"Me? Same-old, same-old. What's up with you guys?"clickabiggen
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Boding of the Fore Kind
Those who gathered at Kelly Ingram Park in downtown Birmingham were urged to enlist others who share Obama's vision and to stay away from trying to convert naysayers.
"We're looking for supporters," said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event's organizers. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army."
Covert Cow Infiltration
Government agents monitor cow flatulence. Odd thing, it's an area in which they've shown surprising competence.
1984
clickabiggenAmazing how quickly this is happening. Obama says he doesn't want to run the car companies, but he fired the GM CEO. I guess what he meant was that he doesn't want to actually have a desk at GM; he'll just make the business decisions.
The government also reserves the right to take over companies "for the good of the economy." And now they'd like to limit executive pay for, well, everyone:
Congress will consider legislation to extend some of the curbs on executive pay that now apply only to those banks receiving federal assistance, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said.
“There’s deeply rooted anger on the part of the average American,” the Massachusetts Democrat said at a Washington news conference today.
He said the compensation restrictions would apply to all financial institutions and might be extended to include all U.S. companies.
Could it be that the "deeply rooted anger on the part of the average American,” was engineered by the administration? Were the protection of the AIG bonuses accidentally included in the bailout legislation? Or was it a ploy to manipulate public opinion?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Gore Echo
When you find an excuse that works, I say stick with it.
The same guy who leaked Al Gore's utility bills checked up on Al for Earth Hour:
The kicker, though, were the dozen or so floodlights grandly highlighting several trees and illuminating the driveway entrance of Gore’s mansion.
I [kid] you not, my friends, the savior of the environment couldn’t be bothered to turn off the gaudy lights that show off his goofy trees.
So a Gore spokeswoman handled the excuses:
They have undergone renovations to put solar panels on the roof and participate in all of the renewable power programs offered by their local utility.
Obviously she's new, because that was the same excuse they used in 2007, when it was revealed that Gore's utility bills were 20 times the national average. So why isn't she saying that the solar panels have been installed? She also claimed (falsely, or erroneously) that the house is geothermally powered. I'll give her a Mulligan on that, if she'll explain why the solar panels they were putting in last scandal haven't been installed yet.
It'd also be interesting to find out if Gore's Thunder Yacht has solar panels yet.
Taxation
The (amazing) James Taranto noticed:
Two Countries in One!
• "81% Say Congress Can't Raise Taxes Retroactively"--headline, RasmussenReports.com, March 24
• "57% Support 90% Tax on AIG Post-Bailout Bonuses"--headline, RasmussenReports.com, March 23
Obviously, some respondents advocate using time machines.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Fargo
It's just a matter of time, before Justin Timberlake blurtsout that, "President Obama hates white people."
Thursday, March 26, 2009
how do you like your blue-eyed boy
Ms. Death?
Just some gal from the neighborhood, Bernardine Dohrn:
Dorhn incited the assembled radicals to join the war against "Amerikkka" and create chaos and destruction in the "belly of the beast." Her voice rising to a fevered pitch, Dohrn raised three fingers in a "fork salute" to mass murderer Charles Manson whom she proposed as a symbol to her troops. Referring to the helpless victims of the Manson Family as the "Tate Eight" (the most famous was actress Sharon Tate) Dohrn shouted:
Dig It. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, they even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild!
You've probably heard the quote, which she could get away from with just: "I was a young and stupid kid," but which she won't get away from, because now she's an old and stupid crone.
Anyway, HEY Bernardine, your boyfriend's forehead swastika is getting wrinkled:
Big Scary Charles Manson
'I'm having a very good crisis,' says Soros
A hedge fund manager who predicted the global credit crunch has said the financial crisis has been 'stimulating' and the culmination of his life's work.
George Soros, who predicted the global financial crisis twice before, was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse.
Mr Soros said his prediction meant he was better able to brace his Quantum investment fund against the gloabal storm.
But other investors failed to take notice of his prediction and his decision to come out of retirement in 2007 to manage the fund made him $US2.9 billion.
So, which presidential candidate do you support if you're in favor of economic collapse? Yobamma. Soros may be evil, but he's not dumb.
Mark Levin
I've been busy this morning so I'll let one of the big brained contribute: Mark Levin.
Why have I been busy? I had to fill out form I-9 on myself, attesting that I have inspected the passport of this employee, me, and that he (I) appear(s) to be a US citizen with proper documentation, and not some illegal Norwegian snuck into the country to take our (their) jobs.
I have to do this despite the fact that the form itself states: "This form is not filed with USCIS or any government agency." It's supposed to be retained by the employer; which is me in this case.
I'll take them the form, which I shouldn't have to take them, plus a copy of the web page that says that until April 3, 2009, this is the form to use, plus a photocopy of my passport. And I'll jump through all these hoops because it's easier than educating them that the law wants employers to fill out this form and file it for later inspection if needed.
Course, there's every possibility that the person who isn't supposed to be asking for this stuff will freeze when confronted with the facts. I may end up having to make a video showing myself putting this form into a filing cabinet, get documentation that the video doesn't appear to be altered in any way, and schedule a screening of the video for the concerned government worker and any necessary witnesses.
It's just over caution. In the government, you can get grief for doing something wrong, but you'll seldom get grief for not doing anything at all. The base I need to get onto found out that illegal aliens were cutting the grass last year. So someone is scared of letting any civilian on base.
So, do you see why putting the government in charge of health care might not be the greatest thing in the world? The bureaucrat who needs to approve your life saving drug might have been yelled at last month for wasting money... so go fish.
And, btw, my headaches with incompetent people in government are minor. Combine flawed humans with a huge bureaucracy and you get good people unable to do their jobs, timid people getting in the way, and dedicated servants losing their jobs for the stupidest of reasons.
Yeah, let's have more of that.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Life Is Like
A banana chocolate.
This is the new obsession at our house. Mawesome - awesome for the mouth. I think Marshals sells them.
I was going to do an Amazon link but it's from a third party, and the shipping was $9.79 for a $5.79 box. That's almost Obama math. True Obama math would be $9.79 for a $5.79 box, and they ship you an empty box.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Write Letters
And party like it's 1773, in Boston. Which is my way of reminding you that we need to let our elected representatives know how we feel about borrowing on our children's future. Call, e-mail, or write your congressman, senator, and friends. It looks like the O momentum is faltering and the whole rickety plan is getting wobbly. Now is the time to push back.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Pretty Good Deal
Hey, it's worth the price just to avoid having to set-up and take down the pressure washer. Wonder if that includes turtle wax when needed.
Headline
Another headline that says all I need to know:
NASA halts test of space station urine recycler
Very good, no, no details needed. Thanks for the info.
Space-Time Suspended
RB clued me to this insult to Sarkozy:
In a letter described by Chirac as 'very nice,' Obama wrote, 'I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world.'
And Drudge noted this:
MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has held talks with Mikhail Gorbachev, a spokesman for the former Soviet leader said on Monday, in the latest sign of Washington's efforts to "press the reset button" on ties with Russia.
So I'm wondering... as Chris Matthews probably suspects, can our new president travel in time, using just the raw power of his mind? It might explain a lot. (including the "I've campaigned in 57 states so far.." gaffe)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Never Divide By Zero
"Whoops," thought Betsy as the vortex gripped her, "I divided by zero again," times infinity 
Eric sees the warning, but thinks the rules don't apply to him. "Maybe if just divide by zero a little..."
Why Half the Story?
AP via Yahoo News tells part of the story:
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A busload of activists representing working- and middle-class families paid visits Saturday to the lavish homes of American International Group executives to protest the tens of millions of dollars in bonuses awarded by the struggling insurance company after it received a massive federal bailout.
About 40 protesters sought to urge AIG executives who received a portion of the $165 million in bonuses to do more to help families.
"We think $165 million could be used in a more appropriate way to keep people in their homes, create more jobs and health care," said Emeline Bravo-Blackport, a gardener.
No word on if they're going to protest Obama's income from the latest book; couldn't that money be better spent buying infant formula, for the children?
But that's not the interesting bit. Sure, they're just wackos-on-a-bus, but look whose wackos they are:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A small political party angry at bonuses paid to staff of bailed out insurance giant American International Group is organizing a bus tour to the Connecticut homes of several AIG executives.
"We're all mad at AIG," the Connecticut Working Families Party, a small liberal party, said on its Web site, inviting people to sign up for its "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous" bus tour and a rally at the company's Wilton, Connecticut, headquarters, on Saturday.
And who are the Working Families Party? The Wiki say:
New York's Working Families Party was first organized in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, ACORN and other community organizations, members of the now-inactive national New Party, and a variety of public interest groups. The party blends a culture of political organizing with unionism, 1960s idealism, and tactical pragmatism.
ACORN? You mean Obama's ACORN? So, just to be clear, Obama's Geithner instructed Dodd, (rightly, by the way) to be sure that the AIG bonuses were paid. Then, (a shocked, shocked!) Obama showed his indignation that the bonuses were paid. Then Obama's ACORN handed the torches out to the angry villagers?
Then Obama announces:
The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said.
The outlines of the plan are expected to be unveiled this week in preparation for President Barack Obama's first foreign summit meeting in early April.
Increasing oversight of executive pay has been under consideration for some time, but the decision was made in recent days as public fury over bonuses has spilled into the regulatory effort.
So the outrage Obama engineered has forced him to institute government control of executive pay.
Is Obama creating American Kulaks?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Smart? Stupid? Diabolical?
The thought popped into my head when the AIG bonuses first came to light: Could the government have approved the bonuses in order to gin up hatred and class envy? It seems a little far fetched, and paranoid, really. But now I see on Drudge:Obama will call for increased oversight of 'executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies' as part of sweeping plan to 'overhaul financial regulation', NY TIMES reporting Sunday, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE... Developing...
"Other companies" too? Not, by the way, that I think the government should have a role in regulating anyone's compensation. But what "other companies" might that be? Just wherever the government has determined that someone is getting paid too much? Is this now America, where if you apply yourself, and work hard, you can grow-up to be anything you want -- within the parameters of what the government will allow?
Anyway, looking for a quote I'd lost track of, I just googled: "government control of the economy is"
first three:
- "government control of the economy is, in fact, wasteful of resources and unable to respond effectively to change."
- "government control of the economy is incompatible with freedom and participation. [B] socialism and freedom can be combined in theory but not in ..."
- "Government control of the economy is what got us into this mess and having more control of the economy is just going to make things worse. ..."
OK, you could expect those. But even better are the suggestions at the bottom of the page:
karl marx economy
the great depression economy
soviet union economy
minimum wage economy
And I don't have to say, do I, that "government control of the economy is" -- socialism?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Let the Asking Nicely Begin!
From Danger Room:
The White House has released a video message to the Iranian people timed to coincide with the Persian holiday of Nowruz. The video, released with subtitles in Farsi, is an appeal by President Barack Obama for "new beginnings" in the U.S.-Iranian relationship. And it includes a direct message to leadership in Tehran: Turn away from nukes.
From the transcript:
The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right -- but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization. And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create.
Submit now, Iran, or we're opening up a can of pretty-please. We mean it!
***Update: Well here's a shocker.
TEHRAN, Iran – The Iranian government brushed aside a Persian New Year's message Friday from President Barack Obama offering to resolve years of hostility, saying it wants concrete change from Washington before it's ready to enter a dialogue.
Obama released the video to coincide with the major Iranian festival of Nowruz, a 12-day holiday that marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year on the Persian calendar. In the video, which has Farsi subtitles, Obama said the U.S. is prepared to end the strained relations if Tehran tones down its combative rhetoric.
Who could have predicted that?
OK, so abandon that. Let's focus on wishing for perpetual motion machines and unicorns.
Whoops
A nightclub boss who wrote a letter to police denying that drug use was rife in her club has lost her license, after cops found that the letter itself was covered in cocaine.
Pauline Terry wrote the letter in January, denying that Club Compass in Ramsgate, Kent was a haven for drug taking. A police raid on the venue had found 'huge' traces of various Class A drugs in the bar and toilets, including cocaine, heroin and ecstasy.
A police source said: ' It does us a lot of favours when the licencee, in defending her nightclub on drug allegations, sends in a letter covered in cocaine.'
Class Warfare
OK, so the House decided on a 90% tax rate for those retention bonuses. Meaning - when it comes to rich people, contracts aren't really contracts anymore. So if you're an exec at Freddie Mac, what incentive do you have to stay on, risking congressional wrath, and confiscatory taxes? From Bloomberg:
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal regulator defended million-dollar bonuses for executives at the government-run mortgage finance companies as lawmakers prepared legislation that would recoup most of the money.
Fannie awarded a total of $4.4 million in retention bonuses to four of its top six executives in 2008, to be paid out through February, according to a company filing with regulators on Feb. 26.
“It’s a reasonable and well-thought-out plan,” James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said today after a speech in Washington. Keeping personnel of Fannie and Freddie Mac was critical when the two mortgage-finance companies were taken over in September, he said. He said the extra money is necessary to protect taxpayers’ investment in the mortgage-finance companies.
Well, but retention bonuses don't mean anything anymore. So, for a fraction of a percent in savings, we no longer have this tool, the retention bonus, to keep the best available people in place. These people are in charge of getting maximum value out of these government "investments". Are we happy to have second string players in charge?
And apart from the question of getting and keeping the most competent people; there's the question of experience. Don't we need people familiar with the structure and policies of these GSE's to lead the recovery effort? I'm certainly not qualified, but if I was, I'd think long and hard about taking a job with such incredible responsibility for a salary that was forever renegotiable.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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