This blog is no longer active as of October 31, 2011
Seen over at a Blog called “The Conservative Blog for Peace”
A posting with the title of “Black Music that Black People don’t listen to anymore“.
….and this is funny, why? 🙄
No wonder African-Americans are flocking to the Democratic Party. I guess it’s true what they say about some Paleo-Conservatives, they are racist.
A sick and sad commentary of what became of the Republican Party.
At least this time she did…
Carol Platt Liebau shares a story about how Code Pink goes to; of all places; Iran. Yeah, that’s right freakin’ IRAN.
Yeah, that country.
Damned Communists. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll come up missing in Iran. The World would be such a better place.
It seems that the lights have finally come on and the Obama buzz has worn off amongst the far left.
Glenn Greenwald relays the following that was written by Digby, who Blogs at Hullabaloo.
The villagers and the right made it very clear what they required of Obama — bipartisanship, technocratic competence and center-right orthodoxy. Liberals took cultural signifiers as a sign of solidarity and didn’t ask for anything. So, we have the great symbolic victory of the first black president (and that’s not nothing, by the way) who is also a bipartisan, centrist technocrat. Surprise.
There are things to applaud about the cabinet picks — Clinton is a global superstar who, along with Barack himself, signals to the world that the US is no longer being run by incompetent, extremist, political fringe dwellers. Holder seems to be genuinely against torture and hostile to the concept of the imperial presidency. Gaithner is a smart guy who has the trust of the Big Money Boyz, which may end up being useful considering the enormous and risky economic challenges ahead. Emmanuel is someone who is not afraid to wield a knife and if we’re lucky he might just wield it from time to time against a Republican or a right wing Democrat. Napolitano seems to have a deft political touch with difficult issues like immigration which is going to be a battleground at DHS. And on and on.
None of them are liberals, but then Obama said repeatedly that he wasn’t ideological, that he cared about “what works.” I don’t know why people didn’t believe that. He’s a technocrat who wants to “solve problems” and “change politics.” The first may actually end up producing the kind of ideological shift liberals desire simply because of the dire set of circumstances greeting the new administration. (Hooray for the new depression!) The second was always an empty fantasy — politics is just another word for human nature, and that hasn’t changed since we were dancing around the fire outside our caves.
If you want to press for a cabinet appointment at this late date who might bring some ideological ballast, I would guess that labor and energy are where the action is. It would be really helpful to have somebody from the left in the room when the wonks start dryly parceling out the compromises on the economy and climate change. But basically, we are going to be dealing with an administration whose raison d’etre is to make government “work.” That’s essentially a progressive goal and one that nobody can really argue with. But he never said he would make government “work” for a liberal agenda. Liberals just assumed that.
I could not have said it better myself. I watched as the Left; both moderate and far left, made Obama into a Messiah-like figure, who would right all of America’s wrongs. It was simply a myth. Obama is not superman, nor is he God. He is simply a man. A man who chose to try a make a difference in the political realm. I do not agree with Obama’s Political ideology; but I do admire the guy for deciding to do something to make change, instead of sitting on the sidelines and complaining; which is what a great amount of Americans do.
Another Quote from this that strikes me, as a bit odd, is this:
But Barack Obama is a centrist, establishment politician. That is what he has been since he’s been in the Senate, and more importantly, it’s what he made clear — both explicitly and through his actions — that he intended to be as President. Even in the primary, he paid no price whatsoever for that in terms of progressive support. As is true for the national Democratic Party generally, he has no good reason to believe he needs to accommodate liberal objections to what he is doing. The Joe Lieberman fiasco should have made that as conclusively clear as it gets.
That is because, that is what gets elected, Americans as a rule; tend to back away from extremists. Cynthia McKinney is a perfect example of that. Obama knew that if he was going to get elected, he had to run his campaign as a centerist and as a moderate Democrat, otherwise he would have lost.
(H/T to the Chick on the Right)
Ezra Levant relays a rather funny story about the faceless Government in Canada.
Hmmmm… Maybe Cynthia could move there. She’d fit right in up there with the rest of those Communists. D’oh!
Hey, Sister Toldjah. You do mean, “Flag Burning Liberals”, right?
Cause that’s about what them damn hippy liberals are good for. I don’t buy all this stupidity that Liberals love America. That’s Bullshit of the highest order. If they’ve so loved America, they would never elected that floppy-eared fool, that’s going to be our next President.
(Trust me, there’s a ton of other “Not so Christian” or politically incorrect words that I’d like to call him, but it’s Sunday and I’m being cool about it.)
News via the Independent Political Report, that Cynthia McKinney, in attempting to fly to Damascus, Syria; was not permitted to leave the country.
Considering this woman’s track record and very strange past. One would think that this would be one person, that the Government would want to leave the United States… Possibly for good! Because the way I see it, she wants to get all chummy with Islamic terrorists, let her live over there, with her terrorist buddies. 😡
Of course, now I’m a RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCIST for saying that. 🙄
Just sayin’ Ya’ll, Just sayin’…… 😛
Something smells awful fishy about this…
The Video: (via Breit Bart)
Okay, what I want to know is, How did NBC obtain this video? Is it just me, or does this seem like an attempt to make these Hijackers seem less like; well, like criminals or even monsters? It sure does strike me as that. After all, MSNBC and NBC both are Liberal News Networks and the man they’ve elected said he would meet with people like these terrorists without conditions.
It just strikes me as very odd.
Responding to Sophia A. Nelson’s lament about how the Republican Party has not sucked up Pandered to the African-American race. Oliver Willis quips, “They don’t want your black ass!”
Just about made Coffee shoot right out of my nose! 😆
Thanks Oliver, I needed the laugh. 😀
Dang! Did someone do something to piss off James Kirchick? Not to get all ghetto on my readers…but, Damn homeboy got an attitude!
Kirchick Writes in the NY Daily News:
Barack Obama isn’t even President yet, and he’s already angering some of his most devoted followers on the party’s left wing. This is the mark of what could be a very successful presidency.
“With its congressional majority, the Democratic Party has refused to seriously try to end the war, to stop the bailout and to stop the trampling of civil liberties, just to name a few off the top of my head,” wrote David Sirota on the popular liberal blog OpenLeft, decrying the serial betrayals of Obama and the congressional Democratic majority. The Democratic Party, he wrote, has “faced no real retribution” for its manifold heresies, something that Sirota believes he and his band of angry bloggers must change. “We better understand why this happened,” he fumed.
Allow me to provide an answer. You don’t matter.
Ouch. That’s harsh. 😮
The week before Tuesday’s meeting, Obama let it be known that he bore “no grudge” against Lieberman. Setting a positive tone so early after a hard-fought election, he is already making good on his promise to, if not end, then at least lessen the “petty partisanship” he decried in the campaign. Among the positive outcomes of this week’s abject lesson in letting bygones be bygones, it is reassuring to see that the leadership of the Democratic Party isn’t as petty, vindictive and small as its left-wing supporters.
Not a good way to win or keep friends, if you ask me. I mean, I’m no Miss Congeniality here, but I don’t go around pissin’ into electric fans either. (Or so to speak…)
Others: DownWithTyranny!, Eunomia, The Heretik, Whiskey Fire, Riehl World View and Booman Tribune
Via Breit Bart:
Back Story Via the Edmonton Sun:
Researchers are trying to track down a meteorite that flashed through the skies Thursday night before a snowfall makes the search impossible.
Otherwise they’ll have to wait until spring when the snow melts, and chances of finding it may be slim by then, said Frank Florian, director of space sciences at Edmonton’s Telus World of Science.
“That’s why we need to iron this down today,” he said.
Florian has been receiving hundreds of phone calls and e-mails about the meteor sighting, all with varying accounts of where the flash of light took place.
“We’re trying to take all the reports and put them together in a meaningful conclusion as to where it might have fallen,” Florian said.
The rock seems to have flown in the general direction east of Red Deer and west of Saskatoon and appears to be about 18 metres or larger, he added.
Wow… Reminds me of a song:
Exit Question: They found this scary? Wow. Ever see any of the women up there? Yikes! 😮
Second Exit Statement: After all, these are the same people that turned thier backs on us, during vietnam. Just sayin’…. 😛
I expect that we’ll hear more of this as time goes on….
Via Breit Bart: (Dateline WMAQ Chicago)
I just wonder, were the Police Officers that did the beating White or Black? That will answer the racism charge.
However, judging from comments on the WMAQ site, Chicago still got issues when it comes to racism.
Exit Question: Will the ObamaMassiah ask for a congressional Investigation into the mistreatment of his people?
This is truly a sad story. 🙁
Video (Thanks to Breit Bart)
I’m sure some idiot liberal will say, “See? This is why we need to get rid of guns!” While flapping their Liberal stained hands in the air.
Let me be clear on something, with owning a firearm, comes responsibility; obviously this man neglected to properly store his firearms away from the eyes of his son and his son accessed those firearms and now we have a double murder on our hands. Either this or that kid knew where the firearms were and how into get into the cabinet where the firearms were located.
Either way, this is a extremely sad case, and there is no easy answer, Guns are a America freedom that we cherish. However, with that freedom comes responsibility, we should always remember that. Least sad events like this happen.
First the video of Bambi-Elect via Breit Bart:
The Story, Via CNN:
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday offered an outline of his economic recovery plan and jobs were the top priority.
American workers will rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges, modernize its schools and create more sources of alternative energy, creating 2.5 million jobs by 2011, Obama said in the weekly Democratic address, posted on his Web site.
“These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis,” he said. “These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long.”
Details of the plan are still being worked out by his economic team, Obama said, but he hopes to implement the plan shortly after taking office January 20.
He referred to figures out this week showing that new home purchases in October were the lowest in 50 years, and that 540,000 new unemployment claims had been filed — the highest in 16 years.
“We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again,” he said. More than a million jobs have been lost this year, he said, and “if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.”
The plan will be aimed at jump-starting job creation, Obama said, and laying the foundation for a stronger economy.
“We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technology that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years head,” he said.
He noted he will need support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass such a plan, and said he welcomes suggestions from both sides of the aisle.
“But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action,” he said. “Right now, there are millions of mothers and fathers who are lying awake at night wondering if next week’s paycheck will cover next month’s bills.
“There are Americans showing up to work in the morning, only to have cleared out their desks by the afternoon. Retirees are watching their life savings disappear, and students are seeing their college dreams deferred. These Americans need help, and they need it now.”
Throughout history, he said, Americans have been able to rise above their divisions to work together, he said.
“That is the chance our new beginning now offers us, and that is the challenge we must rise to in the days to come,” Obama said. “It is time to act. As the next president of the United States, I will.”
I personally think that we, as the loyal opposition, should take a wait and see approach towards this. It could help America. It might cost America a bit. But to sit and judge it foolishly before it is implemented will only serve to make us look foolish.
So, as someone who’s not had a job since 2005. I will reserve judgement at this time.
Others: Pajamas Media, www.redstate.com, EconoSpeak (Via Memeorandum)
A sad, but realistic look at World affairs from an outside source. There are many things to blame; Bush, Neo-Conservatism, and the like. There are some that would say that the BBC is liberally biased. But I disagree, I think it is a real-world view of things. Our world in changing, we, as Americans ought to embrace it, but be prepared.
Via Breit Bart:
Look at my fellow conservatives! There they go, glumly shuffling along, depressed by the election aftermath. Not me. I’m virtually euphoric. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not thrilled with America ‘s flirtation with neo socialism. But there’s a massive silver lining in those magical clouds that lofted Barack Obama to the Presidency. For today, without a shred of intellectually legitimate opposition, I can loudly proclaim to America : The Era of White Guilt is over.
This seemingly impossible event occurred because the vast majority of white Americans didn’t give a fluff about skin color, and enthusiastically pulled the voting lever for a black man. Not just any black man. A very liberal black man who spent his early career race-hustling banks, praying in a racist church for 20 years, and actively worked with America-hating domestic terrorists. Wow! Some resume! Yet they made Barak Obama their leader. Therefore, as of Nov 4th, 2008, white guilt is dead.
For over a century, the millstone of white guilt hung around our necks, retribution for slave-owning predecessors. In the 60s, American liberals began yanking that millstone while sticking a fork in the eye of black Americans, exacerbating the racial divide to extort a socialist solution. But if a black man can become President, exactly what significant barrier is left? The election of Barack Obama absolutely destroys the entire validation of liberal white guilt. The dragon is hereby slain.
So today, I’m feeling a little “uppity,” if you will. From this day forward, my tolerance level for having my skin color hustled is now exactly ZERO. And it’s time to clean house. No more Reverend Wright’s “God Damn America ,” Al Sharpton’s Church of Perpetual Victimization , or Jesse Jackson’s rainbow racism. Cornell West? You’re a fraud. Go home. All those “black studies” programs that taught kids to hate whitey? You must now thank Whitey. And I want
that on the final.
Congressional Black Caucus? Irrelevant. Maxine Waters? Shut up. ACORN? Outlawed. Black Panthers? Go home and pet your kitty. Black separatists? Find another nation that offers better dreams. Go ahead. I’m waiting.
Gangsta rappers? Start praising America . Begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. And please…no more ebonics. Speak English, and who knows where you might end up? Oh, yeah…pull up your pants. Your underwear is showing. You look stupid.
To those Eurosnots who forged entire careers hating America ? I’m still waiting for the first black French President.
And let me offer an equal opportunity whupping. I’ve always despised lazy white people. Now, I can talk smack about lazy black people. You’re poor because you quit school, did drugs, had three kids with three different fathers, and refuse to work. So when you plop your Colt 45-swilling, Oprah watchin’ butt on the couch and complain “Da Man is keepin’ me down,” allow me to inform you: Da Man is now black. You have no excuses.
No more quotas. No more handouts. No more stealing my money because someone’s great-great-great-great grandparents suffered actual pain and misery at the hands of people I have no relation to, and personally revile.
It’s time to toss that massive, obsolete race-hustle machine upon the heap of the other stupid 60s ideas. Drag it over there, by wife swapping, next to dope-smoking. Plenty of room right between free love and cop-killing. Careful…don’t trip on streaking. There ya go, don’t be gentle. Just dump it. Wash your hands. It’s filthy.
In fact, Obama’s ascension created a gargantuan irony. How can you sell class envy and American unfairness when you and your black wife went to Ivy League schools, got high-paying jobs, became millionaires, bought a mansion, and got elected President? How unfair is that??? Now, Like a delicious O’Henry tale, Obama’s spread-the-wealth campaign rendered itself moot by it’s own victory! America is officially a meritocracy. Obama’s election has validated American conservatism!
So, listen carefully…Wham!!!
That’s the sound of my foot kicking the door shut on the era of white guilt. The rites have been muttered, the carcass lowered, dirt shoveled, and tombstone erected. White guilt is dead and buried.
However, despite my glee, there’s apparently one small, rabid bastion of American racism remaining. Black Americans voted 96% for Barack Obama. Hmmm. In a color-blind world, shouldn’t that be 50-50? Tonight, every black person should ask forgiveness for their apparent racism and prejudice towards white people. Maybe it’s time to start spreading the guilt around.
Too Much Denial Going On Around Here
By: J.J. Jackson
Dear God in Heaven above! There is so much denial going on right now among Conservatives that I feel like I have just arrived at an AA meeting where there are bunch of first timers, who have been dragged there by their friends and family, and are shouting about how they, “don’t have a problem.” I have just gotten about as sick of this as I can take and am ready to start slapping you denial riddled fools upside your empty little heads. So here is my hand and here comes the slap that you all so rightfully deserve.
For nearly the past three weeks I have been hearing conservatives softening their tones on Barack Obama after he beat John McCain and his moderate ramblings on November 4th. And if it did not sink in when I said in the last paragraph that I am sick of it, then let me reiterate it again. I am damn sick of it.
You little pansies, and you know who you are, who are talking about giving Barack Obama a honeymoon and talking about waiting to see what he actually does really do make me sick. You make me sick because a lot of you were the same people who were unloading on him and his Marxist ideology (clearly able to be seen by anyone reading what he has written and listening to anything he has said) for months prior to the election. He deserved that barrage from the big guns then and he deserves the same firepower, if not more, pointed and unleashed upon him now that he has won. The man does not deserve any sort of a “honeymoon.” There is no, “wait and see what he will do,” reasoning that is valid. We know what he wants to do. He has said it time and time again. The only question is will he be allowed to do it.
But a lot of you namby-pambies, who try desperately to put forth your conservative, pro-liberty credentials, are denying everything that the man has said and done within his life and his campaign. You are hoping, beyond hope if you ask me, that he will all of a sudden change his stripes and not go full auto Marxist on our butts. My God, what has happened to you cowards?
I would love to think that you are maybe just scared of saying something that Barack Obama or his “truth squads” might find objectionable and that you are moderating your tones out of fear. We all know that history is replete with examples of how people with Obama’s ideas deal with their political opponents. I cannot believe that you actually however believe that things will be different than what he promised when he was on the campaign trail.
Maybe he will be more moderate on taxes? He will not be if you keep making excuses for him instead of preaching economic reality!
Maybe he will be more reasonable in fighting the war on terror? If you start giving him a honeymoon and believing that now, all of a sudden, he will see how serious terrorism is, he will not be.
Maybe he will be a little more considerate of the first amendment? Yeah, I see that happening if you start making excuses and take a wait and see attitude!
Maybe he will not rush headlong into trampling on the second amendment? Ok, sure … you believe this despite all his anti-gun, anti-self defense remarks during his life and on the campaign trail why?
Oh, I know what your excuse is because you keep saying it. You keep saying that now, because he is actually going to be sitting in the oval office and (you assume) held accountable for his actions, he will recognize the reality of the myriad of situations which will confront him and that he will have to act in more moderate ways because his is “smart”. Yeah, “smart” … that’s what they call spouting Marxist talking points and promoting an ideology that has failed time and again from Mussolini’s Italy to Hitler’s Germany to Stalin’s Russia to Khrushchev’s Soviet Union to Mao’s China to Kim Jong Il’s North Korea to Castro’s Cuba to Chavez’s Venezuela? Not to mention how it is currently failing in the plethora of European states that continue to struggle under chronically high unemployment rates and legacy costs for the “free” healthcare and welfare of Marxism light and the entitlement mentality.
You want him to change his stance on anything he believes? You have to unload on him and keep hitting him with the truth. No honeymoons. No grace periods.
If I hear one more conservative or so-called capitalist (most of whom I believe are corporatists, in that they are capitalists looking to game the socialist system for their own ends, and not true capitalists) claiming that Obama is “smart,” despite my previous points about his promotion of an idiotic ideology that has always and will always fail, I may have to move from slapping them silly to putting a boot up in where the sun does not shine. It is a ridiculous notion that you folks espouse.
“Smart” people do not rush headlong down a road that leads off a cliff. I do not care how many degrees and letters they have after their names. As we all know the halls of academia are littered with the corpses of people that have such honors behind their names and could not think their way out of a paper bag. But they can certainly pontificate on the way things, “ought to be,” in their minds and muse and whine about why things are not that way.
It is time to stop denying who Barack Obama is, and always has been, and admit that he has given no reason to “hope” that he will be anything other than the man he has shown us to be. It is time to admit that in order to “change” him (and the course this country has been on for the previous century regardless of what liberals believe) that he must be ridden and ridden hard. He must be constantly smacked upside the head with the facts and not allowed to get by on good looks, charm and lofty, vacuous rhetoric. He must not be given a free pass. He must not be given a honeymoon. And most importantly he should not be given any more credit than he is due.
Right now, his credit is zero. So get up and stop being a bunch of wishful hopers like the mindless Obamatons that voted for him are. And stop feeling, as they do, that by merely having “hope” that our troubles will be washed away and get your butts to work.
=====================================
J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the lead editor contributor to American Conservative Daily and also the founder of SignalCongress.com. He is the owner of The Right Things – Conservative T-shirts & Gifts (http://www.cafepress.com/rightthings). His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at http://www.libertyreborn.com
I am sure that you’ve heard about the Rumor or the Conservative talking point that the Detroit Auto Workers make $70 an hour. The Conservatives will try and tell you that if you figure in all thier benefits, it totals that amount.
There’s only one little problem with that, the math, is quite frankly, wrong.
Jonathan Cohn at TNR Explains:
Well, here’s one reason: The figure is wildly misleading.
Let’s start with the fact that it’s not $70 per hour in wages. According to Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automative Research–who was my primary source for the figures you are about to read–average wages for workers at Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors were just $28 per hour as of 2007. That works out to a little less than $60,000 a year in gross income–hardly outrageous, particularly when you consider the physical demands of automobile assembly work and the skills most workers must acquire over the course of their careers.
More important, and contrary to what you may have heard, the wages aren’t that much bigger than what Honda, Toyota, and other foreign manufacturers pay employees in their U.S. factories. While we can’t be sure precisely how much those workers make, because the companies don’t make the information public, the best estimates suggests the corresponding 2007 figure for these “transplants”–as the foreign-owned factories are known–was somewhere between $20 and $26 per hour, and most likely around $24 or $25. That would put average worker’s annual salary at $52,000 a year.
So the “wage gap,” per se, has been a lot smaller than you’ve heard. And this is no accident. If the transplants paid their employees far less than what the Big Three pay their unionized workers, the United Auto Workers would have a much better shot of organizing the transplants’ factories. Those factories remain non-unionized and management very much wants to keep it that way.
So, where did this wild figure come from? Jonathan continues:
But then what’s the source of that $70 hourly figure? It didn’t come out of thin air. Analysts came up with it by including the cost of all employer-provided benefits–namely, health insurance and pensions–and then dividing by the number of workers. The result, they found, was that benefits for Big Three cost about $42 per hour, per employee. Add that to the wages–again, $28 per hour–and you get the $70 figure. Voila.
Except … notice something weird about this calculation? It’s not as if each active worker is getting health benefits and pensions worth $42 per hour. That would come to nearly twice his or her wages. (Talk about gold-plated coverage!) Instead, each active worker is getting benefits equal only to a fraction of that–probably around $10 per hour, according to estimates from the International Motor Vehicle Program. The number only gets to $70 an hour if you include the cost of benefits for retirees–in other words, the cost of benefits for other people. One of the few people to grasp this was Portfolio.com’s Felix Salmon. As he noted yesterday, the claim that workers are getting $70 an hour in compensation is just “not true.”
I highly recommend that everyone that comes here, go read the rest of this great article. Because it really puts to bed some of the more idiotic rumors and false information. I mean, I have been raising hell about this whole bailout, but it is mainly because of the utter stupidity that is being parroted by the Far Right and by some of the not so far right. I will say this, that if this is the best that right can do, towards the middle class. They can forget about getting elected in 2010 or 2012. Of course, based upon what I’ve noticed as of late, there is not much hope of that happening anyhow.
I would suppose that there are those who might think, that I do not think that there is any problems with the Big Three. Trust me, I do. I also realize that the unions did get a bit greedy in the last 20 or so years. But, I also know this, that the errors that the present management and management in the past made at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are NOT the fault of the Employees. Nor do I believe that the employees of these fine companies should be punished for the incompetency of these companies. Nor do I blame the employees for the missteps of the Union officials, who were out for their own agendas.
It is just a plain and simple, the Republicans and some Libertarians think that punishing the middle class and allowing those who simply go to work and do their jobs to lose their jobs is perfectly acceptable. I am not one of those people.
In a personal level, my Dad never, ever made more than $21 an hour at his job. He worked for general motors for 31 years. He drove a Hi-lo, otherwise known as a Forklift. He worked for those people faithfully, rarely took off sick, he would work as many hours as they asked him to. Sometimes double shifts, he even worked triple shifts, before they outlawed it. My Father earned his retirement, and now, I have to contend with idiot Republicans, Conservatives and some Libertarians; who want to punish my dad for G.M.’s stupidity. It just is not right. As far as his benefits go, he’s got some good benefits, but they’re not as nearly as good as they used to be. He used to pay zero for Doctor’s visits and Prescriptions, he now pays a large co-pay for doctor’s visits and prescriptions. I think my Dad has earned every last bit of those benefits, and those Conservative who would want to punish my Dad, I will say to you, what Keith Olbermann said about those in the Bush Administration who knowingly send your Nation’s troops into battle for their second and third terms, despite the fact that some, if not all, are suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome; they can go to hell.
It just seems very hypocritical of this Nation to give Wall Street 700 hundred BILLION dollars, for a damned bailout that did not even really work; but you let the big three ask for a bridge loan and the whole world is like “Detroit can go to hell!” It just does not make any sense to me at all.
(H/T Freedom Folks)
….and the idiot liberals say, “Oh there’s no massive immigration problem!” Yeah, sure. 🙄
Via USA TODAY:
An existing shortage of certified court interpreters is worsening, court officials say, as law enforcement agencies step up actions against illegal immigrants.Arrests leading to federal prosecutions and deportations reached record levels in fiscal year 2008, according to an October report by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Wanda Romberger, manager of court interpreting services at the National Center for State Courts, says that almost every state is being confronted with a lack of certified interpreters — who have to pass difficult exams — especially in languages other than Spanish.
“I don’t know of many jurisdictions that would say they have enough qualified court interpreters,” she says. There are about 3,000 certified interpreters, says Isabel Framer, chairwoman of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. Only 500, she says, work in languages other than Spanish.
The association did not estimate how many more interpreters are needed, but according to a 2007 report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, there was a 17% increase in the number of events requiring interpreters in 115 languages in federal courts from October 2006 to September 2007.
Framer says that several cases have been reversed because of poor interpretation. Parastoo Zahedi, a Virginia-based immigration lawyer says she “repeatedly had to reschedule cases because there was no interpreter.”
Administrative Office spokesman Richard Carelli says federal courts provide adequate interpreters for most Spanish speakers, who, he says, represent 95% of immigration-related cases.
However, he says, it can be difficult to find interpreters in some languages. Carelli also says that “finding interpreters for certain indigenous dialects from Central and South American countries has presented problems.”
Nothing to see here, just the United States of America being overrun with Illegal Immigrants. Move along. 🙄
Via Breit Bart:
Two Funny Moments, the first is when Katie Couric Says, “I had no idea until you, apparently, had a little cow on the air.” The other is when Katie Couric points out the fact that nobody knew Dave had swipped the feed of McCain and Couric! 😆
It is very funny! Watch it.
Oh, She was doing a JOB alright! 😛
Via Breit Bart:
Sorry, I have zero pity for this chick, at all. She knew what she was doing. She says she did not know who Spitzer was. Yeah Right. 🙄
She is pretty though… 😀
I figured she would…. anyhow, Because everyone and their uncle’s brother is talking about it. I guess I’ll follow the herd here. (Walk like a buffalo…..80’s humor, sorry… 😛 )
Via the NYT’s “The Caucus”:
Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.
Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. Mr. Obama’s office told reporters Thursday that the nomination is “on track” but Clinton associates only confirmed Friday afternoon that she has decided.
“She’s ready,” said the confidant. Mrs. Clinton was reassured after talking again with Mr. Obama because their first meeting in Chicago last week “was so general,” the confidant said. The purpose of the follow-up talk, he added, was not to extract particular concessions but “just getting comfortable” with the idea of working together.
A second Clinton associate confirmed that her camp believes they have a done deal. Senior Obama advisers said Friday morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement will be made until after Thanksgiving. But they said they were convinced that the nascent alliance was now ready to be sealed.
Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman, Philippe Reines, issued a statement Friday afternoon cautioning that the nomination is not final. “We’re still in discussions, which are very much on track,” he said. “Any reports beyond that are premature.”
I can almost hear the Republicans screaming “RETREAD!” now. Which is pretty funny considering that Reagan used Nixon and Ford retreads.
The victims of the Waco Massacre, which included Seventy-six U.S. Citizens including 21 children and two pregnant women; were unavailable for comment.
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….and it’s an interesting one, at that.
From Citizen Economists:
Therein lies the fundamental problem of gold as a backing for fiat money, or as a direct global currency.
There simply is not enough gold on the planet, existing above ground or yet to be mined, to back all the fiat currencies that have been created to accommodate the continually rising population in this world.
Better yet, if we applied simple supply and demand laws, the price of gold would reach enormous proportions compared to the universally accepted world standard of the equivalent US$700 per ounce at today’s values. Careful, please, the price may rapidly move or down from that level!
We know reasonably well how much gold there exists on the planet. We also know approximately who owns how much, both in physical gold and in reserves still to be mined. With the expected gold craze to continue, major exploration and mining companies are hoping to bring those underground reserves to daylight to join in the speculative fever of potentially recovering gold.
For example, Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX: NGX, AMEX: NXG) announced September 8, 2008 that it found new mineral reserves at its Australian site, including some 140,000 ounces of gold. In their press release, the company stated that the find “will extend the current mine-life by an additional 18 months until the fourth quarter of 2011.” (biz.yahoo.com). (www.northgateminerals.com)
If you do simple math and use today’s value at $700/oz., that results in some $98 million. At a cost of some $20/oz, that results in a nice profit for the company and its shareholders.
However, that amount pales on a macroeconomic level.
Egad, don’t tell that to the people that support Ron Paul, The Ludwig von Mises Institute or the people that are hawking gold on all the Conservative sites that run the ads for gold. The only response to this that I can offer is, if they ended the federal reserve bank and stopped the mass production of money. Perhaps we could go back to the gold standard. However, I will be the first to tell you that I am not, nor have I ever been an expert in economics.
It is an interesting article, I do recommend that you read it.
It seems that my Favorite Madison Avenue Conservative, Ed “The Tool” Morrissey continues his one-man venomous crusade against the middle class, Detroit Auto Workers and the U.A.W.; of which my Father is a member.
He blathers on, in his rather idiotic posting, at the Neo-Con rag called “HotAir” which sums up Ed to a tee. He writes:
The UAW chief, Rich Gettelfinger, has a courageous proposal to resolve the standoff:
“In a news conference in Detroit, Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, said the Big Three CEOs should consider resigning if that would help win backing for a bailout.”
Why doesn’t Gettelfinger offer his resignation as well? Why wouldn’t the UAW offer to help by restructuring its contracts with the Big Three, which shoulder far greater labor costs than its competitors, making them less competitive? It takes a big, big man to offer someone else’s resignation.
Once again, I have to straighten out the four-eyed Neo-Con idiot:
Sorry folks, I know that sounds a bit harsh, But when this son-of-a-bitch decided to start his crusade against the Detroit auto workers, he declared war against me personally and my Family. Because of this, I will continue to write rebuttals to this idiots writings, until he personally apologizes to me or decides to stop writing insulting Blog postings about my Father, who is a retired auto worker and U.A.W. Member.
I refer to Ed as a Madison Avenue Conservative, However, I know he is not a rich man. But he has the mentality of your typical Neo-Conservative Republican. Of course, for Ed; it is easy to have this attitude. I mean, when you’re basically living off your wife’s disability check and plus getting a nice check from that Neo-Con shill that he works for. It is easy for him to take the positions that he takes.
Meanwhile, people like me, who live in the real world; who have all of $45 in our bank accounts. We know what would happen to this area, if the big three did collapse. This entire area would become desolate, families and individuals would begin to leave in masses. Like they did back in the 1980’s when that big recession hit. Jobs would become nonexistent, like they did during the great depression of the 1930’s. Thankfully, my Dad’s pension would be protected by the Federal Government, due to laws passed many years ago. But those men and women working those production lines would not be. The unemployment claims would bankrupt our state.
But people like Ed and Mitt Romney, they don’t care. They’ve got their money. They could care less what happens to us middle class folk. Here’s where the jobless rate hits home with me. I have not had a “Day Job” since 2005. Due to high gas prices and a bum car, that either needs to be sold or fixed; I cannot afford to drive to the job offers that I see in the listings, that are up to 50 or more miles from my house. My car has a bad “A Arm” in the steering. I cannot drive the car on the highway, I would be risking smacking the wall at 60 MPH, if I did. Not my idea of good time! Besides, the car is quite old, as in 1990 kind of old. The money I would be putting into that car would far exceed the value. So, at this point, I am stuck. Unless I find something around here locally. But that market, is a part of the market that’s dried up around here. This is why I am a full time Blogger. It is all a can do, at this point.
Hopefully now, you will understand why I feel the way that I do about Ed, and his idiotic nonsense towards this area.
Update: To the commenter named Joel, who wrote a rather idiotic comment, accusing me of Ad-Hominem attacks. Well, the way see it. Ed has taken it upon himself in engaging in Ad-Hominem attacks against The U.A.W., The US Auto workers, which includes my Dad; and the middle class in general. So, the way I see it, what’s fair is fair. I am sticking up for those who have no voice, and if that upsets you. Tough Shit! I’m sure there’s plenty of Neo-Conservative Blogs out there, that you can read that just brim with Anti-Union Propaganda. This is not one of those Blogs.
(H/T Jeff G.)
Obama and the Liberal idiots are now flipping out of the sudden drop in gas prices! This according the Wall Street Journal:
Some government officials and environmentalists are worried the plummeting prices are reversing any energy-conservation gains realized in the past year, when high prices forced Americans to cut back. The economic case for investing in renewable energy, which was looking cheaper, compared with soaring fossil-fuel costs, now is less compelling.
Suddenly, public debate has shifted from trying to find ways to lower prices and give consumers a break to wondering whether federal gasoline taxes should be raised to support higher prices.
President-elect Barack Obama said this week it is even more important to curb Americans’ appetite for oil now that prices are cheaper. “Oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important,” he said during a television interview. “As a consequence, we never make any progress.”
🙄 First they bitch and gripe and say, “Aaaah! We have to get these prices lower!” and when they come down, They scream, “Aaaaah! We have to tax the gas so we’ll make a profit or tax it to death so people won’t buy it!” Tax it to support higher prices? Holy Moses… I hope that this story does not catch on with the rest of the media, or Obama might just find himself with some very upset supporters.
Liberalism is such a mental disorder.
An interesting article via Reason Hit & Run about a plane shot down by the Peruvian Air Force. Which had missionaries in it from Michigan.
The quote from this Blog entry that very much I agree with is this: (emphasis mine)
Collateral damage—and let’s face it, that’s how the CIA and federal drug warriors view Veronica and Charity Bowers—has always been an accepted part of drug prohibition, but this callous disregard for the loss of life and human rights seems particularly egregious in our foreign interdiction efforts. See the House of Death case, where federal agents looked the other way while one of their Mexican informants participated in a series of brutal and entirely preventable murders. See our pre-September 11 anti-narcotics alliance with the Taliban, or our continued drug interdiction aid to Thailand after the government mass executed thousands of suspected drug offenders, sans trial.
Collateral damage. That is how the Government viewed the victims at Waco, Ruby Ridge, The FLDS Children, and every other place that the United States Government; whether directly or indirectly; caused death and/or Destruction. All because some sort of supposed moral law could be upheld.
What this writer has to wonder aloud, how long will it be, before this new messianic President-Elect, will make the fatal mistake of using the Military power of the United States against an United States Citizen, all to uphold a so called, “Moral Law?” If Bill Clinton’s Presidency is any indication, it will be sooner than later.