On this day in 1865, the U.S. Congress
passed the 13th Amendment.
________________________________
Selasa, 31 Januari 2012
Just a Reminder to My Democrat Friends...
0
komentar
Educational Crash Course #103
Another Installment of Diogenes'
Public Service Educational Series:
Public Service Educational Series:
"Creative Writing"
Next in Series: Selecting the Proper Prom Gown
with Barney Frank
CLASS DISMISSED!
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with Barney Frank
CLASS DISMISSED!
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Minggu, 29 Januari 2012
First Lady Helps Boost Lingerie Sales
The Telegraph - Michelle Obama – better known for shopping at more modestly-priced High Street stores – along with the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, closed off part of Madison Avenue to spend time in the luxury lingerie shop. Their purchases contributed to a market-spanking 12.5% lift in sales.
Agent Provocateur, which is styled on vintage Hollywood glamour, sells handmade Calais lace corsets that sell for up to £900 ($1400) which could ruffle the feathers of more than just President Barack Obama in an election year.....
[snip]
$50,000 in one shopping spree? Must have been paying by the inch....
Read More
[snip]
$50,000 in one shopping spree? Must have been paying by the inch....
Read More
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Jumat, 27 Januari 2012
Obama Gets Oscar Nod
Barack Obama Gets Late Academy Nomination
For Performance in
For Performance in
"The State Of The Union"
Middle Finger News Sevice - President Barack Obama has received a late Academy Award nomination for "Best performance by an Actor in a Leading Role" for his work in The State Of The Union. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the late addition to the list of nominations early last night at a dinner for the nominees.
Obama's Oscar nod becomes the first for a sitting president and expands a political landscape that has already seen former Vice President Al Gore's award for his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
"All that talk about reaching across the aisle, him killing Osama bin Laden, class warfare and taxes, energy and saving the earth after Bush - I absolutely believed it all," said former Hollywood Reporter editorial director Scoops Burns. "I haven't seen a performance that convincing since I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman in 1998."
Academy regulations dictate that each category only have five nominees, so in order to allow for the addition of President Obama to the Best Actor field, one of the other nominees had to be removed. The Academy was quick to rescind George Clooney's nomination for The 'Descendants' to make room.
"Oh, yeah, George - we were just kidding anyway," said Snottenberg. "You know, we do that now and then, throw someone in there who doesn't stand a snowball's chance of winning. Spices it up a bit. Gets people talking. Besides, no one saw that stinker of yours anyway."
Ms. Snottenberg would not confirm a report that the Academy had considered nominating Vice President Joe Biden for "Best Performance in a Comedy Supporting Role". All she would say is "after serious consultations we realized he's not acting."
Thanks IOTW for the Linkage
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Kamis, 26 Januari 2012
Looks like Mr."Fair Share"own people owe $833,000 in back taxes"
Previous reports have shown how well-paid Obama's White House staff is, with 457 aides pulling down more than $37 million last year. That's up seven workers and nearly $4 million from the Bush administration's last year.
The biggest tax offenders also include employees of the U.S. Senate who help write the laws imposed on everyone else. They owe $2.1 million.
The country's chief law enforcement agency, the Department of Justice, has 2,069 employees who are nearly $17 million behind in taxes. Like Operation Fast and Furious, Attorney General Eric Holder has apparently missed them too.
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Obama SOTU Speech Registers at 8th Grade Reading Level
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Rabu, 25 Januari 2012
Fuzzy's Own Thoughts on SOTU Address
"Another SOTU, another pack of lies, distortions, lofty fascist promises, horrifying power grabs, brand new bureaucracies, crazy additions to an already insane tax code, and almost laughable catch phrases. I didn't tweet it, but I took copious notes for this, my third, post-SOTU rant. My notes, however, are littered with things like "asshat" (once all in caps and underscored twice for emphasis), so I'll try--after a good night's sleep--to organize this post around my key impressions and leave out the expletives. You know, mostly."
Read More.....
Read More.....
Selasa, 24 Januari 2012
What He Said vs. What He Meant
WHAT HE SAID: For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.
WHAT HE MEANT: I’m commander in chief, and I’ve done a damn good job at it, despite what those presidential pretenders in the other party are saying. And I’m talking about this in the first eight sentences of my speech, so even people who are rushing to change the channel will remember that I took down bin Laden and got us out of Iraq.
WHAT HE SAID: These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces. ... They’re not consumed with personal ambition. They don’t obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together. Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.
WHAT HE MEANT: Grow up already, Congress!
WHAT HE SAID: Think about the America within our reach … An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.
WHAT HE MEANT: Our country needs to return to the value of fairness and the durability of GM trucks, which were once marketed under the slogan “Built to last.” And by the way, I saved GM.
WHAT HE SAID: Let’s remember how we got here … In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly four million jobs. And we lost another four million before our policies were in full effect.
WHAT HE MEANT: I inherited this mess, so don’t blame me.
WHAT HE SAID: In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005. American manufacturers are hiring again, creating jobs for the first time since the late 1990s.
WHAT HE MEANT: I did not make the recession worse. It’s just the opposite -- my policies are helping end it. So don’t believe anything you hear from Mitt Romney.
WHAT HE SAID: I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.
WHAT HE MEANT: Remember those recess appointments I made to two agencies you absolutely hate, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board? The ones you are probably going to challenge in court? There’s going to be more of that unless you cut deals with me, and there will be vetoes if you try to turn my administration into George W. Bush’s third term.
WHAT HE SAID: On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. ... Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number one automaker.
WHAT HE MEANT: Did I mention that I saved GM and the whole car industry? Oh, the “some” who said let it die? One of them was Mitt Romney.
WHAT HE SAID: We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration – and it’s made a difference. Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires. ... Tonight, I’m announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China.
WHAT HE MEANT: I’m tough on China. Remember that the next time Republicans bash me in a debate for letting China eat our lunch.
WHAT HE SAID: We can’t just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of money… So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down.
WHAT HE MEANT: I’m on your side, middle-class families. Now that Rick Perry is out of the presidential race, I can own what could have been one of his signature issues.
WHAT HE SAID: I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my Administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office. The opponents of action are out of excuses… if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people ..”
WHAT HE MEANT: Have I mentioned that I’m tough? I’ve cracked down big time on illegal immigration. But I have a heart – especially when it comes to kids brought here illegally by their parents. And with Rick Perry out of the race, I’m going to own not only this issue but the Hispanic vote in November.
WHAT HE SAID: Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses. So let’s pass an agenda that helps them succeed. Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow. Expand tax relief to small businesses that are raising wages and creating good jobs.
WHAT HE MEANT: I dare you Republicans to oppose this agenda. And have I mentioned that I love capitalism?
WHAT HE SAID: Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.
WHAT HE MEANT: Solyndra, schmolyndra. Success and failure are all part of capitalism. Which we love. Right, Gov. Romney?
WHAT HE SAID: Rules to prevent financial fraud, or toxic dumping, or faulty medical devices, don’t destroy the free market. They make the free market work better. There is no question that some regulations are outdated, unnecessary, or too costly. In fact, I’ve approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my Republican predecessor did in his. I’ve ordered every federal agency to eliminate rules that don’t make sense.
WHAT HE MEANT: I love the free market and I want it to work! And I don’t love regulations! Just like the Republicans. So moderates and independents, you don’t have to flee me. I get it. I really do.
WHAT HE SAID: But I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago … I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage, or charge women differently from men. And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules.
WHAT HE MEANT: Have I mentioned I’m on your side? All this free market stuff can only go so far. So liberals and progressives, you don’t have to flee me. I get it. I really do.
WHAT HE SAID: We need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes. Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.
WHAT HE MEANT: You may remember that Mitt Romney makes more than $20 million a year and pays a 15 percent tax rate. You may not know that under Newt Gingrich’s plan, Romney would pay no taxes at all! Have I mentioned that polls show two-thirds of the public agrees with me on this issue?
WHAT HE SAID: Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better.
WHAT HE MEANT: Do you really want a president who is chomping at the bit to start a war against Iran? Then vote for a Republican. I might start that war, but I might not.
WHAT HE SAID: America is back. Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn’t know what they’re talking about. … America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs. And as long as I’m president, I intend to keep it that way.
WHAT HE MEANT: I am not a wimp or a failure on the world stage, or an apologist for America, or a manager of our decline. And I don’t lead from behind. So all that stuff you’re hearing in these endless GOP debates? Forget about it.
Transcript source: nationaljournal.com
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Nancy Pelosi Claims She has Dirt on Newt
Supposedly Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has some real dirt to dish on Gringrich. Something to maybe keep him from be elected, or just blowing smoke? We'll have to wait and see......
From Real Clear Politics:
From Real Clear Politics:
John King, CNN: "Because of your history with Speaker Gingrich, what goes through your mind when you think of the possibility, which is more real today than it was a week or a month ago, that he would be the Republican nominee and that you could come back here next January or next February with a President Gingrich?"
Rep. Nancy Pelosi: "Let me just say this. That will never happen."
King: "Why?"
Pelosi: "He's not going to be President of the United States. That's not going to happen. Let me just make my prediction and stand by it, it isn't going to happen."
King: "Why are you so sure?"
Pelosi: "There is something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him that's their prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."[snip]
Well, Nancy does know a lot of congressional secrets:
________________________________
Senin, 23 Januari 2012
What 100 Dollar Barrels of Oil Will Build
The World's Tallest Building
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai…. 5 photographs into 1
Think it's time we start drilling some holes over here Bo?
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Sabtu, 21 Januari 2012
Romney Campaign's Juvenile Stunt
The Romney campaign today will deliver an anniversary cake to Gingrich HQ in SC today marking the 15th yr (to the day) that Gngrich became the first Speaker of the House ever reprimanded for an ethics violation.From GretaWire:
"I don’t know about you but with all the serious issues confronting our nation and for our next President to address, whether it be President Obama or a Republican, I find this gesture (below) from the Romney campaign to make them look very junior high. If Governor Romney even knows about this (and he may not), he should pull the plug on this prank. It doesn’t make his campaign (and thus him) look presidential. He wants to appear Presidential right now. It is one thing to point out and emphasize differences and experiences, it is another to ridicule."Mitt knows about this stunt: Romney’s campaign manager tweeted about it today, linking to a page at Romney’s campaign site titled Happy 15th Anniversary, Mr. Speaker.
This isn’t just amateurish. It’s proof that Mitt can’t handle not doing well. When things don’t go his way, like they did in Monday’s debate, Mitt’s “looks presidential” facade disappears. It didn’t take long for Mitt to revert to his spoiled brat ways.
This stunt screams “I don’t look presidential.” How appropriate.
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Picture of the Week
'The "Fish" Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag'
Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish
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Jumat, 20 Januari 2012
Kamis, 19 Januari 2012
The Case Against Barack Obama...
"Obama was the perfect empty vessel, the perfect figurehead behind which the Woodstock and Communism-was-a-good-idea-only-poorly-executed crowd could hide behind while they gave it once last try......"
Lunatic's Asylum - I have not bashed President Frequent-Flyer-Miles for some time now, which is not surprising: in order to criticize someone for anything, it is first necessary for them to have done something. Barack Obama, as I have said many times before, is simply not a doer so it has been difficult to criticize anything after his first year in office -- except his lack of action. However, the last few months of Presidential inaction may have given new meanings to the words 'procrastination' and 'inertia'.
There simply hasn't been anything to talk about. The first year of the Obama Presidency was an easy topic to discuss and dissect, what with such juicy topics as nationalized health care, nationalized banks and auto companies, welfare-programs-disguised-as-economic-stimulus, the enormous waste of resources that was the actual Stimulus Bill, the twice-daily accusations of racism on somebody's part, the forceful implication by the administration and it's allies that mere principled disagreement with the Vacationer-in-Chief was tantamount to treason.
The second year of the Obama Experiment was simply chock full of politically-expedient bullshit; the Debt Ceiling Debates, the Libyan War, the call for an even bigger waste of taxpayer money (Son of Stimulus), Solyndra and the Green Energy Boondoggle.
Going into our Third Year with no one at the rudder, even the flow of politically-motivated crap has first slowed to a trickle and then eventually petered out into a state of complete non-action on anything. Once again Barack Obama, who's supposed to be a leader, has done what he's always done best: let someone else do (in this case, a Republican-led House of Representatives) and then cry "Obstructionist/Racist/Unfair!" at the top of his lungs.
Let's start at the very source of all of this apathy and political spinmeistering:
It was clear to anyone who could draw breath without mechanical assistance in November of 2008 that Barack Obama was little more than a slick marketing campaign that took advantage of the sense of panic which gripped America at the time. If you bought the bill of goods that was the new-and-improved Kennedyesque kabuki play that was the rise of Obama, if you seriously believed in the nonsensical rhetoric about lower sea levels, international brotherhood, and an economic recovery sparked by more social and political welfare programs, then you cannot be in the least surprised that we have arrived at this current state of affairs, with a crippled President reduced to ducking hard issues and honest work.
It was perfectly clear then that Barack Obama was not prepared to do this job, and even more apparent that he didn't have the slightest clue as to how to do it. He didn't even have the intellectual honesty to admit that he wasn't even willing to learn, or to even try. Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ran things for the first year of the Obama Presidency, dragging a clueless Commander-in-Chump along for the ride. When the ride ended at a Republican recapture of the House of Representatives, the people around President Doofus set about portraying their wounded and clueless man as the victim of a conspiracy of racist Tea Parties and nasty Republicans, and cried victim.
When that didn't work, it was back to the old democratic (small 'd' intentional) party tactic of good old fashioned Class Warfare, and when that, also, failed to do anything except make Obama look like an even bigger retard, Plan C was to simply do nothing at all (the better to safeguard any chance of squeaking out another electoral win) and complaining that your political opposition is dead set against your special brand of mental diarrhea (did you really expect them to embrace it lovingly and enthusiastically?). All the while, Barack Obama pretends to be above the fray, to be shocked and concerned at the acrimony of the political landscape...and go on vacation...again.
We're now into Plan D, similar to what Muhammed Ali once coined the Rope-A-Dope Strategy; go totally defensive and protect yourself. Avoid the offensive by doing or saying anything that threatens to keep people interested in the political process, or which gives an opening to the ideological and political enemies of the regime. Barack Obama is more than willing to simply sit back, and make his political enemies punch themselves out, all the time sincerely hoping that the crowd gets bored or that your opponent will make that one fatal mistake. This plays out politically in the following fashion:
Obama says and does nothing, and lets the business of government be carried out through the two warring houses of Congress. The man who simply polluted the television screen with useless, bullshit speeches a year ago is now rarely seen. Every once in a while he presents what appears to be an opening in his defense, and then comes out punching when the enemy falls for the feint (and often, even when he doesn't). He then throws haymakers and prays that one connects, only to return to the defensive posture when he doesn't.
If you need a literal explanation of how this works in the political sense, then think of it this way: the recent Payroll Tax Cut debate has Obama actually agreeing to extend the tax cut, but only for two months. He basically says "You republicans love tax cuts, you should love this one..." knowing full well that he's only appearing to give them what they want, just on terms he knows that they cannot accept. When they, predictably, don't fall for this feint, Obama goes back on the defensive, saying the Other Side won't take "yes" for an answer, and is doing further damage to the economy.
Anyone with half a brain knows that a two month extension of a tax that does absolutely nothing to spur hiring or to increase demand for goods and services is no economic panacea. However, the purpose of this whole deception is not intended to produce any tangible result: it's simply to keep up the pretense that Obama, who does nothing, is actually trying to do something against unreasonable opposition.
Let's be completely fair to President Marriott-Suites: he was never prepared, by education, temperament, experience, or intelligence, to do this job. He was doubly unprepared when you stop to consider the the circumstances under which he took the job. Still, he should have known (or the people around him should have told him) all about the trouble he would soon face. Apparently, no one cared: the purpose of Obama's elevation wasn't so much to fix pressing national concerns as much as they were the last gasp of a 1960's brand of socialism. For that task, Obama was perfectly suited; for the task of running a country embroiled in two wars, teetering on the brink of insolvency, politically divided, Obama was the proverbial plaything of democratic party interests who knew how to manipulate the levers of power to their advantage.
Obama was the perfect empty vessel, the perfect figurehead behind which the Woodstock and Communism-was-a-good-idea-only-poorly-executed crowd could hide behind while they gave it once last try. And now here he stands (when he isn't on vacation, that is) with the following record to run on in 2012: the economy is no better, and arguably worse. We may be withdrawing troops from Iraq, but the War in Afghanistan continues and we've become embroiled in a third in Libya (don't you believe that we're out of that one, yet); the democratic party -- barring some unforeseen miracle -- is poised to suffer electoral defeats next year that may banish it to the political hinterlands for a decade or more. The country's debt has tripled on Obama's watch. And quite frankly, one wonders just how much Obama hands-on time was spent in crafting the policies that will, now, be forever associated with him.
My guess is none. Obama simply reads what someone puts in his teleprompter, and exudes a pretense of intelligence and competence. Work and sacrifice is always somoene else's responsibility, whether it's America's fault for being too soft and lazy, or Republicans' fault for not passing a bunch of legislation and regulation that's tantamount to their own suicide note as elected officals or a party. All the while Barack Obama plays the victim; pretending to be misunderstood one day, a victim of racism the next, the helpless plaything of political forces beyond his control the day after that.
And every day that goes by, he does less and less, and accepts responsibility for even less than that. Note, however, that he doesn't seem to have any problem whatsoever picking up the paycheck, attending the fundraisers, or dragging Air Force One and the Secret Service to yet another tony vacation destination on someone else's dime.
Frankly, the less he does the better, so far as I'm concerned. He done enough, already, by being either easy to manipulate, too stupid or stubborn for his own good, or just plain ideologically unsuited to our current realities. It's often said that "Less is More", and never was this adage more apt/
If there's anything Barack Obama HAS accomplished, it is sadly this:
He has reinforced every negative stereotype about a black man it is possible to think of. He has also lent even more credence to the voices of the pro-colonialists of the past who warned that the dissolution of the old European Empires would spell world-wide catastrophe because never before in recorded history had a stable, economically-secure, militarily-strong democratic state ever been run by a black man. They have been proven right, unfortunately, and surprisingly it's all happened on the watch of an African-American, a native to this culture, educated in our finest universities, but unfortunately still obsessed with discredited racial, economic, and social theories that blind him to reality.
Barack Obama makes Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela look like fucking Pericles of Athens.
The tragedy of Barack Obama isn't so much that he hasn't been effective; it's that the next African-American with Presidential ambitions will wear his failed administration around his/her neck like a lead albatross. This isn't fair; but it will happen. Obama may have been the first Black man to be elected President, but he stands a very good chance of being the last...ever.
There is no reason to vote for Barack Obama in 2012, unless you, like him, still live in the 19th Century world of exaggerated Dickensian inequity; you still believe that welfare is better than work and personal merit, or are a lazy bastard who leaves the heavy lifting in all things to others and takes undue credit where available, or are somoene who lays approbation for your own failure at someone else's feet. If you believe that symbolism is more important than substane, if you believe that stirring up the animosities of the the past is more important than fixing the problems of the present from which they've spawned, if you believe with all your heart that stealing borrowed (Chinese) money from Peter to pay Paul is sound economic policy, then by all means, vote for Barack Obama.
I'll see you on the bread line, assuming there's any bakers left by then, and they haven't all been unionized, legislated out of existence, or the trade falls completely by the wayside because there's no more carbon-spewing bakeries. But, if you care about your country, if you'd like an opportunity to have a job one day, if you're sick and tired of the pantomime theatre that democratic party politics has become, if you're tired of seeing latter-day hippies roaming the streets demanding high-paying jobs geared to their useless Master's in Gender Studies, all the while complaining it's Wall Street's fault they're having to pay off college loans and wait tables, then go the other way. Romney, Gingrich, it almost doesn't matter, anymore, so long as it's somebody with a makes-sense plan and the seeming ability to at least put in a day's work. And vote Republican all the way down ticket, too. It only works if there's enough R's to make sure some of those ideas get a fair hearing and can be passed.
Cross Posted from lunaticsasylum.blogspot.com
There simply hasn't been anything to talk about. The first year of the Obama Presidency was an easy topic to discuss and dissect, what with such juicy topics as nationalized health care, nationalized banks and auto companies, welfare-programs-disguised-as-economic-stimulus, the enormous waste of resources that was the actual Stimulus Bill, the twice-daily accusations of racism on somebody's part, the forceful implication by the administration and it's allies that mere principled disagreement with the Vacationer-in-Chief was tantamount to treason.
The second year of the Obama Experiment was simply chock full of politically-expedient bullshit; the Debt Ceiling Debates, the Libyan War, the call for an even bigger waste of taxpayer money (Son of Stimulus), Solyndra and the Green Energy Boondoggle.
Going into our Third Year with no one at the rudder, even the flow of politically-motivated crap has first slowed to a trickle and then eventually petered out into a state of complete non-action on anything. Once again Barack Obama, who's supposed to be a leader, has done what he's always done best: let someone else do (in this case, a Republican-led House of Representatives) and then cry "Obstructionist/Racist/Unfair!" at the top of his lungs.
Let's start at the very source of all of this apathy and political spinmeistering:
---------------------------------
It was clear to anyone who could draw breath without mechanical assistance in November of 2008 that Barack Obama was little more than a slick marketing campaign that took advantage of the sense of panic which gripped America at the time. If you bought the bill of goods that was the new-and-improved Kennedyesque kabuki play that was the rise of Obama, if you seriously believed in the nonsensical rhetoric about lower sea levels, international brotherhood, and an economic recovery sparked by more social and political welfare programs, then you cannot be in the least surprised that we have arrived at this current state of affairs, with a crippled President reduced to ducking hard issues and honest work.
It was perfectly clear then that Barack Obama was not prepared to do this job, and even more apparent that he didn't have the slightest clue as to how to do it. He didn't even have the intellectual honesty to admit that he wasn't even willing to learn, or to even try. Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ran things for the first year of the Obama Presidency, dragging a clueless Commander-in-Chump along for the ride. When the ride ended at a Republican recapture of the House of Representatives, the people around President Doofus set about portraying their wounded and clueless man as the victim of a conspiracy of racist Tea Parties and nasty Republicans, and cried victim.
When that didn't work, it was back to the old democratic (small 'd' intentional) party tactic of good old fashioned Class Warfare, and when that, also, failed to do anything except make Obama look like an even bigger retard, Plan C was to simply do nothing at all (the better to safeguard any chance of squeaking out another electoral win) and complaining that your political opposition is dead set against your special brand of mental diarrhea (did you really expect them to embrace it lovingly and enthusiastically?). All the while, Barack Obama pretends to be above the fray, to be shocked and concerned at the acrimony of the political landscape...and go on vacation...again.
We're now into Plan D, similar to what Muhammed Ali once coined the Rope-A-Dope Strategy; go totally defensive and protect yourself. Avoid the offensive by doing or saying anything that threatens to keep people interested in the political process, or which gives an opening to the ideological and political enemies of the regime. Barack Obama is more than willing to simply sit back, and make his political enemies punch themselves out, all the time sincerely hoping that the crowd gets bored or that your opponent will make that one fatal mistake. This plays out politically in the following fashion:
Obama says and does nothing, and lets the business of government be carried out through the two warring houses of Congress. The man who simply polluted the television screen with useless, bullshit speeches a year ago is now rarely seen. Every once in a while he presents what appears to be an opening in his defense, and then comes out punching when the enemy falls for the feint (and often, even when he doesn't). He then throws haymakers and prays that one connects, only to return to the defensive posture when he doesn't.
If you need a literal explanation of how this works in the political sense, then think of it this way: the recent Payroll Tax Cut debate has Obama actually agreeing to extend the tax cut, but only for two months. He basically says "You republicans love tax cuts, you should love this one..." knowing full well that he's only appearing to give them what they want, just on terms he knows that they cannot accept. When they, predictably, don't fall for this feint, Obama goes back on the defensive, saying the Other Side won't take "yes" for an answer, and is doing further damage to the economy.
Anyone with half a brain knows that a two month extension of a tax that does absolutely nothing to spur hiring or to increase demand for goods and services is no economic panacea. However, the purpose of this whole deception is not intended to produce any tangible result: it's simply to keep up the pretense that Obama, who does nothing, is actually trying to do something against unreasonable opposition.
Let's be completely fair to President Marriott-Suites: he was never prepared, by education, temperament, experience, or intelligence, to do this job. He was doubly unprepared when you stop to consider the the circumstances under which he took the job. Still, he should have known (or the people around him should have told him) all about the trouble he would soon face. Apparently, no one cared: the purpose of Obama's elevation wasn't so much to fix pressing national concerns as much as they were the last gasp of a 1960's brand of socialism. For that task, Obama was perfectly suited; for the task of running a country embroiled in two wars, teetering on the brink of insolvency, politically divided, Obama was the proverbial plaything of democratic party interests who knew how to manipulate the levers of power to their advantage.
Obama was the perfect empty vessel, the perfect figurehead behind which the Woodstock and Communism-was-a-good-idea-only-poorly-executed crowd could hide behind while they gave it once last try. And now here he stands (when he isn't on vacation, that is) with the following record to run on in 2012: the economy is no better, and arguably worse. We may be withdrawing troops from Iraq, but the War in Afghanistan continues and we've become embroiled in a third in Libya (don't you believe that we're out of that one, yet); the democratic party -- barring some unforeseen miracle -- is poised to suffer electoral defeats next year that may banish it to the political hinterlands for a decade or more. The country's debt has tripled on Obama's watch. And quite frankly, one wonders just how much Obama hands-on time was spent in crafting the policies that will, now, be forever associated with him.
My guess is none. Obama simply reads what someone puts in his teleprompter, and exudes a pretense of intelligence and competence. Work and sacrifice is always somoene else's responsibility, whether it's America's fault for being too soft and lazy, or Republicans' fault for not passing a bunch of legislation and regulation that's tantamount to their own suicide note as elected officals or a party. All the while Barack Obama plays the victim; pretending to be misunderstood one day, a victim of racism the next, the helpless plaything of political forces beyond his control the day after that.
And every day that goes by, he does less and less, and accepts responsibility for even less than that. Note, however, that he doesn't seem to have any problem whatsoever picking up the paycheck, attending the fundraisers, or dragging Air Force One and the Secret Service to yet another tony vacation destination on someone else's dime.
Frankly, the less he does the better, so far as I'm concerned. He done enough, already, by being either easy to manipulate, too stupid or stubborn for his own good, or just plain ideologically unsuited to our current realities. It's often said that "Less is More", and never was this adage more apt/
If there's anything Barack Obama HAS accomplished, it is sadly this:
He has reinforced every negative stereotype about a black man it is possible to think of. He has also lent even more credence to the voices of the pro-colonialists of the past who warned that the dissolution of the old European Empires would spell world-wide catastrophe because never before in recorded history had a stable, economically-secure, militarily-strong democratic state ever been run by a black man. They have been proven right, unfortunately, and surprisingly it's all happened on the watch of an African-American, a native to this culture, educated in our finest universities, but unfortunately still obsessed with discredited racial, economic, and social theories that blind him to reality.
Barack Obama makes Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela look like fucking Pericles of Athens.
The tragedy of Barack Obama isn't so much that he hasn't been effective; it's that the next African-American with Presidential ambitions will wear his failed administration around his/her neck like a lead albatross. This isn't fair; but it will happen. Obama may have been the first Black man to be elected President, but he stands a very good chance of being the last...ever.
There is no reason to vote for Barack Obama in 2012, unless you, like him, still live in the 19th Century world of exaggerated Dickensian inequity; you still believe that welfare is better than work and personal merit, or are a lazy bastard who leaves the heavy lifting in all things to others and takes undue credit where available, or are somoene who lays approbation for your own failure at someone else's feet. If you believe that symbolism is more important than substane, if you believe that stirring up the animosities of the the past is more important than fixing the problems of the present from which they've spawned, if you believe with all your heart that stealing borrowed (Chinese) money from Peter to pay Paul is sound economic policy, then by all means, vote for Barack Obama.
I'll see you on the bread line, assuming there's any bakers left by then, and they haven't all been unionized, legislated out of existence, or the trade falls completely by the wayside because there's no more carbon-spewing bakeries. But, if you care about your country, if you'd like an opportunity to have a job one day, if you're sick and tired of the pantomime theatre that democratic party politics has become, if you're tired of seeing latter-day hippies roaming the streets demanding high-paying jobs geared to their useless Master's in Gender Studies, all the while complaining it's Wall Street's fault they're having to pay off college loans and wait tables, then go the other way. Romney, Gingrich, it almost doesn't matter, anymore, so long as it's somebody with a makes-sense plan and the seeming ability to at least put in a day's work. And vote Republican all the way down ticket, too. It only works if there's enough R's to make sure some of those ideas get a fair hearing and can be passed.
Cross Posted from lunaticsasylum.blogspot.com
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Rabu, 18 Januari 2012
The Internet Is Not .gov’s to Regulate
Cutting off phone lines is the closest familiar parallel to what Congress is considering in two bills nicknamed “SOPA” and “PIPA”—the “Stop Online Piracy Act” and the “PROTECT IP Act.”
One of the major ideas behind SOPA and PIPA is to cut Internet sites that violate copyright out of the domain name system. No longer could typing “elcato.org” get you to the Web site you wanted to visit. Much of the debate has been about the legal process for determining whether to strike out a domain name. The practical burdens on the law-abiding Internet service provider would be large. “Blacking out” an entire building—just like a Web site—would cut off the lawful communications right along with the unlawful ones. It’s through-the-looking-glass information control, with enormous potential to obstruct entirely lawful communications and impinge on First Amendment rights.
The Internet is not the government’s to regulate. It is an agreement on a set of protocols—a language that computers use to talk to one another. That language is the envelope in which our communications—our First-Amendment-protected speech—travels in hundreds of different forms.
Under the better view—the view of freedom behind opposition to SOPA and PIPA—these things are not the government’s to regulate.
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Joe Knows Cake......
Navy Specialist ready Vice President Joe Biden for a portion of cake and ice cream at First Lady Michelle Obama's White House Birthday celebration Tuesday Night. Biden wowed the guest by besting his record of eating 7 wax candles from the cake, two more than last year.
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Selasa, 17 Januari 2012
The Lost Fossils of Charles Darwin
LONDON – British scientists have found scores of fossils the great evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin and his peers collected but that had been lost for more than 150 years. Dr. Howard Falcon-Lang, a paleontologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, said Tuesday that he stumbled upon the glass slides containing the fossils in an old wooden cabinet that had been shoved in a "gloomy corner" of the massive, drafty British Geological Survey.
The first slide pulled out of the dusty corner at the British Geological Survey turned out to be one of the specimens collected by Darwin during his famous expedition on the HMS Beagle, which changed the young Cambridge graduate's career and laid the foundation for his subsequent work on evolution."It took me a while just to convince myself that it was Darwin's signature on the slide," the paleontologist said, adding he soon realized it was a "quite important and overlooked" specimen. The slides -- "stunning works of art," according to Falcon-Lang -- contain bits of fossil wood and plants ground into thin sheets and affixed to glass in order to be studied under microscopes. Some of the slides are half a foot long (15 centimeters), "great big chunks of glass," Falcon-Lang said.
"How these things got overlooked for so long is a bit of a mystery itself," he mused, speculating that perhaps it was because Darwin was not widely known in 1846 so the collection might not have been given "the proper curatorial care.".....Read More
The first slide pulled out of the dusty corner at the British Geological Survey turned out to be one of the specimens collected by Darwin during his famous expedition on the HMS Beagle, which changed the young Cambridge graduate's career and laid the foundation for his subsequent work on evolution."It took me a while just to convince myself that it was Darwin's signature on the slide," the paleontologist said, adding he soon realized it was a "quite important and overlooked" specimen. The slides -- "stunning works of art," according to Falcon-Lang -- contain bits of fossil wood and plants ground into thin sheets and affixed to glass in order to be studied under microscopes. Some of the slides are half a foot long (15 centimeters), "great big chunks of glass," Falcon-Lang said.
"How these things got overlooked for so long is a bit of a mystery itself," he mused, speculating that perhaps it was because Darwin was not widely known in 1846 so the collection might not have been given "the proper curatorial care.".....Read More
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Eleanor Roosevelt She Ain't
Arianna To MO: Watch The Bel Air Trips
During the most recent edition of Both Sides Now with Huffington and Matalin, co-host Arianna Huffington used the airwaves to let Michelle know she has appeared indifferent to suffering in America, focusing instead on hobnobbing with wealthy donors in Bel Air and elsewhere. She wondered, why not visit South-Central Los Angeles during one of these fundraising trips?
I'd love Michelle to be more like Eleanor Roosevelt right now, because the country needs an Eleanor Roosevelt who's going to go around and at the same time that she's doing fundraisers in Beverly Hills and Bel Air, she should go to South Central [Los Angeles], I mean, if I were Michelle Obama right now, I would not go anywhere for a fundraiser without going and seeing the places where there is pain, where there is struggle, where there is homelessness, where there is unemployment. - ARIANNA HUFFINGTONThis begs the question: is ALL criticism of Michelle Obama off-limits to our media friends, even when it comes from the left? And within the gushing "progressive" movement, is she above even constructive advice? Expect the usual approach from the left to this type of development: silence.
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Sabtu, 14 Januari 2012
Educational Crash Course #92
Another Installment of Diogenes'
Public Service Educational Series:
Public Service Educational Series:
"Psychoanalysis 101"
Next in Series: 'Anger Management'
with Michelle Obama
Class Dismissed!
Educational Crash Course Series Archive
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with Michelle Obama
Class Dismissed!
Educational Crash Course Series Archive
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Jumat, 13 Januari 2012
The Iron Lady Shall Live On
"She has the mouth of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula."
President Mitterand of France
Hollywood is not known for sympathetic portrayals of political figures, often injecting rumored or unproven incidents and fictional conversations. So when a left-wing Hollywood star sets aside her dignity to portray a right-wing heroine, odds are the result will irritate everyone. But surprisingly, 'The Iron Lady' is far better than I ever expected, particularly given that virtually the entire entertainment community from the east coast to Hollywood is liberal, a bias gleefully acknowledged by Meryl Streep, who gives an convincing performance as three-term British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. “I'm an actor and, you know, politically we're all on the other side.”
When Margaret Thatcher was first elected to Parliament in 1959, she entered a House of Commons that had 630 members, of whom 25 were female, which is about 24 more women than you would think were ever in any House of Commons during her political life should you see The Iron Lady. The filmmakers have resolved whatever dilemma they had with Mrs.Thatcher as heroine by presenting her life as a feminist struggle. There are no other visible female members of Parliament, only a sea of men. Being female was a liability, although class was the greater obstacle for Thatcher. She was so very lower middle class, a grocer's daughter who never quite lost her regional accent, never mind her chemistry degree from Oxford and her successful studies as a tax lawyer.
The framework of the film is Mrs. Thatcher in her declining years. She appears to have multi-infarct dementia, a decline of memory and intellectual faculties caused by tiny strokes, and believes her husband Denis to still be alive. One of history's ironic gifts to the left is that their greatest opponents, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, both after leaving office suffered from a mental disease. Nothing in the film tries to derive any advantage from this, but the choice to play out her extraordinary life over three days of this decline, after she had ceased to be a public player, is telling when you consider other legitimate angles that might have been chosen.
The year before Thatcher became prime minister, the country was in chaos, the dead unburied, doctors on strike, no bread one day, no newspapers the next. Thatcher reshaped society with secret strike votes for unions, privatized industry (except for the health service and the BBC) and lower taxes, which under the Labor Party could be as high as 98 per cent. She stood her ground and never flinched. Thus her great quote that doesn't make the film: “To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only this to say, ‘You turn if you want; the lady's not for turning.
The film gives a moving glimpse of Thatcher's middle-England pillow-plumping kindness as she worries about Denis. She was the Iron Lady in power suits and evening gowns, even as she played a pivotal role in defeating Communism. But she remains more: a kind woman who forever overlooked the cruelty of her own children toward her and the cruelty of the world's caricatures. Now in her final years, she concentrates on small acts of kindness, real or imaginary.
Access to thousands of documents—many of them previously unpublished—relating to Margaret Thatcher and world events during the last thirty years.
President Mitterand of France
Hollywood is not known for sympathetic portrayals of political figures, often injecting rumored or unproven incidents and fictional conversations. So when a left-wing Hollywood star sets aside her dignity to portray a right-wing heroine, odds are the result will irritate everyone. But surprisingly, 'The Iron Lady' is far better than I ever expected, particularly given that virtually the entire entertainment community from the east coast to Hollywood is liberal, a bias gleefully acknowledged by Meryl Streep, who gives an convincing performance as three-term British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. “I'm an actor and, you know, politically we're all on the other side.”
The framework of the film is Mrs. Thatcher in her declining years. She appears to have multi-infarct dementia, a decline of memory and intellectual faculties caused by tiny strokes, and believes her husband Denis to still be alive. One of history's ironic gifts to the left is that their greatest opponents, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, both after leaving office suffered from a mental disease. Nothing in the film tries to derive any advantage from this, but the choice to play out her extraordinary life over three days of this decline, after she had ceased to be a public player, is telling when you consider other legitimate angles that might have been chosen.
The year before Thatcher became prime minister, the country was in chaos, the dead unburied, doctors on strike, no bread one day, no newspapers the next. Thatcher reshaped society with secret strike votes for unions, privatized industry (except for the health service and the BBC) and lower taxes, which under the Labor Party could be as high as 98 per cent. She stood her ground and never flinched. Thus her great quote that doesn't make the film: “To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only this to say, ‘You turn if you want; the lady's not for turning.
The film gives a moving glimpse of Thatcher's middle-England pillow-plumping kindness as she worries about Denis. She was the Iron Lady in power suits and evening gowns, even as she played a pivotal role in defeating Communism. But she remains more: a kind woman who forever overlooked the cruelty of her own children toward her and the cruelty of the world's caricatures. Now in her final years, she concentrates on small acts of kindness, real or imaginary.
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The Margaret Thatcher FoundationAccess to thousands of documents—many of them previously unpublished—relating to Margaret Thatcher and world events during the last thirty years.
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Kamis, 12 Januari 2012
One Ticket for the Crazy Train, Please.
It's still 300 days till the 2012 election, but already I sense the crazies coming down the track, at full speed. The comments coming from the Democrat mouth pieces in the media are reflective of this observation.
Any casual political observer knows election years tend to create a level of frenzy concerning the selection of the nominees and the outcome. The media feed this in order to keep readers reading and viewers viewing. The history of American elections has always been one of invective language between the parties, so there is nothing new about this. Indeed, since so much depends on it, the political free-for-all is a healthy exercise.
It can, however, make for a difficult environment in which to go about one’s media observations; the air filled with charge and counter-charge, polls going up and down, bias commentators and a general sense that something is very very wrong with our politicans and the way the government functions.
On the bright side, a gridlocked Congress may bring a measure of relief to everyone. Writing about gridlock in January 2011, Marcus E. Ethridge, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, noted that “By fostering gridlock, the U.S. Constitution increases the likelihood that policies will reflect broad, unorganized interests instead of the interests of narrow, organized groups.” In 2011, we saw what happens when advocates of “renewable energy”, wind and solar power, or electric cars, get priority over the needs of most Americans for reliable energy and transportation.
At the heart of the 2012 election will be the recognition that the economy is still not recovering, that government is seeking to extend and expand its control over our lives, and, even among former supporters of Barack Obama, that he has been a epic failure of historic proportions.
A recent Rasmussen Report said that “Voters right now give the edge to Republicans when asked which political party is likely to win the White House and control both the House of Representatives and the Senate in next November's election”, adding that “a lot of voters are undecided.” Those voters may actually wait until entering the polls to cast their vote.
Another bad piece of news for O' is a new comparative analysis of current voter registration data in key electoral states of Nevada and North Carolina. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, there has been “a drastic drop from 2008 levels when a record-high proportion of young Americans turned out overwhelmingly to cast their votes to elect Obama as President.” This is significant because more than two-thirds of young voters supported the Obama/Biden ticket in 2008.
The President had a low moment following the passage of Obamacare that transformed itself into the Tea Party movement and an even worse one in 2010 when it propelled a large number of Republicans into the House of Representatives, causing its control to change hands. He has had, in fact, only one truly high moment and that occurred when he announced the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. At the time, he typically took complete credit. In a speech at Fort Bragg to returning troops from Iraq, the word “victory” was never spoken.
Americans are not unmindful that the downgrade of the rating of the nation’s sovereign debt, the first in the nation’s history, was announced on Obama’s watch. The rate of “official” unemployment has receded to 8.6% but most Americans are well aware that it is far closer to 11% or more. America continues to experience that longest period of long-term unemployment since the 1930s.
For these and a myriad of other reasons, there is but little reason to conclude that President Obama has any good chance for reelected. The widespread contempt for Congress is also a hopeful sign for change. These are reasons to remain calm amidst the din of electioneering in the months ahead. As for me, I have reserved my ringside seat!
Any casual political observer knows election years tend to create a level of frenzy concerning the selection of the nominees and the outcome. The media feed this in order to keep readers reading and viewers viewing. The history of American elections has always been one of invective language between the parties, so there is nothing new about this. Indeed, since so much depends on it, the political free-for-all is a healthy exercise.
On the bright side, a gridlocked Congress may bring a measure of relief to everyone. Writing about gridlock in January 2011, Marcus E. Ethridge, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, noted that “By fostering gridlock, the U.S. Constitution increases the likelihood that policies will reflect broad, unorganized interests instead of the interests of narrow, organized groups.” In 2011, we saw what happens when advocates of “renewable energy”, wind and solar power, or electric cars, get priority over the needs of most Americans for reliable energy and transportation.
At the heart of the 2012 election will be the recognition that the economy is still not recovering, that government is seeking to extend and expand its control over our lives, and, even among former supporters of Barack Obama, that he has been a epic failure of historic proportions.
A recent Rasmussen Report said that “Voters right now give the edge to Republicans when asked which political party is likely to win the White House and control both the House of Representatives and the Senate in next November's election”, adding that “a lot of voters are undecided.” Those voters may actually wait until entering the polls to cast their vote.
Another bad piece of news for O' is a new comparative analysis of current voter registration data in key electoral states of Nevada and North Carolina. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, there has been “a drastic drop from 2008 levels when a record-high proportion of young Americans turned out overwhelmingly to cast their votes to elect Obama as President.” This is significant because more than two-thirds of young voters supported the Obama/Biden ticket in 2008.
The President had a low moment following the passage of Obamacare that transformed itself into the Tea Party movement and an even worse one in 2010 when it propelled a large number of Republicans into the House of Representatives, causing its control to change hands. He has had, in fact, only one truly high moment and that occurred when he announced the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. At the time, he typically took complete credit. In a speech at Fort Bragg to returning troops from Iraq, the word “victory” was never spoken.
Americans are not unmindful that the downgrade of the rating of the nation’s sovereign debt, the first in the nation’s history, was announced on Obama’s watch. The rate of “official” unemployment has receded to 8.6% but most Americans are well aware that it is far closer to 11% or more. America continues to experience that longest period of long-term unemployment since the 1930s.
For these and a myriad of other reasons, there is but little reason to conclude that President Obama has any good chance for reelected. The widespread contempt for Congress is also a hopeful sign for change. These are reasons to remain calm amidst the din of electioneering in the months ahead. As for me, I have reserved my ringside seat!
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