Gov. Rick Perry is gaining support from members of the Tea Party, a new poll by the Pew Research Center has found.
Twelve percent of poll respondents said the Texas Republican was their pick for the GOP nomination, second to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tied for the No. 3 slot among all Republicans. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, received 9 percent of the vote and businessman Herman Cain took 8 percent.
More here
Sunday, July 31, 2011
New low in polls
President Carter Obama's approval rating sank to a new low Friday, according to Gallup's daily presidential tracking poll. Just 40 percent of Americans say they approve of Obama's performance as president. That is down three percentage points from Thursday. 50 percent say they do not approve of the job he is doing.
"At a critical time in its history, the country has as its president a man unqualified and unable to lead. Even the left has begun to finally question their allegiance to Barack Obama, and more mportantly, his allegiance to them. More Americans, some in the media, are openly asking if the president is a liar, with the word mendacity frequently used in describing his actions. In the debt ceiling debate, he has shown not only his narcissistic side, but his complete lack of principles and indifference to the plight of the American citizens and the future of the country." Story
From across the Atlantic...The defense lawyer for the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik was asked at a press conference if the attack was aimed at the ruling Labor Party or at Muslim immigrants. He answered, "This was an attack on the Labor Party." It is rather ironic that Norwegians have supported Palestinians in their terror attacks on Israelis. The shoe is now on the other foot. Wonder how it feels?
The "political youth camp" on Utoya Island was a left wing indoctrination camp rather than what most people assume was merely a summer camp for city-dwelling youths. Activities at the camp included...support for boycotts of Israel, support for the Hamas flotilla, and praise for Palestinian terrorists. Nothing like the summer camps I went to.
One of the complaints that the Oslo terrorist mentioned in his manifesto was his disgust at the educational system for forcing him to learn knitting. He says the purpose was "to feminize European boys in their insane quest to attempt to create the Marxist utopia consisting of 'true equality between the sexes'". He dreaded theese courses because "it felt very unnatural and was a complete waste of time."
From Britain...Entire Army battalions and regiments are to be disbanded on their return from Afghanistan, a memo sent to officers discloses. An extra 5,000 soldiers face losing their jobs in addition to the 7,000 redundancies already announced.... Story (What could go wrong?)
Meanwhile, in Texas...Naser Jason Abdo is a muslim who volunteered to join the U.S. Army. Upon receiving orders for deployment to Afghanistan he suddenly decided he couldn't kill fellow muslims and petitioned for conscientious objector status, which was granted. At about the same time he was discovered to be a child pornography addict. He went AWOL to avoid being prosecuted. He turns up in Killeen, Texas trying to buy weapons at a local gun store. He is believed to have been plotting to do what the muslim army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, did a few years ago. Namely to kill U.S. soldiers at the large Fort Hood army base. Oh, and he had enough material in his motel room for two massive bombs. He found a recipe for bombs in an article from the first issue of Al Qaeda's "Inspire" magazine entitled "How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."
From Washington, D.C....A Vietnam veteran who defended Sen. John Kerry against "Swift Boat" attacks in the 2004 presidential race has been stripped of his Silver Star by the Navy -- more than a year after he was sentenced to prison on a child pornography charge. But the Silver Star wasn't stripped from Wade Sanders because of the child porn conviction, per se. Military officials told Fox News the medal was revoked in 2010 after Navy investigators looked into his record and found "administrative errors" surrounding how the award was created.
Columnist Mark Steyn has a way with words..."The Libyan war never caught the imagination of the American public, even though you're paying for most of it. But in Tehran and Moscow and Beijing they're following it. And they regard it as a useful preview of the post-American world. Absent American will, even a tin-pot desert drag queen can stand up to the great powers and survive. The lesson of Obama's half-hearted little war isn't lost in the chancelleries of America's enemies."
Doesn't this quote by H. L. Mencken ring true?..."The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
I did not realize how evil the conservatives are until I read this quote from Nancy Pelosi... "This isn’t just about them saying we should reduce the deficit. This is an excuse. The budget deficit is an excuse for the Republicans to undermine government plain and simple. They don’t just want to make cuts, they want to destroy. They want to destroy food safety, clean air, clean water, the department of education. They want to destroy your rights." (She forget to add how we want to kill all puppies and kittens, too)
Overheard in the barber shop this week..."Anybody know what's the leading cause of divorce?"
Marriage
"At a critical time in its history, the country has as its president a man unqualified and unable to lead. Even the left has begun to finally question their allegiance to Barack Obama, and more mportantly, his allegiance to them. More Americans, some in the media, are openly asking if the president is a liar, with the word mendacity frequently used in describing his actions. In the debt ceiling debate, he has shown not only his narcissistic side, but his complete lack of principles and indifference to the plight of the American citizens and the future of the country." Story
From across the Atlantic...The defense lawyer for the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik was asked at a press conference if the attack was aimed at the ruling Labor Party or at Muslim immigrants. He answered, "This was an attack on the Labor Party." It is rather ironic that Norwegians have supported Palestinians in their terror attacks on Israelis. The shoe is now on the other foot. Wonder how it feels?
The "political youth camp" on Utoya Island was a left wing indoctrination camp rather than what most people assume was merely a summer camp for city-dwelling youths. Activities at the camp included...support for boycotts of Israel, support for the Hamas flotilla, and praise for Palestinian terrorists. Nothing like the summer camps I went to.
One of the complaints that the Oslo terrorist mentioned in his manifesto was his disgust at the educational system for forcing him to learn knitting. He says the purpose was "to feminize European boys in their insane quest to attempt to create the Marxist utopia consisting of 'true equality between the sexes'". He dreaded theese courses because "it felt very unnatural and was a complete waste of time."
From Britain...Entire Army battalions and regiments are to be disbanded on their return from Afghanistan, a memo sent to officers discloses. An extra 5,000 soldiers face losing their jobs in addition to the 7,000 redundancies already announced.... Story (What could go wrong?)
Meanwhile, in Texas...Naser Jason Abdo is a muslim who volunteered to join the U.S. Army. Upon receiving orders for deployment to Afghanistan he suddenly decided he couldn't kill fellow muslims and petitioned for conscientious objector status, which was granted. At about the same time he was discovered to be a child pornography addict. He went AWOL to avoid being prosecuted. He turns up in Killeen, Texas trying to buy weapons at a local gun store. He is believed to have been plotting to do what the muslim army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, did a few years ago. Namely to kill U.S. soldiers at the large Fort Hood army base. Oh, and he had enough material in his motel room for two massive bombs. He found a recipe for bombs in an article from the first issue of Al Qaeda's "Inspire" magazine entitled "How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."
From Washington, D.C....A Vietnam veteran who defended Sen. John Kerry against "Swift Boat" attacks in the 2004 presidential race has been stripped of his Silver Star by the Navy -- more than a year after he was sentenced to prison on a child pornography charge. But the Silver Star wasn't stripped from Wade Sanders because of the child porn conviction, per se. Military officials told Fox News the medal was revoked in 2010 after Navy investigators looked into his record and found "administrative errors" surrounding how the award was created.
Columnist Mark Steyn has a way with words..."The Libyan war never caught the imagination of the American public, even though you're paying for most of it. But in Tehran and Moscow and Beijing they're following it. And they regard it as a useful preview of the post-American world. Absent American will, even a tin-pot desert drag queen can stand up to the great powers and survive. The lesson of Obama's half-hearted little war isn't lost in the chancelleries of America's enemies."
Doesn't this quote by H. L. Mencken ring true?..."The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
I did not realize how evil the conservatives are until I read this quote from Nancy Pelosi... "This isn’t just about them saying we should reduce the deficit. This is an excuse. The budget deficit is an excuse for the Republicans to undermine government plain and simple. They don’t just want to make cuts, they want to destroy. They want to destroy food safety, clean air, clean water, the department of education. They want to destroy your rights." (She forget to add how we want to kill all puppies and kittens, too)
Overheard in the barber shop this week..."Anybody know what's the leading cause of divorce?"
Marriage
Saturday, July 30, 2011
NAACP doesn't like voter ID
While NAACP President Benjamin Jealous lashed out at new state laws requiring photo ID for voting, an NAACP executive sits in prison, sentenced for carrying out a massive voter fraud scheme.
In a story ignored by the national media, in April a Tunica County, Miss., jury convicted NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers on 10 counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots. Sowers is identified on an NAACP website as a member of the Tunica County NAACP Executive Committee.
Sowers received a five-year prison term for each of the 10 counts, but Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster permitted Sowers to serve those terms concurrently, according to the Tunica Times, the only media outlet to cover the sentencing.
"This crime cuts against the fabric of our free society," Judge Webster said.
More here
In a story ignored by the national media, in April a Tunica County, Miss., jury convicted NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers on 10 counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots. Sowers is identified on an NAACP website as a member of the Tunica County NAACP Executive Committee.
Sowers received a five-year prison term for each of the 10 counts, but Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster permitted Sowers to serve those terms concurrently, according to the Tunica Times, the only media outlet to cover the sentencing.
"This crime cuts against the fabric of our free society," Judge Webster said.
More here
Wall Street
Bad news, stock-market bulls: Corporate insiders are selling their companies' shares at an abnormally fast pace.
In fact, one measure of that selling activity shows insiders of NYSE- and AMEX-listed companies recently were selling at the fastest rate since data began being collected in the early 1970s, four decades ago.
On the theory that insiders know more about their companies' prospects than do the rest of us, this is an ominous sign.
More here
In fact, one measure of that selling activity shows insiders of NYSE- and AMEX-listed companies recently were selling at the fastest rate since data began being collected in the early 1970s, four decades ago.
On the theory that insiders know more about their companies' prospects than do the rest of us, this is an ominous sign.
More here
Social engineering run amok
Nearly 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson began the War on Poverty, we are as impoverished as ever.
There are various reasons. But a big one is this: The federal government turned home ownership into an affirmative-action program, complete with quotas. And a lot of people who had no business buying houses bought them and then lost them.
"As sad as it is to say, this began in the Clinton Administration as a response to the argument that the poor and minorities couldn't get credit and were being left out of the home-ownership dream," says James Wright, a sociology professor at University of Central Florida. "They couldn't meet credit requirements. There was a lot of pressure in progressive circles" to change those requirements.
To further this goal, Fannie Mae agreed to buy high-risk subprime loans in 1999. This meant lenders could sell the loans to unqualified buyers and then dump them on Fannie and the taxpayers.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development set a goal that, by 2001, half the portfolios of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae should be composed of loans to low-income and moderate-income buyers.
Once Freddie and Fannie were fully engaged in the subprime business, the market went crazy. Lenders enticed unqualified and unsophisticated borrowers into signing loans they couldn't possibly pay off.
More here
(Not mentioned was the fact that the U.S. government threatened to sue mortgage companies and banks if they did not do something to increase minority ownership. They had to lower their lending standards or else be sued for discrimination.)
There are various reasons. But a big one is this: The federal government turned home ownership into an affirmative-action program, complete with quotas. And a lot of people who had no business buying houses bought them and then lost them.
"As sad as it is to say, this began in the Clinton Administration as a response to the argument that the poor and minorities couldn't get credit and were being left out of the home-ownership dream," says James Wright, a sociology professor at University of Central Florida. "They couldn't meet credit requirements. There was a lot of pressure in progressive circles" to change those requirements.
To further this goal, Fannie Mae agreed to buy high-risk subprime loans in 1999. This meant lenders could sell the loans to unqualified buyers and then dump them on Fannie and the taxpayers.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development set a goal that, by 2001, half the portfolios of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae should be composed of loans to low-income and moderate-income buyers.
Once Freddie and Fannie were fully engaged in the subprime business, the market went crazy. Lenders enticed unqualified and unsophisticated borrowers into signing loans they couldn't possibly pay off.
More here
(Not mentioned was the fact that the U.S. government threatened to sue mortgage companies and banks if they did not do something to increase minority ownership. They had to lower their lending standards or else be sued for discrimination.)
Friday, July 29, 2011
War on single-family homes
In recent years, homeowners have been made to feel a bit like villains rather than the victims of hard times, Wall Street shenanigans and inept regulators. Instead of being praised for braving the elements, suburban homeowners have been made to feel responsible for everything from the Great Recession to obesity to global warming.
In California, the assault on the house has gained official sanction. Once the heartland of the American dream, the Golden State has begun implementing new planning laws designed to combat global warming. These draconian measures could lead to a ban on the construction of private residences, particularly on the suburban fringe. The new legislation's goal is to cram future generations of Californians into multi-family apartment buildings, turning them from car-driving suburbanites into strap-hanging urbanistas.
That’s not what Californians want: Some 71% of adults in the state cite a preference for single-family houses. Furthermore, the vast majority of growth over the past decade has taken place not in high-density urban centers but in lower-density peripheral areas such as Riverside-San Bernardino. Yet popular preferences mean little in a state where environmental zealotry increasingly dictates how people should live their lives.
Some advocates do cite market forces to justify their policies. Economists on the left and right have cited the recent housing bust as proof that homes are not great investments, suggesting people would be better off leaving their money to the tender mercies of Wall Street speculators. Some demographers also suggest that young people will choose to live in high-density regions throughout their lives and that as boomers age they too will opt out of suburbs for urban apartment living.
More here
In California, the assault on the house has gained official sanction. Once the heartland of the American dream, the Golden State has begun implementing new planning laws designed to combat global warming. These draconian measures could lead to a ban on the construction of private residences, particularly on the suburban fringe. The new legislation's goal is to cram future generations of Californians into multi-family apartment buildings, turning them from car-driving suburbanites into strap-hanging urbanistas.
That’s not what Californians want: Some 71% of adults in the state cite a preference for single-family houses. Furthermore, the vast majority of growth over the past decade has taken place not in high-density urban centers but in lower-density peripheral areas such as Riverside-San Bernardino. Yet popular preferences mean little in a state where environmental zealotry increasingly dictates how people should live their lives.
Some advocates do cite market forces to justify their policies. Economists on the left and right have cited the recent housing bust as proof that homes are not great investments, suggesting people would be better off leaving their money to the tender mercies of Wall Street speculators. Some demographers also suggest that young people will choose to live in high-density regions throughout their lives and that as boomers age they too will opt out of suburbs for urban apartment living.
More here
Voter ID is sensible
‘Requiring identification at the polling place is a reasonable request to ensure the accuracy and integrity of our elections."
So said Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee — an independent — as he signed his state's new voter ID law on July 6, making Rhode Island the seventh state this year, including Texas, to pass a common-sense requirement that voters present valid identification before casting their ballots.
Polling shows that a substantial majority of Americans from all racial and ethnic backgrounds agree it's the right thing to do.
Voter ID can prevent impersonation fraud, voting under fictitious voter registrations, double-voting by individuals registered in more than one state, and voting by undocumented immigrants.
Opponents suggest there is no voter fraud, or at least not enough to worry about. But historians cite many instances of voter fraud on a scale sufficient to determine the outcome of close elections.
More here
So said Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee — an independent — as he signed his state's new voter ID law on July 6, making Rhode Island the seventh state this year, including Texas, to pass a common-sense requirement that voters present valid identification before casting their ballots.
Polling shows that a substantial majority of Americans from all racial and ethnic backgrounds agree it's the right thing to do.
Voter ID can prevent impersonation fraud, voting under fictitious voter registrations, double-voting by individuals registered in more than one state, and voting by undocumented immigrants.
Opponents suggest there is no voter fraud, or at least not enough to worry about. But historians cite many instances of voter fraud on a scale sufficient to determine the outcome of close elections.
More here
Nowak forced out of Navy
A former astronaut banished from NASA after she confronted a romantic rival in a bizarre episode is being expelled from the Navy, officials said Thursday.
Capt. Lisa Nowak will retire with an "other than honorable" discharge and her pay grade will be knocked down one rank, Assistant Secretary of Navy Juan Garcia said in a statement.
Nowak's conduct "fell well short" of what is expected of Navy officers and she "demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being of a fellow service member," Garcia said.
More here
(Four years...Would it have taken so long to get rid of a man in similar circumstances?)
Capt. Lisa Nowak will retire with an "other than honorable" discharge and her pay grade will be knocked down one rank, Assistant Secretary of Navy Juan Garcia said in a statement.
Nowak's conduct "fell well short" of what is expected of Navy officers and she "demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being of a fellow service member," Garcia said.
More here
(Four years...Would it have taken so long to get rid of a man in similar circumstances?)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Butt slasher
Police in Virginia are on the hunt for a suspected serial butt slasher after a spate of brazen attacks on young women in stores filled with other shoppers.
In the most recent attack, an 18-year-old woman was slashed through her denim shorts with a box cutter or razor in the Forever 21 store at the Fair Oaks Mall Monday evening, Police spokesperson Lucy Caldwell told reporters.
She was first distracted by the sound of falling clothes.
The attack mirrors four similar incidents around Fairfax County since February with the same MO - a distraction just before the slasher struck. All of the victims were women in their late teens or early twenties.
"He slashes them with a cutting knife or razor - across the buttocks," Caldwell told NBC11 television news.
More here
In the most recent attack, an 18-year-old woman was slashed through her denim shorts with a box cutter or razor in the Forever 21 store at the Fair Oaks Mall Monday evening, Police spokesperson Lucy Caldwell told reporters.
She was first distracted by the sound of falling clothes.
The attack mirrors four similar incidents around Fairfax County since February with the same MO - a distraction just before the slasher struck. All of the victims were women in their late teens or early twenties.
"He slashes them with a cutting knife or razor - across the buttocks," Caldwell told NBC11 television news.
More here
Did the president quit?
On Tuesday night’s "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart broke down President Barack Obama’s address to the nation about the looming deficit.
When Obama implored the country to send a message to their Congress members, Stewart had had enough.
"Did the president just quit?" he asked. "Did that — seriously, you’re the president. Did you just ask us to call Congress? Yeah, sure, I’ll call the Congress: ‘why don’t you come here and mow my lawn, because I’ve got shit to do.’"
Source
When Obama implored the country to send a message to their Congress members, Stewart had had enough.
"Did the president just quit?" he asked. "Did that — seriously, you’re the president. Did you just ask us to call Congress? Yeah, sure, I’ll call the Congress: ‘why don’t you come here and mow my lawn, because I’ve got shit to do.’"
Source
Where the world is headed
There are some trying to draw some political conclusion about left and right from the massacre; I would like to go deeper. This tragedy doesn’t just speak to the state of cultural politics in our time, or remind us (as it surely does) that evil has a home in every human culture and human heart; it challenges some of our deepest beliefs about where the world is headed.
...There has always been a nasty strain of hatred in Norway; not only does the name 'quisling' come from the enthusiastic puppet ruler of Norway during the German occupation, but Norway’s Nobel prizewinning novelist Knut Hamsun was a pig of a Nazi as well. (After Hitler’s death a grief striken Hamsun eulogized him as "a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations." ) Twenty years ago I spent several weeks driving through Norway and heard a lot of fear (and in some cases hatred) directed towards Muslim immigrants. Nevertheless, there is no substantial neo-Nazi party in Norway and by and large it remains one of the world’s more tolerant and outward looking countries. Breivik doesn’t herald an era of fascism in Norway, but he demonstrates the persistence of the dark forces that modernization (democracy plus affluence) was supposed to cure.
More here
...There has always been a nasty strain of hatred in Norway; not only does the name 'quisling' come from the enthusiastic puppet ruler of Norway during the German occupation, but Norway’s Nobel prizewinning novelist Knut Hamsun was a pig of a Nazi as well. (After Hitler’s death a grief striken Hamsun eulogized him as "a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations." ) Twenty years ago I spent several weeks driving through Norway and heard a lot of fear (and in some cases hatred) directed towards Muslim immigrants. Nevertheless, there is no substantial neo-Nazi party in Norway and by and large it remains one of the world’s more tolerant and outward looking countries. Breivik doesn’t herald an era of fascism in Norway, but he demonstrates the persistence of the dark forces that modernization (democracy plus affluence) was supposed to cure.
More here
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Weeper
The weeper, John Boehner, seems to be holding his old with our man-child president in the fight to cut spending. I'm surprised, I would have bet big bucks on his caving weeks ago. How much actual spending cuts emerge is still up for debate. They love to bring home the bacon about as much as kicking the can down the road.
Meanwhile...In what critics call a classic case of the government working at cross purposes, Washington is forcing residents across the country to install mercury lighting inside their homes while phasing out mercury lighting outside homes to protect the environment. Story
Obama flip flops. List here
The Wall Street Journal reports that...The unemployment rate increased in 28 states in June, reflecting the rise in the national rate to 9.2% from 9.1% over the month, the Labor Department said Friday. While 14 states saw their unemployment rate hold steady, eight logged decreases.
Where's she been for the past 4 years?...Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on proposals to reduce the deficit and avoid default: "It is clear we must enter an era of austerity; to reduce the deficit through shared sacrifice."
Elsewhere..."We also know that the inherent tendency of the welfare state is to increase poverty; that ‘welfare’ still continues every year to absorb a greater proportion of our nations’ wealth and population; and that there is no social force in sight capable of stopping that process." Source
The only officially declared socialist in Congress, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, says, "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." Story
Cornel West is not too happy with PresidentCarter Obama.
Only 680 electric cars were sold in the UK in the first six months of 2011, averaging 113 vehicles each month. Given that the government subsidizes each electric car sale by paying the first £5,000 (USD $8,170), the public enjoys a substantial incentive to purchase. But it doesn't seem to be working. Source
Electric car company in California goes belly up. Taxpayers suck it up. Story
Many are suggesting we get out of Afghanistan. They claim we should not be in the business of assisting in the establishment of a Shari'a compliant country. They have a point. Recently, Taliban members hung the 8 year-old son a police commander in southern Afghanistan. The boy had been kidnapped in order to force the father to surrender to Taliban militants.
A Texan is among the first women to be assigned to submarine duty. Story
Meanwhile...In what critics call a classic case of the government working at cross purposes, Washington is forcing residents across the country to install mercury lighting inside their homes while phasing out mercury lighting outside homes to protect the environment. Story
Obama flip flops. List here
The Wall Street Journal reports that...The unemployment rate increased in 28 states in June, reflecting the rise in the national rate to 9.2% from 9.1% over the month, the Labor Department said Friday. While 14 states saw their unemployment rate hold steady, eight logged decreases.
Where's she been for the past 4 years?...Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on proposals to reduce the deficit and avoid default: "It is clear we must enter an era of austerity; to reduce the deficit through shared sacrifice."
Elsewhere..."We also know that the inherent tendency of the welfare state is to increase poverty; that ‘welfare’ still continues every year to absorb a greater proportion of our nations’ wealth and population; and that there is no social force in sight capable of stopping that process." Source
The only officially declared socialist in Congress, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, says, "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." Story
Cornel West is not too happy with President
Only 680 electric cars were sold in the UK in the first six months of 2011, averaging 113 vehicles each month. Given that the government subsidizes each electric car sale by paying the first £5,000 (USD $8,170), the public enjoys a substantial incentive to purchase. But it doesn't seem to be working. Source
Electric car company in California goes belly up. Taxpayers suck it up. Story
Many are suggesting we get out of Afghanistan. They claim we should not be in the business of assisting in the establishment of a Shari'a compliant country. They have a point. Recently, Taliban members hung the 8 year-old son a police commander in southern Afghanistan. The boy had been kidnapped in order to force the father to surrender to Taliban militants.
A Texan is among the first women to be assigned to submarine duty. Story
Whole Foods fakery
A Whole Foods Market employee has launched an hilarious attack on the firm with an extraordinary letter of resignation.
Fed up with what he described as the fakery of the store - which he claims is more of a 'faux hippy Wal-Mart than an 'earth-and-body-friendly organic foods paradise' - he sets about righting some of those perceived wrongs in a 2,343-word essay to former bosses.
In his outburst he says the firm mistreats and underpays employees, flouts its environmental responsibilities, and allows customers to abuse staff.
He also labels the food, the portion sizes of which he says are shrinking as 'really quite awful on average' and not as healthy as advertised.
More here
Fed up with what he described as the fakery of the store - which he claims is more of a 'faux hippy Wal-Mart than an 'earth-and-body-friendly organic foods paradise' - he sets about righting some of those perceived wrongs in a 2,343-word essay to former bosses.
In his outburst he says the firm mistreats and underpays employees, flouts its environmental responsibilities, and allows customers to abuse staff.
He also labels the food, the portion sizes of which he says are shrinking as 'really quite awful on average' and not as healthy as advertised.
More here
Flip flop
The national green lobbies initially welcomed shale gas. In 2009, for example, Robert Kennedy Jr., head of the Waterkeeper Alliance, called it "an obvious bridge fuel to the ‘new’ energy economy." Local environmental activists were not as enthusiastic, arguing that fracking contaminates drinking water and causes other forms of pollution. After a while, some of the national lobbies began to come around to the locals’ side. In the words of the journalist Matt Ridley, "it became apparent that shale gas was a competitive threat to renewable energy." Josh Fox, director of the anti–natural gas documentary Gasland, put it bluntly on Kennedy’s radio show: "What’s really happening here is not a battle between natural gas and coal. What’s happening here is a battle between another dirty fossil fuel and renewable energy."
Indeed, natural gas is cheaper than renewable sources of energy, even if you include the costs of carbon capture and sequestration. The EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook for 2011 calculates the levelized costs of electric power generation for various fuel sources. (Levelized costs include all capital, operating and maintenance, fuel, and transmission costs for building plants now that would switch on by 2016.) Electricity produced using natural gas in a combined cycle generating plant comes in at $66 per megawatt-hour. By contrast, offshore wind clocks in at $243 per megawatt-hour, photovoltaic at $211, solar thermal at $312, geothermal at $102, and biomass at $113. The only renewable sources that are close to competitive with natural gas are onshore wind at $97 per megawatt-hour and hydroelectric at $86.
More here
Indeed, natural gas is cheaper than renewable sources of energy, even if you include the costs of carbon capture and sequestration. The EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook for 2011 calculates the levelized costs of electric power generation for various fuel sources. (Levelized costs include all capital, operating and maintenance, fuel, and transmission costs for building plants now that would switch on by 2016.) Electricity produced using natural gas in a combined cycle generating plant comes in at $66 per megawatt-hour. By contrast, offshore wind clocks in at $243 per megawatt-hour, photovoltaic at $211, solar thermal at $312, geothermal at $102, and biomass at $113. The only renewable sources that are close to competitive with natural gas are onshore wind at $97 per megawatt-hour and hydroelectric at $86.
More here
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Financing the Taliban
A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses.
The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll.
More here
The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll.
More here
$4 billion a day
...now there is fear that at some point in the future, Obama will not be known as the first African-American president. Nor will he be cited even as the hope-and-change phenomenon of 2008. Instead, posterity shall know him as the single greatest borrower in American presidential history, a novice who nearly wrecked the U.S. economy by borrowing over $4 billion a day without any feasible proposal how to pay back such a vast sum — taking a post-recession recovery and turning it into a stagflationary mess. In the third year of his tenure, Obama is still left only with "Bush did it" as an explanation of what went wrong.
Source
Source
Abortion limits
Inspired by a contentious Nebraska law, abortion opponents in five other states have won passage of measures banning virtually all abortions after five months of pregnancy.
The late-term bans – based on the premise that fetuses at that stage can feel pain, a view that has been disputed – are among a record wave of more than 80 restrictions aimed at reducing access to abortion, all of them approved so far this year in state legislatures.
Other measures expand pre-abortion counseling requirements, ban abortion coverage in new insurance exchanges, and subject abortion clinics to tough new regulations.
Story
The late-term bans – based on the premise that fetuses at that stage can feel pain, a view that has been disputed – are among a record wave of more than 80 restrictions aimed at reducing access to abortion, all of them approved so far this year in state legislatures.
Other measures expand pre-abortion counseling requirements, ban abortion coverage in new insurance exchanges, and subject abortion clinics to tough new regulations.
Story
Monday, July 25, 2011
Pregnancy a disease?
"Virtually all health insurance plans could soon be required to offer female patients free coverage of prescription birth control, breast-pump rentals, counseling for domestic violence, and annual wellness exams and HIV tests as a result of recommendations released Tuesday by an independent advisory panel of health experts."
But some say, "Pregnancy is not a disease, and contraception is not 'health care.'"
Story
But some say, "Pregnancy is not a disease, and contraception is not 'health care.'"
Story
Craving for salt
When the first slimy amphibians crawled onto dry land a few million years ago, they brought with them a powerful craving from that salty, primordial sea.
How powerful? It turns out that the genes and neural networks in the brain that regulate hunger for salt seem to be the same ones at play in drug addiction. And that could have some far-reaching implications — helping to explain why narcotics addiction is so hard to treat and maybe why people are so drawn to some pretty unhealthy foods, said an international team of scientists with local ties.
"The desire to ingest salt is an instinct that has been known for a while," said Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke, an assistant professor of neurobiology at Duke University and one of the lead authors of a new study. "But now comes this notion that salt appetite uses pathways that also have been taken advantage of by cocaine and opiate addiction. That helps us understand why the lust to gratify salt appetite has such a powerful influence on human behavior."
Salt is a critical part of diet, maintaining healthy fluid levels in the body. And it's important for muscle and nerve function. Beyond that, its ability to keep food from rotting helped forge early civilizations. Roman soldiers were paid with it.
More here
How powerful? It turns out that the genes and neural networks in the brain that regulate hunger for salt seem to be the same ones at play in drug addiction. And that could have some far-reaching implications — helping to explain why narcotics addiction is so hard to treat and maybe why people are so drawn to some pretty unhealthy foods, said an international team of scientists with local ties.
"The desire to ingest salt is an instinct that has been known for a while," said Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke, an assistant professor of neurobiology at Duke University and one of the lead authors of a new study. "But now comes this notion that salt appetite uses pathways that also have been taken advantage of by cocaine and opiate addiction. That helps us understand why the lust to gratify salt appetite has such a powerful influence on human behavior."
Salt is a critical part of diet, maintaining healthy fluid levels in the body. And it's important for muscle and nerve function. Beyond that, its ability to keep food from rotting helped forge early civilizations. Roman soldiers were paid with it.
More here
Education bubble
Some people see signs that another bubble is bursting. They call it the higher-education bubble.
For years, government has assumed it's a good thing to go to college. College graduates tend to earn more money than non-college graduates. Politicians of both parties have called for giving everybody a chance to go to college, just as they called for giving everybody a chance to buy a home. So government has been subsidizing higher education with low-interest college loans, Pell grants, and cheap tuitions at state colleges and universities. The predictable result is that higher education costs have risen much faster than inflation, much faster than personal incomes, much faster than the economy over the past 40 years.
Story
For years, government has assumed it's a good thing to go to college. College graduates tend to earn more money than non-college graduates. Politicians of both parties have called for giving everybody a chance to go to college, just as they called for giving everybody a chance to buy a home. So government has been subsidizing higher education with low-interest college loans, Pell grants, and cheap tuitions at state colleges and universities. The predictable result is that higher education costs have risen much faster than inflation, much faster than personal incomes, much faster than the economy over the past 40 years.
Story
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Oslo shooter not a Christian
A review of Anders Behring Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto shows the media’s quick characterization of the Norwegian terrorist as a "Christian" may be as incorrect as it was to call Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh one.
Breivik was arrested over the weekend, charged with a pair of brutal attacks in and near Oslo, Norway, including a bombing in the capital city that killed 7 and a shooting spree at a youth political retreat on the island of Utoya that killed more than 80 victims. . . . many media reports have characterized the terrorist – who says he was upset over the multiculturalist policies stemming from Norway’s Labour Party – as a "right-wing, Christian fundamentalist."
Yet, while McVeigh rejected God altogether, Breivik writes in his manifesto that he is not religious, has doubts about God’s existence, does not pray, but does assert the primacy of Europe’s "Christian culture" as well as his own pagan Nordic culture.
Breivik instead hails Charles Darwin, whose evolutionary theories stand in contrast to the claims of the Bible, and affirms: "As for the Church and science, it is essential that science takes an undisputed precedence over biblical teachings."
More here
Breivik was arrested over the weekend, charged with a pair of brutal attacks in and near Oslo, Norway, including a bombing in the capital city that killed 7 and a shooting spree at a youth political retreat on the island of Utoya that killed more than 80 victims. . . . many media reports have characterized the terrorist – who says he was upset over the multiculturalist policies stemming from Norway’s Labour Party – as a "right-wing, Christian fundamentalist."
Yet, while McVeigh rejected God altogether, Breivik writes in his manifesto that he is not religious, has doubts about God’s existence, does not pray, but does assert the primacy of Europe’s "Christian culture" as well as his own pagan Nordic culture.
Breivik instead hails Charles Darwin, whose evolutionary theories stand in contrast to the claims of the Bible, and affirms: "As for the Church and science, it is essential that science takes an undisputed precedence over biblical teachings."
More here
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Oslo's terrorist
Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian citizen, and according to unofficial information the suspected perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, although it is not yet known if he acted alone.
On 22 July 2011, he allegedly approached a Labour Party youth camp on Utoya Island, posing as a police officer, and then open fired on the adolescents present, reportedly killing at least 84.
He has also been linked with the bomb blasts which had taken place approximately two hours earlier in Oslo. He was arrested on Utoya, and is currently in police custody. Following his apprehension, Breivik was characterized by officials as being a conservative right-wing extremist.
According to Reuters and the BBC, deputy police chief Roger Andresen described the suspect as a "Christian fundamentalist".
According to the newspaper VG, he has no previous history with the police, apart from traffic violations.
According to the same source, Breivik has a Glock pistol, a rifle and a shotgun registered to his name. Breivik moved in late June or early July to the rural small town of Rena, Norway in Hedmark County, about 140 km (86 miles) northeast of Oslo, where he operated a farming sole proprietorship under the name "Breivik Geofarm". It has been speculated that he could have used the company as a cover to legally obtain large amounts of artificial fertilizer and other chemicals for the manufacturing of fertilizer explosives.
According to Reuters, a farming supplier had sold to Breivik's company six tonnes of fertilizer in May.
Source (with photo)
Update...So, he's said to be a "Christian fundamentalist" and a "Freemason." That's an odd combination. Sounds suspicious to me. He's also the author of a 1500 page manifesto. Dare we compare him to Ted Kaczinski, the Unabomber? Or is he more like Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City bombing? He is reported to like weightlifting also. Could he have been using steroids and gone into a 'roid rage?
On 22 July 2011, he allegedly approached a Labour Party youth camp on Utoya Island, posing as a police officer, and then open fired on the adolescents present, reportedly killing at least 84.
He has also been linked with the bomb blasts which had taken place approximately two hours earlier in Oslo. He was arrested on Utoya, and is currently in police custody. Following his apprehension, Breivik was characterized by officials as being a conservative right-wing extremist.
According to Reuters and the BBC, deputy police chief Roger Andresen described the suspect as a "Christian fundamentalist".
According to the newspaper VG, he has no previous history with the police, apart from traffic violations.
According to the same source, Breivik has a Glock pistol, a rifle and a shotgun registered to his name. Breivik moved in late June or early July to the rural small town of Rena, Norway in Hedmark County, about 140 km (86 miles) northeast of Oslo, where he operated a farming sole proprietorship under the name "Breivik Geofarm". It has been speculated that he could have used the company as a cover to legally obtain large amounts of artificial fertilizer and other chemicals for the manufacturing of fertilizer explosives.
According to Reuters, a farming supplier had sold to Breivik's company six tonnes of fertilizer in May.
Source (with photo)
Update...So, he's said to be a "Christian fundamentalist" and a "Freemason." That's an odd combination. Sounds suspicious to me. He's also the author of a 1500 page manifesto. Dare we compare him to Ted Kaczinski, the Unabomber? Or is he more like Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City bombing? He is reported to like weightlifting also. Could he have been using steroids and gone into a 'roid rage?
Stuxnet
Debkafile's intelligence sources report that the Stuxnet malworm which played havoc with Iran's nuclear program for eleven months was not purged after all. Tehran never did overcome the disruptions caused by Stuxnet or restore its centrifuges to smooth and normal operation as was claimed. Indeed, Iran finally resorted to the only sure-fire cure, scrapping all the tainted machines and replacing them with new ones.
Iran provided confirmation of this Tuesday, July 19 in an announcement that improved and faster centrifuge models were being installed.
Iran would clearly not have undertaken the major and costly project of replacing all its 5,000-6,000 centrifuges with new ones if they were indeed functioning smoothly. The announcement was made by the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman at a press briefing although no one present had raised the nuclear issue. He said: "The installation of new centrifuges with better quality and speed is ongoing… this is another confirmation of the Islamic republic's successful strides in its nuclear activities."
More here
Iran provided confirmation of this Tuesday, July 19 in an announcement that improved and faster centrifuge models were being installed.
Iran would clearly not have undertaken the major and costly project of replacing all its 5,000-6,000 centrifuges with new ones if they were indeed functioning smoothly. The announcement was made by the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman at a press briefing although no one present had raised the nuclear issue. He said: "The installation of new centrifuges with better quality and speed is ongoing… this is another confirmation of the Islamic republic's successful strides in its nuclear activities."
More here
Friday, July 22, 2011
Vile and despicable
Congressman Allen West to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz..."You are the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the US House of Representatives." Source (He forgot to call her an ignorant slut. Keith Olbermann wants West to resign. I would like to see all three of them in a 3-way cage match.)
Meanwhile, Las Vegas heavyweight Steve Wynn, a self-described Democratic businessman, unloaded on the White House this week, blaming PresidentCarter Obama’s political philosophy for the nation’s stagnant job growth and poor business climate. Wynn, the CEO of Wynn Resorts, called the administration the "greatest wet blanket to business and progress and job creation in my lifetime." Story
In other news, John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, promised during the campaign to sign a release of his complete records, to include all decorations. But - seven years later - that full disclosure has not been made.
Greece is in big financial trouble...They promised the European Union it would never let its deficit go higher than 3% of GDP upon joining in 1981. But they've spent years of increasing government spending without ever seriously trying to cut the size of its government. Greece now has a debt of about 143% of GDP.
Ronald Reagan once asked...I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'.
So who is the all-time top selling artist in music? The Beatles, of course. But I'm surprised that George Strait has outsold the Rolling Stones. And AC/DC has outsold Michael Jackson. Source
So, can anyone see a difference between the Wikileaks disclosures and the News of the World phone hacking stories? Hint...both make conservatives look bad.
A very bleak look at what teachers contend with.... Story
If you like astrononmy, here's an amazing three minute video from Australia.
The U.S. has been hit with a lot of extreme weather lately. Here's a list of some records.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas heavyweight Steve Wynn, a self-described Democratic businessman, unloaded on the White House this week, blaming President
In other news, John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, promised during the campaign to sign a release of his complete records, to include all decorations. But - seven years later - that full disclosure has not been made.
Greece is in big financial trouble...They promised the European Union it would never let its deficit go higher than 3% of GDP upon joining in 1981. But they've spent years of increasing government spending without ever seriously trying to cut the size of its government. Greece now has a debt of about 143% of GDP.
Ronald Reagan once asked...I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'.
So who is the all-time top selling artist in music? The Beatles, of course. But I'm surprised that George Strait has outsold the Rolling Stones. And AC/DC has outsold Michael Jackson. Source
So, can anyone see a difference between the Wikileaks disclosures and the News of the World phone hacking stories? Hint...both make conservatives look bad.
A very bleak look at what teachers contend with.... Story
If you like astrononmy, here's an amazing three minute video from Australia.
The U.S. has been hit with a lot of extreme weather lately. Here's a list of some records.
FDR
"Never forget, never forget, and I think it’s very important for Democrats especially to remember this, that if Hitler had not come along, Franklin Roosevelt would have left office in 1941 with an unemployment rate in excess of 15 percent and an economic recovery strategy that had basically failed."
Source
Source
Likely terrorists
A new promotional video released by the Department of Homeland Security characterizes white middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists, as Big Sis continues its relentless drive to cement the myth that mad bombers are hiding around every corner, when in reality Americans are just as likely to be killed by lightning strikes or peanut allergies.
Source
Source
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Obamacare is a job killer
Private-sector job creation initially recovered from the recession at a normal rate, leading to predictions last year of a "Recovery Summer." Since April 2010, however, net private-sector job creation has stalled. Within two months of the passage of Obamacare, the job market stopped improving. This suggests that businesses are not exaggerating when they tell pollsters that the new health care law is holding back hiring. The law significantly raises business costs and creates considerable uncertainty about the future. To encourage hiring, Congress should repeal Obamacare.
Source
Source
Texan to get Medal of Honor
An Austin Marine veteran will be presented the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama for braving enemy fire in a bid to find and retrieve the bodies of three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman, news services reported Wednesday.
The Associated Press said 23-year-old Dakota Meyer, who left active duty last summer as a corporal, will be the first living Marine in 41 years to receive the nation's highest award for valor.
Only two living recipients — Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry — have received the award for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to The Associated Press.
The Military Times said Meyer will be honored for the actions he took Sept. 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, a remote village near the Pakistan border in violent Kunar province, where he charged into a kill zone on foot and alone. Meyer told the Military Times that he carried the four men out of the area, which had been under fire for hours.
More here
The Associated Press said 23-year-old Dakota Meyer, who left active duty last summer as a corporal, will be the first living Marine in 41 years to receive the nation's highest award for valor.
Only two living recipients — Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry — have received the award for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to The Associated Press.
The Military Times said Meyer will be honored for the actions he took Sept. 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, a remote village near the Pakistan border in violent Kunar province, where he charged into a kill zone on foot and alone. Meyer told the Military Times that he carried the four men out of the area, which had been under fire for hours.
More here
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Allende
A new autopsy has determined that President Salvador Allende of Chile killed himself with an assault rifle, Chilean officials said Tuesday, dispelling doubts that have persisted for 37 years about the exact circumstances of his death, including whether troops storming the presidential palace had murdered him. Story
Meanwhile, from Spain...Two Islamic organizations based in Lerida have asked the City Council to enact local rules to prohibit the presence of dogs in both city buses and in some areas frequented mostly by Muslims, as dogs are considered "unclean" in Islam. Story
The Jerusalem Post reports...73% of 1,010 Palestinians in W. Bank, Gaza agree with ‘hadith’ quoted in Hamas Charter about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones and trees. Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg.
One dog less! Story
Closer to home...The Associated Press reports that..."The Republican National Committee raised $19 million in the past three months but is still $17.5 million in debt." This doesn't bode well for the 2012 election. Are you ready for four more years of Obama?
The architects of his (Obama's) economic policies — Austan Goolsbee, Peter Orszag, Christina Romer, Larry Summers — did not even last three years. All now are either back in tenured academia, making millions in the revolving door that Obama once blasted, or writing op-eds why following their former advice is leading to insolvency, or all three combined. None are making the argument any more that we need more of their stimuli or ObamaCare will save us billions and create "400,000 new jobs." Source
Forgotten history...Back in 2006, every single Democrat voted against raising the debt ceiling. Today, $6 Trillion later, he wants Republicans to vote yes.
Rachel Maddow...liar, liar, pants on fire... Story
There are eerie moments of deja vu in James O'Keefe's latest project in his self-described "muckraking" enterprise. This time, O’Keefe turns his sights on Medicaid bureaucrats in Ohio rather than ACORN or Planned Parenthood — although the latter does get a cameo mention. Once again, O’Keefe and his team pose as criminals seeking assistance in getting government money to support their businesses, only this time directly rather than through activist organizations.... Story
Atheists and other assorted Leftists like to say the founding fathers didn't believe in God but here's a quote from George Washington..."Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor . . ."
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was born Antonio Villar but changed his last name to Villaraigosa after marrying Corina Raigosa. Yes, he's a Democrat. He also failed the California State Bar Exam four times. He's not known for marital fidelity. And he's taken a lot of criticism for his membership in MEChA and charges of nepotism for giving jobs to relatives. Bio here
What's up with the mutual hatred between India and Pakistan? They've been fighting a low intensity war for years. This story attempts to explain it but fails.
Meanwhile, from Spain...Two Islamic organizations based in Lerida have asked the City Council to enact local rules to prohibit the presence of dogs in both city buses and in some areas frequented mostly by Muslims, as dogs are considered "unclean" in Islam. Story
The Jerusalem Post reports...73% of 1,010 Palestinians in W. Bank, Gaza agree with ‘hadith’ quoted in Hamas Charter about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones and trees. Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg.
One dog less! Story
Closer to home...The Associated Press reports that..."The Republican National Committee raised $19 million in the past three months but is still $17.5 million in debt." This doesn't bode well for the 2012 election. Are you ready for four more years of Obama?
The architects of his (Obama's) economic policies — Austan Goolsbee, Peter Orszag, Christina Romer, Larry Summers — did not even last three years. All now are either back in tenured academia, making millions in the revolving door that Obama once blasted, or writing op-eds why following their former advice is leading to insolvency, or all three combined. None are making the argument any more that we need more of their stimuli or ObamaCare will save us billions and create "400,000 new jobs." Source
Forgotten history...Back in 2006, every single Democrat voted against raising the debt ceiling. Today, $6 Trillion later, he wants Republicans to vote yes.
Rachel Maddow...liar, liar, pants on fire... Story
There are eerie moments of deja vu in James O'Keefe's latest project in his self-described "muckraking" enterprise. This time, O’Keefe turns his sights on Medicaid bureaucrats in Ohio rather than ACORN or Planned Parenthood — although the latter does get a cameo mention. Once again, O’Keefe and his team pose as criminals seeking assistance in getting government money to support their businesses, only this time directly rather than through activist organizations.... Story
Atheists and other assorted Leftists like to say the founding fathers didn't believe in God but here's a quote from George Washington..."Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor . . ."
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was born Antonio Villar but changed his last name to Villaraigosa after marrying Corina Raigosa. Yes, he's a Democrat. He also failed the California State Bar Exam four times. He's not known for marital fidelity. And he's taken a lot of criticism for his membership in MEChA and charges of nepotism for giving jobs to relatives. Bio here
What's up with the mutual hatred between India and Pakistan? They've been fighting a low intensity war for years. This story attempts to explain it but fails.
Life and death
I hope you had the chance to read and reread Dudley Clendinen’s splendid essay, "The Good Short Life," in The Times’s Sunday Review section. Clendinen is dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S. If he uses all the available medical technology, it will leave him, in a few years’ time, "a conscious but motionless, mute, withered, incontinent mummy of my former self."
Instead of choosing that long, dehumanizing, expensive course, Clendinen has decided to face death as one of life’s "most absorbing thrills and challenges." He concludes: "When the music stops — when I can’t tie my bow tie, tell a funny story, walk my dog, talk with Whitney, kiss someone special, or tap out lines like this — I’ll know that Life is over. It’s time to be gone."
Clendinen’s article is worth reading for the way he defines what life is. Life is not just breathing and existing as a self-enclosed skin bag. It’s doing the activities with others you were put on earth to do.
But it’s also valuable as a backdrop to the current budget mess. This fiscal crisis is about many things, but one of them is our inability to face death — our willingness to spend our nation into bankruptcy to extend life for a few more sickly months.
The fiscal crisis is driven largely by health care costs. We have the illusion that in spending so much on health care we are radically improving the quality of our lives. We have the illusion that through advances in medical research we are in the process of eradicating deadly diseases. We have the barely suppressed hope that someday all this spending and innovation will produce something close to immortality.
More here
Instead of choosing that long, dehumanizing, expensive course, Clendinen has decided to face death as one of life’s "most absorbing thrills and challenges." He concludes: "When the music stops — when I can’t tie my bow tie, tell a funny story, walk my dog, talk with Whitney, kiss someone special, or tap out lines like this — I’ll know that Life is over. It’s time to be gone."
Clendinen’s article is worth reading for the way he defines what life is. Life is not just breathing and existing as a self-enclosed skin bag. It’s doing the activities with others you were put on earth to do.
But it’s also valuable as a backdrop to the current budget mess. This fiscal crisis is about many things, but one of them is our inability to face death — our willingness to spend our nation into bankruptcy to extend life for a few more sickly months.
The fiscal crisis is driven largely by health care costs. We have the illusion that in spending so much on health care we are radically improving the quality of our lives. We have the illusion that through advances in medical research we are in the process of eradicating deadly diseases. We have the barely suppressed hope that someday all this spending and innovation will produce something close to immortality.
More here
Huma again
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at a Saudi women's college, where she was introduced by a professor who has represented a Muslim charity known to have spawned terror groups, including one declared by the U.S. government to be an official al-Qaida front.
That professor, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, is also the mother of Clinton's chief of staff, Huma Abedin, and therefore mother-in-law of disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.
Saleha Mahmood Abedin is an associate professor of sociology at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which she helped to create. She formerly directed the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs in the U.K. and served as a delegate for the Muslim World League, an Islamic fundamentalist group Osama bin Laden reportedly told an associate was one of his most important charity fronts.
More here
That professor, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, is also the mother of Clinton's chief of staff, Huma Abedin, and therefore mother-in-law of disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.
Saleha Mahmood Abedin is an associate professor of sociology at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which she helped to create. She formerly directed the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs in the U.K. and served as a delegate for the Muslim World League, an Islamic fundamentalist group Osama bin Laden reportedly told an associate was one of his most important charity fronts.
More here
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
North Carolina
North Carolina makes me proud.
The Republican legislature recently cut spending. They did not raise taxes.
And even though the Democrat governor vetoed the legislation, four Democrats voted with the Republicans to override the governor's veto.
Hopefully we'll see more of this in the future.
The Republican legislature recently cut spending. They did not raise taxes.
And even though the Democrat governor vetoed the legislation, four Democrats voted with the Republicans to override the governor's veto.
Hopefully we'll see more of this in the future.
Roger Daltrey
Raging pop star Roger Daltrey claims PM David Cameron does not have "the balls" to tackle mass immigration.
The Who’s working class hero Roger Daltrey sparked a storm a fortnight ago when he blasted Labour for "screwing" Brits by opening the floodgates to foreigners.
Yesterday he turned on the Tories, saying Mr Cameron and his team lacked the guts to deal with the issue.
He also took a pop at leftie rocker Bono for claiming he is a socialist while dodging taxes in his homeland.
Daltrey, 67, accused the Coalition Government of having their "heads up their arse" when it comes to immigration.
He added: "They don’t realise how hard the average man has to work to pay those taxes.
"I don’t see anybody in the Government with a pair of balls. They’re so spineless."
More here
The Who’s working class hero Roger Daltrey sparked a storm a fortnight ago when he blasted Labour for "screwing" Brits by opening the floodgates to foreigners.
Yesterday he turned on the Tories, saying Mr Cameron and his team lacked the guts to deal with the issue.
He also took a pop at leftie rocker Bono for claiming he is a socialist while dodging taxes in his homeland.
Daltrey, 67, accused the Coalition Government of having their "heads up their arse" when it comes to immigration.
He added: "They don’t realise how hard the average man has to work to pay those taxes.
"I don’t see anybody in the Government with a pair of balls. They’re so spineless."
More here
Bias
While communist-controlled media from China are welcome at a National Governors Association summit with their Chinese counterparts in Salt Lake City this weekend, one U.S. anti-communist magazine is not.
The NGA denied press credentials to William Jasper, senior editor of The New American magazine, published by the anti-communist John Birch Society. The group is named for a U.S. missionary killed in China by communist forces after World War II and is considered by the society to be the first casualty of the Cold War.
Jasper said governors "are so head over heals about seeking Beijing dollars and approval of the Chinese that they are ready and willing to abandon the Constitution, the First Amendment, human rights and everything else on the promise of jobs, jobs, jobs."
Source
The NGA denied press credentials to William Jasper, senior editor of The New American magazine, published by the anti-communist John Birch Society. The group is named for a U.S. missionary killed in China by communist forces after World War II and is considered by the society to be the first casualty of the Cold War.
Jasper said governors "are so head over heals about seeking Beijing dollars and approval of the Chinese that they are ready and willing to abandon the Constitution, the First Amendment, human rights and everything else on the promise of jobs, jobs, jobs."
Source
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tex Cobb
Randall "Tex" Cobb was a colorful prize fighter from Texas who had a great sense of humor.
When a sportswriter asked what his record was, he answered..."21 arrests, no convictions."
When a sportswriter asked what his record was, he answered..."21 arrests, no convictions."
Fart festival
Budget wars...
"In case you haven't noticed, none of this current Fart Festival is about actually 'reducing' the size of the government. It is about reducing the rate at which government will grow. The Republican plan is 'same shit. Smaller cups.' Any recovering alcoholic will tell you that you can drink a pint of whiskey in an hour out of a pint jar or out of a shot glass to the same effect."
Source
"In case you haven't noticed, none of this current Fart Festival is about actually 'reducing' the size of the government. It is about reducing the rate at which government will grow. The Republican plan is 'same shit. Smaller cups.' Any recovering alcoholic will tell you that you can drink a pint of whiskey in an hour out of a pint jar or out of a shot glass to the same effect."
Source
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Mojados
True or False?...
Illegal immigration mostly benefits Big Business. They seek a multitude of cheap labor that also increases the raw number of additional consumers of their products. What's not taken into account is the attendant costs such as health care, housing, and education that are passed on to the taxpayers. That's you and me.
Most of these immigrants will vote for the a Democratic candidate who promises more and more "free" social services.
Illegal immigration mostly benefits Big Business. They seek a multitude of cheap labor that also increases the raw number of additional consumers of their products. What's not taken into account is the attendant costs such as health care, housing, and education that are passed on to the taxpayers. That's you and me.
Most of these immigrants will vote for the a Democratic candidate who promises more and more "free" social services.
Unwanted ships
They are the two ships no one wanted, almost constantly embroiled in one dispute or another for the past 25 years. The two Navy behemoths have never gone on a mission, were never even completed, yet they cost taxpayers at least $300 million.
Now the vessels, the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford, are destined to leave Virginia waters for good and be scrapped at a Texas salvage yard, with no money coming back to the U.S. Treasury.
The Isherwood, stretching more than 660 feet, began its final journey this week, unceremoniously towed Tuesday from its mooring spot in the James River Reserve Fleet, also known as the "ghost fleet," near Fort Eustis in Newport News.
Its destination: International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, Texas, just above the Mexico border. There, the vessel will be cut up, its innards removed and disposed of, and its steel and other metals sold as recycled products.
More here
Now the vessels, the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford, are destined to leave Virginia waters for good and be scrapped at a Texas salvage yard, with no money coming back to the U.S. Treasury.
The Isherwood, stretching more than 660 feet, began its final journey this week, unceremoniously towed Tuesday from its mooring spot in the James River Reserve Fleet, also known as the "ghost fleet," near Fort Eustis in Newport News.
Its destination: International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, Texas, just above the Mexico border. There, the vessel will be cut up, its innards removed and disposed of, and its steel and other metals sold as recycled products.
More here
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Shovel ready
President Obama recently admitted he was surprised to discover that shovel ready didn’t mean shovel ready anymore.
He shouldn’t have been: the essence of blue social policy is to make everything complicated and hard.
In the Depression, shovel ready still meant something. No OSHA inspectors, no EPA paperwork: if the government wanted to open a camp and put 1,000 untrained young men to work clearing brush and draining the local swamp, it could do it without tripping over red tape — and without armies of trial lawyers looking to sue on behalf of any temp workers hit by falling trees, bitten by snakes, or scared by spooky bats.
These days, it would take months if not years to get all the permits in line to plan and build the camp; put the sanitation facilities in, get the right fire extinguishers from the licensed suppliers, develop a plan for waste disposal and recycling. Then the greens take you to court to protect the wetlands and the lesser bramble thrushes and spiny skinks within.
Multiply by 100,000 for anything big like a bridge or a dam or a new section of highway. And don’t even think about windmills where the Kennedy family might see them.
We’ve created such an intricate and expensive regulatory environment these days that you can’t put people to work on real projects even if you try.
More here
He shouldn’t have been: the essence of blue social policy is to make everything complicated and hard.
In the Depression, shovel ready still meant something. No OSHA inspectors, no EPA paperwork: if the government wanted to open a camp and put 1,000 untrained young men to work clearing brush and draining the local swamp, it could do it without tripping over red tape — and without armies of trial lawyers looking to sue on behalf of any temp workers hit by falling trees, bitten by snakes, or scared by spooky bats.
These days, it would take months if not years to get all the permits in line to plan and build the camp; put the sanitation facilities in, get the right fire extinguishers from the licensed suppliers, develop a plan for waste disposal and recycling. Then the greens take you to court to protect the wetlands and the lesser bramble thrushes and spiny skinks within.
Multiply by 100,000 for anything big like a bridge or a dam or a new section of highway. And don’t even think about windmills where the Kennedy family might see them.
We’ve created such an intricate and expensive regulatory environment these days that you can’t put people to work on real projects even if you try.
More here
Lies, lies, more lies
President Carter Obama on Friday pulled a lie out of his ass by claiming that 80 percent of the public supports Democrats' demand for tax increases.
Sure they do, Barry.
Sarah Palin tweeted...Obama lies, economy dies. He says "default's catastrophic" then opposes deal to avert it. Nonsense. Gold stars to GOP trying to deal w/this.
And more from the hysterical left...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid falsely claimed on Thursday that a failure to raise the debt limit could mean "no schools for our children."
Switch to decaf, Harry.
Sure they do, Barry.
Sarah Palin tweeted...Obama lies, economy dies. He says "default's catastrophic" then opposes deal to avert it. Nonsense. Gold stars to GOP trying to deal w/this.
And more from the hysterical left...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid falsely claimed on Thursday that a failure to raise the debt limit could mean "no schools for our children."
Switch to decaf, Harry.
Must be racism
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) used the race card this afternoon to assess blame in the debt ceiling fight. Jackson Lee, a black Congresswoman, believes the disagreement over raising the debt ceiling is because of President Obama's race.
"I am particularly sensitive to the fact that only this president, only this president, only this one has received the kind attacks and disagreements and inability to work. Only this one," Jackson Lee said on the House floor this afternoon.
"Read between the lines."
"What is different about this president that should put him in a position that he should not receive the same kind of respectful treatment of when it is necessary to raise the debt limit in order to pay our bills, something required by both statute and the 14th amendment?"
Source
"I am particularly sensitive to the fact that only this president, only this president, only this one has received the kind attacks and disagreements and inability to work. Only this one," Jackson Lee said on the House floor this afternoon.
"Read between the lines."
"What is different about this president that should put him in a position that he should not receive the same kind of respectful treatment of when it is necessary to raise the debt limit in order to pay our bills, something required by both statute and the 14th amendment?"
Source
Friday, July 15, 2011
Jello
In a meeting with a small group of reporters in his Capitol Hill office, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, criticized President Carter Obama and White House officials for their lack of resolve in negotiations. "Dealing with them the last couple months has been like dealing with Jell-O," Boehner said. "Some days it’s firmer than others. Sometimes it’s like they’ve left it out over night." Story
A new poll out this week finds that in a head-to-head battle against Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the 2012 presidential election, PresidentCarter Obama would emerge victorious in the Lone Star state. The Public Policy Poll shows Mr. Obama trailing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by 8 percentage points, Texas Rep. Ron Paul by 5 percentage points, Rep. Michele Bachmann by 3 points and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty by a percentage point. Story (I'm not buying Obama winning Texas. No way, Jose.)
Meanwhile, PresidentCarter Obama is set to charge up to $35,800 per couple for tickets to his 50th birthday fund-raising party. High rollers can expect VIP seating and a celebrity packed 'birthday concert' at Chicago's historic Aragon Ballroom during the August 3 bash. The government debt ceiling default deadline is August 2. Story (No, I have not been invited)
Best comment seen today..."His grandparents were communists, his parents were communists, his teachers were communists, his friends are communists, his colleagues are communists, he’s a communist. Duh."
"Greenspan's version of the American Dream was that nobody had to work anymore. We could all just buy more house than we could afford, then get rich as house prices rose to the moon and buy a garage full of toys. Too many people...fell for that nightmare." Source
You know the economy is in big trouble when Vladimir Putin calls the U.S. "fiscal hooligans" for printing uncounted trillions of greenbacks.
Globalism is destroying America. The American Dream is fast becoming the American Nightmare. Story
The EU seems to be crumbling. Several countries' bonds have been given "junk status" and all of them are intertwined by bad loans to each other. Dare we say Ponzi? Sooner or later you run out of other people's money to spend. Hey, Obama, are you listening?
From the "tolerance" and "diversity" crowd...Chicagoans Overwhelmingly Vote to Ban Palin, Beck & Coulter Books at Book Fair in Obama’s Home Town. Story
Teachers are sex perverts..."Remember, the FBI estimates that as much as half of the priest cases were exaggerations or fraud. That means that there may have been as many as two hundred times as much abuse by teachers than priests in the same time period." Story
The progressives are revealing their inner Nazi tendencies by proposing to take custody away from parents of obese children. Of course, they advocate doing so only in "extreme cases" but we all know what happens once the camel has its nose in the tent.
"First it’s Jews, already fleeing Malmo in Sweden. Then it’s homosexuals, already under siege from gay-bashing in Amsterdam, "the most tolerant city in Europe". Then it’s uncovered women, already targeted for rape in Oslo and other Continental cities. And, if you don’t any longer have any Jews or (officially) any gays or (increasingly) uncovered women, there are always just Christians in general, from Egypt to Pakistan." Source
Most people don't realize how small Israel is. It contains about 8,019 square miles (roughly the size of New Jersey), and has a population of about 7.5 million people. And it is bordered on three sides by nations with 20 or 30 million population that want to push them into the sea. So guess who are considered the bad guys?
A new poll out this week finds that in a head-to-head battle against Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the 2012 presidential election, President
Meanwhile, President
Best comment seen today..."His grandparents were communists, his parents were communists, his teachers were communists, his friends are communists, his colleagues are communists, he’s a communist. Duh."
"Greenspan's version of the American Dream was that nobody had to work anymore. We could all just buy more house than we could afford, then get rich as house prices rose to the moon and buy a garage full of toys. Too many people...fell for that nightmare." Source
You know the economy is in big trouble when Vladimir Putin calls the U.S. "fiscal hooligans" for printing uncounted trillions of greenbacks.
Globalism is destroying America. The American Dream is fast becoming the American Nightmare. Story
The EU seems to be crumbling. Several countries' bonds have been given "junk status" and all of them are intertwined by bad loans to each other. Dare we say Ponzi? Sooner or later you run out of other people's money to spend. Hey, Obama, are you listening?
From the "tolerance" and "diversity" crowd...Chicagoans Overwhelmingly Vote to Ban Palin, Beck & Coulter Books at Book Fair in Obama’s Home Town. Story
Teachers are sex perverts..."Remember, the FBI estimates that as much as half of the priest cases were exaggerations or fraud. That means that there may have been as many as two hundred times as much abuse by teachers than priests in the same time period." Story
The progressives are revealing their inner Nazi tendencies by proposing to take custody away from parents of obese children. Of course, they advocate doing so only in "extreme cases" but we all know what happens once the camel has its nose in the tent.
"First it’s Jews, already fleeing Malmo in Sweden. Then it’s homosexuals, already under siege from gay-bashing in Amsterdam, "the most tolerant city in Europe". Then it’s uncovered women, already targeted for rape in Oslo and other Continental cities. And, if you don’t any longer have any Jews or (officially) any gays or (increasingly) uncovered women, there are always just Christians in general, from Egypt to Pakistan." Source
Most people don't realize how small Israel is. It contains about 8,019 square miles (roughly the size of New Jersey), and has a population of about 7.5 million people. And it is bordered on three sides by nations with 20 or 30 million population that want to push them into the sea. So guess who are considered the bad guys?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
$100 Billion
Facebook is reportedly going public next year. Experts predict an initial valuation of $100 billion. That seems a little high to this hillbilly but one never knows. Look what Google has done. And Apple.
But remember what happened in the dot com bust. NASDAQ has never recovered from that.
But remember what happened in the dot com bust. NASDAQ has never recovered from that.
Won't get schooled again
In what’s being described as the most extensive case of test-tampering in US public-school history, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal dropped an 828-page bomb on the state last Tuesday detailing fraud in Atlanta public schools that was so ineptly concealed, it suggests that many of the city’s teachers are too stupid to be school janitors.
The report concluded that 178 Atlanta schoolteachers and principals—82 of whom have already confessed—either assisted students to cheat on the state’s standardized competency tests or deliberately corrected wrong answers themselves. Of 56 Atlanta public schools examined, 44 were found to have engaged in statistically significant cheating.
For a decade, Atlanta’s public schools had been depicted as a shining national star that dared leave no child behind as dedicated educators and their eager-to-learn pupils joined hands, chanted slogans, marched together, chest-bumped and fist-pumped one-another’s self-esteem, established a clear vision, looked to the future, kept their eyes on the prize, and made countless other ultimately hollow gestures. For a decade, it seemed as if Atlanta was a real-life example of every cloying Hollywood movie where loving-yet-stern teachers grabbed gaggles of shiftlessly misbehaving urban youngsters by the scruffs of their necks and taught them that teaching was something worth being taught and that learning was a valuable thing to learn.
"What dizzy bastard came up the demented notion that school is a place where children are administered tests?"
Then it occurred to people with a basic grasp of ’rithmetic that the reputed gains were too good to be true. In one implausibly stellar year at one school, eighth-graders whose scores exceeded basic math standards leapt from 1% to 46%. At another, English scores suddenly catapulted 51% higher. At another, math scores rocketed up 62% from the previous annum. At another school, special-ed students were suddenly scoring higher than gifted students in math.
More here
The report concluded that 178 Atlanta schoolteachers and principals—82 of whom have already confessed—either assisted students to cheat on the state’s standardized competency tests or deliberately corrected wrong answers themselves. Of 56 Atlanta public schools examined, 44 were found to have engaged in statistically significant cheating.
For a decade, Atlanta’s public schools had been depicted as a shining national star that dared leave no child behind as dedicated educators and their eager-to-learn pupils joined hands, chanted slogans, marched together, chest-bumped and fist-pumped one-another’s self-esteem, established a clear vision, looked to the future, kept their eyes on the prize, and made countless other ultimately hollow gestures. For a decade, it seemed as if Atlanta was a real-life example of every cloying Hollywood movie where loving-yet-stern teachers grabbed gaggles of shiftlessly misbehaving urban youngsters by the scruffs of their necks and taught them that teaching was something worth being taught and that learning was a valuable thing to learn.
"What dizzy bastard came up the demented notion that school is a place where children are administered tests?"
Then it occurred to people with a basic grasp of ’rithmetic that the reputed gains were too good to be true. In one implausibly stellar year at one school, eighth-graders whose scores exceeded basic math standards leapt from 1% to 46%. At another, English scores suddenly catapulted 51% higher. At another, math scores rocketed up 62% from the previous annum. At another school, special-ed students were suddenly scoring higher than gifted students in math.
More here
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Bugs
The global warming crowd really can't find much to report today other than..."Dutch motorists kill about 133 billion insects a month, splattering bugs on their vehicles and eliminating important members of the food chain, according to a study released this week. Biologists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands enlisted the help of 250 drivers for a 'splash teller' study. Each motorist had to wipe his or her car license plate clean then tote up the bug body count at the end of their drive."
The mainstream media is not reporting very much on Project Gunrunner. It's also know as Fast & Furious. The intent was to allow guns to "walk" into Mexico. Obama officials are stonewalling congressional investigators as to its inner machinations. Some are speculating that it was intended to subvert the 2nd Amendment by building a case for more gun control laws by shipping military-grade weapons to the drug cartels in Mexico.
The Wall Street Journal reports..."Bombs exploded in three locations across India's financial capital of Mumbai, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 50 in what Indian officials suspect was a terrorist attack." (Terrorist attack, they suspect?)
Gold jumped up to $1,561.90 an ounce yesterday. Your humble blogger bought Krugerands back in the 80's for $350 each and sold them for $410 a short time later. Somebody is going to take a bath when the bottom falls out of the present gold market.
Tax dollars at work...A California surgeon has mostly been locked out of his job: on paid leave, fired or fighting his termination. When he does work, it's reviewing records. He made $777,000 last year, including back pay. Story
Food stramp fraud..."Looser federal rules are spurring a bureaucratic crime wave. Last December, two veteran employees for New York City's Human Resources Administration were busted for concocting 1,500 fake food-stamp cases that netted them $8 million. Nine Milwaukee, Wis., staffers plundered almost $300,000 from the program during the last five years, and a Louisiana state bureaucrat pleaded guilty last year for her role in a scam that snared more than $50,000 in fraudulent food-stamp benefits." Story
As if economic news is not depressing enough, now we get this..."For several years, public health officials have been concerned that gonorrhea, one of the most prevalent STDs in the world, might become resistant to the last widely available antibiotics used to treat it, a class of drugs called cephalosporins. Now, it has." Story
Debbie Schlussel reports that...In the past several weeks, Dollar General Corp., Family Dollar Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc., the country’s three largest chains that sell sharply discounted food, household staples and other items in modest-size stores, all have missed their quarterly earnings targets.
Rush Limbaugh says that "Big cutting -- big cutting -- occurs automatically on August 2nd. The debt gets serviced first, then rest of the government is cut. That's what happens." And Obama, in an interview with CBS, says, "I cannot guarantee that those (Social Security) checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue." (No one seems aware of the possibility of cutting all the pork spending)
Catherine Becker cut off her husband's pecker. Then she threw it into the garbage disposal. Ouch. Story and mugshot
Hope your day was better than Mr. Becker's.
The mainstream media is not reporting very much on Project Gunrunner. It's also know as Fast & Furious. The intent was to allow guns to "walk" into Mexico. Obama officials are stonewalling congressional investigators as to its inner machinations. Some are speculating that it was intended to subvert the 2nd Amendment by building a case for more gun control laws by shipping military-grade weapons to the drug cartels in Mexico.
The Wall Street Journal reports..."Bombs exploded in three locations across India's financial capital of Mumbai, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 50 in what Indian officials suspect was a terrorist attack." (Terrorist attack, they suspect?)
Gold jumped up to $1,561.90 an ounce yesterday. Your humble blogger bought Krugerands back in the 80's for $350 each and sold them for $410 a short time later. Somebody is going to take a bath when the bottom falls out of the present gold market.
Tax dollars at work...A California surgeon has mostly been locked out of his job: on paid leave, fired or fighting his termination. When he does work, it's reviewing records. He made $777,000 last year, including back pay. Story
Food stramp fraud..."Looser federal rules are spurring a bureaucratic crime wave. Last December, two veteran employees for New York City's Human Resources Administration were busted for concocting 1,500 fake food-stamp cases that netted them $8 million. Nine Milwaukee, Wis., staffers plundered almost $300,000 from the program during the last five years, and a Louisiana state bureaucrat pleaded guilty last year for her role in a scam that snared more than $50,000 in fraudulent food-stamp benefits." Story
As if economic news is not depressing enough, now we get this..."For several years, public health officials have been concerned that gonorrhea, one of the most prevalent STDs in the world, might become resistant to the last widely available antibiotics used to treat it, a class of drugs called cephalosporins. Now, it has." Story
Debbie Schlussel reports that...In the past several weeks, Dollar General Corp., Family Dollar Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc., the country’s three largest chains that sell sharply discounted food, household staples and other items in modest-size stores, all have missed their quarterly earnings targets.
Rush Limbaugh says that "Big cutting -- big cutting -- occurs automatically on August 2nd. The debt gets serviced first, then rest of the government is cut. That's what happens." And Obama, in an interview with CBS, says, "I cannot guarantee that those (Social Security) checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue." (No one seems aware of the possibility of cutting all the pork spending)
Catherine Becker cut off her husband's pecker. Then she threw it into the garbage disposal. Ouch. Story and mugshot
Hope your day was better than Mr. Becker's.
Still on the campaign trail
Nearly 90 percent of President Obama’s domestic travel in the first six months of this year has been either partially or entirely political, and almost all the costs are borne by taxpayers, according to a White House Dossier Analysis.
Since returning from vacation in Hawaii Jan. 4, Obama has embarked on 25 domestic trips involving use of Air Force One. Of the total, 22 have involved either a fundraiser, travel to a presidential battleground state, or both.
Only three times has the president traveled for purely non-political purposes: a trip to visit flooding victims in Tennessee; a visit to New York City to meet with 9/11 families and lay a wreath; and a trip to Albany, New York to speak about the economy.
Obama has traveled to 2012 campaign battleground states 16 times, hitting key states like Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Michgan and Wisconsin and landing multiple times in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, electoral vote-rich states he needs to win.
More here
Since returning from vacation in Hawaii Jan. 4, Obama has embarked on 25 domestic trips involving use of Air Force One. Of the total, 22 have involved either a fundraiser, travel to a presidential battleground state, or both.
Only three times has the president traveled for purely non-political purposes: a trip to visit flooding victims in Tennessee; a visit to New York City to meet with 9/11 families and lay a wreath; and a trip to Albany, New York to speak about the economy.
Obama has traveled to 2012 campaign battleground states 16 times, hitting key states like Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Michgan and Wisconsin and landing multiple times in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, electoral vote-rich states he needs to win.
More here
Here we go again
In what could be a repeat of the easy-lending cycle that led to the housing crisis, the Justice Department has asked several banks to relax their mortgage underwriting standards and approve loans for minorities with poor credit as part of a new crackdown on alleged discrimination, according to court documents reviewed by IBD.
Prosecutions have already generated more than $20 million in loan set-asides and other subsidies from banks that have settled out of court rather than battle the federal government and risk being branded racist. An additional 60 banks are under investigation, a DOJ spokeswoman says.
Settlements include setting aside prime-rate mortgages for low-income blacks and Hispanics with blemished credit and even counting "public assistance" as valid income in mortgage applications.
In several cases, the government has ordered bank defendants to post in all their branches and marketing materials a notice informing minority customers that they cannot be turned down for credit because they receive public aid, such as unemployment benefits, welfare payments or food stamps.
Among other remedies: favorable interest rates and down-payment assistance for minority borrowers with weak credit.
More here
Prosecutions have already generated more than $20 million in loan set-asides and other subsidies from banks that have settled out of court rather than battle the federal government and risk being branded racist. An additional 60 banks are under investigation, a DOJ spokeswoman says.
Settlements include setting aside prime-rate mortgages for low-income blacks and Hispanics with blemished credit and even counting "public assistance" as valid income in mortgage applications.
In several cases, the government has ordered bank defendants to post in all their branches and marketing materials a notice informing minority customers that they cannot be turned down for credit because they receive public aid, such as unemployment benefits, welfare payments or food stamps.
Among other remedies: favorable interest rates and down-payment assistance for minority borrowers with weak credit.
More here
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Peas
Don't forget to "eat our peas", children. President Carter Obama is now portraying himself as a centrist as he begs the Republicans to lighten up and give him some tax hikes. Remember when he was bragging?..."Hey, we won."
Back in August 5, 2009 on NBC News, Obama said..."The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of a recession, because that would just suck up, take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole."
Conservative wags are praising Obama and his "gift" of oratory when campaigning. They are hopeful he continues his fund raising and campaign speechifying rather than spending any time in Washington, D.C. They feel the president can do little damage to the country when he's tied up with raising money and rehashing his old campaign speeches. 2012 will be here soon enough.
Somebody let Nancy Pelosi out of her cage long enough for her to proclaim that Healthcare reform will "almost immediately" create 400,000 jobs. She is probably alone in believing that. Not even her hardcore fans in San Francisco will swallow that. Would they?
True or False? Thanks to the Democrats our schools have become mere diploma mills of worthless parchment for the most part, and have become nothing but expensive re-education camps.
Pundits are wagering that the crimes and misdemeanors committed by certain people at the Atlanta school system will be swept under the rug just as happened with the Black Panthers at polling places in Philadelphia. Move along now. Suck it up.
No one has a less deserving claim to the moral high ground than the liberal-left, for in the name of making our "society" kinder and fairer it is actually eroding our freedoms, stealing our livelihoods, stoking resentment and social division, destroying our economic future. Yet daily we go on letting these disingenuous bleeding heart scuzzballs get away with it. Why? Source
The Republic of South Sudan officially became a country this week. The New York Times reports...Christian groups had been championing the southern Sudanese since the 19th century. And their efforts paid off in 2000 when George W. Bush was elected president of the United States. He elevated Sudan to near the top of his foreign policy agenda, and in 2005, the American government pushed the southern rebels and the central government both war weary and locked in a military stalemate to sign a comprehensive peace agreement that guaranteed the southerners the right to secede. On Saturday, one man held up a sign that said "Thank You George Bush." Source
Remember this guy? Salvador Dali was known not only for his creative genius but also for his arrogance..."When I paint, the ocean roars. Others merely paddle in their bath."
Everything's bigger in Texas...Baby boy weighs 16 lbs 1 oz on arrival. Poor, poor momma. Story
Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann touts one job as her primary professional experience before entering politics. On the campaign trail, she describes it as being a "federal tax litigation attorney." Others might call it tax collector. Source
Back in August 5, 2009 on NBC News, Obama said..."The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of a recession, because that would just suck up, take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole."
Conservative wags are praising Obama and his "gift" of oratory when campaigning. They are hopeful he continues his fund raising and campaign speechifying rather than spending any time in Washington, D.C. They feel the president can do little damage to the country when he's tied up with raising money and rehashing his old campaign speeches. 2012 will be here soon enough.
Somebody let Nancy Pelosi out of her cage long enough for her to proclaim that Healthcare reform will "almost immediately" create 400,000 jobs. She is probably alone in believing that. Not even her hardcore fans in San Francisco will swallow that. Would they?
True or False? Thanks to the Democrats our schools have become mere diploma mills of worthless parchment for the most part, and have become nothing but expensive re-education camps.
Pundits are wagering that the crimes and misdemeanors committed by certain people at the Atlanta school system will be swept under the rug just as happened with the Black Panthers at polling places in Philadelphia. Move along now. Suck it up.
No one has a less deserving claim to the moral high ground than the liberal-left, for in the name of making our "society" kinder and fairer it is actually eroding our freedoms, stealing our livelihoods, stoking resentment and social division, destroying our economic future. Yet daily we go on letting these disingenuous bleeding heart scuzzballs get away with it. Why? Source
The Republic of South Sudan officially became a country this week. The New York Times reports...Christian groups had been championing the southern Sudanese since the 19th century. And their efforts paid off in 2000 when George W. Bush was elected president of the United States. He elevated Sudan to near the top of his foreign policy agenda, and in 2005, the American government pushed the southern rebels and the central government both war weary and locked in a military stalemate to sign a comprehensive peace agreement that guaranteed the southerners the right to secede. On Saturday, one man held up a sign that said "Thank You George Bush." Source
Remember this guy? Salvador Dali was known not only for his creative genius but also for his arrogance..."When I paint, the ocean roars. Others merely paddle in their bath."
Everything's bigger in Texas...Baby boy weighs 16 lbs 1 oz on arrival. Poor, poor momma. Story
Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann touts one job as her primary professional experience before entering politics. On the campaign trail, she describes it as being a "federal tax litigation attorney." Others might call it tax collector. Source
Monday, July 11, 2011
Bleeding sore
Why call it "Pakistan?"
Over sixty years of ignominious history has not been kind to the decision to create Pakistan. Pakistan itself is a bleeding sore in South Asia, and its continued existence is a shame if not an ongoing crime against humanity. If the past 64 years have proven anything, they prove that, quite unlike South Sudan, Pakistan does not deserve sovereignty, nor does it deserve to be treated as a member of the family of nations.
It should be renamed "Muslim-occupied India."
More here
Over sixty years of ignominious history has not been kind to the decision to create Pakistan. Pakistan itself is a bleeding sore in South Asia, and its continued existence is a shame if not an ongoing crime against humanity. If the past 64 years have proven anything, they prove that, quite unlike South Sudan, Pakistan does not deserve sovereignty, nor does it deserve to be treated as a member of the family of nations.
It should be renamed "Muslim-occupied India."
More here
Sugar Daddy out of sugar
Barack Obama's big government policies continue to fail. He should put a link to the national debt clock on his BlackBerry. The gears on that clock have nearly exploded during his administration. Yesterday's terrible job numbers should not be a surprise because it all goes back to our debt. Our dangerously unsustainable debt is wiping out our jobs, crippling our economic growth, and jeopardizing our position in the global economy as the leader of the free world.
As a governor, I had to deal with facts, even unpleasant ones. I dealt with the world as it is, not as I wished it to be. The "elite" political class in this country with their heads in the sand had better face some unpleasant facts about the world as it is. They've run out of money and no amount of accounting gimmicks or happy talk will change this reality. Those of us who live in the real world could see this day coming.
Back in January 2009, as governor of Alaska, I announced: "We also have to be mindful about the effect of the stimulus package on the national debt and the future economic health of the country. We won't achieve long-term stability if we continue borrowing massive sums from foreign countries and remain dependent on foreign sources of oil and gas." Then I urged President Obama to veto the stimulus bill because it was loaded with absolutely useless pork and unfunded mandates. Everyone knows my early and vocal opposition to that mother of all unfunded mandates known as Obamacare starting back in August 2009, and many recall my objections to the Federal Reserves' inflationary games with our currency known as QE2 from November 2010. It's a matter of public record that I did not go to Harvard Law School, but I can add.
More here
As a governor, I had to deal with facts, even unpleasant ones. I dealt with the world as it is, not as I wished it to be. The "elite" political class in this country with their heads in the sand had better face some unpleasant facts about the world as it is. They've run out of money and no amount of accounting gimmicks or happy talk will change this reality. Those of us who live in the real world could see this day coming.
Back in January 2009, as governor of Alaska, I announced: "We also have to be mindful about the effect of the stimulus package on the national debt and the future economic health of the country. We won't achieve long-term stability if we continue borrowing massive sums from foreign countries and remain dependent on foreign sources of oil and gas." Then I urged President Obama to veto the stimulus bill because it was loaded with absolutely useless pork and unfunded mandates. Everyone knows my early and vocal opposition to that mother of all unfunded mandates known as Obamacare starting back in August 2009, and many recall my objections to the Federal Reserves' inflationary games with our currency known as QE2 from November 2010. It's a matter of public record that I did not go to Harvard Law School, but I can add.
More here
Saturday, July 9, 2011
9.2%
Unemployment is backup up to 9.2 percent. Democrats weren't expecting it to rise again. That's what happens when your economic philosophy of "hope and change" runs counter to supply and demand. Democrats just don't do economics very well. To them, supply and demand means they "demand" more and more tax hikes and "supply" more government spending.
Elsewhere, Arizona has a major public health problem: Too few people are smoking. That’s not the only fiscal problem the state faces. But it’s one of them. Like many states, Arizona’s public finances are in miserable shape. And much of the state’s budget trouble can be attributed to a decade-old decision to finance an expansion of low-income health insurance coverage with revenue dependent on tobacco industry profits. Story
After the verdict was announced, Kim Kardashian sent out a tweet..."Casey Anthony found not guilty!!!! I am speechless!!!" Someone calling himself HaHaWhitePPL responded..."So was Nicole Brown Simpson's family when your dad got O.J. off."
Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, a colorful Texas criminal defense attorney, once said..."If you can prove the victim abused a dog or a horse, you can convince the jury that the guy deserved to be killed. For some reason cats don’t apply."
Remember the woman who claimed she was raped in Iraq and then held in a shipping container for 24 hours as punishment? Story
Well the jury decided she wasn't raped. Yes, she lost
Debbie Schlussel has this to say about the SPLC..."The Southern Poverty Law Center pretends that it is still the organization that fights on behalf of Blacks and the impoverished against KKK racists and neo-Nazis. But that line of work dried up for them, long ago. Instead, the SPLC has declared war on law-abiding American citizens and property owners on behalf of illegal aliens, criminals, Islamic extremists, and Islamic terrorists."
Nissan's Leaf is outselling GM's Volt. But neither one are masters of the road. Some don't even get out of the driveway. Story
Hard to believe...B52 bombers have been around for about sixty years. The Air Force current engineering analyses show that the B52's life span should extend beyond the year 2040.
Can you believe there is a white, world-class 100 and 200 meter sprinter? And he's a frenchman? Sacre bleu! Story
Elsewhere, Arizona has a major public health problem: Too few people are smoking. That’s not the only fiscal problem the state faces. But it’s one of them. Like many states, Arizona’s public finances are in miserable shape. And much of the state’s budget trouble can be attributed to a decade-old decision to finance an expansion of low-income health insurance coverage with revenue dependent on tobacco industry profits. Story
After the verdict was announced, Kim Kardashian sent out a tweet..."Casey Anthony found not guilty!!!! I am speechless!!!" Someone calling himself HaHaWhitePPL responded..."So was Nicole Brown Simpson's family when your dad got O.J. off."
Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, a colorful Texas criminal defense attorney, once said..."If you can prove the victim abused a dog or a horse, you can convince the jury that the guy deserved to be killed. For some reason cats don’t apply."
Remember the woman who claimed she was raped in Iraq and then held in a shipping container for 24 hours as punishment? Story
Well the jury decided she wasn't raped. Yes, she lost
Debbie Schlussel has this to say about the SPLC..."The Southern Poverty Law Center pretends that it is still the organization that fights on behalf of Blacks and the impoverished against KKK racists and neo-Nazis. But that line of work dried up for them, long ago. Instead, the SPLC has declared war on law-abiding American citizens and property owners on behalf of illegal aliens, criminals, Islamic extremists, and Islamic terrorists."
Nissan's Leaf is outselling GM's Volt. But neither one are masters of the road. Some don't even get out of the driveway. Story
Hard to believe...B52 bombers have been around for about sixty years. The Air Force current engineering analyses show that the B52's life span should extend beyond the year 2040.
Can you believe there is a white, world-class 100 and 200 meter sprinter? And he's a frenchman? Sacre bleu! Story
Fanatics with no sense of moral decency
By refusing to accept tax increases in a deal to raise the debt ceiling, Republicans are behaving like "fanatics," writes David Brooks of The New York Times.
Anti-tax Republicans "have no sense of moral decency," he adds.
They are "willing to stain their nation's honor" to "worship their idol." If this "deal of the century" goes down, as he calls the Barack Obama offer, "Republican fanaticism" will be the cause.
"The GOP has become a cult" that has replaced reason with "feverish" and "cockamamie beliefs," writes Richard Cohen of The Washington Post. The Republican "presidential field (is) a virtual political Jonestown," the Guyana site where more than 900 followers of the Peoples Temple drank the Kool-Aid that Rev. Jim Jones mixed for them.
Does anyone think this an appropriate description of such mild-mannered men as Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman?
"The GOP's Hezbollah Wing Is Now Fully in Control," screams The New Republic over a recent lead editorial.
Other columnists charge the GOP with holding America "hostage" by refusing to accept tax hikes to avert a default on the debt.
More here
Anti-tax Republicans "have no sense of moral decency," he adds.
They are "willing to stain their nation's honor" to "worship their idol." If this "deal of the century" goes down, as he calls the Barack Obama offer, "Republican fanaticism" will be the cause.
"The GOP has become a cult" that has replaced reason with "feverish" and "cockamamie beliefs," writes Richard Cohen of The Washington Post. The Republican "presidential field (is) a virtual political Jonestown," the Guyana site where more than 900 followers of the Peoples Temple drank the Kool-Aid that Rev. Jim Jones mixed for them.
Does anyone think this an appropriate description of such mild-mannered men as Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman?
"The GOP's Hezbollah Wing Is Now Fully in Control," screams The New Republic over a recent lead editorial.
Other columnists charge the GOP with holding America "hostage" by refusing to accept tax hikes to avert a default on the debt.
More here
Re-election panic
Something unexpected happened along the president’s breezy cruise to re-election. "No drama" Obama is suddenly looking about as calm as Jerry Lewis in a French film, about as brave as Ted Kennedy after an evening drive through Chappaquiddick. Witness Team Obama’s recent panicky behavior.
Obamanomics anxiety. The White House is reeling as its reverse Midas touch to the economy is being exposed. Its own economists acknowledge now that each job created or "saved" by the so-called "stimulus" cost taxpayers a whopping $278,000. This is still fantasyland because there are 1.9 million fewer jobs on record now than on the day the stimulus was signed into law, but nonetheless, the quiet pre-holiday Friday night news dump of an announcement reveals the administration’s worry. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke admitted last month that he’s clueless why America’s economic malaise continues. Tax cheat and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who called President Obama's budget "unsustainable," wants to abandon ship along with the rest of the "economic dream team" escapees: Lawrence H. Summers, Christina Romer and Austan Goolsbee. Meanwhile, the president, apparently believing no news is good news, has put his fingers in his ears - "La la la, I cannot hear you" - and, at one point, canceled his daily economic briefings.
More here
Obamanomics anxiety. The White House is reeling as its reverse Midas touch to the economy is being exposed. Its own economists acknowledge now that each job created or "saved" by the so-called "stimulus" cost taxpayers a whopping $278,000. This is still fantasyland because there are 1.9 million fewer jobs on record now than on the day the stimulus was signed into law, but nonetheless, the quiet pre-holiday Friday night news dump of an announcement reveals the administration’s worry. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke admitted last month that he’s clueless why America’s economic malaise continues. Tax cheat and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who called President Obama's budget "unsustainable," wants to abandon ship along with the rest of the "economic dream team" escapees: Lawrence H. Summers, Christina Romer and Austan Goolsbee. Meanwhile, the president, apparently believing no news is good news, has put his fingers in his ears - "La la la, I cannot hear you" - and, at one point, canceled his daily economic briefings.
More here
Friday, July 8, 2011
It's in the air
Back in the early 70's Louisiana had more officials under indictment than all the other states combined. Corruption and decadence are in the air. If you've ever been to New Orleans you know what I mean.
Former Governor Edwin Edwards, 83, is being released from six months house arrest after serving eight years in the state prison. "He's readying for his third wedding, a book tour and a grand coming-out and 84th birthday party at the end of the month. He's even in talks for a possible reality TV show. The popularity of the four-term former governor shows no sign of ebbing.
A new Facebook page Edwards launched only a few weeks ago quickly received thousands of 'friends,' including voters who say they wish he could run again.
Story
Former Governor Edwin Edwards, 83, is being released from six months house arrest after serving eight years in the state prison. "He's readying for his third wedding, a book tour and a grand coming-out and 84th birthday party at the end of the month. He's even in talks for a possible reality TV show. The popularity of the four-term former governor shows no sign of ebbing.
A new Facebook page Edwards launched only a few weeks ago quickly received thousands of 'friends,' including voters who say they wish he could run again.
Story
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Flooding on purpose?
Did the Army Corps of Engineers allow the the Missouri River flooding on purpose? Anything is possible when the environmentalists are in play. Story
Elsewhere, Willie Nelson is in trouble...A West Texas judge has rejected country singer Willie Nelson's plea bargain that would have resolved his marijuana possession case with a fine. Hudspeth County Judge Becky Dean-Walker...wants Nelson charged with the misdemeanor of possession of marijuana, which could mean up to one year in jail. Source
Two good comments on the Casey Anthony verdict..."There is no justice, everything relies on who presents the best case and how you play that particular jury" and "A lawyer once told me there was two things you would never find in a courtroom. Truth and justice."
Various studies have shown that children raised by a single mother comprise about 70 percent of juvenile murderers, delinquents, teenaged mothers, drug abusers, dropouts, suicides and runaways. Imagine an America with 70 percent fewer of these social disorders and you will see what liberals' destruction of marriage has wrought. Source
The U.S. celebrated another Independence Day this past weekend. Or as some wags are saying, "Dependence Day". Back in the day freedom meant something else than it does today. Today freedom means the propensity for almost anyone to loot the U.S. treasury at will.
"There are 80,000 bartenders in the United States with bachelor's degrees," Vedder said. He says that 17 percent of baggage porters and bellhops have a college degree, 15 percent of taxi and limo drivers. It's hard to pay off student loans with jobs like those. These days, many students graduate with big debts. Source
Here's a great suggestion for the fundamentalists..."religion should be worn inside like underwear, not outside on one's sleeve."
On the other hand "...to those quick to speak of Christianity as a theocratic religion, it is worth pointing out that despite well-publicized lapses, more often than not, Christianity has survived and presented itself as a force distinct from, and often actually opposed, to the earthly city and merely temporal rulers." -- Anthony O'Hear, "Science and Religion," The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
The Los Angeles Times notes that Mark Teixeira has been omitted from the American League All-Star team despite ranking among the league leaders in home runs and runs batted in. They note that Hank Greenberg was omitted in 1935 even though he had 103 runs batted in before the All-Star break.
Bumper sticker seen on the freeway yesterday...RETURN HIM TO CHICAGO
Governor Rick Perry and George W. Bush don't always see eye to eye. Story
In a speech in April, former economic advisor to PresidentCarter Obama, Christina Romer, said we're experiencing a "growth-less recovery." How's that for double-speak? Or is gobbledegook? I forgot which.
Ponder those words...growth-less recovery.
Elsewhere, Willie Nelson is in trouble...A West Texas judge has rejected country singer Willie Nelson's plea bargain that would have resolved his marijuana possession case with a fine. Hudspeth County Judge Becky Dean-Walker...wants Nelson charged with the misdemeanor of possession of marijuana, which could mean up to one year in jail. Source
Two good comments on the Casey Anthony verdict..."There is no justice, everything relies on who presents the best case and how you play that particular jury" and "A lawyer once told me there was two things you would never find in a courtroom. Truth and justice."
Various studies have shown that children raised by a single mother comprise about 70 percent of juvenile murderers, delinquents, teenaged mothers, drug abusers, dropouts, suicides and runaways. Imagine an America with 70 percent fewer of these social disorders and you will see what liberals' destruction of marriage has wrought. Source
The U.S. celebrated another Independence Day this past weekend. Or as some wags are saying, "Dependence Day". Back in the day freedom meant something else than it does today. Today freedom means the propensity for almost anyone to loot the U.S. treasury at will.
"There are 80,000 bartenders in the United States with bachelor's degrees," Vedder said. He says that 17 percent of baggage porters and bellhops have a college degree, 15 percent of taxi and limo drivers. It's hard to pay off student loans with jobs like those. These days, many students graduate with big debts. Source
Here's a great suggestion for the fundamentalists..."religion should be worn inside like underwear, not outside on one's sleeve."
On the other hand "...to those quick to speak of Christianity as a theocratic religion, it is worth pointing out that despite well-publicized lapses, more often than not, Christianity has survived and presented itself as a force distinct from, and often actually opposed, to the earthly city and merely temporal rulers." -- Anthony O'Hear, "Science and Religion," The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
The Los Angeles Times notes that Mark Teixeira has been omitted from the American League All-Star team despite ranking among the league leaders in home runs and runs batted in. They note that Hank Greenberg was omitted in 1935 even though he had 103 runs batted in before the All-Star break.
Bumper sticker seen on the freeway yesterday...RETURN HIM TO CHICAGO
Governor Rick Perry and George W. Bush don't always see eye to eye. Story
In a speech in April, former economic advisor to President
Ponder those words...growth-less recovery.
Hurricane season
During the past 6-years since Hurricane Katrina, global tropical cyclone frequency and energy have decreased dramatically, and are currently at near-historical record lows. According to a new peer-reviewed research paper accepted to be published, only 69 tropical storms were observed globally during 2010, the fewest in almost 40-years of reliable records.
Furthermore, when each storm’s intensity and duration were taken into account, the total global tropical cyclone accumulated energy (ACE) was found to have fallen by half to the lowest level since 1977.
More here
Furthermore, when each storm’s intensity and duration were taken into account, the total global tropical cyclone accumulated energy (ACE) was found to have fallen by half to the lowest level since 1977.
More here
Still searching for Zodiac killer
Across the nation, at least a dozen law enforcement officials - both active and retired -have taken it upon themselves to try to solve the mystery of the killer who fatally shot or stabbed five people in the Bay Area in 1968 and 1969 and sent almost two dozen taunting letters stuffed with cryptograms to individuals and newspapers, including The Chronicle, until 1974.
They pore over the ciphers and come up with translations they say lead to everyone from an already convicted serial slayer from Kentucky to a Southern California officer's father.
Official investigators in Napa County, Vallejo and San Francisco - the Zodiac's killing zones - usually have a few choice words for the amateur tipsters who contact them each at a clip of at least a half-dozen a week. Among the more common labels: kooks, publicity-hunters and liars.
More here
They pore over the ciphers and come up with translations they say lead to everyone from an already convicted serial slayer from Kentucky to a Southern California officer's father.
Official investigators in Napa County, Vallejo and San Francisco - the Zodiac's killing zones - usually have a few choice words for the amateur tipsters who contact them each at a clip of at least a half-dozen a week. Among the more common labels: kooks, publicity-hunters and liars.
More here
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Casey Anthony
Why is everyone upset that she was acquitted of murder? Can't we just define this as post-natal abortion? What's the big deal? Once we decided to go down the slippery slope and make abortion legal, how far removed is it to kill an expectorated fetus that happens to be two or three years old? Aren't we the big hypocrites?
To Casey Anthony, the child was inconvenient and a hindrance to her desired lifestyle. Sound familiar? Infanticide has been legal since 1973 so where's the outrage for all the other unborn murders? It's all relative, remember? Nuance, they claim. Higher sapient beings knowing what's best. Suck it up, hypocrites.
To Casey Anthony, the child was inconvenient and a hindrance to her desired lifestyle. Sound familiar? Infanticide has been legal since 1973 so where's the outrage for all the other unborn murders? It's all relative, remember? Nuance, they claim. Higher sapient beings knowing what's best. Suck it up, hypocrites.
Cannibals
...former President George Bush narrowly escaped being beheaded and eaten by Japanese soldiers when he was shot down over the Pacific in the Second World War, a shocking new history published in America has revealed. The book, Flyboys, is the result of historical detective work by James Bradley, whose father was among the marines later photographed raising the flag over the island of Iwo Jima. Lt George Bush, then a 20-year-old pilot, was among nine airmen who escaped from their planes after being shot down during bombing raids on Chichi Jima, a tiny island 700 miles south of Tokyo, in September 1944 – and was the only one to evade capture by the Japanese. The horrific fate of the other eight ‘flyboys’ was established in subsequent war crimes trials on the island of Guam, but details were sealed in top secret files in Washington to spare their families distress. Mr Bradley has established that they were tortured, beaten and then executed, either by beheading with swords or by multiple stab-wounds from bayonets and sharpened bamboo stakes. Four were then butchered by the island garrison’s surgeons and their livers and meat from their thighs eaten by senior Japanese officers.
Source
Source
School cheats
Award-winning gains by Atlanta students were based on widespread cheating by 178 named teachers and principals, said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday. His office released a report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that names 178 teachers and principals – 82 of whom confessed – in what's likely the biggest cheating scandal in US history.
This appears to be the largest of dozens of major cheating scandals, unearthed across the country. The allegations point an ongoing problem for US education, which has developed an ever-increasing dependence on standardized tests.
The report on the Atlanta Public Schools, released Tuesday, indicates a "widespread" conspiracy by teachers, principals and administrators to fix answers on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), punish whistle-blowers, and hide improprieties.
It "confirms our worst fears," says Mayor Kasim Reed. "There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system." The news is "absolutely devastating," said Brenda Muhammad, chairwoman of the Atlanta school board. "It’s our children. You just don’t cheat children."
More here
This appears to be the largest of dozens of major cheating scandals, unearthed across the country. The allegations point an ongoing problem for US education, which has developed an ever-increasing dependence on standardized tests.
The report on the Atlanta Public Schools, released Tuesday, indicates a "widespread" conspiracy by teachers, principals and administrators to fix answers on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), punish whistle-blowers, and hide improprieties.
It "confirms our worst fears," says Mayor Kasim Reed. "There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system." The news is "absolutely devastating," said Brenda Muhammad, chairwoman of the Atlanta school board. "It’s our children. You just don’t cheat children."
More here
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Clueless in D.C.
Here's the latest quote from our clueless president..."I ran for President because I believed in an America where ordinary folks could get ahead; where if you worked hard, you could have a better life. That’s been my focus since I came into office, and that has to be our focus now. It’s one of the reasons why we’re working to reduce our nation’s deficit. Government has to start living within its means, just like families do. We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing, and give our businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs." (working to reduce our nation's deficit? Living within its means? Cut the spending?)
Elsewhere...The Community Organizer Who Would be King..."I think we've reached a similar turning point in this presidency where (a) Obama's (and Michelle's) delusions of grandeur have become objects of ridicule; b) Obama's feet of clay are obvious. He may be the only person left in Washington who has not yet realized how inadequate he is to the tasks before him; (c) the people and the press are beginning to turn on him, and as his failures become even more obvious with each passing day, more people will feel free to attack him and his policies and their attacks will become ever more savage as the gap between the promise and reality grow ever more stark." Source
Ever notice how the Leftists describe the U.S. Constitution as "living and breathing"? They do this because they know their agenda is unconstitutional, and thus must use subterfuge to push their narrative into the nation's consciousness. Leftists follow the lead of Justice Thurgood Marshall who believed the Constitution was defective. Now we have people in government who believe that employers should have no say in union formations and that a private company like Boeing cannot relocate to a non-union state.
Rumor has it that the Leftists are agitating for Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg to retire because they fear Obama will not be reelected in 2012. They want her to retire now so that Obama can appoint a leftist replacement before his election defeat.
Somebody must have let Jeremiah Wright out of his cage. He's now saying all whites are liars or something. Story
Michele Bachmann has the best quote for the week..."I want you to know, as president of the United States, I look forward to creating real jobs for both the Treasury secretary and the president of the United States." Ha.
Only conservatives seem to notice that we are slowly moving via rules, regulations, and taxes back to the situation we were in back around 1775. We beat the British. Are we up for the Leftists?
A Democrat effort to recall Republican Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana gathered only 55 Of 908,000 signatures needed. Ha.
But who's counting?...Congressional Democrats have not proposed a budget since April 3, 2009. That's 27 straight months without a budget proposal from a Democrat in either the House or the Senate.
There he goes again...Obama recently misspoke by saying Abraham Lincoln built the "intercontinental" railroad during the Civil War. Almost any ignorant high school dropout from flyover country knows that he should have used "transcontinental" instead. Didn't he learn anything at Harvard?
$278,000 each. Un-flippin-believable.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment...In a handwritten lawsuit, 21-year-old Kyle Richards claims his civil rights are being violated at the Macomb County (Michigan) Jail. Richards says denying his request for erotic material subjects him to a "poor standard of living" and "sexual and sensory deprivation." Story
Since Wisconsin dumped public employee bargaining they have found that they are realizing significant savings on their school district health plans. Big, big savings. Story
Elsewhere...The Community Organizer Who Would be King..."I think we've reached a similar turning point in this presidency where (a) Obama's (and Michelle's) delusions of grandeur have become objects of ridicule; b) Obama's feet of clay are obvious. He may be the only person left in Washington who has not yet realized how inadequate he is to the tasks before him; (c) the people and the press are beginning to turn on him, and as his failures become even more obvious with each passing day, more people will feel free to attack him and his policies and their attacks will become ever more savage as the gap between the promise and reality grow ever more stark." Source
Ever notice how the Leftists describe the U.S. Constitution as "living and breathing"? They do this because they know their agenda is unconstitutional, and thus must use subterfuge to push their narrative into the nation's consciousness. Leftists follow the lead of Justice Thurgood Marshall who believed the Constitution was defective. Now we have people in government who believe that employers should have no say in union formations and that a private company like Boeing cannot relocate to a non-union state.
Rumor has it that the Leftists are agitating for Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg to retire because they fear Obama will not be reelected in 2012. They want her to retire now so that Obama can appoint a leftist replacement before his election defeat.
Somebody must have let Jeremiah Wright out of his cage. He's now saying all whites are liars or something. Story
Michele Bachmann has the best quote for the week..."I want you to know, as president of the United States, I look forward to creating real jobs for both the Treasury secretary and the president of the United States." Ha.
Only conservatives seem to notice that we are slowly moving via rules, regulations, and taxes back to the situation we were in back around 1775. We beat the British. Are we up for the Leftists?
A Democrat effort to recall Republican Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana gathered only 55 Of 908,000 signatures needed. Ha.
But who's counting?...Congressional Democrats have not proposed a budget since April 3, 2009. That's 27 straight months without a budget proposal from a Democrat in either the House or the Senate.
There he goes again...Obama recently misspoke by saying Abraham Lincoln built the "intercontinental" railroad during the Civil War. Almost any ignorant high school dropout from flyover country knows that he should have used "transcontinental" instead. Didn't he learn anything at Harvard?
$278,000 each. Un-flippin-believable.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment...In a handwritten lawsuit, 21-year-old Kyle Richards claims his civil rights are being violated at the Macomb County (Michigan) Jail. Richards says denying his request for erotic material subjects him to a "poor standard of living" and "sexual and sensory deprivation." Story
Since Wisconsin dumped public employee bargaining they have found that they are realizing significant savings on their school district health plans. Big, big savings. Story
Rotten teachers and their unions
It took eight years and well over $1 million in taxpayer funds to get rid of Murry Bergtraum High School Spanish teacher Yvonne Chalom.
Between November 2003 and April 2004, Chalom, 49, allegedly left "bizarre, threatening" messages after-hours on the voicemail of three administrators at the lower Manhattan school. They included audio of news reports on gunshots in Iraq, the anniversary of the Columbine school massacre, and Trump’s "You’re Fired!"
A jury convicted Chalom on 32 counts of aggravated harassment in 2005. But the city Department of Education felt it needed more grounds to terminate Chalom. It accused her of taking photos of a school clock without permission, throwing a temper tantrum in a room-assignment mixup, and calling an assistant principal a "bitch."
Her disciplinary hearing got under way in June 2007.
It spanned two years — the longest ever, say sources involved in teacher discipline — with nearly 100 days of argument and testimony, 254 exhibits, and more than 20,000 transcript pages.
It took another two years to get a ruling.
More here
Between November 2003 and April 2004, Chalom, 49, allegedly left "bizarre, threatening" messages after-hours on the voicemail of three administrators at the lower Manhattan school. They included audio of news reports on gunshots in Iraq, the anniversary of the Columbine school massacre, and Trump’s "You’re Fired!"
A jury convicted Chalom on 32 counts of aggravated harassment in 2005. But the city Department of Education felt it needed more grounds to terminate Chalom. It accused her of taking photos of a school clock without permission, throwing a temper tantrum in a room-assignment mixup, and calling an assistant principal a "bitch."
Her disciplinary hearing got under way in June 2007.
It spanned two years — the longest ever, say sources involved in teacher discipline — with nearly 100 days of argument and testimony, 254 exhibits, and more than 20,000 transcript pages.
It took another two years to get a ruling.
More here
History Lesson
Today our children are indoctrinated into perverse revisionism. Schools harp more on the KKK, slavery and Jim Crow than extol the heroism and unrivaled restraint of George Washington, the inventive genius of Thomas Edison or the innovative business acumen of Henry Ford. Our young know plenty about America's perceived national sins, but little of her astounding achievements.
In an Orwellian redefinition of virtue, those who love America are smeared as intolerant bigots while those degrading the culture which sustains them pass as caring and compassionate. Most Americans intuitively perceive the hypocrisy of politically correct dogma, but few dare articulate their dismay, cowed into obsequiousness by the ubiquitous thought police.
It's silly to rewrite history diminishing the courageous path undertaken by our forbears. That they primarily risked their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" for their own wasn't iniquitous. Few have hazarded anything for anyone. They risked everything.
It's silly to rewrite history diminishing the courageous path undertaken by our forbears. That they primarily risked their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" for their own wasn't iniquitous. Few have hazarded anything for anyone. They risked everything.
More here
In an Orwellian redefinition of virtue, those who love America are smeared as intolerant bigots while those degrading the culture which sustains them pass as caring and compassionate. Most Americans intuitively perceive the hypocrisy of politically correct dogma, but few dare articulate their dismay, cowed into obsequiousness by the ubiquitous thought police.
It's silly to rewrite history diminishing the courageous path undertaken by our forbears. That they primarily risked their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" for their own wasn't iniquitous. Few have hazarded anything for anyone. They risked everything.
It's silly to rewrite history diminishing the courageous path undertaken by our forbears. That they primarily risked their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" for their own wasn't iniquitous. Few have hazarded anything for anyone. They risked everything.
More here
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Glenn Beck
The New York Times is reporting that Glenn Beck's time slot at Fox News will be filled by a talk show featuring a rotating panel of opinionated people. The show will be called "The Five" and will feature a "roundtable ensemble of five rotating Fox News personalities who will discuss, debate and at times debunk the hot news stories, controversies and issues of the day." Among the people involved are Greg Gutfeld, who is host of an overnight talk show for Fox; Juan Williams, who is a regular on Fox’s "The O’Reilly Factor;" Dana Perino, a former spokeswoman for the Bush White House; and Andrew Napolitano, the host of a libertarian talk show on the Fox Business Network.
Glenn Beck is also moving to Texas...to somewhere in the Dallas area, according to the story. But he's actually moving to a suburb north of Fort Worth near Grapevine Lake. Story
In Philadelphia, ring wing budget protestors demanding spending cuts demonstrated outside an Obama fundraising event. Demonstrators lined the sidewalk in front of the hotel holding signs with such slogans as "One and Done," ''Stop Spending" and "Balance the Budget." Later, a magnetic presidential seal that was affixed to the side of his limousine fell off while driving on the interstate. (someone is trying to tell Obama something)
A Judicial Watch investigation has found that the Obama Administration recently violated the ban on federal funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) by giving the famously corrupt group tens of thousands of dollars in grants to "combat housing and lending discrimination." Story
Ever wonder where your tax dollars are going?...Medicaid was created in 1965 as a supposedly small program with expenditures of $1 billion. It has since ballooned to $450 billion and now the Department of Health and Human Services projects Medicaid will cost $900 billion by 2019. Source
The political gossip going around right now is that the Obama administration is panicking because they sincerely expected a robust economic recovery by now, and they wanted to campaign next year by borrowing Ronald Reagan's "it's morning again in America" theme--without actually having to borrow any of Reagan's policies. We have to presume that if Obama knew how to revive the economy, he would, and he seems genuinely stumped as to why his stimulus is not working. Source
PresidentCarter Obama is claiming that their stimulus package created 3.6 million jobs and raised the U.S. GDP by 3.2%. What they neglect to say is that the economy has lost 2.5 million jobs since Obama moved into the White House. While the stimulus package may have saved a few jobs, the total is neglible in the overall picture. Who says Democrats don't lie?
Remember the "moats and alligators" comment by Obama? He was being sarcastic but most Americans think it's a good idea, based upon the polls on illegal immigration. Even Los Angeles mayor Villarraigosa has decided the mayor's residence needs a fence to keep out the undesirables. If the fence doesn't work then maybe he'll move on to the moats and alligators idea.
As far back as 2007 when carbon permit trading was raised as an idea in Australia, federal police officials expressed concern about the potential for fraud...The scams generally involve a business claiming that it is providing carbon abatement, through tree planting or technology, but in fact is doing nothing but signing a register and taking money from unsuspecting companies..."This is a market based on the non-delivery of an invisible product to no one, and is almost certain to be scammed." Source
Ain' it the truth?...Society is organized in such a way that the natural instincts of men are shameful and criminal while the natural instincts of women are mostly legal and acceptable. In other words, men are born as round pegs in a society full of square holes. Whose fault is that? Do you blame the baby who didn’t ask to be born male? Or do you blame the society that brought him into the world, all round-pegged and turgid, and said, "Here’s your square hole"? Source
True or False?...The Gnostics believe that the world is an illusion created by an evil demiurge in order to trap the souls of us, we enlightened who are actually gods in disguise.
Glenn Beck is also moving to Texas...to somewhere in the Dallas area, according to the story. But he's actually moving to a suburb north of Fort Worth near Grapevine Lake. Story
In Philadelphia, ring wing budget protestors demanding spending cuts demonstrated outside an Obama fundraising event. Demonstrators lined the sidewalk in front of the hotel holding signs with such slogans as "One and Done," ''Stop Spending" and "Balance the Budget." Later, a magnetic presidential seal that was affixed to the side of his limousine fell off while driving on the interstate. (someone is trying to tell Obama something)
A Judicial Watch investigation has found that the Obama Administration recently violated the ban on federal funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) by giving the famously corrupt group tens of thousands of dollars in grants to "combat housing and lending discrimination." Story
Ever wonder where your tax dollars are going?...Medicaid was created in 1965 as a supposedly small program with expenditures of $1 billion. It has since ballooned to $450 billion and now the Department of Health and Human Services projects Medicaid will cost $900 billion by 2019. Source
The political gossip going around right now is that the Obama administration is panicking because they sincerely expected a robust economic recovery by now, and they wanted to campaign next year by borrowing Ronald Reagan's "it's morning again in America" theme--without actually having to borrow any of Reagan's policies. We have to presume that if Obama knew how to revive the economy, he would, and he seems genuinely stumped as to why his stimulus is not working. Source
President
Remember the "moats and alligators" comment by Obama? He was being sarcastic but most Americans think it's a good idea, based upon the polls on illegal immigration. Even Los Angeles mayor Villarraigosa has decided the mayor's residence needs a fence to keep out the undesirables. If the fence doesn't work then maybe he'll move on to the moats and alligators idea.
As far back as 2007 when carbon permit trading was raised as an idea in Australia, federal police officials expressed concern about the potential for fraud...The scams generally involve a business claiming that it is providing carbon abatement, through tree planting or technology, but in fact is doing nothing but signing a register and taking money from unsuspecting companies..."This is a market based on the non-delivery of an invisible product to no one, and is almost certain to be scammed." Source
Ain' it the truth?...Society is organized in such a way that the natural instincts of men are shameful and criminal while the natural instincts of women are mostly legal and acceptable. In other words, men are born as round pegs in a society full of square holes. Whose fault is that? Do you blame the baby who didn’t ask to be born male? Or do you blame the society that brought him into the world, all round-pegged and turgid, and said, "Here’s your square hole"? Source
True or False?...The Gnostics believe that the world is an illusion created by an evil demiurge in order to trap the souls of us, we enlightened who are actually gods in disguise.
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