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Monday, March 30, 2009

GM Boss Wagoner Gives Obama The Finger

How appropriate. Just as Obama is ramping up his communistic tactics such as micromanaging the internals of privately held companies, Rick Wagoner, now former CEO of GM, falls on his sword and resigns. Obama pretty much demanded it. However, what Obama was apparently not aware (he's not aware of much, it seems) is that Wagoner will walk with a $20M payout. And good for him.

The more screwed up this gets, the more obvious is this simple fact: The American taxpayer is footing the bill for a wholesale move to the far left in government policies concerning business. These policies worked out great in the communist countries, too, didn't they.

Let business alone; they created the country that we are, a claim which no politican can make.

Again, if you trust the American government, ask an American Indian about that.

PAYDAY: GM's Rick Wagoner Drives Away with $20M Retirement - ABC News:
"Rick Wagoner will leave his post as CEO of bailed-out General Motors with a $20 million retirement package, the company's financial filings show."

Friday, March 27, 2009

Encroachment: Government-controlled Speech

A Clear Danger to Free Speech by The Editors on National Review Online:
"From its conception, the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law was an assault on the First Amendment. Signing that unconstitutional bill into law, knowing it to be unconstitutional, was one of the worst moments of George W. Bush’s presidency. Yet this malignancy lurks in the legal code, widely accepted, even celebrated. Now Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart has gone before the Supreme Court arguing that McCain-Feingold gives the government the right to ban books and films. He’s right, it does. And for that reason, McCain-Feingold should be nullified.

At issue is a film called Hillary: The Movie, a documentary produced by the nonprofit group Citizens United, which did not wish to see Senator Clinton elected president. Because McCain-Feingold prohibits so much as mentioning a candidate’s name in pre-election communications paid for by certain disfavored groups — unions and “corporations” — the filmmakers were informed by a federal judge that showing their work would constitute a crime. The filmmakers sued, and the case is Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Mr. Stewart is defending the government’s ban on this film; the same rules that apply to a campaign commercial apply to a documentary film, his reasoning goes. Justice Alito alertly pressed Mr. Stewart on that issue: If commercials and films are covered, how about books? How about campaign biographies? Yes, Mr. Stewart answered, the U.S. government is prepared to ban books, under certain circumstances, and is legally empowered by McCain-Feingold to do so. Jaws dropped, black robes fluttered.


...
Citizens should have the right to make their views heard, to criticize the government, in print, on film, and on the airwaves — and to raise the funds necessary to do so. A documentary film criticizing a senator deserves at least as much constitutional protection as a work of pornography."

What's wrong with the "Stimulus"

When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

No Fascism like Liberal Fascism

The left complained for eight years that George Bush had too much power. Now look at what Obama's trying to do with the free market!

White House seeks powers to shut firms like AIG | Reuters:
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday mounted a full-scale push for government authority to shut down troubled institutions like insurer AIG to avoid the need for future bailouts."

EU Presidency: Obama Plans 'a Way to Hell'

FOXNews.com - EU Presidency: Obama Plans 'a Way to Hell' - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News:
"STRASBOURG, France — A top European Union politician on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as 'a way to hell.'

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout 'will undermine the stability of the global financial market.'"

Friday, March 20, 2009

Fluke? Credit crisis was a heist

Fluke? Credit crisis was a heist - MSN Money - Jubak's Journal:
"The folks in power in Washington and on Wall Street want to pretend that the current global financial crisis -- you know, the one that reduced household net worth in the United States by $11.2 trillion in 2008, according to the Federal Reserve -- was an accident caused by some unfortunate confluence of greed and asleep-at-the-switch regulators.

What we're now living through, though, is the result of a conscious, planned looting of the world economy. Its roots stretch back decades. And it wouldn't have been possible without the contrivances of the bought-and-paid-for folks who sit in Congress.

Of course, just because the plan blew up on the looters, taking off a financial finger here and a portfolio hand there, you shouldn't have any illusion that they've retired. In fact, in the 'solutions' now being proposed -- by Congress -- to fix the global and U.S. financial systems, you can see the looters at work as hard as ever."

U.S. Postal Service to cut 1,400 jobs

U.S. Postal Service to cut 1,400 jobs | Reuters:
"The U.S. Postal Service said on Friday it is closing six of its 80 district offices. In addition, administrative staff positions at district level nationwide are being reduced by 15 percent and nearly 150,000 employees nationwide being given opportunity to take an early retirement.

More than 1,400 mail processing supervisor and management positions are also being eliminated."

New York Democrats Indicted in Alleged $30 Million 'Pay-to-Play' Scheme

New York Democrats Indicted in Alleged $30 Million 'Pay-to-Play' Scheme - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com:
"Democratic political consultant Hank Morris and a top lieutenant to disgraced former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi were indicted Thursday in a scheme to trade lucrative investments in the state pension fund for more than $30 million in kickbacks, gifts and campaign contributions, the New York Post reported.

The 123-count indictment against Morris and former state pension-fund manager David Loglisci stems from a two-year pay-to-play probe by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo."

Rhode Island strip club to host job fair

It's good to be American.

Rhode Island strip club to host job fair - USATODAY.com:
"Hoping to take advantage of Rhode Island's floundering economy, owners of the Foxy Lady strip club in Providence plan to hold a job fair on Saturday."

DVD region code blocks British Prime Minister from enjoying Obama's gift

The article below focuses on region coding for DVDs, but the real issue is, why didn't Obama and staff know this? Anyone who works more than casually with DVDs does.

Aside from the fact that it was a terribly thoughtless gift (an afterthought, really, nearing a diplomatic faux-pas), it all says that Obama and staff don't have a clue about anything.

DVD region code blocks British Prime Minister from enjoying Obama's gift

Shovel-ready

"Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr."

I'd say politicians, too.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Big AIG bonuses got nod from Fed

www.dcexaminer.com: AIG bonuses got nod from Fed
"American International Group’s unpaid CEO Edward Liddy said the company’s board has been in close consultation with the Federal Reserve since November about whether to hand out the $165 million in bonuses it issued to its top employees last week."

Buying a Pig in a Poke

It seems the Democratically-controlled US Government has gone into the investment business. Look at the results of the bailouts - the government is now controlling investors or partners with many financial institutions. The problem with all this? Aside from it being the opposite of a free market, the new "investors" (AKA Congress) didn't do it's homework. I doubt any of them even looked at a prospectus of any of the firms propped up with taxpayer money, so they didn't know what they were buying.

If someone bought a car from you without test driving it, then came back and complained about it and said they wanted their money back, what would you do?

Congress did just that, and now they complain.

www.dcexaminer.com: AIG bonuses got nod from Fed
"American International Group’s unpaid CEO Edward Liddy said the company’s board has been in close consultation with the Federal Reserve since November about whether to hand out the $165 million in bonuses it issued to its top employees last week."

Political Punch: President Takes Responsibility for AIG (Not Really):
"COSTA MESA, Calif. -- 'Washington is all in a tizzy,' President Obama said at a town hall meeting here this evening. 'It's their fault, it's the Democrats' fault, it's the Republicans' fault. -- Listen, I'll take responsibility. I’m the president.'

In the next breath, the president said, 'We didn’t grant these contracts, we've got a lot on our plate. But it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure stuff doesn't happen like this.'

But the president said, the point isn't to assign blame but to solve the larger issue."

...Pants on Fire

And the Democrats said the Republicans couldn't be trusted. This really puts the GOP in the bush leagues.

Sen. Dodd Admits Adding Bonus Provision to Stimulus Package - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com:

'In a dramatic reversal Wednesday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., confessed to adding language to a spending cap in the stimulus bill last month that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts signed before the bill's passage.

Dodd told FOX News that Treasury officials forced him to make the change.

'As many know, the administration was, among others, not happy with the language. They wanted some modifications to it,' he said. 'They came to us, our staff, and asked for changes, and the changes at the time did not seem that obnoxious or onerous.'

But the provision has become a flash point for criticism amid the controversy over $165 million in bonuses given out by AIG after securing more than $170 billion in federal aid. The language in the stimulus bill wasn't specific to AIG, but some have expressed outrage that it appears to have created a loophole.

...On Tuesday, Dodd told FOX News that he didn't add the exemption.'"

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Democrats Think America is A "Nation of Laws" - But Only When Convenient

Last I looked, the immigration raids were designed to capture people in the country illegally. Also last I looked, the US does not have an open door immigration policy. Pelosi needs to take a citizenship course, herself!

Pelosi Tells Illegal Immigrants That Work Site Raids are Un-American - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com:
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently told a group of both legal and illegal immigrants and their families that enforcement of existing immigration laws, as currently practiced, is 'un-American.'"

Outrage du jour: Obama on healthcare.

The headline should read: "Obama wants universal coverage for all Americans, at the same time he is trying to drop the VETs." Yup, Obama wants to pay trillions for "universal" care, which apparently will not cover ex-soldiers and sailors.

The US Government has an obligation to pay for care for service-related injuries to veterans, such as wounds received while keeping us (and him) safe. That's a legal obligation, not a just a moral one, and has been through the courts already.

Since Obama's trying to dismiss the US's obligation to vets by putting it off onto private insurers, it seems we can expect the same across the board from Obama's healthcare policies - that if one can afford healthcare, you have to pay for it. Otherwise, you can sit on your ass and do nothing for the country that serves you, and still get whatever you want.

Oh yeah, and when you pay for your own healthcare, it's still your taxes that pay for so-called "universal" care, so you're actually paying for both. Remember that when you write the IRS check.

Don't believe me? Read below...


Universal Health Care May Cost $1.5 Trillion - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com:
"Health policy experts say guaranteeing coverage for all Americans may cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade. That would be more than double the $634 billion 'down payment' President Barack Obama set aside for health reform in his budget."

Washington Times - Obama medical plan for vets spurs outcry:
"The administration for weeks has circulated on Capitol Hill a plan to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in savings by tapping veterans' private insurance for service-related injuries and ailments that for decades the government has been obligated to pay. On Monday, the president and his aides discussed the plan with veterans groups, who said the president told them it would generate $540 million.

It got an angry response."

Corruption: All the King's Men

Washington Times - EXCLUSIVE: Commerce pick tied to China cash:
"Commerce Secretary nominee Gary Locke, whose job would include approving sensitive exports to China, has performed legal work for companies doing business with Beijing and was forced to refund several political donations that he received in the 1990s from key figures in a Chinese influence-buying investigation."

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

11 who got $1M bonuses have left AIG

The mainstream media reports that these were supposedly "retention" bonuses. Wha?

11 who got $1M bonuses have left AIG; Obama weighs options - USATODAY.com:
"WASHINGTON — Insurance giant American International Group paid bonuses of $1 million or more to each of 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work for the company, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday."

ACORN to Play Role in 2010 Census - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com

ACORN to Play Role in 2010 Census - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com:
"The U.S. Census Bureau is working with several national organizations to help recruit 1.4 million workers to produce the country's 2010 census, including one with a history of voter fraud charges: ACORN."

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Guantanao Serving as a Model for Parole of Domestic Terrorists?

Calif. due to release '70s radical Olson - USATODAY.com:
"Sara Jane Olson, who was a fugitive for a quarter-century after attempting to kill Los Angeles police officers and participating in a deadly bank robbery near Sacramento as a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, is scheduled to be released from a California prison this week.

Former Los Angeles police officer John Hall was a target of one of two 1975 attempted bombings by the Symbionese Liberation Army, the urban guerrilla group most notorious for its kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. The pipe bombs were placed beneath two police cars.

One bomb, packed with nails, failed to explode as Hall and his partner drove away from a restaurant in Los Angeles' Hollywood Division on an August night. A similar unexploded device was found under another police car miles (kilometers) away.

"That bomb should have gone off that night," Hall said. "I would have been just one of many people that would have been dead. It just brings up a lot of anger knowing that she's going to be released."

Hall recalls that a girl about 8 years old was watching from the restaurant.

"That little girl was waving at us as we drove off. If that bomb would have gone off, she would have been killed along with her family," said Hall, who served 31 years with the department. "I haven't forgiven her (Olson) in the least for what she's done and what she could have done to many more innocent people."

In addition to the attempted bombings and the Hearst kidnapping, the SLA had a long list of high-profile crimes during the mid-1970s, including the assassination of an Oakland schools superintendent and the shotgun slaying of Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year-old mother of four who was depositing a church collection at a bank near Sacramento when the group robbed it.

Olson was in the bank during that 1975 heist, which netted the SLA $15,000.

Olson, then [going by her birthname] Soliah, was in her late 20s when she joined the SLA. The small band of mostly white, college-educated children of middle-class families was started in 1973 by an ex-convict named Donald DeFreeze. He died with five members of the group in a 1974 shootout with police at their Los Angeles hideout.

After the attempted bombings of the LAPD police cars, Olson fled to St. Paul, 1,900 miles (3,060 kilometers) away, where she acted in community theater, joined a church, taught English to immigrants, worked with senior citizens and raised the couple's three daughters"

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

ALL THINGS HARRY: The Clean Desk

If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?
- Laurence J. Peter

Unemployment: Companies Cut Pricey Older Workers


I read an interesting article about how people manage their stocks that I think applies to the issue of unemployment and the firing of older workers.

The story goes that if someone has a portfolio of several stocks, half of which are losers, most people don't want to admit that those stocks are losers. Rather than sell them, they hold onto the bad-performers thinking that they'll rebound and eventually make money. These folks then sell off the winning stocks and take the profit to buy new stocks. Half of them are likely to be losers as well. Later, the winners are again sold off, with the losers retained, in the hopes that they'll "rebound." This pattern continues until all the good stocks are gone, and all that's left in the portfolio are loser stocks. And eventually you lose your shirt.

The same applies to personnel: if you have a dedicated, well-trained and (very important) experienced workforce, what do you do with them when you have to respond to a market crisis like we're in now? You fire some of them, that's what.

But whom do you fire?

Simpleton logic might dictate that you just fire the ones who make the most money, so you can save on labor costs. But then you lose your best, most experienced and tested people. They are replaced with untested newcomers who don't know the business or the clients. What happens? Sales go down even further. Requiring more lay-offs. And the next tier of well-paid, experienced workers goes out the door. Eventually, only new hires are left.

Businesses need to keep their eye on the ball. That ball doesn't have the word COST written on it, but should display the word EFFICIENCY. More experienced workers are simply more efficient. They know the company, require little to no maintenance, and just do their job, usually unsupervised (maybe lay off some supervisors, how's that?!).

Efficiency dictates that those who bring in the most revenue for the least outlay should be kept. Those are usually the older employees. But nooooo....

So just as one should sell his loser stocks and take the loss, keeping the long term in mind, so should businesses keep the older, yet higher-paid, workers on staff. In both cases, you'll do far better in both the short term and the long run.

ABC News: Unemployment: Companies Cut Pricey Older Workers:
"Anecdotally, some recruiters say they are filling positions once held by older workers -- defined by the federal government as those over 40 -- with eager, inexperienced college graduates."

Marvin Copes ( CPM, PhD) : Gray Power: Debunking myths about older workers:
"Some people think of older adults as frail and sick. They fail to see older adults as healthy, competent, energetic, active people and therefore fear that they will have high absenteeism and tardiness rates.

But in reality older workers tend to have less incidence of absenteeism and tardiness than their younger counterparts."

STOP BGE RATE HIKES Petition

STOP BGE RATE HIKES Petition

Monday, March 9, 2009

Applies to political ideology, too

"Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.
- Eric Hoffer"

Aig Bailout: Why Is The AIG Bailout Money Being Given To Banks?

Aig Bailout: Why Is The AIG Bailout Money Being Given To Banks?:
"The problem, of course, lies in the fact that AIG had written insurance policies that far outweighed its total assets — even at its peak. So bailing out AIG means that taxpayers are bailing out its customers, says the New York Times."

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid

Here's the problem: the banks have already gotten a bailout, called the TARP. They're going to get another one, shortly. Now AIG has given the banks another bailout of their own, using the money meant to supplant the insurance sector.

Why did AIG do this? Because AIG was the insurer for the banks. The banks had policies covering them against losses in bad loans and such that they would make. Therefore, AIG had to pay the banks' policy claims.

Sound like double-dipping? it is. The question now: why is the government bailing out the banks? The answer: because those in government are so out of touch and incompetent, they didn't know this. Did the banks lie? Well, they didn't tell the whole truth, that's for sure. Will they be penalized criminally? Don't be silly.


Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid - WSJ.com:
"The beneficiaries of the government's bailout of American International Group Inc. include at least two dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions that have been paid roughly $50 billion since the Federal Reserve first extended aid to the insurance giant.

Among those institutions are Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Germany's Deutsche Bank AG, each of which received roughly $6 billion in payments between mid-September and December 2008, according to a confidential document and people familiar with the matter.

Other banks that received large payouts from AIG late last year include Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America Corp., and French ..."

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Change

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
- Leo Tolstoy

Why Some Brits Don't Want a Sir Ted Kennedy

Nevermind the fact America does not recognize titles, in case you didn't know that.

Why Some Brits Don't Want a Sir Ted Kennedy - TIME:
The holders of honorary knighthoods — a motley crew that includes U2 lead singer Bono, his potty-mouthed countryman Bob Geldof, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and, until the honor's revocation last year, Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe — are not allowed to style themselves "Sir," a distinction reserved solely for subjects of Queen Liz. But where Brown really got himself in hot water was with his explanation of what the Massachusetts senator had done to deserve his quasi-ennoblement. Kennedy had contributed to improving American health care, boosting educational provision around the world and, Brown told his congressional audience on March 4, "Northern Ireland is today at peace." (See pictures from JFK's inner circle.)

Less than 24 hours later, the head of Northern Ireland's police force revealed that the threat of a terrorist attack currently stands at its highest level in seven years. But that's not why Kennedy's gong has proved controversial. During the 30 years of the Troubles and in the centuries that proceeded this dark period of history and even since some kind of stability has been achieved in the region, the status and politics of Northern Ireland have always been capable of dividing neighbors and friends, much less politicians. "Edward Kennedy may never have said outwardly he supported the [Irish Republican terror group] IRA, but he certainly ...was no friend of the U.K.," said Lord Tebbitt, a stalwart of Margaret Thatcher's government, whose wife was crippled by an IRA bomb attack in 1984. "This honor is wholly inappropriate on the basis of the sleaze attached to [Kennedy] after the crash at Chappaquiddick, let alone his support for nationalism in Northern Ireland."

Free Ride: Black in America

The advantages of political position are well known, but to be black and a member of a black political organization appears tantamount to a "Get out of jail free" card.

Baltimore NAACP official arrested -- baltimoresun.com:
"Baltimore police arrested the vice president of Baltimore's NAACP chapter Thursday afternoon after heroin and marijuana were recovered during a search of his car, though prosecutors declined to pursue charges.

Police said Ellis L. Staten Jr., 44, who is also an executive committee member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Maryland conference, was in the driver's seat of a car that had stopped near Pennsylvania Avenue and Dolphin Street, which police say is a well-known drug market.

Records show that Staten has no prior drug charges or criminal convictions. He was charged in 2006 with assault and harassment, and court records show the complainant was listed as Marjorie Green, the NAACP state conference's vice president. Prosecutors dropped the charges. Green also requested a peace order against Staten, which was temporarily granted but eventually dismissed."

Shut Yer Piehole Dept: AIG and What the Hell is the Fed Doing?

Let me get this straight: We give money to rescue failing AIG group, an American business. AIG then gives much of the rescue to its European partners. Then, the Fed Vice Chairman reveals the names of the European companies who got aid from AIG, saying to "Be wary of AIG." That, in turn, should cause AIG to fail, or at least not recover fully. Will AIG require another bailout based on the Fed's comments?

Jesus, can't we get some people in Washington who know what they're doing?

Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid - WSJ.com:
"In a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday, Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn declined to identify AIG's trading partners. He said doing so would make people wary of doing business with AIG."

Friday, March 6, 2009

"Obama Ain't Jesus"

So much for "Change."

www.dcexaminer.com >> Breaking News:
"SELMA, Ala. -- President Barack Obama's longtime minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, gave an assessment Thursday of his former congregant's short time in the White House: Obama is just like any other president.

Speaking in a brief interview with The Associated Press before giving a speech at a civil rights landmark, Wright smiled at the mention of the name of the nation's first black president.

'He's like any other president,' Wright said. 'He's a politician and he's got to do what politicians do.'"

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Maryland Power Generation and the Politics of Construction

From the Logic Department:
If BGE raises it's rates and blames it on market forces, that market driven by supply and demand, then why doesn't the State of Maryland build its own power-generating plants? That would increase the supply, create competition for BGE, and lower prices.

It seems to me that if the taxpayers can foot the bill for TWO multi-million dollar stadiums, neither of which pay for themselves and go completely unused for much of the year, then we can afford to pay for power plants. At least we'll get a return on our tax dollar.

Of course, if we learn anything from history, the Democratic Legislature will have its usual way, giving those plants away to BGE, who will then ship the power generated off to other states, with taxpayers getting no benefit and stuck with the bill. As usual.

Oh well, just an idea....

Big donors dominate Obama panel

Washington Times - EXCLUSIVE: Big donors dominate Obama panel:
"President Obama's newly named Economic Recovery Advisory Board, the real-world Americans being asked to help solve the nation's financial crisis, includes a union executive who took the Fifth in a federal probe, a billionaire whose failed bank pioneered the subprime mortgage market, and deep-pocket donors who gave or gathered nearly $1.2 million for the president's campaign.

In all, 11 of the 16 board members donated or raised money for Democrats in the last election, according to a Washington Times review of campaign finance records. They include the president and chief operating officer of the American arm of UBS Investment Bank, the Swiss-based bank now at the center of a widening tax evasion probe by the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

In announcing the board's creation, Mr. Obama described its members as 'distinguished citizens outside the government' who were qualified on the basis of achievement, experience, independence and integrity to 'bring a diverse set of perspectives and voices from different parts of the country and different sectors of the economy to bear in the formulation and evaluation of economic policy.'

The board is headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, whose only political contribution last year was $2,300 to Mr. Obama."

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Why Go To School If All They'll Do is Hassle Your ideas?

FOXNews.com - Professor Takes Heat for Calling Cops on Student Who Discussed Guns in Class - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News:
"Last October, John Wahlberg and two classmates at Central Connecticut State University gave an oral presentation for a communications class taught by Professor Paula Anderson. The assignment was to discuss a “relevant issue in the media,” and the students presented their view that the death toll in the April 2007 Virginia Tech shooting massacre would have been lower if professors and students had been carrying guns.

That night, police called Wahlberg, a 23-year-old senior, and asked him to come to the station. When he arrived, they they read off a list of firearms that were registered in his name and asked where he kept them. Guns are strictly prohibited on the CCSU campus and residence halls, but Wahlberg says he lives 20 miles off-campus and keeps his gun collection locked up in a safe. No further action was taken by police or administrators."

Former Justice Pushing for More Civics, Less 'American Idol'

ABC News: Former Justice Pushing for More Civics, Less 'American Idol':
"O'Connor, the nation's first female justice, pointed out that with between the push for better math and science scores and the No Child Left Behind Act, states have stopped making civic lessons a requirement, leaving many kids without the knowledge they need to take an active role in democracy."

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

What is Wrong with Him?

ABC News: Lawmakers Take First Whack at Obama Budget Plan:
"Lawmakers in both parties question Obama's call to reduce high-income earners' tax deductions for the interest on their house payments and for charitable contributions. Also drawing fire is his proposal to start taxing industries on their greenhouse gas pollution — a move sure to raise consumers' electric rates."

Monday, March 2, 2009

Depression? What Depression?

There are several "definitions" of an economic depression, and here's one of them:

Depression (economics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Considered a rare but extreme form of recession, a depression is characterized by abnormal increases in unemployment, restriction of credit, shrinking output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, reduced amounts of trade and commerce, as well as highly volatile relative currency value fluctuations, mostly devaluations. Price deflation or hyperinflation are also common elements of a depression."

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm seeing this. With the Dow sinking 300 points today with no bottom in sight, despite the bailouts of the bailouts, what we have is a recession severe enough to be called a Depression. Yea, that's bad.

The reason you're not hearing it called a "depression," however, has more to do with politics than economics. The banks aren't caving in as they did in the 1930s, and the reason they aren't is that the Democratic Congress is propping them up, with what seems to be a never-ending stream of bailouts. Some might argue that it's good to not let American banking fail. Maybe so,maybe not. But the Democrats will pay any price - including sacrificing the long-term security of the country - to not be seen as the party that led us into another depression. Performance and reality be damned, they know that if this comes apart with them at the helm, there will be hell to pay at the polls. But through their actions in trying to limit the scope of the economic downturn, they have precisely caused the depression.

Further, don't expect the media to be jumping on the "depression" bandwagon; they were the ones who anointed Obama and the Dems in the first place, so they have a hand in this. But one has to wonder if they saw their own demise as part of the New Order?

The fruit on the Tree of Irony is, indeed, flush. Too bad we can't eat it.

Wall Street Tumbles Anew as Financials Slide

Yeah, this is bad, but it's even worse from this perspective; even the attacks of September 11, 2001 didn't affect Wall Street this badly. It took a bunch of corrupt bankers and their paid-for, more corrupt politicians to bring it to its knees.

ABC News: Wall Street Tumbles Anew as Financials Slide:
"The credit crisis and recession have slashed more than half the average's value since it hit a record high over 14,000 in October 2007. And now many investors fear the market could take a long time to regain the lost 7,000."

Expecting Tax Help for your Education Expenses? Think Again.

The Obama tax plan was promoted to help people with higher education expenses. They do, as long as you perform more than 100 hours of community service along with going to school. That's right - you have to do the same duties as those who get community service as punishment for DUI, etc, in order to qualify for a tax break to reimburse yourself for spending your own money on education.

Now I wonder, if one is working a job full-time, and going to school at night, how does he/she find 100 extra hours, especially if they have children?

That's real Change, huh?!

To Those Who Voted Democratic Last Election

... how's your 401K doing, dumbass?

Selling Avalanche Sends Dow Below 6800 - FOXBusiness.com:
"The relentless selling on Wall Street hit another low point on Monday as fallout from the latest rescue of AIG and more financial jitters combined to shove the Dow to fresh 12-year lows and to its worst start to March ever."

Buchanan on race: What Obama needs to hear

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Barack says we need to have a conversation
about race in America . Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these: First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American. Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, arned
Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks. We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?? Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks. Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent? Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse? We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena 6. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

Atomic Energy and our Problems - Einstein

"The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
- Albert Einstein"

How Obama's Taxes will decrease American Output and GDP

The Communist Ideal of wealth redistribution and sitting on your ass while someone else does the work is alive and well in this Administration. To wit:

ABC News: Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan

A 63-year-old attorney based in Lafayette, La., who asked not to be named, told ABCNews.com that she plans to cut back on her business to get her annual income under the quarter million mark.

"We are going to try to figure out how to make our income $249,999.00," she said.

"We have to find a way out where we can make just what we need to just under the line so we can benefit from Obama's tax plan," she added. "Why kill yourself working if you're going to give it all away to people who aren't working as hard?"

The attorney says that in order to decrease her income she'll have to let go of clients, some of whom she's been counseling for more than a decade.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

This should be interesting...

Md. Residents Can Track Stimulus Cash Online - wjz.com:
"Maryland residents can now track just how much of the state's $3.8 billion in recovery dollars will translate into projects in their communities.

Gov. Martin O'Malley officially launched a Web site Friday designed to monitor the use of the state's share of federal economic recovery money.

It's called Maryland's Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It's an online web site that allows Marylanders to track the federal economic stimulus dollars and projects coming into the state."