirement. How to keep your job…
Finally, news you can use to keep your bar well-stocked in economic hard times. Inexpensive Bottles to Help Keep You Afloat.
Your Maximum Leader admits he’s been reducing his Scotch consumption to keep costs down. He’s been drinking more Bourbon. It is sweeter and makes your Maximum Leader feel patriotic…
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader asks rhetorically, “Does the final 2.5 innings of Game 5 of the World Series have to be played in Philadelphia?” Couldn’t you move it down the road to Washington?
It might be your Maximum Leader’s only chance to see a World Series championship awarded in DC…
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader’s younger daughter came into his office today holding a manila envelope. She was grinning from ear to ear.
Your Maximum Leader got his Washington Capitals tickets today. (Partial season ticket plan…)
And then he learned that Alex Ovechkin wasn’t going to be in the lineup tonight as he is in Russia visiting his ailing grandfather. Your Maximum Leader hopes for Ovie’s grandfather’s recovery.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader hasn’t had a lot of time for blogging. To be honest, he’s grown weary of the news. He has been spending time with his kids and playing Medieval Total War II on the computer. (NB to Smallholder: Finished the Venice game. Unlocked all factions. Started game as Scots. Getting butt handed to him by English and Danes. Saved that game. Started another Venice game. Going well.)
Your Maximum Leader missed a chance to see Sarah Palin in Fredericksburg yesterday. He contemplated trying to for a moment. It has been forever since he’s been to a political rally. But, after calling friends, it was too crowded downtown and he didn’t want to have to deal with it all.
Your Maximum Leader thinks that McCain might pick up a surprise victory in Pennsylvania. But he also believes that McCain is going to lose Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and (sadly) Virginia. The only way that McCain gets Virginia is if there is huge turnout in rural areas and weak turnout in Northern VA and Richmond. Your Maximum Leader thinks that Hampton Roads will break for McCain. Northern VA and Richmond will only have weak turnout if the weather is bad AND most people think that Obama and Mark Warner will win going away and thus “it doesn’t make a difference if I don’t vote…” sets in. That confluence of events is a long shot. But it COULD happen…
Other things that COULD happen include: your Maximum Leader decides to foresake his family and blow his savings going to Venice for Christmas; the Washington Nationals winning the NL Pennant next year; and Jennifer Love Hewitt dumping her fiance at the altar proclaiming “No! I must throw myself at my Maximum Leader and hope for the best!”
These things COULD happen…
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader found a little bit of bloggy goodness through our friend Buckethead.
If you ever played D&D you ought to click through on this link to read: Adventuring Party Politics: The Campaign is Getting Ugly.
Your Maximum Leader laughed and laughed.
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was too busy celebrating Trafalgar Day yesterday to have time to post anything… Here is some ADD-style commentary for you all…
In a comment to an earlier post, minion Huck Foley indicated that he was not going to be voting for Mark Warner in the VA Senate race because he didn’t want to contribute to a fillibuster-proof Democrat majority in the US Senate after the election. Actually, your Maximum Leader has thought of that very point in considering his vote. Indeed, that very reason is the only one he can think of to pull the trigger for Jim Gilmore. Alas, the Warner/Gilmore race isn’t even close, so it doesn’t make much of a difference. Your Maximum Leader is still planning on voting for Warner - but he might yet change his mind.
All these polls showing Obama with wide leads over McCain tend to be polls of “registered voters.” Your Maximum Leader is no pollster but he has always been of the mind that “registered” is not as good as “likely.” Polls of “likely” voters are much closer. He thinks these polls will tighten up some. He believes that Obama probably is not doing as well in Pennsylvania and Ohio as many people think. But in the end, he believes that Obama is going to win in a few days.
Your Maximum Leader still can’t decide on which team in the World Series to root for. Would you like to buy your Maximum Leader’s powerful ju-ju as a fairweather fan? He’s open to solicitations for temporary fandom.
Lastly, your Maximum Leader is all excited because he is going to get a short visit at the Villainschloss from the Smallholder this weekend. Your Maximum Leader will have to stock up on beer and snacks. Perhaps we’ll have a Bruce Campbell film-fest!
Carry on.
Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader will subject you all to an open letter to our bloggy friend FLG…
Dear FLG:
Your Maximum Leader is concerned for you. He’s read in a recent post that you are contemplating throwing in the proverbial blogging towel after just one year. You cite the impending wee FLG, running out of things to say, and being an all or nothing guy as potential reasons for leaving the business…
Well, allow your Maximum Leader to pass on a little bloggy goodness if you will… First off, as you might know, your Maximum Leader has been punching away at the little keys for over five years. (Almost always in the third person too! The schtick practically writes itself now…) When he began he was a multiple posting per day type of guy. He was gung-ho. But then after a period he realized that the zeal was fading and it might be good to enlist friends. So he contacted some buddies and gave them keys to the proverbial kingdom and said go to it. That reinvigorated your Maximum Leader for a while. It also produced some good posts and little internal debates. Of course, even over time that fades… Have you seen a post here from someone other than your Maximum Leader recently? Nope. But your Maximum Leader keeps on plugging.
Your Maximum Leader isn’t a reliably daily poster any more. He is more streaky. But he still posts. He posts as much for himself as for all of you reading this. (And a quick review of site stats shows that over a given month there might be as many as 2000 unique visitors to this site.) It is a nice release. Your Maximum Leader has three kids, and they (rightfully) take up lots of time. No doubt the wee FLG will alter your schedule, but you will still need something to do “for yourself.” (If your Maximum Leader might add something… He and Mrs Villain will agree that our lives and lifestyle were more greatly changed by the arrival of Villainette #2 than Villainette #1. The first one isn’t as much of a change as you might think. The second one is a major change. We’ve also found that the Wee Villain (#3 child) wasn’t as much of a change as we thought he’d be. Mrs Villain’s aunt (the mother of four) said that she had to adjust more on child #2 and #4 than with #1 or #3.)
So FLG, don’t think that a wee little FLG will necessitate your departure from the world of blogging. If anything, you will need a some time to do something other than think about your family and whatever it is that you do. Blogging is a handy release in that respect. It allows you to think and express your thoughts on things you want to be thoughtful and expressive about. You say that you believe you are running out of things to say… Well… At some point every blogger will hit the old “publish” button and then realize that 1 month (or 1 year, or three years) ago you wrote pretty much the same post… (Or even worse, you wrote a completely contradictory post 1 month/year ago.) But for every post filled with a certain amount of deja vu, you have many more orginial posts to write. The world provides just too much material. After a while you will be crafting blog posts in your mind about just about everything you read, do, imagine or casually consider.
Don’t stop posting and forget your passwords just yet. Let things happen as they will. You will find a post baby groove. You will also find that you will need the release that blogging can bring you. Your Maximum Leader hopes that you (in the words of The Greatest Briton) K.B.O.. (Keep buggering on…)
Cordially,
Your Maximum Leader
Carry on.
