Random Pre-Birthday Thoughts, 10/2/13

• I got an email coupon from Longhorn steakhouse: one free dessert with an entree.  If I go to Longhorn, a restaurant which serves 18, 20, and even 30 oz. steaks, and upon concluding my meal I still have room for dessert…  then I'm doing it wrong.
• We did take advantage of the annual email birthday coupon to bd's Mongolian BBQ on Monday.  We neeeeeeed one of those at the Legends.
• Football nerds rejoice.  I found an analysis of NFL scoring trends over the last 80 years.  With neat-o charts!
• What did President Obama get me for my birthday?  He shut down the government!  I really appreciate the thought that went into getting me something so perfect.
• Actually, I know quite a few federal employees (and don't blame them for it).  Hopefully their lives aren't disrupted too much.  But most federal employees were not furloughed Tuesday.  And many tens of thousands should be.  Permanently.  The ones I know either work in what I consider more essential government positions (like the military) or are capable enough that they would do just fine in the private sector.
• It is now time to read the Matt Walsh blog about government bloat.  You don't have to read it all, you have my permission to skim it. [Thanks, Dustin]
• Gratuitous U.S. Congress joke in 3… 2… 1… I can think of 535 federal employees who should lose their jobs right now!  [It's an oldie but a goodie.]
• KU football has not beat a Big XII opponent in over 1,000 days.  Ugh.
• KU basketball, on the other hand, might arguably be the best program in the entire country.
• ObamaCare is clearly designed to move us toward a single-payer, i.e socialized system of health care.  Which is too bad.  Most government programs have very few consequences for failing.  They just grow and grow and grow… and we already can't afford it.  The rest of our lives we'll be hearing about people who die waiting for treatment.
• Between the IRS and ObamaCare, the government will have the right to know everything about how you spend your money and what you do with your body.  American government is now more intrusive than the founders could have ever imagined.