Lies, More Lies And The Guardian

So the Grauniad discovers that rich people fund political issues.  (Quick:  Alert The Media!  Oh, wait…)

Of course, being the Lefty bastards that they are, the Grauniad deplores that fact that most billionaires are in fact quite conservative — e.g. rich people don’t want their heirs to pay estate taxes;  quelle surprise!  Where the liberal rag indulges in its usual mendacity is that it classifies opposition to measures like the estate tax as “unpopular” — which is true if you’re a socialist like they all are, but in fact the estate tax is enormously unpopular in the United States, as poll after poll will tell you (if you do the research, which the Grauniad didn’t).

In fact, the estate tax is unpopular even amongst Americans who will likely never have to pay the tax themselves, which no doubt horrifies the Left because a.) those stupid peasants haven’t swallowed all the Left’s lies about the Eeeevil Rich and b.) said peasants think that the estate tax is wrong in that it’s simply coercive wealth redistribution.

Maybe the estate tax is generally popular in Britain — I wouldn’t be surprised — but all the numbers they quote come from the United States, so that’s the usual Lefty misrepresenting of data to reflect their dogma rather than actual, you know, reality.  There’s only one solution to these socialist bastards and their lying:

About Last Night

I think this tweet thread from last year says it all, really:

My standard response when a younger child does the “Trick or Treat?” thing to me is to say:

“I don’t know;  which one do you want me to do to you?”

If I say it loudly enough, it’s generally enough to have a Helicopter Parent come steaming up to the door and snatch Their Precious Child away from me.  Then I throw gumballs at their retreating figures.

Resi

That’s the in-house slang used by real estate agents (realtors) to describe residential real estate (as opposed to commercial).  So we have this, from Britishland:

Centre Point joins growing list of empty luxury skyscrapers as developer gives up trying to sell apartments for up to £55m each after receiving too many ‘detached from reality’ low offers

I would suggest that someone trying to sell a simple apartment for £55 million is the one who’s detached from reality, but then again I’m no market expert.  Even Mr. Free Market, who is, has expressed disbelief at some of the prices being asked for places that are, in a word, overpriced even for one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Judging from some of the pictures of said places, they could best be described as “not memorable”.

(Me, I’d call them pig-ugly but that’s because I detest modern architecture and decoration.)

End Of An Era

As I might be unable to vote next Tuesday, I went and did the early-voting thing yesterday, punching the “straight Republican” ticket as usual.  (Not much of a wait, for a change:  only about a hundred people in line ahead of me.)

This time, however, I missed voting for our longtime Republican paisan Sam Johnson, who will be retiring (at age 86, the oldest Republican) at the end of the year.

I cannot say enough good things about Mr. Sam (as we called him):  a Vietnam POW vet, an endless opponent of not only the IRS but of the entire federal tax system (“Abolish the I.R.S.!” was once a feature of his website), a champion of veterans’ affairs (duh) and in short, a tireless hardline conservative who even in suburban TX District 3, usually squeaked by with about 65% of the vote, cycle after cycle.

So when people talk about “public service” (not meaning it as a derogatory term), this is what it’s all about.  And it’s congressmen like Sam Johnson who make a mockery of term limits initiatives — if his health had been good enough to stay in office (it isn’t), I would have continued to vote for him for the next twenty years.  In my entire life, he is the only politician to whose campaign I ever donated money.

Go with God, Mr. Sam, and thank you — thank you — for all your service as a patriot and conservative American.

And a note to Van Taylor (whom I’ve met before and voted for as well), Sam’s likely replacement in the House:  before voting on any piece of legislation, ask yourself “What Would Sam Do?” and vote accordingly.  You will not be disappointed, and most of all, you will continue to get my vote.  Now get in there, and kick Democrat ass.  Just like Sam Johnson did.

Damn it:  I have tears in my eyes.