Friday, July 31, 2009
The Media - The N.Y. Times vs. Congressman Connie Mack
Somebody is wrong here.
I wonder where the New York Times got their info...
I wonder where the New York Times got their info...
On his website, Congressman Mack says:
"'I spoke to President Micheletti today by telephone. The New York Times story is utterly untrue and there is no deal to bring Manuel Zelaya back to power. The people of Honduras do not want and will not accept Zelaya’s return.'
'Zelaya was removed from the presidency through a legal process established by the Honduran Constitution. He was voted out of office by the Honduran National Congress. The Honduran Supreme Court ordered Zelaya’s arrest. This was not a coup. This is a matter of Honduran law and sovereignty.'
'The ones supporting the ousted President include Hugo Chavez and other leftist dictators in Latin America.'
'The Obama Administration’s position is appalling. They are siding with the forces of evil against the forces of freedom. They are involving themselves in the internal politics of a sovereign nation. It is wrong and must be stopped.'
'Furthermore, I am outraged that the Obama Administration pulled the visas of Honduran officials who didn’t agree with the Administration’s policies, and threatened to pull more. They are retaliating against Honduran judges and Members of Congress for taking positions against Hugo Chavez and other leftists in Latin America.'
'Manuel Zelaya broke the law. The New York Times story is inaccurate and fabricated.'"
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Media - CNN's Rick Sanchez
The media isn't shy about digging into other's pasts, so I wonder how they like it when their pasts are exposed?...
I found this post by MP at mofopolitics.com:
"Minutes after midnight on the morning of December 10, 1990, an intoxicated Smuzinick darted out in front of a Volvo on a residential street near Joe Robbie Stadium. The driver of the car, WSVN-TV Channel 7 anchorman Rick Sanchez, became the subject of a subsequent January 16 New Times story that described the odd circumstances of the accident. Sanchez, whom a Metro-Dade police officer said 'smelled strongly of alcohol,' first stopped his car but then later left the scene. A blood test to determine Sanchez’s sobriety was not administered until an hour and fifteen minutes after the collision. Though Sanchez says he tried to aid Smuzinick at the scene of the accident and flag down motorists, eyewitnesses claim the anchorman ignored the injured man and loudly told police and bystanders that blood tests were pointless, and would hurt his public image."
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Politicians - Senators Dodd and Conrad
Caught!...
A National Review editorial has this:
"Senators Dodd and Conrad have protested that they did not know that they were being given preferential treatment. We therefore are implicitly asked to believe that the gentle souls at Countrywide were forgoing profits on loans to influential politicians out of a sense of public-spiritedness, and were carefully concealing the sweetheart deals from their beneficiaries. One might hope that the two men who would go on to chair the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Budget Committee would recognize unusual financial arrangements when they saw them — and signed their names to them. But whether either of these two possesses the financial acumen to assess the sweetness of a mortgage, their banker, Robert Feinberg of Countrywide’s VIP operation, now informs congressional investigators that both men knew they were getting preferential treatment.
'Who you know is basically how you’re coming in here,' Feinberg said. 'You don’t say ‘no’ to the VIP.' Pressed directly about whether Senator Conrad was aware of the arrangement, Feinberg said, 'Yes, he was aware.' Dodd, too? 'Yes, yes.' "
John Stossel : A Minimum Wage Equals Minimum Jobs
The minimum wage is snake oil.
The benefits "sound" legitimate; however, the unseen consequences are quite negative.
And, of course, the media perpetuates the sales pitches...
The benefits "sound" legitimate; however, the unseen consequences are quite negative.
And, of course, the media perpetuates the sales pitches...
At Townhall.com, John Stossel writes about the media and the minimum wage:
"The media are never better at displaying their economic illiteracy than when they report on the minimum wage."
NASA to bomb E.T.?
Just another day in outer space?
We'll have to wait and see!...
We'll have to wait and see!...
At Examiner.com, Alfred Lambremont Webre writes:
"The planned October 9, 2009 bombing of the moon by a NASA orbiter that will bomb the moon with a 2-ton kinetic weapon to create a 5 mile wide deep crater as an alleged water-seeking and lunar colonization experiment, is contrary to space law prohibiting environmental modification of celestial bodies. The NASA moon bombing, a component of the LCROSS mission, may also trigger conflict with known extraterrestrial civilizations on the moon as reported on the moon in witnessed statements by U.S. astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, and in witnessed statements to NSA (National Security Agency) photos and documents regarding an extraterrestrial base on the dark side of the moon."
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Barack Obama - the shoe is on the other foot now
For the past several years, there is a good bet that everything has been recorded somewhere.
Here's a case in point...
Here's a case in point...
P.J. Gladnick has the details at NewsBusters.orgK TEXT:
"Here is the transcript which picks up at the 55 second mark:
BARACK OBAMA: ...When you rush these budgets that are a foot high and nobody has any idea what's in them and nobody has read them.
RANDI RHODES: 14 pounds it was!
BARACK OBAMA: Yeah. And it gets rushed through without any clear deliberation or debate then these kinds of things happen. And I think that this is in some ways what happened to the Patriot Act. I mean you remember that there was no real debate about that. It was so quick after 9/11 that it was introduced that people felt very intimidated by the administration."
Barack Obama - "We've Figured Him Out"
I'm still mystified as to why so few saw this coming...
At Spectator.org, Ben Stein points out a few things and then summarizes:
"Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.
There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America."
"Page after Page of Reasons to Hate Obamacare"
It seems like there something for everyone to dislike.
We best hope it doesn't get passed.
There have to be better alternatives...
We best hope it doesn't get passed.
There have to be better alternatives...
Alan Caruba IS reading the bill, commenting page by page at CanadaFreePress.com:
"• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
• Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
And MUCH more."
GovernmentCare’s Assault on Seniors. - WSJ.com
It sure seems like it's in the plan...
Betsy McCaughey writes in the Wall Street Journal:
"The assault against seniors began with the stimulus package in February. Slipped into the bill was substantial funding for comparative effectiveness research, which is generally code for limiting care based on the patient’s age. Economists are familiar with the formula, where the cost of a treatment is divided by the number of years (called QALYs, or quality-adjusted life years) that the patient is likely to benefit. In Britain, the formula leads to denying treatments for older patients who have fewer years to benefit from care than younger patients.
When comparative effectiveness research appeared in the stimulus bill, Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., (R., La.) a heart surgeon, warned that it would lead to “denying seniors and the disabled lifesaving care.” He and Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) proposed amendments to no avail that would have barred the federal government from using the research to eliminate treatments for the elderly or deny care based on age."
Another governor?
This could mess up a dinner table conversation or two...
The New York Daily News has this:
"Another gubernatorial sex scandal may be looming. Even as South Carolina's Mark Sanford waits to see whether his wife, Jenny, forgives his romp in the pampas, a New York call girl could plunge one of America's most prominent governors into a fresh hell.
In March, we told you about a high-end escort who claimed that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer had gotten overly aggressive during some kinky role-play (a charge Spitzer's lawyer called 'outrageous and defamatory').
Now the elegant blond courtesan, whom we'll continue to call 'Annie,' is talking about three 'dates' she allegedly had with another state's chief executive, who we'll call Gov. X.
Though Annie's former boss, ex-madam Kristin Davis, corroborates that Gov. X was a client, his spokesman flatly denies that the married politician has ever hired hookers."
Batack Obama - and his Science "czar"
Mad Scientist?
What in the world is this guy about?...
What in the world is this guy about?...
Michelle Malkin posts on her website:
"Refresher on Holdren’s eco-zealous views:
• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation’s drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who “contribute to social deterioration” (i.e. undesirables) “can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility” — in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational “Planetary Regime” should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans’ lives — using an armed international police force."
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Media - and White House BBQ
Sounds like BBQ bribery to me.
I don't like the idea of it being "closed"...
I don't like the idea of it being "closed"...
At Gawker.com, John Cook has some details:
"Reporters from roughly 30 television networks, newspapers, magazines, and web sites celebrated the Fourth of July with Barack Obama at the White House last weekend. Why didn't you know that? Because they were sworn to secrecy.
We reported yesterday that Politico's Mike Allen was spotted milling about as a guest at the White House's "backyard bash" by the pool reporter, who was allowed into the event for 40 minutes and kept in a pen before being ushered out. When Allen quoted from the pool report in his Playbook column the next day, he deleted a reference to his own name and didn't bother to tell his readers that he was actually at the party."
Governments Grab Unused Gift Cards - WSJ.com
So, why should a government reap the benefit of an unused gift card?
I don't like it...
I don't like it...
Erica Alini tells about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"Each year Americans spend about $65 billion in gift cards -- excluding bank-issued prepaid cards -- but don't redeem $6.8 billion, according to research by TowerGroup, a financial-consulting firm.
What happens to the unused amounts varies by state and company, but they often revert to retailers as income. States that collect abandoned gift cards require retailers and third-party gift-card processors to update a database keeping track of when a card is issued and when it is used."
This is a legitimate question!
It would be fun to have a video montage of the answers...
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Public Pensions Cook the Books - WSJ.com
I have to point out that politicians themselves or those they have appointed are responsible for this.
The key word is "politicians"...
The key word is "politicians"...
Andrew G. Biggs writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"Public employee pension plans are plagued by overgenerous benefits, chronic underfunding, and now trillion dollar stock-market losses. Based on their preferred accounting methods -- which discount future liabilities based on high but uncertain returns projected for investments -- these plans are underfunded nationally by around $310 billion.
The numbers are worse using market valuation methods (the methods private-sector plans must use), which discount benefit liabilities at lower interest rates to reflect the chance that the expected returns won't be realized. Using that method, University of Chicago economists Robert Novy-Marx and Joshua Rauh calculate that, even prior to the market collapse, public pensions were actually short by nearly $2 trillion. That's nearly $87,000 per plan participant. With employee benefits guaranteed by law and sometimes even by state constitutions, it's likely these gargantuan shortfalls will have to be borne by unsuspecting taxpayers."
U.S. Border 'Underprotected,' 'Easily Breached'
I thought this was hard to believe until I remembered it's government run...
Terry Jeffrey writes about it at Townhall.com:
"Judging from recent reports by the National Drug Intelligence Center, you could come to the conclusion that Mexican drug cartels can do something the U.S. government cannot: control border crossings."
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Meanwhile - in Oregon - Pensions are in peril
This doesn't sound good...
Brent Hunsberger reports at OregonLive.com:
"Thirty-four of 36 large publicly traded employers operating in Oregon owe more retirement benefits than their traditional pensions can pay, an analysis by The Oregonian found.
Those retirement plans, held by companies employing an estimated 100,000 workers, were underfunded by an average of 24 percent at the end of 2008, their annual reports showed. That means they had only 76 cents for every $1 promised all workers, past and present."
Meanwhile - in Philadelphia - City shirkers
Here's the story in Philadelphia.
Do you wonder if it's the same where you live?...
Do you wonder if it's the same where you live?...
The Inquirer at Philly.com editorializes:
"City employees who owe their livelihood to taxpayers shouldn't be allowed to stiff the city on their own tax bills.
But an analysis by The Inquirer showed that 2,000 city workers and their spouses are delinquent on their property taxes. Combined, they owe the city about $5 million in unpaid taxes. Some bills date back more than 20 years.
That's an astounding number of city workers thumbing their noses at taxpayers who fund their salaries, benefits, and pensions.
Even worse, elected leaders in City Hall have a habit of enabling these tax delinquents.
Some of the worst offenders are working in City Council's chambers, where about 10 percent of Council aides are behind on their taxes. For example, Derek Green, legal adviser to Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, owes about $6,000 in back taxes despite earning a salary of $112,625."
Friday, July 24, 2009
"Maybe It Wasn’t the Cop Acting Stupidly, Mr. President"
I can't think of any way to say this better...
Michael P. Tremoglie on his blog:
"Mr. President, if you really want to bridge the racial divide, then you need to recognize that racism is just as much not blaming someone because of their race as it is blaming someone because of their race.
It is time, Mr. President, to stop casting white police officers as Bull Connor."
Barack Obama - "How not to win support from police unions"
This seems like a reasonable idea to me, especially, before a national television audience...
It belongs to Ed Morrisey at HotAir.com. Of course, there's more:
"any statement from a politician about an incident under dispute that begins, 'I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts,' should end with, 'I have nothing to say until all the facts are known.' Instead, Obama took the moment immediately after acknowledging his incomplete knowledge of the incident to declare that law enforcement had acted 'stupidly,' which doesn’t fit the facts as they’re unfolding now. I understand the impulse to defend a friend in a dispute, but as President and as the head of law enforcement in the nation, Obama should have given enough benefit of the doubt to the police to at least withhold judgment until he did get all the facts."
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sarah Palin - About that Defense Fund
There's clearly something about Sarah Palin that brings out the worst in media and liberals in general.
That alone makes me like her.
Somewhere, there must be polling that she is a huge threat to the Democrat Party and the state run media.
The reaction to her words and activities far exceed anything we've seen before. Think Osama bin Laden!...
That alone makes me like her.
Somewhere, there must be polling that she is a huge threat to the Democrat Party and the state run media.
The reaction to her words and activities far exceed anything we've seen before. Think Osama bin Laden!...
At Conservatives4Palin.com, Tom Lindell reports on it and the recent media coverage:
"Kristan Cole, the trustee of the legal defense fund set up to help Governor Palin with legal bills resulting from frivolous ethics complaints, issued the following press release at a press conference today:"
Barack Obama - "What was THAT all about?"
I didn't watch. This writer did...
At MSNBC.com, Howard Fineman writes:
"I’ve been covering Barack Obama for a few years, and it’s usually crystal clear what he is up to. Not last night. This is the first time I’ve asked myself: What was THAT all about?
His prime time press conference was worse than a waste of time. He spent an hour (with the aide of a soporific White House press corps) pouring sand (one grain at a time) into the already-slowing gears of the machinery of health-care reform.
He made no real news on health care, but DID make news on race relations with his discussion of the Skip Gates case — thereby obscuring the topic he supposedly wanted to feature."
Playing the race card?
This appears on the way to becoming a big deal.
I have my opinion.
After reading the police report, you can have yours...
I have my opinion.
After reading the police report, you can have yours...
P.J. Gladnick has it at NewsBusters.org:
"And this is probably why the Boston Globe felt it had to remove the police report from its website."
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
"Outmaneuvering Obama: Russia's Crafty Weapons Cuts"
Trading something for nothing?
We're seeing a lot of that lately.
Usually, it's our money.
Here it's our security...
We're seeing a lot of that lately.
Usually, it's our money.
Here it's our security...
Ed Feulner writes about it at Townhall.com:
"Obama has promised that the U.S. will reduce its number of strategic force launchers --the systems that deliver both nuclear and conventional weapons -- to between 500 and 1,100 (the U.S. is permitted 1,600 launchers under a current treaty). Moscow matched that commitment, but that’s not saying much, since the number of Russian weapons is going to plummet with or without a treaty.
'By 2017-2018 Russia will likely have fewer than half of the approximately 680 operational launchers it has today,' arms control expert Keith Payne recently testified before Congress. 'With a gross domestic product less than that of California, Russia is confronting the dilemma of how to maintain parity with the U.S. while retiring its many aged strategic forces.' One way, of course, is to sacrifice some pawns -- the non-existent or inoperable weapons -- to take out vital American weapons.
In short, the Russians agreed to 'cut' weapons they were going to have to retire anyway.
The Russians haven’t made their declining stockpiles much of a secret. Payne notes that Nikolay Solovtsov, the man in charge of Russian missiles, recently told Moscow Interfax-AVN Online that 'not a single Russian launcher' with 'remaining service life' would be withdrawn under the agreement reached with Russian leaders."
Pension Calculus Draws New Scrutiny - WSJ.com
And rightfully so!
Local governments don't have much accountability on items like this.
They cave in to union demands in order to keep public services running, and unfortunately, don't protect the citizens money very well...
Local governments don't have much accountability on items like this.
They cave in to union demands in order to keep public services running, and unfortunately, don't protect the citizens money very well...
Craig Karmin describes some of California's problems with pensions:
"In California, which has taken to issuing IOUs to hoard cash, a private interest group has launched a campaign to publicize the names of government retirees with pensions of $100,000 or more to promote its view that steep pensions threaten to bankrupt states and municipalities. Mr. Nowicki's payout was brought to light in the spring in a Contra Costa Times column.
While it happens nationwide, pension spiking has been especially prevalent in California, which some attribute to favorable terms negotiated by powerful unions."
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Editorial: California's budget agreement is an ugly mess
It sounds like California fixed their budget with smoke and mirrors, and that they haven't done anything but delay the issue...
This Oakland Tribune editorial has a lot to say about California's budget. They begin with:
"ONCE AGAIN, our governor and legislative leaders have patched together a budget that fails to address a severe structural imbalance. Instead, they have delayed the day of reckoning with accounting tricks, borrowing, overly optimistic revenue projections and promises that will make future budgets even more difficult to balance."
Failure to rebuild Ground Zero contrasts with moon landing - WSJ.com
A short article that says a lot about the America we've become...
The Wall Sreet Journal opinion article begins with:
"It took eight years from the time John Kennedy declared we would go to the moon to the day an American landed on it, 40 years ago this week. It was also eight years ago this September that terrorists struck the World Trade Center, the site of which continues to be a hole in the ground and a national disgrace."
Governors Fear Medicaid Costs in Health Plan - NYTimes.com
Unfunded mandates have been killing state government budgets for a long time because the actual funding must come from state revenues.
Raising taxes is often the only alternative for the states.
So, the federal government avoids the blame...
Raising taxes is often the only alternative for the states.
So, the federal government avoids the blame...
Kevin Sack and Robert Pear cover it in the New York Times (registration required):
"'I think the governors would all agree that what we don’t want from the federal government is unfunded mandates,' said Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, a Republican, the group’s incoming chairman. 'We can’t have the Congress impose requirements that we are forced to absorb beyond our capacity to do so.'"
Monday, July 20, 2009
GOP Rips President On Stimulus In "Obama vs Obama" Ad
I guess the state run media still isn't noticing the differences between what was said then vs. what is said now.
And, based on this picture, Vice-President Biden isn't noticing anything at all...
And, based on this picture, Vice-President Biden isn't noticing anything at all...
RealClearPolitics has this YouTube video
"A Garden of Piggish Delights"
And this is only the top 50!
There's only so much time in a day, you know...
There's only so much time in a day, you know...
Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson begin their article at NationalReviewOnline with:
"The stimulus bill was the legislative equivalent of the famous cantina scene from Star Wars, an eye-popping collection of the freakish and exotic, gathered for dubious purposes. The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, known as ACES (the American Clean Energy and Security Act), is more like the third panel in Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights — a hellscape that disturbs the sleep of anybody who contemplates it carefully. "
Politicians - PA's John Murtha
This sure seems far-fetched.
What do you think?...
What do you think?...
Paul Singer reports at RollCall.com:
"For the past several years, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has funneled more than $3 million in earmarks to a company in his district to build an underwater “swimmer detection” sonar system for the Navy to use to protect its docks and ships.
But the company, KDH Defense Systems, sews bulletproof vests. It had never built a sonar system and had no expertise in sonar engineering. "
Parsing the Health Reform Arguments - WSJ.com
This writer, an economist, takes many of those "sound bite phrases" we hear and applies common sense to each of them.
That common sense helps to see things differently (and more accurately)...
That common sense helps to see things differently (and more accurately)...
In the Wall Street Journal, George Newman begins his opinion column with:
"The health-care debate continues. We have now heard from nearly all the politicians, experts and interested parties: doctors, drug makers, hospitals, insurance companies, even constitutional lawyers (though not, significantly, from trial lawyers, who know full well 'change' is not coming to their practices). Here is how one humble economist sees some of the main arguments, which I have paraphrased below:"
Hoyer: No one would vote for ObamaCare if they read the bill
What does this say about our politicians?...
Ed Morrissey posted this on the Hot Air blog:
"House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that the health-care reform bill now pending in Congress would garner very few votes if lawmakers actually had to read the entire bill before voting on it.
'If every member pledged to not vote for it if they hadn’t read it in its entirety, I think we would have very few votes,' Hoyer told CNSNews.com at his regular weekly news conference.
Hoyer was responding to a question from CNSNews.com on whether he supported a pledge that asks members of the Congress to read the entire bill before voting on it and also make the full text of the bill available to the public for 72 hours before a vote."
Government at Work - "Section Reserved"???
Can you imagine signing a contract with a section to be provided later?
Our politicians clearly do not live in the real world...
Our politicians clearly do not live in the real world...
Michelle Malkin recently described this on her website:
"When I live-blogged the House debate on cap-and-tax last Friday, I noted the existence of a 'placeholder' in the bill. Rep. Joe Barton mentioned it was unprecedented to have such a mechanism (allowing bill-writers to insert language to be determined after the law was approved) in a bill up for final passage. Later, I noted that Barney Frank explained on the floor on Friday that the placeholder in the cap and trade bill apparently will deal with regulations of financial derivatives market associated with reducing carbon emissions. Frank said he was confident a 'good system will be in place.'"
Europe Thumps U.S., Again - WSJ.com
We seem to be in strange times.
The U.S. is moving toward the things that Europe has decided didn't work.
Weird!...
The U.S. is moving toward the things that Europe has decided didn't work.
Weird!...
The Wall Street Journal reports:
"On present trends, most of Europe will soon have lower income tax rates than most of America. And now the European Union is stealing another competitive march on Washington, this time on a free trade deal with the world's 13th largest economy, fast-growing South Korea.
Last week Brussels and Seoul finished the outline of a new trade agreement, and the two sides will now write up the technical language to codify it. As for the pending U.S.-Korea trade agreement, Congress has done . . . nothing."
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Smoking Gun: Zelaya Computers had 'certified' results for referendum that was never held
It will be interesting to see how (or if) the American media handles this.
The Obama administration and much of the world think this president is O.K. ...
The Obama administration and much of the world think this president is O.K. ...
Rick Moran posts at AmericanThinker.com:
"This has been all over the Honduran and Central American press for more than 24 hours but, as Alberto de la Cruz of Babalu Blog points out, no English speaking wire service or media has picked up on it yet.
Authorities seized several computers used by former president Zelaya that contained 'official' results of the constitutional referendum that was never held showing his bid to change the law so that he could run for office again winning easily."
"Why I don’t mourn Walter Cronkite"
I believe that this article is a valid interpretation of the beginning of the media bias that we now experience daily...
This is just part of a post at MoneyRunner.blogspot.com:
"From the same article we are reminded that Cronkite had a team. And who was on that team? Eric Severeid, Daniel Schorr, Dan Rather, Roger Mudd, Mike Wallace. See anyone there who you would recognize as a Conservative voice? Neither do I. Today Daniel Schorr delivers diatribes against the Right from his sinecure at NPR and Dan Rather maintains that it was those damn Right Wingers who smeared him by exposing his phony Bush papers story.
Cronkite, it was said, 'did not editorialize often.' Well, let’s put it this way, he did not come out and say 'this is my opinion.' But his way of editorializing is the same craft that the media used in his time and ever since: selective use of facts, the omission of this story, the emphasis on that story, all used to weave a version of reality that people believed about the world around them beyond the reach of their five senses."
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Mary Jo Kopechne died 40 years ago today
An infamous event in Ted Kennedy's history...
Mary Wentworth reminds us at CapeCodToday.com:
"Just past midnight on Saturday, July 19, 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy drove his black Oldsmobile sedan off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard, just off Cape Cod. The Senator escaped a watery death, but a passenger in his car, twenty-eight-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, did not."
The Media - Always trying to promote their agenda
This attempt at media bias didn't work out so well...
Noel Sheppard has the video at NewsBusters.org:
"On Saturday, CNN's Don Lemon learned this lesson the hard way.
Well after President Obama finished his speech in Ghana, Lemon was speaking live to correspondent Nkepile Mabuse who was reporting on location.
When Lemon asked whether the warm reception Obama received upon his arrival Friday was unprecedented, Mabuse caught him quite off guard with her response.
Pay particular attention to Lemon's body language when Mabuse says, 'It's not unprecedented. When President Bush was here, you will remember, in February, there were people who were drumming, there were dances, and President Bush joined some of them' (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t NBer Jon):"
Second City Ruse - WSJ.com
Politicians, educators, unions, etc., all continue to "fudge" the numbers to promote their agendas.
The real goals of education have fallen by the wayside long ago...
The real goals of education have fallen by the wayside long ago...
Here's the beginning of a Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"When President Obama chose Arne Duncan to lead the Education Department, he cited Mr. Duncan's success as head of Chicago's public school system from 2001 to 2008. But a new education study suggests that those academic gains aren't what they seemed. The study also helps explain why big-city education reform is unlikely to occur without school choice.
Mr. Obama noted in December that 'in just seven years, Arne's boosted elementary test scores here in Chicago from 38% of students meeting the standard to 67%' and that 'the dropout rate has gone down every year he's been in charge.' But according to 'Still Left Behind,' a report by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a majority of Chicago public school students still drop out or fail to graduate with their class. Moreover, 'recent dramatic gains in the reported number of CPS elementary students who meet standards on state assessments appear to be due to changes in the tests . . . rather than real improvements in student learning.'"
Friday, July 17, 2009
Meanwhile - in Australia - Town bans bottled water
I'm no fan of commefrcial bottled water.
Maybe this will cause others to catch on...
Maybe this will cause others to catch on...
PRE-LINK TEXT Bonnie Malkin reports in the U.K. Telegraph:
"Shops in the town will now be banned from stocking and selling bottled water and filtered water fountains will be placed on Bundanoon's main street so people can fill their bottles for free. Visitors to the town will also be discouraged, but not banned, from drinking bottled water.
Locals decided to act when drinks company Norlex Holdings announced plans to tap an underground reservoir in the town, truck the water up to Sydney and then send it back in bottles."
Thursday, July 16, 2009
"Put nothing in writing"
You can't get less transparent than this...
Mark Tapscott reports at WashingtonExaminer.com:
"Carol Browner, former Clinton administration EPA head and current Obama White House climate czar, instructed auto industry execs 'to put nothing in writing, ever' regarding secret negotiations she orchestrated regarding a deal to increase federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards."
Barack Obama - Broken Promises
Here's another example of the new administration's game plan.
In speeches and in interviews, they say one thing.
Then they do the opposite.
Unfortunately, the state run media nevers call them out on their obvious hypocricies...
In speeches and in interviews, they say one thing.
Then they do the opposite.
Unfortunately, the state run media nevers call them out on their obvious hypocricies...
At Cato-at-liberty.org, Jim Harper posts:
"“[O]nce it is clear that a bill will be coming to the president’s desk, the White House will post the bill online,” White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told New York Times reporter Katherine Seelye for her June 22 story on President Obama’s “Sunlight Before Signing” campaign pledge. “This will give the American people a greater ability to review the bill, often many more than five days before the president signs it into law.”
The story, titled “White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online,” was about the White House effort to walk back from President Obama’s campaign pledge to post bills he receives for five days before signing them.
When the New York Times published the story, five bills had been presented to the president and were awaiting his signature. Four more were presented to him after the story’s publication. All nine are now law.
And for the life of me, I can’t find where any of them have been posted on Whitehouse.gov. Surely it was clear to the White House that the five bills it had and the four soon to come would reach the president’s desk."
Barack Obama - Birth mystery plot thickens
So, is it Hospital A, or Hospital B?
You have to click through.
Otherwise, you'll think I'm making this up...
You have to click through.
Otherwise, you'll think I'm making this up...
Joe Kovacs and Jerome Corsi have more birth confusion at WorldNetDaily.com:
"More than eight months after Barack Obama was elected president, the mystery surrounding his precise birthplace is deepening as the myth-busting website Snopes.com – along with several news agencies and an Obama community blog – directly contradict the president's own claim regarding the hospital in which he was born.
In an official letter signed by Obama on White House stationery, the president celebrates his birth at the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu, Hawaii."
Barack Obama - who wrote the book?
This writer has been making a case that the infamous William Ayres "helped Barack Obama write his acclaimed memoir "Dreams From My Father".
Over time, his case seems to be getting stronger.
It is troubling that Barack Obama's relationship with William Ayres (former domestic terrorist) was that close...
Over time, his case seems to be getting stronger.
It is troubling that Barack Obama's relationship with William Ayres (former domestic terrorist) was that close...
Jack Cashill writes at AmericanThinker.com:
"This I would call a B-level match. What raises it up a notch to an A-level match is the fact that both misquote 'Chicago,' and they do so in exactly the same way. The poem actually opens, 'Hog butcher for the world.'
Last week, the first email I received from Mr. West had in the message box '759 striking similarities between Dreams and Ayers' works.' This claim seemed so outsized I did not take it seriously. When I was unable to open the documents, I emailed Mr. West back, asked him to reformat, and then forgot about the email. He resent his documents a few days later.
This time I was able to open them and was promptly blown away. Mr. West's analysis was systematic, comprehensive, and utterly, totally, damning. Of the 759 matches, none were frivolous."
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Democrats' reaction to Sotomayor's Catholicism reflects double standard - WSJ.com
Different era? Isn't that convenient?
We're certainly NOT in a new era of politics. It's as ugly as always...
We're certainly NOT in a new era of politics. It's as ugly as always...
William McGurn writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"In opening yesterday's Judiciary Committee hearings on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Chairman Pat Leahy (D., Vt.) alluded to the religious prejudice that has too often intruded on the process.
The first Jewish nominee, he noted, had to answer 'questions about the Jewish mind and how its operations are complicated by altruism." The first Catholic nominee, he added, "had to overcome the argument that, as a Catholic, he'd be dominated by the pope.'
'We are,' Sen. Leahy declared, 'in a different era.'"
"Journalists protest Global Warming spin cycle"
Now, think about this: If the Earth continues to cool naturally AFTER certain laws are passed, it will be claimed that the laws were successful.
And, if the Earth continues to cool naturally, and NO laws were passed, there will be NO money to be made.
Did I just stumble on "the real plot"?...
And, if the Earth continues to cool naturally, and NO laws were passed, there will be NO money to be made.
Did I just stumble on "the real plot"?...
At AmericanThinker.com, William Tate discusses the "spin":
"Controversy erupted this week at the World Conference of Science Journalists over the National Science Foundation's 'underwriting' of media projects. It turns out that the NSF, which is heavily invested in propagating the Global Warming party line, has been quietly producing content for news outlets, content which the casual observer might not recognize for the propaganda it is.
According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the NSF's Jeff Nesbit was met with 'consternation' at the London conference for 'attempting to 'disguise' publicity as objective reporting.'
As stated earlier, the NSF is a major player in the Global Warming cult, having funded studies which claim that, despite cooling temperatures, warming is inevitable this century, and that it will impact everything from vintners who produce Pinot Noir to the world's largest freshwater lake in Siberia.
The NSF provides about twenty percent of all federal funding for scientific research. It is now also providing media outlets with content, such as the below from U.S. News & Report: ..."
"Magical Thinking in California"
Governments at work.
Wouldn't you think they could put a hold on these things until things get at least bit closer to "normal" again?...
Wouldn't you think they could put a hold on these things until things get at least bit closer to "normal" again?...
Eric Peters reports at Spectator.org:
"California's a mess. A bankrupt fiasco. A state that has regulated and spent itself into a well of debt so deep it makes the economic situation in the other 49 states seem not half-bad.
But instead of putting a chokehold on California's run-amok bureaucrats, the federal government just gave them the go ahead to impose California-specific fuel economy and emissions control requirements on new cars sold there, beginning with the 2016 model year. California has long wanted to demand that new cars achieve 40 mpg, on average -- 5 mph higher than the '49 state' requirement recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.
Now there will be two sets of differing requirements for the flatlined auto industry to cope with: One for cars sold in CA, one for cars sold everywhere else. Maybe several different requirements, since a number of states have expressed interest in either following CA or maybe passing requirements of their own."
Hillary Clinton stabs NYC in the back?
Should this surprise us?...
Marcia Kramer reports at WCBSTV.com:
"Hillary Clinton was accused Monday of stabbing the Big Apple in the back.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said her betrayal has cost the city $260 million in lost tax revenues and counting.
It didn't take long for Clinton to double cross New York City. Six months into her tenure as secretary of state she has suddenly exempted diplomats from paying some property taxes here.
'It is totally unfair,' Bloomberg said.
The mayor said it's not only a double cross but a double flip flop. As New York's junior senator, Clinton fought to make diplomats pay up. And he said her reversal changes a longstanding policy."
Barack Obama - What The Media Didn’t Report
Update! - I've seen a longer version of this and, to me at least, it seems pretty clear that Mr. Obama is introducing people to the Russian President, not trying to shake hands himself.
So, does this tell you anything?
Does it seem a little strange?...
So, does this tell you anything?
Does it seem a little strange?...
I found this posted by Rob on SayAnythingBlog.com:
"In the last news cycle there were a lot of stories written about Obama’s visit to Russia. But one story that didn’t appear anywhere in the American media (that I saw) was about the Russian leaders refusing to shake Obama’s hand.
Here’s video"
"Disingenuous insurance scheme"
"Federal Health Board" - How's that sound to you?
Keep remembering that what this adminstration says is NOT what they do.
They already have a track record that proves it...
Keep remembering that what this adminstration says is NOT what they do.
They already have a track record that proves it...
The Republican-American explains what it means:
"During his informercial, President Obama said he would reduce medical costs by blocking patients, doctors and insurers from unthinkingly approving additional tests, procedures or therapies "that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care. Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."
Maybe. But under KennedyDoddCare, that decision won't be left to you, your doctor and your insurer, but your friendly government bean-counter working for the 'Federal Health Board' who will be predisposed to say no to anything that's not actuarially beneficial because his main function will be to "reduce costs," aka ration care."
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Media - "The Duke Rape Case You Won’t Hear About"
This sure sounds ugly enough to get national attention...
At PinkElephantPundit.com, Tabitha Hale thinks she knows why it doesn't:
"These stories nauseate me. We all have a gut reaction to stories about children being hurt. He is being appropriately charged. People do horrible things. It’s nothing new… so why am I reporting this? Because I’m sick of political correctness and agendas tainting the news. First of all, there is virtually no coverage of this beyond the AP article that was released Friday. The AP article conveniently omits the fact that the little boy was black, and the fact that the father was gay. Which means that, since ABC, Fox, et al only reported the AP release, no MSM reported these facts. CNN hasn’t bothered putting the story on their website at all. Why?"
New Evidence on the Foreclosure Crisis - WSJ.com
Perhaps, someone should just compare mortgage loans to Mother Nature.
We all know you can't fool Mother Nature...
We all know you can't fool Mother Nature...
Stan Liebowitz writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"The analysis indicates that, by far, the most important factor related to foreclosures is the extent to which the homeowner now has or ever had positive equity in a home. The accompanying figure shows how important negative equity or a low Loan-To-Value ratio is in explaining foreclosures (homes in foreclosure during December of 2008 generally entered foreclosure in the second half of 2008). A simple statistic can help make the point: although only 12% of homes had negative equity, they comprised 47% of all foreclosures.
Further, because it is difficult to account for second mortgages in this data, my measurement of negative equity and its impact on foreclosures is probably too low, making my estimates conservative."
Global Warming - Trillions for a 0.1 degree reduction?
Americans have always been vulnerable to a good con.
Think "snake oil" salesman.
Eventually they always wake up.
Sooner or later, some fact, some phrase, or some surge of logic, will bury the global warming con...
Think "snake oil" salesman.
Eventually they always wake up.
Sooner or later, some fact, some phrase, or some surge of logic, will bury the global warming con...
Perhaps, Paul Driessen's post at Investors Business Daily will help:
"The legislation would cost millions of jobs and trillions of dollars, for a hypothetical 0.1 degree F reduction in global temperatures."
The Media - The New York Times
Do you think this is what is meant by "double standard"?...
At Townhall.com, Burt Prelutsky has this story:
"Back in 2008, New York Times correspondent David S. Rohde, along with Afghan reporter Taki Luden, were abducted in Pakistan by the Taliban. Because they felt it might adversely affect hostage rescue efforts, the Times requested a news black-out. The Associated Press and other news agencies respected the request and only broke the story recently, after Rohde and Luden had scaled a wall and made their escape. It would be nothing other than a story with a happy ending, except that the Times has time and again ignored the government’s requests that it not report the specific ways in which we were combating Islamic terrorists."
Benefit payouts will exceed income tax revenue - Telegraph
Read this carefully.
This could soon be the story in America.
Maybe it already is..
This could soon be the story in America.
Maybe it already is..
This is reported by James Kirkup in the U.K. Daily Telegraph:
"Treasury figures show that welfare payments will exceed income tax receipts by almost £25 billion. Normally, income tax receipts comfortably cover the benefits bill.
In 2008/09, gross income tax receipts were £152.5 billion. In the same year, social security benefits cost the Exchequer £150.1 billion.
In 2009/10, the Treasury is expecting to take in £140.5 billion in gross income tax receipts. Social security benefits are projected to be £164.7 billion."
Monday, July 13, 2009
Politicians - Labour MP Harry Cohen
MP is the abbreviation for Minister of Parliament.
The U.K.'s Daily Telegraph has been exposing their abuse of expenses.
They are resigning left and right.
If only it could happen here in the U.S...
The U.K.'s Daily Telegraph has been exposing their abuse of expenses.
They are resigning left and right.
If only it could happen here in the U.S...
Rosa Prince reports the latest:
"A Labour MP who designated a converted schoolhouse in Colchester as his main residence while claiming second home expenses on a property nine miles from Parliament has announced his resignation."
Barack Obama - "the most naive president in U.S. history?"
Some recent actions make it seem possible...
In the U.K. Telegraph, Nile Gardiner explains:
"The new deal, which Obama hopes to wrap up with the Kremlin by December, creates a far more level playing field for the Russians, whose strategic conventional weapons capability is greatly outclassed by that of the Americans, and whose deteriorating nuclear weapons stockpile is aging and in decline. The whole agreement makes no sense, and is little more than a vanity exercise for Barack Obama who has ludicrously pledged to carve out a nuclear-free world. Surely a better strategy would be to further build up America’s defences, including a global missile defence shield, rather than cut defence spending and further gut the superpower’s nuclear capability.
At this rate, even Jimmy Carter looks like General Patton compared to the dove-like current U.S. president. Why cut nuclear weapons at a time when rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran are busy building their own programmes? Does the President seriously believe this move will encourage the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong Il to renounce their nuclear designs? What evidence is there in history that a unilateral policy of disarmament will prompt tyrannical regimes to change their behaviour?"
Albany, I give up! - New York Post
The common thread within all things going wrong seems to be "Politicians".
No surprise there!...
No surprise there!...
In the New York Post, Fredric Dicker writes about New York State government:
"The Empire State -- once a beacon of progressive state government to the nation -- is on the brink of ruin. And it doesn't look like anything can be done to stop it.
In two words: We're doomed.
Hapless Gov. Paterson and the street-fighting leaders of the state Senate have, as everyone knows, turned state government into a national laughingstock.
Within the Capitol itself, where knowledge of the disaster is more acute, the assessments are far harsher and more personally painful. They are disbelief, disgust, and even despair."
Barack Obama - Same Inaccurate Claim on Oil Imports
A lie repeated becomes the truth.
The current administration is perpetuating false information and it's tiresome...
The current administration is perpetuating false information and it's tiresome...
FactCheck.org's Andrew Karter writes:
"Same Inaccurate Claim on Oil Imports"
"In a July 6 interview with Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, President Obama repeated his false claim that the U.S. 'import[s] more oil today than ever before.' When Obama first said this in February during an address to a joint-session of Congress, we wrote that the president had gotten his facts wrong. We said then that oil imports peaked in 2005 and have 'substantially' declined since."
Hurricane Charlie - WSJ.com
This sure sounds ominous for Florida residents...
The Wall Street Journal discusses a potential Florida disaster:
"Florida Governor Charlie Crist is running for the U.S. Senate next year, and we wonder if one reason is that he doesn't want to be in Tallahassee when the next hurricane hits his state. His veto of a hurricane insurance reform bill last week all but guarantees a state disaster on top of any wrought by Mother Nature.
The bill would have trimmed the cost of a state-run enterprise that insures homeowners against storm damage. The program has an $18 billion unfunded liability and has taxpayers on the line for tens of billions in property losses from the next major hurricane. The Republican legislature tried to reduce those future losses, but Mr. Crist sounded like Barney Frank rolling the dice on Fannie Mae in declaring there's nothing to worry about."
Sunday, July 12, 2009
First Lady requires more than twenty attendants
Here's another of those articles that would likely be difficult for the American media to publish...
This is by Dr. Paul L. Williams at CanadaFreePress.com:
"No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession. Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.
How things have changed! If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michele are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:"
Government at Work - Sen. Harry Reid
Could a dirty little secret be that Senators CAN'T read?
That would sure explain a lot of things...
That would sure explain a lot of things...
Monica Gabriel and Marie Magleby write at CNSnews.com:
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.) will not commit to giving senators and the public a full week to read and review the final version of a health-care reform bill before he holds a final vote on it."
Arms Control Amnesia - WSJ.com
I'm thinking "snookered"...
Keith B. Payne reports in the Wall Street Journal:
"Mr. Medvedev's solution is to negotiate, inviting the U.S. to make real cuts, while Russia eliminates nothing that it wouldn't retire in any event.
This isn't just my conclusion -- it's the conclusion of many Russian officials and commentators. Russian Gen. Nikolay Solovtsov, commander of the Strategic Missile Troops, was recently quoted by Moscow Interfax-AVN Online as saying that "not a single Russian launcher" with 'remaining service life' will be withdrawn under a new agreement. Noted Russian journalist Pavel Felgengauer observed in Novaya Gazeta that Russian leaders "have demanded of the Americans unilateral concessions on all points, offering practically nothing in exchange." Precisely.
Beyond the bad negotiating principle of giving up something for nothing, there will be serious downsides if the U.S. actually reduces its strategic launchers as much as Moscow wishes."
Meanwhile - in Cleveland - Bribery reigns
I bet you thought this only happens in your town,
What are these people thinking?...
What are these people thinking?...
John Caniglia reports at Cleveland.com:
"Federal prosecutors this morning charged a Cleveland construction contractor with bribing Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora with $33,000 in cash, lawn work, Cavs and Indians tickets and hundreds of dollars in meals and drinks for county contracts.
The charges said an unnamed public official whose description matches Dimora helped Steve Pumper's former company, D-A-S Construction, obtain work on county projects, including brownfield and public housing projects. The bribery charges were filed in U.S. District Court, and they allege that Pumper also used bribes to win contracts in Parma schools. They say he paid former board President J. Kevin Kelley $6,000 in cash to gain a $96,000 subcontract.
The charges also allege that Pumper begged Dimora to use his influence in his divorce, as well as a civil case that was pending before a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge whose description matches Judge Bridget McCafferty."
Saturday, July 11, 2009
California - the Welfare State
Gee, do you think this might be part of their problem?...
This comes from Chris Reed at SignOnSanDiego.com:
"As of September 2008, the latest available data, there were 3,821,600 people in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program getting government checks while they (in theory) sought to transition from welfare to work.
32 percent were from California! 1,226,362! California has 36.8 million of the nation's 304 million people -- 12 percent. (I'm using this Census Bureau Excel chart for all population figures in this post.) So we have nearly three times the number of people in this welfare program as our state population would suggest.
It only gets more amazing from here. California has more welfare recipients in this program than the next eight states combined! States with a total population of 95.8 million.
1. California -- 1,226,362 recipients -- 36.8 million population
2. New York -- 252,434 recipients -- 19.5 million population
3. Ohio -- 178,652 recipients -- 11.5 million population
4. Michigan -- 154,985 recipients -- 10 million population
5. Tennessee -- 138,744 recipients -- 6.2 million population
6. Washington -- 122,477 recipients -- 6.5 million population
7. Indiana -- 117,987 recipients -- 6.4 million population
8. Texas -- 114,258 recipients -- 24.3 million population
9. Pennsylvania -- 113,826 recipients -- 12.4 million population
This is stunning stuff."
Friday, July 10, 2009
John Stossel : "Better" Health Care?
I don't have much respect for the media; however, I can give John Stossel an exception...
At Townhall.com, John Stossel discusses "free" health care:
"President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there's no free lunch.
In England, health care is 'free' -- as long as you don't mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. At any one time, half a million people are waiting to get into a British hospital. A British paper reports that one hospital tried to save money by not changing bedsheets. Instead of washing sheets, the staff was encouraged to just turn them over."
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Politicians - More pork (In the health bill, no less)
Politicians are addicted to this stuff.
They won't get our message until we vote them out...
They won't get our message until we vote them out...
At Bosyon.com, Michael Kranish reports:
"Sweeping healthcare legislation working its way through Congress is more than an effort to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Tucked within is a provision that could provide billions of dollars for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers’ markets.
The add-ons - characterized as part of a broad effort to improve the nation’s health 'infrastructure' - appear in House and Senate versions of the bill."
"Honduras And Drugs"
This may seem like a Honduras sidebar story; however, it does seem to indicate the character of the deposed President...
I found this in an Investors Business Daily opinion column:
"Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez dropped a bombshell last week when he said Zelaya, the president who was thrown out by a constitutional process June 28 after defying the law, had a little side business with the Caracas caudillo allowing cocaine to roll into Honduras from Venezuela before heading to the U.S.
'Every night, three or four Venezuelan-registered planes land without the permission of appropriate authorities and bring thousands of pounds . . . and packages of money that are the fruit of drug trafficking,' Ortez told CNN En Espanol. 'We have proof of all of this. Neighboring governments have it. The DEA has it.'"
Honduras at the Tipping Point - WSJ.com
Here's some of the story on the Honduras issue...
Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in the Wall Street Journal:
"Mr. Zelaya's violations of the rule of law in recent months were numerous. But the tipping point came 10 days ago, when he led a violent mob that stormed a military base to seize and distribute Venezuelan-printed ballots for an illegal referendum.
All but a handful of my letters pleaded for international understanding of the threat to the constitutional democracy that Mr. Zelaya presented. One phrase occurred again and again: "Please pray for us."
Hondurans have good cause for calling on divine intervention: Reason has gone AWOL in places like Turtle Bay and Foggy Bottom. Ruling the debate on Mr. Zelaya's behavior is Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez, who is now the reigning international authority on "democracy."
Mr. Chávez is demanding that Mr. Zelaya be reinstated and is even threatening to overthrow the new Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti. He's leading the charge from the Organization of American States (OAS). The United Nations and the Obama administration are falling in line.
Is this insane? You bet. We have fallen through the looking glass and it's time to review how hemispheric relations came to such a sad state."
U. of Illinois jobs-for-entry scheme
Corruption seems to be everywhere...
Jodi S. Cohen, Tara Malone and Robert Becker report in the Chicago Tribune:
"E-mails reveal law school put a price on admission of unqualified candidate"
Meanwhile - in Nevada - "Lights out"
It sure looks like American businesses are being shut out from doing what they do to benefit Americans.
The cumulative effect of denied, delayed, or "blocked by special interests" projects is that no progress is being made.
You know how "pay me now, or pay me later" works.
Pay me later always costs much more...
The cumulative effect of denied, delayed, or "blocked by special interests" projects is that no progress is being made.
You know how "pay me now, or pay me later" works.
Pay me later always costs much more...
This is from a Las Vegas ReviewJournal.com editorial:
"Last week, tired of wasting time promoting a relatively clean, low-cost energy option opposed by the entire ruling political class, from President Obama and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid on down, utility NV Energy formally withdrew its application through the state Public Utilities Commission to build the Ely Energy Center.
The $5 billion, 1,500-megawatt central Nevada plant would have generated enough energy to power 900,000 homes. It will now be delayed at least a decade, until costly technologies can be developed to capture all such a plant's harmless emissions of carbon dioxide -- a gas necessary to life on Earth, a gas of which mankind's production is dwarfed by that churned out by the oceans and volcanoes, but to which eco-extremists attribute the supposed danger of 'global warming.'
Meantime, Air Force officials urged the federal government to deny construction applications for a $700 million solar power plant near the Nellis flight-training range, up Tonopah way, about 175 miles northwest of Las Vegas -- even though the company had already shifted its site 25 miles further away from Air Force lands than originally planned."
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Global Warming - Something is wrong here!
No honest debate or dissenting opinion is permitted.
What kind of open discussion and transparency is this?...
And there's more...
What kind of open discussion and transparency is this?...
You can see what I mean at theHopeForAmerica.com:
"Senator James Inhofe On Buried EPA Memo"
And there's more...
At the PowerLineBlog, John posts the actual emails:
Barack Obama - and his regulation czar candidate
Well, this sure would be "change".
Don't you agree?...
Don't you agree?...
At theHill.com, Alexander Bolton reports:
"Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) has blocked President Obama’s candidate for regulation czar, Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, because Sunstein has argued that animals should have the right to sue humans in court.
Obama has picked Sunstein, his adviser and longtime friend, to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an office that has power to review and assess all draft regulations proposed within the administration.
But Chambliss worries that Sunstein’s innovative legal views may someday lead to a farmer having to defend himself in court against a lawsuit filed on behalf of his chickens or pigs."
Meanwhile - in the U.K. - tax & spend fails
In the U.K., the Labour Party is the equivalent of our Democrats.
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, heads the Labour Party.
The U.K. is farther along the "tax and spend" idea that the U.S. is.
It has failed badly in the U.K. and political change is all but a certainty.
For U.S. citizens, there is a lesson in what's happened in the U.K...
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, heads the Labour Party.
The U.K. is farther along the "tax and spend" idea that the U.S. is.
It has failed badly in the U.K. and political change is all but a certainty.
For U.S. citizens, there is a lesson in what's happened in the U.K...
In the U.K. Telegraph, Simon Heffer predicts the future:
"Even though there is an unanswerable case that our country is being brought to its knees by over-borrowing, even though it is far from clear that the massive borrowing already engaged in has done anything but keep the public sector and the rest of the clientele shielded from the realities of the Brown economic miracle that the rest of us are having to suffer, that is how Labour proposes to continue.
The only reason this persists is, I suspect, that Mr Brown knows very well not just that his party has lost the next election but that the defeat will signal the overdue end of his public life. It hardly matters, in that case, that he continues to order the borrowing of absurd sums, and that their waste on pointless public sector schemes delivers no great public benefit. He has manifestly admitted to himself that not only will he not be around in office to have to clear up the mess after the next election, but neither will any of his unlovely circle of trusties, toadies and admirers.
One does not need a degree in political science to see the benefits to the Labour tribe of this strategy. The Tories will – I trust – see that they have no option, if elected, but to cut public spending and raise taxes not merely on the 'rich' but on everybody. There will be howls of complaint from the clientele. Labour will say, entirely dishonestly, that it would never have happened had they been returned to power, and that this is what comes of electing wicked, heartless Tory toffs to run the country. The script can be written now, and it is entirely contemptible."
The Albany-Trenton-Sacramento Disease - WSJ.com
There must be something else involved here.
No one in their right mind would push to adopt policies that are proven to NOT work. (Did I just say something?)...
No one in their right mind would push to adopt policies that are proven to NOT work. (Did I just say something?)...
This is just part os a Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"President Obama has bet the economy on his program to grow the government and finance it with a more progressive tax system. It's hard to miss the irony that he's pitching this change in Washington even as the same governance model is imploding in three of the largest American states where it has been dominant for years -- California, New Jersey and New York.
A decade ago all three states were among America's most prosperous. California was the unrivaled technology center of the globe. New York was its financial capital. New Jersey is the third wealthiest state in the nation after Connecticut and Massachusetts. All three are now suffering from devastating budget deficits as the bills for years of tax-and-spend governance come due.
These states have been models of 'progressive' policies that are supposed to create wealth: high tax rates on the rich, lots of government 'investments,' heavy unionization and a large government role in health care."
