And Axelrod did get the address of the secret email account that the White House did not know existed.
We areTHE RESISTANCE.
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Obama countdown
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Hillary emails with Axelrod show White House well aware of secret email account
The story from the White House when the news of Hillary's secret server became public was they knew nothing about it. Not true. This is an email exchange between Cheryl Mills and Hillary. Notice the date is June 8, 2009.
And Axelrod did get the address of the secret email account that the White House did not know existed.
And Axelrod did get the address of the secret email account that the White House did not know existed.
Puerto Rico is the next Greece and Bush wants to make it a state.
The Greek debt crisis has drawn the rapt attention of the financial community and it's a good story with high drama and a good to middling cast. In the first act Angela
Merkel played the role of a benevolent baroness presiding over her pet charity. The good taxpayers of Germany simply could not allow their dear friends to fall into insolvency simply because they were too lazy to work, implored the portly prime minister. Eventually the German population adjudged the prime minister to have drifted off script and closed the curtain on the would be heroine and her misdirected
munificence. Youthful Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, now at center stage, refuses to acknowledge the financial debt and also his personal indebtedness to a young Dennis the Menace Kucinich for sanctimonious rhetoric. It's the bankers' fault. Too bad but we've seen this play before.
Moving closer to home the "It All the Bankers' Fault" morality play is about to open in Puerto Rico. The island territory of the U.S. whose chief livelihood is food stamps, is on the hook for $72 billion which is about equal to its entire annual economic output. "The debt is un payable", intones Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
Son of bitch! Who would have thought that? Unlike most of the states, Illinois and California excluded, Puerto Rico did not trim its budget in reaction to Obama's great recession. Instead it followed the Detroit model with about the same result.
So what's a politician to do with a territory that can't manage its assets? Make them a state. That' Jeb Bush's solution.
Moving closer to home the "It All the Bankers' Fault" morality play is about to open in Puerto Rico. The island territory of the U.S. whose chief livelihood is food stamps, is on the hook for $72 billion which is about equal to its entire annual economic output. "The debt is un payable", intones Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
Son of bitch! Who would have thought that? Unlike most of the states, Illinois and California excluded, Puerto Rico did not trim its budget in reaction to Obama's great recession. Instead it followed the Detroit model with about the same result.
So what's a politician to do with a territory that can't manage its assets? Make them a state. That' Jeb Bush's solution.
"Puerto Rican citizens, U.S. citizens, ought to have the right to determine whether they want to be a state. I think statehood is the best path, personally," he said at Universidad Metropolitana de Cupey in San Juan. "I have believed that for a long, long while. I'm not new to this."Right Jeb, that's all the country needs is one more blue state that can't pay its bills. Insist on Puerto Rican independence instead of Puerto Rican dependency.
The wealthy Hillary voters don't appear to know
Personally I don't care how much money Hillary Clinton has. I have no sense of jealousy and envy, qualities that the Democrat Party has carefully cultivated in many Americans, because I worked hard in my life and have just what I need. I need nothing more.
What is so insulting and infuriating about the Clintons is how money-grubbing they are---with other people's money and with grabbing as much as they can get from the taxpayers and how they portray themselves as "of the people" in circumstance.
She's just another divider in the pattern of Obama, grooming unhappiness and subjugation in voters to get herself elected, regardless the consequences.
When Hillary complained about being "broke" when they left the White House because they needed money to pay for "housES," did you know they had stolen furniture and china from the White House? to the point they had to return those items?
Given it was the end of the Clinton administration and wouldn't hurt a reelection campaign, the LA Times even reported that the pilfering began one year before they left the White House:
So Hillary complains to college students that it's not fair those students have taken on such enormous debt, yet she demands over $200,000 for that very complaint speech.
And somehow those foolish students stand and applaud her speech, apparently disconnected from the fact that, in most circumstances, THEY are paying for her speech by mortgaging their futures.
This is typical of the fantasy world in which Leftists reside. Promise $15 an hour minimum wage but ignore the consequences of small business failure, rising prices, inflated salaries for other employees and the mechanization of all tasks that were formerly performed by actual people.
So it couldn't come as much of a surprise that college students---those icons of blissful ignorance and intolerance--are completely unaware of the extent to which Hillary has milked the public.
And let's not even discuss the ethical and legal issues with the Clinton Foundation.
Say one thing, do another.
That's HILLARY!
So watch what students say when they are shown the real financial circumstances of one Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Surprise!
What is so insulting and infuriating about the Clintons is how money-grubbing they are---with other people's money and with grabbing as much as they can get from the taxpayers and how they portray themselves as "of the people" in circumstance.
She's just another divider in the pattern of Obama, grooming unhappiness and subjugation in voters to get herself elected, regardless the consequences.
When Hillary complained about being "broke" when they left the White House because they needed money to pay for "housES," did you know they had stolen furniture and china from the White House? to the point they had to return those items?
Given it was the end of the Clinton administration and wouldn't hurt a reelection campaign, the LA Times even reported that the pilfering began one year before they left the White House:
President Clinton and his wife started shipping White House furniture to the Clintons' newly purchased home in New York more than a year ago, despite questions at the time by the White House chief usher about whether they were entitled to remove the items.
The day before the items were shipped out, chief usher Gary Walters said he questioned whether the Clintons should be taking the furnishings because he believed they were government property donated as part of a White House redecoration project in 1993, during Clinton's first year in office.Poor mouthing aside, Hillary's main schtick is to promise free stuff to her constituency--regardless the economic impact-- and pander to the grievance industry cadres who trumpet the complaints.
So Hillary complains to college students that it's not fair those students have taken on such enormous debt, yet she demands over $200,000 for that very complaint speech.
And somehow those foolish students stand and applaud her speech, apparently disconnected from the fact that, in most circumstances, THEY are paying for her speech by mortgaging their futures.
This is typical of the fantasy world in which Leftists reside. Promise $15 an hour minimum wage but ignore the consequences of small business failure, rising prices, inflated salaries for other employees and the mechanization of all tasks that were formerly performed by actual people.
So it couldn't come as much of a surprise that college students---those icons of blissful ignorance and intolerance--are completely unaware of the extent to which Hillary has milked the public.
And let's not even discuss the ethical and legal issues with the Clinton Foundation.
Say one thing, do another.
That's HILLARY!
So watch what students say when they are shown the real financial circumstances of one Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Surprise!
A Bush-Clinton match up? Don't hold your breath.
One would think the Republicans would have to be crazy to nominate Jeb Bush. Observe the chart below. It is derived by plotting several dozen polls. The longer the public looks at Bush the worse it gets. No one wins general elections when a majority of the public doesn't like him. Worse yet he is trending down.
So if the Republicans would lose with Bush how would the Democrats fare with Hillary? She too is underwater. Notice she started to slide steeply in the polls about the time of the 2012 elections and the Benghazi attack. With a federal judge having issued an order requiring the State Department to make public batches of the former Secretary of State's emails every 30 days it's doubtful her numbers will recover as that scandal deepens.
So if the Republicans would lose with Bush how would the Democrats fare with Hillary? She too is underwater. Notice she started to slide steeply in the polls about the time of the 2012 elections and the Benghazi attack. With a federal judge having issued an order requiring the State Department to make public batches of the former Secretary of State's emails every 30 days it's doubtful her numbers will recover as that scandal deepens.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Now comes the real attack on religion.
Brace yourself for an all out assault on religion from the tyrannical left. Ten years ago Canada legalized same sex marriage and the results are not pleasant.
Hillary falters in New Hampshire while winning ownership of Obamacare
One should be chary to accept any polling this early in the campaign as predictive of outcome but it's not too early to spot trends and polling coming from New Hampshire suggests that Hillary's sisterhood of the pant suit
traveling minstrel show is beginning to leak oil. The CNN / WMUR poll shows Dame Hillary a mere 8 points ahead of loony leftist Bernie Sanders. Again, let me restate the caveat; it's too early to predict any outcome but it is beginning to confirm a widely held suspicion that support for Hillary is and was in 2008 a mile wide and an inch deep. The lady runs well against an empty field but when faced with even minimal opposition comes apart like a cheap pant suit. What would one expect? She is hobbled by two personal impediments; a robotic public persona and an empty resume'.
Add to Mrs. Clinton's personal shortcomings the ineptitude of her highly touted campaign machine that contains essentially the same personnel that failed her in 2008 and the lingering scandals of Benghazi and the missing emails one can see a rough road ahead. Her so called listening tour where she meets with small groups of faithful and trusted friend is more conducive to selling Tupperware than winning the presidency. It's all show and no go and the public sees that. I would take issue with the argument that only the left wing of the party is defecting and remind readers when Eugene McCarthy won 42% of New Hampshire's primary vote in 1968 Lyndon Johnson folded and when Pat Buchanan took 38% of the Granite State's Republican vote in 1992 it was lights out for George Herbert Walker Bush. He never recovered. When the base revolts it causes the rest of the party to question its own commitment to the candidate. The party faithful may not switch sides but many will sit home on election day.
Yesterday's Supreme Court decision gave Hillary Clinton full ownership of Obamacare, a law so unpopular it has seldom polled in positive numbers. In essence Hillary captured the poisoned pawn, achieving a small material gain at the cost of a profound positional disadvantage. " Belike the price of a jackal’s meal were more than a thief could pay."
No one seriously thinks Hillary will lose her party's nomination but even a good showing by Sanders in New Hampshire would be a harbinger of bad things to come.
Add to Mrs. Clinton's personal shortcomings the ineptitude of her highly touted campaign machine that contains essentially the same personnel that failed her in 2008 and the lingering scandals of Benghazi and the missing emails one can see a rough road ahead. Her so called listening tour where she meets with small groups of faithful and trusted friend is more conducive to selling Tupperware than winning the presidency. It's all show and no go and the public sees that. I would take issue with the argument that only the left wing of the party is defecting and remind readers when Eugene McCarthy won 42% of New Hampshire's primary vote in 1968 Lyndon Johnson folded and when Pat Buchanan took 38% of the Granite State's Republican vote in 1992 it was lights out for George Herbert Walker Bush. He never recovered. When the base revolts it causes the rest of the party to question its own commitment to the candidate. The party faithful may not switch sides but many will sit home on election day.
Yesterday's Supreme Court decision gave Hillary Clinton full ownership of Obamacare, a law so unpopular it has seldom polled in positive numbers. In essence Hillary captured the poisoned pawn, achieving a small material gain at the cost of a profound positional disadvantage. " Belike the price of a jackal’s meal were more than a thief could pay."
No one seriously thinks Hillary will lose her party's nomination but even a good showing by Sanders in New Hampshire would be a harbinger of bad things to come.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
One more Laudato Si rant
If by now you haven't guessed I'm not a great fan of Pope Francis nor his magna opus Laudato Si. The kindest thing I can say for it is that it is trite. The real world has enough moral issues without the fictional, apocalyptic, global warming, predictions so dear to his heart. Below is part of an online argument I have been having with someone who thinks Laudato Si is visionary.
Did we read the same text?
If the late Jerry Falwell had come out against air conditioning he would have been the laughing stock of the country. What Jerry Falwell did do was rid American mainline Protestantism of anti Semitism and for that he deserves some credit.
"People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has not succeeded in changing their harmful habits of consumption which, rather than decreasing, appear to be growing all the more. A simple example is the increasing use and power of air-conditioning."
Or savor this hardcore banality, "To cite one example, most of the paper we produce is thrown away and not recycled." This from the same Church that produced such thinkers as Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus! When Pope Pius XI left for his summer retreat early in 1938 with the words "The air makes us sick" his words were directed at Adolf Hitler who was meeting the first week in May with Italian leader Benito Mussolini. Pope Francis would probably have instructed Hitler to make sure his soldiers picked up their litter on their way to invade Poland and fretted about the C02 level. Did he miss the story about the Russia's seizure of the Crimea or the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe or the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa? Global warming is his first concern? Hellava job, Francis!
And what is his problem with the free dissemination of the news?
"Furthermore, when media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously. In this context, the great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distractions of an information overload. Efforts need to be made to help these media become sources of new cultural progress for humanity and not a threat to our deepest riches."
What sort of efforts? and what trusted governmental agency should be tasked with helping these media to become sources of new cultural progress? Obama's FCC? One suspects His Holiness himself has spends too much time in the digital world.
Did we read the same text?
If the late Jerry Falwell had come out against air conditioning he would have been the laughing stock of the country. What Jerry Falwell did do was rid American mainline Protestantism of anti Semitism and for that he deserves some credit.
"People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has not succeeded in changing their harmful habits of consumption which, rather than decreasing, appear to be growing all the more. A simple example is the increasing use and power of air-conditioning."
Or savor this hardcore banality, "To cite one example, most of the paper we produce is thrown away and not recycled." This from the same Church that produced such thinkers as Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus! When Pope Pius XI left for his summer retreat early in 1938 with the words "The air makes us sick" his words were directed at Adolf Hitler who was meeting the first week in May with Italian leader Benito Mussolini. Pope Francis would probably have instructed Hitler to make sure his soldiers picked up their litter on their way to invade Poland and fretted about the C02 level. Did he miss the story about the Russia's seizure of the Crimea or the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe or the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa? Global warming is his first concern? Hellava job, Francis!
And what is his problem with the free dissemination of the news?
"Furthermore, when media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously. In this context, the great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distractions of an information overload. Efforts need to be made to help these media become sources of new cultural progress for humanity and not a threat to our deepest riches."
What sort of efforts? and what trusted governmental agency should be tasked with helping these media to become sources of new cultural progress? Obama's FCC? One suspects His Holiness himself has spends too much time in the digital world.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The mouse that roared - Indiana will ignore EPA's Clean Power Plan says Governor Mike Pence
Indiana Governor Mike Pence
is prepared to ignore the Obama administration’s climate rule for power plants unless the proposed regulations are drastically changed. “If your administration proceeds to finalize the Clean Power Plan, and the final rule has not demonstrably and significantly improved from the proposed rule, Indiana will not comply,” wrote the supple spined former henchman of John Boehner.
“Our nation needs an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy that relies on a variety of different energy sources,” wrote the Governor proving he has not exhausted his supply of cliches.
Actually Indiana needs an "all of the above" energy strategy like it needs another Hepatitis C outbreak. It gets 85% of its electricity from coal fired plants and 26,000 Hoosiers are employed in the coal industry and as Jimmy Carter was fond of telling us has enough coal to last 600 years.
The last time Governor Pence took a stand on a substantive issue his flip flop resulted in civil protections based on sexual orientation. Evidently the opinions of Tim Cooke and Charles Barkley carry more weight than mere voters. Maybe he should have run this by Miley Cyrus before calling a press conference. With friends like Pence...
Actually Indiana needs an "all of the above" energy strategy like it needs another Hepatitis C outbreak. It gets 85% of its electricity from coal fired plants and 26,000 Hoosiers are employed in the coal industry and as Jimmy Carter was fond of telling us has enough coal to last 600 years.
The last time Governor Pence took a stand on a substantive issue his flip flop resulted in civil protections based on sexual orientation. Evidently the opinions of Tim Cooke and Charles Barkley carry more weight than mere voters. Maybe he should have run this by Miley Cyrus before calling a press conference. With friends like Pence...
Nikki Haley for Vice President?
We all know that extreme circumstances have produced some extremely great leaders and Governor Nikki Haley maybe a splendid example. While Republicans candidates for their party's nomination waffled on the merits of preserving the last remnants of the Confederacy, Haley addressed the flag issue head on. Agree with her or disagree but at least she had the courage to take a stand. Suddenly her name is being mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate.
Before the flag issue emerged Haley had already become Charleston's chief healer and uniter. He message was one of hope and forgiveness in contrast to Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's racially charged vindictiveness over what now appears to be the accidental death of a small time drug dealer. She spoke in her own genuine voice not in Hillary Clinton's "I ain't no ways tired", traveling minstrel show schtick.
“It’s been her finest hour as governor,” said David Woodard, a Clemson University professor.
Haley second term of governor expires in 2019 and if she has aspirations to higher office she has not made them known but having a plain spoken woman of Indian heritage who has twice been elected to a state's highest office would improve any Republican nominee's chances of capturing the White House.
Before the flag issue emerged Haley had already become Charleston's chief healer and uniter. He message was one of hope and forgiveness in contrast to Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's racially charged vindictiveness over what now appears to be the accidental death of a small time drug dealer. She spoke in her own genuine voice not in Hillary Clinton's "I ain't no ways tired", traveling minstrel show schtick.
“It’s been her finest hour as governor,” said David Woodard, a Clemson University professor.
Haley second term of governor expires in 2019 and if she has aspirations to higher office she has not made them known but having a plain spoken woman of Indian heritage who has twice been elected to a state's highest office would improve any Republican nominee's chances of capturing the White House.
Leftist sicko mocks Nikki Haley
The city of Charleston conducted itself with tremendous grace following the shooting of 9 very good people. Relatives of the victims did not ask for vengeance but forgave Dylann Roof and hoped that he would seek his own salvation. A family member of Anthony Thompson said,
And the tolerant left responded with this:
“I forgive you and my family forgives you, but we would like you to take this opportunity to repent . . . confess, give your life to the one who matters the most, Christ, so that He can change it—can change your ways no matter what happens to you, and you will be OK. Do that and you will be better.”From the daughter of Ethel Lance, killed in the shooting,
“You took something very precious away from me. I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. May God forgive you. And I forgive you.”A clearly shaken and grieving Governor Nikki Haley had to fight back her tears when she made her first statement.
And the tolerant left responded with this:
Just because @nikkihaley finally got a feel for which way the wind blows, doesn't change her TRUE colors. #TakeItDown pic.twitter.com/1S92mTOGnj
— Pin Head (@TomAdelsbach) June 23, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Does Obama's DNA make him racist?
Disregarding national security, one of the most disturbing things Obama has done in governing the United States is to demean the office of the presidency.
He''s appeared with comedians, with pimps, with women who slather themselves with cheerios. He's hucked it up repeatedly on the golf course, mocked his opponents repeatedly, mocked and scolded the American people and the Supreme Court. Now he's gone on yet another second ratel comedian's stupid show called "WTF," used a word that is socially unacceptable, claiming that racism is in "our DNA" and later crowed that he's "glad" he stirred people up with anxiety, like any good community agitator.
Again harkening back to conditions hundreds of years ago, Obama complained:
From his statements, obviously Obama would also be guilty of racism in his DNA since he is half white.
The truth is that Democrats including Obama are agitating for the banishment of certain opinions, of the abolition of any voices who do not agree with them. Obama has no compunction about accusing others of heinous crimes and so-called "hate" crimes, including "bigotry" as defined by Leftists.
These are dangerous days in America; Obama has called himself "fearless" this week, at the same time creating dissension, flouting our laws, removing deportation options for even criminals and announcing to the world that the US will no longer forbid the payment of ransom thus encouraging kidnapping.
Fearless, no doubt, does not mean to us what it means to the likes of Obama, who just today complain that Muslims are misunderstood in this country while at the same time pushing government harassment of Christians and conservatives.
An "honest" conversation means you shut up.
I'm so sick of these snobs.
He''s appeared with comedians, with pimps, with women who slather themselves with cheerios. He's hucked it up repeatedly on the golf course, mocked his opponents repeatedly, mocked and scolded the American people and the Supreme Court. Now he's gone on yet another second ratel comedian's stupid show called "WTF," used a word that is socially unacceptable, claiming that racism is in "our DNA" and later crowed that he's "glad" he stirred people up with anxiety, like any good community agitator.
Again harkening back to conditions hundreds of years ago, Obama complained:
“Racism: We’re not cured of it,” Obama told Maron. “It’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public, that’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t overnight erase everything that happened two to 300 years earlier.”He made sure to blame the Congress, the NRA, claiming our "DNA" means we're doomed to be racist. Presumably only white people have this problem:
The president said while attitudes about race have improved significantly since he was born to a white mother and black father, the legacy of slavery "casts a long shadow and that's still part of our DNA that's passed on."Interestingly, very few American sources bothered to quote Obama's DNA remarks.
Obama also expressed frustration that "the grip of the NRA (National Rifle Association) on Congress is extremely strong" and prevented gun control from advancing in Congress after 20 children and six educators were massacred in a Connecticut elementary school in 2012.
From his statements, obviously Obama would also be guilty of racism in his DNA since he is half white.
The truth is that Democrats including Obama are agitating for the banishment of certain opinions, of the abolition of any voices who do not agree with them. Obama has no compunction about accusing others of heinous crimes and so-called "hate" crimes, including "bigotry" as defined by Leftists.
These are dangerous days in America; Obama has called himself "fearless" this week, at the same time creating dissension, flouting our laws, removing deportation options for even criminals and announcing to the world that the US will no longer forbid the payment of ransom thus encouraging kidnapping.
Fearless, no doubt, does not mean to us what it means to the likes of Obama, who just today complain that Muslims are misunderstood in this country while at the same time pushing government harassment of Christians and conservatives.
An "honest" conversation means you shut up.
I'm so sick of these snobs.
MSNBC lefties laugh at health care lies
You know, it was bad enough that those who were paying attention knew Obama and his people were lying and laughing at those of us who recognized the fakery that was going on when Democrats were destroying the health care system.
But imagine this.
A group of elite rich lefties gather around their morning joe to laugh about the lies, to laugh at the people (yes, Democrat people) who actually believed the lies and blindly trusted their leaders.
Hahahaha!
It's so funny because the impending increases in deductibles, premiums, co-pays and impending decreases in accessibility of care will never affect them or their families because they are the elite, the privileged, no matter their skin color (although 4 of the 5 commentators in this video are white).
It's so funny that they can barely contain their amusement that the "stupid American [Democrat] voters actually bought the White House lies, which they translate as "not fully forthcoming."
Yes, Mark Halperin "apologizes" of sorts to his Republican sources who told him Jonathan Gruber was intimately involved in negotiations for radically transforming health care but yesterday we learned that Gruber was indeed tremendously involved.
But hahaha.
Because, see, not all lives matter, at least when it comes to the elites in this country.
But imagine this.
A group of elite rich lefties gather around their morning joe to laugh about the lies, to laugh at the people (yes, Democrat people) who actually believed the lies and blindly trusted their leaders.
Hahahaha!
It's so funny because the impending increases in deductibles, premiums, co-pays and impending decreases in accessibility of care will never affect them or their families because they are the elite, the privileged, no matter their skin color (although 4 of the 5 commentators in this video are white).
It's so funny that they can barely contain their amusement that the "stupid American [Democrat] voters actually bought the White House lies, which they translate as "not fully forthcoming."
Yes, Mark Halperin "apologizes" of sorts to his Republican sources who told him Jonathan Gruber was intimately involved in negotiations for radically transforming health care but yesterday we learned that Gruber was indeed tremendously involved.
But hahaha.
Because, see, not all lives matter, at least when it comes to the elites in this country.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Jessie Jackson Jr. graduates to house arrest.
Oh happy day! Prisoner 32451016 a.k.a. Jessie Jackson Jr. is back in his Washington, Dupont Circle home with a GPS locked to his ankle. He was released from Volunteers of America halfway house in Baltimore where he has resided since his release from the federal pen in March and presumably did not take part in the recent looting.
“I plan to use the next several months of home confinement…to share with the American people not only my journey, but the journey of Americans who have erred and made mistakes of judgment that led to their incarceration,” Jackson said.
That means he is going to write a book because he needs the money but when his time of home confinement is up in October the good wife, Sandi Jackson, goes to jail. More.
“I plan to use the next several months of home confinement…to share with the American people not only my journey, but the journey of Americans who have erred and made mistakes of judgment that led to their incarceration,” Jackson said.
That means he is going to write a book because he needs the money but when his time of home confinement is up in October the good wife, Sandi Jackson, goes to jail. More.
Sony: Spider-Man must be a white,heterosexual male.
Where would we be without Wikileaks? Wikileaks has begun releasing documents from the Sony hack. If you live on another planet or as in my case just don't give a damn what happens in Hollywood, you may not know that Marvel Comics and Sony agreed on a joint venture to put Spider-Man in the movies. In the contract some very specific terms as to the Spider-Man image and character are spelled out. He is a middle class, Caucasian and heterosexual male, who does not do drugs or have sex with minors.
Marvel can enjoin a Picture if it does not conform to the foregoing Mandatory
Character Traits. For any other failure to conform to Character Integrity or other
requirements, Marvel’s sole remedy is damages.
b. Peter Parker Character Traits. Depiction of Peter Parker or his Spider-Man alter ego
must conform to the following character traits:
His full name is Peter Benjamin Parker.
He is Caucasian and heterosexual.
His parents become absent from his life during his childhood.
From the time his parents become absent he is raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben
in New York City
He gains his powers while attending either middle school or college.
He gains his powers from being bitten by a spider
He designs his first red and blue costume.
The black costume is a symbiote and is not designed by him
He is raised in a middle class household in Queens, New York
He attends or attended high school in Queens, New York, and he attends or
attended college in New York City, New York.
a. Mandatory Spider-Man Character Traits. Spider-Man (whether Peter Parker or an
alternative Spider-Man character) must always strictly conform to the following
“Mandatory Character Traits”:
Male
Does not torture*
Does not kill unless in defense of self or others*
Does not use foul language beyond PG-13
Does not smoke tobacco*
Does not sell/distribute illegal drugs*
Does not abuse alcohol*
Does not have sex before the age of 16, does not have sex with anyone below the
age of 16
Not a homosexual (unless Marvel has portrayed that alter ego as a homosexual
Marvel can enjoin a Picture if it does not conform to the foregoing Mandatory
Character Traits. For any other failure to conform to Character Integrity or other
requirements, Marvel’s sole remedy is damages.
b. Peter Parker Character Traits. Depiction of Peter Parker or his Spider-Man alter ego
must conform to the following character traits:
His full name is Peter Benjamin Parker.
He is Caucasian and heterosexual.
His parents become absent from his life during his childhood.
From the time his parents become absent he is raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben
in New York City
He gains his powers while attending either middle school or college.
He gains his powers from being bitten by a spider
He designs his first red and blue costume.
The black costume is a symbiote and is not designed by him
He is raised in a middle class household in Queens, New York
He attends or attended high school in Queens, New York, and he attends or
attended college in New York City, New York.
a. Mandatory Spider-Man Character Traits. Spider-Man (whether Peter Parker or an
alternative Spider-Man character) must always strictly conform to the following
“Mandatory Character Traits”:
Male
Does not torture*
Does not kill unless in defense of self or others*
Does not use foul language beyond PG-13
Does not smoke tobacco*
Does not sell/distribute illegal drugs*
Does not abuse alcohol*
Does not have sex before the age of 16, does not have sex with anyone below the
age of 16
Not a homosexual (unless Marvel has portrayed that alter ego as a homosexual
Dolezal puts her best (black) face forward at protest rally
Via Liberty News, a video has been unearthed of Rachel Dolezal stirring up trouble at a Ferguson march. What I find more interesting about this than the usual rabble scrabble is the amount of tanner she felt she needed to wear this day.
I ask: Given the definition of black face ("Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. ")and considering that Dolezal is playing to an audience of black protesters, many paid to protest, that has circulated around the country is search of racial incidents, isn't what she's doing pandering in black face to a deceived audience?
Wikipedia:
I ask: Given the definition of black face ("Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. ")and considering that Dolezal is playing to an audience of black protesters, many paid to protest, that has circulated around the country is search of racial incidents, isn't what she's doing pandering in black face to a deceived audience?
Wikipedia:
Starting no later than Robert Toll's Blacking Up (1974), a "third wave" has systematically studied the origins of blackface, and has put forward a nuanced picture: that blackface did, indeed, draw on African-American culture, but that it transformed, stereotyped, and caricatured that culture, resulting in often racist representations of black characters.[80]And this form of performance has validity to black activists? Really?
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Blessed are the recyclers and organic gardeners
One can imagine some future confessor instructing a penitent " For your penance say 3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Marys and read the complete encyclical
“Laudato Si’" . "I would rather go to hell" might be the reply. The Church really does not need at this time a patron saint of tedium but His Holiness seems to want to get his card punched for such an honor if it should ever be created. There are no inspiring prose, no exhortations to excellence, and certainly no bold visions. Philosophically it's chocked full of the
of pointless minutiae that the Pharisees were so fond of and as far as letters go it is on a plane with Roger Goodell’s letter to NFL owners on domestic violence. No one was expecting Lord Chesterfield's concision but no one thought the art of letter writing had reached this nadir.
Dear boy, Turn off the air conditioner and eschew the temptation to mine coal.
Laudato Si is a dark document. It is anti capitalist in tone and almost sophomoric in its judgments.
Buying an air conditioner is self-destructive? One suspects the pontiff would have his bishops developer a talmudic set of regulations governing air conditioner use to further advance the cause of a totalitarian church. Show me a leftist and I'll show you a totalitarian.. Every facet of every citizen's life must be regulated in excruciating detail either by civil law or moral suasion.
Will someone please buy this man a thesaurus! And maybe explain to him that to be understood he must use understandable prose. Witness this;
Dear boy, Turn off the air conditioner and eschew the temptation to mine coal.
Laudato Si is a dark document. It is anti capitalist in tone and almost sophomoric in its judgments.
Some countries are gradually making significant progress, developing more effective controls and working to combat corruption. People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has not succeeded in changing their harmful habits of consumption which, rather than decreasing, appear to be growing all the more. A simple example is the increasing use and power of air-conditioning. The markets, which immediately benefit from sales, stimulate ever greater demand. An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behaviour, which at times appears self-destructive."The markets, which immediately benefit from sales, stimulate ever greater demand." That is deep!
Buying an air conditioner is self-destructive? One suspects the pontiff would have his bishops developer a talmudic set of regulations governing air conditioner use to further advance the cause of a totalitarian church. Show me a leftist and I'll show you a totalitarian.. Every facet of every citizen's life must be regulated in excruciating detail either by civil law or moral suasion.
Dear @BarackObama, the #Pope has a message for you: NO #fracking, & yes it includes saying NO to #KeystoneXL! #NoKXL pic.twitter.com/JUXQLHdBbl
— Andrea Leon Grossman (@AndreaLeon) November 12, 2013
People take sick, for example, from breathing high levels of smoke from fuels used in cooking or heating. There is also pollution that affects everyone, caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general. Technology, which, linked to business interests, is presented as the only way of solving these problems, in fact proves incapable of seeing the mysterious network of relations between things and so sometimes solves one problem only to create others.Good Catholics should starve in the cold? Again the anti-business rhetoric! Here Francis comes close to placing the onus on himself to build that better mouse trap and one would hope it goes beyond organic gardening. He does not address the issue of nuclear power just everything else. If there is an underlying theme in this tract it is "someone should build this or do that". He could write speeches for Obama.
To cite one example, most of the paper we produce is thrown away and not recycled. It is hard for us to accept that the way natural ecosystems work is exemplary: plants synthesize nutrients which feed herbivores; these in turn become food for carnivores, which produce significant quantities of organic waste which give rise to new generations of plants. But our industrial system, at the end of its cycle of production and consumption, has not developed the capacity to absorb and reuse waste and by-products.One assumes we are the carnivores in question since I can think of no large population of carnivorous beasts and sorry about the organic waste but what should one do when nature calls?
Will someone please buy this man a thesaurus! And maybe explain to him that to be understood he must use understandable prose. Witness this;
The basic problem goes even deeper: it is the way that humanity has taken up technology and its development according to an undifferentiated and one-dimensional paradigm. This paradigm exalts the concept of a subject who, using logical and rational procedures, progressively approaches and gains control over an external object. This subject makes every effort to establish the scientific and experimental method, which in itself is already a technique of possession, mastery and transformation. It is as if the subject were to find itself in the presence of something formless, completely open to manipulation.What sort of a merciful God would expect the faithful to read this English? An undifferentiated and one-dimensional paradigm? There are insurance underwriters who write better. I'm mindful that the pope probably wrote in his native Spanish but linguistic atrocities such as this don't show up in translations of Guantanamera or Don Quixote. Not even with Google Translate. In the end one wonders if this document was mean to be read. It will certainly be forgotten. What would Cardinal Newman have said after reading this tortured English and pedantic silliness? Ora pro nobis. ( Pray for us)
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Words, just words? words matter.
Sometimes there is a lot that can be said for keeping your mouth shut. After a suspect was denied bail he voiced a few choice expletives. He was brought back before the court and given 60 days in jail for contempt of court. Apparently suffering from an acute learning disorder, the suspect once more descended into profanity earning himself another 60 days. Now he will have 120 days to rethink the wisdom of cursing a judge.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Picture this!
European summits just won't be the same anymore without dear Helle.
From the Guardian;
Danish voters have ousted the centre-left government of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and have today voted for an opposition in which the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party has emerged as the biggest force.
One suspects Michelle will handle the loss just fine.
From the Guardian;
Danish voters have ousted the centre-left government of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and have today voted for an opposition in which the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party has emerged as the biggest force.
One suspects Michelle will handle the loss just fine.
Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Jeanine Pirro make Southern Poverty Law Center's hit list
The left wing hate group masquerading as a civil rights advocate, the Southern Poverty Law Center which the Obama Justice Dept hired to conduct diversity training at DOJ, seems to have no problem picking on women.
Click here to view
Women Against Islam
A dozen women, including bloggers, activists, TV personalities and others, are at the core of the anti-Muslim radical right
"But the universe of American anti-Muslim activists is peculiarly dominated by women."
Anti-Muslim activists? Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, and Judge Jeanine Pirro? They are authors and media personalities who write and speak on a variety subjects but one assumes that anyone critical of Muslim atrocities be those atrocities beheadings or female genital mutilations are anti Muslim. Of course Pam Geller and Brigitte Gabriel make the list and so does my favorite blogger, Ann Barnhardt.Click here to view
Women Against Islam
A dozen women, including bloggers, activists, TV personalities and others, are at the core of the anti-Muslim radical right
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Dump Trump
Donald Trump--the faux Republican candidate--is a self promoting bombastic liberal.
Oh, he aped pseudo conservative viewpoints but in a vile, prejudiced way.
Even MSNBC knows this, but somehow many so-called conservatives don't seem to realize just how liberal he is.
So let's set the record straight.
Donald Trump has advocated for socialized medicine and wants single payer.
For legalizing all drugs.
For isolationism.
For protectionism and a 20% levy on all imports.
He wants a tax on wealth, meaning the money people have in their possession, not just a new tax.
Donald Trump wants to put restrictions on gun availability.
Donald Trump is pro abortion.
He's divisive, mocking Republicans as "crazy."
He's a birther.
Does he think taxing imports from other countries will promote free trade and will benefit American consumers?
Yet all over Facebook and blogs are angry comments by "conservatives," claiming Trump is a relief because he's actually speaking up for our country.
That's because he's not a real candidate and he's playing to the base.
Donald Trump is a liberal. Face it and move on.
Dump Trump.
Oh, he aped pseudo conservative viewpoints but in a vile, prejudiced way.
Even MSNBC knows this, but somehow many so-called conservatives don't seem to realize just how liberal he is.
So let's set the record straight.
Donald Trump has advocated for socialized medicine and wants single payer.
For legalizing all drugs.
For isolationism.
For protectionism and a 20% levy on all imports.
He wants a tax on wealth, meaning the money people have in their possession, not just a new tax.
Donald Trump wants to put restrictions on gun availability.
Donald Trump is pro abortion.
He's divisive, mocking Republicans as "crazy."
He's a birther.
Does he think taxing imports from other countries will promote free trade and will benefit American consumers?
Yet all over Facebook and blogs are angry comments by "conservatives," claiming Trump is a relief because he's actually speaking up for our country.
That's because he's not a real candidate and he's playing to the base.
Donald Trump is a liberal. Face it and move on.
Dump Trump.
Rebellion on the right and who killed TAA
While the press has focused on the damage done to lame duck Obama by the loss on TAA it may want to consider the damage to Speaker Boehner. When the House leadership can only deliver 86 votes from 246 Republicans it calls into question the effectiveness of said leadership and maybe its continued existence.
It's now is beginning to look like Boehner was not just having a bad day when TAA came up for a vote but rather he was blind sided by a Tea Party rebellion lead by fellow Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan. The Speaker may want to keep in mind that anyone who can control two thirds of the party's vote on legislation may be able to deliver those same votes in a leadership election. As chair of the House Freedom Caucus Jordan promised to deliver two dozen votes for TAA in exchange for an amendment that would set up check points which would allow the Republican conference to decide if the trade agreement proceeds. Thanks, but no thanks was the response from Boehner who was more concerned about addressing Democratic demands. At that point Jordan and his Freedom Caucus began organizing opposition to TAA and the rest is history.
“Yesterday will be the day that we look back at as the day that conservatives finally started getting organized in the House,” wrote Rep. Mick Mulvaney to the Spartanburg, SC Tea Party.
Let's hope it's the beginning of the end of John Boehner's leadership career.
It's now is beginning to look like Boehner was not just having a bad day when TAA came up for a vote but rather he was blind sided by a Tea Party rebellion lead by fellow Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan. The Speaker may want to keep in mind that anyone who can control two thirds of the party's vote on legislation may be able to deliver those same votes in a leadership election. As chair of the House Freedom Caucus Jordan promised to deliver two dozen votes for TAA in exchange for an amendment that would set up check points which would allow the Republican conference to decide if the trade agreement proceeds. Thanks, but no thanks was the response from Boehner who was more concerned about addressing Democratic demands. At that point Jordan and his Freedom Caucus began organizing opposition to TAA and the rest is history.
“Yesterday will be the day that we look back at as the day that conservatives finally started getting organized in the House,” wrote Rep. Mick Mulvaney to the Spartanburg, SC Tea Party.
Let's hope it's the beginning of the end of John Boehner's leadership career.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Darrell Issa escorted from Sidney Blumenthal’s deposition by chairman Trey Gowdy
It was only a minor skirmish as far as congressional turf wars go but it underlines the difficulties of Trey Gowdy's job a
Chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi. Gowdy has gone to great pains to be even handed in his treatment of partisans, a tricky proposition in a House of inflated egos. When Gowdy's former chairman on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Darrell Issa crashed Sidney Blumenthal’s deposition Gowdy promptly ushered him out. The two exchanged hushed and probably heated words outside the hearing room before Issa stormed off. You may view a brief video of the dust up here.
Moving toward a more politically correct police force
If you don't read Kate McMillan's Small Dead Animals blog you should. It's always topical and frequently humorous. Until then view this video parody of the the police forces of the future which she posted.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Shall we call him the Solar Pope?
Now that Pope Francis has advanced the status of the global warming skeptic beyond that of denier and all the way to heretic it might be good to reflect upon the last time the Catholic Church entered the realm of political economy. It was a disaster and any attempt at adherence to the medieval Church's prohibition against the charging of interest would be impossible in the modern world. Without interest how would Barack Obama finance his expenditures at the EPA or Aubrey McClendon his next gas well?
How did the medieval papacy borrow money? It cheated on the prohibition by allowing Jewish bankers to operate and do the dirty business of money lending and then taxing the lenders. Prior to the rise of modern capitalism the term usury referred not to the charging of an excessive rate of interest but the charging of any rate of interest.
The charging of interest has been has been a contentious subject for some 4,000 years. It was first addressed in the Old Testament.
Lest you imagine that this was just a Jewish-Christian concern the subject of usury was addressed in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and the Twelve Tables of the Roman Law. The Church reached its position through tortured the Aristotelian logic of the Schoolmen, eschewing a literal translation of the Bible. But how does one raise the capital to finance a caravan to China to bring silk and spices to Europe's landed gentry? Hire a good lawyer? Yes, exactly. The German Jewish House of Fugger, probably Europe's largest banker at the time, hired none other than Jon Eck the man who debated Martin Luther at Leipzig and a doctor of canon law to make the case for the triple contract theory wherein lender is paid something for the use of his money but it's not called interest. (Luther, who saw the world through the eyes of a peasant mystic would have had none of that. It was John Calvin and the industrial revolution that made lending money for interest acceptable.)
A case can be made the for Church's position then and it was made by John Maynard Keynes in his General Theory
Enter Pope Francis who, when in my kindest and most temperate disposition I would compare to Luther as viewing the world through the eyes of a peasant mystic. The trouble he will find himself in is when he gets beyond nations and demands that individuals sacrifice. We could ask if his trip to the United States is necessary considering the damage it will do the environment. Could he not just upload his encyclical to Scribd and link to it on Twitter? Demanding national sacrifice is nothing more than a damned platitude. Nations do not sacrifice; individuals do. Asking as a newly confirmed heretic, why is His Holiness entitled to fly the Atlantic in a private jet and I am not? If we are speaking in moral absolutes the pope should live the life of a Trappist monk before he demands everyone save the plant. Like it or not we are industrialized and we cannot go back to medieval Europe with its balmy climate. The conveniently ignored temperature data from that era meshes well with the historical facts that the Vikings colonized and farmed Greenland and Scotland had vineyards but never mind Michael Mann can explain that.
Let's reflect again on the Middle Ages and a practice called simony, the buying or selling of indulgences or other spiritual things, not very different from Al Gore's carbon credits. Will His Holiness demand that the owners of the 1700 private jets that flew to Davos to discuss global warming repent and fly commercial if at all? Should he demand that Nancy Pelosi take Amtrak all the way to San Francisco? Of course the wealthy and the privileged won't sacrifice they'll be given or will be able to buy carbon credits from the UN or indulgences from the Vatican. Suppose everyone is issued so many non-transferable carbon credits / indulgences at birth. Spend them wisely and they will last a lifetime but indulge in frivolities and you can sit in your house in the dark. That would be harsh but fair.
Where does the principle of equality come from? Not from the Greeks, not from Marx, certainly not from the Romans. It's a Christian value. If Jesus Christ died for all men then all men are equal not just those who can buy carbon credits. If it's a sin for you, it's a sin for Al Gore, Barack Obama, Pope Francis and even Donald Trump.
Will Francis be known throughout history as the Solar Pope?
How did the medieval papacy borrow money? It cheated on the prohibition by allowing Jewish bankers to operate and do the dirty business of money lending and then taxing the lenders. Prior to the rise of modern capitalism the term usury referred not to the charging of an excessive rate of interest but the charging of any rate of interest.
The charging of interest has been has been a contentious subject for some 4,000 years. It was first addressed in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 23:19: Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury.Jewish bankers had no moral problem with usury because they read it in context with the following verse.
Deuteronomy 23:20: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.It's very simple brother no, other yes.
Lest you imagine that this was just a Jewish-Christian concern the subject of usury was addressed in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and the Twelve Tables of the Roman Law. The Church reached its position through tortured the Aristotelian logic of the Schoolmen, eschewing a literal translation of the Bible. But how does one raise the capital to finance a caravan to China to bring silk and spices to Europe's landed gentry? Hire a good lawyer? Yes, exactly. The German Jewish House of Fugger, probably Europe's largest banker at the time, hired none other than Jon Eck the man who debated Martin Luther at Leipzig and a doctor of canon law to make the case for the triple contract theory wherein lender is paid something for the use of his money but it's not called interest. (Luther, who saw the world through the eyes of a peasant mystic would have had none of that. It was John Calvin and the industrial revolution that made lending money for interest acceptable.)
A case can be made the for Church's position then and it was made by John Maynard Keynes in his General Theory
I was brought up to believe that the attitude of the Medieval Church to the rate of interest was inherently absurd, and that the subtle discussions aimed at distinguishing the return on money-loans from the return to active investment were merely Jesuitical attempts to find a practical escape from a foolish theory. But I now read these discussions as an honest intellectual effort to keep separate what the classical theory has inextricably confused together, namely, the rate of interest and the marginal efficiency of capital. For it now seems clear that the disquisitions of the schoolmen were directed towards the elucidation of a formula which should allow the schedule of the marginal efficiency of capital to be high, whilst using rule and custom and the moral law to keep down the rate of interest.But the point is a case cannot be made for it today. In the days of Martin Luther virtually the entire population of Europe was one bad harvest away from starvation. Or in Keynesian terms, today the marginal efficiency of capital is sufficiently high and the charging of interest is imperative to direct capital to the most efficient (and profitable) uses. Industrialization, not economic theory nor religious dogma, changed the rules of the game.
Enter Pope Francis who, when in my kindest and most temperate disposition I would compare to Luther as viewing the world through the eyes of a peasant mystic. The trouble he will find himself in is when he gets beyond nations and demands that individuals sacrifice. We could ask if his trip to the United States is necessary considering the damage it will do the environment. Could he not just upload his encyclical to Scribd and link to it on Twitter? Demanding national sacrifice is nothing more than a damned platitude. Nations do not sacrifice; individuals do. Asking as a newly confirmed heretic, why is His Holiness entitled to fly the Atlantic in a private jet and I am not? If we are speaking in moral absolutes the pope should live the life of a Trappist monk before he demands everyone save the plant. Like it or not we are industrialized and we cannot go back to medieval Europe with its balmy climate. The conveniently ignored temperature data from that era meshes well with the historical facts that the Vikings colonized and farmed Greenland and Scotland had vineyards but never mind Michael Mann can explain that.
Let's reflect again on the Middle Ages and a practice called simony, the buying or selling of indulgences or other spiritual things, not very different from Al Gore's carbon credits. Will His Holiness demand that the owners of the 1700 private jets that flew to Davos to discuss global warming repent and fly commercial if at all? Should he demand that Nancy Pelosi take Amtrak all the way to San Francisco? Of course the wealthy and the privileged won't sacrifice they'll be given or will be able to buy carbon credits from the UN or indulgences from the Vatican. Suppose everyone is issued so many non-transferable carbon credits / indulgences at birth. Spend them wisely and they will last a lifetime but indulge in frivolities and you can sit in your house in the dark. That would be harsh but fair.
Where does the principle of equality come from? Not from the Greeks, not from Marx, certainly not from the Romans. It's a Christian value. If Jesus Christ died for all men then all men are equal not just those who can buy carbon credits. If it's a sin for you, it's a sin for Al Gore, Barack Obama, Pope Francis and even Donald Trump.
Will Francis be known throughout history as the Solar Pope?
Update:
At least he gets this right. Carbon credits are secular simony.
Pope Francis targets carbon credits, the favored policy of economists http://t.co/0nnpt08JYY pic.twitter.com/ZwKBw3NIdL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 19, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Republicans had planned to raid Medicare to pay for TAA
Remember the Agenda Project's ad showing a villain bearing a likeness to Rep. Paul Ryan throwing granny over the cliff? It could be those people had a better insight into the Macvellian instincts of the Wisconsin Wunderkind than we did. From Breitbart.com;
TAA was originally supposed to be financed with Medicare cuts – which sparked major outrage, and cries of hypocrisy in what would have certainly turned into boldly negative campaign advertisements against Republicans by Democrats this next cycle. But under pressure, Republican leadership, mainly Boehner and Ryan, negotiated with Democrats to remove the Medicare cuts from the financial backing of TAA and instead using direct tax hikes by raising the penalties for misfiled taxes.The gist of that post is TAA, if passed, would break the Republican's no new tax pledge. Again from Breitbart;
“Small businesses that are already over-burdened with IRS paperwork will be penalized even further if they make a technical mistake on filing informational paperwork,” he said. “There’s a lot of dishonesty going on when the bill is described as raising the fines on tax violations. That’s dishonest because the fines aren’t for people who failed to pay their taxes, the fines are on businesses that for no fault of their own, they forget to file a piece of paperwork telling the IRS how much someone else owes on their taxes.”No only were we not told about a planned raid on the Medicare Trust Fund, already raided once by distrustful Democrats to finance Obamacare but for awhile a second raid by Republicans who cannot be trusted. We now find that Boehner, Ryan et al want to finance Obamatrade through fines on small businesses where the IRS would create a system of rules that are impossible to comply with and then fine businesses when they fail to comply.
“It’s outrageous that Republicans who complain all the time – rightfully so – about the IRS’s overreach and over burdening small business are actually increasing the incentive for the IRS to spy on people – to spy on small businesses,” he added.
Essentially, as explained by Ellis, any time a small business paid an independent contractor or freelancer a commission or any tips, it must be reported to the IRS with a 1099 form, which a copy is also sent to the contractor or freelancer. If the small business is late in filing this form, then it is fined by the IRS. The proposal Tuesday, as it stands, would double and triple these fines.
Thanks to WikiLeaks and no thanks to our elected leadership we learned of another facet of Obamatrade, the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). We would know nothing of this proposed outrage were it not for WikiLeaks as Obama and Congress had no intention of telling us until 5 years after that agreement had been inked notwithstanding Obama's campaign promise to run the most transparent administration ever. This revelation has for the most part been ignored by the national press and publications authored by organizations of all political persuasions. We should be thankful that not all media is as duplicitous as our own and that all political opposition is not as inarticulate as our own.
Juxtapose Elizabeth Warren and her shill, strident, and uniformed rhetoric Canadian born Green Party Senator Larissa Waters can actually express a coherent thought in understandable prose. Her take on TISA and TPP is both reasoned and disturbing to all who prefer governance from their own sovereign governments as opposed to governance by an international business cartel legalized into a brand new Orwellian Super World Trade Organization.
It's regrettable we have to go all the way to Australia for news.
A few points of cultural clarification
UPDATE: My head is spinning. Apparently Doleziel sued Howard for discrimination as a white person and lost. I have no idea. Did she get scholarship money--a full ride--for being black for her undergraduate and master's degree? I have no idea. What a mess.
Let's just clarify a few things here.
Let's just clarify a few things here.
- No, YOU're not black.
- No, YOU're not a woman.
- No, HE'S not brave and courageous.
- No, YOU're not a champion for ALL the people.
- Yes, your HAIR is really convincingly "ethnic," probably as a result of cosmetology training and, yes, you cheated someone who IS black out of scholarship money.
- Yes, you LOOK really good as a woman. Still.
- Yes, you ARE a criminal and a fool. Sayonara, baby.
- Yes, you are the OLDEST female in the race.
Maybe we should call it comical core
This story is not new. It's been in the back of my mind for some months but nothing has changed since it broke. For that matter probably nothing will change in our lifetimes. Did you know that only 9.2% of New York City school teacher received the coveted "highly effective" rating while statewide nearly 60% of teacher were "highly effective". In the NYC system a full 91% were rated either "highly effective" or "effective", 7% were "developing" and 1.2% were "ineffective"
You can read more about the injustices done to NYC teachers here at Chalkbeat, a not for profit whose mission is, hell, I'll let them spell it out.
You can read more about the injustices done to NYC teachers here at Chalkbeat, a not for profit whose mission is, hell, I'll let them spell it out.
"Our mission is to inform the decisions and actions that lead to better outcomes for children and families by providing deep, local coverage of education policy and practice."Look, I'm not the English major on this blog. As a matter of fact I finished out my career as a maintenance mechanic but does anyone diagram sentences anymore? Are we missing a direct object here? Do we inform decisions and actions or people? Anyway these people know all about education. They're highly effective but evidently grammar isn't their long suit. Here is most of what you need to know about the maltreated teachers.
Of the 62,184 city teachers evaluated in the 2013-14 school year, 9.2 percent earned a “highly effective” rating, though nearly 60 percent of teachers outside the city earned that distinction. Still, 91 percent of city teachers earned one of the top two ratings, with 82 percent of city teachers rated “effective,” 7 percent rated “developing,” and 1.2 percent rated “ineffective,” the lowest possible rating.My question is if 91% of teachers are either effective or highly effective why is the school system's graduation rate only 61%? Do the 1.2 % who are "ineffective" teach 39% of the students? It has to be the students' fault. No, it's worse than that. It's Governor Cuomo's fault too. You see, there was supposed to be an evaluation "safety net" but the governor reneged.
Outside of New York City, the numbers skewed toward the higher ratings: Only 2 percent of teachers in the rest of the state were rated developing and less than 1 percent were rated ineffective. Those numbers indicated that the city’s evaluation system was more reliable than the ones negotiated in other districts, state education officials said, not that fewer top teachers were working in New York City schools.
“Our teachers are not getting feedback about their relative strengths and weaknesses,” said Assistant Commissioner Julia Rafal-Baer, referring to the large numbers of teachers in other districts rated highly effective.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo suggested Wednesday that he will not hold up his end of a much-touted bargain with the state teachers union to keep the use of student test scores from dragging down some teacher ratings.Should we be surprised that politicians and the teachers union conspired against the students of the state by creating a bogus rating system that frets about test scores and ignores the graduation rate so no one gets fired or is denied tenure?
In June, Cuomo agreed to protect English and math teachers in grades 3-8 from being negatively affected by Common Core-aligned test scores for two years. Only a small fraction of teachers would have qualified for the adjustments, but the governor said at the time he was concerned that any ratings based on the new tests might not be reliable enough to use to fire or deny tenure to teachers.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
New Jeb Bush ad blurs the line between compassion and pandering
I didn't know it was contagious but I feel a case of
Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) coming on. The Bush campaign has released the video below to assure everyone that Saint Jeb the Magnificent really cares about domestic violence, autism, women and minorities. Yes, Bush has set himself apart from the rest of the Republican field. The others speak of principles and challenge the nation to be all it can be. They acknowledge that resources are finite and wants are infinite but with Bush it's Here Comes Santa Clause.
The Republican Party cannot afford to get in a bidding war for the dependency vote with Hillary and company and the country can afford neither. The choice between a washed up, patrician, Rino and corrupt, nouveau riche grandma is not much of a choice.
"What difference, at this point, does it make?"
The Republican Party cannot afford to get in a bidding war for the dependency vote with Hillary and company and the country can afford neither. The choice between a washed up, patrician, Rino and corrupt, nouveau riche grandma is not much of a choice.
"What difference, at this point, does it make?"
TPP Is More About Washington"s Parochial and Provincial Arrogance Than Middle America's Prosperity
The Huffington Post, from whom I borrowed the above chart makes the point that there is little partisan division on trade. Notice 50% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats think that foreign trade lowers wages. Also 51% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats say it leads to job loss. If anything Republican should be less eager to help Obama than the Democrats yet is was Boehner and Ryan who wanted to go to the mattresses in this gang war. The vote on TAA was hardly partisan. Yes, 86 Republicans voted for it but that is just a shade better than a third of their 246 seat majority. I have enjoyed very much the popular assertion that this was a stinging loss for Obama yet it was a loss for Boehner as well.
Again, I will make the comparison to TARP. This was not partisan warfare; it was gang warfare. This was the Beltway gang against middle America. For the Democrats opposition was merely constituency service for its special interests, namely Big Labor and Big Green but the Republican the motivation is more nuanced. That motivation is probably one part arrogance, one part politics, one part ideology. Couple that with an appalling lack of candor and flat out lying and one can see why the public was repulsed.
Let's deal with the political.
The Republican Party has always been the party of free trade.
False. The Republican Party used to be the party of high tariffs. It did very well at the polls with this position until it overplayed its hand with the passage of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff which went into effect in 1930 when the party was at the zenith of its power. At the very best Smoot-Hawley was counterproductive as it contributed to a global trade war and many believe exacerbated and prolonged the Depression. Experience is a great teacher and losing 5 consecutive presidential election made Republicans the freest of free traders.
Free trade will not cost American jobs. It will create American jobs. Then why TAA? What the hell does Trade Adjustment Assistance mean if not welfare for those who lose their jobs? There is more to it than that. There is assistance for farmer and rancher and even businesses that get the short end of the stick all of which should be academic if TPP had a chance of living up to its hype. We shouldn't have to tell Paul Ryan that free trade does not mean signing off blindly on a treaty of which trade is a component but which also includes freer immigration and more of Washington's precious copyright protection which carried to its logical extreme gives the manufacturer of any machine that is computer driven some rights to control of that machine for as long as it runs regardless of who owns it.
This gives Congress more power? True but over whom?
We will be able to pass or not pass TTP when the negotiations are complete. Just give us the authority to negotiate.
If we don't trust you now why are we apt to trust you when the treaty comes up for a vote?
There was a time when capital did not flow to every corner of the world and when a sophisticated and disciplined if not highly skilled workforce was essential to manufacturing but those days are long past. If the United States is not going to try to reclaim it superiority in manufacturing then where will it succeed and don't give us that service economy bullshit unless you are prepared to name the services and explain why the US will be dominant.
Congressman Ryan's Levi's come from Indonesia his iPhone comes from China and his television from Korea or somewhere in the Pacific yet he and Boehner and Obama want to expand trade? My point is this. That world is gone.
Not so much Boehner but Ryan and Obama are generally hyped in the media as being very forward looking and practical men of vision. But what vision? The world changed and they did not. I'll close with a quote from John Maynard Keynes;
Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Rachel Dolezal turns black with rage
Nobody knows the trouble I see
Nobody knows my sorrow
What's a woman to do? There is white oppression everywhere and white people won't leave her alone. This has been true ever since she was a little girl growing up in an Indian tepee in Montana. Eschewing food stamps her family used bows and arrows to get food. She gets hate mail in her post office box that hasn't been processed and when she reports it to authorities they dismiss her concerns just because the stamps weren't cancelled.
Then there are swastikas and nooses jumping out all over the place at her, often so covertly the security cameras fail to catch the action, and just because her neighbor told he hung the noose to dress a deer it doesn't ease the pain.
Finally she finds white oppression. Yes, it's always in the last place you look. It's on the country's coins and currency.
With a little coaching Rachel Dolezal could be another Tawana Brawley or Crystal Gail Mangum of Duke Lacrosse fame or even an Elizabeth Warren. Whether she is driven by malice or pathetically confused as in the cases of Bruce Jenner and Paul Ryan she is a liability to the NAACP.
I discuss recent WACKY events in America *or* What the heck is going on?
You'll have to pardon me. I've been off watching British television for a few days.
I've been on a bit of a sabbatical the last week; keeping up with the latest news feels like walking in sewage.
I'm wearing waders, it's true, but still. Slogging through BS, human waste and detritus is hardly spiritually and emotionally cleansing, as y'all know from recent developments.
So here are a few conclusions I've drawn, based on recent weeks' wacky incidents:
And I also finally understand why when I visited my parents years ago, they'd be watching reruns of innocuous tv shows with solvable-in-60-minutes problems like "Murder She Wrote" "Touched by an Angel."
Now that I've reached their age, my version appears to be Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.
A life in balance: the news one hour and fake murder mysteries the next. Hm. Which to choose. I can only tolerate so much so long.
I've been on a bit of a sabbatical the last week; keeping up with the latest news feels like walking in sewage.
I'm wearing waders, it's true, but still. Slogging through BS, human waste and detritus is hardly spiritually and emotionally cleansing, as y'all know from recent developments.
So here are a few conclusions I've drawn, based on recent weeks' wacky incidents:
- I'm sorry
BruceCaitlin feels bad about the ole self image. It's too bad we all can't have everything we want. I wanted to be a singer in a jazz band at one point: however, I gave it up, due to practical and monetary realities. In Caitlin's situation, I'll be more convinced when she actually commits to having certain appendages removed. - I hate that I know all this, um, junk.
- Geez, Miley, could ya just keep something to yourself, especially if you're a scrawny profane pagan intolerant little ______ (your choice of expletives.
- In a completely unrelated item, mental illness appears to be up these days.
- The people who claim to be the most "tolerant" are the least tolerant, especially when it comes to Christianity.
- White Leftists who lie about being black including receiving full ride minority scholarships are more likely to be accepted by other Leftists than conservatives whose skin really is black. Again with the intolerance.
- Many people (not me) are living in a Matrix of sorts, ignoring conditions of Christians in the Middle East, ignoring the reality of circumstances that are closing in around us, living in a Fantasy World of their own making.
- Obama really is an ignorant self centered ass, as his own party has suddenly discovered by his rude and petulant behavior on the hill Friday. In true Leftist form, I predict they will immediately revert to Fantasy World form after their *shocking* discovery.
- There are a lot of really uninformed American people.
- There are a lot of really smart American people. They' are not currently running our country.
- Obama will do just about anything to shape his "Utopia," which includes encouraging rioting in the street, throwing money at intractable problems and attempting to destroy affluent neighborhoods while ignoring the spiritual vacuum that has created such cultural disasters as Baltimore.
- Speaking of Baltimore, all the cities that are such a mess in this country ( which look like bombed out Middle Eastern cities) have been run by Democrats for decades. Yes. I know you know that if you're reading this blog. But how much longer will Democrats be able to deny that to the Matrix "I live in my cell phone" citizens?
- Incredibly, many Leftists keep believing that if socialism, communism were actually done right, (ie they were in charge) it would work! How many failed attempts must we witness globally to figure out it doesn't work and, in fact, gives power to the most corrupt and oppresses the majority?
- Carly Fiorina has the "big mo," that is, momentum, among those of us who are watching carefully and with interest.
- Rick Perry's announcement speech was magnificent.
- Ben Carson is doing better answering trick questions. Still.
- No matter who wins the Republican nomination, if it's a fairly conservative individual, the other candidates could make excellent heads of State, HHS, DOJ. The Republicans have a remarkable bench of diverse candidates, unlike the Democrats, who have Julian Castro.
- Quite a few Americans are willing to accept lying liars who lie. Quite a few Americans are not.
- I remember Kerry boasting that Bush was driving the "car of America" into the ditch. I also remember him sneering to a reporter that he never crashes his bike. Hey, it's too bad about breaking that leg bone from running your bike into a curb, y'all. Somethin' about karma, I guess.
- I listen to talk radio, where people who actually live in neighborhoods actively call in to describe actual events. There's a lot more to the McKenney, Texas, pool party than most people know.
- Quite a few parents aren't doing their jobs.
- We have a problem in urban neighborhoods.
- Money doesn't solve problems; in fact, often money makes matters worse, driving politicians to ever more personal gain and power and yet subjugating the populace.
- If government is just so great at running things, why did they not tell their employees immediately when they knew personal information had been stolen? And how are they getting away with just now letting us know there were far more victims than initially leaked? One can only hope Lois Lerner. No. Stop. Unkind.
- Atheists and Leftists are working hard to remove God from every public, private and personal institution and gathering. How's that working out? Are we more moral these days? More civil?
- The lack of moral and spiritual education is bearing fruit. How's that working out?
- Whew! It's good to know it's not child abuse to let your kid play in your own yard.
- And last but not least, we've had enough rain in Northwest Ohio.
And I also finally understand why when I visited my parents years ago, they'd be watching reruns of innocuous tv shows with solvable-in-60-minutes problems like "Murder She Wrote" "Touched by an Angel."
Now that I've reached their age, my version appears to be Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.
A life in balance: the news one hour and fake murder mysteries the next. Hm. Which to choose. I can only tolerate so much so long.
Settled science isn't what it used to be
The accuracy of this doomsday forecast from ABC News is amazing! Critics will point out that a gallon of milk is less than $4 per gallon rather than the predicted $13, that a gallon of gasoline is about $2.75 not $9 and only one hurricane, Sandy, has hit land since 2008. True, California has a drought but they didn't tell us we would be using our furnaces in June of this year. Other than that...
Friday, June 12, 2015
Maybe we should deal with big labor and the left on TPP
@SpeakerBoehner seem more interested in Obama's priorities.
— Hoosierman (@TPatPerrysburg) June 13, 2015
I never thought that I would be siding with Nancy Pelosi against John Boehner and Paul Ryan but today is the day. Give Pelosi credit. She stuck to her principles and now Obama looks like a whipped and weakened fool. The fight is not over yet due to a motion to reconsider filed by Speaker Boehner. This is beginning to look like a Beltway versus the nation confrontation. The Washington Post reports that 27 big tech companies including AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, eBay, Cisco, Intel and Xerox sent a missive to all members of Congress urging support of the trade agreement. So add Silicon Valley to the list which includes the Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, and the American Farm Bureau and ask yourself why everyone except the public knows the contents of the agreement. This is begriming to look like TARP when the Washington insiders voted against the wishes of a vast majority of the American people and many of them are spending more time with their families now. Her vote for TARP was the issue Kay Hagan used successfully against Elizabeth Dole in the 2008 North Carolina election. Kiss one Senate seat goodbye. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth will hammer Mark Kirk to smithereens over his vote. This will be a campaign issue and Senators Cruz and Graham, both of whom voted for the measure in the Senate, may have done their respective campaigns irreparable harm. Hillary may have been too clever with her refusal to take a stand on either side. Her insurmountable lead is gone. Even Democratic leaning PPP found her trailing John Kasich by 7 points in Ohio and 3 points behind Rand Paul. Today was the unofficial kick off of the 2016 election.
As it looks TPP, while on life support, is not dead but its defeat could be assured if the conservatives opposing the measure could strike a non aggression pack with the left and big labor. It would take someone with plenty of clout to put this together so it probably never will happen but suppose the right agreed with the left to cross over and vote against any congressman who voted for TPP in the primary. The congressman would not have the support of his base and the smattering of cross over votes would make him vulnerable to an opponent who opposed TPP. Neither party is giving up a seat but each party gets the advantage of running against a non incumbent. Hey, politics makes for strange bed fellows and that was true even before Caitlyn Jenner.
Update: Maybe the blow back is just beginning.
Wisconsin sources say discussions building in favor of challenging @RepPaulRyan over his role in the #ObamaTrade. #PeoplesCandidate
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) June 12, 2015
Rino Ryan apes Princess Pelosi
If you are visiting this blog chances are you voted for Rep. Paul Ryan. I have long supported Ryan and kept my personal reservations to myself. Seriously this guy has been peddling a budget that balances in 10 years for the last 6 years as if the facts that the nation is about $5 trillion deeper in debt and the population is 6 years older have no impact on dynamic scoring. We are also mindful that he was selected by Speaker Boehner to negotiate away much of the spending discipline dictated by the sequester. He was hoodwinked by Senator Patty Murray, the recreation major from Washington and arguably the dumbest member of both house. Everyone except the Wisconsin Wunderkind, who reminds many of us of the class brown nose from high school, knows that the national debt cannot be reined in by cutting waste when it's politically palatable.
As of late Ryan, who appears to be more impressed with his own intelligence than the rest of us, has become bored at having to speak down to the masses. Wesley Pruden of the Washington Times writes;
If it's any consolation you probably voted for Sarah Palin too.
As of late Ryan, who appears to be more impressed with his own intelligence than the rest of us, has become bored at having to speak down to the masses. Wesley Pruden of the Washington Times writes;
Mr. Ryan is having trouble dealing with partisan stress on the eve of the Friday vote. He has lately become a sidekick for Nancy Pelosi,We have to pass it to see what's in it. We should make it clear to Congress that we personally intend to score this vote. We don't give a damn what the Chamber of Commerce or Business Roundtable, or the American Farm Bureau think. Vote for this and you are toast and by the way why do they know what's in the treaty and the rest of us do not?
He lost his cool in an exchange on the floor of the House with a Republican colleague who was pressing him to say out loud, in plain English, what’s actually included in the Pacific Rim trade deal that President Obama regards as crucial to his “legacy.” Mr. Ryan told him, with the heat that Republicans usually regard as a violation of the civility code, that the contents of the legislation are “classified,” that everybody can find out what’s in the legislation once it is adopted and the president signs it. The public should shut up and mind their betters.
If it's any consolation you probably voted for Sarah Palin too.
HUD asks for a 9% budget increase to fundamentally transform America's suburbs
Obama's
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) seems to be about the business of fundamentally transforming America with new regulations that will move the deserving poor out of inner cities and into the affluent suburbs probably to assure a broader distributions of used beverage containers and plastic shopping bags which always grace every urban landscape. According to the Hill the good folks at HUD view themselves as foot soldiers in the good fight to end economic segregation.
When is enough, enough? In the video below Rep. Jeb Hensarling notes that HUD has spent $1.6 trillion or $13,000 for every American household since its creation in 1965. To its credit HUD has managed to double the cost of housing for everyone and raise rents one third measured in constant dollars over that same time span but the poverty has remained the same. Modest result do not beget modest ambitions. HUD is asking for a 9% budget increase. From the tone of Mr. Hensarling remarks I would make that a long shot.
The regulations would use grant money as an incentive for communities to build affordable housing in more affluent areas while also taking steps to upgrade poorer areas with better schools, parks, libraries, grocery stores and transportation routes as part of a gentrification of those communities.Gentrification? Well a country sure can't have too much gentrification. Perhaps we could have a patron saint of gentrification.
“HUD is working with communities across the country to fulfill the promise of equal opportunity for all,” a HUD spokeswoman said. “The proposed policy seeks to break down barriers to access to opportunity in communities supported by HUD funds.”
When is enough, enough? In the video below Rep. Jeb Hensarling notes that HUD has spent $1.6 trillion or $13,000 for every American household since its creation in 1965. To its credit HUD has managed to double the cost of housing for everyone and raise rents one third measured in constant dollars over that same time span but the poverty has remained the same. Modest result do not beget modest ambitions. HUD is asking for a 9% budget increase. From the tone of Mr. Hensarling remarks I would make that a long shot.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence goes after Connecticut businesses
One of the indices CNBC used was the cost of living, which logically correlates to another index, the cost of doing business. If the cost of living is high wages and salaries must also be high to attract competent employees hence a high cost of doing business. As for the cost of living, Indiana ranked number 7, Ohio 15 and Connecticut 48, better than Hawaii but one notch below Alaska.
Democratic blue states which are always mismanaged all share another economic malady namely the high cost of living. New York ranks 50, Connecticut 48, California 47, Massachusetts 45, New Jersey 44, New Hampshire 43, Rhode Island 42, Maryland 41, and Vermont 40. Red Alaska and blue Hawaii would both have a high cost of living since transportation costs drive up the costs of almost every consumer good.
For Governor Pence stealing industry from Connecticut should be like shooting fish in a barrel but this goes beyond economics and politics. It's personal to Pence. After Indiana passed its religious freedom law Governor Dannel Malloy forbade travel to the Hoosier State by all state employees and called Pence a bigot. Pence capitulated proving to everyone he was not a bigot merely a wimp.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Carly Fiorina ad skewers Hillary
Yes, I would vote for Carly Fiorina but I doubt if I'll ever have the chance. Fiorina, like Ben Carson and Donald Trump has never held elective office and the country has not elected a non politician since Dwight David Eisenhower. Kudos to Fiorina. She goes for Hillary's jugular in this ad while her male competition for the nomination often seem flummoxed as to how to make that attack.
House Appropriation Committee votes to cut State Department's budget
I wrote two days ago the House Appropriation Committee was prepared to cut the State Department budget if it did not comply with subpoenas issued by Trey Gowdy's Select Committee on Benghazi. Today, by a voice vote, it did just that and to make sure the point was well taken included language the forbids State from spending any money for an embassy in Havana. The bill
also states that the Palestinian Authority will not receive economic aid if it continues to pursue unilateral efforts at the United Nations and other international organization outside of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel. Overall State is looking at a 15% cut in its operating budget.
The principle of "power of the purse" has gained considerable currency on the campaign trail but up until now has been mysteriously absent in legislation. With control of both houses of Congress it should not take a testosterone drip in the arms of Speaker Boehner and Senator McConnell to make the EPA think twice about its proposed regulatory expansion into everyone's personal life and to persuade the FCC that regulating the Internet is beyond its capacity in the event it should have a budget next year.
The principle of "power of the purse" has gained considerable currency on the campaign trail but up until now has been mysteriously absent in legislation. With control of both houses of Congress it should not take a testosterone drip in the arms of Speaker Boehner and Senator McConnell to make the EPA think twice about its proposed regulatory expansion into everyone's personal life and to persuade the FCC that regulating the Internet is beyond its capacity in the event it should have a budget next year.
The US is number 1 in oil-gas production
Bloomberg News:
The U.S. has taken Russia’s crown as the biggest oil and natural-gas producer in a demonstration of the seismic shifts in the world energy landscape emanating from America’s shale fields.This should have been the lead story on every news program. Consider that it was in 2004 that Harold Hamm combined the techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Bakken Shale and in 10 year the US is the world leader in combined gas and oil. Next year it will be the world's number 1 oil producer.
U.S. oil production rose to a record last year, gaining 1.6 million barrels a day, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy released on Wednesday. Gas output also climbed, putting America ahead of Russia as a producer of the hydrocarbons combined.
All Things Considered, NPR Needs A Research Team
Bob Schieffer, referred to in the CBS post as the legendry Bob Schieffer, had quite a bit to say about the roll of the media in the modern era.
“On today’s show I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact. He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately,” Rehm said. “I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.”
She trolls comments on Facebook to research her interviews? As I said Schieffer understated the problem.
“We now don’t know where people get their news, but what we do know is they’re bombarded with information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most of the information is wrong and some of it is wrong on purpose,” Schieffer said. “It is our job, I think, in mainstream journalism to try to cut through this mall of information and tell people what we think is relevant in what they need to know. That is the job of the journalist and I have to say it’s harder and harder.”One might opine that Schieffer understates the problem. I'm glad that for decades he cut through the mall of information to tell us what he thinks we need to know but there seems to be an easier way. Look it up on Facebook. Witness this exchange between goofy Senator Bernie Sanders and NPR's goofy Diane Rehm.
Diane Rehm: Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel.What kind of list did Rehm and NPR have? A list of suspected fifth columnists? Where does Rehm get her information? From the NSA or the Southern Poverty Law Center. No. Rehm revealed her source in her much needed apology.
Bernie Sanders: Well, no, I do not have dual citizenship with Israel. I’m an American. I don’t know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I’m an American citizen, period.
Rehm: I understand from a list we have gotten that you were on that list.
Sanders: No.
Rehm: Forgive me if that is—
Sanders: That’s some of the nonsense that goes on in the Internet. But that is absolutely not true.
“On today’s show I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact. He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately,” Rehm said. “I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.”
She trolls comments on Facebook to research her interviews? As I said Schieffer understated the problem.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Obamacare employee steals customers' credit card numbers
We have gradually come to expect very little from the Obama Administration and we are seldom disappointed. This is a wacked up regime where the Secret Service gets drunk and drives through barricades, where DEA agents carouse with prostitutes paid for by the drug cartels and TSA agents fail airport security 96% of the time. This story breaking out of Houston is not likely to bolster public confidence in government.
We have a law that says every American must buy health care insurance and when people obey the law a man hired by the government steals their personal data and proceeds to load up their credit cards.
We have a law that says every American must buy health care insurance and when people obey the law a man hired by the government steals their personal data and proceeds to load up their credit cards.
Kenneth Bacon, who worked in a Houston call center, is accused of taking down the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers that enrollees gave him. Authorities said some of his victims were elderly.How elderly? Wouldn't they be on Medicare?
Video: Trey Gowdy; House will cut State Dept budget.
To update my previous post, Congressman Trey Gowdy announced that his Select Committee on Benghazi has teamed up with the House Appropriations Committee to cut the State Department's budget if it does not comply with his committee's subpoenas. He was speaking at National Federation of Pachyderm Clubs in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Few of us have ever seen Gowdy's lighter side and this clip is as amusing as it is informative. To view entire speech please go here.
Few of us have ever seen Gowdy's lighter side and this clip is as amusing as it is informative. To view entire speech please go here.
Trey Gowdy will have a difficult and dirty job
Most, if not all, us believe Congressman Trey Gowdy is the very best us. He is bright, stupendously articulate, gentlemanly, and above all principled. He may soon have a chance to prove that he is the man we think he is. Those of us who followed the Benghazi attack and subsequent investigations have intuitively sensed there was more to the story than the powers in Washington wanted us to know. There is bipartisan culpability, not in the bogus talking points, or unsubstantiated stories of generals ordered to stand down but rather the purpose of the CIA Annex and the role of the CIA in Libya.
On May 3, 2014 I wrote:
Today Judicial Watch posted: The Benghazi Bonanza: A Bi-Partisan Scandal. Midway down it reads;
On May 3, 2014 I wrote:
Suppose Speaker Boehner and one or two committee chairmen had been briefed about a clandestine CIA operation which the American public would not approve ? That would explain the curious statement by Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Buck McKeon when he trashed the House Oversight and Government Reform's star witness, Brigadier General Robert Lovell's testimony.I concluded the post:
“BG Lovell did not serve in a capacity that gave him reliable insight into operational options available to commanders during the attack, nor did he offer specific courses of action not taken,” McKeon, R-Calif., stated. “In the end, while BG Lovell did not further the investigation or reveal anything new, he was another painful reminder of the agony our military felt that night; wanting to respond but unable to do so.”
It would also explain why House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a man who has spent much of his adult life in the intelligence field both with the FBI and in Congress should suddenly decide that he was really born to do talk radio.
Ultimately Obama bears the responsibility for the dead but the foot dragging by Speaker Boehner causes me to think there is plenty of blame to share. Only the appointment of Trey Gowdy to chair the select committee will satisfy me that he intends to finally restore some credibility to the House.To my surprise Speaker Boehner did eventually create the Select Committee on Benghazi and did appoint Rep. Gowdy as the chairman. As stated, everyone who followed the investigations closely knew the full story was not being told and that applies to people a damn sight smarter than I. On May 14, 2014 Eli Lake penned the post, New Benghazi Investigation Spooks GOP Leaders. Lake noted that the creation of the Select Committee was opposed by the three committee chairman who had previously investigated Benghazi; Reps. Darrell Issa, Buck McKeon, and Mike Rogers.
Today Judicial Watch posted: The Benghazi Bonanza: A Bi-Partisan Scandal. Midway down it reads;
Perhaps most intriguing in the recent email batch is a one-line note to Mrs. Clinton from a top advisor, Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan. The subject of the September 10, 2011 email is simply “Rogers.” The note in its entirety reads: “Apparently wants to see you to talk Libya/weapons.”So Rogers was in it up to his ears? It could be he was interested in drumming up business for a private security firm run by his wife, Aegis Defense Services. Throw in Sidney Blumenthal and you have the makings of a real scandal. Evidently Blumenthal's emails passed through Hillary to Sullivan. In any event it is up to Congressman Gowdy to sort it out. To do this he will probably have to call Rogers to testify thereby creating a Republican civil war while the Democrats on the committee circle the wagons around Hillary. This could get messy but if Trey Gowdy is the man I think he is it will get done.
“Rogers” is then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican. The email was unearthed at the deep end of the document dump and first noted in a piece by Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne of Fox News.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Showdown: Judge gives the IRS until Friday to provide missing email status.
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of Columbia, who we have written kindly about on this blog, has ordered the IRS to provide answers by the close of business Friday on the status of missing emails from Lois Lerner. The IRS recovered some 32,000 missing email from 744 backup tapes now in the possession of the Treasury Inspector General but at issue now are an additional 424 back up tapes. Judicial Watch wants to know where those tapes are and if they contain emails that should be released as part of its FOIA suit and so does Judge Sullivan.
“The Obama IRS obstructed and lied to a federal judge and Judicial Watch in an effort to hide the truth about Lois Lerner’s emails,” boomed Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.
“The Obama IRS obstructed and lied to a federal judge and Judicial Watch in an effort to hide the truth about Lois Lerner’s emails,” boomed Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.
Who should fear Marco Rubio the most?
Lately we have learned from the New York Times two facts that seemingly disqualify Marco Rubio from the presidency. One, He is at best an average driver and two, he may not be rich enough to be president. First, the Times jabbed with Rubios on the Road Have Drawn Unwanted Attention which revealed the sad and sickening fact that the junior senator had accumulated 4, yes 4 speeding tickets over the course of 18 years. Then came the right cross with Struggles With Finances Track Marco Rubio’s Career, a startling tell all, wherein the public learned the man who would be president had struggled to pay off his student debt.
In a USA Today post Glenn Reynolds noted that the research into the Rubio's nefarious driving record was done by the left leaning PAC, American Bridge. The Times denied that AB was the source and it may be telling the truth if not the whole truth.
The Times was not the first publication to delve into Rubio's finances. It started before Rubio got to the senate. See this post in the Tampa Bay Times and learn that the father of 4 " he had $30,000 in "assorted credit and retail debt" (as described on his financial disclosure form) and in 2001 listed $165,000 in loans from the University of Florida and University of Miami Law School."
News that Rubio is on the ragged edged of pecuniary decency seems to be a popular theme. Before the Times story Business Insider attempted to breath new life into this dying theme with Marco Rubio has a 'big money' problem which is essentially a rewrite of the Tampa Bay Times story where we learn that Rubio got a haircut on his Republican Party credit card back in 2010. The staid online publication, Mother Jones, an institution so successful that it operates as a 501-C3 got into the act with Marco Rubio has a 'big money' problem noting "Republican Party was never reimbursed for, including $68.33 for "beverages" and a "meal" from a liquor store near his West Miami home, $765 from Apple's online store for "computer supplies," and $1,024 in payments to a Tallahassee property manager for personal business. Since Rubio has not released his credit card records from 2005 to 2007, it's unknown how he used the card during those years".
Oh no! He stiffed the Florida GOP for $68.33 ten years ago. Put in context with Rubio's scandals Hillary looks like a saint.
Like most right leaning bloggers and pundits I credited the Clinton camp for this assault on Rubio until the following tweet caught my eye.
To whom does Marco Rubio pose a threat in the near term? Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush? Where are the Time's phony scandals relative to Rand Paul and Scott Walker? Who will be Jeb Bush's chief rival in the first big state primary, Florida?
This post from the Advocate, a LGBT group turned up in a Google search and caught my attention. Forget the source this isn't about straight or gay.
In a USA Today post Glenn Reynolds noted that the research into the Rubio's nefarious driving record was done by the left leaning PAC, American Bridge. The Times denied that AB was the source and it may be telling the truth if not the whole truth.
The Times was not the first publication to delve into Rubio's finances. It started before Rubio got to the senate. See this post in the Tampa Bay Times and learn that the father of 4 " he had $30,000 in "assorted credit and retail debt" (as described on his financial disclosure form) and in 2001 listed $165,000 in loans from the University of Florida and University of Miami Law School."
News that Rubio is on the ragged edged of pecuniary decency seems to be a popular theme. Before the Times story Business Insider attempted to breath new life into this dying theme with Marco Rubio has a 'big money' problem which is essentially a rewrite of the Tampa Bay Times story where we learn that Rubio got a haircut on his Republican Party credit card back in 2010. The staid online publication, Mother Jones, an institution so successful that it operates as a 501-C3 got into the act with Marco Rubio has a 'big money' problem noting "Republican Party was never reimbursed for, including $68.33 for "beverages" and a "meal" from a liquor store near his West Miami home, $765 from Apple's online store for "computer supplies," and $1,024 in payments to a Tallahassee property manager for personal business. Since Rubio has not released his credit card records from 2005 to 2007, it's unknown how he used the card during those years".
Oh no! He stiffed the Florida GOP for $68.33 ten years ago. Put in context with Rubio's scandals Hillary looks like a saint.
Like most right leaning bloggers and pundits I credited the Clinton camp for this assault on Rubio until the following tweet caught my eye.
The Bush-Clinton alliance proves the concept of left and right is a Hegelian trap to divide and control us pic.twitter.com/b4KoFVsgJ3
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) June 9, 2015
To whom does Marco Rubio pose a threat in the near term? Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush? Where are the Time's phony scandals relative to Rand Paul and Scott Walker? Who will be Jeb Bush's chief rival in the first big state primary, Florida?
This post from the Advocate, a LGBT group turned up in a Google search and caught my attention. Forget the source this isn't about straight or gay.
America Rising super PAC co-founder Tim Miller will likely head up communications for Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, as the former Florida governor ramps up his bid for the nomination in 2016.Is this where the body is buried? Are the attacks on Rubio being orchestrated by the Bush camp? Just asking.
Miller, one of the most prominent gay Republicans in Washington politics, has worked on numerous GOP campaigns, including John Moccasin's in 2008, and Jon Huntsman's campaign in 2012, followed by Mitt Romney's campaign that year. According to Politico, Miller will act as a senior advisor to Bush's Right to Rise PAC, but will likely become Bush's communications director if he does officially launch a campaign.
"Miller is an aggressive, younger operative who can be expected to inject a pugilistic style into Bush’s high command," Politico's Mike Allen says.
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