The Wine Commonsewer

TWC Is Not Unplugging

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Here is the skinny on this.....

We increasingly miss out on the important moments of our lives as we pass the hours with our noses buried in our iPhones and BlackBerry’s, chronicling our every move through Facebook and Twitter and shielding ourselves from the outside world with the bubble of “silence” that our earphones create.

If you recognize that in yourself – or your friends, families or colleagues— join us for the National Day of Unplugging, sign the Unplug pledge and start living a different life: connect with the people in your street, neighborhood and city, have an uninterrupted meal or read a book to your child.

The National Day of Unplugging is a 24 hour period – running from sunset to sunset – and starts on the first Friday in March. The project is an outgrowth of The Sabbath Manifesto, an adaption of our ancestors’ ritual of carving out one day per week to unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors, and connect with loved ones.

Shutting down my grid? What about books, work, play, research, letters (email) to my aunt and my mother? How is unplugging beneficial to me? And, if it is the cat's pajamas to pull the plug at sunset and take the day off, why only one day? How is that the start of a different life? 

Besides, I walked out in the hills with the dogs for an hour this morning, sat and read with my son last night, had breakfast with my kids this morning, and when the coals are hot, I'm throwing a steak on the grill while Mrs TWC whips up a salad.  

Not to mention that bottle of wine.

Pretty sure I'm not missing out.

As Ever,

TWC

 

Apparently Romney Was Elected After All

Nick Gives Her Something To Cry About

Siri Predicts The Winner

The Simpsons After One Too Many Presidential Debates

Binders of Women

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Gah! Some of this stuff is just so awesomely funny.

She'll need her backpack backpack and The Map!

McKayla Maroney Isn't Impressed

Nice collection of the binder meme here.  

I planed to wrap it up with some snark about the left having puppies over this but it takes too much energy. Instead, here's David Boaz coining the phrase Romney Derangement Syndrome.  It isn't what you think it is. 

AS Ever,

TWC

Top Choice for Opening Question at Tonight's Debate

Dog:

Entree? Or Hood Ornament?

As Ever,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Renee L via Michelle S~~wish I'd thought it up. 

Early Retirement Avoids an Unplanned Public Cremation

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

After he returned from Germany, Ma's husband worked at the Pentagon for a number of years. Just a few months before his office was turned into a public crematorium, he opted for an early retirement package. We're all grateful that he did, but none more than my mother. 

There are any number of fascinating back stories like Sonny's that are woven into the fabric of this tragedy. I prefer those tales of tragedy and heroism to the hype and hoopla going on at ground zero this morning. 

One such back story is that hundreds didn't perish in the twin towers that day simply because they ignored official instructions to stay put and wait for help. Instead, they got the hell out before the buildings fell down. That is the American spirit. To act boldy rather than to meekly comply while waiting for further instructions.

We honor those who lost their lives & we remember because of the sheer magnitude of the carnage. But we've lost more than that. In the eleven years following September 11, 2001 our liberties have eroded at an alarming pace. We've allowed the imposition of an ever expanding police state in exchange for a little bit of government supplied Security Theater.

Kip Hawley, former head of TSA.....

.....wants us to trust that a 400-ml bottle of liquid is dangerous, but transferring it to four 100-ml bottles magically makes it safe. He wants us to trust that the butter knives given to first-class passengers are nevertheless too dangerous to be taken through a security checkpoint. He wants us to trust the no-fly list: 21,000 people so dangerous they’re not allowed to fly, yet so innocent they can’t be arrested. He wants us to trust that the deployment of expensive full-body scanners has nothing to do with the fact that the former secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, lobbies for one of the companies that makes them.

Joe Bidet insists that Americans are better off today because Bin Laden is dead. That's dead. Dead wrong. A trillion-plus dollars and untold lives later, America is no safer than it was on September 10, 2001. One has to look no further than the friendly airport security line to realize that. 

As Always,

TWC

The Morning After

 

The Most Interesting Man in the World On Taxes

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Bonus: A Penn Jillette quote.....

People try to argue that government isn’t really force. You believe that? Try not paying your taxes. (This is only a thought experiment — suggesting on CNN.com that someone not pay his or her taxes is probably a federal offense, and I’m a nut, but I’m not crazy.). When they come to get you for not paying your taxes, try not going to court. Guns will be drawn. Government is force — literally, not figuratively.

In the end, you & I know what happens to those who refuse to pay their taxes and are willing to go to the mat over it.

Happy April 15.

As Always,

TWC