Tuesday, November 10, 2009

How do you mark the Berlin Wall coming down without including Reagan? “Well, NBC …


How do you mark the Berlin Wall coming down without including Reagan?
“Well, NBC News shows us how, and, as a bonus, manages to include Hillary Clinton in the report, twice.”
Related item here."

Another example of the joys of government controlled media.
This trend is really getting scary!

New Hampshire Will Bailout Failing Newspaper


New Hampshire Will Bailout Failing Newspaper
"The state of New Hampshire last week agreed to guarantee 75 percent of a $250,000 loan from an Upper Valley bank to the new owner of the Eagle Times, an unusual deal because it involves a daily newspaper and the government it covers."

Here it comes!
Government controlled AND guaranteed media.
Adolf, Joseph and Mao would be proud.......

Is Social Security a savings account or a Ponzi scheme?


Is Social Security a savings account or a Ponzi scheme?
"Social Security works by transferring income of a younger generation to an older generation. So in that sense, it is a lot more like a Ponzi scheme in which earlier investors are paid returns off the investments of newer investors.
.....But, like a Ponzi scheme, Social Security does have a simple and fatal flaw: If there aren’t enough new participants in the system, there won’t be enough to support those receiving payoffs.
With the retirement of the baby-boom generation starting next year, the demographic structure of the U.S. population will slowly force Social Security to topple.
There simply won’t be enough workers to support those receiving benefits.
We will need to fix the system soon, or in 30 years Social Security will no longer be solvent."

This columnist suggests that even though it's a ponzi scheme, it's OK cause lot's of old folks made out like bandits.
gimme a break!

Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance?


Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance?
"During an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Jake Tapper today, President Obama said that penalties are appropriate for people who try to “free ride” the health care system but stopped short of endorsing the threat of jail time for those who refuse to pay a fine for not having insurance.
What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don't, you're subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it's affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there's a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are -- are burdened by because of the fact that people don't have health insurance, you know, there's nothing wrong with a penalty.”"

What about the "free ride" 10s of millions of citizens and NON-CITIZENS already get?
What a dufuss.

Golf balls: 'Humanity's signature litter'


Golf balls: 'Humanity's signature litter'
"Research teams at the Danish Golf Union have discovered it takes between 100 to 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally"

15 Interesting Cold War Vintage Ads


The New Tammany Hall


The New Tammany Hal
"A fantastic - and frankly scary - piece appeared in the Weekly Standard a month ago by Fred Siegel & Dan DiSalvo with this title and subtitle:
The New Tammany Hall
Public sector unions have become a labor aristocracy--and they are bankrupting states and municipalities.
The authors write that public sector employee unions have enjoyed a lot of political victories at the state and local level:
'Indeed, they are the one group, besides Goldman Sachs executives, that's done well during the current Great Recession.
Public sector unions have become political powerhouses in New York, New Jersey, Washington, California, and a host of other states.'"

Convicted arsonist keeping his fireman's pension

Convicted arsonist keeping CFD pension

Paterson: NYS Will Be Broke In 4 1/2 Weeks If Cuts Aren't Made Immediately

Paterson: NYS Will Be Broke In 4 1/2 Weeks If Cuts Aren't Made Immediately
"Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money."

Monday, November 09, 2009

The Warrior Song

OH YEAH!

First-time-homebuyer credit draws fraudulent claims

First-time-homebuyer credit draws fraudulent claims
"U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George told a panel of the U.S. House of Representatives late last month that more than 19,000 people filed 2008 tax returns claiming the tax credit for homes they had not yet purchased."

This is a surprise?

Government's bailout strategy driving up unemployment - says TARP oversight chair Elizabeth Warren

theblogprof: Government's bailout strategy driving up unemployment - says TARP oversight chair Elizabeth Warren
"And even more ironically, this was shown on MSNBC of all places:"

Government Cable

CARPE DIEM: Government Cable

Montague moves playoff football game to Holton

Montague moves playoff football game to Holton
Montague has moved its Saturday 1 p.m. (last week) playoff game to the artificial field turf stadium at Holton.
Montague (10-0), which is hosting Sanford-Meridian in a Division 6 district championship game, moved the game because of poor field conditions at its stadium."

Kids played football for a century on muddy fields.
Is this new "sensitivity" really a ploy to get voters ready for a new artificial turf stadium.......yep!

Why you can't get swine-flu vaccine


Why you can't get swine-flu vaccine
"the US government set out to have the H1N1 vaccine produced largely in single-dose syringes -- a demand that has set back production considerably, because multidose vials are far easier to make.
And the only reason to seek single-dose production was to please people needlessly worried about the preservative thimerasol, which is used to provide multiple doses of the vaccine. The fear -- utterly groundless and repeatedly debunked is that thimerasol can cause autism and other neurological disorders in infants and other young children.
If not for that decision, we'd have more than enough vaccine.
Instead, because the government yielded to pressure from antivaccine fringe groups, we're behind the curve on protecting millions of children from swine flu."

Will the United States Default on Its Debt?

Will the United States Default on Its Debt?
"I suggested that the unthinkable had become thinkable: some advanced society—say, the United States, Spain, Italy, Japan, or Great Britain—might someday default on its government debt.
It wouldn't pay its creditors all they were owed or wouldn't pay them on time.
Just a few days later, and completely coincidentally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report that, without saying so, added credence to this unsettling hypothesis"

The table below shows government debt in relation to a country's gross domestic product (GDP), which is the output of its economy. The first column shows the debt-to-GDP ratio for 2007, the last pre-crisis year; the second column gives the IMF's projection for 2014. (Debt reflects government borrowing to cover annual budget deficits.) By this standard measure, many rapidly growing emerging-market countries are less indebted than wealthier nations.

General Government Debt to GDP
COUNTRY 2007 2014
BRAZIL 67% 59%
CANADA 64% 69%
CHINA 20% 20%
FRANCE 64% 96%
GERMANY 63% 89%
INDIA 81% 79%
ITALY 104% 129%
JAPAN 188% 246%
SOUTH KOREA 30% 35%
MEXICO 38% 44%
UNITED KINGDOM 44% 98%
UNITED STATES 62% 108%

Fee increase from 21 cents a ton to $7.50 a ton proposed for trash dumping in Michigan

Fee increase from 21 cents a ton to $7.50 a ton proposed for trash dumping in Michigan to encourage recycling
"Some legislators in Michigan want to increase solid waste disposal fees from 21 cents to $7.50 a ton to encourage recycling."
oh...and it would also be a $145 MILLION tax increase on Michigan residents.....and oh, it's another ALL DEMOCRAT political scam.

Will the United States Default on Its Debt?

Will the United States Default on Its Debt?
"In my latest NEWSWEEK column, I suggested that the unthinkable had become thinkable: some advanced society—say, the United States, Spain, Italy, Japan, or Great Britain—might someday default on its government debt."

Sunday, November 08, 2009

No new talks scheduled in Philly transit strike

No new talks scheduled in Philly transit strike
"Commuters in the City of Brotherly Love have been told to gear up to begin a second week of finding other ways to work following the collapse of a proposed deal to end a six-day-old strike by about 5,000 bus drivers, subway and trolley conductors and mechanics."

This is what you get with government mandated commuter-care.

MSU fans, meet Ashton Legget

MSU fans, meet Ashton Leggett
"Two weeks ago, Michigan State running back Ashton Leggett was on the scout team, buried beneath a host of ballcarriers on the depth chart.
Flash forward to the Spartans' 49-14 win over Western Michigan, when Leggett emerged for 110 yards and four touchdowns on 14 rushing attempts - including a 71-yard scoring run the first time he touched the ball."

Muskegon HS grad!

Mercy H.E.A.R.T. Center

Mercy H.E.A.R.T. Center
"Lipid Profiles and Glucose Screenings
A blood draw to obtain Total Cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides, and Glucose values.
Open to community.
Results sent to your home in about 1 week. 12 hour fast required prior to testing.
Second Tuesday of every month.
Walk-ins between 7:00 AM and 12:00 PM.
$15 for a Lipid Profile
$6 for a Glucose Test"

Now that they passed it, will Dems survive 2010?

Now that they passed it, will Dems survive 2010?
"Sixteen Democrats, however, come from McCain districts, and still voted for the bill. They are listed below by district and last name as well as the percentage of their voters that went for McCain:"

Saturday, November 07, 2009

FuturePundit: Policy Decisions Slow H1N1 Vaccine Production

FuturePundit: Policy Decisions Slow H1N1 Vaccine Production: "Why is H1N1 influenza vaccine coming out so slowly in the United States? Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA deputy commissioner, says a few policy decisions slow the production of vaccine."

Friday, November 06, 2009

Report Says 75 Percent of Young Americans Unfit for Military Service

Report Says 75 Percent of Young Americans Unfit for Military Service
"About 75 percent of the country's 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for military service, largely because they are poorly educated, overweight and have physical ailments that make them unfit for the armed forces, according to a report issued Thursday.
Other factors, such as drug use, criminal records and mental problems"