Kind of old, Dear Readers, but, please read this Ann Coulter interview with Right Wing News.
If, like me, you find Islam to be something less than a religion of peace, you won't be surprised by this occurance.
Gateway Pundit always has great coverage on his blog. He provides this link of Afghan President Hamid Karzai dressing down our new president.
My Congressman, Rep. Tom Price, chair of the Republican Study Committee, has started reading the Porkulus bill. Michelle Malkin reports.
Not a moment too soon, the Obama administration is shifting it's focus to the deficit (stop laughing). Read the linked WSJ article, and mark my words, this is going to be used as the excuse not to renew the Bush tax cuts in 2010 and for more reductions in defense spending.
Sadly, ice is the likely cuplrit in the Buffalo plane crash. My guess is when all is said and done, pilot error will play a part. When the NTSB completes its analysis of the USAir Hudson River landing and this accident, those of us travelling by air are going to have to ask ourselves if we're safe when we step onto those commuter planes.
Jay's Commentary Today
Finally, I know many LIberals like to live in the fantasy land that informs them that FDR and his socialist agenda known as "The New Deal" ended the great depression, but, most educated people know that the advent of WW2 and the massive spending on military weapons systems, and the technological advances of war, coupled with the massive pent-up demand from 16 years of depression and war, saw the return of economic good times post-war. For these Libs, spending on their silly projects (as embodied in the Porkulus Bill) will get us out of the current funk, since it's spending on "something." Something, to them, is better than nothing.
I have advocated for increased defense spending, since it actually furthers national goals, restores national pride, can be done quickly, is money spent in the U.S. and employs highly skilled craftsmen and engineers. Instead, Liberals will pay for their mistake (Porkulus) on the backs of the defense industry.
We will all be the worse off for it.
This week was a sad week for this country. Monday could mark the death knell for our American system as President B.H. Obama signs the worst bill in my adult life into law.
end...
...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
American Idol Shocker
It is no secret we're big American Idol fans, so, who shocked us that they didn't or did make it into the round of 36 last night:
Shocked by failing to make it were Jamar Rogers (a lot!) and TK Hash (a little).
Shocked that they made it:
Shocked by failing to make it were Jamar Rogers (a lot!) and TK Hash (a little).
Shocked that they made it:
- Tatiana Del Toro
- Nick Mitchell (aka Normun Gentul)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Eric Boehlert is a big fat liar cat
Eric Boehlert, who passes for some kind of media critic at Media Matters (the left's hit group aimed at right-of-center journalists), has a response to an article in USA Today by conservative Jonah Goldberg. Godberg responds.
In his piece, Boehlert complains that, basically, Goldberg is a big fat liar.
Anyway, I sought to duplicate the work that Boehlert was incapable of doing, and in 5 minutes found these examples to support Goldberg's conclusions:
Nov 11 2008, from WNBC's Gabe Pressman (a 60 year NYC reporting veteran):
"Will FDR Inspire Obama? Obama calls for hope and courage like FDR," and "There is a striking similarity between the situation President-elect Obama faces and the crisis FDR confronted. And there are strong similarities between the personalities of these two leaders elected 75 years apart. Like Roosevelt, Obama is charismatic. He has a beguiling smile. His voice seduces listeners, just as Roosevelt's did."
From the Chicago Tribune, how about some of Obama's own words, days after the election:
"Want a glimpse into the future Barack Obama presidency? Take a look back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first 100 days in the White House.During his “60 Minutes” interview Sunday, the president-elect was asked if he had been reading anything about Roosevelt and the Depression.Yes, he said. “There’s a new book out about FDR’s first 100 days. And what you see in FDR that I hope my team can emulate is not always getting it right, but projecting a sense of confidence and a willingness to try things and experiment in order to get people working again.”
From the International Herald Tribune, just after the election:
"Now the United States is about to get a new president who many people, including Charlie Peters, believe has the potential to be another Roosevelt. Like FDR, Barack Obama has shown an ability to inspire and instill hope, and he has also exhibited the keen intellect, canny political instincts and easy confidence that were hallmarks of Roosevelt."
And, how can we forget the Time Magazine hagiography.
Eric Boehlert, before you throw stones at Goldberg in a fruitless attempt to justify your own and the national press corps slurping at Obama's feet, perhaps you could do some actual research, rather than feign it.
...
end
...
In his piece, Boehlert complains that, basically, Goldberg is a big fat liar.
Anyway, I sought to duplicate the work that Boehlert was incapable of doing, and in 5 minutes found these examples to support Goldberg's conclusions:
Nov 11 2008, from WNBC's Gabe Pressman (a 60 year NYC reporting veteran):
"Will FDR Inspire Obama? Obama calls for hope and courage like FDR," and "There is a striking similarity between the situation President-elect Obama faces and the crisis FDR confronted. And there are strong similarities between the personalities of these two leaders elected 75 years apart. Like Roosevelt, Obama is charismatic. He has a beguiling smile. His voice seduces listeners, just as Roosevelt's did."
From the Chicago Tribune, how about some of Obama's own words, days after the election:
"Want a glimpse into the future Barack Obama presidency? Take a look back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first 100 days in the White House.During his “60 Minutes” interview Sunday, the president-elect was asked if he had been reading anything about Roosevelt and the Depression.Yes, he said. “There’s a new book out about FDR’s first 100 days. And what you see in FDR that I hope my team can emulate is not always getting it right, but projecting a sense of confidence and a willingness to try things and experiment in order to get people working again.”
From the International Herald Tribune, just after the election:
"Now the United States is about to get a new president who many people, including Charlie Peters, believe has the potential to be another Roosevelt. Like FDR, Barack Obama has shown an ability to inspire and instill hope, and he has also exhibited the keen intellect, canny political instincts and easy confidence that were hallmarks of Roosevelt."
And, how can we forget the Time Magazine hagiography.
Eric Boehlert, before you throw stones at Goldberg in a fruitless attempt to justify your own and the national press corps slurping at Obama's feet, perhaps you could do some actual research, rather than feign it.
...
end
...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Senate Gives Finger to America
The Senate today voted for cloture on the porkulus bill.
Sadly, this rotten POS is going to cost us close to $10T over time in interest, assuming it's ever paid off.
I don't really need to say anything more about this thing. It's a huge spending bill, and its impact on the economy will be small and delayed.
It signals the most massive growth of government in our lifetime, and coupled with the ill considered and poorly planned bank bailout, will leave our children, their children, and their children in debt. It'll probably be used as an excuse to reduce social security and other retirement benefits to baby boomers and generations to come, and it will definitely be used as an excuse to cut defense spending.
It's a massive assault on states and state's rights. A couple of Southern governors have expressed that they might not want all the strings attached to their money, Haley Barbour, Governor of MS, said:
"It's not a possibility of strings being attached, it's a certainty ... and until we get a look at what finally passes and all of the implications, it is my belief that there may be some things that we'd be better off not to take."
Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, has similar concerns.
They are the exception, as I expect Georgia will take the money.
But, when these fairly conservative states recognize what a pig this becomes, and what amount of Federal control it requires, will they wise up and say "Enough!"?
I don't know, but I wonder how long it will take for some states to realize that we have become one of states controlled by a strong and demanding central government, not of states, united.
...
end
...
Sadly, this rotten POS is going to cost us close to $10T over time in interest, assuming it's ever paid off.
I don't really need to say anything more about this thing. It's a huge spending bill, and its impact on the economy will be small and delayed.
It signals the most massive growth of government in our lifetime, and coupled with the ill considered and poorly planned bank bailout, will leave our children, their children, and their children in debt. It'll probably be used as an excuse to reduce social security and other retirement benefits to baby boomers and generations to come, and it will definitely be used as an excuse to cut defense spending.
It's a massive assault on states and state's rights. A couple of Southern governors have expressed that they might not want all the strings attached to their money, Haley Barbour, Governor of MS, said:
"It's not a possibility of strings being attached, it's a certainty ... and until we get a look at what finally passes and all of the implications, it is my belief that there may be some things that we'd be better off not to take."
Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, has similar concerns.
They are the exception, as I expect Georgia will take the money.
But, when these fairly conservative states recognize what a pig this becomes, and what amount of Federal control it requires, will they wise up and say "Enough!"?
I don't know, but I wonder how long it will take for some states to realize that we have become one of states controlled by a strong and demanding central government, not of states, united.
...
end
...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Economics and Obama
Gateway Pundit helps put the lie to President Obama's claims that "the tired old policies of the last 8 years" are responsible for the current mess and that this is the "worst economy since the great depression."
Since those of us older than 40 are used to hearing these lies every 4 years from Democratic candidates, we have been through these all before. These are tactics used by Democrats to justify increased government spending and government involvement in your life, and to demonize conservative principles.
If they told the truth, they would be forced to admit that "the worst economy since the great depression" occurred because of Jimmy Carter's policies, and that the best way to grow an economy is by supply-side tax rate cuts (see: Kennedy, Reagan, Bush).
What these prove about President Obama is what we on the right tried to tell people prior to November 4th. This guy is not about "hope" or "change." He has dropped the "hope" meme (choosing, instead, "fear" and "catastrophe"), and the only change has been the level of corruption is back to Clintonian levels!
Welcome back, Dems!
Since those of us older than 40 are used to hearing these lies every 4 years from Democratic candidates, we have been through these all before. These are tactics used by Democrats to justify increased government spending and government involvement in your life, and to demonize conservative principles.
If they told the truth, they would be forced to admit that "the worst economy since the great depression" occurred because of Jimmy Carter's policies, and that the best way to grow an economy is by supply-side tax rate cuts (see: Kennedy, Reagan, Bush).
What these prove about President Obama is what we on the right tried to tell people prior to November 4th. This guy is not about "hope" or "change." He has dropped the "hope" meme (choosing, instead, "fear" and "catastrophe"), and the only change has been the level of corruption is back to Clintonian levels!
Welcome back, Dems!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Arctic - Time for the United States to get militarily serious about it
RADML David Gove, Oceanographer/Navigator of the Navy, has published an article in Proceedings, Arctic Melt: Reopening a Naval Frontier, which discusses the strategic impacts of melting ice in the Arctic.
I am a global warming skeptic (that man is responsible), so, I looked for a political angle in the Admiral's writing, and there is none, just some thoughts for us to consider as the Arctic becomes another sea which is navigable year round, and exploitable as well.
It's interesting, apparently this ocean has been navigable before, "Core samples from the Lomonosov Ridge suggest that some 55 million years ago semitropical waters rich in organic matter covered the Arctic basin, perfect conditions for the formation of vast hydrocarbon beds."
Because the US has not ratified the latest Law of the Sea Treaty, we are being shut out of negotiations ongoing that will determine the future of many of those resources, which include 90B bbl of oil, and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, not to mention vast mineral resources.
So, it's a good read, if you can access the article (I believe it's on the free side of the USNI's web site).
...
end
...
I am a global warming skeptic (that man is responsible), so, I looked for a political angle in the Admiral's writing, and there is none, just some thoughts for us to consider as the Arctic becomes another sea which is navigable year round, and exploitable as well.
It's interesting, apparently this ocean has been navigable before, "Core samples from the Lomonosov Ridge suggest that some 55 million years ago semitropical waters rich in organic matter covered the Arctic basin, perfect conditions for the formation of vast hydrocarbon beds."
Because the US has not ratified the latest Law of the Sea Treaty, we are being shut out of negotiations ongoing that will determine the future of many of those resources, which include 90B bbl of oil, and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, not to mention vast mineral resources.
So, it's a good read, if you can access the article (I believe it's on the free side of the USNI's web site).
...
end
...
More on the "Compromise"
“This compromise greatly improves the bill,” said Senator Susan Collins (RINO, ME).
That pretty much sums up just how rotten the Porkulus bill is. That some tinkering around the edges could greatly improve it shows just how much we need to get into this thing and fix it and change it's entire character from focusing on everyone's unfunded projects to what can really help the economy.
What has happened with this bill, and, I guess, why a bureaucrat like Obama can actually think it's a good thing and immediately necessary, is that every project that has never made the cut when we thought (semi-) rationally about appropriations has been dredged up in an effort to get money moving quickly, and to prevent the time it would take to actually consider worthwhile projects that would similarly get people working.
You know how this goes, because unless you are self-employed, you have seen this in big corporations or in the government. The end of the fiscal year approaches, and there is a big pot of money (I know in my old Corporate Behemoth it used to be capital dollars) left to spend, and you're told, "Spend it or lose it." Usually in the real world, there are worthwhile projects that you wanted to do, but probably either cut before or pared back, so this represents an opportunity to get those going again. In the government, it's an opportunity to do the same, but the projects usually should never have started in the first place (except in DoD, of course).
At any rate, this Porkulus is the same thing, and we have President Obama believing that when he requested "shovel ready" projects, that was what he was going to get. Instead, he may have gotten a few (hundred) billion dollars worth of those, but he also got a ton of crap, too.
I do not want to see this thing passed. If we were going to get some highway and construction projects moving quickly, and couple that with some serious tax reductions (reduce cap gains and the corporate tax rates, and even just making the Bush tax cuts permanent - check out the Senator Jim Demint, R-SC, American Options Plan), this might be more palatable. But, as it is, it is a bunch of pork that will not get mostly spent until 2010 and 2011 and the tax rebates are too weak to have any stimulative effect. So, by Nancy Pelosi's accounting, by this time next year, 5,000,000,000 (that's right 5B) Americans will be out of work.
Here are a couple of other things I want you folks to read:
...
That pretty much sums up just how rotten the Porkulus bill is. That some tinkering around the edges could greatly improve it shows just how much we need to get into this thing and fix it and change it's entire character from focusing on everyone's unfunded projects to what can really help the economy.
What has happened with this bill, and, I guess, why a bureaucrat like Obama can actually think it's a good thing and immediately necessary, is that every project that has never made the cut when we thought (semi-) rationally about appropriations has been dredged up in an effort to get money moving quickly, and to prevent the time it would take to actually consider worthwhile projects that would similarly get people working.
You know how this goes, because unless you are self-employed, you have seen this in big corporations or in the government. The end of the fiscal year approaches, and there is a big pot of money (I know in my old Corporate Behemoth it used to be capital dollars) left to spend, and you're told, "Spend it or lose it." Usually in the real world, there are worthwhile projects that you wanted to do, but probably either cut before or pared back, so this represents an opportunity to get those going again. In the government, it's an opportunity to do the same, but the projects usually should never have started in the first place (except in DoD, of course).
At any rate, this Porkulus is the same thing, and we have President Obama believing that when he requested "shovel ready" projects, that was what he was going to get. Instead, he may have gotten a few (hundred) billion dollars worth of those, but he also got a ton of crap, too.
I do not want to see this thing passed. If we were going to get some highway and construction projects moving quickly, and couple that with some serious tax reductions (reduce cap gains and the corporate tax rates, and even just making the Bush tax cuts permanent - check out the Senator Jim Demint, R-SC, American Options Plan), this might be more palatable. But, as it is, it is a bunch of pork that will not get mostly spent until 2010 and 2011 and the tax rebates are too weak to have any stimulative effect. So, by Nancy Pelosi's accounting, by this time next year, 5,000,000,000 (that's right 5B) Americans will be out of work.
Here are a couple of other things I want you folks to read:
- Mark Steyn on Obama - in which Steyn opines on the audacity of pork and hope
- On NPR's Morning Edition yesterday, there was much discussion about how the Porkulus money should be spent and who should spend it. One thing is for sure, Democrats don't want YOU to make those decisions, you ignoramouses. Remember this Bill Clinton gem (on the surplus, oh...happy days!), "We could give it all back to you and hope you spend it right... But ... if you don't spend it right, here's what's going to happen. In 2013 -- that's just 14 years away -- taxes people pay on their payroll for Social Security will no longer cover the monthly checks... I want every parent here to look at the young people here, and ask yourself, 'Do you really want to run the risk of squandering this surplus?' "
- Charles Krauthammer on how "Hope and Change" became "Disaster and Catastrophe"and the age of New Politics is really just the same old politics.
- Heritage Foundation on why this didn't work for Japan in the 1990's and left them in a decade-long recession
...
Friday, February 6, 2009
We're screwed (well, your kids are)
The Senate has reached a compromise on the porkulus bill. You can thank Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and the ever faithful Arlen Specter for this debacle. I blame Republicans because they should know better. We expect Democrats to spend like drunken sailors to buy future votes and increase their power. We don't need that from the GOP, we need adult leadership.
Our GOP compromisers have saved about $100B off what the Senate was going to pass, but, it's the same as the House's and Carl Levin has promised to bring all the garbage that was cut back during conference.
In a failed, but valiant effort, Senator John Thune (R. SD, the guy who beat Daschle, by the way) introduced an alternative bill which would have instead spent $936B on across the board tax relief for every middle-class family in America. But, it failed. So, instead of each family (making <$250K) getting $11,000 in immediate, and stimulative tax relief (or my alternative defense/aerospace plans), we will massively increase the size of government and make a whole bunch of new Federal programs while not getting enough stimulus to make much of a difference in the economy.
Here's the list of the crap that got cut. Just imagine what is still left in this piece of crap.
I hope this works, I doubt it will, and we've just dug an incredibly huge whole that no amount of defense cutting (and that's what the Dems will try to cut to pay for it) is going to get us out of it.
end...
...
Our GOP compromisers have saved about $100B off what the Senate was going to pass, but, it's the same as the House's and Carl Levin has promised to bring all the garbage that was cut back during conference.
In a failed, but valiant effort, Senator John Thune (R. SD, the guy who beat Daschle, by the way) introduced an alternative bill which would have instead spent $936B on across the board tax relief for every middle-class family in America. But, it failed. So, instead of each family (making <$250K) getting $11,000 in immediate, and stimulative tax relief (or my alternative defense/aerospace plans), we will massively increase the size of government and make a whole bunch of new Federal programs while not getting enough stimulus to make much of a difference in the economy.
Here's the list of the crap that got cut. Just imagine what is still left in this piece of crap.
I hope this works, I doubt it will, and we've just dug an incredibly huge whole that no amount of defense cutting (and that's what the Dems will try to cut to pay for it) is going to get us out of it.
end...
...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
If we must stimulate....let's do it like this...
Men, if we're going to capitulate to spending $1T, let's do it as manly men, on stuff we know will actually stimulate the economy, provide good jobs to engineers and joe sixpacks alike, and make us all proud to be Americans again. So, here's Jay's plan for spending the Trillion bucks:
- Defense Spending - there are numerous capital projects already in progress that could benefit from an injection of dollars - shipbuilding, fighters, new bombers that need to be delivered, maybe even a tanker decision could be made and the P8 replacement for the P3 sped up. We'd also need people to fly and man these and we, of course, could use more tanks, Hummers, and APC's. We also need to modernize our defense and intelligence satellite fleet, and we can probably make a military case for a space shuttle replacement, as well as building that missile defense system.
If we built up our military again like we did in WW2 (without the actual deadly war), we would reap tremendous benefits, as all these projects will have secondary impacts on the economy, and will yield tremendous fringe benefits. Like, the Chinese will know not to mess with us, the terrorists will know we're not taking their crap, and the Iranians will realize that we will kick their ass.
And, another place to help spend $1 TRILLION dollars is:
- Space Exploration - if we can't make the military case for a shuttle replacement, let's make a national pride case for returning to the moon and going to Mars with men. We all know the great stuff the space program brought us - velcro, Tang, the $6M dollar man - let's repeat THAT example of spending, not the boring and failed New Deal.
- Worthy transportation projects: Let's develop a workable SST, let's DO put more concrete on the ground for aircraft (those are called runways), and for automobiles (let's DO improve and expand the interstate highway system), and if the government must subsidize rail - let's do it in the form of high-speed rail connecting say BOS-NY-PHL-DC-ATL-MIA, and NYC-CHI-DEN-LA, and let's develop those flying cars finally!
So, these are my ideas if we must spend this money, let's not waste it on crap like infrastructure and "green" technology and bailouts for banks and auto manufacturers, let's spend it on real stuff that makes us cool again.
\end\
500 Million Americans will lose their jobs....according to Nancy Pelosi
It's a good thing there's a billion dollars in the Porkulus Package for the census, because Nancy Pelosi thinks 500 Million Americans are losing their jobs every month we don't pass the bill:
What's worse? Nancy Pelosi not knowing that there aren't 500 Million people in North America, or the talking heads who refuse to point this out? Many have rightly said, what would happen if Sarah Palin said this?
end...
...
What's worse? Nancy Pelosi not knowing that there aren't 500 Million people in North America, or the talking heads who refuse to point this out? Many have rightly said, what would happen if Sarah Palin said this?
end...
...
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Online petition opposing the porkulus bill
Americans for Prosperity, a "Grassroots, free markets organization" is sponsoring and pledging to deliver an online petition opposing the "Stimulus" bill.
Check it out and sign up.
Also, check out AFP's web site to see what other work they are doing to encourage free market solutions to our nation's problems.
...end...
Check it out and sign up.
Also, check out AFP's web site to see what other work they are doing to encourage free market solutions to our nation's problems.
...end...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Whelan on Daschle
Ed Whelan over in the Corner at National Review online, says it better than I about Daschle,
"According to the lead article in today’s Washington Post, Tom Daschle “waited nearly a month after being nominated to be secretary of health and human services before informing Barack Obama that he had not paid years of back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a wealthy New York investor.
"If President Obama were really serious about ending business as usual, he would immediately withdraw the nomination of someone who was cheating big-time on his taxes and who didn’t level with Obama about the problem at the outset. Of course, if he were really serious about ending business as usual, he would never have selected for a major Cabinet position a former senator of no discernible talent who, while he was a senator, enabled his wife to leverage his status to become a super-lobbyist and who on leaving the Senate cashed in his access to his former colleagues for millions of dollars a year."
Yesterday I provided this article about his and his wife's shady dealings in her position as an aviation industry lobbyist.
end...
"According to the lead article in today’s Washington Post, Tom Daschle “waited nearly a month after being nominated to be secretary of health and human services before informing Barack Obama that he had not paid years of back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a wealthy New York investor.
"If President Obama were really serious about ending business as usual, he would immediately withdraw the nomination of someone who was cheating big-time on his taxes and who didn’t level with Obama about the problem at the outset. Of course, if he were really serious about ending business as usual, he would never have selected for a major Cabinet position a former senator of no discernible talent who, while he was a senator, enabled his wife to leverage his status to become a super-lobbyist and who on leaving the Senate cashed in his access to his former colleagues for millions of dollars a year."
Yesterday I provided this article about his and his wife's shady dealings in her position as an aviation industry lobbyist.
end...
Liberal commentators never cease to amaze me.
Juan Williams thinks the Republicans are going to roll over for Daschle, and apparently, thinks the continued Obama administration snubbing its nose at its own rules will not impact them.
He also thinks zero votes for the "stimulus" was bad politics.
Mara Liassion, in a more brazen statement, thinks the offering of the Commerce Secretary job to NH Senator Judd Gregg, is a brilliant political move. I think it's ballsy and arrogant, but brilliant? No.
All the GOP has to do to shut down this "brilliance" is say "No."
end...
...
He also thinks zero votes for the "stimulus" was bad politics.
Mara Liassion, in a more brazen statement, thinks the offering of the Commerce Secretary job to NH Senator Judd Gregg, is a brilliant political move. I think it's ballsy and arrogant, but brilliant? No.
All the GOP has to do to shut down this "brilliance" is say "No."
end...
...
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Daschle Stinks to high heaven
Yet another tax cheat is running into some hot water trying to get through his nomination.
This time, it's Tom Daschle, former leader of the Senate's Dems. And, he owed over $130k in unreported taxes, until, of course, he had to come clean. As John Hineraker, at Powerline pointed out, this does have the side benefit of helping to collect a bunch of unpaid taxes.
But, will we see a handful of Republicans again cave in to BHO's interest and confirm this cheat?
For those who don't recall, Tom and Linda Daschle have a long history of questionable financial dealings, usually tied to Linda's position as an aviation industry lobbyist.
Tom Daschle may be the most wonderful man in the history of the world to lead HHS, but, he's surely there's some other Liberal Democrat who doesn't carry the same stinking baggage as him.
end...
This time, it's Tom Daschle, former leader of the Senate's Dems. And, he owed over $130k in unreported taxes, until, of course, he had to come clean. As John Hineraker, at Powerline pointed out, this does have the side benefit of helping to collect a bunch of unpaid taxes.
But, will we see a handful of Republicans again cave in to BHO's interest and confirm this cheat?
For those who don't recall, Tom and Linda Daschle have a long history of questionable financial dealings, usually tied to Linda's position as an aviation industry lobbyist.
Tom Daschle may be the most wonderful man in the history of the world to lead HHS, but, he's surely there's some other Liberal Democrat who doesn't carry the same stinking baggage as him.
end...
Not a time for profits?
So, President Obama thinks now is "not the time for profits." The O admin also decided that Citibank's previously planned purchase of a new $50M corporate jet (retiring two older jets) was not in the best interest of...someone.
A couple of questions on these:
So, Barack Obama, I think now IS the time to make profits, but, I am a filthy, nasty capitalist pig.
...end...
A couple of questions on these:
- How many workers did it take to design, build, market, sale, and deliver that $50M aircraft? How many more $50M planes are not being delivered because recipients of the taxpayer's money are not allowed to either spend as they please, or carry through with previously (board-approved, most likely) plans? How many additional people will lose their jobs because of government meddling in public companies? Of course, the government didn't ask these questions (or didn't care) when they passed ridiculous laws like Sarbanes-Oxley, either, so why should they now, when WE MUST DO SOMETHING!
- Since these banks, etc, are publicly traded companies (in most cases), shouldn't their boards and shareholders be making these kinds of decisions and not (after the fact), the government?
- If now is not the time for profits, when is the time?
- Is this part of an Obama signal to all businesses, that if you make a profit, BEWARE! the government intends to get its hands on it somehow?
So, Barack Obama, I think now IS the time to make profits, but, I am a filthy, nasty capitalist pig.
...end...
Friday, January 30, 2009
Economic Tidbits
While Washington fiddles over the porkulus bill before them, and President Obama and Chairpersons Reid and Pelosi march us towards depression, here's a caution from Dick Morris today about out hyper-inflationary future:
"In the seven years between 2000 and 2007, the money supply rose from $600 billion to $800 billion. In 2008, alone, it more than doubled from $800 billion to $1.7 trillion! We cannot sustain this level of increase in the money supply without having way too much money chasing way too few goods and services, sending prices up into double digit inflation. While the economy is in shell shock, at the moment, we face deflation. But once it begins to come back and the dollars come out of hiding, we will find the resulting inflation intractable and very difficult to cure."
In news closer to home, the CEO of AT&T (my employer) today asked the Board to not pay him a bonus for 2008, which they obliged. At the same time, he promised no management salary increases in 2009, but, the board did approve management bonuses, thus much, much reduced from previous years.
...end...
"In the seven years between 2000 and 2007, the money supply rose from $600 billion to $800 billion. In 2008, alone, it more than doubled from $800 billion to $1.7 trillion! We cannot sustain this level of increase in the money supply without having way too much money chasing way too few goods and services, sending prices up into double digit inflation. While the economy is in shell shock, at the moment, we face deflation. But once it begins to come back and the dollars come out of hiding, we will find the resulting inflation intractable and very difficult to cure."
In news closer to home, the CEO of AT&T (my employer) today asked the Board to not pay him a bonus for 2008, which they obliged. At the same time, he promised no management salary increases in 2009, but, the board did approve management bonuses, thus much, much reduced from previous years.
...end...
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Congressman Tom Price - A Stand-up guy
Yesterday, politico.com published this article about a conservative Georgia congressman defending the GOP congressional leadership.
However, in their initial version of this, they attributed the quotes to my representative, Tom Price, instead of Phil Gingrey. I immediately fired off a missive to Congressman Price, so shocked was I that in perhaps the reddest district in Georgia he would say such a thing.
Anyway, he was kind enough to reply today, which I do appreciate. Of course, Congressman Price laid a big fat kiss on Rush, "Rush Limbaugh is one of the country's strongest conservative voices, and I appreciate his work in making sure that Republicans return to the majority."
So, Congressman, thank you, and I won't be making that primary challenge now.
By the way, Gingrey was on all the big talkers today (Rush, Hannity, who knows who else) making his apologies.
...end...
However, in their initial version of this, they attributed the quotes to my representative, Tom Price, instead of Phil Gingrey. I immediately fired off a missive to Congressman Price, so shocked was I that in perhaps the reddest district in Georgia he would say such a thing.
Anyway, he was kind enough to reply today, which I do appreciate. Of course, Congressman Price laid a big fat kiss on Rush, "Rush Limbaugh is one of the country's strongest conservative voices, and I appreciate his work in making sure that Republicans return to the majority."
So, Congressman, thank you, and I won't be making that primary challenge now.
By the way, Gingrey was on all the big talkers today (Rush, Hannity, who knows who else) making his apologies.
...end...
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Stimulus will stimulate nothing
Is there any thinking person in America who actually believes that the proposed $850B "stimulus" package is going to do much to help this economy?
Readthestimulus.org provides some snapshots of the bill, from the CBO's analysis. Whether you agree with the stuff that we're going to find in the bill (and I guarantee, we're going to find lots of egregious stuff), it is obvious that this bill isn't going to provide much of a stimulus for at least a year, if ever.
I encourage everyone to read the CBO analysis, as its 18 page write-up is probably the easiest way to digest, in a summary, what this bill is all about. And, frankly, reading this analysis, the GOP had better come up with a way to fight this monster and keep it from happening. This bill is a waste of taxpayer's 'money, and I guarantee, it'll end up filled with pork in a vote buying effort.
The Heritage Foundation also has some analysis of this pig, among their points:
Of course, that won't happen with this crowd in charge.
Readthestimulus.org provides some snapshots of the bill, from the CBO's analysis. Whether you agree with the stuff that we're going to find in the bill (and I guarantee, we're going to find lots of egregious stuff), it is obvious that this bill isn't going to provide much of a stimulus for at least a year, if ever.
I encourage everyone to read the CBO analysis, as its 18 page write-up is probably the easiest way to digest, in a summary, what this bill is all about. And, frankly, reading this analysis, the GOP had better come up with a way to fight this monster and keep it from happening. This bill is a waste of taxpayer's 'money, and I guarantee, it'll end up filled with pork in a vote buying effort.
The Heritage Foundation also has some analysis of this pig, among their points:
- This bill will cost over $10,000 for every family in America. Better to send every family a check for $10k - trust me, they will spend it better and it'll provide more stimulus than this pile of liberal doggerel.
- The bill doubles federal spending on education. Liberals will say that either 1)we need the money to improve failing schools, or 2) the feds are doing such a good job with education, they should spend more. They'll say it with a straight face
- A significant expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. I will say that if you're poor (or make below about $40,000/year, and depending on how many kids you have) the EITC is a great thing. However, it goes largely to people who don't pay any income taxes. The EITC is a massive transfer payment program.
Of course, that won't happen with this crowd in charge.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Twitter and other cool web stuff...
Ok, I have discovered Twitter. While my Facebook introduction isn't new, my Twitter introduction is.
In case you're not already tuned in to Twitter, it's the latest (ok, not the absolute latest, since they started a year ago) form of social networking, which basically let's you use short messages (Tweets, which are up to 140 characters, akin to the old SMS limits) to let people know what you're doing, where you are, or what you're thinking.
You can also link your updates to your blog (look to the right). You can choose other people to follow, to see what they're thinking, doing, etc. Famous people, family, morons, you name it!
We'll see how old it gets, as I am experimenting with Twitter now. The killer part of twitter is that you can send tweets from your cell phone, so, anytime you have an insightful thought, you don't really have to remember it to have it recorded for posterity.
Of course, who wants all their thoughts recorded for posterity! That's the beauty, though, unless you're a complete fool, you can just record the interesting stuff!
So, check it out, and see what all the fuss is about!
In other news...
This recent CIO magazine article takes a stab at predicting what the big web-technologies/sites of 2009 will be. Among their picks:
...end...
In case you're not already tuned in to Twitter, it's the latest (ok, not the absolute latest, since they started a year ago) form of social networking, which basically let's you use short messages (Tweets, which are up to 140 characters, akin to the old SMS limits) to let people know what you're doing, where you are, or what you're thinking.
You can also link your updates to your blog (look to the right). You can choose other people to follow, to see what they're thinking, doing, etc. Famous people, family, morons, you name it!
We'll see how old it gets, as I am experimenting with Twitter now. The killer part of twitter is that you can send tweets from your cell phone, so, anytime you have an insightful thought, you don't really have to remember it to have it recorded for posterity.
Of course, who wants all their thoughts recorded for posterity! That's the beauty, though, unless you're a complete fool, you can just record the interesting stuff!
So, check it out, and see what all the fuss is about!
In other news...
This recent CIO magazine article takes a stab at predicting what the big web-technologies/sites of 2009 will be. Among their picks:
- tv.com - owned now by CBS, it aims to compete with NBC Universal's and Fox's Hulu.com. If you're not checking out Hulu.com for some streaming video of tv shows and other stuff, you might try it. tv.com promises the same from CBS's library.
- Qik - this one seems really cool. It's a site where you can send your cellphone video live, or archive it to the site, Facebook, or even your blog. I am going to have to check out my cellphone camera and figure out how to do this. Look for some lame video of my dogs soon!
- Boxee - looks like they're trying to be the first out of the box to be an aggregator of on-line video. A way to organize all those online video sites.
...end...
Crook Geithner Confirmed - UPDATED!!!!!
The tax cheat, Timothy Geithner, will be our new Treasury Sec'y.
34 voted against.
UPDATED:
Hotair has the names, of those voting yes, these were the Republicans who apparently think it's ok to be a tax cheat:
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Ensign
Graham
Gregg
Hatch
Shelby
Snowe
Voinovich
2 Dems voted against:
Byrd
Harkin
...end...
34 voted against.
UPDATED:
Hotair has the names, of those voting yes, these were the Republicans who apparently think it's ok to be a tax cheat:
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Ensign
Graham
Gregg
Hatch
Shelby
Snowe
Voinovich
2 Dems voted against:
Byrd
Harkin
...end...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Rush Responds to Obama
Rush Limbaugh provided a response to President Obama's targeting of him today in a response to National Review's Byron York.
Key quote:
"Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing "eternal" power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy. If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of this TRILLION dollar debacle."
...
Key quote:
"Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing "eternal" power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy. If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of this TRILLION dollar debacle."
...
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Obama shoots at Limbaugh. Misses.
In a meeting with lawmakers, Obama chose Friday afternoon to remind Republican leaders that he "won" and that they had best not "...just listen to Rush Limbaugh and [expect to] get things done."
In an interestingly-timed (Friday after Rush's show aired) jab, Obama signaled that he understands that Conservative thought leadership and backbone will come primarily from people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, in addition to organizations like The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, magazines like National Review and Human Events - but, his primary foe from the Right is going to be Limbaugh.
I think it's no coincidence that the timing was as the weekend approached, and after Rush had spent the previous two nights in an exclusive, extensive interview on Sean Hannity's new FoxNews show, where Rush made it clear that conservative lawmakers should not offer compromise to Obama's leftist, statist, ideology. Rush demonstrated that he knows what the Democrats are up to, and Obama fears this reaching the maximum number of Americans, or getting any traction in the press because GOP lawmakers oppose him at every left-wing opportunity. Obama fears Rush (and Hannity to a lesser extent, I believe), because Rush can articulate opposition position, to wit:
In an interestingly-timed (Friday after Rush's show aired) jab, Obama signaled that he understands that Conservative thought leadership and backbone will come primarily from people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, in addition to organizations like The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, magazines like National Review and Human Events - but, his primary foe from the Right is going to be Limbaugh.
I think it's no coincidence that the timing was as the weekend approached, and after Rush had spent the previous two nights in an exclusive, extensive interview on Sean Hannity's new FoxNews show, where Rush made it clear that conservative lawmakers should not offer compromise to Obama's leftist, statist, ideology. Rush demonstrated that he knows what the Democrats are up to, and Obama fears this reaching the maximum number of Americans, or getting any traction in the press because GOP lawmakers oppose him at every left-wing opportunity. Obama fears Rush (and Hannity to a lesser extent, I believe), because Rush can articulate opposition position, to wit:
- "I think the intent here is to create as many dependant Americans as possible looking to government for their hope and salvation. If he gets nationalized health care, I mean, it's over, Sean. We're never going to roll that back."
- "I don't know where what he wants to try has worked. It didn't work in the Soviet Union. It doesn't work in China. They're having to become like us in China in order to survive. It hasn't worked in Cuba. It hasn't worked! It didn't work when the Pilgrims arrived. They tried socialism."
- "The New Deal didn't work. You know, Hoover was president through the Depression for one year. FDR prolonged the depression for seven or eight years."
- "What made this country great is the recognition by our Founders that individuals are all created equal, endowed with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. If you look at the Democrat Party, are they for life? Folks, they're the party of abortion. Liberty? Uh, these are the people that are trying to pass any law they can to restrict where you can go, what you can do when you get there, where you can eat, what you can eat, what you can smoke, when you can't smoke, what kind of baby you can have, all these things."
- "What we need to be doing is Reagan. Very simple. He made the people of this country understand that its greatness is due to them. They're the ones that make the country work. Not policies, not laws, not committees in Congress and so forth, and not cult heroes or personalities, but individual freedom"
- "And Colin Powell says, 'Yeah, the Republican Party should stop listening to Limbaugh.' Well, excuse me. We haven't pulled the party to the right at all. This party has gone to the left; it's gone to the center. We haven't done this. They got the candidate they wanted."
- "I never hear Democrats talking about walking across the aisle. I never see any of them praise each other or brag about the fact that they do it. They brag about the Republicans that they destroy. They brag about the Republican bills, legislation that they defeat. The people that are running our party now have such a defeatist inferiority complex. They want to be accepted by people that hate 'em. They want to be accepted by people that despise 'em. It makes no sense to me. "
- "It wasn't six months ago that the Democrats were out ripping Bush for deficit spending. It was horrible; it was rotten. Now, of course, the question is, 'Can we spend it fast enough to save America?' It's a bill of goods, and a lot is going to depend on how long the media sticks with this. I think they can't let him fail. And there are enough Americans who are simple sponges that watch news twice a week, believe what they see, and are done with it."
Whining About Obama, or Welcome to France
I have recently joined Facebook. I did this to follow my kids around, but, have found it, as others have, to be a fun way to reconnect with old friends. One of the amazing things I have discovered, though, is how many of my (formerly intelligent) college friends have turned into Obamaniacs. These people weren't indoctrinated into Liberal theology at college, since they all went to a Southern, conservative-dominated engineering school. I thought most of these folks were thinking people, who would apply logic and reason to their political views. Somehow, they have been duped, conned, or lost their ability to think rationally. I blame 8 years of constant attacks by the mainstream media, weariness with the war, the downright gloomy economy, and in many cases, a healthy dose of white guilt. Heck, if you weren’t too sure in your beliefs to begin with, what Obama is selling would seem pretty darn good, I suppose.
But, what, exactly, is Obama selling?
Dick Morris has it pretty much figured out, as he paints a pretty bleak picture of Obama's plans to turn us into France. Unfortunately, I believe there are many Americans who see the Western European democratic social-welfare state (see paragraph one) as some kind of ideal to which we should aspire. After all, isn’t France the land of great wine, tasty cheese and some wonderful existentialists?
Why, yes it is. But, it is also, as Homer Simpson informs, the land of “cheese eating surrender monkeys” as it’s most recent wartime past is marked by defeats, usually requiring the American fighting man to bail them out. France is also suffering from a disturbing demographic trend, in which it is turning into a Muslim country. Because of Western-style birth control and attitudes about children in general, to continue to grow their economy and fill low-end jobs, the French have embraced unfettered immigration, and, in their case, much of it has come from African Muslims. Thus, we ultimately get things like the Paris riots of a couple of years ago. In a country we like to idolize as some kind of “thinking man’s paradise” there is actually a native population just as concerned about the country’s make-up as us rednecks are about ours. Hence, Sarkozy strikes a chord.
To our own Liberal elites, it’s not so much what France has become that appeals to them, it is the way France got there. Essentially making itself a socialist state and putting the reins of industry into the hands of elite policy makers. For Liberals, it is about power. It is about proving they really are smarter than the rest of us, and that state run economies have only failed in the past because they haven’t run them. For them, the current global (and American) economic situation provides an awesome opportunity.
History means nothing to them. They don’t care that every socialist utopia was a failure. They don’t care that FDR’s “New Deal” or LBJ’s “New Society” were abject failures. They have actually spent 70 years trying to sell FDR as the saviour of the Depression (perhaps Hitler more accurately deserves that title, or Hirohito, since he managed to get the U.S. into WW2), and now, they actually, with a straight face, suggest that Obama will follow FDR’s model and do for us, what FDR did for 1930's America? Unless Obama has a World War up his sleeve, we’re doomed to economic rough times for at least a few more years.
For those of you who voted for, and support Obama, I only ask that you replace your emotional cap with a thinking man’s cap and start asking where his policies will take us, how comfortable you are with the people who are going to be managing what will become a state-run economy, and whether you are willing to consign your children to lives of weak, but predictable growth, where our personal freedoms, tied as they are to our economic freedom, slowly deteriorate, and our place as the world’s leader is supplanted by China.
A great president told us that “government isn’t the answer to the problem, it is the problem,” and that is just as true today is it was in 1981.
But, what, exactly, is Obama selling?
Dick Morris has it pretty much figured out, as he paints a pretty bleak picture of Obama's plans to turn us into France. Unfortunately, I believe there are many Americans who see the Western European democratic social-welfare state (see paragraph one) as some kind of ideal to which we should aspire. After all, isn’t France the land of great wine, tasty cheese and some wonderful existentialists?
Why, yes it is. But, it is also, as Homer Simpson informs, the land of “cheese eating surrender monkeys” as it’s most recent wartime past is marked by defeats, usually requiring the American fighting man to bail them out. France is also suffering from a disturbing demographic trend, in which it is turning into a Muslim country. Because of Western-style birth control and attitudes about children in general, to continue to grow their economy and fill low-end jobs, the French have embraced unfettered immigration, and, in their case, much of it has come from African Muslims. Thus, we ultimately get things like the Paris riots of a couple of years ago. In a country we like to idolize as some kind of “thinking man’s paradise” there is actually a native population just as concerned about the country’s make-up as us rednecks are about ours. Hence, Sarkozy strikes a chord.
To our own Liberal elites, it’s not so much what France has become that appeals to them, it is the way France got there. Essentially making itself a socialist state and putting the reins of industry into the hands of elite policy makers. For Liberals, it is about power. It is about proving they really are smarter than the rest of us, and that state run economies have only failed in the past because they haven’t run them. For them, the current global (and American) economic situation provides an awesome opportunity.
History means nothing to them. They don’t care that every socialist utopia was a failure. They don’t care that FDR’s “New Deal” or LBJ’s “New Society” were abject failures. They have actually spent 70 years trying to sell FDR as the saviour of the Depression (perhaps Hitler more accurately deserves that title, or Hirohito, since he managed to get the U.S. into WW2), and now, they actually, with a straight face, suggest that Obama will follow FDR’s model and do for us, what FDR did for 1930's America? Unless Obama has a World War up his sleeve, we’re doomed to economic rough times for at least a few more years.
For those of you who voted for, and support Obama, I only ask that you replace your emotional cap with a thinking man’s cap and start asking where his policies will take us, how comfortable you are with the people who are going to be managing what will become a state-run economy, and whether you are willing to consign your children to lives of weak, but predictable growth, where our personal freedoms, tied as they are to our economic freedom, slowly deteriorate, and our place as the world’s leader is supplanted by China.
A great president told us that “government isn’t the answer to the problem, it is the problem,” and that is just as true today is it was in 1981.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Change has come, updated
Barack Obama promised change.
So far, things have changed. He has gotten at least one tax cheat, Timothy Geithner, confirmed for his cabinet where Bill Clinton had to withdraw nominations for similar (actually lesser) indiscretions. And, this is for the man who will lead the IRS.
Good work, Barack!
In an update, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order Wednesday putting into place new ethics rules that would greatly limit the ability for lobbyists to enter his administration, and for former Obama-admin people to work for lobbyists. Obama said, "The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable."
However, that lasted until today, when the Deputy Sec-Def designate was given an exemption.
Hillary Clinton, of course, was confirmed, despite apparent conflicts of interests with foreign donations to the (Bill) Clinton library, and, Eric Holder will be confirmed despite either being a liar or an idiot.
Oh well. The Obama administration is going to hold their people to the same ethical standards as Nancy Pelosi's Congress.
So far, things have changed. He has gotten at least one tax cheat, Timothy Geithner, confirmed for his cabinet where Bill Clinton had to withdraw nominations for similar (actually lesser) indiscretions. And, this is for the man who will lead the IRS.
Good work, Barack!
In an update, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order Wednesday putting into place new ethics rules that would greatly limit the ability for lobbyists to enter his administration, and for former Obama-admin people to work for lobbyists. Obama said, "The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable."
However, that lasted until today, when the Deputy Sec-Def designate was given an exemption.
Hillary Clinton, of course, was confirmed, despite apparent conflicts of interests with foreign donations to the (Bill) Clinton library, and, Eric Holder will be confirmed despite either being a liar or an idiot.
Oh well. The Obama administration is going to hold their people to the same ethical standards as Nancy Pelosi's Congress.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Miracles
Some of my email readers (yes, there are some, mostly family!) took slight issues with my characterization of US Air 1549 as "not a miracle."
Dictionary.com's salient definitions are:
Parting the Red Sea, walking on water, feeding thousands with two loaves of bread, raising the dead. Those things are miracles, surpassing all known human or natural powers. Landing a plane safely on water, while a fantastic achievement, is a human achievement, accomplished by humans, granted, yes, with their God-given skills, but human nonetheless. Chesley Sullenberger and the people responsible for this can (and should) give credit to their God.
But, it's not a miracle.
Don't...
Dictionary.com's salient definitions are:
- an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
- such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
Parting the Red Sea, walking on water, feeding thousands with two loaves of bread, raising the dead. Those things are miracles, surpassing all known human or natural powers. Landing a plane safely on water, while a fantastic achievement, is a human achievement, accomplished by humans, granted, yes, with their God-given skills, but human nonetheless. Chesley Sullenberger and the people responsible for this can (and should) give credit to their God.
But, it's not a miracle.
Don't...
Friday, January 16, 2009
US Air 1549
Being a bit of an aviation buff, I was amazed at the successful water landing this week of US Air's flight 1549, an Airbus A320, bound from Laguardia to Charlotte.
My first thought was that there had never been a successful water landing of a commercial airliner before, which was wrong, as this Wikipedia entry proves. Actually, I am surprised, and pleased, that there have been so many successful water landings.
Of course, that should not take away from the amazing airmanship of US Air's pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, an Air Force Academy grad, and former F-4 pilot, and, apparently, quite the accomplished pilot and safety expert. The passengers and crew of US Air 1549 could hardly have been in better hands. As the NTSB investigates, everyone fully expects they will determine a double bird strike took out both engines. Like water landings, you might be surprised how many bird strikes there are.
I don't believe this was a "miracle" as some people want to call it. Nearly all airline disasters require a sequence of unfortunate events to cause them. In this case, that sequence of unfortunate events was followed by a series of fortunate events - the skill of the pilot, the professionalism of the crew, the design and flying characteristics of the aircraft, the proximity to the glassy Hudson, the landing site itself close to ferrys and watercraft, the calmness of the passengers.
One other thing this story proves, once again, is that the press is filled with idiots. I listened to some of the NTSB's initial press conference today, and I swear, the people covering this should really spend 5 minutes educating themselves about aviation.
Don't...
My first thought was that there had never been a successful water landing of a commercial airliner before, which was wrong, as this Wikipedia entry proves. Actually, I am surprised, and pleased, that there have been so many successful water landings.
Of course, that should not take away from the amazing airmanship of US Air's pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, an Air Force Academy grad, and former F-4 pilot, and, apparently, quite the accomplished pilot and safety expert. The passengers and crew of US Air 1549 could hardly have been in better hands. As the NTSB investigates, everyone fully expects they will determine a double bird strike took out both engines. Like water landings, you might be surprised how many bird strikes there are.
I don't believe this was a "miracle" as some people want to call it. Nearly all airline disasters require a sequence of unfortunate events to cause them. In this case, that sequence of unfortunate events was followed by a series of fortunate events - the skill of the pilot, the professionalism of the crew, the design and flying characteristics of the aircraft, the proximity to the glassy Hudson, the landing site itself close to ferrys and watercraft, the calmness of the passengers.
One other thing this story proves, once again, is that the press is filled with idiots. I listened to some of the NTSB's initial press conference today, and I swear, the people covering this should really spend 5 minutes educating themselves about aviation.
Don't...
313 Ship Navy? Never going to happen.
National Defense Magazine this month discusses the Navy's efforts to get to 313 ships. Their conclusion: It ain't gonna happen. In fact, they think the odds are quite good that we're headed down from the 280 odd ships we have today, and they recommend going from 14 to 10 SSBN's and reducing the number of carriers to 10.
I have been discussing this with some surface warfare friends of mine, and they agree that efforts like the LCS, the DDG-1000, and the CG(X) are all flawed. The Navy has serious issues with costs and delivery schedules on these projects. Interesting that, just like the Seawolf, the SWO's are going to get 3 DDG-1000's. The LCS, slated for a class of 55, is in serious danger, as well.
Is the Burke design so old that it can't be used again? Are our enemies so sophisticated that the core platforms (hull design and propulsion plant) can't be reused? Just a thought.
What is to blame? Well, just as most I/T projects are derailed by an inability to hold the line on new requirements after coding begins, the Navy has been unable to restrain itself in issuing new requirements after construction has begun. The Navy is right that it is impossible anymore to wait until a design is finalized before beginning construction, but... a little discipline has to be exercised.
For example:
On the Seawolf, only about 6 percent of the design was complete before construction began in the late 1980s. About 68,000 changes were made on the ship as it went through the construction process. When EB later set out to build the Virginia-class submarine, its engineers had completed about 50 percent of the design before bending steel. That ship experienced 12,000 changes.
This is all pretty basic stuff, whether you're delivering custom software, integrating large information systems, or building ships.
Amazing that in a $500B DoD budget, we can't get but $15B for shipbuilding.
Anyway...
I have been discussing this with some surface warfare friends of mine, and they agree that efforts like the LCS, the DDG-1000, and the CG(X) are all flawed. The Navy has serious issues with costs and delivery schedules on these projects. Interesting that, just like the Seawolf, the SWO's are going to get 3 DDG-1000's. The LCS, slated for a class of 55, is in serious danger, as well.
Is the Burke design so old that it can't be used again? Are our enemies so sophisticated that the core platforms (hull design and propulsion plant) can't be reused? Just a thought.
What is to blame? Well, just as most I/T projects are derailed by an inability to hold the line on new requirements after coding begins, the Navy has been unable to restrain itself in issuing new requirements after construction has begun. The Navy is right that it is impossible anymore to wait until a design is finalized before beginning construction, but... a little discipline has to be exercised.
For example:
On the Seawolf, only about 6 percent of the design was complete before construction began in the late 1980s. About 68,000 changes were made on the ship as it went through the construction process. When EB later set out to build the Virginia-class submarine, its engineers had completed about 50 percent of the design before bending steel. That ship experienced 12,000 changes.
This is all pretty basic stuff, whether you're delivering custom software, integrating large information systems, or building ships.
Amazing that in a $500B DoD budget, we can't get but $15B for shipbuilding.
Anyway...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Obamania having an impact on Americans perceptions
Rasmussen Reports that Americans are warming to the idea of more government intervention in the economy. Some highlights from recent Rasmussen polling:
- 45% of voters nationwide fear the government will do too much in response to the economic crisis while 44% are concerned that the government won’t do enough. In September, the numbers were 63% too much, 25% too little.
- The one constant throughout, however, is belief in the power of tax cuts to help the economy. In every survey conducted over the past few months, a majority of voters have favored tax cuts and tax cuts have consistently been more popular than stimulus plans involving new government spending. The latest findings show that 55% of voters believe any economic recovery plan approved by Congress should include tax cuts.
So, Obama is selling the idea that government is the solution, the media is contributing to Obama as the "New, New Deal" savior, and Americans are buying that government is the answer.
Although most Americans understand that tax cuts should be included in any recovery plan, my fear is they are only thinking of the pittance they will get, and are buying into the "tax the rich" scheme that Obama is peddling. As I have posted recently, we need big, bold tax cuts, for individuals, for corporations, and for investors. The overall economy won't benefit from government "investment," "stimulus," or other "infrastructure" spending. This is only taking money out of the economy from one place (taxpayers or investors) and transferring it to another (see this Heritage org piece).
Conservatives and Libertarians need to band together to return our nation to fiscal responsibility and sound tax policy. We are rapidly devolving to a Western European style welfare state and a future of low (or no) growth, and will be likewise ceding our leadership place in the world to the Chinese.
nothing more to
Discovering the fate of Hunley nears....
The mystery remains on what happened on board the CSS Hunley the night it sunk the Housatonic. Although this article doesn't shed much light, are historians approaching the conclusion that the Hunley's crew died from lack of oxygen?
Big Hollywood. Thank you Andrew Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart has started a new Conservative/Libertarian site for the Left Coast, Big Hollywood. I encourage you all to check it out.
Warning - Liberals will be incensed, so visit at your own risk.
No more to read...
Warning - Liberals will be incensed, so visit at your own risk.
No more to read...
George H.W. Bush Commissioning
This weekend, in Newport News, the final Nimitz-class carrier, the George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is being commissioned. It's a pretty big deal, with the namesake, the President, pretty much every other Bush alive, and Greta Van Susteren in town for it. It's hard to believe it's been over 30 years since the Nimitz was commissioned, but, alas, it has been.
If you're like me, and you think that naming vessels after living people is bad luck, go read how Bubblehead is lamenting the announcement that we're going to name a Virginia-class SSN after John Warner. Lots of good comments over there.
I'd like to get away from this practice, and I agree with Bubblehead that we could have honored Warner with a destroyer or something else...
At any rate, read about the H.W. Bush here.
If you're like me, and you think that naming vessels after living people is bad luck, go read how Bubblehead is lamenting the announcement that we're going to name a Virginia-class SSN after John Warner. Lots of good comments over there.
I'd like to get away from this practice, and I agree with Bubblehead that we could have honored Warner with a destroyer or something else...
At any rate, read about the H.W. Bush here.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Posting
Wow! It's been over a month since I last posted.
Sorry, if you're a regular reader. Christmas was a busy season around our house, and I have been pretty busy at work preparing for a potential calamity.
Plus, the guys at The Sub Report and our other submarine bloggers keep a good job keeping you abreast of submarine issues, and Obama has basically become Bill Clinton III, so, what more is there to say about him until he actually starts governing?
Since it's about a week away, all I will say to you is: BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!
The Left is in control, and rather than do those things that will actually get this economy out of the mess it's in, we have Obama proclaiming that only the government can save us. If that's the way we're going to treat this economy, we're all screwed.
We'll get a bunch of roads out of it, we'll get another "Stimulus" check, and the unemployment rate will keep rising, and growth, if it ever returns, will be stymied by the massive deficits we are ringing up.
When I have more time, I'll discuss, and point you all to links that blow away the myth of FDR as savior of the Depression. Passive students of history know WW2 saved us from the depression, and that the statist policies of Hoover from 29-32 and FDR from 32-40 were abject failures.
So, what will save us this time?
As I have said before, we need massive reductions in marginal tax rates - FOR EVERYONE - but mostly for the BASTARD RICH. We need the people who have real money to invest, to invest.
We also need corporate tax rates lowered, we need cap gains rates cut in half, and we need the government to stop pushing the phony-baloney global warming crap, put in place incentives to drill for oil, and allow the automakers to go into bankruptcy, if that's what their business model leads them to.
Without those steps, or some portion of them, we will see a prolonged recession, more unemployment, and a weakened economy when it finally does turn around.
So there.
Sorry, if you're a regular reader. Christmas was a busy season around our house, and I have been pretty busy at work preparing for a potential calamity.
Plus, the guys at The Sub Report and our other submarine bloggers keep a good job keeping you abreast of submarine issues, and Obama has basically become Bill Clinton III, so, what more is there to say about him until he actually starts governing?
Since it's about a week away, all I will say to you is: BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!
The Left is in control, and rather than do those things that will actually get this economy out of the mess it's in, we have Obama proclaiming that only the government can save us. If that's the way we're going to treat this economy, we're all screwed.
We'll get a bunch of roads out of it, we'll get another "Stimulus" check, and the unemployment rate will keep rising, and growth, if it ever returns, will be stymied by the massive deficits we are ringing up.
When I have more time, I'll discuss, and point you all to links that blow away the myth of FDR as savior of the Depression. Passive students of history know WW2 saved us from the depression, and that the statist policies of Hoover from 29-32 and FDR from 32-40 were abject failures.
So, what will save us this time?
As I have said before, we need massive reductions in marginal tax rates - FOR EVERYONE - but mostly for the BASTARD RICH. We need the people who have real money to invest, to invest.
We also need corporate tax rates lowered, we need cap gains rates cut in half, and we need the government to stop pushing the phony-baloney global warming crap, put in place incentives to drill for oil, and allow the automakers to go into bankruptcy, if that's what their business model leads them to.
Without those steps, or some portion of them, we will see a prolonged recession, more unemployment, and a weakened economy when it finally does turn around.
So there.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Fixing the Economy - My Plan
Just caught a little glimpse from CNN of Obama's jobs plan. Looks a lot like typical Liberal fare. Infrastructure projects, a tax credit of some kind. Roads and bridges are good, and a necessary function of government, but, let's be serious here.
Unless we're willing to really endure some corrections - like lots of foreclosures, and the bankruptcy of the automobile (and associated) industries, in order to lower costs structures and make these businesses competitive - we need some drastic, supply-side work done.
If Obama really wants to jump start things - let's go with my plan:
Unless we're willing to really endure some corrections - like lots of foreclosures, and the bankruptcy of the automobile (and associated) industries, in order to lower costs structures and make these businesses competitive - we need some drastic, supply-side work done.
If Obama really wants to jump start things - let's go with my plan:
- A serious and drastic cap gains tax reduction - if not 0%, how about a reduction to 5% or 7.5%. That would get some capital spending started immediately.
- A serious income tax reduction, not tinkering, like Obama wants to do with no changes on "the rich," but a real reduction, on the order of 30-50% on ALL taxpayers, especially those rich investors.
- Privatize at least a portion of social security. Get these obligations off the government's books, and get this capital into the market, where it can help spur investment.
- While I dont' want the automakers to fold, I do want them to restructure. Work something out that is a pseudo-Chapter 11 for them. Get real concessions from the unions who hamstring them, and get rid of their rotten management.
- Quickly devise a plan to get the government out of the financial industry.
- Repeal rotten laws like Sarbanes Oxley.
- Get rid of CAFE standards and some of the other mandated standards the automakers and other industries must deal with.
The path forward needs less government, and more capitalism, not the opposite. If we continue on the tack we are on, we will wind up with 2 years of recession and a weak growth cycle.
Drastic times call for drastic measures. Let's have some.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Sarah Palin Stumps for Saxby
Today the wife, youngest daughter, and I made it over to the big Palin/Chambliss rally at the Gwinnett Arena.
I'd estimate there were about 4000-5000 present. I guess that's not too shabby for a run-off election event. Sarah Palin is the big draw. No one would have attended without her, so it's a good idea for Chambliss to end his campaign with the biggest, most exciting attraction.
The event, for us, was only marred, because some of the more aggressive adults pushed youngest daughter out of the way to get to Sarah for an autograph, breaking a 13 year old's heart. Some old men just gotta get close to greatness, I suspect.
As for the speech by Sarah, it was a pretty vanilla stump speech. I can't really get past her diction and speaking style, but, the regular folks seem to lap it up, and she always has a few good applause lines. I just wish she had better speechwriters, and didn't seem to ramble on sometimes.
I'd say 3,000-5,000 present. The AJC was there and the report is pretty accurate. Note they said about 1000 for the Martin/Ludacris event. Otherwise, she's a great draw and worth the short trip to see her.
Here are a few action shots.
Mom and Daughter await Sarah
Some of the crowd
Saxby
Sarah!
Sarah speaking
The back side of the arena, with the press stand.
I'd estimate there were about 4000-5000 present. I guess that's not too shabby for a run-off election event. Sarah Palin is the big draw. No one would have attended without her, so it's a good idea for Chambliss to end his campaign with the biggest, most exciting attraction.
The event, for us, was only marred, because some of the more aggressive adults pushed youngest daughter out of the way to get to Sarah for an autograph, breaking a 13 year old's heart. Some old men just gotta get close to greatness, I suspect.
As for the speech by Sarah, it was a pretty vanilla stump speech. I can't really get past her diction and speaking style, but, the regular folks seem to lap it up, and she always has a few good applause lines. I just wish she had better speechwriters, and didn't seem to ramble on sometimes.
I'd say 3,000-5,000 present. The AJC was there and the report is pretty accurate. Note they said about 1000 for the Martin/Ludacris event. Otherwise, she's a great draw and worth the short trip to see her.
Here are a few action shots.
Mom and Daughter await Sarah
Some of the crowd
Saxby
Sarah!
Sarah speaking
The back side of the arena, with the press stand.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Georgia Tech 45, Georgia 42
Paul Johnson:
Don't
"That old high school offense looked pretty good today."That sums it up.
Don't
I Don't Envy Barack Obama
I personally think George Bush has done a fine job as a wartime president, and I think he is at peace with the job he has done. I have supported him for 8 years (despite what he has done to Conservatism as a cause) because he was absolutely right on the War on Terror and he has prosecuted it in a steadfast manner.
In every war, leaders make mistakes at the strategic level, and one can argue that Iraq was either a strategic blunder, or a necessary cog in the larger GWOT. One can argue the rationale used all day long, and we have. My bottom line is it was hard to imagine fighting a "Global War On Terror" and not taking down Saddam Hussein during it at some point.
W was ridiculously married to his initial strategy in Iraq, which plainly wasn't working. It took David Petraeus and (yes) John McCain to get him to change. Fortunately, he listened to Petraeus and McCain was able to bring enough political pressure and fortitude to Bush to get him to change direction and lead us to the point we can now legitimately claim victory in Iraq. This Thnaksgiving weekend, we all owe a huge debt of thanks to these two men, and also to President Bush, but mostly to the troops on the ground, who still secure this peace.
Now, it will be up to BHO to bring this chapter to a conclusion with honor, dignity, and leaving intact the second functioning democracy in the Middle East.
Yet, BHO's job is not getting any easier, just as the most difficult of the initial GWOT battles draws to a close. This week's events in India demonstrate that Islamofascists are determined to shed blood in the name of their "cause." Russia is openly flaunting the Monroe Doctrine (hopefully Katie Couric has been briefed on it) and is rattling her saber at our friends in Eastern Europe. Afghanistan, which has suffered from too much success too soon, and now suffers from History (Brits, Russians, Americans?), demands his attention.
At home, the economy has taken its worse hit since 1979. Democrats are talking about an incerdible $800B stimulus package on top of the already nearly $1T spent on bank and financial bailouts. By the time these are done, there will be zero dollars remaining for any of BHO's domestic priorities.
Conservatives are buoyed that the economic crisis may force BHO to actually apply economics to his policies, vice pander for votes. It's a shame that we have to enter into a crisis to have Democrats acknowledge reality. Still, we could see bailouts of the automobile industry that keep the inflated wage scales of the UAW intact, amid other atrocities.
For those of you that voted for BHO, he does seem like a thoughtful person. That may serve us well, it may not.
If W fashioned himself the modern Lincoln or FDR wartime president, does BHO see himself as their "domestic" counterpart? Healing the nation's psychic wounds from slavery, and saving our financial mess?
I might advise BHO and his supporters that those two presidents had limited success in their agendas at home. Of course, reconstruction wasn't carried out by Lincoln, but we saw its legacy last through 1964 in law, and through today in perceptions. FDR's depression-era reforms were not all that successful, and hinder our economy to this day. While many were necessary and serve us well, I think it's safe to say the Federal beast was hatched by FDR.
Anyway, good luck President-elect Obama. You're going to need it.
Don't
In every war, leaders make mistakes at the strategic level, and one can argue that Iraq was either a strategic blunder, or a necessary cog in the larger GWOT. One can argue the rationale used all day long, and we have. My bottom line is it was hard to imagine fighting a "Global War On Terror" and not taking down Saddam Hussein during it at some point.
W was ridiculously married to his initial strategy in Iraq, which plainly wasn't working. It took David Petraeus and (yes) John McCain to get him to change. Fortunately, he listened to Petraeus and McCain was able to bring enough political pressure and fortitude to Bush to get him to change direction and lead us to the point we can now legitimately claim victory in Iraq. This Thnaksgiving weekend, we all owe a huge debt of thanks to these two men, and also to President Bush, but mostly to the troops on the ground, who still secure this peace.
Now, it will be up to BHO to bring this chapter to a conclusion with honor, dignity, and leaving intact the second functioning democracy in the Middle East.
Yet, BHO's job is not getting any easier, just as the most difficult of the initial GWOT battles draws to a close. This week's events in India demonstrate that Islamofascists are determined to shed blood in the name of their "cause." Russia is openly flaunting the Monroe Doctrine (hopefully Katie Couric has been briefed on it) and is rattling her saber at our friends in Eastern Europe. Afghanistan, which has suffered from too much success too soon, and now suffers from History (Brits, Russians, Americans?), demands his attention.
At home, the economy has taken its worse hit since 1979. Democrats are talking about an incerdible $800B stimulus package on top of the already nearly $1T spent on bank and financial bailouts. By the time these are done, there will be zero dollars remaining for any of BHO's domestic priorities.
Conservatives are buoyed that the economic crisis may force BHO to actually apply economics to his policies, vice pander for votes. It's a shame that we have to enter into a crisis to have Democrats acknowledge reality. Still, we could see bailouts of the automobile industry that keep the inflated wage scales of the UAW intact, amid other atrocities.
For those of you that voted for BHO, he does seem like a thoughtful person. That may serve us well, it may not.
If W fashioned himself the modern Lincoln or FDR wartime president, does BHO see himself as their "domestic" counterpart? Healing the nation's psychic wounds from slavery, and saving our financial mess?
I might advise BHO and his supporters that those two presidents had limited success in their agendas at home. Of course, reconstruction wasn't carried out by Lincoln, but we saw its legacy last through 1964 in law, and through today in perceptions. FDR's depression-era reforms were not all that successful, and hinder our economy to this day. While many were necessary and serve us well, I think it's safe to say the Federal beast was hatched by FDR.
Anyway, good luck President-elect Obama. You're going to need it.
Don't
Friday, November 28, 2008
Global Warming Descends...
With the elevation of Vaclav Klaus to the presidency of the EU, a renewed emphasis on Global Warming reality (i.e. it is nothing more that the normal warming/cooling cycle of the planet)may be setting in.
A couple of articles emphasize this:
Don't
A couple of articles emphasize this:
- The Sydney Morning Herald on attempts to discredit Klaus
- World wide polling showing a slip in support for GW alarmist actions
Don't
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Palin to Georgia
Sarah Palin is coming to Georgia to campaign for Saxby Chambliss on Monday, Dec. 1, in advance of the runoff the next day. Will she be able to sway any voters, or, more importantly, get out the vote for our 41st senator? I plan on attending her rally with the wife and our 13 year old daughter. Hope to see lots of other families there. If we make it, will send a report!
If you're in Georgia, sign up here!
Czech Prez In Cross-hairs of NYTimes
In this New York Times article, they say things about Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, that they would like to say about American conservatives. Klaus is one of us, and appears to be scaring Europe's Left Wing. Good for him, and perhaps for us, too.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Change?
Well, the Obamadministration is shaping up.
If you haven't been paying attention, this is really starting to look a lot like the Clinton administration, even including a Clinton (Hillary!) in the high level Sec'y of State post.
I guess if you're a conservative, like me, you're starting to think that this may not be so horrible after all. Let's face it, the Clinton years, economically, were not horrible years, and, if BHO decides he wants to be a free trader, wants to keep cap gains rates low, and only raises taxes on those making over $250k, it may not be really awful for the rest of us. Forget that those making over $250k will not hire more workers in their small businesses, will not spend as much on luxury items that the little guys build and sell, and won't invest their extra money in ventures that the little guys might want to start. But, given that a Marxist/Socialist won, it could be worse than Clinton III.
His economic team, while certainly left of center, is likely to be pragmatic and not likely to allow Obama to ruin the economy. So, I think we can take some solace there.
In foreign policy, I think most of us can agree the Clinton years were a disaster. Terrorism prospered, our president made an apology tour for slavery, and the military was emasculated.
Will Hillary make a difference there? Maybe. She has more balls than the rest of the Obama foreign policy team is likely to have, and given the prospect of a joke like Madeline Albright, she's going to be better. Plus, it opens the door for Rudy to take her seat in 2010. Furthermore, we already see him backing off the Iraq pullout plans, and he's said he's going to send MORE troops to Afghanistan.
Clearly, social policy is going to be far left. We'll see if BHO signs the Freedom of "Choice" Act, making on demand abortion the law of the land, as his first act, as he has promised. We'll see if he lifts the ban on federal funding of abortion, and permits the US government to fund abortions overseas. If he shows this group the back of his hand, he may be someone we can deal with on the right.
If he allows union card check laws to be passed, he will be paying off the union lobby, and helping to destroy industries across the country. Also will be interesting to see what he does on the auto industry bailout.
I don't expect BHO to govern as a conservative. None of us should. He won't. Elections have consequences. We lost. If he can get away with it, he could socialize every industry, raise taxes to disastrous rates, and make this a libertine social democracy (barely). That's a recipe for disaster and will make him a one term president. I don't think the guy is stupid.
Now, if you're a Kos-reading Kool-aid drinker, is this guy really about change????
Don't
If you haven't been paying attention, this is really starting to look a lot like the Clinton administration, even including a Clinton (Hillary!) in the high level Sec'y of State post.
I guess if you're a conservative, like me, you're starting to think that this may not be so horrible after all. Let's face it, the Clinton years, economically, were not horrible years, and, if BHO decides he wants to be a free trader, wants to keep cap gains rates low, and only raises taxes on those making over $250k, it may not be really awful for the rest of us. Forget that those making over $250k will not hire more workers in their small businesses, will not spend as much on luxury items that the little guys build and sell, and won't invest their extra money in ventures that the little guys might want to start. But, given that a Marxist/Socialist won, it could be worse than Clinton III.
His economic team, while certainly left of center, is likely to be pragmatic and not likely to allow Obama to ruin the economy. So, I think we can take some solace there.
In foreign policy, I think most of us can agree the Clinton years were a disaster. Terrorism prospered, our president made an apology tour for slavery, and the military was emasculated.
Will Hillary make a difference there? Maybe. She has more balls than the rest of the Obama foreign policy team is likely to have, and given the prospect of a joke like Madeline Albright, she's going to be better. Plus, it opens the door for Rudy to take her seat in 2010. Furthermore, we already see him backing off the Iraq pullout plans, and he's said he's going to send MORE troops to Afghanistan.
Clearly, social policy is going to be far left. We'll see if BHO signs the Freedom of "Choice" Act, making on demand abortion the law of the land, as his first act, as he has promised. We'll see if he lifts the ban on federal funding of abortion, and permits the US government to fund abortions overseas. If he shows this group the back of his hand, he may be someone we can deal with on the right.
If he allows union card check laws to be passed, he will be paying off the union lobby, and helping to destroy industries across the country. Also will be interesting to see what he does on the auto industry bailout.
I don't expect BHO to govern as a conservative. None of us should. He won't. Elections have consequences. We lost. If he can get away with it, he could socialize every industry, raise taxes to disastrous rates, and make this a libertine social democracy (barely). That's a recipe for disaster and will make him a one term president. I don't think the guy is stupid.
Now, if you're a Kos-reading Kool-aid drinker, is this guy really about change????
Don't
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Bush headed to Florida?
No, silly, not to retire there!
The George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier, being commissioned January 10th, is potentially going to be homeported in Florida, at Mayport, vice in Norfolk.
This week, the Navy announced that it prefers stationing a nuclear aircraft carrier in Florida, but it will take an act of Congress to fund it.
The Hill provides the details on the Congressional in-fighting that will occur.
Don't...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Obama voters. Ugh!!!!!!!
With a h/t to Gateway Pundit, you must watch this, the best argument for poll taxes ever made. I am sorry folks, but I am sick of my well informed vote having to contend with these uninformed (though I am sure they are not stupid) people.
It'll make you cry (and, if it doesn't, it's because you voted for Obama, and you are happy we're a nation of ignoramouses).
For more, visit How Obama Got Elected, and stay tuned for the documentary.
Don't...
It'll make you cry (and, if it doesn't, it's because you voted for Obama, and you are happy we're a nation of ignoramouses).
For more, visit How Obama Got Elected, and stay tuned for the documentary.
Don't...
Not Evil Just Wrong. Irish film makers need your help to debunk Al Gore
A couple of Irish film-makers want to get a documentary finished that takes on Al Gore and his "Inconvenient (un)Truth."
Will they get the money they desperately need to get this film distributed?
With your help, you can visit their web site and donate to get this film distributed to all major market US theaters.
Nothing more to
Will they get the money they desperately need to get this film distributed?
With your help, you can visit their web site and donate to get this film distributed to all major market US theaters.
Nothing more to
Sunday, November 16, 2008
KC-45, ever going to happen?
One thing I haven't touched on lately is defense issues.
Of interest to me and something I think will tell us much about the Obama administration, is the still ongoing battle in the Air Force over the replacement for the KC-135/KC-10 tanking fleet.
John McCain bragged about this during the election ("people are in jail because of me"). When the USAF originally tried to let this contract years ago, they did it as a single source bid (to Boeing) which led to the imprisonment of the AF's chief acquisition officer, Darleen Druyun. It's now a case study in corruption.
A consortium led by Northrop-Grumman and including Airbus (based on their A-330), won the KC-45 tanker contract last year, but, immediately, Boeing cried foul, and the competition was essentially forced to another review. You can read some details of the review here.
In my opinion, the outcome of this contract will tell us much about how the Obama administration is going to work. This contract is so politicized, that I do not find it likely that it will be let on the merits of the bids. If that happens, it will say something positive about the Obama DoD.
The Boeing proponents forced this to be redone, because Boeing lost, and because the Chicago-headquartered Boeing was losing to a consortium with a large European component, and, final assembly was being proposed in a bright red state (Alabama) by Northrop.
If we are to believe the article, DoD intends to request a best-and-final-offer from both competitors, where the cost will be decided based on a first article cost.
Who wants to guess that Boeing will just squeak under the Northrop bid?
Of interest to me and something I think will tell us much about the Obama administration, is the still ongoing battle in the Air Force over the replacement for the KC-135/KC-10 tanking fleet.
John McCain bragged about this during the election ("people are in jail because of me"). When the USAF originally tried to let this contract years ago, they did it as a single source bid (to Boeing) which led to the imprisonment of the AF's chief acquisition officer, Darleen Druyun. It's now a case study in corruption.
A consortium led by Northrop-Grumman and including Airbus (based on their A-330), won the KC-45 tanker contract last year, but, immediately, Boeing cried foul, and the competition was essentially forced to another review. You can read some details of the review here.
In my opinion, the outcome of this contract will tell us much about how the Obama administration is going to work. This contract is so politicized, that I do not find it likely that it will be let on the merits of the bids. If that happens, it will say something positive about the Obama DoD.
The Boeing proponents forced this to be redone, because Boeing lost, and because the Chicago-headquartered Boeing was losing to a consortium with a large European component, and, final assembly was being proposed in a bright red state (Alabama) by Northrop.
If we are to believe the article, DoD intends to request a best-and-final-offer from both competitors, where the cost will be decided based on a first article cost.
Who wants to guess that Boeing will just squeak under the Northrop bid?
The Cult of Obama, now marketed
I posted not too long ago about the replacing of Che with Obama in the Left's marketing psyche.
With a h/t to Libertarian Republican, check out this AP news piece, with it's reference to Obama icons as Che-like (gotta watch the first 1:55 or so).
I think Obama probably wants the comparisons between himself and Che, however, to end at the T-shirt design level.
With a h/t to Libertarian Republican, check out this AP news piece, with it's reference to Obama icons as Che-like (gotta watch the first 1:55 or so).
I think Obama probably wants the comparisons between himself and Che, however, to end at the T-shirt design level.
Bo calls out the GW nutjobs!
My buddy, Bothenook, posts today on the GISS's latest attempts at global warming subterfuge, and how they got caught, then attempted to perpetuate their lie, to sell their agenda.
In Bo's post, he doesn't claim to know the "exact truth" behind these people's agenda, but I think he doesn't give himself enough credit. His "educated guesses" are right on, and these people will stop at nothing until they hold absolute power.
In a related note - for global warming skeptics (or at least those who seriously doubt man's contribution to this), I have started a little link list to my previous blog posts on global warming. I'll probably add links to interesting GW articles and the like as well, so if you have one, send it on and you can always come back here to find them! I promise!
you don't need to
In Bo's post, he doesn't claim to know the "exact truth" behind these people's agenda, but I think he doesn't give himself enough credit. His "educated guesses" are right on, and these people will stop at nothing until they hold absolute power.
In a related note - for global warming skeptics (or at least those who seriously doubt man's contribution to this), I have started a little link list to my previous blog posts on global warming. I'll probably add links to interesting GW articles and the like as well, so if you have one, send it on and you can always come back here to find them! I promise!
you don't need to
Friday, November 14, 2008
Is T. Boone Pickens a Stupid Man?
When T. Boone Pickens started pushing his "Pickens Plan" for energy independence, I wondered what his angle was.
In case you live in a cave, Pickens' plan is to build a large (4000MW) wind-powered energy complex on land he owns in West Texas. In addition to his proposal that we use wind for 20% of our electric needs, Pickens wants to see the nations automobile fuel be switched to natural gas, which, of course, is abundant in this country, and which he claims, is the best, most readily available fuel for our automotive infrastructure.
So, why, then, have I had a bad feeling about Pickens when I heard him talk about this. At various times, Pickens would say he was for an "all of the above" approach, yet, this was exactly the same approach McCain was advocating, yet we never saw Pickens get behind that, and, indeed, he seemed to poo poo McCain's plan, although it matched nearly exactly what Pickens was saying.
While not outright cheerleading for Obama, Pickens seemed to be favoring him, if in a slightly snarky manner. Last night, I saw Pickens again on Hannity & Colmes, and at one point he said that he like Obama because he was the only one talking about being energy independent in 10 years, as Pickens is proposing.
Now, I suspect Pickens isn't a stupid man, so he can't believe that Obama actually means this. Any idiot would know that Obama's promises are meaningless. He has no intention of ever doing anything to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and, it won't happen with Obama in charge of it.
Pickens seems to think that, for Obama to do this, it means he supports the natural gas as automotive fuel scenario, which Pickens sees as the only means to get to the 10 year point (and, which, I suspect, is Pickens' target for $). But, T. Boone, Obama is not going to allow the drilling required to get at those resources. He isn't going to allow drilling for oil, nor is he going to allow you to take natural gas out of the ground. Obama, if he thinks at all, thinks that we are going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil through some kind of breakthrough in battery technology, which is a massive pipe dream, as is Obama's idea that we can conserve our way to energy independence (though, I suppose if Obama keeps us in a deep recession, he might be able to shrink us to independence).
So, what's Pickens' angle?
Curious what you think and will find out! I'll research more and report back!
In case you live in a cave, Pickens' plan is to build a large (4000MW) wind-powered energy complex on land he owns in West Texas. In addition to his proposal that we use wind for 20% of our electric needs, Pickens wants to see the nations automobile fuel be switched to natural gas, which, of course, is abundant in this country, and which he claims, is the best, most readily available fuel for our automotive infrastructure.
So, why, then, have I had a bad feeling about Pickens when I heard him talk about this. At various times, Pickens would say he was for an "all of the above" approach, yet, this was exactly the same approach McCain was advocating, yet we never saw Pickens get behind that, and, indeed, he seemed to poo poo McCain's plan, although it matched nearly exactly what Pickens was saying.
While not outright cheerleading for Obama, Pickens seemed to be favoring him, if in a slightly snarky manner. Last night, I saw Pickens again on Hannity & Colmes, and at one point he said that he like Obama because he was the only one talking about being energy independent in 10 years, as Pickens is proposing.
Now, I suspect Pickens isn't a stupid man, so he can't believe that Obama actually means this. Any idiot would know that Obama's promises are meaningless. He has no intention of ever doing anything to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and, it won't happen with Obama in charge of it.
Pickens seems to think that, for Obama to do this, it means he supports the natural gas as automotive fuel scenario, which Pickens sees as the only means to get to the 10 year point (and, which, I suspect, is Pickens' target for $). But, T. Boone, Obama is not going to allow the drilling required to get at those resources. He isn't going to allow drilling for oil, nor is he going to allow you to take natural gas out of the ground. Obama, if he thinks at all, thinks that we are going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil through some kind of breakthrough in battery technology, which is a massive pipe dream, as is Obama's idea that we can conserve our way to energy independence (though, I suppose if Obama keeps us in a deep recession, he might be able to shrink us to independence).
So, what's Pickens' angle?
Curious what you think and will find out! I'll research more and report back!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Camille Paglia - On Palin, The Media, Ayers, Dohrn
Camille Paglia, my favorite feminist, is having some post-election buyers remorse, I think.
She has spoken glowingly of Sarah Palin before, and she does so again today, affirming:
She has spoken glowingly of Sarah Palin before, and she does so again today, affirming:
"As a career classroom teacher, I can see how smart she is -- and quite frankly, I think the people who don't see it are the stupid ones, wrapped in the fuzzy mummy-gauze of their own worn-out partisan dogma. So she doesn't speak the King's English -- big whoop! There is a powerful clarity of consciousness in her eyes. She uses language with the jumps, breaks and rippling momentum of a be-bop saxophonist. I stand on what I said (as a staunch pro-choice advocate) in my last two columns -- that Palin as a pro-life wife, mother and ambitious professional represents the next big shift in feminism. Pro-life women will save feminism by expanding it, particularly into the more traditional Third World."
Like me, she thinks the Senate is the wrong move for Palin (I think it's the kiss of death for a presidential run). Again, Paglia says:
"What a claustrophobic, nitpicking comedown for an energetic Alaskan. Sarah Palin should stick to her governorship and just hit the rubber-chicken circuit, as Richard Nixon did in his long haul back from political limbo following his California gubernatorial defeat in 1962. Step by step, the mainstream media will come around, wipe its own mud out of its eyes, and see Palin for the populist phenomenon that she is."
Of the Media's treatment of Obama:
"In the closing weeks of the election, however, I became increasingly disturbed by the mainstream media's avoidance of forthright dealing with several controversies that had been dogging Obama."
One of those controversies, Ayers/Dohrn:
"My concern about Ayers has been very slow in developing. The mainstream media should have fully explored the subject early this year and not allowed it to simmer and boil until it flared up ferociously in the last month of the campaign.
"Given that Obama had served on a Chicago board with Ayers and approved funding of a leftist educational project sponsored by Ayers, one might think that the unrepentant Ayers-Dohrn couple might be of some interest to the national media. But no, reporters have been too busy playing mini-badminton with every random spitball about Sarah Palin, who has been subjected to an atrocious and at times delusional level of defamation merely because she has the temerity to hold pro-life views."
Read the whole article. Paglia should be on your must read list.
Don't...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Chambliss v. Martin
Fox5 Atlanta is reporting this morning that the Chambliss campaign is bringing in (drumroll)......John McCain (release that sigh!) to campaign in Cobb County for Chambliss.
The Chambliss camp is characterizing the runoff here as "the first race in the 2010 election."
I might add it's also the first test in the 2012 Presidential election (for the GOP).
So, McCain is all well and good (seeing as he outpolled Saxby), but, if Chambliss wants real help in this run-off there are two Republicans who can really help him, and help their 2012 chances, and those would be...
Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin.
Governor Huckabee is actively supporting Chambliss via his HuckPac. No data available from me on appearances by the Huckster here in Georgia, but he will be needed.
Governor Palin, though, is the most popular person in the GOP (despite anonymous operatives attempts to change that) and the only counter we really have to The One, who I fully expect to pack a football field here for Jim Martin.
Chambliss needs to get her down here, and for an extended period of time.
With the Dems going to steal Norm Coleman's MN seat, and a special election necessary in Alaska when Ted Stevens will have to resign, it is imperative that the GOP keep this Georgia senate seat.
The Chambliss camp is characterizing the runoff here as "the first race in the 2010 election."
I might add it's also the first test in the 2012 Presidential election (for the GOP).
So, McCain is all well and good (seeing as he outpolled Saxby), but, if Chambliss wants real help in this run-off there are two Republicans who can really help him, and help their 2012 chances, and those would be...
Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin.
Governor Huckabee is actively supporting Chambliss via his HuckPac. No data available from me on appearances by the Huckster here in Georgia, but he will be needed.
Governor Palin, though, is the most popular person in the GOP (despite anonymous operatives attempts to change that) and the only counter we really have to The One, who I fully expect to pack a football field here for Jim Martin.
Chambliss needs to get her down here, and for an extended period of time.
With the Dems going to steal Norm Coleman's MN seat, and a special election necessary in Alaska when Ted Stevens will have to resign, it is imperative that the GOP keep this Georgia senate seat.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Barack to Bush: Buh-bye Executive Orders
Gateway Pundit has some thoughts on executive orders that BHO will be rescinding. Now that BHO has to govern, he's going to start leaving a trail.
Let's keep track and remind voters in 2010 what this ultra-left politician has done.
Gateway Pundit: As Promised... Obama's First Move-- Expand Abortion Rights
Let's keep track and remind voters in 2010 what this ultra-left politician has done.
Gateway Pundit: As Promised... Obama's First Move-- Expand Abortion Rights
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Football break
Ok, a while back I boldly predicted that Georgia Tech would whip UNC's ass, and that created a little stir among the family members who all attended the leftist University (admittedly, some of them before it became a bastion of left-wing thought - see, I can even make a football post political!).
Today, UNC took its revenge on Tech with a 28-7 smackdown. Despite Tech outgaining Carolina by 100 yards, 3 turnovers, and Josh Nesbitt's bum ankle did the good guys in. Regardless of what you think about the ACC, former Navy coach Paul Johnson has done a fantastic job at Tech, with 7 wins and bowl eligibility. If Tech can beat Miami at home, 8 wins will beat Chan Gailey's 6 year average in CPJ's first season. 9 would mean a victory over Georgia, which would make Johnson a god in Tech fans' eyes.
Elsewhere in college football today, Penn State returned to earth and gave the pollsters all the reason they need to dump them from their top 10 lists. Alabama survived at LSU, and UGA squeaked past Kentucky (ugh!).
In the ACC, FSU survived Clemson, VT whipped Maryland (Thursday) and Wake smacked UVA. Jimmy Clausen is proving why he sucks as Notre Dame is getting whipped by BC. While Florida and Alabama have settled the SEC championship game, the ACC still belongs to anybody. Funny thing is, in this crazy season, we could see a Virginia Tech/FSU championship game (VT controls their own destiny, FSU needs a Wake Forest loss and to win out). The more things change...
Dont...
Today, UNC took its revenge on Tech with a 28-7 smackdown. Despite Tech outgaining Carolina by 100 yards, 3 turnovers, and Josh Nesbitt's bum ankle did the good guys in. Regardless of what you think about the ACC, former Navy coach Paul Johnson has done a fantastic job at Tech, with 7 wins and bowl eligibility. If Tech can beat Miami at home, 8 wins will beat Chan Gailey's 6 year average in CPJ's first season. 9 would mean a victory over Georgia, which would make Johnson a god in Tech fans' eyes.
Elsewhere in college football today, Penn State returned to earth and gave the pollsters all the reason they need to dump them from their top 10 lists. Alabama survived at LSU, and UGA squeaked past Kentucky (ugh!).
In the ACC, FSU survived Clemson, VT whipped Maryland (Thursday) and Wake smacked UVA. Jimmy Clausen is proving why he sucks as Notre Dame is getting whipped by BC. While Florida and Alabama have settled the SEC championship game, the ACC still belongs to anybody. Funny thing is, in this crazy season, we could see a Virginia Tech/FSU championship game (VT controls their own destiny, FSU needs a Wake Forest loss and to win out). The more things change...
Dont...
What is wrong with USA Today?
One of the fun things about flying is you get to pick up free newspapers in airports as you wait. Today, as I enjoyed a little. Memphis BBQ, I perused the A section of the Nation's Newspaper, USA Today.
I know times are tough for the print media, but, honestly, did USA Today need to cut costs by having morons on the editorial page. I feel sorry for Jonah Goldberg (who's writing I really enjoy), who has an insightful article in this rag today, "Election Questions No One Ever Asks', but he has to share the opinion page today with the idiots who write this other dreck.
First, Al Neuharth, who I think is the head cheese over there, writes that he thinks McCain ought to make "Two more maverick moves." Namely, that he should introduce a Constitutional Amendment to limit the age of a president to 69, and that he should retire at the end of his term in 2010. Since Al thinks people over 69 "lose it" he thinks this is a good idea, and, I guess he thinks McCain is losing it, so he should get off the stage. Of course, Al is a good Leftist, so he wants McCain to step down so some Democrat can get that seat in 2010, and I have some better suggestions on his ageism.
Why not have Robert Byrd or Teddy Kennedy introduce this bill? They're about a million years old? Geez, why haven't these guys left the national stage. I empathize for Teddy Kennedy, but he's been off the reservation for years, and Robert Byrd long passed from senility into late stage Alzheimers. And, the junior senator from WV is 71. Why doesn't he step down. Hey, Al, I have an idea, McCain leaves when these two leave? Think a breathing Republican can't win a senate seat in West Virginia? I'll trade the one AZ seat for 2 in WV.
If you really want to help the country, why not introduce bills term limiting Senators and Congressmen? The path to corruption and being a profligate spender begins with re-election. So, let's limit these guys to 2 terms in the senate and 12 years in the House. Really want change - that will do some.
In a "Post-election thoughts" article, USA Today demonstrated their ignorance by incorrectly assuming that voters who were concerned about Sarah Palin's experience ("Surveys of voters, however, showed that three-fifths thought Palin wasn't qualified to be president"), of those, 82% voted for Barack Obama. What they failed to state was that this was not the deciding factor for those voters. Either they're stupid over there (likely) or they want to smear Palin (also likely).
USA Today also claims that there was record turnout this year. All one has to do is look at the numbers to see that about the same number of votes were cast this year as in 2004. Heck, even CNN got that right (saw that in the Situation Room as I waited today). As a percentage of voting age population, it actually went down from 2004.
Finally, they want to claim that Liddy Dole's loss was due to her negative advertising. Hey, USA Today, her loss was because she was a crappy candidate, a largely ineffective Senator, the financial mess, and Obama's strength in NC (and, she's about 100 years old - isn't Al Neuharth happy she's gone???).
However, in some actual aviation news, the McCain-Palin E190, chartered from Jet Blue, that Palin was using set a world record with a 2900+ mile nonstop flight from Anchorage to Buffalo to return the plane.
I know times are tough for the print media, but, honestly, did USA Today need to cut costs by having morons on the editorial page. I feel sorry for Jonah Goldberg (who's writing I really enjoy), who has an insightful article in this rag today, "Election Questions No One Ever Asks', but he has to share the opinion page today with the idiots who write this other dreck.
First, Al Neuharth, who I think is the head cheese over there, writes that he thinks McCain ought to make "Two more maverick moves." Namely, that he should introduce a Constitutional Amendment to limit the age of a president to 69, and that he should retire at the end of his term in 2010. Since Al thinks people over 69 "lose it" he thinks this is a good idea, and, I guess he thinks McCain is losing it, so he should get off the stage. Of course, Al is a good Leftist, so he wants McCain to step down so some Democrat can get that seat in 2010, and I have some better suggestions on his ageism.
Why not have Robert Byrd or Teddy Kennedy introduce this bill? They're about a million years old? Geez, why haven't these guys left the national stage. I empathize for Teddy Kennedy, but he's been off the reservation for years, and Robert Byrd long passed from senility into late stage Alzheimers. And, the junior senator from WV is 71. Why doesn't he step down. Hey, Al, I have an idea, McCain leaves when these two leave? Think a breathing Republican can't win a senate seat in West Virginia? I'll trade the one AZ seat for 2 in WV.
If you really want to help the country, why not introduce bills term limiting Senators and Congressmen? The path to corruption and being a profligate spender begins with re-election. So, let's limit these guys to 2 terms in the senate and 12 years in the House. Really want change - that will do some.
In a "Post-election thoughts" article, USA Today demonstrated their ignorance by incorrectly assuming that voters who were concerned about Sarah Palin's experience ("Surveys of voters, however, showed that three-fifths thought Palin wasn't qualified to be president"), of those, 82% voted for Barack Obama. What they failed to state was that this was not the deciding factor for those voters. Either they're stupid over there (likely) or they want to smear Palin (also likely).
USA Today also claims that there was record turnout this year. All one has to do is look at the numbers to see that about the same number of votes were cast this year as in 2004. Heck, even CNN got that right (saw that in the Situation Room as I waited today). As a percentage of voting age population, it actually went down from 2004.
Finally, they want to claim that Liddy Dole's loss was due to her negative advertising. Hey, USA Today, her loss was because she was a crappy candidate, a largely ineffective Senator, the financial mess, and Obama's strength in NC (and, she's about 100 years old - isn't Al Neuharth happy she's gone???).
However, in some actual aviation news, the McCain-Palin E190, chartered from Jet Blue, that Palin was using set a world record with a 2900+ mile nonstop flight from Anchorage to Buffalo to return the plane.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Melissa Etheridge Pissed at California Voters; Refuses to Pay Taxes
Well, Melissa Etheridge has weighed in. She is mad that Proposition 8 passed in California, putting the kibosh on state-sanctioned gay marriage.
The Proposition actually says:
"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
That seems pretty simple. And, apparently, it seemed pretty simple, and reasonable to the voters of California, who passed it. But, Melissa, have no fear, the 9th Circuit will strike it down, there will be a court battle, and your Obama-packed Supreme Court will (if another state's ban doesn't come before it) will divine a new right for gays to marry. So, you'll be okay, and the coarsening of society will continue only slightly abated.
Melissa brings up the tired point of "When did it become okay to legislate morality?"
Ummmmmm, since we started legislating.
But, what really interests me, is Melissa seems to think she is some kind of second class citizen, and she's not going to pay taxes anymore, "Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen."
Does Joe Biden know about this?
Don't...
The Proposition actually says:
"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
That seems pretty simple. And, apparently, it seemed pretty simple, and reasonable to the voters of California, who passed it. But, Melissa, have no fear, the 9th Circuit will strike it down, there will be a court battle, and your Obama-packed Supreme Court will (if another state's ban doesn't come before it) will divine a new right for gays to marry. So, you'll be okay, and the coarsening of society will continue only slightly abated.
Melissa brings up the tired point of "When did it become okay to legislate morality?"
Ummmmmm, since we started legislating.
But, what really interests me, is Melissa seems to think she is some kind of second class citizen, and she's not going to pay taxes anymore, "Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen."
Does Joe Biden know about this?
Don't...
Thursday, November 6, 2008
These people are stars
In a linked report from Drudge, we are to believe that these people are "stars" and being considered for Obama's cabinet:
- John Kerry for State - Ugh! This is the worst. Send this guy to Turkmenistan, please, not DOS. The place is f'd up; enough without this insufferable idiot at the helm.
- Powell for DoD - Now we know what Powell got promised for his endorsement. I hate to break it to Powell-lovers, but I think this is a boon to Service Chiefs and big war thinkers. Plus, to the Left, what cred does the guy who made the WMD sale to the UN have?
- Kennedy for UN Ambassador - ok, whatever, she should fit in over there.
- RF Kennedy for EPA - this is certainly not a moderate choice. This is actually about the worst, an environmental whacko nut job Chavez supporter pounding US corporations for 4 years.
- Emanuel for COS - as long as his target is Reid/Pelosi, it's ok. Otherwise, a talented partisan hack.
Not shaping up too good so far. Lots of Wahington insiders on this list.
Do not
Palin - Functioning Idiot AND Diva?
In this report, Fox's Carl Cameron spends 5 minutes telling O'Reilly that basically Sarah Palin is an idiot who is also a prima donna. I have my doubts of the truth of these rumours, but, a few thoughts:
No more...
end..
- If this is true, we are lucky this woman wasn't a heartbeat away from the button
- You would think some level of intelligence was required to be such a diva as she's being made out as. To hear this, she has none.
- What woman isn't a shopaholic?
- What's wrong with answering your hotel room door in a bathrobe? Not like she did it nude (not that there's anything wrong with that!)
- Come on, Carl, you really expect her (or anyone) to know that "American Exceptionalism" was a Wilsonian concept (maybe embodied by Wilson, but not created by him)? Now, I admit that I know what it means, but, without Wikipedia, I wouldn't know that American Exceptionalism goes back to the Revolution (and Jefferson). I was skeptical that this concept originated with Wilson. So, Carl, get YOUR facts straight.
- Africa isn't a country?
My bottom line on this is until these unnamed staffers come out of the woodwork and publicly say this stuff, it's all B.S.
You can see the video here:
No more...
end..
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama supporters bored
Ok, I have to pass this one. The Onion tells us what those Barack supporters are doing now that the election is over...
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Obama Wins!
Ha! Not yet, but let's be honest, the data in Ohio doesn't look good(update - NBC calls Ohio for Obama, so start saying, President-elect Obama), nor does NC and VA, but perhaps McCain can pull a miracle in those states. Without Ohio, it doesn't matter, and I think that will be the end (Update, the end).
Additionally, I expect Obama to take Colorado and perhaps Nevada.
Republicans did their part in Georgia, though, giving the state to McCain and re-electing Saxby Chambliss. A filibuster proof (until the D's change the rule) majority now rests on the D's taking all the remaining seats. Wicker in MS is going to be a tough one for the Dems, and perhaps Norm Coleman can keep the joke of a jokester, Al Franken, at bay. I swear, a senate with Al Franken is going to be entertaining. Maybe he can replace Joe Biden as the laughingstock of the Senate (if he wins).
So, a rotten night for the GOP, but, we deep down knew it would be that way.
Later, an homage to Obama.
end..
Additionally, I expect Obama to take Colorado and perhaps Nevada.
Republicans did their part in Georgia, though, giving the state to McCain and re-electing Saxby Chambliss. A filibuster proof (until the D's change the rule) majority now rests on the D's taking all the remaining seats. Wicker in MS is going to be a tough one for the Dems, and perhaps Norm Coleman can keep the joke of a jokester, Al Franken, at bay. I swear, a senate with Al Franken is going to be entertaining. Maybe he can replace Joe Biden as the laughingstock of the Senate (if he wins).
So, a rotten night for the GOP, but, we deep down knew it would be that way.
Later, an homage to Obama.
end..
Industries Dems want to kill
This election season, the Democrats have made it clear they want to redistribute wealth. And, they will get plenty of chances, since they are targeting a few industries for extinction, among them:
- The coal industry
- Oil and gas companies
- Talk Radio
- Medical Insurers
- The 25% of defense companies not in John Murtha's district
- Wal-mart (and any other non-union big box stores)
- The mainstream media (ok, these guys did it to themselves)
- Investment Banks (with an assist from G.W. Bush)
If you can think of any more, please let me know!
end..
Fairness Doctrine, here we come!
If the Dems win control of Congress with a filibuster proof majority, and the Presidency, expect a comback of the Fairness Doctrine, and the decline of talk radio.
However, in this piece, Chuckie Schumer leaves an out. If we're ok with pornography on the radio, perhaps we can keep conservative talk radio.
Ok, Chuckie, I'll take the bait. I'm willing to accept the radio porno for the entertaining (and profitable) talk radio.
See Chuckie speak:
However, in this piece, Chuckie Schumer leaves an out. If we're ok with pornography on the radio, perhaps we can keep conservative talk radio.
Ok, Chuckie, I'll take the bait. I'm willing to accept the radio porno for the entertaining (and profitable) talk radio.
See Chuckie speak:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)