And Now For Something Completely Different

I bring you pictures of trees in Pakistan covered with spider webs due to recent flooding.

Shame

I would wonder at how we elected such a buffoon as president of our great nation, but then I see who occupies the Oval Office now and I get it.  We're stupid.  Anyway, Jimmy Carter continues his shameful ways -- this time in pursuit of freeing an American aid worker taken hostage by the Castro brothers in Cuba.  He failed, by the way.

To paraphrase the Dixie Chicks:  just so y'all know, I'm ashamed that he's from Georgia.

Georgia: Taking a Few Pointers from the Nazis

I don't want to sound hysterical, but really -- this is what the Nazis did to fill their coffers.  Watch the video and then we need to make this a huge issue in any and every election in Georgia.  This "civil forfeiture" is something we all think would never happen to us, but it very easily could and it's an obscene abuse of power.

Common Sense

Doesn't this sound entirely ... reasonable?  Don't let the unions fool you -- all they want is power and control -- same as Big Government, same as Big Business.  The union leaders do not care about those within their ranks.  They care only about the money of those within their ranks.  That's why they eschew reforms that would save jobs in favor of holding out for completely unrealistic (and greedy) concessions when they know those concessions will result in massive layoffs.  

Why should union dues be automatically deducted from workers' paychecks?  If they want to join the union and direct some of their salary to the union, then by all means -- do it.  But for those who do not wish to join the union, that deduction is stealing.  The workers should be thanking Ohio and Wisconsin for ending this thievery and freeing them from their union masters.  Unfortunately, people aren't that bright -- their ignorance and/or Stockholm syndrome is especially troubling in Wisconsin where the protesters are teachers.  We'd like to think teachers are smarter than that, but hey -- teachers are people, too.  And if I've learned anything in my life, it's that people are stupid.  

Blood: Boiling

What the freakin' hell?   This is your government at work -- taking your stuff and lying to your face (while dressed for work in a spiffy sweatshirt, I might add).  It's not even unbelievable anymore.  This is America.  Get used to it.

I really don't want to sound like a crazy person, but at some point we're going to have to say "ENOUGH!".  I'm afraid that when that time comes, there will be few civilized options left for us to gain back our freedom.  I'm going to have to tell my kids stories about how America used to be and what freedom actually is because they will never experience it for themselves.

Big Brother: Beta Version

The TSA has been researching ways to "screen" us everywhere -- it's not just for the airport anymore.  They responded to the linked blog post (probably via their nifty rapid response TSABlogTeam) to claim that they have no plans to implement this technology for other forms of mass transit or on pedestrians, presumably.  I guess I have two issues with that: 1) why then are they wasting our money on this kind of research, and 2) I don't believe them.

At Least These Guys Are Consistent

Liberal Democrats are questioning US air strikes against Libya.  I don't have much to add to the echo chamber citing the sheer hypocrisy of Obama's actions, but I did get quite an image in my head from the following in the linked article:

Reps. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Donna Edwards (Md.), Mike Capuano (Mass.), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Maxine Waters (Calif.), Rob Andrews (N.J.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) "all strongly raised objections to the constitutionality of the president's actions" during that call, said two Democratic lawmakers who took part.

What a seriously motley crew that is.  Can you imagine being a fly on the wall in their conversations?  Do you think Maxine Waters listens to Dennis Kucinich and thinks to herself, "Is that what I sound like?  That dude is crazy."  Or vice versa, of course.  

Shut It Down

Congress keeps passing continuing resolutions for short-term budgets to keep the government running while they debate whether or not to shave 1% or 2% off our current spending levels.  Shut it down, I say.  Let's just decide that for, say 1 month, we shut down the government and see if anyone is negatively affected.  Come on, let's do it.  Even in a government shutdown, they still maintain essential services -- I know because I saw it on that episode of The West Wing where Donna saved Social Security.  So don't fret -- our borders will still be unsecured, we'll still deny justice to the victims of terrorist masterminds, we'll still abdicate our leadership abroad, and government employees will be free to surf the internet for porn on their own time and their own dime.  No worries.

God Bless Rand Paul

He talks like a human being and not, you know, a politician:

I think there should be some self-examination from the administration on the idea that you favor a woman’s right to an abortion, but you don’t favor a woman or a man’s right to choose what kind of light bulb, what kind of dishwasher, what kind of washing machine.

No kidding.

This is What Democracy Looks Like?

Wisconsin Republicans are receiving death threats.  From the email sent to Scott Fitzgerald:

Mr. Fitzgerald,

I want to make this perfectly clear. Because of your actions today and in the past couple of weeks I and the group of people that are working with me have decided that we’ve had enough. We feel that you and your republican dictators have to die. This is how it’s going to happen: I as well as many others know where you and your family live, it’s a matter of public records. We have all planned to assult you by arriving at your house and putting a nice little bullet in your head ...

I think this bears more of a resemblance to the behavior of Nazi Brown Shirts than to American democracy.  But maybe that's just me.

Also from the above email:

If you and your goonies feel that it’s necessary to strip the rights of 300,000 people and ruin their lives, making them unable to feed, clothe, and provide the necessities to their families and themselves then We will “get rid of” (in which I mean kill) the 8 of you.   

Is that what they really think is happening?  Is being required to contribute 5.8% to your pension and 12.6% to your health insurance premiums the "strip[ping] of rights of 300,000 people"?  Does it really ruin their lives?!  

Remember everyone, it's the conservatives and the Tea Partiers in this country who use overheated rhetoric and poison the political debate with their hateful bile.  

Thank Goodness

The Republicans have won in Wisconsin.  Finally.

"The whole world is watching!" protesters shouted as they pressed up against the heavily guarded entrance to the Senate chamber.

First of all, don't kid yourself -- the whole world is not watching a bunch of coddled and delusional brats throw a temper tantrum and live out their hippie dreams.  I doubt that much of America is watching. Secondly, for those people who have been watching this unfold it is very important that this legislation passed for a couple of reasons.   The state was going to go broke trying to fulfill the union's demands -- Scott Walker made it very clear that teachers would need to either accept a nominal increase in what they must pay in to their pensions and healthcare (something almost all private sector works must do) or he would have to layoff a significant number of teachers -- so where's the solidarity there?  The union doesn't care about jobs -- it cares about power and the union bosses would gladly sacrifice their "brothers and sisters" to keep their power.  The second reason this is important is the need to face reality.  I don't know what is wrong with some people in this country who cannot see what is happening, but if there's no money -- then there's no f**king money!  It doesn't matter what the union promised you, what the state promised you, what President Obama and the federal government promised you -- we are out of money.  We're in the hole.  To the tune of trillions of dollars.  Do these people not care?  Or are they too stupid to understand it?  Do they assume that productive, tax-paying Americans are a never-ending resource from which to plunder?  I understand the self-interest that drives the union bosses to protect their positions, what I cannot fathom is the union rank-and-file members (and their supporters in the general population) allowing themselves to be so badly used.  It's pathetic.

Huh?

I just clicked on a link to a story about Miami cops using drones that can see inside houses when I happened to look to the right of the headline and see a picture of Al Franken with a caption that says "Guess Who's Jewish".  Really?  What prompted this?  Passover's not for at least another month.  Why aren't we guessing who's Catholic in honor of Lent?  I don't see this as necessarily anti-Semitic, but it is bizarre.  I was heartened by skimming the comments and finding I'm not alone in my assessment ... and I learned that there seems to be some sort of controversy surrounding Kathie Lee Gifford and her alleged Jewish roots.  So there you go.

More on those drones later.

Housing Market Outlook Still Bleak, Common Sense Starting to Take Hold?

So, the level of underwater mortgages continues to rise -- no real surprise there.  The one sentence from this article that struck me is the following:  "Many banks are also requiring homebuyers to put as much as 20 percent of a home's value as down payment ..."  Didn't that used to be the norm?  The 20% down payment is what I was always told by my parents I needed to have in order to buy a house -- this bit of wisdom was imparted to me probably before I even reached my teenage years.  If all of these homeowners who have underwater mortgages or have been foreclosed upon had been required in the boom years to put down a 20% payment for their homes, they (and we) wouldn't be in the mess they're in because a) people couldn't buy a house they couldn't afford and b) they'd have some equity in the damn thing if they did buy a house and would be in a better position to renegotiate terms.  

I am not now and have never been a homeowner -- do you want to know why?  Because I do not now nor have I ever had the freakin' 20% down payment!  Yet I have to read articles and listen to news stories about the housing crisis and feel as though I'm expected to sympathize with people who thought the good times would never end and behaved accordingly.  The good times always, always end.  It is foolish to think otherwise.

Too Good Not to Share

"I just broke into a house and the owner came home,' Intruder tells 911 Operator.  I take this as another sign that the economic recovery continues its lethargic pace towards prosperity for all.  Obviously, this would-be thief is not cut out for burglary, but he probably can't find any legitimate work either.  I actually find it rather endearing that the poor schmuck called 911 to protect himself from his victim.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

North Africa in turmoil,  four Americans killed by pirates, 2 US military personnel killed by an alleged Islamic terrorist, gas prices surging, unemployment above 10%, I could go on and on ...

And President Obama allows the press one question at a press conference (!) and the AP reporter asks about the NFL lockout?  Yet, still the press wonders why certain people think a) that they're in the tank for Obama and the Democrats in general, and b) that they're woefully incompetent.

This Makes Me Want to Get a Twitter Account

The Transportation Security Administration (aka the TSA aka the men and women you pay to grope you and your grandma at the airport) is apparently monitoring Twitter and possibly other internet sites (hey y'all!) for the purpose of defending itself against stories it considers negative or objectionable.  There is even a "TSABlogTeam" -- how hip and cool.

What I think bothers me about this -- well, one of the things that bothers me -- is the government's urge to propagandize.  They're the government -- if what they do is deemed legal, and thus far, no one has proven that their invasive tactics are illegal -- then there's not much we can do about it except complain to each other and now they're actively discouraging even that.  I'd rather them just man up, give us the finger, and tell us to suck it  because they're the guvmint and they can do whatever they want.  Because it's apparent they can do pretty much whatever they want.

This is America on Crack

I think I give up.  Oh, those evil Noodles merchants.

I do love the sign at the meeting of these kooks that says "From Cairo to Madison Workers Unite!"  And who might comprise the tax-paying private sector which powers both the economy and the government?  Could it be "workers"?