Monday, November 30, 2009
Joseph Moshe arrested!
So, what do you make of this?...
Government at Work - in San Francisco - liberal management
It will be interesting to see how the country's most liberal city in the country's most liberal state gets out of this predicament.
Then again, we have the most left-leaning president ever.
Can you smell higher taxes or maybe even more bailouts? I can...
Then again, we have the most left-leaning president ever.
Can you smell higher taxes or maybe even more bailouts? I can...
Heather Knight reports for the San Francisco Chronicle:
"A report released Monday by the controller's office shows that property tax revenues will likely be $35 million less than anticipated in the 2009-10 fiscal year that began July 1. Payroll tax revenues will probably be $24.8 million less than expected, the report said.
To make matters worse, some city departments are going over budget, including shortfalls of $5.1 million in the Fire Department, $4 million in the Sheriff's Department and $3.2 million in Superior Court.
This year's $6.6 billion budget bridged a $438 million gap and included a $25 million cushion for unexpected revenue loss. But that's proving not enough to make up for the missing dollars, meaning San Francisco is now expected to be in the red by an additional $28.1 million over the course of this year."
"Obama Motors Chrysler and UAW 'electric car' fraud"
I don't know whether this is accurate or not; however, considering everything else, it probably is.
Our elected officials continue to throw our money around as if it didn't matter...
Our elected officials continue to throw our money around as if it didn't matter...
Kevin "Coach" Collins reports this on his blog:
"Last winter when Chrysler was groveling and crying about having to go bankrupt the Obama Administration took control of the company and struck a deal to justify putting $12.5 B of our tax money in its bank accounts. Chrysler promised it would produce a 500,000 vehicle fleet of practical “electric” cars in just four model years!
Chrysler was merely the United Auto Workers’ bagman. Chrysler got our money then funneled it to the very unions that are killing the American auto industry.
Last week these thieves quietly announced the end of the 'electric car' scam which they knew was a fake promise to begin with. The government’s money has run out so there’s no need to keep up the charade.
One more sting
Make no mistake, the greed of this bunch knows no boundaries; they have no shame. In August Obama Motors Chrysler Division (OMCD) and the UAW conned another 70 million dollars out of the rubes at the Department of Energy. Knowing it was all fake they promised a prototype fleet of 220 hybrid vehicles!"
"Thanks for Paying Attention Big Journalism"
Many tease about the power of having "pictures".
Today, it's "videos".
Andrew Breitbart and his team of James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles have published videos exposing ACORN's operations.
To date, the Justice Department has declined to investigate ACORN...
Today, it's "videos".
Andrew Breitbart and his team of James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles have published videos exposing ACORN's operations.
To date, the Justice Department has declined to investigate ACORN...
Andrew Breitbart is now on record as calling them out:
"There will be consequences if there isn’t an investigation into ACORN. The videos will be shown and at a particular moment. There is nothing illegal about my proposed response to the continued inaction from this justice department, and there’s nothing I’d like more than to have my day in court and let a jury hear why I have gone to such extraordinary measures to tell a major story that the dying, partisan, leftist media has worked so hard to suppress.
The days of the Democrat-Media Complex controlling the narrative are in their end times. And if the AG wants to turn his focus on me instead of ACORN, then that day will be closer than many of them think."
What's in a name?
The practice of "relabeling" has become quite pervasive.
When the perception of a name becomes unfavorable, names get changed.
Depending on the agenda, some are changed "FROM" the unfavorable; while others are changed "TO" the unfavorable.
We need to be on guard, and see these changes for what they are...
When the perception of a name becomes unfavorable, names get changed.
Depending on the agenda, some are changed "FROM" the unfavorable; while others are changed "TO" the unfavorable.
We need to be on guard, and see these changes for what they are...
At Politico.com, Ben Smith ponits out some clever changes by unions:
"The memo reflects the fact that unions and organized labor aren't universally popular, and that Americans sympathize with -- especially -- small business."
Global Warming - phony data in New Zealand, too?
Now, it's New Zealand with questionable numbers and practices...
This is from the The Briefing Room blog:
"The New Zealand Government's chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn't there.
The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate science is not confined to just Britain's CRU climate research centre.
In New Zealand's case, the figures published on NIWA's [the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research] website suggest a strong warming trend in New Zealand over the past century:
But analysis of the raw climate data from the same temperature stations has just turned up a very different result:"
"The Great Global Warming Con – Part II"
Emails and data were "hacked" out of the the UK’s high church of global warming, the University of East Anglia’s Hadley Climatic Research Centre.
As the "hacked" emails get more scrutiny, the smell is getting worse...
As the "hacked" emails get more scrutiny, the smell is getting worse...
On his website, A. J. Strata highlight some more of them:
"...their contents which do paint the picture of falsified data and a coordinated cover up.
I especially found these interesting:"
(Needless to say, examples are provided)
Sunday, November 29, 2009
John Bolton Was Right After All - CBS News
Iran has been manipulating the world since the time of Jimmy Carter.
Why they continue to be successful at it is anybody's guess. I think the media has been a BIG part.
Ambassador Bolton has been on their case, as well as the U.N.'s, forever.
Apparently, he has things right.
How this article made it onto the CBSnews website is a mystery to me...
Why they continue to be successful at it is anybody's guess. I think the media has been a BIG part.
Ambassador Bolton has been on their case, as well as the U.N.'s, forever.
Apparently, he has things right.
How this article made it onto the CBSnews website is a mystery to me...
This is part of a story is by Richard Grenell "spokesman for the last four U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations":
"Usually, the Europeans were the first to take the bait but this time the Obama Administration got hooked first. Bolton, however, was the first to stand up and call the Iranian pronouncement a sham - and he did it within hours of the announcement.
But as Obama officials were rushing to pat themselves on the back and the New York Times was proclaiming atop the paper 'Iran Agrees to Send Enriched Uranium to Russia,' Iranian officials were telling reporters that they had not committed to anything. The Iranians called it 'an agreement in principle' - code words for 'we'd like to but…'
The Times' reporter in Geneva, however, was taking what the Obama officials were saying and running wildly with the incredible news. Surprisingly, or maybe not, the Times had either not checked with Iranian officials or ignored their warnings in favor of the Obama Administration's good news."
Barack Obama - and his fired inspector general
Most of us know why we have Inspector Generals and what they are expected to do.
It has to be disheartening to be fired for doing just that...
It has to be disheartening to be fired for doing just that...
These paragrahs come from a Washington Times editorial:
"Even as congressional investigators demolish White House explanations for its firing last summer of a key inspector general, new documents show that an entire second area of misleading administration statements has gone largely unexplored. Each new revelation in the case suggests that Gerald Walpin, the fired IG for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), ought to be reinstated to his job."
Kim Strassel: Help Wanted - WSJ.com
Sadly, this is probably much more true than jest...
In the Wall Street Journal, Kimberley A. Strassel shows her wit:
"Wanted: National Jobs Czar
Employer: The Democratic Party
Job Type: Crisis Management/Complex Mathematics/Mental Health Professional
Start Date: Now. Like, Right Now."
Global Warming - CRU's Source Code: Climategate Uncovered
Ouch!...
At AmericanThinker.com, Marc Sheppard unloads:
"But here’s what’s undeniable: If a divergence exists between measured temperatures and those derived from dendrochronological data after (circa) 1960 then discarding only the post-1960 figures is disingenuous to say the least. The very existence of a divergence betrays a potential serious flaw in the process by which temperatures are reconstructed from tree-ring density. If it’s bogus beyond a set threshold, then any honest men of science would instinctively question its integrity prior to that boundary. And only the lowliest would apply a hack in order to produce a desired result.
And to do so without declaring as such in a footnote on every chart in every report in every study in every book in every classroom on every website that such a corrupt process is relied upon is not just a crime against science, it’s a crime against mankind.
Indeed, miners of the CRU folder have unearthed dozens of email threads and supporting documents revealing much to loathe about this cadre of hucksters and their vile intentions. This veritable goldmine has given us tales ranging from evidence destruction to spitting on the Freedom of Information Act on both sides of the Atlantic. But the now irrefutable evidence that alarmists have indeed been cooking the data for at least a decade may just be the most important strike in human history."
Saturday, November 28, 2009
"Another ‘victory’ for ‘Zero” tolerance"
I'm sure everyone involved here would like to change what happened somehow.
On the other hand, I wonder how far away the student would have had to park to have been "safe"...
On the other hand, I wonder how far away the student would have had to park to have been "safe"...
At Examiner.com, Dave Workman reports:
"This Northern California teen has now been branded by an expulsion by the Willows Unified School District board for having had unloaded shotguns locked in his pickup truck off-campus on Oct. 26. They were discovered by 'scent-sniffing dogs.' They belonged to Gary and one of his pals who - and this is the gist of it - had done a little bird hunting that morning, then went directly to school in order to not be tardy."
"My son was not even parked on school property."—Susan Parisio
"He was careful to park off campus. "
Agency Stands Pat on Stimulus Jobs - WSJ.com
Government at Work - the numbers are wrong but SO WHAT.
I'm sure glad they aren't in charge of anything involving health care or medical stuff (/sarc).
So much for the appearance of competence...
I'm sure glad they aren't in charge of anything involving health care or medical stuff (/sarc).
So much for the appearance of competence...
Louise Radnofsky reports in the Wall Street Journal:
"Ed DeSeve, the White House's senior adviser on the stimulus plan, told reporters Thursday that the data 'may be imprecise' but that he thought the jobs numbers were 'a good representation of what's going on' and were supported by some economists' estimates of the overall economic climate."
"Al Gore Wishes He Never Invented The Internet"
Times HAVE changed, and it IS harder to control information, and that's a GOOD thing...
I found this posted by Elmer Beauregard at MinnesotansForGlobalWarming.com:
"Not too long ago you if you said something stupid on national TV it was no big deal, just a phone call to a couple of big newspapers and the story went nowhere. But now if you say anything wrong at all, like the earth's core is several million degrees instead of several thousand degrees, all the little bloggers with no credentials jump all over it and make a big deal about it."
Friday, November 27, 2009
Global Warming - Australia's "Carbon Five"
I'm thinking that resigning is a hard thing to do, and I admire these people for doing it.
On the other hand, they ARE politicians, so my skeptical side says wait and see.
The concept of taxing businesses on their CO2 output based on what seems to be questionable and/or manipulated data is a precarious position for elected officials...
On the other hand, they ARE politicians, so my skeptical side says wait and see.
The concept of taxing businesses on their CO2 output based on what seems to be questionable and/or manipulated data is a precarious position for elected officials...
James Delingpole reports on a U.K. Telegraph blog:
"The Liberal Party is in turmoil with the resignations of five frontbenchers from their portfolios this afternoon in protest against the emissions trading scheme.
Tony Abbott, Sophie Mirabella, Tony Smith and Senators Nick Minchin and Eric Abetz have all quit their portfolios because they cannot vote for the legislation.
Senate whip Stephen Parry has also relinquished his position. "
Barack Obama - Slippin' and Slidin'
It can't slide forever, can it?...
Here are recent Gallup Poll findings:
"The accompanying table shows how Obama's approval rating has changed by subgroup from his first full week in office to the most recent week."
Politicians - the new EU President
All over the world, there's "stuff" going on. "Not so funny stuff".
See what you can make of this article...
See what you can make of this article...
Paul Belien writes at Hudsonny.org:
"Herman Van Rompuy. Get used to the name. He is the first President of the European Union, which with the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon by all the 27 EU member states in early November was transformed into a genuine United States of Europe.
The President of Europe has not been elected; he was appointed in a secret meeting of the heads of government of the 27 EU member states."
"Who OWNS Foreclosed U.S. Properties?..."
For me, this article and situation is interesting.
For some, it looks like it could be a windfall or a nightmare...
For some, it looks like it could be a windfall or a nightmare...
On the SeekingAlpha blog, Jeff Nielson educates us about M.E.R.S.:
"As I wrote in Part I, MERS is nothing more than a confidential electronic registry which exists only to 'track mortgages and the changes of servicing rights and mortgage ownership'. In other words, it has no proprietary interest in these mortgages.
The reason why that last fact is so important is because of the fact that Wall Street had created such convoluted chains of 'ownership' that even in court proceedings the banksters are unable to show any party in these chain of transactions as having clear title to the mortgage."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Media - "Readers Bring Them Back to Reality"
As the media tries to defend, they become even less credible...
At NewsBusters.org, P.J. Gladnick apparently reads the Houston Chronicle:
"Many of the mainstream media stories about global warming are simply pretending it doesn't exist. Perhaps they feel that by ignoring Climategate entirely that it will just go away. Unfortunately for them, the readers of these global warming stories keep bringing up the inconvenient truth of Climategate by mentioning the scandal in the comments section over and over and over again."
What the Global Warming Emails Reveal - WSJ.com
Every time I've felt the heat of our sun, I've questioned the premise that humans are causing global warming...
The Wall Street Journal chimes in:
"Yet even a partial review of the emails is highly illuminating. In them, scientists appear to urge each other to present a 'unified' view on the theory of man-made climate change while discussing the importance of the 'common cause'; to advise each other on how to smooth over data so as not to compromise the favored hypothesis; to discuss ways to keep opposing views out of leading journals; and to give tips on how to 'hide the decline' of temperature in certain inconvenient data."
Uranium Shortage?
If anyone is banking on nuclear power, this doesn't sound good...
I found this posted at SlashDot.org:
"Uranium mines provide us with 40,000 tons of uranium each year. Sounds like that ought to be enough for anyone, but it comes up about 25,000 tons short of what we consume yearly in our nuclear power plants. The difference is made up by stockpiles, reprocessed fuel and re-enriched uranium — which should be completely used up by 2013."
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Global Warming - Hiding evidence of global cooling
This subject is an interesting study of human nature.
The skeptics see it as the crime of all ages, and the advocates dismiss it as "normal" behavior.
After reading many of the emails and comments, I still can't imagine anyone being so naive as to think the people involved are above reproach...
The skeptics see it as the crime of all ages, and the advocates dismiss it as "normal" behavior.
After reading many of the emails and comments, I still can't imagine anyone being so naive as to think the people involved are above reproach...
The Washington Times gives their collective opinion:
"Scientific progress depends on accurate and complete data. It also relies on replication. The past couple of days have uncovered some shocking revelations about the baloney practices that pass as sound science about climate change.
It was announced Thursday afternoon that computer hackers had obtained 160 megabytes of e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in England. Those e-mails involved communication among many scientific researchers and policy advocates with similar ideological positions all across the world. Those purported authorities were brazenly discussing the destruction and hiding of data that did not support global-warming claims."
Viscount Monckton on Climategate
I don't know what's legally criminal or not; however, I don't think any impartial person can read the emails in question and not be very, very suspicious of the motivations of the people involved...
Lord Monckton lets loose at PajamasMedia.com:
"The man who challenged Al Gore to a debate is furious about the content of the leaked CRU emails — and says why you should be, too."
Government at Work - Feds ignored Medicare scam warnings
You know, if you want to think my way, eliminating government inefficiencies would probably balance the budget.
Going a step further, eliminating fraud, would probably have the government refunding our tax money by the bushel...
Going a step further, eliminating fraud, would probably have the government refunding our tax money by the bushel...
Kelli Kennedy reports at Breitbart.com:
"For three years, the federal agency in charge of preventing Medicare fraud repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors over three years during the Bush and Obama administrations but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters, according to records provided to The Associated Press by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley's office."
"Desperate Democrats to bypass 10th Amendment"
There's a reason laws and rules were made, so we certainly should think long and hard before changing them.
Politicians, of course, have no such ideas. They just want the votes...
Politicians, of course, have no such ideas. They just want the votes...
On his blog, Kevin “Coach” Collins reports this:
"Democrats are scheming to give themselves new voters through legislation to violate the 10th Amendment by forcing states to allow felons to vote. The law called The Democracy Restoration Act (DRA) would give the worst of the worst living in our communities (nearly 4 million released felons) the right to vote in federal elections.
Democrats know a University of Minnesota study found that felons vote 87% Democrat. This is obviously why they want it."
Barack Obama - and appointee Judge David Hamilton
Equal treatment under the law seems like it should be a basic philosophical qualifier for a judicial nominee...
At Townhall.com, Mario Diaz reports:
"In 2005, Judge Hamilton ordered the Speaker of the Indiana House to immediately stop the practice of 'sectarian prayers' at the opening of the legislative session because the prayers were too Christian. He said that people 'should refrain from using Christ’s name or title.'
Could you imagine this ruling coming down at the time of this country’s founding? Can you imagine what George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Patrick Henry would have said to this judge?
I can hear Washington recounting the stories of the many men he held in his arms as they bled to death so that Americans could be free to pray to Jesus Christ. Yes, I said it. That is who they believed in. That is even who they attributed their victories to.
But now Judge Hamilton has the gall and audacity to say that all those who fought for that freedom died in vain. And to top it off, Judge Hamilton later added that praying in the name of Allah would probably be okay."
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Global Warming - Who's running cover
The "lamestream" media. That's who!...
"The U.S. House of Presumptuous Meddlers"
John Stossel is inclined to tell it like it is, give examples, and make his points clearly.
It's quite clear that he has no thirst for "kool-aid"...
It's quite clear that he has no thirst for "kool-aid"...
At Townhall.com, John Stossel discusses government and health care:
"The 1,990-page bill is breathtaking in its bone-headed audacity. The notion that a small group of politicians can know enough to design something so complex and so personal is astounding. That they were advised by 'experts' means nothing since no one is expert enough to do that. There are too many tradeoffs faced by unique individuals with infinitely varying needs.
Government cannot do simple things efficiently. The bureaucrats struggle to count votes correctly. They give subsidized loans to 'homeowners' who turn out to be 4-year-olds. Yet congressmen want government to manage our medicine and insurance."
Government at Work - Yikes!
A picture (graph) is worth a thousand words.
This one happens to be about dollars, OUR dollars...
This one happens to be about dollars, OUR dollars...
At the Gateway Pundit website, Jim Hoft writes:
"President George Bush never did this."
Monday, November 23, 2009
Global Warming - The warmist conspiracy: the emails that most damn Jones
Copies of these emails are showing up all over the Internet.
They're easy to get so, of course, I got them, too.
I think it's hard to come to any other conclusion than there's been dishonesty going on.
It will be interesting to see who defends them and how they try to explain them away...
They're easy to get so, of course, I got them, too.
I think it's hard to come to any other conclusion than there's been dishonesty going on.
It will be interesting to see who defends them and how they try to explain them away...
On his Herald Sun blog, Andrew Bolt highlights a few of them:
"These are the emails that should have Professor Phil Jones most worried about his future.
Jones, head of the CRU unit whose emails were leaked, has been under most fire so far over one email in particular in which he boasted of using a 'trick' to 'hide the decline' that would have otherwise spoiled his graph showing temperatures soaring ever-upward.
But far more serious - at least in a legal sense - may be his apparent boasting of destroying data to stop sceptics from checking this alarmist work. If, as some emails suggest, he destroyed it to thwart FOI requests from Professor Ross McKitrick and Steve McIntyre, who’d already exposed as fake the Michael Mann 'hockey stick', Jones, one of the most active of the IPCC lead authors, could even face criminal charges."
"Politicians chose to put you in this mess"
This paragraph sounds all too familiar.
Obviously, politicians have all evolved into the same thought process, with the same consequences.
It's time to throw the bums out!...
Obviously, politicians have all evolved into the same thought process, with the same consequences.
It's time to throw the bums out!...
Irwin Stelzer writes about it in the U.K. Telegraph:
"The reason that it is good news is that policies which produced this mess can be changed. We are not dealing with some historical inevitability, or uncontrollable tsunami that has devastated the economy, or a plague that has wiped out or debilitated a portion of the population. The policies man has wrought can be changed."
Gallup looks toward the 2010 election
There are interesting trends in this survey...
Gallup.com reports with graphs and charts:
"Republicans have moved ahead of Democrats by 48% to 44% among registered voters in the latest update on Gallup's generic congressional ballot for the 2010 House elections, after trailing by six points in July and two points last month."
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Global Warming - Following the Money
This isn't pretty.
This article has it's basis in "hacked" or "whistle blown" documents that were recently released onto the Internet.
The veracity of the released information has not (yet) been proven beyond every doubt; but, considering the thousands of documents that would have had to be faked, it seems likely to be accurate...
This article has it's basis in "hacked" or "whistle blown" documents that were recently released onto the Internet.
The veracity of the released information has not (yet) been proven beyond every doubt; but, considering the thousands of documents that would have had to be faked, it seems likely to be accurate...
At AmericanThinker.com, Marc Sheppard begins with:
"It seems that while scientists who accept funding from oil companies are branded as bought-and-paid-for shills, those financed by renewable energy interests remain unchallenged authorities in their fields. Words can’t adequately express my astonishment."
Government at Work - Writing legislation
The complicated language that is written into legislation is outrageous.
Being that it COULD be much simpler, it can ONLY be intended to purposefully obfuscate details and consequences.
After you read the referenced article see if you agree; and, if you're not convinced, just try to imagine references that you might rely on written in this fashion...
Being that it COULD be much simpler, it can ONLY be intended to purposefully obfuscate details and consequences.
After you read the referenced article see if you agree; and, if you're not convinced, just try to imagine references that you might rely on written in this fashion...
The details are in Jonathan Karl's post on the ABCnews.com blog:
"On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for 'certain states recovering from a major disaster.'
The section spends two pages defining which 'states' would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that 'during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.' "
Barack Obama - "bows, but the world refuses to bow back"
Apparently, American voters bought in; however, the world does not...
These are excerpts from Michael Barone's article at WashingtonExaminer.com:
"On his 10-day trip to Asia and in his 10th month in office, Barack Obama is beginning to encounter limits on his ambition to change the world. Even as he bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia last April and to the emperor of Japan last week, the world refuses to bow back.
This is not how it was supposed to be. 'I am absolutely certain that generations from now,' he said on the night he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination in June 2008, 'we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last best hope on Earth.'...
...As for the planet beginning to heal, well, that's not clear. Obama evidently expected that his election would change not only America's image in the world but the policies of nations both friendly and unfriendly. In saluting the fall of the Berlin Wall, on videotape, he made no mention of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa or John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev or Vaclav Havel, but cited as a world-changing event his own election in the United States 19 years later."
Politicians - Missouri State Rep. Hope Whitehead
What kind of a message does this send?
Doesn't anyone pay taxes before they get caught?
Whatever happened to good citizenship?...
Doesn't anyone pay taxes before they get caught?
Whatever happened to good citizenship?...
Jake Wagman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
"A day before she clinched the nomination to fill a vacancy in the Missouri House of Representatives on Saturday, St. Louis Democrat Hope Whitehead paid a visit to City Hall.
Not to mobilize supporters, but to pay hundreds of dollars in outstanding taxes.
Her trip downtown was more than just civic duty. Under state law, candidates with overdue tax bills are ineligible for the ballot."
"Ratner Family Ties: ACORN and Justice Department Plot Thickens"
This has a bad ring AND a bad smell to it...
At BigGovernment.com, John M. O'Hara wants us to:
"Meet the Ratners.
Bruce Ratner is a New York real estate developer who has given thousands of dollars to Democrats including President Obama. His philanthropy also includes having bailed out ACORN with $1.5 million to pay off their embezzlement debt, a decision he stands by despite ACORN’s recent prostitution scandal and a Congressional report detailing the systemic criminal elements in the organization.
As of late, Mr. Ratner has spent thousands lobbying the Obama administration for stimulus funds for an affordable housing / basketball arena boondoggle called Atlantic Yards. Oh yeah, Ratner owns the Nets who will occupy the new stadium should he have his way. In addition to paying back Mr. Ratner for his generous support over the years, the stimulus funds would benefit, you guessed it, ACORN! What’s more, the project would be seizing property from the very poor ACORN and liberals claims to represent by invocation of the extremely controversial doctrine of 'eminent domain.'"
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Climategate: Stunning Deception and Misconduct at UK Warming Research Center Revealed
Deception and misconduct!
That's a pretty light criticism considering the time, effort, and money that's already been spent and proposed to be spent in order to cope with what now (always to me) appear to be falsehoods...
That's a pretty light criticism considering the time, effort, and money that's already been spent and proposed to be spent in order to cope with what now (always to me) appear to be falsehoods...
Jason Mick writes about it and offers this:
"The argument that global warming is due to humans, known as the anthropogenic global warming theory (AGW) is a deliberate fraud. I can now make that statement without fear of contradiction because of a remarkable hacking of files that provided not just a smoking gun, but an entire battery of machine guns.
Someone hacked in to the files of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) based at the University of East Anglia. A very large file (61 mb) was downloaded and posted to the web. Phil Jones Director of the CRU has acknowledged the files are theirs. They contain papers, documents letters and emails. The latter are the most damaging and contain blunt information about the degree of manipulation of climate science in general and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in particular."
Global Warming - "The Death Blow"
Some are calling this the greatest scientific scandal in history.
As the emails are read, more and more is being exposed.
I'll post more in the next few days...
As the emails are read, more and more is being exposed.
I'll post more in the next few days...
For starters, Dr. Tim Ball writes:
"The argument that global warming is due to humans, known as the anthropogenic global warming theory (AGW) is a deliberate fraud. I can now make that statement without fear of contradiction because of a remarkable hacking of files that provided not just a smoking gun, but an entire battery of machine guns.
Someone hacked in to the files of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) based at the University of East Anglia. A very large file (61 mb) was downloaded and posted to the web. Phil Jones Director of the CRU has acknowledged the files are theirs. They contain papers, documents letters and emails. The latter are the most damaging and contain blunt information about the degree of manipulation of climate science in general and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in particular."
Barack Obama - and his new lawyer
Nice credentials.
Is being tainted a prerequisite for a government appointee?...
Is being tainted a prerequisite for a government appointee?...
Kevin Hall provides some background at Examiner.com:
"Bauer worked for Obama on the 2008 campaign. During that time, he sent a letter to then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey arguing that ACORN should not be investigated for voter fraud. ACORN has admitted to more than 400,000 fraudulent voter registrations in 2008. The community organjizing group is under investigation in at least 13 states. However, ACORN's apparent crimes go far beyond registering voters who do not exist. The group is also accused of casting illegal ballots in order to steal elections for Democrats."
Alan Mulally, CEO Ford Motor Company - 2010 Man of the Year
Well deserved, if you ask me...
At AutomobileMag.com, Joe DeMatio writes about it:
"A year ago, when the heads of Detroit's Big Three - GM's Rick Wagoner, Ford's Alan Mulally, and Chrysler's Bob Nardelli - appeared in the infamous Capitol Hill bailout hearings, many lawmakers, and many Americans, decided that this trio from the industrial heartland could all be tarred with the bad-CEO brush. There was a telling moment, during a discussion about executive compensation, when the three CEOs were asked if they were willing to work for a dollar a year.
Mulally's polite reply, 'I think I'm OK where I am,' was a juicy piece of red meat for the national media, who were as one in their downright contempt for these three men and the industry they represented. CNN's Anderson Cooper literally sneered in disgust."
Friday, November 20, 2009
"No Islamic Landmarks Were Harmed in the Making of '2012' "
Well, at least they're honest about why...
This is from Peter Hall at Cinematical.com:
"The trailer for 2012 plays like a highlight reel of civilization falling apart all over the world, but it's religion that gets the brunt of Emmerich's digital pounding: A Buddhist temple gets hit by a tidal wave. The Sistine Chapel crumbles to pieces as a split tears right down the middle of Michelangeo's painting of God touching Adam's finger. St. Peter's Basilica rolls over onto a crowd of devoted worshipers. Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Reedemer statue falls to earth as its wracked by shockwaves. The White House is even crushed by, of all things, an aircraft carrier. But eagle eyed fans of watching organized religion get its disaster porn comeuppance will have noticed that there are no Islamic landmarks on the CGI chopping block.
That wasn't always the plan, however. Emmerich explained to SCI FI Wire that he had originally hoped the Kaaba, one of the holiest sites in the Islamic religion, would join the visual wrath of '2012', but that his co-screenwriter Harald Kloser talked him out of it:
'Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit ... but my co-writer Harald said I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie. And he was right. ... We have to all ... in the Western world ... think about this. You can actually ... let ... Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have ... a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is. So it's just something which I kind of didn't [think] was [an] important element anyway in the film, so I kind of left it out.'"
Meanwhile - in the U.K. - Safety Inspections
The concept is government safety inspections to insure child safety...
This is from an article by Robert Watts article in the U.K. Times Online:
"Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: 'It is a huge intervention into family life which will be counter-productive.'
'Good parents will feel the intrusion of the state in their homes and bad parents will now have someone else to blame if they don’t bring up their children in a sensible, safe environment.'"
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Barack Obama - vs the Clinton Coalition in 2010 and 2012
I think something is going on in America that seems to lean toward an epiphany that American values are seriously threatened.
More than a few citizens seem to be muttering, "What have we done?"
A candidate on a white horse with a strong belief in that "shining city on the hill" will get my support and my vote in a heartbeat...
More than a few citizens seem to be muttering, "What have we done?"
A candidate on a white horse with a strong belief in that "shining city on the hill" will get my support and my vote in a heartbeat...
HillBuzz.org recently acknowledged the character traits of George W. and Laura Bush. Now, there's this, along with much more that explains their reasoning:
"2012 entirely hinges on three things:
(1) the GOP running a candidate who turns out their base, so that few idiots sit at home 'to teach the GOP a lesson' because they believe the candidate is not conservative enough
(2) that candidate needs to talk only about creating jobs, lowering taxes, reining in spending, providing law and order, stabilizing the economy, securing energy independence for this country, protecting our citizens, and providing a solid education and path to a good future for our children. NO talk about social issues…no attacks on gays…no crusade on abortion…no fodder for the Race Industry
(3) balancing (1) and (2), the candidate needs to appeal to conservatives while standing tall and strong as someone Jacksonian Democrats, PUMAS, independent voters, and Clinton Moderates, whatever you want to call us, can get behind
Ladies and Gentlemen, that person is Sarah Palin.
If she goes for it, she’ll be the 45th President of the United States. "
Barack Obama - "The Man Who Despises America"
Pretty heavy duty, wouldn't you say?...
At Spectator.org, Mark Hyman begins his article with this and then explains more:
"The very next paragraph is going to make the nut jobs on the far left excitable beyond belief. I am not referring to all Democrats or even a majority of liberals. I am singling out the 'they've-lost-all-touch-with-reality' crowd. This includes Media Matters for America led by the admitted hit-and-run, drunk-driving serial liar. The group includes the unshaven, bathrobe-clad unemployed who live in their mother's basement and are devout followers of MoveOn.Org. It is also the bitter, aging spinster working at the New York Times, the morbidly obese documentary film maker, and cable TV news' resident drama queen who hosts MSNBC's Countdown. They are about to simultaneously suffer from brain aneurisms. So without further delay, I'll say it.
Barack Obama despises America.
When people who voted for Obama in 2008 -- including registered Democrats -- start speaking in normal conversational voices at dinner parties, neighborhood gatherings and PTA meetings that the over-inflated ego from Chicago has it 'in for America,' then it's clear most reasonable people have reached the same conclusion."
Government at Work - "Goebbels Retail Sales?"
The question is, "How can we believe the government?"
The answer seems to be "We can't"...
The answer seems to be "We can't"...
Karl Denninger, who follows financial things, writes on the Market-Ticker blog:
"If you were wondering how we can possibly have 'improving' retail sales data when sales tax information from the states refuses to reflect this alleged 'improvement' in retail sales, along with how states can post double-digit sales tax declines while 'retail sales' are down by a much smaller percentage, you now understand. The Census Bureau intentionally lies by omitting the 'zero' for a store in the month it closes - that loss of sales is never reported - not even retrospectively in a revision the next month."
Political Correctness Has Poisoned America by Thomas D. Segel
Some things DO need to be said.
In previous times, we would use discretion as to the time and place to say such things; however, they DID get said.
Now, we refrain from expressing opinions, and even facts, so as not to offend someone's sensibilities.
Things in life are what they are, and we're better off dealing with them directly...
In previous times, we would use discretion as to the time and place to say such things; however, they DID get said.
Now, we refrain from expressing opinions, and even facts, so as not to offend someone's sensibilities.
Things in life are what they are, and we're better off dealing with them directly...
In the New Media Journal, Thomas D. Segel begins his writing with this:
"It started out as a mild virus initiated by the left of center intellectuals of academia. But, like every virus from computer carried to influenza, it spread rapidly through schools, hospitals, civil service, the media, companies, governance and the armed forces. Political correctness has poisoned all of America."
Global Warming - Finnish TV documentary
In a Finnish television documentary, critics report on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) refusal to allow access to their data, and how they have consistently misrepresented data provided by Finnish and other scientists.
The long, detailed transcript depicts an extraordinary effort to deny access, which certainly seems to indicate that something unusual is going on.
If global warming is truly a threat, I would expect all information to be readily available to everyone?
This entire global warming gambit continues to seem fishy to me...
The long, detailed transcript depicts an extraordinary effort to deny access, which certainly seems to indicate that something unusual is going on.
If global warming is truly a threat, I would expect all information to be readily available to everyone?
This entire global warming gambit continues to seem fishy to me...
WattsUpWithThat.com has the entire transcript with charts, graphs, and more:
"The Canadian statistician Steve McIntyre had doubts about the scientific strength of the hockey stick graph, and he decided to unravel the numbers behind it, with the diligence of an auditor. The father of the hockey stick, professor Michael Mann resisted McIntyre’s efforts to get hold of his research data, and it wasn’t until 2003 that McIntyre succeeded in getting access to the data.
McIntyre: ”It turned out that he had modified a principal components method incorrectly and the modified method produced hockey stick-shaped graphs ninety-nine percent of the time."
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sarah Palin vs. the Associated Press
Sarah says, "We've heard 11 writers are engaged in this opposition research, er, "fact checking" research! Imagine that – 11 AP reporters dedicating time and resources to tearing up the book, instead of using the time and resources to "fact check" what's going on with Sheik Mohammed's trial, Pelosi's health care takeover costs, Hasan's associations, etc. Amazing."
Her supporters have investigated the AP's claims and smacked them down...
Her supporters have investigated the AP's claims and smacked them down...
You can read all about it at Conservatives4Palin.com where they fact-check the fact-checkers:
"File this one under "Quit Making Stuff Up." It took us all day, but we assembled the definitive debunking of the 11 Associated Press "fact-checkers." Might we suggest a new profession for these folks?
As the always brilliant Mark Steyn pointed out:
"That's 11 writers for a 695-word report. What on? Obamacare? The Iranian nuke program? The upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?Hey, don't be too hard on the AP. CNN is also into fact-checking... SNL skits that are 'mean' to Obama.
No, the Associated Press assigned 11 writers to 'fact-check' Sarah Palin's new book..."
Here's some real fact-checking. Fasten your seat belts..."
The Media - CNN handles protesters differently
Here's another clear case of the media and their one-sided agenda...
Noel Sheppard opines at NewsBusters.org:
"Despite all its pretense of being an impartial, neutral network compared to MSNBC, the advocacy of CNN comes through in almost every story it does.
For many months this year, CNN excoriated regular citizens who had the temerity to protest healthcare reform and the expanding size of government at Tea Parties and town hall meetings across the fruited plain.
Now, a singular fifth grader is being lauded for mounting a protest of his own.
Why the disparity in treatment for those willing to stand up for what they believe in?
That said, I applaud what this young boy is doing.
I just wish media would praise ALL who stand up for what they believe in and NOT just those standing for what so-called journalists believe in. "
The Media - N.Y. Times bias caught again
What else can it be?...
Ed Morrissey has the story at the Hot Air blog:
"The New York Times didn’t have much to say after Obama’s bow to Abdullah despite having scolded Clinton in this manner for almost bowing to Akihito. Now that Obama has done 'the unthinkable' twice, and this time to Akihito, will the New York Times have anything to say about it? Will any of the national news media inquire as to whether the Obama administration has changed American protocol from its 233-year norm of not bowing to royalty, and exactly what 'hope and change' that represents?"
"A tale of two overkills" - Watts Up With That?
This is an ugly story.
Will we never stop shooting ourselves in the foot over environmental issues?...
Will we never stop shooting ourselves in the foot over environmental issues?...
This is posted by Edwin X. Berry on the "Watts Up With That?" science blog:
"On October 31, 2009, the once largest aluminum plant in the world will shut down. With it goes another American industry and more American jobs. The Columbia Falls Aluminum Company in Montana will shut down its aluminum production because it cannot purchase the necessary electrical power to continue its operations.
How did this happen in America? America was once the envy of the world in its industrial capability. America’s industrial capacity built America into the most productive nation the world had ever known. Its standard of living rose to levels never before accomplished. Its currency became valuable and powerful, allowing Americans to purchase imported goods at relatively cheap prices.
America grew because of innovation and hard work by the pioneers of the industrial revolution, and because America has vast natural resources. A great economy, as America once was, is founded on the ability to produce electrical energy at low cost. This ability has been extinguished. Why?"
The Health Care Rationing Commission - WSJ.com
This aspect of the proposed Health Care bill IS a big deal.
The language is (purposefully?) unclear, but it IS there.
If Americans don't wake up, we have only ourselves to blame...
The language is (purposefully?) unclear, but it IS there.
If Americans don't wake up, we have only ourselves to blame...
This Wall Street Journal article explains:
"As usual, the most dangerous parts of ObamaCare aren't receiving the scrutiny they deserve—and one of the least examined is a new commission to tell Congress how to control health spending. Democrats are quietly attempting to impose a 'global budget' on Medicare, with radical implications for U.S. medicine.
Like most of Europe, the various health bills stipulate that Congress will arbitrarily decide how much to spend on health care for seniors every year—and then invest an unelected board with extraordinary powers to dictate what is covered and how it will be paid for. White House budget director Peter Orszag calls this Medicare commission 'critical to our fiscal future' and 'one of the most potent reforms.'
On that last score, he's right. Prominent health economist Alain Enthoven has likened a global budget to 'bombing from 35,000 feet, where you don't see the faces of the people you kill.'"
Politicians - S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham
Being censured by your own is a pretty heavy hit.
Lindsey Graham is not my kind of elected representative because you can never be sure on what issue he will let you down.
Apparently, his local party members think the same way...
Lindsey Graham is not my kind of elected representative because you can never be sure on what issue he will let you down.
Apparently, his local party members think the same way...
This is from an article by Robert Behre at PostAndCourier.com:
"'We have people in office who are not living by the Republican way,' he said, 'and yet nobody says anything about it. Lindsey Graham is a perfect example of that.'
Throughout Graham's career, he has fashioned himself as a pragmatic politician willing to reach across the aisle and compromise to reach a solution. His recent willingness to support a cap-and-trade energy bill is just the latest example.
'I don't think that it will cause Lindsey Graham to do anything differently than he has already done,' Bennett said, 'but it's a message from the voters and activists in Charleston County that they have had enough.'
But Clemson University political science professor Dave Woodard said Graham may have overreached on the cap-and-trade issue.
I think he's in trouble. I really do,' Woodward said. 'Obviously, he doesn't run for a while (2014, to be exact), and he's hoping people forget, but I think that's not going to be the case. I think if he gets a serious challenge in the primary, he'll be in real trouble.'"
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
"Major" Hasan - and the 34 clues
Probably "circumstantial"; however pretty damning, considering the number...
On his blog, Major John Birch begins with, and then moves on to the clues:
"I am a former Intelligence Officer, and still get some pretty interesting information that I would say, while not classified, is 'insider.' I have a few comments on 'Major' Hasan, and have appended some information that I think will enlighten the picture of what is going on in our military. Political Correctness carried to the extreme.
Major Hasan is an abomination. The place he martyred those soldiers is the same building I was in a year ago prepping to go to Afghanistan, only I was at Fort Jackson. This facility is a one stop building to certify soldiers for deployment to a combat zone. And it was there that Hasan chose to martyr America's best while yelling Allahu Akbar!
But it is not terrorism, so says de facto President Obama and his, apparently, kiss ass generals."
Newt Gingrich takes a hit
In politics, I'm tired of those that say whatever is necessary JUST to win (get elected).
I prefer to know what people stand for, and that they will stand for the same thing tomorrow...
I prefer to know what people stand for, and that they will stand for the same thing tomorrow...
At YorktownPatriot.com, Richard Bishirjian, Ph.D. discusses Newt Gingrich's recent behavior and gives his opinion:
"Despite anything that Newt Gingrich might say or think, until the numbers of Republicans in Congress are filled up by new Congressmen and Senators who truly believe in limited government, the GOP won’t have an opportunity to govern the nation."
Basilica Papale - Visita Virtuale
Pretty spectacular.
Select and click on your desired numbered button.
Once the initial picture loads, use your mouse to navigate up, down, left, or right.
A good Internet connection facilitates the best experience...
Select and click on your desired numbered button.
Once the initial picture loads, use your mouse to navigate up, down, left, or right.
A good Internet connection facilitates the best experience...
The website, www.vatican.va is the link to it:
"Special thanks to Villanova University in Pennsylvania (USA) for its contribution to the realization of the Virtual Reality Tour of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran"
Government at Work - Managing our money
This is a perfect "throw the bums out" post.
Our elected officials are more intent on spending new money that they don't have, rather than policing the waste that is currently going on...
Our elected officials are more intent on spending new money that they don't have, rather than policing the waste that is currently going on...
At TwinCities.com, Brian Riedl writes this and provides a big list:
"To get a handle on how out of control federal spending has become, consider this: It surged to $30,000 per household in 2009. That's up from $21,000 (adjusted for inflation) in the 1980s and '90s. Yet rather than cut back, Congress plans to spend even more.
Lawmakers want an additional 11 percent domestic discretionary spending hike in 2010, as well as an expensive new health care entitlement. In the absence of spending restraint, closing these budget deficits would require permanent tax increases exceeding $8,000 per household.
This is absurd. Instead, Congress should reform Social Security and Medicare, eliminate outdated programs, and take back unspent stimulus and financial bailout funds. They could at least build budgetary credibility with the American people by cutting indefensible government waste, such as the following examples: "
"Feral Detroit"
Detroit is in America and it's hard to believe.
I have to wonder what party their politicians identify with...
I have to wonder what party their politicians identify with...
Steven Malanga at City-Journal.org:
"Officials must identify neighborhoods whose city services would be withdrawn and whose residents would be relocated, a process certain to set off political fireworks. A summer series in a Detroit newspaper quoted some residents of desolate neighborhoods as welcoming such relocation efforts; others vowed to resist.
Yet doing nothing is no longer an option: the city’s economic and fiscal woes are already forcing deep cuts in services. Detroit’s board of education, for instance, resisted downsizing for years and continued until 2007 to operate a school system with a capacity for 160,000 students, even though just 115,000 students attended that year. The hemorrhaging budget finally forced the city to close some 40 schools. But the system still faces insolvency and is even considering a bankruptcy filing. Similar budget crises will require rolling back various other essential services, from police and fire to sanitation."
Monday, November 16, 2009
Barack Obama - Our Bowing President
This guy just does NOT fit as an American president...
HotAirPundit Blog has the story in pictures:
"President Obama vs. The Rest of the World Greeting The Emperor of Japan (Photos)"
And, of course, there's always a YouTube video:
Politicians - Miami commissioner Spence-Jones
Another elected official is on the ropes.
It's all too common these days...
It's all too common these days...
At Sun-Sentinel.com, David Ovalle and Charles Rabin of the Miami Herald report:
"Miami-Dade prosecutors say Spence-Jones forged letters, including one in the name of former Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, to steer $50,000 in county grants to a family business in 2004 and 2005, before she was first elected.
Some of that grant money later went to Spence-Jones and her brother personally, or was used to pay credit-card bills for travel, clothes, satellite television and other expenses, according to an arrest warrant signed late Thursday.
She turned herself in just one day after she was sworn in for her second term and delivered a fiery speech alluding to a 'public lynching.' On Friday, she called the grand theft charge 'the result of a witch hunt.'"
Why Fort Hood Really Happened - WSJ.com
It's hard to know who is responsible for what, but one thing is clear: the ball was DROPPED and it's cost us dearly...
Daniel Henninger writes this at the end of his article in the Wall Street Journal:
"Everyone has seen the pictures of inconsolable grief amid the coffins of Fort Hood. Only one person can resolve the confusion that let this happen: the president.
This is the president who told his attorney general to decide if the CIA officers who water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be held criminally liable.
But two weeks ago, Mr. Obama met 18 coffins returned from Afghanistan. Whatever he decides about the Afghan troop deployment, what won't change is that over there or here at home, they will keep trying to kill us.
To give us better odds of protection than we had last week, President Obama should do two things: Call off the CIA investigation. Then call in the guys who didn't make the right call on Hasan and ask why not. Then, whatever set the bar too high, lower it. His "base" won't like it. So what? What he saw in Texas was worse."
America's Natural Gas Revolution - WSJ.com
Technology often overcomes seemingly impossible problems and the extraction of natural gas looks to be a current success.
Did I hear someone say, "Drill, Baby, Drill"?...
Did I hear someone say, "Drill, Baby, Drill"?...
Daniel Yergin and Robert Ineson: write about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"The supply impact has been dramatic. In the lower 48, states thought to be in decline as a natural gas source, production surged an astonishing 15% from the beginning of 2007 to mid-2008. This increase is more than most other countries produce in total.
Equally dramatic is the effect on U.S. reserves. Proven reserves have risen to 245 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2008 from 177 Tcf in 2000, despite having produced nearly 165 Tcf during those years. The recent increase in estimated U.S. gas reserves by the Potential Gas Committee, representing both academic and industry experts, is in itself equivalent to more than half of the total proved reserves of Qatar, the new LNG powerhouse. With more drilling experience, U.S. estimates are likely to rise dramatically in the next few years. At current levels of demand, the U.S. has about 90 years of proven and potential supply—a number that is bound to go up as more and more shale gas is found."
Government at Work - Spending our tax dollars
As they say, "truth is stranger than fiction"...
Susan Ferrechio has a list at WashingtonExaminer.com. Here's one of them:
"- $300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state."
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Media - "CNN President Hilariously Spins Ratings Plunge"
The liberal biased media sees EVERYTHING differently...
At NewsBusters.org, P.J. Gladnick is amused by this and more:
"'My dog ate our ratings.'
Okay, that wasn't one of the lame excuses that CNN president Jon Klein came up with to explain away that network's drastic plunge in the ratings but the ones he did dream up were equally hilarious. Try this one on for size...their low ratings can be explained away because they don't run cartoons during slow periods."
The Media - Rush Limbaugh vs. Donald Sterling
I have no doubt that the media is biased.
Perhaps this example will influence your judgement...
Perhaps this example will influence your judgement...
PRE-LINK TEXT Noel Sheppard has the story at NewsBusters.com:
"On Tuesday, the owner of basketball's Los Angeles Clippers settled a multi-million dollar discrimination lawsuit wherein it was alleged that he had for years tried to keep blacks and hispanics out of his apartment buildings.
This is actually the second such suit Donald Sterling has settled in the past four years.
Despite this, America's television news media, which had a field day going after Limbaugh last month, completely ignored the story."
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Don't count on stimulus job tally - JSOnline
I wouldn't expect the counting to be perfect.
After all, it IS governments at work.
But, I am curious if all the errors went in a certain direction...
After all, it IS governments at work.
But, I am curious if all the errors went in a certain direction...
Ben Poston writes about eh counting in Wisconsin:
"A stimulus job report that says more than 10,000 jobs were saved or created in Wisconsin is rife with errors, double counting and inflated numbers based more on satisfying federal formulas than creating real jobs, a Journal Sentinel review has found.
In one case, five jobs were mistakenly listed as 50 - and then counted twice. In another, pay raises to workers were listed as saving more than 100 jobs. And in another, jobs were listed as saved even though the money had not been received and no work on the project had begun.
The problems mirror those surfacing around the country, as the federal numbers claiming 640,000 jobs created or saved by stimulus money are being scrutinized."
Ill. Prosecutors Seek Journalism Students' Grades - ABC News
No one likes to be shown up; but, I think these prosecutors are out-of-line.
I'm siding with the professor and his students...
I'm siding with the professor and his students...
The Associated Press' Karen Hawkins reports on it:
"'Students are rewarded for advancing the cause of truth, regardless of where the facts lead them,' he said.
The American Society of News Editors is asking Alvarez's office to reconsider the subpoenas, calling them 'a wide-ranging, unfounded sweep for information' that violates the Illinois reporters' privilege statute. That statute protects reporters from having to reveal their sources and other information uncovered during newsgathering, including notes and e-mails.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have declined to release records of the police officers who were involved in McKinney's case, and have also rebuffed a Protess offer to release students' grades in exchange for prosecutors' performance reviews.
Benn, the former Protess student, said he thinks the prosecutors' motives are clear.
'The state's attorney's office is trying to save itself from the embarrassment of students finding another innocent man in prison,' he said."
Friday, November 13, 2009
In the Battle for Stimulus Jobs, Shoe Store Owner Tells War Story - WSJ
Government at work doing what they do best.
Bureaucracy, inaccuracy, and, of course, forms that can't easily be understood...
Bureaucracy, inaccuracy, and, of course, forms that can't easily be understood...
In the Wall Street Journal, Louise Radnofsky reports on how the stimulus money is being spent:
"How did Kentucky shoe store owner Buddy Moore save nine jobs with just $889.60 in federal stimulus money? He didn’t, and that’s turning into a big headache for him.
Moore’s store in Campbellsville, Ky., filed one of 156,614 reports from recipients of stimulus dollars designed to show how money from the $787 billion program is being spent, and how many jobs the funds have created or saved.
Moore’s slice of the stimulus came in an $889.60 order from the Army Corps of Engineers for nine pairs of work boots for a stimulus project."
"68% Oppose Cities That Give ‘Sanctuary’ To Illegal Immigrants"
Just in case you are wondering how you match up with other American's thoughts about immigration...
This survey by Rasmussen Reports seems fairly thorough:
"Given consistent findings that Americans overwhelmingly support efforts to crackdown on illegal immigration, it’s not surprising that 68% of U.S. voters oppose the creation of sanctuary cities. Only 13% favor the creation of cities that give safe haven to illegal immigrants. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure.
Forty-nine percent (49%) say federal and state government funds should be cut off to cities that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants. Thirty-three percent (33%) disagree and oppose any funding cutoff. Eighteen percent (18%) aren’t sure.
Fifty percent (50%) of voters say sanctuary policies that protect illegal immigrants lead to an increase in crime. Just 20% do not believe this to be true, while 30% are undecided. "
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A Thank You Note
These may seem to be posted in an unexpected place, because it is.
That being said, it certainly is heartening to see former antagonists wake up to see that personal character matters.
As with many things, we often need to witness another's shortcomings before we appreciate genuine strengths.
Kudos to the writer of this thank you note...
That being said, it certainly is heartening to see former antagonists wake up to see that personal character matters.
As with many things, we often need to witness another's shortcomings before we appreciate genuine strengths.
Kudos to the writer of this thank you note...
HillBuzz closes his/her comment with this. There's much more:
"We will never look at the Bushes, the Bush presidencies, or their legacies the same again…and someday when his presidential library is built, we will be so proud to visit there and tell anyone will listen about November 10th, 2009, the day we finally appreciated former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.
Thank you for your service, Mr. President. We’re sorry we didn’t appreciate you while you were in office, but we thank Heaven we’ve wised up and can see the good you are out there doing, under the radar, today."
"Jihadi Denial Syndrome reaches epidemic proportions"
It seems to me that we have lost the ability to discern "benefit of the doubt" from "to err on the side of caution."
The cause is "politically correct" behavior, which (if you really think about it) often prevents the statement and publication of the truth.
I have no objection to hoping for the best; however, there comes a time when "denial" is contradictory to our well-being...
The cause is "politically correct" behavior, which (if you really think about it) often prevents the statement and publication of the truth.
I have no objection to hoping for the best; however, there comes a time when "denial" is contradictory to our well-being...
Melanie Phillips writes on the Spectator UK website:
"While the vast majority of its Muslim citizens appeared to be people who really had come to the US to get a slice of the good life and had signed up to American values, there was a growing element amongst US Muslims which was becoming steadily radicalised. Worse still, the FBI and other counter-terrorism agencies had been influenced by their appeasement-minded British cousins in the security world peddling their wholly false analysis of Islamic terrorism as having nothing to do with religion, encouraging US officials similarly to downplay or passively allow the rise of US radicalisation."
Government at Work - the "stimulus money"
Sadly, I bet our elected representatives wouldn't even be bothered by this.
And, considering that they don't "read" much, they may not even know about it.
It really is time to throw the bums out...
And, considering that they don't "read" much, they may not even know about it.
It really is time to throw the bums out...
This is #9 on a list at the Senate Republican's government web site:
"9. $3.4 MILLION FOR A TURTLE TUNNEL IN FLORIDA:
“The Other Third Of The Stimulus, Government Infrastructure Spending, Has Been The Most Controversial From The Start. Some Proposals Have Been Criticized As Wasteful, Such As … A $3.4 Million ‘Ecopassage’ To Help Turtles Cross A Highway In Tallahassee, Fla.” "
Annie - "the sun will come out tomorrow"
If you don't like what's going on, this article may boost your spirits.
The 2010 elections looks to be quite interesting...
The 2010 elections looks to be quite interesting...
Bill Dupray writes about it at PatriotRoom.com:
"Let's look at their list of Senate races and see how much good news is there for the Dems."
