Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Government at Work - No economizing
And apparently no second thoughts, either.
Do you see anything wrong here?...
Do you see anything wrong here?...
In the Houston Chronicle, Jim Abrams reports for the Associated Press:
"The recession and rising joblessness has millions of Americans cutting their household budgets, but times are flush for lawmakers.
The House of Representatives, with little comment or opposition, on Friday approved an 8 percent increase in the budget for members' office expenses.
House members will get an average $1.5 million in the budget year starting in October to run their Washington and district offices and cover travel and other official expenses. Overall, the budget for what the House calls members' representational allowances, or MRAs, will jump $51 million to $660 million."
California, Here We Come! - Pat Buchanan
This seems quite accurate.
The example of California SHOULD make us think...
The example of California SHOULD make us think...
At HumanEvents.com, Patrick J. Buchanan lays it out for us:
"Moreover, the demography of California today is the demography of America tomorrow, just as the social and fiscal policies of California in the last decade mirror those of the U.S. government today.
One-third of all U.S. wage-earners today have been amnestied from paying U.S. income taxes, as the top 1 percent haul fully 40 percent of that huge load. So, too, in California, the well-to-do and the wealthy are hammered, which is why many have quietly closed their businesses, packed and gone back over the mountains whence their fathers came.
Under George W. Bush and Obama, the U.S. government has undertaken huge new responsibilities: No Child Left Behind, Medicare prescription drug benefits, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the takeovers of banks and auto companies, bailouts without end and national health insurance.
California, too, spent lavishly in the fat years and issued bonds when state revenues did not cover the costs, bringing its once-sterling credit rating down to the nation's lowest. So, too, U.S. Treasury bonds, T-bills and the American dollar are now increasingly suspect.
Demographically, California is where America will be in 2040."
Honduras Defends Its Democracy - WSJ.com
Honduras: This is the clearest account I've so far...
The Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"That Mr. Zelaya acted as if he were above the law, there is no doubt. While Honduran law allows for a constitutional rewrite, the power to open that door does not lie with the president. A constituent assembly can only be called through a national referendum approved by its Congress.
But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela. The Supreme Court ruled his referendum unconstitutional, and it instructed the military not to carry out the logistics of the vote as it normally would do.
The top military commander, Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, told the president that he would have to comply. Mr. Zelaya promptly fired him. The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. Mr. Zelaya refused."
Monday, June 29, 2009
"Electric Cars Will Not Decrease Greenhouse Gas Emissions..."
I'm certainly not against electric cars.
I just hope that everyone understands that it's not just a solution that you can "plug in" to our world.
This article relates how complicated it is, and notes the possibility that there will be a lot of expense for NO gain...
I just hope that everyone understands that it's not just a solution that you can "plug in" to our world.
This article relates how complicated it is, and notes the possibility that there will be a lot of expense for NO gain...
Monica Gabriel gives details at CNSnews.com:
"The stimulus law enacted in February promoted the purchase of plug-in electric cars by the federal government and the broader market, but a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released this month says that the use of plug-in electric vehicles will not by itself decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
To do that, the report argues, the United States would have to switch from coal-burning plants to lower-emission sources to generate electricity such as nuclear power.
'If you are using coal fired power plants and half the country’s electricity comes from coal powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?'..."
Global Warming - About those polar bears
When it comes to global warming, only the party line is acceptable...
Christopher Booker reports in the U.K. Telegraph:
"But one of the world's leading experts on polar bears has been told to stay away from this week's meeting, specifically because his views on global warming do not accord with those of the rest of the group.
Dr Mitchell Taylor has been researching the status and management of polar bears in Canada and around the Arctic Circle for 30 years, as both an academic and a government employee. More than once since 2006 he has made headlines by insisting that polar bear numbers, far from decreasing, are much higher than they were 30 years ago. Of the 19 different bear populations, almost all are increasing or at optimum levels, only two have for local reasons modestly declined."
Global Warming - EPA's own research expert 'shut up' on climate change
I guess the "transparency" thing doesn't cover dissenting critiques...
Chelsea Schilling reports at WorldNetDaily.com:
"Alan Carlin, senior operations research analyst at the EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics, or NCEE, submitted his research on the agency's greenhouse gases endangerment findings and offered a fundamental critique on the EPA's approach to combating CO2 emissions. But officials refused to share his conclusion in an open internal discussion, claiming his research would have 'a very negative impact on our office.'
His study was barred from circulation within the EPA and was never disclosed to the public for political reasons, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, or CEI, a group that has accessed four internal e-mails on the subject."
Government at Work - The Community Reinvestment Act
John Carney has changed his mind about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
He explains his reasons via an article in Q&A format.
This one (among others) caught my eye...
He explains his reasons via an article in Q&A format.
This one (among others) caught my eye...
John Carney writes at BusinessInsider.com:
"If the CRA was forcing all this lax lending, why weren't bankers objecting?
Are you really in the dark about why the leaders of large public corporations wouldn't publicly object to a piece of civil rights legislation? Fine. I'll be totally open with you: this would have been career suicide and an open invitation to bias litigation and increased scrutiny from regulators. In this case, silence is misleading.
What's more, no one said the bankers hated the lax lending the CRA was requiring. Sure, some did. But those people were quickly shown the door, while the enthusiasts were promoted. The regulations themselves selected for enthusiasts for the program of lax lending."
Government at Work - Read before you vote? NOT!
I don't like it either. Nor should you!...
Arizona congressman John Shadegg doesn't like what's going on in the House of Representatives:
"The American people should be outraged. Not a single one of the 435 Members of Congress who will be called upon to vote on this bill tonight could conceivably have read it and know what is in it. The American people deserve better. This legislation will affect the livelihoods and lives of every single American, yet it will have been impossible for any Member of Congress to have read before the vote occurs.
This is not thoughtful democracy, this is tyranny by an out-of-control Congress."
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Media - "Time Blames Calif. Budget Mess on..."
It's sad to see Time publishing such obviously flawed material.
I wonder if they were always like this and we just didn't know it...
I wonder if they were always like this and we just didn't know it...
At NewsBusters.com, Warner Todd Huston takes a Time magazine article (and writer) apart:
"It's amazing that Kevin O'Leary's piece was even published it is so empty of veracity. It's so bad that even his very first paragraph contains a factual disparity."
Unions Block Non-Union Solar Projects
This is what unions do, so we shouldn't be surprised.
The annoying thing is that unions don't feel bad about raising the bar and costs for something intended to benefit people...
The annoying thing is that unions don't feel bad about raising the bar and costs for something intended to benefit people...
At BusinessInsider.com, Jay Yarow reports on a recent N.Y. Times article:
"When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk.
By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed plans for an even bigger solar plant that would affect the imperiled desert tortoise, the same union group, California Unions for Reliable Energy, raised no complaint. Instead, it urged regulators to approve the project as quickly as possible."
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Barack Obama - "Dodge Facts, Skip Details..."
If we're honest about it, I think we all can see this.
As they say, "The devil is in the details"...
As they say, "The devil is in the details"...
Here's part of Michael Barone's article at RealClearPolitics.com:
"Second, he does not seem to care much about the details of policy. He subcontracted the stimulus package to congressional appropriators, the cap-and-trade legislation to Reps. Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, and his health care program to Sen. Max Baucus. The result is incoherent public policy: indefensible pork barrel projects, a carbon emissions bill that doesn't limit carbon emissions from politically connected industries and a health care program priced by the Congressional Budget Office at a fiscally unfeasible $1,600,000,000,000.
He quickly announced the closing of the prison at Guantanamo Bay and now finds his administration begging the likes of Palau and Bermuda to take a few detainees off its hands. His acceptance of Arabist insistence that all problems in the Middle East can be solved by getting an Israeli-Palestinian settlement has put us in the absurd position of pressuring Israel not to expand settlements by a single square meter but pledging not to 'meddle' in Iran."
Friday, June 26, 2009
Immigration - Deportations may save Oklahoma $4M
According to Wikipedia, "A root cause is an initiating cause of a causal chain which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is used to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to change performance and prevent an undesirable outcome."
It's easy to determine the root cause of this problem?...
It's easy to determine the root cause of this problem?...
At NewsOK.com, Julie Bisbee reports:
"Oklahoma will begin deporting illegal immigrants who are serving sentences for nonviolent crimes when a new law takes effect July 1.
The Oklahoma Criminal Illegal Alien Rapid Repatriation Act is expected to save Oklahoma taxpayers at least $4 million in the first year, said Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, the author of the measure.
The bill passed the House unanimously and received just one no vote in the Senate."
Politicians - U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott
So! How you do like paying for this?...
Lewis Kamb and David Heath report in the Seattle Times:
"A $250,000 request to fund a 'window repair and limestone sill replacement' at The Rainier Club — one of Seattle's premier private clubs, whose members include some of the city's most well-heeled and politically connected residents.
McDermott's request on behalf of The Rainier Club would match the $250,000 raised by club members to cover renovations at the club's 105-year-old brick building on Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle.
The club — which provides wood-paneled dining halls, a health and fitness club, a library and private bedrooms where members can stay overnight — has about 1,200 members who pay $191 per month in membership dues, said Michael Troyer, the club's chief operating officer."
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Global Warming - Australia is waking up
And the Obama Administration doesn't want to even hear about it...
Robert Tracinski and Tom Minchin write about the change in sentiment at RealClearPoliics.com:
"Could Australia Blow Apart the Great Global Warming Scare?
As the US Congress considers the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, the Australian Senate is on the verge of rejecting its own version of cap-and-trade. The story of this legislation's collapse offers advance notice for what might happen to similar legislation in the US—and to the whole global warming hysteria.
Since the Australian government first introduced its Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) legislation—the Australian version of cap-and-trade energy rationing—there has been a sharp shift in public opinion and political momentum against the global warming crusade. This is a story that offers hope to defenders of industrial civilization—and a warning to American environmentalists that the climate change they should be afraid of just might be a shift in the intellectual climate."
Barack Obama - Where's the birth certificate?
As I've posted before, it would be easy to settle this issue; and, that it's not being settled seems to say something...
Bob Unruh has the latest at WorldNetDaily.com:
"A judge in California has scheduled a July 13 hearing in a case challenging Barack Obama's eligibility to be president in which the plaintiffs' attorney, Orly Taitz, says the commander-in-chief is in default.
Taitz told WND if her motion is granted she will immediately request access to Obama's birth records and other documentation that could determine his eligibility to occupy the Oval Office.
The announcement came from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who said: 'Before the court is a motion by plaintiffs for reconsideration of order to show cause or in the alternative to certify question for appeal. Court sets this matter for hearing on July 13, 2009 at 8:30a.m. in Courtroom 9D. Plaintiffs are directed to make every effort possible to ensure that all remaining defendants are aware of the hearing and provide documentation that the individual receiving service is authorized to accept on defendants' behalf.'"
The Media - "AP Slips Bush Derangement Syndrome Into Farrow Death Notice?"
Apparently there really is a Bush Derangement Syndrome.
This AP article discussed here seems to prove it...
This AP article discussed here seems to prove it...
Warner Todd Huston explains at PubliusForum.com:
"Mia Farrow’s brother, artist Patrick Farrow, committed suicide Tuesday, June 16. As expected, on the following day the Associated Press released a wire story about the incident. But, the odd thing about the short recount of the Farrows’s lives and the account of the discovery of Patrick’s lifeless body is that that the AP found some reason to slip in an attack on George W. Bush into the story. Worse, the AP used the fact of a U.S. soldier’s death in Iraq as a vehicle to slam the past president. What did BDS have to do with the Farrows, Patrick’s death, and a report on the same?
The customary information about Patrick Farrow’s death was duly reported, of course. We were informed of the laundry list of facts. We got Farow’s relation to actress Mia Farrow; a bit about her life; some on Patrick’s life’s work in sculpture and art; and some of the initial findings surrounding his death also appear. All good and proper reporting, of course. But then, at the very end, we get to the anomaly of the story, a lapsing into Bush Derangement Syndrome that is completely out of place with the rest of the tale."
The Media - "Name That Party"
Sad, but true.
The media just can't hide their bias...
The media just can't hide their bias...
Warner Todd Huston writes at PubliusForum.com:
"First up is the mysterious case of Detroit City Council Member Monica Conyers (wife of Representative John Conyers) who the Associated Press reports is 'snarled in bribes probe.' All the sordid details about the tale are laid out for us… except one. It seems the AP somehow forgot to mention that Monica Conyers is a Democrat."
The Media - "From Newsroom to Bedroom"
I believe Cal Thomas states the case very convincingly...
At Townhall.com, Cal Thomas writes:
"In doing these programs from inside the White House, ABC has thrown its remaining credibility to the wind and becomes an appendage of their advertisers, the Obama worshippers and the Democratic Party.
Try to imagine this happening in a Republican administration. You can't, because it would never happen.
By the way, guess who's the new director of communications for the White House Office of Health Reform. It's former ABC News correspondent Linda Douglass, who left journalism last year to join the Obama campaign.
This should settle, once and for all, the matter of big media bias."
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Barack Obama - "Negotiating with Terrorists"
Einstein said something like "insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting to get a different result".
Negotiating with terrorists never works; however, here we seem to go again...
Negotiating with terrorists never works; however, here we seem to go again...
At NationalReview.com, Andrew C. McCarthy begins with:
"As the Iranian government’s murderous repression of the Iranian people continues, critics right and left agitate over the deafening silence of an American president who, as a candidate, derided the Bush administration’s ambitious democracy promotion as too timid. They speculate as to why Barack Obama won’t speak out: Why won’t he condemn the mullahs? Is he daft enough to believe he can charm the regime into abandoning its nuclear ambitions? Does the self-described realist so prize stability that he thinks it’s worth abandoning the cause of freedom — and the best chance in 30 years of dislodging an implacable American enemy?
In truth, it’s worse than that. Even as the mullahs are terrorizing the Iranian people, the Obama administration is negotiating with an Iranian-backed terrorist organization and abandoning the American proscription against exchanging terrorist prisoners for hostages kidnapped by terrorists. Worse still, Obama has already released a terrorist responsible for the brutal murders of five American soldiers in exchange for the remains of two deceased British hostages.
Prepare to be infuriated."
Global Warming - Politicians using outdated info?
Yes. Politicians are clearly dealing with old news.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter.
They're not even seeing the polls...
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter.
They're not even seeing the polls...
At TownHall.com Paul Driessen wants to remind them:
"But average global temperatures peaked in 1998 and since have fallen slightly, even as carbon dioxide levels continue to climb. Antarctic ice shelves show no signs of climate change, a six-year study has determined, while Arctic ice is seasonably normal. Hurricane activity is at a 30-year low.
Thousands of scientists say CO2 has little effect on planetary temperatures, and there is no climate crisis. Few developed countries are ready to commit economic suicide by agreeing to reduce their CO2 emissions by even one-tenth of what Waxman-Markey demands for the United States. Most Americans put global warming dead last in a Pew Research list of 20 concerns."
The Media - Fox News Channel Stays On Top
Hmmm!
77 consecutive months is about 6 1/2 years.
Pretty impressive...
77 consecutive months is about 6 1/2 years.
Pretty impressive...
This is from TVnewser:
"For the 77th consecutive month, FNC finished first in total day and prime time ratings during May. FNC was the sixth highest rated cable network on all of basic cable during prime time for the month (CNN and MSNBC finished 19th and 26th) and the seventh rated network in total day (CNN and MSNBC were 19th and 27th).
FNC also had 11 out of the top 13 programs in cable during the month in Total Viewers. The O'Reilly Factor was the #1 program in cable news for the 90th consecutive month, and saw gains in Total Viewers year-to-year (26%).
Amercia's Newsroom (9-11amET) was up 30% year-to-year, with the program averaging more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined during the time period."
Celebrity Republicans
Here's the proof that they're out there...
WCBStv.com shows who they are:
"Slideshow - Celebs Who Lean To The Right"
"The Lie Told 'Round the World: Islam Is Peaceful"
I think the world has their collective head in the sand about this.
Somehow, we just can't, or won't, see it for what it is...
Somehow, we just can't, or won't, see it for what it is...
This article by Rich Carroll was published earlier this year:
"It is impossible for Islam to become 'peaceful' as long as Muslims believe in the Qur’an. This 'holy' book promotes terrorism, war, martyrs, murder, torture, thievery, slavery, lying, and intolerance. The hatred in this book cannot be changed or deleted, and as long as Muslims perceive the Qur’an as immutable they are obliged to terrorize the unbelievers and to make the world Islamic at any cost.
Qur’an 8:57 reads: 'If you gain mastery of them in battle, inflict such a defeat as would terrorize them, so that they would learn a lesson and be warned.' Ishaq: 326 reads: 'If you come upon them deal so forcibly as to terrify those who would follow, that they may be warned. Make a severe example of them by terrorizing Allah’s enemies'. Qur’an 8:39 reads: 'So, fight them till all opposition ends and the only religion is Islam.'
'Them' is you and me. Can Islam be any clearer?"
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Nice shot, heh?
So, is it real, or faked? You decide...
New York's Cleansing Coup - WSJ.com
This sounds more than ugly.
These bums NEED to be thrown out.
Hopefully. New York's citizens will rise to that occasion...
These bums NEED to be thrown out.
Hopefully. New York's citizens will rise to that occasion...
In the Wall Street Journal, John Fund describes New York State politics:
"For decades, every issue of consequence has been controlled by three men in a room -- the Assembly speaker, the Senate majority leader and the governor.
Almost all legislation that handles big issues has been ushered through with no debate and no opportunity for members to modify it. The result is a political machine that keeps the state's government and bureaucracies up and running, but has been unable to respond to public demands for property-tax and other reforms.
Former Democratic state Sen. Daniel Hevesi has put it this way: 'Governance in Albany is so broken that I don't believe it functions any longer as a representative democracy.'"
Meanwhile - in San Francisco - compost
I guess it's important to them.
For me, I'd like politicians to spend their time elsewhere.
(Like on another planet)...
For me, I'd like politicians to spend their time elsewhere.
(Like on another planet)...
Breitbart.com posts this Associated Press story:
"San Franciscans now must sort compost from trash"
The Media - Golf: different presidents, different coverage
More bias of the same kind from our media...
Penny Starr has details at CNSnews.com:
"Despite ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ongoing violence in Iran, and an economy that Obama has described as the worst since the Great Depression, the president has golfed multiple times in the past several weeks--on April 26, May 16, May 25, May 31, June 7, June 9, June 14 and June 21.
Obama’s golf outings have generated favorable reports from the media, in contrast to his predecessor, George W. Bush.
On Aug. 5, 2002, The Washington Post wrote about President Bush golfing near his parents’ home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Under the headline “Before Golf, Bush Decries Latest Deaths in Mideast,” staff writer Mike Allen described Bush as he 'sprang from his golf cart at 6:15 a.m. and said he was distressed to hear about the latest suicide bombers in Israel.'
“Bush, wearing khakis and a knit shirt, was holding a driver in his gloved left hand,” Allen wrote.
'However incongruous the setting, the president plunged ahead,' Allen wrote."
Global Warming - Cooler Weather Heats Up Debate
This seems to prove that CO2 is NOT related to global warming.
Yet, politicians continue to push for laws restricting CO2 emmissions.
I wonder why?...
Yet, politicians continue to push for laws restricting CO2 emmissions.
I wonder why?...
Dr Muriel Newman reports for Scoop, New Zealand's Independent News outlet:
"According to the theory of global warming being touted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Al Gore and many others (who have spent an estimated $50 billion trying to show man-made greenhouse gas emissions are causing catastrophic global warming) the earth’s temperatures should be rising in line with a continuing increase in carbon dioxide emissions (see Jerry Carlson, Will Media Expose Global Warming Con Job?). The problem is that the planet stopped warming more than a decade ago. In fact, as the graph below shows, global warming has now been replaced by global cooling and while carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, temperatures continue to fall. This graph demonstrates that the global warming theory based on the computer models of the IPCC and others, is wrong."
Monday, June 22, 2009
Meanwhile - in California - "budget magic"
I think that's a nice term for it. It's really dishonesty.
Don't laugh, it's likely to happen in your state, too.
Politicians seem to share this stuff very quickly.
Anything but reducing spending...
Don't laugh, it's likely to happen in your state, too.
Politicians seem to share this stuff very quickly.
Anything but reducing spending...
At MercuryNews.com, Mike Zapler reports:
"The menu of options to close California's massive deficit is short and seemingly clear: Cut spending, raise taxes or borrow. But faced with a money crunch the likes of which the Golden State has never seen, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators have pulled a less obvious tool out of the box. Call it budget magic."
About those polls
There are a lot of issues with polls, especially those conducted by our biased media.
Unfortunately, they also publish their own skewed results as headlines..
Unfortunately, they also publish their own skewed results as headlines..
Karl's post at HotAir.com explains:
"This is a good example of why reading a poll is as much art as science, because the first problem is the percentage who say they voted in the 2008 election. In reality, no more than 62% of eligible voters cast ballots last year. Accordingly, the poll has sampled a lot of adults who were ineligible to vote… or, as often happens, respondents lied about voting. In such cases, the lie tends to skew in favor of the winner.
Does that mean the sample might be more valid than Kesler suggests? Not in this case. In this poll, the sample identified as 27% liberal, 37% moderate, and 29% conservative. In contrast, last week’s Gallup Poll showed Americans identify as 21% liberal, 35% moderate, and 40% conservative."
Global Warming - soon to be "deteriorating atmosphere"
Changing the packaging may work for a while; however, the product itself is what will eventually count.
I think it says something when things don't sell on their own merits...
I think it says something when things don't sell on their own merits...
I found this by Jonathan Hiskes at Grist.org:
"The non-profit PR shop ecoAmerica finally released the findings of its public opinion research today, bringing a trove of information about how on-the-fence Americans respond to different messages about climate change and energy.
The firm conducted an impressive amount of research in February through March—focus groups, a phone survey, an online survey—all focused on finding better talking points for wooing folks who are undecided about this whole global warming/clean energy/green jobs business.
This was the report whose summary was accidently sent to a bunch of media outlets after a White House briefing from ecoAmerica in April, leading to a not-very-flattering story in the New York Times."
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Larry Elder - "45 Million Americans"
Good Question!
A more inquisitive media might try to find out...
A more inquisitive media might try to find out...
Larry Elder writes at Townhall.com:
"About 45 million Americans lack health care insurance. Or do they?
A pro-'universal health care' television host recently cited this widely accepted 'fact'. The number is bogus."
Barack Obama - vs rural America
So much for "all-inclusive".
I bet they don't miss rural America when it comes to taxes...
I bet they don't miss rural America when it comes to taxes...
At Politico.com, Lisa Lerer & Jonathan Martin report:
"Angered by White House decisions on everything from greenhouse gases to car dealerships, congressional Democrats from rural districts are threatening to revolt against parts of President Barack Obama’s ambitious first-year agenda.
'They don’t get rural America,' said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat who represents California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley. 'They form their views of the world in large cities.'"
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Global Warming - The Man Who Cried Doom
This article points out how politics plays such a large role in things.
Two men, both employed by NASA, are treated very differently; exceptionally, very differently...
Two men, both employed by NASA, are treated very differently; exceptionally, very differently...
At the WeeklyStandard.com, Michael Goldfarb writes about it:
"Spencer, a meteorologist by training and a skeptic of man-made global warming, was genuinely muzzled during the Clinton administration. 'I would get the message down through the NASA chain [of command] of what I could and couldn't say in testimony.'
Spencer left NASA with little fuss for a job at the University of Alabama in 2001, but he still seems in awe of Hansen's ability to do as he pleases. 'For many years Hansen got away with going around NASA rules, and they looked the other way because it helped sell Mission to Planet Earth,' the NASA research program studying human effects on climate. Spencer figures that 'at some point, someone in the Bush administration said 'why don't you start enforcing your rules?' "
Gray says that Hansen's 'testimony is not working out' anyway. There's been a 'slight cooling since 2001. . . . They're scrambling,' he says. And indeed Hansen got caught with his hand in the cookie jar in 2007, when Stephen McIntyre, the man who debunked the infamous 'hockey stick' graph showing stable Northern Hemisphere surface temperatures for most of the last millennia before a sharp upturn, found a flaw in Hansen's numbers. McIntyre analyzed NASA's temperature records for the last century and found that, contrary to Hansen's charts, 1998 was not the hottest year on record. That honor belongs to 1934, and five of the ten hottest years on record are now found prior to World War II."
"The smothering embrace of nanny government"
Not to worry, the government will take care of it, AND you.
And here, between the parenthesis is a list of the things I think government does well (_ _ _ _ _).
No, I didn't miss anything...
And here, between the parenthesis is a list of the things I think government does well (_ _ _ _ _).
No, I didn't miss anything...
At OCregister.com, Mark Steyn opens his article with:
"A society of adults-turned-children cannot survive."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Global Warming - What catastrophe?
Good question?
This article includes the following two "expert" opinions...
This article includes the following two "expert" opinions...
Jacob Parrish has them at WorldMagazine.com:
"Dr. Ken Lieberthal, a panelist from the Brookings Institute, formed the most complete response. He said the public should be made aware of the damage already being done by negative climate change, such as increasing storms, fires in California, and receding forestation: 'This is about more than just polar bears in the Arctic.'
Ben Lieberman, a senior policy analyst in energy and environment for The Heritage Foundation, later said that was not true: 'There are no tangible problems from climate change.' He added that real problems arise from incorrectly linking natural events to the very slight increase in average global temperature—problems such as additional cost to taxpayers from unnecessary climate change reform."
Illegal Immigration - the problem is...
It's hard to understand why the law doesn't prevail...
In the Providence Journal, James C. Sheehan discusses the obstacles:
"While 72 percent of Americans believe it is 'very important' to reduce illegal immigration and enforce the borders (Rasmussen, 2007), this law is not being effectively enforced. If Americans overwhelmingly support effective border control and controlling illegal immigration, why has our government not adequately enforced national immigration law? The answer is simple — an unusual collection of special interest groups have worked successfully to prevent the proper enforcement of immigration laws."
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Meanwhile - In Massachusetts - at the prom
The writer says, "Note: This story contains material that readers might consider graphic and offensive."
Ugh!...
Ugh!...
At WND.com, Chelsea Schilling begins her article with:
"Family advocates are outraged by a prom held at Boston City Hall that was open to children apparently as young as 12 featuring crossdressers, homosexual heavy petting, suspected drug use and a leather-clad doorman who teaches sexual bondage classes."
In Our Schools - Normalizing Same-Sex Unions
Do children really need this?...
At CNSnews.com, Adam Brickly reports:
"The Alameda, Calif., public schools are adopting a curriculum that will require first graders to read literature that equates same-sex unions with a family made up of a mother, father and child.
Parents will not be allowed to opt their first graders out of the curriculum.
Members of the Alameda United School District (AUSD) school board voted 3 to 2 last week to implement the 'Safe Schools' curriculum, which supporters say is aimed at stopping anti-homosexual bullying in schools.
The program includes a between one and four lessons each year between grades 1 and 5 to introduce students to 'LGBT' (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) issues."
School Reforms on the Brink - WSJ.com
Our public school systems leave a lot to be desired.
Even though they cost taxpayers more every year, the skills of the children are not improving.
As if that isn't bad enough, alternative education ideas are constantly squashed by politicians (Democrats).
I sure hope American parents soon wake up and get proactive on the right side of this issue...
Even though they cost taxpayers more every year, the skills of the children are not improving.
As if that isn't bad enough, alternative education ideas are constantly squashed by politicians (Democrats).
I sure hope American parents soon wake up and get proactive on the right side of this issue...
You can read about it in this Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"The education establishment and its political allies employ multiple methods to keep kids trapped in rotten schools. One tactic is to use control of school boards to prevent or limit the creation of charter schools. Another is to smother existing voucher programs with rules and red tape. Real world examples are currently playing out in Milwaukee and New York City."
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Go Ahead - Top this!
6.65 acres of American patriotism...
I found this at techsupportforum.com:
"The American Flag that doesn't fly"
"How Fox News Opened America"
We all have to admit that if there wasn't a desire to have an alternative to the obviously biased mainstream media, the Fox News channel could never be successful.
The fact that they have so many viewers certainly is the proof of the pudding...
The fact that they have so many viewers certainly is the proof of the pudding...
The New York Post prints Charles Krauthammer's recently made comments about Fox News' imoact on America.:
"In that respect, there should be a special award for Fox News. Fox has done a great service to the American polity -- single-handedly breaking up the intellectual and ideological monopoly that for decades exerted hegemony (to use a favorite lefty cliché) over the broadcast media.
I said some years ago that the genius of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes was to have discovered a niche market in American broadcasting -- half the American people. The reason Fox News has thrived and grown is because it offers a vibrant and honest alternative to those who could not abide yet another day of the news delivered to them beneath layer after layer of often undisguised liberalism.
What Fox did is not just create a venue for alternative opinion. It created an alternate reality."
The Media - Double standard
Everyone can remember the Don Imus scenario; but, can everyone remember this one?
"MSNBC's David Shuster was suspended by the network Friday for on-air comments he made about Chelsea Clinton"
Sarah Palin says there's a double standard, and when you review stories from the past, you can see that she's right...
"MSNBC's David Shuster was suspended by the network Friday for on-air comments he made about Chelsea Clinton"
Sarah Palin says there's a double standard, and when you review stories from the past, you can see that she's right...
Back in February 2008, Michael Calderone reported this at Politico.com:
"On Thursday, Shuster guest-hosted Tucker Carlson's MSNBC show, 'Tucker,' and in referring to Chelsea Clinton's role in calling superdelegates on behalf of the Clinton presidential campaign, he asked whether she was 'sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?'
Later that night, he heard from an outraged Reines, who called the remarks 'absurdly offensive.'
Shuster was unrepentant. He told Reines his commentary was justified because of the contrast between Chelsea Clinton's overt political role and the aggressive way campaign aides 'jump down the throat' of reporters who seek to question her about it.
He was more contrite the next morning, apologizing on Joe Scarborough's MSNBC show, 'Morning Joe.'
But that didn't satisfy the Clinton campaign. Communications director Howard Wolfson told reporters in a conference call that Shuster's comment was 'beneath contempt.'"
"Missing in Action: American Mainstream Media"
I'd like to think everyone knows this by now; however, that's no reason to back off on criticism.
Our mainstream media is clearly not doing the job for American citizens...
Our mainstream media is clearly not doing the job for American citizens...
At TownHall.com, Larry Elder has these questions and more:
"http://townhall.com/columnists/LarryElder/2009/06/11/missing_in_action_american_mainstream_media?page=full&comments=true"
The Media - All the news? - apparently not!
Obviously, it's not nice to tell the truth about our capital city.
It's certainly NOT politically correct.
Doesn't our media want Americans to know this truth?...
It's certainly NOT politically correct.
Doesn't our media want Americans to know this truth?...
Ron Smith offers this as part of "The Column the Baltimore Sun Would Not Publish":
"And that brings us to this startling observation from Mr. Weatherford after spending some time doing field research in Washington, D.C.: 'Nowhere in the world had I witnessed as much savagery, brutality, crime and cruelty as I did on the streets of the capital city of the United States.' He worked at a bookstore. The clerk who worked at it before him was shot in the head and killed. The clerk who replaced him was beaten with a metal pipe and left for dead. 'On the streets of Washington,' he writes, 'I saw forms of social organization and culture that I had never seen among any tribal people. Everywhere in the world, tribal life centers on the family and family units, but in the center cities of America, the family has broken down.' The welfare state put the finishing touches on the destruction of the family."
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
"Why the suddenly shy press corps?"
I have mixed feelings about Newt Gingrich; however, I do agree with him on many things.
He has a lot of ideas, and many of them would serve America well...
He has a lot of ideas, and many of them would serve America well...
At WashingtonExaminer.com, Newt Gingrich asks:
"Here’s a riddle: In the midst of what is being called the worst recession since the Great Depression, why is the press being so timid about President Obama’s economic policies?
I ask because the May employment figures are out. The new jobs data blatantly, unambiguously contradict the claims made by the President earlier in the year when he was justifying the stimulus bill. But the silence from the mainstream media over the difference between President’s promises and his results has been nothing short of deafening."
Global Warming - 'Worse Than Fiction' - WSJ.com
That's their label for the global warming story...
This is from a recent Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"The latest contretemps pits former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, now president of the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, against Roger Pielke, Jr., an expert in disaster trends at the University of Colorado. Mr. Annan's outfit issued a lengthy report late last month warning that climate change-induced disasters, such as droughts and floods, kill 315,000 each year and cost $125 billion, numbers it says will rise to 500,000 dead and $340 billion by 2030. Adding to the gloom, Mr. Annan predicts 'mass starvation, mass migration, and mass sickness'" unless countries agree to 'the most ambitious international agreement ever negotiated' at a meeting this year in Copenhagen.
Even on its own terms, the numbers here are a lot less scary when put into context. Malaria kills an estimated one million people a year, while AIDS claims an estimated two million. As for the economic costs, $125 billion is slightly less than the GDP of New Zealand. Question: Are targeted campaigns using proven methods to spare the world three million AIDS and malaria deaths a year a better use of scarce resources than a multitrillion-dollar attempt to re-engineer the global economy and save, at most, a tenth that number? We'd say yes.
But the Annan report deserves even closer scrutiny as an example of the sleight of hand that so often goes with the politics of global warming. Unlike starvation, climate change does not usually kill anyone directly. Instead, the study's authors assume a four-step chain of causation, beginning with increased emissions, moving to climate-change effects, thence to physical changes like melting glaciers and desertification, and finally arriving at human effects like malnutrition and 'risk of instability and armed conflicts.'
This is a heroic set of assumptions, even if you agree that emissions are causing adverse changes in climate."
The 'Paygo' Coverup - WSJ.com
And here, PAYGO is exposed for the farce it is...
from the Wall Street Journal:
"Some things in politics you can't make up, such as President Obama's re-re-endorsement Tuesday of 'pay-as-you-go' budgeting. Coming after $787 billion in nonstimulating stimulus, a $410 billion omnibus to wrap up fiscal 2009, a $3.5 trillion 2010 budget proposal, sundry bailouts and a 13-figure health-care spending expansion still to come, this latest vow of fiscal chastity is like Donald Trump denouncing self-promotion.
Check that. Even The Donald would find this one too much to sell.
But Mr. Obama must think the press and public are dumb enough to buy it, because there he was Tuesday re-selling the same 'paygo' promises that Democrats roll out every election. Paygo is 'very simple,' the President claimed. 'Congress can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere.'
That's what Democrats also promised in 2006, with Nancy Pelosi vowing that 'the first thing' House Democrats would do if they took Congress was reimpose paygo rules that 'Republicans had let lapse.' By 2008, Speaker Pelosi had let those rules lapse no fewer than 12 times, to make way for $400 billion in deficit spending. Mr. Obama repeated the paygo pledge during his 2008 campaign, and instead we have witnessed the greatest peacetime spending binge in U.S. history. As a share of GDP, spending will hit an astonishing 28.5% in fiscal 2009, with the deficit hitting 13% and projected to stay at 4% to 5% for years to come.
The truth is that paygo is the kind of budget gimmick that gives gimmickry a bad name. As Mr. Obama knows but won't tell voters, paygo only applies to new or expanded entitlement programs, not to existing programs such as Medicare, this year growing at a 9.2% annual rate. Nor does paygo apply to discretionary spending, set to hit $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2010, or 40% of the budget"
Monday, June 15, 2009
Global Warming - A call for proper science
Christopher Booker has been following this for a long time.
I wish an American main stream media writer had the same courage to spit out the Kool-Aid...
I wish an American main stream media writer had the same courage to spit out the Kool-Aid...
In the U.K. Telegraph, Christopher Booker writes:
"The fact is that what has been happening to the world's climate in recent years, since global temperatures ceased to rise after 1998, was not predicted by any of those officially-sponsored models. The discrepancy between their predictions and observable data becomes more glaring with every month that passes.
It won't do for believers in warmist orthodoxy to claim that, although temperatures may be falling, this is only because they are "masking an underlying warming trend that is still continuing" - nor to fob us off with assurances that the "German model shows that higher temperatures than 1998, the warmest year on record, are likely to return after 2015".
In view of what is now at stake, such quasi-religious incantations masquerading as science are something we can no longer afford. We should get back to proper science before it is too late."
"Americans Love Government"
This is an interesting article.
Obviously, Mr. Williams is a student of history.
The parallels he discusses are somewhat foreboding...
Obviously, Mr. Williams is a student of history.
The parallels he discusses are somewhat foreboding...
At TownHall.com, Walter E. Williams begins with this question:
"Philosopher Bertrand Russell suggested that 'Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.' And, it was Albert Einstein who explained, 'Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.' So which is it -- stupidity, ignorance or insanity -- that explains the behavior of my fellow Americans who call for greater government involvement in our lives?"
"Obama’s White House is Falling Down"
Sooner or later, the sales pitch must end and one must produce.
When the sales pitch never ends, it's time to be wary...
When the sales pitch never ends, it's time to be wary...
Daniel Greenfield writes at CanadaFreePress.com:
"In the sixth month of his presidency, Obama has turned an economic downturn into an economic disaster, taking over and trashing entire companies, and driving the nation deep into deficit spending expected to pass 10 trillion dollars.
Abroad, Obama seems to have no other mode except to continue on with his endless campaign, confusing speechmaking with diplomacy. It is natural enough that Obama, who built his entire campaign on high profile public speeches reported on by an adoring press, understands how to do nothing else but that."
How Safeway Is Cutting Health-Care Costs - WSJ.com
So, do you think any of our politicians have read this?
Well, personally, I doubt it.
I believe that most politicians only see what a select group of staff, associates, and lobbyists present to them. It's a restricted diet, in that they never see ALL of the information on a subject.
The government should slow it's need to pass laws on every little thing, and concentrate on the big stuff that has long term consequences for us all...
Well, personally, I doubt it.
I believe that most politicians only see what a select group of staff, associates, and lobbyists present to them. It's a restricted diet, in that they never see ALL of the information on a subject.
The government should slow it's need to pass laws on every little thing, and concentrate on the big stuff that has long term consequences for us all...
This article, by Steven A. Burd discusses the success of Safeway, Inc.:
"At Safeway we believe that well-designed health-care reform, utilizing market-based solutions, can ultimately reduce our nation's health-care bill by 40%. The key to achieving these savings is health-care plans that reward healthy behavior. As a self-insured employer, Safeway designed just such a plan in 2005 and has made continuous improvements each year. The results have been remarkable. During this four-year period, we have kept our per capita health-care costs flat (that includes both the employee and the employer portion), while most American companies' costs have increased 38% over the same four years.
Safeway's plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable."
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Barack Obama - new friends?
I'd sure like to see real peace in the Middle East, as I sure most everyone would.
On the other hand, when people who blow themselves up in their enemies public areas become "friends", my intellect perks up, not to mention the hair on the back of my neck...
On the other hand, when people who blow themselves up in their enemies public areas become "friends", my intellect perks up, not to mention the hair on the back of my neck...
This comes from Khaled Abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post online:
"'For the first time, we feel we have a friend in the White House.' This is what a Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah had to say this week, after listening to US President Barack Obama's address to Arabs and Muslims from Cairo."
Barack Obama - and his intimidation team
Pretty tough spot.
First, you are placed under oath to tell the truth, while, at the same time, you are pressured NOT to say anything contrary to the Democrats marching orders.
Whew!...
First, you are placed under oath to tell the truth, while, at the same time, you are pressured NOT to say anything contrary to the Democrats marching orders.
Whew!...
At theHill.com, Molly K. Hooper reports:
"Sokol told the committee that the Democrat’s cap-and-trade bill’s 'trading mechanism will impose a huge and unacceptable double cost on customers: first to pay for emission allowances, which will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one ounce, and then for the construction of new low- and zero-carbon power plants and other actions that will actually do the job of reducing these emissions.'
Republican lawmakers contend that Markey’s letter to FERC was an example of a wider effort on the part of Democrats to intimidate individuals who have different viewpoints than 'what the Majority wants to hear,' citing reports that the Senate Finance Committee Chairman 'just this week … instructed Democrat health care lobbyists not to meet with Republicans.'
'There’s systematic intimidation going on, and bullying of individuals by a party that preaches tolerance and it must stop,' Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) told The Hill."
Brighter incandescent bulbs could be on the way
Interestingly enough, I believe our government has mandated the phasing out of incandescent bulbs.
(to save energy, of course)...
(to save energy, of course)...
At DailtTech.com, Jason Mick reports:
"New approach offers more pleasant light of traditional bulbs without the energy guilt.
Thanks to a bit of ingenuity, Chunlei Guo, associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester, and his assistant Anatoliy Vorobyev have been able to squeeze out fluorescent-like energy performance from an incandescent light bulb. The breakthrough boils down to a laser treatment of the bulb's tungsten filament, a processing step which could one day become a standard in the light bulb industry."
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Obama the Humble - by Charles Krauthammer
Apparently, Israel is being hung out there by themselves...
Here's part of Charles Krauthammer's article at RealClearPolitics.com:
"In his much-heralded 'Muslim world' address in Cairo Thursday, Obama declared that the Palestinian people's 'situation' is 'intolerable.' Indeed it is, the result of 60 years of Palestinian leadership that gave its people corruption, tyranny, religious intolerance and forced militarization; leadership that for three generations -- Haj Amin al-Husseini in 1947, Yasser Arafat in 2000, Abbas in December 2008 -- rejected every offer of independence and dignity, choosing destitution and despair rather than accept any settlement not accompanied by the extinction of Israel.
In the 16 years since the Oslo accords turned the West Bank and Gaza over to the Palestinians, their leaders -- Fatah and Hamas alike -- built no schools, no roads, no courthouses, no hospitals, no institutions that would relieve their people's suffering. Instead they poured everything into an infrastructure of war and terror, all the while depositing billions (from gullible Western donors) into their Swiss bank accounts.
Obama says he came to Cairo to tell the truth. But he uttered not a word of that. Instead, among all the bromides and lofty sentiments, he issued but one concrete declaration of new American policy: 'The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,' thus reinforcing the myth that Palestinian misery and statelessness are the fault of Israel and the settlements."
"Beware Taxes Vs. Spending Compromise"
I think this point is well-made.
Americans will be so relieved when this economic crises ends that they will be very vulnerable to "compromises".
This article reports the deficit has increased 10% since 2007.
If you do the math, that's about a TEN-FOLD increase in just two years!...
Americans will be so relieved when this economic crises ends that they will be very vulnerable to "compromises".
This article reports the deficit has increased 10% since 2007.
If you do the math, that's about a TEN-FOLD increase in just two years!...
This Investors Business Daily opinion column warns:
"Conservatives be forewarned: The most dangerous prospect is not straightforward tax hikes, but split-the-difference compromises promising spending cuts for tax increases.
The recession has hit the federal budget harder than it hit the economy. With only three consecutive quarters of negative economic growth so far, federal revenues have plunged and spending has soared.
As the table shows, since 2007, the fiscal year before the recession, the federal deficit has increased over 10 percentage points of GDP — from 2007's 1.2% to 2009's 11.9% today."
Springfield Tax Revolt - WSJ.com
When more taxpayers start to pay attention, victories will come...
Here's just part of a Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"Taxpayer victories are rare these days, so let's cheer the good news in Illinois, where earlier this week the state House in Springfield voted 74-42 against a plan to raise the income tax rate on individuals and businesses by 50%.
When Governor Pat Quinn succeeded Rod Blagojevich in January, he immediately proposed raising the personal income tax to 4.5% from 3%, the business tax rate to 7.2% from 4.8%, and expanding the sales tax to services ranging from dry cleaners to Internet hookup. The Democrat says the income tax hike is 'based on a principle as old as the Bible. Taxes should be based on the ability to pay.' But voters can distinguish between rendering unto God and unto Quinn, and public dismay was so widespread that even 26 Democrats voted to kill this tax grab.
Just as surprising, not a single Republican voted for the tax increase."
Friday, June 12, 2009
In Our World - Staircase Designs
Who knows? Maybe he's on to something; but, somehow I doubt it.
If the multitude of other methods don't work, why would this one?...
If the multitude of other methods don't work, why would this one?...
This is from the Times of India Health and Fitness section:
"A few simple changes in the design and location of staircases could help fight obesity by making the buildings more 'physical activity Staircase friendly', according to a
study.
Study leader Dr. Ishak A. Mansi, of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, has revealed that the research team focussed on how changes in staircase designs could help fight obesity."
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Barack Obama - BAM'S Double Talk
This media source is on to this con job...
And here, PAYGO is exposed for the farce it is...
I found this in a N.Y. Post opinion column:
"'The 'pay as you go' rule is very simple,' said the president. 'Congress can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere.'
Added Obama: 'Paying for what you spend is basic common sense. Perhaps that's why, here in Washington, it's been so elusive.'
Now that's rich.
After all, the man championing this newfound fiscal austerity is already running a $1.8 trillion deficit this year.
That includes the $787 billion stimulus package, plus various corporate bailouts and other spending.
In addition, Congress is pushing ahead this week with a variety of ways to fund Obama's massively priced health-care dreams -- starting with a hefty $635 billion 'down payment.'"
And here, PAYGO is exposed for the farce it is...
from the Wall Street Journal:
"Some things in politics you can't make up, such as President Obama's re-re-endorsement Tuesday of 'pay-as-you-go' budgeting. Coming after $787 billion in nonstimulating stimulus, a $410 billion omnibus to wrap up fiscal 2009, a $3.5 trillion 2010 budget proposal, sundry bailouts and a 13-figure health-care spending expansion still to come, this latest vow of fiscal chastity is like Donald Trump denouncing self-promotion.
Check that. Even The Donald would find this one too much to sell.
But Mr. Obama must think the press and public are dumb enough to buy it, because there he was Tuesday re-selling the same 'paygo' promises that Democrats roll out every election. Paygo is 'very simple,' the President claimed. 'Congress can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere.'
That's what Democrats also promised in 2006, with Nancy Pelosi vowing that 'the first thing' House Democrats would do if they took Congress was reimpose paygo rules that 'Republicans had let lapse.' By 2008, Speaker Pelosi had let those rules lapse no fewer than 12 times, to make way for $400 billion in deficit spending. Mr. Obama repeated the paygo pledge during his 2008 campaign, and instead we have witnessed the greatest peacetime spending binge in U.S. history. As a share of GDP, spending will hit an astonishing 28.5% in fiscal 2009, with the deficit hitting 13% and projected to stay at 4% to 5% for years to come.
The truth is that paygo is the kind of budget gimmick that gives gimmickry a bad name. As Mr. Obama knows but won't tell voters, paygo only applies to new or expanded entitlement programs, not to existing programs such as Medicare, this year growing at a 9.2% annual rate. Nor does paygo apply to discretionary spending, set to hit $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2010, or 40% of the budget"
Barack Obama - "birth country still raising questions"
This issue is still out there.
I try to post about it whenever there's a new recap...
I try to post about it whenever there's a new recap...
At NewsChief.com, David Scrimshaw reports this:
"We've all seen the e-mails about Barack Obama's citizenship. This is a new twist we hadn't known. Interesting. More questions. And this time some good questions.
It can be resolved by Obama answering one simple question: What passport did you use when you were shuttling between New York, Jakarta, and Karachi?
So how did a young man who arrived in New York in early June 1981, without the price of a hotel room in his pocket, suddenly come up with the price of a round-the-world trip just a month later? And once he was on a plane, shuttling between New York, Jakarta and Karachi ,what passport was he offering when he passed through Customs and Immigration?
The American people not only deserve to have answers to these questions, they must have answers."
Barack Obama - "Where have all his records gone?"
The mainstream media doesn't want to pursue this.
I don't think there could be any better better indication as to their bias.
They can't all be this uninterested or incompetent...
I don't think there could be any better better indication as to their bias.
They can't all be this uninterested or incompetent...
At WorldNetDaily.com, Chelsea Schilling asks:
"Where have all his records gone?
Footprints of president's own history either vanish or remain covered up"
Pension System A Runaway Train? - CBS News
A recent speech by Newt Gingrich mentioned this...
It's in a 2008 story at CBSnews.com:
"In fact, the percentage of Long Island Rail Road union employees who end up getting disability benefits is so huge, it boggles the mind: up to 97 percent. That's almost all of them."
Meanwhile - in Massachussetts - "Youth Pride" parade
I don't think our kids should be exposed to this stuff.
Cigarette advertising, and other things, are banned from being aimed at children, so why is this allowed?...
Cigarette advertising, and other things, are banned from being aimed at children, so why is this allowed?...
A post at MassResistance.org reports on it:
"At Massachusetts "Youth Pride" Day May 9, 2009
"Youth Pride" parade: Getting kids to publicly act out homosexuality
"We're here, we're queer, get used to it . . ." See VIDEO and PHOTOS below"
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Barack Obama - and his "new" Justice Dept.
This does not sound good.
Our election system should be above reproach, and it is not.
Actions like this only weaken it further...
Our election system should be above reproach, and it is not.
Actions like this only weaken it further...
This Investors Business Daily opinion article explains:
"The men, who reportedly uttered racial slurs while dressed in paramilitary clothing, had been accused of intimidating voters on Election Day last year at a Philadelphia precinct.
The Washington Times says that 'political appointees' at Justice 'overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint.' Federal authorities had charged King Samir Shabazz, who carried a nightstick at the voting precinct, Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson of violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
That same Justice Department told Georgia last week that it cannot check Social Security numbers and driver's license data to confirm U.S. citizenship of prospective voters. The department reasoned that the state's system was often inaccurate and has a 'discriminatory effect.'"
Barack Obama - Historically disadvantaged?
Well, it sure seems that way.
It also seems that saying things that "sound good" are far more important than the facts.
Of course, that what salespeople do...
It also seems that saying things that "sound good" are far more important than the facts.
Of course, that what salespeople do...
At PajamasMedia.com, by Frank J. Tipler points out some of many errors:
"In his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, President Barack Obama claimed: “As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam. It was Islam — at places like Al-Azhar University — that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing.”
Obama is not much of a 'student of history' if he believes this. Almost every advance he attributes to the Muslims was due to someone else.
The non-Muslim Chinese invented the magnetic compass and printing (Gutenberg invented not printing, but movable type). The non-Muslim Hindu Indians invented algebra and the decimal numbering system. The non-Muslim European Christians invented the university.
I can’t address advances in medicine, but I have studied the history of astronomy and physics. The Muslims contributed nothing."
Meanwhile - in Massachusetts - Summer jobs
Why not?
Massachusetts is the state that gives cars, car insurance, and AAA coverage to welfare recipients...
Massachusetts is the state that gives cars, car insurance, and AAA coverage to welfare recipients...
In the Boston Herald, Howie Carr writes about summer jobs in Massachusetts:
"Eagle Scouts need not apply. Valedictorians, ditto.
So you say English is your native language? Tough break, kid.
You live with your mother and your father? Strike 2.
Never been arrested? Strike 3, you’re outta here.
Come back after you drop out of school, or get pregnant."
The Media - commentary by Victor David Hanson
I couldn't agree more with these beginning paragraphs.
In fact, as the article goes on, I find I agree with almost everything.
Our media is clearly NOT doing their job.
The Kool-Aid must be in almost every news office water cooler, if not piped directly into their food somehow...
In fact, as the article goes on, I find I agree with almost everything.
Our media is clearly NOT doing their job.
The Kool-Aid must be in almost every news office water cooler, if not piped directly into their food somehow...
At PajamasMedia.com, Victor Davis Hanson begins with this:
"I am afraid I no longer believe . . .
…That we have an inquisitive American media as we once knew it. There has emerged something as bad as state-sanctioned coercion—which we could at least identify, and thus struggle against.
Now comes a more insidious, brave new self-imposed censorship of the Orwellian mode. It is not just the perennial embarrassment Chris Matthews describing his Obama ecstasy on camera, or even Newsweek’s Evan Thomas comparing his President to God, or even CNN execs being exposed trashing the US abroad at Davos, or whitewashing Saddam, but rather a more incremental new groupspeak in which basic words and ideas—from terrorism to war itself—have been reformulated according to political dictates."
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Government at Work - What a Deal
I think the only thing "big" about GM is it's number of union members...
At Townhall.com George Will doesn't think much of their bailout:
"Washington's 'rescue' of GM began because GM is 'too big to fail,' and bankruptcy is (well, was) 'unthinkable.' Big? GM's market capitalization, $375.8 million on Wednesday, is about the size of California Pizza Kitchen's ($340 million) -- is it too big to fail? -- and one-eleventh that of Harley-Davidson ($4.3 billion). Fail? If GM has not already failed, New Coke was a success.
The administration is determined to prop up GM as a jobs program for the UAW and Midwestern states rich in electoral votes. This frenzy will intensify as the administration's decisions deepen the debacle."
Barack Obama - and his "Fairytale World?"
Geez. Even his family knows...
Judi McLeod reports in the Canadian Free Press:
"They say the more often a lie gets told the sooner it becomes the truth, but this is how the Barack Hussein Obama big lie went down at Buchenwald in time for D-Day commemoration ceremonies: 'I’ve known about this place since I was a boy hearing stories, uhh, about my great uncle, who was a very young man, uh, serving in World 11.' (Rush Limbaugh, June 5, 2009). 'He was part of the 89th Infantry Division, the first Americans to reach a concentration camp, eh, they liberated Ohrdruf, one of Buchenwald’s subcamps. And I’ve told this story, he returned from service in a state of shock, uh, saying little and isolating himself for months on end from family and friends, uh, along with the painful memories that would not leave his head.'
"His uncle has told the UK Telegraph and Der Spiegel, `I don’t know how he knows this, I’ve never talked to him about it.’"
The Media Fall for Phony Jobs' Claims - WSJ.com
Are we being snookered on jobs counting?
Some people think so...
Some people think so...
William McGurn writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"During a March hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus challenged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the formula.
"You created a situation where you cannot be wrong," said the Montana Democrat. 'If the economy loses two million jobs over the next few years, you can say yes, but it would've lost 5.5 million jobs. If we create a million jobs, you can say, well, it would have lost 2.5 million jobs. You've given yourself complete leverage where you cannot be wrong, because you can take any scenario and make yourself look correct.'
Now, something's wrong when the president invokes a formula that makes it impossible for him to be wrong and it goes largely unchallenged."
Terry McAuliffe - slipperier than an eel in olive oil?
Politics is a dirty business...
Anita Kumar and Rosalind S. Helderman recently reported this in the Washington Post:
"Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader went public Thursday with an allegation that Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe offered his campaign money to stay off the ballot in key states during the 2004 elections -- a disclosure timed to raise questions about McAuliffe's fitness for public office.
'Terry McAuliffe is slipperier than an eel in olive oil,' Nader said in an interview.
He said McAuliffe, who was the Democratic National Committee chairman at the time, had offered Nader's campaign an unspecified amount of money, believed to be party funds, to spend in 31 states in exchange for an agreement to withdraw from 19 battleground states where he could potentially hurt Democrat John Kerry."
