Thursday, November 12, 2009
A Thank You Note
These may seem to be posted in an unexpected place, because it is.
That being said, it certainly is heartening to see former antagonists wake up to see that personal character matters.
As with many things, we often need to witness another's shortcomings before we appreciate genuine strengths.
Kudos to the writer of this thank you note...
That being said, it certainly is heartening to see former antagonists wake up to see that personal character matters.
As with many things, we often need to witness another's shortcomings before we appreciate genuine strengths.
Kudos to the writer of this thank you note...
HillBuzz closes his/her comment with this. There's much more:
"We will never look at the Bushes, the Bush presidencies, or their legacies the same again…and someday when his presidential library is built, we will be so proud to visit there and tell anyone will listen about November 10th, 2009, the day we finally appreciated former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.
Thank you for your service, Mr. President. We’re sorry we didn’t appreciate you while you were in office, but we thank Heaven we’ve wised up and can see the good you are out there doing, under the radar, today."
"Jihadi Denial Syndrome reaches epidemic proportions"
It seems to me that we have lost the ability to discern "benefit of the doubt" from "to err on the side of caution."
The cause is "politically correct" behavior, which (if you really think about it) often prevents the statement and publication of the truth.
I have no objection to hoping for the best; however, there comes a time when "denial" is contradictory to our well-being...
The cause is "politically correct" behavior, which (if you really think about it) often prevents the statement and publication of the truth.
I have no objection to hoping for the best; however, there comes a time when "denial" is contradictory to our well-being...
Melanie Phillips writes on the Spectator UK website:
"While the vast majority of its Muslim citizens appeared to be people who really had come to the US to get a slice of the good life and had signed up to American values, there was a growing element amongst US Muslims which was becoming steadily radicalised. Worse still, the FBI and other counter-terrorism agencies had been influenced by their appeasement-minded British cousins in the security world peddling their wholly false analysis of Islamic terrorism as having nothing to do with religion, encouraging US officials similarly to downplay or passively allow the rise of US radicalisation."
Government at Work - the "stimulus money"
Sadly, I bet our elected representatives wouldn't even be bothered by this.
And, considering that they don't "read" much, they may not even know about it.
It really is time to throw the bums out...
And, considering that they don't "read" much, they may not even know about it.
It really is time to throw the bums out...
This is #9 on a list at the Senate Republican's government web site:
"9. $3.4 MILLION FOR A TURTLE TUNNEL IN FLORIDA:
“The Other Third Of The Stimulus, Government Infrastructure Spending, Has Been The Most Controversial From The Start. Some Proposals Have Been Criticized As Wasteful, Such As … A $3.4 Million ‘Ecopassage’ To Help Turtles Cross A Highway In Tallahassee, Fla.” "
Annie - "the sun will come out tomorrow"
If you don't like what's going on, this article may boost your spirits.
The 2010 elections looks to be quite interesting...
The 2010 elections looks to be quite interesting...
Bill Dupray writes about it at PatriotRoom.com:
"Let's look at their list of Senate races and see how much good news is there for the Dems."
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
"Spitzer to give ethics lecture at Harvard"
I don't know where to start.
What does this say about Harvard; America; society in general?...
What does this say about Harvard; America; society in general?...
Clemente Lisi reports in the New York Post:
"Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer will give a lecture Thursday on ethics at Harvard University -- something that has angered the madam who once supplied him with high-priced hookers.
'I am greatly intrigued as to what Mr. Spitzer could contribute to an ethical discussion when as Chief Executive Law Enforcement Officer of NY he broke numerous laws for which he has yet to be punished,' Kristin Davis wrote in a protest letter to Professor Lawrence Lessig at Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.
'As Attorney General he went around arresting and making examples out of the same escort agencies he was frequenting.'
Spitzer, 50, was forced to resign as governor in 2008 after it was revealed that he was the client of a prostitution ring at the center of a federal investigation."
Pfizer and Kelo v. City of New London - WSJ.com
This issue has bothered me greatly from the very beginning.
While it's a good thing that it got attention and caused states to enact laws preventing actions like this, there's no way to restore the injustice done to the former homeowners involved here.
It's sad. I hope we all learned a lesson...
While it's a good thing that it got attention and caused states to enact laws preventing actions like this, there's no way to restore the injustice done to the former homeowners involved here.
It's sad. I hope we all learned a lesson...
This is from the Wall Street Journal opinion page:
"Pfizer bugs out, long after the land grab."
Barack Obama - "Still Willfully Blind"
Pretending that bad guys don't exist, or that they have good intentions just doesn't cut it.
We must start seeing and calling things as they are...
We must start seeing and calling things as they are...
Andy McCarthy writes at NationalReview.com:
"In national security, we are supposed to put in charge adults who are capable of getting outside their own biases and childish fantasies. It doesn't matter what President Obama thinks about faith; his obligation is to acknowledge and act on what others understand their faith to compel — even if the president finds that horrifying to contemplate.
After the carnage we've seen for two decades, and the high religious authorities that have endorsed it, it is simply astounding that an American president — at a solemn memorial service for soldiers killed just days ago by a jihadist acting on his rational, broadly accepted understanding of his religious duty — could claim that "no faith justifies" sneak-attack murders, and that no religion teaches that 'God looks upon them with favor.' In fact, a widely held interpretation of Islam holds exactly these principles. No one is saying that all Muslims follow Hasan's construction of Islam, but hundreds of millions do and they have scriptures to back up their beliefs — scriptures we could all read if we'd just pull our heads out of the sand.
To deny that is to deny reality. A country can't be protected by people who lack the will to face reality."
An Immigrant Story
There are immigrants; and then there are immigrants...
David J. Carter has the complete story at StarsandStripes.com:
"As South Vietnam crumbled under advancing North Vietnamese forces 34 years ago, 5-year-old Hung Ba Le and his family escaped and eventually found refuge on a U.S. Navy ship.
This week, he returns to the land of his birth for the first time. And it is a U.S. Navy ship — the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen that he commands — that will take him there."
The Swine Flu Boogeyman
If you weren't skeptical before, this may help you along...
At Forbes.com, Michael Fumento writes:
"...among 65,000 college students afflicted with CDC-defined "flu-like illness" seriously enough to seek medical help, according to an American College Health Association running survey, there have been only 123 hospitalizations and zero deaths. That in turn reflects swine flu as a whole, which in the seven months since the outbreak began has apparently killed fewer Americans than normally die every two weeks from "ordinary" flu during the season."
"Sarah Palin and the Dysfunctional Political Class"
It's sad that this conclusion is so right.
Americans are driven by forces that aren't likely to lead to different/better outcomes...
Americans are driven by forces that aren't likely to lead to different/better outcomes...
James V. DeLong writes this and more at PajamasMedia.com:
"The frenetic hostility to Sarah Palin, even by many on the Republican side, is unnerving, because her qualifications to be president are objectively better than those of almost anyone who has been on the national ticket over the past decade.
A reasonable conclusion is that these qualifications are precisely the cause of the hostility. To admit to the reality that the dominant political class, including the MSM and the punditocracy of both parties, has been giving us abysmal presidential candidates, to accept that a hockey mom plucked from small-town Alaska is better than the best that the political class can come up with, would require recognition of the terrible truth that the system has become deeply dysfunctional. Doing this would force our political elites to look into an abyss of serious questions about the functioning of our democracy. Palin creates a cognitive dissonance so intense that it simply cannot be accepted."
"Operation Orchard"
This is quite a story, considering "it never happened"...
Erich Follath and Holger Stark have the story on the Der Spiegel website:
"In September 2007, Israeli fighter jets destroyed a mysterious complex in the Syrian desert. The incident could have led to war, but it was hushed up by all sides. Was it a nuclear plant and who gave the orders for the strike?"
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Barack Obama - "A Tale of Two Shootings"
I'm seeing a lot of comment about this on Internet blogs and newsites.
It does seem to say something. You, of course, can form your own opinion...
It does seem to say something. You, of course, can form your own opinion...
Scott Wheeler discusses it at Townhall.com:
"Obama's remarks upon hearing that abortionist George Tiller was shot--- "I am shocked and outraged" contrasted with his statement on the news that 12 unarmed soldiers were gunned down at Ft. Hood Army Post: "I would caution against jumping to conclusions" about the motives of the gunman."
Who Is Behind Quashing the Birth Certificate Issue?
This issue should upset all of us.
Everything seems to point to something bad going on with this birth certificate issue...
Everything seems to point to something bad going on with this birth certificate issue...
Joan Swirsky reports in the Canada Free Press (of course):
"NOW WE KNOW WHY
In an explosive interview by Dr. Laurie Roth on her syndicated West Coast radio show on August 7th, Douglas Hagmann—a respected journalist, director of the Northeast Intelligence Network and longtime private investigator, and Judi McLeod, a prolific journalist and the managing editor of Canada Free Press—the reason for the media blackout about the birth-certificate issue was nothing less than organized Mafia-like dire threats to members of the media issued not only from the heads of major TV and radio stations but also from Federal Communication Commission officials!
According to Hagmann and McLeod, who conducted a nine-month investigation and documented their findings scrupulously, after Obama was elected but before he was inaugurated:
* A major TV talk-show host reported that he was ordered not to raise the birth certificate issue or risk losing his job.
* FCC officials threatened to yank broadcasting licenses, break up conglomerates, and make the enactment of the Fairness Doctrine 'look mild' in comparison to other consequences.
* In at least one corporate TV headquarters, memos were circulated to all on-air employees not to mention the birth certificate issue, as well as other specific subjects like Obama’s Illinois lawyer’s license, his college records, etc., under both implied and explicit threats."
Politicians - Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon
There's seems to be no end to dishonest elected officials...
This is from NewsMax.com:
"Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon is about to put her political future in the hands of a jury.
Dixon goes on trial Monday on theft charges. She's accused of hitting up her wealthy developer pals to donate thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards to needy families. Prosecutors say she used those gift cards for her personal shopping instead. "
Politicians - Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
Say "A"; do "B"; claim ignorance...
Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia report this at DenverChannel.com:
"Gov. Bill Ritter promised a hiring freeze last year to help bridge the budget gap, but a CALL7 investigation found that as many as 2,300 employees were hired during the “freeze.”
“We have taken a number of steps to shore up our fiscal house: imposing a hiring freeze, stopping several new construction projects and halting non-essential spending requests,” Ritter said in his January 2009 State of the State speech.
But a CALL7 investigation found that the number of state employees increased during Ritter’s hiring freeze, and Ritter’s top staff, who were tasked with managing the freeze, did not know how many people were hired."
The Golden State isn't worth it -- latimes.com
A tale of two states...
William Voegeli writes at LAtimes.com:
"One way to assess how Americans feel about the different tax and benefit packages the states offer is by examining internal U.S. migration patterns. Between April 1, 2000, and June 30, 2007, an average of 3,247 more people moved out of California than into it every week, according to the Census Bureau. Over the same period, Texas had a net weekly population increase of 1,544 as a result of people moving in from other states. During these years, more generally, 16 of the 17 states with the lowest tax levels had positive "net internal migration," in the Census Bureau's language, while 14 of the 17 states with the highest taxes had negative net internal migration."
Monday, November 09, 2009
"Unmentionable: Best-Selling Conservative Books and the Networks that Ignore Them"
Well, there's supposed to be "equal treatment under the law"; so, it seems there should be equal treatment by the media.
This article points out the glaringly disproportionate coverage of books...
This article points out the glaringly disproportionate coverage of books...
PRE-LINK TEXT Matt Philbin and Zoe Ortiz write about it at the CultureAndMedia.org website:
"Conservative books and authors have been very successful recently, as evidenced by their showing on the best-seller list. Since January 2009, conservatives enjoyed 95 total weeks on the list, compared to just 80 weeks for liberal books and authors. At this writing Michelle Malkin’s “Culture of Corruption” was at No.1, and several other conservative titles have prominent berths on the list.
But as the Culture and Media Institute discovered, viewers of ABC, CBS and NBC might never know of the popularity and commercial success of those conservative books.
CMI studied the coverage network news organizations gave to 25 books that appeared on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best-Seller List during the first half of 2009. Of those, 14 were liberal (either in subject or author) and 11 were conservative. The books in question covered current events and politics, political biography and economics. CMI analysis discovered a dramatic difference between the amount and quality of coverage."
"The Myth of '08, Demolished"
The Democrats say no big deal.
The Republicans say it IS a big deal...
The Republicans say it IS a big deal...
At RealClearPolitics.com, Charles Krauthammer offers his opinion:
"The Obama coattails of 2008 are gone. The expansion of the electorate, the excitement of the young, came in uniquely propitious Democratic circumstances and amid unparalleled enthusiasm for electing the first African-American president.
November '08 was one-shot, one-time, never to be replicated. Nor was November '09 a realignment. It was a return to the norm -- and definitive confirmation that 2008 was one of the great flukes in American political history."
"I-Team Uncovers Billions Lost To Medicare Fraud"
Kudos to "60 Minutes" and the I-Team...
Stephen Stock has the story at South Florida's CBS4.com:
"The CBS4 I-Team partnered with 60 Minutes for a joint investigation into Medicare fraud here in South Florida.
It's a crime that costs you, the taxpayer, more than $60 billion a year!"
California Lawmakers Withhold More Taxes from Workers' Paychecks - WSJ.com
I don't like this.
This is not the kind of power governments should be allowed to have.
Think about it. Could they "borrow" from your personal bank accounts?...
This is not the kind of power governments should be allowed to have.
Think about it. Could they "borrow" from your personal bank accounts?...
The Wall Street Journal reports on it:
"To help close yet another gaping budget deficit, now estimated to be $7 billion this year and reach as high as $20 billion next, Sacramento lawmakers have authorized a 10% increase in the amount of taxes withheld from worker paychecks starting November 1 and through 2010. The extra withholding tax will reduce Californians' take-home pay by about $1.7 billion for the year. But the lawmakers say this isn't a tax increase. OK, how about calling it a compulsory interest-free loan from taxpayers to the state?
According to the Franchise Tax Board, 10,004,000 Californians overpaid their state taxes last year and received an average refund of $903. The withholding penalty is expected to snatch between $20 and $90 a month from middle-class families. For those feeling the pinch of recession and living paycheck to paycheck, that penalty will hurt.
Of course, the government is obliged to return this money next spring when workers get their tax refunds, so this is the ultimate budget gimmick. It borrows from taxpayers now and deepens the budget hole next year. And we almost hate to ask: What happens come April if the state doesn't have enough money to pay the tax refunds it owes its citizens? Will taxpayers get IOUs the way state contractors did last year when Sacramento ran out of money?"
Sunday, November 08, 2009
The Constitution - Do they even care?
It appears that constitutionality is no longer a concern of politicians...
Fred Lucas reports at CNSnews.com:
"White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that he does not know if White House lawyers have reviewed whether it is constitutional for the federal government to order individuals to buy health insurance and said that the White House is not seriously considering the concerns of people such as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) who believe the mandate is not constitutionally justified.
This was the second time in two weeks that Gibbs had dismissed concerns that the Constitution does not give the federal government the power to force individuals to purchase items the government wants them to purchase."
The Permanent Tea Party - WSJ.com
I'm hoping this continues until the existing elected officials either get the message or get voted out.
In the article, I think Mr. Henninger would have been better to say "person on a white horse"...
In the article, I think Mr. Henninger would have been better to say "person on a white horse"...
The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger writes about the issue:
"What was learned Tuesday is that the American voter is absolutely, totally, unremittingly disgusted with both political parties. More than anything, the American voter is desperate for political leadership.
That electorates in two politically significant states, led by the widening independent movement, could swing within one year from enthusiasm for electing Barack Obama to support for Virginia's OK Republican Bob McDonnell and New Jersey's lackluster Chris Christie is simply astonishing.
Add another American metaphor to the political landscape: the cattle stampede. Independent voters across the U.S. have become like the massive cattle herd John Wayne drove from Texas to Kansas in 'Red River.' These voters are spooked and on the run, a political stampede that veered left in November 2008 and now right a mere year later. They will keep running—crushing incumbents, candidates and political models of the left and right—through November 2010 and onto 2012 until they find a person or party capable of leadership appropriate to our unsettled times. And yes, Virginia, the possibility of a man on a white horse in 2012 is not out of the question."
Politicians - Congressman-elect Bill Owens
This is pretty ugly.
I wonder what will happen when he gets more "experience"...
I wonder what will happen when he gets more "experience"...
At gouverneurtimes.com, Nathan Barker reports:
"Owens Breaks 4 Campaign Promises in first hour in Congress"
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Presidents - They are what they are
I won't elaborate on where the current President is.
Enough said...
Enough said...
This is from Texas' CBS11tv.com:
"Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.
The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing.""
Politicians - Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums
More of the same from elected officials...
Jonathan Bair posted this on an SFGate.com blog:
"Ron Dellums, who earns about $184,000 as Oakland mayor on top of a congressional pension, appears to owe the Internal Revenue Service at least $66,554. A lien has been placed against his property for failing to pay taxes for 2006. According to the East Bay Express, which broke the story, Mayor Dellums and his wife, who file jointly, may owe more than $239,000 in taxes, mostly for the years he worked as a lobbyist in Washington, DC."
"Auto registration checks scaring immigrants"
I have no problem at all with this...
At DispatchPolitics.com, Stephanie Czekalinski reports:
"News that the state will cancel the car registrations of possibly thousands of undocumented immigrants has caused panic and created rumors among those living in central Ohio.
Before Aug. 24, a loophole in the state Bureau of Motor Vehicle's policy allowed illegal immigrants to register cars in their names by using a power-of-attorney form, even if they didn't have a driver's license.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety closed the loophole after delaying a crackdown on possibly fraudulent registrations for more than a year.
After The Dispatch reported on the delay, the bureau sent letters at the beginning of October to more than 47,000 people statewide whose vehicle registrations didn't list a Social Security number or Ohio driver's license or ID number. The state gave them until Dec. 9 to prove residency at a local BMV and pay $3.50 or have their registration canceled."
"Rush Limbaugh And A Tale Of Two Soundbites"
The media coverage might be considered heavily biased if both sound bites were actually proven to have been said; BUT, only one can be proven.
Guess which one the media is highlighting?...
Guess which one the media is highlighting?...
This is part of a column by Mark Steyn on the Philadelphia Bulletin website:
"So if I understand correctly:
Rush Limbaugh is so 'divisive' that to get him fired leftie agitators have to invent racist soundbites to put in his mouth.
But the White House Communications Director is so un-divisive that she can be invited along to recommend Chairman Mao as a role model for America’s young.
From my unscientific survey, US school students are all but entirely unaware of Mao Tse-Tung, and the few that aren’t know him mainly as a T-shirt graphic or 'agrarian reformer'. What else did he do? Here, from Jonathan Fenby’s book Modern China, is the great man in a nutshell:
'Mao’s responsibility for the extinction of anywhere from 40 to 70 million lives brands him as a mass killer greater than Hitler or Stalin.'
Hey, that’s pretty impressive when they can’t get your big final-score death toll nailed down to within 30 million. "
Friday, November 06, 2009
"Geithner 'Burned Billions' And Shafted Taxpayers..."
Government at work spending (wasting our money).
This is NOT pocket change! This IS irresponsible.
Government officials are absolutely the worst stewards of our tax dollars...
This is NOT pocket change! This IS irresponsible.
Government officials are absolutely the worst stewards of our tax dollars...
Henry Blodget writes at BusinessInsider.com:
"But here's the bad news: While senior debt holders will only lose 30% of their investment, we, the U.S. taxpayer, will lose the entire $2.3 billion we lent the company this summer.
William Black, professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law is dumbfounded. 'We put ourselves on the hook in a completely inept way where we lose first. We lose entirely as the taxpayers.'
Black, a former top federal banking regulator, blames Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for negotiating such a bad deal on behalf of the American public."
"State lowballed cost of green tax breaks"
Here's another case of total disregard for the taxpayer.
More than once, too...
More than once, too...
Harry Esteve reports at OregonLive.com:
"State officials deliberately underestimated the cost of Gov. Ted Kulongoski's plan to lure green energy companies to Oregon with big taxpayer subsidies, resulting in a program that cost 40 times more than unsuspecting lawmakers were told, an investigation by The Oregonian shows.
Records also show that the program, a favorite of Kulongoski's known as the Business Energy Tax Credit, has given millions of dollars to failed companies while voters are being asked to raise income taxes because the state budget doesn't have enough to pay for schools and other programs.
The incentives are now under intense scrutiny at the Oregon Department of Energy, which is scrambling to curb their skyrocketing costs."
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Middle Class New Yorkers Fleeing State - WSJ.com
When taxes drive people away, government's tax income decreases, and those that are left are likely to be asked to make up the difference with more and higher taxes.
Is that so hard to understand?
It sounds like a disastrous spiral to me...
Is that so hard to understand?
It sounds like a disastrous spiral to me...
In this Wall Street Journal article the consequences of high taxes are discussed:
"Between 2000 and 2008, the Empire State had a net domestic outflow of more than 1.5 million, the biggest exodus of any state, with most hailing from New York City. The departures also have perilous budget consequences, since they tend to include residents who are better off than those arriving. Statewide, departing families have income levels 13% higher than those moving in, while in New York County (home of Manhattan) the differential was even more severe. Those moving elsewhere had an average income of $93,264, some 28% higher than the $72,726 earned by those coming in.
In 2006 alone, that swap meant the state lost $4.3 billion in taxpayer income. Add that up from 2001 through 2008, and it translates into annual net income losses somewhere near $30 billion."
"Small Businesses to NYC: Get Off Our Backs!"
I think we all should have a lot of respect for small business owners.
They certainly seem to have the odds stacked against them...
They certainly seem to have the odds stacked against them...
At City-Journal.org, Steven Malanga has this and more:
"Morton Sloan feels besieged. Over the last several years, the Bronx-based entrepreneur has watched the property taxes on the ten Morton Williams supermarkets he runs in the city swell by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Increasingly aggressive city inspectors now linger in those stores for hours, writing costly citations for items that clerks accidentally mislabel. Some of Sloan’s suppliers say they’ll no longer deliver to New York City because of the Department of Transportation’s frequent parking-ticket blitzes. It gets worse: a new Bloomberg-administration program that encourages fruit and vegetable vendors to set up on street corners has left him scrambling to match prices with competitors who don’t have to pay rent, utilities, payroll taxes, and various other expenses. And now the city wants to plunk a 60,000-square-foot supermarket into a heavily subsidized new development just blocks from two of his stores. 'I’ve never received a subsidy or asked anything of the city in 35 years, except to be left alone to do business,' Sloan says. 'But everywhere I look these days, it seems like the city is trying to make life tough for me.'"
Business Fights Back - WSJ.com
I continue to be amazed by this president's apparent continuous war against American business interests.
Can't they understand that businesses employ people, and employed people buy things and pay taxes, rather than collect entitlements?...
Can't they understand that businesses employ people, and employed people buy things and pay taxes, rather than collect entitlements?...
The Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel interviews the U.S. Chamber of Commerce President:
"'One thing I can tell you: They can go out and chase me and chase the Chamber and put stuff in the newspaper. It only . . . drives more and more support. . . . You think we are going to blink because a couple of people are out shooting at us? Tell 'em to put their damn helmets on.'
Them's fighting words, all the more so when delivered in the feisty, New York accent of U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue. The 71-year-old was recruited 12 years ago in order to revitalize a drifting business lobby. And the gregarious chief hasn't disappointed: He's grown the Chamber's membership, tripled its budget, transformed its lobby shop, and increasingly thrust it into the political fray. Most recently he's ginned up opposition to union 'card check,' the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) plans to regulate carbon emissions, and parts of the proposed financial overhaul.
The Obama administration's response has been to treat the Chamber like it has Fox News Channel: with brass knuckles. It has launched a campaign to undermine the organization by making CEOs think twice about associating with it. President Obama has openly criticized the Chamber, while adviser Valerie Jarrett has dismissed it as 'old school' and acknowledged that the White House is bypassing it to work individually with CEOs."
In Our Schools - Dropouts!
The education system has high salaries, great benefits, better-than-average pensions, tenure, and often absolutely spectacular facilities, etc., etc. etc.
Americans have been throwing money at the education system for a zillion years now and gotten these results.
It's just NOT acceptable...
Americans have been throwing money at the education system for a zillion years now and gotten these results.
It's just NOT acceptable...
I found this in an article posted at WilmingtonJournal.com:
"According to the report, dropouts experience high levels of joblessness and low weekly earnings:
--More than half - 54 percent - of the nation's dropout's ages 16 to 24 were jobless on an average month during 2008.
--Black dropouts experienced the highest jobless rate at 69 percent, followed by Asians at 57 percent and Whites at 54 percent. Hispanic dropouts had the lowest jobless rates at 47 percent, reflecting the higher employment rate of young Hispanic immigrants. In sharp contrast, only about 13 percent of young adults with a college degree were jobless on average in the same time period.
--40 percent of all young dropouts in the country were jobless for the entire year.
--Without a high school diploma, you cannot earn enough money to make ends meet and certainly not enough to reach the American dream of raising a family and buying a home. The mean annual earnings of the nation's young people with a bachelor's or advanced degree were $24,797 in 2007, three times higher than the mean earnings for dropouts of $8,358. These figures include workers with zero earnings.
--The limited earnings potential of dropouts mean many never leave their parents' or relatives' homes to form independent households. Nearly 37 of every 100 dropouts live in poor or near-poor families.
--Over $292,000 is the cost incurred by taxpayers for each dropout over their lifetime in terms of lost earnings and therefore lower taxes paid and higher spending for social costs including incarceration, health care, and welfare.
The report also states that dropouts are more likely to be single mothers. "
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Chinese-Made Turbines to Fill U.S. Wind Farm - WSJ.com
Do you see anything you like here?...
In the Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Smith has these paragraphs and more:
"A Chinese wind-turbine company, with financing help from Beijing, has struck a deal to be the exclusive supplier to one of the largest wind-farm developments in the U.S., a sign of how Chinese firms are aggressively capitalizing on America's clean-energy push.
The 36,000-acre development in West Texas would receive $1.5 billion in financing through Export-Import Bank of China. Shenyang Power Group, a five-month-old alliance, would supply the project with 240 of its 2.5-megawatt wind turbines, among the biggest made in the world.
...
Cappy McGarr, managing partner of U.S. Renewable Energy Group, a private-equity firm that is lead partner on the 600-megawatt development, said the partnership would seek tax credits and support from the federal stimulus package, which should amount to millions of dollars. Mr. McGarr said the project should create 2,800 jobs -- of which 15% would be in the U.S. The rest would flow to China, where Shenyang employs 800 people."
"Follow the Money"
The concept of "follow the money" is an outstanding tool in determining the reasons for things that are initially difficult to comprehend.
I think this writer does an excellent job with this one...
I think this writer does an excellent job with this one...
At Townhall.com, Ben Shapiro writes and then provides some very believable answers:
"Unions spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting candidate Obama's run for the White House. And, not coincidentally, unions have been the biggest supporters of President Obama's call for a 'public option,' where the taxpayer money would be seized by the government in order to pay for health care coverage. On the surface, this makes no sense -- after all, union members have notoriously excellent health care coverage due to their collective bargaining power. In fact, unions have come out foursquare against any proposal to tax so-called 'Cadillac' health care coverage, since so many of their members have Cadillac coverage.
So why would the unions back a 'public option' in health care?"
"Whining AARP retirees look only in the mirror"
This writer makes some interesting points on this issue; however, in difficult times, we all do tend to defend our own positions.
We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that our elected officials are the ones that put us in this position, and those same elected officials would like nothing better than distractions like these to help keep their malfeasance out of the limelight.
PS - I'm also no fan and not a member of the A.A.R.P...
We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that our elected officials are the ones that put us in this position, and those same elected officials would like nothing better than distractions like these to help keep their malfeasance out of the limelight.
PS - I'm also no fan and not a member of the A.A.R.P...
I found this in an article by Burns in the Houston Chronicle:
"As far as I can tell, the goal of the AARP — formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons — is to enslave all those of working age. Once enslaved, workers will support retirees in the style to which the AARP feels they are entitled.
This would be good for the AARP because its real business is selling products to older people by direct mail, and the more income older people have, the better it is for the AARP.
Too bad about everyone else."
Health News - Surfing is good for your brain
And if you rarely surf the web, you would probably miss this.
I think that's called "irony"..
I think that's called "irony"..
Amanda Gardner reports at HealthDay.com:
"Surfing the Internet just might be a way to preserve your mental skills as you age.
Researchers found that older adults who started browsing the Web experienced improved brain function after only a few days."
"Dumb and Dumber, By Choice"
From where I'm sitting, this writer is right on the mark.
A large part of society is deficient in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The same group has short attention spans, is sound-bite driven, and worships celebrity just because it is.
To me, a large part of society has been "dumbed down", and are going to suffer for it...
A large part of society is deficient in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The same group has short attention spans, is sound-bite driven, and worships celebrity just because it is.
To me, a large part of society has been "dumbed down", and are going to suffer for it...
At Townhall.com, Dan Kennedy writes about the powers that be:
"They have decided that more than enough of us are ignorant idiots, easily pacified with empty promises and a piece of candy, happy to be done with all responsibility to think, busied with funny videos on YouTube and 146-character Tweets and X-Box and ordering complicated drinks at Starbucks. They know that five times as many people watch the climactic episodes of 'American Idol' than watch TV news programs, let alone read a newspaper and news magazines. They know that more people participate in fantasy football leagues on one Sunday than watch 'Meet the Press' in a year of Sundays. They are certain of – and rely on – the growing ignorance of the American public.
To me, it’s embarrassing to share citizenship with people who choose to be fools. To see language and communication regress from carefully composed letters to hastily shorthanded e-mails to 146-character tweets to – soon – caveman grunts. To see people brag about never reading the newspaper or a book."
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Barack Obama - and the Harris Poll
These poll results are getting NO publicity!
When you see the results, and consider the bias of the media, you'll see why...
When you see the results, and consider the bias of the media, you'll see why...
This Harris Poll link opens a PDF file of the poll results:
Obama Approval Index Month-by-Month - Rasmussen Reports™
It is what it is...
This is from the Rasmussem Reports website:
"When tracking President Obama’s job approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results can be seen in the graphics below."
"The conspiracy to transform Britain"
This doesn't seem possible; however, it looks very much to be true.
The British National Party (BNP) opposes mass immigration and the European Union.
This may boost their popularity quite a bit...
The British National Party (BNP) opposes mass immigration and the European Union.
This may boost their popularity quite a bit...
Melanie Phillips writes about what she calls a deliberate and secret policy of the British Labour government on her blogT:
"There could not have been a more grave abuse of the entire democratic process. Now, however, we learn that this is exactly what did happen. The Labour government has been engaged upon a deliberate and secret policy of national cultural sabotage.
This astonishing revelation surfaced quite casually last weekend in a newspaper article by one Andrew Neather. He turns out to have been a speech writer for Tony Blair, Jack Straw and David Blunkett.
And it was he who wrote a landmark speech in September 2000 by the then immigration minister, Barbara Roche, that called for a loosening of immigration controls. But the true scope and purpose of this new policy was actively concealed."
"Maria Shriver Misses the Point"
I wasn't aware of this "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything" report"...
However, Mona Charen is, and gives her opinion at Townhall.com:
"Hundreds of pages, lots of photos and charts, and it's the same old song. It completely misses the most important fact about modern women's lives -- the decline of family stability. And not just women's lives. The decline of marital stability and the rise of unmarried parenting (currently almost 40 percent of children are born to unmarried parents) has not only been a catastrophe for children, it has also made combining work and family harder than ever. Just at the moment women entered the workforce en masse, marriages -- so essential to providing stability to home life -- unraveled.
The solution, says the Shriver report, is for our 'social insurance' programs to 'recognize' how family life is changing and increase benefits for a range of domestic needs. See how it works? The more that families disintegrate, the more demands are made upon the government to step in to fill the gaps. That's a downward spiral from which there may be no escape."
Monday, November 02, 2009
"Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party"
This issue is different, a bit funny, and also sad.
When you add in the ruling, I think the voters should be insulted; but, you can decide for yourself...
When you add in the ruling, I think the voters should be insulted; but, you can decide for yourself...
Ben Conery explains at WashingtonTimes.com:
"Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party. "
Ron Paul: Audit Fed 'gutted' in committee
Transparency in government is a joke.
Most of our elected representatives wrok very hard to PREVENT us from knowing what's going on.
It's time to throw the bum's out!...
Most of our elected representatives wrok very hard to PREVENT us from knowing what's going on.
It's time to throw the bum's out!...
Drew Zahn has the story at wnd.com:
"Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has complained that the bill he sponsored calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve has been "gutted" by congressional committee, pointing specifically to a legislator whose campaign coffers have been boosted by the banking industry.
As WND reported, Paul sponsored H.R. 1207, a bill requiring the Federal Reserve – an organization that's independent from the U.S. government but nonetheless oversees U.S. monetary policy – be opened to oversight by Congress. The plan compiled over 300 co-sponsors in the House before being sent to committee.
But in a telephone interview with a Bloomberg reporter, Paul said the teeth have been ripped out of the bill.
'There's nothing left; it's been gutted,' Paul said. 'This is not a partisan issue. People all over the country want to know what the Fed is up to, and this legislation was supposed to help them do that.' "
Meanwhile - at the BBC
I can understand that children are likely exposed to too much violence; however, I think this change is way over the top and unnecessary...
This is from the U.K.'s Daily Express website:
"The BBC has defended a decision to change the ending of nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty.
A version used on the CBeebies channel was altered so rather than 'couldn't put Humpty together again' all the King's horses 'made Humpty happy again'."
"The coming public pension nightmare"
Government pensions are in trouble and you know where that buck stops...
Rick Moran writes about them at AmericanThinker.com:
"And with the economy still in the dumps, the problems facing states and large cities is only going to get worse.
Government is legally obligated to pay these huge benefits to retirees. Any attempt to change them via legislation will be challenged in the courts - probably successfully. What must occur is a sea change in opinion of both taxpayers and beneficiaries. Nobody is begrudging these employees a decent pension. But bankrupting the very government they loyally served should not be an option."
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Fraud vs. Profit
One of these numbers is bigger than the other.
Statistics like this seem like the perfect place for the media to create headlines that mean something.
Of course, that would require a media that did their job, rather than lick the boots of a certain entity...
Statistics like this seem like the perfect place for the media to create headlines that mean something.
Of course, that would require a media that did their job, rather than lick the boots of a certain entity...
Jeffrey H. Anderson posts this at WeeklyStandard.com:
Annual Medicare Fraud: $60 Billion;
Annual Profits of Top Ten Insurance Companies: $8 billion
"Sacto's Tricks - The Latest is 10% Less in Our Paychecks"
This is California, but it wouldn't surprise me if other governments go this route.
Yes, the withholding can be changed by the individual; however, the root cause, out-of-control spending, continues to be ignored...
Yes, the withholding can be changed by the individual; however, the root cause, out-of-control spending, continues to be ignored...
I saw this posted by Tina on the NorCalBlogs website:
"Our lawmakers have a trick for you this Halloween. Starting Sunday 10% more will be withheld from paychecks to cover the states $1.7 billion shortfall in the budget. They say it isn't a tax increase, it's just an interest free loan that we will recover in April when we file our taxes. Gee thanks guys, we all feel much better now.
The provision is one of numerous maneuvers state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved in the summer to paper over the state's deficit. Many of the changes, including the extra withholding, were little noticed outside of Sacramento."
"The Administration's Flu Fear-Mongering"
So far, predictions have been wrong, and we should hope it stays that way.
Of course, politics are involved here, so it's hard to know what motivations are behind those predictions...
Of course, politics are involved here, so it's hard to know what motivations are behind those predictions...
This is from an Michael Fumento Investors Business Daily opinion column:
"Ironically, this new emergency declaration can only help bring porcine flu panic to greater heights.
Why issue it, then? Maybe because government, as H.L. Mencken observed, ever seeks '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.'
Perhaps the Obama administration doesn't deserve such cynicism in this matter. Perhaps. But if it reacts so poorly to a noncrisis, what can we expect when it's faced with a real one?"
Obama’s Moral-Leadership Balloon Crashes - by Mona Charen
I think it's very hard to argue with this.
It is what it is, and it's quite condemning...
It is what it is, and it's quite condemning...
At NationalReview.com, Mona Charen has this lowlight and several more:
"The people of Honduras, who have struggled painfully to achieve a successful democracy, threw off a would-be dictator who threatened to plunge the nation back to autocracy. Rather than help to solidify Honduras’s devotion to its constitution, Obama (together with those well-known human rights avatars Hugo Chávez and the Castro brothers) sided with Manuel Zelaya and imposed sanctions on the legitimate government. Which side better represents human rights and morality?"
Saturday, October 31, 2009
160,000 Per Stimulus Job? White House Calls That 'Calculator Abuse' "
"Calculator abuse".
I think it's more like "Taxpayer abuse"...
I think it's more like "Taxpayer abuse"...
This is from a post by Jake Tapper on the ABCnews blog:
"So let's see. Assuming their number is right -- 160 billion divided by 1 million. Does that mean the stimulus costs taxpayers $160,000 per job?
Jared Bernstein, chief economist and senior economic advisor to the vice president, called that 'calculator abuse.'"
"'Net Neutrality' Is Socialism, Not Freedom"
This looks like a case of here we go again.
The free-market driven Internet is working so badly (just kidding) that it needs to be managed by the historically high efficient (just kidding) entity known as government...
The free-market driven Internet is working so badly (just kidding) that it needs to be managed by the historically high efficient (just kidding) entity known as government...
James G. Lakely writes about it at WashingtonExaminer.com:
"The modern Internet is a creation of the free market, which has brought about a revolution in communication, free speech, education, and commerce. New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski apparently doesn't like that. He stated last month the way Internet service providers manage their networks -- in response to millions of individual consumer choices -- is not sufficiently 'fair,' 'open' or 'free.'
The chairman's remedy is to claim for the FCC the power to decide how every bit of data is transferred from the Web to every personal computer and handheld device in the nation. This is exactly what the radical founders of the net neutrality movement had in mind. "
"Obama taxes pacemakers, heart valves"
Do you need to be reminded that your elected representatives are voting FOR things like this?...
This is from Dick Morris and Eileen McGann on theHill.com blog:
"The more the fiscal details of the healthcare bills emerge, the more appalling they seem. The Senate Finance Committee bill includes a broad provision taxing all manner of medical devices. This tax includes such frivolous luxuries as pacemakers, stents, artificial heart valves, defibrillators, automated wheelchairs, mechanized artificial limbs, replacement hips and knees, surgical gurneys, laparoscopic equipment and the like.
President Obama is planning to reduce the cost of medical care by taxing it!"
Friday, October 30, 2009
Judge dismisses California eligibility challenge
This is the latest (as of yesterday).
What the future will bring is anybody's guess.
It continues to fascinate me that so much about Obama's past is murky at best, and yet the old media won't touch it except to denigrate those who think it's important and want to know about it...
What the future will bring is anybody's guess.
It continues to fascinate me that so much about Obama's past is murky at best, and yet the old media won't touch it except to denigrate those who think it's important and want to know about it...
At WorldNetDaily, Bob Unruh reports on the ruling and also has this:
"Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation confirmed immediately that his clients – two of about four dozen in the case – would be filing an appeal. California attorney Orly Taitz, representing the rest of the clients, also promised not only an appeal of this decision, but future cases that will be filed.
'This [opinion] looks like it was written by the defense,' she told WND.
She described the fight against Obama as 'very tough.'
'He has more power than anybody, unlimited financial resources, and a lot to hide,' she said."
As Deficit Increases, Democrats Plan More Spending - WSJ.com
Government at Work - Spending the taxpayers money without shame.
They are clearly not listening to us.
It's time to throw the bums out...
They are clearly not listening to us.
It's time to throw the bums out...
The Wall Street Journal reports:
"The White House disclosed the other day that the fiscal 2009 budget deficit clocked in at $1.4 trillion, amid the usual promises to do something about it. Yet even as budget director Peter Orszag was speaking, House Democrats were moving on a dozen spending bills for fiscal 2010 that total 12.1% in more domestic discretionary increases.
Yes, 12.1%.
Remember, inflation is running close to zero, or 0.8%."
"End this earmark racket "
I haven't read much about earmarks lately and that's bad.
It signals our elected officials that it's not in the spotlight any more.
That means a return to earmarks as usual...
It signals our elected officials that it's not in the spotlight any more.
That means a return to earmarks as usual...
This quote is from the PostAndCourier.com website:
"The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee dispensed $636 billion this year to the Pentagon. Its members must look on the $103 million they earmarked for favored projects as mere crumbs from the table.
Outside the defense budget, however, $100 million a year is a tidy sum, and getting a piece of the action is a regular part of Washington's political culture. At the center is a mutually beneficial connection between members of Congress, their former staff members turned lobbyists, and corporations or non-profits seeking federal money -- what some social scientists call "relationship circles."
In this instance, it's better described as a blatant conflict of interest.
Money holds these relationships together. Organizations looking for federal money hire lobbyists with connections to legislators in a position to sponsor earmarks. To promote good will, the lobbyists and the petitioners frequently make campaign contributions to the legislators. One hand, as the saying goes, washes the other.
Except for rare legislators like Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., most members of Congress from both parties apparently don't view the cycle as necessarily corrupting, despite the obvious conflicts. "
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Letters of Note: The Masked Letter
Here's a bit of a change of pace.
Perhaps you've heard of it. I hadn't...
Perhaps you've heard of it. I hadn't...
I found this description and examples on the Letters of Note blog:
"The letter reads perfectly well on its own, however only when you place a mask over the paper does the true meaning appear."
"End of the world as Hollywood knows it"
New information sharing technologies are showing up almost daily.
No one can be aware of all of them, let alone keep up with them.
The minute something is digitized it becomes available to almost everyone if they know where to look...
No one can be aware of all of them, let alone keep up with them.
The minute something is digitized it becomes available to almost everyone if they know where to look...
At CNET.com, Greg Sandoval writes about the implications:
"I'm sure many of you will write this off as the apocalyptic rantings of Silicon Valley propeller heads. But I urge you to pay attention to recent events.
Over the past five days I've been in Los Angeles talking to entertainment attorneys, studio executives, and some of the tech vendors who do business with the studios. I've been covering the sector three years now and I've never seen people in the film industry so dejected. DVD sales are falling, the number of upcoming film releases is expected to drop. Some big shots have even acknowledged the bleak situation in public. The past weekend, at a conference on the USC campus, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the 'business model that formed the motion picture business...is changing profoundly before our eyes.'
Iger warned that studios must make profound changes, 'or you will no longer have a business.' "
Barack Obama - and his Birth Certificate
Could this be it?
Block 23 seems to be significant...
Block 23 seems to be significant...
You can see this version posted by David L O'Connor at api.ning.com:
We're All Balloon Boys Now - WSJ.com
I think this column rings very true.
Skepticism appears to be the best defense and it has apparently been adopted by many.
It does seem wrong to doubt everything we see or hear; however, the abundance of con men and con jobs make it a necessary behavior...
Skepticism appears to be the best defense and it has apparently been adopted by many.
It does seem wrong to doubt everything we see or hear; however, the abundance of con men and con jobs make it a necessary behavior...
This is just part of a column by Dan Henninger in a recent Wall Street Journal:
"In 1938, Orson Welles caused a sensation when he did a 'reality' radio broadcast announcing a Martian invasion. Now we get the equivalent of a Martian invasion almost every day; or maybe it's every other hour.
One assumes the visuals in most TV commercials now are fake. Ten years ago it was fun to wonder how Chevy managed to airlift a truck onto a pencil-wide peak in Utah. Now you assume a geek at a computer did it. A semi-scandal broke out in the fashion world recently when it came to light that a Photoshopped ad from Ralph Lauren had made model Filippa Hamilton's head weirdly wider than her waist and hips.
This week the mainstream media have been learning the danger of living in a cut-and-paste world."
Trust on Issues - Rasmussen Reports
After reading this, I had a flicker of thought as to how I would answer.
If the wording of the question had "neither" as a choice, that's where I'd probably be...
If the wording of the question had "neither" as a choice, that's where I'd probably be...
The story and percentages can be seem on the Rasmussen Reports website:
"For the first time in recent years, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. The GOP holds double-digit advantages on five of them."
"Official disclosure of extraterrestrial life is imminent"
Well, this sure is different...
Michael Salla, Ph.D. has this at Examiner.com:
"An official announcement by the Obama administration disclosing the reality of extraterrestrial life is imminent. For several months, senior administration officials have been quietly deliberating behind closed doors how much to disclose to the world about extraterrestrial life. Dissatisfaction among powerful institutions such as the U.S. Navy over the decades-long secrecy policy has given a boost to efforts to disclose the reality of extraterrestrial life and technology."
