This is one of my favorite songs of all time and although no one will ever duplicate Mason Williams original rendition, Glenn Campbell does a great job with his interpretation. Enjoy!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Liberal logic
A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet.
H/T: The Keegmeister
H/T: The Keegmeister
California asks outside contractors for 15% cuts
From the WSJ:
More than 2,000 vendors who supply the state of California with everything from computers to cornstarch are being asked to cut their contracted rates by as much as 15%, as the government seeks to close a $26.3 billion budget deficit.
Among the contractors who got these letters are food companies, information-technology contractors that provide computers for state offices, and others. Mr. Lamoreux said companies that got the letters include Western Blue Corp., a technology consulting firm, and VanWrite, a consulting firm that trains employees on writing, for example, memos and emails.
So the state hires people whose job requires writing skills and then pays an outside contractor to teach them skills that are in their job description. Pass the Tylenol, I've got a headache. The good thing about this economic mess is that more and more of this waste will finally be revealed. Something Schwartzenegger promised in his first term. The state is in ugly shape and it's business welfare like this that is part of the problem. Kind of an indictment of our public school system I'd say.
H/T: The Keegmeister
More than 2,000 vendors who supply the state of California with everything from computers to cornstarch are being asked to cut their contracted rates by as much as 15%, as the government seeks to close a $26.3 billion budget deficit.
Among the contractors who got these letters are food companies, information-technology contractors that provide computers for state offices, and others. Mr. Lamoreux said companies that got the letters include Western Blue Corp., a technology consulting firm, and VanWrite, a consulting firm that trains employees on writing, for example, memos and emails.
So the state hires people whose job requires writing skills and then pays an outside contractor to teach them skills that are in their job description. Pass the Tylenol, I've got a headache. The good thing about this economic mess is that more and more of this waste will finally be revealed. Something Schwartzenegger promised in his first term. The state is in ugly shape and it's business welfare like this that is part of the problem. Kind of an indictment of our public school system I'd say.
H/T: The Keegmeister
Is the "fourth estate" really watching your back?
Doesn't seem so.
Does the press really intend to cover the president? It seems like not quite yet. Look for them to be like wolves on a carcass though if he stumbles and the electorate pounces. I wonder what the headlines will look like if the Dems get trounced in the middies next year? H/T: InstapunditMuch of the White House press corps spent the Fourth schmoozing with White House staffers, catching performances by the Foo Fighters and Jimmy Fallon, and watching the fireworks from the most exclusive vantage point in the D.C. metro area, all off the record—not to mention off-the-Facebook and off-the-Twitter. These are the same people who just a week ago were whining in the press briefing about Obama’s malicious and dastardly attempts to “control the press.” . . .
There is a cosmic irony at work here: The party was “closed press.” (Ha!) It was covered, under onerous restrictions, by a pool reporter—the Baltimore Sun’s Paul West. West was ushered in by White House staffers for a mere 40 minutes, so he could record the president’s remarks. He was kept in a pen so that he wouldn’t run amok and interview someone. He shouted questions at Obama as he worked the rope line, which the president ignored. Then he was taken away. West wrote up his blindered account of the party and then e-mailed it to the White House press corps, many of whom were actually at the party, outside of the pen, hanging out with all the other guests. And then, because they had temporarily signed away the right to do their jobs in exchange for facetime with staffers, a few cold Stoudt’s American Pale Ales, and some corn on the cob, their news organizations picked up that pool report and used it to tell their readers what happened at the party. This is how the press covers the White House.
The covering of tracks has begun.
President Obama said Friday the world apparently has averted economic collapse but a "full recovery is still a ways off."
Obama, speaking at the end of the Group of Eight summit of major economic powers, said world leaders had taken significant measures to address economic, environmental and global security issues.
He cited a "widespread consensus we must continue our work to restore economic growth and restore our financial regulatory systems."
Obama noted, however, that the leaders failed to agree on all issues, including global warming. "We have not solved all our problems," he said.
With each passing day the president looks more hopeless as each of his plans to resurrect the economy appear to have made no difference or are in trouble legislatively. It looks like he is trying to lay the groundwork to convince people that the poor economy could last a long time and that only time, patience and (of course) government intervention are the only remedies. Look for more of this kind of talk in the months ahead as the president attempts to keep his poll numbers from tanking.
H/T: JWF
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Today's bonus quote
"My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!" Thomas Jefferson
I'm afraid we American's are about to find out how many of our blessings we've frittered away.
I'm afraid we American's are about to find out how many of our blessings we've frittered away.
Today's quote
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." -- Ronald Reagan
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
I've heard of death by chocolate but.....................
Via Yahoo News:
CAMDEN, N.J. – Authorities say a man died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate in a New Jersey processing plant.
A spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office says the 29-year-old temporary worker at the Cocoa Services Inc. plant fell after a blade used to mix raw chocolate hit him. His name has not been released.
The accident happened Wednesday morning as the worker was loading chocolate into the vat where it's melted and mixed before being shipped elsewhere to be made into candy.
Prosecutor's spokesman Jason Laughlin says a co-worker tried to shut off the machine and two others tried to pull the man out of the 8-foot-deep vat.
I've heard of immersing yourself in your work, but this guy took things a little too far.
And does anyone remember the song by the Smothers Brothers, "I fell in a vat of chocolate"?
Maybe he was trying to emulate this guy.
CAMDEN, N.J. – Authorities say a man died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate in a New Jersey processing plant.
A spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office says the 29-year-old temporary worker at the Cocoa Services Inc. plant fell after a blade used to mix raw chocolate hit him. His name has not been released.
The accident happened Wednesday morning as the worker was loading chocolate into the vat where it's melted and mixed before being shipped elsewhere to be made into candy.
Prosecutor's spokesman Jason Laughlin says a co-worker tried to shut off the machine and two others tried to pull the man out of the 8-foot-deep vat.
I've heard of immersing yourself in your work, but this guy took things a little too far.
And does anyone remember the song by the Smothers Brothers, "I fell in a vat of chocolate"?
Maybe he was trying to emulate this guy.
"When I needed help, it wasn't there"
Another ringing endorsement of socialized medicine from Canada, the same system many Democrats want to foist on an unsuspecting populace here at home.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Why the facination with Michael Jackson?
I have several observations about the media and Micheal Jackson's adoring public. First of all, the media usually only produces what the people want (except when they are trying to get an unknown elected to national office). Lets face it, they are in the ratings business, and ratings drive profits. If the media didn't think that Jackson's macabre story would play then they wouldn't spend one minute on him.
The public fascination with Jackson has always intrigued me. Yes he was a very talented singer and performer, but is that what made people pay attention to him, or was it the soap opera that he created of his life. Everything from accusations of pedophilia (none was ever proved) to the multitude of plastic surgeries and bizarre behaviors that cemented in peoples minds what a harlequin this man had become.
It was liking watching a train wreck in slow motion as mounting accusations about his interactions with young boys and his economic downward spiral seemed to be the only things that you would hear about him. His concert tours, although well received, were probably only produced to stave off the creditors and his fall from the heights of fame only furthered his self destructiveness.
The morbid fawning over Michael Jackson is particularly galling when you think about the men and women in this country who truly deserve our adulation and respect. The coverage by the media and participation in his memorial service by thousands is a testament to our times and another piece of evidence that this country may have already seen its best days as people descend in to hero worship of an extremely flawed man who snuffed out his own life, not with a bang of glory, but with a pathetic whimper.
The public fascination with Jackson has always intrigued me. Yes he was a very talented singer and performer, but is that what made people pay attention to him, or was it the soap opera that he created of his life. Everything from accusations of pedophilia (none was ever proved) to the multitude of plastic surgeries and bizarre behaviors that cemented in peoples minds what a harlequin this man had become.
It was liking watching a train wreck in slow motion as mounting accusations about his interactions with young boys and his economic downward spiral seemed to be the only things that you would hear about him. His concert tours, although well received, were probably only produced to stave off the creditors and his fall from the heights of fame only furthered his self destructiveness.
The morbid fawning over Michael Jackson is particularly galling when you think about the men and women in this country who truly deserve our adulation and respect. The coverage by the media and participation in his memorial service by thousands is a testament to our times and another piece of evidence that this country may have already seen its best days as people descend in to hero worship of an extremely flawed man who snuffed out his own life, not with a bang of glory, but with a pathetic whimper.
Sarah Palin's resignation
My first reaction to Palin's resignation was a deep disappointment that she would abandon her duties before her term of office had expired. After several days of reflection I had to ask myself if I would endure, or alternately, allow my family to endure the pummeling that she has taken from the loony left along with their facilitators in the MSM.
The craven witch hunt that ensued after her nomination for VP ranks as one of the most despicable in modern politics and demonstrates what the left considers discourse in today's world of internet innuendo. If Obama had been subjected to one tenth the vetting that Palin had he would never had become president. Can you imagine how our thin skinned president would have reacted to his family being treated the way Palin's family has been treated? But remember, his family was "off limits". Nice of him to extend the same protections to Sarah and Todd's family.
Of course Sarah's resignation is a gift the left could only hope for in their wildest dreams. She represented everything that they did not and she scared the bejezzus out of them because she held up to the light the perversity of their thought and the dishonesty of their actions. This was never about ideology, it was about power, pure and simple, and any people who allow their liberties to be slowly eroded by a political class who think they know what is best for everyone (from seat belts to second hand smoke), deserve exactly what they have coming.
One last thought, what would have been your reaction if you and your family were being attacked daily? Has the left finally broken the barracuda? I don't know, but in the end if she did this soley to remove her family from the polluted spotlight of the national media so that they might have a normal life, then I salute her. God's speed Sarah!
The craven witch hunt that ensued after her nomination for VP ranks as one of the most despicable in modern politics and demonstrates what the left considers discourse in today's world of internet innuendo. If Obama had been subjected to one tenth the vetting that Palin had he would never had become president. Can you imagine how our thin skinned president would have reacted to his family being treated the way Palin's family has been treated? But remember, his family was "off limits". Nice of him to extend the same protections to Sarah and Todd's family.
Of course Sarah's resignation is a gift the left could only hope for in their wildest dreams. She represented everything that they did not and she scared the bejezzus out of them because she held up to the light the perversity of their thought and the dishonesty of their actions. This was never about ideology, it was about power, pure and simple, and any people who allow their liberties to be slowly eroded by a political class who think they know what is best for everyone (from seat belts to second hand smoke), deserve exactly what they have coming.
One last thought, what would have been your reaction if you and your family were being attacked daily? Has the left finally broken the barracuda? I don't know, but in the end if she did this soley to remove her family from the polluted spotlight of the national media so that they might have a normal life, then I salute her. God's speed Sarah!
Monday, July 06, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The Legislature holds hearings on cow tails instead of concentrating on the budget
"Right now, in the midst of a budget crisis, they are debating about cow tails, and I think that this is inexcusable," Schwarzenegger said, referring to an Assembly committee hearing on a proposal to bar dairies from cropping bovine tails.
I'm inclined to say "only in California", but New York can't even get their senate seated.
When Helen Thomas & CBS News start complaining about transparency then there is a good chance it doesn't exist
Could this be the first tiny crack in the MSM's "protect Obama at all costs" facade? I think the MSM is beginning to realize that they got punked by this guy and that they are a laughing stock in the eyes of the American public. Nothing stings more than having the credibility of a used car salesman. If this escalates it could get interesting. I've got my fingers crossed that it just wasn't Helen off her meds for the day.
Sidebar: Is it just me or is Helen Thomas starting to look like something out of a Tim Burton movie?
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
The non-stimulus, stimulus.
From Yahoo News:
U.S. private employers slashed a bigger-than-expected 473,000 jobs in June, according to a report from ADP Employer Services, released a day before the closely watched U.S. government nonfarm payrolls report is due out.
9.5 % unemployment and 2 million jobs lost since the stimulus package was passed. Good going Barry. I'm waiting for press sec Gibbs to explain how many jobs were "created" because they were not lost. It's patently Orwellian.
U.S. private employers slashed a bigger-than-expected 473,000 jobs in June, according to a report from ADP Employer Services, released a day before the closely watched U.S. government nonfarm payrolls report is due out.
9.5 % unemployment and 2 million jobs lost since the stimulus package was passed. Good going Barry. I'm waiting for press sec Gibbs to explain how many jobs were "created" because they were not lost. It's patently Orwellian.
Today's quote
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Much touted Canadian health care turns out to be not so great
Ask yourself, is this the kind of health care you want for your family?
Private for-profit clinics are a booming business in Canada -- a country often touted as a successful example of a universal health system.
Facing long waits and substandard care, private clinics are proving that Canadians are willing to pay for treatment.
"Any wait time was an enormous frustration for me and also pain. I just couldn't live my life the way I wanted to," says Canadian patient Christine Crossman, who was told she could wait up to a year for an MRI after injuring her hip during an exercise class. Warned she would have to wait for the scan, and then wait even longer for surgery, Crossman opted for a private clinic.
As the Obama administration prepares to launch its legislative effort to create a national health care system, many experts on both sides of the debate site Canada as a successful model.
Read the whole thing.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Harry Reid is no longer the biggest clown in the U. S. Senate
Sen. Coleman concedes and Minnesota beclowns itself by sending Al Franken to the U. S. Senate. After the last election I now have a fair idea of what lemmings must go through on their way to oblivion.
Where is John Galt?
Inside the liberal mindset. Oppose higher taxes and you're a terrorist
From a Q&A with the speaker of the California assembly, Karen Bass, in the Los Angeles Times:
This gives you an idea of how liberals think. I for one don't want higher taxes, but fiscal restraint, and I'm a terrorist. No politics of destruction there. No, just more all inclusive liberalism. Remember the Dems excoriating Bush when he said "you're either with us, or against us"? Isn't this the same thing, only much more sinister, because she's talking about fellow citizens and not foreign countries? This kind of talk is why we have to protect the Second Amendment.Q: How do you think conservative talk radio has affected the Legislature's work?
A: The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: "You vote for revenue and your career is over." I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair.
She doesn't "know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech". Whew! And to think this piece of work is the speaker of the California Assembly. Yes sir, only the best and the brightest are serving the public's interest. Is it any wonder with free thinkers like Ms. Bass that California (and by extension) the country is in the shape it's in?
Newsflash to the nation, California is your canary in the coal mine. What the Dems have done to California, they are currently attempting to do at the Federal level. If you think what you see in California isn't pretty wait until its exponential expansion when the DCer's get done.
Related: Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman thinks if you oppose "Cap & Trade" legislation that you are a traitor to the planet. The world has run amok with Henny Pennys.
Movie review: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
After the first Transformers movie I was looking forward to this one, if for nothing else just the sheer fun of it. I was disappointed to say the least. The movie was too long and was short on everything except for noise and mayhem. Did we really need a sequel to reinforce the fact that Meagan Fox can't act?
My recommendation: Wait for the DVD.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Today's quote
"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others." - Ayn Rand
If "Cap & Trade" and "Obamacare" pass, I just might go John Galt.
If "Cap & Trade" and "Obamacare" pass, I just might go John Galt.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Vanity and trout fishing
It's another beautiful day in the Sierra. A tangerine tinged sun peeks over the earth's edge and throws its first muted light on the stand of lodge pole pines that act as quiet sentinels along the granite corridor that has been cut into the verdure by Dana Creek.
The creek is usually a small riffle of a thing, cascading over the smooth granite boulders and cobbles whose edges the water has relentlessly erased the hardness from, but not today. Today the water has a much more unfriendly demeanor as it pounds everything in its path. No stone or unfortunate log can long withstand the ferocity and noisy fury with which the water pursues its path ever downward seemingly fighting gravity with a foaming arrogance.
During the dog days of summer the water forms quiet pools, pockets and back eddy's some diamond-like and evanescent in the sun and others hidden in the cool stillness of an evergreen's shadowy embrace.
These are the abodes of the wily trout. Brook, brown and rainbow who somehow survive the frenzy of early spring's pounding cataracts to take up residence and look skyward for a drifting meal of caddis or mayfly. It is these denizens that I come to challenge. The masters of their natural world, wary and yet supremely aggressive when challenged by anything that might make a decent meal.
Trout are simple at times eating anything that passes within sight and at other times they can be some of the most galling creatures to take up space on the planet. Many times it's the latter. Drift an elegant imitation of a baetis emerger in their target zone during a mayfly hatch and they can ignore it like last weeks meatloaf, sometimes even bumping your presentation just to exasperate you.
On the rare occasions when the fish drop all pretentions and sup your meager offerings with abandon that is when you feel like the master of your passion, but it's a chimera, nothing more than a fancy that you indulge yourself in, just to assuage your ego. For it is a vanity that leads us to think that we can deceive these oh so august and age old creatures who in their evolutionary infancy preceded us by many millions of years and retain the instincts, or be it, wisdom of the millenia. I'm not sure which, but I have to excuse my ineptitude sometimes with some intellectual deceit, if for nothing else than to bolster my own shortcoming at not being able to hoodwink with consistency an animal with the brain the size of a pea.
Legume brained or not the quarry must be pursued even though you sometimes feel like someone is laughing behind your back as you crease the water with a gossamer thread, attached on the one side to a fly and to the other by a fool. It can't be explained, it has to be experienced. For me, I will continue the fool's errand, for it takes me to sublime places where water battles with earth and the trout wait to skirmish.
The creek is usually a small riffle of a thing, cascading over the smooth granite boulders and cobbles whose edges the water has relentlessly erased the hardness from, but not today. Today the water has a much more unfriendly demeanor as it pounds everything in its path. No stone or unfortunate log can long withstand the ferocity and noisy fury with which the water pursues its path ever downward seemingly fighting gravity with a foaming arrogance.
During the dog days of summer the water forms quiet pools, pockets and back eddy's some diamond-like and evanescent in the sun and others hidden in the cool stillness of an evergreen's shadowy embrace.
These are the abodes of the wily trout. Brook, brown and rainbow who somehow survive the frenzy of early spring's pounding cataracts to take up residence and look skyward for a drifting meal of caddis or mayfly. It is these denizens that I come to challenge. The masters of their natural world, wary and yet supremely aggressive when challenged by anything that might make a decent meal.
Trout are simple at times eating anything that passes within sight and at other times they can be some of the most galling creatures to take up space on the planet. Many times it's the latter. Drift an elegant imitation of a baetis emerger in their target zone during a mayfly hatch and they can ignore it like last weeks meatloaf, sometimes even bumping your presentation just to exasperate you.
On the rare occasions when the fish drop all pretentions and sup your meager offerings with abandon that is when you feel like the master of your passion, but it's a chimera, nothing more than a fancy that you indulge yourself in, just to assuage your ego. For it is a vanity that leads us to think that we can deceive these oh so august and age old creatures who in their evolutionary infancy preceded us by many millions of years and retain the instincts, or be it, wisdom of the millenia. I'm not sure which, but I have to excuse my ineptitude sometimes with some intellectual deceit, if for nothing else than to bolster my own shortcoming at not being able to hoodwink with consistency an animal with the brain the size of a pea.
Legume brained or not the quarry must be pursued even though you sometimes feel like someone is laughing behind your back as you crease the water with a gossamer thread, attached on the one side to a fly and to the other by a fool. It can't be explained, it has to be experienced. For me, I will continue the fool's errand, for it takes me to sublime places where water battles with earth and the trout wait to skirmish.
The Obama Administration has a plan........let's follow California (New York & New Jersey) down a rat hole
Via the Wall Street Journal:
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.
Ignoring the rules of basic economics will always get you in to heaps of trouble. The Dems never worry about it because they believe they can tax and spend their way out of any calamity. Obama is attempting to do the same things as California, N. Y. and N. J. but on a grander scale and with predictable results. It takes someone with an advanced case of myopathy not to see what the outcome will be. His policies could ruin the economy of the United States for many years to come.
I'd weep, except that I cried myself dry after the election. If there was ever a time for resolve among the American people it is now as we saunter towards perdition.
Side note: You keep hearing the president talk about all of the jobs he is going to create with his "green" initiatives. Funny, he never aludes to all of the jobs that will be lost. Government never has a problem creating jobs, the problem is that most of them are unproductive, worthless or both.
Cap & trade vote coming today in the House
Remember when candidate Obama pledged that only people making over $250,000 per year would be paying more taxes? Well the Obfuscator-in-Chief is going to pick your pocket in a myriad of other ways such as collecting a tax on utilities and manufacturing (Cap & Trade) that will be passed on to you (remember the old maxim: business's don't pay taxes, their customers do). Also, keep in mind that to fund Obamacare he will be taxing people who currently have employer provided health care on the value of that benefit.
Also, by providing tax rebates to people under certain income levels he is just redistributing wealth in a covert way. This guy is slithery all right.
Obama should have to enroll his own family in Obamacare
But he won't you know, because, well, he can afford better. I rarely throw the word hypocrite around, however..........
President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people — like the president himself — wouldn’t face.
The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News’ special on health care reform, “Questions for the President: Prescription for America,” anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.
Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it’s not provided by insurance.
Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn’t seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he’s proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.
The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if “it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.
Like John Edward's repeatedly said during last years Democratic primary campaign, "there are two America's", in this case the America where people like Barak Obama can afford the insurance coverage needed to protect his family, and the rest of America who will be forced in to a government program that will ration care and squelch treatment innovation and therapy's.
President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people — like the president himself — wouldn’t face.
The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News’ special on health care reform, “Questions for the President: Prescription for America,” anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.
Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it’s not provided by insurance.
Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn’t seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he’s proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.
The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if “it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.
Like John Edward's repeatedly said during last years Democratic primary campaign, "there are two America's", in this case the America where people like Barak Obama can afford the insurance coverage needed to protect his family, and the rest of America who will be forced in to a government program that will ration care and squelch treatment innovation and therapy's.
A double standard?
Imagine if the Israeli's were doing to the Palestinians what the Iranian government is doing to their own people right now. Do you think there would be the silence in the U.N. that there is currently? Just asking.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Today's funny
A man and his ever-nagging wife went on vacation to Jerusalem . While they were there, the wife passed away. The undertaker told the husband, 'You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here, in the Holy Land , for $150.' The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home..
The undertaker asked, 'Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend only $150?'
The man replied, 'Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead. I just can't take that chance.'
H/T: Joe Cal
The undertaker asked, 'Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend only $150?'
The man replied, 'Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead. I just can't take that chance.'
H/T: Joe Cal
The Taliban meets an Apache helicopter with predictable results
The bad guys get a taste of U. S. resolve....after six requests to engage.
Still think you want government health care?
Via Fox News:
Amid growing controversy over procedures that exposed 10,000 veterans to the AIDS and hepatitis viruses, the Department of Veterans Affairs is now bracing against news that one of its facilities in Pennsylvania gave botched radiation treatments to nearly 100 cancer patients.
Government does few things well (national defense, national parks are a couple) and even these institutions waste copious amounts of money for the benefits that they provide. Obama and his cronies in Congress are about to put a hit on the American people that will last generations through the "Cap & Trade" legislation which will send energy prices in to the stratosphere, and through Obamacare which will eventually end most private insurance as we know it and subject the American people to health care rationing.
If Obamacare passes we will see the end of innovation and advanced forms of treatment in health care as there will be no finanacial incentive for companies to produce products and procedures that the government will ultimately control the pricing of.
Under Obamacare penicillin would never have been invented.
Amid growing controversy over procedures that exposed 10,000 veterans to the AIDS and hepatitis viruses, the Department of Veterans Affairs is now bracing against news that one of its facilities in Pennsylvania gave botched radiation treatments to nearly 100 cancer patients.
Veterans groups and lawmakers say VA hospitals have permitted these violations because federal regulations allow doctors to work with little outside scrutiny. They say the VA health system, with its under-funded hospitals and overworked doctors, is showing signs of an "institutional breakdown," in the words of one congressman.
An official with the American Legion who visits and inspects VA health centers said complacency, poor funding and little oversight led to the violations that failed the cancer patients in Philadelphia and possibly infected 53 veterans with hepatitis and HIV from unsterilized equipment at three VA health centers in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.
The Federal Government has vast experience in providing health care to millions and has failed miserably. I can just about guarantee if you gave one of our vets the choice between private health care and the VA that private health care would come out as the hands down winner.Government does few things well (national defense, national parks are a couple) and even these institutions waste copious amounts of money for the benefits that they provide. Obama and his cronies in Congress are about to put a hit on the American people that will last generations through the "Cap & Trade" legislation which will send energy prices in to the stratosphere, and through Obamacare which will eventually end most private insurance as we know it and subject the American people to health care rationing.
If Obamacare passes we will see the end of innovation and advanced forms of treatment in health care as there will be no finanacial incentive for companies to produce products and procedures that the government will ultimately control the pricing of.
Under Obamacare penicillin would never have been invented.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
In a world turned upsidedown this shouldn't surprise anyone
Via Yahoo News:
Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that's what they want to do.
Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that's what they want to do.
Because their union contract makes it extremely difficult to fire them, the teachers have been banished by the school system to its "rubber rooms" — off-campus office space where they wait months, even years, for their disciplinary hearings.
The 700 or so teachers can practice yoga, work on their novels, paint portraits of their colleagues — pretty much anything but school work. They have summer vacation just like their classroom colleagues and enjoy weekends and holidays through the school year.
"You just basically sit there for eight hours," said Orlando Ramos, who spent seven months in a rubber room, officially known as a temporary reassignment center, in 2004-05. "I saw several near-fights. `This is my seat.' `I've been sitting here for six months.' That sort of thing."
If you can stomach it, read the whole thing. It's just a matter of time before the real employers of public employees (i.e. taxpayers) will have had enough of this. The waste of taxpayer funds on everything from school lunches to public transportation is at unprecedented levels and will only grow under an Administration hell bent on "changing America fundamentally". Those are Barak Obama's words from the campaign. Thank you to all you independent voters who provided the swing votes that put this guy in office.
Unfortunately I have to share in the pain that you have sown.
An observation
There seem to be more and more comparisons with Obama to Carter, however there is one major difference between the two men.....Carter wasn't a liar. Inept, vapid and feckless, but not a liar.
More from our geniuses in the Legislature
From the Sacramento Bee:
A milestone on California's meandering journey toward fiscal insolvency occurred exactly a decade ago when the Legislature enacted a massive increase in state employee pensions on the expedient assumption that it would cost taxpayers nothing.
Although the new pensions would generate almost countless billions of dollars in extra income for retirees in the years ahead, the CalPERS board, dominated by union representatives, told legislators that taxpayers wouldn't have to bear the load because investment income, which was flowing into the pension trust fund from high-tech stocks, would continue indefinitely.
"They (CalPERS) anticipate that the state's contribution to CalPERS will remain below the 1998-99 fiscal year for at least the next decade," said a final Senate analysis of the 1999 legislation that expanded state pensions, allowing Highway Patrol officers, prison guards and other "safety" workers in some cases to get more than 100 percent of their salaries.
Wrong.
By and by, the economy improved, albeit through an unsustainable explosion in real estate development, and the pension issue dropped from the political radar screen. But now we're mired in the worst recession since the Great Depression, CalPERS' investments have dropped by nearly a third and the state is paying more than $3 billion a year into the pension fund, nearly 10 times what it paid a decade ago when CalPERS made its bogus assertion to lawmakers.
Read the whole thing. As stated in a previous post I know two retired California firemen (both under 60) who are pulling down $10,000 a month plus lifetime medical for them and their families from their CalPERS retirement). How are your pension and future health benefits looking? Not to worry, Obamacare is casting a safety net for you right now. Hope you enjoy long waits and rationing.
A milestone on California's meandering journey toward fiscal insolvency occurred exactly a decade ago when the Legislature enacted a massive increase in state employee pensions on the expedient assumption that it would cost taxpayers nothing.
Although the new pensions would generate almost countless billions of dollars in extra income for retirees in the years ahead, the CalPERS board, dominated by union representatives, told legislators that taxpayers wouldn't have to bear the load because investment income, which was flowing into the pension trust fund from high-tech stocks, would continue indefinitely.
"They (CalPERS) anticipate that the state's contribution to CalPERS will remain below the 1998-99 fiscal year for at least the next decade," said a final Senate analysis of the 1999 legislation that expanded state pensions, allowing Highway Patrol officers, prison guards and other "safety" workers in some cases to get more than 100 percent of their salaries.
Wrong.
By and by, the economy improved, albeit through an unsustainable explosion in real estate development, and the pension issue dropped from the political radar screen. But now we're mired in the worst recession since the Great Depression, CalPERS' investments have dropped by nearly a third and the state is paying more than $3 billion a year into the pension fund, nearly 10 times what it paid a decade ago when CalPERS made its bogus assertion to lawmakers.
Read the whole thing. As stated in a previous post I know two retired California firemen (both under 60) who are pulling down $10,000 a month plus lifetime medical for them and their families from their CalPERS retirement). How are your pension and future health benefits looking? Not to worry, Obamacare is casting a safety net for you right now. Hope you enjoy long waits and rationing.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
How do you know when your president is lying to you?
Obama stated in today's presser that "only polluters would pay under the cap & trade law". As I've stated over and over, business's do not pay taxes as they do not have the ability to spirit money out of thin air. All business owner's (including me) pass on all new expenses (government imposed or otherwise) to the consumer, by raising prices.
Since I don't think the president was dumb enough to fail Econ 101, that can leave only one possibility. I think you can fill in the blank.
Since I don't think the president was dumb enough to fail Econ 101, that can leave only one possibility. I think you can fill in the blank.
Today's quote
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. Thomas Jefferson
And exactly which direction are we heading in now?
And exactly which direction are we heading in now?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
No blogging, going fishin'`
I'll be gone for a few days stalking trout in the Sierra. So everyone take a rest and forget about politics for awhile. It's not good for the soul to ruminate exclusively on what the miscreants in D.C. are doing. Rome didn't fall in a day.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A state run by morons
And that's being charitable.
June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats who control California’s Legislature said tax increases are needed to help close a $24 billion deficit, setting up a battle with Republicans that may leave the state short of cash next month.
Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, said higher taxes and fees are needed instead of all $16 billion in cuts proposed by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. His reductions would eliminate entire welfare programs and leave 1 million children without health insurance. Democrats yesterday suggested a $15 automobile license fee and said they may consider a 9.9 percent per-barrel charge on oil produced in the state.
The Dems fallback position is to always raise taxes (or fees, as they like to spin them) instead of cutting spending. Thank God the idiots in Sacramento can't print money like the Feds. The only hope is that the Governator will stick to his guns and veto any new taxes (fees), but I'm not sanguine about it since he's stabbed us conservatives in the back virtually his entire administration.
Look for more disfunctionality from Sacramento before this is over.
Today's quote
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad.
Today's quote
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
.....Abraham Lincoln
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
.....Abraham Lincoln
A simple tale
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that socialism, the great equalizer, worked. That no one would be poor and no one would be rich.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise all failed and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
That class had insisted that socialism, the great equalizer, worked. That no one would be poor and no one would be rich.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise all failed and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Most Americans (including Democrats) don't think the president is being tough enough on N. Korea or Iran
Is anyone, I mean anyone, really surprised that our president is not being tough on the bad guys? Remember this is the guy who thinks diplomacy can trump all. Surely we can talk to the bad guys. They're reasonable, right? Ahmadine(nut)jad and Kim Jong (mentally) Il are not the kind of guys who got where they are by making nice.
A few thoughtful sentences from Obama would encourage the protesters in Iran right now. Don't look for any however, as this guy won't gamble on anything. He wants to appear deliberative and thoughtful no matter what the outcome in Tehran.
Here are the results of a new poll:
Most Americans -- including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents -- say President Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea and Iran.
A FOX News poll released Monday finds more than two-thirds of Americans say Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea (69 percent), while some 15 percent think his actions have been "about right" and 3 percent think he has been too tough.
Sizable majorities of Democrats (65 percent), Republicans (78 percent) and independents (61 percent) agree Obama should be tougher on North Korea. Among those voters who backed Obama in the 2008 presidential election, 59 percent say he has not been tough enough.
North Korea test-fired short-range missiles on two separate occasions in May. President Obama denounced the tests as a "grave threat to the peace and security of the world." And last week, in response to the tests, the United Nations Security Council expanded international sanctions against North Korea.
On Iran, the findings are almost identical: 66 percent overall say Obama has not been tough enough, including 57 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of independents.
A few thoughtful sentences from Obama would encourage the protesters in Iran right now. Don't look for any however, as this guy won't gamble on anything. He wants to appear deliberative and thoughtful no matter what the outcome in Tehran.
Here are the results of a new poll:
Most Americans -- including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents -- say President Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea and Iran.
A FOX News poll released Monday finds more than two-thirds of Americans say Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea (69 percent), while some 15 percent think his actions have been "about right" and 3 percent think he has been too tough.
Sizable majorities of Democrats (65 percent), Republicans (78 percent) and independents (61 percent) agree Obama should be tougher on North Korea. Among those voters who backed Obama in the 2008 presidential election, 59 percent say he has not been tough enough.
North Korea test-fired short-range missiles on two separate occasions in May. President Obama denounced the tests as a "grave threat to the peace and security of the world." And last week, in response to the tests, the United Nations Security Council expanded international sanctions against North Korea.
On Iran, the findings are almost identical: 66 percent overall say Obama has not been tough enough, including 57 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of independents.
Who owns the country?
From Jake Tapper's Twitter page:
$42,861,936 = $ POTUS got from lawyers in his 2008 presidential run, more than any working industry. Next highest - education, $22,342,123
You think attorneys and teachers have a stake in this government? Will Obama screw the lawyers by including tort reform in the National Healthcare Plan to buy off a few senators? Time will tell.
Gordian knots are simpler than this health care legislation is bound to be.
$42,861,936 = $ POTUS got from lawyers in his 2008 presidential run, more than any working industry. Next highest - education, $22,342,123
You think attorneys and teachers have a stake in this government? Will Obama screw the lawyers by including tort reform in the National Healthcare Plan to buy off a few senators? Time will tell.
Gordian knots are simpler than this health care legislation is bound to be.
Book recommendation
I've just finished a book about a young boy growing up in Havana just previous to and just after the takeover by Castro. It's an interesting, and sometimes, heartbreaking tome about a boy and his brother who are sent to America alone by their parents who knew what the Communists had in store for their country.
This book should be a must read for those in our political and entertainment classes who continue to meet with and laud Castro, who is nothing more than a megalomaniac and a butcher. The funny thing is that people like Steven Spielberg who worship at Castro's altar don't even seem to realize that they would have been some of the first people thrown in to Fidel's gulag and left at the mercy of his ruthless lapdog Che.
The book is a wonderful revelation of the Cuban people's innate joy of life and their tremendous fealty to their homeland.
Today's quote
"Understand the mind of a totalitarian. Probe with a bayonet, if you meet steel, stop. If you meet mush, then push." Vladamir Lenin
See any correlation Mr. President....Congress?
Via Reuters:
Amusement park operator Six Flags declared bankruptcy yesterday but says that it will keep its parks open, at least for now. According to the Washington Post, the company is carrying $2.4 billion in debt. Despite the fact that Six Flags reported 25 million visitors and posted record revenues in 2008, the debt is simply unsustainable, the Associated Press reports. (emphasis mine)
I think the electorate is starting to get a handle on this whole Universal Health Care thing. At least I hope they are.
Amusement park operator Six Flags declared bankruptcy yesterday but says that it will keep its parks open, at least for now. According to the Washington Post, the company is carrying $2.4 billion in debt. Despite the fact that Six Flags reported 25 million visitors and posted record revenues in 2008, the debt is simply unsustainable, the Associated Press reports. (emphasis mine)
I think the electorate is starting to get a handle on this whole Universal Health Care thing. At least I hope they are.
So you think you want national health care?
From Yahoo News:
CROW AGENCY, Mont. – Ta'Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt.
When Stephanie Little Light took her daughter to the Indian Health Service clinic in this wind-swept and remote corner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed.
Ta'Shon's pain rapidly worsened and she visited the clinic about 10 more times over several months before her lung collapsed and she was airlifted to a children's hospital in Denver. There she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members.
Just a glimpse of what may be coming. H/T: Instapundit
Friday, June 12, 2009
"I inherited this mess"
Frankly I'm tired of hearing this from the president. The American people did not elect Obama to hear excuses for four years about why our collective net worth is plummeting while this Administration, along with a Dem controlled Congress, seem intent on exacerbating the problem by suggesting that we nationalize 1/5 of the economy (through national health care) and by saving the planet through cap and trade legislation. If you like limited medical choices and $7.00 a gallon gas, this is the group for you.
As for that cheeky phrase "I inherited this mess", I look at it this way; If a dog does his business on my lawn I don't add to it by letting my dog (and all of the neighbors dogs) crap on my lawn and then step in the mess and track it in to my house, instead I clean it up and move on. It does no good to complain about what the dog did.
By the way, when Barry ran for president he knew what the situation was and insisted that he was the guy who could solve it. Complaining about the "mess" you were left seems a little like shirking.
As for that cheeky phrase "I inherited this mess", I look at it this way; If a dog does his business on my lawn I don't add to it by letting my dog (and all of the neighbors dogs) crap on my lawn and then step in the mess and track it in to my house, instead I clean it up and move on. It does no good to complain about what the dog did.
By the way, when Barry ran for president he knew what the situation was and insisted that he was the guy who could solve it. Complaining about the "mess" you were left seems a little like shirking.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The best thing to happen to New Orleans in a long time
The mayor has been quarantined.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who had been due in Australia for a speaking engagement, instead remained in quarantine in Shanghai on Wednesday over a swine flu scare, his spokesman said.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who had been due in Australia for a speaking engagement, instead remained in quarantine in Shanghai on Wednesday over a swine flu scare, his spokesman said.
Nagin, who was detained Sunday after a fellow passenger on his flight fell ill with a suspected case of swine flu, has missed several meetings in the Chinese business hub since being quarantined, spokesman James Ross told AFP.
Now if they can keep him in quarantine until the end of his current term the city might be able to show a little progress. Hopefully if the pandemic hits Shanghai the Chinese will do a better job evacuating people than "do nothing" Nagin did during Katrina, or they can just blame Bush.National Health Care and the veterinary ethic
Rationing should never be conducted by a bureaucracy, particularly one that's heavily lobbied. But we are rapidly moving into the realm, as one of our readers has noted, of the veterinary ethic of health care. In this arrangement, a third party, not the patient, decides if the patient will receive treatment.
In a government-run system, we will all become dogs, awaiting the master's decision from Washington. Human lives are devalued and individual well-being is subordinated to the collective. America is too prosperous, and most Americans are too self-reliant to deserve the punishment of such an arrangement.
Read the whole article.
In a government-run system, we will all become dogs, awaiting the master's decision from Washington. Human lives are devalued and individual well-being is subordinated to the collective. America is too prosperous, and most Americans are too self-reliant to deserve the punishment of such an arrangement.
Read the whole article.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
How many jobs has the stimulus "created" or "saved"?
The president and the Democratic Congress are running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history and few seem to have noticed yet. Maybe the MSM will get around to doing their jobs one of these days. When America wakes up. Look out!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Obama on North Korea
Yada, yada, yada. More of the same "non-policy" that Clinton and Bush pursued with this very dangerous rogue state. China holds the key to North Korea and the North Koreans don't sneeze without China's assent.
The vast amounts of wealth that have been transferred from the United States (and other Western democracies) in to the Chinese treasury via trade imbalances has allowed China to enable North Korea to be a permanent thorn in our side. China has China's best interests at heart and will continue to try and tie up the U. S. in worthless negotiations with the miscreants in NK. Don't look for anything substantive from the current Administration as the "carrot only" approach never works.
The video is just more proof that Obama is lost without his teleprompter. The man does not think well on his feet and you could almost see the pain and embarrassment on Sarkozy's face and in his body language over how Obama was answering the question. H/T: JWF
Today's quote
"A wealthy nation living on the accumulated cultural capital of a glorious past can dodge its rendezvous with fate, but only for a while." Mark Steyn
Monday, June 08, 2009
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