Tuesday, September 21, 2010
"Cool" (as in Deceiver)
An adjective of Dutch derivation,
signifying:
neither zealous, nor ardent;
neither angry, nor fond;
in short without passion,
a deceiver.
-- Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
THE ONE
What is a communist? The One who has yearnings
For equal division of unequal earnings.
Idler, or bungler, or both, he is willing
To fork over his penny and pocket your shilling.
- Ebenezer Elliott, son of "Devil Elliott", adapted
For equal division of unequal earnings.
Idler, or bungler, or both, he is willing
To fork over his penny and pocket your shilling.
- Ebenezer Elliott, son of "Devil Elliott", adapted
Liberty or Slavery? Which Will It Be?
"And whenever their constituents neglect to call [their representatives] to account for such their neglect and breach of trust, they are not worthy the name of the SONS OF LIBERTY, the name of slave is more suitable, for slaves they really are, and are fit for nothing else."
-- A Countryman, 1765
Decades of Economic Shrinkage Ahead
"Just as the housing sector and the related debt was the driver of the US economy over the past several decades, I believe that the deflation of the housing market could spell an equally drastic period of shrinkage in economic activity in the US and around the world."
Monday, September 20, 2010
Heard After the Colonoscopy
"Doc, would you write me a note for the wife stating that you checked twice and my head is most definitely not up there?"
h/t Theo
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Army General Equates Christians With Bigots and Racists
"Unfortunately, we have a minority of service members who are still racists and bigoted and you will never be able to get rid of all of them. But these people opposing this new policy [repeal of DADT] will need to get with the program, and if they can't, they need to get out. No matter how much training and education of those in opposition, you're always going to have those that oppose this on moral and religious grounds just like you still have racists today."
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Poverty Stats Worst Since 1960s
The Washington Post has the story:
The ranks of the working-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s as the recession threw millions of people out of work last year, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty.
The overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, the Census Bureau said Thursday in its annual report on the economic well-being of U.S. households. The report covers 2009, President Barack Obama's first year in office.
The poverty rate climbed from 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million people, in 2008.
According to the story, the rate of 14.3% would have been higher still had there not been an increase in Social Security and federal emergency unemployment outlays.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Change He Hoped For: Record Increase in Poverty Under Obama
As reported by Yahoo News (on Saturday, Sept. 11, when you weren't paying attention):
The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty.
Census figures for 2009 — the recession-ravaged first year of the Democrat's presidency — are to be released in the coming week, and demographers expect grim findings.
It's unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important elections when control of Congress is at stake. The anticipated poverty rate increase — from 13.2 percent to about 15 percent — would be another blow to Democrats struggling to persuade voters to keep them in power.
More government. More poverty. The change he hoped for.
Freedom Absolutists
Birds of a feather flocked together:
Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer, a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance. Or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risks, but not be job-locked because a child has asthma or diabetes or someone in the family is bipolar. You name it, any condition is job-locking.
-- Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, dependent of the American people
[C]ommunist society ... regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, as the spirit moves me ...
-- Karl Marx, unemployed academic and journalist, dependent of Friedrich Engels
Without the notion of patriotism and national borders, people would live wherever and however they prefer, practice the religions they want, marry whomever they desire, and produce, exchange, and prosper in whatever way they see fit.
-- Kel Kelly, libertarian author and ingrate, here
It should bother more Democrats and Republicans that their country and political parties have been invaded by people who all drink from the same well of failed utopianism, whether they be socialists in the Democrat party, or libertarians in the Republican. Vote for such at your peril.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Federal Reserve Given Until October 19 To Appeal To US Supreme Court
Bloomberg.com reported on August 27th that the Federal Reserve has won yet another reprieve as it seeks to escape rulings requiring it to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for the names of firms receiving approximately $2 trillion in taxpayer loans:
The Federal Reserve Board was given 60 days to decide whether to take a Freedom of Information Act case to the U.S. Supreme Court or disclose documents about loans it made to banks during the credit crisis.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York today acceded to the Fed’s request to delay implementation of a ruling that compels the central bank to release the reports, giving the bank until Oct. 19 to appeal. The clock began to run on Aug. 20 when the court refused to revisit its earlier ruling against the Fed.
At issue are 231 “term sheets” documenting Fed loans to financial firms during 2008. The records, which include the banks’ names and the amounts borrowed, were originally requested by the late Bloomberg News reporter Mark Pittman through the FOIA, which allows citizens access to government papers.
Expect an appeal to be filed by the Fed on the Oct. 19 deadline to avoid if at all possible having to disclose the explosive information before the Nov. 2 midterm elections.
Labels:
Bloomberg,
FOIA,
Mark Pittman,
Second Circuit Court,
Supreme Court 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Obama's Brain is Baked
"Boring. Obama. Presser. Is. A. Flop. If Reagan had stammered like this, the media would be talking dementia."
-- Rush Limbaugh, today
The reason the guy can't spit it out is long term exposure to THC. His head is a bakery, man. That's why he needs those teleprompters.
Monday, September 6, 2010
German Leftist Says Importing Guest Workers A Gigantic Error
From the jobs-Germans-won't-do department, Thilo Sarrazin of the German Social Democrat party and a Bundesbank board member has written a book which has had multiculturalists everywhere in an uproar:
In the book, Sarrazin says Europe's top economy is being undermined, overwhelmed and made "more stupid" by poorly educated, fast-breeding, badly integrated and unproductive Muslim immigrants and their offspring.
"If I want to hear the muezzin's call to prayer, then I'll go to the Orient," he says, saying that allowing in millions of "guest workers" in the 1960s and 1970s was a "gigantic error."...
According to a study from Bielefeld University, one in two Germans thinks there are too many foreigners in the country.
And that's what the left in Germany thinks.
One Bourbon, One Cymbalta, and One Beer
Bloomberg.com reports disturbing news about our disturbed population, which shelled out $234 billion in 2008 for prescription drugs, saying nearly half the population is on something or other. And then there's this little tidbit at the end:
For adults ages 20 to 59, antidepressants, including Eli Lilly and Co.’s Cymbalta and Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft, were the most-used drugs.
I note from this source that in 2007 the top five antidepressants were prescribed at a rate in excess of 100 million times. The thirteen antidepressants listed were prescribed an astounding 201.9 million times. That's a lot of Americans walking around emotionally medicated, perhaps between 16 million and 50 million people. How does that compare with the depressants we consume?
Despite this headline back in March, "Alcohol Sales Sober in 2009," the economic downturn did not result in an overall decline in alcohol consumption in 2009:
Distilled spirits and wine experienced positive results, albeit at a much slower rate than in the past, while beer saw unprecedented declines. ...
Distilled spirits grew 1.7 percent in 2009 to 188.7 million cases, marking the 12th consecutive year of positive results for the category. However, the spirits market's expansion slowed from the 3.2 percent gain posted in 2007 and 2.1 percent in 2008. ...
Wine experienced a slight slowdown in its 2009 growth rate. Wine consumption increased 0.8 percent, only 0.1 percent less than its 2008 gain, and finished the year at 297.1 million 9-liter cases. ...
Total beer consumption declined 1.4 percent in 2009 to 2.9 billion cases.
I put that at about .8 cases of booze for every adult per year, 1.3 cases of wine, and 12.7 cases of beer, assuming an adult population of 228 million in 2008. That comes to about .78 ounces of booze per day, and 10 ounces of beer. In other words, a shot and a beer. And less than a glass of wine a week.
And maybe a Zoloft.
For adults ages 20 to 59, antidepressants, including Eli Lilly and Co.’s Cymbalta and Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft, were the most-used drugs.
I note from this source that in 2007 the top five antidepressants were prescribed at a rate in excess of 100 million times. The thirteen antidepressants listed were prescribed an astounding 201.9 million times. That's a lot of Americans walking around emotionally medicated, perhaps between 16 million and 50 million people. How does that compare with the depressants we consume?
Despite this headline back in March, "Alcohol Sales Sober in 2009," the economic downturn did not result in an overall decline in alcohol consumption in 2009:
Distilled spirits and wine experienced positive results, albeit at a much slower rate than in the past, while beer saw unprecedented declines. ...
Distilled spirits grew 1.7 percent in 2009 to 188.7 million cases, marking the 12th consecutive year of positive results for the category. However, the spirits market's expansion slowed from the 3.2 percent gain posted in 2007 and 2.1 percent in 2008. ...
Wine experienced a slight slowdown in its 2009 growth rate. Wine consumption increased 0.8 percent, only 0.1 percent less than its 2008 gain, and finished the year at 297.1 million 9-liter cases. ...
Total beer consumption declined 1.4 percent in 2009 to 2.9 billion cases.
I put that at about .8 cases of booze for every adult per year, 1.3 cases of wine, and 12.7 cases of beer, assuming an adult population of 228 million in 2008. That comes to about .78 ounces of booze per day, and 10 ounces of beer. In other words, a shot and a beer. And less than a glass of wine a week.
And maybe a Zoloft.
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