Sunday, February 07, 2010
Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor He… wait, HOW much snow?
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” is an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City.
Well, apparently snow CAN “stay these couriers”, since the Global Warming blizzard Barry Obama referred to as “Snowmageddon” buried the mid-Atlantic region in several feet of snow, killing power to many tens of thousands of homes throughout the BosNYWash corridor. It was such a storm that the Post Office suspended delivery in the DC area.
Postal delivery was suspended Saturday for Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Southern Maryland, and Suburban Maryland.
Patrick Murphy, spokesperson for the Postal Service for Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., made the announcement early Saturday morning as a blizzard continued to batter the Mid-Atlantic region.
Could be worse, I suppose. Al Gore could have visited and frozen the Potomac solid.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Super Bowl picks
I would have to say that the Colts are generally favored because they have been the the Super Bowl before, and the Saints haven’t ever been. It would truly be a Cinderella story if N’Awlins manages to pull off a Super Bowl win.
That having been said, I still hopes the Saints lose, because they would be unforgivably smug about it. I hope they lose by a field goal, just to rub it in.
They won dirty week before last, and the whole football world watched it happen.
So my prediction is that the Colts will win by at least a touchdown, but my hope is that the Colts win by a narrow victory (3 points or less), mainly due to some close calls that go against the Saints.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Something else Barry will blame on Bush
There is something that I hadn’t thought about before reading this story, so all credit goes to Ace and James Taranto for the original concept.
Remember how Libtards were accusing Bush of “destroying the Constitution” with his War on Terror, since evolved into a “Police Action Against Man-Caused Disasters”?
Well, they got it exactly 180 degrees wrong. As usual. (If they were merely stupid, the laws of Probability state that they would be on the right side of issues more often. Their choices are deliberate.)
I’m just going to tease…
Obama, by refusing to admit any difference between trials of war criminal illegal combatants and citizen criminals, is accomplishing not one but two despicable outcomes.
The outcome he intends is to treat illegal combatants more sweetly and gently.
The outcome he doesn’t intend—but which he is engendering anyhow—is to treat citizen suspects with less constitutional rights than they’ve ever had in history.
Few judges will, say, demand that KSM be released into the public a free man due to the serious constitutional violations the government inflicted on him. Violations, that is, if you postulate from the outset he had full constitutional rights of a citizen criminal. If you don’t postulate that—if you postulate he was owed a lesser standard due to the fact he was an illegal combatant—then there weren’t any violations (or at least far fewer).
Now, if a judge won’t spring KSM for waterboarding—surely a “shock the conscience” bit of coercion if performed in a police station house—then a judge must necessarily bless it as permissible for a run-of-the-mill US citizen suspect, because that is, of course, [how] Obama categorizes KSM.
Assuming the judge does not want immediate calls for his impeachment, he will find some nonsense explanation as to why it’s okay to waterboard run-of-the-mill citizen suspects in some (rare) situations. Now, I don’t know if any judges will actually follow that precedent, but that precedent will be on the books. In some cases—the law is never very precise about what these cases are—it’s permissible for interrogators to strap a citizen suspect to a board and drip water into his mouth until he squeals about his confederates.
and
The point is: Either the government has the power to do something to a suspect or it does not. Either the Constitution forbids a certain practice or it does not.
Bush, the supposed idiot, established a bright-line distinction between citizen suspects and illegal combatants. Bush, the fascist cretin who couldn’t pronounce “nuclear,” set up an analytical structure wherein it was clear that citizen suspects were owed the full panoply of constitutional protections, and only terrorist illegal combatants were to be treated with lesser protections.
But Obama the Genius With the Nicely Creased Trousers has created a system wherein Mad Maxipad is sorta like me, as far as the law goes, and I, unfortunately, am sorta like him.
And instead of there being a bright-line distinction between us, I sort of have to trust that the Obama Administration will be restrained by its own conscience and judgment, because there isn’t any strong paper command about this any longer.
And how are they doing so far?
Well, gee: If Breitbart’s reportage is true, James O’Keefe was denied a lawyer for a full 28 hours.
Boy I sure feel a lot fucking safer knowing that my government is ready to treat me like a terrorist because they are too afraid to treat the actual fucking terrorists like terrorists. And maybe someone should point out to the “Constitutional Law Professor” that the Constitution is a contract, between the Federal Government and “We The People of the United States of America”. Nothing mentions citizens of other nations, nor those who are waging war against the US.
But Barry, in his zeal to let them Get Out Of Jail Free and back to killing Americans and other infidels, wants all of them released from Gitmo, and granted each and every one of the Constitutional protections that the Islamists are trying to take away from us (as a part of the process of converting to Shari’a Law under the Global Caliphate). Well done, Barry, you fucking moron.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Deficit shrinks to a mere $1.6 Trillion
We will be DOUBLING the national debt in the next five years, and tripling it within the next ten.
You want to see a scary sight? Boo!
Pay close attention to the “US Unfunded Liabilities” spot, near the bottom center. Over $107 Trillion dollars promised to be paid for various ongoing programs, such as Social Security, Prescription Drug plans, Medicare, etc., yet without so much as a penny of actual worth set aside to fund those expenses.
That would be like a man who only makes $100,000 per year (yeah… “only” $100K) budgeting out $200,000 in spending (having to borrow the other $100K from his neighbor), and still managing to issue IOUs to his family members in the amount of $750,000 besides.
Where is this money going to come from? The government, having issued the debt, has only three ways to get rid of it.
1. Raise taxes to garner the revenue necessary to pay off the debt.
2. Print enough money of increasingly lesser value to at least pretend to pay off the debt.
3. Simply declare the debt void.
Raising enough taxes is simply out of the question. There isn’t enough money in the entire global economy at any given instant to even make a serious dent in a debt of that size. If every single penny spent buying and selling things, paying off every employee, and every penny of value added to raw materials produced within the United States went to fund those mandates, instead of actually supporting the economy, it would still take more than seven years to pay it off, and the economy would have gone to pieces within a week anyway.
Printing enough currency to pay off the debt would lead to Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation, as the available money supply increases from a few trillion dollars (either the M1, at $1.4 trillion, or M2, at $7.7 billion) to roughly $120 trillion (enough to cover the unfunded liabilities and still maintain a currency flow). How would you like that $100 bill tucked away in your mattress to be insufficient to buy a Big Mac meal? How about not enough to buy a loaf of bread? Not enough to buy a newspaper? You might be able to buy a candy bar, but I wouldn’t count on it.
The third option would sooner or later devolve into a global shooting war as possession of physical assets (such as coal, oil, arable land and fresh water) becomes the basic currency, and the race to beat plowshares into swords begins.
Start learning useful skills…
UPDATE: More fun facts - we spend more than $600 million per day on interest payments on our currently outstanding debts. That’s roughly 2/3 of a billion dollars EVERY DAY. On interest. That does absolutely nothing at all to the principal of the debt, just ongoing interest payments.
First Saudi Arabia, then Japan, now… Tampa?
Obama may have gotten his calendar mixed up, because he was caught bowing to someone who wasn’t a foreign leader. A leader, yeah, but just the Mayor of Tampa, FL. (No disrespect to the mayor is intended. Any disrespect detected should be presumed to be directed at that moron in the Oval Office.)
I mean, you can write off his being a fucking idiot and bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia. It’s not like anyone had told him that the President of the United States doesn’t bow to any foreign kings. Then came the repeat, and you could almost understand his confusion between not bowing to a King and not bowing to an Emperor.
But a Mayor?
Here’s the picture, courtesy of an AP stringer.
But he won’t put his hand over his heart for the American flag…
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Over-Under on…
the number of times San Fran Nan bounces out of her chair during Barry’s STFU speech?
I’ll say 43… (for the record, Obama has just left the White House.)
Okay, enough is enough
I took some time off from blogging, primarily because I was getting too angry at what was going on. I would be watching the news and my face would be getting red as I listened to the litany of destruction and devastation being performed in the face of direct and specific feelings being publicly displayed.
In Town Hall Meetings and public gatherings, where they were ignored, insulted, slandered and told “we know what’s best for you so sit down and shut up you moron.”
In public opinion polls, where no matter how it was spun, it required a violation of the principles of statistical mathematics to distort reality enough to display any subset of a subset that was actually in favor of it, margins of error or no…
In Congressional debates where it took out-and-out bribes of one Senator by another, using the taxpayers’ money (nothing more than “business as usual” by politicians) in order to get him to ignore such clear warnings....
Spending bills that were passed under threat of conditions better than we have it now that the bills have been passed. (Remember when they were threatening that we would have 8% unemployment without their massive spending programs, instead of the 10+% “official unemployment rate” we actually have now? Well, neither does the media.) That does NOT include the hundreds of thousands who have simply used up all of their benefits from unemployment insurance and been dropped from their rolls, nor does it count those who have simply quit looking for work. A more honest - and, frankly, more frightening - employment indicator is the total number of employed people in the United States. (Here’s the PDF file, scroll down to Table C.)
Until… Finally. Something happened that was so shocking that it has actually managed to get Barry’s attention. A slap across the chops from the voters of a State so blue that there have been five Presidential Administrations that have come and gone since the last time a Republican held that seat (when he lost to John “Jenjis Khan War Criminal” Kerry).
Scott Brown was elected to be the Republican’s 41st vote. He made that the issue and the voters responded. He promised to stop ObamaCare, and he did. It is now effectively dead in its current incarnations, and even Harry Reid (who is losing to anyone and everyone with an ‘R’ after their name in his bid for re-election this fall) says that he might not have even the 51 votes necessary to try and backdoor it through the highly questionable procedure known as “reconciliation”. The Republicans have responded that they will load up every socially and politically divisive amendment they can squeeze into it, just to force the Democrats to take a stand on some very uncomfortable issues, such as the war in Afghanistan, defunding domestic terrorist trials under civilian criminal statutes, English as an official language, taxpayer funded abortions, the works, during an election cycle where their primary issues have already proven so unpopular.
Serious political punditry have estimated that the DFems may lose 5-7 Senate seats and 20-30 House seats. Not enough to give the Republicans back majority control, but one where serious compromise on every bill would be required before any cloture vote could be attempted in the Senate (while still being able to lose the squishies from Maine and the Maverick from Arizona), and strong support from both sides of the House division before any substantive legislation could be taken up, much less debated and voted upon.
I am in favor of this - the more impediments to legislation, the better.
But much of the next ten months will depend on how Barry chooses to play the game in tonight’s STFU speech. Will he be able to say “You’re right, I was trying to bite off more than I could chew, but I was trying to do the best I could. Now let’s get some real work done.”? (Which is one of the reasons Clinton was re-elected after the avalanche of ‘94.)
Or will he play the angry populist, trying to rewrite history to show that the people voted for Scott Brown not in order to stop ObamaCare, but (as Howard Dean asserted), but because they wanted more from Obama?
He has time to change his mind, right up until the teleprompters get loaded…
Anyhow, I will try to be here more frequently.
Also, if you’ve read this far, I am also announcing a new trivia contest, which will appear in the coming days. Pretty much standard rules, but keep checking back for more details.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Little Slow on the Blog….
I had a few little observations that I wanted to share with the masses and garner some comments…
-Coakley-Scott election in Massachusetts: First off, could the Democrats have put a less personable person in in this election? Maybe a big piece of bark? Scott is running around her like a tornado around a trailer park, and if this was in just about any other state, it would be a smashing win for Scott. It’s only because there’s a 30-point or so registration advantage for Democrats in the state that Coakley’s still within shouting distance.
-Barack Obama spends most of the last five years bashing George W. Bush. Uses hatred of Bush to get himself elected. Blames every bad thing on the man. Then, when Haiti happens, he asks Bush to help raise money? It’s only proof that GWB is an adult and a good man that he is helping with no complaints.
-Does anyone think that, with the exception of earthquake help, that we should just stop aiding Haiti? That’s like flushing money down a black hole. I mean, how many times can we keep interceding in that hellhole before we get the idea that it isn’t helping? This is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and a failed state in every way that is used to define the term. Get them back on their feet from this earthquake, bury their dead, get them to the level they were at before the disaster, and cut them loose.
-Can we now drop all pretense and say that the stimulus projects that Obama pushed through Congress are big pieces of crap?
-Drummy ought to start taking predictions for the 2010 congressional elections.
-Hulk Hogan returning to wrestling and Bret Hart returning to the WWE are two rather big events. I think that the WWE did it better, until the end of the show, which was pretty formulaic. Having McMahon kick Hart in the groin when they were supposed to be making up sets up a pretty familiar situation....can you say “Match at Wrestlemania?”
-I’m off today. Is this a proper way to celebrate the civil rights leader MLK? Closing government offices?
Friday, January 01, 2010
So what shall we call it?
Welcome to the new year, and the new decade. Exactly ten years ago today we changed to having a year number that started with ‘2’ for the first time in our shared Christian historical context. The years that started with ‘200__’ were one decade, and we are now starting on the second decade of the 21st century.
Presuming that we call the last decade the “Oughties” (a point I can get nothing but startled expressions concerning), what should we call this upcoming one? The “Teens”?
I’m open for suggestions. While we’re at it, though, is it “Two Thousand Ten” or “Twenty Ten”?
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas
I want to give all of you a ‘Merry Christmas’ from the Cross household...from me, Martha, Brenna, and Brigid. I hope that your Christmas was a meaningful as it could be, and that you spent it with people that love you, and that you love.
And take a moment and give a thought/tip a glass for those men and women overseas and in harm’s way.
God Bless all of you!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Share with me the logic in the following statement:
Please....bear with me. I don’t understand this.
“Abortion is morally wrong. I politically oppose it. It is murder, and should only be allowed when the life of the mother is in danger. However, if you give my state a couple hundred million dollars in delayed payments to nationalized health care, I’ll vote so that all Americans have to pay for this morally unacceptable practice.”
We just watched a politician get bribed. He sold his morality. Senator Nelson, you just authored the federally-financed murder of unborn children.
Think about that for a moment, between your press conferences.
This whole affair makes me believe that this was all staged. That you and Harry Reid set this up to get you reelected or make it appear as if you Leftists and Statists really cared what the people of the United States thought.
I mean, what else is there to say? You’re willing to vote against the will of the American people and vote to pay for what you deem an immoral practice just so you bring some pork to your state. In order to get reelected.
You’ve whored yourself out. I mean, isn’t that what you’ve done? As Webster says, to ‘whore’ is to ”to pursue a faithless, unworthy, or idolatrous desire” Money for murder? And there are a lot more of you that make that practice a habitp on Capitol Hill.
I’m not going to fill this blog up with obscenities...although that’s tempting. But you’ve sold the unborn and millions of Americans down the river for 20 pieces of silver.
I just hope that God is a lot more merciful to you at the time of reckoning than I think He will be.
Folks....look, I have a moral opinion about abortion, but I also have an opinion about people that sell their belief systems down the road in order to either receive a gift, bribe, or to retain power. Nelson did that. In spades. And that irks the hell out of me, as we say on the West Side of Columbus.
I can understand Pelosi or Reid not caring about the unborn, or voting against the will of the people in their state or district....that’s who they are. They are unscrupulous. They are, at best, amoral slugs who desire nothing but station and power. They are the worst of what our country can produce...exactly what the Founders told us to keep on guard against. They are bastions of deviousness and corruption. I know Pelosi would walk across and crush with her heels the heads of crying babies to serve herself in some way, so her disdain of the will of the American people isn’t surprising or disturbing. But Nelson...for a while, I thought he had principles.
I was wrong.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Feckless Democratic Leadership to be Protested…
Members of President Obama’s own political party are charging that the White House and the Democratic Congressional leadership are not doing enough to help the unemployed and are threatening to organize a march on Washington of jobless Americans.
“Obviously there’s something that’s not getting through to them,” said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois. “And we’re going to let the White House and everybody who’s concerned know that we have got people in our districts who are depending on us to deliver for them.”
Oh how the irony drips.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
I am a Notre Dame Fan
I watched the Stanford game last night. Of course, my beloved Irish fell by seven points to the Cardinals.
I have three points for the readers....or those who may care to share my pain....
1. Notre Dame lost to Michigan, USC, Navy, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, and Stanford. With the exception of Michigan and Connecticut, all of those teams are bowl-bound. Their combined records are 33-13. Including Michigan and UConn, the record of the teams that Notre Dame lost to is 44-25.
2. There was nothing wrong with the Notre Dame offense. It was all about defense. This is Weis’ fault, of course, but give the guy credit for the offense. They scored 31 points a game and scored 43 touchdowns. Jimmy Clausen had a passer rating of 161.4.
3. The team lost 6 games by a total of 25 points, or 4.2 friggin’ points per game.
Of course, Weis is GONE. His winning percentage is less than Ty Willingham’s and Bob Davie’s, so the ND Administration and Sports Department have no choice but to get rid of him. I hope the guy they bring in to replace him is a good coach and can reclaim the echoes and thunder.
But I’m allowed to be sad about it.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
To all of you, take pause and give thanks for the things we have, the people we share them with, and this fine Republic.
I am going to run for a pie....there’s a 5-mile run called the Turkey Trot, here in Columbus. I’m up getting ready to drive over to the start. I’f I finish well enough, I might win myself a pie!
Either way, one thing I need to mention is that I’m thankful for Drumwaster. He allows me to come here and rant, rave, and generally make verbal mischief. Drummy, you’ve been a true friend and I can’t thank you enough.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Prophetic
Today, at Instapundit:
“I think Obama’s “charisma” was based on voter narcissism — people excited not just about electing a black President, but about themselves, voting for a black President. Now that’s over, and they’re stuck just with him, and emptied of their own narcissism there’s not much there to fill out the suit.”
And...me, January 18th, 2009:
“Now, these people have exactly the person they want in the office.....a primping, self-aggrandizing, malleable whelp that ‘speaks well’ and can use large words. IN their eyes, he’s JFK with the added bonus of being a minority, a walking trophy to their self-definition of open-mindedness. He’s coming in to ‘change everything’ by being like Bill Clinton. He is their idol, plated in gold and carrying the leftist and activist past that makes them weak with giddiness. It isn’t that he’s who he is, it’s that THEY WON OVER BUSH.....finally! Now, the traditional way of their forefathers...the love of God and country, the respect for the institutions...can be replaced with someone that is more agnostic about the beauty and miracle that is America.”
Nice.