Yes, it’s another “Roxey is busy” smorgasbord.  First up on the menu: Awww!  Why men should buy flowers for women. An additional reason for those men who say, “But wait! Flowers may be pretty, but they are totally impractical.”  Think of a vacuum cleaner; now think of the opposite of a vacuum cleaner.  See the appeal?

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A Louisiana justice of the peace denied a marriage license to an interracial couple, citing concerns over the longevity of the marriage. Now, here at Haemet, we’re all about making sensible marital decisions and staying in it for life, but those concerns are best brought up via a priest, pastor, or rabbi, not through the government or any of its agents.

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An obligatory post on the Meghan McCain debacle: Meghan posted a rather interesting photo of herself; the blogosphere erupted; and Meghan got upset and cried foul. Stacy McCain calls Miss McCain out on playing the victim. Obligatory commentary: Meghan’s picture just isn’t the sort of thing that nice girls post for the world to see, even if they are nice, modern, and sexually forward women; in fact, it bears a startling resemblance to the Pam Anderson picture on Stacy’s site. If you do not wish to be treated like a duck because you don’t quite feel like being made into pate, don’t walk and quack like one.

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Jeff Jacoby has a wonderful piece on the myth of the underpaid government employee. He points out that public-sector employees often make a lot more than their private-sector counterparts, especially once benefits are counted in with salary. Jacoby, remarkable as he is, missed a crucial point: the private sector creates jobs and wealth. Even if government employees were more educated, more talented, and worked longer hours for the same pay, they would not be in a wealth-creating job. It’s not just about who earns what, but about the work that those people perform.

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Finally, Obama told people in New Orleans that he would like to have a blank check to help them, but does not, and that rebuilding the city involves a complex relationship between state and federal government and various agencies. What he did not say, tellingly, is that this all shows us that George Bush and the conservatives are not the horrible, evil people that you would think we are.

After signing a trillion-dollar spending bill into law, Obama claims that he will balance the budget by 2013 .  Now, 2013 is not 2009; Obama promised to balance the budget every year.  Of course, massive spending increases, coupled with a downturn in the economy and taxes on the creators of wealth is not a recipe for a balanced budget, and Obama’s bromides have the familiar ring of yesteryear’s "inflate your tires" solution to the gas crisis.

Speaking of broken campaign pledges, the Pentagon released a report stating that GTMO is legal and meets the requirements of the Geneva Convention .  While there was certainly no campaign promise to find that the place violates international treaties, I disagree with those who don’t find anything wrong with the latest revelation .  Obama’s campaign, as McCain astutely pointed out, was more in opposition to George Bush than to Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin.  He promised "change," under the premise that the current situation (GTMO included) was intolerable – legally and morally.  Had Obama, in a rally or town hall meeting, said, "GTMO is perfectly legal and complies with the Geneva Convention," he would never have gotten elected.  He was either totally ignorant about the state of the detainee base, or knowledgeable about it and misrepresenting what it is.  Either way, unacceptable.

More on campaign issues coming home to roost: conservatives long said that the housing crisis (and subsequent problems) was a manufactured issue – a wag-the-dog manoevre designed to turn a normal downturn into a disaster requiring government intervention, and, of course, a regime change in D.C..  Now, even the New York Times appears to agree .  Conveniently missing: any discussion of the media’s own role.

I’m a libertarian/conservative, not a Republican, so it’s time for some equal-opportunity bashing.  Some House Republicans have proposed a bill that would require internet service providers (ISPs) to keep a log of subscriber information and network data for two years, in order to aid law enforcement .  Of course, the big issue is what is meant by "network data;" if it is just that Jane Doe signed up with RoadRunner and installed a wireless router in her home, that’s one thing.  If they are required to keep track of the IP addresses of each and every computer that used Jane Doe’s wireless network, and other information (e.g. bandwidth, sites visited, etc.), then that’s an intrusion into personal privacy that is totally unwarranted. It is not the job of private companies and individuals to keep records to aid future legal investigations; we are not the ruled subjects of our nanny/police overlords. In free societies, we find a crime, then a perpetrator; we do not treat every human as a potential criminal who needs monitoring.